He was content and warm, there was no reason for him to want to leave the confines of his chrysalis, but something tugged at him. The urge to stretch and reach for something new. He followed the urge uncurling his body, spine pressing against the hard stone of his chrysalis while his paws splayed as he arched his body. Spider web cracks appear near the top of his chrysalis and traveled downward to where it anchored to the floor. Shifting his stance he threw his weight against the side and found no resistance.

His lungs felt the change first as an icy breath filled them. No sound came from him. He saw no need. While he felt the change, the loss of the constant pressure on his body there was no change in how he viewed it. This didn't bother him either. He assumed that it was a natural thing, although he wonder why he had had the urged to stretch when there was nothing different other than icy breathe that he was forced to take.

Why was he here?

@Khloros

Khloros was staring at Orion's throne, vaguely remembering the treasonous one who had called himself, King. The mind of the black horse was lost in memories, hazy as it often was. He was still recovering from a multitude of wounds across his body and was in no rush to move on and continue his task--not yet.

When he heard a soft crack from somewhere nearby, he turned, nostrils flaring and ears pricking at the sound. It had been a very long time since he had last heard the crack of gemstone, but he thought that he recognized it as the hatching of a new Gembound. Quietly he turned, shuffling to face in the direction of the noise, and he raised his head to peer up at the tower that stood nearby. The thing glittered, encrusted as it was with shards of shining gem, and the horse realized that this was a place he had never been.

Slowly he made his way toward the sound, and circled the tower until he could peer inside. He had never seen stairs, before--not like these--and they seemed too narrow, too steep, for a horse to climb. Still, he could hear a soft breathing somewhere ahead, and, with interest heavily piqued, he began to make his way up.

The climb was a bit gruelling, particularly given his injuries, and undoubtedly, anyone would hear his hoofbeats coming, with their heavy, slow tread of hoof on stone. Partway up he came across a few shards of broken gem, thick white--and at their center, a small, black creature lying curled in them. Its eyes were a milky white, and Khloros watched it for a moment. Was it suffering..? He did not like to harm the young, but nor did he wish to leave a creature lying in pain. It certainly looked blind.

At length, in a raspy, hollow voice, he spoke.

"Hello," he offered softly. He summoned up his magicka, trying to sense if the thing were ill, or merely blind. "You are newly-broken-free."

The cave's cycle was continuing, thus far--but who was it perpetuating it..?

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

@Vasili

He felt the footfall more than he heard them. A faint vibration going through his body before the sound registered in his ears and even that was faint. He cocked his head to tract the sound, his body shifting toward the source subconsciously. At at once the measured footfalls stopped and a voice replaced them. Had the speaker not been close he would have entirely missed what they said, not that he understood what was being said to begin with. Taking another breath he spoke, his voice even and mellow in its pitch. " Newly-Broken-Free?" What exactly did he break from? He was missing something he was sure of it, but what? "What is this dark world? What am I?" The words felt weird on his tongue. " Why am I here?" This was the question he really wanted to know and he hoped whoever was with him knew the answer.

@Khloros

Khloros rarely felt strong emotion. There was little that could touch the plagued horse, little that would bother him. But upon watching the young dog struggle to see, and question innocently its purpose--and knowing that he could not help him, that the dog would forever be a burden on whoever took it in--Khloros felt a strong stirring of deep, black anger.

He felt a fury that the Gembound of this cave were still destined to be reborn, again and again, trapped by disfiguring stones that rent their bodies. That they had no peace, in death, that they would simply be returned here. He had taken upon himself to end this cycle, but he could never bring himself to simply kill the newly-hatched. Thus he was left staring down at the product of all that he fought against, helpless to do anything to aid it.

For a long moment he was silent, gathering himself, swallowing back with bitter bile the rage that threatened to color his voice. When at last he did speak, he was nearly toneless, trying his best to speak gently to the being.

"We are trapped in stones, and there we grow," Khloros explained slowly, glad at least that the newborn had a greater-than-average understanding of words, at birth. It would be very difficult to explain anything to the blind, given that one could not show them a word's meaning. "In time, we break free, and then we grow outside of them."

All of this he said slowly, with a vague sense of grief and loss. This poor damn dog. This poor newly-hatched Gembound. It would suffer, and it would die, and there was nothing that could be done of this.

Khloros raised his thin head, staring at the tower wall bitterly, before looking back to the pup and continuing to speak. "The world is not dark, but your eyes have had this stone grow into them. We all carry a piece with us, somewhere. Yours have taken your ability to see the world around you. I am sorry. There are... magics that can allow you to see in a different way, perhaps. And you are here," he answered dully, that same bitterness now creeping into his tone, "because we are all trapped within this cycle. For this, too--I am sorry."

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

@Vasili

He listened intently. Taking what the being before him had said and trying to put into a thought process that made sense to him . While doing so he gathered his legs under him and stood, shaking out his coat. "Why are you sorry? I am free. I might not be able to..." He fell silent trying to figure out what exactly sight was and failing. "see, but I can..I can..." He huffed,exasperated that he couldn't convey what he wanted. He took a step forward and felt his body tilt forward as his leg was met with open air. Unable to catch himself in time he went head over heels and tumbled down the steps.

@Khloros

Khloros gave a soft, surprised snort as the pup tumbled forward, quickly lowering his head to try to intercept him before he fell too far. Up until that point, he'd been simply listening with a sort of deepening grief, and pity. He stumbled a little, and realized that the pup had probably taken a couple steps' worth of fall fairly hard before Khloros's long and bony face could stop him. Still, he did his best to nudge him gently back up, sighing quietly.

"You will need," he began slowly, in a voice solemn with sadness, "to be able to perceive the world around you, little one, in order to navigate it."

He lifted his head, staring down with dulled eyes.

He will only starve, and suffer. A pitiful, wretched thing, twisted and miserable, lying alone in some dark corner as he fades. Damn this world.

Aloud, Khloros merely continued, after a beat, with the same quiet, lifeless tone. "You may find someone to help, in time, perhaps, but you look like a creature that must hunt. And for that... someone else will always need to feed you, I believe. To hunt for you. Do you know your name, yet, little one?" he asked. He did not attempt any sort of grand speeches on the state of the caves, nor did he try to come across mysterious or the like--not with this one. There was no reason for it; Khloros had no agenda, bar faint pity.

"I am wounded, recovering. I am in no rush. If you wish I can carry you from the tower in my teeth, and bring you to the cave outside. I know not if another will aid you, or harm you, but in here you will-..." Starve? He did not wish to frighten the poor beast. It could hardly help its own state. "...find no food."

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

@Vasili

Pain was a new feeling and one he could do without. Mercifully, his fall was relatively short as he was caught by the other's mass. He wasn't really sure what body part had caught him but the soft sighed made him think that it was the others face.

Gathering his feet under him, his head swiveled to track the others voice. There was an inkling of stubborness at the mention of him needing someone to help him. The young boy had left behind the pain of falling and had regained his resilient wonder, as much wonder as the newly hatched could have. " I don't need..." He cut himself off, pondering, he didn't have to rely on others but he couldn't deny that he need help now and again. As much as he want to tell the other before him that he would be fine on his own it was not the truth and he would not lie to himself. Sighing,sadness crept into his voice and he answered the question posed "Vasili, what is yours?" There was no way of knowing where the name had come from but he knew in his gut that it was his. " I would appreciate it if you would help me down these steps. I don't want to break bones."

@Khloros

Khloros spoke quietly, and as he did so he likewise called upon his magic in a simple attempt to strengthen and cleanse the young one. His touch would not be good for it; perhaps had already been foul. Unbeknownst to him, the magic was working... backwards, in a sense. Rather than cleansing the pup, it was intensifying Khloros' own plague. Hopefully that would not hit the borzoi, but it would likely sicken the horse, should he not notice in time. "I am Khloros. I carry death." Khloros' tone was matter-of-fact.

He felt his magic well up, and waited; then he leaned down, carefully snuffling over the pup. He did his best to grip its scruff gently in his teeth, and then lifted his long neck. He found that turning in this narrow space was difficult--and stairs were not easy for a horse even going forward. The result was a long, slow backward shuffling down the tower stairs, until at last they had come outside. There, he settled the young one down. He let his magic fade, and sighed softly through flared nostrils once more.

"You are, I believe, a hunter. A creature which much catch, and eat, smaller prey. I cannot hunt for you. But perhaps another predator can. Without magic to find and hunt prey you will starve. They will see you, too, and you cannot see them."

With this advice offered, Khloros went quiet, having little more yet to offer. Should the pup have questions, he would answer them. Otherwise, he waited for it to absorb what he had said.

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

@Vasili