FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

-1stMoon: Full-

Submerged in the waters of the spring, it wasn't long before the overwhelming calm Avi was subject to took its leave. With the long fall and a clean entry, the depth of the pool was made all too clear; his held breath would become insufficient if he didn't get to the surface, and fast.

The mouse resisted the urge to begin swimming right away. First, he let out a bubble from his mouth, sacrificing a bit of the air he had left to quickly reorient himself towards where it floated upwards. Ferrah's haste in reaching the surface made him wonder if she had a similar idea, or if she was just that focused during and after the dive. She had no calm to dull her reactions, after all. And so, he made to follow both her and the bubbles, going up and up and up, until at last...

They breached the surface, and reached the shore soon after. The pair dragged themselves out of the spring, and the mouse collapsed onto his stomach while the tigress laid on her back. They were alive. Drenched all the way through the fur, sore all over, and gasping for air, but alive.

Ferrah soon set herself upright, then tried to stretch a bit in her seated position. Good. Nothing broken for either of them.

"Alright,"_he thought, _"that's a relief. Not sure what I could do to fix that with no supplies."

He tensed as he pushed himself up from the ground. With that last thought, he brought an open palm to his face. That was their situation, wasn't it? No supplies. No idea where they were. No way home. He let his posture sag a bit, then turned his head to the tigress, speaking through the heaving breaths.

"S-So, Ferrah?"

"Gah, what now, Avi?"

"What exactly... _happened,_up there?"

Her gaze steeled itself as she bared her fangs, teeth clenched together. She sprung up from her seated position, marched over to Avi, then yanked him to his feet by the arm. "'What happened,' Avi?! You walked off a damn cliff, that's what happened! Just- you just kept walking, no matter what I said, clutching that shard!"

"What, so I just- oh, the shard! Where, where did I-?" He checked his hands, his loincloth, anywhere near him. There was no shard to be found, though. Only the thin cuts from gripping it in his hand remained. He gazed out to the spring, looking deeper and deeper down. The bottom was dark by now, in the shade of the cliffside sunset. And the shard was down there, in all likelihood? A shame. Not an impossible task, but a wasteful one when they needed all the energy they could muster in search of food and shelter. He shook his head as he faced her again.

"Ah, never mind that. I'm so sorry, Ferrah. I got us into this mess, and now? I have no idea how we're going to get back to the village."

"Hmph. Considering how far we fell, the answer to that is probably 'We don't.'" She looked up to the cliff face by the waterfall. "I mean, there's enough rocks in the side of the cliff to climb if you're made of tough stuff, but next to the waterfall? It'll be slicker than coconut oil."

With that, she began shaking herself off. Water sprayed in all directions as she shook herself through, top to bottom, until it ended at each leg being kicked to the side and wringing out her tail. Still wet, but far from drenched, at least. Avi soon followed suit, his thinner coat reducing the process to something less frenzied.

He took stock of their surroundings as Ferrah continued to squeeze water from her tail fur. Most of the place was a clearing surrounding the spring. There was a small river heading away from it along the mountain with a lightly trodden path, but in the foliage opposite the cliff face, there was a fully blazed trail. A perfectly clear path, and it cut right into the heart of the treeline.

"Ferrah? We might not be alone here." He pointed to the trail. "Look there, the bushes are all tamped down or cut away. You know what that means, right?"

"That we might find someone to help, or somewhere to stay? Yeah. Assuming they're not the sort to shank first, ask questions later." She let out a sigh as her tail was freed from her grip, whipping about to shake any remaining droplets away. "It's as good a plan as any, though, so follow behind me, Avi. We'll see what's going on here."

As the pair made their way into the jungle, the mouse again looked around, in this case to pass the time. The treeline was a fair bit shorter than back home; instead of trunks that stretched high to form a leafy canopy, these trees were stumps by comparison. Tall enough to create that sense of a dense, untamed area, but no more. The sky was plenty visible. He hadn't seen a single anthurium blossom yet, either. Instead, what caught his eye were some dark blue flowers, with pale purple petals backing the indigo wisps that circled the bloom like a drawing of the sun's radiance. The pistil's tip was in the shape of what he could only describe as a cage of thorns.

How macabre.

The path continued to stretch before them, thus far with no other directions branching from it. A simple matter not to get lost thus far, at least. Avi's fur had even dried by now, with Ferrah's only retaining a bit of dampness beneath the surface. The skyline had begun turning a deep orange as well. The mouse looked back at the mountain towering over the jungle, and chuckled.

"Strange. So close to home, yet so far, thanks to the mountain that once acted as our home. Now, we may well have to find a new one, unless a search party finds this place. Somehow."

He froze in place in his next step forward. His left ear twitched. Underbrush, something more than wind. He grabbed Ferrah's hand to warn her, but she'd already stopped as well. She turned back, nodded to him, then freed her hand from his grip. Her stance lowered. Her eyes flicked back and forth along the sides of the path, staring down one area before moving on to the next.

Another twitch of the mouse's ears. This time, the tigress's ears pivoted to the left, soon followed by her narrowing brown eyes. "I can_hear_ you, ya know! If you've got demands, come out and say 'em to my face!"

Silence. No movements. No signs of the watcher. A breeze drifted through, laced with a scent the mouse couldn't place, and its caress against the bushes was the only noise in the area. Not even a breath escaped them.

Then, a shadow leaped toward him from the bushes, some sort of polearm in hand.

"F-Ferrah!"

Before their attacker could get close, Ferrah grabbed the mouse and bounded back a pace, skidding against the dirt. Out of range for now, but unarmed.

"...well,_I'm_unarmed. Ferrah herself may qualify as a lethal weapon, even without much experience in a brawl."

A shout came from the feline warrior. "Stay right there! I'm warning you, don't get any ideas, you two!"

The mouse looked for something, anything to identify their assailant. No tribal gem, no markings, not even an accessory in his long, brown ponytail. Just a plain loincloth and a small supply pack. He was a panther, that much was clear from the fur, black as coals. Though he glanced to Avi every so often, the warrior tried to keep his gaze locked with Ferrah's. Still, their chances were slim here, weren't they? One warrior meant more were in the wings, usually.

The mouse was broken from his analysis by a laugh from his companion.

"Pffft, hah! You serious right now?! Avi, look closer! What a chump."

What was she talking about, exactly? If he cared to split hairs, the panther did seem almost lanky. Some odd middle ground between muscular and lithe, as though his proportions were just slightly off. He stood at eye level with the towering tigress, but he didn't carry even half the presence. Wait, the spear too, something about it... it was three-pronged? That thing was for fishing!

"W-What?! I'm not kidding, stay put!" The boy poked the spear forward in some sort of attempt at a threat.

"For what, your little fishing stick?" she asked. "You're a kid, too! Out on your own, probably not a single grown warrior in sight! Greenhorns don't lead the charge unless there's no one else, kid. I'm calling your bluff."

"I-I... dammit, I'm not some kid!!" Nostrils flaring, he charged forward. Slower than Aviexpected, but enough to spook the mouseinto being rooted to the spot. Ferrah, however, just shoved Aviinto a nearby bush. He landed with a thud, his vision filled with green. He could pick up the sounds of a scuffle for a brief moment, then a pained grunt. He lifted himself from the bushes in time to see the panther stumbling back while Ferrah held the spear, the tip pointed behind her. Not the most surprising outcome, at least to him.

Either way, the mouse turned over the events in his head. As the spear itself may have made clear, the boy probably wasn't used to the forward and upward thrusts you'd use against another person, let alone the difference in stance. If he had the high ground, maybe there'd be some overlap in skill, but as it stood? The boy's hackles began to raise as Ferrah tossed the spear to Avi, and the mouse scrambled to his feet before returning to her side.

"Really? Not a kid, eh?" she asked.

"Like I said, I'm seventeen!"

"Try again."

He took another step back, fists clenched. "F-Fine, I turn seventeen next moon, b-but still, that's-"

"And I'm sure you're just _so_mature if you're tryin' so hard to puff up the number, right?"

Though he stuttered a bit, he gave no further response as he fumed and tried to avoid making eye contact with her.

Avi stayed as close to Ferrah as he could, gripping the spear tight with both hands. As he glanced between the felines, though, he stood up straight. He made careful note to keep the spear pointed skyward, and removed one hand from it as he loosened the grip of the other. Two steps forward, paws meeting the ground as if walking on eggshells, and he began.

"Excuse me, young man? I was wondering-"

"My name's Tai, dammit!"

The mouse tilted his head. "Then, Tai. I was wondering. Do you have a place to stay? We're not from around here, we kind of fell, and-"

The tigress gave him a fiery glare out of the corner of his eye.

"...alright, I'm the one who fell. Ferrah tried to catch me, and we both wound up taking the plunge. You see the mountain behind us, yes?" He pointed back the way they came with his thumb.

The boy nodded. "Yeah, there's a good pool at the base of a waterfall around there. Plenty of folks head up there if they need a bath or a freshwater swim." Though his stance remained tense, the flicks of his tail grew less mechanical, with more curl to the tip.

"Our village is just past the cave system the waterfall comes from. It's all the way up there"-He pointed a finger to the sky-"and now we're all the way down here." That same finger pointed to the ground. "You can see the problem, I assume?"

"Well, yeah, but- but I can't just-" The panther's shoulders drooped as the tension left him along with a hurried sigh. "Look, things are a bit rough right now. Something happened during the storm. Dunno what, but I can't let people find us right now. Or tell you why, in case you turn on us."

The tigress snarled. "Okay, ya know what, kid?" She stomped up to him, and his movements grew still. His pupils shrunk to specks as she got within a pace of him. "If we wanted a fight, I'd have had one with you earlier. And in case you haven't noticed, I didn't need the damn spear, either!" She flexed one arm, then extended the claws of the other. "Get it yet?"

"O-Okay, fair enough. Wow, uh... yeah..." The boy's eyes darted to her arm. Then to her clawed hand. Then just about everywhere else he could, his eyes dilating as his tail curled.

"Uh. Is he trying to gauge just how dead he'd be if she wanted him so, or- you know what, never mind, at least he's getting closer to something I could call cooperative."

"So, Tai. Ferrah's bluster aside, does this mean you can take us there? If it's some kind of damage from the storm that's the issue, you could use all the able hands you can get. It's our best shot at shelter anyway, so we'd have more of an interest in fixing things than making them worse."

The boy glanced back and forth between the pair. Then, he sighed, putting his hands up. "Eh, fine then. I'd still rather not tell you 'til we get there, though. Our situation is... well, it's not great. And it's my job to protect them." He held out a hand to Avi. "I'd appreciate getting my dad's fishing spear back, by the way. Not like it'll be much use against the walking statue over here."

"Ah, right. Here!" He darted forward, holding the spear out for Tai.

As the boy took it in hand, a smile graced his muzzle for the first time since they'd met him. He turned around to continue on the path, then gestured for them to follow. Apparently they had a guide to the area now. Not bad.

Ferrah smirked, running a hand through the tangled mess of hair that fell past her shoulders. She took up position behind the boy, then glanced back to Avi. The mouse's ears perked, then he bounded forward to catch up. Though so much was still unknown about the place, aiding in the village's recovery ought to get them in the locals' good graces.

A new home for now, until they figured out how to get back.

*

---

*

For a while after the pair set out with Tai, the path continued on its perpetual march forward. Were it not for the fact that there was a fork in the road at long last, there would have been no need for a guide. The young panther gestured to the right with his spear, and the group continued that way, the path leading downhill.

As they made their way down, the treeline began to thin out and the light grew stronger. Well, as strong as it could be when the sun was soon to set, anyway. That scent on the wind from earlier was back, and much stronger by now.Accompanying it was a sound much like the foliage rustling in the wind, but deeper, less erratic.

"Just where are we? The smells are nothing like home, save for the scent of moisture alongside the unknown one. Though, with that sound... maybe it's not from the rainwater."

An end to the path was in sight, exiting the jungle completely. The group found themselves in a clearing on a plateau, which overlooked an expansive beach down below. Avi took in the sight of the shoreline, the waters coming in, then going out again. All in time to that sound from before. The new scents were stronger than ever, almost tickling his nose as the breeze passed beneath it. The marvel answered several questions at once, at least.

A warm welcome to a hiddenvillage by the ocean, that sound.

Buildings dotted the central area of the sandy plain, with the occasional one off in the outskirts. Despite the storm, the buildings had stood their ground, for the most part. Perhaps four buildings had been blown away entirely, if the count from here was accurate. Others were just damaged to varying degrees, not usable, but no arduous task to fix with a proper crew.

What caught the mouse's eye the most was how much empty space there was around the place. There was so much unused land that what existed of the village could be built at least six times over, more if the planning was sound. And yet, that spoke less to the vastness of the beach and more to the number of buildings; the number was akin to how manyflanked the Skygrazers' village square, and _only_the village square.

Avi turned to the panther. "Is that the village, Tai? It seems to be in better shape than you made it sound."

"Yeah, well, you can thank my pops for that. And the buildings aren't the problem. Most of it, anyway."

Ferrah put a hand to her chin as she raised an eyebrow. "So your old man's the one who made those?" A smirk crossed her muzzle. "Heh, must be some fine work if they got through all that with only some damage to the roofs and walls. I think I'd like to meet the guy, talk shop a bit!"

"Huh, you're a builder? Well, uh, it'll be a while before you can speak with him. Who knows how long..." He stopped. Ears lowered, tail lying still, and almost leaning on the spear. After a moment, he shook his head, then motioned for them to follow again.

The mouse's whiskers twitched. As they made their way along the plateau, he kept his gaze to the ground, scratching his head on occasion, and his tail flicked back and forth. When he next looked up, there was a campfire in sight. Almost no people, though. Just two young boys, sharing one of the logs surrounding the fire pit. One was a bat, his wings folded in, and the other was a canine of some description. The bat was the first to notice their approach, and he jumped up from his seat.

"Oh, oh Tai! You're back!" He leaned to the side to look past Tai, his eyes flicking between the pair of newcomers. "Huh, who're they? They're not from the village. Didn't you say that'd be a bad thing?"

"Hm? Oh." The canine boy had taken notice as well. Where the bat was a bundle of energy, this one was content to sit and stare. "Tai? What's going on? Find someone? Who's the big lady?"

The panther scratched the back of his head as he looked away. "I know what I said, guys, but we need the help, okay? I'd already be a goner if she wanted a fight, and now she and her friend want to help. That's something, right?"

The canine looked down, then nodded. "Mm. Okay. That's good."

The bat pivoted to him. "Good? It's great! There's lots to do, and I can't do all of it!" He froze up, then stared off at nothing, blinking twice. Then, he looked to Avi and Ferrah, and darted over to them. Once he'd stopped, he lowered his head as he looked up to them, and his pointer fingers tappedtogether. "Heh, well, not much of it at all, actually, b-but I can find whatever you need! Really!"

Avi smiled at the display. "Well, that's good to hear from you, little... hm. I don't think we've been introduced yet, have we?"

"Ah, right. My bad," said Tai. "Well, you two, this is our pair of rambunctious little troublemakers! The flying fox is Cress, and the maned wolf is Milo." He gestured to them with his thumb. "They're pretty much tied at the hip most of the time. And kids, these are... hm, correct me if I missed your names, but I think it's Ferrah and... Ebi?"

"Avi, actually. But otherwise on the mark."

The boy shrugged. "Eh, close enough. But enough about that." He turned to the younger boys, leaning the spear against his shoulder. "Guys, where's Hana? She was supposed to be keeping an eye on you two, don't tell me she just left!"

"I was getting them _FOOD,_Tai! Something I'd hope you would understand!"

The mouse whipped around towards the shout. There, a capybara girl with a husky buildwas ascending the nearby slope, carrying a bunch of bananas and an odd, spiky fruit.

"Hm. Older than the boys, but clearly younger than Tai. I think I'm starting to see the problem, if this is everyone thus far."

The panther put his free hand to his hip as his brow furrowed. "Food?! I took care of that myself before heading out, you know that!"

She leaned her head back as she rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, our peerless fisherman, bringer of the sea's finest bounties. Bounties that Cress and I can't eat for more than a bite or two! Seriously, Tai, sometimes I wonder. Hmph, regardless..." She took a deep breath, then turned to the boys with an all-new aura. Gone was the animosity, replaced by a radiant warmth as she bounded over. Crouching next to them, she set down the spiky fruit, then the bananas, from which she tore two off the bunch. "Here we are, best ripe ones I could find! I tried to get a variety with smaller seeds, but just in case, you ought to cook them anyway to make it easier to eat. You two can both find good sticks for it, right?"

"Heheh, duh! I've been starving, Hana, this'll be great!" The bat leaned down next to the log, coming back up with a stick in each hand. "Come on, Milo, I've got one for both of us!"

"Huh. Prepared, aren't you." He reached for one of the bananas Hana held out to them.

Once both kids were working on skewering their dinner, she raised a finger with a smile. "There's a rare treat, too, a pineapple to share with everyone later! I'll find a cooking stick for myself in a bit, don't you worry. You just get to it, and enjoy!"

At that, she ruffled both boys' hair, to Cress's amusement and Milo's apathy. Leaving them to it, she began her march towards Tai, tension resurfacing in her face. She stopped in her tracks, however, when she caught sight of the newcomers. A clenched hand brought itself to her chest as she took a step back.

"Tai? Who're these two? What happened?"

"I went out on patrol, like I said. And these guys? I found them for my trouble. Just lucky they were as down on their luck as we are, all they want is a place to stay. Ferrah, and Avi."

She remained still, glancing back and forth between the two. Then, she relaxed her stance at last, reaching a hand up to brush one of the lengthy curls of blonde hair out of her face. She padded over to the pair, then took Ferrah's hand in both of hers, shaking out a greeting. The same followed for Avi.

"Then I hope Tai got off on the right footwith you! I'm Hana, and honestly? It'll be good to have the help while you're here. As you could probably tell, Tai and I..." She glanced back to the fire pit. "We can't really keep track of the little ones and do everything else all at once. Been learning that the hard way. Why, even before the storm, if anyone took their eyes off Iris for but a moment, she'd-"

Her mouth hung open where she'd tried to bring the words forth. The only part of her that moved was her eyes, widening by the second. She whipped around, hustled towards the campfire, then looked in every direction. Along the hill, back down the slope, even into the treeline. When that didn't satisfy her, she turned to the boys.

"Cress!"

"Hm? Yeah?"

"Where's Iris?!"

"Oh, that's easy, she's-" As he began pointing to one of the logs by the fire, he paused, then blinked twice. "...not here! See, I know my stuff!"

"That- T-That was the_one_job I left you with, Cress, and you didn't even notice she was gone?!" Both hands gripped at her head. "No, nooo nonono, I-I just-"

"Hey, I had a partner in that work! It takes two to lose that kid!"

"Then M-Milo, did you see something? Anything?!"

The maned wolf didn't look up from his cooking. He kept staring, watching the colour shift and distort, turning it over to get it spread evenly. "Oh, yeah. There was this moth near the bushes, it found a bite of fallen fruit. Just rubbing all over it. I think it was eating. Neat little guy. Watched that for a while after you left. Ooh, there were some birds, too-"

"Great. Just... great. And it's getting dark, I-I- ohhhh no, please no, not her too!" She began pacing at such a rate that she'd burrow a ditch into the ground, given a while longer. Her arms kept changing their minds about whether to grip at her sides or raise to her head.

The mouse watched as this all went on. Much of the situation was still in question, but this? This could be handled. "Hana, yes?"

She jolted, then looked over her shoulder at him.

"Maybe I could help you look for Iris. I was a medic back in our village, I'm no slouch when it comes to getting around quickly, searching every nook and cranny."

"You'd do that?!"

"Of course! Though, seeing as I don't know the area very well, if we're going to split up, I should probably check the village itself. You'd know any more remote areas better, I'd think."

"Oh, thank you, thank you so much! In that case, the more remote places..." She looked out over the beach, eyes darting this way and that. A snap of her fingers, and she took a running stance. "I'll head to the shore! A-And the path near the cove, maybe, her mother would take her there sometimes! Come back here when you're done, okay?!"

He nodded to her, and she sighed in relief. She sprung from her stance, sprinting down the hill. She made distance between them at a breakneck pace, and even then, the sound of her calling the girl's name over and again reached his ears. He knit his brow, placing a palm to his chest. The worry was broken as someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to see it was Ferrah.

"Uh, Avi? You sure you wanna go it alone? What am I supposed to do in all this, huh?"

"Ah. Well, seeing as you don't know the area either, I'd be searching the same places you would. We can't leave the kids by themselves, and I doubt Tai would leave them alone with an outsider just yet, so-"

"So I'm playing babysitter. Joy." She squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her muzzle. "Gah, find that kid quick, Avi. I mean it."

The mouse raised an eyebrow with a smirk, then nodded. "Quick as a wink, Ferrah, I swear it!"

"Fine, then. I'll see what I can do. Hmph." She went to take a seat at the fire, grabbing one of the bananas. As Avi began heading down the slope, he looked back to her. Just before the mouselost sight of the group, Tai took a seat next to Ferrah, the tigress resting her chin on her fist as she glared into the fire.

After a short jog across the sands, he entered the village's main area. He darted around the buildings, looking through the holes in the siding and shifting around the containers in the storage buildings. Tai wasn't kidding about his father's work; the foundations were almost spotless. Some buildings were blasted apart, and even then, the foundations stood firm, albeit with the support poles snapped in places.

"I'd think sand wouldn't be conducive to a sturdy foundation. Maybe Ferrah would have better insight into this, who knows. Now then, Iris; I forgot to ask what she looked like, but she sounded pretty young, if Cress and Milo were left to watch her. How young, though?"

He kept at his search, then stopped for a moment. He narrowed his eyes, then began counting on his hands. One, two, three; only three of the buildings thus far were living huts, and he'd searched most of the place. There was a communal hut, sure, but family units tended to have their own space, yes? And yet, most of the buildings were storage or trade facilities.

The walk resumed as he continued thinking. Not many buildings left to search, or to add to his count. Maybe the girl really was in the more isolated parts of the village.

No, wait. Sobbing? Faint, but there was no mistaking it. It was coming from the farthest building in this final section of them, a fourth living hut. This one fared worse than the others, with the roof halfway caved in and the side wall torn open completely. His destination decided, he rounded the corner of the entryway with the lightest footfall he could manage. And the sight that greeted him?

"*sniifff* M-Mama, Nana, I-I... I'm waiting, like you said. Y-You said to stay home 'til- *hic* -'til you got back, if I didn't know w-where you went, right? I'm here... I'm here... w-where did you go-o-o...? *sniff*"

Well. The figure of a little girl hunched over, clutching a woven doll and crying? That much was to be expected. For that little girl to have wavy, deep green hair, though? He'd never heard of, let alone seen, locks of that hue. Looking closer, she resembled a river otter with her deep brown fur, but her facial fur was fluffy and white. A sort they'd never seen in the village, perhaps? Or another oddity, like her hair? No time for that, regardless. He crouched down to the ground, to her level, before letting a tone of voice like honey grace the air.

"Excuse me? Are you Iris?"

The girl jumped at the sound of the new voice, dropping her doll. She grabbed both of her ears, covering them as she clenched her eyes shut, the tears flowing in streams. "N-No, I'm not listening! No more, no- a-ah?"

Her tiny hands drifted down from her ears, and her eyes peeled open. She finally turned to him, then stumbled back a few steps.She stared deep into his eyes as she snatched her doll up from the ground and held it close;it was made in her likeness, but instead of a dress, it wore a tiny loincloth.

"You're here?" she asked. "W-Who are you?"

Avi tilted his head at that reaction, but righted himself soon after. He made sure to hold her gaze, keepinghiseyes locked to hers. And those eyes? They were just as strange as her hair. The colours were swimming in the glistening pools of her irises, laden with tears. Greens, golds, even purples; iridescent. Another thing to be left for later.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I should have explained first." He gestured to himself. "My name is Avi. A friend and I fell from the waterfall, and Tai found us. We haven't talked about what to do yet, but we met someone called Hana. She's looking for a little girl named Iris. That's you, right?"

"*sniff* Yeah..."

"Then do you think you could follow me? I know you must miss your family a lot, but it's getting dark, and the hut isn't safe. We'll look more in the morning, okay? I promise." The mouse held a hand out to her, his movements careful and calm.

Her crying had mostly stopped. All that remained was what stubborn saltwater clung to her eyes still. Instead, she continued to stare. Tilting her head. Loosening the grip on her doll.

"A... Avi? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I dunno. But it's not like how the big grownups look at me. That's different, I dunno what they mean, either. I... I guess it's..." She raised a finger to her lips, swaying to either side as she stared upward. Then, something sparked in her, and she looked straight at Avi again. This time, a smile grew wide across her face as she ran up to him, then threw her little arms around his torso. "Hehee, it's... it's like Mama!"

For a moment, the mouse didn't move as he looked down at the child. Soon, though, he returned the gesture in full. Arms wrapped around the little one, he whispered into her ear. "You're ready to go, then?"

"Mmhm!"

Avi leaned down further, then scooped her up. He positioned her to sit in the crook of his arm while the other held her close. As the mouse walked out of the hut, he was met with the sweetest little giggles in his ear as Iris leaned against him, arm across his shoulder line. He began his walk back through the village, then turned to the otter. She'd closed her eyes, content to rest against him. The warmth in Avi's smile at the sight was like that of a gentle flame. He nuzzled his whiskers against her cheek, and in return, he received a few more giggles for his trouble as she twitched and nuzzled back.

A short while later, the two of them had reached the slope back up to the plateau. The campfire came into view, revealing that Hana had gotten back first. She sat on the far log, head in her hands, while the boys were cooking more of their dinner and Ferrah was doing her best to ignore whatever Tai was talking about. It wasn't long before the mouse's little passenger piped up.

"Hana-a-a-a!"

All eyes were on the two of them for a moment, though the boys returned to their cooking not even a wink later. The tigress sighed in relief and sheattempted to return to her food, but soon after did a double-take, staring at Iris with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Tai, on the other hand, waved to the little one. And as for Hana?

She'd sprung from her seat, running to them with agility the mouse would be hard-pressed to match. When she reached them, she put a hand to Iris's face, nuzzling and kissing her forehead.

"Ohhh, oh Iris, I was so worried! Where_were_ you?"

"Mama and Nana's hut. I'm s'posed to wait there if I lose 'em, yeah? Avi promised we'd look tomorrow, though!"

Once she mentioned the mouse, Hana's ears flicked up, and her eyes began darting between the two of them. When she'd satisfied whatever thought she was running through, she gave the widest smile Avi had seen from her yet.

"Then it looks like you have a new friend, Iris! Has he told you where he's from, yet?"

"Mmhm, the waterfall, wa-a-a-ay high up!" She reached both arms to the sky, then drew them apart in an arc. Once she'd done that, her head pivoted to Ferrah. "Oooh, is the giant lady his friend? Avi said a friend came with 'im!"

The tigress's ears pivoted toward the conversation, but she didn't look. Instead, her tail went stiff.

Hana nodded. "Oh yes, that's Ferrah! Did you want to go say hi?"

"Oooh, yeah, yeah!" She bounced up and down in Avi's arms at the prospect. He set her down, letting her little legs carry her in an unsteady run, right up to Ferrah.

The tigress recoiled the moment Iris grabbed at her skirt to get her attention. Soon after, Ferrah glared over her shoulder at Avi, who shrugged with a smirk on his face. His own attention was drawn to the side with a tap on his shoulder.

"Hm? Yes, Hana?"

Her gaze kept darting away from him. "I, um. I just wanted to say..." She brought a clasped hand to her chest, then soon after managed to look him in the eyes. "Thank you. For being so kind to her."

"Is that it? Ha, you don't have to thank me for that! She's such a precious little thing, I can't imagine anyone offering her less!"

She looked back to the otter girl. "You'd be surprised, I think. You have to have noticed, right?"

"Hm? Oh, her hair and her eyes, yes?" He took in her features once more. The green hair fell to her shoulders with a curl at the end, and her eyes were a deep purple from this angle. She jittered this way and that while prodding Ferrah with all sorts of questions. "I'd meant to ask, why are they like that, anyway?"

Hana folded her arms, her brow knitting. "I wish I could tell you. She's been like that from birth, and most of the adults? They're wary of her. Treating her like some benign threat that could lash out at any moment. There's not many people she can turn to, save for me and our mothers."

The mouse turned to her, his posture becoming rigid. "Excuse me? You're telling me even her father and grandmother spurn her like that?! That's just-"

"Grandmother?" She glanced to the side at him and raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"It was just when I'd found her. She was talking to herself, mentioning 'Mama' and 'Nana.' That'd be her mother and grandmother, yes?"

The melancholy over Hana's expression evaporated as it was replaced with giggles, a hand raised to her lips. "Oh, I think I know what you're talking about now! 'Mama' is her mother of course, but 'Nana?' That's what she calls _my_mother. The two are bondmates, Avi."

"B-Bondmates? Then that means-"

"That Iris is my dear little sister, yes~"

He looked down to the ground as he brought a hand to the side of his head. His tail flicked back and forth as he took it all in.

"That explains her reaction, then. But if their mothers are mated..."

"Do you share a father, then? It's not uncommon for female bondmates who wish to have children, at least in my village."

She crossed her arms again as she tilted her head. "No, I don't think so. Mother knows who my father is, but she doesn't want to tell me until I'm considered an adult. Your guess is as good as mine on that front. Kanna, though? She hasn't told anyone. Even my mother. They both told me they discussed the matter in advance, though, it wasn't a sudden fling or... or worse. And I'm glad for that." She sighed as she closed her eyes. Then, they flew open all over again. "Oh, Kanna is Iris's mother, to be clear, I knew her before they mated, s-so it was just easier to keep calling her that, and-"

He raised a hand, palm towards her. "It's quite alright, I could guess. But now that you've mentioned it, I was wondering. Where is everyone? I can assume they're missing, but what happened?"

She looked away, then back towards the fire. Whatever smile she'd gained, it was dashed away. "We really should talk about that, yes. Join us by the fire, then." She took his hand in hers, then began to lead him to the log she was sitting at before. Both sat down, then glanced around at the others. Iris and Tai were still vying for Ferrah's attention, and the boys were as unaware as ever.

"Tai," Hana said, "I think it's about time we talked about this. With the newcomers, as well."

When she spoke, he finally looked away from the tigress. He turned towards the fire, then clasped his hands together in his lap, looking down at them. "Yeah. Guess so, now that everyone's accounted for. Alright, so, you two-"

"About time!" The tigress rolled her eyes. "I've just been stuck here with you kids, spill it already!"

"I-I know, Ferrah, I was getting to that, it's... hm. Okay, so, the storm, right? You saw how rough that thing was. Before that ever started, Hana's mother had us stay in the communal hut while the adults all had a meeting about... something, I don't know. Then the storm came, we couldn't leave the hut, and by the time it ended-"

"Everyone was gone. Without a trace." The capybara stared into the fire, unmoving. "All of our parents, Milo's uncle and grandmother, even Old Man Enki." She squeezed her eyes shut as she tensed up. "I don't get it, there should've been time for them to get to the hut before the storm got that bad, right? It was sudden, but..." The tension left her as she slumped, then put a hand to her face.

Iris, clutching her doll close again, walked over to sister's seat and climbed into her lap. She buried her head in Hana's shoulder as she offered a hug. One Hana was quick to return, holding her sister close.

Avi straightened up, then looked around the fire pit, examining each of the kids. Tai was close to adulthood, but the rest? Milo and Cress were just children, and Iris was only a year or two past being a toddler.

"It's hard to tell with Hana, but if she's a bit shorter than me, despite capybaras being rather large compared to mice, I wouldn't pin her as being around Tai's age. So many of them, all so young..."

The mouse gestured to Tai. "Then, since this morning, you've been all alone? No one else to help?"

"Pretty much. Hana and I can do work just fine, we've both got some training in our parents' trades, but the kids can't do much. They shouldn't have to, either." He put a hand to the back of his neck. "Desperate times, especially with the granary blasted apart, but still."

Avi took a sharp breath, and Ferrah held the bridge of her muzzle with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Oh, great," she said, "so when Hana was off grabbing food for the kids, she was gone so long because-"

"Because we had no food to work with, yes. I had to get that fruit straight from the source. I should've gotten more, but you saw what happened in the time that took. I couldn't afford to be gone from the fire pit any longer than I had to be."

The tigress threw up her hands. "Fantastic. So we're starting from not much more than buildings, most of which are too banged up to use. Not bad damage, especially for me, but no crew means it'll take way longer than it should."

Tai shrugged at her. "I mean, I know a thing or two about building, you know. Pops taught me. I paid more attention to fishing, but-"

"So a crew of one and a half, then. Not much better." She sighed, then looked him up and down. "I'll see what I can do, though, if we're stuck here. You'd better keep your ears perked and your eyes peeled, kid, you're gonna be learning on the fly if you wanna pitch in."

He puffed up his chest with his arms crossed, and a smirk made itself apparent. "Fine by me! Just you watch, this'll go great!"

"We'll see how that holds up, kid. I'd bet that bluster lasts a week, at best. That aside,"-She turned back to the rest of the group-"just what age range are we working with here? Avi's twenty-one, I'm twenty-four, I know you're sixteen-"

"Almost seventeen!"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "So still sixteen. Anyways, I'd like to know the situation here. Like Hana, for example. I can't get a good read, but for some reason I can't bring myself to guess higher than thirteen."

A silence fell over the fire pit. Tai chose to look anywhere else but at the capybara on topic. The boys and Iris just stared at Ferrah; Iris tilted her head, and Milo's ear flicked. Hana herself looked down and to the side, a bit of a pout in her cheeks.

"I-I... I turned fifteen last moon, the Thirteenth. I know I don't _look_like it, okay? Hmph."

Avi just stared, unsure what to say to that. In the end, he looked away, then clasped his hands in his lap, the thumbs tapping together in rhythm. Ferrah, on the other hand, cringed and jolted back with her hands raised a bit.

"A-Ah. My bad, kid. Look, i-it'll be fine, sometimes it just takes-"

"Moving_on."_ The capybara looked to the boys. "Cress, Milo. Would you like to tell them next? I'm sure you'd be more eager at the prospect than I was."

"Ooh, oooh, yeah! Okay, so!" The bat jumped up from his seat, then pointed his thumb to his chest. "I'm ten, and Milo's eight! And we share a birthmoon, too, the Seventh, so it's easy to keep track!" For whatever reason, he flinched. The bat then looked over his shoulder at Milo. "O-Oh, right, did you wanna say some of that yourself, Milo?"

"Nah. You said it fine. Was I supposed to?" The maned wolf cocked his head as he glanced up from his cooking.

"Well, I mean, it's your big introduction! New people, new faces, you get one chance!"

"But they know my name already. And you told them what they wanted to know, so now I'm introduced, yeah?"

Cress scratched at his head. He made a sweeping gesture to the group, his wing folding out as he did. "I guess, but like... ain't that taking your moment a bit?"

"Maybe. I dunno, nothing feels like it's been taken. Has it?"

The boys continued like that for a while yet. Avi kept watching the two of them as they prodded back and forth at the most trivial of things. A chuckle escaped him, and he shook his head.

"Fascinating little ones. I guess I was like that, too, if Ferrah's to be believed."

As the boys continued their talk, a tug at Avi's arm drew his attention, preceding an excited, high-pitched outburst.

"I-I'm four! Moon's the- er, the..."

"The Fifth Moon, Iris," Hana said. "Shared with Mama, remember?"

"Oooh, yeah, like Mama!" She giggled to herself while nuzzling at her sister's arm. When she pulled away, she brought a finger to her lips, then looked over at Avi. The girl hopped down from Hana's lap, then walked over to the mouse, climbing into his lap instead.

"Oh?" He raised both eyebrows. In the next moment, though, he smiled, then put a hand to her shoulder. The other hand ruffled Iris's hair a bit, to which he was met with those tiny giggles once again. Glancing up at Hana, that beaming smile from earlier was back. The mouse gave a sigh as his posture relaxed. "Well then, I ought to offer our own, yes? I was born in the Ninth Moon, and Ferrah was born in the Tenth. Simple enough, I'd say."

The tigress sat up straight, her arms crossed. "Alright, Avi. Then it looks like you, Tai, Hana, and I will be handling a fair bit of things around here. Much as I'd like to start looking for a way back? That's probably no easy hike. The mountain basically wraps itself around the village, from where we are."

"We couldn't just leave them, Ferrah, even if we did have a way back." He gazed out at the mountain range, up to the peak he'd always seen from the other side. "Though, I suppose it'd be nice if we could get some help from back home. But that's not to be. We'll just have to make it work, simple as that!"

"Hmph, enthusiastic, aren't we?" She shrugged. "Fine, then. Not like I got much choice."

Hana leaned forward, gesturing to the group. "Then until you and Tai can begin the repairs, we'll all rest in the communal hut at night. It barely took a scratch, if you can believe that! I'd not fully understood how much craftsmanship went into those buildings until now. I'll have to thank Goban when we find him."

Tai narrowed his gaze at her. "'When,' Hana? We're still not sure if Pops and the others are- er..."

Iris was staring right at Tai, her grip on her doll tightening.

He took in a hissing breath, then let it out. "I mean, uh, yeah! I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Heh, I know I sure do!"

"Alright, then! With that cleared up"-Hana raised a finger-"what do you say we break out the pineapple I brought? Consider it a small celebration, to welcome our new guests!"

Avi glanced over to the spiky fruit. "Oh right, I'd meant to ask, what sort of fruit is that, exactly?"

"Oh? You've never seen one, Avi? I'll need to show you the grove when we're out foraging later!" She clasped both hands together, holding them up. "In short, it's a bit tart, but _very_sweet! Juicy, too, and it cooks wonderfully! Now, then..." She turned to the panther. "Tai, you took one of the knives in your pack, right?"

On cue, he smiled and procured a stone knife from his pack. A quality one, too, the blade smooth and glinting in the sunset. "Right here! Went unused, too, so it's as clean as it gets!"

"Okay, then! This may take a bit, but I promise you, the wait will be worth it!" She took the knife in hand, then went to retrieve the fruit.

Avi nodded, then got up from his seat to head over to the treeline. There, he managed to procure two sticks for cooking the coming treat, one for him, one for Hana. The two of them could handle cooking Iris's share for her. As he returned to his seat, the preparations caught his eye.

She'd already lopped the top and bottom off, and was working on skinning the fruit, revealing the bright golden flesh beneath. It wasn't long until she cut it in half along the sides, then quarters, followed by separating the four wedges from the core, which she discarded. From there, she let loose a flurry of cuts, reducing them to a pile of easy-to-skewer lengths of fruit.

"My, my. I'd hate to be on the bad side of someone as skilled with a blade as that."

He broke himself from the trance, then walked over and tapped Hana on the shoulder. As she set the knife down, glistening with juices, he offered her one of the sticks. With a warm smile, she accepted it, then both returned to their seats with a few pieces skewered on their sticks.

Given a while of cooking them over the fire as Iris stared in wonder, they became a tantalizing golden brown on the edges, and Hana signalled to him that they were done. He pulled the stick back and let them cool a bit before taking the first bite.

What followed, the mouse could only describe as explosive. The warm juice within burst in his mouth, coating it in a sharp, sweet flavour unlike anything else on offer back home. Coming down from the high of flavour, he noticed little Iris looking up at him, putting on the best begging eyes she could muster. He chuckled to himself, then tore a small piece off the skewer, handing it to her. She took it in both hands and began to nibble at it. The moment she finished, she turned to Hana, who gave her another piece to stuff herself with. Her little legs waved about as she reveled in the taste, the sight of which caused Avi to bring a palm to his chest as he smiled.

The others had begun partaking as well, with Tai guiding Ferrah through the cooking process. She maintained her composure compared to Avi, but with that trace of a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth after it had beenabsent most of the day, he had no doubt the new discovery was being received well. The boys just kept talking, the conversation at some point having moved on to the critters Milo found earlier. Cress kept nudging him for details as the maned wolfstared at the pineapple, working to get the colour exactly right.

In that moment, the mouse perked up. He brought a hand to his chin, then looked around the fire, at everyone making small talk, partaking in the fruit, and enjoying each other's company, despite everything that had happened. He let his eyes drift shut, then chuckled as he shook his head.

"I'm not sure if I should thank that feeling that guided me to the shard, but I'm tempted to at this point. They need a guardian, someone to watch over them as they grow. If that's the way I can finally help people, then so be it.

"Watch, everyone, as Avi stands sentinel over the little ones left behind in the storm."