[Yael] Extreme Babysitting (Ai/Akel) FIN

[Painted Moose]

"Watch me, Ai, I can do a hand stand!"

A little elaria, around the tender age of six, upended herself in an attempt to stand on her hands. Her form wasn't entirely terrible, but she was too excited and giggly to get it down before falling over. Her babysitter, Ai, just closed her eyes and begged for divine patience.

Ever since the girl's mother left on a hunt Ai had been in charge of little Fiya. She was sweet, really, and was becoming tougher as each day passed, but Myrra still coddled her youngest far too much for Ai's tastes. She was soft and it showed in the freely flung smiles on her little chuffy cheeks.

"You didn't do tje hand stand," she stated bluntly.

"I....It was a flip. Yeah, a flip, but I coulda done it if I wanted to."  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

Akel let out a huff as she came walking passed the little girl that had just flipped over rather than doing the hand stand that she had claimed she could do. Sweat was dripping down her face and had soaked into her top, evidence of the training she as returning from. At her feet moved a creature that Ai would recognize as a mainland bug known as a Maglardilla.

From the way the insect moved and stayed close to the Elarian girl it was clear it had been well trained. When Akeldama heard the blunt reply from the Alkidike woman she paused to look at her then at the little girl. Giving a smile of her own at the child she said, "Don't worry little sister, the flip was great." Encouragement went a long way in Akel's eyes. If only because she had only ever gotten negative comments from her own yellow skinned mother. After giving a wink she returned her gaze to Ai and arched a brow at the woman.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

A passing elaria wasn't enough to garner Ai's attention. She saw plenty enough on a daily basis to have permanent blinders in her attention span, but it was the maglardilla that caught her eye. It was funny; she hadn't seen any in years, and then all of a sudden she saw two in the same month. Granted, the other she hunted and made into a stew, and this one seemed more like a pet, but still...

Fiya paused in her pouting to look up at the older elaria, splitting her frown into a wide, toothy smile. "Thanks! I can do another one! Wanna see?"

"I'm sure she has better things to do then to waste it here." Honestly, Fiya could be so...so...well, childish at times. And this girl...what was with that look?  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

Akeldama was about to turn to the little girl and give her answer when the woman seemed to answer for her. She wasn't sure if she was trying to send Akel on her way or just ignore her altogether. Either way the girl turned to look at the kid with a smile. She bent down to the little one's level and reached her hand out to place it on top of her familiar's head. "I bet Yava would like to see it." The maglardilla moved up and leaned into it's owners hand before moving it's pincers in the little girl's direction. The bug was curious.

As she sat there on her heels she turned her head to look back at Ai. "Your daughter is cute."  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

Ai hadn't signed on for two elaria that day, and it showed. She certainly hadn't been entirely opposed to watching Fiya, as for the most part she lived with the little girl and had become tolerant of her, but no one said anything about interacting with a teenager as well.

The little one gasped, having somehow missed the giant insect next to the other girl. She moved back a little bit, a flash of genuine fear showing on her features when Ai moved to place a hand on her back in a subtle, albeit stoic, show of comfort.

"She isn't my daughter. I'm watching her for a friend." As for whether she was cute or not...well, Ai supposed she had her moments.

"What is it?" Fiya questioned, her voice barely above a whisper. When it didn't attack outright her fear had begun shifting into curiosity.  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

Akel watched the woman come to comfort the child but the answer she got in return seemed to give her far more. So the Elarian nodded her head at Ai before looking at the girl. "Don't be afraid. Yava is well behaved." She had seen to that after she'd taken it as her own.

"Well, it's a Maglardilla. They live on the mainland, or so I'm told." Akeldama lifted her gaze to the woman. It was clear that while she was the pet's owner she didn't know much about it's home land. She knew enough to feed it and keep it alive but beyond that.. she was clueless. In a way she was kinda hoping that Ai would fill her in with more details as she answered the child to make her feel more at ease.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

Fiya took a half step forward, watching the little movements the insect seemed to make. Ai remembered acting much the same way when she'd first encountered the keldari; with the exception of keldari being much more aggressive than this bug.

"Can it fly?" The little one asked, looking at it's strange 'wings'.

Ai chose that moment to answer, "No, but it can glide. They use their claws to attack and attach themselves to trees. " She motioned towards the thin membrane webbed between it's appendages. "Do you remember a few nights ago when Naqenni came to visit us, and we had stew?"

"...Yes?" Fiya answered, not yet making the connection.

"This is what we ate. In Jauhar some keep them as pets and others hunt them for food." She looked from the little one's shocked expression to the teenager, wondering if this girl was aware that her 'pet' was more likely to end up on some alkidike's plate as a rare delicacy now that they lived on Yael.  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

She shook her head "no" to answer the question about whether or not Yava could fly. Akel was a little amused when Ai mentioned a stew since the girl didn't get what it implied. She watched the child for a moment before she chuckled. "Don't look so surprised little sister, many of the beasts that make good companions are also good food. It's the way of life." Thankfully she wasn't showing any such surprise. Her own mother had mentioned trying to eat the thing when she'd brought it home. It was only Akel's insistence that she keep it for a pet that saved it. Being one of the only Elaria to have such a rare pet made her feel good.

"Do you know much about them then?" Her attention was back on the woman behind the child.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

Ai frowned when Fiya seemed to curl up her lip. She wasn't sure if the girl was simply disgusted by the thought of eating a pet beast or if she was going to tear up. Honestly, she wasn't sure what would be worse.

Looking to the teenager, Ai shook her head, "What I've told you is what I know. I was only ever really told as a child that they made good food and I never cared to learn more." By the time she was old enough to retain that kind of information she was already using her blades and waging wars.

"You might ask Myrra. She's my roommate and Fiya's mother. She may know."

"Oh yeah, you should ask momma when she comes back!"  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

She thought about that for a moment then nodded her head as she stood back up, no longer staying at the little girl's level. Yava moved to stand in front of Akel's legs but was still fairly close. "I mostly wanted to know if it was a social creature. Does it need others like it in order to thrive or will it be fine as it is." As she constantly told herself, if she was going to have it as a pet she might as well make sure she took good care of it. The mental health of her familiar was important to her as well.

"Thanks, do you know when she'll be back?" If this Myrra could help then talking to her would be worth it.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

"It should be fine, as it is. They aren't pack creatures like the radaku, so I wouldn't imagine being on it's own would do it any harm." At least, Ai had never heard of such a thing happening. She knew they gathered together in larger swarms from time to time, but she had always assumed that was for breeding purposes. Maybe it did need a colony to thrive? "We can ask Myrra."

She watched as Fiya squatted close to the ground and reached a hand out to tentatively poke Yava. "She should be back any day now. Her group was supposed to go to the south side of the island, and she left weeks ago. I can have Fiya find you when she returns."

"Can you hunt?" Fiya looked up at Akel, "Ai does, but she doesn't hunt food and I think that's stupid."  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

Well that was something. At least he wasn't a pack animal. That meant Yava should be generally alright without more of its kind. It put Akel at ease knowing that.

The insect noticed the girl going to poke it and moved a bit as if trying to shy away but when contact was made it did nothing. Yava was well trained to behave. It made a slight clicking sound with it's pincers then tilted its head to the side as it took in the girl. After a moment it seemed to decide she was not a threat and settled closer to the ground to relax.

Akeldama smiled down at her familiar and the girl. "Yes. I actually went hunting with Pruu the other day." Her head nodded and her short dreads rocked back and forth. "There are different kinds of hunting though and none of them are stupid if they help you to hone your skills." While it might seem like she was trying to help Ai she was actually more worried about teaching the little girl that everything could serve a purpose.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

"Whose Pruu?" Fiya looked between the two older girls, tilting her head to the side.

"She wears a keldari skull around her neck." When that didn't seem to bring any sort of recollection to Fiya, Ai added, "Her sister is the odd one."

"Ooooooh." The child nodded her head sagely and went back to petting Yava.

Ai didn't mind Pruu's presence on Yael; she was a dedicated girl, one with worthwhile goals but her sister...damn shame they were blood related. "Fiya doesn't like the kind of hunting I do because it doesn't bring home meat." Or rather, nothing Ai would recommend her eating, anyway. To put it more bluntly she stated, "I hunt Yaeli. Any that think they can come too close to Zinris are met by either my blades or the keldari that I keep."  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

Odd one.

Such simple words and yet they brought on all kinds of questions. Just what was it that this Alkidike was talking about. Akeldama didn't bother trying to learn anything more about that since she could always just go and ask Pruu herself. Instead she listened to what Ai said she did when hunting.

The Yaeli. Those earthlings with the glowing eyes. Akel had never seen one. She always wanted to but never got around to it. "Why not let them wander in. It's not like they will make it very far." There was a smirk that graced her lips as she looked at he woman.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

"Because in my experience once the elaria reach a certain age you tend to wander and push the boundaries of where you're supposed to be. If we allow the Yaeli to wander in they may strike before the young even know they're there."

Beyond that, the less those dirty earthlings knew about their kind the better. As long as she slaughtered them before they came too close to camp then no one would know of their true numbers and when the day came for them to take back Chibale they could take the enemy by surprise.