As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night
The magicka breathed life in her, just as it breathed life in all. She was a child of the Cave, and Spire was her mother. It was a harsh mistress, it gave and took, it nurtured and it punished, but through it all, she survived, grew. Her jagged chrysalis lay nestled near its great, blue crystals. The shell was invisable within the shadows, but every now and then, the crackling magick illumined the dark crevices, making its blue quartz walls shine brilliantly.

STSSSZZZ!

Magicka whizzed through the air. A sharp crack split the side of the chrysalis. Amniotic fluid oozed from the fissure like slime. Then the light faded, dropping a black veil over the scene.

...PHSSSSZZZH!

Another spark flew from the crystals, bright like a star. The broken sides of the chrysalis were peeled back, clear tendrils of fluid clung to the edges. Four, tiny, pale claws crept over and grasped the shell. They were strange, unlike any mammal or reptile to wander the Cave. Then, darkness fell over it once again.

For a moment, there was silence.
Then, more cracking, a stone hit the floor. Suddenly, something broke out into a rapid scurry, the sound of many nails clicked on the rocks, and just as quickly as it came, it faded.

PHCKSHIIIZZT!

A new stroke of blue light pierced the darkness. The chrysalis' cracked side laid on the ground, ooze dripped from its kyanite edges like the maw of a salivating beast. Judging by the trail of amniotic fluid leading away, its inhabitant had scuttled off into the shadows.

Everything came to Thothaga all at once. The lights, the noise, the magicka. She felt its intense power tremble through her legs. It frightening, so she ran and hid. She nestled herself between two stalagmites and tucked her eight legs close to her body. Yes, this felt safe, it was nice and dark. No one could see her, or so she thought. Still something did not feel quite right. Her body felt tight,

No good, I must be free!

The smooth, pale exoskeleton encased her like stiffening tomb. It had served its purpose in the chrysalis, but now, it did more harm than good. Besides, underneath a new skin had formed, making her old one appear bruised. Thothaga fell on her back and pushed herself against old carapace until it popped off. Slowly, the spiderling wriggled, and wriggled, degloving herself from her old exoskeleton in a bizarre, alien ritual of patience and persistent. Dull, black fur with faint white markings coated her knew skin. It was huge contrast from her old, white chrysalis shell. It took longer than she liked, but eventually, she slipped her legs free. Thothaga breathed a sigh of relief as the blood rushed back into her legs. She was wet, her shell was uncomfortably soft, and very thirsty, but at least she was free.

Very thirsty...

Thothaga wriggled her new pedipalps anxiously and she spun around, looking for water. At first, she saw none, but then a glint of liquid caught her eye. It came from her chrysalis, the amniotic fluid. She stroked the new hair on her fangs nervously. The sight of liquid was tempting, but the crackling, the light, that strange tingling in her legs, it was scary. Thothaga left her molted exoskeleton behind and cautiously crept to the edge of the shadows and sat, pondering her options.

Could this thing hurt her?


"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: // OOC:

Oliver was returning from the river, having just slaked his own thirst; his muzzle dripped still with cold, clean water that a pink tongue flicked out to lick away. It wasn't the sound of the cracking stone that drew him--he'd missed that by a few moments--but the odor of freshly-broken chrysalis, and an odor that reminded him strongly of the cave spiders.

He hesitated, then veered toward it. Polaris wasn't known for its fierce cave spiders--not like Cetus was, at least--but any of the smaller hatchlings might be at risk. If someone had just hatched, and a big spider went for it, it could be disastrous.

He sniffed his way along slowly, and was puzzled to find, at first, what looked like a dead one on its back. Fear briefly prickled through him; the entire situation was unknown, and not... quite right. He paced around it, hesitant to draw too near, and followed the smells a bit nearer to the Spire.

There, he paused.

There was indeed a spider, a living one at that, or so it appeared, and it was staring off toward the distant remains of a gem-egg whose shattered remains were visible in the Spire's occasional, dramatic flashes of light. The spider itself was barely visible--he'd barely missed it, almost walked up on it, where it was shrouded in shadows. Only a flash of magicka had illuminated its silhouette, and even then, only briefly.

He turned, pacing cautiously around it, peering at it closely but from a safe distance--it could probably see him as he circled toward the chrysalis. There, he sniffed for a moment, hoping to catch some scent of a hatchling of some kind--but all he could smell was the spider. His heart dropped; surely this meant that the spider had killed it? What if it still held some tiny bird or the like in its clutches..? Oliver paced back toward Thothaga, not realizing he'd misinterpreted all of this, still unsure where the moult fit into things.

Soft blue eyes peered intently at her as he crept cautiously forward, trying to see beneath her for any sign of snatched-up prey.

"...Did you eat someone?" he asked quietly and in an absent fashion, expecting to be talking mostly to himself.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Thothaga

As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night

The Spire crackled again and Thothaga flinched, drawing her legs near, but when nothing happened, she peeked out curiously. So far, the strange structure seemed to ignore her, perhaps it did not see her. She wanted believe it was not dangerous, but the bright flashing, and the overwhelming aura of power, they were startling. But she was so thirsty...

Suddenly, her eyes caught movement, something big and black. It was to far away for her make out details, but it appeared to be coming towards her. At first, Thothaga froze, unsure of what to do next. Perhaps this thing wouldn't see her too. However, the closer it came, the more she began to doubt that.

Thothaga's eyes focused as the thing came closer, and details began to take shape. She could see it was creature now, with kind, blue eyes. She relaxed, this being wasn't going to hurt her, but he seemed to looking at something. Then, he spoke to her.

Thothaga stared at the black creature with her beady eyes.

"What do you think?"

It was probably strange to hear a spider talk, maybe even stranger to hear her voice resonate with unearthly subvocals, but Thothaga was new to the world and these did not cross her mind. Her question was genuine. She wanted to know what the creature thought, unaware that she was the first of her kin to become Greater.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Oliver // OOC:

When the spider spoke, Oliver's first reaction welled up from within and blurted straight from his mouth.

"You can talk?!" He sprang back just a bit, blue eyes wide. Then he blinked, and looked around. He took the question as a challenge, as sarcasm of a sort; it was somewhat hard to read the creature's tone past its strange resonance. He peered back to her, tufted ears flattening back a bit, for a moment uncertain how to answer. He was a little put off, that was true--he didn't like being made fun of--but he was a benefit-of-the-doubt sort, and gathered himself to give the question his best shot.

Bluntly honest, as ever, and softly-spoken, he answered. "I'm not sure if you're being rude, but. Maybe? There's a broken stone and usually those are... newly-hatched and there's another dead spider back there and there's you? And I've never met a spider that can talk," he added quizzically. His own tone wasn't hostile back, more uncertainly matter-of-fact, as incongruous as that might seem--the way a child might answer a question.

"Did-... you just hatch? Was that you? Who was the other spider?" He was more confused than ever. Maybe two spiders had killed a hatchling and then fought to the death over who got to eat it..? Then another, even more horrifying thought occurred to him. "Oh no, can all of you talk?!"

The idea that sentient beings were being killed and eaten for food worried him deeply. Spiders weren't his own meal preference, but he knew that many Gembound did eat them. Had they been able to speak all along!? To think?

Oh, no...

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Thothaga

As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night
The creature's reaction very unexpected, to say the least. She seemed to have startled him. He threw this word, spider, at her. This word confused her, she thought she and the black creature were the same, but apparently, that wasn't so. Spiders weren't supposed to talk, yet here she was, talking. Maybe she was a new kind of spider.

"Other... spider?" She repeated to herself, confused. The spiderling shifted her body slightly to the side until one of her eyes spied her lifeless molt on the ground. Thothaga stared for a moment, then let out a chittering giggle. "That's not a another me! It got too tight so it had to come off."

Then, she turned back to the creature and pointed a leg at the Spire. "I came from the ground, but the lights are scary, so I ran away." Thothaga moved closer to him, huddling behind the creature's figure so the Spire "wouldn't see her". Cautiously, she peeked out from behind. "What is that big blue thing?" She whispered. "Can it see me?." She looked up at him, stroking her fangs anxiously. "Is it.. dangerous?"


"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Oliver // OOC:

Oliver peered, blinking. He'd never seen a spider moult; he had no idea they did so, nor that the fallen skin looked like another spider. But this spider was definitely a spider, and definitely talking--was this new? Or could all spiders do this?

He was very, very worried now that all the spiders of the caves were sentient, and nobody had ever bothered to ask! What if they had a whole society?! A whole kingdom, hiding away from being eaten?! He blinked further as Thothaga hid behind him. Her mannerisms didn't put him off, but he didn't quite understand them, either, not in the instinctive way a mammal or a bird might. He would have seen a cringe as nervousness--but not a stroking of fangs. Still, the fact that she was hiding behind him was clear enough and he turned, peering back at the Spire.

"...The Spire? Oh. It's some crystals, um. Rocks. I don't think so?" He hesitated. He wasn't a hundred percent sure; Oliver was simplistically childlike in a few respects but it also tended to offer new perspective. The Spire MIGHT see, for all he knew. Stranger things had happened, in these caves. "But I did hear that if you cast magic at it it can hit you back. So maybe it's... alive? Or maybe it's just a lot of magic in a rock and it--reacts. I'm not sure."

He then glanced back to Thothaga. "--I'm Oliver, by the way. You're--new-hatched? Young? OH!" It suddenly clicked... a little late. "That was your stone? The cracked one? The gem?"

Blue eyes wide, he peered. His expression, throughout, was open and kindly--he was a gentle being--and it didn't occur to him just then, or if it did he dismissed it, that Thothaga could potentially be a dangerous little predator trying to get his guard down. Instead he took her at her word, and offered her a bright smile. "Welcome to--um. Being alive, then!"

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Thothaga

As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night
Thothaga appeared to look past Oliver, like she was more focused on the Spire instead, but she did have eight eyes. She saw them both with equal interest, even if one was a little more off to the side.

"Hello, Oliver the non-spider." She chittered, twitching her pedipalps. "I am Thothaga." The "Spire" Oliver called it, he said it was not dangerous unless she provoked it, that was no predator waiting to strike. This made her feel more at ease. Thothaga relaxed, feeling the rhythm of the Spire in her veins. It was them rhythm of life.

"It is alive,"She finally said. "I can feel it."

Suddenly, without another word, Thothaga took off in a dash, or rather, an eight-legged skitter, towards the looming god-like crystals. She made a b-line straight for the cracked chrysalis, still dripping with amniotic fluid. The spiderling dove in like a fleeing rat, pressing her mouth parts against the puddles to suck up its ooze-like fluid. She did not expect molting to make her so thirsty, noting to herself that she would do it near a larger source of liquid next time. As Oliver predicted, the Spire did not attack her, even as blast of magicka shot out like lightning. In a way, the magicka that did despise around her, rejuvenated her spirit, and to an extent, her body. She felt, alert, energized, and most importantly connected to the Cave itself.

When Thothaga was done, she was still thirsty. The chrysalis' fluids wasn't much, but it would have to hold her off until she found a bigger source. She backed out and looked for Oliver, the non-spider.

He knew about the Spire, so, would he know where I can find water?

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Oliver // OOC:

Oliver blinked, watching the spider suddenly bolt away. His mouth was hanging open, and he rushed at a wing-armed hobble after her, stumbling a little even as he stumbled over his words.

"It is alive? Whoa. I--what are you--doing..? Are you thirsty?" He came up alongside, peering, and squinted for a moment. She was smearing the fluid from inside the chrysalis--drinking it, he thought--and for a beat Oliver hesitated. He'd been practicing summoning up water on his own, to help injured strangers in his endeavors to offer mending. Perhaps now was a good time to give it a real shot?

Focus. Concentrate. After a moment, the gem on one of his talons glowing a bright green, Oliver squeezed his eyes shut. Water began to form, condensing over him, and he directed it with a sweep of one taloned forelimb to drip down before the spider, to gather in her chrysalis.

Pale blue eyes again opened, and he offered a gentle smile. "...There," he said, glad and relieved that it had worked. "You--can drink that. There's a river, too, right--over that way," he added, nodding in the river's direction, "but the banks are rocky, and really steep, and if you fall in it's real easy to drown, so--be careful. And I'm not a--not-spider, I mean--I am, but. I'm half bird, half dog. My mom's a crow--that's a kind of a black bird and she likes collecting shiny objects, and so do I. She's louder than I am, though. My dad's a black dog."

He settled a bit, feeling strangely dizzied from his summoning water spell, but happy, at least, to help. "Nice to meet you, by the way--uhh, Thothaga."

There-... He thought that was right.

@Thothaga

As a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light
She is modest and pure as she graces the night
The same essence that sparked wildly from the Spire arose from Oliver's green talon as it too, glowed like the tall, blue crystals. Thothaga's black eyes lit up with wonder as Oliver drew water to his claw and dripped it down into her chrysalis. Her hairs sensed the manipulation of magicka, and for a moment, she forgot her thirst. "How did you do that?" She asked with the amazement of a child witnessing their first magic trick.

The water that Oliver had conjured up quenched her thirst somewhat, it was better than her amniotic fluid, but she would need much more before she felt satisfied. Thothaga lost a lot of fluid while molting, that could be seen on her exoskeleton, which was still soft. The spiderling looked absolutely drenched. If she had a tongue, Thothaga would be drying off the draping fur on her legs to reclaim the moisture. It was good thing Oliver mentioned a river. She knew where to head to next.

Oliver was puzzling creature. He was the first Gembound she'd met since hatching, yet, she found him quite odd, but not in a bad way. He just acted differently than she would. If Thothaga was in his skin, she would have asked for something in return instead of sacrificing her energy to help someone she barely knew. She had yet to know anything, other than her own instincts, to dismiss his selflessness as stupidity, and so it fascinated her. However, she couldn't say she wasn't grateful for his help.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Oliver // OOC:

Oliver glanced up, smiling warmly--or as close as his bird-dog face could get to a smile. It looked kindly, at least, for those who could interpret the expressions of dogs.

"Oh, that's--magic. Most people can do it, but we all have different... like, abilities? I try to learn to use it to help other people, but you can get magic that... helps you hunt, or fight, or learn stuff. Mom and I can make things glow. Dad can make stuff dark and see the past in stones. It's like-..." He sat back on his haunches, wing-limbs propped before him, turning to blink up at the Spire.

"The Spire, there, that's full of magic. So are we kinda. And the stones--everyone has stones on them. Yours is on your butt," he added matter-of-factly, turning to nod at Thothaga's protruding gem. "And you can kinda--shape it how you want? Make it do things but--it takes a lot of practice and it can tire you out. And some magic can be dangerous. Like--backfire. Hurt you, if you aren't careful," he warned solemnly.

He shifted in place a little, apparently content to just remain here, at the spider's beck and call--answering what questions she had and offering what help he could. He seemed in no rush to depart, nor to ask any payment for his aid.

"...Do you want something that glows?" he asked kindly.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Thothaga