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Ohh, good, he was turning back now. Maybe the bird sounds had worked.

She shifted a bit in her hiding spot, wriggling only slightly to try and get comfy while the curiously cool sensations of pins and needles began to surge through her legs and the arm she was lying on. Shaking her wrist to try and alleviate the tingling, she forced herself to stay still, biting her lower lip with determination.

Wait, Sanqui's footsteps...they were so close. He was so close. She could sense it.

Pulling herself up using the stone edge of the empty fountain, she peeked around cautiously, one eye the colour of deep red cherry juice, the other of a vibrant emerald, fixing upon the figure standing directly below her.

And then Ixchellia decided to play a little trick on her dear brother. Getting that familiar sparkle in her eyes, she ducked down and grinned, tensing up...

Suddenly, the small girl popped up from the top of the fountain, throwing her hands in the air as she jumped to her feet and shouted - "BOO!"

Observing from her peculiar perch, the Ixi bird was amused. That was a fantastic reaction. Way better than she expected! Ixchellia burst into bubbly laughter, covering her mouth to try and stifle the sound. He actually fell over!

Still, she did feel a twinge mean for that. She really gave him a fright, huh?

Coaxing her laughter to subside into giggles before finally getting those under control, she watched him shaking his head at her. Maybe Sanqui hadn't found that as funny as she had.

Ixchellia broke into a little lopsided grin "Yeah...I got you!" she declared with satisfaction. However, her face fell at Sanqui's next words.

"D...down? Uhh..." Putting a finger against her lower lip, Ixi looked around uncertainly, trying to see an easy way to reach the ground. Hmm...the fountain bowl was curved underneath - and the sculptured parts she'd climbed to get up were all at the centre, farthest from the rim. The auburn haired tot didn't know how in the world she was gonna get down.

Was she about to tell Sanqui that though? Nooooooo.

Ixi arranged her face into a nonchalant expression and sat down on the edge of the rim, swinging her legs over the side.

"It really nice here. I get down while nyu go an' hide" she informed her brother, secretly trying to work out ways to get down.

First, she would try turning onto her belly and sliding down backwards. If she could grab the rim and swing herself a bit, maybe she could jump to the centre and grab onto something.

She wasn't worried enough to ask for help, sure she could figure it out on her own.

The fountain would have been very slimy earlier that morning, except that the gardeners had recently scrubbed it all clean, cleared out all the mushy stuff from clogged leaves and insects and rinsed it down. Apart from that being the usual maintenance routine, they were actually trying to work out why exactly it wouldn't turn back on and whether something was blocking it. The fountains were usually inspected regularly and for some peculiar reason, this one seemed to have a clogged water pipe or perhaps a pipe was broken somewhere. Either way, the water wasn't flowing. Yet.

Ixchellia would never have climbed it in her pretty dress if there had been too much ick and muck. One could, she supposed, take off one's dress to prevent it from being ruined, though that wasn't proper - not at all! Normally she wouldn't let what she was wearing stop her from doing what she wanted but at the cost of ruining her clothes...no, she would rather find something else to do. The deep lavender sash and bright white colouring on this one were much too pretty.

Ixchellia waved a hand dismissively at her brother in little shooing motions, still smiling away as though she were a bee in a honey jar. "Sure an' curtains. I c'n get down all by myself." she chirped confidently, "An' I won't get stuck. I be really careful. Mommy won't worry!" because what she didn't know couldn't worry her, could it? How could she know Ixi was playing in the fountain? Unless...she was using the eyes in the back of her head today. Hmm...Ixchellia shivered a little at that and her desire to get down from the fountain increased.

Watching Sanqui thump Belha, she giggled at the pair. "I'm suuuuuurre~!" she sang back to them, kicking her legs some more, nodding her head as he said he'd go hide. "An' I won't peek this-..." Whoops, almost admitted to something there. "I won't peek!" she assured him, calling out the words as he ran off and disappeared from sight.

***

Now to get down. "Hmmm" she hummed, frowning slightly at the task. Following through with her original idea, she started climbing over the edge of the bowl, hooking a leg over as she lay on her side, then slowly shifting her hands to grasp the stone rim and letting her other leg follow the first as she slid backwards on her belly. The skirts of her dress bunched up underneath her while the front of it was pushed up under her arms. Urk...this wasn't very comfortable!

Next, to swing herself into the middle. "Uhh...nnn..." the toddler struggled, making small noises of exertion with the effort of having to hold herself up. Her arms were aching. This was harder than she thought.

Then, she realised, she had a big problem. The curved part of the fountain bowl was smack in the way of her being able to swing herself to the carved part in the centre, blocking her view. All she could see were the bottom of the seals and a lion's tail. Still, gotta try before you give up! Scrambling, she managed to place her bare feet on the stone and gave a little push off it.

She swung out a few inches and...straight into the side of the bowl, bumping her nose against the stone. "Neh!" Ixi squeaked, eyes pinching closed on instinct. "Dat hurd!"

Okay okay, time for plan B.

...she didn't have a plan B yet. Okay, scrap this plan, she was climbing back up! Ixi's legs kicked frantically at the air. Her hands slipped on the damp stone and she told her arms to pull her back up again but it wasn't working; her arms wouldn't listen to her.

Then, out of nowhere, was a horrendous slurping, gurgling noise, like a water monster in a deep drain.

"Ahh...dat not good" she murmured nervously. Slip...slip...slip....her hands kept slipping and she knew she'd have to make a choice. Looking down she could see it was a fair bit higher than she'd thought from the ground view.

"Hey! What are you doing in my fountain?!" someone growled and Ixchellia flinched - it was the monster for sure!

Oh well, she was slipping anyway. Leaping off was better than being eaten up.

"No one!" the girl squealed hurriedly, as though this would appease the monster. Taking a deep breath and hoping not to go 'splat!' she closed her eyes and let go.

Foomph! ...Huh? She fell onto something soft!??

Slowly cracking jeweled eyes open, she blinked at the gardener who had caught her, coming back to check on his fountain only to find a little monkey dangling off of it. "Th-thank you Mister Garnerer. Put me down now...please. I has to find Sanqui" she thanked him breathlessly, wriggling til he put her down.

The man growled at her once more when she was safely on the grass. That was dangerous. If possible, he'd make sure she wouldn't do it again. He usually saw the twins playing around in the grounds when he was working and like most of the staff, he was fond of them. "You kids shouldn't be playing in the fountains. It's very dangerous. If I catch you in here again you'll be in big trouble, you hear me?"

Ixchellia merely giggled, giving him a small curtsey. "I hear you very well. Not have time right now...good game of hide an' seek!" she said importantly. Then, she scampered off across the grass, happily hunting for her brother again. Ohh, she couldn't wait to let him know they had a monster in that fountain!

Watching the little figure skip away, the gardener could only shake his head.