Iqniq opened her eyes to darkness. That wasn't too surprising with her current state. She was curled up in a chrysalis, her long tail tickling her nose. This was all fine and comfortable, but she needed to move and find something to eat. As her mind woke more and more, she felt the need to get moving and find something to eat.

With a good stretch of all the muscles in her back, the chrysalis flew apart in all directions, leaving her with only one little thin piece sticking to the top of her head. With a flick of an ear, she got rid of that and blinked her eyes. Strange... I'm still in orion right?... Something wasn't quite right here. She couldn't see anything... Not a single pinprick of light. Did I go blind?? How many cycles was I in there... Her thoughts started turning in a frantic spiral of panic.

Something about this seemed very wrong to her and she didn't know what to do. "Is anyone around? Help... I... I think I've gone blind..."

It was dark. Even in Orion it was dark. The quartz which usually reflected the light had nothing to reflect, leaving it seem even darker. The serval had light magic, but he knew the paths of Orion so well he didn't even need to use it. Zevruu was able to navigate with ease, knowing exactly where buildings were. He could navigate through it even if his eyes were closed, and it felt like they were. Despite this, he wasn't exactly sure where his baubled stone was. He kept it hidden by a building, but in the dark, he couldn't quite tell where it was. He could see very faintly from his baubled necklace, but it hardly made a difference.

While walking, he wondered why the lights had gone out in the first place. He had been in a tunnel, traveling from Polaris to Orion when it happened. He had needed to use a light during that, but he called it off when he got to Orion. At first, he was amazed at seeing the place in darkness. Or, rather, the lack of light. But after a cycle of it, he was tired. He missed the lights that looked like stars in this place, and wished the lights would just turn back on already.

He was mid-thought when he heard a noise. His long ears were pricked up, and he followed it. It had sounded like a hatching of a chrysalis. Was someone new nearby? Normally, he'd avoid anyone, but this past cycle in darkness had left him rather lonely. Upon hearing a voice, he paused. They were very close. And...blind? He supposed that someone just coming into this world would be scared. Although they didn't sound young. Rather, they sounded aged. Not young. Must be someone who hasn't been around for a while.

Nonetheless, they were scared. So he called upon his magic to bring some light. However, instead of a glowing, floating orb that was supposed to appear beside him, his body seemed to have suddenly become flooded with light for a second before going away, almost as quickly as it had come. The sudden rush of magic that flowed through him left him breathless, and he collapsed slightly. He managed to catch himself, and lifted his body. He gave a sheepish smile to the cheetah, although she wouldn't see it. "I...Sorry about that. I tried to give some light, but it f-failed. I guess some light showed through, but it wasn't what I i-ntended. You're not b-blind, though."

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Iqniq

Astaroth yawned, he had heard the breaking of the chrysalis and the words of the creature when they spoke, proclaiming their blindness. He snuck through the cavern, meaning to keep his presence to a minimum until he was near to or directly by the two other creatures, relying on his black fur to blend into the darkness. He had learned some from Kin-kin on showmanship and he made sure to not make a sound until he was right beside them. "You are not blind, the caves are only dark. Don't be afraid though, you get used to it, the darkness won't hurt you." He walked between them while saying this, tail swaying slowly, taking quiet, deliberate steps. He sat on his haunches beside the two, looking at the new arrival with silent regard.
"Speaking."
Thoughts.
tags: @Iqniq @Zevruu
notes:

Berith growled angrily at the sound of voices, he was quite enjoying the calm silence of sitting on Astaroths back. He loved the free ride and being able to be lazy and be so close to his dear loved one, but he talked to WAY to many people for his taste. "Whats going on now?" He asked angrily. "So what if the caves are dark... it's a little obvious. Let me sleep."

The cheetah jumped at a sudden very short burst of light that appeared nearby. In it, she caught the figure of a smaller cat. The fur all along her back stood on end and she was questioning if she was seeing a ghost or real gembound until it spoke up. "Th... That's OK. Your trying did help a bit... at least I know it's not my eyes that are messed up..." Her voice shook as she started getting over the fear of never being able to see again. Something was still very wrong.

She then heard another voice in the dark telling her she wasn't blind. "I... I guess I know that now, but do you know why it's so dark down here? What happened to all of the light... I'm am in Orion right?" She asked, voicing her worry that she may not actually know where she was. "I feel like I've been asleep in that shell for awhile, but I can't really judge how long it's been..." Her nerves started to calm a little as she spoke. "I do know I was smaller before, and I don't think I had completely grown out of my cub fluff. Do either of you know Bartos?" She wondered about her old friend. Was he still around? Was he okay?

Then a third voice spoke and she wanted to growl, but held the sound back, folding her ears and just glaring in the general direction of the small voice. That little creature better be glad she couldn't see. She had just woken up after who knows how many cycles and she had opened her eyes to darkness where it hadn't been before.

@zevruu , @astaroth , @berith

Zevruu was embarrassed that his spell had failed, and so badly too. But it had done something. He had helped, even if it was only a little bit. But he still had to do more! It was still dark, but maybe he could try again? He was about to when a voice nearby spoke up. He turned in the direction, although it was too dark to see anything. He turned back to the other.

"Something happened. I do not know what, but it affected e-every cave. And yes, this is O-orion. And I don't know how much time has passed, since I don't recall having ever s-seen you before. And I c-can't say I know someone named Bartos." He turned in the direction of a new voice.

"It may be o-obvious to you, but maybe not to s-someone who has been sleeping in their chrysalis for...who k-knows how long." His tail tip flicked lightly, not that anyone could see it. He realized he could fix that! Well, as long as it didn't fail again. He hoped it wouldn't. One gembound seeing his failure was bad enough, but three? He sighed and tried again.

This time, a small orb of light began to appear. It was faint, and rather small, but it did manage to cast some light on the others. He gave a small sigh of relief. At least it wasn't a complete failure this time. Zevruu kept the orb within his eyesight, not wanting it to go away after all this effort.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Iqniq @Astaroth @Berith

"As for the lights I am not sure though I have heard that the generator may have went dead." At the mention of his friends name, a name he had not heard for quite a while now, his ears perked up, Bartos was one of the few gems in the cave he felt he could call his friend. He was the one who took him to find out his name after all. "Yes, I know him though I haven't seen him recently, last I saw him was in Orion.... here's something also for the dark." As he said this last comment he reached to his back, nudging Rith a little and grabbing one of two gems he got from Kin-kin, the baubled glow having been blocked by the fox laying on them. He placed the gem in front of the cheetah. It cast a light glow around it. "That light will never go out, and it will always stay as bright, I can't say why you do not like the dark but it seems to be a trend for many creatures in these caves, tho do me a favor and keep that safe, my mentor Kin-kin gave me that when I met her, it means a lot."
"Speaking."
Thoughts.
tags: @Iqniq @Berith @Zevruu
notes:

Berith growled again annoyed at the creature for correcting him. "Well.. It was dark here when I hatched barely that long ago, and I didn't think I was blind." He laughed softly listening to him talk however, he had the most obnoxious stutter that made him sound so young and as if he were constantly nervous. "Also. are you in some kind of pain? Because that stutter you have is horrendous and would be horrible to have to hear every time you talk." He laughed more at his perfectly set comment about the creatures talking.
He felt the nudge when Astaroth went to grab the shining stone and felt slightly disappointed, the light of the stone was causing a slight heat radiance that Berith was finding quite comfortable. He sighed angrily, "Why'd you have to take that.. I was using it Astaroth."

Iqniq released the breath the hadn't even realized she was holding when a ball of light appeared and stayed lit next to the other feline in the room. "Thank you..." She said, relieved to be able to look around and recognize at least some of her surroundings. It was still weird to not be able to look up and see the twinlking ceiling in all directions, but at least this was doable. "I'm Iqniq by the way." She said, nodding in thanks.

Then the wolf spoke up and offered another source of light, a permanent one. The thought of having her own source of light was even more of a comfort than the ball that floated around and would surely go out after awhile. Her heartrate slowed to a more normal rate, at least until tthe small voice on the wolf's back spoke up again.

With a growl she felt her fur start to crackle slightly with static electricity without her permission. "You didn't know anything other than dark. You probably didn't even know what blind meant the moment you hatched. That's just how things were until you saw light later on." She growled. This tiny thing looked barely old enough to know much about the caves other than what this wolf had taught it. "You have nothing to compare this world to, but I do..." She trailed off, trying to force her fur flat. She hadn't been all that old herself in her most recent memories, but she had been old enough to make friends and start a life. It was worthless though trying to make her fur cooperate with all the electricity sparking off of her, the spell was already cast and she would have to find a way to discharge it to regain control of her coat.

@zevruu @astaroth @berith

Zevruu glanced at the wolf as he offered a light source that was more permanent. He still kept an eye on his orb, as even with the light source provided by the wolf, he still wanted to have something to prove for all his effort. He glanced at the small gembound on the wolf's back, and was about to retort something about how he's hardly been alive, when he heard their next words. He paused, and his ears went down.

"I...N-no, I'm not in p-pain." He looked down in shame, breaking contact with the floating orb and causing it to disappear. He glanced up at where it was moments before and gave a sigh. Desperate to take attention off his stutter, he tried to cast another spell.

This time, it was a complete success. His fur brightened considerably, and he looked up and saw that he was able to see far more now. He glanced at the cheetah, Iqniq, and gave a small grin. "I'm Zevruu."

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Astaroth @Berith @Iqniq