MY LORE

once upon a time in a spring hidden deep within the mountains there was a lovely little spring by the name "capybara paradise springs". this was far from your average spring! it was a place where capybaras could gather and relax together, mot a single worry going on in their heads.

beyond that general strangeness of the springs, there was one more oddity: a kappa. it was green and smaller than the capybaras, and it's little cheeks were round and squishable. when the capybaras first found this strange creature hovering near the spring looking lost and lonely, they were confused, as they had never seen such a thing! however, they welcomed their strange little friend into their spring and decided to raise it.

"why, it's just a child," the eldest wapybara, chigüire, said curiously. the kappa stared at her blankly, its big round eyes seeming to gaze into her soul. she found it rather cute, as she did most things.

"should we name it?" asked one of the younger ones, who was often rowdy and might be described as a “gremlin”.

"hm," hummed chigüire. "let's name her toona."

and thus began toona's life as a resident in the capybara paradise springs. she was rather shy at first, sticking to her corner of the springs and observing the others, but she soon became fast friends with a rather grumpy capybara who was secretly very nice. they could often be found hanging out together playing games or relaxing and enjoying the sun.

never once in toona's life she did ever question her place in the world. she was right where she belonged beside her friends and family, happily lazing her days away.

that was until she saw her first human.

the capybaras had warned her about such things, but they seemed like a myth until she saw the two-legged walking monster herself! thankfully, the human was extremely nice and just wanted to take pictures to post on something called “social media”.

the human, excited at the pictures, laughed and showed them to toona. “you’re such an adorable kappa!”

except toona was confused. in the picture was her, of course, but she never realized she didn’t look like her family. she was green and had a beak, and she had no fur whatsoever. was she sick? had she always been like this?

that evening, she shyly asked chigüire, “why do i look different?”

chigüire sighed. “oh toona. we never knew how to tell you, but you’re a kappa, not a capybara.” she snuggled close to her dear kappa. “the difference doesn’t matter to anyone here though. you’re still our family.”

this made toona tear up a little. she was happy it wouldn’t change anything, especially since she adored her green color. she hugged chigüire and happily rested her face in that soft fur. “thank you!”

a few years later, toona found herself becoming more and more curious about the humans that would occasionally visit. they all looked so different, and acted so different too! what else was out there beyond the springs? after much debate, toona decided to explore the world, with much encouragement from her family. they seemed a little sad, but were mostly proud that their little kappybara grew up so brave and curious.

and thus toona began exploring the world. she ran across many animals (some of which chased her!), funny looking plants, and then her first city. it was huge, much huger than anything she had ever seen besides the mountain. and there were so many people going so many places!

what toona wasn't expecting was for people to be curious about was her! she was quite popular with humans, especially children. they took so much flash photography that toona’s poor head got dizzy to the point where she wandered off in a daze to the edges of the city and fell asleep.

when she awoke from her long nap, she knew immediately that something was wrong. she still had arms and legs, but they were much longer and not green! she even had those strange clothes human wore on. shocked, she ran through the city and found a mirror.

she was human!

at this realization, she went back home as quickly as possible, the place where she always felt safest. the journey was a little awkward with her new body, but still quicker now that she had longer legs.

the spring seemed so small now that she had to kneel to speak properly with her family. she missed them and the spring so much.

she was a little flustered after all that running and didn’t even know where to start, but eventually she said, “it's me! toona!”

the capybaras blinked at her.

“toona?” chigüire asked. “you’re human!”

the other capybaras began chattering among themselves, bemused at this entire ordeal. their precious kappybara was now human? she was barely gone for a month!

all the chattering frightened toona, and she suddenly shrank back into her kappa form. now she was surprised and scared.

seeing this, chigüire thought to herself for a few moments. “i think it's time you learned about the other side of these springs,” chigüire finally said. “follow me.”

from beyond a giant stone, they took an elevator deep down into the underground to reveal a secret base. this was perhaps the second biggest shock in toona’s rather short life. how had she not known about this entire base right below her? and how had everyone kept the secret so well for so long?

“the capybara paradise springs has another goal, which is to defend ourselves from pollution and pelicans,” chigüire explained. “we must defeat those two things in order to survive.”

toona gasped at seeing her normally rowdy friend run the medical department like it was nothing. one was rapidly typing while chugging his coffee down in huge gulps. another was furiously sorting through paperwork,

“i want to introduce you to someone,” chigüire said, stopping in front of a fancy looking office. “she can explain everything a lot better than me.”

the commander, strangely enough, was a raccoon that no one seemed to mind, and actually had a vulgar way of speaking and was a little intimidating, but she spoke confidently, showing her many years of experience. she explained everything to toona: the purpose of the military unit, the pollution from humans, the pelican attacks.

now that she was older and wiser, she understood she was in a unique position: only she could bridge the canyon between humans and capybaras. but first, she needed to figure out how.

she began researching, immersing herself in human culture. as it turned out, humans were fond of fictional characters, especially the ones that streamed. she learned this was called vtubing and that it was all the rage. she could put herself out there and use her platform to inform humans about capybaras, pollution, and the war on seagulls.

she informed the commander of this new information, and was pleased that the commander was intrigued.

the commander thought for a moment, then said, “i will assign you to be the capybara-human ambassador. i expect you to educate humans, as well as fight off those darn pelicans.” (there was a lot more swearing involved, but those words will not be repeated to be respectful to the faint of heart.)

toona accepted her new position with honor, resolving to help keep her family safe. this seemed like a small task compared to her family adopting and raising her despite all the strange circumstances. yes, this was the least she could do to repay them.

that night, toona looked up at the clear night sky with big, hopeful eyes, finding comfort in how small she was in the universe, yet she was about to accomplish something very, very big. even a tiny kappa like her could begin to change the world.

the end.

@mushlicious