Welcome to Gaia! ::

((This is a pared down version... to read all the posts involved, please go HERE. and follow Wolfie outside))

Blade paused as they found the somewhat broken fence. While Tal went off by the rocks, he walked over to the fence to see if there was anything there. As he went nearer to it, he noticed the holes in the post where the railings of the fence used to be.

Although it seemed unlikely that those would be the 'niches' that they were to search for, he figured it wouldn't hurt to try looking there anyway.

So he stopped by the closest one and took a glance into the small openings in the wood while crouching down.

As he did, Jade decided to hop off of his shoulder and into the nearest hole. Being so small, she fitted inside easily. Giving a few small peeps, both heads looked around the interior.

Grinning at the little chicklet, Blade thought of how useful she could be as a lookout or something like that.

Wolfie spread out from the others. Although the riddle was interesting, finding the tiny white bird seemed more important at the moment. She looked over her shoulder at Blade and noted that the closer they got to the woods, the less snow there was. After concideration, Wolfie realized that the snow couldnt fall as well there because of the trees, so it would not have been as deep.

She slushed around the path listening for the tell-tale cheeps. The sun had been to this side of the Estate first, so what little snow there was remained only a bit of slush and mud. It was better to find the albino chicklet this way.

((I hope the owner of this chicklet doesnt mind me borrowing it for a while sweatdrop I needed an excuse to get everyone outside. If you are the owner, Feel free to 'find it' for me at any time))

Celestia breathlessly paused at the broken fence. She glanced around, unable to find anyone else. "Oh boy... I think I just got myself lost..."

Rei squirmed around until he jumped out of the opening in Celestia's coat. He sniffed the air a few times and took off. "Rei!" shouted Celestia. It would be difficult for her to find her pup, especially when he's a pale puppy blending in with the snow.

The dark coat flared out as Celestia dashed in the direction where she hoped Rei ran off to. "Rei! Rei! Where ARE you?!" she shouted into the chilling wind. She coughed as the frigid air burned down her throat.

A yip broke through the cold air. She hurried toward the sound and slipped on ice. She slid down what seemed to be a frozen path. Her adrenline-pumped mind slowly registered large icicles rushing up to her. She quickly raised her arms to protect her face and kicked out. Numbed pain shot up her leg as she broke the icicles. Skidding to a stop, Celestia slowly lowered her arm and opened her eyes.

Reioseiga ran up to his owner and licked her face and barked frantically. She slowly rolled to her side and hugged the moonlit close. "Never do that again... Never..." she murmured into the comforting fur. Getting up, she turned around to survey her surroundings.

Large stalagmites and stalactites grew from the ceiling and ground in the cavern. Nearby an underground stream burbled happily as it flowed and meandered beyond Celestia's sight. When she turned away from her rather unexpected entrance, she could see a small opening in the wall. Hoping it would take them back outside, Celestia and Rei began to walk through the labyrinth of a cavern.

"What a strange plant..." Celestia remarked as she gently loosened the plant from the cup. Rei gave a small bark and wagged his tail, proud to have helped find such an interesting item.

As Celestia tucked the plant into her coat pocket, she heard it. It sounded curiously like a puppy's whine. Looking at Rei, she thought, 'Is that him? But it sounds like it's bouncing off the walls... An echo...' Rei's ear perked up again as another whine reached their ears.

Crouching down, careful not to crush the plant, Celestia asked, "Hey, wanna find out where it's coming from?" Rei barked excitedly and jumped up and down. Laughing, she said, "All right! Let's find 'em!"

Saying and actually trying to hunt down the source of the sound was harder than Celestia originally thought. They came to many dead ends or loops that returned them to a place they've already been too. Rei growled softly in irritation. They had come back to where they originally entered the cavern.

"This place ... is ... impossible! But totally fun if we were doing this on purpose..." Celestia commented drily, "Maybe we can come back and map this place out and use it as a place to play around... At least the flat area..." Rei scrambled to his feet when Celestia slowly made her way to get a drink from the stream. Cupping her hands, she lifted out the cold water. Rei lapped happily as the cool, refreshing water slid down their throats.

To their surprise, a single red orchid floated down the stream. Celestia and Rei looked at each other in wonder. They surged to their feet and began running towards the source of the stream.

Rei and Celestia entered another room filled with the same red orchids as the one that passed them by. The stream encircled the room and left a small opening towards the center where the most of the flowers were located. Rei ran towards the center and sniffed one of the orchids. The pollen tickled his nose and he let out a sneeze. Laughing at the bewildered look on his face, Celestia trailed after him.

'Now, where were those noises coming from?' Celestia continued to wonder. As if hearing her thoughts, Rei entered the field of orchids to search. Celestia shifted through the field, trying to find both her own puppy and what she hoped to be only another puppy. 'Well, they did say, "Curiousity killed the cat"...' she thought cynically. A voice from the back of her mind argued, '-"And satisfaction brought it back" stop forgetting the second part!' Lost in her thoughts, she was surprised when she came face to face with another moonlit. Before it could scramble away, Celestia lifted it and placed her lap.

This particular moonlit, a female (as Celestia found when she checked), had a beautiful dark red coat. Curiously enough, the markings were of flowers, not unlike the ones surrounding them. Cooing to the infant, Celestia called, "Rei! Come here! I found her!" She ran her fingers through the rich coat and cuddled the puppy. The puppy cautiously licked Celestia and nuzzled against her. "Such a cutie... Now, we need a name... How about... Ran?" Celestia said, translating orchid into Japanese. The scarlet moonlit tilted her head and crinkled her nose. "Okay, perhaps not..." Celestia murmured. She recalled a character from a book she read. Although the author didn't touch on her much, the name struck a chord in Celestia. "Hisana?" The moonlit again tilted her head and practically wiggled in joy.

Rei barked rather loudly twice. When Celestia looked up, she could see a small opening leading outside. It seems that when they first entered, they were too befuddled to notice. She lifted Hisana up in her arms, maybe Wolfie would like to see her. She went through the open and was temporarily blinded by the sudden onslaught of sunshine.

When Celestia's eyes adjusted, she was in a forest area. Turning around the clearing, she could see the smoke from the chimney of the house. Actually, they were pretty close to the house! Celestia and Rei gradually made their way back to the house with the new moonlit, Hisana.

Yuki kicked a few rocks around, not really sure what she was looking for. All she ended up accomplishing was dislodging some rocks and send them rolling down the hill. She looked into the woods curiously and patted Hakana's head, a signal to follow.

They walked into the woods and glanced from tree to tree. Nothing seemed...out of order? "Com'on Kana, Kei." Hakana followed obediently, but Keiran simply huffed and sat his butt down right in the center of the path, but Yuki didn't really seem to care.

They walked a little further until Hakana barked happily and barreled over to a tree, putting her paw up and looking back at Yuki. "Good girl! You found...and owl hole?" She was answered with a short bark. "Oh! A niche?" Excitedly, Yuki jogged over and peeked in. An unhappy squirrel screached at her. "Ahh!" She jumped back, but slipped on a nearby slope and slid down.

Hakana met her calmly at the bottom, but didn't really bother with her. Something seemed to have caught her attention instead. "Thanks for the help Kanny..." Yuki sat up and brushed herself off. "I could...what have you got there."

Hakan pulled her head out of a hollowed log, with a small spotted pup in her mouth. "Aww." Yuki held her arms out and Hakana placed the pup in them. "Lets take him back to the others." They both headed back to the main path. "Hey guys!" Yuki held up her new pup a little. "Look who I found in the woods."