"Where are we going?' asked the youngling, stirring in xhir arm as xhe loped further into the cave.
"To water," said Suel as xhe paused to listen for the sounds of the rushing river xhe'd heard deep below when xhe first entered the cave. Xhe hadn't been in many caves until now so when xhe'd ventured back into the cavern halls within this one, xhe thought that it would be a straight shot down to the river, as xhe'd assumed that most caves were just holes, more or less.
When they reached the first junction in the cave, Suel had a sinking feeling that xhe was wrong. Not wanting to risk losing track of where they were, Suel sharpened one of xhir claws into a point and pricked one of xhir fingers, letting a droplet of the fear essence xhe'd collected from the youngling's tribe began to fall towards the mucky ground. A few anguished wails rose up from it before they sank into the ground, leaving behind only a sickly green glow. Content with xhir marker, Suel listened for the rushing sound of the river below and went down the passage on the left.
"What's that?" the youngling asked as it stared back at the little green dot of light while Suel padded down deeper into the cave.
"Light. For guidance," said Suel as xhe walked. The swarming lights spread down to the floor now, and Suel could spy islands of what looked to be glowing rocks, although upon closer examination xhe realized that they were in fact little clusters of mushrooms.
"Won't you remember where we are?" asked the youngling, clutching xhir tight as the swarming lights above and around them drifted further and further away.
Suel looked around again and, realizing that they'd left sight of the first light, squeezed out another drop of fear onto the ground and waited for the green glow to appear before xhe responded. "Not without aid. Could remember?" Suel asked the youngling with a smirk as xhe turned back to the business at hand. After a bit of thought, Suel left another drop in a line a little ways behind the first one, just in case the cavern hall was larger than xhe thought it was.
"No, but you're old. You're supposed to remember things," said the youngling, more alert than it had been before. When it started to squirm in xhir arms as it tried to look around, Suel set it down and shifted from xhir saurian two legged form back to the shambling four legged one.
"Stay close," said Suel to the youngling before it ran off into the darkness. It drifted a little ways away and began to poke at a few glowing lights that had fallen to the ground, but returned to xhir side when xhe growled at it Xhe felt it put a hand on xhir side and when it huddled closer xhe huffed in approval. As they walked xhe realized that xhe could feel its hand shiver and dig deeper into xhir fur.
"Cold?" asked Suel, thickening xhir fur coat as xhe spoke.
"No, I'm fine," it said, shivering even more as it spoke. As they travelled deeper into the cave, though, the youngling's shivering grew worse and worse. It twitched at every sound and clutched Suel's arm whenever a swarm of bats flew by overhead. It screamed and gripped xhir arm are as tight as it could when a sudden cascade of rocks tumbled down behind them. When the echoes died down and the youngling released its death grip, Suel turned and knelt down to face her.
"Nothing to fear," said Suel, xhir voice steady and firm as the cave walls around them.
"But what about the noises?" it said, glancing around the cave as if something might leap out at it to snatch it away.
"Nothing but bats," said Suel and continued onwards into the cave. When xhe realized that the youngling was still shivering, Suel stopped, sat back on xhir haunches and forced out a trickle of fear essence out of the cut on xhir hand and willed it into a single sphere before it fell to the ground, then closed xhir hands around it. Next, xhe willed the sphere to turn in xhir hand, slowly but surely separating the raw emotional essence from the tinge of fear that give it flavor until xhe was able to pluck out the fear in one go, leaving behind only a shimmering whiteness. Xhe bound it together with some of xhir own willpower and then handed it down to the youngling.
"This will help," said Suel as xhe handed it to it.
The youngling stopped shivering, looked at the little sphere and then gave Suel a smile that covered its whole face. "Thank you," it said, clutching the sphere close to her chest.
Suel grunted and continued onward, xhir ears prickling as xhe listened for the sounds of running water.
The youngling, emboldened by her new light, began to drift away from Suel and started to wander through the caverns as they walked. It never strayed far but it didn't race back to xhir when xhe called for it like before. It would drift around, poking the swarms of light on the walls and hide behind the stalagmites like they would mask it from xhir. Never mind that xhe knew its aura and the sphere lit up the cave like the full moon on a cloudless night.
"Cease," said Suel as xhe dropped a couple more beacons to light their path.
"Cease what?" asked the youngling with a giggle as it dove behind another stalagmite.
"Cease this foolishness," said Suel, turning towards the youngling.
"Mother said not to listen to strangers and if I get taken by one then I should run away and hide," said the youngling as it turned around and began to examine the cave wall behind it.
Suel's eye twitched and he took a deep breath before responding to it. "No stranger to you," xhe said, rolling xhir arm to show the long history xhe had with its tribe.
"Then what's your name? Everyone I know has a name," said the youngling with its arms crossed. It had turned around to face xhir again, at least.
"Suel," xhe said and then lay down as it was obvious the youngling was having fair too much fun to leave this cavern just yet. Xhe waited a moment for the youngling to speak up before xhe asked it "Yours?"
The youngling didn't say anything and its giggles died away. Suel saw the sphere of light dip down and still. It mumbled something that not even Suel's ear could make out.
"What?" xhe asked as xhir ears pricked up and stood at full attention.
The youngling mumbled something even quieter this time. The only reason xhe knew that it had spoken at all because xhe saw its shadow move. Xhe lumbered to xhir feet and padded over to where it stood. It was starring at the ground and looked like the saddest clown in the world. "What is name?" xhe asked, xhir voice soft as he leaned in close to hear it.
"They call me a lot of names, like witch, or demon girl, or mistake," said the youngling as it focused on a spot on the ground. It didn't meet Suel's eyes and sniffled.
Suel sat back on xhir haunches again and thought about what it said before speaking. "False names and lies. What is true name?" Suel asked the youngling. A true name was the thing and the whole of the thing. It told the world what it was, what it is and what it may yet be, and all beings had one.
The youngling bit its lip and then shook its head. "I don't know. They haven't given me a name yet," said the youngling.
Suel snorted. "All things named. Will find name," said Suel, frustrated at the girl-child's tribe for being unable to do even this simple task for her.
The sniffling stopped. "How?" asked the youngling as it looked up at Suel with wide, wet eyes.
"Will look inside," said Suel with the kind of finality that was used to declare that someone had just become chief above all clans or that the world was about to end.
The girl-child didn't' say anything more but she did at last start to move again. Xhe in turn shuffled to xhir feet and shook off the mud of the cave floor beneath xhir. Xhe twitched xhir ears to pick out where the loudest flow of water was coming from.
Xhe began to move onwards when something occurred to xhir. "What is a girl?" he asked the youngling, looking back to see where it was.
The youngling giggled. "Me. I'm a girl."
Suel rolled xhir eyes. "Yes, but what is a girl? Male? Female? Something else?" he asked again.
The youngling laughed aloud. "You mean you don't know? I thought demons like you knew everything about us. I'm a female, I guess," she said with a shrug.
Suel furrowed xhir brows. "Female youngling?" he asked, sounding the words out slowly as he spoke them. Xhe'd thought that they only took on male and female parts when they got older, like frogs.
"Yeah, a girl child," the youngling, well, girl-child said with a shrug of its, no, her shoulders.
Xhe dropped more markers and then turned to the girl-child. "Come now," xhe said as xhe lumbered deeper into the cave.
The girl-child raced up to xhir and held her little light aloft. The chattering bats that swarmed over the roof of the cave would sometimes flutter around it like moths only to soar back up to their home above. The girl-child shrieked the first time it happened but the screams turned to laughs as the bats did it again and again.
"What are you?" asked the girl-child as they passed under another swarm of bats.
"Explain," said Suel as he sniffed for the wet smell of the river.
"Are you a boy or a girl?" asked the girl-child.
Suel began shake xhir head when xhe realized she'd given xhir two options."Boy is male, yes?" asked Suel.
"Mhm," said the girl-child with a perky nod.
"Neither. Shifters are whole things, not a half creatures split between male and female, like men are," said Suel as he went back to sniffing for the river.
"Yeah, but what are you? A he or a she?" asked the girl-child, either not understanding just or refusing to.
Suel sighed. "Xhe. A Xhe."
"A chee?" asked the girl-child, trying and failing to sound the word out in her both.
"Xhe," Suel said again, slower this time.
"CHee," said the girl-child.
"Close enough," said Suel, giving up and moving deeper into the cave as the girl-child began to run about the caverns again. Now, though, she seemed determined to stay near Suel and came back when xhe called it because it was straying too far afield. This was more and more the case as the caverns grew bigger and bigger as they went further into the cave. Suel couldn't be sure where a drop off might be and so when they finally got close to the rushing and crashing sound of the underground river Suel kept the girl-child near xhir at all times.
When the cave floor as it gave way to air, xhe looked down and saw the river rushing by beneath them. Xhe stopped and called the girl-child over to xhir.
"Hold close," said Suel as xhe pulled the girl-child towards xhir chest.
"Ok, but why?" asked the girl-child as she gripped at xhir fur.
Suel grew xhir fur out a little more so that she was in a good grip and then leapt over the edge. Xhir arms and legs shifted into two massive pairs of wings the moment xhe left the ground and xhe glided down to the river below, the girl-child screaming with glee all the while.
It was only as xhe found that xhe couldn't control xhir decent that xhe realized xhe didn't have enough wind under xhir wings to avoid smashing into the river. Suel knew that xhe would survive but it would cause unneeded stress on the girl-child, so xhe furled xhir lower wings around her and dove into the water.
The wash of cold water was a shock, although it was one xhe should have expected. Xhe shifted xhir front wings back into arms and xhir hind wings back into legs and then began to swim to shore. Xhe plucked the girl-child away from xhir chest and lifted her out above the river so that xhe didn't drown her by accident. She gasped a couple times and shivered while Suel ambled up to the shore with her in hand.
"So cold," she said over and over once Suel set her down on the bank of the underground river, clutching at her chest and rubbing it in an attempt to warm up. The sphere of light slipped out of her fingers and began to roll forgotten towards the river.
Suel shook xhirself dry and forced the cut on xhir hand open again. Xhe let more of the fear essence flow out, separating out the fear as before. Xhe then plucked out a pair of treasured memories from xhir mind, one of warm times in the summer and another of basking in the glowing heat of a forest fire. Xhe had enough to spare and the girl-child needed the warmth more than xhe did.
Xhe pruned the memories until xhe could feel the heat of them radiate outwards and then bound them together with the purified essence. Next xhe wound the fear into a string tight enough that none of it would leak out and attached the little ball of warmth to it. Then xhe turned to the girl-child and gave what xhe'd crafted to her. "Keep warm," xhe said before going back to the river to get a drink.
The girl-child stopped chattering and went to join xhir at the river. "What did you do?" she asked as she ran her hand through the water. "I don't feel cold anymore. Even the water feels warm."
"Gave warmth," said Suel as xhe plunged xhir head into the water. Xhe didn't need the water, per say, as xhe could call the fear essence up inside xhir to replenish whatever xhe used. However, it was nice to have it on occasion as it allowed xhir to relax and not burn energy unnecessarily.
It was because xhir head was fully immersed in the water that xhe missed spotting the intruder at first. It was only when xhe saw the two little glowing spheres plunge into the river and zip away that xhe realized what was happening. Xhe jerked xhir head out the water to see if the girl-child was still on the shore but all xhe saw was the glimmering lights on the cave walls around xhir. The little lights, meanwhile, were quickly dimming as they zipped deeper into the river.
Suel shifted forms again, meshing xhir fur into a sleeker shape and adding a few pairs of fins to make water navigation easier, and then dove into the water. It would have pointless to reshape xhir eyes to see through the water as it there was little enough light to begin with. Instead xhe tried to sense the trail of fear and terror xhe could feel the girl-child trail behind her.
It didn't take long to catch up with her. Whatever had taken her hadn't expected xhir to follow and so when xhe reared up behind her it let her go and tried to dash away, taking with it the little spheres of light.
It would have been easiest to just surface and let whatever it was be, but Suel's ire had been rankled. This thing had tried to move into xhir territory and abduct something under xhir protection. An example needed to be made. Suel surfaced for a moment to let the girl-child get air and cling to xhir back, then dove back under the water to spy where it had gone. Suel saw the little lights disappear into the side of the river. Suel twisted into a thinner, snake like form and followed after it.
Suel paused for a moment when xhe heard a gurgling noise come from the girl-child. It seemed that she wasn't as good at holding her breath as xhe'd hoped she was. Xhe didn't want to go up for air for her again lest xhe loose the creature but xhe didn't want to cause her anymore undue stress, so xhe decided to do something xhe hadn't done in a long time.
Xhe twisted around in the water, turning to face the girl-child as xhe did so. She was blue in the face, and she didn't look very well. Xhe gripped her shoulders with xhir forepaws and placed xhir forehead against hers. Then xhe concentrated on her and sent a surge of xhirself into body. Her spirit was less rigid than most men were, but that might have been because she was young and growing instead of because of something specific about her. Still, it was enough for Suel bend her body to xhir will.
Xhe was surprised to find a number of potential shapes inside her, though many if not all of them were bound into forms that her kind had long since forsaken. Xhe found a body that would allow her to survive the cold water and within moments her skin thickened and she grew a pair of gills, but when her fingers began to web together xhe pulled out and let her go. Xhe didn't want to shift her too much or xhe wouldn't be able to shift her back.
The girl-child clutched at her neck and gave Suel a look of horror until xhe forced her mouth open and pulled her forward. The water surged through her new gills and gave her the breath of air she so desperately needed. Her horror turned to delight and soon she was swimming behind xhir with ease, bobbing along like a little frog instead of sinking like a drowned rat.
Content that she wouldn't drown or get eaten, Suel surged ahead and went after it. In a few moments Suel found xhirself swimming into a small hole, a little pocket of air separate from the other cave tunnels.
Suel could see now that the creatures in the cavern were Ghouls, diminutive shifters that ate whatever they could get their grubby little paws on. There were three of them and they were all different. One of them was a black, spidery creature with legs that ended in three pronged claws.
In place of where a normal spider's head would go, there was an ape's head with a spider's mouth. Its' front pair of legs were bent up, doubling as arms that could be used to shovel food into its mouth. A quick glance at the shifting memories on its surface told Suel that its name was Vatun.
The second creature was a toad with one cycloptian eye in place of two. Its legs ended in little hands, allowing it to grip whatever it wanted. This one's name was Keeve.
The last creature was a salamander with an additional set of legs. There was no discernible difference between it and a normal salamander beyond the extra legs and its large form. Its name was Burg.
Xhe knew all of this in an instant, as was the way of things between the various types of shifters. What a shifter was couldn't be hidden or covered up, be they the lowest of Ghouls or the greatest of Asura. A simple look and one knew the other's nature.
Xhe heard voices around xhir but didn't bother listening to them, content to just snap the pair of spheres out of the hands of the creature that held them. Xhe then reared up and roared, silencing their mindless chatter. Once xhe was sure xhe had their attention, Suel spoke to them in Ghoulish.
"Dare to steal?" howled Suel in as xhe reared up in front of them.
They began to moan and wail to xhir in Ghoulish. "Did not mean to thieve, meant only to snatch from the youngling to return power!"
"Lies!" howled Suel, slithering into the midst of them. They tried to scoot away but Suel brought xhir full front to bear, blocking any kind of escape. "Could see whose the girl-child was, yet she was stolen."
"Did not, it was Keeve who did! Keeve provoked! Taunted, lead astray!" cried Burg the salamander.
Keeve the frog looked at xhir two companions in horror and then pointed at Vatun the spider. "Vatun provoked, drove to steal! Would not have done it if not for xhir!"
Vatun puffed up and screamed at Keeve, leaping at xhir before xhe said another word. Keeve tried to swing a fist at the Vatun as xhe leapt but missed and wound up hitting Burg. Within moments the three of them were in the middle of an all out brawl, ignoring Suel altogether.
Suel rolled xhir eyes and reached for Keeve, grabbing xhir by the top of xhir bulging head and lifting xhir up above the other two. "An example must be made, no matter who the fault lay with," xhe said, crushing Keeve's skull in xhir hands.
Being a Ghoul, Keeve didn't die when this happened. Instead, xhe ceased struggling and instead began to whisper. "Please, mercy."
Suel laughed. "Have Ghoul mercy," xhe said, throwing Keeve against the far wall of the little cavern.
Within moments xhir two companions were upon xhir, ripping xhir to pieces as xhe screamed, unable to defend xhirself. Suel grabbed up the two spheres and left the Ghouls to their own devices.