Welcome to Gaia! ::

The weather was nice and windy. True, there were the dreary looking rain clouds in the ditance but they were still a long way off. It was the sort of weather that made you feel like walking; or at least be out of the house.

Shifting his wings slightly, Xiu glanced down at the name card Ethan had given Hazeline a while back and smiled. He would call Vyn. Hazeline was busy but said that it was alright if Xiu wanted to have a day out with Vyn, the rose raevan he had met sometime ago. Dialing the number, Xiu listened to the voice message on the phone before leaving a message of his own.

“Hello, this is Xiu calling. Mr. Ethan, would Vyn be willing to spend the day out with me? *laughs sheepishly* The weather’s too nice to be spent indoors and Hazeline’s a little busy at the moment but if we could meet up somewhere… the park perhaps? Thank you,”

Having called and left the message, Xiu waited patiently for the reply.

It has been ten minutes since he had last called Ethan and Xiu was beginning to think that perhaps the phone was not going to ring after all. Perhaps Ethan was busy or Vyn had not agreed to the walk. Well, he’d have to find another route to take if he was ever going to get out. Just as Xiu was pondering over the available options, Hazeline stepped out of her room with an empty coffee cup. “How did it go Xiu?” enquired the young woman as she made her way to the kitchen to pour herself another cup of coffee. “Has Mr. Ethan replied yet?”

“Afraid not, Hazeline,” said Xiu a little disappointedly. “I guess he’s busy or perhaps Vyn does not feel like walking,”

“Oh…,” said Hazeline sensing her raevan’s disappointement. Despite him being mature for his age, there was still a certain child-like quality about Xiu. Hazeline had to smile as she watched her charge try his best not to be bothered about the unreturned call.

“Tell you what Xiu, how about I take a stroll with you to the park?” said Hazeline setting the cup into the sink. “I have been in here long enough and could use a little leg stretching,”

“But Hazeline…,” protested Xiu weekly. “You are busy,”

“Yes, but you need to feed don’t you?” asked Hazeline as she took her purse off the table along with a set of keys. “I can’t have you starve to death in here. I believe that would be an even greater crime than negligence,”

“Thank you, Hazeline,” said Xiu visibly delighted. “I won’t take long,”

“Oh Xiu….sometimes…I feel like I am living with a teacher’s pet,” said Hazeline in an amused manner. “Not that that’s a bad thing but…,”

“But…?” asked Xiu a little worriedly.

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go okay?” said Hazeline as she opened the front door.

“It looks about ready to rain…,” said Hazeline as she gave the gloomy rain clouds above a worried glance. “I just hope we won’t be caught in a downpour Xiu,”

“The weather should last,” said Xiu, a little reluctant at the prospect of turning back when they had just got out. Giving his stony gray wings a flick, the white raevan observed the moving crowd with interest. Although most of them weren’t equipped with an umbrella, it was clear that they were in a hurry to find themselves shelter before the first raindrops fell.

“Isn’t that…Vyn?” asked Hazeline interrupting the white frei’s thoughts. As he shifted his gaze towards the direction his guardian had indicated, Xiu was surprise to find out that Hazeline was right. It was Vyn. So his message was received after all. Perhaps they had called back just after Hazeline and him had left the house. Those things do happen but regardless, this was wonderful!

“Vyn!” said Xiu as he lifted his hand high and gave the other a friendly wave to attract her attention while Hazeline laughed at her charge’s enthusiasm.

Hazeline stood back and allowed her charge to float ahead to greet the other. It was good to see Xiu this happy; not that he was especially moody or silent; it was just that…Xiu seemed to be his happiest when he was with another raevan. Hazeline sighed. Back home, Xiu was a polite enough lad but he tended to give Hazeline the impression of a suffocatingly well mannered individual; especially when the housekeeper was about. With Joshua, Xiu made a good study companion and listening partner while with Hazeline herself, Xiu was…now that she thought about it, Hazeline wasn’t exactly sure what her relationship was with the white frei. He was polite and helpful but then again, that was how he generally behaved towards anyone and he certainly had never considered Hazeline as his mother. This was a troubling bit of news indeed. With other raevans though, Xiu seemed to loosen up a little and perhaps behave as the youngster that he was. Hazeline ran her fingers through her hair in thought. Others have complimented her on getting such a polite and easy to care for raevan but…was that how Xiu truly was? Or…

You read too many books one of her inner voice said flatly. He’s made from white blood and the soul of a temple guardian for goodness sake. What were you expecting him to be? A rock star?

True enough replied Hazeline to herself as she watched the two raevans intract; with Xiu doing most of the talking. Hazeline wondered a little about the rose raevan’s history and felt a pang of sympathy for Vyn. Was she forcefully taken away from her guardian or did she leave voluntarily? Troubling thoughts indeed…

Xiu meanwhile was observing Thorn with interest. Aside from what he has seen in books, Xiu had never seen a pug before and the general exclaimation of ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’ escaped him. Tilting his head slightly and in an attempt to stall the moment where he actually had to give his opinion on the pup, Xiu smiled and offered a hand to the curious puppy. “Thorn’s a strong name,” Xiu said at last; dropping the attempt to describe the pug. “Vyn must be very lucky to have someone to protect her, right Thorn?”

Up in the sky, the rain clouds emitted an ominous atmosphere.

“Xiu, we really need to head back now,” called out Hazeline as bolt of lighting flashed across the sky. “Vyn shall follow us as well; I will call Ethan later and give Vyn a lift back home after the storm has lifted,”

“Shall we Vyn?” asked Xiu over the roar of the thunder overhead. “The rain’s going to fall any minute and our home is close by,”

With a final friendly pat on the puppy’s head, Xiu raised himself slightly and began to lead the way towards the direction Hazeline was in and as the white raevan floated past a sturdy looking park bench, a small movement beneath the bench caught his eye. Hovering a little uncertainly for a moment, Xiu peered beneath the bench and let out a soft gasp. Apart from the usual odds and ends that consisted mainly of discarded tin cans, food wrappers and the occasional rubber ball, Xiu was surprised to find a dog lying beneath said bench and judging from its looks (despite it being rather filthy and horribly thin), it was no mongrel either. As though sensing Xiu’s gaze, the dog opened a golden brown eye and gave the frei a tired gaze. A feeble attempt at tail wagging was made before the canine fell back into its lifeless state.

“Vyn…,” said Xiu a little uncertainly “T-There’s a dog down there…,”

The thunder boomed overhead…

“We can’t just leave it can we?” said Xiu although his mind was already set. Crouching a little, Xiu managed to get his arms around the weakened dog and with little effort, the white frei was soon floating with the emaciated creature in his arms. His clothes had been soiled in the process but that was of a secondary concern to Xiu.

Meanwhile, Hazeline was impatiently willing the two raevans to float a little faster when of all the unexpected things that could happen, Xiu was seen crouching beneath a park bench. Surely the thunder could not have scared Xiu into hiding beneath a park bench could it? Worrying a little, the young woman half jogged, half ran to where the raevans were when Xiu emerged with a rather dirty looking dog in his arms.

“Oh Xiu…,” groaned Hazeline. “You know we can’t possibly bring that back to the bookstore with us,”

“Can’t we make it an exception this time Hazeline? Please?” pleaded Xiu as he held the scruffy bag of bones and fur. “This poor canine won’t survive the storm in this state and well…it has a collar on it,”

“A collar does not signify much,” said Hazeline firmly but there was uncertainty in her eyes; an opening in which the white frei was quick to notice.

“If I can’t get through your human logic, can’t I at least appeal to your better nature?” asked Xiu and as if emphasizing the white frei’s point, the first few raindrops began to fall.

"Well...I...ah...," stammered Hazeline as she teetered between agreeing with the white frei and keeping the bookstore animal free.


Realizing that and further prodding from him would probably cause more harm than good, Xiu gave Vyn a sideways glance as though willing the rose frei to speak up in his favour.

It might have been Xiu’s plea getting to her or it might have been Vyn’s suggestion to take the poor dog in and treat it. It might even have been the weather and it gradual shift into a stormy gale. Whatever it was, it made the guardian nod and instantly all the tension and uncertainty was gone. Pursing her lips, Hazeline beckoned to the two raevans and began jogging to the nearest sidewalk they could find. From there, they could make their way towards the bookstore by running from one awning to another. “Quickly before the weather gets any worse,” said Hazeline with a slight pant.

Having gotten his guardian’s approval, Xiu was more than happy to follow Hazeline as she jogged along the paved sidewalks across the park and in no time, the white frei found himself within the quiet confines of the bookstore. “We live upstairs,” said Xiu with a smile at the rose raevan. “Now let’s hope the housekeeper isn’t home or we’d be in trouble with her.

Thus saying so, the white raevan carefully floated up the stairs and stealthily towards the living room; all the while checking for the presence of the feared housekeeper.

“She isn’t home,” said Hazeline with a touch of relief in her voice as she pointed to a Post-it note stuck on the table. “Apparently she forgot something at the store and has gone to get it,”

“That’s great!” said Xiu with obvious delight as he placed the soaking dog upon the wooden floor. “I’ll get some towels for us and the dogs as well, Vyn,” said Xiu before floating off in search of them. Hazeline meanwhile was heating something up over the stove. It smelled rather like stew. “Some leftovers,” said Hazeline in case Vyn was curious. “Thought it’d work for the hungry thing. Would Thorn want some with biscuits? I’ll prepare some tea as well,”

A few minutes later the white frei returned and handed the rose and his guardian a clean towel each. Tossing an older and slightly tattered looking one at Thorn for him to do with it as he pleased, Xiu then turned his attention to the stray. The poor thing was shivering and the white frei quickly rubbed it down as best as he could. “I wished I knew how one should go about doing this…,” said Xiu with a shake of his head. “He’s still shivering…,”