The impact of falling from where his stone was growing on the underside of a cliff, to the slab of rock a few feet below, jarred the lion cub awake. Shocked by his sudden consciousness, he struggled with the flood of sensations that his senses brought to him. Shimmering lights danced overhead, catching his golden gaze. A faint breeze ruffled his fur, like phantom hands dancing over his skin. The smell of earth and rock filled his bright pink nose. His ears, which were perched atop his head, picked up the sound of air moving through the buildings below him. He could even taste a slight bitterness on his tongue that he hadn't noticed before. All of it, all at once, was just too much for the young male. So, for a few moments, he didn't move at all. He just lay there, in a pile of jagged, blue shards, waiting for things to calm down.

Unfortunately, the longer he existed, the more things he noticed. A distinctive pounding in his chest made his shock a little more real. The feel of air on his skin turned into him being aware of each and every part of him, from his tail to his nose. In fact, it was his tufted tip that first started twitching, then his back legs, with his front limbs following, and finally his head. He struggled to coordinate his movements though, pretty much just flailing about uselessly for another few moments. Being new at movement, and life, he quickly grew tired though, going still in his pile of shards once more.

With no energy to spend on physical activities, the cub turned his attention inward. He realized, in a very basic way, that he was alive now. He also knew that he was a he, but he wasn't quite sure why or how or what it meant. Most importantly though, he knew who he was. "Fuuuh-lun," the young lion mumbled, his tongue feeling clumsy and thick in his mouth. That didn't sound right though. With a furrow of concentration, he tried again, unknowingly doing so a little louder than before. "Faaah-lun." Closer, he thought, but still not quite right. He wasn't sure why he had to say who he was, he just felt like he should. So, after taking a deep breath, he tried for the third time, nearly shouting, "Faaah-lonn!"

Bartos had explored a good chunk of the city room, but the tiny kitten still had many places to visit, even just here in Orion. He'd also met a great many Gembound during his explorations, namely the three-headed dog and a bear. Bartos still wasn't done - he'd only grown tired, and while he managed to take short naps in the safety of crumbling buildings he was exploring, he decided that for a true rest he was better off trundling his way back to the ponds that held the gleaming blue shards, remnants from where he'd fallen from his cliff-side chrysalis.

It took a little while, but Bartos managed to climb back up the ledges, tiny tail whipping furiously behind him as he did so. He used his claws a lot to hoist his body up the rocks, but it wasn't that difficult. He felt he had an inane sense of tactile understand of the rock; it was easy for him to traverse the element that was his own. Not only that, but Bartos was so driven by his desire to return to his birth place where the deep cobalt gems glittered under the ceiling that nothing was going to stop him from getting there. After a few minutes of climbing, Bartos had finally reached the ledge with the pool of water; he could see the remains of the crystal, deep blue shards scattered about the rock and gleaming in the water. A bright smile took his maw as he bounced up towards it, and then to a few larger rocks. In a crevice between them was Bartos' favorite shard, a fat, diamond-shaped chunk with crystal clarity, almost unscathed by the fall.

The kitten was nosing around his favorite shard, making sure it was in tip-top shape, when he heard another voice from nearby. He perked his ears and puffed out, staring wide-eyed in its direction. It continued, but the kitten couldn't tell what it was trying to say. Fuh-lun? Fah-lun? Fah-lon? It just didn't make sense! It couldn't have been calling to him, because his name was obviously Bartos, so why would anybody call him anything else? Regardless, he felt this called for some investigation.

Straightening up, Bartos very slowly crept his way towards the noise; the noise-maker was surprisingly close, sitting just around the corner in a pile of his own shards. But wait! Those shards looked a lot like his... Bartos peeked suspiciously around the corner, briefly distracted by the glittering blue crystals, then looked up to the babe sitting among them. It looked like a cat, like him! Only a bit bigger. Maybe they were the same thing, kind of! Excited by the idea, Bartos grinned and raced out from behind the corner. "HEY HI I HEARD YOU TALKING WHO ARE YOU IS THAT YOUR NAME ARE THOSE YOUR ROCKS THEY LOOK LIKE MINE DID YOU COME FROM THE SAME PLACE I DID MY NAMES BARTOS AND I'M A CAT ARE YOU A CAT WHERE DID YOU COME FROM????" The boy yelled a string of consciousness at the freshly emerged Gembound, bouncing up right in front of him and staring the creature down with large, curious eyes.

Faelon's head shot up in surprise as his shout echoed off the cliffs, filling the quiet cavern with the unfamiliar sound of his voice. He knew that he made the noise, but he had no idea how he'd made it so loud. That fact quickly faded from his thoughts when he realized that he hadn't said the word for himself right. Again.
Huffing a sigh at his continued failure, the young Gembound barely had enough time to inhale his next breath before a torrent of noise assaulted him. It came in the form of a small, fuzzy…thing, bounding right up to his face as it let loose a flood of seemingly meaningless sounds. Faelon watched it silently, completely still, until it was done, and then for several moments after that. He was uncertain of just what to do, so doing nothing seemed liked the best option. After all, he had done so only moments before, and it had ended up with him learning new things. That’s if you call uncontrollable shouting and a mispronounced name ‘learning’ though.

Finally, the sense of expectation that the cub got from being stared at overwhelmed him, causing him to blurt out the only thing he knew for certain. “Faaay-laaan!”Although it wasn’t quite a shout, Faelon’s voice was certainly louder than necessary considering the distance between him and his company. He barely noticed though, instead focusing on the fact that he was starting to achieve more semblance between the sound he had for himself in his head and the sound he made for himself from his maw. Apparently, all he had to do was say it over and over again, and he’d get closer with each try. Since he had someone to tell it to now, he felt he should say it right. So, he began to practice, completely unaware that anything more could be expected from him.

“Faaay-laan. Fay-lan. Fae-lon. Faelon.” The cub said his name over and over again as he stared at the floor. When he finally got it right, his gaze darted back to other Gembound, and he grinned, obviously pleased with himself. His wave of pride and sense of accomplishment didn’t last long though, since his gaze suddenly found the gleaming stone that protruded from his company’s chest. It reflected the lights of the ceiling, shining a deep, dark blue, and fascinating the freshly emerged male. Curious of it, he leaned forward slowly, flaring his nostrils in order to drink in the scents, his golden eyes focused on the stone the whole time. He had no idea if the kitten was okay with him getting closer, nor did he know to care. He just wanted to figure out what the shiny thing was.

Though the other Gembound was clearly younger than Bartos, he was a lot, lot bigger. And he really didn't look exactly like Bartos either, but the kitten felt a sense of kinship with the other feline none the less. It was exciting, and as he stared at the other he quickly came to realize that they even hatched in the same place! And if those blue shards around him were the remains of his chrysalis... Maybe they had the same stone! Before Bartos could examine the babe for evidence, he suddenly spoke out, startling the kitten.

The lion cub bleated out the same sound he'd been making before, repeating it until he managed to refine the noise into something he liked. Bartos watched wide eyed and grinned, papping his paws on the ground when the cub finally ended with what he assumed would be his name. "Faelon? Is that your name?" He asked, inching closer with immense curiosity. It must've been, his own name was pretty much the first thing Barty had said too. "My name's Bartos, but you can call me Barty! Can you say that?" The kitten purred, tilting his head and sniffing. The bigger cub started to lean forwards and sniff at him too, causing Bartos to take a step back before he realized that he was investigating the deep blue gem in his chest.

"Thats my stone thing! Everybody has one!" He said proudly and looked over the cub, remembering that he'd been seeking out the babe's stone. Sure enough, on his paw, he caught the glimmering blue. Bartos' grin broadened, excitedly bouncing in his spot. "We-we have the same stone! You came from the same place I did!" He exclaimed, wiggling his tail. "That makes us-" The kitten paused, holding his breath as he thought. What was the word he was looking for? Like... Friend but even closer... Bra... Breh... Bro... "Brother! We're brothers!" He beamed, purring and tapping the gem in his chest with his paws. "See? We're the same!"

(Finished @_@)

The small, round ears that were perched atop Faelon’s skull strained forward whenever he heard his sound emit from the other Gembound’s maw. His golden orbs, which were a little too big for his head, stared at his companion intently as he continued to speak. At first, the cub had no idea what was being said, and so chose to stay silent and still. As the smaller creature continued though, he began to pick up a few sounds, mostly from repetition. Even though he failed to catch on to the fact that he was being asked questions, his sudden interest in the other male’s chest quickly changed the focus of the one-sided conversation.

Like a switch being flicked on, the tiny, brown fuzz ball snapped back into a state of excitement, changing right before Faelon’s very eyes. Had the cub not been looking, he might have thought that there were two different creatures around him. Thankfully, he saw the transformation, though it shocked him enough to not realize exactly what had changed the other male. All he could focus on was the stream of light, happy noises that were once more flooding from the smaller Gembound’s jaws. Most were different than the ones he had said before, leaving Faelon just as lost as ever. One sound in particular was repeated enough times for the newly emerged lion to pick it up though. Stone.

The fact that the blue-eyed kitten had touched the reflective chunk in his chest multiple times didn't go unnoticed by Faelon. In fact, it was the first real connection that he made to what a word was, besides his own. Curious of if he had one, he looked down expectantly, and spotted the medium sized oval of blue that was imbedded in the top of his right forepaw. Since it was the first time he really noticed his own limbs, he experimented in moving again by stretching out his toes on his front paws. The gleaming blue shard in his paw flexed and bent with his foot, feeling as natural as the rest of him. In fact, moving wasn't so hard when he concentrated on what part he wanted to move.

After glancing up at the other Gembound, and seeing him standing, Faelon decided to mimic his position. For one, he wanted to continue moving, since he now knew that he could. Also, adjusting his body seemed a lot easier than forming sounds from his thoughts. So, without a word of explanation, the cub pushed himself up into a sitting position for the first time. He was a little unsteady, but after a moment, sitting seemed as comfortable and easy as laying down had been. More importantly though, it brought a whole new perspective to his world.

Unsurprisingly, the other Gembound said very little, if anything. Most of the Gembounds he met so far didn't really say much; Kerby was the only one that had said anything to him, but considering he had three heads and most others only had one, he was still lacking in the amount he should have been talking. Bartos blinked his wide eyes down at the little lion cub, watching his expressions change and how he suddenly took notice of his own stone. He sat by, patiently watching while the cub experimented with his freshly hatched form, flexing his paws and moving his arms and legs. "Hey yeah, good idea! You probably just popped out, right? It took me a little while to get the hang of this walking thing," The cat chatted on, sticking out his own legs as an example of "the walking thing". His little fuzzy tail waggled behind him as he walked, jutting his legs out with catatonic, robotic steps in an attempt to show the other feline how to locomote.

However when Bartos looked back at the cub, it seemed he was moving at a pace a little slower than what Bartos was moving at. No matter! Bartos could teach on a curve, couldn't he? The kitten giggled and bounced back in front of Faelon, bumping his nose against the cub's own. "Good job! Now it's only moving forward from heron-inn, right? That's how they say it, I think. Anyways, now that you're sitting up, you should try to stand. It's real easy, but if you need help you can lean on me!" Bartos purred and sidled up next to the cub. Admittedly, the suggestion was made purely in good nature with no consideration for how useful it may actually be, considering how tiny Bartos was compared to the lion cub. No matter, he would keep on trying until he saw Faelon succeed!

Now that Faelon was sitting up, he could see all the pieces of himself that he had only been able to feel before. For the first time, whenever the kitten spoke up, he did not listen. Instead, his head twisted about slowly as his eyes traveled up his legs, to his chest, and then down his side to his rump. Each new segment of his body that his golden gaze traveled over sparked a thought, a word for the body part, in his slowing forming consciousness. Like stone, they seemed to mean quite a bit more than his companion’s chatter, but only because they were attached to him. He valued having the chatter of the other male around, he just didn’t know it yet. However, he did react, and quickly, whenever the noise went away.

The sudden silence that followed the other male’s words made the cub snap his head back up and around, his gaze finally leaving the twitching tip of his tail so that he could affirm the presence of the other Gembound. Sure enough, the smaller creature bounced right up to his face again, his legs sticking straight out underneath him, while his tail stood straight up from his rump. It was a completely normal sight for Faelon, though only because he hadn’t seen enough of the world yet to know that his companion was just as young as him. Their similarity in age, and the fact that other male had been around for nearly all of his life so far, was probably the reason for him being so acceptable of the nose bump that followed Bartos’s reentry.

The contact still surprised the cub though, making him jump, and miss the fact that the other Gembound was moving somewhere else as he spoke. So, when the kitten sidled up to his side, and pressed against him, Faelon jumped again, whipping his head to the side to stare. What was going on!? His mind demanded, though as was becoming usual with him, he said and did nothing. Several heartbeats passed before he stirred, his gaze glancing over the shoulder of his companion, and noticing the shards on the floor for the first time. They matched the color of his and Bartos’s stones, but were much, much smaller. And as he thought about it, he was fairly certainly that they had been poking him when he was lying down.

Some were poking him in the rump even now, piercing him as he shifted his weight back and forth in an attempt to find somewhere comfortable to sit. He was too aware of the feeling though, and rapidly got tired of the discomfort. So, without any notice to Bartos, Faelon suddenly pushed to his paws. At first, he wobbled back and forth, and then front to back, nearly knocking down his companion and falling over. His instincts took over though, guiding him into bracing his feet, allowing him to catching himself and the kitten to lean against him once more. For which seemed like an eternity, he stood there, his heart racing with pride and fear.
Then, with a surge of confidence from his grand total of two successes so far, the young Gembound took a shaky step forward. Then another, and another. He moved much slower than Bartos had before, but he did it. His back feet were the hardest to move, but with how slow he went, they got the hang of it. Within moments, he matched his pace to the robotic march that his companion had shown him earlier. His tail even stuck straight up, in an attempt to completely copy what he had seen.

Bartos didn't quite realize the effect that his chattering and nose-bumps and side-rubbing would have had on the lion cub, only that he seemed startled whenever Bartos stopped talking, startled by the nose bump, and startled by the quick and gentle press against his side. The kitten only tilted his head, blinking and for a brief moment concerned that he was doing something that the cub didn't like. This concern very quickly edged away as the cub recovered from whatever fright Bartos had done to him, slowly pulling himself up to his paws. For this, the kitten remained silent, wiggling his tail in excitement. He watched, and every time Faelon wobbled, Bartos inched closer to try and support him. Though they came close to toppling over, it was a good thing they didn't - Bartos really wouldn't be all that helpful in holding Faelon up if he did fall.

Before long, the lion cub started to walk. The kitten was about to part his maw and speak, to encourage the cub, but remained silent just in case - he didn't want to startled the other feline and distract him from his goals! So he sat quiet, watching as Faelon learned to walk before his very eyes. Soon enough he was marching around the room with his tail up high like Bartos himself. The kitten beamed and bounced forward. "Look! You're doing it! You're walking too!" He purred, running up next to the cub and then around him with an obvious hop in his step. "Good job Faelon, I'm so proud of you!"

Coming to stand next to the cub, Bartos dropped his front half and wiggled his rump high in the air. "Come on, I wanna show you where I hatched!" He said and leaped forward a few paces before whirling around to look at Faelon expectantly.

The delighted tone of his companion’s voice turned Faelon’s concentrated stare ahead into a curious glance around him. The sudden change in focus, and reappearance of the other male, brought him to a sudden halt. He watched in amazement as the kitten raced around him, only stopping long enough to dip his front half down, thrust his back end up, and then go flying past again. Thus far, out of all the things that the cub had seen, that was the most amazing. As his too large eyes followed the smaller Gembound, he itched to try the movement out. So, when Bartos came a sudden halt, whirling about to face him, he felt as if now was the moment to try it.

Faelon furrowed his brow in concentration as he slowly slid his front half down, trying to mimic his companion’s earlier position. He still didn’t have very good control over his body though, so within seconds, his front legs slipped out from under him and he went down. For a moment, he laid there on his belly, with his face resting between his front legs and his tail stretched out behind him. It was so similar to how he had started out, that getting back up again felt like a huge feat. Until he caught Bartos’s large, blue eyes still staring expectantly at him. The constant prompting that the other Gembound had given him so far was no doubt the reason he had come this far, and it continued to work by making the cub push back up to his paws.

Like the first time, he was slow to rise, and he wobbled a little. Faelon braced himself more quickly than before though, and even began to totter his way over to the kitten. He still wanted to glide across the floor like Bartos had done, but he knew that he wasn’t ready for it. After all, he could barely walk, and hadn’t even tried running yet. In time, he would no doubt learn everything his companion knew. It would take just that though, time. So, the newly emerged lion focused on getting over to the other Gembound the only way he knew how, by walking. And he succeeded in that, at least.

“Baaaarrrrrt.” Faelon said excitedly when he came to a halt beside Bartos. His mouth wavered for a second, and then slowly spread into an inexperienced grin. It resembled more of a bearing of his teeth than a smile, but his shining golden orbs and gentle swaying tail were evidence of his glee.

For a second, Bartos was worried when the little lion cub tried to leap forward only to stumble and slide down on his stomach, returning to the position he'd inherited since emerging. The kitten began to step forward, brows furrowed in concern before he saw the cub start to pick himself up. "Come on Faelon!" He encouraged, watching the cub slowly pull himself to his paws. Eventually, the youth made it up again and had even managed to walk back over to the kitten. Excited, Bartos pretty much vibrated on the spot, wiggling his tail happily.

Then, the babe spoke. Bartos held his breath as the lion cub slowly spoke his name, stretching it thin across the air before delivering a strange smile to him. The boy couldn't help but giggle at the cub's attempt to smile, and a loud purr emanated from his chest. "Yeah, thats me! And you're Faelon! We're Bartos and Faelon and we're brothers!" He nodded then spun on his heel and marched back towards where his shattered chrysalis lay scattered across the floor and in pools of water. He consistently looked over his shoulder, making sure the cub was following him. "This is where I came from. See there's bits and pieces of blue shinies, like yours." He explained, rounding the corner. There, they could finally see the carnage of what had once been an intact chrysalis on the underside of the cliff above.

This was Barty's element. The kitten waggled his tail and bounced over to the scattered shards, giggling all the way. He found a fair sized piece and batted it around before sending it flying towards the cub. The shard skipped across the ground and came to a stop before his paws, and Bartos spun around, papping his tiny feet on the ground and grinning.