Aware. Awake. Alone.
A mesh of white spikes, pointing outwards, slowly growing over the lip of Pisces` entrance for a whole cycle. A young Gembound, eyes finally opening, shying away from the pulsing blue light, far away. Much more comforting was the darkness, the dripping he had heard for so long. His home.
But was it? There had to be more than this, the blue light and this cocoon, this cage...
With a strangled, ravening cry, the waterbuck calf butted the thin rock with his forehead. It yielded much more easily than the newborn had thought, and he flopped out of his chrysalis and onto the damp, mossy floor. The ground was cool against his cheek, but he had to figure out what had made it so easy.
When he stood up (albeit shakily) he found the answer. Reflected in the wet stone was his wet newborn face - far from antlers - with something amazing...
The same white shards that had constructed his chrysalis were...growing out of his head!
The calf sat down with an audible thump. "What am I?!" he sobbed. "Where am I?!" The talking just came to him, stretching his new vocal cords into miserable croaks.
He was completely awake. He was very aware. And he was utterly alone.
Baroque wanted some alone time. He almost never wanted alone time-- or when he did, he sought it out at home............... But as it was, he found himself wanting to be alone and not at home. Part of him wanted to see if he could find some good soil to bring home, but he didn't have any idea how he was going to get it home. It seemed almost impossible. Maybe while he was out he could find some seeds to try and grow. That garden wasn't going to get made by itself.
The awkward teen had grown to be nearly-- but not quite-- his father height. With it came some painful growing pains, but his baby fat seemed to only get thicker. He felt chubbier by the day, so maybe a walk would do him good. It wasn't long, anyway, before he came across a baby crying out to him, and the bear hybrid crept forward with big blue eyes, staring with baited breath at the herbivore just ahead.
It was a child, just like how he had first met Thistle. A smile graced his face, and he felt his stone try to reach out. It ached when he pulled at his magic, a headache blazing into his mind, but he couldn't help but try, could he? The magic failed to make the connection, something he was used to be now, but the boy took a deep breath and then spoke calm and quietly.
"Hey, it's alright," Baroque called to the child. "You're safe, don't worry too much, okay? I'm Baroque, and this is Tunnel O, right outside of Pisces." He sat down a few paces away from the newborn, his tail curling up around his paws, hunched down in a way to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.
@Perseus
The little Gembound hiccuped and blinked. A big scary animal, that he instinctively knew was a natural eater of antelopes, sat in front of him. But the child was past caring, and anyway the...animal...wasn't very angry looking.
But when the predator spoke in a soft voice that didn't match his physicality but somehow fit perfectly with his demeanor, the little waterbuck felt less alone. There was at least one other talking, walking being on this dark, dark cave.
"Baroque?" he giggled in spite of himself. But in all seriousness, he cocked his head and his chocolate brown eyes were lost in thought.
"What's tunnelo? Or pieseas? " The calf's moist black nose twitched, and his muzzle wrinkled in confusion. On the bright side, the aftertaste of his barstowite prison was gone in light of the distraction.
There really was no reason for him to be out here. Bartos should have been staying in Pisces. With his gimp leg, it was hard to really move and he knew that the farther he walked from Pisces. The farther he'd have to walk back, but that thought alone didn't really deter him. He would brave the long journey and rest as he needed, and the subtle burning pain of his limb would just serve to remind him why he shouldn't have gone in the first place. And then there was Clover, and the children, and he knew that he was just tempting fate by failing to be there. They were old enough now that he couldn't keep them locked up in Pisces. It was inevitable that they go and explore the world on their own. He couldn't stop them from doing that, and yet... He still felt like he could protect them, in a way, if he was there.
He had to accept that wasn't the case. Maybe that was why he was here: distance. Then there was the issue of the festering shadow that haunted the depth of his den, ever since she had appeared he'd been paranoid of her. Fearful that she was always there, watching. He could barely sleep - as a result, he wandered dreams that weren't his own. Searching for answers and stories, searching for the stars he missed so deeply.
Bartos was content to stay in his thoughts when he heard the wailing voice, shortly after followed by a familiar one, Baroque. What was the child doing here? Bartos limped awkwardly around the corner to see the hybrid tending to a freshly hatched herbivore, twisting his ears slightly. "Baroque." Bartos greeted quietly, delivering a small smile, before his blue gaze landed on the newborn. "Hello," He added, drawing forward a few more steps.
The child kneaded the damp soil with his paws. There were two cat things now, and despite the aftertaste left by loneliness he was beginning to feel scared. That was until the cat greeted him with a voice like honey. Strange golden lenses seems to cover his eyes. Looking back at the crouched big cat, the calf snorted happily and decided he liked them both.
"Hello, Baroque. Hello, Mr. Cat," he smiled sweetly, happier now he'd decided to trust his new companions. "Mr. Cat, is there any water around here? I think I need to be wet. I don`t know why..." he tailed off, fringed eyelashes blinking in young puzzlement.