The chrysalis was on open ground, undisturbed, somehow, despite being in the center of the caves. It was flat, as if the creature was sprawled on the ground or perhaps it was simply a flat animal. It had been laying there for cycles, unnoticed and unmoving. Until now.

There was a small twitch from the creature inside as its consciousness began to slowly rise from the disgusting muddiness of their long sleep. The frail crystal began to crack around them, much easier and gentler then when they had first hatched. After a few moments of their waking, the cracks continued to spread as the crystal suddenly shattered, the pieces dropping to the ground or on the back of the bat lying on the ground, as if it were dead, wings splayed out to the side.

They groaned as they woke up, no consciousness completely in control just yet. The eyes of the bat flickered open as life once again flowed through their veins. The four struggled to throw off the last of the sleep as they tried desperately to remember what happened. It came back to them slowly. The disease, the sickness that Crack had stupidly taken into their small body. It had been unable to control it and the plague had ravaged their body. It was horrible, wracked with fever and vomiting everything they ate. Their skin had turned an awful color and was extremely painful to the touch. It had gotten so bad that they couldn't move anymore, barely able to breath beyond the pain. It was then that they had collapsed here, in Polaris, their body too weak to move any further. And the chrysalis had formed around them, restoring their body and healing what the disease had destroyed.

They still carried it within them, but in control now, a tiny seed. And Crack, having seen what it had done, was shocked into silence.

"...is it over? Are we alive?"

There was a grumbling sound as Rusty woke up and anger surged from the lizard's consciousness. "We're alive," he growled. "not thanks to Crack. What were you thinking?! You almost killed us!"

Crack didn't reply, almost as if it hadn't even heard him. They were too busy being, well, completely shocked. The others wished they knew what was happening inside its head and what it was thinking, but it had always been a tricky one to figure out.

Caliante was about to rebuke it as well when there was a sudden noise from Salvation. "Um, hey, not sure if you noticed, but we have some new headmates."

Surprised, Caliante and Rusty turned their attention towards where Salvation was and realized that he was right - two more consciousnesses seemed to have appeared within them, still developing fully, but definitely there. Perhaps a result of the terrible trauma they had suffered just before retreating into the chrysalis. Caliante shuddered to imagine what it would be like once everything went back to normal. Or, at least, when things got back to a semblance of normal. Right then, they were still sprawled out on the ground, barely moving, their body still getting used to feeling again.

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack." "Tarragon." "Ripple."

Scorch had encountered many new things since coming into this world. That was natural, of course, because how much could he know from just staying inside a chrysalis? He was sure there were still more things in this room he hadn't seen yet; there was just so much to explore. So explore he did, walking on disproportionately large talons and swiveling his head, reaching his neck up and down so he could see everything.

A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he walked over to investigate. It looked like another Gembound had hatched! How exciting! But... it wasn't moving. Its eyes were open, so it wasn't sleeping, but it wasn't moving. That was weird. Was it okay? Was it... dead? Scorch leaned in closer to get a better look. It was a rather peculiar creature. Those things looked like wings, but they were so different from his own! Moments passed without anything happening, and Scorch was about to give up on it when he saw a tiny movement as it took a breath. So it was alive!

"... Hello? Are you okay?" Why wasn't it moving, if it was alive? Scorch had moved around plenty when he hatched. Didn't it want to explore? To see the beautiful world?

Wrapped up in the thoughts in their head, they didn't notice the other gembound walking up to them until the voice chimed in their ear. The three of them started with surprise and, with unspoken agreement, Rusty and Salvation let Caliante take control of the body.

She let herself settle into the body and was startled by how intense it was to be awake. The bat blinked, the light of life returning to their eyes. She could barely remember the last time she had felt so peaceful and healthy. The last days before they were forced to retreat were filled with pain and sickness. Now, however, the sickness was gone, controlled, hidden deep within their gem.

She shuddered as a chill swept over her body and she realized the strange and unnatural position she was in. Groaning, she struggled to get to her feet, but her muscles were so weak with disuse that she could barely manage to pull her wings in close. She managed to look up and saw the owl standing next to her. For a moment, fear flashed in her mind. Was this a predator come for an easy meal? But then rationality replaced the fear. No. She was a fully grown bat and this was a baby owl. Besides, its eyes glittered with intelligence. This was the once that had spoken.

"Hello," she said, her voice cracking and hoarse. "I'm fine." This was, of course, not completely true. Despite being free of the plague, she felt awful now that feeling had completely returned. She struggled again to stand, but then flopped back down and looked back at the bird. "Sorry to be trouble, but could you maybe help me up?" She was nervous about asking for help from a stranger, but at this moment, she really couldn't do anything herself.

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack." "Tarragon." "Ripple."

@Scorch

The other Gembound said it was fine, but it did not look fine. It looked like it had trouble standing and moving, the poor thing. "Of course I'll help!" he promised. "No need to be sorry, it's no trouble at all." Except... how exactly was he supposed to do this? His head was too round to nudge her upward, his wings too awkward. Perhaps his talons? But they were so sharp... he didn't want to hurt or scare her.

"Okay, uh, I'm going to use my talons to help you up. Don't be scared, I won't hurt you, I promise." Carefully, he hopped closer, curling the claws inward and reaching out to nudge her wings.

Caliante nodded slowly, but she didn't believe at all that it was no trouble. Of course it was trouble. A grown, experienced bat having to ask the help of a newhatched chick? No, that was wrong. She should be stronger then this. But she had to admit that she couldn't stand on her own and she even heard a little snarl in the back of her mind. "Oh, stop being scared. If they attack, we can just have Crack spit the plague in their face!"

Caliante widened her eyes and shuddered, staring up at the bird, imagining the frail little bird wracked with the same sickness that had almost killed her. No, she wouldn't let it happen. They'd find a way to escape.

She eyed the talon as it came closer nervously, an image if it tearing through her skin flashing through her head. Fear nipped at her chest and for a second she didn't move but then, after a bit of gentle coaxing from Salvation, she allowed the talon to slip underneath her body.

She scrabbled at the ground as she tried to pull her wings in closer to properly stand and managed to get them underneath her enough to balance. After a moment of hobbling and dizziness, she managed to find her grip and stepped carefully away from the owl's claw. "Thank you," she sighed, gratefully. She was starting to feel a little stronger, getting used to feeling again. After a moment, she gave each of her wings a little stretch, reveling in the feeling of her muscles working again.

Once she had properly stretched, she looked back up at the owl. Even though she crouched, her wings proping her up, she was almost as tall as the little thing. Definitely a baby. "You look young. Have you hatched recently?" There was a small snort of amusement from Rusty and she realized that she hadn't introduced herself. "Oh, my name's Caliante, by the way. What's yours?"

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack." "Tarragon." "Ripple."

@Scorch

Scorch hooted happily as the other Gembound stood up. It felt so nice to help someone. Well, to be honest, it was kind of a crouch... was she supposed to stand that way? She looked happy enough, so probably yes.

"Yep," he replied when she asked him if he'd hatched recently. "It was amazing! All these glowing crystals and plants everywhere. So beautiful." She introduced herself as Caliante, and Scorch suddenly felt very silly. Why hadn't he introduced himself earlier? "I'm Scorch. Nice to meet you, Caliante!"

@Umbra

Caliante couldn't help but smile at the owl's enthusiasm. She remembered when she was young like him. But, then again, as she thought about it, she hadn't exactly had a great childhood. Getting thrown around in a tornado wasn't her idea of fun. She pushed the memory away.

"Plants? Did you hatch in Eridanus?" She looked around. She was surprised that there were a lot of plants around Polaris. Usually the cave seemed pretty barren to her. Perhaps she had not explored it thoroughly enough. All she ever found were some scraggly bushes and the rare flower for her to eat. She didn't often come here - the supply of nectar and fruit was low compared to the other caves. At least it wasn't as bad as Canis.

She tilted her head at the mention of his name and couldn't help but ask a question. "Scorch? Does that mean you use fire?'

She suddenly felt excitement race through the other two just beneath her consciousness and sudden pressure pressed against her control. "Hey! I want to talk to him! Let me talk! I wanna say hi too!" She flinched at the sudden noise in her ear and tried to shoot back a mental word, but she hadn't gotten good at it yet. Instead, she just batted him away and focused back on the conversation.

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack." "Tarragon." "Ripple."

@Scorch

"Oh, I was talking about the glowing moss here." Eridanus... was that a place with lots of plants? Interesting. He should go visit that sometime, see some new stuff. Maybe Caliante could come with him, as a tour guide or something. That would be fun! He was about to suggest it when Caliante asked about his name.

"Use fire? You mean as in magic?" Scorch thought for a moment. He actually didn't know what magic he had, so his name could be accurate in that aspect for all he knew. "I've never tried using magic, actually. But it sounds really cool. I chose my name because my eyes are yellow. Also because it sounds nice. Ssssk-orrr-chhhh." Oh, but he wanted to know what his magic was now! Squeezing his eyes shut, he concentrated fiercely, hoping something would happen. After a long moment (he wondered how ridiculous he looked, with his face like that), he felt something happen! Opening his eyes excitedly, he saw a small patch of moss slightly in front of him and to his left. He was sure that wasn't there before!

"Look!" he said excitedly, flapping his baby-wings. "I think I just made that grow!" He had magic! He could grow things! That was so cool!

@Umbra

So excited by the revelation that the bird could do plant magic, Salvation forced his way to the front, shoving Caliante aside as he assumed control of the body immediately. A flicker of change came over the bat and the eyes were suddenly glowing with excitement. "Glowing moss? Really? Where! I haven't seen glowing moss here! That's so cool! I'll bet it's everywhere, how have I not seen it before?" The quiet, squeaky voice of Caliante was gone, replaced by the loud, almost purring voice of Salvation.

He looked into the owl's eyes and realized that they were, in fact, a very striking yellow. He widened his eyes. He hadn't seen anyone with eyes as bright as those! The only other one that he had seen with such awesome eyes was Crack and, while Crack certainly had cool eyes, they were also extremely uncomfortable to look at. And Crack, as far as they knew, was all eyes. So Scorch's eyes were a nice relief.

As the moss grew in front of the two of them, Salvation's eyes rounded with wonder and glimmered with joy. A plant user! Someone that didn't carry a disease and instead of killing things, made them grow, just like him! "Oh, wow! I can do that too! Amazing!" With a little nuzzle to the ground, moss, a little lighter then Scorch's, grew right next to the patch the bird had grown. He trembled with excitement and looked up as his new friend. "I'm Salvation! I'm so happy I found another person that uses plant magic!"

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack." "Tarragon." "Ripple."

@Scorch

Scorch was glad Caliante found his observation and magic exciting, he really was! But something seemed... off... about how she reacted. Sure, it was great and all, but she'd always seemed... quieter. And the voice was completely different! He frowned in thought, though it couldn't really be seen as his "eyebrows" were always like that. His confusion was... well, it didn't exactly disappear when Caliante re-introduced herself as Salvation, because that was also very confusing. Was this normal here? Was he just the one oddity? Maybe that was why Caliante didn't mention it, and now Salvation didn't seem to think strangely of it.

"I-I'm sorry," Scorch began, completely clueless and a little nervous that Salvation might think he was weird. "I'm confused... how can you be Caliante and Salvation? Why is your voice different?"

@Umbra