ORIGIN

A few scant weeks had passed since Njeri had hatched from her own chrysalis and she was already finding such joy in this world. Everything was so fresh and new to her that she couldn't help touching everything, whether it be with her nose or her paw. She'd passed most of it with Artume, but had just begun to become mobile enough and confident enough to venture without the protective eye of her watchful pseudo guardian. She has most of the way down Tunnel I when a commotion up ahead caught her eye.

A figure was ambling across Polaris, seemingly large and awkward to the lion cub. She hunched down behind a rock, bright eyes peering up over the edge, her pupils widely dilated. It did little of interest, squatting down as if to sit on a small glimmering rock. However, almost as soon as it did so, it tumbled sideways and shuffled away from a tiny bobbing, yellow figure. Njeri squinted, forcing her still fresh to this world eyes to focus only to realize it was also kitten shaped!

Excitedly she chirruped and began charging from her "hiding" spot just inside Tunnel I, her stone dragging along the ground behind her and clattering over the ground.

"Hey! Hey, hi! Hey!" She chanted as she toddler ran in the direction of the newly hatched gemborn, repeating the phrases of greeting she'd heard thus far. As she got close enough, she continued into the kitten's personal bubble, having not learned that not quite everyone appreciated this forthrightness. Her freckled nose attempted to press against the baby's cheek and forehead, even as she spoke in introduction.

"Imnjeri," she crammed her words together in excitement. "Whosyou?"

She withdrew just far enough to grin stupidly, the start of tiny baby fangs protruding from her gums. Her tail twitched, still not strong enough to hoist the gem and one paw was half raised, as if waiting for any indication of play.

The tinier kitten had tried to withdraw from her, but Njeri had continued undaunted with her investigations, still not capable of picking up on social cues. As the sand cat spoke, or mewled, Njeri's head tilted, a brief flicker of a concentrated frown wrinkling her forehead. She wasn't quite sure what the cup had said but it didn't really matter, as the little yellow creature was also already onto the next big adventure. A small black and white critter had joined their party, waddling in and stopping a short distance away in silence.

"Hey, hi!" She shouted at the new creature, a grin splitting her lips. "I'm Njeri!"

She managed her name only slightly more clearly this time, no longer being quite as desperate to introduce herself. As Hiccup approached the other infant, Njeri trotted forward. As the kitten smacked the black and white puff with her paw, Njeri's body began to communicate a fierce desire to join in the play. She stalked another step forward, eyes wide and butt wiggling as she prepared to pounce. The kitten's look back at her was clearly a signal to pounce and she did, leaping toward the new arrival with all the subtlety of a oncoming semi-truck.

It was a magnificently awkward thing, all flailing paws and the scrape, rattle and roll as she dragged her tail gem across the ground. However, he did manage to reach and ensnare the little thing in her paws. She did so gently, bodily hugging the fluffball to her chest as she began to lick it with long swipes of her tongue, rumbling with a muted purr in happiness.

For one beautiful moment it seemed like they were all having fun - her other new cat friend was also grooming the new fluffball and Njeri was just about to ask it's name when it happened.

Njeri was still figuring out a lot of things in this world, including her likes and dislikes. If truth were told, she hadn't really found a lot that she disliked, but she knew she hated this. One moment she was happily cuddling the new fluffy addition to their group and the next her nose and eyes, and oh god her throat, were all burning in reaction to the noxious odor that was released. Startled and afraid at the burning she was experiencing she released the fluffball and blindly started to back pedal, her entire body contorting as she gagged.

Panicked, she mewled as she attempted to wipe it from her face, still backing up. As any infant does when confronted with the first sign of danger, she immediately began calling out for the only adult-ish figure she knew. "Art-ume? Artume! Help!"

Pathetically the lion cub collapsed a few feet away, still trying to brush the burning stink from her face and nose. Blearily she blinked at the two of them, barely able to make out that the kitten was making those strange chirping noises again. She hadn't heard anyone make those noises before and it was almost enough to distract her from her misery. At any rate, the restoration of her vision was enough to change her mood about the whole situation. Whole-body gagging one last time she rose to her oversized paws and marched closer, this time stopping sagely by Hiccup's side.

"Why?!" She demanded indignantly of the Skunk, having been too distracted by the stink-attack to have acknowledged anything Lily had said. Both brown freckled ears remained pinned against her head and a crinkle was present on her nose.

"Not nice," she proclaimed in contempt before nosing at the kitten's side. She couldn't smell anything of course, her nostrils still overpowered and burning with the stink she could already feel clinging to her fur. Njeri kept one eye on the bad-stink but the rest of her attention returned to her friend. "Yous ok?"