The environment

Stars in the dawn of a new day. Clouds playing hide and seek with the sun. Time passed with Xiāo observing the sky and its wonders, and he found that some stars could still be seen when the sun had risen and the hues up above were made of soft and bright deep blues.  

He was sitting in grass, without his knowledge. His hand came to rest on the ground and flinched upon touching the green blades. Soft, yet rugged. His palm flew through a valley of small vegetal feathers, finding he enjoyed the feeling of it. 

He laid his hand beyond the grass, straight on the soil, and dug his fingers into it. Slightly moist, the sensation of the dirt made him flinch back before digging his finger further in it. After seconds of nothing new happening, he took them out again and found bits of dirt stuck in his paws’ fur. Yet, he didn’t mind it.

He sensed some muscles in his face were strained, and he experienced what a smile was. He paid the sensation of it no mind, for his chest was warming up with feelings of joy and glee.

He got up and his hind legs shook at their first use, almost making him fall back down before he found a more stable footing. The feeling was strange, alien. He felt the grass under his legs’ paws and the sensation brought him pleasure. 

His eyes had first been stuck to the sky, then glued to the ground and Xiāo realized he hadn’t yet glanced at what was around him. His eyes rose to face what was in front of him.

What he saw was a vast expanse. He didn’t have the words to explain what he saw or even the knowledge to understand it. The shape of the grassy clearing enclosed by trees was that of a crescent, reminding him of the white orb that rose at night even though he’d never seen it. 

Flecks of colors told him there were wildflowers across the ground and the trees surrounding all that laid before him were slim. The leaves filtered the sun rays so that the forest around them was dark, but he didn’t find it threatening. However, the chill of the air picking at his fur and the emptiness he could feel surrounding him now made him feel too exposed and he instinctively stepped back.

His foot hit something unknown and his ears flicked back at the cracks of the grass under his step. Everything had been so silent that it made him jump and fall back on his rump. He snapped around messily by trashing against the ground and saw a huge stalk, with leaves pointing to the sky decorating it in a staircase pattern. His vision climbed them to see a huge flower. 

The first thing that hit him about it were its bright colors. Its red and oranges oozed out of its hold towards everything else and the familiar patterns of dots made a warm feeling of safety buzz through him. He must have dreamed everything, because he could have sworn in the center of the deep dark coven of petals was hidden gold. He leaned into it and the stamens moved to encompass his head like in a hug. A funny feeling in his throat made him giggle and he didn’t question it for how natural it felt.

He tried putting his head further in the flower, but except a vegetal touch and seeing shadows he concluded he would find nothing and retreated. 

He curiously swept the forest border with his sharp eyes. The trees’ headdresses of leaves were cloud-shaped, seeming almost weightless if it wasn’t for the robust and imposing qualities of the smooth trunks.

He was wondering what to stumble to first when he felt tickling on his foot. He looked down and saw little black dots moving across it. He gently crouched down with surprising agility and stared at the little creatures, ants. There was a handful of them walking in a straight line, his foot having happened to be in the way. The insects seemed not to care about the arborling’s eyes fixated on them and simply continued their way. 

Xiāo, curious, decided to follow them once they’d moved on further away and closely watched as he walked. So much so that he only noticed he was nearing the edge of the clearing when he ran into a tree. 

The dull ache in his head was ignored as he heard a strange noisy rattling above him. Looking up, there was a big beetle on the trunk tucking back the wings it had used when Xiāo’s thud had disrupted its peace. Xiāo looked at it, wonder sparkling in his eyes. 

At first the beast had intimidated him with its size and look, and realizing the loud noise had come from it flying. It had a strange horn and looked like it had... Some kind of armor. It looked stuck to its body, but had a beautiful metallic bronze look to it.

Xiāo slowly approached it and reached a finger to it. Holding a breath, he quickly poked it. He had no time to wait for a reaction as the beetle abruptly flew away. Xiāo made a disappointed noise and pouted. As he looked at it landing on a rock further away though, he smiled. However short, he felt blessed by this interaction.

Operating his body had to have been harder than he’d realized, because his exploration had lasted all day. The sky had started to darken and fill his surrounding with a purple hue, as well as a light glow he could thank the moon for.

Was the weight he’d ignored on his muscles exhaustion? Finally feeling its full impact, he was easily convinced to slip to the ground, near his mother flower. 

On his back, his gaze naturally wandered to the stars. Darkness seemed  to have enveloped the whole world, which only made the stars shine brighter. Strangely, it made him feel at peace in this new, weird world.

Yes, he was at home.