Chapter 7 Recognition Fawkes gnawed on a berry branch, unfocused. By him Fern and Mangrove played a game of catch, and Citrine lay lounging upside down on a warm stone. It was the middle of the day and the entire Chaos group was relaxing. He had long since eaten all the berries off the branch, and he now lazed around. Crescent had recently been bringing enough food to supply more than the whole of Chaos each day. No one had needed to go on a patrol in days. It was a welcome break for everyone, including Crescent. Fawkes gazed into the cache of food. He set aside the branch. The cache was half-full still. He turned to look at Fern, who had wandered over to the prey reserves alongside Mangrove. Fern absentmindedly searched through the cache for something and came up empty. He turned to Fawkes. “Hey, Fawkes.” He said. “Mm, yeah?” Fawkes responded, glancing from Fern to Mangrove and back again. “Are there any fruits left? Do you know? Like apples or tomatoes or things like-” Fern droned. “Haha. Um, no I think.” Fawkes took the first moment Fern paused to answer. “Oh. Uh, okay.” Fern turned to Mangrove, “Yeah, sorry. No fruit. We could uh, go looking for some? Fawkes, wanna come along?” “Sure,” Fawkes agreed, grateful for something to do, “It’ll be easy, hopefully, Crescent Moon has been bringing a bunch, we just gotta look around.” “Oh, yeah. Have you noticed? A lot of the food she brings back is from the Water Kingdom’s territory.” Fern added. Fawkes thought hard. “Oh. Hm, I never really noticed it, but now that I think back, I guess you’re right. Do you think she’s stealing from other territories?” “Maybe. I mean, usually she seems like she would never stoop to that level but - I mean, Chaos was starving, what else could she do?” Fawkes nodded thoughtfully. “Mm… alright. Let’s go when the sun is still out, the plants are still easy to see.” Mangrove and Fern nodded. Without another word they simultaneously turned on the spot and headed north, the direction of the Earth Kingdom. Plants grew plentifully there, but often sprouted just inside Earth’s territory. Occasionally they would grow on Chaos’s side if they were lucky. Chaos and Earth were on good terms. Although the leaders of the respective kingdoms didn't like each other, much of Chaos came from Earth outcasts. The two sides could trust each other enough to not send out regular patrols for their borders. Fawkes, Fern, and Mangrove soon arrived at the border connecting Earth and Chaos. The land was sandy and dry, with low shrubs sprouting from the ground. Fawkes lowered his snout to the earth, trying to scent anything edible to no avail. “I don’t get how Crescent Moon does this every day,” Fawkes remarked, raising his head. Fern had his nose pressed to the ground, ears flat against his head. Mangrove chirped and followed suit. Fern tracked whatever he had scented for a minute or so. They stopped right beside the border of both Earth and Water. The grounds were muddy, and Mangrove happily kicked mud in Fawkes’s direction. “Did you see how far I kicked that?” Mangrove chirped. “Yup,” Fern and Fawkes said at the same time. Fawkes wiped mud off his shoulder with his wing, sighing. Fern plucked a small bunch of grapes from a vine wound around a large tree. He handed them to Mangrove. “Thanks!!” Mangrove thanked him and popped a few grapes into his beak. “Is that it?” Fawkes asked, plucking some more grapes from the vine and giving them to Fern. Mangrove settled down into the crook of a tree, absentmindedly eating. Neither Fern nor he answered Fawkes’s question. The group relaxed in silence for a few hours. “Do you hear that?” Fern finally whispered. His pointed ears swiveled around, and he scanned the night with sharp eyes. Mangrove hopped down from the tree, holding onto his snack. “What?” “No, I swear I heard something.” Fern turned his head towards the Water territory. A group of reeds rustled and Fawkes flinched back. “We should get out of here,” Fern advised, “I don't think they would like us so close to their borders.” Fawkes nodded. Fern and Mangrove dashed into some tall grass, Fawkes on their heels. Before he could safely duck into the cover of the grass, a soft, aged voice called from the Water side of the border. “Fawkes?” Fawkes froze in place. He knew that voice by heart. Slowly, he turned around to face the speaker. “Mom?”
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