ORIGIN - You'd be the one to work while they all play

Nassir stumbled about, still getting used to walking. After quite a bit of walking, he's gotten the hang of it and now finds himself in a different room. The lights are colorful, and the room seems rather energetic. He immediately decides that he likes it. He walks along, sniffing at the rocks and other places.

Given the energetic feel, he decides to try something. He had noticed the gem that rested in his tail, tiny as it was. The room gave a feel as though there was something he could do-some sort of magic. So he focuses on something in front of him, a small rock, and tries to summon his magic.

The rock begins to move just barely. It's hardly noticeable, but it's there. He jumps up and down a bit in joy, glad that he succeeded. He then looks around, wondering if anyone was nearby.

Finn Knight of Flowers

There was a new scent that entered Polaris. Something different to the scent of rock and stone and Ares' scent of warm fur and sweet flowers. The puppy, although not very old, was already massive - and would only continue to grow.

Finn had been guarding Ares' little garden. He liked it here anyway - the flowers smelled fresher and cleaner than the other parts of Polaris and although his golden-pelted friend couldn't talk he kept good company. The pitbull turned his massive head, ears flickering as he heard an unnatural movement.

He was fairly sure that rocks weren't supposed to move - so the sound of a rock scraping along the ground meant that someone was near by. He lifted himself off his haunches, not once daring to touch the garden behind him.

He didn't move far: only a few yards away from the place he had to protect. There was more movements; hobbling and jumping. In the distance he could see the outline of a black something, perhaps around the same size as he was. It looked somewhat more like Ares with his softer coat, but the new creature's face, paws and tail were completely different.

For now, Finn watched, eyes wide and hardened around the edges, standing sitffly.

"A sworn Guard to the High Council."

Nassir stopped jumping and now sat, looking around. Some movement caught his attention, and he turned to see someone watching him. He stared for a moment before slowly walking over to him. His first encounter with someone still fresh in his mind, he wanted to be cautious about this. And while the other was young, the little black panther could tell that he was going to grow large and strong.

He decided to start a simple conversation with a simple word. "Hello." Simple enough. He thought about saying his name, but decided against it. The first gembound he had seen didn't like it when he told him his name, so maybe this one wouldn't like it either. Best to wait.

@Finn

Finn Knight of Flowers

Finn watched for a solid few moments, tensing stiffly as the creature drew himself closer. His jaw tightened somewhat, but he did not growl at the other gembound. Instinct told the pitbull to begin barking and snapping at the stranger, to say 'stay away!' but he fought against the urge deep in his belly.

Now the creature spoke, but it took the dog a moment or two to register the voice. "Hello," he said, voice gruff despite his age. He stood for a while longer, mouth open and nose working to catch the panther's scent.

Finally, the pitbull's muscles slackened and he sat back on his haunches. The skin around his eyes softened and his mouth remained open, abruptly relaxed. A pink tongue slid out from the dog's maw, licking the coarse white fur around his muzzle. "Who are you?" he asked.

As the dog finally relaxed he did not exactly wholly let his guard down. His broad head shifted and he glanced around Polaris in quiet alarm, ears lifted to catch the possible sound of another stranger coming by and, Caves forbid, trampling Ares' garden.

"A sworn Guard to the High Council."

@Nassir

Nassir watched the other for a bit, waiting for him to say something in response to his word. After a couple of moments, he finally did. He blinked as the other asked who he was. So maybe he did want to know! "I'm Nassir. Who are you?" he tilted his head, a lazy grin on his face. He pawed at a nearby rock and began to play with it, glancing occasionally at the dog. Eventually he grew bored.

"Isn't this place really pretty? There's so many colors and lights here!" he gushed, looking around at all of the colors. There was so much to look at, and he just felt as though he couldn't get enough of it. "Is there a particular reason you're here?" he turned to look at the other, curiosity in his eyes.

@Finn

Finn Knight of Flowers

The dog watched the other gembound paw at a rock for a moment, ears flickering. "Finn," he said. He wasn't entirely sure where the name had come from exactly: he had given no name to Ares, as words weren't required. Ares wasn't a dog of many words, after all.

Finn continued to watch. His gaze had shifted from looking around the caves itself to both copper-coloured eyes locked intensly on the pebble, almost cat-like. His forelegs tensed, as though he intended to pounce on it, but once more he restrained himself.

Nassir's voice caught him out of his trance and the dog glanced up at the black cat. "Pretty," the dog echoed thoughtfully; he hadn't quite thought about it before, really.

There were of course the strange lights that hovered over the room, and of course the Spire itself, which illuminated the whole of Polaris a bright cyan, but Finn never really considered them pretty, the lights were far too abrasive for him, after all. "A reason?" the dog asked, before he swung his head behind him.

The stocky dog then stood, wandering towards the small garden of flowers. He half-expected the panther to follow him, but spoke regardless if he did or not. "This belongs to my friend," he explained. "It must be kept safe."

Brown eyes glanced towards Nassir once more. "Do not touch it," he warned quietly, the faintest growl gathering in his voice at the thought of the cat trampling Ares' flowers.

"A sworn Guard to the High Council."

@Nassir

So his name was Finn. Nassir was glad the other had told him his own name, rather than get mad at him like the first gembound he saw had done. It was definitely a nice change. He continued to look around at the lights and crystals, a smile on his face. He then looked over at Finn as he began to speak again. Upon realizing that he was moving away, he scrambled after him.

He walked over to a bed of flowers that made his eyes widen. It was so pretty! He started to reach a paw out to touch one of the flowers before stopping upon Finn's words. He wasn't allowed to touch it? ...Alright. He set his paw back down on the ground, away from the flowers. The last thing he wanted was to make the other mad. That couldn't end well.

"It's really pretty! Why are they here? Why are you protecting them?" he glanced at Finn curiously, his head tilted. The thought of protecting something thrilled him. Making sure nothing bad happened, and doing whatever had to be done! He wanted to protect something. But what could he protect?

@Finn