It's peaceful and pleasant, and she knows the Wall loves her. Or perhaps that it is made of Love? It's not clear, and neither is the distinction. Regardless, it is Good that she is here. There is the Rhythm, there is existence, and there are quiet times and times where she clumsily paints simple thoughts on her mind's canvas. She likes them both, though her favorite times are when she first wakes, and there's just a little hint of more to be had within this Chamber of hers.

Curiosity-Love rings into her mind, gently, but vaster, vaster than any thought she's had before. An ocean of this strange new emotion.

!!!! That's so much of a thing for there to be! She's awe-inspired and delighted and frightened all the same. What are you, great something, she wants to Know/Love!

(And the concepts are entwined, for such a young mind; to know is to love, and to love is to know.)

Joy, love

Joy, love

Joy, love!

!!!!!!!!!!

She doesn't quite know how to reply, but she can hold the concepts and echo them back to the Great Thing, coloring them with her own clumsy Song as she tries to understand them.

Joy! Love!

You are the thing that is You and not Else. You are joy/love/curiosity/Rhythm. You are not Wall/this-song-here/Me.

You are you. I am me.

I am [[Draak-Kin]].

The concept comes with a wave of pride, majesty, a sense of power-and-struggle. Faint impressions of a mighty winged form, tough muscle and inner fire and keen mind.

You are [[Draak-Kin]].

She’s going to be as Great as the Voice someday? This seems like an impossible task, the Voice is so vast and powerful in comparison to her. She is small and unskilled and, she notably doesn’t call herself stupid, she has pride even now, but there is the impression that she definitely knows she’s not knowledgeable. Yet.

It’s that ‘yet’ that is the key. The idea of becoming as Great as the voice is daunting and nigh impossible, but she wants it. The task being so monumental is good, if she can become so vast then she wants to have earned it. But she can. It’s possible.

Being [[Draak-Kin]] sounds amazing, actually, and she is pleased and proud and going to prove herself so worthy! The most worthy! … she has no idea how to do that, but she is confident she’ll figure it out.

Patience.

You are a new Song. My music, another's music. The joining of two strands to make something wholly new. The same, but different.

You can be Great... In time. After so many heartbeats that you could not count them all. After so much learning that the summation of it is indescribable.

I am here to teach. To meet Curiosity and feed it.

Patience is not a concept that makes any amount of sense to this young mind, but feeding Curiosity definitely does, so she'll focus on that. She is SO curious.

So she's made from... two Songs (Draak-Kin Songs) that formed to make one? That one being her. Okay. That makes sense from what understanding of the world she has, which is admittedly little. How does the mechanism of that work, can there be three songs to make one or just one by themselves, or...? This sounds like a very important process that she wants to understand right away. Making a Song by accident sounds Bad.

Concern mixed with amusement mixed with love.

Many Beings come in two forms. The Giver who travels and provides essence, and the Birther who holds and nurtures it. When the time comes to sing forth new life, two of opposite nature meet and mingle their Essence. In this way a new song is sung, gaining the strength and weakness of both, a new tenor in the Music of the world. You are made of me, and also made of another. But you will also be entirely New! Two and not one allows for change to come; Every moment you live, you change. This is the pattern laid forth by Sun and Earth, the Greatest Two. It is possible to vary from this ancient pattern, one so steady and strong that it has lasted beyond even all the Draak-Kin... But that is exceedingly rare. You shall not bring forth new life for a long time. When you have become Great, you will seek out other Draak-Kin who have also become Great and join with them, as I have joined with another, and in time bring forth your own Song.

This is the Second Law that all Draak-Kin must follow. Become Great, and join with another who is Great, and bring forth new Music. Thus your Music will continue on forever, even if your Song is silenced. You are my Music, and you will have Music of your own, and every one of those Songs shall have some piece of me, just as I have pieces of all the mighty ancestors. This is Good.

Oooooooo. Yes, it does sound Good. She approves of Not Silence. But also now she is confronted with the concept of Silence. Songs can be silenced? That sounds Bad, she likes the Rhythm, she wants it to continue. Specifically for her own Song, she needs time to become Great, but the eternal loss of other Music sounds very sad. Less sad if it echoes on in others, but still. It'll apparently take her a while to create new life (which is a relief, it sounds like a big job and she's not yet very knowledgeable), so there's that interim where no Music from her might get passed on.

Wait, Second Law? What's the First Law? Does it have something to do with how Silence works? The First Law should probably come first, it's there in the name!

(She does not yet have the self awareness to realize it was her lack of patience that caused this.)

The First Law is that you must Destroy. You must eat. You must silence the songs of others, and take them into yourself. If you do not, you will die. Know this taste: The taste of Fear. It will serve you. It is a part of our ancient song that knows well what brings silence; Listen to its call. Fear will not warn you of every danger, and at times the Fear should be acknowledged and dismissed, but you must not ignore it completely.

The Rhythm and the fire within you requires energy, energy you must take. Some beings stand still and take from Sun, the mightiest Giver of all, who pours his radiance freely across the world, and from the body of Earth, the greatest Birther, whose vast sleeping body shelters you even now. Some beings take from the Sun-eaters, and move and sing brighter, stranger songs; These are the Goodbeasts, whose Ways are many and who all have lessons to teach if you listen. Some beings take from the Goodbeasts, like us.

Without Destruction, there would be no Creation. The world would fill and then be the same forever; There would be nothing to learn, there would be nowhere to bring forth new Songs. Without Creation, there would be no Destruction. The world would grow empty and only awful Silence would reign forever. Creation, into Destruction. Destruction, into Creation. Both together, make Change and Life and Music.

You will grow, change, live, and die. This is the beautiful pattern that all Songs follow. One day, you will grow Silent. Myself, you, even father Sun shall one day all be Silent, but new Music will grow in our place.

To Destroy there must be Creation. To Create there must be Destruction. This is the most important lesson. This is the fundamental truth of the Draak-Kin.

Eep.

Fear shocks the little unhatched dragon into silence. Fear and, uh, coming to terms with the world and the rules of it. That sounds horrible?? She doesn't like it?? But it's not like she can gainsay the Voice, it is Too Big, she is Too Small, and furthermore fear is new and scary and she doesn't like that, either.

.... does she have to Destroy a thing literally right now, because she's really not sure there's anything else in here for that, or how to do that at all???? Is it like the second law where there's a grace period, is she in that grace period where she can mourn having to Silence anything at all???

It is the Truth. It is the Law. Liking it or not does not change that.

The Wall nurtures you, for now. When you grow beyond it, you will learn to hunt. You will feel empty Hunger inside you, growing more and more urgent, that will tell you when you must Destroy.

The bigger voice is quiet for a little while. It's a big difference, her world returning to just the Wall, the flow of new concepts stopping, for a brief moment.

But know this; The songs of the Goodbeasts are lesser Music than those of Draak-Kin. They have little room in their Minds for understanding. The great Clans are a chorus that shall not end even if one voice is Silenced. It is the duty of a Draak, Greatest of all Beasts, to ensure the Music-lines of the Goodbeasts are not silenced.

The flow of new concepts stopping is scary, sort of like even asking that question has driven her to Silence, but she does actually need some time to contemplate and mourn. It's difficult, being confronted with the horrors of devouring other beings to live when you're not even hatched yet.

Tentatively, she ventures out another incessant question. It's not quite even phrased as a question, just a recognition of a pattern, and the 'Is this True?' Draak-Kin are more complex than Goodbeasts, are Goodbeasts more complex than Sun-eaters? Is this a progression system to make the Music more complex?

This is true, but it is not so simple. The great Spirits of the Sun-eaters and the Goodbeasts elevate their Minds. When Spirits sing with Goodbeasts, Music like ours is created. But the spirits live on so long as the Clan does. Thus it is Bad to end a whole Clan of Goodbeasts, but Good to Destroy individuals to maintain your Music.

This makes sense and soothes her a bit; something of the Goodbeasts goes on even if she must Silence them. She definitely doesn't want to go on and end a whole Clan of Goodbeasts, then there won't even be any echos of the Songs that made them, and that sounds terrible.

The sense of responsibility in such a young mind is palpable; she is still a bit unhappy about the starkness of the Truth, but having a Purpose seems to steady her. Caretaker of the Music, that is an acceptable thing to aspire to be.

I will leave for a time now. Think on what you have learned until I return, and I will tell you more.

Yes.

Destroy or be Silenced is a sobering decision to have to one day make, and it's a fine thing to ponder while she's alone. She is glad the Wall is there, and will shield her from the horrors of the Truth for now, while she gets her thoughts in order and learns of the world. The burn of Curiosity is certainly lessened now, isn't it, that some things that can be learned are... That. Maybe she sees what that patience thing was all about? Upon reflection? But she's still a little curious. And... she definitely doesn't want to be Silenced herself. She likes existence. So... if she must Destroy to exist, well. She guesses she can do that. But she's going to try and do it the best way possible, with... kindness and mercy towards each individual Song. And maybe learn all about them? That sounds nice. If she must take them into herself to live, then she can at least know them.

It's difficult to tell how long it is until Voice returns. There's hardly any concept of measuring time yet, for her.

But eventually, she does.

The same slow wave of curiosity/love washes over her in greeting.

By now she's had time to sort herself out, and also sleep, and then get bored, and want more information about the Truth, even though it *could also be horrible*. At least she'd know!!

She sends curiosity and love and the firm desire to Be Good Enough For/In This Terrible World!

This Sun I will tell you about the clans of Goodbeasts of the world. Do you wish to hear about swift Treetail? Water-bound Rainscale? Noble Woodstrider? Perhaps others?

She does!! She wants to hear about all of them, she'd decided it was her duty to know as much about the Goodbeasts as possible, especially the ones she herself Silences.

Quick Treetail is likely as not to be your first meal; A clan of small beings, forming an age-old pact with the sun-eater crowns, the Trees. Without the ability to move, rooted in Earth's body, sun-eaters must find other ways to weave new Music, and the Treetails oblige. They consume the seeds of great Oaks and many more, hard baubles without any mind or future, unless they find fertile soil. Yet they also scatter these seeds far. The Trees shelter them, light bodies dancing in the crowns. The Trees feed them, whole kingdoms never touching Earth below. And in exchange, the Treetails groom the trees, and spread their Music- The notes they don't Destroy themselves, at least.

Amusement/fondness/superiority echoes into her mind.

She's so pleased that the Voice is fond of her! Eeeee.

She considers this, and considers the Treetails and their Trees. Hmm. That almost makes sense, except: how do they help the trees spread their music? It's not clear to her how consuming the seeds leads to trees spreading, that just seems like they're hurting the trees and preventing them from making new trees! She's got to be missing something important, here.