ORIGIN

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Shadows lived within the walls of darkened stone. Save for the occasional glint of rainbow light sprung from the glowing outside, the dog dreamed in endless night. But this time, this right now, felt different. He stretched and felt something give around him, crackles of light appearing where only faint shading had once been. He was uncomfortable, the slouched position he was in, the twisted, curled, tight ball he had made of himself. When had he run out of room? He stretched again, more cracks. What was out there... beyond the shade?

Once more, this time he found himself uncurling completely as the rainbow stone around him crumbled, leaving him suddenly aware of how much larger the world was than his small chrysalis. He blinked at the sudden brightness, and found his eyes enchanted with the sparkling shimmers far above. So far away... he would see them up close one day, yes, to find out what they were. But for now, he would settle for closer by, and as he shook free of the shards of his former home, he gazed around, wondering if there were any others nearby.

"Words"

Origin Caves was always home to magnificent marvels and the darkest and most enigmatic crypts. Some of the creatures that roamed were great dragons like in tales of old where others were the smallest, yet bravest, mice. Others had simple tales, like that of Sìleas Awrorâu.

Locked away in Orion within a shell seemingly made of shimmering purple nebulae for ages, Sìleas had not yet emerged into the harsh world that was survival. The Norwegian Forest Cat had been patient, watching for just the right moment. Her eyes were tightly shut, but her large ears were swiveled forth and alert, waiting for the moment that the caves fell so silent that one could hear a single hair off of a Gembound's pelt dropping. So silent that only the distant humming of Polaris could be heard from within her shell.

As her juvenile mind came to realize the time had come, so did the very stone that had given her life. Sìleas's lungs became fire, quickly filling with the fluids and mucus-y membrane she had been suspended in for a cycle or two. Her paws shot out, pressing against the suddenly paper-thin shell of her home. With a little pop!, the seer was free.

Panting lightly and coughing, the cat shook her sodden body free of liquid and peeled her eyes open to find that they were utterly useless. She could only see distant figures moving about, and even then, they were too vague to decipher. Far off were shimmering lights. 'Stars,' a voice chimed into her head. She cracked newborn jaws open to hiss at the supposed intruder before realizing it was her own thoughts that were speaking to her.

In darkness, there wasn't much to take in, so she closed her eyes once more. It felt natural like that. Like that was the position her lids needed to be. Pale whiskers quivered as she sucked in all of the scents of the world about her. There were muddled stenches of old territory markers, and there were lingering trails of odors left behind by Gembound passing by. As she felt about the rocks nearby, she tried her best to imagine her landscape, slowly filling in a world in her mind like one fills in the lines of a coloring book. Of course, everything was in grayscale, for she knew not of color, and she never would see them.

Upon hearing a little crunch beneath her feet, she stopped, bristling slowly. There was a sound similar to the one she had heard when she was shaking herself free of fluids. Slowly, she tried out her voice, giving a small mewl of, "hello?"

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It was enough to take one's breath away, and he found himself staring for the longest time, at anything. Everything was new, and everything deserved a long look, to take it in, to make it real. He found himself rising on long, comically stilty legs. He took a moment to get used to this new sensation, then padded around the shattered remains of his chrysalis for a moment. It had been home, but now, it was just... empty dust. It was saddening, and yet uplifting at the same time. He had grown beyond this small home, and now would make his place in the larger one.

Childishly, he wondered if he would grow large enough to outgrow his new world.

But his thoughts were interrupted by a soft cry behind him. He turned, curious at this new thing. He sniffed the air, smelling a strange, yet somewhat familiar smell. Vaguely, it reminded him of himself. Perhaps this creature had newly hatched as well? She was coated in brilliant white fur that glowed in the glittering light shrugged off from above. He felt no fear of her, for he had not yet learned fear. "Hello!" His voice was cheerful, and probably a bit louder than needed. he shook his head, the faint echoes of his own over-exuberance coming back to him. A little quieter, he spoke again, "Where are we?"

"Words."

Sìleas was, if she were to be honest with herself, was surprised at the loudness and nearness of the voice that called to her in response. She had thought she'd heard nothing but her own thoughts again, but there it was, a voice, happy to respond. The feline had a moment where she was caught up in the wonder and bewilderment of the fact that she wasn't alone. Tipping her chin up without thinking, she mewled, "hello," once more before tilting her head at Orion.

"What do you mean? There's only darkness. I cannot see a single thing." As she spoke, her speech slowed and she trailed off a little. Could Orion perhaps see what she could not? Could he see a whole different world than she could? Only a trace amount of envy surged through Sìleas' mind. No, there were advantages that she had that were undiscovered. Blindness was not a flaw, and she would never let it be. Puffing out her fur, she mewed, "I think I'm... Sìleas."

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He tipped his head at the words of the other. Could she not see the sparkles so far above them? Maybe, maybe she just didn't know what he meant? "They're so high up above us. They're sparkling like..." he was lost for a moment before words came to him again. "Like so many glowing lights, scattered everywhere. They're even making you glow!" He laughed, happiness flowing through him like the water that sang nearby flowed along the floor.

"Sìleas? That's pretty, it's a nice word. Me... me I'm..." Again he had to think, but this time, it came to him easier. "I'm Orion! It's great to meet you!" He eagerly approached the little cat, amused by the comparison between his long-legged self and her smaller, though much fluffier self. Lowering himself into a playful bow, he looked directly into her eyes. "Hey, does this mean we're friends now?"

"Words." 'Thoughts.'

There was a silence following her first question, causing Sìleas to imagine what exactly her apparent nee friend was thinking about. At the mention of the sparkling lights, she gazed up and opened her eyes to see only the faintest of distant lights. "The stars, you mean? They're pretty, but they're so dull and far away." Closing her colorful nebulae of eyes again, she smiled softly. "I am glowing?" Then she chuckled playfully, "there's no way!" Playfully, she batted at the wild dog, unaware of her magicka buzzing to life to perhaps illuminate a small patch of his fur for a moment or two.

With introductions came a new name to learn and hold closely. "Thank you, Orion. Your name is beautiful as well. It reminds me of the stars." With that, she fabricated an image of stars shaped like a canine in her mind, associating his scent and the sound if his voice with the image. She stared off into space above Orion's head when he bowed down playfully and asked of their friendship. Sìleas smiled and flicked her already-fluffy tail. "Of course!" She, too, bowed down excitedly, ears swivelled forth and blind eyes trained on the dim figure of Orion.

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His overlarge ears wobbled as she spoke, and as he watched, he began to notice things, how her ears tipped to him before her eyes did, how she took a little longer to track his movements, even when he was right in front of her. But he grinned then at her words. She could see, just maybe, not quite as well as him. He sniffed at her paw as she raised it up, then gave an excited yelp as it glowed, illuminating even the darkest blues of his coat.

"Oh wow! That's so pretty! Can I do that too?" He raised up his own paw, and concentrated, hoping he too would be able to make a glow. But nothing happened, nothing at all. Not a single spark of light, not a faint glow, not even a brief puff of smoke. He looked down at his paw sadly. Maybe he just wasn't able to do pretty lights? "Well... that's a little bit of a bummer...." No doubt his voice reflected his feelings; he was one blue painted dog in that moment.

"Words."

As her paw gently graced the pelt of her new friend, Sìleas could almost feel light spreading from her stone to Orion. As a bit of his fur was set aglow, the kit could see the canine just a bit more, but only where the lights were. It was a vibrant patchwork of pastel colors. With the excited yelp from Orion, Sìleas cackled in sheer delight. "I bet you can!"

Even after her encouragement, nothing seemed to happen, and Sìleas could practically taste the disappointment. She was quick to stand up and stumble over to the painted dog, pressing her head sloppily into his chest. "Try again! I bet you can do it!" A purr vibrated from her chest as she spoke, meant to soothe Orion. "I dunno know I did it, but... just try again!"

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He didn't know what to do. He had done it exactly as Sìleas had, hadn't he? But then nothing had happened, and he felt like a silly fool. Maybe pretty lights weren't his specialty. But he wanted to make them for her. She couldn't see the... the stars... because they were so far away, so he needed to make them up close to her. So she could see them. Maybe, maybe he hadn't tried hard enough? He smiled as she pressed into his chest. She believed in him. The purr was comforting as well. He could do this. He just needed to try again.

This time there was something... the faintest of faintness. He grumbled to himself. But... no, he couldn't get discouraged. He wouldn't get discouraged. He was gonna keep trying until he was exhausted. Even if he had to keep trying until he had absolutely nothing left. He was gonna make this work, and make all the pretty sparkley starry lights. All of them.

"Words."

Once again, Orion tried. Sìleas swore she could feel magicka crackling through the air for just a second. Swishing her tail, she purred quietly. "You were almost there, I could feel it!" Without really intending to, she called upon her magicka once again, seeing only a dull glow from the stone that lay within her eyes. Instead, fate had other plans. The feline shrieked as she felt her entire face burning. Skittering backwards, Sìleas plopped down onto her side and lifted both forelegs to her face, clawing at her face to get the pain to stop.