Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sy had always enjoyed the beach. Despite her rather fair complexion, she had somehow managed to tan while living on this isolated island. Not only that, some of her overwhelming sense of modesty was slacking off. Instead of worrying about showing too much skin or anything of the like, she was dressed in a nearly skin-tight blue bathing suit. One of these days they might call her well-adjusted.

Delta toddled behind, carrying with her a huge bundle of fabric that was a shiny green. It was too shiny and smooth looking to be a blanket, that was for certain. On top of the strange wad of fabric was a tiny pail and a shovel made out of bright yellow plastic, the latter of the two objects a little melted on the handle but still usable.

When Sy saw the other two she waved and smiled at the mother and son, blushing a little. Delta gave a regal bow to Kami before half-strutting and half-galloping down to the water's edge.

Delta put down the fabric before the galloped into the water, her hooves making more of a splash than feet probably would. When she reached Keanu she paused, looking at him, trying to figure out if she recognized him. While she was fairly certain she hadn't met him as a child, perhaps they knew each other as gryphons? She could never tell. People kept growing and growing. If she were president, she'd make everyone where name tags.

"Hi. My name is Delta," she said with a charming smile, and did a little courtsey. He would CLEARLY be impressed by her grace and perfect courtsey. It had only taken her 2 1/2 days to make it perfect.

"Hey there," Sy said, still blushing, as she sat down next to Kami. She couldn't help but wonder what sort of impression she made with such a... form-fitting bathing suit. "I'm Syrenrei. Are you an Aerandir mom too?"

"I'm making a dress," Delta said proudly, thrusting her shoulders forward a little. No other Aerandir had a dress, let alone a shiny green dress. She couldn't really sew yet, but her mom was going to help her. She swished her tail around behind her a moment, savoring the idea of how beautiful she would be.

"I'm gonna gather seashells to sew on the bottom. Mom says lots of seashells have tiny holes in them, so they're easy to sew on. I just have to be super careful not to break them."

Sy pulled her legs up to her chest, looking at the two Aerandir as they talked. It was hard not to notice which one was the more dominant one in the conversation, and which was more shy and submissive. "Delta wants a dress, so we're gathering sea shells to sew on it," she explained, although she really didn't need to. Kami wasn't exactly beach patrol.

He hadn't really complimented her so much as the dress... but it had been a sort of compliment. Definately enough she instantly decided she liked Keanu. He was sort of quiet, but he obviously noted her good taste in clothing. And he was also undoubtably stunned so much by her beauty that that was the only reason he hadn't commented on it.

She peered at the seashell and looked it over. It was kinda big, but her mom hadn't said how many or what size sea shells to get. They'd have to just pick up a whole lot and then sort them all out later. She'd pick the bestest ones for her dress and maybe since he was helping they could make him something too. Like a necklace!

"Yeah! We can pick up lots, and when I get home I can wash them and then figure out which ones are the bestest."

Sy rolled her eyes a little as she watched her daughter. Delta WAS a cutie, but sometimes that was exactly the problem. "Oh yes, she's very cute, but she knows that too." She paused and dug her toes into the sand. "I don't think Delta will ever swim, at least not well. Harder to swim with hooves than feet."

Delta skirted around the edge of the water, pausing to ever-so-deicately pick up a shell. She was trying to stay as clean as possible while on the beach, as well as be lady-like. That meant she couldn't squat down and dig in the sand.

As she paused to pick up a cream-colored shell with veins of light purple in it, she looked over at the other Aerandir. She didn't know what sort of hybrid she was except it wasn't the same as her. There probably weren't any that were the same. When her mom said they were all unique, she wasn't kidding.

"Are you gonna be a swimmer or something when you grow up? You got grey and blue, like fish. Or a dolphin. Those are grey too, and they are the best swimmers."

----

Sy shook her head. "I don't think she'll be able to fly that well either. The bird that she gets some of her traits from is a peacock, and I don't think they are much of fliers. But that's all right. She seems quite content with her prance." She chuckled a little to herself. "Sometimes she tries to correct my walk and posture now. She fancies herself a lady."

Nehanda winced as another claw caught her arm, and resisted the desire to hold Cerise up and shake her. Instead, she lifted the hissing bundle of gryphon and whispered, "Cut it out! We're going to the beach, and you're going to like it. I've got to get you out of the house before Foenix realises that you 'killed' her sweater. She liked that sweater! A lot!" The swan girl rolled her eyes as she grabbed up her carry-sak and all but ran out the front door.

"We're going to have a nice, relaxing afternoon at the beach. You're going to behave yourself. We will not be here when Foenix finds her sweater. And maybe, just maybe, if we're lucky, she will have time to cool down and she will not want to kill you by the time we get home."

Cerise reached out wildly with a paw, trying to make contact with flesh. As far as she was concerned, that sweater had been fair play. The Red-Furred Person had left it out on a chair, and it was fuzzy. Cerise liked fuzzy things. She liked to destroy fuzzy things, to rip and tear them apart. It was satisfying.

But now, the Winged Person was making her go outside!!!!! She narrowed her sensitive eyes and hissed as the sunlight hit her. The bright light was evil and bad and she hated it. And what was a beach? She already knew that she wouldn't like it.

"I just don't get it. I gave you toys. I gave you a lot of toys. I even put catnip in some of them!" Holding her 'baby sister' firmly, Nehanda continued down along the path toward the beach. "I just don't get it!"

Cerise thought that the Winged Person's voice sounded pretty funny when it got all high-pitched as it was now. Perhaps she should tear up more sweaters if it produced such an amusing effect.

Although this forced ouside journey was not so amusing. Finally abandoning her struggle, Cerise hung limply in Nehanda's grasp, content to simply hiss her displeasure. The Winged Person was too big and strong, so she would just conserve her energy for later.

Nehanda smiled as they broke through the trees and walked out onto the beach. "Ah. Here we are."

Withouth the lovely shadows cast by the trees, the evil sunlight was even brighter now. Cerise looked up to hiss again, she froze as she got her first good look at the beach.

Down past the sand, that blue stuff . . . was that water? Was that all water?

((It's Cerise, not Rosie! blaugh ))

Nehanda looked up as wings overhead created shadows over the patch of sand she had settled into. She held a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, and smiled. "Hiya, Pueblo! What's up?"

Realizing that her friend had yet to meet her little sister, she looked around.

Cerise had curled up in the small of Nehanda's back, using what little shadow there was to sit and sulk. Since there didn't seem much chance of escape, the gryphon was taking advantage of the new surroundings to study the shadows there. The Winged Person, she had learned, had hints of green, growing things in her shadows. Shadows created by beach objects moved and undulated like the ocean. They smelled salty, and a bit fishy. Cerise liked that smell very much.

She had raised one wing and hissed at the approach of a stranger, but paused suspiciously as the Winged Person greeted this newcomer as a friend. Bah. She probably wouldn't like anyone that the Winged Person liked.

With a sigh, Nehanda reached behind her and hauled Cerise out by the scruff of her neck. "Remember the seed pod? Cerise came out a few weeks ago. Careful of her claws; she's a complete brat. I kept meaning to get in touch, so that she could meet you and Pie."

Croaaking at the Winged Person over such rude treatment, Cerise prepared to swipe at the newcomer should there be any attempt to touch her. But she paused for a moment, sniffing. The stranger smelled interesting, of pungent oil and some sort of soft mud or dirt. Her shadows were filled with swirls of color-not-color. This was very different from the Woman and the Winged Person. She crept a bit closer, still prepared to offer claws in exchange for any disrespect

Pueblo's answer to her initial query left Nehanda completely puzzled, but she quickly forgot in excitement. "He did? That's terrific!" She jumped to her feet. "What can we give you? This is so exciting!"