ORIGIN - Like the Dawn

The black opal chrysalis was at home in the room of stars. It's dark surface glimmered with hundreds of prismatic, like a crystalized galaxy. It sat in one of the neater ruined buildings of Orion- much of the rubble had been cleared away by Cyneweard, in the first few anxious days after he'd sparked magicka into the lost gemstones. At first he'd visited the growing chrysalises frequently, but they had been left alone for some time now.

And, as cracks multiplied across the Opal's surface, it seemed like it would hatch alone, too.

Finally the gemstone shatters. The first thing to greet the newborn calf is the unforgiving stone floor as they faceplant into it, limbs splayed like a mosquito that met a windshield. For a long moment they just lie there, stunned, before they slowly shift to sit, leaning against what remains of their chrysalis. Four eyes blink as they look around, simply taking in their surroundings.

@Coilean
Backdated to about a day or so after we never mind Her diligence

Beside the dark opal sat a cheerful, mint green growth of beryl, that had been more than happy to sprout and grow alongside it. The creature inside would've liked to sleep a little while longer, maybe forever (it was just so cozy in there), but his sharper edges disagreed with him.

He felt arms scrape uncomfortable against the barrier, and all of sudden he was awake again. Whatever he was before was a dream he'd never be able to recall.

That was fine.

Though his arms weren't yet strong enough to slice the rock open as he'd planned, he tumbled out all the same, his weight and movement doing the work for him. The fact he wasn't born alone wasn't a shock - some ancient instinct knew that this was the norm. So he'd say hello later.

He crawled to one of the shards of his chrysalis and began to chow down. mmm. nutrience.

@Horizon

He had nearly forgotten about them, in the turmoil of his reawakening. And when he finally did remember he felt nothing but guilt. They were his responsibility, after failing to save one of them from death, and he'd nearly failed them a second time. But this wasn't something he felt prepared for at all. To be a parent, or guardian, or whatever he was to these revived gemstones. Even in ordinary circumstances where he wasn't faced with losing his free-will, he knew nothing about raising a family.

And.. Family... Family was weird to think about, right now. That's what the hivemind called itself, still trying to convince him that its love was real, that their connection was a beautiful unity and not a terrifying uniformity. He could feel it humming in the back of his mind, a little bit fainter now he was farther away from any major nodes. A sadness that he kept rejecting them, but a new joy at the prospect of expanding their 'family' even further. It made him feel sick.

He would have to find someone to look out for them, if the infection ended up consuming him entirely. Maybe Rift? But he wouldn't want them going into Eridanus, as long as it was infested. He'd have to try to find someone else, a group, maybe. And that is, if he isn't too late, again. The chrysalises could've already hatched by now, and he'd have no way of knowing where they went. His stomach churned at the thought of them hatching alone and confused, when he should be there.

As he got close he could hear the sounds of scuffling and see some movement within the building. He could only hope that it was the newly hatched gembound, and not someone scavenging the chrysalis shards. He left his battle-axe leaning against the wall just outside of the ruined building- it didn't seem like something safe to have around children. He slowly, carefully enters the building, trying not to spook the fledglings with his approach.

And.. he's almost a little startled. At how familiar they looked. One of them was a perfect middle ground of himself and the gembound he'd been unable to save. And the other... well...

They looked a lot like him. But with sword arms? And they were eating rocks. He almost intervened before he saw how easily the shards of gemstone shattered between their teeth. Wow.

"Heyyy..." He calls out softly to the pair, crouching down to get a bit more level with them. "Its okay. I'm here now. Are you guys alright?" Neither seemed particularly distressed- just curious and hungry. That was probably a good sign.

He had the vague memory of being born simply knowing his name, but he didn't know if everyone was like that. It was worth asking, at least. "Do you have a name?"

@Horizon

They watch their brother crunching away merrily at rocks and decide that looks like a pretty good time. Or, well, the blue-eyed head does. The other is mostly content to stare up at Orion's sky through gaps in the ruined ceiling. She grabs at one of the smaller shards of black opal and pop it in her mouth, biting down heartily.

OWW!! BLEUGH!!

He spits out the gemshard, full of betrayal. The purple-eye'd one is looking at him now, alarmed and a bit disgruntled. But she doesn't particularly care about the opinion of her conjoined sibling, because she's already trying to work this out. Maybe... only the green ones are good to eat?

The nearest shard of beryl is juuuuust out of arm's reach. Crawling over to it proves to be an ordeal. It is a unique, disorienting feeling to have your body controlled by someone else, and the purple one decides ey is not a fan of it at all, and ey is actually not going anywhere. Blue, unable to wrench control back, decides to rebel by licking the other head's face. And this almost devolves into a wailing, or a slap fight, but just in time they're mutually distracted by the arrival of someone new.

Someone familiar.

Not that either of them truly have memories of their past life, which is probably for the best. But there is an instinctive recognition of how similar their shapes are, and an instinctive trust that he will do them no harm. Too top-heavy and uncoordinated to even attempt standing, they end up crawling forward on all sixes like the world's strangest insect. Cyneweard's question goes unanswered for now, with the pair being far too focused on the simple act of locomotion to provide an answer.

@Coilean

The other infant, sibling, tries to eat a rock and fails, face scrunching up in... Pain! He whines, crawling toward Horizon while using his oversized claws as balance. They meet in the middle, and while the other's distracted, Coilean quickly hoovers up the Beryl it was about to eat, saving them from more suffering.

He turns to the shape looming overhead, blinking up at Cyneweard with big brown eyes. The stone in his mouth crumbles against his metal teeth, and shards of it escape his mouth as he tries to speak.

".. Col... C'leeen." Good enough for a first try.

@Cyneweard

Neither of the two [or.. three? did the two headed one count as two children?] seemed particularly upset at the moment, which was good, because he wasn't entirely sure how to calm a crying kid. He'd figure it out- he'd HAVE to- but it was nice that things were relatively calm, for now.

"Colean?" Its kind of hard to parse the words given that they are being spoken through a mouthful of rocks by someone just learning to speak. Oh, wow, those were his first words. It strikes him now precious and new and fragile this life is, a life that wouldn't exist if not for him. He never really expected to feel this way, ever. He had never even planned to start a family, certainly not alone. It had just been an impulsive decision fueled mainly by guilt. Which. Probably wasn't the most ideal circumstances for an entire living being to be created.

He couldn't help but think how this was doomed to end badly. How he might not even get to see them truly grow up. But he didn't want to dwell on that right now. Just for a day- for a couple hours even- he can welcome them into the world with joy.

"And uh, it's okay if you don't know your name yet. You'll figure it out eventually." The two-headed twins hadn't said anything yet, and he wasn't sure if they hadn't understood the question or were simply uninterested in answering it. They were just crawling towards him with a silent determination. He'd meet them in the middle- moving slowly as to not spook anyone- and carefully guided them into an standing position. They wobble a bit, hanging on tightly to his arm and side with all four of their limbs.

He should probably find them some food. Well, Coilean might be fine- although he wasn't sure if he could only subsist off or rocks. The twins... well, Cyneweard himself is capable of eating most things, but he was pretty sure the gem they'd been revived from had been an herbivore, although that had been a particularly weird-looking cow. Sticking to plants would probably be his best bet, although he wasn't sure WHERE in Orion he could forage, much less what plants would be good to eat.

And he didn't want to leave them alone right now, but going anywhere while they were still uncertain and clumsy on their feet would be difficult. Don't rush things. Let them go at their own pace. It- okay, he didn't really have time. How long did it take for Infection to really set in? Two cycles? Three? But he still had some time. Enough time to let them stretch their limbs and breathe. To let himself breathe.

@Horizon

The familiar-shaped one takes a couple careful steps towards them and gentle hands on their arms and shoulders guide them to a precarious standing position. They're far too top-heavy and wobbly to stand on their own, so they instinctively cling to his side with all four of their arms, both heads craned up awkwardly to stare at him.

The question asked earlier finally sinks in. Name? They both have a vague concept of such. Unfortunately, they try to blurt it out at the exact same time. The result is a babbling cacophony of indecipherable cross-talk. The purple-eye'd one squints disapprovingly at the blue-eye'd one, carefully grabs her snout and repeats "...Ear'hba'. ...Earhba-on-nd." Eir piece said, ey let go of the other's snout.

The blue one, as soon as she's able to speak, shouts "HEY!!" A moment passes, his twin prods them in the cheek. Oh, Right. His name. "'m Skywah'"

@Coilean

He swallows the fresh gravel with a loud, cartoonish gulp, the oversized pebbles lurching down his throat - he really needs to learn to chew his food. He stares blankly at Cyneweard. "Yah."

Its be nice to Horizon day today, it turns out. How lucky! Coilean toddles to his feet, eager to be a part of this celebration. "Erh! Skya!!" Its difficult to talk and walk at the same time.

He flails his arms out as he walks, getting dangerously close to his sibling before, last minute, noticing the way his claws catch the light. He plants the oversized limbs in the dirt to study them, then scrapes the blades together, little ears pinning as the metal shrieks. "Eeegh. "

@Cyneweard @Horizon