Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
Silence hung between the two strange figures. They were so different from each other. Yet in many ways, they seemed more alike than either would have initially suspected. A lifetime of watching. Cycles spent in near isolation. This had caused a remarkably similar attitude shared between the two mammals that gave them a bond that many in the cave systems would never truly share. A bond of despair, of isolation, of acknowledging their lacking value in a world that often ate up such beings but had somehow passed over these two. The world would appear to work in many strange and unknown ways. Perhaps the gods, whomever they were, had some sort of cruel and unfathomable sense of humor to let two such beings exist within the margins of the world? Then the small bat spoke. He spoke of many great dangers, dangers that had previously been beyond Selena’s imagination. Dangers that should provoke further fear within her core. But he also spoke of how the creatures of the cave system had gathered together to vanquish these obstacles. Selena knew the lights had gone off but had no idea that it was creatures much like herself that had returned the lights. She had no idea of a giant monster let along that a band of heroic beings had conquered it. Zeno’s speech was both terrifying and yet strangely reassuring. Yet he also spoke of his own failure and of his own mission in life. Selena gave a yaw of short sarcastic laughter at the smaller creature. “You speak of failures. But at least you have some goal in life, vague though it sounds. Me? I simply am. I simply exist. For many cycles I thought I was content with such a life. Now? … Now I don’t know. I’m finding these days that perhaps I know much less than I thought about myself….” Her words trailed off. What was her purpose in life? It was true that for many cycles she had simply passed her time in hunting or sleeping. Occasionally she created a small familiar to play with. But her life had been simple until that strange nagging feeling had crept over her to seek out others though it gave no direction in how to do so or how to do so safely. Through talking with Zeno, she wondered if that was only the surface of the problem, though. Was there perhaps a deeper longing that she couldn’t fully understand at this point? Speech Thoughts Tags: @Zeno Notes:

He had come to this rock out of curiosity of the other, but the insight gained was akin to looking into a reflection. Simply existing, aimless, alone. Her sarcastic laugh cut deeper than he would have expected, binding him not in fear of retaliation but in realization that despite all his observations he had no answers to give.

Zeno began to maneuver his small body comfortable on top of the rock formation again, his plain brown eyes fixed on the figure below him. She was right, or at least partially so. He had a goal, he had a purpose to distract himself with. For as much as he had given himself grief for having practically no defining features that would separate him from the normal cave bats that did allow him to observe things he might not have otherwise been privy to.

"The search for self is a difficult one it seems." the small bat sighed, turning his head to the side as though talking to himself as much as the other. "Unlike the golems who exist only to gather magic or the ancients who seem to have just about everything figured out our purpose isn't very well defined, is it?"

He said nothing more for the moment and was debating on disappearing into the cave once more. That would only be continuing the cycle though, he'd leave and cycle through the conversation countless times and then arrive that the conclusion that there was some magical combination of insight and words that would have made everything better and if only he had thought of it then. That wasn't how it actually worked though was it? Even if he had all the time in the world to think there could be no magic phrase to make the problem of purpose go away. If that was the case though... what now?

---

'Know yourself'
"Before you try to influence others"
Tags: @Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
Selena nodded at Zeno’s words. He was right, their purpose was much more perplexing and convoluted it would seem than many of the simpler creatures of the caverns. She did not know of these “Ancients” that he spoke up, but she had seen the golems at a far and safe distance before. The same could be said for the lesser gembounds that scampered and acted purely by instinct alone with no real purpose but survival. A smile crept across the feline’s maw for a moment. Perhaps that’s what the problem was. She turned to face the bat more easily before responding. “Perhaps that’s what our problem really is. We tried to act too much like the lesser gembounds, simply living lives without giving it thought to what purpose it should be. We are both clearly more than them, though, so perhaps our lives too should be more. Though it would be nice if someone could tell us in what way, exactly,” she added with a huff of laughter. It was strange talking to this bat. The earlier fears and anxiety had mostly left her. Granted, he had pained her heart and soul greatly with his rather blunt words. But it was a different type of pain. And he did not seem malicious in his attempt at conversation. Even with that pain, she had started to feel more at ease with the smaller creature. There was a strange bit of pleasure that filled her in discussing such things with him. Never before had she had such a discussion. In truth, she hadn’t really had much of a conversation with others. It was similar to how it felt when she made her small ghostly familiar but stronger, more … real. The bobcat didn’t really understand it but felt that this was what she had been searching for the last few cycles. This was the kind of interaction she had desired. Not simply observing like she had spent most of her life silently doing. Not talking to someone clearly distracted and less interested as had been the way she met Petals. But someone who seemed genuinely interested in conversing with her and perhaps getting to know her. And she noticed with a bit of surprise that she was growing interested in learning more about him as well. How very curious indeed. It was that line of thought that made her realize she really knew nothing of this creature she had practically all but bared her soul out to. “Oh! I just realized, I don’t even know your name. I’m Selena.” Speech Thoughts Tags: @Zeno Notes: Yay, Selena just got the achievement of making a G**D*** friend already. XD

Zeno nodded immediately with the cat's words. That sentiment of being little more than a talking version of a lesser one had been at the base of so much of his life at this point. Had he acted like a lesser gembound because he felt unable to make any meaningful change or had those feelings arisen as a side effect of the idea of his appearance being an indication of his station in life? At this point it didn't really matter, and in truth it was probably a mixture of both.

Two ideas, each flawed in its own way, each feeding and reconfirming the other. A logical loop that had driven him to isolation. For Selena it was probably a similar situation- she had felt fear of danger and hid. In her hiding she was safe from danger, but the safety only fueled the fear of that being taken away. Isolation bred paranoia and paranoia made isolation the only rational option.

The other had seemingly relaxed now, and Zeno chanced climbing further down to be closer to eye level with her. His expression had grown a bit more relaxed, a bit more confident. It would take him some time to actually change his ways but she had shed light on a feedback loop, and with that obstacle revealed the small bad couldn't help but allow a smile to wash over his face.

For the first time in much too long of a time he realized.

"I am called Zeno, or rather that is what I refer to myself as." he responded, smile widening at the surprisingly light-hearted reference to their isolation. "Selena; it is good to meet you. How long have you called this room your home?"

---

'Know yourself'
"Before you try to influence others"
Tags: @Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
She was pleased to see the smaller creature climb down closer to her. It showed some amount of trust in her. In turn, this made the feline trust him all the more. It was a bit strange how such actions fed off each other like that. Though perhaps not too strange. After all, thoughts did that. Why not actions as well? Or perhaps the actions did so because of the thoughts behind them? Selena was bemused with her thoughts. As of late, they had been deeper than previously. But this was amplified all the more by the philosophical musings with the bat. It was an interesting self-development. But not an all together unaccepted one. In a way it was nice to bat ideas back and forth like this. It was almost like a game, something Selena did not do nearly enough of as a small cub. A game with words. How queer. “Zeno,” she repeated. “It is good to meet you, I think.” She added the last bit hesitantly, testing on her tongue the truthfulness of the statement. But it rang true in her ears. She nodded in agreement to herself with a slight smile at the bat. At his inquiry, she looked around at the stone she sat upon. How long ago had it been that she had found this? It felt ages ago. “Hmmm … It was a good number of cycles ago. 4 or 5 maybe? Maybe longer? It is sometimes hard to tell the passage of time around here. One day I happened to stumble onto this area and it wasn’t claimed yet. So here I am.” In truth, the story was far from exciting. It was merely a matter of everyday luck at play. The retelling of it was quick and to the point. Silence hung afterwards. “Ummm … what about you? Where do you live?” It was clear that this was a new task for Selena, to have a regular conversation about mundane things. Speech Thoughts Tags: @Zeno Notes:

The small bat's breaths were coming easier now with the near confrontation solidly behind them. Not since meeting Pippy as a hatchling had he actually been able to engage in any kind of conversation with anyone else. It was... soothing in its own way. Perhaps in the future he would return. Perhaps this could be a habit to check in every so often. Of course, old trends would not die so easily, and he doubted either of them would much enjoy too constant of company right after such a long period of isolation.

"A long time to stay in one area. Long enough, I suspect, that even should danger lurk out there they would be wary of facing you on your home field."

A sanctuary, that's what this place might become to her. A home. Something he realized with her returned question that he did not have. Not anymore anyways.

"That is a hard question to answer." he responded after a deep breath. Even being a tiny gemless one... no…. a small gembound in front of a much larger feline Zeno held his body with a sense of calm, growing deeper by the second as he thought back. "For at least a dozen cycles I have wandered, moving from place to place and rarely sleeping in the same location twice. There was once a time, however, when I had a home."

Zeno closed his eyes as he thought back to his first memory of sight, before doubt, before fear, before any inclination that he was anything less than a valuable thinking being. Warmth filled his chest as the serene picture formed in his mind, a soft smile resting on his face. Unbeknownst to him the environment around was reflecting his mind as first one, then two, then dozens of motes of light twinkled into life above them shining against the dense fog.

"There was a time though, when I lived in a room of light and beauty." he continued as more lights formed, even with his eyes still closed, "A room full of mystery, with ruined buildings from a time long forgotten and enough berry bushes that I never had to go hungry. I still visit there from time to time but it has been ages since I stayed more than a day or two."

---

'Know yourself'
"Before you try to influence others"
Tags: @Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
As Zeno replied, the feline found herself thinking back to her own memories. She remembered a time when she too would wander the cave system aimlessly. No destination, no purpose, no home. That time of her life had lasted for many cycles before she finally found refuge in the dreary cavern of Cetus. While other caverns were prettier, or warmer, or more inviting it was now this misty and mucky cave that felt the most comforting to her. Perhaps it was simply familiarity, but it gave her much pleasure to be able to curl up in the small den or rest on top the stone roof. Perhaps that’s really what she was desiring, in a sense. As she talked to the bat and learned more about him, he too became familiar and therefore comforting. Did these two ideas always go hand in hand like this? Surely not? It would seem that such would be a topic to muse over at some later point. Lights appeared around the two, sparkling eerily in the light mist like the fabled will o’ the wisps of a world completely unknown to the two. They danced above the two, shifting and swaying as though on a hidden string. They were dazzling to see. Selena gave out a tiny gasp of surprise and found herself mesmerized by their presence. The magic seemed similar to a favorite spell of hers, taught long ago by a mysterious being. But this created objects while hers created creatures. She considered trying to make one such creature by the lights distracted from any sense of concentration she would have been able to gather for such a spell. With a flick of an ear, the bobcat mused over Zeno’s description of another cavern. Lights, ruins, berry bushes. It seemed familiar to her. Not the bushes, since that wasn’t an interest of hers, but the lights and ruins at least. Watching the lights, she thought back through her memories…. “Ah!” She cried out with glee. “I think I know that room. There’s a strange structure near the back, right? A throne, I think I heard someone call it?” She turned to Zeno with a wide grin on her face. “I have not been there in many a cycle. But I remember that room well. I once saw a strange image on the wall with flickering lights and animals and other strange things. It was beautiful.” The image remained imprinted on her mind, though she was still a young feline at the time. It was stunning. Never had Selena seen anything like it before or since. “That’s also when I met someone, the closest I might have had to a friend….” Her voice lowered, remembering the brief meeting with the strange painter of that image. They met only briefly, though it was a pleasant enough exchange. And then they simply disappeared like so many of the gembounds did on occasion. Speech Thoughts Tags: @Zeno Notes:

The lights twinkled above for a precious few moments before softly fading away into the mists, disappearing completely as Zeno opened his eyes once more. He wasn't terribly surprised that she had seen the room, among all places in the cave it was certainly the most majestic- at least in his mind. What did surprise him was the description of a picture- had that always been there and he had just note run across it? Perhaps there were still mysteries to be found that had eluded him thus far.

"That's the room, the ruins of Orion I believe the others call it. I'm not sure I've ever seen the picture you refer to."

There had been one picture he had seen a long time back that came to mind. A bird... freedom... that's all he could remember of it in the moment. There had been someone at that time too, who he'd seen only briefly as they spoke toward a body of water.

"With a world as large as this one such is an unfortunate reality. Sometimes circumstance brings two paths together, only to allow them to diverge and fade into memory alone."

Something felt harsh about that though. Why should they feel such a need to communicate with each other when interactions were so ephemeral? Tacitus, Hellebore, Pippy; all these gembound met and spoken to and never seen again. Perhaps that was a good thing for some cases such as the evil wolf, but as he'd encouraged before most of the residents were kind-hearted.

Would Selena become just another name to add to that list?

"Perhaps I can help?" he offered quickly lest he become lost in thought, "It is possible that the gembound you speak of still wanders the caves. Perhaps I might have seen them recently?"

---

'Know yourself'
"Before you try to influence others"
Tags: @Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
While the feline was glad that the two shared a common experience in exploring that particular cavern and agreeing on its grandeur, it was disheartening to find that the imagery may not be there any longer. It had been over 10 cycles since she herself had tried to rediscover the painting along the wall. It was possible that the image was only temporary. Selena’s head fell at the thought. Such a beautiful thing did not deserve to go missing from the world. A tiny bit of hope cried in her brain though. It was a vain thought, but it reminded her that just because the bat had not seen it, did not necessarily mean that it no longer existed. Perhaps she could find it again. Maybe she could even show her new companion the imagery. Something told her that he would be most interested in it. As Selena was turning her maw to face the bat to ask him about it, he already voiced a new question. He asked to describe the creature she had met. Now that was a difficult thing to ask of her. “I’m not sure how best to describe him….” She found herself at a loss of words, ears flicking in deep concentration as she tried to remember him. “I haven’t seen him in many cycles. And I only met him briefly. He had a long robe on that covered most of him up. But his hands had a blue glow when he used magic.” Selena paused, remembering the magic he used with a slight smile. How he made a small version of herself to greet her. It was like a tiny ghostly kitten. Magic travelled from her stone and formed a small ethereal feline of her own. It was not as detailed as it could have been, her mind a mixture of pleasant memories and fear that they were to be only memories. The kitten familiar tilted its head, looking up at the bat. “I wonder if he is still around, or if he has wandered off the way so many others have. I wonder if that painting might still be in Orion or if it’s lost forever….” Speech Thoughts Tags: @Zeno Notes:

Zeno's eyes unfocused as he searched his memories for a gembound that might match Selena's description. Though vague there was only one individual the small bat could think of that could be said to be wearing a robe and posessed hands rather than paws. It had been long ago, a short time after the first great darkness. He had seen them only briefly after witnessing them speaking to a lake, but even with such a short meeting he had been able to learn a simple spell from the strange being.

As his eyes came back into focus there was now a second cat before him, one much smaller and more illuminated than Selina. Her magic familiar, one he had seen from a distance a few times before as he passed overhead. Had that been the magic the visitor had given her? Certainly it looked rather impressive, and carried with it a complexity he imagined had to have taken a lot longer to learn than his parlor trick had taken him. Would the two spells interact in some way though?

The small bat took a deep breath and allowed his thoughts to relax. Question upon question raced past begging to be attended to, as though his mind were determined to speed up as soon as he decided to utilize this magic. Ruminating over his mind's inquiries could wait though, and so each urgent thought and observation that leapt to his attention was gently allowed to pass. For this spell to work he had to let his focus exist only in the present moment, his thoughts always gravitate back to the inaudible hum of magic.

A few seconds passed as urgent thoughts became less frequent and the bat found himself resting without judgement of the past or worries over the future. Only then did the bat's dull brown eyes shift in color to a dazzling blue, sparkling at first but with each passing moment growing brighter and brighter until they cast a glow upon the world in front of him.

"I have seen the one you speak of before." Zeno said, his voice distant but lacking any uncertainty. Unscripted, unedited, words which had not existed before the present and which were left unjudged as soon as they left his mouth. "A painter and a blacksmith. An ancient one from areas unknown. He arrived to speak to an ancient residing in the gembound's domain and has not been seen since. Benevolent, but mysterious."

---

'Know yourself'
"Before you try to influence others"
Tags: @Selena