[Crocodile]

    As soon as he got the chance to break away from everyone, he had followed his nose to the scent of water. Shuck’s little thought of him sinking into a small bath of mud had been right. Crocodile carried his little pack of lizards, as they crawled across his back and walked across his face. His demon eyes watched for the little movements of what he had seen before: purple lizards. But he didn’t stop yet, no, he was actually tired and wanted to rest. He had been awake a lot longer than he was use to, and he needed to lay down somewhere. The green boy decided beside the water was a good idea. Even without knowing Tortuga, the sea salt still ran in his blood, which drew him to....a little stream that had mud on the side of it. Not exactly a pirate paradise, but it pleased Croc greatly.

    The mud squelched between his toes, but it wasn’t deep. For the pup it went above his already too big for his body paws. The lizards crawled around in excitement of such a new terrain. Crocodile lowered his belly to the mud, squirming his body around to full get the mud into his fluffy puppy fur. Oh, the adults weren’t gonna be pleased with what a mess he was making. Slowly, giving the lizards time to crawl around him, he turned onto his back, rolling yet again. Then he went back onto his belly, back legs out like frog legs, and he pushed his face into the mud. Yes, this was good. The lizards started to crawl through his muddy fur, taking their places to rest. Croc put his head down gently into the mud, eyes barely open to look in front of him.

    When new little bodies started to crawl on him, he barely flicked an ear. The green and green-yellow lizards were now accompanied by the Inarian purple lizards. They were slowly making their way forward onto the boy, not sure if he was trustworthy yet but having seen the Gemini lizards, got curious. “Yer good.” He mumbled to a purple one that went across his nose, towards the center of his eyes. Yes, this trip was worth all the walking and that one time he stepped on a thorn. It was worth having to see THAT MURDERER STERLING while they walked. Now he had new friends, and he puppy felt his tail wagging in the mud, a soft, happy grumble coming from his throat.

[Twitch]

"I'm not very good with stills.  I get all twitchy." - Saffron Burrows

Children had scattered like a flock of startled pigeons. Twitch herself had been off like a shot, tail helicoptering, nose to the ground.  She'd gotten tangled in the foliage more than once, and was now sporting a few crushed purple flowers clinging to her fur.  Here and there, mostly in her ruff and tail, a stray twig or leaf was also entangled.  More deliberately placed, Twitch was also sporting several feathers, collected from new and unknown birds she had never seen before.  Treasures to take home.

As she wiggled under another bush, Twitch's skeletal countenance popped out of a bush.  From her new, unleafy vantage point, she could see the muddy green boy enjoying his soak.  She'd seen him on the way, but she'd been too busy investigating the passing landscape than to pay attention to everyone around her.  What she had noticed, were those cool lizards.  Now there seemed to be more of them, bright purple things like the trees.  How had he gotten purple ones so fast?!  She'd only managed one purple feather to add to her collection, and the big purple beetles with the funny faces could FLY!  How was she supposed to bring one back to show Embsay if she couldn't catch one?  Maybe the lizard wrangler could give her some pointers. 

"Hey!" Twitch's disembodied head called, her voice still young and girlishly sharp. "How'd you get more so fast?"

The bush rustled as she tried to crawl the rest of the way out, but got snagged by a lower branch.  The whole bush swayed as she strained against it, but refused to budge.  Plan B.  She backed out, her head disappearing with a snap of a few twigs.  Then she found a thinner spot of bush, and half ran, half jumped out onto the small rise that sloped down towards Croc's Bathtub.

Even as children, their size difference was grand.  He, like his namesake, was large, green, and built with muscle in mind.  She, on the other hand, was as small and spectral as her mother.  The littlest banshee.  A bright spirit who had escaped the eternal suffering of Saboro in her mother's shattered womb.  Her little black horns, mostly obscured by tangled curls and caught foliage, were dwarfed by her oversized ears, which added to her small, fennec-like appearance.  It was her tail that was her largest, and most active feature, bobbing and swishing like an eel on the tide.  She looked like a hellion, and she was, but darkness did not become her.

[Dali (RP)]

Inaria had visitors.

Dali had not yet encountered these strangers but he could smell them everywhere with his keen nose. They smelled of rainforest, of oceans and hills and mountains. Places that he had never been but would love to go to. It was the whole reason he had become a Page. As he observed the two kids and their vast lizard collection, he thought back to when he was a pup. Then, he remembered all the other things. The unrelenting heat, the Don's hunger that constantly went unsatisfied - both literally and metaphorically - and how he had always spent his childhood as an outcast. Unlike most canines born with a silver spoon in their mouth, he did not miss his birth pack. If you were to call it a 'pack', more than like a band of dog misfits who were your best friends one minute and hurling you under the bus the next.

He started forward, his nose curiously twitching as he considered the two strange youths. One was a variety of greens, his yellow eyes making him resemble a certain kind of reptile. The other had a more conventional coat colour. Browns and whites with the occasional splatter of red. The pair of them were coated in mud and seemed to be comparing their vast lizard collection. Lizards?? Just as Dali was about to wrap his head around the existence of such creatures in Inaria, one scuttled across his pack. "ARGH GET IT OFF ME!" he cried, tripping over in his haste to get away and going head over heels into the mud puddle, probably splattering the two unfortunate kids who were stood nearby. Why did he always do this?? He was meant to be one of the more graceful dog breeds and yet he was painfully clumsy. Sighing, he looked between the two wolves. "Sorry," he muttered. "I never knew there were lizards in this place. You two seem good at catching them though."

He would get closer to Crocodile - perhaps a little too close - breathing in his scent. He would turn in the direction of Twitch and do the same. "You two aren't from around here, are you?" he asked, tail wagging curiously. "I'm Dali, by the way. I'm one of the Pages, so I make it my business to get to know everybody. Totally business. Not being nosy at all. Nope." 

Nevertheless, he would look between the two pups hopefully, waiting for them to elaborate on where they had come from. Especially the green kid. He had yet to see such colours on any canine. Inaria was not known for its technicolor locals.

[Crocodile]

    ”Hey!” Crocodile whipped around, ready to pounce at anyone who disturbed him. Maybe he held some kind of fear, seeing as his family wasn’t entirely welcome in Gemini, but he couldn’t tell because he didn’t think that far into it. "How'd you get more so fast?" A weird girl crawled from the bushes, having a hard time. Croc didn’t even try speaking until she had jumped over the bush, landing close to him in the mud. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out at he heard a yell. "ARGH GET IT OFF ME!" This person sounded like an adult, with also the obvious side of fear. The tall child looked as a weird dog came towards them. He wasn’t weird like the girl child, but he didn’t seem like a regular wolf, either.

    Croc didn’t even both shaking the mud off as the dog gave a soft apology. "I never knew there were lizards in this place. You two seem good at catching them though." Crocodile gave a weird, toothy grin that looked like he was overconfident, but it was his weird way of beaming with happiness at a compliment. "You two aren't from around here, are you?" Crocodile shook his head. And while he didn’t know Twitch, she carried the obvious same scent that Crocodile did, at least for the most part. Plus, he had seen her at a distance, once he thought of it.

    "I'm Dali, by the way. I'm one of the Pages, so I make it my business to get to know everybody. Totally business. Not being nosy at all. Nope." This man-dog was doing his job then, Crocodile figured. He shrugged his shoulders. “Ah’m Crocodile. We’re from Gemini.” He couldn’t speak for Twitch’s name, considering at the moment he didn’t know it. Almost immediately though, his attention would turn back to the other pup. “Ah just got that charm. Ya gotta be nice an’ gentle, slow.” Twitch probably wouldn’t crush any of his children like Sterling did. He held up his paw gently to let it crawl from his to Twitch’s, if she wanted.

[Twitch]

"I'm not very good with stills.  I get all twitchy." - Saffron Burrows

Politics and bloodlines were something that had not yet been explained to Twitch.  Her parents quiet existence was reclusive, and her family was about as out of touch as they could be.  In fact, this very public outing was probably the first time Twitch had even seen so many members of Gemini at once.  Something too grandiose for her developing mind to fathom at the time.  For now, she remained focused on the little things, of prey and prizes.  Embsay had to see one of those funny-faced beetles.  So she had gone on the side quest to learn animal handling from the green boy.  But before either children had a chance to so much as sniff, there was a stranger in their midst.

For all her outgoing nature, Twitch had a very clear definition of personal space.  As the dog came close, her tail puffed up and she arched, visibly leaning away as he sniffed her. Her bubble had been previously breached by Embsay, who had already been a part of several collisions, but that had been different. He had never meant to touch her.  This dog was too close tooclose tooclose! Her large, expressive ears went back against her head, and a small, keening note came out of her mouth, eerily steady and going on for longer than her little lungs should have been capable of.

"AhhhhhhHHHhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." She whistled, a bit like a boiling teapot.

The sound would abruptly stop as soon as Dali took a step from her.  If he didn't, she would back away a few steps until she had some distance. Her tail remained puffed up like a cat's.  While she would one day be as big as Dali was, she had not yet grown.  As she was now, he was bigger than her by a long shot.  While not able to articulate her discomfort, Twitch's odd reaction should have caused some notice: This one is wired a little weird.

"I'm Dali, by the way. I'm one of the Pages, so I make it my business to get to know everybody. Totally business. Not being nosy at all. Nope."

"Ah’m Crocodile. We’re from Gemini."

" 'M Twitch!" She quickly announced, not to be left out.

As if to accent her declaration, her tail swept around like a dancing cobra.  The fur along her back and spine was starting to lower back down, but strange ripples still rolled down her back, and one ear suddenly flapped like a startled bird.  Her head jerked to one side in a sharp shake, but she maintained eye contact like it didn't happen.  Clear signs of her over-stimulation, but she was doing her best to maintain her attention, changing her focus from Dali back to Croc as he spoke again to her.

"Ah just got that charm. Ya gotta be nice an’ gentle, slow."

Then he offered her a lizard, and she became engrossed in the moment. Her haunches dropped in a very deliberate sit, and she held out a paw. It was one of the greens, a clearly bonded creature to have come all the way here with her new friend. When the lizard stepped from Crocodile's paw to hers, they were almost touching. The shiver from the close proximity washed down her in a waterfall of fluffed fur, but she held surprisingly still. Again, the difference of purpose was a big deal, even though the little girl wouldn't be able to explain why.

The lizard made it's way cautiously, and her fur rippled away from it like the surface of a pond disturbed by a stone. One of Twitch's ear was doing its bird dance again, but she let out a girlish giggle of delight. She'd been covered in ants before, but the lizard was bigger, heavier, and created a scratching-sensation over her coat as it moved. She endured the creature's crawling escapade through her thick ruff, but when it began the return trip across the underside of her throat, she lost it.

Squealing, her head jerked sharply. Instead of connecting with her shoulder, which would certainly have crushed the lizard, she reared up onto her hind legs. Now she resembled a baby goat, wiggling side to side before she dropped back down. All the while, the lizard's destination paw remained up. Her other foreleg flailed out before it touched the ground again, and she extended the lizard quickly back to Crocodile. Her tail lashing back and forth.

[Embsay]

As it turned out no one wanted to go bug hunting, adults all had diplomatic adulty things to do and he had been patiently, if firmly, told to run along and play. So he had, shuffling rather than running, with lots of backward glances that were quite clearly made in hopes of being called back. No offer had been forthcoming though so he swallowed, hoping that might push his pounding heart back down his throat and headed off into the shrubs in the vague direction he thought Twitch had gone.

As it turned out his guess was not a half bad one, there were a couple of clues to help him along the way, the odd snag of fur or pawprint, a gentle scent to follow even if he lost it several times and had to double back, but he did eventually stumble upon Twitch. As apex predators went he made a terrible tracker. "Twitch!" he cried staggering towards her, "I've been looking everywhere!" somewhat exagerating his trails. Then he saw the others, the big green pup wallowing in the mud and the skinny inarian, but it was the green, yellow and purple darting creatures that made him pause and his mouth open into a "Oooh!" of delight and surprise.

One was scampering about Twitch and he scampered forward to see it more closely. Eyes wide with wonder he started to extend a paw, longing to interact with this fascinating creature himself, but he checked after the smallest of movements, dropped his paw and sat, long tail sweeping in to tuck neatly round him as he leaned as far forward as he dared with out compromising his balance.

"Look at him go!" He admired Twitch's tickling guest. These were clearly pets and Embsay knew a thing or two about pets himself, well he did if you could call a hive of wild bees that stung him more often than not pets... But they were stinging him less and less often, so that was progress he supposed. He hoped they wouldn't forget about him while he was away. Those first few stings had smarted to put it mildly and he didn't relish the idea of going back to those days.

"C-Can I?" He asked of the big green puppy who he was fairly sure was one of those Tortuga kids he'd been avoiding due to all the squabbling. But there were lizards! And that changed everything - At least it did for him anyway...

[Dali (RP)]

Wincing at the noise that Twitch let out as he approached, Dali's ears went back into his skull and he staggered backwards in alarm. The noise was bouncing off his large ears, almost deafening in its intensity. Fortunately, she soon stopped and he was left standing there, visibly startled. He was not used to others being frightened of him. His appearance had always been assumed to be quite comical. Harmless. A weirdo himself, Dali shook off this strange occurrence like it was something as foreboding as a cloud in the sky above them. He sat disarmingly and rolled on his back, so that the two pups were upside down. Suspended above the nothingness below. Wouldn't it be funny if they could all walk like this? "Sorry if I scared you," he offered, tongue lolling and long legs in the air. "My legs tend to work before my brain sometimes."

“Ah’m Crocodile. We’re from Gemini.” 
"'M Twitch!"

Dali remaining in his playful stance, his stick-like tail wagging. "You talk funny!" he told the green one, watching as he showed the other kid how to handle the lizards. "You're just the cutest little thing, though. I could eat you right up! Not literally speaking, though." He added the last part on quickly, so as not to startle the other pup again. "I don't think I'd like eating wolf much. Do wonder what it must taste like, though."

He did not contemplate the thought for long, choosing instead to turn away to try and get the lizards in the same way that Crocodile had done, his large brown nose twitching here and there. Using a paw, he did as Crocodile had instructed. This was a good activity for paw-eye coordination, he thought, as the lizards mockingly ran over his tail, his paws and all over his body as he struggled to catch then. Unlike the wolf pups, who were naturally gifted at hunting, Dali had no such skills and the lizards knew it. In the end, they were the ones catching him.

Soon, another turned up.

"Twitch! I've been looking everywhere!"

A mostly dark grey male with black and brown spotted markings was the source of the call. Dali wagged his tail in greeting but otherwise offered no other acknowledgement as he was too focused on trying to catch his own lizard. Unfortunately, although he finally caught one lizard, it sank its teeth into his toe, prompting him to yelp in surprise and pain. "OUCH! YOU LITTLE SHI-!" he cried, barely managing to cut the curse off as he remembered there were youngsters present. "You guys oughta watch yourself, some of these are biters."

[Crocodile]

     Crocodile was as focused as Twitch was on the little lizard, although his was more of worry. He trusted this girl not to harm the little guy, but there was also the chance that she might hurt the lizard by accident - not something he felt he could entirely blame her for if she did, but it certainly would not be a good experience for either of them. The lizard seemed to be exploring Twitch, as the others were crawling along Croc’s body almost the same way, except he was so use to the feeling by now, he didn’t feel it weird or anything like she did. ”You talk funny!” Croc grinned like, well, a crocodile. “Yer the funny talkin’ one.” He retorted, but in good fun. And he listened as Dali spoke of eating wolf, and as much as Croc wanted to voice his own curiosities on such a diet, he held back. It would be a bad idea, he figured,

    His attention was dragged away as some other Gemini pup came onto the scene, already having met Twitch before it seemed. The new guy seemed delighted as well with Crocodile’s lizards, and the boy seemed to puff his chest out, beaming at the attention he and his children were getting. ”Look at him go!” The adult was interesting to Croc as well, as he watched him a lot from the side of his eyes. He seemed trustworthy, almost, but also...too excited. It was genuine excitement, he could tell, but it was a lot to handle. As Twitch was screeching with one lizard, Dali was going after another lizard that was roaming the ground. ”OUCH! YOU LITTLE SHI-!” Crocodile turned just in time to see one lizard hanging from the dog’s toe, and he let out a loud, bellowing laugh.

    ”You guys oughta watch yourself, some of these are biters." Crocodile would never admit that a few had bitten him. It had been in private, where no one was around and he was learning the limits of handling lizards. But no, he was fucking Snow White with reptiles, as far as anyone was concerned. ”C-Can I?” Oh, how ironic that Crocodile was about to entrust his beloved child to a murderer’s sibling. But Crocodile did not know the Gemini royal children, and he was naive. “Jus’ be gentle.” He would create a bridge with his paw, taking the lizard from Twitch and then move his paw to the currently name not known Embsay, letting the lizard crawl onto the boy. Still, he kept glancing at Dali, rolling his eyes. “Ya can’t force ‘em ta like ya.” If Embsay took the lizard, he would turn towards the adult, as if Crocodile was some kind of all knowing animal keeper. “If ya sit still, one’ll come up ta ya. Let it crawl some, ya, and then once it gets use ta ya then ya can go all wiggly like ah assume ya do.” He looked like a dog that would wiggle a lot.