ORIGIN

Aster had not eaten. It must have been a few days since she emerged in Orion, and in that time the puppy had seen many things. Towers and quartz stars, and a large, empty throne. She saw carvings in the walls and she spent hours and hours just watching them, deciphering them to very little success, but ultimately leaving them.

She saw the Spire. Other gembounds. Ones that spoke, ones that hatched before her, and ones that didn't speak and only ran from her. She saw lakes and fish, but other than watching them, unblinking for a time, she did very little regarding their presence.

She was in a new place, now. A wide, damp tunnel, where moisture clung to her fur. It was uncomfortable, but Aster did not remove herself from it. Instead, she stood by the entrance to Polaris, staring in at the glowing light reflecting off the walls and the rocks.

A shadow. Out of the corner of the puppy's eye, she saw a shadow dart across the light, leading to the body of a rat skittering along the cave floor. All at once, Aster remembered that she had not eaten, and that the empty feeling in her gut must have been one thing, hunger.

All at once, the borzoi bared teeth and began sprinting after the rat. The massive creature peered over its shoulder, letting out a noise that was somewhere between a squeak and a snarl of its own, before it turned a corner and dove into a burrow.

Aster was quick enough to keep up, but not quick enough to realise that she should slow down. The puppy went face-first into the damp wall, though fortunately, except for being briefly dazed, she was fine. She shook her head and moved away, hissing out a breath.

More drastic measures were needed.

The puppy was too small and too young to properly hunt for herself. Too small, too slow, and may quickly get overpowered by a much-larger rat should one decide to turn and fight back. This much was obvious to Aster, at the very least, but she had one thing she could rely on: magic.

The borzoi stared off unblinking at the wall for a moment as she began to focus. She brought her energy into her skull, where her gem lay, and just above her vision she caught sight of a gentle blue glow before everything... stopped.

Aster could not move. Aster could barely breathe. It took her a long time to realise that, after a good second, her head was slowly turning. Her movements were responding, but not particularly well.

How long would it last? Aster did not know.

She caught sight of a rat not too far away, half-hidden against the wall, also struggling to move. Caught mid-sprint when Aster was casting. With a very... slow breath, the borzoi locked eyes onto the rat's body and began focusing again, bringing magic into her skull.

Once more, the borzoi saw the glimmering blue above her eyes and she took another gentle breath, watching the rat. Slowly-- over the next four or five seconds --the cave rat was lifted off it's feet, gaining height. Slowly.

It was then that the spell, however, was ended. All at once Aster's head snapped properly towards the rat as it was flung up and up and up until it almost hit the cave floor, and then began propelling downwards.

Fast.

Alarmingly fast.

Seconds before impact, instinct took over Aster's body and she turned her gaze away from the rat as she heard a sickening thump and the gentle crunching of bones as the rat hit the ground.

She stared at the wall. It was silent. She did not hear the rat get up and she certainly did not hear it breathe. In the distance, perhaps, there were more skittering of rats but they did not seem particularly aware of the fate that befell their brother (or sister, Aster wasn't about to go checking anytime soon) and slowly, eventually, the dog turned her head back to it.

It had certainly worked, at least. The rat lay in a neat heap of fur and blood. It was a meal and it wasn't something the puppy was going to deny anytime soon.

On stilted legs, the borzoi paced over, and began to eat.