Welcome to Gaia! ::

As the sun shone on the clearing in which the two and a half houses stood, there was a soft click of the front door of Aliya and Amdir's house closing. A tiny white-haired shadow crept along the wall of the house, pressing closely against it as if afraid of being caught doing something bad.

When he reached the corner of the house, he peered around it cautiously, looking warily for something; but he didn't see Feng and Ryu down in the river, he saw only Tao sleeping beneath one of the window, and a grin crept over the boy's face as he darted forward to snuggle against the sleeping griffin's side.

For a boy who was terrified of people, he certainly had a soft spot for the griffin whose job it was to protect him when he was outside.

Adonijah grinned and snuggled even closer into Tao's side, almost burrowing into her, pulling one of her wings over himself as Feng and Ryu walked past. As soon as they were gone, though, he crawled out again and sat next to Tao, stroking the griffin's head affectionately as she preened through his hair.

He made soft clicking noises at her just like she sometimes made, occasionally throwing in a chirp or a pree. Young though he was, he had obviously inherited his father's gift of talking with animals.


It was Shael who opened the door for Feng, her eyes mirroring her surprise when she saw the mermaid standing there.

"Come in, come in," she said immediately, before even greeting her, "you don't have to knock, this is your home while you're here! Don't ever knock here, just come in!"

She peered past her for a moment. "I don't suppose you've seen Adonijah," she murmured.

Shael sighed. "There are times when I swear that boy loves Tao more than anyone else," she murmured. "I'll get Amdir, he's the only one who will be able to get him back in again."

She motioned for them to come in and nodded towards the dining room. "Breakfast is ready, go on in and start if you're ready."



Adonijah ran his hands along Tao's beak, stroking it lovingly.

"Don't go too far away today, okay?" he asked her in her own language. "They're going to make lots of scary noises and I don't want to be all alone ..."

He wasn't fond of the whole constructing a house business, he wanted things to be quiet, natural.

Adan and the twins were already sitting by the table, and though Adwin and Alyse were rubbing their eyes sleepily, Adan was wide awake and already half finished his meal.

"Good morning, Feng-chan and Ryu-kun!" he said brightly as they entered the dining room. "Did you sleep good?"



Adonijah giggled. He knew what she wanted. He reached into the neck of his tunic and pulled out a piece of smoked meat about the size of his two fists put together.

"Special treat," he clicked to her. "It might have some bits of my shirt on it, and it might taste a bit like me, but it's my favourite."

He stroked her beak again, then held the meat out to her, holding it just above his head.

"Good," Adan grinned, going back to his meal.

The twins looked at Feng sleepily.

"I'm not," Adwin boasted, though his eyes were still cloudy and half closed, his words slurring slightly at he tried not to yawn.

"I am," Alyse yawned freely, putting one hand to her mouth. "I read too late."

Surprise surprise.



Adonijah giggled and petted Tao's beak lovingly. "Good Tao," he cooed at her. "You're welcome."

He could understand her as he probably couldn't even understand people, even when she said nothing he knew what she was saying.

"Gotta help with the chimney," Adwin grinned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Uncle Adonai said that we might be able to get one of the chimneys done today, I want to make sure I'm there to help!"

"I'm going to help, too," Adan grinned proudly. "Uncle Adonai only lets Adwin carry the stones, but I get to help mix the mortar and place them too!"

"Showoffs," Alyse mumbled, looking very much as if she were about to fall face first into her breakfast.



Amdir suddenly appeared around the corner, and he stopped in his tracks when he saw Tao and Adonijah together. He sighed. It happened every few days, more often than not, but though Aliya wanted him to make sure Adonijah didn't go outside without telling them, he wanted to encourage the boy to continue his special relationship with the griffin. After all, he needed someone he wasn't afraid of.

But it was breakfast time, and meals took precedence for the growing boy.

"Come on, Adonijah," he murmured, kneeling beside his son and putting one hand on his head. "Time for breakfast. You'll make Mama worry again."

Adonijah looked up at his father. "Mama?" he asked, putting one finger to his mouth. He looked over at Tao. "Time for me to eat ... come back after so I'm not alone, okay?" he asked her in griffin clicks and prees.

Alyse nodded at Ryu's question, her eyes half closed. "I'll manage," she mumbled, yawning again. Then she glanced over at Feng. For a moment she envied the mermaid her incredible energy so early in the morning, but then she remembered that if she had gone to sleep when she was supposed to she would have been just as awake, so she said nothing about it.

Instead, she just murmured, "Yes ... a nice ... quiet ... daaaaa...." She broke off into another yawn.

"Alyse," Aliya's voice cut in from the kitchen doorway, "do I have to take the books away from you at night?"

She entered, carrying a tall pitcher of water.

"Honestly," she frowned, pouring some water into cups for everyone, "I've never seen anyone so sleepy."




Adonijah smiled warmly at Tao, then stood up and waddled over to her, throwing his arms around her feathered neck and hugging her tightly.

"Good Tao," he clicked softly. "Good griffin."

And then he turned back to his father and raised his arms to be picked up. "Up, Papa!" he said cutely.