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 Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:24 am
dec 06-Quinny-chan Quinn hiked slowly through the woods towards the Home Tree, Spoon, Wuto and Zane in tow. They had had a nice, relaxing Sunday with Quinn's parents and now were returning to their room at the Inn. As they neared the Tree, Zane's nose began to twitch and he started to sneeze uncontrolably. Quinn shot him a look of concern and he barked, "Smell... Bad..." Hesitantly, she sniffed the air and was assailed by the smell of rot. Worry filled her eyes and she took off at a run for the Tree. When they arrived at the spot where the Tree once stood, Quinn stopped short. Mouth agape, she stared, tears stinging her unbelieving eyes. What happened here? she thought. What could do this... Oh Light! The children! It was too much for her. Her body crumpled and she sat down, hard, weeping uncontrollably. Spoon began to whine and Wuto did his best to comfort him. Zane pushed his nose into Quinn's hand to try and take her pain, but she hardly felt it. She just stared at the hulk of the tree and wept. She didnt know if she would ever stop. Quinny-chan Quinn sat there, weeping by what used to be her home, for a long time. Finally, she had no tears left to cry. Shuddering, she looked at her family. Where would they live? Where should she take them? For all she knew, she was the only survivor of what was once the Kyendi dynasty. There was no Inn to go to to ask questions, no children playing in the branches, no guardians to watch over things. She was lost and alone. She hoped that someone had survived. That everyone was ok. She wished someone would tell her what had happened, tell her what to do now. Miliardo Kason Mili spoted Quinny frowning, not Zy but it was a survivor, he kicked off the ground landing beside her and some remains of the Inn, "You should really hook up with the other survivors... they all made camp in the woods..." He was clutching a note pad in his hand and his kitsune ears were twitching left and right and all around serching for slight hints of Zy. Quinny-chan Quinn was startled by the sudden motion next to her. She looked at the ktsune, mouth hanging open. Finally, she managed to stutter out, "S-Survivors?!" Miliardo Kason Mili nodded his eyes sliped away from Quinn to serch around the wreckage of the tree, "Yes survivors, the Ieldi all made it out safe as well did most of the others, some people came back from other jobs to find the tree like this and set off for the woods..." he pointed off to the path he took, "The woods there, you will find the others unless you wish to stay and help me look for a friend.." he turned back again moveing now among the wreck moveing things aside. Zy, were are you? He couldn't begin to wonder were she would be among this all if she even was. Quinny-chan Quinn looked down the path that Mili had indicated, but her ears twitched at the mention of a lost friend. "Who? Oh no! Lost? How can I..." she took a deep breath, "We would like to help you. Who are we looking for?" Black Duvet The navy-haired girl peered around confusedly, rather surprised at the amount of leaves in the area.. she had been told to come here, but where was here? She carefully set down her suitcase on the ground and looked around once again, scratching her head. Well.. it was nice.. and grassy, even though crisp, brown leaves covered a majority of the ground. Angie could think of no possible reason how so many leaves could come down at one time.. Sighing, she picked up her suitcase again, winding around a few trees. It was supposed to be right here -- Angie paused, staring in horror at the sight. A huge tree..dead? Her grip loosening on her luggage, the suitcase slipped from her hand as she ran over to the tree and ran a hand over its peeling bark. Her eyes widened. The tree must've been hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of years before it had.. fallen over. Died? It certaintly looked dead. A prank note, perhaps? Still, the area was rather nice, even with the smell of decay in the air.. Still, how could it possibly had happened?Placing both her hands on the bark now, she slid them gently over the brach, placing her head on the tree and closing her eyes. She sat in this way for a short while before sighing and opening her eyes. Now what? She guessed she should look and see if there was anyone else in the area -- and lo and behold, she finally noticed two people just a short distance away. Gulping, she nervously eyed the two, wondering if it would be alright to approach them.. Quinny-chan Quinn heard a thunk and some crackling and looked around. She noticed a navy-haired girl studying them. She wondered if this was who the kitsune was looking for... Wiping the tears and mucus from her face, she smiled as best as she could and beakoned to the newcomer. She needed people now; the more, the better. Miliardo Kason Miliarod nodded, "Yes her name is Zy, she's the reporter for the Fly By, I'm POSTIVE she is here, I found an artical written not long before all this happened..." he waved a hand about to the dead tree, "If you can serch about the tree it would help..." Mili spoted another, once again he kicked off landing before them, "If you came seeking the village it's been temporarly moved... after the tree was killed every one moved in to a camp in those woods..." he pointed her to it before turning back to the dead tree to serch, "Your choice, stay here and look about or the camp, or you can just head home..." he leaped back on to the mess of debrie once more pokeing about calling Zy's name. K-dogg Varen and the girl had slept next to the wreckage of the tree all night long. She rubbed her eyes and saw people climbing on the broken branches. She quickly slipped out of the bag careful not to awaken the sleeping kyun. She slowly approched a small group, "have you found anything yet?" She couldn't bring herself to say "anyone" the though made her eyes fill with salty water. Miliardo Kason Mili turned now to look to K shakeing her head, "Only you, this girl here..." he pointed to Quinn, "And a new commer who chose a bad time to come to the village..." he turned to a large part of fallen wall from the inn, he moved a large branch under it ballencing it on the remains of the tip of the DDR machien pokeing out the mess, he leaped on to the branch trying to life the wall, "Some one gimi a hand here!" he leaped up and down trying to pry but he didn't way enough. Quinny-chan Quinn motioned to Wuto and Zane and told Spoon to stay put. All three jumped up onto the wreckage to aid Mili in lifting the debris. Not Zy... Not Zy... The thought repeated in her head over and over. Please dont let us find anyone, because that would mean that they are ok... I hope that's whay it would mean...Lady_Morgan123 Morgan appears again near where the tree used to be. She wasn't sure why she came back here, since there really wasn't much left. Pushing a strand of dark hair out of her face, the woman looked around and was surprised to see a crowd gathering. "What's going on?" She asked, approaching the group slowly. Naien Haigara As Nai came through the trees into the clearing where the once proud tree stood, she was completely frozen in place. Her expression couldn't be seen due to the mask, but the choked sob-like sound that escaped her was telltale. She suddenly noticed some people digging through the remnants of the inn, and remembered why she'd come. She full out ran over to them, hopping nimbly over fallen and rotting branches. "What've you found? I heard Mili yelling, so I came." Miliardo Kason Mili was thankfull for the help, slowly the wall shifted and Mili hoped down sliping under to push from below, "We need just a bit more weight to lift it! Come one some one else get up there and help!" His feet slid slightly as the weight pushed against him trying to knock him back. Zy you better be alive after all this trouble... cause if you aint when I die I'm gona give you SO much greif for this! he blinked, what a odd thought to be haveing right now... he shook it away and pushed more. He could hear Nai, "I found a note pad of Zy's! I'm sure she is around here! Help me lift this damn wall so we can try to get down inside the remains and look around down there!" he cursed quietly as he tried to lift more. CaptainSquab "s**t!" Zydeco fingers felt so raw after digging through so much rotten wood. At least it was easy to break up, unlike some materials she encountered. She had been crawling around in those tunnels for what seemed like hours, but it was worth it. She only hoped she'd be able to get out when the time came. K-dogg She put her foot on the werkage, it cracked under her, she looked down. It was something she knew?it was part of the inn door, she had opened it so many times. She looked up, trying to forget, and saw Mili callng for help his face was twisted with effort, she ran over and started pulling with him. Black Duvet The girl swallowed again, hesitantly looking towards the wood, then back at the scene. How horrible.. and she was completely clueless about it. She felt very much like an outsider, but it couldn't be helped. Perhaps they could all talk later, when things had calmed down a bit. Shakily bringing herself to her feet, she walked over to the rubble and silently began digging through it with the others. Swallowing back her fear one last time, she dug further, not bothering to wonder what exactly they were looking for... Naien Haigara She nods, and positions herself to help lift the debris. She strains visibly under the weight of the half-rotten wooden wall, and starts to sweat. Suddenly both of her ears swivel downwards, and she nearly drops the wall. "Someone's alive down there! I heard them!" She shifts her grip on the debris, and renus her efforts. CaptainSquab "Haha, there you are." She picked up the small sparrow trapped between two boards. It squeaked and began to struggle, but its wing seemed to be moving limply as if broken. She sighed, another injured one, she tore off a bit of her shirt and rapped the wing close to the bird's body. Moving it would do no good, so placing it close was all she could do at the moment.
Zydeco's sparked flickered and for a second they were in complete darkness, before it returned and she tucked the sparrow close to her side. "Lets get back to the Inn then." The sparrow struggled frantaicallybefore Zydeco turned around in the cramped tunnel and crawled down her tunnel. To find another cave in....She sighed, this had become a usual routine during her strange little rescue. Miliardo Kason Mili nodded to K, a silent thank you before putting more push in to the wall, he heard it too, digging, Naien was right, "I hear it to! Nai, on three put as much force as you can in to one blast of fire if were put in enough maybe we can blast the wall clean out the ground..." he frowned, it would have to be timed right, K would have to get out so not to be caught and Quinn would have to hop away from the branch being used as a lever so not to be nailed with it when it fell free. The worst part? He had to make sure he didn't accidently go and nearly set Nai on fire during the plan. Quinny-chan Zane shifted out from under the wall, gathered his strength and dashed at the wall, heaving with all his might. With the extra help and Nai's revelation, its just enough. The wall tips away from the opening and Zane's second rush carries it crashing away from where they are tring to gain access. K-dogg "Someone's alive down there!" the words echoed in her mind not quite realizing what it ment. With Mili's warning she quickly jumped out of the way and laid her ear on the gound in hopes of hearing who was still down there. Black Duvet Angie gaped, stepping back slightly. So confusing.. and someone was down there? She didn't know what to do.. nervously looking around, she took another step back. It wouldn't do well to get in the way.. Miliardo Kason Mili gave a small yelp as K hoped away, the wall started to shift but suddenly rocked the other way and finally, with another ram from Zane it tiped over, "Well, never mind my idea..." he turned to Zane smileing slightly, "Thanks..." he turned to Nai now face set in stone, "Is it just me or is the sound moveing?" His ears were no longer tilted forward but now to the right following movement below them. "I hear chirping too.." Quinny-chan Quinn looked sheepish and offered, "This might help..." A few mystic words and the air shimmered in the opening, amplifying the sound. "Definetly moving and definetly chirping... I thought all the Ieldi got out..." Black Duvet "Eh?" Angie blinked, looking down at the wood. Slowly, carefully, she knelt down, pressing her ear to the damp wood and gently knocking on it. Hey, it could work. She hoped it would.. "Hello there?" She called, squeezing her eyes shut to concentrate on the sound. CaptainSquab The tree's underground rubble tunnels rocked and rumbled again and behind Zydeco a huge rock smashed through her tunnel, locking her leg under it. Tears blistered her eyes but she held in a ear peircing yelp in fear of another cave iin, but biting her lip to bleeding. It wasn't good, and once the pain died down she realized it was impossible to move the rock, and she was already tired from keeping a spark flickering for light in two places. How would she ever get out of there. Naien Haigara She motions everyone to keep quiet, and focuses all her atention to her hearing, her big fluffy ears swiveling in an attempt to pinpoint the sound. She seems to find the spot, since she drops to her hands and knees in the rotten debris and puts one ear to the wood, flattening the other one tightly against her head. After several minutes, and changing spots about five times, she flicks her other ear back up. "Digging. Someone's digging, and there's at least one bird. Something little. Chickadee or sparrow." She flattens her ear again for a minute. "And crackling. Like when a flashlight flickers just before it dies." Miliardo Kason Mili got down beside Nai and went pale as he heard a new sound, "Something just colapased... it dosn't sound good... " He felt his stomach flop, the digging fell silent now, "Nai... this dosn't sound good... maybe we should start digging farther away so we don't colapse right on top of her or who ever it is... with the wall moved we have a place to try and start..." his voice shook with fear wondering if Zy just got smashed by there own attempts to save her life. Quinny-chan A crash can be heard eminating from the tunnel mouth and Quinn stands, looking frightened. The digging sound had stopped and so had the chirping... this wasnt good... Naien Haigara She nods. "Right. We should try digging in from the side, see if we can connect to the tunnel that whoever it is is digging without collapsing it with our weight." She hops up onto a higher piece of wreckage, and uses the vantage point to try and spot a lower place to start from. K-dogg Her mind felt as if if hit a wal,l What do we do now? suddnely an idea hit her, "Did Zy own any kun or kyrunus? If she did we could have it try to commutate mentally with her..." she thought about her own experices with Varen. Black Duvet Angie slowly sat up, one hand raising to her mouth as she stared at the wood in horror. That sound.. the one she had just heard.. was not a good sound. Not a good sound at all.. Smushing her ear to the wood again, she gently tapped again, praying for an answer. "H-hello?.." Miliardo Kason Mili hoped on to the bit of the DDR machien nodding to Nai following her lead, he took a long moment to stare at were the wall had been pryed up and out, "Nai... I think I can fit in there... if I make enough room we could both go that way while the others up here serch for another way in..." he moved slowly, afraid of causing more collapseing till he finally was kneeling by the hole. "Yah a little tight but I can fit..." Nai you wana give it a shot?" His tail twitched gently, partly out of fear and also out of imptients, he wanted to save Zy now so he could stop worrying. Quinny-chan Hearing the word "dig", Zane's ears perk up and he trots over to the masked kitsune. "Zane dig," he barked at her, waiting for instruction. Quinn then prodded Wuto to go over and help Zane. They were by far the lightest of all those helping and the only volunteers made for digging. "Zane dig," Zane barked at Nai again, prodding her hand with his muzzle.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 7:12 pm
jan. 06-Ullue Tia had been trying to figure out where her relic had gone too, I mean the thing doesn't just get up and walk by itself does it? She hurried around Sabilasi frantically before running into Rising Moon. One of her eyes caught the burnt paper on the side of the counter. She walked over curiously examining them. It was a map of sorts ... with various names? She turned the paper over to reveal a note from Rasu. "Oh my!" she gasped almost too excited to stay calm. Naien Haigara Having wandered out of the inn and over to the spot where the relics had been only to find them gone, Nai was irked to say the least. She glances around the clearing, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Scowling, she bellows.
"TIA! WHERE'D THE RELICS GO!?" Zydeco Zydeco nearly fell out of the tree she was lounging in from the high pitched squeak that radiated out of the Rising Moon, but after hearing all that wracket she got worried and rushed in. "TIA! Is everything alright?!" Her voice seemed tattered and rather worried, since a screech like that she only heard from barn owls at the old village. What could've possibly happened? Black Duvet Having received another note from this mysterious 'Karasu' person, Angie had confusedly wandered around the area. It was bad enough that she had to go through that strange portal thing (just thinking about it made her feel nauseous), but there was also the impending thought that the note might all be just a joke. And what was this about a relic? She was glad she somehow had a house now, but there had to be some sort of catch..
Looking around the clearing, she heard noises coming from one of the larger buildings, and meekly approached it, clutching her suitcase to her chest and suddenly feeling very tiny. Chayse Chayse had been sitting in the garden when a yell nearly made him fuss up the drawing he was trying to get right. It sounded like Nai, he thought. He quickly gathered his things and shoved them in his bag, getting to his feet with a worried expression. If something else bad had happened... "Is everything Ok?" He called, following the sound of the yell. Tiagra Tia fell backward as the shouting enhanced around her. "I'm fine, fine! And the relics are VERY FINE NAI!" Tia got up wobbling to her feet pointing ot the stack of burnt papers and her own. "WE HAVE HOUSES!" she called out rejoicedly dancing and giggling. Perhaps it was out of her character to do that ... but hey if you just got a house how would you feel? Zydeco "Houses?" Zydeco raised and eyebrow and shimmied nervously over to the papers Tia pointed to. She was next to positive Tia was off her rocker, but she could at least be decent and check before calling the men in the white jackets to take her to the happy hotel. She shuffled the burnt papers and looked at the map.
It was true they were houses, and delicately scribed next to them in new ink was the newest additions to the Kyendi Village Ieldi owner's names. "Well I'll be damned!" Naien Haigara Blinking in confusion, and having a distinct suspicion that Tia had just cracked, Nai heads over to the Rising Moon.
"What in the hell are you going on about?"
She peers around, and sees no relics.
"Where are they then?" Black Duvet The navy-haired girl's eyes widened as she heard more about relics and houses. They had houses, too? And relics?
After a moment's hesitation, she ran into the inn and breathlessly jumbled out something along the lines of "I'm lost I need help what's a relic why do we have houses are you going to make me your cleaning slave where am I?!" She was always skittish about strangers, but she really didn't have a choice.. Tiagra Tia calmed herself so she could make sense. After that outburst and the expressions on Zy and Nai's faces she laughed scratching her head. "Here," she handed Nai her own paper backwards to show Rasu's note, then indicating to the front where the map was shown with the houses. "Isn't it great Zy? I can't wait to get up there!" Tia's head turned toward Angie. "Hello?" she raised an eyebrow tilting her head curiously. Zydeco Zydeco was now having a completely insane person day today wasn't she? Now this girl threw herself into the Rising Moon with a jumble of questions that Zydeco couldn't even attempt to understand nontheless answer. "Wait a second? Don't I know you?" She pointed at the little lump of a person near the door. Naien Haigara Taking the paper hesitantly, she glances at it. Raising an eyebrow, she flips it over and let's her eyes scan the note quickly.
"Damn it all to hell, she couldn't have told us before I spazed over missing relics?"
She sighs, and then looks at the ink map a bit more thouroughly. Black Duvet Angie stood there in the doorway, breathing hard, then slumped down the wall and sighed. "I dunno," she wailed, her head hitting the wall with a resounding thunk. "I just got this note and.. and I went through some freaky portal and.. and.. my brain hurts..!" Tiagra Tia patted Nai's shoulder gently. "At least we can start attracting spirits in real places, neh?" she was an optomist most of the time anyhow. Though, she was sill trying to figure out this new girl. Zydeco "Yeah, I know you! You are one of the relic holders! We met at the Inn that one time....well the old inn. This is the new village silly in Sabilasi!" Zydeco squeaked up, she was so useful to have around, and she knew it. Naien Haigara She nods.
"Yeah, I suppose. And we won't need to bother with trying to stick our relics up in that tree anymore."
She then points to the drawing of Tia's house on the map.
"Hey, we're right next-door to each other. That's pretty cool." Black Duvet "Relic?" She said stupidly, staring wide-eyed at Zydeco. "What..?" Tiagra "Isn't it? I'm going to have to see how I'm going to manage with two houses,' she smiled taking a copy of the note from the stack into her pocket. "I wonder if the others are going to join us?" Naien Haigara "I dunno. With or without them though, I'm going up there."
She starts for the door, turning back to look over her shoulder.
"I'm going to my room at the inn to get all my crap, if anyone else wants to come then meet me out front in five."
With that, she jogs out the door and over to the inn, dissappearing inside. Chayse Chayse hung back from the small group, but listened intently otherwise. Houses, apparently? And a new place to explore! He watched as Nai raced off, happy that there wasn't any new emergency, and took out his small notebook. This would do for making notes on the new place, and later he could transfer them into his journal as proper observations. "I think I'll tag along." He said quietly, and moved out front to wait, careful to stay out of people's way. He stomped on the idea of rying to worm his way in to see the map, that would probably just cause trouble. He'd see it all when he got there, if they didn't mind him tagging along. Tiagra "Erm ... that's a good idea Nai," Tia shrugged and with a small wave to everyone who was there raced to the Inn to get her bag. She hummed as she walked into the Inn, grabbing her bag and wander back out to the portal area. Black Duvet Angie looked at Naien confusedly as she ran to get her stuff. Well, wherever 'there' was must've been a good 'there', and maybe some of her questions would be answered by going.. she sighed, burying her head in her arms. Maybe she shouldn't have run away..
Looking up at the counter where the stack of papers lay, she quietly got up and took one, examining it closely. So.. it looked like she did have her own house (close to the bottom, thankfully).. and, taking another look at the note that she received, waiting there for her would be her 'relic'?
Despite the pit in her stomach, she decided she would go -- there wasn't anywhere else to go, anyway. Looking back at Zy, she gave her a small smile. "Uh.. my name's Angie.." Naien Haigara Exiting the inn with her backpack over her shoulders, Blues in her arms, and Dazzle dragging Kodoku along behind, Nai walks over towards the portals, peering at them closely.
"Well, hope they work right." Tiagra "So the note said one at a time ... who wants to go first?" Tia asked not even thinking that the portals could fling them into a completely different place. "Still ... we can't know unless we test them," Black Duvet Peering backwards out of the door, one hand clutching the map and the other loosely holding her suitcase, Angie blinked, and saw... more portals. Great. Someone up there was laughing at her today, because they kept throwing those evil things in her way. Nonetheless, she exited the building and pretended she was invisible as she stood some distance away from the two, carefully eyeing the portals. Chayse "How could we test them? I mean...well, one of the relic owners should go first." He nodded, speaking up from behind everyone. "Unless it makes a mistake and sends them off somewhere...that wouldn't be very good. In that case someone without a relic should be firwst...but then the honourary entrance...of...er...nevermind." He busied himself in finding a blank page of his book and dating it. Naien Haigara Nai shrugs and steps towards the portal.
"What the hell, I'll go. No matter what happens, I'd bet I've been through worse."
She takes one more step, entering the portal and vanishing, Dazzle and Kodoku just behind.
Black Duvet Angie watched stupidly as Nai disappeared into the portal, and shifted her suitcase so that she could hold (read: clutch) it with both of her hands in front of her, wondering if she should wait and see if she came back or go on ahead. Her grey eyes shifted to the side slightly, remembering the ruin that she had found when she came to that tree in the forest.. and decided to wait. There were always worse things. Tiagra "Be careful!" was all Tia could manage in before Nai dissapeared into the portal. She looked back to the two girls running toward the portals. "Nai's gone up, so hopefully she'll report back if the portal is working right," Black Duvet Blinking as she came back to reality, she looked up at Tia and nodded slightly. "I see," she said quietly, shifting uncomfortably. She looked up at the portals expectantly, suddenly realising that it was very warm here, unlike where she had been before. She probably didn't need her jacket.. Chayse "It should work...otherwise we wouldn't have the map." He muttered to himself, more convincing than a statement. He flipped his book closed and nibbled on the end of the pen thoughtfully, waiting for her return. Avelena Ave stepped out of the inn slowly, a little Oliver close at her heels, quickly coming to be attached to this place and regaining his quirky happiness. She saw the others at the portal and only assumed they'd gotten a note too. She approached them, coming upto stand beside Tia as pulled out her rather wrinkled and folded note. She gave a questioning look to Tia before a wide smile crossed across her face. "You get one too?! I-I have a r-relic up there!?" Quinny-chan Quinn wanders into the clearing of Lower Kyendi and sees a large gathering by the teleporters. She had recieved a letter from Rasu today, telling her to come and find her relic and her new house... HOUSE. The shock of not having to perch on a shelf for months, let alone the shock at hearing her Relic had arrived had unhinged Quinn a bit. Skipping over to the gathering, she asks, "Do we get to teleport now? I found this map. What's going on?" Naien Haigara Just as suddenly as she'd dissappeared, Nai re-emerges from the portal. She's grinning like an idiot, and hurredly waves everyone over.
"Hey, it works! It's so cool up there, you guys have to come see!"
She turns on her heel and vanishes into the portal again, expecting them to follow this time. Chayse "Nai went through to test if it works..." Chayse said, pointing to the teleport pad just as Nai appeared. "And apparently it does." He made a quick note in his book and stepped back so the owners could go before him. Quinny-chan Quinn falls flat on her tush at the sight of Nai appearing out of thin air. It took her a minute to realize she had used the portal and that it wasn't some latent talent the little kitsune had. Rising and brushing off her rump, she looked excitedly at her companions, waiting for her turn to find her new home. Avelena The short girl was jittering and fidgiting like mad as Nai appeared. Her eyes were wide with excitement, but according to the note it would likely be advisable to wait her own turn to go through, as she didn't want to upset any odd balance. Black Duvet Instead of rushing into the portal immediately, she simply stood there and stared at it. Oh sure, everything might have been fine, but right now she didn't like..portals.. they made her dizzy, and nauseous, and confused.. walking up to it cautiously, she stuck the corner of her suitcase in the corner, as if she were poking it. Her brow furrowed as she 'poked' it further, then, tripping over a root as she advanced further forward, was flung into the portal, whether she liked it or not.
She did NOT like how today was turning out.
Arriving at the housing area in two seconds or so, she landed on her tush as the portal spat her out, her suitcase fallen beside her. She slowly shifted, rubbing her backside and grumbling, and looked at her map again. Her house was the one at the very bottom -- looking up, she saw other houses rising up in front of her, and looking back there was only the towering tree, so..the house in front of her must've been hers..right?
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 7:48 pm
All that she could remember from her forgotten childhood was just a few words that a woman's voice had told her -- "home is where the heart is." And, as Angie carefully pushed open the door to her new home and stepped inside, this one line echoed in her head. Looking around the large room, she set her suitcase down on the smooth wooden floor, taking in her surroundings bit by bit.
It was warm, and somewhat welcoming to her; unfurnished, but still pleasant. She liked having less furniture, anyway -- put too much in a room, and it'll be impossible to relax in. Her footsteps clunked on the floor as she took a step, and she looked down in alarm, then wrestled off her shoes and socks. The wood was warm and smooth to her foot, and felt almost soft to her heels after being stuck in shoes for so long. She walked up to one of the walls and ran her hand along it, smiling secretly to herself. The house must've been built directly into the tree, which might have explained why it was so warm.
Looking down, she blinked as she spotted a small feather, and bent down to pick it up. It looked as if it had come from a bird of some sort -- it was a pleasant shade of blue, with a sort of purple sheen. Wondering where it could have come from, she finally noticed a small doorway carved into the wall, and, reaching out slowly, put her hand on the handle.
A pause. She almost expected something to jump out at her, but nonetheless she slowly turned the doorknob and gently pushed on the door. It creaked as it swung open slightly, and, carefully peeking inside the room, she gasped.
Sitting in the middle of the room was a large, decorated stump of sorts -- though calling it a stump would almost be an insult. It was carved masterfully, and, carefully entering the room to take a closer look at it, she saw that parts of the wood also had the same sort of colour as the feather she had found. Carved into the wood were runes of some sort, which confused her to no end as she ran her hand over it, speechless. It was almost like a nest.. was this the 'relic' that the others were speaking about?
After a long silence, in which Angie's grey eyes quietly took in the relic, she suddenly reached out her hand again and patted it. "What a sweet little thing.. I'll name you Bob!"
The rest of her trek around the house, you probably wouldn't want to know, because it was horribly boring, but Angie found it all enthralling, for some reason. When she was done, she decided that she would sleep in the same room with her beloved Bob, and so dragged her trunk in that room and shut the door. The line that had echoed in her head had now faded away, and she felt herself quite at home, despite the curious surroundings and circumstances. She had been so confused for the longest time as to where she belonged, but as she sat with her relic, there was no doubt in her mind that there was a reason she was here, and she was as happy as a lamb.
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:19 am
When Angie woke up in the morning, she couldn't help but think that maybe it was still night; blinking in the darkness, she shuffled over to the door to the room, her legs wound in her thick blanket, stuck her fingers in the crack, and pulled it open. The light was a little better, but it was still pretty dim; despite the round window carved into the front wall, the tree's leaves filtered out a lot of sunlight. Grumbling, she flopped back onto her makeshift bed and stared at the ceiling, then to the relic beside her.
She had sleepily tossed a blanket over it before dropping off to sleep, and the starry blanket was in the same position she had seen it last. After a moment's staring, she sat up and tore the blanket off. "Come on, Bob! It's a lovely day, isn't it?"
No response. Angie didn't seem to mind, though, because she was busy folding up his blanket and shoving it in the wooden cupboard, built in the wall. "Wow, I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" She said, turning back to her relic. Again, there was silence, but to make up for it, she gave a low growl, and then slid down next to her beloved 'Bob'. "Oh, wow, your stomach is growling really loud," she cooed, patting the front of the relic. "And listen, it echoes!"
It did echo, but only because it was built hollow.
"Well, when I come back, I'll bring us back something to eat," she said, standing up and grabbing her coat from the ground, which she had used as a pillow. "I have to go get some stuff..and some candles, too," she murmured, looking around the dim room. "SO DON'T GO ANYWHERE!" She squeed.
Kicking open her suitcase, a round, light-blue, gear-like being with a large light-blue gem in the middle immediately whizzed out, emitting almost angry beeps at Angie as it spun around her. "Oh, don't be mad, Sana," she cooed, stroking its core gem as it hovered in front of her face. "We'll be getting lots of fresh air today, and you won't be going back in there for a long time, promise."
The sprocket simply let out a small whirr and spat a puff of air out of its core gem and into Angie's face. She laughed, made sure she had some money in her pockets, and left, closing the door carefully behind her, leaving Bob sitting in that small room, all alone.
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:38 pm
When Angie finally returned to Upper Kyendi, her arms were laden down with items and she looked as if she was going to fall over sometime soon; her air sprocket rotating around her at high speeds and emitting high-pitched squeals didn't help any. Grunting, she carefully set her items down on the ground and opened the door to her house. Her hair was mussed from a run-in with a sleep-deprived lady and a hyperactive sprocket that wanted to steal her feather (that is, the feather she found off the floor of her house and stuck in her hair), and Sana had taken his side and blown it off. In the end, she at least got her feather back, even though she had to dive down this lady's jacket to get it back. Grumbling something about needing to take a bath, she scooted her box of trinkets along the ground and into the house, shutting the door behind her.
Sighing, she begun taking things out of the box -- there were a lot of lanterns that she bought and a bag of small candles she could put in them to make the house brighter, and a lava lamp. She didn't neccesarily need a lava lamp, but it was nice to stare at nonetheless.. she also brought a large box of batteries, some candy (hey, you can never have too much), some ingredients for cooking(which she left down at the Rising Moon as well), and a cookbook (which was also down there). Along with these were a few first-aid items, including a small kit, a cute bunny thermometer, and some tylenol. Shutting them in with the kit, she sincerely hoped she wouldn't need to use these as she put them away in one of the higher-up shelves in her and Bob's room.
After she was done putting things away, she twisted to look at Bob. What..exactly was it? It wasn't just a stump, obviously.. why did it have all those strange things carved into it? Why did it have feathers on it, and what sort of bird did they come from? And last, but not least, why was she called here? Maybe they were all connected somehow, but she couldn't see how.. She sighed, sitting down on her little nest and contemplating.
She blinked, thinking about how dark it was -- then, gasping, she ran out of the room to hang all the lanterns up before the sun went down. Stupid sun! Fumbling with her matches, she finally managed to light one and lit a candle, carefully placing it in one of the paper lanterns and hanging it up from the ceiling. Just a few around the room, and she could move on to the next..
After she hung up the last lantern, she sighed and paused to admire her work. They each gave off a dim, but warm glow, and the corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile. The house was starting to feel more homey now. Turning to her suitcase, she continued where she had left off the other day, unpacking some clothing (which she put far back on the shelves), a few cuddletoys, a hairbrush, a half-eaten bag of snacks, a toothbrush, some toothpaste, and, at the bottom, a portable CD player and a few CDs. She grinned, pulling them out eagerly and checking to make sure it had fresh batteries. The batteries that were there were relatively new, so she left them alone, instead opening the lid, inserting a CD, and sliding the headphones over her head. She was about to hit the play button, when her eyes hit the relic again, and she frowned.
"..well.. I guess I could turn it up loud enough so that we could both hear it," she said, nodding sagely. Even though that would affect the quality, she shouldn't be greedy! She should share with her beloved.. stump.. thing! Finding the volume dial and spinning it up as far as it could go, she set the headphones between herself and the stump and hit the play button. She smiled as the music begun, laying down next to Bob on her makeshift bed. It had been a while since she had relaxed, what with running away and worrying about the tree that had been left behind in Gaia.. but she was strangely at peace in this odd place, and as the music slowly begun to suck her in, she decided she would look around more the next day and ask someone what all of this was for. And get a bath. Hopefully they had showers in the inn..
Slowly sinking into a stupor, she stared dimly at the ceiling, then shut her eyes and fell asleep.
"I'll meet you in the morning, when you wake.."
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 10:22 am
Angie blinked, finding herself standing in her and Bob's room. She had fallen asleep..standing up? "Good morning, Bob," she said, forcing a smile as her eyes fell upon it. "You look..um..feathery this morning."
It was true; more feathers were sticking out of the wood in clumps, and there were a lot of feathers on the ground, as well. Sana was nowhere to be seen. The room was a mess as well, and the lanterns' candles seemed to have burned away. Angie's box of candy lay open on the ground, and a few pieces seemed to be missing. "He-eeey," she said, looking at the box, and then at Bob accusingly. "Have you been touching my candy?"
There was no response, then, suddenly, the relic leaned over, took the box in its feathers, and dumped all the chocolate into the small hole in its trunk. Angie stood, bewildered -- even that was weird for her. "..uh, Bob --"
A burp.
Angie just stood and stared at it blankly. After a moment, it spread its feathers and begun to flap rapidly, rising a few inches off the ground. Her eyes widening, she watched as it rammed into the wall a few times, and quickly darted out of the way as it flapped out of the room, and then out the door. "BOB!" She wailed, running to the front door. "WAIT! COME BACK--" Her foot slipped, and she fell off of the wooden path, plummeting to the ground..
Angie woke up with a strangled cry, her legs cringing violently and twisting themselves in the starry blanket. A bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead to her chin as she panted, trying to figure out what had just happened. Bob..?
Gasping, she twisted around quickly to see if she was really awake, or if it was real -- but her relic was in the exact same place and position as she had seen it last, without any feathers sticking out in odd places. She slowly calmed down as she took it in -- just a dream.. just a dream..
"Oh, Bob, you ate my chocolate!" she wailed, smacking the relic and burying herself in her sheets again. Bob didn't seem to mind, though, because he said nothing as she ranted at him, and then, halfway through her sentance, fell asleep.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:42 pm
Black Duvet Angie was glad that the inn, at least, had showers, so she could bathe -- she hated being dirty. The corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile as she wondered absentmindedly where the water supply came from -- perhaps there was a lake nearby..?
Angie wandered into the kitchen, a towel hung over her head (and squeaky-clean!), and rummaged around the cupboards so she could make dinner for her and Bob. The feather she had picked up the floor of her house was tied into her hair, now, by a blue thread, and some beads for decoration. She had started to grow attached to it.. Quinny-chan Quinn wandered down to the Inn. She needed to check on Wuto, Zane and Spoon. Upon entering, she heard some noise comming from the kitchen. She hoped the boys weren't getting into trouble... "Guys?" she called. "Are you getting into stuff you shouldnt be?" Black Duvet Angie blinked and paused in her rummaging, turning her head towards the voice. "Um.. last I checked, I wasn't a guy," she said quietly, looking doubtfully at her legs.
Although there was a box of cookies that was very tempting.
"I think you're mistaken," she called, shutting the cupboard door and turning towards the door. "My name's Angie.." Quinny-chan Angie... I think that's one of the other new guardians... Quinn quickened her step towards the kitchen. She leaned on the doorframe, taking in the towel-ladden girl. "Sorry, I thought maybe my boys were getting into trouble. Please, eat."
As an after thought, she added, "I'm Quinn, by the way. Nice to meet you." Black Duvet Angie smiled at her, and bowed her head in greeting. "It's nice to meet you too, Quinn." Then, twisting to look at the cupboard, she blinked and looked back at the other. "Are you hungry? I'm just learning how to cook, so I could use someone to test on.." Retreiving her cookbook from the counter, she showed it to her, shrugging. "I'll try not to burn it." Quinny-chan "I could eat... what are you making?" Quinn hoped this didnt get her into trouble. She didnt want to hurt the girl's feelings... Black Duvet "I was going to try and make waffles," she said proudly, putting the book back on the counter and walking back over to the cupboard. After a few moment's rummaging, she found what she was looking for -- a box of pancake mix -- and pulled it out. "I just noticed that earlier when I came in," she said, pointing to a small machine on the counter. Sure enough, it was a waffle iron. "I'd better start out small, anyway.." Quinny-chan Waffles...I dont think she can mess that up... "I'd love waffles, thanks. Need any help?" Black Duvet "Nope! I'm pretty sure I can figure out the iron, anyway," she said, grinning and turning to the ingredients. Soon enough, she was whipping the batter in a small bowl, sending small specks on the surrounding counter area. It looked okay, though.
Angie paused, then cleared her throat, her arm on auto-stir. "..so..do you know much about this area?" Quinny-chan "Hmm... I dont know how much I know. This Tree is pretty new to us all and I've only been in Sabilasi for a few weeks. Why?" The waffles were actually looking pretty good. Quinn licked her lips and watched Angie stir. Black Duvet "Oh, I dunno. I've just never heard of all of this before at all," she said dismissively, walking with the bowl over to the waffle iron and pouring some of the batter in. Shutting the lid and pressing the 'on' button, she looked back at Quinn and gave her a small smile. "Actually, I don't know anything about all of this at all.. I was at the..the tree thing when it was dead, but everyone was in too much of a rush to explain.." Quinny-chan "Hmm..." Quinn mused, unsure of where to begin. "Do you know anything about the history of the Ieldi? That will help explain what happened at the tree..." Black Duvet "Ee-el-dee?" She said doubtfully, flipping the machine over and plopping the cooked waffle onto a plate. She handed this to the other, looking at her confusedly. "What's that..?" Quinny-chan The waffle smelled good. Quinn busied herself finding peanutbutter and syrup. "Yes, Ieldi. Um..." she struggled, trying to think of a simpler explanation. "Have you seen any of the feathered little children who lived at the old tree? Those are the Ieldi. You have recieved a Relic, right?" Black Duvet "No, I don't think I have," she said, biting her lip as she poured more batter into the machine. "But.. I think I have one of those relic thingies you're talking about. His name is Bob," she said, her impish grin returning. Quinny-chan Well, at least that was somewhere to start... "Alright," Quinn said around a mouthful of waffle, "these are good, by the way. That Relic, the wood stumpy thing with feathers..." she looked at Angie, hoping to get some sign of recognition. "You are trying to lure a spirit into that thing. If the spirit decides to live in it and goes in, it cant come out again. Eventually, the spirit will be reborn into a little child with downy feathers... thats an Ieldi." She hesitated, "Make sense?" Black Duvet Angie grinned even wider at the compliment, nodding to what she said. "A spirit, huh.."
Without warning, she nearly dropped the waffle iron, though thankfully it wasn't too high off the counter. "A what now?" she cried, staring at her wide-eyed. "Spirits? A kid? But..but.."
Angie tried to imagine a child popping out of her beloved Bob. ...somehow, she couldn't see that. Quinny-chan "Yeah... supposedly, after the spirit goes inside, it will eventually go to sleep and ready itself for its rebirth. And then, after awhile, the Relic like explodes and a child is in its place... I've never actually seen this happen, but its what I've heard." Black Duvet "BUT I DON'T WANT BOB TO EXPLODE!" She wailed, now completely ignoring the waffle iron, which was starting to smoke ominously. "BOB IS MY FRIEEEND..hey, what's that smell?"
Turning around, she shrieked and turned off the waffle iron quickly, dumping a blackened, shriveled-up waffle onto her plate. She plugged her nose as it continued to smoke. After a moment, she seemed to have recovered, though, and tossed the burnt waffle into the garbage bin, making a face.
"Hmm.. do you think.. that the feathers on the relic would affect the actual birdy thingy?" She pondered, thinking about the feather tied in her hair. Of course, she didn't want Bob to explode.. but she couldn't help but be curious.. Quinny-chan At the sight of the burnt waffle, Quinn looked at her empty plate, "I would offer you some of mine, but..." she gave Angie a chagrinned look. "This is mere speculation, mind, but I think the feathers effect what spirit your Relic attracts. From looking at pictures of the other Ieldi, the all have colorings and markings like the feathers on their Relics." Black Duvet "Really," she said quietly, fingering the feather. "I wonder what bird this came from.."
"It's okay," she said, grinning and pointing to the bowl. There was, thankfully, enough left to make a few more. "Do you want any more, while I'm at it? I have to make some for Bob, too.."
Ahh, poor Bob. He'd explode someday. At least that would be good revenge for giving her cracked-out dreams, though.. Quinny-chan "Yeah, I'd take another one. Thanks! All I've figured out about my Relic is that it must have been a Hunter. The feathers are all short and muted chocolate brown. The bird must have needed camoflage. So, it was probably a Hunter. Mine is the only Relic I've seen with such muted feathers. Every other one has had bright, long feathers. What does... um, Bob, look like?" Black Duvet Angie nodded, pouring more batter into the machine. "Hunter, huh? Sounds interesting."
She paused. "Bob? Well, uh.. he's made out of wood," she began, furrowing her brow. "The wood's sort of a light grey-brown colour, but there are these wing-like thingies caved into it that have a blue and purple sheen to them.. lots of funny squiggly shapes on it.. and, of course, a few of these feathers," she blinked, showing her her feather. "I think it came from Bob. I don't know what sort of bird it came from, though.." Quinny-chan Quinn looked at the feather, it was quite fetching. "I wonder what birds are blue and purple," she mused aloud. "Its pretty, though, whatever bird it came from." Black Duvet "I'll probably have to go visit a library sometime and see what I can find," Angie said, shrugging and plopping another waffle on Quinn's plate. "The first thing that comes to my mind is 'bluejay', but only because it has 'blue' in its name," she said, laughing and pouring more batter into the iron.
She paused, then grinned. "Hey.. if you ever want to visit me sometime, I live in one of the houses at the very bottom of the settlement. It's the one with the lopsided cone roof," she said, nodding sagely. Quinny-chan "Thanks!" Quinn said, indicating the waffle and the invitation. "I live in the house in the portal clearing. The one with the flat, moss covered roof and the curly-Q's." Quinn smiled at Angie. Pehaps making friends was easier that she thought. Black Duvet "Ah, I've seen that one," Angie said, nodding sagely as she prepared two more waffles -- one for her, and one for Bob. "It's pretty. Maybe I can borrow some books from the library, and we can have a study session of sorts.."
Angie looked up at the clock. "Ah, I should probably go soon," she said, blinking. "Almost Bob's bedtime! Little tyke would stay up 'til dawn if I didn't put him to bed," she said, cracking a grin. Quinny-chan "I would like that. Stop by any time!" Quinn looked at the girl a little strangely at the mention of putting the Relic to bed... but, she talked to hers, so how could she judge. "Have a good night! Thanks for the Waffles." Black Duvet "Okay, you too! And it was nothing," she said, grinning and picking up the plate of waffles. She'd take the plate back in the morning. "G'night!"
And, with that, Angie exited the inn and promptly wailed, wondering how she was going to take care of some kid when she could barely take care of herself.. Quinny-chan Quinn watched the strange girl go. She hoped she had helped somewhat. Rinsing her plate in the sink, she looked towards the door as she heard a wail. Hope everything is ok... Drying her hands, she peeked in the hallway, but it was empty.
Hmm... Well, time to check on the boys, she thought as she made her way to her room at the Inn.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 10:21 am
The rest of the previous night was muddled in Angie's mind when she woke up. She had remembered coming home with the waffles, and eating one -- then, she tried to feed one to Bob. Bob would not eat, though, and instead she had to stuff it into his trunk, throw a blanket on him, and then sit and make herself confused while she tried to figure out what to do. Obviously, she couldn't run back home, because she most likely wasn't welcome there anymore.. but she couldn't take care of a kid herself. She'd need..help..
And that was all she remembered. She must've fallen asleep then, she thought groggily, staring at the two lumps in her sheets that were her feet. She couldn't feel her toes.
She twisted to look at Bob. Good old Bob. He'd never done her wrong (except for that one messed up dream), and he was going to explode someday.. she'd have to be nice to the spirits, though, if they came. Even if Bob had to explode, they should have a chance at life, too, shouldn't they?
The feather was still tied into her hair. She gave a small smile as she fingered it, and figured out her plans for the day.. first, she'd have to get breakfast, of course. She could just grab something while she was in Gaia, though.. and then she'd have to go to the library, to do research on her feather. Looking at the air sprocket lying prone on the end of her makeshift bed, she'd have to take it too, but only if it agreed to behave. And.. she'd have to find onee-san, too. She needed.. some help.. and she'd have to tell her where she was now too, or she might get worried. Yes..
Angie yawned, and stretched, leaning over to poke her sprocket gently. Sana slowly whirred back to life, and chirped softly. "I have to go back to Gaia for a little bit, Sana," she whispered. "And you can come, too, but only if you promise to behave. We're going to go to the library, so I'll need you to be very, very quiet," she continued, and the sprocket beeped in compliance and hovered over the sheets. "Good," she said, smiling, then straightened up, carefully placing one hand on Bob's blanket. "Oh.. BOB!" She shrieked, tearing off the blanket and flinging herself over him. "HEY BOB WE'RE GONNA BE AT THE LIBRARY SO YOU BEHAVE YOURSELF AND DON'T EAT ALL MY CANDY," she sang, Sana beeping loudly in disdain.
That done, Angie bounced to her feet, changed her clothes, grabbed her small pouch of gold and left Bob alone again, sitting in a puddle of blankets and looking very sad and lonely indeed.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:25 am
Angie walked along the Durem streets, shivering in the cold and hugging herself to try and keep warm. The temperatures in Salbasi were wonderful compared to the harsh winter of Gaia, and she felt a twinge of jealousy towards her sprocket, who was battling the wind by shooting puffs of air from its core gem out against it. Thankfully, the library was close to the Durem clock-tower, and soon enough she had taken refuge in the heated area; after wandering around a bit, she finally found some books on birds and sat down at one of the tables in the corner to start.
Angie paused, looking up. Once she was done, she'd have to find onee-san, definately. If onee-san didn't show up while she was there, anyway. Shushing her beeping companion, she opened the first book, sighed, and begun to quickly scan the pages.
Speaking of her onee-san...
Not too far off, a young girl was desperately trying to reach some books at the very top of the bookshelf. Compared to Angie, this girl was just a little bit taller but definitely older, probably in her mid-teens or so. Her hair was waist-length and a light brown, layered to the point where the girl was frustratedly running her hands through her hair -- partly to get it out of her face, and partly because she had nothing better to do.
"Lonan!" She whispered fiercely, trying to keep some semblance of calm in the shushed library. "Do something useful! Get 'em for me or something!" Her mismatched eyes swept to the side as she crossed her arms over her chest, slightly hunched over as if to hide something.
There was a grumbling squeak at her words, and a tiny little mouse crept out of her pockets -- only to shape-shift into a squirrel that deftly climbed up the wooden slats. Easily arriving at the top, the thing -- whatever it was -- crawled behind the books and began to shove the wanted ones out at the waiting girl beneath.
"Ow!" Cerena hissed, promptly getting beaned in the head by a book. "WATCH IT--" Her eyes widened and she clamped both hands over her mouth, faintly flushing while staring, annoyed, at her spirit guide making faces at her above.
Grumbling, she knelt down briefly to sweep up the book and caught the other ones, before promptly twisting around on her toes and stalking off without another word. Purposefully shoving all thoughts of the spirit guide out of her mind, she concentrated instead on finding a place to sit.
A brief glance around revealed that the tables were all occupied -- it was Sunday after all -- but a rather familiar girl was sitting at an otherwise primarily empty one. She brightened at the small figure and drastically picked up her pace to make her way to the younger girl's side.
"Hi Angie!" She greeted excitedly, nearly tripping herself into a chair at the table. Ungracefully dumping her books on the table lest she send them flying everywhere, she gave a large, lopsided smile to the dark-haired girl. "Uhm... You don't mind if I sit here, do you?"
Angie blinked at Cerena almost stupidly, before her face cracked into a grin. "Onee-san! I never thought I'd see you here! What lu.." She trailed off, noticing the angry glares that were being thrown at her, then leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Um, I've been looking for you.. you can sit down, please.."
She then pulled back, swivelling around in her chair to make a face at one particular person, who was still glaring at her. Sana chirped happily, but as quietly as it could possibly manage, rotating around the brunette's head at a high speed.
"Okay!" The other girl promptly plopped herself down with a general air of satisfaction, as if she'd won a Nobel Prize or something of the sort. Trying to straighten out her dishevelled hair, she chirped a brief 'Hi!' back to Sana, deciding it was better not to try to look at the sprocket lest she make herself dizzy.
Ignoring the brief tingling of the feathers -- something she gave little thought to for something so overtly abnormal, little wing-like arrangements of white feathers sprouting just above her ears -- as her spirit guide annoyedly crawled back into his place in her pocket in the form of a dragonfly, she instead concentrated on Angie. "Did you need something?" She asked concernedly, tilting her head to the side.
Sana beeped happily, earning her a few fresh stares. The sprocket liked the attention, but it settled down on the table nonetheless and watched quietly.
"Well.. uh.. there's something I need to talk to you about," she said softly, cringing a little. "Uh.. I didn't get pregnant or anything like I said I wanted to, but, uh, you see..."
Cerena stared. "What have you been doing that could've gotten you pregnant?" She asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing just the slightest bit. It wasn't unheard of for girls Angie's age to get pregnant -- through regular means or supernatural -- but still...
"Nothing, nothing," she said distractedly, waving her hands to try and shoo the subject away as her face burned. "But, uh, you see.. I'm not going to get pregnant or anything," she said firmly, forgetting her indoor voice and earning her many strange looks, "but.. I'm.. going to be a mommy or something.. or so it seems.."
"Oh," She said, considering this with an upward sweep of her eyes. "...Well, that's not so bad, I guess..." She admitted, realizing that there were dozens of ways to adopt children -- supernatural or not. Gaia was weird. Furiously shaking her head so as to make herself keep on topic, "But you're nervous, right?" She guessed. "After all, you're still a child yourself.."
There was silence for a moment, and Angie begun to wail loudly, clinging to Cerena's sleeve. "ONEE-SAAAN, I CAN'T TAKE CARE OF A KID! I CAN BARELY TAKE CARE OF MYSELF! I RAN AWAY BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD BE SOMETHING BETTER AND I CAME TO THAT PLACE AND THERE WAS THIS STUMP THING NAMED BOB AND I GOT THIS FEATHER FROM IT AND IT ATE ALL MY CHOCOLATE AND FLEW OFF AND..AND.."
Angie's cries were interrupted by the angry-looking librarian, who tapped her on the shoulder and informed her that if she "didn't quiet down, she'd have to leave." She nodded, tears in her eyes, and looked blearily back at her alledged onee-san. "I need help," she whispered. "I know I can't take care of a kid myself. I can't. I can't afford it. And I don't even know what kind of midget it is," she said, her mind in a muddle as she forgot that she didn't have the slightest clue what she was talking about.
This was... a rather familiar situation. "Oy, oy, calm down, please..." Cerena flushed, awkwardly petting Angie on the head in an attempt to... well... she wasn't sure. "What do you say we get these books checked out and then I'll take you out for ice cream, and you can tell me all about it...?" She tried, nervously looking around lest the librarian come from nowhere again to kick them out. "I'll help," She added quickly, "You know I will..." By now her curiosity spiked to a burning blaze -- but it was best not to rush these things, not when dealing with someone like Angie.
She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Okay," she mumbled, and stood up, clicking her tongue at Sana. The sprocket immediately rose up to hover beside her, chirping softly.
"Okay," Cerena sighed, glad that the crisis was -- for now -- averted. "Did you want all of these...?" Eager to get out of there as quickly as possible, she gathered up all of the books on the table and began to take the towering stack over to the self-checkout counter. Figuring they could just throw the books in the return bin should the other girl decide she didn't want them before they left, she placed down her library card under the scanner and began to masterfully swipe the books through in no time at all.
"It'd probably be good to get them all," she said quietly. "Honestly, I have no clue what kind of bird this feather --" she pointed to her hair -- "came from, so.." She stood there, watching awkwardly as the books scanned.
Sana beeped and hovered around the room, waiting impatiently by the door.
"Bird...?" But it was better not to ask, at least not yet. "You can tell me all about it as soon as we get outside -- or whenever you want to, I guess..." Shaking her head and gathering up all the books, she grabbed the book-receipt and led Angie outside of the library.
"Okay..." She sighed, slowly placing the large pile of books down. "Lonan...? D'you think you could...?"
The dragonfly withdrew from the sanctity of his pocket with an inaudible 'hmph' -- and just a few seconds later, a white llama with black spots stood disdainfully at Cere's side.
Cere hummed happily to herself as she unwound a belt wrapped thrice around her waist, and easily slid her skirt off (she was wearing black shorts underneath, thankfully.) A few moments of meticulous folding later resulted in a makeshift pouch that she strapped to the llama. Carefully placing the books inside, she sideglanced at Angie. "Wanna ride?" She offered with a grin, much to the chagrin of her spirit guide.
Angie stared blankly at the Lonan-llama, blinking stupidly, then raised an arm slowly, pointing at him. "LLAMA," she declared, momentarily forgetting her worries, and immediately ran over to him and hugged him. Hard.
Sana spun around to the llama's face, beeping sympathetically.
Lonan let out a llama-snort, resisting the urge to run far, far away from this strange girl. He almost wished that the sight of random non-native animals appearing wasn't normal in Gaia, if only so he wouldn't be... exploited like this. How would Cerena feel if she were made to change her shape so she would have to carry books while he could relax? And then made her carry his friends?
"Be good, Lonan," Cerena warned suspiciously, knowing this would anger him all the more. "Alright, Angie, let's get going..." She, with some difficulty, pushed the slightly-smaller girl up onto the llama, before leading the furry critter away.
Angie whined slightly as Cerena pushed her up, because she would have to let go of the Lonan-llama -- then, realising gleefully she could still cling to him, promptly did so. She giggled, trying not to get llama-hair in her nose. "Llama llama llama llama llama.."
Sana floated next to Cerena, oddly silent.
After a bit of a walk, they ended up near the ice cream shop, and, after a bit of deliberation on Angie's part about what to get, finally placed their order and found somewhere to sit.
"So.." Angie murmured, clasping her hands tightly on the table.
"Sooo..." Cerena poked at her double-fudge-double-chocolate-brownie-chunk-with-chocolate-syrup ice cream. "Why don't you start from the beginning and tell me what's going on...?"
The books having been carefully set down next to the table, Lonan was thus free for the moment and celebrated this by darting through the air as a hummingbird.
Angie squeezed her eyes shut.
"..well, for one thing, I ran away from home. I got this note, you see," she murmured -- it sounded better in her head. "Telling me to come to this particular area in the woods somewhere.. so I packed my bags and left in the middle of the night.. but when I got there, this great big tree-thing was all dead, and everyone was too busy trying to look for someone to answer my questions," she said, scratching her forehead. "I helped them, but then I got lost. Somehow, though, I got another note from some person, saying that my relic waited in my house in upper Kyendi..
"I wandered around a bit, before stumbling onto a teleporter that got me to the top of Durem clocktower," she said, her gaze wandering to the clocktower in the middle of the town. "It was really weird up there, all these trees and stuff.. but there was a portal, and I went through it, and I ended up in a place called.. Sabilasi, I think..
"There were people there, yelling about relics and stuff, and I asked them about it. We went through this other teleporter thing that took us to the Upper Kyendi, and.. I have this weird house thing there, and a big stump relic thing I named Bob! I think my feather came from him.. So I settled in and stuff..free house, yanno.. I didn't ask too many questions.
"I met this one girl when I went back to the inn the other night to make dinner, though, and I asked her about all the weird stuff going on, and she told me that someday.. someday.." Angie gave a big sniff. "..Bob's going to explode, and I'll have to take care of this midget thing that comes out of it..! Apperantly, the feathers on the relic and stuff have something to do with the kid, but..but.."
She sniffed again, taking a big bite out of her ice cream, and watched Lonan quietly.
"Well..." Cerena trailed off, not exactly sure of how to address this. "I could--" but she was then distracted by a large, suspicious whump of a feathery body ramming into a pane of glass at extremely high agitated speeds.
Angie jumped in her chair and gave a shriek -- she had been staring right out the window when the thing hit it. "Uh," she said, pausing for only a moment before darting outside and peeling the bird off the window. There was a lot of yelling and shaking of this one particular bird, who looked as if it were about to be sick, and finally Angie finished and stepped back inside, followed by the blank stares of other customers. "Uh.. this is Iol," she mumbled, holding the purple and blue gembird up to her sister. "I guess I forgot him when I ran away.."
"...Iol?" But Ceres decided that this was the second time today that it'd be better simply not to ask. "Uhm... It's a very pretty bird," She added, in case it decided it didn't like her eyes being where they were. "As I was saying... Maybe I could move i--" but Angie was ignoring her, it seemed, as she lunged for the humming-bird-spirit-guide that was fluttering above her head.
After a few grabby-hands, she finally managed to grab hold of the spirit guide and sit down again, staring at him. "Blue," she said quietly, "with a purple sheen.."
She fingered the feather in her hair, then immediately let go of Iol, who promptly flopped over on the table, looking very tired. With her one free hand, she flipped through her book, and her eyes widened as her eyes fell upon one particular page.
"No..no.."
Her grasp on Lonan weakened as she stared at the page, as if expecting it to magically change before her eyes.
"The hummingbird species usually eats sugar and honey, and, due to its fast metabolism, has to eat every ten to fifteen minutes to keep its strength up," she read aloud, looking on the verge of tears.
There was NO WAY she could pull that off without help.
"...I could move in?" Cere suggested weakly, still having no idea what was going on. "Uhm, when the... uh... 'midget'... comes... I could help... Until you feel confident enough to take care of him on your own..."
She, apperantly, did not hear her, or wasn't listening. Angie looked as if she was having an internal panic attack, really. "That was why I had that funky dream with the chocolate and the weird wings," she murmured.
Suddenly, without warning, her head went smack on the book.
"...?!" Cere jumped out of her seat, ice cream long since forgotten and melted. "Angie? You okay?"
"Blue-throated hummingbirds are the most aggressive and bold of the species," she said drone-like, her head fixed firmly against the book. "Rich blue feathers..."
She slowly lifted her head, staring at Cerena bleary-eyed, a big red mark on her forehead. "Okay," she said quietly, "the spirits might like you, even.."
"I like spirits too," Cerena said helpfully.
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:38 pm
The next day was a busy one. Angie helped Cerena move her stuff into the empty room she had; thankfully, there wasn't that much to move (and Lonan carried most of it), but her legs still ached from walking up all those stairs in the clocktower. Cerena seemed awfully curious about the area when they arrived, but Angie quickly shooed her and her spirit guardian into the portal to Upper Kyendi and settled them in.
While Cerena was unpacking her things and looking around the area, she left her to do her thing so she could go somewhere quiet and think. The first place that came to her mind?
The Rising Moon inn.
Heading back through the teleporter and quietly walking to the inn, there was no-one but her and her thoughts. Her thoughts mimicked her surroundings, though -- complete silence.
Staring blankly at the row of room keys on the wall, she grabbed a random one and trudged upstairs. After walking along the hallway for a short period of time, she finally came upon the room she was looking for and wordlessly unlocked the door, stepped inside, and locked it behind her.
Angie didn't bother looking around at the room -- she instead headed straight for the bathroom, a sanctum of peace to her. She looked at the bathtub and her mouth couldn't help but twitch into a small smile -- a bath would be nice. After discarding her clothes and turning on the tap carefully, she stepped into the tub and sat down.
No sound but that of running water. How peaceful.
She sighed and sunk into the bath. A kid, huh? She'd be...a mother to this kid? Or a friend?
Angie shivered and hugged her knees to her chest. No. She wanted to be a friend, not a mother. She couldn't play that role for anyone. Hopefully that would be okay with the.. ee-el-dee.
And when it would be reborn, it would destroy Bob, huh? She thought about this with the slightest twinge of dread. Bob.. exploding..
Well, Bob did pose as some sort of sentimental value to her, but was it more important than the sake of some small child?
Angie bowed her head. Of course not. To some extent, she realised that Bob was an object, and that a child was something more -- it needed a chance for her care more than Bob did.
Well.. at least she'd enjoy the time she had with Bob that she had.. and then she'd take care of this Ieldi child, no matter how much it ate, or how hyper it was, or how annoying. Mostly as a friend, though maybe she'd try it as a mother for a while.
But mostly as a friend.
And everything would be okay.. because she had help and support from her onee-san.. and she would do her best, and that was all she could do. She smiled gently, reaching over for a towel.
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:33 pm
Angie yawned widely as she went into the portal to upper kyendi, somewhat amused at the thought of what might be going into her mouth. She looked blankly around at the area, as if lost, though the reason for that might, perhaps, be the towel wrapped around her eyes.
"Aaa... uh.." She felt out in front of her for something, apperantly oblivious to the obvious problem.
Nai happened to be leaning against the side of her house at the time, having decided to take a short break from her work. Her keen hearing picks up the sound of Angie's arrival, and she wanders over to the ledge above Quinny's house to see who it might be. She recognised the girl, but couldn't manage to recall a name, only that she was one of the other future keepers. Taking a closer look as she wracks her brain for the girl's name, she notices her blind stumbling, as well as the towel around her eyes. Completely in the dark as to why in the world someone would walk around with a towel on their face, she decides to take the obvious course of action: Go ask.
"Hey! What're you doing?" She stops next to the girl, halfway waiting for an answer and halfway making sure she doesn't trip and kill herself.
"Augh!" She cried, not having heard Nai approach, and fell onto her backside in shock. After a moment's pause, she let out a great sniff, and the towel slowly fell off of her eyes. "Uhh.. uh.. I just wanted to get.. home," she said quietly, looking at the other wide-eyed. "But..everything was..dark..and.."
She looked around, realising where she was, and the towel lying on her lap quite innocently. "Um, yeah," she mumbled, scratching the back of her head embarrassedly as she realised her mistake. Yeah.. uh.. it was the wind, really.
Nai just raises an eyebrow and smiles, obviously amused. "Well, I'm sure you can find your way now?" She quickly wipes her hands on her pants to clean most of the grease off, then holds one out as an offer to help the girl up. "You're one of the new keepers, arent' you? I'm Nai, but I can't for the life of me remember your name..." She trails off, and scratches the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm sorta bad with names."
Angie hesistated before taking her hand and pulling herself up, dusting off her backside and pulling the towel off of the ground. "Keepers? Uh.. I guess I am, if you're talking about the relic-midget-things," she said, grey eyes staring blankly at Naien. "My name's Angie.. and don't worry about it," she said, giving her a small smile. "I'm pretty bad with names, too. Actually, I'm pretty bad with everything, but, uh.." she trailed off, suddenly finding the tip of her shoe quite interesting.
Nai chuckles, scratching at the base of one of her fluffy ears. "Well, I've never heard them refered to quite that way before, but yeah, that's what I mean." For a minute, she says nothing, apparently trying to remember the name for longer than last time. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Angie. And don't worry too much, this place is confusing for everyone at the start. Eventually nothing here can surprise you anymore." She smiles, reaching up to move her mask, which had fallen in front of one of her eyes. "But anyways, you like your house?"
"Um.. I think they're called.. ee-el-dee," she said, furrowing her brow and trying to remember what that one lady had called them. "I think.. I don't remember exactly.."
A pause. "It's nice to meet you, too," she said, giving her a small nod. "..my house? Uh.. it's big.. and woody," she said, trying to express how big it was with flailing arm movements, but failed. "Pretty dark, but I got some lanterns and stuff and it's better now. Is that yours?" She said distractedly, peering over Nai's shoulder to look at the house. "It's nice."
She nods. "Yeah, Ieldi. See, you're learning already."
She looks over her shoulder as well, then laughs. "Oh, that's not my house. Quinny lives there, mine is up over the ledge." She nods, for no apparent reason. "Mine is dark too, and I don't have lanterns up yet. I was busy putting the sink in when I heard you out here." She pauses for a minute. "It'll be really nice once I go get some light though."
Angie gave a small smile. It was nice to know something.
"Ah..oh! Quinn! I remember her," she said, scratching her head. "Yeah.. I met her at the inn.. and we had waffles," she said nodding. "Yours is a nice house, too, though.."
"...but, uh...where'd you get the sink from?" She queried, looking at her strangely. And people called her odd..
She smiles as well, and sits down on one of the nearby logs. "Yeah, Quinny's nice. It's good to hear that you've been meeting people. New places are always less scary if you've got a friend. Don't you think so?"
She suddenly looks a bit pained, and scratches the back of her head. "Oh, the sink?... Well... It was just around, yeah... Heh heh..." Her eyes dart from side to side, looking desperately for a distraction. "Oh! Which house is yours?"
Angie nodded, sitting down on one of the logs herself. "Yeah.. my onee-san's staying with me for a while, too, so I feel a little better. And it's nice here," she said, looking vaguely around at the area.
She blinked, tilting her head to the side questioningly. "Are you feeling okay..? You don't look too -- oh, my house is right near the bottom," she said, quite easily distracted as she waved a hand at the stairs heading down. "It's the one with the lopsided cone roof."
"Your onee-san?" She inquires, nodding afterwards. "Yeah, this place is gorgeous. You can see the stars a bit at night from my balcony, it's really pretty." She sighs happily, looking up at the bright green leaves overhead.
"Right at the bottom? I've not really been down there much, since my house is farther up. It sounds nice." She looks back up the stairs, and tilts her head. "Like I said, mine is the one up beyond the ledge. I really like it."
"My big sister," she explained, nodding. "She's really nice. She says she'll help me with raising my.. my Ieldi 'til I think I can take care of it myself." At this, she looked up as well, a small smile on her face. "It is pretty. It's too bad you can't see the moon, though.. I'm sure it'd be just lovely."
"If you want to visit sometime, you're welcome to," Angie said, grinning. "It's, uh.. a little messy.. but it's nice.. I'm glad I have a house. And a stumpy-relicy-thingy, too," she pondered, scratching her head.
She nods slowly, thinking. "It'll be nice to have help, but you'll have to be careful that the spirits don't get scared away. They're a bit skittish, from what I've heard." She pauses for a moment more, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "It will be a bit of work, taking care of the little ones. At least they start out old enough that there's no diapers involved." She shudders a bit at the thought, and makes a sour face.
She smiles brightly, the sour expression gone. "I'd like that. You can come visit me too, if you'd like. There's not much there yet though, and I need to clean up all the stol... Er, mess! Yeah, I need to clean up the mess." She scratches the back of her head again, before attempting another topic change. "Anyways... Your relic, what's it look like? Mine's a pain in the a**, homestly."
"Ummm.. I think onee-san's good with spirits, but yeah, I should probably introduce her later, when the spirit is more stable," she said, smiling. "Oh.. no diapers.." A pause. Under her breath, Angie muttered 'thank god', but whether Nai heard this or not was unknown to her.
"Okay," she said, grinning again. "My relic..?" She paused, rubbing the bridge of her nose in consideration. "..well.. the basic wood itself is a muted light blue.. the wing patterns on it, though, have a rich blue and purple sheen," she said, nodding. "And it has really pretty blue feathers, too." She pointed to the feather in her hair. "I think this came from Bob, but I'm not absolutely sure.. and.. it eats chocolate. Why's yours a.. uh, a pain in the..a**?" She said quizzically, blinking rapidly. What was an..a**?
Nai snickers, apparently having heard Angie. "I'll second that."
She listens intently through the description, occasionally squinting or tilting her head to the side, though how that would help her visualise the relic is unknown. "It sounds pretty." She sits up and blinks at the part about "Bob", and eating chocolate. "Well, mine doesn't eat anything... I don't think they're supposed to... And who's Bob?" Trying not to think too much about how or why a relic would eat chocolate, she continues. "Why? Well, because it's poisonous. I touched the feathers, and my whole hand went numb."
She shrugged innocently.
"Maybe you can come see it sometime," she said distractedly, looking back down the hill to her home. "Before it explodes. It's pretty. And uh.. his name is Bob," she said, nodding sagely. "Uh..poisonous..at the touch?" She gaped. Trying to picture that was.. very hard. How in the world was she going to deal with that? "I guess I'm lucky, mine isn't poisonous or anything," she said quietly, rubbing her arm. "Though the Ieldi's probably going to be a sugar fiend.. it's a hummingbird, I think.."
"I'd like that. All the relics are really pretty. Of course, the pantheon made them, so it's to be expected I suppose." She tilts her head at hearing that her relic has a name, but chooses not to comment. She simply shrugs at the incredulous tone, remembering the shock that she and everyone else got. "Yup, poisonous to the touch. We figured out that the feathers are from a pitohui, which stores poison in it's feathers and skin, sortof like a poison arrow frog." She winces at the word hummingbird, giving Angie a sympathetic look. "Oh, I'd take poison over ADHD anyday... If you ever need help with the bugger, you can call me, but I don't know if I'd be much help..." She shifts a bit, glaring at the log that she's sitting on, and muttering under her breath about cushions for sitting on. She seems to remember suddenly that she's not alone, and stops her mumbling. "Urmm... Well, I suppose you could come see my relic too, you just couldn't touch the feathers..."
"The..uh.. the pantheon?" Angie blinked, obviously confused. "What's..?"
"Wow.. poisonous to the touch," she mused, wondering how that would affect the Ieldi child. It would definately be..interesting.. "And thank you," she said, smiling at her. "I'll probably need all the help I can get."
"See it? Oooo.. okay," she said, apperantly not hearing her and grinning instead. "Is it pretty?"
She looked a bit surprised at that, and blinked several times. "You've not heard about the Pantheon? They're the gods of Sabilasi. They show up once in a while, but they mostly keep to themselves."
"Yeah. I'm planning on going back to gaia for a bit one of these days, and I was going to research some antidotes while I'm there. Maybe I can find something that people could drink to null the poison, or something like that. And it's no problem."
She smiles and laughs at Angie's excietment, grinning as well. "Yeah, it's really pretty. It's not as bright as yours sounds, but it's still really pretty. It's got this really pretty orange on it, with some black."
"Gods.." she said quietly, looking as if she were considering this closely. "No, I've never heard of them before now.. do they like humans much?"
"Null the poison? If you find something, be sure to share it with us," she said, grinning shrewedly. "I'm sure we'll all probably need it.."
"Wow, orange? Black? It does sound nice," she said, nodding happily. "I'm sure the Ieldi will be very lovely!"
She tilts her head a bit, and shrugs. "Some of them do, and some don't. It's best to avoid Siff, he's the god of Shadows. But Ullue, the goddess of Light, is nice."
She laughs, shaking her head. "You might. Let's hope not though."
She nods, smiling. "Yeah, it's really pretty, fairly dark though. But I like it a lot." Then she laughs again. "All the Ieldi have been lovely, I can't see any of the new batch being any different."
"Oh. Okay," she said happily. Even though she now knew what he looked like, it was doubtful that she would actually leave him alone -- Angie being Angie, she'd probably try to make him 'happy' again. If he ever was happy, that is.
"Aaa-aaa.. I see," she murmured, tapping her chin thoughtfully. Maybe she'd luck out and her midget Ieldi thing would be mellowed out when it was reborn..
....
Probably not.
She looked somewhat worried at the happy tone, but was slightly reassured by the fact that Ahnema would likely be anywhere Siff was, and might save the poor kid from the Shadow god.
"Well, I think some of them are outgoing enough. I've heard stories about Youko's boy..." She dissolves into laughter at the thought, and can't manage to say anything for several minutes.
Angie couldn't help but crack into a lopsided grin as she stared at Naien quizzically. "Wha..? What? Huh? What is it? Did I say something..?"
She shakes her head, still giggling, and clutches at her sides almost painfully. "N-no... " She finally pulls herself together, and wipes the tears from her eyes. "Sorry... But have you ever thought of something, and just couldn't stop laughing?"
Angie paused, then nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Just like..like.."
She started to crack up, doubling over and clutching her stomach. "I-I'm sorry..just.."
Of course, Angie's laughing fit sets Nai off again, who this time falls off the log she's laughing so hard. "Oh man..."
"Wh-why are you laughing?" She choked, her eyes watering with tears as she laughed. "Y-you don't.."
She snorted again and fell backwards off the log in a fit of girly giggles, her legs waving helplessly in the air. "Ah --"
Still chuckling uncontrollably, Nai reaches over to pull Angie back up onto the log. She takes a few minutes to compose herself slightly, wiping her eyes again. "Oh man, I've not laughed that hard in a long time..."
Angie was slightly red in the face, her face looking as if it were stuck in a grin. She didn't seem to mind falling off the log that much, though. "So what's so funny about this kid, huh?"
She fights the urge to burst out laughing again, an manages a reply. "Well I've heard stories about him jumping off buildings." She snickers a bit into her sleeve, trying not to keel over in laughter again. "I'm sure you could ask around though and find some good dirt on anyone."
She blinks stupidly, and can't help but grin a little wider. "Jumps.. off buildings? But..why?"
Maybe he liked heights a little too much..
She shrugs. "Maybe it's close enough to flying? I mean, why do people bungee-jump?"
"That's true," she mused, scratching her head. "..still.. maybe he should try and learn to fly with a.. urm.. safer program.."
She shook her head, as if the thought went flying out of her ear. "I bet my Ieldi would have to learn to fly really quickly," she murmured, then sighed. Hopefully he wouldn't go to such..extents, though...
She giggles some more, shaking her head. "With a hummingbird? You wish." She leans back a bit, looking up at the leaves and patches of sky once again.
"But..well, I'd definately have to teach him to walk well and work on his leg strength," she murmured, "so he wouldn't have to FLY everywhere, and then his arm strength, because it's like 50 wing-flaps in a second, and he needs to support his own weight too, and.. and.."
She started quietly spazzing, twitching randomly. She was probably more worried about flying than the actual Ieldi would be.. poor thing.
Trying to avoid the oncoming breakdown, she somewhat awkwardly pats Angie on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it yet, eh? They can't actually fly as kids, so he or she will have to do plenty of walking first..."
Slowly it subsided, and she shivered slightly as she came back to her senses. "I guess that's true.. still, um.. blarg," she mumbled, putting her head between her knees. "I don't feel too good, all of a sudden.."
"Urmm, well, I'm no doctor or anything, so I don't think I can really help you there..."
Deep breaths didn't seem to be working well. "..um..maybe I should go home," she said quietly, hugging herself gently. "It was nice meeting you, Naien. Sorry.."
She nods, looking fairly concerned. "Well, you should get some rest I suppose... I dunno. Hope you feel better soon, Angie." She stands up, stretching and dusting herself off, and looking down at Angie worredly.
One last deep breath, and she stood up as well, forcing a smile. "Heh, maybe I made myself sick with my cooking. Anyway, I'll see you again soon, hopefully," she said, nodding. "G'bye.."
With that, she raced down the stairs to the lower area of upper kyendi, arms still wrapped around her stomach.
Waving half-heartedly after her, Nai sighs and heads back to her own house, muttering. "Poor kid..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 3:32 pm
Clutching her stomach, Angie stumbled into the small house, leaning against the door and clutching her towel. "..ow.. dangit.." She sighed as she pressed the cool towel to her forehead, not really taking in how abnormally warm it was. "..um.. onee-san.."
"...?" Cerena poked her head out of the next room, setting down some knickknacks that she'd been trying to arrange in her new room. "Are you okay Angie?" She asked concernedly, making her way to the younger girl's side. "You don't look well..."
"Um..dun feel too good," she mumbled, sliding down the wall and into a sitting position on the floor. "I feel kinda.. woozy.. all of a sudden.."
Sana beeped concernedly, whizzing out of the other room and floating around its companion's head, puffing at her every once in a while.
"You should go lie down..." The brunette murmured, pulling her up and leading her over to her bed. Cerena pulled away the towel, placing the back of her hand against Angie's forehead. "...Hm." She frowned. "You have a fever... You're most definitely sick." She sighed and stood up straight, looking around the small house. "What to do..." She whispered to herself.
Angie made a small sound of disdain as she was pulled up and moved to the bed, though she did feel a little better when she was lying down. "Of all the times to get sick," she mumbled, kicking away the top blanket and curling up into herself. "..I'm sorry.."
Sana beeped, though more softly, then landed on the floor with a resounding clunk, core gem facing the ceiling. Angie stared at it, then poked the sprocket. "Sana, you can't get sick!"
It simply beeped again in temper and rolled off over the wooden floor.
Cerena let out a small laugh, before shaking her head and moving over to the cupboards. "I suddenly feel so old," She remarked aloud, reaching for a pitcher to fill with water. "Well... You're going to have to drink lots of fluids... And maybe a hot bath later will make you feel better. I'll make you some iced lemongrass tea, just like mom makes it..." A long pause. "Well, not my mom, she never cooked, but maybe your mom?"
A pause. "No," Angie mumbled, burying her face in her pillow. "My mom...she..doesn't cook, either.."
She inwardly sighed. Great, now she was officially sick. How great was that? Still, a hot bath sounded nice.. after a lot of sleep...
"You can have a hot bath too, Sana, if you'd like..." Cere shook her head, moving between cupboards to get the ingredients needed to make the tea. There were a few moments of silence, only interrupted by the clinking of glass and utensils. Finally the other girl crouched down to Angie's bed, holding a tall glass of some golden liquid with ice cubes. "You should relax... Remember, I'll help you, so you don't have to..." But she couldn't find the right words to complete her sentence.
Sana beeped gratefully, floating up near to Cerena's head and gently puffing air at her bangs.
Angie sat up on her elbows, taking the glass from her. "Thanks," she said quietly, swallowing a bit of the drink and listening to her carefully. She paused, looking at Cerena over the rim of the glass. "..so I don't have to..?"
"Stress?" She attempted with a brief shrug. "Like I said, I'm gonna help you take care of the midget -- and you're not going to starve, nothing's going to go wrong so... It'll be okay. Okay? So no need to make yourself sick like this." She nodded.
Angie closed her eyes, then nodded, taking another drink from the glass. "Thanks," she murmured, leaning back again and closing her eyes. "..um..I'm going to take a nap.."
"Go ahead," Cere said, taking the glass from her and shuffling away. "Um.. I think I'll go take a walk, if that's okay... Take a look around... You'll be okay by yourself?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said quietly, opening her eyes again and staring at the ceiling blankly. "Don't go too far into the forest, though, you never know what's there.."
"'Course, I'm not that done." She grinned. "If you need anything, Lonan's around. Sweet dreams!"
"Kay," she said, sighing and closing her eyes again. She really was a burden..
Slowly, though, she dropped off to sleep.
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Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:34 pm
Angie is one of those few people that are like those plastic inflatable punching bags, but without being plastic and inflatable. You can punch it as hard as you like, or as much as you want, but it'll come careening back up in a few short moments to clock you in the shnozz. Angie wouldn't neccessarily hit you, but she could bounce back from almost anything. In this way, she careened back from her sickness to her usual hyper self in only a few days; despite Cerena's protests, she begun to arrange her 'sparklies' and otherwise improve her home. Of course, there were always other places on the tree she would need to visit, but the house had fallen into such disarray when she fell ill that she just couldn't ignore it.
So she got up and first tried to console Iol, who was still rather mad at her for leaving him behind when she ran away, and even more tired from flying around Gaia looking for her. She felt a slight guilt for forgetting him, but she didn't really leave him behind by accident..
Sana was Sana, the same perky and hyper air sprocket it always was. As she tried to replace the candles in her paper lanterns that had long since burned out, it spun around her head at high speeds, beeping for a very extended period of time and a little louder than she would have liked. The sprocket came in handy, though, when dealing with the candles that clung to their lives; one quick puff and they were out, like all good candles were supposed to be. Once that was done, she threw the burnt-out candles in her wastebasket and retrieved new ones from her stash, putting the candles in the lanterns and lighting them -- thankfully, she could handle matches safely.
After that, she picked up all the things lying around the room -- her plushies, mainly, a few discarded candy wrappers, and a lot of Iol's feathers. They were pretty feathers, but not as pretty as Bob's were, despite the small glittering jewels that each of his seemed to be made out of. She put the junk in the wastebin and the plushies she lined up on her makeshift bed, which she had already made up. The items on the shelves were neatly laid out and the dreamcatcher in the window swayed slightly in the warm Sabilasi breeze. The corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile; her work here was done.
At that point, she grabbed a broom and her CD player and begun to sweep the entirety of the house (except for Cerena's room, anyway); Sana assisted her by blowing the collected dirt along the wooden floor and out of the door. Angie danced with the broom to the tune of one of her favorite tracks, sweeping a few particles of dust out the door, when her broom struck something sitting in front of her door.
"...?" She turned the volume down a little, kneeling to pick up the parcel; she sighed and dusted the dirt off the wrapping, only just noticing a card sticking out of the folds. "From Tragicity.." she read aloud, turning the card over to see if there was anything else written there. She blinked, then shrugged, tugging at the wrapping with a finger. A moment's pause, and her face cracked into a wide grin. She ran back inside and into her and Bob's room.
"OH BOB, LOOK, YOU'VE GOT A NEW FRIEND!" She sang, nearly flinging the little hummingbird plushie at the relic; Iol, who was resting on the woodwork, gave a loud protest and took off to find refuge in some other part of the house. Bob didn't seem to care much. "I have to go back to cleaning, so play nice with him, okay?" With that, she spun and skipped out of the room, beaming.
Bob simply sat in the room and considered his new friend as the gembird warily took a seat on him once again.
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:27 am
A cool breeze swept through the branches of the trees as a certain navy-haired girl mumbled under her breath, sliding a few playing cards around on the wooden walkway. It was a pleasant night outside (as it was almost always, it seemed), so Angie had chosen to spend some time sitting outside, leaning against 'her' house. She didn't know whether or not she should call it 'her' house yet. Sure, it was nice to have a house, but the way that she gained it still had her head reeling.
Not like she cared at the moment, though. Instead, she took fistfuls of cards and flung them into the air; for, you see, this was how she played the card-game War -- the step of slapping cards on eachother was the same, but whenever War had to be wreaked, she took a handful of cards from each of the decks and flung them in the air, then searched through the rubble for two cards that would decide the War. She was playing against herself, and losing horribly.
Grumbling more, she threw the remains of her deck at her 'opponent's' space and huddled up against the door. She didn't like War much anymore.
There was a long silence, and Angie let out a sigh, closing her eyes and trying to 'tune in' to everything around her. Seemed pretty quiet, ignoring the nature sounds. There were a lot here; at least, compared to Durem. What a strange place this was. She couldn't help comparing herself to a small blonde child with a black ribbon in a baby-blue dress and smock before hitting her head on the side of the house. It was enough to give her a headache.
Slowly, her very bones grumbling, she reached over and swept all the strewn cards into a pile, putting them into a deck and sliding them inside. Maybe she'd sleep outside.. she wouldn't even need a blanket, would she? Hopefully the other people around the tree wouldn't think she was a hobo or something.
..If such a thing existed here.
Did cats exist here? Dogs? Cheesecake? Milkshakes? Bicycles? Buses? Ferns? The Loch Ness monster? Her mind slowing into a sleepy daze, her eyes fluttered near the edge of shut, and before she dropped off completely, she saw the almost ethereal shine of a different 'presence'...
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:31 am
A quiet abode, but perhaps that was only because it was the dead of night. It was nice nonetheless -- from here, he could see the strange person sleeping in the doorway, as well as the equally strange bird sleeping on the stump. Further inspection showed a door slightly ajar, inside the room another strange person sleeping. Was this house full of strange people..? He had expected it, to some extent, from some surveillance of the house, but it really was stranger than he dreamt it.
A slight rustle broke him out of his reverie, but it was only the strange-bird shifting. Eyes narrowing slightly, he approached the room with the bird cautiously, his hand touching the door briefly before going through it. He stumbled and fell over.
..right.. it couldn't be helped.
Lifting his head, he could see the room. It was full of.. stuff.. and.. was that..?
---
Angie moaned, habitually bringing up a hand to shield her eyes. Was it always this bright..? Maybe it was because she never went outside the house. Har. Biting her tongue, she slid herself inside the open doorway and shut the door.
"Onee-saaaaan," she whined, stretching on the floor. "Why'd you leave the door open?"
No response. Angie grumbled, getting up and stumbling to the door to her room. A nice nap on her bed would probably help.. Then she froze.
"...WHY'RE YOU EATING ALL MY CANDY?" She wailed, clinging to the doorframe. The spirit jumped, dropping the gumball to the ground. As it rolled away over the wooden floor, it slowly turned around to look at her.
The gumball hit the wall with a dull thud.
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