ORIGIN

When she found a second chunk of rock, she grabbed it and the other piece she'd gotten and took them down to the other stones she'd collected earlier. She now had a pretty decent collection going - the orange claw one, the little piece of glass thing, a number of interesting bones, and now a pretty little pearl and a very pretty purple gem. "Squick! I found a few more! Do you want to see them or do you want me to get more?"

She rolled the pearl around in her paws, watching the faint pink shimmer appear along the edges as the light shone onto the surface. She was very happy with this one and she was sure Squick would too. "I like this pearl! It's pretty!"

As soon as her stomach started twisting, Wilder knew that Squick was coming out. She wasn't sure how it did it, but she assumed it was some kind of magic that allowed it to make her vomit. She whipped around so she wouldn't get any bile on the stones and retched, stomach acid, half eaten food, and, of course, Squick spilling onto the dusty stones and bones.

Once her stomach was settling, she licked her lips to get off the terrible taste and carefully dabbed at the pile, gently plucking the little worm out of it and turning around, placing it in front of the stones. It was closest to the pearl, since she liked it the best, but she'd help if it wanted to try the other stone.

Wilder watched the little worm wiggle up to the pearl and sat down, prepared to watch the gem grow as the moth's gem had grown. But after they had put their life into the stone, nothing happened. At least, not immediately.

As Squick got close, she carefully leaned down and licked it up, not swallowing the little thing and keeping her mouth open so that Squick could see and be warm at the same time.

But as they watched...the gem stayed the same. Just a little pearl. It looked, maybe, a little different, a little more shiny, but otherwise it didn't move. It didn't grow. It didn't look like there was anything in it at all. She frowned.

I don't know if it's growing or not? It looks the same. Should we wait? Should I take it with me if it doesn't grow?

Wilder thought for a moment, her ears twitching thoughtfully. Should she help Squick give life to it? Maybe it was right and it would only grow if multiple people gave life to it. But...that didn't seem right. For some reason she sensed that what Squick had done would be enough. An instinct as ingrained as the gem on her cheek. Her tails gently waved behind her. Hmm...no, I think this should be yours. I'm sure it will grow! Maybe Aether was different! Stronger! But I'm sure that your new host will be super big! She forced herself not to start going wild with excitement at the thought of what Squick's gem-kid would look like.

She gathered up the other gems and bones and stashed them away, back in the little bit before curling herself around the pearl. Do you want to wait here? I can swallow you again. Or I can take it back to the Bonebound and they can help us watch over it!