nestled amongst the stars, a tiny purple gem sat. it was scuffed almost to the point of opacity, doubtless from being knocked aside many times during its tumble through the dark cave orion. now, tucked beneath a tower of rocks, the chrysalis' lonely inhabitants was ready to burst.

slowly, in a steady beat, the hard edges of the chrysalis began to crack--tick, tick, tick, tick. it was almost like music, twice as the speed of the kitten inside's steady heartbeat.

and then all at once, the gem burst, leaving a sticky fluid seeping out of a hole and a very alarmed, confused infant stuck inside.

the tiny creature squirmed helplessly around in the prison he once called a sanctuary as fluid began to burn at his eyes and he sputtered around the plug in his nose. it was a violent ordeal, and one that did not leave him without pain as he thrashed against the hard sapphire walls of the misshapen violet egg.

finally, after what felt like an eternity but had lasted no more than a few frenzied heartbeats, the tiny, slimy body pressed through the cracks and shattered the chrysalis, squirming out of a large hole in panic.

immediately upon reaching the cold floor, the kitten let out a loud, disturbed yowl--for a parent, for a savior, for anyone--and squirmed around helplessly, eyes and ears, for the moment, glued shut.

notes: feel free 2 join the emergence of the gayest cat alive

"speech" / thoughts
cat by thisisbossi / table by wulf

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Hael had fallen asleep a while ago. She'd intended it to be just a nap, but when a startled yowl woke her, she was so shaken up that she knew immediately it must have escalated into a full blown hour-long sleep.
Shaking the tiredness off, the kitten stood and stretched. Her joints popped and Hael sighed in contentment.

Until she remembered what had woken her.

Although she couldn't consciously remember the noise, she immediately hurried to crawl on top of the stone she'd been sleeping behind to see the source of it.
What she saw made her heart jump.
A kitten! Like her!

Hael jumped off the stone and sped towards the little bundle of fur, avoiding steps and stones on her way (she'd learned a bit since her own emergence). The little cat's eyes were still closed, so they couldn't see her. Thus Hael slowed her pace and approached carefully. "Hello." She greeted quietly and with a smile (whether the kitten could see it or not).
"I'm Hael." The cat added and closed the last distance between herself and the other kitten.

Instinct told her what to do. She leaned down and licked the kitten's fur, cleaning the slime off of it. The slime was disgusting and sticky, but Hael just spat it aside and continued licking it off.

"Listen to me."

ooc: space cat to the rescue!
@Prata

slowly, the little dark kitten began to feel a headache build in his temple. a soft murmur began to sound, and the kitten squirmed at the sensation of hearing.

pop! and there it was.

another murmur--soft, soothing to his ears, he mewled again, peeling his murky eyes open to reveal one violet sapphire where his left eye should have been, one tiny, blind blue eye on his right. for now, the kitten was completely blind, but that was no matter. kittens could smell.

feeling the warmth of a tongue on his forehead, he mewled once more.

"hello?" it came out, as the young tomcat lay there, blankly. it smelled familiar--instinctually, he knew it was another one of him, and he felt at home. a tiny purr erupted from his throat, and his little tail raised up like a rudder in good nature. "hello," he mewled again, this time more assuredly.

"haeeeel," he mewed as he squirmed uncomfortably in the goo, still spilling out from the chrysalis behind him. a little head dipped down to lick his paws, freeing them partially from the sticky fluids.

"speech" / thoughts
cat by thisisbossi / table by wulf

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;

I lift my lids and all is born again

Hael watched, a smile brightening on her face, as the other kitten opened its eyes. She saw herself reflected in the blind blue eye, but the surface of the other eye gleamed with a dull shine.

Their gem?

The female kitten found that oddly interesting. She'd seen gembounds with their gems in curious places, only once before replacing someone's eye. One of the red wolves at the party she'd attended had had a gem-eye as well.
Hael wondered if they could see through it, or if they just had their remaining eye only.

Hael was a bit surprised when the other kitten's voice squeaked a greeting and her name, but she quickly got over the initial shock and smiled again, matching the other's purrs with her own. "Yes, Hael." She said and the happiness she felt could easily be detected in her voice.

"And you?" The tri-coloured kitten asked afterwards, flattening her tongue over the other's back to take the slime off their fur there too. Since she was just a kitten herself and about as tiny as the other, cleaning her new friend was quite the hard work. Not that Hael complained, she felt that it was something that had to be done, so she did it.

For: Prata

Notes: Cute kittens <3

Thanks Vii❣

@Prata

the kitten gave an inquisitive meow at her question, not fully understanding, but he felt safe enough to ignore it for now. purring loudly at the sound of her voice, he shifted from under hael's tongue into a sitting position, and then dipped his head down to groom more easily. he was starting to get more of a grip on his dexterity--the other kitten was making short work of the slime on his head.

he was absolutely content, if not for the slime still sticking to him. he dipped his head down to his chest and jet out a tongue to clean more. it wasn't fun, but the liquid didn't taste like much at all, so it wasn't too unpleasant. it simply had to be done.

after a few minutes, with hael's help, the younger kitten was completely clean of goo. he had been purring the entire time, and when he raised his head back up in the other kitten's direction, his gem-eye gleamed slightly in the light of polaris.

notes: @hael feel free to add in dialogue/etc before the grooming is finished, i just wanted to get a timeframe in there <3

"speech" / thoughts
cat by thisisbossi / table by wulf

Hael didn't mind that the other kitten didn't answer her. Perhaps they hadn't understood her question or did not yet know their own name. Either way, it wasn't a disaster.

As soon as her new friend was freed from the slime, Hael took a step back to give them some room. "Done." She said, whether or not the other cat understood her or not.
With her friend clean, Hael could begin cleaning herself. She licked the tufts of fur on her chest, which had been standing up into all directions before. Despite her young age, the female kitten was rather clean. Sure, she liked playing in the dirt as much as any other young creature, but she always cleaned up afterwards.

Hael wasn't sure how to ask if the other cat was hungry if she didn't even know if they understood her. Well, only one way to find out, huh? "Hungry?" The Norwegian Forest Cat asked, her head tilted to the side in a curious manner. She only took her eyes off of the other for a second, to see if she could see a lesser Gembound, preferably a mouse, nearby.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Prata
notes: sorry that I keep changing the table lmao, this one will stay!

hunger... he wasn't quite hungry yet, nor did he know the meaning of the older kitten's words, but he would be happy to do some playing. stepping with much struggle out of the goo-pile he'd been laying in, the kitten lifted his tail for balance and mewled idly. if only someone were there to carry him about!

foggy lights had begun to fill his vision, and it was quite a curious feeling. he stood there in awe for a moment, almost not hearing hael's voice when she spoke. he shakily lifted his head to sniff the air, turning his heavy head towards her. he tried to tilt his own head in confusion, but he ended up losing his balance and falling flat on the ground, paws splayed out beneath him.

that was okay, though. the tiny tabby sniffed the air then, perhaps on instinct. he caught the whiff of something incredibly peculiar, so much so that it drew his interest immediately! he shifted around on his weak legs in a quarter circle before realizing he wanted to play with hael, really bad, and now that was the most important thing on his mind.

the young maine coon shifted his head back over to her, a little less shaky this time--he was getting the hang of it, his muscles were rapidly developing as a gembound kitten's should have, and energy was beginning to flow through him. his fur might have looked a little less blackened too, if hael was paying close attention.

"play?" he mewled in a loud, insistent tone, his eyes meeting a rough approximation of her's where the bright lights of the cave went dark in her shadow. he wasn't trying to be rude--this young kitten simply had not learned his manners yet, and he thought maybe the louder he was, the more compulsion his offer might give her.

notes: @hael

"speech" / thoughts
cat by thisisbossi / table by wulf