In the corner of one of the dilapidated buildings of Orion, there lay a small stone sitting in a nest of cobwebs. The stone shimmered with a slowly changing song, a pearly and opalescent moonstone. Inside the stone was a little aardwolf pup, listening to the song that whispered to him, that shifted and formed him. It whispered sweet words to him, and he wanted nothing more than to share them. As he grew bigger inside his shell, as the walls started to feel uncomfortable close, he held a growing desire to know what the words meant, what they were, what they looked like, what they felt like. Surely those words were outside, wherever outside was.

Soon, his shoulders felt the walls, and he began struggling. He wanted to go outside! He wanted to see, he wanted to feel, to experience the song. He thrust his weight into the walls, hearing a small crack. Again. And again. The crack grew bigger, it splintered, and finally the shell that protected him fell apart, and out he fell into the spider's nest.

He looked all around, blinking slowly, looking at the glittering ceiling of stars through the window of the stone house. And then he started to giggle, then to laugh. He was outside! He was free! He was so incredibly overjoyed, he had no idea what to do with himself.

This area was indeed a neat one, never had she seen anything like it before. Then again, she'd not been around for very long, maybe a little over a week. To her that didn't matter, she was making the most of her life and enjoying every bit of it! So far she'd found a few shinies, made a couple of friends and established a little nest. Life was good!

The crumbling buildings of this place was beautiful, with the little lights flickering above. It was gorgeous! The little mongoose lifted her head to the sky while she walked which in hindsight probably wasn't a good idea as she ended up walking straight into one of the buildings. With an annoyed "ouch" she stepped backwards and examined the wall crossly before turning to move on. Until she heard a new noise. A loud, high-pitched laugh of sheer joy. The creature it came from was a mystery but whatever it was it couldn't be bad laughing like that! What in the world was so funny?

Always aiming for the high road to keep herself out of reach of larger animals she searched around before finding a rock to hop on then she looked to the building. There were a few clawholds there that she could use to get to a little hole in the wall. Perhaps it led all the way to the other side! The mongoose prepared herself then leaped--

--and managed to grab onto the clawholds and scurry up to the hole. Hah! If Fisher could see her now he'd go green with envy.

Now, she went through the hole and out the other side to see a strange canine-like critter. What on earth was he? Well, no matter. Every new creature was a potential plus for her. Maybe he could be recruited and used to her advantage. So, the mongoose looked down and found a brown wooden thing to jump on which she did easily. The little gembound turned her silver eyes the newborn and gave that classic smirk of hers before saying, "Hey there, kiddo! What were you laughin' at?" Her voice sounded interested as she lay across the table, lounging easily.

---

words: 364
tagged: Basil, Tamelyn
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10

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

Tamelyn We'll reel away til the break of day
and dance together til morning!

Since Nyx had formed their little group, Tamelyn had tried to stick closer to Orion, their chosen home. It certainly wasn't a problem, she liked the stone city and it's celestial ceiling. And there was an infinite number of nooks and crannies to explore, many of them holding bits and trinkets sheltered from time. It was on her hunt for such trinkets that Tam heard the laugh, causing her to stop and look up. Her dish-like ears swiveled forward to try and pinpoint the sound. It didn't sound like anyone she knew, though to her, that just meant it was a friend she had yet to make. She trotted down the alley, following the giggles to another building. A new voice within, pitched differently than the laughter, made her paused just before the entryway. She wondered briefly if she was interrupting something, but Tamelyn had never been a shy one.

She stepped through the doorway, eyes taking a minute to adjust to the gloom. She saw the newly-hatched Gembound first, laying in the remnants of his cocoon, which was composed of a luminescent blue stone. He looked canid, and she wondered if he was a wolf, like Arkrael (albeit a tiny one). The second Gembound almost made her do a double-take, as looked an awful lot like Fisher. However, upon closer inspection, Tamelyn saw marked differences: She was lighter in color, and lacked Fisher's dark-colored gem.

She looked back at the hatchling for now, approaching him carefully with a smile on her face. "Hi," she said to him, lowering her head to his level. "Welcome to the cave." She was less than a cycle old herself, though necessity had forced her to grow quickly, mentally at least. Despite that, she was still markedly childish, and took a simple delight in meeting new friends and greeting new Gembound.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

His eyes instantly locked onto the new creature than came in to see him, and all of a sudden a quick and change fell over his eyes. Everything was wonderful and rose-hued when it surrounded her, the fair vixen on the table. All of a sudden a huge variety of words that were whispered to him in his shell made total sense when looking at her, and he did, wide-eyed, his mouth hanging open in unabashed admiration of this glorious and beautiful being with her molten silver eyes and glinting smile. He almost didn't catch the lovely pink shining tooth that accented her smile, and it made it so more more lovely of a smile. He almost didn't hear what she said, so enamored he was of her beauty.

He started to say something, but whatever he was trying to say same out quiet, garbled, and too thick, so he had to clear his throat a little bit. Speaking was more difficult than he thought, but the words wanted to come out. He wanted to compliment her, wanted to give her something, all for the glorious gift of being able to simply look upon her. "I-I...."He uttered, trying to form some sort of sentence.

Then a tall, almost hesitant creature entered the room, and the entire process started all over again. Her long lashes framed emerald eyes so vivacious and full of life, and as she came closer, she towered over him like a gorgeous long-legged giantess, like a goddess, with amazing creamy and red-speckled fur. Her very essence screamed to be adored and loved and he was full to the brim with it inside, so that when she came close, he raised up his tiny paws and touched either side of her face and said breathlessly, "So...so beautiful." His voice sounded so young and almost infantile in its admiration and he almost hated it in comparison with hers. He turned to the vixen lounging on the wooden thing with the same kind of eyes, sharing the compliment with her with the same look in his eyes, of awe, of adoration.

How lucky was he? To have this first occasion of the outside witnessed by two lovely and enchanting ladies!

---
"This is how I speak."

The look which this newly hatched creature gave her was one of sheer adoration and awe. Was she really that gorgeous. Well, yeah! Of course she was! Who in their right mind would think that she was anything but beautiful? this fellow obviously was a smart one if he knew how to compliment a lady such as her. Really, everyone should just take a page from her book and adore her. That would make her ever so happy. "What's the matter? Mongoose got your tongue?" Her voice was teasing and along with the wink she threw with it, absolutely flirtatious. Two could play at that game. OF course, flirting and all that she actually had no idea of what the implications were. She just was bidden by the voice in her head telling her on what she should do and she had to admit that listening made her happy.

There little session was cut short when a strange long legged critter walked in. This one put her in the mind of Erebus but instead of his dark coat and sturdier form she held spots and a dainty one. The long-legged one walked right past her! Said not a word and walked on by! How dare she? The mongoose threw a pointed glare at her back for such an infraction before turning a more pleasant smile to the other gembound... who was now staring at the long-legged one. He even called her beautiful! Ugh! How dare he?

Fortunately, the other made up for the infraction by turning his look back to Fang. She forgave him and finally made her way off of the old rotten table to go stand with the others. Casually as if she hadn't been bothered by the long-legged ones manners she leaned her long body against her leg, like she was lounging on against a wall. Then her tiny but strong carefree voice came, "Howdy, Legs. I guess ya missed me over there? No matter, a mistake is a mistake. I'll let it slide." For now. "'Preciate the compliment, kiddo. I think you're nice lookin' too." Another wink before she glanced up at the long-legged one. Surely she knew that a long-legged thing like her couldn't rival the beauty of a mongoose.

---

words: 375
tagged: Basil, Tamelyn
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10

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

Tamelyn We'll reel away til the break of day
and dance together til morning!

The little cub looked amazed at the sight of the small weasel-thing, and positively awestruck at her. She didn't flinch or move away as he pawed her face, being used to Fisher's booping and Imogen's tendency to snuggle. However, when he called her beautiful, Tamelyn felt her face heat up, eyes widening slightly. She was lithe, true, but that was just because she was a deer. She didn't pay excess attention to her coat, and to tell the truth, had she been a human, she would have been the textbook definition of a tomboy. "I--"

Before she could stutter any more, however, the weasel-thing butted in, jarring Tamelyn's attention away from the aardwolf. She looked down at her, pouting. "My name's not Legs. It's Tamelyn." She tilted her head, looking down her nose at the small creature. "Should I call you Shorty?" What a rude little noodle. "You look like my friend Fisher. Are you a fisher too?" That was the only animal she knew that looked like that, though she doubted she was one. Some cousin species, perhaps.

"And what about you?" She looked back the hatchling, face becoming pleasant once more. "Wha's your name?" Acutely aware of the size difference between her and the others, she folded her legs and lay down, flicking her tail once. "Are you a wolf? You look like my friend Arkrael, though she's bigger, an' she's got black fur." She lowered her head to point her nose at his stone. "But her gem's almost in the same place as yours."

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

He watched the tall goddess' eyes widen, watched her breath catch, and that itself was the only reward he wanted, for that in itself was a sight to behold. She was beyond words in her loveliness, and he felt his stomach tumble around in a nervous heap. He lowered his paws down to the floor, almost unable to keep his balance, and it would mortify him horribly if he fell in front of them. That was too horrible to contemplate!

And apparently her name was Tamelyn! It sounded mysterious, mischievous, and all together perfect for this lovely creature in front of him. There were so many words that clambered together in his mouth, waiting to be shared, so many wonderful words that he wanted to give. He watched the beautiful vixen, who named herself a mongoose, jump down from the wooden table and join them both, both for some reason, doing so upset the wonderful Tamelyn? He shook his head. He wasn't listening to what was being said at all, so enraptured was he.

All of a sudden Tamelyn was asking him questions, and he had to pay extra attention to what she was saying, because her gorgeous emerald eyes were incredibly distracting. They looked at him with gentle expectancy, and it was all he could do to not fall into them. "My name?" He blinked. Oh, he...he had a name, didn't he? What was it?

He blurted out his name without thinking too hard, as it sounded exactly right. "Basil. It's Basil."

She gently sat down to be more at his level, and he loved the grace with which she moved, then she asked if he was a wolf, but that...wasn't right. He was, and he wasn't, he thought. But far be it from him to actually correct her! No, that would be the worst, that would be horrible! No no no no. then she mentioned a lady named Arkrael, and he envisioned another not-quite wolf like him with midnight fur, and he grew very excited. So there were more--

Her nose briefly touched him, touched his chest, his- what was she touching? it didn't feel like his fur, it felt a little bit cold and solid and almost detached from his senses, and he looked down after she drew away to see this little glittering white and blue stone hidden in his fur. Was that what Tamelyn meant by a gem? Was that his gem? It stole his breath away, seeing his little treasure sitting against his heart.

He looked to the two before him, and noticed Tamelyn's bright yellow gem above her hoof, and the mongoose's sparkling pink tooth, and wondered what other gems might look like. He looked up to the goddess and said, "I'd like to meet her....if you please."

Then he turned towards the mongoose, who looked at ill temper. How horrible of him! "What should I call you, pretty vixen?"


"This is how I speak."

Ah, that look on the long-legged one's face was priceless. If she was hoping to get a rise out of the mongoose by calling her "shorty" then she was sadly mistaken. The little creature simply looked up with that shit-eating grin of hers, exposing clearly that pink fang. "Sure sure, Tamelyn, then. Though I do like callin' ya Legs better." She leaned up, no longer propping herself up against Tam's leg. "You can call me whatever you want. Shorty if you like or Cutie too. As for bein' a fisher I'm not, I'm a mongoose, but I know who you're talking about. Fisher's my friend too." That was said with just a touch of snark before she looked back at the enraptured new gembound.

Basil? That was an alright name, she guessed. Not as good as her own name but who had a name as good as hers? No one. Fisher came close but not these two. Tamelyn. Blegh. As for an Arkael, she'd never heard of one of those but it might be interesting to meet one. Fang was always looking out for interesting new critters to gain the attention of. You could never have too many allies though from the looks of it Tamelyn wasn't turning out to be an ally. Which was fine... The long-legged thing had ignored her without even apologizing and that was hardly excusable.

When the gembound turned his attention to her and called her "pretty" she shot a quick triumphant glance up at Tamelyn before edging closer to the canine-like creature. She put on the sweetest smile she could and said, "My name's Fang. Though you can call me 'Pretty Vixen' if you like." Her sweetest tone matched that of her smile and was akin to honey. She was good at making her voice do what she wanted it to. "I'd like you to meet some of my friends too, Basil. I've got a friend with orange fur that looks a lot like you and a big friend who looks a bit like Tamelyn... only more," She cleared her throat and glanced back at Tam. "Refined." Oh, she was having so much fun.

---

words: 360
tagged: Basil, Tamelyn
ooc: ---
muse: 7/10

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

Tamelyn We'll reel away til the break of day
and dance together til morning!

Tamelyn snorted quietly at Diamondfang. "I think I'll just call you 'Pipsqueak' instead." As for Fisher being her friend, Tamelyn could only hope there were hidden depths to the mongoose, otherwise Fisher must have gotten into some weird mushrooms or something. So far, she didn't seem to be very nice.

The aardwolf cub, on the other hand, seemed to be very friendly indeed. She rolled her eyes at Pipsqueak's smirk, choosing to ignore it for now, and considered Basil's request. "She's around sometimes, but she mostly goes where she wants to go. I could call for her and see if she's nearby." Tamelyn stood up, careful not to step on Basil, and made to walk out of the building. As she did, she caught Pipsqueak's quip about her more "refined" friend. "That's fine," she said over her shoulder, "because my friend's teeth are a lot bigger than yours."

Tamelyn stepped out into the street and thought for a moment, considering how best to summon her friend. She could shout, she supposed, or...a small smile tugged at her lips. She had picked up a few habits from her canine hatchmate, including a sound that Arkrael sometimes made when attempting to communicate over long distances. Tamelyn drew in a deep breath, then threw back her head and howled long and loud, as if she were a wolf and not a deer. The call carried over the city and down the tunnels, dying out somewhere in the darkness. She didn't necessarily know how to call for someone specific, but hopefully Ark would recognize her voice.

She finally ran out of breath, and let her howl trail out, leaving an echo that remained a few seconds longer. She turned back to the ruins and trotted back inside, trying (and failing) not to look smug. "She'll come, if she's in the area," she said, settling back down next to Basil. "This cave is big, you know." She sobered somewhat. "I dunno how big. It may even go on forever..."

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

"Fang." He murmured, and it sounded like the sweetest word he'd ever heard. Everything about the vixen radiated when she said her name, from the lowered eyelashes that perfectly framed her silver eyes to that fascinating curve of her mouth that let her namesake gem sparkle, as if just for him. It was gorgeous- no, she was gorgeous.

He barely heard what she was even saying; something about other friends? It didn't matter much to him, for only the long-legged goddess rivaled this fair vixen's beauty, and by account, it didn't register with much significance. He felt dumfounded and tongue-tied and it showed openly in his expression.

It nearly escaped his notice that Tamelyn was getting up to leave, and in his surprise and dismay, his mind tangled in all his fancy words and tipped hard on its face, and all that came out was an inarticulate mewl, and she was already out the door.

Then, before he could try to get up on his shaky new legs and go after, a long, loud, goose-bump raising sound shattered the peaceful silence of the outside, and his hackles raised and his fur bristled in automatic fear, as if a monster had come to eat them all, and it was right outside of the building! He shot over clumsily to hide under the Fang's chin, shaking horribly.

Was he to be eaten so quickly after seeing and tasting the outside and its words? How cruel!

Then Tamelyn entered the room again, and he peeked at her, wondering why she appeared so calm! Did she not see the monster? She almost looked happy about it! "She'll come, if she's in the area," She said, and calmed down somewhat. Would her friend, Arkrael, save them, he wondered? But it might take her a while to come to them, and he wondered who he would see first.

He desperately hoped he would see Arkrael before his short existence ended! He buried his head into the fair vixen's fluff with his eyes shut tight, making an incredibly pathetic, terrified sound. At least he got to meet perfect loveliness before the end.


"This is how I speak."