Exploring Under the Canopy (Open!)

She needn’t have looked back to check – a voice had called out to her in that moment. Someone wanting to join her, just as she’d hoped! She turned fully then, happy to wait if it meant company, and she gave the best smile her beak could manage.

It was the orange…fur? …Yeah, fur. She couldn’t place a name to the creature – with everyone figuring out their names at once and her own preoccupation at the time, she just hadn’t connected names to the creatures even if she remembered some of the ones that had been made.

The orange fur jogged to her, his feet covered in snow like he hadn’t come straight here from the base of the tree. Weren’t his toes cold? But that did seem like something that could be fun…maybe she should try it for herself, soon…if she could stand the cold for long enough. Exit hadn’t been kidding – it was definitely warmer by the tree, though out here wasn’t too bad yet.

“Hi! You okay?” The fur was breathing a bit heavily, it seemed. He looked happy, so maybe he was fine, but it was best to check. Then she remembered that he’d asked her something, and she bobbed her head in a shrug. “Yeah, that’s my name. I’m exploring! Well…sort of. I don’t know where I’ll end up. I’d welcome company, though, so thanks for finding me, um…which name was yours again? I was able to remember names and faces but not together.”

Caeran

Her companion commented that exploring was his favorite. Great! She could possibly have a new friend and some fun out of all this! This was a good start to life, right? Of course, right.

The fur introduced himself (again) and she chirped a quick laugh as he continued. Fruss the adventurer? That was quite the title. Maybe she should come up with something like that for herself? Not the same thing, though. She wasn’t really an adventurer. She just wanted some fun, and right now seeing more of this strange new world they found themselves in seemed like the best idea ever.

“Thanks. It’s good to actually meet you this time.” She followed his gesture and nodded. “I can see that, too. This place is so big and there’s so few of us now that we’ve spread out a bit.”

She was about to suggest they get going when a voice cut through the air, announcing the arrival of an orange feather as he ran right past them and into the snow. Idoka watched him, beak hanging open in shock and wincing as he fell. That…could not have been pleasant.

Fruss had laughed at the other’s antics, but that stopped when things seemed to go wrong, and he asked if the other feather was okay before Idoka could get the words out, herself.

The other responded he was fine – oh, good – and then…shuddered? Why? Or maybe it was a shiver? It seemed like it was getting colder the longer they stood there. Or maybe that was just her.

“I don’t mind.” Her gaze flicked to the fur, head tilted in a silent question. It’d be up to him, too, wouldn’t it? Given what she’d seen of him so far, though, she’d be surprised if he said ‘no’. “I’m Idoka, by the way. What’s your name?” Should she introduce Fruss, or let him do it himself? Or maybe the other feather remembered their names? Bleh…life was so much work!

She was lost.

She'd only been there for a short time, but for her, that emergence did not turn out... great. As what she had expected. But then again... it was mostly her fault why it had turned out that way. She came too late, where most of the introductions had been concluded; well, there was someone from the sprout who introduced themselves to her, but she wasn't able to reply, because her words were just too messy to even understand. She even tried to talk to the guide, Exit, but... she couldn't even think of a name for herself...

And now, she was lost and doesn't know what to do.

The snow was falling from the skies but she didn't feel anything from it, her two eyes lonely as she looks at her feet stepping on the snow. How stupid of her, immediately thinking she could make friends...

Suddenly, there was a pain, both from behind her and from her face. She looked behind her -- it only increased her pain, unfortunately -- and there, she saw something growing, two appendages, seem like? She doesn't know what's happening to her face, but... they're painful. It makes her feel breathless as she slumps on the cold ground and tries to suppress her groans; it had just been like when she was trapped in that dark place before she appeared.

"H... Help..." She rasped, blurry eyes looking around for anyone. "Help... m... me..."

In the distance, she could see three creatures. Three of them. But she couldn't reach them, and she didn't want to be a bother.

She decided to endure.

Ree Caeran breadedgamer AAaaaaa I hope you all don't mind me jumping into the thread!

Fruss remembered the feather as the one that had kicked the Eme. Idoka looked between the two. Really? She did remember that event – goodness but the Eme was a fearsome being – but she hadn’t seen the faces of those that had annoyed it. She nodded in agreement with Fruss’s words, though. That did take bravery she didn’t think she could ever possess.

Then Fruss hoped for more creatures, and Idoka nodded. “There’s us, so I don’t see why there wouldn’t be others eventually. Not sure when it’ll happen. Maybe we can come back someday and see new creatures come into the world for ourselves?”

The feather introduced themself. Flur and Fruss…should she change her name to Fidoka? Ick, but that sounded terrible! There had been an Exit and she wasn’t Fexit, so maybe it was just a weird coincidence that their names both started with the same sound.

Flur asked where they were going, but before she could reply she thought she heard something strange. Like…another voice? But it was very quiet. Flur spoke again, making it clear they’d heard it too, and they ran toward…something.

What was going on?

She glanced at Fruss, wondering if he understood more than she did. Then she followed Flur, not wanting to lose track of either of her friends and wanting to see what was happening. There seemed to be another creature, but this one was different from any she’d seen before. Not that that mattered right now – the new creature was distressed! What could they do, though?

“Are you all right? What happened?” Idoka looked around, trying to pinpoint the location of any danger that might be in the area.

The growths were slow to move, and as Aloe looks behind her through teary eyes she could see them almost touching the cold ground. But they're still not yet quite finished; she buries her face on the ice in an attempt to stop the stinging on her face, but it only makes it worse. Aloe writhes as the appendages behind her body grow more, and the heat on her face continues.

She could hear voices. As her face remains buried in the snow, she hears a soothing voice telling her she is not alone now, they're there for her. Aloe could not think of a response. More voices present themselves, a few questions she could hear ("where did you get those from?", "are you alright?"), but she was not able to comprehend them at first.

By now, though, the pain has already subsided, and now she is able to raise her head, albeit still weakly. Looking up, she sees three creatures: one of them just like her, and the other two who are similarly feathers. At this, she frowns internally. Great. She'd been quite a bother earlier, now she's become a bother again.

The orange feather, though, she could clearly remember who it was. All three probably came from the same sprout she had been from. But this orange feather... this was the one who introduced themselves to her first, and she was not able to reply to them because she stupidly hadn't thought of a name for herself.

Looking back at the growths -- her new legs -- she smiles back up at them and blinks the tears away. "I'm... fine now. Thank you for being with me... Flur, right?" She vaguely remembers the name, but she asks so she can be sure. "W-Where I got them? I'm... I'm not s-sure..."

She tries to stand up, but a searing pain comes whenever she tries to stand, so she sits back down with a grunt. "I-I'm Aloe. Sorry for disturbing all of you." She lowers her head, a red blush painting her green, now-freckled face.

Ree Caeran breadedgamer Don't worry, Aloe's mostly fine! Just needs a minute, like Fruss said! ^^;