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Journal entry - 28th January 2006
Well, it's a long story, but I now have another Aerandir to look after. I received the artifacts today, which are apparently from an osprey and a Siberian tiger. An interesting combination - it's a very different mix from Osu. I've been told that the Aerandir is likely to be female, so after a bit of consideration, I've chosen the name Sashen'ka for her. I think it's fitting, considering the origin of the animals.

Osu has been very curious about the jars since I brought them back. He knows what they are now, since Nyxa got another set of jars a few days back as well, but I think he's thrilled at the idea of having another Aerandir to play with. He really is happier when he's around others than when he's on his own. I hope that they'll all get on well together.

I've been trying to help Osu make more progress with his reading and writing too. I've just been reading a few story books to him - he likes the one with the various fairy tales in it a lot. He's still eager to learn how to read and write - I think perhaps mostly because he's seen Lucius write and wants to be able to do as he does. I'm glad - it means that I don't have try and coax him into it. It's also better if he enjoys it himself, which he fortunately does.

Journal entry - 10th February 2006
I'm just making a quick progress report here. It's been fairly quiet for the last few days, really. There's been no change in Sasha's jars as of yet, and I've been continuing Osu's lessons. He seems to be coming along rather well. He's starting to pick up on some of the easier words in the books we have, although I'm not sure whether that's due to him actually reading the words or just remembering them from hearing the story before. Perhaps it's a mixture of both.

He's been practicing his writing too. I've been encouraging him to try to write his letters freeform, without any guides or help. His first attempts were.. well.. dubious at best. He's getting better though. Finally, he's gotten in a little practice with his candle too. He seems to enjoy writing, but not nearly as much as he likes playing with the little flame. It's to be expected, I guess. It's just a good thing that he's learned how to extinguish fire before creating it. He still hasn't figured out how to actually create a flame from nothing yet, but I'm sure that will come at some point. And then, well, I'd better make doubly sure that there's a bucket of water in every room, hadn't I?

A soft, clinking sound was all that could be heard as, with the ferocity of a chick trying to escape from it's egg, Sashen'ka began to break free of her glass shell.

The life force, blue and glowing warmly, tumbled out of the jar as it smashed, rolling over the glass pieces until it began to solidify. As the new Aerandir emerged, she was covered in small pieces of safety glass.




Photo: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/Aerandir/Aerandir/Sashen_ka/photo_gryphon_sashenka.jpg

It was drawing late as Ieyasu, Osu and the newly emerged Sashen'ka reached their home. Even the normally energetic little spellweaver was beginning to show signs of weariness as they made their way down the path. Normally, he liked to rush ahead of Ieyasu, but now he was just trudging alongside his guardian. Halfway down the path, he began to yawn, quickly clapping his hands over his mouth and looking at Yassu to see if he'd noticed. If Yassu thought he was tired, he might make him go to bed and Osu didn't want to yet.

Catching sight of Osu yawning out of the corner of his eye, Ieyasu tried to hide a smile. The child had a lot of energy, but it wasn't boundless afterall. It would probably be a good idea for them all to get some sleep after he'd settled Sasha in properly. It had been a long day. Shifting his hold on the gryphon he was carrying, arranging himself so that he had one hand free, the kitsune twisted the handle and opened the door to the cabin.

With her front paws resting on Ieyasu's shoulder, Sasha was in a sleepy lull before the kitsune shifted her around a little. Blinking, she looked around these new surroundings before giving an enormous yawn of her own. After a moment, she was a little more awake and began to fidget. She wanted down to look about this strange new place! When her guardian placed her on the ground a moment later, she gave a series of little chirps before taking a few curious steps forward. This was different from before. Deciding to explore a little further afield, the gryphon poked her beak into various nooks and crannies of the downstairs living area. However, as she headed towards the back of the room, she saw something else crouched nearby. It was grey, and much smaller than either Ieyasu or Osu. Maybe even smaller than her. Her curiousity piqued, Sasha tilted her head, chirping again before moving forward to meet this new creature. It stared at her suspiciously for a moment, before slowing moving forward itself, its long tail twitching. Sasha had never seen a cat before, and Ilex had not met this gryphon either.

Ieyasu kept a close eye on the pair as they crept towards each other. If they were living in the same house, they'd need to meet at some point. But he was well aware that they might not see eye to eye at first, and was ready to step in immediately should things look like they were going to turn nasty. He watched carefully as the two little creatures stretched out towards each other, their noses nearly touching. And then Sasha abruptly took a step forward to get a closer look. Disliking the sudden move, Ilex leaped back before hissing and taking a warning swipe at the slightly larger gryphon. His claws were sheathed for now, but he didn't like this new arrival getting so close to him. Ieyasu hurried forward to split the pair, but before he could catch one of them, Sasha had dashed forward again, evidently seeing Ilex's move as a game of some sort. Deciding to retreat for now, the older cat leapt up to one of the windows and disappeared out of it to find a quiet place to sulk.

Sighing softly, Ieyasu shook his head. He should have figured that might happen. It could take a little while for them to get used to each other. Then he heard a distraught voice from behind him.

"Yassu, do Sash'ka and 'Lex not like each other? Why'd they do that?"

Ieyasu turned to Osu. He'd need to explain to the little spellweaver that things would be ok soon - that they just needed time to get used to each other. Hopefully he'd understand and wouldn't get too upset.

Stretching his arms out and stifling a yawn, Ieyasu made his way over to the door. It had been closed overnight, but now that the sun was rising in the sky the air was beginning to feel warm. The kitsune liked to let a little breeze into the house when it got too warm. Sasha also liked to have the freedom of the garden. Realising where Ieyasu was going, she was hovering around at his ankles, her long striped tail swaying from side to side.

As Ieyasu opened the door, he spotted something lying on the patio. While Sasha stalked over the patio to pounce on an unsuspecting insect, he picked up the letter, opening it curiously.



Ieyasu smiled as he walked back inside, laying the letter down on the table. Osu, who had been busy eating his breakfast at the low table, looked up.

"What's dat, Yassu??"

"It's a letter from Emi, Blanche and Toby. Blanche is going to grow up soon, but she needs a few things. I think we've got a few beads somewhere - how about we look for them after you've had breakfast? Oh, and Toby says hi to you."

Osu beamed, his grin spreading from ear to ear. He nodded his head vigourously. "Ok! Can I say hi to Tobee too??"

Ieyasu grinned, nodding his head. "Sure, kid." After a few moments of looking about, he managed to find some envelopes and paper, and sat down to write a reply.

Osu kneeled on the floor next to the low table, staring at a half-melted candle intently. The wick was unlit - instead of trying to put out or manipulate a flame, the young spellweaver was trying to create one. He wasn't quite there yet. He'd managed to create a tiny wisp of smoke this morning, but that was it.

Ieyasu wasn't here with him right now; his guardian had gone out to get rice from the centre. And he'd told Osu that he was in charge while he had gone, and he was to keep an eye on Sasha. The young aerandir was thrilled at having been left "in charge", even if it was only for five minutes. His thoughts straying to this, he looked around himself for the gryphon. Actually... where was she?

Scrambling to his feet, Osu looked about himself. "Sasha? Sasha?" he called. She wasn't in the house. Uh oh.... Maybe she was just outside. Yeah, that was it, she was just out in the garden. Dashing out of the front door, the spellweaver skidded to a stop on the patio, looking for the striped gryphon. "Sasha! Sasha!" he called, louder. He couldn't have lost her! Yassu would be so unhappy with him! Spinning, the child caught a glimpse of white and brown towards the left side of the fairly wild garden. There she was! Relieved, Osu took a few steps towards the gryphon. She hadn't responded at all to her name being called. She looked like she was... concentrating on something. Then he saw it. He thought it was a piece of big coiled up rope for a moment, before realising that Yassu didn't have any rope in the garden. Sasha was sneaking up on a snake!

"Sasha! No! Its pois'nous!" he shouted, sprinting as quickly as he could towards the gryphon. He'd seen snakes in a picture book, and when he'd shown them to Yassu, he'd said that they could be pois'nous and hurt lots, and that if he ever saw a snake, he wasn't to touch it but to go tell Yassu at once. Only... Yassu wasn't here right this second and Sasha was going to jump on it. He had to get her away from it. It wasn't particularly large for a snake, and was golden brown in colour. If Osu had been able to tell the difference between snakes, he'd have known that it was a brown tree snake, and only very mildly venomous. But to the spellweaver, all snakes were poisonous.

He didn't quite move quickly enough. His shouting had roused the snake, and it was now aware of the gryphon dangerously close to it. Before he managed to catch a hold of Sasha, there was a flash of claws and then a retaliatory strike. The gryphon screeched in a mixture of surprise, annoyance and pain and then Osu had managed to grab her. Being still fairly small, and Sasha being a fairly large gryphon, he struggled a bit to hold her. Especially because she was wriggling in his small arms, eager to get her revenge on the snake that had hurt her. She tried to flap her wings, to writhe free.

"Sasha, Sasha! Stop it, please!" he pleaded with her, holding on tight. Eventually she cooled down and Osu had somehow managed to not drop her or fall over. He noticed now that there were two small reddish marks on one of her legs. The snake must have bitten her! Osu nearly panicked at that point. The snake had bit her! He needed to find Yassu! Surely Yassu would know what to do! Frantic, he began to rush down the path, looking for Yassu or anyone else that could help. Sasha still wriggled a little bit, now chittering in his ear. She sounded a little agitated. Just as he reached the bottom of the path, Osu spotted Ieyasu returning with a large bag. He ran to his guardian, tears starting to run down his cheeks and his voice cracked.

Ieyasu stopped as he saw Osu run towards him with Sasha, realising that something was wrong.
"Hey, what's wrong kid? Hey.. calm down and tell me what happened" he said, dropping to a crouch beside the frantic child.

"Y-Yassu, Yassu, you need to help Sasha! There was a big s-snake in the grass an' Sasha j-jumped on it an' it bit her! Is she g-gonna be ok??"

Taking the chirruping gryphon from Osu, concern in his eyes, Ieyasu found the snakebite. Her foreleg seemed to be swelling, but there wasn't any sign that the gryphon was having breathing difficulties, or anything that would point to severe poison. He'd need to find someone who knew much more than he did though, to be sure.

"I'm sure she'll be ok," he replied to Osu, trying to reassure him. "But we need to go find someone who knows about these things. I'll carry Sasha, and you tell me what the snake looked like." It was important not to look as worried as he felt, so as not to panic Osu further. Carrying the gryphon gently, he stood up.

Osu sniffed and scrubbed a furry arm across his tear stained cheeks. Then he nodded. "O-Ok." As Ieyasu turned and began to make his way back into the village, Osu hurried to keep pace with his taller guardian, beginning to describe the snake.