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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:02 am
[Eclipse Part I- Contact]
Why did Des bring Xue and Kar outside at dark/light time?
DS smiled wearily. She had told them both already, but Xue never remembered anything for long. At least Karan was quiet for once. He was silent, sitting in her lap, one hand fiddling with some toy she hadn't seen before, barely awake. Carefully she pulled at it, hoping to examine it.
Wh why why? confused
She looked up, still gently tugging. "We're going to watch something very special in the sky. It's called an eclipse, a solar eclipse. And what happens is that the moon comes between the earth and the sun, blocking out the light." When there was no response to this, her head turned to see what happened, the toy forgotten.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...
A smirk. It was earlier than they were used to getting up. The sun had only tinted the sky blue pink for less than an hour. It seemed odd that a solar eclipse would be so close to dawn, but the almanac was never wrong.
Still, DS mused as she leaned against a tree, it would be a good half hour at least before the eclipse began. Enough time to take a little nap. After all, Xue was already asleep, and Karan was usually dozing off around this time. No harm could come of her catching a few winks.
Later she would add that to the list of famous last words she kept on the fridge next to the week's shopping list, whatever art the kids did, and the two photos topping the collage of junk.
Just as DS's eyes fluttered closed, Karan's snapped open. He was still clutching the strange object his "mother" was puzzling over. Her hand was still lying on top of it. Frowning, the Legend pulled his prize out and held it against his chest. Time and necessity had taught him to share, but there were some things that he just wouldn't let other people touch, and that was one of them.
The item in question was the strange round mirror that he had found himself holding after the first time he saw the shiny lady. Its shadows often changed, which was as interesting to watch as the box in the living room. Yet today it was shining brightly, all traces of darkness gone from the polished surface. It not only reflected light, but seemed to emit its own, a glow that hinted at things to come.
Karan tilted the mirror towards him, curious if it would change. But this time no shadows appeared. Instead, as the surface was tipped skywards, it caught a ray from the rising sun- and froze. The light seemed to solidify, creating a straight path between the sun and the mirror.
When did that get there, the Legend thought as his eyes were drawn aside. Another orb had appeared, barely smaller than the sun, and also barely visible in the growing daylight. It was approaching the bright orange sphere at an astonishing rate, far too fast to be normal. Within seconds it had come into range of the sun; the two circumferences merged-
Time seemed to stop for a moment. Karan's eyes closed and opened, confused. Both globes had halted in place, the light was still fixated in the middle. No one moved, even through their slumber. Not a single blade of grass on the lawn was out of place.
And then it was over as soon it had started. The sun had resumed rising, the moon continued its course directly across the path of dawning light, and the frozen ray evaporated into nothingness. In its place was a now familiar figure, hovering between celestial bodies, between heaven and earth, between Karan and the mirror, which had floated out of his hands to rest comfortably two feet off the ground.
"Greetings, my dream, my light," she called, silvery dress fluttering softly though there was no trace of wind. "My son."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:04 am
[Eclipse Part II- Totality]
All Karan could do was stare. He didn't hear anything else after those first words, didn't feel the dewy grass beneath him. He barely even noticed the sun and moon continue along their intersecting paths, though he did find it hard to ignore the fact that the sky was getting more and more dark. The smaller orb that was the moon was drawing itself in front of the sun, obscuring the light that tinted the sky all the colors of dawn. Now it was becoming darker, as if the sun had changed its mind and decided not to awaken the world. It was a curious sight, but only half of the picture.
The diminishing light had its affect on the woman as well. As the sky darkened, so did the glow that seemed to radiate from her person. In addition each moment seemed to hurt her, as if the darkness was the source of a pain that coursed through her blood.
Almost in answer to an unasked question, she spoke again, commanding Karan's ears to pay attention once more. "It is not the darkness that hurts me, but the effort to keep the sun asleep. Yet it can never entirely be asleep, can it, my sun?"
She wasn't calling him her child, Karan realized. She was confused, and thought that the light from his mirror was the sun. But the sun was behind her, she just had to turn around to see that.
The woman's eyes crinkled, but once she sorted through the infantile thoughts she let out a laugh. It was a sweet, melodious sound, yet it had a dark undertone that made Karan's skin crawl. "No. You are him, just as much as you are me. And yet you are neither of us at all. He tied you here, to the land of your... parents." The last word was spit out with great distaste, nearly a curse. "He has doomed you, my sun."
Darkness enveloped her as she spoke, each word more and more of an effort. "This was the only way I could reach you. You do understand, don't you? I'm doing this for you."
As DS would have put it, the situation was as clear as mud. All the Legend understood was that the woman liked him and wanted to do something for him. Was she putting out the light so he could go back to sleep? Or so that he would wake up?
"Oh, but you don't understand," she cried, wringing her hands together. "But you must, you must! I- we depend on it!"
The moon inched its way along, depriving the sky of yet more illumination, but at this point the woman didn't seem to notice. She was muttering softly, as if she had forgotten that Karan was even there. "No, he can't have been right. It's not possible. He's just trying to trick me, that's all. This must be another one of his deceptions."
He? For a brief moment Karan thought that she was referring to him, but that didn't make any sense. He wasn't trying to hurt her. He wanted to help, if he could.
"Not you," the woman rasped, her voice becoming harsh from the strain. "Him. It's all his fault. Him, HIM."
A flash of light pulsed from behind the moon, trickling down the thinning beam that connected the sky to the mirror floating before Karan. It clouded, then showed someone who he'd certainly met before, an image of bright golden armor and red hair.
Karan took one look at the picture and screamed.
At the exact same time, the woman screamed. Or did she? The voice didn't sound like the one she had used before. Part did, but there was something that had been added.
Behind her was darkness, tainted only by a faint wispy halo of light. The string that connected the mirror to the sky broke and vanished. Faint bits of silver awoke in the center of the golden circle, yet emitted no light whatsoever.
You again. I figured as much.
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:06 am
[Eclipse Part III- Passage]
I knew I should have taken care of you when I had the chance. The disembodied voice throbbed in Karan's eardrums, slowly taking on a familiar tone. But familiar from where?
You're a threat. Now I see that, and I won't forget.
The strange duality of the voices was also somehow familiar. It was a mesh of two knowns, creating an unknown that Karan failed to recognize. As the echoes faded, he dared to open his eyes again.
The contrast of harsh darkness with stark brightness had vanished, leaving an almost normal looking sky. The sun and moon were still crossed, yet they had started to pull apart, and the halo of fire was replaced with a more normal looking cresent.
The woman still hung in the sky, though her image was distorted and jagged around the edges. Her eyes had a glazed-over look that was visible even from the ground. As she looked up, they cleared, and she started back to herself.
"I cannot warn you much more than I have, my sun. You must remember, and hurry! Practice your gifts, for there are many you have not used yet."
Her voice took on a different tone as she continued, one more distant and cold. "See what cannot be seen. Hear what cannot be heard. Separate soul from body, and it is possible to touch the stars themselves. Unravel the mystery that connects the stars, and find what lies within."
The image gave one last shudder and tore in half, both sides vanishing to reveal the sun, bright as noon. The moon was nowhere in sight.
"What the- did we miss it?" DS looked around with bleary eyes. It didn't look like dawn anymore- more like midday. "What time is it?"
Xue thinks next time they should do that at night so they don't miss it. stressed
"Not a bad idea," DS mused. "Karan, I'm so sorry we missed it." She lifted the infant from his seat next to her, and was surprised to find him wide awake. That was unusual, but it wouldn't last long.
Karan was already falling asleep, but he still clung as tightly as ever to the mirror at his side. The events of the morning were running through his mind clearly and swiftly. Before nodding off, the final words that the lady had said repeated in his head.
"Call my name, and I shall come, to light the way and show the true path of the divine. Call upon me... upon..."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:07 am
[Eclipse Part IV- Crossings]
In unison with the moon and sun parting, the egg that rested in Karan and Xue's bedroom cracked down the middle. The ribbons that decorated its shell fluttered from the motion, then vanished inside. They would not remain there for long.
DS entered the room humming softly. Karan was cradled in her arms, fast asleep. She smiled and set him down in his makeshift bed, carefully arranging the pillows around him and covering the mess with a blanket. Once finished, she crossed the room and gazed at the dresser that served as a table, bearing the different cages and tanks of the growing menagerie.
Blinking, she wiped her eyes and looked again.
Nestled between the cage of a dozing squirrel and the bowl that held the two black fish was a largeish... what was it exactly? It was greyish-white with black markings, and had gold and blue ribbons much like the ones that decorated its egg (now in pieces). It opened its eyes, one at a time, showing gold and blue again briefly before they shut.
"Er..."
The creature was bigger than its egg had been. And it had been fairly sizeable. It wouldn't fit on top of the dresser for long- it was already pushing the bowl that held a sunny yellow frog off one side. Its tail swayed back and forth in front of him, and nearly dropped into the fishbowl once or twice before settling in front of the animal.
It seemed that this charge of hers attracted animals like she seemed to attract... well, charges.
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:09 am
[Eclipse Part V- Penumbra]
This time she had it all planned out. They had missed the solar eclipse, but the lunar one that came two weeks later would be all theirs. She'd made a huge picnic, which was now spread on the large red and white plaid tablecloth, half eaten. Everyone in the house had gotten dragged outside this time. Yes, DS had told herself, this would be fun.
That was an hour ago, and after eating and snuggling up together, everyone had fallen asleep. Perhaps bringing Sirry along to lean on wasn't the best idea, DS thought as nodded off, holding Linnea and Xue tightly. Everyone was fast asleep.
Everyone except Karan.
The food had been yummy (especially dessert), and Xue played a fun game with him with the ball, but now that everyone had gone to sleep he was bored. So bored that he didn't even notice the eerie fog settle in. It was more smoke then fog, a dark grey that stuck to everything it touched. In minutes it was impossible to see more than two feet in front of him, and Karan finally looked around, though for what he wasn't sure.
"Dere we go."
A short woman dressed in a tunic and slacks that matched the color of the fog exactly whistled to herself as she approached. In one hand she carried a small black vial that spewed smoke, spilling it everywhere. She cut the air with the other, leaving telltale swirls. It didn't take long to reach her goal, and when she did she grinned widely, revealing silvery teeth.
"Ey, you. Mastah wants ta see ya, an what mastah wants, mastah gets."
She plucked Karan from his spot, chattering on as she carted him off. "Ey, mastah always gets whut mastah wants. An if ey don, no one gets no sleeping. 'Penny,' ey sez, 'I wan dat boyo.' An so mastah gets ya, not like ay can do nuffink."
Karan trembled, afraid to struggle, afraid not to. He settled for leaning back towards his family, reaching for them, for the ball he'd left on the ground. It was still visible, and so was something that made Karan's eyes widen.
He was still on the blanket, in the same position he'd been before the fog. The only difference was that the apparition's eyes were closed, as if sleeping.
"Yoh, dis ain't nuffink bu a dream. Mastah's orders. Yeh won get hurted nun, so stop ya squirmin." Scowling, the woman disentangeled her burden's fingers from her arm. "Stop dat. Dis won take lon."
He stopped. He was afraid to disobey her. In her own right, the woman seemed harmless enough. She hadn't hurt him yet, or yell, or make his eyes burn. She reminded him a little of the nice shiny lady- they both had grey clothes and hair. Except this woman was shorter, squatter, and her black hair was cut unevenly around her shoulders. She wasn't nearly as impressive, but if he made trouble she might not bring him back. So Karan waited, fingering the two charms that hung from his waist nervously, and hoped that whoever this "mastah" was, they'd reach him soon.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:11 am
[Eclipse Part VI- Umbra]
"Penny, that's far enough."
They hadn't gone far at all- in fact, there was the oddest sensation that they hadn't moved at all, and that it was just the scenery that changed, bringing a man dressed in the same tunic and pants to them. His hair was black as well, though a few inches shorter. Instead of a bottle he held a small white pouch which seemed full, though it was hard to tell.
The woman guffawed. "Um, nothin doin wron. I jus got im, like ya said."
"Penny, give him here. You'll be back on duty soon, and you should work off whatever you've been taking."
"You's be back on soomer," the woman retorted, though she did transfer Karan to the man's waiting arms. "I get ta start, an I get ta en, but nuffink beteen."
The man rolled his eyes. "Go rest, and I'll give you an extra five minutes." Before waiting for a reply, he started walking again. His speech was far clearer than the woman's slurred mumbling, but it still made little sense to Karan. "Silly woman. No wonder she was placed at the outside. I'm far more trustworthy than she is..."
A hoarse scream broke the silence that had fallen when the man started talking, followed by loud, rattling moans.
Karan stiffened. He had been allowing himself to be carried away, but if they were taking him somewhere to get hurt he had to get away! He started to cry from sheer panic, flailing to get loose. No one was going to hurt him, the lady promised! But the lady wasn't there anymore, so who was going to keep him from ending up like whoever screamed?
"Stop that. We're almost there. In fact..." The man stopped at the edge of a clearing that was devoid of fog- when had it disappeared? "We're here."
"Yes, you are."
A now painfully familiar man was lying prone in the center of the clearing. His golden armor was gone, and he was dressed as simply as the two who had brought Karan here, though his clothes were tinted bronze. His carefully tanned skin was covered with black and purple blotches, and a few crimson scrapes. The brilliant red hair that was usually tamed was dusty and frizzed out, creating the illusion of a firey halo. He spoke again, without getting up.
"Thank you, Umbra, for bringing him. He is unharmed?"
"Your servant sir. The lady will be along shortly?"
"Quite. Now leave us."
This time Karan tried as hard as he could to stay with the gray-clothed man, clinging to his hands, his arms, his clothes. But it was no use, and soon he had been placed on the ground next to the man. He tried to run (or at least crawl) away, but found himself unable to move.
Tears starting to fall again, he whimpered and buried his face in his hands, as much to hide his eyes as to pretend he was home, safe.
The golden man sat up, wincing. "Forgive my rudeness," he sighed, adressing the baby as he would an equal. "Being swallowed alive can be painful when done right, and this time it wasn't. Luckily I should be fine by tonight. And forvive my rudeness during our last encounter, as well."
"You, my boy, have something I need. And something I'll stop at nothing to get."
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:12 am
[Eclipse Part VII- Orbit]
The man reached over, making Karan flinch instinctively. But all he did was offer a hand. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced this cycle. I go by many names, but you may call me Inti."
"Then should I be the Mama Quilla to your Inti?"
The same woman Karan was used to limped into view, leaning heavily on a cane that bore a striking resemblance to a snake. Her gown fit more loosely than usual, and though her general appearance was the same, she looked older than Karan was used to. As if sensing this, she shook her head remorsefully. "Not everyone can look as good as old flashlight over there."
Finally, someone he knew! Karan waved his arms frantically at the woman, barely noticing that something about her wasn't right. She was there, and she promised to protect him, so she had to take him away from the bad man. Now.
The man, Inti, had other ideas. "But you make a much better Ixchel, my dear. Besides, I simply thought that would be the best name to use. It would probably be easiest for him to remember, you know."
"And what gives you the right to bring him here at all, you old fool?" The woman shook her fist angrily. "Didn't we have an agreement?"
"And didn't that agreement include not contacting him at all until he was old enough to understand? Not going and making cryptic appearances when I was off regenerating," Inti retorted.
"That was a plea for help," the woman scoffed, unapologetic.
Inti laughed bitterly. "Oh, was it? Well, it made my devouring far more troublesome-" he gestured at his many bruises and scrapes- "since someone's attention was elsewhere."
Karan fidgeted nervously. He didn't really understand what either adult was saying, but it was obvious that they were mad at eachother. And he knew that when people were mad, they sometimes did bad things. The hatred was almost tangible, and he could feel more of it gathering near him- and near the golden man sitting on the grass. Something bad was going to happen.
Crying out, he tried to warn the woman. "BAD!"
"You certainly didn't attempt to make my rebirth any easier. Allow me to return the favor by making your devouring as painful as possible."
His face looked normal when he lifted his hand; he wasn't enjoying what he was doing. But as if by his command the dense fog rushed to fill the clearing, swallowing the woman. Her proud smile was the last thing anyone could see before she screamed, and was gone.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:13 am
[Eclipse Part VIII- Completion]
Where did she go? Karan blinked, then rubbed his eyes. There had to be something in them, or there was too much smoke, or he just wasn't seeing it. If she was hurt, she couldn't go anywhere, could she? Oc course not. He just had to be missing it. But as the fog cleared it became painfully obvious that there was no one else in the clearing. She could be hiding... but that wasn't likely. She was gone. Completely gone.
Without warning the Legend burst into tears, letting himself fall onto the grass in a full blown temper tantrum. That mean man made the nice lady go boom! And now she wouldn't give him presents anymore, and there was no one to keep him from going boom, and he was SCARED.
Inti let his guest get out his crying for a few minutes. It really was too soon, he admitted with some regret. Still, no use worrying about what couldn't be changed. They would simply have to make do with the events they had.
"She's not dead," he said softly. "We both need to be eaten, from time to time, so we can be reborn. Ixchel will return."
What? Karan stopped and turned his head, glaring at the man with one gold eye. She wasn't gone forever?
"You'll see her in the sky tomorrow as usual, though she might not be as bright for a while." He indicated his wounds again. "Rebirth is painful- and neither of us helped eachother this time. Power, my boy, is a terrible and great thing. Everyone wants it... but does it really help anyone in the long run?"
His words were heavy, and he spoke them tiredly, as if they were a burden he had been carrying for far too long. But their utterance gave him no relief from the pain he had been sentenced to, only more regrets. They only had one more chance, and if the others didn't realize soon, they would all be hurt in the long run. And these scars would not heal, no matter how much time they were given.
"Umbra. Penumbra."
"Yes master?" The man and woman who had brought Karan here reappeared, both looking refreshed.
"Make sure he returns safely." To Karan he gave a smile and a pat on the head. "Please, be careful... for all of us."
It was all so confusing, but the man sounded hurt... and sorry. Maybe he wasn't as scary and mean as he'd thought. Maybe. He reached out and patted the man's knee carefully, before he was picked up by the two guards.
"Baibai."
"Goodbye."
"Yeah, that's enough." The woman shifted his weight, cradling him securely. "Do you have the stuff, Um?"
"Of course." The man produced a pouch, the same one he had been carrying before. After fiddling with the strings he upended the bag over the boy, sprinkling him with a dusting of fine white powder. "Three, two-"
Karan fell. The others were still there, and clearly not falling, but he was, head over heels, tumbling down through the darkness. As suddenly as he had started he stopped, in the same position he had been in before. His eyes were wet- the first thing he had felt since he'd been taken away, and he opened them slowly.
"Karan? Oh thank gods, I was so worried!"
They were home, on the lawn. Linnea and Xue each looked over one of DS's shoulders worriedly, at the baby in her arms. Everything else was the same as he'd left it, even the half-eaten food. The time didn't appear to have changed either, except the moon's ominous disappearance from the night sky.
"You wouldn't wake up, and I was starting to think... well, never mind." She raised a hand to the sky, bright with stars, but no moon. "It's a lunar eclipse! Isn't it beautiful?"
Lifting his eyes heavenward, Karan shuddered. It wasn't beautiful at all. But he remembered Inti's words, and wished on the brightest star in the sky that they were true.
At the wish, the star brightened, fed by the light of hope- but Karan was already asleep.
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:14 am
May 5th, 2005. Thursday.
Well, after the scare I had with Karan, we've been staying inside a lot. He seems a lot better now though. So much so, in fact, that we went shopping together today. The whole family, or at least what of it was around the house. So myself, Karan, Xue, and Linnea. Not much family, but enough.
Even though were were just going for food, we ended up at a neat little shop. The merchandise was well made, I could tell, and moreover affordable, so I decided that everyone could get something. I treated myself to a new sewing kit. Not that I can sew well at all, but I thought it might get me to do some mending that needs doing.
Linnea chose a music box, and a matching one for her friend Momo. Xue wanted a fancy brush pen they had. Karan didn't seem interested in anything until we reached the section with the jewelry- there he went nuts, pointing at things. Since most of it was inexpensive, we bought it. The touching thing was that he didn't choose anything for himself, but all for friends. I helped choose things they would like. "Paa," for example, is going to get a necklace with feathers on it. She should like that. And "Gwee" likes most things, so we chose a butterfly bracelet. For "Chaa," who I think is Chandra, he decided on a blue stone with wings. I think he remembers hers, even though I'm sure I've seen her without them. Still, he insisted on that one, and on "Dmah's" necklace. A biohazard symbol, in red and black. I suppose the colors are appropriate, but I do hope the boy doesn't take it the wrong way. I also got a couple things in reserve, just in case he makes new friends.
As we were making our way to checkout we ran across a nifty section that sold sprockets. I'm still not sure what they do, but the description said they were element batteries. Karan immediately pointed to one with a moon on it- Lunar. Solar after than, and in the end he had picked about ten of them. I did purchase a few for myself- they looked rather interesting, I admit- as well as a few for Yeine and Eriol, for when they get back. I hope the gifts are appreciated. Karan certainly loves his. They hover above his box, the best mobile in the world. Lots of colors and motion, but they're silent, and there are no cords to worry about.
We'll have to come by that shop again sometime...
~DS
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:17 am
[RP- Visiting Pink, Maddie, and Guinie]
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:18 am
Thing that go bang in the night- Meeting Alun and Zita Well, it had taken a bit of searching, but eventually she thought she had the right place. SP, she had given Puchiko an address for the HQ of these so-called "Legends" but first Puchi had lost the slip of paper it was written on, then she forgot about it, and when it somehow turned up in her cereal this morning (along with a pointed look from Eros) Puchiko had decided to take it upon herself to find the place, and introduce Lun to his peers. That was this morning. The sky was now steadily darkening and Puchiko's arms felt numb from supporting Lun's weight. He wasn't that heavy - what, with not being solid and all - but the bangles and the strange egg he seemed to never let go of had some weight, that was for sure! Eventually, Puchiko stumbled to the front door of Legend HQ and pushed it open with her foot. "Hello?" she called out wearily. Please let this be the place. By all that is quantum mechanic-y, let this be the place. With a relieved sigh, Puchiko set Lun down on the floor, and the baby immediately set about looking around the room with a vacant expression. He stuffed his fingers into his mouth and began to suck on them, "ooo"ing politely at his surroundings. "Look familiar?" Puchiko asked the baby, with a sigh. No reply from Lun. Well, she had visited twenty places already. If this wasn't it, then she was giving UP. Guinevere ran ahead of Pink. "Can't catch meeeeee!" She squealed with delight, waddiling from one foot to the next down the path to the legend HQ. She paused at the steps and brought herself up them very, VERY slowly. Steps were a hard one to master with such little feet and Teddy under her arm wasn't helping her, just being an added weight. Pink walked up behind her and opened the door, ushing herself and Guinevere inside. She stopped herself before bumping into someone. "Hello there!" She said happily, plopping her bag down as Guinevere starred up into the arms of the adult, beaming from ear to ear when she saw another legend. The planets surrounding the yellow Legend's head began to swing around more quickly, as if the speed of their orbits had increased; Lun was, obviously, excited to see this strange, new person. Giving an delighted, wet squeal, Lun waved a chubby hand at Guinevere, though he remained seated where he was. His legs were nowhere near sturdy enough to stand yet, let alone walk, and he found crawling to be a hassle that was best avoided. "Hello there," Puchiko echoed, raising an eyebrow. Where had this girl come from? She stepped aside, so that she was no longer blocking the doorway, and smiled warily. Well, at least Lun seemed to like her. Then again, Lun liked everyone.
Another day, another playdate. Or so DS wished, but she really hadn't managed to get Karan in for a visit in weeks. It had started to show in the Legend's behavior. That morning he was so fussy he refused his breakfast, nearly scratched DS's eyes out when she tried to wash his clothes, and wasn't even interested in his toys. Finally she decided that perhaps the both of them needed some time to visit.
Upon entering her eyes darted to two adults, one familiar, one not. She smiled and carefully set Karan and her bag down. "Pink? What's shaking?"
What's shaking? She really DID need some company above the age of three.
Finally. Karan was starting to wonder if they'd ever go anywhere. But they had, and finally he would get some real playtime! Xue was nice, but he wasn't as fun as his other friends. Speaking of whom...
"Gwee," he cooed, waving one hand in the air.
Lun's glance went from one Legend straight to the next, white eyes now focused on Karan or - more precisely - the strange emblems on his scarf. Odd, those looked awfully familiar; something about them struck Lun funny, though he couldn't place what it was, exactly. Ooh, but hey! New person! "Burfle!" Lun replied gleefully, copying Karan's gesture and offering him yet another wave. Wow! So many people, and they all looked so different! How nice. Another one! Cripes. Puchiko smiled and glanced at Pink and DS, a little cryptically. "You two know one another, I guess? Allow me to introduce myself in that case. Professor Puchiko - call me Puchi." Introductions made. Woohoo. "My name's Pink, and this is Guinevere." She said, poingint down the Guinevere who was moving quickly towards Karan. In seconds she was on him, glomping him. "KARAAAAAN!" She said happily, having a short attention span and forgetting the new legend for a moment because he was not insight. Pink laughed and pointed to the couch. "How bout we have a seat? You can just set your baby down with Guinnie and Karan, they play nice, I promise."
"Oh, I don't know, Karan's not in a good mood today." DS let out a sigh, then extended a hand towards the stranger. "Forgive my rudeness... I'm DS, and this young man is Karan. It's a pleasure."
A flash of gold caught Karan's eye, but before he could examine it further, he was buried by Guinivere's snuggles. "Gwee," he complained loudly, wiggling both his arms and his legs. Another day he might have enjoyed the contact, but he was in no mood to deal with it. Besides, he wanted to see what the other thing was, the gold one."Well, he'll crawl over to them when he wants to," Puchiko replied, shrugging. "Though he doesn't move around much, I've noticed. I think he's lazy. They'll probably have to go over to him." Still, she took Pink's advice and sat down on the couch, hands fisted tightly on her lap. Social situations. Awk-waaard. "Nice to meet you, Pink and DS," Puchi added, a bit belatedly. Meanwhile, Lun watched with interest the events unfolding between Karan and Guinevere. What was that? He hadn't ever seen anyone do THAT before. Wave, yes. But that was certainly a new gesture! Lun logged it away in his brain and sat where he was, smiling vapidly. The rate at which the planets spun was beginning to slow down as Lun adjusted to the amount of people and new surroundings. Guinevere got off of Karan and put the back of her non-tattooed hand to Karan's head. "Fwever?" She asked in a concerned voice looking him up and down. Was her friend sick? As she was looking over Karan she noticed his gaze to the new legend. She suddenly re-remembered him, and pointed to him. "Lets go!" She said, crawling over toward the couch of adults and the new legend expecting Karan to follow her. "I'm sure they'll come over." Pink said with a laugh. "Are you new to legend...dom?" She asked Puchi. "I haven't seen you around before." "Fairly new, yes," Puchiko replied, with a nod. "I still don't know what the hell he is, really, or how he got here, but yeah. I think this is where he belongs. I know another guardian - SP, maybe you know her? - and she gave me the address, but things have been pretty hectic back at the labs," she explained. Two mutant break outs. Bloody mutants! Puchiko got her revenge though. Sweet, sweet revenge. Lun blinked placidly at the people approaching, shifting to sit his egg in his lap, and smiled brightly. These new people, they looked so interesting! And the strange designs on that one boy's scarf kept nagging at him, but he placed that in the back of his mind. Again, Lun raised his hand and wiggled his fingers at them; his own version of a wave. DS took a seat on Pink's other side. Even though she was interested in this Professor Puchiko, there were a few things that she had to discuss with her old friend at some point. Besides which, she simply felt more comfortable letting someone else do the talking. If she was allowed to start talking, she'd never stop.
That was better. Hauling himself upright again, Karan looked around. Ah, there it was. But Guin wanted him to follow. Choices, choices... He wasn't entirely happy with Guin, so he decided to investigate the other Legend instead. Besides, something about him looked awfully familiar.
"Ha-oo?" Karan queried, pointing to Alun curiously. "SP. Hm... sounds familiar." Pink said, drifting off in thought before poking DS in the side. "Do we know her and why are you so quiet tonight?" Guinevere, turning around and not seeing Karan follow her, she shrugged her shoulders and plopped herself at the bottom of Puchi's feet, reaching up with her 'good' hand toward the new legend and waving it. "HEWWO!" She said rather loudly, smiling from ear to ear. Oh! Alun had been over this before, he knew how this worked. When people pointed at him, they were telling him his name. Or so Puchiko had led him to think, he wasn't quite sure. But his name certainly wasn't "Ha-oo!" or whatever that other Legend thought it was. Nevertheless, the smile didn't waver from Alun's face and he pressed a finger to his chest and beamed. "Aw-loon," he corrected gently. Alun! That was his name. It was the first word he had learned to speak, mostly because Puchiko kept pointing at him and going, "Alun. Alun. Alun." until he had picked up on it. He was a fairly quick learner, when it was drilled into him. So, was this strange. Puchiko was watching the interplay between the babies moreso than the women seated on the couch with her, obviously amused by the confusion with Alun and his lack of knowledge surrounding the word "hello." "Cute." she commented, patting Guin on the head. The name did sound rather familiar. "Was she around during the hot coffee incident? Otherwise, I don't know." Her two cents offered, DS sank back into silence.
"Awoon," Karan repeated. That was simple enough. But the rest of the unknown Legend looked anything but simple. He decided to go and examine him up close after all, crawling clumsily on his hands and knees. His clothes were slippery and slightly damp, but that did not seem to impede his progress much. Finally in front of the other two, he sat down again.
The first thing that he noticed was his new friend's yellowy skin. It used to be a color he feared, but now he wasn't so sure. This one seemed nice... but there was only one way to find out.
"Awoon Gwee pway?"Karan's words rolled off of "Awwon"'s mind like water off a duck's back. So far, the baby mostly responded to visual cues for some odd reason - gestures seemed more simple for it to understand rather than words. In fact, "Aw-loon" seemed like the only word he understood, and the rest of it was just mumbo-jumbo. So he smiled brilliantly and nodded, because he figured that was what Karan would expect, and clapped his hands together once to show excitement. The planets circling his head began to pick up a slightly dizzying pace, but Lun hardly seemed to notice. But - but then the shiny. The shiny pretty thing that hung around this new boy's neck, all shiny and pretty and... and.. Well, shiny and pretty. Lun stared at it, transfixed, and his hand instinctively moved towards it. What was it about those designs? Puchiko blinked. "Coffee incident?" she questioned, intrigued. Guinevere, quite confused as to were Alun actually was finally turned around and spotted him. She quickly got up onto her feet and waddled quickly over to him and Karan, plopping herself down infront of him. "Hi Awoon!" She said happily. "Me is Guinevere." She said slowly, hoping he would understand. He seemed to be one of the new, ity bity ones. She turned when she heard Karan ask about playing and nodded her head feverishly. "Pway Pway!" She said excitedly, clapping her hands together making sure her not good hand stayed covered. "Oh yea I think she was." Pink nodded and smiled to Puchi. "You said something about a lab early, is that where you work?" EEDIT: Guinevere noticed Awoon reaching for Karan's scarves. "Carefull, he sometimes dun like that." She told him, putting her good hand on his to stop him, she didn't want Karan to get upset. Her eyes quickly noticed the plants spinning round and round. "Ooooh." She said, starring at them. Puchiko nodded, beaming. "I run my own underground laboratory. Mostly food stuff, but there's some interesting things going on down there." For instance: creating life, or mutating it. But those were sort of top-secret. "Gweenavah," Alun echoed instinctively, though he was still staring at the brightly colored scarf. A part of it was even almost the same color as him! Lun blinked up at Guin, obviously confused. What did this mean? He glanced back at the scarf, with a slight whimper. Guin's words made absolutely no sense to him, but he finally pieced it together: do not touch. How sad! People could touch Lun whenever they wanted, he didn't mind. They could even play with his egg so long as he didn't break it. Maybe the scarf was really delicate? Smiling at Guin, he pulled his hand back and set it on his lap obediently. Do not touch. Okay, he could do that! He was a good boy. DS smiled sheepishly. "Just a little accident with some coffee. A little boy named Seven spilled some one day. Caused a bit of a stir."
Unaware of the trouble over his scarves, Karan was fiddling with a bag next to him. Clearly no one was going to get anywhere if someone didn't get a toy out. And Karan was clearly the one to do it. Luckily the bag his guardian had brought was nearby, and now open. With great zeal he dived into it, and revealed his favorite planet-studded ball. He showed it off happily, both to Guin, who had already seen it many times, and to Alun, who had not.
As he was displaying his favorite toy, he squinted. The little balls inside the ball looked almost like the little balls floating around Awoon's head. How neat.This seemed to be the place. ...it was, wasn't it? For what must've been the fifth time, Cyrus checked the address on the building with the one that'd been printed on the slip of paper left with Zita. His brain, for the fifth time, assured him that this was the right place. Even so, he likely would've stood on the step and checked the address another time or two if Zita hadn't decided that standing out in the cold was not the thing to do and begun to kick and fuss irritably.
"Right, right," the teen mumbled, pulling open the door and making his way inside. He blinked in surprise at all the people inside - all with babies. Were there a lot of these mysterious babies that appeared like magic, then? "Er.. This is the," he paused to check the slip of paper again, "Legend headquarter's, right..?" Maybe this wasn't the ri- WHOA. That one was yellow - a bit like Rune, he supposed. Cyrus found himself staring at the planets in orbit around Alun - though, really, who wouldn't? It was quite fascinating.
Unless you were Zita, of course. She seemed much more interested simply getting down. After all, how was she to do anything stuck up in Cyrus's arms? He got the hint after a minute or so of squirming and set the girl down on the floor. With a triumphant squeal she pushed herself into a sitting position, peered curiously at the other infants, and...promptly stuck the end of her scarf in her mouth. Ah, the bliss of a child with things to chew on.Lun's jaw dropped at the site of the ball. OH. OH. Okay. Wow. He had to touch that. It was - it was - it was so beautfiul! His eyes went wide at the sight of it and he "ooo"ed in appreciation, once more his hand going out to touch. Then he froze up, bent forward to study it, and grinned. Well! Those looked awful familiar. Beaming with pride, Lun pointed up to his planets. He already had those, see? But those weren't for playing with, he had learned. Anytime someone so much as touched a single planet Lun ended up sprawled on his back or front for some odd reason. The only person who could ever touch them was Lun, and he did so, grabbing a blue planet and carefuly, carefully, pulling it out of orbit to spin in his palm. It took a bit of concentration - written in wrinkles across Lun's see-through forehead - but it lingered, instead of snapping back up into orbit. There, see? He had a pretty, round thing too! Just like Karan. Lun turned expectantly to Guin, waiting for her to pull out her own round object. This was a fun game! "Yep, coffee EVERYWHERE." Pink said in response to DS. "And why is your lab underground? Secret food growings?" She asked with a wink and a slight nudge to Puchi's side. Guinevere petted Awoon on the head gently, carefull not to touch the plants for she was getting better at self control. "Pretty thingies round your head." She commented, pointing at the zomming planets, mesmorized by them untill she heard Karan stirring. Seeing the ball she moved a little bit away from Awoon, setting herself up for the game. "Hello there!" Pink called to the new people that came into the HQ. "For - for reasons!" Puchiko stammered, straightening. Being underground wasn't SUSPICIOUS, was it? She stared around with narrowed eyes, suddenly paranoid, and the unfortunate victim of her glare happened to be poor, unsuspecting Cyrus. "It is!" she barked, not noticing him stare at her own child. "We are Legend guardians. THERE IS NOTHING SUSPICIOUS ABOUT THIS." There. That ought to... clear the air, or something. Alun giggled, under Guin's attentions, head cool to the touch. If she pressed a little harder, her fingers would possibly travel right through Lun's gelatinous skin; as it was, they were already sinking in slightly. Karan had enough experience to know that the round floaty things were special. And if someone showed him something special, he should show something special back. It was only fair. And in this case, he really really wanted to.
He dropped the ball, remembering enough to roll it lightly towards Guinevere. The game had lost some of its interest. Carefully he picked up one end of his long scarves- the golden sun end- and draped it in front of him for Alun to admire. He was starting to like it more himself actually, which made it even more special to share.Lun gaped, obviously in awe, of the silky object being held out in front of him. Was - was he supposed to touch? Was this part of the game? He swallowed and, concentration broken, the little planet danced right back into orbit. It was as if it had never been removed. Lun glanced back over his shoulder at Guin. She didn't want him to touch it last time, but maybe it was all right now? Ah, well, no time like the present! Before any other Legends could react, Lun pressed his palm flat against the scarf with a delighted squeal. Soft! A different kind of soft though, not like Seven's wings, but a sort of... liquidy soft, like his hair. Lun liked this scarf very, very much. Cyrus stared at Puchi - what was she yelling at him for? His ears pinned back as he took on a wide-eyed look of perplexion, tail twitching nervously. "I.. I didn't.. Um. As you say, ma'am?" Hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with that one too much.
Though, she'd had answered his question - sortof. At least he'd found the right place.
Zita tilted her head at the other babies and burbled around her scarf. Why weren't they coming over here? She was much more amazing than all those round things, wasn't she? Not that the round things weren't neat too - very neat, now that she looked closer.
...she dropped her scarf and crawled towards them. Such interesting roundy-things were certainly worthy of her attention! And maybe those other babies too.Guinevere's hand sunk a little into Awoon's head and her eyes light up. "WOOOOW!" She said, rather loudly, watching her good hand sink in and out of her new friend's head as she moved it. She brought her hand back to her chest and asked, "It hurt?" not wanting to do something that would hurt Awoon. The ball stopped before her and she gently rolled it, totally missing Awoon but going towards the new legend. "You...ok Puchi?" Pink asked tentatively, moving a little closer to DS on the couch.
Stage one, acception of his special object- complete. That meant, in the protocol that Karan's mind had invented, that he could touch the round floaty things. That was always how it had worked before. And so with hands outstretched he reached up towards the circle of floating orbs. They all looked so neat! He wondered if they would feel like his ball or not.
Karan may not have noticed the newcomers, but DS did, and scooted closer to Pink in an attempt to make room. As Pink was scooting the other way, her plan wasn't very effective, but that was the way of things. She was also a bit perturbed by the outburst, and decided to reach out to the young man instead.
"It's alright," she said in what she hoped was a soothing voice. "You can sit. We don't bite. I think.""Fine!" Puchiko shrilled. Just fine and dandy! No one suspected a thing. NO ONE. Thus, everything was fine. Deep breaths. In, out, in, out, inhale, exhale, remember your yoga. A pleasant smile finally came to rest on Puchiko's features. "I'm fine, thank you very much," Nope, it didn't hurt one bit! Lun was used to things going through him. Heck, Puchi had poked a spoon in him once and it got stuck, and she had to reach in and pull it out and he barely felt it! Though it did tickle, so he giggled slightly. Guinevere smiled and saw Karan going for the orbs. He had showed Awoon his scarf so he was allowed to play with the orbs. Her hand going through his head was cool and all but the orbs still amazed her. She instinctivly cralwed over to her bag where she had deposited Teddy to bring it back as an offering to Awoon. As she grasped Teddy she noticed the ball she had hit away going towards a new legend. This one had pretty scarves like Karan! She smiled and waved her bad hand at the new legend, exposing it for only a moment before she realized what she was doing and withdrew it back into the arm of her cape. "I know I don't bite." Pink said, looking at Puchi in an unsure if she bit sort of way. The planets felt an awful lot like pebbles that had been smoothed over in water, but oddly enough, they were just as gelatinous to the touch as Alun himself - like they were made out of the same material, or something. But there wasn't much time to analyze the strange texture of the planets. Lun's giggle was suddenly interrupted as he landed face first on the floor, fall broken only by Karan's scarf which, unfortunately, wasn't all that effective. After a moment, Lun pushed himself up, giggling once more. So THAT'S how the game was played! Well, it hurt his nose slightly, but it was fun, he supposed. Karan's turn to fall on his face! Lun grabbed him behind his ears and attempted to push him down on the floor, still bubbling over with laughter. Zita blinked for a moment, staring at the ball rolling towards her. Another blink. ..oh! Of course! It must've come to her because it realized she was best. She flopped onto her belly and reached out to poke at it, letting out a happy coo. This roundy-thing had other roundy-things in it! She wasn't quite sure if it was better than the roundy-things floating around Alun or not, but it was still very neat.
She almost didn't notice Guinevere, only looking up in time to see a brief motion of the girl tucking her hand back into her cape. Tilting her head, she sat up and shook the ball at her. "Wha?" The strange roundy-thing had to have a name, after all.
Cyrus tilted an ear at DS before turning to look at her, managing a bit of a smile. He still seemed a bit on edge from Puchi's outburst, but the woman didn't seem to be dangerous or anything, so it must be safe. That didn't stop him from eyeing her warily as he sat down, doing his best not to crowd the women. "Er.." Well, what now? Introductions seemed most proper.. "I'm Cyrus. And, um, the dark-skinned baby is Zita."Guinevere went to turn back to Awoon when she saw him fall on his face and get up almost in one swoop motion. THAT WAS SO COOL! As she went to crawl back over to him with Teddy she heard the new legend. She waved her good hand in a come here motion. "Thatsa ball." She said, nodding her head to afirm what she just said. "Come pway with us?" She asked the dark-skinned legend before trotting over to Awoon and holding out Teddy. "You play with Teddy, I pway with those!" She said almost flinging Teddy at Awoon as she went toward the planets, grasping her hand around one of the plants, watching her fingers sink into that as well. "My name's Pink and my little girl is in the cape over there, Guinevere." She said, indicating her child with a hand. "Your baby is very cute." She told Cyrus, commenting on the dark-skinned legend. Introductions again. DS half hoped that no other strangers would stop by, but dutifully answered. "I'm DS, and the too-pale boy with the scarves is Karan. It's a pleasure, Cyrus-san."
That felt weird! But why did Awoon go on the floor? Was it a new game he was trying to teach? And why was he pushing him down? Was it his turn? But he could do it by himself! Karan struggled against the pushing, but Guinevere's proximity made it even harder to yank free. There were too many people pushing on him. And next to the floor, it was too dark. Very clearly he inhaled and spoke. "No!" Alun froze, hands still behind Karan's ears, eyes wide. That word didn't make much sense to him, but there was something very stern to it, and Lun retracted his hands sheepishly. Then a fist closed around a planet and the baby fell on to his back, blinking stupidly at the ceiling. That - that one almost hurt, sort of. He didn't like this game! Lun pushed himself up, one palm pressed against the back of his head. His bottom lip trembled and stuck out. His eyes grew wide. And he sucked in a huge breath and let out a shrill, unhappy wail that probably punctured the ear drums of everyone nearby. He grabbed the teddy-bear out of instinct and buried his face into it, sobbing. This game was terrible, and ruined, and awful, and it was all his fault wasn't it? Puchiko covered her ears with a wince. "JEEZE!" she wheezed. That kid had lungs! Or so Puchi assumed, since as far as he could tell, he had no internal organs. Zita stared at Alun. If she'd had any concept of what bowing was, she'd have likely thought that's what he was doing. Though she was entirely lost as to why he was yanking on that other baby... How very strange. She wasn't sure she really wanted to play with those babies. Maybe she'd just stay here and play with this ball-thing. "Baw-el," she said, scowling a bit when it didn't come out quite like Guinevere had said it.
...!! And now the yellow one was crying! How irritating! She dropped the ball and covered her ears, shooting a grumpy look in Alun's direction. He'd gone and interrupted her playtime with the ball! She really felt as though she should do something, but that would mean uncovering her ears, and what if he wailed like that again? ..so she simply sat there and held her ears.
Cyrus seemed rather distracted watching the scene with Alun as well, only half-listening to what the adults were saying now. He could always ask for names again later, if it came down to it. "Um. Should we do something about that?" He flicked an ear hesitantly, trying to resist the urge to get up and separate them. The loud woman might start shouting again, and he'd much rather avoid that, if possible. Besides, it wasn't as though his baby was involved.
There, that was better. Once he was able to, Karan righted himself and was starting to feel better, but that security was short lived. He watched in bewilderment as his new friend started to bawl. What happened? Was something wrong? Did he push back too hard? Did he hurt Awoon? Was it all his fault? Was everyone going to hate him now, forever and ever?
The hurt was contagious, though thankfully the volume remained the same. Karan chose to show his emotion through quiet sniffles. The tears that trickled from his bi-colored eyes spotted the scarf that he held tightly in his tiny hands. It was all his fault, and now everyone would be mad, and Awoon would be hurt, and it was all his fault. Guinevere instinctively dropped the planet as she watched Awoon fall to the ground. "You okay?" She began to ask him before he screamed. Like the others, her hands went to her ears and she winced, moving her head away from Awoon's for the proximety was doing nothing for the saving of her hearing. When she saw Awoon burry her face into Teddy, she put her good hand on Awoon's shoulder, watching it sink in slightly as she tried to pet him. "I sorry." She said, wanting him to feel better. She wanted to hold Teddy for comfort but Awoon was already doing that so it wasn't an option. Pink winced as she heard the scream and relaxed when the child's faced burried into the teddy. "I think they will be ok. We shoudl let them try to handle their problems, builds good skills for when they are older." She said with a nod, moving over closer to DS and creating a space between her and Puchi which she patted. "Have a seat Cyrus." Lun's sobs, now muffled by the teddy-bear, grew steadily softer and softer, until they were all gone and Lun picked his head up, smiling brightly. YEP! Absolutely fine! Why, was something wrong? Having gotten that out of his system, Lun reached out and pet Guin on the head, since he quite enjoyed the petting himself, and offered Teddy back to her. She was awful nice. Lun hoped that many good things happened to her, like... finding cookies! Or milkshakes, as they had proven to be his favorite. Yes, yes, MANY milkshakes for Guin! Good milkshakes! The brown ones. Yummy. There was - was noise from behind him though, and Lun turned his head to glance at Karan. He pulled his hand back from Guin and, obviously distressed once more, stared at him uncertainly before stretching his arm out and placing it on Karan's head. Then, the petting began. Guin did it to him and made him feel better, maybe it'd work with Karan! He hoped. He wanted to make the situation better. People shouldn't be sad, they should be happy! Nevermind the fact that he was crying not even one minute ago, he was all better now, and so Karan should be better too! "Yeah, Lun chills after a bit," Puchiko said, pointing out the obvious. "He's not a big crier, at least, not for long." ... He wasn't mad?
A final tear rolled down Karan's cheek. If Awoon was okay then everything else would be okay too. Right? Of course right.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure. "Okee?"
"Same with Karan," DS offered. "He doesn't get that upset too often. Thankfully."Hesitantly, Zita pulled her hands from her ears. The others didn't seem to be set on deafening her now, and that was always a good thing. She was a bit confused by all the crying though - the other two hadn't been hurt, had they? What reason could they have to be sad? Such a strange bunch they were. Again, the thought that perhaps she should do something about all this came over her.
...and then she caught sight of the ball again. "Ooo~ Baw-el." She scooped it up again and set about bashing it against the floor. It was rather disappointing that the balls inside of it didn't move..
Cyrus frowned a bit, eyeing the babies for a moment longer. At least Zita didn't seem terribly bothered by any of it. "He does seem...um...resilient. ...is it just me or is he made of jell-o?" he blurted."Okee," Lun echoed, seemingly much relieved. What "okee" meant was lost on Lun, but he had found that parroting back words sometimes helped matters. Hopefully, he hadn't made things worse! There, now, Karan seemed much better. Lun smiled approvingly. You know what getting better meant? THAT THING THAT GUIN HAD DONE EARLIER THAN LUN THOUGHT LOOKED LIKE FUN. Karan soon found himself victim to Lun's first hug, which was sort of squishy and weird, much like the rest of Lun. The baby had happily thrown his arms around Karan's waist and squeezed, the back of Karan's clothing passing through his arm slightly. Huh! This was kind of fun. Tickled, too. Lun giggled with delight. Guinevere smiled as Awoon petted her and petted Karan, thinking she had taught him about the petting. She took Teddy back and snuggled it close to her for a few moments before she saw A HUG. Instintively, she knew what she had to do so she did it; leaped onto both of the boys and snuggled both of them. "WUVWUV!" She said happily, squishing them to and fro. Pink laughed. "He seems very resillant and...Jello like." "I've actually run a few tests on Lun's skin," Puchi began enthustiastically, sitting up. Ah! Now THIS was good conversation. "But I can't seem to figure out WHAT he is. His skin doesn't have any cells at all. At all. Like, at freaking all. It's just what it looks like. Yellow... goo. I did some further analyizng and I found trace amounts of iron and a few other elements in his skin, but then there were a bunch of elements that I don't recognize at all in there too. I don't know, maybe my microscope isn't powerful enough or maybe there was a flaw in my test, but it doesn't make any sense. He's a weird one." Puchi shrugged after a bit and grinned. "But yeah. He looks like Jell-O." she concluded, intelligently. ACKGETTINGSQUISHEDAGAIN. Karan flailed, but this time gave up quickly. He didn't want to make anyone get hurt again. Besides, this wasn't an entirely bad sort of squishing. It was a cozy, hugging sort of squishing that made him feel, well, squishy. It wasn't entirely comfortable, but not bad in its own way.
He wasn't hugging back though. Even a patient soul like him had limits.Oh gods, now they were squishing each other? And what was this 'wuvwuv' Guinevere was babbling about? Whatever it was, it looked very strange. And irritating. Certainly not something Zita wanted to be doing.
Cyrus blinked a bit, nodding at what he hoped were appropriate moments as Puchi spoke. He wasn't quite sure what it meant - aside from making it clear that, while not jell-o, Alun was made of a strange goo.Lun was about to pull back when another set of arms wrapped around the two, squishing them even closer together, to the point where part of Lun's face was becoming slightly deformed against Karan's chest, since Karan's shirt was beginning to go through it. The baby drew back with a start, breaking Guin's grip on him. Huh, that tickled a bit too much. He puffed out his cheek - which had since flattened into a weird shape - in an attempt to get it to return back to normal. Thankfully, after a few moments, the skin went back to its original shape. WWWEEEIRRD. Lun poked his cheek experimentally. Haha! That was kind of cool. He didn't know he could flatten like that! He grinned brightly at Karan and Guin, planets spinning with the excitement of a new discovery. Locks matted against her skull, grey streak in her fringe rather fitting with the picture of her tired face, Naita entered the building. Her eyes were bottomed out with bags, mouth downward turned, and burgeoning belly peeking through her shirt, tattoo wholly evident to any observer.
Laying perfectly still in her arms was the pale infant who had recently been placed, temporarily, in her care. Her porcelain features belied the mind ticking away behind those black eyes, angelic expression as well formed as any cherubin child could manage.
Even her cold gaze could assume that warmth those beneath her seemed to find comforting.
Only her guardian of the meantime's state showed the nature hidden behind her charm, and that was easily explained away by a pregnancy and a lifetime of the ill use of her body.Wow. That was neat. Awoon did so many neat things! Karan touched his own cheek in hopes of making it go flat, but all it did was make the inside of his mouth a little sore, and he let go quickly.
And yet again, he was bored. Awoon was neat, but Karan had a little trouble keeping up with all the neatness. They needed something that was fun but not too surprising.
Where did the ball go?
(Edit smile DS had been observing Alun's jell-o like structure, but when the door opened with an audible creak she averted her eyes. And widened them.
"N-Nai? What are you doing here? And who is THAT?"
She hadn't meant to sound accusing, but it was certainly a fair question.Guinevere giggled with happiness as she Awoon's planets spin about. She knew not to touch them for it made it fall, but they still looked oh so interesting. She looked over to the side and saw the new legend, basically in the same spot she was when she invited her to play with them. Did she not like them? She decided to investigate by crawling towards her. "Hewwo." She said to the dark-skinned legend with a large smile on her face as she plopped herself infront of her. "Who you?" "Interesting..." Pink said, not totally understand what Puchi had said but noticing it was very interesting to her. Lun watched as Guin crawled off, towards a girl he had not noticed before. She was so dark she almost blended in with the floor! He blinked for a moment, pondering whether it was worth the effort it took to crawl - then decided it was, because she was currently in possession of that shiny, round object Karan had brought out. Smiling at Karan, he stuck his arms out and got on to his knees, and carefully made his way over to Zita and Guin. Lun seated himself next to Guin, though his attention was all on Zita, as he offered her one of his patent-worthy HUGE smiles. She had pretty colors! He liked her already. Zita stared hard at Guinevere, mouth turning down in a babyish frown. She wasn't quite sure what the older girl was asking - not many people had ever asked her for her name, after all. Maybe she wanted the ball? But...it was her ball, wasn't it? It'd even come to her, so it must be! She snatched the ball up and held it to her chest, sticking her tongue out at Guinevere. "MY!" she declared.
A somewhat less wary glance was directed at Lun. He was surrounded by much prettier balls, so he couldn't want hers, could he? She pointed at one of the mini-planets, frowning curiously at him. How come his stayed up in the air like that and hers didn't? "Baw-el why?"
Karan followed Alun with his eyes, and once he saw the new girl, with his whole body. The ball was forgotten again. People were always much better than toys, even the special ball. Besides which, he had spotted the special scarf and was entranced. Perhaps it was his own that sparked the interest, but Karan liked scarves. And this one would have to be looked at.
By way of introduction he pointed in front of him. "Ha-oo!"Starting at the sound of Divvy's voice, the woman stumbled slightly, causing the babe in her arms to move, the only real evidence she lived, for she carried with her at all times the pallor of death.
"Divvy? I... Riife's directions. This is Breena, one of Lady Siri's wards. Elsa... doesn't like her, so I'm looking after her until she's back from court."
Glancing at the other children with what looked a mixture of fear and confusion, Naita placed the pale infant a small distance away from the nearest, patting her on the head gingerly before collapsing into a seat.What was that she just said? Lun blinked uncomprehendingly, feet tucked behind him, and put a hand against his one of his planets, gently enough that it could keep spinning despite his fingers. Sounded like a question, but Lun had no clue what she was asking - he just knew it had something to do with his planets. Again, his fingers curled carefully around the red one and tugged. With a snap only noticeable to Lun, the planet was removed from orbit and again the baby concentrated, to make sure it remained where it was. Spinning in the center of his palm, Lun held it out to Zita to inspect. Hopefully, she wouldn't want to touch it... Just to be sure, Lun closed his fingers over it protectively, ready to snatch it away at a moment's notice. He didn't NOT want to share, but he'd fallen over enough today, thank you! DS moved over in order to give the pregnant woman more room. "Er...I see. That's... nice. She seems like a nice girl, and I'm sure you'll be able to handle her, no problem."
Of course, what was really running through DS's mind was more along the lines of 'Oh dear god another child to take care of on top of everything else.' But she managed to maintain a calm facade.
Was the girl going to play ball with them? She had his ball, so hopefully that meant she wanted to play. He patted his own chest, to indicate that she could roll it to him when she was ready. The scarf would wait,he supposed. "My silly name!" Guinevere said at first, not getting she was talking about the ball she clutched to her. "Ohhhh!" She said after a few seconds. "No. Ball Karan's." She said with a nod, pointing to Karan. "You have toys?" She asked, looking around to see if her mommy or daddy her depositied a big bag of her goodies around. Pink smiled to the pregnant woman that sat next to DS. "Friend of yours?" She asked DS, waiting for an introduction. It seemed that the issue DS had half wanted to discuss wasn't an option anymore. "Er, right. Nai, this is Pink, a dear friend of mine. Pink, this is Nai. She's... the woman I mentioned before." Hopefully Pink wouldn't need more of a hint than that. Even more hopefully, she would drop the subject.
But knowing Pink, she doubted it."Ohhhh." Pink said with a wink and a nudge to DS' side. "The one you knocked up in the lab that night!" She said with a triumphant smile, placing all the pieces of the puzzle together. "So how's the bun in the oven?" She asked the pregnant woman with a smile. Zita squealed crankily at Guinever, not sure what she meant, but registering the word 'ball'. Why didn't she understand that it was hers? She clutched it closer still and seemed about to start up a full-fledged tantrum when Alun caught her attention.
She leaned forward to peer at the planet he held, forgetting about 'her' ball and letting it fall to the floor. This ball-thing was much more interesting, and he even seemed to be giving it to her! Except he was closing his fingers around it. How was she supposed to take it from him if he held it like that? She made a discontent sound and reached out to poke at his fingers. "My. Gib."Guinevere watched her drop Karan's ball, glad she understood her. Giving up on the search for a bag she watched her reach toward Awoon's planet. "NO!" She screamed, placing her bad hand, for it was closest, on Zita's to stop her. She didn't want Awoon to fall and cry again, having see people touch his plantets and him falling. She withdrew her hand from Zita's once she realzied what she did but it was far too late. Her head started to whirl again like it did when ever the tattoos touched something. She placed both hands against her head, as if trying to hold her brains in as loud words screamed in her ears.
Okay, so they weren't going to play ball. Karan wished that the girl would make up her mind. But at least that meant he could look at the scarves. While she was distracted by Alun's planets, he leaned closer and took one piece of scarf in both hands. It was so pretty! Lots darker than his light one, but also a little lighter than his dark one. And the patterns were different too. But nice.
It was easy to declare a verdict. "Pweeeedy..."
"PINK!" Face completely red, she squeezed one of Pink's legs. "Subtlety. Ever heard of it?"Lun blinked. No, wait - no sharing! Lun, torn between his guilt of not-sharing, and his fear of landing face-first on the floor again, stared indecisively at the orb clutched in his hands. Um. Um. Thankfully, the decision was made for him, as Puchiko suddenly rose from the couch and picked Lun up. With a relieved noise, Lun opened his hand and the planet flew back into orbit. Holding it for too long made him dizzy, anyway! "Well, it was very nice to meet you all, but I've got work to attend to. See you all soon," Puchiko said, dipping her head quickly in farewell, before cradling Lun in her arms and walking towards the door. Lun squirmed in his guardian's arms so that he was lying on his side, and able to throw a cheerful wave back at his new friends. It had been a good day! This, of course, called for milkshakes. Guinevere shook her head feverishly as if trying to shake the voices out before she dropped her hands to her lap, almost willing her brains to fall out. Luckily what flashed in her mind's eye and ear stopped and she felt as if nothing to happen. She waved goodbye happily to Awoon. "BWYEEEEEE!" Pink looked at DS. "What's that?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "Did I say something wrong?" Oh no, Awoon was leaving! He wasn't ready for that yet! But there wasn't much choice with the big people. "Bai Awoon! he called, deciding to make the best of it.
Now then, back to the scarf...
"Other than being amazingly insensitive? No, not really."Zita glanced around as Karan approached, only blinking a bit when he picked up her scarf. He didn't seem to be taking it though...so she'd let it pass for now.
She turned back in time to see Guinevere touching her hand. Promptly, she began flailing her arms through the air, hands clenching into little fists, and let out a furious shriek. "NOTUCH." She seemed far more bothered by someone actually daring to touch her - someone aside from Cyrus, anyway - then she was by the way Guinevere jerked her hand back so quickly.
Cyrus covered his face with one hand and sank down on the couch for a moment, half-hoping to discover some way to melt into it. Failing that, he stood and scooped up the squalling baby, taking a moment to gently pull her scarf away from Karan. "Sorry, I guess she needs to get to bed," he mumbled and hurried out the door."I am not insensitive!" Pink said huffily, waving goodbye to both people who had just left. Guinevere got startled when she was screamed at. Had she touched her? She didn't remember it. Maybe she was talking to Karan... She waved goodbye none the less, even though this legend didn't seem to be one of the friendlier ones, maybe she would come around next time she visited them. "No? Sometimes you just- Ooooh. I've gotta get home. I'll see you later Pink."
It was a good time to leave, before she said something she would regret.
The scarf girl had been swiped up right out from next to him! And then he noticed that he was as well. Just as well. Everyone interesting was leaving, and Guin was not happy. He didn't want to make her hurt more.
"Bai Gwee!" he yelled as the duo left."It's about time for us to leave too kiddo." Pink said, getting up off the couch and scooping up Guinevere and their bag "We go nightnights?" She asked as they walked out the door, clinging hard to Teddy. "Yes sweetie, we go nightnights."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:53 am
Caravan and Memories: Part 1 Demare carefully made his way through the darkness, slipping past soft glowing eyes while he made his way toward the exit. Lately, the shadows had been growing faster than he'd expected them to be. It was as if they were feeding off of something, and they were becoming more and more independant each time he visited. Was Demian really losing control of them, or was he just being paranoid with his trust issue...? Nevertheless, ever since he'd damaged his arms nearly two weeks ago, Demare's hold on things had been slipping drastically. It wasn't until the other day when the child had nearly lost himself inside his own realm that he decided he needed to get his mind off of things for a while. He needed to hang around someone that didn't really make him think a whole lot... Karan seemed like just the kid. He'd promised to help him out, anyway, nearly two months ago.
"Remember what I told you..." Demian sighed heavily, closing his two red eyes, "No telling him anything."
"Can I tell him what happened to our arms...?" Clare asked, taking control of the body before it slumped to the dark floor. "It'll be a little hard to ignore that one, especially with the right arm still in a sling."
"Whatever. Just don't go into details about it, all right? It's... not any of his business to know."
Clare didn't respond as he continued forward, stopping at a small hole of light. Placing his left hand on the fragment, he slowly stepped forward, disappearing from the shadowy world, and walking right into the real world. ...Something wasn't right, though. The real world was a bit too leafy.
Looking down, Demare immediately began to panic, his two wings spreading out as far as they could and stiffening while the child tried to keep his balance. He'd stepped out into the tree?! Demian did this on purpose!! At least he was at Karan's house... but how was he going to get down with one arm?Sirius, one of the resident Talaye, yawned from his spot on one of the tree's thicker branches. Not much had happened lately. But then, that was normal he supposed. Aside from helping with deliveries and the occasional ride or tasting duty, life was simple. He liked it that way. Complications led to bad things, which always seemed to be scary, and always seemed to result in him losing consciousness. And even though being unconscious was generally less frightening for the duration, he wanted to keep his head straight, at least until his son returned.
Unfortunately for him, normality would have to wait for a while.
He closed his eyes and let out another great yawn, then opened them again. What was that, a falling branch? Sirius twisted to avoid it, but soon realized it wasn't falling. Nor was it a branch, but a person. With wings. Who smelled faintly of blood.
The mysterious stranger could have been manageable on its own, but the fact that he had appeared from nowhere in a tree- his tree- was a little too much for the always phobic Tala to bear. His blue eyes closed again, and he slipped off the branch, hitting the ground with a loud thud and a slightly less audible crunch.Demare backed up along the branch carefully, his wings twitching and shifting to maintain his balance, until his back bumped into the thick trunk of the tree and he slid his small body down into a sit. Goodness... That wasn't something he was expecting at all, and it was rather frightening to think of what could have happened had he fallen out of the tree at that height. He could have broken more bones! If his right arm wasn't enough all ready...
Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, the child's ears twitched slightly as they picked up the sound of rustling leaves and branches, followed by a rather loud thud and a soft crunch. What was that...? Turning his bi-colored eyes toward the direction of the sound, the large orbs caught a glimpse of a familiar blue mane and black fur. What was that creature?? And where had it come fro--
"Crap." The child began to panic again, realizing that the large creature must have fallen out of the tree when he'd appeared. Was it hurt?? Was it okay?? Quickly, Demare began to search for a way out of the tree. He couldn't climb down with one arm... That would be impossible from where he was. He couldn't fly down, either, since the branch didn't extend far enough outward for his wings to properly expand enough for "flight". Then, how...?
"Oh, for Christ's sake. Jump, you fool!" Demian hissed, tired of listening to Clare's silent questions.
"B-but, Demian... the ground is kind of a bit far..." Clare protested, more worried about the landing than anything. If he didn't land right, he could cause quite a bit of harm to his legs. Or worse, he could not even land on his feet and hurt his arms even more.
"You wanna be stuck in here forever?"
"N-no..."
"Then move your a**... AND JUMP!"
Clare whimpered a little bit as the demon screamed at him, lifting his left arm as a reflex to cover his head. Wait... Demian couldn't hit him while he was in the body, so what did he have to worry about? Staring toward the ground, the child bit his lip softly as he considered the options once more. While jumping wasn't the wisest (or smartest) idea, it seemed like the best one at this point. Great... and of all the luck, he was the one to be feeling the pain, too.
Demare, with the help of his left hand, used the trunk for support as he carefully stood up once more, a rather frightened expression washed over his face as he stared out toward a good enough opening between branches to jump through. He'd be feeling this one for a while, he knew... Hopefully no one would be too mad at him for it. The last thing he wanted to do was make Karan's guardian upset and sending him home. Or worse, having her end up calling Domonic to tell him what he'd done. Good thing Neko wasn't back yet... He'd REALLY let him have it, then. Extending his good arm, the halfling child made his way closer to the end of the branch, trying hard not to listen to the eerie creaking sounds from the tree due to weight being added to weak parts of the branch. He was so close... just a couple more steps and he had a good shot of jumping right out.
Unfortunately, gravity had decided he'd gone far enough. In fact, it decided he'd gone too far, and part of the branch snapped right behind him. Demare didn't have much time to react as he began to fall, not even getting to really cry out as he landed quite hard on his stomach two branches down, knocking the wind out of him. He never thought he was that heavy, but the tree seemed to think so. With the combination of the force of the fall and the weight of the child, the branch once again broke from the tree and allowed the child to plummet downward further, causing him to fall right onto his back with a loud, sickening crack. It was as if the tree wanted to make sure he was out of breath, AND in pain.
It didn't help that Demian was laughing inside of Demare's head.
"T-that... *wheeeeeze* wasn't.... *cough* funny..." he struggled to get out aloud, his head spinning while his body just tingled with pain. At least that crick in his back was gone now... Thank the gods that nothing was broken this time.
Demare shifted his head, his strange eyes searching for the creature he'd seen from the tree while he tried to catch his breath. Spotting the blue mane not too far away from him, he waited for a long moment before trying to call out.
"Hey..." he managed to say, wincing as he tried to roll himself over. "...Hey! Are y-you okay...?""Whuhappnd?" Sirius' eyelids slowly rolled back, revealing that the blue orbs were somewhat disoriented.
Then, as he remembered, he rolled to his feet. "You! What on earth do you think you're doing, just appearing in my tree and scaring the living daylights out of me? Didn't you bother to think that there might be someone there who was just relaxing, minding their own business, and who might, just might be disturbed by someone interrupting their rest? What were you thinking?"
Scolding finished, the Tala remembered what might have been a more important question, and helt relieved that his fur would hide any traces of a blush.
"Oh... and who are you, anyway?"Demare cringed as the tala scolded him, relieved that the creature seemed to be okay. With a closer look, he even remembered who it was: Sirry, the tala that took him and Karan to the park that one day. Wincing, the child sat up slowly, pain tingling throughout his back for a moment as it lifted off the ground.
"I'm glad you're all right," he said, sighing lightly. "I was a little worried when I heard that crack. I'm sorry about scaring you. I didn't mean to, honest!"
His wings stretched and spread themselves out as he turned his bi-colored eyes to the creature, smiling like nothing was wrong with him.
"My name is Demare. It's been a few months since I saw you last, Sirry."As soon as he heard his nickname, Sirius blushed again. Who did this kid think he was, calling him by his nickname when he didn't know him? He just appears and scares the living daylights out of him, and then calls him by the name that only DS and Miko would use? When he didn't even know-
Then again, if they had never met, he wouldn't know the nickname. And he did apologise. That was always welcomed. Perhaps it really was an accident.
"I'm quite alight," he finally harrumphed, shaking himself out just to make sure before looking the boy in the eye. "Have we... met?"Demare nodded a little bit, keeping his innocent smile. He didn't expect to be remembered, because he felt there was no reason for anybody to remember him, but he had grown since their last meeting. Had he been a baby and this happened, things would have been very different in many ways.
"A few months ago, Karan's guardian had asked you to take me and him to the park," he explained, moving his hand to rub his right shoulder a little bit. "It was a lot of fun, really... Getting to actually fly like that. Since I was still a baby, I couldn't properly thank you for the ride. So, even though it's belated, I thank you for that flight. It was greatly appreciated.""Oh... OH!" Faint memories wove together a picture from the past that made him slightly dizzy. "That was you? You were so much, eh, smaller then. You're quite welcome, of course. Anytime."
It was an offer Sirius meant, as he had long ago conquered his fear of heights and now enjoyed flying almost as much as sleeping in the tree. And he figured he owed something for being so harsh on the visitor. Who did, now that he thought about it, so resemble the babe from that trip months back. He briefly wondered if his parents felt as old as he did from such a sudden group, but let that thought slide.
Considerably relieved, he let out a sigh. "So, I take it you're here to see young Karan?" As he spoke he started walking towards the house. "I'm sure everyone would love the company. So quiet around here lately, you know. Good for naps, but bad for good conversation."Demare put the offer aside in his mind, making sure to remember that for later. He couldn't fly very well himself, so being with someone would be nice. As he asked about his being here, the child nodded, taking in a deep breath before trying to stand.
Oh dear GOODNESS his back was sore. Hopefully, the pain would die down throughout the day. Exhaling slowly, he turned to look at the tala, adjusting his black tattered scarf a little bit.
"If he's home, then I'd love to see him," he said, his wings fidgetting a little. "That is, if it's all right. I don't want to disturb anyone."The Tala shook his head. "Oh, no trouble at all. In fact I-""Sirry? Sirius, are you okay?" DS hurried across the lawn (while mentally noting it needed a trim). "I heard a crash.""Just the tree." Sirius looked up at it, finally seeing what damage had been done. If nothing else, he'd have to be very careful in the lower branches for a while. "We have a visitor.""So we do," the woman said, eyeing him. After a pause she smiled. "It's nice to see you again, Demare-kun. Karan's inside. Unless you came for some of my famous chocolate pie?"Demare blinked a few times, his head tilting to the left a little bit. Chocolate... pie? He'd heard of pies before, but Neko wouldn't let him try it since he was so young. ...And since his growth, she wouldn't let him try sweets for one reason or another.
"I've... never heard of chocolate, ma'am," he finally told her, using his left hand to rub the back of his neck while the fingers of his right twitched in the sling a little bit. "I've never heard of a chocolate pie, either. Does it taste good?"
"You're going to have some of this... pie," Demian decided, his two red eyes opening slightly.
"But... Neko said we shouldn't have sweets," Clare protested mentally.
"He doesn't have to know, stupid. If the lady doesn't tell him, and Domonic doesn't find out, then we're the only ones who'd know about it."
"That's wrong, though! I don't want to break his trust!"
"But you want to try it, don't you?"
"Well... it DOES sound pretty good..."
"Then just try a little bit! What harm could it do?"
"What if there's a reason we're not supposed to have it, though?""
"We won't know until we try it, now will we?"
"... You... Well, you have a point, oddly enough. Logically, if we don't try it, we'll never know WHY we aren't allowed to have any."
"So try it."
"I don't know..."
"Stop bein' a baby!"
"M-maybe... I could try some a little later?" he stammered, trying to block out anything else Demian might try to tell him. "I wanted to help Karan, first.""Oh, of course. It's still cooling anyway, but I'll bring some in for you kids once it's done." Holding the door open for the guest, DS tossed her apron onto the kitchen table as they walked through. It was a fairly short walk, as Karan's room was near the kitchen, and she left Demare next to the open door. "Have fun."Inside, Xue was bouncing a familiar plushie on the bed.
Dragon is hungry! Dragon wants food! :EKaran clapped his hands, though they made no sound as both slapped a plushie in his lap instead of eachother. He was leaning back against the wall, and the ratty old box was on the floor, barely together. A newer, stiff looking box had been shoved into the corner, seemingly untouched.Demare bowed his head a little bit as DS made her leave, his reddish hair falling over his face somewhat. Brushing the one long lock of hair behind his ear, he watched the happenings inside the room for a long moment, a slight smile on his face. It was that... doll boy. The one that had scared him when he slept over that one night. He found it a little silly, actually, that he was even afraid back then, seeing the boy in the light. But at least Karan had "protected" him.
He rested a hand carefully on his damanged arm, waiting outside of the room for the time being as he spoke. "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked, his wings folding behind his back a little bit.Xue hadn't forgotten that incident either, and backed up a little.
Is wing boy still mad at Xue? Xue is sorry... sad In contrast with the Porcelain's actions, Karan leaned forward happily, the toys completely forgotten. "Dmah! Dmah!"
In his hurry to see his friend he forgot that he wasn't in his box and leaned forward a bit too far. Though he was only on his knees, the lack of balance caused the Legend to sway dangerously near the edge of the bed.Clare was a worry wart, and perhaps in this case, that was a good thing. Demare quickly stepped into the room, hurrying to the bed to catch the baby a little bit with his left hand pressed against the small body, and leaned him back into a sit as gently as he could.
"Whoa, there... falling down's my job," he joked a little bit, sighing with relief. Things were difficult without his right hand... He would have just picked the child right up, otherwise.
Looking to the Porcelain, he shook his head a little bit. "No no, I'm not mad," he explained. "I was just... really startled. I wasn't used to hearing... other voices like that."Karan didn't look perturbed at all by his near spill. He kept his hands on Demare's, as if afraid his friend would leave, and leaned back contentedly.
This was a good day, he knew that now. Any day that Demare came to visit was a good day. This one was extra good because he got to play, and because he had shinies to give as a present this time!
"Cavan," he stated, pointing to the box on the floor.Mel told Xue that some people are scared. Xue doesn't know why. He doesn't want to scare anyone. He just wants to play. sad
If wing boy isn't mad, will he play with Kar and Xue? smile Demare's attention turned to Karan for a moment, and his bi-colored eyes shifted to the box. No, he hadn't forgotten... that was the whole reason for him coming here after all. Patting the child's silvery white hair, the boy tugged his black scarf from around his neck and shoulders, bunching it up a little bit as he set it down on the bed.
"Mmhm, we're going to fix it," he assured him, his wings shifting behind him as he carefully sat down on the floor, one knee bent while the other layed straight. With his good arm, he reached over and slid the broken box close to himself, inspecting it for a long moment. ...There was no way this was fixable. "Or rather... make you a better one."
Looking to Xue, he smiled. "Yeah, I'll play. ...Well, as best as I can."Yay! Xue will get to play with even more people now! biggrin
Grinning, he turned and started rummaging in one of the dressers in the room.Karan was doing much the same thing in his box, pushing aside pillows and toys until he found the fluffy pillow with the hole in the back. With a triumphant squeal, he pulled out a long chain with a strange looking pendant.
"Dmah sahnies." He pushed the necklace at Demare with a touch of urgency. Shinies were good, and these shinies he picked out special.Demare turned his head as Karan called for him, only to be nearly smacked in the face by the necklace he was holding out. For a moment, he didn't quite understand, but once he did, his cheeks began to burn a little bit. Karan had... gotten him a gift? At first, his bi-colored glance was entranced by the color of the little beads, eyeing the curious tripple crecent pendant it held. It was beautiful to him, but the fact that it was from his closest friend made it even more special.
"T-thank you, Karan," he stammered quietly, carefully taking the necklace and slipping it around his head, gently settling it against his chest to rest with the pendant from Chandra. A bit awkwardly, he pulled his good arm around the boy to pull him a little closer and into a bit of a hug. At least, as much as he was able to hug the much smaller child. "I'll treasure this."For the first time in a while, Karan felt safe. He snuggled deeper into his older friend, enjoying the feeling to its fullest. One of his own shinies, the one he'd had for the longest time, poked him in the ribs. He ignored it. If nothing else, the poking was just reassuring him that the charm was there. Sight and sound could be faked, but touch had never let him down.Moments later the two would find themselves being showered by crayons as Xue attatched himself to the pile.
Xue brought crayons to play with. But he doesn't want to be left out this time! sad Demare nearly cried out in pain, but he bit his tongue to prevent it. For the love of... He forgot to warn them about his arm. Wincing and releasing Karan from his hold, he tried to gently push Xue away.
"P-please... let go! You're hurting me!" he pleaded, hoping the procelin boy would understand. Oddly enough, this made him realize something. I left Karan's gifts at home...
"You're such a scatterbrain!" Demian hissed from within the child's mind.
"I must have been too excited... I put them by the dresser, but completely forgot to pick them up!" Clare remembered, wondering how he could possibly get them now. Who knows when he'd see his friend next! The gifts NEEDED the smaller boy now, so what else could he...
"We need a shadow."
"What?"
"It shouldn't take long... Find a shadow, we'll run to the house, get them, and come back!"
"Demian... Don't you think they'd find that a little odd?"
"I bet you ANYTHING the kid'll think it's 'cool' or something."
"It's not Karan I'm worried about."
"You think that doll would be scared? Gimme a break!"
Clare decided not to argue any futher on the issue, the pain in his right arm much too distracting.
"I don't see any... Well, there IS under the bed."
"Perfect!!"
"Are you sure?"
"What? It's not like we're fat, you moron. We'll fit under there just fine."
"...To think, Karan's going to wonder what might be hiding under his bed when we're through."
"Oh, come off it. It's better than a freaking mirror, isn't it? Now THAT, I'm sure, he'd be bothered by."
"You think so...?"
"Yeah. I can see it now... the poor kid would hurt himself, trying to figure out how to get into the mirror."
"I don't think Karan is stupid, Demian."
"He's a BABY. He's CURIOUS. It could happen."
"...If you say so."
"Um... Karan? I need to get something really quick. I'll be right back, okay?? I promise, I shouldn't be more than... 10 minutes!" Demare told the baby, forcing a smile on his lips.
"Can ya make it?"
"Only if you help me..."
"...Are you SURE you wanna pull something like that? It's not my head if something goes wrong."
"I... I understand. I will be held completely responsible if it disobeys."
Demare looked to Xue, still smiling. "I'm sorry for yelling at you... I'll explain when I come back."
With that, the halfling child laid himself down onto the floor and did his best to crawl under the bed and into the shadows, sinking down and out of sight, seeming to disappear underneath the bed. gonk Xue did not mean to hurt his new friend! He is very very sorry, and-
Where did new friend go? eek Karan looked down, but saw nothing. Where did Demare go? Was he hiding under the bed? But there wasn't anything under there, now that the box was up top. Maybe he dropped something, and was getting it. Probably.Xue simply continued staring at the floor.
COOL. surprised It really did only take the child about 10 minutes to retrieve what he needed, with the help of a few shadow beasts under Demian's control. Demare struggled a little bit coming out from the shadows, however, having to climb up with not only one arm, but being very cautious of a few things he had tucked into the sling with his right arm. His bandaged hand crept out from the shadows underneath the bed, trying hard to get a good enough hold with his arm to heeve himself upward. It wasn't too long before he was actually pulling himself along the floor, looking a little tired.
"F-found them..." he breathed, deciding that it would be best not to do that again for a while. Maybe he'd actually walk home later...
Using the bed for support, the child managed to sit up, carefully taking out two rather large and colorful eggs from his sling. Placing the two down in front of Karan, he smiled, hoping they would be all right.
"They should be hatching pretty soon, I think," he explained, his wings shifting a little bit. "My 'brother' seems to like them, so I thought maybe you might, as well." In a quieter voice, he added, "You might want to be careful of what you say around them... They can hear you."
At that, the small ears poking out from the hard shells appeared to twitch slightly, as if they were listening.
Lifting his right arm away from himself a little bit, he slipped a book out from underneath it, and placed it next to the eggs.
"They told me this is supposed to be some sort of magic book, something to write spells in... but I figure you could use it for just about anything," Demare said, rubbing the back of his head with his good hand. "I'm... not sure if you can write yet, but maybe when you get older... I just thought you might like it, since it's pretty and kinda reminds me of you."Eyes wide at the sight of all the new things, Karan let out a happy squal. Presents! It was like that day with the big tree, only this one was better because he had friends. And these things were all his, he didn't have to share. He plaved one hand on top of the nearest egg and let it slide down its curved shell, finally flopping onto the notebook.
"Pweedy," he noted once he had calmed down a little. Everything was very pretty. And if the two round things were going to turn into more animals, then there would be more around to play with. He already loved playing with the squirrel and the frog, and he would try and see what was in the bowl as soon as he could reach it.
As the rush of giving and getting faded, he looked at his friend again, and the smile faded too. "Dmah okay?"Since Demare's return, all Xue had been able to do was stare.
Can... canfriendteachXuehowtodothatplease? surprised biggrin Demare blinked a few times at Karan's question, not sure why he asked it at first. Looking to his arm, however, he thought that maybe he was talking about that. His black eye caught a glimpse of a dark mark on his pale flesh, the bandage around his right arm having slipped down a little.
"s**t. Fix that, you dimwit."
"Huh? Fix what?"
"See if you can cover that up. No one needs an explination of these damn things."
"Maybe we should retie this one when he get back... I don't think Domonic tied that one tight enough."
"...He did. It fell on its own."
Demare tried to adjust the bandage a little bit, hoping it would stay. Maybe it fell a little when Xue had hugged him... Turning to answer Karan, he was interrupted by Xue's cry.
Teach him to do what?
"Um... can you say that again, but a little slower?" he asked, quirking a brow.Can friend teach Xue to do the sinking into the floor thing?
If Xue knew how to do that, Neechan would have to watch it and think it was good. *_*"Dmah otay?" Karan persisted, his face now a full-fledged frown. He looked tired, and not happy. Did he see something bad under the bed?Oh... THAT. Demare frowned a little bit, a bit surprised that Xue wasn't really even bothered by what he'd done.
"I'm sorry, but... I can't exactly teach you that," he told him, rubbing his arm a little bit. "It's an ability I have... it can't be just taught to someone."
Looking to Karan, he smiled a little bit. "Yeah, I'll be okay."Oh. Like Neechan can fit everything behind the couch. Right. sad
Dejected, Xue retrieved one of the crayons that littered the floor. Play? smile "Gooh. Otay Gooh." Nodding emphatically, Karan reached out just to make sure, and found himself being presented with a fistful of crayons.PLAY. biggrin
Xue scooped up another handfull and waved them at Demare. Play now? Play? Demare blinked a few times, staring at the crayons for a moment. Play with... oh!!
"I know! We could make the caravan, AND play!" he realized, thinking the crayons would come in handy with decorating.Karan clapped his hands eagerly. "Cavan now!" Finally they were going to make the new caravan! And the new box was bigger, with room for more stuff! The lady had shown it to him before, but he didn't want to use it yet. Not without it being special. And now Demare was going to help make it special, just like he promised.
"Bok." He pointed to the corner of the room, where the new carboard box was sitting. Strips of duct tape reinforcing the corners were the only decoration, otherwise it was unadorned, a blank canvas awaiting its artists.Make box pretty? Xue would like to help with that! 3nodding Demare looked toward the box for a moment, trying to think of how to do this. It really was going to be hard with one arm... He wouldn't be able to do as much as he'd originally planned. Looking over to Xue, he nodded with a smile.
"Of course you can help! The more the better, right?" he said, chuckling a little bit. "Is there any chance you could bring the box over here, first? I'm a little... handycapped at the moment."
Looking to Karan again, his wings folded a little closer to his back. "Karan, is there any way you could show me what a caravan looks like?"Yes!
Xue hurried to the box and failing to get his arms around it, grabbed one lip and dragged it back towards the center of the room.That was a good question. He had only seen them a couple times in the night pictures. But he had never tried to see one, and even if he did, how could he show Demare? The last time no one had been able to see the night pictures, and he couldn't make one anyway.
"No."Well, this couldn't be good... They would be doing this in the dark? Demare thought about this for a moment, trying to remember himself what they looked like.
"Hmmm... Is there maybe a picture somewhere?" he asked, hoping Xue might know something as well. "Maybe in a book?"Xue hasn't seen anything. sad A brief knock at the door preceded DS's entrance, as did an enormous pie. "I hope I'm not interrupting you boys, but I thought you might like to have some of that famous chocolate pie." She winked as she set it on a nearby end table, and rummaged for napkins in her apron while awaiting an answer.Demare watched Karan's guardian enter the room, the arouma of chocolate filling the small area. Goodness... that smelled really good. And he DID want to try some...
Wait.
"Um... ma'am? Do you happen to know what a caravan looks like?" he asked first. Maybe if she knew, she could help explain it a little while they tried the pie."Sure I do. Xue, would you run to the kitchen and get plates and forks please? The ones on the table." DS pulled out a pie server and started to slice the pie, silently wondering at the source of the question.Xue ran out of the room with one thought in his mind.
PIE. blaugh "Let's see... caravans are very old, before cars were invented. I know early settlers on Gaia used them to move their belongings when new land was discovered. Some people, like gypsies, still use them, since they don't have homes. The caravans serve as their houses, I think.
"They look like big wagons, with big wheels. Some of them have canvas stretched over the top, while others are made entirely of wood. The early ones were quite plain, but those that are a bit more recent are very ornate. They're usually carved and painted; sometimes even the wheels are decorated. And no two are alike."
DS looked up from the pie, which was cut into six large slices. "Did that help?"Karan listened, fascinated. The one he'd seen was very pretty, with lots of pictures, and it sounded just like she was saying- big, with big wheels, and lots of wood and colors. Perfect!Demare watched the expression on Karan's face, noting the fascination. That must be it, then... What he wanted. Looking back to DS, he smiled, nodding happily.
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you," he said, his wings fluttering a little bit. He began to work out in his mind what to do to make the box resemble the picture that formed in his mind, a little curious as to how to make the top. Maybe a little cloth... or some folding... maybe a little of this, or that..."I'm glad I could be of service," DS murmured, giving a curtsy.Only a small tuft of hair was visible above the stack of plates and cutlery that made its way into the room, stopping just short of the table.
Xue did good?Shaking her head amusedly, DS took the load. "Yes. Now, who wants some pie?"
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:56 am
Caravan and Memories: Part 2 Xue does! 3nodding While not sure what was being asked, Karan recognized the aroma that filled the room. Something had smelled like that before, and it tasted very very yummy! Ever since the scent jogged his memory the Legend had been waving his arms, hoping to get another taste of the delicious food.Demare sheepishly raised his hand, his wings fidgetting a little. Demian was right... He wanted to know how it tasted, and if Neko never found out, then there would be no harm, right? It was just chocolate, after all. It wasn't poisonous.DS tallied the affirmatives and carefully plated four slices, complete with napkins and forks. The first two servings she handed to Xue and Demare respectfully before grabbing one more slice and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Now let's try not to make a mess, shall we?"The words went over Karan's head. If he had been paying attention he might have gotten the gist of them, but his attention was on the small piece of pie that was balanced on a fork in front of him. Grabbing the utensil with both hands, he shoved it into his mouth.
"Mum!" he exclaimed through his mouthful.Xue agrees- pie is YUMMY! blaugh Demare nodded a silent 'thank you' to Karan's guardian as he was handed a slice of the pie, along with the utensils and napkin. For a moment, he pondered over how he was going to situate himself in order to eat, unsure if he'd be able to hold the plate for too long in his right hand. Finally, he decided it would be safest in his lap, where he would still be able to support it with his damaged arm, and able to eat well enough.
He felt a little nervous, wondering if the pie was really as good as Karan and the other boy had said it was. It would be sweet, wouldn't it? It couldn't be that bad. Carefully, he cut off a small piece of the pie near the tip, scooping up the small piece onto his fork. For a long moment, he simply stared at the utensil, as if preparing himself for some dangerous task he might regret doing later. It would be good... It would be their little secret.
Slowly, Demare lifted the fork to his lips, and, before he could back out of it, quickly stuffed the small piece of dessert into his mouth. At first, he couldn't taste anything, but that didn't last for long. The light sugary taste of the pie began to fill his mouth, the taste of sweet just filling his senses. He chewed slowly and carefully, as if afraid the sensation would leave him.
On the inside, Clare had tears in his eyes.
"Wuss. What the hell's your problem?" Demian questioned.
"It.... it tastes..." Clare started to stay, unable to finish as a small tear rolled down his cheek.
"Huh?! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!"
Demare's cheeks began to burn with a light blush, swallowing what he had before speaking.
"I-it.... it's delicious..." he managed to get out, blinking a few times. "I don't think I've ever tasted anything quite like this in either of my lifetimes."DS blushed. Compliments always went straight to her head, and it took so much work to keep said head straight that she rarely noticed anything else. One thing her aunt had told her more than once was that she was impossible to talk to during dessert. Especially since she was usually the cook.
"Why thank you. I'm not sure it could be considered that good, but I'm quite glad you're enjoying it."The slice of pie in front of Karan had been cut into bite-sized pieces. DS had long since abandoned the fork, as she didn't have much control over it anyway. Karan had tried using it for a while, by stabbing each piece and then turning the fork so it would fit in his mouth, but that got too tiresome. Before long he had started to eat with his hands. That meant less work, and more time to relish the taste.Xue's slice had been gone for quite some time, and he looked longingly at the others. >.>;;"Don't even think it," DS warned once she noticed. "That slice is mine, and the others are for Sirry and Linnea."Awwww... sad "And I think I'll get them out of here before someone's tempted. If you boys need anything, I'll be in the kitchen. Just leave the plates on that table when you're done."Demare nodded a little bit as he stuck another piece of the pie into his mouth, watching as Karan's guardian took her leave. All right... that meant they could get to work. ...As soon as he was done with his pie.
He felt a little sympathetic toward Xue, a bit curious as to why the boy had eaten his piece so quickly. How could one relish the taste like that? Maybe it was a variable... that it was different for each person. Taking one more bite, he decided he would try to save the rest for later.
Looking up toward the bed, he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Karan was a little mess!Messy though he was, Karan didn't let it get in the way of his dessert. In fact, in some ways it was even better that way. Experience told him that if he got some of the chocolatey bits in his sleeves, they would taste good later. Luckily it was a well made pie, and most of the crumbs of the flakey crust would brush off later. The filling however was another story.
With a mouth ringed with chocolate smears, he smiled up at Demare. "Mum!"Already over his lack of cake, Xue pointed to the crayons strewn about again. Play caravan now?Demare smiled, nodding a little bit to Xue.
"Yeah, we can play now. But, I think maybe we should clean Karan up a little bit, first... at least just his hands," he said, looking for the napkins he saw earlier.
Spotting them next to the smaller boy, he reached over with his good hand, took one of them, and held it to Karan. He'd seen the child use them before, so he assumed it would be fine now.
"I'm not sure if you want food on your caravan... I'd think it would start to smell after a while if it never cleaned off."At first Karan regarded the napkins with some distaste. If he wiped everything off, then it wouldn't tate good anymore! Still, he didn't want to get the new box all sticky. He took one last lick of a particularly chocolatey finger and rubbed both of his hands against the napkins. They weren't perfectly clean, but at least they weren't sticky anymore.Xue pushed the box closer to the bed and started to pick up the crayons that were scattered all over the floor.
Do they need anything else? Xue has lots of pretty things! 3nodding Demare thought about that for a moment, wondering if they did. How could they make the box more like a caravan...? With one hand, he lifted one of the flaps to the lip and began to pull it over, trying to make it curved. If they made a little roof, then there wouldn't be enough room for Karan to get into the box.
...Unless, they cut the box. Made something of a door, maybe.
"Do you have any tape?" he asked, not sure how else to be able to get the flaps to stay curved.Sticky tape? Xue likes glue better for sticking sparklies on pictures, but there's some sticky tape in the drawer. Xue will get!
He dashed over to the bureau and, after a few soft rustlings, came back with a large roll of slightly yellowed tape.
It's sticky! blaugh Bored with all the talking, Karan grabbed one of the crayons Xue had missed and started to scribble on the first thing he could find- the blank pages right in the center of his new notebook.Demare didn't seem to notice Karan's coloring, a bit engrossed in the idea of the project. Smiling a little bit to Xue, he did his best to hold the now somewhat curved flaps together after tucking one of the extra flaps inside of the box.
"Can you tape these together?" he asked, hoping the tape would hold them. "They need to stay in a curve, though... to make a roof."
Doing his best to look at Karan, Demare hoped Karan wouldn't mind his next question. "Is it okay for me to cut the box? I won't cut too much... I just want to make the caravan easy for you to crawl into yourself."Demare's question went right over Karan's head. Whatever he wanted to do would probably help though, so he nodded and went back to his picture, switching colors with another crayon that was on the bed. Bright yellow swirled over black scrawls in no particular pattern. The picture made its creator smile as he colored faster and faster-
SNAP.
Blinking, he looked at the remains of the yellow crayon. That was bad. He couldn't finish now.Xue pulled a length of tape from its dispenser. It was sticky, which was good, but it was sticky on both sides, which he wasn't expecting. One hand wrapped itself in the tacky material, and the more he struggled, the more he got stuck.
After a few minutes of silently flailing, he walked over to Demare, both hands wrapped messily in the double-sided tape.
Help? sweatdrop Demare snorted, trying hard not to laugh. Xue looked quite amusing the way he was, but he thought it might be rude to laugh at him being helpless. Freeing the box's flaps, he moved his good hand to try to remove the tape from Xue's hands.
Only, it was much harder to do with one hand. His own fingers were getting stuck on the double sided tape, finding it difficult to be gentle with removing the sticky and flimsy tool. Well, shoot... this wasn't going well.
"Um... do you think your guardian might be able to help? It would be much easier if I had two hands, but one's not exactly usable at the moment..."Des can help! And she can get not-so-sticky tape too. 3nodding Karan started to look for Xue, but it seemed he was leaving. Instead he turned to Demare and poked him carefully with the blunt end of one crayon half.
"Boke. More?"
Then an even better idea occured to him. "Dmah too?"Demare watched as the porcelin boy left, and then blinked as Karan poked at him. Curiously, he turned his body so he could actually look at the baby, his wings spreading a little bit to stretch out from being trapped by the bed.
Boke? Oh! Broken... The crayon had broken. Had his right arm not been so useless at the moment, he'd simply try to use his dagger to sharpen the colorful wax.
"Hm?" he hummed at the second question. "You want me to color, too? Hold onto that crayon first, though. I'll see if I can try to get some of the paper off of it so you can color more."Nodding to the question, Karan continued holding the crayon out. He would have rather found a new one, but if Demare wanted to use the yellow, it was okay.Xue raced back into the room, de-taped for the most part and waving a new roll of the stuff.
What is Xue supposed to do again?Demare did his best to tear away some of the paper from the crayon, hating to waste the poor thing. Now that Xue was back, though, what was he supposed to do? Karan asked him to color, but he was supposed to be fixing the caravan.
...A break. Yes, a break out do good.
"Um... why don't we take a short break?" he offered to the other, finished freeing the crayon from its paper. "Karan, what would you like me to do?"Yaaaay break time!
... Xue doesn't know what to do. sweatdrop It was amazing! He could use the yellow again! Karan gave a short shriek of delight and returned to his picture, but not before turning the book so the other half of it was facing Demare. He pushed a few crayons in that direction too, but made sure to grab the black and blue ones first.
"Pway," he stated simply. It was obvious after all.He wasn't quite sure what to tell Xue, distracted by the somewhat blank page placed in front of him. Play? Karan wanted him to color anything? Instinctively, the child grasped a red crayon from nearby and thought for a moment, resting the tip carefully against the white sheet.
What would he draw though?
"Make it cool," Demian hissed, the two red eyes slipping open slightly. "I'm bored in here."
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Clare sighed, still thinking about the picture. "I'm... having fun."
"You sound so sure of yourself."
"Oh hush. You didn't want to deal with this, even though YOU'RE the one that promised to help."
"What're you drawing, dork?"
"What? Nothing... I'm still thinking of what to draw."
"You suck at lying. What are you drawing?"
"I'm not lying, Demian. I'm not drawing anythi--"
"Just.... JUST STOP!"
Demare snapped back to reality, his bi-colored eyes glancing down at the paper. Red now stained the pure page, not really making any sense to him at first. His left hand continued to color, pressing hard with the crayon against the book page, forming an odd image that not many would understand. Four slender ovals adorned the page, reminding him of the eyes he had over his right eye. The crayon began to form jagged lines, none of them the same length, forming some sort of toothy grin as the child began to recognize the image to be a face.
A dark face. Those demon eyes... That bloodthirsty smile... That memory that craved human flesh.
It was a face he thought he would never have to see again.
His right arm began to tingle with a burning sensation as a complete image began to flood Demare's mind, his entire right side beginning to ache.
"N-no... You can't remember..." Demian hissed, the two red eyes opening wider. "Not here... Not yet!"
"I-it's... This feeling... I-I've felt this f-fear before..." Clare whimpered, his eyes growing wide for a moment. "T-that.... that can't possibly..."
"NOT YET!" the demon howled within the mind, and forced the angel out of the body.
Demare's hand dropped the crayon and allowed it to roll along the paper until it fell between the spine of the book and the next page. The body then slowly slumped forward, limply falling against the bed as if life had been completely drained from it.The picture looked pretty, even though red was far from Karan's favorite color. It was a little sharp looking too, but the shapes were interesting enough. He started to applaud, but was interrupted by his friend dropping onto the bed. It took a moment or two of poking and prodding for him to realize that maybe this wasn't some new game?
Voice wavering, he tried again. "Dmah?"The voice prompted Xue to look up from his own drawing. One glance told him that something was wrong, and the bad feeling that started towards him left no room for doubt. Shivering, he squinted his eyes and called for backup.
DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! eek gonk crying exclaim Moments later DS stumbled into the room. "Xue, what's- Oh dear. Demare? Demare, what's wrong?" She placed one hand on his back gently, afraid to do any more until she knew what the situation was.Karan shivered. This stopped being fun a long time ago. Again using the crayon as a tool, he poked Demare's shoulder, then, screwing up his courage, one of the boy's cheeks.
A hint of red glowed back at him, making Karan drop the crayon like a hot poker. THAT wasn't right either.The body felt unnaturally cold as DS placed her hand on his back, even his wings unresponsive as they were stiff. If only they knew of the poor child's mental torture.
"SNAP OUT OF IT, YOU FOOL!" Demian cried in a panic, shaking Clare by the shoulders. "Come on! You'll be FINE!"
"I've... I've seen that somewhere before Demian..." he stammered out, completely dazed as his light blue eyes wouldn't settle on anything. They quickly snapped left and right, searching for any sign of the face again. "It haunts me... It's going to come back."
"No! No... no it won't!" the demon tried to reason, golden eyes hiding his own fear. No... it would never return as far as he was concerned. "Just... just snap out of it and go back! Pretend you never saw it!"
Clare pulled himself away from the other boy's grasp in disgust. "Pretend it never happened? Pretend I didn't see that.... MONSTER?"
He didn't notice Demian cringe at the words.
"The last thing I can remember feeling when I saw that thing whenever that time was, I was TERRIFIED! How can you possibly think I'll be at ease now that I saw it again?!"
Demian clenched his fist tightly, trying to contain his anger. "If you don't go back, they'll start to suspect something, you fool! Just... Forget about it! It'll be fi--"
"No..." he interrupted, shaking his head lightly. "No, Demian... this time, it won't be fine..."
"... I... I hate you."
"I'm... sorry that you feel that way."
"I'll get you back for this!" Demian cried as he seemed to disappear from sight.
The body jolted slightly as the soul returned, what little life it had returning as the child began to cough and weeze violently, air trying to get back into his lungs. Demian hated entering the body... that was the hardest part of it all. Despite how much it hurt him, he moved his right hand to grasp tightly at his chest, breathing heavily as he tried to gain control of things.
How embarressing. Now they'd all probably start asking questions, or the guardian would call Domonic, or they'd gush over him for one reason or another. Guh... Maybe this was a bad idea.
Demare winced as he tried to move, failing miserably as he couldn't even so much as sit back up. s**t... no strength even? This body was so worthless to him... Hopefully it would get better as he got older.DS didn't have to wait long for the boy's body to jolt underneath her hand. That was as good as an invitation, she decided, and slid another hand underneath his chest to try and help him sit up. "Are you okay Demare? You gave us quite a scare."Clinging to DS's legs, Xue peered at the bed nervously. Friend okay now?While he was relieved to see any kind of reaction, Karan didn't move. He wasn't sure everything was okay. In fact, he had the distinct feeling that it wasn't. Something was still very wrong. But that was silly, Demare was fine. Wasn't he?
"Dmah otay?" he asked, a bit of suspicion creeping into his small voice.Demare unwillingly accepted DS' help, too tired to fight it. He stayed quiet, however, slowly bringing his breaths back to normal. Gods, this really sucked... Clare sure picked a wonderful time to freak out today.
While he heard Xue's question, he didn't answer as his attention turned to Karan. His left eye was partially closed, his right narrowed like always in the permenant glare it was always in. Something was a little different, however. Upon seeing how worried the little baby looked just now, both eyes began to soften from their hard stare, unmoving as Clare's feelings wrenched at Demian's heart. He could put that kid through hell if he really wanted to, and it was just now clicking in his mind that he'd still care.
Karan wasn't like him. Karan wouldn't just take his trust and throw it out the window like he did. He wouldn't lead him to his death again...
A single tear escaped from his black eye as he spoke. "No... no, I'm not okay..." he whispered. "And I never will be... Not to a normal person's standards..."Aha! He was right, he was right, he- wait. In this case, being right wasn't necessarily a good thing. In fact, it was a very bad thing. The pleasure Karan got from being right disappeared faster than Xue's slice of pie. Now he knew that something was wrong, but he didn't know how to fix it. That wasn't good at all.
What made him feel better when he was hurting and crying? Sometimes his toys, or really yummy food. But even better was when there was someone else there, working actively to make him feel better. Someone who knew that something was wrong, and that even if they didn't know what, they wanted him better. Maybe this time he could be that person. Even if he didn't know how, he could try."Normalcy is highly overrated. It's also not nearly as normal as its name implies. We've all got our own muck to deal with, that's what's normal. When it gets hard, we just have to know we're not dealing with it alone."As if in response to what his guardian was saying, Karan scooted himself closer to Demare and grabbed one of his hands, holding it tightly.Xue darted forward to grab the other. Friend will feel better, Xue will make sure of it! 3nodding "If you need something, you've got people to help you," DS finished, her voice soft."But that's just it," he muttered, turning his bi-colored eyes toward the floor, "I am dealing with it alone, and that's the way it will always be. It's rare for anyone to be in the kind of situation I'm in, muchless for anyone to actually understand it I'm sure."
He didn't respond as Karan took hold of his hand, nor when Xue did the same. Instead, he grinded his teeth together a little bit at their guardian's statement. No... he didn't have anyone to help him. No one could possibly be able to do such a thing.
"He's not going to understand..." Demian grumbled.
There was no reply from Clare, which disturbed him a little bit.
"He's just a stupid baby. I doubt he'll even remember anything later."
There was only silence. ...Perhaps Fate was just making sure he wouldn't go back this time.
"Listen... I don't expect him to understand anything I'm about to say, but ma'am? There's something you and Karan need to know about me."Slightly puzzled, DS nodded. Most of Demare was saying went right over Karan's head, but enough of it sank in for it to make an impression. Maybe it was Xue's loudly projecting worry and reassurances, or maybe it was the importance of the situation. Either way, it was painfully clear that his friend, his BEST friend, was hurting. And it wasn't because he bumped or scratched anything. It was more the sort of hurting that came when it was late and dark and everyone else was asleep, but he was still awake, all alone, and scared. And even though he knew people were still there- some even in the same room- it hurt all the same.
But this time he wasn't alone, it was someone else. And it wasn't late or dark, but the scared feeling was still there.
"Nah lone," he said emphatically. "Geher."Demare hesitated for a long moment after Karan spoke, his blank eyes showing just how troubled he actually was. Even if he didn't understand it, someone had to know. Someone that would make a decision as to whether or not they'd want him around their kid again.
But how was he supposed to explain this? He'd been afraid of telling anyone for so long that it seemed difficult to just come out and say. However, ever since Wren had told him times were different... he'd begun to see that others we much more accepting than they used to be.
"I'm... not just split physically. Though, in all technicality, I'm not split only in the mind, either. I guess when... Clare and I switch places... this body appears to faint until one of use takes control of it again, as you just witnessed."Karan's understanding of the situation had passed, and now all he could do was try his best to make his presence known by squeezing the hand he held tightly. He wasn't going to leave anyone alone, never!The response didn't quite make it through to DS either, but she tried to make as much sense out of it as possible. There was a split. In body, obviously. And in mind. Switching places. Two people taking control of of one body.
Ah. So that was the story. It was an unsual one, but not altogether unheard of, especially not to her. Being the niece of a sorceress and a magic researcher had its perks, she supposed.
"That must be very hard on you," DS murmured. "Both of you. Do you have any idea how or why it happened? It takes something major for two minds to control one body..." Demare's white eye shifted as Karan squeezed his hand, his wings droping along his back as he lightly squeezed back.
"If we were merely two minds, that wouldn't be so bad, really," he said honestly, having known the situation of a body sharing a mind all too well from when he was by himself. After all, when he had been in full demon form, the only thing he could remember was Clare. Everything else was....
"This body... it harbors our two souls. This can't happen with any normal magic... It's possible for Gods and Goddess to do such a thing with ease, but for our kind, it's only done when necessary due to how much power it takes for it to be successful. I... I do know why it happened, and how, but I can't tell you yet. I can't tell you the reason we were reborn together until he remembers what happened."DS let out a low whistle. "I've never even heard of two independent souls in one body." Legends were remarkable, she knew that much, but something of this magnitude was beyond what she could imagine.
"You're right about one thing, Demare. I don't think anyone could fully understand what you're going through. But that doesn't mean people are going to let you deal with it alone. Even if they don't understand, they're going to want to do something. You haven't been alone up til now, have you? You have Neko-san and everyone at your house, your friends... and they won't just abandon you for no reason."There was entirely too much talking going on, at least in Karan's opinion. Everything sounded long and confusing. Something about two people, and something about friends... friends were good, but why talk about them if they were right there? Or maybe Demare didn't want to be friends anymore because he got hurt?
That was silly. But... "Feends?"
It couldn't hurt to check, right?"I wish... I could believe that," he said quietly, turning his eyes upward for a moment to look at the guardian. "You must understand, however, that our deaths were caused by someone we thought was our friend. Clare still has faith in this world, but that's not surprising due to his nature. I, however... I don't trus--"
Demare stopped, looking to Karan as the baby spoke. "...Excuse me?""Feends," Karan repeated, this time more impatient. "Dmah feend.""That's understandable. Just... don't let one experience ruin your view of life. I've seen that happen, and it's not pretty."
Standing, DS rubbed Karan's back before backing away. "I think I should check on dinner. Will you three be okay, or should I stay?"Demare was quiet for a long moment, just staring back at Karan as he seemed to merely think about that word. 'Friend'... He wanted so much to simply forget about the past.
"We'll be fine," he said to the guardian first, not turning his eyes from the baby on the bed. "I... should probably be going shortly, anyway. I'm of little use the way I currently am, and oddly enough, I'm not satisfied with that."
He closed his two bi-colored eyes for a moment, the two red ones opening just slightly so the faint glow could shine through his bangs, only noticable to Karan.
"Xue, I wanna speak with Karan alone for a minute. I really could care less if he doesn't understand me... I just want to talk to him."Puzzled, Xue nodded and started for the door, hopes of more pie clear even after his departure. domokun Why was everyone leaving? Weren't they going to keep playing? At least the boring talk was over, but now it looked like boring nothing. Nothing was even more boring than talk. And Demare still didn't answer. And he looked a little like when Xue made him scared that time he slept over. Was he scared? Of what?
Karan shifted nervously, though he kept his brip on Demare as tight as ever. "Dmah kay?"Once the two had left the room, Demare weakly lifted his right arm to call upon a small shadow, the small strip of darkness pushing the door partially closed. If he could help it, the child didn't want anyone else to see what he was about to show the baby.
"I want you... to be honest with me..."
As painful as it was, the Legend lifted his hand to his forehead, running his fingers through his reddish hair as he pulled it back a bit, enough to reveal his forehead, and to completely uncover the two red slits that seemed to grow a little bigger. Opening his blank eyes slowly, the two extra ones became full as he simply stared at Karan.
"Do I scare you...? Are you afraid of me at all?"Karan stared. He didn't know exactly what he was looking at, but it didn't feel quite right. The fact that it was very red wasn't it, nor was it the scene's similarity to the picture that made Demare scared. Something about it was just wrong.
But Demare was saying he was scared? Or was he asking? It was hard to tell. But he didn't want his friend to be scared. After all, the last time he was scared, Karan protected him, right? And nothing bad happened. So he could do it again, and not be scared. Neither of them should be scared, since they could help eachother.
The last time scary things happened he was alone, and it was scary. But if there were other people around then the bad things didn't happen. So that meant that everyone would be okay. And even if bad things happened...
"No skerd. Geher. No skerd."
It was a statement meant to reassure the both of them. What Karan was seeing didn't frighten him in the least, but what he was feeling didn't feel nice. But it wasn't scary. As long as he wasn't alone this time, it was okay. And he couldn't let Demare be scared either, because Demare wouldn't want him to be scared. So they could be un-scared together.Demare felt a bit of relief at the answer, but deep down, he still wasn't satisfied. When the baby was older, he'd try again, since he'd be more likely to understand what he was saying.
But for now... He wanted to live in the belief that everything would indeed be okay.
"Then... friends," he said quietly, letting his hair slip back down to where it should be, his longer lock tucked back behind his ear."Feends," Karan agreed firmly.
That simple declaration made everything feel a lot better and he finally remembered what they were doing before. Even before the coloring, and the pie. One small hand closed into a fist, which pointed off at the box that had fallen back onto the floor. They were going to make it pretty and nice, but then more stuff happened, and they didn't. But now there was nothing else to do, right?
"Cavan?"Demare shook his head a little bit, finally letting go of the baby's tiny hand.
"No... not today," he sighed, feeling his right arm throb with pain. "I can't help with only one arm... I promise to come back when I'm better, though. And I'll make you the best darn caravan there is."Well, that wasn't any fun, Karan frowned. None at all. But at least he knew that Demare would come back. And then there would be more fun, and less bad things. And maybe more yummy tasting things. Yes, that would probably be better... but he was still disappointed.
"Kay," he muttered. "Soom!""Yeah... soon," he muttered in an echo, idly wondering just when soon would be. He wasn't one for keeping promises very well, and he pondered possibly just making the caravan himself and sending it to the kid. Perhaps that would even be best, he realized, as it would cut down the workload by a lot if the box was already made. Then all Karan and Xue would have to do is draw on it.
Besides... He had plenty of "helpers" back at home.
"I think I should take my leave... My arm's really buggin' me, and Domonic'll throw a fit if he found out I hurt it even more."
Struggling a little bit, he managed to slowly stand up, his wings stretching a little bit as he straightened up. "Be good, kid. I cause enough trouble for the both of us combined."It was hard, but Karan didn't protest his friend's departure. There had been bad things, hurting things, and even though he had promised, promised to help with the new caravan, he didn't want to make anyone hurt. Because no one would make him hurt, except maybe the gold man. But not his friend.
"Soom," he repeated with a firm nod, his only word of goodbye. After all, a promise was a promise, so it would indeed be soon. His hand absently brushed the cover of his new book, which DS had closed before she left. There would be more good things soon, he just knew it.Demare, letting his guard down for only a moment, smiled slightly as he watched the baby, his two red eyes closing as he lifted a hand and gently placed it upon his white-haired head. Smoothing his hair back a little bit, his smile faded as his hand dropped back down to his side, and his black eye glanced toward the sliver of shadow behind the dresser nearby. Perfect... It was better than crawling under the bed again.
Stepping over to the cluttered furniture, Demare looked over the dark marking on the wall for a moment before deciding the best route. Reaching his left hand up, he forced his fingers into the darkness, and began to pull it upward... the shadow moving up along the wall with his hand as he tried to make a hole big enough for himself to go through. Concentrating a little more, he pulled the shadow to the right, causing it to widen, and quickly stepped through, his body melting into the darkness, and the shadow fading back to normal as he disappeared for the last time that day.
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:49 pm
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:52 pm
[A Midsummer Night's Dream]
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