ORIGIN

Today was the day! The day that the little pyrite chrysalis that had been growing in the side of a waterfall would burst open! It was tiny, almost like an egg, cradled in the midst of white granite. Circle-like chunks made up the shell, shiny and sparkly like gold. But it definitely wasn't gold. Metals were extremely rare amongst Gembound. This little prince-to-be was encased in pyrite. Sure, it was 'fool's gold', but the critter inside didn't care. In fact, he was quite content and happy in his shell.

The lights above sparkled and little droplets of water fell on the chrysalis. The water droplets sprayed back off, as the little creature inside shifted and moved. A little serpentine tongue poked out from scaley lips as the prince tasted little but water and muskiness. Nasty! He wanted out! Budging, the small snake slithered toward the edge of the cocoon, where a crack had begun to form. Delighted, the neonite poked his head through, then tried to move himself through it. But then, he got stuck. Something about his midsection was too fat to fit through the crack. Infuriated, the small snake writhed, twisting this way and that. Dumb chrysalis! Why couldn't he get out of it?

As if it listened to him, the whole thing fell into bits, exploding with a loud CRACK!. The small snake careened downwards, exhausted by his puny efforts. Lime green eyes looked about, taking in the world. The three foot long snake hatchling curled up into a small lump of snakeyness and pondered what it meant to be here. Was there anyone else? Was there a name that he had? Something in his head whispered Midasssss..., but the prince didn't hear it.

Those moon yellow eyes could spot any movement in even the darkest corners of his freshly tidied home, especially from his throne on high, overlooking the entire cave from its heart, the falls.

Cancer sat at the edge of his ledge, watching the soothing vision of spray as the falls, well, fell some feet away. It was as he was gently fading into sleep that the muffled sound of something splintering woke him with a start. He cast his eyes into the dark corner of the lagoon's edges, and as he gazed, a glow illuminated his horns and eyes, red despite the yellow hues, flowing in a rhythm like blood through veins. His magic pulsed, and he urged that ability onwards- to see into the dark corner without needing to move. He reached out.

In his mind's eye, the world became traced with ribbons of red mist, the contrast brightening until he could focus on tiny details amongst the soft-lit rubble of the cave. He spotted what he was looking for, first by a trail of fresher, thicker mist, like a bloody gas, then by the movement of scaled skin, wet with birth, curling around itself. He had never seen such a creature before. Small, but long- almost as long as him, even. At least as long as Leon, nose to stumpy tail- but this thing was all tail. Did a crystal forget to form the rest of the body? No legs? No wings? Not even a fin, or fur? He looked at it in confusion, then stood to investigate, allowing his vision to fade slowly as he made his way down to the main floor.

As the last of his magic receded, so did that blood-red glow about his horns and eyes. Pupils returned to being large, disc-like, and he approached cautiously, giving the newborn a wide birth. The thing didn't look anything like the other gembounds he'd met so far. Fact was, if it were a carnivore, he'd have to teach it not to touch bevy- the size alone at this young an age suggested anything meat-eating would look at the tiny bird as a quick, possibly gross, snack. He wouldn't have it.

"Can you talk?" He prodded verbally, not wanting to touch the green thing, in case it was like Bevy- poisonous. "This is Pisces Cave, home to Maji Walezi." He spoke slowly, and moved his tail in flicks to indicate the cave around them, then brough his paw to his chest to indicate himself. "I'm Cancer, Leader of Maji Walezi. I'm a Leopard." Then, he'd stand still, watching, waiting for a response. Would it know to speak?

The mininoodle curled up into a lump of his body, for it felt more natural than to simply lie in a wavy line. Staring intensely at the waterfall and their mesmerizing spray, the prince wondered why he was here, who he was. Above the crashing rocks, he barely registered the movement of another in the myserious dim lights. Lime eyes gazed about at the shrapnel of what once as his home, and he tilted a head. What was that? Suddenly, something weird slithered out from his lips. He could taste the air? Cool! But what good was that? The prince did it once more, discovering the taste of something else besides rocks, water, and more rocks. Something living.

Looking about, the snake found a black smudge coming closer and closer. It was definitely much bigger and taller than Midas, so he'd hold his ground. Coiling up tightly, the serpent lifted his minute crown to try and be at eye level with this... black thing. It had weird, black, grey, and fuzzy stuff all over it. And strange little fuzzy arms sticking out of where Midas assumed was its head. Then there was something yellow and orange. Yellow like his head thingy. Absently, the snake wriggled the end of his tail and brushed the strange thing atop his skull. It was a few little nubs that hadn't grown too much yet. It was four little prongs of pyrite in a small crown/trident shape.

Once the strange fuzzy thing finally made sound, the prince stared at him blankly. What noises should he make? The same thing this fuzzy thing said? One of the strange legs that the critter had rose up to point at himself. "Cancer?" Midas questioned, tilting his little head. This fuzzy thing was a Cancer? But what was he? A Midas? That was what the voices in his head had said. "Midas!" He hissed quietly, but it was a friendly hiss. That was right, wasn't it?

Midas, huh? The odd, fur and feather free creature hissed its words, not unkindly, through an oddly solid pair of lips. Cancer watched with absolute wonder as the thing- the Midas?- stuck out its tongue, flicking it about, all forked and tiny. Cancer found himself tilting his head not unlike a dog might, confused but indulged.

"Well Midas, welcome to Origin Cave!" He'd offer in his most friendliest voice. "You can't really speak all that well, can you? Can you walk- er, move?" He'd step away, then wave his tail about to indicate the direction of the moss beds. There, they'd find whatever food this thing might eat- be it plant or meat. He hoped the odd, legless creature would be okay to travel that short distance... and if not, he supposed, what coudl it hurt to carry him? "I mean, if not, I can probably carry you, I'm good about not using my claws and teeth with stuff like that." To indicate what he meant, he'd bare his teeth only for a moment and unsheath hooked claws, to show the snake, before returning both safely behind flesh and fur, a smile worn.

He looked around towards the mossy hills and focused then, calling upon his magic to increase his field of vision in the dimly lit cave. As he did, he reached out in more ways than that, improving his vision tenfold if it worked, to try and spot movement over across the cave, where they wanted to go. If anyone was sleeping, or already hunting, he'd be interrupting and that'd do them no good. To his great delight, as his horns and eyes brightened into a steady, thrumming glow, he noted no large creature wandering the mossy beds. He did, however, note the few small flickers of movement amongst the moss and lichen- mice? Yes, that would be a good meal, if this thing ate meat. He looked back at the snake and blinked away the magic as his green scales overwhelmed his eyes. With a shake of his head, he'd grin and stretch out a back leg towards him.

"You coming, Midas?"

"Origin Cave. It's the tunnels, all of them, where we live." Cancer grinned in response. "All sorts of Gembounds live in Origin Cave, but only a special few live here in the Pisces room." He was about to say more, but suddenly, the scaled thing lurched at him. The cat leapt nearly out of his skin, yowling in complaint with a squeaky cub roar. It wasn't intentional, really. It was instinct what happened next. The cub swiped with a heavy paw, but that paw slapped against stone instead of scales. Midas had already withdrawn. It didn't hurt, not really. Cancer sat twisted, staring at the tip of his twitching tail, the fur on end there now, except where wet saliva had slicked it over.

"Friends don't bite friends, Midas." The cub would swipe that paw at the air towards him, scoldingly, then turn back towards the moss beds. Sure enough, the snake followed along as the pair made their way from one end of the cave to the other. "Okay, wait here, and be very quiet. I'll get you something. Watch what I do, and then you'll know how to get food later, too, okay?" He checked to make sure the snake was listened, then dropped low to the ground, in a crouching position. From there, the cub prowled forward, rather easily now. This wasn't his first hunt, and mice were hardly a challenge to catch.

As Cancer took up position amongst the rolling moss, he sent out one more, less intense vibration through his horns. The red glow returned, but fainter, as he cast a single spell- red sense- in hopes of locating a target...

...except there were many targets here. All of them well aware that they were being watched, and thus, moving and making noise at an alarming pace and volume. As Cancer's magic kicked in, even at that low dose, so did their defenses. The cat howled at the sharp pain that met his ears, and the skin around his temples. With a violent shake of his head, he cut the spell short, ending the painful barrage in no time at all.

"Shit! Ow!" The cub sat up and swiped a paw across his face roughly, fur on end and teeth bared as he tried to wash away the pain. "Ow, ow, you stupid things, ow! Why would you even do that to a guy!?" The cub continued his complaints, Midas forgotten in the slur of pain and discomfort that now throbbed in his head. What a miserable mistake that had been!