It all started at "spawn". Or, at least, that's what the sign said.
(M/N) glanced around, observing the encased portion of forest he had managed to get himself into. He was looking for a new place to stay and no one was around, so he managed to climb up and over the wall again and continued to trod through the forest at random.
Over some time he managed to find a spot, giving up looking for people, and made a nice enough looking house, lanky and two stories high with a flat rooftop, perfect for stargazing, and a good nesting area for owls. It was a lovely little cottage if he did say so himself.
He had always been more of a builder than a fighter, always being more into the plan-making aspect and building from that plan with his bare hands.
He was currently working on his garden, one of his favorite pastimes. When he was absolutely covered in the earth satiating his feral desire to create was when he was most content. The busywork of tending to his plants made (M/N) almost not notice the soft thud of footsteps approaching him.
Almost.
His ears twitched and he turned, holding his spade out as a weapon. The person scoffed before they let out a little high-pitched laugh. The person was not quite a person, but a partial fox. The fox seemed as if he came out of the movie version of 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' with his lanky build and fuzzy face. Well, not quite. He had the ears and tail. And when (M/N) gazed harder, he noticed the slitted eyes as well as some facial hair making him look more angular than he actually was.
"I don't think you're gonna do much harm with a trowel," said the fox-man holding out a gloved hand. "In any case, I came to introduce myself since we're gonna be neighbors."
(M/N) shook the fox-man's hand, "(M/N)." His voice was coarse like the dirt he was covered in.
"Fundy." The fox smiled at the somewhat smooth introduction. "You don't talk much do you?"
(M/N) hummed, shook his head, and turned back to tend to his crops. It was true, (M/N) always did more thinking than talking.
"If I'm being honest, the reason I came out here today is because there's a place, not too far from here, where I live. It's called L'Manberg and my dad noticed you took up shop nearby and wanted to see how you were settling in." (M/N) hummed again in response, but never looked away from his crops.
"'M settling in just fine. Nice to know I've neighbors 'n for you to come 'n greet me." He started speaking in the middle of his sentences and grew flustered when his voice cracked and crumbled. Fundy could tell (M/N) would struggle to hold a full conversation starting out. He couldn't imagine not talking for such a long time as it seemed he had.
Fundy noticed the variety of flora and the foliage around the two-story cabin. It was as if he walked into a faerie's grotto, and seemed so serene and pretty that he couldn't help but feel content in the nature. He did notice, however, the surplus of owls that were observing him as he walked around. Shaking off the idea of the owls and their observant ways, he remembered something and retrieved said something from his pockets.
"Hey, here's a little house-warming gift for you. You know, a good old 'welcome to the neighborhood' kinda thing. Though, it's not much of a neighborhood; kinda just a van."
"Oh?" (M/N) tilted his head and his eyes trailed to Fundy's cupped paws, seeing a few dozen tiny berries resting on top of an opened square cloth. (M/N) gave a toothy smile at the notion.
"I noticed a lack of berries in this part of the forest and thought you might want them."
'That's... the kindest thing someone's done for me.' (M/N) thought.
