ORIGIN

Dovefeather was out for a hunt. It was an usual thing for her to do, seeing as usually prey kept a wide berth from her, but sharing kills with Blackfeather wasn't usually enough. With the advent of Basil and Sorrel, the tiny kitten had decided she had enough of being small and weak. With a prayer to Her All Mother, the cat stalked in absolute silence-- something she never, ever did, through the underbrush. Not a single purr.

She was hunting. The sound of feathers had caught her attention and she crouched, pulling at her magic, asking for the All Mother to shroud her in darkness instead of the usual alpenglow of warmth she was used to asking for.

Being a smol noodle of grass was not an easy position to be in. Especially when seemingly horrible things seemed to happen to you basically all of the time. A gnawing hunger had gotten to Grassy, and she found herself staring down what appeared to be some sort of dying bird. It was small, with brilliant blue feathers... More feathers than frankly she knew what to do with. Her belly turned her towards the sound of water but frankly the noodle couldn't keep away from the dying creature.

"Oh no.... Shh... It's alright, lovely," she cooed softly to the bird as it thrashed, a strange injury or sickness clearly taking hold. Thankfully the creature appeared to only have one foot, which made dodging the talons easier as she inched closer. The wings were another story, and she got a face full of feathers. Recoiling, her magic tried to hide her in the grass by embedding the grass in her scales.

Unfortunately, her magic failed her. A gentle hiss between her teeth as she tried again, this time attempting to brute force it rather that ask for it from the All Mother. Sometimes, it seemed like the shade was so much harder for her to grasp. The light always came when she wanted to see, but never the shadow when she wanted it.

Dovefeather continued to creep forward regardless of if her magic worked or not, her fur prickling as she got within line of sight of the bird she could hear. it appeared to be dying, rather violently, and the kitten knew immediately that it was a sign from the All Mother.

Slowly but surely, the bird grew still, and the noodle crept forward, touching her snout to the still warm body. A shiver ran through her as she nudged through the feathers, looking for sign of injury or otherwise. Perhaps she had just been sick? A frown ran across the baby's face for the first time ever, and then she seemed to get an idea.

Concentrating, she asked her fellow grass to come together to help the bird find peace. It was an instinctual thing, something that only grass and other plants understood, she thought. A pain hit her sharply at she let out a surprised gasp as the grass entangled in her scales shriveled at the push of her magic and died, wilting before her very eyes.

"Oh dear..."

Dovefeather watched as shadows fell around her, light bending to her will. Her sharp yellow eyes watched the scene-- something small crawling on to the bird, but not eating or hurting it. Instead, the creature seemed to gasp in pain and Dovefeather rose, strolling forward in a blanket of darkness.

"I am Dovefeather, Daughter of the All Mother, and just what do you think you're doing?"

Sliding down and away from the clearly diseased carcass, the noodle perked as she heard a voice. Grassy smiled brightly at the stranger despite the edge to her voice, a warmth popping into her words as she spoke.

"Oh, hello there! I found this lovely birdie, you see, but she died... Oh, it's quite sad. I touched her and my fellow grass died, see?" The noodle peeped at the cat, clearly unafraid, and almost indignant. "No, no, no. Come closer. You couldn't possibly see that clearly from there!" The snake swished through the grass, closer to the feline.

"I think she was sick... I don't know what with, but it's such a shame! Oh, my poor brothers and sisters..."

Dovefeather blinked at the incredibly friendly reply. Just what was this small thing anyway? She peered down at it from a distance as it greeted her without a name, hesitating to get any closer at first until the APPARENTLY IT'S A SNAKE came darting towards her.

It was hardly as long as her half-tail and even smaller circumference wise though so the cat wasn't exactly worried. She lowered her nose to the creature, listening acutely as it spoke. A sick, dying blue bird... The cat tried to think about what it could mean, but the tiny snake kept peeping at her.

... And Dovefeather got the sneaking suspecion that she was looking at another Daughter of the All Mother. A very weird one, but still. She opened her mouth to speak and let the shadows fall away as she summoned her gift, attempting to See the grass snake as the All Mother did with a prism of light.

"Your brothers and sisters, child? What is your name?"

Grassy considered the pretty, glistening cat's question. Light reflected off of her shiny teeth like a rainbow and the blade of grass couldn't help but feel cozy and comfortable as alpenglow through deep lavender washed past her scales.

"I am Grassy! I am but a humble blade of grass, at your service... And these are my siblings. I'm so happy I've found them... But, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for the bird. She's much too sick... Gone, now. My brothers and sisters wilt at her touch."

With ease a rainbow flickered before her eyes, dancing on the noodle who seemed to beam at the touch of light. She claimed to be called Grassy, and implied that she literally was a blade of sentient grass.

Well, sure. Why not.

Dovefeather smiled at the snake and reached down to give her a lick at the top of her head.

"I see... Well, welcome, Grassy, to the All Mother's Garden. It is wonderful to meet you."

That said, she stepped around the noodle and walked over to the dead blue bird, her tail swishing. Rainbow light danced around her, but it faded as she stared at the corpse. What had happened here, and what did it mean? A fretful purr started up in her chest as she sat down by the bird, tail curling towards her forepaws though it did not quiet reach.