Broken has a minion!

Chestnut the Hungry Whale

The leaves by hundreds came-

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples, And leaves of every name.
A lain should enjoy autumn. The air is fresh and slowing cooling after the exorbitant heat of summer.

Broken doesn't enjoy autumn. Not one bit. He can no longer hide in the trees - the leaves have withered and fallen. And he can no longer creep up on unsuspecting donors of food as the leaves now crunch underfoot.

The tail of Woe

Broken wants nothing more than to fly south for the winter. You know, bird migration. Unfortunately for this poor lain, he is a bit ... broken.

While other Lains, Festers, Mallarchies and even Irion fly South and a few fly East towards Delphi for winter (and towards Peka Glade, Arctic Frost and Veta Lake for the other three seasons) poor Broken is stuck here, in Riverside Valley, to endure the four seasons.

Endure them he does. Just as the autumn leaves change colour, so to does Broken. Broken's feathery appearance mimics that of whichever season he happens to find himself in. During the winter Broken turns ghostly white and almost freezes to death while he is covered in snow. During the spring he sprouts new growth just in time to nearly pass out because of the heat in summer. Finally, in autumn his feathers change once more into rustic hues as the leaves around him wither and die off.

Broken, you see, has no sense of direction. Even if he tried to migrate he would end up lost and probably find himself in the Darkside or Shadowglen. Or worse yet, he would somehow wind up on Atebus and probably the dodgy part, the Galaxan Wastelands. And like the typical male he REFUSES to ask for directions. There's really no hope for him, is there?

While Broken will moan and complain during Summer and Winter (it's too hot, it's too cold) he is reasonably happy in the Valley especially during the Autumn and Spring. Charity takes pity on him most days sprinkling croutons around for him to nibble on. Even Pete has been known to give him a bit of food on the very rare occasion. Broken finds all kinds of goodies from the Donation Center and from Free Gifts to make nests out of. So it's not all bad for Broken ...

It was towards the end of autumn when Broken saw something most odd - a small tutani trying to beach himself on the pebbly riverbank. Broken cocked his head to one side, perplexed. "Hello! Who are you? I'm Broken," he said in a loud voice to ensure this sullen tutani heard him. He saw the little tutani look up at him before he opened his mouth.
'H-h-hello. Y-you're n-not b-b-broken. Y-you're a L-lain. I-I'm Chestnut.'
Broken was taken aback by Chestnut's unexpected stutter.
'Well,' Broken responded, 'You're certainly not a chestnut! No, no, my name is Broken. What are you doing here? Aren't your lot meant to be going south for the winter?'
'Y-yes,' said Chestnut, 'B-but m-my p-pod l-left me.'
Chestnut explained his situation to Broken. Broken struggled to listen with Chestnut's stutter but made it through to the end. Broken was rather relieved someone wanted to talk with him instead of shooing him away.

And Broken was over the moon when Chestnut decided to stay with him when the warmer weather rolled around.




Art by the incredible Plipkat & Milangta and opening Autumn line from October's Party by George Cooper.

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Chestnut