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 Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:26 am
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:45 am
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:24 am
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RISE & SHINE CHICKENS
 Spotted Egg mulled around aimlessly. When he was working, he had purpose. At a party? He had no clue what to be doing.
Though the point of the party was to tell stories, he had no clue who to tell a story to, or what that story would be about. Truth be told, he felt a little lost. Still, he knew he had to tell some kind of story or else he was pretty sure his co-workers at Rise & Shine might see him as a party-pooper. He was already a little eccentric. He didn't want his already strange reputation to get worse.
There was a small group not far from where he was. Spotted Egg coughed subtly, "Mind if I join you?" A doe nodded, and he was in their circle. The conversation went on for a short while and was pleasant. The stories the others told were witty and delightful.
Then it came to be his turn.
"Um, well..." he started nervously, a metaphorical egg in his throat, "I like to hide eggs."
He paused, and a buck snickered a little. Ung. This felt too much like a confession. Why was he subjecting himself to this?
"I like to hide eggs for others to find. I really enjoy the skill involved in placing them around, and I very much like making others happy. They get so happy when they find one of my hidden eggs.
Yet I also get really satisfied when they can't find my eggs. I know that means I hid it really well.
Overall, it's a win-win. No matter what, I have a good time.
Once though, I had the opportunity to hide the largest egg I'd ever seen. And not only was it bit, but it was also perfect in every way. The shell was a soft and uniform brown free from blemishes or spots. The shape was amazing. There was no odd patches or lumps, it was smooth. Yet also, the shell seemed thick and durable. It was a very high quality egg.
It seemed almost wrong to hide it away for another to find. A part of me wanted to keep it for myself. Yet, I knew, that I must hide it with the others, and that whoever was the lucky one that found this egg would be doubly happy. They would love it as much as I loved it myself.
And so I arranged my egg hunt. There was a good turnout. In the group, I saw the prettiest doe I had ever laid eyes on. Um, no offense intended to the present company.
I knew I wanted her to find my prized egg. Once she found it, I thought I'd ask her to become my mate. She would share my love, and we could arrange games together.
Time passed, and most of the eggs I'd hid had been found. No one had found my largest and best one though. I approached the doe, my heart was pounding, and sweat dripped down all of me. I gave her a nudge with my nose. 'Perhaps you should try over there' I said and motioned in the direction of my egg.
She smiled and dashed off.
In fact, she dashed over the spot where I had hidden the egg.
More accurately, she dashed over my hopes and dreams.
She apologized with a giggle. Though really, this was no laughing matter. I wanted to explain what she had unknowingly done, but I couldn't find the words to tarnish her joy. Like the pieces of shell on the ground, my heart was broken. I could not see her in the same perfect light.
And so, I hope again one day to find an egg as wonderful as that one, and I hope to find someone to share it with, though both are doubtful."
Spotted Egg looked at the ground. He wasn't really sure what everyone else thought of his story. He was glad to have told it. It felt better to share it than he had presumed it would.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:55 am
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:57 am
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RISE & SHINE CHICKENS
Smash-and-Mash stared somberly at the yellow kimeti who'd recently joined their group. "A good thing you do, to hide them. Eggs are fragile; if you step on them, they smash into tiny pieces and there's naught you can do about it. I am sorry to hear about the egg of your dreams; verily, it must have been a flawless egg. A shame she wasn't more careful." The totoma nodded, a grave, serious expression on her face. "Sometimes we forget that sadness shapes our lives just as much as happiness. Negative emotions are powerful. While I have no such deep sadness, I have a story of my own- a story about anger, and laughter, and how one can turn into the other." She paused, clearing her throat and nodding sympathetically at the buck. "When I was a lamb, I was the smallest of my sisters. All of them were bigger and stronger than me, and they laughed at me. At first I laughed too. "Little lamb," they would coo. "Little lamb, be careful! You aren't big enough to help us, little lamb!" I would giggle and smile and play, but inside my heart was cooling. They were right; I was too small to hunt with them, and there was nothing I could do about it." She looked down at her feet, her expression still solemn. "You cannot grow up faster; that is not a decision you can make. But I decided that perhaps if I was stronger than they were, they would stop laughing at me- their jokes were enraging. I would think of them as I practiced smashing and mashing. I envisioned their laughter as a monster, a great wolf, and I got very, very good at smashing! But my sisters still laughed." A ghost of a smile played at her lips. "So I smashed them. With a mighty shout, I barreled into my oldest sister, my horns thudding against her side. I could feel the surprise in her body as she yelped; to my surprise, I found I was crying. "Why did you do that?" my middle sisters cried as my next-oldest sister helped her up. "Why would you do that?" I was crying myself, weeping for reasons I didn't understand. "Because I'm sick of you always laughing at me!" You could hear the silence. I know, I know. Hearing the silence? It makes no sense. Nevertheless, you could. Hear it, I mean. My sisters didn't realize that their laughter had been hurting me, and now there was a rift between us; so I left the mountains, still nameless, and came to the swamp. I was still a lamb, really- my horns hadn't finished curling yet. But I had learned something important- nothing hurt my heart as much as smashing another kin. I traveled with a group of totoma like myself, helping prepare prey for us to eat. I was still small, but I found ways to help. I would smash things and mash things, breaking them up and combining them in new ways so that my new friends could eat happily. That's how I got my name, from all of that smashing and mashing. I focused my anger and turned it into a sunny nature and kindness to others; it is a good thing to smash and to mash when it is for others. This is why I am here, so that I can smash to my heart's content. My anger led me here, and I have been much less angry ever since." She smiled now, a real smile- a genuine smile. The totoma was happy here among her coworkers; they were fine kin. Good people. She was glad to know each of them. "I would love to hear your stories, my friends."
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 1:29 pm
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MY STORY
Name of Doe: Feather Fancy (The Friends)
PREFERENCE LIST - [SilverLutz]
In order of preference: My story doe
As the stories began to pour forth, a young buck weaseled his way into the group that had circled up to talk. It looked as though he had barely grown into his horns, marking him as an adult, but only just. He listened first to the yellow buck with interest, then with suspense and delight to the Totomo who shared her own story soon after. Thanks to his youth he didn't have nearly as many experience as the other kin around him, but that didn't stop him from wanting to join in.
"Oh, oh, can I go next?" he asked, a hopeful look on his youthful face. When no one denied him, he pranced right into the middle of the circle so everyone could hear and see him as he told his tale.
"Wonderful! Oh, I have a story to tell. It happened just the other day, in fact, not far from this very spot! I was walking along, enjoying the wonderful day, when out of nowhere a frog hopped right. Onto. My nose."
He paused for dramatic affect and turned to look a few other kin square in the eye, twitching his nose to emphasize just where it had landed. "Of course it startled me. It would startle anyone I'm sure. Tiny sticky hands and feet, right between my nostrils! Oh, did I shriek. Yes, I'll admit it, I cried out like a foal looking for its mother. The frog wasn't very impressed, though, and hung on tightly."
He swung his head in another direction, mimicking his prior antics. "So I tossed my head left, then right, then left again! And still it stuck fast to my nose. By that point my rush of adrenaline had faded and I calmed a bit, taking the time to assess what it was that had stuck to my nose."
The buck turned once more and went cross-eyed, looking down his long muzzle to the tip of his nose. "And there it sat, looking right back at me as if it hadn't a care in the world. Well! You can imagine how silly I felt. Just a harmless little frog looking to catch a ride." He paused again with a little grin, allowing the others to chuckle...or roll their eyes. It seemed some didn't appreciate the manner in which he was telling his story. Well, that was their loss!
"I walked over to a low hanging branch and managed to get the frog off my nose and onto the branch. It sat there for a moment before hopping right back on me, this time on top of my head! I must admit it was much preferred than the end of my nose, so I ignored it and walked on. A short time later it hopped off, apparently done using me as a way to get around the swamp a bit faster."
He bent one leg and dropped into a little bow as he finished his story, then trotted back into the midst of the circle.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 2:56 pm
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PREFERENCE LIST - [ YOUR USERNAME ]
In order of preference: Chickens 4, 3, 5, 1, 2, My Story Doe
RISE & SHINE CHICKENS
Starglow stepped into the firelight and stared at the rest of the kin surrounding her, the little does and bucks, snug with their little snacks she'd brought them, curled up on the mossy rocks. She stood stark against the night sky, as night as the night itself, and widened her eyes at them, dipping her voice low and spooky. By now, the other little kin's yes had widened as well, mouths hanging open and leaning ever so slightly forward.
"And then... they could hear the snapping of the twigs in the forest, shifting ever closer, and yet unseen. They ran farther and farther, hoping to escape whatever it was that was coming for them through the trees, but couldn't run in any direction to escape it. No matter where their feet took them, the snapping twigs only followed, faster, and faster... They ran until they couldn't run anymore, their breath billowing out on the cold winter air...
"They stopped by a large frozen lake, trying to catch their breath, when the doe looked at her mate and said, 'I don't hear it anymore... do you?' The buck shifted his feet, and glanced around behind her warily, listening, ears twitching in every direction. But he heard nothing. 'No,' he said quietly, 'I think it's gone now, maybe we lost it.' But they were wrong..."
The little does and bucks gasped then, and looked up at Starglow expectantly. She tried to hide her smirk, biting her lip awkwardly to avoid the laugh that bubbled up at all their captivated faces. She paused for effect, and then started up again.
"Somewhere off in the distance, they heard a cry. A sort of grating screech that carried on the blowing winter wind, and reached their ears; choppy and distant, and yet fur-raising. They picked up their run again now, this time trying their luck across the ice-laden lake, hoping for a miracle. But halfway across, it began to crack, and the doe fell straight through with barely enough time to yelp," Starglow said sinisterly, eyes widening in shock, and the little does and bucks followed.
"Did he get to save her?!" the first little buck perked up in horror.
"No," Starglow said lowly, and slowly. The little kin leaned in to listen and hear her better, and their jaws dropped. "By the time he turned around to find her... the thing that'd been following them burst up through the ice and dragged him down along with her," she shouted, making every little one around her jump and screech. She stopped then and burst out laughing, unable to contain herself. "No I'm just kidding, he managed to yank her out by the scruff," she said between giggles. "Though she was pretty wet and cold by now, and that alone was rather dangerous."
"I was gonna say, that doesn't make any sense, the 'thing' was following them in the woods, and they were on a frozen lake..." A little doe snipped indignantly at being laughed at.
"Exactly," Star said again, trying to hide her giggling now. "No, they made it back to their tribe and set up a perimeter for defense," she amended simply. "They never did find the whatever-it-was, though. It's still out there. Some say you can still hear it wandering the woods just at dusk as the sun begins to set on the horizon. Some say you only hear it walking around at midnight. It could be out there. Right now. Watching us this very moment," she said, turning dead serious again. The little kin leaned in one more time, suddenly fighting the urge to glance off into the swamp around them.
"Boo," Starglow joked, and rose to her feet. "Off to sleep now with the lot of you, you're too young to be up this late anyway and I'm going to get some mouth for scaring you all," she said with a chuckle.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 12:23 am
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THE FRIENDS PETS
Cold Commands followed her orders to begin with, stalking secretly amongst the gathering of kin, much like a casually prowling lion. She occasionally even smiled, a look that was more terrifying than friendly as it slithered across her face. It wasn’t long before she had summed up the enemy defences and calculated their ability to deal with a full on assault. They would, she had decided after the first few stories had been prattled off, be incapable of stopping her march of war.
"I have a story," she announced during a general lull of the group, her sharp voice slicing through any conversations. She’d found a higher vantage point and stood tall, her allegiance suddenly quite clear to anyone with half a brain. "Listen." Cold Commands looked across the crowd, seeking out the enemy and maintaining harsh eye contact with that family and their supporters.
"This is a story about a young doe in a harsh winter. She was hardly grown this doe, awkward and uncertain, her mind still that of a filly. But life is complicated and she soon found herself pregnant. As winter rolled in, harsh and cruel, the worst the Swamp could remember, the doe found herself starving and alone.
Desperately, she sought help and found a family that was wealthy and well-stocked. They would share their food but only for something in return. The doe had nothing to give. She was small and weak and they turned her away, unwilling to give away what was theirs for free. They were greedy and so they sentenced her and her unborn children to death."
Her grim story came to its abrupt end and her mouth curled up into a hideous grin, promising brutal retribution for that young doe.
Then came the interruption and if looks could kill, Every Rose would have been dead a thousand times over as he delicately pushed in alongside Cold Commands.
"Except they didn’t really die," he interjected merrily, "certainly not! Because that would be a horrible story and nobody wants to hear about that. No, a very kind, very handsome buck found the doe and offered her his help. He tended to her every need and called forth his friends, a group devoted to helping others, and they asked for nothing in return for their assistance.
The doe was fed and healthy, kept warm each night and when she finally gave birth, she was protected. The winter was not so cold after all, not when so many friends could face it together."
It wasn’t that Every Rose liked telling stories, he could have done that at The Royal Rainbow Troupe but Cold Commands was ever so amusing when angry and he hoped this would earn him enough brownie points to finally get some alone time with Terrible Charm.
A muscle twitched in Cold Commands jaw.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 12:32 am
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The green Totoma nodded slowly at the tale of the frog. "A good story." A tiny face emerged, peeking around her neck from her back where its owner had been clinging, dozing. The face was soon followed by sticky hands and feet as Smash-and-Mash's own amphibian companion, Bash, sleepily crawled to his favorite vantage point, planted squarely between her horns.
THE FRIENDS PETS
Sidling up to a likely-looking group, Bloody Tears only half-listened to the directive running through her head. The Friends were an all right bunch; a little overzealous, maybe, but they weren't hurting anybody and were probably doing a whole lot of good- so playing along didn't bother her. She might not have been the truest believer, but actions spoke louder than words any day of the year. Tonight, though- that was a night for words. What were they talking about here? Frogs? Was this the great tyranny that the leaders railed about? Talking about frogs seemed... well, pretty harmless. "I've got a story. Not about frogs, though. It's got a frog in it, but it's really about a nasty piece of business in the shape of a buck.
Once- and this was years back, when my boys were still wet behind the ears- there was a real dishonorable fella. Name of... hell's teeth, I don't remember. Isn't that the damnedest? One day you forget the sound of a kin's voice, or his name- but I'll never forget what he looked like. Big, bigger than you," she said, nodding to the totoma, "but not a 'toma, a kiokote. Only had one eye, this buck, and he was a wicked devil. It had been a real lean year in that part of the swamp, and the spring had brought melted snow from the mountains that made the creekbeds swell up like a doe about to whelp. All that flooding meant that the grasses were underwater, and the winter had been bad enough that the fish spawn had been affected. So this fella had it in his head that he could run about nipping from stockpiles that good, honest families had worked for. I reckon that any of these families woulda helped him if he'd just asked, but no, his plan was to take and hoard and steal without any concern for the folks whose lives he was ruining with his greed. This went on for a few months, and this fella was living high, thinking he was king of the hill. Now, my boys and I- there's three of them and one of me, so at the time that amounted to about two and a half good, strong fighters between the four of us- we were approached by the ma of one of these families. Sweet lady, really; she had one of those broad, open faces that shows you the plain truth, unembellished with pretty words. Her mate was a good buck, honest and true, and her children were four of the prettiest, sweetest little kimeti you'd ever seen. They had nothing left, but that didn't matter one lick- we weren't going to charge for our brand of assistance. She asked us for help in particular because my boys had been known to raise a little hell and I was known for raising more than a little hell when the spirit moved me, and we were more than happy to oblige because it was the right thing to do. It's always the right thing to help those who've been victimized by tyrants, so I gathered the boys and off we went. We found him chewing fat and guarding a pile of food- more than he'd need, certainly. He had picked the best of everything- here a strip of dried boar, there a preserved frog- there's the frog in the story, sorry it's not a live frog-, there a bunch of sweet berries. We chased that b*****d for four days and four nights before he collapsed with exhaustion. "What do you want?" he whined, the first time he'd attempted to parlay. "Why are you chasing me?" Piteous, really; the big bad thief brought down to a panting wreck. We said nothing; my boys always waited until I made the decisions, but I didn't know what to say. We'd run him down, but then what? Hurting him further wouldn't bring any real justice to the families he'd hurt. It was enough that we'd run him off the land, and so I said as much- that if we saw hide or hair of him, we'd not hesitate to take things further. He rose- I remember his sides heaving, like he was having real trouble catching his breath- and then limped south. I never saw him again, and I was glad of it. I'd always wondered what became of him; did he learn his lesson or did he continue to pillage from good, honest folk? Frankly, fellas like that... I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if I heard he was eaten by an alligator. Ain't right to rob, and it ain't right to let your kids see you ignore an injustice. If it comes to it, you gather your family and you stand for what's right." She chuckled warmly, thinking of her sons. "My boys are good boys, though. They didn't need me to tell them how to act. They woulda done it anyways."
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:45 am
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PREFERENCE LIST - ARAUCANA
In order of preference: Chickens 5, 4, 2, 1, 3.
Three does stood together at an edge of the crowd, a mother and two of her daughters. Watch the Skies held her head high, while her two daughters looked about with excitement in their eyes.
Ginger Root was giddy with joy. She’d managed to convince her mother weeks back to let her leave to join the famous Rise & Shine tribe. She often did trade her dug roots and yams with a traveller from the tribe and with each visit she became more enticed to become a part of the marvellous network of merchants.
However she was both surprised, and yet unsurprised by her mother declaring that she’d, along with her dear sister, accompany her on her quest to the heart of the tribe’s territory. So now, not long after her acceptance into the tribe, here she was enjoying a fine feast with her family.
Clove, a kind and gentle thing, was delighted to find herself in the company of so many friendly faces. The meadows near the swamp’s edge that she’d grown in were beautiful, fresh and comfortable, but never held so many kin.
“Mother, may we also tell a story?” Ginger asked having heard the other’s tales. She was eager to join in and feel truly a part of her new tribe. Clove’s eyes also turned from the sprawling crowd to their mother.
“Now, now my children.” Watch spoke softly and somewhat distantly as she analysed the crowd with an eagle’s eye. “We shall wait for our moment.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 11:20 am
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 11:43 am
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MY STORY
Name of Doe: The Winds of Change (Rise and Shine)
Tattered Moth simply loved gatherings, be they that belonging to a Tribe or simply random ones he'd happen upon in the swamp. The fact that he never seemed to be a member of said Tribe or an acquaintance of any Kin in the gatherings didn't appear to bother him in the slightest and he had a talent for storytelling which often won strangers over, often, not always. He had been listening to the circle of Kin sharing their stories rather jovially with one another, some from experience and some... not so much. But if there was one thing he knew it was never to discourage another from sharing when they had the courage to do so, especially when it came to youth. After the antics of the young buck with his frog nemesis to which he had chuckled at parts, for the animated way in which his story was told surely must be appreciated for its comedic value, he continued listening with rapt attention as every individual presented their tales and he waited until another lull had seized the group before he decided to step forward into the flickering firelight. Tattered Moth cleared his throat gently before speaking, an act that reminded one of perhaps an elder or parent figure and he was well old enough to be parent to many a Kin in this circle. "Well now, that was quite the tale, though I must say it is commendable the way you handled yourself. If only more were so wise." He chuckled, the Acha's story about chasing the Kiokote out of the swamp struck him as honorable in a way, choosing not to inflict violence, especially in order to set a good example for younger kin, was indeed a fantastic illustration of what it meant to be a good soul. Taking the higher ground always sat well with the single horned male. He glanced at the female Kimeti who had relayed the tale of the pregnant doe and he could feel her anger in hot waves which convinced him that what she had shared was far more than simply a campfire fairy tale, though this he kept to himself. Her pain reminded him of another tale vaguely and he decided to tell that one tonight. The tan buck wasn't a youngster by any means. His demeanor was strong and sure and his eyes held a sort of wisdom or knowing that only came with experience and age. His horn glinted in the soft light as he scanned the surrounding faces and a serious expression quickly replaced his quirky grin.
"The tale I tell you is surely the truth though fantastic it may seem at first.." He allowed his voice to trail off for effect and as he spoke his demeanor remained strong, adding presence to his words. "This story is not one for the faint of heart, nor is it a tale for the young save in the form of a warning, this story is one of heart-break and woe, of deep seated love and terrible betrayal. It is the tale, my dear friends, of The Swamp Witch." The wind picked up momentarily which caused the fire to gust as the name was spoken. A freak occurrence but one with such fantastic timing it would be enough to send a shiver down the spine of even the most stout-hearted Kin. "Her story, while true, is heartbreaking at best. For when your true love betrays you who can blame you for going a bit.. wrong." The soft blue glow of his eyes seemed to burn brightly, even against the firelight. "She came to Ghost Thistles Mound where he promised to meet her, the moon was high in the sky and the skyfleas had formed a circle about it as they tend to do from time to time. Thus the night was especially cold under its silver light and one could see the very breath of their lungs plume before them. She waited for minutes, then hours but no sign of him was to be found. The love of her life, the apple of her eye, wherever he went she was willing to follow. There was nothing too difficult and no distance too great to keep her from him. Ah, love. It is a grand thing, wouldn't you agree? You wouldn't? Oh dear. Anyway.. then she heard it, a crack in the night, the sound of a branch breaking and her heart fluttered in her chest." At the mention of this Tattered Moth had stepped on a twig beneath him and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Was it him? Could it be? Finally.. she'd waited so very long and the night was so very cold but his heartbeat would warm her and the cold would bother her no longer once they were together. She spotted two ghostly forms moving then, along the far side of Ghost Thistles Mound and as she rounded the bend, confused and excited at once, there he was! Only.." Tattered Moth hung his head slowly, his face a mask of pity and sorrow. "There was another as well." The fire shuddered again then in a soft breeze that whistled past the group. "A beautiful doe as white and perfect as a cloud and as fetching as the flowers in spring. He had taken another as his lover, his mate, and as she called to him with a voice choked by tears he raised his head, glanced her way, and laughed at her misery before they vanished together into the night. How could this be? You might ask. How could he ask her to meet him only to wound her so deeply? Why, he was a cruel-hearted scoundrel of the first order and while he had strung her along his designs were always for another. He simply enjoyed the thrill of affection from many sources and his greed eventually became his undoing, but not before it became hers." A soft, sigh of pity escaped him before he continued. "Heartbroken, her grief turned to anguish and her anguish, as it may often do, turned to rage and hatred. She cast herself into the deepest part of the swamp, cursing all Kin alike and the deeper she went, the stronger her hatred grew." The fire cracked and rumbled in its bed as Tattered Moth raised his head again and gazed ominously across to all those gathered within the circle. "Now some say that the swamp began to attack her, fearing her hatred would grow and spread like a disease out across the lands, but by marring her body it only furthered her resolve and strengthened her anger and this is why to this very day wherever she steps the swamp wilts temporarily beneath her touch. Still others believe that her hatred seeped from her heart and distorted her body, creating a monster where a doe once stood and instead of wilting beneath her the swamp now avoids her hoofsteps and the tree branches lean away lest they accidentally brush against her. Whatever the case she found a place where the light cannot reach and gave herself over to the darkness completely making her diseased nest in places unknown and enacting her heated revenge on any kin unlucky enough to cross her path."
"Young and old, strong and weak, all are equally in dire peril should they find themselves in her presence." His eyes glowed fiercely, the shadows of the fire dancing across his expression which could only be described as foreboding. "Be warned, dear friends, be warned indeed.. never trust a crying doe in the darkness, nor that lonely howl in the night that seems to be nowhere and everywhere at once, motherfather forbid you ignore the chill running up your spine when you find yourself alone for that feeling of sickness and panic in your chest may just very well be The Swamp Witch." As he said the name one last time he kicked a rock into the fire which caused a log to shift and the flame to leap higher into the air adding quite the dramatic flourish to his tale, at the stories end his demeanor shifted back into it's normal jolly air as though whatever spirit had possessed him was now long gone. "Well now, that's that.. OH! Is that a stack of apples? My word.. I best be checking on those.. Oh, excuse me good sir. Terribly sorry. This big ol' rump, you know how it is being tall." He chuckled trotting his way right through the crowd, as gracefully as he could, and heading over to a stack of delicious looking apples which he leaned down and helped himself to in swift fashion.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:48 pm
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:10 pm
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RISE & SHINE CHICKENS
Primrose Path hadn't planned to attend; a gathering was just his type of event and yet his latest plant was still so fragile and he was loathe to leave it. Of course then he had quite literally run into a doe -- a mess of streaming blonde hair and blushing cheeks -- that had practically screamed at him asking where the food was. And thus he'd had to lead her to the event as she talked and talked and squealed and drooled over every food he could even think to tell her about. (He had a feeling that Rise & Shine had found it's latest addict repeat customer.)
He found her later, sat before three different colored apples, "Red, green, or pink," mumbling to herself.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I can't decide which apple to eat first!" she exclaimed, lips beginning to quiver.
Wide eyes blinked, "Please, don't cry."
"B-but I d-don't know wh-which apple to eat!" the doe began to wail -- loud, blubbering, obnoxious whines that start to attract a variety of looks.
"Did you know there was once an apple white as snow?" he asked in a sharp voice to get her attention.
Blue eyes stared at him as the sound lessened, "N-no..."
Primrose Path shuffled closer before sitting in front of her, the three apples between them. "Then I shall tell you about it. You see when the swamp was still young all of us -- kimeti, kiokote, acha, totoma, and even the zikwa -- lived together. There were of course the first of each of us: Eldest the Kimeti (a doe black as night with eyes that glowed like stars), Breakneck the Kiokote (a doe colored like honey with white dapples), Revelry the Acha (a buck of blushing pink brushed with a white-red doublestripe), Watcher the Totoma (a doe of sunset orange that considered herself the mature one of the lot), and Cocoon the Zikwa (a buck of vibrant blue that glowed like the sun hitting ripples in the water)." A twitch of the does ears made him pause and he was surprised to find her mumbling the names over and over only to stop at his silence and look up, sheepish.
"You're not going to quiz me on this, right?"
The buck chuckled and shook his head, "What do you think the first of us were named?"
The doe's face lit up and with a massive grin, "Fire the Kimeti, Beauty the Kiokote, Bunny the Acha, Thunder the Totoma, and Water the Zikwa!"
"Those are very good names. Now, Eldest Fire the Kimeti," he began attempting to incorporate her names with his own, "was oft considered in charge and on one such day, she called to all the kin that on the next night a celebration would be had. It was Breakneck Beauty who took up the task to spread the word. With the speed of a windgust, she took off through the swamp. Darting under branches and bounding over logs, she sped onwards shouting joyously about the celebration to be held. The very last kin she found was Bunny the Acha who had reveled a bit too much the night before. With a full belly, he sprawled out in the shade of an elm tree. Beauty tried to wake him but he continued to snore and snore until in a huff, the kiokote left."
"That's not very nice. Didn't she know how hard it is to wake up?" the doe pouted.
"Even the first of us made mistakes," the buck reminded. "Now it happened that the acha did wake but by then Beauty's journey had taken her far away and so he had no knowledge of the celebration. As it was he did wish to speak with Eldest Fire and so he began to make his way to her territory. Bunny however was not a very focused kin and he made many stops along the way. So many in fact that an entire day passed him by and in the early hours of morning on the day the celebration was to be held, he curled down for a nap."
"No, get up! We're going to miss the celebration!" the doe cried.
Primrose Path smiled, "Bunny did wake as the sun began to set and when he found Eldest Fire he was surprised to find a celebration in full swing. One he had no knowledge of. One he assumed no one had bothered to invite him to." He was surprised that no outburst came from this and so continued. "Now Bunny was a temperamental buck; he often took smile assumptions and made them into a grand mountain of offense as he did now. So anger flashed into bones and with a scowl, he turned tailed and ran. He ran and ran until he threw himself down, muttering about Eldest Fire and how she thought she was better than everyone else. It was because of his love of parties that he knew of the best and worst treats around the swamp. And there was one treat that he knew no other kin had yet found. An apple white as snow that grew in the heart of a dark grove though the tree itself was basked in sunlight. He had found it in his youth and it had been luck that the apple had dropped, hitting a rock and exposing the reason they were pristine and untouched. Worms."
"Gross!" The doe's nose crinkled as her eyes fell on the three apples that had inspired this tale. She was not so hungry anymore.
"To Bunny it was merely harmless revenge. He would take this apple to Eldest Fire as a gift and revel in her horror when she tried to eat it. He would laugh, Fire would yell; eventually all would be sorted and they would be friends again. Or so he belived. With that he made the journey to the tree with the unusual apples."
"This isn't going to end well, is it?"
"That all depends," was his cryptic reply. "He came eventually upon the tree and with carefully orchestrated move he dislodged an apple. It was with small nosing movements that he lifted it up to his nose and then rolled it back to balance upon his head. And he did not notice the crane; the Motherfather who frowned at this unseen turn. As Bunny carried off his treat the tree behind him withered which is why no such apple has been heard of since. Unfortunately the apple he balanced remained quite pretty and set as he was on his own desires, he delivered the apple to Eldest Fire."
Moon Rabbit fidgeted and wondered, "I should have gotten a pear."
"Ah but that story doesn't have a happy ending at all. This one there is after a time. But I must tell you the ending first," he smiled and took in a breath. "Eldest Fire was surprised by the gift. She had never seen a white apple and Bunny was an acha prone to mischief as she a kimeti prone to passion. She however did not know he thought he had been unwanted only knew that Beauty had been unable to wake him. In fact she did not know he had seen the celebration. It was with suspicion that the kimeti took the apple gently between her teeth and then, crunch her teeth sliced off a bite. It was quite unpleasant but it had been a gift and Bunny could only stand paralyzed as Eldest Fire ate that first bite. His mouth opened and closed, ears flattened, and it was as the bite was swallowed (with a grimace) that the kimeti saw the remains. Snow white flesh, ebony meat, and red worms. Indeed all the kin around were horrified but none more so than Fire. Until she was not. Until she was livid and felt herself break from everything. Eldest Flame's passion erupted and in one furious breath changed everything: The swamp is my home and all of you, every non-kimeti, is hereby banished!"
A gasp left the doe's mouth, "Can she do that?"
Primrose Path lifted a shoulder, "She did and they listened. Not all at once, not even at first. Bunny was ashamed and he could not argue; soon Beauty's own guilt forced her away as well. Watcher unamused and unwilling to partake in such immaturity left for a home to nurture a more grounded following. And Water the Zikwa, he slunk away from Fire's flames even though he had nothing to do with any of it. And that is how we all parted but you see the Motherfather is very wise and in us she inspired the Ache so that in time we all return home to her swamp."
"That's," the doe sniffed, "that's so beautiful!" she wailed. And Primrose Path sighed; he may have exceeded in helping with the apple conundrum (none at all after a story like that). But it appeared she was still loud. At least they were happy tears.
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