At last, after cycles of rest and recuperation, the poisoner of minds was ready to awaken.

A loud crack! signified the all too familiar sound of a chrysalis creaking apart as the inside fluids began to leak, pouring down the face of the tanzanite in small trickles before the mutant inside merely shifted and caused the raw stone to shatter, sending its contents into a flood onto the grounds of Orion. The beast hissed to life, his long body rising from the fluid on shaky, adult limbs and heaved the thick mucous from his lungs with raspy coughs.

It had been many cycles since oxygen coursed through the lungs of the mutant, but as ruby red eyes flicked open and focused on the room around him, he noticed how little Orion had changed. By this minute, he had gathered the strength to stand without the shakes and he stood tall, or at least as tall as he could on his short legs. No one seemed to be around right now, but the caves weren't empty, that much was obvious to him. Their scents lingered in the air, albeit stale. Taking a few steps forward and out of the chrysalis mess, he snatched a useless piece of his shattered prison and made way more towards the room's center.

He remembered placing a stone here before he went into hibernation, one he had taken from some kind of... lesser? He gave life to it many cycles ago, but had it hatched? Probably so, but now he felt it was far more important to find it, or even its remains, than discovering just who might be lingering in the shadows of Orion. Treading forward, he had to start somewhere. Unable to remember exactly where he laid the stone, he was forced to wander, hopelessly in search of his child.

Zevruu was making his rounds through the paths of Orion. He'd seen plenty others while walking, but he often ignored them and would change his route to make sure he didn't run into anyone. His ears were pricked, listening for the sound of any gembounds nearby that he could hear.

He hadn't been expecting the sound of a chrysalis to hatch nearby. He froze, looking around, before seeing someone long and skinny emerge. His eyes narrowed. That wasn't a new gembound, they were much too big and clearly knew what they were doing. It looked to perhaps be someone hatched after hibernation. He watched as they walked away, to the center of Orion.

He paused for a moment before letting out a huff. Before he could change his mind, he was following the creature, walking silently. He knew this place like the back of his paw, knew where to step to avoid making a sound. After a moment, it seemed the other might be...looking for something? What could they be looking for? Either way, he didn't exactly want to make his presence known. So he continued to follow.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Othello

Someplace, hidden deep within the confines of the cave, was that darned stone. Had he only stayed awake during that period of waiting, then he'd have witnessed the grand birth of his child and know infact where it had buried itself. Angried, Othello gave up his search after just meer minutes of rummaging around, seemingly unaware of the eyes on him.

By now his skin was crawling with irritation and he reached to chew on it, to relieve the itching and nagging feel of his emotions. It was then he saw the smaller feline, watching him across the room. Had he been followed by this smaller gembound? Othello's lip lifted around sharp canines, his irritation already limiting and testing his patience.

Remaining in the awkward position, twisted around himself from chewing on his skin, he began to make a connection with the mind of the feline from across the room. Feeling a strong connection, he erupted. "What do you want?!" The words were like a growl, angry and savage and very unlike what you would expect to come from a beast such as he. His lip raised again at the end of his words, daring the feline to come closer. Should they, and let them welcome a fun trip.

@Zevruu

For some time, Zevruu was able to follow the mutant without him noticing. But it didn't take long for them to notice him. As he reached back to scratch an itch, the serval could tell the exact moment he was spotted. He didn't waver his gaze. Had this occurred only cycles ago, perhaps he would have withered under the harsh gaze, and slunk away.

But he was different now. He was older. He'd been in this cafe for more cycles than he could count. And, while he was tired of it, he was even more tired of slinking away from others out of anxiety or fear. He didn't plan on cowering away from anyone, including this creature. He could feel his magic gathering, and the next thing he knew, it seemed like his eyes were glowing a bright, brilliant blue.

At that moment, a voice resonated in his mind. It seemed as though it came from the one in front of him, though their lips never moved. His eyes narrowed. What did he want? He didn't have a particular reason for following this strange wolf - if it was even a wolf. Zevruu had stopped moving long before this point, but now he felt his paws taking him closer. He no longer crouched low to the ground. He had been spotted; there was no need for that. He stopped a distance away. He didn't want to scare them away - not that he really cared much whether he did or not. Head held high, eyes still holding at least a trace of the blue glow, he observed the creature before speaking. "I'm merely observing. I know this cave more than anyone else by this point, surely. I know everyone who comes by." A pause, before he added, "Almost everyone."

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Othello

During his glare, the golden color of the felines eyes changed to a brilliant, sparkling blue. Was it an attempt to trance the beast? Othello couldn't be sure, and while he was somewhat memorized by the radiance of them, he couldn't let himself be distracted by a superfluous magick. It was nothing more than to cause a distraction, and Othello had to be on his toes around all of these unknown gembounds. While this one was clearly older and more... experienced, no one could be trusted.

It was then that his words had made it into the mind of the other and he could tell it somewhat confused the other. He could speak, sure, but never had actual words come from his mouth and at this point, why should they? It was much more fun screwing with others and putting words in their head, especially if the path wasn't clear and they only got a jumbled mess of things. Within moments, he had an answer, only it was in the form of words. He hadn't yet found another that speaks in the way he does, though perhaps that was a good thing. Was he the only one with this hidden power of telepathy?

He smirked at his words. He knows the cave better than anyone by now? Perhaps, though this wasn't Monoceros. If it were, it'd be a betting game now. Nearly three years old, Othello knew all the caves pretty well and Orion wasn't one that he left untouched with it's pretty stars and structures. It wasn't home for the first many cycles, but it wasn't unfamiliar. Perhaps it was this ones home and he was intruding. The thought only made him smirk.

He tried to form words in his head to send to the serval, only he could feel them jumbling in his own mind and barely coming into fruition. Scrunching his face up into something recognized as annoyance, confusion, and a little bit of anger, Othello huffed. He'd have to try again, only after such a horrible failure, he'd have to wait. Trying again so soon may only result in another failure while these jumbled words floated around.

@Zevruu