ORIGIN - Awaken the Adventurer

She had been waiting. For what? Something. She had been awake for a while. She had watched other gems grow around her. Perhaps that was what she had been waiting for. But she was tired of waiting. She would not wait any longer. Her gem was big and pressing against her leathery hide as she grew too large for the crystal to hold.

The little elephant within her chrysalis tried to move. She tried to strike at the walls of the crystal. But she had grown large, too large, so large that there was no room at all, no room to move. She couldn't break free. She couldn't even try.

A little frusterated at her lack of movement, she squirmed and felt her body shift just slightly, but right into a jagged edge. It poked into her sides and broke the thin skin protecting her. Blood began to seep slowly from the wounds and she felt a jolt of fear. If she let the wounds continue to bleed, the fluid within her shell would no longer become her life-support. She would drown in her own blood. She needed to get out. Now.

@Aeran @Vasili @Calypso @Murphy
This is the hatching thread for the Dungeons and Dragons group. It is an AW thread, but please ask before you enter! We're open to having new adventurers join, but we'd like to know about it first. Whenever your character is ready, feel free to hop in!

Tap tap tap.

The kitten didn't know what she had been waiting for. But she had been waiting for something.

There were a couple times she had nearly hatched. Paws much too large for the critter inside the chrysalis had stretched out, testing the strength of the piebald gem around her. It was fragile, and had been for quite a while, but something whispered 'hold on, not yet, not yet'. And so she waited, and watched, and slept. The kitten showed a patience that she would not gain for a long time after this.

But now, something called to her.

Luxuriously, she stretched, only to be stopped by the fragile shell of her chrysalis. Well, that just wouldn't do, would it?

So, her paws pressed out, until they found a weak spot in her Chrysalis. They pushed and pushed until, finally, with a crack, the chrysalis opened and dumped her to the ground. She landed easily on her paws, and dropped into a low stretch, before looking around.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Before breaking free of his chrysalis, he was aware of nothing. The foal did not hear and see the world outside like some others did. Therefore, he did not long for it. All he knew was nothingness. It was tranquil, and it suited him since he knew no better.

The Gembound grew within the malachite with no conscious decision to do so.
He continued to grow until the day that he no longer could. Once he reached that point, he broke free.

Much like every other moment before that one, the Gemsbok did it unintentionally. One moment, he was as he had always been, still and silent in the darkness. The next, he shifted, and realized that he could whenever he did, and then everything changed.

Sound clamored around him, air rushed over him, and his awareness of himself, and the fact that he was falling, hit him all at once.

The foal let out one helpless bleat as he tumbled from his chrysalis. Then he landed, and he was still again. But he wasn't really. His chest heaved one terrified breath in at a time, and he quivered from shock. Something near the back of him flicked, and his eyes blinked open. Small, sharp things poked into his side, making him squirm.

The foal's eyes popped open, and then rapidly blinked to adjust to the glare of the cave lights. Though dim, they were brighter than the void he had known before.
After a moment, he finally dropped his gaze in an attempt to look at himself. Instead, his eyes got caught on a small, pale, fuzzy figure a short distance away. Although it was still, something about the shiny, round orbs on its face made it seem like it was looking at him like he was looking at it...

@Gaia @Calypso

As the fluid within her chrysalis began to stain red, the elephants movements became erratic and panicked. She thrashed as best she could against the side of the crystals before, finally, they began to crack. After a few more seconds, the shell broke open and she came sliding out, slamming onto the ground with a loud thud, followed by a torrent of bloody fluid. She shivered, her eyes wide as she observed this new world. She had been in her shell for so long. Being in this new place was strange and unnatural.

But then she spotted the other two creatures, smaller then her, but they were at least company. With a loud trumpeting noise, she struggled to stand and waddle over to them, plopping herself down before them, her huge eyes moving from one to the other. How strange. They looked living, like her, but they didn't have thick skin, but were instead covered with something else. Focusing on the smallest, she curiously stretched out her trunk to touch the soft fur covering the little creature. She wanted to know if it was as smooth as it looked.

@Calypso

Relieving you of your purse

Throughout the guild it's dispersed

And while you crib and you curse

We will sing!

Calypso sneezed.

The kitten looked around, green gold eyes scanning the area around her. It would be impossible to miss the creature nearby it - long of leg, with funny points on its head. What was it?

"Hello?" she mewled, stumbling forward on over-sized paws. It was so funny looking, and it made funny sounds! Would it play with her?

However, before she could go over to it, something absolutely gigantic appeared. It tumbled out of a Chrysalis like she had been in, and the other thing, surrounded by reddish fluid. It made a loud noise that made her flinch, but after a moment she straightened back up, mewling a "Wow!

It was the biggest thing she'd ever seen - then again, she'd never seen anything big before. But it looked so funny! It had great, big floppy ears, and a funny thing on its face, completely different from the creature in front of her.

She squeaked as the funny thing suddenly came towards her, an odd texture pressing against her as it began to pet her - actually, that felt rather good. A funny sound, a purr, rolling in her throat, and she went up onto her hind legs, boxing at Gaia's trunk with her claws sheathed playfully.

@Gaia
@Aeran

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

The Gemsbok foal cocked his head in surprise whenever the fuzzy thing mewled. An innate knowledge of communication urged him to reply, in any way that he could. So, he snorted, which both surprised and delighted him. The tremble of his nostrils felt strange, but he had made a noise! Said noise seemed to please the other creature too, which was good!

Before he could be certain of that thought though, his entire interaction with the other Gemling was disrupted. At first, a shattering sound ripped through the air. Then, a large, grey...something, tumbled from a nearby gem. They sent shards flying, and rolling, but he hardly noticed. All of the foal's attention was on the strange red-tinted liquid that spilled around the thing.

Within seconds, it became obvious that the "thing" was actually another creature. For one, it moved to sit up. Once that was accomplished, it turned its massive head around and looked at him and the smaller Gembound with impossibly large eyes. Finally, it settled its gaze on the pale, fuzzy thing.

The newborn Gemsbok was too stunned by the appearance of another Gembound to do anything but stare as the newest arrival reached out its facial appendage. At first, he was concerned, but then he saw that the smallest of the trio seemed to like the touch.

Curious as to what the small creature felt like, he raised a hoof to take a tentative step forward. His target's sudden movement startled him though, and he stumbled back, falling on to his rump.

@Gaia