ORIGIN - Like a sore thumb

Winter
In every heart
there is a room
a sanctuary safe and strong

Winter didn't like this room. Well, she liked it perfectly fine. In fact, she was a big fan. The plants were very pretty and the room was just so serene and beautiful. However, she stuck out like a sore thumb, possibly worse then anywhere else. Everything here was earthen and mossy and she was, well, white. At least in Polaris, she could have maybe passed for a crystal, but this was just ridiculous. Why was she here again? She didn't really know. What else was there to do but live and explore? Besides, she was getting a little hungry. Maybe it was time to eat. The fluid of her chrysalis seemed so long ago. Now that she thought about it, this place would probably be ripe with prey.

The began to focus her senses and stood up tall. Her tongue flicked rapidly, tasting the air for any scents of other animals that might be big enough for her to eat. However, there were so many smells in this room that it overwhelmed her and after a few minutes of trying to navigate through all the new senses, she gave up and lowered herself to the ground. Well, since I can't find food, I guess I better find a place to rest.

It wasn't hard to find a nice bush that was thick and well-suited for cover. Any animal outside would have to look really hard to find her white scales beneath all the leaves. Her tongue flicked with annoyance. Ever since her hatching, she had realized the disadvantage of her color. It was annoying to have to slide from cover to cover to keep herself from being seen. After all, she was pretty small at the moment. Even if she could deliver a painful, maybe even deadly bite, she could just as easily be swallowed by something much bigger before her fangs even came out. So here she was, hiding underneath some leaves, praying that no large gembound finds her. She curled her body in close and rested her head, trying to quell her worries before her consciousness drifted off to sleep.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Melody
notes:

Behind all the bushes where the cobra laid to sleep was a Chrysalis which was covered in vines and moss. The eyes of the sandy brown fox opened slowly inside the Chrysalis. Already she could see cracks forming around it. It looked like she was too big for her old home now. She pushed against the Chrysalis and with the extra force it shattered and the fox fell out just behind the white snake. Melody rose her head slowly and looked around. Being so close to the snake Melody didn't find it difficult to spot. She jumped back quickly and stared at it, watching it closely. There was not a sound that came from her maw. She was a mute. 'Where am I? What is this place? How do I get out of here?' She continued to stare at the snake. She was small and had only just been hatched. She didn't know if this snake was going to be dangerous or not.

Winter
In every heart
there is a room
a sanctuary safe and strong

The loud shatter behind Winter startled her and she snapped around, instinct throwing up her hood and bringing out her fangs and hiss. Whatever made that noise, if it was there to do harm, they would have to face her bite first; she was ready to strike. For a second, she didn't see anything through her haze of sudden fear, but then her eyes moved down a little bit and spotted the fox, surrounded by shards of red gem and still wet with the fluid of the chrysalis.

A new hatch? She hadn't even noticed the chrysalis. As her eyes moved to where she guessed it had been, she realized that there was no way she could have - the area was completely covered with greenery. Wish I had that kind of camoflauge, she thought, sourly. Anyways, this infant didn't pose a threat to her at all. She closed her mouth and lowered herself to the ground, her hood deflating. Her tongue kept flicking out to taste the air as she lowered her defenses and she slowly slid forward, trying to keep all signs of aggression from her body. She knew the fear and uncertainty that followed the hatch, as the memories were still fresh in her mind.

As she approached the fox, she kept herself low to the ground and stopped flicking her tongue. She didn't know if this little thing would be freaked out by it or not. She stopped a little ways from it to give it some space. She was very anxious to be in front of such a young creature. The only hatch she had ever attended was her own and that wasn't exactly the smoothest of experiences. She felt an urge to make this one have a better time. "Hello, I'm Winter. Don't worry, I won't harm you. I'm sorry if I frightened you."

"Listen to my voice."
Hear my thoughts.

tags: @Melody
notes:

Melody continued to stare at Winter until she spoke to her. She relaxed a little and gave a little nod. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She closed it and slowly cocked her head. She opened her mouth once more but again nothing came out. 'I can't talk. How am I supposed to communicate if I can't talk? She stared at the snake and gave a gentle nod instead. There was nothing much she could really do, was there? She looked around with her tri colored eyes, this place was so beautiful, it had made her speechless. She just didn't realise that it had literally made her speechless. She turned to the snake and tilted her head once more at her. How was she supposed to get her name across? There seemed to be no way of doing that. Not that she could think of anyway.

@Winter

Winter
In every heart
there is a room
a sanctuary safe and strong

Winter stared at the little fox, waiting for it to reply. However, it was just nodding at her. Why wasn't it speaking? Had it not found its voice yet? She knew that she had taken a while to find her own words. Maybe they needed time. No, it was something else. It was trying to speak, but it couldn't. What was going on. Wait, I've come across this before. With Xin. She must be mute as well. That was it. The young gembound couldn't talk.

Winter smiled at the fox and nodded back. "It's okay I understand. You can just nod or shake your head if you want. Do you have a name?" She wondered how she was going to learn their name, if they even had one.

"Listen to my voice."
Hear my thoughts.

tags: @Melody
notes: Hi, I was wondering if I could 'name' Melody, since she can't really speak her name.

Melody smiled when she answered her. Even if she couldn't talk at least she could still communicate even if it was only a little. Melody listened as she asked her for a name and she gave a soft nod. Question was, how was she going to convey it? She looked around slowly before looking back to the snake. She was myopic, she lacked the knowledge she needed. She was still learning, she didn't know how to communicate efficiently. Her biggest problem so far was how to get others to know her name.

@Winter

Winter watched the little fox carefully for any signs pointing towards her name. However there were none. She felt a small touch of annoyance at the creature's helplessness. She had no idea how to learn its name.

Then, all of a sudden, she had an idea. Maybe this baby couldn't tell her its name, but there were other ways she could find out. "Give me a moment,
I think I can learn your name." She lowered herself and moved past the fox and made her way to the fractured gem behind it. She stopped at the nearest big piece and started to focus.

She had never cast a spell before, but she knew that she had magic the moment she had hatched. Some primal instinct within her, grown from the magic of the chrysalis that gave her life, told her that she could do this. That she had magic and so did everyone else in the caves. A strange feeling started to spark to life within her, a woozy and mysterious feeling that wasn't particularly unpleasant. She urged it to converge at the front of her face before dipping her head and carefully touching the gem.

There was a rush as faint, pale memories connected with her mind. Strange otherworldly whispers that had no voices and images that she could not see. Most of it went unnoticed or untouchable at her level of magic, but there was only one thing that mattered to her right now. And then she knew what she had been seeking. It had not been spoken to her, but she just knew. She didn't know how it came to her, but the magic had done its job well.

She turned back to the fox. "Is your name Melody?"

When I speak.

When I think.

@Melody

Melody watched the snake, listening to her, when she went over to the shell she seemed to be quiet for a moment. Melody just sat there, waiting. Then when she finally spoke she smiled brightly and gave a soft nod. She looked to her paw slowly and placed her paw on the floor, closing her eyes and trying to focus. She didn't know if it would work or not, but she wondered if she could learn anything. It took a moment but eventually she started seeing blurred visions. She couldn't make anything out. She could hear things but nothing that was clear, every so often it would sound like someone or something was singing a tune but she only could make out the tiniest pieces and she couldn't be sure. When the vision ended Melody opened her eyes slowly and shook her head. It didn't go as well as she had hoped.

@Winter

Winter smiled happily when she realized that she had gotten her name right. "So your name's Melody! That's a very pretty name. It's nice to meet you, Melody!"

She watched the fox concentrating with her paw on the ground and she realized that the fox was trying to read something with Hindsight, just as she had. She wondered what she was trying to learn, but she thought that there probably wasn't a point in asking.

Now that she had learned her name, Winter wondered what else there was to do. She hadn't too much experience with mutes because Xin, at least, could use Telepathy. She could only ask her yes or no questions, as far as she could tell, but she had a good idea.

"Hey,
Melody, are you hungry? I could teach you how to hunt. It will be useful in the future." She didn't know if foxes ate the yolk of the chrysalis as she had. If so, melody probably wouldn't be hungry, but there wasn't any harm in learning how to anyways. Besides, her stomach was starting to rumble. It had been a while since she had last hunted.

When I speak.

When I think.

@Melody