ORIGIN - emerge.

How was he here once again?

He remembered leaving a place just like this. A semi-transparent prison, he remembered leaving something like that. Then nothing, and he was here again. No matter. He would get out of here!

Birch kicked at the side of the chrysalis with all he had, and it cracked. A second hit and he was out, dumped unceremoniously onto the ground-- along with a bunch of fluid.

Plants. That was the first thing Birch noticed when he looked around him. So many. Most seemed to be taller than him. Searching for past memories, he liked the place he had wandered into at some point much more than the place he had been before. There wasn't much in the first place. But here, there were so many plants. Probably a lot of other creatures, too.

He sat up on shaky legs.

Squick was worming its way away, trundling and lumbering and waddling over the mosses. Its eyes were glazed, its brows wrinkled with sadness. It had been gone only a few minutes, but it was missing Pride already. The world was so empty without his booming heartbeat, the world was so cold without his body heat, and Squick already missed the food that was always there for it to gnaw on.

Every few steps, it almost found itself turning back, its eyes were shiny and glazed with tears. But it couldn't go back. The world was big, but it needed a new host. Pride's life was too scary for little Squick.

A cracking sound drew it out of its melancholy trance, and Squick flinched, before heading towards it, crawling through the moss. Its vision was too blurry to see what lay beyond, but it knew what such a loud noise meant. Perhaps beyond the haze would lie its next Host?

When I think.

Birch's eyes were mainly clear of the fluid, now, and he could look more closely at his surroundings. And something very tiny, wiggling through the moss. The genet could not help his curiosity, and he bounded over, although on awkward legs unused to movement, despite the fact he was fully grown.

The little thing was a bit easier to see now, though it was still so, so tiny. Animal? the genet asked himself mentally, moving his face until it was nearly on top of the tiny parasite. Birch studied it best he could. What a strange little worm! Worm... thing.

The tiny creature let out a startled squelch as something huge lurched out of the mist, so suddenly that it tried to jump back, only to roll over and curl up into a tight ball like a little armadillo- as though that would, in any way, protect it. After a moment, though, fear turned to hope. Was it about to be eaten? Maybe if it curled itself up tight enough, it would be swallowed whole! That would make a lot of things easier. If the stranger had pressed its nose into little Squick at that moment, they might have found that it was still slimy, and smelling slightly foul- all the comforting lingering remnants of the inside of Pride's stomach.

After a while, however, the expected pressure and warmth did not come, and Squick uncurled slightly, six little eyes flickering open, and head lifting to peer curiously up at the big face. It rolled onto its belly, standing upright on ten stumpy little limbs, and met the large creature's gaze.

It squelched curiously, tilting its head.

Now that it was able to look closer, it could see that the host in question was a brownish colour, with spots. It was far smaller than Mr. Pride, and not nearly as pretty. But it was, nontheless, a host of colossal size compared to the worm. And it was only the second Host it had ever met! Such variety! Squick wondered just how many other Hosts lived out here in the big place. Maybe there were ones out here even prettier than Pride! But that was impossible. No-one could ever be prettier than Mr. Pride. The worm opened up its tiny mouth in wonder as it gazed up at the large creature, and a tiny squeak.

Hello, Mr. Host! it thought excitedly, trying to mimic the power that Pride had shown it, sucking in its breath with a small gasping sound. But, instead of feeling a flow of magic, the little creature was surprised instead by a sudden and violent headache, dizziness causing it to wobble and slump to the ground with limbs splayed out around it, seeming to melt into a tiny puddle of wrinkles and eyes.

The little eyes flickered shut as it tried desperately to wait it out, letting out a small and pained whine.

When I think.

@Birch

It was a tiny caterpillar-worm thing, a creature he had never seen before-- not that his short time outside had been a good indicator of life found here.

The genet stared at the curled-up worm, curiosity getting the better of him. It had an unpleasant smell for something so incredibly small. What could it have gotten into? Was that just how it was? And then it moved, startling the cat-creature, who jerked back in surprise. And it uncurled, peering up at him with a face that Birch found to contain intelligence, not that he knew the word, and he wondered... was this worm like him? Was everything like him? Were the plants?

Birch was launched out of his thoughts by the little thing collapsing. He heard something soft come from it, like a whine of pain perhaps, and then it melted. Letting out a soft whine of his own, as he didn't know if he had been the one to somehow smush it, Birch placed both paws on either side of the bug, laying down so that he could be closer to its level. Was it dead?

@Squick

Squick stayed, dizzy and in pain, for a while, curled up on the ground until it heard an answering whine from above it. Its little, beady black eyes cracked open, and it raised its tiny head. The brightness hurt, but then, so did everything else- it felt nauseous, an unnatural feeling for a worm, and oddly eye-opening. As its blurry vision came into focus, it was able to see a huge face before it, its snout at least. And turning to one side, it could see its big paws, like giant and protective tree trunks.

It felt the large creature's great breaths falling on it, warming it, and wanted to be closer.

Struggling onto stumpy little legs, it squelched. Then it waddled forward. Provided that the large creature let it, claws latched themselves onto the muzzle, and it pulled itself up onto the Genet's snout, set by set of limbs. and then it crawled upwards, tiredness lingering in its little limbs making its grip loose- but it was determined, and inched on nontheless.

When I think.

@Birch