Yes. Yes, he could imagine it.

Right here, on the east side of Polaris, with the soft glow of the Spire to his back and the cold stone underneath his paws. He could imagine a zoo fitting here. What's a zoo, you ask? It was a word of Zookeeper's own creation, but one easily defined: a special place where lesser gembound from all over Origin could be displayed and cared for.

Why? Well, why not? The cougar loved animals. He was also under the notion that the various creatures of the caves could easily disappear any day, whether by overhunting or drastic change to the caves, and the only reason it hadn't happened yet was mere luck. Perhaps it has already happened, and those lost species were forgotten in the sands of time. But here, here in his future zoo, they will be happy. They will be safe.

Zookeeper caught himself padding back and forth as he thought about all of this. Shaking his head roughly, he turned his attention towards actually doing something with all the ideas in his head. What do you need to make a successful zoo, anyways? It wasn't like there were any experts on the matter he could consult.

Well, you first need animals, of course.

And where will the animals live? What's preventing them from just walking out? He needed some kind of barrier to keep them in their designated places. A fence around each exhibit, perhaps, with a perimeter wall in case those fail. Oh, and they have to be spacious, too, to give the animals room to move.

What about food? And water? He frowned thoughtfully. Well, he'd need a regular source of both plants and lesser animals for the herbivores and carnivores to eat. Could he grow them here in Polaris, or would they need to be shipped from their native habitats? He'll need connections to get all the food where it needs to be.

Oh! And they'd need enrichment, too! He's observed enough of gembound behavior over his five cycles to know anyone'd grow crazy without something to do.

And on, and on, and on...

As his mind contemplated the numerous logistical difficulties in constructing a mega-habitat, his body was doing something else. Collecting pebbles, that is to say. With only a basic grasp on the written word, his main vessel for communicating and storing his thoughts were pictures. He could chart out his life project using these stones, and potentially show it off to anyone interested.

If only anyone were interested...

This thread is All Welcome! Zookeeper is planning his future zoo, possibly named Cave Pearl International Zoo! Yes, I know there technically aren't any nations in Origin, hush hush. Currently, he is simply pacing back and forth and amassing a sizable pile of small rocks to plan out his ideas in the following rounds. Anyone is free to join in and do whatever they want-- ask him what he's doing, offer advice or support, suggest a lesser, steal a pebble, go crazy. Otherwise, I'll respond with my other character Simon II and wait a while to see if anyone responds.

The sight of a feline collecting stones was not something that would typically interest Simon. He was soaring high up, so high that said feline was a mere ant on the ground below, and his wings practically grazed the ceiling. But as his dreamy cyan eyes focused in on the figure below, something about it interested him. Perhaps it was the fact he hadn't interacted with another living being since that little dog a few cycles back. Perhaps it was something spiritual. Maybe he just wanted a new friend.

His interest now piqued, the angelic serpent did a large circle in the air overhead, drifting closer and closer to the ground with each twitch of his feathers. Soon he crossed the line of sight of the mountain lion, and a moment later he landed on the ground and was now slither-walking towards the zookeeper with a friendly expression.

"Hello there." His voice was like a chorus of angels. "What have you here, with these pebbles and all. Are you making something?"

As a little welcoming gift, he attempted to spawn a small pumpkin with his magic. A sign of friendliness, however unconventional it may be.

He saw something that resembled a bird--well, it was flying, at least; soaring rather high at some distance. Corsair hadn't seen anyone in quite some time (in part because he'd spent half his days finding the most fermented fruits in Eridanus and then sleeping off the nights in the treetops). Anyway, out of sheer curiosity he flapped after Simon (Two), wondering if this might be someone who could speak, or if it was another of the weird birds that just made chirping screeching noises when he tried to talk to them, like the Carollers.

The bird-thing slowed, dipped down, and he followed--and spotted the big tawny cat on the rock below. Curiosity spiked higher, and Corsair banked down, flapping to land near the two. Well--near-ish; he left a little space between himself and them, warily, so he could take flight should they turn out to not be as friendly as he hoped.

"HELLO?" he squawked in greeting--then realized his voice was way too loud. He cleared his throat, bobbing his head up and down, crest flaring and then flattening back in embarrassment. Honestly, it'd been way too long since he'd spoken to anyone without just shouting at other, random birds. "I mean--hello! Hello?" Awkwardness ensued, and he shuffled little talons on the ground, wondering how to segue from yelling 'hello' into actual conversation.

Again he cleared his throat, and tilted his head almost ninety degrees to one side, inspecting the two strangers. Simon wasn't like any bird he'd ever seen, up close, and he scrutinized him with interest.

It was only now that he saw Zookeeper's little pebble collection--the arrangement taking form into some sort of picture. Corsair peered, head coming back upright, and he tilted it the other way to examine it, shuffling a little closer. "Ooooh, shiny. Whatcha doin' with those?" he asked, skipping introductions, his curiosity too strong.

@Zookeeper