She had been dreaming, and she was going to dream.

The cervine soul had been drifting on the aetherial currents for what felt like an eternity. She knew nothing, not sound, nor sight, not scent, only the silent songs the chrysalis sung to her. She floated in an amber universe, distant stars winking yellow and white. She saw colors without opening her eyes, enclosed within her mind. The song continued as ceaselessly as it had done for as long as she could remember, but now there was something different about it. No, different about her. It was no longer as melodic to her mind as it had been before. The universe seemed smaller, too small to contain her.

In a cave, in a forest, in a crevice, a bronze-colored cocoon began to crack.

The deer shifted, trying to tuck her legs in in order to be more comfortable. It didn't help. Electricity was running through her veins, bringing with it the desire to move. The songs were fading, and the orange universe no longer enthralled her as it once had. Somehow, she knew there was something beyond, and she wanted to see it.

Her hind legs kicked out, causing cracks to spiderweb across the chrysalis. Her tiny world was too constrictive for her now. She could feel the walls pressing on her, and strained against them. She wanted out! She continued to kick and push, and finally, with the sound of shattering glass, the chrysalis gave way, falling to pieces around her. She, of course, fell with it, landing on her back in a cushion of strange green things. The deer blinked, stunned for a moment by a wave of new experiences. The amber had been replaced by greens and greys, and a rich, loamy smell invaded her nose. It smelled good, but it made her sneeze. The sudden sound echoed around the cavern, causing her to raise her ears in curiosity. Was there someone else here? She wanted to say more things, but she didn't know what.

Like laughter, or a drumbeat, a word came to her. Tamelyn. She liked it. "Tam'in." she said, then snuffled. No, that wasn't right. "Ta-ma-win. Taaahhh..malen!" She kicked out with her hooves again, the word so close she could almost taste it. "Taaaamaalyn!" The echoing voice repeated her, and she giggled, waving her legs in the air. The motion drew her attention to the spindly limbs, and she took a moment to study one. An octagonal bit of orange, just like the shards laying all around her, adorned it near the hoof.

These things had to have some sort of use besides just kicking. She flopped onto her side, then attempted to stand, tangling herself up in the ferns and creepers several times before she finally found her feet. She stood, wobbling unsteadily, with her legs splayed out beneath her. She took one hesitant step, then another. This slow, tottering walk continued until her nose bumped into something hard and cold. She backed up, bleating, and glared at it. The cliff was blocking her path! She looked around, noticing that the entire crevice was ringed with the same sort of wall. She would have to climb it. Tamelyn looked back at the cliff and stomped one hoof, frustrated. Suddenly, she had an idea. The piebald fawn crouched, gathering her legs beneath her, then leaped into the air, attempting to clear the edge of the trench.

No such luck. She fell back into the ferns in a tangle of limbs. Bleating angrily, she managed to untangle herself and stand up again. She jumped again, this time throwing every ounce of her strength into it. For one brief, triumphant second, she could see outside of the trench, a flash of green before she fell back down. One more go. She took a deep breath, crouched, then jumped, tucking her forelegs in, then extending them as soon as she was above the lip of the crevice. Her upper half slammed into the top of the cliff, jarring her, while her lower half dangled against the cliff wall. Her hindlegs scrabbled against the rock in a vain effort to pull herself up, and her irate bleats echoed through the cave. She was halfway out of the trench, at least, but now she was stuck!

It was a serene relaxation. The small vibrations deep within the stones. The gentle hums and trimmers that the canine entity could feel deep within her very soul. It was the same sensation for as long as she could remember. It's gentle caress leaving her dreams peaceful and carefree. Yet, something strange caused the frequencies within the stone to change and vibrate in odd waves. It felt like waves were rolling through the very rocks that encased a beautiful translucent opal that gleamed with many different colors that danced together in harmony. The stone was nestled just a few feet above the moss covered cavern floor.

A sharp crack echoed loudly through the room, echoing loudly down the tunnels that connected this room to others. It fell deadly silent afterwards. The young canine shift for the first time. Tried to stretch limbs as the vibrations in the stone began to dance to a new tune. A tune that stirred her from a deep slumber. The sound of the opal splintering and slowly cracking began to fill the room again with each struggling move the canine made. Something new was promising secrets. Secrets that were all too enticing and the young little wolf would find them.

Awakened. The shatter of the opal was loud. Pieces of the beautiful stone exploding out and clattering almost noiselessly across the cavern floor thanks to the spongy moss that coated it in layers. A black wolf pup fell from her Chrysalis. Hitting the ground with her chest and knocking a breathe right out of her. Eyes popped open wide as a startled yip escaped her maw. One eye was a beautiful emerald, while the other was a strange haunting obsidian. Her breathing was heavy, desperate to fill in her tiny lungs with oxygen. A series of yips and yaps escaped the puppy as she scrambled about, her paws awkwardly moving, and occasionally failing, to bring her up into a standing position. Vibrations whispered all around, speaking to her, and her little audits twisted and turned to desperately hear what they were saying.

Arkrael...

The little she-wolf felt her heart racing, beating heavily against her chest as her eyes tried to adjust and focus trying to take in anything she could possibly see in this new world she had just emerged into. "A...kell," Her voice was raspy and hoarse, trying to repeat whatever she had just heard. It seemed so familiar. So personal it seemed to warm her entire being. "Ar...kraaw," She began again only to give a little puppy growl as it did not sound like it should. Her little audits pressed back against her skull as the black scruff of her hackles began to bristle up. "Aaaarkrael!" She barked loudly, trying harder to pronounce the word as it should.

As the name slipped from her maw her little audits perked right up and her tail instantly began to wag itself back and forth. "Arkrael!" She repeated, this time much more gleefully only to yip as her wiggling butt quickly knocked her off balance and she thudded down onto the soft moss with her shoulder hitting first. This time happiness seemed to envelope her quickly and a childish laugh escaped her muzzle. Alas, at the sound of something slamming into the rocks just a few feet away from her a loud and terrified yelp escaped the little she-pup. Her fur went straight up as her little tail quickly tucked beneath her as she leaped up to her clumsy little paws.

Her eyes were wide, trying to see what was now a dark glob of mass clinging to something. Nostrils flared, taking in the scent of whatever it was. A strange sensation overwhelmed her, however, one that made her question it. She could barely see it, could hardly even smell it over the strange, but appealing scent of the room, yet she could feel it. Knew where it was, out side of the obvious dark glob of that darkened a certain area even more. Her tail quickly rose up as her ears pushed forward with curiosity. One hesitant step after the next Arkrael slowly brought herself closer to the thing. The closer she got the better her eyes were able to take in the form. A small little creature was struggling to get over the ledge!

"Oh! uhm...heen...er hang uhn..hang on," She blabbered as she struggled to get words out that made sense as she hurried over to the flailing little deer. Her sharp puppy canines gripped onto the closest thing; which happened to be large ears. She pulled back, desperately attempting to help the little deer up over the edge. Misjudging the strength she put into her pulling a sharp yelp escaped Arkrael as she went flying back onto her back while the deer was hauled up over the edge rather quickly and sent flying forward. "Ooow," Arkrael whined as she rolled over to her side, her ears splaying out to the side as she looked behind her where her flully puppy tail lay motionless. Shaking it off Arkrael turned her eyes towards the direction the little dear had been flung to. "You...k?" She murmured almost embarrassed by her over exerted tug.

The fawn could feel herself slipping back into the crevice, and struggled against, scrabbling madly at the ground with her hooves. Alas, they were no good for the task, and she bleated again as gravity began to do it's work. Suddenly, a rustling sound broke through the silence, and she went stiff, eyes wide. Something was coming towards her, but she couldn't make it out. It got closer and closer, until she was able to make out movement. The shape eventually materialized into another creature, around her size, but shaped much differently. Something stirred in her still-new mind, an ancient memory of some sort. But she was too young to understand what it meant. She didn't know fear, and she didn't understand predation. The odd feeling was quickly disregarded in favor of curiosity as she studied the pup. There was something glinting faintly on it's chest that somehow reminded her of the stone on her own leg, another mark of similarity.

Her ears went forward at it's voice, and she struggled to comprehend it's words. She got the feeling that it wanted to help her, but she wasn't sure how it would be able to. She squealed in protest as sharp teeth latched on to her ear and yanked. It hurt, but she could feel herself being pulled out of the crevice, and she understood enough to realize what was going on. She braced her forelegs and attempted to pull herself up as well, managing to get one hindhoof over the ledge. She happened to push with that leg at the same time the wolf pulled, and she was tugged off-balance, sprawling forward while the wolf tumbled away.

She remained where she was for a moment, dazed. The wolf recovered first, and looked back towards her. It was difficult to make her out in the gloom, but Tamelyn could see her eyes glinting in the darkness. Her voice had a questioning tone to it, and Tamelyn took a moment to formulate an adequate response. "Owww..." she groaned as well, her ear likely feeling the same as the wolf felt all over. But she was out of the crevice, at least. She looked at the wolf, offering her a smile. "Thank ooouu." She was still trying to get a grip on speech, but she was learning quickly.

The fawn got back on her feet, tottering a bit less this time. She walked towards the wolf cub, bending her head down to sniff her. "A'm Tam'lyn." she said, then cocked her head. "Youuu...?"

Tentatively running her tongue along her left paw she watched with unblinking eyes as the little creature about the same size as her gathered her bearings. Her ears pushed forward as she spoke in response and finally the little she-pup gave a toothy grin. "Wel'om," She yipped gently as she finally pushed herself up to sit back on her haunches, curling her tail around her left flank. Her tongue slopped out and moved over the side of her chops as she tried to look around, but to no avail could she make out anything outside of the faintly glowing foliage that lined the cave's room. She had existed in darkness so it shouldn't have been that unnerving to her, but Arkrael was tired of seeing only darkness. She wanted to see things in detail, not the dark shadows as they were now.

"It's....dark so very," She murmured quietly only to blink when she heard the little deer begin to speak again. A name left her muzzle and Arkrael gave a small grin. "I'm Arkrael!" She introduced herself proudly, pushing her head up regally as she lifted a single paw and pressed her pawpad against her chest. When the pad of her paw met with the cool, smooth surface of a stone Arkrael nearly jumped right out of her fur. Her heterochromia gaze shot right down trying to see the thing upon her chest. "Whoa!" She nearly gasped as she tilted her head to the side to better see the stone. She rubbed the side of her paw against the stone again before grinning and shrugging it off for now. Having not noticed it before then she was rather excited to see such a pretty thing upon her chest.

"Shtuck...were you, there?" Arkrael tried to ask her question best she could. Her head tilted to the side, causing her rather large ears to flop towards the direction she had craned her head into. It was odd, the sensation she could just barely feel vibrating through her very being. It had to be coming from the creature before her. It's where she felt it coming from. How she knew she felt it was beyond her, but she did and it was mind blowing to her. Her eyes slowly moved over the creature, taking in her appearance as best she could and soon her eyes settled upon the stone that rested on her leg. "Oh, you... one too?," Her gaze shot right back up to Tamelyn's face with a rather curious expression upon her own features.

"Ver' dark." agreed the fawn. She didn't like it either. What if there were more pesky trenches scattered about to fall into? She cocked her head at the word the wolf spoke, her tone as proud as her own had been discovering her name. "Arrrrkwael!" she said, then giggled. "Is pwetty." The fawn jumped as Arkrael jumped, just now discovering the gemstone embedded in her chest. Eyes wide, the fawn examined it, admiring how it glimmered even in the low light of the cave. It was like hers, but a different color.

The wolf asked after the crevice she had gotten stuck in, and Tam blinked, heat coloring her cheeks. "No!" she pouted, looking away with her lip stuck out. She could have gotten out anytime she wanted...though she probably would have been in there a lot longer if Arkrael hadn't come along. "Well...maybee," she admitted, looking back at the wolf. "Bu' only a little."

She looked down at her own stone as Ark drew attention to it, and puffed out her chest proudly, raising the hoof to better display the gem. "Yeah!" She took a moment to study it herself, admiring it's caramel color. "Dunno wher' i' came frum, though." She looked back at the trench, remembering the cocoon she had broken out of. "Maybe here..." She trotted over to the lip of the trench, taking care not to step over the edge, and pointed a hoof at the remains of her chrysalis. "Same color..." She looked back at the wolf quizzically. "Wher' yourses frum?"

"Speech" Thoughts

Arkrael laughed a little at Tamelyn's reluctance to express that she was stuck down in the crevice just a little ways from where they sat. She watched the little deer trot back over to the ledge in curiosity, pushing her ears forward as she listened to what Tamelyn was saying. "Uuhhmm..." She huffed at the question she was presented and looked around. When her heterochromia eyes finally landed on the shards that still littered around the area she had fallen she grinned broadly and jumped up to her feet. "I here, woke.." She yipped while quickly moving over to the shards of gems that littered the floor. She could just barely see them glimmering with the dim glow of the strange things that patched around the walls of the cave. Arkrael batted a paw at a medium sized shard before she flopped down and playfully started chewing at one of them.

"Maybe, like yours some down there" Arkrael hummed thoughtfully as her gaze flitted back over to the deerling and looked at the gem upon her leg once more. Surely if these gems that she was now chewing on matched the one upon her chest, there would be similar ones to Tamelyn's down where she had come from. Shaking it off Arkrael sat up and turned her full attention towards Tamelyn. "So...what now.." She murmured as she trotted back over towards Tamelyn and took this time to look down into the trench where she could see Tamelyn's own Chrysalis.

Tamelyn We'll reel away til the break of day
and dance together til morning!

So Arkrael had hatched nearby. Tam cocked her head and trotted along as the wolf went off in search of her own chrysalis, finally coming upon the pearly shards lying on the ground. The cub played with one chunk for a bit before settling down to gnaw on it. As she worked the piece in her jaws, Tamelyn caught a glimpse of pointed teeth in Arkrael's mouth. Curious, she ran her tongue along her own teeth, noting their dull edges. The difference puzzled her, but at the moment, she was too young to ponder it for long. Arkrael was a friend, it didn't matter how sharp her teeth were. Besides, they had both burst out of these strange, pretty-colored rock thingies, and they both had ones on their bodies somewhere. That made them pretty similar.

Tam blinked as Arkrael asked what they were to do now. "Dunno..." she said, sitting back on her rump, legs splayed out before her. Her stomach answered her question for her, producing a loud growl that made the deer jump, looking down at her belly. Hunger was a new sensation, but she recognized it instantly. "Wanna eat somefin'..." She stood up and looked around, trying to decide what was good to eat. She licked one of the opal shards lying about, but it was tasteless and too hard, definitely not food. She sampled a bit of dirt, then spat it out, rubbing her tongue against her foreleg to banish the bitter taste from her mouth. By chance, the next thing she took a cautious bite out of was a fern. A summery sweetness filled her mouth, and she swallowed, her stomach's growling intensifying. "This is good!" She quickly stripped the fronds bare, filling her belly with her first meal since hatching.

As she ate, her oversized, sensitive ears picked up the sound of a rustling nearby. Something--it sounded big--was making it's way towards them, but she couldn't see it in the darkness. "H'lo...?" she called out, taking a curious step towards the shadows. Maybe there was another friend out there.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

And from the shadows it came, a rather small golem composed of one primary boulder and several smaller rocks. This particular golem was fitted with five limbs; two acting as legs and three blindly reaching arms. Still, it lacked the intimidating size of most. Its rocks ground against one another and it lurched through the moist leaf litter, searching for what it knew to be sustenance. It could feel the magical energy emanating from the two Gembounds, but now that there were stray shards laying in the muck, its attention had been captured. It made no move for the animals, only towards the shards of chrysalis on the ground.

OoC: Sorry Didn't even see that you had posted D:

"Speech" Thoughts

Arkrael's heterochromia eyes lifted up towards her friend as the fawn drew closer before plopping down only a few inches away. She didn't bite too hard into the hard stone her two front paws gripped at to keep in place, but it did seem a bit of fun just to gnaw at it. Audit's leaped up when she too heard the noise that caused Tamelyn to jump up in surprise. She lifted her head up from the shard she was chewing on, just about to ask what that odd noise was, but alas Tamelyn had already answered the silent question that darted about in her head. Food. Now that she thought about it, Arkrael could just start to feel what she assumed to be hunger start to creep up on her. With her stone shard still gripped in her jaws Arkarel scrambled up to go follow after Tamelyn to see was she was doing.

Tamelyn took a bite out of the funny green looking stuff and Arkrael couldn't help but tilt her head to the side in an utmost curious look. "Rrrrrlly?" She hummed thoughtfully over the shard in her mouth as she looked from Tamelyn back to the green like plant and then back again. She thought it over for a long moment before she bent her head down and gently rested the shard she had been carrying upon the ground before moving closer to the fern. She pushed her nose towards it, taking a deep sniff of it. It tickled her nose and though it was relatively pleasing to smell, it just didn't do anything to peek her interest. Once again she looked at Tamelyn out of confusion before she finally gave a little huff and chomped right down on the fern and tore it loose from the ground.

With only a few chomps and the mashing of the foliage in her chops her stomach seemed to roll and out of sub-consciousness spat it right out at her paws, "Blleeccch!" She cried in shock. It wasn't really bad tasting, but it was definitely not for her. Her ears folded back for a moment as she looked towards Tamelyn with questioning eyes. Arkrael was confused as to why Tamelyn seemed to enjoy the taste, but she herself just didn't find it all that great.

Just as she was about to open her chops to ask her inquiry to her pal she saw those big 'ol ears move and perk up. Then the deer spoke something and Arkrael's back began to tense. She spun around on all four paws, facing the direction Tamelyn had spoken in before she ultimately took a few steps towards it. Audits focused on the area, intently listening and when Arkrael finally heard the movement a strange sensation shook her body and without her knowing her tail began to slowly slide beneath her belly. Slowly the thing moved closer, the sound of grinding growing louder and louder by the minute. Arkrael's nose began to scrunch and crinkle as her puppy fangs were quickly brought into view. As the thing slowly came into view a frightened yip escaped Arkrael, but she stood stock still next to Tamelyn.

It wasn't until she noticed the strange thing of rocks was moving toward her shattered gem shards. "Those mine!!" She barked loudly, all the while the shard she had dropped at her feet moments ago was now protectively under her. She was not yet brave enough to go charging at whatever this was, but those were her stones! Maybe her yelling at thing it would go away. Hopefully.

Tamelyn We'll reel away til the break of day
and dance together til morning!

It puzzled her that Arkrael didn't find the ferns equally tasty. Was her tongue messed up, somehow? However, most of her attention was currently occupied by the slow, rumbling approach of the unknown thing drawing closer to them. Tamelyn was too young and naive to feel true fear, but she was uneasy all the same. And as the creature lurched from the darkness, making it's way towards them--no, not them, the chrysalis beside them--that unease deepened, causing Tamelyn to step back a few paces nervously. Behind her, she heard Arkrael make agitated noises, baring her puppy teeth at the moving pile of rocks.

It didn't seem to care one bit, and moved towards the shards, much to Arkrael's irritation. Tamelyn, for her part, continued to study the golem, moving up behind it. "Wha' is this...?" she wondered aloud, stretching her neck forward to sniff it. It smelled like plain ol' rocks to her. Maybe it just hadn't noticed them in the darkness. "Um...h'llo?" she called to it, lifting her gem-adorned hoof to tap it's rocky side.

Was this thing dangerous? She couldn't tell, as her only experiences with other creatures so far was Arkrael and this...thing. Rock beast. It creeped her out on some unfathomable level, evoking a deep-seated and inexplicable fear. At the same time, however, she was fiercely curious about it. It seemed to have no fur or features at all, and as she looked it over, she wondered if it even had a gem, like they did.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa