Nestled between the towering Polaris crystals, something-or rather, someone was stirring.
Dimly, the creature thought the chrysalis containing her was...cramped. She decided she had to do something about it. Unlike earth birds, the neonate did not have an egg tooth. All she could do was scratch and peck, and scratch and peck she did, not having much force behind her blows but a fierce persistence and tenacity even as the chrysalis was coated with tiny cracks and she was swamped with exhaustion. On and on, as the chrysalis shook and wobbled, scratches and pecks hurled from inside, the cracks spreading, the shell weakening.
The tired, achy neonate wanted to see the world beyond, to be freed. With a sudden burst of energy, she drove her beak into the biggest crack, piercing the shell at last. She twisted her beak, widening the breach, and at last the newly hatched Gembound took in her surroundings. She stared in awe at the giant, vibrant crystals before her, and felt a profound sense of wonder.

Well.

Scorch had been rather... out of things lately.

After that little adventure in Canis with Glory, the Collector, Miss Giggle, and various others, he'd been creeped out enough that he'd retreated into a secluded place in the caves, peeking out once in a while to see what was going on. Once in a long, long while. Okay, maybe almost never. But the important thing was, he was out in the world now. And he was fully grown! His wings were huge, his eyebrows absolutely magnificent, and he thought he might be almost as majestic as Glory the eagle now.

Scorch opened his wings wide as he soared over Polaris. He'd been here before, but the glowing plants, fungi, and crystals here were simply magical and never failed to amaze him. Who wouldn't be awed by its beauty? His eyes swept over the cavern floor, taking in the sights. A blue mushroom! A brown rock topped by glowing moss! A - was that a Gembound hatching?!

He wheeled around, diving toward a cracking chrysalis. It was! And the child was a bird, just like him! Scorch, too, had hatched in this cavern. Oh, they had so much in common already! He had to go say hi.

"Hello!" he called, landing on a nearby giant crystal. "Welcome into the world, little bird! I am also a bird, as you can see, and I'd love to be your friend! My name is Scorch. What would you like to be named?"

@Yersinia

Yersinia tilted her head curiously, registering the fellow Gembound before her. He seemed very excitable, and she wasn't sure whether to feel welcomed into the world or intimidated. She hopped towards the other bird with a bit of reluctance at first, trying to register what the words meant.
"A...a name? That's...that's what Gembound call themselves, right?"
She looked towards the ground, trying to think. What would she like to call herself? The other bird's name was Scorch...but what was a scorch? Maybe she should just think of something random... see if it felt right.
"I think I'd like to call myself Yersinia." And as she said it, she knew it was a good fit.

"Yersinia!" Scorch beamed. "An excellent choice! Lots of yyyyyy sounds." He paused, a considering expression on his face. Now that they were friends, what should they do? When he'd first hatched, he'd wanted to explore everywhere in this beautiful cave. Was that something the hatchling would be interested in?

"What would you like to do?" he asked. "If you want to explore, I can... hmm. I could probably carry you places, if you can't fly yet!" The crow looked small enough that he could pick her up in his talons without too much trouble. Or maybe she could try to stand on his back, the way he'd once ridden an eagle, but he wasn't sure if her claws were sharp enough to hook on. "Otherwise... I could tell you a story! I went on an adventure when I was young, and met a magical being trapped in a gem, except he wasn't young like most things that come out of gems! He was very old. Actually, are you hungry? I can get you something to eat, too!" Scorch didn't remember if he was hungry when he hatched, but he figured he should probably ask. The crow didn't look very strong, but he could help it catch things! Or maybe crows preferred plants? "What do you eat?"

But the little crow was silent, and Scorch took this to mean that she wasn't interested in any of these ideas. "Well! Have a nice life, then!"

@Yersinia

edited into exit due to inactivity