Aspen wondered what the rock on his forehead did. His fur had a purpose; it kept him warm and it was soft. His paws let him walk, obviously. What did this gem do for him? He poked at his forehead again, trying to get a reaction out of it. And there was a reaction - he felt a weird surge of energy through it, but it felt wrong, somehow, like it was irritated at him for poking around. Shuddering, he left it alone. Maybe it would reveal its purpose later.

Or, you know, there's always Other Me's idea! They could always go find someone else, hopefully older and more experienced, that knew what the gems were for. "Good idea!" he purred. He turned in a circle, looking at his surroundings. There were the ledges he could jump on to ambush prey from above, and many rock rectangle-things, and he thought he saw a really tall rock in the distance. And then, of course, there were the sparkly crystals absolutely everywhere. "Where should we look first?"

@Rast

The young snow leopard shook off the dust from their little play fight and rose to her feet. She purred with joy when Aspen exclaimed that her plan was a good idea. She liked the thought of having good ideas, it seemed to make her new friend quite happy. This new life was so much fun! There was so much to learn!

After a moment, she followed his gaze. Rocks, rocks, shiny rocks. No sign of anyone else though. "Maybe we should go that way?" She gestured towards a more open area, below the cliff they were standing on. "Maybe there is someone else hiding in those big old rocks!"

Rast trotted towards the edge of the stone slab they were on and stepped down to the next one. "Even if there isn't anyone, we could still find something cool!" She called back to Aspen, excitement in her voice.

@Aspen
Should we have them move to a different area/join an open thread with others in it?

Little did the two other snow leopards know, someone was hiding there. It was Layla, and she was watching the two cubs, creepily. Well, in her mind it was more motherly. They looked just like her, they were curious and happy little things, just like she had been, like she still was.

As soon as they suggest/ed coming to her hiding place, she moved from her place beneath two large boulders. The black spotted leopardess moved gracefully towards the two Gemlings. Motherly instincts rose through her chest at seeing two of her own species as cubs, and they nearly suppressed her own childish demeanor.

"Hello! I'm Layla!" She purred loudly, gazing down at the younger snow leopards.

@Rast @Aspen

Just moments after Rast's (very clever, in Aspen's opinion) suggestion to go look at the crumbling rocks, someone stepped out of them. "Oh my goodness," he blurted, eyes filled with awe. "You're like us! But bigger! Will we be like you too someday? And you have a stone too! Can you tell us what it's for? Pretty please?" Eyes shining with excitement, he bounded up to Bigger Him, sniffing her and rolling on the cave floor.

"Layla? That's a really nice name! Rast and I call each other Other Me! Can we call you that too? Or would you prefer Bigger Me?" Triggered by her purr, Aspen's own purr rumbled up in his throat and he kept it going, quite loudly. It was a very pleasant sound, and he was sure Rast would want to try it too.

@Rast @Layla

The small cub bounded forward. She was eager to find some more creatures to play with. Her paws, which were too big for her body, slowed her down considerably but she didn't notice. She whipped around to look back at Aspen and saw his expression as he called out excitedly.

"Wha-"

The cub turned around and almost smacked into a very large version of Other Me and herself. A quiet, startled meow exploded from her small lungs. They were very big indeed!! Rast scampered backwards, closer to Aspen, as he greeted the other cat.

She felt tense for another minute, but as soon as the Bigger Them spoke she was put at ease. Layla sounds like a name a nice thing would have... Soon Rast found herself purring too. It happened all on it's own, but it felt so nice. Her whole chest vibrated with the feeling.

"You are much bigger than us. Are you nice? You seem nice!" The cub looked up at her with wide and excited eyes.

@Aspen @Layla