Emergence.
The word licked and laved across his conscience, awakening his minds eye towards the frailty of all he'd ever known. The subtle shifts in the stone that cradled him no longer felt strong or safe, but rather frail and insubstantial for all he was destined to be. Even as he remained idle in that would-be cocoon, he knew his time had come. It was time for Azaroth to know life outside of his origin, outside of his beautiful blue world that had encompassed him for so long and distantly he wondered just how long he'd spent within the confines of such a reality. Was it truly real?

Golden eyes widened, sending fissures along the chrysalis until an unlawful crack resounded throughout his resting place. Foreign air slid through and taunted his senses and with his first large breath, more cracks thundered across the gemstone that had once been made of absolute perfection. Tiny veins of life being born anew thrust fingers throughout its being with each and every heartbeat that lapsed throughout the whole of Azaroth's blue-kissed frame.

Soon he could move his shoulder and the gem broke all the more, tiny pieces careening to the floor and skittering across the black mass and out of sight as the large figure shifted with the newfound gift of movement. Over and over he would shift and strain, earning more and more freedom with each passing moment until the chrysalis as a whole fell beneath his determination and he was spilled forth upon the chilled flooring of his new sense of home.

Slowly, but surely, Azaroth found his footing, curious as to the sensation of his own weight. Though it was the overload to his senses that proved to be more immediate with drawing his attention. The air... it was different out here and not at all what he'd imagined it to be. There was a musty sense to it that made his taste buds curl in repulse for the moment until used to it. The large tiger stretched his frame and gazed about, ears flickering and searching...

Though, even he begged the question: searching for what?

Not far from where the tiger hatched there was another gembound just starting to break into the world. The crystaline surface of the gem shimmered as the life within began to take its first breaths... or were they breaths? They were more like stilted, wheezing sucks as the creature attempted to take in air but realized that it could get nothing. The outside gem flashed with a green color, pulsing with the life within as it struggled against the confines of the tomb.

A scratching sound could be heard on the inside of the gem with the life within. Followed by the scratching sound there was a "thud" as if something were striking against the side of the chrysalis. A few more successive kicks sounded before everything fell silent within. It was as if the thing inside was trying to break free but could not find the strength to do so no matter how hard it struggled. Was it not time for it to hatch? Or could its feeble efforts not match what was needed to break the container it rested within? Either way, it seemed to momentarily give up while it waited... but on what?

@Azaroth