Wardrobe

Villager: The Author

Exploring the forests of Ouroboros, and marveling at the peaceful nature of the island, you come across a clearing occupied by a lone villager, sitting on the grass with her back against a tree. One writing in a blue book with a mechanical pencil in paw, a little cinnamon cockatiel on her shoulder. She looks focused - you don’t know why you’re mentally referring to her as a she, but it just feels right. Is she writing in a diary? Or maybe it's a story in progress, you can’t tell from over here.

You wave and say hi, and the cheetah stops writing to look up at you, startled. She can't be anything else, with her spots and distinctive muzzle markings, even though said spots are quite unusual. The inside of her spots are in a rainbow gradient rather than the golden tan of her fur, and patterned as if she walked on all fours rather than the bipedal her actions suggest. Maybe she does both?

"Oh. You're not- you're not one of mine."

"My name? I don't...just call me The Author. Names have power, you know? Especially certain names in certain places. What about you?"

"Oh, that's a good one. Very nice. I might steal that, hang on."

The cheetah takes a moment to write something down in her book - presumably your name - before looking back up at you.

"Right, sorry about that. Was there something you needed or were you just saying hi?"

"Getting to know everybody, huh? Nice. I’m glad.”

Putting aside the question as to why she’s glad you’re getting to know everybody, you can’t help but ask the burning question on your mind: if The Author is a girl. The cheetah laughs, before giving you an amused smile.

“Yes, I am a girl. I made sure you could just tell.”

“What do I mean? That’s a story for another time, I think.”

"My cockatiel? Oh, don’t worry, Sol here likes people - and shoulders! She’s obsessed with them, give her a choice and she’ll sit there all year!”

The Author laughs before gently stroking Sol’s head, who chirps happily and leans into her touch. And - is it just you, or was there a second bird there too for just a second?! Or was the ghostly blue and white parakeet just a trick of your eyes? It’s certainly not there now…

"What are my hobbies? Well, writing, as you can see."

The cheetah holds up her book for a moment before lowering it again. Still all you've seen of it is the cover, but as the book is a simple, uniform blue, that tells you nothing as to what the contents may be inside.

"It's a story in progress. And no, you can't read it yet, I'm not done. As for other hobbies, I love gaming. Reading, too. I've taken up drawing recently as well, and am slowly but steadily improving. It's like writing; practice over time is the best way to get better. Oh, oh, and whenever we're lucky enough to get snow, I'm all over it. I don't like being cold, but when there's snow that all goes out the window."

"Well yeah, normally it wouldn't snow on an island like this. The ocean wouldn't allow it."

The Author smiles.

"But we've got a spirit of winter living here. Arya makes it snow during the wintertime, and it's awesome. She says winter isn't complete without at least one snowing, and I agree with her wholeheartedly."

"No, actually, my favorite season is fall. I love how the leaves turn so many pretty colors. There's a bit of a chill but not much. Just because we're out on an island here doesn't mean it's guaranteed to be hot, humid, and sunny all the time. We do have seasons, they're just a bit muted weather-wise."

"You need to go, huh? That's alright. I'm glad we met; I'll remember this meeting for you, even if you won't. I'm...you weren't supposed to see me, not like this. I wasn't paying attention; this is on me, not you. I'm sorry."

Before you can ask what in the heck she means, the cheetah smiles at you sadly before writing something down in her book. To your surprise, she and her cockatiel start fading away - didn't she sa-

You blink, before smiling and calling out a greeting to the chibi tiger sitting in the clearing in front of you, who happily replies in kind, several brightly colored birds coming to land on her paws to chow down on the birdseed held there. You move on; seeing another visitor like yourself was nice, but that's not why you were out here. You continue on your way, grinning at the sight of colorful butterflies alighting on tropical flowers, and seagulls crying overhead. This really was a beautiful place - maybe you should take some flowers home?

Oh, there was an idea - you could carefully uproot some of the hibiscus, plumeria, and bird of paradise here to take back home, so you'd have your own plants rather than cut flowers that wouldn't last very long. And butterflies, too; they could easily be bred to produce some truly stunning colors, but that was if you could catch them first.

That would be your first goal. The flowers wouldn't be going anywhere, but the same couldn't be said for the butterflies. With an excited grin, you get started on your hunt.