It's been a quiet first few months of life for Tourmaline. A fair amount of caution and trepidation had kept her from accosting the gembounds she'd come across. Despite all her curiosity, she found herself fearing the worst.
Today (if today is even a thing in a cave) she finds herself exploring the fern covered gulleys of Eridanus (not that she knows the name). Sniffing the bones jutting out of the peat, she finds herself aware that many have likely walked this path before.
Maybe someone else walks it today. Perhaps she can find someone else here?
She grabs at her self mentally, reaching inside for the magic in her crystal. She's only done this a few times before, using it to reach out for others like her.
She calls out as she does, a "Hello?" that is muted by the ferns.
The muted greeting is enough to summon forth another gembound lurking around in the ferns. A leopard cub steps out, tail flicking as he observes the other feline.
He’s silent for a moment, simply looking at her with his purple eyes, an odd look to the gaze. It’s long enough of a stare to perhaps begin to feel unnerving.
Then, rather suddenly, a small rumbling purr leaves the younger gembound.
“Hello,” He repeats back, warmth clear in his tone.
But he doesn’t say anything further beyond that, going back to watching and waiting, though his gaze has cleared of the previous oddity, replaced by a friendliness that could make one wonder if they had imagined the previous distance.
@Tourmaline
Hmmm... nothing. Nothing seems to show itself when she reached out with her magic.
But she wasn't alone. She jumps a little when Bacchus makes his presence known as he calls back. Turning in place, she looks at him, taking him in before she makes her next move.
After a pause, she speaks again, caution in her voice, "Oh, hello. You snuck up on me. I thought I was alone."
@Bacchus
“Alone,” The leopard cub repeats the word back at the other feline, a thoughtful look in the purple gaze.
“No, not alone,” The young gembound gave another soft rumble of a purr. He glanced around.
“Never alone in this place,” He corrected warmly.
“The plants are always here,” He adds in a fond tone, clarifying his prior statement. While he did not have the magic to manipulate plants yet or anything like that, the cub felt an innate connection to all the flora that decorated this landscape.
“But- I am here too, yes,” The leopard’s voice is smooth, a higher pitch than it will eventually be with him being a young child still, but there’s a hint of future eloquence to the way he speaks.
His head tilts slightly, considering Tourmaline again.
“Did you want to be alone?” He wondered, words full of curiosity.
@Tourmaline
"Never alone..." she repeats, looking around. There's tons of life, sure, plants blanket every inch of the surroundings. And in fact this is what exactly Bacchus points. And surely, with rooms so massive, there are people like her and him not far from here.
"That makes two of us, then," she agrees, nodding along. Her golden eyes dart from the plants to Bacchus, and she mirrors his head tilt.
Tourmaline thinks for a moment, before trying, "I think... I think I'm tired of being alone."
((
@Bacchus ))
The cub is patient as he awaits the grown feline’s answer. She does not disappoint, though it takes her a moment of thought. He rumbles a small, comforting purr of a noise at her response.
“You do not have to be,” The young leopard informs her.
“Alone, that is,” He adds to clarify.
“I always welcome company,” He tells her warmly.
“You could travel with me,” The cub explains further.
“Either of us could wander or not wander as we please within a cave, but we would always meet up again. If you would be interested in such.”
There is something he has forgotten, he realizes.
“My name is Bacchus,” The leopard introduces himself, the name an innate part of him. As young as he is, for all his natural eloquence, there are details he forgets in conversation.
"What should I call you?"
@Tourmaline
Company. She thinks back to the one that had stumbled across her hatching. Asteri, was it? I wonder if I'll see him again.
"Traveling would be nice. There are so many places to see here," she notes. Just here in the mosses and ferns was so different from Polaris. And that was ignoring the chambers between the two. "You want to pick somewhere we could meet up again?" she asks, tilting her head slightly. Would she be able to find whatever he suggested?
She nods as he gives his name. "Bacchus," she tries, committing it to memory. "Bacchus. I am Tourmaline. It's nice to meet you."
((
@Bacchus ))
The other feline agrees easily to his suggestion, much to the leopard cub’s delight. He considers her question thoughtfully, before finding an easy answer.
“For now, if we separate, we could always meet up here once more,” Bacchus replies.
“I would like to stay in this cave for at least a few days longer- I have only just arrived, and the plant life is…” He tries to search for a fitting word, pausing for a moment to search through the vocabulary in his mind.
“Awe-some,” He decides at last.
The way the word is spoken, it is not the casual usage of the word, but rather a more formal form. Awe-some, inspiring awe. To see this many plants is simply
enthralling to the young leopard.
Another small rumbling purr as the older cat introduces herself.
“A pleasure to meet you, as well, Tourmaline.”
“Have you been in this cave long?” Bacchus inquires.
@Tourmaline
"Here..," she echoes, taking a look around. "I can do that."
The room is nice, and the earthy smell sets Tourmaline's nerves at ease. She can understand why Bacchus would like to stay. She wouldn't mind spending time here either. "It feels like home... doesn't it?" She doesn't exactly feel the same connection to the plants, but for her, it's to the damp soil and crags. Easier to find in a cave, but each room is different, she's found.
Time. It's hard to measure time. She looks for the words, and it takes her time to find them. She's not sure how she knows them, but she supposes it's like how she knows her name - something about magic, about being. "About... 5 cycles. Almost 6. It's all I've ever known."
((
@Bacchus ))
"Home..." Bacchus tests the word, thoughtfulness on his features.
"It is comfortable," He seems to agree, though the word home doesn't quite click for the young gembound just yet. Still, he enjoys the atmosphere here. His natural
rapport with plant life encourages his fondness of this cave.
Of the two caves he's seen, this place is undoubtedly his favorite. He doubts he'll ever find a cave filled with as much flora as this one, so he's certain that this will remain his favored one. Even when he leaves to continue his explorations, he is certain he will make sure to return here often.
His purple eyes widen as Tourmaline states her time spent in this cave. The cub knows what a cycle is innately, but it is hard to fathom such a stretch of time when he's only been emerged for a number of days.
"That is a long time," He blurts out, sounding much more like the child he is, though still no words are joined together as another might do when speaking casually.
"You have never been to another cave?" He tries to clarify, the idea of staying still when there was so much to see difficult to grasp as the length of time. The plants were lovely here, but nevertheless his wanderlust persisted.
"Have you seen no one else in all that time?" Bacchus questions with clear curiosity, as the thought occurs to him.
@Tourmaline