Lucetta wasn’t necessarily graceful, but she had long since learned the art of navigating through oftentimes thick and stubborn undergrowth. Since she avoided most of the well-worn paths, she was able to delicately and neatly make her way through the jungle. She possessed plenty of little niches throughout where she had deemed worthy enough to use as shelter or hiding places. Survival depended upon her ability to blend into the background.
This was why she was intrigued by the girl’s suggestions of play. Hide and seek? The thought of hiding for fun was puzzling for Lucetta. But then again maybe the game taught the young children of the tribe where the best places for hiding within the jungle were. Perhaps it was a learning game meant to instill certain skills. Kagerou had certainly enforced the importance of hiding from others within her.
The jungle was vast and difficult to traverse at times, but she had made a valiant effort at roaming about as much as possible through it. Perhaps she was one of the better people to go exploring an unknown jungle with; she was a true jungle native if you will. Lucetta seemed unnaturally calm compared to the other girl’s restlessness, but she did not find the girl’s bright energy alarming. She still remained a bit anxious over the whole social interaction which made her replies rather quiet and uncertain.
“I know of several places we can, uh, explore?”
She blinks in surprise when the matter of her color is drawn into question. Lucetta had never thought of her coat as anything but uninspiring or perhaps even ugly. Kagerou had always been deeply disappointed that her coat wasn’t red like her beloved lost child. This girl’s fascination with her seemingly unremarkable color gave Lucetta pause.
“I don’t really know. I’ve always been this color.”
She sees her slight sullenness and perhaps small envy and she begins to quickly look about the immediate area. Her green-brown eyes find some pretty deep purple orchids growing on one of the tall tree trunks. Lucetta makes her way towards the tree and carefully pulls a little bundle of blossoms away from the plant. After standing before the girl once more, she slowly reaches towards the girl’s black mane and tediously intertwines the sprig into the dark plumage. Stepping back, she smiles gently at the girl.
“My name is Lucetta.”
It feels empowering to finally reveal the precious name she had cherished within her mind for so long.