#character gen

“Hey, slow down!”

Gen ignored the voice calling after her as she sped through the forest. She leaped from branch to branch, tree to tree, fast enough that her surroundings were a blur of green and brown. Running like this, she didn’t dare think, just let muscle memory take over. Running like this, she couldn’t allow herself to overanalyze every move. She knew that one misstep would send her plummeting to the ground. Allowing herself to second-guess a single step would cause her to fall. So she let her thoughts drop away and knew nothing but the wind on her face and the blur of forest rushing past.

Out of nowhere, her next step launched her into the air and the forest dropped away behind her. She was suspended in the air over the edge of the cliff, having leaped from the final tree on the ridge. The valley below stretched out before her, and in the half a moment before she fell, it was as if she was flying.

Then she dropped from the sky.

Wind rushed past her as the valley loomed towards her, tan and green overtaking her vision. She spread her limbs, feeling the air push up against her as she fell. Then she felt arms circle her waist as someone grabbed her from behind, and her freefall came ton an abrupt halt.

“You. Are. Crazy,” Rev panted as he spread his wings to catch a breeze.

Gen laughed, turquoise eyes sparkling. “I knew you’d catch me.”

Rev sighed. “I’ll always catch you.”

The wind carried the two over the valley, until Rev caught an updraft and swooped around back towards the cliff. The forest mountain loomed over them, the tip shrouded in soft white clouds. Home. Gen and Rev had lived on this mountain for as long as they could remember. They had explored every inch of the forested peaks, the caves within, and the plains, rivers, and oceans around it. They knew the island on which the mountain resided could be considered small, but to them it was the entire world, full of so many beautiful things.

And it was theirs.

Rev carried Gen up near the summit, where a large cave opening lead downwards. He landed, gently setting her down on the rock. His wings fluttered idly, feathers fluffing up against the cold. Gen grinned at him. “Well, that was fun! Sometimes I forget what flying feels like.”

“Is that why you jumped off a cliff?” Rev asked drily.

Gen just smirked and turned to enter the cave. It quickly became dark as she trekked downwards, but it didn’t bother her. In fact, she saw better in the dark than the light. Rev didn’t follow, preferring to sleep under the stars or roost in a tree than venture underground. Gen was glad of that-- as much as she loved Rev, she couldn’t spend every second with him. She needed time to herself every once and a while.

The tunnel sloped downward for a while before splitting off into three paths. Gen took the center path and kept going. She easily navigated the somewhat-labyrinthian tunnel system until she reached the cave she was looking for.

The massive cave was well lit with luminous moss and plants that grew from the cracked cave walls and covered the ground in a soft carpet. In the center of the room grew a tree, with leaves softly glowing the same pale blue-green as the rest of the plants. Gen smiled and sat with her back to the trunk, tentacles curling into the roots. She closed her eyes.