ORIGIN

One minute, he was nothing.


And then the next, he existed.


It had been nice. Nice and quiet. There had been nothing; no noise, no smells, nothing to see.


And then suddenly, there was. He didn't know what the sounds were, but they were there. Muffled by his rounded ears, flattened against his head. And suddenly there was something pressing against him; and there was a him! It was tight, tight tight tight, too tight! His ribs were being squeezed, an uncomfortably pressure against his gem. His gem, not fully integrated into him yet, shifted causing a mewling sound to come from the crysalis. And with the realization that he could move, came the realization that maybe, maybe he could push away the thing? Get himself some room to breathe?


Hesitantly, the little cub unfurled his legs, black-and-red crysalis jostling. Maybe if he just... stretching out fine legs, long even for a cub, his paws pressed against his casing. His claws 'snick'ed out, tearing miniscule holes into the crysalis, but that was enough. With another shove, the crysalis began to tear, weakened by the holes. With a crackling sound, the crysalis buckled, dumping out a little, slimy cub.


"Mew?" slowly, the cub began to whimper. His ears and eyes were still sealed, and he was so confused! There was no longer a squeeze-thing around him, and the air felt weird! His black fur was gross-feeling, too! His ruby, showing on his shoulder blade, suddenly flared, as though there were a flame inside it, before settling back down, the ruby gleaming brightly.

There was a funny sound. Almost like a muffled 'thump, thump, thump.' Well, if he knew what that was, he would say so. Or if he could talk. His vocal cords weren't exactly formed yet. His little nose twitched, and amongst the wet, musty scents he could pick up something else, although he didn't know what it was. Something familiar, was all he could say.


The sound seemed to get louder, even through his flattened ears. And then suddenly it stopped. The mewling cub whined again, cocking his head. What had happened to the sound? He had rather liked it. It had been too quiet, after he'd ended up in this strange place. It had told him he wasn't alone.


There was suddenly a feeling of pressure in the air, and the little cubs fur bristled as magic sang through the air. What had that been? He didn't know, but he found he liked it. There was suddenly a wet, cool something pressed against his nose, and he sniffed in return. The other smelled like... cat. And plant.


With a suddenness that surprised the cub, his ears unsealed, little round things perking up from atop his head. Squinting, his eyelids slowly opened, eventually revealing a pair of golden-colored gleaming eyes. He listened to the other speak, before finally echoing, [color=red]"Hello!" in his squeaky little voice.

The little cub ear's twitched at the feeling of the other's fur against his sensitive ear, the goop drying enough that the slightly darker markings on the rims of his ear and muzzle were beginning to become visible. He cocked his head as the other spoke, trying to puzzle out the meanings of the words. 'Hello', he'd said that multiple times. It was a funny word, making his tongue flick against his needle-like baby teeth, and his mouth make a funny shape.


The cub returned the other's attentions, little nose twitching as he sniffed the larger cat's tawny pelt. He smelled similar, like the cub, but didn't really look the same. Where the cub was dark-furred and mostly legs, the other's pelt was lightly colored and had shorter legs in comparison to its (his?) body.


The cub made a happy little sound when the other licked him, smoothing down his rather-wild pelt. Again the older cat spoke, his chest rumbling with the words, and the little cub's ears flattened as he tried to puzzle out what he meant. There was an upwards inflection to the elder's voice, so he seemed happy. "Name me?" he echoed, voice squeaking as he attempted to mimic the other.

The little cub frowned, mimicking the elder by cocking his head, his over-sized ears flopping with the motion. Had he done something wrong? He couldn't think of anything, but he didn't really know right or wrong quite yet; after all, he didn't know what pain was, so how was he to know that you shouldn't bring it upon others?


It copied him again when he sat down, squatting on its haunches, looking rather awkward with its long, lanky legs. The elder's tongue came down on his wild fur, and the cub found itself purring. That felt good! He knew what good was, and this was it! His ears flopped back and he leaned into the touch, eyes drifting shut as he began to purr, a low rumbling sound that squeaked in his throat.


His eyes peeked open at the sound of the other's voice, trying to puzzle out what he was saying. Name? Was that what one was called? He guessed so, from the way the other was pointing. Was the other called Rift? What's a Rift?


For a moment, he thought. Name? He hadn't a name. But, slowly, something came to mind. Furrowing his brow, as though thinking hard, he finally managed "Seb... Seb-a-teen."

The little cub leaned into Rift, allowing him to take more weight with each swipe of his rough tongue. He was surprised how good that felt, but didn't think much of it. It made him warmer, and got the gunk off his fur, so why shouldn't he like it? The other Puma's tongue soothed down his ruffled fur, which was another plus.

The little Puma cub smiled as he was encouraged, ducking his head when the other licked his head. But... no. That didn't sound right. Sebateen? And it hadn't come out of his mouth right. "N-no..." he shook his head, ears flopping everywhere. "S-seb... azz...tee...uhn." he dragged it out this time, testing each syllable as it rolled off his tongue. Yes, Sebastian, that sounded right.