They had made a new friend, whom they could possibly consider a third brother. They had seen the magic mirrors, the tower and the stars, and the great waterfall. They had collected gifts from the snowy room, the one whose ceilings shifted with rainbows. What was next? Wherever they decided to go, they had to find some way to carry their stuff with them. That, or find somewhere safe to store them...

Yellow clambered up a thick tree, leaving the music box behind. Their kaleidoscope was slung across their chest, secured with a bunch of crinkled wrapping paper and two long ribbons. They'd thought of trying to make that magical vibration to pass the time, but why do that when they could use their voice instead, and create more complex songs? So the lemur hummed an aimless little tune, vaguely inspired by their music box's chiming melody.

Ah, there it was! A hollow cavity in a tree not too far away. None on this one, though. Could they jump with the kaleidoscope weighing them down? Yellow considered, carefully gauging the distance and swinging to a nearer branch experimentally.

The kaleidoscope turned out to affect their balance a surprising amount - or maybe not surprising, considering how light Yellow was and the size of the kaleidoscope. They nearly missed the closest branch, and they shuddered to think of what might happen if they tried to leap their way to another tree. It would have to be the long way around, then. Climb down, run over, climb up, and ugh this was taking so long-

Yellow was pretty sure they could fit in an entire other hibernation period with the amount of time it took them to get up a tree a second time. Or maybe that was their lack of patience showing - well, that didn't matter too much now that they were up! The hollow was big, big enough to fit their entire body inside, so Yellow did just that. The cavity was rather messy, filled with dirt and branches and other debris.

Can't have it messing up my gifts, she thought worriedly. What if dirt smudged the lens on their kaleidoscope, and they could no longer see the pretty patterns? Without thinking too much about what creatures might be living inside the pile of debris, Yellow grabbed a handful of twigs and threw them outside.

The first clump of debris thrown away awoke them--and up popped first one head, then the second, then the third. They were bright-eyed, with four eyes per head, and blue-feathered: three Carollers who apparently had been living in this hollow.



Possibly they'd been asleep, and tucked down--covered in the leaf litter, perhaps as shelter--but now they peered out to see who this intruder was.

One of them offered a startled, questioning Peep? and the others began a quietly confused, twittering song. They did not seem too afraid of Yellow--they'd never seen anything like them!--but wary, that they were.

@Yellow

Yellow reached for another handful of leafy debris, but - blue heads? They popped up one by one, looking at her curiously. And they sang! Yellow liked that. "Hey!" she said cheerfully, now beginning to shove leaf litter away from a small area of wood in the back instead of tossing it out of the cavity. "We can be roommates! And you can have all the debris for your beds, since you like it so much." She had cleared an area big enough for the kaleidoscope now, and set it down gently. It wobbled slightly from side to side - should she try to stabilize it with some sticks? But a quick glance around the cavity revealed none the right size and shape.

It wasn't falling out of the hollow, at least, so it would have to be good enough. "I'm going back down for something else!" Yellow told the trio of Carollers. She didn't think they could talk, but they were chirping very prettily so they must want to be friends! "Don't touch that," she said, pointing at the kaleidoscope, then stretching out her arms in front of it as if to block the Carollers. She pointed to the patch of bare wood she'd made in the back, then at herself. "That can be my part of this hollow, okay?"

It was likely they didn't understand in the slightest, but each of the one-legged birds shuffled away toward the back of the hollow. There they clustered, away from Yellow as best they could manage, but not bursting past them into flight.

There they waited, watching with four wide eyes apiece as the small creature cleared out a bit of a sleeping spot and laid down a... a thing?

One caroller halfheartedly pecked at the kaleidescope once or twice, then pulled back upon finding it not quite edible; head tilted from side to side as it pondered this new and strange thing.

When Yellow left, two remained behind; one hopped up to the hollow's mouth again, peering after them.

@Yellow

Tying the ribbon back around them, with only the wrapping paper attached this time, Yellow swung from branch to lower branch until they reached where the music box lay. They wrapped it in the paper and reached to tie it on with a ribbon when they noticed something: there was a caroller staring at them! "Hi!" they chirped again, waving at the bird. Glancing back down at the music box, Yellow realized they had forgotten something important!

Whichever powerful enchanter lived in Ursa had given them the music box and the kaleidoscope. These carollers had given them a place to sleep and put their stuff. I should bring some gifts too! What did birds like to eat - seeds? Berries? Yellow liked flowers, but they weren't sure if carollers did too. I'll just get some of everything!

There was an iceberry bush not far away, and Yellow picked a grape-like cluster of the fruits. They held the stem in their mouth, and looked for more food nearby. There! A patch of flowers growing under an ancient, moss-covered tree; those would do nicely. The sifaka grabbed a handful, pulling off their stems along with the flowers, and scampered back to the music box. They tucked these inside the wrapping paper with the box, tied the whole package to their back, and began to climb back up to the hollow.

It would have been nice to gather more: some seeds, perhaps, in case the birds didn't like either gift, or some tender young leaves to munch on. But they didn't want to delay too long, and they had no way of carrying small seeds up the tree.

"Gifts!" Yellow beamed when they reached the hollow, first dropping the iceberry cluster to the floor and then unwrapping the music box with its flowers. The box, paper, and ribbons they set next to the kaleidoscope, but they placed the berries and flowers in the middle of the hollow. "For all of us!" As if to demonstrate, Yellow plucked an iceberry from the cluster and popped it into their mouth. Then they took a second one, and held it out to the nearest caroller.

The Carollers drew back, at first, wary at the sudden movement and the return of the stranger. The flowers they stared at.

The berries, however, seemed to draw their interest at once--and with rapid pecks and a flurry of movement, they clustered in to eat them.

It seemed that they would be used to Yellow now--perhaps they were now roommates after all.

@Yellow

Yellow beamed with happiness as the carollers converged around the berries. They had made a good gift! Birds, it seemed, didn't eat flowers, but they were happy to take those for themselves. And now they had a new home, with three new bird-friends! Big brother Sebby would surely be delighted when he found out. When Yellow found him and could tell him all about their new friends. (Khloros' warning not to talk about him was long since forgotten.)

But until then, this would be a good place to live. The sifaka reached for their music box and wound it up, listening to the clockwork melody as they snacked on the flowers they'd brought up.

exit