Welcome to Gaia! ::

Otessa was the second infant that Kniene had been called upon to raise. The first, Autsu, had been a baby in form only, and his development had reflected that. Otessa, Kniene could already tell, represented an entirely different situation. There was no anger in her for one thing, and if she showed unusual intelligence for a child apparently about a year old, it wasn't an adult's intelligence by any understanding of the word.

Kniene had decorated her room, and bought some rudimentary supplies, but now, just a day after his daugher's arrival, he had come to understand that his preparation had not been adequate. He held the young girl with one arm (she did not care for being pushed) and directed the stroller with his free hand as he entered the store.

Everything was new to Otessa and she examined the world in open fascination. Her expression was one of joy, a bright grin for the whole world. As she wiggled in Kniene's arms the leaves on her crown of branchlike horns fell gently leaving a path of tiny leaves behind them. As Kniene browsed she reached out, attempting to snag items off the shelves for her own entertainment.

Kniene was comparing baby shampoos with a look of intense confusion on his face. With Autsu, the main difficulty had been getting the child in the bath, and finding a suitable approach for washing feathers. Otessa, on the other hand, seemed a big fan of water, it calmed her for at least twenty seconds or so before she started demanding something new to entertain her. Besides, with her head of hair, shampoo would be important. Wouldn't it? It wasn't like the Lady would mind her daughter having split ends. Unless she did...

Otessa, meanwhile, was quick to turn at the sound of a new voice, and equally quick to begin to struggle in her father's arm. She did her best to demand release, her words babyish garble, and in her mother tongue as well, meaningless to anyone but Kniene, and he only shifted her to his other hip and bounced her gently, inspiring yet more leaves to fall. She had a seemingly endless supply.

Furiously, she began to struggle in earnest, kicking and raising her voice to something near a shriek.

That was enough to get Kniene's attention, and he turned to see what had her so anxious to be released. Spotting the little girl, he smiled gently, and knelt so that Otessa might sit on the floor. Immediately the shrieking stopped and Otessa giggled happily, reaching for the other girl.

"Hello little one." Kniene murmured.

"Yo eafs." Otessa parroted, reaching out to take them from the strange new female. She wore a broad smile as she studied the handful of crisp, multi-colored leaves. And then, still smiling, she pushed the whole handful of them into her mouth, giggling.

Kniene, still kneeling beside his delighted daughter, lifted an eyebrow but didn't protest. If they were growing out of her head, they probably weren't poisonous. He hoped. Anyway, she was sure to start to cry if he tried to stop her, and the sound of her wailing cut right through him.

Swallowing her mouthful of dried greenery, Otessa began to consider her new friend solemnly. "Otessa." She announced, touching her own head. She had that one done pretty well, as it was a word that jumped across the barrier of language from the one that innately ran through her blood and the one spoken by those around her.

To Otessa's untrained ear 'Tezza' did not only sound similar to 'Otessa', it was exactly the same word. She pursed her lips and crinkled her forehead as she tried to puzzle through this. The girl was Otessa? But she was Otessa! Her father had told her. It was because her Mother was the Lady Autumn. So, if this girl was also Otessa, they must have the same Mother?

Wait.

Huh.

"Otessa." She repeated, pointing at herself carefully. And then, pointing at the other girl, "Otessa?"

"Zzzzz," mimicked Otessa obediently. She could hear the difference now, listening closely to the noises the other girl was making. "Tezzzzzza."

"Ssssss," she added, testing out the difference. "Otesssssssa."

She looked up at her father then, asking a question is a lilting musical language very unlike the one spoken by those around her.

He replied in kind, then after a pause, repeated his answer in the local dialect. "She's not related to the Lady, little one." Eventually he'd have to get in the habit of forcing them both to speak so. It'd just been such a long time since he'd shared the words of his home with anyone.

Otessa, content with this answer, looked around, her gaze sharp and observent.

"You Fader?" She asked, wondering why this girl was not accompanied by her own tall, male relative.

"Ma?" Otessa asked, her voice lilting upward in confusion as she followed Tezza's gesture to the watching woman. She had her Father and her two brothers, and the whisper of a face in her dreams, the one her Father told her was the Lady, her mother. Equating such a presence with a real live woman was difficult for her, and it was only when her father murmured the linguistic equivalent of the word that she made the connection.

"Ma!" How exciting. She'd never met one of those before. Immediately, she began to toddle in the direction that Tezza had indicated. She had to see this for herself!

Ooo... pretty! Otessa toddled carefully toward Tezza's mother, her eyes wide with obvious awe. She's never met a mother before. And Father always spoke of her mother in tones of quiet worship. Afraid to be anything but completely respectful, when she reached the woman she placed both her fists against her chests and managed an unsteady bow, her best imitation of the way her father approached the Lady's alter at home.

Kniene, already kneeling, watched the girl approach with his usual quiet, patient expression. He wore a small, but affectionate smile, amused by the interactions of the two girls. "It was very nice of you to return my daughter's leaves."