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.

Why, the Treetails hoard food for later, a good and proper strategy. But their Minds are so small that they often forget where exactly they've buried their seeds, and in time, those forgotten seeds sprout Trees of their own.

Pfff!! That's hilarious, and also very charming, this little soon-to-be-Draak is delighted. What excellent little Goodbeasts.

Okay, she wants to learn about others, too!! This is a fun and excellent game, she's going to know about all of the creatures.

My personal favorite is the mighty Great Longnose. They stand on four limbs like you will, and are so large and mighty that they may pose a threat even to adult Draak-Kin, if one is unwary. They trod the same ground as their ancestors, they can find their way no matter what and with every breath understand and appreciate the magnitude of the Onesong's cycles. The Longnose shows appreciation for the depths of the past, and excellent memory of their life. With enormous, mighty bodies, strength and pride backed by eons of tradition, and mighty tusks to defend their kin, the Longnose is a noble clan indeed.

Oooooo. They sound noble, though she's going to need to have a better idea of the Goodbeasts available before she can choose her own favorite. But she's so excited to meet one of these creatures!! They seem knowledgeable and wise! ... Can other critters come talk to her, is it just the Voice that can because (and she's gesturing vaguely with only a little bit of understanding) Reasons She Doesn't Understand Yet?

You will be able to Sing to the land and the Goodbeasts, just as I Sing to you. You will hear their music and come to understand. But they cannot Sing to you now, for you are hidden away and secret, a precious buried Treasure of mine until the day you are ready for the world.

Oh, so she's not ready, yet. That makes sense, she doesn't feel particularly ready. Treasure? What is Treasure? (She likes the feeling of being it, though, it feels like a Precious Thing and she likes being precious!)

This is a lesser law of the Draak, one that is not so important as the Two Great Laws, but still a core of who we are.

You must seek Treasure.

Treasure is any precious thing that is difficult to gather. It is pleasing to the Draak-Kin to have things that are difficult to find, they are proof of our efforts and our abilities. They are proof and reminder that we are Great.

Gold and gems and Shiny Things. Unique oddities. Artifacts that Sing to the world. Knowledge and secrets and rare experiences. The feathers of defeated foes. Treasure comes in any and all and more of these forms.

Ooooo.

This sounds completely sensible, and furthermore objectively correct, even if she doesn't have a complete idea of all that Treasures could be. It is a good word for a good thing. With this word, she now categorizes the knowledge she's been given as, well, something like Treasure, even if what she's learned seems basic enough that it feels a bit too common to be proper Treasure. Treasure as defined in the confines of the Chamber, maybe. This makes it completely sensible for her to want more. She's so glad she has concepts to define these things now! This is a thing she always wanted, but didn't know how to put to Song. The Voice is wise and vast and she wants to be just like it when she grows up.

I will look forward to seeing your Treasures. Let your greed grow and feed the Fire within you, one of the four primal elements that make up a Draak-Kin's Song... Imagine all the wonderful things you will claim.

She ends the discussion that day, since they've been talking for a while, with hungry, detailed images of her Treasures. An immense collection of Shiny Things, intricately organized into cubbies based on history, on size, on material, on how pleasing they are to lounge on top of. Lovingly vivid sensations of digging into stubborn Earth with tooth and claw, freeing the veins of gems. Of cradling a geode like an egg, contemplating the best way to crack it open and reveal the precious that hides inside. Of her proud collection of Great Skyclaw feathers, each one a memento of her excellent stealth and patience. Of a collection of shinestone disks that reflect Sun like still water, taken from a mysterious and dangerous place. It goes on and on and on, a glittering lullaby.

When she comes back, the Voice says: 

Look within yourself and think. Do you see stubborn Earth, whose body is too mighty to yield? Do you see flowing Water, which always finds a path forward? Do you see burning Fire, which hungers to consume and gloriate? Do you see swift Air, which yearns for swiftness and clever thought?

Voice's collection of Treasures is so excellent. She loves each and every one of them, immediately and intensely, and she's SO IMPRESSED. Also a bit jealous, admittedly. Not precisely for the treasures themselves, though if for some reason the Voice were insane enough to offer them (she has no idea why Voice would ever do that, this sounds like Madness), she wouldn't turn them down. Mostly it's that she's not in a state where she can go find some of her own yet. She wants to go out there!! She wants to collect her own shinies!!!!! They're so pretty and perfect and shiny, and she wants to be as impressive as the Voice is!! And then, maybe, just maybe, one day, even more impressive. As she sleeps, she dreams of mighty adventures where she finds and wins her own shinies.

Oh, this is a tricky thing to think about, but it is definitely important, and furthermore fun. She takes the time to consider the elements before her, weighing them each in turn. Then, she begins presenting her assessments to Voice. Interestingly, she returns the elements in the reverse order that they were sent to her, and gives the impression that she's rating how well she sees these elements in herself.

The most obvious is Air. Yes, she absolutely sees Air within herself, there is so much Air, she wants to be swift and clever. Both would be best, but if she is not clever then that sounds something-almost-as-bad-as-Destruction. It would be not having Song, not having thought, this is horrible and awful and she will not stand for it.

Second most obvious is Fire: it is clear to her, especially after she understood the (objectively correct) concept of Treasure, that she wants to become great. She regrets needing to consume and Destroy the (beautiful) Songs of other creatures, but if it is in the service of making greater Music, finding and learning and creating greater Treasures than what were there before, then so be it. She will (try to) make it all count, she will (try to) make it all worthwhile, and greater, and beautiful. This is her calling, and the burning fire within her, and it will never, ever go out.

Water seems... well, she definitely likes it, and she certainly sees the beginnings of it in herself. But how can one know if they are flowing water until they find a path forward? She does not want to claim elements she does not have. But it feels good, and correct, and like a thing she wants to be and have.

Earth is similarly missing conclusive proof. If anything, she sees evidence against it, in how easily she is swayed by the Voice's Song. She will not say she is empty of it, this is obviously false, but it is perhaps the one she feels least in tune with. It's.... hard to be mighty and unyielding, especially right now. She is so small and ignorant. There is something in her that is unyielding, she thinks, but it is as untested as Water, and it seems like arrogance to claim otherwise.

The Great Four are not something that one has, or does not have. They are something that one comes to understand by degrees, and cultivate within themselves, and discover new facets of as they become Great. Earth is not mere stubornness; It is patience and diligence. Water is not just flexibility, it is empathy and curiosity. Air is not just speed; It is creativity and laughter. Fire is not just hunger; It is glory and pride. You will learn from exploring the world, and as you learn find new sources of Greatness within you.

... okay, makes sense to her. There's a lot she has to learn about all of them, and they're not quite as simple as the basic concepts she's tasted in this Song while she's so small and ignorant.

However, she does ultimately stand by her own self assessment of strength/understanding in aspects of the Great Four. Earth is her weakest/least understood, the concept space feels the least familiar of the ones on offer! Upon the expanded definition she'll give herself a smattering more of Water, because she has so much curiosity, but... she does sincerely think that she has done a decent self assessment. If she hasn't, she'd like the Voice to tell her where she's erred.

(She does not have the self awareness to note that she's displaying a very Earth-aligned argument and stubbornness about this subject.)

Well, now it is time for more Goodbeast lessons. Scaled Waterlurker, haughty Lesser Slideclaw, humped Drywalker, mighty Mudwallow, the prideful variety of greater Slideclaws- Majectic with their manes, Flowing who uses stealth and ambush, Windborne who sprint at immense speed. Patient Blackfeather who destroys bodies that have already been feast upon by Tiny Beings that might harm others...

The little unhatched Draak-kin is quite amenable to the subject change, and is easily distracted by lessons about new and exciting things. Goodbeasts in particular are excellent, and she loves them already, soaking up the available knowledge like a sponge and longing to see them herself. As it is, she just asks (many) clarifying questions, often about how the various Goodbeasts interact with each other. It's wild and wonderful and sounds so busy and exciting and she absolutely wants to see all of it. Eventually. When she's a bit more prepared for the world. (She does not think she is prepared for the world yet.)

If that is what she wishes to learn, that is what she shall learn. Often with asides and queries about how the Goodbeasts intertwine with the Four. Occasionally a different lesson is called for: The trappings of Tradition that make Draak safer to interact with. It is a series of generalities more than a hard set of rules; She goes on for quite some time. The songs of annunciation, and the proper ways to challenge for another's territory. The alternate challenge of a Dance of Destruction: Riddles and tests, though they must be fair. The Elders could Destroy young Draak with ease, or simply take all their Treasure for their own... But they do not, because when all Draak share the Tradition, each Draak is better off, no matter that it restricts some of your actions. A strong reputation is a Treasure, and being known as a traditional Kin can add to it.

Ooo. That's very clever and wise! She likes it. It seems much tidier than fighting and having a Dance of Destruction for every little thing. She needs 'riddles' explained to her, but once the concept is understood she's immediately trying to make her own. Admittedly her own aren't.... very good or particularly clever yet... but she can practice!

What can be found but not touched or taken,

Which never lies and yet is oft mistaken,

And none may own but all can use,

For [counting], [adding], and [subtraction] too?

Uh.

Uhhhhmmmmm.

Okay, so it turns out that this is hard, so she's going to need to think about it. Don't tell her, though!!! She will handle this challenge, she'll do it, just wait!!!!

The last line seems the most important, here. She thinks there are probably a lot of things that can be found but not touched nor taken, etc, but the focus on... those new concepts feels very deliberate and like it's probably related to the solution. She takes a little while to pick them apart and understand their meaning, then:

Oh! Oh it's the number of things. How many things there are. That's it, right? That's the only thing that makes sense!

Amusement/pride.

Number is a beautiful thing.

Her creator shows her three different mental images- A shiny smooth pebble, a crumbly-looking cracked mass that might be one rock or might be a pile of rocks, and a ball of dried mud.

But Number is Number, and Reality is Reality. Number exists only in our Mind. How many rocks did I show you?

It's not clear without counting closer! She was shown three things, one of which was definitely a rock, one of which was definitely not a rock, and the third was inconclusive without checking closer. The number of rocks is 1 + [Cracked mass number of rocks].

Ah, but it does depend on what makes a rock a rock. They're still touching, are they not? So why not one rock? And what makes a rock different from mud, both come from mighty Earth, no?

..... This is a good point.

Hmm. She wants to meticulously figure out the exact definition of a rock for their purposes here, but she also thinks that this isn't a very useful definition to spend a lot of time figuring out the particulars of. The definition of what is and isn't a rock doesn't seem like it's groundbreaking information, even here in her (comparatively) very small Chamber. Also, it sounds boring. This seems more like an example to demonstrate something she will apply later instead of a thing she should try to answer now. So... can sometimes things just be... fuzzy? Up for interpretation/redefinition depending on the circumstances and need?