ORIGIN

The phantom of Cetus moved silently through the trees, heading back home, to the Divine. The massive Tree seemed to call to her through the mist, and instinct told her hooves where to go. Lesser Gembounds chirped and called in the fog, and there was the constant sound of water and wind. But so much was hidden from view; the phantom saw nothing until it was almost upon her. It was a wonder she had not been attacked by any number of creatures yet, ones who would take advantage of the fog that hid them from view. No. The winter-bound ghost walked undisturbed until she found herself once again in the presence of the Tree.

There was a creature already here, she noticed, her dark eyes flicking to watch it as it tore into a dead mouse. She turned her gaze away, feeling nauseous at the sight, though glad that she had finally been able to stomach enough of her own green food that she would not starve. The little bit of sustenance would keep her alive, but her ribs still showed through her velvety fur.

She stood still and silent, ignoring the bird and its meal and instead gazing up into the branches of the Great Tree…

The ghost’s eyes flicked back towards the bird, who was coming near her. She stared at them as they approached, not realizing how terrifying she must look. And then suddenly the bird looked at her as though it were horrified and stumble-flitted backwards and out of view behind the Tree. Curiously, the ghost turned around, searching through the fog for the source of the bird’s discomfort. Seeing nothing, and sensing that the two of them were relatively alone here, she turned back towards the Tree. “What is it?” she asked, in her whispering voice, the sound echoing through the fog like an icy wind. She was beginning to pick up language a bit more, though she probably would never speak much even when she was older.

She began to slowly make her way around the tree, wanting to see if the bird was all right, unaware that she was the scary thing. Normally, she didn't care much about others, but she had never seen a Gembound become scared like that, and it aroused whatever small sense of kinship she held for others.

The phantom Gemling watched with vague curiosity as the other creature crawled back up out of the hole they’d been hiding in and stared at her. She stared back with a dark, void-like gaze. She slowly tilted her head first one way and then the other. The bird was not looking behind her body. It was looking right at her, and it still held a frightened expression. She turned slightly to look over her shoulder. Still nothing. Was the bird frightened… of her? She turned back, finding its gaze. Why would anyone be frightened of her? Had she done something wrong? Her brows furrowed in confusion. And then her body relaxed.

She let out a long breath, and then turned away from the bird, deciding that if someone was afraid of her, she supposed it was best to leave them be. She began to walk away, quietly, through the fog…

The phantom hesitated when the bird came ‘round in front of her, as if it wanted to say something to her. She backed up a little, uncertain of what it wanted. If it was afraid of her, why did it want to block her way? Why would it want her to stay? It made a weak sound in its throat, and then seemed to simply give up, moving out of her way as if to tell her to leave. She stared at it for a time, some emotion flickering in her dark eyes, as she attempted to understand what had just happened. But the intricacies of social situations left her clueless, for the most part.

She felt her soul drawn back to the Divine, begging her to forget the bird and its odd behavior. She stepped past the small creature, almost giving in… The cold enveloped her again, numbing her senses, her awareness. She let out a breath that fogged around her muzzle. There was a bit of warmth there that clouded her velvety nose, and reminded her…

She turned back towards the bird, looking at it over her shoulder. She half-turned, some curiosity leaving her indecisive. What should she do? Who should she listen to? Her Mother, the Divine? Or this little one, lost and alone?

The ghost watched in vague curiosity as the bird bobbed its head up and down. Her own head tilted to the side in confusion, wondering what it was doing now. It picked up a stick and began scratching at it with its claws, then it showed the stick to her. She bent closer, trying to make out any kind of meaning in the marks, but she did not understand writing, and she still barely understood spoken words, so the stick-marks meant nothing to her. She lifted her head and shook it at the bird, as if to say, I do not understand. Perhaps it was trying to tell her that it didn’t want her to leave. That would make sense, considering it had hopped in front of her.

She sighed, more breath clouding around her muzzle, wondering why everyone always wanted to talk to her, to interact with her. Was this what was normal and she was abnormal for not wanting constant contact? All that mattered to her was her Mother, the Divine. She decided that since the two of them, she and the bird, were already Home, beneath the Divine, that staying would not be a problem for her. This is where she wanted to be anyways. This is where she always wanted to be. She lay down in the chilling mud and stared at the bird with her black eyes. Now what?