pounding. like a heart beating out of one's chest, somehow both internal and external. like a seizure wracking one's entire body, entirely out of control and entirely too much. it's hard to describe what life before birth is, but for juno it's something like this. like desperately trying to get free, like pushing with one's entire strength and still getting nowhere. it's like helplessness.
and yet, all is not lost. one wiry limb pressed in exactly the right spot and suddenly: existence. the shattering sound is deafening, but it's the best sound juno has ever heard. it's the only sound juno has ever heard. from the moment they stepped into this world juno was a fighter, refusing to lie around and wait for life to come to them.
before they knew it, their crystalline prison was left in shambles at their feet. chunks of green, glasslike stone had been crunched to bits. they blink their eyes hesitantly, never fully opening them, lest they be blinded by the overwhelming light of the world around them. a suffocating feeling took over them, as they were not fully aware of how to control their new body. they inhaled deeply, wheezing just a little bit at the cold feeling of the air in their nostrils.
trying to walk, juno was helpless but to stumble on their too-long legs. they fumbled around on their lanky limbs, trying to make some sound, any sound, to signify to others that "i'm here."
juno looked proudly at the shards of their chrysalis that lay before them. a sense of self-satisfaction engulfing them. i did that. that was me.
her ears flicked around warily, listening to the sounds of something. something approaching, the trotting of paws on the ground amplified by the walls of the cave. she quirked her head at the sight of a creature not much larger than her, tension easing out of her slowly at the sound of her voice. she didn't sound like a threat, as far as juno could tell.
at the mention of juno's legs, they bristled, suddenly feeling dramatically overprotective of their own body. something wrong with my legs? they wondered. they planted their feet firmly into the ground, standing proudly, defiantly, trying to show how perfectly fine their legs really were.
"wilder?" juno asked into the air, though not really a question; it was more of a cautious echo. a name, they hadn't given it much thought. they just said the first thing to come to mind: "juno." they gestured to themselves, "juno, juno, juno." they whispered, trying the name out, before nodding, sure.
"what're you doing?" juno countered, when they realized that they really had no idea what was going on. their speech was slurred, but hopefully comprehensible.
@wilder
juno nodded proudly when wilder mentioned their hatching. they wondered if wilder was proud, if wilder had any stake in juno's life, or if she was just passing through when she happened to notice.
they watched in confusion as wilder seemed to manipulate the shards of their broken chrysalis to her will. could juno do that, too? "h-how...?" they muttered softly, focusing entirely on the floating crystal. they tried outstretching their own paw, hoping to control a shard as well, but they only stumbled over with a loss of balance instead.
"friends." juno smiled and nodded, not entirely sure what the word 'friends' meant, but it sure sounded nice when wilder said it. although, they were still caught up on wilder's apparent magic. "do i have magic, too?" they asked, still trying to will a shard into the sky with a flick of her paw.
@wilder
juno listened carefully, nodding their head vigorously. breathing fire sure did sound cool, but wouldn't that hurt? whatever, all they could really think about right now was how much they wanted magic of their own. whether it be making crystalline shards fly or something entirely different.
they lowered their head to watch carefully where wilder was pointing, not feeling quite comfortable enough to bend their knees, lest they fall over and embarrass themselves yet again. while they weren't sure what 'focusing on their gem' really consisted of, but from what juno could gather, this magic business was pretty intuitive. if it felt right, it probably was right.
they flexed the muscles beneath their jade bangle gemstone, just noticing how it seemed to move with their body. it was a part of them, an extension of their limb. they found it odd, to mix a living being with an inanimate stone, but perhaps that's what made it so magical? they closed their eyes, not looking at the shards of chrysalis any longer, focused entirely on the clenching and unclenching of their left arm.
the shards did move beneath their paws, but not because she had caused them to fly. instead, a ring of fungus began to emerge from the earth around them. tiny, glowing mushrooms lit up the shards from underneath, almost creating a disco ball effect, projecting little rays of dull light onto their face.
@wilder