Greenery encompasses most of Eridanus, acting as a nice refresher from the dull grey of the stony passages to the eyes for any who wander into this part of the tunnels. A soft carpet of moss greeted any visitor to the area. Sounds of streams and slightly shifting leaves replaced the hard clicks of stone against stone. The change from dull greys to a sea of greens and browns is nearly enough to stun most coming upon it. So it comes as no surprise that a small stone egg has been able to lay safely hidden amongst the underground jungle.
Off to the side, a stone of milky white with vibrant greens snaking through it laod hidden next to a particularly large fern plant. The greens of the hard-shell blend in with the surrounds, masking it from those would wish it any harm. Plants cradled the egg and formed a natural nest as it’s bed. Quietly it rested in it’s little personal Garden of Eden, growing and waiting until the perfect moment.
Almost without warning, the stone one day shuddered. A loud crack was heard as a brown little cloven hoof kicked from the newly formed hole in the egg’s side. A surprised cry followed as the hoof quickly tried to slip back inside. But it was too late. Once broken, the egg could no longer be fixed. The shifting only caused the cracks to grow faster, soon running along all the edges of the agate’s surface.
Within minutes the stone shattered. Pieces of stone shards fell to the ground or dusted on top of the strange creature left in it’s wake. She shook her head, sneezing a bit at the resulting dust which caused large narrow ears to flop about wildly. Dark eyes blinked and widened, taking in the new sights as the springbok calf sat curled up along the stone crumbles. Light, colors, sounds. All were new and bombarded her senses. All she had known was darkness and silence. Suddenly without warning a new world was opened up to her. It was so much to take in all at once.
It was … It was beautiful.
For a time, the springbok simply rested on her patch of moss and stone while taking in all of the new sights and sounds and smells. A new world had almost instantly opened up and it took her new mind a while to process and sort it all out. One thought remained with her though, a sense of serenity. The feeling of soft moss and fallen leaves, this sound of gently moving water, this world of green and brown hues … this was her nirvana.
After a moment, the instinct to stand came to her brain. Slowly long gangly legs stretched out and found their place beneath her. All at once she was hoisted upwards with a slight wobble. Another cry of surprise resounded followed by a tiny giggle. There was something about the quick movement that felt nice to her. It felt right being up on all fours instead of lying down but there was something else too. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on that she should do….
A low rumble came to her ears followed by a gentle voice. Neither were malicious, just different. Different than the sounds of the leaves brushing each other or the waters churning nearby. A new scent as well followed it. Ears and then head spun around to face the newcomer. He was brown, similar to her but her coat was because of newness while his deep color had been grown into. There were other similarities between them like the dark eye markings and pale belly. But there were much more differences than similarities between the two.
Again, something new! Sometimes strange and wonderful and exciting and new! In her excitement she found her legs had sprung her up into the air. The skin flap along her rump unfurled in a puffy white. For a moment she seemed to hover in the air before landing shakily from her unexpected pronk in a fit of giggles.
That was it! That was what she should be doing to celebrate the wonders around her! A spring, a jump, a
pronk! She lept again, landing more assuredly this time though her legs still splayed more than that of an adult.
It was at that time she remembered that the other had made a sound. Well, two strange sounds. One was utterly unfamiliar to her, foreign but still nice. The other sounded more possible.
“
Hello,” she repeated, giggling slightly at the dip in tone at the “lo” part of the word.
Tags: @Rift
Notes:
The springbok blinked, looking over the other creature with a slightly amused expression. From what she could tell, the other seemed confused by something and had a funny expression on it’s face. It amused her for some reason that he didn’t seem to understand the simple joy in jumping. Or simply the joy in
being.
“I dunno. I guess I like it. I haven’t done it before. But it feels right. It feels fun!” A full bay of laughter followed and she sprang into the air once more, her head bobbing up and down with the moment. She gave three short hops until she had twirled in a circle, giggling until she found herself slightly winded.
While calming down and catching her breath, she caught the second question from the creature known as Rift. A name … a name. This question seemed important for some reason. She scrunched up her face, thinking hard to try to formulate some sort of answer. What was the correct answer? She wasn’t sure. But she wanted to respond with something. She couldn’t keep her new friend waiting, that wasn’t nice. She wasn’t sure why it wasn’t nice, she just knew it wasn’t.
“My name … my name ….” Long ears wiggled in fierce concentration.
Then her head suddenly sprang up, her agate horn shimmering in the light from the sudden movement. A strange thought came to her mind. Like before, it just felt right though she didn’t know why.
“My name is Enka. I think. Yeah, Enka.” She looked up at Rift’s face, hoping that this was indeed the correct answer.
Tags: @Rift
Notes:
Enka beamed at Rift’s words, happy she seemed to have met his approval. A soft bellow resounded in glee that she answered correctly and at the greeting she gave. While she didn’t fully understand what was occurring or it’s significance, she knew that today was an important day for her. But that could be every day. Was every day so amazing as this? What an amazing world she had entered now that her cage had been opened.
Speaking of amazing, something else amazing happened. Just above her hooves tickled with sudden movement. She tilted her head sideways and downwards to better see. A slight gasp escaped her jaws as suddenly the area was covered with an array of colors and shapes. The sudden
abiogenesis was astonishing. Blues and purples and whites and pinks and greens and yellows. Stars and clovers and ovals and bulbs. It was a tiny garden at her hooves that came to greet her much like Rift had done.
“
Oh wow….” she breathed. Then she turned her dark eyes back to the feline, still filled with awe as though she had seen a small miracle. “
Do they do that often here?
Such a magical world this place was. Head bent down once more and almost delicately she plucked one of the flowers. For a moment the yellow plant was held in her mouth, before swallowed. It tasted delightful! Soft hints of texture and taste engulfed her sense of taste. “
Yummy!”
Again she plucked at the new plants, though this time with more enthusiasm than before. She was certain they would taste just as wonderfully as the first one did. But then she remembered her knew friend. He was a bit different than him, but he was similar enough. They were both brown, they both talked, they were both friends. She turned her head towards him, holding a couple of blue plants this time. "
Want some?"
Tag: @Rift
Notes:
As the springbok chewed at the flower, she watched as the feline laid down on the bed of flowers. A low sound vibrated from nearby. Long narrow ears swung around until she realized that the sound was coming from Rift. It was strange, but not intimidating in the least. In fact, it was kind of calming in a strange sense, though far different than the sounds she could make. At least, she didn’t think she could make that sound. Maybe she would have to try sometime to see?
Unlike most, Rift’s response about not being hungry at being offered a plant to eat didn’t seem unusual. Enka was only recently hatched, after all. She knew she ate plants, so it was a natural assumption to think that the feline would be able to as well. She simply nodded her head, eating at the flowers contently.
The chewing motion slowed, though, as the cougar began to list off the various items that grew nearby. Each one sounded tastier than the next. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what a tomato of a mustard looked like, let alone what they would taste like. But the slight watering in her mouth made her very curious. Apparently hatching made for a rather hungry calf.
Enka nodded her head very excitedly. Her ears once more danced about, trying in vain to keep up with the bobbing of her head. It was nearly a miracle they didn’t brush up and get hurt against the agate horn that rested in the center of her forehead with it’s point at the top.
“
Yes yes Rift! I wanna try them all!” Even her tail flickered at this, the black tip visible past the white of her rump.
Tag: @rift
Note: