[se] that is eternity

Lena

and sweetest in the gale is heard
and sore must be the storm

Lena, curious by nature and nosey at her worst, flew away from the festival proportions on rosy wings and semblances of freedom, plants tucked within her modest talons. It didn’t take her long to breeze over tar pits and puddles, but she was more or less intrigued by the swamps down below – hoping, by some chance, to catch the gilled musk deer in its natural habitat.

And considering she’d grabbed far too many herbs, maybe some more life could be placed here – beneficial for all.

It took her a few moments of cautious, hesitant, downward spiraling, utilizing her senses to ensure nothing too predacious or carnivorous was about (she wouldn’t want to come across gore crows or blind swamp rats in her current state – though, she supposed, she could always compel them away if need be).

Upon landing, she came along the edge of the boggy marsh, and started digging in the wet soil, scratching away at the plentiful earth.

that could abash the little bird
that kept so many warm

It hadn't been Hadama's intention to come into the swamp. Even if he wasn't constrained to saltwater like his shifted form, the thick waters were still unpleasant and he was unfamiliar with the local predators. But sometimes curiosity or some impulse tuned to Caido called, and he had learned to simply follow it.

He still carried his jar of seagrass as he swam through the murky waters, head up to breathe the air - which was far more pleasant than the water - and to be able to see his surroundings as he passed the border from salt swamp to brackish and finally into freshwater. The cacophony of life in the trees was full of new sounds and the fleshy swamp flowers in their Flowerbirth finery were in full bloom. There was a beauty here, even if it was a strange and oppressively humid beauty, and one such epitome of it caught his attention.

A bird, bright and colorful as a flower itself, was scratching at the soil and Hadama paused to watch, bemused, and wondering what manner of insect or seed it was attempting to dig up for its dinner.