Fox's Glade When you were lonely, you needed a man.

For @Merrit; all welcome!

As we all know, Ibis is not the most skilled of adventurers, and so when she slips out of the Hollow it is not on purpose. She's lost in thought, chasing a butterfly or something - you know, some convenient light-hearted thing that kids do. When she realizes that she's gone too far, she's already too lost to know which way is the right one; her instinct is to stay where she is and call for help, but Ibis soon becomes overwhelmed by her nerves, and begins to plot a  new course.

She gets pretty far before her feet get too sore for further exploration. The girl found some shelter beneath a stand of pine trees before collapsing in a heap, her soft pads not accustomed to the rough terrain of the Hollow or the surrounding territories; she adjusts for comfort a few times, and eventually becomes distracted (again) by a series of starlings in the trees. They're hopping all over the place, and the movements are like a dance. She watches them for a little bit until they're spooked by something and flit away — and instead of a few birds, she's staring at a stranger among the trees.

This looked lonely :o

Eilonwy was slowly coming to the realization that it wasn't something wrong with her that made her so sad and cold most of the time; but something wrong with the world. It was the seasons, not enough of them as warm and colorful as this spring, the first she's ever seen. Everything was buzzing with life and beaming with color, and she couldn't help but feel infected with all that happiness. She had even found a new interest in flowers, which she had come all the way down there admiring and collecting for her mother to see. She had a white one, a blue one and the only thing she was missing was a violet one to make the perfect trio. And she found it! Oh it was so perfect, and she had come across it so close before arriving home that it was almost unbelievable.

But there was a catch.

To get it down from the tree it was hanging Eilonwy had to jump and grab it. And she did! It took a couple tries bu Eilonwy finally reached the flower with her teeth and clamped on it, but as gravity brought her down so did the branch that held the flower, and when the stem finally broke off and the branch was released, it sprung back up making a hella lot of noise and rattling the whole tree scandalously, startling some birds that took off in every direction as Eilonwy fell flat on her bum with a dry thud, only to realize that she wasn't alone after all.

She's so pretty aaaah.

The sound of tree branches groaning and snapping was one thing, but there was a flurry from the birds - their collective wingbeats mixed with a squall of dissonant shrieks and calls as they fled for safety. It was enough to garner her attention (and probably the attention of every living thing for miles around). As she watched from her hiding place, she could just make out a dark shape which looked vaguely canid. Ibis was no adventuruer, not really. She didn't have the sense of direction needed for a messenger and she wasn't physically skilled like any warriors. If anything, her role in an adventure was limited to the damsel in distress roll; but she was still strongly curious, and hadn't learned about the dangers of the world yet. Elysium was a sheltered place - and in the Hollow, the adults were always present, ready to protect their family.

The curiosity she felt made it difficult to stay back. She lifted her head first - thinking that she caught the eye of whoever (or whatever) it was, she climbed out from beneath the pines and began to head towards the commotion. It had died down by the time she reached the next segment of trees, but she could still spy the branch swaying. Ibis was oblivious to the flowers that the stranger had been after — but she looked around some more, and found them sitting awkwardly among some fern.

Hello. Chirped the little bird. She was curious but also cautious; they looked like they were older than her. But then, everyone looked older than tiny Ibis. Are you ok? You scared the birds!

omg T.T

Another girl approached her, the one that had been watching her through the trees, and Eilonwy shook the leaves off her pelt to hopefully look a little bit less goofy. The other girl was stunning, delicate and graceful, of whites and ocres and soft blue eyes. An angel. I'm sorry! gasped Eilonwy, feeling ugly. I was just trying to get this flo- but the flower wasn't anywhere. The uglier girl looked around for it, but she didn't find it until it flew off her sore bum in one of her more aggressive turns towards Ibis. That flower! she said with an awkward smile. Were you... Hunting those birds? she asked curiously

If Ibis had known what sort of self-depricating thoughts were rolling through the girl's mind, she'd have gasped in shock and denied them utterly; Ibis thought everyone was beautiful, and this stranger was no exception. Comparisons were impossible to avoid (even she knew that, often comparing her softly toned coat to the beautiful blush-like, plush coat of Eleuthera and being tremendously jealous for it), but deep down Ibis truly had no concept of ugly.

She heard the girl mention something about a flower and that caused her attention to divert temporarily, her eyes trailing up to where the swarthy girl was looking. Ibis couldn't see anything familiar but she was willing to help in the hunt, and soon enough was scouring the ground at her feet in case the flowers had fallen — but she didn't really know what she was hunting for. 

That flower! called her new friend; Ibis looked at her as she exclaimed and saw the flower decorating her bottom. She smiled, blushing a little, but the expression faltered a little bit — birds? What birds? Oh! No, I was just exploring, she clarified quickly, almost like the prospect of hunting was too much to think about. What kind of flower is it? She asked next as she drew close.

Eilonwy smiled anxiously, feeling a bit stooping after her little slip up. But the grace and light that Ibis exuded made her feel a lot mor... No, actually it made her feel worse, sad about herself for not being anywhere near that beautiful. She sighed, wondering how it was being so cute, and wondering whether she had many pretenders. She surely did.

But those thoughts were interrupted when her new friend formulated an actual question that Eilonwy almost didn't catch. What? she was quite clueless, Oh, this flower? she looked at it dumbfounded. I never really thought there were different kinds of flowers... she thought out loud. They had always been just flowers, all beautiful, but all just as regular as the next. But she was probably thinking too deep into it. What do you mean? now she felt ugly and dumb.

The girl seemed perplexed, which made Ibis wonder if she'd said something wrong -- but then things were clarified, sort-of, and she couldn't help but smile. It was always fun to show off her own knowledge, and especially if it meant that a new friend would learn something new! What a precious little cinnamon roll. It was, admittedly, surprising to think that this girl only knew flowers as pretty; that wasn't wrong exactly, but they had so many uses! Did she not have a mother that could teach her these things? Oh, but Ibis would never ask such a question, that would be rude.

Oh! Well, some flowers are very pretty but also very scary, she explained, looking around quickly - but she couldn't see anything that met that description so, she had to give up on the search and conclude her explanation: Others grow big and and super colorful, but when chewed on they could make you sleepy! Or -- different parts can do different things. Sometimes the seeds, or the roots, or the petals, all do different things! Her tail wagged at her hocks as she continued to investigate the soil, but there wasn't much growing here.

The flower that the dark girl had found was very pretty, she had to admit. But it wasn't one she was familiar with. Once, I picked up a leaf and it made my tongue puff up and I couldn't talk! It was scary but, one of the adults at my pack helped me. Its good to be careful. She licked her lips, remembering the burn of the big leafy green thing and the allergic reaction she'd had to the contact; if her warning helped to steer Eilonwy away from such dangers, then she'd be content enough with that!

Coming to realize that there were actual dangers about flowers at her age was both shocking and hard to believe. Admittedly, Eilonwy had only just started to become interested about flowers and their beauty, but wrapping one's head around the idea that she'd been as lucky as to never having come across a single flower that had the dangerous properties that Ibis listed was not exactly easy.

How come there dangerous when there so pretty? was the biggest question floating in her mind right now. Life was mostly black and white for Eilonwy at her age, having never really found many things in between. Mom was loving and caring, she was good. And scary things like thunders or bears were bad. But flowers? Flowers looked way more like good things.

It was rare for Ibis to feel smart, but she did as she explained. It didn't last long though. When Eilonwy asked her question there was no blatant answer, nothing that sprung to mind that Ibis could say; she wanted to ride the good feeling of being knowledgable for as long as possible and was dismayed when the girl's question amounted to a mental block.

Iunno, she admitted, shrugging her small shoulders. But then she had another thought — There are lots of scary things that are also pretty! Back at my home there's a really big lake — its very shiny, very calm, and when the sun comes up, it turns all kinds of pretty colors! But I can still go too deep. It sounded very matter-of-fact as she said it, but inside Ibis' mind it seemed more profound than that.

Pretty doesn't always mean good, she clarified (for herself as well as her new friend). Maybe they look bright and colorful to get attention, or to -- to warn us to stay away? Like bees! They're fluffy and cute, and bright, but they can be mean and pokey too.

Eilonwy listened to her new friend with big eyes and perky ears, amazed by how much she knew about the world that Eilonwy hadn't even thought about. The knowledge wasn't exactly astounding or complex, but they were thoughts Eilonwy had never really ventured on her own.

For a moment Eilonwy tried to come up with examples of her own, but shortly realized she didn't have the experience to share the moment of brightness her friend was having over there, and so she kept her mouth shut until Ibis finished her thought. And when she did, Eilonwy didn't really find much more to say other than Yeah, I guess bees'r kinda fluffy, even if they were most definitely pokey! However, a question suddenly came up Watcha think flowers would want to get our attention for? she wondered. As far as she knew, flowers couldn't think, let alone crave attention.

That was a good question. Ibis wasn't sure what to say, and left her friend hanging for a moment or two as she collected her thoughts.

Maybe they like that we like them? Or maybe --- maybe its to make other flowers like them? I dunno. She waffled a little on the details, her expression shifting to one of concern and then confusion, as she was perplexed. Bees like them -- maybe they like the colors? Or maybe the color has to do with the smell? Now she was sounding silly. What sort of correlation could the colors of the flowers have with the world around them? Poor Ibis wasn't a botanist or an ecologist; perhaps one day she'd figure out the reason and be able to put the mystery to bed.