What's Up, Here? Anything New? (Hazel)

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“It’s been a while since I’ve been here last,” Nerah spoke to the tri-colored raven chick that was perched on her shoulders as she trotted into the orchard. Indeed, it felt like ages since she was last here, and she couldn’t remember being here since the birth of Seraphi. She had been avoiding it subconsciously, she supposed, not wanting to see the Annab tree in case it got worse.

She needn’t have worried, though. The tree wasn’t quite back to normal, but it seemed to be recovering from the massive string of plagues that had affected the land until fairly recently. She was relieved – losing the Annab tree would be the closest she could get to losing a parent. It may as well be her parent, since she had no idea what creatures – if any – contributed to her existence and the tree had nurtured her before birth.

Nerah sighed. No use thinking about such things. They were in the past, now, and she could go back to her normal pastime of seeing what newborns filled the orchard.

“I wonder if there’s anyone new…” She continued through the orchard, glancing around at the pods. The mass birthing that had started earlier in the season had slowed down considerably, it seemed, but there was still the occasional new life. She wished it was as busy as before, but at least it hadn’t stopped…right?

[Hazelstar]

Gwen strolled lazily through the orchard, sniffing at a rock here, a blooming flower there. Gwen pricked his ears up and stared at a flower which was still a bud, but seemed on the edge of opening its leaves to a new world. Gwen sat and continued staring at it. "Come on little flower, the air is fresh and clean." Gwen poked the flower with its nose, and to Gwen's surprise and delight the purplish-pink flower opened up. Gwen felt a rush of happiness, then it was on the ground. Writhing in pain. Gwen felt himself shaking and... Growing... Gwen's legs lengthened, Gwen's tail and body lengthened. Gwen's ears curled from points to rounded edges.



Gwen stood shakily and turned slowly, admiring its strange new form. Gwen didn't understand what happened, but it was amazing.

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Movement caught her attention and Nerah headed toward it, arriving just in time to catch the end of some other canine’s transformation. Was it a newborn? It was here in the orchard and she had never seen it before. But…newborns didn’t evolve, did they? There was something else odd about the canine that she couldn’t quite place. That didn’t matter, though. What mattered was that she was about to meet someone new, and maybe make a friend.

“Hello!” She greeted the canine with a wag of her tail. “You doing okay? The first evolution can be pretty daunting when you don’t know what’s going on.”

[Hazelstar]

Gwen turned around and around, faster and faster like it was chasing its tail. Gwen slowed slowly, getting quite dizzy. Gwen laid on its stomach and panted loudly. Suddenly its ear twitched, Gwen pricked its ears and stared towards the loud sound of paw steps. Gwen shrunk down in fear, Gwen didn't know if this creature was a hunter or an enemy or friend. Gwen started when it heard a voice. The voice sounded friendly enough, so Gwen stood up. A multicolored canine stepped into view. "Hello, I'm Gwen." Gwen yipped, then cocked its head to the side. "What does evolution mean?" Gwen asked in confusion. Gwen had never heard that word before. The other canine was considerable larger than he, and smelled like a female. "What's your name?" Gwen asked.

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She had scared the creature, but she had come to expect that. She was large, even for an absconding, and a newborn probably saw her as a mountain with claws and teeth. She understood, but she didn’t want to keep anyone scared of her for long. She had yet to draw the blood of a feline or canine, and she wasn’t going to start now…or ever, if she had a say in it.

“I’m Nerah.” Her tail wagged harder as she introduced herself. She gestured to the bird that was perched on her. “This is Spirit. Don’t worry, neither of us are gonna hurt you.” She sat down, hunching her shoulders a bit to appear smaller. “Evolution is when a creature becomes larger and changes shape, like you just did.”

[Hazelstar]

Gwen looked nervously up at its new companion, a little nervous since she was so much larger than it was. "I like your name, and your bird's." Gwen yipped, then cocke her head at the grayscale colored bird. "Your bird, Spirit, why does it stay wih you." Gwen asked, then stammered awkwardly, "Not that you don't seem like you'd be a nice companion or anything..." Gwen smiled a lopsided smile and its tail dropped slightly. "I'm bad with words...." Gwen sighed in annoyance. Gwen noticed that Nerah had hunched her shoulders, this made Gwen feel a little more comfortable. "Evolving? How many times can you evolve?" Geen asked in interest, its ears pricking up.

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Nerah’s tail wagged harder. “Thanks! I like yours, too.” When the creature asked about her bird, she shook her head, “No, you’re fine. I understand. I was there when she hatched. I think a scavenger got to her nest and missed an egg, and I happened to stumble upon the remains of the nest at just the right moment. I think Spirit believes I’m her mother, and I’m not going to discourage that. The closer she sticks by me, the safer she’ll be, and it’s nice to have her around.” Her tail slowed. “I’m actually a little bit worried about how I’m going to teach her to fly, and what she’s going to do after, but what happens, happens, I suppose.”

When Gwen asked how many times one could evolve, Nerah thought for a moment. “I’ve evolved twice – once into a form like yours and again into this form. Everyone else I know that’s evolved has only done it once or twice, so I think the second evolution might be it.”

[Hazelstar]

"I wish I could find a creature to have as a pet." Gwen yipped, staring around. Wait. He expected a companion to pop up out of nowhere. Right, of course one would. Gwen huffed at its own stupidity. Yet Gwen really did want a companion, a friend. "So, where do you live?" Gwen asked in interest, cocking its head to the side. Gwen stared at Spirit with an expression of desire for a moment, then turned to look back at Nerah. "And where did you find your bird?" Gwen asked, then its ears flattened. "I'm sorry if you don't like all my questions." Gwen yipped apologetically, with another lopsided smile.

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“You will,” she assured Gwen when the other canine expressed desire over a pet. “I live with my pack in the maple forest not far from here. If you ever decide to leave the orchard, you can come visit us. Our borders are open, for the most part, and we’re always looking for new members.” Her tail wagged at that, slowing only a little when the topic was changed to where she found her bird. “There’s this barren territory called the wasted land, not too far from here but beyond the lands you’ll first encounter when you leave the orchard. That’s where the birds live. They’re not the only creatures to make good companions, though. My daughter, Seraphi, bonded with one of the gliders in our home territory.”

[Hazelstar]

"A pack?" Gwen yipped in interest. There was so much he wanted to know. "How many members are in the pack? Who are they? Are they nice? Do they all look like you? What's the maple forest like?" The questions spilled from its jaws, one after another after another. Gwen bounced around its new friend's paws, well at least it considered her a friend, Gwen didn't know how Nerah responded to its happy and bouncy personality. "Wasted land?" the name sent a shudder of fear through the canine. "That doesn't sound like a good place..." He whimpered. "It sounds... Dead..." the word dead bounced around Gwen's mind causing him to whimper again. It wasn't at all a nice word...

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She thought for a moment. “I believe there are seven or eight of us in total. There used to be four, but then Silva and Antares adopted a few other creatures and had a biological son, and Antares and I had our daughter, and I lost track. We’re a diverse group – some canine, some feline, some mixed, and all three stages of evolution. It’s rather nice, actually.” When the subject changed to the wasted land, she shook her head. “It’s not so bad once you know what you’re doing. It is barren, but there’s the occasional plant, puddle, and prey. Your body’s actually pretty well adapted to it. There are plenty of other places to go to get a companion, if you’d really rather not go there.”

[Hazelstar]

Gwen wagged its tail. "That's a lot of creatures!" Gwen yipped, excitedly. Gwen's tail suddenly ceased movement. "What's a feline? And what's a mix?" Gwen asked, it had only heard of canines, it thought there were only canines here. "Are they smart like us? Can we speak to them? What do they look like?" Gwen's curiosity got the better of it as Gwen yipped out all these questions, then turned his head sharply and stared at a bird which was flying overhead. Gwen followed its shadow, pouncing at it happily, completely forgetting his vast number of questions he had asked Nerah, and just being content following the bird.

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Gwen asked more questions, and Nerah opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when his attention was diverted. She followed the creature’s gaze, spotting the bird as Gwen began chasing its shadow. She laughed at that, remembering somewhat painfully the time she had been so carefree. Perhaps, someday, she would be carefree again…when she was sure the plagues had gone and the complications of her love life were settled.

She watched as the other canine continued to follow the bird wondering if she should follow. The creature seemed content with his new game, but she didn’t want to just leave. What if he ended up looking for her once he was done? Nerah decided to follow at a short distance and see whether or not she was still needed here.

[Hazelstar]

Gwen's tail wagged furiously as e chased the birds shadow. It lighted in a tree and stared down at him with a scolding look and cawed in defiance. It was a huge bird, not unlike Spirit. The bird flew at Gwen, its talons extended. Gwen yelped in surprise and turned around, fleeing. He slid underneath Nerah and whined, his legs quivering. The bird gave another caw and flew off, a furious gleam still in its eye. Gwen slid from underneath Nerah and chuckled nervously, its red eyes flashing around. "Sorry about that..." Gwen yipped with a nervous edge to his voice. "It wont happen again." Gwen barked in a determined voice.

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Her eyes widened as the bird flew toward Gwen, and she would have ran forward to defend him had he not ran under her. She growled at the bird and it flew off, though she wasn’t sure the two events were related. She felt bad – it was only defending itself – but she had to protect her own kind above something less…well…there was no nice way to describe the creatures of lesser intelligence.

Gwen slid out from under her and apologized, and she shook her head. “No problem, though I wouldn’t be doing that with every creature you might meat. Some out there are very unkind…” She sighed, remembering the cult she had once belonged to. The cult seemed to have disbanded, but it was still an active and present memory.

She then remembered the conversation they had been having before the bird showed up. “To answer your earlier questions, felines are another intelligent creature, like us but built for agility rather than strength. Mixes are something between us and felines, and I don’t know if they exist outside our pack. They’re as intelligent as us and we can interact with them as well as with each other.”