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The constant hum of Cetus cave's swampy lakeside had served as a sort of lulling song to the life inside a topaz shell, nestled under moss and algae, at the edge of the water. Recently, the hum had been muffled further- as water had risen around the would-be 'egg' of gemstone. Not all the way, but enough for quite some time that the bird inside was forced to stay in, just a little longer, as he continued to grow.

Finally, discomfort and stiff limbs coaxed the creature out of it's crystal womb. The first sign of life would be the soft 'tck tck' of his gem-lined beak against the glossy shell. He tapped and tapped instinctively, until finally, a sort of frustration bubbled up and the bird simply pushed outwards with his whole body. The glass, weakened over time, broke easily and the bird all but flung himself free of the shards. He tumbled into the wet growth of plantlife surrounding him, muddy and wet against his pinfeathers. The new bird squawked his complaint, but the mist of Cetus muffled the noise.

For a moment, it was all he could do, keeping his head up while resting a quivering, tired body. Wobbly, the dark gray, wet bird turned his gaze around, first one way, then the other, gazing at the world around him. Small lights danced in the distance, illuminating his world only slightly. He could see the water, the land, the trees... Yes, those were the words. He then took in the colors of his world. Gray, mostly, but with hints of blue, green and brown all around. Surely he was the most lovely thing in this place. The bird finally stood, with a stretch of his wings and legs, to his full height.

He looked upon himself now, and noted the few adult feathers that had already begun to grow in. Hints of white and silver, with black around his wings. He noted the pinfeathers on the ends of his wings and tail, and mused how they were silver, like the mist that surrounded him. Yes, silver seemed right. It was a good word. He would have that word as his own. He would call himself Silver.

Walking along the most shallowest waters he could find, Yarrow did not know where he was going by any means, and having emerged from his own crystallized shell only minutes ago meant he was not well equipped to handle this place. Surrounded by the gloomy swampland, Yarrow's birth into Cetus had been an unpleasant one in which his hatching was welcomed by the chilly waters. First the marsh turned him into a sloppy mess, changing his golden-brown fur to be covered in black goop. Second, he couldn’t find any way out of the swamp because it seemed to stretch endlessly in the room, save for the few clusters of trees.

Although Yarrow's feet had never touched the shore he felt there had to be somewhere better...somewhere dryer. The hopes of finding this place spurred him forward. The young baboon walked on all fours, pushing through the marsh's shallows with his lanky legs. Surely if he kept going, he'd find something soon. At least, that was his logic. Unfortunately for him, he began to actually make a beeline straight for the Heart, where the water was deepest. His eyes widened once he finally realized that this way was no good, and then he felt his stomach churn. Yarrow had waded so far into the marsh by now that his entire body nearly submerged into the dark, murky water.

Yarrow paused for a moment, trying to think of something he could do. Though he appeared calm on the outside, he was starting to feel hopeless. Closing his eyes, the primate closed his eyes and felt a slight vibration on his forehead, where his emerald gemstone perched.

[post roll edit]

To his own utter bewilderment, the intricate threads of magic he had cast using the forms of plants worked! Sensing the energies of the room's vegetation, he discovered that there was a surprising amount of plant life distributed all around him and in the water. Yarrow could also sense something else; little signals from the algae and moss alerted him and drew him towards the shore. Maybe this was what he was looking for? Yarrow started marching on through the water again, making splash splash noises as he went. It was then where he saw something else, something skinny but tall? "Hello? What are you?" He called out, still approaching and trying to get a better look at the thing.

(My apologies for the rushed post ;n;)

The slosh, splash, slosh of approach startled the bird from his inner monologue, and his swiveled that long neck around to identify the thing coming his way. Indeed, it was a thing, a sort of monsterous thing, indeed. It was wet, and covered in grassy stuff, but not grass, that gave off an unpleasant smell even from this distance. Nothing was worse than a wet monkey, though Silver didn't know that this creature was even a living thing, none-less a monkey of any sort.

Then, it called out, strange sounds that Silver noted must've been the words he'd heard in his head before. Words, yes, those were words. What did they mean though? What. He knew that word. Was it asking what he was? Well that was certainly a silly question! He was obviously a Silver! Oh, but that was a name, wasn't it? Not a species. What was a species? The bird cocked its head to the side, confused. Then, the creature appeared through the mist and he could see it better. Oh, that wasn't plants all over its body, it was some sort of weird feathers! Oh so this thing was a thing like him! Sort of. It had no wings. Instead, its wings were deformed, all long and draped. It had a strange, bald face with a big, green gem in the center. He blinked. Could a creature see properly past that eye-sore? It wasn't as lovely as his beautiful topaz helm. Oh, Helm! Another good word! He'd have that for himself, too! Silver Helm. Yes, it suited him just perfectly.

The bird stood taller, on twiggy legs and flared his damp wings at the baboon, letting out a horrible squawk in alarm and warning. Too close! It had gotten too close! Then, stepping away from the monkey and back to the remains of his shell, the bird made shuffling sounds- as if complaining. He settled into his crystal 'nest' hesitantly, eying the stranger with bright yellow gaze, curious but uninviting. What did this creature want from him? What. Oh, right.

"Silver Helm." He stated simply, bobbing his head in affirmation, as if he needed to be sure the monkey thing understood his meaning. "What?" Sil extended a wing, pointing pinfeathers at the thing, as if asking the same question in return.

Light mist cloaked the air as Yarrow strode through the shallow banks and towards the creature, noticing it tilt its head and flashing what looked to be a lustrous golden crest. It had clearly noticed his company, but it hadn’t answered his question yet even though he was now fairly certain it was a living creature like himself. Maybe it didn’t know how to talk? As it watched him come closer, suddenly a response elicited from the bird, flapping its odd and enormous leaves at him and following up with a loud squawkk. It scared him so much that he quickly jumped away from it’s outburst and unconsciously backed up a few steps. What had he done wrong? Heart pounding hard against his chest, he watched the thing as it settled back down into an array of gem shards.

Not sure whether it wanted him to go away, and feeling it’s gaze burn on him, the confused little baboon stood perfectly still until it spoke. It said its name was Silver Helm. That was strange. Yarrow didn’t question it, however, for all he knew the thing was a Silver Helm. It certainly did seem to match his appearance. At first he was confused when it pointed back at him. Why was he doing that…? Ohhhhh, now he sees. “You are Silver Helm, I am Yarrow.” He told him proudly, flashing a sharp-toothed grin as he offered the heron a bow of his head.

Yarrow lifted his muzzle back up to take in the other gembound’s appearance. To the young primate, his entire face looked like it was engulfed in a shining golden…helm? That’s what the bird called it? In all honestly he was jealous that he had such a huge shiny on top of his head. Reaching his arm to touch his own emerald, it was much smaller. The rest of the bird, however, looked rather funny with its long, curvy neck and spindly legs. But it didn't matter to Yarrow much what Silver looked like and he just wanted to get to the shore, where he was.

Slowly he began cautiously inching closer, hoping the big birdie wouldn’t notice his advances and scare him again. “You no look like me,” he stated, trying to tell the gembound about himself. “You has a helm shiny but I have shiny with plant....magic.” He hesitated on the last word, but the term was the only one that came to mind describe his powers. That was right, wasn't it? “Am I special? Does you have magic?”

Silver watched the thing as it made more mouth noises at him, and when it said its name, the bird rolled his tongue around, trying to mimick the sound.

"Yaaaaaahhh... Yarrrooooh. Yarrooow. Yarrow." Long beak and crest bounced as the bird nodded his satisfaction. Then, when the monkey thing started approaching again, the bird stood up taller in turn. He flared his underdeveloped wingspan again, but didn't stroke them forward this time. "Yarrow!" He shouted, scoldingly, as if trying to get another message across. He didn't like the thing getting so close. The heron liked his space.

If the monkey settled where he stood, the bird would return those wings to his sides proper, and settle into the shell he stood over. It cupped him perfectly and he settled in without ruffling a single feather. Comfortable in his little nest of topaz, the bird took a moment to consider what the thing had said.

"Helm feeds Silver. Keeps Silver safe." He nodded, tapping the tip of that encrusted beak on his glossy nest. "Special?" He tilted his head, as if asking the meaning behind it. What could such a silly sounding word mean? Was it a compliment? "Yarrow special? Silver special? Magic"