Moving House

1: Parting from Home

The sun was coming up, making for an early morning. Especially golden light filtered through the pine needles, dappling the assortment of sleeping loons below. Well...mostly sleeping. One pair of big, bright eyes watched the rays add sparkle to the chill dew hanging from the foliage, hardly able to contain her excitement. River was still a young loon and her coat of baby plumage fluffed up in an effort to keep her warm. However, the temperature was the last thing on her mind. She was going on an adventure! She loved adventures! Or at least...she was pretty sure she did! She hadn't actually been on one, but they had to be the best thing ever.

A sleepy laugh followed by a yawn made her spin her head as fast as she could. Mouse, the big ancient loon, had lifted her long neck to watch the loonling buzz with excitement. Delighted that someone besides her was up, River let out a quiet-as-she-could-muster squeak and pounced at Mouse's face. Mouse dipped her head so that the baby didn't fall on the ground due to her poorly-aimed leap, catching her with her muzzle.

"Can we go now?" River whispered, almost sounding more eager than she looked

"Soon." Mouse replied, lowering her nose to deposit the smaller loon onto the peat below "You better wake the others." River excitedly bobbed her paws up and down, doing a strange thrilled dance before forcing herself to tiptoe towards the other dozing figures.

The six of them were out in Loonia, having crossed over and made a temporary camp a few days ago. Voidkiss had returned from her long, mysterious trip a while ago, but was eager to head back whence she came. In her busied state, she neglected to tell everyone else what was going on. The rag-tag group had quickly assembled to chase after her once she crossed through the Fourth Wall, not exactly having time to gather the ideal team at risk of losing track of the black loon again. Thankfully, Void noticed this happening after being pursued for a solid day. She'd briefly mentioned that she would lead them somewhere and that she was going to go on up ahead. That was about all the group had been working with for a while now...

2: Forested Area
Once River woke Banana, the idea of anyone else managing to sleep longer was pretty much null and void. The noisy Chocolate was also eager to get moving, but instead of hushed whispers and careful movements, she was more willing to full-on jump on loons still sleeping. Several indignant yelps broke the silence. For Cargo, though, a shout wasn't enough. She whirled on Banana, pouncing on her with impressive speed for someone who had just awoken. The two of them thudded on the soft ground, rolling around in a ball of legs and teeth while River spun in excited, confused circles.

Tato and Pip, still looking quite groggy, picked their way away from the sudden brawl to sit near Mouse, as if she would fend off the two if they got too close. It went on for a few moments, the bystanders waiting for the others to burn through some of their excess energy. However, things just continued to spiral out of control with Cargo and Banana's play-ball-fight taking them further away and careening into various trees. Eventually, Mouse cleared her throat.

"Alright." She announced before picking up River by her feathery scruff "Lef's go." She then deposited the loonling onto her shoulders, where she eagerly tapped her paws up and down, as if she couldn't wait another second to leave the forest. The two Blessed loons quickly got up to follow Mouse as she started to move away, taking their shelter with her. Behind them, the two girls continued to roll around for a few seconds before realizing they were being left behind. They sprung up, coats covered in chips of wood and blotches of dirt, and hurried to catch up (while occasionally reaching out to egg the other on with a nip or shove)

Void had left pointed markers for the team to follow through the fairly dense pines, as it would be easy for them to wander astray otherwise. She'd conjured up...something on herself that had allowed her to secrete what looked like bright pink paint and left paw prints with it everywhere. The vibrant color contrasted starkly with the earthy hues of the woods, looking alien in the morning light

3: Arid Area

When the overhanging needles of the pines started to fall away, Mouse was forced to allow River to slide to the ground so that she could zoom around in glee. Banana seemed to feed of the little creature's energy and would join her, racing around the few remaining trunks and occasionally threatening to shoot off the ridge that some of the more focused loons were trying to look over. In her pink guide paint, Void had stomped a message in the white sand below the shelf that clearly stated "NO NO THIS WAY". It would have been difficult to make out with the sun glinting harshly off the pure-colored grains. That is, if the note hadn't been about the size of a house.

"Over here!" Cargo called from somewhere off to the right. The three paying attention swung their heads, trying to locate a green dot in the blinding field. Tato managed to spot her first and wobbled away from the shelf towards her. She hung beneath the brief shade cast by the cliff overhead, pink footprints scattered around her. Once she saw she'd been noticed, Cargo turned away to focus on something the other loons couldn't see "She left a note down here too."

"Too hot." Tato read aloud as he entered the blanket of shade "Go around."

"She left a trail." Cargo added, as if this was different behavior than what they'd been seeing

Mouse briefly called to the two loons still racing around in the background, making sure they would pay attention to the fact that they were about to leave. Then, she, followed by Pip, carefully climbed down the slope and onto the crystal sand below. Right away, it was clear to see why they would be unable to cross. Pip wailed in dismay as the ground burned her paws. Before anyone could say anything, she had located Void's trail and was rushing towards it. The others found themselves left behind as Pip became a purple speck on the horizon.

"Wait up!" Cargo suddenly yelled after her, leaping into a full sprint that made the others hurry to avoid losing track of them

4: Cold Area

The path of magenta pad pads led the group away from the white desert, giving it a wide berth. Instead, they located a thinly worn dirt trail, likely used by the wildlife. Coarse, yellow grass sprouted up around it, fed by a small, babbling creek of peculiarly milky-looking water. The loons didn't have much time to ponder what this could have been, as Banana jumped into it and cheerily exclaimed "It's fine!"

Large, crystal structures jutted up from the sand in the distance, but it became a small bit harder to see after a while. The longer they followed the trail, the more trees formed on their right, making an evenly-placed barrier between them and the sand as if saying 'don't go this way'. They lacked low-hanging branches, but spread wide overhead, their whispering leaves providing welcome shade against the heat bleeding from the nearby biome. The white water, which Banana, River, and Cargo had taken up walking in, grew wider with more yawning banks. Strange pompom-like flowers sprouted up from the bed, tethered to the ground only by single, long stems. They bobbed strangely in the water, looking like they didn't quite belong there.

Suddenly, River chirped and scrambled onto the shore. She shook her feathers as dry as she could before toddling over to curl against Mouse and whimpering "It bit me!"

"What bit you?" Mouse leaned her neck over to scan the liquid, as she hadn't seen any creatures in it besides her traveling companions

"The flower. It's too cold." River stopped and raised a paw, demanding it be investigated with big, pleading eyes. Mouse obliged, dipping her head low to the ground. Sure enough, the skin beneath her feathers was oddly white.

Cargo and Banana had stopped splashing along and were watching this take place as they held very still, wondering if they were about to be "bit" too. Nearby, Pip had started to huddle against Tato as if the air was full of snow. All of the loons grew quiet, taking note of the chill that had rapidly begun to fill the air.

"I think we'd better go." Mouse announced, scooping up River like she'd done before

"Yeah." Banana agreed, quickly leaping from the water, thoroughly drying her paws, and taking up a spooked run

5: Watery Area

Thankfully, the air of cold seemed to be emitted by the flower River had touched. Once the group trotted far enough away from it's sphere of coverage, the temperature became reasonable again. Still, they had become eager to get on their way and avoid any more distractions that might turn weird. After trotting along at a decent pace for a while, Tato pointed out that the desert had seemingly vanished. Sure enough, trees had started to surround them. It was thankfully still easy to see, as the foliage was the same type they'd been seeing - tall with no low-hanging branches.

Around them, the trickle of water became more prevalent. River refused to leave Mouse's back in response while the Blessed loons drew closer to the center of the pack, as if the water would reach up and grab them. Many more creeks almost identical to the one they'd been walking alongside filtered into the forest, riddling the ground until it was almost more liquid than land. The loons were starting to become concerned that their path would fall away and that they'd be unable to see Void's pink prints, as she'd have nowhere to put them.

"Look at this!" Cargo suddenly called out, making the other loons realize she'd strayed away. Banana and River yelped when they saw her perched atop...something within one of the creek's muddy walls, as if she was about to fall over and die "It's okay, look!" Cargo insisted, banging a paw against the metallic box she stood on. Someone would have to investigate lest the green loon keep calling out, so Pip peeled herself away from the others and carefully padded closer.

The Blessed loon stood on what looked to be a study filter. Behind her, milky white water flowed in, while clear normal-looking water flowed out the other side. While the little pompom flowers were frequent in the weird liquid, they were totally absent on the clean side "It's safe, I think." She announced proudly to Pip, who had become intrigued

"There's one over here, too!" Banana called from somewhere up ahead, her courage restored enough that she'd wandered off

"There all over." Mouse clarified, her long neck giving her a better vantage point

"We're safe?" River squeaked apprehensively behind her head. Several of the loons nodded in agreement, which was enough to persuade the loonling to walk on the ground again, eagerly peering at the filters with the others

6: Populated Area

After a little more walking, Void's trail started to get thinner, as if she'd sped up. Sure enough, the thin trees fell away and the surrounding ground grew marshier. With the horizon clearing, the group could see the outline of the jungle now known to be where the Toulons lived. At the jungle's entrance, a wobbly fence made of sticks tied together with vines had been set up. It didn't look very imposing... Cargo went up to investigate it, followed by River and Banana. Meanwhile, Mouse located a small opening that would allow her and her two followers inside without toppling the structure

"I built that to keep the evil deer out." A voice suddenly announced from within the foliage's shade. It made Tato and Pip jump, using Mouse as their hiding place again, but it was nothing to worry about. Void strutted from the green, her paws pointedly stained pink "It works." She added proudly, as if waiting for praise.

"Evil deer?" Mouse inquired

"Yeah, they tried to eat all the birds." Void moved closer, nearing a small burrow woven into the ground with nearby plants. She lowered her head towards it and produced a loud whistle. There was a moment of silence and then an obscene amount of distant chirps began to fill the air

"What's that?" River rushed forwards, only to find that the noise hadn't revealed itself

"Babies." Void said simply as the cacophony steadily grew louder. After saying so, hundreds of baby Toulons started to pour from the opening. Their plumage were grey and downy, but their scales were brilliant and constantly changing color in their excitement. Most of them surrounded Void, climbing on top of each other to try and get her attention, but some swarmed towards the new loons. River cheered with excitement and started to frolic around, unable to contain her energy, while most of the other loons stared on in stunned silence.

"What did you DO?" Cargo managed to spit out

"Well, I hatched them. Duh." Void shrugged, almost more Touloon than Evoloon at that point as the creatures crawled up her fur "Somebody had to"

7: Ending

"There were just eggs in there and no moms." Void explained as she led the party deeper into the cover of the jungle, still swarmed by peeping lizard-birds "Except for Quick, but that's not her job." She put in as if this was obvious

"Quick?" Banana asked, as she was up front with the black loon

"She guards the elemental eggs." Void clarified "I took her home with me when I came back. She needed the rest."

"The silver Toulon." Cargo told the Pip and Tato, who looked quite confused. River would have been confused as well if she wasn't having the time of her life playing with more babies than she could have ever hoped to imagine

"So, I'm the mom now." Void stated loudly to get the attention back on her "And my babies needed a new house to keep them safe from the evil deer." She drew to a halt. The opening of the jungle was now far behind, obscured by lush plants of all sorts. In front of the collection of loons was an area that had obviously been cleared out by hand. The ground was replaced with a mishmash of crude carpeting and wooden flooring. Vines had been woven together to make mini rope ladders, ramps, and supports for floors on higher levels. There were little huts made from clay, coconuts, wood, and anything one could manage to make a house out of scattered absolutely everywhere. The whole thing was protected by a net of vines, tangled loosely enough that Toulons could get in and out, but baddies would struggle to do either. It was all massive, like a hamster enclosure that spread on the size of a field. The crew of loons stopped to stare in bewildered...horror? Amazement? 

"You made this?" River managed to squeal in awe, her eyes piratically sparkling

"Of course." Void lifted her head to what she thought was a more elegant angle "Go, my children." She declared as the little Toulons squirmed through the netting and began to eagerly explore the strange environment

"You could have gotten help from the rest of us..." Mouse put in

"I'M the mom!" Void retorted "Only I get mom-credit."

"What-?" Tato's confused voice drew the others' attention. He'd wandered away from the impressive spectacle, eyes caught by something else...

"Oh, and I pulled all the elemental eggs out of their old house, so we should probably take those." Void said simply in return, as if the sparkling pile of rare eggs off to the side was no big deal