A crack. A crunching, crackling series of cracks, spiderwebbing over dried mud around the presiding Monarch. A wet splosh, as the muddy soup benath the dry crust is disturbed.

A wide eyed Gembound, indeterminable from its surroundings - covered in wet filth, all that remain visibles of the newborn animal is a pair of unblinking, unmoving orange orbs.

Slipping and sliding, trying desperately to climb out of the sinkhole, the swill littered with chunks of chrysalis.

The child finds its voice, mewling and coughing up mud.

"Whit! Whit!"

Soaking, and coated in mud, the Gembound scrabbles pitifully at the edge of the pit. With the last of its strength, the exhausted newborn leaps.

It makes the jump! Barely, but a few seconds later, the sodden heap is out of the hole. It feebly lifts it head - "whit, whit!" - and curls up underneath the mushroom.

Shivers rack the slender frame, the weight of the mud on its coat giving it the appearance of an emaciated corpse...it can only "whit!" for help over the bubbling, hissing, croaking, and growling of the Origin Cave.

The call fails! There doesn`t seem to be any Gembound around, so the newborn Gembound sobs quietly as it shivers and curls up to die.

"Speech" @Lakshmi

It seemed like forever since Todd had been to Eridanus, so long he'd almost forgotten. His wide brown eyes were curious, but unlike last time, they were afraid. He took in the sights, listened to the sounds, sniffed the flowers with no small amount of trepidation. Impatiently he moved, slowly, with his back legs hopping, struggling to hold his weight. Still, the moss felt nice against his sensitive paws.

He wondered to himself whether Booker still lived here- the All-Mother still protecting them, and her Guards protecting her.

But, the fox forced himself to give a little shake of his head as bitterness rose in his chest. The all-mother was no protector, not for him. Doubt swirled inside him, but so did fear. He resisted the thought that the so-called All-Mother was watching over him but at the same time he wanted to believe that he would be safe.

A thin layer of fur barely covered the wounds on his back, the once thick fur on his tail now bearing more resemblance to a short-haired dog's, with thin fur covering it, and a few charred threads trailing underneath. Some of the burns had yet to grow back any fur and so they lingered there, a stark reminder of the trauma Todd had suffered as he went from mindless agathism to mistrust in a matter of moments.

And there she was- Todd laid eyes upon the giant mushroom that was the All-mother again for the first time in several cycles. Yet that gaze was laced with distrust. As he approached, Todd became aware of a small voice croaking somewhere close. His large ears twitched, seeking out the source, and he soon found a little wet lump that reeked of earth. He wasn't sure what it was, but he sniffed with his wet nose and tried to look strong.

A pleasant feeling spread upwards from his stone, giving him the strength to keep standing.

It was so small that Todd doubted it was a danger to him.

The lump stirs, aware (albeit faintly) of another Gembound. The gloriously bright sunset-orange eyes blink and swivel, full of agathism and wonder at the beauty of Eridanus.

To her feeble newborn mind, the fox`s long snout, tawny coat and large eyes speak not of a potential predator, but of a friend.

Placated but still scared, the child coos and "whit"s in a desperate bid to catch her new friend(?)`s attention.

"Speech" @Lakshmi

Little rasp. Soft shivers. He knew he'd found something that was alive but he couldn't be sure of what, exactly, it was. Perhaps food? But food usually ran away. Todd reached out and gave them a tentative lick with his warm tongue. The muddy taste was rather unappealing, like the taste of plants.

Not food, then.

He sniffed around it, and soon standing became too hard for him, and his hind limbs sank down into the grass in a tangle of thin black fur and barely-healed wounds. He examined, closely, sniffling and snuffling, and there were her eyes- Todd froze, looking into their eyes, couldn't move.

"C-c-can you t-talk?"

The lick of a rough tongue was it for the young Gembound - she stared up at the fox with ravening adoration in her eyes. The fox seemed to freeze, so the child tried to reach up and lick him on the nose. While she was reaching up he made a noise, which the little animal somehow (albeit vaguely) understood. He was asking if she could talk, and with a muddy sneeze the newborn decided she could. For the first time, she spoke.
" I...I can talk. And, and look. And see. Hello...I'm a...a girl," she finished with certainty

She suddenly had a feeling. A stirring deep inside her, that felt natural and untamed. The dusty dirt that clung to her fur...It was bad. But it was stuck- how could she get rid of it? She didn't know.

Attempt Result : The child blinked, as the feeling overwhelmed her newborn, untested senses. She felt lighter, cleaner someho - "Oh! The dirt was almost entirely gone, piles of dust around her ankles. She was revealed.
[See Profile Appearance] But the lemur was terrified. "What did I do?!" she cried out, eyes even more saucer-like than normal.

"Speech" @Lakshmi

Todd saw the creature's little face reach up towards his muzzle and wondered what they were about to do. Breathe flames, burn the rest of him, was even his body's locking up some kind of magic? Conspiracies burned in Todd's mind, but then... The little one's soft pink tongue lapped at his nose. Softly, softly. Todd's flattened ears lifted slightly.

Was that it?

There was no pain, only the soft rasp of something warm and wet. Todd relaxed, somewhat naively, as he decided that this wasn't a threat to him. He felt stronger, and the look in the child's eyes had stirred the self-induced loneliness that Todd had endured for so long.

"A g-girl?" Todd was confused, unsure of what the little one was referring to as, strangely, he had no concept of gender. "I ah, what's a girl?" he asked nervously.

Abruptly, the mud shot off the Lemur's fur and Todd flinched visibly, drawing his nose away. But, it wasn't an attack- now the young one sat, a grey and black and white ball of fluff and not the muddy mess that'd been there a moment ago. Todd looked around for the muddy blob as though concerned the two weren't actually the same thing, before he lowered his nose to examine the ball of fluff again. Magic. She'd found a new spell! The fur along Todd's spine prickled; but he felt like it was nearly the same magic as his own, to make things jump.

"Oh? Y-you did magic," Todd declared as he noticed the little thing's confusion. "I can do magic too, I'm trying to find all the spells!" A hint of pride and uncertainty trickled into his voice. He'd only 'found' one new spell, but Todd wasn't all that sure if it was even a spell at all. It seemed to come and go, but his paw still glowed when he tried it. He didn't say that though, he wanted to look big and strong, for everyone.

The child was puzzled. Magic? With a blink, it - the magic, she knew suddenly - rushed through her mind, and she knew. Knew all of it. She was one of the elements...Arcane. The power of the mind. That was why she could move things. ..see things. As she thought it, her newfound knowledge dredged up an old, old language. Lakshmi - to see or observe..

With another blink, it was over. The knowledge was gone, except those words...element, Arcane and - strangely - Lakshmi.

"Lakshmi, " she whispered, "That's my name - Lakshmi."

The other Gembound asked about her gender, and Lakshmi tried to explain. [b]"Uh, it's like...I'm a girl because I, erm, er...never mind. It doesn't matter in Gembounds, right? Why did I just say that? That wasn't me."

"Speech" @Lakshmi

Todd looked the little creature over, his ears twitching, flinching occasionally. They didn't speak for a while, but as the silence ended, it did so with the little one introducing herself- and her name. Not finding anything odd about that, the fox gave a small nod. "Lak-shmi," Todd experimented, his tongue curling carefully around the words. Then he gave yet another nod, seeming satisfied.

"Lak-shmi!" It was a funny word to say, and it felt unfamilar to Todd. "Lak-shmi, Lakshmi! ...huh."

Todd was further confused by the confusing change of mind. But it didn't matter much to him. "Alrigh'," he murmured, tilting his head slightly in confusion. "I dunno. Never heard of a girl before. Sounds funny."

The fox's strength finally waned and he slumped down, falling forward so he was abruptly at eye level with the young one, with his head resting on his paws. His hind legs folded awkwardly, sticking out in an awkward way that would make it obvious of their injuries, even if it weren't for the scars.

"A girl," mused Lakshmi, "is probably an animal that smells different to a boy. Like, sweeter, I'd imagine..." She shrugged. Now, Lakshmi had grown quite attached to Todd in the few hours she'd known him, so it was understandable that as he slumped, she jumped back and haphazardly leaped around shouting "Whit!"

The dark aftertaste of almost drowning and then almost freezing was fresh in her mind, and death loomed in her thoughts. After a moment, she realised he was just tired and likely bruised. Still...

Desperately, Lakshmi tried to channel the magic she knew she held - hopefully her internal magic bank had recharged. She tried with all her might to shift the silver fox cub onto a comfortably mossy - looking rock.

All the spell did was nudge Todd gently. Lakshmi was terrified...