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Unless DraconicFeline premits it, only she may post here.



It is just a plain white feather, but there seems to be some odd with it. It almost too white... and your friends keep saying to put a charm on it. What is up with this thing?

Name: Kampa
Keeper: DraconicFeline
Stage: Innocence

Last updating: 17 August 2008

In journal color: blue

TOC:

1: intro and cert

2: mail?!

3: The TOC... lol

4: Angel bio

5: keeper bio

6: The house

7: Rp and Event Record

8: Kampa's stuff

Name: Liliedhe (Lil) Lute
Angel: Kampa
DoB: ?
Age: 25-ish
Gender: female

Appearance: Youngishm tanned skin. hair dyed to the point where it has alot of colors

Personality: Lil, short for Liliedhe (no wonder she shortened it) loves parascience. She'll believe anything you tell her... until she disproves it. Then she'll believe the next thing you say.
She's compulsive, and will go halfway around the world just to see if its really true. Or even vaguely possible. (Chaotic Good)

History: Lil always was a strange kid. Named partially after a character in a book (her parents may have gotten the name garbled), she has always been interested in the strange and surprising. Science class seemed too straight-edged for her, but she took to it with surprising interest... despite frequent fusteration and complaints. She soon turned away from the 'facts' and to the things not so easily explained. Like Crop circles. Like the lost city of atlantis. like the bermuda triangle. like precognition.
Shes just an amateur, but, like she says, everyone starts out somewhere.
She cannot conform, and will only wear even a practical dress under extreme duress. Thus, she wears whatever she damn well pleases, and does whatever she damn well pleases. She has recently become interested in the angel feathers and their sudden spread- everyone seems to have them. But, right as she was about to go investigate, a new thing about atlantis appears in the newspaper, and shes off to investigate!
((the feather finding post will start off from this point))


Roleplay color: Darkblue

others in the house:


none

Journal Log.
Last updated: December 4,, 2008

*Finding post!!!*


"Where is that stupid guide?!"Grumbled Liliedhe Lute, sweating on the dock of a small town. It was summer in the subtropical zone, and she HATED the heat. She'd much rather be further north, where it was cooler... and far more rife with paranormal things than this boring small shore town. It wasn't even a harbor, and it had mostly tourist shops and the usual nice veiw and maintained beaches. Nothing unusual. Except for something that Lil had heard at the paranormal club she frequented back in the less blazingly hot north. There was, according to this person, a Newbie from goodness-knows where, some weird tales going around the town. some were new, some had been passed down, but they seemed to reference something that had been in the small, pretty, now- boring bay, but had vanished. Namely, a city. A city, the tales said, that had been swallowed beneath the waves. Naturally, this was not told to tourists, and probably only told as campfire stories or folktales. But they sounded suspiciously like Atlanis, the fabled city on an island in the ocean, that had vanished. the thing was, the paranormal club was constantly getting messed with. They had a reputation for being gullible as hell. The members, lil included, would lap up any weird tale they were fed, from government conspiracies involving dinosaur ghosts, to cat-haunted toilets. but, they always surprised these pranksters with the lengths they were willing to go to in order to see if these things were actually true- like climbing a mountain to see if there were goblins in the caves, or skydiving to get a good look at some weird rock formation.
and here lil was, waiting for her guide, who was, incidentally, her boat captain, to show her the place where the city was, supposedly, to have been.
It had taken much coaxing, bribery, and manual labor to get anhy of the locals to tell her the tales, which, they said, would ruin her 'good time'
admittedly, the tales WERE pretty dark and scary- flying machines, people kidnapping mainlanders and doing things to them, then bringing them back unable to talk, or walk, or see. Great storms flooding mountains, and islands breaking in half under earthquakes. and, of course, gratuitous spirits and talking animals from other folklore.
Lil had gotten an idea of where this place could have been, and she had the bright idea of diving down and looking for it. Unfortunately, if it got too late in the day, it would be impossible to set off with all the tourist yachts around... although none, appearantly, where she had thought the city, if there was one, might be. Something about weird navigation. In fact, she had had to REALLY bribe the captain to get her out there....


and here he finally came!"About freaking time..." grumbled lil.

----------------------------------------

It was an uneventful trip to the spot, although Lil had been watching for any weird navigational stuff. Then again, they were only close to the spot, not right on it. She was getting her wetsuit on- even warm water was colder than the air. Plus, sunburn was not fun. Her guide was napping at the bow- she was supposed to yell if she needed help. the first mate, the only other person on the boat, watched her with large eyes. she was the guide's 12 year old daughter, and was the reason for the guys lateness- he had had to pick her up. she was strong, and could pull up an anchor thirty feet below the boat. "Do you really breathe through that thing?" asked the girl. Lil had just picked up the air tank and other scuba gear and was attaching them. "Yeah. I do." said lil, streatching once and testing the breathing. it seemed fine. flipping her flippers experimentally, she begins to lower herself into the water. the girl had been silent for a while. "thats cool..." she said, nudging a rope with her foot, "I wish my dad would let me Scuba dive. it looks like so much fun..." Lil laughed "It is!" she said, lowering the goggles onto her face, still on the ladder, "You'd have to get certified first. And get older." Lil splashes into the water, back first. "I'll be back in a few hours! wake up your dad when I get back, ok?" Shouts Lil from the water,
"Okay!" the girl shouts back. Lil swims around for a few seconds, then dives down, bubbles marking her passage through the calm ocean.
the girl watches the bubbles, then looks at the horizon. it seemed like a clear day. she settles down at a table and begins to work on her schoolwork. It would probably last her until the crazy lady came back. a yawn escaped the girl's mouth, and she began to work tediously.

-------------------------------------------

Going underwater is like being in an alien world. things that would be only the wildest dreams of land-dwellers exist underwater. and in the subtropics, this is mot apparent. there was a shipwreck nearby where Lil had dived. an old wooden one. it was falling apart, covered in various things. but full of life. fish darted through it, a turtle swam near it, weaving through the holes in the hull, and continuing through the other side. the fish made a dance of color and light that seemed to welcome lil. But this wasn't what she was looking for. further ahead was a depression, right at the spot she had planned to go. she swam towards it, taking in the shipwreck scene as she passed it, going as deep as she dared- there were sharks on the clear, sandy bottom. they didn't seem to care- mostly nurse sharks, but Lil had that reasonable fear of sharks that made her wary to get too close. Its quite nice here... she thought. the water certainly was nicer than the water back in the north. She neared the lip of the depression and gasped.
Its so.... Deep! She thought, reacting with shock. what she had thought was a small depression in the ocean floor was almost a pit. it was filled with rocky outcroppings with flowerlike anenomes encrusting it. it was deep, and almost circular, like a column of land had been removed. Lil dove deeper, her thoughts bubbling like the air she exhaled as she went. she swam to the very edge, not wanting to go into the pit... not yet. She could see the bottom- the water was clear enough to allow her that, but it was a long way down. and who knew what could be lurking in there?
She wondered what could have caused this. it was too... perfect to be natural, and yet, the rocky outcroppings...

she brushed one near the top of the pit with a hand accidentally, brushing away into the mild current some silt and algae- this rock had no anenomes, incidentally.
as the small cloud of dirt and matter slowly dispersed away, something caught Lil's eye- a pattern of sorts. it was not a color at all- just darker than the grey stone it was on. but it was there- a diamondback pattern, not something found on rocks in nature. Lil was gleefull.
here it is... finally... proof that there was something here! without meaning to, she glanced at her watch. her joy was dampened. it was time to go back.

---------------------------

The girl put down her pencil. She had just finished with her math work. her dad still snored. she didn't know why her father slept so much... he just did. he worked somewhere at night, that she knew. He wouldn't tell her though. "Its a special job, kid, You'll understand when you're older." he'd say. the girl didn't think this was fair. She was old enough to work on the boat- she should be old enough for anything.

her musings were interrupted by a call from the side of the boat. the crazy lady had come back. the girl helped Lil up, and woke up her father, who blinked and grinned weirdly. "Its time to go back now, ya?" he said. Lil nodded. "yes. time to go back"

as they pulled up anchor and drove back to the harbor, Lil's eyes were fixed on where the pit was, remembering its depth, its weirdness, and the pattern she had seen... and wishing she could go back tomorrow. the girl walked up to her. "was it cool down there?" she asked, her eyes wide as her father steered the boat, "did you see anything neat?" Lil nodded. "yeah... I did." The girl waits for more details, but lil says no more, her eyes on the place. the girl sighs, and goes back to the boat chores, promising herself that she would learn how to dive... and dive there.

----------------------

Lil stands on a beach looking out over the water at where she had been the day before. the sun was rising, casting the water in red and gold and black. she wished she wasn't leaving that day- but her tickets had been set in advance and she wasn't going to deal with tedious bureaucracy again. at lest, not right now. She had to pack up soon, and write up a report so that the other members would have something to go on besides her verbal story. It was the usual muggy tempurature, and her hair clung to her shoulders.

she squinted suddenly- a strange, small object seemd to be floating from the direction of the dive spot. it was just a speck, but it held her attention. it drifted closer and closer until she could see it was a pure white feather. she had heard about these things- it was the latest rumor. Something interesting would happen if one got a pure white feather and... did something with it. lil couldn't remember what. she stood still as it drifted closer. the sun rose higher, making the feather shimmer in water colored pink. It washed up at her feet.

she looked down at it for a moment, then picked it up. it felt soft and light. she was putting it in her pocket, when she noticed a small bit of metaql poking up from the ground. curious, she dug it out with a sick.
it was a small rune- like thing just bigger than her thumbnail. It was made with bluish iron. she dropped it into her pocket and decided to take a look at both later, turning back to her hotel to pack up. she glances back once more at the ocean, now turning blue as the sunrise ended, and returned to her hotel room





on the plane ride back home, she played absentmindedly with the feather and rune in her pocket. her mind was buzzing happily, now that she had some coffee. maybe I've just proven that atlantis exists! maybe We'll actually dive into that pit and find more! Maybe...
her mind went on, high in the clouds, even after she had landed. her face a smile as she went home.

It had been some time since Lil had found the feather. She brought it everywhere with her, to every meeting of the paranormal club. In fact, the little white feather with the iron charm had quickly become her trademark. After nothing had happened for a few weeks, the club’s interest shifted from the feather to a recent sighting of Bigfoot… with aliens. They were trying to make some sort of contact, but were having no luck. All the members of the club were working diligently on it…

Except for Liliedhe Lute.

She was still focused on the feather. It was almost as if she couldn’t break her attention away. While everyone was poring over reports (probably falsified) of UFOs and Bigfoot sightings to see if there was any relation- the new prediction was that Bigfoot was an alien- Lil was looking through the club’s library for all the information on the ‘Angel Feathers’ phenomenon. There wasn’t as much as she would have liked- just the legend of the charms plus some unconfirmed reports.

But what WAS there got her thinking.

“What if…” she said to the feather on her desk, although she was really talking to herself. It helped her to direct her self-talk to something else- kept her reasonably sane. “What if you aren’t an angel’s feather?”
She had doubted it after the feather did not transform into a winged humanoid within days of its charming. She knew she was being hasty, but she figured it would have a more… Immediate effect.
However, she was a scientist, or at least a science imitator, and she realized that that was too snappy a judgment to make.
“Maybe I just haven’t been putting you in the right place…” she says, picking up the feather from her desk, “Maybe you need sunlight? Water? Lets try sunlight first.” She put the feather on the windowsill and reread the original legend for the third time, just in case she missed something important.

“ ‘…And so a feather fell from his wings and fell to earth… and a mortal human took it and held it close. The human put a charm upon it, so that the feather would not be stolen by the blasting winds. The feather was so bright and shiny that the human feared it would be stolen, and he was in love with the pure white feather. The human placed it under the pillow of his bed, feeling that it would be safe there…’”

Her eyes closed for a moment. Under the pillow? Maybe that’s where I should put it?
She kept reading.

“… The human slept well that night, undisturbed by the demons and visions that lurked in his nightmares. He awoke and reached under his pillow for his feather. It was not there. He cried and wailed at his loss. And a hand rested upon his shoulder, a small, beautiful hand.
He turned to a comforting voice and saw a girl-child with wings of feathers standing before him. And he rejoiced for he saw the charm upon her wrist and knew she was his…’”

Lil wondered why she hadn’t caught this before. Under the pillow was the way to go. She’d try that first. She put the feather in her pocket and called it a day, wanting to get home as quickly as possible. Her bed was a mess- she was a restless sleeper. She quickly made her bed, not knowing why she felt so self conscious. When it was neat- or at least neat enough to pass for a bed and not a mess of blankets, she lifted her pillow and hugged it.
She had had it for years- since she was a kid. It had a design of romping kittens. It was very special to her.
She took the feather from her pocket and gently placed it in the depression made by the pillow. She then put the pillow back, patting it affectionately.
She then fed her pet fish. He was a blue Veiltail Siamese fighting fish named Rock. She had bought him and a large fish tank a few years back. Her allowance from the paranormal club wasn’t bad at all. They were funded by some eccentric, horribly rich person. She didn’t know who, and she didn’t care. He didn’t really get into the club’s business. He didn’t tell them what to research or where to go. He just watched them, read their reports and funded them like a…
like a guardian angel… thought Lil, wondering why that particular phrase had come to mind.
She shrugged. She was spending an awful lot of time on the Angel feathers thing. Maybe that was it.
She stretched and went out to eat- she was feeling hungry and didn’t want to make dinner today.
That night she would sleep with the feather under her pillow… and her life would change.

“But Liiil… I’m Hungry… ” The little mer-angel thought for a moment. “Hun-gree.”
“I can’t do a thing about it.” Muttered Lil, “Besides, its your own fault for not eating breakfast.”

Kampa swishes her tail impatiently. “I wasn’t hungry then.”
Coni the green angel Imp twitters from his perch on Kampa’s head. He had eaten. He had, in fact, stolen some of Lil’s quick breakfast of eggs, a bagel, and bacon.

“Well, you have to learn how to plan ahead.” Lil said grouchily.

They were in a large truck with an enclosed back. It had lights, providing fair illumination to the occupants inside. Liliedhe, Kampa and Coni were traveling to a place they didn’t know in a truck bay holding an aquarium with a lid. The aquarium was anchored to the floor with steel bolts, and would not have budged even in the event of a car crash. Which wasn’t going to happen because not only was the driver of this truck super experienced, the truck itself had a backup computer that would correct in case of emergency.
Kampa was in this tank with Coni, lifting up the lid slightly to talk to her human.

Along the side of the aquarium was a single seat with a seatbelt, also bolted into the floor. Lil sat there, feeling slightly transplanted.

Kampa stuck her tongue out at Lil and let the lid fall down with a clank. She began to play with Coni, dancing around the aquarium.
Rock the Siamese Fighting fish huddled unhappily in a corner, not wanting to play with the overactive mer-angel and her fox thing.

Lil sighed and leaned back in her chair. The past few days were almost a blur. Too much had happened too fast.

*****

It had been a day or so since Kampa the mermaid angel had suddenly appeared in Lil’s fishtank. It all started when a few friends dropped by to see why Lil had taken a day off. Within a few hours, Kampa had become a major attraction. Lil’s friends at the Paranormal Club were constantly asking the little angel questions, poking her, prodding her. Lil could not get them to stop, and it was obvious that Kampa was growing annoyed- she had stopped sounding out names after the first few friends., and even dove into the tank for a while, although it was too small to do much but sulk. She refused to come to the surface until they were all gone. Some punk had even tried to drag her up by the hair, but Lil was able to shove him out of the house.
After Lil had chased the last one away and locked her door, she had sat down on her bed, head in hands. People, even people she knew, could be so annoying when they wanted to see something. Lil supposed she couldn’t blame them. It wasn’t often that interesting things happened ‘at home.’

“Its okay, Kampa. They’re gone…” said Lil, lying down on her bed. She was oddly used to the little angel, even though she had only met her that morning.
Kampa looked around, and seeing only Lil, surfaced, hair dripping. “I’m happy. Hap-pi. They made Coni hide.”

Lil had wondered where the little fox thing was. And she was about to find out. The Angel Imp in question zipped through her door, flew in circles above her face, and landed on Kampa’s hair.

Lil rolled her eyes. She hoped that, wherever the little guy had been hiding, he hadn’t left a mess. She wasn’t sure what that fox was capable of, but he was a troublemaker.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. It had an effect on all three. Lil leapt up from her bed, hair a mess. Kampa submerged quickly, staring warily out through the sides of the aquarium. Coni leapt out the door and hid, seeming to vanish.

Lil grumbled and walked to the door. Opening it, she stood straighter. Standing before her, on her very doorstep, was the head of the Paranormal guild, the one who got all the funding and such from the man who had founded the club; The Eccentric man who lived in a huge mansion who nobody had seen… except for this man.
He had an odd look, every feature sharp and distinct. He reminded people of a hawk. Because of this some people called him Horus, although his real name was Sam Banks.

“Liliedhe Lute?” he said, his voice smooth and light, but expressionless.
“What is it?” asked Lil, not in any mood to be polite.
“I’m bringing a communication from our… Benefactor.” Said Horus delicately, “May I…. come in?”
“hmm? Oh, uh, Yes. Sure.” She moves away from the door and leads him to a small living room with some well-used comfortable chairs.
Horus stops in the doorway. “If I may… Is it possible to see… The Angel Feather?” he asks, a single slim eyebrow raised.
Lil shook her head firmly. “No. She’s not happy. She’s worn out from all the people coming in and out all day. ”
“So it’s a female…” He said softly, and then nodded briskly.“Understandable. None the less, I have something to tell her as well, so I would rather we talked… wherever you have her.”
Horus was a very imposing person, and Lil felt that she could not say no.

“Very well.” She said, and reluctantly showed him to her room.

He looked without emotion around her room and focused his sharp gaze on the glaring mermaid-angel in the fishtank. He walked over to the tank and peered down at Kampa.
“Well, Little angel feather. How would you like to go home?”

Kampa surfaced suddenly, just missing Horus’s long, hooked nose. “Home? What do you mean by home? Ho-m?”

Horus stepped back a few steps, a twitch at the corner of his mouth the only emotion he showed.

“Yes, what do you mean?” asked Lil, seating herself in a chair and watching the strange man curiously.

“I mean…” said Horus, first looking at Kampa, then at Lil, “That we… that is, me and our Benefactor have found where the feathers that started this rumor in the first place have ended up.”
He opens a file that he had been holding to his side… although somehow Lil had not been able to see it until just now. She wondered if it was just a trick of the light.

“Our benefactor has an… interest, you could say, in this matter and has been tracing each report. He has found a place where the reports all seem to converge. It is here.” He laid a map out on Lil’s bed and pointed to it.
“Our benefactor will arrange a truck to take you there. I will leave this folder with you so that you can add your own research to it.” He looks around the room again, and sniffs disdainfully.
“Now, I must be going. I will show myself out.” He leaves the room and exits the house, the door closing quietly, yet decisively.

Lil waited a moment, surprised by the sudden exit and entrance. Suddenly the green blur that was Coni zipped through her door and hit her forehead, bounced off, and dived into the tank.
She glared at Coni and grabbed the folder from the bed.
And she began to read it.

Kampa watched as Lil’s facial expression turned from perplexed to surprised, to smug, then to amazed.
Kampa smiled to herself. ‘Expression’ was such a fun word to sound out. Ecks-press-onn. Sss-press-on. Eckss-pres-nn.
She did this in her head, knowing that Lil probably would not want to be disturbed from her reading. She had only known her in a real way since that morning, but she felt like she had known this human for weeks. She supposed that she had gotten to know “Lil-leee-ed-heee Looot” while in the feather, although what memories she had were filmy and weird.
I guess feathers can’t see. thought the angel mermaid, swishing her tail from side to side,At least, not very well…

Eventually, Kampa became bored of musing to herself. “What’s it say?” she asked, straining to look at the folder.

Lil looked up, startled. maybe I’m not as used to her as I thought… thought Lil, who had been startled by the little angel mermaid- she had forgotten.

“Oh. Its basically all these stories about people who got feathers. This old guy… the guy who funds all the club’s stuff… hes been really busy…”
She flips to a page and holds up to Kampa.
“He’s figured out where they all go, and…” Lil pulls out another page and holds it up. “I guess he wants us to go, too.”

The page was a letter, typed on plain paper.

Dear young Liliedhe Lute,

Your exploits for the club have reached my attention. Your reports have both proven and disproved many claims. You’r efforts in the spider city expedition were greatly appreciated, as was the haunted shoe issue. Your Atlantis trip has provided a place to further explore and your research on the Angel feathers has contributed greatly to the archive.
I say archive because I had previously done research. But your feather and your efforts in study prompted me to retrieve my, admittedly slim, file on the subject.
From my re-perusal of my work, as well as your reports, I have determined something. All the mentions of the feather seem to either start out at or around a certain location, or end up at that location.
We have found that location, and we, or rather, I want you to go there, with your new companion. I understand that your companion requires… unusual accommodations. Do not worry. One of your friends sent me an E-mail. Despite what some would have you think, I am not all knowing.
That aside, We want you to go to this destination and report on any developments, as well as any… unusual people you meet. There are definitely more angels.
I will fund transportation, including accommodations for your companion. Do not worry. I am very rich, and I have a personal interest in the matter. I will not tell you what that is, but rest assured, I am not sparing a penny.
I have arranged for… Suitable… housing to be there upon your arrival. Be packed and ready. Samuel… or Horus as you call him… will be in contact, arrainging dates and whatnot.
Good luck to you. I am relying on you to shed light on the whole Angel Feathers issue.
It is now in your hands.

Signed,
Gethirn Santo Mikael,
Founder and supporter of the Paranormal Club.


“He even sent a check. For 5000$...” said Lil, shaking her head at the sum. “You must be really important.” She says, grinning.

Kampa grins too. “I hope I am. Ho-p. That word isn’t as fun to say as his name. Ge-th-ear-nn? Geth-Ern? How do you pronounce that? It’s a funny name…”

“Not as funny as mine. And I think its pronounced Geth-eerin. But that’s not the point.” Says Lil, closing the folder and putting in an empty spot on her desk, “I’ll have to get up tomorrow and start packing.”

Her mind was still whirling as she went to sleep.

*****

The next day, Lil had just gotten dressed and was surveying her room, deciding whether she should start packing at this moment, a ring on the doorbell sent the watching Kampa underwater and the mischievous Coni down the hallway. Horus was at the door, holding a list.
“You are to take a day off, and I am to schedule a date of departure, as well as aid you in packing. Shall we go to the room you showed me before and discuss this?”

They sat and talked for the better part of an hour, setting times, disputing those times, and so on until Lil’s stomach reminded her that she had not eaten breakfast.

Horus stood up. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. You are to leave in three days. The house will have been bought and remodeled by then.”

“So quickly? How?”

“Don’t ask that question yet. It is best not answered at this time. Now, I shall let myself out.” He sets the list down in front of the somewhat-miffed Lil.

She watched him go, somewhat annoyed with him. He seemed so aloof and strange… he seemed to have his own agenda.
She heard the door close behind him and picked up the list.

Well, It looks like I have to get packing… but man… How is Mister Geth-whatever-his-name-is going to have a house ready in three days?! Renovations take forever!

She shrugged reluctantly. Her curiosity was urging her to find out how the hell a house was getting a pool and a new porch in less than a month, much less three days.

*****

The packing was frantic. Horus’s list was long and varied… and Lil only had so many suitcases.
Kampa watched the human run around grabbing stuff and shoving suitcases closed.

She was going to have to sell the house. The second day of packing, Horus had told her this. He would handle the selling part, he had said, but she would have to pack up anything she wanted to take with her and not leave behind to the auctioneer.

So the cat pillow and a few books were added to the list. Horus managed to take the books off- the new house would have a whole library, he had said. This prompted her to wonder just what kind of house she was moving into.

She had finally shoved the cat pillow into her last suitcase, on the morning of the last day.

Kampa was sulky that entire day. She had never left the water ever since she had stopped being a feather… and part of the plan was to transport her to…whatever their mode of transportation was… using one of those things they used to move dolphins from place to place. She was not happy about leaving the water. So when she was offered a little bacon and a sesame bagel, she declined.

“I’m not hungry.” She said huffily, not even sounding out hungry, like she usually did.

When the people came to take her to the transportation- a massive truck with an aquarium in the back- She struggled and scratched until they took the long-suffering Rock the fish with them in a plastic bag.

She calmed down when she saw the aquarium. The second the people- Lil wasn’t sure what to call them- had lowered the little mer-angel into the tank, she zoomed around, playing and swimming. Coni zipped through the truck back and dived into the tank as well, playing and making rude little fox faces at the people, who were leaving to carry in Lil’s luggage, which was full to bursting. Lil strapped herself into the seat fight next to the aquarium like they had told her to do.

She took her last view of her old home through the closing back of the truck, and wondered what lay in store… and how this had all been done on such short notice.
The truck rumbled into action as the back of the truck clanged to a close. And they were off…

*****

Lil snapped out of her reverie. The truck had stopped its rumbling and movement, and the back of the truck was being opened. In stepped the driver, a middle-aged man with dark sunglasses and dark clothing.

“I thought you might like a break from riding, as well as lunch. I had to stop for gas. We are about halfway to our destination. It should only take another two hours or so.”

He walked away before Lil could respond.

With a sigh, she un-does the straps securing her to the chair and steps out, tottering in that way people have when they’ve been sitting in a car for a few hours, leaving Kampa all alone, save for Coni and Rock.


Kampa watched her leave.
I hope she brings food. I’m hungry…
She pats her stomach, where her flesh ends and her scales begin. Rock glowers in a corner- he had been fed that morning, but was due to be fed soon.

She lifts the lid and leans out to get a better look at the scenery outside the open back of the truck. It was startling to see a world so large after being in Lil’s admittedly cramped room. She wished she could move around without having to worry about water. She had tried to fly with her wings, but they just weren’t strong enough.
Kampa was actually pretty heavy, her tail full of thick muscle for swimming. Her wings just hadn’t developed enough for her to fly out of the water.

“You know Coni,” she says, her voice muddled underwater, though without bubbles, “Everything is so confusing… Con-fyuus-ing… everything is happening so fast. I only emerged, what, a few days ago? A-go?” She pats the familiar on the head.
Coni head-butts her head, then head-butts the lid of the aquarium. Kampa opens the lid and sticks her upper body out, leaning over the edge in the manner she was accustomed to, hands cushioning her chest, elbows hanging, head looking out.
Coni flew out of the tank and around and around in the freshened air of the opened back of the truck.

“But you know Coni? I think Lee-lee-ehd-heee is just as confused as I am.”

Coni chattered and flew out of the truck, reveling in the open air. He didn’t stray too far, and Kampa could see him when he flew in front of the open truck back.

Kampa sighed. Now she had nobody to talk to. Except for Rock, and he wasn’t very talkative. He looked like he was on the edge of dying- he wasn’t taking well to the shock.
She submerges letting the lid drop.

“Well, mister Fishie, you have it the worst of all of us. Wur-sst. You don’t like me, do you, mister Fishie…” she glurbles, looking him right in the eye.

Rock puffed himself up as much as his scales would allow.

Kampa sighed, little bubbles rising up.
Suddenly, she heard voices outside, muffled through the water and the glass. She surfaced and lifted the lid. Her arms were getting tired of doing this.

Within minutes, Lil came back, holding a wrapped hamburger.

”Here.” She said, straining to get the morsel of food within arms reach of the little angel-mermaid.

Kampa reached for it, grabbed it, and took a bite. It felt so good to eat for the first time that day. Lil caught the wrapper as it fell from the ravenous angel’s hands.
“I thought you might like that. The driver guy says we’re almost there.” Lil straps herself back into the seat, and the truck door begins to close.
Right as the back door had closed halfway, Coni zips back in, around the hamburger, snatches a bite of meat, and dives into the still-open tank. The motor starts, and Lil takes a deep breath.
the next time that door opens, I’ll be in a new house she thought to herself, leaning back in the chair, I wonder if I’ll be happy or sad…

*****

Lil had dropped off to sleep an hour after the stop for lunch. Dreamless and not restful in the slightest. Sleeping in a moving vehicle is more ornament than anything.

Suddenly, about midsnore, she realized that that incessant shaking that was the truck traveling over roads had stopped. In fact, it was quiet except for the sound of the sloshing of water and a chittering. Opening her eyes, Lil saw Kampa holding the aquarium lid open and staring at the back of the truck.
“Hey Lil. I think we’re there. They-r.”
The truck door slowly began to open.
Lil undid the straps and stood up, stretching. She was stiff from her nap, very stiff.

She stands up… and gapes at her first site of their new home. It was practically a mansion!
It had what looked like a large pond that seemed to connect into a room under the house through a passage. The passage was obviously closed, but the door for it was painted in muted colors that seemed like stone when viewed from above the water.

“We’re here, Miss. I’ll get your luggage.” Says the driver, picking up two of Lil’s heaviest bags with hardly any effort.

He carries them inside, and returns after a while for the rest.
“I carried them up to the third floor. I assume you’ll be wanting one of the bedrooms on the top floor.”
Lil nods. “N… Near a window…” she stammers out.
how the hell did this thing get build in three days?! she thinks to herself, feeling very lucky.

After the driver had carried the luggage in, he came back into the back of the truck with a sling. “I will need your help with this.” He said to Lil.
“Now, you, I need you to get into this sling.” He said, turning to Kampa.

“Why?” asked Kampa, looking at the sling distastefully. After a moments hesitation, she said “Sl-ing. Slyng. Sli-ng…”

The driver’s mouth twitched. “So that me and the lady here can take you to that pond.”
Kampa brightens immediately, and slides into it willingly when he holds it up.
With the angel-mermaid safely in the sling and resting comfortably with Coni on her head, the driver hands one end of the sling to Lil.
“Here.” He says hefting his end carefully,
”watch out. She is heavy.”

Lil knew what he meant. It felt like she was carrying a bag of bricks, and was very happy that he was helping her.

With much strain on Lil’s part, they reach the pond, and Kampa slides happily into the water, swimming around the stone walls.

The driver returns to his truck, and comes out a few minutes later with a plastic bag.
“Almost forgot him.” He said, dumping Rock into the pond.

“Theres more water inside and also in the back. Now I’ve gotta get going.” He waves cheerfully and returns to his truck. The grating sound of the back door closing was followed by the rumble of the engine. And the truck drove away.
Lil watched it go, and turned to the house.
well, I’d better unpack. she thought, going in to see what it was like inside.