ORIGIN - The collector emerges

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The genet had been curled up in the crystal for a while now. The small, furred creature sat within a chrysalis made out of selenite. The crystal jutted from the ground in an asymmetrical, column-like structure. The crystals were dull, white in color, but very slightly transparent, if one were to focus on it.

And within, a small gembound could be seen. He was long, his tail making up almost half his length. And this genet, this creature, was ready to escape the confines of the irregular gem.

The cat-like creature shifted in the uncomfortable space, twisted into a position that was, now, highly uncomfortable. He kicked out with his hind legs, and the side of the soft crystal quickly gave way after one more kick. He fell out, but he was free.

Blinking several times, he looked at the world with amber colored eyes, though everything was a bit too bright. Actually, quite bright.

A world of stillness and silence all around. No light, no feelings, no pain or desire. All that existed was summarized in the faint and far off hum of energy. Then a mental image giving form to that hum.

'Spire.'

A single word, a coherent thought arising from what was only disjointed consciousness. It was knowledge of an entity far beyond her realm, many hundreds of times farther away than the entire width of her universe.

'Space.'

Yes, this world had dimensionality. There was an up, a down, a forward and a back. The newly emerged self became aware of the space it inhabited. It had limbs, it had a neck, it had a tail. She rested here in a spherical world curled into a ball as recognition of a face and eyes dawned upon her.

'Sight...'

In a simple movement of her newfound face the tiny world had flooded with light refracting in from the outside. Outside the world, though a layer of yellow and permeating an airless chamber.

The young entity moved a single paw from its tucked in position, resting it gently on the smooth and slick inner surface of what had until just moments before been there entirety of her world. Outside she could see a shadow move, long and lanky as though a snake. But what was a snake and how did she know of such a creature's existence?

A new sensation, an uneasiness in her stomach. If the long shadow was a snake then that meant possible food. She had not eaten in... no there had been no concept of eating before this very moment. To do so meant shattering the world that was, casting aside the yellow hued shell.

So she pushed against the edge with all her strength. First with one paw and then unfolding the other to rest against the slick inner surface of her tiny world.

The sound of single crack entered the entity's large ears, prompting her to redouble her efforts. Her back legs stretched out and gripped haphazardly on the bottom of her tomb as she pushed with her head, her paws, her back, until all at once with a sound like a mountain falling the spherical chrysalis she had resided in gave way.

The watery insides of her old world flowed out onto stony ground and the newborn entity found herself tumbling forward onto her front paws, gasping deeply to take in the essence of the space around her. With a cough the essence of the space that had been left her lungs and her chest began a motion that would last for the remainder of her life. Breathe in. Breathe out. Take in this world and be a part of it.

Brilliant red eyes slowly rose to the direction the shadow had been in as she began to become oriented in this state of standing. No snake, no food, there was only a cat long and lanky and looking not much better than she did.

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags: @Birch

Blinking. Trying to get rid of the bright lights. Slowly they were dimming down, but they didn't leave. Still bright. Even the semi-transparent home he had resided in didn't have lights this bright. In fact, this place seemed so much larger. infinite, even. It very well may go on forever, for all the newborn knew.

A cracking noise. His ears swung forward, and he turned his head in the direction of the sound. Another, but not like him. Different shape. He stared with an uncomfortable intensity at the new creature. Fur plastered to their sides, much like his own. But what were they, exactly? Strange! So unlike him!

Slowly, the genet crept closer, new legs shaky. He stopped, a short distance away from them. And still, he continued staring. Didn't give any indications as to his thoughts, even though those were bland. Just curiosity as to what the other would do.

@Miru

There was a crackling here, a hum of life and energy that she didn’t fully understand, and it set her fur on end. She felt alight in this place, in a way that she couldn’t explain- and nor could her immediate surroundings, dank and dull aside from the chromatic interruption of the glowing fungi. The walls seemed to breathe in that energy, leaving behind cold, damp stone with little clue to what infinite power they had stowed away forever. Perhaps it’s why she felt so drawn to this place, that strange feeling that sent chills along her spine and left her with a slight headache at the base of her single indigo antler.

It wasn’t long after she had begun to notice that crackling energy when it was overshadowed by cracking sounds of an entirely different and more immediate variety. With more experience the fawn might have run, but as it was, she moved toward the source of the noise. As she neared the pair, the smells began to become more familiar and consequently, somewhat comforting. Wet fur, the interior of chrysalis- she hadn’t realized, until now, that she’d been growing in something with a smell, but that didn’t make it any less strange now.

It was quite a shock to her as she rounded a corner to the fresh gembounds and did not see, as she expected, newly hatched fawns. After all, the white fawn and herself had been the only creatures she’d known to stumble into this world from that safe shell. Instead, two strange creatures stood before her, still damp and blinking in the lamplight. They were clearly just hatched from the broken shells at their feet and not much smaller than she was. She hid her confusion with surprising efficiency, taking a few tentative steps toward the nearest of the pair, the fox kit. She paused a few feet away, inhaling deeply, studying. “Hello,” she spoke gently, turning her head to the genet after a few seconds, unsure if either understood speech and not yet possessing much vocabulary, herself.

Breathe in and breathe out, the rhythm was fading more and more to the background as this new entity, this fox became accustomed to her surroundings. It was cold out here, not so much as to be uncomfortable but certainly more so than it had been in her previous place. The creature she had taken note of had obviously taken note of her and was approaching closer, large brown eyes staring silently at her.

Those eyes. Something about them drew the kit's attention in a profound way. The youth set her gaze fixed upon the face of the other, staring in equal silence as she tried to read any kind of sense from the static look. Eye shape, size, color, pupil dilation, even the nearly invisible lines in the iris; all these factors seemed to play upon and interact with each other to form a story invisible to the conscious mind.

"Magic. Journey. Wealth."

These three words popped into the youth's mind as the best synonyms for the intangible concepts she saw written in the creature's eyes. Magic like the spire she had felt the presence of. Magic like she could feel even now lying dormant insider her own being. This was an individual who shared being with her just as the both of them were infused with the essence of the world. The journey was a neutral one, only just now starting but likely leading from this point forward. There was so much unrealized potential in those eyes- it was impossible at this point to guess where the creature's pathway would go. One thing for sure though- they did not pose a threat at the moment.

The last word, this concept of wealth; that one seemed the most tenuous of all. Was it a desire, a destiny, a danger? Perhaps all three at once. In those eyes she saw potential for great greed or great charity. Just by her first impression she could hazard a guess that they would likely be either a great rival or a great asset in her own journeys through this world.

A single sound broke the silence, sending the little fox jumping away from the larger shadow that had snuck up upon her. Her mind was still racing, still processing the depths of what she had just seen. The new creature did not seem to be acting aggressively though, she wasn't in immediate danger. Even if she had been perhaps she could have distracted it with the genet- either working with them to fend the horned beast off or offering them in her place so she could run away.

"Hwoo?" she replied, a fresh sound emerging from her throat somewhere between a spoken word and a feral noise.

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags: @Birch @Karma
Notes: RW1M8C10P

The genet turned his head towards the new visitor, a creature that was much more different than the was, than the other was. There was a beautiful gem on the very top of the animal's head, brilliant in color. The cat-like creature stared at the gem, before looking down at it's long legs. Slender, ending in feet so unlike his own. They looked hard and tough. How could one walk on that? It looked uncomfortable.

The newcomer said a greeting, but the genet didn't know that it was a greeting, or even what was said. Just that the creature with the blue-purple gem had made a strange noise. So the genet stared. Indeed, it seemed like that was the only thing that this animal knew how to do. A slow blink. The one with the yellow gem on it's head tried to mimic the sound, though it wasn't quite right. Not like what the other one had said. It was... off, in a way.

The genet sat down, pulling his long tail over his paws. He did not know what exactly a greeting was, but since the other one tried to repeat it, he could at least make a contribution.

The kit made a mew of sorts, much like a domestic cat. Then, the newborn tilted his head, looking at the others. His response wasn't even close to the 'hello' the larger Gembound had said. It was a feral noise, like what one would expect from a Lesser.

@Miru @Karma

Karma spooked slightly when the fox kit skittered away, white tail raised and antlered head lifted high. She hadn’t meant to frighten the newborns, and felt a bit sorrowful for approaching the pair at all, given that new information. After a moment, she relaxed again, gaze flicking curiously from one child to the other.

The fawn’s ears flicked as the fox kit replied from newly minted vocal cords, and she found herself feeling quite proud and maternal despite being rather fresh from her chrysalis as well. All the creatures she’d seen, glimpsed in passing or otherwise observed, had been older and larger than her. Even the white fawn was a bit older, and far more talented at that magic business. Truth be told, she was quite inclined to try to bury her nose in the fox’s fur, finish drying the liquid from her lovely coat. Instincts die slowly, even when quite unwarranted.

Still, the fawn resisted, unwilling to alienate her new… somethings. They weren’t her siblings, nor friends, nor her offspring. She considered the scenario in her mind, mulling over the possibilities. Surely this encounter was a thing meant to be, a gift forged from that great buzzing in the background that made her feel lightweight and perhaps a bit brave. But what did it mean? Perhaps that she should, like the one that had found her, take them to that luscious world of greenery she’d discovered.

Karma was about to turn to attempt to do such a thing (she wasn’t terribly opposed to going back to the garden and stuffing her face, to be fair) when the mew of the genet shook her from such pursuits. She lowered her head to look at the little thing with renewed interest, fascinated and just a bit fixated on how adorable she thought the sound was. She blinked slowly, face soft, watching. After a moment of observation, it occurred to her that she’d need to get the pair to cooperate and follow before she set off on a journey of sorts. After all, there was enough vegetation here that would suffice them a short while if they became hungry. For a moment, she was amazed at how much she’d changed in the short time she’d been around- it wasn’t long ago at all that she had been just like them, just as helpless, just as lost.

The deer thought for a moment, pondering on her situation. For starters, she needed to call them something. She’d never named a thing before- she had no idea where to start. If only she could just… ask.

Just as she was thinking this, a shard of the chrysalis the little fox kit had emerged from caught her eye. Aha, she thought, for it was shiny and flat and looked perfect for her purposes. She took a breath, focusing on picking it up and bringing it over her head. She almost dropped it in surprise when it cooperated perfectly, but managed to bring it to its destination. “Karrrma,” she said slowly, working hard to pronounce the pesky ‘r’ sound correctly and keeping one cautious eye on the stone now hovering overhead. Next, she moved it over to the fox, concentrating on holding it over the kit’s head in a similar fashion.

@Birch @Miru

The entire situation seemed surreal to the new life. Emerging form a round yellow stone egg into a massive place with a cat-like creature opposite her and a large deer approaching shortly after and speaking sounds that felt like they had meaning. This feeling of being out of place was only intensified as a piece of her shell began to levitate into the air and fly above the deer's head.

The creature spoke again, once more seeming to try to place meaning on sound. 'Karma' a noise with no obvious context but somehow associated with a floating rock over a deer?

The rock left its place of rest and began to float toward her. Her ears, previously pointed toward the other newborn to keep tabs on the creature, swiveled around and zeroed in to supplement her gaze. The hovering object made no noise to indicate how it was flying, it simply did. Eventually it came to rest above her own head, leaving her to stare up inquisitively as a soft "Mru?" escaped her mouth.

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags: @Birch @Karma

The deer made a strange noise, hovering the stone over themselves before moving it over the other. The genet had no idea what names were, or what words were, even. The noises sounded like they had purpose, and they weren't threatening, but individual meanings were lost on the small kit.

The gem, though, was pretty. A yellow color, and shiny and flat. The genet had been watching the event--even when the fox kit ran-- without moving too much. Besides twisting around to look at the other kit, of course.

Transfixed by the shiny thing, he gazed at it. And it hovered! He wasn't aware that the deer was controlling it, just that this rock hovered in midair. He went to jump at it-- not thinking about whether or not he may injure the fox-- but failed. Letting out a startled mew, he fell-- he didn't even make it off the ground. An uncomfortable experience, but the genet was not sore. Then he shifted, to become comfortable, but remained on the ground.

@Miru @Karma

Karma found, given the eye contact needed to control the chrysalis shard, she was unable to watch the reaction of the kits as she went through the motions with it. When the shard was close enough to the fox to watch her expression, it occurred to the fawn that they had no idea what was happening. Her fault, she supposed, for being so ambiguous. But how else do these things go? How on earth did Pride know what to do, much less tolerate it? She became slightly nervous about the situation, afraid of the possibilities if she did something wrong. Still, there was nobody else to help them, so she swallowed the thought and returned her attention to attempting to garner their names. Momentarily proud that she had gotten the fox kit’s attention, Karma exhaled as the fox gave a confused trill.

Close enough, probably. “Mirr-mirr-mirru,” Karma attempted to mimic the fox’s noise with limited success. She jumped in surprise and nearly dropped the shard as the genet jumped forward and quickly it to the side of the fox- Mru- just to be safe. She reached down to nudge the little catlike one with her nose, trying to ensure it hadn’t been hurt from the fall. Content with her inspection, and the fact that it seemed to be fine, she lifted her head slightly, though still nearer the ground than normal. For the time being, it seemed that Mew would suffice for this little one; anything was better than “it”, really.

“Hmmm,” she considered the pair, trying to decide what to do next. Perhaps they were hungry? It wasn’t long after she had first emerged that her stomach began to growl. Karma turned, head tilted so she could watch them still, and began to slowly walk away. With a little luck, her new little charges might follow, and she could at least take them for some grazing.

How did he do this? How can I do this?

@Birch @Miru

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