Pearl Chamber - JaydeDragonfly

[JaydeDragonfly]

As told by Corli
Wandering around
7.28.2006

I miss the snow. That's the first thing that I think each morning when I wake up. How it sparkles in the sun, and the way you can make it into a ball and throw it at Vati. That's always fun too. And the color, all white. Better than yellow sand, but that's pretty cool sometimes. You just can't throw it.

I shouldn't bring the snow back, though. That's what Jayde told me. At least, not until Christmastime. Theres stuff that goes on around here that people can't do in the snow. I guess I understand...if you always lived on an island, you don't know that snow is much cooler than sand. Oh, well.

Dissapointed, but still too energetic to sleep any longer, I tossed the thin sheet off the bed and ran out of my room and into vati's room, just across the curtain.

"Vati, vati!" I called, climing into bed so I could shake his shoulders. "What are we doing today, vati?" I giggled a little as he rumbled in his sleep--he still sounded like a big cat sometimes, though he yells if I say so.

"What?" he said groggily.

"The sun is out," I said, a little impatiently. "You said I could do something today."

"Sure you can do something," he said, opening one eye at me like he usually does. "You can do whatever you want to. I am going to go back to sleep." The one eye closed; I knew when not to bother him any more.

I hadn't quite reached that point, yet.

"But vati," I whined, shaking his shoulders again. Funny how big his shoulders looked next to my hands! "It's so much more fun if you come!" The eye opened again and it leveled at me.

"It'll still be fun for me to do something when it's a decent hour of the day." I sighed, watching him roll over. That really was the sign that he was done. Now what was I gonna do? Sighing again, I fluttered my way back out of his room.

"And put some clothes on!" I heard bellowed from behind me.

Put some clothes on, Corli. It's too early to play, Corli. You can't bring back the snow, Corli. Do this, don't do that, wait for later for something else. Wasn't there anything I could do now?

A little dejectedly, I wandered through the house and then out of it, over the bridge to the girls' house. No doubt they would all be sleeping, still, too. Even Sabrina was asleep, and she at least didn't mind going wherever I wanted, though sometimes she tells me it isn't a good idea.

Just as I thought, everyone was asleep. Jayde was asleep, too, even though she was usually up as early as I was. This was so silly! I was the only one awake! Huffing a little, I finished climbing the stairs to the roof of the house to see if Dav was awake.

Before I got to the top, I could feel his rumbling snores in my feet. Not him, too! Frustrated, I fluttered back down the stairs, through the bedrooms, and to the bottom floor where Freya and Akhor were sleeping.

Now, this wasn't so bad. If Freya was sleeping, that meant I could go explore the woods. If Sabrina was sleeping, that meant I could go farther into the woods.

Maybe this wasn't so bad, after all!

No longer wanting everyone to wake, I silently exited the house into the morning sunshine. The last of the snow had finally melting, leaving the sand and its faint golden gleam. Well, I was off to the forest today; I wouldn't have to worry about the sand!

As fast as my little wings could carry me, I flew into the woods, ducking and weaving through the low hanging branches and vines. The earthy smell of it surrounded me, and the think leaves of the canopy blocked the harsh rays of sun from my pale skin. This was the great!

I think...

{made into more than one entry to keep from overwhelmingly long posts}  

[JaydeDragonfly]

As told by Corli
Lost in the woods
a little later that day

I'd been wandering around the woods for some time when I finally plopped down in the dirt, exhausted. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all. I didn't know where I was, and I was hungry, and tired of being out here in the woods. I wanted to go home.

Demons don't cry, I told myself firmly when I felt the aching in my throat and my eyes begin to water. It's silly. Ashamed of myself, I stood and ran down what could almost be what looked sorta like a path to try and leave my doubts and fears far behind me. I wouldn't cry, I wouldn't. Miss Aiko had called me Taiyoukai, and that didn't sound like something that would cry to me.

I ran and ran, I don't know for how long, but finally I stopped, feeling a little better if just as lost. But...what was that sound?

Looking all around me, I finally decided that the sound was running water. A cool drink of water sure sounded good right about then--even with the sun blocked out by the thick leaves, it was still real hot, wherever you went on the island.

Following my ears to a little brook, I flopped down on my knees beside it, scooping up just a little with my hands. Not so salty, I thought. It must come from the lagoon, and make a little pond somewhere. Here, though, it was just a little trickling brook, making happy gurgling sounds at me.

As I drak from the fresh water, something sparkly caught my eye. Sparkly like...snow. It was at the bottom of the stream, halfway hidden in the mud, but it was soooo pretty...

Carefully, I leaned a little farther out over the water to get a better look. It was a rock. More specifically, it was a perfectly round, white rock, that sparkled in what little sunlight managed to filter down to it. Just a little farther and I might be able to reach it...

I let out a small, EEP! as I tumbled into the water. It was refreshing, but I'd stirred up all of the stuff that was in it still, and I'd lost sight of the sparkly white rock! Frantically, I took a deep breath and plunged further into its cool depths in an attempt to locate my treasure.

The mud that I'd stirred up got in my eyes and burned them a little, but not nearly as much as my lungs burned from lack of air. I had to find it, though. A fait sparkle caught my eye, and I lunged for it before rising back to the surface, gasping for breath.

Success! I didn't know quite what it was, but I had it!

I stood, still waist deep in water, examining my treasure. It was perfectly round in shape, and such a soft white. I'd been mistaken, though--it didn't sparkle exactly like snow, but it was still pretty. Not a dull gold like sand, or the diamond-like sparkle of snow, but a simple gleam that was...what was the word Jayde liked to use? Elegant. Simple, yet beautiful. My treasure.

{Yeah, still continued.}  

[JaydeDragonfly]

As told by Lyra, aka "Vati"
trying to sleep
a freaking reasonable hour, later that day.

"Have you seen Corli?" The small voice whispering in my ear managed to wake me. Did no one in this house need any sleep? I wondered idly. Of course, I knew the answer--not the ones that wanted to talk to me.

"No, Sabrina," I muttered, rolling over.

"He's not at the house." Her voice was a little worried, though that was nothing really new. It was always like that if Corli wasn't beside her or within seeing range.

"He's probably out playing in the water," I muttered again. Why wouldn't she just go away? I was sure that nothing was the matter, as was usually the case with the slightly jittery, worry wort of a creature.

"He's not by the water, either." I knew that any other person/pet at the treehouse would have jumped on me by now, but Sabrina was far too shy for that. However, the fact that she hadn't gone away yet concerned me. First of all, I knew that it was unlikely that I would get back to sleep. Second, there might actually be something wrong. With some difficulty, I sat up and glared at her through sleep fogged eyes.

"Alright," I finally sighed, "when did you last see him?"

"I haven't seen him today," she replied, somewhat shakily. "He left before I woke." That would mean he'd probably left right after he'd asked me to 'do something' with him. Dammit! Flinging the sheets aside in a motion not unlike Corli's, I grabbed a pair of pants and dashed out the...curtain. I still was getting used to the fact that the 'woman of the household' apparently didn't believe in doors. Sabrina, wide eyed, followed me.

Rushing down the stairs and across the freaking rope bridge that she absolutely insisted that we have, instead of a normal, sturdy, wooden bridge, I burst into the downstairs room of the girls' house.

"Don't you know how to knock?" she asked primly, sipping tea at the table.

"How, exactly, am I supposed to knock on a curtain?" I asked her with a glare. "And I don't have time for your games right now. Corli's gone."

"Again?"

"Again." The mention that one of her babies was missing must have roused the sleeping kal'daka, for Freya opened her eyes and turned them magesticall on me. Eh, nothing new--magestically was the way she did everything.

"When was the last time he was seen?" she asked me in that calm, aloof voice.

"Early this morning."

"Then he could be anywhere!" The panic was from Jayde, of course. The rest of us realized that the island, even all of the islads put together, weren't very big. With Dav looking...

"Hwhat iss thhe problemm?" said the great, hulking brute from the doorway. For a long time now, he'd been too big to fit in the house, but that didn't stop him from peeking his head in every now and again.

"Corli's missing," we all said at the same time. He nodded; this really wasnt' anything new."

"Whhee shall go hllooking for him." He must have just woken up, with that slur in his speech. He didn't usually do it, but I imagined it was incredibly difficult speaking when you didn't have lips per se, and a tonge that was meant for properly making words.

I sat for a breif moment as they argued over what they were going to do about this mess before finally speaking again.

"You can sit and argue," I snapped, "but I'm just going to go look. If I find him, I'll let the dragon know and he can tell everyone else."

"oooh, he can make a fire signal in the sky, like you see in the movies!" I rolled my eyes at Jayde, not needing to turn back around and look to see the stars in her eyes.

"Whatever," I muttered, brushing the front...curtain...aside and stepping out on the front deck. With a little concentration, my wings emerged from the tattoos on my back and I was off.

{Keep going--its not likely to be too much longer.}  

[JaydeDragonfly]

As told by Lyra
Flying around like an idiot
afternoon, that day.

The sun was high in the sky by this point, and I could just tell that my back was going to be doing its impersonation of a lobster tomorrow. This was just great. Dragged outta bed to go look for the missing demon...

Part of me wanted to say that he was, in fact, a demon and could probably take care of himself. But the rest of me told that part to shut up, because while he was a full demon, he was also a little boy who had probably been lost in the woods for several hours now. I cursed again at my carelessness.

He probably wouldn't have gotten of Lunis Isle, I thought, trying to think of something useful rather than just be generally irritated. And my wings are much bigger than his, so I've probably caught up with him by now. I looked and looked, but I still couldn't see anything.

Of course you can't see anything, genious, He's three feet tall and you're looking from higher than the tops of the tallest trees! I sighed heavily, realizing that I had a point. I would worry about the fact that I was talking to myself when I got back to the treehouse.

Not too far from where I was, I saw a little break in the trees that I hadn't seen before. It wans't very wide, but if I looked closely, I could see a small brook trickling through. That would probably be as good a place as any to fly through and look for Corli. I just hoped the gap was wide enough for my wings so I wouldn't have to get down and walk.

Wait, was that...? Flying in a little closer, I could see a patch of blue that wasn't the brook but Corli's thatch of teal hair. Luck, at last! For whatever reason, he looked up past the trees and into the sky, seeing my great blak wings against the sunlight. Smiling almost as bright, he waved frantically, one arm still by his stomach. Was he hurt?

The fear that notion evoked sent me flying down faster than I probably should have, so I stumbled just a little when I finally did land. Streightening, I sent Corli the look that said we would both pretend that didn't happen.

"Vati, vati!" he still hadn't moved his arm, but he rushed up and plowed into my midsection, something round and hard pushing up against my stomach.

"I'm so glad you're here I didn't mean to go that far into the woods but I can fly so fast now you should really see! and I found the stream and found a sparklie that looked like snow but wasn't snow and I fell in the brook and mud got all churned up and I found it and I'm a Taiyoukai!" All I could do was blink as the wave of chatter rushed over me and generally over my head.

"That's nice," I managed. Apparently, that was a good answer for he smiled again.

"Look!" Whatever he'd been babbling about must be in his hand--guess that's why he wasn't moving his arm. Babbling a little more, he showed me what had to be the biggest pearl in the history of the world. Holding it out like that instead of tucked close to him, it practically took both of his hands to hold it. But I had other things to worry about than how he found a pearl of the likes I'd never seen.

"That's nice," I repeated. "Very pretty. C'mon, Jayde wants to have a chat with you." He looked a little crestfallen at that; it seemed he knew that this "chat" was going to be about.

"We're going home?" the small tremor in his voice told me that, dispite his enthusiasm at his pearl, he really had been lost in the woods, wanting to go home even if it meant a little "chat."

"Yeah," I said, scooping him up in my arms, "We're going home."

So with that, Corli, me, and the pearl went back to the house. Dav shot up his huge ball of fire, and Jayde got to see her cenematic fire signal. Disaster averted.

{Took a while to introduce her, but there ya have it.}  

[JaydeDragonfly]

As told by Jayde
At home
8.18.2006

I found him on the couch downstairs, much to my surprise. He usually was out and about, but instead he was settled inside quite nicely, with Sabrina sleeping at his feet.

"Whacha doing?" I asked him, peering over his shoulder. He started a little--obviously he hadn't heard me coming down the stairs, but he still showed me the pearl he held so gently in his hands.

"Talking to Kleio," was the simple response.

"Kleio? That's a nice name," I said with a soft smile. "Did you think of it?"

"No, it's just her name." I blinked a litte at that. He was looking up at me with those silver eyes, quite sincere, so I didn't quite know how to take it. Brushing a lock of white hair out of my own eyes, I peered over his shoulder at the pearl.

"Um, how do you know its a girl?" He shrugged a little--very much a little boy gesture. Seemed to say, "I dunno." He turned back around, settling the pearl back in his lap. Apparently Lyra had managed to get him to wear some clothes today, for he was wearing a pair of white shorts. Granted, that's all he was wearing, but it was a marked improvement from when he ran around the house in his birthday suit.

"What are you telling her?" I asked, craning my neck a little more. This time, he carefully put his shoulder in my way, and I huffed a little.

"We're just talking." Apparently that was all I was going to get today. So strange.  

[JaydeDragonfly]

As told by Jayde
On the way home
10. 17. 2006

She was so beautiful, as she looked up at me with her wide eyes, her emerald hair shining even in the moonlight. And such a gift...

I didn't think I'd ever have a baby. Though Kleio slept in my arms, I bothered her enough to snuggle her close for just a moment at that thought. Sure, I'm young, but I live on an island where most of it's inhabitants think of me either as mother or as an estranged older sister. That doens't work very well for the idea of a child. Or, yano, any of that other stuff that goes with it. Like love.

Well, that's alright, I told myself. I didn't need a man for love. I could love in different ways, love like a mother loved a child, love the little girl in my arms like I loved and cared for all of those that lived with me.

Granted, I really wanted to strangle the one that was flying behind me, but that didn't mean I didn't love him.

"Can I hold her now?" Corli begged from somewhere around my shoulder. Since he's usually not even chest high, I knew he was flapping his little wings to keep up there, at a steady altitude. If I wasn't so irritated, I'd tell him I was proud of him.

"No, Corli," I told him on a sigh that I hoped didn't sound too frustrated. It wasn't his fault that I was tired, somewhat cranky, and slightly depressed. Dang it, having children wasn't supposed to do that, was it? Well, having children in a manner of speaking. Emerging them from rocks wasn't the usual way of things, but whatever worked.

"Why not? I won't drop her, I promise! I promise I won't!"

"I'm sure you wouldn't sweetheart," I said in the most soothing manner I could muster at the time. "But she might not be used to being out of her pearl yet. Plus she's very sleepy."

Alright, so the long and short of it was that I was being selfish. I had that right, every now and then. There were so few times that I could really think of myself in a house of twenty five, that I took the opportunities where I could. If it was walking across the friggin' island at two o'clock in the friggin morning, then so be it.

"She can sleep if I hold her!" he argued, still in his childish pleading voice.

"I'm afraid that if I move her, she'll wake. She also might wake up if we keep arguing." That worked. I'm not sure when it happened, but Corli had a strange attachment to the little Jumi. Ever since he found her in the stream by the house, seemingly abandoned, he'd taken her in.

That might be because he, himself was abandoned, but honestly none of us really knew about where Corli came from. Admittedly, I wans't sure anyone had asked, but he kept secrets like Fort Knox kept gold, which was both an admirable and irritating trait in one so young.

"I guess you're right," he admitted glumly, fluttering down to the ground to walk beside me. It was probably good that he didn't hold her anyway, for his own little shoulders drooped with fatigue.

"We're almost home," I told him, a real smile gracing my lips now. Home with Kleio. Once Lyra got over the shock of having a real, honest to goodness baby in the house, she was probably going to be the most spoiled of all of them.

Damen I wasn't so sure about, but I suppose you never know. Babies and small animals seemed to bring out the best in people.

I snuggled the little girl again as I stopped just at the edge of the sand.

"We're home, baby," I told her, eyes glassy.

"Home?" she said sleepily, eyes barely open.

"Home."  

[JaydeDragonfly]

As told by Jayde
At home, a few days later
10.29.2006

"Alright, explain to me again how you managed to bring home another one." Lyra was thrilled, of course, and hadn't yet come to terms with the fact that I'd left the house with a pearl and returned home with a baby.

"It's not just another one," I told him, somewhat crossly as I adjusted the little girl on my hip, "Kleio is a baby. And I'll have you know, that you were the one that brought her home."

"This is where I'm having trouble understanding." A few weeks (months? Years? Time meant next to nothing around here) ago, Corli had run off, and when Lyra found him and brought him home, the little demon had a very large pearl with him. The baby on my hip was what resulted. I explained this to Lyra, again.

"No," he told me, more irritated than I had ben, "there is no possible way I could have helped the demon bring home another one of your pets! No way!"

"Vati, don't you like her?" Corli's little voice came up from beside the elder kath's elbow, and I saw Lyra swallowed hard. Corli was using his pitiful, hurt feelings voice, and that was the way to get just about anything from 'vati.'

"You don't like her? You wish you hadn't brought her home?" First and foremost, I hoped Kleio couldn't pick up on all of this, but by the way she was contentedly altrenating between tugging on my hair and chewing on it, I didn't think she did. I heard and saw Lyra swallow hard.

"Of course I like her," he choked out around his pride and his dislike for my bringing in more mouths to feed. As if he worked. "I was just...surprised to find out that the stone turned into a little girl."

Surprised my little toe. I coughed to hide my disbelief as I turned and walked into the kitchen. I"d have to go to the grocery store to get some baby food, or something, cause right now the closest thing I had was the peas I made the other night, and they weren't supposed to come out like mush so I didn't think that counted.

"A-are you sure?" Corli's voice had gotten a little wavery there for a moment, but it was mostly still now as I'm sure he stared up at Lyra with his huge eyes.

"Of course I'm sure." I heard more than saw Lyra scoop the little boy up in his arms, as I knew he would do no such thing if I were around. Nevertheless, it made me smile.

"So you're going to take me and Kleio to the grocery store so we can get baby food and baby toys and all sorts of baby things that we're going to need for her because we don't haev anything because we've never had a baby before don't you think we're going to need a lot more stuff? I'm sure Jayde would like it cause she's been carrying Kleio around all day, I think sghe doesn't need diapers though cause that would suck cause I dont' know how to change diapers but I bet Jayde can!" Lyra emitted an audiable groan that sounded almost painful.

"I didn't say I'd do all that!" I chuckled and Kleio giggled and laughed, clapping her tiny hands together. Seemed she liked the idea, too, though it was doubtful she knew what kind of experience it was likely to be.

"You don't want to take us out anywhere, Vati?" Here it goes again...