ORIGIN - burst and decay

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The azurite chrysalis nestled between thick chunks of quartz was damn near unnoticeable in the dim light of Orion, the only thing that gave it away was the light occasionally catching the cobwebbed blue-green across the surface of it. It sat, peacefully, as it had for some time, now.

The creature inside had its eyes open for several days. It had no necessary desire or need to burst out of the gemstone chrysalis, but eventually, it grew too large. It's back was braced right up against the surface and it's limbs were beginning to curl uncomfortably under it, when, suddenly--

Crack.

A flood of cold air hit black fur and the creature hissed against the discomfort. Shards of blue and green crumpled around her as the azurite cell split apart and shattered. The creature-- now quite revealed to be a black and white kitten --came spilling out like a liquid shadow, fur matted to her skin with the fluids that had been inside the chrysalis with her.

For a moment, she simply lay there, breathing heavily and taking in the scents-- which proved to be a little overwhelming --that suddenly filled her nose and her mouth. When she cast lamplike eyes to the ceiling she saw an array of quartz studded into the roof, and a glance to her right showed her that she was right up against a long, tower-like structure.

Did this matter? No. It was too cold to care.

Instead, the kitten sat and began rasping her tongue against her own fur out of instinct, sweeping embryotic fluids out of her pelt and trying to warm herself on the damp cave floor.

@Palefur

Was it coincedence that the gem would hatch here so close to another? Perhaps, perhaps not. But it was to be, apparently, as not far from where the azurite rested was another crystal, smaller then its blue-green sister, wedged in a crevice between two stones. Blood-red in color and covered with no imperfections. A perfect orb.

This particular creature did not wake until it was supposed to. It slept through all of time until its time began, when the first crack appeared on its shell and air began to rush into the gem, draining all the red-colored liquid within. Its eyes were barely distinguishable through the red as the eyelids slowly lifted. They glanced around, taking in their situation, their cage, with dissatisfaction. No.

There was a crack, yes, but they were trapped. This would not do. So instead of letting nature take its course, they shifted themselves so that their paws were braced right at the weak spot and began to push. It didn't take a lot of force for the thinning chrysalis to shatter at their touch and drop them onto the ground.

She tumbled on to the stone with a meow of protest, splattering thick amniotic fluid on every direction. She was covered it the stuff as well - it was such a rich shade of red that she appeared to be covered in blood, but this completely escaped her notice. She hated the feeling of the thick liquid coating her fur. She noticed the other cat, yes, but she had more important matters for now. She was not going to go anywhere until she felt natural.

So she, like the black cat sitting nearby, turned and began to groom her fur, licking away the fluid, occasionally shivering at the cold, and her lip curling from the unpleasant taste.

@Jaysong

The cat's ears lifted as she heard another crack of a chrysalis-- quieter, she noticed, than hers had been. Perhaps having your ears right next to a shattering chrysalis made it louder. She lifted her broad face towards the general direction the sound had come from, catching sight of the other cat.

Red. It was an alarming colour, but she was entirely unsure why. It still send a shiver down her spine, and a feeling deep in her gut told her that, somehow, she had to help.

She was still mostly wet herself-- her shoulders and front legs had been cleared of the stinking fluids but everywhere else was slick and uncomfortable. Regardless, the kitten unsteadily got herself to her feet and began stumbling unceremoniously to the other, craning her head forward.

A pink tongue slid from her maw and began to rasp against the top of the new kitten's head, methodically, knowing-- from experience --that their own tongue wouldn't reach that far back along her face. Perhaps it was strange to just walk up to someone and start licking them, but it wasn't like the kit had a frame of reference to go by.

Eventually, once Palefur's head and ears were clean-- assuming she didn't throw her off --the black kitten shifted back and went back to cleaning her side and her chest. Something told her, perhaps the same little feeling that told her to help, that she should speak.

Speak? Speak.

"Uh," she managed, brilliantly "Hello?"

@Palefur

The cat didn't mind the other one, mostly because she was too busy licking off the bright red from her fur. She barely even noticed her approaching until she was pretty much standing right over her. She tensed, a low warning growl starting in her throat that quickly died away when the cat began to help her groom.

She was a little confused. What was going on? Why was this cat helping her and...why was it licking her? She sat still for a moment before she realized that she kind of liked it. It felt natural to be groomed by someone else and she found herself wanting to groom the other cat as well, since they were still wet with fluid from their own chrysalis.

She went back to grooming herself, leaving her head and ears to the other cat, until she was all clean of the red, sticky fluid. She finally was able to see the fur underneath - similar in hue to the red but much lighter, much more pale then the red. She had been expecting something a little different, maybe black like this cat, but she didn't mind. It looked nice.

She turned away from herself and stretched her neck forward, needing to raise herself up as far as she could to reach the bigger cat's head and probably would only have managed since her head was bowed from grooming herself. For a moment she was silent, just helping the other cat get clean, as she had helped her.

The sound was a little sudden and she was confused for a moment. Speech. She said "Uh" and "Hello", both of which were sounds that registered in her head as speech. Should she repeat them back or try and say something else?

She should start of easy. "Hello," she repeated. "....You?" It wasn't exactly eloquent speech but she had absolutely no idea what, really, to say otherwise.

@Jaysong

There was a long pause as the black kitten kept her head down for the other to reach, ears flattening against the back of her head. She only shifted to nod in acknowledgement to the return of a hello, though the second word made her pause.

What did it mean? Where was that voice telling her what to do? It didn't tell her anything about what the other cat meant and, for a moment, she wondered if she should simply ignore it. But that didn't seem very fair, especially since her mouth was close to her ears.

It probably wouldn't be good if she decided to bite.

"You," she repeated, albeit quizzically. A few beats passed as she licked the white splotch on her chest a few times, clearing it of clouded fluids. "Hungry," she managed, eventually. Hungry.

Something told her it was what that empty feeling in her gut was. She rolled out her shoulders as she worked to clear off the rest of the mucus off her fur, mulling over the array of confusing words spiralling in her head, trying to piece them together in a way that made sense.

Which, incidentally, is a hard thing to do when absolutely nothing made sense to you.

Black ears flicked back as the cat turned her head out into Orion, tail curling and uncurling. "I'm hungry," she concluded, managing to form a coherent sentence. "Are you-- hungry?"

@Palefur

More words, more speech, and as the black cat spoke them, the pale cat interpreted. The words were familiar, in a sense, and she associated that word, as the other kitten did, with that empty feeling gnawing at her stomach. It wasn't terrible, it wasn't weakness, as she was energized from the life support in the chrysalis, but she had never eaten before. And now her body yearned for some kind of meat.

"Hungry. Yes...I'm hungry." There, another word, one that was confirmation. Acceptance of what the other had said. But now...how to solve this new problem of hunger? How to fill the belly with food? An instinct in her told her to hunt but she did not yet know how. She glanced around, as if simply looking would find her something for the two of them to eat, but her senses came upon nothing. Her whiskers twitched with faint annoyance. She wanted to express this frusteration to the other cat, but she didn't - it would set a bad example of herself to fall so easily into emotions.

"How...how..." she needed more words to ask the question. More words...more speech..."How do we be...not hungry." Yes, she couldn't quite figure out the antonym to hungry just yet. It was the best she could do.

@Jaysong

She lifted one burly leg to itch into her side, unceremoniously, but thoughtfully. How does one acquire, food? The cat looked around Orion quietly, nose crinkling as she tried, in vain, to wonder how to cure the issue of 'being hungry.'

It was a distant scatter of tiny paws that caught her attention next. Startled, the large kitten spun around on her haunches and stared out in the direction. "Wait," she managed, somewhat urgently. "Food." With this, the kitten sped off into a lumbering run into Orion.

What she had seen-- and could still sort of see was a mouse. Although she had the instinct to know to hunt it and eat it, she didn't quite have the instinct to know how to properly hunt. She knew she should be quiet, but even that much wasn't going to help her much, considering she was a massive kitten just sort of standing there in plain sight.

When the hulking kitten leapt, the mouse immediately skittered away and ran into a small crevice in the cave wall, out of sight. Frustration welled up in the kitten's pale chest as she began uselessly clawing and biting at the crack in the wall, hissing at where ever the mouse had gone with bared teeth.

Eventually, however, she had to admit defeat.

She plodded heavily back to the other kitten empty-handed, sinking back down onto her haunches. "Gone," she said, unhelpfully. "Too fast. I think it was food. Maybe not." Maybe.

Her own words inspired her, regardless, to take a look around the room for other things that might be considered food. Specifically, her gaze zoned in on a particularly smooth rock. It was worth a try at least, right?

@Palefur

The kitten watched as the other suddenly turned and sped off. While she didn't wholly appreciate being left alone so suddenly, she patiently waited, crouching on the ground comfortably, her tail gently flicking behind her. She watched with indifference as the black kitten went running after something. Most likely the solution to their hunger problem. Food is what she had said. Yes, food sounded like the right word.

But her hunt had ended in failure, thanks to her massive paws and, at least how the pale kitten saw it, clumsiness. She had no grace, no elegance. It was sad to see, but she said none of these things out loud. As she came back, the kitten rose to her feet. "Gone," she repeated. "But maybe there is...more. I try now."

She glanced towards the rock that the black cat was glancing at and her whiskers twitched. Maybe there was something over there? It was worth a shot.

She started forward, slower then the other had gone, although not exactly in perfect form. She crept along the ground, trying to stay silent. It seemed that that was where the other kitten had failed - she had been loud and clumsy and didn't watch where her paws were going. It didn't take long for the scent of something warm to hit her nose. She turned in the direction and saw something small and brown. Food? It certainly smelled like it was.

She was close enough. She bunched her legs behind her and sprang with all her might. The mouse had no idea until she was already on top of it, her claws sinking into its neck, snapping its neck. It was dead in barely a second.

Triumphantly, she picked up her kill and made her way back to where the other kitten was waiting. She dropped the mouse on the ground in front of her and raised her head. "It is food. We share." She was proud of her kill and of her skills, but she was at least sensitive to the other cat's feelings. She didn't want to boast and risk offending them. Besides, there was no need to show her feelings over a little piece of food.

She leaned down and took a couple of bites before leaning back to let the other cat have some as well.

@Jaysong

The black kitten settled down onto her belly, legs curling under her chest as she turned her head to watch the paler cat try to hunt. She didn't expect much-- hunting was hard, she discovered, but she did take the moment of silence to gather her bearings.

She could smell others-- like her, like the other cat --all around them, but she couldn't see them. Some of the scents were stale, somehow-- perhaps they weren't around anymore? Did it matter? The kitten supposed not.

Pale eyes were taken, again, by the tabby trying to hunt. Trying. She was doing better than the black cat had, it seemed-- she was moving slowly, quietly, but she was smaller and skinnier than she was. Perhaps that gave the pale cat an unfair advantage.

Something rose to her throat, regardless, as she watched the kitten pounce on the mouse and take it's life. The cat did not know what it was. The cat did not have time to consider it, or even care about it. She was hungry, and there was food to be shared.

She waited for the other cat to take her fill before she bent her own head and sinking her teeth into the tender flesh, chewing. It was tangy, somehow, but not unpleasant. It was something that the kitten could get used to eating-- and, likely, would have to get used to eating.

For a moment she only licked her jowls after she was done eating and bent her head down again to clean her paws. Afterwards, however, she brang unevenly back to her feet. "I want to try again," she declared.

@Palefur

When the black cat was done eating, she leaned forward, licking the remains of the meat off of the bones before her tongue rasped over something that was definitely not meat and also not bone. She paused and looked closer. There, a tiny pebble of something brown, similar to the bone color, but different. More shiny. She reached forward and unsheathed her claws, carefully plucking it from the bone it was attached to. It was a little gemstone, she observed, but what was it doing there?

"This...what is this?" She was enamored by the little thing and decided that she wanted to keep it. But how was she going to carry the little gemstone around with her? It was barely the size of a claw.

When the cat spoke again, she started, looking up and blinking. She was going to try again? Well, the one mouse hadn't been enough, since it had been between both of them, so she could understand why she wanted to try again. And maybe because she wanted to prove she was a hunter as well. She didn't care. "Okay." But she wanted to help, still. Do something. She had only managed to catch the mouse because she had watched the black cat hunt. It was only right to give her a helping paw.

She glanced around, casting her senses out until the faint sound of a tiny heartbeat hit her ears. She looked in the direction. It wasn't very far away. She pointed with her tail for the black kitten to see. "I think there is food over there."

@Jaysong

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