Legacies & Lies

[CosmicChaos21]

This isn’t even based off a certain challenge but more of an amalgamation of challenges I’ve probably read over the years honestly. I wanted to do a royalty challenge but none of them really spoke to me perfectly, usually far too many things for me to keep track of honestly heh. But to sum it up here’s the gist.

-Blind gene mode enabled for extra surprise

-Tribe limit is 20 for my own sake

- Certain traits are seen as more attractive and less attractive (Though this may be waived for story purposes as always-) In this playthrough mask patterning, fishing tail, and nimble fingers are considered more attractive. While no pattern, anteater snout, and heat body are considered less attractive.

-Royalty can make and remove rules but while they can implement whatever rules they want, it is more fair to pass these rules by the lead healer as well for their approval. Not doing so may cause their subjects to trust them less or dislike them.

-The gem color is based off ranks which are listed below lowest-highest(If it’s just one color than all gems are that color but combos mean different ranks:

Orange - Very bad, means they are the lowest of the low.

Green inner gem and orange outer gems - Lower than pure green but still have a chance to redeem themselves, usually through a task or mission.

Green - Average, just a regular nicheling with nothing super bad nor super good.

Pink - Pupsitters, mostly watch over young royalty if there is any but also watch over other pups as well.

Blue - Healer, they heal the sick or weak and are respected for it.

Green outer gems and a pink inner gem - Guards, watch over royalty and keep an eye on royals children.

Blue outer gems and yellow inner gem: Lead healer, commonly converses with royalty to help with decisions and has quite a bit of sway, only being outranked by the royals.  Usually the most experienced with healing in the group.

Yellow - Royalty, make the big choices and basically control everything, though different rulers have different amounts of micromanaging depending on personality.

-

 

The harsh savannah sun beat down upon the grassland, showing no mercy to any creature or plant within its grasp. The dry grass swayed in the gentle breeze that was passing through the hot biome in a way that made it look as if it were dancing like a fancy bird.

A rabill had cautiously hopped over to a small puddle of water, a rarity in these scorching grasses, and quickly started to drink from it with the hope of surviving another day under the ruthless sun. A nicheling jumped out and quickly killed the rabill, putting an end to its dreams of living another day, and then turned around and started to walk off with the rabill in their jaws.

“You should eat this to regain your energy” The nicheling, a white and brown furred nicheling named Strike, said as he pushed the rabill towards the orange furred nicheling who was currently laying in a nest with a small bundle of red fur curled against her side. “Unless you wanna be even weaker than you are normally” Strike spoke again as he looked at the nicheling who only let out a sigh upon hearing the nicheling’s words.

“I know, thank you for the meal Strike” The orange nicheling, named Lava, said as she started to eat the rabill that the poison fanged nicheling had given her. She was actually the Queen, though she didn’t know how much that really meant anymore as her and her mate’s old kingdom had been ravaged by bearyena, leaving her, her mate, and Strike as the only survivors they knew of.

The healer didn’t say anything as he turned around and laid down, not really seeing a reason to do anything else at the moment as he felt his duties were done until further notice. 

After a stretch of silence Clay, the king and the mate of Lava, emerged from the grasses before glancing at the two present nichelings. “Cheery as usual healer?” He asked with no actual malice as he briefly turned his attention towards Strike. The healer glanced in his direction before making a show of rolling his eyes and turning his entire body away from the royal nicheling, though there was a small smile on his face as the mellow attitude of the yellow-eyed nicheling.

“He’s perfectly healthy, no health issues that I’ve noticed after checking him” Strike spoke as he turned back around to vaguely gesture towards the small bundle of red fur. Clay nodded before gently walking over to his mate and the pup that sat next to her side.

“What should we name him?” Clay asked as he looked at the small pup with affection, already being quite attached despite having just seen the small nicheling for the first time. “You don’t want to name him?” Lava asked with a tilt of her head as she looked at her mate who shook his head with a chuckle.

“You’re the one who brought him into this world so you deserve to name him, at least this one” Clay said as he looked up from his newborn pup to look into the eyes of his mate. “Alright, than I think Volcano would suit him” Lava said as she nuzzled the pup which caused him to squeak before settling down once more. “From what I’ve heard from my grandparents they spewed out burning red liquid, the same color as his fur” She continued as she glanced up at her mate for his approval.

“It sounds perfect for our little prince. Prince Volcano has a nice ring to it” Clay agreed happily as he looked at his pup once more, knowing that his pup would bring a strong legacy to this island.

[Andromeda_]

13 hours ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

This isn’t even based off a certain challenge but more of an amalgamation of challenges I’ve probably read over the years honestly. I wanted to do a royalty challenge but none of them really spoke to me perfectly, usually far too many things for me to keep track of honestly heh. But to sum it up here’s the gist.

-Blind gene mode enabled for extra surprise

-Tribe limit is 20 for my own sake

- Certain traits are seen as more attractive and less attractive (Though this may be waived for story purposes as always-) In this playthrough mask patterning, fishing tail, and nimble fingers are considered more attractive. While no pattern, anteater snout, and heat body are considered less attractive.

-Royalty can make and remove rules but while they can implement whatever rules they want, it is more fair to pass these rules by the lead healer as well for their approval. Not doing so may cause their subjects to trust them less or dislike them.

-The gem color is based off ranks which are listed below lowest-highest(If it’s just one color than all gems are that color but combos mean different ranks:

Orange - Very bad, means they are the lowest of the low.

Green inner gem and orange outer gems - Lower than pure green but still have a chance to redeem themselves, usually through a task or mission.

Green - Average, just a regular nicheling with nothing super bad nor super good.

Pink - Pupsitters, mostly watch over young royalty if there is any but also watch over other pups as well.

Blue - Healer, they heal the sick or weak and are respected for it.

Green outer gems and a pink inner gem - Guards, watch over royalty and keep an eye on royals children.

Blue outer gems and yellow inner gem: Lead healer, commonly converses with royalty to help with decisions and has quite a bit of sway, only being outranked by the royals.  Usually the most experienced with healing in the group.

Yellow - Royalty, make the big choices and basically control everything, though different rulers have different amounts of micromanaging depending on personality.

-

 

The harsh savannah sun beat down upon the grassland, showing no mercy to any creature or plant within its grasp. The dry grass swayed in the gentle breeze that was passing through the hot biome in a way that made it look as if it were dancing like a fancy bird.

A rabill had cautiously hopped over to a small puddle of water, a rarity in these scorching grasses, and quickly started to drink from it with the hope of surviving another day under the ruthless sun. A nicheling jumped out and quickly killed the rabill, putting an end to its dreams of living another day, and then turned around and started to walk off with the rabill in their jaws.

“You should eat this to regain your energy” The nicheling, a white and brown furred nicheling named Strike, said as he pushed the rabill towards the orange furred nicheling who was currently laying in a nest with a small bundle of red fur curled against her side. “Unless you wanna be even weaker than you are normally” Strike spoke again as he looked at the nicheling who only let out a sigh upon hearing the nicheling’s words.

“I know, thank you for the meal Strike” The orange nicheling, named Lava, said as she started to eat the rabill that the poison fanged nicheling had given her. She was actually the Queen, though she didn’t know how much that really meant anymore as her and her mate’s old kingdom had been ravaged by bearyena, leaving her, her mate, and Strike as the only survivors they knew of.

The healer didn’t say anything as he turned around and laid down, not really seeing a reason to do anything else at the moment as he felt his duties were done until further notice. 

After a stretch of silence Clay, the king and the mate of Lava, emerged from the grasses before glancing at the two present nichelings. “Cheery as usual healer?” He asked with no actual malice as he briefly turned his attention towards Strike. The healer glanced in his direction before making a show of rolling his eyes and turning his entire body away from the royal nicheling, though there was a small smile on his face as the mellow attitude of the yellow-eyed nicheling.

“He’s perfectly healthy, no health issues that I’ve noticed after checking him” Strike spoke as he turned back around to vaguely gesture towards the small bundle of red fur. Clay nodded before gently walking over to his mate and the pup that sat next to her side.

“What should we name him?” Clay asked as he looked at the small pup with affection, already being quite attached despite having just seen the small nicheling for the first time. “You don’t want to name him?” Lava asked with a tilt of her head as she looked at her mate who shook his head with a chuckle.

“You’re the one who brought him into this world so you deserve to name him, at least this one” Clay said as he looked up from his newborn pup to look into the eyes of his mate. “Alright, than I think Volcano would suit him” Lava said as she nuzzled the pup which caused him to squeak before settling down once more. “From what I’ve heard from my grandparents they spewed out burning red liquid, the same color as his fur” She continued as she glanced up at her mate for his approval.

“It sounds perfect for our little prince. Prince Volcano has a nice ring to it” Clay agreed happily as he looked at his pup once more, knowing that his pup would bring a strong legacy to this island.

this is random but Strike looks like Mooneye, the Goddess of Death from Jessimew's story mode playthrough-

[CosmicChaos21]

1 hour ago, Andromeda_ said:

this is random but Strike looks like Mooneye, the Goddess of Death from Jessimew's story mode playthrough-

I've never watched that but that's kinda funny, maybe I'll watch it sometime (No guarantees though)

[CosmicChaos21]

BIG UPDATE TIME!

-

Prince Volcano had proven himself to be quite a pawful in the short time since he’d been born, constantly trying to get his way and do whatever he wanted without consideration for others.

“But I want the berry now!” Volcano squeaked with anger as he looked at his mom who reached a paw out to gently keep the young pup from getting any closer to the cactus.

“If you don’t wait for us to de-thorn it you’ll get pricked and that’ll hurt” Lava said in an attempt to soothe her grumpy son, though this just seemed to anger the pup further as he tried to jump at the berry bush instead. Lava gasped but before anything bad happened Clay grabbed his son with his front paws, eliciting a sigh of relief from Lava, before giving his son a stern stare.

“Son, you’re going to be a king one day and that means listening to those around you even if you don’t always agree” Clay said as he gently set the pup onto the ground, ignoring the grumbling that came from him. “A king who doesn’t listen to those around him is a foolish one” He continued as he caught his son’s eye and gave him a stern stare to further get his point across.

“Just de-thorn it faster” Volcano grumbled as he glared at the ground below him. “Lack of respect for others is also the trait of a foolish king” Clay said as his stare stare turned into a scowl at the way the pup talked to his own mother, who had been the one de-thorning the berry for the young prince. Volcano opened his mouth but shut it upon seeing his dad’s scowl and instead turned away from him and squeezed his eyes shut.

Lava looked between her son and her mate a bit on edge before continuing to de-thorn the berry she held in her paws. She gave the berry to her son after de-thorning it and the pup ate it in silence causing the two older nichelings to sigh at their son’s behavior, knowing his attitude could be bad if it didn’t get better.

Meanwhile Strike was expanding the territory by clearing the swath of tall grass that drowned the area and made it impossible to see farther than a pawstep in front of himself. His mind had drifted as he did the same repetitive task over and over so he was startled when a sudden ‘ow!’ rang out from below his paws. He quickly took a few steps back and notice a young pup rubbing her nose with her paw while scowling at him.

“You hit me with your big paws!” The pup squeaked as her fur fluffed up in anger at the older nicheling. Strike was a bit shocked at the bite this pup had at this age but then remembered how Volcano acted, so honestly he probably shouldn’t be surprised about it.

“Not my fault you’re the exact same color as the grass pup, where are your parents anyway?” Strike said as he lifted his snout before sniffing the air for any signs of another nicheling, though he didn’t smell the pup either so he tried to listen as well but heard nothing.

“Fire got ‘em” The pup said bluntly enough that it surprised the healer even more than earlier and caused him to whip his head toward the pup, who didn’t react the way most pups would to that information. No crying or yelling…she just stared at him as if she just told him about the weather instead of about her parents dying. While an odd reaction he still didn’t feel right just abandoning a pup in this harsh place so he sighed before speaking.

“Well I live in a group of nichelings that you could join, I doubt they’d reject a lone pup” Strike offered as he glanced back in the vague direction of the center of the territory. Finch tilted her head as she looked at the older nicheling for a little bit. “Okay” Was all she responded with but Strike supposed that was answer enough and gestured with his tail to follow him as he turned around and started walking. 

“The healer finally returns!” Clay said in a joking manner as he saw Strike emerge out the grasses, making the fanged nicheling roll his eyes before moving out of the way to show the yellow pup he brought with him. “A pup! Why did you bring this pup here?” Clay asked as he quickly approached the pup and looked at her, making the pup squint at him and take a step back with bristled fur. Clay took a step back as he noticed the pup’s body language before looking at the healer for an explanation.

“She was alone and from what she said her parents were killed because of a wildfire” Strike explained as he looked at the king. Clay nodded before turning his attention toward the pup with a soft smile.

“You can live here as long as you’d like little pup” Clay said, trying to look as welcoming as possible as to not unnerve the pup again. At that moment the prince burst out from the grasses with his mother close behind as she tried to keep up with the small pup. Volcano can to a sudden stop as he noticed the new pup.

“Who are you?” Volcano said with a sneer as he looked at the new pup, who scowled in return as she heard his tone. “I just joined, why are you so grumpy?” The new pup asked with an annoyed lash of her tail at this red pup’s attitude towards her despite having just met her. “You’re weird and already annoying” Volcano said as he glared at the new pup causing Lava to look at her son. “Volcano! That’s rude” Lava tried to reprimand her son for his behavior but he didn’t even acknowledge his mom’s words at all.

The new pup stood onto her four paws with bristled fur as she approached the young prince. Volcano just scowled as she came closer only to be stunned when the new pup raised her right paw and bopped him on the nose with enough force to make him flinch away, while Lava just stared in shock at the actions of this new pup.

“Ow, hey that hurt!” Volcano growled as he rubbed his nose. The new pup stuck her tongue out at him before smiling proudly which made Volcano get ready to jump at her before Clay grabbed his son with a sigh.

“No fighting you two” Clay said with a stern tone that made his son grumble while the new pup just looked away with a huff, finding it unfair considering that this spoiled pup deserved it in her opinion. “Maybe a bad time but I never got your name pup” Clay spoke, holding tightly onto his son to ensure there were no more shenanigans as he looked towards the newest member of the group.

“Finch” The new pup simply said as she looked over at the king before looking at the prince, who scowled at her as she looked at him. “A wonderful name for the newest member of the group” Clay said with a welcoming smile before noticing Lava gesturing towards their son, who was trying to wiggle out of his dad’s hold without any luck. “Well I hope you enjoy living here” Clay said to Finch before turning around and taking his son to a different part of the territory to give him a stern talking to…again.

(Time to make up herbs uses in this world-)

It had been a bit of time since Finch arrived, most of her interactions with the prince ended up as arguments or attempts to fight so they were kept separated whenever possible. Currently Strike was sorting the very scarce number of herbs that the group had, the dry grasslands provided much fewer herbs than him and the royal’s last home is something he had found out quite quickly.

“Can I help?” Finch’s words broke Strike out of his concentration and caused him to glance over and see the pup staring at the herbs with interest and curiosity that he hadn’t seen on any other nicheling. “You sure? It’s pretty boring to just sort herbs, wouldn’t you rather go play or nap?” Strike asked as he set down the herbs he was sorting to instead give the pup his full attention to see if she would change her mind. Finch shook her head and glanced at him before looking at the herbs again so Strike shrugged before deciding to explain it.

“These herbs are new to me but from what I’ve picked up the ‘meat’ of the cactus can help fight infections if eaten and can be a good source of water if it’s fresh” Strike started explaining with the pup giving the herbs her complete focus. “And the roots of the cactus are good for stomachaches, and that’s all I know at the moment” He said honestly as a new biome meant new herbs that he was unfamiliar with.

“Okay” Finch said as she started to help sort the small amount of herbs, with Strike occasionally making sure she didn’t mix the fresh herbs with the dry ones.

Finch and Volcano had grown into teens and Volcano’s parents were currently discussing his attitude toward others.

“I thought he would get better but his behavior has gotten even worse” Lava said in a discouraged tone as she rubbed a paw against her face, she was patient but even her patience was wearing thin at their son’s attitude. Clay gently nuzzled his mate in a comforting manner after hearing what she said. “I really hope he won’t treat his soon to be younger sibling the same way” Lava continued as she looked at her mate.

“I know, even I’m worried that he’ll make a rotten king that lords his power over those he’s supposed to care for” Clay admitted, feeling as if he had failed at teaching him to be a good king. “But he’s still young, perhaps he’ll grow out of it and become an amazing king” He continued as a way to try and soothe Lava’s worries about their son, not wanting her to stress over something that is out of her control. Lava gave a skeptical look but closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and nodding at her mate with the hope he was right.

Volcano and Finch had been left alone after lots of reassurances that they would run if there was danger and that they wouldn’t get in a fight in their absence, which got some side-eye of doubt but eventually relented.

It was silent for a long stretch as the two did their own tasks, Volcano was just laying around while Finch sorted some herbs as a way to relax. The prince’s eyes were soon drawn to the neat piles of herbs that Finch had just finished sorting, giving the prince an idea as a venomous grin appeared on his face.

He waited until Finch wandered off to grab some food before going over and using his paw to mess up the piles and make it a huge, disorganized pile of herbs that made it look as if a mini tornado had just run through it. He quickly scurried back to the nest he was laying on when he heard the faint sound of pawsteps and waited.

Finch returned after eating a berry from a bush inside the territory but stopped in her tracks as she saw the pile of herbs, which were sorted only a little bit ago. She turned toward the prince with her fur bristling and her teeth bared. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!” She screamed as she noticed the prince’s expression turn to one of arrogance at her anger.

“Well you seemed bored so I gave you something to do, so re-organize it” Volcano said with an almost bored wave of his paw towards the pile, fueling Finch’s anger further. “No! You can’t just tell me what to do, especially after that!” Finch snarled as she took a threatening step towards the prince, who just rolled his eyes at her anger. “Yeah I can, I’m a future king so you have to listen to me because you’re below me” Volcano said with a smug grin as he looked at the irate Finch, who’s fur bristled further at his comment.

“You’d be a rotten king! I bet you’d just let your subjects starve while you hoard the food!” Finch snapped as she took another step towards the prince. “Well yeah, the royals are the most important nichelings in the group” Volcano said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Finch’s mouth hung open in shock at the complete seriousness of the prince’s tone.

Then she lunged at the prince causing him to yelp as soon as her bodyweight bowled into him, easily knocking him over. “Hey get off me!” Volcano said as he tried to shove her off. “No! You’re selfish and you deserve more than a slap on the paw for it!” Finch growled causing a small bubble of fear to rise in the prince but he tried not to let it show, instead trying harder to shove away the winged nicheling but without any results.

 

 

 

-Blood mention!-

 

Finch grabbed a thorn from a nearby cactus and swiped it from the top to the bottom of Volcano’s left eye, causing blood to leak out and to create a cut on his face. Volcano screeched and used all his force to push Finch off of him, succeeding this time, before quickly scrambling away from her. The two had a tense stare-off as he felt blood drip down his face from the fresh cut.

 

-End of blood mention-

 

 

 

Volcano broke first, turning around and fleeing to hide in one of the nests on the territory that was farther from Finch, making said nicheling scoff at the cowardly action before turning back to the herbs and beginning to re-sort them once more.

[Stranger]

Volcano is actually so spoiled. I'm with finch on this one

[CosmicChaos21]

1 hour ago, Stranger said:

Volcano is actually so spoiled. I'm with finch on this one

Yeah he is a rotten brat at the moment (Though idk if that'll ever change depends on how things go with the story and personality trait generator as he ages- Because I have it so they get 1 trait when they're born, 1 when they're a teen, and 2 in their adulthood with one being right when they age and one later in life) so yeah Finch is right because he is very spoiled at the moment, despite his parents attempts to discourage those behaviors. Hopefully that changes but we can only hope-

[CosmicChaos21]

It wasn’t long after the fight that the trio of adult nichelings returned to their home, only to have Volcano run up to them with tears. Lava reacted the quickest, approaching her son with concern and worry written on her face as she noticed the injury over his eye.

“What happened?!” Lava asked with alarm as Volcano kept up the tears, which were in fact crocodile tears instead of genuine ones. “Finch attacked me for no reason, she used a cactus thorn to give me this” The prince said continuing his fake tears as he used a paw to gesture to his left eye making Lava’s expression turn to shock. “She did?” Lava asked feeling mixed feelings, she wanted to believe her son but considering his usual behavior…

King Clay and Strike looked at each other after hearing the prince’s words, Clay with an expression of thoughtfulness and uncertainty and Strike with an expression of doubt heavy enough that a balance bear would crumble under the weight. Clay knew his son seems to only act selfishly but he had to consider the possibility that Finch started it despite the fact he doubted the teen nichling would be the type to start a fight.

Taking a deep breath, Clay looked at his son with a serious expression. “Take me to Finch so we can discuss it” The king nicheling said making Volcano resist the urge to smirk at his victory, surely Finch would get in trouble now and learn to not mess with the future king. He turned around and led the older nichelings over to the other teen nicheling, who was busy trying to re-organize the mess of herbs that Volcano had left behind. Volcano then went behind his mom to watch everything go down.

“Finch” Clay’s voice broke the younger nicheling’s concentration and caused her to look up from her herbs to instead look at the king nicheling. “Yeah?” Finch asked with some confusion as she noted the presence of the three nichelings along with the smug expression Volcano was wearing behind his mom’s back. “Volcano said that you started a fight with him and gave him that injury but first I’d like to hear your side of the story” Clay said and Finch had to fight really hard to not even smile at seeing the prince’s arrogance fall away the second he heard his dad’s words, Finch thought it served him right to think it would all go his way.

“I admit I did cause that injury, but it was only because he was trying to order me around saying that I’m ‘below him’” All three adult nicheling’s gazes whipped towards the prince which made him shrink in on himself at the stares. “and also because he messed up the herb piles, as you can see” She continued as she gestured toward the mildly sorted pile of herbs, though most of them were still a mess as she hadn’t finished sorting them yet. Volcano very quickly regretted his plan as he saw the anger on the three older nicheling’s faces, especially seeing how mad Strike looked.

Strike was trying to not express his anger though he was seething at the actions of the prince. Not only had he messed up the herbs he and Finch had meticulously sorted but he seemed to think almost everyone else was inferior to him. “We will heal your injury but once it’s healed we’ll be having a talk” Clay spoke before Strike could, staring at his son with a harsh glare that made Volcano look at him paws and give a meek nod at the fact his dad sounded genuinely angry.

Volcano was taken to a nest and given herbs for his eye but both Strike and Finch refused to speak to him.

The newest royal had been born early but with both Strike and Finch’s quick reactions both Lava and the pup had been able to make it through without any complications. Volcano hadn’t been able to see his new sibling for a few days due to the fact he had to rest and because while Lava was alright she was exhausted and needed lots of rest to recover. But now he was able to meet his younger sibling, though he now knew he had a younger sister.

He didn’t even want to meet his sister nor did he see a point in going to see her, I mean if she is his sister he was going to see her all the time so why did he need to see her now? Though he was already in trouble for the stunt he pulled a few days ago so he couldn’t protest against the idea but he did drag his paws on the way there.

“Be quiet, your mom is sleeping” Clay whispered as he saw his son emerge from the grasses after the healer. “Whatever” Volcano said as he sat as far from his newly born sister as he could muster without just walking away, having no interest in interacting with her.

“Why don’t you come closer, say hi” Clay said after some silence as he noticed the distance his son kept from his sister. Volcano’s tail flicked in annoyance but he didn’t protest as he got up and walked closer until his dad was satisfied. Volcano just intended to sit there until his dad said he could leave, then he would walk away and only interact with his sister when he was required to.

Then the tiny bundle of fur woke up. The pup squeaked, her eyes weren’t even open yet due to her young age so no one knew what color her eyes were at the moment. Then the pup quieted down and instead stood onto very wobbly legs and wobbled in the direction of Volcano, making him stare in confusion and shuffle a pawstep back. Clay’s stern glare made him go no further though as the tiny pup made her way closer to the prince.

Once the pup got close enough she laid down on top of one of his paws which made Volcano freeze as he saw her settle down with a yawn. “She already seems attached to you” Clay said with a quiet chuckle as he saw Volcano’s reaction to the pup laying on his paw.

Volcano just stared at the tiny bundle of fur with a confused expression. He was sure he would either hate having a younger sibling or just tolerate them but this pup was almost already making him attached, and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

His thoughts were interrupted by his mom suddenly speaking. “You’re getting along already” Lava said with a soft smile as she looked at her pups making the prince’s fur prickle with embarrassment. “We’re not getting along, I’m only tolerating her” Volcano scoffed as he, gently, moved his paw out from under the pup and got up, causing the pup to squeak in protest, before turning around and stalking off into the grasses.

[CosmicChaos21]

Lava was walking around the territory after Clay insisted that she take a break from caring for the newest addition to the family saying that he ‘could handle little Fissure just fine’ which was probably true considering he’s a good father, not to mention that it turned out that Fissure was practically the exact opposite of her older brother in terms of personality. She had never been bratty and in fact always tried to offer help with the tasks the other nichelings were doing, even if she couldn’t actually do anything to help due to her young age. The worst trouble she ever got in was because she tried to help despite someone saying that she couldn’t.

The sudden ‘sound’ of silence made Lava freeze as she realized there had been a slight rustling sound in that direction before that suddenly stopped. After scenting the air she noted there was no predator smell but she still kept cautious as she slowly approached the source of the noise, muscles tensed for the chance of something dangerous popping out.

She was shocked to see a nicheling instead of a threat, more specifically a young nicheling that looked like they had just gotten their second gem recently. “What are you doing little one?” Lava asked making the nicheling jump before turning around with their fur puffed out. “…Picking berries” The nicheling replied as she assessed the nicheling in front of her, trying to see if she would deem this nicheling a threat. “Are you hungry?” Lava asked making the teen nicheling deadpan and stare in silence for a few seconds before answering. “No I’m picking berries for fun” The teen nicheling responded with as much sarcasm as she could muster. “Well if you’d like you could join our group, we have plenty of food to spare” Lava said with a soft smile as she noticed the teen looked awfully thin, as if the poor thing hadn’t eaten in a while.

The nicheling thought about it, not trusting this nicheling much at all but the thought of being able to have a steady supply of food was tempting. “Alright, I guess I’ll join” The nicheling said with a shrug as she figured she could just leave during the night if she changed her mind. “Great, follow me” Lava said as she turned around and started walking, making the teen nicheling follow close behind. “I do have to warn you though my son is…a bit prickly” Lava said as her face twisted into a mildly concerned one as she remembered how he reacted to meeting Finch. The teen nicheling didn’t say anything but mentally stored away that bit of information.

The teen nicheling, whose name is Barren, was accepted into the group easily by the adults but it took until almost the end of the day to meet the nichelings closest to her age. The prince was out hunting and Finch had headed out to search for more herbs, ‘Just in case’ was the reason apparently. But the two had arrived around the same time and, after giving each other the side-eye, they went to greet the newest member of the group.

“I’m Prince Volcano” Volcano said, putting extra emphasis on the word ‘prince’ to show how important his status was, making Finch roll her eyes hard enough that Barren was almost worried she’d hurt her eyes. “I’m Finch, don’t mind the princess over there, he’s always full of himself” Finch introduced herself and managed to insult the prince at the same time which made said prince scowl at the healer in training, who very casually pretended she couldn’t see out of the corner of her eye. 

“…Right. I’m Barren, what even is a prince?” Barren asked with confusion as she had just lived with her family before and therefore didn’t understand the roles or what they meant. Finch looked like she was using all her willpower to not laugh at how scandalized Volcano’s expression was at Barren’s words. “It’s one of the most important roles in a pack! Only thing better is a king or queen and I’ll be a king after my parents” Volcano explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, to him it was considering he was raised with this way of living. “Like a deputy?” Barren asked as she vaguely remembered her parents saying that was the second most important role in their old packs. Now it was Volcano’s turn to be confused. “I’ve never heard of something like that” Volcano said as his nose scrunched in a puzzled manner.

“Well I’ve got herbs to sort” Finch said after some silence from the two confused nichelings, not giving either a chance to respond before turning around and walking off. The two remaining nichelings watched her leave before turning their gazes back toward each other. “…As long as you know I’m in charge I don’t care what you do” Volcano said as he stood to his paws with a stretch. “Though you are more tolerable than her” He spoke again as he glared in the general direction that Finch walked off to. “Cool” Was all Barren said before watching the prince walk off to do…whatever it is he does.

Finch sighed in a content manner as she felt raindrops run down her coat, cooling her body from the usual scorching heat of the savannah. It was always a soothing and sleepy day on the rare occasion that rain drizzled upon the grasslands, and it seemed she wasn’t the only one out enjoying the weather.

Barren’s eyes were shut as she sat with a completely relaxed posture while her ears twitched to dislodge any stray raindrops. She had been here for some time (about a month) and decided that this group, while having some odd roles, was fairly peaceful unless the prince was in a cranky mood. Not to mention not having to worry about food was a heavy burden to lift off of her shoulders. “Barren?” The voice made Barren’s eyes fly open before turning toward the source of the sound, only to relax as she noticed it was Finch. Out of all the nichelings here she would say that the in-training healer was the one she got along with best, though she wouldn’t consider her a friend yet.

“Yes?” Barren responded as she wondered what Finch had come to ask her about. “What do you think of the rain?” Barren tilted her head, not having expected that to be the question she would ask. “It’s nice to not feel like the sun is going to turn me into dust” Barren answered with a grin, making Finch roll her eyes as a smile tried to twitch onto her face. “That is a plus I’ll admit, but does the rain mean anything to you?” Finch asked as she glanced over at the bat-winged nicheling, who narrowed her eyes in confusion. “No? It’s weather” Barren said before noticing the odd expression on the other nicheling’s face. “Does it mean something to you?” She turned the question around as she felt it was an odd question to ask without some sort of meaning.

“You could say that” Finch responded, looking less snarky and confident than usual. Barren tilted her head in a silent ‘go on’ gesture. “Rain is soothing to me, it’s nice to not feel like I’m burning but it also gives me time to sort my thoughts and feelings into piles” Finch spoke making Barren hum in interest, feeling a bit curious about if this was going somewhere. “And it feels like new beginnings, for the plants and animals and…even me” The training healer continued while Barren waited to hear more. “The day after I first got here there was a drizzle of rain, at the time it made me feel sad and afraid because my old life was gone” She said as she remembered how she hid those feelings as she didn’t want to talk about them at the time. “But now the rain is nice as it reminds me that just because my old life is gone it doesn’t mean my new one is bad” Finch finished her little monologue making Barren stare in shock.

She had talked to Finch sure but most of the time she was snarky and mostly threw playful jabs, mostly at the grumpy prince, so she had never thought she would be so thoughtful. “…That’s a good mindset to have” Barren eventually spoke as she didn’t really have any other way to respond to that.

The two sat in silence as the rain continued to fall until Strike called for Finch. “See you later” Finch said as she got up. “Bye” Barren responded before Finch turned around and walked off.