Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Hael's steps had grown bolder and surer in the time since her emerging. She roamed the hall of Polaris confidently and her legs had stopped shaking and wobbling at every little nook and cranny in the ground a while ago. Thanks to that, she was becoming more and more of an adventurer, probably much to the distress of Equinox.

Sadly, Hael had yet to meet other creatures. Not that she didn't like Equinox' presence! But Hael would like to have more friends. And maybe meet someone like herself too! Other cats!
And if those other Gembounds didn't come to her, then Hael would just have to come to them. Simple as that. Not that she was brave enough to venture into the Tunnels and out of her sanctuary Polaris, but she roamed the hall and scanned the surroundings with her amber eyes, attentive and curious, making sure she missed nothing, not even the prey twitching in her peripheral vision. She'd begun to notice the hunger clawing at her insides and knew, instinctively, that she needed to eat soon.

On light paws (and making sure her moonstone-paw didn't scrape against the stone ground) Hael turned and watched a mouse gnaw on the leaf of a tiny fern. Crouching down, Hael focused her gaze on the mouse, felt the tension growing in her muscles and the saliva gathering in her mouth.

When the tension snapped and Hael jumped forward, she tripped over herself, tumbling over her stubby legs and rolling towards the mouse - which, of course, ran away as fast as it could.
Hael rolled over onto her back and pouted at the lights overhead.
Dang.

"Listen to me."

@Morthos

MORTHOS

His steps had become surer and markedly more nimble since his time emerging from the chrysalis, though his walk was still rather wobbly and his ability to communicate was still in development; while concepts were crystal clear within his mind's grasp, the skill to form those ideas into words remained fleeting, resulting in a maelstrom of roughly formed sentences. So as the lanky fawn wandered throughout the seemingly endless cavern, he muttered aloud to himself, practicing and practicing some more the use of words.

"I...am... Mmm...Mmmmmoor..THHHHH..." He gagged on the vowel sound, his vocal chords outright refusing to follow along the mental cues that he was attempting to impose upon them. With a frustrated huff, the lad tried again, his feminine voice soft enough that any echo that it caused was swiftly swallowed by the gentle darkness of the cave, "I am.. Mmmorthoss. MORthos. Morthos." He took a deep, steadying breath, tentative victory itching to curve his lips into a smile, "Morthos. I am Morthos and... I am," He paused then, what was he, exactly? The concept of different species was not one that was apparent to him yet, as he had only met those that resembled himself, only understood that others just looked different, and that did not necessarily mean they were different at all.

His silence only lasted for a moment, though, as yet another revelation burst forth within that blossoming mind of his, causing the hesitant smile upon his face to grow rapidly into an expression of joy. Yes, Morthos knew what he was, he knew what he was without a doubt, and as his clumsy tongue worked behind his teeth, as air fluttered through muscled and brought forth what he knew to be he voice, the fawn admitted the only two truths that he held self-evident; "I am Morthos, and I am alive."

A thrill washed over his thin frame, making him forget to focus on his movements and sending him stumbling forward in a desperate gambit to catch his balance. It was then, as the boy caught himself only to trip forward again, tangling himself up in his own legs, that he noticed a small, adorably fuzzy creature laying belly-up upon the cavern floor. He also noticed in that moment that he was barreling toward the tiny thing, his cloven hooves striking up a horrid racket as he awkwardly battled against gravity.

Worry creased his brow and stole his voice, allowing only a low humming sound to escape from between pressed lips. At the last moment, Morthos decided that allowing himself to trip would be the best possible choice for avoiding injury to the fluffball, so closing his eyes, the ivory cherub went limp, allowing gravity to do with him what it would.

Hopefully it wouldnt end with a broken bone.

PART ONE PLEASE STAND BY

MORTHOS

Relief flooded the lad even as he crashed to the cave floor, skidding to a stop right beside the prone form of the fluff creature. What would have happened if the sharp tips of his cloven hooves had penetrated that squishy ball of cuteness? Would the little critter have been able to walk away from such an injury and survive? Would Morthos, only hours into his existence, have been defined as a murderer from his very first day? He shuddered at the thought, anxiety jabbing it's hateful spikes into his mind even as his knees bruised from their impact upon stone.

Shaking his head to rid himself of such gruesome thoughts, the child heaved a sigh, silently thinking the possibility of some celestial hive mind for the safe deliverance of the Fluff from whatever harm he may have afforded it. Eyeing the creature, Morthos felt his head cock to the side and knew that his expression was practically bleeding intrigue. "Hhhhh...."

The words were more difficult now than before, nerves ripping away his frail grasp upon speech...

~~~

But at last, he regained some semblance of control, the words pouring from his tongue in an almost panicked stream, "Hello, I'm Morthos. I'm sorry if scaring you."

FINI PART 2

@Hael

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Hael was still lying on her back, looking at the lights hanging from the ceiling when she heard a mumbling coming down one of the corridors leading to Polaris. Curiously, she turned her head and watched the entrance from which the voice was coming. Maybe it was finally another cat?
Or was Equinox just back? It didn't sound like Equinox though.

And it wasn't. The creature that stumbled through the entrance to Polaris looked nothing like Hael or Equinox. They had super long legs and were really thin, but still taller than Hael. Not nearly as tall as Equinox, though. The kitten would have asked them who they were and introduced herself but the laggy creature was tumbling towards her!
There would have been no time to roll away, but instead of trying to catch themselves, the stranger just crashed down. Shocked, Hael jumped to her feet (a movement which almost cost her her own balance) and rushed forward. She stopped before she could crash into the stranger, but hovered just a few feet away, worry evident on her face.

Morthos. What a cool name! Hael hoped all of her friends had cool names like Equinox and Morthos did. Not that she could consider Morthos a friend yet, she hadn't even given him her own name!
"I'm Hael." The kitten said, voice clear and crisp. She smiled at the ivory-pelted other.
"Didn't scare me." The Gembound added with a toothy grin, amber eyes twinkling.

"Is Morthos okay?" Hael asked, bouncing closer to inspect the tall stranger. "Clumsy." She added and giggled, though she genuinely hoped Morthos was alright. They could have broken a bone with that fall!

In her excitement, Hael had mismatched the momentum of her bouncing and tripped over her paws, stumbling forward and landing snout-to-snout with Morthos. Their touch was electric, white flashing against the insides
of Hael's eyelids when she blinked that moment.

(ATTEMPT)

"Listen to me."

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Hael watched as pictures flashed before her eyes. Still pictures, like glances of a memory. Just not her own memory.
The kitten was a bystander, witnessing Morthos' birth. Or emerging, to be more precise.

The long-legged creature strained against the red chrysalis in one flash of images and then, in the next, he was free of it. But that was all Hael could see.
Two pictures were all she got. Blindly, Hael blinked and crawled back, a bit away from Morthos.

What was that? What the heck had just happened?

"Did you see that too?" Hael asked, her voice trembling the tiniest bit. She wasn't exactly afraid - she knew what she'd just seen, so it wasn't that that was strange, but why and how were what she didn't understand.
Was she strange in some way? Different than others?

But why her?


"Listen to me."

@Morthos

MORTHOS

The Fluff was on it's feet in an instant, though Morthos didn't miss the glint of something pretty upon the pad of her paw, the flash causing his brow to crease further in a show of curiosity. Was it a sorceress like the tiny witch he had met when he first learned to walk? Would mushrooms spring from her steps as well and would their spores dance upon the back of the breeze? Hopefully the fawn would find out soon - he so desperately wanted to know more and more about this place he had been born into. He so desperately wanted to learn.

The voice of the Fluff was markedly female and the ivory deer grinned at her name - Hael, so pretty and simple and he briefly wondered if she was royalty around these parts due to the simple elegance of her title. The line of thought was interrupted, however, as his newest friend grinned up at him, her lovely eyes burning bright in the soft glow of the cavern. In response, Morthos' tail wagged against his rump and part of him questioned if that was something his tail was supposed to do. Lowering his head so that it was closer to Hael's own, the cherubic fawn gave a short low before pushing his voice from his lips with a little more ease than before, "Yes, I'm Okay. Still learning legs."

Yet, as Hael tripped, her adorably stubby legs tangling up in themselves, Morthos' unthinking reaction was to push his nose toward her, to help her steady herself before she got hurt, but as the pairs' muzzles collided, something extraordinary happened. Flashes of his short life appeared before his eyes, clear as crystal, clearer than his own memories, as if he was spectator to his own existence. If he had enough presence of mind to gasp, he would have, but the incident lasted only a few seconds before Hael pulled back, her eyes wide with either awe or fear.

Blinking to clear his vision, Morthos' overly large ears swiveled forward to catch his friend's trembling question, gaze softening as a sudden urge to protect and care for the tiny fluffy creature surged within his thin breast. Slowly, he nodded, careful not to touch the lass again for fear the subsequent contact would scare her again. "I saw. Saw me. Was accident? Hael is okay? Not hurt?"

He ached to reach out his nose to the Fluff, to offer her comfort and shield her tiny body with his own from whatever could cause her discomfort. Suddenly, an idea popped into Morthos' head - he had yet to meet anyone that didn't have some strange ability and while Toonie knew about her skills, Hael clearly didn't. Did that mean Morthos had been blessed with something as well? With another nod to Hael, and mumbled reassurances, the fawn decided he would give whatever lurked beneath his skin a try.

"Maybe me, too. Don't worry."

Taking a deep breath, the lad focused on turning his awareness inward instead of outward, eyes sliding shut as he blindly reached for what might not even exist. Moments passed with nothing of note, but then, there; a faint pulse, the tiniest flicker of the unknown within the vast recessed of his own being. Distantly, the babe felt his head cock to the side and his lips purse in concentration as he grasped the weak spark and shoved it out and away from his physical body. The effort quickly drained him and Morthos' heart sped up as his muscles tensed, though he didn't want to open his eyes just yet, didn't want to find out if he had failed yet again, that he didn't have a gift.

PART ONE PLEASE STAND BY

MORTHOS

Parting his eyelids ever so slowly, the boy found that Hael hadn't changed or been hurt and for that, he was glad. It hadn't occurred to him until that moment that whatever gift he had might not be friendly to others and he felt a jab of remorse for not looking out for his newest friend more closely. Though as he reassured himself that Hael was, in fact, unharmed, he felt a wave of disappointment flood his heart. He had felt the push and the tiredness, he had felt as the spark enveloped his body and sank into the stone, but it didn't seem as if anything had happened. Ears drooped at the realization that maybe he had just imagined the entire thing, tht he had gotten his hopes up just enough to let them fall.

Then, though, he felt a tiny warmth, the faintest heartbeat that pressed against his mind in sync with his own pulse. The sensation drew his eyes toward the fern at Hael's back and there he noticed the spattering of baby plants that had not been there before, all clustered about the fern's base like children hiding from a rainstorm. A gasp fell from his open mouth and left his jaw hanging as the disappointment was washed away and was replaced with something akin to awe.

Turning his attention back to Hael, the boy's eyes glimmering with the thrill of a new discovery, Morthos tried not to trip over his own voice as words spilled from his lips, "Hael, I do things, too. Not weird, not alone. I make plants come out to play and Hael show pictures in her head." Smiling so wide that it nearly hurt his face, the fawn had to resist the urge to boop Hael's nose with his own in an expression of comeraderie, instead opting to wiggle his body about, tail wagging and flapping against his flanks while his too big ears bounced to and fro.

~~~

Thankfully, his coordination had become controlled enough that he didn't fall over onto his friend or his face, and for that, he was grateful.

Hael PART TWO FINI

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Hael noticed the awe with which Morthos watched her and flushed under her thick pelt. She felt warm all over and blamed it on the excitement coursing through her veins at the fact that she'd found someone else to befriend - someone as new to this world as she was.
She cherished Equinox, but it was nice to know someone in her own age group.

When Morthos revealed that he was indeed okay, a weight fell off Hael's shoulders. If the other gembound had injured themselves, Hael would have felt very bad. Maybe it wouldn't have been her fault, but she'd feel responsible for the injury either way.
And that would have been a bad start for their friendship.
"Okay." Hael smiled up at Morthos, pearly white teeth flashing through her thin, ebony lips.

The look on her friend's face answered Hael's question. The other had seen the flashes too. Whether or not that was supposed to calm her, the kitten didn't know. It certainly did neither. She was afraid Morthos would resent her for it - surely she'd been the cause of those images? Her friend looked just as surprised as she felt.

"Accident." Hael assured Morthos strongly, a serious expression replacing her smile. Please, she thought, believe me.
But then, just like that, Morthos inquired about her, like she hadn't just shocked the both of them to the bone. It surprised Hael more than she let, but also made that warm feeling flush through her again. "No, not hurt. You hurt?" She asked, a bit shaken still, but willing to waltz over it if Morthos was.

"Maybe me too, don't worry." Hael tilted her head, brows furrowed as she thought what Morthos could mean with that. That he could use magic as well?
That idea excited Hael. Surely Morthos' magic would be much cooler than her's! Something actually useful, not just sharing random pictures with others. Pictures she didn't even knew the relevance of.
Hael said nothing as she watched her friend, how they closed heir eyes and focused so hard on something the kitten couldn't see or feel. She watched him tense up and waited excitedly for something- anything to happen.

But nothing did.

And Hael's disappointment was as palpable as Morthos'. "It's okay." The gembound said, stepping forward to comfort her friend. She was sad for Morthos as well. It would have been cool if he had had magic too, but she definitely didn't think less of her new friend now-

When Morthos gasped, Hael turned around to see what the other gembound was looking at.
Oh!
"Magic!" Hael cooed and grinned brightly. She looked at the tiny plants peeking out of the ground under the larger fern. Now that was a cool kind of magic!
"So cool!" The cat said and bounced up and down, turning away from the plants to bounce against Morthos.

The two must have for a really odd sight, but Hael definitely didn't care. She grinned and beamed up at Morthos, probably even more excited about this turn of events than he was. Well, she couldn't know that, but she was really happy.
"Can Morthos make flowers?" Hael asked, still dancing to the non-existend music that was only in her and her friend's heads.

She'd only seen a flower once before, on a bush near the place she'd been born, but when she'd woken up the next morning, it was gone. She kind of mourned it's loss, it had been really pretty.

"Listen to me."

@Morthos

"Magic! So Cool!"

Morthos' fuzzy friend shared his happiness at their discoveries, the pair of gemlings wiggling and dancing to a celebratory music that no one but they could hear. It didn't matter that they probably painted an odd image to others that populated the caves, because the pair had magic! The possibilities seemed endless, nevermind that the lanky fawn had yet to master walking or speech, he would deal with those shortcomings later. Immediately, his mind began to tick away frantically toward the future, wonderings and questions presenting themselves in starbursts of light and color. Depthless black eyes glimmered with intrigue and Morthos willed his body to cease it's joyous dance, though happiness still simmered in that fragile frame.

Cocking his head to the side and fixing the beloved Hael in his gaze, Morthos swiveled his overlarge ears forward, questions that appeared in his mind falling from his tongue as quickly as they could. "Hael, think there are caves? More than this one?" The prospect was thrilling and the deer could feel his heartbeat begin to speed up at the possibility of more things to discover. Eyes darting between hael's oceanic gaze and the flower that he had coaxed into existence, the youth wondered what else he could learn to bring to life, and what sort of things Hael could see that were beyond their veil of existence.

With a huff and one more excited wiggle, Morthos centered his focus and attempted to stand...

~*~*~

Relief rushed through the lad as his body responded to his mental commands, tendons and ligaments stretching beneath ivory pelt to pull his weight from the earth. Standing once more upon unsteady hooves, Morthos grinned down at Hael and motioned with his head toward his back, making the offer as clear as he could before he could speak.

"Hael want to sit on Morthos and adventure?"

Oh, the places they'd go.

FINI

tags: @Hael
notes: TO BEGINNING THE LIFELONG PLATONIC PARTNERSHIP OF LEARNING AND ADVENTUREEEEEE
also sorry it took so long bb<333

hael