Welcome to Gaia! ::

Xerxes blinked as Niamh excused herself and rushed off. He had expected a bit more from her after getting back with him after being split up. He raised an eyebrow when she disappeared behind a tree and some bushes — and then it finally dawned on him what she was doing. He gave a small chuckle and a shake of his head as he crossed his arms, turned away and waited patiently for her to return. When she returned, he turned back towards her, smiling. “Maybe we should stick together at first. This forest is surprisingly darker than I expected. We can walk and look around and devise a plan to keep up with each other when you do fly. Some kind of signal with our flashlights or something? You probably shouldn’t go much higher than their light would reach.” He glanced down at the flashlight in his hand, frowning slightly. “I’m not sure how powerful they are or how far their light will reach up into the sky. And I don’t want either of us to get lost.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Xerxes said in response to her suggestion. He glanced around, eyeing each direction people had split off into and finally decided on a path they could take. “That way,” he said, pointing in a direction that would take them a bit southeast of their current location. “Hopefully it doesn’t take long to come up on a clearing and we can test out our flashlights and really get to looking for these kids.” He frowned a bit, teeth nibbling on his bottom lip some. “I really do hope that guy wasn’t lying. I want to believe there really are kids out here, lost, and it’s not some trick to get us to somewhere or something.” He sighed and glanced back towards Niamh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so cynical.”

“True,” Xer said as they moved off in the direction he had indicated. “I suppose it makes you feel good about at least this group. Everyone was so willing and ready to help — even me, in the end. You don’t get that a lot sometimes. It’s nice to know there are those out there willing to help a complete stranger without a second thought. I just…” He trailed off, trying to think of the best way to put it. “It just takes me a little bit longer to trust people than it does others, at times. I suppose that’s why my group of friends is so small. It’s a shame none of them were up for making the trip up here. They’re really missing out.” It didn’t take long before some of the trees above cleared out, allowing for Niamh to fly up so they could test their flashlights’ strength. He stopped and turned to face her. “I suppose this is as good of a time as any to test it all out.”

“Maybe,” Xer said as he smiled softly. The truth of the matter is, he’d already come to think of her as a friend in this short amount of time. He’d been disappointed when they’d been separated before and was glad to be back with her. However, he wasn’t exactly ready to admit it to her — or himself, really. So instead, he kept the thoughts to himself as they moved off into the clearing and readied themselves for their experiment. Xerxes glanced around, eyes scanning the objects closest to him before settling on a bunch of rocks. He aimed his flashlight and flipped it on. The light illuminated the immediate area around him and shot out, hitting up against the rocks and creating harsh shadows in its wake. “There we go. Ready whenever you are.”

The draft from her wings startled Xerxes slightly, causing his aim on the rocks to waver. He quickly gained control of himself back and focused the light. They didn’t need him messing up before things even got kicked off. He made sure his hand was steady before glancing up and watching her spiral farther and farther up into the air. Niamh got pretty high in the air before she started to descend. He grinned when she landed and nodded at her words. “Good, we’re off to a great start. Hopefully it doesn’t take long to find these kids. The longer they’re out there, the worse the situation could get. Shall we, then?” he asked, indicating the path in front of them. “Take to the sky whenever you wish. I’ll be right with you.”

Okay, most of the strangers were adults - but these kids... they were giving Meimu a run for his money... One of them even had wings! People had wings!? He had a difficult time staying out of sight with her continually getting above ground - at least the trees provided some cover.

But, it was only a matter of time before that accursed beam of light caught him. He froze, all seven tails flared out in puffy alarm, visible eye widened as far as it would go-- then....

Hurled a couple of acorns he'd hastily gathered earlier right at the kid on the ground before turning and running off as fast as he little legs would take him.


[Your character is not injured by the acorns.]