THE MAN I USED TO BE / return

[purgatory]

If you asked Koda how his day was going, he'd write 'good.' Everything to him was good. And why shouldn't it be? Right now, we're not going to include the identity crisis and focus on the positives - he really, desperately wanted to focus on the positives. The fluffy child was able to climb halfway up a tree today. It didn't seem like much but it was an achievement for him considering he's on the chubby side. He'd argue it's baby fat but he and everyone could guess that wasn't the only case. Later on in the day, he was able to successfully stalk a bird and only get pecked at twice thanks to his quick reflexes that allowed him to dive into the safety gnarled tree roots. Amidst the furious squawks and flapping wings, he licked his wounds clean as he waited for the avian to get tired of him. Alright, so maybe calling it "successful" is a bit of a stretch. After tending to his small scrapes, he scampered back to camp where he drew a lot in his notebook. Pictures of trees and flowers and his roguemates. They weren't good pictures but he did his best despite wanting to give up midway and that's all that matters, he suppose. If he genuinely wanted to get better, he'll practice more but for right now, more than draw, he wanted to sleep. Without moving from his position off to the side of camp, the snow leopard slept. And it was a fantastic nap. He didn't remember what he dreamt about but it was decent enough for him to awake energetic once more. After an hour or two, the cub's eyes fluttered open and a large yawn passed through their maw, their bight blue orbs tearing up slightly. Heaving himself to his paws, Koda stretched first his forearms then his hind legs before picking up his pen and notebook. Turning, the drowsy male abruptly decided to explore the territory. He'll make sure to apologize properly to the bird he antagonized should he come across it again.

He came across a creature with wings, but it wasn't a bird.

Large paws first carried him to Gwen when he spotted her in the distance, wondering if she wanted to go exploring with him. But as he drew closer, he noticed a larger form before her that previously sleepy, now wide awake eyes identified as another creature. A creature named Kunta who was a returning member. His child-like brain told him to be scared, to grab Gwen and run as fast as he could back to camp where they'd be safe. But Pestilence kept him grounded and level-headed. I've seen more frightening. He thought to himself solemnly only to blink his eyes in confusion. Where has he seen scarier? He'd definitely remember and lose sleep over it but he was drawing a blank. Rizer and Talyn doesn't count since they were his siblings- though he suppose they were terrifying in their own right. And upon meeting them, Koda was met with a sense of familiarity; Kunta wasn't accompanied by this feeling. Swallowing hard, he slowly approached the two though sticking close to Gwen. Setting down his notebook, he forced his arm not to tremble as he wrote down a greeting. "Welcome back, Kunta! I hope I spelled your name right," he then drew a feline face with a sweat drop next to the sentence before continuing below it. "I'm Maekoda but you can feel free to call me Koda!" Clicking his pen to retract the tip, he held it up for him to read as he smiled faintly.

[align=center]✯ "speaking" / "writing" ✯