ORIGIN

In the undergrowth of the forest, something was cradled between tree roots.

A rock perhaps? A growth? It was a miniscule little thing, a chrysalis!

He was within, listening. He had been listening for a while, echoes that were muted by his shell. Shadows danced sometimes on their enclosure. They felt heavy, sleepy. Dreaming. Comfortable. He wouldn't leave. It was only more soft darkness out there. Nothing mo-

No. No no. That wasn't right. His snug space was pressing against him! Fighting him. Challenging him!

Bite! Bite! Bite! He snapped ineffectively at his prison. They would win! Rage filled their little body as they jerked their neck, head bumping hard into his challenger.

CRACK!

Really it could be mistaken for a crunching leaf, but it shook him to his core. Panic flooded him, too many sensations rushing in at once. Cold air, full of smells he didn't know existed filled his lungs with a sharp pain. The light, although dim in the undergrowth, felt blinding for little eyes used to the dark. Ears still ringing, they pressed against the interior of the chrysalis. Eep! Scary!

They had won too hard, the shell couldn't hold anymore and cracked once again. The anole barely had time to process what had happened before the contents of his enemy spilled out, including him! Eyes wide, he felt the world spin as he rolled off the side of the tree root and bounced down to the leaf litter.

Bump. Oof! Bump. Owie! Bump. Gah! Splat.

They landed with a smack, legs splayed out on a leaf. He stayed that way for a moment, breathing hard. He angrily observed the colors, shapes, thingies around him. This was too new. Huff! He would close his eyes and pretend he was still in cozy-egg. That's what he thought it was, at least. They would challenge the color-shapes around them once they felt like it!

Some ways away, another stone had swelled with life; A robin blue opal to the other's blazing orange. Both shined with rainbow iridescence cut from the same gem - both were nestled within the dim and dappled safety of the forest's shelter. Fire, water - very poetic, equally meaningless. Children are children.

The refractions danced as the shell came apart, spilling its fluids as the pressure became too much to bear. The creature it contained was left wet, defenseless - cold. A dog's shake got most of the excess off, but the rest clung stubbornly to each crevice. Never mind that, because first and foremost, she was hungry.

She gnawed at a shard of her own chrysalis, old instincts stirred by her awakening - thankfully its edges were rounded. Still, it was inedible - she stood to two feet, unsatisfied, searching. Magic sparked in reaction, gathering around ears unseen. she heard the beating of a great rhythm, her own heart, and others from all around: Different sounds, different paces...

Difference. She liked that.

But one was closer, faster. Her nubs twitched and she toddled her way to its source. She almost failed to make out the little green shape on the leaf, even with the benefit of their heart ringing in her ears. Her growling stomach was forgotten in the wonder she felt, at that little thing - the way it swelled and shrunk and beat to his own rhythm."OOOooo." She cooed, with an arm outstretched.

@Lime

He couldn't stay annoyed at his surroundings for long. At first, they lay there dreaming of curling up in the dark, ignoring the existence of anything outside of that world. Then, the more they thought about cozy-egg, the more he was reminded of it's untimely betrayal. Like he ever wanted to stay in there anyways! He pushed his thoughts away, opening his eyes to reexamine exactly what he had seen.

Color-shapes was the only way he knew how to describe it, they didn't seem nearly as threatening now. Certainly not there to fight him, as he had thought when he emerged. They didn't move, no, or if they did it was predictable with the breeze.

He noted them down, forgetting which one they counted, eyes flicking here to there. Greens, browns, talls, shorts, it was all very different. Oh look at that one, moving, pale, round...moving too much. Right for him.

Too much! Too much! Run! He felt frozen, gripping the leaf as she drew closer. Confusion clouded their mind as she made..noise? No time to think. This was no color-shape at all! This was a...

Aha! Seeing her arm heading toward him, they understood completely now. A challenger! His attitude changed completely, puffing himself up as he faced this weakling face on. They had won before, this would be simple. Without even noticing he began to do a sort of push up motion, he felt scary. Big! He was big! He had zero understanding of how much larger she was than him, he was completely focused on winning. Win! Win!

They knew they certainly didn't want her any closer than she was getting. Too far for biting! For wrestling! He bounced to the tip of the leaf. They'd push her over! He focused, the most he had even done in his life so far. Push! Shove! Get away! A minuscule gust formed, barely a swat against Luna's arm. It felt more playful than anything, just enough to get her away from him.

@Luna

She blinked at them - white eyelashes falling over a caramel brown with an innocent romance. She was so fascinated by this little miracle, the only one within her reach - his attack, though not entirely unexpected, was not anticipated (She was, after all, just a little guy).

She felt the gust rustle through the fur on her limb, the signals traveling swiftly to her brain - her nubs quivered, a reflex without a use (yet). "Waaaahh!" She exclaimed excitedly, shaking the afflicted hand, as if the magic had taken to it like the fluids of chrysalis. She was not hurt, nor offended - she hadn't even recognised the act as intimidation.

She reached out the same hand to them, hoping to provoke the reaction again.

@Lime

Bobbing his tiny head, he watched as his challenger screamed in terror. She was shaking from how powerful his attack was! A little, maybe 2 millimeter long dewlap stuck out from their neck, attempting to intimidate her further. It was working! He would scare this thingy back off between talls and greens and he would be the proud victor.

No! Don't come back! She was reaching for him again, a round two. Pushing her over with such incredibly force hadn't worked. New tactics, new tactics! Something he hadn't done before.

She made noise frequently, it had confused him. It must've been a battle noise, meant to scare him or catch him off guard. Yes, he would let out a fierce roar to confuse his opponent and then throw her with another powerful gust of wind.

Still doing pushups, he breathed in as much as he could hold, opening his mouth and emitting a terrible cry.

"Eeee!"

It was...wow. That was strained. They had never made a mouth-noise before. To him it felt ground shaking, powerful, terrifying!

"Ee! Ee! Ee! Ee! Ee!" He chirped, bouncing with excitement at his newfound weapon. Now THIS would surely work!

Time to knock her down. He focused on what he had done before, this time redirecting the air to her face. A slightly stronger gust this time, like a brief fan, pushed against her. Shove! SHOVE!!

@Luna

Take two - the movement had been near identical to the previous, if slower this time. She didn't want to scare this wonderful thing away, did she? But already, something different had occurred. A strange little flap, the hue of the gemstone sprouting from their tiny spine. And he made noises! She liked noises. Or maybe just those ones, and the rustling of tree on tree and grass dancing in wind and life beating as one and many at the same time and the sound of her own heart -

She giggled, the sound only a few frequencies down from the lizard's squeaking. Such a silly creature, such a silly noise - such a silly gust of wind, slamming into her face and sending her little body backward with an "EEP!" Ok, new plan.

She got up, spitting grass from her mouth and brushing it off her knees, green and brown smears on what had begun as white and caramel. She squinted at the opponent. She decided that she had not enjoyed being knocked down into the dirt. "Rude." She asserted, before dropping to all sixes. She reached one final arm out, underneath the anole rather than in front or above. That way it couldn't reach her with the wind, right? Maybe something else could happen.

@Lime

They beamed with pride as she was thrown away. He was champion! He continued to bob, even finding this situation a bit...funny. They smiled mischievously as they watched her pick herself back up. Will she come back to be defeated again?

He froze when he heard her speak, the gears in his little brain halting. That word meant something, he could feel an understanding. At least buried deep down, trying their hardest to remember what 'rude' meant. They were so detached from everything around them, they didn't recognize Luna's hand move in underneath him.

They blinked a few times to pull themselves back to reality, noting that Luna had gotten awfully close. And a convenient color-shape had manifested itself in front of him! How nice. He strode right onto Luna's arm, a sort of bridge as he stared up at her. He understood now, at least he thought he did, and he took a deep breath to make more noise.

"...Ruh...rooo...rood? Rood?" He questioned, as though he couldn't possibly have been rude. His speaking abilities weren't fully developed yet, but they couldn't tell the difference. He was speaking words just like the thingy was, maybe they could understand each other better. It would be much funnier to throw her again though...

@Luna

The slower approach was rewarded - not with another impolite gust of wind, but the feeling of little feet skittering onto her limb. She trilled and giggled at the sensation, but made sure not to shake the lizard too much, lest history repeated itself.

He spoke, something she recognised immediately, despite her youth. Communication - something different than the indignant squeaking of before. Her little mind sought a synonym, though her grasp on meaning was fragile enough. "Impolite. Mean." She looked into their eyes sternly.

@Lime