ORIGIN - The Ugly Pearl

The pearl that Wilder had found and Squick had awakened, had grown into a vast and shimmering orb roughly 5 feet in diameter. Like the original pearl, it glistened in lovely hues of white and pink, with fleeting shades of iridescence when the light hit it just right. It was a wonderful jewel indeed; and just from looking at it, none would have guessed at the strange and ugly being nestled inside.

Though, they wouldn't have to guess for long.

For the past few days, faint groans could be heard from within as the child shifted, half-awakening. For the past few hours, though, those groans had been almost constant, and now they culminated in a single crack marring its surface. Then there was a pause, and silence. The crack widened, slightly, and a small, bluish paw stuck out.

What could possibly be inside?

The paw, at least, was canine in nature, save for the hooked claws that scrabbled at the outside of the pearl. The crack grew wider, the stone strained to hold its captor. And then, as quickly as it had begun, the child was free, tumbling out into the world onto its side.

Six feet in length, and three high, it was by no means a small beast; and its size whispered of a far larger beast yet to come. It was a strange, strange child, with a face that only a mother could love. Six stocky legs ended in enormous canine paws, and its shaggy fur that was slicked to its side by amniotic fluid. Small, pointy ears flicked.

In Canis, it was out of place; its body was clearly meant for thick forests, and it stuck out like a sore thumb in the drab boneyard.

Awareness bloomed, alien to it, as one by one its eyes opened. One, two, three of them in all. All of them flickering around, and blinking.

With a small, chesty huff, it breathed its first breath, and its side began to rise and fall.

The thing was soon rolling to its feet, struggling to coordinate the legs that carried it. And then, though it wobbled, it had plenty of limbs to support it; so it didn't fall down. It looked around, and although it wasn't aware why, it felt nervousness fluttering in its chest. Stone and bones was all it could see; nowhere to hide, nowhere to be lost, and certainly nothing to eat.

With a small grunt, and a huff, it began to walk unsteadily, raising its strange, bald head to sniff the air as it strained desperately to find a place that felt less open, more like home.

"When I speak."

When I think.

Kalama stalked through Canis, stepping on or around bones, her balance holding well despite the spur that used to constantly throw her off. It still did, sometimes, but as she'd grown more into her body, it became less of an issue. Her down was gone in some spots, replaced by budding charcoal black feathers.

Ever since Eythan had taken her to Canis, she'd been trying to learn more about it. Explore it. Not attack everything she saw. She'd chased down that lizard, yeah, but it'd started it. Canis was a good deal different from the place she'd hatched from, there were far fewer plants here, and what life had been here was simply bones now.

She paused in step over the skull of some thing. She heard a strange groan, followed by a crack loud enough it seemed to echo. It reminded her of the noise she'd made when she first hatched. Was it a newborn gembound? She turned, placing her foot down in the direction she'd heard the noise come from, and headed down to the new location.

She wasn't expecting to find a three foot...thing at the source of the noise. Especially not a thing that looked like that. How did something hatch that big? Kalama had grown quickly, but she was still dwarfed by the thing, she was around 10 inches tall at most. It made her feel a little self concious. And a bit angry. And jealous. Only slightly, however. She swallowed.

She would be decent. She wouldn't tell the newborn gembounds that it looked ugly. The ugliest thing she'd seen. Her mentor had told her not to attack random gembounds. Not to start fights. She could be nice. She could do this--
"Your face looks weird." Was the first thing to blurt out.

Speech. Thought

@Mandrake

It didn't take long before the lumbering newborn came upon another creature. A small creature, and a feathered one. It was unprepared for the small one to speak, though, and its ears flicked forward with surprise, letting out a small grunt from deep within its chest. The piping voice was strange, and new, and different than anything the newborn had heard before... although granted, silence didn't count for much. And it awakened something in it- in him.

The newborn lowered its face down towards the chick, its nostrils flaring, its first two pairs of legs crouching to bring it down to take a closer look with the piercing eye on the centre of its forehead.

He stared, blankly, for a few moments. And then... "My... Face...?" it spoke, at length, as though the very concept of speaking was very new to him. Which, it was. And then, he straightened a little, a huff of breath escaping his nose. Then he blinked, as though in sudden realization. "My face... is weird."

A sudden understanding tugged at each of its three eyes. it looked around, as though trying to find somewhere to prove it. Then...

"How do you know?" he asked, sounding bewildered.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Kalama

Kalama blinks, mind going blank, thrown off guard by Mandrake's question. She wordlessly opens her beak, then tilts her head. "Wh-what do you mean how do I know?"

Her confusion sparks her anger. "I mean, I..." She trails off, trying to think of a good way to explain herself. She lets out a frustrated growl, that sounds more like a brooding noise than anything, then thrusts a wing into Mandrake's face, awkwardly covered in both down and newly grown flightfeathers, as if to gesture at all of him.

"Look at you! I dont have three eyes, or rainbow fur, or a weird monkey face." She scoffs. "You look like a...a moldy fruit."

She nods, satisfied with that comparision, how extremely rude she's being barely a thought in her mind. "Just look in a puddle. You'll see."

Speech. Thought

@mandrake

The newborn's ears twitched, and it let out a small huff before flinching back as the chick's wing was shoved abruptly into its face. It looked down, three eyes flickering. It caught sight of its green, red and blue fur and each of its six legs, but it didn't think that it was ugly. It was difficult for it to see its face, but at the mention of fruit, the confusion was forgotten almost immediately.

Fruit, it thought to itself, the word ringing a bell somewhere in its mind. It paused, thinking over its reply long before it actually spoke. "I want fruit," it said, its otherwise fairly flat voice containing a huff of excitement. And then, a moment later, she spoke of... 'puddles'. And the young one realised it wanted that too. It looked around, with a slow gaze, seeking out the reflective glitter of water.

As it found something of interest, it began to lumber forward with a huff, its movements slow, and awkward, each set of legs moving in turn. Finally it came upon a puddle, and, after a brief and nervous pause looking into its surface, swiped its reflection away. Then it placed its paws wide apart and lowered its face down to drink.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Kalama

Kalama's mind finally made the connection. Oh yeah, it was a new gembound, huffed angrily as Mandrake walked away. She hadn't finished her speil.

"Hey!" She squeaked after Mandrake, and trotted after the larger gembound, scrabbling over bones to keep up with him. "I wasnt done yet, fruit. That's rude." She says, the irony passing over her head. She strikes out with her beak to nip him on the foot closest to her, as a reprimand. He may have been twice her height or so, but was the oldest here. That meant she was the oldest, she thinks.

Her self awareness finally caught up to her, and she clapped her beak shut. She hadn't really done anything but insulted this gembound since it'd hatched. She wouldn't feel bad about the nip, though, it had that coming. Everything else, though? That wasnt a good way to hatch, she imagined. She felt almost as if she'd done something wrong. She hated that feeling. Either too proud or too embarrased to, she refuses to apologize, and turns her attention to the ground, scratching the ground around her feet to look for something it could eat. Maybe it'd like bugs too?

"I don't think theres any fruit around here." She huffed.
Speech. Thought

@Mandrake