As the afternoon slipped into early evening, the blinding vivid hues of oranges and pinks mixing with light and dusky purples to fade into the softest of indigos. The pale face of the moon revealed itself as it climbed the night sky, waving a farewell to the sun that was setting behind the mountains.

It had been a quiet day, not that Padme was exactly complaining about it, she could definitely use a little quite. No offense to little Plum, she always enjoyed the girl's company, heck they were pretty much like sisters at this point, nigh inseparable. But Padme's mind was like a swirling storm, an endless stream of thoughts crashing upon her like waves and the shoreline seemed hazy and out of reach.

In times like these it left her restless and unable to retreat into herself, where do you go when your mind is not on your side? Out, of course. Walking often soothed her nerves, and she could do with moving. The air still warm with the heat of the day, the rain forest coming back to life with sounds of night life. The dappled aviari passed temple ruins, the marketplace, and briskly entered the surrounding forest.

She found a relatively large clearing with a huge log that rested in the middle, a scattered array of large stones, and a colorful assortment of wild flowers. The canopy parted for the purple of the sky to be seen as the stars began to appear, one by one. Like a million tiny little freckles, Padme watched them for a moment, whatever shallow light that shone down from off the face of the moon caught her iridescent feathers. She mumbled softly to herself, unintelligible, pacing back and forth as she came toward the log. There was a rustling that caught her attention, causing her to pause, there wasn't any wind? "Hello?" Eyes narrowed slightly as she looked to the shadowed areas, was that a figure?

"You can come out, it's only me." She called meekly, trying her best to keep her tone warm and welcoming.

For all his (perceived) importance, some things had remained the same, Vega was still an Opalite, a child of stars, and he'd not yet shaken off the upbringing of his family. The draw of the night sky was as powerful as it had been when he was naught but a fuzzy fledgling first hearing the tales of their origin. Most nights, he sought after those stars, to gaze upon them with the same sort of awe, though now with a certain amount of pride, they were kin, after all. Some nights, he looked to them, hoping for guidance- Vega wasn't adept at reading the heavens the way other Opalites seemed to, to find purpose, answers and even foresight for some. 

This particular evening he found himself in the lower forest floor, much of his beloved night sky utterly obscured from view. Had he the appropriate forethought and motivation he would have found higher ground for a better vantage point. The young Opalite huffed his frustration at himself, treading gracelessly ahead, eyed turned up to see only dense foliage with tiny hints of light peeking between, as if to taunt him.

He trudged on and on until it seemed the canopy began to part, ever more, giving him hope that his search may near its end. Tension began to ease and his footsteps became lighter, almost bouncing in anticipation that he might finally get to rest his eyes on his ancestry.

"Hello?"

Vega froze, so quickly in fact he very nearly sent himself scattering over some of the brush and toppling to the ground before him. Teeth clenched tight as he struggled to keep himself upright, as though he had any sort of composure to speak of. He expected no company, and wanted none, this was his time.

"You can come out, it's only me." 

I'm not afraid... He thought, straightening up some, now feeling it necessary to present himself appropriately. Child of Stardust, Opalite born under shower of shooting stars. Whoever this was needed to know just how important he was, of course. Deep breath in, a little shake of his feathers to ensure they were flowing just right, and he would step forward with his head held high. "And who-" Only for a delicate paw to catch in the very fallen branches he'd barely avoided tumbling over, and make a very ceremonious entrance of tripping and awkwardly somersaulting right onto his back. 

Born of Celestial Beings, Son of the Stars. Awkward teenager.

Whoever they were they sure did know how to make an entrance, all awkward lanky limbs and rolling, Padme watched for a moment with wide eyes. Oh no! Flinching as the landed on their back as if she felt some sort of phantom pain. Go check on them! She didn't even need to think twice on it as her legs moved and she briskly jogged over, skidding to a halt to crane her neck in their direction. "Are you okay?" Brows knitted together and a look of worry held upon her face as she stepped closer. "That looked like it really hurt."

With what little light was left of the fading afternoon, the sun would catch his feathers, and she'd see the hints of bright sparkles. He was strange looking than most aviari, if it was a pop quiz to guess a bloodline then she would've already flunked. Whatever he was, his feathers were very pretty, in fact his pelt was as well. Lowering her head just barely so that if he looked up he'd be able to see her easily. "The thickets here can be super tricky, I trip up on them myself sometimes." Padme attempted to give him a reassuring smile.

Pale amber eyes looked over his legs quickly, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. "I'm Padme! And you are?" Tilting her head slightly as she looked at him, strands of hair falling slightly into her face. Though it did just dawn on her that she was literally about ready to have a full on conversation with someone who had just tripped and was now laying on their back, oof, Padme, OOF. "Oh!! H-here, let me help you!" She chuckled nervously to herself, as she gently attempted to nudge him off his back and onto his side.

It's remarkable how much of an airhead I am sometimes. The thought ate at her, ears pulling back as she attempted to ignore it by glancing quickly back to her unexpected company. "So, why were you hiding in that brush? Not! That there's anything wrong with that!! " She tried her best to cover her tracks and not make the question sounds so judge-y.

"Are you okay?"

No, nope, not at all.

"That looked like it really hurt." His pride, mostly.

"The thickets here can be super tricky, I trip up on them myself sometimes."

Amber eye shot a glare right through the girl, feeling utterly patronized.

"I'm Padme! And you are?" Utterly and hopelessly embarrassed. Ready to hide under a rock. "Oh!! H-here, let me help you!"

"I'm fine!" He sputtered, voice a little higher than he might have liked. Huffing and puffing, Vega began scrambling to try to get back to his feet and search for his lost dignity- it would be nowhere to be found. With no particular amount of grace, the Opalite would eventually find himself standing again, shaking out his feathers, which looked far less impressive than when he'd started.

"I'm Vega." He would finally mutter through gritted teeth, staring at the ground with wide eyes, wondering just how to go about erasing this whole interaction. In his mind, things couldn't get much worse-

"So, why were you hiding in that brush? Not! That there's anything wrong with that!!"

"Hiding?!" Vega blurted, eyes snapping up to the other Aviari, feeling his face become ever hotter. "I-I was not hiding!" As though he were some sort of helpless creep spying on others. He was practically stomping his paws in the thicket, tail whipping from one side to the other in frustration. "I was just looking for-for a clearing!" It felt awkward to admit that all he wanted was to stargaze, tradition though it was, some Aviari found a mockery of it. He was no hapless moon gazer like some of his family, after all. Still, not telling the truth didn't help him to avoid suspicions of being a stalker. "...I was just trying to get a good look at the sky." His shrill tone had given way to a low grumble, as if he were giving up some close-held secret.