Charoite

Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional.

Appearing among an arrangement of stones jutting up from the floor of the cave and partially hidden under the cover of a few large ferns, a tiny chrysalis can be seen. Made from crystal of an amethyst hue, the chrysalis looks like a decorative crystal egg. Cracks are starting to form however, and faint sounds can be heard coming from within, as the creature inside has outgrown his crystalline cocoon. Several moments later, a long black needle-like beak pokes trough, Charoite's first step into the outside world. He keeps working at poking holes in the chrysalis, and after some more minutes pass, he finally manages to break the whole thing open. As the chrysalis crumbles around the tiny bird, his eyes take in the first glimpse of the world he has been born into. Compared to the cramped confines of his chrysalis the cave is staggeringly large, seeming almost endless. For a moment, he spreads his wings to stretch the muscles that power them, then begins to flap them. Instincts as well as hunger were telling him that he needed to fly, but there was also curiosity, and excitement to drive him.

Soon his feathers were dry of the residual moisture from inside the chrysalis, and as he continues to rapidly flap his wings, he finally lifts off from the floor of the cave and begins to hover. At first his flight is rather clumsy, and he bumps into some of the nearby plants and stones, falling back to the floor a few times only to try again. Eventually though, he starts to get the hang of it, and none too soon as by the time he manages to find a few flowers, he is absolutely starving, and greedily feeds on the nectar of the flowers. He would flit from one flower to the next, blocking out anything going on around him, as all that mattered to him right now was filling his tiny belly with the nourishment provided by these flowers. Eventually, after drinking every drop of nectar he could get from the flowers nearby, he begins to fly higher into the cave, his first chance to really take in the sight of this new world. He soon sees a few gnats buzzing around near a fruit tree and tries to catch a few as an additional snack.

Pride picked his way along the moss, lowering his head now and again to snatch mouthfuls of grass where it stretched up through the other foliage. At times, when he came across a juicy shoot or a bundle of young leaves, he took a swatch in his mouth and carried on.

His hide flashed pale in the orb-light, his antlers branching high enough that now and again he caught a twist of vines or twigs in them, and had to shake them out. It was only quite by chance that he happened to be raising his head when what looked, to him, like a small and jeweled insect flitted by. His ears flicked forward, and he hesitated for a moment before turning to idly follow it.

He'd been trying for some time to form a bond with a Lesser Gembound--to learn how they ticked, to get to know them better. But he still didn't know quite how it worked. He was, too, ever-attracted by aesthetic beauty, and this little creater was glimmering with both grace and color. Curious, and assuming it to be one of the Lessers, he followed along as it made its dancing visit from flower to flower, seemingly insatiable in its flight. He realized, after a time, that it was in fact a bird--a very tiny bird!--and his grey eyes widened in some surprise.

"Well," he said toward Charoite, "aren't you a beautiful thing?" He thought, of course, that it was a mindless creature, no different than the insects or the songbirds of Eridanus; he was talking just as much to himself as to the hummingbird, and most certainly didn't expect a response.

@Charoite

Charoite

Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional.

Being rather oblivious to his surroundings as he works to satiate his ravenous hunger, he does not notice the stag at first. It certainly is not an easy task for a bird with the accelerated metabolism required to keep his fluttering wings and racing heartbeat going. But then he chases a gnat through the tines of Pride's antlers, at first not even realizing that they belong to a living creature, instead thinking they are some sort of strange set of branches among the rest of the plants around him. Hearing the stag speak though causes him to stop in mid air and hover a moment before taking another look at the stag. Seeing him move as well, Charoite now realizes that this ivory giant was actually a living breathing creature like himself.

It's a bit of a delayed reaction, but the little bird finally does seem to respond to the compliment, but his tiny voice only comes across as rapid little chirps. Next he zips around the stag, dipping lower as he rounds his tail end, weaving through his legs before climbing higher again, hovering for a moment to look the stag in the eye before zipping up a bit further to attempt to land on one of the lower tines of his antlers near his right ear. Finally he attempts to speak once again.

"You big giant. Like tree size white flower!" He comments on both the stag's immense stature compared to himself, and perhaps the comparison to a huge flower could be taken as a compliment to Pride's appearance. For a moment it seems like he has nothing more to say, as he begins to preen his feathers for the first time. It's not long before he takes to the air once more, those tiny wings again but a blur as he rockets off to catch another small insect, only to turn around and look back at Pride again.

"Giant be friend?" He asks with a hopeful tone. He could see that this new world was vast, and having large friends he imagined would be very helpful, although in his current situation, any friend was better than continuing alone. Pride may now also notice the swirling purple gem set among the emerald green feathers of his crown. Despite his diminutive size, the gleaming teardrop shape does contrast significantly against his feathers.

@Pride

Pride blinked, lifting one foreleg and shifting his weight about to peer behind and around him as the little bird dipped this way and dove that, around and beneath him. When it landed upon his antler he fell quite still, more than familiar with the sensation of a smaller Gembound perching on him. For a beat he was afraid of frightening it off--and, at the same time, marvelling at its fearlessness--when suddenly it spoke.

He blinked, and most certainly took the "flower" remark as a compliment, unaware that little Charoite's life thus far revolved around flowers. It might be hard to have any other frame of reference when it was all one thought of! But Pride didn't know this, and quite automatically, responded--"Thank you."

Then he blinked, as it sank in that this creature was a Greater Gembound--or was it merely a Lesser, yet capable of speaking? ...Was there any distinction? Could this one use magic? Delighted, exhilarated, he very carefully spoke. "Ahh--err, yes, friend. I will not harm you," he offered, his voice softly musical as always. The little one was already back to hunting bugs, it seemed, darting to and fro and hanging suddenly, startlingly motionless before shifting in another direction. It was breathtakingly precise and Pride found himself watching in admiration.

But how to gauge what, exactly, the little one was? How to classify it? Cautious not to move too suddenly, he began to follow along, his attention wholly on the bird.

"My name is Pride," he offered carefully. And then, simply-spoken, "Do you have a name?"

Perhaps if it did, it was a Greater after all. A newly-hatched, or perhaps merely simpler than others? He wasn't certain, but he was certainly curious.

@Charoite

Charoite

Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional.

Charoite may have only just recently hatched, but already his grasp on flight was pretty impressive. He could already hover and fly in any direction, even backwards. But keeping those little wings humming took a lot of energy, and soon he was hungry again, and Pride would find him zipping over to some nearby flowers and drinking their nectar. While he eats, he does still listen as Pride speaks to him though. Once he's again feeling satisfied, he zips back over to once again perch among the tines of Pride's antlers, trying to relax and conserve energy so they could talk more without needing to pause for him to eat every few minutes.

He remembers the larger Gembound had asked him if he had a name, and though he had just hatched, when thinking of what his name was, a word comes to mind, as if already planted in his mind."Char... Yes, my name is Charoite. Happy to be friend of Pride. World is very big, so it is good to have big friends yes? I want to see more, many friends. He answers with a cheery tone, as speech slowly becomes easier to him the more he hears Pride talk and tries to work out the thoughts racing through his rather hyperactive mind. Although he does not fear Pride, he does keep alert to any sign of danger around them, basically watching anything that moves since he doesn't yet know what is dangerous and what isn't.

@Pride

Pride kept carefully still, allowing the hummingbird to remain perched there without protest.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Char," he responded softly, tone warm. "May I ask how old you are? Do you know what you are?" If it was a newly-hatched, then perhaps its somewhat-simplistic talk and tiny size wasn't down to being Lesser at all. And some Gembound knew what species they were--as they were born knowing their names; others had no idea of either. Pride had been among the latter group, but as it stood he remained quiet after speaking. Grey eyes glinted silver as he lifted them to try and watch the tiny bird perched atop his antlers.

Then, with a small spark of inspiration, he very, very slowly began to move to flowers--first to one, then the other, each time only gradually lowering his head (so as not to throw the little one off-balance). He brought his tines to the level of the flowers, hoping to offer Char the ability to have a drink here and there without the need to fly about.

He wasn't sure whether they'd appreciate it, or just get motion-sick, but the attempt was there, at least.

@Charoite

Charoite

Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional.

It was probably for the best that Pride stayed pretty still as Charoite perched on his antlers, since his tiny feet couldn't get too much of a grip due to how thick they were. Fortunately he did not fear falling. When asked how old he was, and if he knew what he was, Charoite would pause to think for a moment. He wasn't sure how to measure age, so he did his best to explain that he had just hatched.

I just hatched from stone egg. What am I? What are you? I am humm... humm-ing-bird. He answers, struggling with the longer more difficult word describing his general species, then turning the second question around on the stag before actually answering. When Pride slowly moved toward the nearby flowers, lowering his head toward them, Charoite quickly took advantage, swiftly moving to one of the outer tines near the base of his antlers. Extending his little neck slightly, he would poke his long narrow beak into each flower, drinking the sweet nectar inside for a few brief moments before pulling out as Pride moved to another flower where he would repeat the process.

Thank you, Pride. I like this place, lots of tasty flowers. Little bugs good too, but flowers are best. He comments between moving from one flower to the next. Eventually a spark of curiosity struck him, understanding Pride was too big to eat flower nectar like him. What you eat Pride?

@Pride

Ahh, a new hatchling, then, Pride thought to himself. He was faintly disappointed; it meant that the little one was not likely to be a Lesser, but rather was likely to grow much larger.

He was unaware, of course, that this was entirely wrong--and really, size had little to do with it, did it? It did not matter to him all that much, however. He pushed the thoughts away, moving from flower to flower, answering while careful not to move too much.

"I eat grasses, and plants," he responded quietly. "There are those who eat fruits or vegetables or--both, and others still that eat bugs, or meat. Even those that eat meat often only eat the ones who cannot speak, so always be sure to speak to those you meet," he added, after a moment's thought. He wasn't quite sure, either, how well-developed this one's ability to speak was (and what was a humming-bird, anyway?), but he hoped it understood enough to keep itself, alive, at least.

"Many of us hatched from stone eggs," he added. He'd never really thought of their stones as eggs, before, but on reflection, it did seem rather accurate.

For a moment, he was at a loss as to what more to say. He'd never been party to a newborn's hatching--not since his own youth--and he felt vaguely responsible for this one. After a beat, he pushed his bewilderment back and spoke further. "There is much to know and to learn of the world. If you have questions, I would be happy to answer them."

@Charoite