Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Broo-therrr."

And there she was, sitting comfortably at the end of the corridor, as if she had always been there; one hand glided across Exaltation's smooth head as Anemone walked towards them, pale and red-eyed, looking as ever like the terrible b*****d child of Squiddly Diddly and a human. Well. Kind of a human. Her fins gleamed momentarily in the dark as she stood and walked towards them, her lumbering fishbeast following after as she stood by the mat. One of Cressida's old, old sundresses fluttered around her bony knees; she put forward one bare toe and dipped it questioningly in the substance, pulling her leg up and leaning against the wall to examine it.

Blood, said Exaltation. We be gittin' all kinds o' favour in return. Ai! Ai!

"The House doesn't like us," she said. Then she put her foot back down, and grimaced. "Stupid House. - What's this rag-and-bone group? One, two, three. Four. Four, four, four. Oh. This is a wall."

Suddenly, her hands snapped out to grab Branyn's wrists with a big, luminous smile and pale fingers. They pressed into him with undue pressure, nearly hurting - more than nearly. "I like your hands," Anemone said. "You should cut them off and give them to me." (Thankfully for Branyn, Quixana gently took his sister's hands and drew them away from the other boy's. She looked at him, looked blank, and then obviously forgot what she had been doing.)

Oblivious to any of Small's threats, Quixana frowned darkly at his sister, dark eyes solemn, before he gently released her wrists and let her hands fall limp against her sides. "Anemone," he began and she knew she was in trouble because he -never- used her full name, "Anemone, what are you doing here? I thought you were going shopping with Mama." He twisted to smile sheepishly at the others in apology. "Sorry, guys. It's my little sister. She is very curious."

That's putting it a bit mildly, isn't it? Courage sighed and moved to stand between Exhaltation and the other daemons, just as used to her buffer status as Quixana was.

Quixana backed his sister further away from the door and, dropping one hand behind his back, he motioned for the other boys to inspect and open the door. Anything to get them away from his very special little Annie. "Anemone, you have to go home. Mama's going to be worried and I'm a bit busy at the moment. I can't play with you right now. Nathan, Branyn, and I have things to do."

(( Is it my turn again or am I waiting for KOOSH? ))

((urghh! Showed up a day late. Thanks for waiting, though! Lovin' this RP.))

The strong, chilly wind had pushed Nathan to the ground and, had it not been for Impossible, the pair would have been trapped inside the room. But Impossible had been there and acted as a stopper between the door and frame. Nathan on the other hand had been completely knocked off his feet.

After dusting off his pants a second time, Nathan walked out of the room with Impossible limping beside him. It was impossible to deny that goose bumps lined his arms. And it was clear that the presence of this strange girl and the actions of the house sent a shiver down is back. "Boy, it's chilly," he mumbled trying his best to cover up the state of fear he was in.

Eyeing the door Impossible quivered between Nathan's legs. The House was out to get the group, it was clear, and the blood looked especially foreboding. Don't don't don't! she squealed as she saw Nathan making his way toward the door, but of course she would be ignored.

In Nathan's eyes he had to redeem himself, this was the second time the House had made a fool of him. He made his way toward the door, hairs prickling as he got closer, and finally rested his hand on the doorknob. Before opening the door he glared at the girl, "Go back and shop, you're not House material." The truth was, he couldn't stand someone who was less afraid than he. Turning back to the doorknob he twisted the handle and as he opened the door the hinge emitted a high-pitched screech. He covered his ears in reaction to the sound, it seemed, but really he wanted his hand off the doorknob. What he saw absolutely terrified him.

Branyn started as Nathan went towards the blood marked door. His eyes looked larger then normal in the dull light.

Branyn looked at the stange girl as Quixana suddenly pushed her towards him. "What? Watch Anemone?" he said as he watched Quixana stride into the foreign room. He caught a glimpse of bloody, hanging figures then Nathan blocked his view. He looked down at Anemone to see if she had seen them, hoping she hadn't.

Small hissed as Anemone got pushed towards Branyn. The strange girl was close enough to touch and it made all her fur stand on end. Then she heard Courage 'speak' and enter the room. Branyn, what's in that room...' the thought trailed off as she felt a new presense fill the space.

"Why are you here?" she asked, voice low and tired. "What do you seek? The truth of things, the warnings, or the means to the pathway?"

Branyn stepped forward to see and grabbed tight of Anemone in the same motion. "The, the warnings?" he said as Small mind-shouted, 'The means to the pathway!'. He shook his head in confusion and looked to Quixana. The steady drip of blood could be heard now. Dark pools of almost black marred the stone.

"I am not a babysitter!" Nathan said as he quickly stepped to Xana's side. Even though Nath was a tad paler, he refused to be known as the chicken of the group. The woman, who sent shivers down Nathan's spine, asked, "What do you seek? The truth of things, the warnings, or the means to the pathway?"

"The- the," he stuttered, but was unable to spit anything out before Branyn had answered. Flames in his eyes he cast Branyn a dirty look. What was happening here? He was supposed to be the leader! He knew the House better than any of them!

Too caught up in his rant he failed to recognize that Anemone had drifted her way out of Branyn's grasp and promptly plucked a hair from each of her bodyguards. His fists curled and he turned around. That was the final straw, "Get out of here, you!" he shouted. "Go shop or something. Leave us alone, we've got a mission and we don't want to be bothered by the likes of you!" His hands were in the air and his face was beet red. Though the girl was a bother, what really got on Nathan's nerves was that she, a little girl, was less frightened than he and that couldn't be tolerated.

Impossible's eyes were glued to the room. She had a feeling that this wasn't the only lady that would be visiting them. Her eyes drifted from this one to that one searching for any sign of movement. And she was very scared for the answer of the already mobile lady.

Inherited sin, said Exaltation. Thar's whar our beginnin' is. Ai!

Anemone, for her part - still fiddling with the strands of hair - had the temerity to smirk at Nathan from where she was, humming tunelessly, lifting one leg and prodding the bleeding ladies with her big toe. She had retrieved a fine, powdery substance from her pocket, had put the two knotted hairs down on the ground, and was carefully sifting it around the hairs in a circle. Exaltation, through some form of creepy affection, stared at Courage with big, limpid fish-eyes.

"Per-ceived-sin," called out Anemone, from where she was, as if to underscore what the woman was saying.

((Er, Koosh? There's no coin on the list. ^_^ Is this Nathan's rearrangement of memory due to his animalistic streak? Just wonderin'. YAY for posting, though.))