ORIGIN

Sun made his way to the second platform where the four children were playing. They were a week old now and Comet had been here quite often enough that the children knew her nearly as well as they did him. Adonia had taken a shine to Comet instantly and this made Sun rather happy that one of the children had attached to her. Let alone the near perfect clone of Aristotle as she was. He saw her in him more and more every day. Sun came up the ramp to the children. ”Little ones!” Sun called and they all near instantly answered him and raced over as he came up to a stop at the top of the ramp. ”Big Sister Comet will be here in a moment to watch you. I’m going out to forage for food and a few other things. I’ll be back by night time alright?” He explained and asked the children with a gentle smile. The children all answered with happy noises and words of agreement. Sun laughed as he watched Adonia hop in a little circle at the mention that it would be Comet that would be here to watch them while he was gone.

Giving each child a hug sun grabbed the rabbit skin bag from Aristotle and his well polished stick. With a final wave the gibbon walked down and out of the house passing Comet on his way out. ”Hello sister, I will be back!” Sun bade his sister farewell as he left. Today Sun would not be swinging through the trees. Today he was going to be looking for gemstones so today he would be walking along the ground. After making his way deep into the jungle away from the home Sun finally began to keep his eyes open for anything shiny.

Sun made his way through no actual path brushing aside the underbrush with his stick as he went. He kept his eyes open for anything shiny. And it didn’t take him long to spot something with his sharp eyes. For as he walked a green sparkle caught his eyes from under a tree. Walking closer he found it to be a fist sized deep green EMERALD that almost blended in with the plants around it. Cheerfully the gibbon leaned his stick against the nearby tree and used his hands to clear away the dirt from around the gem. Pulling it up he found it to be just a bit larger than his fist perfect for his purposes. He opened his bag and placed the gem inside and grabbed his stick and was quickly on his way.

With his new prize tucked away in the rabbit skin bag, the gibbon picked up his stick and began his trek. He was heading for the center of the room, it was somewhere he had only been once when he had been wandering. Though he had never actually been inside it, today he had decided it would be a perfect day to check it out and look for gemstones at the same time. With Comet watching the children for the day, he could take his time and explore. Something he hadn’t really done since his parents had split, and hadn’t done after Aristotle had passed because he had the four Chrysalis to protect and care for.

As he walked he let his mind wander to other subjects. Really wherever his mind wanted to go. He couldn’t help it as his thoughts always did lately, they fell back to Aristotle. He wondered if he had lived through giving life to the children, how it would have been to be able to treat them more as siblings rather than an adult figure in their life. Though he was hardly strict with any of them, he did keep a close eye on the four of them. After all they were all he had left of Aristotle that was truly him. Sun however didn’t know how he truly felt about Adonia. She was a perfect tiny maneless copy of Aristotle down to her cream colored tuft on her tail.

The whole time Sun was walking and letting his mind wander, he kept his eyes open for anything that could be a crystal or gemstone. It didn’t take him long at all to find his next gemstone; it was buried in the dirt and only a smallish sized piece was sticking up from the dirt, but the sharp eyed gibbon caught the early light glinting off of the gem's surface. The little gibbon let out a pleased hoot and sat his stick down and dropped to his knees, where he began digging around the gem to free it from the dirt. As he did it became quite clear that the brilliant blue Diaboleite Was small spires forming points and small bumps on soft pinkish colored mineral stone. It was also about the size of his fist. Glad that the rabbit skin bag was quite large as Aristotle used to carry rabbits themselves in the bag so it was quite large. The gibbon opened his bag and dropped the gemstone inside. Picking up his stick the gibbon brushed off his hands and continued on his way.

Having his two new prizes safely tucked away in his bag the gibbon picked his stick back up and began on his way again. Today was proving to be quite fruitful for him. He couldn’t say how pleased he was to be finding these stones just as quickly as he had wanted. If not just a little bit faster. It was giving him time to think his own thoughts without having to focus on something else, this was giving him time to come to terms with certain things. Taking a deep breath the gibbon let it out in a soft sigh. He was feeling content and for once not stressed out in over two cycles.

Sun’s once again began to wander as he walked along in an upright position holding his stick in one hand, the rabbit skin bag slung across his shoulder and chest. The gibbon walked along through the underbrush, emerald green eyes keeping a close look out for anything shiny. Sun couldn’t help but wonder how Comet was getting along with the children on her own. He couldn’t help but wonder how Pegasus and the younger children would get along with each other. He hoped they would become friends as they were technically siblings. He wondered to himself how moving to the new cave called Pegasus would be. James had told him that it was filled with fruit trees and berry bushes, and plenty of places for the children and Comet to run. But was he ready to leave the place he had shared with Aristotle, and the place where they had laid him to rest? Sun clenched his jaw, tears prickling at his eyes as he thought of this.

His heart ached as he thought of leaving the place where he and Aristotle had spent his final days. The place that Aristotle had made just for their family. It was a wonderful home, but sis he really want to stay here alone with the four children? He knew he didn’t want to be alone, and he never wanted the children to know what it was like to be alone or for that matter what it was to be lonely. He wanted the children to always know what it was to have someone there when they needed them through everything.

As Sun walked his emerald gaze wandered and soon he found himself in a small clearing. There was a large tree growing in the center of the clearing. The tree was far from being as large as the treehouse, but it was still large enough that it was a bit imposing to anyone who wasn’t a primate. As Sun approached the tree something rather pretty caught his eye. A strange stone with tubular criss cross sections of a raw bicolored Tourmaline the stone showing a brilliant pinkish red and a soft glimmering blue. The stone was not buried as the other two had been in fact it seemed to just be resting there nestled in the roots of the tree. Sun let out a rather pleased sound and picked up the stone placing it in the rabbit skin bag. Doing as Aristotle would have done the Gibbon bowed to the tree in thanks for the lovely gemstone, before starting off on his way towards the fern trench.

Sun was enjoying his time out. Being alone with his thoughts was nice and he was finally starting to let the turmoil of his mind get a rest. Things were seeming to finally make sense. Though Aristotle’s death still hurt and he had no idea why he had to die the way he did, he was starting to be alright with it. He had after all brought four new lives into the world. Each one of them beautiful and unique. He had fallen in love with all of the children the instant he had seen the four chrysalis. He had tended them faithfully and this was the first time since they had been conceived that he had gone farther than just to the fruit trees down the way from the house to find food and replenish his water supply.

Sun wandered deeper into the jungle, his eyes wandering over every tree and bush out of sheer curiosity. However as his eyes wandered so did his mind. He couldn’t help but wonder about the time missed with Comet when they had been apart. So many things had happened to both of them. He had yet to ask about the things that had happened to her, they hadn’t really had much time to just sit and talk. He missed getting to spend time exploring and just hanging out with Comet. He missed spending time with James, just doing the same thing. So many things had happened to all of them.

As Sun watched the nearby trees his eyes completely missed the gemstone on the ground. Fortunately the gibbon actually kicked the gemstone and stubbed his toe. This caused him to let out pained grunt as he looked down to see what he had stubbed his toe on. On the ground sticking out of the dirt was a large chunk of a lavender colored Kunzite. The gibbon leaned down and with one hand pulled the chunk of gemstone from the ground and brushed the dirt off of it with the other. The gibbon couldn’t help but let out a pleased hoot as he admired the gemstone that almost perfectly matched Amaryllis’ pelt. With that Sun happily tucked the gem away in his bag and started on his way once more.

As Sun continued on his solo journey, the gibbon stopped for a moment and just looked at the world around him. He hadn’t done that in a very long time. Just stopped and watched the world for a minute. Too much had been on his mind as of late, and he had been too stressed out to really relax much. Then the children were hatched and he was absolutely enamoured with them, and had willingly spent every waking moment with them, however he got the idea after hearing one of James stories about a child called Talys. And then he decided he would collect gems for each person in his family and make them each a gem necklace. The children theirs could wait a few cycles to be worn. Comet, James, and Sun however would be able to wear theirs now. For the time he would keep the other four necklaces safe for them until they were big enough to wear them.

A light smile played on the gibbons lips as he continued his little bit of exploration. Again the gibbon allowed his gaze to wander over every little bit of foliage and every bit of scenery. However it would seem here he would not be finding any gems. Or at least there were no gems or pretty rocks he could see. And so he continued on his way through the underbrush towards the fern trench.

As he walked the large trench with the ferns growing out of it came into view. The gibbon let out a soft sigh and sat down under a tree for a moment. He was taking a short break and sat his stick beside him as he rubbed his feet for a moment. His stomach growled letting him know that it was time for him to get something to eat. The gibbon pulled the string around the top of his bag tight and stood up. For a moment the gibbon let his eyes wander with one purpose, he was looking for a tree that had fruit on it.

It didn’t take him but a minute to find a tree that bore bright orange and yellow mangoes. The gibbon slid his bag to his back rather than on his hip and sat his stick at the tree's base. In no time at all the gibbon was up the tree grabbing two mangoes and dropping back down onto the ground. For a few minutes the gibbon sat munching on his lunch. It didn’t take long for the two mangoes to disappear down into his belly and he was quickly licking his hands clean before picking his stick up once more. With that he was on his way heading down a path into t he fern trench.

As Sun made his way down the path, it didn’t take him long to spot a pale pink rocky formation on the ground near a smaller fern. It was a nicely sized chunk of a pink Rhodochrosite with a grey bottom to it. It was a pretty stone and Sun let out a soft whistle as he pulled his bag back around to his hip and pulled the drawstring open and placed the new prize inside.

Slowly enjoying the view and just the day in general, the gibbon wandered forward on the path. The further he walked the taller the ferns became. Every so often he spotted the giant rib bones. These he had heard of, apparently they were supposed to resemble a snake and so they were referred to as bones. The trenches walls rose up around the bones. Sun couldn’t help but wonder what kind of gembound they would have been. How strange it must have been to see them moving through the tunnels and caves. It was eerie just how much they actually resembled bones. He hoped they weren’t because the thought of a gembound that large was rather frightening

Slowly Sun made his way off the path curiously. Again he was going off the beaten path in order to find the things that were hidden in the undergrowth. SLowly Sun walked along his stick in hand. Curiously Sun dipped his head and moved this way and that as he looked through the undergrowth. He was being vigilant now not really letting his mind wander now that he was in an unknown area of the jungle. However it would seem that the underbrush here was simply too thick for him to find anything in this little area.

Giving the area one last look and using his staff to lift up and look under large bunches of leaves, he let out a sigh and stood up. There really wasn’t anything there. Well his luck couldn’t keep holding out all day, could it? After all he had found five out of the six stones he had wanted. Now he only had two to find then he could go home. However when he got home he was getting some food and heading out again. This time to a completely new place James had told him about.

Turning and making his way down the trench quite a ways into the undergrowth as he walked along lifting up leaves and small fern plants to look under them. Sun was actually enjoying being out looking for these gems on his own. As the gibbon bent down to look under one particularly small fern that was growing close to the ground. There under the fern Sun found one he had been looking for, a brilliant stone that matched the one on Abraxas’ forehead. It was such a lovely stone and it was a large cluster of tubular brilliant blue green Blue Topaz. Sun picked the stone up and opened his bag placing it inside his bag which was now beginning to get a bit heavy. He was fine with it wouldn’t be too hard.

Before Sun let the small fern leaves down, he let out a pleased hoot as he spotted a succulent little fern sprig seemed to wave in his face. These being hard to find around the treehouse SUn snatched it off the plant and quickly stuffed it in his mouth and let out a pleased sigh. It was sweet and earthy, just as he remembered the few that Aristotle had brought him tasted like. A soft smile spread over his muzzle as Aristotle had brought home the little light green sprigs in his bag after he himself had tried them. He brought them home for Sun to try and they had become one of his favorite treats.

Sun couldn’t help the little sniffle that tickled at his nose as he thought of Aristotle. Finally Sun let the plant back in place, with his new stone tucked safely away in his bag he started out once again. However as Sun kept walking he actually seemed to walk right past the very thing he had been looking for. He had absolutely failed to notice the gleaming stone resting under the fern not even a foot away from as he passed.

Again Sun kept walking as he failed to notice the gemstone right at his feet. For a moment Sun stopped standing up on tip toe using his stick for balance, the gibbon looked around the area as much as he could. Though much of the ground was covered thickly in fern plants. Sun dropped back down onto his flat feet and cooed softly looking around for a moment as he wondered which way he should go for a moment.

Finally the gibbon decided to head towards the wall of the trench. The gibbon used his free hand to push away the underbrush in his way and made his way toward the wall of the trench. However it would seem again that he wouldn’t find what he was looking for simply in his path as he had been. So Sun continued on his way to the wall of the trench.