ORIGIN

in the deep trench of eridanus, beneath the large, towering ferns, there lay a rock.

perhaps it had shattered from a larger chunk of diamond to have rolled into the rain forest trench, a translucent, cube shape that had grown untouched under the tall foliage. the sheen of cycles worth of rain and the splatter of mud from passing grazers had clouded the surface of the clear gem, giving the growing form of a neonate inside a bit of a camouflage from narcissistic passersby who might fancy a baby gem for themselves.

but if one had happened to pick up this hulking chunk of white diamond, they would have seen the form of a tiny, feline fetus, the fluids around it tainting the inner, hollow area of the rock maroon. a tiny ocelot cub grew within those thick, glassy walls, stretching as they grew thinner and thinner in preparation for his arrival to the caves.

unbeknownst to him, the world this neonate would be born into would be one full of ups and downs, one full of murder and extortion, of self-reliance and self-defense. if he was lucky, he would find his acquaintances, he would have his help in a world where being on your own was self-preserving as well as self-destructive. the only thing he would have control of would be his own pride.

the chrysalis was thin, thin enough for the cub inside to break out. his body was still tiny, but his fur had now grown in, and once he emerged it would only be a few moments before the mewling kitten grew to see and hear. his infusion with the white diamond lodged in his upper jaw had ensured that.

slowly but surely, a destabilized edge of the cube began to crack, splitting open and allowing humid forest air to pour in from the ferns above. immediately, the tiny ocelot inside became aware, but he did not have time to panic or even unfurl before the dislodged face of the chrysalis fell open, hitting the ground with a quiet thunk. it sent the cub sliding down a slippery slope of diamond and albumen, eliciting a few infantile grunts of distress as he rolled over onto the damp grass beneath his ferny shelter.

he "landed" halfway on his back, so he had to spend quite some time trying to right himself, and by the time he finally settled himself with paws on the ground, he was rather sleepy.

and so the cub slept, curled up next to his cube-like chrysalis, only the corner of it peeking out of a large fern leaf near the ground. he'd lay there for a little while, until his body developed enough for his eyes to work in their full capacity, and then he'd wake up and look for something to eat.

about an hour later, the cub awakened from his slumber considerably more developed than when he had freshly emerged. he gave a big yawn, showcasing a sparkle in his upper jaw. to the right, in the middle of the row, poked out a tiny bit of the same translucent white of his diamond chrysalis. his teeth weren't fully developed yet, but they would be, in no time.

what was absolutely fully developed, now, was his appetite. the little cub's tummy growled angrily in hunger, and his short tail did its best impression of lashing in fury. he had better find something to eat! spurred by his belly's insistence, the young ocelot ducked under the ferns that had sheltered him for cycles now, and went out in search of prey.

his pawsteps were silent as he padded around, but unfortunately, he did not do a fantastic job of actually crouching down and hiding, despite his diminutive size. after the third forest mouse to scurry away from him absolutely unreachably, rui furrowed his brow muscles in frustration and set his rump on the ground to think.

perhaps... perhaps... he had an idea. raising back to his paws, the cub summoned up his best sneaky crouch, and cleared his mind.

slowly, he began to feel as if he was floating, separated from the light and encased in a worldy fog. a dark one, that is. victory and confidence welled in his chest, and he crawled across the grasses deftly, a shadow blending in with his small form. now he'd be sure to catch something.

my, my, what good luck he was having! the young ocelot was getting a little cocky now, his wide brown eyes fixed on yet another lesser gembound he planned to make his meal. it was hard to contain the rumble from growing in his throat, but that hadn't worked so well last time he tried and scared off his prey.

he snuck up behind the sniffing forest mouse, paws silent, eyes dilated, before he shook his rump and pounced! his right paw landed straight on the little creature, caught in the catch of his claws. rui quickly placed his left paw on it to make sure it wouldn't escape, and then scootched forward to press his muzzle against it.

the thing was squirming a lot, and frankly he was having a hard time not letting it slip away! "stay still!" the cub growled under his breath when the panicked creature managed to get a nose out from under his toe. he was far too hungry to let this one go! "sorry, but i have to eat you!" he rumbled a little more remorsefully to the mouse. he didn't know if the it could speak back, or even understand his words in the slightest bit, but he thought he might as well let it know he wasn't trying to make things hard, just in case.

actually, he wasn't sure how he'd begun to think the other creature would receive his message if he moved his mouth like that and made those noises, but, well.. he'd done it already, and it hadn't been too hard, so. maybe it was the same reason he'd known how to do that thing with the darkness and the sneaking. his impulses had been pretty good so far.

feeling the rapid, terrified heartbeat of the creature beneath his pawpads, rui dragged its tiny body toward his mouth--or tried to, it didn't work too well, and he almost lost the thing again. the cub growled once more, a tiny, babyish clicking sound, as his new teeth sank into the hide of the mouse. a sloppy grab, but with another crunch of his jaws, the mouse's terror was ended. he debated playing with it a bit--as cats tend to do, batting his prize around in good fun before digging in--but decided he was too hungry, and would be better served just eating it now to get rid of the pain in his stomach.

once he finished the meal, the telltale stain of red stayed upon his little white jaws. the little ocelot rumbled another wild clicking sound in his chest, only this time in pleasure. a purr, pleased with himself for his ability, and pleased to no longer suffer such hunger. he lay there for a little while, grooming equally dirty paws in a small patch of dirt to the side of the trench.

whoa, whoa, whoa! somebody was talking with a big voice and he was talking fast and a lot and rui's fur bristled and he panicked and effortlessly cloaked himself in shadow once more (wow!) and scuttled backwards into a fern behind him, eyes wide in alarm towards the source of the sounds.

shrouded in darkness beneath the fern, rui stayed silent as he contemplated what to do. the leopard didn't look too menacing--in fact, rui noticed, he seemed to be about as energetic as himself!--but he nevertheless thought to exercise caution, as instinct told him. and so, taking a risk, out rumbled a tiny, otherworldly growl from beneath the fern.

"don't try anything! killed once, can do it again," grumbled the cub, just as a warning. it must have sounded awful unintimidating, since nassir knew he was just a baby, and that was evident in his voice anyway. but rui's successes had left him feeling overconfident in his abilities, and it couldn't hurt to let them know he was ready to fight if needed. now that he thought of it, though, some company sounded awful nice.

and he wouldn't make any friends by being mean to them. "my name?" he questioned less abrasively, tilting his head beneath the fern. "what is that." he didn't raise his tone to indicate a question this time, but it was one. he had a feeling the bigger beast may have told him about something he owned, but he wanted to know if he had one of those too, if he were to answer him. he had a feeling whatever the big panther had said about himself, it was a very important thing to be able to say when meeting other gems.