(a bonus little story i wrote for kicks)
Leafy had been looking up at the sky an awful lot as of late.
The days have been *somewhat* better of her ever since they made landfall; gone were the days of the two of them constantly dreading for their lives, stuck in an environment that seemed so dead-set on killing them, and now it was time for... days of constantly dreading for their lives, stuck in an environment that seemed so dead-set on killing them.
That's the funny thing about Dream Island. Over the years, as the Battle grew longer and longer, and the idea of actually *winning* the island instead of just coming across it by pure chance passed further and further into fantasy, their conceptions on what it was strayed further and further into myth and legend. Sure, the speaker box told everyone *exactly* what it was all those years ago, but that was all in the past, and so much had happened that that definition had almost completely disappeared in their minds. As a result, they see the name 'Dream Island' and think of it in more literal terms; an actual island of dreams, filled with anything and everything they could possibly want. Leafy and Firey, fresh off yet *another* season of competing, felt pretty confident that they knew exactly what they wanted; they'd grown tired of competing and struggling with each other for so long, and they just wanted a sense of peace and quiet. That's *all* they ever wanted, wasn't it?
Well, as it very quickly turned out, no.
All those years battling and relying on others to do the work had resulted in a population that wasn't really fit for... existence; ever since that fateful day where they ended up on shore and bore witness to an unspoilt vista of glorious nature, they found that the indifferent world was, indeed, indifferent. All sorts of mishaps and misadventures were had trying to get a good feel for the place, for whatever dangers could possibly lurk just beyond what they could see. There'd be a desperate search for shelter at even the slightest hint of rain, as just the tiniest amount of water could snuff out Firey's life in seconds. There was nothing for them in this land, nothing and nobody. If they wanted *anything*, they'd have to actively work for it.
At the very least, after all that toiling, there wouldn't be anyone kicking down their proverbial sandcastles.
The living arrangements they ended up coming up with were two houses. There was a little wooden shack, more of a greenhouse than an actual living space, where Leafy could finally return to her roots and feel at peace. And nearby there was a glorified hole on the ground, the only refuge Firey had from any stray drop of water or stiff breeze. They'd explore, they'd relax, they'd sing, they'd play games, they'd talk about the competition, their friends left behind, the world around them, and so on and so forth. For a moment, it was nice.
But the competitive mindset had left them yearning.
Leafy always told herself that she and Firey were friends. Good friends. The best of friends, even. Regardless of their differences, regardless of what they've been through, regardless of the blows they've dealt to each other, they've always been able to patch things up and find comfort in each other. She *really* didn't want to consider the fact that it could be rose-tinted glasses, or the fact that she didn't actually spend *that* much time with Firey in hindsight. After the 2,763rd house fire, it started to set in for her that *maybe* living with the sentient hazard was not such a great idea. Maybe stranding herself in some foreign corner of the world with this dangerous buffoon *wasn't* the stroke of genius she had thought of.
Which brought her to now.
She'd been tending to the vibrant and brilliant greens that had made a nest on her lovely home; a little while ago she transplanted a whole bunch of vines and things to really spruce the place up, decorate her abode with whatever she could find, whatever she could carry. The little leaf had just carried a makeshift bucket and watered the budding plants, humming tunes to serenade them, as if that'd make them grow any faster. It was at that moment where she pondered how long was it gonna be until it rained again; she didn't fancy the idea, seeing how antsy Firey gets at such a situation, but it didn't seem *that* likely that it'd go so long without a Teardrop family reunion. When was the last time she'd even seen a remotely large cloud? Or the faintest whiff of morning dew?
