Amazon stumbled through the rocks, her tiny legs barely carrying her far. She was not fast, not yet, still getting used to this new world. She was driven all over the place by scents and sounds and sights that she couldn't ignore. This one was driving her towards the huge glowing thing in the middle that made a tingle up her spine. She didn't understand and she wanted to. She wanted to know!

She was getting out of breath at this point, though, she had traveled far from her shell, especially as a hatchling. She was wheezing as she finally made it up to the crystal and flopped on the ground, breathing hard. But the glowing thing was right in front of her, huge and mystical. For a second she stared at it, wonderment filling her eyes, before something funny happened in her stomach. It flipped and she groaned from the pain. However, the bellyache was gone almost as soon as it came. Strange. She didn't know why that had happened or where it had come from.

But the pain was forgotten in an instant. She stared at the massive gem, wondering. What were the secrets? What was it, anyways? There was so much magic in the air that she could barely breathe. She reached forward, wondering, curious, until her finger just grazed the side. A spark of magic shot through her body and she yelped with pain and surprise as she stumbled back. Why did that hurt? Wasn't it just a crystal?

A hunger for the knowledge and secrets of the crystal gripped her as she looked up at it. What was this thing anyways?

After leaving Orion, Aster found herself in a new place. A tunnel that lead to a place with a lot of lights and a lot of gems. For a time, the lanky puppy only wandered, watching the sights. When she came by a river she stared at the rushing water for a moment before continuing on, moving past the Generator and the Dam until she came to the spire.

It was blue. Like her chrysalis.

That must have been why she was so drawn to it. She picked up the pace, even, when it came into view, moving quickly towards it. With her slicked ears perking up a little as she got close, she greeted the glowing spire by directly cramming her face into the rock.

She had seen shapes the last time she touched something like this-- Vasili --and she wanted to see them again. Her gem glittered blue, against her skull and her eyes and inside her mouth where it took over some of her teeth, and she saw it again.

She was only young-- she still couldn't make out the shapes but she saw shadows and light right in front of her eyes, dancing and shifting for a few seconds before vanishing again. Instinctively, the borzoi's ragged tail gave a few wags before she finally noticed something else out the corner of her eyes, previously masked by her visions.

But for a long time, the dog did not say anything. She only stared, vaguely mystified by the glowing gem coming out of the lizard's head. Her next conclusion from a perfectly logical leap, in her mind. The spire was glowing. The lizard was glowing. Therefore: "You are the same."

With this, the puppy nodded her head and oversized eyes turned back to the Spire as she set herself down back on her haunches, staring up with admiration at the Spire.

@Amazon

Amazon say, in the corner of her eye, something moving. Her head instinctively snapped to gaze at the canine that was making its way towards the crystal. She watched it with interest as it stepped right up to the side and smacked its head against the crystal. She watched with amazement as it just stood there with its head pressed against the glowing blue. Didn't it hurt? It had hurt her so why wasn't the dog hurt too?

She flinched when its eyes suddenly moved to her and she stared right back, confused.She noticed its eyes flitting to her gem and she took a step back, shyly. Was there something wrong with her gem? Yeah, it was glowing a bit but she didn't think it very odd. She was about to ask them what they were doing when they spoke first.

Dumbfounded, Amazon opened her mouth to respond, but when no good answer came up, she shut her mouth. A moment later, she tried to speak again, this time managing to get something out. "Uh, the same? You mean the same as this crystal? I don't think I'm the same...I don't even know what this is.." She looked at the crystal and reached out a claw to touch it, but the magicka was getting stronger and she pulled back her claws. "I can't even touch it."

@Aster

For a long time, the lanky canine was silent, staring up at the Spire with wide eyes and clear admiration. She almost didn't even notice the lizard speaking, but after she did she only acknowledged it with a slight flick of a ear, which may not even be immediately noticed.

Aster spent a time trying to decode Amazon's words in her own head, all the time she observed the spire, ear flicking each time raw magicka crackled from the glowing rock. One word at a time, she studied them and scanned her mind for their definitions.

"The same," she eventually repeated, slowly. "You both... are." This next conclusion took another little while before it came to fruition, but once it had, Aster nodded gently, content in this new discovery.

Though she herself had no idea what the hell it was supposed to mean.

"How many times have you tried?" She asked, finding these words a little faster this time-- but her voice was very quiet, only just above a whisper. "Why don't you just try it again?"

@Amazon

make your own happiness

The amethyst gem lay dormant; quietly tucked away, hidden cozily amongst the glowing fauna. Little bundles of light effortlessly danced across opaque surfaces, casting away the darkness. The region was serene and welcoming - practically beckoning life itself forward. It was as if the world called upon magic time after time and endlessly magic responded giving the world many gifts.

Different purple hues erupted from beneath the fauna, casting dappled light across the tawny colored ground.

Deep, low vibration crackling ruptured from underneath the fauna sending a burst of purple light to the tops of the cave before recoiling to its case. Amethyst splinters to the ground, the fragments caressing their main host with a bright luminescence before landing onto the Earth.

The plants rustle back and forth, expanding as a fleshy paw subtly emerges, and then another. A small snout sticks out from the plants, nose wiggling enthusiastically at the wondrous scents. The animal moves forward with each uneven step until she stands in a clearing - almost path like. Her eyes were open but she could not see. The world was fuzzy as lights dragged themselves across her vision. Her gaze transfixed on the surrounding colors, each one reaching out to stroke her emotions stirring something deep inside of her. She cooed in delight as the black began slowly lift and her eyes came to light. Shapes everywhere, with different colors and textures.

The bear spiraled into her beginning. She the magnet and the Earth the field on which she was to connect to. She had begun her beginning.

MEL @ ADOX

Amazon didn't really know how to respond to the dog's answer. As far as she could tell, she and the huge thing had nothing in common. But it, for some strange reason, the dog was talking about how she and the crystal were the same because they existed, as she assumed, then perhaps they were, in a way, the same. She looked back at the dog and raked her eyes over its soft body. It had a blue gem on its head, a gem that looked strangely like the big crystal in front of them. "Well...if I am the same as the gem, then perhaps you are the same as well. We have gems on our heads. Does that make us the same?' This was no kind of test or debate, the young lizard spoke the thoughts as they came to her head. They tumbled from her mouth as questions appeared in her head.

She sniffed at the stone again and was about to try and touch it again when a different scent caught in her nose. Curious, she turned to see a creature nearby, huge and brown with a big purple rock on its back. Another young creature? This was certainly a day of hatchings and new beginnings. "Hello," she called out, her attention diverted for now. "Did you just hatch?"

@Aster

For a long time, the lanky puppy only stared at the Spire, considering the lizard's words very carefully. She had no idea what she herself looked like; not wholly, at least. She knew she had long, black legs and there was black, curly fur on her chest, but for all she knew, she could have the face of a lizard.

She had emerged from something very blue, like the spire. For a moment, the borzoi's over-sized eyes snapped shut in thought. "Perhaps," she said slowly, carefully picking this word out. "It..."

She came to a halt, not knowing how to voice her own thoughts. She looked up at the Spire again, frowning. If she had come from something blue, then perhaps another thing will hatch out of the spire-- but she did not know how to put this thought into words.

Her muzzle opened to speak, but the lizard was turned away and talking to something else. Aster turned, staring out towards the bear cub with eyes that just seemed to stare through her, thinking again.

"Hello," the dog managed to parrot the lizard, watching unblinking. "It is different." She had no idea where this conclusion came from, but to her, it made sense. The borzoi nodded sagely, and then twisted around to stare at the glowing Spire once more, her ragged tail gently thumping against the cave floor.

@Duma

make your own happiness

The world started to unfold itself further, everything coming into magnificent view. Her eyes beamed rapidly from side to side, down to her brown fuzzy legs and black claws.

“Hello, did you just hatch?”

Sudden fear rose in the cub’s chest and her eyes grew as round as the gem she had been born from. Duma sucked in an awkward speedy breathe, her nose whistling. Instinctually Duma tried to leap forward, but collapsed as soon as her wobbly front paws made contact with the ground.

She curled into tight ball, cocking her head ever so slightly to see where the noise came from. It was direct, nothing like she had heard before - and it had greatly startled her.

Nervously she peeked - something just as alive as she was stood not to far from her. The shimmering fauna cast light onto the scaled creature, illuminating it’s presence. A beautiful emerald colored gem rested cozily on the beings head.

Duma stayed as she was, huddling against only herself for protection; however her eyes were locked to the golden scaled creature. The cub tried to reply, her voice was practically incoherent. Duma hadn’t the need to speak any words yet, until now.

"What.”

The word came across dry. Duma furrowed her face, irritated.

This is not how that was supposed to sound.

The cub repeated herself, instinct following thought closely behind and adding pitch to her voice.

“What?”

The words came out hoarse, but more as though she wanted it portrayed.

Another being turned to face her. The second creature was just as wondrous as the first, but also frightening. It had long legs, and fur that blended into to cave. Much like the scaled being it also had gems atop it’s head. Duma’s eyes darted from one to the other.

“It is different.” Just like that the second creature turned away again.

Duma furrowed again but this time in thought.

I am it. What is different?

MEL @ ADOX

@Amazon
@Aster

Amazon had temporarily forgotten about the strange dog at the sight of the bear cub who, for some reason, looked absolutely terrified. Was she really that scary? She looked along her hide, but it was just a bit spiky. She was pretty small, especially compared to the bear. She didn't know why it was scared.

Perhaps it was something else. Aside from wanting to know what it was, Amazon thought that perhaps she should help this bear. She carefully began to move forward, smiling when it tested out its voice. "Hey! Don't be scared, we're all friends here! I'm Amazon and this is..." she trailed off as she looked back at the dog, realizing that she didn't know her name. "Er, what was your name again?"

@Aster

Wide eyes shifted from the spire back to the lizard, quizzically. A name? Aster had no idea what that was. For a long time, the borzoi stared down at Amazon, unblinking, and unknowing.

Briefly, she turned to the bear cub, staring over at her, too. She kept saying 'what.' This was not helpful to Aster's current predicament, unless 'what' was supposed to be her 'name,' but for some reason, she did not think so.

Slowly, the borzoi turned back to stare down at Amazon, focusing in on the gem on top of her head. Time and time again, she made the attempt to translate the words in her mind, and time and time again, she came out with nothing.

"I... don't know," the puppy eventually managed. "It does not matter."

But it did matter. She was troubled as she turned her head back to the spire, her curly tail laying flat against the cave floor.

@Duma