Chapter One -- 'Quetzal Rochester'

[Scarfire ;]

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ＨＥＲ ＮＡＭＥ ＩＳ
- -- ---- ＱＵＥＴＺＡＬ ---- -- -
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This path was winding ever further into the bright forest, filled with lush green hues and dull brown undertones. The hike was nice, but it was surely time to return home. Of course, if there were a way out of this labyrinth of a forest. The lull of flute tones drifted gently to your ears, and guided by the sound you draw nearer to the source. A brown Plumerian, with adornments of leather and deep green feathers, holds a silver flute in her paws, keeping it up near her lips, creating a lovely requiem with seemingly no effort. Suddenly, the flute drops from her mouth and she turns around to look at you.

Quetzal Rochester • nicknamed Tzal, rarely Chester • female • 22 years old, born on January 22nd, 1993

As you follow the Plumerian who introduced herself as 'Quetzal', you can't help
but notice her physical appearance while the two of you chat.

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ＰＨＹＳＩＣＡＬ ＬＯＯＫＳ

overall look: ----- healthy, lithe, lots of brown shades in fur, deep green eyes, chestnut hair
height: ----------- slightly above average; in human/anthro, 5'6
weight: ---------- naturally a few pounds underweight
build: ------------ very agile and lithe, not much muscle mass
eyes: ------------- wide, deep green eyes similar to feathers from a quetzal bird
fur: --------------- sleek and healthy coat, presumably from her natural lifestyle, many shades of brown
hair: -------------- dark brown with lime highlights; shoulder-length on one side and longer on the other

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Quetzal turns around to look at you, her flute in a light leather casing, draped across her neck. "I'd love to show you where I live, perhaps you could stay the night? After all, you're lost, and a nasty storm seems to be rolling in. I could never abandon someone out here!" Hesitantly, you accept the gracious offer, and you keep up an idle conversation while Quetzal leads you off into the woods.

[Scarfire ;]

⇝Link to Ask.fm

The storm clouds darkened, and Quetzal quickened her pace ahead of you. Rushing to keep up, the conversation dwindled and eventually stopped, and with the first clap of thunder resounding through to the tips of your feathers, a large, expansive wooden structure appeared, multiple stories high, hallways and walkways extending out into a maze of tree-top platforms. Rain began pelting down, dousing you and Quetzal, and the two of you ran inside, sprinting and slipping over the wet ground. Inside the house, the two of you share a laugh, and Quetzal proudly announces...


- -- ---- "ＷＥＬＣＯＭＥ ＴＯ ＭＹ
ＨＯＭＥ！" ---- -- -

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Quetzal's home is an extensive cabin made out of nearly all wood. It's almost 2500 square feet on the bottom floor, and 2700 square feet on the top. This size is mainly for her collections.

Quetzal dedicates most of her time collecting various types of flutes - metal flutes found in a typical concert band, recorders, wooden flutes, and even various types of ocarinas. She has multiple practice rooms, transparent ones with reinforced glass to feel closer to nature.

Her bedroom is on the top floor, neighbored by a practice room and work room. The rest of the rooms on the top floor are storage rooms and guest rooms. Since it's frequently stormy, Quetzal doesn't mind someone spending the night in her house.

Her house was not always extended, however. She started in a simple tree house, and expanded slowly after years of work and dedication.

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"So, you want to hear about my daily life? Well, it's not that interesting, but alright! I tend to wake up at around 7:00am, mainly woken by the chirping of all the birds that live in this area. After I make my bed, I brush my hair, and braid one section. Then, I put my necklace and leather wraps on, and I'm ready to go downstairs, and out to my garden.

It's a rather small garden, and I only grow fruit in it. It's pretty easy to maintain, I just water the plants and occasionally have to pick some weeds. After I pick some fruit for breakfast, and eat it inside, I go upstairs to all my little tree houses.
I re-fill the plates of birdseed I keep, because hey, birds need good food too! It takes about 10 minutes to go around and make sure all the tree houses are okay, and then I go downstairs for a walk. I'm not the most physically active, but going for a slow stroll is at least some kind of excercise.

While I'm meandering through the forest, sometimes I see stray feathers on the ground. It's a nice thing starlings and sparrows mostly live near me, as feathers from all other kinds of birds are illegal to take off the ground. Apparently sparrow and starling feathers are okay to pick up, though, because they're classified as an 'invasive species', although I don't see anything wrong with them.
I try to pick out the most healthy and long feathers, to make necklaces out of. A few years back, I started my own business, specializing in all-natural feather jewelry. I try and make about three per day, but they don't take too long to make, nearly half an hour per necklace, even faster for a bracelet.

They sell for approximately $40 per necklace, $20 per bracelet, although I don't sell them that often. Mainly, I go to events in cities and set up a booth to showcase and sell my jewelry. I tend to go once at least a month, maybe twice, depending on what's going on in local areas.

The rest of my day is typically spent playing my flute, or visiting my friend Fabel. I don't always have much time for either, sometimes only left with one or two hours, but I make it all work.

After all's said and done, I can still get my bedtime routine done, and fall asleep by a suitable time of 10:00pm. First, I take off my leather wraps, and fold them up nicely and put them away. I hang up my necklace, and then brush my teeth. Once I change into my pajamas, I'm all ready for a good night's sleep, only to be woken by the chirping birds the next morning."

[Scarfire ;]

ＦＥＡＴＨＥＲ
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Quetzal's feather necklace is arguably her most treasured possession. Quetzal had been living with Fabel for a few months, and the two were found an injured, stranded quetzal bird. While Fabel healed it, Quetzal and the bird developed a deep bond.

The bird, now named Fennel, was able to return to flying quite quickly, and would go out for a few hours at a time. However, it always returned, to the relief of the two plumerians. One evening, however, Quetzal was attempting to weave feathers into other things. She checked the time, and noticed Fennel was oddly late getting back. She inquired about it with Fabel, and the two searched the house, but found nothing.

Quetzal began to go outside, and after opening the door, was greeted with a scene straight out of a horror movie. The bird, her bird, was dead on the ground as a bloodied eagle drifted away on the cold breeze. While Fabel tended to the corpse, Quetzal, in a daze, grabbed the tail feathers that had been torn out, and began to work on something she couldn't even understand.

When she was done, she was left with a necklace, imbued with five feathers of Fennel. Quetzal wears the item almost religiously, terrified to be apart from her deceased bird for even one minute.

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Quetzal's leather arm wraps are common attire for her for two reasons. The first is Quetzal has naturally weak wrists, requiring something to support them. As a child, doctors would try to get Quetzal to wear bulky braces, and the young plumerian refused and always slipped them off. Growing older, however, Quetzal began to notice the effects of her weak joints. One day she took charge, and found something to provide the little bit of support she needs.

The other reason for her unique bracers is that Quetzal simply likes natural leather items. When she found two coils of leather strips, Quetzal instantly pictured herself wearing them, wrapped perfectly down her forearms.

At first, wrapping them proved difficult for the brown plumerian, taking sometimes upwards of 20 minutes. As the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, however, she became quite skilled, and now it takes approximately five minutes for Quetzal to finish them.

Securing them in place with a hidden button she added herself, the leather wraps stay on Quetzal's arms all day, and she very rarely has to adjust them throughout the course of the day. When she first began wearing the accessories, Quetzal worried about what others would think, but coupled with her exotic looking necklace and the designs of her fur, the leather first nicely and seems to complete her look.

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ＦＯＲＭＡＬ ＡＴＴＩＲＥ
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While searching for a dress for Fennel's funeral, Quetzal was keeping in mind the attributes of the bird she most wanted to reflect: simplicity, and elegance. The dress, a shade found in the feathers of the quetzal bird, embodied the grace of a bird, while evoking the overall feel of nature.

When she grabbed a handful of feathers to save, Quetzal inadvertently grabbed a rather small, dainty feather. For a while she had no idea what to do, as it was too out of place on the necklace, among the larger tail feathers.

Eventually, in the days before Fennel's funeral, Quetzal had an idea. To put the feather on a small bracelet, to be a less distracting adornment, while still keeping her close to the spirit of her bird. Now, even at times where her large feather necklace would be out of place, and inconvenient, she still wears her bracelet.

The final touch to her attire was an old leather choker Quetzal found in the back of her closet, from an experiment attaching feathers to leather jewelry. It was simplistic, but the rustic feel reminded Quetzal of her deceased bird, and in her minds was perfect for honoring the memory of Fennel at the funeral.

While this more formal outfit was originally put together by Quetzal, she occasionally wears it for high-class events, as these items are the only nicer pieces of clothing she owns.

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[Scarfire ;]

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ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ
[ determined . emotional . stubborn . tree-hugger . selfless . hurt . open ]





bae

Quetzal is not a very mysterious plumerian. After spending some time with her, many can deduce what she's really like. While she generally comes off as cheerful, after getting to know her, layers of pain and betrayal can be found underneath her simple facade.

Quetzal can be rather stubborn, refusing to accept help. She is reluctant to give up on anything, often annoying the others around her. While she is friendly, and fighting upsets her greatly, she can often be found unwillingly getting into arguments over her strong beliefs. Quetzal's sense of right and wrong is one of her biggest strengths and faults at the same time, giving her something to fight for or against, while also turning her friends and peers against her.

While she refuses to give up, this can be a good thing, when coupled with the amount of determination she has. After leaving Fabel and beginning to live on her own, she struggled for months to get her life back on track. As of now, Quetzal has set many life goals, having already crossed some of them off her list.

Quetzal's past has not always been kind to her. Those very close to her betrayed her, and thus left her with emotional damage. She has had a very hard time letting go of her past, and because of her past, can be very uncomfortable with being close to others. Quetzal prefers being around strangers, as they are less to know how to emotionally hurt you.

While she feels uncomfortable and sometimes paranoid around other plumerians, Quetzal feels at ease in nature. She has always felt connected to it, and would easily prefer to be outside by herself than inside surrounded by many others. She constantly tries to help save nature, and live as environmentally friendly as possible.

Overall, Quetzal is a betrayed plumerian with an instinct to keep working at her dreams, who feels more at ease in nature, who refuses to accept things from others, but selflessly gives her time and money to her few trusted friends, a plumerian who is far more than the friendly face she appears to be.

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- playing the flute

One of Quetzal's favored hobbies is playing the flute. She started when she was six years of age, on a standard metal concert band version. Her parents had no influence over this decision, but Quetzal would not stop pestering them after seeing a street performer playing the instrument.

She was placed into lessons and quickly excelled, soon branching off into playing other instruments like wooden flutes, ocarinas, recorders, and other variations of a metal flute. This slowly became Quetzal's passion in life, and she would spend all the time she could out in the forest serenading wildlife with her songs. Ever since, Quetzal has practiced playing the flute, and her collection of flutes has always been steadily growing.

- making feather necklaces

When Quetzal first stumbled upon the art of feather jewelry, it was in the wake of a great tragedy. She had experimented with making feather items before, attempting dreamcatchers and similar projects, but everything fell apart. One day, however, her bird was out flying and later that day she found her poor bird, lying dead on the ground as an eagle flew away from the scene.

Quetzal attempted to create a necklace using the fallen feathers of her bird, and it worked. Eventually, she began to receive compliments on the piece, and interest was developing. Quetzal uses the feathers of the starlings and sparrows that live near her house, for even though they might not be as colorful as others, they are the only ones legal for taking without involving the deaths of birds. She now uses her skill to create a living, in memory of her feathered friend.

[Scarfire ;]

ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＬＯＯＫＳ ＬＩＫＥ ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ ＷＨＥＮ ＹＯＵ ＡＲＥ ＬＩＶＩＮＧ ＴＨＲＯＵＧＨ ＩＴ
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When Quetzal was first born, her family was perfect. She was a happy child, and her parents were loving and gave her everything she ever wanted. She grew up this way, never having to work for what she desired. Quetzal found this a good life.

During her childhood, she had many pets, provided by her parents. Cats, dogs, rabbits. They all passed, and while Quetzal was stricken with grief momentarily, she had never truly connected enough with these animals to be completely destroyed by their deaths. As she grew older, the pressure from her parents to be successful, get a good job and buy a nice house increased greatly.

Even though she had started to earn things, Quetzal was still spoiled. It was here where Quetzal's parents bought her the very first bird she had ever owned. She loved it more than anything else, and spent all day with it. She cared for it and played with it, and the two shared a deep bond.

Near her 16th birthday, she noticed her bird wasn't eating, and was sleeping quite a lot. She began to spend all her time with her beloved bird, while her parents simply reprimanded her and insisted she work on school projects. A few days later, the bird died of a respiratory tract disease. While Quetzal was devastated and refused to get out of bed for days after that, her parents simply offered to buy another one. Appalled by their insensitive ways, and eagerness to replace the bird, Quetzal began shutting them out.

She lived life semi-normally after that event, distanced from her parents while they piled the stress on even more with their expectations of her. Several days after Quetzal turned 18, her parents fell very ill. Her father worsened faster, leaving her mother to do what little she could. However, when her mother became bedridden too, Quetzal was left taking care of everything, an event she always hated. Eventually, the day came when her parents slowly faded into death, her mother gone hours before her father inevitably followed. Left alone, with no one, Quetzal's grief manifested into anger, and she took all her parent's money, and began travelling the world, something they had always greatly discouraged. A whole year passed, and she began to forget the bird, forget her parents.

Then, Quetzal's funds ran out. She barely had enough money to buy food, and slept in a forest most nights, to escape from modern reality. One evening, she was traipsing through the woods when a dark brown plumerian with wings approached her. The plumie was Fabel, the forest guardian.

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Fabel took Quetzal into her home, providing shelter and care for the young adult. Quetzal resented Fabel, who made her feel like she was weak and useless, needing to be fussed over. She despised Fabel's simplistic way of life, where she got near nothing in return for all the things she did for nature.

One day, however, Quetzal realized the benefits to this lifestyle. Her heart was beginning to soften, to warm up to Fabel. Quetzal saw how happy the wildlife was to have Fabel watching over them, and decided to try her best to help the cause.

That was the day they met the bird. It was a rare quetzal bird, somehow out in foreign terrain. Fabel brought it in and began to heal it, while Quetzal kept it company and forged a bond with it. The bird returned to health, and began to leave the house to fly, only to return later.

One day, the bird never did return. It was killed by an eagle, something that reminded Quetzal of all the heartache she had experienced before. She used the feathers she could save, and attached them to a silver strand, creating a necklace full of memories. Weeks passed, and Quetzal had sold some new necklaces to help generate money.

One night, Quetzal packed her things, gathered all of her money, and wrote a note, thanking Fabel for her one year of hospitality. Then, the brown plumerian left, trying to make a life for herself.

Fabel found her, and convinced Quetzal to let her help make a house for her. They constructed a small tree house that night, where Quetzal would live. Over the years, Quetzal met new friends, expanded her business and her house, and became as open and welcoming to strangers as Fabel was to her.

[Scarfire ;]

ＲＥＬＡＴＩＯＮＳ
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"I guess friends are nice, but it's
the people that you are closest
too that will hurt you most."

ＣＹＮＴＨＩＡ
"She's alright. However, a little too secretive for my liking."
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relation: acquaintances

Quetzal is generally accepting of Cynthia, however often she is frustrated by the dark blue plumie. The two are not generally close, and Quetzal feels somewhat wary near her, as she is not a fan of secrets. In her efforts to try and conserve nature, Quetzal is not pleased by Cynthia's occupation, a worker at a bookstore. In her mind, bookstores use excessive amounts of paper, something that could be reduced to save trees. Overall, Quetzal considers Cynthia an acquaintance, who has her good and bad traits. No one is sure whether Cynthia returns the notion, though.

ＦＡＢＥＬ
"Fabel is so nice. She's really been there for me, saved me from so much that I can't ever repay her."
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relation: great friends

After the tragic events of Quetzal's past, broke and living on the streets, Fabel took Quetzal in. Quetzal never cared for the forest guardian at first, resisting her simple, unrewarding lifestyle. Eventually, the two grew closer, and Quetzal came to see the bright sides of Fabel's way of life. Quetzal discovered Fabel made wooden flutes, and the two would often collaborate on new designs, Fabel designing them and Quetzal testing them. Quetzal eventually developed feelings of guilt, as Fabel had provided so much and she had been nothing but dead weight. When the bird they had rescued died, and Quetzal discovered a new means of generating money, she left during the night with all the change she could scrape up from her own savings. With nowhere to go, Fabel found the escapee, and the two constructed a small tree house for Quetzal to reside in. Years later, Quetzal still harbors feelings of admiration and guilt, and still tries to do whatever she can to try and make it up to the winged plumerian.

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"Iridessa is so cute! I really want to try and be a good influence on her."
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relation: almost like an adoptive aunt

Quetzal loves Iridessa, as an older sister, or an aunt. She recently met the child, when Iridessa snuck into one of her tree houses, thinking it was abandoned. Quetzal immediately noticed her butterfly design, the nature lover in her taking over. She gave Iri a commemorative feather necklace to celebrate their meeting, and sent the young plumerian on her way. The little blue butterfly kept coming back, and Quetzal soon began to feel protective over Iridessa, becoming determined to be a good role model.

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"Cress is really competitive, and sometimes I get overwhelmed, but she's a really nice friend."
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relation: friends

Cressida and Quetzal are somewhat unlikely friends. While Cressida thinks everything is a game, Quetzal has learned to see things for what they really are, sometimes taking things too seriously. However, they both ultimately want to have fun, and Quetzal enjoys the competitions Cressida sometimes creates, even out of small, ordinary tasks. While Quetzal likes to spout about nature and birds, Cressida does the same with surfing and the ocean, so they both create an even balance of talking and listening. Sometimes, they'll both just sit on the beach, Cressida watching the waves and Quetzal watching the birds, content. All in all, Quetzal considers Cressida a good friend.

ＶＡＮＩＴＹ
"She's very secretive, and kinda cold, the type of person I'd prefer to stay away from."
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relation: enemies

Quetzal has never been very keen on Vanity. She's a cold person, often shutting out Quetzal's attempts to befriend her. Over time, Quetzal began to hold a grudge against Vanity for these actions. Another thing that irks Quetzal is the little plumie's tendency to swordfight. Any type of violence makes Quetzal uneasy, so seeing Vanity practicing swordfighting is a negative thing in her eyes. Quetzal is pretty sure her and Vanity are enemies, and the feeling is quite mutual.

[Scarfire ;]

⇝ Art.
--- by consulting.detective
--- by Ｓ Ｕ Ｎ Ｎ Ｙ
--- by Rainbow Rose
--- by Kydashing
--- by Chamomile.
--- by Lady Sif
--- by PixelPlushiee
--- by stanleyjo
--- by Baigel
--- by Owl Trowel
--- by Cryogenic
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by aillurophile
--- by me
--- by me
--- by me


by aillurophile