|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:40 pm
 Althalus nimbly grabbed the edge of the sofa and pulled himself upright, the movement coming more easily now. He stood there, balancing on his tiptoes, looking beseechingly at the snoozing figure on the couch.
Daniel was not actually snoozing; the man was only slowly growing used to these unfamiliar surroundings, and even though he knew himself to be safe, the 'shifter's instinct was never to completely let your guard down. Instead he closed his eyes until only a slit was open; unfortunately this meant he was looking under his glasses, and so everything was a little out of focus.
This did not stop him however from seeing the curious face rise above the edge of his reesting place.
"Greetings, Althalus," he said, opening his eyes fully. He was secretly rather fond of the little boy, but tried not to show it too much in front of his mother. A faint frown crossed his face at the thought of the redhead; she was utterly confusing. Ever since the night he had bitten her in that accident, he had come to have a curious kind of feeling towards her. It could surely not be love; he was too old and cynical to believe such a thing existed. For now it was enough that he was intrigued by her, fascinated by her brightness and quiet beauty. He would see what became of this bizarre affection.
But for now, let him concentrate on the little one.
Althalus blinked as the sleeping man appeared to suddenly wake up; Stealth tightened her tail's grip around his neck, but did not fade into camoflage. He smiled cautiously, dark eyes large.
"'Lo Dan'l," he titled his head. "Up!"
He meant of course 'pick me up', and thus the shapeshifter grinned and tried to move to do as the child requested; however he had to stop, wincing in pain as he moved his shoulder the wrong way. He'd have to move right onto his side to do that. But luckily he was saved the pain.
"Althalus?" Kel-chan peered around the corner before coming to stand in the doorway properly, smiling indulgently at her son, who had turned round to face her, a guilty look on his face.
"I told you not to bother Daniel. C'mhere." She crouched down and stertched out her arms, expecting the little boy to drop to his knees and crawl towards her. He looked uncertain, one arm still keeping him standing upright against the sofa; and then he giggled and took a few steps towards her, arms outstretched.
Kel-chan had to snap out of her brief surprise and shock enough to reach out for Althalus' hands, breaking into an enormous grin.
"Althalus! You know what you just did?" As he reached the safety of her embrace she swept him up exuberantly, hugging him tightly. "You were walking! My clever little bundle of trouble..."
From his vantage point on the sofa, Daniel grinned tolerantly as he watched them, eyes never leaving Kelinor's face as she happily held her baby son against her. This was one of the reasons he had toiled so long and now endured this wound; her smile was worth walking the world for. But he couldn't let her know that, not yet. Brief words spoken in passion were not the same as the slow realisation of what he had.
Stealth on Althalus' shoulder was watching the man shrewdly, her bright black eyes fixed on his reflective face. So, the man-who-was-like-mother liked her. And them! This could defintely work to their advantage. She snuggled her face into the back of her Forgotten's neck, mind working feverishly all the while.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 12:40 am
 The coin spun hypnotically, making a tinny little sound as it began to overbalance, eventually toppling and rolling drunkenly over the polished floor until a small hand stopped it. Unconcerned, the hand was joined by another which carefully balanced the golden circle on its edge once more, flicking it lightly to begin all over. Reflections of spinning light danced across the toddler's face, dark eyes fixed upon his prize, enchanted by the sound the money made when it fell.
Althalus had gained a new trophy. Who needed one of Mael's coins (he still did not realise they were from the latter's brother) when you could just as easily get your own? Stealth agreed silently, sitting on the other side of the spinning metal, her small bright eyes fixed upon it. For a while, the pair basked in their success of obtaining the precious item, until the spell was broken as the coin fell, rolling away just out of reach; through the doorway into the lounge and blithely coming to a rest underneath the sofa. Althalus' face started to crumple up; he scrambled to his feet and ran to throw himself against the sofa, dropping down with his arm flailing underneath the furniture. He froze momentarily when he heard a voice, then whipped his head around to stare with disconcerted eyes at the watcher. Stealth faded to match the tatty beige carpet and crept under the sofa.
"That was quite a turn of speed," Daniel said with amusement, sitting forward and fixing the toddler with a blue gaze. The little one looked a little non-plussed; he'd expected trouble for the coin.
"Althalus fast," he replied, turning fully round and pressing his back against the sofa, the picture of innocence. Behind him Stealth strained to push the heavy metal disk towards the edge of arm's reach.
"Indeed. Did you lose your shiny under the sofa?" The man's voice had a note of helpful concern, and Althalus swallowed.
"Shiny gone..." Stealth glared at the coin in the darkness and dust under the couch and started to push it the other way.
"Poor kid. Come on, why don't we go find another one?" Daniel got to his feet, favouring his injured arm. But at least he could get around more easily now... he should be thinking about moving home. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he bent over and held his hand out for Althalus'. The small daemon scooted out from underneath, dusty bronze skin leaving a trail on the small boy's trousers before she reached the safety of his shoulder. Althalus shrugged inwardly. The coin was still there, it would wait. And now Danl was finding them another one! He rather liked the tall man; he knew that he was like Mother, and changed into something else, but maybe all grownups could do that. It's a shame they didn't change into cats... But Mother had seemed different since Danl had arrived. He quickly pushed the thought of badman out of his head, shuddering a little; but since then he'd been pampered by everyone, and Mother had been imperceptably more happy, and he'd had a new playmate.
And he'd managed to take that coin from the table! These days couldn't get any better, he mused to himself, reaching up absently to stroke Stealth's head with one finger. She rubbed against it contentedly, both sharing a happy glow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 4:26 pm
 Kel-chan closed the door quietly behind her, letting herself into her house with the utmost silence. After all, the children were asleep... The light was still on in the kitchen. She hung her long coat haphazardly over the banister and went and leant against the doorway.
"You should be asleep," she chided lightly. "I told you not to wait up for me."
Daniel looked up from his book and smiled warmly. His forearms had been resting lightly on the table, cupping his hcin in his hands as he studied the text, glasses sliding down his nose. A steaming cup sat beside him, and even from the distance Kel-chan could smell the coffee. He picked up the mug and smiled.
"May I interest you in a similar beverage?" The 'shifter asked, scratching absently at the almost healed wound on his shoulder. Kel slipped gratefully into the seat opposite him. "Please."
As he silently pushed the coffee over towards her, not getting up, the woman sighed, rolling her neck slightly to ease the aches of stufying and closing her eyes. She opened them to meet a frank iceblue gaze, and blinked.
"What..."
"Kelinor. I stayed up... because I had to talk to you."
Kel ran a hand backwards nervously through her red hair. "Is it the children? Have they been annoying you? Have.."
"It's nothing to do with your charming wards." The man leant forward, his eyes intense. "We still haven't discussed... that night."
Kel-chan flushed slightly and got up again, going over to stand by the window. She kenw exactly what he meant. When she had lost all hope of finding Althalus that time, and run to him for comfort and help. Deep down she knew she could not shake that faith in him; she lay awake every night, conscious that only next door he was sleeping, and it drove her crazy. In a way she wanted to fling herself as far away as possible from this strange, compelling manwolf; he was the one who had caused her new state, however adjusted she had become to it. Since that night, when she had broken down in his arms... they both had avoided the subject, sidestepping it warily. Yet he was still here, in her house, some bond not wanting to let them apart.
She had wondered when he was going to bring up the subject; she'd thought about it herself many times, but never having the courage to. To her own view, that night had been a moment of weakness; she had reached out to the nearest comfort she had. It could have been Xander, not Daniel, she lied to herself. It could have been anyone.
But it had been him.
"I know. I..." She seemed to lose her words, staring blindly out the window. It had to be discussed; why was she failing so miserably?
The shapeshifter closed his eyes briefly before sliding back his chair also.
"Kelinor... I need to know why it was that you came to me." He pushed his glasses up his nose and approached her hesitantly. "Why no-one else."
"Because... you're the only 'shifter I know?" She turned round, grabbing for an excuse.
"Liar," he said softly. "You know Pine, and David, and Kasuri. I can smell your fear. Why are you afraid... of me?"
"I'm not." Her eyes flared, angry for a second. "We run in the hunt. We are close, we are packmates. You know!"
He stepped a little closer, searching her adamant face for anything, for some clue. No! Was he wrong in his guesses, in his wishful thinking? Was it really true she had turned to her packmate, her friend? But that kiss.. it tormented his dreams, lying in her house, listening to her regular breathing in the next room. If everything he had read was wrong... he had to leave. But he couldn't leave. He cursed himself for a fool, moving imperceptably nearer, his head bent towards hers.
"I meant what I said that night," he said quietly, intensely. "I will always be there for you. I don't lie, Kelinor. I've tried to fight it, but I cannot. I am bound to you. Don't you understand what you've done to me?"
The redhead could not stop herself from trembling slightly, her face impossibly close to his now.
"I... came to you.. because I need you." She parted her lips slightly, catching her breath, eyes searching his fierce, yearning expression. "Dafriel..."
At the use of his real name the 'shifter lowered his head for a second.
"Accept me for who I truly am," he whispered, almost scared in his tone but impossible hope also. "Like none of the others ever have. Kelinor..."
She stopped his tone by touching his cheek gently, sliding her hand down to his waist and pulling him closer. The kiss was soft, almost feather light, setting them to trembling and reaching in further, letting the need and want and love flow between them...
"Kel! Kel, I can't get Althalus back to - oh."
Alexandra stood in the doorway, purple eyes suddenly defensive, clutching the toddler in her arms. Her guardian, or rather her ward, dropped her hands like she was touching something burning and looked sideways, Daniel stepping quietly backwards. WHAT? The handsome stranger, hitting on HER charge? (and not herself, the kitsune added crossly). Kel-chan looked down to the floor.
"Alex, honey. You should be asleep."
"Well, I'm not, and neither's Althalus." The Guardian swept past Daniel haughtily, emerald wings folded neatly back, and deposited the wriggling Althalus into his mother's arms. She tilted her head to the side. "I'll leave you two then..."
She made a grand exit, stomping huffily up the stairs. Daniel came back, grinning slightly.
"What's with her?" He said softly. Kel-chan laughed.
"Truth be told, Daniel, I rather think she had a crush on you... teenagers and all that.."
"Good grief."
Althalus tugged crossly on a strand of hair, Stealth circling the top of his head. Why wasn't Mother paying attention to him? He was tired! Making a loud squeal of complaint finally drew her attention, and she started fussing over him. He closed his eyes slightly and basked in the attention. This was more like it. Spend more time looking after us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:18 am
 Late afternoon sunshine lanced across the garden, dust drifting through the sunbeams on the windless day. Every part was touched with drowsy gold, gilding the edges of leaves and marking the green of the grass with warmth and sleep. A drone of a bee amongst the gently dancing late blossoms on Ralph's apple tree was the only thing that broke the silence, apart from the calm breathing of several pets that lazed around the summer garden, watching by Ralph with a snoozing Auriga & Callisto on his lap.
And one wide-awake mind that observed everything with dark elated eyes.
Althalus was hot. He'd had his shirt taken off, and was running around the garden in his tatty old brown trousers, the ones modelled on those he was wearing the day he was found in the dark musty depths of the Library. The little boy had also removed, with a little difficulty, his shoes and socks; he liked the feel of the grass under his feet. Stealth was sunning herself in a fold of his bandana, the little daemon bright bronze as she relaxed. But her Forgotten was far from drowsy. Ralph was supposed to be watching them; Althalus was almost certain that the tall Raimin was asleep on the back doorstep, cuddling his star-sister Auriga. This was so boring! Nobody would play with him; Sammie and Ryshad and Daniel (the Rishlan) were all asleep, lounging on the slightly crispy grass, taking advantage of the weather whilst Kel-chan was in Barton shopping. No-one was awake to amuse him, and he couldn't get back in the house.
So the little thief-Forgotten prowled the edges of the garden, searching for some amusement. He reached up to the tyre swing in the other tree, small chubby fingers ineffectually scratching at the top of it. There was no way he could play on that by himself, he needed a taller person... his disgruntled thoughts disturbed Stealth, and she grumbled good-naturedly to him as she tilted her head, stretching and a little annoyed that now they were in the dappled tree-shade, out of the burning sun she adored. Pattering down the side of his head and using his ear as a handy foothold, she took up her accustomed place on his shoulder.
What's wrong?
Bored.
Look around...
What I'm doing!
Oh...
What was that?
Both heads swiveled round to fix unblinking dark gazes on the corner of the garden shed. The toddler narrowed his eyes - there was a pet behind the side of it, he could hear! Suddenly he brightened up; finally someone to play with! A smile spread across his still chubby features and he ran as well as he could to grab onto the wooden slats of the corner, peeking around into the little thin space between their shed and the next-door's fence.
But there was nothing but an ebony streak that dashed to the top of the shed and disappeared.
Althalus and Stealth were intrigued. What on earth was that? It surely wasn't one of Kel-chan's pets; or even 'Riga's little pet Rishlan, because that was over there with her, sleeping. Unfortunately there was no way he could see up onto the roof of the shed, and as he listened the creature went quiet, as if it had found its place in the sun and was now sleeping once more.
A brief flicker of annoyance that some strange pet was here was overidden by the raging curiousity of the toddler. He stood there thinking fast; resting his hand on the woodwork he allowed Stealth to scamper onto the vertical wall, clinging there motionlessly for a few seconds, a smug grin as she realised she was in the sun once more.
Stealth! Go look!
Sunny here. Hot. Nice.
What? Althalus must know what is the creature!
Stealth is going...
..after a bit more sun...
Althalus scowled at his daemon, who eventually winked and then continued her steady ascent of the wall, running up the surface as if it was perfectly flat. As she approached the roof the toddler and his daemon experienced a brief pang of separation; it began to cut in after more than a few feet of distance between them. The daemon could not stay up there long, but she continued doggedly.
And as she crested the flat roof of the shed, she came face to face with a kitten's curious gaze.
Stealth immediately froze, her skin shading to grey-brown as she blended with the woodwork. This didn't seem to affect the kitten, she came a bit closer, emerald eyes fixed on the small lizard. She was ebony black with dashes of bright gold fur that shimmered slightly in the sunshine. Gold stripes on her legs and tail, gold tips to her ears and golden rims to her bright eyes.
"Mau," she wailed quite clearly, right in the face of the daemon.
Who suddenly broke for it, scarpering back down the wall towards the safety of her Forgotten soul-mate. The kitten blinked and then her eyes lit up. What fun! Something to chase! She darted forward, misjudging the distance and wobbling precariously on the edge of the roof.
"Mau!"
Althalus barely noticed as Stealth ran back down his arm and curled tightly around his neck, his eyes fixed on the creature above.
"What that?" He said out loud, in surprise. He soon found out, as the kitten lost her balance and fell over the edge. The toddler instintively held his arms out to catch it; for a second he deabted the worth of actually stepping aside and saving himself damage, but the thought was cut short by a relatively heavy kitten landing across his right arm and sliding off.
"MAU!"
She'd cut his arm! Althalus' face began to crumple up, about to bemoan his fate to the world, but the dazed kitten slumped against his foot, and he was distracted. Her black fur was so soft.. Stealth ran down his arm, secure in the knowledge she could come to no harm whilst the boy was here, and took a closer look at their discovery.
Kitten-pet.
I like cats...
Okay s'pose.
Pretty cat.
D'you think it's hurt?
Should take it to Ralph.
Ralph will know.
Now we have someone to play with!
Althalus didn't hesitate. As he bodily picked up the little creature, he barely noticed the rub of her fur against the minute scrape on his arm. After all, he'd found something interesting, of his very own!
"Mau," yowled the kitten sleepily in his arms.>>>>>>>>>>>><>>>>>>>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:17 am
 Kel-chan pulled the battered Mini to a halt at the back of the building. She'd nearly parked where she always did, but winced and kept driving slowly on as she saw the crowd of suits leaving the front huffily. What was going on? Were they this close to demolition already? Panic gripped her as she reached over to unbuckle Althalus, tucking the wriggling toddler under one arm as she exited the car. Sneaking past and pressing herself as close to the back of the building as she could, breathingsounding harsh in her throat. Althalus, sensing the stealth required (his own latched firmly on his shoulder), needed no prompting to remain quiet. Moving onwards, the redhead tugged at a stiff back door and entered the dilapidated house. If the council were already here... She'd done a little research, but she'd be the first to admit that she was terrible at legislation. Best to offer her support to those already inside.
"Pippin? You home?" She called anxiously, finally letting Althalus down so that he could run ahead, dark eyes bright. He was near the Library, near the book again. So much excitement! The little boy did not comprehend the imminent danger, and so continued smiling.
Having snuck in the back door, it took a while for Kel-chan to actually find anyone else; and added to that, she'd been fishing Althalus out of long-unused and dusty corridors along the way. She'd grasped him firmly by the back of his jumper before hauling him up and looking around; the house was a little, um, decrepid, but surely with a bit of shoring up and a lick of paint anything could be achieved? She put this on her list of things to do - being no law whizz she could at least make the mansion itself a little safer and nicer to show to the authorities.
She'd had to let the toddler down again, and he'd been the one to finally find the other people, following the voices; no Pippin still though. But a lot of people. She recognised Tia, and edged towards her, Althalus unusually clinging silently to her leg.
"Hey Tia, Iqbal," she said, slightly nervously. "Did you see those suits leaving the place? This must be serious..."
Stealth on Althalus' shoulder burrowed slightly into the material at his throat, only her head now visible from under the jumper. The toddler sucked at a finger thoughtfully; he couldn't decide whether he loved crowds, or hated them. But hating crowds meant no free stuff, and no chance to look around... and besides, he could go and charm people! Carefully detaching himself from Kel-chan's leg, he glanced up briefly at Iqbal. Hey! Wolfboy! He grinned in greeting, dark eyes dancing, before wandering off towards the unknown visitors.
Kel-chan plaited her fingers, attempting to think as she turned back to Tia. "Wren got them to leave? Where is Wren? And Pippin, come to that?" A slightly hyper tone was in her voice, confused as she was to the whole situation. "Shouldn't we be looking for them?"
No-one wanted to play. Althalus scowled, and slipped out of the room full of boring boring people. How dare they take no notice of him! He petted Stealth absently as she trickled down his leg and onto the floor in front of him, winding forward and leaving little pawprints in the dusty layer on the floor. She seemed to know where she wanted to go... the Forgotten fired a quick question at his daemon, and then a grin spread over his still chubby features. They could go back there. It had been a while since mother had let them go back... and a strange thrill was in the air, an almost tangible buzz that made the Forgotten shiver slightly. Everything was visible bustle and noise in the lounge, but out here, in the empty corridors, Althalus felt more crowded and hustled by the air around him. What was going on? Eyes alight, he followed his scuttling daemon unerringly through twisting corridors and to a door at the top of some stairs, left slightly ajar. Stealth glanced back up at her soul-mate - before disappearing into the darkness beyond. The little boy had no choice but to follow.
"Iqbal's looking well," Kel-chan said distractedly, trying to fill the nervous pauses with some conversation. "Has he more... teeth than before?" She squinted at the solemn Forgotten before glancing up. "Althalus is... Althalus? Where are you, trouble?" She called out slightly louder. Where had he got to now? And in such a critical time... The redhead sighed in frustration before turning to her friend. "Tia, did you see where my little boy went?"
"This is just typical," Kel-chan almost wailed. "He's always wandering off, especially when we're faced with other, more important things to do" She turned to Tia. "You just wait until Iqbal can walk. Trust me, it'll be difficult." She favoured the little wolfboy with a brief whimsical grin. "Of course, he could be a complete angel. Forgive me for jumping to conclusions." She paced around in a little circle and then flung her arms out to the sides.
"It's no good. Excuse me Tia, I have to go look for him..."
Althalus crept down the steps, taking each one one at a time, Stealth returning to her place on his shoulder. He could hear voices... and see the glass-panelled door to the Library. The excitement in the air was almost unbearable; the book was so close. Creeping up to the door itself, he pressed his ear against it. Defintely people in there somewhere. Perhaps he could avoid them on his way to see the book... He jumped up, his short stature only just allowing him to reach the doorhandle. He had to drop all his weight on it to pull it down and towards him, and almost fell backwards as the door opened with an ominous creak, and he fled as quick as a shadow just inside it.
And froze, becoming instantly as unoticable as he could.
The people must not see us!
Kel-chan kept hearing echoes of her voice. Was this house really haunted...? She gulped, and then told herself not to be so stupid. And to quit running around like a headless chicken just because Althalus was awol again. And anyway, wasn't that Tia's voice?
She backtracked a little, peering a little sheepishly around corners. Haunted indeed. Don't be stupid. It just needed a lick of paint, a few carpets... the place wouldn't seem odd at all.
Except for the Library, of course.
Hey! Wouldn't he have gone down there?
She took a few more turns, trying to remember which way was which. Ah... she spotted Tia finally, and came hurrying over.
"Did you see Althalus?"
Althalus was in fact scowling blackly at a door. He'd seen the book! And then been seen himself. This sucked! That tall lady (Scary lady, added Stealth) had pushed him out again. And at this rate there was no way his little weight could move anything. Who could? Another adult maybe...
"MAAA........." he started yelling, his voice climbing up into an agonised wail, squeezing a few tears out of small eyes. If mother didn't succumb to this show of pathos, then his name wasn't Althus.
Althalus.
I know how to say own name!
Stealth knows own name.
....
*silence*
Althalus finally stopped crying and yelling. His mother couldn't find him... and he couldn't get back into the Library. He sat frozen for a minute or two, keening slightly under his breath, one hand clutching his daemon against his shoulder. He could never do anything right... how did he manage to get himself into scrapes like this? We came down. Get back up? Find mother. Find someone. Anyone? Swallowing a little, tears marking his face, the toddler started his arduous scramble back up the stairs that had been so easy to bump from one step to the other on the way down. Stealth repositioned to sit on top of his bandana, as he needed both hands for this task. Eventually Althalus reached the top, and a small smile of achievement broke through his miserable state. Wandering the halls now, a folorn figure, the toddler jammed one hand in his pocket. It was full of oddments that he had picked up here and there; a small silver ball from some cake decorating, a little curled blue feather he'd worked off someone's jacket a few days ago, an earring he'd found under the sofa... lots of shinies, but he wasn't quite sure what to do with them now... shrugging, his miserableness slowly lifting, the little boy realised he could hear something. Trailing one hand along dusty walls, he turned left and right and right again, and down a slope, and then under the slope... and an open door. Other people! He could feel the Library was close again, but not so much as before.. and others like him. Peering carefully around the doorframe, using it to hold himself up, Althalus saw the other four Forgotten calmly playing in the small cramped room. He was about to jump in, before realising when he normally did that the others became annoyed somehow. The wolfboy was there, from upstairs, and Mell that he'd met in the Library once. The others... he could barely remember the grey boy, and the lucky girl with all those paints... he vaguely recalled something, and held out his palm in front of him, looking down as he extended all the fingers and turned it slightly. Then snapped up his head again, dark eyes looking enviously at the playtime going on just a few feet away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:43 am
 Althalus lay on his stomach, busy with his new masterpiece. He was incongrously dressed in his normal trousers and a large blue apron; bright primary colours decorated the sleeves and front, and a conspicous green patch on the side of his beloved bandana. The paintbrush swished busily on the paper, creating circles and squiggles and zigzags following the whim of the artist.
Kel-chan had decided to set up the paints this evening. After laying newspaper across the table, she'd got Auriga to sit up at it, but Althalus was having none of that. He would do his painting on the floor, and nowhere else.
Auriga, being that much older, had created many pictures of 'Mummy', and 'Ralph', and 'Alex', recognisable pictures with large smiling faces and stick figures. Alexandra even now was encouraging her to draw a picture of her Rishlan kit, who was sitting suspicously on top of the fridge. There was no way she was getting all colourful.
Kel had had no luck getting Althalus to paint anything except vigorous patterns. She sighed as she got up from the table, abandoning her coffee and coming to kneel beside her Forgotten son.
"Hey trouble," she greeted him softly. "What are you painting?"
Althalus looked up, his mouth open slightly and his brown eyes frank. Stealth ran up from her curled up position on his back and perched atop his head, tilting her own to fix the redhead with the same interested gaze.
"Book," he said firmly.
Kel-chan glanced down at the multicoloured paper. There was not even a square shape there to indicate such things. But there was a familiar looking shape in the corner; a long thin wavy line in red, with a blob at one end and four little strokes coming off it.
"How about that? Is that Stealth?"
Althalus looked pleased, gesturing with a paintbrush coated in blue which incidently happened to flick all over the paper and Kel-chan's face.
"Yeah! Stel'. She watch books."
"Does she?"
"Of course," said the toddler almost scornfully, an almost perfect imitation of his bossy elder sister Alex. The woman grimaced slightly; he'd obviously heard that expression too many times.
"That's a very good picture," she continued, hoping to jump back on to the boy's good side. "Can I pin it up?"
"When it's finish," replied Althalus, lowering his gaze to the paper once more and thoughtfully exchanging the blue brush for the red. As Kel watched the little Forgotten, with careful, deliberate strokes, painted four straight horizontal lines across the page, finishing with a flourish.
And then calmly tipped the red pot all over the paper, paint rolling across it like a red flood.
"Finished!" He squealed happily, before jumping up, enfolding his mother in a paint-smeared hug and then running out of the kitchen as fast as his unsteady legs could take him.
Kel-chan was too bemused even to pick up the paintpot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:41 am
 "Good night, Althalus," said Mother softly, and closed the door to his room, leaving only a sliver of light from the hall lancing across the floor.
The toddler yawned slightly, his eyes heavy. He lay on his side in the cot, face aligned so he could see most of the room through the bars. One small fist was up by his mouth, and Stealth lay sleepily upon it, forelegs loosely entwined about his wrist. But the little boy for some reason could not sleep. Something was scratching at the back of his mind, something that made this scene oddly familiar....
A blink, and the Forgotten turned his head to stare at the lantern on his bedside table. It was barely visible in the faint light, gleams of gold picking out the metallic edges and gilding the old white candle inside with light. The lantern itself, the one he had appeared with in the Library at his 'birth', had rarely been lit since. It wasn't as though he had chance to use it very often; but Althalus always checked it was there, every night.
A small sigh from the basket in the corner escaped a sleeping kitten as the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. The light in the hall had gone out, and disturbed little Mau, the Forgotten's playmate at home. But it did not bother he himself; instead, his eyes just enlargened a little bit, pupils wide and black as he attempted to use every little bit of light in the room to see. The dark was not scary to Althalus. He felt strangely comforted by it, as though it were protecting him from those who would seek him. And if he needed it, the lantern could always provide that sliver of light.
Where had that come from? Stealth lifted her head up to look in puzzlement at her soulmate, both confused as to the image that had appeared in their minds as a memory. Their lantern, providing that slice of light into a room like the hall door. But they had never seen the lantern do that before... had they? The toddler blew absently at his fringe, suddenly no longer caring if the memory was real or not. The darkness was here to enfold him and keep him safe, and now he could sleep. Closing his dark eyes, he and his lizard-daemon drifted into uneasy sleep.
Dreams.
He was running, much better than he normally could. Down passageways that should offer all sorts of welcome nooks or hideyholes or shadowy corners, but could not as the fierce white light made everything stark and fully lit. The little boy caught his breath in his throat, whimpering slightly and reaching up to pet Stealth at his shoulder and neck as he ran.
His pursuers were gaining. Cruel blazing creatures of white and pale blue forced the shadows to run ahead of them, illuminating everywhere and leaving no places to hide. They would find him! He and Stealth had done nothing wrong, and yet he could not escape.
A dead end! He cowered against the wall, kicking his little feet into the floor to press himself back and covering his eyes with his arm. He felt them coming closer and closer... the white obscured everything, searing his vision and entering his head. A harsh hand reached down towards him, to pull his arm away, but instead he felt its cold hand encase the small lizard on his shoulder.
He screamed as Stealth was carried away from him, their agony at separation crackling along that intangible bond that kept them together. A piece of his soul was being riven by the light, and he screamed and screamed until he was lost to blessed, blessed blackness...
Cool blackness.
The comfort of the darkened room.
The toddler lay awake, eyes frozen open and his fist rucked round a huge handful of the sheet. Stealth shivered at his throat, winding herself as close as possible to her soulmate.
It not real.
I/we are still here. Home. Bed.
Never apart?
Never.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:21 am
 "And so this is Laurel, your new little sister," said Kel-chan gaily, setting down the green-haired babe beside a mystified Althalus. "Why don't you go say hello?" She got up from her crouching position and went to sit on the sofa, half an eye on her two children and half on her book.
Althalus stared suspiciously at the cooing baby. Who was this? An usurper of his place as the youngest? Stealth curled her tail a little tighter round his throat, black eyes glittering as she observed the Painted Soul, who was currently chewing her finger.
Good/bad thing?
Know not...
Find out maybe.
The small boy stepped a little closer before sitting down opposite the tree-babe. He smiled brightly; no sense in making enemies unless he had to! He allowed his lizard-daemon to run lightly down his arm and drape herself carelessly across his wrist, front legs around it and head on the back of his hand. He raised said hand up a bit, stretching it forward towards Laurel.
"Al'thus me. An' see Stealth too. You Laur'?"
The baby looked up a little incomprehensibly. She transferred the chewing of the finger to the chewing of a lock of grass-green hair that dangled in front of her face, and allowed the toddler a curious smile before waving her arm excitedly at the little creature she perceived on his hand.
"La, la!" She cried excitedly, leaning forward on her hands and knees to get a closer look. Stealth flinched back a little, but held her ground. There was no way she would let those flailing fingers touch her; but at least there was curiousity about her. Althalus however pulled his hand back a little, trying to make a stern face.
"No touch, Laur'!"
Laurel didn't understand, but giggled merrily at the shiny bronze creature who finally darted back to the boy's shoulder. Such pretty! Unnoticed for a moment, she shook her head vigourously before sitting back on her bottom. A golden leaf drifted out of her hair, and floated to a stop beside her knee.
Althalus' sharp eyes didn't miss the leaf. That would be something to put aside in his pretties stash! He didn't actually keep that many of the things he picked up; to him, it was the getting of them, not the keeping. But there were a few things that he kept underneath his cot as specials, mainly golden things. A coin from under the sofa, an earring from the street, a sparkly feather from someone's jacket...
As if suddenly noticing where the Forgotten was looking, Laurel glanced down at her knee. Seeing the gilded leaf, she picked it up with a small sad noise, trying to fix it back in her hair with the others. But chubby baby fingers are no good at fastening; it escaped her grasp once more and floated away. The tree-babe's face began to crumple up; the leaf wouldn't go back!
Seeing her about to cry, Althalus hastily reviewed his plan. She seemed nice enough, no need to put her on the list of 'bad people'... not just yet anyway. In Althalus' world, there were people who could be trusted and people who could not. But this little person was too little to be a threat to him. He reached out clumsily to pat her shoulder, concern in his brown eyes.
"Don' cry Laur'l, see look, leaf!" With his slightly bigger body he was able to reach right sideways and snag the golden delicate thing, waving it in her face. The baby stopped snuffling and looked up, emerald eyes bright.
"La!" She said happily, the tears vanishing instantly. But no amount of fiddling with her hair would make the leaf reattach. Laurel harrumphed slightly, and then had an idea. She proffered the leaf to her big brother, eyes wide. She couldn't use it; perhaps he wanted it!
Althalus took the leaf carefully, grinning at the little girl. Hey, he didn't get to appropriate it himself, but now she had given it to him. His mouth opened in a gappy smile where he still had some teeth to come through.
"T'ankyou Laur'!" He said, holding the golden leaf before him. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 4:06 pm
 July 15th Kel-chan was feeling harried. She'd left Laurel in the care of Daniel & Ralph, Auriga and Alex had gone shopping... which left her with Althalus.
The skinny toddler squealed with delight and struggled in her arms as she approached the dilapidated house where the Library resided. The sun was burning hot today; she huffed frustratedly at a lock of hair that insisted on sticking to her face and strode up to the porch, finally letting the squirming boy and his daemon down. Without hesitating Althalus ran straight to the door and jumped for the handle; he wasn't that good at doors, but getting better slowly.
Kel leaned forward and opened it herself; she stepped into the blessed coolness and let her eyes adjust to the dimmer interior. Althalus pattered a little way into the hall, letting Stealth trickle down to his wrist and holding her up high in the air.
"RAAA!" He called loudly, enjoying the sound of his voice in the silent hall. His mother just cringed slightly.The sound carries well in the house, despite cracks and holes where one would assume noise would fade out. April, kneeling over a still-wet watercolour painting, snaps her head up at attention as the door opens. Probably more of Daddy's friends, here to see the baby. Setting down her paintbrush, she revisits the routine thought mentally about how much she hates the new baby.
Curiosity snorts, overhearing this, of course. It's nothing new to him. Now that this squirming ball of tears and fists has made his appearance, his dinner is late. Daily. He does not like late dinners. Rolling over on her shoulder, his slight and barely noticable growth has also provided him with sharper claws to remain still while doing what he does best - napping. Everyone knows the best adventures are at night, anyway.
Clapping her hands together to quicker dry the watery paint, April gets up on her feet and peers around the door frame of the first room in the west corridor, one basically devoid of furnature. It's what April likes best about it, that and the heavy door blocking out the wail of her little brother. But she'd forgotten to close it, and thankfully she hadn't, or she would not have immediately noticed the visitor. His cry is much different than that of the annoying baby..
One pigtail and half a face lean out the doorway, fingers eventually curling after that. Her scarf peeks out too, the faded yellow brightest alongside the orange and browns.Althalus continued merrily pattering down the large corridor, disappearing off to the west with a sudden right turn that took him out of sight. Kel sighed; this was supposed to be relaxing, not having little Laurel around.. but the little girl was so quiet and shy in comparison with this mischief maker, and she began to think that perhaps she should have been the one to take the home shift...
"Raaaarr!"
I'm a lyin, like on tv!
Stealth is also lion!
But Stealth quiet..
The small lizard-daemon opened her mouth, but all that would come out was a small sibilant cry, barely heard. Althalus giggled.
"No, like this! RARRR!" He jumped around another corner, arms flailing with pretend menace.
And paused as he suddenly noticed the single eye peering around a doorframe, a little way down. His lion is immediately dropped; who's this? Does he know? Friend.. or enemy? Only one way to find out...
Padding a bit closer the toddler offered a smile to the somewhat taller stranger (stranger? Was she really?)
"'Lo," he said clearly, eyes curious.April draws back immediately, out of a fright from the imagined concept of being invisible. She's been so used to this lately that her beliefs in it became a sort of reality for her, due to the severe lack of attention she's been receiving from her father.
With the jerking motion, Curiosity's claws slide out of the jacket threading, the turtle daemon tumbling down the front of the almond coloured jacket. He's become quicker at this, catching onto her pocket and scrambling inside with moans and groans in the form of growls about the mistreatment.
Stroking a hand over the occupied pocket, April keeps her eyes straight on the toddler. She tries not to squint in the harsher lighting, hating to expose her weaknesses in front of someone she barely knows. Lips pursed tightly, she leans forward again, stepping into sight. Her toes point inwardly, shoes making her pidgeon-toed feet more noticable.Althalus tilted his head, examining this new person. He couldn't identify her as the baby he had met so long ago... to him, this taller girl was a stranger. No indication as yet to whether friend or foe, so onward. His feet, only in their linen wrappings due to the summer heat, were almost silent on the wooden floor as he stepped forward once more. Stealth pattered up to his shoulder, bright black eyes also examining the girl with paint-stained hands. She had a daemon, like them? That was certainly the feeling the pair felt.
Draping herself carelessly around his throat like a bronzed necklace, Stealth indicated that she was not worried, and would rather enjoy the lovely heat. Althalus silently agreed; the house was a lot cooler, but he wouldn't mind getting rid of this dusty t-shirt mother had put him in. Shaking his messy head, he tried again, looking up at the girl.
"I Al'thus. You name?"Hesitation is obvious on April's face at the questioning. He can see her, and now wants her to talk. But she's only ever talked within the confines of hers and Curiosity's heads. She chews on her bottom lip, an idea shooting weak sparks in her head.
Motioning for him to follow, she disappears into the room, immediately picking up her paintbrushes. Sliding her painted sheet off her pile, she dips the bristles in black paint, already so familiar with this process that she barely looks up. A-P-R-I-L, she prints in large, eventually slanting letters.
Crossing her legs, she grabs the wet paper with both hands, holding it up to where the boy can read it. It doesn't cross her mind that he probably doesn't know how to read yet.Althalus was intrigued. The girl hadn't said anything, but obviously acknowledged him. How odd? But she had paints...
Following her into the empty room, he was assailed by the smells of fresh paint and wet paper. Stealth picked her head up; the smell was familiar, but very strong in this room.
Paint girl does lots of pictures!
Clever paint girl.
She shows us picture now?
Both sets of eyes examined the paper carefully. It was a black painted picture, with curls and dots just like mother was showing Auriga the other day! But he couldn't quite decipher it... perhaps he could get Stealth to talk to the other's daemon. That was how he'd found out Mell's name... but an attempt showed the daemon's mind was closed and deep, and Stealth withdrew puzzled, instead concentrating on the puzzle of the picture. Eventually they just gave up and smiled sunnily. He approved of painting.
"Paint good! Cl'ver girl..." He was in fact just calling her girl, not intending the adult-like phrase to be praise, more just a statement. He sat down opposite her, hand straying towards one of the brushes. Perhaps she would let him paint too if he gave her something...She watches all of his movements carefully, from his toes eventually up to his hair. It's an automatic thing for her, to see the sway of this, the crinkle of that cloth, or the twist of that joint. It doesn't phase her that he hadn't read the painting as her name, interested more in his choice of words, or rather, the use of them.
Perhaps Curiosity could help. He's very un-quiet, she knows this. Reaching into the lumpy pocket, she drags out her daemon by the shell, his tiny limbs flailing angrily while his huge eyes are still closed from sleep. Before she can trust them with her paints, they have to pass the approval test!
One eye pops open, the large silver eye a bit of a shocker in its immediacy. The second one follows, and he sways his front legs in a mid-air crawl, urging his April to let him down. She obeys, revealing a smile as she releases him from up in the air. Curiosity hits the ground shell-side down, grumbling mentally that he's getting too old for this, and she too tall.
He raises his head high, tail flickering much like a cat. Hm.. hm.. he muses, large unblinking eyes taking in the sight with amusement. Boy and daemon, boy messy and daemon weird, he decides. His opinion has no validity, especially coming from such a freakishly odd turtle-daemon. Althalus started getting a little confused. He watched with interest at the reappearance of the other daemon; small and shelled, like a turtle. Stealth shared a private mental grin with her Forgotten; the other daemon was very assertive, but she had dropped him upside-down!
"So, paint?" He asked, happy to find something so congenial in the normally empty House. Stealth roused herself and pattered down his arm, dropping lightly into his lap and then perching on his knee. She complained that he had too much stuff in his pockets again; Althalus hastily jammed a small fist into the offending container and pulled out some of his accumulated junk. A blue feather curled to the floor, followed by a shiny earring, a hair pin and an ancient looking key that was probably once for a garden shed. The toddler looked up, a little apologetically. Spilling his stuff all over the floor.. but perhaps paint girl would show him how to make the magic swirls and dots that said things!
He leant forward, pointing to the April-marked paper but studying her frankly for a few seconds. After having the stare returned for a while, he looked back down.
"Paint swirlies?"Curiosity cocks his head. Well, aren't they a piece of work? Grumpy as always, he tries to talk up to April, accidentally talking to Stealth instead.
Boy wants paint your colours. Does my April want him to bite, yes? Curi will bite if his April say so.
He paws eagerly at the flooring, but stops as the contents of the boy's pocket come spilling out. Nothing that interesting comes from his April's pockets.. mostly because he insists on them being soft for his slumber, but that doesn't cross his mind. Instead, his aggression calms, interest taking its place.
April, having lost the sound of her daemon's voice in her head, finds herself degressing to a simple nod. Curiosity must have approved, if he didn't have anything bad to say. She leans over, breaking up her crossed legs, and possessively dips the paint for him, giving him a fresh paper to work with.
Putting a hand over his wrist, she makes it known that she's there to help. However, crouched beside him as it were, she's more of a ghostly presence than she'd been moments earlier. Stealth blinked, vaguely relaying the other daemon's words to her Forgotten. She cautiously left the safety of his knee for a moment, looking at the turtle-daemon only a little bigger than her. Paint girl (daemon had said April?) was now showing her Althalus paint, so all was good, was it not?
Boy called Althalus. Mine! Like yours... April. No bite... please? The pleasantry was unusual for the daemon, so used as she & her Forgotten were to having things even without the pleases.
The toddler meanwhile wriggled back more comfortably, free of the bulky pocket items, and leant forwards. He looked surprised as she laid the paper for him, and handed him the brush. Nice paint girl!
"T'ankyou," he smiled gappily, leaning his wrist against her helping hand to daub a large long stripe on the fresh clean paper. He would do the magic painting with words. Wouldn't mother be pleased? Curiosity jumps nearly clean out of his shell at this new voice. Not April's! He scrambles backwards and bumps into April's knee, shaking his head as if to clear it. Fiercely speaking to April in the silence of their heads, he narrows his eyes slightly, being commanded to play nice.
Taking very cautious steps forward, the turtle-daemon's silver eyes gleam inquiringly at the lizard-daemon. Now that he knows this works..
What your boy? Where he get all his toys? They dun look like they his.
Suspicion leaks into his mental speech, and he keeps up his guard. Anything to protect his April. Nothing bad will happen to her when he's around, never.
My April wants know what your.. your Alth'us is so she paint for him that he is what?
Curiosity is much more a creature of action rather than words. His memorization skills are also poor, him accidentally scrambling up the question before he got to say it. He doesn't notice that he has, though, waiting intently for an incriminating reply.
Leaking a smile, April helps to steady Althalus' hand into the line, giving a side glance at Curiosity for guidance as to what wants to be written. Something eats at her faintly; she knows it'd be much easier if she would just talk, but not everyone has a Curiosity to do it for them. Stealth titled her head slightly before bringing a back foot up to scratch her back carelessly.
Althalus/Stealth born of Library. Shiny toys find around... you want some? She darted her head back briefly to glance at the shiny earring. That had defintely been the pick of the day, finding that on the bus seat...
Althalus wants the magic painting. That says things! Curls and dots. He says he happy that your April let him... Big sentence, that one. Her tail flickers lightly across the floor, bright eyes fixed on the other daemon.
Althalus couldn't help letting out a happy squeal. Paint girl, who Stealth says April, is painting the magic pictures!
" Stealth says Aaay-pril. Pretty pictures!" He said excitedly, accidently causing the paintbrush to skew sideways across the page. "Oops..." Curiosity snorts loudly, though whether this is a good or bad reaction cannot be distinguished. My April write lots, she like peoples more than writings. My April, she writes for your Alth'us boy..
He stops here, turning his head slowly up at April. There is a slight moment of eye contact, April breaking it as quickly as she bonded them, looking down at the paper. He has made a.. T?
It's a crooked one, but she can work with it anyway. From what Curiosity hastily told her, it could work out better than she'd hoped. Black, colourless eyes watching Althalus' face from this close angle, she shakes her pigtailed head, orange and black hair swishing. She does it solemnly and seriously, as she does most things, accompanied almost always with an unreadable, plain expression.
Lifting his hand, she leaves a gap so the letters don't touch, dragging his hand down again for another thick line. She does most of the work, but really doesn't mind. Once it's fairly long, she pushes his hand up halfway, using her other hand to guide him down on a curve for the completion of "h".
Curi want that, the daemon plainly and boldly states, toddling forward [slowly, though that he can blame on the turtle in him] towards the rusted key. The glamour of shiny doesn't much appeal to him; no, rather, the age and wear of something is much more interesting.. Stealth opened her mouth in a silent hiss of amusement, head darting round to peek at Althalus, who paused a moment in his excitement, eyes momentarily far away as they communicate silently.
Althalus say don't mind you take stuff. Finding it is the fun thing, she said diffidently. You have it sure!
Althalus' warm brown eyes were fixed on the paper. He didn't mind that his hand was guided; he was making the magic pictures that said things! This one looked like a leg, he concluded, as their hands finished the down of the 'h'. Was this in his name? He glanced up at his silent teacher.
"Good Al'thus! Good April, showing magic pictures.." His smile was infectious, and the silence from the other side was more allieviated now that Stealth could communicate with her daemon. It was strange; a part of him conversing with a part of her, though neither of their mouths opened.
But nevertheless, even if the little painted-shell daemon wanted his key, this April was not a 'foe'. She was showing him writing, supplied Stealth. Much more interesting!Giving a pleased bark, Curiosity drags the key by means of his mouth a safe distance away from the other objects, claiming it as his own. My April says thank you, he grunts mentally, the closest to sincerity that he can manage without sounding false.
Why you come here? he inquires suddenly, determined to continue with the questioning, even if his types of questions often seem rather harsh and blunt. She had told him to play nice, but if the daemon can't handle it, Althalus is not good for his April! You comes from downs'airs like her and him, but lives not here? Come back you did, come back and look for Book.
The turtle sighs loudly, shaking his head. The two of them had overheard a lot of conversation, but that topic stuck to them hard.
Leaving another gap, April finds it easier now to make the neat line for the next letter. This time, she touches the top of his gloved hand at the head of the line, the dot accidentally leaking into an oversized circle. She pouts, details like this seeming to bother her that she can't fix it once it's done.
Another gap, and she has to crawl almost on top of him to reach now. This letter, from how she remembers it, is harder, because unlike the first three it doesn't start with a thick black line. Halfway down the letter space, she interlocks what fingers she can around his, almost as if to make her hand as much a part of his as possible to help this along. A sideways line, a small one, and she hesitantly pushes up, curving around, down, and out to the right again. "e" it is, messier than the other letters. Come back sometimes to look for Book, Stealth replied, slightly puzzled. Mother brings us here. She likes to talk to green man. The little lizard-daemon wasn't sure she liked the style of questioning, but his Forgotten was being so nice she could excuse it. She flickered her eyelids at the odd looking creature, glad that he'd taken the key. That was a heavy thing, no hard object in Althalus' pocket to hurt her!
Althalus meanwhile was thoroughly engrossed. He had no idea what he was writing, but it's writing! So he patiently allowed April to clamber with him into awkward positions, both making the pretty writings. To the little boy, it's a work of art and magic; a strange kind of respect began to appear, and Althalus certainly didn't respect very many people. He's so engrossed with the paper that he, for once, does not notice the slow sound of footsteps outside in the corridor.Curiosity blinks, the first one since he'd tiredly opened his eyes, it might seem. So they weren't here about that? Well, what a relief..
No! Mustn't let guard down. He isn't quite sure how to place this one, mentally noting that he has to better equip himself for questioning periods, in order to get the answers he wants.
Shaking his head rather sadly, he runs a foot over the key's edge. He is Daddy, explains the turtle daemon. He withholds his commentary on him, surprisingly; if he was the one making people come and come back, it isn't the daemon's place to say things that would prevent this.
The last letter is easier, though ends up being slightly smaller in comparison to the messy e. Tricky letters aren't her specialty. This one's an f, one on such an odd angle that the tip and the strike through seem to slant upwards. She lets go of his hand and wrist, sliding off of him and back to a clear space on the floor, her way of announcing that it's finished.
"Thief," the paper says. The word has been thrown around a lot in the household, and from what she could tell, from what her and Curiosity could piece together about the meaning of the word, "finding and taking things" seems to be the definition. Sort of like the Easter Egg Hunt, she imagines. A slight smile tugs at the corners of her mouth, a fuzzy and hazy happiness itching at her insides that he seemed to enjoy her lesson.
The footsteps, however, do catch her attention, and soon she's looking up at the doorway expectingly. Green man is you/April daddy? Stealth filed that away carefully. A useful piece of information! She projected a vague smile. Look, Althalus finished making writing! Oddly glad of the excuse to dash over towards the safety of her Forgotten, she wound herself lovingly around his arm as he sat backwards, happy in the extreme.
"Aypril clever clever!" clapped the little boy happily. "Writing pictures mine now?" He reached over and grabbed her wrist, waving it slightly from side to side as his his gesture of thanks.
"T'ankyou..."
Footsteps stop. And Kel-chan peered her head around the corner of the paint-smelling room.
"Althalus! There you are," she sighed, a little smile on her face as she realised there was another there. "And little April, if I remember right? Thankyou for watching Althalus..." For the little girl seemed a lot older than she remembered, staring up at her with black eyes.
"Momma, momma, magic picture writing!" Althalus couldn't wait to show. Scrambling to his feet and releasing his teacher's wrist, he grabbed the piece of paper, crumbling it slightly at the corner. "Aypril help!"
"She help you write, did she? Well that was very kin- " The redhead stopped. The writing was messy, a child's writing, but the word was unmistakeably.
Thief.
Who had told them to write that? Was it so obvious in her little boy? Maybe it was just the nature of the Forgotten to realise things like that...
Obscurely worried, she held it by her side, careful not to let the wet paint touch her trousers. "It's beautiful, trouble. Now, we have to get on, so pick up your stuff and say bye bye."
"Bye bye," said Althalus obediently, bending over to scoop his junk back in his pockets, Stealth traversing his body agiley until she reached his shoulder once more. Curiosity ducks for cover, even adding in a tumble. Whether it was for effect or not, it lands him on his back, waving his feet up in the air angrily. Bugger. Hate when this happens.
Opening and closing her hand in a wave, she watches as her nighttime amusement disappears with their guardian. Inwardly she sighs, cuping her hands around her daemon, tucking him away safely under her scarf. His favourite spot, of course, and the most frequented side is her left. The key catches her eye, crawling across the floor, toes dragging on the ground for being too old to still do this, to check it out.
Lifting it gingerly in her hand, she strokes it with two fingers before pocketing it. Gifts are lovely things.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:09 pm
 "Althalus, please," pleaded Kel-chan, pushing her hair back from her eyes and trying to keep the exhausted tears from her eyes. " Please, just come back in here and be a good boy! You know I promised you some chocolate biscuits, and they're downstairs in the kitchen... just come with Mummy, please..."
The little Forgotten narrowed his eyes, then turned his back and continued deliberately marking thick red lines on his bedroom wall with the crayon. Holding it tightly in his fist, it almost seemed he was carving his scrawls onto the wall, rather than drawing. Stealth was not visible, but that either meant she was tucked into his trousers or shirt or just blending in somewhere, unoticably.
The redhaired woman clasped her hands in her lap as she sat on her knees on the floor. This had got to be the worst day she'd ever had with Althalus; it had started at breakfast, the third bowl of cereal she had made up for him and Laurel going flying across the table with a smug yell. The little Painted Soul and the Astra girl sitting beside her seemed astonished; it had started Laurel crying as well, and Auriga had ended up comforting her whilst Kel-chan sternly plucked the toddler from his chair and took him to the playpen in the lounge. She hated having to make him miss his breakfast, but he hadn't eaten the first two, steadfastly holding the bowl out to the side and watching it drip down onto the floor. And now she had to go clean up... the wailing of two children now echoed in her ears as she scrubbed at the kitchen floor, hoping for the day to get better. Daniel and Ralph and Alex had gone shopping, so no help from that quarter; it was 9.30 in the morning and she felt like she'd been awake for hours.
But the day didn't get better.
Alone in his playpen, Althalus reached right through the bars and manged to grab Kikaja's tail as she wandered past sleepily. The Temeo had let out a surprised squeal, but the small boy was holding on tightly, and she turned to give him a soft cuff round the head with one paw. However she didn't expect the small lizard-daemon to scuttle up Althalus' ear and give poor Kikaja a stinging little bite. At that point Kelinor hadn't even realised that Stealth had teeth; she saw the daemon so infrequently she couldn't blame herself, she said as she comforted the frightened Kikaja. Coming back into the lounge she sat down opposite the playpen, watching her son's back.
"Althalus. What's wrong, trouble? Is something hurting you?" She remembered the brief time she'd had with his teething, the pain causing him to cry almost continuously. But that time had been surprisingly short; was something else making him act so contrary?
"Althalus, listen to me..."
"Go 'way. You stink."
What? Kel-chan blinked in surprise and a little hurt. What had she done wrong? She frowned and stood up, reaching over into the playpen to swivel the toddler around on his bottom so he was facing her.
"You listen to me, young man. There is no reason for you to call names! You'd better be good, Althalus. You really hurt Kikaja, and you threw your breakfast at Laurel. Is that a very nice thing? I don't think so."
Obstinate dark eyes stared at her, mouth clamped tightly shut.
"Fine then. I'll leave you here for a while to cool off, Althalus Kair Aliwran. Adn you'd better start behaving yourself."
Silence from behind her back as she walked back towards the kitchen. She'd expected the crying, the yelling for attention and then the soft sobbing of repentance; but not a sound came from her son. Perhaps he really had calmed down. After finishing off the cleaning in the kitchen, She put on the kettle and sank down at the table, hoping for a treasured cup of coffee. She sent Auriga and Laurel into the garden with Sam and Ryshad, the Libre carrying the softly hiccuping baby on her back and the Temeo acting as a support for Auriga to lean on. Kel-chan wasn't expecting them back so soon.
"Uh, Mother? You do know Althalus isn't in his playpen, right?"
"Wha??"
Forgoing the precious coffee the 'shifter dashed into her lounge. Sure enough, there was Althalus' playpen, somehow tipped to the side and leaning against the sofa, where it wouldn't have made a sound. He must have climbed right out of it.. along those slippery bars? She knew tiny Stealth was an expert climber, but her Forgotten partner? The thief, she reminded herself with a sigh, thinking back to the piece of paper her little boy had been so pleased to receive from April. Anyway, that wasn't the point now. At least she was pretty certain that he hadn' been taken like last time. Apart from anything else, as she backtracked into the hall, she could hear some noises from upstairs...
Taking the stairs two at a time, Kel-chan paused halfway to tell Auriga to take Laurel back out into the garden. There was no need for the girls to get involved with this. Continuing upstairs she crept stealthily round towards Althalus' room. She couldn't help noticing the storage cupboard's door swinging in the breeze from the landing window... Dashing over she peered inside anxiously. There was supposed to be a lock on this door? How on earth was he doing all of this? And the shelf with the children's paints were missing, she thought with a bitter grin. She barely needed her hypersenstive sense of smell to tell that the clean, slightly tangy scent of paint was coming for the room opposite, the girls' room. Unsure of whether to be angry, exasperated or just tolerant, she padded over to the doorway. Althalus looked up from the middle of the floor, brows furrowing slightly as he realised someone else had appeared, A brief flicker of movement showed that Stealth had gone into hiding about his person. His particularly colorful person.
There was paint all over the floor, in big puddles that soaked into the carpet and had been mixed together in places by little hands, turning most into an unappealing brown. He almost looked to have been rolling in the stuff, the way smudges of colour adorned his trousers, his arms, his face, his bandana.. blue and green clumps of hair hung in his face as the toddler suddenly decided to change his tactics in the face of angry mother.
"Come paint, momma?" He said sweetly, holding up his arms to be held. Stealth peeked her head out from his collar, black eyes also blinking appealingly. Kel-chan, who had been about to start yelling, hesitated. Perhaps he was just having a bad day. Nevertheless that was no excuse...
"You are taking a bath RIGHT NOW, young man," she said sternly, grasping him under the arms and holding him at her own arms' length. He giggled infectiously, and Kel-chan stifled an adoring smile. What? She should be terribly angry at him, not wanting to pat his head and telling him to run along... She hauled him out of the room and across into the bathroom, stripping off his painted clothes with tolerance and leaving him balncing with his hands on her shoulders as she tossed them across to the laundry basket. He whimpered adorably when she went to take off his bandana, and she steeled herself to drop it over with the rest. He looked so different without the bandana... somehow defenceless, as if his cheerful rakehell look had been his strength. She shook her head and lifted him into the bath, Stealth running distastefully up to the side and clinging to the handle. She would never come in the water if possible; once she had fallen in, but wriggling her legs industrially and with a helping hand from her Forgotten she had soon clambered back to the edge, looking miserable. Not quite sure how a gecko-daemon looks miserable, but she did... Shaking these thoughts from her head, she started running the tap. She remembered the paint on the floor belatedly, and stuck her head round the door.
"SAMMY! Can you please bring up some kitchen roll and stuff for cleaning paint???"
The bath ended up taking more than an hour. The docile charm mood swing soon wore off, and Althalus was quite happy splashing water across the floor, knocking the shampoo bottle ('acsdent! acsdent!') into Kel's face and stubbornly resisting attempts to clean the paint from his hair. When the woman finally admitted he was clean and lifted him from the bath, his slippery skin prevented his recapture as he ran off giggling down the hall, his only covering the lizard-daemon who had made a flying leap for his shoulder.. She found him burrowed into her own bed, wetness soaking her duvet and into the mattress. Two eyes peeked out of a fold in the material, and she reached in and hauled him out with a sigh, holding him close to her shoulder and ignoring the damp, seeing as she probably couldn't get much wetter anyway.
"Come on, now, Althalus. This isn't how we behave, is it? Now we are going to - stop struggling! - we are going to put some clothes on you, and get your bandana back. You want that, don't you?"
"Bandna!" the little boy said firmly, head swiveling right round the opposite way from the way he was being held. "Alth'lus be good, get bandna."
So that way she manged to get a new set of clothes on, the Forgotten even mangaging a semblence of behaviour as he sat with Sammy as Kel finished washing his bandana and chucking it into the tumbledrier. He pattered up to the glass as he always did, watching the item go round and round and round...
Kel slumped down in her seat in the kitchen, half an eye on the boy and the Libre, the other half most definitely closed. Perhaps she could finally get her coffee! And maybe Althalus would be more tolerable this afternoon. After all, it must be nearly lunchtime... she should call the girls in from the garden.
Lunchtime was a little better than breakfast, but not much.
By the time it got to 1 o'clock Kelinor decided enough was enough and made Ryshad and Sam tail Althalus like his shadow so she could get that darned cup of coffee. She'd cradled Laurel for a bit, the baby sucking lightly on her fingers and snuggling into her; peaceful and round-eyed, not like the cheerful terror of her other little child. A tiny oasis of calm floated for a whole fifteen minutes, when Kel had to get up to put Althalus' now-dry bandana back on. Was there something in that thing that caused trouble?
And now here she was again, on her knees to be at eye-level with Althalus, trying to get him to stop drawing on his walls with the new crayons. The urge to shut the door and just leave him was huge; Kel struggled with herself for a few moments before standing up again.
"Fine. No chocolate biscuits, and no crayons either. You lost out, kiddo." She pulled the crayon from his tight grip, ignoring the angry yell and the dark scowl directed in her direction, and start sweeping the others back up before he could pounce on any more. A small wrestle occurred over the yellow, but Kelinor eventually triumphed and left a screaming, redfaced child in the middle of the floor, wincing as she left and feeling more than a little guilty. But there was not much else she could do! She'd tried the be-nice, she'd tried the be-cruel-to-be-kind, and now all she wanted was some time off. What was wrong with the child??
Little did she know that this would go on for the rest of the day....
But thankfully, this day only.
----------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:56 am
 Althalus shivered slightly, the dusty red t-shirt he wore making no difference to the sudden feeling of coldness. He looked up suddenly from his seat on the grass.
The toddler had been playing 'let's roll the toilet roll tube across the grass' with his little kitten friend Mau; the late summer sunshine had made Stealth drowsy, and so his lizard-daemon sprawled lazily across his houlders, eyes half-lidded with pleasure at the heat.
He'd managed to get to play with Laurel earlier - by nature the little boy was a gregarious soul and loved company, and his new baby sister, far from being an attention stealer, was an ideal new playmate. Granted, she couldn't do the things he could, and had the tendency to miss the rolling tube when she broke into delighted laughter and started clappping her hands, but she was at least another friend. And she didn't mind sitting in the garden either.
But this sudden coldness made Althalus narrow his eyes curiously. Gently he gave Stealth a mental poke.
Something is funny/odd?
A breath of wind...
I think..
Maybe Book?
A few weeks back the toddler had been driven almost mad by an itching in his mind, the mind that he associated with the link between him and Stealth. Eventually, after an entire day of maddening annoyance it ended, also ending the strange dark thrill he felt from doing whatever he wanted with no thought for others. The release had made him almost stagger; and instinctively an image had flashed into his head. The Book (one he knew well? Well enough to capitalise the word, anyway) spun in his head before closing with a snap. And the snap releasing the scratching.
This was what was now confusing Althalus; the strange coldness reminded him of the uneasyness those weeks ago, a faint chill breath on that level of his mind. For a while both toddler and daemon shared contemplative thoughts; but nothing more touched their personal bond. Mau patted the toilet roll with a deft swat of a paw, causing the carboard tube to halt itself with a gentle bump on Althalus' knee. The Forgotten shook his shaggy head slightly, eyes returning to focus as he shook the incident from his mind. The black and gold kitten stared at him questioningly before giving a small mewl.
"I still play, nofin wrong," Althalus told her, smile slowly returning to his face as he sent the tube end over end with a quick flick. Stealth returned to her doze, but it became a more thoughtful one; what could be going on there still? Perhaps she/they should cajole mother into taking them back. Maybe Aypril would be there again with her magic writing.
Again, something unknown told them that they probably would not. Stealth sighed minutely and closed her eyes against the warmth of the sun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:59 am
 September 15th
Althalus looked up from the floor as he heard his name called, hands full of tiny nuts spilling between little fingers. Shaggy brown-blonde hair peeked out from underneath his red bandana, dark eyes peering alert between the strands. But this was so much fun! What did mother want this time?? Stealth hauled herself back on to his shoulder with a small grumble echoing her Forgotten's, lifting her bronzey head to fix their guardian with bright black eyes. As was happening more and more often these days, she could not help fading slightly to a dusty red to match the small tshirt that Althalus was wearing.
"Althalus, put that down and come here," Kel-chan repeated, smiling slightly and holding her arms out from where she was sitting on a bench. The old wooden seat was part of the small garden at the side of the Forgotten Headquarters, the one often overlooked in comparison with the much larger back garden where events might take place. The redhaired shapeshifter had felt that here was quieter than the garden today, but the halls of the house were starting to get a little colder, and Althalus enjoyed the sunshine. But playing underneath trees and collecting their early fruits might well be poisonous. She wriggled her fingers slightly as more invitation to her little toddler.
Velveteen skirts swishing softly as they swayed from side to side in movement with their upper layers, and the body within them, the black folds of a dress marking mourning of it's wearer enveloping the body of Lady Naita Siri.
The death of two brothers had been hard on the woman, but it was the death of the woman to bear them which called for her current outfit.
Infinitely long waves of hair curled and twisted upwards to reach but half their true length, brushing the young woman's hips, those black curls were topped with a black veil, falling so as to cover the hair in full.
In these sombre arms was a girl whose pale skin and hair provided stark contrast to the black apparel she, too, wore.
The child's pale gaze rested on a large ring on her guardian's right middle finger, an amethyst set in gold. In death, her mother had gifted Naita greatly.
The pair moved through the halls of a decrepit building, pace set towards a door to the outside which stood open.
Althalus grumbled slightly, reverting to incomprehensible baby muttering rather than using his growing vocabulary. He hauled himself to his feet, spilling his treasures haphazardly, and trotted over to where his mother was sitting. Seeing her smile he couldn't help but answer it with a wide smile of his own; the little boy was not by nature a sombre person, but more of a laughing joker.
"C'mon trouble, drop all those," Kel-chan said patiently, folding her hands back to rest on her knees. "Might be nasty. What did I say to you and Laurel once about garden things?"
"Not tasty," came the big-eyed response. "No eating. But, but, momma, not gonna eat!"
"I believe you, little guy, just I want to be sure," replied Kel with a smile. The nuts obiediently went scattering to the ground. The redhead surely did not notice one small toddler hand slip a couple into those pockets already bulging with odds and ends...
Kel-chan was suddenly distracted by a new scent to brush her hypersensitive nose. She patted Althalus absently on the head. "Someone else is coming, trouble. Shall we see who it is, and you be a good boy?" She began to get to her feet.
Ebony skirts sweeping outdoors before their wearer, those subdued folds' announced my lady's presence easily, their rustling rather more audible than Naita would have liked.
Still, grey eyes downcast, the young woman swept out of the door in search of some quiet place in which to allow Eydis and Frozen to totter about, rather guilty for having deprived Eydis of her birthplace for so long.
Cradled in her mother's arm, that toddler smiled shyly up at the saddened face of her guardian. So much had passed that she did not understand, but in those arms safety would always lie for the child.
Frozen, too, reassured her, his perch on Lady Siri's shoulder assured as long as she was held by that tall figure.
A quiet excitement did bubble within her, on their return after so long, but giving none away, that pale gaze gained only a slight sparkle as it swept about the place.
Clutching slightly at his mother's trouser leg as she stood up, Althalus' eyes grew wide, their dark depths almost calculating. Someone else, and a Forgotten Document. For some reason, through Stealth, he could feel the presence...
"Naita," said Kel-chan with a smile, not a loud voice but one so not as to startle the woman who had just appeared through the side door and appeared not to notice the vibrantly coloured pair on a bench by the few trees. "I have not seen you in a long while." She took in the sombre outfit and her face saddened slightly. That was mourning clothes unless she was mistaken. But she wouldn't ask outright. It was not appropriate.
"How is.. Eydis?" The name sprang into her head after a short search. That was the name of the little girl Naita had, was it not? And there she was, cradled easily with her daemon on her mother's shoulder.
That surprised Kel a little; she had assumed that just because Stealth was so small and never far from Althalus' person, that daemons were not fond of sitting elsewhere. Maybe she should make an effort to learn more about this place and its bookborn denizens.
Eyes leaving the ground at the sound of another, Lady Siri's face remained blank for a moment, before recognition sprung into those grey pools, their dark lashes brushing down for a moment as it crept over the rest of her features.
"Kel," she uttered, voice lower than her usual respectful tone.
By way of explanation for her long disappearance, she said, after nodding;
"I was called away to court for a time. There was... a situation."
Closing in on the other, she looked away to eye her little ward for a moment, the girl had tightened her grip on that bodice, chubby hands encircling a little more of her waist.
Eydis, a tad wary now of company, knew the woman and boy looked familiar, but clung on a little tighter nonetheless. She did not know if she trusted them yet, and they were not so familiar as to pass all doubt.
Upon Naita's shoulders, Frozen ruffled. His little mistress was unsure, thus he was doubly so.
Althalus stared for a few moments more. But he couldn't leave pale girl (he must have met her before, because that nametag sprang so easily to mind) looking so sad. He detached himself and toddle-ran over until he was almost underneath the older girl, looking up with a wide smile.
"Hello, you play?" He said brightly. Something else rang a bell, but he wasn't sure what.
Shinies, put in Stealth, skin tawny red against his shoulder. Evr'yone like shinies. The little boy brightened, and dug one hand in a bulging pocket, little fingers scrabbling around until he pulled out his current shiniest possession, a hairpin from the gutter with a silvery sparkle and something blue on the end. The sparkle had drawn his eye to it yesterday; Kel-chan never noticed him pick it up. He waved it in the air slightly.
"Come play with shinies," he said firmly, dark eyes welcoming but nevertheless as yet failing to hide the slight wariness behind them.
"Althalus! Don't be so rude, running up to people like that," Kel-chan frowned and hurried forward. The little she knew of Lady Naita implied she came from a much more formal background than the Aliwrans were used to, and she respected that. It wouldn't do to offend.
"I'm sorry," she began to apologise.
Smiling thinly and leaning down to brush the infant's hair, Naita shrugged at the other adult, the tiny bird on her shoulder ruffling with disgust.
She was... fraternising with one who could hurt Eydis! Frozen was outraged, and, chattering vibrantly inside Eydis' mind, waddled down Lady Siri's arm to perch on the little girl's head.
The woman then placed the blue infant on the ground before the other, and though her balance was at first a tad wobbly, Eydis stood firmly after a short while, and eyed Althalus through wide, pale eyes.
The hairpin did steal her attention for a moment. It was blue... like her. Her gaze then travelled to one chubby hand, blue nails compared to the sparkly ornament.
"...play?" she queried, so quietly it was almost a whisper.
Althalus blinked for a second before smiling cheekily. "Shinies fun to play, you know," he said solemnly to pale girl, sidestepping a little way from the adults and clumsily lowering himself to the ground. Tapping the silvery blue pin across the slightly damp grass between his fingers, he admired the sparkles before glancing up to where the blue girl still stood. Stealth trickled down onto his knee, becoming a rich brown to match his trousers, and tilted her head to examine the glaring little bird on the other's head. An interesting daemon! She turned her head to her Forgotten, black eyes glittering with amusement. This pair looked curious, and they really must come and play...
The little boy held up his arm to gesture to Eydis to come closer and sit. "I Alth'lus," he said aimiably. "And Stealth." He touched the little lizard's head absently with one finger. "What your name? Come play!"
Not safe.
A voice tittered inside Eydis' mind, as the avian perched on her head ruffled crossly.
Not safe.
As Althalus' chatter and play continued, the tiny girl turned the black folds of her guardian's skirt within her chubby grasp. Was that true? Was the boy unsafe for her to play with?
As he pointed out the lizard, the toddler could feel her daemon double in size atop her white locks. He disliked other daemons immensely, for they were all such... threats.
However, in response to his words, she did toddle a mite closer, still clinging to those silky threads.
"Eydis," came that soft voice again, responding to his question, had he the ears to hear it.
Althalus was a little puzzled by the other's seeming shyness. But at least she had a name now, however quietly given... Eydis, he filed away unconsciously in the back of his head. Very important. He flicked both ends of the pin that lay on the floor different directions, so it spun for half a round, sending afternoon sunshine glittering in reflections across the grass blades. He looked up; she had come a little closer, but then there was that wariness... he could not force her to play. Pouting a little he tried to spin the pin again. Stealth, after another searching black stare towards Eydis' daemon, emitted the mood of huff and darted back up to her Forgotten's shoulder, skin rippling in colour change as she went.
He don't like us.
We done nuffin wrong...
Eydis might play. 'Member April and huffy turtledaemon!
A shared grin passed between them and Althalus looked across the grass to the little girl's shoes as she stood uncertain.
---TBC----
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:31 am
 September 22nd
Setting out the last of the plastic utensils, Pippin admires the amount of work he has already done, clearly forgetting the immensity of the amount Maddy has put into planning, organizing, shopping..
Throwing himself into a lawn chair, he turns his eyes up to the nearly cloudless sky. "Perfection!" he exclaims with a short whistle through his teeth. Now he just has to wait for everything to begin.
The creaking of the wagon wheels announced Aki far before she reached the gate...letting herself in as she gave the invitation one last check. This was it! Desperate sauntered in first, moving to the side to make way for Aki and the wagon the pulled along behind her.
In the wagon, Nisha sat quietly...watching the path ahead with wide eyes. Her sashes were tied about her neck as scarves today, complimenting her tiny summer dress. She hugged one of the half dozen watermelons crowding around her, little arms barely encircling its striped bulk. Before Aki could call out a hello, Desperate had already taken a breath...ears flapping as he trumpeted high greeting.
"Shhhshshsh! We talked about that!!" As Desperate turned innocently, waving his tail at Aki, Nisha's smile finally blossomed. Her little hands slapped against the melon in amusement as the wagon trundled onward across the grass.
"Hello! We're here!! Obviously!" Smoothing the wrinkles of her shirt, Aki adjusted the weight of her sling bag...packed full of goodies, snacks, and clothes. Desperate, however, didn't wait on formality. Trunk held high, he trotted forward a bit to explore.
"Knowing our luck, we'll be late," Kel-chan said almost more to herself than the toddler trotting along at her side. Both were carrying multiple items: though in Althalus' case, the light bag of plastic forks was not really a burden, whilst his mother lugged two full bowls of cheese 'n' apple pasta. The Forgotten, when he heard they were going to a party at Pippin's house, had more or less demanded that they make 'cheeple pas'a!'
And so cheeple pasta it was.
Kel-chan blew a piece of errant fringe out of her eyes with annoyance as the sun continued to bake her alive. At least it wasn't raining, she thought ruefully as she maneouvered her burdens through the back gate and came around into the garden.
At the sight of the extravagant decorations and laden tables, the redhead quite forgot to notice that no-one else seemed to be there yet. But Althalus giggled and ran on little legs over towards the one occupied lawn chair.
"Hello!" He announced, dark eyes large as he smiled at the man.
"Althalus!" exclaims Pippin loudly, grinning widely as the company arrives. He had dozed off for, oh, no more than a minute, and already people are streaming in. He made a point to remember all the Forgotten and daemon names, especially for this party. "Hello there, kiddo! And how are we today?"
It probably should have been troubling that the sound of an elephant rang out shortly, waking him from his sleep. However, nothing much seems to phase him anymore, at least not since adjusting to the lifestyle of a Gaian.
Messing with Althie's hair as he stands, Pippin waves dynamically at Aki, turning next to Kel-chan to continue this wild wave. "I'm glad to see all of you on this fine September day!" His eyes trail down to the goodies, becoming easily distracted. "Tables are out over there for snacks," he gestures, eyes prying at the goodies with an accompanying look of a wildly excited child.
"Great! Good to see you!" Waving a bit at those she didn't recognize, Aki tried not to interrupt. While the others chatted, she unloaded three of the six watermelons onto the table...leaving the others in the wagon for Desperate's lunch. Once finished, she pulled Nisha from the wagon...settling the girl on her hip as she strolled over with the Daemon at her heels.
"Althalus, is it? This is Nisha, and Desperate. I'm Aki!" Offering her hand to the other guardian, she waited for introductions in return. It was so exciting to finally meet others...perhaps they'd see Reyna as well!
Desperate offered the tip of his trunk to the young thiefling...half in introduction, and half to sniff around for the other Daemon he knew was lurking.
Althalus clapped his hands loudly, dropping his little package in his excitement that the green man knew his name! Stealth grumbled lightly from her resting place inside the wrinkle on his bandana. It was too nice and hot to be running around. Althalus shrugged before smiling and going to follow Pippin. He was where everyone else was after all.
In the gateway Kel-chan smiled at the unknown woman. "I would offer you my hand to shake, but it's a bit full at the moment," she grinned as she nodded towards her full arms. "My name's Kelinor, or just Kel will do. We haven't met before? That little scamp over there is my Forgotten, Althalus." Her eyes blinked slightly as she realised there was an elephant nearby. That had been a definte story going around the guardians, an elephant-daemon! Now she remembered.
"You must be Aki, right?"
This same elephant-daemon was now the object of Althalus' interest. He made big eyes at Desperate, but did not take the offered trunk... for some reason, the idea of touching another's daemon disconcerted him somehow. He reached up to the top of his head and lifted Stealth carelessly onto his hand. "Hello," He said again, peering for the other little Forgotten.
Nodding at Kel's introductions, Aki gave Nisha a little bounce to try to get her to smile. Smiling, however, seemed lowest on the girl's agenda. Two fingers crammed into her mouth, she chewed them suspiciously as she gazed down at Althalus.
Desperate, however, wasn't so easily brushed aside. Dropping his trunk, he tried a new tactic...trundling over to the wagon and lifting one of the small seedless watermelons from the pile. Carrying it carefully over, he let it roll to the ground at Althalus' feet. Honking curiously, he booted it a little closer. It was time to play, wasn't it?
Sighing, Aki shrugged...Nisha was quiet, and Desperate overbearing. Settling the babe down in the grass, beside the rolling melon, Aki gave Desperate a quick scratch atop his head. "Behave, please! Don't make a mess."
Roll the melon! This was just like playing roll the tube with Mau back home. Althalus was perfectly happy to plump himself down on the grass next to the small girl, a large smile on his face. Excited with the prospect of many people to meet, the toddler was in a slightly hyperactive mood, and he gave the melon an enthusiatic push back towards the girl and her large daemon. Stealth blinked a bit and ran back up his arm to sit on his shoulder, tail latched around his neck.
Other daemon big.
Stealth get squashed!
No silly, no squishness.
Stealth stay here anyway...
"Me Althalus," the toddler said confidently, putting on his most charming smile to the little baby. "Stealth find out name of you from daemon?" He titled his head towards the elephant, not realising that his manner may be too forward for first meetings.
One of Nisha's brows climbed steadily...a surprising gesture for a babe, but as natural to her as a giggle. Her wet fingers slipped from her mouth as she leaned back...grabbing a handful of grass to steady herself. Desperate, however, paid Nisha no mind...happily rolling the watermelon back with a nudge of his foot. Talk about playing with your food!!
A few moments later, as the wind shifted, he caught the same scent. Trunk lifting, game forgotten, he flapped his ears in alarm. He smelled something icky! Nisha hated icky!!
Althalus stared a bit disconcerted at the daemon standing tall above him from his seat in the grass. What was wrong with him? He lifted the melon that had rolled to his knee with both hands and shook it experimentally. Nothing wrong there, it didn't clink, so it wasn't broken! He grinned wide-eyed again at Nisha, lobbing the melon so it rolled towards her. It was a bit heavy; perhaps the baby would use her daemon? That reminded him; he gave Stealth a mental poke.
Ask daemon what name.
Stealth will ask...
No more interruptions of sunlight!
Sunlight nice and warm for Stealth,
Lots of sunlight for her.
The gecko-daemon tilted her head slightly and unlidded her eyes fully, so that bight blackness stared at the other pair, wondering what to ask.
Desperate could still smell something off, and it wasn't sitting well with him. Nisha, however, was oblivious....only glancing up at her Daemon offhandedly. Well, if she wasn't bothered, he wouldn't let it worry him.
As he turned back to the game, catching the melon under one foot, he noticed Stealth peeking at him. Hooting in amusement, he accidently leaned forward...shattering the melon with a crunch and squish. How sad!!
Aki knew that noise, and hurried over with a replacement. "Eat that one, Desperate, don't let it go to waste! Be careful with this one. Nisha, I'll be right back with some lunch!"
The babe didn't bother to look back up at Aki. She was still staring that the thiefling...leaning forward to get a closer look. "Bah?"
Big daemon squash ball!!
Althalus shook his head slightly, trying not to be even more disconcerted. He'd not really seen anything this big and clumsy before (and had no idea that the daemon would probably grow even bigger). The big lady had given them another melonball though, so she must be used to it.
Slowly the thiefling became aware that he was the object of a curious stare. The baby, who had a strange clock around her neck, was looking at him, and he returned the gaze with a bright darkeyed one of his own. He rolled the new melon across.
"Play ball, clock girl?"
Clock girl, like old paint girl. Aypril. He prodded Stealth again.
Ask clock girl name.
Now he'd managed this new trick, he couldn't wait to utilize it.
Slapping her hands down on the melon ball as it rolled towards her, Nisha leaned down to huddle over it...still staring up at the boy. He was looking at her watch, she didn't care for that at all. Desperate was used to this, though. With practiced motions, he tucked the watch into her sun dress and patted her on the head. Hair mussed, Nisha glanced up...finally smiling at the doting Daemon. Smiling, that is, until a pale little girl caught her attention.
Hugging the melon tighter as though reaffirming that she wouldn't share, Nisha watched silently once again. Desperate was having too much fun playing ball though, and booted it gently out of her grasp.
It was play time, not sulk time!
Althalus frowned slightly as he stared at Nisha. Her big big daemon wanted to play, but why had clockbaby gone all quite? Fielding the rolling melon the toddler crawled forwards on his hands and knees, bringing the melon along beside him. When he got within reach (he didn't want to get too close, what if the big big daemon stepped on him??) he practically deposited the melon in the lap of the little girl.
"Play is good, baby," he said encouragingly. 'Baby' was what mother always called Laurel, and Laurel was a littlegirlbaby like this one. 'Cept with different colour hair. "Come on! I show you." He scrabbled round into a sitting position again, Stealth wriggled to latch herself even more firmly around his neck; in response to her unspoken questions she just got feelings of glee from the other daemon, and she was a very small thing in comparison to him...
Leaning back, wide eyed and suspicious as Althalus scooted closer, Nisha's eyes drifted from the melon to the lad. He certainly talked a lot, and there was something about him...she flapped her hand against her lip as she tried to pinpoint it. The watch rested heavy and cool against her tummy, shifting inside her simple dress.
As Althalus wiggled closer, talking in confidential tones and herding the ball closer, Nisha finally broke into a smile. Flopping back in the grass, one chubby leg waving in failed balance, she gurgled and tried to roll herself over. This boy was like her Levi!! That wasn't so bad!
Finally managing to roll over onto her tum, Nisha found herself facing the wrong way. Where was Desperate? And the Levi boy? And her melon?! Staring across the expanse of grass, feet kicking against the very melon she'd lost, Nisha started to gasp short breaths of air...the prelude to a tempest.
Ears flapping at the noise, Desperate glanced at the babe...trying his best to soothe her before the fit started. Nudging her diapered butt, he tapped her in curious questioning. What was wrong?!
This was odd, the clockbaby had rolled the other way... Althalus was concerned for a bit, then snickered lightly as her daemon tapped her. Silly thing... but it would not do to get her angry. No, that was not what he wanted, he wanted fun! Crawling even further forward and abandoning the melon, the little boy came up beside the other Forgotten so she was flanked by her daemon and himself, dark eyes curious as he slid into view.
"Wrong way 'round, baby," he said in a friendly tone. He wished he knew her name. Names were... important somehow. Stealth took the opportunity to get a closer peek, head sliding out of his t-shirt collar and little forelegs clinging to the dusty fabric. Unknowingly she faded to the same tawny red colour, bright black eyes studying the other Forgotten with interest. He barely noticed green man come in and out again, and thus forgot that he had been going to ask after Aypril. Green man is daddy. He had tucked that information away unknowingly, like a lot of other things.
Nisha paused in her snuffling as the boy peeked into view again, her face creasing with a smile despite her best efforts to pout. He wasn't so bad...but there was something icky on his shoulder! "Bah! Epph!" Wrinkling her face at Stealth, Nisha regarded the Daemon as though it were an unsightly bug.
Hooting in irritation at her scowl, Desperate plopped the end of his trunk atop Nisha's head and sucked...pulling her fine dark hair straight up, and yanking the bow clean out. Shrieking with giggles, Nisha tried to slap him away...legs kicking as she rolled back and forth on her tum. "NAAAH!"
At a look from Aki, Desperate settled down...using his snout to pick a 'handful' of stray daisies and grass. Letting the bouquet go just over Althalus' head, Desperate tried to shower the pair with the gift, but only ended up making a mess of greenery. It was the thought that counted though, right?!
Eyes going wide as the grass drifted down like snow, Nisha peeked up...a daisy landing right on her forehead. Smiling once again, she struggled to sit up...one hand reaching for Althalus for blind support. Where was Aki?! Usually, when she fussed enough, Aki would be there to pick her up!! Aki was no where to be found....there was only the not-so-bad boy and his strange shoulderbug!
"Abbahba?" Watch slipping out of her dress once more, swinging as she propped herself up on chubby arms, Nisha waited with remarkable patience for assistance.
Stealth blinked, but never changed her expression. Was the baby not finding her nice? She slid forwards more, wriggling up to the top of her Forgotten's head as he continued to peer curiously. The big big daemon then... dropped grass on them??
"Hey, grasses make you sneezes!" protested the little boy, nevertheless giggling as he shook his head to dislodge the grass settling in folds of cloth. And the clockbaby's laugh was infectious as well. She was like Laurel, so she must be alright... considerately he tried pulling at her fingers to help her sit up again. She ciuldn't lie there all day, especially covered in grass. At least she was the right way round now.
Dark eyes coud not help darting to the clock that suddenly appeared in sight once more. There, that was interesting! But wait, she didn't like it last time that he said... instead Althalus' eyes wandered over the object, taking in its dull shinyness and odd watchface. Very pretty!
---TBC----
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:19 am
Kel-chan's Journal, October 11th
====================
Dear Diary,
Finally I got a day away from the children!... Heh, but it was about them that Daniel and I went into Durem today. I can't believe it's nearly Althalus' birthday already. It seems so odd... I guess one should call it a birthday, seeing as he did... appear that day.
What can it be that brings those children from books? I heard another two were born in the Library's depths this last week, a boy, and a girl for my friend Jamie. What is it that brings the Library to choose a guardian, or even the guardian to pick that particular book? I remember that day all I'd done was bring Auriga to see Pippin, since we'd met briefly and they'd said to drop by. But then that strange strange sound... Others I've spoken to have been drawn by other things. It all confuses me sometimes... For example what is that great Book on the pedestal? And why the daemons? I'm trying to work on a theory about them, but it really won't work until Althalus grows a bit and can explain it to me properly. I'm sure they're not just pets. The some of newer ones have got the oddest powers, and some seem so ordinary... I can't decide whether Stealth's colourchanging is a power or not. She looks nothing like a chameleon, more like a gecko! And does she talk to Althalus? I'm sure she does, because otherwise the random pauses my little boy makes whilst he stares at his daemon wouldn't make sense.
Anyway.
I can't decide what to get him for a present still. Auriga and Alex are getting him a big red plushie, but I spent all day browsing the shops of Durem and couldn't think of anything. Daniel suggested his presnt should be sewing up his pockets, to stop him hoarding things. Seriously! Every time I undress that little rascal for bedtime, his pockets are full of random bits and pieces. He pleads that I keep them, so they go on the side table, and always find their way back into hispockets the next day. Until he gets bored with them that is.
So! I have four days to get my little boy a present. Arrgh... I hope my brain will work a little better soon. And then it's Hallowe'en, with costumes to make and trickletreating to organise... -.-
~ Kel
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 2:40 pm
 "Us first!" Insisted Auriga, patting the parcel between her and Alex on the sofa. The kitsune girl grinned; for once she was in one of her better moods, where everything was happy and sparkly instead of snappy and dour. She bounced little Laurel on her knee lightly, arms wrapped round the treebabe who giggled excitedly, green curls fading against green fur. Kel was sitting in the armchair with Daniel on the footstool next to her. The 'shifter had become one of the family slowly, and now most people accepted that he and Kelinor were living together. A large rectangular object was on the table next to him, draped in a bright cloth. Ralph was sitting on the floor with the other pets clustered around him, loosely encircling the star of the show, how clapped his hands and squealed.
Althalus had already had the excitement of his very first birthday cake; it was late afternoon and the birthday boy still had chocolate smears on his face despite his mother's best efforts. And now he had presents coming! He could barely remember last Christmas, but that had been highly enjoyable as far as he could judge. And the wrapped objects in the living room were driving him crazy with curiousity. What could they BE? He ran about from knee to knee, silently imploring for that curiousity to be satisfied, and immediately dashed to Auriga's side when she spoke.
Kelinor smiled tolerantly. "Alright. You and Alex first. Sit still, Althalus, or you won't be allowed to open it." The toddler tried and failed to do as asked, wriggling into place next to his sisters. His bandana slowly skewed over to one side; he pushed it back with impatient fingers, allowing Stealth to take a small leap to his hand while it was close. The lizard-daemon scampered down to sit in the crook of his elbow, blurring to the fading summer tan that Althalus' arm was coloured. At a nod from their mother, Auriga grinned and picked up the crackling parcel that was half as big as Althalus himself. Alex leant forward, supporting wide-eyed Laurel and allowing the baby a better look. The kitsune did have to lean back again however as scraps of paper went flying and floating to litter the ground. At Auriga's birthday a month back, the Astra girl had carefully opened each present, saving the paper and doing everything neatly; and Althalus thought where's the fun in that?? He tore the remains of the paper off with a happy laugh and Stealth jumped on the furry plushie that now occupied all of the little boy's lap.
"She's called Sakhi!" said Auriga, anxious to point out all the thought that had gone into the present. "I thought of that name!"
"And I picked the red and gold colours for you, Althalus," added Alex, smiling as Althalus happily hugged the large lion plushie to him, red fur doing a good impression of Stealth as it merged with the red jumper and red bandana of the little boy. And the daemon, surprise surprise, had turned a vivid red to compliment it all. It rather hurt the eyes...
"Althalus, what do you say?" reminded Kel with a grin. Althalus looked non-plussed for a moment before shouting out "T'ankoo Sasha, t'ankyou 'Riga!" and dropping the plushie on the sofa to stand and jump across Auriga's lap to wobble on the cushions and cling to both of his sisters. Laurel clapped softly and burbled; she probably didn't understand what was going on, but it was all fun. Kelinor wondered when he had started calling her Guardian Sasha; Alex must have taught it to him herself. It was another name for Alexandra, she did recall... perhaps the toddler had latched onto that name instead of Alex. She was interrupted in her musings by a soft tap on her elbow.
"Me next?" joked Daniel softly, imitating the younger ones with humour in his pale blue eyes.
Kel smiled, and leaned on his shoulder briefly as she continued watching Althalus absorbed with his new plushie. "Why not? Althalus, over here now, huh?"
"I have a present for you as well, you see," Daniel said with all seriousness, standing up and heading over to the desk at the side of the living room, which had a curious square object draped in a blanket resting over it. Althalus gasped and jumped up, attaching himself to the man's leg; he'd seen that strange thing as soon as they had come downstairs that morning, and it hummed! It was for him? Stealth appeared from somewhere inside his clothing and scampered up on top of the maroon bandana, perched precariously on the toddler's head. How exciting!
"Are you ready?" Daniel asked dramatically, leaning down to untangle the Forgotten from his leg. "You have to be very quiet now..."
Althalus shut his mouth obidiently and put his hands on the desk edge, pulling himself up a little so he could see as the 'shifter pulled the blanket off carefully.
The little boy found himself staring at... his reflection? Which slowly resolved itself into the glass side of a tank full of water, where small things gently floated to and fro. EH?
One of the things came up to the glass edge, as if curious at the little face staring back at it. It was a fish? But so prettily coloured!
After getting a nod of approval, the toddler scrambled up on the chair, unsure of whether this was a really cool or really boring present, but counting and examining the elegant fish inside.
    
"They're koi, Althalus, and they're all yours..." Daniel put his hand on the back of the chair and leaned over the tank to watch as well. "That means you get to name them and remind us when to feed them and so on." Althalus looked up questioningly, and remembered he should be smiling. Beside him one of the koi nibbled gently at the glass, and then let out a small air bubble, almost of surprise. And that made the boy break out in a true giggle, and he grinned up at Daniel.
"T'ank - you! I really get to name them myself??"
"Of course!"
"But how about do that in a minute, huh Althalus?" Kelinor chimed in from back by the sofa, carefully handing Laurel to Auriga for a moment. The little boy looked down from his perch on the small chair, and gasped as he scrambled down to run back to his mother. Daniel quirked an amused eyebrow at his mate; to be honest, they'd expected that reaction about the koi, but they'd probably grow on the boy, and anyway, they liked them.
Kel swept Althalus off the floor and onto her lap, careful not to dislodge the small lizard-daemon that perched atop his head.
"Guess what, trouble! I've got a present for you now..."
Althalus tried to restrain his bouncing and sat still for a moment as Kel reached around awkwardly to pull a small package wrapped in red and gold from her pocket. It crackled as she handed it over solemnly.
"This is a very important thing, Althalus. You know how I study ancient people over at the university?" The small boy vaguely nodded, more interested in the small package, but then he did recall. Mother studied ancient people at her work, and she worked in a library there! Not his Library, but another one... his nod became more vigourous as he looked up at the redhead.
"Well, these ancient people were very good at making lucky charms," Kel wrapped her arms around the little boy. "Now, I thought it would be really useful if my accident-prone, trouble-seeking little Althalus had a bit of luck to see him through..."
The toddler wasn't quite sure what she had said, apart from the lucky bit. Luck was a word that resounded in the little Forgotten's head, and he perked up. At a nod, he eagerly yet carefully tore into the small package, in case whatever was inside was valuable. He tipped it up, and a long thing piece of golden metal slid into his palm, the chain coiling down on top of it. The charm itself was about as long as the boy's largest finger; he eyed the gleaming metal with awe as Kelinor gently picked up the chain to let the charm dangle in fron of his face.
"This is a lucky charm, with your own name written on it in heiroglyphs, or picture writing. That's why it looks different from when we write your name..."
The dark-ringed eyes of the toddler were mesmerised as he touched one finger against it gently. His very own good luck charm! He didn't say anything, but let his head be tipped forward as the redhead clipped the chain carefully around his neck. The charm hung cool and somewhat heavy against his chest, but a feeling of excitement washed over the little boy. This surely was one of the best brithday presents ever!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
