Yellow wasn't quite sure when exactly they woke up.

Their awareness seemed to return slowly. First, they were aware of warmth. Then came darkness, and the sense that they were curled into a tight space. Rather than feeling trapped, though, they thought it felt rather comforting to be in the security of... whatever they were in right now.

They realized their eyes were closed. That was fine. They were comfortable in here, and felt no real need to do anything just yet. So they remained still and waited, as the rest of their senses gradually sharpened.

There was the familiar burble of little streams. There was the constant hum of insects. There was the rustle of leaves and branches. There were the soft thumps of things falling from high places. Fruits? Twigs? A Gembound? Yellow didn't know, but they weren't very concerned about it. As far as they knew, everything was normal.

What was normal?

Normal was sleeping curled up in big brother Sebby's fur. Normal was jumping from treetop to treetop, selecting the tenderest leaves and the ripest fruits to eat. Normal was showing off the prettiest flowers to whoever happened to be nearby before popping them into their mouth. Normal was -

Not this, actually.

The lemur opened their eyes, but there were no sprawling ferns or towering trees to be seen. There was not a trace of black fur or gentle panther in sight, either. Instead, they were surrounded by a semi-translucent shell of yellow jade, so that everything they could see, which wasn't much, was cast in a golden light. Pretty enough, they supposed, but it wasn't what they had been expecting. Also, they'd been here before, and it hadn't been much fun. Quite boring, rather.

Yellow pushed outwards, straining against the walls of their chrysalis. The stone rocked back and forth, then plummeted from the y-shaped joint between two branches it had been nestled in. Inside, all the lemur knew was a sudden, dizzying acceleration, but they were not afraid - quite the opposite, in fact. This was exciting, and made for a nice contrast from the quietness of before. The jade hit the cave floor and shattered. Yellow clambered out, eyes bright with excitement.

This place looked strange to them. Yellow had gone into hibernation after a fire had swept Eridanus, and the flora had regrown in unfamiliar patterns. But it was still a jungle, and it was still their home. Soon enough, they would become familiar with it. And what better place to start that process than with a familiar little hum?

They had just awoken, but they had done this enough times that it came easily enough with just a little extra effort. This spell was the second oldest thing they knew - the first, of course, being their big brother. Where was he? They would have to go look for him soon. Maybe bring him a flower.

Humming a second note that was very out of tune with the magical hum they'd created, Yellow began to clamber up a tree, snagging handfuls of leaves as they went. Hibernation had left them hungry.

--exit