She awakes to the earth trembling, a vapid and rumbling noise that stirs the space behind her eyelids in a way that she has never before felt. Curled tightly within her chrysalis Vae attempts to ignore it, pulling her paws closer across her muzzle as she squeezes shut her eyes against the sensation, but it doesn't do any good. She is awake now, more awake than ever before. Within her crystal cocoon sanctuary, the wee white cub is altogether alone but it is all she's known, and when the ground grows quiet once again she realizes with sudden and virgin clarity that it is time. Time for what, she wonders? The word resounds within her head just as forcefully as the aftershock had only moments prior, but it speaks and echoes with a force that cannot be ignored. It's time, she thinks, finding reality and understanding in the words just as her chrysalis cracks beneath the shuddering of the earthquake and the small stub of malachite between her shoulder-blades tingles with expectancy.

It's cool here, familiar, and she doesn't want to leave that familiarity but as the chrysalis cracks to the point of shattering Vae finds herself in a world wholly unknown to her. Water spills in between the cracks and she realizes with a sudden start that she is underwater, within the River that cuts through the cavern but rather than squealing in fear, the polar bear cub finds a feeling of home within the babbling current. Lifted to the surface by her natural buoyancy, Vae gives a small cry of victory as her head breaches with a series of spraying droplets, her body built for such temperatures and elements and with each refreshing breath - her first breaths - she becomes more and more at home. Blinking, she spies a nearby shore and the water carries her there, depositing her on a steep embankment whereupon she hooks her claws, clinging with any and all strength she can muster so soon after birth and giving a final cub-like squeak into the cave surrounding her.

@Judas

Beneath the vaulted ceiling of Origin's grand ballroom there can be heard the tiny clip-clopping of hooves over the stone. Through the great expanse, the sound is tiny and yet similarly amplified by the cavernous walls of the Polaris as he moves with some semblance of grace now, having at last adjusted to his spindly limbs. They had carried him far for one so young, but they did not falter or tire, seemingly as eager in their endeavors as his young mind was to understand the world around him and with a merry grin, Judas Eyre feasted his cerulean eyes on this new room with humble, boyish delight. The smattering of moonstone, nestled deeply into his forehead like an ethereal crown seemed to take up the thrumm of the generator, singing along and through the melody, feeding energy into his very bloodsteam - a sensation that sent a tingling through his willowy frame and the cream-russet fibres of his short pelt bristlign in anticipation for something he could not possibly explain. He is a creature of emotion, feeling - his body absorbs the static about him like an amoeba, ever hungering and utterly tireless in its desire for adventure. Flicking his tail, the fawn hums a little tune to himself as he strides, his hooves clicking in tandem.

"O stars above, you shine so bright, chasing the darkness from the night. Are you magic, why do you stare? Twinkling, all the way up there."

He ends this hymn with a little giggle, trotting over to invesigate the babble of the river when his great ears catch a squalling, not far from him. His boyish features stiffen but a moment as he stands ridgidly, his ears cupped forward, but no sound drifts to greet him. Ever a curious creature, the colt ventures forward a few paces, his gaze scanning the riverside until he makes out the form of a tiny... something. His head tilts somewhat, but spying the chrysalis from whence this creature had just hatched, he immediately grasps what had happened and moved towards the creature, allowing enough distance so as not to startle her and offering a little smile, the white of his stubby tail flashing as he hails it in greeting. "Did it hurt much?" He asks politely, somewhat eager to hear if all experiences had been the same as his.

@Vae

Her dark, curved claws cling to the embankment as the water babbles around her but she hasn't the strength to haul herself ashore yet. Quivering, newborn and overwhelmed, Vae blinks continually as water drips down the tip of her nose and soaks the ground beneath her. Her breaths come in steady waves, the thickness of her fur protecting her well against the chill of the water but she knows she has to move - instinct dictates it. Out here, beyond the protective walls of her malachite chrysalis, she is vulnerable in her youth and inexperience. With basic needs to be met she whines low in her throat, neither missing a mother or other parental figure but the warm cocoon of her birthplace. She is seconds away from summoning a second surge of strength when a voice echoes in the darkness of the cave, accompanied by the gentle pitter patter of hooves though Vae is hardly aware of the source or name of the sound itself.

Did it hurt much? Croaking aloud, Vae finds the woodland face gazing down at her, the shiny opal between his eyes glimmering brightly. Had it hurt, she thinks? Although brand new Vae finds herself growing more and more aware of things: experiences, words, sounds and flavors. As her jaws part to speak instead she croaks yet again, a tiny cub's croak, and her tongue catches the flavor of moist air and earth. It takes her a moment to seize the appropriate skill to speak, but when she does at last her voice is a tiny bell-chime. "No!" The exuberance of it surprises even her, and as she stares up at the young elk the black line of her lips splits in a child-like smile, innocent and adorable. "Born," she coos, giggling quietly as she wields her black claws and heaves herself up the bank. She makes it only halfway before collapsing, having not the strength yet and she stares up at him with her belly sprawled in a thin layer of mud and moss, grinning out the side of her muzzle. "Help?"

@Judas

He watches her with shameless fascination, measuring and calculating the differences in their bodies and behavior upon hatching. While he'd at first been frightened, he can recall all too easily the steadiness of the earth beneath his hooves and the comfort it had brought him. So too does this little bear seem to draw strength from the river she lay in, though he shudders, wondering briefly how she stayed so warm. He blinks curiously at her, eyeing the heavy talons of her paws that claw at the stony bank and marveling at their ferocity. In his whimsical mind, he passes neither judgement, nor thoughts of predator or prey but is rather absorbed in her movements, so different from his own and he gazes on in childish awe. Her tiny voice suffices to startle him out of his trance, however and he gives a small snort of surprise. No? His tiny muzzle crinkles, processing this with evident confusion. Again, different from him. His mind is young and he understands things in an array of growing concepts; hurt, joy, astonishment, but not the finer things in between. All he knew was he'd jumped out of his moonstone so hard he'd fallen right onto his little shoulder.

Her next word, he is familiar with. But it is so painfully clear, even to him that to hear it spoken aloud releases a childish trill of laughter from him, melodious in its sound as he stamps a single hoof, delightedly. "Yes born! Born good." He quips happily, wavering his stub of a tail. His vocabulary struggles still, but a week into his life. He watches her valiant effort to clamber up and lifts a hoof empathetically as she tumbles over, overwhelmed. She doesn't even need to ask, for before she does he's making his way cautiously down the steep bank to her side, hoping he has the balance of a mountain goat to make it there safely. He hasn't the traction of pads nor claws to hold him in place and he yelps as his front hoof slips out from beneath him and he more or less skids down the slope on his rear, pitching erratically and coming to a stop at her side, but upright never the less. His blue eyes blink comically for a moment as he glances at her young face, but it soon morphs into a triumphant grin as he barks laughter. "Ha-HA! Balance!" He exclaims, giving an excited little hop of his front end, his little heart banging in his chest. Invigorated, the little fawn draws a deep, deep breath, exhaling in a plume of condensation before he trot behind the little bear and gives a gentle nudge of her rump, encouraging her to move forward. "Slow. Easy" He says sagely, preparing himself to catch her weight should she fall.

@Vae

Having no previous experiences, Vae doesn't yet realize how fortunate she is to find a friendly face so soon after her birth. Judas, for all his dappled fur and dark points, may well have been a miscreant but it is likely the wee white cub wouldn't have known the difference even then. She is impressionable and quizzical, craning her head to look at the young elk fawn all the better as her earthen-brown eyes stare at him balefully, blissful and content despite her circumstance. As he slides down the embankment to help her she gives a squeak of appreciation, wrinkling her nose and - squinting as she sees the feature do so in her peripherals - snorting softly out her nostrils as he offers her a front hoof. V swipes at it but all too late, and in doing so she slides a few inches further into the water though hardly out of fear. Determined, she shares in Judas's exuberant discovery of balance as she feels his gentle pushings from behind, offering her just the right amount of friction so that she might scramble one, two, three steps up and to the precipice of the embankment.

Without meaning to, as Vae heaves a terrific sigh of relief there is a burst of magic within her veins and the hunk of pointed malachite at the bridge of her spine glows softly. (ROLL) She is neither excited nor dismayed as the magic sputters at best, and the airdrink magic she possesses remains useless to her but little Vae does not even understand her propensity for magic or spells. Life is still too new, too fresh, but she knows one thing for certain and that is that she has found a friend in the little elk. Pushing herself from her belly to all four paws, the polar cub shakes herself vigorously and sends a shower of water in all directions, her coat no longer water-clogged and standing comically in end. With a self-made accidental mohawk her head swivels to bring the elk into sight, grinning at him through split black lips that show off the tips of her wee fangs. "Born." She confirms it, nodding stiffly as if the subject is now through and closed, and her exponential interest in Judas expounds to the point of words. "Hoofies," she says simply, reaching out to prick at one of his cloven feet with the tip of a black claw. Noting their obvious difference, the cub wields the paw in front of her face and wriggles the toes. "Claws?" She brings that same paw to her chest, a singular word bursting from her at the seams and she knows it to be her epitaph, and the very thing that now identifies her. "Vae!"

@Judas

Older creatures might've gazed upon the strange sight of a fawn helping a polar bear up a steep bank and laughed, but to the two new friends, a simple matter of species made no difference what so ever. Already he enjoys her little squeaks and bursts of speech, pleased to be able to witness them in his curious and observant ways. It was a trait little Judas couldn't possibly guess would chase him well into adulthood as Vae managed to haul herself over the lip of the river, relaxing his push against her with a small sigh of relief. But, without warning, she shakes and he utters a startled bleat, tripping over his gangly limbs as the cool water showers him and he sits down as a dog might, abruptly and somewhat hard. An ache blossoms in his rump, but ever a gentle creature he laughs at himself for a moment, unaware that his body could fold in such an odd way. "Sit!" He giggles, blinking his bambino eyelashes at her and tries to hide the silly smile on his face with one massive hoof. Two birds of a different feather, he knows nothing but that he is all the happier to've found her and past that does not occur to him.

She gestures at one of his massive cloven feet and he expells a soft hum, lifting one foot, then the other and eying each circumference, trying to decide if the word is correct. How odd he'd used them so much, but hadn't thought of a name for them. "Mmmm, hooves!" He decides, giggling at her enthusiasm and glancing down at the wicked talons of her own feet. Claws? He cocks his head, pressing one of his hooves gently down on the padded exterior of her paw, feeling its buoyancy and enjoying. "Claw-paws heavy. Heavy heavy!" He notes exuberantly, linking the weight of his own feet to how he only assumed hers felt. Her enthusiasm is infectious (though it was perhaps to do with Polaris, too) and he finds himself beaming ear to ear as she hollers an unfamiliar word - and decides to call her that immediately. "Vae!" He cries, wriggling his little brush of a tail and pressing on her paw with more force as though to drive this new information hom. He knows his name too, and in response, coils his long limbs and springs high in the air, his young voice ringing like a bell-chime in the cavernous room of the generator. "JUDAS! Jude, Jude!" He lands and prances in a little circle, singing innocently, "Jude-Vae, Vae n' Jude" And abruptly he halts, beaming merrily at her and tries a new word, screwing up his little face in the effort. "Fur-ends?" He asks sheepishly, not even fully understanding what he means himself, the relation of this new word to it or why he felt somewhat shy all of a sudden. His cerulean eyes gaze hopefully into her browns, his massive ears thrown forward, eagerly awaiting her response.

@Vae

He describes her paws as heavy and Vae is quick to slap them against the ground as if in answer, testing his theory and finding that they make a terrific sound as they did so. A shockwave forces its way up to her elbows and she shudders at the sensation, still dripping along her toes but the rest of her is already beginning to dry. Her coat, thick and white as it is, is built for the water and equally built for sloughing it off in every effort to keep her warm and dry. Vae feels at home in it, enjoying the closeness of her own skin even as the elk chimes a sing-song of his own name, eventually combining theirs together. The cub is ecstatic, and it shows as she broadens her grin at him in return. "Juuuuuudas!" The name feels good on her tongue, familiar and fun and a new word she's never before thought nor said and with each syllable she is forever-more his, his, his. Her child-like innocence latches to the concept of the elk being by her side with more reckless abandon than any love-struck adult, for there is a feeling in her very breast that they were meant to find one another and this creature, this elk, is her spiritual path-walker. They walk the same road in these caves, and she smiles at him yet again.

The power of her emotion again stirs the magic within her. It boils like a frothy tide and she feels it in her blood, though she has yet to identify it. Her muzzle scrunches and her eyes squint at the sensation, and she peers around to glance at the tiny rounded bump of malachite at her spine curiously. (ROLL) This time there is a brief surge and her body feels more hydrated and whole than it was even while she was in the river itself. Her head clears and she breaths deep as tiny droplets of water form in the air immediately surrounding her, much like an elemental aura and they sneak between the finer hairs of her fur to join with her bloodstream. But the magic is fickle and weak at best; after six or seven droplets the magic releases, leaving her exhausted yet satisfied. She turns again to face her friend, the elk, grinning while blinking lethargically. "Fur-ends," she agrees, nodding again to make it official. "Where now?" Her brown eyes lift to the ceiling, to the walls, to the surrounding vegetation. Where was a hatchling to go?

@Judas

The air is chilly in here, for one so small. Vae's shake had left him showered with little dewdrops, which bead in his dappled coat and lend an iridescent quality to him, as though his crown of moonstones extended throughout his whole body. Shivering briefly, the fawn gives a quick shake, the vibrations moving at an exponential rate down his little body until the fade out at his tail and he breathes a great sigh, the energy of this place sinking into his bones - he relishes the sensation. He can feel it through the earth, through the amethysts that jut out from the cavern walls like living things and though there is little plant life here, his spirit is as fiberous as the tendrils of a vine. He is connected to the earth and though he hasn't a word to describe it, he feels it down to his willowy bones, where his own magic slept, undiscovered for the time being. Vae sings his name and he smiles, taking a great comfort in the little bear's presence, unaware how much he enjoyed companionship, until he had it. "Vae" He hums, testing the name out on his tongue again and roaming her stocky form with his eyes. It suited her, he decided.

The silence is split by the prickling of his skin - a vibration his little brow quirks at as Vae breathes a happy sigh. He is unaware she had just used her magic, or he might've danced upon the spot, but her next question voices what he'd been contemplating - the climb it would take to get to the top of the bank. "Up," He begins, trotting over with a tell-tale clip-clop of his hooves to where the incline began and peering up at the steep edge he'd slid down, now at least three times his height. Getting down had been difficult, but getting up was something he wasn't entirely sure was possible. Somewhat sheepishly, he turns back to the bear, an unsure smile touching his black lips as he glances up to their obstacle and back around to her brown-amber eyes. "Up, but.." he begins before raising a single spindly limb to dangle his useless appendages before her. "Hooves, not claw-paws." His tall ears droop as a touch of uncertainty fills him. He dreads the thought of sliding all the way down into the river, but what else was there to do? "Fright." He utters hushedly, avoiding her gaze, which felt odd, but was yet another thing he didn't have a word for.

@Vae