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 Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 8:57 am
... Arrival
Journal RP / Solo
Everything seemed to happen so fast, but really took place in a matter of days, weeks, and even months. Everything seemed to fall into place. First off an event happened, where a new vale had been homed. It was a good site to see something like that happened... but what happened next totally left the elf in shock and awe. Being promoted... to a researcher.
A researcher over his own wing. Which will be used to harbor studies on the reproduction of the vale.
How strange really... a plant thing being able to breed, but oh well. Some ones going to have to study and find ways of this happening.
The events didn't stop there either. A new plant and being an observer over his own Vale. A cactus species known as Opuntia humifusa. In other words Prickly Pear Cactus. What would this Vale turn out to be like? Would it be like the other Vales and show a likeness to be that of human? Only in time would that be shown.
This was going to be his first day back at work with his new Vale awaiting him in his new laboratory. The elf walked down the very familiar tiled floor and towards the elevator that would take him upstairs. With a ding the doors flew open and closed right behind him, taking the elf upwards. Another ding rang out as the doors once again opened and closed. Kyocho headed off to his lab.
“Nine… Nine… laboratory nine. Oh right here!”
Placing his hand on the door knob and gave it a turn and wandered inside closing the lab door behind him. The site was rather plain and boring. A table rested in the center and was surrounded by cupboards and more tables lining the walls. Much like a chemistry class room. Although off to the side of the door where the table ended. There was a potted plant. This must be his new charge… rather small.
“So you must be my study…”
Kyo nodded. Pulling up a barstool and took a seat in front of the potted plant. Throwing his bag over his shoulder and onto the counter next to it.
“Well we might as well get started.”
Reaching into his bag, Kyocho pulled out a clipboard and some papers and began to jot down some notes.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:43 pm
... Lunch TimeOpen RPSoda = Black Kyocho = GreenLime = BrownLunch Time!
............................
Sodashi strode through the now somewhat halls on yet another epic quest; a quest for food. Her worn out shoes were near silent as she trodded along, yet, the little silver sleigh bell she had foolishly attached to herself in light of the Christmas season tinkled with every step announcing her presence to the echoing hallways and anyone within 20 meters of her, no doubt. However, the girl sported a set of headphones, thus leaving her indifferent to the noise she made as her fingers tapped lightly to the beat against her jeans. Absentmindedly, she hummed a few bars here, then suddenly stopped as the music got a head of her, then jumped back in, making a rather non-musical tune.
Ah. Here we are. She smiled. The pearly white gates doors of the Break Room, home of caffeine and other unhealty snacks, always propped open to visitors.
A pot swayed back and forth. Held in the midst of the Elvin researcher. It was time for a good `ol lunch break and hopefully some of the more well known Observers had decided the same old thing.
To this elf, it seemed with the sudden promotion and the receiving of his own vale that a lot more lunch breaks where going to be needed. Since having to research the possibility of breading between vales would most likely take some time... and a lot of dedication.
Pushing gently on the doors leading into the break room with his back. Kyocho silently wandered his own way through... picking up his own lunch from the fridge on the way. The sharp eyes of this elf quickly averted to Soda. Quickly taking a seat at one of the tables, Kyocho put the pot down on the table. Who knew why he took it with him, his only reason was to keep a close eye on anything suspicious. Then he pulled out his sandwich and took a bite.
A 'social butterfly' is a very odd phrase if one thinks about it. A butterfly is a mute and deaf creature the rarely comes together with another butterfly unless for mating. Yet people forget these obvious facts and instead focus on the fact it flits about from flower to flower and communicates via various gestures with its body. In retrospect the meaning of social butterfly is rather amusing if you sit to think about it. So I suppose in this aspect Ariann, otherwise known as just Ari, was indeed a social butterfly. She was quiet to most but herself. And those that did try to talk to her with their own bemusing body languages and words she hardly did hear anyway.
No, Ari was not usually a confident person who was the first to dance and get a sore thumb from replying to text messages. Of course when you use the word usually there will always be an exception unless the person you're talking to is finding the English language rather hard to deal with.
This exception for Ari was in her lunch room. Okay Maybe it wasn't exactly hers but it was a place she felt much more comfortable in. It was a place where she could just feel more relaxed than when she was out and to the beck and call of every person in the entire facility. So far she had only been working as Janitor for just over two weeks. most of the 'regulars' here were just nameless faces to her with only the foggiest of idea what their names might be.
Currently she was not thinking of such things though, instead her mind was much more interested in the crossword puzzle she had found lying on the table she now sat at half finished. A few words had already been done and filled in with a blue pen, her own black one was being tapped against the flimsy glossy paper with the lid sticking out of her mouth while her teeth grinded away at it. One would think that in a lunchroom there would be a much more appetising thing to eat besides a pen lid.
Of course there was! what kind of lunch room is complete without food? In fact a large mug of tea and a neatly cut salad sandwich was sitting just in front of the young girl. She just wasn't as interested in it as she was in the crossword. After all, what kind of competition was it when comparing a mind puzzle to just stuffing your face with a snack to keep the noises in your belly silenced? Okay so maybe there was a few more reasons for her to eat than do a crossword but she’d get to it later right?
Half way down the third column of clues her head jerked up to the sound of footsteps entering the previously hushed space. First it had just been a little tinkling sound, like that of a bell you would put on a cat or dog, though in this season it was probably something more festive.
And then there had been even more footsteps coming in, this time it was without a faint jingling sound.
Both offenders happened to be Researchers of the facility and to this Ari had to raise an eyebrow, a sudden worried thought, bigger than a eight lettered word describing a feeling of constant suspicion, entered her head. So far she had only seen researchers had enter this lunchroom. Was it possible that there were separate lunchrooms for staff? It seemed odd for such a thing to be but then where were other employers like her? For a moment the image of the boiler room flashed as a warning inside her mind. No way was she consuming her food down there! A small chill passed over her, well if they wanted anyone to eat in such a condition maybe the janitor job hadn’t been the greatest idea the blonde girl had had.
The girl strode in in that with that ridiculously confident air about her in a rather waltz-like gait. The lunchroom was empty as usual save for a new girl she'd never met deepy concentrated on some crossword, which was good. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice Sodashi scrounging for food in the fridge. She dug around here, moving things aside to see what treasures might be in the back, then she searched there reading labels trying to find perhaps some forgotten food.
And right as she was hitting gold, footsteps. She instantly straighted and casually shifted things around as she waited for the figure to appear in the doorway. Kyo. She turned back around against searching for food, a faint smile on her face.
"Researcher Kyo. Too good for me for even a hello now?" she threw over her shoulder. She reached forward and found her an apple that hadn't grown into a moldy science project yet and swiftly moved to the table where the Crossword Worker sat, stealing a glance across her attempting to find a name.
"No matter. I've got a new friend and it seems you do too," she nodded at the pot, grinning, daring her old friend to reply.
"Ahh, but I'm never too good to say hello to you. I just thought you might be a bit to busy digging through the fridge. Just thought I might as well wait till you take a seat." Kyo waved his sandwich in the air for a minute then stopped... slowly thinking.
"Yeah... I guess I made a new friend, but you can never have enough friends..."
Then the elf's eyes darted around the room as he bent closer to the table and silently whispered.
"We are on lunch. Don't worry about formalities." The elf nodded. Never really liked being called anything other than just 'Kyocho', but sometimes they where needed.
'Third row down, two done and still going'
Ari thought to herself, smiling slightly to herself. It as hard for her to ever get into any kind of newspaper puzzle other than sodoku or 'what's this phrase?' Yet this one was indeed holding her interest rather firmly. The scritching scratching of her pen meant another word filled in and she drew a line slowly through the clue, re-reading it just in case she had made a mistake in what the answer could be, for unlike people who normally did this kind of thing, Ari was using a pen and not a pencil.
However she was finding it harder and harder to concentrate with the new people in the room, they were obviously researchers but did they have to be so loud? not that she could really blame them, they were above her and this was just as much their break roo as hers, if not more...well probably alot more. For some reason their voices broke in and out of her mind, picking up words every now and then. Was she so keen to try and actually be someone that fitted in here? This was not like her at all, not even slightly. Bile rose up in her throat merely thinking of someone eavesdropping on someone else's conversation. It was a violation of privacy really, these two people could be having a discussion on some new specimen that was dangerous to the public and she'd start to panic and admit she was a dirty little eavesdropper and quit.
Thinking this, she gave the pot on the table that had been placed there by the one which had been addressed as 'Researcher Kyo' with a slight panic. Of course it was all nonsense, plants didn't come to life! Then again wasn't that the entire point of this facility? True enough she had joined this place as an employee but did she really have to believe such theories? Then again this 'Kyocho' seemed to have elven ears..some new kind of surgery?
for a small while she thought about this. At last coming to a point in which she was happy with. she'd drop it for now and just do what one normally would in a situation like this.
With a quick gesture she pushed her own food to the side along with the puzzle and pen she had been using.
"Need more space?"
She asked, eyeing them both curiously.
Sodashi snorted, a mocking frown on her face. "Oh sure, Kyo. Good save, Kyo." The girl flashed a crooked grin, and the apple halfway to her mouth before the girl beside her probably gave up on the two and cut through their so very intense conversation with something completely irrelivant and giving the pair a rather queer look. "... Eh? What'dyasay?"
"Some one looks like they haven't been working here long. No need to be nervous around us!" The Elvin man smiled. Picking up his potted plant and his lunch and moved a bit closer to the two. Sitting back down, Kyocho took a big bite out of his meal and rested his arm on the rim of experiments pot.
"Now what's your name?" The elf grinned with raised eye brows.
Ari raised an eyebrow at the two for a minute. while one seemed rather confused at the concept of her own speech the other was much more warm and inviting, a slight preference towards him took hold of her for but a second, then again that's what first appearances do right?
a timid smile caressed her lips sheepishly, still feeling out of place.
"Is it that obvious?' she thought silently to herself, lifting her eyes to the others to get a better looks at this researcher. his looks…they were...they were positively elvin! Hoping that her face didn't betray such surprise she took a bit out of her own sandwich, making a loud crunching sound as teeth met lettuce and carrot, tearing it away noisily.
After finishing the bite she repeated her previous words, making it a bit clearer this time.
"More space, for you're food. I don't want to take up to much space. "
A gesture towards her two new table occupants lunches and the pot were enough to say what she was referring to. with a little less enthusiasm she added "My name is Ariann, Ari for short though."
Finishing with a cough and looking much more curiously up at them.
"Yourselves?"
Sodashi blinked twice at Kyo's warm invitation. He was always more of a friendly guy than she was... no wonder he rarely got in trouble. Maybe being ridiculously friendly to every being you met wasn't such a bad trait after all. Then again... the life on the streets had taught her otherwise... but what harm could it do in a research building? The girl seemed to resign herself, shrugging, a small look of puzzlement on her face.
But the look was quickly replaced with another stifled laugh as she and Kyo waited for the other to finish chewing. When the girl had repeated herself, Sodashi had to stifle yet another laugh as she glanced at her single piece of baggage, a half eaten apple.
"Space? I'm fine thanks for the thought.." she let out a laugh, unable to surpress her amusement a third time.
A minor thought that her own demeanor was rather rude crossed her momentarily, but just as it had been so many other times, the thought was quickly brushed off, Sodashi's attention back on the girl as she gave a name.
"Ari. Pretty. Sodashi. Or Soda if you like." The girl winked and took another bite out of her apple.
"They call me Kyocho or Kyo for short, which ever is ok with me!" The elf nodded in agreement, then quickly took a bite out of his sandwich.
Then the room went in a some what odd silence. Except for the sounds of eating and what not. The elf adjusted his arm on the edge of his pot and rested it onto the table instead. A small yawn left his lips.
Ari nodded her head in a friendly greeting to Kyo, though she had no idea what to make of this other, excpet that her he name 'Soda' made her thirsty, that sounded weird even in her own head! Despite this she smiled at them both, blushing at sod'a laughter, true it had been a silly enough suggestion for such little items but wasn't it the thought that counted?
Still it made her irritated in the slightest of ways and as much as she wished it didn't the emotion showed itself plainly on her face. Her features were commiting mutiny against her and woking on their own, Damn it!
"Thank you, Sodashi, Soda is also...interesting."
A quick smile and a bite into her own lunch hid the majourity of her face, though the lapsing silence was killing her inside, someone needed to talk, but it wouldn't be her! her eyes darted back again quickly to the crossword scooted to the side a fair bit, hmm what was a four letter word meaning bird?
With two more crunching bites, she finished off her apple leaned back in her chair and sent her core in an arching dive directly into the trash with a rustling landing.
"Two points," she grinned smugly.
Now this was the trouble with never bringing your own lunch. You always managed to finish before the rest. And then was the awkward waiting for the others to finish gnawing at their perfect sandwiches with the crust cut cleanly off and no mayonnaise oozing out the sides. With their lettuce pieces placed perfectly, ham and cheese and whatever else was in those goddamn sandwiches never budging an inch slipping out the sides.
Yea ok. So maybe she was a little prejudice against sandwiches. So maybe the girl was a -little- jealous of those rich, fancy pansy kids she had always seen picnicking the parks while she’d be living off the streets. Whatever. Call it a pet peeve. Sodashi had a lot of those.
"So Soda, We still got some time left in our lunches. I'm pretty sure there are some unexplored reaches. We have yet had gone to in the vastness they call a facility. What do you say, you up to a little adventure?"
Kyo nodded. A glare of adventure hung in his eye... or was it just a lose eyelash? Anyways. It was getting rather dull just sitting here with these two and Kyo wanted to go do something.... something to kill his curiosity.
Ari's eyes jerked up at the mention of exploring this 'uncharted area', well at least some of the unknown parts of the faciltiy. Saying or thinking of it like that didn't sound nearly as glamourous though.
His attitude at the table seemed to be one of both boredom of curiosity, though why Ari couldn't put her finger on exactly. Wasn't this guy a researcher?
"I wouldn't mind looking."
she voiced, a little unsure they would be interested in taking the silent girl who didn't seem to be saying all that much.
Sodashi nearly snorted for the, what, fourth time during this one lunch period? Kyo's inner adventurer shines once again. And apparently, he had managed to bring out a little inner Ari as well. An uncomfortable feeling streaked through Sodashi as she watched Ari warm up to Kyo with such ease. Not that it was jealousy, of course. Pft. What an idiot thought.
Nevertheless, it was true, adventure was always something that lit a bulb in Soda's world. She eyed the other researcher. "Shall I get my fiddle, then? Or are we content scouring the facility for hidden treasures in silence with only conversation to entertain?" Blue eyes flicked to Ari for no more than a moment. "Assuming that our friend here can speak more than four words a sentence?"
"I think a bit of music would be enjoyable, so why not bring it along with us Soda" Kyo nodded, a smile drawn upon his face. Still clinging to his pot. Then his mind began to wander... his eyes moving away from the two girls and directly to his pot.
I wonder... what you'll look like...
The elf shook his head and focused back on the two.
"So lets get going!"
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:37 am
... Bulgy!!
Kyo's research seemed to be progressing very well so far. The cactus didn't die, that was a major accomplishment, but that practice in the green house gave him the upper hand.
It happened over night actually. Kyo went home the previous day. Opuntia still a cactus, then when he returned in the morning. Something caught his eye. Something... bulgy and green and breathing.
What kind of monster? The elf thought at first, but as he moved in closer and closer. It started to look more plant like. Then Kyo shifted his gaze over to the pot, but nothing was there except a mess of soil and some broken clay.
"Opuntia?" Kyo spoke softly, but the babe didn't respond, the elf shrugged. "At least I brought a blanket and left it here a while back, might as well get you comfy." The elf nodded.
Returning back to his work space and opening a cabinet door. The elf retrieved a blanket that was colored tan, with no fancy designs decorating it. Rather bland and boring, but it was warm since it was made of fleece.
Kyo held the blanket tightly and felt it's soft fabric next to his cheek.
"I think you'll like this." Kyo nodded once more, then wandered his way over and crouched next to Opuntia and lifted him up gently as he replaced the tile floor, that was warmed by the sun, with the tan blanket and rested the babe back down.
"I wonder if I need to feed you..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:14 pm
... BABIES!!!Dracon: Black Kyo: GreenBabies
------------
Raven held Imelda close in her arms as they were sitting in the main room. The little girl was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Raven had other interests than her, which was troublesome. Having multiple children who were absolutely in love with themselves was going to cause a headache. Having more than that in the family was going to cause multiple headaches across the sisters, the extended family...
But Raven didn't care. After all, she was here with Immy now, and the little girl was absorbed in Raven being absorbed with her.
Kyo released a long sigh as he rested his back against the cushion of the desk chair. So far it's been a long long day and with the crying and whining of a baby wasn't helping. Even though he had another charge that he was looking after, Oak knew how to care for himself... but Opuntia couldn't do any of that himself.
"Opuntia why can't you care for yourself? Maybe I should get Oak in here to help out... since he's part plant." Kyo shrugged and smirked, "no.. we can't do that. Well hey why not go for a walk around the new wing and maybe stop off and get some fresh air?" Kyo nodded. Pushing himself up off his chair. The elf wandered over to his new charge and reached down and carefully put his arms carefully around the sleeping-half-awake child, but carefully avoiding the spines that lined his body.
Kyo opened his office door and gave it a silent close. Even though the wing was empty, since none of the vale where old enough to need it. The elf let out a sigh again.
I can't wait to get this wing up and running..
Spotting the office door opening and then closing again, Raven blinked, curious. Hey, maybe that'd be someone she could find out more information from? Or at least someone who she could talk to. Raven shifted Imelda gently as she stood, wanting to see what was going on.
Immy was more than a little displeased that Raven wasn't giving her the undivided attention she deserved, but hey... it wasn't a problem. Yet. Pouting slightly, she clung to Raven
Kyo's face was partially shaded by a few strands of hair falling over his face. A slight sigh escaped his lips as he lifted his head back up, while he pushed the strands back with his left hand. A slight glimpse of a figure appeared in the corner of his eye.
"Oh.. um hi." Kyo smiled gently as he pushed Opuntia higher up on his torso and rested the babes sleeping head on his right shoulder.
"Is there something I can help you two with?"
"I was just... I mean," Raven stumbled for a moment before, "...I simply was... I haven't met many other guardians of these little children," she explained finally, motioning eloquently to Imelda
"Ah... ok." Kyo moved his left arm away from his charge and handed it over to the wandering observer.
"Well I’m Researcher Kyocho, I’m... watching over this new wing." The elf gave a nod of his head, then slightly tilted it to the side and stared blankly at the observer.
"Ah," Raven nodded slightly, considering this. Researcher. That was someone who paid attention to things and carried a position of some importance. Raven should remember that. "What wing is this?" she asked after a moment, belatedly realizing she didn't already know the answer to the query.
Imelda frowned to herself, tugging at Raven's earlobe to try to regain her guardian's attention. She didn't want Raven to pay attention to other people, just to her.
"Ah, this is the Esperanza Wing. It's not quite open and running at it's full potential yet." Kyo nodded a small smile on his face.
"Although hopefully soon it will be." The elf tapped a finger on his chin. "You still have yet to introduce yourself. Do you mind telling me who you are?"
Opuntia slowly opened his eyes. Still feeling a slight bit drowsy, which was normal for him. Being a cactus and all. A yawn escaped his green lips, then his eyes closed once again.
"Ah," Raven nodded slightly, considering this. Researcher. That was someone who paid attention to things and carried a position of some importance. Raven should remember that. "What wing is this?" she asked after a moment, belatedly realizing she didn't already know the answer to the query.
Imelda frowned to herself, tugging at Raven's earlobe to try to regain her guardian's attention. She didn't want Raven to pay attention to other people, just to her.
"It's nothing to worry about. It's very nice to meet you Observer Raven." Kyo winced at saying Observer, he wasn't much for formalities, but it's something he would have to work on and get used to.
"Or shall I just call you Raven and forget the formalities. I'm not really used to using them," Kyo nodded, "Oh and what brings you all the way out here?"
Opuntia's eyes shot open. Causing a pen to shoot out of Kyo's lab coat pocket. Then his eyes looked up into his guardian and glared for a minute, just before he shifted his body around so he could get a better look at the one sending that strange feeling that some one is watching you.
"There.. he goes again." Kyo sighed and ignored the pen.
Indeed, the little green... Vale... seemed to be doing something. He was shifting around, though Raven had to wonder-- wouldn't those spikes hurt? He must've been some sort of cacti... ah well. Something to onder on later. "Just Raven's fine," the girl murmured after a moment. "And how shall I address you, Sir?" she asked, considering. After all, it was fine for him to neglect the formalities in addressing her, as she was the inferior of the two, but would it be terribly out of place for her to neglect them as well?
Imelda snuggled up to Raven, ignoring Opuntia. She'd decided he wasn't a threat, especially now that he moved. Movement was a sign of being there, not really necessary to consider. Usually. Sometimes the opposite.
Kyo winced. Even though the spines that lined Opuntia where present, they where not all that sharp... at least not yet.
"...Y..You can call me Kyo." The elf nodded. Piercing his eyes slightly. "Yeah.. Kyo should be good."
Kyo sighed..
"Ok.. I can't handle this any more. Opuntia, you need to relax and turn back around for now." The elf rested his hands round the babes waists and then turned him back around, so that Opuntia's face was once again resting on his shoulder.
"I'm going to need to find something to strap him across my back tomorrow. Hey, you wouldn't have any suggestions would you?"
Opuntia released an unsettling grunt as he was flipped around. No longer being able to return the watchful eye the girl was giving him.
Nodding slightly, Raven smiled. "Kyo then. It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Not a pleasure Raven had very often, meeting someone within a work place who seemed to be mostly friendly. Perhaps it came of being emotionally distant due to the... no. She was just... weird. Good girl. Grew up in a mostly stable environment. It separated her from the norm of the Gaian population.
As for suggestions... that Raven had to think about it. How would she deal with a cactus child? "Well... perhaps if you had some extra lining? Something around him which would let his spines go into that, as opposed to into you?" she answered after a moment of thought.
"Hmmm..." Kyo tapped his finger against his chin, "That might be a bit more work than I really want to put out. Maybe I can find some kind of straps that I can put around his body" The elf’s expression drew more quiet and subdued.
"Then I can just strap him to my back and arms." The elf nodded.
"Oh and yeah it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Raven."
"That could work," Raven nodded after a moment. "So... tell me, Kyo, what does your wing of this institution do?" she asked, considering him and Opuntia.
Imelda snuggled up to Raven, tugging at her, trying to gain more attention. After all, it was important. She wanted her attention. Attention was good...
"Well if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise in the future right?" A grin grew across the elf's face. Most of the other employees knew of the contents of the new wing, but if some one didn't know exactly what the wing was doing. Then what was the point in telling them now, just savor the moment and build the excitement later on.
"How about you tell me about your little girl there." The elf nodded, "What kind of plant is she?"
Something about the way Kyo seemed to avoid questions which didn't seem particularly secret and turned it back on Raven rubbed the girl the wrong way, though she naturally withheld from saying anything. After all, Kyo held more status than she did. There was nothing she could do to change that, and it wouldn't look good if she attempted to question him. Raven hated hierarchy and pretense sometimes.
"She's a cypripedium acaule," Raven smiled, hiding her thoughts easily. "Her name's Imelda."
"Well it's very nice to meet you Imelda." The elf nodded. Staring at the little girl. He then shifted his gaze back up to Raven. "How long have you two been working here? Usually I get to see everyone here... maybe I’m getting to busy hiding away in here."
Kyo tapped his fingers on Opuntia's back. "That reminds me... I need to get some more equipment before I return to work... oh sorry. I’m blabbing on.."
Immy turned to look at the elf, smiling winningly before snuggling up to Raven almost shyly. She didn't want to play too easy to get.
"We've been here... maybe a month and a half?" Raven considered, kissing Imelda on the top of her head, wondering slightly about that. Was it that long? "What kind of equipment did you need, Kyo?"
"Well it's nice to make your acquaintance Raven!" The elf nodded a smile across his face.
"I just need to grab some chemicals, soil, and a few new pots." The elf rattled through his brain making sure that was really all that he needed to be set for a few days, "Yeah... I think that is it."
Opuntia opened his eyes and looked up at his guardian. A yawn escaped his green lips.
"Looks like some one is getting tired. I think it's best I get those items and get this little guy to bed. I hope we run into you guys again in the future." Kyo nodded.
Raven nodded, giving Kyo a smile. "Indeed. Well, I'm sure we'll see each other again, given the nature of this establishment," she murmured, shifting Imelda closer before moving off to allow Kyo to continue his work.
Imelda snuggled up to Raven, glad that she was back to paying attention to more important things as they headed back to the Raven's office. Sleep time now then...
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:37 am
... ValesKitten: Black
Kyo: Green
Vales
...........
Kitten and Seveda had decided to spend the afternoon in the one of the various greenhouses, their interest in the outdoors growing slighter as the dark clouds continued to gather. It looked like rain, and let's face it, the rain's no fun unless you're a plant. Ok, so, technically Seveda was a plant, but she was growing more and more human with each stage and Kitten didn't even know if the woman would enjoy being caught out in the rain like a common tulip, for Seveda was a great deal more than common.
Seveda didn't bother to fathom what her 'mother' was thinking about, it allowed her own mind to wander happily. Seeing the dark clouds had promped the girl to want to water plants, carrying her own little spray bottle as she stepped from plant to plant, cooing to them and carrying on playful little conversations as she spritzed each one lightly.
"Aren't you a pretty one?" Seveda asked a particularly brightly blooming plant that she didn't know the name of. The girl wasn't grand with remembering all these long names and scientific names, simple names are another thing but these weren't labeled with simple names.
The older woman smiled as she watched her charge before looking back to her work, make a scribbled note here and there with a decorative pen that clicked as it scratched across the page. Neither of them really expected any company.
The rain began to pour down on the laboratory. The wild elf Kyo was holding his charge in his hands, who of which was wrapped up in a blanket. Too much water on a cactus could cause them to rot. Obviously Kyo didn't want this to happen to his baby charge, but he needed to get to the out side green house and work on a few things.
The cold chill of the rain fell onto the elf’s face as he stopped in his foot steps to take a look at the gathering rain clouds above the two. Kyo let out a long sigh, he loved everything about the rain, but with Opuntia he knew that experience was going to be limited.
The green house door slammed behind the two as Kyo was kicking off any excess water from his shoes and his brown shoulder length hair.
"Opuntia you ok?"
Kyo lifted the blanket off his charge and stared down to the smiling green baby along with his new friend. A firefly, the two decided on the name Morti for the follower.
"Well it's good to know you both survived." Kyo grinned, but as he smiled he looked up and saw that they were not alone here.
"Oh hello, I don't believe we've seen either of you around here before." Kyo nodded, looking down at Opuntia with another smile.
Opuntia stared up at his guardian, a little flustered the warmth of the blanket was removed from him. A small sight left his lips, but that was soon interrupted as his friend Morti lifted up off his shoulder. The light fluttering of his wings tickled the cactus' face.
Opuntia turned his head slightly around to see who Kyo was looking at. There had been two other people in the green house. One who was brightly colored, which caught his attention the most.
Both women turned their heads at the sound of the greenhouse door, and both held their breath anxiously to see who would appear. Kitten simply assumed it was another researcher, but she hoped it wasn't a researcher that was feeling particularly territorial about this greenhouse, for she didn't want to have to go out in the rain. Seveda on the other hand, her imagination running wild as usual, imagined a dark and shadowy figure stepping in out of the rain and doing terrible things to the people happened upon.
Of course Kyocho wasn't like that, but after reading so many romance and mystery novels, the girl sometimes lost her grip on reality. As Kyocho spoke to Kitten, Seveda slipped around the side of one of the plants so she would be behind the attacker. She didn't hear that Kyocho wasn't a bad guy, instead she lifted her spray bottle and aimed it at the back of Kyocho's head.
"Leave my mom alone!" she shouted, sending a few spritzes of water in the mans direction. If he turned to face her she'd stop and run away. Protecting her mom was all well and good but she didn't want to get hurt either.
Kitten groaned and put her face in her hands. "Yea...we're new," she'd manage, amazed that she could speak considering how mortified she was.
"Wow... well I though we might get out of the rain by coming inside the greenhouse, but I guess you'll never get away from it." The elf just simply smiled, the cool chill sent shivers up his spine as the water trickled down his neck.
Looking down at Opuntia so that he could make sure none of the water landed on the cactus child.
"Looks like your still ok" Kyo nodded. Turning his head slightly to see a flash of bright color out of the color of his eye.
"Hey you wouldn't mind watching over Opuntia for me while I go do research in here, would you?"
The elf was rather oblivious to the fact that some one else was in here, or rather why this huge plant was trying to fight him off with a bottle of water.
"I would say you two are new, I haven't seen you guys around. Oh by the way I'm Researcher Kyocho, head of the Esperanza wing."
Kitten thought she could probably kill Seveda at this point. What in the world was that little dreamer doing anyway? Trying to kill the chance that they'd be accepted around here? Awesome, that's just what Kitten needed. "I am so, so sorry! She doesn't usually do stuff like that, I think she's just -- DON'T you dare young lady! Get over here and apologize to this man right now."
The gray haired woman had caught sight of the impish girl sneaking closer, and she wasn't about to let her spray the man again. "That's right, get over here," she grumbled as Seveda slinked over. When the girl had gotten in reach, Kitten pulled her over to her side. "Researcher Kyocho is it? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kitten and this is my Vale Seveda, who would be more than pleased to watch over Opuntia for you after apologizing."
"I'm very sorry. I thought you were attacking my mom..." Seveda explained, hanging her head and scuffing a toe against the floor. "I'd be more than happy to watch Opuntia for you, not a problem. I'm sorry again..."
Seveda stepped forward to accept the child from Kyocho, if he forgave her and let her watch over the boy that is.
"Wonderful, that would help out a lot and your apology is accepted" A smile adorned the elf’s fair skinned face. Feeling like a ton of bricks had been lifted off his shoulders. At least with Oak at home he didn't have to keep his eye on him constantly.
"Just watch out for his spines... there kind of sharp, he's still growing into them though." Kyo nodded a smile still on his face as he looked down at his charge.
"Ok Opuntia I'm going to hand you over to this wonderful Vale and she's going to keep an eye on you while I work." Kyo smiled then handed the babe over.
"I'll just be around in the back, if you need something just give me a holler," Kyo grinned and sighed as he left the presence of the two. Nodding to Kitten.
Opuntia stared up at the brightly colored Vale named Seveda. A yawn escaped his lips, but what happened next was completely unexpected. The cactus babes eyes turned almost pure white as a pot off to the left began to lift into the air then come crashing back down. His eyes returned to what they once where as a grin grew on his face.
A smile lit up Seveda's expression at the discovery that she would not be punished for her attack of the elf. Spines? Oh no. Seveda did the best to keep her smile cheerful as she carefully took the baby from the man's arms. "I'll be very careful, wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, would we?"
Kitten nodded and peered over Seveda's shoulder at the little green boy in her arms. "Opuntia is just adorable, you must be a very proud father," the woman commented before watching Kyocho leave. "I'm sure there wont be any reason to interrupt your work. We'll be here whenever you're done."
Seveda had begun to tickle a finger at Opuntia's chin and coo cutely at the boy when his eyes changed colours. The teen lifted her brows sceptically as she looked down at the boy, not noticing the pot beginning to hover in the air; the crash that came afterwards did not go unnoticed though. As the pot fell to the ground Seveda let out a yelp. "What in the world?!"
Opuntia cooed and giggled at the woman then he fell forward and dug his head against the oddly colored plant woman's body. Luckily there wasn't any spines that had yet grown on the front of Opuntia's body.
The boy then lifted his body back up, but his two hands had clasped onto the woman’s clothing. Opuntias eyes looked up and stared once again at Seveda, a small grin drew across his face. Since Seveda was new to him there wouldn't be any harm... in playing a few games, right?
This was getting fun for Opuntia, first he tested her reaction with the flying pot, but now he wanted to test how she would react to another situation. Opuntia's eyes once again began to turn almost white, although this time a pot didn't began to lift up into the air, this time it was the him.
Finally it donned on the busy working Kyo that he forgot to warn the two about… Opuntias abilities. Shaking his head left and right, knocking a few strands of hair from behind the safety of his ear, the elf just passed the thought on by and returned to work. Thinking the two of them would survive, how bad could it get?
Seveda blinked as she let her hand pet against Opuntia's back, careful to not harm either of them. Eury had been a lot less hands on when she'd watched her, so she wasn't exactly expecting this little boy to be any different. She was in for a surprise though, and thankfully Kitten would be there. The girl didn't say anything when the tiny fists wrinkled her clothing, but she couldn't help but ponder about the ironing she'd need to do later.
As soon as Seveda lost herself to her thoughts about doing her laundry she realized that Opuntia didn't feel quite so heavy in her arms, though he hadn't felt heavy earlier anyway.
"Mom? Mom? Kitten..." Seveda began, growing a bit more frantic in her words as the boy grew lighter and lighter. "Mom! Something's happening! I can't keep a hold on him!"
Kitten groaned and rolled her eyes as she had returned to the desk to work on the things she'd been assigned. The woman simply assumed Seveda was panicing because the boy was wriggling about too much. "Seveda, you just need to hold onto him. If you let go then he'll fall and...yea, you just can't drop a baby Seveda."
Opuntia was on a roll. A small chuckle and giggle left his lips as he went a bit higher... and higher and further away from Seveda. This game was getting fun, but it was starting to get old. He was only barely penetrating his abilities and he wanted to push them to there limit. The boys eyes went glossier this time and a pot started to hover as well, although Opuntia seemed to keep a constant height the same couldn't be said for the terracotta pot.
It rose and rose higher into the air and moved a bit to the left... and a bit to the right until finally... it stopped... almost right above Seveda and the hovering babe.
Despite Opuntia's insistance on floating away from her, Seveda would refuse to let go of the little boy's hands. She was not going to screw up and give herself and Kitten a bad rep around the Vale. The only way she'd let go at this point would be if the boy started biting or lifting her off the ground. The pot was completely ignored by the girl, but when Kitten finally decided to come and investigate what all the fuss was, the older woman would let out a stiffled yell and hurry over to the two charges. "Seveda! What have you done?"
Opuntia's focus was completely lost. His eyes returning to there natural state, but exhausted. The boy had pushed it to the max and it was getting close to nap time anyways.
Opuntia fell back into Sevedas arms. A yawn escaped his lips as he began to doze off.
Suddenly the pot that hovered in the air came crashing back down.
Kyo was completely oblivious to all the racket happening deeper into the greenhouse. Ever since Opuntia came into his life... he was a tad more used to the random floating items.
Seveda looked overly relieved at the sight of the boy calming down, her arms closing protectively about him as he began to doze off. If he felt like trying to float off again she'd be ready for it.
As the pot came crashing down Seveda let out a small shriek; the pot was, afterall, pretty darn close to her this time and she hadn't really noticed it until it was too late. The poor teen looked like her nerves had been shot in a total of only a few moments.
Kitten put an arm around Seveda and tried her best not to laugh as she looked at the napping boy. "It's nothing to be upset about Seveda...I've read that Vales are able to learn levetation...so I believe this little Opuntia has already mastered some of those abilities, don't you think?" Seveda didn't look comforted.
Kyo's Elvin ears decided to finally kick in. Picking up the sound waves of the shriek sent by the brightly colored Seveda, Kyo came running. Worried that it might have been already to late to be any help to the two.
Pots lied broken amongst the green house floor, leaving the elf in total shock. Lifting his right hand and placing it on his forehead, Kyo began to mutter some words in a foreign tongue.
"I'm so so sorry. I should have warned you two before hand. It completely escaped my mind."
A small chuckle resounded through the elf’s mind as a small grin grew in the corner of his face.
Well that was a good way to test the reactions of the older Vales towards the younger gifted Vales.
Kyo jotted a few mental notes down in his mind. The way Seveda seemed to be nerve racked was forever placed into his brain.
Seveda smiled and shook her head, her arms continuing to bounce the baby lightly against her body as it drowsed; the action something that just happened to come naturally to the girl the supposed. "No, it's fine, he's alright. I'm really sorry about the pots..."
Kitten nodded as she fixed Seveda's hair absently. "Yes, we're very sorry. how much do we need to pay the Vale for the pots? I hope there weren't an specimine in them, and I hope they weren't priceless artifacts stored here..." Kitten paled at the thought of having to replace priceless artifacts, that was simply something she didn't want to fathom.
"Oh it's ok. There just pots and pots tend to break a lot in here. I wouldn't worry about it." Kyo nodded and winked. Reaching out Kyo gently placed his arms around the cactus' body and lifted the drifting boy closer to himself.
"Thank you for watching him I really appreciate all your help." Kyo grinned, "I believe it's time for me to get back to my lab and put this guy down for a bit of sleep." Kyo nodded as he walked slowly towards the green house door chuckling silently to himself all the way to and out the door.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 6:27 am
... ClassCusi: Black
Kyo: Green
Inner Conduction 1
................................
___Cusi sighed as she surveyed the empty classroom, her young nerves becoming impatient. She wasn't offended with tardiness, because the class had yet to start, she was offended by her own actions. She'd come so far, from her home across the sea, to face the Vale once more. To make things interesting, her newest student was the Specimen of a Researcher who was in charge of the wing named after her mother. She felt no resentment, nor jealousy towards the young man. Cusi of course was appreciative of the sentiment, but was dissatisfied when she learned the great Doctor would not be present at the opening ceremony. This new woman, who was now in charge of the Laboratories and the realm surrounding, what was her story?
___She looked back and forth, before leaning to the chalkboard and sniffing it. A weakness of fidgeting, as any normal child would she did several random things without even knowing why. In a few minutes the bell would ring, and then it would all begin. Cusi straightened her little bow and assumed the straightest position possible. She needed to look ship-shape for her first pupil! Of course in her eyes she looked exactly that, but in anyone else's, she looked like an overeager little girl with a love for bows and a frown that possibly meant she might take this all a little too seriously
Opuntia came bounding down the halls of the vale. Dressed in his play and worn tattered clothing clothes. It seemed the boy never changed his clothing ever.
Today was the first day of class. Opuntia was still a little miffed that Kyo wouldn't let him pick his own class, but that was a feeling that was fading fast. School was school and eventually he would have to take up the class.
Opening the door slowly, Opuntia stuck his head in first to take a first glance at who his teacher was and if there would be any one else in the class. It was empty... no other students? That’s odd. His gaze moved across the room and landed on his supposed teacher... at least that’s what she looked like. A small smile grew on his face while he fully entered the room and closed the door behind him.
Opuntia then rushed over and grabbed a seat at a desk and sat his belongings on the floor next to him. He then folded his arms on top of the desk and released an invigorating sigh.
___Cusi yelped and jumped away from the blackboard as her student walked in. She giggled nervously and clasped her hands behind her back, embarrassed that the boy had possibly caught her sniffing it. I'm such a freak!, she thought shamefully to herself. Lifting her eyes she looked at the young child, and felt a few tears come to her eyes. She was so embarrassed, but that wasn't why she felt the stinging sensation. If her mother had still been alive, would he've been her mother's Specimen?
___She touched her chair and stood behind her desk. Still fairly short for her age, she felt intimidated by the broad wood paneling before her.
___"Welcome to Inner Conduction. I realize there's only one of you, so please feel comfortable here." Cusi held up a book for Opuntia and smiled, "Please discard all books and materials to the rack beneath your chair, and we will begin immediately."
Opuntia’s eyes went funky. Looking down at the bag of books to the side of him then back up to the desk top he was sitting at... what books? He didn't see any books on his desk, so what materials needed to be discarded? Opuntia shook his head and sighed yet again, although a smile on his face as he discarded the thought from his mind instead. The boy nodded and awaited for further instruction on his very first school class. Inner Conduction huh, what had his guardian signed him up for?
Cusi rapped her pointer upon the desk firmly, still recovering from her embarrassment. Her cheeks remained slightly flushed, but she pushed for professionalism and went through it anyway.
"Before we learn any Inner Conduction, we will be learning about ourselves." She motioned for Opuntia to follow her to a corner of the room, where the sunlight was a little brighter and there were cushions to sit upon the floor. "To sit, we bring our feet together behind the desired seating cushion, lift one leg after another - if you're right handed lift the right leg first, if left, you understand. Sink slowly to your knees, do not just drop! Now put your leg on your rump so your knees splay, and gently maneuver yourself into a cross-legged position - are you settled?"
Opuntia pierced one eye close and thought long and hard. Bedazzled at the comment his supposed teacher.
"But I already know who I am. I'm Opuntia." The boy nodded, but he still got up and followed her over towards the cushion. Going off his better judgment, since she did look professional so then that must mean she knows what she’s talking about.
The cactus boy gently positioned himself behind is very own cushion. Since him being right handed, he lifted up his right leg first then followed by his left. Lowering himself down onto the cushion, his knees splayed outwards. Opuntia took extra care to not just "crash" on to his cushion. Slowly he brought his legs under and cross-legged them.
"I am I am madam teacher."
___The young woman smiled and quickly lit a long stick of sandalwood incense. She placed it between them and straightened her back.
___"Sit up straight, roll your shoulders back, chin high. Place your hands upon your knees and I want you to take a deep breath with me." Cusi inhaled slowly, her eyes watching the boy. "Breathe deep, seek peace." She smiled. "In through your nose, make sure you can feel the aroma all the way in the back of your passage, and out slowly through the mouth. Seven seconds each."
___She exhaled. "Controlled breathing, allows you to calm your nerves, and analyze a situation. If you can control your mental and physical actions at the same time, you can control anything else - Do you have it?" She questioned whether he had a hang of it or needed further detail.
Opuntia took a deep breath. Following what Cusi was saying, but yet he still didn't trust her much in what she was saying, since this was the very first class that he had, but that’s something that he would have to learn to deal with.
The sent of sandalwood quickly hit the back of his nose and tingled his senses. This was different. Completely different than what he was used to smelling. Kyocho would usually burn incense in his office, but they where more fruity and sweeter.
Slowly the boy exhaled the deep breath. This was cake.... but what was the whole purpose of this.
"I think I do"
___She raised an eyebrow, coaxing him to continue the proper breathing. "Now close your eyes, and empty all thoughts. Maintain the seven second inhaling and exhaling without even thinking about it. Train your body to do it automatically." Cusi watched him carefully, making sure he would keep his eyes closed and in case she needed to correct him.
___"Back straight ..." She gently reminded him, the haze of the sandalwood beginning to create a mist that strained the sunlight. It wasn't always easy for many children to grasp the concept of a new conditioned response. Breathing goes as fast or as slow as your body needs it, but to train it to a crawl without having to force it or concentrate was a feat. However, a feat that needed to be attained.
Opuntia straightened his back as he continued to take his deep breaths and exhaling afterwards... wait a minute... how many seconds?
Opening his right eye slowly. Opuntia peered straight at his mentor.
"How many seconds? And how do you empty your mind of all thoughts? I can't stop thinking"
The boy raised his hand and scratched at his green forehead. Knowing how difficult this was going to be, but it was something he would have to work at getting. He strived to get this complete and mastered so he could make his guardian proud of him.
___She considered him carefully, he was fairly young, it probably wasn't a good idea to demand that he master the breathing and peace of mind so quickly. "Seven." Cusi smiled at him gently, "Try it with your eyes closed, and count on it until your body can estimate how long seven is." She hoped he was seated comfortably, because this could take a fairly long time. Maybe he wouldn't notice his legs falling asleep.
___"Once your body is used to the length of inhaling and exhaling, try to do it while focusing on only one thing, perhaps a favourite moment by yourself. Try to eliminate as many distracting factors in the vision as possible."
Opuntia once again closed his eyes and began to focus. Ok seven... that shouldn't be so hard.
Inhale... exhale.... inhale...
Opuntia counted to himself until slowly he began to notice patterns in his breathing regulation. The boy slowly began to catch on, but it was perfect.
Next he needed to work on clearing his mind. Focus on a single happy memory of being alone. Shouldn't be so hard...
Opuntia began to scan his memory bank. The first thing that came into mind was the memory of him in the green house. No one was around; he had it all to himself. The scents of plants, humidity, and other noxious scents began to slowly filter back into his memory.
___Cusi watched him close his eyes and sink into the meditation. She breathed in deeply, and blew at the incense stick, scattering ashes in a thick cloud and sending smoke patterns in the air. Weaving her hands she guided the patterns, sending them into his nose to stimulate his brain. She fluttered her fingers, hooking them into the projection of his mind and slowly began to draw out distractions. Cusi gently wrapped them around her fingers and held he hand close to his chest, but not touching it.
___"Can you feel your heartbeat, hear it?" She urged him deeper into the meditation. "Sink further into that thought, until it disappears into a single moment."
The heavy sent of sandalwood filled his memory along with the remembered scents of the green house. At first they seemed foreign, but after a few mere seconds they became as familiar as the memory.
Opuntia listened to what Cusi was speaking.
My heartbeat? The boy listened in as well as he could; trying to find a distant yet homely sound. There it was... his heartbeat.
___The young teacher smiled softly, pleased with his intense concentration. He was obviously trying hard, and it was paying off. Eventually it would all come to him naturally, and without him having to focus so hard. This was good progress, for a first session. He was dealing with learning meditation very well.
___"Fall into the heartbeat, let it fill your thoughts, only let your heart bloom there." She shifted and pulled her hand back to her side. "Now, concentrate and go deeper into the steady beat. Find your center, your natural spirit." Cusi didn't expect his to look anything like a normal humans. When she first meditated and found her center, it was a small reddish-purple ball with gentle tendrils slowly emanating within the darkness of her mind's eye.
___Baldr had taught her meditation while she was still very young. When she had asked what his looked like, he'd told her that it was a ball of light too, but it was growing - moving. Growing with ever changing roots and leaves through the seasons. Like a small snow-globe filled with light and a constantly evolving tree, and it had delighted her young imagination.
___"You'll know when you've found it ... Once you have, I want you to try and nudge it out and through your arms ..." She hoped she wasn't going too fast for him. "Imagine a point in the middle of your palms, and focus on sending the energy there ..."
The boy kept his breathing in check all through out the process, it was beginning to take on as an almost natural thing. Opuntia started to recognize the patterns.
Opuntia focused deeply onto his heartbeat. He could hear it even clearer now than before. Now all he needed to do was to follow it and find his natural spirit. With a tint of excitement, the boy prodded deeper and deeper.
A light began to glow and burst until it solidified. It was a deep green, roundish, and a light blue swirl spun around it like an everlasting tornado that would never stop.
A smile grew on the cactus' face. He had found his natural spirit, now he would just need to push it down and into his palms.
A tingling feeling soured through his arms and his body. It was either that his spirit was finally souring down his arms... or he was getting restless from sitting in the same place.
___The dark skinned girl gently took her hand and smoothed them over his, feeling his attempts pulsate quickly. She grasped them both and gently massaged the palms, helping him feel the different muscles in his hands. Slowly, slowly, she helped the energy ease back into its well. If he wasn't careful it'd burn up his entire arm! Cusi worked her way up his arms, rubbing the forearm, then bicep, and then shoulders to relax and draw him out. Gently up his neck, avoiding the prickles, and to his cheeks and temples.
___"Open ... Open your eyes dear." She smiled at him gently. "You did extremely well, and I am quite proud to've had you in my first class." Cusi felt a little more mature at this point, she'd taught something, and it was good. She had possibly made a difference. "I'll see you in class next time okay? Don't forget your books under the chair."
Opuntia felt the pressure being applied to his body by his teacher. What was she doing? He could feel the energy returning deep with in himself as the image of his natural spirit began to fade back deep into his heart beat.
Opening his eyes it took a moment for them to adjust to the smoky light. The cactus boy nodded with a smile.
"Thank you." He darted up off the floor and over towards to where his books where hiding and ran off to his home. There he would tell his guardian of his first day of class..
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:14 pm
... Safety is Key Number One!
Kyocho was slaving away on his research. Obviously not paying any attention to his charge Opuntia and what he was doing. Opuntia had an obviously curious mind. Recently been working on some of his abilities he had been able to unlock.
Once a few days ago the young boy had began to levitate odd objects here and there. Dangerous of course since the ability was budding and he hadn't practiced much. Just the other day a large pot about 10lbs or so was accidently lifted up and thrown across the room. Luckily no one was in the way of it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:21 pm
... Green House Effect
Kyo: Black
Soda: Green
Kyocho was no where in site. Most likely working on some kind of research project in his office. Although Opuntia was starting to get fed up with the constant waiting around and doing nothing while his guardian Kyo slaved away at his mind numbing research.
The cactus boy had snuck out of the confines of the over grown office space and darted off towards the green house. At least in there, there would be something for the boy to do to occupy his time, and who knew who else would be there also.
Just shortly the boy had found his way to the green house. Opening the door he was instantly hit with the aroma of humidity. Along with the damp sweaty feeling as well. A nice and refreshing change of pace after all. Opuntia quickly made his way over towards the pile of plants at the back end of the green house and where more of the light was pouring in. A short sigh of a sigh escaped his lips as he breathed in the fresh air.
Aly, having successfully escaped the not-so watchful eye of Sodashi, had succeeded in climbing up onto a table and sat peacefully between a plant of basil leaves and another of peppermint leaves. Aly was happier when she was near green things. They smelled nice. They made her happy. She giggled and pulled a leaf off of the peppermint plant rubbing it between her fingers.
As the greenhouse door opened Aly’s tinkling laugh abruptly stopped and she immediately crouched between her plants making herself small. Sodashi didn’t notice her when she was small.
Green? Green skin? Aly liked green. That was funny. She’d never seen a green person before. She watched as the green person scurried past her, eyeing him curiously. And he had white hair too. But not as pretty as her white. Aly leaned forward for a better view of the green boy.
And with a sudden crash, her peppermint plant was on the floor, the pot shattered into quite a number of pieces.
.. uhoh.
Opunita threw himself into a stopping motion. The boy almost feel face forward from the force as he jumped in fear.
Slowly he turned around and eyed the broken plant on the floor and saw a pot of Peppermint, which is one of Kyo's most favorite plants.
Opunita's eyes then moved upward and toward the shelf the pot would have been sitting on. There low and behold a small orange like girl with long flowing beautiful white hair rested.
"What are you doing in here? Don't you think your a little to small to be alone?"
Aly pouted at the plant on the floor. It had gotten her found. Hide-and-seek was no fun if people were always telling you where you were. At least Sodashi wasn't around. Then it would have gotten her in trouble. Sodashi didn't like it when she made loud noises.
Aly looked down at the green person. She cocked her head, curious. It was saying something to her... but not in the annoyed/sarcastic tone Sodashi always talked to her in. It was a gentle tone. Not mad. That was good.
Aly pointed at the green person, the bell attached to her wrist tinkling lightly. "Gwean."
Opuntia cocked his head to the side, baffled.
"Yes I'm green and you’re orange." The boy smiled. Kneeling down to clean up the mess she had made and picked up the remains of the plant, root ball and all.
"I hope we can still make this grow" Opuntia nodded. Standing back up, he quickly went for a new clay pot and threw the plant inside and began to scoop up what dirt he could salvage.
"Now we need to make sure your more careful, but I still don't know why your here alone. Where is your parent?"
She watched the boy clean up her mess. That was funny. Usually Sodashi always made Aly clean it up. Of course, being a baby, Sodashi always ended up cleaning anyway.
He was talking again, still gentle, but now questioning. When Sodashi used that voice, she was always asking her what she was doing. "Hiding."
The baby laughed again looking down at the boy, feeling big. She was always looking up at Sodashi. Aly stroked her hair thinking of Sodashi. Maybe she should find her. Her tummy was starting to gurgle anyway.
"Down." she commanded at the green boy. With Sodashi, the girl could always be found perched on Sodashi's shoulders. Having recently learned the words 'up' and 'down,' Aly used them freely, rewarded with full command of her travelling services. When she was down, and wanted to go somewhere, she commanded 'up.' And up she went. When she was up, and she wanted to get down, she commanded 'down.' And down she went. She was up high now, so it only made sense for her to use down to get down, right? "Down," she commanded again, wiggling on her shelf.
"Hiding? Hiding from what?" Opuntia pushed aside the repotted plant. A tinge of hope that it would survive. Then the girl said down... did she want to be put down on the floor? Opuntia stared down on the dirt covered floor. It wasn't a very suitable place for a baby, but if that’s what she wanted..
Opuntia wrapped his hands around the orange baby and gently lifted her up. Feeling the strain in his toddler weak arms. He carefully maneuvered her over away from the counter and other pots and carried her a little further way from the dirt and slowly sat her back down.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:34 pm
... Whistle Down the Wind
Kae: Black
Kyo: Green
The lab didn't have windows, but Mara could hear it.
Patter, patter, pitter, patta, pattita, pattu.
She wasn't sure what it was, but there was another distinct sound that often went with it. She was sure it sounded montrous and beckoning. Seeing that the latest was her own opinion it seemed she was right. It was dragging her out now, daring her to leave when Elizabeth was absent.
The green skinned creature flicked her gaze out the slightly cracked door. Normally she'd have little qualms about wandering about, but the deep howling voice kept her ill at ease. She swallowed hard and then dash out into the hall, her golden hair trailing steadily behind her. The low sound echoed out again and Mara found herself plastered to the wall and breathing heavily.
She'd never felt such fear before. Where was Elizabeth?
Opuntia wandered down the halls. Reevaluating the classes and the homework he had obtained from his classes. The boy was currently studying how to control his powers more carefully.
They where still on the topic of meditation, but Opuntia was more interested in how to control his power to levitate objects. So far the cactus boy had been able to keep his focus on a pen that levitated close to his head.
The sound of needles scrapping down the corridor echoed as Opuntia placed his palm against the wall and allowed his needled lined skin to scrap away and play there tune.
Then the screetching started. It caused Mara to jump out of what little skin was left sticking to her body and inch backwards along the wall.
Her breathing heightened, as did her heartbeat, and she carefully turned the corner, her eyes squished closed. Maybe, if she couldn't see it, it wouldnt be able to get her, or something along those lines.
Unwanting of tripping over anything, she opened one eye warily. Darkness peered back at her from all sides. "Be brave, Mara," she whispered to herself. "Brave." It was a word that escaped her time and time again, especially in the face of meeting new people.
With each step that sound got louder and louder - like the nails of a wolf on tile, creeping closer, ready to rip her throat out. Elzabeth had shown Mara a few pictures of wolves online and the specimen had found them to be horrid beasts, capable of nothing but bloodshed.
Rounding the corner Mara was relieved to find that it was simply another as herself, making a ruccus, but the rain was still falling and the wind was still howling.
"What's that noise?" she asked him softly, not looking in his direction for fear she might upset him, but too afraid not to ask the question.
Quietly the boy lifted his head up and stared at the woman. Never before has he seen a woman like this around the facility, but then again he never really got out much.
"What noise?" Opuntia asked, rested his noise making hand by the side of his body. He didn't realize how much noise he was making. First of all he thought he was the only one around... in this part of the facility at least.
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:04 am
... RECON (DAY 1)Uennie
Kyocho
Ali
Soda
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Quote: ___It was dark, and silent. ___The BioDome loomed, transparent and catching the glow off of the half-moon desperately trying to cast light through the insistent clouds. Moments of light were scattered between long pregnant moments of dark. To anyone walking the streets of Durem, they would notice that the Vale of Earth laboratories were strangely dimmed, the only light coming from the seventh floor, and a dimmed glow from the lobby. There were twice as many guards out front, and a young severe-looking blonde barking unintelligible orders into a headset. If you even dared to look her way she sent you an unhappy stare that would send a junkyard dog running. The night was tinged with anticipation, and something unfolding. ___The great expanse of the dome seemed alien to the small weathered stone wall which separated the city limit of Durem from the nearby mountains. The grass was sweet, and lent the the imagination what this broad countryside looked before its mass colonization. Soft wet dew clung to trembling blades, and the night felt aged and sacred. ((Posting Order: Uennie Kyocho Alinedra Sodashi))
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___Esprit cried, and loudly. Why did she have to leave home, why wasn't she allowed to bring more than one toy, why was mommy being so serious? Uenoh'ai looked down and shushed her, the little girl glared up at her mother with large swollen eyes and choked back her wails, burying her face within the pristine laboratory coat. The jacket her mother had put her in smelled of earth, but it was a beige that Esprit hated. She hated this coat, she hated being rushed, and at this moment she hated her mommy. She clutched a small ragged teddy bear to her chest. Uennie pointed at the large duffel bag and said quietly,
___"Put it in the bag." Esprit shook her head, looked absolutely betrayed. How could mama insist that she put Hanalei Bear into that horrible bag? Uennie pointed emphatically again and the girl shook her head furiously and shouted, "No, no, NO!" Her loud cries were cut short by a pained squeal, Uenoh'ai's knuckles had gone white as she clutched the child by the arm.
___"Honey Girl, I love you, but do not try my patience today." Her voice was stern, not cruel, but still frightening. Esprit solemnly placed the bear into the bag, and scraped her arm across her runny nose. Clinging to her mother once more, she allowed herself to be ushered out of their home and into the waiting car where Edwin was driving. Esprit flung herself at Edwin, desperate for some form of affection. He rewarded her with a smile, and hugged her gently. Uenoh'ai gruffly gave the orders to drive, and after her child was safely strapped into the backseat, he sped away.
___Their house was dark, and the small lantern outside it seemed to get smaller and smaller the further they got away. Large silent tears stole down the brown cheeks of the baby-child, and she cried quietly into her mama's arms.
Opuntia sat quietly in his corner. Practicing his meditation that he studied for a few days before. So far the classes have been helping in the control of his new found abilities. The silent wail over the intercom went over. It wasn't a voice he was clearly familiar with, but as soon as he looked up at his guardian Kyocho. The small cactus boy knew it was serious. Even though he was only a toddler, he was more mature that a normal child. Having to grow up with a researcher as a caretaker.
"Well you heard her Opuntia. Gather what you need to bring and what I can carry. I'll be bringing our light back pack and my journal and pen for notes." The elf nodded to the cactus. Which he received a nod directly back.
Opuntia reached over for his stuffed animal. It resembled a brown bird. No particular species. It was a gift given to him by Kyocho and always made him feel more comfortable when it was close to him.
"I think this is all I want to bring." The boy said as he handed over the bird.
The guardian nodded with a smile as it brought back memories.
Kyocho continued to pack his bag with supplies that he thought would come in handy. A few first aid items... since his child was a cactus with sharp spines, a few band aids wasn't a bad idea.
"Lets go." Kyo announced as he closed and locked the door behind him as the two left for Uennie's office and see what new adventure was in store for the two.
Returning to her lab, Alinedra looked around quickly to scope out anything she might want to bring. The place had become a second home for her, so there were many sentimental items scattered everywhere. Her biggest concern at the moment however, was who was going to care for Kit-kat while her and Eden were gone. Kit-kat was very much a house cat, and while she was very tame and followed orders, she wasn't exactly sure wherever they were going was fit for the lazy feline. Picking up the phone, she dialed her neighbor's number and proceeded to explain her sudden absence and the need for a cat sitter. Kit had spent the day at home, and Ellen her neighbor had the key. It was too bad she couldn't say goodbye, but Kit would be just fine.
Turning to Edens' room area, she walked in and gazed at the little red head. He was standing in the middle of the room with Gong-Xi's cage in his arms and a smile on his face. Ali however, frowned.
"Hun, are you sure you want to carry that everywhere? I know you love him, but it might get to be too hard." Watching his face change to a frown, she added,"I could get Ellen to come pick him up though! She'd take good care of him, just like she'll take care of Kit-kat."
"Okay... i guess." Eden said, shuffling his feet a bit. He didn't like the thought of leaving his prized grasshopper, but Ali might just be right. "How about this. Go get your pillow that we made with his picture on it, and that way it will be like he's there with us." Pointing to the pillow on his bed, Eden suddenly smiled and ran over to grab it.
Going back into the lab, Alinedra finally pulled out two bags and started packing things they'd need. Formula, Eden's few clothes, and what ones she had there, the boots she used when working in the biodome.... all were placed in the bags. When it was all through she had her normal duffelbag and a smaller bag that Eden normally used for toting toys from one lab to the other to play with. Taking Edens hand, they walked hand in hand out of the Lab, turning the lights out on the way and not looking back.
Sodashi naturally, had been late to the meeting. It was Aly's fault, it really was. She couldn't run with the bugger perched on her shoulders. And the building was a goddamn labyrinth. So it really wasn’t her fault, see?
By the time she'd gotten to the closed doors, Uennie had begun her short speech in that serious, monotone, and all around dull tone of hers. (Sodashi's only other encounter with the Assistant had not gone well and had ended with Sodashi getting in a world of trouble.) Not that Sodashi held grudges. Anyway, quickly deciding to rely on survival instincts this time, the girl and her charge stood just outside the door, rather than make a late appearance. The Assistant's voice easily floated through the wooden doors, until Sodashi heard her own name called. Her heart fell. She was going with on the recon mission? She must have misheard. Uennie wouldn't take her. For god sakes, Uennie didn't even like her. Too late, the employees and observers were already filing out of the doors. Sodashi joined the stream of people, making like she had been in there the whole time right along with them.
Back at home, Sodashi tossed a few things into her messenger bag as per Uennie's orders. Extra clothes, first aid, she really didn’t have much to bring, truth be told. Maybe she'd bring her fiddle just for kicks.
"What d'you want to bring Aly?" Yeah, she talked to the baby. But the baby usually seemed to understand, though her vocabulary was limited. Weird, but whatever.
Aly was playing with that peppermint plant again. "Gwean."
"... you want to take a plant?" she asked incredulous. "All the other kids are probably bringing toys." She winced inwardly as she realized Aly didn’t have any toys save for the single teddy bear gifted to Aly from Sodashi's older sister.
"Gwean," the baby said again.
"... um. Ok. If that's what you want.." The girl swiftly broke off a few stems, handed one to Aly and dropped the rest into the bag. Whatever, it'd help keep the bag smelling nice. "Off we go then."
With a sigh, she flipped off the lights of her apartment, boosted Aly onto her shoulders, and headed to face her worst nightmare.
"Jesus. A camping trip. With Uennie. Of all people."
___The large gates of Durem appeared to swallow the small car, as their mighty trek from the Isle through Barton came to an end. Edwin sped up slightly, the late hour a comfort in knowing there were few people on the streets. Esprit had long since fallen asleep, still crying and holding tight onto the bag. Uennie rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger, and then massaged her temples. She tapped him on his shoulder and motioned to an off-road path near the building, and he quickly turned and hopped the curve. Jennine spotted them and sent two of the guards over to open the side gate, locking it behind the small Possum. Uenoh'ai urged Edwin to turn off the headlights and to continue driving behind the expanse of the BioDome until they reached the small back door which had been purposely overgrown with weeds. Esprit shifted in her sleep, and delicately Uennie laid her down on the seat and left the car.
___She looked for the small marker that had been left, a white beach rock. Finally finding it, Uenoh'ai felt around on the ground for the metal panel that resembled cellar doors in the ground. Her fingers touched cold, and she began gently removing the plants from it and brought out her ID Card. Swiping it through the reader, the locks clicked open, and the air-locked doors slid. In a quick movement she ducked inside, hearing them close behind her with a hiss. The lights in the underground hallway beamed on, one by one, and she quickly walked down the stairs with heels clicking on the metal floor. Hands in her pockets, the walk stretched on and on, until a small old-fashioned elevator came into view. She slid her ID Card once more through it and pulled the grate closed behind her. This was the same elevator that went down into the Pod Hibernation Chamber, except this time, she was going up. Punching the button and turning an access key, the elevator lunged upwards, if she had not been expecting it the force would have tossed her to the floor. After a few moments of whirring and silence, the lift slowed and stopped, letting her out onto her floor, and not far from her office. It appeared they were already there, which was perfectly fine for her. She cleared her throat, and let her voice echo down to her doorway as she kept her strong stride and swept towards it quickly.
___"Sound off! Those who are here!"
Kyocho quickly perked up. Hearing a distant and rather odd sound; other than the sounds of Soda and Ali as well as Ali and Eden. Then a voice pitched in. It was that of Uennie's.
"Kyocho and Opuntia are here"
The two of them nodded and smiled. Unknowing of what was going to lie in the future for the group. Maybe some kind of field trip around the huge mass of the facility?
Opuntia was thinking other wise. Maybe it was an escape from this dull, drab, and boring facility. He had always longed to adventure off to far away placed... even though he didn't show it.
Clearing her throat and shuffling her bag to the other shoulder, Alinedra called out.
" Ali and Eden, reporting for adventure!" She chimed in cheerfully. Eden gave a little giggle and made a sort of mocking salute to nothing but the air, clicking his heals together. She had tought him to do that one day when playing with some of the toy soldiers that were in his toybox. Having had questions as to what they were for, she explained all about them, trying to leave out the bothersome adult parts. None of it had stuck, escept that little salute.
Ali smiled around at the others, waiting for the quest to begin, and pleased to be out of the stuffy lab already.
That dreadful voice. Each word struck fear into the usually RecklessFearless Sodashi. Something about Uennie's air of authority urged Sodashi to depend on her instinct for survival rather than the usual do-things-on-a-whim attitude she held toward life. Authorities. She hated them. Every single one.
Sodashi cleared her throat, caught off guard hearing the command before seeing the person. "We're here," Sodashi blurted in a rush to reply. She cleared her throat again. "Um. Sodashi and Aly, that is."
As much as she was a lover for diving into the unknown.. the girl was not looking forward to this... adventure.
___Uennie rushed past the people she'd kept waiting and grabbed a dirt-covered bag by the inside of the door. Slapping soil and small puffs of dust off it loudly, she tossed files, pens, and her personal notebooks in as a last minute packing. Opening her refrigerator she tossed a few cans of her chosen juices and a few preserved foodstuffs in as well, giving the entire area a quick surveying glance before closing it tightly. The woman turned to her plants last, giving several tender touches and inhaling a last aroma. Ixchel shot out of the flowers with handkerchief pouch in tow. She shot angry chatter at Uenoh'ai, for making her worry and think that the Assistant might actually leave without her. She demanded to know where Esprit was, and muttered a nasty remark when ignored.
___"Follow me." Uennie said loudly, sweeping out of the room with her bag and faerie. The door to her Laboratory slid shut, and she locked it swiftly with the ID Card. She slung the bag over her shoulder and began to go back down the hall, and holding the elevator door open.
Kyocho made sure he had everything of his and Opuntia's before they followed Uennie. The elf wondered what kind of adventure they were getting themselves into. Since they two of them never really leave the lab, this was something off the wall to them.
Kyo looked down at Opuntia and nodded.
"Well shall we?" The elf muttered before following suit to Uennie.
Alinedra, taking the hint that it was perhaps not the right time to act quite as cheerful as she was letting on, put her hands out to pick up Eden. Reaching his hands up, she grabbed him up, positioning him comfortably on her hip, and walking onto the elevator with Uennie. Going as far to the back as possible to make room for everone else, she leaned on the back wall, feeling the cool wall through her t-shirt and lab coat. The sensation put shivers through her spine, and Ali felt the cheery feeling she had had before slowly freezing away with it.
Sodashi almost laughed at the uptight mood Uennie was in. All work, no play that lady was. Well, she shrugged, I guess it's in the job description of Authorities or something.. Poor things, it wasn't their fault.
Aly had long since fallen asleep on Sodashi's shoulders and become a deadweight threatening to break her back. With a soft oof, Aly was in her arms and Sodashi was in the elevator headed to some place much more exciting than Vale Laboratories. Hopefully.
___The elevator carried them quickly down, and Uennie felt her ears cloud and then pop. As she led them down the hall and up out of the metallic cellar door, the moon hid behind a great expanse of clouds. The car had been long since put away, and the lonely silhouette of little Esprit was stretched out upon the soft grass as Edwin stood guard. He noticed Uenoh'ai making her way over and began to gently wake the child. Weak and sleepy eyes opened to the warmth of the Caretaker, and he took her in his arms gently, rocking her awake. Awkward brown legs met the ground, and she stood, clouded mind protesting slightly and the daze fading away. A gentle caress to the cheek was rewarded to her, and she looked up at her mother, who was shedding the white cloth that had shrouded her for as long as memory served. Edwin gently took the coat from his leader, and offered her a longer heavier one.
___The golden pins from her hair were removed, and the long hair was pulled back into a tight bun, which was quickly hid beneath a bandanna and then a brimmed hat. In a few moments the strict scientist melted away into a woman who looked nothing more than an everyday hiker. Within seconds a large pack was placed upon her back, and Esprit had been equally suited up with burdens to carry. Edwin comforted the child once more as she complained of aching joints, and the moon came out briefly from behind the clouds.
A short elevator ride and the two had successfully escaped the facility together this time. They followed Uennie all the way through and out the metal doors. Seeing the leader get ready, the elf went once more over his gear.
Kyocho was already to go and so was his plant child Opuntia. All they had to bring was a satchel filled with the essentials; food, water, extra clothing, and a few first aid items; things that would normally be brought on trips…. even though they haven't left the lab together before.
Opuntia kept his eye closely to Uennie and the odd looking brown girl that just had woken up. Never before has he seen her around, but then again he never explored the facility to a great depth.
Exiting the elevator with the others, Alinedra breathed in the wonderful night air. She'd forgotten just how late it actually was. Understanding the need to cover their 'escape' so to speak, Ali made sure to keep Eden quiet, putting her fingers to her lips to make it a game. Normally they'd be reading a story right now, soon to be in bed for the night. Eden, however, didn't look the least bit tired. If anything, it was as if he was ready for this to start this very second. Eyes twinkling, he looked around excitedly, graciously remembering to keep quiet. Clutching the small pillow with a picture of Gong-Xi on it, the pair stood together, waiting for the next move.
At the sudden movement of the elevator, Aly stirred a blinked up at Sodashi. Sodashi spared a glance down and flashed a quick grin at the little girl. Aly was completely at ease in the metal box and didn't bat an eye when their group stepped out into the night air. To the baby, this was just another of Sodashi's pointless scouting trips. And she was pretty sure they'd been here before. Whether they were supposed to have already been to this location remained unknown.
Sodashi took a moment to take in the night sky breathing in deeply through her nose, but when she returned her gaze to the head of their group, she couldn't stop the chuckle and eyebrow raise. "So you're a normal person after all," she grinned, breaking the silence of the crisp night. Dangerous to be joking with Authorities, but hey, if they were going to be spending the next week or more together... Sodashi didn't want to finish the sentence.
___Edwin froze, the silence having been broken his instincts went wild. He looked around carefully, wondering if someone had heard. He stared widely at Sodashi, with all the darkness and secrecy that had been used this night how could she possibly find reason to speak before permission was given? He shifted uneasily and watched for Uenoh'ai's reaction. She gave him a sharp glance and signaled for him to survey the area, and he nodded and dashed off quickly, leaving a confused young Specimen in his wake. Esprit was extremely put-out by one of her favourite humans leaving her companionship, and dragged out her teddy bear to fawn over. Suddenly she noticed there were other children there, and curiosity got the best of her. Delicately she put her beloved teddy back in the bag and kissed him on the nose, before slinking around. The baby wasn't very interesting, but the red-haired boy and the green boy were. She looked at them both and debated which one she should meet first with a childlike intensity.
___Uennie had indeed heard Sodashi, and had briefly closed her eyes and counted to ten before turning around. She appreciated the humour of her comment, but she dreaded to think of if someone had heard them. If they were followed, they would have to go far off the path to try and lose that person. Though the situation was intense, she understood that some of the people here would either be uneasy, or over-excited.
___"About as normal as the rest of you." She whispered back, keeping a low voice just in case. Uennie noticed Esprit wander off towards the other Specimens, but returned to preparing herself. Esprit had meanwhile decided on introducing herself to the both of them, and had slowly moved forward to both of him. She knew how to introduce herself to one person, you hold your hand out and shake theirs, but there were two of them. How was this delicate social situation to be handled? Battling with herself, Esprit eventually held up both of her hands, and smiled shyly.
___"Hello, my name is Esprit."
Opunita watched as the little girl approached them. Keeping his eyes glued to the frail figure. He then looked up to his watcher for approval, which he received a nod from the elf.
Opuntia then looked back down. Shyly he moved forward and toward Esprit. Raising his own hand in an awkward approach. He never really introduced himself this way, but if she was doing it. . . then it must be right. His green hand met hers.
"Hi, my name is Opuntia."
Alinedra watched the specimen approach, and grinned widely as she watched the torn expression in the girls face as she decided how to approach both of them. When she put out both hands, it was all she could do to keep from laughing out loud. Putting Eden down, she stood back up and moved the hair back out of her face.
Eden had watched the girl approach, fascinated as he always was when meeting others like him. After being put down, he stood perplexed for a moment, then put both hands out like the girl did.
"Hiya! I'm Eden!" But suddenly remembering to be quiet, he covered his mouth and whispered it again, as if to make up for the first one.
Sodashi kept her mouth shut (for once) but her eyes crinkled with silent amusement as she watched Uennie's dark figure stiffen. Ohh, what's the fun of sneaking around if you go about it seriously? What makes police chases fun? The chase, obviously. Sodashi shrugged and resumed watching Uennie prepare for their departure.
Aly struggled in Sodashi's hold wanting to be put down as she watched the other children play, but Sodashi, the brat she was, held tight, her arms refusing to budge. Aly saw that wicked grin on her face. She just liked to be annoying. The baby pouted up at her mother giving a quite whine.
___Uennie paused, feeling something eerie in the suddenly still area. She turned and wandered from the group slightly, her eyes looking for something but completely unsure of what it was. The run-down wall gave her an odd thrill, like something amazing was being held from her by it. Why it had drawn her interest she wasn't sure, in fact Uenoh'ai was almost positive she had given an order filed to tear it down and build a stronger one. Apparently the request had been lost somewhere in translation. Perhaps for the better? She knelt and began a careful examination of the wall, something was definitely here. Meanwhile, Esprit was happily chattering to her new companions about her entire day, starting with waking up to her dilemma with the precious teddy bear.
___Edwin noticed her curiously scratching and rubbing the wall with her fingertips. He didn't see anything special about the wall, though he felt his stomach flip when he suddenly remembered he was supposed to've had it torn down. Had she remembered as well? Well, hopefully she didn't remember she'd asked him. Her analyzing of the wall seemed different from normal innocent curiosity, and holding his hand up he silenced the small group. They drew closer to the Botanist, waiting for her to say something. Esprit was thoroughly upset with being interrupted in making friends, and being shushed was not appreciated. Edwin held Esprit by her shoulders, but it did nothing to placate her. Pulling away she ran up to Uennie, feeling a little superior because that was her momma. Uenoh'ai at that moment found a very odd-looking plant, in fact it looked just like a young Specimen sprout. What on Gaia was it doing here? The woman reached out a shaking hand, wanting to gently touch the leaf.
___"Mommy let me help!" Esprit gleefully shouted, stretching her hands out and grasping the plant, fascinated by the fact that it had started glowing as her mother reached for it. Her laughing turned into a horrified shriek as a bright starburst appeared on the place where her hand had touched, and it disappeared. Uennie grabbed the little girl and began to pull her back, but whatever it was continued to pull harder. Edwin latched onto Uennie, but they still weren't strong enough as the light began to suck the little girl's arm in. "Mommy, mommy, please!" Esprit was sobbing, absolutely terrified. A look of complete horror flashed across Uennie's face as she dug her heels in and tried to save her child.
___"EVERYONE PULL!" She bellowed, demanding that everyone grab on and heave. Esprit's small frightened face tried to bury itself in her mother's desperate arms, but more of her little body kept being pulled in. "ESPRIT!" Uennie screamed, holding tight to her daughter, just before the plant lit up the night sky.
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Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:23 pm
... RECON (DAY2)Ueenie
Kyocho
Ali
Soda
.............
Quote: ___The light faded, glimmering bits of gold shivering in the night air before completely disintegrating. Great trees shifted in the gentle night wind, dew shaking from their leaves to gently fall upon the cheeks of their new guests. The moon slipped beneath the clouds, pleased with the fun of events that had unfolded. Underneath the sheltering branches, their bodies slept with blissful ignorance. Soft grass cushioned their huddled bodies, and their slumber was uninterrupted. ___The stars chuckled down at the visitors, how sweet and innocent they looked. The trees smiled up at the world's guardians and agreed silently, when the flowers woke they would be pleasantly surprised. No posting order.
___Esprit snuggled closer to her mother, the warmth comforting her as the terrifying experience somehow millions of thoughts away as she escaped into her dreams.
___"Mmn ..." Uennie mumbled, shifting as she always did when sleeping. Her arms rested solidly upon Esprit in an embrace it would take ten men to break. Safety and security engulfed them both. The young woman's lashes fluttered as a small wet drop pattered on her cheek. Eyes adjusted, and moved quickly within the sockets to analyze the surroundings. Esprit was sound asleep, and Uenoh'ai sat up. "Edwin ..." She hissed, reaching out and smacking him on the head. "EDWIN."
___The young man jerked up, his eyes looking completely disoriented. "Where are we." She whispered hoarsely, seeing nothing but a field of flowers and trees. He remembered what was going on and pulled out a GPS device.
___"I-uh ... I don't know ..." He stammered, punching buttons. "Well ... well this can't be right." He adjusted his glasses. "It says we're in the mountains near the Barton Cliffs." As he continued to analyze the readings, Uennie stood and looked around the hillside questioningly. Looking up, a great mountain range loomed. Down, the dark expanse of the sea beckoned. To the far right the Great Crater lay, somehow they had gone a massive distance with no recollection.
___"How ..." She whispered.
The elf slept calmly. The best he had ever slept in years in fact. The cool crisp touch of the grass bellow and the dew drops falling on his face and body, reminded him very much of his old home and how him and his friends had slept outside during the warm summers.
Not even the yells of Uennie had woken him. Not until Opuntia started to nudge him for the least.
"KYO wake up!!" Opuntia shouted, but still the elf wouldn't move a muscle. Just enough to roll over onto his side and away from the annoyance.
The cactus child grumbled in failure. Closing his fist, he knew the only other way to wake him up... but to do it? Opuntia pulled his arm back as far as he could. His intention wasn't to punch him, it was planned only to give his needles enough force to break through the fabric material. With out a second thought the child let loose...
"AAAhhh... owie!!" The elf shot straight up.
"What the heck was that for?" Kyocho eyed Opuntia with a fierce look.
"...Where are we?"
___Uennie touched Esprit's cheek, as the nervous child clung to her mother. Her eyes were wide as she drank in everything around her, she had never really been outside city limits, and being in a place where suddenly there was nothing but everything seemed so foreign.
___Are you enjoying yourself, little one?
___Esprit turned, looking for the whispered voice. She didn't see anyone who had anything to do with speaking to her. It wasn't her mother, was it? Everyone else was too busy sleeping or being disoriented.
___The trees dear, the trees!
___A wind swelled and blew through the glade, as the large branches trembled with excitement. Esprit gaped at them, suddenly she was seeing faces and hearing voices.
___"Mommy ..." She whined softly, tugging on her mother's arm. Uennie was too busy trying to calibrate where to go from there.
___Oh my, are you actually afraid of us? The trees chuckled at her. Doubtfully, Esprit released her tight hold on her mother and gingerly touched a trunk.
___"Nuh uh ..." She argued softly, lying about being afraid and in disbelief over what was going on. The trees laughed, leaves falling and surrounding her.
___You are a plant, though you look human. One of you came through here not long ago ... But he went back to Gaia as all things do. The trees tsked to themselves about the poor man and his little love, and what a shame it had been.
___"So ... Because I'm a plant ... I can talk to plants." Esprit whispered to the trunk, not wanting someone to overhear her. "Can he see you too?" She motioned to Opuntia.
___Oh no dear, only special plants, like us. The trees drew themselves up with pride. The ones in the city ... Well, very few still are able to be coherent about much of anything. That metal world stifles them from their natural abilities. Various trees in the area agreed and began to converse about the tragedies which befell their distant cousins. Here, we are free to grow and talk and do as we like. We are far more sentient that humans give us credit for! The great tree conversing with Esprit seemed especially forceful about this fact. As far as the little boy-plant ... He will see us when he feels us, just like the others here. Esprit nodded, and looked over at her mother. She really couldn't hear the trees ...
___Ah! The trees gasped with delight. The sun is rising! The flowers will be waking soon ... They can be a little jittery and loud but they are quite entertaining. The trees sighed dreamily, anticipating the romance of the sunbeams on their leaves.
Eden woke with a start, sitting straight up. He knew already what had happened, but still couldn't believe it. He'd put it off for so long, he was surprised at the vastness of it, and it frightened him a little. Staring down at his outstretched arms, they were no longer the arms of an infant. Instead, they had grown to the arms of a young man. Feeling at his hair, it had changed as well, and he'd been given clothes. With a bit of doubt, Eden attempted to get up off the ground. With some akwardness, he made it shakily to his feet, and took steps. He was so high up now! He looked out over nothing but nature, and for the second time in his existence he felt complete and happy.
Giving a large 'Whoop!' he darted along in the grass. Stumbling a little at first, he soon got the hang of it. Jumping up into trees, he climbed to the very top of one and looked down. For the first time he remembered Alinedra.
Racing back down, he went to where she lay to wake her. The others were rising now as well, and he couldn't wait to show her what had happened. He tried shaking her awake, as he did back at the lab when she'd fall asleep there, but she didn't give out so much as a moan.
"Come on Ali, it's time to get up! Something wonderful has happened!" As Eden persisted with his poking and shaking at her to get up, he noticed beads of sweat formed at her forehead. Taking his new large hand, he went to wipe them away and could tell right away she was burning up. It was all too much.
"Help!" he yelled out to the others. "Something's wrong..."
((yay for insta-grow. Buy yours today at a recon RP near you! ))
___Esprit shivered and wondered to herself what was going on. Gold light began to slowly spread across the ocean and gently touch the vast hillside. Something wet began to patter on her feet, and she looked down to realize the flowers were moving and turning their faces to the sun. She was absolutely dumbfounded, she never noticed flowers moved like that before, or at least not the flowers at home ... Delicately she sidestepped them and clasped her hands together, they really were alive! Esprit felt a delicate tickle by her toes and knelt, cupping her hands behind her ears very carefully to try and hear what was going on. Silvery laughter like tinkling bells rippled across the meadow, leaves and petals brushed her skin as they drank in the glorious sun.
___The sun is here! The sun is here! They cheered happily, chattering to each other as they preened and bathed. The flowers seemed to pay her no mind, until one noticed her staring quite intently at them.
___Human! It's a human! Where? What? She's come to pick us! I don't want to be picked! Humaaaaan! The flowers cried out hysterically until one of the trees demanded they calm down.
___Has it been so long that you ninnies have forgotten how to tell the difference between a human and a Plantling? It scolded the flowers gently, as they shrank back in shame.
___Plantling? Plantling! It's a Plantling! Well we knew that didn't we? Of course! Yeah me too! Well I didn't ... They turned their petaled faces up to her, smiling brightly. Hello little Plantling! They chorused. Esprit smiled softly and wiggled her fingers shyly.
___"Hello flowers ..."
___"Help! Something's wrong!" The call echoed to Uennie's ears and she swiftly turned her head to the noise. Alinedra was lying there, still unawakened, but who was that beside her? How did he find them out here? Uenoh'ai narrowed her eyes and closed her notebook.
___"Edwin! Observer Alinedra needs assistance! Find out who that man is NOW." She barked, and Edwin quickly dispatched himself to the situation. He had now too noticed the young boy next to the woman, and felt apprehensive. The boy didn't appear to be doing her any harm, but wasn't doing much to help either.
___"Excuse ..." Edwin mumbled as he brushed the man to the side and began checking her pulse and temperature. Pulling out a cloth and wetting it from his canteen her wiped her face and checked for signs of injury or sickness. Shaking his head he laid the cloth on her forehead. "She's just disoriented from ... whatever that was. She's fine, just needs some rest." Edwin called back to Uennie. She nodded and he eyed the young man. He guessed she was probably fatigued from all the activity leading up to it all, but ...
___"Who are you?" He asked carefully.
Eden stared at Edwin dumbfounded. What did he mean by 'who are you' anyway? Hadn't he been there at the lab almost the longest. Hadn't he played with him on occasion in the biodome? Taking one last look at Ali he turned to the man.
"Don't you recognize me? Edwin, it's me. Eden!" Pointing at his apple tree blossoms and red hair, he hoped to spark some sort of memory in the man. He knew he had changed, but had he changed that much?
"Look, it... it wasn't supposed to happen this way." Twiddling his fingers and pulling at his hair like he used to do in child form, he looked down at the grass. There was something off about it he noticed, but he continued.
"I... the journey... the... look, whatever happened, it took away my choice. It was my choice to grow up! Not theirs! But whatever they did to us it's done, and now there's nothing i can do about it!" Plopping down, irritated, he took hold of Ali's hand and held it. He wanted to be on the verge of tears, but grown, it felt wrong somehow to get that worked up. He said Alinedra was going to be okay, so she'll be okay.
The baby screamed, crying out in pain as the light swallowed their group, something Aly had only done twice since her ‘birth.’ The girl screamed again as the pain burst in her head, her eyes streaming with tears, blinding her. Flailing out, she grabbed for Sodashi, struggling to keep consciousness, but to no avail, one more burst of pain shot through her head, and the baby was out cold.
Sodashi lay face down in the grass sprawled in a rather unladylike position, asleep. Taking a deep inhale, she breathed in a full breath of Mother Nature's creations, including that of dirt, bugs, grass, and whatever else happened to be on the ground at the moment.
Coughing viciously, Sodashi wiped at the tears streaming from her eyes from the stinging dirt which had gone up her nose, gasping for breath.
Aly sat watched her, taking a careful moment before snickering.
Sodashi spun at the sound of a snicker. She was the only one here that snickered at others. The job was taken, kthx. But at the sight of the suddenly grown Aly, Sodashi was sent into another fit of hacking and coughing.
Aly grinned that same smug grin she'd seen on Sodashi's face for so many months, amused she could finally contort her face in that ridiculous fashion. "Surprised?"
Sodashi just stared. Well, as best as a person could between streaming tears and hacking up a lung. What the duck? When did that girl learn to talk?
Aly plucked the green grass in her right hand sprinkling them into a passing breeze. Such a relief to finally move her body properly.
She had no idea where the growth spurt had come from, but what she did know, was that she didn't care. Her ragged dress was torn down the side from the sudden growth, and the fingers of her gloves had been torn off as well. But she’d finally gotten proper control of her muscles. As a baby, she’d known the words, but her ridiculous jaw couldn’t make the sounds. She’d known her feet were what she was supposed to be walking on, but her body was so oddly shaped, she’d loose balance every time she tried to stand.
Well, she still didn’t know if that would happen. Hence why she was still sitting in the grass, despite emergency just a few feet away.
Eden's urgent tone came again. She and Sodashi shared a glace, each waiting for the other to get up and answer the plea for help, when finally Sodashi rolled her eyes and moved to squat beside Eden, who as it were, had also experienced a bizarre growth spurt, the little bugger.. which had been a little bugger just moments(?) before, was now.. quite the opposite. Aly stayed where she was, running her hands through the grass, watching the cluster around Ali.
Sodashi nudged her friend, the last of their group to wake. Honestly, some people just work themselves too hard. Sleep was a good thing. Sodashi had first hand knowledge on the topic, spending at least 85% of her college life doing so. “Ali being a sleepyhead?”
Opuntia stared blankly around the area. Twisting his head every which way that he could. This place was utterly different than anywhere they had ever been... but something just felt strange about it.... something eerie... out of order... but he didn't pay much attention to it.
"Kyo something about this place feels funny..." The plant boy glared up at his father figures face and watched him as the elf squinted and took in the new surroundings himself.
"Yeah... it's quite odd.." The elf murmured, but only if he could feel what the cactus was feeling... then he would truly understand how different it was.
All the commotion stirred his interest. Kyo quickly turned his head toward the wild child. A confused look washed over him. He didn't look familiar, but some of his bodies attributes looked familiar... the twigs from his back resembled those of a child that was adventuring with the group... speaking of children..
“Maybe it’s a good time to take a head count and make sure everyone is here!” The elf explained. Looking at Opuntia then back over towards Uennie.
___A mild look of shock crossed Edwin's face, but then quickly disappeared. It was a long time coming, generally the Specimen grow up gradually but perhaps something had triggered. Whatever it was, it was done now. He overheard Kyocho's suggestion and called back to Uenoh'ai,
___"I agree! Head count captain!" His loud voice carried over the glade and he turned back to Alinedra. "I'm going to go make sure everyone else is alright. Try to wake her up, if she doesn't respond carry her over to the group." He smiled and clapped Eden on the shoulder, "You're a pretty big boy now, eh?"
___Uennie pursed her lips, mulling over what had just happened. Brushing it aside she whistled shrilly,
___"All those to be accounted for line up now!" She ordered crisply. If anyone had been separated that would create a massive problem. She had no time to run a recon mission for both Amelia and the unlucky wayfarer. "Esprit! That means you too!" Uenoh'ai looked at the little girl carrying on a conversation with a flower quizzically. There is no understanding children unless you are one. Jumping up, Esprit tiptoed over to Opuntia and gently touched his hand for reassurance. Edwin came to her first and checked her body for bumps and bruises, before moving down the line to Opuntia and Kyocho. He briskly removed the cactus spines from the elf's body and doctored them before awaiting his other patients. Uennie tapped her finger on her clipboard and stuck her pen behind her ear.
___"Sound off, one at a time!"
Slumping at Edwin's pat, it was soon forgotten as Alinedra fluttered her eyes open. Her breathing laboured, she tried to search for something with her hands. With Edens help, she got to her knees and crawled a pace to her bag. In his grasp, his caretaker was trembling, finding it difficult to breathe. To help, he reached for the bag and opened it up. What he found inside was not entirely what he expected. There were of course the clothes and food stuffs that they had gathered, but also a clear zip up bag of what looked to me several medications.
Grabbing at it, he opened it up and held it for her. Ali got to a sitting position and grabbed the inhaler and a bottle of pills. With expert quickness out of necessity, she got the pill bottle open and downed two, as well as taking a puff through the inhaler.
Eden was perplexed at this point. He never knew she took medication. What was wrong with her?! He dreaded the worst as he positioned the bag under her head so she could lay down. Eden didn't even reckon she knew what was going on, just that she had needed those pills.
Hearing Uennie's call, the no longer boy raised and walked over to the group.
"Eden and Researcher Alinedra accounted for. She's taken some medication that i don't know... but she's conscious mostly."
___Uenoh'ai glanced over at the figure lying in the grass and frowned. If she was on medication she should have made that clear right after the trip was announced. Nevertheless it was apparent it could not be avoided for now. She sighed and rapped her pen on the board to get Eden's attention.
___"Very well, seeing as how you have grown so much you will have to carry her. Your belongings will be split between the rest of us to carry. Edwin!" She turned to him, "Retrieve the medications and keep watch on her. We can't hold off on this."
___"Mommy, where are we going?" Esprit gently whispered into Uennie's warm coat. She was frightened of the new Eden, and didn't want to leave her new friends yet. Uennie sighed and held her daughter close to her side and looked around.
___"South, into the mountains. There's nothing by the sea. We might have better luck there."
___Edwin moved quickly, there was nothing like a possible medical crisis to cause Uennie extra stress. She would be on her nerves for at least a day about this. He looked over at the rising sun and felt comforted by the slow warmth. He leaned down and took Alinedra's pulse again before checking her glands. Slightly swollen.
___"What is the medication for?" He asked briskly, trying to assess the situation.
Gasping to catch her breath, Alinedra realized they were no longer waiting by the cars. She lay in moist grass and knew right away that something was wrong. Whatever had happened had brought with it an extreme hay fever attack.
She'd kept it a secret for so long. After all, how could a researcher in a botanical facility have allergies to those things she was charged to keep. It hadn't been so bad however, and the medications that were prescribed to her kept everything under control. She hadn't actually had a bad attack since she was first diagnosed as a child. Ali tried to think of the last time she took her medication, but it made her head swim, and she soon gave up.
The world once again came to light, and it was Edwin leaning over her that finally brought her a bit to her senses.
"I'm sorry... i have very bad allergies. It's for hay fever." Struggling to sit up, another figure was soon looming over her. Glancing up at the strange man, she had a sudden intake of breath when she realized who it was.
"Eden! What's happened?!" She sneezed and coughed as she said it, and relaxed back on what seemed to be her bag. The lumps of clothes could be felt through it, and it made her extremely aware of the migrane that she had.
"I'm so confused, please, i'll be alright as soon as the medication kicks in. See, i'm already talking and awake. What has happened? Where are we? And... why is Eden grown into a man so suddenly?" Groggily holding a hand to her head she closed her eyes tight to keep out the sun.
"Kyocho and Opuntia are here and accounted for!" The elf rang out. Picking himself up off the ground and offered a hand to Opuntia to take, but the boy helped himself up.
A smile radiated from the boy as Esprit drew closer. Something seemed fore reassuring having this girl around. The boy then looked up at his guardian with a sad look on his face.
"Sorry I jabbed you, but you wouldn't wake up!" The boy wailed.
"Your fine. Thanks for getting me to snap out of my dream." Kyo smiled back down.
"Ah..ouch..." He shot a stingfull glare toward Edwin as he removed the spines from his arm.
"Sodashi and Aly as well," came Aly's calm voice.
Aly sat in the grass as she watched the others' busy bustle. What was the rush for? They'd somehow ended in a happy green field, away from that dirty city Sodashi had been keeping her in, and now though Aly had never seen a patch of grass larger than 3 square feet, she felt surprisingly at home. The girl smiled.
Sodashi on the other hand, was not quite as level headed as her specimen. Her blue eyes continued to stare at Aly, mouth half open. The voice was the same, but the words were different. They were, well, words. Not the single word sentences with the r's pronounced as w's. Admittedly, the thought of the baby eventually growing to the point of coherent language had never actually crossed her mind, but the fact that such a thing had happened within.. what a few hours? A day?
... how long had they been out anway?
"What time is it?"
___"Early." Uennie sighed as she ticked their names off. Nodding at Aly she acknowledged the untimely second growth and made note of it. This will be researched later on when there was more time. Uenoh'ai rubbed her head roughly, she was developing a migraine. She hated surprises, unless they were good ones she was hinted at or informed of before hand. The fact that Alinedra had purposely kept a medical secret from the Vale annoyed her further, several Observers had allergies to pollen or other things but there were special medications they were given to keep them working. It was over and done though, and right now she needed to find them a new direction to move in. Which way should they go into the forest ...
___She narrowed her eyes, and questioning shock filled her eyes. When had that trail in the trees appeared? She was sure she would have noticed something so large and obvious, especially with the trees curved over it. Esprit gave a little giggle while Uennie puzzled over it, this was turning out to be such fun.
___"Alright people, let's move out into that trail over there. Let's try to make some good time before noon."
___Esprit had no idea why Eden and Aly had grown, Eden was bigger and suddenly Aly was the same size as her. She didn't like it. When she was growing she remembered her mommy making small marks on her door, how come they shot up so fast? Esprit frowned, uncomfortable with it and ran back to Opuntia, grabbing his hand and dragging him along with her right behind Uennie's march. She was going to make SURE nothing happened to him. As the group entered the tree arch, Esprit looked around in wonderment, she knew it was them but she didn't realize they could do anything that fast. In the corner of her eye she saw a flower waving at her, and she gave it a delighted smile.
___"Bye bye ..." Esprit whispered, squeezing Opuntia's hand gently and nudging him. "Say goodbye to them."
Eden swung the pack over his shoulder, hardly feeling it's weight. It still amazed him, how much strength he had now. Against Alinedra's protests, he took her up in his arms and proceeded to carry her toward Uennie. It was a bit strange at first, but they soon got into a rhythm.
"You know, i could probably walk soon, all be it not for long." Ali said, staring up at Eden. He walked on determined, not looking down at her. Sighing, she resigned herself to being carried. As soon as she could she would have to apologize to her boss, and the thought sent shivers down her spine. She had never really been -asked- if she was on any medication before the journey, but the complete mystery of the sudden travel, that made her sick... well, she just knew that Uennie was more than displeased with her.
The elf nodded towards Uennie and followed the groups leader down the trail. it was quite baffling. How did this trail suddenly appear here and how did the group not notice it's sudden appearance? This place was surely different and odd... Like someone else was here... it sent waves of cold chills up and down Kyo's spine.
All Opuntia could realize was that his hand was grasped onto and then dragged by the girl known as Esprit. It didn't give the boy any time to take in what was going on and what the grown-ups were talking about.
What the...? The cactus boy thought to himself.
He stared and watched the little girl carefully as she smiled towards the plants. Something about Esprit's presence here made him feel more comforting to be amongst these trees and flowers... Even though he had no idea what was going on between the girl and the vegetation.
"Bye.." Opuntia whispered as waved with his free hand. He then looked to his friend and smiled to Esprit.
Make good time by noon? Oh god. We're walking. Until noon. Oh god. Sodashi pushed herself up from her position beside Ali with a groan.
Aly sat in the grass mildly concerned of the issue at hand. Since the growth spurt, she hadn't really tried her legs yet. And well, frankly, she looked so graceful sitting there in the grass, she didn't want to ruin the pretty image with an epic failure stumbling around like a blind man when she could obviously see well enough to glare in Sodashi's direction. So she chose a better course of action.
"Up!" she commanded.
Sodashi turned to her child still sitting in the grass, eyes narrowing. The gilr obviously hadn't grown that much. As a baby, Aly had picked up three words exceedingly fast. Up, Down, and No.
"Up!" Aly called again.
Sodashi turned to see their group leaving. With a roll of her eyes, she swung the girl up onto her back, significantly heavier than before, not wanting to be left behind.
Catching up, Sodashi fell in pace beside the other who had taken a growth spurt. "Look Eden. We're matching," Sodashi said sourly, referring the their heavy loads.
___Uenoh'ai thrust the notebook at Edwin and began talking swiftly as they moved, silently ordering him to take down data. She rattled off botanical species surrounding them, plucking leaves or flowers and placing them in baggies for samples. The group marched quietly through the dawn forest, and the snowy peak slowly rose from the massive greenery.
___Esprit frowned, he seemed confused, and he hadn't really said goodbye. What was wrong here? Didn't the tree say he'd see them when he felt them? This wasn't much fun if she couldn't share it with her fellow Specimen. Running ahead of Uennie she dragged him to a tree on the trail while the rest caught up. Esprit pointed at it assertively.
___"Can't you hear it?" She took his arms and put them around the tree. "See?"
___Uennie watched the child run ahead and felt her nerves edge up. "Get back here!" She yelled, "You don't know what's ahead out there you're going to get hurt!" Uenoh'ai swore she was going to put a leash on that girl, or punch a tree pretty soon. It had been a long time since she'd been so agitated.
All of a sudden the two were running.
"Oh.. hey..." Then all of sudden he felt contact with a tree.
Ouch... Opuntia whispered to himself.
"All I can hear is the breeze and see the bark in front of me..." The boy mumbled. He was confused about it all. He had an odd feeling about this place as if millions of eyes were watching the group move through there territory.
"I feel like we are being watched ever where we go.." The boy whispered to his friend.
"Its scary... it's like something else is here." The boy pierced his eyes.
Why couldn't he see what was around them? Was it because he didn't have enough training... or could he only see them in another way? It was confusing him. Maybe his mind wasn't ready for him to experience this other world. Would it help if he meditated? He only had one class so far... and it wasn't easy to focus.
"Opuntia be careful!" The elf shouted out. Marching behind the group. Taking down notes of his own, in a black notebook that he carried with him ever since he got promoted.
Sodashi watched their leader in quite amusement. It was always work to her. When was the last time she'd been out of that office/lab of hers? Let alone the dusty city? They said the color green was supposed to calm the nerves. Obviously... they'd left out some of the population they surveyed.
But she couldn't help but chuckle when she spotted Kyo with a little black book as well. She momentarily wondering if she too should be 'taking notes,' but honestly, she hadn't done such a thing since grade school.. come to think of it, she couldn't even remember doing it in high school. The thought was quickly disposed of, she hadn't bothered to take a notebook with her anyway.
"Aww, hey now guys, relax a little! The kids have probably never even seen a forest of this size in real life before. The BioDome's cool, but it's just a bunch of trees under a glass roof," called Sodashi.
Without warning, Sodashi's arms dropped, and Aly fell to the dirt floor, where she managed to land in squat, rather than on her face, having felt herself being dropped by her guardian.
Aly sat squatting on the floor, eyes wide with apprehension. What if she couldn't do it? What if she fell on her face right there, in front of all of them? Walking looked so awkward, using two feet with a body built to walk on four? Aly looked up at Sodashi as Sodashi smiled angelically down to her little girl. Clearly Sodashi wasn't as dumb as she let on.
"'Sides, there's only one path," Sodashi continued. "They're not going anywhere."
Alinedra weighed heavy in Edens arms after a little while. She had lapsed back into a bit of sleep, so he tried to walk as smoothly as possible. Soon though he'd have to wake her up and see if she could walk a bit on her own.
Thinking this to himself, he re-adjusted Ali in his arms and began to finally explore his surroundings. The forest itself was beautiful, but left him uneasy. The whole place seemed to sing, but was obviously quiet. It left him with cold chills up his spine, and he wasn't sure how to react. The children were adjusting to it slowly it seemed, but Eden had had enough surprises for one day. Until he had Ali back up and working, and he'd come to terms with his sudden growth, he could think of nothing else but getting to noon and this mythical break that their leader had implied.
___Esprit looked back at her mother ashamedly. It had suddenly sunk in that in her reckless excitement she'd upset Uennie. Dashing back to her parent Esprit buried her face in the soft coat and clung to her. She absolutely hated it when mommy was upset, especially at her. Esprit looked at Opuntia woefully, letting him know with sad eyes how sorry she was for getting them in trouble. She felt her mother place a reassuring hand on her back as they pushed forward. Esprit felt a tug and gently swatted it away, it was just a shrub. Another one, and another, the little girl began to lose her patience and turned her head to glare at the plants. They shrank back, feeling bad for their excited outbursts, and whispering their soft apologies.
___You must go this way ... this way ... They chanted. Esprit frowned,
___"We're going where the trees said to." She argued. The bushes and shrubs sighed.
___They went back to sleep a long time ago. This is now just a regular path. You must go this way ..." The bushes motioned. The grass trilled in agreement.
___Yes yes. One of you lies there! Yes yes! Oh but the little girl ... No no! She didn't make it ..." Esprit stopped moving, she was unsure and extremely uneasy.
___"Mommy ..." She whined. Uenoh'ai turned back and saw her child several paces back.
___"What is it sweetheart ..." The woman sighed gently, hoping it was nothing.
___"Mommy we need to go this way." Esprit pointed into the darkness of the forest. The look her mother gave her of skepticism made her feel small, but she was telling the truth. Esprit looked desperately at the other children, one of them had to know ... Had to hear ...
___"Esprit no more fooling around, we need to go." Uennie turned back around and began marching again. The little girl felt her face scrunch up, she knew her mommy was just trying to be safe ... but ... but ...
___"NO!" Esprit started crying as she ran off into the trees. She was tired, hungry, and didn't even want to be here. She wanted to be home, or playing in the gardens with Edwin. She was so sick of just being a little girl. A look of complete fear flashed across Uennie's face as she turned and began to chase the child through the dark forest. Gold patches of light leaked through the canopy but failed to give enough to see by. She knew Edwin would chase them, but she knew Esprit would get lost. Uenoh'ai tripped over a massive root and fell, cursing loudly as she limped and continued to run. Her palms felt raw where she had hit the ground, and wondered briefly if they were skinned.
___Uenoh'ai stopped, breathing heavily, she'd been running so hard. Esprit was gone. She felt frustrated tears fall down her face, streaking dirt and stinging a cut. This was all her fault. Uennie had such a hard time balancing being a good parent and a good leader. Where was she?
___This way ... This way ... The Assistant sniffed and wiped her nose with her arm, looking up as she searched for the source of the voices. A path she hadn't noticed before had appeared, and feeling more urgency to find her daughter than inspect the area, she began wildly running down it. A horrified scream echoed through the forest, which sped up Uennie's aching leg muscles. Light ... light ... A small figure! Uenoh'ai pushed her muscles for a last burst of speed, jumping rocks and branches before tackling the sobbing child. She covered her daughter in kisses and gentle scoldings, holding her close.
___"Don't you ever ... ever do that to me again." She gasped, her aching sides begging for more oxygen. Esprit continued to flail frantically. "Honey ... Honey ... I'm here ... What's wrong ... I'm not mad." Uennie kissed her on the cheek and rocked her back and forth. Sniffling, Esprit pointed. Uenoh'ai followed the finger and let out a massive yell as her eyes fell upon a skeleton.
___"Holy-!"
Opuntia tugged on Kyo's shirt. The little boy knew what they needed to do.
"I have a feeling that Esprit is right..." The boy whispered.
Kyo watched Esprit fled and was quickly followed by Uennie.
"I don't know..." He grabbed the boy by his arms and flung him around and onto his back into a piggy back. The two of them quickly began to follow. Until the sound of the scream echoed throughout the forest... Kyo picked up his speed and rushed over towards the two. Following the left over trails left by the rushing leader on crushed vegetation.
"Is everything ok?" Kyo quizzed as he closed in on the two... suddenly the skeleton came into view.
"Hmm... yeah thats not pretty."
Huffing behind the group, Eden knew nothing of why Espirit suddenly fled into the forest. By the time he got up to where she ran in, he could hear the scream. Looking down at Alinedra he saw that she was awake and very aware of what was going on.
" I'm going to set you down and run ahead to see what's going on. Think you can make your way there?" Looking at her, wobbling against a tree, she waved him on in an annoyed sort of way.
Watching him run on, Ali felt at her head as if somehow pressing on her temples would make the headache disappear. Leaning against the tree for one more moment, she finally began weaving her way down the strange path. Ali had been close to plants all her life, but never had she seen paths carved like this. There were no tell tale signs that any human life used it, so they should have grown over, yet here they were, perfect.
Getting to the group she inhaled sharply, causing her to cough once or twice. Eden came over to support her, but she waved him off again. She was ready to walk, and had plenty of strength to stand. Seeing his hurt face however, Ali squeezed his arm a bit and smiled. The smile was quickly replaced though as the thick silence over the group stole it away.
Sodashi blinked carefully as the little girl sprinted off into the woods the moment the words 'they're not going anywhere' left her mouth. Clearly the little bugger held grudges against Sodashi who, admittedly, had once insulted the giant flower she wore in her hair.. the observer shrugged with an understanding nod and began to follow their group into the depths of the forest bringing up the rear (as usual), before Aly, who still sat dejectedly on the ground called to her guardian.
Sodashi turned to her specimen with a raised eyebrow.
"I can't do it," came the small voice.
Sodashi took a double take. Considering both their personalities, this was the very last words she'd expected. Neither would ever admit to needing help. Especially not in the presence of the other. Let alone from the other.
Sodashi was torn. To take the opportunity to weedle the little girl (trial and error is the best teachers anyway), or to postpone such weedling? But at the shout from Uennie, there was little room for more indecision.
"Consider this a birthday/growth-spurt present, Aly." With that, Sodashi grapped the girl, tossed her onto her back and dived into the forest following the voices of their group.
Rejoining the group, the girl restrained an exasperated groan as she was met by a typical almost mournful silence that so often permeated any atmosphere the stern Uennie brought along. "Did I miss the party already?"
___Uennie gently touched her chest, getting a grip on her nerves carefully. Esprit was still crying while the Assistant motioned Edwin over. Quietly she pointed at Esprit, comfort her, was the silent order. Without words he gathered up the little girl and carried her to the side. The woman inched forward, a sickening feeling slowly working its way up her spine, as she began the grim task of examining the corpse. It didn't take her long to identify it, a small dusty and decaying satchel was crammed between the dead body and the giant tree. Opening it revealed a torn and browned Vale Identification card, the first design. It didn't have a magnetic strip, and was basically just a business card with a picture, but it was one. Uennie's heart sank, it was Amelia. She inhaled slowly, with how long it had been decayed and the bleaching of the bones ... Amelia had probably only died a few months into her expedition. Uennie looked around, according to what she'd heard, there was no way the Specimen that had accompanied her would have left her side. She inspected the area, if he had left, he would have come back to the Laboratories, but the body seemed completely undisturbed. Where was ...
___... Baldr. Uenoh'ai raised her eyes to the enormous tree in front of her. Placing a hand on it she slowly looked at the body again. How odd, for a tree to grow, with roots surrounding the body, and yet so large. She felt her eyes begin to sting, he hadn't left her. Baldr died, or killed himself in some way. He became a tree. Overcome with pained emotion, the woman choked, smothering a silent cry. What kind of love had they shared? Uennie squinted, trying hard to see the treetop but failed; it stretched far and heavily laden with golden flowers and round red fruits. It was remarkable, but far too overwhelming. Uennie stepped forward, and fell to her knees. Lightheaded, she thought, before her body slumped and she fell to the ground. Esprit screamed.
___The little girl shrieked as she watched her mother fall on the ground, then Edwin, then Kyocho, Sodashi, and finally Alinedra. All the human parents were passed out. Tears welled up and she began to panic, what was going on, what was she going to do? Crying she ran to the biggest person still conscious, and hid behind Eden.
___Stop your crying, loud children. A voice boomed into all their heads. Esprit clutched hers in pain as tears squeezed out of her magenta eyes. It was coming from the big tree, the big scary tree with the ... the dead person.
___All of you, come now! The tree cried, great roots beneath the earth shuddering and rolling the ground they stood on. She was so frightened, so frightened, Esprit didn't want to move, but lost her balance and fell forward and closer to the tree. She cried noisily, pushing her face into the grass. What was going to happen to them?
Eden gripped the little girl as she ran behind him, holding her as comforting as he could. He was about to bend down to look over their caretakers when the earth shattering voice entered his head. Shaken to the very core, Eden fell as Espirit did. Trying to avoid falling on the little one, he caught himself by extending his hands toward the tree. The feeling he got from it however was not one he enjoyed. He couldn't explain what it was exactly, but he soon took his fingers away.
Clutching at Espirit, and motioning for the others to follow, Eden moved himself and the others off of the ground that sat shaking against it's nature. Attempting twice to go back in and carry the unconscious bodies of their guides out, it was just too impossible without dragging them and risking them injury. It made him feel sick to watch them rolling around, especially Uennie, who had seemed to collapse on the body they had found. With little choice, he reeled around, faced the tree, and yelled back.
"We go nowhere without our caretakers! Now wake them." He demanded in a new tone he had never quite used before. It did however shake the air around him with it's deepness.
Something seemed rather fishy. Something about this tree. In all his life living amongst the woods has he never heard nor seen a tree with this kind of foliage and strength. Then all of a sudden in the midst of his thoughts everything went black and a shot of mystery soared through him as he fell to the earth.
"KYO!" Opuntia shouted as he ran to his guardians fallen body. The green boy looked up towards the tree. As the voice rang out through his mind. He knew the others had to hear it as well. The one class he had taken on meditation helped him center his mind and cloud himself from judging his thoughts. Even though he wasn't much for a first time class, the boy had been practicing on his free time.
Opunita watched and felt sympathy for Esprit. He couldn't understand how much fear and pain she might have been in. He quickly turned his focus towards Eden and moved closer towards Esprit as best as he could with the quaking ground.
"Who is that speaking?" The boy asked innocently. Looking around blankly and back towards Esprit.
Aly, who as you may recall, had been perched on Sodashi's (relatively) sturdy shoulders and was not pleased when her guardian suddenly slumped to the ground without so much of a word or warning. The the second time that day already, Sodashi had, to put it bluntly, dropped her.
And then all this screaming. The girl looked around at the others from her seated position on the ground. It seemed the journey was either too rigorous, or the shock of finding a skeleton was too great for the adults, and they'd all fainted. Although, knowing Sodashi, she probably 'fainted' along with them just so she didn't have to care for the four children who were now on their own.
Aly nudged Sodashi with her foot. God that girl was lazy. She sighed and peered up at the tree which had spoken to them in such a commanding way. Obviously it did not know that children did not do well with such commands, especially not with insults. Generally, children only spat back at the authoritative figure and the bickering continued with nothing to be accomplished. Which, as it were, is exactly what happened, as Aly watched the redhead back talk the tree.
The girl sat alone in the dirt, feeling the energy of the woods around her as she placed her tanned hands against the rumbling earth. Clearly the tree was not happy with them having sent them a minor earthquake, and obviously they were not happy with the tree for simply taking away their guardians, although why the red head was blaming the tree was beyond her.
... this could take a while.
The tree fumed, what were they doing, did he not give them a direct order? He had been waiting for years for someone, anyone to come find them, and now that someone had come they were refusing to take action for it?
___They won't wake, and I am growing impatient. The massive growth seemed to get larger the angrier it got. Now! It reached out with its branches and took hold of each Specimen. I have not long for this world, the last of my power is drying up. Listen welll!
___I am Baldr, the first of you, the most high-honored! He swelled with intense pride, flowers bloomed and fruits popped like juicy balloons. This ... this is my beloved. My Amelia. His voice became laced with grief as he delicately motioned down towards the bones. His leaves shook and trembled. She gave her body to Parasite, to save me, to live on, until you came. If he had eyes he was surely weeping. We were so close to home, but we were dying, we could not make it ... We failed. The earth shook with his pain.
___Do not let her have died in vain! The tree cried out, keeping its captors a quiet audience. You found a sapling near the complex, did you not? It brought you here ... to the glade we planted the other in. They are cuttings from the great tree, Modr, Yggdrasil. We had one when we left, and kept the other in case we needed to get home. It took three days to take root ... But by the third ... We were both gone. His bark curled with anger and frustration. I have been waiting for years ... So many years ... I want to be with her again.
___The tree seemed to focus its attention upon Esprit. Tell her, tell your mother to water the sapling with the juices of my fruit. A branch reached up and delicately plucked the ruby orb and presented it to the child. Seeming to recall that she was still just a child, it turned to the others, singling out Eden. You, oldest, tell your leader what to do. Baldr dropped the fruit into the youth's hands. Eden ... How you've grown. The tree commented proudly. Remembering he needed to finish the instructions, Baldr went on.
___The tree will grow swiftly, tell her to cut it down and use the wood to create an archway. That will lead you to Modr. He let out a low rumble, wishing he could join them. It will connect all worlds ...
___Slowly, the tree lowered them to the ground, letting them rest upon the bright glinting grass. I have nothing more for you. He sighed peacefully. Now I can go to you my darling! Baldr cried out in happiness. Earth beneath the body began to sink, tossing Uennie's unconscious one to safer ground, still clutching the leathered bookbag. The ground swallowed Amelia's skeleton, and light began to fade from the tree. All noises stopped in reverence for the reuniting of the two lovers, until a nightingale whistled a haunting tune. The sun was setting, the moon came out, and slowly small green buds began to creep along the forest floor surrounding the tree.
___The guardians began to awake, asleep for only a few minutes but still disoriented. Esprit ran to her mother and began to cry noisily into the chest of her confused guardian. Uenoh'ai gasped, a meadow of all imaginable flowers began to bloom in the newly carpeted area. Standing up shakily, a wind blew through the secluded circle, tossing up small petals in the air.
___Build it here ... It whispered, before the voice vanished forever. The woman grasped her head and tried to regain composure. This was all too much for her, and she had no idea what had even happened just beforehand to the Specimens. She turned to her party and whispered a command weakly.
___"W-we camp here tonight ... Edwin get the ..." She mumbled before falling down. Too much.
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Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:25 am
.. Art, Animals... and Plants
ORP
.............
"Opuntia hurry up or we are going to miss the opening day of the Darwin Wings museum!" Kyocho yelled at his cactus boy. They were already running late and by this time the museum was already opened. Hopefully the museum wouldn't reach full capacity by the time the two have arrived.
"I'm coming... I'm coming. I just had to finish getting ready." Opuntia stared up at his impatient father. With everyday he got older the boy was more conscious about the spines on his body and took the extra time and care for them.
"This way bud." Kyo held the door opened from his laboratory and ushered the boy through and closed it directly behind the two and locked it securely. The last thing he needed was a snoop. "Lets go.." He led the two down the many hallways of the facility toward the Darwin Wing.
Finally it was opened. The elf had been looking forward to it for a long time. Unlike his own wing that he was in care of... it was still in the process of investigation and required a lot more research until it was able to be opened to facility.
"THERE it is!!" Opuntia shouted in excitement. Kyocho couldn't remember the last time he saw his boy in such a good mood.
Opuntia rushed to the entrance and waved his hand to Kyo in a hurry fashion.
"I'm coming..." The elf smiled and laughed as the two entered into the new wing.
They were late. Again. Raven brushed a strand of hair out of her face and grunted with impatience. The fact that she had to change her clothes before leaving the laboratory escaped her mind at that exact moment, the blame falling instead on her charges. They were the slow ones, not her.
Of course, the only reason there were two of them with, and not just Eirinn, was because Raven planned to get some work done. From what she recalled, the Darwin Wing was Researcher Kitten's project. She was curious what had become of it, and moreover, a bit curious about meeting more of her fellow researchers. Just a little.
So Anoki had been enlisted to watch Eirinn, giving Raven a chance to mingle and scrutinize the exhibits. The museum was open to the public, and even educational, making the situation ideal. Of course, Anoki was more interested in the plants and animals, and talked to Eirinn about what he thought would be there. "Maybe there's b-bugs and st-stuff!"
"'n stuff!" Eirinn echoed, holding tightly onto Anoki's horns. Eirinn didn't know what a piggyback ride was, but she had the best view ever. And she didn't know where they were going, but the excitement was contagious. "There!" Was that it?
The two entered into the brand new wing. Taking in a deep breath and breathing in the new... room... sent... something like that.
"Opuntia remember to stay close to me, ok? The last thing I need is to have a search party out for you."
"Yeah I know... I know" The boy replied. Rolling his eyes.
"We haven't been in this wing before so I don't know how it's set up." The elf mumbled to himself. Even though he knew Opuntia would obey and keep close to him, but kids will be kids. Who knows what kind of trouble the boy could brew up.
"I wonder who else is going to show up here... especially if it's the grand opening of the wing!" The elf whispered to his charge with a smile on his face. It's been a while since he had visited with any one else in the facility... it came with the job...
The doors were open. Either that was simply a courtesy due to the grand opening, or someone else was inside. Probably both. Clucking her tongue in annoyance, she grabbed Anoki by the arm and physically hauled him forward. "Come now, we don't have all day to dally."
"S-sorry, Mama Ray," Anoki apologized, his quickened footsteps clacking against the new floor. Holding tightly onto Eirinn, he hurried inside and looked around, wanting to take his time but knowing he couldn't, not yet. Hopefully his mother would be distracted soon, by someone or something, and then he and Eirinn would really get to play.
Resting her chin on Anoki's shoulder, Eirinn tried to nod. "Sorry," she echoed. Then she spotted something ahead of them- rather, someone- and almost smacked Anoki's back in her eagerness to point. "Green!" she called. Whoever that person was, he was green, like her! Well, like parts of her. And spiky too. "Green!"
Nearly smacking her head into a wall, Raven whirled around and hissed. "Don't shout, Eirinn. This is a public place." But the damage had been done.
The elf quickly spun around his sensitive ears picked up the noise of the other group here in a matter of seconds. He pierced his eyes and stared at the group... that woman... he had never seen her here before, but that child with them... yes... he had seen that one once, but that was some time ago.
"Oh hello." Kyo called out, "I don't think I have seen you here before." He finished with a smile and patted Opuntia on his back to signal him to turn around and greet the others.
Opuntia turned his head and smiled.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:06 pm
... RECON (DAY 3)
Ali: Black
Kyo: Green
Soda: Red
Do not let her have died in vain! You found a sapling near the complex, did you not? It brought you here ... to the glade we planted the other in. They are cuttings from the great tree, Modr, Yggdrasil. We had one when we left, and kept the other in case we needed to get home. It took three days to take root ... But by the third ... We were both gone.
Tell her, tell your mother to water the sapling with the juices of my fruit. A branch reached up and delicately plucked the ruby orb and presented it to the child. You, oldest, tell your leader what to do.
Eden ... How you've grown.
Build it here...
Eden awoke with a start, a cold sweat covering his body. Skimming some of it off of his arms, he looked around to see the others still in slumber. Indeed, the world hadn't even woken up yet. The sun was just starting to show her beginning light on the horizon. Soon he knew that the whole forest would be alive, with birds singing, and flowers basking in the glory of that coming light.
What haunted him were the events from the day before. He may have grown, and with that growth the tiny wisdom he'd accumulated by putting OFF his growing was seeping through, but he still felt the pull to be the child again. Putting the palms of his hands to his eyes, he rubbed them, trying to take the images away. Undoubtedly everyone would be sleeping late, after the ordeal of the previous day.
Looking over at Alinedra, Eden's heart warmed. He had chosen her for her kindness, compassion, but most of all her understanding of the world. He'd concidered most of the researchers in the labs, looking for who might suite him best. Uennie, while being a genious, was too busy, and often times not cold, but... not warm enough for him. Alinedra had seemed to give off the right light that he needed to learn and grow.
Grow... that's right.... Getting up quietly, He made his way toward the large tree. No one was particularly cradled against it, so it was easy to walk up to the large wood. Placing a hand upon the same knot he had fallen on what felt like minutes before, he felt a certain type of peace. But it was quiet. He had moved out as he wished. Shivering a little, not being able to keep his leaves from rustling, he heard Alinedra's shifting behind him.
He turned to find her staring at him. It wasn't a scolding stare, but more as an examination and pride that one would expect from a parent or friend. Motioning him over, Ali got up and wiped the morning dew off of her face with a cloth she'd produced from her pocket. Coming to her call, she began to walk silently next to him away from the camp a bit, as to not wake any of the others.
" How are you feeling?" She asked finally. She had a notebook out that he hadn't seen her bring. Motioning for him to sit, she plopped down, writing down what must have been observations for the journals they were expected to keep. He didn't mind, he'd been under scrutiny like this before, and undoubtedly, it wouldn't be the last time. He even expected one from Uennie herself this time, when they got back to the lab. If they got back.
Taking a seat he stared at her. " I'm... a little disoriented. It's uncomfortable getting used to these long limbs... and it wasn't what i had expected or wanted. " Putting his hand through his long hair, Eden sighed.
Shuffling closer to her charge, Alinedra gave him a hug that he undoubtedly needed. He seemed to hesitate at first, but then gave in, as a dam finally breaking from the pressure. It lasted for a long moment, and when they finally pulled away, she spied tears welling in his eyes. She couldn't imagine what it would be like, to be suddenly grown. but she was determined to help him through.
"I hope you know i'm going to be here for you as much as i can. This is an... odd... thing to have happened, to two of you. We won't be able to get much to the bottom of it till we get back to the lab more than likely, especially with the directions that were apparently given us yesterday. I do not envy Uennie's shoes at the moment. " Eden nodded. He had done as he was told, providing all the information that he was told, and handing the fruit to their leader. He didn't stick around to find out even her reaction however. He had simply turned and returned to Alinedra, on the outskirts of their camp where he felt more at ease.
Turning toward her, Eden looked at his caretaker. " Can we go exploring today? Just the two of us? Or perhaps some of the others. The little ones... they... sense things. I think i've been too pre-occupied to notice them. I need to explore." Keeping his stare, she looked him up and down. Oi it's going to be harder to refuse him now that he's grown she thought, and nodding her head, they walked back to the camp, hoping either the others had awoken, but more than likely she'd need to leave a note, and their possible direction. Who knows, perhaps the day would turn out to be fun. As long as they could avoid the corpses....
Trailing next to her, Eden seemed a little lighter. Whatever she had written in her journal, undoubtedly it was nothing that seemed to be causing her much conscern now, or she'd have that look where her lips pursed together and her brow came together ever so slightly. Perhaps one of the others would be awake and go with them, but he had a feeling that he'd have to learn all on his own what exactly he needed to do. With a sigh, they continued their trek, and arrived back to their campsite and started packing up their things.
The noise of rustling vegetation awoke the little cactus boy. Opuntia had always been a light sleeper due to the training he was enduring for meditation. At points his meditations gave him a more refreshed and relaxed sensation more so than actual sleep. Slowly the boy rose from lying on his back. He kept a close eye on the two. For some reason he didn't trust a lot of the people around here... only Kyo and... Esprit. So far... at least. He hadn't really gotten to know the others, but yet he still only met Esprit not to long ago... so why did he feel like he could trust her?
He turned his eyes toward his Guardian... out like a rock like always. The boy sighed and stood up. The sound of the river called out to him. The sound of quiet rushing water always made him relaxed. Opuntia smiled and made his way over. Dodging this way and that way around the resting bodies.
Alinedra checked the food stuffs twice, as well as their water supply. Others in the camp were rousing now, and so instead of leaving a note she would leave her message with Opunta? Opuntia? She really had had little contact with Kyo after they became researchers unfortunately, as he had been in on a special project that kept him in a different area. She'd missed his companionship from the days of their being janitors, but there was nothing to be done about it in all actuality. Work was work, and they all had their places.
Eden was ready. Choosing to carry the bag that Alinedra had packed, leaving their other bag there he was eager to get going on whatever little adventure they could get on. They had a day of rest, but he meant to do anything but. Ali had taken her medication, and was good to go for the rest of the day. He felt a pull toward a tiny animal path that he could barely make out of the brush and trees, and meant to take them in that direction. Bending to scratch his ankle, playing with his anklet a bit, he wondered how exactly the transformation had... clothed him. But it was a wonder, and he was thankful for clothes at all. It's not that he felt the weather, but he felt... felt that he should at least be clothed around the humans.
Turning to Eden, Ali gave him a sort of a nod, and walked over to Kyo's lovely charge. Bending down, she whispered that they were going on a little adventure, and to let everyone know that they would be back without any problems. Ruffling his hair a bit, she smiled and turned toward her now taller than her charge and began off. He led the way, and she soon noticed that it was into a barely there deer trail. She didn't question, since this was his day for discovery, but followed and observed. She also took out the box of specimen bags, as she knew Uennie wouldn't want the day to go to waste.
Trecking down the trail, with Ali bringing up the rear, she ocassionally called out to halt so she could snap a picture of the full grown plant, or take a sampling and deposit it back in her bag. Eden wasn't necessarily in a hurry, but it was something in his chest that he was drawn to. As if something had hold of his heart and was pulling him gently. Standing there in a patch of sun, basking, he waited for his caretaker to complete her observations. He could almost hear a whisper of what was calling him. Moving a stray strand of hair from his slightly sweat covered brow, he turned to see Ali staring at him.
"What is it Eden. You seem... well, hell bent on getting to someplace, but you don't seem to know what that place is..." Her blue eyes stared at him inquisitively, looking for an answer. Unfortunately, there was none, and Eden did nothing but give a shrug and a grunt about not knowing. Sighing, they continued on.
The day went on like this until about an hour before noon. Ali wanted to stop for lunch a bit early, having still feeling a little lack luster since her brush with her allergy attack. They spotted a tiny clearing, barely large enough for the both of them to sit in, but with ample sunlight to warm their limbs. Their rations were normal. Eden's taste for the organic food that he had been fed as a child wasn't what it used to be, but he didn't complain, it still gave him what he needed. Ali herself brought out what smelled like a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a tiny bag of crackers. They sat there munching for a little while, talking about the happenings of the day before, and what it could all mean. They hadn't dared do it in camp, for Uennie seemed too overcome with it, and surely didn't want speculation and rumor starting. They were just getting to the part of how exactly they were meant to built a gateway when the whisper that Eden had been hearing before turned into something much more.
"Welcome home" The voice, unfamiliar, but caring nonetheless, brushed through his mind as softly as a feather falling. Standing up, alert, Eden took off toward the voice. It had been so close! Ignoring the calls and curses from Alinedra behind him, he ran on. it wasn't that he wanted to be careless, but he -had- to get to wherever it was the voice was coming from. Branches and vines were slapped aside in his attempt to get to what seemed like a clearing only a hundred feet farther. Cutting his leg on a fallen log, he cursed and continued on, hearing Ali desperately trying to keep up behind him.
He skidded to a halt in a meadow. The suns rays blinding him before readjusting. Before him stood a very large tree, but not only large, but familiar. An Apple tree. There were so many blossoms and shoots and branches that one could have climbed it for an hour and still not explore every nook. Cautiously stepping forward, Eden put his hand to his heart. The invisible hand was no longer there, but a new feeling presented itself.
Alinedra skidded up behind him, cursing and asking what was going on before she stopped to notice what he was staring at. Whistling softly through her teeth it was not hard to see. Not only were they apple trees, but they were the same kind. Edens blossoms matched this large magnificent tree in front of her. Sitting to catch her breath, it was all she could do to keep from asking questions.
Stepping forward to the trunk of the tree, leaving Ali behind, he placed his hand on where he thought the heart of the tree was. So overcome with emotions was he so quickly, Eden fell to his knees. They were the same! The same family, possibly parent and son, uncle and nephew, cousins, something, but he was certain that this tree was kin. Putting his back to the trunk, he tried to recover from the shock, when that gentle voice, though stronger this time brushed his mind again.
"Welcome. We see you have been well taken care of. We are pleased." Heart pounding, Eden looked up. They were the same, yet they were not. He walked... talked... he.... They were the same but not! Frustrated he put his palms to his eyes to rub them. It was then that Ali made her way up to him. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she stared him in the eyes.
" WHAT is going on Eden...."
Opuntia turned his heard hearing the a figure walk closer and closer to him. He smiled as he watched as Ali walked over toward him. He faintly remembers her. Him and Kyo didn't visit much with him and he wasn't familiar with the one she called Eden.
He silently listened to what she had to say and gave her a nod and smiled in agreement.
"I'll do that" he nodded again, "be careful."
The boy then turned his head back toward the river and watched. He had no desire to jump in and take a swim. Frankly he had never been to fond of the water and so he usually kept his distance other than to take a shower here and there... only on Kyo's command.
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