Her back hurt. It'd taken her a while to realise that her back hurt, but it most certainly did. Was it the way she was positioned? It seemed a little likely, she hadn't quite felt this way the last time a startled cave deer trampled her to almost-death. How Shoal was even alive enough to have these thoughts was, quite honestly, beyond her. She knew where she was, at least.

An amber chrysalis sat in the marsh, where it had been for several cycles, golden against murky greens and browns. Within it: Shoal. Half-recovering, half-too-lazy-to-actually-come-out. It seemed like she always ended up in the same place, time and time again.

Her chrysalis wasn't going to give her much of a choice this time, however-- with each passing day (or what Shoal percieved to be a day) it seemed to grow tighter and tighter. And now, Shoal's back hurt. The owl was faced with a very serious question. Which was worse, facing the outside, or being crushed by your own chrysalis?

A few moments after this question rose in her mind, a talon shattered out of the thin yellow shell of the gemstone.

And then, another. Soon, the chrysalis was crumbling away and out of it came a bleary-eyed grey owl, blinking in the weak light of Cetus, and shaking herself dry of the fluids seeping out of the confinements of the stone. "Caaaaaves," she groaned, voice low and rasping.

She took some uncertain steps, scarred wings folding up into her sides as she stepped towards the shore, bending down to take a long drink out of the murky waters.

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
The bobcat had been in Polaris, looking for good ingredients to bring back to her friend for their experiment. Though she lived in Cetus, she had originally disregarded it as a potential site to look for things. After all, it was nothing but swamp and mist. What could she find there, moss? It seemed too common of an item to offer. Selena had very, very few that she would consider friends and so she wanted to bring back the best items she could when he asked her (technically, the group, but that did include her) for items. Then Selena remembered that once in passing she had seen a beautiful amber stone. It clearly had to be a chrysalis of some sort based on its large size. She had therefore decided to avoid it as the feline was not what one would call a “gembounds gembound.” Selena spent most of her time trying to avoid others if at all possible because it was most definitely safer that way. Now, however, such a discovery could be useful. Assuming whatever was in the stone had hatched and gone (hopefully) far away, she could easily grab a few of the shards to bring back. That would most certainly be appreciated by her friend! It was worth the risk. So once her business was finished in Polaris, she had travelled as quickly as her wide paw would let her to the misty cavern. Well, the chrysalis had indeed hatched. Unfortunately for her, the occupant had not traveled far at all. So instead, she came face to face with one of the largest birds she had ever seen. That was not expected at all. Ears folded back against her head, she simply stood before the newly re-hatched owl (She wasn’t even lucky enough for it to be a baby!) and wondered what to do now without angering the creature. Speech Thoughts Tags: @Shoal Notes:

Given Shoal's track record, a full minute outside her chrysalis without being attacked was a good start. She drank her fill, washing away the various foul tastes in her mouth. She lifted her head, beginning to stretch out before she noticed. Something.

... standing right there.

Perhaps it was too soon to think she was doing well-- whatever had decided to stop right in front of her was about the same size as Shoal was, which was disconcerting enough. But it was not attacking, or not yet, at least.

Is it even sentient...? The ragged owl wondered, her ugly, scarred head turning to briefly survey the swamp around them. It didn't look like it was part of a pack or a herd of any sort, and the creature almost looked.. afraid, perhaps?

What was she meant to do? Well-- she at least knew what the first thing was. The old owl unfurled her wings in silence, flapping and lifting herself off the ground. She didn't go very far; only up onto a nearby boulder, overlooking the bobcat.

There was safety in height, even if it were only a few feet off the ground itself. The ground is where Shoal had met her own chrysalis several times now-- but what now? She took a look over the cat below with a low grumble.

"What are you doing?" She eventually asked after a few beats, still settling herself down on her new perch with long talons scraping uncomfortably against the rock.

@Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
Selena watched silently for a few moments while the owl moved around. Perhaps she should have hidden, but it seemed a little late at this point for it. The owl was terrifying, though, with its large size and terribly scared face. How many fights had it been through! They were about the same size but the owl’s talons look much sharper than her own claws where. Not to mention that beak! It was almost a monster! Birds should not be that big! Then it was too late as the owl as the owl appeared to have noticed her and stretched its mighty wings out. She let out a tiny squeak of a mew, pressing against the ground suddenly in hopes that perhaps the owl would miss her when it tried to attack. Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited to feel the talons slice against her back. And waited …. And … waited? Yet the feeling never came. Instead, a croaking voice was sounded instead. Emerald eyes opened, not even realizing they had squeezed shut in her fear, to look up at the bird perched there. It was clear that the avian was mostly likely not a patient creature. The bobcat leapt up onto her paws again, sputtering for a second in attempt to control her tongue before answering. “I’m sorry! A friend asked for good ingredients for a magic experiment he was doing and I was trying to find the best things I could think of and then I remembered this chrysalis I saw a while back and how pretty it was and figured whoever was in it probably hatched cycles ago and that its shards would be a great item to bring back and I didn’t think whoever was in it would mind or even still be in here but you are and I’m sorry and PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!” And with her long monologuing sentence completed, she gasped for breath and stared at the owl. Speech Thoughts Tags: @Shoal Notes:

Shoal's amber eyes shut for a few very long moments. If she had the means to, she'd likely be holding her head in her proverbial hands at this point. "Stop shouting," was her immediate, hissing reply, her voice croaking with disuse. She'd spoken, fleetingly, to other greater gembounds in the past but none had been quite on the verge of giving her an immediate migraine like this one.

Some had come damn close, though.

When the shaggy beast opened her eyes again her face was dimly-lit by her own glowing pupil, staring down for what might have been another few cycles. In that time, Shoal came to a couple of conclusions. One: this one was afraid. Two: Shoal must have looked terrifying. A further, but brief glance over her own body proved that to be highly likely. Three: this one was probably young.

She didn't have much proof for that last one, however, but that didn't matter. Shoal had no idea how long she'd been in that chrysalis, or the last one, or the one before that. It was... reasonable, that the bobcat would just assume she could take a chunk of the chrysalis and go. And why shouldn't she?

Her massive, severe head slowly swayed towards the general direction of the shattered chrysalis. "Take it. I sure as hell have no use for it," she rasped curtly, eyeing the damned thing spitefully. She hated those chrysalises. She hated going into them. She hated losing. "What magic experiment is your friend is doing and what does he need broken gems for?"

Her voice, on this last addition, was laced with vague suspicion. She'd heard vague rumours-- as they often spread throughout the caves --of murderers and the like who killed in cold blood, and took the gems off greaters to indoctrinate children into some murder-army. Shoal half-hoped it was only stories, but one could never be too careful, surely? Even if it seemed unlikely that the bobcat was capable of murder, she seemed naive enough to Shoal that she could have gotten tricked into someone else's bidding.

There was a pause.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she grunted. "I have no idea what would have given you that impression but I don't keep a habit of attacking people who haven't done anything wrong. And I doubt you plan to sit there and start confessing to a complete stranger."

@Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
Relief spread visibly on Selena’s face as the bird stated that she could both have some of the shards as well as the fact that she wasn’t going to hurt her. It was Selena’s nature to assume all had some sort of ill intent, though she was slowly learning otherwise which is what kept her from running away in the first place. A little bit of joy even filled her, for she knew that her friend would be very appreciative for such a nice item. Now that the fear was gone, Selena slipped in her respectful and calm side of herself that she had only recently discovered. She sat up straight and bowed her head in gratitude towards the bird. “Thank you, on both accounts.” With that, Selena moved over to the pile of crumbing gems. It was important to find a fairly large piece if possible, one that would make the trip to Moon Island in Fornax without crumbing first. But not one too large to make it difficult to carry it and other things back. She was a bit envious of those greater gembounds who had more dexterous limbs or had even found containers to carry things. Such an item would be most useful at this point. Perhaps in the future she’ll have to find something like that. She didn’t want to be disrespectful to the owl. Especially since she had agreed not to hurt her and didn’t want to give any excuse for that choice to change. So, while she was focused on the shards, an ear flicked her way to denote at least part of her attention was still on her. “My friend is a brilliant Painter. He once made a picture on the walls of Orion that were beautiful. They even moved, telling some sort of strange story. I can still remember it,” Selena paused, smiling at the memory. Her words were now calmer and gentler than before without the risk of loosing her fur dangling above her. “I saw him recently along with a group of others. He asked us to gather a variety of things to make some sort of magical dyes with. He even said it could paint our bodies with it. I don’t care as much for that part, though. He needed assistance and it had been a great many cycles since I had last seen him. I owe him for teaching me long ago, you see.” He did teach her a lot. He was the first that she didn't seem immediately frighted of. He also taught her to make a ghostly companion which helped fight against her loneliness for many cycles. Though their meeting had been brief, he had made quite the impact on her. Speech Thoughts Tags: @Shoal Notes:

Half-lidded eyes followed the bobcat lazily as she crossed the marsh in front of the boulder and reached for the remains of Shoal's chrysalis. There was a faint ruffle of feathers as the ragged owl shook herself out absently, trying to wash away the gnawing feeling of doubt and suspicion.

At first, the only reply Selena received to her gratitude was a very faint nod, more noticeable in the way that it touseled the loose downy feathers around the owl's neck than in the actual movement itself. She watched, and she listened, and eventually clacked her scarred beak.

The abrupt sound might as well have been a gunshot, however. "Orion," she echoed gruffly, wracking her mind to remember what room that was. It was either the room with the white quartz in it, or the one with the Spire. Despite this, she had some questions, amber eyes narrowing somewhat. "What was the story about?"

Briefly, the owl moved on the rock to follow Selena as she moved along, talons clicking methodically against the stone. Almost too delicately, considering the ugly beast it was coming from. She stared down, imperiously, scanning through which questions to prioritize in asking. "What did he teach you?" She eventually concluded, leaning over the rock to peer a little more closely at the cat below.

After a short pause, the owl's haggard face twisting as much as a bird face could, she ruffled her feathers out again, a few grey-tawny downs shedding out of her back and falling into the marsh-water. "What use does anyone have for dyes?" She asked. "You don't have an interest in it, but others supposedly do? Or are these other gembounds that he has favours to ask of?"

@Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
As delicately as her awkward feline paws would allow her, Selena attempted to swipe a particularly nice fragment away from the pile and closer to her. It took a few attempts to navigate it successfully but hunting small rodents had made the task easier than one might have expect. Once the shard was safely in front of her the bobcat again sat up and began to groom her paws, her eyes following as the owl moved closer. Instinctively the brown and tawny fur around the green gemstone on her neck wanted to rise up but she fought the urge to do so. That may be seen as provoking, an act she most definitely wanted to avoid as she glanced at how gently the owl was able to maneuver the large talons. When asked about the story the painting told, Selena’s eyes half-closed. It was so many cycles ago; she was still a cub though nearly grown at that point. She mostly remembered its striking beauty. How to relay what it said into words. Anything she could think of seemed too clunky and awkward. But she wanted to attempt it, as the bird had been helpful to her in allowing her to take some of the gemstone. “I’m not sure I fully understood it. But it was awe-inspiring. The picture itself could move to tell the story without words. It was of a dark place with many lights, similar to Polaris in a way. The lights blinked and sparkled. Then one of the lights shot across the area and landed on the ground. It took the form of a gembound, but one that still sparkled and shimmered like the lights as well. It ran about the area, gather other creatures of light with it until they all became a mass of glittering dust that flew across the area. Then there were some rocks that glowed, not by moss but like they were baubled. These rocks seemed to suck in the glittering dust. And then it all went dark.” Selena shook her head. “I’m not sure what the story was trying to say. But seeing those lights painting on the wall … I’ve never before or since seen anything like that before. Unfortunately, another and I looked and the painting is long gone now. But when I met the Painter, the one who made it, I could not believe for a moment that there was anything evil in him. No one who could paint such beautiful things could create harm.” This was a slight fudge. She was of course nervous when he first appeared, as she was of everything. But he had gained her trust much quicker than any other with much less effort needed. She closed her eyes gently at the owl’s second question. It seemed better to show than to explain it. In fact, she wondered if she could make it take a form similar to the owl’s. She had always made her familiar look like a bobcat and only relatively recently learned it could take other forms. But perhaps the owl was too unfamiliar, for though she felt the familiar tickling at the back of her next from her gemstone, no creature appeared. So verbal explanation it was. “He taught me how to make a small ghostly creature. That was how he greeted me, with a bobcat kitten much smaller than me. He shared how he made such magic. It has been very helpful for me. I don’t know if the others were indebted to him or not. They may have met him before, or may have just been simply curious. Greater gembounds often seem to leap at the chance of a new discovery, don’t they?” she asked with a slight grin and cock of the head. Speech Thoughts Tags: @Shoal Notes:

Shoal's attention idly shifted from the bobcat to the remains of the chrysalis with a low, croaking trill. She began wondering if pieces of it were actually of any value-- Selena seemed fairly interested in it, at least, which meant others might be too. Maybe she should save a piece for herself, too, just in case.

It's not like there were any shortages of shattered amber chrysalises out there, however. She let out another croak before turning her head back towards the bobcat, listening. At first, she didn't quite understand the story either, but her mind quickly got to work.

She went over the words again and again in her mind, picking it apart, considering the details. If it were similar to Polaris, then perhaps it was Polaris, a very long time ago. Unrecognizable. "What colour were the lights?" Shoal eventually asked, drawing a conclusion after mulling over what rocks glowed in Polaris.

... most of them, really, but the Spire tended to stick out to most.

"Did you ask the Painter what it meant?" She continued wearily, somewhat distantly. It seemed obvious that she would, but you never quite knew with these gembound. Some preferred to live their lives just accepting whatever was thrown their way with little questions asked.

She let out another grumble to Selena's response about what the Painter had taught her, but pried no further into it. Merely, she concluded that it was magic for show rather than of any practical use and left the subject alone.

Shoal began lifting herself up straight again. It was unclear what she was planning to do, however, because she paused at Selena's last sentence. Is she... mocking me? She wondered. Or is she just an observer?

... is she even a greater?

The thought of a sentient lesser gembound, somehow, sent a raw chill down Shoal's spine, the feathers upturning along the back of her neck. Was it even possible? Surely if this one could think and speak and observe, it would be a greater gembound.

She tried not to think about it too hard, ruffling her feathers out to flatten them again. "Our existence is a mystery," she answered grimly, bare eyelids half-falling over her eyes. "Some say the caves are all there is and some speak of an outside. A surface high above. We do not know who made us, or why, what our purpose is, or if there is anything more lingering out there."

"Surely you can forgive some of us for wanting answers to these things, aye?"

@Selena

Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Electric Storm, Don't Cry Baby
The bobcat’s soft green eyes turned from the owl to look past her, trying to remember all the small details from that event so long ago when she was still but a cub. The image had been etched into her mind so meticulously yet fogged over some now by the number of cycles compounding their own memories into the confined space of her mind. Were the lights a specific color or colors? At the time, she hadn’t considered such an idea or gave it much importance. It was the first item of true beauty she had seen in a world that she found to be quite terrifying. Her cub’s still developing brain simply accepted the wonderous display for what it was. Her focus returning back to her temporary companion, she slowly shook her head. “I don’t think they were any particular color. They were just simply tiny lights, like the lanterns along the wall but without strings attached to them. I didn’t ask what the story meant at the time. He was there so briefly and I was still a cub. Perhaps I can ask him now though ….” It was a warming thought to her, that at last she had been reunited with her friend. Like she had spent time talking to Zeno, perhaps she could talk to the Painter as well in such a fashion. He was apparently a brilliant if strange gembound of sorts with a kind nature. It would be good to invite him to her den at some point to discuss various things. She could already see him, herself, and Zeno too sitting onto the roof of her den contemplating any number of things. After all, Zeno was hoping to meet him again too. Inside her chest a bit of warmth had appeared at the thought. As the eagle owl continued speaking, Selena couldn’t help but give the softest of smiles. The way she talked and theorized, it reminded her greatly of the conversations she had had with Zeno in between their planning to find the Painter. She couldn’t wait to share with him about her discoveries! It was refreshing to meet another loud like him in this owl, to learn that the small fruit bat was not a unique oddity in wishing to discuss philosophically instead of concerning themselves with instinctual matters. Perhaps this was more common than she had initially realized. Again, the feline shook her head to the owl’s questioning. “But of course. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all, just an interesting one. It is a curious thing to think of how often my fellow greaters utterly ignore their basic instincts and thrust themselves into the unknown in such a way. Perhaps that is one of the things that make us different from the lessers…” Selena’s words grew softly as the thoughts continued to be spoken. She herself had been driven greatly by instincts, apparently more so than other greater gembounds. Yet, though slowly, she had begun to question that silent voice in her head and begun to explore more. Perhaps it was not simply a matter of being born a greater or lesser gembound, but that someone would grown and become a greater gembound. By that logic, though, was she and others a lesser gembound at one point? And for those greaters who had wandered off, did they revert back to being lessers? It was an interesting and confusing pondery to say the least. She would most certainly need to question her fruit bat friend at some point on the subject. Speech Thoughts Tags: @Shoal Notes: