He felt all folded up, far too squished for his liking, but at the same time, it was warm. That was nice. He felt safe. Still, every time he even so much as twitched he felt like there was no room. It was getting uncomfortable. For a long time, he didn't know exactly how long, it had been perfectly fine. He had been content. But now he felt like there might be something more. What that more could possibly be, he had no idea, but...

He shifted again, and one big paw pressed against the side of the stone encasing him. It was solid, but it had a bit of give to it. Another movement, and a little more give. A tiny noise emitted from the stone as it began to break, a tiny crack appearing in the green-to-purple stone. Now that there was some change to his environment, he felt more claustrophobic than ever. Another push of that paw, and there was light filtering in through the crack. Not a lot, but enough to encourage him. He rocked, and a shoulder hit the side. Enough of the rocking, and finally the stone cracked enough to allow him to pop partially out. His hips and hind limbs were still inside, but it was easy enough for him to kick out and fully free himself from there.

He immediately began shivering. He was down in the gorge, protected from a lot of the wind, but it was still a lot colder than inside his stone. Managing to roll over, he lay on his belly, his fur gradually fluffing up to try and protect him from the cold air. His eyes tried to take in everything around him, but there was just so much space here! He wiggled, trying to get his huge paws under him, but only managed to stumble over them, slumping onto his side. He let out a little growl of frustration.

She was most attuned to the sound of everything, now. Be it the footsteps of her companions - each of them different and unique to their owner - or the simple breaths of words on the wind. She could feel each gust as it passed through the windy room and she felt her heart lift every time the breeze continued stronger, colder than before. A hope that the twister would return. It never did, but it didn't stop her from believing that one day, it would.

Now, there was a sound echoing up from the gorge. Magdalena hadn't realized how close she was to its edge until she heard the noise, reaching up from below and bouncing off of all the walls. She'd think that by now she would have had a better idea of the layout of her home - alas, it was still lost on her, especially when she focused on something other than remembering the trails she walked or how many steps between the platforms and the tunnel entrance. The dog turned her head and followed the noise until she felt the incline begin, and the edge of the cliff dip away beneath her toes. She descended, stepping carefully, her long legs arching up and forward to carry her towards the sound.

She knew it. She'd heard it several times before. Booker, and Delphine, and Nemesis when her Fire had once more burst forth from the shelter her body had forged. A chrysalis. This was a new life, another new chance, another fresh heart. And Magdalena was gonna be the first to find it.

The noise, a steady pounding against the rock, would eventually betray its direction. Magdalena listened carefully until it had stopped - and then she put forth her senses in the tingling of her skin, beckoning for the pull of the familiar, the cultures - they tugged her forward still. They lined the walls of the canyon, mostly sparse, until they all collected in a single mass. Somewhere before her the puppy lay on his stomach, freshly emerged from the chrysalis and braced against the cold air. Magdalena approached, gently sniffing at the air while she registered his bacterial signature. "Finis originae pende." She whispered, quiet and sharp - with purpose.

@Graham

Although having just emerged he had met no other gembound, he was very conscious of the fact that he was not alone in this world. He didn't know it, but his magic would give him a very close connection with some of the smallest lifeforms in the cave. He could sense them all around him, even now when he wasn't trying to. He didn't know how to try to, after all. Just a little tingling in the back of his mind, one that was pushed off as he attempted to fluff his fur out to better protect him from the chilly air.

It took him a moment to realize there was someone there other than himself and the other tiny lives he could sense. His ears pricked up at a soft voice, saying words that he had absolutely no idea of their meaning. He made a face of confusion, rolling as he tried to get to his wobbly over-sized paws. He failed, seemingly incapable of getting his paws underneath him properly to stand. Instead, his eyes scanned the surrounding area, quickly locking on the figure in front of him.

He shivered, this time not entirely because of the cold. The form in front of him was intimidating in some way that he could not put a paw on.

"Rrr..." He made a little noise, an attempt at words, but couldn't seem to quite form any. He didn't have any words, but the sound did seem to accurately convey his confusion at...well...everything.

The gentle click and drag of her long nails against the rock came to a halt as Magdalena too ceased her pace, cocking her head down towards the freshly hatched creature. She could hear its breathing, she could feel the bacteria swarming inside of its body; a tangible pull that painted an image in sensation, showing her where before her the babe would lie. Almost immediately, a small growl began to bubble up from the little creature. Magdalena felt no fear for the sound, pulling her ears back and tilting her head slightly. "Oh." She lilted delicately, pointing her nose down at the child. He lay on the ground before her, and yet somehow her blind, straw eyes still managed to stare right past him. "You are safe here. I will not harm you." Magdalena spoke, and though her voice was gentle and warm, she had forgotten to display the smile to match, resulting in a rather robotic expression.

In the back of her mind, she felt the urge to tag this one - it was born in Monoceros, so by default, it should belong to Monoceros. The Merrymen. The cultures churned and swelled inside of her, but it was too weak of a feeling for her to sustain for now.

@Graham

Her voice was nice, a sweet melody to his furry little ears. His tail started thumping against the ground as he wagged it. He wasn't sure why, but it felt right. His body felt warm on the inside, even if he was still shivering a little bit and cold on the outside. This other creature must be a friend! Why else would she show up here?

What was that word she said? Safe? He wasn't sure what that meant, but it made him feel calm and good. He blinked up at the taller dog with wide blue eyes, unaware that she couldn't see him like he could see her. After all, to him, it looked like she was looking at him.

"S-safe? Rrr..." He growled out, not in an intimidating way by any means, but a cute little puppy growl. "Who?" It was strange to him, these sounds that came from his throat. He wanted to question a million different things - where was he? Who was he? How did he have these words in his head and in his mouth? But what seemed most important was who this female was.

His actions had entirely gone unseen, for Magdalena stared just above his head, straw eyes unseeing and probing in nothing but darkness. She could hear him shifting slightly, so sensitive to the sounds that came from those around her, but knowing exactly what he was doing was lost on her without the gift of vision. His voice came out of the darkness, repeating the word, seemingly confused by it - or maybe uncertain, or maybe simply unconvinced. The dog tipped her head down slightly before realizing that her expression was naked, and so her black lips slowly twitched, revealing a gentle (if a little strange) smile. Her tail swept to and fro behind her out of instinct; it was not something she'd known others to do, but a euphoric feeling of pleasantry that came naturally none the less. And then he asked who, presumably who she was. Magdalena loosed a genuine, delicate laugh. "My name is Magdalena. I live here." She answered, tilting her head.

The boy had been born into her dominion, so he was safe. She couldn't say the same for anything else, and unfortunately being safe meant that he might be subject to Louie or Diamondfang turning him to a pawn, but until then, he was in her paws. And her paws would keep him from harm for as long as they could. "Do you have a name?" She asked as once more the bacteria crept up her throat, not yet ready to be unleashed.

@Graham

Graham wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and perhaps he never would be, so it seemed to go right over his head (much like Magdalena's gaze) that she wasn't actually looking at him. He just knew that she gave him a bit of a weird feeling...But she seemed nice enough, and look! Her tail was wagging, too. His mouth opened a little in a doggy smile.

"Mag...Magdalena?" It took him a long pause to arrange the sounds in his throat, but he managed to pronounce her name well enough. Hmm, live here? That one was a bit harder and he had to think about it for a second. Did that mean she stayed here with the noisy wind all the time? But it was cold! And she didn't look as fluffy as he was.

"Live here? Cold...Noisy..." He shivered a little bit again, but his fur was dried out and fluffed up to protect him from the cold by now. He had no clue of the politics that were going on in the background here, and no clue she was trying to mark him. He just knew she was being nice to him and that she had chosen a really weird place to stay. But maybe she had been born here, too? Did that mean he had to stay and live here as well?

"Name? Uhh..." He paused, tilting his head to the side in that adorable way that puppies had as he tried to think, before finally declaring,"My name Graham!"

His tail wagged harder, as he was quite proud of himself and this new accomplishment. Now he had a name, too!

magdalena is hopeless, its official. shes grounded from ever doing magic again

She waited in silence, in stagnancy, until he had produced her name. It wobbled a little bit, as if it was foreign on his tongue - it was difficult to the untrained to pronounce, but he had managed to deliver it and she smiled with a small nod. However, he seemed a little less certain about her next statement in that she lived here. Yes, it was cold and noisy - that was mostly an artifact of the twister that raged above them, and the canyon itself was generally colder than the rest of the cave. She wasn't entirely sure of the reason why. Someone had once told her it was because hot air rose, leaving the colder air to settle on the bottom, making the lower ground a lot colder than the ridges and platforms above. It didn't matter much to her anyways, she had her Fire to keep her warm.

Soon enough, he was rolling over his name. She tuned in again and listened to him as he thought it over, mentally stumbling over his identity as most young Gembounds did. Like learning her name, it didn't take him long to produce one of his own, and her smile grew ever wider. "Graham, what a powerful name." She cooed down at him, wagging her tail again. "All of the powerful Gembounds live here where it's cold and noisy. It just makes them stronger." The girl answered lightly and laughed again. "Would you like to see the rest of my home?" It was only an assumption that he could see - most others could, and Magdalena had come to accept her extraordinary flaw.

@Graham