Once upon a time, in a strange, far away land....

[byebyebluebird]

In the Unknown, strange things happened all the time.

And as a resident of the Unknown, Beatrice usually didn't question them (hence why she took it so relatively well when she and her family became bluebirds). So when her little brother and sister came running in, telling her that the dog had gotten loose chasing rabbits, she didn't think anything of it when it turned into her running for her life away from what looked like a stag with horns even bigger than she was. The dog had gotten away, disappearing through the bushes and out of sight, but the human girl was a much slower and bigger target, apparently.

So she went barreling through the trees, mud staining the hem of her dress and wayward branches scratching against her skin, her mind not really focusing on where but simply away. Not too far ahead of her was a wall, the brick overgrown with ivy but the rocks uneven enough for her to get her feet wedged into the cracks and climb. There was probably a house, or a farm, or maybe even a church on the other side, and she was willing to gamble on the fact that the stag couldn't climb or jump high enough to chase her over.

But there wasn't a building on the other side of the wall, and when her foot caught a patch of damp moss that sent her tumbling over, it was a lot further down than she was expecting. With a thump, she hit the ground, rolling several times before she hit something hard, like a rock, knocking the air out of her and probably bruising her back something fierce. Sore, scratched, and completely out of breath, she just lay there motionless for a moment, panting and waiting for her ears to stop ringing before she opened her eyes.

The sound of loud laughter jolted her into a seating position, because this far out in the forrest, she should have been alone. And it was then that she took a good look at what she'd rolled into; a...gravestone? This was a graveyard?

Getting shakily to her feet, she brushed the dirt and leaves from her dress, making her way over the uneven terrain towards the arched gate that seemed to have torches or candles of some sort brightening the way. Once there, she saw strange, metal contraptions sitting on the blackened roadways, and clusters of small, strangely-dressed people running about with bright orange pumpkins hanging from their arms. This...was not anywhere like her home! Where the heck was this?!

Approaching one of the clusters of children, she cleared her throat awkwardly to get their attention. "Where is this?" she asked, squinting suspiciously at the way they were dressed (one of them had a sheet draped over them, one of them looked...metallic? and one of them looked like a big green lizard). "And what on earth are you wearing?"

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[byebyebluebird]

The house was strangely silent, after Wirt and Greg left. Sure, there were residual sounds, strange humming and the sound of things moving by outside, but there was nothing familiar about any of it. A bird perched on one of the weird wires that ran high above the ground, but it didn't stick around long, and it was then that she realized what was so weird about it; this wasn't the country, and there were just way more people and buildings way closer together than she was used to, to an unnerving degree.

Shaking it off, she busied herself with a bath (which was hotter than any bath she'd ever taken in her life, and she ended up staying in until her fingers and toes were disgustingly pruney) and a change of clothes (a warm, floral-print dress) before venturing into the kitchen once more. The thought of making anything in the appliances was more than a bit daunting, despite Wirt's explanation, so she settled for a cup of fruit in a strangely sweet syrup and some bread with butter on it. Simple, but filling enough.

Looking at the pictures on the walls as she started back up the stairs, she stopped about half way up, looking at the smiling faces that she didn't recognize and the ones that she did. This place was real, just as real as her own home, and part of her had wondered if maybe Wirt and Greg were just lost spirits or something similar, because how could there be another world connected to hers? There was magic where she came from, certainly, but not other worlds where there was no such thing, and there were such strange appliances and technology she didn't even begin to understand.

If there was no magic here, would she ever be able to get home? Maybe the path between their worlds would let people pass into hers and back into this one, but she could only go through one way.

Rubbing her forehead, she shook the melancholy feeling away, trudging up the rest of the stairs and returning to the bedroom. Pinning her hair up now that it was dry, she took the sheets of paper and a large book from the shelves and settled on the bed, propped up on the pillows so she could draw comfortably. It was doodles more than anything grad, but it was nice to be able to work uninterrupted by siblings or nosy parents.

Before she even realized how much time had passed, the door downstairs was opening, and while she initially didn't say anything, when she heard Wirt's voice, she answered. "No, I decided to go next door to introduce myself to the neighbors as your magical bluebird house guest from an alternate dimension. It's been going quite splendidly so far."

[worrywirt]

Wirt let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and shook his head to himself. He didn't know what he had been worried about. He wandered up the rest of the stairs and down the hall, stopping in front of his door. He didn't enter, though, because he was a polite young man who didn't barge in on people.

"Ha ha. I'm sure they were charmed." He did his best to sound completely, hopelessly sarcastic, but he just sounded kind of genuinely amused instead. "Can I come in?"

[byebyebluebird]

"I'm a very charming young lady, so of course they were," Beatrice said as seriously as she could muster, but if he'd come inside, he'd be able to see how she was smiling and trying not to laugh. "Yeah, you can."

Really, what could she possibly be doing that would be bad? The odds of him walking in on her changing, when she'd been free to do so at any time during the day, were very slim. But being polite was much better than being rude, even if there wasn't really any point to it. Holding her tongue between her teeth, she scribbled out the last of the shading on the tree that she could see from Wirt's window, having spent the last chunk of time working on the bark texture. It was pretty soothing, to be honest.

[worrywirt]

It was probably weird, to be worried and cautious about it, but hey, for all he knew? She could have gotten out of the bath just before he got home, and the last thing he wanted to do was barge in and have a potentially awkward situation on his hands. He did his best to avoid awkward situations, and this was no different.

He opened the door slowly, peeking into the room before actually entering for reasons he couldn't quite place. He smiled when he saw her and walked over to sit by the bed, on the floor.

"How was your day? Did...everything go well?"

[byebyebluebird]

Setting her sketchbook aside, Beatrice stretched her muscles (which had cramped during her time hunched over the paper, but had escaped her notice until now) and let out a content sigh, flashing Wirt a smile as she did so.

"It was...really relaxing, to be honest," she admited. "I'm used to running around from dusk until dawn and passing out from exhaustion before doing it all again. Being able to just go at my own pace today was really nice, even though I was a bit too nervous to try anything fancy in the kitchen. Didn't starve, though."

She moved from her place against the headboard to sit on the edge, feeling like it was a more proper way to sit when conversing with someone. "What about you, how was your day?"

[worrywirt]

"That's--that's good. I'm glad you had a relaxing day." Wirt nodded, mostly to himself, and relaxed a little against the side of the bed. He hadn't really been worried, but...well, he had definitely hoped that her day had been a good one. There wasn't a lot of trouble to get into around his house, but at the same time, being cooped up all day wasn't something everyone liked, so he was glad she had found things to do.

He hummed a little, in thought, and half-shrugged when she asked him the same question. "I--I dunno it was just another day at school?" But that wasn't really very descriptive, so he cleared his throat and continued. "I mean, I had classes, which were...classes, and I talked to a few of my friends, but..."

What else...was there anything else? School was never very noteworthy unless someone got shoved in a locker or vicious rumors broke out. "I went to the library afterwards, too, I guess, and picked out a few books that looked like they might be useful."

[byebyebluebird]

School. Being out in the countryside, miles and miles away from the nearest town, neither she nor her siblings went to school. They were all taught how to read and their basic numbers by their grandmother, but anything beyond that was to be pursued in their own time. Beatrice was already the most educated member of her family, aside her grandparents, and there was...a measure of scorn, that came with that. What use was all that knowledge when one had to raise children and tend to the farm?

"Is it a rule that people have to go to school?" she asked, curious. "Can anyone go? Even girls?"

This place was so strange, in the way women were treated, and it made her wistful, made her almost want to do something stupid. Like stay. "And what kind of books were you looking for?"