falling down, down, down [open]

[rainbowslinky]

Her first sight was one that would terrify all but the most mad of land-going beasts: the sky, falling away from her in blur of colors. The seam of her pod had been on the underside, meaning that, when it opened, she was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. She screwed her eyes shut against the light of the sun, painfully bright after the soothing darkness of the tree's 'womb.' The newborn canine opened her mouth to make some sound of distress, but her landing cut it off. Nymeria couldn't tell what hurt more: the stabbing sensation in her eyes, or the explosion of agony as she hit the ground back-first.

The lesser beasts that had been feeding around the base of the Annab tree tripped over themselves in flight. Unfortunately, a few were caught beneath her and were either crushed in the initial impact or smothered shortly after. The cocoa-furred female let her body flop to one side, paralyzed by the slowly fading pain. When it had dissipated enough, Nymeria slowly rolled on to her tum, wincing at the throbbing ache in her head and along her spine. Her head turned slowly, left to right, eyes narrowed against her sunny surroundings. Where was she...?

[Deleted]

Nerah glanced around at the trees as she made her way through the orchard. It had been a while since her last visit, but she had returned to this place so many times, she nearly had it memorized. Nearly. The multi-hued absconding canine had started the ritual of returning to her birthplace regularly alongside her packmate and best friend, Silva. The two came here often last year to greet newcomers and help them figure out how to start their lives. Silva wasn’t with her now, but that didn’t matter. The two would have other opportunities to greet new lives together. Today, Nerah was content to go about her business at her own pace…

...Until a short cry of distress – ending abruptly as though the creature that had made it had been forcibly silenced – caught her attention. Her ears swiveled, taking a moment to pinpoint the direction from which the sound had originated before her long legs carried her swiftly to her new destination. Her tail and hackled lifted, adding to her already impressive height, and her jaws parted to reveal sharp fangs. She had never been in a fight before – at least, not that she could remember. Not with anything other than the lesser natives she tended to hunt. Still, if someone was in trouble, she had to help. She couldn’t walk away from a newborn in trouble!

Then she spotted a newborn canine laying on the ground. Was that the creature that had cried out? She did seem to be in pain… Nerah glanced all around, but couldn’t see or smell any creature that might have posed a threat to a newborn canine. Her hackles remained lifted, but her tail and lip lowered as she turned her focus to her new companion. “What happened? Who hurt you?”

[rainbowslinky]

Even from far away, the thing filled her world, a wall of snarling, bristling fury. It was huge, even bigger than her, and she larger in size than many females of her evolution. The fur that covered it was a patchwork of colors, breaking up its outline and making it hard to focus on. Its tail was up over its back and its muzzle was wrinkled. Nymeria could see the wicked looking teeth that filled its maw even from here. The newborn was terrified. She could not decide if she should fight, flee, or submit. None of the three seemed appealing; she had no idea if this creature could be persuaded not to kill or eat her. Instinct kicked in. Ignoring the ache that throbbed through her body, she forced herself to stand. Her legs, still tender and weak from her time in the pod, bent into a crouch. The tip of her bushy tail disappeared as the appendage curled between her legs and pressed itself against her stomach. She flattened her ears so that they blended into the darker brown fur on her head. It was an actively submissive posture, one often adopted by adults and newborns to either pacify angry adults or get food from them. Hopefully it would work. If not, she was as good as dead. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end...

It never came. She opened her eyes to see the thing standing over her. It moved its mouth and Nymeria could hear the sounds that it produced. The fall had unfortunately rattled her mental faculties, temporarily disabling her ability to understand speech and her ability to speak. She feared that the noises the thing was making evinced displeasure. Whimpering softly, the newborn fearfully licked the older canine's muzzle.

[Deleted]

The creature before her stood, her posture crouched and position indicating fear. Nerah looked around again, sniffing the air, but still couldn’t detect any signs of danger. Whatever had attacked the other canine – if it had been an attack – was long gone, it seemed. Either it left on its own or was scared off at her arrival. Nerah hated being scary – it was more fun being friendly – but if intimidation stopped a fight or kept it from becoming worse, it was well worth it.

Sure of the newborn’s safety now, Nerah forced herself to relax and focused completely on the newborn, who was clearly distressed. She sniffed her companion’s muzzle as her own was licked, frowning slightly. The other canine never did answer her question. Perhaps she hadn’t heard it? It would have been easy to miss with the threat – whatever it was – looming over them.

“Are you all right?” She asked after a moment. “What happened? Who hurt you?” She glanced around a final time, still not seeing anything…not that she expected to. If she couldn’t detect anyone dangerous before, she almost certainly wouldn’t be able to by this point.

[meixiaotian]

Dragonfly's feet weren't exactly the most secure. They tripped and slipped every so often, but she felt so planted to the ground when she was going slowly. When she was running, she didn't trip or slip as much, but when she did, she often ended up completely on the ground. When she ran, all of her body was useful, and she leaned forward. If she had four legs more of her body would be useful just walking normally. She paused and glanced at her arms. What use were they? They could pick things up, but so could her feet. She couldn't run with something in her foot though. Why would she have to do that though? She could go without her arms and be able to do that, that's why all of the four-legs used their mouths, right?

So what use was her arms, and her need to lean when she ran? Was it normal? Did everyone do it, or just her type, the scaled ones with feathers? Her young mind was suddenly filled with an irrational need to ask if everyone leaned when they ran. She couldn't tell, at least she had a large movement with her front when she started moving quickly, but as she had observed silently while she was passing, the others didn't seem to.

Dragonfly's copper body slowed to a halt when she heard someone speaking ahead. She trotted forward, hoping to see something with her upright body. There seemed to be a large, colorful body blocking her view. Was that the one who had spoken? Surely, there was someone else, unless that large body like talking to itself. She started walking around, and saw another four-legged, furry form. It was brown, and - they had four legs!

"Do ya lean when running?"

The idea that it wasn't the best time to ask occurred to her, but it was too late to stop the words, which had already left her inexperienced mouth.