Welcome to Gaia! ::

Astral watched with wide eyes as she clung to Maya. She was trying not to show how scared she was, but seeing as how she'd been silent the whole time, it was pretty clear that she was terrified, "Who...who are you?" She stammered.

[[*kicks herself to remember to check all her guilds more often*]]

Slowly, but surely, the figure stepped ever closer to the group. Half ignoring the shouts of the young Garnet Jumi before her, she snickered at the whole lot of them.
Pitiful...really. I thought there'd be more to come after the precious Clarius...but now...now that I have her. Oh yes...my dreams can become reality.
Her hand shot back, pointing a slender wand tipped with a small core at the young Clarius. This caused an obvious shock of painful energy to go throughout her frail body. Crystal whimpered, still out of it, but managed to half open an eye, reaching a tiny hand out to the others. "She....save...her....." was all the girl could manage to utter before another shock was sent through her body.
Hmph..her energy is all mine now.
The woman was now so close that everyone could get a good look of her...

She looked down at her core, which looked to have been shattered in the past. Cracks and large missing chunks covered the surface. But it was a brilliant color..almost the same as that tiny Garnet Jumi's core.
This woman had an air of royalty to her..but she seemed...dead at times.

What could she want the Clarius for...? Where did she come from...? More importantly...who is this woman?

Ying shrugged helplessly at Mesmerelda. She didn't know what to do, even what to think. What would someone stronger do if they were here? Eriol-niisan would probably yell alot, but all the while be thinking of something clever. Yeinie would be nervous, but attack fiercely. But Ying didn't want to yell anymore, she'd had enough of that, and she didn't want to hurt anyone. That wasn't going to help. Besides, it looked like the older Jumi had already been hurt pretty badly.

Whimpering, she faltered, backing into Remus accidentally. "P-please, miss, just give Crystal back. Maybe we can... h-help you?"

After climbing down from the rocks, her little eyes full of worry searched for Crystal. Where is she? Following The Tala's lead, she held tightly onto the hand of her two companions while inside the tunnel. It was so dark, she didn't like it.

Was her eyes decieving her? She could see a faint pinkish glow in the distance at the end of the tunnel. The glow seemed familiar, yet it felt strange. Could it be a Jumi? Only time would tell, she continued onward through the tunnel.

The few maroon stones that floated towards the group started her, which caused her to jump a bit in suprise. A strange energy emited from them...what could they be?

"Well...I'll be damned..." He mumbled to himself when he saw the new Jumi. She was different though. A shattered core?

Staring at the Jumi's cracked core, she wondered, Maybe the reason she needs Crystal is to heal her core? Even so...the core looks REALLY damaged. Like beyond repair-damaged...

Taken back by the sudden shout of the Jumi, Emarude blinked and stopped staring. All the cores around her were dancing around her, much like a shield protecting her from danger. She felt bad at staring at the woman, much less her condition. Kameko was quite old...almost to the point of ancient.

"Why would the other Jumis leave you to fend for yourself? Could you have possibily done something wrong to offend them? Please...give Crystal back to us!"

Emarude cringed when the Clarius was shocked. Then the Jumi of Padparadscha yelled once again. Flying cores everywhere, they shattered parts of the cave, causing chunks of rock to fall, which ironically caused her to get hit.

"...But we didn't do any of this...You did..." She pointed out politely.

Kira tried to cover Emarude from the falling chunks of rock as much as possible, luckily only tiny ones fell ontop of her. She was glad that Kyou was concerned enough to do the same also.

It seemed easier to back people up than to strike out on her own. "Mes's right," Ying piped up, while staying near as close to the back of the group as she dared. "And Emarude too! We don't want to hurt you anymore... we just want to make sure that no one gets hurt anymore."

"Besides," she added after a moment of thought, "it looks like you're just hurting yourself..."

"Why should I listen to the likes of you all?! Tell me, why should I!" Kameko glared at all the little ones trying to calm her down. It reminded her of her childhood..
Her face went black for a moment as she remembered being a child. And for a few seconds, a smile grew across her lips. "...My..friends.." She reached a hand out, trying to grab at the images in her mind. But it was useless...and they faded away.
Her cores all fell to the floor, shattering into tiny pieces. This alarmed her greatly and she let out a slight whimper. "W...why.."

All this time, Crystal had gotten to her feet and was only a few steps away from Kameko. She reached her tiny hands out to grasp onto her arm. "Please...we wish to help you. We mean you no harm at all. Just...please listen to everyone.."

Finally, Kameko fell to her knees and sobbed. "As a child, I had many friends. I grew up to be one of the smartest of our race. I knew almost everything..but not the one thing that all the Jumi wanted to know...How to breed." She shook her head and her look grew painful. "But I figured it out..and I was so proud that I couldn''t tell anyone. And so, I left Etansel..and I studied gems, hoping I could find more about breeding. But soon after I moved into this cave, there was a terrible earthquake..and I was left with my core broken..and myself buried under tons of rocks. When I managed to dig myself out and rest, I felt your energy...I thought that the Jumi of this time would be just like those of the past. So I lured your Clarius here. It was a wonderful plan.."

Crystal frowned, kneeling down and looking Kameko in the eyes. "We would never force you to tell us the secrets of breeding. But...you said that the Jumi of the past left you to fend for yourself...it seems to me like you left out of your own will. Kameko...we care about everyone and I don''t think even the Jumi of the past would have kicked you out." She smiled once more and placed a tiny hand on the broken core. "And I can heal you. But your core will still be broken..you will have to be careful. No more living in this cave.." And she turned around. "We need to find a suitable home for you. I would take you in, but we''ve already got a full house. I think it should be your choice, though.."

Kameko looked at all the Jumi infront of her after listening to all that Crystal had to say. After a moment of thinking, she pointed to the green haired one. "That girl..the Jumi of Emerald. She has such compassion..and I hope that maybe I can learn from her."