Welcome to Gaia! ::

Intro

The wind blows and picks up the fallen leaves. An old woman sweeps the path that leads from the main side walk, to the little, "Open Arms Inn" humming happily. The crisp Autumn air is occasionally filled with the sound of a passing car.

Inside the inn, an old man can be heard. He is yelling for the thousandth time for his grandson to wake up. People begin to stir and wake, leaving their rooms to go about their daily business. Those who have been awake, enjoy a homemade breakfast, while they sit and talk.

"The Open Arms Inn" which rarely gets visitors, has been full for the past two weeks. Strange people keep coming. People that whisper about a sacred tree. Many people in Driftwood can't help but wonder what land these people come from. These strangers seem completely surprised by everyday items and electronics, while others not only know, but have more advanced versions of them.

Things have been getting strange, and it all seems to revolve around the Open Arms' new clients. Many cannot help but wonder what is this, "Tree of the Ancients" that's got these foreigners so excited.

Gigi woke slowly, piecing together where she was. A town called Driftwood, a place called Open Arms Inn. Then she thought of why she was there. Ancient human remains. And that though she sat up and smiled to the morning rays streaming through the quaint windows. Getting out of bed, she tip toed across the room, trying not to wake the four other archaeologists sharing the room. She quickly dressed and brushed her hair. Excitement pulsed though her veins. Her first real dig was but a few hours away. She looked in the mirror as she braided her long golden hair.

Gigi looked into the reflection her own blue eyes when she was finished. Soon she was lost in her mind. In her heart she felt someone pulling at her soul. She got the odd sensation of talons gently gripping her and huge wings lifting her towards the warmth of the sun. She smiled. The vision was strong, like a dream. At that moment Gigi knew she was in the right place at the right time.

A slap on her back jolted her out of this odd mesmerizing vision. "You okay girly?" Jackie said in her southern twang. "Yea, yea. I'm fine. I'm just gonna catch some breakfast," Gigi replied, shaking her head. "Don't be late for the briefing!" Jackie whispered after Gigi as she shut the door.

Gigi stepped down the stairs and found herself a nice table by a window. She wasn't in any hurry to eat. She just enjoyed the warmth of the sun upon her face and the excitement building in her body.

Zaza dreamed. She dreamed of a dark haired girl dancing alone. Her dance was slow and sad, but had tiny convulsions of madness. Zaza felt her heart reach out to the girl. She tried to shout to the girl that she was coming, but not words passed her lips. Starting a gust of wind, Zaza picked the girl up and began to dance a beautiful dance with her in the air. They complimented each other’s styles. Their hearts beat together. It was harmony and it was beautiful.

Waking from beneath a tree Zaza smiled. Her dreams of this girl were becoming more vivid. She knew that she was getting closer. Thomas had told her that one day she would find someone who would complete her dance. Zaza was sure that this faceless dark haired girl of her dreams was the one.

Zaza stood and brushed herself off. She looked around the little park in the middle of the subdivision she had found herself in. She closed her eyes and listened to the wind. It pointed her North. She kicked her feet, did a little twirl and began making her way closer to Driftwood along the cracked sidewalk.

Hazel Wolfsbane

The morning light broke through the canopy of leaves casting reddish hues over the grass below. A stiff breeze brought a chill, hinting at the weather that was to come and gently caught the leaves that were acumulating below an immense tree. Like so many others that hat succumed to the changing of the seasons, this tree was decked with brillant yellows, red, and the ever so rare green leaf. Little could it be seen but this one tree was caught in a perpetual autumn.

Deep inside it's protective cocoon of branches Hazel sat precariously upon a branch. Had she had the ability to speak surely she would have sighed and lamented upon her situation. This morning, like so many others, had brought the sight a boy. A light haired boy hidden somewhere in the town nearby, just beyond her reach. Her mind called out to him. Come. No words were uttered but there meaning was carried by the wind towards the forest edge.

Lawrence Carrol

Lawrence woke to the chirping of birds. Rising he glanced around his cottage. It was dusty to say the least and not very large either. Still it was home. A faint chill permeated the place. Ever since he first decided to abandon his life in the village there had been an unexplainable cold that followed his every footstep no matter what the weather. Even in the searing summer sun it remained.

Lawrence made his way to the fireplace and struck a flint. Crimson flames sparked to life, dancing among the logs and casting shadows about. "Another day gone, another day here." He said to himself while staring into the flames, his deep voice breaking the silence that filled the cottage. For years now he had been the sole inhabitant of it, only the forest itself as company. Somehow it felt as if that was soon going to change.

A bird chirped loudly at the window by Carissa's bed and, at first, nothing happened. Then her lip twitched in irritation, followed by her silver-green eyes snapping open. The woman groaned as she sat up, then chucked her pillow at the window, knocking down the blanket that had been keeping the light away from her extreemly non morning personed self. With a yelp, she hid under the covers.

"Be gone, evil!" Carissa stuck her hand out and made shooing motions at the sun. However, when that did not seem to work, she scrunched her eyes closed and jumped up with the blanket, replacing it. Her mother was coming up the stairs to wake her up anyway, so she didn't try falling back asleep. Instead, she huffily threw on the first objects her hands came across. "I'm awake!" She called when her mother arrived at the door. The woman laughed and turned right back around.

After pushing her gold-lensed sunglasses onto her face, Carissa grabbed her favorite backpack, and left the room. She'd had another dream, a dream of soft snow and a strange guy. Uncertain as to why, she decided that today was another day for her to leave. Instead of procrastinating, this time she was prepaired to leave. Her backpack had been stuffed with clothes and a pair of boots, so she'd need to grab something else for food and water.

"Cari?" Her mother looked at her worriedly.

"No big deal, I'll be back in a week, ya?" She winked at her mother and grabbed a cloth bag, filling it up.

"Last time you said that it took a month." Her mother pouted.

"I'll find what I'm looking for this time." Carissa's voice was determined. As soon as everything was set, Carissa left her childhood home in search of something... better. She'd heard about an Inn people were flocking to- why not try there?

The flower turned brown with death. It sprang back up, perfectly healthy. Gloria flicked the daisy away, bored with it and worried. The town named Driftwood rose before her, and yet Gloria stayed safely in the shadows of the forest. This was yet another town Gloria was visiting, trying to find...someone.

So far, she had visited a few sparsely populated towns, preferring not to go in the city. The city had too many people for Gloria to feel comfortable. Besides, this village...called to her, in a way. Now all that was left was for Gloria to find her bonded one. She sensed he was here, in this village, and not able to find him made Gloria frustrated. Stepping out of the forest lightly, she looked back at the forest once.

After a while an older woman came over to Gigi's table. "Anything to eat, miss?" Gigi smiled, "Oh... a crasont would be lovely and some jam. Do you have jam?" The old woman chukled a bit, "Of course we have jam child! We have grape and strawberry and blackberry and marmalade and apricot..." "I'd love some strawberry jam. And hot chocolate too! With whipped cream- of coarse," she giggled as she added to her order. "Will that be all, Miss?" The woman asked kindly. "Oh, that'll be plenty. Thank you very much." The little woman scooted away and Gigi continued to gaze out into the city.

The trees swayed in the breeze around the bussiness tucked in this corner of the town. It was quaint here and Gigi was not at all surpised that the town had such at rich past. But that breeze stirred something within her and she knew that change was coming. And she would be a part of it. A bird glided overhead and for some reason she smiled wide, her teeth gleaming in the sun. Her heart fluttered and she knew things would be looking up.

Her breakfast was served and Gigi sat at the little table munching away.

Zaza was walking along an express way. She'd been traveling along roads like these for almost three years on her own. She remember the first time she'd walked one with Thomas. She had held dearly onto his hand, afraid that one of the moving metal boxes would veer off the road and into her. Now she was used to these things called cars. She had even ridden in one once. She didn't like it. Everyone in a while cars would slow to look at her curiously or a guy would honk is horn. A few more daring men ask if she needed a ride.

Beyond the expressway suberbia turned steadily into forest. Suddenly the wind blew violently in that direction. Zaza knew that was where she had to go. She wanted so badly to ride the wind, but Thomas had strictly instructed her never to use the wind around Mundies, so she climbed over the guide rail and into the forest.

Hazel Wolfsbane

Still hidden amongst the vast expanse of leaves Hazel straightened, the tiredness leaving her face. That feeling again. A longing to find the one she waited for. Oh how this had been torture for her. For days, no weeks, the one she called had paused just outside Driftwood's forest and waited before moving on. Each time her spirits rose, overwhemling her. And each time despair filled her as he moved on.

A gasp escaped her. The boy, he had entered! Her call had been headed. Hazel stood up, the branch bending under her weight and she took ahold of the limbs above her. Careful, so as not to harm her mother tree, she climbed till her head rose above the uppermost leaves. A wonderous sight played out before her. Colored trees danced below in the breeze. A hawk, catching sight of a field mouse hiding amongst the brush, gracefully dived. It was an arists dream, the kind people traveled far and wide to find, just so they could gaze at the beauty.

Lawrence Carrol

Lawrence sighed and broke his gaze away from the dancing flames. How mesmorizing they could be at times. He could sit there for hours just watching but there was work to be done. Having not set foot back in Driftwood since his abrut departer, he instead took what he needed from the forest itself and in return the forest recieved his protection. Often the young ones from the town would sneak into the woods to party. Did they not respect it anymore? And each time Lawrence chased them off.

Something told him to leave his cottage and head into the woods he so cherished. But what could it be? Not once had there been any hint of what this feeling meant. Was the forest trying to communicate with him? Lawrence grabbed a worn coat, its edges shredded by thorns, and a scarf. For the rest of the world this would have been to warm an outfit but the chill had returned with a vengence.

Lawrence Carrol

Lawrence shivered. The longer he stood infront of the old oaken door the colder he became. Wrapping his scarf tighter to stave of the biting chill, he grabbed a staff carved from branches of an ancient willow. "What is with this weather? He asked himself.

That feeling from before surged with power. It was like whatever was calling him was right there, but what was it? On its own accord his hand opened the creaking door. Lawrence found himself amazed by what he saw. A girl, her hair as white as the fresh fallen snow, stood there just outside. His eyes were drawn to the wings sprouting from her back. Just from looking at her he was reminded of an old picture of a frozen landscape from the far north. But what was she doing her? And what was she? He tried to speak but could not find any words to say.