takes place after [OvC] THE DISTRACTION, hours before [OvC] SPECIAL FORCES

Their flight from Eridanus was long--maybe not for a larger Gembound, or compared to other tunnels in the caves, but for a little sifaka, Tunnel H seemed to stretch on forever, even when they used their magic to speed them. Still, they did not stop along the way. Too dangerous to tarry in a tunnel, where their options for escape were limited. They could not afford to be caught, especially with a child in tow.

They finally slowed, panting with exertion, when they reached Polaris. There could be danger here, too (their encounter with the wolfdog had taught them that), but it was such a large room that enemies would have a much harder time finding them and trapping them. And they could already feel the room's energy giving them an extra boost against their fatigue. Good.

They had offered the little bird Mother's fungus as they'd run through the tunnel, and the magpie had accepted, but there had been little spare breath or time to explain further. Now, finally, they could properly welcome the child to their family. "Sorry about all that," Yellow apologized, leaning against a glowing, moss-covered crystal to rest. "There was danger coming, and we needed to leave quickly. But you will be safe now! There are lots of people connected to each other through that fungus I gave you, and we're all family. We'll all take care of you."

They waited to see if Rapture had anything to ask or say--this had to be a lot to take in, after all. Oh-! And surely they should have a treat after that stressful journey. Yellow concentrated, holding up one hand, and conjured a large, sparkling magical banana. The magic came surprisingly strongly--the banana was damn near perfect--and they wondered for a moment. Was this Polaris's energy at work?

"Here," they offered, peeling the banana with deft black fingers and holding it out to the little magpie. "Do you want something to eat? This is a banana. It's a fruit. It's sweet."

"My name is Yellow," they added. "Do you have a name?"

@Rapture

The ingestion of a rotten white gift had left its mark almost immediately: a warm sense of well-being, of a mother's savage protection against what horrors lay behind them. Yellow was safety: Yellow would keep them safe.

It was too early yet for a true link to establish, but the trigger of those chemicals that signalled family, that assured joy, teamwork, it all led to a sense of being in the right place, at the right time. Serendipity, made manifest by the lies of a chemical brain.

It would not be long before Mother made her presence known--but for now-... patience. She would come.

They're warm.

Set in the arms of a fleeing sifaka, pressed against fur, feathers fluffed in alarm—of course they're warm. But there's a different kind of warmth that meets Rapture beyond that, taken by the tastelessness of white fungus.

In their heart, they are warm. Because they are being held, and they are being carried, and they are not alone. Suddenly they know, more than anything in the world, they would hate to be alone. They would be terrified.

The warmth calms them, but it brings a different kind of dread to their heart, knowing that there was something dangerous back there. Something so dangerous that the sifaka ran, and ran, and ran, and is still running. How long have they been running? The caves are so large, it's overwhelming.

They're home, and warm, and safe, but what if that home gets taken away? What if they didn't run far enough from the danger after all? What if it follows them?

"I'm scared," they murmur. "Did we run far enough? Why were we in danger? What was going to hurt us? Wh—"

Whatever question they might have asked next is cut off by the presentation of food. Pretty food—the sparkles are gorgeous, they catch their eye in an instant. Almost as pretty as the drones were, weaving their threads through the jungle.

Any further questions are held back by Rapture taking tentative pieces of the banana and swallowing. It seems even the fear of some unknown danger hasn't stifled their appetite.

"R—Rapture," they mumble in-between bites.

@Yellow