The Veilwood Haven

He catches her zoning out "you sure your fine what's going on in that mind of yours huh"

SaraBella smiles brighly "im sure..." she changes the subject. "so...we taking Nori then?...."

"yea we are taking nori for the day and we'll having fun doing what we can I guess right nori?"

Elenore perks up and nods enthusiastically. "we can get ice cream and watch movies and get popcorn and m'ms and we can maybe go to the park and play and....." she kept rambling, she was very excited and happy.

"Haha okay slow down nori we will get to it but what movie are you wanting to watch maybe we could get a special way to watch it?" He winks at sarbella

Lizbeth is like mesmerized, never did cleaning go so fast.The doe is used to clean her mess, she often gets into messy trouble due to her clumsiness. But here, with the snap of fingers... all is clean. Kalvath should pass more often like that, Lizbeth grins.
The doe smiles at the couple's proposition to take out Elenore.
"That is so friendly of yours, but Elenore is no burden at all." She looks at the kid jumping around like a fresh born fawn, "But I think that one is very interested in something with you both. I never went to the movies, but I will just take your advice and settle myself in my tub outside and enjoy a moment in a bath. That's my 'movies', watch nature go by, listen, look, smell and feel that nature around, one can even feel it when a soft wind tickles your fur... " Lizbeth realizes that she's daydreaming, maybe she really needs a break. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to get absent. So, Elenor, you want to go with these two? I think uncle Kalvath has an idea of something like the movies, am I wrong?" she winks to the mage with a grin.

(Continued from the forest.)

At first, Julian didn't believe what his eyes were showing him. He was watching through foliage from a distance, having approached the huts carefully, silently, so silent that his own ears -- the extra sensitive ones atop his head, not his human ones -- could barely pick up on his footsteps. But he knew what he saw was real when he caught the scents.

Something canine, and vulpine, and rabbit-like, and something very, very distinctly doe. So then it was true... He was not the only animalistic human after all!

He carefully rose from his surveillance crouch and stepped into the clearing between the huts. He pulled his beanie off his head, squinting one eye shut from the sheer discomfort his dog ears had to endure beneath it. And not only his ears; his entire body was tired from his trip.

'Um... hey,' he said with a cautious little wave. 'Sorry to disturb. As animal-person-or-something to animal-person, d'you happen to have a spare bed or couch I can crash on?'

Nearby, a giant Pangolin with nothing but a lochmara jabot with a golden middle around her neck and a seaweed-like tie around her tail sat on a chair drinking some ginger tea she has just made a few minutes ago. Her long claws carefully fit around the cup as she sipped. Her mahogany scales shined slightly.

She heard a newcomer approach a group, and distinctly watched the newcomer and the group with curiosity.

“Some things never change around here…” the pangolin mumbled under her breath, sipping her piping hot ginger tea again.

From outside a shy voice can be heard, a call for help. Lizbeth’s protective instincts immediately get that doe in alert. She looks through her window and sees in the middle of the the place a person, an exhausted person, canine ears pointing at her.
Lizbeth was just about to take her needs to prepare her bath, Kalvath, SaraBella and Elenore were savoring some strawberry-pancakes making plans for the day. The doe hushes outside.
She can see her closest neighbor, Muphyll the Pangolin, sipping as usual her tea on front porch. A little wave to the scaled girl and Lizbeth presents herself in front of that lost ‘animal’, no matter if this could be a predator or else, an ‘animal’ in need.
Lizbeth’s tail is flared and that bright white side is shown, a sign of alertness.
“Hello, do you need help?”

His eyes darted between the woman on the porch and the newly emerged doe. Seeing these people was admittedly a little ennerving. Maybe it was the matte glinting of the pangolin's scales, or her claws softly scraping the glass. Or maybe he was simply not used to seeing people who were even more animalistic than him, to the point they literally had no human skin. And he thought his ears and hideable tail were a lot...

'You sound like you get a lot of visitors? Or, well, refugees, depending how you see it...' he thought out loud. Then he turned his attention to the doe. 'Yeah. A bed would be lovely, or a couch. Food, if you have any to spare.'

He readjusted the backpack slung over his shoulder. It was an emergency pack of sorts, with a bunch of clothes and food and water, in case he ever went on the run without prior preparation. For years, he hadn't had to make use of it. Now it was the only thing that got him through the past week.

There was only one problem: food was finite, and his stash was starting to run out. While his body got to shoulder the weight of exhaustion, it was his mind that carried the dread of spending more time in the wilderness, all alone.

'I won't cause you any trouble, I promise. I just... I'm exhausted from running away. And I'll do anything to repay the favour. And I'm also out of food, and-'

Gah, he was blabbering again. Even when all his energy was invested in survival over eloquence.

Ah, the young doe waved. And politely, Muphyll waved back to her neighbour. She watched from her porch as the doe approached the newcomer and the newcomer seemed to be in a… state of hysteria, to say the least.

So, after finding herself, Muphyll got up from the chair plush seat and bound down the stairs, and approached the doe and the newcomer. Muphyll is taller than the average pangolin, standing at least 5’4”, and with her cup still around her claw, she flatly told the newcomer, “You can stay here. No need to repay anything.”

And without any hesitation, she gave the last remaining ginger tea in her pristine cup to the newcomer.

“Drink up,” the pangolin said, her stoic voice eyes piercing the newcomer.

Lizbeth calmly stays next to that newcomer, "I haven't been here for long, but yes apparently many refugees strand here, the only place where people like me are not rejected. I myself came living here as a young rabbit was in need of a home. I'm sure a place for you to stay will be found," Lizbeth turns around to present her 'new' house, "This place was offered to me and I feel very secure here."

Meanwhile the pangolin approached and in her usual more abrupt way, welcomes this seemingly man with canine features. Lizbeth nods with a smile, that scaled anteater might appear more brisk and harsh, but the deer knows that she has a golden heart.
"It's ok, nobody will harm you here, especially not if you're chased by humans." She respectfully waits for Julian to taste Muphyll's tea, knowing how well her tea tastes.

"You're out of food, in that case, you're lucky if ever you want a pancake with strawberries, I just made some for me and Elenore. SaraBella and Kalvath are inside too. SaraBella is the person to ask if ever there's a free space for you. Everything is shared here, and you're welcome. My name is Lizbeth, Lizbeth Redwood."

“Muphyll Tecpurba,” the pangolin greeted gruffly, but followed Lizbeth’s example. Yes, she was read like a book—the pangolin’s stoic and serious nature hides something golden. To be described, Muphyll is an egg in a sea of rocks; surrounded by the harshness of her scales is something soft within.

Despite this personality, her hardness of her scales show she is a young pangolin—at least 21 of human years. A baby pangolin’s scales would be as thick as a human fingernail but just as soft as a pillow. Whilst an older pangolin’s scales would be thick and harsh, like a rough suit of armour. Muphyll’s scales were in between.

“You may call me Muffin, if you wish. My name is hard to pronounce to others.”

Relief washed over him as the others reassured him of rest and safety. And food. He gave a smile as grateful as his tiredness allowed for while he took the cup. She was very direct about it, but tea was tea. It already smelled amazing. He took a gulp, and maybe it was just his hunger making everything taste a million times better simply because he was hungry, but his eyes widened in pleasant surprise at the taste.

'Wow... this is some good stuff!' He drained the cup in no time as the others continued. The doe seemed much more talkative than the pangolin, but he held no doubt that both would welcome him in just fine. 'Lizbeth and Muffin,' he tested out their names, 'I can't thank you enough. And honestly I'd kill for a pancake.'

He returned Muphyll's cup with a hearty nod and moved towards the hut Lizbeth was talking about when she mentioned the others' names. 'My name's Julian. And uh, ladies first?'

Muffin took the cup. “Made it myself. Thank you.”

The pangolin glanced at the building. “How noble of you,” she replied. “But I prefer to trail behind. How would I know if you aren’t going to reveal our location, hmm?”

Muffin then laughed. “Ah, just joking. It happened once though.”

She went behind Julian and patiently waited for the two to go forward.

He blinked as he tried to imagine what that would've looked like. In a world of humans chasing animals out the door, the mere idea of animal people hunting down a human felt... absurd, yet hilarious actually.

'Yeah, fair... I still mean what I said though, I'm not out to cause trouble here.'

“We’ll see about that,” said the pangolin, her tail going around to quickly adjust the seaweed-like tie around her tail. It was coming loose, after all.

She then turned back, and glanced at the doe. “So, Lizbeth, shall we get this young fellow some food?” Her voice seemed to latch onto a more kinder tone, compared to the closed-off one.

Elenore saw the other people come in. She's seen Muffin around before but Julian was new. Elenore was a bit scared, she didnt know him. He seemed nice though. She cautiously walked forward "um....want a pancake?" She asked. She held out a plate of pancakes.

SaraBella smiled brightly "hi. Are you new? Do you need a place to stay?" She asked Julian. "I can introduce you to my dad...he can help find an open cabin or hut or somewhere. He's human...but you don't have to be afraid of him, hes the one that created this place for people like us..." SaraBella turned to Muffin "haven't seen you in awhile Muffin. How have you been?"

“Fine, thank you,” Muffin’s voice was a knife’s. “And make sure the kid won’t freak out when he sees a human here.”

She then glanced at the shy Eleanor. “…Eleanor,” she greeted with a nod. The voice returned to normal.

“I’ll get a pancake for you,” Muffin said to Julian. She then quickly went over to Eleanor and to try to obtain a pancake. Muffin seemed to remain avoidant towards SaraBella, and for a good reason.