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Journal entry - 5th April 2005
So much for a relaxing trip to the springs.. Figured I'd go for a soak and take Osu with me - he hadn't seen the springs in the centre before, and it was the first time I was using them properly myself. So, got there, and Alyosha and Kiro were there already.
The guy that Nyxa had been talking about - the one with the metal arm - he showed up and introduced himself, and so did Syrenrei. Was pretty busy there - I hadn't expected many people there at all. Alyosha started messing about with the water, and I shocked him just to get my own back. All just a bit of harmless fun. Then Syrenrei came into the male section. She got all worked up about my being naked, so I ended up in a slight argument with her. I don't see what's wrong with wearing nothing, especially in a bath of all places. She's got a hell of a lot of weird ideas for someone with youkai blood anyway...

At least Osu seemed to enjoy himself. He likes splashing about in the water - it's just another way for him to make a mess. I see that Sy's looking after a little gryphon now too - a bright blue one. Looks like one of those big birds that you get in fancy human gardens... peacocks.. peafowl..? I didn't really get much of a chance to see how well the two Aerandir got on - was too busy arguing the point with Sy. Ah, well. We'll just need to see if she talks to me when I next see her. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't...

With the new lantern hung up next to the others, Ieyasu was preparing something to eat. He had lit the indoor lanterns, since it was now pitch black outside, and they were giving off a soft glow. Osu was cavorting around the living area, occassionally emitting little merping sounds.

With the big black pot suspended from the hook above the cooking pit, Ieyasu was starting the fire beneath. Soon, he had the flames crackling merrily. Dinner wouldn't take too long at this rate. He lifted the cover from the pot to check the contents

Hearing the crackles and the pops coming from behind the screen, Osu tilted his head, trilling curiously. Inquisitive as ever, he headed over to the rice paper screen, sticking his little head around the side to see what Ieyasu was doing. His guardian was kneeling on the floor next to that funny hole in the ground that always looked black and dusty. But now.. it wasn't black and dirty. There was orange and yellow and red flares coming from it. They danced, they twirled, and they looked really interesting! Taking a step forward, the little Aerandir ruffled his wings, craning his head at the cook fire curiously. He wanted to know what it was!

Noticing that Osu had decided to investigate, Ieyasu turned to the gryphon, grinning at him. "Careful there. Don't get too close - it's burning hot." He'd have to keep an eye on him if Osu was going to get under his feet.

Hmm.. there wasn't enough water in the pot. It would need some more before the food burned in the bottom. Pushing himself up, he turned to the low table. He'd brought some fresh water in earlier.. now where was it?

The second that Ieyasu had turned his back on the cookpot, Osu took his opportunity. Darting in towards the flaming pit, he tilted his head again, only watching it for the briefest moment before deciding to see what it felt like. It didn't look solid afterall, and he wanted to know what it was. His paw darted out for the flames.

When he heard the shriek from behind him, Ieyasu spun around, spilling half of the canteen of water on the floor in the process. Osu had leapt back from the flames and was standing next to the screen, one paw held up in the air with faint smoky tendrils rising from his fur. The smell of singed hair filled the little room.
Ah.. dammit! Should have known not to turn my back...stupid kitsune! Concerned, and berating himself for being careless, the kitsune quickly covered the few paces over to the little gryphon and crouched down next to him, trying to see exactly how badly he had hurt himself. It looked like he'd just stuck his paw into the flames, as that was the only part that seemed singed. With the water canteen still in his hand, and Osu still yelping, he up-ended the container over the gryphon's foreleg. He'd have to find more water to stop the burn from going deeper..
"Ah, Osu, I told you it was burning...it'll be alright. We'll just get some more water on that - it'll make it feel better."

How did that happen!? How did the pretty dancing colours make him hurt like that!? Osu wailed, his trumpets high pitched and rather loud. The water felt good for just a moment, but then the heat and the burning in his paw returned. He shrieked again as Ieyasu picked him up, despite his guardians attempts to reassure him. It hurt!

The nearest half decent source of cold water was the bamboo fountain outside. Nudging the door open, Ieyasu carried the gryphon out onto the porch, before carefully setting him down in the deer chaser. Luckily, he wasn't any bigger than he was, else this wouldn't have worked.
"Now, if you put your paw down in that, and keep it there, it'll feel better soon. Just hold it there as long as you can."

Gingerly, Osu set his injured leg down carefully into the running water. The water before had made him feel better for just a moment. And anything was better than the burning. He could feel the water sucking the heat out of it. In fact, it almost felt better already. Quietening down after a few moments, he looked up at Ieyasu, before moving to lift his paw back out again.

"No, no. Keep it there. The longer you stand there, the better." Ieyasu glanced back indoors briefly. He could see the kitchen from here, and was just making sure that the fire was alright. Last thing he wanted was for the house to burn down too. He'd have to start over with dinner too, once he'd made sure that Osu was ok.

Chirruping dejectedly again, the little gryphon set his foot back. Tonight, he had learned a valuable lesson: fire burns.

Ieyasu headed back indoors, the little bottle in his hand.

Osu looked up from the messy remains of the fish, a little piece of the white flesh stuck to his beak. He chirruped cheerfully at Ieyasu, before tilting his head curiously at the bottle. What was that? Leaving the rest of the fish scattered in little pieces over the kitchen floor, he came closer to investigate.

"It's a present from Foenix and Nehanda. It'll help to make your burn better." Ieyasu headed into the kitchen area to prepare some clean bandages. Setting the bottle down on the low table, he rooted around until he had found some fresh cloth. Then, collecting the greenish looking salve again, he returned through to the living area. Coming over next to Osu, he sat down on the ground. "Will we see about changing your bandage then?" He scooped the little gryphon up. If the previous times were anything to go by, the Aerandir would wriggle, disliking being held in the one place for too long.

Osu trumpted again as he was lifting, shifting himself about in Ieyasu's lap, before reaching up to nudge his guardian in the chest. Then, he turned his attention towards the bottle, craning his long neck out towards it. He wondered what was inside it. Ieyasu had said something about Nehanda and Foenix...

Setting the gryphon back around again, he began to unwrap the bandage. Osu twitched a little, wanting to inspect the bottle more closely, but not able to move with Ieyasu holding him still. He protested a little, calling audibly. "It's just for a minute - surely you can sit still for that long." Grinning faintly, Ieyasu shook his head. No patience.
Discarding the old bandage to one side, he checked the burn. It looked a little better, but judging by the fact that Osu still wasn't up to full speed, it was still hurting him a little.
He picked up the little bottle, examining it before opening the stopper. Osu took a great interest in it too, nudging at the glass with his beak. "Hold still there.. this needs to go on your paw." The gryphon held (just about) still long enough for him to apply most of the salve.

Osu wondered what Ieyasu was doing. What was the green stuff? He had said it would help, but what exactly was it. It smelled different to anything he'd ever encountered before. And it looked like he was done too. Chirruping again, Osu pulled his paw free, setting it down on Ieyasu's shorts. He had only said to stay still long enough for him to put on that funny green stuff anyway. He didn't say anything about afterwards. After leaving a big green pawprint on his guardian's shorts, he moved to jump down onto the floor. And was promptly caught again. Aww! Ieyasu caught on!

"Hey, hey. I'm not finished yet. Got to put on a new bandage first." Ieyasu vaguely wondered if the green stuff would wash out as he picked up the new bandage, holding the gryphon still with his other hand. Osu merped at him, as if telling him to hurry up. Yeah, yeah, I know. "I'd be done quicker if you didn't jump about, you know." Osu tilted his head at him as if in reply, chirruping again. But at least he managed to put on the bandage. Finishing up, he let go of the Aerandir, heading into the kitchen area to wash up.
"There. Now you can jump about if you so wish. Now, do you want to help me look for some ribbon for Foenix and Nehanda?"

Osu chirruped again in reply, prancing (albeit somewhat clumsily) around his guardians legs. Sure! He could do that!

Journal entry - 1st May 2005
It's been a quiet few days. We found some bits and pieces of ribbon for Nehanda and Foenix, and went to drop them off. They seemed happy with them, so that was good.

Osu has taken a liking to a red ribbon that was with the other two blue ones. He's been parading around with it, getting it tangled up with the furniture and dragging it through the dirt outside. It's getting pretty tatty and horrible now, but he still seems to like it. I'll maybe take a trip to the mainland and see if I can find something else for him to play with. Then I can get that filthy bit of ribbon off of him. I'll need to find someone to look after him while I'm away. Perhaps Nyxa? I'll go and ask her after I finish this. Failing that, I'll need to find someone else.

Speaking of Osu, thanks to the salve that Foenix and Nehanda gave us, his burn is now much better - it looks like it's just about gone completely. He's been charging around like normal, so I'm guessing that he's healed. His fur is starting to grow back on his paw now, after he managed to singe it off - it's still not as long as the rest of the fur on his leg though, so it looks like someone has taken a pair of shears to his foot. Ah well. That won't take long to grow back.

Journal entry - 10th May 2005
Well, what can I say? I've had an unexpected few days. Let's just say that I've gotten to know Nyxa a lot better, and I'll leave it at that. She agreed to look after Osu while I went to the mainland. He seems to have enjoyed himself there - well, he did have a constant playmate afterall. While at the mainland, I found him a plushie toy to play with. He doesn't seem interested in the ribbon anymore anyway. I'm not surprised really. Another gryphon has got to be more fun than a tatty bit of fabric.

Anyway, he seems to have taken a liking to the toy. He's been dragging it around the floor and jumping all over it. It's nearly the same size as him - it's rather amusing to watch. At least it will help to keep him occupied.

It was pleasant outside. Not that that was overly surprisingly. Ieyasu had gone outside, with one intention: to laze about. He had settled himself on the wooden porch, a short distance away from the front door. He really didn't want to relax right next to the door, as the deer chaser was there. It was fine when you were a little way from it - the sound wasn't jarring enough to disturb you - but it wasn't the best idea lazing right next to it.

With his arms behind his head, Ieyasu lay in the shade, vaguely watching Osu throw around the plushie for a bit. The Aerandir was good at keeping himself amused sometimes, at least. Even in the shade, the air was warm though, and Ieyasu soon found himself drifting off.

Osu was tiring himself out in the sun. It was too warm to run about for long without finding something to drink - he was getting really thirsty! Leaving the plushie unceremoniously dumped onto its head, he trotted up to the porch where the little moving fountain was. It was easy enough just to drink the water from where he was, but that wasn't interesting enough. Placing his front paws up onto the side of the bowl, he crouched his hind legs before bouncing up into the little fountain. Clambering about, he splashed water everywhere before finally taking a drink. Ah, that was better! Sitting down in the fountain, he watched the little bamboo tube clunk down repeatedly, poking at it after a few moments with his long beak. Ah, it never changed. Always doing the same thing, day in, day out. Did it ever get tired?

Boring of the fountain, Osu hopped back out again, splashing water over the decking again. Hmm... what to do now. He glanced over at the plushie, before turning to look at Ieyasu. Hey... was he sleeping!? He wasn't moving much, anyway. Hmm...

Crouching low, Osu began to creep over to Ieyasu, his tail flicking in anticipation. This would be funny, if Ieyasu really was asleep! The little gryphon left a trail of damp wood behind him. Eventually surmising that his guardian was in fact sleeping, he leapt into the air, flapping his wings hard to give him more lift and distance. And landed right on Ieyasu's stomach with a triumphant crow. Got him!

A flash of red streaked over Ieyasu's vision as something wet, fast moving and rather heavy thunked down onto him. Sitting bolt upright with a startled shout, he took a moment to actually realise what had happened. Osu sat on his lap, dripping wet and trumpeting rather noisily. He had gotten one over on Ieyasu - that was funny! Ieyasu groaned softly, shaking his head. "Yeah, very funny. Thanks for that.." -_- Ok, so Osu had gotten bored with the plushie it seemed."Fine, ok. Let's go for a walk then, if you're that bored." Although... he should probably go change first. He now looked like he'd had an accident, thanks to Osu's impeccable aiming.

Rather pleased with himself, Osu hopped down from Ieyasu, before parading over the deck. He was still leaving little drips behind him. Now he'd have somebody to play with who was actually a) a living creature and b) awake. As Ieyasu went into the house, the gryphon bounced after him, wondering what they'd be doing now.

Alyosha wandered up to the door of Ieyasu's home. He couldn't sense anyone in but had prepared for that circumstance.

He pulled a pen and a small piece of paper from his pocket scribbling down a note.




The note was then rolled up and a small elastic band attatched it to the neck of a bottle of vodka.



Alyosha wandered back off towards the centre, going to make some preparations.

Journal entry - 7th June 2005
Ended up on the beach the other evening, talking to Alyosha. It's been a while since I spoke to him properly. He asked me the reasons behind my coming here, my being a nogitsune and all. I suppose it's a little odd. But it was something I just wanted to do. I can't really find a good way of explaining it...

Anyway, lately I've noticed that Osusuki seems to be developing more and more of a fascination with fire. Whenever I cook something, he's in the kitchen area watching the fire. It's like it holds some sort of magnetism for him. It happened on the beach too with the bonfire. He sat next to it for a good portion of the time that Alyosha and I were talking. He doesn't get too close to the fire though - I guess he remembers what happens if you touch it.

Alyosha suggested that when he's a little older I take him to Acia, another spellweaver. Apparently, she's an earth elementalist, but she could still perhaps help him. Aerandir don't use elements in the same way that kitsune do, so I won't be of any help whatsoever. It's probably just as well - I'd make a lousy teacher to be honest.

I'll just have to keep an eye on him. I get the feeling that things may start to be a little ...hectic.. in the near future.

( Cetalu RP here )