Quiet.

The vast green room was asleep, the bubbling water muted as condensation formed on the slick walls patched with moss. A drop fell here and there, a pop as a cave's tear fell upon a leaf and rolled slowly, slowly to the ground. It smelled like green. It smelled like darkness breached with light, filtering the shadows and beckoning the life to reach towards it. It smelled like the cold Earth, soft between toes and hiding infinite micro-organisms in the crevices of the grains. It smelled like a new day.

A creeping vine clinging to a far wall shivered as the surface behind it moved. Dirt fell, revealing a dull orange gem. As it moved again, more dirt fell. Piercing the silence, a sudden crack echoed from the gem. A piece of it tumbled to the soil below. Inside, a creature stirred. Long legs with softened claws scraped and scratched at the confines of its cell, the cell that had held its life within for what seemed like ages. It had been gestating within, given life from the walls of the cavern. Given life from the stones.

A rasping rumble emanated from the stone. It was citrine, a yellow colored quartz with deep orange hues. It glittered as the life within moved. Another rasp, what sounded like a bark, broke the silence. The life kicked at the cell walls and sent small shards of the gem to the ground. A three toed foot hung out of the hole it had created with its force. It paused, feeling the cold air surround its freed limb. Did it want to know what that freshness felt like in its feathers?

More silence followed. The creature inside huffed, as if all its energy had gone into that single action. Closed eyes rolled, a soft beak pressed against the citrine barrier. Out there was life. Inside was warmth, and gentleness. Muffled dreams and the unknown. Out there, it needed to know to survive. This was the first choice Kiskimmet would ever make, and the odds were stacking against them. As they leaned against the broken wall of its birth gem, a web of cracks spread upwards. Leg still hanging freely in the open air, a sudden burst of energy made the creature's heart beat faster and its limbs strike out. It shattered the remainder of its confines, and slid from the citrine chrysalis to the ground.

A lump of downy feathers in the dirt, the bird was unsure what was next. Their head lay horizontally on the ground, their legs tangled beneath them. Their wings were outstretched, as if they had flung themselves from the wall and fallen flat to the earth below. With a short intake of air (their first breath!), Kiskimmet opened their eyes and began to look around. This now was their world.

Nyekundu had traveled a bit since their hatching, and now stumbled upon a room full of greenery. Everywhere the flamingo looked, there were plants. Sprawling plants, green moss, lichen. One could also hear a few streams bubbling in the distance. They stumbled along, their legs seemingly a bit too short for their body, the flamingo could hardly hold themself with poise like a part of themself wanted to. Alas, the little one tottered to the side occasionally, and couldn't seem to hold themselves straight as such a young age.

They continued wandering through the cave, and soon stumbled upon a figure. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be another gembound. One like themself, in a way, in that they seemed to be of a similar species. They, too, had a beak like them. Nyekundu made his way over, and stood looking down. "Hello," they rumbled, voice rather quiet. They didn't like having such a quiet voice, but as long as the other could hear them, they supposed it was fine. Besides, this creature looked as if they had just hatched. Chances are, they wouldn't want their voice to be very loud. Right?

Nyekundu sat and watched this new creature with a look of amazement. They had not met many, and certainly not one much like themself. This one seemed to have a lower beak made of gems. Their own beak was simply a dot on the top part, while this one seemed to have their whole lower beak made of the stuff. They found it quite fascinating, to put it simply. "Your beak," they murmured, "is quite fascinating, I must say. I wish mine was like that." They looked around a bit as they waited for the other to speak, or do something.

@Kiskimmet

As Kiskimmet lay there, their body a puddle of feathers and leg, they began to have their first coherent thoughts. Everything in the chrysalis had been a jumble - sounds that had no meaning and nonsense that never ended. There were no words. It had just been noise. It was as if someone had tapped open their crypt and not only released their body from the cell but also their mind. They were observing the plant life, the feeling of the soil on their feathers, the discomfort of having their body bent at such strange and unfamiliar angles, and they were beginning to understand how to describe these feelings.

As they began to piece together thoughts into actual somethings, the soft padding of another being approaching caught Kiskimmet's attention. Before they were able to look up at the other, it spoke. A fluent word, the first word Kiskimmet would ever hear. Hello. What did it mean? It sounded so foreign, so... Wrong.

"H'lo?" They were garbled letters that Kiskimmet threw into the open air with their throat, barely parting their beak to process them. Astounded that they could produce such a noise, their eyes widened and their body shook with an excited tremor. They spread their new wings and scraped at the earth with their clawed feet, trying to find a grasp and the ability to stand. With much effort, they finally succeeded in pushing themselves upright, their legs tucked beneath them and their gaze aimed upward at the other bird.

... I wish mine was like that. What? Kiskimmet didn't understand. They glanced around, finding a broken shard of their chrysalis on the ground and peering into it. Alas, their reflection stared back and what a peculiar thing it was. Kiskimmet glanced back at the flamingo. Their beak was indeed not the same as Kissy's. Kiskimmet glanced back at their reflection and cocked their head. "H'lo?"

After a few moments, they looked back at the flamingo. Kiskimmet didn't know what they were, or what this other being was, just that they were two creatures in this large open room that smelled very different from anything else they had experienced before. With a shrug, Kiskimmet slowly began to raise themselves onto their legs. They wobbled, and nearly toppled over, but found their balance and stood sturdy on their thin stilts when it was finished. They took a hesitant step towards Nyekundu. "Whooo yooo?" A couple of coos escaped their crystallized beak, a soft gurgling rumble that was nearly incomprehensible, but maybe the other bird would understand. Maybe.