Everything was quiet; everything was still, but not one particular stone. Within the stone the creature began to stir. Tired of being in such cramped spaced, he should have broken out days ago but had been comforted by the enclosed space, the quiet. Now the creature arched its back, using its shoulders to press against the side of the white stone while his feet pressed hard against the other side, attempting to split the stone in half by force. There wasn’t much room in the stone giving him plenty of force to push with, but was it enough?

He hoped so.

A strong shove and there was a loud crack, it rang in his ears but it urged him to continue. Again he shoved, out popped a paw, only to recede back into the stone. A moment later, a head appeared and soon after, with a bit of wiggling the body of a wolf pup. Taking his first step out into the area, the pup slipped on a sheet of ice, his paws falling out from under him in a comical display. Groaning, he got back to his feet. Where was everyone? Why was he alone? Why was it so cold? He noted the glowing blue pathway, but it made him nervous. He turned away from it and ventured towards an entrance that was muddy, he wrinkled his nose at the filth and foul smell coming from it. After much trekking he came to an entrance that was wet, nostrils flaring the air smelled heavy and…something else. What was it? Thirsty he took a lick from one of the puddles only to jerk back making a disgusted sound. It was bitter.

Turning away he gazed at one that seemed more than welcoming. It was covered in foliage and offered a warm place for him to go, but was it safe? Carefully, he peered into the entranceway. It seemed alright…

The little pup's paws clicked softly against the frozen earth beneath it as it moved forward through this strange new tunnel. When its ears pricked, it could hear water dripping all around and the ground was almost too slippery to walk on, causing it to hunch low and inch forward at times. It was as it wandered through this cold domain, that it heard a familiar sound.

Its ears pricked, mouth twitching slightly into a smirk. Oh? Who could that be...?

Immediately, Gabriel began to move towards the sound, which it knew as the unmistakable sound of a Gembound being born. It took a long while, but the pup eventually came upon the remnants of a glistening Moonstone Chrysalis. But the creature it belonged to was nowhere to be found.

Lifting its head as high as it could, Gabriel's ears pricked, and it tried to tell which way the newcomer had gone. A child lost on its own and vulnerable could be very useful...

With a few moments of pushing, Gabriel's patience was met by the feel of vibrations running through the ice at his paws, and its ears pricked to the sound of a heartbeat. Only one. The bald, patchy pup hurried towards it, paws skidding on the ice, and soon came upon a lone wolf pup, far, far larger than itself.

"Are you lost? Can I help you?" Gabriel asked, approaching, its large red eyes wide and staring.

@Stark

The clicking of claws on the ground alerted the Wolf, but only once it was too late. He heard the sound a moment before the voice echoed in the large cavern. Turning quickly, almost slipping in the process he stared at an odd…thing. It had the same structure as him, but was much smaller and was more hairless than anything. The thing approached, red eyes wide and fixated. Wary, Stark took a step back, curling his lips in warning. He didn’t trust something with so little hair…and the fact he was a stranger. “Stay back!” He replied in a shout that was far too loud.

Once the point was across, Stark shrugged his shoulders. “I just…what is this place?” He asked, preferring to leave the dog but he also needed to know where he was and what was going on. “Who are you?” He asked, figuring names were in order, unless he was going to call the thing…well...thing.

The larger creature seemed frightened by Gabriel's approach, despite being a much larger pup. How odd; that didn't seem logical at all. Gabriel wasn't about to argue, however, so it stopped several metres away and sat back on its haunches, a clear display that it wouldn't come any closer. Still, its sanguine eyes remained fixed on the other. "Okay. I will," it replied, bowing its scruffy head. Not an emotion seemed to cross the little pup's face and even despite the warning clearly displayed by the stranger, it did not seem afraid.

"You're in one of the tunnels of Origin Cave. Assuming that you're new here, welcome," Gabriel told them, recalling the chrysalis that it'd found, and recognizing their scent. His large red eyes finally blinked as they asked about who he was, something that seemed a formality here in the caves. What a pity; unless it used an alias, having no name would probably be more beneficial. But the pup wouldn't want to make any enemies just yet.

"I'm Gabriel. Have you chosen a name yet, yourself?"


@Stark

The Wolf shifted his weight nervously but relaxed a bit when the smaller pup stopped and sat back on its haunches. He wasn’t going to come any closer. Relieved, the Wolf looked around once again, but only briefly as the other spoke, bowing his head in a deep nod. When the dog spoke again, he listened quietly, he was in one of the tunnels of Origin Cave….what was a cave? Tilting his head back he looked upward, noting the strange glowing orbs high above them. “Oh..” Was all he said in response, unsure of what to say?

Again the other spoke, this time a name. Gabriel. Then another question, had he chosen a name? This time, he shifted his feet uncomfortably. “Erm…no…I don’t know what I should be called.” He hadn’t thought of a name, how was he supposed to name himself? Wasn’t that someone else’s job? “What should I be called?” He asked, staring at the red-eyed dog once again.

The pup shifted his erudite gaze in response to the other pup's attention shifting, glancing at the area around them. This tunnel, admittedly, was quite bare. If there was anything, or anyone, coming, it'd know well in advance. Gabriel looked back to the wolf pup as their voice reached them again... with nothing. They seemed unsure, but perhaps that was to be expected. It assumed that not everyone else spent their crystallized days looking for knowledge about the world outside. "You seem unsure," noted Gabriel, fuzzy ears flicking forward.

The pup blinked its wide ayes and a smile twinged at its pointed muzzle. In contrast to Gabriel's resolute approach to itself, the wolf pup asked it for a name. Strange... yet oddly convenient. Would a name be a big enough favour to be owed back later, it wondered? "In the end, that decision comes back to you..." Gabriel told them. But, in the meantime..." The hairless pup thought of the contrast between them, the two canines... alike in body, but the contrast in mind was... "Stark. How about that?"

@Stark