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It is a lovely spring day -- the cold of a long and hard winter finally melting away to warmth under a bright sun. It is, in fact, the perfect day for a long walk in the swamp with a close friend, talking about nothing consequential and forgetting the last of the chill.

Birdsong fills the air around you as you wander, matching the pitch and excitement of your conversation, until it is broken by something lower and more pitiful. One bird in the lot who isn't half as cheery, whose chirps take on more of a whimper than singing.

You follow the sound until you find its source: an injured bird, looking dazed and very much in need of your help...


~~~

whispers softly
Whispers had been waiting for a day like this to occur again. With the warmth of the sun shining down at her family's territory, it was easier to move around without someone constantly following her wherever she went. She waited quietly near the pond until her watchful brother lulled into a drowsy state and prepared himself for an afternoon nap. The doe herself almost dozed off nearby if it wasn't for her foxbun, Jasmine, that clawed on her leg. She was a stray that happened to be abandoned by her family when Whispers had found her one rainy night.

Jasmine clawed on Whisper's leg again begging to go for a walk through the swamp together as she bounced herself into the air. The doe fought against her own drowsiness and started to make her way out of her family's territory with Jasmine following close beside her. "It has been a while since we were out alone together," she whispered to her friend. "I wonder what Endless is doing at this moment..."

The foxhound sniffed the rosebushes and moved onto something else as the doe strolled on by lost in her own thoughts. "What I would do to meet him again..." she continued. "We could meet by that big old tree, just the two of us, and watch the stars sparkle in the sky..." Jasmine, who can't speak back to her, could only wag her tail with happiness to show that she is listening.

Birdsongs echoed throughout the swamp as Whispers stopped to smell the newly grown wild roses. She listened as they sang but noticed that one of them was out of tune. Almost like it was in distress.

The foxbun heard the same thing and went on to investigate first, out of curiosity. She zigzagged through the dead patches of grass and disappeared behind a fallen tree. Within moments Jasmine started to howl for attention.

Whispers had a bad feeling about what she may find behind the fallen tree, but eventually made her way over with a concerned look. On the ground beside the tree, was a bird with an oddly bent wing. Its feathers stuck out of order where it was injured. The doe eyed the bird with a sad face. "Oh... You poor thing..." she said, and curled her tail around it. She hoped that it would give the bird some comfort.

Whispers was quite worried about the injured bird. Without its other wing, it was impossible to fly away from predators. She had already nurtured a stray animal before and ended up keeping it.

Jasmine, who stayed tamely within the doe's view, continued to sniff at the feathery mammal and pawed at it playfully. The bird, afraid of being killed, let out shrills of panic. The doe attempted to scold at her friend but ended up whispering out the words in a gentle voice. "Ohh.. No~ Don't do that Jasmine." But her worries increased two folds as another kin appeared in front of her. Eyes only focused on the bird.

"Umm.. Please to meet you. I'm Whispers Softly," she spoke in a louder level. "Please have mercy. Turn a blind eye and don't kill the bird?" she asked out loud, bluntly, at the stranger. She did not want to witness seeing someone else with a strong set of jaws crunch down on the bird's neck cutting off its air supply...

Whispers shivered when the doe spoke to her. "I... I think you were thinking of it...?" She wasn't sure if the doe was after the bird's life or not but if she were the type to eat meat, there is a high chance the meti was after it.

She uncurled her tail around the bird and slowly shielded the injured animal with it. "The bird is injured. It has nowhere to go. It may even have a family waiting back home... Are you still thinking of killing it?"

The worried doe noticed some sticks and long vines within her radius. "We could.... Fix up its wing?"

Whispers was taken aback for a moment. She thought the doe wanted to eat the bird but suddenly changed her mind..?

"Y-you have a fair point. Bones do take a while to heal..." She moved her tail away and stared at the bird with the broken wing. "I don't like preying on birds but if it's what you want... since it's not really mine either..." she swallowed hard, tears welling up in her eyes. "Y-you can have it?"

She knew that for bones to heal properly, the bird needs to be moved to a safer location with protection... but in the swamp, every lone mammal, insect, or amphibian, even kin are on their own to struggle with survival. Being in a group or traveling with a partner could raise the odds of surviving.

Whispers wanted to nurse the bird back to health but was afraid her idea might clash with the doe standing in front of her. "I do want to nurse it back to health..." she whispered.

Heart beating fast, wondering if there will be a fight, she froze on the spot and just stared at the doe with teary eyes. Being sheltered and protected for almost all her life seemed to have made her into a sensitive and weak target. Even Whispers herself was not even sure if she could put up a good fight.

Before anything happened she saw the doe run off and disappear into the trees without saying anything. Did she leave? Will she come back? Whispers stood there and waited around in case the doe came back again. Nothing. With a relieved sigh, she diverted her gaze from the trees back at the injured bird. "You might live another day after all," she spoke to it quietly. She was about to pick up the bird to take it back to her family's territory when the other doe had made her way back again. Her eyes widened as the scene before her moved at a quick pace.

The screams and shrills were awful to listen to as the bird squirmed in agony, but in the end the other doe had done and amazing job in helping fix up the injured bird's wing. Whispers did not interrupt at all and stood by like a silent bystander the entire time.

"I see. You seem to possess a kind heart," she finally replied back at the doe. "I'm sorry for assuming that you would want to end up killing the bird when you've had laid your eyes on it the first time..."

Hardly? Whatever did she mean by that? But Whispers knew not to ask any further. She can't let her eyes be the judge of every kin she meets.

"Thank you. I will make sure it won't try to use its wing before its fully healed," she replied, and made a deep bow with her head toward the other doe.

Whispers opened her mouth, was about to ask who should keep the bird, but closed it as she saw the doe take off without saying anything again. This time, her gut feeling was telling her that she won't be coming back.

Her foxbun who had been watching the two the entire time decided to scratch at Whispers leg again. She ran toward the direction of their territory and turned back to face the meti telling her it's time to go back.

The sun was about to set when she realized how late it was. Her goal to meet with Endless again seemed to not work out today since she had ran into an injured bird and another doe. Whispers stared into the distance longing for her lover again. In the end she turned herself around. "Alright. Let's go back," she whispered, and carefully picked up the bird with her teeth lightly clamping down on it. Slowly, she started to walk back where she came from with her companion at her side.