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June 9th

Kami smiled tiredly as she leaned down on her dresser, setting a small bit of paper and a rolled bundle of material on top of it.




She smiled softly, and opened a drawing, taking something out before padding from her bedroom to find Keanu. "Kea? You in here?" she entered the living room, and smiled as she found him playing with Mazin. "There you are! Look, I have something for you." she sat on the couch, opening her hand.

The little wisp hovered up quickly, leaving the dragon to see what his mother had to show. His eyes glittered with curiosity as he huddled up to her, peering down wide-eyed into her hand.

In her palm lay two small, shiny beads, one round, the other shaped like a leaf. She hoped the leaf one would count...it was made of the same material, and had no setting. The other was bright orange, with vibrant yellow and blue markings. "For you." she said, smiling happily. They were the last things they needed.



Keanu chirred appreciatively, and nuzzled against his mother before returning to his and Mazin's game.

The beads were returned to the top of the dresser, and Kami went to fix dinner, a little bounce in her step. It hadn' seemed long ago at all that her little boy had been a lonely little gryphon. Now he was going to be a child, so much to look forward to, and so much teach him...and she would have to fix up his room as well. He couldn't very well sleep any old place, as he often had when he'd been a gryphon. She chuckled as she thought of it, and gave a happy sigh.

June 27th

July 28th

Keanu smiled as he stood on his cooking stool(a bit too short to be able to reach much without it), bent over a big pot in the kitchen, using a large wooden ladel to stir something that seemed very thick. Not only did it seem thick, but a delicious aroma was rising up from the pot as well, and the little Aerandir strained to continue stirring, his little pink tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he concentrated. He glanced down at the recipe card for a moment to check something.



Only a little more stirring, and he'd be done. The numbers ticked down slowly as he counted each stroke in his head, until, finally...

"Mama! I finished 'tirring!" he called out, fluttering down from the stool to take Kami's hand and pull her over excitedly. "Is that good, mama?" he asked, peering down eagerly, licking his lips at the good smell.

Kami chuckled, and patted his head. "That looks good to me! All we need to do now is to strain it." she said, taking the large square of cheesecloth she had got and using a band to fasten it over the top of the pot.

"How come we have to strain it, momma?" Keanu asked, watching as Kami tipped the big pot over a bowl, the thick, sweet-smelling liquid inside seeping through the cloth.

"Well, we have to get rid of the all the flower bits." she said, chuckling. "It would probably taste funny if we left those in." She readjusted her hold on the pot, not wanting to waste any of the honey that Keanu had worked to make. When Keanu had found the recipe in his book, she had said he could try it. It would be a nice break from the other things she'd been trying to teach him, mostly stew and soup recipes. He was little, only beginning afterall, and she didn't want to overload him with too much work.

The substance that resulted from their experience was indeed very sugary, and she new it wasn't like real honey, but was close enough. It would be nice to have to put on biscuits or rolls, or to use in deserts. Now all she needed to do was to retrieve some jars to keep it in.

"Mama, can I take some to 'Yasu and 'Suki?" he asked, smiling. "It tastes really good!" he had snuck a taste earlier, after he had finished stirring, and it was delicious. Osusuki was bound to love this, it was so sweet!

"Maybe, if I can find enough jars..." she said, chuckling at how generous her little one was. She would have to be careful with this, too much and it would have Keanu bouncing off the walls. She had found that he hd a bit of a sweet tooth, and was prone to hyperactivity, or what resembled it, as most youngsters are. But she loved him all the same.

Checking the pot, she set it aside. "I think that's all of it. You did a really good job, Kea!"she said, and lifted him up to hug him, and kiss his forehead.

Keanu smiled happily, flapping his wings. "Thank you mama!!"

August 31st

Keanu giggled as he ran about the front around of his island home, his small blue dragon companion trailing him closely. The dragon stopped after a moment and hissed a little, before drooping to pant profusely, dribblets of saliva dripping from a small pink tongue. The little Aerandir child turned around, and laughed.

"Aaaw, come on, Mazi! I thought you were gonna play tag with me!" he exclaimed, and squatted in front of the dragon. "You're no fun at all..." he said, poking the silvery-blue hide of the little animal. He snickered as the little thing got to it's feet. It wasn't his fault Keanu had woken him up during his afternoon nap. Yawning the little dragon trotted over to Keanu, looking up.

"Hmmm, don't have to play tag, I guess. What about.....the beach!?" he said, exclaiming the word as it came to his mind. Then he frowned. Kami was inside napping...he knew he wasn't allowed to wander off on his own..."Maybe just a real quick walk. We won't be gone long!" he reassured, and took off toward the beach. Mazin had little choice but to follow. Couldn't let the little scamp get into trouble. In o time they were on the path to the beach, a grin on Keanu's face. He'd never been out alone, and this was quite exciting. He took off at the sight of the pretty beach sand.

"We're here!" he said, and scooped up mazin as he raced onto the sand, running directly down to the water. Mazin jumped down and watch the litte Aerandir dance about in the small waves, splashing up salt water and wet sand everywhere. Soon enough, he was splotched all over with the stuff, not to mention soaked. And worse, the time had eluded him. "Uh-oh! We better get going, Mazi...come on..." he picked the dragon up, and hurried back to the path again. As he reached the house, the walked into the door and set Mazin down, smiling to see Kami sitting in the kitchen. "Hi, mama!" he said, and skittered over to see if she'd made any food.

Kami's eyes widened a bit. "Keanu!!! Where have you been!?" she asked, alarmed, for a moment. The boy was covered in sand! She frowned, and suddenly took on a stern look, ignoring his surprised face. "Well?" she waited, knowing the answer. But she still wanted the truth....

Keanu looked guilty, casting his gaze to the floor. "Well, me and mazi went outside, to play...." he said, looking back up. He hadn't realized he'd gotten so messy, in the excitement of it all. Kami was going to be really angry when she learned hed gone all that way...

"Where outside?"she intensified the look.

Keanu sniffled. "To the beach...but Mazi came with me!" he said, looking awfully guilty. He shrunk a bit as Kami sighed. "I would have taken you if you had waited, keanu. You know how I feel about it when you just wandering away..." her expression lightened. "But at least you told the truth. Now, let's give you a bath. I think you've had enough running around for this afternoon." she said, smiling as she lifted him up, sand and all.

Keanu sniffled, nuzzling a little, though was relieved not to be in trouble. "I'm sorry, mama...I won't do it again!" he promised, and snuggled into her arms. A bath didn't sound too bad, he was feeling itchy from all the saltwater.

Kami sighed contentedly. He really was a good little boy at heart. Maybe she really was doing alright. Things had gotten a lot more complicated when Keanu had become a kid, and she hoped this was a sign that she was raising him right.

((I apologise for my scanty number of posts as of late. School has hit, as well as marching season, and I'm slowly adjusting to coming home so tired out I can't think straight. Thanks for your patience (Aly), as I still plan to care for Kea to my best ability.))

((Kami, if you'd rather I get this moved to the general Cetalu thread, just let me know. But I figured since we're delivering the pumpkins to your house . . .))

Foenix pushed the wheelbarrow loaded with half a dozen pumpkins up the pathway leading to Kami's house. "I hope they're there."

Nehanda trotted cheerfully beside her guardian. Despite being told that no, she couldn't ride in the already-heavy barrow, she was excited to be out on this little errand. "I gets to see Kayno!"

"That's Keanu, sweetie," Foenix corrected with a laugh. "And that's right! Keanu likes plants just like you. But he likes to cook real food with them, instead of medicines."

"Oh." Nehanda pondered this for a few moments. She hadn't really been that disappointed when Foenix had kindly urged her to abandon her few disasterous attempts at real cooking. "so, he's gonna make lots of yummy foods wit our pumpkins?"

"Exactly."

"Afternoon!" Foenix lifted one hand to wave, but had to quickly grab the wheelbarrow handle to keep the ting from tipping. "We've got cooking materials for you!" It didn't take long before she had pulled up at the porch steps. "So, where do you want these? Or maybe I should ask Keanu, hmm?" She bent down to address the little boy. "How're things, Keanu?"

"Keenu!" Nehanda was too excited to wait for such pleasantries. Rushing up, she grabbed the other Aerandir's arm and started jumping up and down. "It's gonna be Hallyween! We get to wear costumes! You're gonna make us yummy treats! It's gonna be fun!"

"It's Keanu, hun, remember?" Foenix shook her head and rolled her eyes, then muttered to Kami, "I can't think of a single name she manages to get right. She's such a bubble-head sometimes."

Foenix shook her head as she hefted a pumpkin into her arms. "Nah. They should be fine for at least two or three weeks like this. But once you've cut into one, I wouldn't wait more then twenty-four hours. So, why don't you show us where you want these?" Looking over her shoulder at the two children, she had to smile. "I've yet to see an Aerandir kid who wasn't adorable. Keanu's getting so big!"

Nehanda giggled at Keanu in return. "Feenix is making me a butterfly costume! It's gonna have wots of pwetty colors, and we're gonna make my wings wook wike butterfly wings! What're you gonna be?" Following Foenix's example, she reached up and pulled a much smaller pumpkin off of the cart. "I liked growin' these. And once you've cut 'em up, you can save the seeds for your own garden!"

Foenix had to grin at Keanu's surprise. "Well, that was the general idea." she put her pumpkin down beside the one Kami's. "And on the subject of gardens, if there's anything Keanu wants from Nehanda's, plant-wise, you should just let us know. She's pretty excited about the idea of trading cuttings. And I think we got started on her garden a little earlier then you did, so Nehanda's plants are pretty extensive at this point. Heck, the gardens take over most of the free ground space in our little clearing!"

Nehanda tripped a little, and extended her wings to help regain her balance. "Dat's right!" she piped up after Foenix. "I gots wots of plants!" She looked over at Keanu. "I'll bet you gots more eating plants then me, but I gots a bunch of herbs and stuff." She studied her fellow Herbalist. "Ya know, I bet you'd wook weally good as . . . a . . . a pirate! You could dress up somet'in wike that."