M for grossness

Wilder heard no response from Squick and thought that, perhaps, the little worm was sleeping. But then a strange and really horrible feeling washed over her. She felt warm and tingly and her stomach began to shiver with pain. She herself began to shake from the feeling and her heart began to race as confusion set in. Was this some kind of trance? But there was nothing to cause it, no magic was used, and her head didn't hurt.

But then a moment later her stomach contracted and she retched, a stream of vomit flowing from her open jaws. Along the stream was the little worm that was Squick and Wilder wondered if it was Squick that had done that. Once her stomach had settled back to normal, she reached forward with her paw and carefully plucked Squick out of the mess. Once the worm was safely out of the way, she stared at the puddle and used her magic to pick it up, throwing it behind her, where nobody was standing, so that it would not be in the way. Still holding the worm with one paw, she hopped over to the topaz, where she set Squick on the ground, turning up to the Collecter with a big smile, as if nothing at all had just happened. "This is my friend, Squick! I think it wants to help too!"

She leaned down and touched the topaz with her small nose and, for a second, the heart on her cheek glowed and her eyes seemed to reflect the color. A shiver went down her spine and she stepped away, feeling very strange and a little light headed. Letting Squick do whatever it wanted to do, she turned and caught sight of a large white wolf that hadn't been there before. She let out a little purr and raced towards the newcomer. "Hi! I'm Wilder! Who are you? Thanks for coming to help!" She would have said some other things but then she realized that Aure had arrived as well. She was completely unaware of any kind of tension going on between all of the gathered ones and Eythan so she bounced up to her friend. "Hi Aure! I'm happy to see you here too!!"

@Squick

Squick soon felt itself being lifted and squeezed back out the way it had come, before quickly being deposited on the ground. It wriggled slightly, finding its footing and was about to crawl out into the open but found itself soon fished out of the mess by a welcoming paw. Squick looked up, and into the face of its former host, small mandibles twitching into a smile as it let out a squelch of greeting. Wilder's face was clearer, and... for some reason, she seemed smaller than what she had last time. Squick took up almost her entire paw pad, a small, fat, inch-long worm.

From this vantage point it looked around, and could see other blurred shadows moving just outside the farthest reaches of its vision. Oh...! There were so many hosts here! So many strange and wonderful creatures, but none of them so big and majestic as...

Squick blinked, wrinkled brow crinkling. Was that...? Although blurred, it could make out the big, white shape and familiar curved antlers.

Mr. Pride? Is that you? The little worm could have jumped for joy, and it let out a couple of small squelching noises as well as a shrill, piping squeak to get his attention. Mr. Pride! Look at me! I'm here in the big, cold place! To help!

It tried to send the call out to him, its brows wrinkling in concentration, but a moment later and its tiny mouth opened in shock. Suddenly its mind became clouded, its head felt dizzy and a splitting headache closed in from all sides. It let out a small squelch and swayed, dizzily, before flopping onto its belly.

It felt itself gently placed on the ground and waited there, the world spinning, until the headache had passed. After that it blearily looked up. It peered around for what it was supposed to be doing, as though remembering that Wilder had asked for its help in something. Miss Wilder had said that they were... giving life to a giant moth guardian, or... something. Where was it? Did that mean it wasn't here yet?

The outside world was alien to the parasite, but its gaze was drawn to a glimmer of light. Squick knew little about gems, and it swayed, debating, before trundling over to the topaz, apparently figuring it out. It took a few long seconds to reach the jewel and when it did, settled before it. It tipped its head, hesitating, then climbed onto the gem, clinging to it with tiny claws. Then it focused, its tiny face twisting in concentration and body spreading out as though to incubate it.

It felt the slightest of warmth spreading out from its belly- a fizzling, tingling feeling which was familiar to it, by this point, culminating in the gem at its paws. And then it hopped off, fleeing the scene with a slow and trundling gait and going instead towards the great white shape of Pride.

---

When I think.

As the last of the Gembound present granted their essence to the topaz, it began to softly glow. It was then eclipsed in a flash of light, and in sudden jerks of motion, it began to grow. Outward it expanded--first a foot wide, then three, then six, until it took up the entire clearing near the Collector. The Collector, in response, stepped warily back, arms unfolding from across his cloaked chest, eyes fixed on the glimmering gem.

For a moment, it fell still. The light faded. And then, slowly, the sounds of loud cracking were distinctly heard. A split appeared down the rock's breadth, and first one shard fell away, and then another.

The creature that pushed forth was miraculous in its piecemeal appearance--and each of the Gembound that had granted it some portion of their life were visible in its form. Its head was distinctly canine--a long, white wolf's muzzle and black nose--though the curled probiscus that twisted out to taste the air was distinctly insectoid, and long whiskers that could belong only to a cat. Long horns like the Collector's twisted out from its skull. A black Lammergeier beard emerged, and a spider's--or Squick's?--six eyes popped open, all mirroring Aure's color. the wrinkles on the face and the pendulous ears were undoubtedly Black's, and the fur--a wolf's thick pelt--was as jet as that of Wilder, Thothaga, or Black, with an underside mirroring Glory's soft gold-brown. The crowning topaz atop its head was in the same shape and position as Glory's, too, shining proud and fiery. Two furled antennae slowly breached into the air, waving, testing.

Long, strong feline legs pulled forth--one pair, and then a second--their long Collector-type claws retracted, as Wilder's could, into the catlike paws. These legs were banded blue, distinctly like Thothaga's, and as the creature pulled further forth it was clear that it shared her total limb count, as well. Yet the wings that pulled forth--long and feathered--could have been Aure's or Glory's, either. The final hind legs were distinctly mothlike, and the tail--curled low and twitching anxiously--was none other than Wilder's.

The overall body was not gracile, nor particularly light--it was chunky, like Squick, with overlapping curls of flesh, and beneath that black fur--for those who could see the brief parts in its tufts--was a translucent apricot color not unlike Squick's skin.

It appeared to be fully-grown, and eight or so feet high--tall enough to turn and peer first directly into the Collector's crimson eyes.

The Collector, at first silent, stared back. Slowly he stepped forward, raising one hand palm-forward, claws splayed, toward the newly-formed beast's skull. He moved as if to place that palm atop its head, a soft red light gleaming from his fingertips--and then the Moth-descendant blinked all six eyes and shook its head, pulling back. A voice--a squelching squeak, like a cross between a moth and a Squick-like grub--pierced the air. It sounded distinctly like, "No."

The Collector retracted his hand sharply, and the Moth-creature stepped around him, facing everyone present.

It paused to look down at those blue-banded legs, and slowly extended the Collector-like claws from its paws, peering at them before tucking them back away. It then blinked down--at Wilder, at Squick; at Thothaga, and Black, at Kera and Wilder, passing its gaze briefly over Pride, lingering for a moment on Glory, too.

The squeaking squelching came again, barely recognizable as words.

"You... did... this?"

The Great Moth's Topaz has now been revived!

@Wilder @Thothaga @Glory @Squick @Black @Kera @Wilder @Pride

Glory watched with wide eyes as the gemstone grew rapidly, faster then he had ever seen something grow before. He knew that it took a full cycle for gemstones to grow enough for the gembound inside to hatch...but it seemed this was a special case. And as the shards fell away, Glory knew that this...yes, this was something truly special. But...very, very strange.

He'd never seen anything quite like that, but as he looked it over, he recognized small bits of himself scattered across its body. The underside had a golden brown color that only he could show off. It's wings where his, or, perhaps, the other bird-thing. But there was no doubt that the shape of the gem atop its head was modeled after his and that, arguably, was the most important peace. Immense pride and pleasure washed through him and he held his head high, a joyful gleam in his eyes.

The words were hard to understand, probably because of the work of the tiny worm that the cat had spit out (gross) but he didn't care. This was the new Guardian. "We did do this! All of us! We all gave you a piece of our lives so you could live once again."

And, for the first time in his life, Glory bowed before this Guardian. A deep low dip of respect, his wings sweeping to the side. "I am Glory the Blacksmith and you carry the shape of my gem atop your head!"

He stood up straight again, unsure if he had ever been this happy and if he would ever be this happy again. "Do you have a name, O Guardian?"

As soon as the topaz began to grow, she realized that Squick was in the way and quickly bounced forward to lick it up. She didn't swallow, just held the worm in her mouth and, when they were a safe distance away, set it back on the ground. She guessed it would want to watch this. She glanced back at where Squick had been trying to go and realized with a jolt that Pride was standing there. She hadn't noticed him before, had he always been there?

Excited, she reached out towards Squick with her magic and touched it gently. "Squick! Pride's here! He's here, do you want to go to him? I'll take you!" She wanted to run up to Pride, purr, and brush herself against him to tell him the good new, but the topaz had caught her attention and she watched it grow with fascination and excitement.

The creature that came forth was so strange but so beautiful and so so big!! Wilder made a high-pitched noise and bounced forward, stepping around its legs while purring loudly. She had helped make this thing! She'd helped bring it back to life! "Wow! We did it! Hello! I'm Wilder! You are...so big! And so cool!!" She could barely contain her excitement as she zipped around underneath the creature's body.

Well, they definitely weren't going to listen to hi— was that Aure?! Eythan glowered as his own brother seemed to betray him, voicing rather naively that this was a risk worth taking. Ah, yes, possibly creating a genocide monster; a thing that totally couldn't just be laid to rest for the time being. He didn't even know half of the Gembound here — yeesh, did he need to get out more? — aside from his brother and Wilder, if barely. Angry as he was, though, Eythan knew that it wasn't his place to dictate what Aure did and command him to listen, as impulsive as his choice was. Learn the hard way, he supposed.

So, of course, the gryphon continued to sulk off to the side. He only stirred in sheer fright as the topaz suddenly swelled larger and larger, then burst (how did that work?!) What emerged was something… monstrous. There was no other explanation. Too many limbs, eyes, a winding tail, glowing. With a breathy, wheezy, squeaky voice, to boot. Eythan's own eyes narrowed as he stood and tensed. The Collector approached, and the gryphon prepared for some all-out battle to occur. Instead, the moth-beast just rejected the tall, dark, and spooky fellow and turned to the greater congregation, wondering.

Eythan didn't really have words, other than to just plod over to Aure and nudge him with a scowl, "congrats Aure, you're a father."

A few more Gembound followed him, in rather quick succession — including a small worm that Wilder had just thrown up?! At least she cleaned up, he grimaced, watching vomit fly through the air, gross. Despite the distance he had placed between himself and the topaz stone, Aure couldn't help but to flutter away. He hadn't expected it to be that fast! To his knowledge, chrysalides took weeks and weeks to grow and develop, yet this one had just spit out an amalgamation within minutes. Bright eyes met similar ones, a sense of wonderment filling him — until Sourpuss McGee came over, congratulating him on his fatherhood.

Rather teasingly, Aure kicked at his brother's shins, "pipe down, you non-father." He laughed, but grew a little more serious, "this was a risk, and it paid off, if you ask me." Immediately after, the wyvern strode toward the moth-beast, head lowered carefully. The others had already clarified that it was, indeed, them that revived the topaz. Instead of just repeating what was already out there, Aure offered softly, "if you'd like to stay here with the Bonebound, you're welcome to. There's plenty of cave rats and bones to go around." His gaze trailed to Canis's exit, its looming gates in the distance. "Or, if you want, I could take you to Polaris?"

Pride tilted his head, simply observing. He wasn't sure what was going on--what this creature was, why these Gembound were bringing it back to life. He hadn't had a chance to get involved, himself; he really didn't know what it was or how it worked.

But he did notice the Collector. The way it'd moved forward, only to be brushed aside by the newborn... adult? ...Thing. He watched it, this Collector, watched it turn and watch the moth-hybrid as it spoke to them. He wondered at this Collector's motives.

And--... Wait, was that Squick?

"Squick? Is that you?" he asked, bemusedly. The tiny parasite was but a white speck on the rock, but it was moving.

He reached out with his mind, repeating his question, opening a link so that the tiny one could talk back; and at the same time he approached, lowering his head down to peer at Squick--as if to be polite. He kept an eye, too, on those nearby, to ensure no one would accidentally step on or eat the little one. Not that he'd mind the latter, Pride thought drily, though he kept that thought to himself.

Black's face wrinkled up as the new moth hatched. He watched it, ears pricking, waiting stoically in place--but his tail began to wag so quickly that his entire rear end was switching rapidly back and forth.

The moment the Moth crawled out, he was flooded with memories--of the great insect leaping from the ceiling, of it fighting Raheerah. But this one was...

...Smaller. So much smaller. His wagging only slowed a little--perhaps it could not serve as the same guardian, but it was good to return it to life nonetheless. But he wondered--was it returned to life?

He eyed it over. Was it returned to life? It seemed an entirely new being, quite different from what it had been. What if its mind was as different from before as its body? He could pick out the black coat, similar to his and Wilder's; he saw his face echoed in its wrinkled skin and pendulous ears.

Black tilted his head at its question, his contemplation briefly pushed aside.

"Yes. Your stone was found in the thing-that-makes-light in Polaris. And we have brought life to it, as this one who calls himself Collector has asked. It is an honor," he added, his voice a dignified rumble.

________________

Squick seemed oblivious to the growing danger, and kept waddling forward on its stumpy little legs. It let out a small squeak as it was picked up and held by wilder, but for the time being at least, didn't try to push its way down her throat. Instead it poked its small head out from underneath her lip, trying to look for Pride. Soon, it was being put down again, and oh! Pride was closer!

It was oblivious, in that moment, to all going on behind it at that moment; the moth-guardian was out of its sight, now, although Squick could still see its heat signature. But the moth was less important right now, and Squick ignored it as it trundled forwards, towards Pride.

It saw Pride coming closer. His steps were so long! His movements so fast!

At this point Squick simply stopped and let him come. It let out a small and piping squeak, one last bid to get his attention-- in case it hadn't already. Yes, Mr. Pride! It's me, it's me! I'm here! I came out to help! It had grown by a centimeter or so since they'd last met, and by several since Pride had first swallowed it, but Pride still looked just as gloriously huge and beautiful. Compared to Miss Wilder, he was more than a god; he had been all of Squick's world for so long, his stomach a veritable haven. Did Miss Wilder give you my message?

Squick stared in wonder as Pride's face loomed into focus, so huge and grand, with arcing antlers. Squick felt almost intoxicated; it wanted so badly to return to its cavernous home within Pride. It missed him so badly, but it remembered also the fear, the motions of a struggle and all the terrifying noises from outside. The sound of his heartbeat had suddenly become wild and threatening, his voice setting Squick's skin trembling.

Squick felt itself droop a little, its tiny mind radiating sadness.

It couldn't return to Pride's stomach. Not anymore.

Instead, it crouched, sucking in a small gasp, and gathered tail and legs below it. Then it uncurled, suddenly and dramatically, and flicked itself onto Pride's lowering face. Then it stuck there, little claws hooked onto his forehead, tiny eyes clamped shut in a squishy, maggoty version of a hug. The cold world is much colder without you, Mr. Pride.

---

When I think.

@Pride @Wilder