At the foot of the Spire, there lay a chrysalis. It was light blue and dazzling in the luminescence of the large blue crystal that towered above all Polaris. Inside was a Gembound in the form of a small cheetah. She was waking up for the first time in her life, and her limbs extended outward by instinct in an attempt to break out of her egg. Her first attempt, however, was a failure. Luckily, her lungs were not yet working, stuck as she was in the “yolk” of her chrysalis, and wouldn’t until she broke free, but still, the feeling of entrapment caused her to panic. She tried to cry out, but her voice was caught and muffled in the amniotic fluid. Her only option was to try again.

130

Zevruu had wandered away from the one he had baubled some shards for, and now found himself in Polaris. It was still dark, with just the light of the spire to guide him. He walked toward it, wanting a form of light, even though he could make his own. But his magic was usually unreliable, and he wanted something that wouldn't fade.

He was surprised, however, to find a chrysalis that seemed to match the color of the spire. He walked closer, inspecting it. He could faintly hear someone moving inside, and wondered if they were trying to get out. He had never seen a chrysalis with someone that was close to hatching. He had only ever seen them after they hatched. He sat down and watched, hoping they would be able to get out themselves. He didn't know how he would be able to help.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Senshi

The Gemling, still stuck in her chrysalis, did not hear the serval’s approach. The amniotic fluid in her ears did not allow for any other noise than a constant dull roaring. She continued to try and make small cheetah cub cries, but it was impossible because there was fluid in her mouth. She pushed and pushed and pushed against the aquamarine egg that trapped her in place, but it still wasn’t working! She was small and weak, and a baby, and being stuck in here was frightening her to no end. What was she supposed to do now? All this pushing was making her exhausted. Maybe she should just go to sleep. Maybe she should stop trying at all…

119 @Zevruu

Zevruu watched the chrysalis, waiting for it to break open. As more and more time passed, and it didn't, he began to get worried. Did they need his help? What could he do? He shifted his paws. He could say encouraging words, although he doubted they could hear him. His ears were lowered as he wondered what he could do.

He wondered if he could break it open for them. But what if they weren't actually ready? What if he was wrong, and he was just looking at a chrysalis that still had time to go before it was hatched? He looked around to see if anyone was nearby, but it just appeared to be him and the chrysalis. He looked back to it and slowly, tentatively, scratched one side of it. He wondered if they would be able to feel it. He hoped they would take it as a sign to not give up, but who knew if they were aware of it?
"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Senshi

The small cheetah cub was just about drifting back into sleep when suddenly there was a sound very close to her ear. She jerked, whooshing amniotic fluid around in her chrysalis when she did, and her head turned to face the noise. Her eyes were closed to protect themselves against the fluid, and her ears were tiny and tucked against her head, but her hearing worked perfectly well. And there had definitely just been some kind of noise very close to her that she had never heard before… She didn’t know whether to be scared or not. She couldn’t see anything, which was nothing new, because she had never been able to see anything, and the noise had stopped right away. She wasn’t yet aware of the world outside, even as her limbs continued to push uselessly at the walls around her. So clearly there was nothing to be scared of. Maybe she’d just had a short dream, and the noise outside had never even really happened. It did spur her on, though. She continued her efforts to escape…

179 @Zevruu

— And suddenly, all once, there was a loud shattering sound that rent the air, causing the Gemling to squeal. But this time, instead of her squeal being muffled by amniotic fluid, it was loud and piercing, and she was scared all over again. She tumbled to the ground, covered in “yolk” and broken shards of aquamarine. She scrambled to her paws, but the weight of the gem on her face, which was significant at her current size, caused her to fall over, thumping her chin onto the ground. She squealed again, and continued squealing nonstop like every baby kitten ever. What was going on? Why was she cold now? Why was everything so heavy? Why wasn’t she floating anymore? And having never been able to see before caused her to just blank her vision out entirely. She hadn’t even noticed the Spire yet, let alone the serval who was literally right next to her.

154 @Zevruu

Zevruu continued to watch, growing increasingly more worried as each second passed, and nothing happened. He was beginning to think about leaving when a loud crack made him jump. The creature came out, along with a bunch of fluid. He blinked in surprise as the other, who looked to be a cat similar to him, kept falling over. He figured it was because of the gem on her head. He watched her for a moment, paws shifting, before speaking. "Uh, hello?"

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Senshi

The sound of the serval’s voice shocked the kitten out of her marathon of mewling and she looked up at him with bright yellow eyes, surrounded by the blue of her gem. Then, without thinking, she stumbled forward and attempted to press herself into him, purring contentedly. He was another cat, wasn’t he? Clearly this was how it was supposed to be. She didn’t have any concept of mothers or fathers or siblings, but in her young mind, he was something like one of those. She had already decided. She looked up at him happily, forgetting all about her struggle into the world for a moment. Fate knows how the serval would take this sudden turn of events…

118 @Zevruu

Zevruu blinked as the kitten looked up at him with her bright, yellow eyes. He watched her for a moment until, without warning, she came forward and pressed herself against him. He let out a quiet gasp of surprise and backed away a little. She was still pressed up against him, but not as much as before. He looked down at her, his mouth opened in surprise. He looked around briefly before looking back down, seeing her looking up at him happily. He tried to speak, but his mouth suddenly felt dry.

He had only just met her, and she was already pressed up against him. He figured it may have been because she was young, very young, and maybe needed comfort? He didn't know. He didn't step away. In fact, he didn't even move at all. He just sat there with her pressing against him, struggling to find words to say and force them out of his mouth. After some time, he managed to get out a word. "W-what..."

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Senshi

When the cat backed up a bit away from her, the kitten stumbled forward again, and ended up booping her face against the bigger cat’s leg. She let out an indignant mewl and glared up at him for a moment, but she couldn’t really glare because the gem on her face prevented her from moving the muscles around her eyes.

And that’s when she saw it. The Spire, in all its glowing blue glory. She forgot all about the cat and his confused stare, and turned away from him, her mouth open in awe. It was relatively dark in Polaris, since the lights were off, and this gigantic blue crystal was the only main source of light in this room, which made it glow all the brighter. She let out a small sound of wonder, and turned back to look at the serval, then stared again at the Spire. What… was it?

152 @Zevruu