ORIGIN - A Hunter's Moon

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Booker's ears twitched at the question, turning to glance at Winter, trying to think of a way to explain his bond without it sounding too outlandish. "Well, I'm never alone a lil more lit-err-all-ee," he explained sheepishly, raising a paw to tap at his temple. "Y'see, my brother, Baratheon, is a big ol' dragon. He and I, we're bonded. He's my Dragon, and I'm 'is Rider," the scribe went on, grinning at the thought. The chain of bright warm light that connected he and his brother was truly his meaning for life, his crutch, his sword and shield.

"Oh, psh," Booker mumbled at her thanks, looking away, cheeks burning. It wasn't often that his teachings were that appreciated - in fact, the last to treat him this way was Delphine which... well. It was better to block that little memory out, for both he and Snow's sakes. "'s my pleasure, kiddo. You'll do great, promise. Most of the stuff I learned, I learned in-stink-shoo-all-ee." He shrugged, tail twitching. "That's another thing I'm hopin' to learn. Why we know some stuff as soon as we hatch, when we haveta learn the rest."

The numbat looked pleased as punch by the pup's continued questions - and indeed, it had been much too long from his last opportunity to truly teach, to help someone, rather than hurt them. "'m sure you'll find your pur-pose, Winter. We all will. It took me two cycles to find mine, and I might even find more! We're all so in-tri-cut, with so many stretchin' branches of life, and so many roles ta fill. It's amazin'!" Eye sparkling at just the thought of such wonder, it took Booker a moment to respond to the rest of the pup's words. "Oh, yes, o' course! You can help me all ya want, lil one," he assured, only noticing the old nickname for Delphine after it was already spoken, disappearing into the air.

Shaking off the thought, he gave Winter an honest smile, gesturing to the carvings, and then to the stack of paper-thin bark pieces leaned against the wall itself. He'd dragged them into location, carrying them on his back, and now picked one up, holding it in front of himself. "What I'm gonna do is try ta find every different marking, and copy 'em all down. Then I'm gonna see if I can try ta make sense of 'em!" Trying to illustrate his point, Booker tapped one of the symbols, then began to scratch it into the bark with a needle-point claw, shaking the bark free of shavings when it was done. "Like that!" Indeed, a single symbol had been "drawn" onto the paper-like substance, a bit wavery but close enough.

Winter wagged her tail as she listened to Booker talk about how he had a brother that was a big old dragon and how they were bonded to each other. She had only met a dragon once and that dragon was mean to her an another gembound. "He sounds nice. Maybe I could meets him somes day, Booker." she said.

The pup sat down as Booker talked about he learned things then about the symbols. He was happy to let her help but what was she supposed to do? "So whats do I do, Booker? Ish there anythings I cans do for yous?" she asked.

The albino pup watched the little creature draw on a piece of tree bark and she saw that it was the same symbol on the wall. Winter continued to wonder what her purpose to being created and then it hit her. I am to help other gembounds with things maybe or maybe I will be a protector to them. she thought.

"You ares so talented, Booker. I wants to learn stuff like that and manys other things. I want yous as my mentor likes gembound." she said. Though her tail was small she wagged it again. It would grow longer as she grew. Her fur would become a brighter white as she grew too. She shook her white fur free of dust and dirt then she looked at Booker again.

Booker nodded to the suggestion, tapping the "paper" absently, thinking of his brother with a soft smile. "He's very nice," he finally mumbled, glancing away so as not to see Delphine in her place. "You can ab-so-lute-ly meet 'im." The pup's next words managed to shake him out of the funk, and the tiny numbat turned with a brighter grin, blushing once again. "Well, ah don't know if I'm talon-ted, per say. But thank ya, kiddo," the scribe replied. "It'd be an 'onor to be your mentor." The words were calm, in the way the truth almost always was.

"We can work on the symbols when-ev-err. They ain't goin' nowhere. You come first. Ya hungry, thirsty, or tired, Winter?" The items were listed off, as a doctor was wont to do - or a rather bedraggled scribe who attempted to mimic a healer. Booker shuffled a bit closer to the pup, careful to keep his movements slow and steady, before trotting in a circle around her, ending up sitting directly in front of her with a nod. "Growin' Gemlin's need their new-tree-ents, y'know!" He added in a cheeky grin for comedic effect, but still found himself agitated by worry. Why had no-one helped a newborn Gembound before this? Could it really be the way she looked? It was a strange concept to the numbat, who had never truly cared about the appearance of, well, anyone or anything - as long as it didn't try to eat him, of course.

Winter listened carefully to the little numbat talk about meeting his friend and she remembered making friends with two gembounds that were the same age as her but a few days younger than her. "I have friends too...a tiger named Clara and a caribou named Rose. They are only a few days younger than me. They are waiting for me in hiding a few feet from here. Maybe we can go and get them?" she asked.

The young gembound knew that they were probably worried about her and scared. She wondered if the little gembounds would want to meet Booker. "I am hungry and thirsty and so are my friends. May we go and get them?" she asked. She knew that they had to be hungry too by now, Clara could easily eat Rose. Winter looked over at the direction she came and whined.

Booker listened, eye widening at the mention of the pup's hidden friends. A quick glance around revealed nothing, but by now he'd grown used to being snuck up on. Shrugging with a tiny, sheepish grin, the numbat nodded, scratching at his cheek in a show of mostly real relaxation. "Sure we can! The more the merrier, kiddo. There's plenty o' food an' water in Eridanus for all of ya." Turning to stare in the direction Winter had whined, the scribe waved a paw, beckoning her friends towards them.

"'s alright, lil ones! I won't bite." Turning to Winter, he chuckled, whiskers twitching. "Clara n' Rose, hm? Don't think I've ever met a tie-ger or a care... care-ee-boo? Before," Booker pondered, humming under his breath. "But every day's a good day ta learn! We'll all head on home, get some grub in ya," he stated with a firm nod, trying to juggle friendliness with at least some attempt at mentoring.

Still, it bothered him a bit - not noticing the rest of the Gemlings, that is. Was his sense of self-awareness that muddied? Wincing internally, Booker made a promise to himself not to be caught off guard again.

Of course, promises aren't always fulfilled.

@Winter Snow

Winter looked at Booker and smiled. She had forgotten that she had recently acquired a few more baby gembounds and sighed. "I forgot about a few others that we have taken in. Its a small ground where we each protect one another. They would like you." she said. Her tail wagged and she smiled. Winter was ecstatic that Booker was gonna let the group hang out with him for a bit. They would get to eat and drink. They would get to feel safer than just where they originally were. "I can go and get them...they arent that far from here. I would be able to find your scent plus they trust me more right now. Once you get to meet them they will warm up to you." she said. The gembound sat down and waited for her friends answer. The little pup was happy to have met Booker and her group of friends or she would have been alone for all of her life. Her blue gem glowed some but then went out. The pup wondered what it was like to have parents to be created by but that didnt matter to her. Winter Snow was just as happy as can be so being created by parents or not didnt bother Winter anymore.

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