ORIGIN - house hippo

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The hybrid shambled along towards the small bird, her head and shoulders hunched and her body as compressed as she could make it. She wanted to be small, as small as Pumpkin, so scared of talking to him and being rejected, especially after the fight between Sora and her. She felt... she felt like an outcast. Like she'd committed treason and was about to be hung for it.

"Pumpkin?", she said, her voice soft and wary like the times she went after one of the group who'd gotten into a fight and had their feelings hurt.

Morgan stopped before she reached the bird, her ears down and her green eyes dull, for once.

"Can we talk?", she asked, her voice hoarse.

@Pumpkin

Pumpkin had been tired for a really long time, since the trials. for almost 3 whole cycles, he was just tired, and didn't know why.

so naturally, when he finally got away, he passed out directly after the obstacle course for a whole week and woke up to process everything. and, now that he had, hearing morganites voice was both like a breath of fresh air and a punch to the gut. in a good way though.

he shook his feathers as he got from his resting spot, stretching, joints cracking. he hopped off his little ledge, flying down to a nearby stalactite, perching on it nearby morgan.

"yeah, whats up?" he chirped.

if morganite were to look, pumpkin would look better than he has in a while, his feathers were less messy, looked fuller and cleaner, and his eyes weren't eternally tired, just... thoughtful. it was clear he really needed a break.

Morganite looked at Pumpkin with an odd expression before her eyes softened. She hadn't expected him to talk to him at all.

"Hey...", she said softly, too nervous to sit down but looking like she wanted to, "It's... been a while. I was worried- ah, sort of? Sora... Sora and I had a pretty bad fight over what happened at the meeting... about how immature we were. She's... she's gone now."

She let out a breath and forced herself not to shudder, "I thought you might want to know. And I wanted to see how you were doing, I know we haven't talked since then- I doubted you'd even want to after how I acted."

Her expression grew bitter as she looked away, ashamed at her own behavior. Her ears flicked down and she shuffled, tucking her tail between her legs.

"I'm sorry," she said.

@Pumpkin

Pumpkin Listened, expression saddening as he listened, but not as much as morganite would've likely expected.

"ah... thats.. unfortunate" he simply chirped.

he looked back up to her, thinking again as she spoke, and then apologized. his chest ached. he could understood how he could have seemed like that. but he shook his head.

"no need to apologize. feelings were high. i just... needed a break. if anything IM sorry for leaving so... suddenly. y'all deserved better than that." he chirped sadly, with a weak smile. "im not mad at you or charles. i promise." he said, rubbing at his beak scratch.

Morganite looked up, ears perked. She'd expected a bigger reaction, but at the same time...

"Still," she said, "My behavior was awful. I was grieving but at the same time, I had to right to use it as a... as a point to make."

She dared to slowly walk forward towards the tiny creature, her eyes softening, "And don't be sorry for leaving. I wish we'd followed you instead. You and um... the hyena- I really need to ask her name- snapped me out of whatever stupor I was in."

She only wished Sora had been too.

Morganite inhaled and looked at Pumpkin with her head on his level, "I wish to make amends either way, for my own peace of mind."

@Pumpkin

he frowned but nodded in agreement. they had messed up. he didn't have anything to say.

he scratched the cracks in his beak again as she walked forward. he smiled, softly. "Giggle. thats the hyena, if i remember right." he chuckled.

he flew forward, to perch on morganites horns gently. "consider them mended. thank you for coming to see me... ive missed us talking. ACTUALLY talking." he chirped, a bittersweet tone to his song.

he paused. "and.. charles. how is he..?" he asked. as much as he was horrified at his outburst, that was still his brother, the only other bird in the family.

@Morganite

Morgan shrugged and looked down, "... I haven't talked to him. I was going to, but when Aure grabbed him, I just... I suddenly went blank and panicked again."

She looked down and tucked her legs under herself, turning into what could only be described as a loaf with a head. She sniffed gently and looked down, still rather upset.

"I'm so angry at them, at myself," he admitted, "But there's nothing I can do now. It happened and it's not like I can reach into the past to stop it."

The hippo-badger flopped her head on the ground and moped a bit, pouting, "... I haven't been able to go back to the others. I think we've split up since all of this happened. I have no idea where some of them even are. Anemoi and Ifrit are just... gone."

@Pumpkin

he listened, sitting as he perched like a small bird loaf. he thought with a frown. things had really changed, hadn't they? he needed to go find charles soon, then. he needed to see his brother.

he huffed, a bit angry. "people keep leaving. i know, look who's talking, but... i thought we were gonna have eachothers backs. maybe they all needed a break too..? maybe we can all meet up again eventually.." he sighed, the anger evaporating as soon as it came. bottled up emotions boiling over in small fragments. "though uh... kinda.. offtopic but... i have news...?"

"..i uh... i guess its happier news...? its not much, but, uh... i found a gem. it was just in some... cave. i think i revived it, but im not sure how these things work. i dont know when it'll hatch. just... felt like the right thing to do. thought i should tell you." he chirped.

@Morganite

Morgan perked up, ears flicking forward, "Really? Like... a child?"

She looked down and sighed, "I wanted to have a child. It didn't matter who it was with, so long as it was happy. I thought to ask Kini before we left the cave, but I never had a chance. Maybe Simon."

She shrugged and looked down, "A stupid ambition. I mean, look at me. I'm just... I'm a mess."

Morganite scratched gently at her chin, where her stone lay hidden under her shaggy fur, pink and soft, a total contrast to the rest of her.

"I considered asking you," she mumbled, "Since you have a new family with the Bonebound. A support system."

@Pumpkin

he nodded. "i suppose so, yes. a child." he chirped, smiling at the thought.

he listened to morgan talk frowning at the mention of kini with a scoff. "maybe its best you didn't ask kini. they would never leave the thing alone." he huffed. "you're not a mess, just healing, we all are. its about timing, i guess."

he paused. he thought about it, looking at his feet. "uh.. yeah, yeah that sounds like something i could help with." he chirped in reply, brows raised in a thoughtful gaze. "i don't think they'd mind 1 extra. well.. 2, technically. if the other hatches. but yeah."

he hummed. "any idea how that works?"

@Morganite

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