The vivid evening sun peeked through the dense forest, shining its light on the grassy sprouts on the floor. The bright flowers bloomed throughout the area, breathing, and the vines preserved the quiet space. Confidently striding down the uneven, gravel filled trail was a girl carrying a varied assortment of supplies. Basil was a homeless teenage scavenger, who walked the trail like she personally owned it with her piercing snake-like characteristics. Basking in the sunlight, she paused for a moment, enjoying the quiet warmth the sun provided. “Y’know, the weather’s been a lot more merciful lately. I appreciate that,” she whispered. She took a quick look around, and set down her heavy backpack to take a deep breath, moving her unkept black hair, mixed with magenta streaks, out of her face. She still had a little ways to go before she reached her destination, an abandoned apartment complex she called a temporary but beloved home. Eventually, Basil picked back up her stuff, and started heading out again after taking a stretch. The trail was covered in bright colored flowers and seedlings, each one being almost twice the size of Basil’s footsteps. “So, it’s really not like I have my own blog or anything, but I managed to find some really awesome trinkets these 2 days,” She talked to herself, exclaiming, “Are people really that oblivious of how much food they’re wasting when they buy at restaurants? The amount of free food and other stuff I find in the dumps is crazy!” Basil grinned widely, really seeming proud of herself. “Like those silly little springs I would never get bored of, and the-” Suddenly, she found herself faceplanting into the flowers, having tripped on a weed caught around her long snake tail. “Woah, okay.. Maybe I should watch where I’m going a bit more,” She picked herself up, readjusting her backpack and dusting off her dirty, slightly ripped pants, sighing. She continued forward, until at last, she reached the area that contained the apartment. “Home sweet home!” Basil blurted out, pushing the rusty, iron fence out of the way just enough that she could slip in. It was a closed-off building that had once been heavily monitored to stop vandalizing, but the security cameras had stopped long ago, and nobody came to guard the place. Having made it to the main door of the complex, Basil took out her slightly dulled hunting knife, cutting down the tough vines that constricted the door, carefully walking in. It was empty in the first floor lobby, only being filled with the scent of pollen, mold, and papers scattered about, frozen in time. Taking the scenery in, she continued to walk up to the stairwell, right next to the forever out-of-service elevator. She brushed her hand against the wall as she climbed up, taking deep breaths, the flowers feeling like fluffy clouds against her rough skin. The window near the back of the stairs was broken, but the remaining light from the sun reflected against the sharp broken glass in an extraordinary fashion. On the third floor rested her humble shelter, which had a key jammed in the lock. Basil playfully turned it as she opened the door, even though it didn’t actually do anything, the door being unlocked anyways. Inside, while messy, it held mountains of supplies collected over months, like half empty water bottles and scraps of non-expired food. Basil lazily took her backpack off her back, opening it and flipping it over one of the piles of stuff to add to the horde. She reached into the pile, pulling out a day-old waffle that’s probably been in better condition. “Hey, lucky me! Looks like this one isn’t stale yet,” she muttered as she dug her sharp fangs into it, slumping onto her cardboard-feeling mattress. Halfway through her very light dinner, she’d completely forgotten that she didn’t close the building’s door after entering. Realizing this, she jumped off of the bed, and immediately started running downstairs, almost tripping along the way. When she finally reached the door, she found out that it had already been closed, whether it be by someone else, or something else. Almost right after, there was a loud crashing sound near the stairwell, and what sounded like footsteps skittering away. Basil immediately took out her knife in self-defense, scanning the room with her eyes for signs of movement.
“Who’s here? You better show yourself before I have to come looking for you!” Basil shouted into the empty, deafening silence. Slowly, from behind the wall, a silhouette of what seemed to be a person looked at Basil, just watching her, their long, blond bunny ears peeking out. They looked to be only slightly younger than Basil, but they looked to be in much worse condition, possessing many scratches, bruises, and looked to be somewhat malnourished. “It’s… just some kid?” Basil asked herself, still having her weapon raised at them. They started backing away slowly, raising one foot behind them to start running up the stars. Quickly, Basil shouted aloud, “Hey! At least tell me before you run off, what’s your name?” almost desperately, she lowered her knife in a manner to seem less intimidating. They glanced at Basil, with a look of uncertainty, hesitant, until opening their mouth to speak, “My name is Roxie,” they spoke aloud, with their voice sounding almost raspy. “Roxie, eh? That’s a nice name you got there,” Basil admitted, before being interrupted by the sound of Roxie booking it up the stairs, shortly running after them. “Wait, hold on! I wasn’t done talking!” Basil yelled in between gasps, running after Roxie up to the third floor. Finally catching up to them, she grabbed Roxie by the wrist, leaving them uncomfortably standing there, trying to pull away, but they weren’t strong enough. “Wow, I can just tell the thorns got you real good on that stair railing, huh?” Basil mentioned as she looked at Roxie’s arm, picking out sharp thorns from their arm. “Don’t worry, it’s fine, I won’t hurt you unless you threaten me first,” Basil chuckled a little to herself. “I’m sorry, I really couldn’t help myself.. The flowers were so pretty.” Roxie tried to hold back from a smile, still wincing a bit. “Thank you.. Uh.. what’s your name..” they mumbled. “The name’s Basil! You better not forget it.” Basil let out a wide smile, almost gleaming. She brought them along to walk to her apartment room, Roxie following Basil like a curious child. When they made it to the door, Roxie immediately ran in, seeing the piles and piles of stuff on the floor and started frantically searching for food and water, grabbing one of the water bottles and quickly drinking it all, letting out a sigh of relief. Basil laughed a bit, but soon realized that the mostly eaten waffle she had a few minutes ago was the only real source of food she had collected that day. Basil spoke up, “Hey, uh, Roxie? I know you’re probably pretty hungry, I wouldn’t doubt,” Basil twiddled her thumbs anxiously as Roxie nodded. “But.. I don’t really have any food here. I was gonna go out again to scavenge a little more though. How about you just stay here, and I’ll get something for us to eat?” She glanced at their visible poor condition, thinking for a second. “Yeah, I don’t think it’d be a good idea for you to go with me in that state… You just take a rest here, I got it.” Basil started to walk out after grabbing her empty backpack and the last water bottle on the floor, only closing the door a little. Roxie slowly followed behind her, quietly tip-toeing playfully. Basil noticed this, and slowly turned around before jumping at them in an attempt to scare them, resulting in them both bursting out laughing. The atmosphere felt comforting, and it didn’t feel so empty anymore when they were around each other. Trying to hold back from laughing again, Basil spoke, “Okay, but seriously, what’s up? I thought I told you to stay back there,” she shook her head, her arms crossed. Roxie looked away for a second, taking a moment before speaking, moving their long messy hair out of their dull eyes, “I wanted to thank you. I thought you were going to kick me out, after I went this far to find somewhere to rest. I know it’s slightly childish, but it’s the truth, really.” Basil was surprised, but thanked them too. “It’s been way too long since I’ve talked to someone and they haven’t scolded me for taking food, heh.” Roxie giggled a bit, offering to walk with her to the door. They both chatted as they walked down the stairs, talking about activities they could do together, like flower picking and hunting. Until eventually, Basil and Roxie made it to the main entrance door. Basil opened the door with a grunt, walking out and turning to Roxie, “Well, I’ll be back soon, keep this place pretty secure, will ya?” Roxie waved goodbye, yelling back, “Will do!” Basil turned, and started walking down the flower-flooded trail again. Only an hour later, when Roxie held the door closed, the giant vines once cut near the front enclosed the door from the inside. Roxie tried to hit them, rip them, and cut them off with pieces of glass, but to no avail. They yelled, loudly screaming for anyone, for Basil to be nearby. But nobody came.
