Welcome to Gaia! ::

Deliveries were getting closer together back at the Pixashop, which had brought Quantel to the conclusion that she would need to pay another visit to Silva. As she glided through the air, she ignored the hunk of metal that hovered around her head.

Up ahead was the house of Ice, exactly as remembered, save for the obvious signs of winter that surrounded it in soft white drifts. Knowing her destination, Quantel headed directly for the window that led to Silva.

Silva was... reading. He smirked, leaning back against his shadow sprocket like a chair and flipping the page. His new height made reading his hentai novels so much easier, he thought smirking slightly.

"Hey, Boss! We've got a visitor!" Nick called out from where he was (Shockingly enough) working out with one of Silva's smaller dumbbells. Silva nodded, closing his book and tossing it across the room so it landed under Ice's bed. He just hoped that damn fire mouse didn't get to it before he could retrieve it.

Then he leaned back again, chewing on his toothpick and waiting for the visitor to come to him. There were only a few people that knew to come to this window, after all. And by the sound of Sonnet's deep growl he had a good idea of who it was.

The bile green sprocket entered the room first, twisting and turning in all directions before darting back out. Folding her wings in, moreso as to avoid the flying object's direct trajectory for them, Quantel touched down on the windowsill deftly. Glancing to either side, she took in Silva and his little creature cooly.

Someone has grown a bit. Her surprise did not register on her features, which remained carefully schooled in nonchalance, even as she smiled slightly and nodded in the burgundy Feien's direction. The creature, for the time being, was not worthy of her acknowledgement.

"Hello Darlin." Silva said lazily, smoothly getting to his feet. He had gotten used to his new size, with the help of a half dozen falls off of his board while snowboarding. He was inwardly pleased with how natural his actions looked... and felt. But all that showed on his face was his usual slight smirk.

Damn was she short... Oh well. "What can I do you for?" He asked calmly, looking her over from his new height. Short, yes, but still hot.

My, my, my... The height she had taken him to be while sitting was no where near that which was apparent now. Her smile widened ever so slightly, and she allowed herself to look him over again, obviously, letting her eyes linger over such parts as his wiry strength and his new, large hands. The possibilities that ran through her mind were not limited to that of a sensual nature.

Drawing her gaze back to his face, she let the hunger in her eyes fade back. "I pray you have not forgotten that which I left with you." Quantel didn't bother to look around for his Pixa, which she knew was most likely glowering at her presently. "I have found need for it once more."

"What you left, huh?" He asked, looking as if he was thinking. He remembered of course, but he liked it when people thought he was slower then he actually was. Such as forgetting names. That or he didn't give a s**t, which was closer to true.

The eerie laugh of the hyena from where Lyric and Sonnet were watching made him snort slightly before tugging his toothpick out of his mouth. "Yeah, I remember. You need it, huh?" He didn't move. "How much?"

Ah. So this was how he played the game. Allow the so-called debt to accrue, and then demand payment. Clever. More amused than irked, Quantel spread her arms out to the side, hands turned with palms upward. "You tell me. As you can see, I have little..." Here, she tilted her head slightly, still looking up at him. "Save myself, of course."

"Now aren't you the lucky one? I'm feeling generous." His eyes gleamed slightly, anticipation giving his voice a husky tone. When he had been a kid, she had seemed so much more... dangerous. Not that she wasn't, but he was feeling the power of his new height. He could handle her.

And on another note, he doubted she would be making mating plans after a single snog. She didn't seem the maternal type. "C'mere."

As Quantel stepped closer to him, a series of faces flashed through her mind. Nero, Maquinar, Sunil... Before a single one could take hold and cause her discomfort, she buried them beneath her current purpose. She allowed nothing but sultry anticipation to show on her face.

Stopping in front of him, within the reach of his arms, she tilted her head back so that she could meet his eyes, a motion that exposed the white curve of her throat. "Is this close enough?" she breathed softly.

Something made him hesitate. It might have been the way she moved, or the expression in her eyes, but his smirk went cold.

"Who do you belong to?" He asked unemotionally. "If there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that I don't share. At all."

"How fortunate for you, then." She didn't miss a beat, shifting her wings out to cast a shadow over both of them. Why he had even asked that question was beyond her, as she had never considered herself one to become attached to any. "I belong to none."

He snorted, letting his own wings fold out. They were much larger then hers. Then he let them fall back into place and turned slightly. "Sorry, Darlin. I don't have time to play whose is bigger." He took to the air, grabbing the choker from where it lay unhidden in his zen garden, and bringing it back to her.

With a off-handed motion he tossed it to her. "And suddenly I'm not in the mood." She was too much like him, he thought, heading for his weights. And he was close enough to not feeling anything as it was.

Almost unconciously, she caught that which was thrown to her, maintaining the spread of her wings. How like a male to have taken her gesture to be a threat... Fingers tightening invisibly on the cords, Quantel fought for control of her emotions, though none of that showed in her face, which was still turned upwards to look at him.

"Really, Silva. What are you afraid of?" Now she brought her wings down, folding them over her shoulders, a half-smile apparent in the curve of her lips. "I am beginning to think you are attempting to intentionally raise my ire."

He almost laughed. "Not attempting, Darlin. Succeeding. A snog is easy to come by, but a woman that looks hot when she's trying not to show she's pissed is another thing entirely." He decided to stroke her ego a little, smirking as he clinically studdied her reaction.

"And Darlin, you're nothing if not hot."

If he wishes to think you are angry, let him. Less humiliating. She absolutely refused to become emotional in front of him, and his heavy-handed compliment did little to soothe her. The shadows in her eyes danced, swirled, the only real indication of what was going on within.

With a light shrug of her shoulders, Quantel began to lift her wings out slightly so that she could wrap the cord around her waist, much as it had been when she first visited him. "So be it. I imagine your next opportunity to 'snog' is simply lurking outside your window as we speak, awaiting my departure to make her entrance." Her hands began their work, circling the cord around her.

"Might be. Might not." He shrugged, not really caring. "I've learned something interesting about myself since I've grown, Darlin. It's that I don't give a s**t about... most things, actually." He looked at her silently for a seond. "You though, I think you care too much."

There was truth in his words, no matter how callous they might have seemed. "You're too much for me, Darlin. And I'm not in the mood to play by your rules."

He was right, of course. The danger with Silva woud be that being what he was, he would naturally know her far too well. "You may find it to be in your best interest to learn..." she began, as she finally twisted a knot in the cord, fixing it in place about her narrow waist, "...that you cannot let your mood get in the way of what would be beneficial to you."

Quantel lifted herself into the air, making a motion to her sprocket. The green hued object flew over, spinning and stopping just at her shoulder. Her expression now was benign, almost sexless. "Come find me when you are ready, Silva." As the sprocket swirled around her, she added, "I had not lied when I said I felt we could learn much about our elements through each other."

He snorted softly, a little smirk pulling at his lips as he didn't reply. He had used the word "Mood" but with him it was a constant state. No one used him. Not like she would try to do. And as for finding out more about his element... Well in some ways he understood it far better then most people ever would. And the first rule of the shadow element was that it changed to fit the circumstances. A little too easily if you asked him.

He turned, heading for his weights. This conversation was over with.

As he turned away, Quantel flew out, her wings remaining in their position around her. This second meeting had not gone the way she had envisioned; it seemed the boy had more self-control than she had given him credit for. She felt, however, that this would not be the last time they would exchange words, but knew that when that time came, his place in her plan would depend solely on him.

You gave him his chance. If he wishes to join the others, so be it. Next time, he would have to come to her. He can be a gemstone just as easily as a tool... She left the grounds of Ice's home behind her, much as she did all further thoughts of Silva.

Silva chewed on his toothpick, heading for the spare bedroom windowsill and dropping down. The first thing he noticed was that there were sprockets all over this place, as well. Dammit, they were worse then a plague. He twitched slightly then headed a little further in, looking for Berra.

Berra was down below on the carpet, near the foot of the bed. The sprockets seemed to serve a purpose other than simply flying around and getting in the way after all as two of them were near her at all times.

The combat sprocket, and the pain sprocket hung just out of reach as she clutched the staff, watching them warily. They had introduced themselves to her training quite uninvited a couple of weeks ago when they had, on a whim, ganged up on the little feien and tried to overpower her.

The first time, they had succeeded and had knocked her over, held her down, and stolen her staff, parading it around the room like a trophy for the better part of an hour. Once Berra had gotten wise to this game, they had tried other tactics....eventually the training had become an elaborate game of keep-away.

As, taking an silent cue from one another, the two sprockets dove in to attack Berra, she ducked and dodged with spastic movements, lashing out at the sprockets with the end of the staff. Ordinarily she wouldn't have dared strike them for fear of hurting them, but experience had taught her they were indestructible and unhurtable...at least by way of feien strength.

There was a sharp pinging sound as the combat sprocket recoiled a bit, struck with the butt of the staff, and then dove in again. The pain sprocket, seizing its opportunity, dove in from behind and barely grazed the backs of her legs before she gave a yelp and turned, fending it off as well. At least they were giving her a taste of what fending off real enemies might be like seeing as how their aim was not to help her in the least.

With this going on, she'd not yet noticed Silva's approach.

"You need some help, Darlin?" Silva called as he lowered himself to the ground. His chain was over his shoulder, his own staff in his hand, ready to be used if needed. He approved, though. At least the damn things seemed to have a use other then playing Reggae music and keeping the brats entertained.

He wasn't about to mention how Nick and Nack used the sprockets. Mentally he winced at the misuse of perfectly good cherries. He eyed the two attacking sprockets, making a note to get him at least one of them.

Kookaberra turned at the sound of the voice that she recognized yet didn't and blinked in disbelief at the now much-taller Silva. Even from a distance he looked imposing. First Globin, now Silva...she was starting to feel very, very short.

She was brought back to the present as the combat sprocket took her instance of pause as an invitation to move in and smacked full force against her back. She winced, stumbled, and caught herself with one knee.

"I'm okay! Thanks!" she called back, putting on a brave countenance as she whirled and swung the staff, sending the offending sprocket somersaulting a short distance away before it swooped back in again. That whole "invincible" thing was great for not having to worry about hurting them, but not so great for getting a break between attacks.

"How long have you been doing this, Darlin?" He asked, leaning against the bed and evaluating her movements. "Your swings are a little wild. Tighten your grasp and try to aim before you hit more." He called, not offering to help again. She had to live with the things, after all. She needed to learn how to beat them off.

"You'll waste less energy that way."

"About...two weeks...!!" she said between swings, trying to do what he'd suggested while being attacked. The pain sprocket swooped overhead, tangling itself in her pigtails and pulling hard. It had gotten her to drop the staff this way just yesterday, after all, why shouldn't it work again?

Berra gave a small whine of pain, her hands wavered, wanting to drop the staff to protect her scalp, but she wouldn't let herself. The combat sprocket came in fast, then, straight at her face, intending to play "chicken" with her in a further attempt to make her give in. Instead, despite the deep-seated pain in her head, she dropped suddenly to her knees. The pulling, for a split second, was unbearable, and then...

*CLINK!*

The pain and combat sprocket collided with each other at high velocity, making the hold on her hair release. Forgetting her, the two sprockets took off after one another, scolding, chittering and fighting as Berra scrambled to her feet again, panting a bit.

When she was sure they were gone, she looked back to Silva, flushing with embarrassment.

"Sorry...they don't quit sometimes..." she said, trying to get used to the fact she'd have to look up at him from now on. Deciding she didn't need to comment on the fact he'd grown, as he was likely well-aware of it, she smiled instead. "Its good to see you again, Silva. Thank you for the training doll."

"Looks like you don't really need it though." He drawled calmly, looking for bruises. "You look like you've been beaten on, darlin. Why don't you take a break?"

There was a time to work out and a time to rest, like Ice had told him a long time ago. Too much of either didn't make for an enjoyable life. He paused, a strange idea bouncing around in his head. He had left Tibuzilla outside, planning on ferret-gliding home, but she looked like she needed a break from training.

He shoved himself away from the bed, a look of anticipation in his eyes. "I was planning on trying sparring, but looks like you don't need me for that. So we'll do something else." If she didn't chicken out, that was.

The staff in her hands sagged and then she turned to set it down. A break DID sound nice....the two sprockets had declared war on her this morning for whatever reason and had been devilling her on and off up until that point.

She looked to Silva inquisitively after she was done and then nodded, smiling. "Okay!" she agreed readily, wondering what he had in mind.

"C'mon." He told her, heading for the window. When he reached the sill he let out a sharp whistle, waiting impatiently as a blue head appeared, followed by a long furry body. He reached out, checking the girth of TZ's saddle before turning to Berra.

"This is TZ, darlin. He's a ferret." He stated, figuring she already knew that, but that he might as well say it. "There's two things this b*****d's good for, one's a ride, the other's a bit more... risky." He unwrapped the rope tied around the saddlehorn, smirking slightly. "Wanna try?"

Kookaberra alighted on the sill behind Silva and boggled a moment at the strange creature that emerged from seemingly nowhere. She'd never seen a ferret before...he reminded her a bit of that character she'd seen in a cartoon once. What was his name? Rikki Tikki, she was fairly sure.

Watching him unwrap the rope, she felt her wings fidget a bit. "I--I guess so." she nodded, pulling her eyes away from the odd sight that was TZ to look up at the burgandy-winged feien. It wasn't as though Silva would let her get hurt, right....?

"What are we going to do?" it was likely unnecessary to ask as he seemed good about explaining things regardless, but her curiousity had commanded it of her just in case.

"This is a little thing I call 'Ferret-Gliding,' Darlin. TZ here's gets up to a decent speed, so all you have to do is keep your wings straight and hang on to the rope. Kinda like being a feien kite. You can use magic if you want, but I prefer just hanging on for dear life."

He pulled the rope up so she could see the loop at the end. "Steer with this, you wanna go left tug as hard as you can to the left, right to go right. You get scared, just let go. You know how to fly."

It was actually one of his more mild hobbies, considering he could fly, but it was still fun. Especially when he let TZ have his head.

Berra's eyes lit up in understanding. That...sounded like fun, actually! Her smile returned a bit more genuinely as she looked to the loop of rope Silva held and nodded, waiting to see if he would offer it to her or if he meant to go first to demonstrate.

"All right." she said, sounding a little braver on the subject as she looked to TZ again. "That sounds easy enough."

"Then I'll let you try it." He said, tossing the rope to her. He was pleased, although the only sign of it was a quirking of his lips. He had offered to let Ruya try it before she left and she had turned him down. He had started to think he might be crazy, actually. Sad thing was, he hadn't minded.

"When you're ready I'll get him started, whistle when you want him to stop."

Kookaberra caught the rope as it was tossed to her. "Thanks!" she chirped and wrapped her hands around it firmly as she padded up behind the ferret so that when he took off, she wouldn't be in danger of hitting herself against the window. Getting stung by a pain sprocket was bad enough without having to be down for the count with a broken arm or dislocated shoulder, after all...

Taking a deep breath and then letting it out again, she adjusted her grip one more time. She didn't feel completely ready, but then she decided that flying while towed by a ferret wasn't exactly something you ever felt completely ready for. This must have been what it was like for those people on TV who jumped out of planes for thrills.

"Ready." she nodded, steeling herself for the initial yank with TZ took off and hoping she wouldn't make a mess of this.

Silva nodded, reaching out and smacking TZ on the rump before jumping back quickly. The ferret let loose, already tight muscles jumping to life as he raced down the side of the house and into the yard, heading straight forthe fences and climbing them so quickly that it was as if they were hardly even there.

He went faster then usual, since the weight on the end of the rope was so much lighter then he was used to. He let out a trilling chirrup, loving the run more then anything... other then peanut butter, maybe.

The rope was nearly snatched from Berra's hands as, with a jarring yank and a startled squeak, she was pulled off of her feet and tensed up with a brief moment of panic as she sailed behind TZ. She normally flew like a hyperactive little red-and-white maniac anyway, but at least when she did, she was in full control. She wasn't used to having someone else do the motoring for her.

As the little earth feien balanced herself, her wings extended fully behind her as they caught the air currents, she dared relax a bit.

This wasn't so bad, this was-- ohno, fenceFenceFENCE!!! She pulled hard to the right, canting out of the way just in time to avoid colliding sidelong with the slats of the fence dividing Karma's yard from the neighbor's. Close call...thankfully, she was unhurt and not quite ready to give up yet as she held fast to the rope.

TZ rushed along the top of the fence, jumping the corner without a thought as he went along the back rail of the yard. He planned on doing the entire fenceline before going back to Silva. He liked fences.

Silva smirked slightly, impressed that she was still holding on. He leaned back against the windowframe, calling out encouragement every once in a while. Although whether it was for the girl or the ferret one couldn't quite tell.

While the ferret liked fences, Kookaberra wasn't terribly fond of them. She was already going up much higher than she normally flew, and while it was exhilirating, she found herself reminded of the storm she and Globin had gotten caught up in near the end of her quest, and the way the wind had suddenly dropped out from beneath her before shoving her headlong at the ground.

She didn't THINK that would happen this time, but--WHOA!! Berra found herself travelling outward over the back of the fence as TZ rounded the corner and went racing for the next. Her hold was jarred on the rope and she scrambled to regain it, despite the fact that she could have just let go.

It was partially a matter of not wanting to give up and partially a matter of not wanting her trainer to think she couldn't hold her own, but she remained clinging desperately for as long as she could.

....which was not very much longer as a brisk winter updraft caught her and tumbled her forward and off-balance, making her quickly let go of the rope to keep from careening out of control. Wincing, she quickly lowered her altitude to avoid the worst of the wind and flapped back to where Silva was standing.

"Guess it takes some getting used to, huh...?" she said sheepishly, glad that her cheeks were windburned and hid their blush.

"Yeah." He replied, biting back a grin. "It does." He turned, whistling loudly for the ferret to come. TZ dropped down on the sill, letting up a happy little chirrup and going into a nap. "You alright, Darlin?"

She was a good sport, fighting for who knew how long, then going ferret-gliding for the first time, all in one day.

She nodded, shaking out her arms to get some feeling back into them. "I'm okay." she said agreeably, unable to keep from smiling a bit as she wondered just how silly she must have looked way up there. Thankfully, it had seemed as though the only witness had been Silva...and the ferret, of course, but TZ didn't seem like he would tell anyone.

"That was fun, Silva, thank you!" she said, looking up at him and seeming relieved he wasn't going to chide her for not holding out longer. She reached out to pat TZ as he curled up for a nap, and stopped her hand mid-descent as the guest room door creaked open a short distance from its constantly-ajar state and Talonfaust glided in.

He'd seemed unaware completely of the fact there was a visitor as he shooed sprockets away from himself absently...damned things. Why they had so many of them he'd never know. As a cleaning sprocket dipped in to try and give his horns a quick polish, he batted it aside irately.

....and then happened to look up, stopping short at the sight of the gangly stranger on the windowsill with his daughter. His immediate impulse was to place himself on the defensive as his yellow eyes narrowed themselves, but he forced himself to stay where he was and not immediately intervene. He had been gone awhile. It stood to reason Berra might have made friends he didn't yet know.

Berra looked at her father with immediate guilt and felt her wings droop a bit. She hadn't mentioned a word about Silva to Talon since he'd gotten back and could already tell he didn't approve. "Uh oh..." she muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

Silva looked over, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the other adult male. In all honesty he hadn't met many other adults, but somehow he doubted many of them looked like this one. He turned at Berra's little "Uh Oh," wondering what the problem was, then shrugged. He had been about to leave, anyways.

"Don't push yourself too hard in your training, Berra." He told her, looking her in the eye. "Getting stronger is one thing, hurting yourself is another entirely. You might kick one of the sprockets out of the room before you train, two at a time might be too many."

Then he turned, nodding at Talonfaust. "Somehow I get the feeling you didn't know about me." He said, calmly, chewing on his toothpick.

"No." came Talon's reply with no hesitation at all, his voice measured and forced into an odd turbulant calm as he nodded in turn, a cordial, yet cold, acknowledgement of the other male. "I didn't." The eyes looked to Berra next expectantly as she bit her lip, squirming in the uncomfortably silence that followed.

"This is my father." she explained to Silva, trying to keep things from getting awkward. "He's been away helping my sister with a quest and just got home a few days ago." She winced a bit then, remembering what Silva had told her about giving out his name and awkwardly offered Talon only the bare minimum. "This is a friend of mine. He's been helping me get stronger" she said, hoping Talon wouldn't pry for more information when she couldn't give more.

"I see." Talon said quietly. "In that case, its nice to meet you." Again, it was not genuine and moreso manners.

There were many things at the moment he didn't much care for....first of all, Berra had never referred to him as "her father" before. He'd always been 'daddy' since her summonday and had come to take the childish title as a given. Secondly, he didn't like that she wouldn't tell him Silva's name. Third, there was something about the other male....something his enhanced senses picked up that he didn't like much. A certain acrid aura that seemed to surround the burgandy-winged feien like a shroud...like he was hiding many things from many people.

Just what HAD he and Berra been up to...?

"I'm sure." Silva replied dryly. "But I don't think I'm the thing you should be worrying about." He said, glancing over at Berra. "Have you told him about the fork?" He bit back the word "Darlin" since he WAS her father after all. Silva was promised a kid of his own, soon. And somehow he doubted he would take someone calling his kid that well...

Talon arched a brow. "Fork?" he questioned. Granted, he'd come home to a houseful of fandangle drama and he hadn't had much time to sit Berra down and exchange quest stories with her, but...again, this was something she would tell this stranger about and not him?

"I--no, I haven't yet." Berra admitted, flushing with embarrassment as her wings fidgeted on her shoulders. "I meant to...!" she said quickly, her eyes shifting between Silva's and Talon's, seeking approval in either. "I just--things got kind of busy, that's all..."

Talon shot a brief glance at Silva and then came forward to approach his daughter, unintimidated by the other feien, despite the other male's obvious advantage in height. "Kookaberra? What fork?" he questioned again, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I--" she began and then sighed. She'd hoped they could have a calmer environment to discuss it, but it seemed like she'd been cornered. Biting her lip, she flitted off of the sill and knelt at the base of the nightstand, retrieving the trident and then returning, clutching it between her hands.

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you." Silva said calmly, eyeing the fork. "It has a habit of taking over your mind." He couldn't say that he didn't enjoy the situation. But he wasn't going to make it tougher on her.

He turned, looking at Talonfaust, unemotionally. "She needs to get stronger." To keep it away from guys as bad as I am, he finished silently. "But hell, if you can teach her..." He shrugged, picking up his staff and holding it out to Tal. Was he willing to let his toy go? Hell, why not? He had been thinking of another trip through the door for a while now.

Talon's eyes settled on the trident, seeing nothing in particular that was very special about it. Granted, it was the first feien-sized weapon he'd seen that didn't look to be crudely crafted of household items or made of plastic, but it was still just a trident, all the same.

Making a mental note to press the matter further with Berra later, he next turned to Silva and the offered staff. He regarded it for a long moment as though the burgandy-winged feien was offering him a dead cockroach and then reached out as though to take it, and instead pushed it firmly aside.

His face was still a mask of calm, but his eyes betrayed something else...they were the eyes of an enraged eagle protecting its nest and younglings from a predator that had intruded upon its cliff.

"She doesn't need to be any stronger than she is." Talon said with a flatness that held an undertone of daring the other male to challenge him.

"Daddy--!" Berra immediately protested, and found herself silenced just as immediately as his eyes flicked in her direction. Her wings fidgeted much more noticeably, not wanting to be cost a friendship because of this encounter.

"I don't know what you've been telling her," Talon continued. "I don't know what's been happening while I've been gone, but its going to sto--"

One green-tipped ear caught a faint high-pitched whine, and, acting more on instinct than on reason, he leaned backward suddenly, a crackling bolt of black lightning passing between him and Silva, though it hit neither of them. It DID however, strike one of the sprockets out of its path of flight and send it twitching to the floor, stunned.

Berra, nearby, was trembling all over, eyes wide and frightened as she watched tendrils of gray smoke curl off of the prongs of the trident in the aftermath of its strike. She had not felt herself aim it, she had not felt the fork gearing up to attack, it was as though she'd been in a trance.

Silva's eyes narrowed as he took in the smoke, his voice turning cold. "Put it down, Berra." He said, watching it as he usually watched a snake. "Put it down and step away from it."

He didn't care how Tal would take him ordering Berra around. That had been dark energy, and by the effect it had had on the sprocket, it hadn't been friendly.

She needed to calm down. If the reason she had better control over the fork was what he thought it was, then... "That thing packs quite a punch, doesn't it?" He went on calmly.

Berra heard the burgandy-winged feien's command and tried to comply, but found that her hands wouldn't obey and remained firmly locked on the shaft of the trident, partially from shock at what had just happened and partially from something else.

She--she'd almost--if Talon hadn't--

She didn't answer Silva's question as one amber eye wandered down to the carpet, carefully...questingly...and focused on the sprocket that was still making a recovery back to an operational level. Bearing in mind that they were nearly invincible, what WOULD have happened if she'd hit her father or Silva instead...?

As though someone had put her mind on pause for a moment, and then pressed the play button again as an afterthought, the pigtailed feien suddenly grimaced as though in great pain, frightened tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Berra...?" Talon asked hesitantly, ignoring Silva completely. The dangerous edge was gone from his voice and replaced with a careful tone. Despite the fact his immediate impulse had been to round on her reproachfully and demand to know what the ******** she thought she was doing, he could see that his daughter was near-panicked. She didn't need that right now. "Put it down, Berra." he said as gently as he felt able to. "Everything is fine, you're not in trouble, just put it down."

He and Silva seemed to have the same idea at the same time...mindless comforting babble in their own respective strains to try and occupy her mind and calm her. Which, little by little, seemed to be working. Her fingers eased their grip until the weapon slipped from her hands and clattered on the sill.

"She needs to get away from it." Silva said in a soft mutter to Tal, not moving. "See if you can get her away from it." He was watching the trident, feeling once again the draw that had happened the last time he had touched it. He forced himself to take a step back, bumping into the curious looking ferret. Unconsciously he reached behind him, slipping his fingers into TZ's fur.

He was tempted to leave, but for some reason he hesitated, the sight of her crying making him grit his teeth and let go of TZ. "I'm going to have to get one of those. The sprockets at my place tend to be a pain in the a**." He said a little louder.

Talonfaust's ear closest to Silva twitched once in acknowledgement that he'd heard him, but he likewise didn't move for a moment. At length, deciding to take initiative if the other two wouldn't, he stepped forward and briskly swiped the trident off of the sill with the side of his foot, letting it clunk to the floor where the other sprockets gave it a wide berth, none of them wanting to get near it to investigate. Perhaps they'd seen what had become of the one who'd gotten in its line of fire.

Berra's hands were unconsciously scrubbing at one another as though she were washing them with invisible soap, and for the life of her, she couldn't stop shaking. Like Silva, she'd been staring at the trident until Talon kicked it away....she should have been ready for it, she chided herself. She had spent so much time focusing on getting stronger to be able to handle the trident, she hadn't DONE any actual handling of it lately. This had been the first time she'd picked it up in weeks, as a matter of fact.

At Silva's quip, a small bark of brittle-sounding laughter erupted from her throat. It wasn't so much because it had been funny, but she wanted badly to snap out of the horrified trance she was in.

"I--I'm okay..." she got out...or moreso forced herself to say, the statement sounding not at all convincing.

Silva nodded, looking down at the trident before turning to look at Berra. "Your old man says you don't need to be stronger, maybe he's right, but maybe he's wrong. It's up to you to decide." The he shrugged, rewinding the rope onto TZ's saddle. Then he smacked the ferret on the rump, sending it running home.

"I figure you'll decide what you want one way or the other." He said, dropping off of the window and out of sight. there were enough shadows that his flight home would be masked by his dark disguise.

Kookaberra took one step toward the sill, meaning to ask him not to go, but the burgandy feien was already gone, making her squeeze her eyes shut and hug herself, not sure if this was going to be the last she'd see of him or not.

"Would you mind telling me what in the hell is going on?" Talon asked, after waiting a moment to ensure Silva was, in fact, gone. "And what -that- thing is?" he added, looking pointedly at the trident down on the carpet below the sill.

"I--found it." she got out, her mind racing. "Its what Yanvir sent me to Canada for...my quest."

"You mean to tell me that ******** sent you -- a KID -- off to another country to bring back a weapon far too powerful for even an adult to handle? Is that what you're telling me, Kookaberra?" he demanded to know, his hands balling into fists. He was angry...he wasn't sure WHAT he was angry with, but he was angry all the same.

Berra clutched at her head. She couldn't deal with all of this. "He was--he was trying to help me get stronger so I could learn." she whimpered. "I've been working hard...! I--" she trailed off, realizing that he wasn't going to understand no matter what she said at this point. She loved Talon dearly, but once he got it into his head he didn't like someone, that opinion was damned hard to change. She'd seen the way he looked at Silva and knew it had been hate at first sight...she'd be lucky if he let her TALK to him anymore let alone let him keep training her -- that was, if Silva even wanted anything to do with her after this.

She started to say something else and, instead, lit off of the sill and off into the darkness of the deepening evening. She had to get out...just for a little while.

Talon started after her and then stopped, deciding instead to let her go. She knew better, he assured himself, and she was clearly upset. When he'd been young, he'd rabbited off to take out the worst of his bad moods in private as well....she'd come home when she had calmed herself.

And maybe if he told himself that enough, he'd actually believe it.

Casting a final uneasy look down at the trident once more, Talon left it where it was and glided back across the room into the hallway to find Karma. SOMEONE was going to give him answers, god dammit.

Somehow Silva got cut by one of the sprockets. He's not talking about it, though, and I can't find the sprockets that did it. I don't think I want violent sprockets around when I get my new bloom, so I figure good riddance.

I think Silva's gotten used to the idea of being a future father. I can only hope. If he feels that the new feien is invading his territory... well, it could be scary. I'm not quite sure how feien strengths compare, but considering all the working out he does I wouldn't be surprised if he was dangerous for a feien. I know he's no weakling, and he knows three different weapons now... The new feien wouldn't.

But how kind of a father would Silva be? Nick and Nack are reasonablly sane... ok, Nick not so much... but they haven't had any broken bones or bruises in strange places. I know Nick helps with Silva's sparring, though... so he's a little roughed up every once in a while, but nothing broken. And that hasn't happened since Silva grew...

*Sighs and looks to where Silva is adding washers to his dumbbells for added weight. Then as he goes back to working out*

I wish he wasn't still mad at me...