The little bird was almost in reach, and it was this realization that thrilled Palila as she slowly limped closer to it. For the past series of hours, the little elf had found herself distracted by the fascination of birds again. This time around, she had caught sight of a beautiful robin that seemed to take a fancy to teasing young Palila by perching close to where she could reach it, and then flying off the moment that she grew close enough to lean in and caught its feather's scent.
”Come on...just bit more,” Palila whispered in Lupine as she krepy closer. The robin's eyes were on her now, and she paused, staring into its black pearl-like eyes before it was finally startled by a second noise. It was too much.
The robin spread its petite wings and gracefully flew off into the brush, never to be seen by the little elf again unless it was willing to. Frowning for a while, the young girl perked as she realized the sound. Someone had called her name, and she knew the sweet voice anywhere.
”Cian? Ciaaan?” she called, limping forward until she arrived to a clearing where a hollow tree caught her sight. Her optics soon spotted a familiar figure sat against it. Her spirits were lifted as she realized who it was.
”Cian! It is so nice seeing you!” called Palila, though unconsciously in Lupine, as she made her way to him with her feathery tail wagging swiftly behind her rump of white fluff.

Realizing her mistake, Palila lifted her head in merry laughter towards the heavens, leaning in and kissing his cheek in return. Her own cheeks eased into a warm purple hue as she blushed. She could not ignore that warm tingle that ran through her whenever he touched her so sweetly or when she heard his voice.
”No, no! Speak in Lupine. Rabbit tongue!” Palila explained. She blushed deeper and looked to the side a little.
”Found fam'ally...nice rabbit fam'ally” she added. Palila was so happy to see Cian. It had at least been several days -- almost a week possibly -- that she had seen the fawn. And now that they were interacting again, she could feel her spirits lifting higher!

((Aww, this is adorable. cx Faina, can we say this is going on during Pali's outing with Adrien and Moss? like maybe she wanders away on her own a bit and finds Cian, and then Adrien and Moss find her again and are introduced to him that way?))

Palila nearly jumped for joy at his curiosity of her new family. Having him meet them would be so exciting. ”Oh! Almost forgot! Came here wit’ Adrien and Moss! Come see!” the young girl exclaimed, gently nudging Cian. Following the nudge, she turned around and began to limp forward though paused as she realized that she had no idea where she was. None of this looked very familiar.
Perfect, she had gotten herself lost.
Her elven ears slowly lowered in disappointment.
”Lost them...lost the lake,” Palila mumbled with a frown; her shaky legs being still under her.

Palila, thrilled by the idea of having an adventure with Cian, swiftly urged herself forward, pushing her legs to move without falling; one step after the other.
Steady...steady...
it seemed that her excitement at least distracted her legs from their seemingly lustful desire to bend and meet the forest floor sooner than she wished. She caught up with his steady pace, letting their pelts gently brush together as she kept herself comfortably close to him.
”Smell water?” Asked the girl, twitching upward her elven ears in attempt to hear anything water-like. She remembered, though barely, the sounds and scents that had occurred on their way to the lake from the rabbit family's warren. She took a few steps ahead of Cian, gazing sharply into the distance, concentrating her senses...
Finally, she turned to face Cian and grinned merrily.
”You right! Water this way!”

(( lol if rabbits (leporidae) were (rodents) that would be funny. ))

Her smile slowly eased into a frown as she realized that Adrien and Moss were no longer there, or at least she could not see them. It was then that she realized how she had been gone from the site for a while. Had they left to go search for her? Now she was truly lost!
Frowning, she looked around frantically; a slight whimper escaping her lips.
”No no...rabbit family live at Old Oak. Adrien and Moss bring me here earlier. They no here no more!” Palila explained with a sigh.

A weary smile, and Palila did not hesitate to lower herself onto the forest floor so that she may rest beside Cian. She was relieved to finally rest her lame legs among the soft grass. The view of the reflective water in the near distance seemed even more beautiful while she was in his company. It was strange...as if he was some sort of magical being that made everything in the world clearer and brighter. As she gazed upward towards the Forest canopy, a gentle sigh escaped her blue lips.
”You not...believe me bout rabbit fam’ally, did you?” Palila suddenly asked, slowly bringing her optics to gently gaze beside her at her companion.

She smiled at him, blushing.
”You got fam'ally, too” she murmured, kissing his cheek in a rather loving manner.
”You my fam'ally...”
Palila's feathers shiver like the leaves of a squirrel-haunted tree in response to Cian's sweet nuzzling, and a giggle is aroused from her throat. She nudges him a little in return, and soon notices the size difference between them. This causes her smiling lips to widen into a grin.
”You bigger, Cian!” she stated

(Omihodh so glad to see you XD tiny bump)

The young doe’s eyes grew wide with awe as she examined the head of her companion, searching for those little antlers that he had mentioned. She could tell that he was growing, that was for sure, but she definitely could not see any antlers coming in...at least not yet! She herself had not grown too much, possibly by a little bit. However, the feathers that adorned her head were growing longer and those that adorned her back were now a deeper blue than they were when they first met.
She was suddenly startled from her thoughts at the sound of a familiar voice. She stirred slightly at Cian’s protective gesture, though was too much focused on the voice and the figure coming into view from near the lake.
”Adrien? Adrien!” Palila cried happily. She pushed herself up onto her glistening blue hooves and gently nudged Cian.
”That Adrien! He fam’ally!” She explained to the young stag. On pure adrenaline, she dashed down the hill in quick bounds towards the larger male, wagging her tail behind her. She was overjoyed that he had not wandered very far from the water-filled site in search for her. A part of her felt guilty for worrying him. Palila, however, did not yet notice that Moss was not with him.
”Here! Here! Adrien! Moss!” bleated the energetic young doe. Just as she was coming to the bottom of the hill, cried out as she stumbled and fell hard onto the grass, stumbling down the rest of the hill as if she were a bird shot out of the sky.

bump

With her legs aching from the fall, her neck remained slightly arched in a swan-like manner and her eyes remained tightly closed to push back the urge to spill tears. Despite the pain, she was filled with too much joy and relief to let such a sensation destroy such high-spirited emotion. She had let her legs’ weakness affect her emotions a lot during her first week of life. However, she was tired of letting it affect her feelings. Palila still wished that she was graceful and strong in foot like the other youths around her, but she tried her best recently to keep her mind in check with the better things of life. After all, she was in a family’s care now and had the most loving companion a young doe could ever ask for. Her legs could not possibly get in the way of that, ever.
Shakily, she lifted her blue pearls of sight to gaze upward towards Adrien, where she gave him a big smile and stood after hearing his question about who her friend was. The young girl turned to look at Cian who was still upon the slope that she had recently stumbled down.
”He is Cian. He very sweet!” Palila explained in Cervine with a giggle. Her cheeks then turned purple in a sweet blush.
”I like him lots” she added in a murmur.

((Just a note: Adrien actually doesn't have his skull mask anymore. He lost it in the pond. ))

"Hello Cian," the stag said in his simple Cervine, bowing his head toward the younger buck. He heard Palila's soft declaration that she liked him and wondered in the back of his mind if she meant it in a romantic way. He smiled at the idea. Young love was so adorable, he thought.

Then he looked back toward Palila and, remembering her stumble, asked "how feeling?"