An unassuming chrysalis sat nestled within one of Orion's alleys. There it had sat for a scant cycle, before it's growth had stopped. The chrysalis cracked. The sound echoed. It crumbled. Beneath it lay a lamb even darker than the stone itself. Her eyes blinked open, brown and plain. The lamb mewled gently. She was fresh in the world. But she was wet. Cold. Alone.

Her black wool shone with amniotic fluid, almost purple in the light of Orion. The lamb shivered, and the mewl sounded again. A desperate plea for companionship. Unable to even talk yet, she reached for something different, for something that could surround her. That could protect her.

The lamb pushed. The world replied. Fungus bloomed in a ring around her, pale white and ghostly. Young and unused to this magic, the fungi went through their life cycles in a matter of seconds, already decomposing and wilting. The lamb relaxed slightly. Somehow, it had made her feel less exposed. But still, she was alone. The lamb cried out one last time. Then the drain of Magicka on her new body took it's effect, weighing her head down. Her eyes remained open, some ingrained instinct to stay alert keeping her awake.

Edeltraud laid there, still save the occasional blink of dark eyes. It was quiet. Painfully so. Naught but the sounds of her own breathing, and the soft whistle of the wind above Orion. Minutes passed. She was still cold. Still exposed. She wanted safety. Edeltraud rose on shaky limbs. She shook herself out, stumbling to her knees once or twice. But she'd freed her coat from the rapidly drying fluid.

Edeltraud inspected her chrysalis with soft breaths, then raised her head. Her ears flicked to and fro. Still silent. And then, a rock tumbled somewhere in the distance. A shot of fear embedded itself into the lamb's. It spurred her legs into action. Warily, she trotted out of the alley into what may have once been a street. Her ears pinned. Everything was so open. After a second of indecision, she darted for the closest enclosed space she noticed-- a mostly intact building.

Edeltraud tucked herself into a corner of the stone building, underneath a collapsed, strangely shaped rock. Feeling the cold of the stone against her back, she finally felt a degree of comfort. Edeltraud relaxed, folding her legs beneath herself. She was dark, nearly unnoticeable within the shadows. From her point of safety, the lamb's eyes roamed the structure, searching for anything dangerous. Or noteworthy.

There wasn't much inside: crumbled rock and ancient dust, half the building charred by now-old flame.

Yet there was something: the faint glint of dull metal in one corner, beneath a fallen support.

Should Edeltraud investigate this gleam, she would find half of a broken medallion: what had once been a grayish metal disc, ever-so-slightly domed, with a strange sigil carved across its front. The old leather loop that held it--likely as a pendant--was still attached to the top, but the disc was shattered down the front, half of it missing. It left a distinctive, jagged edge.

One might wonder where the other half had gotten to... though there was no sign of it in this place.

@Edeltraud

Edeltraud's wide brown eyes, almost onyx in the shadow, roamed over. Until her vision snagged on something. It reflected the light, as her chrysalis had. It was duller than her stone had been, but that only heightened her curiosity. What was it? Her ears perked in interest. Curiosity eventually outweighed her anxiety, and after a few minutes of staring, wondering what was it, the lamb crawled from her crevice.

She shook herself out, tail wagging a few seconds longer for good measure. Edeltraud tottered over to the fallen support, eyes bright. She leaned down, trying to grab at it with her snout. Her reward was a bump on the head. Edeltraud snorted, a single hoof stamp against the ground. Then, she reached out with her foot. Much easier. She dragged it out, brown eyes wide. What was this? No matter how she sniffed at it, batted at it, or hopped around it, it did not do anything.

She'd taken notice of the missing section, too. It itched at her brain, seeing something incomplete. After investigating her small sooty space, Edeltraud came to a conclusion. She'd have to leave. Anxiety welled in the lamb. Reluctantly, she grasped the leather strap with her teeth, and stared at the doorway.

Like a child preparing to sprint up the stairs away from the dark, Edeltraud shot out of the building. She whirled around, trying to find another place to hide. In her blind rush for shelter, the sheep nearly ran into the same building. On a whim, she ran for the cover of a crumbled structure, crawling beneath the fallen support beams. There she lay, tiny sides heaving, as her eyes adjusted to the dark.

The medallion would be nowhere to be found--here or elsewhere in this cave. Perhaps it was a grand mystery, with a storied past and a tragedy to uncover--one which might, in the future, bring Edeltraud on a journey across the caves.

Perhaps it was merely a broken shard of metal.

@Edeltraud