Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a long time since Nalira had gone out for a walk by herself. Lemonlime had still been hesitant to let her go, giving her current physical disadvantages, but decided it was probably best to let her. Nalira swung her thin, white cane in front of her body skillfully, occasionally stumbling, but otherwise remaining surprisingly upright.

Her feet sunk into the snow that was piled up beneath her feet, causing a lag in her pace. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, hearing familiar voices. She frowned, turning slowly on the spot and advancing forward. She extended her hand infront of her frame, the voice becoming more and more clearer as she came closer.

Nalira paused, unaware of the scene in front of her. Her arms fell limp beside her body, her left hand twitching slightly. She rocked on the balls of her feet, her heart beating rapidly. She coughed into her hand, before cautiously speaking.

"Hello?" She asked tenderly, nibbling gently on her bottom lip.

Anemone clutched the boy in her arms. He looked frozen and she didn't want him to stay out in the cold any longer. Her attention was pulled to Nalira as she spoke. "Hello, Nalira, right?" she remembered seeing the tale at the Christmas party.

Chailyn lifted her head up. She sniffed looking at Nalira, "Hi Nalira...Nala." She coughed before continuing. "Andi's Daddy died, I don't know what to do. I'm scared," she whispered. She didn't know if the two knew each other or not but she couldn't much think.

Dulcea patted the tale's back trying to comfort her. "Shh, it's going to be ok Chailyn. We should get him inside, our house isn't far. Would you like to come, Nalira?" the dog tahnee asked. She was just using what her mother and sister had called the tale.

Andi felt and heard Nalira, but it didn't seem to register. His eyes were half-open, and staring. He'd gone pale as the snow around them, and his breathing had shallowed. His hands were like ice, as well as his face - drained of color, though he was. He started to feel woozy - dizzy - like the world was spinning and spinning. He closed his eyes, and lost himself in it.
He went limp in the woman's arms. Completely unconscious.

Nalira nodded, moving back from the group, her heart sinking even lower as she felt him go limp. Nalira wasn't much of an optomist, so she was already thinking the worst. She trembled, tears frozen to her face, both in fear and realization.

Nalira gratefully took Dulcea's hand, walking beside them in haste. She muttered a 'thank you' under her breath, when her lips went suddenly very dry at Ane's words. Slipping? She let out a choked breath, shaking her head. Andi wasn't going to die, too. He wasn't, he wasn't.

And she kept telling herself that the whole way.

Andrael was caught in a nightmare - watching his father die, over and over again, each shadow with a different face, each time with a different weapon - but always the same voice, always the same end result. Always Andi in the corner, trembling and afraid while the figure hissed out:

~You will be next, godling child...~

Andi's body, meanwhile, had started to almost convulse in shivers, his skin hot to the touch, and cold-sweat crossing his brow. His heart fluttering weakly against his ribcage as he fought his nightmares. He kept tossing his head from side to side - caught up in whatever he was seeing beyond consciousness.

Chailyn looked at Nala confused. She shivered hearing the hiss as the tale touched Andi's shoulder. She moved back slightly afraid. She wasn't sure what to think of Nala's actions. She wanted to just curl up and hug the two older tales.

"Nala? Are you ok?" she murmured. She inched off the couch pulling a blanket off a nearby chair and moving to stand in front of her. She offered the blanket to the tale thinking she might be cold. "I'm here..." she whispered pulling herself up on the couch. She sat on her knees, resting on the edge of the couch between Andi and Nalira.

Glancing over at Andi, she sat up and inched forward before launching towards Nalira giving her the best hug she could manage. "Andi will be ok."

Dulcea carried in a tray of hot chocolate. Five cups sat on the tray with a kettle. She set it down on the coffee table in front of the couch before pouring the liquid into the cups.

Anemone followed behind carrying some damp towels to place on Andi's forehead. She gave a slight smile seeing a hint of color returning to his cheeks but was still concerned. "Nala, does your guardian know you're out?" she asked. She didn't want any parents or guardians worried about their children, though she didn't know the number of Andi's new guardian.

Placing a cloth on the tale's head, Anemone cleansed the drops of sweat from his forehead. In a sense it was a comfort but more so, she was afraid he was having nightmares about his father or death or who knew what else.

Chailyn continued to hug Nala. She had started twisting some of her own hair in nervousness and tilted her head to the side looking at her mother. She was concerned about Andi and wanted to do all she could to help.

His eyes fluttered beneath his eyelids. He was dreaming - reliving it. But he kept the promise he had made - he didn't make a single sound, not even asleep.
He started awake, panting hard, and trembling all over, eyes wide and frightened. He didn't know where he was, he was hot, his heart was doing flipflops in his chest, and it was hard to breathe.