ORIGIN

Along the edges of the room of Monoceros in a cavern protected from the endless winds an unusually large gemstone lay dormant. With no light to reveal its pale yellow coloration it may as well have been any other rock in the section, cold and lifeless. Such could be no further from the truth though, as buried deep below the unforgiving stone structure a pocket of warmth sustained itself, a speck of life reaching the final stages of its growth before it would be ready to enter the new world.

The life within stirred, a sound lost against the deafening howling coming from outside.

Sounds.

The first inkling of consciousness, the first coherent word to pass through this new life's mind as a new scratching noise echoed across the world it found itself in.

They call.

The fog of awakening is always a bizarre experience, but the fog of awakening for the first time has the power to set a tone for all consciousness afterwards. The possible reactions to the is sound might have been endless, from fear to curiosity to apathy to simple surprise. In this one however the scratching was a call to action, a gentle alarm to bring it out of the world of dreamless sleep and into the world of the living.

A limb, unknown seconds before, extended as far as she could reach, tapping gently against the side of something. This was her world, but that sound told her that this her world did not stop here.

A feeble push, ineffective at first but slowly gaining in strength as more and more of the neonate's consciousness was pulled from the fog.

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Her own hooved toes echoed a small imitation of the sounds above.

In her fury to try to scratch her way out she tried trashing her body, but the walls were too thick, her movements too imprecise. Soon she had twisted herself into a position where something under her head was pressed hard against her neck. Her wakefulness was nearing completion and with this new sensation another followed quickly, a burning in her chest. She needed... something. She was choking, she was stuck. Fog threatened to start to take hold of her again just as soon as it had begun to fade away. Soon to this potential new life would lose the battle against it.

Did the scratching stop, or was the world ceasing to be? So hard to think. So hard to reason.

Her world shifted suddenly, a jarring that was just enough to dislodge herself from her current predicament. The pressure on her throat ceased but when she inhaled it still didn't seem right. This wasn't what she needed! Nothing had changed but everything had changed. The world would not sustain her any longer. The fog was still pressing in. Another shift helped the small one get into an even better position, but still unconsciousness loomed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sounds woke her from her stupor, a resurgence of willpower awakening in her mind.

Sounds still call. I must answer.

With as much force as she could muster she pressed against the walls once more. They gave ever so slightly, but the walls were too thick to give way fully.

Something did happen though, a long tiny crack splintered across the surface of the wall, not enough to escape from but enough that the essence of space around her began to drain away, replaced by a harsh, dry, cold essence from the other side.

In any other situation this might have been a terrible event indeed, but despite the loss of heat the youth coughed and sputtered from within her shell, trapped within but suddenly winning the fight against unconsciousness. Air filled her lungs and a primal cry of relief and confusion sounded from within.

The youth's voice was short-lived as the tapping came again, but this time with might and power!

Sounds hear my cry. she reasoned, Sounds come to set me free.

The little creature retreated as far back into its shell as possible as the unknown salvation worked to destroy this shell of death. More cracking, more shattering, more trickles of life-giving cold air, until finally the entire wall gave way and the youth found herself tumbling forward from one black expanse into another.

Her legs flailed as she reached for the ground, righting herself as new muscles and a new sense of orientation all jumped into action.

"Sounds... of life." she spoke, words coming with surprising ease. "Thank... you."

The adrenaline rush of her struggle was beginning to fade, her attempts to stand foiled as the aftereffects of the battle were taking their toll. She could not see the sounds, could not tell where she was, had no idea where she should even go from here. All she knew was that she was now where she needed to be.

As the chill of the world began to seep into the child's bones a new wall of warmth made itself known to her. No... not a wall. The wall had been hard and unmoving, had been there to trap her and lead her back to a state of dreamless sleep. This was softer, with give and texture. This had movement and warmth. This was no doubt the personification of the sounds of life.

The sounds sang again, but this time not in scrapes or taps or thuds, but in the language that the youth had stumbled upon as she entered this new world. A soft voice, soothing and compassionate, just as life would be.

Light appeared for the briefest of moments, illuminating new senses the child had not yet become aware of. Brown and gold and white and green, these were the colors of Lifesound. The sight faded all too fast, why could it not have stayed? She wanted to see, she wanted to look upon Lifesound's face once more.

The world heard her wish and it was granted. The choking stone around her neck that had nearly cost her life lit up in a bright pale yellow light, showing her eyes and hears and a caring face. She could feel more happening but she could not understand, could feel the air around her fill with the essence of life and health, could feel it rushing toward the avatar of Lifesound.

Her first offering to the physical form of life, a portion of health that surely was cut from her own. Small price to pay for the caring warmth of this new world.