Welcome to Gaia! ::

Crow turned to the new arrival blearily, squinting and trying to focus on who it was. That voice sounded familiar...

As Crow's tired eyes focused, she gave a gasp and toppled off the swing.

"Rabid?!"

Lenore ceased bouncing, watching as Crow flailed on the ground as she tried to stand. A new lady with a white fuzzy thing was here - gauging by its small sizy and the weird sounds it made, a baby. Len gave a huff and climbed off the see-saw, walking awkwardly towards the swing set. She tripped once or twice, and had to remind herself to walk on her toes - it was hard to remember how to walk like a bird when she had only stopped crawling a few days ago.

Looking at the fuzzy white thing with interest, she waved a bladed arm at the new arrivals.

"Crow!" Rabid giggled and quickly strode to her friend. She reached down and offered her hand to Crow.

"Are you alright?" She then turned to Lenore and smiled. "Hello, Lenore."


Malachi grunted. Why had they stopped bouncing? He clung to the crazy hair as he leaned down. There was a girl there with shiny arms, and another crazy lady on the ground. Who were these people?

Bending down Aido swung herself down, latching her legs around the tree branch and grabbing a bit of her own shadow. With a hiss the slippery tendril sharpened in her hand, becoming a crude, knifelike object. As the vine neared she grabbed it and cut just above where he hand held. "Grab hold of it Dei!" she called.

Reid was so frustrated he'd begun to bang his tiny fists against Rael's backside, babeling viscously. The Shadow, while not hurt from the onslaught, grumbled unhappily.

Crow gave a laugh and hoisted herself up, brushing the sand off her clothes and picking up her pilot's helmet, which had slipped off. Grabbing Rabid in a one-armed hug, she looked at the little fuzzy creature her friend held. Her eyes widened as she got a good look at him, and then looked back at Rabid in astonishment.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked, grinning.

Lenore sidled up to Crow, picking up the pilot goggles she had dropped after she fell of the swing. Smiling politely at Rabid, she turned her attention to what had really interested her. The little creature was very fluffy and cute, and so put Lenore off a little. She didn't really go for cute and cuddly, but she knew it would be good manners to introduce herself. Pulling the goggles over her head and wearing them around her neck like a necklace, she waved at the fuzzy thing.

"My name's Lenore and Mama says I'm a tax-reduction, what's your name?"

Rabid hugged Crow back, and then looked down at Malachi.

"What? A squirrel? A Mishap? Malachi? Either way, you're right!" she said and gave a cheesy gameshow wink-and-point. At the word "tax reduction", though, she laughed and gently pushed Crow.


Malachi leaned further down toward the shiny girl and reached out for her wings. He couldn't quite reach, and so leaned down futher, tugging on the crazy lady's hair. "Bah," he said, touching the metal and pulling his hand back quickly, "Bah!" At this exclamation, her large red eyes flew open, and he broke out into a large fanged grin. What a funny arm!

The tree had offically crossed its boundaries as far as Aido was concerned. The young Shadow Mancer, "no! He's Deimos now, not Erebus," she practicly snarled, the expression of fierce anger foreign on the normally content Tale's face. Her halo was bright and glaring as she lunged forward, finally grabbing Deimos' hand as it finally neared and she pulled them both up and onto the branch.

"And even if he was Erebus I wouldn't let you hurt him," she snapped.

As Aido finally grasped Deimos' hand Rael launched himself at the tree again and Reid instantly stopped his barrage when he saw they were heading back for the other two.

Crow laughed and ruffled Lenore's feathery hair, completely unembarrassed.

"It's true, ya know," she said mildly to Rabid, unable to conceal a sheepish smile. Looking back down at Malachi, she ran a hand through her hair and tried to think of what kind of spell would involve a tree-dwelling rodent. Deciding she'd rather not know, she reclaimed her seat on the swing and played with the swing chains.

"When did you get him?"

Lenore drew back from the fuzzy-thing slightly, keeping her elongated razor-feathers out of reach.

"No touchy - they'll take an eye out," she said, remembering what Crow said to her whenever Lenore started waving her arms around without thinking.

"So, your name is Bah?" she asked, her eyes resting on the fuzzy-thing's very pointy teeth. "That's a funny name. Mama named me after a pome-no, a poo-ehm...poem. Did your mama name you after a poem?"

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she momentarily lost balance and fell on her upper knees. Wincing as she got back up and felt the sting of a scrape, she dusted herself off and cleared her throat with dignity.

"I jus' learned how to walk. Can you walk yet? How come you're not talking? Why are you all white?" Lenore asked avidly, already forgetting her injury.

Rabid joined Crow on the swings, placing Malachi carefully on the ground.

"Yeah, it's true," she laughed, "Yesterday. I...made him yesterday." She blushed knowing that now her cover was blown. Not that she never made mistakes. She'd just never before accidentally made a child.

She then turned to Lenore, "His name is Malachi, and he's named after a guy in a scary movie, and a reaaally old Hebrew name. He's an albino."


"Baaaaah!" Malachi yelled as he crawled clumsily over the ground. Why was crazy lady speaking for him? Couldn't shiny girl understand?! He ignored this and curiously reached up to touch the tip of the seesaw, unable to reach.