HOME & ORIGINS
Lepitsunes hail from a constellation of nearby stars - peaceful, serene lands filled with white-leaved trees and star-shaped flowers, located in one of an infinite number of dimensions. These are less of a single continuous world, and rather a collection of discrete planets, like a chain of islands. On some of these stars grow the large white-leaved trees which are their home trees- each one represents a single colony of lepitsunes. Some of these colonies are bigger than others, and each of these trees are linked to a world in another dimension. The tree is a representation of the "health" of the world. A larger tree would represent a more prosperous world, and a small tree could either mean that the world may be dying, or has just been born. Lepitsunes are extensions of these trees. The tree flowers at its roots rather than on its branches, so these trees are surrounded by the star flowers from which lepitsunes are born
The home tree flourishes on the richness of experiences, memories and emotions (of which stardust is made of) of the lepitsunes that consider it its home. In order for the tree to continue living, baby lepitsunes need to leave home and gather the experiences that they will eventually carry home as adults.
When young lepitsunes gain the use of their wings at the age of adolescence, they are free to stay or leave their home trees. The preferred choice of action is to leave and return with fresh experiences to support their homes, but they can also stay. However, they will serve as barely more than a dead weight - they'll be safe at home, but also live their lives unfulfilled as the scenery in their homelands is peaceful but unchanging. The more experiences the lepitsunes bring back and the more enriching they are, the more stardust the tree can make, allowing for more flowers to bloom and new lepitsunes to be born.
That said, each lepitsune is an individual and some may or may not act upon this higher purpose depending on their personal values. Colonies that are more prosperous tend to have more lepitsunes that prioritise their lives above the tree's. Smaller colonies may be more close-knit, and see each lepitsune imbued with a strong sense of responsibility for their home. There is a minimum size a colony is allowed to be, though - if a tree doesn't have enough active lepitsunes it'll eventually die, bringing with it the future of their colony and home star.
To travel between dimensions to reach their tree's partner dimension, a large number of lepis are needed to open a portal with their wishing power. This happens in the form of lepitsune festivals, where lepitsunes collectively gather and wish for a bridge between their worlds to be formed. This can't happen all the time and lepis on either side of the gap have to collectively agree on a time and location to gather on their side before the bridge disappears, as they won't have any contact during that time without external help.