Important decisions cannot be taken lightly. One must consider their choices, wait until the right moment, and leave a resulting imprint in history that cannot be looked back upon with the bitter sting of regret.

The green mass clinging like a bead of condensation to the wall of the damp tunnel many preferred not to linger in due to its unnaturally chilly atmosphere hewed close to this mindset. For a cycle it had grown, biding its time. As the humidity rose and storms swelled in frequency and intensity, so too did it strengthen, absorbing ambient magic to fuel the growth of the being slumbering within. Although it had reached a healthy size suitable enough to expel its burden into the greater world, for some unfathomable reason not yet had an awakening consciousness struggled against their confines. Cracks refused to form in the chrysalis's smooth surface, and nary a squeak or whisper sounded from inside. Whoever this was—would be—seemed content to avoid reality forever.

Until the magicka charging the air reached its absolute peak.

The first break in the nephrite formed in perfect synch with rumbling thunder, a tiny gap that barely allowed a slim shaft of dim cavelight entry into a place previously closed off to its touch. The next did not occur until the rain came, almost as if the occupant had been at last fully woken by droplets splashing against stone. Gradually lines spiderwebbed and weakened the integrity of the chrysalis. Soon enough damage would be done to release a new Gembound and abandon them in the caves.

Jade shards fell away as a snout poked through the wall containing it. A small black nose snuffled, ponderous, taking in the strong scent of the storm. Little paws gave their prison an experimental push, one that proved too hard despite its gentleness. All at once the stone crumbled. With a soft gasp, a bundle of fur toppled forward, lower jaw smacking hard against the ground.

Pain was his first feeling. That and wonderment at the glowing sheets of water cascading down and soaking him. Crackling energy, oddly familiar, infused fur.

She'd resisted the urge to knock on the stone, though he'd never know that. It was just so cold in here, so weirdly clammy.

It sucked.

"This suck--OH HEYYYY." She vanished in a golden flash as the rock finally cracked. Gotta keep up appearances--or lack thereof--and all that.

As soon as he was pulling up, awake and fully aware, a deafening chorus of slightly off-key trombones sounded. They played a parade march song, energetic and enthusiastic. Joining them came the thunder of unseen drums.

"CONGRATULATIONS ON HATCHING IN THIS MOST AUSPICIOUS CYCLE! It has been-"

(drumroll, sweeping spotlights fit to temporarily blind a newborn's eyes)

"ONE HUNDRED CYCLES since all of your friends-to-be woke up in the dusty dark! And boy WAS it dusty."

Her voice was amplified beyond any sense, ringing through the tunnels, vibrating in the walls. After a few moments (and the sound of rummaging), a beloved belonging was offered as a gift: dropped down to lightly clatter on the stone beneath the chrysalis. It was a bright (if old, scuffed and dusty) set of metallic beaded necklaces, the sort of thing one might by for very cheap to wear at a Mardi Gras parade. There were three, sharing a single clasp: bright magenta, glaring yellow, and green.

The lights and sounds cut out.

"Okay then! Have a nice life."

@Richter

New to the entire experience of life, right down to the most insignificant of sensations such as an itching nose, to say the eruption of musical welcome out of nowhere caught the newborn Gembound off guard would be an understatement. For the brief moment he'd been given to absorb his surroundings, the joey had spent it nearly as unmoving as the chrysalis that had finally expelled him, the back and forth flicker of awe-widened eyes the sole indicator he was processing all the sights and sounds. Once he began to scrabble at the ground with slim arms in a clumsy attempt to right himself from his face forward sprawl, it was too late to avoid suffering a second indignity so soon after the first.

Bold instruments on all sides blared through the rainfall's soothing patter. He jolted, enough strength bestowed upon him by a sudden surge of adrenaline to manage a downward shove. It fell short of pushing him fully to his feet though; and if one smack to the jaw wasn't painful enough, the next as he collapsed again to the stone made appearing spotlights swim like stars in his vision. Safe to assume that even if he had been able to understand any of what the immense voice reverberating through the tunnel announced, most meaning would have been lost in the jarring rattle that shook his skull to its very eye sockets. He lay there, stunned in both a figurative and literal sense, until the commotion at last ceased.

After waiting for the world to stop quaking and spots to fade from sight, the following attempt to stand proved more successful, if only by a whisker's breadth. Although he wobbled in place, everything could be observed how it was meant to be: firmly on paws and without his nose pressed to the earth. Then the gift cast beside him received his undivided attention, its offering having been previously lost amongst the multitude of other noises that had dominated the area.

Now that the voice had left, raucous band and blinding light alongside it, the current dimness made picking out where the strung together beads rested slightly more difficult. Thanks to their metallic sheen, though, they were impossible to lose once capturing notice. Ears rotating to face forward, he leaned in and ran claws over them, feeling out their mostly rounded surfaces. Holding any object a first for him, there came a small amount of fumbling and pressing the necklaces together into a lumpy pile before the entire set could be lifted up to an inquisitive snout.

He inhaled the odd scent clinging to them, quite different compared to the pervasive dampness of the tunnel.

"Hnnh." What were these?

The inside of his nostrils tickled—he sneezed.

Furthermore, why were these? Their purpose? And who was he to be given them?

Up until now, Bulrush had done two main things: explore, and collect. He hadn't gone far, to be fair- not into Ursa due to the cold, and away from the caves infected by thick cobwebs of white fungus. And he hadn't collected much of interest, either: cool rocks, mostly, but sometimes odd and mostly useless knick-knacks from Orion's rubble.

His family was distant, but he didn't mind- he was distant, too. Father was usually there, if he called out for him, and always eager to take Bulrush's finding off his hands. Although he sensed a certain.. disappointment after the 20th offering of shiny stones and rusted knick-knacks.

Bulrush wasn't sure if he particularly cared to make Father proud, but he figured he ought to at least once. But he wasn't the fleet-footed thief type, not like some of his siblings. He supposed there were.. OTHER ways to obtain the belongings of others, but Bulrush wasn't really FOND of violence.

Oh. There was also fair trade. But what was the point of getting something if you had to lose something to get it?

Bulrush had been walking for some time now, thinking these sorts of thoughts. He hadn't realized he'd wandered THIS far, though. Tunnel O was far from home, and not particularly worth the trip either. His feathers did little to ward off the chill, and there wasn't much of interest to be found- not that Bulrush had bothered spending any time looking.

Today, however, there WAS something worth his time. Bulrush had missed the whole dazzling display that has been put on for the newborn, but Richter himself wasn't hard to spot, surrounded by the shrapnel of his former shell. Bulrush came closer, their crystal-tipped claws tinking on the floor with every odd-step.

"Hello." He spoke, promptly lowering to the ground to mitigate the intimidation factor of being a 6-foot-something dinosaur. "Do you know words, yet?" He knew it'd taken himself some time to figure that out, and that talking to someone who couldn't understand simply a waste of time.

He'd eye the tangle of colorful bits that the hatchling held. Bulrush was just as curious, and had the means to obtain some answers. To be fair, they were a bit reluctant to use magic ever since it gave them a fright as a child, but he'd since deduced it'd probably been related to that statue itself, and not the spell.

"If you give me those, I can tell you what they are." Bulrush would make a large, overly drawn out gesture at the tangled necklaces, hoping to garner the child's attention and some understanding.

@Richter

Sight, touch, and smell had yielded many questions instead of answers. The remaining other senses yet to be explored, the increasing weight of fascination had narrowed his focus to the unexplained trinket clasped between paws. He stared down at the beads, shifting them side to side. Listened to their clack and clatter as they collided against each other. Enraptured by simplicity he was entirely a stranger to, an approaching presence went unnoticed for far longer than might have been expected. The thump of heavy footfalls, the click of one set's quartz claws, were muffled beneath unwavering concentration.

Not until shadow fell across the space occupied did the child abandon his study, robbed of the necessary lighting to continue. Confronted by a living, breathing wall lowering its bulk beside him, his mouth fell agape soon as he bothered to look up. Quite oversized compared to himself, fear flickered at the possibility of being crushed, the swift swivel of ears toward Bulrush's voice betraying this. It died in an instant, overwhelmed by another emotion flooding in: complete and utter amazement.

How was this other being so large? What was coating his body, and why didn't they cover his face too? And the noises—how were those made? Could Richter do them as well?

"Heh... low?" he echoed, head cocked, the mangled word about as foreign to him as anything else.

A gasp followed at realization of his accomplishment. Balled together paws rose to his throat, claw tips tenderly prodding at the vibrations he'd felt there, more pronounced than his previous baffled grunt had caused. If not for the sheer attention commanded by height alone, the next gesture and bout of speech directed at him would've been lost to the immense pull this new discovery possessed. He listened, nose twitching and excitement barely contained in trembling arms.

Of course, brain fresh out of the chrysalis, he didn't understand a lick of what Bulrush said. Thankfully body language conveyed enough, that the giant wished to see the unusual collection of clacking spheres. Seeing no reason to deny sharing his confusion, Richter raised the necklaces far as he could strain above his head to the great coppery face looming over him.

The joey wheezed through clenched teeth while he struggled to maintain his precarious position leaning forward on tiptoes. "Guh-give?"

@Bulrush