for Louie, and maybe some other Merrymen later?

Embedded somewhere in the rock of the lonesome tunnel, there lay a chrysalis of polished white. Black veins coiled around each spire of pearl, fronds of marble blossoming from a narrow crevice, a shadowed corridor. There lay nothing alive in this tunnel save for a single, slow heartbeat. A gentle thrum, quiet against the rock, echoing through the silence as subtle as the movement of air around it. There existed nothing in the cave but this heartbeat, slowly and surely seeping from the petals of marble that emerged from a hole in the cavern wall.

A loud crrrack sliced through the silence. Deafening thunder. The heartbeat picked up, desperately thumping through the muffled stone. One petal of the chrysalis shuddered and slowly began to peel away. Its movements were jagged and influenced by both gravity and resistance. It slid against the other petals of marble until it could hold itself up no more and clattered to the ground. It revealed the heartbeat to the world, loud, frightened. Another petal of marble cracked and leaned away from the chrysalis until it, too, crashed onto the ground and shattered. One by one, the flower would unfurl, until the entire chrysalis itself fell away to broken shards. The heartbeat exploded, pounding, and then it ceased. Naught but a small, slimy child remained.

Her tiny body was curled into itself. Wet mucus covered her entirety, slicking her curly and thin fur against her bony body. Her paws tucked against her chest, long sloped muzzle nestled between her front legs and thin tail tucked between her hind ones. For a fleeting moment, that heartbeat staggered, her blood slowed and her mind faded between blackness and blurs. Then, as if by some miracle, that heart thudded against her chest. Her entire body lurched, jaws cracked in a loud gasp, and her eyes peeled open. Cloudy yellow irises saw nothing, absolutely nothing - suspended in blind darkness, she could not tell if she was alive, or merely a life unlived and dreaming.

Preferring his time in the South-West quadrant, Louie rarely ventured beyond the enclosing walls except to spend time around the Core. The peculiar scrawls that occupied a wall of Orion were becoming increasingly embedded with the lichen, giving way to intricate pictures and he hoped to gain full understanding of what they meant. Travel to the Core had become a difficulty anyway with an annoying pack of dog-beasts having taken up residence within one of the tunnels making it all but useless for travel in broad day light. place was becoming particularly overcrowded and so he only took the opportunity to venture there under the guise of darkness. Once he was strong enough, once they were strong enough he hoped to poison them out of their home and drive them towards the East quadrant.

The Bonebound still lay claim to an area here, and so he would make damn sure there wasn't an over crowding in this area. Whatever those bone-heads wanted to do was fine as long as they kept it the fuck away from him and didn't block his path like those inbred mutts. Every breath was intensified in the chasm, but his previous fear and nervousness had melted away to arrogance and self confidence. Able to see somewhat in the darkness, he made sure to keep his pawsteps light, occasionally casting out his sixth sense in order to feel the bacteria which found a home among the walls and crevices. A sickening crackle caused the vulpes to stop, his head raised and his eyes narrowed. On his neck, the peridot gem had become slightly covered over with fur, but it glowed gently even in the shadows.

A thunderous beating filled the air as more shatters followed and Louie dove for cover, his ears folding back against his head. Clenching his teeth, he had now clicked together the pieces of the puzzle that indicated it was merely a hatchling, but it sounded large and forced. If it was anything like Giada, he'd have to tred lightly from now until he was out in the open of Monoceros, but he would always sneak a glance. Resuming his pace, he kept his head down, but his ears forward and tail held straight out. Again he attempted to cast out White Sense, hoping to get a feel for whatever it was that was out there.

-post roll edit-

There was a specific cluster of bacteria on fragments of the chrysalis, and nestled within the centre of this carnage was the small borzoi and he held his breath. She was cute, an elegant porcelain creature whose eye colour was dazzling against the dark. Unaware she couldn't see him, he stood up straighter and tilted his head slightly, an eerie smile coming to his face as he watched over the precious babe, "Wakey wakey sweetie."

Blackness. It didn't matter how many times she blinked or moved her head or tried to focus on something. She could see nothing. Suspended in blindness, the creature instead shifted her focus to another sense. Breathing. Her heart beat. It resonated throughout her, and she listened to the sound of air entering and leaving her lungs. Her breathing was haggard and afraid, ragged against the stagnant air. Her heart shuddered in her chest, and then it was joined by a different beat. It was a gentle sound, barely audible. A light pattering. Feet against the cold floor. The creature remained still.

The footsteps were slowly coming closer. She didn't move, laying still on the ground, trying even to still her breathing until the steps had stopped. A voice broke the silence, eerily slipping into the world and filling her ears, her mind. The sound was masculine and smooth, seducing her with its beguiling intones. The little dog slowly opened herself, unfurling her limbs and shifting herself to face the direction of the noise. The weight of her body was so much, it was difficult for her to move; she was sluggish and clumsy, trying desperately to face the owner of the voice, pointing her nose and staring wide-eyed into the nothingness past Louie.

Post-Roll Edit:

An inadvertent surge of magic had allowed the child to feel him. It was the sensation of crawling, of pulsing life, a localized habitat hosting the bacterium she was so attuned to. Her head wavered, swaying left and right before she finally isolated the direction of the voice and there, she stared blindly at the fox. Now that she had found him, she tried to move towards him, crawling across the rocky floor with weak limbs.