ORIGIN

Outside the world was awakening, but within his chrysalis home, Bodie remained motionless, listening idly to the soft echoes and sounds of the living things outside. He felt nothing but listened carefully to everything that moved or fell. Had he known what was in the caverns beyond his seclusion, he might have wanted to get out faster, or stay in longer. It would only become clear once he emerged anew, a living gembound. Until then, he continued to thrive in his static life.

Days passed, or was it hours? He had no idea as his mind couldn’t comprehend left from right but he couldn’t have care less. What was caring anyways? He could suddenly feel a surge of life coursing through him, heat overwhelmingly engulfing his being within the stone cage he rested so peacefully in. A thump followed and before he knew it, he could feel everything around him changing rapidly, unexpectedly throwing him into the world of the living. A crack formed in his gem based home, before finally exploding around him and he felt everything.

A damp air covered him and musty smell overwhelmed senses. In silence he remained in a slowly falling ball, his legs quietly moving away from his stomach. His brightly colored body was unnoticeable, though his golden orange eyes shone like a fiery orb in the darkness of the cavern around him. What was this? As if through instinct, the newborn gembound inhaled the stale air and exhale, realizing how natural the motion was. His body moved slowly onto his stomach, legs idle underneath the rest of him.

Looking around, he saw nothing but black. A pitch black was overwhelming and caused him to wonder for a moment what this world was. As he blinked several times, he realized that small lights existed above him, like stars might have looked had they existed in the caves. Something told him to move his feet under the rest of him but he remained still, unmoving for now. He felt warmth all around him, and the ground was so cool in comparison. It just made sense to stay where it felt comfortable.

Exploring the caverns now seemed to be Leon's number one priority. He was never satisfied just wandering through the Core, although he felt a near constant tug towards it - the glowing blue crystals seemed to feed him energy, and though it was a different energy that what his body needed, he wanted to consume it all the same. Leon wanted to know the expanse of his home, he wanted to know the boundaries of that within which he lived. He wanted to know what lay beyond, even. There was no telling just how big this cave was, but so far he could tell it was monstrous. He was but a little bear, and the cave? The cave stretched on for miles.

He found himself a new room, one fitted with glistening stars. It was still very dark, and the stars twinkled as faint reflections of the blue glow. All around him, the rocks rose in strange structures he hadn't seen yet. They were boxy and regular, not jagged like the stones he knew. He found it intriguing, but dreadfully boring. He far preferred the strange landscaping of Polaris, and the unpredictable growth of natural stone. The bear was in awe of the room, but there wasn't much he could see in the darkness - distraction soon found him in the form of a small insect buzzing past his face. "WOAH!" The bear gasped, wheeling around and chasing after it.

Leon galloped after the flying insect, thumping against the rocks as he enthusiastically chased after it. Then, it started to hover around one area in particular. Leon bolted head-on for it, launching himself at the fly. Where he was certain it would be, Leon landed and closed his paws over it. In his uncontrolled excitement he felt heat suddenly accumulate in his limbs, driving down towards his paws where he (hopefully) captured the fly - unbeknownst to him, only a couple meters away from a freshly emerged Gembound.

(POST-ROLL EDIT:)
As the heat quickly rose to his large, clumsy paws, he found himself unable to either understand the phenomenon or control it. It didn't take long before the heat was enough to inspire burning pain in his toes and his paw pads, causing the bear to jump back and cry out loud, waving his paws in the air. "OWW! Ow ow ow!" He wailed and sobbed, falling down to sit on his hind legs again while nursing his burnt paws.