[[ @Madison! :D ]]

Already today had been quite the day for the young mustelid. Having traveled all the way from the Cetus room, across the great icy path of Tunnel H, he was starting to get tired. He had met so many other creatures and just right then, he was about ready to fall asleep. There was no way of knowing when it was time to sleep, so once he began to feel sleepy he figured it was about time. His desire for sleep didn't last long, however, as his eyes caught a flash of blue. A familiar blue.

The central cavern, the heart of Origin Cave, was still quite dark except for the occasional crystal and moss. While Fisher-- that was both what the mustelid was as well as his self-decided name-- had gotten used to the dark, he was starting to miss the familiar white fog of his birth cavern. He wanted to see anything but the dark, deep purples of reflected light on rocks, and see anything besides the darkness that wrapped up around him. When Fisher had first arrived in Polaris, he had found the way by the same blue light that he saw now. Following the small pockets of crystals, he soon arrived to a giant beacon of light.

His eyes went wide, overwhelmed by the sharp, brilliant shade of blue. He must have been close to Tunnel H again, but he was much too sleepy to bother trying the trek back. On the other paw, he was way too awestruck to turn back now and go find a dark pocket to catch a nap in. Instead, he felt drawn to the beautiful, fantastic spire that rose what felt like a hundred times his own height towards the ceiling. He could feel the power flowing from the crystals, the mystical energy. He trembled with excitement, his thick brown fur looking a dark, deep lilac in the bright cyan glow. Sniffing the air for danger, and not smelling anything of interest, he dared himself closer.

His small paws crept forward, his copper eyes wide and captured green in the light. What was this place? He wanted to know everything about it. He wanted to feel the power that surged around his senses in his own blood. He forgot his drowsiness and even his persistent hunger, being only a short, tiny weasel-like creature dwarfed by the majesty of the Spire. Everything could wait just a little longer.

Back in the Core, he felt at home. He never had much of an attraction towards the tunnel he had emerged in, despite having spent the majority of his life (as a Neonate, that is) there. Leon had been quick to emerge and explore. He wanted to know everything life had to offer, so when he learned that there was so much more beyond that reaching tunnel, he had to see it. It just so happened that Leon spent most of his exploring in Polaris, and by now he was beginning to feel like he really belonged here. Maybe it was just the powerful draw of energy, or maybe it was simply that he knew this place best.

It had become routine for him to visit the spire upon his return. Some part of him expected it to do something every time he met it. It was grand, shining bright blue and seeming to light up the whole room, though there were far corners where its glow didn't reach - he strayed away from those corners, at least until he could produce the light himself. He didn't expect anybody else to be there, although he should have, considering how many Gembounds he'd met in his short, short life already. Still, it was a bit of a surprise to see another small animal there, admiring the spire's luminous colour.

He didn't hesitate to run up and meet the creature. Maybe he was freshly emerged, like most of the Gembounds he'd encountered. So exciting! Leon loved being the first to meet a Gembound after they'd come clambering out of their chrysalis. He broke into a lopsided gallop towards the little beast, laughing. "Whatcha lookin' at?" Leon spouted and came running up behind the other child, tilting his head.

Fisher's attention became fixated on the beautiful blue spire. While he loved the foggy marsh he had been born and adventured in the most, he had never seen something so wonderful there. His fur prickled as he stared and stared, possibly to be stuck there forever at least until oh golly jeez something was galloping towards him!

He heard the thumping of paws before the call, and even started to turn around, but the small weasel-related creature hopped up at least three inched and spun in a weird semi-circle in the air as he was spoke to. Tail as thick and bristly as a toilet bowl scrubber, his copper eyes locked on the quite blue-tinted brown, fluffy beast before him. He forgot his words, a bit startled out of his senses, his instincts shouting for him to find a tree. Of course, the only thing there was to climb was the Spire, but the furious waves of energy coming from it was enough to hold him back for now.

The grizzly bear may have just been a cub, but he was much too large for Fisher. Then again, almost everything seemed huge to Fisher, having not got used to the wide caverns and strange variety of animals he kept bumping into yet. The short, darker furred creature finally started to calm down as he realized the big monster of a bear was friendly or seemed friendly enough. Never could be too careful, Fisher thought. He could handle an oversized fluff ball anyway, couldn't he? Yeah he could.

Fisher reached up on to his hind legs, his paws against his chest, and sniffed at the bear. "This big thing, what else?" He replied shortly, snorting. His tail thumped against the earth, but he couldn't move it too much since it was most of his balance when he was on his hindlegs like that.

"I's Fisher," the almost black creature offered his name, because that was what everyone had done so far and he didn't see why not. A name, and what he was, was harmless enough. "Bet you I could climb the thing. No problem," he boasted, glancing over his shoulder. His claws unsheathed as he itched to run off, away from the bigger animal and up the giant blue Spire. He wanted to prove just how brave and powerful he was to this huge bear.

It seemed Leon had startled the smaller animal, which had definitely not been his intention. Most of the time, Leon was completely oblivious to his own size. He didn't really realize that he was bigger than most other animals. In time, sure; even as he grew and got older along with other Gembounds his age, he'd probably be bigger than most of them. In any case, it hadn't really occurred to him, so when the fisher whirled around and puffed out his tail, Leon belted out a childish laugh. "That was fancy! Do it again!" He beamed, clapping his paws together as he leaned back on his hind legs.

When the fisher had calmed down and leaned forward to sniff him, Leon's paws folded against his chest. He leaned back, then stooped forward again to sniff the other boy back. He noticed that each other creature had their own distinct smell; the same was true for this guy. "Oh." Leon crinkled his nose slightly at the boy's response. Obviously he was looking at the spire. Some part of him had hoped the fisher would ask what it was, as Leon felt himself to be the world's foremost expert on the thing. He was a little disappointed when it didn't happen, so much so that he considered just going off and explaining what the thing was (to his knowledge) anyways. Only he didn't get a chance, because the other boy introduced himself instead. "I'm Leon!" The bear grinned again.

Oh, but did the fisher really think he could climb it? Leon tilted his head and looked past him, at the spire. He never considered climbing it before. In fact, Leon was pretty sure he'd never climbed anything before. But he'd be damned if he was going to let this little beastie show him up, especially regarding the spire. The spire that Leon considered to be part of his home. That meant it was his. Following this train of thought was a small surge of jealousy. Now there was no way he could let the fisher best him in climbing. "Uhh, bet you I can climb it even higher!" Leon challenged, snorting.

The boy barely waited for a response before he thumped back onto all four paws and hopped a few paces away, tilting his head back to stare up the spire. He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, then crouched down, wriggled his butt, and simply... jumped at it. Maybe his scrambling claws would find purchase against the spire. Maybe he would slide down. There was really no way to tell until he just did it.

The bear clapped, something that Fisher had never seen before. He resisted the urge to slap his paws together, deciding he would do that in privacy later so he didn't look like a clueless nutter. He was quite pleased that the bigger creature sniffed him right back and introduced himself. Leon! That wasn't too hard to say, though it made his mouth feel like he had got something sticky in it when he mouthed it in response. His licked his lips, copying the tilt that Leon's head did to one side.

He settled back down on to all fours, a playful smile on his face as he wriggled his rump, ready to go and climb up the tower... When the bigger animal had the nerve to say he could climb higher than he could! Well, that certainly could not be the case. He started to feel a bit nervous, and took a deep breath to calm his nerves before showing his teeth in a grin.

"Bring it on, Le-on!" He yipped, tail wagging in the dog-like fashion he had picked up from an actual dog he had met earlier that day. Mind you, the bear had already started to go over to the tower, which left Fisher a bit in the dust and a bit behind. He certainly was going to climb higher than the big oaf and he was definitely going to do it first! So he sprinted off, ignoring the way the magicks surrounding the crystal made his fur feel all sparky, and with his flexible wrists he simply ran straight to the Spire. Just before he ran headlong into the bright blue crystals, his paws shot up and he did his best to just start sprinting up the towering monument.

Once he lost his momentum, then he would try sinking his claws in, but for now he was just going to see how high he could get in one giant scramble for the top. Hopefully he would judge himself right, otherwise he could quite easily fall and hurt himself, and... Sheesh, that would be embarrassing. That was the last thing Fisher wanted.

Also, like, hopefully the Spire wasn't radiated or otherwise magickally dangerous to be touching, but oh well. The pair was butt-deep in blue magical aura now!

It was quite literally a leap of faith. Leon threw himself at the spire and, by some act of God(?), managed to stay aloft. For a second. Then his bulk began to drag him down, and the sensation of touching the spire sent numbing static through his skin. But he was determined! The bear scrambled against the crystal, nails scraping and clamoring to take hold. Before long he did manage to secure himself on a couple extra outcroppings, as well as find a foothold for one of his lower paws. Success! Leon smirked to himself and glanced over at the fisher, just in time to see him run and jump at the spire, flawlessly climbing up it as if he had been bred for it.

"WHAT! NO FAIR!" Leon hollered, huffed, and turned his stare back to the crystals. Oh, it was quite the stare, holding the intensity of an incredibly determined bear. He was going to climb this spire, and he was going to climb it higher than the fisher, and he was going to get to the top and be the king of the spire and it would be his and he wouldn't let anybody else climb the spire unless they asked or they were his friend. Yep. That was the plan.

Leon grunted and pressed his face against the spire, using his arms and legs - still spindly with youth - to try and shimmy up the spire. Occasionally he would thrust himself further up and hope that he would be able to grab onto something and not just slide down.

Fisher had done it! His paws which were rough and perfect for walking along snow and ice also seemed to grip the crystalline surface just fine. He bolted up to where Leon was, and felt his momentum falter. His cat-like claws unsheathed and he clung to the crystal as his boost in speed failed to beat gravity entirely. He heard the bigger animal shout at him about how Unfair it was. It was enough to make the little, weasel-esqe creature chuckle. Laughing, unfortunately, made it hard to hang on, so he tried to stifle his giggle as he clung tightly to his spot.

Although he had never climbed this sort of thing before, he knew better than to look down. He had no idea how high they were right now, but the air was like electricity. It almost reminded him of the fog, and through the glow of blue it was a bit difficult to see much of anything at times. He did catch a glimpse of the bear, who's bright orange-y shape stood out nicely in all the blue, scooting his way up the spire.

Huffing, Fisher knew he had to keep going. "Hurry up, slow-paws!" He taunted, even though it looked like the cub was getting higher than him by the minute. He hoped it would be a good distraction while he stuck his pawpads to the Spire and started to put one paw in front of the other. If he could just get a rhythm going, he might be able to start scrambling up like a squirrel again. His tail twitched, wiggling to each side as he made his way up, doing his best to stay balanced.

Fisher may have been good at climbing trees, but this was a different beast all together. As long as his pawholds were sturdy and his claws sharp enough, hopefully he could keep going. Not that he had any doubts, of course! He was going to be the best and Leon would have to admit that he was amazing. Because, after all, Fisher was definitely amazing. Perhaps even the most amazing of all time.

Well, this just wouldn't do. Every time Leon tried to shimmy himself further up the spire, he felt gravity pulling him down, working against him in every way it could fathom. The bear groaned loudly, frustrated at his impending failure. But he was determined! How could he fail if he believed he would succeed? How could he possibly fail if he tried as hard as he could? He would snort and grunt and grumble, continuing to try and pull himself up higher and higher. Soon, the muscles in his arms would begin to ache, but he wasn't going to let himself slide back down to the ground yet. In fact, Leon wasn't even going to let himself slide. If he was going to fall, he was going to do it spectacularly. Probably throw himself off the spire and make it dramatic or something.

BUT THAT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN, NO SIR. Leon again would glance over at the fisher, who climbed up the spire quickly. It felt to him like Fisher was getting higher, faster, even if it felt the same to Fisher that Leon was making better progress. He was almost certain that the fisher was climbing higher. That was why Leon had to amp his game up. Now things were getting serious. The bear narrowed his eyes, determination, stubbornness, passion blossoming in his heart and spawning another cloud of heat to begin to accumulate in his paws. It wasn't hot enough to cause any damage - in fact, it had no effect on anything, but he could feel it.

Leon hugged the crystals tighter, beginning to inchworm his way up now. His nails would grip the smooth surfaces tightly, so intent on getting as high as he could, he didn't even think about looking down. Down was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to go up, up, as high as he could! It was all about determination!

Leon didn't reply, which was good enough for Fisher. He felt his confidence surge as his opponent was too focused on climbing to even trash talk back! He had already won the mental fight, as far as he was concerned. Now all that was left was the climb, and he had really got a groove going. He was starting to speed up, his claws scrabbling against the crystal, making a mix between a beautiful jingle and a noise like nails on a chalkboard.

His tail stopped wiggling behind him and now flew behind him like a banner, his pupils narrow slits that showed his bright, copper-orange iris as he focused on his goal: The very top. It was now or never, and it almost felt like gravity had let him go as he adjusted to the near 90 degree angle of the slope. He wasn't going to give up now, he could almost see the edge of the tip he had to grab and hall himself up on.

Fishers were not known for fishing, and actually they were more suited towards walking across snow and also climbing-- indeed, young Fisher was absolutely in his element. He felt behind any fears of falling and climbed higher and higher, getting reckless but ambitious, determined to get up all ten meters before his energy gave out. He was going to win! He just knew it!

"Le-on, Le-on! Come-on!" He called, laughter in his noisy chattering yips and squeaks, making all sorts of racket as he continued on, clearly oblivious now of the risk of slipping and seriously falling well over the height that would be safe for a tiny, baby mustelid. If determination was all it took, however, Leon would find that Fisher was made up of the purest of that stuff. Nothing could deter him from risking his neck just to prove he was the best.

The fisher had started to tease him. Now that was just cruel. Leon turned his head slightly, sending a foul frown in his direction though he felt the fisher would be too focused on climbing to see it. "I hope you fall off!!" He shouted at the smaller mammal, sticking out his tongue. Of course, that brief lapse in focus had caused Leon to slide down a foot or so, which then cause him to squeak in surprise and hug the crystal even tighter, hind paws scrambling for purchase. He grumbled, pretty certain that some kind of misfortunate fate was trying to work against him and prevent him from reaching the top. But he was going to do it, fate be damned!

The top was almost within reach. He could see it, towering over him. The air felt thinner, or maybe it was just some kind of illusion, a result of all his adrenaline. He snorted and huffed, pausing for a brief respite. Leon squeezed his eyes closed and leaned in against the crystals, shifting his hind paws to find a good hold so that he could rest. But the longer he rested, the further up the fisher would get than him, and he didn't want to lose to that little weasel. After his small rest, the bear tilted his head back to see how much further he had to go. It was a good few meters yet, but he had made it this far! Now it was time to cross the threshold, to close the gap completely and to reach the top!

It was all or nothing, and Leon was going for gold. He gritted his teeth, hugged the crystal as tightly as he could, and gave one powerful shimmy upwards. He hoped for the best and that he would find another hold for his paws, because from here on in it would be a long fall.

(POST-ROLL EDIT:)
Fate simply did not believe that Leon could climb that spire. As he grappled for the crystal surface again, his paws couldn't get a hold of anything. They swept clean against a solid wall of crystal blue, unable to support himself. And with nothing beneath his paws, Leon's front paws hadn't the strength to hold him up. He began to slide down, slowly at first as he tried so so so hard to hold on. "No! No no no! NoooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The bear cub cried as he finally lost his grip on the spire and slipped off, tumbling back down to the ground.