Tucked away in some high facet of Tunnel M in a natural shelf in the stone, there lay a chrysalis. Many cycles of snow and ice and dust had covered it by now, nurturing the quiet slumber of the creature inside. Cycles ago, the creature had left the cave of Pisces, the cave known as home. But boredom and loneliness had overtaken it, but it had been too proud to return home, so the vast Tunnel M -- cold, close, and vast enough to tuck oneself away in and not be noticed -- had been a wonderful compromise.
The rose quartz chrysalis pulsed. The creature's eyes opened suddenly, and now consciousness returned. It -- no, she? -- had not been privy to the brief flashes of thereness that had come in her last experience with the chrysalis, back when she'd first been born. Panic seized her. She was cramped, swallowed, couldn't move or breathe or--
She tried to thrash against the stone, but her body was sluggish and weak. Dimly, she had a thought, a last remnant of her mind before she'd gone under -- I miss my mom. There was no light filtering through the stone, but a faint cracking could be heard as her head jerked. To any passers-by, it might have sounded quite a lot like the ice was starting to break.
Panic was like lightning, but the dragon took a few heartbeats to soothe herself. Who was she? Who was her mother? Why was she in this chrysalis? The memories came sluggishly as she flexed her toes from where they were curled up by her face. Egg-shaped. I'm a singer... I'm kind to others... I love my family. But I'm proud. I'm still a dragon. I'm still-- Wyvern. My name is Wyvern... She tried to move against the chrysalis again, but it didn't seem like she had enough strength back yet -- or perhaps she just didn't have all that much strength in the first place. The real question was... why was it so dark?
More answers to more questions came. My mother. Ice... ice... Aismona? Aismona. Great gray dragon. I wonder how long I've been gone? Does she even remember me? I miss her. Why did I-- oh. Right. I left because... she was treating me like a hatchling...? Old enough to have chicks of my own, and treated like one myself. Hot pride surged through her. No matter how soft and loving she was, no matter how much she craved affection, she was still a dragon. She struggled against her rose quartz again, answers flowing over like water now. Thoughts, memories. Strengths, and weaknesses.
Fighting was not one of her strengths. I went into chrysalis. I wasn't injured. Just... bored. Tired. Lonely. No, there's a word-- more concise. Better. I was... depressed? Right. Depressed. Tired of being tired. Went to sleep... so I could wake up when I was ready to feel better.
Wyvern closed her eyes, feeling light-headed. A Gembound wasn't meant to be conscious this long in chrysalis, and she was feeling dizzy. With a final great push, the bulk of her strength having returned, and her horn pressed against the quartz... the chrysalis shattered and so did the ice around it, bathing Wyvern in a sudden chill and the rock shelf plus the floor perhaps twenty feet below it in shards of warm crystal, like alpenglow in these strange mountains despite the fact that it was, more or less, the middle of the night. Not that time had much more meaning than the color of light down here.
A shard of rose quartz chrysalis was caught firmly in her talons as she shook off the snow. She didn't mind the cold so much, of course, but it was still irritating to be covered in the stuff. Wyvern began to groom through her feathers, realizing she hadn't preened herself in at least a few cycles. At least long enough for snow and ice to gather on her chrysalis. She swallowed hard and shook her whole body out, realizing that she was hungry. It was a good thing that she was fond of fruit. Wyvern dropped her shard and balanced on one foot easily, opening the other talons expectantly. Magic never came easily, but...
It was a passable banana! She began to peel it with her beak before tucking in, admiring the sheen it gave to her feathers. She wanted to eat a thousand of them... but this would suffice for now, and she'd go find herself something more substantial later. Maybe she could snatch up a Tunnel Runner before she left.