Many gembounds saw dreams of lights and colors as they slept in their stone egg; there were those who could recall faces of souls they couldn't possible know and just a couple that dreamt of nothing but darkness. What was spinning around in the mind of the next new comer to the caves? Tucked away in the corner of the misty room of Pisces near the ponds was a sparkling hunk of stone. The surface was rough and jagged; and inside was a little soul deep in slumber. Curled up tightly, they struggled to get comfortable, not wanting their dream to end. Swirling lights, bright . . . colors A couple time the stone with wiggle in place before it went still again. The gembound's dream would fade away and her realization of how little space she had began apparent. Pushing at the walls, wanting to be free of the pressure. A glow came from inside the rock as the child would try to escape. Would something happen? YES. Yes it would. A wave of power burst from the pup, shattering her rock prison. BANG The gembound would crawl out from the rubble after shards of crystal were sent all around the area near her. This was a black pup with a light purple gem growing out from the back of her neck. "Did . . . did I . . . that?" Stunned a little as her pale gaze tryed to make out the new world around her. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: she needs no introduction!

@Thistle + ask to join in Cbox or PM first

She had walked away from her best friend Baroque for just a tiny little bit. She loved Baro, she really did, and when she was away he got sad, which made her sad! (Honestly anything made him sad, but that was okay! She loved him.) But she wanted to see her home and see all the world had to offer, with all of its endless options to explore. She stood near the waterfall now, her eyes gazing up and up and up and up, and she was just standing there silently, wondering what she could do.

Should she try to play in the water? The fish were really pretty, sparkling under the water -! Ah! Maybe she would discover they could talk to her! Or- or, she could try to climb up near the waterfall and see where the water came from, and maybe discover some sort of treasure that no gem had ever seen before! Or maybe she could walk over to those hills she had seen over there, see what they had to offer! Or maybe Baro would come up to her and offer something for them both to do!

She just stood there. There were so many options she could take, so many to pick from, that she just stood and pondered which one she should do- but in doing one, she would lose the opportunity for the others! How could she do that? They were all good! There was no empirical choice for her, they all balanced well in her mind, each with their own pulls and merits.

A loud BANG sound startled her out of her thoughts, and she hurried towards the sound, pushed by it, almost. She couldn't resist an adventure!

A small little form was speaking and looking around from the shattered shards of her stone gem that Thistle remembered coming out of, and she just broke out into this huge grin and ran towards her, beaming and almost jumping for joy.

"Hello!" She said emphatically, knowing this word was perfect. It was what came afterward that was hard! What could she say? Welcome? Congratulations on breaking free? WOW what was that sound?? She stayed quiet for a while, dancing on her feet, then just decided to say, "I'm Thistle!"

Everything around her was still spinning, trying to figure out what had just happened. First she was trapped in a tight space and then next everything went flying away from her and now she was standing wobbly legged. Oh, this was one way to wake up from a peaceful dream. Her dream, what was it again? Already faded away from memory. The black pup turned around and around to get a better look at the place she was. So much room to stretch her legs for sure! The ears on her head flopped back and forth, but it was clear they were meant to stand up tall. I'm Thistle! Twirling around, to just fall back onto her rump, the child turned to find a few youngin rushing over with a cheerful greeting. Thistle? Head titled to the side. Oh! Ummm, did she have a name as well? Getting back up to her feet the pup made a very serious face, thinking a bit to hard on this. "He . . ello, I'm not sure what I . . . I am." But it would come to her right? Or was she not special enough to have something like a name? On her paws, the black puppy inched closer to the other and gave her a gentle sniffing. Nose touched the other's face; maybe getting a little to close but she was curious about this Thistle. Slowly her little nub tail began to wiggle violently. "I like Thistle, you seem nice." Smiling as she scooted back and titled her head once more to look of the other, "Thistle be my friend?" And the little gazelles fate was sealed. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: wow, slow down Nova, you acting all weirdo

@Thistle

The new arrival fell on her rump as Thistle came closer, and she let out a soft, "Ah!" of surprise. She could almost hear Baro saying, "Are you alright?", and he would if he was here, so she said it out loud for him!

She was speaking much better than Thistle did when she first woke up, and this was a really good thing! Thistle smiled encouragingly at the little puppy, feeling much older and wiser, and she said carefully, "You are a puppy!", with all due seriousness that Nova gave, only with a very bright smile. It was important that she knew what she was!

She moved closer to Thistle, sniffling her, and Thistle let out a little giggle at feeling her breath on her nose, and when the puppy moved back to look at her with her big serious eyes, Thistle broke out into a meltingly happy smile, nodding up and down. There was only one answer! "Yes! I'll be your friend!"

The only way this could get better was if Baro came to meet them both! Oh, he would like Thistle's new friend too! Quickly, she just decided to take the plunge and do something impulsive, and she reached down to very quickly kiss the pup on the cheek. "We'll be best friends!"

The black pup nodded as the new face had asked if she was alright, it didn't hurt to fall on her backside. Shaking herself off a bit before Thistle spoke, You're a puppy. Ears went erect for a moment at the news. They are Thistle and I am Puppy? It must be true for it has been said, nodding very quickly to the little antelope child. "Puppy." But as she said the name, it didn't flow well and caused another serious little face. Hmmmm. "Nnnn . . . Nova. Nova Puppy." That sounded a lot better, the word seem to just come to her. How strange but how perfect. When the serious question was given, of friendship, the young one would stare to the other for their answer. "Yes! I'll be your friend!" And like that, her serious face melted away and a wide joyful grin was slapped onto her. "R . . really!" Voice cracked a bit as the black pup bounced up with excitement. "Best friends." Oh, could this get any better? With the kiss to her cheek, little Nova let out a happy yip before running a (or attempted to with her weak new legs) circle around her new best friend! This news was clearly the best she had all day, and it was since she just woke from a deep slumber of dancing lights and awoke to an explosion. Quite a day indeed! What do friends do? That just occurred to her, not positive about what they did but somehow knew having a friend was a good thing. Bouncing back to the pup's new bestie, "What do we . . do know?" Wide eyed and curious before sniffing the air and glancing around the room they stood inside. Explore this place? Find something to nibble? Nova wasn't sure; only that she wanted to do whatever it was with Thistle. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: to cute for me

@Thistle

Baroque didn't know where Thistle had run off to, but surely she couldn't be far. He stumbled around, looking for his siblings, his parents, for Thistle-- but the first thing he noticed was a horrible sound.

It cracked through the air and he scrambled for cover behind a rock, shivering as he waited for something awful to happen. After a moment, he crept out from behind his rocky shelter and stumbled forward. A few tears had bubbled up in his eyes, but he forced them down. As far as he could tell, nothing bad had actually happened... Yet.

It took him a bit to get to where Thistle was, and in fact, he didn't even notice his best friend first. He noticed the ball of dark, inky fur and shivered. Who was this? He wobbled over to Thistle and her new friend, big blue eyes shimmering as he looked upon the newborn puppy.

"H-hello," he stammered, tail curling around his flank as he approached them. He sniffed slightly, his nose had started being all runny earlier that day. "New friend, Thistle?" The shy grizzly lion mumbled as he leaned into the fawn, eyes bright.

Thistle saw her new friend's face go from serious to happy and relaxed, and Thistle grinned and laughed, and when the puppy ran around her legs, she was just to happy along with her! She danced and nuzzled her nose at Nova's soft fur when she could, moving in a funny little circle. If she had hands, she would've clapped them in happiness! Oh, this was the best! Her friend was just so wonderful!

She asked her what they should do now, and Thistle laughed, saying easily, "I don't know!" with a big grin. Honestly, there was an endless array of things they could do now! They could do anything! Luckily though the conundrum was solved by Baroque coming at just the right time, his soft voice coming near her. He leaned into her, and she smiled at the easy familiarity and the memory of his comforting leaning, and he nuzzled her nose and her forehead into his neck fluff with a laugh.

She really loved Baro, with his easy tears and his big giant paws and his tender heart. He was shy and sweet and kind and wonderful and she always wanted to stay with him, always. He was....home.

"Baro," She said happily, "Meet Nova. She just woke up, and we're friends!" Then she turned her head and blew some of Baro's fluff out of her eyes to see Nova better. "Nova, this is Baroque. He found me, like I found you!"

The very idea of having a friend, her own friend, was so joyous and nothing could ruin this moment. Tail nub wiggled, but what wiggled the most was her whole rump. Quick to nuzzle up to Thistle as they claimed they had no idea what they could do know but as if Nova could read her mind, she knew the possibilities were endless. Yipping with joy as the pup turned to the opening of the room they were in expecting to see the opened area calling her to run down into the unknown with her best friend, yet that was not so. Someone stood in the way of their fun. Ears twitched as Nova's running paws came to a stop and she watched as the gloomy new comer came over and walked right over to her friend and lean onto them. What is this! Fluffy brows pressed together in confusion and the black pup rushed over to begin and furiously sniff at this 'Baroque' fellow. Soft nose inhaled the boy's scent, feeling her belly twist a little at the thought that he found Thistle, meaning he was her best friend too? How could that be, when Nova was now Thistle's best friend? The excited tone of the schnauzer was zapped out, ". . . Hello. " Scooting closer to the antelope, as if attempting to scoot her away from the other. "Thistle is my best friend, right . . . Thistle?" Quickly her eyes grew wide and ears perked up a bit as she turned to face the hoofed female. Nova wasn't sure what to think of this Baroque yet, but she wasn't liking the idea of sharing Thistle. Made her feel sad to loose her already. --------- "Speech" Thoughts OOC: don't be jelly nova

@Baroque @Thistle

The black dog came over and started to sniff sniff sniff at Baroque while Thistle explained. Nova? Something about the name seemed familiar, and reminded him of Bartos, though he couldn't place why. The cub pawed at the ground, watching her with bright blue eyes and a patient, careful smile. If Thistle liked her, than she must have been nice, right?

Nova eyed Barry as Thistle intruduced him and subtly nudged Thistle away from him, commenting softly that they were best friends and... Oh no. Baroque knew what she was trying to say-- he could practically feel the jealousy oozing from her small stature. With a timid frown he took a step back and tried to swallow his tears.

Nova hated him. She didn't trust him, and she didn't want to share Thistle with him. For a split second, Baroque thought that perhaps Thistle might have been trying to replace him, and that's why she had run off without him, but just one glance at her ever-present smile told him there was no way. Thistle was the one nice thing in his life, and she would never hate him...

"O-oh... We... We can all be friends, Nova," he stammered, trying to put on that gentle smile once again. Instead, his bright cerulean eyes started to water and he forced them shut, tears trickling down his face as he broke out into an insincere, forced grin. "I'd love to be your f-friend, if that's okay."

@Thistle

Ah! Oh no! Thistle looked from Baro to Nova and started to panic. What should she do? Say, 'I'm both of your best friends?' But what is Nova got upset! She couldn't say one was better than the other, but what if both wanted her to say that? What if she lost one of her friends?! OH NO Baro was crying! No no no no, she should do something! What should she do?

She made this pathetic sound of distress, standing between the two of them, looking between them both. What should she do to make this perfect? Ah!! If she was in her dream, this would be solved with the drop of a hat, and if she said the wrong thing, she could just restart and try again with no harm done! The fear of saying the wrong thing froze her, and her stomach lurched with a form of stage fright.

The only thing she could start with was honesty. Honesty was always easy.

"Baro...." She said first, looking at him with her brows knitted together. Seeing him try to be brave and smile through his hurt was so painful to her! "You're so brave, Baro. I love you." She gave him a strong smile, and nudged him a little, for comfort. "I'm sorry you're crying."

Then she looked at Nova. "I love you too Nova. You're nice and serious and happy and I really want to go explore with you. And yes, we are best friends. But the best thing about friends is having a lot of them. When one friend is busy, you can be with someone else that makes you happy. You can love more than one person, Nova! That's why the three of us will be friends!"