The world was calm as he slumbered. Stone walls cradled him, a constant and reassuring presence against his developing body. But as he formed, a dim awareness grew as well, and it whispered alarm as those very walls began to feel a little less safe and far more uncomfortably snug. Eventually, they squeezed tightly against him, forcing out any form of response from the sleeping creature.

Instinct took hold. As the chords of fear experienced their first strike, he struggled and strained at his confines. Vigorous kicking did nothing, his feet only scrabbling pathetically over the stone’s smooth surface. His forearms were equally useless in their feeble attempts to claw back what now threatened to smother him. Panic rose as his attempts to regain space remained futile.

He would be crushed. Weak, unable to fend off his home’s betrayal.

Finally, there was a tiny give. After smashing his head against stone, he drew away with slightly more room to move within. Emboldened by the sight, he repeated this. Again. And again. With every blow his surroundings shook, but his focus was too narrow to pay mind to the consequences of his actions. Soon he could curl into security once more, having beaten back the danger.

That is until, with one more hit, everything tilted. A brief moment of suspension before his entire perspective spun end over end. And then it shattered. Sound, loud and disorienting, replaced the familiar silence when he was flung forth from the darkness. Startling cold whipped at him as his body stretched out to its full length.

For a moment he soared before crashing with a thud, nearly sliding off a ledge. Unused to the slick rock beneath him and halfway dangling into the void, his claws fumbled to find purchase with which to haul himself to safety.

Perhaps luck had been on his side, as they caught onto something firm enough to do so. Once he’d dragged himself fully out of harm’s way, wheezing, the Gembound collapsed. Casting a glance upwards, the glint of multiple white shards could be noticed from a similar ledge. Though only acquainted with its inside, they were unmistakable as the remnants of his former world.

Being a blank slate, still unacquainted with the full spectrum of emotion, he struggled to comprehend the new sensations he felt. Heat blazed in his chest and bubbled up his throat. Snippets of thought, not yet formed as words, reverberated within his mind. More knowledgeable individuals might have identified these respectively as anger and confusion. All he knew was that they hurt.

Why had it done this to him? Tried to crush him. Made him have to break it apart in order to breathe freely?

Youth prevented him from understanding that what had previously encased him bore no malice toward him. It was just as much a part of him as one of his claws, natural, merely fulfilling its specific purpose. Instead, he steamed over an imaginary traitor which had cruelly cast him out into a place seemingly far too large. And considering the roar of water he now was subject to, a place that was also far too loud. Never mind that he had played a significant part in his own departure.

Already the chill of the surrounding air had penetrated past his scales, and a sort of fatigue began to settle in. The iguana needed warmth, but where he knew he had such now laid in pieces above him. The most he could do was draw his limbs in and try to curl up before he might still altogether. Sensing his need, something neither cold nor hot flashed over his tongue.

Relief. A slight rise in heat swept over him. While not nearly enough to entirely banish the slowing effects of the low temperature, the stiffness of his limbs somewhat loosened. Taking advantage of this, he peered over the ledge, trying to ascertain how far he must venture to the reach the ground. If he was to be left to flounder in this vast expanse, it'd be pointless for him to waste time up here with his sore feelings.

To the average iguana, the stretch of wall between this particular ledge and the bottom would be far from difficult. They could cover the comparatively short distance within seconds due to their size. But this iguana was freshly hatched, and it'd be some time before he could cover such a gap with his body alone. So he would have to treat this much like scaling down a steep mountainside: keep a careful foothold and try not to let go.

Not too difficult, unless his inexperience with anything outside of his chrysalis factored in. But maybe it was fortunate that he didn't bother to consider his disadvantages and just did what he had to.

While the effects of his sudden warming lingered over him, he took his next steps until his front half dangled precariously over the ledge. Claws scraped along rock, testing for the tiniest indentations for them to latch onto. Once partway secured, there was the moment of truth. He kicked off the ledge entirely.

Call it overconfidence, but he seemed to have this under control. His back feet pressed against the wall with ease and propelled him forward. Quick to find just the right places to hook himself, he hurtled down the surface as if it was just another floor he ran across. All the hurt at being tossed into somewhere he had no desire to be faded away in the exhilaration of the moment. And then before he knew it, he was at the bottom.

If everything else disappointed him, at least he knew that the walls weren't too bad. Something told him he could speed up and down those all he wanted. Now, if only he could fill his empty stomach. Apparently, excitement made him hungry.

Spurred by another goal, he darted off.

-Exit