ORIGIN - Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?

Yew had heard it, the meeting held by the group she'd heard of before. They spoke of a distant war, of fighting, of something that brought her back to the past and made her remember things she wanted to forget. Things like war, no one deserved to suffer from it. The caves would be much a better place if everyone could resolve things without fighting one another, but she knew it was a worthless thought to have. Gembound would always fight. Sometimes it felt like it was baked into all of their creation. That they were simply made for it. Created to fight against things they never would win against, but if they did, it was mere luck. Or something else influencing it.

When the group spoke of finding ways to prepare for the disaster, she couldn't ignore it. She wanted to... Yew wanted to help. She wanted to help make sure innocent gembound survived. If they were fighting for the greater good (they were) then none of them deserved to die. She found herself some ways away from where that meeting took place not long before - wondering if she should move, to look for one of those that were in it. It wouldn't be hard. All she would need to do is follow the scent of one of the members, or just... Ask.

Though, talking to one of them was intimidating.

You won't get anywhere if you don't ask them

It was true, so much so that Yew found herself calling out just in case, despite her own fears.

"Hello?"

@shengxiao

Sheng had walked away from the meeting a little bit more than tired. he came out worried.

would the group be able to prepare these shelters before the results were in? would they be able to get a semblance of hope ready before either their victory, or their defeat? they could risk the time in case of victory, but the consequence of defeat was too great to risk any extra time. it had to start now, somehow. they'd need to find places all over with the ability to be altered, or big enough to simply be prepared. small sub-caves or tunnels, shengxiao had considered the possibility of even rehabilitating the broken down cities in orion as shelters, places amongst the higher levels of the caves where anything on land would have trouble getting up and down to harm their keep. sheng had alot to think about, and alot to prepare. forgraves already had alot on his plate, needing to prepare for the task the blacksmith had given him ontop of everything else, so he was in charge, for the most part, of figuring.... everything else out. that poor fox did so much already..

as he walked, stretching the muscles in his neck as he worried, he paused as he heard the call from another gembound. his head turned up from around a corner, looking for the source of the voice. well, surely he had a moment to chat?

he padded out from his spot, a kind smile to his face, albeit a tired one. "hello! are you alright there, lass?" he asked gently.

@Yew

Her call was heeded, rather quickly too. She already wanted to bolt and it was just a simple hello that she got back, along with a sensible question anyone would ask. The look of the other gembound was... Also intimidating, to say the least. She could understand a mix of animals, she was one herself, but the amount of... Stuff. That made up the one who answered back was the scary part. He seemed nice enough. The stranger didn't look like he was going to hurt her. He was smiling, but it wasn't a scary one.

You will be fine

With that thought plastered into her head, Yew finally decided what she was going to say.

"I - I heard your meeting." She replied. The stupid stutter, Yew tried her hardest to ignore it. "I want. I want to help."

@shengxiao

Sheng didn't seem to notice the stutter, or if he did he didn't say anything about it.

he let out his own little sigh of relief, this was good. not that her company wouldn't be otherwise, but.. nevermind.

his smile grew wider, toothy and goofy, "ah! well, we could always use more hands on deck! how kind of ya" he honked.

he looked at the other for a moment, though he hoped not too long. the other seemed to be rather nervous, and sheng couldn't exactly tell why. was it him? he was rather big, about 5 or so feet, if you add a few inches ontop, aswell as... rather a mess, ey? he quickly did his best to conceal what he could of his teeth, aswell. he forgets sometimes those can be scary aswell, given theyre glorified dogs teeth. no offense to dogs.

"forgive me if i startled you, if you can, my name is Shengxiao, though Sheng or Zody are fine if its a tag hard t' say!" he said, holding out a hand for a shake, "what might your name be?"

@Yew

Yew was thanked for offering help, which felt nice, though she'd not even asked what the group would need help with. A lot of things, most likely, but she wasn't opposed to helping in any way she could. Yew wanted to meet all kinds of gembound, see all kinds of places - this would be a start. She would help instead of hinder. It would be good.

The question wasn't one Yew shied away from - her name, that was. It might have been some cycles ago, but not now. At least, not at the show of someone she didn't know. She'd never met Shengxiao before, which meant he would have no ties to any of the berries or the enemies of them. At least, if they were, he simply didn't notice Yew used to be one of them.

"I'm Yew." She replied.

@Shengxiao

he nodded his head, "well, its a pleasure to meet you, yew" he said, chuckling a bit at the repition. you, yew, he'd have to make sure he didn't confuse anyone now.

"im afraid i haven't exactly been able to get down all o' what we need t' do, lass," he said apologetically, 'so it might be a little while before im able t' give ya any specific job, however i was about t' scout a few caves for starting points, if you'd like to join me?" he offered.

he paused, "of course, we can always just chat, for a moment! forgive my poor manners, i've been quite a mess lately" he chuckled. "its up to you, yew" he said with a playful smile.

@Yew

Yew nodded in reply to the first comment Sheng made, she didn't have much of a reply for it, really. The idea of confusing anyone didn't even hit her head as she looked through odd-eyes. Well, if it was a problem it would be a problem for later.

Her one ear perked at the next things, though. Not everything was planned? Well, that would be okay. Getting everything set up would take time, and the gembounds couldn't go rushing around or it might cause more problems for everyone in the long run. At least, she thought that would be the case.

"Tha- that's fine. If if I can he- help I will."

She supposed staying to chat wouldn't be too bad, and sat on her haunches. The blue cloak around her body hugged her feathers, shielding her wings from splaying like she would have done otherwise. The featherless spot on one of her wings itched at the thought.

"You lea- lead the group ri- right?"

@Shengxiao

He nodded, walking along, hoping yew would follow.

"yes, i do!" he replied, smiling. "admittedly, we haven't done much yet, and we are definitely running if only slightly short on.. well, members that stay in one place, though not that they have to. we're a bit scattered, though the intentions there" he hummed. "we're a family, of sorts, i'd like to think."

he tried thinking, for a moment. "i remember making it, initially, because i wanted to build a better home for my daughter. progress is.. slow, and we're obviously putting the actual home part on hold, if the shelters don't become it soon enough, but it did turn out alright, yes?" he asked, with a soft smile as he moved.

@Yew

Yew began to follow when Sheng started walking. The two of them were talking, it wouldn't be polite if she didn't go with him. At least, she thought so. Yew was curious, and the conversation wasn't over. The only way to get answers to her questions was to ask them, and Yew was not done asking. Plus, she wanted to know which caves Sheng was going to look at first so she could help.

Yew wouldn't be much help if he was looking for members to stick in the group's specific spot - she was still hanging around uncle Mercy's grove. That place was home to her. Still, it was in Eridanus so it would be close to the group itself if she mustered up the courage to ask to join them. They were family... It sounded nice. Yew wanted that. She wanted a lot of things.

Making an entire group to make your family have somewhere safe to reside without hurt... It sounded nice. Yew wished she had that before, while her mo- while Jayberry was teaching her. While things weren't bad yet. Maybe things could have turned out different. Yew held back shaking her head. No, she liked things now, even if she was still hurt by the past. Her scars would remind her, but she could change it.

"It ssoundss nice-ice." Yew finally spoke up.

She let the air sit in silence for a little while. Feathered paws moving across the ground stepping over roots and sticks like she'd done for some time.

"Could I I be part of that-at? I wan't.. Want to help-elp."

@Shengxiao

As he walked, he surveyed the ground for any medium sized sticks, stopping every so often to hand a few off to be held in his tail. he assumed it only made sense for when he found spots suitable to border them off? so some poor lesser or gembound didn't decide to move in mid-renovation only to be rushed out. thats the opposite of what the shelters were for afterall. it'd be best to put something in place to show its not available yet.

he hummed a simple tune as they did so, turning to yew after a moment, smiling.
"of course! you're welcome to be with us for as long as you want, help or no help." he said, picking fallen ferns from the ground and carrying them in his jaw. it made speaking a bit difficult, but he'd manage.

"so!," he began through muffled words, "as we make our way, to pegasus first i'd reckon, tell me a bit about yourself! don't have to, though." he said. though, through the ferns alot of it sounded almost intelligable. best anyone might pick up is "pegasus" and "tell me about yourself".

@Yew