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 Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:01 pm
Pueblo grinned at Nehanda's compliment and begun ripping the sandwhich up after Acia's consent. Sprinkling the crumbs carefully into the blue water, she watched tiny fish swim up to see what had entered their domain. Pueblo giggled and skimmed the water with her tail right before Acia had picked her up.
Sitting near the side of the boat, she threw in the final bits of bread. Her distraction was quickly shooken, however, when Osero clambered into the boat and was forced to hold onto the side of it. Her eyes widened as the boat lurched side to side, but regained compsure quickly. The only time something under her feet moved was during the earthquake.
As the boat settled and smoothly pulled out, Pueblo craned her neck up to the largest adult. "If it's okay... where are we going?" she finally asked sweetly, the question that had been bugging her for awhile now. Not that she didn't trust them, but mainly because everything had a name and reason, and was simply curious.
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 5:33 am
Nehanda giggled at the fish as they greedily ate the bread and thinly-sliced cheese, then smiled at Acia upon being lifted into the boat. She wanted to shout We're going! We're leaving! to the world, but didn't want the others to think her that ridiculous. After all, she was going on this adventure to help her grow up! They were finally leaving the island!
She leaned over to trail her hand in the warm water, and laughed brightly as Osero's leaping into the boat made it rock wildly from side to side. She loved the movement on the water! Glancing back toward Pueblo, she smiled reasurringly and reached for the other girl's hand. "It's okay, don't worry! Boats rock like that a lot, but they're really safe. It takes a lot to make them tip over. I think it's really relaxing." To demonstrate, she folded her hands behind her head and leaned back until she could look at the wolf-girl upside-down.
When Pueblo asked about their destination, she sat back up and nodded in eager agreement. "Can we know more? Please?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:00 am
"I've been better..." she said, quietly. "This whole thing with the earthquake.." she trailed off holding to the sides of the boat carefully as Osero got in. "I guess I can forget a little about that whilst we take these two. I hope the rains hold for a bit."
As the boat moved off and the childrens eager voices piped up she looked around. She pondered their question briefly before answering the two eager young Aerandir. "If we wait just a little bit, once we can see where we're going I'll tell you and I'll tell you why we're going there." She looked up at Osero "How long should it take us to get there from here?" she asked, her long leonine tail flicking idly back and forth.
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 3:40 pm
As Acia addressed Pueblo's and Nehanda's questions, Osero concentrated on rowing the boat through the clear waters. He quickly settled himself into a rhythm, pushing his arms forward before leaning back to pull against the force of the water.
As Acia asked him a question, the lupine Aerandir looked up at her. "Hmm?"
Glancing out over the water, Osero considered this for a moment, still keeping up his rowing. "There's a good while to go yet, even at this pace. I'd say an hour or so until we actually reach it. Obviously, we'll come in sight a bit sooner than that."
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 6:34 pm
Pueblo sighed, ears drooping a little, and looked the other way. She watched the ripples in the water stream past the gentle movement of the boat, idly spreading her wings and folding them to pass the time by. Though she was considered more patient than her guardian, she wished that they could at least have a hint.
"Hm?" Pueblo looked down as her hand was captured. Smiling up at Nehanda, she nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it seems nicer now. The boat almost glides o'r the water just like a duck, or a... swan!" She grinned and looked at Nehanda's wings, then begun to experiment with them. "They're so light an' fluffy. Think they'll make yew float like a cloud??" She smoothed her palm over them before spreading her own to compare.
Time seemed to go by much quicker once she involved herself in something.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:25 am
Nehanda smiled back as Pueblo began to play with her wings. It didn't really bother her so very much that she couldn't yet know anything more about where they were going. It would be nice, but she really was perfectly content to float here on the water. She loved the water so very much, and foenix didn't let her apend nearly enough time at the beach.
In answer to Pueblo's question, she spread her wings wider -careful not to knock anyone with their width!- and studied them. "Not really. When Foenix was teaching me ta swim, they really got in the way! It was hard." She giggled. "They got all wet and heavy and Kylara kep havin' to pull me out of the water! But Foenix keeps saying they're gonna be good wings for flying"
She craned her head around and studied Pueblo's pwn speckled wings. "I been reading a little about different bird wings. Foenix says it's important to know about where you come from, and I should learn wing anap . . .atano . . . anatomy!" She finally spit out the complicated word with a grin. "Owl wings are cool. You've got special feathers so you can be all silent and stuff with you're flapping them!" She didn't mention that she'd read specifically about owl wings because of her friend.
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Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:03 pm
Slowly the small boat, powered by Osero's powerful muscles, came in sight of the Island. Acia raised one small, finely furred hand to his large shoulder and leaned up to whisper in his ear, asking him to pause the boat or a small time.
Now Acia turned to the two small Aerandir who were sitting, one quietly, one with obvious impatience. "Nehanda, Pueblo" she addressed them, scooting closer, building an air of mystery as she lowered her voice. She looked around the boat, conspiriatorially. The were in the middle of a stretch of blue-green tropical water, shoals of fish visible flitting under the waves, seabirds above. No other creature was to be seen. Too far from shore for even a pair of binoculars to pick them out distinctly she nooded, satisfied. Acia looked back into the bright eyes of the girls and began to explain.
"We are going to a small island which is the domain of Aerandir only. I will ask you both to not speak of anything which goes on there to any humans or other Aerandir who haven't been there. The Islands hold something close to us, something the humans are not... aware of."
This was something that sat oddly with Acia - as much as she very personally knew the reasons behind humans not knowing the location and what went on there it felt odd to be hiding things from those who were helping them. She continued.
"You will both grow on this journey on the inside and out, you will learn things you never knew and things you perhaps don't want to know." it all seemed a little harsh as she said it. They were only children but, at the same time, she wanted them to be prepared for what might occur. She sat back, her tail lolling over her lap as she teased the long hair on the tip of it.
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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:30 pm
The youngest Aerandir looked at Nehanda and pursed her lips in thought. Pueblo really loved the idea of having wings soft and boyant as a cloud, but she guessed that that wasn't at all realistic. Fantasy finally diffused back into the shape of reality and suddenly realized that the boat had briefed a stop.
Remembering what Acia had told them, Pueblo squinted off in the distance to see the island. Her plush vanilla furred ears stood out, trying hard to pick up any sounds. But the only thing that clouded her ears were the welcomings of seabirds. She shaded her eyes with her hand to glance up, then back at Acia to see that she was serious. Swallowing discretly and nodding, she glanced at Nehanda in the corner of her eyes.
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Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 5:56 am
As Acia spoke, Nehanda swallowed heavily. She nodded solemnly at the lovely adult's words, her usual ebulliance gone for the moment. She didn't really like the idea of keeping such heavy secrets from Foenix. After all, she'd never kept a real secret from the women! But . . .
But if Acia said it was important, then she could do that.
Catching Pueblo's gaze as the wolf-child looked over at her, she reached out and caught her friend's hand. Nehanda turned back to stare ahead at the island. It looked like any other island, and she was both eager and nervous of what might be found there. She thought to herself, We'll be okay. Acia's here, and 'Sero, and I've got my best friend. We'll be okay. The words became a mantra as she repeated them to herself.
She looked back over her shoulder at Acia and Osero. "We're ready."
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Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:56 pm
As Acia spoke, Osero pulled the oars up out of the water, listening to the spellweaver silently. He remembered the last time he had travelled here; he had been the one giving the talk that time. He allowed the boat to drift slowly for now, waiting until the two children had taken in these pieces of information. When Pueblo nodded and Nehanda spoke aloud shortly after, Osero gave a slight nod in reply of his own. They seemed to have taken Acia's words seriously. The hunter caught the spellweaver's gaze briefly before sliding the oars back into the crystal clear water again. There wasn't too much further to go now.
Exhaling a slow breath, Osero stretched his arms in front of him before picking up the ends of the oars again. Drawing back, he pulled the oars through the water again, correcting the boat's course before resuming the row to the island.
Finally, the boat drew near to the island's edge. The tall Aerandir kept the boat going until they had almost reached the beach. The aquamarine water would soon be too shallow to continue rowing. Osero drew the oars out of the sea, pulling them carefully into the boat.
"Hold on for a moment. It might get a little shaky again."
Carefully, the hunter hopped over the edge of the little boat, landing with a small splash in the warm water. The shallow waves didn't even reach his waist here. Slowly wading around a few steps to the rear of the boat, Osero began to push it in towards the nearby beach.
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 1:15 pm
Acia had been silent for the last few minutes before arriving at this clearing, trepidation rising in her as her soft-soled feet crunched through the undergrowth. She tried to smile for the young ones, she did not want them to be fearful of this place. Now she was here her fear had faded somewhat. The goodness of this place pervaded, throwing away those bad memories which were close to her.
"We're stopping here." she announced quietly, turning to give the other three a genuine smile. "Nehanda, Pueblo, please come over here and help me." she asked, motioning to the bundle she carried. It was a large blanket that needed the attention of all three to smooth out.
Setting her long spellweavers staff down again she looked towards the older Aerandir. "Osero... would you mind starting the fire... I could do with something to eat - what about you girls?" Acia thought guiltily of the sandwhiches but rules were rules.
She felt safe near these giant, old trees.
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:09 pm
Pueblo's sharp emerald optics stared beyond her loose, bleach blonde bangs, ears upright and awaiting the enclosing, mysterious island.
Wet footprints were left behind on the shores as the Aerandir headed into the jungle. Pueblo held onto Acia's hand until they had reached their destination, being just as silent as the eldest female. Craning her head upward, she looked for reassurance in Acia's small smile, then looked back at the giant old tree.
It was like the heart of the jungle, of course she had never been here before, but it was greater in size than any surrounding tree. Pueblo continued to gwak at its massiveness before moving onto fluttering and calling birds. They all seemed alert of their presence but acted differently than any bird did around her guardian, or humans for that matter. She smiled and breathed in the virgin jungle scent before turning around with more enthusiasm.
"Yes, Acia!" Pueblo grinned at Nehanda wholeheartidly- the first time yet on their trip. Collapsing onto her knees, she picked at ripples and edges of the blanket in an attempt to straighten out the blanket. Using her light colored hands in front of her, she smoothed the cloth behind her with her tail.
After that was over, she sat up on her knees and bobbed her head up and down. "I'm starved." She then wondered if they knew what she liked to eat, but she didn't ask. They were in a new place with nothing ready; nothing human made. That ran past her mind a few times before falling onto her back and staring up at the canopy. "I like the jungle- it feels... right," she smiled to herself, not having the gift in words but rather art. But she didn't have any paper so... she couldn't express herself that well. Oh well, the jungle was still beautiful and she felt good around trees. Especially the biggest tree she had ever seen in her entire life.. But then she scowled and did a double-take. Blinking a few times, she sat upright to confirm her glance. There was something on the tree. Actually, it was two trees seemingly twisted together. Or something. With markings?
Pueblo then stood and looked at the three marks. Cocking her head to the side, she examined them. She wasn't sure if it was paint or natural substances and feared smudging them. Who knew how ancient these were! Drawing near, she inhaled. It smelled organic to her, she was almost sure. Looking for Nehanda, she motioned her over to confirm her discovery. "Hey Handa, lookit these! I found some sort've.. markings. I think they're made out of some kinda natural dye. Or something."
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:06 am
While Pueblo was content to stay close to Acia, Nehanda was very busy behind them. While she was careful not to fall too far behind, there were indeed new plants here that she'd not seen over on Cetalu. After all, Acia had mentioned in her letter that there would be opportunity to collect new species . . . and Nehanda had carefully stowed both her little scythe and herbal notebook when packing for this trip.
She stopped for a moment to simply enjoy her surroundings. The large trees overhead sheltered them from the warm sun, so that the temperature was nearly perfect. Nehanda wanted very much to scamper off to explore on her own, but she understood that this wasn't their purpose today. Instead, she kept up, stopping here and there to cut clippings or take root samples. There was one particular flower in a deep blue-green that she'd never before seen the like of. It smelled almost minty, but there was a bitter tone to it that the swan child didn't recognize. She was packing several cuttings away when Acia called out to them. Raising her head, she realized that she'd dropped behind, so she ran to catch up.
The oak trees -at least, she thought they might be oak- in front of her were enormous! nehanda had never before seen something so large and old. By the time she had finished gaping, Pueblo had already helped to spread the blanket and was examining something on the trees. When her friend called out about her findings, she smiled quickly up at Acia and Osero and ran forward to join the wolf-girl.
"Oh, neat!" Leaning forward, Nehanda pressed her nose to the bark of the white hand print. There was a smell she couldn't identify, so she looked over at Pueblo. "It could be plant dye, but I dunno. It's hard to smell past the tree itself." Placing her hand over the print, she gazed at it. It was larger then her own stubby little fingers, and she looked over her shoulder at Acia. There were three prints . . . "Are these yours and 'Sero's and Rahujo's?" she asked.
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 3:31 pm
Glancing at Acia, Osero gave a quiet nod. Pausing, he glanced around the clearing for a moment or two. It had been quite some time since he had been here last. Smiling faintly, he turned, his large wings rustling faintly as he adjusted them on his back.
Heading towards the edge of the clearing, the hunter began to search for dry, dead wood on the forest floor. It wasn't hard to find some here, which Osero was thankful for. He wouldn't even consider harming the trees here in this place. Before long, the tall Aerandir returned with an armful of dead, broken branches. They'd do well once the fire had been started, but he'd need some tinder to get started.
After a little more searching, Osero returned with some dried out grasses and leaves that he'd found. They should do nicely for catching a flame. Now that he had all the materials he'd need to start and sustain a fire, he began to set up a spot in a suitable place in the clearing. Using some small pieces of wood for kindling, the hunter then placed the dried, dead leaves over the top. Kneeling down beside the small pile, Osero produced a piece of dark flint from a belt pouch. Drawing the knife Rahujo had made for him a while back, he leaned over the tinder before striking the steel with the flint. A spark leapt from the collision before falling short of the tinder. Osero struck the steel again, this time managing to aim the spark correctly. Leaning down, the hunter blew carefully at the tinder, encouraging the spark to light the dead leaves. A tiny plume of smoke rose from the tinder at first, before increasing in size. Finally, a tiny lick of flame rose from the leaves. Careful not to smother the flames, Osero allowed the fire to grow before adding larger pieces of wood. Within a short time, he soon had a fire crackling merrily.
Turning from the fire, he looked over to the others.
"All started."
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 6:55 am
Acia watched as the girls explored the clearing, taking out some of the food she had prepared. She wasn't a cook but could make a few dishes which Alyosha had taught her. Fish, slivers of fine beef, corn on the cob, some sweet potatoes, vegetables and large skewers were all contained within a bag which had been brought with them on the boat.
As Osero lit the fire she unpacked and skwered some of the meat, wrapped some of the fish and vegetables in large leaves and laid the potatoes out. As the fire began to burn a little more brightly she added the parcels of food to it, pushing the skewers around it and leaning inward so that they would begin to cook. If all went well they'd have food within the half hour.
As Pueblo called her she got to her feet, brushing her hands clean with grass. Her large wings flared to steady her as she stood, her tail held out to balance her. Acia grinned as Nehanda caught the truth of the markings quickly.
"Yes, Nehanda, those are the marks of our being here and going through what you will go through." she said, simply. She stood for a while, studying these prints. Smiling she said to the girls "Come back to the fire now, food will almost be ready."
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![~o[Acia]o~'s avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/fa/cd/2dd8036b16cdfa_flip.png?t=1248294767_6.00_00)
