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The Leaves (4): With the changing seasons, there are piles of leaves all around Destiny City. It’s a difficult job to try and keep up with them all, and sometimes the allure of these leaf piles is impossible to ignore. Who doesn’t want to relive the childish joys of their youth? And no one’s around to see, right? So why not jump into a pile of leaves? Oh–because, when you do, you jump through one pile and come out of another somewhere else across the city. The leaves all seem ordinary, but there’s a few odd seconds between when you jump into the leaves and when you jump out; it feels like falling, tumbling, somersaulting through the air. It’s not scary, just odd. You see walls of leaves–brown and orange and yellow and red–and they crunch magnificently. Overall, it doesn’t seem menacing, just a bit of trickster fun. If you try to jump in a pile of leaves again, you might wind up somewhere else entirely–or right back where you started.


Autumn had always been one of Mi-Hi’s favourite seasons and therefore ( by extension) one of Sadalsuud’s as well.

It lingered in that gentle space between extremes, with neither the swelter of the summer months nor the bite of the winter ones.

That wasn’t to say that summer and winter didn’t have their charms - summer brought the joy and fun of the annual Star Festival whilst Christmas turned DC into a something of a winter wonderland–

But Autumn had always held a special place in her heart.

There was something enchanting about the way the leaves shifted from green to brilliant cloaks of red, orange, and gold, only to shed them in cheerful cascades that carpeted the ground in a riot of colour–

And though city workers swept them away, more often than not there would be fresh piles by morning - almost if the trees had conspired amongst themselves to keep the ground clad in autumn’s finery.

It had been one such evening that Sadalsuud found herself in the small park where she often went to visit the stray cats that inhabited its grounds with a small bag of treats tucked away in the satchel on her shoulder.

She had settled on her usual bench, and no sooner had she set the satchel down on the bench beside her than the cats began to materialise from the shadows, darting out from behind bushes and padding out from beneath trees as their eyes glinted in the glow from the park lights.

A pair of the younger strays leapt down from the lower branches of one of the trees with the confidence of seasoned acrobats–

Or perhaps, more truthfully, with the eagerness of treat-sensing gluttons.

One landed neatly on its feet, tail flicking with triumph as it sauntered in her direction. The other however managed to somehow overshoot its mark, sending up a small but rustling spray of red and gold in its wake as it skidded headlong into one of the piles of leaves,

Sadalsuud found herself giggling softly at the look of feline indignation on its whiskered face, only to feel a gentle nudge at her gloved hand.

Green eyes glanced down, only to find a familiar furry head pressing insistently against her clothed fingers.

Mr Socks. Of course. Aka the very original 'treat-sensing glutton.'

Laughing again, Sadalsuud reached into her satchel and fished out one of the “kitty pops” she (or rather, Mi-Hi) had picked up at the pet shop on her way over.

The pet shop had had a variety of seasonal 'kitty pops' in an array of different flavours, and Sadalsuud knew that she had brought more than was probably sensible, but there had been a lot of fun flavours such as pumpkin and chicken and turkey and cranberry and even salmon and sweet potato and faced with such a fun and festive assortment she had been far too weak to resist.

The crinkle of the kitty pop wrapper brought more cats scrambling in the direction of the bench.

As it turned out, the pumpkin and chicken flavour was by far the most popular of the flavours, with one particular bold calico jumping up and snatching a piece straight from her hand, before managing to dodge a swat from Mr Socks as it dashed off triumphantly with its prize.

Meanwhile, a tuxedo perched regally at the far end of the bench, keeping its distance from the squabble as it waited patiently with quiet dignity for its share.

A pair of others had wrestled noisily over their own piece of kitty pop, until one had ended up tumbling into yet another pile of leaves whilst the victor bolted away with the treat clamped in its jaws.

Sadalsuud had been distracted by another cat choosing pawing at her shoes, seemingly more fascinated by the golden clover on the strap than by the treats so it had taken her a moment or so to notice that the stray was yet to emerge to emerge from the pile of leaves - but after it had finally sunk in, she had risen from the bench with a slight frown creasing her face as she walked over to take a closer look–

But as she drew nearer, the frown softened into a look of wonder, as a sudden but undeniable thought crossed her mind that this was a perfect leaf pile.

It was perfectly rounded and so impossibly inviting, like a red and gold cushion that was just begging to be jumped on.

Sadalsuud could almost hear the satisfying crunch, as she found herself picturing the way that the leaves would scatter around her in a joyful spray of colour, before drifting down around her hair and senshi outfit like confetti–

And in that moment she forgot herself, the park, the cats and even the satchel, open and still waiting on the bench.

Instead a sudden urge welled up inside her, wild and irresistible. A bit of childish mischief that she hadn’t felt in years - the urge one that she would have dismissed as ridiculous had she been thinking clearly.

Sadalsuud was not thinking clearly.

Nor it seemed, was she able to resist the childish temptation of the pile of ultimate autumn fun.

Instead with another giggle bubbling up in her chest, she found herself making a beeline for the pile of leaves, thoughts full of how much fun it was going to be to dive headlong into the stacked riot of colour.

Leaves erupted around her in a glorious storm of browns, reds, golds, and oranges as Sadalsuud jumped into the very heart of the pile, her laughter ringing out in the crispness of the evening–

And for a heartbeat, it was everything that she had imagined.

Then the laughter faltered, Sadalsuud’s breath catching as instead of the expected muffled crunch, the ground seemed to give way beneath her and she found herself sinking, tumbling and then falling down a tunnel walled with leaves of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns.

It was impossible to tell how long she fell, colours blurring together as she tumbled deeper–

But then, with a final tumble, she spilled out of another leaf pile as golden and brown leaves clung stubbornly to her black hair.

Sadalsuud staggered upright, brushing them away, her heart still racing somewhat at the strangeness of it all–

And whilst she couldn’t tell for how long she had fallen or to where - one thing for certain was that she was no longer in the park.

-- 1,086 words --
(Solo x2)