Choices

[Deleted]

The first thing he became aware of was a pressure all around him. For a long time, he lay curled within his pod, unmoving, trying to figure out how he felt about the constant push against his whole body. Eventually, he decided he didn't like it, and he attempted to stretch out his paws to release himself. And release himself he did, for the pod he had been born within could not handle the inward push, and ripped opened to dump him unceremoniously on the ground of the Orchard.
The hard jolt as his rump met the dirt and grass was even more unpleasant the pressure from before. And so was the light. His bright blue eyes stretched open, only to seal shut as quickly as possible once more. The sun lit the skin of his eyelids, though, and his warmed his fur. The feeling was so nice, that he instinctively stretched his paws out, digging his claws into the dirt as he arched his back in a stretch. Then, he sat down, wrapping his stumpy half-tail around his haunch, and tried looking around once more.
This time, he opened his eyes slowly, and let them adjust to the light as it filled his vision. Then there were colors, and shapes, and movement...The world of the Orchard came alive before him. He drank in the sight, the trees and grass and pods, all assaulting his mind with too many different kinds of thoughts. He didn't understand any of it until he saw the broken pod above, and the liquid pooled around him. So that is where he came from...but where was he now?

The charcoal grey feline didn't move from where he sat. Instead, he studied his surroundings with great care, noting everything. Every one of his senses provided different aspects of the things he saw. He could feel the breeze through his fur, see it rustle the leaves of the trees, smell the scents that were carried on it. Same with the trees, he could see the rough texture of their bark, and smell the soil that it grew out of and sunk its roots into to grow so large. Even though he didn't know where he was, he was starting to like it. It was...fascinating.
Eventually, though, he became curious with himself. His electric blue gaze traveled down to his paws, which were round and rather large, and then up his thick limbs to his wide chest. He could barely make out the broad, rounded shoulders that protruded from either side of his chest. Without meaning to, his tail flicked, and he got a good look at the half-stump on his rear. It was rather bushy, and lead straight out from his rump without curling or any real grace. Hm, he seemed to be as fascinatingly odd as the rest of this world. He decided that himself was a better topic for later though, and finally stood up.

Large, round ears swiveled atop his flat face. He wasn't sure what to do now, but something insisted on moving. So, he set one large paw in front of the other, and slowly began making his way away from his broken pod and birth tree, and onward to...somewhere else. Little did he know that there were other creatures within the Orchard as well.

[meixiaotian]

A small brown body was hopping through the thinning trees of the Orchard, to the end of it. She wasn't sure why, but Dragonfly hadn't thought these would also have the large pods. The idea just hadn't come to her. Maybe she thought it would be nicer for new spirits to be born safe within the trees. There wasn't anything dangerous on the outer areas though. It must have just been some random assumption she had made.

Something moved in the corner of her eye, and she turned her head to her right, hoping to see something to eat. A squirrel had recently gone down her throat, but she hadn't eaten much the days before. A bit of disappointment came to her when she realized it was just a blur of blue-gray. It was swept away when she realized that wasn't right. It had fallen from a tree, and was too big to be a bird. A new something-or-other! Her movement had stopped when she looked, but now was in full motion.

She streaked over, feeling fast, but wasn't really. Her new body wasn't experienced, and she could probably be outran by someone even a day older than her. It was a gray-blue feline. She had figured out how to distinguish gender, and this one was a he. Her steps slowed when she saw he was walking the opposite direction. She decided to wait to see if any of her new friends felt like joining her, so she didn't speak yet.

[Deleted]

He took his steps very slowly, each one planned and with purpose. Large, bright blue eyes flicked from the ground in front of him, out to the world beyond. There were other pods hanging from trees, some that were very small, and some as large as his own had been. The sudden thought that others were probably inside of the pods. He was awestruck by the fact there were others, and he stopped suddenly beneath the next tree. His gaze wandered up the tree, out to the branches, and then locked unto a medium sized pod hanging. He wondered what creature was within, but dare not touch the tree in fear of disturbing the sleeping creature. His own awakening of consciousness had not been the most pleasant experience, and he wouldn't wish that on any other. But as he took a step back, a movement at the corner of his eye sight caught his attention.

The blue-grey feline turned his large, square head to stare at a very peculiar sight. A brown two-legged creature was standing some distance a ways, looking straight back at him. For a moment, he wasn't sure it was even a living thing, until it moved its head to look back. His muscles tensed involuntarily, and he crouched down in hopes of hiding. However, the grass wasn't all that tall in the Orchard, and his bulky frame was easy to spot out in the open. He didn't know this, though, and pressed himself as close to the ground as possible. The creature looked back at him, though, studying him as much as he studied it.

When no sudden movements were made, he slowly started to relax. Perhaps the thing wasn't going to...attack him. Yes, that had been what he was afraid of. Some deep feeling inside him imagined a force of impact and a bad feeling that twisted his stomach and made him think only one word...pain. He shook his head to rid the awful thoughts, and slowly stood up to face the creature. When it still didn't move, he hesitantly took a step forward, and then another. He stopped, though, waiting to see what it would do at his approach. He was so uncertain as to what was going on, his only hope so far was this stranger. Either that, or wander around and learn whatever he could from his new senses.
Something drew him towards the other creature, though. He didn't really want to be alone. He had a feeling that the presence of others was good, even if they didn't look like him.

[Deleted]

Where’d they go? Hmmm…

Lukasse wandered around the orchard, her pale scales glinting in the sun when she walked out from under the shade of the various trees. She stood straight and tall, her legs and neck stretched out to their fullest extent as she glanced around or glints of brown or white in the landscape. Part of her wasn’t sure why she was looking so hard for the two reptiles she had recently met. They were their own creatures and had every right to wander about as they pleased, so why obsess over their absence. She tried convincing herself fully of that, but it didn’t work. Something felt inherently…wrong about being separated from the two. She’d been on her own for nearly a year before ever even meeting them, and she’d been more-or-less okay, but as soon as she did meet the two, something had changed in her and she was no longer comfortable on her own.

Life was weird.

A familiar flash of brown to her left caught her attention and she changed direction to sprint toward the younger reptile. She frowned as she realized that Artemis wasn’t with her. Where’d she go? Well…she could handle herself, so Lukasse shouldn’t worry. The bold-colored reptile would meet up with them soon, right?

Lukasse opened her mouth to call out to Dragonfly, but stopped herself at the last moment. If she was hunting, noise would scare off her prey. With that in mind, Lukasse slowed down, keeping her gait as quiet as possible until she was near enough to her friend to see that she wasn’t hunting. She was staring at…something.

What—oh! Lukasse’s gaze fell on the gray form of…a feline? Yes, feline. Was he new? He smelled unfamiliar, so maybe… Neither he nor Dragonfly seemed tensed or stressed, so this didn’t seem to be a hostile meeting. Lukasse backed off a couple paces, waiting for a good moment to introduce herself. Since Dragonfly had been here first, it was proper to let her be the first to speak.

((Thanks for waiting up. Sorry this took so long.))

[meixiaotian]

The copper reptile just waited while the... Uh, feline, yeah, that was right, lowered itself onto the ground, while watching her closely. She waved her tail slightly, just because she could. She had seen this behavior before, with another furred newborn. Maybe some of them just did it, while others didn't, for some unknown reason. They seemed less bold, more fearful. So she let him slowly rise back up, and start walking towards her. Yes, he was one of the more cautious ones. That was okay.

She decided to start talking, since it didn't seem that this newborn would. She didn't want to say words that were too long, or ones she hadn't practiced enough. Dragonfly didn't want to sound inexperienced, she wanted to sound older, even though she wasn't. She also wanted the feline's first heard words to be nice. She didn't know how to appear friendly, or even non-threatening. She tried to nod encouragingly, but she honestly had no idea how to make it seem anything but a nod.

"Helo, I'm Dragonfly." Her "hello" and "I'm" came out off, but she had managed to say her name right, at least. She had been repeating it in her head multiple times, so she knew how it should have sounded, well enough.

---
Bleargh, such a short post.

[Deleted]

While waiting to see what the brown two-leg would do, the blue-grey feline caught a flash of movement behind it. He took a step forward, a wave of concern and fear washing over him as he strained to see beyond the dirt colored creature. Then another one like it appeared, this one light blue and white. His large, round eyes glanced up at the sky, and then down at the new creature. The two had similar coloring, although some part of him insisted that the new arrival was alive, and the sky was not. In that instant, he realized that he was alive too, and these creature were similar to him in at least one way. This would have comforted him, had the brown one not stepped forward, swishing its long tail and letting forth very strange sounds from its mouth.

The muscular feline stood up tall and straight, now intrigued instead of frightened by these creatures. His large, fan-like ears swiveled and twisted, catching each sound and letting it sink in. For a moment, he had the faintest notion of being familiar with the sounds, and then it hit him. They wove together to make words, which was how he thoughts, with words. He hadn't realized that one could release the words from inside themselves so others could hear them. His half-stump of a tail flicked and twitched as he mulled this thought over, but then what the creature had said actually sunk in.
It was Dragonfly. His bright blue gaze looked down at himself one more time, noting the differences between him and the other two. Perhaps that's what the two creatures were called, was Dragonflys. What was he then? A word came to the front of his thoughts, one he was sure he hadn't thought or heard before. But it seemed to fit him, so he opened his maw and said it.

"Kota."

His voice was raspy from lack of use, but what he said was still understandable. However, having spoken up, he now felt very exposed. His large frame sunk to the ground once again, but instead of trying to hide, he crept forward slowly. Each time his over-sized paws pressed into the cool grass, it made a small indention. He failed to notice these small details of himself that he was leaving behind, and instead focused on the two-legs. When he got within a leap's distance, he stopped and laid his belly down as he studied the two up close.
Now, Kota could see the small, slightly overlapping scales that covered both creature's bodies. They glinted in the sun, reflecting the light back out from their bodies. The light blue and white one's body seemed to do this more than the brown one, he noted. So far, the feline had noticed colors as a large part of life, but he wasn't sure their significance yet. Something about his dull colored fur seemed...safe. Yes, that was the word. Safe was the opposite of attack. He wasn't sure how he knew this, he just did.
As he carefully watched the two-legs, he decided that they were safe too, and he wanted to be with them if that meant he could be safe. But how was he going to express this desire?

[Deleted]

Lukasse watched as Dragonfly and the feline interacted, content to stand back and be part of the scenery for a moment or two even though the feline clearly noticed she was there. She nodded slightly when Dragonfly introduced herself, happy that this would be a peaceful encounter. She had never known a hostile encounter, but there was an instinct inside her that told her such things were always a possibility. Not for this meeting, though. Their new friend was timid, not ferocious. Timid was good. Well, not really, but Lukasse understood timid. She understood it uncomfortably well.

The feline’s posture became more confident, his ears and tail moving in a way with which Lukasse was unfamiliar. Whatever it meant, he was alert and more curious than afraid. He then spoke an unfamiliar word. A name? Perhaps his name. Whatever it was, he seemed to shift back into his former timid self as soon as he said it. Well, at least he wasn’t running or attacking. In fact, he seemed to be really trying to be brave and friendly. Given this, and the fact that he knew she was there, she decided to finally step up and join in the introductions.

“I’m Lukasse.” She dipped her head to the feline. “It’s nice to meet you.”

[meixiaotian]

Dragonfly was glad the feline was suddenly filled with courage, even though the reason remained unknown to her. Perhaps he was afraid she would eat him, for some reason, and didn't think she was intelligent. Maybe when she spoke, he realized she wasn't a beast, and was intelligent. No, that made no sense. She felt it was something like that, though. Maybe he just liked what she said. She didn't think it was that either, but it made more sense.

She thought about the name he spoke. She didn't recognize it, so it wasn't a real world, like her name. His name wasn't the most interesting thing, but it was nice to hear him speak. Unfortunately, he suddenly crouched down again. Oh, darn it. When he started crawling forward, her disappointment lessened. He wasn't completely trying to disappear.

A second voice startled her. She had heard something behind her, but she didn't think it was someone. She didn't have to look to know it was Lukasse. It was good to know the blue reptile had joined her. Yet Artemis hadn't. Hrmn, that reminded her of their group. She hadn't forgotten, it had just been in the back of her mind, for no reason to be called on. Why it was called on now remained unknown. She was content to let it slip away, but an idea occurred to her. Perhaps, if he wanted it, he could join their group. It would definitely break the reptile and female theme, but that didn't matter. It wasn't the best time to ask, maybe later. The idea was let go of, but still kept somewhat in the front of her mind.

[Deleted]

While standing in front of the two reptiles, Kota was painfully aware of their scrutinizing gazes. He didn't realize that he was staring at them as much as they were at him. His curiosity was what made him study the two creatures before him so carefully, though he soon thought that they must be feeling the same. These were the first two creatures he had ever met, though his life thus far couldn't even be counted in days. Perhaps they were as young and inexperienced as he, and he was the first creature that they had met that wasn't one of them, a Dragonfly.
Though this thought was partially proved wrong as the white and blue two-leg stepped forward and introduced theirself. Lukasse? So it wasn't a Dragonfly like the other, it was a Lukasse. Something about the completely different sound of this new word made him realize that beings like them were not all called Dragonflys. His brow furrowed as his mind drifted off, brooding over this new information.

Eventually, something in the back of his head nudged the word 'reptile' into his thoughts. It was foreign to him, but it seemed to fit these two. Tilting his head side to side while studying them, he found that it fit perfectly. So all of the two-legged creatures were called reptiles, and he was a...feline.
The word for his species rolled to the front of his thoughts much like reptile did, and stuck just as well. This brought the first smile to Kota's face, widening his jaws and revealing rows of small, white teeth that ended in points. To most creatures, this would seem aggressive, but the way his eyes lit up and his ears perked showed his joy. He figured something out all on his own! His pride over the accomplishment was soon forgotten, though, as he remembered that he wished to join this pair of reptiles.

Taking a step forward, Kota lowered his head submissively and spoke in soft tones towards both Dragonfly and Lukasse. He took his time trying to form the sentence he wanted, speaking each word distinctly and pausing at the end to make sure he had the right word for the feeling he wanted to avoid. Once again, his voice was raspy, but it was a little easier to understand him the more he said.
"I don't want to be...alone."

It was unclear to him how old either of them were, and if they had any sort of hierarchy among each other. Therefore, he made sure to direct his speech at both of the reptiles, and figured at least one of them would give him an answer. Kota wasn't sure why he had just strong feelings on being a part of their group, but he just did. Besides, neither of them had attacked him yet, so he figured they probably wouldn't mind if he tagged along with them. He still had a lot of learning to do about this new life he had woken up in, and he could just feel that he would need help from others. These two were at least born a little while before him, seeing as they were talking and walking without much trouble. That means that if anything else, they could tell him where he was, where he needed to go, and what he needed to do. They could reveal his purpose...or at least he hoped if they could.

[Deleted]

The feline seemed…vaguely confused, or contemplative. Lukasse understood. Being new to life meant there was a lot of information to take it. She stood still and quiet, giving him time to process things while trying to work out what to do now. Introductions were out of the way, so…now what? She’d met other creatures, but only two – Artemis and Dragonfly – had ever remained with her long enough for her to consider them friends. Would this feline be the same, or would he move on and fade out of her world like all the others?

The feline assumed a submissive posture, and Lukasse frowned. She knew it was good to default to submission, but around them it wasn’t necessary…was it? But he didn’t know that. They’d have to let him know later.

She shook her head when he spoke. “You don’t have to be.” She turned to Dragonfly, wondering if they should invite him into their group. He was quite a bit different, but did that really matter? Artemis wasn’t here to help them decide, but…well…she had a hard time turning people away, and wouldn’t unless absolutely necessary.

“We were going to leave the orchard soon,” she mused. “If Dragonfly is all right with it, maybe you could come with us? There’s another one of us – Artemis – but I have no idea where she’s gone off to.” She sighed, wishing the group hadn’t split even if it was temporary.

[meixiaotian]

The young reptile listened with some slight confusion. Dragonfly had seen that newborns tended to be alone for a bit, yet this one already wanted friends. He was serious, though, so it wasn't a... A non-serious lie? He didn't seem like he'd do whatever word she was thinking of either. Wait, why would he say that? It wasn't like he was going to be alone forever, or that they were going to force him to be.

She looked at Lukasse, who seemed to agree with her earlier thought of inviting him. The idea was boosted by what he had said. Still, Artemis was the one who started the group by deciding to leave the Orchard, so she seemed to have some authority over it, at least in Dragonfly's mind. Not complete authority, but she felt somewhat uncomfortable thinking about this with one third of their group not there. Maybe she was coming...? Her head turned so her purple eyes could scan the area that she had come from. Nope, she wasn't there.

The older reptile's words interrupted her worry. Yes, Lukasse was thinking about inviting him too, that was good. She was also wondering where Artemis went off to. What, what if she just decided to leave? What if she didn't want to be with them anymore, and decided that she didn't want them anymore? No, that wouldn't happen, not without her telling them, right? Still, she had wandered off, so she felt like it would be okay if they invited someone else. Something told her he had a good nose, maybe he could help track her down! Her young mind calmed down as she started to speak, because she didn't want to sound panicked or excited.

"You can join us if you want to." The words were twisted, but they were pretty recognizable.

[Deleted]

After he had spoken, Kota waited patiently for a response from the reptiles, watching them carefully all the while. When neither of them made any move toward him, he relaxed out of his submissive posture and decided to sit back on his haunches. He was finally starting to understand that Lukasse and Dragonfly did not mean him any harm, and therefore he could be comfortable around them. Very few things had been comforting to him since his birth, except the feel of the wind through his fur and the sun warming his whole body. He loved the feel of the land, and wanted to know more about it.
Just as he was wondering, though, the light blue and white reptile spoke up about leaving the Orchard. His head cocked to the side curiously, so that is where they are? The Orchard. His bright blue eyes scanned the surrounding trees, all laden with fruit pods of various sizes. The meaning of this place finally sunk in, and the feline sat in awe for a moment as he pondered it.

Then Dragonfly spoke up, affirming that it was alright if Kota joined them. For the first time, the feline was visibly excited. He jumped up, half-tail whipping back and forth while his ears twisted and turned to catch every sound.
"Okay! Where is leaving the Orchard?" Kota exclaimed, gaze shifting between Lukasse and Dragonfly. He didn't realize that his question hadn't been properly phrased, but the point was clear enough to understand. The grey-blue feline was excited to leave, to see something else that existed. For a moment, he did wonder about this other member of their group, Artemis. But seeing as he had not met her, his young mind swept it away as he began to fantasize about what else was in the world.
If there were such differences between him and the reptiles, perhaps other creatures were out there too! Maybe they'd even meet them along the way. There might even be other felines! The clamor in his head was finally too much, and Kota shook all the ideas away and focused on his two new companions to see where they would go.

((OOC: The River Garden good with everybody?))

[Deleted]

It seemed they were in agreement – the feline would be joining them. It felt weird making the decision without Artemis, and Lukasse got the feeling that Dragonfly felt the same way, but what could be done? They weren’t going to leave the poor newborn all on his own. She’d been left on her own as a newborn and still resented it a bit. Perhaps if she’d had company from the beginning, she’d be braver by now. Nothing could be done about that, though, so she focused on the here and now, which was leaving the orchard.

Just as that thought hit her, the feline asked where leaving the orchard was. It was an odd way to phrase it, but she thought she understood, and she scanned her surroundings until she saw the familiar path leading to the other lands. She gestured to it. “That way. It won’t be too far a journey.” She looked her companions over, wondering if they should go now or give Artemis some time to catch up to them. She didn’t want to leave the other reptile behind, but they were all eager to leave and Artemis would be able to catch up if she wanted to...

That thought seemed to make up her mind, and she turned and headed toward the border, looking over her shoulder to ensure they were keeping up. Finally, she'd see the world beyond the pod-filled trees!

((Works for me. ^.^))

[meixiaotian]

It was slightly stunning to see the feline suddenly jump up and act so energetic and excited. It didn't fit with what she knew about him. The again, she didn't know much at all about him, so maybe it was just some part of him that didn't how all of the time. Probably. It seemed to be the same case with Lukasse. She was leading the way out of the Orchard. Maybe they just needed someone else, a, friend, maybe more than one, to help them be confident.

The destination, other than out of the Orchard, remained unknown to Dragonfly. While she knew it was something unknown, and others sometimes were scared of the unknown, it excited her. She hadn't thought of it before, her earlier destination was to follow Artemis. Now she had a place, not a creature to go to, and her mimd said they were completely different. The idea of going somewhere, seeing something completely new and unexpected made her so eager, she would have run, except she would have abandoned the other two. So instead, she followed Lukasse with the same bounce she had before, only now she was hopping a bit higher and faster.

She glanced back at Kota, who seemed to be last in the leaving line. Then an idea occurred to her. When she was born, she was pretty hungry. What if he was too? Maybe he wasn't, but it would be a good idea to hunt before they left. She might not know exactly how to hunt the prey in the new area, or even recognize it at all. It wasn't that far away, so they wouldn't be completely different, right? She decided to take the opportunity to hunt if it came, but not go looking around for something to eat.