Fall From Glory

Hidden

"Orion, where's the last gathering of berries?" Aura's voice shouted across the lush moors.

"I have no idea!" He called back. "I thought Sophie had it!"

"Nope, you were responsible for taking them to our home!" The Telepath answered, appearing at the doorway of said home, clad in blue and green.

"He's also responsible for feeding himself, so fess up!" The black-haired Elementic trooped over to her suddenly sheepish brother, a heaviness to her gait that forewarned of what happened to people who stole food.

"Fine. I was starving, and we haven't had lushberries for a long time...." He trailed off at the expression on her face.

"HOW DARE YOU EAT MY FOOD!!" Aura exclaimed, lunging and tackling Orion. The poor Nyxowl rolled away, an unfortunate victim of a hangry Aura.

Sophie, still in the doorway, rolled her eyes and facepalmed. "Instead of tussling, how about you two go find some more!" She called.

"Like that'll alleviate my food loss!" Aura yelled, aiming a punch at Orion.

"Have a funeral later." The Phaser suggested, jerking himself to the side so the punch barely missed.

"Like that would do any good!" She shot back, readjusting her aim.

"Just go get some more! Aura, off Orion, and Orion, go get some berries." Sophie ordered, striding over.

"Yes, Councillor Fos-Boss." Aura grumbled, standing up.

"Great. If only I'd kept my circlet," she lamented.

Orion stood up, arching a confused eyebrow. "You did."

"Oh yeah." She reached up and lightly touched it. "Didn't you two?"

"Fintan revoked us, remember? Our circlets disappeared during the getaway, and you only Teleported yours back," Aura said, already heading off to the underbrush.

"You said you-"

"Didn't want to own anything from that 'traitorous, scummy, dirtbag jerkface'." Orion finished.

She deflected it. "I know what I said. C'mon, Berry Brother, before I get really hangry."

Orion shunted himself after her, looking chastised.

Sophie snickered, then headed back to their home. 

It was a small but cozy compilation of trees that Aura had constructed without killing a single one. A bit of foliage was cut away, but other than that, the trees were still fully trees, bent into a vague three-dimensional rectangle. An aggregate of blue-green leaves in three out of four corners provided comfy relaxation and even sleeping abilities. Small branches coalesced to form chairs and small tables, and twirled upwards in the fourth corner to the second floor. The entire leafy structure was dotted with various flowers, vines, and other nature.

Sophie trailed up the staircase of the small home, the sharp, thin, dark branches jutted together, twining into the shape of a banister that she could use. As she reached the small landing up the soft, equally thin stairs, her eyes trailed down the short hallway to the four entrances, two on either side and drawn with a curtain of dangling flower-braided leaves. One for her, one for her brother, one for her sister, and one for their extra needs.

The Telepath strode down the hallway, taking care on to step on the bunches of leaves crammed into the spaces between the twisted branches that covered up the gaps large enough to cause an accident. At the end of the hall, there was a parting in the leaves that allowed for a good look outside in their surroundings for both caution and relaxation.