The oilstone chrysalis stood out like a sore thumb in contrast to the soft and gentle blues and greys of Orion, mock starlight glittering over its inky black surface. the creature within shifted and rolled within its own crystal prison

it wouldn't be long before the growing whispers of corruption and its influence woke the beast from its slumber, crashing out of it with enough force to send the beast itself to the floor.

it growled, wet and guttural as its pushed itself up, panting as it looked around. it was... not expecting this. it was much brighter than the inside of its chrysalis and the light hurt its eyes. it was hungry, and it couldn't see anything that really constituted as food from over sitting up, it curled in on itself, staring at the floor. it was completely and utterly lost on what it was supposed to do now.

what is he supposed to do..??

White wings were carrying another creature along the stale winds of Orion not far off. His silhouette, pale against the starshot rock above, circled.

He'd noted the chrysalis, once or twice, in passing; it was hard not to, and his curiosity as its sheer size had taken him back here now and then. He happened to be nearing it now, by coincidence, and nothing more. He'd had no intention to come see it, really, but the memory of it drew ember eyes to the ground, to spot not Oilstone but the hulking strange beast that had at last emerged from inside it.

The wolf-dragon pondered this, and even from this height the creature's size was impressive. Hmm, he thought, and banked, forelegs tucked up against his chest as wings carried him back away again. It was a long, slow circle: a spiralling descent, one which brought him back in toward Equinox as if approaching a runway, low and gliding. His wings flapped--two, three times, body coming up short, dust pluming around him; and then he landed, some thirty yards away. His white form stood in silence, attentively facing the stranger, as his wings settled to either side of him.

For a moment Ember probably looked almost noble: pristine white, upright, his empty unblinking stare distinctly wolflike. But really, his head was empty: he was shocked, now that he'd drawn closer, at the sheer size of this thing. He could see, now, the blue fur and the patterned skin, the strange and almost unsettled hunch to its shoulders.

"Are you... kind?" he called out, at last, himself unsure. Was it a hostile being, or a friendly one-? And, perhaps just as important: "Are you okay?"

His voice carried soft, gentle and perhaps too unafraid, as he took a few steps toward Equinox.

@Equinox

the creatures head moved to watch the wolf-dragon fly, and then land. it tilted its head. was this one... food..? no, no, no, it couldn't be. too big. food was small. small and afraid, it liked to run. food would not foolishly approach it. food does not speak.

Ember's approach would not be met with much movement, save for its head turning to stare at ember dead-on. its tail shifted to curl around in legs, the beast trying to think of an answer to the wolf-dragon's questions. could it speak aswell??

another low growl, but it ended with an attempt at speech rather than a sign of actual aggression.

"Do not know... if one is kind.." it answered simply. it didn't know the meaning of that word, but it seemed important to the creature. Am i..... okay." it repeated, almost as if asking itself. was it? it wasn't harmed, but it was confused. did that count as not being okay? was okay related to kind? "i am... confused. but okay." it said with only some hesitance.

it moved, slightly, pushing itself up a bit to get a better view of the wolf-dragon. "who..... are you..? are you... okay? ....kind? it asked, hoping to get atleast some semblance of an answer on what that other word meant.

@Ember

Ember would not be much help on the definitions front, unfortunately; he simply assumed that Equinox knew what his own answers meant. But the questions thrown back did give him pause.

"Me? -Yes, I am okay. I am kind," he answered. It spoke; it seemed... reasonable, and so he drew a little closer, tail flicking up now and then where it was held out behind him. "I am Ember. I think you came from that stone-?" he asked, nodding to the empty chrysalis, even though the answer to that was fairly obvious. "But why are you confused?"

The answer hit him a moment later; because it is a child.

But... that meant that it would grow, no? And if this was a child, how big would it grow?! ...Was it a child? Or was it only someone who had been wounded, and slept the days away in a stone? He eyed the creature uncertainly.

"Is this your first time-... being alive?" It was an awkward question, but it would do the trick. He hoped.

@Equinox

Ember. Ember. were they all supposed to have names?? he supposed he'd need to figure one out for itself then.

tilting its head again, it thought about ember's question.
"why are you confused?"
simple. he didn't know his purpose.
"is this your first time-.. being alive?"
well, who was he to say, but as far as hew knew, yeah.

"...I do not know.... what i am... supposed to do.." he said. "yes. first... first time." he huffed. god words were difficult to get out. but this Ember seemed to have no trouble with them. that was frustrating.

"what is... my purpose..?" he asked. would this Ember know? he seemed to have a good grasp on things, better than he did atleast. "i... think i need one.... to continue.."

thats a start.

@Ember

Ember lowered himself to his haunches, listening and watching with a sort of dutiful attentiveness. It was lucky, perhaps, for later Gembounds that Equinox would meet, that Ember had been raised with a strict set of moral guidelines taught to him.

Assuming Equinox listened, really.

Ember considered the new (giant) creature's words, mulling over offering a useful response as if this were his new duty in life, himself. It was important to him, purely because he'd happened to be present; he tasked himself with buckling down and explaining as best he could. "I don't think there is anything you're... supposed to do. Whatever you decide to do, that is what makes you who you are, and you won't be judged for it," he said, and it was a faithful, almost word-for-word repeat of what Pride had told him so carefully, long ago. It was a mistaken context--said from parent to child; surely strangers might judge, but Ember didn't think of that.

"We find our purpose ourselves. I... make things," he said, after a moment's hesitation. It was almost more a decision than an explanation. He'd never really sat down, before, and asked himself 'what is my purpose?' But he most enjoyed creating, repairing; he gathered things up and either fixed them, or made something new from their remains.

But maybe creating didn't suit this one-?

"Some choose to... protect others," and again he was drawing from experience--Pride, and now Mercy: "Others... grow plants, and gardens, and... tend them. Keep them alive," he explained, each word carefully considered.

"Maybe you can... explore."

Ember hesitated, then; he'd been about to address the stranger, but realized that Equinox had not given him a name. But it had said it was new (and again, he marvelled, almost in horror, at how big such a child must certainly grow!), so maybe it didn't have one?

"Do you know if you have--a name?" he asked, and then--in gentle suggestion--"Maybe you can start with that."

@Equinox