Sair

Somewhere between tunnels A and N, and only a short tumble from the spire, sat a chrysalis. Overlooked, likely, by those who may have passed through the spire in the cycles it grew, it was not unlike countless others that had grown before it, an almost clear thing with what appeared to be strings of algae or moss trapped within. In truth, they were no such thing, merely minerals that gave the effect, but the slight milkiness to the gem made it hard to tell.
Suddenly, the Gembound inside breathed. Slow, deep breaths pressed their small frame against their shell, hairline fractures forming with every inhale and breaking any silence there might have been. The magic that had grown them seemed to breathe as they did, causing the gemstone casing to glow through the quickly growing cracks. It was a dull light, but light nonetheless, nature's way of saying good morning one might guess.
Even with the gem weakening rapidly, the life within slept, blissfully unaware and still.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC: All are welcome! While I have an event planned to kickstart Sair's personality arc soon, they are currently a blank slate and open to interaction :)
I'll just continue the hatching thread when I'm next free should no one join, but feel welcome any time!

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

Sair

Time passed as usual in the caves, lights slowly darkening as the creatures of the cave continued on. Always something to eat, somewhere to be, something to see or to say... And yet the crystalized Gembound remained listless. Though, one might have seen their eyes twitch, if only slightly, when a Glowbug found itself fluttering by.
Something scurried, and whatever requirements a Gembound might have had to awaken seemed to be fulfilled all in one moment.
A cold breeze broke through the worn casing where the Gembound lay sleeping, and they shivered and twitched, jutting out a single hoof that sent a large hunk of their birthing gem skittering across the cave floor. They rolled then, tossing themselves around in their mother-stone like a dying mouse in a fox's mouth, desperately trying to regain the comfort and safety that had been provided to them for so long, sending larger and larger sections of it flying off of themselves to litter the cave.
Oh, the poetry... the irony as they twisted and thrashed, destroying that which had created them. The universe had to keep its balance, but it still was not a pretty sight; the struggle of one avoiding the unavoidable.
In what felt like hours, it had only taken seconds for the foal to shatter its shelter, exposing itself to the elements.
Cold...
The thought burst into its mind without warning, and suddenly they were alive, shivering alone on the cave floor.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

The sound of periopods on the cave floor would herald its arrival long before the great white hulk of its carapace would flash into view. Like high heels on heavy, heavy feet - cliclackcliclackcliclack-
You get the idea.

Many eyes glazed over in a half-hearted survey of Polaris, Juggernaut's excursion more of a leisure cruise than a patrol. Alertness wasn't something he needed to care about as much, not since his carapace had grown and his wings sprouted. They rustled at his side, soft like a dream.

They spread now, as a fraction of his full gaze caught a tiny shape on the cavern floor. Roughly half of his 120 eyes strained to make out the dappled body amidst the dark rock. It hadn't closed the distance yet, some 40 feet away still. It hesitated to - was the creature injured?

It could not recognise youth - it'd never experienced it, not like the foal had. Never helpless. Never cold. Never alone. All he could do was await the inevitable reaction to his presence, his ceaseless stare.

OOC: enjoy crab . will not attempt to infect without permission. Might try to convince Sair to join the Hive but he's not incredible at Words

@Sair

Sair

A sound in the distance heralded something's arrival, a series of click-clacks, alternating and heavy. Impossibly heavy, for how could such a hulking creature be carried along on pointed feet? Toes? Limbs?
Regardless, the sound was getting louder, and the newborn was getting restless.
Instinct commanded the foal to move, and it was like lightning had struck them. Their hind legs thrusted out but found no purchase, sprawling out behind them in a position that sent them scrambling again, this time in pain. One hoof found solid ground this time, shoving the foal's face into the cave floor with a vengeance as they tried to get a front hoof settled below the bulk of their weight. It took more scrambling, and falling, before they stood on shaking legs.
And then it was there. Not looming above them, no, but that made little difference to a newborn.
It was indescribable. Not that the foal had any way of describing things yet, considering even the 'word' cold was truly just a feeling. But feelings became connected to thoughts and words eventually, and right now that feeling was intruige.
The foal took a careful step towards the newcomer, blinking bright eyes against the light.
When did their eyes open?

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC: In reading up on Mother and The Hive, attempts to infect fail in Polaris, so if you'd like your character to witness that failure for some reason, go for it!

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Juggernaut

The thing scuffled against the rock, the sound of their feet similarly sharp as the gembound found their footing for the first time. The drone blinked a few eyes, his interest gentle - though this may have been lost in translation. His wings spread forward for a better look, further enveloping the foal. Tiny.

It noticed, finally, the slick against their coat. New. It had been new too, once. This must be the birth it had been spared. Cold, alone. Terribly terribly small. Without direction. Without love. He remembered the weight of his presence, and it occurred to him that it may be unwanted. His mandibles clicked in thought, reminding him his body had been designed for war, not comfort.

He could attempt the latter, at least.

The newborn did not seem immediately fearful. It attempted speech. "You." It winced at the harshness of its own voice. "Hello. Do you speak?" Juggernaut had been able to at that age. It was taking a bit to become accustomed to infants less... educated.

OOC: fghg did not know how i forgot that fact mb !!!

@Sair

Sair

The foal tilted their head side to side, a living bobblehead as they tried to make some sense of the mass in front of them.
Eyes, too many of them, blinked unsynchronized. Wings unfolded, taking up the little one's entire field of view. Mandibles clicked sharply, but gently - and it was still. The thing did not come bearing down on them, and perhaps that meant safety in the shadow of its feathery form.

"H-" The first sound came out of their mouth as a heavy breath, and then a honk as they tried again, "Hello." The word was uneven and scratchy, like trying to speak after sleeping with an open mouth. They practiced with the word a few times, repeating it at various volumes until they settled on something that sounded almost correct.

The foal's eyes (all two of them) observed the creature from top to bottom, marvelling at their first sight. Would they grow to be that size one day? Was everything that big? What would happen if they poked one of it's eyes?! The questions were endlessly flowing, and soon the words would do the same. They wanted to know everything!

"Who?" Came the first of soon-to-be many questions, the word coming to the foal as if it had been carried on the wind. It was still scratchy, but at least it wasn't the echoing honk they started with.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Juggernaut

A pair of eyes blinked back at it, dark pools of warmth. Unreadable. For as many eyes as it did have, it could not know this one truly, not see them as they were meant to. Its interactions with the uninitiated had been brief so far, often violent. It took great care to observe what they could - selfishly, maybe. A real soldier would've scooped this creature back to Ursa as soon as they could walk. It could hear Mother's hum in the back of its mind - she'd allow this. This child had plenty of time to find her after all.

Something softened in him at the foal's response. Sympathy? Speech was a difficulty for both, despite the cycles between them. Something else? They were so little. His wings curled forward as he recalled his own birth. Vulnerability was something forced into his brain by cruel, oil-slick limbs. This gembound, perhaps all of them, had learned it with their first breath.

Who? Oof. "I am Jugg - Juggerr naut. Desig...nation. Zero, Zero, Six." Either it'd been a while, or this was his first time saying his own name aloud.

"I am Mother's. I am her sun."

It was unclear if he had misspoken, or this title was intentionally applied.

@Sair

Sair

Though it might not have gone unnoticed by Juggernaut, the foal had been slowly creeping closer to the (seemingly) gentle giant. Through a mixture of trying to balance on unstable legs and an instinctual need to touch everything, the newly born gembound had managed to make its way a few paces closer.

"Jjj-ugh..." The foal's smile was broken by a frown of concentration as they tried to form the right sounds, "Juggernaut!" It took a few tries again, and the 'r' was a little dragged, but the word came across clearly enough.
The foal looked up, way up, trying to commit the feathered being's entirety to memory. If that was Juggernaut... Who were they? The thought settled heavily on the foal's mind.

"Mother?" The question sounded more like 'mutter.'
Their questions had been simple verbally, but their mind swam with more unsaid. They tilted their head, eyes unfocused as they got lost in thought about the possibilities of what Juggernaut had said. Were there other Juggernauts, and he was the sixth? Did their name have to have a number? They didn't wake up with others...

"Why Six?" They added, tired of wondering and instead wanting to learn.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Juggernaut

His feathers rustled with a strange sort of feeling, hearing the little gembound stumble over his name. Something warm, overwhelming and familiar. They were not connected, but an instinct deep withing drove the drone to treat this one as if they were. The urge to be the armour they lacked.

It recognised this protectiveness as premature, but this did little to dull the feeling.

"Mother. My Mother. My... Creator." It didn't expect them to understand, not immediately. "I am the sixth. We get... Numbers, to record how many there have been." Its attention refocused, eyes that had drifted in thought now beginning to return to the foal. "Do you have a name?"

@Sair

[world's latest reply

Sair

The hatchling listened intently, still slowly, ever so slowly, creeping up on the much larger being. Were they soft? The feathers looked like they would be, but all he could reach were the carapace limbs that walked Juggernaut along, click-clicking... And they would touch them, or at least try to, once they got close enough.

"I have only cave-mother," It was an instinctual connection, knowing now that some gembounds came from others. But they had not. They bore no resemblance to Juggernaut, no innate connection to some other being. They just... were. "My name?" They had been given no name, nor had they been given life. Just as they had grown, they would have to name themself.

"Sair!" They decided after a heartbeat, ironically choosing the two sounds they had been struggling the most with for their name. A good excuse to practice, to learn. They already loved to learn. Should they call themselves Sair 001? They had no siblings, not that they knew!

"How many now? Numbers?" Was it impressive, to be the sixth? Was Sair the first? They couldn't be. Who was the first of the six? So many things to know!

All this thinking was already tiring the foal out. Growing and hatching took a lot of energy, it turned out, and they stopped mid-step to yawn.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC: the waiting made him sleepy, lol (welcome back)

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Juggernaut