Ruta's tiny hooves had somehow carried her far away from the ice tunnel where she had been born. Only now as she stumbled through a fog covered forest did she miss the comfort of her chrysalis. Sure, it was nice to at last stretch her lanky legs, but she had felt tranquil in her stone shell. This perplexing cave was making heart beat faster with fear rather than excitement.

The mud covered ground seemed to drag her down with each step, and surrounding bush's branches clawed at her face. Ruta's coat was no longer white. Dirt stained her pelt a disgusting pale yellow. The lower half of her body was completely soaked from the murky marsh. If she could, the kid would have turned back by now, but she had long since been lost. Everything looked the same in her eyes. It was almost impossible for her to discover her way out.

At last, Ruta collapsed to the ground. The thick layers of wool covering her only managed to make her hotter from the exercise. She almost wished she could rip it all off. She tried raising her head to find the light orbs, but she couldn't see the ceiling through the fog. Soon, hopelessness filled the lost little goats heart. Somehow though, the little lost goat couldn't let herself fall into depression. Perhaps there were other gembounds around who could help her? She tried to get up.

This was the farthest Eleanor had ever traveled from the place she had hatched, which, albeit, was not very far at all. She was still in Cetus, still protected by the shrouding white fog that followed her everywhere she went. Chou was asleep somewhere nearby, so Nora had taken it upon herself to do a little exploring. Her confidence levels were slowly rising the longer she wandered her swamp. Things were generally relatively calm. Today, though, the buzzing sound of insects stilled to silence in a second flat, and that told Nora that there was someone nearby. She remained cautious, though unafraid, as she paddled her way towards the sounds of walking. Whatever Gembound this was, they had legs that were far different from hers, because they made sucking sounds in the mud where hers didn’t.

Finally, she saw the form she was seeking through the fog, and watched from where she floated on the surface of the murky swamp-water. They were stuck, it seemed… Oh no! Wait, no they were getting back up now. Eleanor watched as they managed to push themselves back up to their hooves. Good! Well, now that they seemed okay again, the duckling decided to go and say hello. She was getting better at greeting and speaking to others, although she was still shy a lot of the time. She paddled over to them until there was not enough water to swim on, and she was forced to waddle the rest of the way.

“Hello,” she called softly, hoping they would be kind. “I… I saw you get stuck. Are you okay now?”

Words: 269 @Rutaceae

Ruta was distracted from her struggle by a faint voice. She glanced towards her sudden visitor with relief written across her face. "Hi there!", she energetically shouted in an ear-piercingly high voice. Her hooves reflexively took a couple of steps forward, but upon the realization she was walking into muddy water, she sprung back. For a moment she lost her enthusiasm, but she bounced right back when she glanced at the duck again.

"I'm Ruta, I'm from an icy tunnel, It's way different from this place, this place is icky!", her mouth talked rapid fire as she continued talking, "Oh, but I don't mean to offend you or your home, I'm sure it's really quite nice to some people. But I'm not that somepeople- or someone, hehe, not to say I can't handle it, I'm really quite tough, tough as a horse, that's what gembounds say- well actually only me, but I'm a gembound, you're a gem bound too right?" The goat paused to suck in a breath, "Could you help me out of this place? Do you know a way out? Do you?"

Well, this hooved Gembound sure liked to talk a lot! Eleanor didn’t really know what to make of all this talking, so she settled down on the muddy bank of the swamp and tried to follow along as best she could. Unfortunately, she kind of ended up phasing out most of the goat’s words, just to save herself the headache of trying to understand all of it. She was still a baby, after all, and this rapid-fire onslaught was confusing her little brain! But the last few questions, the ones about helping the goat out of Cetus, caught her attention immediately.

Could she… help the goat get out of Cetus? She thought hard about that for a few seconds. The idea of leaving Cetus was a terrifying one, and her brown eyes widened at the thought, but… “Well… I… I don’t know a way out,” she began, speaking slowly as she tried to explain herself. “But… I could try to help you, I suppose.” She paused, studying the goat for a moment. “Oh, but why would you want to leave Cetus? It’s so nice here!” Eleanor was young, and didn’t understand yet that not everyone shared the same tastes as her. “There’s plenty to eat, and lots of water here! And mud! Don’t you love mud?”

Eleanor could go on and on all day about why she loved her swampy home so much, but she stopped while she was ahead and studied her new friend again. They really didn’t seem very happy to be here, and their long, spindly legs didn’t seem built for Cetus. “Okay,” she said finally, “let’s see if we can find the way out.”

Words: 279 @Rutaceae

The duck's promise gave Ruta an intense feeling of reassurance. Relief washed over her despite her newfound friends hesitant compliance. With a grateful nod, the petite goat walked up to the even smaller bird. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!", she exclaimed, "I guess it's an interesting place. It's not really for me though. I want to go back to... Someplace dry and cool.", as she explained he yearning desires, she pranced in the mud, "What I'd give to swim in some clean water right now."

Ruta started to walk along the bank. Now that she had somebody by her side, Cetus didn't seem as frightening as it had before. She even went so far as to give the water a small lick. Her face crinkled with regret at her decision. "Oh, I forgot to ask. What's your name? I'm Ruta." She had forgotten she already told her companion her name.

@Eleanor

Unfortunately, Eleanor was so focused on trying to help her new friend find the way out that she wasn’t paying any attention to the words the goat was speaking. She was vaguely aware that they had asked for her name, and said a quiet, “Eleanor,” while continuing to waddle along, never stopping. She was so determined to find the exit to Cetus that she didn’t even notice when they’d gone far away from the Heart, her home. She was so focused that she did not feel fear of the more open space out of the trees. Had she been any less determined, she’d probably be hiding her face behind her wing right now, shaking and shivering at the idea that she was far from home, even if she wasn’t all that far.

And soon enough, somehow, she’d found her way to the entrance of Tunnel H… except that Tunnel H was flooded, and it looked like the water got pretty deep farther in. That was fine with her, since she was a duck, but she looked back at her goat friend in concern. “How are you going to get out of here when you can’t swim?” She stopped and looked at her friend’s legs for a moment, studying them. “… Can you swim?” she asked, not remembering if she had asked that before.

Words: 211+ @Rutaceae