Pressed against the wall and hidden under a thin veil of lichen, a blue and green rock sat. Well, it wasn't really a rock, it was a chrysalis. Inside it, life began to stir. It shuddered, only briefly, before a long crack split from one side of the chrysalis to the other. Steam hissed out from the jagged edge as the warm air inside spilled into the chilly air. It was almost as if the formation itself sighed with relief and as that sigh ended, another crack sprouted.

Then another.
And another.
And another.

Until just a pile of stunning labradorite shards rested around a small ball of pure white fur. It stirred briefly, then gasped with a small cry. The small polar bear cub was conscious and his eyes shot open. Everything was so blurry. Another tiny roar escaped him as he pushed himself up into a wobbly sitting position.

A cold breeze pushed at the lichen that concealed him from the rest of the giant room. The cold soothed the small cub. It just felt right. He turned his small nose to the air and inhaled deeply. It smelled so nice. His black tongue came back out over his nose as if to try and taste the smell. That didn't seem to work. So, he shook his large head and pushed himself up to stand.

Follow. His brain searched for more words, Follow smell...

The cub, still a bit big for his species, pushed through the curtain of lichen and squinted into the light that was revealed. As his eyes adjusted, he saw water falling from above him, just a ways away. He clambered up a small hill and gave another small roar. There was something that smelled oh so good. He had to find it!

Blackberry loathed this room. She truly hated and despised it, the dampness and the wetness. She vaguely remembered hatching in this room, though, so there was a faint connection. And she and Blueberry had defeated a dragon here. A mighty deed that she carried with her at her neck. With a wing, she touched the dragon claw she carried. She hoped the dragon still remembered her when she saw her broken talon.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the crack. But as soon as she heard it, she whipped around. No way. Another child hatching in her presence? Was something putting them there in her path or did she just have good luck? Or perhaps another sense for when a child needed her help.

She took off quickly towards the place where she heard the crack and saw the scraggly form of a young polar bear pushing its way up a hill. She heard the roar and she felt something leap in her chest. Having a polar bear in the family would be...well, it would be something else indeed! Jayberry, being a wolf, was strong, but a bear...she could just imagine the look of terror on her enemies' faces!

She followed it up the hill, giving a small honk to announce her presence and rushed to the bear's side. "Child, calm down! You just hatched. Don't exert yourself too much!"

@Baffin

Baffin was busy staring up at the falling water when the strange sound of a honk caught his attention. He swung his head to see something approaching. Goose! His brain chimed in, Kind of goose? The image that popped up in his mind was similar to this thing, but this goose was very different. Perhaps to an older gembound, the goose's appearance would prompt a quick escape. But of course, Baffin had no idea the difference between a good kind of different and a bad kind of different, so he was just excited!

He took a few wobbly steps forward as she approached him, excited chirps escaping his body.

Child, calm down! You just hatched. Don't exert yourself too much!

Another quiet chirp came from him as he stared up at the other gembound. His large brown eyes slowly began to focus on the creatures face. Then he looked down at the thing hanging around her neck. He lifted one furry paw, reaching for it. What this? The cubs nostrils flared as he leaned forward to take a whiff, if it smelled good he might even try to lick it.

@blackberry

Blackberry watched the bear get closer and didn't flinch at all. Despite knowing that this kid would become a huge fearsome predator, it barely looked like any kind of threat at the moment. In fact, it looked quite pathetic, wobbling towards her and making weird, high-pitched sounds. But that meant that it was an empty slate, open to anything. She could raise him and, when he became that huge monster that he would become, he would be a killer.

But as he reached forward to sniff her necklace she found her beak opening in a snarl as one of the claws on her stomach pressed against him to try and push him away. "No, you are not to touch that," she hissed. "Nobody is to touch that." With one of her wings, she reached around and covered it protectively. She had done much to acquire these trophies and she would not lose a second one. "Can you talk? Can you even understand me?"

@Baffin

Baffin had his little black tongue out, ready to give that hanging thing a good old lick when he felt something press against him, pushing him back. At that same time his ears were filled with a rather scary hissing sounds. The cub sucked his tongue back into his mouth as he was pushed back into a sitting position with a quiet thump.

His wide brown eyes stared up at the goose, he felt fear. Scary. It was not a very good feeling, it made his fur rise and his heart constrict. This feeling, however bad, made him keen to listen to this goose in front of him. He did not want to be scared!

This older gembound wanted him to speak, he could tell. The cub opened and closed his mouth, struggling painfully to form words. At first, only a few grunts escaped him. And then,

"Yes! I understand." Baffins voice was unsteady and raspy for his vocal cords were stiff from a long time in the chrysalis. At least. he was pretty sure he understood. Dont touch the hanging thing. That didn't mean he couldn't touch other things. He was sure this goose had plenty of things he could play with. They had so many things they wore one around their neck!

"Do you have more?" Baffin gestured to the necklace that was hidden by her wing with his paw, taking care not to move it too close. "More... things?" He rasped, still looking up at her. He would love to see more things. The world was full of so many things.

@blackberry

Blackberry was more than relieved when the bear started to speak. She had had enough of gembounds that had hatched without the ability to speak or, in some cases, understand speech. It was frustrating to no end and it would be so much easier now that she knew the bear could speak to her. "Good. That makes everything easier." Despite having her own family, she really hated teaching kids to talk.

When he gestured to her necklace she swept a wing protectively over it. After having the white fur stolen right off of it, it was hard to trust anyone that had any interest in it. But this was just an inquisitive bear cub. Things would be fine. She dropped her wing and instead tried to figure out what he was asking. "Things? There are lots of things that I have. This is my trophy necklace and I don't have anymore of these specific things, but I have other things. Feathers and warm nests and other children." She narrowed her eyes, one of her talons tapping at the ground. "Why don't you come with me? I've got a home that you can stay at."

@Baffin

He stared, listening eagerly as she replied. She didn't have anymore things like the thing on her necklace. It was everything else she mentioned that really captured his interest. Feathers...nest...friends! If there were other little gemlings like him, surely he would be able to make more friends. Maybe ones that werent as scary as this goose. However scary she was, she was also kind enough to invite Baffin to live with her. At least, the little cub assumed it was out of the kindness of her scary heart for he was oblivious to her narrowed eyes and tapping talons.

"Oh, yes that sounds..." He paused looking for the right word. As his brain grew more and more awake he found himself knowing more and more words. "...nice!" The cub hopped to his feet, a cub-like grin on his face.

His grin faltered briefly as he realized something. He had no idea what to call this goose! This kind and scary goose that just took him under her wing. "What-what should I call you?"

@blackberry

At the word 'nice', Blackberry had to hold back a honk of laughter. She knew that she was being nice, yes, by letting this bear join her family, but it was ironic, knowing that there was nothing very nice about her family besides being, well, a family. The bear would soon learn that. They were young and newly hatched. They would learn to becomes one of them. "I am Blackberry," she announced, proudly.

And now that the bear was joining her family, she had to give him a name. She knew that many would ask the gemling what their name was at hatching, as many had their own ideas of what to call themselves but Blackberry knew better. If they would be part of the family, they couldn't have some pedestrian name. "And I'm going to call you Snowberry."

@Baffin

"Blackberry."

He parroted her name, as if to commit it to memory. Something in the back of his mine told him that that was a type of food. Food sounded quite nice at the moment. But it would have to wait, he just received a name!

"Snowberry?" He rolled the name around in his mind. "I like that name!" The cub bobbed his head up and down in agreement before speaking again. "When are we going to go home, Blackberry?" Once again he was looking up at her with bright and cheerful eyes.

Home

The word felt quite pleasant on his tongue. The idea of a home made his little heart beat just a little faster. Surely home was a good place!

@blackberry

Well, wasn't that nice that he liked his name? Blackberry chuckled again and she opened one of her wings, as if to invite the bear cub to get closer. "We're going to go home right now! The cave we live in is a little far so if you need to stop anytime let me know. There will be a whole family just waiting for you." Well, that's if they were there. Who knew how many of the berries would be around to welcome their new brother?

But it didn't matter. They would be there at one point or another. And of course, if they didn't, they would suffer her wrath.

She turned and with a sweep of her wing, directed Snowberry in the direction of their journey. "Come now. They'll be excited to meet you." She began to step off, triumphant at yet another victory. Anotehr child to take into her fold.

*exit

@Baffin