Mother had always been fascinated by the darkness that continued long after life, as had his brother Erebos. It seemed strange to him, then, that he had been able to find similar darkness in the living world. They reeked the same, too. His mother had not spoken about these living darknesses. Was it any wonder that they captivated his curiosity so fiercely? Though he might have begun to grow large and tall, he was but a child. Fickle, noncommittal. He simply was.
He was moved, then, by her willingness to follow. Her body language seemed positive, something he had been waiting for eagerly despite his own initial reluctance. It made his tail wave once more now, though it immediately paused when she spoke. I do not wonder, for I do not care. His head tilted and for a moment, he did not even acknowledge her other words until his ear gave a singular flicker, as if disappointed. "You care for a name," he mused, his words cold as he seemed to taste the way they sounded coming from his mouth, "but not for something real." Father believed there was power in a name. Elohim did not. They were merely sounds, just like a bark or a howl. "Strange." He shrugged the word off, his voice surprisingly matter of fact as he pivoted to face entirely into the shadows now that she had begun to move towards them too.
His ear flickered back again when he heard her land on the wet stone. He listened closely to the gradual change in her voice, aware that she had taken on a new tone now that they had broken the proverbial ice. Like he, she seemed insistent on hiding away any emotion in her voice. He could relate to that but not her indifference.
He flopped his head to the side to catch her in his peripherals as she moved nearby; at her nod, he issued one in return before taking a long, smooth step into the maw of the caverns. Another pace forward and the darkness seemed sudden, like a cloak had been thrown over the world. Though the light poured in from behind them, the shadows beyond seemed all encompassing; singular rays broke through the stony roof, splices of light that formed peculiar patterns as they reflected from the dancing water below. He huffed, seemingly chuffed with his discovery, before he sniffed wearily at the air. From somewhere deep inside the darkness, the smell of death lingered.
With a scrape of his claws, he moved forward once again, testing the stony floor in front of him lest he encounter a ledge. Somewhere ahead of them, he knew there was a great drop off and he had little intention on experiencing that. "Some fear this place," he mused, his head tilting once more towards her to watch her with a keen red eye, "are you afraid of this kind of darkness?" Deep, unending, unwavering darkness. Even the light got drowned out in it. He had to know if he was in the company of somebody strong, or somebody timid.