Dragon huffed, gently nudging one stone against the other with his massive, boatlike snout. He listened to everything Desire had to say, and he considered, before speaking--again, fairly quietly, for her sake.

"Fire? I am fire. Yours was delicate. Pale. Perhaps they are linked to us? ...Back away," he added, and inhaled deeply. He waited for Desire to hopefully be out of the way, feeling his magicka flow effortlessly through him, the flame coursing up and pouring out to briefly engulf the two little, touching stones in a heavy blast of flame.

Perhaps our magic will do something to them? I do not know. I do not know what they are, but if it was burning, then perhaps fire will help.

It was logic, of a sort. It was not great logic. But it was logic.

@Desire

He is...fire? Oh! Desire wriggled sideways to get away from Dragon, watching wide-eyed as flames poured from his new for a brief moment. She was too taken aback to speak at first - she'd never seen fire magic, and no magic she'd witnessed had ever been so powerful.

Some composure regained, she spoke. "It could make sense. I have plant magic. Maybe that is why mine was...normal?" It sounded silly, then, but there had been no other flowers to compare theirs to. It was impossible to make a true hypothesis. "I will try my magic, then." Desire waited for the embers to die before her attempt, focusing hard on where the cores rested.

In a moment, green stems sprouted from the soil and grew around the cores, leaves springing out from various vines. The growth was more abundant than usual - she supposed there was no better time for it to be so.

@Dragon (& tagged a gm dark!)

As Dragon's fire engulfed the two little seeds, they showed no sign of cracking or breaking, at least- but no sign of anything else, either. it was only when Desire's magic reached them, that the seeds reacted. Each of the little pearl-like objects split clean into two, pale green tendrils snaking out and burying themselves into the ground.

These weren't just remnants... they were seeds!

Small, green shoots continued to climb to a height of around 3cm tall, before entwining with one another so that the two stems became one. They continued to grow, curling around one another, until the two stems became one. Trailing petals formed, uncurling from the flower's entwined stem- some a deep green, others wispy and ash-coloured.

When the growth slowed, the magic culminated into two identical flower buds, which grew, and changed, until finally the petals peeled back from a newly-awakened opalescent core. The flowers exuded a scent that was sweet and rich, almost overpowering with the two of them there rather than the one, but lovely nontheless. Whilst one of the flowers was a delicate pink... the other was grey and quickly began to smoke, before bursting into small but billowing flames that crept rapidly down its stem, but somehow failed to harm its opposite counterpart. It was the same flowers that had crumbled before Desire and Dragon's eyes, a short while ago. And yet somehow, each seemed more complete with the two entwined together.

As soon as the petals opened around their pearlescent cores, the presence faded from the watching Gembounds' minds- their combined emotions fading once more into that of one beast. But before Desire and Dragon drifted apart, there was another feeling- fleeting and alien, but unmistakably one of warm gratitude.

@Dragon @Desire

Dragon huffed as he watched, pulling back a couple rapid paces. He stared at the flowers, watching them sprout, watching them intertwine. He watched the flames take the smoldering half of the flower, flames coursing down its length; he watched the cores shimmer into visibility.

He felt, too, the warm sense of gratitude--and the sudden drift of Desire's mind, away from his own. It felt-... Empty.

"Strange," he declared at last, tilting his head to eye the snake. "They called to us, perhaps, or used us to bloom. I do not trust them but I doubt flowers can cause much harm. It is strange, though, to now have this silence. What, and who, are you?"

His voice was calmer, now, and now that Desire's thoughts were out of his head, so was his mind.

It is almost a shame, though. Such a link could have been useful.

@Desire

What's this? it appears that the link between characters is beginning to fade, and soon, it will be gone. The flower's cores are losing their power, and soon the chance of reuniting them will die, leaving behind a useless pearl, lovely but sad. The flowers that have not been found begin to wilt, their petals dropping one by one. The wonderful scent, fades.

If the cores are not reunited by the 16th of April, their magic will fade for good, and the remaining flowers will wither! (Note: reunion threads started before the cut-off date will have until the 1st of May to finish them)

If you've reunited the cores and are waiting for a response, please use the Request GM button to let us know!

@Mortis @Aeroth @Dezba

As Rift gently sniffed the flower, it cracked like glass. The petals cracked and splintered into smaller and smaller crystals, and the ‘stem’ crumbled into glittering dust. The small pearl-like object that had been the flower’s core tinkled as it dropped lightly to the ground.

And in that moment, a new feeling would wash over the puma, feelings that were not his own. Perhaps Rift would see a sight through the eyes of another; a delicate pink flower growing in the Room of bones. Perhaps he’d feel a sense of calm curiosity, washing in over the mental link.

@Felina is now bonded to @Rift , and the two may now speak to one another, and share thoughts and feelings between these threads, or any!!

The flowers have left their cores behind! If they are not reunited within two cycles, then the cores will crumble, the connection severed and the flowers never to be reunited again, in this life or the next...

Desire's gaze grew wide as the pearls split open, sprouting green things like plants growing, growing, growing - so quickly, even! The strange flowers intertwined, and one grew to resemble the flower Desire had procured the seed from. In moments, the flowers bloomed, filling the air with a sweet and familiar scent. She was enamored with the strange blooms, but she knew the absence of another in her mind. The warmth alleviated it, only briefly, but she was left feeling almost...lonely? Desire turned her head slowly to watch Dragon as he spoke. She sighed.

"I neglected to introduce myself earlier," she began, though she felt justified in the matter, being that he'd been so disruptive, and she certainly felt more comfortable now that she could think these things safely, "My name is Desire. I am a snake." She looked him over, recalling the fear that had run down her spine at the sight of his gargantuan form. "What are you?" She felt strange, now that the connection was gone, and her thoughts and words came floating and slow, like waking up from a dream.

@Dragon

The heavy alligator huffed, and puffed, raising himself up with a swell of pride.

"I am Dragon!" he declared. It did not occur to him that this was not, in fact, what he was, even though he had fought a dragon--a real one--and looked nothing like it.

But, he was "Dragon," and he was very proud of this fact. "I am of the Children of Rot, the Son of Aquarian, the Great Survivor." He'd just come up with that title, but it described Aquarian perfectly. "To him we bring offerings, and he offers us wisdom."

Dragon then tilted his head, having to turn it a great deal to look down at Desire. There was a serious drawback to having one's eyes atop one's head. "I do not believe I have seen you before. I have seen white snakes, but you were not among them! Are you of this cave?"

All things told, he seemed friendly enough, even cheerful--if it could be called that; at the very least, he was confident and loud. Though, in fairness, he'd still toned down the "loud" for the snake's sake.

@Desire

He announced his name - again. At the very least, he had gone from irritating to amusing, and she felt in part that this was due to his not knocking around her skull anymore. It was good, she thought, but still a bit empty in there. "Yes, Dragon, I know," she said, good-naturedly, but a bit like she was addressing an excitable child or an absentminded creature. She knew nothing of dragons or that the word could describe anything but the name of this large beast before her, but then, she did not know the meaning of her own name, either. And she did not know this "Aquarian." He sounded awfully important, if anything, and she wondered if he was as important as the colored birds or the stag. She would ask, but Dragon had his own questions first.

He did not recognize her. The recollection of the birds brought back a memory - something distinct that had terrified her when she was even smaller. This Dragon, and a black wolf, fighting, him spitting that familiar fire, before the birds, a spectacle which had caused her to flee as soon as she could - she knew him. "I know you," she blurted out, immediately feeling sheepish afterwards. He had annoyed her, frustrated her, yes, but he had turned out to be not so bad and she didn't want to insult him further. She settled for a watered-down recollection. "I saw you bringing stones to the three birds, not that long ago. I remember you." Quickly, smoothly, she attempted to back away from the topic. "But to answer your question, yes, I was born here. I haven't been here in a long time, and only twice have I met other snakes. I believe we are...rare, but I hope I am wrong."

@Dragon

The alligator watched, and rumbled his approval.

"The stones. These, I remember. Wretched things," he added, turning his head slightly. The blood-red and jet-black bat's wings spread up over his back, flapping lightly, ethereal. "They do not even fly--though I am told these birds can grant us this power given time," he added.

He then looked back to Desire, thinking. "I have seen some few of you. Some long, and brown, and green; some white. You are all very large, given time." he continued. "I linger in the cave of swamps--where Aquarian lives. I am told that given time, we will learn all the secrets of the caves. I believe there is much that we do not know... much that is hidden from us. Once, my Children of Rot sought these truths, but they are gone now!"

He seemed almost sad about this, lapsing into a silence for a long moment that might have been contemplation, or perhaps grief. "I do not know where they have gone. But perhaps, in time, I will find new children, and we will survive. I still seek the truth, for only in truth can we find our survival."

Dragon was not entirely clear about why he was bringing this up--nor even why it would, or should, matter, to the snake. To him it was self-evident: all things wished survival, so he was, in his own way, granting the snake a gift. The gift of knowledge, freely given. A gift, perhaps, to aid in her survival.

@Desire