ORIGIN

The gorilla who had once been known as Blue was no longer. A long, long time ago, back in the very beginnings of the Cave, she had once had the starting of a friendship with a bear she could no longer remember. She’d been invited to come back and live with him and the others. But this knowledge had been struck from her memory very early on, and for some reason, she had returned to her chrysalis. When she awoke again, somewhere in Eridanus, she was much, much older, and no longer intelligent. She had become a sort of feral “child” in an adult gorilla’s body. And her Magic was lost to her.

She had wandered the Cave for a long time, hiding from everything that moved and making her way slowly, ever slowly, to Fornax. This room in the Cave had not existed when she had originally emerged. The doorway had still been sealed. Not that she realized this now. She didn’t remember anything from her few cycles living among others. Now she was here, in this place, soaking wet from slogging through a flooded tunnel to get here. Except, now that she was here, she had no idea what to do with herself. Gorillas can’t swim. The only reason she hadn’t drowned on the way here is because the water was, thankfully, not too deep. But… now what?

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Well, there was nothing else for it. She’d made it all the way here, so what was the point of slogging her way through tons of water, only to turn around leave just because of more water? She’d just have to… figure out how to swim. Sure, she was feral, but she was still intelligent enough to be able to push back her own survival instincts and wade into the water, which was surprisingly warm. Actually, this whole room was warm. Blue liked the feel of the water, even when she waded in deeper and got to a point where she could barely feel the bottom of the ocean floor.

Soon enough, however, she was highly uncomfortable and flailing her way through the water to try and reach the Isles, a series of small islands farther off. It was a long swim, and she had never swum before, so it was tough, and by the time she threw herself onto the shoreline of one of the islands, she was exhausted and panting. And now she realized the severity of her mistake. The only way to get back was to swim again, and she just didn’t know if she had it in her. But she couldn’t stay here forever. Once again, she couldn’t help but ask the question… now what?

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Blue knew enough about what it took to live to know that she was going to die soon. Her will to live had left her long, long ago, back when she had submitted to her own Great Hibernation, probably before anyone else had experienced one. She’d simply decided to Sleep one day, and had not awoken again for twenty cycles or so. And now that she was back, having avoided others for days, she was aware of the fact that she wanted to die. There was nothing in her that wanted to push forward. That was why her fear of water was gone. That was why, even as she pushed herself back to her exhausted limbs and stared back at the entrance of the room — the way out — she shook her head to herself.

Instead, she turned and looked at the crescent-shaped island far, far to the other side of the room, opposite the doorway. She would go there, if she could, and possibly, die there. Only time would tell. She sighed and stared out at the expanse of water before her. It was a lot of water. She wasn’t sure if she could make it that far, but if she drowned on the way, that was alright. That was… sort of the point, actually. So, with a shrug, she waded back into the water, and started the long, awkward swim to Moon Island.

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Somehow… somehow… she made it. She dragged herself up onto the warm sand, feeling like she was going to drop down into unconsciousness at any moment. It was deliciously warm here, with her cheek pressed into the sand, and she never wanted to move again. Her life had been short if she only counted the days that she had been awake. But that was okay. She had never even learned any new spells, which she very vaguely recalled being a goal of hers. But she had been so painfully shy that the thought of being around others turned her stomach. So being alone on this island was paradise. And the thought of sinking back down into sleep made her feel quite peaceful. Soon enough, she was asleep…

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Blue’s breathing deepened and slowed… in, out, in… out… in…… out… And eventually, she got to a point where she no longer took another breath in. Never again did she fill her lungs with air. She died, lying there in the sand, with a smile on her face. It was warm here, and comfortable. This was as good a place to die as any. And though her life had been sad and short, she was happy in the end. She was content. The sound of the waves crashing against the island was soothing, and it was as if her soul could tell — even in sleep — that it was time to go. With her final exhalation, her Soul, if one believes in such things, left her body, though some small part of it retreated into her sodalite Stone upon her hand. If anyone were to find her body, or the stone by itself far in the future, and give it Life, perhaps some small memory of Blue would remain behind in the new Gembound.

But, for now, and perhaps forever, the gorilla was mostly definitely… dead.

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END.