For the better part of his existence, the sheep's mind had wandered in a noctambulous state of unknowing. He wasn't really aware of himself until the very last minute, when he first heard his own heartbeat - and it had gone uphill from there. First his heartbeat, and then his breathing; at least, what could be construed as breathing, which was more like the slow in-and-exhale of the peculiar fetal fluid in his little lungs. Then the desire to open his eyes. But it was wet, and as he did, he found irritation. He didn't like it. It was uncomfortable, and he soon realized that the cage he was festering in was growing too small. He could feel its walls pressed up against his sides. He could feel it closing him in. His head felt like it was too big for where it was supposed to be, and suddenly his muscles were cramped, his legs bent up too close to his body. He had to be free.

With a great kick, he unleashed all the energy he had in his one hoof - the hoof embellished with the shining green gem. That was all it took for the now fragile chrysalis to shatter, and he was all at once delivered into the ground in a wave of sticky fluid. Shards of green tourmaline still clung to him and splayed out all over, all around him, and it was bright - oh lord, why was it so bright? He winced and clumsily bent his leg, ducking his face behind it while bleating out his dismay. Too bright! Too bright!

Well... why not find some place less bright? Quite fond of that idea, the sheep lifted his head and fumbled to his feet. He wobbled, lacking the strength completely, but after a couple seconds he managed to stand up without falling back down again. His short little tail wiggled behind him and he bleated out again, taking a tentative step. His knees nearly buckled, but he managed to keep upright. His heavy head lifted and his vivid green eyes peered out around him; his chrysalis had once been cozied up between two stone seats. Now, the little sheep was lost among the rows that dipped down towards the center. Maybe if he just kept walking he'd find somewhere... although after his first few steps, he had forgotten completely about his disdain for the light. Now, he was just preoccupied learning to walk. Eventually, he made it out of the rows and into one of the halls between the rows. With the open space, the sheep chuffed happily and clumsily ran along the length of the halls, getting used to his legs.

@Hasira and anyone else??

He and his sister had been traveling after their Papa for a while now, happily trailing after him, talking to each other, playing games to keep themselves occupied while they traveled. Now Papa was showing them this neat new part of their home, which Papa called Orion. This new part was huge from the outside, with tall archways everywhere along the walls that led inside to this big arena, and both Nettle and his sister were looking around in awe. Who made all of this? What was this even for?

Fever playfully nudged Nettle, and he looked at her, his head nodding from the weight of his nose. She pointed her a turn of her head at the seats, and he looked up, seeing this very young creature, one younger than even them, walking around the seats clumsily.

"'Lo!" He called to the young leggy creature.

She had nudged her brother as soon as she saw him, the cute tall child looking down at his feet up in the seats. Nettle called out to him with as few syllables as possible, and Fever started going towards the steps calling out, "Hello 'lo 'lo 'lo! Who you? Me Fever!"

She laughed as she went, but when she reached the steps, her ungraceful feet twisted underneath her. She made a quick 'Ah!' sound of alarm and she fell, her chin hitting the tallest step with a force, and she tasted blood immediately. Pain bloomed in her mouth, and she made a painful 'nnnn' sound of distress, tears forming in her eyes.

Her brother came running, saying her name and asking if she was okay, and she nodded with a sniff. Steps were stupid! They made her bite her tongue! It really really hurt, but she didn't cry. Fever was a big girl, and big girl's didn't cry.

@Brutus

They wobbled and sometimes he still couldn't stand up straight. Sometimes, his knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground, quick to bathe himself in the dust and dirt covering the stone. But the sheep was quick to stand up again, shaking out his little body and wriggling his little tail with enthusiasm. Then he bounded forward, once, twice, and then turned around and went to the other side. His little hooves clacked excitedly against the ground, and he was entirely consumed by this little jaunt until he realized that he wasn't alone. Well, he didn't really have a concept of anything other than alone - so when he heard another voice, he stopped and pricked his ears with curiosity. That wasn't a sound he'd heard yet! It sounded so distinct, so clear, so... purposeful! And then almost right after it, another voice. Lighter. Warmer. He liked that one.

The sheep whirled around, and there he saw two creatures - they were grey blobs, yelling at him, running at him. He instinctively felt the need to run to them too, but he found himself suddenly self conscious of his ability to run. What if he fell again? Oh - no, wait, one of them just did! He blinked and started off towards them, galloping awkwardly in the direction of the two rhinos and bleating loudly. "HE-LO! LO! LO! LO!" He called as he bounded on. When he reached them, he tried to stop, but he had been running faster than he ever did before. He ended up stumbling over his hooves, rolling and fumbling and landing in a heap of legs in front of the rhinos, momentarily stunned.

His legs hurt. And... so did his pride. Not knowing what else to do, the sheep's big green eyes started to water and he allowed instinct to take over, crying loudly.

He made his way to his sister, asking under his voice what was wrong, looking over her, frowning and nodding, seeing nothing outwardly wrong. But she wasn't opening her mouth like she normally would, and he worried, his imagination telling him she had bitten her tongue of completely and he would never hear her clumsy speech again. He nudged her with his nose, hoping it wasn't as bad as he was thinking.

Then, when he looked up to the young tall fellow coming down the stairs, he watched him tumble with his long coltish legs in a bundled heap right in front of them, and started freaking out internally when the kid started to cry.

Nettle looked between the kid crying and Fever, and watched as she started to tear up and cry too, though with her mouth closed, and together they made a horrible crying pair.

Outwardly, Nettle looked stoic and calm, but inside everything was in turmoil because this stranger and his sister were crying and he had no idea how to fix it and he really wanted to cry too all of a sudden because what in the caves was he supposed to do?? He made his way to the bundle of crying legs and nodded a little, then licked the kid's forehead in a mess of already slick fur. It was the only thing that he could think of doing to comfort him.

Fever's crying stopped slowly when Nettle went over to the new kid and started licking them, and she sniffed, letting the tears fall over her tough skin. Nettle was calm and tough enough to calm down the kid when she gave in and cried because her mouth hurt so much, and she watched this exchange quietly, rolling the copper taste around her mouth. It didn't hurt so much now as time passed, so she tried out speaking. "Wha' you called?" She asked them, her words even clumsier than before and thicker. She sniffed again.

She took one more step to reach them and started licking the other side too, not noticing she was leaving a little bit of blood on his fur as she did so. "S'okay, s'okay," She murmured, giving the kid a little kiss. If her brother was kind enough to help them out, then so was she.

@Brutus

He'd been touring his new charges around Orion, letting them learn their new land and letting them get used to their bodies... but most importantly he was teaching them what they needed to learn. He wished Beast was here so he could give them first hand experience with carnivores but alas he'd been stolen away. He just had to work with his words, weaving tales about the terrible things carnivores did and how he needed obedience and loyalty above all else. So far the young ones were perfect little minions, following along and listening to him dutifully. For now, he left them alone to play and frolic but it was the sound of distress that had the stag up on his hooves and running in the direction of the noise.

What he saw made him smile brightly. A new one for his army... Always one to try and loop in new creatures with his "love" he strode right up to the goat and folded his legs beneath him so that he could lay down at their level. "Come now, what has happened here? Why the tears, my child?" He asked to the goat but then he turned his steely gaze on the rhino twins. His head tilted to the side as he silently asked about the cause of distress. This goat seemed new so he might not know how to eve properly speak yet.

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234
Brutus, Deadnettle, Feverfew
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5/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

It was a bit of a blur, honestly, but so far most of his life had been. Before he knew it, one rhino had already come toddling up to him and was starting to lick his forehead into a wispy point. Brutus cried for a moment before, huffing in a broken breath and then letting his voice crackled with a weakened sob. But the warmth, he found it reassuring. He didn't really know why. Maybe it was the warmth of the rhino's tongue against his forehead or the reassurance of a creature that wished him well. The knowledge that this thing seemed to care about him. He barely heard what the second rhino asked, but that feeling of comfort was compounded when she inched towards him and started to lick him too, and now he had two big warm things sitting next to him trying to make him feel better. He even heard her voice this time, quietly soothing him.

The crying did eventually dull down into a few sniffs. Still splayed on the ground, the sheep raised his head to the two rhinos, drawing his head back a moment to look between them. Familiar faces. Twin faces, that was it - but they were the faces of comfort, so he smiled and sniffled again, his eyes swollen and brimming with moisture. It was in that moment he decided he wanted to be with them, and he hoped that they would want to be with him too. The security they offered was so much better than the loneliness he'd been born into.

This cherished meeting would only last so long before the clacking of hooves against rock had announced the approach of yet another. The sheep widened his eyes and snuffled again. He stared past them, and there he saw a massive thing - so much bigger than the three of them, its head decorated with branching bones, his skin mangled and disgusting. He blinked and tilted his head, and watched as the stag bent to his legs before them, uttering words gentle as the rhino's touch. What had happened? Why had he been crying? Evidence of it stained his cheeks dark. And he remembered how he had fallen, and how it hurt his legs and his ego all the same. The lump in his throat slowly returned. He was embarrassed. "Fuh... Fell...?" He croaked, staring dolefully up at the stag with a frown tugging at his lips.

She really liked seeing how the kid calmed down after a while with both her and her brother licking him and giving him kind soothing words. The three of them huddled on the stairs felt intimate, a moment of sibling comforting, and the idea popped into her head. Maybe they could be their brother too! They were roughly the same age, weren't they? And she liked this kid.

She hoped he would find his name soon, so she could call his name instead of thinking of him as a kid.

Fever shared a look with Deadnettle in between licks, and slowly, he smiled, as if he was reading her mind. She smiled brightly back, and she nudged up the kid's head with her nose, saying, "Cheer up, s'okay,"

The sound of clacking hooves against the ground made both her and her brother turn, and she broke out in a radiant grin, laughing, her long whip-like tail wagging. "Papa, papa!" He sat next to them both and gently asked them what had happened, and the kid bashfully said his very first word, and she aided this by saying, "Me fell, papa! Hurt, hurt, an' me made kid fall too. But s'okay papa."

"C' we keep him papa?" She asked, as happy as a star. "Ph-please?"

Nettle had shared a look with his sister, and she knew from the happy attachment she showed that she wanted to stay with this clumsy kid - it was a look like someone pure finding a puppy on the side of the street. How could you say no? Besides, he liked him too. He wanted to protect him from getting himself hurt. Like a puppy, the kid's emotions showed in his eyes, and Nettle could tell he liked being around the both of them. Why not? So he smiled, and she brightened up immediately.

When Papa showed up and asked what was wrong, both the kid and his sister explained the best they could, and when Fever asked if they could keep him, he just said one word, very softly, "Brother...?" As if asking Papa for confirmation, looking between them and the kid.

@Hasira