ORIGIN

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The monstrous chrysalis's opening hadn't gone unnoticed by an even more monstrous one - the creature inside seemed to shift immediately. Two eyes, then four, opened slowly inside, and an ominous green glow flooded its vision and the bottom half of the yellow orthoclase. Flexing its claws experimentally, the child scratched at the stone. It gave way easily. Interested, it scratched more eagerly. Carving. Cleaving its way out.

But, something had to give; the orthoclase gave off a resounding crack, spitting out a child the size of a large dog and several gallons of amniotic fluid. The many dull, barely-grown points on its armor tore through the membrane with ease. Input flooded in, and the first thing the monster-baby noted was the pleasant, dry warmth.

Sprawled out where it'd slid, acid-green eyes blown wide and nostrils flaring with its first breaths, it looked around. Many blurry shapes came into focus. It focused in first on the other large being, purple and spitting green and yellow. Similar. Familiar. Companionship - it'd come from the other chrysalis. The orthoclase rocked onto its feet, clicking quietly and giving off a single bark.

That was all the warning the ruby would have before its dog-sized sibling initiated play fighting with a body slam and nipping. It missed sorely, sputtering and tumbling sideways on six legs.

It was a few moments after Hemlocke's call before Overseer Vargas arrived.

He did so in a preoccupied, or even subdued, manner; there was no loud and violent cheer, this time. Instead he paced in with long and measured strides, and paused with a few yards still between himself and the rest. With a detached, professional demeanor he looked over the hatching young ones, eyeing them closely.

The cat-garnet hybrid looked promising as a scout--but the garnet-desert rose even moreso. Vargas was surprised. Granted, they were mewling infants thus far--he understood that they had to age, in this form--but both were small, with good patterns and colors for staying hidden, and what looked like flight ability and agility both.

The cat hybrid--his own child--jolted him. He stared. It was unmistakeably his, and unmistakeably impressive: purple, spined, quilled with acidic yellow-green, but perfectly and solidly powerful. It would, he thought, mature into a strong fighter. And this other beast-...

No. Unfortunate. It looked lopsided, unbalanced. Huge, yes; but ungainly. It would eat too much for its size, he thought, and the additional limbs appeared to again be planted on the ground, rather than centaur-like. Hrmph.
Perhaps its mentality will prove more useful, he thought to himself, and then offered them all a curt nod. Or its magic.

"It is going well, I see. I suspect we have a couple of potent scouts and survivors, here," he went on, with quick glances toward the cat-garnet and garnet-rose; "and a powerful hunter and fighter." His gaze then slid to his second hybrid, and he pondered. "As for that one... we will have to see. What else are we waiting for?" he added, studying the remaining stones.

The littlest was the last to break. The being inside was comfortable- why wouldn't it? It was adrift in its gem, protected, safe. The warm winds of the cave had blown sand about its flower-like structures that had built over it, and it looked like a mess of it instead of an actual chrysalis at this point.

However, all good things always must come to an end. New sensations breathed life into its limbs, padded feet pressing against the walls of their confines. It was time to come out.

It was good that its gem was so brittle- it didn't take much effort for its involuntary kicks to release it, air flooding in and replacing the slick that had swaddled it the past cycles. Its eyes flung open and it gasped when it was hit with the feeling of living. Formless thoughts swam as it scrabbled for more of the life-filled air tainted with the stench of birth. Its paws peeled away the sand, claws scraping against the selenite as its horned head came blinking into view.

Its fur clung to its back, curling every which way. It wasn't sure what it was seeing- it took a few blinks to get the blurriness out of its eyes, and a few deep breaths confirmed the intoxicating part of oxygen. It was still sitting in its shell. The others were out, though... Walking. Existing.

It wanted to do that too. An angry determination set across its face, it stepped out onto the wet floor, only to slide and crash on its side with a pathetic mewl. This only served to frustrate it more, and it clawed at the ground to stand and fumble over to its smaller siblings. The bigger ones scared it, for now- with the one charging the other, it knew inherently that those legs were much more powerful than it.

But that didn't stop it. Getting used to its body, the selenite started to tumble, then run in awkward lopes to the giant that loomed over it, six legs and all. A playful mix of purr and hiss rumbled out of it, shaking its body with its long tail curled high up into the air. It would take down this big ole being and- well. It didn't know why it wanted to fight, but it was fun to feel the wind running over its skin as it pounced wide at a moving foot, missing and falling flat onto the stone below.

Unheeding of the purposeful Overseer's arrival and his very fair words on its build and agility, the orthoclase rocked onto its feet with several clicking mrrrh!'s Eyes blinking once or twice, it tilted its head and peered downwards as something shot over its foot. Quills rattled for a moment, upper body's back arching slightly with surprise before realizing that it was another one of the small creatures that occupied its space. An eager grin cracked along its (admittedly stiff) snout, jaw opening slightly with it. Dropping a little lower, gaze fixating, the child lifted a meaty forepaw to swat at the dusty little drake.

The motion wasn't intended to claw or maim or do anything of the sort, like it had its chrysalis. No - no, it merely looked to play and preemptively practice hunting skills. What better to do that with than your own hatchmates?

As the largest cracked, Desert sniffled and wiped at his eyes with the butt of his wing-hands. No need for anyone to see him crying. Doctor (and Palefur, unbeknownst to him) had seen that rare glimpse into him.

He cleared his throat as the orthoclase (that was the right gem, right?) tumbled out. His first thought was Huge. His second was on it being a fighter, as it went straight for the thing as big as it. That may prove well in the desert, but... Its body looked awkward. Ah, they'd work with that.

He regarded Vargas as he approached, giving a nod of greeting. His emotion was cleared from his face now, at least. "Indeed," he agreed first of all. He was right about them needing different programs of training- the larger ones were just too big for him to handle alone. The smaller, though? He could teach them to fly fast and dodge enemies. "The desert rose's left." He pointed with a wing to it. They all seemed to need to grow and were certainly... Younger looking than he'd expected.

The last was the selenite. The one he was most excited about- it carried his gem and was bred with Palefur, something to appease Vargas. This was his lineage. Another Desert Rose, another him.

He was a little disappointed when its first few actions involved it falling down not once, but twice, including picking a fight it couldn't win. Well, maybe its brain had to develop. But, it didn't have any wings. That may prove to leave it out of training, but it did take after Palefur a bit. He could inadvertently use this to his advantage and have Palefur train while Desert trains her to train.

That was a little bit of convoluted thinking for now. Later. For now, he took a step towards the tussling beings, mouth open in consideration. He was bound tot ell them off, but it didn't look like they were harming each other, and the Overseer would most likely prefer them to all take a hands off approach in this moment. Hmph. Desert just wanted to greet them all as family, but he was forced to the sidelines, to watch the kids as they took their first steps.

The selenite didn't expect a response. Alright. Lesson one: other things are alive. Lesson two: other things are BIG with BIG teeth and feet and legs. Its pupils went thin as the creature turned on it, the purr turning into more of an open-mouthed hiss, its needle baby teeth shining in the light. They were coming for it!

Its back arched as the swat connected, and even with it soft as it was, the selenite turned on its heels and bit at the hand that attacked it, intending to sink in those tiny needles in a play fight that proved to be a lot more painful than it'd wagered. Its claws stayed in, at least, as it struggled to wrap around the orthoclase's paw.

Mumbling. Voices. Scratching. All sorts of sounds and sensations that irritated her, large ears flicking in the fluid that engulfed her, skin twitching, claws stretching—until finally, she could stand it no longer. Like an itch she could not sate, everything was bustling around her, diving into her once-quiet slumber with arrogant insanity.

The sharpness of crystal shattering split the tunnel, and one long, jagged crack eked its way from the bottom of her chrysalis to the top. Smaller cracks burst from the large one until a black sludge began to leak out, dripping down the length of her chrysalis and into the dirt. She squirmed inside, rolling over herself, fighting with the confinement of her body until two large paws slammed against each side of the crack. Through the sludge and broken crystal, one big, eerie, glowing green eye peeked out. It lacked any pupil, but the direction of its light suggested what way it might be looking.

And it looked. It looked up, down, to the sides, all around in a big elaborate show before settling on the group not too far from it.

"HEEEY," came a garbled, muffled voice as she yelled through the fluid inside of her chrysalis. "VARGAS IS THAT YO-aaack ak—" she was taking on fluid and struggling to cough it back out. She slammed her paws against the chrysalis again, this time using her back feet as well. "LET ME OU-AAAA—" bubbled her voice, until finally her chrysalis shattered and her large, hulking body slipped free.

She was large, a little smaller than Vargas, but long—and she did not stay on the ground for long. She was slick with oily goop but righted herself, shaking to disperse what muck clung to her, before turning to find the group she had spied earlier.

Her long tail swayed behind her, spikes opening and closing in waves as she tested each of her limbs: tail, yes, check; feet, check; ears, check; and finally, a row of fine quills lifted on her nape. Check. When they lay flat again, they almost looked like a furred mane. In fact, her skin was made of very fine quills all over, almost appearing to be fur—it thinned in areas to just skin, translucent enough that her glowing green veins could be seen pulsating within.

She stretched and had one, looong big yawn before settling her glowing vision on the others again.

"Hey," she said cooly, her voice a raspy mix of masculine and feminine. A big sniff through her nostrils told her that she smelled, but that would subside as the goop dissipated. Her glowing eyes rose to Vargas. "You uh, workin' hard I see?" Her bone-like teeth clicked together. She was trying not to laugh. Was this his job? Had he always done this? This, uh... babysitting? Well, they were feisty at least.

Hemlocke returned shortly after its Overseer, swallowing down its strange flood of emotions upon seeing its own two stones emerge into tangible life - no matter how small and fragile and innocent they may appear. The one - the child born from its stone and Desert's magic - was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, capturing the attention of its life-giver immediately. Preoccupied, the alien plodded over to its other offspring, regarding it with a mere sniff before stepping aside so Vargas could inspect it however he pleased.

It was definitely not feeling - something... for these little creatures.

Chirruping, it tacked onto its fellow's report, "and it seems the Revenant's chrysalis is still intact, sir - ah!" ah, no. There came a final crackling noise, a stirring, and a muffled-garbled voice. Going immediately to its plan to get out of the way, Hemlocke stiffened. Wings snapped out and it fluttered up onto a shelf of rock higher than the hulking beast's shoulders. Likely not out of reach, but the best thing it could find on such notice.

As the gemstones began hatching, Palefur perked up, eyes narrowing and sweeping over the chrysalis that were breaking before her. She spotted the three that she'd created - the small garnet that looked much like her but with the wings that gave Hemlocke flight, the sandy-colored creature that, unfortunately, was missing most of Desert Rose's strongest features, and finally the monstrous creature that resembled Vargas far more then her, but she could see herself in it anyways. Two scouts, perhaps, and what would most likely be the strongest warrior of the bunch. With similar observations as the others, the bigger one simply seemed to be shaped a little wrong. Hers would do far better.

She ignored the sentimentality that Desert Rose was showing with a faint bit of disgust. She'd thought higher of the Sentinel's leader, to have the sense not to show such weakness, especially in front of these impressionable children. She stepped out of the shadows and stood tall as she paced forward, her eyes falling on each of the children in turn. She was silent, for now - the Overseer would have the honor of speaking to them first and deciding how they should act, but any other thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of another.

Another Overseer? She stepped back, her tail flicking slightly as this other creature stepped out to face the Overseer. There were a lot of Gembounds in the Warrens at the moment. She said nothing, out of fear of disrespecting this new creature, and waited for instructions.

Desert nodded to Hemlocke's addition, eyes coming to rest on the chrysalis when it begun to shatter. Ah, she seemed... A lot more excited than Vargas's formality. Part of him wanted to step forward to help her out, but she seemed to be doing fine on her own.

When her ink-covered face made it appearance, Desert sat and lowered his front in a bow, though not before he covered it with a wing from the substance that flew all over the place. She was definitely a bit more personable, but she was at the same level of Vargas. Desert was just a subject to be trained by her.

That didn't set well in his gut. He swallowed down those thoughts before they had a chance to poison him, instead watching as his offspring fought with the Overseer's. Despite being so small, it seemed to have a kick to it. That could keep it going as it ran.

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Orthoclase-Alpha

Vargas

Wolfsbane

Orthoclase-Alpha

Vander

Wolfsbane

Game Master CJ

Hemlocke

Palefur

Vander