ORIGIN - I'm a Dirt Person

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Akshayaa was sleeping still when her chrysalis decided it was time to bust open with a loud cracking noise that scared the shit out of her immediately. Every short little black hair on her rat-like body stood on end and she made a loud shriek – the kind that her species was known for, the kind that had given her the name “devil.” It echoed loudly in the room as the emerald chrysalis continued to crack open. It split cleanly in two, in fact, without her ever realizing that she had been instinctively helping it along by pushing against the seams that let in light. And then she was sprawled on her back, lying inside one of the halves of her egg-shaped cocoon as it rocked slightly.

She attempted to right herself, but only succeeded in causing the chrysalis-half to rock some more. She let out a noise of pure frustration, wiggling her body around uselessly, trying to get to her paws. It didn’t work. Instead, she had worked up so much energy that a spell was released. Now her chrysalis was really rocking, and she had no idea why! She didn’t realize she had released a spell – a spell that caused the ground to shake. She squeezed her eyes shut, whimpering now in fear, trying to figure out what was going on! And then… the ground stopped shaking. And the egg stopped shaking. And before she could sit there and pout anymore she scrambled up and tried to run away—

Her face slammed into the ground from her short fall to the grass below. Nothing was broken, and she wasn’t bleeding, but she was a newborn, and everything was so confusing and she just wanted to hide and sleep! She let out another loud scream, much like a baby crying, buried her face under paws and cried. (Except there weren’t any tears because animals don’t cry water like we do).

Eridanus. Oh, how he hated this place, with its cheery rays of sunlight, the soft rustle of wind through the trees, the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot. It all made him vaguely nauseated, feet tingling and feathers puffing up, unsettled. The turaco had made himself a sort of promise not to come back to the forest, but it was the only place in this damnable cave that seemed to have actual food suitable for one of his kind to eat, and so begrudgingly the prince had returned, gut growling and muttering under his breath. "Absolutely unbefitting of royalty," Adeyemi murmured, glancing back over a bobbing shoulder to check that Willow was still traveling with him.

"It cannot be far now," he called back, stopping to peer about, in search of the bright colors that signalled berries or fruit. "I am quite sure I remember there being something edible in this place." And then, the bird just about keeled over, jumping in shock as a crack rang through the air, followed by a scream. "What in the bloody hell was that?"

Frightened, it took a few moments of panting - and rather embarrassing hopping about, trying to shake off the nerves - for Adeyemi to recover, turning to face the source of the noise and shooting his friend a glance, making sure she was alright. "I suppose we should check that out, as they say, yes?" With that, he was off, waddling towards the noise with an extra-fluffed-up crest.

Another scream brought him closer to the source, and finally the bird popped his head out from behind a bush, eyeing what appeared to be a... chrysalis? It had to be; much like his own, egg-shaped and shiny, and just before it lay what had to have been its occupant. Adeyemi hesitated, wary; he wasn't much for companionship, especially not that of children, but he felt some modicum of pity for the thing. It was screeching and crying, obviously upset, and so the chick hopped closer, stopping just a bit away, leaning forward to coo softly, trying to calm it down. "It is alright, little one. Are you harmed?"

He turned to glance about at the forest, before turning back to the newborn with an amused huff. "Other than being born in this horrible place, I mean to say."

@Willow

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The owl had stopped for.. snacks. She trotted to her companion with her head tilted back, swallowing an entire dead mouse down her gullet. Willow shook her head somewhat as she slowed down to walk next to Adeyemi. She sighed.

The bird had began to speak (or rather complain about her companions dietary decisions) when the cracking and screaming sounded through the air. Startled, the owl instinctively took to the air, hovering about a foot above Adeyemi. She took a moment to find her voice. "Very well..."

She followed Adeyemi through the air, until spotting the broken chrysalis and the crying creature lying before it. She shifted slightly, and then landed next to it. She cooed very quietly, carefully nudging the Devil's shoulder.

She shot a glance at Adeyemi with a gentle sigh at his final words, though was quiet.

@Akshayaa

Akshayaa sobbed and sobbed like the pathetic newborn she was until she heard voices nearby. And being so tiny and young, instead of finding comfort in the two creatures who were suddenly there, in front of her, and one had even nudged her, she was terrified! She jerked away from the owl’s touch, getting to her paws as quickly as she could and tripping over herself as she moved backwards until her butt pressed against one half of her chrysalis. She didn’t know how to talk yet, so their words were meaningless to her. The smaller one with the brighter colors seemed to have an awful lot to say, but to her it was all gibberish.

The one who had touched her was silent, and now so was the other. They both sort of looked at her as though expecting something. She had no idea what they wanted, and with no way to ask, she did the only thing she could think of. She let out a wordless noise. It wasn’t a scream, and it wasn’t very loud. It was just… a noise. A sort of frightened, sort of curious noise. She was a baby. What did they want from her? A sonnet?

@Adeyemi

Adeyemi stumbled back from the child, wincing at its continued yelping, completely unprepared for the response. After all, the only other newborn he'd met was the little foal, who had been so curious, so open to the world. This... loud ball of fluff was quite the opposite. Cocking his head, the prince hopped forward a bit, either ignoring or ignorant of the youngster's discomfort. "Do you suppose it is broken, Willow?" The tone was even and true, though one could see the spark of sarcasm in the turaco's eyes as he turned to click his beak at the owlet.

Still, peering at the newborn, it didn't look hurt, just... well. Screaming. Loudly. When the little thing finally stopped with a soft noise, Adeyemi let out a peep of relief. "Ah, sweet relief," he murmured, leaning his head a bit closer, but still farther away from the little Gembound as he had been. Tilting his head to and fro, he finally shrugged, rustling his wings, sitting back and simply watching the child. "Perhaps it is hungry?"

His stomach agreed with a growl, and the prince's chest feathers fluffed up a bit at the sound. Or perhaps it is just weak, Adeyemi thought, eyes roving the little one appraisingly. It didn't appear weak, now, all claws and fangs, but looks could be deceiving - as the cub in Cetus had shown him.

@Willow

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Willow glanced at Adeyemi with vague dissapointment practically written on her forehead, before she looked back at the newborn with a sigh. "I assume so. Would you like to bet on what it eats?" the owl said as she turned and began wandering off. "Please keep an eye on it."

She took off without another word into wholly soundless flight. Seconds later, two mangoes were dropped off, one near Adeyemi and another near the hatchling. Fruit was easy to collect, especially in Eridanus. But, if the creature had smiliar tastes to the owl it would have absolutely no interest in fruits, and she would have to hunt.

So, she did. She flew around until she found a mouse running across a clearing in the forest. She swooped down and, with both talons, simply grabbed it in both claws. She made her way back to where Adeyemi and the newborn where, where she dumped the dead and still-bleeding mouse in front of them.

Willow landed once more with a sigh, moving to preen her wing feathers as she waited for the creature to decide what it wanted to eat.

@Akshayaa

When the tiny bird hopped towards her, Akshayaa pressed her little body into the chrysalis some more, protesting with another loud scream. But then he turned away from her talking, to his friend. Eventually, she realized that neither of them had tried to hurt her yet. Maybe they weren’t dangerous. Maybe they were just curious. How could she know? Friend or foe, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t really in the best of moods. She gave a kind of growling hiss, and one of them took off into the sky. She stared at the flying thing in shock, having not expected that at all. Things could fly? Could she fly? She tried to flap invisible wings but nothing happened. That was when the jealousy set in.

So there were things that could fly and she couldn’t fly. That wasn’t fair! She gave another hiss as the big flying thing came back, and yelped as two green-orange things dropped to the ground in front of her. She hid her eyes under her rat-like paws for a few seconds, shaking in fear, until she finally realized that neither of the round things had hurt her, and she looked at them. They smelled good. She sniffed the one closer to her, at this point ignoring the small colorful bird who was still next to her. Her stomach growled loudly.

Without really thinking, she sank her teeth into the juicy pulp of the fruit, slurping at the liquid inside. She quickly dislodged her teeth, however, finding the skin to be very bitter. She growled at it for a time, unsure of what to do now. How to get around the skin…? And suddenly something else was dropped right in front of her face. She yowled up at the big-faced bird as it landed, annoyed. Couldn’t it drop its treasures a bit farther away from her snout?

A new smell bombarded her nose, and she quickly forgot the sweet-bitter fruit and began munching and tearing into the mouse. It was a sloppy business that got blood all over her, and she didn’t really like the bones getting in the way. But she was starving and at least this food wasn’t bitter.

@Adeyemi

Adeyemi huffed, turning to protest his position as 'the one to keep an eye on it,' but Willow took off immediately after, leaving the tiny, self-entitled turaco to stew. Grumbling under his breath, the prince turned back to the child, eyeing it with a modicum of distaste, rather bored with the whole affair now that he hadn't gotten immediate attention. Lost in his own admittedly shallow thoughts, he jumped when a meal simply plopped down to the ground next to him, eyeing it for a moment before glancing up to Willow with a grateful coo.

He pecked at it, gripping the fruit with one foot, claws sinking into soft flesh, beak tearing away the bitter skin to scoop up the sweet orange meat hidden inside. True to his word, Adeyemi did make some effort to keep one eye on the newborn, clucking in amusement at its overreactions to... well. Everything. It might not be as interesting as the foal, who had practically fallen over herself to meet the prince, but it was certainly a new sort of experience for the bird. "Our theory is proven," he mumbled to Willow between bites of mango, wincing as the little ball of fluff ravaged the offered mouse.

"Although I still don't see the appeal of moving food. So much effort, for such a little thing." Apparently, Adeyemi had no notion of different Gembounds needing to eat different things - but then again, he had no notion of many things. "It is... cute," he offered at length, grooming away the bits of fruit stuck to his feet. "Brutish. Powerful. I like it," the turaco added, eyeing the tiny creature with a new gleam in his eye. Considering he held strength above everything, even having feathers or fire, it was great praise from the self-proclaimed royal.

@Willow

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The owl appeared far less impressed than her much-brighter companion. Her gaze was instead locked on the mouse as it was eaten. "Indeed," she said simply, sighing fluffing herself up.

"What do you think it is, then?" the soft-spoken voice came abruptly after a few moments of silence. The owl treaded over to Adeyemi, nestling down next to him. "It may be a smaller version of the white dog in Polaris."

She looked back at the ravenous creature. "And less white," she added more quietly.

@Akshayaa

Akshayaa ignored the chatter going on near her, still unaware that the noises the two creatures were making were words that meant things. She did, however, pay attention to the way the bird gripped the sweet-bitter fruit with his talons and ripped the skin away to expose the orange pulp beneath. She eyed him as he dug into his own mango, and then quickly forgot the rat she had already finished eating and grabbed her own fruit between her front paws. She dug her teeth into the skin and tore a chunk out, eyes gleaming as she saw the sweet, sweet nectar beneath. She buried her snout into the pulp and slurp-chewed it up greedily.

She spent the next few minutes tearing off chunks of gross bitter mango skin and devouring the sweet stuff inside, until her belly was nice and full and she was sleepy, and forgot that there were others near her. She curled into a ball beside the dead rat and the decimated fruit and was getting to ready to nod off. Being born and then eating a big meal sure was tiring. She let out a happy sigh, stretching out a little, and then curled back around herself and closed her eyes…

@Adeyemi

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