Welcome to Gaia! ::

Day one... Adinas sat in the strange room upon the bed. His knee's drawn to his chest and staring in the darkness at the door that had closed. The room had felt like a cage, with jailers posted outside to ensure he did not escape.

Day two... Nuumia paid him a visit. He had not disturbed the room's contents, and he suspected that Nuumia's dark eyes were looking for those signs. They had sat and stared at each other in silence for a good hour or so, before Nuumia departed. Not a word had passed between them, but Adinas felt as if a lot had been set in place. Nuumia's jealous features had faded just enough for Adinas to feel a little less afraid for his life.

Day three... Adinas had finally allowed hunger to move him to leave the room. There was no guard posted outside of his door as he had feared there would be. Still, he crept along at a quiet and wary pace. He had come across a guard of giant size hassling one of the servants of the house. His laughter sounded rather ugly and very mean spirited. Without intending to, Adinas found himself using magic spells... A simple invisibility spell cloaked his flesh from visual sight. Afterwords a second spell passed his lips. Instantly his body felt chilled. From head to tow to inner beating heart...Adinas felt cold. He was invisible to the heat sensitive sight of his kindred now. These spells filled Adinas with a sense of elation. He really could be unseen!

Day Four...Day Five... Day Six... Adinas spent the days moving freely through the house in his magical cloaks. He watched the activities of the servants. He learned the schedule of the guards. He became familiar with each of the halls and rooms that he had access to. The shadows were like friends. The darkness was like his brother. His unease and fear melted away as a sense of self confidence followed his exploration. A chance encounter of a near fall down some stairs led to the remembrance of a third spell. His hand caught on the wall and held with a spiders firmness. From that point on Adinas rarely, if ever, walked upon the stone floors again. Walls and ceilings were his preference. Suddenly he found himself unhindered by anything but a locked door! And even then that did not stop him long.

Knock! A wonderful magical spell that unlocked the locked. Chests and doors and boxes gave up their secrets to him. A servant and a guard were having a affair of sorts on the second floor behind the locked door of a closet. The exact actions they performed Adinas did not linger to watch. All he needed to see was who was involved and his curiosity was satisfied. One of the slaves was slipping food to another that was locked in the dungeons. Two others were plotting to poison each other. Another guard was hoarding his gold with the intentions of running away and joining a merchant caravan. So many secrets! So many stories and lies and lives that he could bare silent witness to! Fools kept diary's and journals. Such objects, when he found them, had Adinas hunched in a corner of the ceiling, reading as quickly as he could, and easily retaining each hand written word in his memory.

He was the silent eyes of the House Adinas watched the scurrying of the Patron. How he ran and darted about, as if everything was of the utmost urgency! It was exhausting trying to follow him around! What was even more surprising was how his Patron father did not seem to suffer exhaustion. He leapt as nimbly as a lizard over obstacles, he darted and slipped past crowds without seeming to slow down. Run run run! Dart dart dart! Nuumia seemed to have a hundred things he was looking after, and Adinas found it hard to figure out what one thing he was doing at any time. Checking on dinner, scanning reports from searchers he had sent out looking for someone, probing the halls and searching the smallest niches in a ever diligent round of constant alertness. Nuumia seemed so determined to keep the house in a manic state of high alert, as if an enemy was at the gates!

It was while attempting to keep up with his Patron father that Adinas discovered the loose stonework. The faint brush of fresh air seeping from a narrow crack pulled his attention from following his father and to something more interesting to investigate. A few pokes and prods, and Adinas had pushed the stone in the ceiling up enough to realize there was a open gap within. It seemed the House had many more secrets...and Adinas wished to discover them all.

There followed a period when he ceased stalking the drow of House Torlyl and he focused on learning the thin inner wall passages. They were dusty and dirty...rodents seemed to have made them their home, and the passages were very narrow. All Adin could think was that some of these passages had been created when the House was in the process of being constructed. Walled off workers passages maybe? Or just narrow air passages to ensure the inner rooms of the House got enough air? Who knew? During his exploration, Adinas made a most wonderful discovery! A gap of space between walls formed a nearly perfect square. One he could stand and wander about in even!

This gap...this place Adinas made his own. He did not feel as if he were 'stealing' from the House. As it was his home now. He cleaned the passage ways he used with water and rags. He stocked the room with blankets and bedding. He hung heavy comforters across the other openings to keep the drafts out and any pests...and he added other things. A candle stick from the dining hall. Some books from the library. Spare cloths that belonged to other servants, which he never actually wore himself. He did not attempt to discard the spider webbing that wrapped around him. It was odd really...he could remove the webbing and clean himself, and the webbing could be slipped back onto him just as tight and warm as a second skin. It never seemed to get dirty as far as he could tell. Never tore or shredded, no matter how tight of a squeeze he wriggled though. It was quiet a mystery.

It was hard to miss the signs of his mothers passing. The servants quaked and the guards appeared restless. It was a curious mystery to him. How his mother had seemed to grow and grow and grow. How much bigger would the child be? Often times he would examine himself and imagine something as big as him growing into her. How did it get out!? How could she survive with something so...so large in her!?

He wanted to see....he needed to know. Why? It was not out of a great desire to understand this mystery of female reproduction. Oh no! He needed to know so that he could be certain his mother would not be harmed. It ate at him, causing him to nibble on his fingernails until he pulled the webbing over the nubs to save him from eating them away entirely. When Haellara wandered the halls, he tried to follow her. Creeping silently upon the walls he watched her. Once in a while he scampered to pull something aside or move something a touch closer for her ease. Just small little things as he followed after her between his investigations of the walls of the House.

When Haellara sat alone in her room, she was still being watched. Adinas had followed her in when she had returned to her personal bedchambers so he could investigate the ceiling carefully. He wanted to find a way in from his own personal passageways. If he could manage to bypass all of the doors, then he'd never have to be worried about being stuck in a room for hours because he did not wish to give himself away by opening the door himself. When Haellara sat up, Adinas turned and blinked. She looked startled? Now why was that? Silently he crept towards the middle of her ceiling, his head tilted a bit and his little pointed ears twitched. Where was he hiding?

"Here." He whispered a little more softly then Haellara had called out. With the utterance of the word from his lips, his invisibility spell dissolved. It was not strong enough to hold up against such a break. Though his Spider Crawl spell and the spell that rendered his body as cool as the stone he clung to remained in place. He lifted a hand and brushed his fingers through his loosely hanging bangs. He really should tie it back more securely... With it loose as it was, it kept flopping over his eyes all the time. Of course, he did like the way it hung free around his face when he was standing upright. It felt like a hiding curtain..and Adinas really did like hiding.

At first it was fun. Adinas smiled as Haellara would clearly search the room for the source of his word. It was a very fun moment for him indeed. He shifted slowly on the ceiling, reveling in his still hidden nature. She could not find him and here he was! He had been so quick and clever!

Then it was clear he had scared her, and that utterly killed the sense of amusement he had been feeling. Seeing his mother jerk back in such a way and with her eyes so wide...it made him cringe against the ceiling in a guilty manner. Slowly he shifted a few creeping inches towards the corner of her room. He watched as Haellara composed himself, and though her voice was soft and soothing, he was not quick to be calmed. He crept like a dog that had been caught doing something it ought not have been doing. Carefully he crawled down the wall of Haellara's room. His dark eyes with their strange orange glow remained fixed on her the entire time.

To her question, he nodded his head slightly. Yes..he had been hiding from Nuumia. " A...little." He replied softly. His left ear tip twitched slightly as he answered Haellara. Though he came down from the ceiling, he did not set foot upon the floor. Rather he turned about, and sat upon it, as if he were perched on a narrow shelf. His hands remained splayed against the wall and his shoulders leaned forwards slightly His dark eyes swept the room, though he was well aware that there were no other dangers here.

"Been...watching." He finally whispered. "That is where I've been. Everywhere...no where. Just inside though. I have not left the House. Too big...too much to see first. I've watched Patron father. He's busy. Very busy... Sometimes I can't keep up. The doors. The doors you see. I can't move them or people know I'm there. Learning new ways around them though... People can't see me. I've learned not to be there, so it's easier to watch. I've watched you..that's okay right? I can watch?" Adin lifted one spider webbed hand and ran it nervously through his blond streaked bangs and pushed the hair over his right ear. He was nervous...very nervous. His mind seemed scattered in many directions. His eyes kept watching while his mind tried to focus on speaking to Haellara. If he could just calm down a bit he knew he'd be able to make his sentences more complete. He did not want the Matron to think he was wrong in the head. He wasn't!

Adin's small head slowly nodded at Haellara as she spoke of Nuumia. He did enjoy cruelty. He had seen the times when Nuu had taken any excuse to lash out at one of the servants. He was less vicious towards the guards, and Adinas assumed that was because he relied on them to keep the House safe.

"Oh...they are." He spoke with a slight perk to his words. Adinas sat up a bit more strait and he gestured with his fingers in the motion of scurrying in the air before him. "They watch and search. Patron Father keeps them on edge. They look up when I am not quiet enough of accidentally brush against a wall hanging or chandelier. Sometimes it is not so easy to sneak about. I have learned to be patient..and carry snacks in my pockets in case of very long waiting." The more he spoke, the more fluid his sentences became. His black eyes stopped darting about and fixed upon Haellara with more clarity now that he felt more secure in the room. Adinas took the same hand that he had made the scurrying motions with, and he made a few gestures with his fingertips. He needed not speak the words he knew were often used along with his spell, somehow he just knew how to make the spell work with movements.

Adinas cast Invisibility upon himself again. So he could show Haellara why it was her guards could not see him. As the thin magic veil wrapped around him, it obscured him from normal sight. Coupled with the spell that kept his body temperature too low to be picked up by infrared, he felt confidently completely invisible. He quietly crept down off the wall and tip toed towards the bed where Haellara had patted. Only once he was standing there, he spoke again softly, and broke through the invisibility spell. "See? Or..rather you do not See right?" He felt a sense of pride and excitement in the revealing of his sneaking trick. His small lips curled faintly upwards as he eagerly awaited some sort of response from Haellara. He shifted, to sit timidly on the edge of the bed, and his eyes flickered to Haellaras belly as he tried to answer her in a satisfactory manner.

"I do not remember my old life. That time is over. All I remember are the common things. How to eat and speak. How to take care of myself. Things like that, so no one has to bother with me." He glanced up to peer at Haellara. "I know about the Goddess, and I know about her Priestesses. I know about Houses and things like that. But I feel as if I have learned that all here, but I just..don't remember any others. I know I have spells. Many others, but their names slip my mind. I know if I read some books about them, I would recall them very quickly. I know what I do though..I spy. I watch and listen and hear things. I feel like a little spider in the corner of a room sometimes. It feels like a game at times, it is very...enjoyable."

Those smiles were incredibly effective in calming Adinas's tense nerves. His black eyes lit up at the apparent approval that Haellara was showing him, and his youthful face lost the uneasy shadowed expression he tended to carry himself with. "I am very quiet, and I see so many things!" He eagerly boasted to Haellara. I have seen what the guards do when they think they are alone, and I have seen what the servants do. I have found many journals hidden in places they do not think others will find it. I have been good though. I've stayed out of your bathroom, and the ladies bathing chambers too." His boastful words faltered and a faint flush crept into his cheeks, though thankfully the spell he had on him kept the heat signature from becoming visible.

His bright eyed expression faltered as Haellara showed a bit of irritation, though he was not certain why. Perhaps he was spying too much? Was that bad? Or was it his cloths? Now that Haellara spoke of it, he looked down and picked at the webbing covering the back of his hand. "The webbing does not get dirty." He commented uncertainly on the odd quality he had noted with the wrapping. "It keeps me from leaving fingerprints or foot marks where I crawl, and it muffles the sounds of my movements. It is warm when I am cold, and cool when it gets very hot." His black eyes lifted to look at Hael and he hugged his arms around his chest tightly. "I..like watching you... Sometimes I feel that if I do not..something may happen. Something I could stop if I was watching. But..I will not spy on you all the time if you do not want me to." He hastily followed his admittance. "I'll watch anyone you want me to. Is there someone I ought to?" He was eager to be as useful as Haellara encouraged him to be. He found himself wondering a bit how anyone could be envious of him in the least, and his head tilted slightly to one side. "Envious? But...why?"

Adinas kept his bright eyes upon Halleara as she seemed to mull over his sudden outburst of boastful confessions. He found himself leaning towards her a bit, his small fingers dug into the blanket beneath him. Had he a tail he surly would have been wagging it like a eager over world puppy longing for a sign of approval from it's master. The fact that Haellara thought he was better then most males made his eyes crinkle in the corners from the large smile he expressed. Though it did falter some at the realization that his spells would have gotten him seriously hurt, or even killed. He did not want that, it was why he hid so often. He preferred escaping everyone's notice. Yet at the same time he really desired Haellara approval. Without even realizing it, he longed for that smile. That look of pride that told him he was doing a very good job. His own smile faltered a bit as Haellara leaned in. Though it was not replaced by unease or fear. No..He did not really...fear Haellara. he feared her displeasure. He feared her disapproval. Goddess! He feared failing her! But this woman herself, this Mother of his...he did not fear -her-. He wanted her to reach out and just..touch him. A little pat. Something for him to cling to and feel validated by.

"Oh." He whispered in response to Haellaras confidential orders. His black eyes widened a bit, and the orange glow shimmered in the corners. "I do..I do... I will. I watch all the time. I hear what the servants say. I hear what the guards say. I know who thinks badly of you. I read it in their journals. Anger and bitterness, but fear too. They are far too afraid to try anything, or feel they simply could never succeed." Adinas found himself pouring out everything to Haellara. About the guards who were helping themselves to a few extra coins. To the servant that was sneaking food to another in the dungeon. From small secrets to larger ones. Everything he had learned he offered with no real prompting from Haellara. But he included some of the odd or good bits of spying too. Like the one guard who was taking extra shifts, or the servant that was secretly studying cooking books and sneaking into the kitchen late at night to practice the new recipes. Or the cleaning maid at the temple that spent night after night in prayer for something he had not yet discovered yet. Adin shifted on the bed and when his tongue stilled he felt flushed.

"I... I will make sure nothing happen to you. Either of you. I promise mother."

Adin's hopeful look changed slightly to one of gratification with that single simple pat to his knee. She approved! He had pleased her! He felt his shoulders relaxing a bit, and his dark head bobbed up and down multiple times. "Yes...yes. If I think of anything I will ask. Right now I have all I need." He eagerly spoke. Adin's dark eyes swept through the room and back towards the door. "I will..go now then? And let you rest?"

He turned his questioning gaze back upon Haellara. He did not have any pressing matters to attend to, but after giving her that freight he did want to give her a chance to relax in peace.