ORIGIN - awake my soul

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She watched the cat intently as he motioned with his long fingers. On some level she understood he was trying to communicate, but in no way did she understand what he was trying to convey. Instead she simply smiled stupidly (but happily), and nodded along to his movements until he was verbally introduced.

"Meek-ro...gaym-ga." She screwed up her face sharply, trying her best to pronounce the words the way Kerby had. "Uh, Mick." A more self-conscious creature might be worried that their name was too plain compared to the individuals encountered so far, but Boar was a simple thing with few cares. And if someone made fun of her name, she could always kick them in the nose. They'd deserve it, anyway.

Self-congratulation gave way for a moment and she found herself staring intently at the cerberus' bloodied middle head. She didn't know much, but instinct told her the blood was supposed to stay on the inside. She finally tore herself away from her new cat friend for a moment to step closer to Kerby.

"Why's yer face like that? Does it hurt?" A sense of social tact wasn't something she was destined to learn later in life, why begin any differently? There was nothing she could do to help him, and certainly her intelligence and adult stature would never lend her to the path of healing. Yet her childish curiosity couldn't be sated.

@Kerberos @Götterdämmerung

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Mick was close enough. Kerberos grinned, his enjoyment of the small calf unending and wonderful. It was so nice to meet a spark of sunlight in the caves, a tough new life that would thrive in the harsh world. It was only until Boar asked about his wounded face that the dog recoiled, pleasant demenour switching towards a nervous disposition as he licked at his center face with his side heads.

"... mmm... hurts..." The middle head agreed, slowly, rasping. "... I... acc...accid...dent... Is... punish...mmm.." The canine whined, a paw raising to push away the other heads. The cerberus whined for a moment, the side heads blinking back down at the child.

"It's okay... I will live," he told the calf, the sound of his tail slapping against the cavern wall abruptly missing from the growing silence of the tunnel. "I made a mistake, and for it, I was punished." He spoke these words as simple matter of facts, although there was a slight hint of warmth and contentedness. He was practically pleased he had taken his punishment.

"There is a thing you must know, Boar," the canine told the child with seriousness, bowing his heads down to touch a crimson and citrine nose each to the babe. "Whatever happens, you should not take the life of another who can speak. It is a forbidden thing, and if you do--" "-- The teeth, the friends and family of those you kill, will come to hurt you."

It was a horrifying thing to say to a gem who had just been born, but Kerberos knew of life and death the moment he came into the world and it had never bothered him. It wasn't until others told him it was wrong that he came to understand why he couldn't just eat other willy nilly, and so he thought it was important to tell Boar.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

@Götterdämmerung @Boar

If he seemed to watch a bit more intently while Boar tried out his name, it didn't seem to bother the little goblin - he simply watched, eyes wide and pale, ears perked up and forward. At the successful nickname, his purr seemed to crack and rumble like a strange, pleased laugh, before rolling right back to its usual thrum.

A sound that cut off completely at the child's question.

Slowly, so slowly it almost looked like it should hurt, the cat's hairless head pivoted to stare at Kerberos, one eye twitching so quickly it almost might be mistaken for a trick of the light. The only sound from the creature was the swat of his tail against the floor and the snick, snick of needlepoint teeth grinding together.

Strafe? Strafe verlangt Gerechtigkeit. Es gab keine Gerechtigkeit für Sie! Oh, how he wished he could speak, just this once - or love the dog less so he could physically express his complete and total disagreeal. Mistake! Hah! Ihre Schuld, ihre Wut, ihre Schläge. Ich werde sie rechtzeitig zurückkehren. Nichts davon war deine Schuld.

But what caught him out was simply how pleased Kerberos sounded, like the giant dog had enjoyed being tortured, warm blood spilling from his face, splattering onto the cat's bare back as he'd hid, terrified of becoming the next victim of the gigantic, monstrous jaguar.

And for the first time in his life, μικρό γυμνό παιδί did the impossible - went against every instinct coursing through his veins to always remain on good terms with his host, for safety if not comfort - and slowly, permanently wide eyes slipped into a vicious glare. The expression deepened his wrinkles, turned the odd mask-like face into something disgusting and deformed.

And then he turned away, facing one of the tunnel walls, ears pinned back and skin twitching, trying to block out more of his friend's words. It... didn't work. But he could, at least, agree with the three-headed dog's last words. The bear, the lion, the jaguar. The teeth will come for them. He would rip their minds apart from the inside out if he had to, crush their memories into dust until they wandered as children, useless shells, burdens to their clan.

Punishment.

@Boar @Kerberos

The silence in the tunnel became suddenly overwhelming, for reasons she couldn't put a finger on, and there was some foreign flicker of guilt at the back of her mind. The way the middle head spoke pained her in some visceral way that sent a lurch deep in her gut. Her lips set into a line as she soaked up his lesson, eyes roving smoothly between the three heads as they spoke in turn. No matter the number of teachings she would never be an intelligent creature, but at this age there was a certain revelry in the act of learning. She blinked calmly as each nose touched her in turn, as if imparting his knowledge directly to her.

"Okay," she said. "Don' kill th' talkers." Boar was feeling rather proud of herself. Having learned her first real life lesson felt as if it should be a rather momentous occasion. She glanced to Mick to make sure he'd been listening as well. After all, this seemed like really important information. But what she saw was the little cat sitting with his back to them, ears pinned and skin twitching in annoyance. She frowned slightly, stepping towards him and plopping to her knees to be on his level. "Mick, ya okay?" Gently she nudged him with her wide mouth, lipping slightly at the naked skin on his back. The calf could immediately identify his body language as negative, but couldn't comprehend what had happened to silence his rumbling purr.

@Kerberos @Götterdämmerung

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The middle head found itself looking towards the goblin cat for comfort, for reassurance, and found only anger. The other two heads were busy with Boar and only noticed that the hairless baby was unhappy when she asked, but the middle head understood. His mikró gymnó paidí furious that he had failed, that he had gotten hurt, that he had willingly played the violent games of justice and vengeance that meant that he had been hurt.

The other heads had no idea. They simply whined, his nearest head reaching over to try and lick the feline, hoping that they had not said something wrong. Immediately one head made a completely incorrect assumption and stuttering, suggested, "A-ah! But some gems are smart, even if they don't talk. You can tell if they understand your words." His eyes turned hopefully to the feline once more, looking for approval and love in that angry stare.

He was a puppy who just wanted to please, and only a third of him understood what he had done wrong. Unfortunately, the center head believed he had done what was right-- even if it had hurt his precious mikró gymnó paidí. Kerberos hoped that despite this, the feline still loved him dearly.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

@Götterdämmerung @Boar

The cold of the tunnel was starting to get to him, creep into his bones and set gooseflesh across his skin... but he still sat, glaring at the wall instead of his friend. The silence went unbroken for a long moment, before hooves - Boar, then - approached, the gentle newborn coming to rest by his side, nudging at his creased back. Reluctantly, "Mick" began to purr again; but it was strained and quiet, more for the little one's sake than his own.

He could feel Kerberos' many eyes pinned to him, whines following, heavy paws and the gentle touch of a massive tongue. The gesture, at least, made him relax by inches, ears slowly rotating back, tail moving to lay across one of the dog's paws. An almost silent stutter in the purr replaced a true chuckle of defeat at his host's misunderstanding. The utter helplessness that swirled in the cat's stomach built, and he finally let out a hissing sigh, turning his head to peer sadly at the cerberus, slowly moving to gently bump his head into Boar's snout, stepping to curl around Kerberos' front leg, purr strengthening.

It didn't matter, in the end, if his friend couldn't understand. What mattered was finding the lion, the bear, and the jaguar - and destroying them.

@Boar

The small, stiff purr that eased from Mick with her touch was all that was needed to soothe the calf. A hint of smile played at the corners of her lips, but a glance to the cerberos faded it. Whatever the history between them, she was too young and too dim to understand fully, though she could tell her new three-headed friend only wanted Mick's acceptance. The left-most head stuttered out an addendum. Confusion set itself into her features. She'd so well grasped the meaning of what Kerby had said, that the play on words he was now apologizing for was out of her reach. But she caught a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye and turned just in time for the little cat bump her snout with his head before sidling up to his friend once more. She let the smile shine through fully this time, confident that whatever tension was there had passed. A strained gurgle broke the silence.

"Oh," Boar said, surprised that such an odd sound had come from her own body. "I'm uh," she hesitated for a moment, searching for the word that paired with this hollow feeling in her gut. "Hungry! Yeah, that'un." All-too proud of herself, she beamed at her new friends, the first to welcome her into the world. "Imma find food." Head held high, she pranced past the pair, heading confidently for a pair of large stone doors that looked promising. "Bye, Mick! Bye, Kerby!" Vaguely, she hoped she would find more creatures like them.

[exit]

@Kerberos @Götterdämmerung

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Kerberos nodded slowly to Boar, understanding the importance of food. He would not keep her-- no, the only one he would ever keep was his precious kitten friend. He couldn't imagine living without the goblin now, in fact, such a thought didn't even come across his mind. To him, the sphynx was as much a part of him as his own tail. The canine settled down, flipping his paws up so that the paw pads-- and his stone-- were like warm walls around the kitten.

"Goodbye, Boar," he woofed after the calf, his tail twitching behind him. His middle head nuzzled into the cat, despite the pain it caused. He was sorry for everything, and in a pathetic attempt to mimic the cat, he rumbled a twisted growl as though he was trying to purr.

"Mikró gymnó paidí... I want to sleep," the dog announced tiredly, laying his head down upon the cold floor. He was rather worn out from everything by this point, especially now that the bundle of youth had pranced out of view. His magic surged from his stone and the air turned a cozy hot, coaxing the goosebumps back down on the feline.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

@Götterdämmerung

It seemed the little Boar was already prepared to leave - and for a moment, his mouth opened to tell her to stay. The utterly futile movement, the shame of even trying, made his jaw snap shut, and he settled for raising a paw in a solemn wave goodbye. Gone. After all, the only other Gem he'd met that had left had left for good, never to be seen again. He had no basis for any fate different - which was probably a good portion of the reason he clung so tightly to Kerberos.

Speaking of which, he only curled tighter around his paw at the thought, absently marking him with a brush of hairless cheek to white fur. The cat backed up a hair - enough for the pup to turn over his front paws - and climbed to curl up on them both, purring so hard he almost shook with it, heat soothing the tremor in his veins that came from magical strain. The nuzzle he traded for a tiny grooming session, flattening down the fur around the middle head's nose, gentle and trying to avoid the open wounds.

Sleep. Good. That, at least, he was good at, and didn't cause the sticky emotional backlash of actually trying to communicate. Eyeing his host, the cat slowly reached both front paws to gently pat at his snout, leaving them there to knead at unharmed fluff while he drifted into a doze, a teeter in his purr that spoke of at least an attempted chuckle at the dog's own growl.

Slowly but surely, wide eyes slipped shut, and Goblin's tail snaked between huge paws, a curlicue of satisfaction.

[ exit Gob ]

@Kerberos

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The cat seemed to agree, and for that, Kerberos was glad. Today had been a mess, and now nothing seemed better than just sleeping it all off. The dog settled down in the warmth of his magic, listening to the gentle purr of his friend. Even though he had messed up, the canine knew the cat would never leave him. They had a bond that went so much stronger than any he had ever known...

And Kerberos had many deep, varying bonds in his life. Rival, mother, brother, teacher, alpha, leader-- but this one was built upon something deeper than words. Kerberos enjoyed that calming thought, his breathing slowing as he fell into a slumber in the dark, unusually warmed tunnel between life and death.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

;; kerberos exit

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