chasingthewind | They don't know how lucky they are...

Fraggle Cave was all Punzie had ever known until the war. She'd heard about those other Fraggles, from Granny, but always vague things. Always bad things... It certainly hadn't been the sort of thing that would make you want to visit them. Honestly, Punzie hadn't even been sure what Granny was saying was true, the way she sometimes let her mind get away from her.

But everything had changed when the Fraggles from Fraggle Rock came. For many at the Cave, the change was fleeting, or little, or both, but for Punzie... Suddenly, what had always been the whole world felt very small. There was something about the Rock Fraggles that was compelling. They were different, they were... More. And very different from what Granny had described, that had eventually become clear. A while passed where Punzie tried to return to the life she'd known, but she just couldn't. There was something calling her away now.

And a quarter-cycle after the war, she made up her mind in the way she'd already made up her heart. She was going to Fraggle Rock. Granny didn't like it, but even Cave Fraggles were still Fraggles. They had rules, but within those rules, they were still the only ones in charge of themselves. As she set off, Punzie had started to feel excited. This would be a new life, a good life.

But now? She'd been at Fraggle Rock for barely a day, and she was overwhelmed; confused. Nothing made sense here, not to her. And there was so much of all the nonsense... Maybe this hadn't been a good idea, after all. She wanted to sink into a little hidey-hole and just- Take a moment, at least, to regroup. Think about this. But she couldn't get anywhere in these crowds, and she didn't know where any hidey-holes were here, anyway.

A splash, followed by cheers, had Punzie instinctively looking to the source of the noise. And the Fraggle whose head bobbed up in the water... She knew that Fraggle! She'd stopped the war, hadn't she?

"E-Excuse me..." she mumbled as she made her way through the masses and to the edge of the lake.

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Punzie shrugged a little, glancing away. "They probably do, here. But, um, not in Fraggle Cave."

She wasn't expecting hostility, but... Well, she wasn't sure what she was expecting. And that was a little scary.

"Fraggle Ca- Fraggle Cave?" Red startled a bit at that, her eyes getting even wider. She seemed caught between reactions herself, going on the defensive for a moment, then relaxing, then seeming unsure- A glance off, and some thought seemed to pass through her expression before she turned back.

"Well-... At least these are pretty good Doozer sticks, for them being your first ones...?"

Punzie watched her cycle through emotions that she herself couldn't quite place. There was a bit of her own "fight or flight" sort of instinct telling her to leave, but her hope overpowered it. At the question, she smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah. They're really tasty."

"Then we've gotta get you more!" Food was easy, it was a safe topic. She walked forward, picking off choice Doozer sticks from towers they were passing, and giving them along to Punzie. "You gotta try radish bars, and Boober makes a great stew, and I bet even his Doozer dust pie would be better than those rocks and mush and whatever you Cave Fraggles eat!"

A pause, and a brief thread of regret as she glanced back. "Uh, no offense...?"

PLEASE DON'T START ANOTHER WAR IT WAS A JOKE-

While the laugh Punzie responded with was forced, it was still a laugh. At least she wasn't the only nervous one.

"It's okay," she said, between nibbles on Doozer sticks. "If any of those things are as good as Doozer sticks, you're right, anyway. Food back home wasn't exactly exciting..." She sighed. "Nothing back home was exciting, until the- Well, until it got scary."

"Right." She was quiet for a few steps, then glanced over. "Guess that's how you really recognized me, isn't it...?"

"Uh-huh. I was actually thinking about leaving and going back to the Cave, but... When I saw you, I remembered why I left in the first place. There's something about you Rock Fraggles that's- I don't know. Interesting."

That didn't quite cover it, but she wasn't sure what did.

She normally would've puffed out her chest and bragged her head off about her and Fraggles and everything else. But this was a genuine moment, and this called for a genuine, more quiet tone.

"Yeah, I guess so. Mokey told me about you Cave Fraggles, how you like dusting for fun. Or, you did anyway. Is that why you're here, in Fraggle Rock instead?"

She may not have been as sharp as Gobo was, though she'd bite off her tongue before admitting that, but she was clever. And she could certainly put two and two together. Punzie was a Cave Fraggle who left, and came to Fraggle Rock instead. She found the Rock Fraggles interesting, and had stuck around because she'd seen Red herself. What a weird little honor that itself was... But, based on what she knew about the Cave, she could completely understand why someone would want to leave it, after having discovered fun existed.

Punzie nodded, reaching up and running her fingers down a strand of her own hair. "It is, yeah. I never thought I didn't fit in back at the Cave because I didn't know that was possible... You know what I mean? But now I know there's other ways of being, and I want to be part of this one."

"Wow... Well, you picked a great place for a new home!" Now she was brightening, rolling up onto the balls of her feet in excitement. "You're gonna love it here, there's all kinds of games, and holidays, and fun things to eat, and there's swimming! I'm the best," ah THERE it was, "but others are pretty good too."

They don't know how lucky they are...

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