Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dragon laughed a little at the man's expression as he described his home world, and shook his head a bit.

"For one who is adapted to such, it's really not that horrid at all. As a matter of fact, if you were born there, the snowstorms can be quite beautiful - as long as you are inside when they occur."

He peered at the bird.

"One thing about coming to Gaia, though... such strange animals. You see, we don't have birds like this on Juridia. We have something called a zayki - probably somewhere between what THIS one is, and one of your Gaian 'hawks'. It's amazing, the diversity that this planet shows. I suppose, because of the climate, Juridia is only CAPABLE of supporting so many creatures. But then again, I don't see any rizeel wandering around. Think a mix between a spider and a bobcat, and make it around five feet high with a ten-foot span. They're friendly, yes - but only if you approach them correctly."

He shuddered a little.

"I was bitten by one once. Almost died. It was a good thing for me that my father is Eriot, I'll tell you that much. OH! You don't know about him, I forgot."

He smiled, and elucidated.

"Eriot is the Juridian God of Life. And, as I said before, he is my father. Don't ask how, no one really knows - nor cares to know. For most, the knowing is enough without the reasoning. It's that way with a lot of things on Juridia. That in itself is one of the reasons for our diverse religious beliefs. Not that we don't get into arguments from time to time."

And, since Dragon wasn't expecting a sudden lunge, he wasn't able to dodge completely. The Vulture came away with a beak-full of fur, and a bit of the top layer of flesh. The doctor managed to avoid the deeper wound by sheer luck alone. He yelped in pain, and backed up, staring down at the bird with a look of reproach.

"What was that for!?" he hissed out, pained.

Immediately, he pulled out a roll of bandage from his pocket, and made short work of dressing the wound.

"That was very rude." he said, more to the bird than the person.

Lost. Light flickered off and on in Luis' head like the lanterns of a sinking cruise ship. The drowning titanic. Fireworks went off with a bang, exploding above a crisp winter sky. The color of the ocean at night, a swallow-whole color.

Lost, Luis sank into obscurity. Another monster at the ball, another smudge of color on the face of the earth. He sat in a corner feeling sick. Blurry eyes. Christmas lights. Outside his it is snowing, where his father hung another string of christmas lights. They reflect in Luis' eyes, bright red green blue and yellow. Snow gathers.

Snow gathers and buries his words alive.


She was bo~red! After a nice head pat from Nikel and a cordial dismiss, Hylusis had situated herself in a neat corner in the room where she had begun stuffing her face with french fries, completely oblvious to the rest of the party. Only after most of her feast had been devoured did she lift her head and begin to search the room, peering into the faceless crowd. Familiar and alien flirted in and out of view. She made quick but passing judgements. Cool. Boring. Red. White.

She noticed that she was spreading her toes wide in her shoes, like before. She pulled at her shoes laces, agitated. There weren't enough kids here. She was bored!

She stared out at all the masked figures. Like passers by on the street. The room felt like Christmas, whatever that meant. Smudges of color in a blurry lens. Someone caught her eye out of the velvet picture. A trick of the light, sinking into obscurity.

Hylusis set the dead duck down to be forgot, and then flickered toward the object of her intrique. Not a twin; not a lover; not a friend; but close. It was a dark friendship, they say with a laugh. She does not forget the tray of french fries, half empty, but still half full. A guardian and her companion.

We are all trapped in darkness.

Luis looked up with a worried face. Hylusis gave him a face back. With clear face edges and clear as day duck wings. She looked tired. The party ebbed and flowed without their existance. A bubble on the surfface of the ocean. He gave up looking for Shanuh.

Luis: "Ready to go home?" he asked, standing up and stretching. She did say anything but he knew the answer. She was a little kid, after all.

Luis: "Just let me get this straight," words uncovered themselves like smoke signals rising into the air. " You used to be that duck. And now, you're human?"

" Yeah, basically." She didn't know what else to say. He swallowed his words.

" Then I'm still taking care of you?" He looked at Hylusis for affirmation and then across the room in search of signs of life. A hall of mirrors reflected back at him, blinding.

"Yeah." She wasn't sure if this meant that she had to stop eating french fries or not.

"Alright, then let's get that packed up, and go." He took her hand and wandered towards the kitchen, in hopes of finding a doggie bag for his charge's greasy delight. He was too tired to think of implications and responsibilities. After all, he was still a child himself.


((and so concludes my work in this fest~ I'll see you all a little later. ;3 happy holidays!))

The bird and Lyle began to share a forceful stare, with Lyle's eyes unhappy and the bird's most amused. Staying with this man ... it would be an interesting ride.

"...Right, yes," said Lyle, turning back to Dragon and breaking the almost tangible beam of his gaze. He and the bird shuffled their feet simultaneously. "I suppose that means you're leaving, then. Speaking of which, I should probably ... too ..."

His voice slowed as it dawned on him how pleased the person who owned the apartment would be to see he'd brought a vulture-thing back home with him. He let out a sigh, that kind of self-disappointed breath.