Aura had, many cycles ago, fallen asleep, and had never woken up. Some time after his fight with a lion, he’d exhausted himself, and soon after that, the Cave had gone silent. So he, being a completely instinctual creature, had simply… hibernated, it seemed. And after he’d been asleep for some time, his blue topaz chrysalis had wrapped around his body, to protect it as he lay in his coma-like state. The amniotic fluid was absorbed through his skin and kept him alive, but now it was time to wake up again. And maybe do more than he had before. He was tired of spending a lifetime not reacting to others. Still, he was rather… shy. Or maybe he just thought other Gembounds were thick in the head. Even so, he knew now that there was more to life than studying long-dead things.

So when he had gained enough strength, he cast his vibration spell, in an attempt to weaken the structural integrity of his chrysalis, since it was hard for him to break it open with his fins. He could do it, but doing it this was just made it easier. The spell, however, was weak, and barely did the job. Still, it was enough. And soon enough, he burst into room, the sound of a shattering gemstone splitting the air. He looked around with weak eyes (his sense of sight was never the best) and even he realized that it was dark in here. Funny… He didn’t remember it being so dark before. Wasn’t Polaris a bright room? Where had the lights gone?

Well, it didn’t matter, really. Aura’s natural bioluminescence left a beautiful neon-aqua blue and sea-green glow around his body, mostly on his underside, as he floated closer to the river. He was starving, and needed to eat constantly in order to stay in the air. The energy he got from eating was transferred into helium, which allowed him to float and fly around and move in general. If he ever ran out, he’d be as dead as a beached whale, unable to move, and therefore, he would starve to death. Or, most likely, he would dehydrate long before he starved. In order to prevent that, he ate almost 24/7. And when he wasn’t eating, he was sleeping.

He glided smoothly above the Crystal River, attracting fish to his glowing underside, making whale-song and deep, rumbling groans like the bowels of a moving ship, until he plunged forcefully downward, his maw opened wide, sucking water and fish into his gullet with joy.

Words: 432 @Ash

Ash had moved on from Orion to Polaris. At some point in her travels, the lights turned off. She didn't have too much trouble finding her way though, and soon found herself in Polaris. The memory of what had happened previously still haunted her, and she became painfully aware of the virus within her. If her mind slipped for just a moment, she began to feel it just a bit. So she kept her mind on it, repeating in her head, "You have a virus. You have a virus. You have a virus," on and on. If she forgot about it for longer than a couple of seconds, it'd probably infect her.

While she was walking, which felt rather unnatural to her, but she didn't really want to fly with the lights out like this, she noticed something up ahead. A large creature was up ahead. She could hear sounds, deep and low, that seemed to come from it. She sat and watched for a moment, trying her best to stay mindful of the virus while also trying to figure out what this creature was. After some time, she opened her mouth and spoke in her still high pitched voice. "Hello? Who are you? What are you? I've never seen anyone like you before. Where have you been? I feel like I should have seen you before, you're so big."

@Aura

Aura turned slowly, like a large ship trying to turn in the water. He had the capability to turn much faster. He just didn’t want or need to because it wasted precious energy. But he had heard a voice from below him, on the riverbank, and was curious to see who, in this darkness, had come close to him. What he saw confused him, for he had never seen a creature like this before. Granted, he hadn’t seen much of anyone or anything before retreating back to his chrysalis, but still. He stared at the shadow of a Gembound (it was still dark despite his glowing body), until it started making mouth-noises… Oh, it was talking.

Aura had no idea how other creatures could talk like that. He’d never really gotten the hang of it. Actually, he was surprised he could understand the Gembound’s words at all, but somehow, they came into his brain and made sense for perhaps the first time in his life. Unfortunately, he didn’t really know how to reply, seeing as he couldn’t speak. He could only make whale noises. Well, he’d been asked his name, or rather, who he was, but that was his name, right? In an attempt to communicate, Aura let out whale-song that sounded also a little bit like a groaning ship, again: “Aaaaaaa-oooooo-OOOOOO-raaaaa-AAAAAH…” The sound reverberated around the area, sounding rather spooky and ominous, but he couldn’t help that. That was just how whale-song sounded.

Also, that was… all he could say. So, he hoped it would be enough.

Words: 265 @Ash