Rhea

Despite not normally enjoying going for walks, or going outside in general, something about today seems like a good day to go for a bit. Almost like an uncontrollable urge to get out of the house and journey into the nearby woods for a while. The sticks crunch underfoot with every step you take and you can hear a few birds fly overhead. Suddenly, you stop. You're not quite sure as to why. It's as though this is where you're suppose to be right now. Standing there for a while, you wonder why exactly you're here and debate if you should just head back now. Your train of thought it interrupted when you hear the large snap of a breaking branch ahead of you. Looking up, you can make out the shape of some type of animal, but it seems to blend into the area. Taking a few slow steps forward, you can tell it is a young dragon, although a fairly large one. She seems to be extremely nervous.



You lower yourself down to the ground as to appear less intimidating to the youngling. She seems to be less frighten and slowly approaches you, but stops before she reaches you. Holding your hand out to her, she stares at you, then sniffs your hand. Appearing to be a lot calmer, you rub the top of her head gently. Looking around, no other dragons can be seen, or even heard. She must be out here all on her own, though she seems to be doing very well. You start to wonder if maybe you should bring her home or not when a faint rustling can be heard not too far away. Although you didn't notice before, a few creatures are watching you closely as you interact with the hatchling as if they are protecting her.

Tuxedo Floracat

Familiar

The most formal Floracat. (Colored by slothbug.)

1800

Undergrowth Shovelsnout

Familiar

This enterprising boar wriggles its way into the forest floor undergrowth to get the very best creepy crawlers.

250

Sapling Speaker

Familiar

Elemental acolyte of the Gladekeeper. (Greenskeeper Gathering Holiday Item 2016.)

0

They must be caring for the youngling. The tuxedo floracat approaches you, staring at you cautiously while the hatchling sits next to you. Seeing that you aren't a threat, it rubs against your side. The others are still just watching you. The shovelsnout is the next one to approach. It's a lot larger than it originally appeared. It sits on the other side of you without hesitation and looks to the last one. They're all looking at the sapling speaker, as if trying to convince it of something. It makes its way closer to you, but doesn't seem to happy about it. The hatchlings seems happy. Her tail is swaying and she is staring at you with what seems to be a slight smile. You decide you will bring her back with you and attempt pick her up. She's a lot heavier than you thought for you struggle to pick her up. Realizing it's a lost cause, you walk back the way you came, glancing back every once in a while to be sure she is still following you. The shovelsnout walks next to you, and the tuxedo floracat is by the hatchling. The sapling speaker lags behind, but continues to follow.

About half way home, you look back to see she is no longer following, but has stopped and seems to be searching for something in a large bush. The floracat is gone, but the sapling speaker is on a nearby rock and the shovelsnout is by the hatchling. You near the bush to hear a rustling. The floracat wanders out and looks at you. It turns back around, about to enter the bush. It seems it wants you to follow. With one last glance at the hatchling, you follow the floracat into the dense bush. You try to keep up with it, but it's so difficult to see and maneuver, you don't even notice something is right in front of you until you nearly trip over it. It seems to be a small crate or chest, and the floracat is sitting right beside it. You open the chest to find two items.

You start to sense a theme with all of these nature like creatures and items. Well, you're certainly happy you decided to go out of the house today, even if you're still not completely certain as to why you did. Maybe you should get out of the house more often.

Art by Morrowind (Thank you again so much)