A new life bared its face to the newly-awakened lights of the caves; or at least, new in the sense that one could have sworn it wasn't there an hour ago. Or had it always been present? It was difficult to tell.
Throughout the various caverns of Origin cave, mysterious flowers had sprung up in secluded alcoves and precarious positions, nigh impossible to find without guidance or a healthy dose of coincidence.

Petals bloomed in elegant heart-shapes from a shining core that might be a gem, appearing almost like a tiny pearl. Ribbon-like leaves curled into smooth spirals, giving each flower an ornate look, as though meticulously designed by some greater being. Even though there is no wind, each flower appears to sway contentedly, though if one looked close enough, they would have to admit that it didn't seem to be moving at all.

But loveliest of all, each flower exudes a tantalizingly sweet aroma which can be caught from miles around. To most creatures, the scent would lead to a dead end or they'd follow it in hopeless circles. But someone out there, somewhere close, will find themselves lead directly to a flower as it sits, softly swaying in wondrous harmony.


This flower crackles with electricity, its stem appears to be conductive and its thorns are erect like lightning rods. @Carcino II will find this flower in a little cavern behind a small trickle of water, nearby where he hatched. He’ll have to be careful not to get shocked!


This flower crackles with electricity, its stem appears to be conductive and its thorns are erect like lightning rods. @Narcissus will find this flower sitting alone on a small island among the ponds, still and reflective.


This flower appears to be... burning? And although it reeks of smoke and ash, it's not crumbling. How odd. @Bremen will find this flower in a dry hollow somewhere among the Warrens.


This flower trembles softly, as though itching to pull free of its roots. @Rinaotei will find this flower growing on a rocky cluster peeking out at the edge of the lagoon.


It would seem at a glance to be an ordinary flower growing by the generator, but its scent is heady, floral, and alluring. It's still unclear how it came to grow here, though, on a slippery ledge once sheened with ice. @Envy will be drawn by its sweet scent.


This flower is slightly transparent, and it flickers and glows eerily, as though not really there. It can be found in the very heart of the Warrens, half-hidden by tall grasses, and glows steadily brighter as @Imperia draws near.

Event participants may now post their responses below!
Note: Characters taking part in this thread do not need to interact with one another, as flowers can be found some distance apart.

Narcissus
Distant but rational, bringer of rage
to get to a level where I will engage



Narcissus had done much wandering during his time of being alive. He hadn't stuck in one location for very long, always on the move. Now, he found himself in a room in which he could hear the unmistakable sound of a waterfall. He had been slowly following it, though without much purpose to. It wasn't long before it came into sight, though.

He stared at it, and decided while it was indeed a very beautiful sight, it didn't compare to himself. He sat down, watching it, for a moment longer before something seemed to shift. Something had changed, and it took him a moment to figure out what. Were the lights different? He hadn't been paying them much attention, but maybe...And he could swear something was calling him.

In fact, not calling, but...There was a very sweet aroma, and he couldn't seem to control his paws as he walked in a seemingly random direction. He came across some small ponds, and to an island among those. There, sat on said island, was...a flower? It was a flower unlike any he'd seen before. Crackling with electricity, thorns erect. He sat down and observed it, unsure of what to do. The scent had definitely led him here, so it was surely no mistake.



"Speech."
Thoughs

Rinaotei has been returning to Pisces often, more categorically where the lagoon is; could it be because that's where she was born or was it since it turns out Tenzin resides in the deep depths of the lake? Not even she knows currently, albeit Rinaotei was ecstatic to be able to trek through the caves with light again.

Soon though Rinaotei's nose caught a whiff that smelled so, saccharine and alluring it made her nose twitch, soon the pleasant scent filled her nostrils entirely it was almost the only thing she could sniff, it was somewhat heady for her genuinely. Rinaotei's curiosity couldn't get refrained and, said interests wish to know what is the source of such an enticing aroma, and soon she was up on the search for it.

Albeit the scent was inundating, Rinaotei could manage to find a scent trail of sorts with this flowery smell. There were a few times Rinaotei miscalculated her tracking and, had to retrace her steps then angle herself to a different direction for when the scent suddenly smelled just a little more weaker and soon she was hot on the scent trail once again.

Soon she discovered something peculiar twitching on the ground right by the coastline of the lagoon that appeared the very thing that was emanating that almost sickly-saccharine smell. A flower? Perhaps a flower would make sense in fact, but this type of bloom doesn't appear to be any species she has never encountered afore. For one, flowers customarily possess bright colours as a form of survival instinct to attract pollinators, yet this flower's tone is more akin to dirty ice, not a vivid colour. But perhaps with how overpowering its scent is, that's might be all it requires to attract such things. Still, even if the hue was aberrant, the shape was a whole matter entirely albeit it is appealing looking. And soon Rina approached it more, a part of her was tempted to free it from its confines in the ground, but she's uncertain, yet so she opted to inspect and admire it up close instead.


"Speech"

Bremen A cry of shrill delight, somewhere between that of a fox and that of a dolphin, echoed out from the edge of the room as Bremen tumbled and rolled down one of the hills, having discovered earlier that day that if he tucked in his legs and held his wings folded at a certain angle he could lay down on his side and roll down just about any incline he wanted to! Any incline steep enough that was, and preferably those inclines without sharp rocks or thorn bushes. His side still hurt a little bit from that one run in a couple hills ago. But no matter! This hill was smooth and nice and even smelled good to top things off. Actually, where was that smell coming from? Bremen craned his neck up from the giddy heap he'd landed in at the base of the roll and began sniffing the air. It was a weird kind of good smell, like... food on fire? What a silly notion! Why would anyone set their food on fire? Another leg shot out from the sprawled pile of hybrid that was Bremen, and soon the cat-sized creature had hopped up onto all fours and was on his way. He would find the burning food and find out why it was on fire! Did it like to be on fire? Did it taste better that way? Only one way to find out! Though the source of the scent was only over the next hill it took a solid five minutes to get there between checking every rabbit hole in sight and getting distracted at the top of the hill to roll down again, this time backwards, just to see how hard it would be. When Bremen arrived at the odd fiery flower he stood entranced by its novelty. "Hello weird burny flower, I'm Bremen!" he greeted the non-sentient plant, "What are you doing out here among the hills and the grass?" Of course, he didn't expect the plant to talk back, but if it was on fire then perhaps it was strange in other ways. With no response received the small hybrid fell back to plan B: poke it with his horn! Thinking... thinking... thinking... "This is my voice, isn't it neat?" Tags:

With Narcissus in such close proximity to the flower, the object appeared to grow agitated; small bolts of lightning jumping from thorn to thorn and culminating in the head of the flower itself. Crackling and sparking, the object built up its charge the longer that Narcissus stayed to watch, until finally culminating in one final strike that jolted from flower to Gembound, and crumbled the flower into dust. In its place, the small pearl-like object that had been the flower’s core tinkled as it dropped lightly to the ground.

And in that moment, a new feeling would wash over the canine; feelings that were not his own. Perhaps Narcissus would see a sight through the eyes of another; a flower of pure light growing in the room of bones. Perhaps he’d feel a sense of glee, or want, washing in over the mental link.

@Narcissus is now bonded to @Yuma , and the two may now speak to one another, and share thoughts and feelings between these threads, or any!

The flowers have left their cores behind! If they are not reunited within two cycles, then the cores will crumble, the connection severed and never to be reunited again, in this life or the next...

As Bremen’s horn poked at the flaming flower, the fire finally seemed to spread. First, the petals crumbled, burning up to leave only its gem-like core. The fire soon spread down the stem, leaving only ashes in its wake. In its place, the small pearl-like object that had been the flower’s core tinkled as it dropped lightly to the ground.

And in that moment, a new feeling would wash over the hybrid; feelings that were not his own. Perhaps Bremen would see a sight through the eyes of another; a flower with leaves like wispy clouds growing in the maw of mosses. Perhaps he’d feel a sense of playful glee or childish wonder, washing in over the mental link.

@Bremen is now bonded to @Sebastian , and the two may now speak to one another, and share thoughts and feelings between these threads, or any!

The flowers have left their cores behind! If they are not reunited within two cycles, then the cores will crumble, the connection severed and never to be reunited again, in this life or the next...

Imperia had left Orion and headed in the direction of Eridanus, where they hung out for a moment, mostly to blow off some steam after seeing Aaliyah. They were still upset about it, but ignored it for now, and stayed in Eridanus. But something, something they couldn't explain, led them to Pisces. It wasn't until they actually got to Pisces that they could smell it. A tantalizing sweet aroma, one that had them just walking over toward the Warrens before her paws had any idea what they were doing.

They could see it, partially hidden by some tall grass. It seemed to be glowing, and only glowed brighter as they approached. When they got to it, it looked...transparent? And it seemed to flicker. They frowned, and sat down beside it. Slowly, they began to poke it. They were so confused, all thoughts of Aaliyah had completely vanished from mind.

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

tags: here
notes: here

Envy had returned to Pisces, having decided that they liked it here... kind-of. Whilst the water was always a reminder of their burning throat, and the mist chilled them to the bone, they'd gotten bored of the sameness of Orion, since they'd spent most of their life there until now. Eridanus was their favourite place; it was fun to explore and climb, but it was easy to get lost, and impossible to see beyond the nearest trees. At least in Pisces, Envy could see pretty much to the edge of the room. Although... though Envy would always refuse to admit it, there was something else drawing them back here, causing their paws to gravitate towards the ridges.

That was loneliness. And it was here that Envy had met someone who wasn't just a plaything, but someone who they thought was tolerable. Despite her being big, and despite her having wings, and such magnificent silver scales, and... oh... Envy found themselves feeling hurt again, even as they thought about everything that Asimona had received that could have been Envy's. But Envy couldn't bring themselves to be too mad about it. Well, they were, but... it was complicated. Asimona couldn't help being the way she was any more than Envy could. Envy sighed deeply, resisting the urge to simply go back the way they'd come.

As they did so, however, Envy found themselves drawn on by something else; a sweet scent that lingered in their nostrils and pulled them on almost involuntarily. Somehow they wound up at the ridges where they and Asimona had climbed together, and, seeing something up there, Envy began to quickly scale the this-time not-frozen rocks. With no-one looking, this time Envy had nothing to lose, and as they made it onto a low ledge, the weasel found the source of the smell. This close, it caused their mouth to water, and though they knew that they couldn't eat it, they knew they had to have it. Envy opened their jaws and tried to pull the flower free of its stalk.

"Speech."

As Imperia poked the flower with the tip of a paw, the flower lit up in a bright, almost blinding, flash of light. When the light faded, the flower was gone. The small pearl-like object that had been the flower’s core tinkled as it dropped lightly to the ground.

And in that moment, a new feeling would wash over the caracal; feelings that were not their own. Perhaps Imperia would see a sight through the eyes of another; a burning flower growing in a familiar stony hollow in Orion. Perhaps they’d feel a sense of pride and self-worth, washing in over the mental link.

@Kin-Kin is now bonded to @Imperia , and the two may now speak to one another, and share thoughts and feelings between these threads, or any!!

The flowers have left their cores behind! If they are not reunited within two cycles, then the cores will crumble, the connection severed and the flowers never to be reunited again, in this life or the next...

As Rinaotei approached, the flower began to vibrate aggressively, as though responding to her presence. In fact, as she leaned in to closely inspect it, the flower was shaking so hard that it began to break apart into pieces that shivered ever smaller. And then, with a final shudder, the flower began to drift away into smoke, changing state before the very eyes. The small pearl-like object that had been the flower’s core tinkled as it dropped lightly to the ground.

And in that moment, a new feeling would wash over the dragon-wolf, feelings that were not her own. Perhaps Rina would see a sight through the eyes of another; an icy flower growing in the room of bones. Perhaps she’d feel a sense of calmness and serenity, washing in over the mental link.

@Asimona is now bonded to @Rinaotei , and the two may now speak to one another, and share thoughts and feelings between these threads, or any!!

The flowers have left their cores behind! If they are not reunited within two cycles, then the cores will crumble, the connection severed and the flowers never to be reunited again, in this life or the next...

As Envy sank their teeth into the flower in an effort to pull it free, the plant withered in an instant, curling and shrivelling, and quickly dying. The small pearl-like object that had been the flower’s core tinkled as it dropped lightly to the ground.

And in that moment, a new feeling would wash over the weasel, feelings that were not their own. Perhaps Envy would see a sight through the eyes of another; a colour-changing flower growing in the maw of mosses. Perhaps they’d feel a sense of anger and frustration, washing in over the mental link.

@Envy is now bonded to @Dezba , and the two may now speak to one another, and share thoughts and feelings between these threads, or any!!

The flowers have left their cores behind! If they are not reunited within two cycles, then the cores will crumble, the connection severed and the flowers never to be reunited again, in this life or the next...

Envy let go of the flower immediately as the sweet taste and scent of the flower quickly soured. The weasel shrank back and could only watch before their very eyes as the flower withered and finally crumbled, leaving behind a little pearl which, whilst pretty, was disappointing in that it had no scent. Bitterness and upset flooding in, Envy took the little pearl into their paws and glared at it angrily. They’d wanted the flower! They didn’t want this

It was then, though, that they got a shuddering feeling they weren’t alone- and that their jealousy was matched by an anger that suddenly lived alongside- anger that, they soon saw, was directed at a rainbow flower. "Hey, that flower’s way cooler-" They began enviously, only to stop as the dream-self- if one could call it that- leaped on and ravaged the pretty thing. "Heeeey! Stop that! I want it!" They yelled shrilly, although they knew it couldn’t possibly be actually happening... could it? The anger fizzling in their brain, alien anger, was really getting to them.

Envy shook their head to bring themselves back to lucidity, confused and shocked by this new prescence in their mind, which didn’t seem to want to go away. They dropped the pearl at their paws as if they’d been stung, placing paws either side of their head and trying to get rid of the daydream.


"Speech."

@dezba

Bremen Bremen opened his beak wide and let out a soft otherworldly noise of interest as the flower reacted to his poke, burning into a pile of ash before his very eyes. The flower had been on fire but not on fire before, but then it was on fire for real and finally not on fire anymore because there was no fire left. It even left him a souvenir and waved goodbye to him as a different flower in his mind! The happy little hybrid poked at the sphere with his beak as new emotions washed over him, similar to his own and redoubling the emotions that were there. With his own emotions amplified beyond even their usual heights the world was suddenly twice as bright, twice as interesting, twice as exciting! The seed before him had become the most amazing toy he'd ever laid eyes on and though his ancestry included red fox he looked more like a fennec by the speed at which he darted back and forth batting at the thing, chittering like an overstimulated bird. "Ohh! I bet I can make it fly! he voiced to himself, unknowingly sending the words over this newly forged mental link he had yet to recognize. In an act of incredible mental resolve and willpower Bremen managed to stand still for two seconds, using the momentary lack of movement to flare his wings and take in a deep breath. Sometimes when he did this he could make a big huge wind appear and make things go flying really far. This time when he flapped his wings forward and blew out real fast the seed only moved a little tiny bit. It was a heavy seed! That or he hadn’t made as big of a gust as he usually did. No major loss though! Bremen instead took a webbed paw and gingerly batted under the seed until he had a good grip, tossing it diagonally up into the air to the side and immediately chasing after it in a cat-like display, giggling in yet another odd vocalization as he did so. Thinking... thinking... thinking... "This is my voice, isn't it neat?" Tags: @Sebastian Linked post: /showthread.php?tid=4935&pid=38293#pid38293