Birth.
Noun.
1. The emergence of a baby or other young from the body of its mother; the start of life as a physically separate being.
2. The beginning or coming into existence of something.
3. A person's origin, descent, or ancestry.

Bayard came slowly into consciousness. For some, pushing out of their chrysalis was an ordeal. For the juvenile raven, it wasn’t so difficult. He instinctively pushed his pointed beak up into the lapis shell until it cracked, and the rest was easy. In only a few minutes, he found himself lying on the ground not far from the shattered remains of what had once been his home. Being just born, he lay there for quite some time, making small un-raven-like cheeps as he attempted to understand what had just happened to him. He had been peacefully sleeping in his chrysalis for what seemed like forever, and to suddenly be… displaced like that was rather traumatizing for the young birb bird.

After some time, he lifted himself up onto his clawed little feet, if they could even be called feet. He had many different stimuli all competing for importance in his brain, so it took him a minute or two to really get his bearings. Eventually, he realized he was looking and something… blue. He craned his neck slowly back until he was looking up at the top of the Spire. He made a soft cawing sound in wonderment. It was so big… Whatever it was. It crackled with blue light, and Bayard wondered what those lights would feel like if he could reach them.

He was not yet dry enough to fly, still covered in amniotic fluid. So, when he moved forward to touch his beak to the Spire, he had to hop a bit on his talons. Ravens were not the most graceful creatures when forced to walk. He bounced lightly forward and gently rested his gem-decorated beak against the blue stone. It was hard, as he had expected it to be. He tapped it a bit. He couldn’t tell if it sounded hollow or not.

And then suddenly he got an idea. The idea was completely instinctual to him, and he found nothing odd about it. He decided to try using Magic on the glowing blue tower-like structure. He hopped backwards a little bit, and then spread his slowly-drying wings out, taking a breath before attempting the Gust spell…

The wind rushed from his body, gathering in between his wings as he brought them together, and then was pushed out towards the Spire. It puffed against the stone, and the young raven felt some of his feathers ruffle, but other than that, nothing happened. Still, Bayard felt there was… something important about this tower… He would study it for a while, he supposed. But first he would wait for his wings to dry off.

The lion cub had not been far from Polaris.Ever since he’d been engaged in fights and arduous journeys, he’d found it necessary to return to this particular part of the tunnels to “regenerate” his drained magic and reinvigorate himself. Coming close to the area then, Usui decided that he might be keen for some company – it was lonely business being a nomad – and so decided to stretch forth a tendril of his magic to see if anyone was around.

Post-roll edit:

Having mastered this skill, Usui felt his gem glow a ghastly black shade as his earth magic was released, probing into the environment for signs of life. In his mind’s eye he saw a map, tracing out a flickering blue stone. It was tiny and seemed to crackle faintly along the edges of existence, indicating to him that this gembound was either a newborn or about to fade from the world. If it were the latter, then he’d better hurry. With a chuff, the tawny youth picked up his gangly paws and moved into a trot, larger body and sturdy limbs bearing moving in sync with his will in ease. Soon, he reached the source of the flickering and saw a newly hatched gembound. It was a deep black and was but a little bird. The lion felt his heart melt a little and he approached the thing, slowly getting onto his belly, and head placed upon the floor. “Why, hey there young one.” He figured it’d either want to hop onto him, or chirp for food – young gembounds always did that.

Lion.
Noun.
A large tawny-colored cat that lives in prides, found in Africa and northwestern India. The male has a flowing shaggy mane and takes little part in hunting, which is done cooperatively by the females.
[Panthera leo, family Felidae.]
• (the Lion) the zodiacal sign or constellation Leo.
• a brave or strong person.
• an influential or celebrated person: a literary lion.
• the lion as an emblem (e.g., of English or Scottish royalty) or as a charge in heraldry.

Bayard turned reluctantly away from the Spire at the sound of approaching footsteps. The creature who approached him and laid down beside him was interesting. It was a lot bigger than he was, though the bird did not feel scared. He studied the other Gembound’s face for a moment, noting the green color of its eyes. It had pretty eyes. It spoke to him. He blinked. It wasn’t asking a question, he didn’t think. So he wasn’t entirely sure what to say back. His beak opened to say words, but nothing came out, because he didn’t know how to talk yet. He knew in his mind what he wanted to say, but the words would not form. They swirled around in his head uselessly.

Eventually, he decided to focus his attention back on the Spire. The creature – it was a lion, though he didn’t know that – posed no threat, and was not as interesting as the crackling blue tower. But maybe it could help him figure out what this thing was. He looked back at it, the lion, and made a soft sound to get its attention, and then turned back towards the Spire and tapped it a few times with his beak. Finally, a word bubbled up from his throat. “What?” What is this thing?

Usui had not expected a reply but he thought it really adorable the way the little gembound opened its beak in acknowledgement of his words. He blinked and brought his nose closer to the bird to blow some warm air at it in a teasing, gentle manner, intending to warm it up and ruffle up its feathers some. The raven seemed bored of him then. It looked to the tower, then back at him and made a little vocalization, then managed a word, “What.” Usui titled his head and replied gently. “Hmm? That? Ahh, it’s known as the spire. Blue crystals, lots of magic yes. You wanna see it?” Usui shifted round such that his shoulder and side faced the little bird, then he twisted his head over and gave a couple of nods, beckoning for the young one to get onto his back so that he might ascend the spire and give the young one a wondrous view of his source of fascination.

Spire.
Noun.
A tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, typically a church tower.
• the continuation of a tree trunk above the point where branching begins, esp. in a tree of a tapering form.
• a long tapering object: spires of delphiniums.

The… Spire… Hmm… Bayard blinked at the lion in curiosity. It was made of blue crystal, this Spire. And… had lots of Magic? That sounded fascinating. He turned and stared up at the Spire again, blue-black feathers ruffling as he squared away this new information, to be taken out and pondered on later. He wondered how tall the Spire was. An arc of Magical energy ran down its length for a second, and he watched it with intense focus. He needed to know more about this amazing structure! Had it always been here? What was it here for? Did it even have a purpose at all? Or was it just… a pretty thing?

Hmm? The raven turned and looked back at the lion, who was now… offering his shoulder to him? What? Oh! He wanted to give Bayard a ride! … To the top of the Spire! The raven’s beak dropped open, and he let out a caw of surprise. Then he quickly moved forward and sort of hop-flapped up onto the lion’s back. But… how would they get up there? This furry creature didn’t have any wings, let alone feathers… Mm. Bayard tightened his talons into the creature’s fur, though he was careful not to accidentally pierce the skin underneath. This was going to be… interesting.

After a slight moment of hesitation, the little raven mounted onto his back. He assisted it by nudging its back gently with his muzzle till the raven got on. Still quite the pup, Usui had a decent amount of fluff around his body for the bird to cling onto and he supposed it’d be quite safe. “Well then, cling tight!” he exclaimed and let his magic flow forth. The black jade gem on his ear started to glow a ghastly black then as he summoned the largest pieces of whatever gem/quarts was available over him. Medium sized pieces of unpolished, common , cracked pieces made their way towards him. Usui knew that he wouldn’t bother creating a magnificent spiral staircase of pure diamond, he’d probably kill himself doing it. He knew what worked best to conserve his energy – just the largest pieces of whatever defect pieces lying around would do. With great concentration, he forced the pieces to fuse into the spire temporarily. Tiny handholds creaked and lodged into the spire. They would hold, but only just enough for him to leap up and down. Upon jumping down, the pieces would probably crack. A growl arose from within his chest as Usui concentrated his magic and forced the pieces into whatever cracks and crannies lay amongst the crystal forming the spiral. Each piece was dangerously thin because this magic was exhausting but the lion was foolhardy. Done with his work, Usui flashed a boyish grin to the raven and said, ”Hang on!” Then he bunched his muscles beneath him and bounded up, up, up, finding slippery and narrow purchase on the temporal steps he’d created, as he pushed himself to the top of the spiral.

impress
verb |imˈpres| [ with obj. ]
1 make (someone) feel admiration and respect
2 make a mark or design on (an object) using a stamp or seal; imprint
• apply (a mark) to something with pressure
3 (impress something on) fix an idea in (someone's mind)
4 apply (an electric current or potential) from an external source.


Bayard’s jaw dropped for the second time in a minute once he was all settled onto the lion’s back. From his position, he could clearly see the black jade gem on the lion’s ear begin to… sort of glow with Magical energy. The raven leaned forward to study it a little more closely, but quickly lost his interest in it as something far more interesting began happening over his new friend’s head. All over the place, gems of all shapes and sizes were coming up from the ground, and rolling across the floor towards their location. Bayard’s beady little raven eyes flicked back and forth quickly as he watched carefully, slightly nervous but incredibly curious. Somehow, instinctively, he knew the lion was the one doing this, so he tried not to distract him.

Bayard watched in fascination and awe as the pieces of crystal lodged themselves into the Spire, creating a rough spiral staircase that would lead them up to the top of the crackling blue tower. Once he could be sure Usui was done concentrating so hard, he let out a very impressed squawk. “Nice Magic!” he said, wings flapping excitedly. He let out another bit of a squawk as he was jostled around by Usui’s scrambling steps. He used his beak to balance on the lion’s back, grabbing hold of some of the fur with it to have a bit more security. His wings instinctively flapped as they bounded their way up to the top, a way to help the bird steady himself. By the time they had made it, Bayard was feeling a little tired from the ordeal…

He let out a soft caw of relief, hopping down onto the Spire itself just to let himself be on steady ground again. He didn’t blame the lion or anything. He’d gotten them up there, after all. Besides, the view was so worth it. Bayard stared out from his high vantage point, letting out a, “Wow…” Below him, the whole of Polaris was on display. From the Crystal River, to the Dam, to the Generator. Wait… What were those? Bayard’s keen eyesight had picked up on a group of Golems. He let out a caw as he watched their – from this height – small forms blunder around slowly near the river. Remembering how useful his lion friend had been about identifying the Spire, he asked, “What those? Over there! The moving things. Look like… alive rocks?”

The lion chuckled in response to the raven’s praise. Although the rough footholds he’d created were far from perfect and his paws scabbled against them, the feline was able to balance decently and his tail swung behind him to allow for greater mobility. Usui felt the little raven bounce up and down along his back as he surged upwards to a height of 10 metres. After a while, they reached the top whereupon Usui stepped onto the spiral, careful to keep his four paws lodged into the spaces between, back hunched over to balance properly. Swinging his tail low behind him, the lion ensured that his raven friend had alighted properly before absorbing the sight of Polaris for himself. It was indeed beautiful with the different sections visible from this vantage point.

The raven spoke then and Usui was immensely pleased that this gembound had developed sufficiently to communicate with him. He raised a paw and gently placed it upon the little raven’s head to ruffle it playfully. “That, little raven, are golems. They thrive off gems and broken shells like your chrysalis. See,” he paused and turned to look at the remains of the young gembound’s chrysalis which was now being attached to the rocks, “There, your chyrsalis’ gone now. Rocks…yeah, you could say they are rocks,” he muttered wistfully and let his voice trail away. Seeing how this raven was literate, Usui decided to exchange names. “I’m Usui. What’s your name?” He attempted to ruffle the raven’s feathers again with a chuckle before lifting his head, bringing his paw back to the crystal ground and look wistfully into the distance just content to enjoy the scenery.

golem |ˈgōləm|
noun
(in Jewish legend) a clay figure brought to life by magic.
• an automaton or robot.


Bayard felt the lion’s paw ruffle the feathers on his head, and he was about to protest the action, but then his friend was talking about the golems. He squinted his eyes to try and see the farthest ones a little better. So far, these creatures were the most interesting things he had seen since awakening and pushing out of his egg. The Spire was still quite fascinating, but it didn’t move around and… absorb his chrysalis, apparently? Huh. Why did golems do that? His lion friend said that they thrived off of chrysalises… So, they didn’t need to eat, then? Or rather, they ate chrysalises? That was… odd. And interesting. Bayard decided he needed to get a closer look at these… golems.

Usui… That was his friend’s name. He was asked for his own, and was about to respond when the lion once again ruffled the feathers on his head, moving them in all sorts of wrong and uncomfortable directions. He let out a squawk and said quickly, “Don’t!” and ducked his head, putting his wings over the top of it. He didn’t mind the touch itself. He understood that it was a friendly gesture. It was just that he didn’t like his feathers to get messed up. To the outside observer, Usui hadn’t really even moved them. To Bayard, it was like every feather on his head was now a centimeter off, and it made his extremely organized brain go insane! He puffed up his feathers as best he could and resettled them, giving a small sound of relief as they went back to the right position.

As an afterthought, so that Usui wouldn’t feel bad, he turned toward his friend and sort of nuzzled the lion’s leg with his beak. “Not mad at,” he said. “But no more mess up feathers, please. Name’s Bayard.” He hopped backwards a tiny bit, looking his friend up and down. “What you? Not bird… No feathers. Four legs. And tail. So… what?”

Usui noticed that the raven was very intellectual, taking a huge interest in the environment around him. This struck a chord with the lion for it was not unlike himself in his younger days, prodding his nose and claws at every opportunity he could get. Dismay and guilt filled his features as the bird dodged from beneath his touch though. Immediately, he swiped back his paws, distress written over his face. "Sorry! Sorry!" Furious apologies came forth as he looked towards the raven to make sure that he was alright! What if he had accidentally scratched the gembound with his claws? He'd regret it for life. The raven seemed to understand and reassured him then. He nodded hastily, taking note that he shouldn't ruffle ravens' feathers. It was likely that more of his species didn't like it.

"Bayard," he spoke, testing the name on his tongue. "It is a nice name, feels apt y'know?" he chuckled and crouched down to be eye-level with the raven as he asked him what he was. Eyes twinkled mischievously as he thrashed his feline tail behind him. Usui grinned, revealing his set of sharp canines. "I'm a large feline. A large cat. A lion, specifically." Usui wondered if he might teach this young gembound more things. His eyes first went to its feathers - well then, it should learn how to fly! With a chuckle, the sensei said, "Wait here" and then turned around and jumped down his flight of stairs. They shattered as he went down, leaving no more footholds for anyone to ascend or descend upon foot. Now, he trotted to the front of the spire and, tossing his head up, shouted at Bayard. "Fly Bayard! Stretch those wings! I'll catch y'if anything happens so don't worry!" The raven seemed the type who was up for new things. Moving to be at a more central location where he predicted Bayard might fall if he failed to take flight, Usui waited for the raven to respond.