ORIGIN - Cottonball

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Ananke

follow the white rabbit

She had been scared off, though luckily not too far; the sudden yelp and stink of burning skin had jolted her into a bolt before she even knew that she was running.

Ananke came to a sharp halt a dozen or so yards into the underbrush, hearing speech behind her--and realized that whatever had happened wasn't as bad as her instincts had insisted. She made her way back, picking her way quickly through the foliage to poke her head back out, peering up with a touch of reproach and a little bit of worry.

"Are... you okay?" she managed, after a moment's hesitation. Words were still new to her, but that seemed the most serious concern, at the moment.

Never mind 'fruit.'

@Vanyel

Vanyel blinked away tears and rubbed his eyes, glad that she had come back.

”Could be better,” he said, lifting the vest to wince at the raw skin on his feet, some of his scales burned off, ”So much for being semi-fireproof...”

Though to be fair it wasn't normal fire, it was magic fire. If that counted for anything, which he doubted it did.

”Uh, I can get you a fruit,” he said, but didn't stand, instead focusing hard and looking like he was trying to... well, push.

With a poof of sparkles, a banana appeared.

Wait, no it didn't. Vanyel stared at his empty hands in disbelief, seeing not even a speck of sparkles or yellow anywhere. It seemed his magic just really hated him that day.

”Alright, plan B,” he said, picking up his singed vest to put it on and pushing himself onto his aching feet. He took a step and very nearly fell, a wing reaching up in the nick of time to catch himself on a branch. Lovely.

”Uh... just follow me,” he said, feeling awkward as he instead swung from branch to branch like a monkey, looking up into the trees for anything colorful that caught his eye.

@Ananke

Ananke

follow the white rabbit

Ananke hesitated; did her new... friend? Companion? need help..? She fretted, because truth be told, she was realizing abruptly just how helpless she was. Being unable to fight, sure, that was one thing, but she wasn't made to fight. She was made to flee (and to have lots of kids to ensure her bloodline didn't die, as rabbits do, but never mind that now). The problem was that if someone else needed help-... she couldn't.

She couldn't carry Vanyel! She didn't know the first thing about wounds, or injuries, or burns. Or fire, even! What should I do? IF that happened again? IF he collapsed? IF, if, if...

"I'm following," she assured him, though she kept a little distance, kept to the brush and kept quite alert for any danger. "What... actually happened?" she asked, and then hesitated; "where are you going?"

@Vanyel

”Magic,” Vanyel said, ”It's something all gembound- that's creatures like you and me- have the capacity to do. Some better than others, but I can normally make fire and glowing lights on my skin. Sometimes magic just... doesn't like to work, and it can backfire and hurt or inconvenience you.”

He looked up and brightened, climbing up a tree with his sore feet hanging beneath him, his wing claws lifting him up just fine. He reached up and grabbed two mango-looking fruit from their branches, squishing them to make sure they were ripe before coming back down. He nearly hadn't seen them, they were green despite being ripe.

”I was looking for fruit,” he said, landing a bit awkwardly on the forest floor, ”This is a fruit. I dunno what this one in particular is called, they all have different names I can't remember.”

He sliced it open with a claw and peeled away the skin, offering it out to Ananke, ”Here. It's got this really hard seed inside, don't eat it or you'll get itchy all over.”

One of many fruits to look weird or do weird things down here in the caves.

@Ananke

Ananke

follow the white rabbit

Magic?

Her echoed thought, innocent, conjured imagery in her mind--ideas of sparkling light and wonder. Was her wisp an act of magic? How, though, was burning oneself magic? She had little time to puzzle over this, though, for Vanyel had at last come to a stop.

She stopped, herself, never keeping less than perhaps twenty feet between herself and the larger creature. She watched, puzzled, as he squeezed at green bulbs hanging from the trees--and then dropped back down. He held one out to her, then.

Ananke fidgeted. She wasn't sure what to make of him, yet, and wasn't sure if she should actually approach, or not. She was, honestly, afraid to. Logically, she wasn't hungry enough to risk it. And it wasn't like it'd be a learning experience; she wouldn't be able to get fruits out of trees. "I... don't think. Um. I can reach those," she said, with a hesitant tone that made it sound like a question, or suggestion. But that still didn't solve the issue of the one Vanyel was holding in his hand. He seemed friendly enough, ready to go out of his way to show her around, but her instincts still quivered and told her to run. He was big. He could eat her. There was no reason to be risking herself here.

She took a breath, and compromised. "Could you... throw it. Down here, please?" she asked, quavering--hoping that he wouldn't see her as foolish. Or, worse--not worth his time.

@Vanyel

Vanyel was eager to tell Ananke of the ones she could more easily fine.

”There are smaller fruit called berries. Red and blue and all sorts of colors,” he said, ”These ones fall from the trees and land on the ground sometimes, so you can also get them then. But be careful of the berries, and watch to see if lessers eat them. They can be deadly if you eat the wrong ones.”

He carefully threw the fruit upon her request, hoping it didn't roll and hit her. He sat down cross-legged on the forest floor and peeled open his fruit, taking a bite and humming softly at the sweet flavor. He loved mangoes...

”I'm uh... sorry you're still scared of me,” he mumbled, scratching his head gently, ”Getting burnt like an idiot certainly didn't help either... uh... is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”

More fruit? Bedding? What did rabbits even like?? He ate them more than he conversed with them.

@Ananke

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

Anxiety

Ananke

follow the white rabbit

Ananke jolted as the fruit was tossed, the movement sparking her prey instincts almost automatically. But she settled more quickly, this time, her curiosity (and her getting used to Vanyel's presence) a mitigating factor. Nose bobbed, whiskers twitched, and her face pressed close to the mango here and there as she sniffed at it. She wasn't sure if it was good-... But a distant, faint sense of reassurance reached her, from--somewhere. A knowledge that yes, this food would be good; in fact, it would be a health benefit to her.

It was that same warm sensation she'd found after eating that gross bit of fuzzy white that Morpho had initially given her; like someone else was watching, helping her along. She didn't mind it one bit. It was good to be less... afraid of things, really.

She nibbled at it--found its taste to be delicious--and settled in to happily chew. For a moment she was just a content white bunny, chomping away at a fruit. "It isn't... your fault." This was offered between bites, thoughtful; her pale eyes shifted to peer up at Vanyel. She tried logic--reassurance. Her words, though, were tentative; she hadn't thought them through, wasn't sure of the wisdom behind them. "I was born... very small. You, were born big--I guess? I don't think... either's wrong," she went on, softly. It was just the damn size different that frightened her--but then, would she have been any less terrified of a weasel, or a hawk?

Probably not.

In any case, she looked up, glancing at him again. "Just... leave me space. I think. This is very good. Uh," and something occurred to her; he'd burned herself even getting her some food, and she had nothing to offer him in return. "Is there... anything I can do--to make up for the food? And for you... your hurt?" she tried, uncertain. She meant it, but even so, faint fear thrummed in her heart: what if he asked something difficult, or frightening? Something she didn't trust him enough to do? What if she was left having to choose--to decide!--between being rude and ungrateful, or putting herself in danger..? Between appeasing him, or staying safe..?

The mango suddenly held a sour taste, and she flattened down a little, looking at it as she went back to more slowly nibbling.

@Vanyel

Vanyel bit into his fruit, humming at the soft, sweet flesh that filled his mouth. It almost made burning his feet worth it.

”Oh, no,” he said immediately, ”I don't like the idea of owing people things and also when other people owe me stuff... too much to keep track of. So just take it as an act of kindness, there's nothing you need to do for me, I'll be fine.”

He'd fly back home to his mother, get nursed back to health, and be off again. Easy.

”You're young, right?”, he said suddenly, ”So another reason why I don't want you to owe me anything. You should really focus on your own wellbeing for now until you're bigger and more experienced with how the world is. Friends are good, though, if you can make friends and have that kind of support then it'll make it easy to get help if you're in a pinch.”

He peeled away more skin and took another bite, munching away quietly.

”There are plenty of gembound who would love to help those who need it,” he said, ”But... stay away from Ursa and Draco. The snowy cave and the cave that's dark, they have two groups in them that just want to hurt innocent gembounds like you. My mom told me about them. If you need help, I think there's a group in Orion called the Seven, it's the cave with speckled lights in the ceiling, and if you ever have to go past the snowy cave, in the cave with all the white deer and swans is where my momma lives. In a big wooden structure. She's really big and has a lot of teeth but she wouldn't hurt a fly and would happily lend you a hand no matter what's up. She's got wings like mine with blue in between.”

Vanyel opened his wing to show and looked back down, frowning worriedly.

”Is that too much to remember?”, he asked.

@Ananke

Ananke

follow the white rabbit

It was strange--as he spoke, she was simply listening, at first. But at the mention of groups who want to hurt innocent Gembounds like you, something stirred in the back of her mind.

She went from mentally nodding along, surprised at the selfless kindness of the half-dragon--and from wondering why being young meant she shouldn't owe much--to sharply curious, and wary. But... somehow, it wasn't her own feeling. It... felt as though it were leaking in, trailing from another source, somehow, but she trusted it. It was warm, a feeling of confident authority lurking there. She should find out what more he knew.

But somehow, she knew she had to address it carefully.

Work your way around to it, instinct--or a presence?--seemed to whisper.

"Thank you," she began with, as meek as before, licking fruit from her whiskers. She blinked up at him. "Being young... means... you don't owe?" she asked. And she shook her head, her ears flopping gently. "I don't think so? That--it's too much to remember. I think I can remember," she assured him. "I'll try to remember... where your mom lives. Um--why do they want to hurt Gembounds?" she went on, peering earnestly up at him. She felt as though she were automated, now, her demeanor still the same but controlled, almost, by another source. Willingly, though. She spoke the words, herself; but someone else guided them. "Do they ever... leave those places? How, um. Would I know them?" Her prior nervousness, faint fretting, was still there--but faint determination, too. She really didn't know why this other presence wanted to know those things--so in her mind, she genuinely wanted to know how to recognize such a threat, were it out of its expected place.

"This is good," she added, again, nibbling again at the fruit.

@Vanyel

Vanyel waved his hands around as he tried to get his words together, ”I just- I mean- I guess I just don't want a kid to have to worry about owing someone something. You ought to be worried about just... growing up and surviving right now, and I assume you don't have a family to protect you so that's even more important. 'Cause if you need to pay someone back that's time spent worrying about someone else... sorry. I guess I'll just stick to 'I don't like people owing things' and leave it at that.”

He laughed nervously, embarrassed, and took another bite, tapping his clawed fingers on the skin of the mango.

”My mom told me about this uh... fungus thing? It's white and fuzzy looking, she says, and she kinda grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me when she told me never to ever touch the stuff and run when I see it... It controls your mind, she said, and it makes you think thoughts that aren't yours,” he said, rubbing his arms as he remembered, ”And then there's the people in Draco, they go all over. If you see someone with a stupid amount of eyes, limbs, or this really bright color of purple, stay away. They're the Chaos Forge and they're baaad news. Mom saw their leader once, Vargas I think is his name. Big, scary, bigger teeth and massive claws... yeah, just avoid them if you can, or anything that looks that scary.”

”And about that fungus, I think it stays in Ursa mostly. But if you see fuzzy white stuff anywhere that isn't your own fur then I definitely suggest high-tailing it the other direction and finding someone with fungal magic to make sure you didn't breath it in or something. I think in the starry cave there's a member of the Seven- James, I think- who has some magic like that. He'll also help you out, he's got tons of kids from what my momma says, and he's super sweet.”

Vanyel inhaled after that whole rant and breathed out again, a little winded. Carja had told him a LOT about the caves before he'd left home, information that would hopefully keep him safe. If he didn't ignore it, which he tended to do a lot.

”I'm glad you like the fruit,” he added.

@Ananke

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