Welcome to Gaia! ::

Just on the outskirts of Gaia a small, quaint park can be found. There is a playground covering half of the park, with a wooden fort and slide, a set of monkeybars, and a play house. There are two brightly painted tires hanging from a nearby tree, one red, one blue. There is a sandbox to the right of the swings. the ground under the park equipment is covered with woodchips. There are a set of park tables to the left of the playground for indulgent parents to sit.

To the right of the child sized play area is a strange sight. There is a complete miniature copy of the playground made out of wood. It is highly detailed with working parts. The fort is barely a foot tall and has a smooth, metal slide. The tireswings are tied to a small pole setup, rather than a tree. And the tires themselves appear to have come from Tonka(tm) toys. The monkeybars are made out of children's building sticks, with the little blocks that keep them together. The ground under the miniature playground is covered with sand.

No one knows where the small setup came from... and no one is quite sure why the maker made it in the first place. Once in a while a young girl plays with her dolls there, but other than that the playset is left alone.

But we know why it's there... now don't we?

((The park is open for any and all feien, so please come play! Even adult feien are allowed^_^))

The steady tapping of staff against staff filled the air as Silva and Aleric danced over the large playground during their spar. "Your left, old man. Your left!" Silva growled, his staff accenting his words by barely being blocked. But there was a gleam in his golden eyes that showed he was enjoying himself.

Aleric danced backwards on top of the monkeybars, blocking as Silva attacked and looking for an opening. There! He jabbed, only to be blocked at the last second.

"Good one." Silva said, almost grinning. "But not good enough." He swept his staff low, trying to knock Aleric's feet out from under him. Aleric hopped, using the staff to support his weight for a second as it blocked the hit. Then he kicked out, landing a glancing blow on Silva's arm. He moved to follow it with a deciding staff blow to the head, but Silva caught the staff.

"I have gotten faster, haven't I?" Aleric asked, slightly shocked that he had even landed a blow. He wasn't as fast as Silva yet, but he was faster than Silva expected. That was the important part.

"You're faster than I thought. Let's call it a day." Silva said, letting go of the staff. "Boys! Get a move on! We're going home!"

Nick and Nack complained a little, then climbed off the tireswings, whistling for the ferret they had rode there. Soon the group was heading away, as if they had never been there.

It was nearly fifteen minutes after when Quantel and Ori finally made the approach to the park, Quantel leading by the slightest of margins. She stretched her magic ahead of her, attempt to feel out who was there, who might have been the one to send Ori such a letter. Likely someone who wishes to use the child... She had very nearly forbidden Ori to accompany her, almost went on her own, but felt that the juvenile's presence might be needed.

Pausing when she felt the magical signatures there, she motioned for Ori to stop. Silva and... some other. Either this other was the Aleric from the letter, or the entire thing was merely a ploy on Silva's part. Quantel's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and she dismissed the second notion; Silva was direct, if anything, and would not stoop to such machinations. With a toss of her head, she folded her wings down over her shoulders, a much less threatening appearance than with the massive things unfurled. Another gesture, and they continued the approach.

Ori wondered at the excitement bubbling in her chest; though Quantel's warnings of being wary of such a situation fluttered through her mind, she couldn't help but be curious as to this person, this Aleric. She did so hope that he would turn out to be a good person, and not someone with other motives, as Quantel apparently believed him to possibly have. Knowing that Quantel would be looking magically, she didn't bother to do so herself, and thus missed all the lovely realizations that Quantel was making beside her.

Quantel allowed Ori come up alongside her as the reached the swing, inclining her head politely as she did so. "Aleric, I presume?" Ori remained quiet at her side, still despite the curiousity within her.

Deciding to play nice and not acknowledge the fact that she could tell that Silva was somewhere around, watching them, Quantel extended a slender hand and touched her palm to Aleric's, then pulled away again. This was the custom of Teralinth's people, and one that both Maq and Quantel had picked up as a preference to the traditional shaking of hands. The hand, once removed, was brought up to touch her collarbones softly, briefly, and Quantel lifted her chin while she spoke. "I am Quantel, Bonded Feien of Teralinth d'Kalin."

Her hand came down and beckoned Ori forward, who repeated the ritual of greeting, touching palms gently, and then her own collarbones. "And I'm Ori. We share a Bond." She smiled in addition, and tried not to look at Aleric too curiously.

Ori looked up quizzically at Quantel, who merely nodded, stepping back a bit. Somehow, the young Feien sensed that this might be a test, a way for Ori to see how well she could handle herself around other Feien, and she suddenly, desperately, wanted to please Quantel. This in mind, she turned to look around at what Aleric had motioned to, then back to the Ancient. Choosing her words carefully, she tilted her head to one side and replied, "Thank you for the offer, but as I have no idea what any of that is, I may have to pass." Admitting ignorance of something, after all, was less of a risk than attempting and failing miserably.

At least, she hoped that was right.

Quantel, however, allowed a few shadows to play over her, the familiar sensation calming what little nerves she'd had in coming here tonight. Aleric seemed innoculous enough, actually, and she saw no reason at this time to keep him and Ori from speaking. Silva's attendance lent a different dilemma; as much as she wanted to seek him out, find out why he was here, she didn't want to tip her hand too early. Quantel wondered idly if Silva was, perhaps, this Bondbrother that Aleric spoke of.

And there it was. Quantel looked in the direction of Silva's laugh, missing the sudden startlement of Ori, who hadn't realized the other Feien was there. A smile curving her lips, Quantel let her gaze linger on the shadow that was Silva, before looking away and back at the others.

While she was too well-trained to jump, Silva's laugh did cause Ori's heart to beat a bit faster, aided and abetted by the sensation that someway, somehow, Aleric had just read her mind. Why else would he have mentioned failing? Taking a deep breath and dismissing it as coincidence, she hoped that Quantel had not noticed her moment of surprise, which would have revealed immediately that she hadn't swept the park for magical signatures once they'd entered. Blocking thoughts of the older Feien's displeasure, and what feelings it would bring, Ori looked over all of the things that Aleric had shown her. "But these things... What is the purpose of all that?"

Quantel answered for Ori, in a fashion. "I am afraid that I have not had time to show Ori things of that nature, Aleric." Her voice was low, soft, and held none of the feelings of the disregard she had for anything done for the sake of "fun"; of course, she had no way of knowing that this Feien could sense from other indicators her opinion on the matter. "Our Bond has not been well as of late, and we have been focused on matters of a more serious nature."

Ori nodded in agreement to Quantel's words, even as she wondered whether it had been the best thing to ask what everything was for. Aleric's response made her feel foolish, as if she should have known something so simple. As to happy... Well, it made her happy when Quantel praised her for a job well done, didn't it?

"Quantel wants nothing for me that I don't want myself!" Her spines bristled at the implication in this bigger Feien's voice, taking an instinctive step closer to Quantel, much as a bodyguard would. She settled down, however, when Quantel soothingly stroked a magic hand down her hair, but watched him a moment before responding to Aleric's comment. "I am no stranger to physical activity." This was said in a calmer tone of voice, thinking of the training sessions she'd been given with the rapier.

Ah, and there was the reason that Quantel couldn't really believe that Silva would be playing with being another Feien; too direct, that one. She favoured the male with a smile, as warm as one could get from her when not given to the creatures she had more control over. "I merely meant that we had not time to come to locales such as this. The child speaks truthfully, as I see to it that she has reason each day to practice what she wishes." The smile turned warmer, though the warmth came more from an owner's fondness, as Quantel looked at Ori. "More oft than not, this leads her to practicing with her rapier, does it not?"

Ori smiled in return, nodding again, but still not liking the way Silva had spoken to her mentor.