Pip had found herself drawn to Polaris. Every now and then she passed through. And now wasn't any different. It was a wonder that the tiny gembound managed to travel the caves so much. But she'd begun to recognize some of them! For instance, this cave, Polaris, was called the shiny blue cave.

She always passed the Spire, the biggest shiny blue of all, and she was always curious about it. It was tall, it shone, casting blue light across the caves, and moved as if it could breathe. But no gembound ever stopped to talk to it. Maybe it was just lonely!

She hadn't had the opportunity to ask anyone about it. Nor did she remember any time she passed through. But this time, Pip had decided to talk to it. Pip scuttled up to beneath the Spire. She had to be careful to avoid the strange, black goo beneath. It gave her bad vibes. But Pip realized, as she inched closer to it, the Spire was much larger than she thought. When she passed by, at the fringes of the cave, it always seemed smaller.

"Hello!" She yelled up to the spire. But the accumulation of giant levitating crystals gave no response. It pulsated with blue, the crystals bobbing gently. The slow movement of the crystals lulled Pip into a sense of safety. This was a friend! She scuttled as close as she could on the rock.

"Hi! You're pretty tall! Are you a gembound?" It gave no response. "I've met a bunch of tall gembound. I think you're one? Only gembound can move. And trees! But trees arent blue. Or that tall! So I think you're a gembound. Maybe you're just shy!" Pip tapped her forelimb against her face. "Oh! I bet you just need someone to open up to! Oh--I never said! I'm Pippin! Everyone calls me Pip, though! You can call me Pip too!"

A crystal floated downwards. Pip took that as a sign it was listening. She gasped. "You ARE shy! Its ok! I've met big friends before! Morpho isn't really shy, they're just quiet. But either is okay!" She thought for a moment. "I know some gembound can speak through their minds. Without moving their mouths. Maybe you can do that? Or you just haven't tried! We can try together!"

Pip summoned her magicka. She wanted to form a link with the Spire. To befriend it! But her magicka petered out, following a strong start. Was she not strong enough? Pip hummed. No, she just wasn't trying hard enough! She could try again.

She stood still, hoping for a link to form. Hoping that she'd been wrong about her magicka. "I don't think I did it right that time. But I'll do it right this time! I'll be your first friend!" She thought. It didn't seem to move any more than usual. Could it emote? Was it stuck. Pip stared for a second more, then spoke.

"Can you blink? Its ok if you can't! I think only the wet eyes can. I cant blink. I can just move my limbs too. Are your crystals limbs?" She hummed. "Ooh! But I met some cool wet-eyes friends! One with red eyes, and one with orange fur! The red-eyed one was called Collector. Wait--I don't think I was supposed to tell you that. It's a secret!" She whispered to the spire.

"You wont tell anyone, though. I think you're too quiet for that. Oh, I didn't tell you about the orange friend! The orange one doesn't seem to like surprises that much. Maybe I just found the wrong orange, though." She was quiet for one entire second, before launching into it again. "Right! Lets try again! I wont give up until you have a friend, my new Tallest Friend!"

Her magicka, once more, failed her. She had never been one to be lucky with magicka. Not only that, but she was beginning to feel the exertion. Pip's mandibles chewed at nothing as she thought. She hummed, then spoke.

"This might take a moment, Tallest friend! But good things take a long time!" Pip wasn't sure she'd been staring at the right part of Tallest. She'd been staring straight ahead, into the retina burning blue of the spire. But was its eyes farther up? "Tallest friend, do you have eyes? Or are you ALL eyes?" She shook with excitement, glancing up and down the Spire.

"Wow! I bet you can see everything! Can you see me, down here? Can you see the weird shiny stuff below? Whats up with that? I'd clean it up, but its a lot. I'm not sure I could pick it up. She scuttled to another edge, peering over. She watched, curious. Then she scooted back, suddenly remembering. "Right! I'm here to befriend you!"

Pip's magicka lashed out. Not at the Spire, no. But at herself. She felt her gemstone begin to warm. And then it got too hot. Lances of pain slashed through her, as her magicka tried and failed to find an exit from her body. Pip yelped in pain, the awry magicka tearing at her body. It ended quickly, though it would've felt longer for Pip. Her abdomen flicked once, stunned. A claw tip was torn asunder.

Pip was quiet for a moment, recovering from the sudden pain. She seemed shocked. Then, quietly, began to groom her injured limb. It was painful, to put it simply, and Pip had no way of knowing why, nor how it'd happened. "Well that hurt." She said, after a while. Pip continued to groom her limb. "Do you think this helps? Or do you think-ow-this makes it worse? Does your magicka do that? Hurt you sometimes? Mine just doesn't listen to me, sometimes."

Pip wasn't feeling to great about continuing. But stopping now, leaving her friend the Tallest, to stew in lonliness? That was out of the question! Pip wasn't anything, if not stupidly loyal for absolutely no reason. "Don't worry! I'll still try to befriend you! And hey, if this doesn't work, I can just talk to you! I mean, you cant reply. But I'm pretty sure you can hear me!" The spire was silent.

"Okay!" She said. She set down her claw on the rock. Her eyes would've been furrowed in determination, were they not solid. "Lets try again!"

Her magicka wasn't responding. There was a dull sensation. A dull buzz of magicka from her gem, but otherwise nothing. "You think you're too big, or I'm too small? That might be it! Maybe I should've taken a break after I hurt my claw." The pain from her claw tip was slowly beginning to dull. A pulse of pain she was beginning to be able to slot in the back of her mind. Even as she brought it to the forefront of her thoughts. Pip turned her attention back to the Spire. Pip wasn't sure where to look. Her eyes kept darting around. It was especially hard, since tall friend was ALL eyes. So instead, she began to talk.

"How long have you been here, tall friend? I dont know how long I've been here. Probably at least a cycle or two! I dunno, I dont really keep track! Theres a lot of stuff to see. Did you know theres a cave made of bones! And one that has a lot of water. I couldn't find the end of it. Ooh--I also heard theres one thats real green and long! I know some gembound wanted to go there. I'll probably go with. When I make you my friend, and you can talk to me, I can take you with, yeah? That sounds fun! You're always here, you'll get to see new places! I can't wait to take you with me!"

Pip's magicka gathered. magicka left her. And this time, it hit its mark. It flooded the spire. Pip wasn't sure what to expect, but she felt nothing but joy in this moment. She'd done it! She could talk to her new friend now!

The magic was almost lost to the Spire, its entirety more full of magic than all of the cave inhabitants put together—and perhaps, it was the most magically dense item on the entire planet. It fed and it hungered and it consumed any magic offered to it, or not offered to it; and it loaned this magic to those born of its influence, but inevitably, the magic would return to it.

Pip casting her magic on the Spire was almost like dumping a cup of water into a well. But unlike others, her intentions were not greedy, or wanting, or needing. Pip's intents were pure and kind—safe.

The moment at which their magic converged would be like a blinding flash for Pip as she was sent rocketing through Polaris, her tiny body lifted easily to be blasted to the far wall near Tunnel B. Though Pip might not know this, it was the direction to the room of which she spoke. And she'd see this, in a vision:

...cold, winter, mountain, shimmering lights—a wall, where winds scarcely reach, curling around to the first labradorite waystone, into the tunnel of trees, and a burst of light—Pegasus... the endless mile...

But as Pip lands gently—strangely, as if placed by caring hands—she is not harmed. Beside her is a speck of Spire, a friend perfectly fit for her to carry, and it shimmers at her thoughts and at her touch.

...sky—endless in its reach, a ceiling with no roof—stretches on forever, the horizon is glittering with colors of the rainbow, the ground blue crystal like that of the piece Pip holds, and there is grass and snow and flowers and trees—adventure...

@Pip has Familiar Forged a tiny piece of the Spire! This is essentially a pet rock and is not sentient, nor can it obtain Pip's element and become intelligent. But it does respond to her touch, words, and thoughts by shimmering with rainbow light.

Pip barely had the time to register what'd happened. All she knew was she was off the ground. One moment her feet were against a rock at the base of the spire. Then, her world was white. Next thing she knew, the only thing she saw was blurs. She was hurtling through the air, she realized. Up was down, down was up, and she desperately flapped her near vestigal wings in an attempt to right herself.

And then, a vision came. Ursa, though she wouldnt know this. Cold and mountains. Snow and a shifting sky. And the vison continued. Places she hadn't heard of, hadn't even imagined. A tunnel of trees, and then...the open. Pale skies and green stretching forever. At least, it seemed that way to her. Pegasus, a voice supplied to her.

Suddenly, she was back in Polaris. Hurtling to the ground. Too fast, she realized. Her wings resumed their flapping, and Pip was sure she'd hit the ground hard enough to crack her carapace. But then, she slowed. She landed safely, if on her back. After a minute or two of trying to right herself, she stood on her feet. She tapped the ground with a foot. To make sure it was solid, and she wasn't going to fly off again. "Huh?" She said, confused. A blue shape flickered in the corner of her vision.

"Friend!" She said. The rock shimmered rainbow, and another vision began. This one even more hard for Pip to understand. Endless skies that glimmered the same color as the stone. A crystalline blue ground. But everything else seemed normal. Trees and flowers and grass. Pip felt the urge to climb atop one of them. But then, the vision was over. She was back in Polaris once more, staring at her small blue crystalline friend. She took another thirty seconds to register all that had happened. But when she did, she perked up.

"Friend! You did that?" It shone in iridescent hues. "You did! You showed me weird stuff! Can we go there one day? Ooh, after we go to Pegasus! You did want to come with!" She looked up, towards the Spire. Massive, towards the center of the cave.

"I guess you were too big for me to carry all the way. So you made yourself little! Oh, whats your name, friend?" She said. The rock didn't say anything, but it shone. Blue, green, then yellow and red. She puzzled on this for a moment. "Oh, is your name rainbow? Or do you not have one?" It was silent. "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to mind speak to you!"

Pip concentrated, projecting her thoughts to the crystal. It shimmered. But otherwise, did not reply. "Okay! It is rainbow! You're still quiet, but I like quiet friends! I can just tell you everything, Rainbow!"

Pip crawled closer to the shard of crystal, lifting it in her claws. Surprisingly, there was no burning of magicka. Its hues rippled, and Pip was sure that meant it was happy. Pip vibrated with excitement. Her melody came out, a tinkling multilayered song. It was the best she'd done so far. Pure joy fueling her.

Yet she found herself yearning for a faster song. The cold had made her sluggish. Cold? She turned. A hole in the cave full of strange, white stuff stood not far from her. In the relative scheme of things, at least. For Pip it'd be a journey. It took a moment for the combination of the vision, the cold, and the frosty tunnel to click.

"The cold place! You showed me that! And the green place is behind there! But that's pretty cold." She was silent. The gears churning in her head. "You'll protect me, right rainbow? I trust you! Then we can come back, and tell everyone what we saw!" Excited, Pip began to crawl towards the entrance to tunnel B.


;exit Pip and NEW FRIEND