In the deeper parts of the main caverns a small crystalline structure clung to the wall with the will of unrelenting storm. Its yellow color laced with orange ribbon told those who looked upon it that the contents were to become a force to be reckoned with. In the center of the amber structure was a small ink like blob. Warm light surrounded the small form, black in color and smaller than some would expect. At the forms center a warm yellow orange glow somewhat pulsating at a slow steady tempo. The amber stone that surrounded the form began to heat itself slowly before small almost unnoticeable cracks began to desecrate the gem. Inside the small black form moves, small talons begin to close and open, flexing newly formed muscles. From the small mass a head stretches and a small, yellow tinted beak prods at those small cracks, it's chest fluttering as it's need for air began. Weak taps became more and more solid until the tip of the beak broke through.

Exhausted the babe gasped at the cool air and regained its energy. Then a few hours later again it started it's barrage on the amber shell that had protected it. After hours of pushing, poking, and scraping the small creature tumbled out of the amber shell. Black fuzzy feathers covered the small babe, very clearly a raven. The little apricot eyes fluttered open adjusting to the new world around it. A faint orange glow peaked it's interest and the little hatchling looked down. A beautiful orange yellow amber lay neatly in the feathers in the center of her- yes she liked that, beauty and elegance of a beautiful stone such as the one in her chest demanded that.

Looking back around her she saw lights and felt a warm buzzing around her. She let out a little squeak of a call, to anyone who would be near enough to hear. After all the exercise her small tummy rumbled and she cried out. A small movement caught the short attention span of the bird. Taking a step her wobbly legs faltered and she fell face first into the warm ground. The worm only wiggled a mere inches from her beak. Encouraged she opened and closed her little beak making squeaking noises as she tried to catch the worm. Again she stood and instead of stepping she bent her little legs and hopped closer stepping on the worm, ensuring it under her talons. The babe let out a shriek of triumph and plucked the worm in her mouth and happy ate it, satisfying her hunger for now.

Pride had come to Polaris purely because of its association, in his mind, with crystals. He'd been planning to create himself armor for some time--diamond, here and there, to hang over his hide. Like his stone--but more encompassing. For him, the ever-present threat of the Bloodberries, particularly now that Reseda had actually taken action against them, was a problem.

So when the little corvid hatched, he was not far off, concentrating intently on sprouting these gems from the ground in a suitable shape. The rock floor cracked, translucent, diamond rising up, forming itself even as he watched into armor plating. His very thoughts, intentions, created its flowing lines and shimmering polish; and then it broke free and lay there, waiting.

He studied the gemstone, deep in thought.

Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap.

The stag's head came up, ears swivelling as he looked around. What was that? An immediate response, from elsewhere in his mind, was a twinning of the question--an echo, alerted to his curiosity. His familiar, mind-linked to him, had felt his surprise and was likewise wondering--What was what? Not in those words, of course; arctic hares could hardly think or speak the way Greaters could, but his mind took this meaning from it nonetheless.

I'm not sure, he thought back, with a warning of caution. He then paced off toward where he'd heard the sound. A strange cry drew him more swiftly; whatever it was, it sounded small.

What he found was a bird--small, black; she was picking up a worm and swallowing it down, and he was grotesquely reminded of Squick. He fought down the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him, and watched her for a moment. Newly-hatched, perhaps..? Silver eyes flicked up, and he saw shards of amber on the floor, scattered behind her.

Gently he approached a few paces closer, inclining his head toward her. He wasn't sure if she'd understand speech yet, or just how much, but he spoke to her nonetheless. "Hello there. I am Pride; are you all right?"

After a moment, the arctic hare familiar caught up with him-- racing up, then peeking around from behind his hind legs, a white ball of fur that watched Nisha with clear interest.

@Nisha

NOTES

---

The small bird watched as the large... thing neared her. It seemed to find her interesting, and in turn she did as well. What was it? It had a big spikey thing on its head and pretty white stones in its chest.

Crying out happily at the creature the baby raven hopped closer stumbling over itself and falling again. She happily squeaked and pushed herself up again. Back on her feet she saw the ball of white. Hopping closer the babe pecked at the ball her head cocking and her apricot eyes taking in the full thing

The spikey headed creature lowered its face to her and the babe hopped back some. When the creature opened its mouth the babe expected to not understand but she did!

Pride? That was a strange thing to call one's self. What would she call herself?! The small bird gave out a huff of air and thought. It only took her a moment before the name popped into her head.

"N-nnn-nnniishaaaaa" She let out her voice weak and wobbly.

Breathing in and out Nisha rocked back and forward on her talons, eyes fluttering with sleepiness. Gently she plopped back on her hind side and her legs stuck straight out infront of her as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

But it was only for a moment before she remembered that the spikey headed thing had asked her something. She clucked and cooed at "Pride" telling her approval of the state she was in.

"She Mocks" | She Thinks | She Flies

Pride was about to respond, taking "Nisha" as the little one's name, when suddenly she just-... fell over. For a moment he was quite alarmed, and glanced around--had someone attacked her with magic?!

But her cooing and warbling told him that she was content enough. Perhaps this is how these birds show friendliness, he thought to himself.

Boldly, the arctic hare behind him hopped out and over, sniffing in a friendly manner at the upside-down crow. Her lapine whiskers wriggled. Pride himself struggled with his magic for a moment--Polaris seemed ever-fickle with its flow of magicka--to try and open a more direct mind-link to the little one. This, he found, always helped others to learn the tricks of speech more quickly.

Once the link was established--though it was quite tenuous--he did his best to send the ideas along it as he spoke, the concepts that fit his words, so that she could, perhaps, better understand.

"Hello, Nisha. Did you just hatch? I see you've already found out how to eat. The caves can be a little dangerous; if you would like any help, if you would like guidance, information, let me know?"

He had armor to make, but it was certainly worth his time to stop and help a newly-hatched, particularly one too young to speak. Who knew who might find her and eat her, if they didn't realize she was a Greater?

@Nisha

NOTES

---

The creature spoke again but this time it was like something magical had happened! She had words that she was able to give back! Fluttering her wings at the large thing she chirped happily.

"I w-waant to st-stay with spikey head!" She clucked out with some difficulty, but determined nonetheless.

Hopping closer she fluttered her wings again and hopped aiming for the spikey things on Pride's head.
Her thought was that if she could hold on she could stay with him wherever they went! Nisha liked this new thing, she was having a lot of fun doing this talking thing with him.

"Whe-r-r-re are w-w-we going?" The baby cooed triumphantly from the antler of the animal looking down at him into his misty eyes.

Throwing her body forward she held tightly with her feet and spun around on the antler going round and round, chirps emitting her joy and enjoyment of her fun. Perching back to normal Nisha looked around her and noticed everything. It was all quite scary and large, but she had Pride with her!

I have Pride! She thought joyfully, I can do anything!

"She Mocks" | She Thinks | She Flies

Pride

Pride blinked.

He had two newly-hatched Gembound to care for with Mercurius, and another with Envy. On the one hand, another one was a lot of responsibility. On the other, it wasn't like he wasn't already caring for them. Maybe another sort-of-sibling wouldn't be a bad idea..?

What would Mercurius say if he brought this one home? Or maybe he could bring her to Envy, and Envy could take her in as one of the Seven?

Pride hesitated, then realized he could simply ask the child. Slowly, cautiously, and attempting to maintain the mind link to ensure everything was clear, he offered a choice. As he did so, the arctic hare--blinking as she was rather ignored--turned and leapt up, too, scrambling with a few slashes of her claws (quite accidental, and barely scraping his hide) onto Pride's back. She'd become accustomed to riding him, and he was accustomed to Envy on his head, so he didn't seem much to mind having become Polaris' resident tram.

"Well, I could bring you back home, to the garden, with the white lion Mercurius, and our two children. It's peaceful there, and there's lots of food. Or I can bring you to Orion, where Envy and the Sinful Seven live--they're all very nice--and you can meet them, and live there. I go between places, and while I can teach you things and check on you, I cannot stay with you all the time," he tried to explain.

As he explained the options, he sent mental images to Nisha.

First came an image of the garden in Eridanus. Mercurius was a large, white lion, gentle-faced, with curving antelope-like horns of shimmering moonstone cresting back from his skull. He was in a green grove filled with plants, flowers; ferns and moss curled over a soft floor. Two beautiful cub-fawn hybrids, both identical, white, and with shining gemstone horns, bounced around this mental image.

The other place, Orion, was dramatically darker, with a roof reminiscent of a star-studded sky due to myriad quartz veining and spotting the ceiling. A great, crumbling stone throne stood at its center, with a green weasel sitting as King before numerous other creatures: a green weasel-stag child (still as small as she was, and newly-hatched); a striped cheetah; a long, heavy lizard; a patchy-colored goat, and more. There were many more Gembound in Orion, in this group; it seemed to be a matter of whether the crow preferred gentle peace and caring parents, or a shiny place full of voices and excitement.

@Nisha

NOTES

---

Pride once again began to ask questions, hard ones that made her mind spin. Stay with a nice creature, or live among the excitement. It was a hard decision that Nisha was no so sure how to make.

"W-w-why are they all so hap-p-p-ppy? Why is the animal green? T-that seems si-l-lly. W-h-here do you th-h-hink I woul-l-ld do bet-t-er Pride?" Nisha's words became more fluent each time she spoke.

Nisha liked the thought of the happy bright place, but she also really liked the excitement that the dark place gave off. She simply couldn't choose one without knowing what would make her a greater bird!?

"W-will the dark happy p-p-people l-l-like me?" Nisha asked cautiously afraid of choosing the wrong thing.

"She Mocks" | She Thinks | She Flies

Pride

Pride listened, patiently. As he did so he turned, slowly and gently making his way back to where he'd left the diamond plate.

Mischief, the arctic hare, began to lean up on his back to again try and sniff Nisha--but fell back, gripping his neck tightly for balance, as he started to move.

"Well," Pride began, "I could take you to meet Mercurius and the children, and then to Orion to meet the rest, if you like? Both? And then you can decide? They are all kind," he added, reassuringly. And hell, it would mean Charity wouldn't have to grow up so damn alone, either. Maybe a playmate would be a good thing; Azizos and Arsu already had each other.

He continued speaking, as he went along. "Someone will need to teach you of the dangers of the cave, and of magic, and its uses. Do you know if you have a magic, yet? And what sort it might be?" There--the diamond, curved and shining on the inside, but imperfect; jagged, rough crystals sprouted here and there on the exterior. But the holes were in the right place, and he carefully cast out his mind toward it.

Mischief, get down, he told his familiar mentally--with the idea of dismounting, and a feeling of warning. It was enough communication that the Lesser Gembound grasped the basic concept, and she scrambled hastily from his back as the armor plate lifted up and hovered on its own, in the air. Pride turned it to float before him, well in Nisha's field of view. "This is magic," he explained, and then turned, moving his body and the armor so that it slowly lowered over his back. To his relief, it fit; it was a little loose, but that would only help with movement. It was, essentially a saddle, though there were two large holes--one to either side, where it hung down, with no visible purpose as yet. The top of the diamond "saddle" curved over his back, from withers to hip. Most of the middle was smooth, but jagged crystals lay where the pommel and rear edge would have been, were it a real saddle--not that Pride had ever seen one of these. "I can move things with my mind, or speak with my mind; I can create gemstones, and so forth. Perhaps if you try, you can find your own?" he offered.

Mischief sent a thought to his mind, essentially translatable as a Can I get back on? though in reality it was just a querying request for permission. Pride glanced down to the white hare. Yes, it's safe now, he thought back, with the concept of safety, and the image of the hare in the saddle.

A moment later she was up, nearly catching her leg in the hole but then safely on his back, looking curiously over the gemstone. It wasn't too heavy--or all that thick--and diamond was somewhat brittle; but from claws and fangs, it would more than protect. Now he just had to do the rest of it.

That might have to come another day, though; a new child in the caves was a far more important task to take on.

@Nisha

NOTES

---

Nisha watched as the object floated closer and laid itself onto the back of Pride. The little bird watched in awe of the shiny object. It was so pretty and sparkly! Nisha wanted something too! But she felt as if making things wasn't her "thing".

"H-how do I u-use magic? I don't t-think that ma-aking thin-g-gs move is my magicness." Nisha chirped as she watched the white fluff ball hop back onto the back of Pride.

"I want to meet t-the g-green man! Lets go there f-first!" Nisha looked back at Pride and hopped antler to antler excitedly.

"She Mocks" | She Thinks | She Flies

Pride

Pride started to incline his head in polite acknowledgement of the destination--she meant Envy, he... thought--but then remembered that Nisha was in fact on top of said head. Rather than displace her, he made a sort of "mmhmm" hum of agreement. He turned and began his stately walk out of the tunnel, pausing near a cluster of large, thick-mineralled rock.

"It's an innate power we are all born with," he did his best at explaining. How did one explain magic to a newly-hatched Gembound? Usually it came naturally, but he'd never really thought about what to do, before, if it didn't. He actually didn't have much experience with children--his own were new, and the last he'd really known had been when he, himself, was quite young.

He frowned, concentrating on the rock--on erupting out a bit of diamond to match the saddle above, something he could loop under him to protect his gut and which could have hooks to fit neatly into the holes he'd left on the piece above. That would, he hoped, allow him protection along with some remaining maneuverability. It'd also keep the "saddle" better in place.

"An energy within us. You focus on it, grow it with your willpower, shape it with your intent. And then it flourishes. But there's many sorts--Gembound can create fire or light, or grow plants, and so on. It's a matter of finding your own."

Nothing happened when he tried to summon up his own--which brought him, smoothly, to his next point. Pride was rarely one to dwell on failures; he looked to the silver lining. "It doesn't always work, though," he explained, and started off again. "Thus far, I haven't met anyone who knows why. There seems to be little pattern as to why sometimes it succeeds, why it fails, and why it even backfires. You must always be careful with it."

He remembered, then, that he was speaking to a newly-hatched; she might not understand everything he said. Ahh, well; better to tell her too much, and hope that she remembered and understood some later, than to leave her in dangerous ignorance.

@Nisha