Egress Unveiled - The Forgotten I, ft. Oremizume n Ga’Morkt

The words of the Elders sat sour in Ga’Morkt’s stomach, twisting his maw into a grimace as he stares down at the pinkish Vayron he has been saddled with for this journey. 

“You will not make this journey alone,” they had told him. “You are not here to conquer. You are here to discover and learn, and earn favor with the Nine Clans.”

What rubbish. 

Still, the rewards are well worth the indignity of being tied down to a wingless stranger. And so, he will cooperate. For now.

“So,” he finally speaks, breaking the awkward silence after a few breaths of leering down at his new parter. “Just so we’re clear, I am not carrying you.”

Oremizume raised his head, looking at the stranger with bored eyes. Oh, he had known that the expedition was not going to be nice, but this? A teammate like that was going to ruin his mood. Permanently. 

The Vayron sighed, then shook his head. "Whatever, I very much doubt you'll need those anyway," He gestured at Ga'Morkt's wings, "Well, except if you want to knock your fangs out. Lot of stalactites here, you know?"

Then, he started walking towards the caves, the dark brightened by those bluish crystals. His paws were already bruised from the unfamiliar terrain, so different and hard than sand he was used to. The Vayron had to stop himself from wincing every time he walked over loose pebbles.

'"Oh, Oremizu! You'll have lot's of fun!" Yeah, sure! With this... Moron, I very much doubt it!' he thought, while he walked ahead of Ga'Morkt, trying to ignore them. Oremizume was already starting to regret taking advice from the Omii'Ka Tonari, the one that usually rode him in battle back home, in Thedale.

Ga’Morkt’s frown breaks a little at the edges, hearing the vayron’s comeback. He could appreciate a male that doesn’t fold over easily, especially in his presence. He even lets out a small chuckle.

True enough, he would be awkwardly crawling about for most of this expedition. Fortunately for him, he spends enough time skulking in the shadows that he has mastered the art of the creepy crawl- and he uses it now, practically slithering behind Oremizume as they delve deeper into the dim, using his long wing arms and claws to grasp and pull himself along.

After the light and familiar scents of the upper world are long gone, Ga’Morkt’s nostrils flare and take in as much of this new world as he can. Notes that tell of strange beings and their living habits are coming from somewhere up ahead, and the empyrian raises his head a little higher, taking in a deeper draw of the air before lowering his jaws nearer to his companion.

“Smell that?” he hisses in a low whisper.

Oremizume flicked his ears, annoyed by the closeness of Ga'Morkt's maw. 

"Too humid in here." He grumbled, grimacing. His nostrils were used to the sand, not all that... Underground water, humidity and dusty rocks. The Vayron looked around: they should be close to the "Forgotten Clan" or whatever that was. They were probably similar to those street urchins found in Thedale, hungry and ready to fight tooth and nail for anything useful.

"Do you see anything from up there?" he asked the Tyrian, hoping that his height would help a little. The Vayron tried to smell the air, but ended up snorting loudly, probably waking whoever was nearby.

'I already hate this place.'

Ga’Morkt responds with his own snort of derision, but he lifts his head and tries to see anything useful. There, the rocky floor gives way to even deeper darkness. 

“I see a drop off, about ten leaps’ distance ahead of us. I’ll bet we will find the first clan down there. I can smell.. structures.. something other than rock and wet.”

"A drop?"

Oremizume walked a few steps, with his rounded ears perked on his head. He reached the drop, wincing at the distance between them and the structures, at the bottom of the steep slope. He huffed, then stretched. That was going to rattle his bones, for sure.

"See you down."

He twisted and started to climb down backwards, trying to keep his claws on the rock, to slow the descent. His tailless butt was as up as it could go, since the last time he scratched himself so bad that he couldn't sit properly for weeks. Much to the amusement of Tonari, of course.

Sure, maybe he could have asked for a lift, but he didn't like to fly. Not that he tried that, but... He had legs. Legs stays on the ground. 

'Just a few more leaps, just a few more-' his thoughts were interrupted by a loose rock, that ripped his front left paw from the slope. "Ah-"

Oremizume tumbled down, disgracing his decent on the final part. He landed on his side, with a loud thump. 'Great. Now, that Tyrian probably thinks I'm a incompetent! Really great!'

The Vayron rose from the cold and dusty rock floor, grumbling again. After shaking himself free from the dirt, he looked up at the Tyrian, trying to ignore his less than graceful landing.

As he waited for Ga'Morkt to get down, Oremizume started walking to get closer to the little settlement.

Well, that entrance surely got the attention of everything alive in the entire realm.

“A delightful introduction~” Ga’Morkt purrs, grinning down from the rocky edge above. “Surely the cave dwellers will know we aren’t dangerous, now.”

He could have glided down, but why show off? Instead, he keeps up the creepy crawly pace, reaching and feeling for steps that can hold him, sending a few small rocks tumbling with his descent before he catches up with Oremizume.

Before they can get much farther, though, there is movement from behind a large crystalline boulder. A haedian emerges, a male similar in size to the empyrian, with dark, striped scale the color of a blue abyss, and his azure eyes glow bright as he faces off with the pair. 

“Outsiders,” his deep voice echoes, “Why do you seek the Forgotten?”

Ga’Morkt pauses, swallowing the sarcastic remark that nearly fell from his jaws. Not the diplomatic sort, he keeps quiet and lets his companion do the talking.

Oremizume looked at Ga'Morkt, but before he could say anything about his comments, a haedian appeared. Now, between two bigger Reoseans, he felt a bit... Tiny. Not something that happened often, that for sure. He gulped, quietly, then approached the newcomer. 

"We are here on a expedition. Our goal is to reach the... Matriarch. Cailu- One of your species, told us to prove ourselves, at each clan."

'I sure hope they don't make me do anything disgusting. Or stupid, like jumping in a pool full of... fish-monsters. Maybe they have something like that, in this forgotten caves...'

He waited for an answer holding his breath and clicking his nails on the ground nervously. He did NOT want to go in a pool of fish-monsters.

Ga’Morkt tips his nose up and down in a single nod, keeping his eyes on the stranger. 

The haedian seems unsurprised to hear that Cailu was involved, and relaxes a bit.

“My clan has endured many hardships,” he warns, “They do not trust easily. If you wish to earn favor with the Forgotten, a good way to start would be to ease their misery.”

Ga’Morkt can think of a few ways to ease someone’s misery- but he keeps that to himself.

“I will let you pass,” the haedian continues, slowly stepping aside on his bright blue talons, “but know that I will be watching you, outsiders. You may call me Elysion.”

'Ease their misery? How? I doubt some food will help... If there even is something to hunt down here.' Oremizume thought, nodding a little.

He walked with Ga'Morkt inside the settlement, looking around. Well... They truly were forgotten, scrawny looking and thin. There were some haedians trying to build something, and arguing loudly with each other. 

"You were supposed to find some more wood! How do we keep this pelt up without a single stick!?" screamed a female haedian, gray and tiny. Even more tiny than Oremizume, to the point that she might have looked like a chaser... with a big coat on, so that the floppy wings were hidden. 

"I?! Do you even remember that my arm is broken?!" a dark brown haedian, a male, answered with the same anger. His left arm was bound in dirty looking bandages, a bit swollen. 

Oremizume winced from the noise of their yelling, but said nothing. After all... They were really miserable, lacking even some wood. He turned to Ga'Morkt, hoping that the Tyrian had the same idea as him.

Ga’Morkt keeps close to Oremizume, pointed ears swiveling back at the harsh voices. 

As they pause to observe the pair, he looks down to his companion and silently nods in agreement. This would be their first task. There is just one problem, however.

“Where in this slimy, rocky world are we going to find wood?” he whispers. Then it occurs to him. “Ah.. I bet one of the more *fortunate* clans wouldn’t mind if we borrowed some of their scraps, mm?” His jaws split in a grin that appears twice as wide thanks to the vitiligo edging his lips.

The pinkish Vayron pulled his ears back, growling. He didn't like that plan, but... Ga'Morkt was unfortunately right. There wasn't much they could do down there, and going all the way back to the outside was not an option, considering the length of the whole expedition.

"Fine."

Oremizume started walking, grumpy, with his ears low and lips curled back in a sneer. He always disliked stealing, even when he was a clueless pup he knew that it wasn't right. But... Those Haedian had nothing. Probably kicked out of their previous homes, maybe even because of misunderstandings or idiotic laws. His mind started to wander, while avoiding to look at the creepy grin of the Tyrian. 

They strayed away from the little settlement, walking on damp rocks, in the dark and by themselves... But not for long. It didn't take much for Ga'Morkt to pick up a certain scent in the air, and a bit later, even Oremizume smelt it: it was... Soup. Apparently, someone was camping nearby. Whoever they were tho, did not smell like the surface. They probably were other Haedians living down there.

Ga’Morkt’s stomach growls at the scent of food, despite him having no idea what was in it. But that was a problem for another time..

The empyrian slithers along the ground, wings folded tight, and he uses his dark coat to blend into the dim. When he can get a good view of the camp, he eyes a mound of gathered supplies nearby and gestures with a claw, giving Orimezume a glance and a mischievous grin.

“Seems someone left their camp unattended while dinner cooks..” he purrs, “If we hurry, we can help those squabbling haedians and help ourselves to a bite for the trouble!”

"We are NOT going to eat that soup. We. Are. Not. Eating. The. Soup!"

Oremizume whisper-screamed at Ga'Morkt, already upset at the thought of stealing the supplies. He was not going to steal food too!

The Vayron grumbled, walking with nails raised so to not make any noise, until he reached the pile of... Stuff. There was some gray mush in a bucket, which didn't smell nice, and some ropes, humid and with some moss on them. Oremizume bit back a loud huff, giving the ropes to Ga'Morkt, while he got the wood that was thrown around the pile.

"Tie... Ugh. Tie the wood on my back. We'll bring back at least six big branches each."

Ga’Morkt rolls his bright eyes and sucks his teeth, “Fine..” and he snatches up the rope. It’s awkward at first, trying to attach the branches and fix the rope with wing-digits, but finally Oremizume is ready to go.

Now Ga’Morkt can focus on himself, and he decides to use his powerful tail to hang onto his share. He would drag them a little, but at least he could still crawl on all fours this way. 

Finally ready, he considers reaching his forked tongue into the pot anyway, but decides against it. They’ve spent enough time lingering around here. 

“Anything else before we make our escape, ya big softie?”

"..." Oremizume looked at Ga'Morkt dead in the eyes, before turning and marching away, with heavy steps. 

'I'm not a softie. I- I'm really not!' the Vayron thought, his jaws tight enough to feel his fangs grind against each other.

After nearly half an hour, they were finally back at the settlement where, still, screams and insults could be heard from far away.

Rolling his eyes, Oremizume walked towards the noise.

When they got to the... Family? Group? Probably they were strangers, by how they raged and screamed at each other, Oremizu and Ga'Morkt could feel their ears close to start bleeding for the noise.

The Vayron got as close as possible without getting noticed, then dropped the branches. Loudly. The Haedians who were arguing stopped, turning their head, surprised and mildly annoyed at being interrupted in their "conversation", but soon their eyes brightened at the sight of the wood.

Oremizume though, didn't seem to be interested in staying close to the stolen goods, and quickly walked away, hoping to see the other haedian, Elysion. He wanted to get away as soon as possible from there, feeling dirty because of the theft.

Ga’Morkt watches Oremizume walk off with a smirk, lingering behind to stack his share of the stolen supplies and see if, perhaps, these poor creatures might offer him something in return. Doubtful, but he isn’t the type to have sympathy..

Elysion lies curled atop a large rock, his bright blue tail swirling where it hangs over the edge. He smiles as the pinkish vayron approaches, lifting his head. 

“Ahh, you and your, er, companion there have done well helping those two.. If nothing else, we will all rest a bit deeper without their yelling. Thank you, stranger.

Oremizume nodded "We will be able to travel deeper in the caves now, I presume?" he asked, while he waited for Ga'Morkt to show up.

The Empyrian was, in the meantime, being thanked by the weird family. The small gray female then offered the dark Tyrian some... Food.

Well, "food" was a great word in comparison of whatever that was: it looked like a soup, but made with old leather, and a crystal was swimming in the bland and bitter broth. Why was it there, it was unknown.

Elysion watches Ga’Morkt accept his prize with a raised, scaly brow before he continues speaking. 

“You are beginning to earn our trust, this is true. The choice is yours, to move on or to continue aiding the Forgotten and earning more favor. I know that my clan will not turn away your help.”

Ga’Morkt finally slithers up beside his companion, his soup clutched in one wing talon. 

“Well I’m having a grand time,” he pipes up with a sneer before slurping the swill. “What do you say, ‘Zuzu’~?” He rolls the new nickname off his tongue with a taunting, toothy grin.

Elysion rolls his eyes, though with his orbs glowing so bright, the expression is easily missed.