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Avery had heard Hajari's question, since he was paying attention to the boy. "The goat one? Or the duck? The duck one... uh.. I think Mom said it means to just let insults roll off your back, like the water does off a duck. And the goat one means... If they don't know something upsets you, then they can't use it to make you upset. I guess, anyway. I wasn't really paying attention."

He was nodding about that, rather pleased with himself that he'd remembered, when suddenly he was getting a hug. And just as suddenly it stopped. He blinked, then grinned, not minding the hug at all.

Hajari was worried over being called a scaredy-cat, and Avery was having a hard time understanding the worry. Worrying about things that might happen was completely foreign to the headstrong angel.

"Okay... but... they might not. So, until they do, don't worry about it. And if they do, they're stupid and stuff." Such sage advice from the eleven year old.

Sybil had crouched down and was playing in the dirt, and found a long piece of grass with a seed end nearby. She plucked it when no one was looking, a gleam in her eye. She waited carefully until Lester wasn't looking, then reached out and tickled him in the ribs with it, giggling.


Alida held up her notebook as she stood, in which she'd entitled a fresh page with some fancy script, reading, The Bug List. She'd keep track of the bugs they saw, or at least she intended to. If someone else wanted to, she'd give them the notebook.

She waited until Ritsu had gained his feet, shyly folding his hands in front of him. He looked at Gingitsune as she made her suggestion, and hesitantly nodded.

"Okay, Gingitsune-san... that sounds good," he said, looking down the path. He waited for someone else to take the lead, so Alida propelled him onto the path, and there they both waited for Mooger.

Lester was listening to the other two, Avery and Hajari conversing when suddenly, he felt something tickle him in the ribbs, and jumbed back, as Sybil, who he hadn't noticed before tickled him with the long and thin bled of grass, giggling and trying to control his laughter. Being tickled was one of the demon satir's weaknessess, even though he tried to hide it, it was very obvious now.

(( Sorry it took me so long to get back. Hopefully that won't happen again anytime soon. ^^; ))

Hajari swayed his body slightly in place in slight uneasiness over the matter, but after Avery had replied he felt a little better. There really wasn't any reason to get so worked up over something that hasn't and may never happen, was there? His pale green eyes twinkled slightly in a childlike innocence as he smiled gracefully, answering with, "Thank you very much, Avery. That... that makes a whole lot of sense. But... you're still gonna... you know... p-protect me, right?" It was just that he was saying those particular words that made him stutter again, not that he was afraid of the angel in any way. He started looking at the angel with new eyes; ones that a child saw through to an older brother or mentor. His respect for the boy was growing.

Hajari's eyes flashed at the mention of doing something, and he quickly turned to Sybil when she suggested playing hide-and-seek. He liked that game, one he actually knew about from his time in the tower with his sisters. "That sounds like fun!" he chirped, clapping his hands together with a giggle.


Gingitsune stumbled on her feet clumsily as she walked along and jumped a little, almost loosing her footing entirely. With a breath she eased her feet along more surely, deciding it was high time she settled down. She gave Ritsu an embarrassed look, but not one to ruin the mood as she smiled.

"Ooh!" MoogerMint gasped as Ritsu pointed out the bee. "I love bumblebees! Wouldn't harm a thing," she explained, grinning widely. She had always found bumblebees to be quite 'cute,' no matter the funny faces others gave her. "Great find, Ritsu!"

"Come on, Ri. Let's follow Alida and see if we can spot any others," Gingitsune offered the boy as she led him over to the brush. She sniffed at the flowers carefully, making sure there weren't any bugs in them before doing so. She burrowed her snout in past the leaves to see if she could find anything, but the leaves' and flowers' scent were too strong for her to track anything down.

Hajari smiled wide at Avery's enthusiasm and laughed out his worries away. It was one thing to be told what to do in the face of danger, but with the added support of help, it was just what the harpy child needed. It felt as a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders as all his worries evaporated, and for once he was without any hesitation.

Hajari giggled as he trotted off a few paces behind everyone to get a head start, no matter how small a start it was. "I think fifty is enough! It's a big number!" Hajari chirped, feeling proud that he knew how to count that high as well. He didn't know the area at all, but he seemed uncharacteristically fearless at the moment and was sure he'd find something within a minute.


MoogerMint's eyes brightened as she read over Alida's writing as she began to nod her head vigorously. "Oh, I agree! I love to try to find all the different colors of dragonflies are in the area as well. They really are quite elegant," the kitsune agreed with a wide smile, taking a look around the area quickly to try to spot one.

Gingitsune sniffed at the ants but kept her distance, lest one get stuck in her nose. "Either they're going home, or they've gone out in search of food for the rest of the colony. And seeing as they're not carrying anything..." she reassured, sensing nothing out of the ordinary that would otherwise drive them from their home. She just hoped she was correct in assuming...

MoogerMint didn't seem to notice the wolf's tension or worry on the matter, seeing nothing to get so worked up about. True, there was no food for a long way that ants would be interested in, but ants were known to travel great distances carrying many times their weight in food. They were rather inspiring creatures.

Looking among the branches, MoogerMint spotted an inchworm crawling around on it's belly up a branch and she smiled. "These guys are so interesting to watch, don't you think?" she asked as she pointed at the caterpillar. "Better write 'inchworm' to the list. I never did figure out what they grew up to be..." she said, giving the little thing a sideways glance.

Gingitsune pulled her head away from the ants slowly as Ritsu did, but her eyes were still fixated on their movenments lest something happen. She could be a bit of a worrywart when it came to these things, but she thought it was better to be safe then sorry!

She tensed tighter when Ritsu's shaken voice came up, ready to spring at anything that threatened him if it was needed and vocal chords burning as she held back a growl. She was glad she did, as she found it only to be a stick -- or at least, it looked like a stick -- on the boy's sleeve. But then, she saw it move as well, though it was barely visible. Was it evil? Was it something in disguise? She figured she'd better ask, as she had never seen anything like it before.

Befire she could, however, MoogerMint's snickering came to her ears as she moved slowly over to the frightened boy. "Relax, Ritsu. It's probably as scared as you are. It's called a walking stick! I've... never actually seen one up close before," she said in slight awe, holding her hands like a wall in front of and to the sides of the insect to get it to climb on her. Once it did, she held it back up to the bush it came from, letting it crawl off her and go back to its business.

"It's a... walking stick? That doesn't look like any cane I've seen!" Gingitsune stated with a snort, something to lighten the mood. She knew what Moogz meant, but the air was so tense it needed the joke.


Hajari nodded sharply to Sybil's comment with a giggle, feathered tail spreading a little in anticipation to start running. The claw on the back of his foot brushed against a stick behind him as he slid it, and he glanced back to make sure that's all it was. His talons may have been sensitive, but he needed to start learning what everything felt like. He was so unused to the forest without it being in a book that it felt almost alien to him, but at the same time like home. He knew it was in his blood, but he still had to get used to it.

"Hope you two find a good hiding place!" he whispered to Lester and Sybil as Avery began to count. It was time! Spinning on a heel to the left, he dashed off at a run as he began to scan the area as he passed it. The trees were all so small, and there were not many bushes around that could hide him very well at all. He stopped and began walking, looking back to try to find out where the others were. He was far enough away that he could barely hear Avery's voice anymore, and he hoped it wasn't too far.

Finally, he found a thick enough tree that he could feasibly hide himself and his unweildly wings behind, something he always had trouble with. Skillfully, he made a dovetail behind it and peeked over the side toward Avery. He could still hear him counting, but from the length his voice came in he was pretty far along. Twitching his eyes behind him, he noticed a tilting tree with the roots on one side reaching out and above a covered foxhole. With one last look in the direction he came from, he crawled over on the balls of his feet to it and snuck in under the roots.

However, the roots were rather low to the ground, and it took some effort to get under. He managed to skin an elbow and tear a few downy feathers out of his wing, and he seethed air back in through clenched teeth. It was really dark, and he knew it would be difficult for Avery to find him, but with his arm in this condition, did he really want to be lost so long? He shook his head slightly to forget about that, holding his elbow with his other hand as his wing seemed to pulse in pain. If he forgot about it and concentrated on the game, he wouldn't have to worry.

With that, he spotted the feathers that had been ripped out at the entrance of the roots, and he reached out to snag them back in. The feathers would've been a sheer giveaway to where he was hiding, and what fun was that?

MoogerMint rose back up to her ful height and turned, grinning, to Ritsu. "No need to be shy about it, Ritsu. I'd probably have panicked myself, as I see every bug on me as a spider at first, and I'm afraid of spiders," she snickered at her own expense, "A very large spider at that!"

Gingitsune snorted. "And I would've seen it as a possessed stick," she grinned toothly before realizing what she had touched upon. MoogerMint froze slightly, a momentary lapse before she regained herself. Though seeming to get a little more nervous at what Gingitsune mentioned, she brushed it off with a smile, waving her hand and laughing as she moved along. That was a bad slip of the tongue... she grumbled to herself.

But before the she-wolf could dwell on the mistake, she felt the light touch of Ritsu's hand upon her mane, and she smiled up at him. He was a very sweet boy, and she liked his quieter nature in retrospective to what she was used to. She brushed her ear on his hip, much like a cat would do, to indicate that it was all right to do so, but in the meantime led the boy along so as not to fall too far behind the antsy MoogerMint.


Hajari could hear the group getting closer to his whereabouts, and he let out a tiny sigh of relief. He knew he had probably gone too far away from their beginning spot, and now he was wishing he hadn't. His skinned arm was stinging, but at least the pain was dying down. But no matter what the outcome was, he wasn't about to let something so small ruin the fun for the others; he was just going to have to tough it out. It wouldn't be so bad anyway, especially since he had done this before in the tower. Of course, back then, they hadn't had someone to care for them.

His feathered ears twitched slightly as he heard the voices of Sybil along with Avery, and wondered if Lester had been found as well. It was getting a little cramped under the roots, even for one as small as him. But his head perked as Avery called to him, and he watched as his footsteps came around to stop in front of the hole. He squeaked happily as Avery stuck his head down, and immediately attempted to crawl out of the hole.

As he reached a wing-arm and his head out to somehow try to not hurt himself again, he perked his eyes back up to Avery with mild shock. "I did?" he asked, struggling to get his other arm free.

"I-I think... I'm stuck," he said after a bit, heat rushing to his cheeks as he began to panic slightly. What was he going to do if he couldn't get out? He grunted as he wriggled harder, squeaking as he jabbed himself against a root with his arm against his ribs.

Lester didn't like the idea of playing hide-and-seek, but since everyone else liked the idea, he didn't disagree, and ran off to find a good hiding place. The thing was, that Lester was very bad at finding hiding places, and got really nervous and afraid in such games, since it made him feel like an animal being hunted, but no one knew this fear yet. Running around he heard Avery count to thirty-five and felt butterflies spur in his stomach and looked around despiratly, looking for a hiding place, and heard Avery reach fourty.
Looking up, Lester saw a tree right beside him, and pushed off the ground with his hoofs, he jumped, barely catching a branch with one of his hands, and scrambled up into the tree, hiding behind its leaves and branched, folding his arms against his chest and tried to smoothen his rapid breathing, and luckily, his breathing smoothered out.

(( I apologize myself. I kept forgetting. sweatdrop ))

Ritsu had sensed the mood shift... but couldn't tell why, and so he'd simply withdrawn into himself again. But only for a moment. Gingitsune's question made him look around, and he pointed over at the pond which the path had curved closer to. "Over there? Maybe?"

Alida nodded, and switched directions, jogging over to the pond edge. She had been more observant than Ritsu, and noticed when the mood had changed, but she didn't know what to do about it, either. Possession? She was a demon, but she wasn't like that kind of demon. She sighed, and looked at the pond surface. Maybe there were water bugs.


Sybil hugged Hajari after he climbed from the hole. She'd been worried! "Are you okay?" she asked. She could tell something was wrong, she could sense it. But he was so agitated, she couldn't tell what.

Avery, meanwhile, had patted Hajari on the shoulder, and then knelt down to poke his head into the hole the harpy boy had just come from. "Tight squeeze in there," he said, and tilted back so he was looking up at the three younger kids from the ground.

"So, now what? You guys ready for a break, or you wanna keep playing? Hajari gets to seek if we keep playing," he added. But Hajari looked a little freaked out, and he probably had some scrapes that needed looking at. Avery was an expert in scrapes, bruises, and cuts.