Rast bobbed her head excitedly, "Ok, ok that sounds fair to me." She watched him settle back down and leaned back to sit down as well. "I will wake you up in five minutes!" She declared, stomping a paw down for emphasis. She could sit still for five minutes, no problem right? Surely it couldn't be that hard! The cub looked around, but kept her paws firmly planted. She even curled her tail around her paws to keep them still.

It was awfully hot... Her eyes slowly drifted over to the water that was not that far away. Rast glanced back to the fluffy gembound in front her, she could go play for five minutes! That would make it go by much faster. She paused only a moment longer and then ripped off to the water. She immediately felt cooler as she submerged herself in the water.

Water was much nicer when one was able to go in there on your own terms. Rast didn't go any deeper than her shoulders, she wasn't really sure how to go about swimming. Instead she just ran around, splashing by herself in the water. It was fun for a few minutes but she looked back to the other gembound.

"Are you ready to get up!" She yelled from the water. Rast had no idea if it had been five minutes but she thought she would give it a try.

@zeke

This stocky Gemling observes this kid's child-like excitement overtaking their body language and gestures when he wants to make a deal with them, cute one here it makes him give a small chuckle, well seems like they have reached a compromise.

"We have a deal then buddy?" he asked in a mock-shady tone, pretending like they're both plotting some sinister plan though all it is, is getting this big guy to wake up from a five-minute nap. Kinda tempted to extend a claw out for them to shake as an agreement to this but they were quite comfy where they are, and so he made no move to budge them, 'sides looks like they do have a deal, they're taking this seriously to wake him in five minutes.

"Heh, good luck then bud," he'll try his best to fill his end to this 'deal', but still, gonna be a challenge for them to wake him up maybes when he does go back to sleep. Letting out a huge yawn he lays his head back down, tucking it between his claws to get comfy, his mind quickly giving into his body's desire to sleep again, and soon his rhythmic snoring came once again within seconds and somehow was already in a deep sleep.

His nap didn't last long; initially, he only stirred a lil and shifted his head like trying to block out their words, but his eyes blinked sleepily briefly, looking to be awake but he made no move and might be half-asleep and doesn't know he is awake and not dreaming. A minute passed, and he finally woke fully, eyes half-lidded as he turned his head, getting a little concerned when he didn't at first see his new buddy before finding them frolicking in this water behind him.

Has it been five minutes? It kinda didn't feel like it, but oh well he said he'd get up after five minutes, so better go ahead and do it now, a deal is a deal. Slowly getting up which took some effort as his body felt heavy to stand up with. Shaking himself a lil bit to feel more awake and get some water off his fur, and stretched his front legs.

"Ehhhhhhhhh... Ah, sure thing," he's not gonna argue if they are this raring to go, he could've been a tease and told them they want five more minutes again to sleep but, he's rested enough if it is even possible.

"Alright lead ta way lil bud," they must know more than him so he'll tag along as their companion to explore.


@Rast

The cub bounced once in the water as the fluffy gembound finally stood up. Finally! Now they could go exploring, maybe she would even find Aspen or Layla. Surely they would like this fluffy creature! He was very sleepy, that's for sure, but also very nice. He was very tall too so he could help her reach high places if she ever needed to.

"Oh yay!" Rast sprinted out of the water, sending up small waves in her wake. "I actually don't know where to go, but..." She looked around briefly, trying to find something interesting to do. Suddenly she had a thought!

"Do you have a stone?" She looked closely at the bigger gembound but couldn't notice anything. "I have one, you probably saw! I guess it is supposed to be able to help us to special things!" She lifted a paw and swiped over the eye that had been replaced by her stone. She could try to show him! Rast had never done it before, but she felt like there was some magic in her that wanted to get out!

"Like this!" The little snow leopard placed her paw over a sizable pebble that was buried under a few others and stared at it intensely.

After a moment, the pebble began to glow faintly. The light it gave off was a pale blue. The action made the leopard a little tired all of the sudden, but she still picked up the pebble and looked at her new friend proudly.

"Shee? Like shish!" She spoke excitedly around the pebble in her jaws.

K he's fine, he achieved standing for the first time and remained stood for more than a minute; miraculous feat there for this big guy, let's keep this up now. This Gemling is still going through a process to waking up properly and needed to get his bearings, he took a few small steps towards this little fellow, although what gears which are in his mind have not spun yet as his footsteps were more dragging his claws across this ground.

Lotsa energy this little bud has, he dunno if he will be able to catch up with 'em when they go out to explore. Welp will have ta see bout all it but first things first.

"Wellllll maybes we can explore by stayying righhhhttttt hereee and relax a bit eh buddy?" his voice was clouded with sleep. He doesn't mean it, just gonna suggest if they don't have a plan as to where to go, well mostly joking anyway but if they take up on his offer to stay and relax he may slip in another nap again; maybes they can join him too.

"Heh, just kidding, anyyy places you know that are really neat looking of sorts?" can be a good start there, even if it'll be hard to list some but maybes he can help here with this.

"A... Whaatt? Dunno whatcha you mean there buddy," well guess they are staying right here after all? Still, what do they mean by a 'stone'?

Hmm, this taller Gemling got more awake as he approached them a lil more to check out this 'stone' they have only for his expression to direct a concerned look at his new pal. A closer inspection he now sees this 'stone' completely replaces an eye, some spikes which have torn through their skin and dotted around their eye.

"...Is it maybes hurting your face pal...?" the first question asked, his voice getting a bit deeper and quiet, he hopes it doesn't hurt 'em, they say it helps with special things but is these 'special things' worth it if it means their face hurts? He's reaching out to their tiny form with a claw gently, very gently; he stops it a bit away from their face in case they'd rather if the big guy didn't touch their face, no matter how concerned he is.

"Huh?" their sudden demonstration kinda caught this big guy off guard and made him forget a lil bit about his concern about their eye, earning a confused look as he stared at this lil pebble they have taken an interest. When it glowed neato blue lights and shown as brightly like his bright pupils, he had a look of mild awe on his face from all this. He was tempted to pat at it with his claw to check if this was real, but they grabbed it to let him check it out a lil better with their jaw, looking pretty proud at this.

"Whoa hey, you OK? Ya, look bout as tired as I was now buddy, still that is pretty cool buddy," OK they didn't appear as tired as he did, was a lil concerning how this energetic pal got tired outta nowhere from how it looks; still, he grinned at them with pride.

Now he was curious though, kinda worried about something he patted at his eyes with his claws to check if he had a 'stone' which was replacing his eyeballs only to find nothing; weird is it somewhere else?

He patted down at various parts to himself, his teensy feathers and back to find nothing, it was like finding a needle in a haystack, almost literally with how thick his fur is. It wasn't until he craned his neck so much so, and rested his chin on his neck where his coat was much more fluffy where he felt something hard and cold, not fluffy fur at all. Carefully he combs at his mane where he thought it is, brushing it back and his eyes happen to find something colourful on his neck. Hard for him to tell what exactly, with it being on the front of his neck and crossing his eyes to check kinda hurt, but he can see a blur of a lighter blue and maybe what looks like patterned streaks or something.

"Uhh is this my uh 'stone' something or other buddy?" seems unfair they have a stone which may hurt their face but he'll worry about such a matter if they say yes it does hurt their face.


@Rast

Another wave of pride swelled in Rast's chest as her new friend praised her for her little show. In all honesty, Rast was pretty pleased herself! She had never done such a thing before! Perhaps the more she did it, the brighter it would glow! Would the glow go out? Hopefully not, it was very pretty.

"I'm ok! It just made me a little tired is all." The cub had set the stone down before speaking and plopped down into the pebbly shore. Her head tilted to one side as the larger gembound began to pat down his own body. What is he doing? The tip of her tail twitched back and forth. He seemed to be looking for something. His frantic pat down seemed to cease as he found something. Rast rose too her paws to check it out too.

"I think so!" The snow leopard took a few steps forward and squinted into the mass of fur. "Hold on..." She sat up carefully on her back legs, raising her big fluffy paws to push some fluff out of the way. Surely enough, a stone was nestled comfortably at the front of his neck.

"Yup! That is a stone all right!" She had back down and grinned up at him. "Oh! And mine doesn't hurt! I can't even feel it, see?" She extended a claw and tapped on the black surface of the stone that replaced her eye. Rast paused for a second, lost in thought. It looked as though she had started to put together some puzzle pieces in her mind.

"Hey! If my stone helps me make things glow, maybe yours does too! Or mayeb it does something else! I don't know but you should try it."

@Zeke

They did a good job it looks cool for sure, he kinda wants to keep it, this glowing rock was nifty he's gotta admit there. He was tempted to pat their head in praise, which may do when he confirms if they are OK from doing this as the Gemling was still a lil concerned for them, nifty or not he'd prefer they didn't tire themselves out from it.

"Well if you say so lil bud, maybes take a lil break or something?" only a lil bit tired out huh? Well, he supposes as long as they don't overuse this he reckons he shouldn't worry too much.

When he found maybes his stone, he kept his claw pointing at his neck where he believes his 'stone' is. He was about to ask what it looks like but when they got closer to him initially, he didn't have a clue what they wanted till he could see they're gonna check it out themselves and so he lowers his neck closer to them to help make it easier and safer for them to check it out.

"Oh, sweet buddy. What'sit look like?" he craned his neck back up and beamed at them when he asked now as to what it looks to be such as if it's like theirs although if from what his eyes did catch with a blurring blue, probably not.

"Oh, really bud? Heh that's good then was a lil worried, looked kinda painful to me!" they didn't show any kinda body language indicating they're in pain like flinching or gritting teeth even when they tapped it like it was nothing, so he believes them.

"Huh, mine? Wellll I dunno where to start, uhhh how do you do it buddy?" doesn't help if they don't even know if he can do this kinda thing and maybes something entirely different which he does not have a clue in any way.


@Rast

Rast squinted in thought as he inquired about how to get his stone to work. "Well... To make mine work I stared really hard at the pebble because the stone is in my eye..." She sat on her hunches and licked her lips, "Maybe if you just... think really hard about it and how you want something to happen it will work!"

Those were probably the most vague instructions that anyone could have ever given. But the cub only knew so much! She tried to think back to what Layla had said about stones and couldn't really remember. Perhaps...

"Maybe it would help to know what it looks like!" Rast trotted closer to him to get a better look at the stone. "It's small, kind of shaped like a pebble... Well, it's very blue. And also a little green... oh and it has a little black! Oh and it has some silver and pink! The black parts kind of look like my spots!" She gazed up at him proudly. It may not have been the best description but it would do! He could imagine what it looks like!

@Zeke

Huh, hmmmm, maybes there's a way this big guy can discern his 'stone' with ease without a hitch, even if placed on a weird spot where his eyes can't quite check without probably severely hurting himself, don't want to hurt himself now. Still, although it may help he dunno if their suggestion is a lot to go by since they could pull this off cuz they kinda could see something which involved their special thingy.

"Huh? Hmmm, maybes..." well he wanted to know what colours it has anyways so this will help. Blue huh? Like his other fur not on his face? Welp, be easy to imagine blue then, but still many different colours too some kinda unfamiliar although they say black is like what their's is and some familiar kindof like pink and silver, a lil complicated; this big guy believes he can get a picture in his head.

Keeping in thought his idea what his 'stone' appears to them, this big guy turned away to find a pebble or something to check on whether he can do something similar even if it may not be making rocks glow. When this big guy does his eyes could discern something unusual in this water, while this steam billowing obscured it a lil what was in this warm water was he believes his face staring back. To experiment on this, big guy waves a front claw, which this lookalike does as well in perfect sync, so the Gemling goes and combs over some fur on his neck and finds something like a splash of colour standing out which matches their description what his 'stone' is. A bit more confident now he has a better idea, even if this steam kinda makes it a lil hard to perceive properly, this big guy goes to try with their imagining suggestion, not quite gonna do the pebble thing now since can reference from his 'stone' better to check if something does come from just wanting something to happen.

Outta nowhere, this big guy was getting warmer it was a lil discomforting now, round his neck where his Gem is, this made him pay more attention to check as to why it is getting so hot more than ever where this 'stone' is. Focusing on it kinda seems to have made this overbearing warmth spread more through his body, maybes he never detected it until now since he's paying attention to it now. Still, although this much warmth isn't pleasant this big guy gets a sensation like he has lotta energy now and when he made only a twinge in movements, some strong air kinda pulsed as it snatched up this hot air and made things a lil colder and ruffled up his coat a lil. But it also thrust against this hot water's surface which made some splash in this big guy's face, he took a step back like a leap as some fur around his face now soaked dripped water from their ends and clung round his face. His wet coat is covering his eyes a lil, yet this big guy took things in stride, kinda comically as he quietly turned his head back to this little fellow and didn't say anything. Lifting a claw up at try and brush some water and fur outta his eyes as he drooped his head a lil, appearing a little annoyed and amused at his dilemma even if he has cooled down.

@Rast

The little cub burst into a fit of giggles when a wave of water splashed the gembound in the face. He was soaked! His thick blue fur hung in thick strands. He certainly knew how to use his power and Rast was proud of him!

"You did it!" She bounded over to him, "You are all wet! But you did it! I am not even sure what you did." Laughter still played on the edge of her voice. "What did it feel like?"

Rast re-positioned herself to look at the fluffy dragon. Her eye was wide with anticipation and her tail was curled around her body with the tip twitching. Did it feel the same as it did for her? A warm, buzz that emitted from the stone? Or maybe it was a tickle for him! She just wanted to know!

@zeke
Sorry its short whoops

How is he supposed to get this water offa his face? He dunno, help him here lil bud, he thought they were friends; he's glad they are laughing but please stop for a sec and support him here.

"Har har buddy," he'll get his laugh too, he'll be sure to get them also splashed so he can laugh at them, hehe. To be honest, he does find it amusing how this happened, and it joys him how this has managed to get them to laugh so much, but darn it he wants some retaliation like a prank so he can laugh at them too.

"Yuuppppp sure did buddy, I got myself soaked is what I did, by wind I think, so guess wind is what I did," hehe, they are closer to him now, he can easily splash them now whether it be by his 'stone' or splashing with his claws.

"Uhhhhhh, it felt like I just got suddenly too hot from the 'stone' which spread throughout my body and I felt like I had so much energy I had no clue what to do with, kinda like a wave of hot water just hit me outta nowhere," he sneakily moved his claw a lil back. His claw is reaching for the water, a mischievous smirk creeping up on his lips with a glint in his eyes, which is hard to take note with his drenched coat obscuring his eyes.

"Something like... This!" he ran his claw with a quick swipe through this warm water, not too strong he only wanna splash them, not hurt them.

A small and swift wave lurched outta this water from this Gemling's quick move as he aimed this warm water to this kid's fur, he couldn't help but snort a lil when he did this, this kid better jump away or they're gonna get soaked too~.


@Rast