Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Rayne, tell me when everyone's used something of theirs for a special skill so i can mark it off for them. :3 ))

The boy regarded his teacher uncertainly before giving a meek smile and shuffling out towards the folliage. His enthusiasm started much smaller than the other children, simply because of his naturally cautious nature. He had to get a good look around before traipsing on into this new game. After he decided his surroundings were indded very safe, he took off after his comrads, ducking into the bushes. He sunk into the darkness, glancing about, all four eyes straining to catch light. It helped him see a little bit... But this was his domain. This is where he liked to be.

Where it was dark. Safe.

He crept forward, listening intently to everything around him, gaze questing out some kind of color within the black. "Hmmm..." None of his scorpion-aquired traits could really help him too much.. Not his hearing, not his ability to feel the wind, not his sting, and not his claws. He was hoping his strong extra arms and eyes could maybe help him find himself a ball. He lowered himself onto his belly, creeping along only by his back and extra legs, his breathing soft and inaudible. He was hunting. His tail unconsciously, instinctively curled behind him. Time to get to it.

He was a very instinctual child- ever since his creation his animal instincts were much stronger than his human. He always had an affinity for the dark and for the night, and liked digging and hiding in forts. He almost stung people without thinking on multiple occasions, and he'd even sunk his claws into Axel once before in a panicky situation. Instinct was his way of life. And maybe it would be enough to help him.

He stopped at the edge of the bush, pushing himself up to his knees and huffing. "Mr. B-Baall? W-where are y-you?" He sighed to himself, squinting at the sudden light. He dropped his chest back down, rump lifting in the air slightly as he began to search the leaves on the ground. He was back to himself. Scorpion-stalking mode was over.. For now.

Standing in the middle of the room, Sahra peered about in wonder; she wasn't quite sure what to do. She stood and observed the other children anxiously, hoping that their actions might help her to piece together a plan of action. After all, gathering correct data on the competition would do her a lot of good! Her tactics would be much more accurate and effective while being used out in the field.

From prowling about to climbing up the trees, she watched her classmates like an eagle would watch its prey. The teacher had said something about using your skills? Yes, she had been over this before. She was a feline- she had slightly enhanced smell, hearing, and eyesight, of course, even though not enough to make that large of a difference. She had good balance when she was running fa- wait that was it! She could run really fast, yes, that had to be it! Sah guessed that that would explain why Aja could never keep up with her, even in a wolf form! And that gave her an idea; pasting her new found knowledge together with past experiences, she knew exactly what she would do.

Letting out a loud, happy chirp like mew, she bounced off towards the side of the room. Darting around, she almost seemed to glide about, running on her tip toes, going back and forth between different sides of the room. Sah looked under bushes, and between branches, speeding about with an overly happy aura radiating about her, "Gotta find it~" She purred, pawing about contently. She had heard the teacher speak of the different coloured ping pong balls, but had not taken the time to think about it until just now. This peeked her interest in the subject; she wondered what colour she would come over first!? She didn't know, and didn't care much, because she was having lots of fun! Running around and not getting yelled at for it! Yin had always snipped at her when she was running in the house. She said it was improper behavior and that it was not polite! But she could do it here, and no one cared!

Keanu, on his hands and knees on the ground searching for the colors would spot something out of the ordinary not that far in front of him, settled among a cluster of purple flowers was something that looked orange? It could be an odd flower out or maybe...?

For Nero it wasn't color it was something else, his eyes were used to the darkness and when there was that sudden bit of light it reflected momentarily off something else, something that sparkled then when the light was off it again was once more hidden away in a shadow. A shiny rock perhaps? Or maybe something more?

There was the scent of the trees, the scent of leaves, and then... for Indigo as she crawled along there was the scent of something that shouldn't be here. It was the scent of lavender and there were in this area none of that sort of flower. That and the scent was coming from ABOVE her rather then below on the ground where flowers should grow. Odd was it not?

As Sahra bounded along there was a split second of running where she stepped on something that wasn't ground, grass, or stone... it felt round maybe? The trick now was figuring out where said object was a she had been running rather fast when she stepped down on it.

For Ligeia he would soon spot a ball... but it was out or reach, even climbing the closest tree he would still be a bit out of range and would find himself wondering if this ball was put there on purpose? It was hanging there from the ceiling out of reach of those that didn't have the ability to fly or maybe stick to the ceiling.

Plopping onto a soft patch of the greenest grass she had ever seen, Sahra ran her fingers through the long blades. Tearing off a few strands of grass, she pulled them up to her face, and ran the smooth pieces across her cheek. It had only taken her seconds to forget about her aching foot, she had accidentally stepped on something, but she couldn't figure out what! No matter where she looked, or how carefully she looked, she couldn't find the something that made her foot hurt. She would hurt it if she found it!

No, she had to concentrate on the subject at hand, she had to find it! She would just have to re-trace her steps. But, she had just been going so fast! Even she wasn't exactly sure where it was that she had stepped on the object, but she had a slight idea. She knew it wasn't a rock, and it wasn't dirt or something natural, it was a slightly hard, round-ish object, but what should she look for? "Come'er you stupid thing..." She whispered to herself, prowling about and pawing at the bear ground.

"Sh-shiny...?" Nero cooed softly, all of his eyes blinking in time. Had he actually seen something? He could have sworn that something shiny had caught his eye.. What could it be? He crept slowly towards where he had spotted the glimmer of light, and then froze- what if it was a monster!? What if it had been its mean eyes or nasty snarly teeth that had caught the light? A shudder ran through his tiny green body and he kept still, staring intently into the shifting darkness. He decided it was far too still to be a beast, or anything nasty or mean... So it must just be a shiny!

The prospect of a shiny was ever so exciting, yet the child still managed to hesitate before rushing forward. After all, he couldn't even see it anymore! He'd have to make up a strategy... Maybe he could wait until the light came back to the shiny? Hm... He lowered himself down slightly, watching the area he'd though the shiny to have been, tail curling behind him into an offensive position. He was falling back into a scorpion 'hunting mode' once again, and was ready to wait out his 'prey.' His tongue darted out over his lips, passing over the gap in his teeth that was beginning to fill in with teeth. All of his limbs rest tensely upon the ground, preparing for a strike, his entire body alert... Had to wait for it... Wait for it...

He felt the wind shift and the leaves around him moved, once again redirecting the light. A claw lashed out as soon as it spotted the shiny object once again, and he grasped for it hastily, tail lashing forward to either try and stick it or scoop it back towards him.

Behold Keanu the orange flower in your hand among a bunch of purple ones. How tricky that ball was... though when he did finally brush away the petals of the both the purple flowers and the orange one he would find there the orange ball as well. It had been hidden not just among the purple flowers but UNDER an orange one. It seemed ping pong balls were quite good at being sneaky things. When brought back to the teacher though the sneaky ball could be traded for something better.

When the light hit it again the object did the same thing, it reflected the light and made itself a good target for the scorpion that had lunge at it with claw and tail... and Nero it seemed defeated the Ping-Pong monster! He would gather much respect and treasure for this! In his hand was a red ping pong ball that was coated in a layer of red glitter which was what made it sparkle when the light hit it.

The higher she climbed the closer she got to where the scent originated from, soon enough she could come to the point where the scent was at its strongest. A small search would turn up a purple colored ping pong ball nestled in the crook were a couple branches met the tree. Indigo had done it, she had found her bally-ball and with it had passed the current test. That and she now would be able to trade this for a treasure as promised by her teacher.

Now that she had slowed down and wars prowling about she would be able to catch sight of it, the thing that had hurt her foot was sitting there looking so innocent among some rocks. But it wasn't so innocent as it seemed now was it? But it was worth treasure! And when brought back to the teacher it could be traded for just that. Sahra had passed the class and found a grey shaded ping pong ball.

Ligeia was able to get his hands outstretched just enough and the fine thread that the ball was tied to the ceiling with snapped under his weight and he was soon falling towards the ground, luckily for him his wings did the job that they were supposed to and he was able to glide his way down, landing easily and safetly on his feet. Then collapsed to his knees a little shaky after his first flight. In his hands was the blue ball, to be traded to his father for the unknown treasure! This prompted him to push to his feet and continue on to find his red haired father/teacher.