ORIGIN

Light.

Light for the first time.

Brightness pierced his eyes like a spear, such radiance that he couldn’t fathom what it was. Little did he know that what he was exposed to was life itself for the first time. His body was so… rigid. He could barely move a muscle. But wait, he realized that he could move something. A toe, an arm, his whole torso. More so, he realized that he was conscious.
He was alive.

As the newborn braved the world, he opened his eyes. For a moment, a vivid green was all he saw, surely the signs of his tourmaline gemstone. The color he witnessed at his first blink was in fact the hue which his own gemstone boasted. Buried deep inside his body, Jormada would not realize for a long time why this was the first thing he saw, alas it was a memory he would never forget.

That brightness… that color. Am I… Alive?

Jormada’s body shot through his chrysalis like a bullet, landing squarely ahead of the rock in which he once festered. The creature was so surprised to learn that he had fingers and toes, so amazed to discover his limbs. The lion cub tried to stand with little success, collapsing under his feeble weight. He tried again and again, failing every time until he finally managed to stand. A grin rose on the cub’s lips, starting to grasp this whole thing called life.

Jormada looked down onto himself, taking his scenery in. He was far less interested in his surroundings and far more invested in his own being. His feet, they had little claws. He liked that. His arms were a shiny reddish brown, some very short hairs gracing his limbs. He could feel the energy cruising through his muscles and so he tested them, bouncing and leaping about until he was satisfied. He felt his little lungs work hard during the exercise. He heard his heart beating through his chest by the end of it. He acknowledged the ruggedness of the terra beneath his paws, and the heat of the air which he breathed.

He was alive.

All this, and yes he hadn’t explored sound just yet. What was this growing sensation in his throat? What were these noises his ears picked up? The environment was without a doubt silent, but it was not void of sound. There were hints of a nearby water source. The strange sound of a flowing effervescent body made Jormada think of something fresh. There were some echoes from his own movements, helping the cub get a sense of where exactly he was in his environment. As much as he could begin to see, he still wasn’t sure what it was he was gazing upon.

As time passed, the cub learned how to control his body. He had opened his eyes and understood what he saw. He was able to associate sounds with vision. He grew more aware of his abilities as a lion. He was becoming excited and happy to live. Without hesitation, the feline let out the best roar he could. He continued to growl and roar into the distance; it felt so natural. He felt on top of the world.

He felt alive.

the surge of newfound energy made them feel alive, more energetic than they’d felt in all their cycles. It stirred within them a wanderlust the likes of which they hadn’t experienced since they were very young, and very much incapable of satisfying it. Now though, they bounded away the excess energy, twisting and twitching as they went, taking the paths most unfamiliar through the towering tunnels, and soon finding themselves somewhere they’d never seen before.

The warmth caused the little weasel to shiver in pleasure, so used were they to the stony chill of Orion. They couldn’t help but push themselves onto their hindpaws to peer around at the softly steaming lake. Never in all their days had Envy expected to find a cave like this.

But alas, the serenity was not to last, as a strange sound echoed throughout the cavern- a roar, perhaps, to thevperpetrator. But to Envy’s ears, it was an annoying squall, one that narrowed their eyes and brought out a wince. Envy remained still, listening with no shortage of annoyance as the sound continued on... and on... and on... with no signs of stopping. The weasel waited for a while, hoping for their serenity to be restored, before, in a flurry of indignance, scuttled towards the sound.

In case it was something dangerous, they pushed magic out of their gem and let it flow throughout their being. Like a ghost, the weasel seemed to fade from existence as they wove throughout the rocks.

They soon came across a lion cub. Small, but of course, already infinitely bigger and stronger than they were. Envy tapped a foot, considering their course of action, the cub’s squalling ringing in their ears. Finally they sat upright on their hind paws, folding their forepaws across their chest and glaring as they faded into visibility by the cub’s paws... though, far enough away that they didn’t need to worry about being swatted into oblivion. "Do you mind?!" They tittered, lilac eyes narrowed in a stern glare. "Some of us are trying to enjoy the moment! "

"Speech."

@Jormada if you wanna tag me, just type out @myname like so! It helps to make sure there’s a space before and after too ^^

The acoustics in this cavern beamed sound right back at his ear drums, and with each little roar, he grew more and more excited. He would occasionally let out a giggle, joy radiating from the infant. His claws kneaded the earth beneath them, raking dust beneath his paws. As soon as Jormada’s energy overtook his body, he decided to leap upwards as high as he could. The lion kicked a cloud of dust up from beneath him and was immediately fascinated by it.
”Cool!” he exclaimed.

Everything was brand new to the cub. Everything was impressive. With each action performed and each reaction observed, he learned something new. But his lesson on gravity and sound was soon interrupted by another noise. Something was behind him, and it was speaking in a matter that he could understand. Wait, something? No. Someone.

The child spun around to face a small brown creature not too far from him. They were perched upon a rock, arms folded across their chest. Their eyes reflected a bright violet hue, though they also reflected annoyance and disgruntlement. The sound of their voice seemed to carry an irate tone and was admittedly a little fierce. The thing was that they weren’t too intimidating… This weasel was tiny. He wasn’t scared in the slightest.

Emerald greens locked onto the eyes of the animal before him, a smug toothy grin pulling at his lips. Jormada stood up tall and puffed his chest, his expression clearly impish.
”I mean, I do mind.” he started playfully.
”I’m enjoying the moment!”
He stared off into space for a moment, thinking about the words he just said. Words he somehow knew how to pronounce, words he somehow understood. He was eager to do more of this… what would it be called. Wording? Sounding? No. The correct term was talking! That was it.

With that discovery, the lion cub casually began to strut over towards the weasel. He had yet to discover that even the smallest animal could pose an enormous danger. He’d yet to learn how to be cautious, and what it means to keep a distance or to be weary of a stranger. He proceeded to curiously study the being’s frame; their shape, their size, their paws and tail. From his analysis, he concluded that this creature was certainly very different from himself.
”Hmm. You’re not like me at all… You’re small, aaaaand-“ He unsheathed his claws, bringing his paw up to eye level.
”You don’t have these!” He let out an arrogant chuckle.
”What exactly are you anyway, small brown thing?”
Jormada kept walking around the weasel, observing them to the best of his ability. He was so curious about everything! First there was vision, movement, and sound. Now there’s speech, and even better yet, a whole other creature before him? This was all so inspiring and new. He couldn’t wait to see what else life had to offer.

ooc:
@envy

Envy was unamused by the impish grin that the lion cub wore, and they narrowed their eyes further to slits of lilac. "I noticed," they said pointedly, tail flicking. They watched as the kid strutted closer, and Envy puffed out their chest, stubbornly holding their ground. Oh, so that was how this was gonna go, eh? A wry smirk tugged at their muzzle.

The smirk faded however, as the kid had the sheer nerve to comment on their... stature. Rage seethed in their chest. How dare he! Their gaze flickered for a moment in thought, but a moment later the smirk returned, and this time, with a flash of fang. The expression held a nasty kind of smugness. "Oh, I don't, do I?" they asked coyly, as though terribly shocked. "That might be because I've got better ones."

They brought one small hind foot stomping against the rock beneath their feet, the earth reforming beneath them in a resounding creak. A row of glistening obsidian spikes formed, rising up to the ground to stop inches from the cub's stupid face. Dropping onto all fours, Envy scuttled up towards the tip of a spike, the very picture of coolness and perched there at eye level. They were grinning, the fur along their arched, coiled spine prickling upright. Clearly, they were awfully pleased with themselves.

"I'm a weasel. Envy's the name. I'd ask the same of you, but I already know you're just a brat." they sniffed disdainfully. "Someone ought to teach you some respect."

"Speech."

@Jormada

The cub's confidence quickly shrank when he saw that Envy cornered him. He dared not wince in stature, his muscles rigid and braced, ready to defend. Still though, he could not help but feel an inkling of danger. His instincts were shouting at him, telling him this was a bad place to be… and yet his mind persisted. He wanted to stave off the danger and fight off these surrounding rocky claws. He was better than just running from it and deep down he knew it. At that moment, he had a feeling that neither aggression nor submission would help him in his situation. Instead, he decided to say the first words that came to him.

"Whoa!" Jormada exclaimed.
"Those are to cool! How can I get those?"
He was genuinely impressed. Gazing at his paw, he pondered about the little hooks he was naturally gifted with. He spent some time comparing the two: the claws which he was birthed with versus those which loomed above him. The cub couldn’t help but think that he would one day be able to acquire both of their powers. He knew he had so much to learn, so much to overcome. His little claws were at their greenest, and those stone thorns were a great example of what he knew deep down that he could achieve with persistence and training. He knew that, as he aged, he would do better and be better. He would be stronger. He would be faster. He would be savvier. He would be smarter.
One day…

For now, he needed to deal with his situation.
Rather than choose an aggressive path, the cub, already being so enthralled by the rock-like spikes which the weasel had summoned, kept playing into his awe. He shifted his focus from the danger to the creature in front of him, not just as a potential perpetrator, but as just another animal.
“You said something there, your… name?” the cub asked with a puzzled expression.
“What’s a name? What’s in a name? Is that like… your abilities? Are those rock things called “Envy the Weasel?”
He paused, scanning the brown fleeced critter.
“Wait… No. That’s not the spike thing, is it? That’s you.”
The entire situation had the newborn confused. Did his mean that, he too, was a weasel? Is that what it meant to be alive in this world? Somehow that didn’t feel right. He was far too different, so then what was he? He took a moment to pause, staring down at his paws. Luminous green eyes shot back towards his hips and tail, analyzing every detail of his body. Somehow, in the depths of his heart and mind, he had a feeling that he was in fact not a weasel. He was something called a lion.
Not only that. He knew he was an animal that was called a lion.

Jormada, with his new realization, took a deep breath. His tiny muzzle turned and pointed back towards Envy, this time with a smirk.
“You know what, Envy?” He began.
“I think, and I mean… I don’t know this I just think it… I feel it. I think I’m a lion!” His grin widened.
“And… like… I uhh, I don’t know the whole name thing. I think there’s something coming up… like, a word or a sound in my throat, umm…” He coughed lighty.
“I think I have one of those, erm, whatchyamacallits…. A name? It’s like… Jor…. Ummm.. “
The cub fell backwards in frustration, wracking his brain for the words that feel right to him.
“Jor…”
“Jormuh… No.
He growled to himself frustrated that he could not identify his own name.
“Jormuhdar? Hmmm… No! That’s just not right! “
He sighed, his eyes rolling in their sockets. His claws scraped at the dry terra beneath them I annoyance. The cub just wanted to find a true way to address himself as an individual. He wanted to feel what it was to have a name? To be a name? To know a name? He still wasn’t sure about this… “name” thing. What he did know is that deep down inside, he knew exactly what he was called.
“Maybe… Jormundah… wait, no… Ack!”

He was starting to get lost, discouraged, and frustrated, about his own name. Hell, this kid barely knew what a name even was, and trying to assign himself one was a difficult test. Even though there was a notion of what he truly felt his name was, he had a lot of hardship coming up with it. He was becoming more and more distraught with the idea, his head starting to spin like a top on what his name could possibly be, or what it could possibly mean.

“Jorm….”
At last, his emerald green irises lit up brightly.
“Jo-r-ma-duh?”
He said these words out loud, the frustration alleviating.
“Jormada! Yeah, hey this one sounds right! I like this. You can call me Jormada!”

ooc:
@envy

Level with the cub, Envy rose onto their hind paws and tapped a paw against the smooth crystal, folding their paws smugly across their chest. The new-born's tense muscles pleased them, a wry smirk crawling steadily across their weaselly muzzle. They were momentarily gratified by the youngster's awe, basking in the brief praise that was showered upon them. "Now that's more like it," they said, brow furrowing as the cub immediately wanted to steal it for himself. "You can't just... get these! Power like mine has to be worked for, long and hard. Not that you'd know anything about work."

Envy shot their small claws a scathing look, then examined the back of a paw dismissively, so soft and weak on the end of thin, stubby legs. They raised their gaze as the cub spoke again, spouting nonsense about names. "Are you stupid?" they asked, looking seriously and almost pityingly at the cub. "No, I'm Envy. And I am a Weasel. A name represents you. it's something you give yourself, or someone else gives you-- yeah, you got it." The weasel seemed relieved at not having to explain something so simple, as the cub appeared to have picked it up himself. The weasel's tail lashed impatiently.

At their sudden self-realization, Envy patted their paws together in a slow-clapping motion. When they spoke, it was in a voice dripping fake wonder and sarcasm. Their mamma, after all, had been a big cat. So they were well acquainted with felines. "A lion? Congratulations!" -on already being higher up in the world than me, just by existing, the weasel added subconsciously, feeling their chest tighten with a familiar bitterness.

The cub began to ponder then, in childish creativity or some inborn instinct, perhaps. Envy tapped their foot impatiently, groaning inwardly as the seconds stretched on into what felt like forever to the creature who lived their life in such a blitz of activity. As the seconds crept on, Envy found themselves thinking again back to their choice of name- now so deeply ingrained into their being. Envy... a name that tasted as sour on the tongue as it sounded to the ears. It described in an instant the very core of their soul, but laid bare their biggest weakness, too. It suited them perfectly, and they hated it.

Envy pursed their lips, narrowing their eyes and squinting at the cub like an unwelcome houseguest, waiting impatiently for their final verdict.

Finally, they found it- a long-winded name that seemed to suit the arrogant cub perfectly in all of its pretentious glory. At least Envy was a simple name. But they weren't about to go through that wait again, and they couldn't help slouching slightly with relief. "Yes, good. Jormada. It's a mouthful, so it suits you."

"Speech."

@Jormada

Jormada’s head swivelled between the barbs behind Envy and the weasel’s violet eyes themselves, unsure of where to place his focus. He listened as the small creature explained that they had worked hard for those kinds of claws… but how so? He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly “hard work” meant in general, let alone in this world. He looked at his paw again, black hooks pointing out from his fingers. He looked back at Envy, noticing that the claws weren’t exactly part of them.
”Well you know what, Envy?” he began with an arrogant toothy grin.
”At least my claws are a part of me. They’re one with my paws! Yours aren’t!” He giggled childishly at the notion that some creatures had to work hard for something he already had! His were simply… little. But only for now; he had a feeling they would become deadlier with time.

Jormada blinked cluelessly, overlooking the sarcasm in Envy’s voice when they congratulated him for realizing what species he was. Instead, he took it as a compliment, as if the weasel was praising him for being the feline he was.
“Yes! I am a lion! I am a lion named Jormada, and it totally suits me, haha!” He gloated as if he already knew, deep in his little heart, that some day he would become a goliath. A monstrous creature. A powerful beast. He could almost see it now, towering over others in his brawny stature and roaring like thunder. He couldn’t wait!

For now, he knew that he was still… well, scrawny and small. He was but a cub, and a curious one at that. What else did the world hold? What was there to discover? He had no idea where the possibilities ended, but he knew where to start.

The pause in their conversation grew to an end. Settling into a comfortable seated posture, Jormada smiled and looked over at the weasel. His eyes lit up and his brows jutted upwards, an excited smirk creasing his lips.
”Soooooo Envy!” He began, his expression growing more mischievous.
”What’s next? I mean like… this water and these walls are cool and all, but I mean, there’s obviously more. So um. What do you do? I mean, like, DO, all day? How did you, um, work for those big rock claws of yours? And uhhh…”
A loud grumble filled the air around them, Jormada instinctively looking at his flat tummy.
”What do you have when this happens? You know, grub? I want to fill my tummy up because I don’t like this feeling.”

Green eyes darted from his abdomen over to the weasel. There was something peculiar about the scent of Envy which he could pick up on. Were they friend, foe, or food? He wasn’t sure, but his jaw did begin to drip of drool. Luckily, the cub was still fresh and uneducated, and he did not yet know what prey truly was. Envy could easily spin this around in their own favor should they pick up on the opportunity,

ooc:
@envy

Envy's expression remained sour. Their brows furrowed, snarl lightly showing their teeth. "Doesn't change the fact that those puny claws of yours would be useless against mine," Envy hissed, taking comfort in the satisfaction that no living creature's claws or fangs could ever break rock like these. "But you can try it, if you want. Be my guest. See where it gets you." Envy gestured with paws splayed in invitation, their eyes glittering. They hoped that the kid would try it. Lose a tooth. Maybe break their jaw. And then Envy could claim all the credit for their own stupidity.

Envy rolled their eyes at the kid's mindless self-congratulations. As he spoke, they had half the mind to really show the kid what they could do, and it took a lot of willpower to resist. As it was, they were wondering to themselves why they shouldn't. It would be satisfying, and the kid would fear them then. But the kid might prove to be useful yet, and Envy could use the element of surprise yet. So, reluctantly, they kept their mouth shut, instead glaring daggers at the rage-inducing gemling.

Envy glanced up at the mention of their name, green-tinted fur bristling slightly.
"What do I do all day? I get stronger, of course. Stronger than the likes of you could ever hope to be." The kid was asking after their rock claws, and Envy couldn't resist smirking. "Hmmm, let me think... Well, for a start, it involved not giving my secrets away to brats like you. That helped a lot." they snickered at their own little joke.

Oh, so the kid was hungry. What a shame. Envy looked at them pityingly, and then shrugged. They patted their emaciated stomach. They dropped to all fours, stretched, and lounged onto their side, long body reclined on its side. "Unfortunately for you, I'm above that. You can starve for all I care. Go on. I'll sit and watch," they teased, staring at the cub intently. "But maybe I could be convinced, if you... I don't know... stop being a brat."

"Speech."

@Jormada

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