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 Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:34 pm
The Past Little WhileWaving her hand outside the front door for the last time, Karma scooted the three gryphons inside, and settled herself down onto the comfy couch beside the fire. Dipping her quill into her signature sparkly purple ink, Karma gently pressed it to the paper of the journal, and began writing.Journal Dear Journal,
The past little while has been pretty interesting, actually. I finally managed to make the Babki! It was quite a lot of fun, if you exclude the massive amount of work that was required to clean up the mess that was left for the day after. But that aside for now… Faust helped to bake it as well! I hope he learned a lot. I’d like to think that I’ve taught him a fair bit. Even though he couldn’t do anything major, he was still able to add some ingredients here, and fetch a few things there, and judging by his reactions, I think he was fine with that.
At the end I had to hop over to the Lodge to bake them, because we don’t have an oven in our cabin. (Which is just as well, really. I don’t think I have actually ever used a gas one before, and I doubt that it would have been too safe, what with all of the energetic gryphons bounding around everywhere. I wouldn’t want them to accidentally get hurt.) Anyway, when I brought back the Babki (There were three.) I found that even though Faust ended up enjoying the sweet treat, three was a little bit too much for us. So, later on in the week, I went back to the Lodge and dropped one off. Hopefully someone will enjoy it.
Oh! While I was at the Lodge, I found out that Oleo and Blanche both grew! Isn’t that great? Perhaps I should ask if either of them would like to meet up. It’d be nice to meet them again. I also noticed that there were a few quests in progress, I wrote down all of the information on a page in the back of the journal so that I wouldn’t forget. I’m hoping that Faust and I might be able to contribute something.
Anyway, oh! I can’t believe that I almost forgot this! A few days after making the Babki, something terribly amusing happened. I was just doing some writing, when I heard this ear-piercing shriek. Of course I was worried, and so I ran down the stairs, hoping to find the answer to the loud noise. Well, not only did I find the answer, I also found something else.
It turned out that Naima had shrieked because something in the washroom had frightened her. But you’ll never guess what it was. After a bit of investigation (And when I say ‘investigation’, I do not mean that everything that occurred was out of curiosity.) Faust and I found out that the thing that had surprised Naima was a small, fuzzy black rabbit! Go figure! At first, I had honestly thought it was a ball of mold!
So, after we identified the rabbit, I realized that the back door to the cabin was open, and that was probably how the poor creature got inside in the first place. And while I was closing the door, Faust did the cutest thing! He went into the pantry and stole some of the Babka from a few days before, and gave it to the little rabbit. It was so cute to watch him pushing the spooked creature to eat. I’m not actually sure if Babka would be that healthy for an animal, but I don’t think one time will harm it.
Well, we actually just let the rabbit go free a little while ago, as the weather seemed to be warm and sunny at the time. (Not that it isn’t usually nice and sunny, but a little while before that it seemed like it was pretty windy.) But, that’s all for now. I’ll write more soon, I promise.
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:54 am
Look Ma, Itssa Letter! The bright rainbow of warm colours spread across the sky as dawn broke over the small island of Ar’Idil. Those inside of cabin two did not stir, however, from their comfortable resting places scattered throughout the upper level of the small house.
A small, tan-coated gryphon did not move when his creamy crimson speckled wings were doused in the warm rays of the sun. He did not flinch as a cool morning breeze flowed gently over his body, only slightly ruffling the dark feathers on his face. The young Aerandir did, though, twitch – his pale ears standing on-guard – as the sudden sound of tapping rolled through the air in the wooden cabin.
However, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
Several hours later, Karma groaned as a powerful bright light invaded her eyes, easily trespassing her eyelids. “Nnnng.” The lady rolled over on her futon so that her face was fully buried in her fluffy pillow. “Ugh. Is it morning already?” The keeper managed to mumble so that it was barely understandable. Using her hand as a shield for the forthcoming light, Karma began to roll around on her futon again when she felt something strange against her back. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she attempted to figure out what she had that was so hard, when a familiar sound explained it all.
Faust ‘nyarked’ impatiently as his mother strained to get out of bed. He had been trying to wake her up for a while now, but the lady seemed to have some strangely strong drive to sleep. “Nyark wrak nyar!” Faust pushed his ebony beak into Karma’s back, before receding to see if this attempt had been successful.
Karma smiled tiredly and vaguely wondered how Faust could almost constantly get up at such early hours every single morning. “Yes, yes, Faust. I’m up.” She rubbed her face with her hands, before pushing herself up from the futon and heading down towards the bathroom.
Faust let a triumphant chirp slip through his beak as his guardian headed down the wooden ladder. But now, he had another pressing matter to attend to. Zipping down to the main level himself, the young gryphon trotted over to the front door.
He had heard a strange tapping a while back, and after thoroughly searching the entire cabin, Faust found out that there was a corner of ‘paper’ sticking out from under the front door. It looked much like the ‘letters’ that Karma received and sent, and so Faust assumed it was one as well.
Using the tip of his beak, Faust barely managed to drag the letter completely inside of the cabin, but once he did, the Aerandir gave a ‘wark’ of excitement and dashed to Karma, prodding her to open it.
As Karma rinsed out her mouth after brushing her teeth, she glanced down to see Faust, a letter in his beak, pleading excitedly for her to open it. The lady spat out the water into the sink, and after a quick face wash, she headed towards the lower level’s couch to open the letter – Faust closely tailing her. “A letter, who’s it from, I wonder?” She mused, flipping the paper around in her hands a few times before actually ripping it open and reading it. “Well, let’s find out, shall we? It says…”Letter Dear Karma,
It’s so great to hear from you mom! It’s hard to believe that so much has already happened in such a small span of time, You really seem to be enjoying yourself on the island (What was it called again?) and I’m glad that you are.
Things have been pretty quiet around here recently, well, except for a few things. Have I told you that our little Riyo is a natural-born singer and song-writer? Well he is! He has an absolutely stunning voice! How do I know this though? Well, a little while ago he held a concert as – wait until you hear this – his quest to become a teen! Awesome, don’t you think?
Anyway, he hasn’t exactly grown yet, so everyone’s on edge, not-so-paitently waiting to see when it’ll happen. Percy and Percival can both speak rather fluently now (Percy more than Percival, though.) and I’m confident that he’ll be growing soon as well.
I – as well and Percy, Percival, and Riyo – would LOVE it if you could come down for a visit sometime soon! Just make sure to tell us when you’re coming so that we can all get prepared to welcome you and Faust (How’s he doing, by the way? I don’t think I’ve actually seen him other than as two jars, so I’m kind of curious of what he looks like.)
Well, it’s actually getting pretty late, so I should be turning in. We’re all looking forward to your next letter,
~Karia, Riyo, Percy and Percival
P.S. I’ve sent along some packages of seeds for various herbs, veggies, and fruits, some basic medicines, your cookbook (Yes, I managed to find it under that pile of mess.) and a few other things I thought you might want. If you need anything else, just ask us and we’ll send it to you next time as well!
“Nyark?” Faust confusedly sounded. Who were these people, what was going on with them, why was it so exciting, and where were the rest of the things they sent? Curious to find out more, the Aerandir gently nudged Karma, hoping to gain some information regarding what she had read from the letter.
Folding the paper back into it's envelope, Karma shook off her sudden burst of emotions. She would see them again soon enough, and she knew they were alright, everything was okay. Looking at Faust, she smiled, and enlightened her charge. "Karia, Riyo, Percy and Percival are my kids as well, just like you." She gave Faust's crimson head an affectionate ruffle for emphasis. "I sent them a letter a little while back, and this was their reply. We're tossing the idea, of us going over to the mainland to meet them, back and forth, hoping to find a good time." Waiting until the young Aerandir processed the information and voiced it with a 'nyark', Karma stood up and headed towards the door, checking to see if there was a package.
Faust trotted after his mother, and peered between the door and the door's frame as Karma opened the portal. Eyes, widening slightly, Faust let a low 'Nyuuur' roll from his throat. There most certainly was a package, but it was no wonder that he couldn't have dragged it under the door.
"Wow." He heard Karma say, as he bounded over to the large parcel and poked at it with his antlers.
"I feel like it's my birthday or something." Karma laughed lightly as she said this. The package that was on their doorstep was, in a word, huge. Well, huge compared to any other thing she had been given. The brown paper-wrapped box reached half-way up Karma's calf, and was at least twice as long.
Gently scooping Faust up and temporarily moving him away from the box, Karma briefly stretched her muscles and slid her arms around the sides of the package. In one swift movement, Karma stood up and faced the front door. She didn't even have to ask Faust to open it for her, as she stepped inside the cabin, and back over to the couch. Slowly declining, Karma carefully set the heavy package down on the table, and sat back on the couch behind her. "Good lord." She said, exausted as Faust jumped onto her lap and stared at the lage brown parcel before him.
A few minutes passed before Faust let a chirp with a hint of impatience cross his beak. He had never seen such a large box before. Granted, the only package he'd ever recieved had been the star plush from Blanche and Emi, but that didn't stall his amazement. He gently tapped Karma with one of his dark, split hooves, and chirped as he finally recieved a response.
"Well then, let's get unpacking."
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Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:17 pm
A Feeling To Go By
Faust laid on the star plush, his dark eyes staring out the window. He was deep in thought. The night was young, only a half-hour past when he had first settled down to sleep, and yet, it was already dark out. It was already as pitch black as it had been that one time with the deer.
The young Aerandir shut his eyes away behind their bright feathered lids, but he couldn’t drift to sleep. No matter how hard the poor gryphon tried, he couldn’t fall asleep. His creamy wings ruffled lightly – he had this strange feeling. He had never felt it before, it was a sort of a longing want, no, a need, for something. The Aerandir could feel his tan body shiver in sheer excitement as it once again felt the odd overwhelming need for… For… The gryphon didn’t even know what he longed for, and yet it pulled him so strongly towards it.
Faust looked at those around him. Karma was sleeping peacefully, sprawled out on her futon with her silvery hair pooling under her head. Naima had curled into a tight ball of yellow, he furry chest slowly rising and falling as the small gryphon pulled in breaths of air. Dmitry on the other hand, could only be identified by a blue tail sticking out of a large pile of various things – junk, really.
Standing, and letting his padded, parted hooves cautiously drag him away from his peacefully slumbering family, Faust climbed down the ladder, and snuck out of the open front door. The Reindeer gryphon shuddered as a breeze brushed through his fur and feathers. Warm as the breeze was, it was cool when compared to the island’s usual temperature.
Within the next three minutes, Faust had successfully trotted off of the porch, and had wandered aimlessly around the front of the cabin. The feeling was greater outside, he could feel the pull – it was so strong, it was almost physical – and he decided to follow it. His dark hooves traipsing through the lush grass of the island, Faust led himself by the feeling. The farther away from the cabin he got, the stronger it became.
As he followed the silent calling, the gryphon explored his surroundings. They were vaguely familiar. Racking his mind, the young Aerandir finally came up with a memory. His eyes suddenly lit up as the large forest loomed ahead of him. Faust remembered coming here with Karma, Air and Oleo – he was still a couple of jars back then – and that was when they went to the berry patch! He could feel the excitement building, growing in unison with the powerful feeling.
The forest soon swallowed up Faust into it's depths. His cream wings partially spread, Faust's ears were twitching this way and that, curious about all of the new sounds he was hearing. The hoots of owls rolled through the air, and the swaying of trees, leaves rustling, branches breaking all surrounded the lone gryphon.
Although Faust was curious, his body seemed to feign nervousness. He was unconciously lowering closer to the ground, and taking smaller, more cautious steps. In the back of Faust's mind, he was curious to know what the sounds were coming from, and was hoping that it was something that wasn't dangerous, hoping that it wouldn't hurt him.
Gently pressing his split hooves down on the earth, he slowly moved forward, closer to the feeling that he could now feel beating, almost as if it were a heart. Suddenly, a loud screech rang through the forest, and shocked Faust. The gryphon bolted forward. He knew that the powerful feeling of need was getting weaker, he knew that he should be following it, but at the same time he also knew that he was far too scared that he would endanger himself.
As the small Aerandir came to a halt, he pulled his pale wings around him in a protective stance. His dark eyes surveyed the area. The feeling was either gone or extremely weak, at that point, Faust couldn’t tell. As his ears flickered , and his body instinctively pulled itself into a tighter ball, the young gryphon came to a startling realization.
He was lost.
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Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:58 am
Hide and Seek!
Karma was sitting on the couch, face in her hands –dazed. “How could this happen?” She asked herself. “How!” She had woken up, and when she didn’t see Faust around her, the guardian immediately assumed that he had awakened before her and had traipsed down to the bottom floor of the cabin. However, the distressed keeper had no luck with that theory.
Karma had spent the following three hours searching for her lost charge with no success. “Where could he have gone?” The guardian had checked practically everywhere. She looked in all of the cupboards, every room, all the nooks and crannies, under the porch, in the backyard, behind every bush, and behind every piece of furniture. She even went so far as to endure angry squaks and pecks after disassembling Dmitry’s ‘fort’ of junk. But still, her efforts were rewarded with nothing but a reminder that a nice cleaning would do the cabin some good.
Racking her brain, Karma tried to think of anywhere that Faust might venture off to. “Another cabin? No, I don’t think so. Even if he did, I doubt anyone would keep him there without telling me first anyway. But maybe… The Lodge!” It was a possibility, and so, in a flash Karma was racing towards the building. Panting as she pushed open the door, her heart sank. “He’s… Not here.” Karma shook her head, and padded back to the cabin. Slumping over and sitting down on the porch, Karma sighed and stared at the vast expanse of fields before her.
They were continuous, the fields, just like her search. The just went on and on and on, never ending. That is, until they hit the forest. Once they hit the forest, they’re done, the fields end at the forest and- Karma stared at the forest, a vague memory haunting her mind. They had gone into the forest before.
In a matter of minutes the distressed guardian was darting through the fields, her fingers crossed in the hopes that Faust would be found. She didn’t know what she’d do if he wasn’t.
Wheezing for air as she finally ran into the forest, Karma called out, “Faust! Faust, please, if you can hear me, come here!”
Dark eyes fluttered open, scanning the leafy forest around him. “Nyark?” The gryphon sounded, confused as to what had happened. Had he fallen asleep? Glancing at the large nest of twigs, leaves and other various things below himself, Faust guessed that had been the case. His creamy wings were covering his tan body, a sort of makeshift blanket, and his ears were standing flat against his antlers, ready to pick up the slightest noise around him. And so they did.
As a familiar voice rung through the forest, his long ears twitched, pulling the sound into his mind. Karma? The gryphon shivered as a gust of wind ruffled his feathers. It had to be her! Suddenly, the voice came once more, this time, it was closer. Faust immediately stood up, and poised himself in case he had to run, but called back to her, long and deep, “Nyuuuuuur!” They young Aerandir hoped that she would hear.
Karma was on the verge of what had to be her third mental breakdown that day. Where on Gaia was Faust? What if he was stolen? Hurt? What if… What if… She dared not think of a worse possibility. Preparing to call out once more, she heard a faint sound in the distance. “Faust?” She thought to herself. It certainly sounded like him! “Oh thank god!” She said quietly to herself. “Faust!” Yelling the name of her charge into the forest, Karma hoped that it would reach her young Aerandir’s ears quickly.
It had, and as it did, Faust quickly began to dart towards the sound. He had to find Karma, he knew he did. Faust enjoyed being able to explore the forests, but last night the gryphon had been terrified. He hadn’t been sure of what was in the woods, and he most certainly didn’t want to find out –especially when he had heard a certain growling sound.
Running faster and faster, his hooves pounding on the soft ground below, Faust was suddenly struck with a very, very strong feeling. It was just like yesterday. It pulled him through the forest, needing Faust to relieve it, but Faust wasn’t sure if it was safe anymore. Last time he had gotten lost, and now… But Faust followed it anyway. Whether it had been because of the actual feeling, or because it wanted him to go in the same direction as he was headed in anyway.
Karma was running as fast as she could towards Faust's voice. Oh, how she hoped he was alright. Karma hadn't the slightest idea what she'd do if he was injured.
Moments later, the guardian started to recognise where she was. "The berry patch?" Strange. She had started towards this area in the beginning but had started to go another way, and yet she still managed to find herself in the same place. "Faust!" The worried mother called out again, was she right in guessing which direction he was?
The farther Faust ran, the stronger and more intense the feeling became. Then, suddenly he heard Karma's voice. Very loudly. She was close by! In fact, his guardian was so close, that only a few seconds after the sound of her voice reached his pale ears, the gryphon came barrling through a string of bushes. His dark eyes shone happily as they laid on his guardian. He found her!
Karma's silver hair splattered across her face as she quickly spun around only to see Faust. He was covered in twigs, mud and leaves, yes, but he was okay and most of all, "Oh thank goodness you're alive!" Running towards her dear charge, Karma pulled the gryphon into a tight embrace, tears secretly rolling down her cheeks.
Faust had never really liked being hugged for long periods of time, but it seemed like this time was an exception. The young Aerandir practically melted into his guardian's arms, glad to know that it was almost over.
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Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:10 pm
WHAT?!
It was almost over. Faust had found Karma, and the two of them were fine, but... He still had that feeling, and it wasn't just a feeling anymore, it was practically a physical being shoving him towards something, someone, or somewhere. The young Aerandir really wasn't sure what the feeling would lead him to, but he was sure it was important.
Gently nipping his guardian's shoulder, he felt the grip loosen just enough for him to slip away. "Faust?" Came Karma's slightly hurt reply, but the gryphon just shook his head and continued. It wasn't that long of a trek, however.
About two feet away from where Karma was, Faust stopped. It was here, whatever it was, and Faust needed to find out what it was. Staring at the ground below imself quizzically, the gryphon nudged the dirt around a bit. There wasn't anything that really stuck out to the Aerandir except fora strange bit of cloth. "Wra?" Picking at the fabric curiously, the gryphon soo realised that he had uncovered whatever he was supposed to find -the feeling was now stronger than ever before, telling him, willing him, to open the fabric -to uncover whatever was inside the cloth.
As her charge darted towards the opposite end of the opening, Karma quickly followed after him. Now what? She had just found him, and yet now he was running away again? "Faust, what's wrong? I was so worried about you before, don't do this again!" There was far more desperation and pleading in her voice than anger.
The grypohon gave his guardian a quick glance. Strangely he wanted to be comforted in his mother's arms. But this other feeling... It was far more powerful. Following it's command, Faust pulled off the cloth cover. At once several items rolled out of the makeshift bag. There were several small lengths of black string, a few blue round baubels and a particularily long length of green ribbon. Along with these seemingly random items, there was also a knife. It was a strange knife. It connected to it's leather-wrapped wooden handle on both ends of the pointy cresent-shaped metal blade.
The gryphon's dark eyes remained locked on this piece for a brief moment. It was a long enough moment, though, for his guardian to scurry up to him and enclose her arms around his crimson plumed head. Faust pulled against these living restraints just enough so that it was possible for his ebony beak to make contact with the knife.
Karma finally encircled her arms around her dear Aerandir. Eyes clenched shut, she hoped that he wouldn't run away this time, and then she felt a strange tugging on her arms. Opening her eyes, she peered at her gryphon strangely, "Fau-" and then it happened. "Aaaah!" There was a bright light, and suddenly, Faust wasn't there anymore. Well, he was, only now he wasn't tangible. Instead, he was a floating ball of blue-ish white light that had the vague shape of his gryphon form. He was hovering above a small collection of items. Karma figured that those were what her charge had been looking at before, but that wasn't important now. Looking up Karma watched as the ball of light twisted and turned, seemingly re-shaping itself with some difficulty. That is, until it gently landed on the items. As Faust made contact with the item for the second time, suddenly the change in shape became easier.
As soon as his beak touched the cold metal, Faust wasn't quite sure what was happening. All of a sudden, he couldn't feel Karma's protective arms anymore, and his body felt extraordinarily light, almost like when he flew. Maybe he was flying? No, he couldn't be. Wait, that meant he had to be falling! Struggling like mad to push out his wings, Faust found this incredibly difficult, and that was when he touched the ground softly once more. It didn't hurt. The gryphon opened his eyes, only to come face-to-face with the artifacts he had just prodded a moment earlier. As the second contact came, a sudden whooshing feeling spread through the young Aerandir's body. It was really quite strange. He tried to call out, but he couldn't, no sound was made. He could feel his body doing something, but he wasn't sure what it was doing.
Karma watched, astounded as Faust changed. His head became larger and more oval, and his beak dissapeared to make a mouth. The gryphon's gangly legs magically transformed into arms and legs, with long fingers, and instead of feet, hooves. His wings became slightly larger, fluffier, and lost a bit of thier occasional crimson colouring. His fur coat lightened throughout his body, then darkened in certain places -his face, arms hands, and legs. The Aerandir's crimson plumes turned upwards and formed into dark red, wispy hair, some of the colour settling into his eyes. Then finally, as the rest of his body had completly changed, green markings formed on his body. There were green swirls and dots on his right arm and left leg, as well as a circle and a few dots in the center of his chest.
The Aerandir quickly shook his body once, then twice, hoping that the feeling would leave. The first time did nothing, but as he began to shake for a second time...
THUD.
"Naaooooooow!" Faust cringed, yelping in pain as he awkwardly landed on his face. Wait. Hold on a second. Faust blinked, confused. He couldn't make that sound before. Pushing himself up, and atempting to stand on his four legs, the newly formed child quickly found this to be even more awkward. "Naaaooo?" The boy stared at the ground and also, inadvertently, a new part of him.
The boy thudded as he fell to the ground again, but this time he quickly scrambled to roll over a lay on his side -at least he could do that much. Pushing one of his arms out in front of himself, the boy squeaked -a hand flew to his throat (His legs bent that way now?) in surprised, there's another new sound he could make- he had hands!
Opening and closing his hands into a fist, Faust tested out these strange new parts he had somehow aquired. Then, he moved on to examine the rest of his new self. He used his hands -which the boy realised he quite liked- to feel anywhere he couldn't see. His face was different, though the Aerandir wasn't too sure how it was different. He also had strange fur coming out of his head as well as his antlers which seemed to have gotten bigger -they felt heavier than before. Letting his eyes wander down, the boy wiggled his legs, and concluded that in his present form, it was MUCH easier to move. One just did it differently.
Looking up at his guardian for the first time since his growth, the boy grinned widely. "Naaaa!" Strange as his new self was, Faust kind of liked it! Succesfully sitting upwards for the first time, Faust reached behind him, and quickly grasped the knife. He quite liked it, and decided then and there that it would not be left alone in the forest again. He could feel that the tool desperately wanted to be used once more, and the boy fully intended to do so.
Now that the child had his sacred knife clutched in one of his hands, he flung his other arm around Karma in an enthusiastic half-hug. This time, he didn't mind it at all. And niether did Karma.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:48 am
A Rude Awakening
As the sun rose over top of the Aerandir islands, light flooded into the many small cabins scattered throughout the land. The bright rays beckoned many to arise from their slumber, especially one recently grown Aerandir…
Faust shot upwards, a grin plastered on his face. Filled with a strange feeling of excitement, the boy stretched his arms up towards the sky. There were so many things he could do in this body he couldn’t do before! Like balance on two legs! The young child pushed himself up off of his star –which he still used as a makeshift bed- and stood up on his two hooves.
Awkwardly walking over to his guardian –he had learned the very basics of this skill the other day- Faust plopped on the floor beside her with a loud ‘THUD’. He leaned close to his mother, and waved. “Naaaaooow!” Nothing. Faust furrowed his eyebrows. Why wasn’t she waking up? He leaned closer to Karma’s ear. This had worked last time, so it followed that it should work this time as well, right? Pulling in a deep breath, the boy let a sly smile slide onto his face as he bellowed, “Naaaaoooooooo!” straight into his keeper’s ear. Apparently she had built up a strange resistance to loud noises since he had last checked, as the lady only squished her face together, and rolled over.
Well, now what? The boy sat back, his legs folded underneath him. If she wasn’t going to wake up with some sort of loud noise, then he’d just have to think of another way. Crossing his arms, Faust stared intently at his mother. How to wake her up…
Karma shivered. Half asleep, she unconsciously pulled the covers over her shoulder. With that accomplished, the lady nestled back into what she hoped would be a fitful sleep. She shivered again. This time Karma hadn’t even been asleep when she had done so. Grunting, Karma rolled over. She had the strangest feeling. It was almost like someone was- she opened her eyes. “Gah! Faust!” Yup, that was it. Faust had been staring at her so intently, it almost looked like his eyes wouldn’t blink.
Just as the boy had thought of what he thought was a genius way to wake someone, Karma woke up! Well, way to go to ruin his fun –but thankfully she was up! Plus, all he had to do was stare! Grinning madly, the boy waved enthusiastically at his mom. Now, he had two ways to wake her up!
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:05 pm
Exploring The Previously Explored
After having been given a crash course in basic human etiquette, Faust had managed to stop squirming and rush down the stairs (Nearly tripping over his own hooves in the process) and jump-land on the wooden ground. All of a sudden everything looked so different, so new. His herb knife in hand, the child darted over to the pantry, deciding to move through the house in a somewhat orderly fashion. That is to say, he would start on the left, then run all the way to the right, then back to the left again until the entire cabin had been covered. As the child pushed off for his first sprint to the left side of the cabin, Naima shrieked and zoomed to the top of the stairs’ railing, preening her misplaced feathers.
Faust excitedly pushed open the door to the pantry, surprised that he could now reach the door handle with his hand even though it was just barely higher than the top of his crimson hair. Peering into the dark room, the boy grinned as a familiar basket came into view. The child remembered when he had first gotten the berries, and when he, Oleo, Karma and Air had all gotten some more. The boy clenched his free tan hand into a fist and brought it up to his chin in a determined stance. Right then and there the child decided that he would have to get some more berries, and make more jam, and do other stuff with the berries, like make mini-berry-babki, because he was positive that those would taste good.
In a blur the child had zoomed out of the pantry, and headed straight towards the counter. Looking upwards, Faust realized that he still wasn’t tall enough to see over onto the counter, but he was quite a bit closer. He reached his hand up and plopped it onto the cool surface above him. In a bolt of speed, the boy ran from one end of the counter to the other, his hand catching a few specks of dirt and dust from the new use of the floor.
Karma barely had any time to give her charge a quick hug and a wave before he bolted down the stairs. She winced as she heard the loud thump of him landing, and wondered whether the cabin would survive his growth. After a series of slams and squeaks in quick, alternating succession, the lady decided that perhaps another intervention of sorts wouldn’t be too much out of place. Running down the stairs, Karma turned her head towards the counter top only to come face-to-face with her newly grown child. “Ack!” She squeaked in surprise, “Faust, what on Gaia were you doing?”
The boy tilted his head so that it rested on his shoulder, and scrunched his facial features to one side, appearing deep in thought. A noise that sounded very close to “Meeeeeehh.” rolled out of the child’s new mouth as he stared at the ceiling, a finger gently tapping his chin.
Karma watched her charge with amused curiosity. Could it be that he was trying to formulate a proper sentence? It seemed unlikely, as he hadn’t really managed to grow his vocabulary past any strange and nonsensical noises, but the lady crossed her fingers in hope.
Suddenly, the boy righted his head, and shrugged, a grin plastered on his face. “Unnno!” He practically yelled, attempting to convey his feelings of a desperate need to explore everything that now appeared so new and inviting. However his apparent verbosity did not agree with basic English and Karma ended up only reminding herself that she dearly needed to teach him the language.
Resorting to smiling and ruffling Faust’s crimson hair, Karma gave her boy a gentle hug- which he quickly pushed himself out of- and walked over to the counter. “Let’s see how the cabin’s keeping up with you.” She said, a joking grin playing on her face as she began the inspection.
Faust, slightly confused, watched- for what couldn’t have been more than fifteen seconds- as his mom looked over the counter and opened each and every drawer and cupboard, then ran off towards the bathroom. Pushing open the door, the child’s eyes ran wildly from one thing to another. The space between the toilet and the wall seemed so much smaller now, and the boy wondered if his head would still fit in it like it had when there was the rabbit. There was a momentary burst of curiosity and Faust was about to give in and find out, however quickly afterwards he realized that his head might get caught, and so the boy’s gaze shot up to the sink, his gaze caught on the icky yellow stuff that had practically plastered him to the floor once before. A shiver rolled down Faust’s back and through his wings, and all of a sudden the boy didn’t really want to explore the bathroom anymore. Cautiously sneaking out of the room, as if the toothpaste would jump down and attack him, Faust shut the door firmly when he was out, and quickly sprinted to the other end of the cabin.
The boy explored the rest of his home in a similar fashion. The outdoors section of his home, however, got a much more through exploration as it was slightly cooler than inside, and there was a brisk wind swirling around through the trees and the grass. That wind, Faust realized, was not unwelcome at all. He found that he rather quite enjoyed the feel of the refreshing cold blowing through his short fur and ruffling each feather on his wings, blowing his crimson hair all around his face so that he could barely see.
Karma had just begun to turn around from her counter-inspection, when suddenly a blur of tan, crimson and cream zoomed past her eyes. A nervous grin formed on the lady’s face as she realized that it had been Faust darting out the back door. “Where on Gaia does he get all of that energy from?” The adult wondered. Perhaps he had somehow learned how to photosynthesize…
The thoughts of her charge being some sort of strange plant disappeared from Karma’s mind as she wandered, much slower than Faust had, towards the back door, and leaned against the frame. A guilty look crossed her face as an almost barren garden swayed in the wind. Yes, there were trees and bushes and grass, but the bushes had nearly no leaves and the trees were in much of the same state, not to mention the grass, which was a sad sort of brown. Pushing her singers through her silvery hair, the lady briefly wondered if she would ever get around to trying to fix the garden.
Faust skittered back inside as he took notice of his mother leaning on the doorframe, she was looking rather… The boy wasn’t sure how to describe how she looked, but he did know that she did not look that happy. She looked like she was sad, and mad and calm at the same time. It was a confusing look that Karma had on her face, and Faust didn’t know what to do, so he just skipped back inside, giving his mom a quick, instinctual pat on her arm, and mumbling a soft “Nyaaa.” before continuing on into the cabin. He hoped that would help to get that look off her face, it didn’t really seem like it would come with a very pleasant feeling.
A soft smile played on Karma’s lips as Faust gave her a pat on the arm. For some reason it made her feel better that he wanted her to feel better. Rolling her body fully back into the cabin, Karma shut the door behind her and was about to wander to the couch by the fire to read when a thought struck her. She bet that Faust would like to go through some of those recipes that Karia, Riyo and Percival had sent over in the box.
Searching around her, Karma looked for Faust, and when she realized that her charge wasn’t on the first floor, the lady began to wander over to and up the ladder, “Faust? You up here?” She called out, but not too loudly.
As the familiar voice drifted across the room, the tan and cream furred child grinned and waved an energetic hand at his mom. “Maaaa!” Grinning, he pointed towards a picture in a book, one of which that had apparently been saved from somehow landing in his antlers like several others had done.
“Faust!” Karma yelped in surprise, and turned to see her book-adorned Aeirandir sitting happily on the floor pointing frantically at a picture in a book. “What the…” She help back a laugh, as she couldn’t help but think the whole picture laid out in front of her was rather cute. Walking up the rest of the ladder, the lady wandered over to her charge and sat down next to him, resting her hand on his shoulder. “What is it?” As soon as the words left her mouth, a picture of a very delicious-looking crepe was thrust into her face, a chorus of “Maaaa! Mamamamamamaaaa!” in the background. Karma stifled a laugh for a second time, but only succeeded in reducing it to a giggle. The actions were speaking for themselves, making the message loud and clear. “Okay, okay,” Karma started, smiling as she managed to push down the cookbook to the floor, kind of surprised that Faust had managed to find them by himself. “We’ll make crepes.”
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 2:49 pm
English 101Quote: Dear journal,
I suppose I had just thought that it would have magically sunk in by now, like how Faust had magically grown. However, it’s not really working that way. Faust can’t speak English. He can blabber and click and groan and make all sorts of noises, and I guess that might actually be a language somewhere but it makes no sense at all to me.
So, in my attempt to get Faust to be able to speak English fluently, I have decided to pull out my old ABC books, and get cracking. I had always wanted to have the chance to be a teacher, so I suppose that was my chance to prove myself…
Let’s just say I might not have been cut out for that particular job.
I must say that it is much harder to actually teach someone a language than one would give them credit for. Just getting someone to make the right sounds is hard enough, but then getting them to stick the sounds together… Good grief.
Anyway, it took me an hour or so just to get him to learn the sounds of the alphabet, but after that it seemed to smooth out and become somewhat easier. He eventually caught on to which sounds should be associated with which letter, and how the different letters would sound together. It took a while (And when I say ‘while’ here I am insinuating a very, very generous while) but I eventually, thankfully, managed to give Faust a vocabulary of a few nouns, some common verbs, articles, and some adjectives and adverbs. By the time we had gotten that far he had quickly caught on about how much easier it was to convey thoughts this way. He also realised that this way he could make a whole entire new plethora of sounds to bother and annoy me with… Splendid.
Anywho, afterwards we both agreed that enough was enough and that we should back it in for the day. But I did make a deal with him, I would teach him a new recipe each week if he worked on his English (Reading, writing and speaking, though we really only got to speaking today.) with me a little bit each day. So I suppose I should get a list of recipes ready then.
Hopefully I’ll be able to write again soon.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 2:52 pm
All Hallows Eve
“Okay,” Karma said, for what would be the sixth time. “Now you try it: ‘Halloween’”. The lady glanced down from her task of decorating to look at Faust, busily making jam for their Halloween cookies.
“H.. Ha..” Faust’s face scrunched up at the difficulty of this new word. “Haleen!” The boy finally exclaimed, glad that it had managed to pass his lips. He was making a mint blackberry jam, and at the time Faust was skilfully chopping up the fresh mint they had found. On account of that fact, his mind only temporarily strayed to learning the new word before he concentrated once more on making the strips of mint even.
Like she had promised, Karma had taught Faust how to make jam because he had practiced his English the entire week. She had told him that they would make cookies in a few days as well if he practiced really hard, so Faust was trying to practice whenever he could so that he’d be able to bake the cookies as well.
“No no, try it one more time. Haa-low-ween” Karma said, verbally coaching her charge as she strung the last of the black and orange streamers around the cabin.
Faust paused the chopping with his herb knife once more, and this time turned to Karma. Opening his mouth wide, Faust pronounced the syllables presented to him, just like he had with all the other words. “Haa. Low. Ween.” The boy looked up to his mom, and then attempted all of the sounds together. “Hallo’een!” His eyes lit up, knowing the word had somehow managed to get significantly better than his last try.
A light giggle rolled from Karma’s mouth. She found the young Aerandir’s excitement, in even the littlest things, to be cute. “Kay, kay, that’s close enough.” She said cheerfully, the boy obviously delighted in conquering yet another word in the English language. Peering at the work that Faust had completed, the lady carefully stepped off of the couch’s arm and wandered over to a large box that she had dragged down from upstairs. “Now, once you’ve gotten the jam into the pot over the fire, I’d like to show you something, alright Faust?”
The Reindeer-boy cocked his head to the side as curiosity filled his crimson-haired head, but he quickly nodded enthusiastically. “Okay!” He flashed his mom a grin before his tanned hands set to work, swiftly slicing up the mint, and mixing it into the rest of the ingredients in a bowl nearby.
It wasn’t long until the uncooked jam had been gently poured into the pot, and as soon as Faust had assured, and reassured himself that it would be fine and wouldn’t burn, the boy trotted over to Karma, his fluffy white wings twitching in anticipation.
“So,” Karma started, as if she hadn’t been watching her young charge the whole while, making sure that he wasn’t endangering himself. “What do you want to be for Halloween?” And so started an hour long explanation of the holiday. Karma spoke of how people handed out candy, and how costumes were a traditional part of the holiday. She also explained the scary decorations (Which she didn’t have with her, so she described them), and part of the history of Halloween.
By the end Faust was significantly more confused than he had been before, however the boy was also terribly delighted. He was excited to go trick-or-treating, desperately wanted to hand out cookies and candies to his friends, and couldn’t wait to get into his costume. “I wanna be a… A… A…” The boy contorted his face as he attempted to decide between costumes. He was looking at the Halloween section of a book that completely explained almost all the holidays in a year, and was trying to figure out if he would rather be the vampire, werewolf, or zombie depicted in the part about the costumes.
“You know, you don’t have to be one of those, you could be whatever you want.” Karma explained, thinking that choosing a costume really shouldn’t be that hard.
Faust glanced up at her, “Really?” Karma nodded. “Hmmm…” Faust looked back at the book before him, carefully studying the pictures. “I wanna be a… An ‘ampire!”
“A vampire?” Karma parroted, slightly amused. She could not think of anything that was less, well, Faust-like than a vampire, yet that was what he chose. Funny how things work. “Okay, well we better get started on making the costume, then.” The lady grinned as she saw Faust’s head tilt to the side. He apparently had no idea how they would do that.
For the next few hours, and the day afterwards, the two of them worked on making the costume; Karma made a large black cloak, and found some white clay that was molded and dried into vampire teeth, while Faust watched, partially interested in the making of the costume, but mostly trying to practice his English so that they could make the cookies for his jam. (Which had turned out nicely.) Finally, the costume was finished as Karma made the finishing touches, adding a gold pin at the neck to hold the whole cloak on.
“Here,” She said, handing it to her charge. “Try it on and give it a go.”
Faust carefully took the costume from his mother’s hands, then gently wrapped it around himself in the appropriate fashion. “Like this?” He asked, spinning in a circle to present it to Karma.
“Yup! You got it.” She smiled as Faust broke into an excited grin and immediately started to dart around the cabin, occasionally jumping on a few couches or tables, causing Karma to scoop him up and swiftly place him outside. “Okay,” she started, noticing that Faust looked very much eager to continue running amok. “You can run around out here, but don’t do it inside. Got it?”
By the time she had finished that thought, however, Faust had already given a rather rushed string of clicks that was supposed to have been an affirmative answer, and had zoomed off towards the edge of the porch. Though the boy quickly learned that perhaps his original thoughts of the porch from when he was still a gryphon were accurate.
Running at full speed, the boy attempted to jump off of the porch with his wings trying to hold his new weight in the air, though soon realized that the ground was coming far too close to his face than he was comfortable with. It was then that Faust remembered how evil the porch had been to him before, when he was younger, and he felt similar feelings begin to stir. After a fairly rough landing on the grass, the child rubbed his face off, and sported a rather nasty glare at the porch. He knew it! The porch hated him! The boy pouted slightly as he pushed himself up into a cross-legged position, and stretched his fluffy white wings out behind his tanned body.
Karma, who had witnessed the entire event, covered her mouth with one of her hands, carefully hiding her bemused grin from showing. She knew that a worried expression would have suited the situation better, but she couldn’t help but find the amusement in Faust’s previous actions. Cautiously calling out, so as to not sound insincere in her motives, the lady sought to find out if her charge had managed to gain any serious injuries. “Faust, are you alright, dear? That was quite the fall.”
The boy in question immediately shook his head, a slight bit of colour tainting his cheeks as he tried to firmly rebut her last statement, be it slightly choppy. “N-Nu fall! Porch ebil! It hate me!” Quickly standing up, the Reindeer boy carefully brushed dirt off of his antlers, feeling the extra weight, and walked towards the cabin. Making his way slowly back to the cabin’s front door, Faust made sure to pound extra hard on the porch as he travelled across it.
Karma opened the wooden door for her charge, and soon followed suit into the cabin. She would have informed Faust that it couldn’t have been the porch’s fault, but that somehow seemed cruel and Karma got the feeling that the young Ptarmagin boy understood that anyway. “So…” She started, hoping to get some sort of a happier feeling into the cabin. “Halloween’s coming up pretty quickly, and,” She paused for a moment so that she could carefully sit next to the young boy, skilfully dodging the antlers that moved as Faust looked up at his mom. “We don’t really have enough recipes picked out, so what do you say we go and try to find some now?” She gave him a smile, and to her relief, he grinned back at her, apparently just as relieved that the porch subject was done with. In a short while the duo were up the stairs and were sifting through a towering pile of cooking magazines and recipes.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 2:55 pm
Preparing for a Treat
Finally after a few days of waiting, Halloween had come, and both Faust and Karma were working together to get everything finished in time. They had made small chocolates, as well as a few types of cookies, one of which was filled with the jam Faust had made earlier. The duo also set up a ‘bobbing for apples center’ for any Aerandir who wished to participate.
Putting the finishing touches on the cookies, Faust was happily donning his costume for which Karma had even made fake fangs out of clay for. “Aftah we go tricker-treat, right?” The child asked, looking up at Karma who responded with only a grin and a nod of her head.
When the cookies were totally complete, Faust practically dragged Karma out of the cabin, and began their trek to the other island so he could go ‘tricker-treating’.
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