In Polaris, something awoke within a pink-orange chrysalis of sunstone.

Well, awoke is the wrong term. More like, something became aware. It had always been awake; but it had not had thoughts, real thoughts, until recently. It had not understood, not fully, where it was. But it was now processing it's surroundings- or what surroundings there were. It was dark, and cramped. It was far too cramped, really; it's long, awkward legs were pressed up against it's body. The Gembound felt squished.

Something within told it that it was time to break out of the dark prison. Kicking out with all of his strength, he cracked it. He shifted, hoping to have another go- and spilled the maned wolf out onto the ground. He tightly shut his eyes from the sudden bright lights. After knowing nothing but darkness, all of the lights in Polaris were blinding to look at.

Bounding through Polaris, the creature of light giggled. This place was so pretty, especially with the lights back on. It made everything colorful and bright, just the way Layla liked it. Though, her careless bounding was interrupted by a sharp crack. The same crack she had heard when she emerged. The snow leopard's eye's lighting up, she turned and headed towards the direction of the noise, ready to greet the new gemling.

Soon, she found the source. A small maned wolf sat amidst a pile of pretty pink-orange shards of chrysalis. He was so darned cute!

"Hello! I'm Layla, and you are?" The pretty snow leopard asked the newly hatched. She could barely contain her child-like excitement, despite being fully grown. Speaking of child-like excitement, Layla remembered how excited she was to learn about the caves. But she never really learned about them. Instead, she ended up being like Dragon's other children, going off and making friends.

But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was welcoming this new Gemling to the caves, and perhaps recruiting him to her cause.

@Aithaxas

The maned wolf heard a voice not too far away. After several seconds, he opened them- the light wasn't as blinding- and focused on the source of the voice. His mind searched for the word to describe what he saw; the best being "cat". A large one, larger than what his mind was supplying him; but it was the word that best-fit the creature before him. They called themselves Layla? Interesting.

Oh, that's right. They had just asked what he was called. Something he could understand. He knew his answer; Aithaxas. He only had to say it out loud.

"Ay..." what? What was in the left side of his jaw? Was that a tooth? It didn't match the rest in size and seemed too smooth. Yet something told him that that wasn't right either. Nevermind that; his name. "Aithaxas," he said, slower.


@Layla

Smiling, she watched as the new maned wolf replied. He called himself Aithaxas. What a strange name! Layla loved it. Though, it seemed that the maned wolf gemling had some trouble speaking. Looking around, Layla saw that his gem came from his jaw, creating three of his teeth and poking out from the sides. Ignoring it, Layla spoke.

"Aithaxas. I really like that name." Layla complimented with a million-watt smile. She couldn't wait to show this new Gembound around the caves, to take him on as an apprentice to learn about the stories the walls held, and about the history of the world as they knew it.

The snow leopard circled the maned wolf, inspecting him. He was smaller than her,
maybe he could fit into small spaces. He also had long legs, and Layla guessed he could move quickly. Aithaxas could be a very good explorer.

"Are you a curious Gembound?" Layla asked, straight to the point She didn't want to work her way around the question, there was no need.

@Aithaxas

Aithaxas's ears perked up. Slowly standing, he sent her a smile, his tail wagging. They--she?-- liked his name!

He blinked. Curious? The lights had been blinding at first, but now he wished to investigate them, to see everything, to learn about things, to adventure. It was a sudden urge, an understanding of what he wanted to do. Yes, Aithaxas was most certainly curious. How big was the cave? How many areas were there? Questions swarmed in his head. To older Gembounds it was surely uninteresting, but to Aithaxas, it was simply more opportunities.

"Yes," he responded. Trying to say more, he added: "I am.. curi.. curious." Seems like this thing--his gem, possibly?-- would take some getting used to.

@Layla

Lalya grinned. He was curious! She could make him her apprentice!
Oh, how wonderful!

"Oh good! Okay, so I am on a mission to find out the truth about the caves!
I wanna know everything there is to know about our home. Would you like to help me?" Layla explained, her voice excited and her eyes lit up like the bauble around her neck. This was so exciting! She wouldn't disappoint Dragon after all.

Speaking of Dragon, she needed to visit him soon. Was he still alive? It had been a few cycles since she last saw him. Did Gembounds even die of natural causes? That was something Layla would have to find out along with the history of their world.

@Aithaxas

Aithaxas didn't hesitate with his response. "Yes!" he exclaimed, tail wagging. So much to see and learn! Were all the other rooms like this one? He wanted to learn about the caves. About their history, about even simply what they looked like. He could even help her, at least one day in the future! He liked this cat quite a bit.

He watched Layla. She seemed to be thinking, but about what, Aithaxas couldn't tell. He couldn't even begin to figure out what she was thinking about. He tilted his head to the side as he watched her, curious.




@Layla

Layla was snapped out of her thoughts by the little Gemling's response.
A smile graced her face as she spoke. "Okay! Well, before we leave to explore the caves, I need you to meet someone. He's in a different part of the cave, the swamps. He's kinda scary at first, but he's really nice." Layla explained, turning back the way she came.

She was going to show this little Gemling the world, and together they'd find the answers that the walls held. Aithaxas and Layla, the two adventurers and answer-seekers. And, Layla thought, I can show him how to survive on his own and take care of him too. Yeah, she'd adopt him in a kind of way.

"You ready to start our adventure Aithaxas?"

@Aithaxas

Aithaxas took some more steps, just to get used to the feeling of movement- of walking. Then he nodded with great enthusiasm. "Yeah! How far are the- the swamps?" he questioned, trailing Layla. As they went, he looked around. He hadn't noticed how beautiful everything was. He could check that out later, though. Something told him that he'd be in Polaris quite often.

His tail was wagging, not that it had ever really stopped doing so. Layla seemed so nice, and the mystery Gembound piqued his interest. Who was he? What was he? If Layla trusted him, then Aithaxas decided that he probably wasn't too bad. He liked and trusted this large cat. A friend of Layla's was a friend of his.



@Layla

Layla practically grinned from ear to ear. He was so eager, so excited.
It brought hope to Layla that they could actually solve the mysteries they wanted answers to.

"Not too far. About a three or four hour journey from here. Maybe five if we stop to rest or talk to others." Layla responded, heading towards Tunnel O. Then they'd go through Pisces and to Tunnel H,
to get to Cetus. There was another way, but Layla didn't know about it.

They'd make a great team, they would find the answers. But first, they'd have to go find Dragon.

*exit
@Aithaxas