Cassilda Along the edges of the room of Monoceros in a cavern protected from the endless winds an unusually large gemstone lay dormant. With no light to reveal its pale yellow coloration it may as well have been any other rock in the section, cold and lifeless. Such could be no further from the truth though, as buried deep below the unforgiving stone structure a pocket of warmth sustained itself, a speck of life reaching the final stages of its growth before it would be ready to enter the new world. The life within stirred, a sound lost against the deafening howling coming from outside. Thoughts of a better world "A voice to hearken its coming" Tags: @Error

It had returned to its place of birth. The winding caverns of Monoceros, with its barrenness and wind, would be quiet. Peaceful. Away from the noises of Polaris and the dangers that came with. It stepped through the tunnel entrance with larger paws than when it'd left this place, so many cycles ago. It had never returned.

Times were changing, though. Polaris was no longer safe.

This would be its home again.

The hybrid stopped a few paces into the cave and through the rush of wind it cast out its magic...

...and signs of only scant lessers came back, primarily. Save for one spot that seemed to churn with bacterial life. The hybrid, alarmed by this, immediately began towards the source. Such huge numbers of microbes meant one of three things; rot, magic... or a chrysalis about to hatch, its fluids alive with positive bacterium that would serve as an immune system for whatever lived inside. Sure enough, as it pushed aside a few rocks to clear the way, the glow of his stone still active cast light upon a glossy yellowish surface; and just faintly it could see the shift of movement inside, idle twitches perhaps.

Forked tongue brushed over the glassy case as the thing circled it, surrounding it in scales, fur and feathers until the hybrid sat behind it, front claws tapping across its surface as it peered at the thing inside. Time to come out, little thing. It was too curious to leave well enough alone, and with sharp talons, the hybrid began to claw at the crystal surface.

Cassilda Sounds. The first inkling of consciousness, the first coherent word to pass through this new life's mind as a new scratching noise echoed across the world it found itself in. They call. The fog of awakening is always a bizarre experience, but the fog of awakening for the first time has the power to set a tone for all consciousness afterwards. The possible reactions to the is sound might have been endless, from fear to curiosity to apathy to simple surprise. In this one however the scratching was a call to action, a gentle alarm to bring it out of the world of dreamless sleep and into the world of the living. A limb, unknown seconds before, extended as far as she could reach, tapping gently against the side of something. This was her world, but that sound told her that this her world did not stop here. A feeble push, ineffective at first but slowly gaining in strength as more and more of the neonate's consciousness was pulled from the fog. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Her own hooved toes echoed a small imitation of the sounds above. In her fury to try to scratch her way out she tried trashing her body, but the walls were too thick, her movements too imprecise. Soon she had twisted herself into a position where something under her head was pressed hard against her neck. Her wakefulness was nearing completion and with this new sensation another followed quickly, a burning in her chest. She needed... something. She was choking, she was stuck. Fog threatened to start to take hold of her again just as soon as it had begun to fade away. Soon to this potential new life would lose the battle against it. Thoughts of a better world "A voice to hearken its coming" Tags:

The neonate wasn't coming out. After a few minutes of idle scratching and clawing on both ends, the stone shell was still intact. This was troublesome, as the hybrid wished to claim this neonate and its magic, if it could just get it out.

So, it would try brute force. Physical strength wasn't one of the hybrid's strongest aspects, but it reared back all the same and in a foxish way, shoved its front feet against the stone with a mighty heavy. No cracks came.

Another heave. The same result. Irritation spiked in the already sore and tired hybrid, the sickness in its belly boiling and churning. Winded, it returned to simply leaning on the chrysalis, claws tapping against the glass in hopes to spark another attempt from the little life inside.

Cassilda Did the scratching stop, or was the world ceasing to be? So hard to think. So hard to reason. Her world shifted suddenly, a jarring that was just enough to dislodge herself from her current predicament. The pressure on her throat ceased but when she inhaled it still didn't seem right. This wasn't what she needed! Nothing had changed but everything had changed. The world would not sustain her any longer. The fog was still pressing in. Another shift helped the small one get into an even better position, but still unconsciousness loomed. Tap. Tap. Tap. The sounds woke her from her stupor, a resurgence of willpower awakening in her mind. Sounds still call. I must answer. With as much force as she could muster she pressed against the walls once more. They gave ever so slightly, but the walls were too thick to give way fully. Something did happen though, a long tiny crack splintered across the surface of the wall, not enough to escape from but enough that the essence of space around her began to drain away, replaced by a harsh, dry, cold essence from the other side. In any other situation this might have been a terrible event indeed, but despite the loss of heat the youth coughed and sputtered from within her shell, trapped within but suddenly winning the fight against unconsciousness. Air filled her lungs and a primal cry of relief and confusion sounded from within. Thoughts of a better world "A voice to hearken its coming" Tags:

crk! There it was, the sound of new life! But the stones didn't fall away to reveal what was inside. Instead, from the single crack down its length, fluid began pouring out. Disgustingly, Error paused to sample it, scooping up a mouthful of the stuff and swallow it down- liquids were hard to come by in Monoceros, if it recalled correctly. It was a stale taste like water from Cetus or from the pooling plants in Eridanus. It decided it wasn't unpleasant though.

The hybrid turned back to its new ward, tail still loose around it but body moved away now. One last hit oughta do it. The hybrid crouched, ignoring the burning pain in its muscles as sickness protested the action. A second later it sprung at the shell with outstretched forelegs and hit the crack dead-on. Small size wasn't enough to force it open right away but the crack certainly did splinter and crumble even as the hybrid slipped against it for a second impact, its jaw jarring from the hit.

Nameless hybrid slid back a few inches and sat aside, a careful wrist raised to rub against the thing's crooked and misaligned jaw, two parts sitting at odd angles from each other as it adjusted bifurcated mandibles back into their proper alignment. When all felt right again, it turned pale eyes to the neonate.

Cassilda The youth's voice was short-lived as the tapping came again, but this time with might and power! Sounds hear my cry. she reasoned, Sounds come to set me free. The little creature retreated as far back into its shell as possible as the unknown salvation worked to destroy this shell of death. More cracking, more shattering, more trickles of life-giving cold air, until finally the entire wall gave way and the youth found herself tumbling forward from one black expanse into another. Her legs flailed as she reached for the ground, righting herself as new muscles and a new sense of orientation all jumped into action. "Sounds... of life." she spoke, words coming with surprising ease. "Thank... you." The adrenaline rush of her struggle was beginning to fade, her attempts to stand foiled as the aftereffects of the battle were taking their toll. She could not see the sounds, could not tell where she was, had no idea where she should even go from here. All she knew was that she was now where she needed to be. Thoughts of a better world "A voice to hearken its coming" Tags:

Oh, this cute little one was a quick learner! It watched her tumble, take foot and fall down again, taking in the shape of her form with every moment even as she spoke and thanked it. Such good manners for one so young! It would praise it.

Body and tail came to wrap around the damp youth, to warm her. The hybrid set itself down on the stone with legs crossed like a protective mother. It then began to sniff and slide its muzzle along the child's hide, memorizing scent and taste.

Imprinting.

"It was my pleasure, child." Its normally soothing voice of lies was croaked with the sore rasp of its throat. Still, the tone was the same and alluring, charming, it showed no signs of the plague it carried in its belly for others; only its own lean weighted plight.

It was subtle but as it spoke and groomed and scented the child, its stone gave off the light of casting, pale and white- its element senses working to check the child for imperfections or signs of illness. This one now belonged to the hybrid and the hybrid would not waste its usefulness.

Cassilda As the chill of the world began to seep into the child's bones a new wall of warmth made itself known to her. No... not a wall. The wall had been hard and unmoving, had been there to trap her and lead her back to a state of dreamless sleep. This was softer, with give and texture. This had movement and warmth. This was no doubt the personification of the sounds of life. The sounds sang again, but this time not in scrapes or taps or thuds, but in the language that the youth had stumbled upon as she entered this new world. A soft voice, soothing and compassionate, just as life would be. Light appeared for the briefest of moments, illuminating new senses the child had not yet become aware of. Brown and gold and white and green, these were the colors of Lifesound. The sight faded all too fast, why could it not have stayed? She wanted to see, she wanted to look upon Lifesound's face once more. The world heard her wish and it was granted. The choking stone around her neck that had nearly cost her life lit up in a bright pale yellow light, showing her eyes and hears and a caring face. She could feel more happening but she could not understand, could feel the air around her fill with the essence of life and health, could feel it rushing toward the avatar of Lifesound. Her first offering to the physical form of life, a portion of health that surely was cut from her own. Small price to pay for the caring warmth of this new world. Thoughts of a better world "A voice to hearken its coming" Tags: