_{sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing...}

there is a time for silence;
a time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny,
and a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.

The last week had been a busy one for the young bird. She had grown into her wings but now it seemed like she had finally begun to grow into who she was meant to be. Her mind seemed splintered more than ever-- there were many different voices all controlling the pitohui bird, though almost all of them took a backseat to Enna.

Enna, although originally the shy, quiet bird who was quick to listen to the main, other original two, Calypso and Ratchie, had grown more bold. At least in mentality. She had a passion, a purpose, a reason. Lives were crashing down around her: and while she still did not understand how to repair friendships nor repair her fractured mind (if she even wished to, which, being fair she did not.) but she did know how to repair bodies. She could heal, and if it was the only thing she could do she would learn how to do it well.

Right then, Bevy had taken to checking the ponds for clean water. She had found a large, smooth rock where she had begun to lay out many flat, smooth leaves for drying, as well as some vines and moss. Everything was so damp in the cave, but at least here it was somewhat dry. She hoped it would work, but for now her attention was focused on checking the pools for bacteria.

The hot white spots could be both good and bad for pools, but she was determined to make sure that her friend's drinking spots were clean enough. She could always pull out nasty bacteria, or put in healthy ones-- but it was important that she keep careful watch on the levels at all times. Fluctuation meant there was something interfering. Perhaps something rotting, or a nasty plant growing nearby... Something.

As a guardian, she had taken this as part of her role, and it kept her wings busy when she started to feel restless. Calypso still wanted to go out and explore, and so did Ratchie, but they needed rest. They had done enough, more than enough. She couldn't keep pushing herself. It was time to stay home and prepare for any future disasters.

Enna, Enna, do you see that? A soft, young tone filled her mind, making her hesitate. It wasn't Caly, and it certainly wasn't Ratchie. If anything, it made her think of Dark, but surely the owlet was sleeping. "Huh?" Curious, the tiny bird looked around, wondering if she was just hearing things-- if it was something in her mind. Of course it was. A new one? Why now? Bevy didn't understand what was happening to her, but it seemed she had other things to think about:

That tiny pup named Quix was headed her way.

"Ma-ji WAAAalezi.” “Maaaaaji Waleiiiiiiji!” “Ma-ji Whaleasleep” Quix shook her head and padded on, head in the clouds. The names didn’t fit properly on her tongue. Her pack name was such a mouthful and she was close to murdering it. ”Maji…Majicarp?” Bah, that didn’t work either. With a shrug and a wistful sigh, the little fennec picked up her steps as she neared the Pisces pond. The past week had been an eventful one for her. From meeting new Gembounds to going on her own exploration trips whenever Cancer was busy, the girl was definitely up to mischief wherever she roamed and who could fault her for it? She was tiny, quick, and a very unpredictable bundle of energy. Today was one of those unpredictable days. She was bursting out of her little fennec fox shell of a body.

She passed by several packmates on the way and grinned at them, large furry ears bobbing up and down in cheerful greeting. It had become a routine to the girl. She was starting to grow out of the tiny young babe stage and needed to grow even further and extend her horizons - something which she did not know but contributed to her growing restlessness. When she had reached the tranquil pond, Quix bent down to lap some water. As she did so, her blue eyes gazed at her perimeters. It was then that she saw a couple of dried, organized leaves and moss on a large log. Someone had put them there. The girl tilted her head upwards and spotted Bevy, the little poisonbirb she wanted to rub her paws all over. She did not yet know that she was untouchable. ”Birby! I mean, Bevy! Heyyyy over here! You um, put those leaves there?” she purred, looking at her friend excitedly with her little scraggly yet furry tail wagging furiously behind her.

Bevy tilted her head as the adorable bundle of fur greeted her, asking her an incredibly brilliant question. In all truth, Bevy wished she had some help, but being honest... Who would help? Dark was blinder than a bat, and everyone else had been so distant lately... Leon honestly had been the least distant and that was saying something since the bear had practically taken to solitude over across the way in Orion. But that wasn't too important just then, no, not at all. She'd worry about that later.

Hi! Hi! Say Hi, Enna! "Hello Quix," she replied politely, a warm flutter in her chest from when the fennec had called her Birby. It was absolutely adorable. "Yes, I did. I'm putting supplies together in case anyone gets hurt. See, moss can soak up water," she explained, taking a piece of moss off a nearby rock and, clutching it in her talons, she dabbled it into the pond and lifted it back up to show it was full of moisture. Squiiiishy. "And the leaves can be used to cover open wounds, vines for tying things together. It's all very important."

She wondered if the little one even cared. So few gembounds seemed to find anything except adventure and sparing (something Bevy herself avoided due to her small size) fun or interesting... What she was doing would be at best considered by her friends as work, she assumed. She hadn't asked for help because she knew it would be a bother.

I like her, I like her! The childish voice rang in her mind and she let out a tiny chuckle, shaking her head. "Right now, while I'm waiting for those to dry, I'm checking on the wellness of the water. See, I can see Life." Bevy had taken to calling "bacteria" life ever since meeting that hyena that grew "death," or rather, fungi. "They're like little white spots, and some of them are bad and some are good. I have to make sure the balance is right so no one gets sick-- if there's a lot of bad stuff in the water I can tell Cancer not to let anyone drink from the pond until it's better."

Focusing, the small bird tried to check the bacteria levels right there, the red-green gem embedded in her breast shimmering with magic as she did so. The water seemed to flicker with the invisible dots, wiggling around in the pond full of life. It didn't seem like too much bacteria to her, but she wasn't sure-- not at a glance-- if it was the right kind or right amount of "Life". She was only just starting to test her theories, after all.

The birdy was so polite! Quix winced at her in a cute fashion and curled up her teeth, revealing a sharp-toothed smile. Instinct told her to pounce on the birb! But, this one was too cute and her bright colours would go to waste if she were injured because of her predator impulses. Quix did quite like how chirpy she was (literally, and in personality-wise), so she ignored her impulses and listened to the little birb explain what she was doing. First, she explained that she was gathering supplies to heal others. Then, she picked up a moss. The fennec girl pricked her ears and moved closer to have a look. Bevy dipped it into the water, then took the soggy mess out. ”It’s poofy!” the fennec fox gasped and swiped out her little paw to touch it. Leaves and vines. The girl committed the green stuff to memory. It seemed useful but kind of boring. Unless…she could go exploring to collect the leaves and vines! Would Bevy birby let her?

The colourful girl flew to a different spot and continued elaborately. When she mentioned the word “Life,” Quix yipped excitedly and jumped up and down. ”You see them! You see them! Itty bitty things! Good and bad!” Her horns glowed a pale blue as she herself cast her magic and saw the white spots Bevy was looking at. The girl then looked at Bevy in amazement. She was wonderful! Finally, a fellow soul who understood! ”Bevy! A freund! Magic friend!” She proclaimed proudly and purred again, her tail curling around her hindlegs in delight. But…why was Bevy birby using her magic like this? ”Bevy, you…um…use your magic to, help people?” She had never thought of harnessing her power that way and wondered how Bevy would think of this.

Bevy blinked in surprise as the little one's horns began to glow as she bounced up and down and the vulpine gembound began to talk about itty bitty things-- yes, yes! Indeed, the baby gembound seemed to see "Life" just as she did! Lil' Maji, lil' Maji! The child in her mind peeped away, bright and enthusiastic. "You see them? The little itty bitty whites? In the water, and in everything?" She asked, voice soft. It had been so long, weeks, since she had met another who shared her ability. It seemed as though little Quix was the love child of Maji Walezi, a baby of Bevy's magic, Cancer's horns, and Makyna's color, and perhaps... Hm. Maybe Leon's bravery? She seemed like quite a confident, spunky little thing.

"Yes, I use my magic to help people. I take away the bad itty bitties that make others sick, and sometimes share my healthy ones if I can, if I need to. Look, just keep watching. I'll show you," she offered, happy to let the fennec fox steal her moss-- there was plenty to go around, after all. She turned to face the pond and stretched out a wing, focusing on the bacteria that wanted to eat and grow and make sick, leaving the bacteria that somehow she felt was safe and fine to leave behind.

It was a bit tricky, an art she was still trying to master, but slowly the invisible to all but the senses rose to the top of the water and slowly pulled to the air in a loose, messy cloud of bacteria. "See? When a friend is sick, they might have a lot of bad itty bitties, and I can pull them out like this and help their bodies focus on repairing instead of fighting off the nasties."

She flicked her crimson gaze back to the fox, hoping she understood. As she looked away, the bacteria fell back into the pond without so much as a splash-- they were much too small to displace the water, after all. "What can you do with the tiny things? Have you tried doing more than just looking at them?" Bevy asked, sounding curious.

The girl’s eyes widened in awe as Bevy affirmed what she said! The birb could see the itty bitty things! She nodded enthusiastically when Bevy asked her about the itty bitty whites. She could see them all. Bevy asked her to watch and she did, large eyes open in awe as she stretched out a wing and commanded the bad stuff out. She then elaborated further and let the itty bitties fall back into the water. Demonstration time was over and now, it was her turn. Quix shuffled uncomfortably in her paws, and her large ears swooped down on either side of her head. She wasn’t half as great as Bevy was! It made her shy.

”I can see, and increase good itty bitty life! So far…” her voice trailed off and she sat down, tail wrapping around her paws. ”Bevy birby much better than Quix.” The girl then quietly tried to work her magic, to increase the amount of good bacteria in the bird’s blood and gut. She hoped that her magic would work and add some credibility to her name. Oh, but Bevy was so lovely and pretty and wonderful! Quix had thought that this was not as great as adventuring but, it was so nice and comfy meeting someone who knew exactly what the itty bitties were and she wanted to learn! Despite her slightly shy features now, the enthusiasm on her face had not diminished.

It worked! The good itty bitties (they appeared a brighter white than the bad ones) increased and the girl giggled at Bevy, like a child playing a prank on an adult, only this was a good prank!

Bevy nodded-- those were the first two she had learned as well. She had begun with being able to boost her health, boost her "Life" with her magic, and after she learned how to see what she was doing. For one so young, she had a good range of skills so far. The pitohui was sure that Quix would learn quixkly, and maybe even be able to help out the honestly overwhelmed colorful birdy.

"I'm probably twice your age so I hope I'd be better," she replied, hoping that was enough to comfort the shying fox. We're awesome, the best, aren't we, Enna? It was easy to see that Quix was quite good at keeping herself in tip top shape though, that was good! "Here's a secret, now that you have all those good ones built up, if you can focus them in a paw or something and touch another gembound, the itty bitties should move on to the other creature. It's a good way to heal until you can move them around in the air."

She tucked her wings at her side and tilted her head. "I've been working on a stronger one, it lasts a bit longer... Tell me if you can see the difference, alright? It's a bit tricky to do." With that, she tried to bring up an entire shield of bacteria that would press to her skin and keep all of the icky illnesses at bay-- it was a lot like fauna cleanse, but so far she had only been able to do it when she was afraid and panicking. Hopefully it would work in a controlled environment, now...

Wait, wait! Hold on! Let me help!

... But it was tricky, just like she had said. Instead of boosting the bacteria in her body, she seemed to draw the nasty bacteria that had infected the pond to her, crawling up her legs. A sudden, horrible dread drew over her as she began to fill a bit ill, and nervously she hopped back from the fennec fox. Oh dear, this is not what she wanted to do at all. "Ah, hold on... I... That's not what I wanted to do," she chirped, her voice taking on an edge of anxiousness.

The birb spoke about age to which Quix nodded. It made her feel slightly better. There was hope! She was just like Bevy Birby and she might be even better than she already was at her age! Her tail resumed its wagging and she gave a little mew of pleasure, like a small kitten that was pleased with its share of milk. Bevy now mentioned secrets. The fennec giggled daintily. She liked dangerous things that lay in the grey area. Secrets was one of them. Ears flicked in eagerness as Bevy revealed to her one magic secret!

“Smart Bevy!” The girl quipped. The birb was so clever! The fennec fox had only thought about increasing the overall level of good bacteria. She did not ever think of concentrating the itty bitties on her paws and then directing them to wounds. ”You’re the best Birby,” she added with a big smile. Bevy then moved on to the next trick. The girl nodded as she opened her eyes wider and observed even more keenly. She noticed bright white spots being conjured out of the duller spots, and they flickered towards the bird. It happened for only a moment though. The good bacteria disappeared in a flash and what happened was a hoard of bad bacteria crawling up Bevy! She had turned pale as well. ”Um Bevy?” she looked at her, nose twitching in worry. Her two claws were nasty. Definitely magic gone wrong! Immediately, she scrambled over to Bevy and tried to do as her mentor had said. She channelled the good energy onto her paws and then brought them to the birb’s legs before it could infect her even more…

And it worked! Bright, shiny white spots started to gather around Quix’s paws, and she quickly brought her paw closer to rub the bird’s legs. All this while she was standing and so only her outstretched paw was beneath Bevy’s feathers…

"O-oh, thank you. I just try my hardest," Bevy chirped, though now she was starting to worry about, well, her miscast spell... She didn't know what to do to stop it, though-- this was her first big mishap and she was incredibly flustered.

Quix was not only a quixk learner, but also quixk to act, wasn't she! Bevy's feathers puffed up in alarm as the fennec lunged forward, touching and batting away all of the nasty bacteria before it had a chance to make her too sick... Still, she could tell that somehow she had injured the healthy stuff in her body with by pushing her luck, and that made her nervous. She stood still like a statue, watching the pup make quick work of the situation--

"Eek! Careful, um, my feathers-- they'll make you feel fuzzy. Not good fuzzy. They are poison. You can't see it, is not like itty bitties. Something else, dangerous though." No one had gotten too hurt from her toxic feathers, but ever since she was little(-r) she had known to stay away from others for that very reason. It didn't affect Cancer too much-- he was always too wet and probably too big to be affected by the tiny doses she had got on him before-- but she certainly didn't want to risk it with anyone, especially a smaller gembound. Nervously, she hopped back and used a simplier spell, the same that Quix had. She could strengthen the new bacteria the pup had given her and then everything would be good, right?

And the bright white fuzzies seemed to happily take to her magic, casting away the grimmier, nasty bacteria and for now, although Bevy's immune system had taken a hit, it seemed like she would suffer very little ill effects. Thank goodness for that. "... I think I'll be okay. Thank you, Quix. You healed me! You really did.."

Bevy’s leg was small and hence easy for the little paws of the fennec to wash over. She saw the bacteria slowly teem up her leg, displacing the nasty goo that had gotten onto her earlier. Still, the girl knew that some of the nasty stuff had already entered the body of her birby friend and this made her frustrated. She could not get rid of all of them! It triggered something in the little fennec. Just then, Bevy started talking about posion and hopped back. The young fennec did not know what was posion, but she knew what bad bacteria was. It hurt! So if posion was like bacteria but different as Bevy said, it would hurt! Immediately, the girl moved backwards.

Bevy was smart! She capitalized on the good bacteria which Quix had conjured and strengthened their effects. The little fennec grinned and yelped happily. ”Bevy is better!”The girl was glad that her friend would be okay as long as she did not go wandering into weird places. Then, she remembered the spell. And just as the thing earlier ticked in her, the fennec attempted to imitate her mentor. Concentrating hard, her gem started to glimmer blue and she reached into the environment inside Bevy in an attempt to draw out the remaining bad bacteria she had gotten in that critical failure.

She failed to do so! The dark pieces were so much trickier in the target’s body. The girl looked at the birb and spoke in determined tones. ”Failed! Bevy, teach me again. I want…to learn.” A defiant look lit up her eyes and she waited for the birb to show her the technique to this new spell.