Farrah emerged in a tumble of fluff and oof's as she rolled dangerously near the trench. When she stopped rolling, however, she bounced back up with zeal. She looked around, wondering how long she had been out. She simply went to sleep one night then... nothing. Somehow, though, she was aware that a lot of time had passed.

Where were the gembounds she had spent many tender moments with. She had never done anything explicit, but she had loved deeply.

Were these gembounds still alive? Surely they were... or... at least some of them! And surely many more had been born since then! Yeah! Lots of new gembounds!

Now she'd have to start her mission to spread the love through the caves all over again!

Flit's hunger had left a trail of decimation through a couple of small ferns near the fern trench, which had ragged edges and many little holes in their shiny surfaces. The catermouse looked far more like a regular mouse, now- covered in fluffy yellow fur, and the growing aches and pains in his tiny tail were becoming a lot easier to bear. As he'd grown, the weight lessened, and although the little one didn't know it- he'd grown by a couple of centimetres.

Although he still lacked the wings which, though he didn't know it yet, would soon mark his passage into adulthood.

So the fluffy, vibrant little mouse gnawed the greenish stem of a fern, expression contented and whiskers flecked with dew. He'd just about satiated his appetite of the hour when his fern rocked violently as something brushed against it, eliciting a tiny squeak of fear. The little mouse clung to the leaf that he'd perched on, but the dead weight of his gem dragged him down. He fell the rest of the way to the ground, and when he looked up, found a giant, fluffy canine shape towering over him.

Flit found himself frozen in fear.

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Farrah
notes: here

@flit

A tiny squeak caught Farrah's attention to the tiny, vibrant life below her.

"Oh.... Mygosh," Farrah breathed. The creature was so small, it was absolutely adorable. She wasn't sure what kind of creature it was, but with its cute little dandelion fur, Farrah found it hard to resist just scooping him up and claiming him for herself. She could just squeeze him he was so cute!

Farrah dropped down onto her forelegs, her rump still in the air with her curly tail waving rapidly.

"Hey," she whispered. Better to be quiet to tiny creatures. "You are very tiny. Like itty-bitty-teeny-tiny tiny. I think that's great. You must be... A new gembound?"

Farrah's tail wagged faster. What luck! She had already found a new gembound and she already loved him!

The voice of the shape looming above them was soft, and although his heart was pounding and small body curled into a fearful little ball, the murmur was comforting. If he could have blinked, he would have. He retreated a little as the big one's face came down towards him, but as she didn't try to eat him, the fluffy little catermouse inched closer, pink nose twitching.

He let out a nervous little giggle- it wasn't the first time he'd been told, and he was certain this wasn't going to be the last. After a few moments, curiosity began to replace his fear- he was sure that someone with a voice that kind wouldn't hurt him. Like Wrath and Felina- both were so big! "Wrath said the same!" he squeaked, and, after a moment of consideration, rose up onto his haunches with little pink paws curling against his chest. New? Flit thought back to his emergence- his chrysalis was probably only a few metres away, but he thought that he'd travelled a long, long way indeed. of course, though, he had nothing to compare it to. this life was the longest he'd known. A cycle felt like an age away to him. "New? I... think so! Are you?"

He paused, little ears pricking. "My name is Flit."

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Farrah
notes: here

The tiny little yellow creature could talk! Indeed, that must mean he was a gembound! Farrah was so excited she could spin in little circles, but she feared that if she did, she might crush the small friend she had just met. Instead, Farrah allowed her tail to was with such ferocity that it it were to hit something, it might break.

The creature asked if Farrah was a new gembound and she shook her head with a wide smile, "Not at all! But I've been asleep for a very long time now- I think- so it's almost like I'm all new again!"

Farrah laid her chin flat on the ground so that she could look at the creature on some sort of level ground. He said his name was Flit! What a fitting name!

"Hello Flit! I'm Farrah, a dog creature! What creature are you?"

@Flit

"O-oh! you have? I haven't slept. I've just ate a lot!" The thought of food caused Flit's attention to drift back towards the fern, and lingered there until Farrah continued. When he looked back at Farrah, she was even lower to the ground- all he could see was her enormous nose. so he waddled around her, dragging his gem behind him, so that he could look into her eye, soft pink paws curled at his chest, nose twitching and eyes round and bright.

A dog-creature? Flit had never met one of those before! his mind reeled and he wondered just how many types of creatures there were living in this cave! He'd already met a snake and a bobcat- just how many more were there? Were there any more of him? "I... I have no idea," e answered honestly, though with a tinge of embarrassment to his high voice. "But Felina said I look like a... a mouse! Have you ever seen a mouse before?"

The little one had never encountered one of his lesser gembound ken. And he was unaware that he was anything special -or- that he would be eventually.

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Farrah
notes: here

The little creature mentioned it hadn't slept. That meant he must be very new, right? Or maybe very likely he was a gembound that didn't need to sleep. How wonderful! Perhaps he ate instead of sleeping? Farrah tilted her head from one side to the other as she contemplated the possibilities.

The gembound mentioned that he wasn't sure what he was. That was probably very normal. After all, what qualified Farrah as a dog creature was a mystery to her still. He said he was a mouse! What a fitting name! Flit asked if she had seen one and Farrah shook her head gently, "No, never," she whispered.

Farrah looked around for a bit. She assumed Flit only ate grasses. If that were the case, this was the best place for him.

"Did you plan on eating still? I can help you gather many foods! I'm a very good gatherer!"

@Flit

Flit seemed slightly disappointed as the big dog mentioned that she'd never met a mouse before. He looked down slightly, small ears drooping. "Oh..." he murmured sadly- he'd been hoping that perhaps he might be able to meet something his own size soon. Everyone else around here seemed so big! Nice, that was true, but awfully big. "I wonder how many there are. I wonder where they are. Is this place much bigger than this?"

To the little catermouse, even the smallest tree was the size of an entire forest, and beyond the average gembound's horizon was a million miles away for Flit. Even if Eridanus was the size of the average house, the little mouse would feel rather lost. All he knew was that he was very small, but his world was huge. At the mention of food, Flit perked up dramatically, he nodded with a bob of his little yellow head, hunching up on his hind paws with pink eyes looking bright. The little one was always hungry! his appetite had begun to return already, even though he'd only finished eating a moment ago. "That would be wonderful!"

Not to mention, there were so many green things Flit had yet to try! he could see a thousand colours lingering just at the edges of his line of sight, the traces of flowers that felt a million miles away! And ferns were filling, but they got boring after a time. Fallah was so big, she could probably show Flit foods that he could never ever have dreamt of before! His fur ruffled in excitement.

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts look like this."

tags: @Farrah
notes: here