Fluffy was going for a walk at about 9:00 am. He usually goes for a walk every day at this time. It’s the same routine, same place as well. Just around the Woody Meadows forest where me and him live, maybe into Cinder Snap Village for something to eat. 

This time, he decided to go somewhere different. Fluffy brought a basket of fish with him, in case he got hungry. It didn’t seem like Fluffy was keeping track of where he was going. He didn’t really think he needed to, considering he knew the outside area pretty well. So, thinking nothing of it, he let himself get lost in thought. Soon enough, the more and more he kept brushing his feet against the rough, gravel path, he found himself getting tired. The first thing he did when he noticed was stop for a break, then, as he looked to the eastern sky, with the sun blazing and the thick heat beginning to make itself known, he decided to head back now. His walks are usually an hour long, from 9:00 to 10:00. He always liked to get home before me and Kumoto wake up, so he could hang out with us when we watched TV.

Looking at the watch on his left wing, he realised it took him about half an hour to get to where he was, so assumedly it would take half an hour to get back. He lifted his petit, feathery head to see where he was, turning his head from left to right, before realising he had no idea where he was. He realised he should’ve been more attentive to where he was, at least for today, but it just never crossed his mind that he’d get lost, especially since he always takes the same path every day. He stood up from the log he was sitting on to look around, he started walking around the area, shielding his eyes from the sun, but after a few minutes of this he concluded that he should probably ask someone for directions, but it didn’t look like there was anyone near.

“Hello?” Said Fluffy outloud, in hopes there might be someone nearby.

“Howdy, partner.” He looked at the bush that was directly in front of him, which was where that voice came from. It was a bright green bush, with leaves all about. He had no idea who would be living there. Maybe a mouse? Or a Snake?

“Hello? Who’s that?” It was then that a purple cat wearing a cowboy hat jumped out. You might think that, since he’s a bird, he’d be afraid of cats and other animals part of the feline branch, but it’s actually quite the opposite. Ever since half of all animals learned to be civilized, it’s not unnatural to see animals be friends with species that used to eat them. You might be thinking though, what do these animals eat instead? Well, for those who are able to eat vegetables and fruits, they can. Some choose to eat things like fish, though some say that it’s still wrong, considering they’re animals too. There are also ways to make artificial meat, with science nowadays. But, not everyone has access to that technology, there is also still the option of eating each other, just not in the ways you’d think. Some animals sign contracts that say that once they die, their body will be donated towards feeding other meat eating animals. It’s quite similar to what happened with vampires in our world. Long ago, vampires would go around drinking people’s blood, but after having a conversation with a vampire, the people decided they weren’t the bad guys, considering blood is literally their food supply, and if they didn’t drink it, they’d die. So instead of hunting them down and trying to kill them, they worked out a system where people can donate their blood and sometimes bodies towards helping feed vampires.

“Name's Purple Cat, but you can call me Purps.” Purps had a strange air to him. He carefully walked towards Fluffy, with his tail waving in the air, and his back up straight.

“What brings you to this part of town?” He asked. Fluffy was stunned to say the least. He guessed just seeing someone when he was lost, and where he thought there was no one, felt kinda weird. Purps looked Fluffy up and down as he approached him, unsure of what to make of this strange bird he had stumbled upon.

“Well, to be completely honest, I’m lost.” Purps looked off into the distance. For a moment, he was completely still except for his ears twitching, as if sensing something Fluffy couldn’t see just yet. Still looking off into the distance, he replied.

“Where do you live?” Fluffy grabbed some fish from his basket and ate it. They were sardines, and in case you were wondering, these were artificially made fish, not real ones.

“Woody Meadows forest. What are you looking at?” Fluffy tilted his head to maybe see if he could see what Purps was staring at, to no success though. He turned around with a cheery look on his face, that seemed like he was trying to reassure me that everything was fine. But it was convincing enough for Fluffy to not ask any more questions.

“Don’t worry bout it. It’s nothing.” He turned around so he was fully facing Fluffy, eyes closed with a smile on his face. The sun was still rising, and it shone on him perfectly.

“Now, you were saying you live in Woody Meadows forest?” Fluffy put his wing behind his head as he was feeling awkward. He almost forgot that he was lost when speaking to Purps. Something about Purps made him feel comfortable. He knew they’d just met, but he felt really safe, like Fluffy was already at home. Despite this though, Fluffy knew to never fully trust someone he’d just met, even if that person made him feel comfortable, so he wasn’t letting his guard down just yet..

“Oh, yeah I do.” Purps sat down in front of Fluffy on the dirt path, tail still flickering.

“Oh you’re a long way from that.”

Stated Purps. Fluffy felt as a gentle breeze went by, lifting his feathers and his fur for just a moment, as he listened to Purps speak.

“I could draw you a map if you want.” ‘Okay, this was good’, thought Fluffy. He wasn’t sure what he was gonna draw it with, but as long as Fluffy had a map, he'd be good to go.

“Oh yes! A map!” He enthused. He was excited to finally get back home. It was a tiresome walk. He really needed to see his friends again.

“It’ll cost ya though.” ‘Oh.’ Fluffy thought to himself. ‘I don’t have much on me, just my basket of fish. I’m not sure if he thinks I have money on me, I mean there’s not many places I could keep it, but hopefully we can work out some kind of arrangement.’

“Oh, uh. How much?” Fluffy asked, precariously, as he hoped Purps wasn’t asking for money.

“One of those fishes!” He pointed one of his paws towards the rattan picnic basket Fluffy was holding, filled to the brim with sardines. ‘Well that was lucky. I didn’t think I was going to eat them all anyways.’ Thought Fluffy.

He gave him a sardine. After Purps ate it, Fluffy watched as he walked to the nearest tree. He stood on his hind legs with his front legs on the tree, and, using his teeth, he ripped off a large piece of bark. Then, after much searching where Fluffy couldn’t see, he came back carrying the piece of bark on his back, and in his mouth a pointy rock. Fluffy assumed he was looking for the rock when he couldn’t see him, since those were the only things he had with him.

He placed the bark down in front of Fluffy, on the footpath, then using the rock, he started to draw a map.

Once he was done, Fluffy could see more clearly where he was. He was in between a town called Frusty Grove, and a town called Huat Village. Purps told Fluffy that Huat Village was inhabited by mice and lizards living in the trees, which was why I probably didn’t notice when I walked by.

“Alright, so we’re here.” He pointed to a line on the map.

“And ya wanna get here.” He pointed to another white line, with our village's name on it, then, looking at Fluffy, he clarified;

“If you keep going south past Huat Village, you’ll meet another village called Luta. Ya wanna turn left once ya get there. Now, ya see, there’s another village you’ll see called Vavvy, and ya have three options of roads to choose from. Make sure ya choose the middle one, ya hear me?”

He looked at Fluffy to see if he was listening. Fluffy nodded.

“Alright, cause if ya get mixed up and choose one of the other paths, that’ll put ya way off track. You’ll know you’re goin the right way if ya walk past another village called Angelica Huk. Once ya get past that, you go left.” Fluffy thought from where he was showing me on the map, he was almost done.

“Okay, so you just keep followin’ that road, and ya there.” Now he’d finished. It was a lot of information for Fluffy to take in, especially this early in the morning, but he knew he could handle it.

“Great. How long will that take?”

Asked Fluffy.
“Uh. Ages.” Fluffy didn’t really care as long as he got home. But, the more time he spent with Purps, the more he started to fear. He noticed that not once did Purps mention where he lived, or even what he was doing here. Then again, Fluffy didn’t ask, but the more he thought back on their first interaction, the more he thought; did he live anywhere? Maybe he lived in the bush he found him in, but that’s not really a home. Or, I guess it technically is a home if someone’s living there, but it wasn’t a good home. Purps deserved better.

“Purps, can I ask you something?” He asked cautiously, as he didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable..
“Ask away, partner.” Replied Purps, filled with joy at every conversation they had..

“Where do you live?”

Fluffy could see an expression of sorrow wash over his face, even though he tried to hide it. His eyebrows quivered the more he thought about it.

‘Maybe I shouldn't've asked that question.’ Fluffy thought. But, there was no going back.

“I kinda live all over. Never really had one place to stay.” He could tell this was a sensitive subject. Fluffy was ready to stop talking about it, but he continued.

“You’re lucky, y’know. You get to live in a house, whereas me, I’m just left to roam.”

Despite what he was saying, he didn’t sound the least bit upset. It sounded more like he was making a statement of reality, rather than jealousy.

Fluffy was about to take the map and go, when Purps’ ears perked up again. This time, Fluffy could hear what he was hearing, but still not see anything. He could hear people walking, or I guess running, then gunshots.

“Get down.” Purps quietly exclaimed as he grabbed him and forced me behind the nearest tree.

“Wh-what’s happening? Who’re they?” He shivered, before Purps gave an explanation.

“Poachers. Quiet now, don’t move either. Those motherfucker’ll shoot down anything that moves.” Fluffy was behind Purps as he quietly peeked out from behind the tree to see where they were. I could hear them chasing something, then gunshots.

He ducked behind the tree as they came closer.