Welcome to Gaia! ::

Opening the makeshift door, and brushing the overhanging branches, Lova peeked outside of her main entrance, little nose twitching cautiously. The strong aroma of damp earth, and clinging precipitation hanging heavy in the air.
The song birds were singing the all clear, giving the cue to all who may be scurrying about that the storm had indeed passed fully. Waiting a few moments, not catching scent to anything else, the timid little female stepped out onto the oyster mushroom that rested right beside the door and lead stratigically to the top of the log. Hopping to the first one, and following along the trail, Lova paused before her little head popped above the top, very hesitantly peeking over the lip of the cylinder shaped wood, ears pressed back, to see what had caused such a strange sound.

But as soon as those bright blue peepers spied the sweet creature that had caused such nervousness to her, the mouses tiny heart melted instantly. Hopping all the way up, Lova stepped lightly to the distressed bug, smiling softly to it, "Well hello there, little one..." ear twitching as the bug poke, the mouse tilted her head curiously, "You're lost, hm..?" looking around the vicinity of her hidden home. The poor thing must have gotten lost from the storm. Peering down the long, she could see no tracks of any mammals that might have passed by... but the rain could have washed them away.
Attention turning back to the little ladybug, Lova very gently scooped it up, and cuddled it close to her soft chest, "Well find your care taker, don't worry... but how about something to eat first? That will give us more energy to, and the rain to dry more." smiling warmly, Lova hopped back down carefully with the tiny bug in her arms to make a nice meal before their trek out for the unknown owner.

Option 2.

Calanthe's eyes were drawn down, to a little ladybug with the most giant eyes she had ever seen. She looked about for an owner, perhaps. Ladybugs were often kept as pets, and were good help in a garden. "Lost, eh?" Calanthe sighed and looked longingly at her tea and her plush little chair. She'd just gotten that chair, too.

"I don't suppose you want to come in and have tea," she said, regarding the ladybug shrewdly. "Or come back in the morning?" Still the ladybug made puppybug eyes at her. Clearly this creature had come to the great tree asking for help finding her family again. Or at least her home. And, loathe as Calanthe was to leave her nice warm house and tea and book and chair in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain with a strange little bug and go on an adventure....

She supposed it was in her job description as a caretaker of the tree and helper to those seeking its aid.

"Let me get my cloak," said Calanthe, resigned.

[option 1, help the buggie!]

[2,2]

Versailles literally bristled when that curtain came open, his eyes narrowing into slits as he snagged his cloak and draped it over his shoulders. A scathing look at given to the intruder as he managed to finally smooth out his fur, but he couldn't help the fact that his paws and tail were twitching with irritation. This was his home, his stuff and his privacy. The normally grinning and cocky squirrel was downright infuriated at the uninvited guest.

"You were not invited." He finally spoke coolly, eyes relaxing to regard the TreeBeast with a half-lidded look. He adjusted the clasp on his cloak in an attempt to regain his composure.

"I found the great tree, I even got a map from some ripoff salescreature and made the long and arduous journey to see... A big magic tree. Now shove off, I've got things to do." As he spoke he slowly stepped toward The Shrew, his front paws coming out to attempt and lift the creature up by the scruff of his neck before throwing him out the door. His book, which had fallen in the scuffle, was given similar treatment before the squirrel shove his head out of the opening. "And ask your great tree to teach you some manners. And basic hygiene!"

The "door" was moved shut as Versailles went back into his home, mumbling as he straightened out his cloak.

Pulling her hood up over her ears, Abeya headed out to find the source of the mysterious scratching. After going about three feet away from her front door, she stopped and shrugged, no longer hearing the sound. “Strange…maybe my mind has gone silly.” She shook her head and wondered if maybe she had just been imagining it. Giving up, she turned around and headed back, only to be surprised with what she saw. Climbing around just above her door was a ladybug. “Well, if you’d been a Hawk, I’d have been eaten already!” As she got nearer, the ladybug began to scratch about again, “Well, goodness, you’re awfully loud for such a little thing, no wonder I didn’t find you right away!“ Reaching up towards the lovely red bug, Abeya cooed and tried to gain it’s attention and trust. She was soon rewarded, as it climbed down and into her hands. “Lost”, it said, “Lost” Abeya frowned, and then quickly smiled again, “Well, that’s no good…we can’t have that…I’ll get you home.” What could be better, not only doing a good deed, but also having a good excuse to go exploring. After checking that her fire was out and the door to her little home was securely closed, Abeya and her new little friend headed off.
[Round One: Option One/Round Two: Option One]

Aloiscious scrambled out of her door and banked a hard left to trundle down the stairs to the dock landing. She skidded to a halt a hair away from the water, looking at the underside of the house for the source of the scratching sound. As she scanned the boards and pilings, her face slowly fell. "Ohhh, dang, there goes the adventure." She was so sure something interesting was gonna happen! With a melancholy sigh, she turned back to the stairs and found herself face-to-face with a pair of big, glossy, multifaceted eyes.

"YEEEEK!" She jumped back as her hands flew to her mouth, sorely startled. The owner of the eyes, a rather large ladybug, seemed to be similarly startled, letting out a frightened chittering sound and slipping off the dock into the water. Collecting her wits, Alo dashed forward and dredged it out again, bushing it off and muttering in a mushy voice that any pet-lover would recognize, "Sorry, sorry! You scared me! You poor thing, what are you doing out here?"

The ladybug croaked out one word in response; "Lost."

Alo stared into the ladybug's eyes. The ladybug stared back, glossy and dark, somehow forlorn. Alo started tearing up, and suddenly hugged the ladybug tight with a sniffle. She said, with unnecessary volume, "I WILL UNDERTAKE A QUEST TO REUNITE YOU WITH YOUR OWNER, LITTLE LADYBUG." The ladybug squirmed out of her grasp with an unhappy squeak. Unfazed, Alo announced, "I'm gonna go get my pole, and we'll scoot out to land, and we'll go find your owner! I swear it 'pon my honor!" As she dashed back up the stairs, the ladybug sat and preened its antennae, croaking to itself, "Lost, lost."

Aeronwy found herself, well, rather humbled. She had absolutely no reason at all to justify the way she felt. The annoyance and frustration that had sprung up as a result of the scratching outside her abode melted away when she was confronted with the source of the noise. Large, wide, and dark eyes peered back at Aeronwy over the bumpy, raised edge of the hole in the log. The mouse twitched her nose, her whiskers quivering with amusement.

"A wee ladybug? /You/ made all that noise?" Aeronwy made a noise in the back of her throat, a mixture of amusement and amazement. The ladybug was little, and Aeronwy had expected something a bit, well... more, frankly. Her mind had leapt with the possibilities of all sorts of treacherous, shady creatures lurking outside her home and the promise of what would surely prove to be an honorable fight [in which Aeronwy would, obviously, turn out victorious].

With her little makeshift nail-pick still clutched tightly in her hand, Aeronwy was likely not any sort of comforting image for the poor, lost ladybug. "Oh, right, this isn't meant for you," Aeronwy quickly fibbed, letting the sharpened stone fall to her ground with a clatter after the ladybug whimpered at her. She felt compelled to comfort the creature to some degree, despite the fact the mouse was hardly the nurturing, comforting type. Aw, heck- what could it hurt?

"Want to come inside? Its kinda stinky, but I could try and find you somethin' to eat, and its warm in here, too," she graciously extended an offer, knowing full well rejection may be in the cards.

Try to take the Puppybug home

So you decide to try and help the cute little creature find it's way back to where ever it is that it lives. This is a valiant move on your part, and after walking the little bug to several homes without even a little bit of recognition on the bug's part, he leads you outside of the designated clan area. You haven't been out this far in forever *or ever* but somehow the Ladybug seems to know this area. He leads you to a den made out of a hole in the muddy ground, and as you get closer, he starts calling out 'HOME! HOME!" You think he's talking to you for a moment, and then the Badger comes out... She's tall, covered in sores and as she looks at you, she licks her lips. "Yeh brought Canker Blossom some dinner Bug?" She grabs you by the arm, not letting you get away and clouts you one on the head, knocking you senseless for a moment. "Y's a goodbug, yes yeh are." Then you fall unconscious... When you awake again, you're in the den, laying on a pile of something dirty (your choice)...

Do you::

1. Call this dinner part quits and jump out the window?
2. Grit your teeth, ball up your little fists, and start throwing punches... and maybe rocks and chairs and whatever else you can get your paws on.

Feed the Bug some dinner

So you decide to be a nice beast and feed the bug some dinner... after all it's dark and walking around outside just seems like a whole lot of work. Bugs can't eat that much right? Well this bug can. He eats all his dinner and part of yours before you can stop him. Soon after that you try to send him to bed, but he's so hyper that you can't get him to sit still... in fact, he's doing somersaults... somersaults and backflips and handstands and he's walking up the walls... really he's quite the little acrobat. You watch for a little while, upset for a moment when he sends your ________ crashing to the floor, but it suddenly occurs to you that he could be useful to you after all...

Do you::

1. Start drawing posters for your impromptu LadyBug circus, kids get in free with ten adult tickets!
2. Fit him with a cute little LadyBug backpack and send him climbing up to the high branches where the REALLY ripe berries grow. People pay a bundle for those, and they're good for healing.

You decide to listen to the old Toothless Shrew

So you let the old coot sit down and soon begin to wonder why you did so. He goes on for at least an hour without breathing it seems... he talks about the Great Tree and the Holy Walnut, he tells you about receiving the gifts of the tree and how your soul travels in the leaves and the wind and blah blah blah blah... you have just come to the conclusion that the old shrew will never shut up when he suddenly slams his book down with a laugh and exclaims about the look on your face. You take the moment of silence to tell him that you can't talk anymore because you're starving and it's dinner time. He asks you what you're having (your choice) and when you tell him, the old coot up and invites himself to dinner!

Do you::

1. Let him sit in your house and eat with you?
2. Tell him to get lost. You don't have enough soul to share with the tree and you don't have enough dinner to share with him... besides, he couldn't really chew it anyway.

You throw the book at the old Tree Beast

You realize when the Shrew comes right in that he isn't someone you want in your house... And you throw him and his Tree loving book out! However, in the process of slamming the door on the beast, you also slam the door on your paw. With a yelp you open the door again (if you don't have a door then something comparable) your hand is quickly turning purple and swelling up... you fear it may be broken, but you know that healers around here cost a buttload of money, not that you seem to need your butt as much as you need your hand...

Do you::

1. Take yourself to a healer, even though they charge an arm and a leg, at least you'll still have a leg left...
2. Suck it up and deal with it... You know, some stout ale might take the edge off that purple... and the hair off your nose too for that matter.

"Right, then, Master Bug," Tristan said, smoothly, beckoning to the ladybug with a paw. His other paw swept thoughtfully through his whiskers and his ears laid back contemplatively to his head. "...it's alright if I call you Master Bug? You don't have a name you'd rather be going by, is there?"

He waited for a response, and then shrugged. "Well enough. Come along, then, it's getting late and I'm getting a bit hungry, and I'm quite sure you're famished."

He led the way back to his mouse-hole and busied himself with laying out a dinner for two onto the rough piece of bark he'd fashioned into a little table. He wasn't much of a cook, to be honest, and the dampness had crept into the bread and left it a little soggy, and the salad he'd made of dandelion greens was a little wilted, and the berrywine he'd been saving all this time from his trip to Mossflower was gone a bit sour...but, well, it was dinner, and a little bug could hardly complain about -- "OY!" Tristan turned, wide-eyed, to see the bug atop the table, voraciously gobbling down everything.

Before he could say anything, the bug fluttered up off the table, bounced into the wall, and began gobbling up the rest of the food Tristan had stockpiled in his damp little corner basket.

The night went downhill from there.

Within an hour, the house was in shambles. Not that it was in particularly good shape to begin with, but it was worse now. Tristan could merely sit on his slightly-soggy bed, head in hands, and watch in horror as the bug -- filled with entirely too much energy, a supernatural amount of it in fact -- bounced, skittered, jumped, clawed, flapped, and otherwise fluttered around the single-room structure.

All around, chaos. The table was overturned. The basket of food was tipped over and bits of leftover vittles were scattered over the floor. And, constantly, a shower of mud rained down from above and the whole structure threatened to collapse entirely.

And Tristan, poor little Tristan, was completely at his wits' end. He could talk his way out of anything! But, sadly, talking didn't do much to convince a bug to stop.

His brow furrowed, then, gears slowly working in his mind. Wait a moment....what if he could figure out precisely what it was that could tame the little beast?

....After all...imagine a wild creature, a bucking behemoth of a ladybug, found its way into a home wherein it wasn't welcome...and began wreaking havoc upon the contents therein....well, the owner of such a home would be keenly interested in getting rid of the aforementioned creature, now wouldn't it? And they would likely pay a handsome reward indeed to be rid of the troublesome beast....and not to mention if it had any other hidden talents...

Oh, my!

Cogs spinning rapidly in his mind, Tristan laughed aloud and, temporarily oblivious to his slowly-crumbling home, he jumped to his feet. He'd just have to figure out the bug's weakness! How hard could it be?

"Oy! Bug!" Tristan called, his voice suddenly substantially more enthusiastic than it had been a moment ago. The bug, perhaps a bit startled by the sudden change in his demeanor, froze in place and looked at him with deceptively soulful eyes. "Sit still, will ya? I need a good look at you.." and, muttering to himself, he set about pawing through his damp, dirt-smeared posessions, looking for something to draw upon.

Every service needs advertisement, after all, and a grand scheme was already unfolding in his mind...