Amidst rock and old bones, the smell of old death and humidity, something stirred.

The creature rested within its gemstone womb, kicking gently at the exterior in its sleep. In this state of half existence, did it dream? In the absence of outside input, what would there be to dream of? Had it ever known anything outside this sacred rest as it built itself out of almost nothing? Whatever it thought, whether it thought at all, was irrelevant now. These moments would be lost to the fog of memory and she'd never know them for a long, long time.

Alone they rested, kicking kicking kicking, mindlessly shifting as the chrysalis became increasingly unstable, until it simply couldn't hold their form. With a CRACK that echoed through the chamber, the speckled stone was cleaved in half. For the gembound inside it, who'd been existing quietly for a while now, this noise was quite distressing. They snapped awake, wrenched into awareness by the sound. They didn't dare move.

A couple of minutes passed of still silence. For the child however, the ambience around them was louder than they'd ever heard. Part of them wished to return to their sleep, but however much they willed it with eyes scrunched shut, the warmth and quiet never returned. Tentatively, the creature opened their eyes again, shifting slowly to stand on their feet. They'd do nothing else though, little mind filled to the brim already. Living was something the pup needed some getting used to.

Canis was Bayo's home no matter where he traveled. It made sense, it was the place he was born and was where he'd grown up. His mama still lived here as far as he knew.

He trotted across the reddish-brown landscape of Canis with his red shawl streaming behind him, his hat set low on his head and his nose nearly to the ground. He'd heard a strange noise a while ago and decided to investigate, ignoring the fact that sticking his nose into random situations was exactly the reason he got into trouble so often.

'But then again,' spoke his voice of reason (coincidentally in his mama's voice). 'That's also how you made friends.'

"Hope fer th' best, prepare fer th' worst!" he said aloud, taking off into a lope, successfully silencing those pesky doubts of his.

The coyena arrived to the scene with wide eyes and a wagging tail, his entire demeanor brightening. A hyena! Like him, like his mama, like his siblings! Well, sorta. He and his siblings were half-yenas, but that didn't matter in this here situation. What did matter is that there was a new little sibling so be had! If this new gembound wanted, that was.

"Helloooo!" he crowed, bounding over to the shattered chrysalis with not a care in the world, even when he pricked himself on a stray shard with a quiet 'ouch!' He ignored that and peered at this new pup with curiosity and excitement, his tail still wagging a mile a minute.

"Howdy there! Th' name's Bayo! S'nice to meet'cha! I dunno if you can even talk yet, but 's'alright if y'can't!" he babbled, completely oblivious to the pup's discomfort.

@Relic

If the child thought the cave was loud before, by god had that assumption been shattered when the coyena walked in. At least the newborn would learn to appreciate the lack of noise beforehand, it may have not been the chrysalis but it was certainly more easier to deal with.
[In all fairness, Bayo wasn't being outrageously loud, but he overwhelmed the pup all the same.]

She froze once more, with real fear this time, as his voice echoed in the chamber even before they could see him. And when she did see him, he saw them too. His demeanour shifted almost immediately after, and the pup grew more confused. Why he was so excited seeing them, the newborn had not the context nor knowledge to understand.

He bounded towards them and a fresh shot of fear ripped through their little body, freeze response very much in action. There was little to keep the child from toppling over like a startled goat. Addressing them directly this time, they barely comprehended the words that left the other hyena's mouth. Through their social ineptitude though, emerged a suggestion.

I should introduce myself.

"Hi..." Barely a whisper, voice husky with lack of use and words slow. They drew out the noise longer than it need to be. Even in their agoraphobia they could recognise that Bayo didn't present himself as a threat, and in naivety the girl assumed that to be the whole truth. While they weren't pleased with the new company they wouldn't run away screaming. Not yet, at least.

@Bayo

Oh Bayo. So horribly, horribly oblivious. Only now did he realize something was amiss when he realized the hyena wasn't reacting to his joyful greetings like he'd hoped. His tail slowed and he blinked, staring at the pup for a moment.

"... Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, lowering his head to sniff at her gently. "I'm uh... I'm sorry if I came on a lil' too strong. Er... do ya have a name?"

He knocked his hat off with a paw and shimmied out of his shawl, revealing a spotted pelt and a body shape not too far from the pup's own. Stocky hind legs, larger forelegs, and dish-like ears. Even his tail was short and his markings dark. He looked like a cartoon explosion had gone off in his face.

"We're alike, y'see. An' I thought, 'Well wouldn' it be nice t' greet this new pup with a friendly, familiar face!'" he said, his tail lifting and starting to wag again. "Do y'have a name? S'okay if y'don't, I didn' have one for a loooong while."

@Relic

With the stranger addressing her in a quieter tone now, the infant seemed to settle a little. It would be a hard time living if they stood frozen forever after all. Dark eyes blinked once, twice, as the other beast went on talking, now finding it a bit easier to absorb information as they calmed. They weren’t quite comfortable yet, that’d take a couple more minutes, but they were easing slowly.

The other lowered his head to her level, and the pup shrunk back reflexively. He asked for a name, and the cogs in her little head started turning again. She was familiar with the concept, less so the word. This one was called Bayo, that they knew. But what was their name?

Bayo knocked off the… thing he had been wearing on his head so the pup could see his features easier. They were alike? Something in their gut agreed as they observed his lopsided proportions and dark mask. But the child had doubts, the only thing they’d seen of themselves was their paws, and they were stripey. Still, there was a kind of familiarity in his appearance and mannerisms. Maybe the child needed to see how diverse the crowd got to really feel at home.

“Dunno.” They settled on their answer. They got the feeling they’d find it eventually, as inevitable as their birth. “A-like?” She repeated, both question and doubt in her tone.

@Bayo

"Well, I think findin' yer name is the most fun part of the first bit o' yer life," Bayo said thoughtfully. "So try not t' worry 'bout it. But I think I'm gonna call you pup fer now."

He sat down, his legs sprawled haphazardly, like he didn't know where to put his feet. He cocked his head at her question, blinking a few times before it clicked.

"Oh! Alike is when somethin's like somethin' else! Like us. We both 'ave four legs, a tail, ears, an' fur. That's what makes us alike, but I think you're also like my mama, who's a creature like you. I dunno what she's called, though, but her name is Giggle." Bayo's tail flopped even faster when he mentioned his mama, clearly fond of whoever he was talking about.

"But anyway, wanna get some food? I betcha hungry!" he said with a doggy grin.

@Relic

And thus the creature was christened “Pup.” Temporarily of course, it was a name they didn’t quite feel like was theirs, not truly. For the time being though, it’d do.

Bayo sat down and elaborated on his words. He was right about their similarities. Though the girl couldn’t see their limbs they felt them, a subtle but undeniable presence even as they stood still. Four limbs, a tail and ears. The pup flicked one of their own ears at the last one in the list.

The coyena compared them to something, someone, and he spoke with fondness that made the child… curious? Happy? Affectionate towards this idea of the person as well? We’ll settle on generally positive. They would like to meet this Giggle.

That would wait of course, because food sounded great. They finally noticed the gnawing at their stomach at the suggestion. Invigorated with the idea of sating their new hunger, they began to look more like a hyena pup and less like a frightened lamb, standing eagerly on all four limbs. “Yah.” They responded, ready to follow.

"Heck yeah!" Bayo said excitedly, wiggling back into his shawl and tipping his hat back onto his head. "C'mon, I betcha there's lotsa rabbits 'n' stuff 'round here."

He trotted off merrily, tail wagging and head held high, nose twitching as he searched for the scent of rabbit. He already had some food buried a little ways from here, but he didn't want to feed the new pup half-day-old food, so catching something new it was.

"There oughta be a den somewhere 'round these parts," he mumbled, turning his nose to the dirt.

He poked his head in holes and under bone piles, but found not even a hint of a rabbit. But that was alright, sometimes food made itself a challenge so one didn't get too spoiled or lazy. In fact, Bayo liked a challenge! T'was fun in his opinion.

"Keep yer eyes peeled!" he said. "Rabbits are quick lil' things, so lemme know if you see one. They're small critters with reeeal big ears and fluffy tails. They're hard to miss!"

@Relic

Bayo popped his hat and shawl back on, and began to set off in search of some grub. It seemed rabbits were on the menu today, not that the pup really understood what that meant. They sounded tasty. Could a name sound tasty? They hoped theirs wouldn’t.

They trotted after him, teetering here and there but otherwise stable, tail moving in a slow wag. They’d spent a bit more time to cook in their little gemstone hideaway, and new concepts came easier to them than others born earlier. The drawback of this was a stressful introduction to the world, but the gembound seemed to be coping just fine now.

They walked around on the prowl, but alas, no success. Bayo described their quarry, and the pup focused. If they were quick, she needed to be quicker. As she examined the bones around her, her magic began to creep outwards, attempting to aid the pup in her quest.

They heard sounds echo in their ears, a rhythmic beating of an organ deep within flesh. It was faint at first, but they stopped and closed their eyes in focus, letting the strange music guide them. They could hear their companion’s heart easy, steady and healthy, but a cluster of faint, faster ones drew their attention. “There.” They said with certainty, turning to an inconspicuous bone pile to their right.

@Bayo

"Good catch," Bayo said, his voice significantly quieter than before. "You circle 'round t' th' other side, if I don' catch one, I'll scare it t'you instead and you can try."

He lowered his head and stalked towards the pile, ears pricked forward and golden eyes focused intently on the bones, on the faint scent of rabbit. He paused, his hind legs bunching up, ready to pounce. He jumped and crashed through the bones, scattering the rabbits in every direction. He caught one by the leg, snapping the limb clean in half, before throwing up and catching it properly.

With a few good shakes he snapped its spine, killing it instantly, his tail wagging.

"Ay goh eh!" he said, voice muffled from behind the critter before he spat it out and repeated himself. "I got it!"

@Relic