ORIGIN - out of touch with time

the first part of this post is set in eridanus and a brief summary of alpha's reawakening
so feel free to disregard if you don't feel like reading lol
The moment that sleepy veil of a chrysalis thinned enough to see through, Alpha had come out swinging.

Slicked-over with new, it blinked blearily into the dim Maw of Mosses, breaths wet. Its first few heaves were short, wheezing; the overly strenuous sort that was easy to slip into under duress and trying to claw your way out of the shattered remains of a chrysalis. That was quickly corrected, body going rigid and invulnerable as thoughts of comfortable rhythms slipped back in and clumsy instinct became less of a driving force for every action.

Yet, with that resetting to the default, came a startling upwelling of how long have I been asleep? Who was the last one I talked to - bird, can't find it quickly - did that have a stone -? It jolted into motion, claws feeling through the black-stained carpet before its eyes locked on the head-sized chunk of agate, mottled and staring endlessly into its own eyes.

Algol.

Despite rising senses of hunger, thirst, and need to be at the Hole in time, it needed to find out something. Clutching the eye in its mouth, the Orthoclase shook itself and bolted out of Eridanus, thundering footsteps and muddy footprints in its wake.

—
Its quills were wind-tousled by the time it'd cut through the tunnels and caves leading to Canis, claws even slightly blunted from the dead sprint.

Having scarcely trudged further than Tunnel K's doors, Alpha deposited the chunk of agate on the ground with a clunk! It shook itself and ground out in the general direction of the fortresses, "Algol!" Pausing, heaving a quick breath in an attempt to not look quite so winded, the monster shoved the stone forward. "I've brought you a stone."

@Game Master Dark

He grimaced. The creature was calling him by his name and it was oh so very unflattering. He'd chosen Collector for a reason-! So vaguely-ominous (but not in any verifiable, incriminating sort of way), so... apt.

This one thought that it had inherited its fathers rights. Well, it hadn't. Not yet, at least. But-! It had certainly performed its task, and well; the Collector (not Algol, thank you very much) had quite enjoyed watching it.

"Yes, and you have made quite the stir," he crooned, turning with a spinning flourish from around the back of the pile of bones. Oh, he'd been following, already; he'd guessed why it was here. Even visited the chrysalis, once, laughing and knocking a few hard-knuckled raps across the orthoclase's surface. "Please, do tell me whose stone this is? How did you come to own this one?"

He really wanted to hear it explain, without "and then I died."

@Orthoclase-Alpha

Being something like Orthoclase-Alpha made it easy to stir the pot - especially by simply existing.

Toxic eyes snapped towards the Collector as he manifested from nothing, following his pirouetting shape until it stopped and he asked for a story. Rocking briefly side-to-side, it cut to the boring, stale chase with absolutely no embellishments: "it was a giant spider in Eridanus. I killed it, then the smaller spiders... incapacitated me before I could dispose of the last of them."

Should've known that the forcibly bland monster was going to just not make any effort to have it be less of a report with sensory details.

"I don't know how long I was asleep for," it added, stating, but more asking indirectly. Implying a question. Premium.

@Game Master Dark

He rolled his eyes beneath the hood, which wasn't really visible given that they were pinpricks but the sass emanated. How boring. It hadn't even tried to lie, or stammered about the whole 'death by spiders' thing-... and he'd gone to such lengths.

Ahh, well.

"Well, you did fantastically," he crooned, at last. "I asked you to get your name known throughout the caves, and well--" (hands dipped out to either side, palms up; that's a bingo) "you did wonderfully! The dragons all want you dead--ahh, but you can handle them, I'm sure; your strength has been proven again and again and oh, yes, the entire caves gathered to decide just what to do about you. And that was about you, make no mistake. Very, very well done," he finished, hands clapping against one another in a neat little round of applause.

Honestly, he doubted his theatricality was anything but wasted on this dullard; but he was a true performer, and a true performer took pride in his work. And enjoyment, of course!

"Now then. You were promised the gemstone of a powerful being."

The Collector bent down, sweeping up the chunk of eye agate smoothly. It vanished into one long sleeve without a trace so that, when he came back upright, what he offered out was a very strange, altogether different gemstone. This one was a bright, ugly green intermixed with specks of black, with a large, pink heart: a twist of ruby inclusion that left the whole thing looking like a bizarre, rocky watermelon.

"This Zoisite belonged to--ahh, hold on."

A smooth motion, and the Collector suddenly held a tub of popcorn. He offered this out to Orthoclase-Alpha. "Trust me. You'll want some, for this," he assured it.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

(Truth be told, it was absolutely embarrassed by the whole spiders thing, but lying was a fool's errand with the authorities; and, it wasn't creative or abstract enough to come up with a fake story.)

For whatever odd reason, receiving such high praise - from someone that wasn't its Master - was what made it squirm slightly, but it shoved that down with a curl of its claws. Perhaps, it was the bit of that meeting was just for you! All about you! Alpha's jaw clenched.

Toxic eyes immediately fixated on the stone, both for the sheer strangeness of it and its strangeness looking like that one watermelon after it'd smashed it open. Its gaze moved up to the Collector's hood, then back down at the tub of popcorn. That, it recognized too. A hesitant arm reached out for it, then quickly snatched it.

Maybe it's not-question would get answered if it just... sat down and ate this.

With a noncommittal grunt, it rocked down and did just that, tub of popcorn steadied against one foot and another grasping for fistfuls of the stuff.

@Game Master Dark

The Collector remained wholly unaware of Alpha's not-quite-question, used to more direct conversation. Instead he was settling himself back for theatricality.

The lights seemed to dim. His voice boomed, low and full of anticipation.

"Her name... was Atheila. Legendary-! A design of pure chaos," the Collector began. "Large. Strong. An exoskeleton, like your own, and many spines and bristles. Impenetrable, so they said. Flexible. Powerful." A grin, and he offered out the stone. "They say her jaws could shear through lesser creatures; that even alone she took on larger groups, and won, their attacks unable to pierce her hide. She threw them aside, and tore them apart-..."

A little bow, and a grin.

"Perfectly selected to match your skills."

The Zoisite presented to Orthoclase-Alpha is a guaranteed-success revival. It once belonged to the powerful Champion called Atheila: an insectoid or crustacean-like creature about twelve feet long, with six main legs and a powerful, pinching tail capable of shearing other Gembound in half. The strange twist (and perhaps the Collector's drawback, here) was that she was backwards: her tail was at her front, her head at her back, as if she were lying on her back. And the great, horizontal pincers at the front, not unlike an insect head, had two large, black, glossy points not unlike eyes, perhaps to fool her enemies.

Pointed, irritating bristle-spines ran across her belly and framed her head in a broad fan, providing protection, easily dislodging into enemies and driving ever-deeper, often causing infection. Her carapace was multi-jointed, and flexible, her actual head black-eyed and her mandibles framing a dark spot not unlike a skull. Two additional legs nearer her head curved upward, instea dof down, capable of snapping in half any attackers going for her face.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

The orthoclase got to the bottom of the tub of popcorn with near-lethal efficiency (and was disappointed to find that there weren't beetles interspersed in it this time.)

It at least looked interested by the theatrics, though... or, committing the description to memory. The dimming lights and slight gleam of zoisite was better than just plain showy gestures and booming voice, anyways. It'd been a champion, apparently unstoppable and able to rip many foes apart. A perfect place to start.

Consider it enraptured.

Alpha pushed the empty tub some few inches, staring expectantly and wide-eyed at the Collector with a dead-silent nod, and reached out to take the the stone into its claws. Turning it over with a quick inspection, a quick "thank you, Algol," it set the thing down where the popcorn once lay.

Then, more directly: "how long was I asleep for?"

@Game Master Dark

Algol was silent, for a moment, as Orthoclase-Alpha presented absolutely no feedback.

His talents were obviously wasted on this one. Oh well; at least the results would be something to watch for. Well, it was thanking him, at least. "Oh, the standard; a couple of weeks, I should think."

Awkward silence ensued, and Algol grinned beneath his hood.

"...Well. Have fun then. Ta ta."

And he vanished.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

A couple of weeks.

Oh.

The orthoclase grunted at the farewells, bolting off towards a larger, taller fortress. It clambered halfway up, craning its neck to squirrel away the zoisite for later acquisition.

Not even bothering to be delicate or quiet, it crashed back down into the bones and thundered towards the Hole.

exit