ivory

[Vivilene]

Vivilene, as the days passed, was beginning to become accustomed to the green woods that circled the white forest. She had been, at first, largely anxious and concerned to leave. The gentle feeling of peace and tranquility didn't follow her out there; it felt safer to stay where everything was pale.

She'd wracked her mind why. Maybe it was because she felt more camoflagued-- everything was very pale --or perhaps the woods themselves had something to do with it. It did seem to speak, in a way.

Or, maybe, she was just being stupid.

They all seemed just as likely to her, really. Vivilene spent a while hyping herself up to follow the distant desire to explore and discover what was beyond the white woods. She'd seen every corner imaginable by now, she thought-- from the ring of cliffs to the salt-scented water below, and the statue and the rocks and the glowing water.

She had to see what else was out there. It was beginning to eat away at her.

The first time she left, she said goodbye to the statue, specifically, in case she might be gone for a while. That night she was spooked in the dark and went skittering, half in tears, back to the forest and lay underneath her favourite tree for a few hours.

The second went better, as did the third. This was Vivilene's seventh venture out into the green forest, though it was still largely new to her. She knew the border fairly well, and she knew the trail by the water enough, but there was one thing that was beginning to bug her a little.

It was more like an itch, perhaps. Barely-there at first, until she started to think about it, and quietly obsess over it, except she couldn't reach it and scratch it. When Vivilene left for the green forest she made a beeline for The Thing.

A tree.

Vivilene knew trees-- or so she thought. It'd been a surprise when she saw the brown-and-green trees at first, but this one had been even more of a surprise. There was something woven in the leaves, not quite animals-- they were immobile --and too big and too shiny and too red to be-- well, leaves.

At a distance, the little elf studied them. She thought, and she ruffled the silver-leaf cloak draped around her, and she watched. They were fairly high up, whatever they were, and Vivilene was-- well, not the size of Grace, who could probably just rip the whole tree out and sniff them out herself.

She did envy Grace and her height, just a little.

Still: this was an issue. And it was an issue that Vivilene only had two potential solutions for. The first was to simply... ask.

"Excuse me?" She asked very softly, her hands clasping in front of her rather neatly. "Could you come down please?"

The mysterious, scarlet orbs within the tree did not respond. For a moment, Vivilene was a little hurt before realising ahh, they can't talk... and standing down a little.

Solution two was then, in that moment, engaged.

Vivilene stared at the tree in dead silence, waiting patiently, for something.

Warren

[Warren]

He didn't like being alone. At first, he thought he'd be happy in his warren, but the encounter he'd had gnawed at him like a disease.

He couldn't shake it. He had to know what was out there, who was out there, and it hurt.

More days passed as he grew irritable, pacing in the hollows and frightening the others. They'd stopped looking at him- they'd started avoiding him. At that point, he knew- and, he wish he didn't- that he was too different for them.

He wished he didn't have to know anything.

Something called from past the shining rocks, pulling him past the threshold of a life of apathy or the unknown. He was never a brave soul, he thought, but this? He needed to know. Why did he need that? Why couldn't he be happy with his family?

He wished he could say he didn't look back, but he did the entire time he crossed the plains, traveled into the forest, curled under the leaves and branches and navigated ancient trails led by the creatures that lived here. And what lived here? He found traces of carnivores, but they seemed to wane the further he went into the forest, even nearly ending by the time he found himself to the point he was. Where was he?

Which way was home? It wasn't the first time he thought that, but looking back in the direction he came, a pain shot through his heart as he ached for the familiar. It was nice here, but it was no home for a rabbit, no home for a family. The rabbit took in a deep breath and shuddered, closing his eyes as he fought back tears. That was a new one. Tears- had he ever cried before? No. Why was he crying? The feeling was out of reach as he shut his eyes and strained for the sun, struggling to feel its warmth instead of the heat his own body flared across his cheeks.

He missed them. He missed his family, missed being happy and content in silence. Why did he have to think? Why did he have to go this way?

A voice, wispy, in the distance, caught his attention, ears snapping up as he opened his eyes and strained forward. That wasn't a predator, that was- another like him. It's what he wanted to see, but what if they were like the bird again? What if they ate rabbits? What if they saw him crying?

Swallowing fear (just barely), he dropped lower to walk-hop forward, his legs bunching up under him as his nose twitched nervously. They were closer than expected- they must've been quiet, but they were looking up at something. Someone? The rabbit held his breath as he shuffled his legs in tighter, staring up before looking back to watch the... Being.

"Um-" He barely started before looking up again, making a cautious hop forward. "Is someone, up there..?" He pushed forward without another step, trying so hard to see just who was in the tree.

Vivilene

[Vivilene]

Vivilene was staring, but the red orbs weren't coming down to see her. Vivilene wasn't entirely sure what to do next-- she could try climbing the tree but the pale cloak was, in fact, the only thing defending her from the elements. Trying to scramble up a tree would hurt.

She might even fall out.

It was about then that she heard a voice. Her gaze dipped down, alarmedly, and then she jumped back a little with a brief start. In seconds, however, she was carefully kneeling, curious, her pointed ears lifted.

"Ahh," she began, as she so often did. "Hello...? My name is Vivilene."

For a split second she wondered if it was an orb-- until she actually managed to catch sight of the pale pelt of the rabbit. The elf crept slightly closer, watching, and then folded herself up underneath the leaf cloak. "Who are you?" She asked. "Do you-- live in the tree?"

A great deal of questions were beginning to swarm Vivilene's head-- what are you doing there, are you looking for something, do you know where you're meant to be going. The usual, that she tended to ask others, she realised.

One stood out in particular, however, as she gave the rabbit a once-over. "Are you lost?"

Warren

[Warren]

The shuffle of motion caught the rabbit's gaze like a trap, all wide-eyed and fearful as the being moved. Of course beings moved, but, they- she?- was... Weird. Leggy.

He didn't know if he trusted it. Birds came on two legs, but they weren't usually so soft. The draping fur over her flowed with her motions, as if they held no weight, and he found himself watching her as she made another motion (sat?) and spoke.

He found that lump in his throat rise again, as it always did when other beings spoke.

She had a name. He didn't- did he need one? Things had names, and he turned his eyes to the side as he thought wordlessly, worried on that fact. He wasn't a thing though. He didn't have a name- he didn't need one, he decided quickly, huffing out with a little shudder.

When he looked back, she was closer, which startled him out of the lull of questions he found himself in. A squeak came out as he pushed back- more questions, and he shuffled his legs back into the new position he'd drawn back into. He could barely parse the first she'd asked out of the babbling that started rising from his mouth. The second made him quiet down and look up to the tree.

He was starting to calm down as he was quiet, only looking back to Vivilene with a soft shake of his head. No, he didn't live there- how could he even get up? His home was far away, and he huffed out, crouching down to settle himself back down to his normal self.

"I'm-" He started at the third query. How would he answer? Was he lost if he wasn't sure if he could even go back the way he came? But, he didn't know where he was, either.

He looked down with another shake of his head. "I don't know." Was that even an answer he could give to a yes or no question?

"I thought-" He choked off his words again, glancing back up. "If I... Went this way, I wouldn't be lost." The rabbit was breathing quickly, as if even speaking to something marginally bigger took everything out of him.

Perhaps it had.

This was a lot for a little man.

Vivilene

[Vivilene]

For a split second, Vivilene wondered if this was one of the creatures like the birds-- aware, but unable to speak. Alive and moving and eating and making noise, but not the kind of noise that she entirely understood and could respond to.

She shifted on the spot, and then her legs were curling underneath her and her cloak pooled around her like silver water, spilling neatly into the grass. She didn't move further-- she didn't get closer but she didn't back away, either, and her hands went to rest on her lap.

Instinct told Vivilene to keep her hands still, but where the rabbit could clearly see them clasped neatly on the lush cloak.

Is he still afraid? He certainly seemed it, and although Vivilene couldn't entirely understand why, she felt gentle, quiet empathy. A sort of distant sadness, perhaps.

He didn't know, and "that's okay," she replied softly, head inclining with a bird-like movement as she took a moment to think-- and quickly become uncertain which question he was answering. Vivilene decided it was all of them.

Except, maybe, the tree question. He wouldn't be lost if he were home.

"Maybe," she went on quietly. "Maybe you just have to keep walking until you don't feel lost anymore?" Her gaze lifted briefly back towards the west, where she'd come from, where the altar and the statue and the peace was.

"I can take you somewhere," she offered, as her head turned back to the rabbit. "It's-- nice. The forest is white, and it glows a little. It's peaceful. It can say hello." Her tone was laced with something resembling adoration and awe; fond, perhaps even affectionate.

She did love the white forest. She loved the feeling of peace and that nothing was wrong. Maybe it would help the rabbit.

The elf watched Warren for a few moments longer. "Are you hungry?" Vivilene asked, tilting her head upwards to lift a thin hand to gesture to the branches above. "I feel like those are for eating. I'm not sure how to get them to come down, though."

Warren

[Warren]

Vivilene's words threw the rabbit off guard. It was... Okay, to not know things? That set a tumultuous idea spinning through his brain. It was okay to not know why he was going this way, why they were talking, why he'd left his home-

His home! He shut his eyes tight and tilted his head down as the elf continued, nose crinkling up as her voice chimed over him. "I don't-" There was a soft repetition as he struggled to catch his mind up to the suggestion. If he kept walking, he'd never get home- he couldn't get home, right? His breath quickened its pace as his eyes shot open to stare up.

Somewhere nice? He visibly relaxed a little more at that, letting out a rumble of an uncertain noise. He'd like that. He'd love to be somewhere pleasant, where his burrow wouldn't be raided, where bucks weren't fighting, where predators were gone. A forest that could say hello would be so much nicer, too.

He wouldn't be alone among peers all the time, then. Granted, he wasn't alone with Vivilene- she was bright and so was he, and that set some sort of ease deep within his gut, too.

One problem. "Are there- birds? Foxes? Things with te-teeth?" His heart beat harder again as he barely stepped forward, staring to Vivilene's soft face. "Will- Is it safe? There?"

Where was that bravery he had days ago, with the rat and the monster? His breath trembled before he shook his head. "I'm-" He started and stopped nearly immediately. An internal check was in order, and he glanced down to his chest. "I don't know. I think so." There was the telltale grumble in his gut. He didn't recognize any of the plants this far into the woods- nothing looked like it did on the open plains he lived used to live in.

It had been a while since he'd eaten. Craning his head up, he stared to the apples, giving another hop-step towards Vivilene to get a better angle. "Can you..." He trailed as he looked to the elf's hands. "Can you climb, maybe? We could see if it's food." He couldn't even imagine climbing with his body, much less what'd happen when he got up there, but maybe she wouldn't have an issue with just how high those orbs were.

Vivilene

[Vivilene]

As Vivilene continued to speak, gently, quietly, she noticed that the rabbit only seemed to be getting worse and worse and more anxious and he didn't seem to know a lot, but Vivilene knew what it was like to panic so much that you can't think straight. She knew what helped her and she knew the best thing to do was gently offer what she could.

At least moving seemed to help, though he still seemed to have concerns. At the mention of teeth her mind was cast, immediately, to Grace, and when she had been in front of the tyrannosaur when she opened her mouth, even just to drink. Massive, jagged teeth in her head which was bigger than Vivilene's was.

Quietly, briefly, she shuddered. "It's safe," she said regardless, gently confirming, with some amount of confidence. "I've never seen a fox there, and there are birds but they're quite small and their feet are flat and skinny. I have teeth, and Grace has teeth,--" a lot of teeth "--but we don't use them to hurt people."

There was a beat. "Grace is really nice," she enforced, just in case. "She lets me ride on her back, sometimes."

Warren was moving on again, which might have been for the best, because Grace was better experienced than told about. She watched the rabbit for a few moments before she said, "well, you can change your mind later, if you don't want to eat." She tried to ignore the fact that this information had, in fact, been quite shocking to Jupiter.

She couldn't imagine why.

Her head craned upwards towards the tree, and then she began to pick herself up. "I think so,"she said, but she was just a little uncertain. It was skinnier than Grace had been, and a lot taller, and there was no altar to stand on-- but it might be okay?

The elf circled around the tree once before she caught sight of a lower branch-- low enough that, perhaps, she might have been able to grab it if she jumped. She could use the trunk as leverage, too, and with building confidence she pushed her foot against the bark and tried to use it to hop upwards to grab the branch hanging above.

And she caught it, all right.

One hand at first, though as she gripped it with the second there was a low crunch, that was quickly (and unfortunately) dismissed as she began to pull herself up into the tree.

When she was about five feet off the cranch, a second, louder crunch sounded, followed by a SNAP, followed by an albino elf tumbling right out of the tree and rolling along the ground with a long groan.

"It, um..." she murmured breathlessly, painfully. "I don't... think so."

At least she could still breathe.

Rolling 1d20: 9

Rolling 1d20: 11

Warren

[Warren]

Vivilene's voice soothed him, he came to realize as she denied his suspicions softly. Nice birds sounded good, someone named Grace sounded good, and Warren's ears even flicked up when she mentioned free rides. That sounded nice, too.

He glanced to the side, if only briefly, as she offered time for him to change his mind. He was hungry, he'd decided, and set his lips askew and chewed absentmindedly on air. But, she was moving again, and Warren followed her with his head, his ears dialed in to follow the sounds she made.

He wanted to help her up, but, well, at the height he had? Good luck. It'd be better to sit back, resting down on his chest as he stared up at the elf contemplating how to attack the tree.

The rabbit was excited, then, as Vivilene began to pull herself up fully. Was that an actually positive emotion he had? It felt good to put belief in someone, as she seemed to have it, before-

SNAP!

Warren scuttled back fast, a soft 'tsktsktsk'ing of nervousness escaping him as his fur fluffed up. That didn't look good at all.

Well, there went all that hope he had.

Slowly, anxiously, he hop-walked forward, alternating between ears up and down as he approached and just barely made to brush the soft fur of his nose against her arm. "Are you okay?" That seemed to be the best question he could give after a few moments of silence. His nose twitched with unease as he backed up and hopped around her to the other side, anxiety now flaring up for this stranger acquaintance(?).

Maybe some positive reinforcement would help. Looking up to the tree, he shuddered, if only briefly, at the height it offered, before sitting back and watching Vivilene. "It's- okay, that it didn't work, um.. There's other food we can eat."

Did she eat herbs? Maybe he could show her what kind of herbs to eat.

Vivilene

[Vivilene]

tw; broken ribs

The pain was beginning to fade away, at least, washing out from a sharp stab to a dull throb in her side. She half-turned, feeling the rabbit's nose nudge into her arm.

He said it was alright that it didn't work out-- and Vivilene recognised this as something that she'd give to one of her friends who had just done what she did-- as in, fall out a tree trying to feed someone who was scared and anxious.

But acceptance didn't bloom in her chest. Something else did, something darker and a little uncomfortable, but not entirely bad. Vivilene quickly decided this emotion was: stubbornness.

"There is," she said, softly despite the raw, unadulterated determination boiling in her chest. "But I think I can do it."

Triumphantly, and with minimal amount of pain, Vivilene pushed up. She took a long breath, paced around the tree, and went leaping back into it. This time, there wasn't even a snap before the pale elf came careening out of the branches, landing hard on the ground.

The only crunch that came from anywhere was the faint, oddly-gentle crumble that came from her chest.

A horrific wheeze came hissing out of her throat. Vivilene turned, cradling her chest. It hurt, and it felt tight when she tried to catch the breath that escaped her lungs back.

She had to admit defeat. "Maybe.. maybe we..." Wheeze. "We should.. find something... else."

Rolling 1d20: 15

Warren