Eleanor had been having such a wonderful dream. She could not remember what it was about now that she was waking up. All she could remember was the feeling of joy that had permeated throughout. Now, though, there was only darkness before her, but the darkness did not frighten her. Indeed, she felt comforted by it. However, the longer she remained in this new darkness, the more uncomfortable she grew. Her lungs wanted air, and her body wanted freedom — freedom from the lapis lazuli egg that had kept her safe for a cycle as she had grown inside it. Now she was ready to enter the world, though she did not consciously know it.

Her beak, complete with an egg tooth (a small bone-like protuberance used for breaking out of an egg), began tapping gently on the hard stone of the egg, the same blue stone that traveled down her spine. It took a bit of time, but she remained calm and worked through it, tapping a little harder as time went on, until a small crack could be heard. Eyes still closed to protect them from the amniotic fluid she was suspended in, Eleanor could not yet see the weak light coming in through the crack, but she could sense the change behind her eyelids. The darkness was a little less dark now.

Soon, more cracks appeared in the beautiful gold-sprinkled blue stone, and eventually, it fell apart. Eleanor blinked with wide brown eyes, not yet fully comprehending what she was seeing. Her body shivered, now exposed to the relative cold of Cetus (though the Cave was heating up). Her down feathers stuck to her, glued in place by the amniotic fluid that was now oozing down to the muddy ground. She hunched down into the bottom half of her egg, which was still intact, but the fluid inside it was rapidly cooling. She continued to shiver as the sounds of insects and slowly-flowing water filled her ear-openings. Everything smelled of mud and rotting things and water-logged plant-life. And surrounding everything she could see was a thick white fog that cut off her field of view after just ten feet or so. It looked bleak and desolate…

But instead of feeling afraid or sad, Eleanor felt at home, even as she continued to shiver in her baby feathers. This cold, wet, grey world of hers was beautiful, if a little melancholy. But there was something alluring about sadness, something that the duck would understand probably forever. Sadness was a part of life, and there was a distinct kind of sadness in a place like this that filled her soul and made her quiet and pensive in these moments after her birth.

Words: 458 @Chou - no need to match post length, my muse got carried away

only a centimetres away from the cool blue stone lay another chrysalis like an egg in the same clutch- one in stark contrast to the deep hues the other chick currently resided in, cold and wet and shivering. Rather than being blue, the stone was a contrasting, yet bright and lovely shade of pink.

And the youngster inside, likewise, was about to emerge and take its first breaths of the clean air outside. It felt the walls pressing in on it from all angles, so constricting and tight. It didn't like this cramped new world it had suddenly awakened to after so long of dormancy. A tiny beak opened for the smallest of moments, trying to call out- but alas, its mouth was filled with fluid, and no sound could emerge. So the little one, out of instinct, began to take matters into its own little wings- or beak, more like. it began to gently peck, tentatively at first- and then harder, until eventually a tiny chime rang out from within.

It didn't take long before the stone began to give way beneath his frantically pipping beak. As soon as he felt it move, his claws began to scratch too- and the crack began to spread. Tiny shards skittered down its smooth pink surface and away... and soon, a small trickle of goop followed. A tiny pink beak followed. Soon the rest of the chick's body ungracefully followed, and a large head covered with pinprick feathers followed, enormous and dazed eyes flickering over milky pupils.

two tiny wings fluttered at its side, and it let out a tiny bewildered caw...legs kicking at the ground beneath its feet. it didn't know what to do with this sudden excess of space; after all, it wasn't like it could find its way around...

@Eleanor

Eleanor’s wandering gaze found its way sharply to a noise that had suddenly started up right next to her. How had she missed the large pink stone sitting right next to hers? It was so much bigger than her own egg had been that it should have been the first thing she noticed after hatching. Nervousness sent butterflies flapping around her stomach, and she ducked behind the intact bottom-half of her lapis chrysalis. She wasn’t quite scared, but she was certainly apprehensive about this tapping noise. She was less than five minutes old, and hadn’t put together the fact that the sound was coming from an egg, just like the egg she’d come from, even if it was a different color. She didn’t realize that the sound was coming from another Gembound — another bird, even. She just knew that it made her quite nervous that the source of the sound was so very close to her.

She watched the queen conch pearl egg with an anxious stare until, to her great surprise, a beak popped out of it! Eleanor let out a little peep, and then clamped her own beak shut and completely hid herself behind her lapis egg, afraid that the creature had heard her. While she was ducked down, the loud sound of shattering stone rent the air and echoed eerily in the foggy expanse. The fog seemed to make the sound bounce around for a few seconds before it disappeared. Eleanor shivered harder, this time in actual fear, but she swallowed hard and tried to be brave. After all, she was also a little curious to see what in the Cave had caused such a horrendous noise.

Slowly, she peeked above the lip of her egg, and her brown eyes landed on the sight of… another bird. Well… she’d seen a beak earlier, so maybe it shouldn’t have surprised her, but she was surprised anyways. She stared at the white bird covered in goop just like her, and her beak fell open a little bit. Then the white bird let out a loud caw, and Eleanor gasped and ducked back behind her egg for a few seconds. What if it wasn’t friendly? Oh, what would she do then? She was so much smaller than it… It could trample her! Swallowing again, she lifted a shaking head to cautiously watch the other bird. It seemed… confused. Compassion filled her tiny body, and some small part of her wanted to greet it and be nice to it, but her fear of being hurt was too strong. Still, she held a bit of bravery in her heart and continued to watch the Gembound with the beautiful pink stone on its white chest. Maybe… Maybe they could be friends?

Words: 459 @Chou

The tiny peacock, its body pink and almost naked with the goop that pinned its feathers to its sides, had decided it didn't like this strange new world, it was cold and wet, and it didn't know what to make of the feel of the ground beneath its feet. Sounds were gradually blurring into existence- the sound of water trickling, of the marsh insects singing, and of its own voice crying. The child wasn't to know that there was something missing as it swung its head this way and that. But indeed, there was; for the peacock had been born blind, and that much was clear by the milkiness in its eyes that gazed listlessly into nothingness.

Its legs beginning to kick softly, scraping at the ground, it rolled over onto its front with legs haphazardly arranged beneath it, at the moment completely unaware that it wasn't alone; not just in the near vicinity but in this world at all. Finally, it raised up its head, wings fumbling at its sides in an effort to get warm. Tiny, pathetic squeaks emerged from its curved beak. It was an ugly little thing, for sure- but it wasn't to know that. Apart from the beautiful pink stone upon its breast, it was bedraggled and soaked, with not an inkling of an idea what to do to find its way in the world.

Never had a creature looked so completely lost and bewildered, so unsure of its place in the world that it might not have mattered had it not existed at all. That being said, it did not look scared or pusillanimous. It simply sat where it was, letting out tiny peeps as it seemed to just wait for a reason to move.

It seemed that this little one would need a lot of guidance in its early days.

@Eleanor

The longer Eleanor watched the other bird, the more her courage grew. It seemed so… confused, looking around as if it didn’t even register the world around it. The little duckling did not understand the concept of blindness, and so the only explanation she could come up with was that the world was just a large place, and the other bird was trying to take in as much as it could. All of her fear left her as she kept watching, and she decided to come out of hiding and try to make friends with the other Gemling. She nodded solemnly to herself, as if she were much older than ten minutes, and then stumbled rather ungracefully out of the bottom-half of her egg. Okay, so she wasn’t very elegant, but she was a baby duck. When are baby ducks ever elegant?

She pushed herself back to her feet with a rather alarmed peep, and then waddled closer to the other bird. “H-he…” Ohh, she knew exactly what she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come! She had never spoken before. “Heeeeello!” There! “Hellooo!” she said again, more cheerfully this time. “Weeee… fr… frie… frieeeeeends?” She looked up at the bigger bird with hope in her brown eyes. She hoped they would accept her friendship!

Words: 218 @Chou

The tiny chick had had no previous inkling that he wasn't alone here... in the near vicinity, or in the entire world. Worry had been slowly mounting, until suddenly... there was a voice. The peacock's tiny head shot up in shock, and he let out a loud peep as they spoke. Stunned shock was replaced by excitement in an instant as the little one flopped its body in the direction of the voice.

"F-f... Friends! L-leeets... be friends!" he called out excitedly.

Coming to think of it,the chick could feel vibrations in the earth through his twiggy legs. That's how he could tell where they were! With a push of his small, thin legs the bird set off in the direction their voice had come from, only to unintentionally run right past them. It never struck him that maybe he was going the wrong way...

After a few seconds of running, the little one finally stopped. It poked its beak at the ground, and swung its head around. It couldn't feel the vibrations any more, and was suddenly scared.

"...Where are you?"

@Eleanor

Eleanor couldn’t help but giggle at the way the white peacock flopped towards her so clumsily. Maybe that was wrong, laughing at others, but she was young and didn’t know that yet. He just looked so silly! Especially when he ran right past her. She thought he was playing for a moment, but then he stopped and seemed very confused. His head swung ‘round as if searching for her, and she noticed for the first time the cloudiness of his eyes, how they seemed to lack a pupil, how they never seemed to focus. Such a realization scared her. She didn’t know that there was a thing in the world that made it impossible for someone to see! Could… could such a thing happen to her? And how was this poor bird going to live if he couldn’t see?

She looked at him sadly for a moment or two, and then suddenly perked up at an idea. She didn’t need to worry about her new friend if they stuck close together all the time! She could just guide him around, right? Show him all the places to get food; help him if he lost his footing. Yeah! She’d just… make sure they never got too far from each other, and it would be okay.

Slowly, she waddled over to him, calling out softly, “I’m here. I’m coming over to you. You — you can’t see, can you? That’s okay.” She just kept talking so that he would know where she was, talking softly and soothingly, and not really paying attention to what she was saying. And then she was close enough to him, and she attempted to reach out with her beak and tap her beak against his leg, since that was the only part she could really reach. “Right here,” she said, looking up at him even though he couldn’t see her.

Words: 312 @Chou

The little one's head lifted as he heard someone's laughter, and he swung his head around, finally finding their exact location. and then suddenly, the laughter stopped again.The little peacock let out a tiny peep, turning his body towards where the sound had come from.

Instead, they began to speak. he little one didn't quite understand what they were saying; but it felt like it should know. "S... seeing? What is... seeing? Can you... see?" asked the little damp lump. Settling down on his belly with a wiggle of his not-yet-developed tail feathers, the drying little lump inched towards the source of the voice, bit by bit, until he felt the little bump of a hard beak against his side.

His small wings fluttered a little bit and tremors of cold racked his form and he, too, reached out towards where they were, wanting proof of their existence, and wanting to know what they felt like. If they were warm and how big they were. The little one didn't care if they were like him. He just didn't want to be alone. "Who're you? D-do you have something to call you?"

He wanted to know if they had a name.

@Eleanor

Eleanor was pleasantly surprised when the larger bird lay down on his belly to reach out for her. She stretched out towards him, until his beak touched her, and sort of wiggled in happiness at the feel. See? Everything would be okay. She just had to stay close and he would use her to know what was around him. She’d have to make sure he didn’t hurt himself, though… She frowned a bit at that thought. It would be hard to watch her steps and his… But! She would get used to it.

Unfortunately, the duckling had no idea how to explain what seeing was. She stared up at him for a few moments, pouting in concentration, and then she gave up. She couldn’t think of a way to say it. “I… I don’t know,” she said quietly, feeling a little sad that she couldn’t help him. Struggling to come up with something, she added, “It’s like how we can both hear, it’s just… different.” That was the best she could do. She clammed up afterwards, a little disappointed in herself. But then he asked another question.

Did she have something to call herself? She thought about that for a few moments, eyes scrunched as she searched her brain. “I…” She closed her beak, then opened it again. “El…” she began. “El… Ela…nora…?” She shook her head. No, that wasn’t it, but it was close. “S-something like that?” she said, looking up at her friend again, a hopeful tone in her voice. “May-maybe you can figure it out…”

Words: 253+ @Chou

The peacock chick was able to touch the other creature, and felt that they were damp and downy, yet fuzzy. The little one promptly placed its head on the other side of her and tried to use its head to pull the other creature closer, wanting to snuggle their warm little self up to his shivering side. Little wings twitching softly and hugging close to his sides, he let out little peeps.

The chick listened patiently to the words of the other creature, seeming to understand slightly; it didn't question why it couldn't see, perhaps assuming that the ability was reserved for others, or that it'd come to it eventually. After all, it had been in the dark since before it was born. it was uded to this. It didn't know what it was missing out on. "Okay!" he peeped to the other little chick. "Maybe I'll figure it out eventually."

The little one listened as she figured out her name, and a brightness came into his eyes. "I'll call you Nora, " he said. "I... I like that. It's easy to remember, and pretty! I... I think my name is.... Chou. That feels right. Does it feel right to you?" he asked nervously, looking for approval from his new friend.

@Eleanor