Zhen Xi

Everyday is a journey, and the journey itself is home.

Little Zhen Xi has been doing a bit of exploring since she emerged from her chrysalis, and so far she has found the caves of Origin to be incredibly fascinating, but today she was exploring with purpose. She was starving, and without an adult of her kind to show her the best food, she would have to find it herself. She had heard that lots of things grew in Eridanus, so that was where she went. As she makes her way through the paths among mosses and ferns and many other plants, she tries a few along the way, but none of them really strike her fancy.

Eventually she comes upon a small grove of what looked like very thick grass. It was growing so fast you could sometimes hear a faint sound as it stretched taller. The little cub approached, and found some shorter shoots which she promptly sampled. She found that the bigger shafts on the larger bamboo shoots were too tough for her, but the young shoots just starting to grow were soft enough for her to chew, and the smaller stems and leaves coming off were good too. Happily she sits down and begins to munch on this new-found food, content that she had found something that she liked the taste of.

@Kielo

Kielo had long since settled into the everyday challenges of family life, but the young ones had long since grown. They could look after themselves now; that they didn't need him or Winter. He was saddened and warmed all at once by the thought, thinking back with warmth and wonder on the cycles they'd spent so close to one another. It was a wonderful thing; and yet somehow, the normally optimistic hybrid found themselves sinking into melancholy.

It felt like ages since they'd met someone new. Despite the closeness of Winter and their little ones- well- grown children... Kielo found themselves growing lonely. And what was more, Kielo found it near impossible to hide it- especially from their mate. They didn't want to worry her, of course. Usually, they told her everything- having nothing to hide. But they knew that this was something they had to fix alone.

They thought back to cycles ago, when they'd met little Lust, and realized they wished she'd stayed with them. Sweet little bird would have brought a lot of life to the nest- but she must have had another family.

Finally, Kielo had set out on a long walk, sinking deep into thought. The fear that had kept them rooted to their birthplace in Polaris was pushed to the back of their mind. They wandered, intending at first to be gone only until their thoughts unscrambled. But their avian paws carried them on. Their fanned tail brought them along a path they'd never felt before, and every step they strained their ears and cautiously felt ahead. It was then that they almost turned back- but the most wonderful scent pulled them on- the scent of flora richer than they'd ever smelt before- so much so that it was nearly intoxicating. Curiosity urged them onwards, the sound of small avian claws scraping on stone soon fading into a muffled whisper as their paws left imprints on soft moss. They pressed on, nose raised.

And though they couldn't see any of the wondous bright colours and a hundred shades of green, they knew that this place was like none they'd ever been to, and they loved it already.

As they kept on walking, the hybrid soon picked up a warmer scent, a fresh scent- something alive and breathing. As they came closer, they felt the ends of their tail feathers brushing past tightly packed stalks, and more than once they bumped their nose, wing or a shoulder against something unseen. Then they heard the soft munching sounds of something eating, and came to a halt, nose raised and ears twitching, eyes staring sightlessly into the unknown. "H-hello?" they called softly, voice a mixture of a low wolf howl and birdsong. "Is there anyone out there?"

They were certain there was; just not sure if the other could speak.

---

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Zhen Xi
notes: here

Zhen Xi

Everyday is a journey, and the journey itself is home.

Being young and a bit naive to the dangers that might lurk in the caves, Zhen Xi was not actively on the lookout for any sort of threat that might approach her while she ate. However, the hybrid gembound that happened to approach the grove of bamboo where she was happily munching away, didn't exactly approach quietly. If not their avian claws against the stone floor of the cave, Zhen Xi definitely heard the sound from the bamboo itself as the approaching creature bumped into some of the stalks.

She looked, and now saw Kielo as they were close enough now, and suddenly dropped the small stalk of bamboo she was chewing on, which clattered to the floor as the cub moved from a sitting position to standing on all four paws. Her first instinct was that this might be a predator here to eat her, as despite Kielo's rather strange yet beautiful appearance, they did look like a carnivore. But then, they spoke, and even being still a baby, Zhen Xi had enough sense to feel it would be rather odd to greet your prey with a hello before attempting to catch and eat them. The question of if anyone was there just confuses her though, having no understanding of blindness.

"Hello? I am here!" She proclaims as she looks up at Kielo, now more curious than frightened. Looking down to her dropped stalk of bamboo, she picks a fresh one up and offers it to Kielo, while grabbing the one she was already eating in her other paw. "You try? It's very... yummy. My name is Zhen Xi, what is your name?" She offers with an exuberant tone, now moving a little closer to look at Kielo's wings and tail feathers, finding it somehow fascinating that they had both fur and feathers, the later she hasn't really seen as she has not met a bird yet. "You are pretty! Poofy tail looks soft. She finally comments cheerfully before going back to chewing on her bamboo stalk.

@Kielo

The hybrid listened, and soon were rewarded by the sound of a voice. Feeling more confident and a wave of relief washing over them, Kielo padded forwards a final few steps, rustling their wings folded against their shoulders. They dipped their nose and sniffed at the warm, fluffy scent- and felt wiry hairs tickling their blossom-pink nose. "Oh, hello!" they chimed, excitement clear in their mane as the feathers began to stand on end, and ears swivelled forward. At the little one's offer, the blind hybrid hesitated, although only for a moment, nose twitching.

"Oh? Thank you!" Although they usually ate plants, they'd never smelled anything like this one before. It took only a moment of consideration though, before they graciously accepted the gift with a soft and gentle muzzle, settling back on avian haunches and tossing their head back as they chewed with teeth that weren't really made for eating plants.

It took a while- although the shoots were tender, Kielo was used to eating scraps of mosses, lichens and mushrooms when they came upon such things, all of which were far easier for the blind hybrid to chew and swallow. As a result, it was quite some time before they answered, and when they did, it was with a broad grin, their ears softly tilting back. "Zhen Xi? What a pretty name! I'm Kielo."

They chuckled then, bowing their head as she called them pretty. It had been a while since they'd heard that, and although they couldn't see what she meant, it never failed to fill them with warmth. "Thank you! I bet you are, too!"

---

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Zhen Xi
notes: here