~Home~

~Two~

     Opal dashed out of the den on two legs as she rarely let herself be seen on four. Bumble tilted their head before shrugging and placing a basket of flowers on the floor and plopping down next to them. Taking out an array of colors, they started to string them together into a circular shape. This crown was special because they used some colors they hadn't before. This one was made of yellow, white, black and purple flowers, and Bumble rarely ever used black. They liked this color palette though, so they kept working at it.

         Opal dashed into her den, then picked up an object and put it neatly into her pouch. She then sprinted back to Bumble's cave. Opal was very fast on her two legs, although four is faster. Bumble didn't expect Opal to be so quick, so when she did rush into their den, they screeched in surprise, and their yelp was just as squeaky as their voice. Realizing it was only Opal, they exhaled in relief and smiled at her.

        "Sorry to scare you! I know, I can be a bit... surprising." Bumble laughed a little, hopefully letting Opal know it was okay. She took an object out if her pouch. It was shiny like metal, and cool to the touch. It was extremely lightweight, and Opal unraveled a dark leather string. The metal was wound around a tiny feather that looked like Opal's, attaching it to the string.

      "I made this for my best friend, until it showed up on my doorstep in the rain. She gave me one as well with her feather, but ripped it off my neck when she stayed over for a night..." She sighed. "So I fixed it up and wanted to give it to you..." Bumble's eyes widened. They remembered back to their old home, back with their sister before they had moved far away to start a new life.

       Their sister had found them crying over a flower that they had collected after it had died. Hugging them, she had given them their first fake flower, a white rose. One that would never die. The gift that stayed with them forever.

     Bumble smiled widely, fuzzy with nostalgia, as they took the necklace gently out of Opals paw, placing it around their own neck, chirping happily. They would make Opal something too, a flower crown perhaps. Opal smiled, closing her eyes.

     "I'm taking that as you like it." Bumble nodded quickly, before patting the ground beside them for Opal to sit. Brushing the flowers they were using to the side, they grabbed the basket and fished around for different colors. Opal walked over and plopped onto her haunches, her front legs folded neatly so her paws were just touching the ground. Unlike Opal, who was sitting nicely, Bumble was just flopped on the ground, their hind legs stretched out in front of them. They grabbed a few flowers, and tried to match them as closely as they could to their own feather colors. A navy blue, a golden yellow, a cyan and a light gray. Well, they didnt have light gray, so Bumble just took a while flower instead. They started to string them together with a large sewing needle and some fishing string. Opal watched, her feathers rising and falling ever so slightly. She watched Bumble as their paws wove the flowers. She looked at the fake flowers, then blinked hard, remembering how she awoke with the necklace gone, and hers found on her mat outside the entrance, the string torn and metal unwound, and Opals feather ripped and sliced in half. Shaking her head, she continued to watch her friend's work.

     Finally, the flower crown was complete. The flowers were in order of Bumble's feather colors. Bumble chirped quietly to themself, and then turned to gently place the flower crown on Opal's head. The way they placed it made it lopsided, but they thought it looked good as they laughed in a high pitched tone. Opal looked at the crown and smiled, and giggled along with Bumble. She admired the crown, and gave Bumble a quick hug.

      "Thank you... you have no idea how much this means to me, really." She blinked, as if trying to get something out of her eyes. Bumble hugged her back, Opal reminded them of their sister, and that was a feeling they never thought would return. Opal broke away, the raptor's paws grazed the dirt as she stood. She looked around, then out at the sky, the sun slowly going down.

    "It's getting a bit late, I think I should head home soon." Bumble looked outside. The sun was getting harder to see over the horizon, it made sense on why the day had gone by so quickly, as they had woken up late. They nodded at their friend, and gathered the flowers up in the basket, trying to clean up a bit. Opal didn't hesitate to help. She gathered the flowers and placed them in the basket, then made sure everything else was tidied up.

     "Maybe we could get together tomorrow, there's a river we could go to by my den! Or here. Whatever works best for you." Bumble had always wanted to visit a river, they heard about shiny stones there. They nodded quickly. Opal's dark eyes brightened.

      "Okay! I'll come by tomorrow morning so we can head down there." She waved as she walked out, her flower crown woven neatly to her feathers so it wouldn't fall off.

      "See you tomorrow Bumble!" Once again Bumble was swept away in a memory, of them standing at the doorway of their old den and waving goodbye to their sister, off to see the world, never to return. Bumble waved back at Opal, grinning. This time the one leaving would come back.

    Opal walked upwards to her den - a dead tree covering the opening, with one going up through the middle. The tree was hollowed out and filled with rooms and platforms. She walked up to the top of the tree, settling down on her nest of joined branches. She took off the crown and placed it beside her as she slept - She didn't want it to get ruined while she snoozed.

     Bumble went around their den, closing all the curtains and shutting all the windows. They made sure everything was as it should be before going into their bedroom and curling up on the bed thet had made out of some soft moss, grass and branches from the weeping willow tree outside their home. It was covered in a patch quilt of random fabrics Bumble had found, and they used that as a blanket as they snuggled into their bed and drifted off to sleep.

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