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March 24th, 2005
Riven: Dreams and Chimes

It was twilight in the Glade, and Riven was alone, drifting through the trees with only a group of hyvaren for light and company. They were good at both, though, casting a constant soft light and talking among themselves in soft, high-pitched voices that Riven couldn't quite make out or understand. Overhead, the trees that Ghlyssa had asked to move stretched outward in not-so-natural ways, forming the shell of a future home.

Where they would raise their child. Our child, Riven marveled once again. He'd never even considered the idea at all until Ghlyssa had mentioned it with desperation and longing in her eyes. Two weeks ago none of this was real, and now Ghlyssa was pregnant and radiant, and there were the beginnings of a house here in the woods.

Riven grinned to himself and held up two glass windchimes, floating up a bit higher than normal. His wings fanned outward in a useless reflex as he gently tangled the strings around a small branch. Was it his imagination, or did the tree seem to grow bark outwards to cup the cords? It was hard to tell in the shifting light.

Once hung, the chimes sang lightly in the cool night air. Riven sat down on the moss carpeting the clearing and looked up through the branches at the stars, listening to the music of the chimes and the song of the brook nearby.

He was content. Maybe this was why he had been reborn, to feel like this... to have these memories stored away in case he ever needed to return to the Spirit Realm and never again leave. A gift.

A wonderful, undeserved second chance.

March 26th, 2005
Session: Growth Begins, Growth Continues

Ghlyssa stepped into the grove, hugging herself. The trees were managing just fine, adjusting to their new shapes without much difficulty. She wandered barefoot among the trees, feeling completely relaxed and at peace. This felt like home already.

Riven was supposed to meet her. She hoped he hurried.

Riven, in fact, was already in the glade, just sitting on the wrong side of one of the beginning branch-walls. Hearing footsteps, he turned around and got up. "The forest is perfect for you, isn't it?" he said, tilting his head at her with a smile.

Ghlyssa jumped. "Oh! I didn't know you were there." She ran over and hugged him, laughing. "Yes. Yes, it is perfect. Even more perfect with you, though." She beamed. "And the trees are doing fine. Just absolutely fine."

"Good." Riven grinned and kissed her. "I thought the trees sort of... paid attention to me when I came a night or two ago." He indicated the windchimes dangling in what would be a window, later on. "Um... how's the baby?" He blushed a little.

"Those are nice," Ghlyssa said, peering at the windchimes.

"And the baby is fine. I think it is." She poked at her stomach. "I think it's still really really small so it might be hard to tell." She considered telling Riven about this "morning sickness" thing that was mentioned in all the helpful literature. "It's there, and it's a baby." She smiled.

Riven poked at her stomach too. "Hello baby." He looked up at her. "I wonder what it is? A girl baby or a boy baby? My Guardian went and bought some baby things. She said pink was for girls and blue was for boys, but since we didn't know she got some of both colors..."

"I don't know. I think we just have to wait to find out." Glee peered down her front, one eyebrow raised. "Blue is for boys? But I like blue. But I guess the baby can wear either, right?"

Riven shrugged. "That's what Mom said. But we can do what we want, I think. It's not a law, I hope." He wrinkled his nose.

Then he took a few steps back and looked at the trees. "Are you going to make them grow more today?" He thought they almost seemed expectant... waiting. They were the most... well, talkative trees he'd ever met, even though they didn't really talk.

"I think so. I think they want to." Glee laughed. "I think they sort of want to get all done so they can keep growing straight up like they were before. Just growing up is a little easier, I think."

She waved up at the branches.

"I brought the plan... thingie." Riven produced the blueprint they were adapting, which one of their Guardians had taken from the planning department of the Gaia Housing Commission. It was much easier to follow a pre-made plan than to make one yourself, and they could tweak it as needed. "We couldn't do the window parts yet because we don't have glass, but... more walls, maybe?" He shrugged.

Ghlyssa took the plans and looked at them carefully. "I guess we are going to need glass, so the rain doesn't come in. I think the trees could grow around it and it would stay there. They wouldn't mind... but we can do more walls today. And more roof." She peered up.

"And I really want windows." Riven wrinkled his nose. Having a house made of trees was one thing, having a windowless box made of trees was quite another. "I'll ask my Guardian about that later," he decided.

He floated back a few feet. "Am I out of the way enough?"

Ghlyssa nodded. "You're fine where you are."

She looked up at the trees again, her lips moving silently, and closed her eyes. The trees took a moment to soften, then began to shift and weave closer together, branches sprouting from the trunks as needed. Internal walls knit together, almost solid now, though not done just yet.

The trees settled into their new places, and Ghlyssa wobbled a little.

April 3rd, 2005
Interlude: Ghlyssa, Driven Crazy

"Do you want me to take over?"

"Eh, I could use a rest, I guess. We'll switch in Little Fort." Sunny grinned at her brother and repositioned her hands on the wheel of the rented car.

"You can go that long?" Ray raised an eyebrow.

"I'm fine. I'm tough. Bit hungry. Glee, can you reach the cooler? Grab me some veggies to gnaw on?"

Ghlyssa blinked, roused from her thoughts as she stared out the window at the passing trees. "Oh. Oh, okay." She bent to fish around in the cooler, and passed up a little plastic bag of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and such.

"You should eat, too," Sunny told her. "That whole eating-for-two thing applies to you. Although at this stage it's probably more like eating-for-one-and-a-half."

"I'm not hungry," Ghlyssa said.

"I think she's still recovering from the chicken gut soup," Ray sniggered.

Ghlyssa moaned slightly; Sunny shot him a look.

This was true. While Aunt Maran and Uncle Yassik had blinked in some bemusement at Glee, they'd accepted her readily enough and offered her a generous portion of the soup Maran had become famous for: Chicken gut soup. It wasn't really made with chicken guts, exactly, but it was made with necks and hearts. Maran often didn't even bother to cut up the chicken hearts. Ghlyssa had taken one look at the heart bobbing among the vegetables, ran for the bathroom, and promptly experienced her first bout of morning sickness.

It had not been pretty.

"Try to eat, if you can keep it down," Sunny advised. "Bronnie, you want something?"

Bronwen scowled. She was scrunched in the back seat next to Ghlyssa, excruciatingly uncomfortable. Her wingspan was enough to make this exceedingly awkward. She'd managed to accidentally stab Glee in the arm with her wingspars more than a dozen times. She's apologised quickly, been forgiven quickly, and gone back to trying to find a position in which her wings wouldn't go numb. "No," she grumbled. "I'm not hungry."

"We'll be in Little Fort soon enough, we can all walk around, and we'll be home not too long after that, right?" Ray stretched in the passenger's seat.

Riven also blinked. "Was that, um, the Earthkeeper?" he asked, not entirely sure how to react to this.

He loved Ghlyssa; he wasn't entirely sure about the Earthkeeper, even if they were similar... but they were also different, as that sentence proved. Not to mention it was SO weird to him to think of being more than one thing at once...

"Yes. That was her. Well, us." Ghlyssa grimaced bemusedly. "She doesn't usually do that... but... maybe it is the baby." She patted her stomach carefully. "Wow."

Riven looked even more perplexed. "But... it's not supposed to be magical." He paled, suddenly. "Did something wrong happen? Is the baby... the baby Fa'e?"

"I... I..." Ghlyssa blinked at Riven in horror. "Oh no. No, that couldn't be. If it was..." She stared down at her stomach. "You can't be! I mean..."

She struggled for explanation. "That wasn't what she--or I--was thinking. But..."

Riven turned away from Ghlyssa, then back towards her, feeling very confused. It wasn't Ghlyssa's fault if the baby was... but then it was Kamiki's fault, wasn't it? And he didn't want that to be her fault... he didn't want to be as angry at her as such a mistake would require.

"It CAN'T be Fa'e," he pleaded. "I HAVE to become an Ancient, I can't lose any more of who I am, I just CAN'T..."

"But... even if it was Fa'e, would that make me stronger?" This new worry on her mind, Ghlyssa put out this vague argument. She wrung her hands. "I... I can't... what would happen to the Earthkeeper now if... How could we TELL if the baby's Fa'e? Riven..." She blinked at him, rather tearfully.

Riven thought hard.

"... Anen. Anen would know - he helped me figure out when Chaos was... doing some things. He would know! We have to go talk to him." He grabbed her hand.

Anen. She'd met Anen. Once. Ghlyssa nodded. "All right. He'd really know that? Do you know where he lives? Could we get there soon or would we have to... Oh, please, you can't really be Fa'e," she told the baby, distressed.

"I know where he lives, yeah..."

Then Riven deflated. "But he's gone - I saw it on the noteboard at Fa'e HQ the other day when I went in to see, um, if there were any babies so I could practice. He's gone for a whole WEEK." He looked distressed, as if he could practically feel magic getting sucked out of him. "What are we going to dooooo?"

Gone. Well, that was just...

Ghlyssa drooped. "Another week couldn't really hurt, could it?" This wasn't supposed to happen... if this baby was Fa'e, this whole mess was going to be her fault, since it had been her idea, and... oh dear oh dear... "If... if Anen would know, and he's not around, then I guess we'll have to wait for Anen to come back. And... then we'll ask him as soon as he gets back, and then we'll decide what to do, if it is Fa'e."

She had no idea what it was even possible to do in that situation. The more she thought about this the more worrying it was.

Riven sighed and flopped to the ground, laying back into the grass as though he was going to make a snow (or grass) angel in it. "I guess." He looked up at the leaves above, trying to make himself calm down. "And if... if it is Fa'e... we'll just... I don't know. Talk to Airi or something," he mumbled. "But it's not your fault, love..."

Ghlyssa sat down beside Riven, twisting her fingers together. "But it was my idea," she whispered unhappily. "Airi would have to know what to do, though, if anyone does."

"It's... it's okay." He smiled at her. "What's done is done, right? We'll worry about it if we know for sure. And our house IS almost done, too, and that's good?"

Actually, he was planning on worrying a lot, and loudly, as soon as he got home, but Glee didn't need to know that.

"Are you sure?" Ghlyssa looked nervously at him. "I mean... if..." She shook herself. "I guess I should try not to worry too much... it won't help..."

"No, it won't help... and if the baby is Fa'e, then well... we can guard the little one well, and teach them and help them because we know what it's like to be Fa'e." He reached for her hand and patted it gently as he sat up. "We'll have to find a Guardian, though..."

They wouldn't be able to keep the baby, and they'd lose... gods. Riven shook his head. "But we don't know, so we shouldn't worry a lot yet, right? It's not good balance..."

She nodded. "I suppose it isn't. It's hard not to worry, though, now that we've thought of this..." Ghlyssa wrapped her arms around herself, over the swell of the baby. "Please don't be Fa'e," she whispered.

April 9th, 2005
Session: Of Spirits and Souls

Riven carefully fussed over Ghlyssa. "Are you comfortable? Is the baby okay?" He'd never taken somebody pregnant to the Spirit Realm before, and he wanted to make sure everything would be just fine. He was sure it wasn't DANGEROUS... he just wasn't entirely sure it would work.

The trees seemed interested in the goings-on. Riven hoped they wouldn't be annoyed at not growing any more today. Still, he hoped their affinity would strengthen Ghlyssa. He sat down on the grass next to her and leaned against a tree trunk, coiling his tail lightly around her ankle "Are you okay?"

Ghlyssa smiled and nodded, her hands over her stomach. She looked a bit pale and raccoon-eyed after a night or two of restless, worried sleep. "I'm fine, and so is the baby. Really, Riven." She leaned against him and kissed him soothingly. "You really think Ssala will know?"

"I sure hope so." He sighed. "Souls... do things in the Spirit Realm. They... you can see them, get closer to them sort of." How could he explain it? How could he possibly describe the endless sea of souls that the Spirit Realm had inadvertantly become before...

Before... before what, exactly? He still wasn't sure, but whatever it was had culminated in his first death.

Riven shook away that memory and smiled at Ghlyssa. "Are you ready?" The crystal globe that the spirit Fa'e used as a homing beacon sat in front of them, glinting quietly in the grass.

"I'm ready." She nodded, a hopeful smile still plastered to her face. Ghlyssa fingered her necklace thoughtfully. She didn't really understand the nature of the Spirit Realm, to be truthful, and she knew she didn't understand it, but she was content to let Riven take care of the intricacies of it.

"Okay. Just hold on," Riven said, and leaned forward to lay both hands on the cool surface of the globe. Closing his eyes, he felt along the connection that lay deep in the crystal... it went sort of upwards, and sort of inwards.

He reached out for Ghlyssa, and found her, then reached further. There was a bond there, soft but sure, and he took careful hold of the tiny spark on the other end. Hello baby, he thought, and pulled.

After the familiar tingling wash subsided, he opened his eyes to the soft misty world of the Spirit Realm, and the already approaching swirl of happy hyvaren. He turned to Ghlyssa...

And stared.

Next to her, connected to her by a thread, was a barely-visible shape that had no concrete form, and made no sound.... and felt like the baby-spark.

"Baby," he managed, pointing at it.

Ghlyssa stared, too. "That's... that's our baby?" She glanced reflexively down at her stomach, at Riven, and back at the spark.

What a strange feeling it was, to see the soul of your unborn child this way.

"I..." She stammered a bit, then managed, "it's pretty already."

"I think-" and then Riven was interrupted as the crowd of hyvaren swept around them both, singing joyously in high-piched voices. Ssala followed them, grinning like an indulgent parent.

"They are happy to see you, my lord, as am I," the spirit-snake said, curling lightly in the air. "And my lady," he added. "Are you well?"

"Pretty well," Riven said, reaching out one hand to rub against Ssala's fur. "And we think, um, that," and he pointed at the odd shifting haze, "is the soul of the baby?"

Ssala bowed hir head to it. "A pleasure to meet you," shi said, solemnly.

The haze made no reply.

Ghlyssa giggled, amused by the hyvaren. Her gaze followed them around a bit before she managed to turn back to Ssala. "It is the baby? Really? Is it supposed to look like that?" she added, slightly worried. "Or maybe not a lot of pregnant women come here..."

She gestured to the thread that seemed to link her with the haze. "Although I honestly can't think what else it would be."

"It is an as-yet unfinished soul, bonded to you and bonded to lord Riven, my lady," Ssala said, politely. "If it is not your child, than what else could it be?"

"Ssala... we were wondering," Riven said, uncomfortably. The seer turned around to look at him immediately. "The baby is... well, should be... human. So that we don't lose our natures. I have to remain the guardian of the Barrier, of the Spirit Realm."

"That you do," Ssala agreed, unruffled.

"But... well, we were kind of worried... about the baby maybe accidentally being Fa'e, being something reborn, like us, that would... make that impossible."

Ssala immediately turned around and gave the haze a long, hard look. "I should bite it in half if it were that," shi said, after a moment. "But I won't," shi added. "Not... unless..." And shi left the sentence hanging, but didn't stop half-glaring at the 'baby'.

Ghlyssa fidgeted under the urge to get between Ssala and the baby spark. "We don't know if it is," she protested. "But... but... well, my powers have been... different. Stronger. And the baby might have something to do with that, and..." She twiddled her fingers together, and shook her head vehemently.

"Can you tell?" Riven said, finally, pleading in his voice.

Ssala's sternness relented, some. "I will look at the soul," shi said. "I will not harm it unless you bid me do so."

The spirit-snake drifted on an unseen wind towards the haze, and coiled around it in an intricate, swift dance. "A bond... a spirit, yes, and soul too, building, building, calling out to both, yes..." shi muttered in the toneless voice that shi used while hir Oracle powers were in operation.

Riven waited with bated breath.

Ghlyssa nibbled on a finger nervously, trying to reassure herself. If Ssala said shi wasn't going to harm the baby, then shi wouldn't, right? Yes, of course.

It was worrying nonetheless.

Bid Ssala to harm it? The mere thought gave Glee shudders. If the baby was Fa'e, then... then surely it would have to be done. She wasn't sure she could make herself do that. And it would have been her fault it had had to be done in the first place.

Ssala snapped out of hir oracular trance with a full-body shudder, hir eyes focusing blearly as hir motion slowed and then stopped.

"Well?" Riven asked, eyes wide.

"It draws from you both, but the connections do not touch your innermost selves," Ssala said. "And it has no reaching outward as you both bear, no longing for a bond to one other than family," shi added.

"The Guardian bond? It doesn't have one?" Relief washed through Riven like a flood. "It can't be Fa'e. It can't be, without that." He beamed at Ghlyssa and the 'baby'.

Ghlyssa exhaled, looking so relieved she might cry. "It's human. It's really human? Oh, thank goodness. Thank goodness. I couldn't have... I couldn't have beared..." She stammered herself into a contented fluster, and just beamed at the hazy spark.

Ssala curled up to Ghlyssa. "I am glad, too. Such sacrifices are hard, my lady. Do not think I would not have wept for the child," shi said.

Still, there was no wavering in hir voice. Riven realized that Ssala probably would have killed the baby had it been Fa'e... and that, horrible as it was, there would have been a terrible balance in that act. Clearly the protection of Creation warranted the death of a single soul...

... but it was so cold...

Riven shivered, then grinned. It was human. They didn't have to think about it. "Did you see anything else, my friend?"

"My lord asked me to see but one thing," Ssala chided him.

"So I did."

A few creatures had gathered by this point; some of them stepped forward. A syreut nosed the 'baby', huge, sail-like ears perked in curiosity.

Ghlyssa watched the syreut with wary curiousity, and wondered about how vulnerable a half-formed soul might be. Or, for that matter, how dangerous a syreut might be. She hugged herself.

It would have been right, yes. She couldn't even imagine what would have happened if half of the Earthkeeper's power had simply... gone into another soul. Ugh. Horrible thoughts.

And even so, Ghlyssa could hardly go out into the world and coax every single seed into maturity. Even if it was practical, it was hardly right. Not everything grew. Not everything was meant to grow. She may want it to, but she couldn't.

This child, though, would grow. She would see to that, now that that worry was lifted from her.

"What's it doing?" she asked finally, gesturing to the syreut.

"Looking," Riven laughed, at ease. "Nothing here will hurt you... nothing on this side of the Barrier, anyway." He shot a look at the pearly-gray wall in the distance, but didn't feel any of the tell-tale phantom pains on his skin that would indicate surface cracking. The healing he'd done on his last visit continued to hold. "Um, we probably shouldn't go any closer, though," he added.

The syreut stepped back and fanned its ears at the 'baby', making the haze rock back and forth a little bit. Apparently satisfied, it stepped back - and a small group of kyrei swam forward, flat tails making eddies in the mist. They reached out to encircle the haze with their strange, long fingers, golden eyes glinting. "It grrrrrrows," one of them said, turning its head so that its gaze fixed on Ghlyssa. "Little soul-liiiing."

"It's supposed to grow," Ghlyssa said, tilting her head. She had an intense feeling of being completely out of her depth, here. Not knowing what anything here was, what or why or how.

Riven smoothly stepped in between the waiting spirit-creatures and Ghlyssa. "I'll bring them back later," he said, "but the baby isn't even born yet, not properly."

"Born? What issss born?" one of the liros hissed at him, red feathers flaring.

"Born is... created. Come into being. Beginning."

"But we can see it, so surely it has begun?" a syreut fluted.

"It isn't finished yet," Riven said, giving Ssala a pleading look, but the oracle only smiled. "Anyway, we should go."

"Souls tip the balance," said one of the kyrei, knowledge glinting deep in its golden eyes. Riven knew it was seeing the endless sea of lost souls.

"So we're going," Riven said. "We'll come back when the baby is born."

"Come sooner, lord," a karmadoi grunted. "The Barrier will need tending."

"I will." He turned to Ssala. "May we go? You don't need me now?"

"Not yet. It is still a strong healing." Ssala turned a slow, lazy loop in the air. "Soon, but not this time."

"Thank you." He quickly put one arm around Ghlyssa. "We'll come back," he again promised the waiting creatures. "Are you ready, again?" he asked Glee.

Ghlyssa nodded. "I'm ready whenever you're ready." She glanced hesitantly, protectively at the haze, and smiled nervously at the crowd of spirit-creatures. She gave a little wave.

One of the kyrei clapped long-fingered hands at Ghlyssa. "We will see you soon, laaaady," it said, unblinking. "Lady lady lady."

"Farewell," Riven said, and in one smooth motion every creature went into a bow. The spirit Fa'e turned beet red, and grabbed Ghlyssa's arm. "Let's go."

"Farewell, lord," Ssala said, from behind them. Shi was laughing.

Riven had enough time to turn and shoot hir a look before grabbing hold of the link back to the Glade, pushing Ghlyssa and the baby down it, then following to where her body rested against a tree.

Ghlyssa gave herself a little shake, and flexed her wings to try to get some feeling back into them. As nice as the spirit-realm was, it unnerved her slightly. She leaned over and kissed Riven before she said anything, and pensively put her hands over the baby.

How strange. It had been a real, solid reminder that there was Something Alive in there. It was such a bizarre notion she could hardly believe it some days, but there definitely was something in there. Her stomach attested, after all.

"Thank you for asking Ssala," she said quietly.

"I'm so glad," Riven said, floating upward and then bending down to lift her gently to her feet. "So glad the baby is... what we always thought. I wonder why it does that to the magic, though? Odd... but good." He kissed her again once she was up, and wrapped one insubstantial wing around her shoulder. "It is a nice place," he added. "I love it here, but there... there is home. An ancient home."

Ghlyssa hefted herself to her feet, clinging to Riven's hand as she did so. "I can understand that. The Earthkeeper's realm is always going to be home for me, no matter what else happens. I mean... well, half of me is always there, in a way." She screwed up her face slightly.

"I'd like to see that place too, someday - but not now," Riven said, with a smile. "Shall we go tell our Guardians the good news?"

Ghlyssa stifled a giggle. "We should probably go do that before they worry anymore." She wrapped her arm around Riven and sighed happily. "But I'm so glad we don't have to worry about that. I wasn't getting a lot of sleep..." She grinned up at him. "Besides, it's starting to get late... I'm getting a bit cold."

Snuggling into him, Glee led Riven away.

April 26th, 2005
Session: Housewarming

Sosiqui beamed at all the activity. The workmen they'd hired seemed unsurprised by the request for several of them to hold the window-glass and doorframes in place at the same time - they seemed used to magical means of house-building. Some of them were probably magic-users themselves. It took all kinds, here in Gaia. "Almost time to pack up the boxes for them to move, I guess," she whispered to Sunny, who had come along with her whole family for the house's grand finale.

Riven peered anxiously around, hovering around Ghlyssa protectively as the workmen got into position. Many of them were expertly carrying sheets of window-glass; the rest held sturdy doorframes.

Sosiqui paced around and critiqued the window placement until one of the workmen said "Lady, we know what we're doing," in an aggrieved tone.

"Sorry, sorry," Sosiqui muttered, and retreated back to Riven and Glee. "They're ready. Just hold it right there and keep them steady," she called to the workmen, raising her voice, before turning back to Ghlyssa. "Okay, dear, I think you can finish it up now."

Riven fluffed one misty wing over Ghlyssa's shoulders. "Ready?"

Sunny nodded back at Sosiqui, grinning. "I know. It's going to be so strange to not have Glee around..." She twisted her mouth thoughtfully, and, trying to negate her feelings, tossed off casually, "My tomatoes will suffer, I guess."

Even Ray looked a little depressed, if it came to that; he was standing to one side with Bronnie, both of them watching with varying degrees of interest.

Ghlyssa nodded at Riven. "I'm ready." Faintly unnerved by the crowd of workmen, she hunched her wings tight against her back, tapped her fingers together. "I think. Mostly. Okay, yes." She laughed nervously. She curled her hand over the baby, and sighed. "I really do hope this is going to work..."

"Of course it will work, and then it will be done," Riven said, reaching down to place his hand atop hers. He grinned reassuringly at her.

"Hey, if you're going to do something, do it, willya?" one of the workers called out, only to earn a stern look from the foreman, who looked apologetically at the two Fa'e.

"Their arms can't hold forever. Please, do... whatever you're going to do."

"Okay, Glee," Sosiqui said cheerfully. "Do your stuff."

"Oh. Sorry. Sorry," Glee said hastily, and closed her eyes.

The trees began to shift almost immediately, the wood creeping over the edges of the glass and the doors, absorbing them as a tree that grows too close to a wire fence will absorb the wire, or as wood will grow around a nail. The trees did so obediently, if somewhat reluctantly, while above, their branches spread out for the benefit of the new spring leaves.

Bronwen watched this with her mouth slightly agape.

Ghlyssa drew in her breath and opened her eyes to look around and inspect the new state of the house. "Um, Did it work okay?" It would have been really bad if some poor worker ended up with his hand inside the tree...

This train of thought was derailed quickly, however; Glee stared down at her stomach. "It kicked me," she said blankly.

The workers had stepped back neatly from the tree as the branches grabbed hold of the doorframes and window-glass - they didn't seem particularly startled, either. "She a dryad? We had one of them last week," one of the workmen asked as he tapped the new branchy windowsill.

"None of your business," Sosiqui retorted.

"Is that all you need?" the foreman cut in smoothly, and the Guardians went over to discuss payment and funds.

Riven beamed and floated over to the house as the workmen dispersed. "Look! Look at it, it's a real house, it really is! You did it!" He moved to pick up Ghlyssa, then got a funny expression on his face after managing to get her barely off the ground. "Um."

"That was so cool," Bronnie yelled out.

Ghlyssa began to giggle. "I'm getting sort of... um... sort of fat, I guess. The baby's getting bigger... and it keeps kicking me." She blinks down at it. "It's gotten all excited." She shrugged and hugged Riven, slightly awkwardly.

Riven grinned at Bronnie - and Five, as the little black mage was standing shyly behind the now older-seeming girl. He hadn't quite known what to make of his playmate growing up, but she was still his friend, right? "Do you want to go inside and look around? Come on, Glee, let's go in our house."

"You have to carry her over the threshold," Sosiqui said impishly, coming up behind them. The workmen were walking back to their trucks on the main road, all business apparently finished with.

Riven winced slightly in her direction. "Really?"

"Yep. It's tradition." She smirked at both of them.

Riven sighed. "Okay." He floated forward and opened the door first - it was blue - and then went back to Ghlyssa. "Er... up you go!"

If he'd had legs, he would have been staggering, but Riven made it through the door without knocking Glee's head on the doorframe.

Ghlyssa clung to Riven, her mouth open. "Um..."

Sunny sniggered behind her hand. "That applies to pregnant women, too, does it? Oh my."

"Ah. You can put me down, now, Riven," Glee said, vaguely alarmed.

Riven put Ghlyssa down awkwardly, looking sheepish. "You're heavy," he said, surprised.

"Riven!" Sosiqui yelped. "You never criticize a lady's weight!"

"But... but... she is," Riven said, looking utterly confused.

Sosiqui sighed. "You... bah."

Five peeked shyly around the doorframe, one hand on his hat. "Can we come in?" he asked, quietly.

"Oh, yeah, come in, come in," Riven said, gesturing to everyone. The front door was wide open and they stood in the 'living room' - a large room with wide windows and a high branch-twined ceiling. A thick carpet of living moss covered the floor.

The little black mage came in, immediately kneeling down to prod the carpet with interest. "It's all alive, Bronnie," he called out to her.

"But I am heavy. It's me and the baby," Ghlyssa protested quietly.

Sunny laughed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, but it's so nice in here, though. Cozy and..." She sought for the word.

"Green," Ray supplied, grinning. Sunny shot him a look.

Bronnie got down on the mossy carpet, too. "It's so neat," she said quietly. "This is the most awesome thing ever. I want to live in a house like this, where it's all alive."

"You'll have the freshest air in all Gaia in here, with all these plants," Sosiqui said, watching Five pat the carpet gently, as though it was a cat. "Well! You're all done. Now all you have to do is move..."

She looked down for a second and bit her lip. "... and then you'll be here, right?"

"Right," Riven said, happily. "And the baby...?"

"I don't know when that will show up. In its own time, I suspect. Have you thought about names yet?"

Riven blanked. "Names?"

Sosiqui sighed. "Yes. It doesn't COME with one like you did. You get to name it."

"Huh..." The Fa'e looked thoughtful. "We have to talk about that later," he told Ghlyssa.

Ghlyssa tilted her head, eyes widening. "We're going to have to. We can't call it just 'Baby' for ever."

Sunny shifts uncomfortably. "Yeah. Well, thrift store furniture is always fun, I suppose... your friend's still willing to loan us the truck, Ray?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Furniture... and some blankets," Riven said abruptly. "Knitted ones. I like those."

"How surprisingly domestic," Sosiqui said, bemused.

"And Dillin and Biome will come to live here too. It will be fun, really." He beamed at Ghlyssa.

"It's not all fun, you know. I did make you read those books... but a lot of it is learning as you go. Like teaching the baby to swim by throwing it in the water."

Riven looked confused. "We're gonna throw it in the stream?"

"... no..."

Ghlyssa blinked. "Do babies float or sink? I mean..." Flustered, she blushed. "That's not what I meant. At all." She patted her stomach protectively.

"It's an expression..." Sunny sighed, though she was visibly on the verge of laughter.

"Well," Sosiqui said, straightening up, "I guess I'll go stop by the Forge. I need to make sure the magical appliances will be ready, now that we have the house finished... come on, Five."

Five stood up after giving the moss one last pat. "Can we come play later?" he asked Riven and Glee.

"Maybe," Riven said with a smile.

Sosiqui took Five's hand and led him out the door. "I'll see you at home tonight, Riven," she called back. "Have fun."

"Yeah, Bronnie, come away and leave the lovebirds," Sunny laughed. Bronwen straightened and sighed, following her mother away.

Ray paused in the door. "Good luck, guys," he said, and headed out.

Ghlyssa waved after them, and leaned against Riven. "This is really crazy, but really good. This is actually a house now, and we can almost live in it, and... and... and everything."

Riven smiled and fluffed a wing over her shoulders. "Do the trees like it? The windows don't hurt them, right?" Overhead, a confused bird twittered and flew out the open door.

"... and a name. We need a name." He frowned.

"They're not really happy about it, but it doesn't hurt them, and they say they don't mind too much." Ghlyssa watched the bird, bemused.

"A name." She pursed her lips. "I don't know. I hadn't even thought about that, there's been so much else going on. Is just making something up allowed?"

"Well..." Riven thought about this. "A name is important," he said, finally. "We should think about it a lot. The baby will have that name all the time... and I guess we should think of a boy name and a girl name too. They should be good names."

Something scratched at the doorframe, and a moment later Biome entered, the twin dragon-gizmohs curling up appreciatively on the mossy floor, watching Riven and Ghlyssa with unblinking golden eyes.

"A girl name and a boy name, yes..."

Ghlyssa blinked at Biome. "Is that... is that Biome? You told me he... they... evolved..."

Somehow, twin dragons isn't quite as unnerving to her as twin metal things.

"Yeah, that's Biome," Riven said, a bit startled that she didn't already know - but then, how could she know without him telling her? "They'll live here too, right?"

"A good name isis very important," Biome chimed in. "You shouldshould think hard."

Riven thought. "Um. Well... what are good names? We could name a baby after you? Little Glee?"

"That would be confusing, though," Ghlyssa objected. "You'd yell 'Glee,' and then we'd both come." She tapped her finger against her lips thoughtfully. "But maybe we could name the baby after someone else?"

"After who?" Riven wrinkled his nose. "A nice person?"

"Well, I hope so." Ghlyssa blinked. "I wouldn't want to name the baby after someone who wasn't a nice person..."

She scratched her head.

"Um. Hm," Riven mused.

"A name is aa powerful thing," Biome interjected again. "A name should honor the childchild, honor the namesake."

"After someone really special, then... um." Riven wrinkled his nose. "If we named the baby after a Guardian, then it'd be confusing again," he sighed.

"Who else is there, then?" Ghlyssa slowly lowered herself down to sit at the base of the wall. "Ooof. I need to sit. But someone important. And nice."

Riven curled up on the ground next to her, twining his tail lightly around one of her ankles. "Who is important... hm..."

"If we were to replicate, we would namename the offspring after our creator," Biome said, helpfully.

"Creator... hmm. First..." Riven thought about that. "Airi, maybe? She's... really important."

"Name the baby after Airi?" Ghlyssa reflected upon this, snuggling into Riven. "I like that idea. Could we call the baby Airi even if it's a boy, though?"

"Um." Riven wasn't really clear with how all this names-being-for-boys thing worked. Sometimes names he had only seen girls used showed up attached to boys, like had happened with one of his Guardian's video-games. And sometimes it went the other way... and some names were okay for both...

"I heard a name that's kind of like Airi, sort of. Erin? Airi-in? There's a boy name that sounds the same, too, only it's spelled weird."

"Airi with a N on the end?" Ghlyssa asked. "I like the way that sounds... but I think Erin can be a girl's name and a boy's name, too."

"Um, let me write that down so we don't forget it." Riven fumbled a piece of paper out of the small pouch he kept in his sash for such things, and produced a pen as well. "Um..." He wrinkled his nose and laboriously wrote the name down.

He held up the piece of paper. "Airyn."

Ghlyssa looked. "That looks good. I like that. Airyn." She looked down at her stomach. "I think you're Airyn, now. I hope you like that name..."

She sighed a little. "I wish my mom was here, Riven. I sort of wish she could know she was going to be a grandma."

"Maybe she does know," Riven said with a soft smile and a shrug. "I've seen souls that used to live... be alive down here, I mean. Rei would set them free and Shina would guide them... to where they were supposed to be. And they weren't just like sheep or something. They were still alive. They had Creation in them."

Ghlyssa fidgeted. "I really like the name Airyn.... but I was sort of thinking... if maybe... well, if the baby's a girl, we could name her Svrellia, after my mom... only if you wanted to, though. Some people have two names, I suppose. But only if you want to."

Riven blinked, then grinned at her and fluffed one wing around her. "I don't mind. I like it. And what if it's a boy baby?"

"Airyn Svrellia, if it's a girl... and... um... I dunno if it's a boy." Ghlyssa thought. "You should decide on a second name if it's a boy. It would be more fair that way."

"Me? Uh... okay... er..." Riven thought. Who was important, who had done something...

Old memories tickled at his mind until he found the one that felt right. Riven smiled.

"Gabriel," he said, firmly.

"Airyn Svrellia, or Airyn Gabriel." Ghlyssa tried them, and smiled. "I like it. Both of them are good names." She leaned over and kissed Riven. "This is getting to be so exciting."

"It is," Riven said, returning the kiss and then tilting his head back so that he could see the ceiling. Leaves grew on the underside of the branch-entwined roof, too, waving gently on the breeze from the open front door. "All we need is furniture and the magic things, and... and a baby." He rested one hand on Ghlyssa's stomach and grinned. "I bet it'll have cute freckles like you."

Ghlyssa blushed. "Maybe," she said. "Maybe it'll have purple swirly marks like you. It could look like... like a lot of things." She pursed her lips thoughtfully.

Riven laughed. "Maybe. Maybe it will have flowers, like you... there's so many things it could be. Little Airyn. Ah!" Riven jumped. "It moved!"

"Mm-hm." Ghlyssa smiled. "It does that. I think maybe it means it likes those names?"

She yawned, growing sleep from the warm sun and from the exertion needed to finish up the house. She snuggled into Riven drowsily, and yawned again.

Sleep was definitely on the horizon.

Riven smiled and re-arranged his wings to drape over her - insubstantial as they were, he liked the gesture - and snuggled in.

Maybe sleep was a good idea. It was warm, and comfortable, and the drone of insects and outside birdsong was so nice...

The spirit Fa'e leaned lightly against Ghlyssa and let his eyes drift closed as well.

April 26th, 2005
Session: Birth!

Ghlyssa stirred and woke as a shudder of pain washed through her. She let out a small cry.

She was stiff and a bit cold, with Riven still curled against her, but this pain could not be explained away by that. It didn't even feel like the baby itself, but...

Oh. Oh, no.

"Riven!"

"Hmmm?" Riven was still drowsy, and he blinked as he opened his eyes and realized they were in the now-finished house. It was getting dark, too. "Oh. I guess we'd better go home, huh?"

"Yes, but... but..." Ghlyssa gestured frantically. "Riven, um... I think I just had a... a... what is it called... a contraction." It wasn't supposed to happen like this! It was supposed to be until they had furniture in the house, and were settled in, and were ready! Another wave of pain gripped her; she inhaled sharply, and waited for it to pass.

"I think... I think the baby's ready to be born," she said, rather fearfully.

"A con-what?" Riven was about to wrinkle his nose in disdain at the strange word when the rest of Ghlyssa's words hit him. "It WHAT?!"

There was a soft scratching noise as Biome uncoiled from their curled-up position. "Is somethingsomething wrong?"

"B-baby!" Riven burst out, flailing at the Fandangle, then turned back to Ghlyssa. "What should we DO?"

"I-I-I-I," Ghlyssa began. What was it they were supposed to do? It was a little hard to remember; she was getting a bit excited. "I think we need to get some place safe and clean. Like a hospital or something. That's what we're supposed to do." She twisted her fingers in her hair. "Safe. And clean. And comfortable. Some place that's not here!"

She groaned a little as another contraction went through her.

"Um. Okay," Riven managed, flustered. "Should I pick you up or something?" He wasn't sure what he'd DO with Ghlyssa once he managed to get her off the ground.

"We will gogo fetch them," Biome said, and leapt forward with such speed that their claws turned up furrows in the floor.

"Don't pick me up. Maybe just help me up." Ghlyssa struggled to get up, not quite making it. "We're sort of out of the way, here... where would the best place to go be, anyway? And who's Biome gone to get?" she wondered.

"I don't know. Um." Riven quickly tried to help Ghlyssa get up. "Does it hurt?" he asked, timidly.

Ghlyssa struggled to stand and clung to Riven. "Yes, a little," she admitted. "Sunny said it would, but..." She shuddered as she had another contraction. "It's different to know something's going to hurt and have it actually hurt. I'm okay," she added hastily.

"Um." Riven attempted to deal with all of this. "Well, er, let's go... that way. Yeah. There's people that way." He gestured vaguely at the front door and awkwardly helped Ghlyssa walk.

"Okay. That sounds like a good idea." Ghlyssa nodded. She leaned on Riven heavily, little vinelets growing around his arm, but managed to go forward, despite her fear and the pain of contractions.

Riven resisted the urge to phase out at the touch of the little vines - they bothered him, somehow. They weren't normal, but letting Ghlyssa fall over just because he was startled was a very bad idea. "Um. It's okay," he managed, though he felt things were very much NOT okay.

There was a sudden rattling noise, then, and Biome reappeared through the underbrush just as they made it through the front door. "Theythey come," the Fandangle said, just as faint calls of "Riven? Ghlyssa?" reached their ears.

"Is that... Is that Sosiqui?" Relief flooded through Ghlyssa. "Biome went... to get Sosiqui, and probably Sunny, too..." She took a deep breath. "Oh, I'm so glad. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do."

Sure enough, a minute later Sosiqui skidded to a stop, nearly slipping on the grass, and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. "What's going on?" she managed between gasping breaths.

"Glee thinks the baby's going to come," Riven said frantically, feeling that with his Guardian here, he could finally give in to the panic.

"WHAT?!" Sosiqui's eyes widened. "Already? It's only been like a month! No, wait, maybe that's normal... argh... only half of Biome showed up. Where'd the other half go, Sunny?"

"Yesyes."

"Well, where is she?!" Sosiqui stared at the darkening horizon. "She's HAD a baby!"

Riven realized that his Guardian was going to be little help on the calmness front.

"I guess she's not here yet," Ghlyssa whimpered.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Sunny came breaking through the brush like an angry bear. "What's going on?"

"Sunny!" Glee gestured frantically with her free hand. "I think I'm having... those contractions things we talked about, and they're bad, and that means that the baby's coming, right?"

Sunny blinked and stared for a moment. "... yes. Yes, yes, oh fire and ash, what..." She inhaled. "... why is everyone standing around? We have to get to hospital or something, don't we?"

"Hospital!" Sosiqui snapped her fingers. "Yes, hospital... what hospital? Where? I don't have a car..."

Riven watched his Guardian panic with vague, detatched amusement, then turned his attention back to Ghlyssa. "They're here, and it will be okay," he said, firmly.

"Gaia General, I assumed. Can we get there in time? Oh, I hope so. Glee, did this just start a bit ago?"

"Not too long ago," Ghlyssa answered.

"Then we probably have time. Aie." Sunny wrung her hands. "Transportation. That's what we need. Transportation. Walking's right out of the question. No car. Maybe we could call a cab... er. I don't have a phone."

"Phone!" Sosiqui snapped her fingers again, fumbled her S-Tone out of her pocket, and turned it on. "Here, you call them, I can't remember the number," she muttered, shoving the phone at Sunny.

Riven squeezed Ghlyssa's hand encouragingly. "See? It will be okay." Really.

Sunny made a face as she tried to remember, stared blankly at the unfamiliar phone layout, then dialed as quickly as she dared. "Hi! Okay, we're going to need a cab for four people, and one of them's in labour, so it'll have to be quick."

Ghlyssa took a long and shuddering inward breath. "It'll be okay," she repeated, managing to loosen her death grip on Riven's arm, at least a little.

"They're on their way," Sunny reported, handing the S-tone back to Sosi.

"Do you need to sit down again?" Riven said, urgently. "Or something? Can I do anything useful?" He felt better now that people who knew what they were doing were here - and now that there was somebody more panicky than he was.

Sosiqui took the phone back and started pacing back and forth. "Why aren't they here yet?!" she burst out after a minute. Riven sighed.

May 2nd, 2005
Riven: Visit to the Clinic