Doru had given life to a stone, and then given it into the custody of the rat, Archimedes. He had thought that the end of things, until he had found an odd stone that was a plain white in most light, but also could turn other more vivid colors in certain lightings.

He had picked it up, and it seemed like it could be a stone he could maybe give life to. But he'd had no intentions to give siblings to the first stone, the one that his mind had fixated on for such a long time. Still he held it as he traveled through the caves.

Idly, as he reached Fornax, Doru remembered that the fish his father's stone was from lived in this cave. It was somewhat tempting to simply give life to this stone and leave it to its devices. He might, he thought. He probably would, even.

But he didn't yet. Instead, he perched on a rock and simply watched the waters.

@Vindicator

The angel sensed warmth and humidity, which felt odd on its stone-like skin that itself caught very little sensation. But so different it was from the cold brisk airs of Ursa that it felt like it must experience and explore. The tunnel was long, the air was heavy, and it found itself forcing to walk instead of drift as it normally did. The light click-clacks of its pointed legs against the stones of the tunnel reverberated off the walls until it emerged into the great cave that was Fornax.

If it was a breathing creature, perhaps it would have gasped. The sight of the great ocean was a shock to its system. It had felt the waters through the many fish and sea creatures connected to the hive, and it knew that Mother had a node hidden far away here, but it still did not prepare it for the true sight of this place.

Wonderstruck, it made its way down to the beach, almost missing Doru on its way in its single-target devotion, but the ring of its senses saw all and it stopped when the familiar blue and yellow color came into view.

"Ah!" it sang in its two-toned voice. "Doru, friend of mine. A joyous day upon the Vindicator to seeth thee again."

@Doru

Doru glanced towards the dual-toned voice with startled delight. "Vindicator," he replied, voice warm. "It is good to see you, my friend," Doru greeted, meaning the words as he said them.

Theirs was a friendship that had grown naturally. Doru cared for Vindicator in a way he cared for few beings. He genuinely was delighted to see the being.

Yet, Vindicator had many values that were different from his own. Vindicator would not have given its own child away like he had, because Vindicator was more inclined to easy connections he was fairly sure, connected as it is to the Hive.

"I only hope I do not disappoint you. I have changed much, I think, since we first met," Doru admitted. In more ways than size, he was different. "I have grown, but I have also become more. I hope that more does not prove to disappoint."

Usually, Doru would not care if he missed another's expectations of him, but he did care about Vindicator and its opinion. It truly was his friend. Perhaps his only one.

@Vindicator

old friends and new - echoes of wishes

There was magic here.

It was an old magic, an echo called to this place now, one year after its last flicker through the caves.

Or it was a new magic, a gift in and of itself, in memory of what had come before.

Or it was something else. Something born of connections and magic numbers, time past and time yet to come.

A flicker, as two who had met before, met again. A promise. A whisper of possibility, but only a fraction of what it could have been. Still... it could be something. Doru and Vindicator had only a flash of time. No chance to discuss. No long minutes of soft debate, or calculation. Only this moment, a whim, the instinct to guide the spark of magic toward a gift. Would they choose something the other truly would like, adore, fall in love with, respect, feel forever grateful for? Or would their gift be a mistake, a misstep, well-intentioned but easily forgotten?

There was no time for second-guessing. Each of them felt it: the offer, for that split second, of making something come true for their companion.

__________

Doru and Vindicator feel a brush of Wish magic flicker past, and instinctively understand the meaning of this. Each Gembound has only an instant to decide upon a Wish for their thread partner. While the players are free to discuss OOCly, the Gembounds themselves are the ones making this Wish: it should not use out-of-character information but should instead reflect the intent and beliefs of the Wish-makers. The Wish does not need to be spoken aloud in-character; intention is enough. A Wish may also be relatively vague; a GM will create an interpretation to fulfill.

Please GM tag a second time to have a Game Master confirm that all Wishes are viable.

@Doru @Vindicator

Indeed, Doru had grown since their first meeting. The Vindicator itself had not - it had hatched as it would always be, perfect and permanent, but Doru had grown. A child they had met and now a fully grown gembound stood before them, not as tiny as they had once been, almost as tall now as the massive angelic figure of Order.

"Yes," it hummed in response. "Thou hast changed and grown much, in thine time adrift. But thou fears disappointment? Hm..." It wanted to reach and open a brief connection, to share what he feared would cause such a disappointment, but that was when something seemed to drift by. Something it had not experienced before, but had felt through visions and feelings. Memories from Juggernaut that Mother ruminated much upon. It caught its attention swiftly and the fabric-like appendages upon its arms fluttered with brief alarm and interest.

And it understood. A wish. For Doru. What was the first thing it would wish for? It was brief, and Vindicator knew, somehow, that it would only have this second to wish something. The first thing that popped into its mind was both of its own desires and that of the hive. It wished for Doru to feel the love and connection of the Hive, to understand their blessed desire of Order, without him feeling caged or forced. It was complicated, as were the thoughts and feelings of the Vindicator, carefully curated in the second that it had.

When the second was over, the Vindicator shifted ever so slightly. "...Did thou feel strange magics as well?"

@Doru

Doru was a bit worried about disappointing his companion already, his friend, and now he had the opportunity to give the other something that it wanted, and he worried it would not be good enough.

What could Doru give his companion? He would not be part of the Hive, the very thought of all those connections made his scales itch. But... There was a way he could give Vindicator a piece of him that could be part of the Hive. A way that would make them connected in a way that was like family without making any connections to the Hive.

He had mentioned the idea of joining families before, but in truth, he cared more about his friend having a companion in this child that would not be like him. That would be more like it, in its temperament and magic. A creature of Order, born of the magic of Vindicator, and the stone of his, the purple amethyst. It would have to be symmetrical, he decided, with the same gemstone placement as he.

He wanted it to be like him, a reminder to his friend that he was there. Perhaps... A creature that looked like him, with some coloration differences. It would have wings, gills, and venom. It would be pale, white as Pride was. Maybe it should have fur like Pride, too, to keep it warm. Its eyes would be the purple viper color that Doru had. It would have the symmetrical cracked look of Vindicator, but in the golden color Doru had his markings, and as patterns on fur. Maybe white hair that matched the coat of fur, maybe not. Perhaps like a stripe down the back. And... rather than plain antlers, a combination of horns of dragons, but with antler branches, and in the grey of his own antlers. It would have golden claws on feet and hands. Perhaps it would have glow spots on the ends of its wings. ...Light.

It became quite a vivid thought. But it needed a name, like Vindicator's. Vindicator was a purpose. What would be this child's purpose? A word suddenly came to him, just in time. It would be Luminary. For it would be bright and a source of light for Vindicator, a soul that cared in a way Doru could not. Yes. Luminary was perfect.

He wished.

Then the moment passed, and he realized what he had done. Vindicator spoke first. "...Yes. I think I have wished for something perhaps presumptuous, Vindicator. I hope... I hope you will like it."

@Vindicator

old friends and new - echoes of wishes

Another flicker, before the magic fluttered away. The faintest kiss of it was left on each of them: as though this echo or faintest brush of power had recognized intent, and acted on it.

A welcome, warm, could now be extended to Doru from Vindicator's very heart and mind, without the tangled threads of Hive. And a companion, a child, the power to create that was granted to them in an instant.

__________

Doru and Vindicator have been granted the ability to create a child regardless of the usual requirements, and will not incur a cooldown. (Neither character may add more than two more children to this "litter," however, should they create more children.) This child will be created within this thread and does not need Give Life/Stone rolled unless the players choose to do so; the gemstone may be carried and 'planted' by Vindicator wherever they like (although placing it within the Hive, too close to the center, may alter it and its element).

Vindicator has been granted the spell Sensorial Link, and may cast it upon Doru. The outcome of their roll will be considered a Success regardless of the actual result.

@Vindicator @Doru

The warmth filled the hollow shell of Vindicator's body briefly and it felt confirmation of its wish. It had only to extend the hand and Doru would be welcomed without the autonomy loss he so feared.

And so it did, eagerly extending that olive branch forward and between them a connection was forged. Mental, magical, a union of thoughts and feelings and experiences. It could feel Mother watching, her careful guidance, a sudden flash of wait. And it did its best to hold back that which Mother kept most secret. The iterations, the visage of Dontacael. The clearstone spire, that holy chamber of the heart of Order in this nest. It did its best to tuck those away and let, instead, the love of the Hive flow through instead. So that Doru could feel that connection between them, at the very least. Connection. Love. Family. Unity.

Its spindly fingers opened and then threaded together in front of it, in an odd display of being almost bashful, if ever this incredibly unnatural and marble-like creature could express any kind of emotion. "Thou doest apologize, if thee doest not wisheth to have what the Vindicator wished upon thee. Say thy word, and it shall breaketh this bond."

@Doru

The way the magic worked, it was shared and not forced. And the bonds, affection, and connections that Doru felt from Vindicator… They were beautiful beyond words.

Yet Doru had forsaken bonds before, bonds like Vindicator felt. He wondered, with a sense of fear, if he deserved to full this extent of things. And yet…

Tears dripped from purple viper-esque eyes, overwhelmed by the joy, but Doru clung to the bond. Then he heard Vindicator offer to break said bond. ”No!” he immediately protested. ”I want to keep it, please.”

His emotions were running wild, or perhaps they were egged on by Vindicator’s emotions, but he suddenly felt that Vindicator might not object to his wish, with how it loved family.

A piece of his purple amethyst was able to be chipped off from his body. ”Vindicator, I wish to offer you the chance to create family with me. Its name will be Luminary, because I wish it to be a light in your life. I am not… I do not know how to care for a child, really. But with your love for it that I can feel, and the way I care for you, perhaps we could raise this child together, if you so wish that circumstance. If this is all not too presumptuous,” he stated with sincerity.

@Vindicator

Vindicator was ready at any moment to end the spell, if Doru wished - it had no desire to tread upon his consent and his wishes, nor invade his privacy, but thankfully the message got through and it relaxed. It relaxed into the bond and connection and it felt Doru's fear. It did not understand - what could one do to not deserve this? Mother welcomed all, yes, all were one under Mother's embrace and this was an extension of that. It was an extension of Vindicator that it offered freely, for it was bliss that it wished to share with its friend and Doru would feel this. He did not need to deserve it - it was freely offered.

It was surprised at how intense Doru's emotions were. Vindicator's own mind was different - more pointed, perfect, like fractals that shifted, methodical and intent. There was a change to the pattern at the moment, brought on by this unexpected magic and connection between the two, but the link between them would most certainly have shown how very different the two of them were. The drone was fascinated and its own side quieted, so that it could simply listen for a while, and learn.

But then, amethyst - offered forward. Just a piece, a little prize. It dropped into the fractals and moved them to something new and unexpected.

Vindicator did not move on the outside - it did not need to move to shift its attention down to what Doru offered it. But on the inside it experienced a new emotion - it felt deeply moved by this gesture. Carefully, oh so very carefully, it unthreaded its fingers and reached out to take the amethyst. "Doru, this gift is..." It held it gently and felt its own magic react, reflexively reaching out, and it allowed it so, to flow from chest down the arm and into the amethyst. A colorless glow appeared in its heart before fading out. Stone given life. To grow, to change, and to hatch.

It was quiet for a moment, struggling to understand what it was feeling, how it was supposed to react. "Thou has not been presumptuous. The Vindicator apologizes. It hast not expected such a gift of the heart. Nor did it realize...that thou cared for it in such a way. It shall...I shall cherish it." It lifted the amethyst and placed it within the hollow of its chest, intending on casting a spell to keep it safe there, but so much that it felt like a fish out of water, that its magic did not respond correctly and it found the glue-like substance appearing on its fingers instead. It simply lowered that arm and closed the fingers in. It would break that off later.

For a moment it thought to reach out to Mother, to pull her attention here if she wasn't listening already. It knew she would want it to go to the Hive. But a tiny crack in the fractals of its mind said This is my gift and it found itself wanting this to be theirs - not Mother's, not the Hive's, this was Vindicator and Doru's creation. "What doest wisheth of the stone - to hatch within thy Hive, to be part of the One? Or doest Doru wisheth a different path? I shalt do whatever is your will, in this."

@Doru