Welcome to Gaia! ::

Meets-the-Sea smiles beatifically at her daughter and the newest member of their tribe, Seafoam Voices, examine the mound and frolic about it. The acha's song is a familiar one, and she closes her eyes and sways her tail back and forth as she listens, content.

When Slide comes up next to her, Meets opens her darkly glowing eyes and her smile extends a little farther. "Spring and Water Hunter are watching the caves. I believe Fallen Moon was going to stay with them. I have not seen Shortened Way for a few days...but he is a wanderer, perhaps he will show up. I'm not sure about the others." She leans her head over against Slide's shoulder in what appears to be an almost unconscious gesture of affection -- but those who know Meets-the-Sea will know that no movement she makes is without thought. Her eyes rest on the acha. "That was a lovely song, Seafoam, might we have another? Perhaps others will hear and join in."

Seafoam's observation about her swamp-covered body gives Sand pause before she looks down at herself. Caked might be a better word to describe the ashes and muck coating her legs, and she shifts her hooves in the mud a little, laughing. So many of the kin here, normally a festival of color, are brown, black, and gray from both work and play.

She's grateful for the flower and swivels her ears around, feeling it on her head and smiling. "Ah, look, both of us match now!", referring to the well-earned dirt as well as the ornaments. She had a hard time taking the Acha seriously at first - they are so slight and delicate looking - but they are far hardier than appearances would suggest. Sandwalker is grateful for her clan-sister's company. The practically-minded Kimeti would have never thought that bringing something as impractical as flowers would make such a meaningful difference. They are certainly beautiful. She smiles approvingly.

"It's a shame that the others cannot make it. Let us bring back some sweet fruit for them when we return." Fruit, so scarce in the borderlands, would certainly be appreciated.

Sand turns, looking back to the mound to survey her work. That log, there, that needs to move. The stones next to it, too, should be arranged move carefully. They can be formed into steps, for kin to climb and sun themselves on during winter mornings. "My sister, your voice makes this work easy and light. Please, let us hear it again!" Sandwalker moves forward to put the weight of her body against the heavy stones, but she is careful not to dislodge the flower from behind her ear.

“Mistaken?” The Kiokote laughed. “Ah, how delightfully coy." Watch Me attempted to move past Keep True, but was blocked by the angry doe. “Ahem, please move aside.”

“No.” Chest out and head high, despite being smaller than the Kiokote, she might as well have been an impassable cliff. Keep True's 'defend sister' mechanism had been activated and she was about to tell him exactly where he could go when they were interrupted by a new arrival.

Keep True blinked owlishly at the buck. “Singer?”

Watch Me watched on curiously.

Settlle Down had been focusing on his surroundings and thebits of stone and wood about him, that even though he vaquely heard the does approach he honestly had not seen them. That was until the two were standing mere hoove-lengths from the green buck. He thanked his lucky stars that he had the wherewithal to keep himself from blinking in surprise as he noticed them, even as every muscle in his body tensed from the effort.
Twitching his esrs towards the two he smiled pleasantly. "Are those the footsteps of two gentle does I hear?"

"Y-you're not that old, Thaw," she rasped automatically, but her eyes never left the bird; the warning of its neediness hardly daunted her - aside from Bruise (who, truth be told, still scared her a little), this was the first bird she had seen in close quarters that her mother had not slaughtered mere seconds later, she had a lifetime's worth of pent-up affection for birds to lavish on the little thing, "w-will it really c-come to me...?"

She tried the whistle, the first note hesitant, but the last two clear - when the songbird winged its way back to her side, the smile that broke across her face near matched its radiance.

Her smile beaming out from behind the bit of mud that had splashed up to her face, Seafoam Smiles danced delicately about her tribe members. It pleased her that they thought so highly of her ability to sing, though sometimes she worried she was too quiet.

Nodding to Meets and Sand at their request she tapped her foot against the soft ground to keep time and started again. Her voice was sweet and low as she sang about the Borderwalkers. It was a new song, one she'd been working on away from the others in her spare time, and the words came out hesitantly in trepidation. In truth, she felt as though the song wasn't nearly finished and still much to raw; but it seemed fitting for the situation as its message was about the family that was the tribe as a whole and their connection to the swamp and the sands.




(( Sorry this took so long, guys.))

There was an uncomfortable pit in her stomach as Keep True realized that Story had been keeping secrets. Not only did her sister have an older male (and rather handsome) friend that was giving her gifts, but apparently she could sing. Sing! Keep True was glad for the smile on her darling sisters face and could not help responding with a grin of her own, but it hurt that she had not known about Story’s new confidant.

“Fantastic!” Watch Me declared, looking very pleased with the whole situation. “A bird that suits you well, my darling sweet girl… and to hear that you are a singer. Well…” He looked about to burst from sheer happiness. How fortuitous this was!

“I would like to invite you to join me. Be part of my tribe of divine Acha; actors, singers and performers! The Royal Rainbow Troupe will welcome you!”

Fell did obediently have a taste, but he was not quite as keen to lavish praise upon a rival. After all, Rise hadn't been the one to pioneer their own salting technology. "Not bad for an amateur," he muttered grudgingly - but, of course, not bad was an understatement - it was hard to beat a marlin dried fresh from the sea. Envy, deep, deep, envy, for the moment, coursed through his veins entire. With great deliberation, as if he meant only to judge it proper, he took another bite.