Cotten laid on her back in the grassy plains. She was laying on a picnic blanket in her human form, staring up at the sky and chasing the clouds with her eyes. She sighed, feeling the cool morning air blow across her face. Cotten smiled. What a wonderful day it was.

Cotten turned her head and found flowers close but not too close to her face. They were sunflowers, blue asters, and daisies to one side. Monarch butterflies fluttered cheerfully near the flowers. They used their straw-like tongues to suck the nectar out of the flowers for their food.

Something light and soft fell on Cotten's cheek that was facing the sky. She felt it with her hand and carefully lifted it. Then she turned her head back up at the sky to take a look at the object that fell on her cheek.

It was a feather. Black as night and glimmering in the sun. Cotten glanced around to find where the black feather had come from but there was nothing or no one to be found. 

"Hmm... interesting," Cotten mumbled. "I wonder where this came from. Did it just take a ride to the plains on the wind?"

Caw! Caw! Cotten looked back up at the sky, expecting to see a crow or some kind of other bird that cawed but instead, saw a black haired humanoid dressed in a matching color formal masculine-like clothes hanging by their legs on a tree branch. They stared at Cotten with curious eyes. The tree --- Cotten did not know where it came from.

"How do you do?" the humanoid asked. 

Cotten stared back at the humanoid being. "I'm in a good mood. How about you?"

They grinned. "Excellent! My name is Lux Quince! What is yours?"

"Cotten Dormouse."

"Daughter of Mallymkun, I'm guessing?" Lux cocked their head to the side. It was a bit of a weird angle, considering that they were upside down.

She nodded. "Yes." Cotten held out the black feather. "Do you perhaps know where this came from, Lux?"

"Lucky for you, I do!" They touched their pointer finger and thumb together, then pressed them to their mouth to make a whistling noise. A big, beautiful raven, wearing a top hat flew to their shoulder. "This pretty bird is probably the bird that feather belongs to. You're a pretty bird, right, Charlie?" Lux petted the bird's head with two fingers pressed together. 

"Caw! Pretty bird, yup!" Charlie replied. "Charming mouse girl can keep feather! Yup!"

"Oh!" Cotten placed her hand on her mouth. "Why thank you, Charlie!"

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(Author's note: Yes, Lux is nonbinary and Charlie is a talking raven. Charlie is female, by the way. Did you know Quince is a type of fruit? But the fruit is pronounced with a silent "c" while Lux's last name isn't. Quince fruits are also commonly thought to be the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve in the Bible ate. They're yellow and kind of look like a cross between an apple, a pear, and lemon to me. Just some fun facts I wanted to share.)