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(Once agin, the following is translated from kunkunese for the readers' sake. X.X)

"Two hands!" Yaraif smiled, holding up her two small arms and splaying her fingers. She was standing on a pile of ten objects that she had carefully chosen to take with her. A thick plush bunny, a small stickerbook of rabbit pictures, A large mason jar full of broken eggshells, two paintbrushes, and five bottles of paint.

"Great, thank you," Progolo nodded, pleased. "Since you did as I told without throwing a tantrum, you can pick two more things, alright Yaraif?"

She bubbled with glee, as did the two chubby creatures sitting on either side of her; Kuntu and Kununo. One resembled a blue, fat chick, while Kununo looked like a plush rabbit.

"Whut are those?" queried Took, who was looking curiously over Progolo's shoulder. The fact that he couldn't understand what Progolo was saying to Yaraif clearly made him uneasy.

Progolo pointed to Yaraif and her minions each in turn as they scurried off to the cabinet where her things were stored. "Well...that one is a kun-kun, but I haven't any idea what these are. I found their eggs in the park."

Taal's sleek form slithered out of the closet where he'd been hiding, glaring reproachfully at Took. Took flinched upon seeing him.

"Are ya ready ta go yet?" Took demanded of Progolo, backing away. Progolo was glad that, finally, it was Took who was on the defensive.

"I think so," Progolo answered, as Kuntu and Kununo bounded back. A small paper lantern was clutched in Kuntu's beak, while Kununo carried a second Mason Jar, which was empty. Yaraif fluttered overhead, chirping Kunkunese phrases at them.

Progolo nodded in approval. Standing, he fastened a leash around Taal's fluffy neck, patting him comfortingly and murmuring soft, steadying words to him. "Don't worry, you'll be fine...we're just going to take a little trip...don't burn the leash, alright? It's for your own good..."

Took rolled his eyes.

Ignoring him, Progolo scooped up Myrrh and held her out to Taal, who took her in his beak by the scruff of her kneck. She purred loudly. Yaraif, without needing to be bidden, alighted on Progolo's shoulder and instructed Kuntu and Kununo to 'hold on'. Progolo didn't have time to wonder what that meant before he felt one soft body clamp to his leg and the other position its squashy body beside his ear.

Last, he picked up the two jars in their padded box.

"Ready," Progolo sighed, twitching as Kuntu bit his ear.

"Right," Took smirked. "So, I'm s'pposed to take ya to the dock, then ya go across by ferry, right?"

"Yes," was all Progolo could say. Any other words he had to say were quelled with abrupt anticipation. What would it be like? The Island, the house, the other Aerandir, the other keepers...and his own aerandir...what should he expect?

Took waved his arms in a magnificant, overly dramatic gesture, and their surroundings flickered from view.

Progolo leapt up, uttering random syllables in his frustration. He didn't even think to be mad at Took.

"Yaraif, the feather--!" he said urgently. She didn't need to be told twice. She zipped off after it, shouting something over her shoulder as she went. Kuntu, as if it had been given a command, followed her. Kununo bounced off of Progolo's foot and scampered in the opposite direction, where the giraffe ossicone had rolled. Progolo glanced after it, at Took, back at Kununo's receding form, then dashed in the direction Taal had gone.

Taal could be difficult to keep a hold of, but he was definetly not hard to follow. In his wake he'd left a trail of alarmed citizens, splotches of molten rock, and scorched plants. Progolo persued, just praying Taal wouldn't run into someone or something in his frenzy.

The feather was not so easy to follow. As always, Isle de Gambino was windy and drenched in sunlight. The dull pink wisp was almost impossible to see. The gusts kept forcing Yaraif to screw up her little eyes while tears were wrenched from them. Blinded and fluttering awkwardly in the breeze, she could only fly in the general direction of the flamingo feather, which was dancing tauntingly out of reach.

She had no way of seeing the large bird swooping down on her.

Yaraif felt a sharp beak clamp on her little body. She screamed and tried to wriggle free, but the bird, a large hawk, only bit down harder. She gasped, breathless, and began beating it with tiny fists. This didn't weaken the hawk in the slightest. Yaraif's frantic curses mingled with her sobs of terror.

"KUUUUUNTUU! Help Yauf!" she wailed.

There was a lurch as Kuntu's chubby body collided with the hawk's. Yaraif shot out of the fray, silently praising the day she and Progolo had stumbled upon that funny pair of eggs in the park.

Seeing a large tree, Yaraif scrambled into it, checking her wings for damage. They were rumpled up badly, and her torso was rather cut up. She grimaced.

"Go Kuntu! Go! YAAAY!' Yaraif cheered encouragingly, as the fat little bird dove aggressively into the hawk. "Yauf will give you lotsa candy, yes! You very good birdy!"

The hawk swung its head in her direction, and she cowered behind a leaf.

A large nest on a branch below caught her eye. Four big colorful eggs sat in it. If Yaraif had any weakness at all, it was eggs. The feather, the mission, the fight, and all urgency was forgotten. She hopped into the nest, looking around cautiously for any more birds. But as she moved her hands adoringly over a warm eggshell, her attention was once again drawn away. Something a dull reddish-pink in color was caught on a twig.

"Feavur!" she squealed, clapping her hands in delight. She toddled out onto the narrow part of the branch and delicately disentangled it from the leaves and twigs surrounding it. "Prolo be happy, Yauf found feavur..."

Kuntu, having finally driven the hawk away, collapsed tiredly into the tree, making the branch Yaraif was balancing on quiver. It was very bruised all over.

"Kuntu alive!" Yaraif said with glee. "Come, help Yauf with eggs!" She was surprised when Kuntu gave her a disagreeing look. "I'll only take one, yes?"

Kuntu cheeped, disgruntled, but obediently flapped down to the ground, waiting for Yaraif to toss an egg to it. Yaraif examined the eggs carefully, finally picking a brownish one.

"Kuntu ready?"

Squeak.

Yaraif heaved the egg over the side. Below, Kuntu caught it, emitting a noise like a squeaky-toy as the egg flattened it slightly.

Yaraif picked up the feather, floated down to Kuntu, and the two of them waddled back to where Myrrh had been left. Took, oddly, was gone...Myrrh, looking so sad and lonely all by herself, with people milling about around her, chirped welcomingly at the sight of Yaraif and Kuntu.

"Hewwo!" Yaraif chirped, a sudden idea coming to her. "Myrrh hide egg for Yauf, yes?" She rolled the egg against Myrrh's soft body, pulling the griffin's wing over it to conceal it. Progolo didn't like it when she stole eggs from wild bird; the last time she'd done so, he'd had to rescue her from a very angry grackle. "Keep egg nice an' safe, yes. Where Prolo?"

Myrrh, of course could not answer in kunkunese. Disappointed, she glanced around. Ah! There he was...

An irritable looking Progolo came over the rise, with Taal, shockingly, slung over his shoulder. Behind him, Took and an unfamiliar being followed.

"That was uncalled for, Took. Summoning a Djinni--you should have just let me...he didn't need bewitching..."

Well, that explained why Taal looked so harrassed. Then again, the Djinni, who had taken the form of a handsome elfin man, appeared to be wishing he could be anywhere else as well.

"Weell that be all, Master?" the Djinni grumbled in a heavy Arabic acent.

"Not jus' yet," Took snapped imperiously. "You're to await further orders, see?"

Yaraif noticed a certain look of pity cross Progolo's face. Hoping to break the tension, she waved the feather overhead. "LOOOOOK! Yauf got feavur!" Progolo sighed in relief. "Excellent, Yaraif. Where's Kununo? Did she--he--it-- oh, whatever-it-is find the other jar?"

"Um...I dunno..." Yaraif admitted. Progolo groaned in exhaustion, running a hand over his face. "What a mess..." he breathed.

"Oh! By the way, Misteh Dgagn, the ferry's havin' engine troubles. It won' be fixed 'til tomarraw."

"You can't be serious..." Progolo moaned, lowering the very shaken Taal to the ground beside Myrrh. He stretched, pained by Taal's weight, and there was audible crack in one of his shoulders.

"Yep...'Ey, servant," Took said to the Djinni. "I order you ta go find the big jar..it's about this big...an' it's got a white bone or somethin' inside. Got it? Don't come back until ya find it. Bring the lil' blue rabbit thingy, too."

The Djinni bowed, reproachfully, and disappeared.

Reappearing right out the end of a dock, he peered around grumpily. A jar and a freaky little rabbit...Master Took was so pushy. Snarling to himself, he stalked around, keeping an eye out for glimpses of blue.

He found the rabbit thing, hanging halfway off the boardwalk and looking into the water below. The Djinni sidled up beside it, to see that it was trying to coax a large jar out from underneath. He waved his hand with a frown and the jar whizzed out of the water and into his arms, along with the shocked winged rabbit. Without offering it any explanation, he teleported back to Took's side, and bowed.

"The deesired items..."

"Finally!" Snapped Took, snatching them and handing them to Progolo. Progolo's forehead creased in disgust.

The sailor nodded thoughtfully, emitting another deep grunt. Progolo nervously stroked Taal's head. Taal growled deep in his chest, eyeing Took, but his temperature didn't waver like it usually did when he was distressed.

"Shh...you'll be fine, Taal...don't worry..." Progolo soothed, thinking anxiously about the spell the Djiin had cast. One moment, Taal had resembled a griffin-shaped heap of lava, growling and white hot, then...well, the spell had been cast. He'd gone limp, and turned back into his normal self, whimpering and trembling.

The boat was sliding smoothly beyond the dock, narrowly avoiding the other, much larger boats. Progolo felt a flutter in his chest. Ar'Idil wasn't far off the coast, but...

Myrrh rolled over in Progolo's lap, indicating that she wanted a belly rub. Progolo absently stroked her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yaraif shoving a brownish egg between her two minions, who looked deeply displeased.

"What is that, Yaraif?" Progolo demanded.

Yaraif wheeled around, guilt etching her face. "N-noth--" she saw Progolo's raised eyebrow and decided it wasn't worth it to lie. "Eggy."

Progolo sighed. "Let me see it."

Taking the egg from Kununo, he scrutinized it. It wasn't very big; only slightly larger than a chicken egg. He glanced heavenward, as if asking for patience, then handed the egg back.

"Yaraif, why don't you just use the eggs I buy for you? The chicken eggs? This looks like it belongs to a raptor..." he sighed, hoping that, whatever type of bird it was, it wasn't endangered. "You're just lucky the mother bird wasn't around."

Yaraif thought of the hawk. A big, guilty grin spread across her face, and she hid the cuts in her torso with her arms.

Took and the sailor had been watching this exchange boredly, wearing matching frowns. By then, the shores of Gambino were quite distant, and the boat moved on with a relaxing thrum. Above, seagulls cawed. Progolo's charges all gazed up at them in interest.

Progolo fondled the large jars in his hands, wondering what the man in charge of this Aerandir project, Alyosha, would say at the sight of the decorated mason jar. It occured to him then that he'd left the padded box and the broken glass on the dock.

He exhaled, frustrated and tired. This day couldn't get any worse.

Or could it?

After Took's disappearance, a short bought of panic set in. Was Progolo going to die? Was this the way his life would end? By drowning on his way to an Island that he hadn't wanted to go to anyway? What about the others? Myrrh, Taal, Yaraif, Kununo, Kuntu...his mind drifted to the jars. The Jars! they could have floated miles away by now!

"Yaraif!" Progolo yelled, trying to get her attention. She zipped over to him, looking as though she was about to cry.

"Can't find Kuntuuuuu!" she sobbed. "Or Eggy!"

"Yaraif, listen! Take Kununo and keep looking for Kuntu and your egg. And I need you to find those jars, alright?" He gasped for breath. His arms were begining to ache from stroking. "Yaraif, do you understand? I'm going to swim to the island!" He pointed to the shore of Ar'Idil, which was about seventy yards away.

Yaraif nodded tearfully. Turning, she repeated the message to Kununo. The little rabbit, miraculously staying airbourne despite its tiny wings, chirped in response.

"Good! Taal, C'mere boy...good boy..." Progolo coaxed the steaming Griff. Taal paddled over, looking completely dry even though he was up to his neck in water. Making sure Myrrh wouldn't slip off his shoulder, Progolo began fighting his way to shore.

Today was the worst day of my life, I think.

My mind is still reeling, trying to put all the details in order. First this horrible young man showed up and made a magnificent mockery of my efforts in research and threatened my job, then he broke one of the Aerandir jars and forced his Djinn to curse Taal, then my whole menagerie and I almost drowned on my way to this blasted island of Ar'Idil. Oh, I also almost starved Yaraif to death as well.

I sure hope it isn't going to be all downhill from here.

Anyway, after all of this pandemonium, I managed to set up a small sleeping area on the second floor of my new cabin with the blankets and pillows that were left in the house for me. It's far more spacious than I thought it would be, and its very homey, in a rustic sort of way. Tomorrow I'll try to get the furniture out of Took's magic bag and set everything up, then see if I can find a man by the name of Anthony Blakewell. He'll know what to do about the horribly mangled flamingo feather.

-Progolo Dgagn

P.S. Note to self...Need to check shoulder tommorrow. I think I've got an infected cut.

Progolo quickly found that the Ar'Idil home was larger than he'd expected it to be, as made apparent by the very little furniture he had. Already harboring a dislike for him, the researcher decided to blame this on Took. Normally, Progolo would never be considered a spiteful man, but that sorcerer really rubbed him the wrong way, to use a popular Gaian phrase.

Besides, what kind of name was that? Took? If words had flavor, that particular name tasted like poison. Took. Yuck. But perhaps it was the image of that man which made the word so unpleasant. That sort of slime didn't deserve a name. In fact, he didn't deserve to breathe at all, that filthy, horrible cad...!

It was with this mind set that Progolo stalked around the house, trying to decide how to arrange things. His menagerie simply watched his pacing with mild, bemused surprise. All of them could feel the waves of dislike he exuded, Myrrh above all. She purred loudly, trying to instill comfort, but to no avail.

Progolo was too busy being grouchy to notice.

And why shouldn't he be grumpy? Though he'd recovered from his moral outrage at taking the food, he was still sore from swimming, sore from the way Took had treated him and that poor Djinni, and angry with himself for not researching how big these stupid dwellings were. He'd been under the impression that they would be very simple lodgings, not two-story houses! Not to mention his anxiety over the damaged feather...the Aerandir's life might have ended before it had ever begun, and it would all be his fault.

No, wait. Took's fault.

Myrrh's ear flickered uncomfortably, and she glanced over at the two jars. The painted Mason jar holding the feather displayed a bright kaleidescope of colors on the wall where the sunlight was refracted through it.

Then, to her amazement, a sharp blue spark shot from the ossicone to the feather, wavered among the reddish-pink barbs, and disappeared.