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"I am unsure about you, but this one cannot yet fly," she tilted her head, and then shook it. "Not fire, no. You will learn how to handle it better."


There was a pause as the owl stared at the bird next to her, head tilting the other way. Perhaps she had came up with some form of idea, but whatever it was she seemingly decided to stay quiet about it.


She looked into the woods once more before she asked, "Would you like to search?"

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Adeyemi huffed, straightening up, and trotted over to the base of one of Eridanus' many trees. "We do not need to fly," he explained, "just to climb." He dug a talon into the bark experimentally, before trying to heave himself up off the ground. The first try ended with him on his back, and he croaked, getting up and fluffing his feathers free of dirt. The girl's words stopped him for a moment, and he thought, turning to look at her. "Yes," he replied after a moment, going back to scratching a foothold into the bark. "But it will be easier to search from tree to tree. More to see, less muck to walk through."

post roll:
With a determined heave, the turaco barely gripped onto the bark, scratching and clawing mightily to get up to even the first branch. Thankfully, he made it after a few near-falls, perching on the limb with a triumphant beat of his wings. "There! Easy! If there is anything to see, we will see it from up here," he announced happily, clearly waiting for the owl to follow his lead.

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She stared at the tree for a moment, ruffling her feathers before she approached the trunk. Slowly, she began to dig her sharp talons into the bark, trying to haul herself up. Her talons dragged down the bark at first before she continued to pull herself up.

Upon reaching a high branch she sighed, leaning over to look around. She set her piercing gaze on a nearby exit leading out of Eridanus. "There."

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Adeyemi followed her gaze, seeing the vague outline of what must have been an exit. "Yes, that must be a way out of this wretched place," he called up to the owl in reply, eagerly hopping from his current branch and awkwardly clinging to the next, continuing this hop-stop-steady-hop mode of transport towards the spot. He stopped every so often, as if afraid to leave his companion behind, but just as unwilling to say he actually wanted her to accompany him. "There must be something else here," he mumbled to himself, searching the ground below for any signs of life beyond the occasional mouse. "we would not have been put here for nothing."

This was whispered as a self-assurance, and Adeyemi peered back at the owl. "Where will we go, after this?" What else is there?

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The owl remained silent for a moment, staring into the way that would lead into Tunnel I. Before long she began to crawl from branch to branch after Adeyemi.


"I have explored these lands for days. Perhaps we are meant to come back at a later date," she said. "We should see what is outside this forest."


She paused and looked back at Adeyemi for his opinion, briefly.

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Nodding his agreeal, the turaco hopped to a stop, peering up at his companion. "Yes. Our purpose is not here. It is... elsewhere." Where, he didn't know, but this forest had given him nothing but the owl, and it remained to be seen whether she would even accompany him to wherever they were headed. "We should... explore? Yes. Explore outside of this place. Perhaps we will find others like ourselves," he added, a hint of rare curiosity and excitement lightening his tone.

His wings flapped once, twice, air drying them from his soak in the pond, and Adeyemi peered down at the exit and up to his companion, moving his feet along the branch in an unconscious show of anticipation. "You will come with me, yes?" This was soft and hopeful, and a moment later he looked away from the owl, unhappy to have shown anything close to dependance.

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There was a pause. The owl looked over to the bird, probably frowning if she had an actual mouth. "I will accompany you," she said.

She leaned over the branch, looking down. She turned and climbed back to the closest tree trunk and began to climb down before making her way towards the exit, briefly looking back up at Adeyemi before leaving.

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((exit willow))

Feathers puffed up at the response, and Adeyemi let out a happy chirp, tail twitching. "Excellent! Uh, I mean, of course. It's safer to stick together, after all," he said, voice taking on a lofty tone. He was quick to follow the owl, half climbing and half falling down the tree to the base, and waddled after her. When they reached the tunnel's entrance, he hesitated, peering into it nervously. Still, his companion trudged ahead, and he would not show weakness in front of the first person he'd met in this forsaken place. "Wait for me," he croaked out, jogging after the owl, wings outstretched for balance.

[ Exit Adeyemi ]