It was time, the little life inside the chrysalis of teal tourmaline knew. Yet, what was it time for? There was a new awareness to the little life, and that was enough to begin them knowing and asking questions about said gained knowledge.

They tried to spread their limbs, but they hit the walls of the chrysalis. A curious notion occurred to the unhatched child suddenly, that walls kept one in from the outside. What was the outside? They knew not.

But they wanted to know. There was no opening to the chrysalis, no door as their mind mentally added, yet that did not mean there couldn’t be. Yes, they would make their own entrance into the outside of the chrysalis.

Into the world. An overwhelming word for all it encompassed, yet small if spoken. …What was spoken?

Ah, that could be a question for later, they reasoned. For now, they would break free. After all, it was time.

Time for them.

The child easily broke down the wall, and then tumbled free of the chrysalis, landing as a pile of assorted limbs. Still, it was not long before their head was up and looking around, two pairs of eyes curious and alert.

@Archimedes

Archimedes wasn't too far off. He'd been living in the area, waiting for the stone to hatch.

Sometimes he was not alone; it wasn't at all beyond his recognition that the child might be as empty-hearted as its lifegiver, and given the possibilities of its anatomy, he didn't necessarily trust just his snake against it should it turn on him.

When he heard the stone cracking he was washing up near the river, after a meal of fish shared with the Golden Charger. He turned, whiskers twitching; a second click of stone falling to the ground told him that it was time. He wasn't sure if anyone else of the Organization was near enough to have heard it, but at this point it didn't matter; he clambered aboard the Charger's head, turning it toward the chrysalis.

He arrived to find the child spilling onto the floor, blinking around; the snake slowed, tongue flicking, and Archimedes leapt down. "Welcome to the world," he offered, sitting upright beside the snake. The child clearly had a lot of size yet to grow into--not that that mattered much compared to a rat. But it was ungainly, the eyes and limbs oversized. It will grow much larger, yes, he judged. "I'm Archimedes. Father, if you prefer."

He paused, expecting that this child would barely comprehend language, as yet. A word or two, perhaps, as was normal for a fresh hatchling; but he'd give them time to process what he'd said thus far.

@Rhapsody

One of the Organization wasn't too far away; Archimedes had asked for the Champion to hang around, presumably just in case something went awry.

(Maybe this kid's parent would come back for it, now that it hatched? They didn't know! Parentage was a bit of a strange concept.)

Gatto was strutting around, scavenging for bugs in Polaris with a bored air. There hadn't been much excitement thus far, and they weren't sure that there would be.

(They were hoping something would happen. They were itching for a challenge.)

(Not that they wanted anything to happen to Archie or the hatchling, of course. Not that anything could happen with Gatto around!)

Regardless, at the crystal clear crack of a stone breaking, the bird's head swung around, and they made their meandering way over. While they liked to make big, flourishing reveals and grand entrances, they supposed it would be better to keep a low profile for now. This was all about the Big Cheese and his new Kid, after all. They weren't about to steal the spotlight.

(Frankly, that would be way too easy.)

So, anyway, the towering cockatrice kept a fair distance from the group, several paces back from the charger, his rider, and the hatchling. They cocked their head, watching the way that Archimedes interacted with the new ball of life. Then, they craned their head to sweep the perimeter, half-expectant that a massive eyehook would come diving down out of no where to snatch the babe out from underneath them.

They were not alone for long, this child new to the world. Two beings greeted them, one serpentine, the other a bit more furry with legs. At least, those were the beings the child saw around, and they didn't look much farther than close to them. The one with fur, like theirs but not at all, spoke. And... that answered what 'spoken' was at least.

It felt like there were a million questions they wanted to ask, but they didn't know how. They felt frustrated with their limitations. There was that word again... 'world'. So they had reached it, after all. "Archi- Archi-" they cut off their failed attempts with a huff of air.

"Fath...er," they tried, this word a bit easier, even if they didn't know what it meant yet. They were about to ask, but... Then they felt something new suddenly, and they paused. Their stomach had given a growl of sorts.

Surely, there was a word for this sensation... Ah, yes, there was. Pleading eyes, two pairs of them, regarded Father. "Hungry," they stated, with more certainty to the word.

@Archimedes

Hungry-... Ahh. He should have expected as much. At least Gatto was here; he'd heard the scratch of claws approach, and glanced over his shoulder with a nod. The bird-creature's presence was a reassurance.

Archimedes looked back to the child. His first instinct had been to hunt, or to ask Gatto to do so. But he paused as he realized he didn't know what this one would want to eat.

It has wings, he noted, half-distractedly, then took a moment to wash his whiskers, thinking. "What would you like to eat? -Do you know? Plants? Fish, meat?" He couldn't quite remember what the lifegiver had mentioned about diet. Had it been something odd? "We'll help, of course. I and... Cousin Gatto." He'd get around to asking the kid its name, but in the meantime, a filled belly was safer for all of them.

@Gatto and @Rhapsody

Apparently, food was a multiple choice question. The child had not realized. Their long oversized ears twitched as they thought over their options. "...Not plants," they started, then hesitated. None of those options really sounded right, not completely, though plants was merely the most wrong of the options.

"...Not... fish?" they added to the list of 'not's after a pause, and even that was left questioning.

Meat was the option they considered the longest. ...Not... meat...?" But there was something about meat, that was almost right. The child looked baffled, and an ear gave an unhappy flick. How could they not eat anything if they were hungry?

Perhaps there were more options. Just because none of the suggested choices were right didn't mean a different option could not exist.

They glanced between Father and Cousin Gatto, eyes wide with pleading. It didn't occur to them to seek the answer within, instead seeming to naturally rely on the nearby adults.

"Hungry," they repeated, hopeful that perhaps that was just the first of many options, and that there were more to come.

@Archimedes

Cousin Gatto strode over at their introduction, strutting with a flourish of their tail feathers and a flick of their wings. "Welcome to the world, youngster!" They squawked, spreading their wings as they did a dramatic bow, their beak nearly brushing the stone floor with the deepness of the movement. May as well make the kid feel special.

They glanced up, comb wobbling as they ground their beak in thought. "None of those sound good, huh? What about bugs?" They suggested, squinting. What else did things eat? "Well, water won't kill you. Maybe we start with some water, and that'll get your stomach thinking straight." It was, well, a suggestion. It seemed sensible.

(Besides, water was much more important than food. Just had to make sure the kid didn't fall in.)

Archimedes listened, puzzling over this. When the two had both spoken, he turned to Gatto, thinking. "I remember being told it should have multiple diet options. But--what was it..." He wracked his brain for a moment. The stranger had said a good many things, many of them sounding like brags, and while Archimedes had set most of it aside in the corners of his memory, this one eluded him.

It snapped into place a few moments later, and he looked to the child sharply. "Blood?" he asked, thinking. "Was it blood?"

He then looked to Gatto, again. "I think you have the right idea regardless. Let's see if we can find a safe place to drink. And then we will try to scrounge up some food, one way or another."

He turned, hopping back onto the Charger's thick neck; the serpent flicked its tongue and began to coil into Polaris.

It was to be a brief adventure, or so Archimedes hoped: some fresh water and then a simple, short hunt, to see what they could find the child.

@Rhapsody

At the dramatic greeting bow from Cousin Gatto, the child laughed, a truthfully quite musical noise. In fact, their voice in general had a certain resonance to it that was more like song than anything else. "Like Cousin Gatto!" the child announced happily.

But bugs weren't right either, though water didn't sound bad per say, not like the other options. "Not bugs," the child apologetically told Cousin Gatto.

Their ears flicked with curiosity towards Father as he spoke, even if he didn't seem to be talking to them. Then he looked back at them asking a question, and the child didn't hesitate to beam, because that felt right. "Blood! Hungry, blood!" they agreed with enthusiasm.

Another word caught their attention, though, and they looked around with a sudden wariness. If they needed to find a safe place, did that mean, currently they were not safe?

"Safe...?" the child inquired of Father.

@Agate Two-Three-Six @Archimedes