ORIGIN

It was one of the few moments Magdalena was apart from Nemesis, but that was all it took, wasn't it? Just a few moments... And everything could change.

Magdalena had gone to Polaris searching for other Gembounds, seeking to relinquish the helplessness of her condition. She wanted to be stronger like Nemesis, a leader like Diamondfang, a teacher like Louie. Only... What she'd found was more than just a young babe desperate for guidance. She found so much more. Several others had appeared at the filly's hatching, much to her dismay. Even still, Magdalena thought she could take advantage of their appearance by administering a cloud of her own familiar bacteria, only to overload herself and fall unconscious. It was an embarrassing accident, but the borzoi eventually recovered.

Enough to crawl shamefully away from the group, at least. She hadn't known what happened in Monoceros during her absence - while she was aware of the presence of the dragon and the sheep, she thought they were still safely sleeping away. No one told her differently. So after leaving Polaris, Magdalena - still sick - had collapsed in Orion and rested there for as long as she could. At least in solitude she could recover in peace and try to salvage the dreds of her pride. After that, she had taken a small detour - well, not small, considering all that had happened. Her paws had led her elsewhere, still not yet willing to return to Monoceros due to her illness, she'd visited a new section of the caves she hadn't seen before, if only curious of the whereabouts of the small horse. She'd found her, in a place called Eridanus, facing off against Baratheon. That had been an adventure in its own.

Eventually the strange white dog summed up the strength to return to Monoceros; she was eager to tell Nemesis of her adventure. She'd wondered if anybody had noticed her absence - Nemesis surely would, but what of Louie and Diamondfang? Would Louie be disappointed to have learned of her failure? She'd left seeking greatness, only for her magic to consume her. What a foolish mistake. It was true - she was too vulnerable. At least Nemesis would comfort her, right? The dog had sought out her presence upon entering the windy room, but the first thing she had noticed was the lack of wind gusting through the cave. Everything was oddly, uncomfortably stagnant. Magdalena found herself disoriented - with no pull of wind, she didn't know what direction she was walking. Where had the twister gone?

"Nemesis?" She called out, walking blindly alongside the gorges. She hadn't wanted to go out searching for the rhino, almost hoping that she would immediately know of the dog's return and come to her. Hell, even if the rhino had gone searching for her it would be ideal compared to wandering blindly. At that point, Magdalena had paused and tried to focus. Using her magic again likely wouldn't be a good idea - it could make her illness flare up again, but... she turned her attention to the tactile sensation and tried anyways. She could feel it, the pull, a summoning. A gentle tug. Her head slowly wavered in the direction of the rhino, where ever she may be. The sense of familiar that she had grown so accustomed to. It was... there, but down. Magdalena walked slowly and found her paws gripping the edges of the gorge. How could she descend?

Slowly, of course - she made her way with great care. It took her about an hour, and she hoped that during her descent the rhino wouldn't somehow find her way back up again. The sensation was consistent though, and Magdalena could still feel her somewhere in the depths of the gorge, unmoving. "Nemesis?" She called again, hoping her friend would hear her - but nothing. A small sigh left her lungs as she continued downward. Reaching the bottom, Magdalena was relieved to feel solid earth beneath her feet again, flat ground that she could traverse with ease. That didn't mean she wasn't going to still be careful, though. She'd learned that the gorges were an unpredictable place, difficult to walk even at the bottom. So off she went, wandering through the corridors and calling out.

Eventually the pulling grew stronger. She felt herself approaching its source, taking note that it still hadn't moved. She called and called again, and nothing; finally, Magdalena would come near the entrance of the pit. Another source of bacteria lingered just beyond it, but it was weak and fragile - not the Nemesis she knew. Magdalena didn't care for the second, only for the first which pulsed and writhed powerfully, so close. Paws dragged in its direction, nose pointed concisely towards festering culture. "Nemesis," Magdalena spoke, unsure if the rhino was just sleeping or busy with something, but hopefully her voice would rouse the rhino from whatever silence had consumed her. She drifted closer and closer still, and was disturbed at the lack of response. Her heart reverberated with worry as she advanced, until...

Her nose met with solid crystal. Its surface held to it a gentle warmth, like the rhino; but this was rock. This wasn't Nemesis. Magdalena furrowed her brow and stared blindly at the chrysalis before her. She tilted her head and tried to move around it, but it was embedded into the rock. Had she followed the wrong gorge? "Nemesis? Where are you? Are you here?" Magdalena called out, concern heavy in her voice. She padded the crystal with her paws, standing on her hind legs with her front paws secure against the crystal as she tried to blindly peer over it. But the tugging, it wasn't from beyond. It was here. She was here. She was right here. Why couldn't she hear her?

The dog's throat began to tighten. She dropped back down to her paws, sniffing around the edge of the chrysalis. Her scent was here. That bitter, burnt grass smell. The Nemesis smell. The feeling. The heart beat. It was all here, but Nemesis wasn't. Desperate whimpers seeped from her lips as she arced around the chrysalis, left and right, pacing as if she would somehow discover some passage that would lead her to the rhino. But there was nothing. "Nemesis? Please!" Magdalena called out, long whines escaping her throat as she scratched at the chrysalis and pushed her nose against it. She could feel her emotions beginning to mount, distraught that she couldn't reach her friend, or even find her, or hear her voice. Sadness and fear would creep into her heart as she frantically searched for some access to Nemesis, but it didn't matter how much she reached out, there was... nothing. Tears began to rim her eyes and she blinked. A strange feeling. She'd never cried before.

Suddenly, she found herself afraid. The dog flattened her ears, curled her tail between her legs and hunkered down, pressing herself against the chrysalis as she turned her snout outward, to the extension of the gorge around her. Magdalena sniffled, fighting the tautness of her throat and the aching in her heart, fighting to regain composure, but she'd never lost Nemesis before. What was she going to do?

Not having bore witness to the emergence of the dragon and the lamb, his knowledge of such a creature came from his most recent trip to Polaris. Eyes cast downward, he realized his ostracized position from the rest of the Gembounds in Origin. All his work had been conducted in secret and no one yet knew his name. This frustrated him to no end, but he would prefer he built a name for himself as one of infamy, famine and death, rather than one that was merely "oh there's that fox again, I see him around sometimes but not all the time." Louie had come down from the platforms and had made a move towards the Gorge.

Magdalena and Diamondfang were the only two he had repeated contact with, but Diamondfang was out building her own name and Magdalena? Louie hadn't seen her in a while, he wondered if she had simply wandered off and left them here to rot on their own terms. Though he considered himself extremely skilled in his craft, he could see better things for Magdalena as her blindness served only as an asset in this line of work. Those who took pity on her may not be so kind once they realize the potential destruction her presence in their group could cause.

In absence of the tornado, he found himself more freely able to move around the cave system. Though the Gorge was hardly ever directly effected by it, it could create a tunneling wind effect that would knock one to the sides. As he wasn't searching for anyone in particular, he didn't try to find Magdalena and instead was only notified of her appearance as her innocent voice echoed out towards him. It was distressed, concerned about something he couldn't see himself but it was becoming desperate with every cry. There was another feeling, he had yet to be exposed to Nemesis enough to pick that this was her crystal sending out such feelings. But it signified a chrysalis and he did wonder whether or not Magdalena's desperation was to wake the entrapped creature.

Quick to make his move, he bounded through the winding caverns with little knowledge of where he was actually going. Unlike the borzoi he didn't need to rely on the wind pull for total navigation but it was useful when getting a sense of direction for this place. Ears straining for any more indication of her whereabouts, he rounded the corner of a main tunnel and paused. She had stopped talking, but the pull of the chrysalis had definitely increased and he slipped through a side cavern and was confronted with the site of the girl hunched next to a significantly large chrysalis.

Not sure what to take in first, he looked over the large size of the chrysalis and along with the colour, he did wonder if it was another rhino. Did same species have similar coloured crystals? X didn't but he wasn't your normal fox. As cold hearted as Louie was, he did feel himself pulled towards the babe to try and comfort her but he kept rigid. "Magdalena," always formal with everyone except Diamondfang, he continued, "Where were you? Why are you crying?" Attempting to keep his tone as monotone and neutral as possible, his gaze was firm, showing no sign that he for once was having normal empathetic feelings towards someone.

Fleur panted, ears pinned back, short white coat thick with sweat, as she trotted after Diamondfang dutifully. Her locked jaw was open as far as it could go, straining to catch enough air to keep up with the mongoose, who seemed to have either grown wings or found some boost of energy, considering just how fast she was scurrying along. The skunk, still young and easy to wear out, travelled on nevertheless, ignoring the aching of her lungs with a grunt, not bothering to ask if they were near their destination; after all, if Diamondfang wanted her to know, the Queen would tell her.

Sure enough, they finally slowed in a noisy, dry room full of wind, the air buffeting Fleur's tail and coat. Squinting, the skunk made to continue on - but was promptly stopped by a raised paw, sitting down and trying to get her breathing back under control, silently thankful for the break. At the Queen's praise, the tiny ball of fluff grinned, pearly pink teeth shining in the dim light of Monoceros. Her ears pitched forward at the rest of the mongoose's words, trying to commit the phrases to memory. Finis originae pende. The end depends on the beginning. It was an easy enough task, and so Fleur nodded, blinking deep red eyes at her mentor in acknowledgement.

And with that, Diamondfang was on the move once more, and her loyal protege hurried to follow, sucking in whistling breaths through clenched fangs. At the sight of a gigantic pit, Fleur unconciously slowed, trying to figure out the best way down. The Queen simply used her shiny trinkets to peruse the gorge, but the skunk wasn't equipped as such, and made her way down slowly and awkwardly, at times tripping and scrambling not to fall down, down, down into the depths below. Still, she continued on. It might be seen as stubbornness, or pig-headedness, but to Fleur, it was all pride - and the need to prove herself as capable to her mentor, of course.

Finally, Fleur reached the bottom, hustling over to the gathered Gembounds, staying beside and slightly behind Diamondfang herself, eyeing the unknown beasts warily. Her red gaze wandered to the chrysalis soon enough, and she hummed, whiskers twitching. "Fang? There's. An egg." A bit of an obvious statement, but the little beasty had only ever seen her own chrysalis and the remnants of Florence's. The white thing guarding it seemed upset, though - perhaps whatever was growing inside was trapped, unable to escape the rock?

Query put out into the open, Fleur sat back on her haunches, rotating her jaw absently. The two new Gembounds, who must have been the Merrymen friends Diamondfang had mentioned, smelled... familiar. It was strange, as she was quite sure she'd never met them before, but they held an odor similar to her own; a faint sickness, bubbling deep within. It made the skunk relax a bit, though she kept her eyes wide and her ears flicked forward, waiting for further instructions from her mentor.