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+--- Thread: oh, the weather outside is frightful (/showthread.php?tid=10707)
oh, the weather outside is frightful - Kalahari - May 29 2022
There's something in particular about this chrysalis.
No, not the chrysalis itself. That's a perfectly normal irregular formation of black agate, sticking right out of the snow. It's stark against the sheer, bright white of Ursa, but it's normal fare for Gembound.
The creature within, however...
...well, it's still pretty much a normal Gembound. Earth creature, magical element, gemstone growing from somewhere, check, check, check. But the thing is, it's a fox. Not just any fox: a sand fox.
Do you see any sand out here? No? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Back to the chrysalis. Back to the fox kit growing inside; now large enough for its body to press against the walls of its gemstone shell, the gemstone straining against its weight with every breath.
A noise of crumbling, shifting gemstone, as the chrysalis begins to shatter.
Crack! The sound rings out through the mountains like a shot, announcing the way the chrysalis finally breaks.
A brief beat of quiet, as the chrysalis crumbles and its occupant is dumped, dripping wet, onto the snow.
The cold, icy snow. While it's windy out, the air beating heavy on its fur.
The new Gembound registers two things: consciousness, and ice.
RE: oh, the weather outside is frightful - Toboggan - May 29 2022
Most gembound don't like Ursa for one reason or another. Generally speaking, Toboggan isn't most people. If he hadn't already been built for the snow, then his gemstone placement solidified it- this is what he was BUILT for. Everything about his appearance screamed snow-lover: the thick fur, the built-in sled, and the scarf around his neck.
Well, Vasil was around his neck, but she was doing a rather skilled scarf-impression at the moment. Though she was really the opposite of the scarf- typically scarves keep you warm, whilst he was keeping Vasil-scarf warm. He didn't mind, though. It was comfy company. A little quiet, but-
'AAAAAAAAAAAA!'
A gembound! A gembound in distress! Every single one of Toboggan's rescue-dog senses go off at once. The sound appears to be echoing from downhill, which is good, because it's far faster to go downhill than uphill. He can barely bark out a "Hold on!" to Vasil before he's rocketing down the slope. Sled-dog, to the rescue!!
Stopping was a lot harder than you'd think, especially if you were trying to not break a bone (of either yourself or the person you were trying to rescue- sometimes both at once.) He'd veer away from the yellow splotch in the snow (not THAT kind of yellow snow, thankfully), leaning his weight forward to dig his runner deeper into the snow to slow down. He'd try to spark some of that anti-bone-breaking magic for good measure- can never be too careful!
The stop was a little sudden and jarring, possibly dislodging Vasil from her perch, but even with the fizzled-out spell he was in-tack. He got a faceful of snow from leaning forward too much, which he just shook off with a breathless huff.
@Vasil
RE: oh, the weather outside is frightful - Vasil - May 29 2022
Quiet, soft, accompanied, warm, nourished, in their lane, thrivAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Life has a way of breaking states of stillness, not caring who gets suddenly pole-vaulted at downright silly velocities directly into the snow. Vasil could feel the impending disaster as soon as the noise shot through their arctic home, and he had indeed thought to give out blubbering bouts of protest — "W-Wait, Toboggan—wait, no—!" — but this stopped, predictably, nothing. And do not misunderstand, Vasil tried to hang on. He tried so very hard. But little hands, you see, they are built for little things, and withstanding the force and speed of an overeager sled dog crash landing in the snow, well that is just not a little enough thing for Vasil.
So the pair
"FFFFFFFFFF" I've never mentioned this before, but unlike his creator, Vasil has no qualms against swearing—in fact, she may possess something of a proclivity towards it. "FFFfffffokay." After dusting themself off somewhat and reorienting their internal compass, Vasil would assess the situation of, well, the new guy. "Mm—yeah, yup, ok so the first thing we're gonna need for this is warmth, which, To you've got that covered—and the second thing is food. I'll be back." He went scampering off into the ice, notably far less bothered then their new, um, knowing-Toboggan,-soon-to-be-friend.
He would be back shortly, you are free to talk amongst yourselves.
~~~
A few minutes later the coatimundi came trumbling back through the snow. In his jaws he carried some frosted bird leftovers from what had probably been that morning's breakfast. He had a habit of burying food items to preserve them for later, and while it wasn't usually a tasty, it was certainly more efficient than leaving trails of waste they couldn't use. And Vasil liked efficiency. Soon enough he'd have figure out a cure for the taste. This might be a good jumpstart for that mission actually.
He deposited the scraps. "Alright, here ya go. If this doesn't suit, To and I will have to switch places, and you will get much colder. That's how it is in Ursa though—everything's a trade-off. You'll adjust, and once you've done that you can think about talking if you haven't already." Debriefing complete. Welcome to the world, new guy.
@Kalahari
RE: oh, the weather outside is frightful - Kalahari - Jun 13 2022
A distant sound—one that the newborn fox almost doesn't pick up on, consumed by the thought of ice—cold—cold ice—bad!! They're not built for the cold and even though they don't know consciously that their body is destined for the sand and heat, they can certainly still suffer about it!
But then, in the distance: a sound that distracts them from the feeling of bad on their paws—the somewhat crunchy sound of something gliding over the ice, coming closer.
Coming closer very fast—!
The cold is forgotten for the moment as they leap for cover; what little of it they can find, anyhow, as their little fox kit body looks comically oversized behind the dark shard of their gemstone chrysalis they're currently 'hiding' behind.
Impact! The kit's eyes go wide as they watch not one but two—two creatures plummet face down into the snow, wedging themselves into the soft material with a snowy crunch.
Their wide eyes only persist as one of the creatures—a smaller, slinky one, and the only thing the kit can think is
The kit doesn't really get the whole ramble, but—warm? Warmth? Warm sounds nice about now. And food, too, but that's a secondary thought next to the promise of warm, warm, nice and warm and safe and not cold...
They glance over at the other creature. He is a) big and b) very fluffy, and those two things seem enough like Not Snow that they step out from behind the shards of their chrysalis as the other Gembound runs off (for food?), slowly coming closer until they can bump the big dog with their nose.
That's all they need to know; childish shyness quickly melting away like the frost beneath them as they wag their tail and promptly shove themselves face-first into the big dog's fluffy side.
There's footsteps in the snow behind them. The other, long animal must be back. She's talking a lot, but they don't really care much; too busy melting into their brand new friend's soft coat.