ORIGIN

Garnet-Delta stalked the tunnel, tail twitching back and forth as it adjusted to the taste of different wind currents that shifted through the winding, twisting corridor. Today its sharp crimson eyes eyed various outcroppings, the wind-carved tunnel providing an obstacle course for any critter clever enough to take advantage of them.

The trick was climbing up the smooth walls to where they started to twist and touch. It wanted to get up into those nooks and crannies, but its wings were still not strong enough to get them airborne from the ground. With a hiss, the cat-alien launched itself upward in a furious scramble up the stone.

Its claws couldn't dig into the hard stone, but its flexible webbing provided a good grip as it flapped its wings and frantically hauled itself up to the first semi-ledge where it could perch. Only having to adjust itself occasionally as its body slowly tried to slide off the steep surface, it pricked its ears toward the wind and took another deep breath.

From high up, everything looked a little different. It could keep trying to climb, maybe find its way into the naturally formed holes where the walls connected near the top, or... It tested its wings, flapping once and nearly unbalancing itself from its perch. "Hrm..." It grumbled, tail twitching this way and that as it decided the best course of action.

There were some crevices toward the top that looked dark and promising. Potential hiding spots, or even better, potential spots where prey could be sleeping. Ears rotating toward the distant sounds carried on the wind, it flexed its claws and twisted into a good position, spreading its wings. It just had to find a good path up-- a small, barely quantifiable outcropping of stone that it could scramble along toward one of the it-sized holes.

Yes, that will do. With another determined grunt, it pushed off the stone and threw its paws forward, beginning to flail its wings in an attempt to give itself more lift. It reached the so-called "ledge", but its rounded surface provided no traction as it expected to propel itself along.

Instead, the gemling found itself in a free fall. It cried out in a yowl, all four paws extending. It tried to spread its wings, but that only caught wind and sent it tumbling through the air.

It was sure it was going to die. There was not much else thought that could get through the wall of panic that hit it in the split second it took to fall.

As it happened, however, Garnet-Delta was half-cat. Somehow, it managed to twist around despite the wind throwing it about by its wings, and with its tail as a steady rudder to cut through the air, it found itself landing paws-first into the dirt.

There was another yelp as it hit the ground, crumpling on to its side as the impact jarred through its little baby bones.

It lay there, dazed, for several seconds.

Garnet-Delta's fur puffed out in all directions as the heavy-footed beast came tromping over, but it didn't have anywhere near enough time to scramble upright before a massive snout was shoved into its face, before sneezing and covering the alien-cat in snot. There was a hiss that came from it as it grimaced, shoving a few toe up into one of the nostrils that continued to blow hot air in it's face. It quickly retracted its paw and tried to shake the goop from in-between its beans.

"Fell," it growled, "I'm fine." As if a little tumble could actually hurt the scrappy little feline, who twisted upright and began to stretch out its spine with a quiet grumble. "Here, you can help me," it instructed sharply, eyes narrowing into slits as it glanced up at the holes it coveted, and back to its hatchmate's large form. Yes... That would do.

With a slight grin of sharp, needle-like teeth, the child jumped up on to Alpha's head. It quickly found a good spot on the flat section of V-like skull of Orthoclase-Alpha, settling its two more dexterous front paws on the horns that scooped upward. "Yes!" It yowled in victory, tail swishing back and forth in front of Alpha's eyes.

"Go up!" It insisted, eager. It turned, reaching one paw down to wave in front of the large beast's eyes, before pointing urgently toward the narrow crevice of the tunnel's roof. "Holes in the wall, see? I'm INVESTIGATING!" It declared with all of the authority of a gremlin on a mission to break its own neck.

By some miracle, Garnet-Delta had wrangled in Alpha into its plans, and so far, so good! It managed to keep a firm grip as the massive hatchmate raised itself up, pair of legs by pair of legs, to soar even larger heights. Blinking with huge, owlish eyes at the new perspective (it was quite dizzying!) it sniffed at the new hole it was placed in front of.

This, of course, was it's specialty. With a mischievous grin, it scrambled forward on to the tip of Orthoclase-Alpha's nose, stretching out its wings for balance. While it did not smell anything in the hole, it did not trust that to be the end-be-all. It reached a paw forward, poking its face into the darkness.

It channeled magic from its gem, its pupils widening to let in more light. Immediately its eyes began to sting, but it dismissed that thought with a flick of its ear. "There's nothing--" the alien-cat began, turning its head back out into the light of the tunnel.

The light of the tunnel. It was blinding, like lightning struck it in the face, and it's words turned into a strangled squeal. It flinched, recoiling back into Alpha's horns and shoving its paws into its eye sockets. "-- shit!" It hissed, spots flashing even behind its tightly shut lids. "There's nothing, nothing-- owwww..." Stubborn, however, it tried to squint one eye open, head throbbing from how bright everything was. The green glow bellow it was nearly overwhelming.

"Move over to the... Left, over... We keep looking." It wanted to find something, and not look like an incompetent little baby. (Which was, unfortunately, exactly what it was.)

Garnet-Delta was still recovering from its over-exerted pupils, little needle-like claws dug tight into Orthorclase's thick head plate, when the big bone-head barked like it had some sort of revelation. "No!" It hissed at its over-sized hatch-mate. Its overstimulated eyes remained shut tight against the relative brightness of the tunnel, vestiges of physiological afterimages spotting across its eyelids making it feel queasy.

And then, as the perch under it swayed, its stomach lurched even worse. Its jaw clenched against the sensation, but a high-pitched whine came up from the back of its throat. It spread its wings on instinct as suddenly its ship was toppling over.

At some point during the fall, it let go of the Orthorclase, toes stretching outward, and its tail began to counter balance as its glider-wings began to flap in a panic, managing to catch some air. Its high-pitched, mouth-closed squealing quieted as it fell on top of its hatch-mate's side, somehow completely unharmed. It dared open its eyes, and everything was still a bit too bright...

It was not unlike a really bad hangover. The sudden lack of movement caused their stomach to lurch again, and its neck lurched forward in echo as its breakfast decided it didn't want to be in its belly anymore. For a moment, it looked like a cat trying to hack up a hairball... Complete with horrible retching sounds... And then, Garnet-Delta promptly threw up on Orthorclase-Alpha.

The cat-alien felt a lot better afterward, at least.