Finding The Way Back (A Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Fanfiction)

[18] LIONESS

As Chess steps into the Burrow, he sees the sight of many, many humans. It was honestly quite the shock, as he's never seen humans in this many numbers before. And though the Timber Cat had definitely been in crowds, a crowd of humans somehow gave him the feeling of being packed tight despite the vastness of the backup Burrow. The ceiling is dotted with the same glow worms seen before on the outside tunnel labyrinth, along with the mushrooms as well, albeit much larger than before. Almost like growing saplings. Filling the massive space of the backup Burrow is what seems to be the foundation of Burrow homes, all stacked on top of one another with ladders to get to and from the ones on higher layers. 

And judging from the people moving boxes into the homes, their arrival is the most recent development. They're just settling down.

"Our last Burrow went fifty years without a breach." says Lio. "Site B was kept secret, even from me. So we only just opened up yesterday."

That explains why everyone's just moving in.

"I always said that Surface life was overrated." Chess is confused, as he has never heard Dave say that before. "Hello Burrow life!"

"It's just like the one I grew up in, a big comfy hole in the ground." Kipo goes through nostalgic memories before addressing Wolf. "So, what do you think Wolf?"

"There's...so many people here." is all Wolf can say.

"Uh-huh..." and Chess does agree with her. He's never been in a physically contained community like a Burrow before.

"Kipo! You're here!"

Kipo gasps. "Asher! Dalia!"

Chess didn't know where those voices came from before he turns to find Kipo hugging two humans he's never seen before, laughing in joy of their reunion. Then again, he's never met this many humans before, so they're all unfamiliar. Though the hug indicates that they're Kipo's burrow friends, Wolf looks a little put off by the two.

"You're okay!" Dalia soon grows concerned. "Wait...are you okay, Kipo?" And Dalia proceeds to check up on her long-lost friend. "You look okay."

"You're alive!" Asher butts into the conversation. "You're actually alive!"

And the conversation went back to Dalia. "Can you believe we had to move Burrows? We had to stay in the tunnels for like a week! It was cold and dark...there were smells too."

Kipo rolls her eyes and scoffs. "You have no idea the things that I've seen."

"I wanna hear about them." says Dalia...though...

It seems their attention is somewhere else. The two immediately rush to Wolf, curiosity in their eyes. Chess, meanwhile, scoots over to Dave to try and stay close to the group. Kipo stays close to watch over how her friends, and her Surface friends, react with one another.

"Is that what you wear on the Surface?" Dalia addresses Wolf's outfit. "That looks so cool! It's like a snuggle blankie!"

"It's not a snuggle blankie. Never call it that." retorts Wolf, holding the cape part of her hooded wolf cape.

Mandu scuttles over to Dave and Chess. And this catches the attention of Asher. 

"It's a Mute! A real Mute!" the sudden attention froze Mandu in place. "It's got four eyes and six legs, whoa!"

"Can I touch them?" Asher asks though she's already going to try and touch Mandu.

"Uh, she doesn't like it when you-"

Mandu scuttles back to and behind Kipo the moment Asher's hands come closer, squealing in fear. Chess watches silently as Asher's hand rubs Dave's belly. Chess found that weird, though Dave talks, something that Kipo's Burrow friends didn't expect.