His eyes had opened a long time ago.

He couldn't remember when the darkness ended and the dull, blue glow had began; it felt like it had always been there, gleaming in his under developed vision. Half-lidded and watching without even realizing. The chrysalis gave the effect of being underwater and it was peaceful, soothing. It lulled his mind, still growing and unprepared for the outside world. He had always been able to see it seemed, coming to know each ridge, each facet and divet, each side that faced the light and those that lay in the dark. Blue would remain with him for his whole life, for he was born in it, nurtured in it, coming to know each shade and highlight it associated with.

Until one day, when the calm stillness had unexpectedly ended.

There was a giant lurch, and suddenly his mind was no long sleeping. Blue eyes widened and flashed with sudden sentience, his heartbeat pounding against his chest as he realized that his home was suddenly moving. Curled up in a ball, the little cat began to struggle, pushing against the sides of the chrysalis. His movements had involuntarily enhanced the dislodging of the crystal from the underside of a cliff, causing the chrysalis to shake and sway, reflecting light from its deep blue surfaces. The cat scrambled as more groans and cracks rang through his home. Then, the chrysalis shattered.

The kitten and a handful of gleaming blue shards rained down from the cliff face, landing with a series of splashes in a shallow puddle. Though the drop was only six feet, Bartos was stunned when he landed in the cold water, limbs paralyzed and sticking out every which way as he lay on his side. The kitten stared wide-eyed at the world so suddenly thrust upon him, and the first thing he saw was the distant crystals gleaming like stars in the ceiling. He stared, struggling to understand the feeling of cold wetness and the fact that he was no longer in the safety of the only home he'd known.

when i was a child i heard voices

some would sing and some would scream

αριστερά . κέντρο . δεξιά

Kerberos was hunting for cave deer. He had practically gorged himself on the fish of the nearby tunnel, but he had to learn to catch land food. The water was not something he enjoyed staying in for too long-- unlike the strange, smooth grey Eeya. He wanted to find the cave deer the tiny puff of fluff had spoke about... Yet instead, the puppy found himself standing in front of a sad looking puddle filled with kitten.

He had heard the chrysalis shatter with his attentive sharp ears, and he had been attracted to the glisten of blue... But now, he was lost staring at the tiny mass of greyish fur, soaked deep in water. "Hey?" He woofed, giving a cautious wave of his tail as he stood one short bound from the puddle, six eyes staring-- bright red in the blue shadows of Orion.

"Y'gonna just... Stay there?" Kerberos was curious. He wondered if this thing was edible, though it looked just as wet as the fish, and he was growing tired of the fishy taste. "Aren't you cold?"

Though he didn't wait for an answer. Perhaps the kitten had started to freeze, and that was why he was stuck (it certainly wasn't the fall or anything, dumb dog) so the puppy began to glow a deep crimson, tinting the air a shimmer of violet. "Wait, I fix-- See?"

The kitten could only feel the stagnant water rippling around him, soaking into his soft fur, cooling him and biting his skin. Wide eyes stared up, watching the ceiling as it glittered, until his sensitive ears twitched at a new sound. This one was a heavy sound, almost like that of his heartbeat when he was still inside the chrysalis, but it was distant. It didn't resonate through him. Instead, it reverberated through the ground, causing the surface of the water to quake. The cat curiously turned his head, only for him to freeze again when the massive three headed dog approached and stared him down. If his eyes could get any bigger, they'd probably fall out of his head.

When the canine spoke, he instinctively opened his mouth, only to squeak in response. He didn't really know the proper protocol here. Was the dog a threat? Or was he a friend? Of course, the cat could only assume that he was just another feature of this new world. The water suddenly started to warm up - the sudden temperature change started the kitten, who hadn't expected a sudden heat to emanate from the water. The kitten instantly rolled and jumped up, puffing out his wet fur. A frightened hiss sputtered from his lips as he wildly leaped away, trying to escape the water.

But, he didn't realize that those gangly things - his legs - needed practice to be functional. The cat bounced out of the water, hissing and spitting, before stumbling and falling on his face in front of the cerberus. Now that he was out of the warm water, the air was just as cold - even colder. The cat stared wide-eyed up at the other Gembound, confused and frankly a little unhappy with what he'd just experienced.

when i was a child i heard voices

some would sing and some would scream

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... It squeaked. Could he eat it? Kerberos thought about it and the more he thought about it the more he thought it would be nice to eat a land thing, but this one was all fur and reminded him of that other small gembound, Quix. This one had less ears though, and the ears seemed like the tastiest part of a teeny fluffball.

Plus, this one seemed so scared. The puppy tilted his heads, the right one lowering to give the kitten a sniff with his bright orange nose. Carefully, cautiously, the puppy stretched out a paw and tried to scoop the kitten into his chest fluff, where it was warm and not wet.

"Wet's no good, huh?" He asked, tail wagging softly. Kerberos had gotten used to the waters in some parts of the cave, but he still found most rivers too cold for his tastes. His poor tail just did not like it in the least, as much as his paws were made for carving through currents.

The tiny feline stared up at the massive dog, twitching his nose as he sniffed curiously. But he was still cold, and his wet fur slicked against his tiny form. The cat began to shiver, snuffling and curling his fuzzy tail around his haunch. Thankfully, the dog seemed to have some semblance of charity about him. As he swooped his head down to sniff, the cat stiffened and cocked his head away, whiskers twitching. The three headed dog was so big, even a snort of air from his nose was enough to make him shiver more, blowing his fur back. The cat closed his eyes and opened his mouth wide, emitting the only sound he knew how to make - a high-pitched mewl.

Suddenly the canine was scooping him up in his paw. Startled, the kitten stuck his limbs out and flailed, only to realize that the dog was snuggling him into the warm fuzzies of his thick furred chest. The kitten mewled more, revealing tiny, needle teeth inside an equally adorable pink little mouth. He curled his tail between his legs, twitching his ears and falling silent as the dog spoke again.

There was an inherent knowledge, a part of him that agreed with the cerberus' words, whichever head had spoken. Wet wasn't very good, like at all. The cat sniffed and snuggled closer to the dog, reveling in the dry warmth of his fur. The events following his sudden emergence from his chrysalis had simply exhausted the little feline, but this world - it was actually pretty great. In fact, it was very neat! The kitten leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling again, watching the crystals glimmer in the light.

when i was a child i heard voices

some would sing and some would scream

αριστερά . κέντρο . δεξιά

The puppy watched the kitten, and with curiosity, followed the bright gaze of the newborn to the starlit sky above. The quartz glistened on the dark black stone, beautiful shapes formed from the points of light. For a moment, there was a great silence that stretched above them and around them, the scuttle of a cave rat in the distance the only sound to catch on their ears.

With a snort, the heads looked back down, and with a pause of thought, the puppy gave the kitten a careful lick-- well, three, careful licks. That done, his tail wagged slowly behind him and he nuzzled into the kitten, three snuffly faces giving the cat more than enough dog fur for the rest of his life, certainly.

His middle head wriggled down under the feline and scooped him up, finally lifting him out from the nuzzling faces, raising him closer to the ceiling of bright white, glistening beauty if he wanted to.

"Welcome," he woofed, unsure what else to say. Some deep part of him just wanted to make the best impression of not only himself, but of the world, for this little newborn.

The kitten was distracted by the gleaming reflections when the dog's three massive heads swooped down and began to snuffle him. He burst out into something of a mix between a giggle and a long, playful prrrrup!, batting at the dog's noses until his middle head and scooped the cat up. The kitten wobbled a little as he ascended higher to the ceiling, clinging tightly to the dog's skull, until finally he stopped. There, the cat was able to see the ceiling even better now, watching the reflections of light twinkle off of the crystals. Wide eyes stared at the beautiful scene above him before the dog's voice broke the silence. The cat glanced back down at him with a curious tilt of his head, uncertain of how to respond. So... after a few seconds, he just did what came naturally to him. "Iiii like you!" He declared, patting his paws on the dog's head with glee.

@Kerberos

when i was a child i heard voices

some would sing and some would scream

αριστερά . κέντρο . δεξιά

When the kitten spoke, paws batting at his white face, the massive dog felt a shiver down his spine. The kitten liked him? Why did all of the tiny fluffy things like him? All he did was treat them how they should be treated-- with care. He wondered this for a great, long moment before letting his tongue fall out of his muzzle and pant while the other two heads spoke up.

"I like you too!" Came his reply, bright and cheerful, with another lick to boot. "I'm Kerberos! Who are you?" Did the kitten have a name? He was just born, but perhaps he knew. A lot of gembounds were smart in that way-- did Cave Deer have names? He wondered. They deserved names. Even if they didn't talk, they stayed in groups together, with many emotional teeth at the very least.

Thinking about the cave deer did make him hungry, however. His tail twitched. Perhaps he should get the kitten a fish or something to eat.

Soon as he announced that he liked the three-headed dog, the beast below him smothered him in licks and declared the same. It made his heart soar! He was so happy that the big creature like him, and he didn't really know why, it just made him very happy. He felt no immediate inclination towards socialization, but perhaps it was an artifact of the inherent nature of Gembounds themselves - the desire to be close, the need for safety and to learn. The dog had provided him everything he needed in that sense. A helping hand to pick him up out of the water. A source of loving warmth. It was enough to push Bartos into that path of perpetual optimism - the belief, perhaps even the assumption, that everything he needed and wanted would be delivered to him without any extra effort made to achieve it. A pivotal point in the development of the cat's personality.

The prompt for his name caused the kitten to slow, sliding down; first his chest dipped low and then his hind end slumped down, resulting in the babe splaying himself out across the dog's head. "Keeeerrrrby!" The cat sang, papping his paws on his head before dropping his chin down into his soft, white fur. "Keeerrrrbyberrrbybos, Berrrrbeybos! Is that a who? You? Who you?" He asked, tilting his head. If 'Kerberos' was 'who' the dog was, then... 'who' was the kitten? He pursed his lips and adopted a pensive look. Who was he? How did he deliver that kind of information? Well, he was him, obviously, but the dog was given a title, a name: Kerberos. That meant the cat had to have one too. Right?

"I don't knoooowwwww." He mewled, raising his head again. "Can I beeeee Kerrrrbybos? No, Berrrrbybos! Barrrbos." He tried the words out, but nothing seemed to stick... yet.