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 Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:46 pm
"Ohhh.." Tori let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, smiling broadly. He loved snakes, and this one was absoloutly beautiful! The tall man almost shivered with excitement as he studied the sleek body of the serpent, trying to make every detail imprint itself on his brain.
"Ahh, yes, the gifts..." Tori smiled to himself as he pulled a small picture in a brown frame out from the folds of his shirt, offering it to the snake. At the bottom of the picture, in tiny blue lettering were the words, "Quoth the Raven, 'Squawk Squawk Squawk.'" Tori smirked, remembering the hours of cross-stitch he had done to make the gift.  ((Words Enlarged)) Wycliff awoke from his slumber, tossing and turning in his Guardian's spare arm. When he saw the snake, he tensed for a moment, but seeing that Tori was completely relaxed, Wycliff shrugged, holding out his little gift. It was a small, ghost-like plushie, whose ears and some other smaller features resembled those of a rabbit. Overall, it was quite cute, and Wycliff hoped that Lenore would like it.
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Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 6:38 pm
Widdershins uncoiled his lengthy body, sniffing at The proffered gifts in interest. Taking hold of each present delicately with his two mouths, the viper set them down on the bed. Leaning in close to look at Wycliff, Widdershins tasted the air with his right head's tongue.
"So, yeh've got a Mishap, too? Th' air 'round him's thick with some kinda magical aura..."
Straightening and arching his neck to its full height (so that his heads brushed the ceiling), Widdershins slithered off the bed and took hold of the gifts and laid them carefully on the shelf. Turning back to the pair, he bowed his heads in thanks.
"They'll love 'em, sir. Thank 'ee kindly," he said.
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 2:11 pm
__Part 18
Crow sat on one of the swings, boredly toying with her pilot goggles and trying to polish away the numerous fingerprints that marred the glass lenses. Trying to hold back a yawn, she glanced 'round at Lenore.
"Len, don't you think its time for bed?" she asked in a tired monotone. Lenore, who was currently preoccupied with sitting on the see-saw and bouncing, firmly shook her head.
"Not tired," the child replied, and resumed her solitary bouncing. Crow gave a groan and massaged her tired eyes - having a nocturnal kid had demanded a complete upheaval of her sleep patterns. Staying up this late in the day was equivalent to staying up until the wee hours of the morning for her now.
Lenore continued to bounce, her bare feet digging into the soft ground and leaving gouge marks as she propelled herself upward. She enjoyed the feeling of being airborne, even though it only lasted a few seconds. Looking around, intent to find a see-saw partner, Lenore searched for another guardian or Mishap that might want to play with her.
Rabid yawned widely as she entered the playground, bouncing an excited Malachi on her hip. He clung tightly to one of her curls, making noise with each bounce. Her sharp eyes caught a form not far from them, and she began walking toward it. "Hello?" she asked.
Malachi bounced happily, loving the swift up-and down motion. "GuhuhUHuhUhuhUhuh..." he squealed. He didn't quite understand why he was with the crazy-haired lady, or why she kept referring to herself as "Mummy", but he liked being where he was.
Crow turned to the new arrival blearily, squinting and trying to focus on who it was. That voice sounded familiar...
As Crow's tired eyes focused, she gave a gasp and toppled off the swing.
"Rabid?!"
Lenore ceased bouncing, watching as Crow flailed on the ground as she tried to stand. A new lady with a white fuzzy thing was here - gauging by its small sizy and the weird sounds it made, a baby. Len gave a huff and climbed off the see-saw, walking awkwardly towards the swing set. She tripped once or twice, and had to remind herself to walk on her toes - it was hard to remember how to walk like a bird when she had only stopped crawling a few days ago.
Looking at the fuzzy white thing with interest, she waved a bladed arm at the new arrivals.
"Crow!" Rabid giggled and quickly strode to her friend. She reached down and offered her hand to Crow.
"Are you alright?" She then turned to Lenore and smiled. "Hello, Lenore."
Malachi grunted. Why had they stopped bouncing? He clung to the crazy hair as he leaned down. There was a girl there with shiny arms, and another crazy lady on the ground. Who were these people?
Crow gave a laugh and hoisted herself up, brushing the sand off her clothes and picking up her pilot's helmet, which had slipped off. Grabbing Rabid in a one-armed hug, she looked at the little fuzzy creature her friend held. Her eyes widened as she got a good look at him, and then looked back at Rabid in astonishment.
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked, grinning.
Lenore sidled up to Crow, picking up the pilot goggles she had dropped after she fell of the swing. Smiling politely at Rabid, she turned her attention to what had really interested her. The little creature was very fluffy and cute, and so put Lenore off a little. She didn't really go for cute and cuddly, but she knew it would be good manners to introduce herself. Pulling the goggles over her head and wearing them around her neck like a necklace, she waved at the fuzzy thing.
"My name's Lenore and Mama says I'm a tax-reduction, what's your name?"
Rabid hugged Crow back, and then looked down at Malachi.
"What? A squirrel? A Mishap? Malachi? Either way, you're right!" she said and gave a cheesy gameshow wink-and-point. At the word "tax reduction", though, she laughed and gently pushed Crow.
Malachi leaned further down toward the shiny girl and reached out for her wings. He couldn't quite reach, and so leaned down futher, tugging on the crazy lady's hair. "Bah," he said, touching the metal and pulling his hand back quickly, "Bah!" At this exclamation, her large red eyes flew open, and he broke out into a large fanged grin. What a funny arm!
Crow laughed and ruffled Lenore's feathery hair, completely unembarrassed.
"It's true, ya know," she said mildly to Rabid, unable to conceal a sheepish smile. Looking back down at Malachi, she ran a hand through her hair and tried to think of what kind of spell would involve a tree-dwelling rodent. Deciding she'd rather not know, she reclaimed her seat on the swing and played with the swing chains.
"When did you get him?"
Lenore drew back from the fuzzy-thing slightly, keeping her elongated razor-feathers out of reach.
"No touchy - they'll take an eye out," she said, remembering what Crow said to her whenever Lenore started waving her arms around without thinking.
"So, your name is Bah?" she asked, her eyes resting on the fuzzy-thing's very pointy teeth. "That's a funny name. Mama named me after a pome-no, a poo-ehm...poem. Did your mama name you after a poem?"
Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she momentarily lost balance and fell on her upper knees. Wincing as she got back up and felt the sting of a scrape, she dusted herself off and cleared her throat with dignity.
"I jus' learned how to walk. Can you walk yet? How come you're not talking? Why are you all white?" Lenore asked avidly, already forgetting her injury.
Rabid joined Crow on the swings, placing Malachi carefully on the ground.
"Yeah, it's true," she laughed, "Yesterday. I...made him yesterday." She blushed knowing that now her cover was blown. Not that she never made mistakes. She'd just never before accidentally made a child.
She then turned to Lenore, "His name is Malachi, and he's named after a guy in a scary movie, and a reaaally old Hebrew name. He's an albino."
"Baaaaah!" Malachi yelled as he crawled clumsily over the ground. Why was crazy lady speaking for him? Couldn't shiny girl understand?! He ignored this and curiously reached up to touch the tip of the seesaw, unable to reach.
Crow gave a snort and shook her head, unsure how to reply.
"Well, he's cute, anyway. What's with the fangs though?"
Lenore frowned at Malachi as she tried to sound out his name.
"Mawlakii...no, Mahlaky..Malac...umph. I'll call you Bah." she said, wrinkling her nose and crossing her arms resolutely. She watched as he tried to reach the seesaw with amusement, and loomed over him still brushing sand off her scraped knees.
"What's an albino? Why can't you say anything but 'Bah'?" she asked, and scratched at her stinging knees impatiently. Reaching up to the seesaw, she dragged it down for Malachi.
"You're too little to reach stuff by yourself - Imma lot bigger'n you, so I can do stuff like that easy."
Rabid blushed and unwrapped the bandage from her left hand. She held the wound out for Crow to see.
"It's in the genes," she smiled nervously.
"Ee!" Malachi squealed and gave Lenore a wide grin. He crawled clumsily onto the seesaw and grabbed the handles, bouncing happily.
"Be careful, okay?" Rabid turned toward Malachi and Lenore. Blades and fanged psychosis probably didn't go well together.
Malachi snorted.
Crow gaped at the wound, and then clapped her hand to her forehead.
"Are you tellin' me that you accidentally made a albino-vampire squrriel baby?" she asked in incredulous amusement, before adding as an afterthough, "Of doom?"
Lenore puffed out her skinny chest proudly, throwing her head back and grinning.
"Imma take care of Bah, he's too little to look out fer hisself. Imma make sure he don't do anything to hurt hisself!"
Climbing onto the other seesaw seat, Lenore carefully and slowly bounced the seesaw, making sure Malachi didn't fall off.
"How come you don't talk, Bah? Is it 'cause you're too little? Mama said I never stopped talking when I was a baby. How come your ears are so pointy?" Lenore yammered eagerly, not caring if the baby didn't understand her questions.
]"Aheh," Rabid laughed and rewrapped her hand, "Doomy-doom, even. Not intentionally. Just...remind me to never touch a cauldron again."
She smiled when she heard Lenore speak and called to her, "Thank you, Lenore. That's very good of you!" She turned back to Crow, "Great kid."
Malachi clung happily to the seesaw handle, squealing every time he was raised up.
"Baaaaugh," he gurgled and let go of his grip with one hand, waving to Lenore.
"Expect the reminder to be daily," Crow said wryly, glancing at Malachi sidelong. Her expression softened as she watched Lenore and Malachi playing, a slightly sappy smile spreading over her face.
"Yeah, she's a good kid. Doesn't know the meaning of tact and curious to a fault, though." She gave a maternal chuckle and turned to Rabid again.
"So, seen any interesting movies lately?"
Lenore slowed the seesaw and watched Malachi tensely, waving back furtively.
'You gotta hold on, Bah, or you gonna fall off and break!"
Lenore had been told many, many times by Crow that babies were easily hurt, and to be careful around them. Crow had stressed this because of the ever-wounding razor-feathers Len still waved around without a thought, and Lenore had taken it to heart. Pausing in her bouncing, Len waited for Malachi to hold on with both hands.
Rabid snickered and nodded, "I've seen the Corpse Bride twice. Once the day before I got Ike, there. It was alright, but lives deep in the shadow of Burton's other works."
Malachi gave an exaggerated gasp at the word "break" and slapped his hand back intothe handle, gripping it tightly. He continues laughing. Boy, shiny girl was quite fun to play with! What had crazy hair lady called her? Lenore?
"Leeeeeh," Malachi struggled and grimaced, "Leeeeh....bah."
Making sure he was holding on properly, Lenore resumed bouncing the seesaw.
"No, not Leebah, Lenore. Everyone calls me Len, though. 'Cept Gramma Haedermann*, she calls me Mama's big axe-e-dent." Lenore giggled as she thought of her stuffy and glowering "grandmother".
"D'you have a Gramma an' Granpa, Bah? Mama doesn't like mine, she says they're shell-fish jerkwads!" Lenore giggled and bounced a little higher, taking pleasure in being airborne again.
Crow grinned slyly and nodded.
"I haven't seen it yet - well, I was supposed to on my last date, but the guy I went with was more interested in, well, ya know,..." she blushed furiously and twisted the swing chain in her hand violently, grumbling at the unpleasant memory. As she heard Lenore mention the name "Haedermann", she turned starkly white and whirled around.
"Don't say that word, Len, its a bad word."
"Worse than the f-word you said when Cole threw up on your bed?"
Crow gave a heaving sigh.
"Much, much, much worse." Giving a shudder and shaking her head, she kicked at the sand with her scuffed boots.
"Len," Malachi said and giggled, "Len!" Although the "n" sounded slightly off, he was proud to be able to say Shiny Girl's real name. He clung harder to the handle as Lenore bounced higher and squealed, and shook his head at her question.
"Oh, poor Crow," Rabid rolled her eyes, peering at Malachi for a moment as he squealed, and then returning her attention to Crow, "Oh-ho-ho! The f-word?" She clicked her tongue and laughed. She figured she shouldn't ask about the whole grandmother business. From the sound of it, Crow would tear her head off. She was also completely oblivious to the happy calls of "Len", angsting about her own lack of relationships and parents.
Crow straightened and shook her head slightly, sticking her tongue out at Rabid with dignity.
"You of all people should know I have a saintly vocabulary,' she said airily, grinning.
Lenore gave a delighted shriek and nodded eagerly, glad to have Malachi talking sensibly at last.
"That's right! Everyone calls me Len, but I like Lenore better. Your name's too hard, Bah." In an abrupt change of mood, Lenore slid off the seesaw and carefully lowered it so Malachi could climb off safely.
"Let's go do somethin' else - I'm bored wit' the seesaw."
"Oh, of course," Rabid laughed and gave a mocking bow, losing her balance and nearly falling off the swing. She turned toward Lenore and watched the two Mishaps seemingly conversing.
"Bah," Malachi nodded and slid off the seesaw, landing hard on his rump and giggling. He crawled up to Lenore and sat, looking up at her. "Leeeen," he cooed.
Lenore's lips quirked into a smile and she checked her stride, allowing the smaller Mishap to keep up with her.
"C'mon, Bah, let's go find somethin' inter'sting to do," she said over her shoulder. Adjusting the antique pilot goggles so they sat awkwardly over her eyes, she jogged clumsily over to the monkey bars. Jumping up to the top rung of the ladder and perching like a bird, she motioned for Malachi to sit and watch a master at work.
Rabid crossed her legs clumsily and turned back to Crow. "How's life been?"
Malachi followed Len to the monkey bars and sat down, craning his neck to peer up at her. More shiny metal things! He watched in wonderment, waiting for Len to do something.
Crow scuffed at the sand again, biting at her nails idly.
"Eh, it's been okay. Really busy with Len, trying to make sure she doesn't stab anyone's eyes out, that sort of thing." She bit more savagely at her nail, feeling satisfied as it was worn down to the quick. Running the newly trimmed nail over one of her sharp canines, she turned and spit the severed nail tip into the sand.
"My brother Julian's coming over to live here soon - I think you'd like him. He's gonna crash at my place for awhile, 'til he can get settled at a hospital somewhere near HQ." She started kicking at the sand again with her boots, sending a fine glittering cloud into the air.
"He's a surgeon," she added after a moment's thought.
Lenore puffed out her skinny chest and threw back her head in pride. Performing for Crow was fine, but now Len had an audience that could appreciate her talent because she was spectacular, not just because she was her only spectator's kid. Reaching out to the high bar, stretching her long legs as far as they would go, Lenore turned back to glance at Malachi.
"Watch this."
And with that, she swung onto the top of the monkey bars, poised like a gymnast as she slid her body through the narrow space between the rungs. Arms outspread like a bird, she stood on the hanging bar rung and looked down at Malachi, far below on the ground. Spreading her arms wider still, she crouched on the rung and steadied herself, watching Malachi all the while.
With a fluid, graceful motion, Lenore launched herself off the bar headfirst, freefalling through the air.
"I can't wait to meet him. Anyone related to you has got to be a ball," Rabid half-smiled and gave a convulsive laugh, "Something got you nervous?"
Malachi watched Len climb, amused.
"Meh," he said and nodded at her instruction. This was quite interested, especially because he hadn't the slightest idea what she was going to do. With Len's leap, though, he gave a small "eh!' noise and cocked his head to one side. This didn't seem quite normal...
Crow looked down at the sand sourly, digging at the sand with her boot. Looking at Rabid sheepishly, fully aware of her suddenly bitter mood, she gave a shy smile.
"It's nothing. Nothing at all."
Lenore gave a wild laugh as she was buffeted by wind. As the ground rushed up to meet her, she twitched her arms and spread her tail of feathers, angling the sable feathers with the ease borne of long practice. She glided upward gracefully before doing a wobbly midair somersault and landing unsteadily on her feet. With a triumphant smile, she turned to Malachi and gave a sweeping bow, setting her razor feathers to ringing.
"Tadaaaaaa!"
"You're lyyyying," Rabid smiled slightly and pointed to Crow's nose. It didn't have any specific meaning when she'd first done it, but she realized afterward that it had connotations of Pinnochio.
Malachi squealed happily, clapping his hand together clumsily. Amazing! Len could fly! Well...almost fly...but it was close enough for him!
"Len!" he called, giggling happily, "Len!"
Crow twisted on the swing, embarrassed about her suddenly sullen mood. Running a hand over the scarification tattoos that wrapped around her arms like ribbons, she gave a sigh. Considering how most people in Gaia looked, she had no reason to feel silly about her own appearance - but the thought of having her brother see her like...like this, was a little hard to swallow. Looking at her clawed fingers and running a hand through her sable hair, she turned and looked at Rabid shyly.
"My brother's the one that got me out of my old country when I did something really stupid. He's a great guy, but he can't really keep more than one secret at a time - he spilled about Len to my folks as soon as Mum asked about the e-mail I sent him a couple weeks ago. If he sees me like this, and I asked him to keep it a secret....well, he might rupture an organ trying to keep it to himself."
Lenore gave another elaborate bow, beaming at Malachi's applause.
"Yus, yus, I know I'm fab'lous, thank you," she said airily, twirling around and giggling. Brushing a few feathery hairs out of her eyes, she looked Malachi over appraisingly.
"Tha's my special thing, Bah. What can you do?"
Rabid's face contorted with concern. She didn't know that Crow's brother hadn't seen her in her...current condition.
"I'm sure he won't care," she sighed, "and I'm sure he won't tell. If he does, what's the worst that could happen? It's not like you've exploded or anything."
Malachi's smile fell when Lenore asked her question. He gave a deep, heaving sigh. He had no special thing...at least not that he knew of.
"Bah..." he shook his head sadly and peered up at Len.
Crow gave an only slightly bitter laugh, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, I s'pose so. I just hope he doesn't spill before he gets really settled in. Dad'll have his alchemy-dabbling lackeys swarmin' all over the place looking for me to bring me home," she said, buffing her claws on her shirt and grinning.
"Buuuut, luckily for me, Dad's henchmen can't magic their way out of a paper bag, so maybe there's not so much to worry about after all."
Lenore sagged in slight disappointment - she had hoped for some kind of reward for her show other than her well-deserved applause.
"Well then, wanna see me do it again? I bet I can climb one of th' trees an' get some really good lift," she said eagerly, wanting to impress Malachi even more.
Rabid laughed. "Yes, that's it! Look on the bright side!" She shook her head, unsure of how to take all of this. She was only half sarcastic in her statement.
"Bah?" Malachi peered up at the trees around them. He shook his head vigorously after a moment, and held his hands one over the other, bringing the top one down with an exaggerated smack. He didn't want anyone splatting.
Feeling particularly more cheerful, Crow bounced up and off the swing. Taking off her pilot helmet and smoothing down her wild hair, she leaned against one of the swingset's legs and idly watched Lenore and Malachi, who had wandered off over to the monkeybars.
"Well, I think the kids are having fun bonding," she said dryly, watching Lenore regarding Malachi with her hands on her hips and a slight pout on her face.
Lenore gave an irritated huff.
" Alright, alright, fine. You pick what we're gonna do next." She paused for a second, hardly enough time to let Malachi reply at all.
Rabid stood and craned her neck to get a better look.
"Yeah, well," she snerked, "Babies have a tendency to spoil big girl fun." She hadn't the slightest idea what either of the mishaps were doing, but it didn't phase her much at all.
Malachi inhaled, as if to speak, but then just cocked his head at Len. He couldn't speak. He gave a sigh of defeat and crawled up to Len, his ears folded back against his head.
Lenore hestitated as she saw the look on Malachi's face, feeling slightly abashed at her bratty comment. Kneeling down so that she could be at the proper eye level, she smiled apologetically and ruffled Malachi's hair.
"Sorry, Bah, forgot you can't talk yet. Wanna go back to Mama an' Raw-bid?" she asked kindly, stumbling over Rabid's name.
Malachi smiled sweetly back, his ears floating back to their upright position. He then gave an exaggerated shrug. He didn't know what he wanted to do, really.
"Bah," he said.
Rabid looked up and grabbed the top bar of the swing set, pulling herself up clumsily and sitting on it. She had a much better view of the playground from here.
"I win," she laughed and smiled down at Crow.
Lenore gave Malachi's fuzzy head another pat before glancing back over at the swingset. Seeing Rabid sitting on top bar, she could only shake her head in wondering confusion and roll her eyes.
"Raw-bid's silly, ain't she, Bah?" she asked Malachi in a monotone, quirking her eyebrows. This woman obviously didn't know how to perch properly. Swiftly climbing up the monkeybars again and repositioning herself on top, she looked down at Malachi. She'd just have to show her how to do it right.
"Stay here, Bah, I'll be right back."
And with that, she threw herself off the monkeybars again. Gliding up awkwardly and struggling to keep her legs up behind her, Lenore tried to steer herself up towards where Rabid was sitting. As she started to lose altitude, she tried to flap her arms to get more height. So preoccupied with trying to stay airborne, she didn't notice the swingset leg in front of her until it was too late.
Clang.
"Owwwwww!"
Crow was cut off before she could reply by Lenore crashing headlong into the swingset. Wincing in sympathy, she bolted off the swing and ran over to Lenore.
"Len, you okay?"
Rabid dropped to the ground immediately and stumbled over to the fallen Mishap.
"Are you alright, Lenore?!" she asked. This was one...unique child.
Malachi stood and, using various objects to hold himself up, made his way to Len's side. She looked hurt! He dropped down to the ground beside her.
"Len?" he asked nervously, "Len?"
Lenore sat up, clutching at her nose where it had sprung a bit of a leak. Blood that was such a dark red it was nearly black dripped steadily from both nostrils, but Lenore's eye were wide and dancing behind the thick pilot's goggles.
"Tha' was awesome!"
Crow simply gaped at Lenore for a moment, before clapping a hand to her forehead and digging in a back pocket for a tissue to stem the flow from the kid's nose.
"Len, Songbird, you're outta your mind," she chided halfheartedly. "You coulda killed yourself gliding such a long way."
Lenore gave a snort, making her cough and have to clutch harder at her bleeding nose.
"Pffft, would not. Imma bird, an' birds crash into stuff all the time." She trailed off as she examined a bit of the sticky fluid staining her fingertips, turning the gray skin a fascinating shade of blackish-red. Turning to smile easily at Rabid and Malachi, she stood up a little unsteadily and rolled her eyes as Crow clamped the crumpled tissue to her nose.
"I got a in-juree!" she said, particularly delighted and proud of her war wound.
Crow shook her head and leaned over to Rabid, whispering behind her hand.
"I think that crash rattled her head a little," she said dryly, keeping a firm grip on the sodden tissue.
Rabid gave a sigh of relief when she realized that Lenore was fine. Not that she'd expected anything different, really.
"Birds crash into stuff," Rabid smiled, "because they're stupid. They hit windows because they can't see the glass. You're not stupid!"
She then turned back to Crow, "Just a bit."
Malachi sat and stared up at Len, transfixed on her bloody nose. It smelled like the red stuff, and everything'd gotten sharper...but it was a weird colour.
"Bah, Len," he said and cocked his head to one side.
Lenore considered this solemnly for a moment.
"But, Mama walks into stuff all th' time. Just yes'erday she walked into a couple glass doors, and then she started yellin' stuff an' kicked th' door and made it crack into lots of pieces so she could see it," she said to Rabid, trying to bat away Crow's hand as her grip remained tight on the girl's nose.
Crow flushed and cleared her throat, mumbling about about the evils of newly cleaned glass sliding doors.
Lenore gave an innocent smile as she misinterpreted Crow's embarrassment, wiggling out of her grip and edging back towards Malachi. Noting the peculiar look the baby was giving her, she looked around in curiousity to see what he was so interested in.
"What?"
Rabid snerked and supressed a wave of laughter. She clapped her hand over her mouth for a moment, rolled her eyes to the sky, and then regained her composure.
"Yeah, but Mama is kinda stupid somethimes, dontcha think?" Rabid smiled and gave Crow a hug as further proof that she was just joking around.
Malachi looked up into Lenore's eyes as she asked him a question. He reached up toward the black-red stuff...
Noticing her son's hand, Rabid quickly bent down and picked Malachi up.
"Eurgh," she groaned, "Not good."
Malachi faced Crazy Hair Lady and smiled broadly, everything fading back to normal.
"Bah!"
Crow gave a sheepish laugh and readjusted her vise-grip on Lenore's nose, deciding not to say anything about Malachi's behavior.
"Sometimes is a bit of an understatement, really." she said easily, finally letting go of Lenore's nose and wiping away the already congealing blood, touching here and there on Len's face to make sure she hadn't cracked any bones.
Lenore looked at Malachi, slightly disconcerted. Sensing it would be better to shrug it off, Lenore brushed herself off and tried to bat Crow's hands away again.
"I'm fine, Mama," she said, slightly irritated. Glancing over at Rabid and Malachi, she cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly.
"He eats blood, don't he?"
Rabid laughed, but cringed at Lenore's question. If she told the child, would she be frightened, or would she think it was cool?
"Well," she began, and then sighed, "Yes, he does. We both do. See?" She opened her mouth and pointed to her fangs.
Malachi grinned at Len. He hadn't the slightest idea what Crazy Hair Lady was talking about, but it didn't sound good. The tone of her voice was quite far off.
Lenore stood on tip-toe to look at Rabid's teeth nonchalantly.
"Oh, okay then. Mama's got pointy teeth too, see?"
And with that, she grabbed hold of Crow's mouth and pried it open to exhibit her mother's slightly smaller fangs, completely oblivious to Crow's flailing and garbled cries of protest. Returning Malachi's grin, she let go of Crow's jaw and wiped a bit of congealed blood off her her nose with a knuckle.
"Can we go play now?"
"Sure. Just be more careful," Rabid said absentmindedly and placed Malachi on the ground. She stood beside Crow and peered at her mouth.
"Yanno? I actually hadn't noticed before..."
Malachi squealed happily as his knees thouched the ground. Still grinning, he crawled clumsily toward Len.
Crow hunched her shoulders a little and tried to hide her mouth under her hand.
"It's a long story that I'm sure would bore you to tears, so maybe another time," she nearly squeaked hurriedly. Looking around for a new topic to quickly shift the conversation to, she watched Lenore and Malachi toddle around.
"Just don't go into the woods, alright?"
Lenore nodded briefly, pretending to have heard what Crow said. Looking into the thick forest that bordered the playground, she felt curiosity mixed with deep forboding. She knew she wasn't supposed to go in there, and that she might get in trouble...
Turning away from temptation quickly, she pointed at the lake that made up the rest of the border, clear water sparkling in the bright sunlight.
"Let's go over there," she said, though her tone fully implied how much she would like to visit the forest.
"I'm sure you'll tell me when you want to," Rabid patted Crow on the back and watched the mishaps move away.
"You know what scares me?" she realized suddenly, "Ike's part squirrel." She pointed toward the forbidden forest.
Malachi stared at the trees around them. He felt strangely attracted to them, but repelled at the same time.
"Bah," he nodded and began crawling toward the lake.
Relieved to be on a new subject, she watched as the pair wandered towards the shallow shores of the lake.
"Can he climb or anything yet?" she asked, carefully watching to ensure Lenore didn't make a move to enter the water.
Lenore sat down at the very edge of the playground, inches from the clear still water. She watched the ducks swimming around and flying with envy, touching her tender nose ruefully. Glancing at Malachi, she scooted over to make room for him on the sandy ground and picked up a few small pebbles. Tossing them into the water quietly, she watched the water ripple out boredly.
Crow looked into the forest with slight apprehension, though she felt a great twinge of curiousity herself. What could be in there that Maggie and Jabir didn't want the other guardians to be mixing with?
Bringing herself back to the issue at hand, she watched Lenore pitch pebbles into the water.
"Maybe you could put him in one of those child-leash things in case he tries to escape," she said, watching the ducks glare at Lenore for interrupting the peace on their precious lake.
"Not yet. He can barely stand," Rabid shook her head but never took her eyes off of the children, "but I fear the day when he finds out that he can."
Malachi sat contentedly beside Len. He placed his hands just of the surface of that water, but quickly pulled them back and shook them off. It was cold. He then elected to place the tip of his tail in the water and swish it around, causing strangely-shaped water-wrinkles. He smiled softly and watched the ducks.
"That's not a bad idea," Rabid agreed with Crow, but shook her head, "but I don't think he'd like it very much." Her eyes wandered around the edge of the wood. It looked completely innocent this time of day.
Noticing where Rabid's gaze strayed, Crow shifted as another swell of curiosity took hold.
"Yeah, kids and leashes don't really mix," she said vaguely, more than ever itching to take just a quick look around.
Lenore watched Malachi play with amusement. Younger kids were so easily entertained, it was just-
"Hey! Somethin' shiny!"
Lenore scrabbled in the sand, digging up her treasure. An old, dirty marble glittered in the afternoon sunlight, the blue glass pocked with scratches and chips. Dunking it into the water, she showed her prize to Malachi.
"I found somethin' shiny!"
"One of these days," Rabid laughed nervously and pointed to the forest, turning away from it, "One of these days one of us is going to get killed." It had taken her quite some time to see that Crow was staring also.
Malachi's head snapped in Len's direction. Shiny? Shiny was good.
"Ooooo..." he cooed and poked the marble in Len's hand. It was shiny!
Crow blinked, snapping back to reality again.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Death. Bad. Yeah." She shifted uncomfortably, unable to take it any more. Taking brisk strides towards the forest, she called over her shoulder to Rabid.
"C'mon, let's just take a quick-"
BOOM.
Crow jumped back as she heard what sounded like a resonating footfall exploding from HQ. Turning and staring, she heard a distinct, machine-like howl emanating from a wide open window on the first floor. Her room.
The howl came a second time, and Crow instantly recognized it.
"Dammit, the kangaroo rats must've cranked the surround sound up as high as it would go!" she snapped at no one in particular, cursing herself for forgetting to turn off her television. Racing up to the building and past Rabid, she cursed herself doubly as the loud screams of someone being eaten alive was punctuated by more mechanical howls.
"RabidI'llberightbackwatchLen!" she said rapidly, flailing and sprinting up to the building before everyone within a five mile radius thought there was a monster on the loose, eating people very, very loudly.
Lenore didn't even turn around as she heard the howls and screams. Turning to Malachi, she held out the now mostly-clean bauble for him to look at.
"You can have it if you want, Bah. I gots lots of shiny stuff at home." she said, pressing the sapphire blue object into his hand. "I steal lots of stuff!" she added proudly, thinking fondly of her hidden stash of shiny things and small creatures.
Rabid took a step after Crow, and cried out in pain when she heard the roar. She clapped her hands over her ears until they got used to the noise, then bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter. She slowly made her way to the mishaps, staying far enough behind so as to not intrude.
Malachi's eyes were folded all the way back, almost completely closed off. His left eye squinched shut and he winced in pain. He took the little sphere happily, though, and carefully gave Len a hug, avoiding her sharp arms.
Rabid watched curiously. What was that blue thing?
Standing abruptly and dusting herself off, Lenore looked around for Crow. The noise coming from the room was punctuated between quiet and explosions of sound, followed by uncomprehensible shouting from what sounded like Crow.
"Mama's fightin' with the rats again," she informed Malachi seriously, watching the windows rattle as a woman's high pitched scream echoed over the grounds.
Wandering at the water's edge, she looked towards the woods that ringed the lake shore, half-concealing a glass house at the other end of the yard. She badly wanted to go in, and now that Crow wasn't there....
The sound reached a ridiculously loud climax, setting Len's teeth on edge. Clapping her hands to her ears, she watched as the windows rattled even worse than before. As the mechanical howl came again, there was suddenly a loud, crackling POP, and the grounds fell silent.
"DAMMIT!"
Well, sort of. Lenore giggled as she listened to Crow shout obscenities before turning back to Malachi.
"Let's go see what's in the woods."
Rabid's ears buzzed at the sudden silence, but not enough to stop her from hearing. She cleared her throat to alert Lenore to her presence.
"Bah," Malachi nodded nervously. He was very curious.
He, on the other hand, could hear almost nothing.
"Um, actually," Len trailed off, looking guiltily up at Rabid. "Maybe we should-"
"Accursed winged rodents! I never shoulda brought them with me, the ungrateful little feathered freaks of nature!"
Crow stormed back down the lawn, looking scorched. Her face was blackened with what looked like soot, and her hair stood on end underneath her side-cocked pilots helmet. Growling and grumbling, Crow marched to the shore and picked Lenore up.
Taking a deep breath and giving Rabid a worn-out smile, she tried to wipe some of the soot off her face with dignity.
"Uh, the rats sort of made my surround sound speakers....explode. Me an' Len are gonna have to go to town to get a repair guy up here, and then we're gonna get some rat traps," she said, nearly shouting the last two words towards her room. A thin lick of grey smoke drifted out of the window, where a few equally sooty and smoking winged kangaroo rats sat guiltily.
Heaving a sigh, she put Lenore down and held her by the hand, leading her back to HQ.
"See ya later, Rabid," Crow said, pausing only to extinguish a bit of her hair that was still smoldering.
Lenore looked back and waved goodbye to Malachi dolefully.
"Bye, Bah!"
"Bye...Crow..." Rabid's eyes went wide as she picked Malachi up and headed toward her room.
"BAH, LEN!" Malachi called and waved as Crow and Len walked away.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:35 pm
__Part 19 (PoD1)
The room was dark, musty and mildewed, lit by a single yellowed lightbulb that flickered halfheartedly from time to time. It was bare and cold, its sheer unrelieved concrete ugliness interrupted only by a rickety table that stood on three chipped and cracked legs. The fourth leg had been haphazardly replaced by a 2 x 4 that flaked with dry rot. A single aluminum chair sat behind the ancient table, its occupant lashed to it with handcuffs and rope.
The beaten door creaked open, the shrill sound rousing the prisoner. Looking up through a curtain of tangled dark hair, the prisoner shied away from the approaching young woman who looked on, bright eyes dancing in pleasure.
"Not in a talking mood today, darling?" she asked, her voice lilting with amusement.
There was no response.
The woman sat serenely on the rickety table, her slight weight enough to make it tremble and creak with age. Leaning in far so that her lips brushed the prisoner's forehead, she stroked matted hair with one long fingered hand. Her lips twitched into a smirk as the prisoner flinched away from her gentle touch.
The door creaked again, and a bulky, malformed man with mismatched eyes stumped into the room. He carried a tray laden with bizarre, dangerous looking implements and a pot full of what looked like glutinous black ink. The prisoner eyed the new arrival with apprehension, dull eyes lingering on the jar of ink. The woman smiled again, giving the prisoner a kiss on the forehead before sliding off the table.
The man stood stock-still, awaiting further instruction. A bit of spittle dripped in a steady rhythm from his over-bite ridden mouth, saliva making his fat lips shine in the unsteady light. The woman picked up the ink jar from the proffered tray, admiring it in the light before setting it down again quietly. Turning to look at the prisoner over her shoulder, she picked up one of the sharp, dangerous-looking implements.
"Mark him and prepare him for the first flight out to Gaia once he is recovered," she said briskly, watching the prisoner twitch and raise frightened eyes to her. "And there's no need to be gentle. He's stronger than he looks - he'll be able to bear it much better than you'd think."
The man gave a grunt of affirmation, mismatched eyes fixed on the prisoner. There was a rasping cry of protest, rattling dully through the tiny room. The woman, who was at the door, hand on the knob, turned in acknowledgement.
"Yes?"
The prisoner stared at her in a mix of loathing and fear, mouth open as though to speak. After a moment, a voice hoarse from disuse came out in a croak.
"Please, don't."
The woman turned back to the door, signalling for the still-drooling hulk to proceed with his work. The prisoner gave a gasp and struggled weakly with his bindings, fruitlessly trying to escape as the man beared down on him.
"My dear, save your voice for later. The Marking will require it if you are going to beg and scream like any proper slave," she said, her musical voice tinged with ice cold cruelty. She slammed the door behind her, pausing outside the room only when the screams within crescendoed in the first of many anguished waves.
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:03 pm
~ A Gift ~
Rabid crept quietly through the hallway, glancing around nervously. She felt as if she were on some kind of magical ninja mission to bring joy and glucose to her bestest friend.
She took a card out of her pocket and stuck an adhesive strip to the back, then elected to smack it against the wall outside Crow's door. Hah! It stuck!
She removed another bag from her pocket and taped it to the wall. Ah, thank God, Lenore's cookie hadn't broken. Feathers were a pain to mold with dough...
Hearing footsteps down the way, Rabid quickly sped off.
Just as Mummy began running off, Malachi dropped a black bracelet. It landed squarely on the corner of Len's cookie bag, and he giggled.
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:49 pm
__Part 20 (PoD1)
Crow bounced in the faux-leather seat eagerly, watching the gate with wide unblinking eyes. Weary, jet-lag ridden travelers staggered around in the crowded terminal, bumping into each other and tripping over overstuffed luggage. Lenore sat next to her, bouncing wth identical excitement merely to copy Crow.
"Who we waitin' for, Mama?"
Crow didn't look over at Len, keeping her eyes fixed on the gate.
"I told ya, Len, Uncle Julian. My brother, your adopted uncle. Remember?"
"Oh yeeeeeeah. He gonna gimme presents?"
Crow gave a snort of laughter, ruffling Len's hair still without looking at her.
"I dunno, Songbird. Maybe."
A static-filled voice rang out over the PA system, feedback making Crow's ears ache.
"Flight 717 from Fisk now arriving."
Crow jumped up, picking up Lenore and racing towards the gate. She watched as a fresh wave of exhausted-looking travellers poured from the gate, chattering in dull voices and stretching out cramped arms and legs. She watched and waited with baited breath, heedless of anything Lenore or anyone else said. After so long, so many years....
The flood trickled down to a river, then a stream, until no one was left. Crow stared at the gate, which was now being closed by the flight attendant at the desk. She felt tears smart in her eyes. Surely she hadn't gotten the instructions wrong? She kept staring, waiting, waiting...
Lenore looked up at Crow, distressed by her sudden change of mood. Looking at the now-closed gate, then around the terminal, she tried to see if Julian was hiding.
"Uncle not here," she said, tugging at Crow's skirt.
Crow didn't respond, but still looked at the gate in quiet desperation. Suddenly forgetting Lenore, she bolted for the desk and grabbed the startled attendant by the shirt collar.
"Julian Hadermann, he was supposed to be on this flight, where is he?"
The attendant squirmed in her grasp, wincing as her claws bit into the flesh of his throat.
"Madam, I don't- "
"Check the bleeding manifest!"She wanted her brother, how dare he not be where he was supposed to be, he was supposed to be here, six years, six long lonely miserable years-
Lenore felt the grief radiating off of Crow, even though she was yards away. She scuttled across the rough-carpeted floor slowly, peering through her spiky hair at the other travellers who were staring at her as though she was some kind of airplane-food induced hallucination.
"Where mah uncle?" she asked random people, twisting her skirt in her spindly fingers.
The attendant was starting to turn blue as Crow's hands moved from his collar to his throat.
"Madam, there is no Julian Haeder-gack!-mann on the manife-lemmegoIcan'tbreathe!"
Crow obeyed, flexing her long clawed fingers in an attempt to keep herself from slashing the attendants computers to shreds. She turned a threatening eye as the attendant rubbed his bruised throat.
"That can't be possible. Julian Haedermann, connecting flight from Alsaeth to Fisk to Gaia. Where the HELL is my brother?"
The attendant looked at her sulkily.
"Madam, I must ask you to control yourself-"
"Mah Uncle Julian ain't here. You know where he is?" Lenore asked a blue-skinned man with reptilian eyes curiously. The man gave a croaking reply and shrugged, giving Lenore a pat on the head before shaking her off his tail and walking off.
Giggling to herself as she examined a shiny blue scale that she had oh-so-slyly removed from his tail without his knowing, she toyed with her prize in her hands and continued her search. Tugging at skirts, jackets, shirts, tails, wings, and once even a forked-tongued goat's head, repeating her question.
"I will NOT calm down. I think my reaction's pretty friggin' appropriate! My brother called me from the plane. What did he do, just decide to teleport out of it?!"
Lenore wandered a bit further, though making sure to keep Crow in her sight. Repeating her question without hope to a seeing eye boar. The boar grunted and opened its maw wide, soft slimy tongue covering Lenore's whole face in a foul-smelling, affectionate kiss.
"Uuuuuh, I'll ask again later," Lenore said, wiping the boar's spit off her face with the boar's prickly fur. Wandering around, she heard a sudden rumbling sound that vibrated deep within her chest. A giant plane was rumbling past the terminal window, a giant metal monster roaring to life. Lenore gave a delighted shriek and ran clumsily to the window, pressing her face against the glass and watching eagerly as it sped down the runway.
Crow gave a long, low growl like a wounded animal, forgetting all carefully kept pretense of pure humanity.
"I want to see my brother," she said icily, her tone was rimmed with cold power that sapped the humanity out of her voice. Her pupils narrowed to slits and her lips trembled above her fangs. The attendant flinched and drew back as she leaned over the desk.
"Where is he?"
"Biiiiiiiig plane," Lenore said to herself, face still squelched against the glass. So enraptured was she in watching the plane rise from the ground, she didn't notice the person standing next to her for nearly ten minutes.
She felt a slight chill, and thinking it merely from standing with her body pressed against the cold sheet of glass, and shrugged it off. As the plane soared away, she turned to look at her companion. He too was standing close to the window, eyes wide in childish pleasure as he watched the plane fly.
"I want him NOW!"
The attendant flailed under her icy gaze and started checking the manifest again, praying Crow wouldn't eat him,
"Alright, alright, hold on - "
Lenore looked her companion over appraisingly. He had a lithe dancer's frame, almost too tall to be properly proportional and exceptionally long, gentle-looking hands. The man sensed the gaze on him and looked down curiously, simply smiling kindly at her as he took in her distinctly odd appearance.
Lenore gave a toothy smile back, clutching at the lizard-man's scale and looking up at the man shyly through her spiky hair.
"D'you know mah Uncle Julian? He ain't here and Mama was waitin' for him."
The man's smile flickered for a second, as though he was trying to remember something. His eyes went blank, and then he blinked and the warm expression was back.
"Is your name Lenore?"
Lenore's eyes grew wide and she started to bounce.
"Yus, yus, I'm Len! Mama's lookin' for you an' she gonna kill someone soon if she don't find you!"
She grabbed the man by one the hand and lead him to the desk, totally oblivious to the fact that he was nearly doubled over with his arm dragged down to Lenore's level.
"MAMA!"
Crow turned angrily, ready to scream. It died in her throat as she saw who Lenore brought with her. Mouth agape and teary eyes wide in anger, shock, and ecstatic happiness, Crow could only choke out one word.
"Julian?"
Julian smiled his gentle smile, and Crow rushed to her brother, hitting and hugging and crying into his shirt. Julian hugged her back, taking the blows with ease and letting her soak his shirt through. Turning back and looking at Lenore, he winked genially and gave a charming smile.
Lenore smiled back, too busy laughing at Crow's odd behavior to notice the odd chill that ran down her spine again.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 8:59 am
__Part 21 (PoD1)
Lenore sat quietly in the darkened room, sunlight straining to get in from behind the thick shades pulled over the windows. She toyed with the pages of the book Julian had given her, a collection of poems by Edgar Allen Poe. Emerald eyes flicked oover each page as she browsed through it, quietly giving clucks of approval. She paused at one point, finding her name emblazoned in a title. Glancing up at the sleeping forms of Crow on the bed and Julian on the couch, she sat up in her camp bed and read the poem aloud, softly to herself. IUt was a slow, arudous reading, sice she stumbled over words here and there.
"Ah, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll! -- a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river;
And, Guy de Vere, hast thou no tear? -- weep now or nevermore!
See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!
Come! let the burial rite be read- the funeral song be sung! --
An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young --
A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.
"Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride,
And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her -- that she died!
How shall the ritual, then, be read?-- the requiem how be sung
By you -- by yours, the evil eye, -- by yours, the slanderous tongue
That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"
Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song
Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel no wrong.
The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside,
Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy
bride.
For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies,
The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes
The life still there, upon her hair -- the death upon her eyes.
"Avaunt! avaunt! from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven --
From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven --
From grief and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of
Heaven!
Let no bell toll, then, -- lest her soul, amid its hallowed mirth,
Should catch the note as it doth float up from the damned Earth!
And I! -- to-night my heart is light! -- no dirge will I upraise,
But waft the angel on her flight with a Paean of old days!"
Her whispery voice was taut with nameless emotion as she finished reading. Closing the book tenderly and hiding it under her pillow, Lenore laid back down and drifted off to sleep, pondering.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 4:42 pm
__Part 22 (PoD1)
Humming lightly to himself and flipping through a rather aged copy of TV Guide, Julian lounged on the couch in contentment. Brushing the long hair out of his eyes, he read the outdated articles and glanced around for company, seeing as Crow and Lenore had disappeared for the day.
Rabid, on another one of her exploring kicks, walked quietly through the rooms. The first floor seemed pretty dead.
Malachi fell in and out of consciousness in Mummy's arms. it was too early to be awake today. He dropped limply, making Mummy fully support his weight.
Rabid finally made her way to a room in which she thought she heard pages rustling. She peeked her head in and saw a man she didn't recognize. She took a step forward, her foot landing on a creaky board...
Julian jumped as he heard the creak, turning to see who was sneaking around in the back.
"Hello?"
"Hi..." Rabid said and entered the room, mindlessly bouncing her son. She stood within the doorway and peered at the new guy. Who was he?
Malachi had completely fallen asleep by this point, and breathed loudly in his slumber.
Julian waved politely and struggled to get out of the overstuffed couch. The struggle was epic, and it took him a few minutes to loose himself from his nest of blankets. Adjusting his twisted clothing sheepishly, he smiled at Rabid and leaned on the back of the couch, sticking a hand out genially.
"Um, how do you do? I'm Julian," he said, adding as a bit of an afterthought, "I'm Crow's brother."
Rabid's face lit up at the mention of her friend's name. So this was the famed Julian. She shifted Malachi's weight and took his hand, shaking it once and then clutching Malachi to her again as he began to fall.
"I'm Rabid...nonono...they call me Rabid. No! That's my nickname! My nickname is the adjective 'Rabid'," as usual, she was making a fool of herself, "I'm Crow's friend."
Julian smiled again pleasantly, giving Rabid's hand a firm shake before settling with his elbows propped against the back of the couch, checking her out as subtly as possible. Feeling himself blush as he did so, he looked directly at her forehead and started rambling.
"Um...Yeah, Crow mentioned you a couple times. She said your Mistake- er, no, Mishap, was some kind of squirrel kid of doom." He looked at the adorable bundle of white fluff in Rabid's arms and had to fight back a gushy coo of cuteness-appreciation.
"I dunno, not really a squirrel child of doom, maybe mass destruction, but not doom."
Rabid laughed and lifted Malachi's lip, showing off his fangs. She placed her sleeping son on a chair and then took a seat on the arm of the couch. Finally she had the chance to talk to this...mysterious doctor-guy. Damned lack of conversational skills!
"So...what, exactly, did Crow tell you about me? Aside from the whole...doomy Malachi thing."
Julian cleared his throat awkwardly and felt the heat in his face intensify as Rabid sat next to him. Drat this lack of poise around girls!
"She mentioned you and her have been friends for awhile, and the whole vampire thing. Other than that, not a whole lot."
He trailed off into awkward silence. Struggling to quickly think of something Rabid would be impressed by, he sat up a little straighter and smiled charmingly at her.
"I'm a surgeon, you know," he said eagerly, hoping he didn't sound pretentious.
Rabid cocked her head to one side. So he knew that she was Vampiric. Hm.
Wait...was he blushing?
"Yes, I know," she smiled innocently, "Crow told me."
Malachi snorted loudly in his sleep, rolling onto his side.
Rabid rolled her eyes at her son, and then turned back to Julian.
"I don't know anything else, though," she said, "Lenore smacked her head, and I didn't get to bugger anything else out of her. Crow, I mean. Care to share?"
Julian settled back into his nest of blankets, sincerely hoping Rabid hadn't noticed his blushing. Chewing at a fingernail in as savage a fashion as his sister, he tugged a blanket over his shoulders and snuffled back a sneeze. Catching a glance at his reflection on the television screen, he suddenly wished he was wearing something a bit more flattering than a t-shirt and a pair of aged cargo shorts.
His features were a bit sharper than usual, but that was only because of the cold he had been fighting off for a few days. Being sick always made him look a bit peaky. His skin was dusky, complimenting his deep blue eyes and dark brown hair. Twirling a lock of it between his slim fingers, he felt suddenly and irrefutably dowdy and unattractive when he looked at Rabid. Clearing his throat to interuppt the growing silence he'd let spawn, he continued to twirl the bit of hair nervously.
"Well, we both come from a country called Rijan - its a long ways from here, and not a lot of people have heard if it. Its sort of like Vatican City in Rome, except not really holy n' stuff. It's sort of sectioned off inside this other country called Fisk; I went to medical school there, and I'm setting up a practice and everything in the Fiskan capital," he rambled eagerly, quite forgetting Rabid had wanted to know about Crow.
"Holy n' stuff? Eloquent," Rabid giggled and tugged at one of her curls. It was quite obvious that she did this often, as the ringlet she was tugging was a bit longer than the rest, "I've never heard of Rijan. Or Fisk."
She then noticed that Julian seemed sick. Why the Hell had she not noticed before. "You alright?" She asked.
Conversation seemed to die out each time she asked a question, but she wanted to keep talking. This kid was interesting...even if he was acting a bit strangely.
Julian gave a delicate cough, snuffling again to stave off a vicious sneeze a little longer.
"Yeah, just a bit of a cold, I suppose. I always get sick when I travel."
Blowing his nose a bit louder than necessary (as though he was subconciously egging Rabid on for a bit more sympathy), he cleared his throat again and tried to stay on topic.
"Oh, well...Rijan's really beautiful, you'd love it there. Mild winters and nice summers, carrot-trees always in bloom, the whole paradise-on-earth shtick. Maybe that's why I was so eager to get out after awhile," he said, laughing. "That much earthly perfection can get a bit boring after awhile."
Remembering at last that Rabid wanted to know about Crow, he gave in to the sneeze at last and blew his nose outrageously again before turning back to her.
"So, what d'you wanna know about Crow? She's sort of....hard to explain, really." He gave another laugh, and dug his wallet out of one his baggy pockets. Peeling it open and removing an aged photo from it carefully, he handed it to Rabid tenderly.
"That's her and me about seven years ago. Before....before the new look."
]"That's exactly what I wanted to know," Rabid patted Julian on the head while she took the photo, happy that she wouldn't have to do any weasling. Damn, Crow looked a lot different...no...her face was still basically the same...basically...
She handed the photo back carefully and looked up toward Julian. She wanted to avoid any further conversation on Crow. She didn't want to learn anything she wasn't supposed to know, after all.
"I can't even remember where I'm from. Mei...Mei-something. I went from an...some building to Gaia. Never really got outside much." She furrowed her brow in thought. Wow, she really must've blocked it. Either that, or her memory had finally skipped out.
Malachi growled in his sleep and his eyes shot open. He sat bolt upright and stared at Julian, his eyes huge.
"MAH?!"
"I'm right here, hun," Rabid answered nonchalantly.
Malachi immediately closed his eyes flopped to his side, asleep again.
Rabid shook her head and laughed slightly.
Julian reclaimed the photo quietly, his eyes lingering on the smiling faces for a minute before slipping it carefully back into his wallet. Glancing over at Malachi with interest, he couldn't help but smile in a gooey, almost-but-not-quite paternal fashion at the boy's cuteness.
"Maybe when me and Crow head back to Rijan, you could come visit for a bit," he said, toying with a fraying edge of his wallet. "I could show you all the sights, if you wanted."
Rabid's heart stopped for a moment. What?! Going back?! When?! For how long?!
"I'd love to, but...you're going back to Rijan? I thought you...she said you were going to stay here."
Had she missed something? Was the blabbing about something she shouldn't be?
Julian blinked, trying to comprehend Rabid's sudden confusion.
"Oh, no, we're heading back to Rijan pretty soon. Probably the day after Halloween. I dunno why on earth she would think I was gonna stay here - I've got a partner in Fisk setting up my practice, and my father needs me as an advisor for the family business. Besides, six years away from home is more than enough for her - it's time to bring her home."
He picked at his frayed leather wallet a bit savagely, brow furrowed. There was the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he shouldn't have told Rabid this, gauging by her extreme surprise. Stay? In Gaia? How could Crow even dare to think he'd spend more than a week in this insane asylum?
Rabid inched back, her brow furrowed in frustration.
"I can't believe she'd lie to me," she murmurered. No, she couldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe this was all just a lot of confusion.
"She told me that you'd be staying with her until you got set up at a hospital here. Really. I think she expects you to stay..."
Malachi was now awake, buy laying completely still and watching Mummy and the man through squinted eyes. What was going on? Why did Mummy seem so sad?
Julian shrugged.
"I dunno what she was thinking when she told you that, but we're going home pretty soon. I'm sure she's eager to get back with her family after such a long time. I mean, Gaia's a decent place to stick around for a little while...but she belongs in Rijan with me and the folks. Anyway, she's set to inherit the business, and since she's never exactly had a head for it..." he trailed off as he got a good look at Rabid's face. The twinge came again in the back of his mind, though it seemed to encourage him to keep talking.
"Well, the sooner she get's back, the better. Sorry if she told you otherwise - she can get a little inventive when she wants to be."
Rabid was immediately placed on the defensive. She stood adn crossed her arms, her face taking on an expression of anger. So Crow hadn't lied after all.
"I don't know what you're thinking, telling em that she's going back. She seems quite happy here with her new family. Have you even asked her about any of this? I bet not. You pompous little...jerk..."
That last part wasn't planned-for, but it was quite a lot less profane than what she'd been thinking. Ah, Vampiric tempers...
Malachi surpressed a growl and glowered at the man. He was messing with Mummy...he knew it...
Julian immediately felt cold anger flare, and he glared at Rabid through slitted eyes.
"You don't know the first thing about her. I doubt you even know her real name. I'm her brother, and her real family is what matters most, not some ugly freak of nature that got spit out of a cauldron."
He rose stiffly, discarding his blankets. His cold gaze fell on Malachi, and his lip curled. The look was shifted to Rabid, and the curled lip transmuted into a thin smile.
"Besides, the sooner I get her into civilized, non-haemavorus company, she'll be far better off."
He was prepared to say more, but was cut off by a rattling cough. Keeping his ground until the episode passed, he wiped a bit of spittle off his lip and sneered.
Rabid shrieked and nearly backhanded Julian, but held herself back.
"Since when have names mattered? I don't care what her real name is! She doesn't care what mine is! We're friends! We stick together...she'll tell me what she hasn't when she's ready! For the love of GOD, you haven't seen her in, what, 6 years?! Open your mind...open your God f----ng damned mind."
She snarled, showing off her fangs. God, was she ready to physically brutalize him if part of her wasn't refusing.
What was stopping her? Was Rabid gaining self-control? Doubtful...
Malachi growled slightly and sat up, his fur standing on end. Mummy was using bad words. That wasn't good.
Julian was a bit startled at the sight of Rabid's fangs, but the Twinge made him bold.
"You're talking about things you have no grasp of. Back in Rijan, where she WILL be going, she's more important and powerful than you can even begin to understand. The Haedermann family is the most powerful and wealthy back home - she could buy and sell this piss-pot of a nation five times over. Don't bother trying to-"
Julian was cut off again, not by another coughing fit, but by Crow's nervous entrance into the room.
Turning on Rabid and smiling a cruel smile only she could see, he turned back to Crow, the cruelty turning to gentle charm at the sight of his sister.
"Crow, sweetie! Man, where've you been? I thought you'd forgotten about me."
Crow edged carefully into the living room, her eyes darting between Rabid, Malachi, and Julian.
"I, uh...heard shouting," she said uneasily, twiddling with her pilot helmet awkwardly.
Lenore peered from behind Crow's legs, looking up shyly at Julian.
"Uncle mad?" she asked in a small voice.
Julian's smile flickered for a moment as his eyes rested on Rabid again.
"Just debating which movie villain is better - Oogie Boogie or Freddy Krueger," he said lightly. He bent down to retrieve his blankets and stuffed them under one arm.
"C'mon, Crow, Rabid said she had to get going anyway. Why don't you show me where I can kip in your room without getting eaten."
He lead Crow away with subtle force by the arm, steering her briskly out the door.
"Uh, okay. Hi and bye, Rabid! C'mon, Len, time to go, I...I guess."
Lenore lingered for a moment, watching Julian push Crow teasingly out the door. She scampered up to Rabid and looked behind her shoulder warily, waiting until the pair were out in the hall.
Rabid growled lightly and then turned to Lenore. She bent down to the Mishap's height.
"Lenore," she whispered, "You need to sneak your mom away from uncle Julian, alright? Rabid needs to tell her something, but your uncle can't know. It's a secret mission..."
Malachi grumbled to himself, still sitting up. Tears ran down his cheeks. Bad man was going to be in big trouble once he could walk, he decided...
Lenore looked up at Rabid urgently, nodding.
"I will, I will...."
She listened as the pair's voices faded down into the hallway, and she knew there was no way to get Crow to Rabid right now. Julian hardly ever left her alone. Tugging at Rabid's arm, she stood on tiptoe and whispered into her ear.
"Julian bad," she said. Giving Rabid a look full of deep meaning, she scampered out the door to follow them. Flaring out her razor feathers so they stuck out like deadly-sharp spikes on her arms, she followed resentfully after giving Malachi a half-hearted wave.
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:03 pm
__Part 23 (PoD1)
Lenore could not rightly say when her feelings about Julian had soured. It might have been on the way home from the airport, when the ugly looks Julian kept giving her out of the corner of his eye came to her attention. Or, it could have been the masked insults towards Crow's appearance that kept popping up in the form of brotherly teasing. Or, perhaps, it was the way a chill seemed to hang around the creature's body, a misty, inperceptible aura that made Lenore shudder and twitch.
No matter how she searched for a reason, she could not in utter truth find what she disliked about Julian so much.
That night, a few hours after running into Rabid and Bah in the living room, Julian was once again making himself at home in the room. He was stretched out luxuriously on the couch, huddled in blankets and snuffling occasionally. Lenore disliked this about him too - his poor health did nothing but irritate her. Crow was fussing about him like a mother hen, clucking and fluttering about in worried affection, doing anything Julian asked besides standing on her head and spitting nickels.
It disgusted Lenore. Such love shouldn't be wasted on someone so...so unlikeable, she thought dully to herself. (Of course, it wasn't thought exactly like that, but the feeling was certainly the same.)
At about eleven o'clock, Crow turned out the lights and tucked Lenore into bed. Seeing as this was the equivalent of being put to bed at eleven o'clock in the morning for Lenore, she fussed and whined and grumbled to little avail.
"Honey," Crow whispered, "Uncle isn't feeling well, and he needs to sleep at night while it's quiet n' stuff. Try to get some rest, okay?"
Lenore gave a noncomittal hmph and flung the covers over her head in profound annoyance. She heard Julian and Crow chatter above her thick, fleecy barrier, the words turned to nonsense mumblings. The mumbling died down after a few minutes, and Lenore heard the soft, slightly wheezy breathing by her bedside that meant Crow was asleep. Dragging the covers off her face, but keeping it still concealed, Lenore glared over at the couch.
Julian was apparently deep asleep, sprawled over his blankets and pillows. Lenore grumbled quietly to herself and to Cole, who was residing peacefully under her bed.
"Julian big, bad, mean jerk," she muttered to the dragon moodily. Cole's only reply was a whisp of acrid black smoke the twisted and turned silkily out from under her bed, tickling her nose. The moonlight pooled in silver patches on the floor, shadows cast from tree leaves outside the window moving in hypnotic rhythm with the breezes that moved them. Lenore watched them unblinking, and after a time felt her eyes getting heavy....
It was only a little later when she stirred back to consciousness, roused by an unidentifiable sound that reached her through her strange, twisting dreams. Shaking off the remnants of a dream about flying with the moon on her head, she looked around blearily. Crow was buried deep under her covers, too deeply asleep to be touched by any worldly sound. Turning her gaze to the couch, ready to start grumbling about Julian's many inconveniencing traits, she simply stared in surprise.
Julian was sitting straight up, head tilted back and eyes clenched shut. The chill that Lenore had associated with her dislike of him tickled her spine awfully, as though icy fingers were tracing down her back. She watched in uncomfortable fascination as Julian's head lolled on his neck, face drenched in sweat. The sweat ran down to join the thin trickle of tears leaking out from under his tightly shut eyelids, which discomfitted Lenore even more than ever. What kind of dream could he be having that would disrupt his sleep so?
He muttered something unintelligible, hands clenched into fists on top of his blanket. His face twisted in an unmistakable look of pain, and he gave a sharp, terrified gasp. His eyes flew open, startling Lenore into tugging the blankets over her head to hide again. Daring to peek out a second later, she watched as Julian rose from the couch stiffly and crept towards the front door, tugging it open soundlessly and shutting it quietly.
"He left?" Lenore asked herself in doubtful jubilation. Was the bad man finally gone for good? Could she and Crow finally get back to normalcy? She was resolved to go see. Jumping off her bed lightly, she reached under the bed and tugged at one of Cole's horns.
"C'mon, Cole, we gotta go see," she whispered. Two ember-like, pupilless eyes blinked sleepily at her in confusion. Lenore stepped back as a shadow crawled out from under the bed, lifting itself off the floor and assuming the shape of a half-rotted dragon corpse. Cole snuffled at Lenore's hair affectionately, wagging his stumpy tail and eager to play. Lenore crept through the room as stealthily as she could, waving Cole forward to follow her. The dragon melted back into shadow and slid across the floor, slipping under the narrow space between the door and the floor.
Grumbling about show-offy dragons, Lenore glanced back at Crow quickly. The girl was still fast asleep, face serene and quiet. Hoping that by morning there would be no more worry of having to deal with the Brother, Lenore opened the door and shut it quietly. Glancing at Cole, she marched resolutely down the hallway.
"Let's go. Uncle's prolly halfway to the air-part, no, purt, uhhh...ya know, the air-thingy by now."
Cole toddled after her, smoke streaming from his nostrils excitedly. Realizing she didn't know which way he'd gone, she closed her eyes briefly and concentrated. A shadow of a chill ran up her spine, and her eyes snapped open again.
"This way," she said, pointing the opposite way. Julian had gone out the front door.
------
Feeling incredibly sneaky, Lenore creeped through the front yard, Cole trailing close behind. The moon was still high in the sky - it was barely past midnight. Pausing to admire the beauty night had given the grounds, Lenore gave a wistful sigh. She and Crow could have been playing right now, if not for the dratted Brother. Following the trail Julian had left (the chills along Len's spine acting like some kind of bizarre homing beacon), Lenore trudged along the dew-sprinkled grass in high spirits.
Until she saw where the trail led her to.
She stood stock-still, apprehension growing very strong. Cole sat beside her, blowing smoke and little embers warily.
"He went in th' woods?"
She'd heard through the grapevine that Dei had been punished pretty badly for his little trip into the forest, and she doubted greatly that Jabir or Maggie would care for her excuses if she was caught. The forest that had so tempted her before loomed menacingly now, the night's peace and serenity warped into something foreboding and menacing. Taking a deep breath, she squuezed her eyes shut and took a step forward into the forest.
The strange chill trail was harder to follow now, but she was determined to see what Julian was doing. Cole walked quieter than she did, and after a few minutes of pleading he allowed her to climb on his back and ride. The dragon was silent as a shadow, nary a leaf crackling under his careful steps. Lenore pointed out the trail from time to time, warily watching for anything threatening. Julian had strayed deeper into the woods than she would have liked, and her imaginings of terrible punishments from Jabir were getting more and more irksome.
They were twenty minutes into the trek when Lenore heard voices. Cole slowed, snuffling and sighing great licks of smoke worriedly. They had reached a tiny clearing, which was haphazardly illuminated by a tiny, smoky fire. Julian knelt before it, rocking back and forth and muttering wildly to himself. Looking askance at Cole, she dismounted and crept forward. After a moments hesitation, she leapt on one of the trees and climbed it deftly, perching on one of its thick branches that spread over the little clearing.
Julian was directly below her, oblivious to everything in his apparent madness. The little fire flickered in the slight breeze, threatening to go out. He ceased his ravings for a minute, throwing handfuls of grass and sticks onto it. It flared once more, and died. The clearing was plunged into darkness, but Lenore's eyes could see through the cloying dark easily. She watched Julian claw at the dirt 'round the fire, scratching words and little pictures into the soil.
"Sheesh, he's a kook," she whispered to herself. Crow had mentioned he was as odd as she was, but insanity was a bit different from eccentricity.
She was about to leap down from the branch and give Julian a sound whack across the head when the fire suddenly flared to life again. Brilliant white flames wavered and roared above the little fire pit, seeming to almost hover. Julian prostrated himself before it, mad laughter echoing across the clearing.
"Be silent."
The laughter stopped immediately, and Lenore nearly toppled out of the tree. The fire had spoken, sounding like a thousand voices run together in a single blood-chilling scream.
"Where is One-Called-Crow?"
Julian crouched before the white fire, clawing at the dirt with his fingers.
"I-I haven't been able to get her here yet, I promise, soon - "
"We-Who-Watch are not pleased with you. Nearly two weeks is ample time to bring her before us."
Julian winced.
"It's not that easy. She's got a friend whose already suspicious and hates me, a vampire named Charlotte, and that girl-creature she adopted, she has the stink of the Unseelie Horde upon her - she's a devil-creature, she'll ruin all - "
"Do not excuse your failure. One-Called-Rabid and Unseelie-Beast are of no consequence. Bring One-Called-Crow here on All Hallow's Eve , or face punishment for your worthlessness."
The breath seemed to be sucked out of Julian, and he gasped and muttered supplications in terror as the white fire flickered away. Lenore watched in stunned fear as Julian kissed the dirt before the fire pit reverently and stood, all sign of his previous madness gone. He dusted himself off and straightned his bedclothes, and set off through the forest back to HQ. Waiting until she was sure he was gone, Lenore glided from the tree into the clearing. Cole cantered out of his hiding place in the underbrush, ember-like eyes fixed on the path Julian had taken to leave. His teeth were bared, and spittle dribbled from his lips as he loomed protectively over Lenore.
Ignoring Cole, Lenore knelt down and touched the scratchings gingerly with her fingertips. A shuddering sense of fear and foreboding, ancient evil and conscious cruelty emanated from the rough markings, making her fingers burn and smart. The little clearing was an evil, tainted place, and its aura made Lenore feel ill and frightened. Scrabbling up onto Cole's back, she clung to him and closed her eyes.
"Take me home, Cole," she whispered. Cole gave a worried growl and spread his rotted wings, taking flight effortlessly and erupting from the canopy in a shower of leaves. Soaring back to HQ silently, Lenore looked back and watched the little clearing shrink away. She had to warn Crow. She had to tell Rabid.
But most important, she had to learn about what Julian had called her. Unseelie Host? The words needled her, foggy dreams of roots and wild black nights playing at the edge of her memory. Shaking it off, she stifled a gasp as she watch Julian re-enter HQ. First things first, come tomorrow. She would have to bring Rabid to the clearing.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:24 pm
__Part 24 (PoD1)
Lenore paced the hallway outside Rabid and Bah's door, biting at her fingers nervously. Grasped in her hands was her doll Sadako, a secret source of plushie comfort that rarely left her bedside. The doll's black eye stared at Lenore, as though accusing her of being cowardly in her indecision. Len had been debating with herself all day on how to handle the whole Julian-is-an-evil-SOB-and-planning-to-sacrifice-Mum-to-evil-fire thing all night and most of the day. There was no sensible, delicate way to handle the situation - she had to show Rabid the evidence, wrest Crow out of Julian's grasp, and perhaps head over multiple borders to Mexico until the heat died down. Flexing her twiggy fingers in anxiety and flaring her razor feathers uncomfortably, she looked around worriedly. She had the most awful sensation she was being watched...
Taking a deep breath and hugging her doll tight to her chest, Lenore knocked timidly on the door.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:36 pm
Rabid was reading on her bed when she heard a knock at her door. It took her a moment to realize that someone was trying to get her attention. She dog-eared her page and went to the door, opening it slowly.
"Lenore!" she smiled, "Hello..."
This was quite odd, she thought. Why would Lenore be coming to their room alone?
Upon hearing his friend's name, Malachi stood and slowly approached the door, Skelly clutched in his arms. A wide grin spread across his face when he laid eyes upon their visitor.
"Len!"
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:45 pm
Lenore sprinted into the room and quickly shut the door, stretching up on tiptoes to lock it. Pressing an ear to the wood frantically to make sure nothing was clawing at it on the other side, she looked up at Rabid anxiously, wringing Sadako's hair in her hands.
"Rawbid, Mama's in trouble, an' there's talkin' fire in the woods and crazy people and-" she sputtered quickly, pausing and trying to get more air, " -and Julian said I'm a devil an' that I smell like somethin' called an Un-See-Lee and what the heck happened to Bah?"
She nearly ripped Sadako's hair out as she took in Bah's new look. He'd....grown.
Sadako gave a rattling mutter of annoyance and fixed her blank eye on Rabid, as though demanding that she remove help remove her hair from the child's damaging grasp.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:54 pm
"Bah growed," Ike smiled happily, "Now he big like Len! Len kill pretty dolly?" He pointed nervously to Sadako. He liked seeing people freak out when they saw him grown, he as beginning to realize.
"What? What are you talking about?" Rabid finally piped up, "What are you talking about?" The name 'Julian' was just about all that had made sense. Not that many things in Gaia made sense to her...
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 3:04 pm
"Bah grew fast..." Lenore said, looking at the highly sharp-looking fangs in approval. "Pointy, too!"
Looking down at Sadako, she gave a guilty gasp and released her slightly frayed hair. "Sorry, 'Dako."
Sadako whispered a forgiving mutter and turned her head slowly 360 degrees to take in her new surroundings, one plush velveteen hand ruefully smoothing down her hair.
Looking back up at Rabid, she took a deep breath and launched into her explaination a second time as calmly as she could.
"Julian went into the woods last night and went crazy, and there was this big white talking fire that wanted to know where Mama was, and Julian said that he had tah be careful 'cause he knows you're sus-pish, uh...-suspishuh, ah, y'know, that you don't like him, and that I smell like somethin' called Un-See-Lee and that I might wreck everythin', so now the fire wants Mama there tonight so that it can eat her or somethin'."
She paused a moment, toying with her black-beaded bracelet worriedly.
"Tha' made sense, right?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 3:08 pm
Ike's eyes floated down to Len's bracelet, and he smiled. He then turned back to Len and cocked his head.
"Crow in trouble?"
He knew Len's crazy mummy's name from all the times Mummy had talked about her recently. Mummy liked her, and so he did too.
"Oh my God..." Rabid muttered. Sure, it was completely insane-sounding, but Lenore wouldn't lie about something like this, would she?
"What should we do?"
She then realized that she was asking a toddler of her plans.
"Where was the fire?"
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