Welcome to Gaia! ::

Valelldia took the wounded paw in her hands, cradling it in her palms gently as she exhaled a sad breath.

"Oh, the poor thing! I should have thought of this before I left- the ones who stole the children were probably magic-sappers, and it wouldn't surprise me if they used a form of magic on their weaponry, as well. That would be why the wound cannot heal." She looked up at Marissa. "I can ease his pain, but to heal the wound, you're going to have to kill something that belongs to dark magic... at midnight- which is the height of their power. Talk to the other gypsies- and see if they've seen any dark magic creatures around recently that you can capture. Any will do- from a heypilk to a Zabb Fly." She would have said more, but she saw Oqaia leading the rest of the caravan over to the fireside, and she beckoned for Marissa to follow. There was no more she could do for Kale, save the spell she spoke as they walked. He wouldn't feel pain for a while, but until Marissa captured a dark creature... there was nothing more she could do for him.

Oqaia had taken some semblage of charge, but as soon as she saw her sister, she grinned and passed the bulging packs to her. Val gave a sympathetic look to Marissa, and then turned to the rest, sitting upon a log.

"So..." she said, undoing the drawstrings. "Who is first?"

Marissa nodded, her face filled with sadness. "Magic..I should have assumed as much...Val, thank you." Although her mind was reeling and busy thinking of her task, she followed. Kale seemed happier already, squirming to get down. Reluctantly she obliged, and was surprised to see him walking without cringing or crying. He still hobbled, but instead of feeling pain he only looked at his useless paw, shaking it, annoyed at it's inability to hold his weight. But he did not hurt, and some of Marissa's burden was lifted. She brought herself to join the conversation. "Gifts.." she giggled and smiled, "Beauties and trinkets, no doubt. Val, you silly thing. Once a gypsy always a gypsy."

Silver was still feeling terribly anti-social, but she was sick of being in the wagon. It had only been a few days, but she was too fond of the outdoors to allow herself to be shut away in Weathered Melody for too long, injuries or no. The pain in her head had eased quite a bit, but she still had a slight limp when she walked. Aisrhan was fine, aside from showing hints of paranoia from time to time and an obvious dislike for even the mere mention of Valelldia's name.
Silver decided it was time to get out. She brushed her hair, washed her face, and made sure she looked presentable before walking over to the bed where Aisrhan was busy attempting to put a new dress on her doll. "C'mon babe. We're going out." Aisrhan blinked for a moment and then shook her head. "Nnssh." She put her doll down and crossed her arms, pouting furiously. "And that's another thing we need to work on. I know you don't want to talk, but you need to learn. The word is 'No', but 'yes' we are." Silver picked her up off the bed and rested the larger part of Ais's tail on her hip. Aisrhan squirmed a bit, but after a slap on the hand and a stony glare from her mother, she calmed down and resigned herself to doing what she was told.
One window was already open, but Silver opened the other window to let the afternoon breeze flow through the wagon. Her eyes scanned the gypsy camp automatically. Valelldia was sitting with several of the others and two newcomers, one of which somewhat resembled her in face, but was her exact opposite in all other features. Silver wondered how they had gotten there. She never knew Valelldia left since she missed the meeting. No one had seemed willing to tell her what Val had said either, which she thought was rather odd.
Aisrhan began squirming again at the sight of Valelldia, but Silver ignored it, holding her firmly. Suddenly, she felt an intense pain in her shoulder that made her drop Aisrhan onto the bench below the window. "Oh! Ais!" The girl instantly disappeared under the bed and stayed there. Concern quickly changed to anger as Silver realized what had happened. "Damn it, Aisrhan! What has gotten into you? I know you don't like Val right now, but going outside doesn't mean you have to be around her!" She looked down at her shoulder. Two crimson spots bled onto her white blouse where Aisrhan's fangs had sunk into her shoulder. Silver cursed under her breath, but calmly changed shirts after dressing the wound. Aisrhan finally peeked out from under the bed and saw her mother holding her right shoulder with her left hand, wincing as she did so. Tears welled up in the girl's eyes and she began to cry.
Silver sighed and picked Ais up from the floor. She sat on the bed with Aisrhan -who buried her face in Silver's uninjured shoulder- and sang to her until she stopped crying. "Are you quite finished?" Aisrhan nodded, her little eyes puffy and swollen. "Alright. We'll deal with this later, do you hear me?" Silver gestured toward her shoulder. "But for now, I will let you stay here. I am going outside." Aisrhan nodded quietly and was visibly grateful when Silver put her down on the bed, gave her the doll, and left the wagon without her.

Emelyn held Pierre across her lap, noting that the boy was beginning to be too heavy to hold that way, and smiled at the caliber of gifts that were going around. She wondered what was going to be in the bag for her...

Silver walked over to the campfire and was greeted by Valelldia, who handed her a small package. A puzzled look formed on her face. "Oh? I... uh... thanks." Silver smiled. She was still wondering where Valelldia had been and who the others were, but the package in her hands drew her curiosity from them. She slowly opened the bundle and gasped when her eyes beheld it's contents. "Oh Val... it's gorgeous!" Silver leaned over and hugged the other gypsy. "Thank you. I love it." She sat with the others and turned the pendant over and over in her hands. It was the most beautiful shade of green she had ever seen and she couldn't take her eyes off of it... and it was an animation stone? Silver was only more intrigued by the thought of what the stone could do. A large grin told all that Silver truly loved her gift.

*edited*

Veshengo glanced at Gwynna, "Looks like we might have to wait a bit...until Val is free." He looked around and caught the gaze of Leshya'e, who soon broke it and continued to calm Anezka.

Leshya'e giggled at Val response to Anezka's excitement, then bit her lip. She was put in awe at the site of the bandages, and even more awe overwhelmed her at their power. "Oh my...That's so...wow..." She sat down on a log by the fire and held the bundle in her hands. "This is an amazing gift...really...I hope I will never have to use them...but if I do...I hope I choose properly" She placed Anezka down on the ground, to wiggle on her own. "Thank you..." She bowed her head in thanks and then scanned her eyes around at the others gifts.