A couple of weeks after the trial had ended, the largest of the chrysalis scattered near the entrance to Hydra finally shivered. The dragon was visible beneath the surface of the blue-tinted diamond, but she didn't seem to be awake just yet. Not until a moment after the first shake when her eye snapped open and she jerked her head up.

As it horns banged against the side of the cage, it shattered, dumping her unceremoniously onto the ground. Shocked, she gasped out and scrambled backwards, growling low and whipping her neck around, ready to fight the Merchant, fight the Overseer, destroy anyone that got too close. But they were gone. All that was there were the many chrysalis of the new and old champions, some broken already, some still to emerge. She stood there, panting, tail whipping around behind her.

But now....there was a weight on her tail. She paused and looked back, trying to curl it around to see what was wrong. And she didn't believe what she was even seeing - a stinger had grown on the end, quite big, considering her size, identical to those of the scorpions they had seen in Hydra. For a second, she stared at it, distraught. I didn't want this! Was this her reward? A scorpion's tail?

Fury burned in her stomach. How dare they mess with her body without even asking. How dare they send a bunch of creatures into that hell only to throw them into their chrysalis with only a couple of words to congratulate them. How dare they try to interfere, as Nemean did, and, perhaps, as they had done with the rain as well!

That wasn't sitting right with her at all. She wasn't going to let the Merchant just walk away like that. Nor Nemean, nor the Overseer.

Her heart suddenly leaped in her chest when more sense returned to her and she remembered what she had been so worried about before. "Ru!" she cried out, turning around to look for her friends. "Agate! Opal!"

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Quartz Five-Two-Four
notes:

The Dragon was awake.

The dog raised his head from where it laid on his paws, blinking blearily. Some of the others had hatched, already, leaving with little to say. He had hatched not long ago, shards of his Chrysalis still clinging to his fur, and made himself comfortable next to the wall.

Styx was still rather disoriented, although not nearly as badly as he had been during the trial. His concussion was healed over, and he had survived relatively unscathed. So, as he always did, he waited, protecting those who couldn't protect themselves.

Torn ears twitched, and he stretched his new wings (and it was an odd feeling, but came naturally, not unlike moving his ears) as he sat up, shaking himself off groggily. "You're awake," he greeted her as she called out, "Are you unharmed?"

Speech. Thought.

The striated tiger's eye was a pretty chrysalis. It was banded browns, mostly, with streaks of black and gold, which seemed layered vertically as well as horizontally. It shimmered in the--

Crack.

...And it shattered. The pieces fell away, the always-grinning Imp hauling himself from its wreckage. He shook out his collar of fur, and then he looked around.

"Oh, shit. We aren't dead," he observed cheerfully. That was a welcome surprise. Some of the gemstones were still closed, some broken with their inhabitants nowhere to be seen. As the hybrid hauled himself out, stretching his wings, he felt something different.

He turned, looking back: his tail had a hook, a barb, a hard swollen pouch at its end. Almost instinctively he realized what it was, what it was for; the faint urge to slam it into an enemy struck him, and joy lit him up.

"I'VE GOT A STINGER!?" he cried, excitedly.

For a moment the gargoyle-like beast skittered in circles, trying to better see his tail--which of course 'fled' from him as he turned. He then spent a moment slapping the stinger against the gemstone fragments, and into the sand, getting used to this new feeling.

At length he looked up. "Oh, you got one too! And WINGS. I like those," he added, scurrying closer to eye Styx over. "They look good on you."

BLACK OPAL
honestly i thought that i would be dead by now

A crack split down the black opal chrysalis and a familiar eyestalk popped out. Blinking, glanced around before locking on the other gembounds. Instead of disappearing back in, like last time, the eel-creature broke through, sending a cascade of mucus. Spilling onto the sand, he righted himself and shook his head.

The Black Opal sat up and looked at the burn scars on his claws, flexing them. They healed nicely, though he preferred to have his old callouses back. His yellow eye flicked towards the others, who where still marveling at their mutations. He squinted. The dragon and the Imp had gotten scorpion tails, while the canine got vulture wings. The Opal looked back at his own body, brushing off shards of chrysalis. Surprisingly, the Reaper had left him just how he was. Hey, no fa---! Then it hit him. Oh my gloop, did I just get selected for guaranteed breeding? His fins slowly perked up as a stunned look stretched across his face.

He could be a father!

It, eventually, stirred back to consciousness within the confines of Tunnel P's entrance, awkwardly pressed into a fetal position by a chrysalis of its own making. The sensation of purely being alive wasn't welcomed, since it seemed to come with a slight seizure of the limbs and involuntary spasms --- its mind's wicked way of coming to terms with a delayed reaction to the Merchant's chaotic, dark magic. The creature recognized limbs that hadn't been there before, but it was too busy with the influx of light and noise in its surroundings as things outside began to emerge and explore.

With a pathetic sigh, Garnet Five-Seven-Nine slid out from its chrysalis, still twitching incessantly and slowly coming back to grips with reality itself.

The first thing it noticed, of course, was the addition of sail-like wings where feathers had once been, and a tail with far more length than had been there originally. Crimson eyes glanced back at the appendages, both added and added to. They must be the reward the Merchant had referred to before dooming it to a comatose state for Masters knows how long. Garnet Five-Seven-Nine gathered up its wings, but not before stretching them experimentally a few times.

Blearily, clearly disturbed from its sleep and hind leg spasming minutely with poison the Champion knew was no longer there, it simply watched as the others awakened. It eyed the gargoyle-esque and loud creature warily, noting the stinger now attached to its tail --- the icy dragon, too.

A thought, distant and nearly glanced over, came to it, and Garnet Five-Seven-Nine glanced about, ears pricked. "Where is the Overseer? The Masters?" Its gaze trailed all along the tunnel, as far as its keen sight would allow, as it continued, "we must have been awakened by something, for another test." Who was the proctor of this one?

BLACK OPAL
honestly i thought that i would be dead by now

The Garnet's question was a good one. The Opal cut his eyes to the other Champion, who was now sporting webbed wings instead of a shell. His neck fins flared attentively. Yeah.. Where are they? He glanced around nervously, expecting Vargas ambush them out of the blue and bark orders. Yet, the monstrous overseer was nowhere to be seen, not even the Reaper.

The Black Opal stood up and flattened his fins, confused. "You-you think this a test?" He muttered to the Garnet. "To see what we'd do?" Honestly, he had no idea. Even if that was case he wouldn't know what to do. Ever since he came of age, Hydra Trials was all he's ever known. Without an objective from the Overseers, the Opal had no clue where to start.

Awakened without a purpose? This had never happened before.

@Garnet Five-Seven-Nine

Others were waking up around her. She noticed the dog standing by the wall, surrounded by his own chrysalis shards. The alligator creature was bursting out too, seemingly with the same tail that she'd hatched with, but his reaction was much more pleased then hers had been. With a sigh of relief, she saw Opal crawling out of his shell and eyed Garnet as it climbed out of its own. But still, no Ru, no Agate. Perhaps they had already left, perhaps they had still to hatch.

Perhaps the Merchant had taken them away. Perhaps they had not survived the blast.

She closed her eyes and tried to push that possibility from their mind. It was okay. They were okay. They were here somewhere. They had to be.

She glanced towards the dog and then to her tail, lifting it a bit. "If you call this unharmed," she growled low. She hated it already. She was almost scared that she'd sting herself with it and a single swing of her tail told her that it'd be harder now to rudder herself through harsh weather.

At Garnet's question, she growled deeply. "They gave us our rewards and left us here, I'll bet. There's no more test. We're free to go. Until they want us to run around and play their little games again. Toying with our lives." Her claws scraped at the rocks below. "Well, I won't be doing shit for them anymore! I should never have left home."

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags:
notes:

The hatching of the dragon seemed to set off a chain reaction.

Next was that funny hybrid, the maned crocodile, although now he had a stinger much like the dragon's. The dog blinked slowly at his rather cheerful-yet-dark comment, licking his lips as he agreed "No, we aren't." Unlike the Dragon, however, he seemed more than excited when he realized that he was no longer quite 'whole', somewhat changed, racing around and testing it out.

However, he would be the first to admit he was rather startled by the compliment, and his stub tail twitched for a moment, wings arching and stretching. "Thank you. Your stinger fits you as well."

The... well, one of the Champions, he wasn't sure what it was was next, sticking first its stalk, and then the rest of it, through its Chrysalis. "Are you well?" he queried it, seeing the rather stunned look on its face.

Then, the turtle-hare, now complete with wings. It seemed unwell, twitching and spasming as it slipped free, now having wings and a longer tail. Styx stood, stretching his wings before moving to approach, but then it was talking, seeming confused. "They are gone." he shook himself, "Until they summon us again, you are free."

He looked at the Dragon, humming, "You are not bleeding, nor lacking anything that you had before. I would consider that unharmed." Styx licked his lips thoughtfully. "I do not blame you, but being outright defiant will do no one any good. They are much stronger than any of us, and any of us alone are liable to be killed. We need to warn the rest of the Caves before any other Gembound is harmed by them."

The doberman turned to address the Old Champions, then, "If either of you need help, I am more than willing to give it."

Speech. Thought.

BLACK OPAL
honestly i thought that i would be dead by now

The Black Opal blinked at their words. "...Free?" He was bewildered. A slave to Hydra and the Overseer all his life, he hardly knew what that it meant. That's impossible. He thought, his mind racing. The fresh-meat know nothing! He wanted to say it out loud, but kept his mouth shut, afraid he would make enemies. They were never free, they weren't made to be free! The Masters had plan for them, it was their duty to to follow it to the best of their abilities. Anyone who thought they could go against this was either a complete dumb-ass or suicidal.

Yet, he glanced longing down the tunnel, then back to Hydra. Were they really free to go? It's been so long, he couldn't remember what was out there anymore.

These were dangerous thoughts. He pushed them back.

The Opal looked at Asimona, neck-fins rising, though he was really speaking to all the new ones. "Those mutations are to help you survive the your next trial." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone, biting back a growl. The dragon was acting like newborn gemling who didn't get the biggest scrap of food. Frankly it was getting annoying. The dog was little more sensible, though he said some that caught the Opal completely off guard. Warn the whole cave? What is that supposed to mean?

He gave the dog a wary nod, acknowledging his offer, though he didn't need help. No, he didn't want help. Not right now, anyway.

@Styx @Asimona @Imp

Imp glanced at Asimona. Her anger was, to him, wholly unfounded. He was a little puzzled, really.

"You mad 'cause we all almost died?" he goaded, his grin splitting wider. "He did TELL us that might happen. Hey, who are you?" Imp went on, looking to Opal. "Asshole horn-guy said we'd get stuff if we ran through the desert room but you weren't even there. There were a few of you, you woke up before? Where'd you come from? --Are you old?" he asked, hopping closer, sniffing, and then moved to sniff at Garnet, too.

He was giddy with it all, really. Everything had worked out fine--well, except the guys who'd died--and here they were, alive, free, and stronger, to boot. Well--kind of.

THOUGH-! Memory struck, and Imp blinked. "THAT WAS NEMEAN, THOUGH," he yelled, loudly. "I SAW her! I tried to eat her once but she goes real fast but she's really bad. Dad says she is a Betrayer and leads us to deaths and stuff. We gotta kill her if we ever can." Then he leaned back, wings raising, so that his hind leg could scratch rapidly along the fur-tuft behind his ear, like a dog. His scorpion tail waved idly behind him.

@Garnet Five-Seven-Nine