Andromeda Enyo Polémou You can't raise hell with a saint.

Darkness engulfed the tiny Gembound, warm and soothing. Calm and quiet. The slightly translucent Chrysalis of varying shades of blue held the yet unaware Knight aloft, presenting her to a world she did not yet know about.

Beneath the hull, a small pup could be see, if only came close enough and found a spot where the shades of blue allowed a glimpse beneath. Short grey stretched over the pup's back, becoming considerably lighter towards its stomach and legs. With its eyes closed being yet unmoving, the Gembound didn't make for a captivating sight - only the color of its Chrysalis could be called intriguing.

Andromeda came alive with a twitch of muscle. Not alive per say, but i>aware. Her legs kicked out, tiny claws scratching against the inside of her Chrysalis. The world outside lay still, waiting, perhaps, with bated breath for the first Knight to find its way into the world.
Kicking again, the shell holding the pup cracked audibly, but the noise didn't deter Andromeda from her mission. She knew, instinctively knew she had to get out. Even with her eyes still shut and her ears filled with the slime that caused her to float in her Chrysalis, she knew.

Muscles straining, tensing and snapping to release the gathered energy, Andromeda was prepared to make a wild entrance into this world. Her eyelids were already beginning to flutter, eager beyond measure to open and witness the world lying outside of her mind.
She'd slumbered long enough.

Whether it was her muscles failing her or the Chrysalis shielding her from the world that lay beyond not wishing to let her go, the Opal did not give way to the pushing of Andromeda's legs.
She howled out, the noise echoing strongly inside the crystal walls and, perhaps, even beyond.

"All the words are gonna bleed from me."

This is a hatching thread for the Four Knights! All participants of this mini-plot are welcome to join in without question (at any point in time)!

@Gabriel

It was uncomfortable in here... oh so uncomfortable. The tiny Gembound inside its golden cage had curled ever tighter as it grew to try and extend this waking state for as long as it could. To learn. To feel. To know what to expect.

Not only that, but it had been waiting for a sign that there was something out there worth emerging for. At this point, anything perhaps could have constituted as a sign. It was so uncomfortable in here.

...And then it heard it. An occasional bump. A scratch of claws against stone. And then a muffled cry from the great beyond. That was it. There was something there. Something close. The creature finally began to stretch its aching limbs, eyes flickering for the first time. The walls of its prison creaked with the strain. But the longer it strained, every paw and skull pressed against its stone-cold walls, the more the stone around it gave way. It was so cramped by this point that breaking free was easy.

Its casing collapsed around it, and the pup was sent sprawling out into the world. This was a creature that was scrawny and bald, with a golden crown of thorns poking out of bedraggled scraps of hair. Its paws slightly twitched, and its eyes peeled open for the first time in its life, revealing eyes of an eerie red. Its trembling limbs scraped at the ground with small, sharp claws, and as it raised its head from a pool of goop to look around, it laid its first glance on the world around.

At first, it was vulnerable; blurred gaze flickering and darting. But as the world swirled into focus, it was not surprised.

As it looked around, and back to the golden case that had been its home for so long, the little puppy realized that it was not alone here... There were others. Like putting together pieces of a puzzle, the curious being realized that these strange orbs looming amongst the bones held beings just like him. That was what he had heard.

The creature slunk forward and with a few twitches of its large ears, deciphered which one had steered it into wakefulness. Its eyes laced with curiosity glanced over all the beautiful colours, yet it did not cry out or smile, or laugh as another child might. Instead, the newborn pup slowly sat back on his haunches and stared at the Chrysalis opposite. Watching and waiting, it wondered what sort of a creature would emerge to greet it.

@Andromeda

Andromeda Enyo Polémou You can't raise hell with a saint.

Andromeda was frustrated. Not a good feeling to have before one even emerged, but it fueled her determination to escape her confines, at least. The pup wouldn't be shaken by such a set-back and just push on to right this disaster.

Her own voice was still ringing in her ears, but she caught the noise of a Chrysalis breaking nonetheless. She wasn't so stupid as to believe it was her own, because the cracking was a distant noise, dulled by the still-intact shell of her own Chrysalis.

I must emerge too, now. Andromeda growled and her eyes opened, despite the dull sting of the Chrysalis' fluid. Her legs snapped forward and pressed against the blue hues of her Chrysalis until she could hear it crack. It was thick and Andromeda still nowhere near her eventual strength, but she pushed on anyway.

When a shard of her Chrysalis finally broke away, letting the fluid seep out onto the ground and the pup step out, Andromeda was panting.
Shaking herself, the wolf-pup got rid of the slime sticking to her while she sucked the first lung-fulls of air into her lungs. Her eyes, a dulled shade of blue, roamed her surroundings. Who else had broken out of their Chrysalis? She found three other Chrysalises sitting there, all varying shades of color, with two of them still undisturbed and peaceful. One of them, a golden one, was broken. A trail of tiny footsteps led to the the side of her own Chrysalis, where Andromeda's eyes fell to a tiny naked pup, with tufts of crisp white hair sticking to it body. They were wearing a crown of thorns, gold, much like its Chrysalis.

She tilted her head in curiosity, her gaze focusing on the other Gembound. They were no wolf, that much was obvious by their size alone. And Andromeda found their fur-less body quite strange as well. "Hello." The wolf said, her voice a low but feminine husk.
"I'm" Andromeda "Andromeda." She added, sitting down on her haunches, - like the dog in front of her - watching.

"All the words are gonna bleed from me."

@Gabriel

The small pup's patience was soon rewarded, as a resounding crack echoed from within the object he faced. His ears twitched forward. Its enormous, staring red eyes never blinked as shards scattered, and a spiderweb of cracks spread over its surface. Soon, the crack was followed by a creature lurching out into the open. The creature was far larger than it was, but the pup did not move or flinch, wide eyes flitting over them filled with curiosity.

"Hello," it replied politely, its tail twitching at the tip, before curling up towards its back. It bowed its head in acknowledgement, eyes flitting closed for a mere second as its chin dropped to his chest. But moments later, its head was raised once more and it once again watched the newcomer- drinking their words. "Andromeda. A fitting title. I suppose I should choose one too..."

The creature hadn't considered that this world would use names. Such a thing seemed quite impractical, a bait for rumours and information leaks. But that being said, a name could have its uses. It meant you would be able to find another easily, and pass on information well. Having no name would probably be more beneficial to it, but it seemed a formality, in this case. It already knew, either way, what its name would be. Weighing its options for a moment, the pup soon decided that it would have a name, but use it sparingly.

It felt, anyways, that it owed this creature a favour; after all, they had brought it the sign it had needed to emerge.

"I am Gabriel. Whether you call me that is, well, your choice."

@Andromeda

Andromeda Enyo Polémou You can't raise hell with a saint.

A fitting title indeed. Andromeda smiled at the smaller canine and decided she liked it. Not overly so, but enough to continue curiously enjoying its presence. Its politeness so far was definitely a main factor.

"Gabriel shall do." The she-wolf said with a curt nod. A fitting name, she thought as she looked down at the dog. Then her gaze wandered to the other two Chrysalises sitting close to their own. What would their titles be?
When would they join her and Gabriel?
Andromeda felt, instinctively, that her life was, in a way, intertwined with that of the other three Gembounds there - emerged or not.

The small room in which they sat was made of bones, Andromeda noticed. She gave no visible indication to it but the sweep of her eyes over said remains and a slight, curious tilt of her head.
What a peculiar place to emerge - a peculiar place in and of itself already, for sure. Perhaps, it even held a bit of meaning, a vision for a future to come? Andromeda wondered if the Fortress of Bones she'd claim as her home was a sign for a great fate ahead or for a curse awaiting?

"Shall we wait for the others?" Andromeda asked and directed her blue-eyed gaze back onto Gabriel, a question asked with casual nonchalance - almost disinterest - as it was to be expected, like the four of them did indeed share a fate (a concept Andromeda would've refused if she'd known it).

"All the words are gonna bleed from me."

@Gabriel

Cold. Dark. Wet. That was what the young owlet encased in his blue, egg-like chrysali first came to notice. Within his cocoon of gem his eyes were closed as he stretched day by day and grew to be pressed against the walls of his "home". For now his mind was still, silent for possibly what would be the only time ever in his life. It was peaceful while his body developed but all of that was shattered when the sound of voices pierced through the veil around his mind.

All at once his eyes snapped open and he became aware of all that was going on. For starters, his home was cramped and uncomfortable and second, he noticed there was some sort of... need. He needed to get out of this cocoon and he needed to see who owned those voices, what sort of creatures they were, how they thought, their names...

It all came in a rush. His sentience, the things he needed to ask and what he wanted to know.

The small owl scratched at the inside of what he now considered to be a tomb. The scratches sounds would no doubt be heard by the ones outside of his chrysali. His clawing would increase in tempo until finally the owlet had created a crack and finally an opening in the shell. With a final effort he kicked out with both of his claws and the force sent him tumbling out into the cold world.

For a moment the small brown owl sat shivering in a puddle of his hatching liquids before his startlingly blue eyes locked onto the pair of canines standing a short distance away from him. Immediatley he felt a sort of kinship with them, a want, no... a need to get closer and know them better. And so... He did.

After gathering his feet underneath him the tiny bird hopped up to them fearlessly, eyes blinking first at the female canine and then at the other. "Brethren, who are you? How have you come to be born?" His voice, though shrill, was strong and had no hesitation that most newborns held. No. He knew what he wanted to ask and knew what he wanted to know. Quite suddenly his head whipped around and locked onto the two broken shells that lay on the ground then he whipped his head the other direction to look at his own and the remaining one. He deduced that the two before him had just hatched and that there was one more that was yet to show itself.


@Andromeda @Gabriel

"I was thinking the same thing," Gabriel replied without a trace of a laugh in its high tone. It watched as the other cast her gaze about the room, seeming oddly fixated, and for good reason. Gabriel quickly realized after some curiosity that scattered around them were not stones or carvings, but the remains of beings who had come before them.

It didn't take much figuring out; they were too precisely shaped to be simply creative endeavors and some even fit together into full skeletons. These skeletons were what gave it away; they looked almost alive still, even though they had arrived far too late to actually meet them.

What amazed Gabriel was that one didn't simply cease to exist. They'd always leave something behind in the world, even when your memory was long gone, unveiling fragments of their lives such as how they died. It assumed that every other piece of these beings was long gone. The fur, the heart, the soul. But it couldn't be that easy.

Gabriel's pointed ears pricked away from the larger canid as a scratching sound caught its attention, drawing his focus towards one of the other chrysali that lay nestled beside their own shattered remains. the pup didn't respond for a while as it waited for the next of their kin to breathe their first breaths and unveil themselves.

it looked unsurprised, yet pleased, as the next one emerged and skittered towards them. "I waited, I listened, and I searched until the moment I had a sign. A sign that out here was a world worth emerging into. And then... I did. You, like Andromeda here-" Gabriel flicked its crimson gaze towards the wolf, its tone didactic- "-appear to be a part of what I was waiting for. What's your name?"

@Andromeda @Tacitus

Toevij lay in their chrysalis, a black cage they had called home for a cycle. But from the outside, they could hear voices filtering in. At first, they tried to block them out. But when a third voice came in, they knew that wouldn't work for much longer. They didn't particularly want to go out - it was calm in there, despite the voices from the outside. But they couldn't stay for long, all thanks to the voices. They hadn't even met those who resided outside their chrysalis, but already they didn't like them.

They began to break at the gem that they had called home using their beak. Slowly, a crack began to form, and light came through the darkness. They continued, until they were able to climb out. Upon doing so, they looked at the ones around them. An interesting sort. One seemed to be similar to them. They watched them for a moment, listening to them speak, not bothering to utter a single word. Perhaps they should, if at least a name. But they did not, keeping their beak clasped shut, eyes flickering from one to the other.

@Gabriel @Tacitus @Andromeda

Not long after Gabriel had finished speaking, another creature emerged form their crystalline prison and into the light. Gabriel shifted its gaze and watched, its deep red gaze welcoming the new being into the world. Like Tacitus, it was an owlet- and one that seemed speechless. Gabriel sucked in its breath and bowed its head deeply to the new arrival. Now all four Chrysalises had been broken, and all four of the brethren were taking their first steps into the odd, odd world outside.

Gabriel sucked in its breath, ready to repeat its words once more- welcoming the newcomer into the world, and into their collective company. The four who were born together, the four who shared a close likeness in some way. it seemed so strange that they had all formed and emerged so close that it almost seemed intentional. For that fact, Gabriel felt acquainted to the three around him, as though they shared the same lifeblood.

"Welcome... I am Gabriel, and these are Andromeda and Tacitus. You have emerged as part of our four. Why or how, I do not know. All I know is that You were the sign I needed. Perhaps that means our futures are entwined. But I shall wait and see."

It seemed there was much to learn.

@Tacitus @Toevij @Andromeda