Hidden in Leo behind foliage grown for their safety, there were three chrysalises.

Inside the chrysalis of purple amethyst, an awareness grew. And as that awareness grew, so did discontent. The being was unhappy to be confined, especially now that his little home had grown uncomfortable.

As he shifted within, trying to find the lost coziness, the things on his head bumped into the walls of the chrysalis, making it worse.

The young life decided he needed out. So he twisted and turned, knocking the things on his head against the chrysalis purposefully. And then there was a crack! Light filtered inside the darkness.

Rather than startling the creature, it only made him more determined. He would succeed at this, and this was proof! He would be victorious!

So his focus narrowed to that crack as a hunter would look upon prey. And gradually the crack grew, until the chrysalis at last shattered.

Victory was his, as he tumbled out of the chrysalis into plants.

The young being looked rather draconic even with his aquatic nature clear to see as well. Sizewise, he was only as big as a large bird at the moment. Three pairs of purple eyes gazed with curiosity at his surroundings.

@Kaizer @Gaheris

The next of the 3 chrysalises, a glittering shape of pink diamond, caved under its own weight - or more accurately, the growing weight of the life it had held for so long. She had opened her eyes before this, of course, as had her brother. A smudge of ink on the shells interior, it communicated a lack - a void.

He observed his surroundings, tapped with the gemstone surface with a foot. He watched it crack from the impact, tilted his head, and prodded it again with more force - and it gave, crumbling into an uncountable amount of precious shards. He was unceremoniously dumped on the sandy earth, the fluid coating him reflecting the colour of the light with twice the brilliance. He was Alek’s size, if not a tad smaller, head hovering just above the smallest of ferns.

Her eyes, comically large against her juvenile skull, scanned her surroundings - yet to notice her company, as freshly hatched as she was. ”SsqwArk.” something between a hiss and parrots screech. She hasn’t been born with Cadenza’s pleasant voice, maybe it’s something that’ll grow in later.

Cadenza woke suddenly, the sound of cracking immediately having them alert. They had used to sleep more deeply, but with the full awareness of the danger their children faced they now slept quite lightly. They uncurled from their sleeping position, turning their head towards the sound- Towards the chrysalises.

Or what had been chrysalises. Two of the three chrysalises had been shattered. At first, Cadenza felt an overwhelming panic, at the thought of something breaking the chrysalises. Then, they heard a sound from behind the bushes. They peered over.

And stared.

"Sprig, come quickly, they are hatching!" They turned their head towards their whatever-Sprig-was-to-them. In any case, they were calling over the lion hybrid, their musical voice full of delight and excitement that they wished to share with him.

The children were so small. Had Cadenza once been this small? It was hard to remember their brief period of wakefulness as a child. "They are beautiful," Their awe-filled voice was not directed at any being in particular.

And it did not at all register to Cadenza that these children would probably be considering unnerving in appearance to most.

Both were draconic in looks, though each had glow spots as well. These were the fish hybrids! Cadenza scanned them both to make sure they were having no problems breathing air. It would have been obvious at first glance, in all likelihood, but they wanted to doubly sure. Sure enough, though, the children appeared to have the ability to dwell on land.

"Hello little ones," Cadenza gently spoke to the children, their voice a warm croon. "I am your parent, Cadenza," Their voice almost trembled with the awe they felt over the words they were speaking.

"I love you and I will protect you," They told the children, their words as much a vow as an informative statement.

"You have one more sibling," They nodded towards the pyrite chrysalis. "Once they hatch, we will be going on a trip, traveling, to stay with my deer-dad." It was a long trip to take children on, but it was safer to move them.

They did not speak of danger, not wanting to scare their children. Nor did they want to overwhelm the two with too much information.

In all honesty, they were feeling rather overwhelmed themself. If Cadenza had thought they were protective before, that had been nothing compared to the fierce love that consumed them now while seeing two of their three children outside their chrysalises.

@Sprig

Cadenza wouldn't have to wait much longer for her final child. The tap tap tap of hooves against stone echoed from the final pyrite chrysalis, a rhythm getting louder with each passing moment.

And before long, the chrysalis would give way, golden walls falling with a resounding crack! A gangly thing tumbles out, a mess of fur and legs and tail. Landing on its back, it kicks at the air for a moment, before rolling over. Ghostly white eyes stare up at it's life-giver, taking it all in.

"Kooru?" it asks no one in particular, as the world spins around them.

Sprig had decided to stay in Leo with Cadenza ever since he had come to visit. Something about the ocean was so peaceful. The salty sea breeze, the glittering sand, the swaying leaves of palm and coconut trees. It was a stark contrast to Eridanus that was filled with green as far as the eye could see. Although that had been his home, the Order that had taken over forced him to find another temporary home. Pegasus would've been a good choice, but there was something about Leo that compelled him to stay here instead. It wasn't because Cadenza lived here. And it definitely wasn't because there was something about the dragon that made his heart stir whenever he looked at them. Definitely not!

He immediately snapped out of his slumber and jumped to his feet upon hearing Cadenza's voice. Were they being attacked? Had something happened? But Sprig quickly realized that it was nothing nearly so scary. The chrysalises were hatching! Okay, the thought of that was still quite scary. What if he said the wrong thing? What if he made the wrong impression? But at the same time, he looked forward to meeting them. He had so much he wanted to teach them, the wonders of cooking, of plants, of living.

The lion bounded over in time to see Kaizer hatch, eyes passing over each of the little children. He was glad to have grown the plants surrounding the chrysalises, as they provided not only a source of shade, but were also useful as cushioning for the hatchlings should the sand be too irritating. Something he noted was that each of the children were glowing in some way. Like him. But what he loved most was how he saw a part of Cadenza in each one of them. "You're all... perfect." He couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face, and for a second the thought of my family drifted across his mind.

Sprig realized that he should probably introduce himself too. "And I'm Sprig, Cadenza's... " he struggled to search for the right word. But he could not think of one. He decided to just skip that for now. It was complicated. "I'll help take care of you guys." He wanted to express his feelings, how he truly felt. But he wasn't sure if he should. But he knew that he would protect them all with his life. He had only known them for a few moments, but there was a connection there that he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since he had first hatched. Sprig did not realize this wasn't a normal feeling to feel about children that weren't your own. He also did not realize that he definitely considered them to be like his own children. The lion was unable to take his eyes off them, continuing to marvel at the sight of just how perfect they all were.

@Alek

Though the paler draconic sibling may not have noticed her quieter brother, he noticed her, especially. Many alert eyes stared at this slightly smaller being, each pair of eyes blinking separately from the other pairs. Before he could formulate any ideas and act on them, a giant being appeared. He jolted away from this face, at first, startled.

But the giant being looked a great deal like the pale creature that had hatched after him, he realized. And, for some reason, they felt safe.

And then this being spoke. He did not know that some would call their voice musical. All he knew was it sounded good and safe. The first sets of words that this being spoke were confusing, being not quite directed at the children and the first words that he was hearing.

Yet, by the time their introduction begun, the many-eyed fish-child was beginning to understand what was being said.

Cadenza, they said. The parent of him and the pale one and one other. Love was a harder concept to grasp, but the words protection made sense. That must be why they felt safe to him.

In addition, his parent had a deer-dad they would be moving to.

It was not long before his remaining sibling hatched. Were siblings all this noisy, he wondered.

Then Sprig appeared. At the compliment, now understood unlike Cadenza's, the child practically preened. His head tilted with confusion as Sprig trailed off. But then Sprig was promising to protect as well. Suddenly, he understood who Sprig was.

When he did, he declared it, those purple eyes intently focused on Sprig.

"Dad!"

@Gaheris

Words. More words. More moving shapes. They meant nothing to him. Big black eyes blinked with nothing within them - not a thought, some feelings, and some swirling urges that could vaguely be attributed to instinct. Such a thing got muddied quick, different wirings interrupting eachother and contradicting. He wanted to hide, swim, hiss, squawk, cuddle - bite. He could only achieve some of these at once.

Safety, yes - she felt safe. The large figures that looked down upon her, the three of them; She wanted to slink in their shadows and breathe only their smell and curl up next to their bellies, the beat of their heart and the gurgle of their stomach her lullaby. They were beautiful, shimmering yet deeply tangible. Colourful. Bright. Ow. She squinted up at them some more.

Company.

This one - blue. his size, though not his shape. 'Dad!' Dim acknowledgment flickered in his little brain. He felt he should know what that was, what it meant. It felt like trying to recall an old memory, the answer did not come to him yet. Plus, his priorities were elsewhere.

Look at that guy - that infant - that reflection of herself. What was it? (She knew already) What was it doing? (She knew this too) He was harder to understand. He did not feel like safety, but he definitely felt like something.

His mouth opened with as mighty of a hiss he could manage. He charged to tackle his larger sibling, though I couldn't tell you exactly why. Competition? Food? Attention? Affection? Maybe all of those. Maybe none.

@Cadenza

Cadenza gazed in adoration at their third child as well. He was not dragon-shaped, but they loved him as much as the other children. They idly noted with some amused delight that all their children were glowing in some way or other.

Their heart fluttered oddly at Sprig's words, but it was a good sort of fluttering, they thought. Still, Cadenza could not tear their awed gaze away from their three children. "They are perfect," Cadenza agreed.

When the blue-gray one who had been listening to their words spoke a word of his own to Sprig, his first word, Cadenza was not sure they had the heart to correct him, so certain as their son seemed. And, well, if any being fit the criteria of being a dad to these children, it was certainly Sprig. He seemed to adore the children and had promised to protect the three. He would be a good dad.

So, Cadenza was going to leave the correcting or not correcting up to Sprig. They opened their mouth to speak to the striped Kooru-child, to explain the situation, when suddenly the pale draconic fish-child gave an attempt at a hiss and charged her fellow fish-hybrid brother.

Whatever was intended, Cadenza was so startled that they were taken aback, enough that the tackle landed. But, they were quick to use their large head to nudge the two siblings apart almost immediately after that happened.

"That is one of your siblings, little one. Be careful not to hurt him. You all should not hurt each other," They told the pale one first, and then addressed the rest of their children as well.

Perhaps their words had been too complex, they decided. So they used words most children would understand. "We are going on an adventure," They told the children simply this time, hoping that would be understood.

@Kaizer

As Kaizer stared, the vague shapes of the world around him finally condensed into other Gembounds. Siblings, parents, echoed into their mind, the words of the two larger ones confusing but important.

Ghost white eyes continued to stare, watching Cadenza pull his two siblings apart. It tilted its head, everything still too overwhelming to add anything more helpful than a curious "Kooru?"

But the invitation of adventure did make sense, and Kaizer understood that he wasn't going to get very far sitting in the sand. Shifting, he did his best to place his six feet underneath him, awkwardly and shakily rising to a very wonky stance. It looked at Cadenza again, ready for some sort of guidance, despite looking like a wind could blow him over.

@Sprig

Dad? Sprig thought the little hatchling was referring to Cadenza for a second, surely it wasn't directed at him? But Alek's eyes were most definitely focused on him. He glanced at the dragon for a moment to see what their reaction to this was, but Cadenza seemed to be leaving it up to him to decide. "Ah..." The lion opened his mouth to say that no, he wasn't their dad, but he couldn't bring himself to correct him. And as he gazed upon all the children before him, he realized that it would be a lie.

"Yes, I'm your dad." Sprig felt a strange feeling pass over him upon saying these words. Like something had changed. He was still him but... now he had a new responsibility. A sense of duty. Purpose. His own father hadn't been alive to guide him, but he vowed that he would try his best to be a good dad. That's the least they all deserved. There was more he wanted to say, but his attention was diverted by the sudden tackle.

Sprig moved forward to break it up, but Cadenza got to it first. "Are you alright little one?" he addressed Alek. The last part rolled off his tongue, and he was rather surprised at how smooth it was. Natural. He realized that they did not have names yet, and supposed that was a good substitute for now.

"Adventures are very fun, you all will enjoy it. You should tell us if you get tired on the way." Sprig decided to leave the explaining of what the adventure itself would include to Cadenza.

@Alek