a whole new world [open]

[Ruby]

Rose had just concluded that her world of darkness and silence was all there was when she felt the first jolt. The word that flashed into her mind was apocalypse - a word she vaguely, yet instinctively, knew. Her world was ending, and she would die along with it. She did not know that she had not been born yet. The second jolt did not surprise her nearly as much, but presented a problem to the conclusion she had reached just a few seconds ago. She hit something, something hard, and rolled over. And suddenly she realized that there was something beneath her, something she was leaning against besides the comfortable old walls of her pod. Something else - something else outside her world! Rose felt her first thrill of excitement in her young life. However, her pod's lopsided rolling had left her in awkward position - rather than her nose being tucked comfortably into her long tail, it was now pressed against the wall of the pod, with her front legs pressed against whatever it was that was under her and her spine twisted so her back legs faced the side. Scrabbling around, she felt a crack beneath her, a crack in her safe little world, growing quickly with every movement she made. Rose might have thought again of the word apocalypse at this point, but now she knew that there was something else out there. She did not know what it was, or if she could live on it, but she did not have a choice now. The pod was rapidly disintegrating and finally she leaped out of her pod, splintering it and scattering the pieces, and stood blinking in the sunlight.

Blinding whiteness greeted her, and as she breathed for the first time she feigned confidence, lifting her head and tail and straightening her shoulders, waiting as her eyes adjusted to whatever this was. An explosion of colors overwhelmed her as she stared, blinking at the flowers, pink and white and purple and red. Sight was a new sense to Rose but it seemed to come easily, as she quickly adjusted to the new colors, calming herself by focusing on one thing at a time - blue flower, pink flower, green grass, brown tree. A thousand fragrant scents of plants drifted past her nose, and birds sang merrily in the trees. It seemed that this world was full of beauty - bright and kind and magnificent and perfect. Utopia. And as she turned, she saw many other pods, more of anything than she had ever seen, hanging in the trees. Just like her. So there were others, still trapped in the dark little world. Burning with curiosity, she walked carefully around the small area in which she had landed - smelling first the grass, staring at it, then the tree from which she had fallen, a couple flowers, and then another pod. She gave it a tentative sniff and smelled a creature. It smelled of new life but also something different - but perhaps, she reasoned, they were like the birds, alive, but not like her either.

[Deleted]

Seraphi couldn’t remember being here since her own birth, yet little seemed to have changed. The trees were all still there – even the one that had gotten diseased last year and led to her mother and father creating her. She’d have to tell her mother – the news would make her happy.

The canine/feline mix padded between the trees, sunlight dappling her multi-hued fur where it managed to penetrate the layers of branches and leaves overhead. She gazed at the trees she passed, admiring the pods she could see dangling from the branches. There were so many…did that mean the world would be filled with life again? She’d heard tales of finding several creatures in any given place, though she herself hadn’t met many canines or felines outside her pack. Maybe some of them would hatch while she was there and she’d be able to make some new friends! She could hope…

Her paws carried her to the remains of a pod and she sniffed it. The scent seemed to be feline, and it was fresh. Whoever had broken free from the pod had done so recently and was likely still in the orchard somewhere. Seraphi gave the pod remains another curious sniff and followed the scent. She didn’t have to walk far – the feline she was tracking was sniffing at another pod, this one intact. Perhaps it would break open soon and reveal a new creature. In the meantime, though, there was the feline to meet.

Seraphi padded to the feline, her tail waving in a not-quite wag and a quiet purr rumbling in her throat. “Hi there!”

[Ruby]

Rose was too wrapped up in her close inspection of a pod to hear or scent Seraphi's approach. As a result, the sound of her voice came as a surprise - a pleasant one. It was friendly and kind, and seemed to invite Rose to talk to her. The newborn feline turned to see another creature, who had the most beautiful fur that she had ever seen, dappled with white, brown, and black, and further shaded with the pattern of sunlight filtering through the trees. She had never seen herself before, but now as she looked at her own paws, she noticed the plain ginger color of her short, cropped fur. However, all of these thoughts had lasted only a second. Rose purred softly (a strange sound, she thought, but it came to her naturally and felt right), and spoke for the first time. "Hello!" She looked around, at the flowers and the birds and all the things she had noticed before. "What is this place?" Already, she was bursting with questions, but should she let them out now, overwhelm her new friend, or later? She paused a moment, radiating happiness and curiosity as any newborn would, before continuing. "And do I look like you? I mean, apart from the fur and everything..." She looked at her paws again, laughing, and then continued, breathless with excitement. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

[Deleted]

The cream and ginger feline turned to her, and Seraphi was worried for a moment that she had intruded. Only for a moment, though. The feline greeted her with a purr and a “hello” and seemed to be happy for the company. Well, good. Things were starting out as well as she’d hoped.

Seraphi watched as the feline glanced around, taking things in for what was probably the first time ever. She couldn’t blame her – the first moments of life were overwhelming. She’d been lucky enough to have parents there when she emerged from her pod, but she knew her situation was uncommon and most new creatures were left to figure things out on their own. She couldn’t imagine starting life all alone, but every creature she had met thus far had been pleasant and happy, so maybe it wasn’t so bad.

The feline asked about the area they were in, and then went on to ask about her appearance and then her – Seraphi’s – name. Seraphi let out an amused, happy purr and sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws. “I’m Seraphi. This place is…well…we call it ‘The Orchard’, and it’s the place where all intelligent life originates. There’s so much more to the world, but here is a safe place where new creatures can grow and figure themselves out so they can survive beyond these trees. As for what you look like…it’s sort of like me, I guess, but not. It’s a little complicated, but…well…there are three main types of intelligent creature that I’ve seen so far. You’re a feline, but there’s canines and reptiles as well. I’m sort of an in-between. My father’s a feline, but my mother’s a canine.” She frowned, wondering if she’d been clear enough in her explanation. “Well, once you meet more creatures it’ll make sense.” She blinked at her companion. “What’s your name?”

[Ruby]

Rose smiled. Seraphi. That was a pretty name. She listened patiently as Seraphi explained about the Orchard - what a beautiful nursery for a young creature. No wonder she thought it was utopia. At the part with where Seraphi explained the three types of intelligent life (feline, like herself, canine, and reptile), she tipped her head to the side, not quite understanding. The words (canine, feline and reptile) sounded familiar, and conjured a fragmented idea of life, but she couldn't picture these life forms in her head. And further complicating this explanation was the fact that Seraphi was a mix between these life forms. Rose grinned playfully at her companion. "So you're pretty special, huh?" Hopefully, Seraphi was correct in that all this would make more sense once she met more creatures. Speaking of which, Rose simply couldn't wait to meet other creatures - hopefully they would all be as nice as Seraphi. Though Rose barely knew her, or anyone for that matter, she believed she couldn't have received a better greeting into this new world.

"What's your name?" Other newborns might have had to think about this question, but her answer rolled right from her tongue. "Rose. My name's Rose." It felt right somehow, and though she didn't realize it, she had called herself Rose even in the pod. She smiled, a sweet smile full of delight and disbelief at the fact that she had a name, and a friend, and was surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants in a world she had not known existed just an hour before. "So, Seraphi," she continued, pronouncing the name carefully, "All these other pods, they're filled with other felines or canines or reptiles?" Then, remembering what Seraphi was, she added with a laugh, "And all the mixes? How are there mixes? Do they just grow from the trees like the other felines, canines, and reptiles? And do canines, felines, and reptiles grow from the trees in the first place?"

[Deleted]

Seraphi pawed the ground when the feline commented on her being special. “Well…in a way, I guess. No more than anyone else, though. There’s at least one other like me.” Perhaps more by now, though she didn’t know for sure.

She purred when the feline – Rose – introduced herself. “That’s a lovely name. It suits you.” She nodded at her companion’s question. “Yep. Each pod is a creature waiting to be born. From what I understand, each life comes into being in one of two ways – the tree forms the pod on its own or a pair of creatures sleeps underneath a tree and it creates a life based on them. I guess when two different types of creature sleep together under the tree, it confuses it or something. Either way, the tree makes a pod where someone develops and then the pod falls once they’re ready to be born.” She looked up at the trees, studying each of the ones she could see. “All I know is what my parents and Aunt Silva taught me, and there’s a lot they don’t understand. This world’s a very mysterious place even to the oldest creatures.” Her gaze returned to rose and she smiled. “But that’s the fun in life, figuring things out…especially if you get to be the first to discover something.” Not that she’d been lucky enough to discover something before the other members of her pack…yet. Someday, though.

“I know you’re new to life and everything, but do you have a plan?” Seraphi asked after a moment. “I mean, do you have any goals or anything? It’s okay if you don’t, but it helps to have some specific thing to focus on. Everything can be a bit…overwhelming, otherwise.”

[Ruby]

Rose smiled at her companion's compliment of her name. She nodded slowly as Seraphi explained the ways that a creature could come into being. Though she didn't quite understand it, she was starting to grasp the strange ways of this world. It must have been nice to have parents, she thought, but it was much more fun to jump in headfirst. And it seemed like having parents didn't help that much after all, as Seraphi mentioned that there was mystery to be found in the world even to the oldest creatures. "Figuring things out." Rose grinned. "It sounds like fun. I think I like figuring things out." Figuring things out must involve lots of adventure and exploration. It would be fun for Rose to travel through the world and figure things out before anyone else. How big was this world? Rose didn't ask this question. She would travel the entire world and then she would know how big it was. Looking up, she listened as Seraphi spoke and considered the question for a moment. What Seraphi said was probably true - it was exactly what she had done when she first emerged from her pod a couple minutes earlier, focusing on one thing at a time. However, in her young life, all Rose had wanted to do was explore. That's what she would do. "I'm going to travel the entire world, and go on adventures, and find new things." Already, just talking about it, her bright green eyes lit up with excitement.

[Deleted]

Seraphi giggled when Rose responded. “It is fun. There’s so much to learn, you won’t be bored anytime soon. Maybe not ever. The oldest members of my pack have been around for two years and none of them have come close to exploring every land.” She purred. “Exploring and learning are fun, but you’ve gotta be careful. Mom says some lands can be dangerous if you aren’t paying attention. As long as you’re aware of your surroundings, though, you should do okay.” She knew of cases where other creatures got hurt or sick, but – to her knowledge – nothing ever happened that was irreversible…except for the unborn pods in one of the trees last year during the plagues, but that was a special case and the plagues were over now…right? At least, she hadn’t caught sight or scent of those diseases in nearly a year.

“There are other creatures that want to explore the world, too,” she said after a moment, clearing the plague from her mind. “You’ll probably find some of them on your adventures. Some travel all the time, but others have a set place they like to live in. You’ll have to decide if you want a home or if you’d rather nest wherever you happen to be when you get tired. Oh, and there’s groups, too. The two I know of are my pack and a small tribe, and both have territory not far from here. My pack’s pretty lax about borders and probably won’t mind if you cross through the territory, but I don’t know how aggressive the tribe might be so I’d be careful. There are scent marks to tell you when you’re close to their land.” She shook her head. “Hope I’m not worrying you. The world’s a great place to be. It’s just better to learn this stuff now in complete safety than figuring it out the hard way.”