ORIGIN - all our life is but a dream

Ares Blodyn meet me halfway to your heart

Ares bumbled about, his legs growing stronger each day && allowing him to cross longer distances in shorter time. Running was still quite tricky, Ares' mind acting faster than his legs could follow, but walking worked well enough already.

Since he was beginning to explore his body, Ares had noticed a power residing in him.

Magic.

It wasn't a forceful power, but a gentle pull && push of something in him, yearning to be explored && studied.
The young Ares was happy to try his luck at this magic, eager to learn more about the power he held. He hoped it was something beautiful or useful, nothing destructive.

Ares focused on the feeling just beneath his skin, willing the power in him to bloom.

Attempt: Spell - Host

Ares giggled in glee as he felt his magic work through his body, a gentle warmth soothing through his muscles && tingling his skin. He felt something move atop his head, rose petals drooping down to fall into his line of sight.
Rich, blooming roses adorned the pup's head in the style of a flower crown. The roses were red && pink, the petals large && healthy. The flowers rested atop nests of strong, green leaves.

A careful shake of his head revealed that the flowers were indeed growing on his fur, with which the young Gembound was quite happy. The additional weight was easily shouldered by the eager Shiba Inu. He would love to show someone his new powers && what he'd made with them, but there didn't seem to be anyone nearby. At least not in Ares' line of sight, limited by the flower petals hanging into his eyes.

Happy with his creation, Ares jumped around, running to the Crystal Stream to observe his new looks in the reflection of the water.

"Listen to me."

Ares Blodyn meet me halfway to your heart

Onyx eyes starred into the water, watching their own reflection with boundless curiosity. The flowers atop Ares' head hanging down a little, heavy petals threatening to pull the pup down into the Crystal Stream.

Eventually, the puppy pulled back from the sight, having feasted his eyes enough ( at least for now ) on the sight of his own magic.
Since his first spell had worked so amazingly well, Ares was tempted to try it again. Of course he would cast a different spell now, or try to, at least, since he was quite happy && burdened with the result of his first try already.

Ares sat down near the River && pressed his paws into the mud, trying to channel his magic into the earth now, instead of keeping it in his body.

Attempt: Spell - Emerge

Despitr Ares very clearly feeling the earth move under his paws, his concentration ended up being for naught. Nothing happened, except for a pout appearing on Ares' face && making him grumble at the mud he sat in.

Disappointing.

"Listen to me."

Ares Blodyn meet me halfway to your heart

Naturally, with his optimistic tendencies, Ares was not about to simply give up. Instead, he swore to try again, blaming his failure on the mud. Maybe there just hadn't been any seeds there to help grow.

Yeah, that had to be it.

Thus Ares walked a little further down the stream && sat down in another puddle of earth, digging his paws into the ground once more.

Attempt: Spell - Emerge

This time, Ares' concentration was rewarded. A tiny plant dug its way through the dirt to emerge, opening its leaves towards Ares. The Shiba Inu pup grinned && let himself fall over onto his back, ignoring the dirt clinging to his pelt but wary of not throwing his head back too far, in fear of crushing the flowers atop his head.
He watched the mysterious lights above twinkle at him && his creation.

"Listen to me."

Xin had done a lot of traveling, and now found himself in a very pretty room with lots of colorful lights. He looked around, enjoying the colors. The rocks were a beautiful shade of purple, rich and colorful. There were clusters of fungi growing, as well as crystals and mosses. It reminded him faintly of Orion.

After some time of admiring the cave, he began to look around. He soon saw someone nearby, wearing... is that a flower crown? Xin blinked, and then hesitated. Did he really want to go to the other gembound? He'd probably be expected to talk, something he can't do, much to his extreme disappointment. After some more time of hesitating, he decided to go over.

Slowly, the marten began to slink towards the dog. He stopped a ways from him, but if he looked up he would have been able to see Xin. He watched, and saw him look as though he was trying to do a spell, but failed. As he continued to watch, however, he seemed to have succeeded. He thought about trying his spell, but decided against it. What would the point be? For now, he just watched the dog, waiting for him to notice him.

@Ares sorry if there's any typos, I wrote this on my phone cx

Ares Blodyn meet me halfway to your heart

With his spell finally having worked, Ares was extremely happy. For now, he decided, exploring those two spells would be enough. He didn't know if he could do anything else anyway - maybe he'd learn that later on.
Ares hoped he could learn lots of spells, so he could make the Caves prettier. Especially the one he was in at the moment. It held a special meaning since that was the room he'd been born in && while he definitely wanted to go explore, Ares decided to take care of this room before moving on to others.

After lying in the dirt for a while, the pup rolled around && got back on his feet. The Shiba Inu shook himself to get rid of the earth in his pelt && began cleaning his golden-beige fur.

Only because Ares randomly moved his eyes about did he spot the creature nearby, watching him. A thin but long brown-pelted gembound, quite unlike himself or Destiny, his momma.
Curiosity made him cock his head, heavy petals of his flower crown following the movement.

The other didn't speak to him && because Ares hadn't yet learned how to ( partially because he didn't want to, not seeing why he would need to rely on a spoken language when he could just show && do what he meant ) he didn't either.

He was wary to approach the stranger, but he also made no move to hide anywhere or pretend he wasn't watching them.

"Listen to me."

@Xin

After some time, Xin realized that the dog had seen him. He didn't talk, and Xin, of course, didn't either. He just continued to watch. What else could he do? He glanced toward the flowers atop the gembound's head. They were quite pretty, he had to admit. They were pink, with green leaves beneath. They moved when he moved, rustling against each other. He wished he could tell the other that he liked them, but of course he can't.

He sighed. He hated being mute. It always made him angry when he thought about the fact that the little marten couldn't talk. At first, he used to open his mouth to try and speak since it just felt...right. But he couldn't speak, and had long since come to terms with this, much as he hated it. So he sat there, eying the pretty pink petals.

@Ares

Ares Blodyn meet me halfway to your heart

Ares wore his bright, childish trademark smile, despite the other individual doing nothing to please them. The Gembound was just holding his gaze, but not approaching.

But since the other wasn't backing away either, Ares decided that they were on good enough terms for him to approach.
The Shiba Inu pup bounced toward the Marten, flower crown atop his head moving about, rustling && waving it's rich petals.

The dog stopped a few meters away from the Marten, stretching his front legs towards the creature && wiggling his butt playfully. Would the other understand that he wanted to play tag? Would he even want to play with Ares at all?

Deciding not to dwell on it for the moment, Ares bounced away, grinning && looking over his shoulder to see if the other would follow him.

"Listen to me."

@Xin

Xin watched cautiously as the other approached. Would they except him to speak? The other wasn't speaking either, which puzzled Xin. Could they speak? Were they also mute? Did they just not want to speak? Why would you not want to speak? If he could speak, he probably would never stop talking, if only just to hear his own voice.

As he watched, he realized the dog had stretched his front legs toward him, and wiggling his butt. Xin blinked. Did the other want to play? At the thought of this, his heart began to lift as he remembered how he used to be. Oh, how he loved to play. Nobody would play with him thought, and he wasn't sure why. But here was someone wanting to play!

He started to get up, but stopped. Did he really want to play? While he may have happily done so cycles ago, things had changed now. He wasn't as playful anymore. Much as he wanted to, he wasn't sure if he could. He looked up as the other began to bound away, looking over his shoulder and grinning at the marten.

Something sparked inside him. Before he could give it a second thought, he was running toward the dog, a grin on his face. He quickly tapped his tail with his paw, nearly falling down before catching himself. He then bounded away, giving a silent yip of joy.

@Ares