Kira

You Broke Me First

Could you tell me, where'd you get the nerve?

One second Kira's body was firmly pressed against the confines of her chrysalis and then the next thing she knew cold air was hitting her slick fur. She took a shaking first breath and stretched out her tight muscles. Then ever so slowly she started to crack open her eyes. At first she shut them right away, it was so bright! Little by little she opened her eyes to a great cavern filled with glittering light. Beautiful. That was her first thought. She had never seen anything like this, and at the moment doubted she would ever see anything as beautiful every again. After her eyes were used to the shimmering light, she slowly came to her feet. Her front legs buckled a couple of times, but she was finally able to stand up straight after a few moments, albeit on shaky legs. Once stable she put her front right paw forward and took her first real step. She huffed her excitement and moved her back left leg forward, then front left, then back right, and then repeated until she was slowly moving forward. As she got used to the rhythm she glanced around and opened her mouth. "H-H-Hello?" she crocked in a shaky voice. She wondered if anyone else was around, or if she was alone in this place.

For a long time, the white stag-lion had wandered the cave without much aim. He lived a pleasant but aimless life, enjoying the forests of Eridanus and the mock-starlight of Orion with contentment. But that had represented a terminus: the end of his journey, in a sense. Without trying anything new, he'd come to rather a halt in his life.

This realization--and a little wanderlust--had sent his cloven hooves toward Polaris today. He had expected to take in the sights: the Spire, the river, perhaps the generator whirring away in the water. He hadn't expected the quiet cry of a child so close by.

Ears cupped forward and he hastened towards the voice--a shaky one, unsure. The scent of chrysalis struck his nostrils a moment later. A new hatch, he realized, and slowed himself a little, steps more careful now. He didn't want to frighten whoever it was, after all.

He came in sight of her after cresting a little ridge of stone. She was small--black, fuzzy; a predator, by looks, and one that reminded him of a friend of his father's that he'd seen only once or twice, in passing. He lowered his head a little, gentle-mannered, his pale eyes trained on the young one's face as he came closer. "Hello," he called to her, tufted tail flicking at his hocks. "My name is Arsu. Do you need help?"

It was a kindly question, and a soft-spoken one; it was a check of her ability to speak--the level of the language she might hold (for children varied widely, he knew)--as much as a genuine query.

Arsu came to a stop a few feet away, so as not to frighten the cub. He tried to bring forth a little light, something to make him perhaps less intimidating (if even he was) and provide some illumination, but nothing came; he pushed that thought aside for later, and set his focus back on the little leopard.

@Kira

Kira

You Broke Me First

Could you tell me, where'd you get the nerve?

Kira craned her neck to look up at the beast that had just arrived. She was taken aback at how large this creature was and it took her a moment to process that he had spoken to her."I'm Kira" she squeaked. Even to her own ears her voice was pitched a little too high so she cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm Kira, where are we?" That was a bit a better. At least this beast, Arsu, that is what he called himself, seemed to be friendly.

She continued to glance around her surroundings then back up at Arsu. Instinct told her to be on alert at all times and be aware of what was going on around her, which at the moment was not much. Her stomach gave a loud rumble just then letting her know that she wanted to eat something. "Where can I find something to eat?" She asked, her voice coming in a little stronger as she got used to speaking.

Kira got up and moved closer to Arsu, she was getting no sense of danger from him and she wanted to get a better look. She was cautious with her steps and she kept a close eye on him, watching for any sign of change in his demeanor.

@Arsu

She could speak, then; and her pitiful question, the string of her name and 'where am I,' tugged at his heart. He felt deep sympathy at once, and tried not to grimace in sympathy. "Hello, Kira. We are in a cave called Polaris." He said this slowly, gently; her next question also stung. For when she said "something to eat," he at once thought of plants; he had even half-turned toward the tunnels of Eridanus with the thought of showing her where to graze when he remembered she looked rather like a cat.

A carnivore..?

Ahh, he wasn't--the best one to teach her such things, how to hunt and so forth, but he buckled down to it as best he could. Head tipped down, and magicka coalesced; from it, a small (and magical) fruit formed beneath his snout. Long and yellow, but not as big as it could have been, it split neatly--peel from fruit--when he picked at it with cloven hooves. "Do you know what you want to eat? Different creatures eat different foods. I eat plants, but you might eat meat," he explained, slowly, gently. "But you can eat this, for now. It is a snack, and it's magical, so anyone can eat it. You'll glow a little, but it won't last long."

He nudged the inner fruit of the banana toward the child. Being magical, it offered nutrition to carnivores as well, but he knew it wouldn't keep her sated for very long. "After that, you may need to hunt--if you eat meat. You will have to find the little things--the mice and birds--to kill them, and eat them," and this flickered sadness through his heart. Why did so many of them need to kill, to survive-? "But never kill anything that can speak. You can find the mice and birds and things almost anywhere," he added, and decided against overwhelming her for now with lists of the things that might be too dangerous to hunt.

@Kira

Kira

You Broke Me First

Could you tell me, where'd you get the nerve?

Hmmmm, Polaris. A beautiful name for a beautiful place she thought and glanced around again. Her stomach growling brought her thoughts back to her hunger and Arsu’s question caught her attention. Did she know what her food of choice was? She wasn’t sure until he mentioned meat, at that instinct took over and told her that that was what she wanted. She craned her neck to look at him and gave him a grin. Meat, I definitely want meat she said the lowered her head to sniff at the food that appeared in front of her. Is this meat? I don’t know what I was expecting, but i guess i thought it would be different. She took a little nibble of the banana and made an appreciative growl before she greedily ate it.

Her stomach ceased it’s growling and she licked the last of the banana off her lips. She looked up at Arsu as he told her about needing to hunt for her food and not to eat anything that could talk. That was yummy, what is it called? And if they can talk like you and me i should not eat them? What if i don’t know if they talk or not? Would you be able to show me how to hunt? Eating seemed to have given Kira some energy and spunk. The questions just poured from her mouth without thought or giving Arsu time to answer one before continuing on to the next. All the while she looked up at him with large child like eyes filled with innocence and curiosity.

@Arsu

He watched her, his faint uneasiness growing--she definitely was a carnivore, then. "Meat," she'd latched onto, onto the word and it seemed the idea, a grin across her feline face. But he was relieved, too, that she was eating, and he hastened to correct his accidental misinformation. "Ahh--no, that isn't meat. It's a fruit, but it's magical. Most creatures who eat meat wouldn't want to eat fruit, too."

He hoped he was making sense.

"Right, yes; if it speaks, you shouldn't eat it," he confirmed, gently. "If you aren't certain, you could try and ask. But you will find, I think, that most of the creatures that cannot speak have similar looks to them. The rats and the mice will become recognizable to you, and later, perhaps-" (and here, Arsu swallowed down his discomfort) "the deer." Granted, he was himself half large predator, but hunting and consuming meat had never really come to him.

Ahh, this--this was awkward. Her request left him fidgeting from one hoof to the next. He could hardly tell her no, but-...

"Oh, I could--ahh--teach you the basics-? But I do not eat meat. It might be best to find a mentor--a teacher, that is--who does. I could... show you how to find what you need to catch, I suppose?" he suggested, and lifted his gaze to glance around Polaris.

He was looking for any likely-looking nooks or crannies; his nostrils flared, too, for any odor of rodent, of mice or rat. Eventually he set off, angling toward a gap between two boulders. It looked like the right sort of place to find small prey, but would it house any at all--or would it be empty? He glanced back to ensure the cub was following him, and then he stepped over to the crack. Neck was lowered, nostrils worked, but he smelled nothing, here: it was stale, likely empty. "I don't smell them, here," he told her, and turned away again. Ears flicked this way and that as he looked around.

"Let's try and find some, first. I'd describe the smell but-... I'm not sure you'd be able to understand," he added, hoping it didn't sound too condescending. It was just that Kira likely had no frame of reference, really. "Just--because you've never smelled much before, I mean. You check that way, and I'll check over here, all right, Kira? If you smell something strange, let me know, and I'll show you what to do next." A nod of pale nose in one direction, then the other, and he set off: a slow, hoof-clicking pace carrying him to another gap in the rock.

@Kira

Kira

You Broke Me First

Could you tell me, where'd you get the nerve?

Kira watched him and absorbed everything he was saying as best she could. She needed to learn these things, but she felt bad that he didn't seem to want to tell her the answers or know how to answer. He seemed to be nervous and uncomfortable. But at least he had agreed to help show her the basics of hunting. That was at least a start and would help her until she needed to know more. She got up and followed him when he turned to go search a small hole in a the cave wall. She was hopeful that there would be something there. If hunting was as easy as just walking over to a place and there being food there she would be fine, but unfortunately he voiced that there was nothing there. Then he told her they would split up and to let him know if she caught any strange smells. She turned in the direction he pointed his muzzle in and started scenting the ground and air. "Any unusual smells, unusual smells" she whispered under her breath as she slowly walked next to the wall, searching in areas similar to the one Arsu had searched. She searched for what seemed like forever and with every passing moment she became more and more disheartened. She finally sat down and called over to Arsu with a little pouting tone. Arsu, I haven't found any strange scents. Have you found anything? She hated to be a bother to this nice creature and hoped that he wasn't neglecting something else to take time to assist her. Hopefully he finds something then she can let him go on his way if he so choses.

@Arsu

He hadn't expected it to be that easy, of course; and now he paced along more like lion than stag, head lowered toward the ground and steps carefully silent. One ear flicked back at the child's call--she hadn't found anything, either--but he stayed quiet, at first, so as not to scare any mice he might be drawing near to.

It only took a moment, though. His body lit again in his light glow, soft white and shining; and as he stepped near another set of boulders, he caught the flash of eye-shine within.

"Here," he called, relieved. "There's mice, I think, under these ledges. It's too small for me to get into, but you might fit," he added, studying the space with a critical eye. He tried not to think about the actual mice, to feel bad for them, but that was hard.

"To eat one, you have to catch it, first, and kill it... It's a little sad, but that's how it is. You can grab it and shake it, or bite it hard on the head or neck, and that should do it. Just-... Don't eat it until it's dead. Until it's stopped moving," he clarified. Not only for mercy's sake, but because trying to eat something that could still bite your throat on the way down seemed like a bad idea.

Arsu stepped aside, using his light to dimly illuminate the space for Kira: from here on out, this was her show.

@Kira

Kira

You Broke Me First

Could you tell me, where'd you get the nerve?

Kira's ears pricked up as Arsu called over to her letting her know he had found something. She quietly padded her way over to the ledges where he was standing and peered inside to find little glowing eyes looking at her. She was about to look up at Arsu and ask him what to do next, but all of a sudden something told her to crouch down and slowly approach the ledge. So she slowly lowered her small body to the ground and crept forward, careful not to move too quickly or make too much noise. She pricked her ears forward and concentrated on the sounds the mice were making and how they started to squeak at her approach. Once she was close enough to the entrance of the ledge she stopped and gauged the size of the opening. Once she was sure she would fit and the mice had calmed down, they were still there, she could hear them moving and smell them, she tensed her muscles and sprung into the opening.

There was a mouse close to the entrance that she latched onto and gave a quick hard bite to the neck, then the creature went limp in her mouth. Kira moved backwards until she was out and at Arsu's feet again. Looking up she smiled at him as best she could with a mouse in her mouth and tried to thank him, but it all came out in a mumble. She contemplated eating the mouse right there, but she remembered how uncomfortable Arsu was just explaining to her what she had to do and the fact that he he didn't eat meat, so she figured watching her eat would make him just as uncomfortable. A rock was near by that she could go behind so she took her kill and quickly ate it. "So this is what meat tastes like" she said to herself as she licked the last bit of blood off her lips. Coming out from behind the rock she found Arsu and smiled again and excitedly ran back to him. "Arsu! I did it! Did you see?! Thank you for helping me, Arsu. I really appreciate it. Is there anything else I need to know?" She ran around Arsu's feet in excitement and rubbed up against his legs.

@Arsu

He was relieved (and a little saddened) to hear the crunch of teeth on bone. It meant that the cub would eat; it meant that a smaller creature had died.

But her slipping behind a rock--he wondered if that were some predator's instinct to hide its food, or consideration for his feelings. If the latter, he noted, it was a very good sign of the cub's sense of empathy; he'd known many (and most children, he thought) who wouldn't have thought twice.

"You did do it," he praised, quietly, warmly. He wasn't used to raising or teaching children, exactly, but he found himself pleased by her enthusiasm, and the rest came easily enough. "I saw. You did well." He glanced down in amusement--picking up one hoof, then the other, then setting them both back down--as Kira raced around and then rubbed against them.

Arsu's laugh at this was quiet, but warm--but her question had him wondering. What else would she need to learn-? "Well," he began, carefully--thoughtfully--"There's a few things, if you don't mind listening to me ramble, for a moment?"

He gave her a friendly glance, then took a few steps away, looking around. His head dipped down to a small patch of actual earth (most of Polaris was rock; but that was so terrible for lying on) and he used his teeth to pull out a few of the grass seeds he'd deliberately had embedded in the fur of one shoulder. These he scattered, and after a brief flourish of magic, they had a small patch of sprouting grass to lie on.

"There--that's better than rock," he said, glancing back to Kira. He curled up at one end, lowering knees and hocks to lie in the sprouts. "First, I'd say... be careful what you hunt. Never," he repeated carefully, "things that can speak--those are like you and I, even if they're small and look like food." Eating sentient things was generally frowned upon. "But there's also the cave rats--they're big, almost as big as you are, but they might smell or sound like those mice, at first. You've got to be careful, because they could hurt you," he explained. A group of Pitch Rats, he knew, wouldn't think twice about stripping a leopard cub to the bone--they were happy to eat the meat of hapless would-be predators, themselves.

"Then there's magic. Most of us have magic--but it comes in different forms. We can maybe make light, or water, or fire. Or grow plants, or move things with our minds," he added, thinking of both his parents as he spoke. "You should know that not everyone in the caves are friendly. Some are out for themselves, and they'll cheat or hurt other Gembounds--that's us--to get there. And last..."

Arsu considered. This was a heck of a long crash-course, and he didn't want to overwhelm the cub but nor did he want to leave her unprepared. "Each cave is different. You'll find it fun to explore, but it can take hours or days to get between them and you never know what you'll find, so make sure you're fed, watered and well-rested before you travel. Some caves are full of snow, others fields and meadows and flowers and trees... Others are all rock, like this place. Some are full of water. And of all those, some are more dangerous than others. The snowy one it's easy to get lost in. The sandy one--the really hot desert? Don't go there--it's called Hydra and it's very dangerous."

Gembounds die there, he thought, but didn't say--the concept of "death" was maybe a little heavy to be teaching an hour-old cub.

"So-... careful what you hunt. Careful about strangers, and careful where you travel, I guess." Arsu paused, pensive--was he being too negative? Was this enough? "Um--do you have any questions? Anything you'd like to know?"

Pale eyes shifted, regarding Kira with faint concern. He hoped he was doing right by her--even if they'd only just met. Even--no, especially--if they ever met again. Arsu'd never been responsible for setting someone up with a good start in life, but-... Kira seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders, at least.

He hoped that she'd do well.

@Kira