When the weather in Boreas had proved to be too cold for the winged male and his companions had turned their sights south. He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Bellamy since they had parted ways at the beginning of spring… and truthfully he was incredibly worried for her. Gav knew she was tough, sure, but she tended to be reckless even with Whiskers and Ears with her. He could only hope that she hadn’t gotten into more trouble than she could handle…

His ears lowered thoughtfully as he stepped out of the den into the sunlight. Jessie and James had been left behind in the small, secure fox set he had found… He was fairly confident it was abandoned and the previous occupant wouldn’t be coming back for it. Although… there was the risk another critter might come for a new home in this lush land. With all the herbs growing in this land it was a prime location for healers such as himself. In fact that was why he was out and about this morn – he planned to start gathering some of them to refill his stores now that he’d found a place to settle.

The young man took another step forward and stretched downward before spreading out his wings in a full body stretch. The sunlight felt absolutely wonderful upon his fur and feathers! He had missed the warmer weather and while it was not as hot as one might expect for a summer it was certainly better than the temperatures he had endured during the spring. Even the flora here seemed endlessly grateful for the more proper temperatures as various flowers and other plants grew upwards towards the rays of light.

‘I’ve missed this sense of calm…’ Gavroche thought to himself. ‘Without the threat of my own kin looming… without having to worry about a deal to slavers…’ The calico male closed his eyes. ‘When was the last time I’ve truly felt this happy? This… safe? Like things are finally going to be okay for a change?’ He managed to smile. ‘Maybe… this is a sign the deities are finally giving me a reprieve from their trials.’

He began to pad forward, his ears perked forward, with a smile upon his face. It was still early enough in the day that he wouldn’t need to worry about hurrying his search for useful herbs. The question was, however, what to look for? He had seen several useful things in the area… all he needed to do was stumble across one of them and begin picking.

Segin trotted out toward the gardens that sprawled out near the castle grounds, one of the sacks that he and the other members of Indigo’s group used frequently to gather supplies slung across his back. It was an absolutely beautiful day and he wasn’t about to waste it sitting inside! He thought about asking Indigo or maybe Syanna to come with him, but he was trying to develop a little bit of independence. Well, healthy independence anyway. After living with his family up until the point that he was abandoned by them and then only finding peace with his new band, he realized that he didn’t really know how to be on his own. He loved being with his new purple family and he would always pick having company over being alone, but this was a good chance to make himself useful while the others were doing other things.

He wove his way though the rows of plants, trees, and shrubbery as he moved though the garden, an easy smile lingering on his features. He picked a few herbs here and there, some marigolds, some dandelions, some motherwort - any herbs that he knew were useful and that they might go through semi quickly. His bag was filling up pretty quickly, but even when he did fill up his bag he would probably linger out here for a while. It was bright and sunny, a perfect summer day. As he was exploring the gardens and picking the herbs he found he caught the scent of someone nearby and his silver gaze popped up to look for the stranger curiously.

His eyes landed on a smaller male and his eyes widened with surprise. The other man was covered in a patchwork of colors and was noticeably smaller than himself, but that wasn’t really the shocking part. He almost didn’t believe his eyes so he walked toward the stranger, unabashedly approaching him. He reached for the man’s wing, petting his paw across his wing and gasping with delighted surprise when he felt the feathers under his paw pads. ”They are real!” he exclaimed with a grin, his dark tail wagging behind him. He looked to the other male’s face, still grinning happily. ”I’m Segin! Nice to meet you.”

Segin Epsilon