ORIGIN

It's dark. Quiet. Peaceful. There's nothing but the ringing of silence in his ears and the gentle swaying of the world. Nothing but his own heartbeat and breath.

Thoughts, emotions, they don't exist here. Not yet, anyway. But they come to him, slowly, piece by piece. There is, first, a feeling. Of calm, of contentment, of soft, sweet comfort. He lives, and he breathes, and finally, finally, he thinks.

Where am I?

Something simple. Something small. And yet... in the grand scheme of things, something important. His first thought. His first, few words - spoken in his head, even as they are. Then, more emotions. Confusion, uncertainty - a little bit of panic. Awareness arises in starts and stops, unfurls new but not pleasant - and in that moment, he hopes for a return to the silence. To the stillness. To the unfeeling void.

But his body's grown too big for the chrysalis that cocoons him, and as his panic grows, and he moves, shifts - he presses against the walls of his confines, which fractures with sharp cracks. And suddenly, it breaks.

Ruptures.

And he free falls.

It's not a long fall, in the long run. But he's small, and the impact against the ground is jarring. For a moment, he shakes, frame shuddering with great big judders. Looks around, with wide, strange eyes, and wonders again - where am I? The air around him feels thick, heavy with humidity, but it's surprisingly chilly. Having never felt the cold before, goosebumps rise along his skin, the fine hairs at the nape of his neck rising. He looks around him, sees glittering grey chunks of stone surrounding his form. Some of them gleam with iridescent greens and blues, and he shuffles forward to peer closer.

They're beautiful. Is this... is this what broke, earlier? These shards of stone? Are they what he was encased in?

It seems likely. But he's... not sure why. It just. Feels right?

Odd. Emotions are... odd.

Looking around once more, he notices that he's in... a cave? But... what exactly is a cave? This? His mind conjures words for each thing he sees - rock, grass, trees, water. But he isn't quite entirely sure what these things are. Water is that, yes, but... how does he know that?

How does he know anything? And what's the extent of his knowledge?

He raises one paw to scratch at his ear - and that's weird, too. Having a body, moving it, seeing it, is weird. New.

His paw is black. He has black nails. They're short and small, but his paws are big, alluding to a larger adult form. He's not sure how he knows that, but he does. He knows something else, too, something that niggles at the back of his brain. His name.

Jude.

Jude. Jude. Jude. He says the word, over and over again, in his head. Then, realizes he has a tongue, has a mouth, and he tries the word aloud, too.

"Jude. Jude. Juuuude."

Speaking is even weirder than moving. He has to make the words, and force the sound out - and it echoes throughout the cave, bounces back to filter through his ears and into his brain. Odd, odd, odd.

Beyond the sound of his own voice, he hears something else. The rushing of water. He looks up, and sees - a grand waterfall. It's gorgeous. He feels a pull to the water, something in his veins crying out for it. He takes one, wobbling step towards it - and falls.

His limbs give out. They're not used to moving, yet, he's not used to moving - and so it really isn't surprising that he only manages all of one step. Still, he can't help but pout, for a moment. He wanted to get to the water.

Along comes - a thing - a someone?

Jude doesn't know. Isn't sure.

But the thing that approaches him is big. So big that the little canine has to bend his neck back to peer at its face. It bears long, draping things that spread from its back - wings. His mind is filled with information he'd not learned, information innately known, but it does not bear the knowledge of what wings do. This, he must learn for himself.

There are many things he will learn, over time.

Like the horrors of the world. The greed of others. Pain, and all that comes with it.

But for now...

For now, he knows nothing of the world. Of the potential others hold. And so he's trusting, curious, as the other bends down. A small, plaintive whine slips from his maw, and he sprawls, forelegs held before him and hindlegs held out behind. Like that, he wiggles, crawling forward - closer. Closer.

Close enough to spy the vertical slit of its pupils. The amethyst of its eyes.

"Are you alright, child?" It asks.

His brain takes a moment to process the new words. To hear them, understand them. Once the meanings of each individual one clicks, he goes over the whole sentence again. It's a question - one asking after him? His health?

He takes a moment to check in with his own body. Nothing hurts, not particularly - there's a slight twinge in his left thigh from holding his legs in this position, but otherwise, he feels good. Great, even. Refreshed, energized, awake.

Confused, sure, and a little hesitant - but now there's someone here. Someone who can answer his questions. Someone who can... lead him to the water?

He yaps out some wordless sound, a short, high yip. Then, realizing the sound meant nothing, he thinks - on the words he wishes to say. They come to him slowly, his mind still slowly processing all of the information it suddenly has.

"Huh - hiiii." He eventually drawls, baby voice soft. Multi-colored eyes look up and up, switching from the stranger's face to the stone ceiling above, to the foamed edges of the waterfall.

"Wuh - water?" He asks hopefully, wiggling his little body once more. The black puff of his wagging tail momentarily grabs his attention from the corner of his eye, and he turns to face it. For a moment, he bares small, sharp teeth at it - unsure, unknowing that it's attached to his own body. Then, he realizes, and lets loose another curious sound.