A smallish chrysalis of rainbow quartz sat between a slightly larger bit of crystal that cast a soft glow and a bit of moss that did the same. Everything seemed fairly quiet and peaceful until the creature inside the chrysalis started to move. Something was telling the creature inside that it was time to get out of this cramped space. With one forceful shove, a chunk of quartz went flying and a red feathered head was revealed. Two little black eyes opened and took in a fuzzy picture of the world. She could see something glowing very close, leaving a pool of light around her little shell, but elsewhere things were pretty dark. Up above was simply nothing to her eyes and at her level there might have been other glowing things, but they were too far to tell.

After taking stock of what she could see, the little macaw stretched out her large but mostly useless wings. This stretch pushed away the remaining chrysalis and she tumbled forward on unsteady legs, landing on the ground with her still-stubby tail stretched behind her and both wings out to ther sides.

---


Cadence found herself alone once more, large paws carrying her back to the cave's Core where she could feel the energy crackling around the air. It was refreshing but a bit jarring to feel the energy practically smack her in the face. For a moment she stopped walking and gave her thick fur a shake, stirring up the mane at her neck and throwing the tuft that fell into her face into disarray but she did not do a thing to fix it. Let it stay in her face, she didn't care, no one was going to judge. Her brothers didn't care and her new friend Penelope couldn't see it.

So, she let her hair be and walked onwards towards the spire where she could just make out a shape moving about in the glowing light. Curious she sped up to a trot and found that there was an avian creature moving about, it appeared from the shape near it that it had just popped out of a chrysalis. Her stub tail wiggled back and forth with her interest as she plopped her rump on the ground and let out a chuff, "Well, hey there, Red!" Even in the blue-wash from the spire she could see the red-tint from the bird's feathers which showed how saturated its feathers were.

---

219 | notes | @Faerie

"Talking!"
Thinking...

The little macaw gained her balance after a moment and stood up. Something was moving toward her now, and as she took time to watch it, a furry shape came into focus. As it got closer, it got bigger and bigger to the point that it towered over her relatively tiny feathered form. Fear wasn't a thing she knew though, and she waddled over to this stranger.

"Red?" She copied the sound in her own voice. "Red! Red! Red!" She squawked. Words may not mean anything to a newly emerged gembound, but she had to learn somewhere and she liked the sound of her own voice so far. Instinct told her the tone in this giant's voice wasn't a threatening one, so she stepped even closer, curious about what this thing was.

"Hey there!" she repeated excitedly, opening her wings. The fast movement unbalanced the young bird again though and she found herself stumbling forward and running beak first into the huge white leg of her new aquaintence.

@cadence

---


It wasn't surprising that when she spoke to the bird the first thing the hatchling did was repeat her. The creature likely had no idea what she was squawking about as was the case for most newly hatched creatures. The grizzly lion shook her head indulgently before giving a nod. "Yep, Red, that's you... maybe." She didn't really know what the gembound's name was and likely the gembound didn't know yet either. "Or maybe you have a real, better name. Do you think?" She peered down at the little bird toddling towards her before letting out a little laugh as she mimicked a little "hey there" before falling forward onto her left leg. The bearlion winced at the sharp thing against her leg but as it was an accident it didn't cause much harm.

"Hey! Don't go so fast, you're gonna hurt yourself! Or someone else with that thing!" Very gently she attempted to lift her leg and help push the bird up in a bid to right the creature and get her back on her feet. "Now then, you got a name? Or are you just happy repeating what I say for now?" The grizzly lioness eased herself down onto her belly, lowering herself to help get eye-level with the tiny bird.

---

213 | notes | @Faerie

"Talking!"
Thinking...

Little by little, things kind of clicked together as more words came out of the other's mouth. She felt the her aquaintance flinch when her beak poked into her leg and somehting in the back of her head told her it was not a good reaction. She simply looked up at the furry face above her though, unsure of what to do until the big paw righted her. "So fast" She repeated, opening her wings again, but a bit slower. She wobbled again, but was able to stay on her feet.

One word caught her attention in the huge storm of them was was making her little brain rattle. Name. She could tell it was an important one, but the reason why wasn't there just yet. It sounded nice though. "Name?" She tentatively said the word, tilting her head to the side.

Thena all of a sudden there was soft stuff within reach. Long, soft looking fur called to her in a way that seemed irresistable. She cautiously scooted close to a long hanging bit of fur and reached out with her beak to touch it.

@cadence

---


The lionbear was glad to see that the young bird was able to keep her balance the second time around. A little wobbling but she ultimately kept her balance. With the rapid firing of her sentences she was surprised that the youngling was able to find and grasp one singular thing to take a hold of. Name. Cadence nodded her head at the little red avian. "That's right, 'name'. It's what you go by. Like, me, my name is Cadence. Ca-dence!" She said to the tiny bird.

The little creature scooted towards her once more, Cadence's eyes closed briefly as she expected to be plowed into by the beak again... but it didn't come. Instead she just felt something grasping at her the furs on her head. Blue eyes opened to see the little red toying with the fur. Cadence didn't quite know what to make of that. Was she just playing around? Or did her messy fur just attract the attention of a babe who just had to fix it. "What are you doing, Red?" She didn't shoo the little one away, the bird wasn't hurting her so she didn't feel a need to. She would just let the little gal do what she wanted until, if, it became an issue.

---

212 | notes | @Faerie

"Talking!"
Thinking...

Name, name, name, name. The word continued to bounce around in her head. "Name Ca-dence" She grumbled happily as she picked through the messy hair. Something was just so satisfying about the feeling of separating clumped bits of fur and making them lay flat. There was so much of it to play with too, and it was so soft.

She let the word tumble around a bit more before pausing in her preening to speak again. "Name... Name f..." She had something in her mind, but spitting out a new word was harder than just echoing back sounds. "Fa..." She tried again but couldn't quite spit out the word repeating itself in her head. With a small frustrated squeak she went back to picking apart the hair on Cadence's head nad making it lie flat.

@cadence

---


The grizzly lioness couldn't lie to herself... She really didn't mind the young bird picking at the messy tufts of fur on her head. It was like when her mother used to do it although in those times she always fought back. This time she endured it with a sort of melancholy as it reminded her of those times long past. Times she would never be able to get back. "Yep! Uh... That's right, kid... Cadence is me." She grinned, forcing a smile and shaking off the stranger emotions that had overtaken her.

The little bird began to fumble around then for her own name. Cadence's ears pricked as she listened to the "f" sounds and then a "Fa". Was that her name? Fa? The hybrid doubted it and figured that it was just a part of her name and she hadn't quite figured out the rest. No matter. "Don't worry, you'll get it. Till then I'm just gonna call ya 'Red'. How's that sound, eh?"

---

166 | notes | @Faerie

"Talking!"
Thinking...

Faerie. Name Faerie She said in her head. It may be a bit before the completely new word actually gets said, but she knew her name, even if nobody else did. "Red!" She said through one of the last unruly bits of hair. Red would work for now

As she finished playing with Cendence's hair, she stepped back and bit and looked around. There were little pebbles all around her feet. She picked one up and rolled it around in her beak. While doing so, she looked at the bit glowing crystal and wondered why the little rocks didn't glow like that one. A strange feeling overcame her for a moment and she imagined the little rock in her mouth glowing. What fun it would be if other rocks glowed too.

For a split second, a bright little light appeared in her beak, making fae Squawk, drop her rock and quickly move backwards. It wasn't actually supposed to glow. She thoughts, feathers all standing up and her wings still half extended.

@Cadence

---


Cadence laughed at the enthusiastic repeating of "red". "Red it is then!" She would just take that as a yes!

The little bed stepped back from her, finished playing with her head tuft and Cadence raised her head but didn't get up from the ground. Instead she laid down, rear legs splaying and forepaws crossing over one another as she eyed the small creature. She wondered if the little gal would stick around? To be honest she was rather fond of the cute little bird and would love to keep her about if she wanted to stick around.

As she watched the little bird she saw a flash of light from Red's beak after she picked up a pebble. Cadence's eyes widened as she leaned closer, interest piqued. "What was that there? I think you almost did a spell..." The grizzly lion grinned. "Why not try again, kiddo?"

---

148 | notes | @Faerie

"Talking!"
Thinking...