Hael We're not just skin and bones.

A tiny bundle of mismatched fur twitched beneath the soft sheen of Moonstone. Amber eyes yearned to open, claws pressed agains the cold stone, Moonstone pressing against Moonstone when the kitten's front right paw slid against the inside of the chrysalis.

Hael.

The kitten mewled and stretched, using its weak muscles to press against the Moonstone. Hael didn't know why she felt like she needed to escape her warm prison in that moment, but it was like someone had called out her name and was urging her to come forward.
Now is my time.

The Gemstone encasing her cracked under the pressure of Hael's legs and a shard broke away, the kitten tumbling out. She was quick to try and stand up, but tripped because she'd miscalculated the speed with which she tried to stand up.
The next attempt was more successful and Hael managed to stand on her wobbly legs. Blinking to adjust to the brightness, Hael looked at the structure she'd just broken out of. Something in the back of her mind made Hael raise her right frontpaw. Unlike her other pawpad (she sat down and compared them), it was made of the same material as the chrysalis. It was a pretty stone, cold to the touch but translucent and shimmering.
Hm. Strange.
Not that Hael minded it much. Standing on the hard pawpad was a bit awkward, but she liked how pretty it was, so she'd take the discomfort of it with a bright smile.

Hael stood up again and turned around herself, looking at her surroundings. Was she the only one there?

"Listen to me."

She wandered through Polaris, leaving a trail of pitch-black slime in her wake to directly contrast against the bright lights ever-present in the heart. She didn't mean to taint such beauty, and didn't see it as such, but... it was just what happened whenever she was around. Unbeknownst to her, Equinox was nearing her final form... One could see at a glance that her forelegs were underdeveloped wings, and still growing. She was 14 feet long now, and she was finally beginning to notice the world stop shrinking.

Equinox had never been to Polaris before, and at a mere glance she knew that she liked it here. although the lights shone through red-tinted vision, she could tell that it was bright and colourful and the lights glistened on just about everything. Even her slimy, sluglike hide reflected a myraid of colours. But Equinox wasn't one to perform an autopsy on every situation; she came, she saw, she liked. As grotesque as she looked, Equinox wasn't a complex being to understand. Almost primitive in nature, in fact.

Eventually, Equinox heard a tiny creak coming from nearby. She didn't know quite what it was, having emerged from her own chrysalis in the depths of the swamp in cetus and as a result, her first instinct was to follow the sound; it couldn't be far, anyway. By the time the slime-covered being got there, the sound had stopped. Equinox looked around for the source, opening her mouth wider so that she could see. Her neck stretched towards the ground, and she examined closely an odd casing which was- unbeknownst to her- a shattered moonstone Chrysalis. But there was something next to it. Something tiny, and furry... and moving? Equinox's head snapped back up towards her shoulders with the kind of motion one would expect from a taut rubber band.

She stared with her maw wide open, stunned and unsure of what to do. She didn't want to scare this tiny creature, it was just a tiny gemling! But she couldn't let it touch her slime!


"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @hael
notes: here

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Hael had only noticed that her autopsy of her surroundings was being watched when a shadow loomed over her. The kitten turned and her mouth fell open. The creature watching her was so huge! They were black all over, save for the red orb peering out of its maw.
The cat, without any idea of what was supposed to be frightening and what inviting, stepped closer, amber eyes gleaming in utter fascination.

"H-Hallo?" Hael had to clear her throat and try talking again, her pip-squeak voice high and clear. She titled her head and peered at the other in front of her. Then she glanced down, at her own body. Perhaps she looked the same but had missed it somehow?

No. A glance down revealed long tufts of white fur on Hael's chest and front legs and splotches of light and dark brown over her side and her tail, as far as she could see.
And she was nowhere as big either. Hm, how odd. She knew she herself was a cat, so if they didn't look alike at all, the other couldn't be a cat too. So what where they?

Hael sat down again and leaned her weight on her hindlegs so she could lift a front paw and point it at herself without toppling over (she wavered anyway). "Hael." She said and smiled, flashing the creature her tiny, sharp teeth.

"Listen to me."

@Equinox

Equinox's maw opened wide as she stared at the little creature, her sides rippling with a spiky-looking texture similar to goosebumps on any other creature. The creature heard a tiny voice calling out... presumably to her. She couldn't help but feel like the tiny creature couldn't see properly yet... if they could, why would they be calling out to her? Equinox had spent long hours staring at her reflection in the water and knew full well that she was strange and different.

Despite their calling, Equinox remained silent as the night, her hide quivering like jelly, with occasional textures breaking out and flashing over its surface. She took a step back with a small squelching sound as her paw sunk into her own pool of slippery slime that had formed beneath her body. The creature kept her gaze fixed on the tiny kitten but they didn't run away. Simply kept their gaze fixed on her.

Nox was taking the opportunity to think and much to her chagrin, she quickly realized that the caves were a dangerous place... she couldn't simply leave them on her own. Maybe she could find Tukluk? she knew he was in Polaris somewhere. He was the reason she'd come here in the first place! He could look after the kitten. The little primate was more her size as well. Her mind flicked over possible options and the slimy creature found herself looking around to see if she could see Tukluk anywhere nearby.

Of course though, he wasn't. Equinox found herself looking back at the kitten though as she heard their teeny tiny voice again. Once more, they had to be speaking to her. Her jaws opened to see them making an odd sort of gesture. Hael? Is that your name? she paused but realized they might run off if she didn't get her act together. She didn't wanna lose a child in this cave network. Worry made her skin prickle and crawl, but after a moment of gathering her courage, Equinox stretched out her neck so that she was only a little bit above them. "I am Equinox," she gurgled quietly, in a voice unmistakibly alien, yet quietly feminine.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Hael
notes: here

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

The fluttering of the creature's sides might have scared others, but Hael was simply fascinated. She watched in awe and tried to mimic what she saw the other do, but all she could do was shake herself a bit weirdly and then pout at the less-then-expeted result.

Hael gave that train of thought up and directed her attention to the creature in front of her again. They leaned down and Hael watched them with wide, amber eyes and waited for what they wanted to do. For a moment, she thought they were going to eat her, but then they just rumbled their name at her.

Equinox.

That made Hael's smile widen. "Friends!" The kitten exclaimed and bounced a bit up and down. Her first friend! How exciting!
Still, she wondered what Equinox was.
Would it be rude to ask?
Well, shed never know if she didn't try!

Hael leaned her weight back again and pointed to herself. "Cat." She said and set her paw down again, brown-splotched tail curling around herself. Hopefully that question wouldn't upset her new friend! That was really the last thing Hael wanted to do. But she was so curious!
"You?" Hael added quietly, smile dimming in uncertainty. She was beginning to doubt herself a bit, but now that she'd gone through with it, she tried brightening her smile up again.

Hael felt the urge to slip forward and smell or touch Equinox. It wasn't really a feeling she could explain, but she wanted to press close to the other. With her question still hanging in the air, though, she decided not to waltz over too many boundaries at once.

"Listen to me."

@Equinox

They squeaked at her again, a familiar yet at the same time unexpected word. Equinox couldn't help but smile at that, her skin texture finally settling into a smooth, only slightly patterned state. She didn't know quite how to respond except by closing her jaws and showing them a reptilian smile, trying to make sure that Hael understood she meant no harm. That didn't last long though as the great being remembered that with her eye closed she couldn't keep an eye on them. So her maw opened up again quickly, to find that luckily, the little one was still there exactly where it had been a moment ago. Equinox tried to make it clear that she was still smiling despite her open maw. They were so small, she realized, that looming over them with open jaws might frighten them.

A texture rippled over her once more out of self-conscious worry.

Cat?

Equinox could see that. she tilted her head at them slightly, raising her head a little bit away. She tried to figure out what they were trying to say. And then their question came, answering what she'd been wanting to know. the smile faded from her face. Equinox had never known what she was or what she'd become. Not even now. Her lower jaw twitched slightly, about to speak, but stopped herself.

"I am... Equinox," she repeated, as though it wasn't obvious already. She didn't know what else to say.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Hael
notes: here

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Hael's own smile brightened when she realized that Equinox was smiling at her. Her first friend! And so early on in her life. Well, that was a good start then.

Equinox the Equinox, well, that was easy enough to remember. The kitten nodded as if she was being explained a concept she had just grasped. That confirmed her suspicion, though. Equinox was not a cat.
"Other Cats?" She asked her new friend, wondering if perhaps they knew other gembounds like her. Hael didn't know where the draw to others of her kind came from, but she was mildly curious to see others like her.

Not that it mattered much right now. Hael stretched her legs and yawned, closing her amber eyes for a moment. The feeling of being freed from her chrysalis..
When she opened her eyes again, her stomach rumbled. Confused, the cat looked down, frowning at her own body. There was a feeling clawing at her insides.
Hunger.
Licking her tiny canines, Hael looked around herself. She didn't consciously know what she was looking for, but followed her instinct. Her gut would tell her what she needed when her eyes landed on it.

"Listen to me."

@Equinox

Equinox watched the little one nod- as though they understood. The being tilted her head slightly, a shiver running down her spine. They questioned whether there were any more cats. Hael was the first kitten that Equinox had ever seen, but she assumed that they were looking for others of their own kind. she hesitated for a long while, unsure of whether to tell them that she didn't know or prepare them for the worst.

Eventually, she gave a tiny shake of her head towards Hael.

"I've never seen another cat," she told them, her voice soft and truthful. "but if you look for them, I'm sure you'll find them eventually." she tried to be encouraging towards the little one she faced. She didn't want them to lose this happiness and acceptance that seemed to be the way thy were right now. Perhaps it was just for selfish reasons, but... Equinox felt like the cave needed more creatures like that.

Equinox's attention turned back to the little one as she heard their stomach growl, and Equinox knew what that meant. She raised her head high, high above herself and looked around. She wasn't entirely sure what cats ate, but she was looking for something that might be classed as food anyway.

Soon, Equinox caught sight of a tiny mouse snuffling amongst the mosses some distance away. She gestured towards it with the tip of her nose, trying to show Hael without alerting the food.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags:
notes: here