Journal: Page/Cosmic

[Kesmi]

Cosmic's Untimely death:

It had been a nice dark morning, stars still visible, moon high over head resistant on setting and giving way to the dawn. Yellow eyes glared upon a lazily moving rat that was within his alley way. A gold bell was tied around his neck with a red ribbon, a gold hoop earring hung from one ears as well. Cosmic took chase after the rat, the little lazy thing was more energetic then he had first imagined. Through alley way and dead streets he chased that rodent until he ducked under a house where he couldn’t follow. Sitting at the hole where the rat had gone, arrow shaped tail twitching in annoyance. His eyes trained upon the hole, watching, ever watching for that pesky rat.

Hours passed as Cosmic remain laying out just one side of the hole, the sun had risen and was glaring down upon the earth. The light had started to bother him, snorting at the hole he stood and started walking away, tail sagging in defeat.

“I’ll get you next time you pesky thing!” He muttered swearing he could hear the rat laughing at him. “Just you wait, I’ll get you.”

Cosmic stalked toward where he slept and slowly laid down within his small burrow of sorts. Grumbling, laying paw over paw, his head atop of them he slept during the day. Until it was night again. His tail twitching behind him, ears laid back, the golden earring winking in the light that entered his sleeping area.

The day passed like any other while asleep, fast… Stretching from his burrow of a home, Cosmic scratched an ear making the gold bell around his throat tinkle gently in the cool, crisp evening air. Black ears pitching forward, spade tipped tail dusting the ground behind him as a foul grin crossed his face. That rat wasn’t escaping him this night, not it wasn’t. Leaping from where he sat, Cosmic dashed through the alley way to the end, now to pick up that rat’s trail. Looking both ways trying to catch a scent.

Sitting down again, unknowing of a strange danger that would happen to suddenly fall behind him. Annoyance graced his face as Cosmic looked around with blazing gold eyes, he seemed to have lost that rat while he slept. His tail thumped the ground behind him, the spade end cracked against the wall beside him, head lowering in a defeated, yet annoyed look he snorted. So much for a large meal that evening, he would have to deal with something smaller… Much to his displeasure.

Stalking away from where he had last seen the rodent flee from he sought out the smaller and less pleasurable cousins of the larger rat. Mice, what a disgrace to a demon like him to be reduced to picking off mice. Cosmic stalked to his normal lesser hunting ground, unaware of the small surprise that would cost him his nine perfectly unused lives. Finding a good place to watch for mice he crouched waiting to pounce upon the first one he saw. Tail twitching behind him, he didn’t see the small mousetrap at first, but he did feel it snap upon his tail and the sudden pain. Just about jumping clean out of his skin, there was the feeling of falling. Falling? What the heck was going one?

"Hey, what? What?" said the voice of a young demon cat that had suddenly lost all nine lives for some odd-ish reason. "What the blazes is going on here!" The cat demanded.

"Quit your yammering cat. You have two choices from this so hold your tongue." said a voice that sounded quite annoyed with the cat.

The demonic cat crossed his front paws and glared into the darkness. Where had he gone wrong in his life? All he remember was basking in the sunlight and soon not waking... What the hell did happen?

"Ok, so what are the choices?" asked the cat as the gold bell around his neck tinkled softly...

The voice was quite for a while before speaking again in a more calmer tone. "Alright, one you can just die and never see the waking world again. Choice two is to become a guardian of a young child in another realm. The choice is yours... Cat."

"That's it?" Cosmic asked, but wasn't answered. *Sulking he drifted within the darkness, glaring at nothing. Neither choice sounded like much fun, but what was he to do?* "Aright I'll watch over the small brat." Cosmic said after a time...

There was a chuckle before something shoved the demonic cat through a void. Landing the cat as a hazy black cloud around a young white cockatoo child who slept within a down filled nest.

 

[Kesmi]

It had been a busy few months, the outlook of their new, lived in cave home had been somewhat ‘furnished’. At the back of the cave, Page had found a sort of a ‘back’ door. One that lead out onto the shores of what seemed like a river swollen pond, one that was flourishing with many fish for eating. Inside the cave, Page had pulled together mosses, leaves and other materials to build a somewhat larger ‘nest’. One that he hoped that he wouldn’t grow out of too soon. In the center of the cave was his fire pit, one that always had at last a small fire in it.

Other mats and things were scattered about the floor of the cave, as well as knives and other tools. Page would sometimes go out and find things that he could use. Even if he did happen to sneak back to the shop on the other side at night and ‘borrow’ things before coming back to his home and keeping them safe. He knew not of the housing that other Zahdl lived in far from his mountainous home. Life was great at the dwelling of the young Cockatoo. He was still learning the basics of living alone, with only his guardian at his back.

But this day, it was one that surely they both would remember. The sun was peeking in and out of the clouds, it had pretty much all day as the pair wandered pretty far from home. There was always the threat of rain as the clouds clustered then broke apart to let the sun shine and kiss the ground with its warm giving rays. Rays that Page had always tried to be in as the winds were starting to grow colder.

Stopping where he had been walking between the fading trees, the leaves had fallen long ago in the season. Turning his deep pools of purple toward the skies he wondered if it was just going rain or whatever else that could possibly happen. He had noted that his short sleeved shirt wasn’t going to hold up against the cold that was wrapping its hands about the world. The cold made his tail feathers stand on end and shivers that made his wings, unused wings, flutter.

“Is it going to rain or what? It’s been doing this all day?” Page muttered shaking his head letting his light lavender hair ruffle around his head.

“I imagine it will rain when it pleases. Not like we have anything to do with it.” Cosmic vaguely shrugged as his bat like wings tirelessly beat behind his ghostly body.

“Well I do wish it would certainly make up its mind. So I know if I need to turn back or not.” Page huffed, puffing out his chest a bit.

Silence fell over them again as Page started walking again, his claws toes punching small holes into the leaf littered floor beneath them. Thus releasing the slight smells of decaying leaves and other growth. Coming to another, smaller cave, this one looked like a good one to rest in. There were strange markings about the smoothed walls, paintings that could be made out as animals. Some were of human like creatures, some holding weapons, throwing them at animals. All these paintings made Page’s curiosity about the paintings.

Scattered about the floor were bits of molded clay it seemed as well as very flat stones that looked like tables. There were stone knives scattered here and there, a filled in hole that could have been a fire pit to whom ever lived there. Turning about the small cave, he had to wonder what had been there. Most the items within the cave wouldn’t have been of much use to him. The bowls had been smashed from all the years they could have just been there, most the stone knives had crumbled. Looking up and toward Cosmic’s direction, Page had many questions on his mind, ones that had to be answered…

“Who or what could have lived here?” he asked bending down to pick up a piece of the rust red colored clay that was scattered about the cave. “Were they other Zahdl like myself?”

Cosmic had drifted about the small interior as far as his lines would allow. He looked closely at the wall paintings and down onto the floor and ‘sniffed’ at the items before turning toward Page as he spoke up about the items and who might have made them. Cosmic didn’t know, but they did look very much like items he had seen back home, back in the human world.

“Could have been others like yourself. Ones that might have lived a long time ago.” Cosmic nodded as he drifted back toward Page and looked around again. “There’s a lot of history here, The paintings seem to tell stories of great hunts. Bad times. And others that had just faded away.”

The pair stepped further into the cave, there was a small opening in the back the lead to another, darker chamber. Very little light seeped into the chamber, but it wasn’t one that Page should have stepped into. The rocks here were rougher then the weather worn ones in the frontal chamber. Shuffling about he walked around the outside of the chamber, once and a while he would bump into something that would be laying on the ground. A few bed mats he supposed as he stepped over them until something scrapped across the sandy ground making the boy stop.

“Cosmic? What was that?” he asked wishing he could see within the dark, though he relied upon Cosmic for that at this moment.

“I’ll check…” Cosmic said quietly as he shifted and went ground ward. “Page you might want to back and back out of this chamber.”

Cosmic sounded a bit… Horrified as he came back and tugged at Page’s shoulder edging the boy back toward where they had first entered. Page wasn’t quite sure as to what could have horrified the cat, surely whatever it was, wasn’t that bad for him to know about.

“Why? What is it?” Page insisted on knowing, pulling away from Cosmis’s persistent tugging at his shirt.

“Page, I don’t really think…” He stopped as he noted the glare from Page. “It’s a skull alright. There seems to be a lot of them here. Now can we go?”

Skulls? This made Page’s eyes bug out of his head a bit as he was quick to turn and back track his way out of the chamber. After tripping over whatever there was within the dark, they could have been bones, branches, who knows. He scrambled along the sandy floor in the midst of all this, something got caught up one of his leggings, something small and pointed. Page hadn’t noticed what it was as he ran from the chamber and back out into the smaller one. There he leaned against one of the outer walls, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.

“What was that place? It was like a tomb or something.” He panted barely looking back the way he had come almost expecting something to be following him.

“It could very well have been a tomb, then again, it could not have been. Whatever left those bones might still be here…” Cosmic half hissed as his unseen fur had fluffed out. “Best we head home, Now!”

Page didn’t argue, he wanted away from that place, to leave behind the scattered items and everything about the place behind. He wanted home, something familiar again, though there was a nagging bite near his ankle. He tried ignoring it, but something kept jabbing him in the leg as he walked, finally he stopped and started fishing around the ends of his leggings.

“What’s wrong Page?” Cosmic asked as his golden eyes glanced around at their surroundings, by this time it was starting to grow darker then when they first entered the small cave.

“Something keeps poking my ankle…” He muttered as he pulled out a small arrow head. “Cosmic, what would this be? It looks something like I saw in the paintings.”

Cosmic took a look at the old stone arrow head as he insisted that they kept moving, though Page was very curious about the stone thing. It was about an inch long, very pointy for its age. Barely even worn where it could have been attached to a wooden stick. The stone itself was a soft grey the edges still sharp, if not a bit ragged. They both kept quite until they reached home and a fire was built up so that they could see the stone item clearly.

“It looks to be an arrow head. Barely used at that.” Cosmic nodded as he looked at it better by the fires light. “Seems something didn’t want you to forget that place…”

“I like it,” Page huffed, fluffing up a bit. “I’m going to keep it, to have something that Falco might not.”

Page beamed at the idea of having something that his friend didn’t, well not that he knew of anyways. Tucking the arrow head away for safe keepings, Page went about his nightly duties of catching supper and everything else. By the time the rain did start to fall, Page had drawn a grass weaved blanket over himself and dozed off. His ears twitching a little at the sounds of a late autumn rains outside his cave home…

 

[Kesmi]

Dream Sequence
Page

 

[Kesmi]

The strange voice he had only just been talking to still fluttered about his head as his mind dragged itself sluggishly into the conscious world. Oh he had a headache, it had felt like someone have taken a hold of his hair and his feet and just yanked, really hard. Shaking it off, the voice from his dreams had faded as the sun crept into the entrance of his cave dwelling, it’s warm rays seeping through the small icicles that had accumulated in the night. A brisk chill washed over Page as he suddenly balled up, his hands touching the soft material that now covered his long arms. His back felt warmer then it had when he fell asleep, opening his eyes he blinked.

Sitting up quickly, though also throwing himself for loop, Page looked at himself. True most his clothing were still the same, but he liked the added warmth of the short coat. Stretching something weighted down his neck, looking again he lifted the arrow head that was now dangling from a cord around his neck, but he could have sworn that it was still hidden under his bedding… He had to look, rolling off the mossy bed he pulled it back disturbing Cosmic as he hissed in retaliation. It was gone…

“Cosmic? Please tell me that no one came to our cave last night…” Page muttered looking toward his guardian.

“No one came to the cave, I would have known it the instant I could smell them.” Cosmic yawned.

So it had been a dream, but was this also a dream? If it was, he shouldn’t have been feeling this cold. Shaking his head, his tussled hair shifting a bit as he turned to poke at the nearly cold coals. After stirring up the fire and got it to a good blaze, Page wandered off to bath and catch breakfast. Later that day, he continued studying the arrow head with wonder before looping it back over his head letting it hand against his chest. For now he would let whatever happened in his dreams remain in his dreams.

“Come on, I want to see what’s in the higher cliffs.” Page said finally by mid morning, dragging himself out of the cave

“You really sure you should…” Cosmic began, a bit worried about the wellbeing of Page, but he was met with a somewhat of a glare, “Alright. Lets go.”

So they climbed, Page scaled the cliffs, digging his clawed toes into the cracks in the rocks, minding to find some good hand and foot holds. Once or twice he lost his hold, but managed to cling to what he could, his wings flaring out behind him to help slow his descent. All the while he had Cosmic’s nagging voice in the back of his head. Page always just shrugged him off.

“Cosmic. Your not helping.” Page grunted Holding tight to the cliff face as he headed up higher.

“Boy, you are going to get us both killed.” Cosmic warned, “We could have found a path that lead higher.”

On and on it seemed that Cosmic spoke of the dangers of this reckless climbing without something else to hold onto besides the rocks. Finally Page made it to a small out cropping ledge and there he stopped to rest a moment. The ledge itself was only about a foot wide and a couple feet long. Big enough for him to sit on and leg his feet dangle. The view from his seat was gorgeous, he could see out over the trees. In one direction he could see the faint outlines of what could have been buildings. In another direction he could see the vast expense of the plain where Falco had said he lived upon. Strange that he was that close to so much and didn’t really know about it.

A swift wind began to blow from the top of the cliffs, washing down the rock faces like a waterfall toward the tree tops below. Page’s hair ruffled about his face as he fought to keep it out of his eyes and glance up toward the skies. The cold wing seeped through the collars of his shirt and jacket making him shiver, it certainly did get cold this time of year. The crest upon his head fluffed out as his wings shifted on his back trying to warm him up just a bit. Unknown to him, a small crack had started at the back of the ledge he had been seated upon.

“Page! Lets get down from here before you’re blown off!” Cosmic almost shouted over the roar that filled Page’s ears.

“Don’t be silly Cosmic, we should go higher,” Page insisted, he was starting to insist on a lot of things.

“But Page, the higher we go, the more likely you are to be blown off…” Cosmic continued, “What would everyone say then? When you don’t come around because your foolishness got you killed.”

Page gave a glare, but that was soon altered as the ledge beneath them slipped a couple inches, making Page yelp in surprise. It did seem that the ledge wasn’t as strong as it had looked. Turning quick, Page tried to get a hold on the rock face behind him, but the smooth surface was almost void of too cracks. Oh this was great, the winds pounded harder down the face, driving the ledge to crack and slide further down the cliff. Trying franticly to get a hold on the rocks, he ledge finally snapped off and plunged both itself and Page back toward the trees below. Trees that reached up like pointed spears at the bottom of a pit trap.

Arms flailing at his sides, Page tried righting himself before the trees could come much closer. Cosmic was screaming at Page, screaming for him to open his wings. The thought never clicked until something laid into the back of his skull, claws, sharp pointed claws. Page yelled and tried reaching back at whatever was laying into him, but the trees were growing too close, too fast, there couldn’t have been time to do anything.

“Open your blasted wings!” Cosmic hissed digging his claws in deeper then they were.

Page blinked, hesitated, he had completely forgotten of what he was, of who he was. With the tree tops, bearing down upon them, their branches stirring in the winds that forced them down to make the pointed tops more threatening then they could have thought of being. Willing his frantic, panicked mind to ease for a moment, then finally with a gust and a flurry for feathers, Page opening his wings. Lavender and white fluff escaped the feathers as larger flight feathers grew rapidly. And just before the trees could spear the young bird, Page was lifted away by and upward draft.

“Wha!” Page screamed as he back flipped through the air before finally settling on an easy current, “That was close.”

If Cosmic had been able to have eaten anything, it surely would have come back and splattered over Page’s head. But as it was, he couldn’t and he just sort of melted to laying over Page’s shoulder where he groaned. The cat didn’t seem to like what had just happened, wasn’t it bad enough they were almost killed because Page had to go climbing the rock face instead of finding a safer path.

“Don’t you ever do that again!” Cosmic half grown, half hissed as he tried righting himself, but it only made him feel even more queasy.

Page looked at Cosmic and smiled lightly as he straightened out and headed higher up the cliffs not climbing this time, but by wing. Cosmic dug his claws into Page’s coat as to not slip off and have to race to catch up. Soon the pair landed upon the top of the cliffs. Where the winds blew in fierce gales, it was there he could see everything, even if the air was a bit thinner then below. He could endure, with the winds whipping about him, Page stood strong, not letting himself get pushed around… Again.

 

[Kesmi]

Snow, feet deep and drifting into the entrance of his home. He knew he should have done something before it started growing so deep. Keeping his fire at a good blaze, Page looked over toward the snow as it came closer. It was getting colder and he wasn’t liking it, not one bit, it was getting too cold. Even the river was freezing over in the back and food was getting hard to find. Page shuddered at the thought of leaving home in search of something to eat. He blamed himself for not stocking up, he had been too stupid to think of such things as winter.

“Cosmic, why didn’t you tell me that I should be fixing up this place and everything before the snows came?” Page shivered looking away from the snow.

“You had said that no snow would come. This place would be warm year round.” Cosmic pointed out making Page flinch. “We could always go and find these barracks are that Falco was speaking about a while ago. They would be warm and have well good stalks of food.”

Page didn’t much like the idea of leaving his cave, but there were some things he had to do even if they weren’t to his liking. He hated to leave, now he wished he had listened to Cosmic earlier in the season, the place would have been a lot warmer and he wouldn’t have been starving. Looking back at the snow, the wind and the darkness as the clouds seemed to cover the sun making it seem like night time again. He shivered, couldn’t it have been warmer? Of course it couldn’t have, it was the winter season and in that season it was freezing!

“Well Page, what’s it going to be? Remain here? Or,” Cosmic paused. “We find a warmer place to stay?”

Minutes ticked past as the wind driven snow seemed to come less and less as the storm had started to subside and move away from the current area. For this Page was grateful as he stood and wondered over to the entrance of the cave and looked out over the snow. It was pretty in a way, but freezing cold all the same, he didn’t think his clothing were enough to keep him warm. He had to do something and soon.

“We’re staying here.” Page said finally as he looked toward where Cosmic could have been hovering. “This is our home, not some building with others. When it warms up some, we’ll build a wall here with a small door so that the wind and other weather will remain outside.”

It seemed like a plan, but Cosmic wasn’t very enthusiastic about the whole idea. With not much else he could have done, the cat nodded to himself as he watched his charge place more wood on the fire before taking a small stick and started drawing in the sand floor. Peering over the boys shoulder, Cosmic watched him draw what looked like a good plan for a wall, though the door… It was kinda too small. But Page seemed to catch that on his own and fixed it to where it was slightly bigger, but couldn’t off set the wall itself.

“See stones and clay down here, to try and keep the water out, the atop of that wood with clay and needles in between to make sure it’s good and solid. The door… I haven’t figured out what the make that out of yet. Could always have a cloth like door and hold down the edges with stones when it storms or something. What do you think?”

Cosmic was looking the drawing over carefully, minding to not be too open minded, but it looked like it would work. Now all they had to do was wait for the snow to clear and they could get the stones and claw.

“Looks good Page, but we couldn’t do anything like that until late spring and into the summer. What are you planning on doing for just right now?” Cosmic questioned, seeing if the boy had any other ideas.

“Well for right now, I was think of just putting branches and good logs up, laying pine branches over them, ones that still have their needles, then piling snow up over that. It would only be temporary until we can construct a better wall and door.” Page grinned thinking he had outwitted his guardian.

Well, that put a damper on Cosmic’s spirits of getting the boy somewhere, where he could meet other people and everything. The boy was smart, smarter then he appeared a while ago when Cosmic was first assigned to protect him. Back then, the bird didn’t seem to have much of a brain, but now, he was outwitting Cosmic left and right. This was going to be fun when he came across others.

“Alright Page, when the wind stop blowing and the sun comes out, we’ll create your wall and hope that it’s enough to hold back the elements until later.” Cosmic agreed turning his golden sight towards the snow, remembering how cold it all was.


Later that day, Page and Cosmic ventured out into the snow to find good sturdy logs and branches, piling them up he set them side by side making sure to keep them as close as possible. Soon gathering many branches of pine he laid them over the wall that leaned out a bit at the base where the wood was held up by the snow. After a few hours work and a days worth of no rest, Page stepped back and looked at the completed wall. It looked solid enough and he had left space at the end for himself to squeeze through and get inside. Wasn’t much of a door really, but it would work.

For now.

“There we go, that should keep the inside warmer then before.” Page piped stepping around to where he could slip in, already the interior of his cave home was warming up again. “Already warmer in here.”

“That’s all and good Page, but what do you think we should do for food? Can’t live off snow and dirt you know.” Cosmic pointed out, but it seemed that the boy had thought of that too.

“Cosmic, a while ago I had found a tunnel leading deeper into the cave we live in now. Mayhap that will have some food in it or something. You know?” Page nodded sitting beside his fire again. “Never know what you could find out here.”

“Indeed” Cosmic muttered distantly.


Page had turned in early that night, unknowingly something lurked outside the cave. Its foot steps were near silent and there seemed to be more then just one… Cosmic was the first to awaken to the sounds of digging, ears laying back he hissed thus startling Page who whacked his head against the wall.

“Ow, Cosmic, it’s the middle of the night.” Page groaned though turned toward the sound as well. “What in that?”

He hadn’t really the time to say anything else before two small balls of fluff came bounding through the door of his cave and leaping toward him. Foofoos, one a pure red with green ankle cuffs, the other a white and red with red ankle cuffs. Both landed on Page and started lapping at his face.

“Hey now,” Page laughed trying to move the FooFoos off him and set them down on the floor where they would sit a waging their tails. “Where did these little guys come from?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Cosmic hissed, feeling that his fur, if he had any would have been standing straight out and his tail twitching. “And don’t think you’re keeping them.”

Too late, Page was already falling in love with the small balls of fluff as both curled up beside him and the three had fallen asleep, leaving Cosmic to talk to himself. A frown would come to him as he glanced at them, his forepaws crossing over themselves as he hissed again. The balls of fluff were nothing but trouble to him, and more mouths to feed…

 

[Kesmi]

-Coming soon-  

[Kesmi]

Burr. It was cold out here when he returned to his world from the Zahdl shop front, colder then he remembered. His lightly blue colored skin was covered with shiver bumps and his tail tip felt like it was held down by ice. Couldn’t he have brought a blanket or something? Even if it wouldn’t help his frozen feet. Bright teal eyes stared at the blank boney trees as he trudged through the snow, knee deep snow at that, it was making him lose all feeling in his feet… Too late, his feet were just about froze and he could just barely feel his toes. It couldn’t get any worse then that, well it could if it was starting to get dark, luckily the icy sun hung high over head.

“Man, it’s colder then I remember it was.” He shivered rubbing his arms to try and get more warmth into them. “I hope we can find some place warm to stay.”

”Well it certainly is cold out here. Colder then home ever was.” Tsunami agreed as she loomed over her charge, trying her best to keep the young spirit warm with her essence. “Now lets see if there is anyone out here. Before dark if possible.”

”Yea, I’m sure it will be even colder when night comes.” Inna shivered at the thought.

Shaking off the feeling of the cold, Inna surged on through the snow, his keen eyes glancing around for anything that could be used for shelter. Stopping for a moment he looked off toward the cliffs, there was something there, well it looked it from where he stood. Blinking a couple of times, Inna changed directions and headed toward the cliffs. His curious nature pulling him toward the base of the cliffs and the possible place that could be shelter.

”Hey Tsunami, I think I see something. Can’t be sure, but maybe it could be a shelter.” Inna said between shivers as a crisp wind blew through him.

Tsunami nodded, her own unseen eyes glancing forward toward where the young mouse was headed. Even being just the essence she was, the wind still pulled and chilled her. As more dead looking trees slowly passed the pair, slowly the cliffs’ base grew closer and closer, by the time night had started to fall, Inna had stopped to munch on some winter berries he had found and rested in the hollow of a tree. The air was becoming crisper and as the sun sank behind the cliffs, Inna could see something glowing off the edge of the rock face and the scent of smoke drifted.

”I can smell smoke, there must be someone here with a fire.” Inna piped up after the long silent walk.

Without even a word of caution Inna had picked up his pace to where he came to a snow covered wall, his nose twitching a little as he pawed at the wall before walking over to where the smoke was drifting from. Even from the door, the warmth from inside was more inviting and he invited himself inside. Shaking the snow from his tail and feet, Inna scurried over to the low burning fire and sat as close as he could and reached out toward the flames. Oh it was blissful to be somewhere, where it was actually warm, glancing around the cave, he wondered who or what could possibly have been living there. In one corner was a bed and Inna’s eyes lit up as it looked more comfortable then where ever he had slept before.

”Inna, I do have to warn you that barging into someone else’s home isn’t polite…” She paused as Inna was distracted. “Inna? INNA!” She shouted making the mouse blink.

”what?” Inna asked shaking his head some to clear his daze like condition. “What were you saying?”

Tsunami sighed and shook her head, not even wanting to repeat herself, but other things distracted her now as Inna’s own ears picked up the sounds of other voices. They seemed to be coming from further in the cave, but… Where was he to hide? Glancing around, there really wasn’t that much in the main chamber of the cave and he didn’t want to go back outside, it was freezing out there by now. At the moment, Inna just sat there, frozen with fear beside the fire, many questions running through his young mind.

”Cosmic, please. I don’t think we could keep anything alive in there, dead maybe, but not alive.” said a male’s voice, older at that. Though no verbal reply came that a small mouse could hear. “No, no, I’m not going to go back there. Not even if I am older, I’m not going back! End of story.”

The sounds of foot steps grew closer to where Inna sat, he watched the back of the cave as someone drew closer. Their form hidden by the dancing shadows until it came into the light. It was an older Zahdl, much older then Inna himself. Eyes growing he scurried back away from the fire as the older male stopped at the sounds he made. Eyes met, the stranger’s purple to his bright teal. Silence ensued for what seemed like forever before someone said something, it was the older Zahdl that spoke before he could.

”Who are you and what are you doing here?” the Zahdl asked raising a brow as a feathery crest on his head lifted a bit.

”Ah.. Well..” Inna stammered his ears falling against the sides of his head. “It’s cold out there, this was the only place I found that was actually warm and dry. And my name’s Inna, my guardian is named Tsunami Inu.”

Inna watched as the older one came closer to the fire and tossed a couple logs on the small flames making them burst into life again. At this Inna scrambled backwards even more trying to remain in what shadows had been visible, but all were gone now as the light brightened everything. Ears falling to the sides of his head, Inna watched the teen very, very closely. The teen had looked at him oddly as if Inna had something on his face, ears twitching just a bit his head tilted to one side.

”Is there something on my face or something?” Inna asked as his long tuft tail twitched behind him.

”No, but act as if you’ve never seen a fire before…” Page pointed out, “Why are you here anyways?” he asked over looking the fact that he hadn’t introduced himself… Yet…

”Well, I don’t remember much, only that I was in a dark room when Tsunami found me, I think. Then I was out there in the cold and wet.” Inna strained to remember before shuffling forward again and took hold of Pages jacket sleeve. “Please don’t send me back out there, mister. It’s really cold.” Inna whined tugging at the jacket a bit.

Page blinked at how suddenly the mouse just about jumped upon him, merging both guardians together, Tsunami clashed with Cosmic bewilderedly. Watching the boy and hearing the whine coming from him, why did that sound so familiar? Shaking his head, Page plucked the boy from his sleeve and straightened out his coat again. The thought of tossing the boy back into the cold hadn’t even crossed his mind until it was brought up, it wasn’t such a bad idea, then again, Page had been born in the summer when the weather was still warm.

”Calm down. Where did you get the idea I was going to throw you back out into the snow?” Page asked a brow raised inquisitively. “Also my name’s Page, my over seer is named Cosmic.” Gestures toward the black cloud-ish mass.

”Thank you, Page.” Inna just about shouted with glee before leaping on Page to give him a hug. “So do you live here alone? Are there others about like us?” the questions came and Inna sat on Page’s lap looking up at him all starry eyes and bushy(Literally) tailed.

”Inna, not so many questions, please.” Tsunami scolded gently trying not to harm her young charge’s feelings. “Kids” She giggled in Cosmic’s direction.

”Indeed.” Cosmic snorted as he watched the pair, particularly Inna, with a hungry gaze

Cosmic sensed a wave of distaste coming from Tsunami and averted his unseen gaze and hovered around Page’s back this was going to be a long winter with them around. Page on the other hand had plucked Inna from his lap and placed him on the dirt floor of the cave beside him and rigorously tried to straighten out his shirt. Then there was the onslaught of question, this boy still reminded him of himself at that age, though he didn’t have anyone to look up to either, giving him a shy demeanor.

”Ho, slow down there. One at a time,” Page said with a soft chuckle. “Yes I do live here alone, I tend to be a loner. And I have met a few others like ourselves, other Zahdls at least. Though I’ve never seen one quite like you.”

Inna nodded as the first two were answered, he shoved the others away as to not get scolded again by Tsunami. Inna watched Page try and straighten his clothing and had to wonder if he would get clothing when he grew up, it certainly would be better then him running around by the skin on his back. Besides the circlets that were about his neck and arm.

”Can I stay here with you?” Inna asked, putting on the ‘puppy’ face

Feeling sort of backed into a corner, Page eyed the young mouse and shrugged his coated shoulders. He didn’t mind if Inna stayed, it seemed better then venturing back out into the snow. Poking at the fire with a long stick Page eyed the single bed in the main cave, he wasn’t about to share it with the kid. He would have to think of something later, but he supposed he could spare sleeping on the floor for at least one night.

”I guess…” Page started before his ears caught the noise of soft snoring. Looking down he eyed the mouse that had fallen asleep with his head on ‘his’ lap. “Oh this is going to be a long winter.” He grumbled poking the fire again.