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 Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:59 pm
Lookie what I found!
Christmas had come and gone at the Ledell household. Niki had put a ban on any more critters coming into the home, as the crowd of imps and mini-dragons was more than enough the way it was. Everyone in the family was tired of the pesky things and currently Bob was chasing them around the yard while Alaqua sat in her favorite tree, which was now bare in its winter outfit.
The koala girl was staring off into space for a while before she realized that her dragon partner had stopped chasing the critters around and was now happily inspecting something at the base of her tree. She shrugged, figuring he'd found another branch and was playing with it like usual.
Inside the house, Niki was washing dishes when she suddenly heard a girlish scream. The woman nearly dropped the plate she was holding at the sound. Quickly, she placed the dinnerware away and ran to the back door, peering out of the sliding glass doors. She puzzled over the sound for a moment, for it had come from the backyard, but Ala was fine and none of the imps or dragons could make that kind of a sound. "The monster's got me!! Help!" Niki opened the door, wondering what this girl could be facing.
As the door opened, Bob and Ala turned to look at Niki. Ala noted that her mother looked confused, but Niki's attention had turned to the leaf that Bob was holding in his mouth. It seemed to be struggling to get out of his grasp.
Sighing, Niki cautiously approached the brass wyrmling. "Let me have the leaf, Bob." The dragon let a growl out, but at a sharp word from his girl, he let go, grumbling up at Ala.
The screeching stopped as Niki took the leaf into her hands and the leaf seemed to almost give a sigh of relief. "There, there..." Niki comforted it as she walked back inside.
Alaqua raised an eyebrow and glanced at her dragon. "Mom's flipped. Gone wacko. She's definately lost it..."
Bob agreed.
Something seemed a bit off to the girl. "Hey, Bob.... where did you get that leaf?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:13 pm
Journal Entry: 01/03/07
I've been rather down lately due to the twins' unexpected absence. The girls and I have struggled to keep going over the last several months, but it seems we might have something to help cheer us up now. Bob found a leaf outside the other day (Yeah, I know.. middle of winter, there shouldn't be any leaves) and I just feel that this is... special.
After all, Reign came from a piece of paper and the twins came out of a necklace. Gaia's just wierd like that, it seems. But I brought the leaf inside and carry it around the house with me and talk to it. I've noticed the girls giving me strange looks on occasions, but I'm not crazy.... Right?!
I have to be careful and keep an eye on the leaf, because Bob likes to try and take it back from me if I'm not watching. I caught him at it twice just yesterday and shooed him off, which earned me a grumble from the dragon. I think he's lonely, being the only male and all... poor thing. The first time he managed to take the leaf from me, I found him talking the poor thing's leg-er... stem? off. I rescued the poor thing from the talkative dragon and was then forced to listen to Bob grumble as he followed me around for a while.
Maybe I am going crazy....
-Nikiana
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:23 am
Shouko looked at the house in front of her and then at the flower pot in her hands. It had been cold lately - not typical leaf weather - and after so many just a month or so ago it seemed odd that more had arrived now. But still, it made her happy to know there would be new life in the world.
"What are you going to hold?" she asked the flower pot, and set it on the front steps before leaving.The Letter Dear Niki,
A little birdie told me you found one of our leaves recently. We're an organization called The Eden Project, and your leaf is a very special one. If you take good care of it, it will develop into a child. I've attached a flowerpot and special soil that will help it along its way. If you have any questions, give us a call or stop by our headquarters in Barton.
Good luck!
~Shouko
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:06 pm
Planting Time!
"Mom!" came Ala's shout throughout the house. "I'm gonna be late for class!!" The girl paced the floor in the entryway while waiting for her mother to hurry up.
"Sorry, sorry, Ala. But you should tell me more than an hour in advance that you have an extra class today..." The woman rushed around the corner and opened the door, nearly tripping over a package on the front porch on the way out. "What the...?" Niki muttered as she picked the flower pot up and read the attached note. The woman read through the note twice before Alaqua tugged her mother's sleeve.
"C'mon, Mom!" The koala girl gestured to where Bob was waiting at the vehicle.
Niki sighed and set the pot inside the house on a little table just inside the door. "Hey, Reign! Come take care of this for me!" She removed the leaf from her pocket and set it next to the pot. She sighed and went towards the jeep to get Ala to her class.
Reign wandered out from her room, curious as to what her mother wanted her to do. She spotted the pot and read through the note. "What?!" She picked up the leaf, which trembled a bit. "So... you're a kid?" The girl sighed. "And I'm apparently supposed to plant you," Reign was now talking to herself more than the leaf. "Seems like Mom wasn't going crazy after all..."
The chimp girl dumped some of the soil into the pot and placed the leaf in while carefully adding more soil to support it. "Suppose I should water you..." She muttered when she was finished. The leaf gave a sort of a nod or wave, Reign wasn't sure which, but she assumed that was a yes. The young woman got a cupful of water from the kitchen and dumped it into the pot, placing the leaf on the kitchen table for now. Her mother could always move it later.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:10 pm
Just me and my pot
Nikiana sighed as she set her keys down and shut the front door. "Reign?" The woman noticed a note tucked just under the flowerpot to hold it down. It informed the woman that her daughter had gone to the mall. "Guess it's just me and you, then," she told the leaf, which wiggled a bit in response.
Niki smiled and picked the pot up, carrying it with her to her office. She might as well get some stuff done while the girls were gone. The woman frowned as she swept a clear spot on her desk to put the pot down in. "Hmm... I wonder if you'll be a boy or a girl," Niki mused as she sat at the computer. "I lost my boys a while ago and there's just girls around the house. Unless you count Bob. Maybe you're a boy? Is that why Bob likes you so much?"
Unfortunately, Niki wasn't actually looking at the leaf and couldn't see any reactions from it. Her gaze was directed solely at the computer screen. Its soft glow lit her face as she read what was on the screen before starting to type, her fingers dancing quickly across the keyboard.
"I suppose you can have one of the boys' rooms. You can pick, though Shito's would be easier. The boy was much cleaner than his brother. Aiden's room is still a mess. He liked it that way." She paused in her typing for a moment to think. "I wonder how old you'll be... The twins were infants when they emerged, but Reign was a toddler. And I got Ala as a toddler as well, but that's a different story..."
That made the woman think of something else. "I hope you won't be bringing a dragon home later... This house can't hold another one!" She glanced over at the leaf. "But, that letter didn't say anything... not that that really matters. They didn't say much about it at D-corp either. In fact, I don't think they ever mentioned it until Ala got her egg..."
And now the woman was rambling, at least until the leaf wriggled enough to make the pot clunk against a book next to it. "Oh, sorry..." Niki's attention turned back to the leaf. She thought for a moment, then gently poked the soil around the leaf. "Guess I should get you some water..." She picked the pot up and toted it off to the kitchen.
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Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:44 pm
The Summons
The Ledell household was rather calm on that early Saturday afternoon. Alaqua and Bob were in the backyard, enjoying a bit of the somewhat mild weather. The koala girl was eager for spring to come. Reign was home as well, in her room as was usual. Nikiana was talking to the potted leaf in the living room when the doorbell rang.
"Guess we'd better get that, huh?" Niki asked the leaf as she picked the pot up and headed for the front door. The woman opened the door to find a man in a white labcoat standing on her doorstep. One glance at the emblem on his labcoat told Niki all she needed to know.
"Miss Ledell?" The tech asked Niki, who nodded in response.
"What's up at D-corp this time?" The woman wondered why they hadn't called like they had last time when Ala had been needed at the building for the dragon riot.
The D-tech appeared rather startled and he glanced down at the clipboard he was carrying. "You are... Miss Reign Ledell?" He asked, glancing at Niki for confirmation.
"Hmm? No... that's my eldest daughter..." Confused, Niki set the flowerpot down on the small table beside the door and waved the man in. "I'll go get her..."
Niki walked down the hallway towards Reign's room, wondering what in the name of little green apples the D-techs could want with Reign. The chimp girl hadn't been produced there like Alaqua and Reign would not be equipped to handle a dragon...
Unfortunately, the walk was too short for Niki to ponder much more than that. "Reign?" The woman knocked gently on the door before opening it. Reign glanced up at her mother, pulling her headphones off one ear.
"Reign, there's... someone here who wants to talk to you..." Reign caught the puzzling tone of her mother's voice and quickly put her mp3 player aside and headed to the living room.
The D-tech was staring at the leaf when the two women emerged. He turned and spotted Reign. "You are Miss Reign Ledell?" When the chimp girl nodded, he gestured towards the door. "Okay, then. If you'll just come with me to D-corp, we'll get you to sign the paperwork and have you on your way in no time."
Reign and Niki exchanged puzzled glances. "What paperwork?" Niki finally asked as the tech appeared to be waiting for Reign to follow him.
The tech referred to his clipboard for a moment. "Why, the paperwork you signed when you took custody of..." He glanced down again, "Alaqua."
Two jaws hit the floor as the women stared at the tech. "You've got to be kidding!" Niki finally managed.
The tech sighed, clearly impatient to be back to the building and on to his next task. "No. And I suggest you not get involved in this, Miss..." Here was the clipboard again. "Nikiana Ledell. Parents who cause troubles have often found themselves with another child to care for." He plastered a smile onto his face and turned to Reign again. "Now, let's be on our way..."
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 8:38 pm
All in the Family
The car ride home had been... strangely quiet. Cassi had been terrified of the sight of Niki in the driver's seat and so Reign sat in the back with the child while they headed home. The boy was still upset about having to leave Kate, even with the promise of seeing her again very soon.
The jeep pulled into the driveway of the Ledell home and Niki was rather relieved. Now they would just have to get this little kid adjusted to their home, which would hopefully be easier here at home.
"We're home!" Niki announced to the house as she entered, smiling as she spotted the potted leaf at the door. "Oooh, you need more water..." The woman muttered, picking the pot up and carrying it into the kitchen, leaving Reign and Cassi alone in the living room.
The sliding door at the back of the house slid open, then shut as Ala entered the house. "Hey Mom!" The girl wandered on through the kitchen and started down the hallway, glancing over at Reign for a moment. "Hey Reign." Alaqua started on down the hallway before coming to an abrupt halt and turning around, peering at the little thing hiding at Reign's legs. "What's that?" She asked her sister, pointing to Cassi.
"Don't you mean 'Who's that'?"
Ala rolled her eyes. "Did it come from the leaf?"
Cassi clung tightly to Reign's legs as the chimp woman glared at the scary thing that had just walked into the room. "No," Reign stated. "Mom's got the leaf in the kitchen. Cassi came from D-corp."
"D-CORP?!"
Cassi jumped at the sudden loud noise and that familiar warm, wet feeling began to spread on his shorts again. "Uh oh..." he said, hugging Reign's leg. "Mommy..."
Ala's eyes went wide. "Mommy?" She pointed at Reign, questioningly. "Does that kid mean you?" She gestured at Cassi, then Reign again. "You.. kid... Mommy...??"
Reign sighed at her sister. "Yes, D-corp gave me Cassi." She turned her attention then to the child. "C'mon Cassi. Let's go find you something to wear. Mom's got a lot of my old clothes still, I think..."
Ala followed the two to Reign's room, lurking at the door while Reign dug about before finding a box that had been shoved back in her closet. "Aha!" She opened it and pulled out a frilly pink dress. "You'll look awesome in this!" Reign glanced at Ala. "Mind?"
Ala shrugged. "Not like it's any big deal or anything... it's just like changing the twins, isn't it?"
Sighing and rolling her eyes again, Reign helped Cassi take off the shirt and damp shorts. "If you're going to hang around, Ala, you can look in that box for some panties..." Reign stated as she got the shorts off and started to help Cassi with his underpants.
Ala blinked as she turned to hand Reign the pair or undergarments she'd found. "Uh.... Reign...?"
The chimp woman just peered at Cassi for a few long moments before retrieving the panties handed to her. She helped the boy get dressed (yes, in the pink frilly dress). "Cassi... why don't you go ask Grandma for a cookie?"
The boy trembled a bit with the idea of leaving his not-scary Mommy's side. "It's okay," Reign reassured him. "She's my mommy and she's not scary. She'll give you a cookie, too."
The boy slowly scooted past Ala and darted into the hall, heading back towards the kitchen. Reign sighed while Ala gave her a funny look. "I didn't know Cassi was a boy! Cassi's a girl's name... and the other kid with him was a girl... and he was in pink!"
"I didn't say anything." Ala stated, trying to suppress a grin.
Reign threw a pillow at Ala, who ducked, giggling. "Well, now to tell Mom that I'm moving out. Cassi's too..."
"Scaredy-cat?" Ala 'helpfully' supplied.
"I was going to say sensitive. He frightens rather easily... plus, there was this little girl with him and he's very attached to her... took us forever to seperate them." Reign let out a long sigh. "Mom's not going to like this...."
Niki had gone outside to fetch the mail while the girls and Cassi had been in Reign's bedroom. She came back into the house, pot under one arm while she leafed through the mail, to find a pink frilly dressed kid peering about curiously. When he spotted Niki, he gave a bit of a start. "You... Grandma?"
Niki twitched. "Uh... Call me Mama, okay?"
Cassi nodded. "Cookie...? Mommy said..."
Niki chuckled. "Let's go find some cookies!" About that time, Reign and Ala reappeared and Niki shoved a letter at Ala. "Letter from D-corp for you." She glanced at the rest of the stack and sighed. "And lots of bills for me... and a cookie for everyone!"
Ala glanced over at Reign. "Heh, good luck breaking the news to her..." She muttered, unheard by Niki as the woman searched out the cookiejar and handed out a sweet to everyone.
"Sorry, little leaf... I don't think you can eat a cookie..."
Cassi scooted closer to Reign. "Mommy... Mama scary..."
"Mama?"
Niki nodded. "I don't wanna be called Grandma. Makes me feel old. And I'm not old! So she's to call me Mama."
Ala almost choked on her cookie as she started to laugh. Reign cleared her throat. "Uh... Cassi's a boy..."
Cassi nodded. "Kate call me Cassi. For Cassidy." He munched happily on his cookie.
Niki just gave her daughters a strange look, then glanced at the leaf. "I'm sorry that our family's so messed up..."
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:11 pm
Despite the hubbub the rest of the family has been experiencing, things for the leaf have been pretty quiet. It's been enjoying the good life - water and sunlight - and generally just working at staying green and leafy.
That is, until today.
The leaf has inexplicably turned a shade of bright scarlet. What's up?
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:43 pm
Seeing red...?
For once, the house was calm. Reign had taken Cassi out for the day, seeing how the boy was easily startled, and more so in the Ledell home. Ala was at D-corp for classes and Niki was relaxing and enjoying the little bit of calm before the storm of everyone returning. The woman was idly flipping through channels on the television in the living room. The silence got to her after having a home full of crazy kids and critters.
The flowerpot was sitting on the coffee table. It was hardly ever far from Niki, who'd taken to carrying the thing around quite often. The only time she was away from it was when she was out of the house... or in the basement. "There's not much on..." Niki commented to the pot, glancing over at it momentarily. If there was a id coming out of it, you should get it used to your voice... right?
It took the woman about a minute to register that something was up. She turned her gaze back to the leaf, then jumped about a foot into the air, spazzing out completely. "You're red! YOU'RENOTSUPPOSEDTOBERED!! What happened! You need water? Sunlight? Less light????" This moment of spazzing resulted in Niki grabbing the flowerpot and running around the house with it, frantically trying to figure out where she'd messed up in taking care of a LEAF!
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:45 pm
The now scarlet leafs was now finding itself part of the typical hectic nature of the house. It began to stretch and grow out of it's pot unaware of the danger it was in while being carried about the house. Small stress cracks from both pressure on both the inside and outside began to appear on the walls of the orange pot that housed the leaf.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:01 pm
Panic! at the house
Nikiana's frantic dashing about came to a halt as the leaf began to expand and grow larger. "What the...?" The woman watched for a minute, then jumped as she noticed the cracks on the flowerpot. "Oh!" She rushed back to the living room, kicking things out of the way as she set the pot on the floor. "So... I guess you're growing now...?"
The woman sat a short distance away, not wanting to get too close. Dangerous things could happen if you got too close to things that were growing rapidly like this... It was probably a good thing Cassi wasn't around... leaves popping into kids would probably frighten the sensitive boy for life!
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:13 pm
The pot shakes on contact with the floor and continues to wobble furiously as the cracks spread. Finally, in what can only be called anti-climactic, it simple crumbles to the floor, followed by a rush of soil. When the dust has cleared, a little girl sits watching you with wide green eyes.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:04 pm
Quote: White, fluffy tail flapped from left to right and backwards excitedly as a little white wolf girl ran from cage to cage and sniffed each of them. To her, scents were more interesting than animals, who did nothing but sleep. They were walking between cages that held all kind of animals inside bars. Right now, they were heading towards arctic section of zoo. Noor believed them to be some sort of magical children of nature (them turning from leaves to furry kids was enough proof for her of that). Noor felt that being around things of nature, even though those animals were inprisoned, would make them feel comfortable. Noor smiled. So far, so good. Quote: Kyocho followed behind Noor. Cradling Riddik in his arms as they wandered about the zoo. It was unbelievable how much Riddik had slept ever since he had appeared. Luckily he had the help of his other kids to keep an eye on him and more than happily they attended Kyo and Riddik to the zoo it was Oak followed by Opuntia then last but not least Coudray marching in a line. It was sometimes difficult to keep an eye on all four of them, but he managed. "You sure do sleep a lot Riddik" The elf grumbled and in turn was answered with a slight growling that burped out of the boys mouth. "Maybe because he's a bear." Oak shouted as he tugged on the edge of his guardians shirt. "Most likely," Kyo responded. Turning his head around to take a visual count to make sure the others were still following. Oak had a smile on his face as usual. Kyo knew the boy loved to see animals. Opunita looked content as always and seemed to be in a different place... then it was Coudray. He never looked happy a day in his life. Quote: Kiri looked on as her daughter galloped around looking at everything. Alice had an incredible level of curiousity and was almost as interested in the information and signs as she was with the animals. Kiri herself was taking it easy and fliting between telling her daughter about the animals and taking photos of said animals. After she had made sure Alice understood the basic rules she could relax a bit, Alice was surprisingly obeident and tended not to roam too far. Alice was thrilled, this had to be the best place her mum had ever taken her, there was so much to do. It was a pity that mum had made it clear that not only was she not to try and get food from the other people around but she was also to stay on this side of the fences and not try and feed or play with the animals. She didn't understand that, she loved food and Kestral was always happy when she was fed, so why was it wrong to feed the animals, surely they got hungry too? Maybe they had a special diet, Simon had told her that not all animals could eat the same thing when she tried to eat grass after seeing a picture of a rabbit eating grass. Still there was so much to see that she could put aside thoughts of food for the time being. She had never seen so many people and animals before, both were equally interesting to her. Quote: "What's that? What's that? Huh, mommy?? What is that??" Nikiana was tiring of the neverending line of questions coming from Evelyn. Since the leaf had sprouted into this child, the girl had seemed to go nonstop questioning everything. Niki had been proud at first. After all, an inquistive nature was a great one for a scientist, but the questioning got old. Real quick. The girl had somehow found out about the zoo and had pestered Niki until she finally gave in to taking the girl. Evelyn had been amazed to see the different animals roaming the zoo in their different cages. They'd been through the safari area and Niki had avoided the reptile house for now. Snakes weren't exactly her favorite thing. As they passed a sign about the penguin exibit, Evelyn asked "What's a penguin?" "Let's go find out." Niki replied with a sigh. Quote: After some while traveling from side of cage to another, need for comfort called Cream back to her family and so she springed towards them. On her way, though, she happened to bump into another girl. A surprised gasp was let out from wolf girl's mouth as she fell on her butt. Green eyes stared at Alice, victim of the bump, with reserved but also curious look. A nice scent from flower Eden not so far away reached on Cream's nose and the wolf girl made a mental note to check it after she had tried to awake Riddik. Bro should come and examine the place with her! But at first, she wanted to see if the girl in front of her was ally or foe. Meanwhile, Noor had found a seat and took a little break from a tour. Not that her feet were tired, not at all, it more like a mental weariness. Quote: Riddik began to stir in Kyocho's arms. The boy slowly lifted his head up from his resting place and opened his eyes and look straight at this guardian. "Well good morning Riddik" The elf nodded, "better late than never" Kyo smiled and lifted the boy up and down towards the ground. "My arms are getting tired so you get to walk now. Riddik looked back up towards his guardian and gave him a dirty look. He was comfortable after all... with no worries and strictly care free in his arms. The little polar bear shrugged his shoulders and looked left and right until he spotted Cream and rushed his way towards her. "There he goes.." Oak whispered to himself. Quote: Alice looked with worry at the girl who had just bumped into her. The now familiar tingle was coming from her which meant she was a friend, like Hana and Alexis and Alice knew that falling down could hurt. Normally when meeting a new friend Alice would first give them a hug but this was a special case since her new friend was presently sitting on the ground, so instead she offered a hand feeling that it was more important that her new friend get up first. After the first worried look Alice had regained her usual look of cheerful friendliness and was wagging her tail hopefully, she could sense two other tingles near by, one approaching rapidly, and while her mum had told her not to play with strangers these weren't strangers, they were friends she just hadn't met yet. Kiri looked on cautiously. It was good that Alice was acting so politely but she knew that her daughter was very touchy feely and it wouldn't take much to set her off. Still there was no harm in Alice meeting other children her age and the new girl did look nice. Maybe it would get her talking a bit. Quote: Evelyn had been happily prancing towards the penguin exhibit when she suddenly came to a dead stop. Niki peered curiously down at the girl, who was looking left and right as if looking for something. But, before the woman could ask what was up, her daughter darted off. "Evelyn!" Niki broke out into a run after the girl. The young girl turned a corner and almost ran into two girls who were standing, or well, one was standing and helping the other up. She was peering at the two girls when Niki caught up to her. Evelyn turned towards her mother. "What's those?" She asked, pointing to Alice and Cream. "It's not nice to point, Evelyn..." The woman told the girl, finding a bench nearby to sit and catch her breath. "Why, Mommy?" "It's just not," was the answer, which made the poinsettia girl frown. That wasn't an answer! But these girls were curious and she put aside the pointing issue to inspect the two more closely. Quote: The other girl was offering a hand to her. She wanted to help. But instead of taking her hand, Cream leaned forward to sniff it. Then, she smiled. Alice was considered as a friend now. It didn't take even a minute when Cream's furry, pointy ears perked up and a little towards Riddik's location. As she turned to look there, she spotted him. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~~" she screamed and dashed towards Riddik, arms wide open to grap his hand and drag him around to show him all the animals and then beg mama and papa to buy ice cream. Cream really loved ice cream. On her seat, Noor had rose her gaze to the wolf girl. She smiled a small smile. Children were silly. And adorable in that way. Quote: Kyo smiled as he watched Cream run for her brother. At least they where linked and weren't alone in this world. That at least made the elf smile. Looking back towards his other children following him... unlike the two the rest of them where all alone, basically only children and he made the best of the situation and tried to get them all to feel like family. Oak was the best at this, he seemed to make a real connection with them all and make a symbol as being a very caring one. It really helped out a lot around the house. Riddik watched as his sister came running for him and grabbed his hand. An "umph.." sound rang as he was pulled almost against his free will. The polar bear boy couldn't really make sense as to why these animals were caged up, but oh well. They were different then the two... so maybe that was why. Kyo wandered up next to Noor and took a seat. The elf looked up into the sky then back down and began to scan the area left and right. There were two others in view. One named "Evelyn" obviously since that was the name he had heard being called out from a woman chasing her. The little girl almost looked like a plant too, kind of like Oak. The other girls name was still unknown, but he didn't make it an effort to find out. Quote: Alice was a bit confused with her new friends reaction. She was used to many situations but being ignored wasn't one of them. Should she go over to where her new friend and the other child was, or should she leave them alone? While she thought about what to do she looked around trying to identify the last tingle she felt, she finally identified a girl who smelled of flowers as the tingle. With the last one identified Alice thought for a bit on what to do now before deciding to fetch this new one and then they could go and see what the other two were up to, then all four friends would be able to enjoy the zoo together. This decided she ran over to Evelyn and gave her a hug before grinning at her and wagging her tail. Kiri watching from the sidelines nearly groaned, she had hoped that she had trained Alice out of hugging strange people, but apparently she hadn't. She hoped that the new girl wouldn't take it amiss, especially as Alice tended not to talk and so didn't normally explain her actions. She looked around to identify the parent or parents of this newest child, just incase she needed to make appologies. Quote: Evelyn had turned her attention from her mother's crazy rules to Riddik and Cream as the girl ran to the little boy and hugged him. That was a bit odd. Suddenly, before she could think much more, she was suddenly a victim of a hug. The girl blinked, more startled than anything. She glanced at the girl who'd come over and hugged her. It was the girl was puppy ears and a tail. One of the girls she'd seen upon coming around the corner. After a few moments, Evelyn smiled shyly back at the girl. "Hi." She whispered, suddenly shy. Niki watched, noticing the other girl's parent from the one that flinched as Evelyn was hugged. Niki just sat back and waited for her daughter's reaction, curious as to how Evelyn would react to this sudden action. Quote: To other girls, Cream's action may have seemed odd but to her, it made the perfect sense. Riddik was her bro, the dearest thing in her life (even more dearest than mama and papa). Of course she would greet him when he wokes up! The wolf girl's tail wagged from side to side as she clinged on Riddik's arm. For a short moment, she closed her eyes and smiled happily. Then her nose picked the same scent that she had smelled after bumping into Alice. It didn't take long for her to locate the scent. It came from that girl the doggy girl was with. "Nice smell," she informed to Riddik, pointing at Evelyn. Kyo was greeted by a little smile when he sat next to Noor. While it may had not looked like it, Noor felt much safer now when he was there. She had actually felt quite lost. The situation, being part of the family now, it was scary and confusing situation. But now there were two kids in this world that loved her and Kyo, almost as much as they loved themselves. Quote: "How are you holding up Noor?" The elf glanced slightly at the woman, knowing how much of a change this must be. It was much like when Kyo first had received Oak, then shortly after that the children just seemed to follow suit, "This must be a big change for you." Kyo nodded. Glancing away and towards Oak as he remembered they day that he appeared... then Opuntia... then Coudray, which of course he wasn't sure if that was a mistake or not... and last, but not least Riddik. Riddik followed... well more like dragged behind Cream quietly. Sniffing at the air as he went along. It was almost time to eat something, but to him it was dinner time anytime. Riddik glanced the figure up and down, "Nice smell?" the boy looked confused, "but she not fish?". Riddik shook his head as his tummy began to growl, "It's be about dinner time?" The polar bear boy questioned his sister. Quote: Alice taking Evelyn's smile and quiet hi as a sign of acceptance grinned and bounced even more than before, then taking Evelyn's hand tugged her lightly in the direction of the other two. If it was just her she would have just ran over but one friend had already fallen over today and she didn't want to risk Evelyn falling at well. She wanted to go over to the other two more than ever, she was sure she had heard something about food, and she really liked food, maybe if all of them worked together her mum would let her have some. Kiri was releaved to see that the girl hadn't seemed to mind Alice's hug but still kept a good eye on things. Alice was the sweetest creature in existance but she was also full of energy. This would also be the first time Alice was really around this many other kids her age, she hoped Alice would be fine. Quote: Niki watched with a smile as Evelyn was tugged along to meet up with the other two kids. They all seemed to be about the same age, which the woman thought was a good thing. Evelyn needed to meet other kids her own age. Well, besides family. Even with her expanding family, Niki tried to have alone time with each kid as often as possible. Evelyn blinked at Riddik, shaking her head. "Not fish..." She softly told him. "F'ower." At least that was what she'd been told. The girl watched the others to see what they wanted to do. Quote: "It is," Noor admitted. "At first I was loner in the forest and now.... I have a family." There was a hint of misbelief in her voice. The concept was new and after this big change in her life, she felt the need to think it in her own. Maybe going to zoo wasn't that good idea after all. Although, Cream seemed happy. Cream held firmly Riddik's hand when she reached forward to carefully sniff Evelyn. She certainly smelt nice. A small smile was given to the flower girl which after her attenttion went to her belly which made a growling sound as well. She started to look around in hopes to find food or food-giver. Quote: "Fower?" The polar bear cocked his head slightly, "If you a fower, then where is fish?" Riddik looked towards his sister. "We go find fish?" Riddik smiled and started walking off to where Kyo was sitting. He knew where he could find fish... and fish was easily obtainable from the older man he called papa. "Papa should have fish!" Riddik nodded. Kyo looked back down toward the ground. "Yeah its a change.." Quote: Curious Alice followed Riddik, still with Evelyn's hand in hers, she also grabbed Cream's hand with her free one making a line of four children. It seemed like at least two of her friends also wanted food. Alice wasn't anymore hungry than ususal but she was always a little hungry. She also wondered what was so special about fish when there was so many other nice foods as well. Kiri watched as Alice followed the boy with the other two girl's in tow. If this kept up she'd probably have to introduce herself. It was one thing for Alice to play with some children at the zoo but she didn't want the child's parents to be inconvenienced by some strange child, who's parent wouldn't even introduce herself. Didn't help that Alice probably wouldn't talk and so wouldn't explain anything. Quote: "F'ower." Evelyn nodded and stated in response to Riddik. "Fish?" The girl glanced around, wondering about fish. What was with fish? Evelyn smiled as she tagged along in this four child long chain to go see the boy's father and see if there were fish. The girl wasn't really hungry, but she was curious as to what made these fish taste so good. Quote: Noor gazed at the ground as well, deep in her thoughts. But soon her attention turned towards the growth. She searched for twins and their older brothers. It looked like twins were heading in their way. And they seemed to have friends as well. Cream nodded to her bro and followed, her fluffy tail wagging happily. She was a bit surprised when Alice took her hand on her own but it didn't seem to bother her. They walked some time, closer to parents of hungry twins. When Noor and Kyo were clearly visible to them, Cream let go of both Riddik and Alice's hand and ran to Noor's arms. "Mama!" she whooped, tail wagging gladly as she hugged the hunter woman. Then, oh so adorable puppy eyes were looking straight at Kyo. "We hungry," she stated, letting a begging whimper out. Quote: Riddik slowly followed behind Cream as he watched her rush to her mother. He was to lazy to put in the extra effort to run to an adult, plus what was it worth to run? All he wanted was food... especially fish and he knew he would most likely to get it. Eventually he made it to his guardian... with his new friends in tow. Quietly he pointed up to his papa and looked back towards the other two and whispered "Papa" Riddik nodded, looking back towards Kyo, "Papa.." He said then looked towards the flower, "Thats a fower!" The boy nodded. A few moments passed by then he regained his train of thought as his stomach growled, "Fish?" the polar bear moaned as he gripped his stomach with both hands and looked up to his papa. Kyo stared at his polar bear boy a bit confused. Fower? Did he mean Flower? She did look some what like a flower... a plant more like it, a poinsettia most likely. He had seen a large variety of this gorgeous plants in his lab where he worked. "Well I guess it does make sense to get a bite to eat. It's lunch time anyway." He glanced over toward Noor. "What do you say?" He then looked over towards the other two kids. "How would you two like to join us for lunch? Where are your parents?" The elf questioned. Quote: Alice trotted over following at Riddik's pace instead of running ahead with Cream, she liked running but didn't want to leave Evelyn behind and Evelyn didn't look like she wanted to run. She was pleased to meet her new friend's parents and always liked words like 'lunch', food was very important to Alice but she also knew she wasn't to accept food without her mum's permission which meant she was very happy to answer Riddik's dad's question by using her spare hand to point at her mum. Kiri in response to her daughter's pointing walked over. She had been waiting for a good opportunity to introduce herself anyway. "Sorry for Alice's behaviour, she has a habit of attaching herself to random children." Kiri appologised. "I'm Kiri Faeson and this is my daughter Alice." Quote: Evelyn hung back and only moved forward when all of her friends had moved closer to these strangers. She was a bit startled when Riddik pointed at her, but he seemed to be talking to his daddy about her. She cheered up at the mention of lunch and turned to see where her mom had gone to when she spotted a pair of rather familiar legs, which she hugged happily. "Mommy!" The girl happily stated to those around her. Niki had not been far behind the kids, once she'd figured out that they were moving away from where she'd been sitting. It wouldn't be good to have her daughter disappear from sight. Too many strangers around in a place like this. However, they seemed to have found two adults, which two of the kids happily started clinging to. She smiled at the adults present, then introduced herself. "I'm Nikiana Ledell and this is Evelyn." She gently placed a hand on Evelyn's head, which sparked a shy "Hi" from the girl.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:06 pm
Quote: The leisure room in the Project’s home has been specially set up for art “classes”. A large finger-painted sign greets guest as they enter, with a cheerful multi-colored WELCOME. Children of all ages are welcome to join the free-for-all, and let their imaginations run wild. Several child-size tables have been set up to allow for the budding artist to find their medium. Supplies include, but are not limited to: -Crayons, markers, colored pencils, chalk -Water, finger and poster paints -White paper in various sizes -Small/medium/large sheets of colored construction paper -Long sheets of butcher paper for large murals -Scissors, glue, tape, and a hot glue gun -Feathers, sequins, shells, pom-poms ect. -Yarn and fabric -Small cardboard “treasure boxes”, masks, ect. for decorating Mort sat at one of the tables hunched over a special project. Surrounded by balled up pieces of paper, broken crayons, and scribbled through drawings he worked tediously on his masterpiece. Quote: "Why, Mommy?" Evelyn whined as Niki led her into the room. She tugged unhappily at the worn shirt that she was wearing. This was not as pretty as Reign's old dresses! Why did she have to wear Ala's old stuff? Niki sighed. "Because art can get messy and you don't want to mess up some of the pretty dresses, do you?" She gestured to the tables where the paints and other messy things were set out. Evelyn sighed and headed towards one of the empty tables. That kid looked really busy at his table, so she'd just find a different one. Quote: "Now, I know what happened last time I took you outside, but I promise it will be different this time," Auska tried to keep her voice even as she whisked her little deerboy into the Project's home, following the finger-painted sign into the leisure room. Finnegan squirmed unhappily in her arms, hooves catching on her stomach as he tried to get away. "But-!" he cried out softly, cut off as Auska looked at him. His doe eyes got larger and he ducked his head submissively, pressing his face into her chest and hiding. Auska sighed. "Finny, don't be like that...look, that mean girl isn't even here, okay?" she tried to pry him off her, but his hands only curled tighter into her shirt, resulting in fabric stretching. "Finny, don't you want to meet people and make friends?" Finnegan shook his head with a resounding, "No!" She sighed again and gave up, not having much willpower to begin with. Supporting him with one arm, she wandered over to an empty table and sat, sliding small white sheet over to her. After a moment's consideration, Auska began to doodle. It only took a moment before Finn had squirmed around to watch her, and not long after that before he'd wriggled into a chair of his own and started trying to copy what she was drawing. He had a rather serious expression, lips pursed and eyes squinted as he studied her page and tried to replicate it in tedious fashion. Auska had to bite her lip to prevent a soft laugh. He was just too cute, and certainly he'd be fine if she slipped away, right? Wrong. "Mummy!" a tiny toddler hand latched onto her shirt before she could even stand, making her sigh yet again and sit back down, picking up a purple crayon to start coloring in the flower she'd drawn. A glance told her that Finn had given up drawing a flower and turned it into a dinosaur. An odd-looking flowery dinosaur, yes, but still a dinosaur. And he was working on a rainbow over the dinosaur. She sighed and propped her chin in a hand, wondering if she was going to be forced to color all day. Quote: "I know this is a little different than how we normally spend our days, but I think this change of pace will be good for you," Higashi addressed Laerad, who huddled close to his leg and had clutched on to it for dear life over the duration of their trek to the Eden Headquarters. He knew the little one wasn't very receptive to new faces, or even his face, for the yew still regarded him with an air of aloofness, but when it came to traveling wherever there were people involved, Laerad clung to his guardian like lint. It made walking a little harder for Higashi, but he rather enjoyed the times when his toddler actually could rely on him for something...even if that meant acting as a shield to block him from the outside world. At the very least, Laerad trusted him enough to protect him, and he supposed that's what mattered at this current stage of his development. However, the Eden needed to interact with others of his kind; his guardian found it to be a vital part of his growth. And so he resolved to introduce Laerad, if forcedly, into "society". He figured an art class would not only be a perfect starting experience, but it could also showcase any talents his child might be hiding. Leading him to a table close to the other children, Higashi pointed to all the essential tools of the trade needed for creating...some semblance of a primitive work of art; in other words, a masterpiece to the eyes of the young creator. "This looks fun," he smiled encouragingly, "I think even I might join you." Laerad, his bright red eyes widened in alert, refused to emerge from behind his guardian's leg. What was this strange place, and why did his guardian take him here? Was it some sort of punishment for...whatever it was he did? He did nothing wrong! Strange instruments were littered on the tables. He had used something thinner than the chunky, block-like things scattered all about, and he wondered if the two objects were related in some way. The yew child blinked a few times and observed the others. They looked around his age, and they were weird...kind of like him. No, he shook his head dismissively. Not like him. They were scary, and didn't have branches growing out of their heads. But part of him felt some sort of connection...But he still wasn't going to move from his spot. "Laerad," he heard his guardian say soothingly, "give this a chance. You might wind up enjoying yourself." He pulled back a chair before giving the leg his toddler grasped a small shake. After glaring slightly at this disturbance, Laerad finally released the tall man's leg and scrambled to the seat. Fine, he huffed silently, sitting hard on the plastic chair. He'll try this punishment his guardian forced him to partake in. But he wasn't going to like it. No. Not one bit. Quote: "Where are we goin'?" asked Ranza, clutching her big brother's hand as the entered the project building. She'd never been here before, but Nahuel moved with a sort of grace that indicated he belonged here and had been here before. "We're going to make art!" he said happily, steering her through the lobby. "And then we can take it home and mom will have something nice to put on the fridge!" "Okay!" said Ranza happily. They arrived in the doorway and looked around the room. Nahuel recognized the orange haired boy, Mort, from the museum, and was that Finn? The deerboy from the pool? That seemed like a long time ago. Ranza ignored the boys, though, and bolted over to the nearly empty table occupied by a girl about her age. "I'm Ranza!" she proclaimed, selecting a sky blue crayon and a piece of construction paper. "Who're you?" Nahuel sighed for a moment, making sure she didn't start a fight, and sat down at the table with the boys. He waved and pulled a piece of paper and some watercolors towards him. "Hi, Mort. Hi, Finn. Remember me?" Quote: Mort had watched as each child entered the room; he didn’t know any of them so far, and they all left him alone to his work; until Nahuel showed up. “Hey!” Mort said with a huge goofy grin--Nahuel’s energy was infectious. “What’s up!” He turned to look at the other child the spotty boy had addressed. “I’m Mort, who are you?” He asked cheerfully. Quote: Evelyn had been so focused on her painting that she hadn't noticed most of the other kids entering the room. That was, until someone joined her at her table. The girl looked up, spotting a girl starting to draw with a crayon. "Evelyn," she muttered before glancing around for her mother, who'd not left quite yet, but was lucky in regards to most of the other parents and was lurking near the door. Niki made a little motion with her hand for Evelyn to continue on with her art. The girl looked at this other child for a moment. This kid was very colorful. "You're pretty..." Evelyn remarked softly to Ranza..
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 7:36 pm
Now I know my ABCs
Niki sighed as she stared at her whole family gathered about. Reign was trying to get Cassi used to dealing with other kids his age, saying that Kat had said he was terrified at school and clung only to Kate. Apparently, the boy was falling behind in his schoolwork as well. So Niki and Reign had decided to have Cassi come over and Niki would work on teaching him along with her two littlest girls.
She's recruited Ala and Reign both to help her as she came up with an idea to hopefully open Cassi up a bit and keep him distracted enough to not be terrified by his two littlest aunts. Allete, specifically, scared him the most. Ala had convinced Bob to stay outside for the day and keep the imps and minidragons out there as well.
Niki had found cookie cutters in the shapes of the alphabet at the store and was now finishing up the cookie dough. She divided the dough into thirds and passed one portion of it to Ala, who was helping Allete. Another portion went to Reign, who was of course helping Cassi. The last bit she placed before Evelyn. The three older women grabbed rolling pins and helped guide the younger kids in rolling out the dough. Once rolled out, the kids got to make a cookie for each letter of the alphabet.
Each kid got their own cooking sheet and Niki was sure to label them to prevent any fighting later. While Niki and Reign moved the kids over to the table where icing, sprinkles, and all kinds of decorating materials were set out, Ala combined the leftover pieces of dough together and rolled it out to make some plain cookies, which she placed on another sheet. While Niki and Reign led the kids in singing the alphabet song and counting up to ten, Alaqua cleaned up the kitchen.
Finally, the cookies were done and Ala set them on plates for each kid. She let them cool while the kids continued to sing for a bit longer before taking them over to the table. The kids were excited about getting to decorate the cookies and went at it with a will. Even Allete seemed to have energy, which was saying something, considering she'd about fallen asleep during the singing and counting.
While the kids excited ate their cookies after decorating them, Niki smiled at Reign. Cassi was seeming to come out of his shell a bit. He even softly asked Evelyn if she could pass some pink sprinkles over to him. Perhaps if he could get used to his aunts for short periods of time, he'd be able to handle classes. Plus, Niki had suggested having a private session arranged with Kat. She knew the kindergarden teacher often did that.
While the two girls finished what cookies they'd wanted right then and had run off to go play, Cassi remained in his seat, glancing up at his mother, wondering if they'd be leaving soon. Reign shrugged at her mother's expression and gathered the remaining cookies he'd made before heading towards the door. Niki arranged quickly for Ala to watch her younger sisters before heading off to drive the two home.
Reign thought over going out and buying herself a car. She really needed it...
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