ORIGIN

Tukluk had been… Asleep for what felt like forever. He’d come out from beneath the roots of his tree when it was time to eat or to stretch his limbs a little. But other than that, he’d been sleeping. And why? Because… everyone had disappeared. The scents of Gembounds all over the Cave had gone stale months ago, and no one seemed to be around… ever. He’d been Asleep for so long, in fact, that he’d aged to adulthood in the Lull and hadn’t noticed. It’s not as if he was really any bigger than he’d been as a juvenile.

The only difference he felt was a dull kind of sadness deep in his bones for the Emptiness in the air. The only living soul he’d seen in two or three cycles was Garmer, the Kyte he had Bonded to what felt like a lifetime ago. And even their relationship had taken a hit during the Second Great Hibernation of Origin Cave. Tuck had not been born when the first Hibernation had struck, so this experience was new to him, and it had jaded him a little. The world was no longer as bright as he remembered it when he finally decided he’d had enough of sleeping. Now the idea of being the best he could be was boring, and the thought of practicing Magic for no real reason seemed pointless.

Still, he was so tired of sleeping. He crawled slowly out from the roots of his tree, where he’d been Hibernating for the past three Cycles and blinked around him with big burnt-orange eyes. Garmer, he called out with his mind.

’Still here,’ came the annoyed reply. ’Have you decided you’re done moping?’

Yeah, for now… I wanna see if anyone has come out yet… Maybe we’ll get lucky this time. Are you up for some flying?

’When am I not up for some flying?’ As he asked the question, the kyte suddenly appeared above Tuck in the canopy, and slowly descended to the ground, flapping his massive wings. He looked at the marmoset with mint-green eyes. ’Would be easier if I could carry you.’

Tuck stared at the giant reptile. Aloud he said, “You’re suggesting I ride you?”

Though Garmer’s expression didn’t change, he said, ’Precisely.’

Tuck continued staring at him. “I’d… need to make some kind of… saddle… so I don’t hurt you holding onto your skin. And so I can actually hold on well.”

’I’m sure such a thing could be created with your Plant Magic.’

Tuck was silent for a long while. Finally, he asked, “Are you sure about this? You were so against it —

’Times have changed, little Gemound. Let’s find the materials for that saddle, yes?’

Tuck couldn’t help but smile at this turn of events. “Yes.”

Words: 458+ — This is an open thread, though I’ll be double-posting probably while I work on building Garmer a saddle. But feel free to join!

Tuck was just beginning to glance around himself in search of materials he might need for the saddle when he heard a noise coming from his left, and spun his head nearly all the way around to see what it was. In the meantime, Garmer’s large, neon-spotted wings had spread themselves again in a show of aggression, and he gave a loud growling hiss. Though large compared to some other Gembound species, his three-and-a-half-foot-long body was nothing compared to this slug’s twelve feet. Still, Garmer’s wing-span was a good seven feet which helped make him look more intimidating, even when he felt small and inadequate.

Without thinking about it, Tuck quickly scampered closer to his kyte’s side for protection, and called out in a hoarse voice that sounded strangely deep and grown-up, “Who’re you?” He hadn’t noticed the roughness in his voice when he’d been speaking to Garmer, but now, in possible danger, for some reason it was all he could focus on. He didn’t sound like himself. He didn’t sound like a little boy anymore. And it was very strange. Halfway because he wanted to hear himself talk again, he asked, “Can you talk?” The message beneath this question should have been clear: Are you a Greater Gembound, or a mindless beast?

Words: 221 @Equinox

At the reaction of the creepy-looking Gembound, Tuck actually felt a little bad for it… and seemed to recognize it a little bit. Wait? Hadn’t he… met this creature before? It had been some time, but… Yeah. Before the Second Great Hibernation he’d been in Cetus and Garmer had helped him rescue some kind of tiny weird slug thing from the swamp… right? But this thing was… waaaaay bigger. How had it grown so much? I mean, Tuck had seen some big Gembounds before but this one was almost unrecognizable from its previous form. Assuming he was right and that it was, in fact, the same creature.

And then it — she? — spoke, saying he had been there. Where? The swamp? So was he right in thinking that this giant slug thing used to be the tiny slug thing? But ew, was she nasty if that was the case. No wonder Garmer hadn’t wanted to touch her. Still, Tuck was surprised enough by her being in Eridanus that he didn’t really care about how disgusting she was. She came closer to him, her maw opening, and he flinched for a second, assuming he was about to be eaten. But then he saw the flash of the eye encased in some kind of red gem. “Is that how you see?” he asked her, now curious more than anything.

Words: 227 @Equinox

Tuck didn’t really know how to respond to this creature’s talk of how the Caves had gone quiet. He knew as well as she did that it had happened, he just… didn’t feel like talking about it anymore. He was tired of dwelling on the Hibernation which had seen him grow to his adult form without him even noticing. He hated that he had lost two or three cycles of time. He’d been on a roll in his first two cycles, and then everything had slowed to a crawl and now he felt a little dead inside when he thought about it… Eugh.

This eye of the slug-creature interested Tuck, but only vaguely. He nodded his head politely as she explained herself, and then he said, “Yes, I remember you now. You were much smaller then, less frightening.” The fact that Tuck had just admitted to being scared was a sign of his maturity. Young Tuck would never have done such a thing. He awkwardly shrugged off the thought that he was changing far too quickly for his liking. Garmer felt his creeped-out feeling and his consciousness brushed against the marmoset’s in curiosity. Tuck pushed the kyte out of his inner thoughts and focused back on the creepy slug thing.

“So, what are you, anyways?”

Words: 200+ @Equinox

While the slug-thing had been talking, and Tuck listening, Garmer had also been listening, only able to understand the slug-thing through Tuck’s thoughts. Sensing that whatever danger may have been there had passed, the kyte lay down and curled up beside Tuck, bored from the calm change of events and halfway wishing something more dramatic had occurred. Garmer was a Hunter, after all. He lived for blood and battle — mostly with other Lesser Gembounds. But now that Tuck’s Magic had given him more understanding about the world and a higher intelligence, his bloodlust only grew, and it grew into something more refined… He wanted to have a real battle. Where Gembounds were defeated and had to submit to the rein of others… But his marmoset, the one to whom he owed his newfound smarts, was a plant-eater, and tiny to boot, and had no interest in War. With a snort and a sigh, Garmer fell asleep, snoring softly.

…

Meanwhile, Tuck continued listening to the slimy black creature before him, finding himself interested in her words, but sad at the same time. He found it amusing that she had thought he’d shrunk, as opposed to realizing that she’d gotten bigger. At this point, Tuck was entirely used to being the smallest Greater Gembound around, especially now that some of the other smaller Gembounds seemed to have disappeared in the Second Great Hibernation. “It’s okay that you don’t know who you are yet. I still don’t know who I am, either. And I don’t care one bit…” He looked away and sighed. “I used to care, but ever since the Hibernation, I haven’t much cared about anything…” He was silent then, unsure of what else to say. Equinox and himself seemed to be fueling each other’s weird sad feelings, and it was making him uncomfortable.

…

Garmer continued to snore, drifting away into Slumberland…

Words: 314 @Equinox