She could feel it buzzing in her head. She was far away from it but being near it, even if she wasn't, it made her head spin. She couldn't see it, no, that would make it worse. She was in the rocks, under an overhang. A dip in the ground, sheltered and protected. It was buzzing louder and it wanted her to come out but she didn't want to! She was perfectly safe in here.

She needed to distract herself. She needed to not think about it so much. She stared at some pebbles on the ground. She was in between so it worked. She was able to reach out with magic and start tossing the pebbles out of her little cave. It wasn't much but it was something to distract. She had to focus on a pebble. Focus, control, and throw. Focus, control, and throw. She missed a couple of times and one accidentally went zooming towards her face, hitting her in the cheek. She hissed with surprise but went back to it a moment later.

Throw the rocks. Don't think about the buzzing. Don't leave the cave.

@Aure

As soon as the little one had made off with a half-eaten banana and slicked over with black goo, Aure had shamble-flown to the nearest water source and vigorously bathed himself until he was spotless. Of course, now he was sopping wet, but that was nothing a good shake couldn't fix! Once that was all done and he was nice and dry, he went to carry all of his new knowledge back home and maybe detour to Cetus to talk to that Dragon king guy. The prospect of meeting a dragon was definitely really cool.

But, first, he heard a bunch of pebbles moving in a way that cave rats definitely couldn't. Ears and attention definitely pricked, the wyvern curved downward and landed in a sloppy and crumpled heap near Wilder's little rock den. Nosy as ever, Aure peeked into the den and chirped, "hello?"

@Wilder

The cat didn't notice him. Not at first because she was so distracted with throwing rocks and not thinking. But then her eyes focused and she realized that someone was there. Who was there? Black Dog? Miru? Wigglytoes? Aquarian? The Spire? No no no no no don't think about it don't think about

the S̴p̴i̴r̴e̶

"Hello?" She suddenly snapped out of it, parroting the voice that came into her little cave. "There isn't supposed to be anyone here. Wasn't I alone? Is someone there?" It was like she couldn't see, like she was staring right through the hybrid at the entrance. Or perhaps she just couldn't see. Or couldn't believe that she could see. Or was seeing something else. Her eyes were sliding in and out of focus and a moment later, they fixed on Aure. "Oh there is someone there. Hello!"

@Aure

For a moment, the tiny black thing inside the den didn't even acknowledge him. Aure was just about to call out again when a pair --- wait, a trio, maybe? --- of bright pink eyes shimmered out of the darkness to face him. Then came a tiny, yet smooth, voice greeting him. Not familiar with too many other greetings, the little wyvern bobbed his head and called out with confidence, "hello!" To be honest, Aure was a little bit unnerved by the subsequent staring and he turned around once or twice, checking over his shoulder for any other presence besides this one. "It's just me---" he had begun, before those pink eyes managed to properly focus on him, acknowledging him.

"I'm Aure!" Ah, right in with the introductions. With a tilt of his head and slight shuffle forward, the little wyvern asked, "what's yours? Can I come in? Do you have three eyes?" Okay, so the last question could be considered a little rude, but he was genuinely curious. He'd never seen anything with more than two eyes before!

@Wilder

The voice continuing to speak reaffirmed to Wilder that there was, in fact, someone there. Her ears rose as she came fully back to awareness and she realized yes! there was someone there! Maybe a new friend or an old friend? No, not the right voice. No, new friend! She perked up.

"Aure? Aure. Aure! Pretty name! I am Black Cat! No, wait, Bright Eyes. No! Wait! It's Wilder! My name's Wilder!" All the different names that Black had called her were swirling in her head, a little confused. She was confused, but she scooted over to give more space for Aure to come in even though there was plenty of space. "Yes, come in!"

For a moment, his question threw her off. Three eyes? Why did he think she had three eyes? She raised a paw and felt at her face just in case she had a third but no, just two eyes and her gem. "No? I don't think so. I have a gem though, here!" She touched her paw to her gem. "It's pretty, pretty!"

@Aure

Whoever it was he had just encountered, they were... quite strange. Of course, Vinea was quite strange compared to other Gembound and so was Mother. By that reasoning, Aure took no notice at all and simply nodded in agreement and appreciation. "Thank you! I picked it!" He distantly wondered if this little one was in cahoots with Black, given her first two names. Again, he let that slide and just went right for greetings as he shuffled into the den, "Wilder's a really fun name!"

Wilder's actions spoke before her words, though, and Aure immediately knew that the little black cat most certainly did not have three eyes. Besides, in this light, the pink gemstone glimmeres and shifted. Definitely not a third eye. "Oh, it just looked like it from outside! But it's very very pretty." The little wyvern tilted his head down, raising a wing to sort of gesture vaguely toward his gem-brow. "I have a gem right here and it's not as pretty. It's my Father's." Oof.

@Wilder

Wilder's eyes brightened with happiness at the compliment. Nobody had ever told her that she had a good name before! She'd picked it too so she was proud of her name, even though it was weird. "Thank you! I picked it too!" So there was something to bond and be friends over, right? They had both picked their names! They both had good names! Didn't that make them friends?

Wilder tilted her head with confusion. Father? She didn't know the word. She had never heard it spoken before. But apparently Aure's gem belonged to his father. She didn't know what that meant, but his gem was pretty too! "No, your gem is pretty! Pretty pretty! What's a father? Do I have a father? Does my gem belong to someone?" She touched the heart shape on her cheek again, wondering who it would belong to if it did. But it was hers, wasn't it?

@Aure

Oh, complimenting someone's name worked out very well, apparently! The little wyvern positively glowed at the excitement and happiness it had generated in Wilder. They absolutely could become friends over mutual self-naming conventions. "Cool!" Aure chirped excitedly, scooting ever-closer to the little black cat, rather unheeding of personal space in this scenario.

When his own gem-brow was complimented, the little one instantly became bashful and tilted his head to the side, "d'awww, thanks…" He lifted a wing to cover his mouth, turning away for a moment. Of all the things Aure had learned, taking a compliment well wasn't one of them. Every bit of embarrassment slipped away though as he realized that Wilder didn't know what a father was. Did she not have one? Every Gembound, he thought, had to have some source. "A father's someone who…" he paused, bobbing his head in pensive thought, "raises you and teaches you. He helps you learn and survive in the Caves." Well, that was the exact job description of Black, but Aure hadn't realized it quite yet. "I don't know if you have a father! But, your gem definitely belongs to you!" The little wyvern sagged a little bit, tilting his head back to the side, "I guess meant to say it used to be my father's. He died a long time ago but my mother gave his stone magic again and now I'm here!"

@Wilder

Wilder tilted her head as she listened to Aure describe the word "Father." She tried to think if she had a father, if there was anyone in her life like that. And...now that she thought about it, she realized that she did. "Oh, like Black Dog! Black Dog's my father!" Yeah, that sounded right. He had helped her when she hatched. He had taught her and helped her learn to survive. Yes, he was a father to her.

But there was something she was a little confused about. How did Aure know that her gem was hers? How did she know that her gem was hers? What if it wasn't? Aure said that his gem belonged to someone else and some "mother" had given it magic...

The cat froze, her eyes flickering. Her expression was unreadable, but dull. "No...my gem...can't be...mine." Her tail curled in and her ears were straight and erect, twitching ever so slightly as if she were hearing something from far away. "I belong to...I am...t̶h̸e̴ ̸S̶p̸i̶r̴e̸..."

But the sudden shift was over less then a second later and she was tilting her head again. "Uh, hold on a second, Aure. If your father died a long time ago how did he raise you. You said a father raises and teaches you! I don't understand?"

@Aure

"Oh, you've met Black?! I've met him!" Aure's feathers puffed up and he laughed softly, "he's cool! He taught me how to use light and glow and stuff like his friend." To demonstrate, the little wyvern focused on his gem-brow and dredged up some magicka. The process of casting spells seemed to grow easier by the day and he was learning new ways to use it every day. A brief glow clung to his paler feathers, but as his focus danced from one topic to another, it dissipated. Watching the little cat sort of... phase out of reality, Aure narrowed his eyes and squinted. "It's... yours, right? Black doesn't have a pink gem, I don't think." Then, hearing Wilder's harsh, guttural voice, the little one backed up slightly. Okay, that was a new breed of weird and it was unsettling. "I don't think anyone can be the Spire, though? It's... kind of its own thing."

Still skeeved out by the strange trance the little black cat had gone into, Aure tilted his head in return. "Well, a mother and a father does the same thing... you just call a mother 'she,' I think. But, Mother shows me him sometimes! And his memories and stuff teach me and help me."

@Wilder