ORIGIN

It was the sound of being underwater. It was the gentle aquatic in his ears, a quiet resonating dissonance that came from all around. It was ethereal, being alive, but not quite. Not quite ready to meet the world. Not yet complete. It was the echoes of the world, his world, reminding him that he was only thought. For now.

His heart began to beat. Against the cold static of his lonesome existence, it beat, and suddenly it offered warmth to everything around him. The sound was rhythm. It was constant and assured. It was alive, so unlike the hollow humming of this solemn bastille. It came upon him as realization and recognition, the sound, and he struggled against the walls of his confinement. He was alive. He was breathing, he was beating, he was hot. Like fire. Then there was silence.

His back arched and a thunderous crack rippled out from around him. The stone that encased him shattered and waves of heat burst into the clammy air. One by one shards of obsidian clattered to the floor, peeling off of him like shell clinging to the slimy body of a snail. Fingers of mucus trailed along his slick cinnamon fur, pointed tufts of hair swept against his form as if emerging from the thrawls of the ocean itself. But he was not the ocean, he was not its water, nor its waves, nor its salty breezes. He was life. He was the fire that erupted even beneath that. Stretching his muscles he leaned into the air and craned his neck back, parting his jowls to swallow his first mouthful of freedom. He was Leon.

If he had known the lullaby of this quiet chamber would end, the creature would have struggled against life. But within the chrysalis he did not know anything. He was alive but not living. Nurtured by the current that ran through him, he developed unknowingly beside another like him: another creature to be born from the quietness and peacefulness of blissful ignorance. When his heart took its first pump, he shuddered. Electricity tingled about his body but he did not know that, either. Not yet. He still knew nothing of the world he was about to meet.

Consciousness came to him and his mind woke. As his heart practiced beating, neurons began to fire within his brain and he became aware of the quietness that surrounded him. There were dull, muffled sounds and the sound of being underwater. His paws drew in to his chest and he curled into a fetal position, tail tucked; he liked this. He felt so safe and protected, even though he did not know that's what he was feeling. This existence was warm and his heartbeat seemed to thump all around him. Oh yes, he liked this.

A deafening crack startled him and he drew his limbs in even closer. The loud pop of a lightning bolt echoed around his safe little chamber of lullabies and suddenly the only world he was beginning to know came crashing down around him. The shattering of his lightning opal chrysalis was certainly a beautiful sight, but there was nobody yet to see sights. The firstborn of the cave was discovering he could breathe when Rohan was spit from his charged womb and slid a short distance on the floor. It wasn't quite as violent as it felt, but the wolf lay still for a moment in his curled position while he blinked his eye open.

What... was this? He was shivering. Rolling onto his feet, the canine shook loose the rest of his chrysalis pieces and goo before turning to the other Gembound. It was then he realized he could see easily to his left, but had to turn a great deal to see to his right - but could feel his right eye blinking. He didn't understand. He finally looked toward the other, noting that their chrysalis had been made of entirely different stones. The other's was black as a void, where his own had sharp contrasting blues. He gaze wandered back to the other Gembound who seemed to have some of the stone still stuck to his shoulder (or was it a part of him?). Without knowing it, the wolf smiled. He was Rohan.

But now what?

Slowly widening jaws tasted the wet, humid air of the cave. It was... musty. But Leon didn't know anything else. His long salmon tongue rolled out from between his jagged teeth, and for the moment, all he could do was breathe. It was all he know how to do. His eyes, peeling open to reveal glowing orange irises, stared at the dark wall. It was faintly illuminated by the blue glow of nearby crystals, wet walls glistening with moisture. He watched it, stared, his brain knowing nothing beyond the dark wall and the clammy air.

Then thunder and lightning - an explosion of colour, and a creature emerging from a rainbow of cobalt and turquoise. On instinct he jumped and turned his head, watching as another chrysalis, so much like his own, exploded and delivered forth a fetal creature across the floor. Leon watched, empty of emotion, empty of thought, as the wolf rose and looked his way. Then its lips twitched, forming a curious expression. The bear furrowed his brow slightly, movements he didn't even register. They came to him naturally. He tried to mirror the wolf's expression, pulling back his lips, but overshot the strength of his facial muscles and revealed rows upon rows of shiny teeth instead.

For a second, he waited, staring with his still novice-style (and frankly, slightly terrifying) open lipped grin. Then he turned, adjusting his body so it faced the wolf, and placed his front paws back on the ground. He took a tentative step - wobbled - and continued, advancing on the creature. It had a strange smell to it. Not like the cave smell. This smell was warm, alive. He liked it. He had to investigate.

The bear was a little bigger than him, but Rohan did not feel fear. He did not know it. When the other Gembound tried to mimic his smile, Rohan's head tilted and he lifted a brow. Wow, it had big.. teeth! Teeth! Something told him they were teeth. Still though, he didn't understand this expression. He didn't feel threatened by the cinnamon creature yet something about the superior jowls told him to be careful. Rohan let his tail drop and he righted his head, ultimately going with the assumption that the standing bear was just trying to do as Rohan was doing; monkey see, monkey do.

But he didn't know that. Instinct began to fill in a lot of blanks for him and as the bear dropped to all fours, Rohan gave his tail the freedom to move and it started to gently sway back and forth. His ears were straight up and his expression somewhat playful. This was exciting! So exciting he could just.. just.. "Aaah!" he sounded, tongue lolling out of his mouth for a moment. The sound startled him and he closed his mouth quickly, clenching his jaws. His eye had gone wide and his tail tucked, feet coming together. What was that? That was him? His throat vibrated! Why did it do that?

"Whaaaat?" he tried again, literally voicing his thoughts as he discovered speech. Was it innately wired into them? His eyes narrowed and he stared at the bear with surprise still in his eye. "AAaah," he sounded again, enjoying the fact that he could make (far from beautiful) sounds. "AAH," he did it louder this time, which caused an echo. Fear hit him, and he learned it from his own voice; he hunkered down as the sound came back to him on the moist air. Maybe it wasn't so fun. He was starting to miss the muffled gurgling of his chrysalis. Was there someone else here? He didn't want to look behind him.

He noticed the wagging of the wolf's tail. It looked fun, and he tried to mimic that too; excitedly he swayed his hind side back and forth, trying to achieve the same effect. His tiny stub tail wriggled, but mostly it was his rump that shook back and forth. Obviously it wasn't the same thing at all. He glanced over his shoulder to watch his own backside sway before decided that no, he wasn't doing it right. Leon fell still again and looked back at the wolf, narrowing his eyes - then suddenly, noise. Not like the ocean noise of his chrysalis. It was loud and sudden, and it came from the wolf.

Leon's nerves jumped, he gasped and straightened up, staring with wide eyes at the canine. More sounds kept coming from him, it looked like he was doing it on purpose. Taking quick note of his movements, Leon opened his mouth wide. Nothing came out. Not yet at least. Ahhh. He focused on the sound. "AAHHHH!" He suddenly bellowed, startling himself with the volume of his voice. The bear fell silent immediately, gasping again and covering his mouth with his paws. At the same time, the wolf seemed startled as a voice bounced back at them from all around. The bear waited, but nothing else happened and eventually, the echoes faded away, returning silence to them. He slowly uncovered his mouth and emitted a tinier, quieter "Ahhh."

The sound was gentler and didn't seem to carry throughout the cave. He looked to the wolf, confirming that this sound was better than the loud one. "Ahh eeee... eeehhh. Iiiiiiii oooohhhh." He continued to make sounds, as many sounds as he possibly could. "Eeeyaaaallll... Lllleeeeee... Ooooo.... Leeeooooonnn.. mmm... Ahahahah!" Amused by the sounds, the bear started to laugh. Laughing was a good feeling.

The echo stopped almost immediately and Rohan turned his head up to look at the bear with his chin still on the ground. A quieter sound came from the other creature and then more sounds, lots of sounds! More sounds than Rohan made! His ears perked up and he tried to mimic the sounds he heard. "Eeyaall.. oo.. Leeeeeooon?" he paused, stuck on Leon but then the bear started making new sounds. They seemed more natural somehow and his expression and presence changed. Unable to help it, Rohan started to laugh too; it started out as just an exhale of air and a dumb grin, but grew into a soft chuckle that rose into laughter like the bear's. He had rolled onto his side at some point with his paws curled into his chest. (Honestly anyone else might have thought he was convulsing.)

It made him feel good! He hadn't felt like this since he was in the chrysalis, but still, the solitude of his stone womb was unique. He quieted and pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Buuubbeeebb buub bub buum bumbble," he tried new things like closing his lips together. "Baah beeeyaal beeaauurr booob," he practiced. This was so fascinating! "Roo roob roomb.. Roohhaahh!" What if he touched his tongue to the top of his mouth? "Nnnnaaanananaahh! Buuhhnnnaahhnnn bunnanananaaah!" He fell into a fit of laughter again and decided to drop putting both lip touching and tongue touching sounds together. It just sounded too silly to him!

Eventually he came to put his name together unknowingly. "Roohh aann nnnaann... Aaahhnnn.. Rooohaan?" he tested, surprised to recognize the sound. Rohan! He knew that one! "Rohan!" he declared, nodding proudly like he'd just achieved something grand. "Rohan," he said it again, and doing so made him feel more alive. It felt good to put the sounds together to make something that felt... real. "Mmhm," he sounded without thinking, then nodded slowly. "Mmmmhhmmmmm," he sounded again, then did a bit of a sneeze while rubbing his lips with a paw. That made his lips tingle a little!

While the wolf followed suit and made the same sounds, lingering on Leon, Leon himself was caught in a fit of laughter. Though the first couple chuckles were made on purpose, after a while they started to form on their own, bubbling up form his chest as if they were formed those very moments. He loved the feeling - it made him happy and warm inside, and it was such a good sound, ringing through the cave, reminding him of its joy. The two of them sat there and laughed for a solid few minutes before Rohan had quieted down, followed closely by Leon.

As Rohan sat back up again, Leon let his front paws fall limp against his chest, leaning back on his hind legs again. He listened as the wolf tried more sounds, different than the ones Leon had made. Quietly, Leon mimicked them, listening to his own voice sample the same sounds. No, his voice was different than the wolf's, but he liked how different they were. It was interesting. When his companion spoke something else and repeated it, Leon's brows quirked. "Rohan!" He added, gesturing at the wolf with his paw. "Rohan." Then, he patted his chest with his paws. "Leon." Yes. Those sounds sounded right. Rohan and Leon. Leon and Rohan.

Like an eager child, he pressed his lips together and did the same thing as his new friend, giggling at the vibrations. "Mmmahh. Me." He patted his chest again. "Me Leon. Yyyy..yoouu... Rohan. Yea?" From here on in, the words just came naturally. He wanted to make sure they were on the same page here.

The bear fell back on all fours and slowly inched towards Rohan, sniffing. He wanted to keep the warm smell in his nose, it was much nicer than the cave. But as he closed the distance between himself and his new friend, he noticed something strange around his face. He had one eye that was bright blue, but the other one - it didn't look like an eye. Did Leon have that too? He blinked, slowly blinking one eye then the other, trying to feel if there was a difference. There wasn't. "What?" He asked, pointing a claw at Rohan's eye gem.

The bear was Leon. It sat back and started to say other things. Now the words just seemed natural, like he had known them all along. When prompted, Rohan nodded. "Yeah, Rohan." he confirmed. As Leon approached, Rohan let his tail pat against the ground of its own free will. He was excited to have been born next to someone so at least he wasn't having to do all of this alone. Leon smelled super nice too, and his presence felt very warm. He had a smokey smell kind of. Rohan's eye kept glancing at the obsidian jutting out from the bears shoulder. It still hadn't fallen off. Was it.. stuck into his shoulder? Was it painful?

But Leon was doing something. The wolf cocked his head as his new friend started to blink its eyes as if investigating them. When Leon lifted a claw and asked what, Rohan turned his head slightly to the right to get a better glimpse at the large paw Leon had. "What?" he repeated, not sure what the bear was asking about. "You can see? From there?" he asked, blinking his right eye as if to give direction to the question. "It's dark," he continued, looking around with his eyes while he head slowly turned also. "What it looks like?" he ventured, motioning toward Leon's face. "Yours the same on both sides."

At the same time, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Was it just a gaping hole? But he could feel something move. He moved them both left to right several times to confirm this. "Can move it," he grumbled, wondering what kind of dumb trick card he got dealt.

When Rohan tried to turn his head to see what Leon was pointing at, the bear noticed he didn't really seem receptive to anything on that side of him. Of course, the concept was interpreted in a much simpler manner - he didn't seem to react the same way to things on that side of him as he would on the other side, like how Leon could react to things regardless of what side they were on. That alone told him that maybe there was something defective about this difference in Rohan, prompting another curious investigation by the little bear.

Leon tilted his head and nodded as Rohan asked if he could see. He felt a small wave of relief as his friend informed him that his eyes were the same, but at this point it felt like old news. He'd already decided that he had two eyes and the wolf had one working eye and something weird about the other one. "It uhh." Leon paused, trying to think of a way to convey how the weird eye looked. He leaned back and thoughtfully scratched his cheek. It wasn't easy trying to describe this thing. So, he looked around to the environment, hoping that it may lend a hand - and thus it did, as he noticed a shining piece of opal on the floor nearby, remnants of Rohan's shattered chrysalis. "That." He said, gesturing to it, then Rohan's eye. "That. Not like mine." Yeah, that would get the point across.

He blinked a few more times, looking at Rohan's one working eye and the gem embedded in the other eye socket. Were they all stones? Why did Rohan have a special one? He made a curious attempt to touch one of his own eyes, but ended up poking himself with his claw, causing the bear to reel back and yelp. That was pain. He didn't like pain. Flailing, Leon caught himself before he managed to tumble over, then righted himself again and frowned. "No. Don't do that." He would advise, and proceeded to keep his front paws safely tucked against his chest.

The wolf watched as the bear tried to come up with the words to explain what was wrong with his eye. Leon was even scratching his cheek. Was is that bad? Could he really not think of anything (even though they were still discovering words themselves)? Rohan pushed his brows together worriedly, then followed with his good eye as Leon gestured to the broken pieces of his chrysalis. "That?" he repeated, then it dawned on him. Did they each carry a piece of what their chrysalis was? He turned to Leon's shoulder. Before he could say anything, Leon was experimenting with his own eye. His own widened as the bear poked himself in the eyeball.

It caused him pain! Rohan frowned and nodded, as if acknowledging the warning. He turned his head so he could see the obsidian jutting out of Leon's shoulder. "You too," he said, gesturing to Leon's chrysalis pieces. "You can feel your shoulder? It's... ah, point out," he continued, leaning in to sniff at the stone sticking out of his companion's shoulder. It didn't really smell like anything, just... Leon, mostly. He frowned to his friend. "That doesn't hurt?" he asked, referring to the jaggedness of the stone. Wouldn't he feel it? Under his skin at least? It looked so brutal.

He turned to the broken pieces of their old homes and thought for a moment. Could he keep a piece of these? To remember? But where would he keep them? He wandered over to the pieces and sniffed at a shard of obsidian from Leon's chrysalis. It had dried now, so he picked it up gently his mouth then turned to a piece of his opal. His was so pretty! Leon's was boring. Rohan picked up a shard of his and returned to his bear-brother, setting the pieces down. "Yours.. so blank," he commented, stifling a laugh. But it was so deep in color that you could almost lose yourself looking in to it. "Hmm, wonder how to keep?" he mumbled, not wanting to carry around the pieces in his mouth forever.