Kielo grinned, closing her eyes contentedly as she felt the large one's big paws surrounding her, offering comfort and protection from the large world outside. The feathers along her back rippled, even those that were compressed to her sides by the chest of the large cat.

Her ears pricked forward, listening intently to their words. "A... A hybrid?" they asked softly. though they couldn't see themselves, that felt right. Somehow, it felt like most others had it ingrained in them at birth exactly what they were , into their gem perhaps, but with Kielo that had never been the case. But hybrid felt right. They didn't think they'd ever met another hybrid before; but somehow there was still one piece missing. "That sounds right. But... don't hybrids..." she thought deeply, trying to find the words to express the feeling in their heart, something that always felt strange. Something they missed, even though it was something they'd never known. "Don't hybrids have someone there for them? Don't they have... something more?" Kielo searched for the word. As they looked deeper inside themselves, the more they felt that something wasn't quite right, if they really were a hybrid.

"...Parents...?"

Kielo listened appreciatively to the stories they told about the hybrids they knew, and how great they were. "Wow!" the little hybrid breathed, fluttering her wings in awe. "They sound amazing! so very strong! You must be so very proud of them," the little one chirped with a grin. "I hope I get to meet him one day."

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Aeroth
notes: here

Aeroth mulled over the question of the little one, she had no idea what it was like to have parents, nor had she ever been one herself, she had no clue what being a parent even entailed. So she just snuggled in closer to the little hybrid. "I really know nothing about parents, I've never had any, I was born from a gem just like you but I was given life by the cave itself, I suppose that means that Origin is my parents in of itself." She swiveled her ears around, listening to the cracking and sizzling of magick along the surface of the spire in between the massive booms of the strikes hitting the monolith and the ceiling. And they perked again after the little gemling responded about the marrowbound. "They're more than amazing." She said with a grin, sighing as she laid her head on the paw opposite from Kielo, her voice light and airy. "He's handsome, kind, intelligent, brave, he's incredible in every way." She shook her head after a moment, realizing she had been daydreaming, before continuing. Her voice bright and cheery again, "Now if you'd like I could take you to see him!"
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags: @Kielo
Notes:

Kielo seemed relieved by Aeroth's reassurance, but she couldn't help feeling a twinge of doubt as well. "That's a nice way to think about it," they murmured, sounding reassured, relief apparent as their wings drooped slightly towards their sides. She, too, was silent for a time, listening to the world shifting and changing in its formation. The buzz of the lights that had guided her at birth was gone, but she was beginning to learn other ways. She knew how to find water, and how to find food. She knew the scents of other Gembounds. The terrain itself was the last obstacle she faced, and she was slowly, but surely, learning its tricks.

She listened patiently, her eyes lighting up, as Aeroth spoke of their family, the Marrowbound. The faint glow brightened around her as she listened, wondering if she'd ever have a family like that when she grew up. "How wonderful!" trilled the little one, voice ringing like a birdcall. "I hope I can meet him one day."

When the big cat offered, Kielo's wings flared in surprise. "O-oh! How nice! You could do that?" the little one seemed to consider, then let out her breath in a sigh.
"I... I just don't wanna be too much of a bother, and... I don't think I could find my way home." Her head drooped in resignation. "...I'm sorry..."

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Aeroth
notes: here

Aeroth smiled and nuzzled the little creature, she had never had that little seed of self- doubt in her mind but she could see how one with such a disability could. She definitely could understand not wanting to be a hassle to others though. "Kitlin, you wouldn't be a hassle at all, you could just ride on my back all the way there. And if you want, you could stay with us. We have plenty of room in Canis, I think you would love it there if you gave it the chance. Unless you have someone to come back here to? You could quite easily live with us if you wished."
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags: @Kielo
Notes:

Kielo's wings drooped slightly, ears lowering and feathers rippling flat down the young one's spine. "I'm... I'm sorry, but... I have f-friends here, and I promised them that I'd find them again, but then I got lost when the lights went out." The young one dropped their head so that their nose hung almost to their chest. Avian claws churned gently at the dirt.

But then they seemed to perk up, and shot to their feet. "B-but I can come find you eventually when I get back to them! I'm sure when I can find my way around this room I'll find it easier to find my way around the others, too!" their voice rose to an optimistic chirrup, blind eyes filled with hope. it was clear from the way they spoke that they desperately wanted to go with Aeroth and meet the big hybrid they spoke of, maybe be part of a family. But they also wanted to get back to their friends again.

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Aeroth
notes: here

Aeroth tilted her head as the little hybrid spoke about her friends, she didn't have many that she cared for as much as that, except Carni. She petted her along the back of the neck as she talked about how she was lost away from them. "I could try to help you find them if you would like, what do they look like?" She asked before lowering her ears a bit "Sorry.. Um, do you know what they are?" She rubbed behind the ears of the little gem, laying her head over them, enveloping them in her warmth.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags: @Kielo
Notes:

Kielo's head raised, and she arched her lanky neck into the gentle caress of the big cat's tongue. Blind eyes blinked, and then closed contentedly, the beginnings of bristly white feathers rippling. The little one's ears perked with hope at the offer, although she flushed beneath her fur at the question. "Th-that sounds amazing! if you don't mind, that is. Y-you don't need to! Uhm... I'm... not sure." she began, before sighing with evident relief as the question was corrected.

"Riffi was the little bird who helped me outta the big rock wall," Kielo explained, shuddering at the traumatic memory of escaping from her own tomb, although she had no idea that they had been born amongst the not-so-ancient bones of their forefather. "B-but my best friends are called Azar and Winter. Azar said they're a fox, and they're very soft and warm, young like me. Winter is a... 'cobra'. I think that's what she said? She's long and thin and felt very cold. I tried to help when she hatched." The little one sniffed the air, as though expecting one of her friends to emerge from the shadows. "They were the ones I promised to never go far, because they wanted to help me. but I got hungry, and lost..."


---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Aeroth
notes: here

Aeroth squinted out into the storm as the frail creature laid out on her paws, they couldn't go out into that, it was too dangerous, the storm striking around the whole area. "Well.. I'm sorry kitlin' but we need to wait here for a bit, this storm is too heavy, how about you get some sleep and we just wait for this to pass, eh?" She laid her head over the little hybrid protectively as she spoke. Giving threm warmth and protection.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags: @Kielo
Notes:

Kielo's ears pricked up towards the storm; She'd journeyed through polaris since birth and in that time, she'd felt its presence growing in the absence of the lights' hum, by which they'd navigated at first. Though the little one hesitated, she slowly nodded, worry creeping into their blind gaze and ears perking as they wondered just how dramatically the storm had changed... and maybe, if it was dangerous. Kielo hunkered down a little, nodding slowly upwards towards Aeroth, eyes bright with trust.

"Alright," she said quietly, lowering her chin onto her avian forepaws and curling up tight. Eyes closed, the young one had't realized how tired she was until now, and under the protective gaze of the big cat, Kielo felt more safe than she'd ever been.

Her breaths quickly deepened and she disappeared into the soft folds of sleep.

-exit Kielo-

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Aeroth
notes: here

Aeroth smiled down at the little hybrid, before laying her head over the little creature drearily, kissing it on the top of its head before doing so. She felt happy and relaxed as she did so, petting the little creature along the length of its slender body, her breaths also deepened, until she dozes off with the other little creature.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
Tags: @Kielo
Notes: -Exit Aeroth-