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Description
“Woolies are a farm animal. Does anyone here know what we can get from them? ...uh. Yes! You there!”
“...wool?”
“Yes! Wool! Excellent work! Now can anyone tell me wh- oh! Hello there!” Juniper stopped her next question in its tracks as she noticed two more kits enter the room. Those had to be the two that weren’t accounted for when she and her son took the register. “You must beee...” leaning over to see the sheet on her desk. “Daffodil and Fern Wigglewhisker, right? I thought it was strange I was missing two.” She chuckled, before signalling toward an empty spot on the rug that everyone else was already sitting on. “Why don’t you take a seat. You two haven’t missed too much, luckily! My name is Juniper and this is Tyto. We’re here to teach you little ones about woolies today!” A smile crossed her face as she indicated toward the kit standing beside her. The contrast between the two kits was apparent just from the way they handled the simple task of sitting. Fern quietly dipping her head before carefully making her way to slowly set herself down on the spot and neatly crossed her legs. Whereas Vermin very quickly dove for the spot the moment it was pointed out, not even really sitting as he messily splayed his legs out in a semi-lay, semi-sit. It didn’t look particularly comfortable to an outsider’s eye and neither did the kit he’d just almost crashed into look impressed at all. But she could tell from his eyes that he was now entirely focused on the diagram of a woolie that her son - Tyto - was holding up for the kits to see.

“WOW! That looks really soft! Soft!” The brown kit blurted out loudly, eyes sparkling. He seemed to not notice as some of the other kits turned to give him a bit of a look, seemingly knowing he’d already misstepped. Fern noticed though... oh boy did she notice. Instinctively shuffling closer to her brother to wrap her tail around his back. Ears back as she warily returned the looks.
“Yes, they are soft. Though if you want to say something please put your hand up first, alright?”
“My hand...” he mumbled to himself looking at his paw. “OK!” A huge grin crossed his face as he stuck his hand as far in the air as he could.
“Yes, Daffodil?”
“Vermin wants to touch a woolie!”
“Oh, well, we will be visiting the woolies today. I’m sure if you’re all really gentle and good everyone will have a chance to pet one.” The Circle of Moon representative confirmed with a nod and a smile, “And who might Vermin be? Your... tail?”
“No, no, no. That’s Gerald. Vermin is Vermin and also is me!”
“I see. Would you prefer I use the name Vermin for you?” To this Vermin simply nodded. He nodded so hard in fact that he made himself feel a little dizzy but it was ok because Fern was there to steady his head... even if she did flinch back when the squiggly wigglies wriggled on her paw. “Alright then!”

The mini lesson on woolies continued for a short while longer until the adult felt they were ready to leave. Quickly instructing the children to get into pairs and stand in a big line. Through the halls, down the stairs, to the entrance of the tree and out into the streets. Every step carefully monitored by Juniper and Tyto as they marched onward like a trail of old-world ants. Stone pathing making way for dirt and grass, the scent of farmland - distinct yet distant - gradually intensifying until finally, they arrived.

—

As tense as she was, the familiar smells and sounds of what used to be her home brought her immense comfort. It was almost as if... as if they’d never. No, no. Don’t think about that. You can’t cry now. Biting her cheek to ground herself, she could hear the kits closer to the front of the line begin to chatter away again, excitement building as they must have caught sight of the fabled creature of the day. Beside her, her brother’s little body almost looked like it was going to explode as they reached that corner - that last boundary between his vision and the big fluffy livestock. Excitement bubbling and boiling until. Oh no. Fern quickly swiped her tail to hold his steady as he almost took the legs out from under the poor kit behind them. An action that she barely even had to think about and she was just about to relax again when... “thank... yooouuu...” a raspy whisper rattled though her very core.
“Ach-!” Let it go. LET IT GO! Ew, ew, EW!!! Fear piercing her heart she practically threw the tail out of her grip. She’d forgotten about that... that horrible thing. Though thankfully she didn’t have to look at it for long because just as quickly as she had to let go, her brother had tensed up like a coiled spring before launching himself into a full pelt sprint toward the fences the moment her grip loosened.

—

The wooden fence creaked in defiant protest as the body weight of one whole Vermin came crashing directly into it - startling poor Juniper in the process. “Hey, whoa, there little guy! Slow down. You’ll break the fence if you’re not careful. Don’t want those woolies escaping, now do we?”
“A-Ah... oops! Big oops!” A sheepish grin crossed the brown kit’s face as he looked over at the adult who was staring back at him with a look he couldn’t quite understand. But it seemed as if their apology was satisfactory enough for the large folk as he quickly turned his attention to the other kits in the group, so that was good! Anyway, Vermin wasn’t here to look at other folk all day. Vermin was here to see woolies so see woolies he shall do!

They were so cute as they bumbled about their field. Some grazing on the grass, others sleeping, others still caring for their little baby grubs. So big!So fluffy! Way bigger than he expected from just the picture on the whiteboard. And those pretty, pretty wings like stained glass panels adorning their backs! So cool! Though the most amazing thing that stuck out to him was...

—

“Whoa! Such huge eyes!” Was the first thing Fern fully heard upon finally catching up to her brother, gingerly hopping up onto the fence beside him. She hadn’t bothered running once he had sprinted away. He had never left her sight the whole time, after all, and it would be such a waste of energy to make herself out of breath that soon into their little trip. Especially if she were to need that stamina for if something else were to happen. Say, she needed to escape some kind of monster or actively save her brother’s life if he got too close to a woolie’s clutch. Yes, conserving energy was the best option here. No doubt about it. If there was one thing Fern took comfort and pride in, it was her forward thinking. Anyway, what was that her brother had just said?

“Those aren’t its eyes.” Fern spoke to correct her brother, only to be joined in unison by Juniper with the exact same phrase. She glared at the adult for a moment in disbelief. How dare this... this stranger correct her brother like that!? That was her job! HERS! That was- why was- No, no that wasn’t right. Why did that get under her skin so much? This wasn’t just some random person off of the street, this was a Circle of Moon representative. A qualified professional sent to teach the abandoned kits in the den. To teach... them. Yet her expression and mood soured even further as she was given a condescending “Oh! Very observant! Well spotted, Fern!” before the adult went right back to explaining the ins-and-outs of the decoy eyes to her brother. She didn’t even want to listen anymore as her attention flipped back to the fields themselves.

There was a nice breeze on the air that rustled the grass... or rather what was left of it. Those woolies sure did a number on the poor stuff. Need to be move to their adjacent pen soon presumably. Letting her eyes drift she couldn’t help but notice the beginnings of buds sprouting up at the base of the fence - tiny blue flowers. So small they made her paw look like a mountain, so fragile that they’d break with even the slightest of touches. Forget-me-nots. Strange. A little early for those to be blooming... with the snowfall yesterday she had expected them to stay dormant for another week yet though it was a lot warmer today... hopefully they wouldn’t suffer too much if there was an overnight frost today. She’d always had a soft spot for them... as one of the few tiny plants still in existence, there was just something special about being able to just share a space with them. Even if nobody else here seemed to notice their existence. At least she was there to appreciate them...

—

“Yes, those red spots are just decoy eyes hiding the real ones, which are those little black spots right there! You see them?” Vermin was practically hanging on every word that left the adult’s mouth. Wow, wow, wow! Learning was so much fun! He turned to stare at the woolies once more, staring closer and closer and much more carefully now until... THERE! There were little black spots! Oh, oh! And it blinked! IT BLINKED! “Vermin sees! He sees them! Sneaky eyes! Sneaky, sneaky!” The kit cried out excitedly, it was so obvious now but still so very, very cool! Yet as he turned to ask more questions, the adult was already talking to some other kits. How was he supposed to get answers now? Like... Could they see far with eyes like that? Can they use all of them? What did decoy even mean? Why didn’t the decoy eyes blink too? Could he have eyes like that? What would the world look like if he had eyes on his cheeks? Fern had three eyes now, maybe it was worth investigating by asking her...

“OK EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO PET A WOOLIE GET IN LINE!” Oh! Never mind the questions! Woolie time was now! Taking under a second to process which direction would be best to get into the line, he decided that launching himself over the fence and nearly catching his foot on the top of it was the best option. The midair readjustment causing him to land belly first on the ground with an unceremonious thud. But much in his usual fashion, Vermin seemed barely phased by it as he shook himself off and bounced right back to his feet.
“Careeeeefffuulllll...” the slightly concerned voice of his tail hissed from behind him, drawing his focus from the task at hand. Looking back at it, it almost seemed a little disoriented. He hadn’t smacked the floor that hard... had he? OH NO!
”Ah! Sorry, Gerald! I’ll warn you next time!”
”Next... tiiiimmme...”
Good, good, now that was cleared up... um... What was he doing again? OH YEAH! WOOLIES! Looking around it only took him a second to lock onto his target and start bounding toward the nearest woolie without a care in the world. Three, two, one... GO! He thought as he launched his body up into the air, plummeting into the side of the farm animal and quickly sinking into its surplus of wool. Said woolie barely even giving him a look in turn, not caring enough to pause its grazing on the perfect patch of grass for the sake of some kit. Vermin was right! They were so soft! How he was going to get down again? Unclear! But for now he was very content just to stay here forever.

2002 Words

40/113 Acorns

Description
“Woolies are a farm animal. Does anyone here know what we can get from them? ...uh. Yes! You there!”
“...wool?”
“Yes! Wool! Excellent work! Now can anyone tell me wh- oh! Hello there!” Juniper stopped her next question in its tracks as she noticed two more kits enter the room. Those had to be the two that weren’t accounted for when she and her son took the register. “You must beee...” leaning over to see the sheet on her desk. “Daffodil and Fern Wigglewhisker, right? I thought it was strange I was missing two.” She chuckled, before signalling toward an empty spot on the rug that everyone else was already sitting on. “Why don’t you take a seat. You two haven’t missed too much, luckily! My name is Juniper and this is Tyto. We’re here to teach you little ones about woolies today!” A smile crossed her face as she indicated toward the kit standing beside her. The contrast between the two kits was apparent just from the way they handled the simple task of sitting. Fern quietly dipping her head before carefully making her way to slowly set herself down on the spot and neatly crossed her legs. Whereas Vermin very quickly dove for the spot the moment it was pointed out, not even really sitting as he messily splayed his legs out in a semi-lay, semi-sit. It didn’t look particularly comfortable to an outsider’s eye and neither did the kit he’d just almost crashed into look impressed at all. But she could tell from his eyes that he was now entirely focused on the diagram of a woolie that her son - Tyto - was holding up for the kits to see.

“WOW! That looks really soft! Soft!” The brown kit blurted out loudly, eyes sparkling. He seemed to not notice as some of the other kits turned to give him a bit of a look, seemingly knowing he’d already misstepped. Fern noticed though... oh boy did she notice. Instinctively shuffling closer to her brother to wrap her tail around his back. Ears back as she warily returned the looks.
“Yes, they are soft. Though if you want to say something please put your hand up first, alright?”
“My hand...” he mumbled to himself looking at his paw. “OK!” A huge grin crossed his face as he stuck his hand as far in the air as he could.
“Yes, Daffodil?”
“Vermin wants to touch a woolie!”
“Oh, well, we will be visiting the woolies today. I’m sure if you’re all really gentle and good everyone will have a chance to pet one.” The Circle of Moon representative confirmed with a nod and a smile, “And who might Vermin be? Your... tail?”
“No, no, no. That’s Gerald. Vermin is Vermin and also is me!”
“I see. Would you prefer I use the name Vermin for you?” To this Vermin simply nodded. He nodded so hard in fact that he made himself feel a little dizzy but it was ok because Fern was there to steady his head... even if she did flinch back when the squiggly wigglies wriggled on her paw. “Alright then!”

The mini lesson on woolies continued for a short while longer until the adult felt they were ready to leave. Quickly instructing the children to get into pairs and stand in a big line. Through the halls, down the stairs, to the entrance of the tree and out into the streets. Every step carefully monitored by Juniper and Tyto as they marched onward like a trail of old-world ants. Stone pathing making way for dirt and grass, the scent of farmland - distinct yet distant - gradually intensifying until finally, they arrived.

—

As tense as she was, the familiar smells and sounds of what used to be her home brought her immense comfort. It was almost as if... as if they’d never. No, no. Don’t think about that. You can’t cry now. Biting her cheek to ground herself, she could hear the kits closer to the front of the line begin to chatter away again, excitement building as they must have caught sight of the fabled creature of the day. Beside her, her brother’s little body almost looked like it was going to explode as they reached that corner - that last boundary between his vision and the big fluffy livestock. Excitement bubbling and boiling until. Oh no. Fern quickly swiped her tail to hold his steady as he almost took the legs out from under the poor kit behind them. An action that she barely even had to think about and she was just about to relax again when... “thank... yooouuu...” a raspy whisper rattled though her very core.
“Ach-!” Let it go. LET IT GO! Ew, ew, EW!!! Fear piercing her heart she practically threw the tail out of her grip. She’d forgotten about that... that horrible thing. Though thankfully she didn’t have to look at it for long because just as quickly as she had to let go, her brother had tensed up like a coiled spring before launching himself into a full pelt sprint toward the fences the moment her grip loosened.

—

The wooden fence creaked in defiant protest as the body weight of one whole Vermin came crashing directly into it - startling poor Juniper in the process. “Hey, whoa, there little guy! Slow down. You’ll break the fence if you’re not careful. Don’t want those woolies escaping, now do we?”
“A-Ah... oops! Big oops!” A sheepish grin crossed the brown kit’s face as he looked over at the adult who was staring back at him with a look he couldn’t quite understand. But it seemed as if their apology was satisfactory enough for the large folk as he quickly turned his attention to the other kits in the group, so that was good! Anyway, Vermin wasn’t here to look at other folk all day. Vermin was here to see woolies so see woolies he shall do!

They were so cute as they bumbled about their field. Some grazing on the grass, others sleeping, others still caring for their little baby grubs. So big!So fluffy! Way bigger than he expected from just the picture on the whiteboard. And those pretty, pretty wings like stained glass panels adorning their backs! So cool! Though the most amazing thing that stuck out to him was...

—

“Whoa! Such huge eyes!” Was the first thing Fern fully heard upon finally catching up to her brother, gingerly hopping up onto the fence beside him. She hadn’t bothered running once he had sprinted away. He had never left her sight the whole time, after all, and it would be such a waste of energy to make herself out of breath that soon into their little trip. Especially if she were to need that stamina for if something else were to happen. Say, she needed to escape some kind of monster or actively save her brother’s life if he got too close to a woolie’s clutch. Yes, conserving energy was the best option here. No doubt about it. If there was one thing Fern took comfort and pride in, it was her forward thinking. Anyway, what was that her brother had just said?

“Those aren’t its eyes.” Fern spoke to correct her brother, only to be joined in unison by Juniper with the exact same phrase. She glared at the adult for a moment in disbelief. How dare this... this stranger correct her brother like that!? That was her job! HERS! That was- why was- No, no that wasn’t right. Why did that get under her skin so much? This wasn’t just some random person off of the street, this was a Circle of Moon representative. A qualified professional sent to teach the abandoned kits in the den. To teach... them. Yet her expression and mood soured even further as she was given a condescending “Oh! Very observant! Well spotted, Fern!” before the adult went right back to explaining the ins-and-outs of the decoy eyes to her brother. She didn’t even want to listen anymore as her attention flipped back to the fields themselves.

There was a nice breeze on the air that rustled the grass... or rather what was left of it. Those woolies sure did a number on the poor stuff. Need to be move to their adjacent pen soon presumably. Letting her eyes drift she couldn’t help but notice the beginnings of buds sprouting up at the base of the fence - tiny blue flowers. So small they made her paw look like a mountain, so fragile that they’d break with even the slightest of touches. Forget-me-nots. Strange. A little early for those to be blooming... with the snowfall yesterday she had expected them to stay dormant for another week yet though it was a lot warmer today... hopefully they wouldn’t suffer too much if there was an overnight frost today. She’d always had a soft spot for them... as one of the few tiny plants still in existence, there was just something special about being able to just share a space with them. Even if nobody else here seemed to notice their existence. At least she was there to appreciate them...

—

“Yes, those red spots are just decoy eyes hiding the real ones, which are those little black spots right there! You see them?” Vermin was practically hanging on every word that left the adult’s mouth. Wow, wow, wow! Learning was so much fun! He turned to stare at the woolies once more, staring closer and closer and much more carefully now until... THERE! There were little black spots! Oh, oh! And it blinked! IT BLINKED! “Vermin sees! He sees them! Sneaky eyes! Sneaky, sneaky!” The kit cried out excitedly, it was so obvious now but still so very, very cool! Yet as he turned to ask more questions, the adult was already talking to some other kits. How was he supposed to get answers now? Like... Could they see far with eyes like that? Can they use all of them? What did decoy even mean? Why didn’t the decoy eyes blink too? Could he have eyes like that? What would the world look like if he had eyes on his cheeks? Fern had three eyes now, maybe it was worth investigating by asking her...

“OK EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO PET A WOOLIE GET IN LINE!” Oh! Never mind the questions! Woolie time was now! Taking under a second to process which direction would be best to get into the line, he decided that launching himself over the fence and nearly catching his foot on the top of it was the best option. The midair readjustment causing him to land belly first on the ground with an unceremonious thud. But much in his usual fashion, Vermin seemed barely phased by it as he shook himself off and bounced right back to his feet.
“Careeeeefffuulllll...” the slightly concerned voice of his tail hissed from behind him, drawing his focus from the task at hand. Looking back at it, it almost seemed a little disoriented. He hadn’t smacked the floor that hard... had he? OH NO!
”Ah! Sorry, Gerald! I’ll warn you next time!”
”Next... tiiiimmme...”
Good, good, now that was cleared up... um... What was he doing again? OH YEAH! WOOLIES! Looking around it only took him a second to lock onto his target and start bounding toward the nearest woolie without a care in the world. Three, two, one... GO! He thought as he launched his body up into the air, plummeting into the side of the farm animal and quickly sinking into its surplus of wool. Said woolie barely even giving him a look in turn, not caring enough to pause its grazing on the perfect patch of grass for the sake of some kit. Vermin was right! They were so soft! How he was going to get down again? Unclear! But for now he was very content just to stay here forever.

2002 Words

40/113 Acorns