The amber chrysalis was high up in a tree, which was dead of course, the chrysalis having having absorbed all the nutrients from it. The branches still held up though, and one of them held the baby dragon. It was not too easy to spot the chrysalis, since no gembounds really ever bothered to look up, but this was an area that rainbow spinners frequented, often coming here to investigate the new life forming inside the amber. Perhaps that was why it was no big wonder that the dragon would be born with a rainbow spinner encased in her amber gemstone.

Arquia drifted into consciousness. Where... was she? Her legs pushed, and she could feel the hard wall of something keeping her in. Was that a good or a bad thing? She wasn't being harmed at the moment, and curiosity told her to try kicking at the amber holding her in, just to see what would happen. The walls of the chrysalis held up, so she stayed inside, content for now. A small thought in her mind told her that she would have to come out eventually.

@Carja

Carja had watched the egg for a few days, now, having spotted it on her way back from Monoceros to Cetus. She kept coming back, concerned about it's placement and the risk that the creature inside could fall and hurt themselves pretty badly.

Today she came with a deer in her jaws, hanging limply, completely dead with its head torn off. She settled herself down underneath the chrysalis and started to eat, tearing it into manageable chunks to swallow whole. She occasionally looked up at the egg, the vents on her neck open and glowing to allow her to cool down, steam rising up from them, hopefully also warming the egg.

She heard the crack, a kick, and looked up, throat billowing in excitement as she stood suddenly, peering up at it.

"Hello?", she asked, dancing in excitement, "Are you hatching? I'll catch you!"

The baby inside probably didn't understand spoken words, but Carja didn't mind. She'd comfort them once they were out.

@Arquia

There was a noise outside-- different from the sound of birdsong and rustling leaves. Someone was outside of her safe chrysalis. Were they safe? She knew that right now she was safe, her kick was unable to break the walls to let her out. Maybe it would be best to stay inside?

Then another question: how did she know that that noise was dangerous exactly? There was something else to the words though, an emotion. Arquia did not even know what the words were saying, or what that emotion meant, but she knew she wanted to get out. Now that whoever that was knew she was here, she would need to get out as fast possible, run away!

Pushing with all her might, in all directions, there was a loud CRACK! And the amber chrysalis exploded, embedding shards of amber into the trees like deadly projectiles. Arquia was left on the branch, but, not being used to her legs, she started to fall.

@Carja

Carja ducked and covered herself with her wings, slowly lifting her head to peer up at the chrysalis in surprise. She lowered her wings and gasped as the baby started to fall, scuttling around before flying into the air, arms held out to catch the child.

She managed to get a hold of the child and fluttered down to the ground, ever so gently lowering her down onto the soft forest floor. She backed up and lowered her head to sniff at Arquia, cooing gently as she saw green scales and wings.

A dragon! Like her!

"Hi...", she said, already enamored with the teeny thing, "Oh you're so small- you're lucky I was here to catch you."

Slowly, she lay herself down, tucking her wings in and peering at the child, letting her get herself situated before Carja got her food or anything. The world was big and bright, and it took a bit of getting used to.

@Arquia

Her wings still plastered to her back from the liquid in the chrysalis, she plummeted from the tree, legs and tail waving wildly in the air. She did not like this feeling, she did not like it at all. But arms reached out to catch her, and she was lowered gently to the floor.

Arquia squinted, the sudden brightness of the forest almost overwhelming. There was so much... green! Oh, so that's the name of the color, green. She looked down at her own body, she was green too! Just like the forest! As it became easier for her to see, Arquia looked at the animal that had caught her, whose body shape looked similar. They were blue! And black! But also... scary.

It was an instinct that was embedded in her, something told her that she should not trust anyone, no one, not even this animal that caught her could be trusted. "Away! Away!" The words came out of her mouth, she did not know what they meant, but she knew that was what she had to say.

The small dragon looked around, trying to find a place to hide. A log! Arquia dived into the hole in the log, quite easily, she was only a foot tall on all fours. Her small golden eyes peeked out of the hole, to see what Carja would do.

@Carja

Carja's head shrank back like a turtle's, her vents closing and her glittering, bespeckled with teeny tiny little stars, covering the dark black and purple and blues that stretched across her scales. They almost seemed to glitter, an illusion caused by the smaller, almost unnoticeable dots splattered between them.

The dragon slowly craned her head forward again to peer into the log, her glowing eyes opened wide in interest.

She sat back and hummed, tapping a talon on her mouth. She herself ran hot naturally, but she knew that Dread and a few others liked to bask for warmth... maybe this baby would appreciate being warm.

"Here," she said softly, fanning her wings gently to push the sudden rise of hot air towards the baby dragon, "I'll keep you warm until you're comfortable enough to come out, okay?"

@Arquia

Arquia watched with caution, Carja's glittering scales looking like the opposite of her own. Dark, while her own was light. The other dragon also had many eyes, and they all glowed. Scary. She curled tighter in her log, and shivered. The absence of her chrysalis made her realize how much less warm it was outside. Not that it was cold, really, but it was a considerable amount colder compared to being inside the chrysalis.

A gust of hot air was blown into the log, warming her scales. A small lingering thought: maybe this dragon was nice? Maybe. But maybe she was just doing that to try and eat her. Either way, Arquia decided that there was a low enough risk of that, so she stuck her head out of the hole, to see what else Carja would do. She made a sound in her chest, a questioning rumble.

@Carja

Carja purred softly and let her nose drift forward, nostrils flaring gently, "Hey there, pretty one..."

She booped her nose against Arquia's and drew away, still radiating heat as much as possible, "It's okay, I won't hurt you, pinky promise."

She held up the pinky of her hand, which had the shortest talon of all of her fingers, and seemed to be growing back from an injury, probably from being broken or torn out from hunting. Needless to say, it wasn't as menacing as she promised no harm.

"Can you come out?", she asked gently, "I'll bet it's not as damp out here as it is in there."

@Arquia

Arquia froze as Carja came forward, and she pulled back her lips, further exposing her very small but pointy fangs. But she stayed still, and when the huge dragon booped her nose against her own and pulled away, she was still frozen, but this time in surprise. That actually felt good, and... she didn't get eaten?

Her brain working overtime, she tried to decipher what this all meant. This dragon had another motivation, she wasn't sure what it was yet, but there was a chance that she was actually nice. Small chance, but a chance. It wouldn't do to let her guard down so easily.

Slowly, but surely, she emerged from the log, but made sure to stay close to it in case she needed to dart back. Carja held up her pinky, which seemed to be injured. From what, she didn't know. Arquia slowly held up her own, not knowing what this meant, but she felt that it was the right thing to do. "Promise?" The definition came to mind, something that could not be broken. But... it could be a lie. Should she really trust this other dragon?

Arquia stepped closer, keeping her fangs bared to show that she shouldn't be messed with. "Wh-- who?" A question, who was Carja?

@Carja

Carja nodded gently and wiggled her pinky before setting her paw down, "Promise. I actually have a sister who's smaller than you. Her name's Lass and I found her too! She's so small that she fits in flowers."

She cocked her head at the question and pointed at herself, "Me? My name's Carja, though I'm also known as Voidwing. I got the name from my friend, Sunny! She's smaller than you and she's a snail!"

The dragon was laying down, now, curled in a half-moon shape, her paws crossed as she faced Arquia, a warm smile on her face. She had her wings settled down beside her with her tail flicking back and forth like a cat's, the fins collapsed and giving the tail a thin, whip-like edge.

"What's your name?", she asked.

@Arquia