Welcome to Gaia! ::

By the time the two young Freis had finished their mad dashes into the heart of the jungle, if Prajna had legs, the Star was certain it would have folded over, bracing itself against its would-be knees. Its chest dipped and rose with each sharp inhale of muggy air. Prajna was wincing, breathing with difficulty, but when its breath finally slowed back to a normal pace, it replied, "Prajna... Prajna thinks we'll be fine...but.."

The redhead swatted at some irritating gnats floating about its face. It glanced around, its cerulean eyes attempting to relocate any sign of a trail. It soon found none. They had fled without thinking of just where they needed to go.

"But... I think we're lost."

Prajna noticed the sun beginning its descent behind the distant horizon as well. Darkness would be here soon and Prajna felt uncomfortable being so far away from the others, even if it did dislike Lulu and David. For their own sake and for Prajna's team's, the Star wondered what it should do next. That... that thing could still be out there, whatever IT was.

- - - - - -

Just as Lulu began to wave frantically at the madman, the trembling bush let out a piercing scream. The wail caused David to fall flat on his back in surprise, yet the man was not out! He squirmed and struggled away from the bush, his legs kicking frantically... just fast enough to dodge... an escaping rabbit. The bunny hopped away into another bush before disappearing completely, the rushing gone now.

The man had had enough.

"Are you <********> serious?! UGH!" David's voice boomed like raging thunder.

As the older Nao pushed himself off the ground, he dusted himself off with some spare fingers, still gripping the knife and branch. Despite Lulu acting as his witness, David continued to vent, "First the snake, now? A RABBIT?! Screw nature! I like animals and all but this is just. NOT. MY. THING!!"

With emphasis on the last word, David chucked the branch toward the bush as he quickly turned on heel to continue hacking away at some nearby shrubbery. He hoped his noise would spook off any more curious bunnies or reptiles. It was a rare sight to see the man so openly angry. Just as he had turned however, he thought he heard something from the same bush. His temples were pounding as he quickly turned back around, glaring. Had there been another rabbit that had gotten stuck perhaps? He was so tired of this tension!!

David walked back over to the suspicious bush, trying to keep cool, unaware that what remained inside it was neither animal nor living...

David's rash actions could have only gone in one of two ways. Option A: hurt something nonthreatening. Option B: piss off something threatening. Two separate and distinct outcomes. However, in a turn of irony, either selection would not end well for the human. The second David had decided to strike that bush he had placed himself in a lose-lose game.

What seemed like a demon's cry to the man sounded like a victim's scream to the sigel. Even as the howl died in the air a buzzing lingered. It was a low drone that festered in LuLu's eardrums and cause her to practically quiver with irritation.

While David fell onto his butt and stared with startled eyes, LuLu's gaze chased after the innocent creature as it escaped into another bush. It looked okay for the most part. Still, LuLu had to be sure. She called after the rabbit, a chittery bay to anyone else listening, but it did not reply. It was already gone and any hope for apology was gone with it.

LuLu's glare only darkened when her attention return to David, who was picking himself up. Any remaining timidness was disrupted like a serene pond agitated by a storm. Her countenance did a one eighty as she transformed from meek rabbit to savage warrior. Her back and ears straightened skyward like a exclamation point. All the tension in her muscles spread to her wings which cause their invisible tendons to coil. The bones grated together as they flared to their full span with a snap.

Every part of her was demanding David's attention. Still, LuLu remained quiet. She would let him vent. The human could kick, scream, and flail all he wanted for now. The sigel wanted him settled and ready to listen for when she let loose, because her message meant something. She would say the things that creature could not voice.

Finally, he turned back around. Though his movement of tossing the branch was brief, LuLu made her move. The purple rune at her base glowed brighter as she rose in the air, almost like stepping on her tippytoes to get a better vantage of David. The usually calm lavender of her eyes burned with a violet tinge. "How dare you!" Her voice cracked at the end of her screech. "You blame nature?! That rabbit did not tell you to hit it!" Already LuLu was speaking with blind fury. Her thoughts were jumbled.... AND WHAT WAS WITH THIS FREAKING BUZZING STILL IN HER EARS?! The mellow hum was drowning out everything besides her own vicious shouts."If you want to cause harm. Fine! Do it to your stupid, stupid self! Do not bring others into it!" She tried to cut at David with her words. Her eyes sought out his. She wanted to see his pain and know that he had felt what that rabbit had felt.

LuLu followed as the human moved towards the bush. She could not tell if David was ignoring her or if he was trying to run away. Either way, LuLu was not done with him. "How would you like to be hit?!" Her actions were wild and her desires were uncivilized, but she was blind to that. What was control? Was she supposed to be working on that or something? Oh, it did not matter. She had a dumbass to scold.

LuLu's arm shot out and grabbed for the thickest part of the branch. She used all her might to give it a tug. However, it recoiled as she tried to rip it from the leaves.

It was caught on something.

As much as Prajna wanted to agree and go ahead and hold hands, the gnats were annoying. Prajna squished a gnat which had began suckling at the Star's cheek before sighing, "Can find different spot first? Want to hold hands too but hard to hold hands, flashlight and Luka's hand."

Prajan shoo'ed away another handful of bugs, frowning. From a bit of a distance, it thought it heard David's voice soundly unusually furious but as the gnats persisted, Prajna quickly forgot. When it tried to listen for the voice again, wondering if the others were still safe and not too too far, the Star waved Luka over.

"Listen...Luka, can you hear something that way too? Something like... running water?" Prajna almost felt itself breathe life and hope into those very words. It had not been too thirsty but the significance of water could not be overlooked.

- - - - - -

As Lulu began to scold the older man about his actions, David could only think Yeah, yeah, yeah, Lulu. I got it, I got it. Jeez. So naggy... The Sigel floated angrily after him, continuing to reprimand the older Nao when the man stopped in front of the bush again. He began parting the top of the bush, trying to get a better view of what could have remained underneath. While annoyed as he was with nature, if there was an injured animal, the vet tech felt obligated to assist. That's when Lulu reached for the discarded branch he had thrown in. Whether she intended to hit him with it or to simply wave the stick for emphasis did not matter. What did matter was:

1) Lulu had been unable to pull the branch back out
and
2) David had not noticed the stick was caught on something until an ominous looking doll rolled out near his feet.

Without a second's thought, the man immediately removed his hands from the bush and backed away quickly. One of his hands gripped the edge of Lulu's boned wings to pull her to safety as well. Then... the voices.

Why? Why? Why?

David gripped his knife tighter, turning sharply. His eyes couldn't stand to look at the doll and yet they didn't feel comfortable pinning their concentration on some other tree or bush either. He felt like he was being watched, laughed at but by what? or who? he couldn't tell. Then he shut his eyes tightly, letting out another roar, though his voice was clearly panicked, "Who's out there?!"

He opened his eyes and turned to Lulu. Was she hearing the voices too? Or was it just him? David had to know. His skin felt like it was crawling and, when he made the mistake of glancing back at the eerie looking doll, he felt like his insides were twisting and turning anxiously as well.

The low hum, courtesy of Basil, saved LuLu from hearing the sinister whispers creeping upon them. Then again, it might have just made the girl deaf to the doll's warnings.

Her wing flicked out of David's hold and both lowered to press against her back once more. Without a second thought the sigel picked up the doll and turned it over in her hands. Not only was it in bad shape, it also looked to be hand made from scraps and the remains of other dolls. She stared into its hollow sockets. It was pitiful with twine restricting its neck like that. By no means was it a looker. Still, even the shabbiest of dolls needed a bit of TLC. LuLu cooed at the thing, "Did the rabbit leave you behind? No worries. I will find you a good home."

Her ears flicked to David as he screamed into the darkness around them. She shook her head once more to get the persistent buzzing to clear but it was no use. The static continued to drone on. She approached the man, the doll still in her hold, "What is wrong?" Her tone with him seemed tighter, less compassionate, compared to the one she used with the doll.

David felt sick. It seemed as if the humidity and perhaps the stress of the man hunt had finally broken the poor man. His silver eyes locked onto the doll, wide with terror. Was that a smile? No. It couldn't be... and yet, David was willing to bet an arm that the morbid looking toy had just grinned at him. And there Lulu was, patting it clean and examining it tenderly. When she turned her attention back to the man, David felt as if he was going to throw up. His insides were doing jump-kicking the walls of his stomach, his lungs tried to crawl their way up his throat and out his mouth. He was definitely beyond green in the face and yet he tried his best to think straight.

But to do that, first, he had to stop looking at the damned thing. When he turned his eyes, his voice was ragged, as if he had been screaming for hours, "Lu... Lulu.. ...Yes. Lulu. I think we should... try to focus back on finding Kyou."

He swallowed hard, still feeling the doll's gaze upon his cheek. It felt hard to breathe, the air suddenly ten times denser.

"Yeah. I mean... You should.. put..put the doll back where you found it. The bunny, yeah. I'm so so so sososoSO sorry I hit the poor guy. And if.. if that's its doll.. you.. you gotta leave it, Lulu. You gotta leave it. Put the doll down."

By this time, David's hands were sweaty and shaking, though his left hand continued to grip his knife. His knuckles were white from the tension in his gripping hand, as if David would rather die than let the weapon leave his palm. He made the risky move of glancing back at the doll once more. God. It was so disgusting and ominous looking. How the hell could she not be even remotely turned off by it?!

At least... David tried to breathe, tried to stop shaking... At least the voices had stopped.

Or so it seemed.

- - - - - -

Following its light colored friend to the source of the noise, Prajna's assumption that water had been close by was confirmed. When the Star sighted the pond though, it felt torn between feeling relief and concern. While beautiful from afar, trimmed with lotuses and other rare plants, Prajna could only think, It looks... deep.

The redhead closed its eyes once, hard, roughly pushing the fears away before reopening its twilit eyes and turned to Luka, "Should gather water and... maybe unpack here? Is getting dark, Luka."

The Star put its flashlight into its mouth for a moment and rummaged around its bag, trying to focus. Then it released its flashlight and pouted, "David has all bottles and water. Do you have anything, Luka?"

Prajna felt a bit dumb for not having stuffed at least one canteen into its satchel but it didn't require much water so it had not thought much of it. Prajna turned to look back into the forest for a moment, as if making sure none of the growing shadows moved ... or got too close. It couldn't help but wonder, since they had made it to such a safe spot, if that meant the others were facing the mysterious creature hidden in the deep jungle? ...

LuLu was oblivious to David's internal struggle. To her, the doll was simply... a doll. Just like any of the other dozens she had played with before. There was nothing to fear. Actually, if you looked at it long enough it was almost cute. Was that a darling little smile it wore?

The rabbit was grateful when her hearing finally corrected itself. The human's voice rang clear to her whether she wanted to hear him or not. She shook her head slightly in disagreement, "It is getting dark. We should stop for the night." She pointed to the unexplored clearing that was still nearby, "There."

Then she spared one more glance at the doll in her arms. She was relieved to finally get a sorry from David. A softness returned to her words, "I will keep it safe until the rabbit returns for it." With that said she floated towards the clearing.

"drag us underwater"

Prajna could already feel something swirling in its throat. It felt as if a small guppy was caught in the Star's esophagus, trying to flip and paddle its way up and out of its mouth. Prajna could still breathe but, as David had experienced in his moment of terror, Prajna felt its throat closing every so tightly. As it caught the canteens Luka tossed its way, Prajna could only look at the pond's edge. Too many documentaries flashed through its thoughts yet none were specified to pond monsters. Plenty of marshland alligators, Australian crocs, deep blue eels and whales and sharks but in ponds? Prajna could only recall koi and plants.

As Luka began preparing the fire, Prajna thought Though Luka said something... could be in there.. yes. Yes. We need water.

And with that Prajna, hesitating only a moment to make eye contact with some bathing monkeys across the way, floated on over to the water's edge. It peered in, startled just by its own reflection. But soon, it calmed. Prajna dipped an edge of one canteen into the water and nervously watched it fill, its eyes flickering between the monkeys, the reeds, the growing shadows around them, Luka. At least it wasn't alone out here...

It could only imagine how Kyou managed to brave the night by himself.

- - - - - -
David couldn't stop the words from rolling off his tongue. His voice was still a bit shaky, though it had lost some of its demanding tone, "Lulu, you gotta put the doll back. Put... it back. The rabbit can come get it itself."

But she wasn't listening and David was starting to understand why Prajna had been so annoyed with her. As he nervously followed the Sigel into the nearby clearing, understanding that her logic was well-placed (it was getting dark and they did need to settle down), David could not shake off the feeling that the doll and the voices were not done with him yet. He felt like he was trapped in a horror movie and, as his eyes trailed up Lulu's back, he wondered if the rabbit Sigel was going to be revealed as the movie maker in the end. He gripped his knife tighter, his nails pressing a bit too deeply into his thumb. At least he would make sure, if she was pulling some kind of prank on him, that he would get her back one way or another.

But for now, the older Nao sibling focused on how to get rid of the doll. Lulu seemed adamant about keeping it close... disgustingly close to her person. David wondered if she required sleep... and if she did...would he be able to pick the hellish toy up and chuck it? Would that just piss it off more and bring David that much more demonic karma? Maybe if he burned it...

Just then, something caught David's eye and the man had to confess: he reacted too instinctively.

In one moment, David could have sworn on his life that he saw another tribal looking plush hanging from a nearby tree. And in that same moment... he had chucked his knife at it, his hand thankful for the final release of tension. His heart, however, sank. When David walked up to yank his hunting knife out... he examined the tree, front and back, and ran his hand over its sliced bark. Nothing. It was bare. Not even a creepy hair fiber or button eye to find.

David immediately turned to glare at the doll in Lulu's endearing grasp.

He could swear the doll was snickering at him and he frowned. Kyou had better be alive so I can kick his a** for this traumatic s**t David thought, half bitter and half praying for the man's safety.

LuLu nearly jumped out of her skin when the blade hit the tree with a dull 'thunk'. Her brows knitted together as she reprimanded the human, "What are you doing?! Be careful." Her eyes fell helplessly on the knife buried in the bark. What if that had been a person? Or another harmless animal for that matter. David really was trying to get on her bad side.

The sigel pouted and placed both hands on her hips, one still holding the doll. "I will put the doll away if you agree to calm down." She could not pinpoint what was causing his sudden outbursts until she followed his glare to the smiling toy. "Are you afraid of it?"