It Takes a Village (The Village)

This was it – the real world. Before she’d entered it, Marie had been so full of happiness and hope. She’d made a friend, and that friend was going to be with her as they figured out what life had in store for them. It was time to leave, and Marie promised her friend she’d be waiting by the exit in case she had any questions she wanted to ask before they went on their way.

And…she never saw her again.

Marie didn’t know what happened. She’d waited for what felt like ages. When the wait got to be too much, she even returned to the hollow to search for the purple fur. She was nowhere to be found, though.

And then her body changed, and the rest of that day was a muddled confusing mess of pain and cold and wrong in her mind. By the time her head cleared, she’d managed to wander some distance from the tree, still without her friend. Mellifluous was just…gone.

Marie spent some time looking, but she never did find a trace of the purple fur. She had a couple nests she moved between, her instinct to keep traveling fighting with her desire to stay in one place in case Mellifluous did return to her. She’d barely eaten – she just couldn’t muster up the will to feed until her instincts got fed up with her mood and took over, and even then she only ate enough to make her belly stop hurting.

Otherwise, she remained curled up in her nest, waiting. For Mellifluous, or for…she didn’t know. She cared too much and she didn’t care at all. Mostly, she’d just given up.

Then she heard it – a roar from somewhere far off. Someone was calling for…something. Maybe Mellifluous? Could she have been searching for Marie this whole time? It didn’t sound like her, but it didn’t sound like anyone, and it was hard not to hope after so much time spent alone.

Marie pulled herself out of her nest and stumbled forward, toward the roar. Her body had weakened a bit from the lack of food, but she was still capable of travel when she needed to, and right now the need could not be greater. She needed other creatures with her – life alone wasn’t a life at all. If it was Mellifluous, she didn’t know what she’d do. Probably yell a lot and then spend the rest of the day nuzzling her and crying. Yeah, that sounded good.

Eventually, her feet took her into a spot that seemed deliberately altered, beyond the building of a nest. It was…weird. A pile of plants and – oh ew was that…? No, never mind. There were also holes in the ground, and one in a tree? And then there was a pile of loose ground, and atop it…

Marie’s heart sank. That…definitely wasn’t Mellifluous. Neither creature nearby was. But they were someone. Maybe she couldn’t have her friend back. Not yet. Nothing said she couldn’t have a new friend, though, right? She didn’t know. She just knew she couldn’t go back to being by herself if she had another option.

“Hello?” She’d barely bothered to use her voice since giving up on her search for her friend, so the word was difficult to form and came out hoarser than she remembered her voice being. Ugh…was she going to have to learn talking all over again? Probably, along with pretty much everything else.

It hadn't been long since the odd fur had left the hollow of the tree, but still she'd explored a fair bit of Arbor's Reach. She didn't want to go too far without first finding out as much as she could about this area, so there she was... She was sniffing at some hardy flowers that had found some cover from the cold beneath a decent-sized stone when she heard it. A roar. A call, a... request, she almost felt like.

At first, Kaja really wasn't sure if she wanted to explore that over everything else she could be examining but her curiosity won out. It had sounded relatively far off. The red creature headed in that direction, hurrying as much as she could. After all, she wasn't sure if whatever had made the noise was stationary or on the move. Occasionally, she slowed her pace to listen and to catch her breath a little before running off again.

Finally, she came across the scene. She wasn't sure which creature had made the noise, though, and looked over them all.

"Greetings!" Emphatically, she came closer to the area, her eyes moving from the other Vivians to the work that had been done. Clearly they must all live here... right? Oh, there was food, too... Kaja suddenly realized that she hadn't eaten enough lately but looked curiously at the others again rather than just run at the food which may end up being protected if she tried to take it.

Pink Ree Caesarino !! mapes / astri 단풍 Razza Jail Alex/Umber/Crane

Phoenix

The orange feather curiously listened to what the green fur had to say. A community? A haven? A village? They didn't quite know what those words meant, but they wanted to be a part of them. Maybe they didn't think they needed protecting or help themselves, but they wanted to be able to help others. They didn't know how people worked very well, that was just a fact, but despite not being very good at communication or talking, a community seemed like something they wanted to be a part of. Despite their flaws, they wanted to feel included. After deliberating for this long moment in silence, "Yes," they stated.