At the shore of the lake sat the tiniest pebble, unusual in that it glistened a rich purple. Unnoticed it had grown, from a glistening speck to a shard, and finally, on this day, it began to crack. There was a high-pitched sound as it splintered, and then the tiniest squelch. Like a dam bursting its walls, the tiny gembound oozed out, beady black eyes squinting and straining. Tiny limbs scrabbled at the hard stone, mandibles flexing with the effort.

Finally, with a small squelch, it popped out, fleshy, maggoty abdomen following its head as it slithered out of its hole. It struggled out into the cold, and hunched close to the ground next to its chrysalis. It was silent other than a quiet, high-pitched creaking.

It shivered, round eyes blinking- and as fascinating as the cave, as massive and freeing as it was being out... the little creature missed the warm claustrophobia of its chrysalis. The small creature's brows tightened around its many eyes- its mandibles twitching, afraid. This world was so large that it couldn't see its end. it faded on all sides into a blue-grey haze. And it was cold. It was so awfully cold. Sharp sand grains scraped at its gooey hide and itched its velvety skin.

It had to find somewhere warm, it had to find somewhere safe. It needed another chrysalis, tight and enclosed and wonderfully warm. It didn't know, consciously, what it was looking for, but the little creature knew that it existed, somewhere.

Clumsily, the little creature began to stumble forward, struggling to coordinate all of its legs. It moved towards a shadow at the edge of its vision, wanting to get out of the cold, and out of the open. PRhaps in the shade it would find what it was looking for. As it got closer, the shadows loomed around it, a thousand pointed tips like blades rising high into the sky. Although the little one didn't know it yet, it had hidden itself in amongst a clump of wiry grass.

@Pride

He did not often come this far; he'd only been to Fornax once, and that for the stories, with Mercurius. But this blast of snow through the caves had left only the sea-cave warm, and despite the strange odor of the dead fish still permeating the place, it offered a safe haven. Not to him--he didn't mind the cold; instead, there were dozens of strange new Lesser Gembound that had fled throughout Origin, and many had headed up through the familiar ice of Tunnel M and wound up in Fornax's comforting heat.

Pride, of course--in his infinite curiosity regarding Lessers, Greaters, magic and consciousness, and all of their connections, had followed. The caribou--some a dusky brown, others pure white--had come clattering in, as had the white hares, and more than a few of the ptarmigan. Perhaps one of them would be more amenable to the stag's advances, his attempts at a friendly connection? The Gembound of Eridanus--and the rest of the caves--were wary of predators, and rightly so. Greaters treated them as nothing more than food, to Pride's ever-increasing consternation. But these seemed--though flighty--less actually afraid, and after some hours' searching and then cautious approach, he was nearish to a group of four of the deer.

He picked the white one, of course--because of its flawless coat, so like his own--and reached his mind out tentatively toward it, and his magic. It was not the blast he'd tried with the others, in Eridanus, but it was an attempt nonetheless.

If it brought him closer to Squick, he was unaware.

The moment his mind reached out, his magic backfired. He felt the shrieking feedback of magicka tearing through his mind, and stumbled, landing on his knees and hocks with a shocked expression in the foliage near the water's edge. His mind reeled, and the other deer startled, scattering away over the stones.

It was only after a long few moments' silent shock that Pride began to browse upon the leaves, quietly steadying himself--wondering just what the hell had gone wrong.

@Squick

The tiny creature felt the vibrations of something large moving close by before it really knew what was going on. Small mandibles twitched, then, and some instinct disguised as curiosity spurred it to begin to climb. Stubby legs clung to a blade of grass and it crawled upwards and onto the broad leaf of a weed. It peered out, blinking back the haze- and its eyes widened as something huge and white loomed out of the mist. Something alive, and something that radiated in the creature's vision with a powerful and beckoning warmth.

Immediately the tiny creature was smitten- its white bulk was a haven- and it instinctively knew that somehow, this creature would be able to lead it to the perfect new home. It rose up on the leaf, watching for a moment longer, before crawling forward as quickly as its many stumpy legs would carry it. It crawled towards Pride for a few inches, and perched on the edge of the leaf- then grasped onto a blade of grass and hauled itself up. And there it clung, tiny heart hammering, and watched, and waited, as the deer grazed steadily closer.

@Pride

The stag browsed, ear flicking, and felt a vague depression take him. He'd tried so much, and so often, to connect with the Lesser Gembound--to infuse with them some sort of magic, to elevate them beyond mere mindlessness. It had never worked.

At best, it drove them off. At worst, as now, it seemed to backfire upon him. Perhaps they were immune to magic, and its effects..? He'd never tried to harm one with magic, before, nor had he heard of others hunting with anything but fang and claw. Maybe the cost of immunity was intelligence. He'd have to test this theory.

He didn't bother standing, yet, still feeling a little dizzy from the magical backlash. Instead he grazed, glancing to the plants absently.

He did not see Squick where it was perched around a blade of grass. Undoubtedly the stag had eaten quite a few aphids, worms, spiders and the like unknowingly, where they'd clung to his own food, and this was no exception--teeth closed around the blade below the parasite's body, nipped it away, and swallowed it without a second thought--and moved on to the leaves above.

@Squick

Rated M for potential grossness.

One moment, the hazy world surrounding it was there- and then, abruptly, it went dark. The little creature clung, at first, to its blade of grass as though for comfort as it felt the walls enclose around it- and itself sliding down, down. It was warm in here, and wet, and they couldn't see a thing. But most importantly, it found itself snug and warm, with the walls tightly enclosing it- and it squelched softly in happiness. It was as though it was back inside of its chrysalis, the memory of the cold rapidly fading from its tiny mind.

It squirmed slightly in the dark, finally letting go of the blade of grass. And then it was on its many feet. It squirmed in its new home, attention drawn to another feeling that had awakened. The parasite didn't dwell on what had happened to the great white beast- in here, it was as though he had never existed at all. In the dark and the damp it sought something more, shuffling around as best it could, rooting with small mandibles against the fleshy walls of their new home.

It figured it out quickly enough- plant fibers that had broken down to just the right level of mush. It fed, and soon it was even more content- without a care in the world it stretched out all of its legs, and then melted into a happy little pile of wrinkles and mush.

@Pride

He browsed for some time longer before pushing up, oblivious to his new passenger. His legs were still a little shaky as he made his way to the water's edge, drinking; this had the effect of herding the caribou in a little clatter of hooves--and with a strange, synchronized clicking sound from their legs--farther away.

Pride sighed, and on impulse, tried to reach his mind out toward the herd. He did his best to talk to all of them--to cast his mind out in a wide net.

"I am not going to harm you. Do none of you understand me..?" To them, perhaps, it would be garbled nonsense--but the emotion was there. Weary, a little urgent, adamant, edged with frustration. He'd tried for so long to make contact with the Lessers, to better understand them, to bond with them and learn from them, but nothing was working.

Nothing at all.

The caribou stood staring at him, all four facing him, from a short distance; and he waited, tired, to see if any would have any response but their blank, tense confusion, and the faint fear from one, and curiosity from another.

So far, it was not looking good.

@Squick

The little creature’s eyes gradually closed, a peaceful contentedness overtaking it. It loved its new home, it was warm and happy and full-fed. What more was there left to do? it felt itself moving as though on a boat, its cradle gently swaying. The outside world seemed like nothing more than a distant nightmare.

It was almost too much. As though it hadn’t been sleeping for the majority of its existance, the mandibles parted and a cavernous maw opened in a wide yawn, wrinkled eyes blinking slowly. It stretched out, then curled up, folding legs into the soft skin of its abdomen.

It felt something stirring inside of it, then- another instinct, perhaps? A flickering sensation. An emotion? Gratitude? The little one didn’t understand the feeling as something caused by contentedness, but even so, it thought of the great white stag with wonder and reverence.

@Pride

Pride... paused.

They were thinking of him with... reverence? There was an awed gratitude, with him at its core, and for a moment he stared blankly at the reindeer.

"Err--no, I am-..." What? Just another Gembound? But he was like a God to them, wasn't he..? Comparatively, he was near-omniscient--despite the fact that in the grand scheme of things he knew near nothing. But he had a command of language, he had knowledge, he had--...

It isn't them.

This quiet tidbit of knowledge struck him as his mind did a quick headcount on the caribou. One was afraid. One curious. Two hesitant, standoffish.

This strange reverence was coming from something else. Something... other. Someone elsewhere. The stag took a step back, a hoof raising into the air, his head lifting to quickly scan the sky. Seeing nothing, he looked along the cave walls; it had taken barely a fraction of a head-turn to see behind him, and to know that nothing lurked there, either. He looked to the water, but it glistened pristine and empty, and he could see to its stony bottom at least a few feet out.

What the hell..?

Who, Pride thought, sending his mind out with tentative confusion, yet a sort of firmness born of concern--are you?

@Squick

The little creature uncurled as something spooked it out of its peaceful reverie. Concern disturbed its peaceful thoughts. It waddled in a slow circle, confused. At first it thought the concern- the words were its own, but it squelched in quiet realization as the thought occured to it that it was being communicated with.

Newborn excitement, visceral- and awe swept over the link. It must be the great white stag! It’s the giant! The thoughts said, the tiny creature wriggling with glee. The one who took away the cold and made me warm. There was a pause, the memory of the great creature stepping out of the haze like an angel, replaying in its newborn mind.

And then the great creature spoke to it, directly. He asked a question, and it was a question that the tiny one did not yet have an answer for. It let out a small sound, high pitched, of air escaping. It searched for the answer inside itself, looking for it. But it didn’t find anything. Disappointment washed briefly over the link, but it was short lived. I don’t know who I am, the first thought was easy, and came unbidden. But the answers loomed just out of the tiny creature’s grasp. Hopefully, it added: but I know who you are.

Everything was gradually clicking together in the small one’s mind.

@Pride

Pride took two swift steps back, ending in the same pose he had before: one hoof raised, hanging midair, his whole body tense. Now he was alarmed. Either he'd damaged his own mind with his spell, or there was some incorporeal semi-omniscient being with which he was now communicating, one that held him in great awe. He saw an image of himself, stepping forth, shrouded in emotion as if he were some sort of savior, and he paused to mull this over.

The stag took very little notice when the reindeer, perhaps finally jolted into action by his startled demeanor, turned and moved quickly off.

He felt the mind-link slipping shut, and briefly struggled to reopen it--but wasn't fast enough. As he fought to cast the spell again, he looked around, speaking aloud, this time. Curiosity was twinning with his worry, now--who was this being? Why had they taken an interest in him? Why did they view him so? He was already worried that it was someone expecting more aid than he could offer--he would hate to disappoint someone in need--but faint dreams of benevolent power gave him vague and uncertain hope.

"Where are you? What is it you--did you need something?" he asked aloud, but the only answer was the echo of his voice, and the echo of the water lapping at the rocky shore.

@Squick