Other Worlds had heard of these... alternate realms. From her very first Dream, from her very name, she had known that there was more than the Swamp, more than the sky, more than the desert and the mountains.

In her reclusive ways, she had missed the markets and festivals - but this she heard of, a night of falling stars led her onto a new path. A new Journey.

She stepped from the familiar lands into a strange forest. The trees were very tall, tops lost to mist. Moving forward, she pinwheeled arms? And fell down onto ... hands? Blinking in surprise and stared over her new form.

Long hair flowed along her new upright form, and she smiled slighty. Standing and moving about - getting used to her new balance and dexterity.

"Well, this is not TOO bad. But.... I KNEW IT!" she crowed joyfully to the trees. Other worlds! And she was in one!

Approaching buildings, she sniffed and smelled something.... magical. A warm, inviting scent. A sign read "Starstags" and she pushed open the glass door into a wooden room full of plush seats, small tables, and a roaring fire. Sitting near it, she lifted an empty book and a pen left there, turning them over in her hands.

A tall one with pink upright hair approached, smiling, polite. "Greetings and welcome to Starstags! Have you been here before?"

Other paused and shook her head slightly, "This is all very strange, but somehow... exciting."

The pink haired one explained the wonders of coffee, of tea, and offered to bring something she was sure to love.

Other sipped coffee and opened the book, knowing it was to record ones thoughts, one dreams, and decided to begin scrawling out her adventures - beginning with her very first Dream. The one of worlds within worlds, stars swirling between them - and her exploring every onward.

It was time to Begin.

Entering the small cafe, Spring bounced on her toes. She had run around the forest, bounding from hilltop to the tall grass below. It was strange, but completely wonderful.

Finding the Crossroards swiftly, she eagerly went through the first doors she saw, and saw a brilliantly haired girl scribbling away in a book, but was distracted by the many empty tables and the grand window overlooking the meadow.

Moving to an empty table, she looked out the glass as she sipped her first hot drink and pondered these new woods. Rumors were flying about secret doors in secret magical trees. Gazing at her reflection, she took note of her new features.

Pale green skin, long lush green hair with antlers peeking up and and through. She was still herself, but there was something to say about this Coffee! It even camed Iced, whatever that meant. As well as these wonderful long sweaters, tall boots, and cozy jeans.

Gaze settled on a board of posters announcing things to do. A feast, a race, whatever Karaoke was, each with a description of the grand Tree that lead to those realms. Perhaps a new way to make friends, she grinned happily.

Sitting still MUCH too long, she bounced over to a chair to the only other person sitting at a table. She was busy, but perhaps she would like to chat a little before she went to the Realms.

"Hi! Im Spring Awakens! Coffee is amazing, what are you writing?" she bubbled over, breathlessly.

Being very much a wanderer by nature, Rambler had taken to the Limitless Forest like a fish to water. She hadn’t originally understood what it was (still didn’t really) but the call of the forest was a powerful one. It was a sheer marvel. Like breathing in magic. From one step to the other, she seemed able to find strange and wondrous things, whole groves overtaken by winter around one corner and then full-bloom spring in the next.

And many a special tree that called out in peculiar ways. Like the one with the hive that buzzed welcomingly or the orchid and vine laden one that made the very air heavy and hot. All were new worlds to explore, she eventually discovered.

But she kept walking instead, around and around and around, until -

The crossroads welcomed her.

Rambler wandered the area first until she ended up at the entrance to a warm abode, full of peculiar scents both bitter and sweet. It made her stomach rumble and her mouth water and Rambler wasn’t about to deny herself a nice little break.

She did her best to wipe off the dirt from her travels and then used her hand - her hand? - to open the doorway. The warmth from the hearth hit her first and she sighed gratefully as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her to keep the heat in.

It seemed she wasn’t the only one here which was great because there was a lot she wanted to talk about.

“Hello everyone,” Rambler greeted.

She was changed here, as far as she could tell. Upright, which was a bit weird. With flexible hands. But her hair was still wild, littered with leaves and twigs and her smile was still bright and warm.

“What’s that awesome smell?”

Starrydance wrote:

Spring Awakens gasped happily, not even quite noticing Other Worlds hadnt yet responded, whirling around in her chair.

"Hello! They call it coffee! It comes hot! or Cold! and in lots of flavors!" she bounded towards the new comer, and linked arms with hers.

"I am Sprin.... oh! I read there! Here you pick a new name. I am Isabella, here. I love how that name just.... rings. I just LOVE your hair!"




Closing her journal, Once smiled up too and rose much more calmly. Approaching, she said, "A new Name? Hmm... I shall be ...Jacquelyn here then. The coffee is very good. I had cinnamon in mine."

Waving to an empty chair, she sat again and tucked her book in her jackets oversized pocket.

Now noticing the flyers, she read over them with a tilted head, golden eyes bright with curiosity and potential.

Ruriska

“Coffee?” Rambler exclaimed, testing the new, unfamiliar word. “That sounds great!” She took the arm linking and immediate contact in stride, stepping in close, hips bumping as she matched her stance to accommodate having a new friend on her arm. “I’ll try hot and cold to see which one is better!”

Her hand flew to her own hair, patting at once had been something that was just there. It wasn’t easy to tend to your looks when you only had hooves to work with. Now that she had hands she could plunge them into the depths and find all sorts of things. Oh dear.

“Thanks, uh, Isabella. I love your hair too. It’s real nice. Like hanging moss. Looks so soft.” She laughed. “Pretty sure I’ve got birds living in mine.”

She nodded politely at the other kin with her much more sedate approach. “Nice to meet you, Isabella and Jacquelyn. Normally I’d go by Rambler but,” she scratched her chin idly, deep in thought. “I guess... Abigail sounds kinda nice? Not sure where it’s come from but that’ll do. Abbie for short.”

Starrydance wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2024 4:24 am

"Abbie! That is wonderful, as is your hair. The leaves and sticks are marvelous, Im almost jealous! One iced, one hot! Incoming!" she bounced away joyfully, to grab two drinks.




"Would you like to ... sit?" Jacquelyn smiled a bit shy, but sat comfortable. "I do not have hair, in the swamp. I have found myself also jealous of those with such hair, I was not so blessed."

She lifts a long curl of galaxy-tinted hair and smiles wider, "But if I could find a way to have it there too, I would certainly not complain. What have you found most interesting, here, in this land of mysteries?"

Ruriska

She certainly wasn’t used to such a burst of compliments and her cheeks took on an unfamiliar warmth. “One walk with me and you’ll have plenty of leaves and sticks to match,” she told Isabella before she bounced away.

Rambler was grateful for the seat offered and sunk down into it with a pleased sigh. It really was a nice atmosphere. A realm of comfort a far cry from what the swamp usually offered. Not that it was bad and being kin-shaped made one well-suited for the environment but there really was an awful lot of mud.

“It’s not all that great,” she told Jacquelyn, plucking a few leaves out of her hair and flicking them idly at the table. “Having hair here and not there seems like the best way to do it. It gets caught in everything, trust me.”

She certainly would have minded a full shave.

“Most interesting? That’s a big one. It’s all pretty crazy.” She stretched out her hand, splayed fingers, just to wriggle them. “It’s weird being me but not quite me. And there’s a lot out there, in the forest. I think there’s far more worlds than we could ever imagine. Isn’t that crazy? You could explore forever and not find the end!”

Her eyes gleamed.

“And what am I there? How many potential me’s are there?”

Starrydance wrote: ↑Sat Jun 08, 2024 2:20 am

Jacquelyn gasped and then laughed, "Well, I am admittedly very biased as my name is quite actually "Other Worlds Than These". My first dream was of things such as this, other worlds where we were who and what we are but .... different. And perhaps in these different places, would WE be different, or are we always who we are?"

She looked thoughtful and then nodding slowly, "I think we are who we are, but those who we surround ourselves with make us grow. Grow together! But the only way to know for sure is to explore, to see, and find ourselves along the way" she ducked her head, hiding behind long bangs at such a speech.



Bouncing right back into the silence, Isabella presented on a darling tray two cups - one oak brown and a latte cup, foam and a cinnamon leaf design atop. The other was tall, creamy and brown sugar swirled within.

"Hot! And cold! This one is... cinnamon oat latte, and the other is brown sugar deluxe!" she placed it before Abbie and settles happily back with her own drink.

Ruriska

“Sounds like the MotherFather was giving you a message in advance,” Rambler laughed. “That’s pretty cool. Must be neat getting to live your dream.” It was an interesting thought, on how the physical form affected your mental self. Were you always who you were regardless of how you appeared? Rambler felt that she was.

She nodded along with the little speech, her lips tilted in a smile. “Yeah, I agree. Sounds like you’ve thought about this a lot.”

With Isabella’s arrival, Abigail leaned forward and gave a delight ‘woah!’. “This looks awesome! Thanks, Isa! You’re the best.” She made a show of hovering a hand over each cup, trying to decide which one to drink first and eventually settled on the hot one.

She gathered it up, enjoying the warmth.

“I think that’s what I wanna do,” she said, continuing the conversation. “I want to grow with others and explore as much as I can. You’re real smart, Jacq.”

Then she took a sip.

Oh. Delicious.

“It’s sweet! And so warm! Like a hug on the inside!”

Starrydance wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 2:27 am

Isabella wiggled happily, "I do too! This is my first wanderings here, and I want to try the Night Market first. I am not so sure about the racing or the puzzles, I would rather see what others have created first - although I would night might hanging around at the end of the race to see the winners!"

Blushing brightly at the compliment, Jacquelyn nodded more quietly and then added, "I think I will try the Racing, actually. I always think I will go to an event and try to do something adventurous and then kind of.... stay home. Enough of that for me, for ... for now anyway."

She hmmm and lifts the journal, holding to her chest, "Besides, Ive heard of others have grown and changed in new ways, of late. Perhaps the MotherFather have been patient enough, for me to explore and see all that awaits us."

Ruriska

“There’s racing as well?” Abbie’s brows arched up in wonder. What sort of place was this? Who had made it? The MotherFather obviously. But why? She’d never been the type to think much about her place in the world but now she was forced to not only think about her place in this world but in many others.

The simple part of her heart longed to return to the woods, to follow a winding stream and push through the brambles. There was nothing confusing there. Nothing to think about but putting one hoof in front of the other.

She took another sip of the coffee and then popped it down, replacing it with the cold version. “If anything is going to grow and change you, it’s this place. I guess now is the best time to come out of your shell and experience things. Who knows how long,” she waved a hand around, “this will last.”

Finally, Rambler tried the next drink. It was delightfully cold, like melted winter snow and the sweetness. Oh, she could drink this forever!

“How is this one even better? It’s so good!”

"Oh! We didnt try the COLD ones, let me go grab two!" Isabella dashed back to the counter to flirt with the pink haired barista.

Watching her amused, Jacquelyn said thoughtfully, "Well, perhaps we could all wander and explore - and meet back at sundown to compare notes? Well... hopefully... sundown happens at the same... It would have to? Right?"

She stared off a little startled, wondering if TIME moved differently here too.

Ruriska wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2024 4:18 am

“Yeah, get yourself some, they’re great!” She cheered Isabella on.

With a pleased sigh, Abbie settled back with her drink, contented and happy, taking a little sips every now and then, already feeling the energy and sugar rush settling under her skin and getting her heart racing. This was going to keep her walking for days.

“Hm, I think, this is the sort of place where you find the kin you need or arrive where you need at exactly the right time,” she gave a shrug and a chuckle, “well, maybe. We can hope. All I know is that I’m going to keep exploring, go far into the trees as long as I can handle and I guess I’ll come back eventually.”

Maybe she would check out the other realms too but what she really wanted was to see more of the limitless forest itself. Go deeper than anyone else. What would she find out there? Would she even be able to come back? How exciting!

But she also had friends now, which was nice. Somebody to return to, if only once. To greet once more, share a drink and a chat. Flippant would be so surprised to find his wild wanderer sister actually staying still long enough to make friends for once.

She would have to bring him here too.

He would love this place. Especially the hands. Flippant would fit in so well, legs crossed, dressed flamboyantly, lips quirked in a smile as he took a sip from some concoction and flirted with everyone around him.

Starrydance wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2024 6:59 am