ORIGIN

[golems are fine to join if any mod feels like throwing them in at any point but not gonna put in a request atm]
(also, super big post to catch up ic from my last posts a year ago but AW lol)
ahh, polaris, his birthplace... prata had not been here in a while.

admittedly, the influence of his "fathers" had turned him away from polaris for a while. not because either of them had anything against the place, really, but simply because there was so much else to explore, and rohan favored places like pisces. orion, too, had taken the place of prata's preferred climbing and lounging spot, for all of it. the lights, the climbing spots... the name. "room of the stars..." it inspired such a wonder and curiosity in him, as if he were not even in the caves. in orion, he let his imagination wander, picking through the stories rohan and leon had told him in the hopes of getting some sort of idea what was beyond them all, if anything.

but polaris was nice, too. it was warm and made his heart beat fast in a way that felt natural and safe, unlike his mood swings did. when he swung up, it was almost like being sick. he couldn't think straight, and everything felt fast and cold. everything went by too quickly for him to feel it, at the time, but once the high subsided, it only left him feeling sick. sometimes physically, for the way he over-exerted himself, but most of the time, it was simply the weight of all the things he'd neglected to do or pay attention to while he was living in his own personal bubble of elation, suspended in water and spinning around without ever touching the ground for more than a second.

polaris made prata feel heavy and grounded and real--at least, when he wasn't high. he'd never been here when he was high, only low and the way he was now; mild, and still feeling a bit like he was floating, but without the itching sensation in all four legs, driving him to never stop running.

here, he was simply another gembound in the caves. he was connected to the literal source of all magic in the caves, to his mother, of sorts. she held him down, kept his paws on the ground. how odd it was, for a gembound to feel so much comfort in being held down and featureless, unnoticeable. at least, prata found it odd to think about it.

perhaps it was sort of like getting a hug, like when he pressed up hard against rohan's chest and his wolf father tugged him close with long, surprisingly strong legs, and prata couldn't get out if he wanted to, but for some reason that only made him breathe easier. it was security and belonging, and it was a sudden reminder that he was real, even when his mind scrambled everything up enough to make him forget. he was real, rohan and leon were real, and all of the stories of the good and kind gembounds and creatures in the caves were real, just as much as the bad things that went on inside and outside of his body were.

he was grounded, literally and emotionally, in polaris.


ironic, prata thought, that the last time he'd been here before rohan found him had been so terror-filled. he remembered it well; the way he'd locked up and accepted everything the grumpy cat had said in hopes of escaping. the way the golems had swiveled their stony bodies to trail after them, lazy and slow but deadly.

the strange, glasses-wearing cat had seemed so rough then, back when prata was a kitten, but now he knew better. bartos had been a good gembound, loyal to a fault, and he had experienced a lot before meeting the strange, loud kitten. that he was a little rough around the edges in such a dangerous situation was to be expected, and not a reflection of his character. were it not for rohan finding him so soon after the fact, prata probably would have sought him out again.

sometimes, he lamented that he and bartos couldn't have been friends. they were such oddly similar boys, but at different ages, and of course prata had been lucky to grow up with his father and uncle, protected by their combined strength and knowledge. he liked to think he'd have made a good research companion to the older cat, had fate planned for them to be friends, but it was simply not to be.

prata's eye shifted up towards the slow, rustling movements of golems as he slowly approached the dam, body held slightly lower than usual and his ears and eye at full attention for sudden movement in their direction. he was wiser now to their dangers, payed attention to his heartbeat but tried his best not to make himself anxious in the process. though he was bigger and wiser now, he had no illusions that he'd be able to actually fight one of the golems were they to notice and take interest in him, or even that he'd want to. they weren't malicious, after all, they existed to care for the caves. they were just... not quite smart enough not to try and pluck the sweet, magicka-ridden gems from unfortunate greater gembounds.

he took a seat, finally, some distance away from the crumpled remains of origin caves' riverbank. curling his tail around his paws and watching the golems mill about clumsily, he began to ponder what it would have felt like to be here when the dam was still intact.

"meow."
others' speech.

the golems thumped slowly about the broken dam and prata simply watched, lost in thought. he could not see the gems they collected from here; only briefly would he get a glimpse of a bright, shiny rock amidst the deep purples and browns of polaris. his father told him that the golems had been dormant, once, appearing as simple piles of rock and holding back the water that powered the generator and brought light into the caves. but in inspecting the golems to try and find a solution, they'd activated them.

prata wondered, though he'd never say it aloud, if that was supposed to happen. if he could have done it better, had he been there... not that the gembounds there weren't smart, he was sure, but... perhaps he could have prevented this outcome in some way...?

as soon as prata heard the peep, he was sure someone else was here--a child, he assumed, knowing polaris, or perhaps someone killing a small lesser gembound. prata's eyes searched for the source, until his eyes landed on a tiny lizard staring right at him. at first he thought it was a cave salamander, but they didn't leave the water usually, and there was a large green stone sticking out from the top of their head. not something that lesser gembounds typically had, or at least, not in that sort of size.

obviously, it needed help! he assumed it'd been quiet because of the golems, perhaps it was lost and afraid. prata hunkered down and approached the child quickly on quiet, feline paws.

"shh, little... little one," he whispered once he neared the child, his nose moving to almost touch its tiny forehead. "we have to be quiet. golems are around. they will attack you if they catch you around the dam. "

he tried to speak as clearly and gently as possible, in case the child was still too young for complicated language. surely, if this child was injured, he'd need to remove them from this place as soon as possible to help them. on closer inspection, they seemed to be breathing heavily, which was very worrying. "did someone get you?" that was weird, not like his father would have said it. oh, if only prata had any healing spells...

he looked up for a long moment to check and see if the golems had noticed anything, but if they had taken any notice, prata couldn't tell that any of them were bothered enough to approached himself and the child.

"meow."
others' speech.

ah, this was... way out of his league. prata's ears stayed radial in the direction of the lizard, pondering what he might do... what he even could do.

"oh..." prata's voice was fraught concern and sadness. "what's your name, little one? i'm prata." he offered a smile, tried to make his voice as upbeat as possible while staying quiet.

he waited a bit for the child to respond, before adding-- "can i pick you up? it isn't safe here. then i can try to help you, or--or find you help, anyways, once we're somewhere where we can talk better."

prata didn't know how he'd find the child help, and his father wasn't anywhere near, he didn't know where leon was. he doubted it'd be a good idea to carry a sick little lizard all the way to where he thought is father might be, but staying here to figure it out was certainly not a good idea.

"meow."
others' speech.

prata shook his head. "no, it's no bother, little one. i wasn't doing anything important--nothing is more important than someone's life," he said, a bit preachy, if the child would even notice that.

he nudged her spiky back gently with his nose, testing for sharpness, trying to figure out the best way to pick her up without hurting either of them. upon closer inspection, she was just absolutely covered in sharp-looking spikes, not to mention the giant green stone on her head. no wonder she felt so bad, it must have put an awful strain on her neck.

but he could handle it. they needed to get out of here.

"i have to pick you up with my mouth, i'm sorry, but i promise i won't eat you," he whispered, attempting to add a bit of humor to his words to help amazon (and, admittedly, himself) relax. he was delicate with his feline fangs this close to her. she was such a tiny, tiny thing, he was almost glad for the spikes covering her hide. it would be harder to carry her without causing harm, otherwise.

prata opened his mouth, then, and attempted to slide his fangs beneath her--but then stopped, abruptly pulled back a few inches.

"if you feel uncomfortable or insecure--like you'll fall--just tell me, alright? i don't think i can talk while carrying you," he said quickly. one quick glance back at the golems, and prata did not wait for a response, simply diving back in to try and wrap his four fangs around her.

two of them would settle around the outside of amazon's limbs, and the lower set would, as well, but a bit tighter. prata would curl his tongue back--something he was very not used to, it was all rather uncomfortable for him--and attempt to just catch the tiny lizard in his jaws, resting on his long fangs as if she was laying in a shitty hammock or balancing on a very abused bed frame missing all but four of its fragmented pieces.

"meow."
others' speech.

although the tiny lizard settled between his jaws, prata knew well she was no more comfortable than he. he could feel her rapid breathing, though where her previous ailment ended and fear began he did not know. he wanted to use a spell on her, try and calm her down, but he was not confident in his magic abilities. if something went wrong, he could easily just accidentally give her a heart attack or something, and he really didn't want to do that.

prata carried his precious cargo as if he were perpetually considering spitting out a vegetable he'd mistakenly put in his mouth. her tiny, sharp scales clipped his soft, toothless gums in the gap between his canines and pre-molars. it hurt, and his instinct was to wince and clench his face, but he feared he'd accidentally clench his jaws and crush the tiny life in his mouth. he would simply have to try to make this as quick as possible.

determined to make this end for the both of them, prata turned around and headed to the main area, hoping someone there would be able to help the child more than he could.

--exit prata, carrying amazon in his mouth--

"meow."
others' speech.