ORIGIN

all welcome! this gross nerd finally sees the daylight after spending many years in his basement

It had been dark for a long time.

He had slept for a long time.

Bartos had lost track of the days a long time ago. Once, in his youth, he was foolish enough to believe he could monitor them. That he could dose himself with personal treatments, enough each day, to coax the darkness, the paranoia, the hatred and everything else foul from his mind. If he committed enough time to his research, he could keep himself reasonably sane and abate thoughts of his loved ones from consuming him. That if he found enough sleep, he would distract himself with dreams instead. But gradually, the time he spent awake began to ebb into time he spent sleeping. He spent long periods sedentary, simply gazing out of his den and observing the slow, idle affairs of the Gembounds in the cave, forgetting what he had set out to do in the first place. Forgetting his attempts at sanity. Forgetting his work.

A part of him hoped that if he slept long enough, he would retreat into his chrysalis like he had seen so many others do before. But it never happened.

That day, the cat stirred from another dream. He begrudgingly woke himself, blinking blearily into the dim lights with a groan rumbling in his throat. His leg ached. But it always ached. He stretched his long body and slowly lifted himself from the ground. The unexpected movement roused a tired, malodorous smell to waft from the layers of matted fur on his stomach.

How long had it been since he washed himself?

He lost track.

Bartos grimaced, pushing his glasses onto his nose with his paw. Perhaps a visit to the waterfall would do him good. But where was his shadow? The cat flicked his ears, peering around for a sign of the skinless beast, hoping her darkness would shield him from the cave's prying eyes. But he couldn't see her. He licked his lips and swallowed; his throat felt dry. He wasn't sure how long he would want to wait for her. But at the same time... did he really want to expose himself?

Wary, the cat slumped onto his haunches and frowned.

The hybrid blinked gently at Winter's approach. He edged closer to her, unafraid and unthreatening both, his voice quietly tentative.

"I smell it. I don't know, maybe it's--just a rat? But it seems a little bigger than-... Well, the rats around here, anyway," he said uncertaintly. He glanced around. The rats in Cetus might be huge, but the ones here weren't, as far as he remembered, quite that big. And this thing hadn't seemed quite rat-shaped, anyway.

When the snake called out, Oliver remained quiet. He offered Winter a reassuring wag of his tail--or tried to; all he really managed was a quiet rustling of the feathers that fanned from his hind end.

Close enough.

He decided to add his voice to hers, to add his reassurance to her own. "I'm-... Friendly, too, I don't want to hurt anyone? Are you okay? You smell sick. I might be able to help?" His brow furrowed with concern. He considered himself, first and foremost, a helper--a mender, a healer, a shoulder to lean on. Whatever was required, really. And tact didn't even strike him--he didn't bother to rephrase "you smell sick" in a way that might not be seen as offensive. He was matter-of-fact about it, though his voice was both worried and kind.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Bartos

Tension wove through every fiber of his hide. His spine tightened, his tail hovering out behind him, its tip slightly crooked with unease. He watched the entrance of his den carefully and eventually saw a large, black form come into view. For a moment, his heart quivered with relief, attributing the darkness to the fetid composure of his ally - but it wasn't her. No, this creature was dense, feathery, and smelled warm. Bartos noticed the slick, white reptile at his paws as well.

A dog and a snake.

Instinctively, he took one more step back into his den as he listened to them speak among themselves, speculating as to what kind of monster was lying within the den hidden in the warrens. A rat, they suggested. Bartos fought back a scoff. It wasn't until the snake spoke that he finally bristled and drew his lips back with a hiss, a primal response, a wordless warning to keep their distance from him. They both cooed and promised they wouldn't hurt him, wanting to know if he was okay, if they could help him, if they could fix him.

Was this what he'd been reduced to? A charity case for bleeding-hearted children? Where was his shadow, declaring the importance of the scientist ferreted away in his nest? Where were the hybrids that shared his blood, who boasted what little love he could still muster? Where was Astraea?

Bartos leered at them.

"Wh-" he began, then coughed, realizing the sandpaper roughness of his disused throat. A frustrated growl edged from his chest. "What makes you think I need help? Go spend your sympathies on somebody else, pests."

The thoughts in his head manifested easily into a voice that sounded so unlike his own. When had he become so mean, so ill-tempered? Bartos grumbled, giving his pelt a brief shake in an attempt to dispel his own tension before settling back into a crouch. The sooner these two left, the better. But he wasn't so sure he'd be able to make the trip to the lagoon on his own, now. Especially not with nosy little gemlings getting up in his business.

@Winter

Note: Madison knows that Oliver and Winter aren't gemlings, but Bartos just assumes Gembounds he's never met before are all dumb babies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ohhh, it is so cold here.

Pippy mustered up some bravery to travel further than usual, managing to go beyond Orion's borders, these other caves beckoning her. Although she took her time, monitoring every nook and cranny to ensure nothing who may have malicious intentions will jump out. One could do so many horrifying things to her; all these potential possibilities crowd into her mind like her mind became a forest; a forest containing so many scary things if Pippy doesn't go home right now. It becomes too much for her, and so she tries her best to shake them all out her mind and keeps on going.

Pippy soon arrives at some new place, which had so much water it was beckoning for her to go over and drink it without a care. It was so freezing in here too, her wings were like icebergs, so cold and so numb it was a challenge to move them.

A few steps in when she could get some feeling in her wings again, her nose instantly reported to her brain on this new overwhelming scent which surged towards her like a sneeze, and it wasn't a pleasant one, like it was a substantially invisible cloud washing over this whole room it made Pippy a little sick. Pippy got compelled to find out what was causing it.

Tracking it wasn't fun since she had to find a scent trail so she couldn't block this smell out but she tries her best not to let it sway her, determined to find a source.

Next, though her ears also reported to her brain new sounds, one was a voice which Pippy has memories of, and she got so happy from the possibility if it is who she believes it is, she hoped it is Oliver and not a stranger.

Now following sounds instead she found two Gembounds together one which to her joy was Oliver, reencountering them made Pippy so giddy she dashed a little over to where they and this other Gembound are around.

"Oliverrrrr!" she called out in such an excited child-like voice despite how she is physically a child no more despite what her tiny size suggests. her wings were windmilling as she tried to stop herself from falling over from going too fast.

@Bartos