Goodbyes

A week passed at the oasis that came to be known as Debwynn's Grove, Scarlett woke early every day to get the cooking fires lit and would then prepare breakfast. Deb often slept until nearly lunch, sometimes in her halfling form but more often as her favorite sloth. It seemed to Scarlett that she had misjudged Deb's age when they'd met, was seeing more grey in her wild and tattered hair, and even some cloudiness in her hazel eyes. Scarlett wondered how spending so much time in such a relaxed and sedentary shape as a sloth would begin to affect a person's mind? Was Deb becoming more sloth-like from old age, or from literal sloth-ness?

On the last morning Scarlett spent with her, she got her answer. Breakfast bubbled away as Scarlett chopped fresh melon and hacked open a coconut, when the crimson songbird Deb had called Charlie alighted on Scarlett's shoulder and began to trill mournfully. "Hi, Charlie, and how are you today?" Scarlett fancied that she was a friendly person, and something as silly as species and language should never preclude manners.

"Notgood, not good. So sad, soverysad!" The little burbling voice seemed to come from Charlie as he hopped from foot to foot, singing sadly. Scarlett blinked a couple of times and shook her head, wondering if she'd added the wrong herb to the stew.

"Charlie? Can you understand me?" Scarlett hoped she was alone, was mortified at the thought of anyone seeing her try to rationalize talking with a bird.

"Yesyes, redone. Deb left! She left!" Charlie chirped a few sad notes and leapt from Scarlett's shoulder, flapping towards Deb's favorite perch. Scarlett could see the chocolate brown sloth nestled there, sleeping soundly. Charlie landed beside the sloth and trilled loudly.

"I'm going mad," Scarlett put down her dagger on the chopping board and walked cautiously towards the tree, calling out in common as she walked, "Deb? Food's ready! Deb?" Much to her relief, the sloth opened one eye and yawned, stretching. However, it made no effort to actually move or respond.

"Seesee?" Charlie sang at Scarlett, and a multitude of other birds nearby picked up the song. From all around her, Scarlett heard hundreds of tiny voices lifted in concern. Scarlett frowned and stepped back, picking up the rind of the morning's melon haul, a sloth's favorite treat. She walked towards the tree, holding it in front of her in offering, but she never took her eyes off the deceptively sharp and dangerous claws all sloths possessed.

"Debwynn? Hey, hi, good morning!" Scarlett smiled as the sloth opened an eye and lazily accepted her presence, watching as its focus shifted from her to the prize in her hand. A single sinewy limb reached out to pluck the rind from Scarlett's grasp, "Breakfast is ready when you are, Deb. You better talk to Charlie, he seems very worried about you! Somehow he can talk to me! Did you teach him that trick?" No answer was forthcoming as the rind slowly disappeared into the sloth's smiling maw. It chewed happily slurping at the juices and gnawing at the tougher outer rind. "Deb? Did you hear me?"

The sloth finished the rind and smiled blankly at her, blinking slowly at her words. It began to very slowly climb the trunk of her perch, looking back down at Scarlett, grumbling as a sloth does. Again, Scarlett blinked in confusion as the words began to form in her mind, she understood the sloth! "Yummy treat. Thank you, nice lady. Birds talk normal, you have changed, not them." It stopped about two feet up and looked down at Scarlett, still smiling. "Tired, need rest, too bright here." It lazily flopped down onto another branch and began to move into the shade of higher branches.

Scarlett began to cry softly as she began to understand what had happened. Deb was gone. The sloth hadn't even sounded like her anymore, and memories of losing Mae were still very fresh in her mind. "Please, no Deb! I need you! I don't know how I've changed, or what I'm supposed to do! Deb, please!" The sloth paused for a moment and looked back down towards her.

"You are supposed to move on. Find your place, your trees. Birds too." It extended a lazy claw at the canopy where many birds were chattering loudly. "A good tree is the most important thing, Scar-Lett." The sloth added and winked enigmatically. It then climbed from sight and only swaying and rusting in the branches were the only traces of its passing. Charlie came fluttering back to her and perched gently on her left shoulder, singing mournfully.

"Seeseesee? Sing for Deb! Deb has rejoined the cycle! Sadhappy! You seesee?"

Scarlett continued to weep for a few moments, looking up at the trees and wanting nothing more than to see Deb fall clumsily back into her life. But that was a selfish thought, she realized. Deb was probably happier now than she had ever been, and to bring her back would be an awful thing to do, even if she knew how. She felt Mae's cloak around her, felt a sense of comfort flow from it strangely, Scarlett felt calmed when thinking about what had happened to Debwynn. This was supposed to happen, this was her Fate. All things were one in the Cycle, and would all return there again in myriad ways.

She wiped her tears and began to pack her things, donning the new travelling robes Deb had helped her sew from scraps of cloth she'd been collecting. The overall effect was not too dissimilar from Mae's appearance when they first met, and it matched with her cloak very well. Charlie rejoined his avian family and sang a farewell song to Scarlett as she packed, a song that Scarlett began to whistle back to them as she carefully doused the fires and put away the tools for the last time. This was not her place, Deb had said, but it felt right to pack things up and leave them for the future. Perhaps it would be someone's place, one day, and Scarlett kind of felt like she was playing a small role in somebody else's story by leaving this place safe and clean.

Deb had explained a few things that Scarlett would come to view as essential about her newfound abilities. For instance, until she became more practiced in her gifts, she wouldn't be able to change into anything that could fly, or breathe underwater like a fish. Those would come in time, Deb had explained, but for now best to stick to things that were mammals. Through example, Scarlett had seen that it would be best to limit the amount of time she spent in ANY form, lest the impulse to remain that way forever take over. She swept away the last signs of her presence from the grove and then sat in the cool shade, focusing her will inward.

A great desert cat came into her mind, sleek and powerful, explosive muscles in her legs, strong jaws, sharp eyes to see prey in motion. A slight scent of freshly hewn grass and new growth filled the air around her, her ears picked up the noises of Charlie and his friends reacting to her 'shifting'. Scarlett couldn't help but smile exultantly and laugh as she heard the birds, it meant she was doing it right.

A lithe and powerful cheetah, fur tinged a strange crimson leapt from the grove and sprinted off into the great desert, headed towards Memnon.