He sat, statuesque, beside Mercurius, his golden gaze staring out over the crowd that was gathered before them. The pair of them had heard about the event upon their arrival in Polaris and had decided, mostly due to Faelan's insistence, that they would participate. Not as contenders, but as judges, so that they might enjoy the events but also still be a part of them.
Faelan was grateful to Mercurius for entertaining him and participating in the revelry. Not only did the events actually seem fun, but they lured him in like Orion and the Carvings had. He had experienced them before, he thought when first hearing of the games. Now that he was sitting before a mass of assembled Gembounds though, he was certain of it.
The buzz of magicka from the Spire behind him, and the voices of those before him, merged into a cacophonous din. Faelan twitched his tattered left ear in annoyance and then strained it forward whenever Mercurius parted his jaws. The pale lion introduced the event, which quieted the crowd at least, and then summoned the first contestant forward.
Gilded orbs watched as a limping, lumbering reptile, similar to a dragon, took its place within the demonstration area. With more agility than Faelan imagined it possible of, the beast charged forward, parting its jaws to roar out its name, which just so happened to be Drago, while it simultaneously summoned red bat-like wings. The extra, magic appendages stretched wide, then bent again, so life-like that Faelan almost believed them real. Unfortunately, the rest of his performance seemed to fail. Dragon was able to summon small flickers of flame all over him, but their purpose was lost on the Gembound lion.
After Dragon had exited the area, a familiar face stepped into it. Faelan visibly perked up, even leaned forward, in anticipation of Sebastian's show. Had he learned anything new since last they spoke, the lion wondered fleetingly, just before the second performance began.
Faelan waited for something, anything, to happen. Finally, just when it seemed nothing would, the shadows around Sebastian began to move. They condensed around his dark form, hiding him, until he leaped out of them with a roar. Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, the puma disappeared back into the shadows.
Faelan wished he could roar along with the other Gembounds, but he had to remain impartial. So, he merely smiled, and happily flicked his tufted tail as the next contestant took their place.
This cougar knew what they were doing, or so it seemed. Within a span of moments, they grew an entire tree, and then decorated it with glowing mushrooms. They gave a pretty little speech, and then appeared to try one more spell, though Faelan didn't notice anything obvious happen.
As soon as the next performer set a paw in the demonstration area, Faelan narrowed his eyes. That feline looks familiar, he thought absently, his eyes narrowing. He watched as the Gembound summoned a shadow, and sent the thing running about.
The sight of a moving, seemingly life-like, shadow made the lion shudder. He would never forget the void. Then the serval cloaked themself in darkness, with only their eyes glowing from the darkness, and he tensed.
That power...others have it? Faelan shuddered as memories of eyes, blinking at him in Orion and in the void, flashed through his head.
He was glad whenever the serval's magic dissipated, and he padded out of sight. Faelan leaned into Mercurius, seeking comfort from the other lion's presence and warmth, while the next contestant took their place.
It was a bird, with a peculiar piece of material wrapped around its neck. The sight struck Faelan, banishing the tendrils of fear that had begun to creep in as the sight of a shooting, bursting star appeared in his mindseye. The mental image felt like a memory, and yet, he had nothing in the present to connect it to except the bird. Had he seen the bird perform in the past, perhaps? Any wondering the lion might of done over it fled before the sight of ethereal, golden wings appearing alongside the bird's natural pair of wings.
The bird then sent a beam of magic toward the ceiling, before finally hovering several huge boulders. It was an impressive show of magic, one that Faelan had not seen the likes of before, at least that he could remember.
Faelan had a hard time seeing the next peformer. However, he didn't have a hard time seeing their performance. The light around the tree first shimmered and sparkled, and then beams of golden light pierced through the tree in numerous places. Finally, one single rainbow arched beside the tree, just before a high-pitched voice burst out into happy exclamations.
Faelan smiled at the obvious joy in the tiny Gembound's voice, and excused her outburst with a nod. He barely caught sight of her as she flitted away, into the crowd.
A pale wolf entered the ring next. She introduced herself Kera, the one who turned the lights on. Faelan's ears leaned forward with interest while his gaze fllicked over to Mercurius. The other lion had mentioned that the lights that hung from the ceiling had not always been on so consistently. Once, it had been dark, and it had been dark for cycles. He shuddered at the thought, and then focused on the tree that glow to glow.
Faelan's maw dropped open as the entire tree, from root to leaf, was illuminated with white-gold light. The wolf, again, announced that she brought the light. As if to prove it, again, she summoned a glowing orb of light that soared all over the immediate area. Whenever it flew over Faelan and Mercurius, he thought it resembled a bird. He watched, gold eyes as big as saucers, as the light-bird soared up and then disappeared.
The crowd seemed to roar twice as load for the wolf as they had for the first bird's display. Faelan had to admit that he was impressed, and wished he could cheer for her as well. It had been the best performance so far, in his opinion.
Another familiar face entered the area after the wolf had padded away. Septiezal, whom Faelan had only seen a short while ago, pulled himself up into the air. Then, after introducing himself, the snake began to secrete a thick liquid from his mouth. He then brought a stick up to his mouth with his tail, and coated it with the strange substance.
After a baiting look toward the audience, Spetiezal spat fire at the stick, and caught it aflame. Pieces flew off, explosive like, but the snake stayed still and calm as if everything was going according to plan. Then, with what seemed like practiced ease, Septiezal brought the torch to his mouth and ate.
Faelan gaped, maw hanging open, as the roar of the crowd shook the air around him and the stone beneat him. He hadn't known Septiezal to be so fanciful, but he decided that whenever the snake tried, he did a good job. A damn good job.
A tiny fox entered the area next, introduced themselves as the great Ritz, and then displayed the same red bat-like wings that Dragon had. After that, they hurried around to secrete the same, thick, flammable liquid that Septiezal had produced, but this time on rocks. Once that was done, the fox arraged the rocks into a flower shape, and then spewed fire at the formation.
It didn't go very well. As soon as the fire hit the rocks, the heat made them explosive, sending flaming rocks all over the place, even into the crowd. Faelan ducked to the side as one sailed in between his and Mercurius's heads.
Another wolf took the place of the fox, this had the same strange fabric that the bird had though. And it was tied around its neck, in a similar fashion to the bird. Faelan cocked his head curiously, and then listened as the canine claimed to be the reigning champion. So she had done this before...and won.
Another wave of deja vu threatened Faelan, pushing at the edges of his thoughts. He had to have seen this wolf before then, and yet, he didn't get the same sense of familiarity that he had with the bird or the serval. Strange, he thought, just before the wolf summoned gems and wings to adorn them.
It was amazing, but Faelan could feel himself wearing down, and his attention slipping. All of the excitement of the event was starting to wear on his still healing body. His wounds were closed, with fresh pink scars now covering them, but he hadn't regained his full strength yet.
He tried to blink the fatigue away, and focus on the next canine that had approached to perform. However, it was hard to when there was nothing to catch his attention. Faelan's golden eyes fluttered shut, and then ripped open whenever he heard a completely different voice.
A tiny monkey now stood in the makeshift arena, and within seconds, he had summoned the same darkness around him that the serval had. He taunted the crowd, asking if anyone was scared, but Faelan didn't dare reply. He just pressed his side against Mercurius's, seeking assurance that he was here. That right now was real. Then, after what looked like a failed attempt, the monkey illuminated an orb and banished the shadows around himself.
The monkey taunted the crowd once more, hinting that the darkness may come back again someday. Perhaps he knows something about it, Faelan thought as he watched him walk away, but he doesn't know enough to know it had already come. It lives with Orion, and watches with its eyes, the lion thought as cold fear began to creep up his spine again.
He watched with unseeing eyes as the next contestant stepped forward. It wasn't until the ground shuddered under his paws that Faelan pulled himself from his thoughts. He watched, a bit disappointed, as the feline's rump disappeared into the crowd. The first Gembound he had found of his element, and they were gone before he even saw them.
A voice rang out over the crowd, quieting those nearby until the quiet spread and only the voice could be heard. It belonged to a gryphon, who spoke as he walked through the crowd. His words were measured, but yet full of knowledge, and he stepped into the arena as if he were going to compete.
Faelan watched, as enthralled as everyone else present, as the gryphon questioned whom the Gembounds borrowed the darkness from.
Darkness swallowed the gryphon, until only his eyes were visible, glowing unnaturally. And yet he continued to speak, to educate the crowd.
Then, after slamming his talons into the ground, gems speared from the floor. Dark gems, that twisted and wove themselves into an intricate wall in front of the gryphon. With one last cry, the Gembound illuminated some sort of markings on the gem wall, and then everything erupted into chaos.
A voice boomed though Faelan's head, saying something that he almost understood. And yet, he wasn't the only one to hear it. This wasn't his memory alone then, his to remember?
All of a sudden, Faelan noticed Mercurius shaking. When he looked over to his companion though, the pale lion spoke. He admitted to having that same darkness, which practically slapped Faelan. The admittance had the golden lion reeling, so that he sat through the announcement of the winners in utter shock. What did Mercurius mean, he wondered as fear, betrayal and shock slammed through him. He didn't get a chance to ask though, because as soon as Mercurius had uttered the word congratulations, he turned and said his farewells to Faelan.
The crowd erupted into scared and excited chatter. Faelan sat as statuesque as the beginning of the event, too hollowed by the events to move, as participants and spectators alike began to leave. His gaze, which stared blankly at the ground, didn't catch sight of the white dragon that wheeled away. Nor did his gilded eyes seek out Sebastian, another friendly face.
He didn't move a muscle until it seemed like all others had gone. And he might not have moved at all had it not been for the booming, questioning voice that echoed through Polaris. His eyes flicked upward, to the gem formation, and landed on Dragon, who now lay beside it.
Faelan stirred, curiosity pulling him up and towards the other Gembound.
Whenever he stood beside Dragon, before the runes, he suddenly found himself without anything to say. What could he do? He had failed at all else up until now, what was he capable of except that? The lion stared at the strange markings, unable to conjure up the will to even introduce himself to the other Gembound.
@Dragon
