ORIGIN - LURKER IN THE DEEP [hatchy!]

A marbled pink chrysalid not all that much larger than Kaimana's had been sat tucked away in the sand, somewhat buried like a vibrantly-colored Easter egg hidden from the prying eyes of a sticky-handed toddler in a pastel yellow church dress far too warm for the weather. This egg, however, had not been placed by a rabbit but instead by an expectant jaguar who had been pacing anxiously to and fro around it for the past several days.

The neonate had noticed, somewhat. Vague pieces of sound like listening through water in between bouts of unconsciousness. More entertaining than the fluttering beating of his heart, the only difference in his cotton candy prison between waking and sleeping. Some part of him knew the voice he'd heard, murky and bright, was maker. It was the first he'd learned, beyond me, in the few faint heartbeats he'd been awake to know it.

He was awake now, though. And he was... hungry. Something ancient and dark, a wading predator thirsting for the deep, rumbled within him and the sound almost came out like a purr (or perhaps closer to a growl). If one had bothered to check, they might have noticed that the chrysalid was now warm to the touch as he began to press against it. The cool stone leeching heat from him, not that he much minded. As far as he was concerned, it was too warm inside here.

He strained at the walls of his egg, walls placed there to love him and keep him safe. They restrained him too much now, kept him from moving. Muscle, sinew, and skin had grown over his own stone already. He was ready, now. Ready to leave it. Ready to... live.

The chrysalis cracked, spiderwebbed, strained, and shattered. Tumbling out onto the sand was a creature that looked like a jaguar cub, assuming that it had been created by someone who was not quite sure what a jaguar was. Red and splotched with brown, his armor still soft from youth and his odd eyes still bleary. His wings were tucked into him, close enough that they might not have been noticed. But he was hungry, and so he started towards the water.

@kaimana
open to anyone else who wants to meet the baby~

James tried his diddly-darn best to try and calm Kaimana down, but with himself being frazzled because of his own baby on the way, he wasn't doing so well.

So he sat there with some fruit in a pile next to him, munching gently as he anxiously watched the leopard pace. It would hatch anytime now. They just had to be pa-

Crack.

"Oh- OH!", he squawked, wings flapping as he stood, prancing in place, "Kaimana!! Look- look!!"

It was hatching- it was hatching!! Oh my goodness-

James gasped when the small life tumbled out, blood-red and patterned with darker red rosettes, similar to it's mother's own. He danced around in a circle, overjoyed, and started to cry a bit, unable to stop himself from getting emotional.

"Oh look at them-! They're so small and healthy... oh Kaimana!!", he squealed, nearly sobbing, in fact.

Kaimana was not one to panic. She was a very calm, cool, and collected person-- almost eerily so. Usually. Usually, the world could be burning outside, turning in on itself, disaster striking left and right, and Kaimana could keep a straight face and a keep-truckin' attitude. In social situations, she had a bit more likelihood of getting nervous, but she always, always tried to be tactful regardless.

So then, what was it about this moment that was sending her nerves on the FRITZ?

A million scenarios, a million situations, a million thoughts that felt like memories even though none of them were true, or hers. She could not get her feet to cool it, not even when she stuck them in the warm, soothing water of the Vents. She couldn't. Stop. PACING. She was incredibly lucky to have someone like James to help her out with this... Kaimana couldn't imagine what it would be like to do this alone.

And yet, she had imagined. The moment she'd given magic to the stone, she had felt as if the contract of solitude had been sealed. Back then, she hadn't been capable of calculating the magnitude of such a task. And now, the presence of others... rendered that contract and all the calculations that probably should've come with it (but hadn't)... useless. Inconsequential. Funny how that worked out, wasn't it--?

OH SHOOT OH SHOOT THE CRACK THE CRACK IS IT--?

James's sentimental gushing was outmatched by Kaimana's silent staring. A delay. A pause. A breath. And then, ever so reverently, as if whispering to the void: "Oh my..." After that, the silence was over. Kaimana had to seize every muscle in her body to keep herself from rushing forward to tackle the little cub. 'Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ohohohohoho--' She meandered forward, wobbly, slow and deliberate, closer to the hatchling. She brought her nose down close to it, hoping to look into its teeny baby eyes with her own (extremely) watery ones. She sniffed. She beamed, smile threatening to break the laws of physics, heart bursting with too much emotion to contain.

"H--" 'Catch yourself. Breathe.' "Hello there, sweet one." 'Is that too presumptuous?' "I'm-- My name is... Kaimana. That rh--" 'No.' Yes! It's fine. "--rhymes with..." Nirvana. "N-Never mind, a-anyways." She cleared her throat. "Do... do you have a name that- that you would like to be called...?"

Voice so soft. Breath so shaky. Unsure. Why was this so hard?

@Leviathan @James @Comet anyone else wanna come see Kaimana be nervous and soft? ;u;

The creature turned, alarmed, towards the shouting of the horse-beast. His mind condensed to wings and bigger and prey?, but it took a half-beat of recognition that this was far too large to be prey for the Leviathan's wings to snap open and his fur to fluff out. Arching his back, he flashed out his claws and took a half-step closer to the lapping of the waves. But then -- "Hello there sweet one."

His feline eyes turned, one yellow and one just like hers -- icy blue. Maker, he thought, recognition flashing in his eyes at the sound of her voice. A voice rumbled up from his throat, squeaky and small from youth and size but with the promise of ferocity and bass in the distance. "Leviathan," he growled, an attempt at something low and primal but more akin to a six year old trying to sound like Batman. He paused, eyed her. "You are Maker." It was not a question -- glancing at the water, the resemblance between the pair of them was clear.

But the water, it drew him. Eyeing the horse again, warily, he continued to back up slowly towards it.

@kaimana

Comet had fallen a bit behind James on her way to see Kaimana's stone. She had been distracted by the fact that there were just so many shells and interesting things on the beach today! Every single one had to be thoroughly investigated. Well, in truth, she was just nervous. Extremely nervous. So she had been stalling a bit and lagging behind. How would the baby react to her? Like her? Or not? She hoped that being a wolf wouldn't deter them, him, or her. So exciting wasn't it? You never knew what was going to emerge from the stone.

But eventually, there was nothing else to inspect, and Comet took a shaky breath. She had arrived just in time to see the baby hatch and state his name. "Leviathan." the name rolled right off her tongue. Trying not to intrude too much, she plopped herself down to finish the circle, right next to the water. Unknowingly cutting off Leviathon's attempt at going towards it.

@James
@Kaimana
((Sorry didn't know who was next))

James snapped his mouth shut and watched Kaimana and Leviathan, watching silently. He made his way around and to Comet, settling down at her side. This was just... amazing to watch. And it was a comfort to know that Leviathan and his own child (still safe and sound in Orion) would have another to meet. And perhaps Comet would be able to learn to be a bit more... gentle. Not that she couldn't be.

"... I wish I was there to see you," he mumbled, settling down behind Comet and settling a wing over her back, tugging her close, "I'll bet you were the most precious thing... a ball of fluff and eyes."

He laughed softly in amusement and nuzzled Comet's cheek, "Give Kaimana and Leviathan a few moments, and then let's go meet them, okay?"

He was so excited to see the child, to meet them and establish himself as the cool uncle (who was he kidding). He set his head down and huffed, watching the two with perked ears, already wanting to jump up and nuzzle the cub half to death.

@Kaimana

Was that... recognition in those heterochromatic eyes? Kaimana blinked, surprised. Had she met this person before? Would they even be able to remember such a meeting?

'Leviathan.' So, no. Kaimana didn't recall ever meeting a "Leviathan". Such a large name for such a, well, baby creature. Perhaps that name was more fear-inducing, monstrous even, in a deeper voice. With the voice Leviathan possessed now, however, that name unfortunately just sounded silly. Kaimana was not about to insult this creature's name, of course. If they wanted to be called 'Leviathan' then that's what she would call them. But perhaps she could offer... an alternative. Just for now. "Leviathan is a... a powerful name. It- It is also, um, a- a little hard to rhyme anything with. Would you mind if I shortened it to, say... Levi?" Of course, if they did mind, then she wouldn't.

"...Maker." she parroted, almost breathlessly. A soft, short chuckle. "Aha, I did not make your stone..." What to call them? "...dear." Okay, okay. "I simply revived it. You could call me your Reviver if you wanted, or you could call me another term: mother, or mom. The choice is yours." They could call her whatever they wanted. They could leave her and live on their own. They could stay...

Her promise came back into her mind. Flooded in, leaving her heart in a state of temporary shock at the temperature difference. The thought of Leviathan choosing to... to be on their own, without her. Kaimana wished she didn't react to that concept in her mind the way she did. She just wanted to- to support them. She didn't want to let her own issues get in the way of their life. This was, after all, Leviathan's life. Given back to them by fate and luck alone. They did not owe Kaimana... anything, really. Love was not a debt that Leviathan owed to her just for hatching.

She did love Leviathan. It was sudden, almost overwhelming. It was there. Realized. Blooming in her heart.

Something in her hurt, and she couldn't place it. Didn't want to. She did not want to give it a place. She wished for it to leave. The pain. ~~Not the child.~~ Comet's arrival and James's words pulled her back out of her head, thankfully. It seemed as though Leviathan had been headed to the water before Comet blocked them. "This white fluffy pup is Comet. The tall winged one beside her is James. I..." 'I don't have to introduce the offer now. They might be hungry. We should handle that first.' Kaimana had made sure to have a feast prepared for them. All of them. "Are you hungry, Leviathan?"

@Leviathan

His path to the water had been blocked, now, by the wing-beast and a larger white sort of animal. But Leviathan wasn't paying attention to them, not anymore -- the voice, the Maker. She was right in front of him, staring him in the face, shifting as the taste of nervousness and the tension filled the air.

"Levi," he repeated slowly, rolling the syllables over on his tongue. The hybrid blinked, paused, shrugged, nodded. He didn't particularly mind if it was shortened, to be honest. It was a mouthful, he knew that. But then, the Maker began to dispute that she'd made him? He frowned and took a step forward. "Made me." His head inclined slightly, taking another step closer to her. "Greater... than the sum of my parts, Mmm... mother." A beat, his eyes squinting. "Mmmmom? Mohhh... maah... Ma-ma." Yes, that felt better. Mama. He could work with that.

The red head, antlers curled on top, shifted back around to the strangers when Mama drew his attention back towards them. Slowly, he folded his wings in. "... Hungry," he agreed, starting to stumble back towards the water. Levi had no way of knowing that these people would feed him; he assumed Kaimana was simply asking why he was drawn towards the depths.

@kaimana
@james
@comet