[Padme]

@toby

#9778cc

The early morning greeted the tropical lands with bright sunlight, birdsong, and a mist that coated the floor of jungle. There'd be those who were already awake, going about their days as the marketplace began to come to life with talk and sales, Padme snaked her way toward the bottom pyramids, stepping into a lonely, but warm little alcove.

Warm, pale amber eyes scanned the small space for signs of life and finally! She caught sight of a somewhat small bundle, curled up and snoozing on colorful blankets. The young sparrow to a step closer, nudging gently into the little fledgling's side. "Plum, pssst Pluuuuum." Came a soft, sing-song tone. "Wake up, it's morning. Pluuuum, wake up!" Padme urged.

"Come on sleepyhead! I've got something I want to show you." Paw moved to smooth the little kid's untamed coat, beaming brightly when the other finally awoke. "It's a surprise! I'm sure you'll like it though." She took a step back to rummage the room for a satchel (perhaps one swiped from a certain Roc), tossing it so that the bag rested upon her back.

The morning sun filtered into the space finally, setting it aglow with dazzling little crystalline trinkets, and sparkling rocks. "I packed us some snacks, you ready to go, PlumPlum?" Looking over her shoulder at the other girl, motioning for her to follow, she'd step outside to greet the day once more.

"Did you hear about the newcomers, everyone's talking about them, they're from far away." Glancing down Padme's eyes would sparkle with excitement and her face would visibly brighten.

[plum]

Plum rarely ever remembered her dreams. They were distant things, puffs of smoke amongst haze that she could never quite get a firm glimpse of. Perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps it wasn't. Regardless, Plum was curious about what haunted her mind when she slumbered. She knew that she was a restless sleeper, often finding items in her den in locations far different than their origins, but she couldn't figure out why. Sometimes, when she spent her nights in the company of Padme, she wondered if she should question the older Aviari about her sleeping habits. Each time, however, she quickly decided not to. That didn't stop her from wondering about her dreams, though.

When the child woke up, bleary blue eyes meeting warm amber ones, she yawned. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she tilted her head towards the girl she had deemed to be her older sister. She always enjoyed spending nights in Padme's den, even if it meant sneaking through the Pyramid. But it was nice to sleep beside someone and not alone in her shoddy excuse for a makeshift den. Sure, sometimes it got a little chilly, but Padme always had a surplus of blankets to combat the cold that might try to seep into the soft-furred girl. Yes, she had to leave Hibiscus alone, but much of the time, the capybara deserved the well-earned alone time, away from a troublesome child living mostly by the means of her own devices.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Plum yawned one more time before looking toward Padme. A surprise? Surprises were usually nice, weren't they? Especially when they were from Padme, that was for sure. Besides, she always enjoyed spending time with Padme, regardless of what they did. If they made trinkets, braided flowers together, or just talked. It was always nice. When her adopted sister mentioned snacks, her ears perked up. Snacks? Ooh I hope she brought those orange berries we found... They had been sweet, if a bit tart, the bitterness giving it a bite that the berry's sweetness lacked. They had been hard to find on her own and some part of her hoped that it was because Padme had gotten to them first.

Getting to her paws, the child took a few quick moments to get her fur in relative order. Next was her feathers which, to her luck, didn't require too much preening as long as she was careful not to get them too messy. She walked towards her adopted sister, looking up at Padme curiously as the other mentioned the newcomers. Oh, she had heard plenty and she was quite interested. "It's very odd. Hasn't it been a long while since the tribe has had newcomers?" she asked, voice soft but polite, still weighted by drowsiness. Padme was one of the few people she properly spoke to and even then, she was prone to the coos and chirps that usually made up her speech.

[Padme]

@toby

#9778cc

The purple girl was practically buzzing with excitement at the very thought of those from far away being here, living outside these walls. "Mhm! I heard Roc Itai talking about them! I wonder how far they came to get here, what it was like out there! It sounds like one big adventure." She smiled down to the smaller girl. "I think it'd be fun to go out there one day." And just stay out there.

"Come on, silly bean, let's go!"Giving Plum a gentle nudge, the pair would set off outside of the pyramid, Padme was careful to set a pace that wasn't too daunting for the little girl, in between the lull of silence her mind would toil over things she was much too anxious to worry about. "I'm not very brave Plum, but sometimes I think about leaving, I don't think I ever could, but.. I.." Padme fell silent then, hesitating before looking to the kid. "But if I ever did leave! You'd come with me of course, I mean, if you wanted to." Offering a reassuring smile to quell any doubts little Plum might have.

But no one simple just left, and any it was dangerous, and there was very few that were ever able to. Besides, getting Plum mixed up in all of that? That'd be so irresponsible of her, Padme simply couldn't allow anything bad to happen to the plucky kid.

Luckily they had arrived at their destination, it'd allow her to steer the conversation into less potentially treason subjects. "Uh! Oh!! We're here, look!" The dappled aviari bolted forward through a cluster of elephant ear leaves (though constantly making sure that Plum was right behind her), there before them was a freshwater grotto, surrounded by all sides with thick vegetation. There was a gap in the canopy above that allowed for warm sunlight to filter down and cause the clear blue waters to sparkle. "Come on, there's something in the water I wanna show you!" Padme urged as she took a fast, yet safe root down inching onto a rock that allowed easy access to the waters.

Under the clear blue of the pools something else glittered besides the fish, they were embedded into the ground though there were a few loose ones here and there. A pool of crystal and amethyst, that literally caused the waters below to glimmer and glow. The purple youth managed to paw out a small loose crystal. "It's for you, Plum." Padme offered with a bright smile.

[plum]

"Why would you ever listen to Roc Itai?" the child scoffed playfully, tail wagging behind her. She felt a flutter of panic at Padme's talk of leaving the tribe, shrugging to cover up her nervousness. "The outside world can't be all that," she commented dryly, making sure to add cheekily, "Besides, I'm not out there so it clearly won't be any interesting." How unfortunate that a child of her age was already quite the good performer.

As she scurried after Padme, the speckled youth listened to her speak with growing panic. Padme couldn't leave Syn Cardys, she'd be leaving Plum behind! She didn't want anyone to leave her, not after all she'd been through. She remained mostly quiet, cooing in response to Padme's words as her eyes flicked away nervously. It wasn't a true answer because Plum didn't have an answer. She... she knew she didn't really belong in the tribe, neither of them did, but she did belong in the jungles that the tribe inhabited. She belonged in the trees, talking to the birds and playing with Hibiscus. Not in the world beyond the border cliffs.

She followed closely behind Padme, ducking beneath the leaves with scarcely any of them brushing against her feathery fur. Her eyes widened as the plants opened up into a grotto, gasping quietly. She looked at her adopted sister with sparkling eyes, jaw open in a wide, gasping smile as she made little noises of excitement and pattered her little paws. It was so pretty!!

As she danced around, she noticed how the light streamed in from the canopy. Her eyes were wide, dazzled by the beams of sunlight and the ways they cascaded from the sky above to fall upon the glittering waters below. That alone awed her, not to mention how sparkly everything was. She trilled excitedly, making soft cooing noises as she let Padme lead her down a path to where she could safely gaze into the clear waters, fascinated with the crystals and gems within the pool of water's walls, their rough facets shining in the morning light.

She turned to look at Padme, eyes alighting on the gem in her paws as her jaw once again fell open in excitement and her paws began pattering in joy. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!! Thank you, Padme!!!" she managed, chattering quietly and cooing at the gem. "But!" the pale pup announced, dramatic as ever. "I'm gifting half of it back to you. That way, it's for both of us."

@waka