Attikias felt nauseous, being back in this cave. It's been two years by his accounts since he'd been here, ever since he hatched, and he'd sworn he'd never come back.

But, some part of him yearned. Wanted to know just why he hated Cetus, again, and to see if he actually remembered any of it. Would he find his chrysalis? Probably not- that would have been long buried in the mud, by now, and Attikias grimaced at the thought.

Here he was, in the middle of Cetus, with nothing to show for it.

The elf sighed, briefly, feeling his legs squelch in the mud as he continued on through the room. As far as he was aware, only one tunnel led into it- but there may have been something he missed, after all, or maybe things to find. But what could a disgusting mire even have, and how would he even find it?

Grimacing, Attikias pressed on into relatively drier ground, where he could wade in mud that didn't go past his knees. His hands ran idly on the trees as he passed through them, eyes in the branches as he struggled to find anything he could bring home.

His hand paused on a rock, embedded into a tree long ago. It was shimmeringly blue- pretty, to him, and something that wholly didn't belong in this place. One issue: he probably couldn't try to take it out from the tree that encased it. He gave it a passing tug, and with it not budging at all, he quickly gave up, not willing to spend time on something he could easily tire himself out over.

It wasn't worth it in Cetus, anyways.

@Brandle

It wasn't all that often Brandle got to explore alone. He loved his family! He loved them more than anything else! But Skein acts like he can't do anything by himself, but he totally can!! Just they wait, he's going to find a BIG stick, or something else cool! And it'll be ALL on his own, too!

He didn't find anything useful. Not yet, anyways. But he was far from giving up! He'd have to find something cool to show his family!

Moving through the swamp was easy! Though being so small certainly helped- the layer of murky water that coated nearly the entire ground was enough to swim in, or to at least make it easier to slither along, occasionally pushing off stray roots or rocks with his hands. The thing was, it wasn't easy to find anything. The constant mist was hard to see through, and being just a foot and a half nose-tip to tail-tip meant that nearly everything towered above him.

Including the Purple-skinned elf also trudging through the swamp. He thought it was just another tree, and went to push off of it's 'roots' when he realized with a start that that was definitely not a tree. A panicked "ACK!" as he scrambled back, splashing around bits of mud and murky water until he regained his composure. Once this was achieve, however, he stared at Attikias with great fascination- more specifically, the cloths and tools. It was just so COOL! Brandle knew in an instant he wanted to make things like that. Even if he didn't exactly know how.

"You- uh! look like me!" Webbed hands were waved around for emphasis, Brandle straightening to their full comfortable height to peer up at the not-a-tree stranger. "Kinda!!" Belatedly, he realized that he should probably introduce himself, "I'm Bramble!" If it wasn't already clear this was a child from his small size and general demeanor, then the fact he couldn't even pronounce his name the right way would've given it away.

@Attikias

Attikias jumped when Brandle did, stumbling back with a yelp of his own at the sudden splashing. "Who's there?!" His voice was loud- louder than he meant- but he was startled, hand immediately going for his knife and pulling it out, brandishing it between himself and the surrounding woods.

'You look like me!' -- Oh? Did- Did his chrysalis reform into another elf? Panic flooded up his throat, clenching it shut, before he saw the waving hands, and- No. That was not an elf. Attikias let out a long sigh, muscles untensing as he put his knife back. A laugh escaped him a moment after, and he crouched down, squatting in place and offering his own relatively massive hand to the kid.

"That's a lovely name, Bramble. I'm Attikias- it's so nice to meet you." His head cocked one way as he looked over the being- he was like Erebos, kind of, but with an alligator's head on top. It was almost... Cute? Cetus could be cute? Attikias huffed out a singular laugh, smiling. "Do you live around here? I'm sorry for being loud earlier."

@Brandle

(I don't think this needs an official CW, but just know Brandle's feral and literally pulled out one of his baby teeth in the name of knife)

"I'm right here!" rapidly scooting away from the panicked elf, wildly waving his arms and stretching so tall he nearly tipped over. Normally, Brandle had no problem being noticed, but usually he was with his siblings, who were roughly the same size, or Dad, who was always attentive anyways. Brandle didn't know how he felt about not being noticed, but apparently not being able to see him really freaked this stranger out.

The elf finally saw him, and immediately upon making eye contact he blurted "Oh! You look weird! Actually!" He'd slither forward, placing both of his tiny, muddied hands onto Attikias's gigantic one. "Ok! At- Atty- Attic- At-kit-y-as." His enthusiastic ramble would slow, somewhat, struggling with the apparently difficult name. "Mhm! I live over there!" He'd gesture vaguely towards the direction he'd come from. "M' family lives here too! Revvy and Skein and Dad!" He'd open his mouth, as if meaning to continue on this tangent, before spotting (or rather, remembering) something more interesting.

"What's that?" He'd ask, pointing at the pointy object the elf had already sheathed, "Looks kinda like m' dad's teeth! Those go in your mouth though." As if to clarify what he meant, he opened his mouth and pointed as his own teeth- arranged to fit in a somewhat rounder face but otherwise gator-ish in appearance.

But teeth didn't always stay in your mouth- sometimes Dad's teeth got loose and fell out (which had honestly been a little freaky, until he'd explained that it'd grow back) and one of Brandle's teeth had felt particularly wiggly lately.

Immediately connecting the dots (he didn't connect anything) he grabbed a nearby rock and went to work gnawing on it. It'd take some time- enough time for the elf to grab Brandle and physically pry the rock out of his mouth if he so chose. If allowed to, however, he'd continue until the tooth, slightly chipped, finally fell out. He'd immediately grab the tooth and show it excitedly to Attikias, grinning a newly gap-toothed smile.

@Attikias

(BRANDLE NO)

Attikias let out a huff of a laugh, one corner of his mouth curling up in a smile- and yet, there was a dull emotion behind his eyes. He was weird. "Weird can be good," he assured Brandle as his expression brightened. Gently, he shook his hands up and down, more rocking them than anything- the gesture was there, anyways. Something small, something sweet. "Attik, is good," he chuckled. The kid got that part, at least.

His head raised at the gesturing, and he blinked in recognition. Family? Well, he supposed Cetus could have family, and it couldn't be that bad. "Seems like you're happy here, huh?" His other hand came up to offer a pat on Brandle's head, provided he didn't mind it too much. He pulled back at mention of the knife. "This thing?" He pulled it out, its dull stone shown between the two of them. "It's a knife. Something to keep you safe, but you might not need them with so many up here." Humming out, Attikias tapped at his own mouth, grinning white teeth back.

He paused as Brandle went to a rock. It took a moment for him to recognize whatever he was doing, before- "Hey- nonono rocks don't go there-" and he shrouded over Brandle, one hand struggling to pry open a crocodile mouth and the other trying to get the rock out of his little child hands. Was Brandle trying to show him his own tooth? He didn't need that! You only got so many baby teeth, anyways!

But, the tooth fell out, and Attikias pulled back, sighing. Eventually, he started laughing again- "Well, that's one way to lose your baby teeth." He rocked back, dropping one hand to his knee as the other searched for the knife he dropped in the whole process. "But, you don't have to make knives out of just teeth. You can make them out of stone, if you hit it just right to make it a little sharp."

A child needed a knife, right..? "Do you want one? You uh- you can make one out of your tooth, but it might be a little too small eventually."

@Brandle