ORIGIN - the best way to survive is all alone

"Speech." Kallista had fled the giant spider. There was no way she was going to stay and fight that thing, when it could easily crush her. It was too dangerous. Besides, she had still been recovering from that battle with Aaliyah. She felt a growl rise in her just at the thought of it. She still couldn't believe that the one who had risked her life to save her ended up injuring her. Though cycles had passed, she could still feel the ghost of the burns on her face that the cat had inflicted.

She wasn't in Polaris anymore. She had no idea where the hybrid had gone, but she would simply steer clear from her. She'd stay clear from everyone else, too. There was no reason for her to be near others. She'd do just fine living on her own. She can hunt. She knows where she can find water. She doesn't need anyone else.

No matter how lonely it'll get.

ARTUME

The fawn was so confused.

She'd laid down to sleep some time before, finding a small cushion of leaves that had looked to make a good bed. The patches of leaves had become few and far between the more she wandered, to the point that she she would stop and sleep in each one she found.

This one had been in a room she'd wandered into, which glistened beautifully. Light seemed to reflect off of crystals, much different from any of the other rooms she'd found.

It had become a sort of routine. Walk, find a pach of leaves, sleep, wake up, and repeat.

So imagine her utter shock when she woke up one day, to find an egg close against her side. She hadn't really known what to do. Her species, obviously, wasn't of the egg-laying sort, and so she didn't have any maternal instinct towards it. And yet, she couldn't simply leave it. There were Gembounds, she knew, who wouldn't hesitate to poach a defenseless egg.

So she stayed by it, only leaving to feed and drink. And on the third day, she'd woken to it gone. She'd panicked, at first. However, upon looking around, she'd been able to see dissolving shards of the yellow-ish shell. And there, where the egg had been, was a... well, she didn't quite know what it was.

It was relatively large, she supposed, perhaps the length of her hoof to the knob of her knee. It was a yellow-ish color like the shell of the egg had been, with a funny looking nub on the end. The thing was slightly curved and, when she lowered her velvet-like muzzle to it, it smelled faintly sweet.

She hadn't really known what to do with it. So, thinking that it might be useful at some point, she'd picked it up in her flat teeth, and begun to walk.

As she walked, she began to see... something. As she approached, she could make out a Gembound, somewhat smaller than her, with grey fur. It didn't look well, and something seemed wrong. So she set down the thing, and called out, "Hello! Are you alright? Can I help you?"

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

@Kallista

"Speech." Kallista was sitting somewhere, she hadn't paid much attention to where exactly, when she heard someone call out to her. Immediately, her fur bristled and she whirled around to face whoever had called out. She saw someone clearly much younger than her (she'd long since forgotten how many cycles she's lived. However many, it was that many too long) and likely not even full grown. She couldn't remember if she'd ever seen anyone that looked similar to how his creature looked.

Whatever. It didn't matter what they looked like. What mattered is that they were here! And they've noticed her. Probably noticed her face, too. While the battle that caused her scarring and the loss of one of her eyes had happened numerous cycles ago, she still didn't like others seeing it. But at that moment, she didn't seem to care.

It was then that she remembered that this creature, whatever it was, had spoken. Her eye narrowed. "I'm fine," she growled, not even bothering to hide the distaste she had for seeing someone else. "It's nothing you could help with, anyway."

@Artume

She seemed to have alarmed the little creature, as its fur began to bristle, and it whirled to face her. The stag offered it a smile, stepping back to give it space. For a moment, her bright green eyes glanced at its scarred face, but after a moment she looked back at it normally. So it had scars, so what? It seemed to be par for the course in the Caves.

In an attempt at making it feel better, safer, she folded her legs under her, head remaining high. There was little else she could do, and her ears flicked at the sound of its voice. "Are you sure? If you're hungry I could try to catch something for you, or if something else is wrong I can try."

@Kallista