ORIGIN

The flamingo slowly tilted his head. There was a feeling of sadness that washed over him for a moment. He abruptly lifted his neck high. Ahh! Don't worry, sister! Florence said in a honking facade of happiness. I have an idea.

The hatchling - already fairly big, surprisingly - moved to quite simply pick up Fluer and place her on his back. He struggled, somewhat, as he began moving toward to find food for his new proclaimed sister.

Surely, if he was placed here specifically, it was to help this skunk with a gem in her jaw, right?

Fleur watched, curious, head tilting to one side, as her feathered friend honked again. Idea? The skunk jumped a bit when a beak gripped at her scruff, but she soon went limp, allowing the flamingo to place her on his back. It probably looked quite amusing - a bright white ball of fluff, sitting atop a flamingo chick's back - but it felt perfectly natural to Fleur, who snuggled into the soft down that covered Florence's body.

Bright red eyes blinked up at the flamingo's head, watching intently as they began to move, the ground slowly rolling past. It made her think, a bit, mind off of the pain in her jaw. She and Florence had been born in the same tunnel, both from big rocks, and only hours from each-other, at most a day. Did that make him her... "Bro-ther," Fleur murmured contentedly, snuffling into the flamingo's neck.

It certainly made sense, and though he didn't look quite the same as her, Florence just had to be her brother - and she had to help him, like he helped her. Another huff, and she pawed at a wing curiously, plush pawpad pressing into the growing feathers, long white tail dropping over one side of the bird's body to curl under the limb.

Florence moved down the tunnel, looking around. He decided to find something for Fluer first, and so made his way towards a rock. If he was right, there would be bugs under it - something he didn't personally have use for, but perhaps his sister would.

He craned his neck down to turn over the rock, and to his surprise there were dozens and dozens of little creeping things under there. Quickly, he grabbed a couple in his mouth and chewed a little before turning his head back to the little skunk on his back, awkwardly spitting the dead, chewed-up bugs near Fleur to simply swallow.


It's gross, I know, he said quietly. But you'll die if you don't eat.

Fleur wrinkled her snout at the offered regurgitation, sniffing at it hesitantly, before lapping up a bit with a pink tongue. Within moments, the rest of the heavily squashed bugs were gone, disappearing into her locked mouth, and the skunk let out a soft sigh of relief, aching in her gut waning. It was gross, she had to agree, but if Florence said she had to eat it, she would, watching as the rest of the insects fled from the duo.

"Flor-ence. Hun-gry. Too?" The words were slow and sleepy, but still concerned, and Fleur blinked bright red eyes up at the bird, frowning. "You," she started, poking a playful claw at the flamingo's neck feathers, "need to. Eat. Too!" That was about the last of what she could manage at the moment, jaw locking up again, and the tiny babe winced at the shot of pain that rushed through her skull.

The flamingo tossed his head playfully, smirking if he could. Although his sister was right, he couldn't see anything other than bugs here. Even as he looked around, only one place seemed safe to go to - one of the exits was hot, burning an angry red. He didn't even want Fleur to catch sight of that - but he should handle one thing at a time. He started heading towards Orion.

Don't you worry about me, dear Fleur, he said. After all, I stole some of your meal. The Flamingo playfully nudged the top of the skunk's head before he turned his neck up again and continued to walk.

Fleur clung on as her big brother once again began to move, blinking half-closed eyes in the dim sunlight that filled the tunnel. She giggled at the gentle touch of his beak on her forehead, pushing up into the gesture with a grin. The skunk seemed perfectly content to stay situated on the flamingo's back, watching lazily as the world passed by, stomach now appeased.

After a while, the scenery seemed to begin to change, and Fleur's ears popped up as she looked around, snout wrinkling in confusion. "Where we... going?" The sentence was awkward and tired, but hopefully got the point across.