ORIGIN - I've never seen a diamond

Inside a rounded orange carnelian chrysalis was a coyote pup ready to emerge. Or… so she thought. Her yellow-brown eyes opened and her lungs wanted air for the first time. The problem was that no amount of pushing was opening this chrysalis. Her back was curled against the shape of the carnelian, her paws outstretched against the sides. She pushed and pushed, and instinctively took a breath of air to help in her endeavors — but there was no air in here. Amniotic fluid filled the chrysalis, and even if there hadn’t been fluid, she was encased inside of an airtight stone. She saw nothing in the darkness of the cocoon, and fear fueled her more than anything. She struggled against the stone, wanting desperately to survive, before she passed out and suffocated to death inside of the very thing that had given her life.

With a sudden burst of strength, the coyote pup managed to crack open the chrysalis. Immediately, amniotic fluid poured from the cracks, and she took a gasping breath, coughing and spluttering, trying to expel the fluid from her lungs. She took a moment to steady herself, knowing that she couldn’t die now. Then she continued pushing with her body until the chrysalis actually shattered, spilling her out onto the floor. The floor was cold stone beneath her, colder now from the liquid she was laying in. She let herself lay there for a time, catching her breath, then slowly stood up on wobbly puppy legs.

It was dark here, which was something she didn’t find very remarkable, as she’d never seen the Caves lit up before. To compensate, she focused on what she could hear and smell, sniffing around curiously. She smelled… stone, must, lots of old things. She began to walk forward cautiously, focusing mostly on where her paws were placed since it was dark. Here and there were glowing things poking out of the ground, so it wasn’t entirely dark, and her eyes gave her some amount of night vision. She walked the ancient streets of Orion with natural curiosity, wondering what sort of treasures or secrets she could find.

The lights in the cave were out,
and Roone didn't like it one bit. He was pretty much stumbling around in darkness,
and he couldn't remember how many times he had bumped into something. His shoulders were hurt from all this bumping around he had done. Well, not just his shoulders, but everything else at this point. As much as he hated to admit it, he may have fallen once or twice. But that was nothing. He was pretty much lost,
at this point. It was a shame, considering it was the same cave he had been born in.

The movements of another caught his attention as he bumped around, and his ears perked to listen. Besides the small things, there was nothing, but eventually he turned towards the sound and watched for any sign of movement from the other.
Even a shilouette would have done at this point; anything to let him know that there was someone who knew where to go.

( @Flicker )

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As the pup continued to walk along the streets, squinting to look at things and tripping every once in a while, a shuffling noise sounded behind her. Her magic, unbeknownst to her, sparked out of instinct, although it failed so that nothing happened. She spun around to try and see whatever was there, and thought she saw a darker spot against the general darkness. Unfortunately, there were no glowing mushrooms close by, so nothing was really lit up right here. She wasn’t scared, more curious, unaware that there were some in the Cave who might purposefully hurt her. She began to stumble towards them, not paying attention to where she was stepping. “Hey!” she called out, and then stopped, the sound of her own voice surprising her. And then, with a grin, she called out again: “Hey, hey, hey!”

@Roone

After a few moments, he realized that a darker spot was visible, and much closer than he had thought. A shadow spun around to face him, faster than he had expected it to, and he jumped slightly at the sudden movement. Heart still racing from the sudden movement, he hesitated, swallowing heavily as the shadow began to move closer. Was this a good idea? Maybe he should just leave. He turned his head slightly to look at where he had came from, and edged backwards just a bit. Before he could go too far, a shout came from the other, and he jumped again. The noise had been too loud, echoing in the cave, and he wasn't sure what it had been about at first. It was too late to escape now, it seemed; he had caught the creature's attention, and it called out again. It was the first word he had heard, and his jaws parted to copy it, although his greeting was more hesitant, his voice cracking and hoarse from lack of use."H-Hey."

( @Flicker )

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The coyote pup finally found herself near to the other creature and sniffed at him curiously. “Who you?” she asked, unsure of where these words she was saying were coming from. But they felt right. Without waiting for the other to reply, she immediately went about telling him who she was. “I’m…” But there was a problem. She didn’t know who she was. She looked down at herself, spinning around in circles trying to see her body clearly in the dark. Surely she had a name…

Sparks traveled across her fur then, lighting up the dark and causing her hair to stand on end from the static electricity. It didn’t amount to much with such a weak cast, and the sparks were gone in a few seconds. She yelped, more so in surprise than fear, and then said, “Hey!” again. “Look!” And suddenly, she knew who she was. “I name Flicker!” she told the dog, triumphantly, although her grammar was off. “Name Flicker cos… cos sparks! Did’ya see ‘em?” She spun in circles again, as if to show off the sparks, but they were gone now. When she had done a complete circle, she looked at the dog again, who she could see better now that they were so close. “Who you?” she asked again, this time waiting patiently.

@Roone

The other creature was closer now, and he was a bit unsure if he should trust them or not. The question caught him off guard, and he paused. Who was he? He didn't even have a name, nothing that could help him. The other spoke, almost as if they were introducing themselves, but there was a pause. He didn't mind; it gave him more time to wonder what his name was.

The other traveled around in circles, until something seemed to travel across their fur, lighting up the dark, even just for a few moments. It didn't seem to be much, but the creature yelped and for a moment he was about to ask if the other creature was okay. With the small light, and how close they were, the creature looked a little like him. Before he could ask, the other creature was introducing herself as Flicker, because of the sparks that had spread throughout her body. Now it was his time to give his name. He had to think of something, and fast."R....oone?" It was the first thing that came to mind, and he winced at the suggestion. It'd have to work, however, since he didn't have much of a name otherwise. "Roone. My name Roone." His voice was stronger this time, less uncertain of his own name.

Now, with that out of the way....Could he do the sparks? Maybe he could see if he could do something like that. Blinking, he willed himself to summon some sparks, hoping that it would work. If not, maybe something else would happen. Something happened, and he felt better somehow, but there were no sparks to be found. Head tilting, he looked at the other, wondering how they did the sparks. "How you do....Sparks?"

( @Flicker )

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“Rooooooone,” Flicker repeated, dragging out the “oo” sound because it was fun. “You name Rooooone. Roone!” Her tail wagged behind her triumphantly as she said their name. “And I Flicker!” she repeated, as if they’d forgotten already.

Roone then asked her how she did sparks. Flicker’s tail wagged some more, unaware that the other had even done any Magic, since she couldn’t see it. “Like dis!” she said, and then waited, trying to will the sparks back into her fur. She spun in circles again, fully expecting more to appear, but this time, nothing happened. She stopped spinning, frowning in confusion. “Hey!” she said (this was quickly becoming her favorite word). “Why no sparks? Where they go?” She sat down, feeling a bit frustrated.

@Roone

The other creature seemed happy about his name, drawing out the sound. Roone offered a small smile, although he wasn't sure if Flicker would be able to see due to the darkness in the cave. At her tail wagging, his own started as well, slower and not as obvious as his newfound friend's tail wag.

His question about the sparks didn't go unanswered, with Flicker's tail wagging some more. Maybe this time he could do something like the sparks. Although he felt a bit different, Roone didn't know that he had done any magic. There hadn't been any sign of it, after all. After her answer, Roone waited as well, hoping that he would figure out how to do the sparks this time. It had to work! After a few moments, however, it was obvious that the sparks weren't going to appear, and he heaved a disappointed sigh. "Maybe..." He trailed off, trying to think of a good reason why the sparks wouldn't appear this time. "Maybe sparks only appear sometimes." That was all that he could think of, and for all he knew, it was a terrible excuse. Still, there had to be a reason that the sparks had appeared the first time, right? Even if it wasn't for him.

( @Flicker )

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Well, great. Flicker had been sad because her own sparks weren’t coming back. But now she was even sadder because Roone was sad that he couldn’t make sparks. She sat pouting a minute, and then decided that they should just forget about making more sparks for a while. “Let’s do… somethin’ else! Somethin’ fun!” She stood up again, twirling in circles to show she wanted to play. “Whatcha wanna do?”

But then she noticed something as she was spinning around. Something that seemed to be trying to get away from her. She chased it around and around in circles and then chomp!

“Ow!” She let go of her tail at the sudden pain in her… tail… Oh. Well… Okay then. Lesson learned, Flicker. Don’t bite your own tail!

@Roone