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 Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:49 am
Shinobu Angel's Changelings Journal
Welcome, Etain!!
Stage: Baby
Affinity: Air
Type: Sylph
Gender: Female
Abilities: Unknown
Don't know what a Changeling is? Visit the Main Shop.
Thank you to ANYA! for implementing the diary system.
This is a Changeling Journal for Shinobu Angel. Please do not post here without permission from him.
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:47 pm
 I've found that I never end up using most of the posts I reserve in my pet diaries, so I'm going to use this post as a general update and photo album post. Updates: March 7th, 2005: The pendant is gone. I don't know why, or how - Tamako swears that there is no way anyone could have gotten past her defences without her knowing about it. Yet... there she is. Little Etain, sweet and soft infant that she is. I don't know what she or where she came from, but she's rapidly winning the hearts of everyone in the house. I'm not sure I'm ready for this, though. None of my other pets or friends required me to change their diapers! March 4th, 2005: The pendant was moved in the night. There were traces of footprints in the dew on the grass, but no other sign of who or what moved it. None of the inhabitants of that area saw or heard anything, either. The mystery continues to grow... March 3rd, 2005: Someone slipped a little card under my door this morning! It seems to be about the gemstone Yasha found. It implies that if I hang it outdoors, something will happen and something or someone, 'another heart', will appear. I wonder what it's all about? March 1st, 2005: I've found a beautiful, unique-looking gem. It seems to sparkle from the inside, as if there were some hidden light source within it. Yet it seems quite old. I'm going to hang on to it, see if anything comes of it. Strange items found around Gaia do have this odd habit of bringing more happy chaos into my life! Photo Album:   Presents and Belongings: Trio gave Etain a wonderful gift for her arrival! 
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:57 pm
Shinobu's Journal March 1st, 2005 Why is my life so endlessly chaotic? Finding a pretty silver pendant shouldn't be cause for alarm, really. Yasha found it when she was out exploring the forest, tucked away in a really old raven's next. Ravens are attracted to shiny things, so it's not completely beyond belief that one would steal such a beautiful necklace to line its nest with. I've learned a very important lesson since coming to Gaia, however. Not everything is what it seems; and when you find yourself unexpectedly in possession of a mysterious object, chances are, your life is about to go merrily to Hell. Not that I'd change a thing about what's happened to me so far. (Well, maybe a few things. But that's beside the point.) The companions and friends I've made thanks to the strange eggs and objects I've found have been priceless. Something makes me suspect this necklace is going to be cause for another. I can't put my finger on exactly why I think so. Perhaps it's the fact that even after what must have been years of being tucked away in a nest, the gem is still perfectly polished and unscratched, as is the silver metal that makes up the rest of it. Perhaps it's the way the gem seems almost to glow from within, even if there isn't a light source near it. It doesn't glow in the dark, though, I checked, so it's not really an internal light source. Or else it just doesn't like the dark. ...I've started referring to all inanimate objects as though they're animate, just in case. Is this a bad sign? *ahem* Anyway. It's a beautiful necklace, and there's a subtle sense of power radiating from it. I'm not the only one who's felt it; Yuuki commented on it, and Tamako's been trying to steal in from the moment she laid eyes on it. So I think I'm going to hang onto it, and see what happens. Whatever you are, when you... hatch or are attracted, or whatever is going to happen... I hope you're friendly.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:15 am
Jaden smiled, slipping around the corner of Shinobu's house. THIS was where the missing relic had gone off to... and from the feel of it, this was the right place for it. He slid a card underneath the door, one side proclaiming 'Changelings - Arcadia's Heirs'. On the other side was the satyr's neat writing.
'Hang outside and catch the sun,
Your journey has but all begun.
And when the sparkling gem subsides,
Another heart, with you resides.'
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:41 am
Shinobu almost missed seeing the card entirely as he headed out the door. The usual chaos of morning was swirling all around him; Tamako and Tetsuya were entertaining themselves with a game of 'I can pull more pranks than you without people noticing me', (Tamako was winning, but only because she actually had the ability to be invisible, whereas Tetsuya was simply very skilled at hiding,) the Chalcedony Gryphons and the Sigils were dive-bombing each other, and Toushi seemed to be randomly switching sides between them as the mood struck her.
In other words, it was a completely normal morning in Shinobu's household.
It was Yasha who spotted the little card that had been slipped under the door. She was staying out of the 'Battle of the Small Flying Things', as Toushi had dubbed it, simply observing as was her habit. "Shinobu!" she called as she flitted down to land on the card, peering at the writing in curiosity as her wings rustled behind her. "Look. Someone left you a message."
Blinking, Shinobu juggled his Grimorum and its egg so they were both cradled in the same arm, and leaned down to pick up the card. He nearly lost the egg, caught it at the last moment, and dropped the book instead, sighing in frustration. Half a dozen pixacats immediately leapt onto the book, sniffing in curiosity, and he shooed them off as he picked it up again.
Finally he gave up trying to hold on to everything, and shuffled back into the kitchen, depositing everything but the card onto the counter. He read the card quickly, then frowned and read it again more slowly.
" 'Sparkling gem'... d'you suppose it means that necklace you found in the woods, Yasha?"
"Oh, more than likely," Tamako agreed lazily, appearing abruptly beside him as her curiosity got the better of her and she abandoned her game with Tetsuya. "I mean, seriously Shin - my gem, the gryphlets' rocks, the Nereids' shells, that stupid book, the torque from the archeological dig... haven't you learned not to pick up strange, glowy objects any more?"
"I didn't pick it up," Shinobu protested weakly. "Yasha did."
"Yeah, but you kept it," Tamako retorted with a grin. "It's your problem now." She tweaked his ponytail and snatched the card away from him, holding it up against the light from the window and squinting at it. "I don't see anything special about the card... guess it means you're supposed to hang the gem up, not the card. Aren't 'Changelings' the ugly little monsters that got switched for healthy babies in European folklore? Why would anybody want one of those around?"
"I think it's a bit more complicated than that, Tamako," Shinobu replied mildly. "I suppose we'll find out when whatever-it-is shows up." He retreated into his bedroom, and retrieved the beautiful necklace from its place on his dresser. "Where should I hang it?"
After much debate, it was finally decided that since the necklace was found in a nest, it should probably hang from a tree. There were a great many theories about what would be hatched from or attracted by the gem, each one more wild and unbelievable than the last. By the time Toushi - who'd been watching far too many mecha anime - postulated that their new companion would be a giant animated suit of mobile armour that used the gem for a power core, or had it out on front of its chest plate as its one weak point or something, Shinobu was laughing almost too hard to hang the necklace.
With help from the flyers, he wound the chain securely around a branch of one of the cherry trees that overlooked the Hatoryuu hatching grounds and the Nereids' pools. That way he figured he had at least three of the elements covered: salt spray from the pools for water; the breezes that swung the pendant to and fro for air; and the treebranch itself for earth. He'd made sure the gem hung facing south, so as to make sure it would get the most exposure to the sunlight the card spoke of.
"I wonder what's going to happen with it," he mused as he ran one hand over the chain to the gem, which sparkled vibrantly in the bright spring light. "It's so beautiful - I hope another crow doesn't try to make off with it..."
"We'll guard it," Boondock volunteered gruffly. He and the much larger Aquamarine fluttered up to the branch and perched on either side of the chain. "Ain't no bloody bird gonna get his claws on it while we're around!" Aqua clacked his beak in agreement and gave his version of a grin. Shinobu had to agree that the Chalcedony Gryphons made fierce - if small - guards.
"You're never going to finish that egg quest of yours if you spend all day standing here admiring that gem," Tamako reminded him irreverantly. Shinobu rolled his eyes and smacked at her shoulder, but she ducked easily out of the way.
"I'm going, I'm going," Shinobu agreed, turning his back on the gleaming gem and walking away. "I'll be back to check on it this afternoon, though!"
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:01 pm
Shinobu's Journal March 3rd, 2005: Someone slipped a card under my door last night, or this morning. There's almost always someone coming and going in this house, so it must have been done very stealthily, because nobody saw it happen. It seems to be referring to the necklace and pendant that Yasha found in the woods. I'm supposed to hang it outdoors in the sunlight, and when the gem 'subsides', another heart will reside with me. I can only assume that means some sort of creature is going to somehow appear. So I was right after all, about the nature of it. Why isn't a necklace ever just a necklace? I really need to see about expanding my house again. It's getting cramped in here. Where do they all keep coming from? I wonder what this one will be like. Will it be small like the feien and the gryphlets, or larger like the Zurui or even human-sized like Tamako? Or, for that matter, half as large as the house, like Yuuki? Will it be animalistic, or humanoid? Will it be intelligent, or not? Will it speak? Will it grow? Will it make friends, or be a loner? Maybe it will even be a ghost like Vercingetorix - he came out of a necklace too. Well, a torque, same basic idea. It's a metal thing that goes around your throat. Whatever it is, I hope it will feel welcome here. There's always room in my house - and heart - for one more. I wonder if there's something I can do to make it feel more welcome, like I did for Toushi and Yasha? Hmm. Perhaps I'll ask the Nereids to sing to it. They'll happily take any excuse to sing, and that might be nice. Though I'm sure half the household is going to tease me for nurturing what still seems to be an inanimate object. Well, let them laugh. Half of them start out as inanimate objects!
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:19 am
By the following morning, something seems to be amiss...
The pendant is hanging in the cherry tree, but from a different branch completely. It's now nearly out of reach, dangling from about halfway up the tree itself and swinging in the early morning breeze. A pair of light footprints can be seen in the morning dew on the grass, but whatever made them left no impressions in the dirt whatsoever.
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:21 am
Shinobu stood under the tree, hands planted on his hips, staring up at the dangling pendant. When it seemed clear that the thing wasn't going to sprout legs and walk away on its own any time soon, he switched his staring to the ground, where a faint trail of footprints could be seen shimmering in the remnants of the morning dew. In a few moments the sun would rise high enough for the beams to kiss that spot, and the ghostly footprints would vanish.
Whatever had made the prints was light enough not to have left similar markings in the dirt, or the sand around the tidepools. The prints didn't match either the feien, the gryphlets or the Sigils - though Shinobu wouldn't put it past the Sigils to somehow create something that would leave those marks behind, just to confuse him.
"You're sure you didn't see who moved it?" he asked the Nereids, who were clustered nearby at the edge of their pool.
"Positive," Yangtze answered. "We were all asleep, I guess."
"I had weird dreams, though," Tigris commented suddenly, and the others nodded. "I was flying, it was kind of like swimming only not really. I wonder if that's really what it's like to fly."
"Well, someone moved it!" Shinobu asserted, staring up at it again. It was almost out of reach; if he wanted to move it without breaking the chain, he'd probably have to climb the tree or get a boost from someone.
A slight weight landed on his shoulder, and he glanced over to see that Yasha had perched there, and was staring up at the necklace with him. "Perhaps it didn't like the salt spray," she suggested, her wings fluttering gently. "Or perhaps it wanted to be in a better position to catch the breeze or the sunlight."
Biting his lip, Shinobu continued to study it, and finally shook his head with a sigh. "Well, no reason not to leave it there, I guess," he finally declared. "That branch is as good as any other. Keep an eye on it, everyone. I don't want it to suddenly go missing."
There was a chorus of assent from his companions, and he knew the pendant was as safe as he could make it. His friends and pets had taken an interest in the thing, and they didn't want to see it vanish, either. Curiosity was a besetting sin shared by many of the people who lived with him.
As he turned to go, he heard Kohaku start to sing softly to it. Being Sirens, it was in the nature of the Nereids to sing, but they'd taken to serenading the pendant specifically, insisting that it seemed to shine a little brighter when they did. Personally Shinobu couldn't see any difference in the shine, but who was he to tell them they were wrong? Besides, the song was pretty. Yangtze and Tigris joined the song in harmony, weaving a lovely, complex cascade of sound all around the clearing.
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:48 pm
At Shinobu's house in the early evening, the impossible seems to have occurred. Without anyone seeing at all, the pendant seems to have vanished, and instead a soft, lilting cry pierces through the air. The bundle is up in the tree... nestled against the crook of a branch. Instead of wiggling like the others, this one seems to know the value of staying still in such a place.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 7:36 pm
Shinobu stood at the base of the tree, head tilted back to allow him to see the upper branches, and just... stared.
"How did it GET up there?" Tamako asked, frustrated. She'd planted numerous traps and triggers all around the property, irritated that someone had gotten in to move the pendant the other night without her knowing about it. Despite all her best efforts, however, clearly someone had entered her protected zone without her knowledge.
"It's not an 'it', Tamako!" Shinobu protested, then realized what he'd just said. "Ahh, mou. Well, I suppose we don't know for sure if it's a boy or a girl, yet."
"Assuming it has a gender," Yasha pointed out, flitting up to get a closer look at the infant, though she didn't get too close. It watched her with large, solemn grey eyes, sucking quietly on the finger it had placed in its mouth. "It's obviously not human, not with those ears and wings. It might be genderless."
"I wonder if it can understand us," Shinobu mused. "It hasn't said anything yet."
"What I want to know is how we're going to get it down from there!" Tamako declared, prowling around the base of the tree and studying it intently. "If we try to climb the tree, it'll be shaken loose. Whatever put it up there must be able to fly, because there's no way they climbed down again."
"Well, it does have wings, so it's not unreasonable to assume that its parents could fly," Shinobu said. "I wonder if the necklace is still up there with it?"
"It's gonna starve to death before we rescue it at this rate," Tamako said, sighing and backing up so she didn't have to crane her neck quite so much to look at it. "Any ideas?"
In the end Shinobu climbed up on Yuuki's back and the ice dragon carried him up to the tree level. The upper branches were just sharp and sturdy enough that Yuuki couldn't get close to the infant without possibly causing it to fall, though. Shinobu directed Yasha, Toushi and the Chalcedony gryphons through tying a supporting harness around the infant, with a rope trailing back up to him. When they were certain it was secure, he hauled carefully on it, the four of them helping to guide the precious burden safely through the maze of sharp branches.
By this time the infant was squalling loudly, crying in fear and agitation. Shinobu made ineffective hushing noises at it, but of course it was hardly reassured. Finally it reached a point where he could cradle it in his arms, and he rocked it gently as Yuuki flew back to the ground.
The infant's cries were finally reduced to sniffles and whimpers, its huge grey eyes entirely too solemn for such a small child. Holding it carefully, Shinobu slid off Yuuki's back. The others crowded close, staring curiously, and the baby stared back.
"So? Is it a boy or a girl?" Tamako demanded, ever impatient. Shinobu loosened the soft blanket long enough to peek inside.
"Girl," he declared, tucking the edges of the blanket back in as the infant squirmed in protest against the sudden cold draft. "Her name is Etain."
Then he blinked. Where in the HELLS had that come from? He'd been utterly certain of it when he said it, but he had no idea what had prompted the words.
"Interesting," Yuuki commented, leaning over Shinobu's shoulder to examine the child. "Etain means 'little elf' or 'fairy' in Gaelic. And the card did mention something about 'changelings', didn't it? Ow!" This last was directed at Etain, who had decided that the dragon's drooping whiskers were just begging to be played with. She'd wrapped one chubby little fist around them and was examining them in fascination, grey eyes wide with delight.
"Looks like you made a friend," Shinobu said wryly, gently tugging Yuuki free of the infant's grasp. When it looked like she might start crying again, he hastily substituted the end of his own ponytail, and she happily resumed tugging. Ignoring the slight pull on his scalp, he shrugged. "It's as good a name as any, I suppose. We'd better get her inside, it's COLD out here. I wouldn't want her to get sick, since she seems to have been entrusted to my care."
"Not that she seemed to mind holding onto the ice dragon," Tamako pointed out. "She's magical, all right. It'll be interesting to see what she grows into."
As he made his way into the house with the precious bundle in his arms, Shinobu couldn't help but glance over his shoulder, wondering if the little girl's parents were out there somewhere, watching anxiously. Were they worried about her? Did they wonder if they'd done the right thing, if Shinobu would raise her well? Or were they even there at all? Why had they left her with him, of all people?
And most importantly, he wondered as he looked back at the happily playing little girl, was he really ready to be a father?
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:45 pm
There was a knock at the door. Upon opening it, it appeared that no one was there, but on the doorstep, a festive easter basket, brimming with candies, was left.
The centerpiece of the basket, nestled in beside the chocolate bunny with the marzipan eyes is a painted egg.
Poking out of the plastic grass of the basket, there is a letter:Karma Dear Shinobu,
Happy (early) Easter! I realize I've never met you before, but I found your name on Jaden's shop roster along with your address and I thought it would be a good idea to say hello. My name is Karma and I am the keeper of Arkanti, one of the other Changeling children. I promise I'm not a stalker or anything. Honest! I realize that your baby may be too young for the candies, but that doesn't mean her mommy can't enjoy them for her if she likes. You may have noticed the painted egg, and just to let you know, its not for eating. The yolks have been blown out so that it will survive long past this Easter if you would like to keep it.
I hope to meet you soon!
Love,
Karma and Arkie
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:11 pm
Shinobu stood staring at the easter basket that was sitting on his kitchen table. It was certainly beautiful, but he was a little bit bewildered by it.
"Shop?" he repeated, re-reading the note that had come with the basket once again. He was holding Etain in his arms, the pose less awkward now than it had been on the first day. He was still a little nervous about holding her, though. He kept being afraid that she'd startle him, and he'd drop her. So far, everything had been okay.
"There are more of you?" he said, holding Etain a bit away from him so he could study her. She stared back at him with her big, solemn grey eyes, then burbled softly and smiled, waving one tiny arm at her. Charmed as always, Shinobu felt his heart melt as he cuddled her close once more.
"Well, obviously somebody left her at our doorstep, so to speak," Tamako commented from where she was perched up on the cupboards. "I guess they're keeping track of you, and you're not the only one. You should probably try to find this place; maybe the other people there will have a better idea of what's going on than you do."
"That's not a bad idea," Shinobu agreed, but cast a worried look at the small infant nestled against his shoulder. "I'm kind of nervous about taking her out, though. What if I lose her somehow?"
Tamako burst out laughing. "You're not going to lose her, Shin! It's not as if she's likely to get up and walk off on her own. She seems to be growing a little faster than a 'normal' human infant would, but I don't think she's likely to suddenly go ambulatory all at once. And anyway, even if she did, you know she doesn't like letting you out of her sight."
Shinobu winced at the reminder. Although she was a very good baby overall, and didn't scream like some babies he'd encountered, she did tend to whimper and fret and eventually start crying anytime he left her. He hoped she'd be less dependant on him as time went on.
Or maybe, he reflected sadly, it was that she was afraid that once he left, he wouldn't come back. Just like whoever had left her with him. Well, time would cure that, as he continued to return every time he went away. And in the meantime...
"In the meantime, I might as well investigate this 'shop', and see what it's all about," he declared. He hefted her a little higher in his arms, and paused when there was an odd 'squish' sound.
Snickering, Tamako nearly fell off the cupboard door she was precariously perched on. "Better change her diaper first. Have fun, Shin!" Before he could even think to ask her to help him, she vanished.
Sighing, Shinobu turned to head towards the small area where a change table had been set up. The moment he opened the diaper, a rather terrible stench drifted up, and he had to fight not to gag. "And people voluntarily go through this multiple times in their lives?" he wondered as he went through the motions of changing her, trying to keep the dirty diaper as far away from him as possible. Etain seemed much happier once she was wearing a clean diaper, at least.
"All right, kiddo," Shinobu declared once he was satisfied that Etain was clean and likely to stay that way for at least a few minutes. "Let's go see if we can find out what you're all about."
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