Life was-- well, hard to describe. It had been a long time since Binh last saw Haven and Electrum, and a lot had changed in the past three cycles. No longer was he a tiny, pale thing: the man was now a whopping 16 feet in length and coated in dazzling blue-and-gold scales. Dark eyes stared out a handsome, maturing face complete with a full set of fangs. And his stone, that shimmering, starry gem, no longer jutted out like a sore thumb, but was tucked neatly between his hood flaps. Don't get him wrong, it was still incredibly heavy, but now it was more... manageable. He'd never be able to run-- or slither-- like other gembound, but the cobra didn't seem to mind. As long as he could get food and water, all was well.

Still, it was all getting a bit... mundane. Boring. Binh was by no means an adventurer, but hiding in the rainforest like a hermit took its toll. He wanted to do something-- anything, just to contribute. Just to be nice, like Haven and Electrum were to him. But alas, not all that many passed through, and when they did they were too far out of his range of motion (or sound) to interact with.

But hey, at least he had magic. The strange ability to control water, which he practiced for a lot of his days. Most of what he could do was rather unimpressive-- simply pulling moisture from the atmosphere into his body-- but recently he learned something new. If he peered into a puddle real hard, and thought of something he'd seen before, it'd suddenly appear in the water's reflection. How intriguing.

Binh had spent the past few days slowly slithering to the center of the room. There was a large mushroom there, one he'd seen in one of Haven's flybys. He didn't have a particular reason to go-- once again, he was getting impatient and lonely, and a structure that tall had to have some sort of importance. Maybe he'll find something cool, or magical. The king cobra finally arrived this day, the sweeping cap casting a shadow across his scales, and found... nothing. It was just an oversized mushroom.

Ah, oh well. Binh wasn't one to get upset. Plus, there were some puddles gathering under the fungi, so maybe he could practice that spell again. The handicapped snake gathered himself against its trunk and leaned towards the closest puddle as best he could. There was a Rainbow Spinner roosting nearby, and maybe if he concentrated very hard...

... And, somehow he messed it up. Bad. A blurry image of the bird slowly rippled to existence, before exploding into a chaotic, strobe-inducing mess of neon colors. It practically glowed against the dark water, which was pretty bad, considering Binh had no eyelids. He hissed, rearing his head as best he could as the abstract silhouette of a Spinner burned itself into his retinas. That would take a long time to heal.

Of course, given what was about to happen, neon bird-water would probably be the least strange thing he sees today.

Sunny had been dreaming of Cetus for days now. Ever since she ventured there with Carja to pick up her dear life-stones, she'd been unable to stop thinking about the other tree-filled room. It was cooler and wetter, with a certain shady darkness about it that made her heart sing. But venturing around Eridanus was the extent of her abilities as slow as she was, and sometimes it was nice to move around a bit. She could cover land at a decent pace (compared to a snail that wasn't Oka, anyway) as she got larger, partially because her shell was less heavy and partially because she was just... larger.

As it were, she had fairly recently discovered her love of climbing. She'd been less than a third of the way up the massive mushroom, which had taken her some time indeed, but she was enjoying herself. Then she caught a glimmer of shining-stone through the many layers of foliage. A ripple of water, and then a faint sound of discomfort. Was there a Gembound down there?

Sunny briefly weighed the pros and cons before detaching herself from the mushroom and plummeting onto the ground next to Binh, neatly tucking herself into her shell on the way down. The ground was soft and her shell was incredibly tough -- besides that, ten feet wasn't all that far. She kept herself tucked inside for the time being, upon seeing that it was a snake. "Greater Gem-having? Or lesser?" she said, her voice muffled. It wasn't as though a snake could easily bite through her shell, after all.


@binh

Wow, that was bright. Even when he turned his body to the shade, the fluorescent image of a lesser was ingrained into his vision. He still wanted to try that again, but without the whole burn-your-eyes-neon thing, you know? Right now, he just needed to rest his mind. No sensory input.

Which is probably why it scared him when a thud plonked right next to him.

Binh's tail shot out first before his head could move. It was reflexive: his lower body was a lot more maneuverable than his upper, so he learned to use it to feel around. The tip touched some sort of cold stone, and the slightest hint of something wet-- and then, a voice. Did... did this rock talk? His heavy skull finally turn into position, unblinking (and still strained) eyes staring down at a... a snail. A snail with a rock-shell. He'd seen snails before, at least he thought he did, but most of them just... crawled. Speaking wasn't exactly a trait he associated with bugs.

His mind was blank for several seconds. "...Uuuuhh..." Wait, what was a "Greater-Gem Having" again? Was it some sort of identification? Gender? Nobody really explained the concept of Greaters and Lessers to Binh before, it seemed. To him, it was just "things I eat" and "other people".

He twitched his tail-tip back towards himself. "... I dooonnn't... knoow?" Binh paused. "I eeeaat thiinngs," he hissed, as if that somehow helped. "Do yoouuu eaat thiinnngss?"

@Sunny

Excitement ricocheted through her. Oh, he also talked in a strange way! "Greater," she assessed out loud. Sunny stretched out of her shell and prodded at the edge of his tail with her tentacles. "I eat plants. Sometimes bones and certain rocks, but very little shell-making happens to me. I am Sunny! Or Sunny-snail, as I call myself." Well, at least she was getting a little better at actually speaking like a normal creature.

She assessed quite quickly that he had scales, like Carja. An excellent development! Sunny was quite fond of scales, thank you. Easy to cling to and almost as good as a shell. His didn't seem to be as tough as Carja's, but he was certainly still a lizard! Just... one without arms. Or legs. Or wings. I wonder if he could fly if he didn't have the stone there? she wondered.

"What is the stone-scale doing?" she wondered, assigning him her best guess at what type of creature he was. (Tema's type was lumber-kin, Carja's type was drag-kin, Madhukar was a sliding-claw, and Sunny, of course, was a snail.)



@binh

Binh watched in vague bafflement as the talking snail analyzed him. Was this... something snails usually do? Of course, his lidless eyes and straight mouth didn't give away much emotion, but the way he slowly cocked his head probably did. How fascinating.

Ah, and her name was Sunny! Binh didn't know what a "sunny" was (was it some sort of snail species?) but he nodded in affirmation anyways. "My naame iiss Biinnhh," he responded in a drawling hiss.

And then-- stone-scale? Huh? Oh, she was talking about himself, right? Well, it was true that he had a massive stone embedded in his scales. Binh took no offense and just let out a laughing hiss.

"Weell... I waass tryiing my... waatterr thiing," He didn't really have a name for it just yet. Maybe something like Look-really-close-water-shabam. "I loook iinto the waateer annd thiink of a thiing... aannd theen it appearss..." He winced as he recalled his failed attempt earlier. "I can dooo it agaain, to show yoou... buut the laast tiime I did it.... noot woorrk."

Eh, why not try again? The cobra leaned away from Sunny and back towards the puddle, faint splotches of color still dancing in his vision. He concentrated hard on the surface, trying to conjure the site he wanted to see...

And nothing came up.

He shrugged (or, well, the serpentine equivalent) it off. "It dooess not worrk, maany timmes," Binh informed her, "Buut wheen it doess, I caan see annythiing. Annything I seee beforre."

Binh smiled softly, despite his failure. Having someone to talk to was nice.

@Sunny

Sunny's eyestalks waved excitedly as she peered into the water with him. Honestly, she had been fully prepared to believe that Binh had actually cast the spell and her eyes just weren't so well adjusted to using magic -- she had no intention of bothering to fact check him with her own spell. She fully believed him, and was thoroughly impressed. "Sunny-snail understands! I do not know much magic, but what I have is a type of other-seeing, for sensing magic. It is fickle! Usually I do it very well, but sometimes I cannot other-see anything but myself."

She gaped at him, although her mouth was probably small enough that it was easy to miss. "Anything?! Lovely things!! Not just memories, but actual seeings? I cannot move fast; some friends live elsewhere, and some things are beyond me. Far-Seeing... wonderful thing. Perhaps Sunny-snail can do it... but she is not so good in magic. More in speaking, yes?"

The snail strained her eyestalks up to examine Binh's eyes as best she could. "But I speak in a strange-tongue. Some Greater-beasts, they cannot understand my wordings, only my tones. Say I speak like a Lesser-beast might. I am getting better, because of friends I have, but you-- you also have a strange-tongue. Looooooong sssssssoundsssss. Sunny-snail likes it. Other-saying makes us special, yes? Just in very Other ways." If she'd had traditional teeth or traditional lips, she might have grinned at him. "I am very much an Other."


@binh

Binh found Sunny quite amusing, in a wholesome way. Typically, people ignored him. He was just a background character to someone else's story. But the little snail's eyestalks bobbed excitably with every drawling word he said, and he appreciated that.

And magic for sensing magic... strange. There seemed to be so many different kinds of magic. The waters, the mind fluffy-magic had shown... and now magic itself. If Binh had more time later he would look into that.

Sunny's burst of excitement took the hermit by surprise-- she certainly was a cheerful fellow. But what she said next really struck a cord with Binh. It was true: from the moment he was born he spoke in strange tones. Perhaps it was a side-effect of being a snake, or having that stone encasing his throat, or maybe just from being himself. And while he'd gotten better over cycles, it was still there, as permanent and glaring as his own stone. The cobra tried not to mind, but sometimes he wished he was more... normal.

But Sunny wasn't normal, either. And look how happy she was!

Binh slipped his neck down, both to get more on-level with the snail and to rest his easily-tired muscles. "Yooou aare veery good at speeaking," he rumbled. "Better.... thaaan maany. I do maagic, aaand yooou caaan do wordsss." He suddenly opened his mouth and gave a small, hissing laugh. "And yesss.... wee're both Oootherr. Looonnnngg sssssouunnndssss. Ooother isss... good." A serpentine smile graced his mouth.

A few moments passed in contemplation. A grey eye looked down at the snail. "... Whaat dooo yoou... doo? For liife?" Binh asked, rather unexpectedly. "Haaaveen--Eleectruum friennds... exploore. Fluuffy-magiic leearnsss. I thiink. Doo yoou... do annythiing? Or waaant to?"

@Sunny

Sunny drew her eyestalks back in a little bit as she settled, listening to Binh's agreement (and praise, which she wiggled her tentacles at). "To be Same all of the time is no fun at all," she agreed, watching Binh settle down as well. For a moment, there was a lapse in sound -- quiet and comfortable.

Then, Binh asked her about her life, and leveraged a bit of information about his own. "What I do?" she repeated back, considering her answer. What did she do? "Mostly I eat," Sunny said, but knew that wasn't a satisfying answer. "Have friends. Tema, a great fur-thing. Four legs and an amethyst in her head. Madhukar, little boom-cat! Many little colors on her body and lots of power in her stone. Carja, lizard like you -- but bigger, with legs and wings. Drag-kin, she says she is. Sunny-snail also likes the exploring, but moves so slow. Needs friends to go on adventures, but my friends have lives and wants too, yes? Not so nice to always ask them for me. Thinking of seeing if magic can help me."

She then considered his question -- what did she want to do. That was an easy answer. "Have more friends. Have more snails. So very few -- only Lesser-beasts and Oka, but none Sunny-sized." Then, a more private desire, which she'd only really expressed to Carja; "Want to be a mother. Give life to little-stones and bring them up right. Want to keep all of the stone-kin safe. Will be a mother, to anyone who needs me." She sighed, then. "But Sunny-snail is small, and other Greater-havings are headstrong. Not many friends who listen, not many friends who stay. Even Carja-friend has her own family; has no wantings for mine. Tema-kin is... what is word. Sister? We emerge together, we stay together, we die together. Born next to each other -- Sunny-snail was never alone. Never trapped by her own slowness. I do not want other Gembound to ever be alone or trapped, either. Everyone deserves a Tema-kin, and maybe a Sunny-snail, too."


@binh

Binh listened to Sunny's words as best he could-- though with that expressionless face it was hard to tell. He rested his heavy head onto his coils, keeping a silvery eye focused on the snail. She was certainly a charismatic one, despite being so young and, well, tiny. And friends-- wow, she certainly had a lot more connections than him! Tema, Madhukar, Carja... he stored those names in the back of his mind for later. Maybe he'll see them someday in the future.

The words kept on coming and-- ah! Something they had in common: slowness. Sunny was unabashed in how she described her own flaws, which he had to admit was quite brave of a child. The want for more snails like her was... a bit weird (imagine them all crawling about!) but it was understandable. Binh didn't personally wish for more snakes like himself, but he knew others liked staying with their own kin. And being a "mother"... the snake had no parents, nor any notion of them. The closest he had were Haven and Electrum, but even then they were just close friends. What use was a parent when gembounds could just take care of themselves? The idea somewhat baffled him, but he didn't bring it up at all.

Still, the rest of her monologue made more sense. Have friends, have snails, and help others out. How sweet. "... Niiice," Binh praised rather bluntly. "I haave noot manny waaanntss foorr myseellf... I juust eeaat. Aaand sleep. Used to... I usseed to goo wiith friiennds to plaacesss... but..." His maw wrinkled a little. Ah, the Polaris incident. It was a miracle no-one got hurt, but the experience was just as jostling for the poor snake. Screaming all around him, wings flapping dangerously close to his face, desperately trying to get a grip onto slippery skin as the screeching cacophony of rocks crumbling came closer and closer... not very fun. He hadn't dared leave Eridanus after that.

"... I dooon't do iit annymoore. Juust staay heere." His gaze trickled back down to the puddles. "Waant to... heelp geembound. Be niicee. Noot muuch elsse."

He raised his head, slightly, and shifted his body to "turn" towards Sunny. "... I caan bee yoour friiend." Binh rasped, doing his best imitation of her tiny smile. "... Yooouu seem... niice. Taaalked to mee. Feeww ootheers doo thaat."

"Eeverryone dooes deserve a Suunny-snaail."

@Sunny

Her eyestalks twitched at the compliment, and she decided that Binh was definitely one of her friends now. "Friends. Sunny-snail could help you go, if the Binh-scale wants. If I find a magic that is good, you can be helped by it, too. Or maybe, your far-seeing can let you sense the other places, and see them without going. If I tell you about a somewhere, maybe you can see them?" She waved her tentacles and poked them at the pool of water, getting an idea and growing unabashedly more excited. "We can try this! I have seen a warm water-cave, with lots of green. A crescent-shape island in the middle, littler islands all around, but mostly water as far as eyes-seeing go. Much larger than Eridanus, or any other cave I have ever been seeing. Called... Fornax? Warm waters, healthy ferns, dampening air. Lesser-fish all swimming inside. Can your far-seeing let you look?"


@binh

someone got an idea...