Polaris was littered with crystals: each glinting in the Spire's light, myriad colors, and shapes, and sizes. Each was different, and in their difference they gained a sort of sameness, a mass of hues and structures jutting out here and there, or lying, veinlike, along the ground.

One of these was not simply an outcropping, but bore within it new life, and this one--a stone called clinohumite--glittered like fire. A soft crack echoed, splinters falling away and spinning, catching the light and flaring it back outward in bright flashes of amber and gold. Like little flames made stone, they struck the rock and clattered very quietly away.

As a landslide gathers force before crashing through whatever dams would hold it, so the stone at last gave way, a small, pale mass tumbling forth onto the rock.

For a moment it lay there, eyes closed, limp: a wolf cub with oversized paws and closed eyes, its fur dusky with a darker mask, lighter streaks through its fur that promised it would pale with age.

Then these eyes opened: twin flames, glowing faintly with their own light, bright and clear. The pup's mind, however, was hardly so clear--confusion was obvious in his face as he lifted his too-big head, looking first this way and then that.

A bewildered sound escaped him, a sort of whimper, the kind of sound that had to have a question mark on its tail end despite not being formed of letters. Up the pup stumbled, falling first, then gaining his feet. At his chest glimmered another chunk of the same stone he'd fallen out of: a rounded piece, large and smooth, and shining.

He shook himself, and then fell over, youthful clumsiness overtaking him.

Kazgut

I will come to be — I will submerge myself in the body of the earth, sink my teeth into its flesh; and rise in my own skin.

Of the places they had lingered, the churchyard grim found himself partial to this particular cavern. The crystals had a lulling quality to them, the hues obscured by distance; many faceted things catching the lights from all different angles. High above, along the ridges and divets of the cavernous ceiling, points of light glowed. And for many moments Kazgut had stared upon them, transfixed.

Leaving Vyette to rest after their wandering, the black shuck found it impossible to stay still. The air here seemed to thrum, seemed to command (no - demand!) movement and after many assurances, he ventured out from their resting place and began taking a tour of the surrounding area. With nose pressed near the ground, he followed the scent trails of gone things until -

A crack. Ears flickered at that, catching as it seeded echoes. Rocks fell in a great clatter of noise and he dare not move, hunkering close to the ground as though the landslide might take him. It did not. When at last the sounds past something else caught attention. For a instant he thought that he saw Vyette - white and pale - but no.

Nose confirmed the unfamiliar. And Kazgut watched for a moment as the other canine seemed to put self together; raise, shook, fell. A familiar set of circumstances. Mind held a curiosity, though. And so, posture shifted, tail wagging offhand, a gesture of friendliness, as Kazgut moved closer, padding softly across the rocks.

Bark! He had not yet learned true words, but it was hoped the sound, low and echoing, would at least get the attention of the other.

From his vantage some paces away, he inspected the gemstone, brilliant and like flame, trapped within the other’s chest.

---

Hope you don't mind if I sneak in here! @Fireheart

The wolf cub turned, stumbling over his own oversized paws, peering over toward the bark. Tiny ears pricked up, and his flaming eyes studied the source of the sound. He was confused--maybe a little alarmed--and curious; what was that? Instinct told him it was nothing to be feared, but experience (or lack thereof) left him clueless.

He spotted it, at last--dark in the dim light, the Spire's blue glow shimmering beautifully over pitch-dark fur. He could see the faint wagging of the tail, and the bright moonglow eyes standing out like small, twin stars. Not that Fireheart had a clue what "stars" were, really.

He took two steps forward to meet the stranger's approach, hesitant with his own uncertainty on this whole "walking" thing, and indeed he stumbled a little. But his own tail came up, and wagged a little, hesitant--his ashen-gray puppy coat much easier to spot.

Base instinct and memory without source had him remembering words--words he'd never heard, before, but words his brain struggled to form meaning from, nonetheless.

"H--... i," he managed, and then--"Hello." He looked at Kazgut, and then tried to twist his own head this way and that to study himself--and from what little he could see, they were similar. Different shades of gray and black, yes, but big paws, and four legs, and long and pointed snouts.

Fireheart decided that they were the same, then; that there was nothing to fear from this other pup that looked like him. This must be the way of the world: brother cubs, and sisters, finding one another in the dark.

With his eyes squinted in a friendly manner, blinking here and there--and with wagging tail--he toddled forward to sniff at Kazgut's nose, and at his fur. He wanted to meet this stranger, to get to know him; surely they'd be friends?

no you're welcome to!! thank you for joining
@Kazgut

Kazgut

I will come to be — I will submerge myself in the body of the earth, sink my teeth into its flesh; and rise in my own skin.

Stance was mirrored; for although they wer not perfect matches they were composed of familiar shapes. As their postures reflected, Kazgut felt self relax, the last hanging apprehension dissolving as the wag of tail was returned. (For the only experiences that he had to own up to told him that meant the stranger’s intentions were friendly.)

Stepping closer to get a better look of the other, he took in the dusky ash of fur - the way that the hue seemed almost to silver. The variations were drawing, for own fur was but black. Curious, he inspected, too, the clinohumite, enrapt by the way that it changed with each slightest shift of light.

Words. Feeling as mind, as thoughts, flickered at the sound of them. Remembrance - without tangibility - like something lost. Kazgut stopped - paused - as mind struggled with the concept of it for yet another moment. Gradual, he understood, even with such a delay.

”H .. Hello.” Greeting was returned, soft, coming out as sounding under breath as Kazgut stepped forward to continue that greeting in a more basal way - returning the sniff to nose, to fur. Becoming familiar with the other.

The stranger was of canine, like he and Vyette - and that was more than enough to instil within him some confidence. Again, nose was led to the stone at chest, pausing there, just, inspecting closer …

”Trapped …,” Kazugt murmured, not thinking of words but hearing them resound. ”Fire."

---

@Fireheart

Various half-understood instincts flickered through him. The instinct to try and dominate--in a playful, puppy way, at least. And the urge to play. He hesitated, at both; he was still inhaling the scent of the black pup, getting to know him. Bounding about and wrestling was all well and good--learning how to play, how to fight--but there was something more interesting here that gave him pause.

Words. He listened, brow furrowing, ears pricking up, and remained quite still as he thought them over. Trapped? This brought with it unpleasant sensations, like darkness and confinement, and panic--though all were very distant and rather theoretical. Fire, though--that one brought a flood of pleasure. Tenacity, joyous ferocity; strength, and courage, and the light of life in his eyes. His tail wagged again, without him realizing it, and he licked his lips with a backward flick of his ears, his simple joy at the word clear.

"Fire," he agreed, knowing that this was some part of him.

He felt the flicker of magicka, and he tried to put it to use--to embrace it, and the "fire" that he felt sure lay beyond it. But nothing came, and he simply stood, bewildered by this as he was by all that was new.

"I am fire," he decided, his voice soft. "Fire-heart." He then set back to nosing over Kazgut, pondering. If he himself was fire, then what was the black pup?

"-Shadow?" he asked, wagering a guess. Kazgut looked like the dark spaces that nestled between the rocks, where the light of the Spire couldn't reach. The silver glow of his eyes, though, reminded Fireheart of a celestial glow he couldn't possibly know. This stifled idea--that of starlight, and of moons--fled past his thoughts before he could get a grip on them. But he knew that, somewhere, there were lights in the darkness; and that Kazgut reminded him, too, of those.

@Kazgut

Kazgut

I will come to be — I will submerge myself in the body of the earth, sink my teeth into its flesh; and rise in my own skin.

Fire. Warmth; emberlight in the darkness. Banishment of the perpetual cold. These concepts were known, as was the nature of smoke and the way that it singed the things that it touched. Locked away in the chrysalis, had the one of fire steadily burned? Head tilted at the words that followed, accepting them unquestioningly. Finding it easy to do so. For own eyes could see the fire trapped in that exposed organ; that heart. Fireheart fit. No leap of logic was necessary; names were rarely so straightforward.

”Shadow …?” Kazgut repeated, the word twisting into a similar question. After a moment, though, meaning was caught. Form shifted, moving alongside the other, making small circle of form to bring the black shuck standing at companionable distance. Tail fanned the air once, lazily. ”Kazgut,” he offered, although mind was still hung on the crux of the former word. Moon eyes closed to concentrate …

The word resounded through thoughts. Mind shifted with images of the darkness, of the spaces between spaces; of the void. Recalling the banishment of the light from the cavern of Pisces; the stretching of shadows. Feeling self thrum with it. Black lips peeling back over teeth at the thought, and although he felt as though at any moment the darkness would return to him …

Nothing. Less than nothing, it felt like. If anything, Polaris seemed to thrum in energetic mockery of such an attempt. The grim tried not to be disappointed in the abundance of the light, giving a dismissive snort; having lost self for a moment. The light remained, stubbornly, obstinate; he wasn’t a fan.

”Shadow is me,” Kazgut told the other, as validation for the failure. Understanding the wish for fire. As eyes swept upward, toward the ceiling, and around -- the omnipresence of the Spire throwing its glow. Tail gave another fan of the air, wag.

For posture remained without tension, with an ease; innocence coupled with the prospect of a friend of a kind.

---

@Fireheart

Kazgut. So that was the other pup's name, then?

Fireheart considered, peering first at Kazgut--with an easygoing, friendly expression--and then around at the cave as a whole. Everything was new to him--the world, the Spire, even he himself. But a few ideas were forming: half-forgotten, never-known concepts and these, in turn, led to questions.

He turned back to the black pup. "Friends?" he asked, and then--pondering possibilities--"Brothers?" He paused, head tilting, and with a doggy smile he let his tongue loll out. He liked this other pup--he had no reason not to; it was friendly, or seemed to be, and it was like him. "Where--is this?" he asked, looking around, and then added--"I follow?"

Perhaps Kazgut knew more about this world--but either way, Fireheart had no thoughts of parting ways. They were two living beings, similar, together in a strange world--surely they would stick together?

@Kazgut

Kazgut

I will come to be — I will submerge myself in the body of the earth, sink my teeth into its flesh; and rise in my own skin.

Past frustration dissolved, quickly forgotten; for youthfulness plays tricks with memory. Maw parted, own tongue a flash of wettened black set against rows of smoothed white. Demeanor brightened. The black shuck panted lightly as there was future speak; as they cemented their status. ”Friends. Brothers,” Kazgut agreed, for it was appropriate and was right in his mind. He had witnessed the other come to be. Their paths were crossed. Their threads were interconnected now. ”Brightest cave,” he explained, for he had no other explanation for Polaris. To Kazgut, Polaris was merely that.

”There are many caves.” Imparting that knowledge; knowing it as truth. There were caves that he had not been to; for he had smelled the scents that moved upon the air, often unfamiliar. Often far and faded. Briefly, the grim recalled the waterfall. ”Many cold, wet.” Shaking off that memory, shaking it from fur! Not wishing to remember how Vyette had shivered so violently. Words were filling mind at that thought; the thought of Vyette.

”You follow,” Kazgut agreed, giving a low, content wag of tail. That would be good. There was safety in numbers, and safety was what was wanted for them all. Head raised, ears pricking. ”I will lead us to Vyette.” Explaining simply. For he knew the way by heart. Never did he stray far from her, and in this; today had been no exception.

”Vyette is purpose,” he explained, having no other way to tell it. For this was what was known, what had been known, since he had emerged. His life was given to keeping her safe. She was home, and she was where he returned. ”Friend. Sister.” More. For those were the words that were known to describe, and so they were parroted.

Raising snout into the air, an inquisitive sniff was given, making sure all was right. Then, with body aligned to this, Kazgut set off at a striding walk; made to cover the distance.

He did not get far before he stopped, tail high, wagged; to make sure that Fireheart was able to follow.

---

@Fireheart

Fireheart was gladdened, somehow, by this declaration that he was to follow--warmed by the sudden and unexpected find of family. Vyette, whoever this was--he found himself curious, but taking studious note of Kazgut's words. "Sister," he rolled the word thoughtfully on his tongue.

He found himself wondering, too, about these many caves. Cold, wet; what did these words mean? He could imagine them, in the abstract, but he'd had no knowledge of them so far. Were some less bright, then? Were they, perhaps, different colors?

Fireheart glanced around, trying to imagine other caves; but without knowledge, his mind painted only the broadest strokes in splashes of strange color and light, in rocks that were larger, or smaller, or more or less numerous; and he imagined crystals, too, maybe upside-down! Wouldn't that be something-?

He hastened to follow Kazgut, regardless--he was more than happy to follow this stranger, this new friend, and see where life might take them.

can exit now to a Vyette thread wherever, or she can join this, or? I'm fine with whatever works for you!
@Kazgut