Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( setting is inspired by Ceilie the dog, if jivvin weather doesn't match mine then this is a fantasy post... and if anyone would like this as an rp, then feel free to respond to any of the characters in it. ))

Elayeth skidded across the frozen water of the lake. The casing on the ice was about 10 inches thick and he knew he was safe, so he was bounding and running, jumping and laughing. It was like having a big wide open field, only without all the smells and droppings of the woodlands creatures. There was a time... back when Elayeth was very small, where he could remember living in the woods, all alone except for when Alexander would come and visit him. He liked life much better now that Miss Ranald and Miss Keppit allowed him to stay in the house. He grinned to himself. "I wonder" He spoke to no one in particular as he skidded across a particularly smooth patch before hitting a bump and almost sprawling flat. "If Alexander Edward has noticed that I'm missing yet." and then he laughed. When he was younger, he wouldn't have laughed at dissobeying Alex... The vhaid was his whole world after all... until Keppit had found out that Alex was keeping the young Elayeth in the woods as a servant and pet... then Alex had been yelled at punished, and Elayeth had been given a bed in the house and called 'son'... it was strange, but it certainly put a new spin on his perspective. Alexander... Alexander Edward, Rightful Vhaid of... of... the universe? (Elayeth forgot which it was these days) was not the be all end all creature in charge... No, that appeared to be Keppit. Elayeth laghed again and went sprawling into the snow as he stumbled on a dent. Wouldn't that make Alex mad! If he only knew that Elayeth now put Keppit above him in the pecking order... well, If Alexander knew that then there wouldn't be much left of Elayeth.

Calvin skidded across the frozen water of the lake... on the opposite end as Elayeth of course. She'd been wanting to do this all week, but Lily had sad no. And said no, and said no, and said no. Calvin sighed. Her mother was always worrying way too much. Calvin was, after all, a young lady now, and she could certainly take care of herself without any help from anyone else and that was that.... she grinned at Rusty, who was standing awkwardly over on the bank, as she skidded by. Poor old guy. She laughed aloud and then tripped, falling flat on her face and skidding head first into a snowbank. Before three seconds had passed she bounded out of the snowbank and yelled assurances to Rusty that she was fine. Even though he was scared of the lake, and fearful of the ice and water, she knew he'd be out there in a heartbeat to get her should she fall through. That was good to know.... that she could take care of herself without any help at all, but that if she somehow couldn't... She had Rusty, Luke, and Lily. She smiled as she sailed across the ice, winds blowing back her ears and fur, cold air clearing her senses, much faster now that she knew where most of the bumps and dents were... "This.... Must be what it's like to fly." She whispered to herself. She didn't really want to fly of course... but it was a nice feeling all the same.

Alexander Edward growled to himself as he padded through the woods in search of his young assistant. The boy was always running off on his own lately. Alex could remember a time when the squire child would jump when Alex siad jump and cower when appropriate. These days? Alex was lucky to get the boy's attention for more than a minute or so. And if that horrible zombie creature was feeding the boy? Then that was a lost cause, and it would be hours before the boy would do anything for his master. Alex's brain grumbled at him as his thoughts were accompanied by memories of all the times Ranald and that Zombie Keppit thing had told him that Elayeth was his brother and not his servant, and that he was not anyone's master. Yes well, they had no idea what they were talking about... they were all just lowley peasants... and when he was king? When he was king they'd all be sorry. As alex stopped to begrudgingly pick pine needles out from between his toes, he caught a flash of red through the trees. knowing that he'd found Elayeth at last, he left the path and waded through the snow towards the lake. What he saw when he got there, was a graceful red jivvin, flying across the surface of the water, leaping and bounding, never really falling... the wind in his ears and the clear air on his face... the boy looked like he had no worries. The boy? No. As Alexander Edward, rightful vhaid of everything, watched... he was forced to admit that the jivvin on the lake was not a boy, and hadn't been for quite some time. "Squire becomes a man." Whispered quietly to himself, for nobody but the wind to hear.

Rusty paced back and forth on the bank nervously. If she fell through... if she became hurt... if she tripped and fell through... he didn't quite know what to do with himself. The rational part of him knew that 10 inches of a frozen lake crust was enough to hold up the almost too skinny jivvin child. But the part of him that loved her unconditionally was (as chance would have it) also the part of him that was deathly terrified of water. He couldn't swim... he might be able fly out there and grab her, but she was almost too big for that! Luke couldn't have carried her back over here either, both of the twins were extraordinarily heavy for Uuthlis and had a hard time with lenthy flights in the best of cases. He paced back to the left as he watched her fly headfirst into a pile of snow. He'd have panicked completely, but it wasn't the first time she'd done that today... more like the twelfth, and like every time before this one, the little tan jivvin child bounced out of the snow with a smile and a cry that all was well, and Rusty's heart slowed a little as she did. He sighed. What was she going to be like as an adult? She was crazy enough as a child, and while he loved her dearly, he tried not to remember her too much as a baby... those times were passed, and now he and Luke and Lily could all enjoy her personality now that she was more like a child and less like a hummingbird on Carisseed. He smiled... but she had been cute back then, all legs and elbows... and as he watched her on the lake now, skidding around on all fours, never really falling... Rusty was forced to admit that his little sister wasn't a baby anymore... hadn't been a baby for a while now. The Calvin that he knew right this very moment was a bright and vibrant young lady with a voice and opinions of her own. Part of him was sad at the thought that his little sister wasn't his baby sister anymore, but part of him also knew that he'd love her no matter what, no matter how old and no matter how annoying. "Always be my baby sister." He whispered to himself, not for anyone but the wind to hear.

(( Alexander, Sanyu, Bruce and Brice :: Oct 01 05 ))

Alexander nosed open the front door with a huff... what was it doing closed anyway? And where were the loyal jivvins waiting to open doors for him? With a glance around the entrace hall he realized that he was alone, and took a moment to himself to collect himself and straighten his fur. He needed to appear to be at his best lest others not be able to find conifdence in him...

ok so maybe he really wasn't ready to be out by himself, but Ranald couldn't take him anymore. Her break was his alone time... and here he was.

...'Had to get out of that house! Why stuck with the little brat though!?' Sanyu thought to herself with a fond disgust of the baby SMO, Brice that was following her up to the hq. 'Grr... Not fair. They haaaad to ask me to babysit while I'm sleeping and take a groan as a yes. A groan is clearly a no!' The blue Jivvin pushed the door open and pulled Brice along with her long fluffy tail.

Seeing another Jivvin Sanyu felt a bit of relief. 'Finally someone else whos head isn't in the clouds!'

Brice ran over to the strange thing that looked like Sanyu only... Different... "Wow! There's more of you?! Yay!" The extremly nieve infant stared while her big sister just rolled her eyes.

bruce lay flat out on the sofa with his ears covering his eyes taking a snooze. he had herad the door go a couple of times which stirred him. he lazily lifted up an ear with his eyes still closed. he could hear a few jivins chatting away. he sat up and yawned and stretched his hand.

"Whats going on here?"

once his eyes had cleared, he relaised he'd never seen these fivins before

Alexander let his head slide sideways so that he could get a glimpse of who was talking to him before he had to reply. Once he saw that there were two, a jivvin about his size and a small Skull Monkey, he put on his most royal smile (and royal it was even if for all the wrong reasons) and turned to face them. He kept his posture straight and tall and he smiled on them both as he regared them. "Why of course there is more than one Jivvin in the world. I myself have two step sibblings, both of the jivvin variety, and I must say that due to frequent trips here I have come across more than just a few. We exist in abundance. As do the Skull Monkeys I believe." He smiled down at Brice. "My name is Alexander Edwards... and you are??"

Sanyu rolled her eyes at Brice getting so excited. She reached her tail out to reel the little pipsqueek in. "She is a royal pain of a Skull Monkey, Brice." She answered before Brice got them both into some sort of akwardnesss. Looking over the new Jivvin she tried to make a judgement on him but it would take a bit more to make things final. "I'm Sanyu... And you are...?"

Brice laughed everytime she was wrapped up in a tail. Giggled like there was no tomorrow, though she wasn't used to being kept up she didn't fight too much. She was too sleepy but that she fought off with all her might.

He left barely a pause in between the end of her sentance and the start of his... "Son of Ranald, step brother to Gus jivvin and Satou jivvin, step brother to Jen Skull Monkey. That being said, I'm a nice guy with a head for leadership." He was trying not to be smug but it wasn't really working. "Was there anything else you felt you needed to know about me?"

Oh no... She raised her eyebrow looking at him unimpressed. He could have been able to fool all of the other Jivvin, but with her he was more fake than the chocolate coins in a treasure chest. "Well, a name would be nice..." She said almostly flatly with a bit of sarcasim. Walking past him she looked back over her shoulder with a tiny smirk then sat the passed out Brice on the couch. How on Earth that kid slept so much and so quickly was totally behond her.

Alexander was almost aghast. "I have already provided you with my name. It's Alexander Edward." He circled and looked for a place that would provice him with as much stance as he had there in the hall... but he didn't see any. "I must say, I didn't come here to be insulted. Quite the contrary, I came here to relax and perhaps meet new jivvins." He huffed quickly before he could control himself.

"I ment no insult all of the rambling must have forced it from my mind." Of course she ment insult to him, he could deal with it. He was a big boy, wasn't he? None the less, he was quite interesting to be around. Someone who thought so highly of themselves was amusing. "My bad... Alex."

He immediately huffed and clicked his claws against the ground in sudden anger. Then controling himself again he shook out his fur and put back on his 'unphased smile. "My name is not Alex, actually, it's Alexander Edward. And no harm done, since you don't regard anything said as an insult neither do I." He turned and marched over to the nearest chair which he hopped up into. "So how did you get a name like Sanyu. Does it mean anything?" He let himself down gently and gracefully, then crossed his front paws over the plush arm of the chair.

Sanyu pushed Brice down the couch a little after witnessing Alex's little tantrum and stiffled her laughed by jumping up onto the couch. She simply rested her head on the arm and relaxed with a nice sigh. As she responded to him her tail sweept the ground mindlessly. She had full intentions of calling him Alex, just to irritate him.

"I'm not sure. I don't really care. It's a nice name. My origional owner gave it to me, I guess before I was punned off onto Monkey."

"Ahh..." it was just one sylable and bot even really a word, but the was he said it clearly meant that he put a lot more emphasis on her words that he let on. He obviously had oppinions about orphaned Jivvins. "It's a very nice name. In fact I would wager to say that it just might be one of the better Jivvin names out there. It seems to fit your colouring in my mind, not that that means anything mind you." He stopped and surveyed her quickly. "What's your rank if you don't mind me asking..."

"Ah well thank you, Alex. I've been fond of it." Her thanking him was the most sincere she had been around him all night accept for when she was talking about Brice. As the multi-blue colored Jivvin was asked her rank she simply wiggled her wings where he could see them. Along with that she filled him in incase he was still clueless, still skeptical of his intelligence. "Uuthli"

"Ahh..." There it was again.

"And, as you probably recall... my name is Alexander Edward, as I have now thrice informed you. Any more than that and I'm afraid I'll have to regard you as someone with a problem regarding memory and names." He paused. "I didn't see your wings before. Lucky you then to have a chance to be airborne once you're fully grown. I imagine that you're looking forward to it?"

"Oh no, I remember just finely. I just like the name Alex better." She was getting more used to him and was easing up on her callousness. "I cannot wait to fly... The air just looks like it calls to me... No one to bug me up there. No Skull Monkey's or humans who think they can control me." She was of course refferring to Monkey for the human part and Rome more then Brice for the SM refernce. But her attention was brought back to Alex with a little smile, trying to throw things off her mind. "Anyways..."

Alexander just stared at her... He wanted very much to tell her exacly what he thought of her... his name was full and lengthy because it was a name that helped him to live up to his full potential. To call him a lesser name, or even worse by just a fraction of his name, was the same as saying that he was only expected to be able to fulfill but a fraction of his potential... but to say such things was certainly not kingly and he wouldn't be the first one to break code.

He took a deep breath and then forced himself to relax... "I have often wished I could fly actually, but I wouldn't give up my rank for anything in the world." He glanced at her wings... but just imagine a king with wings... really.....

(( May 05 2006 ))

Satou turned and looked into the mirror on the dresser. With a heavy heartfelt sigh and sad smile to herself she turned to her journal and began to write... Sure she was happy and sure she was more than adjusted to this life, not really a new life, but this life. She really liked her family, Keppit and Ran and Gus and Jen... They were all great people. But there was something missing and she felt that she knew what it was... but how to tell them.

Alexander, on the other hand, was out walking in the woods behind the jivvin center. He had been taking brief walks out here almost everyday for the last month, but he'd never been THIS far into the woods. Truth be told, the purple jivvin was looking for something... for someone. There had been someone out here that one day. He was sure it had been a jivvin... He had just never learned it's name.

And then somewhere nearby... in a bush, or perhaps a tree, maybe even a hole in the ground.... someone watched Alexander plod noisily through the forest. Watched in thought. He wasn't very old, but E'layeth had plans for this king...

Gus walked by the blackjack counter with a bag of coins slung over his shoulder. It was grunt-work, but at least he wasn't selling cigarettes to foul breathed old ladies anymore... now when they asked if they could pet his ears or stroke his tail at least they didn't always smell of tobacco and alcohol... it was a little better. He adjusted his red vest on his thin torso and started off towards the slot machines where, surely, there would be people waiting to cash in bills for quarters.

(( Alexander, Elayeth, and Squidley :: Oct 2 2006 ))

Alexander Edward was in a fowl mood.... He had been all morning and there was a good reason why. He had just found out that the small Jivvin following him was not his own personal sprite, not a loyal follower of his, not a magical being, not even a figment of his imagination... but rather just a jivvin. A small, devious, lost jivvin who wanted to live in Keppit's house with her and her family... Stupid jivvin.

Elayeth smiled to himself as he trotted along behind Alexander. He wasn't really sure where they were going, but anywhere Alexander went, he went... and that was that. He wasn't entirely sure why Alexander had thought he could do magic of something, but he was quite sure now that Alexander knew that the small red jivvin was at a magic loss. He laughed.

"What're you laughing at you orphan?" Bad mood bad mood bad mood.

"Nothing." Elayeth ceased his giggles and lowered his head to the floor. He wasn't an orphan... he had Alexander... "Where?"

Alexander sighed. "We're going out into the woods outside the jivvin center." He didn't even turn around to look at Elayeth... he knew that the small jivvin would follow.

And Elayeth did. He even took a moment to wonder if anyone was seeing him walking along with his older brother or sorts, and the thought made him smile as he continued to trot along behind the larger Jivvin.

Squidley was also in a bad mood. Not a bad mood persay, but a lonely one. He had been kicked out for the day. No one wanted him. No one liked him. So he had the day all to himself, which he was currently spending in a tree right at the edge of the forest. He was sprawled out on a high branch, his legs and arms dangiling and his head resting on the bark of the tree branch, that was currently sagging under his weight. He had been up there for an hour now, just moaping and whineing to himself. He didnt really know how he had gotten up there, and he didnt have any idea how he was going to go down. But it didnt matter cause no one liked him and-there was a loud snap, and in secounds he was on the ground, landing with a thud that sounded painful, just inches away from a couple of jivvins he had failed to notice. He lay there for a minute, to stunned to do anything. But out of the corner of his eye he saw the two, and quickly sprawled ungracefully to his feet, still hurting quite a bit. "Owwie." Was all he said, his ears and tail haging limply.

Alexander Edward started and jumped back a few steps as the other jivvin fell from the tree to the forest floor. It took him completely by surprise, but it wasn't more than a few seconds before he had control of himself and was standing at his very regal average height, with all his pudgyness and irritation. He sighed. "I think... I think I've not met you yet. I am Alexander Edward, and this..." He turned to peer at Elayeth. "This is my squire." he somehow managed to put quite a lot of contempt into the word.

Elayeth wasn't shocked by Squidly's entrance, but he was feeling intruded upon... he couldn't help it somehow. But he managed to give the Tree jivvin a weary smile before stepping back behind Alexander.

Squidley perked up when the jivvin talked, suddenly getting quite excited. Somebody! He hopped a little, a smile spreading across his face. "Im Squiiiidley." His voice was high and fast, and not to easy to interpert, though he tried his best to talk slow. At the word squire, he stared blankely at the smaller jivvin, a look of confusion on his face. "whassat? Some kind of pet? Cause that' fuuuunny." He wagged his tail a couple times, unsure of what to do next. "Where ya goin?" He said his voice more calm as he peeked back towards the forest.

Alexander rolled his eyes... just great. "He's not a pet, he's a servant... and I can't see how where I'm headed is any of your business." He turned to face Squidley and sat down. "I might ask the same thing of you actually... what were you doing in that tree? "

Elayeth trotted around behind Alexander where Squidley would have a hard time seeing him... "Brother... I'm his brother..." He whispered the comment. He didn't want to anger Alexander, but he wasn't a servant...

(( Continued. :: ))

Panic gripped Elayeth as another voice entered the scene. How had he let someone sneak up on him? this was bad bad bad... where was Alexander? The poor kid ran a small circle before he realized that there was nowhere for him to go. He he just stood there, legs at a slightly odd angle, and a look on his face that plainly said he'd been caught playing a game and games were bad.

The elder Jivvin trotted towards the two, laughing aloud as he did so. "What was one of the first rules I taught you in the Game, Maeve?"

She plopped herself down next to Elayeth, pondering for a moment before answering Aara. "Always be aware of your surroundings, no matter what... But we were having fun, Aara... And we almost found Beryl! I'm almost certain!"

He shook his head slowly, tossing golden mane about as he did so. His laughter was soft and his demeanor was friendly. "You did, did you? Well, that's good... And I see you made a new friend as well?"

The laughter calmed him a little and the smile did it's best to help him relax, but he still wasn't about to say anything... This other jivvin must be the Aara that they mentioned earlier. After all, how many Aara jivvins could there be? So far there was only one Alexander, one Elayeth, one Maeve and one Beryl... stands to reason there was only one Aara...

And Maeve seemed to be at ease around the adult jivvin. So Elayeth nodded slightly at the word 'friend'.

He turned slowly to face the younger Jivvin, bowing his head politely as he began an introduction. "Good afternoon to you. I'm Aaralyn... And who might you be?"

As Aara spoke with Elayeth she began to sneak away. She still had a Beryl to catch.

His comfort level fell as Mave crept away... but he was determined to be brave. He inhaled deeply and puffed out his chest a little, staring up at the older jivvin...

"Elayeth Kalhoun." He nodded towards the house. "I'm here with my brother, but I don't exactly know where he is right now."

"Elayeth Kalhoun. That's a fine name." He nodded, bright smile curving his muzzle once more. "Thank you for keeping an eye on Maeve and Beryl before I arrived, Elayeth. It takes a very brave young Jivvin to watch out for such spirited young ladies."

As he spoke of said ladies the sound of a startled cry came from the area of the porch... Followed by laughter. Maeve would -never- let Beryl live down the fact that she caught her offguard. Never... Or she'd forget in a week.

"I... I... I think that they were keeping eyes on me..." He nodded slowly. "They were teaching me how to play games. Tag. They were teaching me how to play tag." He smiled. "It's kind of fun, and then we played find Beryl... that was fun too... Maeve won." He realized as he said it that the last part of that sentance was not needed.

"Everyone should know how to play tag." He nodded slowly. "Especially the young ones." He laughed as he heard Beryl, tilting his head towards the house. "Yes, in does seem as if Maeve has won. Shall we go join the girls? I promised to tell them a story once I found them... Maybe you'd like to hear a story as well?"

"You... " He paused and looked around them... "You mean it?" He had often heard Gus reading stories to Booker through the window, but Alexander had never put up with such things.... "That would mean a lot to me."

"Of course I mean it... I always keep my word." He winked at Elayeth as he trotted towards the house, arriving just in time to dip his head down and carefully pluck Beryl off of Maeve. He set her aside, laughing as she huffed once before taking on a more 'dignified', 'lady-like' pose beside him.

Maeve, on the other hand, was nowhere near as lady-like. She butted her head against one of Aaralyn's forelegs before taking a seat between his paws. "I won!"

Elayeth trotted along silently behind Aara, and stopped when they stopped.

"Congradulations Maeve." He smiled as he said it. Winners deserved praise... Alexander had taught him at least that much... the only problem was that not everyone was a winner.

"So... What would the winner like to hear a story about?" His brow lofted as he lowered his head to peer down at the little Jivvin that was nestled between his forelegs.

"Mmm..." She cocked her head to the side as she pondered. "I don't know... A story about the forest? Tell us about the people that live in the forest! The good ones... Not the bad ones." Her nose scrunched as she said that. She didn't -ever- want to run into the scary forest creatures again.

Elayeth nodded his head entusiastically... this was going to be his first story. "That sounds good." He knew about the forest, simly becuase that was where he lived... but...

"I wouldn't mind hearing about the bad ones as well though..."

"There has to be a little bit of bad in all things good, Maeve... If there wasn't the world wouldn't be nearly as interesting." He nodded slowly as he nudged her away from his legs towards Beryl who'd taken a seat of observance facing Aaralyn. "What do the three of you already know about the forest and the things that live there?"

Maeve blinked as she sat down beside Maeve, staring up at Aara. "Well... We live in the forest. Kinda. The clearing in the forest with the big house and the pretty water."

Beryl listened to Maeve only partially, trying to remember everything that Aaralyn had told them before. He was slowly 'teaching' them... One little lesson at a time. "Other things live in the forest though. Not just people... Aara, didn't you say that there are others like us? Other Jivvin?"

Elayeth took a seat next to the two girls and piped up. "There's wild jivvins, and other people, lots of houses and snake people. They call themselves Baara somethings..." He paused while remembering. "I wouldn't go near them though." ...

"Alexander Edward lives in Keppit's cabin in the forest... and I live outside next to the cabin."

"Very true, Elayeth. I'm glad that someone knows what lies in the forest beyond the Center." He nodded, flashing the younger Jivvin a soft smile. "Maybe I should let you tell them a story..." He chuckled, tail flickering slowly back and forth behind him.

"But Aaraaaa... You promised." Maeve pouted as she took a step forward, threatening to butt her head against the elder Jivvin's leg again. She'd do it... She'd nuzzle and pout until he gave in if she had to.

"So I did... So I did..." He laughed as he batted her away playfully.

"I want... I want to hear a story, not tell one..." And that was the truth. He did want to hear a story. He wanted to sit in front of someone as they related something specifically for his ears (and in this case Maeve and Beryl's too). He was so excited that his tail was flitting back and forth behind him so fast it was distracting him... so he put his paw down on it as it flitted forwards....

He watched as Maeve threated to headbutt Aara's leg, and wondered what Alexander would do if Elayeth tried that... and the answer to that was simply... Alexander would knock him across head, sending the child jivvin flying.

(( page spam.... I'm just posting little passages for my own benefit, these are all out of wack, timewise, and NOT available for Rp because they're all past tense wink ))

Ranald's eyes flew open suddenly and she let out a grunt as something flopped down into her lap, waking her up. It took her a second to realize that it was an egg... a jivvin egg. Looking up, she frowned at Keppit standing in front of her, and shifted the egg into a less painful position. "You really think you need another jivvin?" as she frowned at the floor as she glanced over the large egg, and realized that it was a good looking one. Sort of african, like a giraffe or something, and it actually had a nice feel to it. "Satou and Gus are both missing, or dead or something, and mine are..." She paused, letting the sentance fade away. Alexander and Elayeth were ruined as far as normal went. She sighed, and lifted the egg into the air to hand it back to Keppit. "Good luck."

But Keppit didn't take the egg. Instead she just shook her head with a smile on her dark lips, causing Ranald to frown in return. "It's not for me." Keppit chimed, turning to walk away. "It's for you, and it's a female and a vhaid. I though you could use someone new to take care of."

"You mean a second chance to raise a kid who's not a complete a**." Ranald sighed again and regarded the egg with a new wearyness.

"No." Keppit shook her head and walked back towards her sister. "Besides, we haven't had all that much bad luck with children." She looked around as if she were making sure that no one was listening and then continued in a lower tone. "Alex may be an a**, and Elayeth might be an a** kisser... Satou might be dead, and yes, Gus is missing." She paused and sighed, mentally regaining composure yet again, and continued. "That doesn't mean that any of that was your fault or my fault, that's just the way it is. Take the egg, love it, enjoy it, feed it, and let it grow up. That's all you really need." She turned away from Ran at that point and headed for the refrigerator.

Ranald didn't have a response for that, so she just shifted the egg to it's own spot on the sofa and turned on the telivision.

~~~~~~

Alexander opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings in a ridiculously bad mood. Who the hell did she think she was? Letting a little false vhaid into the house? How was he supposed to gain respect if he allowed trash in his own house? And after the arguement he'd had with his 'mother', the fact that there was a false vhaid egg in his house wasn't going to change until there was a false Vhaid Ust in his house instead. This was going to be a bad day... maybe even a bad week.

~~~~~~

Bayloh'ved crept across the path leading to Keppit's house, nose to the earth as he tracked who had come and gone over the last two days. He did smell jivvins, but not the blue one that he was looking for... the one that had escaped him.

Still in Llar form he slunk into the yard and looked around. In the corner by the cabin was a large purple and green jivvin, also a Llar. Bay chose to remain in his current form and strode up to the other. "I'm looking for the Gus Jivvin." what he didn't say was that he'd kill this other jivvin should he show that he knew too much.

Alexander just sighed and glared at this white and gold intruder. He didn't even bother to get up or really react to the other, "He's not here. He's gone missing, and good riddance. There's too many damn jivvins in this house..." He huffed his annoyance and plopped his head down onto his front legs, effectively ignoring the white and gold jivvin until a thought occured to him. "Though I guess you don't really think that way, being a villager and all. Do you refer to all jivvins with the species as a last name in the village? Pretty dumb if you do."

Bay would have growled at Alex, and maybe even grabbed him, if he'd been anything other than an Afya Demon. The Afya in him didn't really want to start anything new, and the demon in him hated the village for centuries of reasons. "I do. Others do not."

"Well, like I said, it's stupid." He plopped his head down again . "But that's not a new thing for the village. Doing everything a tyrant says, always cow-towing to a false vhaid, you guys have no spines... and your leader sucks."

"Does he?" Bay started to search his own jivvins memories for examples that might support Alex's opinion, but he was interupted again.

"Yeah. My cousins both went to the village and neither one came back. I've heard stories about how they rip the wings from Uuthlis and don't let anyone in who isn't worthy of jivvin life." Of course, Alex was misguided and partially wrong, but that had never stopped him from being unhelpful before. "If I were the village Vhaid, I'd make a lot of changes."

"But there's already a Vhaid, and I don't think he's ready to give up the job." Bay was more curious now than anything else. Here was a jivvin that apparently had nothing to do with the village, and he had thoughts of malice towards someone he'd never even known. .... .... Bay liked him.

Alex just stood up and started to walk away. This other jivvin bored him, and in his current mood Jivvins just made him madder. "There are ways to get rid of bad rulers." He scoffed, and then he was gone around the backside of the cabin.

Bay just stood there, still in Llar form. Now there was something that forced his poisoned brain into motion. If that Gus jivvin had already made it to the village then there was a chance that the villagers were already out looking for him. And even though there was really nothing they could do to him (so he thought), he'd rather actually be doing something worth getting attacked for. He couldn't be the Vhaid himself, he was Afya.... or some strange hybrid currently. But that didn't mean that he couldn't have some fun and stir up some trouble at the same time.... he might even make the villlage fall into turmoil, and that might mean more jivvins out in the woodlands... and that meant more food for him....

His mouth was already watering as he turned from Keppit's cabin and Alex, and walked back through the woodlands.

It was a pretty nice day out near the lake, and Sameil had been enjoying the calm of it all, using the silence to think of calculations and experiments that she might conduct in order to help prove her theories. It was certainly frustrating enough, since some of the experiments were not considered "humane" by society, which was absolutely ludicrous. As long as the test subject fully recovered from the experiments, who could complain? Especially if the experiments were needed to prove extremely important theories.
(( Alexander Edward and Sameil :: July 26 2009))

Still, the problem remained, so now Sameil needed ways to get around the blocks set up by the ignorant populous.

As she was idly thinking about solutions, her ears picked up the sounds of a quadruped coming towards the lake on the other side of the bushes that she was using for shade; considering her location, it was probably a Jivvin. And if they were even slightly as inane as that Uuthli she was forced to cohabit with (which most Jivvins were), then her afternoon would be ruined. However, she had been here first, and she refused to move. So the logical plan of action was to make them leave.

Heaving an annoyed sigh, Sameil brushed back some branches with her tail so she could properly see the other Jivvin, idly noting that she had seen this one before. Not that she cared.

"I am already using this location for matters of higher importance than anything you might need it for. Leave. Now."

Alexander didn't react much... he simply rolled his head in a small circle to get a better look at the jivvin talking to him and then returned his attention to the water with a snort-laugh. "You don't know who you're talking to obviously..." He glanced at her again, realizing that he'd met her once before... when they were both little. "Not that you care it would seem. So why don't we just go with, you're not worthy enough to know who you're talking to, and I'm too important to care that 'you were here first'." He whined the last part, making fun of her statement to her face.

It occured to him that she had excellent markings, and that she was actually quite pretty for a jivvin... not overly done or overly primped. She had a smart look about her.... except she obviously had issues with athourity and a problem recognizing pure leadership and grace when she saw it.

This Jivvin had just utterly ruined her afternoon with the few sentences he had let dribble out of his mouth. How dare he think her insignificant! "Important? You?" She mockingly grinned, her canines bared. "The common caterpillar is more important than you; it at least is feed for the greater. You could only dream of being auspicious." She tilted her head slightly away, disgusted by the other Jivvin and his leering look at her, as if she were cattle to be bought and bred. Sickening!

"You drive children to tears with your utter dread-bolted spew, as they cannot close their ears in fear of being impolite, even though you deserve nothing but pity and contempt. Your bloated carcass is an eyesore, even in the most atrocious of places. If any constructive thought for the future has ever been imagined in your superficial mind, then that is the greatest luck that any creature in the universe from the beginning of time has been bestowed with.

Finally locking eyes with the piece of filth as she slowly raised up to her feet, Sameil stalked toward him. She was practically looming despite her smaller size, and her eyes held nothing but banked back hate. "So no, we will not "go" with your inane prattle. You will leave, and I will do my best to repair my abolished afternoon. End of question."

Alexander just stared at her with a half smile on his face as she insulted him time and time again. Most jivvins just turned and ran, which was fun of course... knowing that he had such awesome power to make others cower and run... but this girl... this woman... she was holding her own, and well!

He let a look of mild shock cross his face as he realized that he was actually looking forward to insulting her back. She seemed to take a more knowledgeable approach to insults, none of 'buttheads' and 'no you are's... more thoughtful and well researched retorts.... so he decided to take a similar approach and go 'deep' on her.

"And how do you know that I'm just a jivvin? You probably don't believe in god or higher powers, and I certainly won't assume to be such... but you should know that there's always a chance that I'm better than you. What if I were a god? What if I could give you whatever wish you wanted? What if I was a demon, and could kill you on the spot? What if I'm an angel? What if when you're not looking at me I sprout wings as long as four of you and go sailing through the clouds with the other angels?" He paused suddenly due to a lack of things to say and kind of petered out with "You should be nicer on impact... you may benefit from it."

Sameil truly just wanted to swipe that insufferable smile off the other Jivvin's face, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of getting her to react with something physical.

"You don't even listen to the drivel coming out of your own mouth. You just stated that the probability was high that I do not believe in a higher being -- which is correct, so I congratulate your two brain cells on actually working together to come up with a correct thought -- and then you gabble on about the possibility of you being one yourself. Considering the fact that those things do not exist, that would lead to the obvious conclusion that you do not exist, and while the most enjoyable outcome of this confrontation would be for you to vanish and for me to wake up from this nightmare, I am most unfortunately awake. As to you querying on whether I know you are "just a Jivvin"," she paused, as if actually pondering the idea. "You would be correct in the assumption that I think you are not. You are probably a genetic throwback from ancient times, which again, should be pitied at every opportunity. It is a shame to be stuck in a gene pool which has been rendered obsolete for centuries." She yawned and checked some of her claws, slowly becoming bored of this other Jivvin. Truely, there had been no need to get riled up earlier, as he could obviously not even keep his own statements from refuting themselves.

"And being kind is a pointless matter. Respect is the only thing I will give, and you obviously don't deserve that."

Alexander laughed. Actually laughed outloud, in more of a spontanious barking than a chuckle. Then he looked at her, smiled and shook his head. "Why don't I deserve respect? I've done nothing to you." It was a statement and not a question. Alexander was finding that this female jivvin here was more than just amusing... she was fascinating. She had no respect for him, and seemed content to show it with every sylable she uttered. "besides... on the same note as my earlier statement, what if I made my own statement obsolete just because I wanted to hear you refute it? What if... " He stood and turned to her, only sitting again when it became clear that he wasn't talking to anyone else or even paying any attention elsewhere. "What if I just wanted to hear you speak some more?"

Sameil blinked in surprise at the sudden bark of laughter, but sent him a look of long-suffering irritation over her still-raised claws. "Because," she chided, like she was talking to an Ust new from the egg, "every little thing you have ever done in my presence has done nothing but prove that you do not deserve that respect. Thus, none." Her tail swished from side to side and she carefully put her paw down again as she watched him move. "It's not surprising that you'd want to hear me speak, either, since it could do you nothing but good. If I would dare to be optimistic, I might even say that it could raise your IQ a few points, as it wouldn't be that difficult with yours so low. However, that would bring us back to the beginning of our disagreement, and that you are distracting me from much more important things. So again, I insist that you leave." She was now quite innerly amused that this sad Jivvin seemed to find her now extremely interesting, and had finally realized his place -- which was, of course, underneath her. Still, if it made him leave, then all the better.

Alexander decided to take up the post of 'charmingly annoying' which was half a stretch for him. He just kept staring at her with his little smile and pointedly glanced over to where she had been sitting before she came over and told him to leave. "You say I'm keeping you from more important things....? Like what?" It wasn't mocking... well it was, but it didn't sound like it was. It sounded like a question from someone totally interested in what she was doing.

Well, so much for that amusement. Apparently she had thought too soon; that stare was beginning to irritate her again.

"Things that have nothing to do with you. Even if they did, I still would not tell you, since your tiny brain would not be able to process it at all." Sameil had been forced to live with some of the biggest annoyances in Gaia, and she knew when idiots were being honest or not. This one definitely was not. "So do you just not understand the word "leave", or do I need to get you the definition in smaller words?"

"oh, I understand." He shook his head up and down... now he was actually becoming inerested in what she was doing, but only because she didn't want to tell him about it. "I just don't want to. I find you fascinating in many ways. You're mean, you're forecful. you have little to no respect for strangers... all in all like me so far... and like me, you're completely hot." he narrowed her eyes. "And the fact that you don't want to tell me what you're doing leads me to believe that you're either ashamed of whatever it is, or it's probably illegal in some way... so what is it? You getting all hot and bothered about someone not so popular and you don't want anyone to know about it? Or are you thinking about something bad like bankrobbing or kidnapping?"

Sameil stared at the other Jivvin for a moment or two before laughing. She couldn't believe him! He really did have next to no IQ; how more clichéd could he get? Spurting out that folly. As if she would be anything like a common criminal!

"You are completely preposterous," she said, after she had finished laughing. "As if you could be anything like me! And if there is one thing you're not, it is "hot". Please, you must stop talking about such stupid things; I do not think I could stand it any more." One ear flicked in pure amusement. "And I am neither ashamed nor thinking of doing anything illegal under the Gaia laws. Really, do you think me that petty? Or that if I was even planning on such a thing, that I would tell you? You wouldn't be helpful in the slightest. You'd probably boast about it in the most public place you could find, and pull everyone around you down for your idiocy. No, you imbecile, I was only thinking the higher thoughts that you could never imagine."

It was true that Sameil had no plan of breaking any laws with her experiments, if she could help it; after all, there were major loop-holes in every justice system that could be used to get the advantage. In addition, nearly everything had been prepared already, and she didn't need much help with anything. There were some points that having another might be useful, like if she needed to slightly man-handle her volunteers into position (she really did curse her slightly smaller stature), but with a little ingenuity she could do it herself.

And she truly didn't think he could keep his mouth shut.

He shrugged... or came as close to a shrug as a jivvin could get. "So enlighten me, oh exaulted one. And as for keeping my big hot mouth shut, I think that upon closer inspection you'll find that like yourself, I consider everyone beneath me, and so I have very few friends... in fact, I believe that the total count is up to none. Unless you count Elayeth, and you shouldn't since he's a servant and I only tell him what to do and never why." He grinned at her.

"Go on... elighten me!"

Sameil snorted. "Again, you make it sound like I am going to be doing something illegal. And it does not matter if you have no friends; you don't need camaraderie to inform someone of anything, especially if you think it will help yourself gain sometime. So I ask you: if what I am doing is not illegal, and I wish to keep it private, why should I bother telling anyone, least of all someone who I think is worthless?" The servant actually perked her interest, but Sameil realized that the chances of the Jivvin going back to his master and spilling everything after he'd assisted her was so high it might as well be a certainty. There was a chance that she could steal the servant for herself, if she bribed him with things that this useless Jivvin would not give him, but that would take longer observation to figure out what to offer, and she simply did not have the time. Plus, her bonded would probably have something to say about the situation, but she could twist around that. After all, her bonded was much too easy to manipulate because of her trust.

Alex grinned, and grinned again. This feisty female was really pushing all the right buttons to be interesting.... And the sad thing was, Alex wasn't sure how to make her realize that he found her interesting without telling her outright (he wasn't exactly known for his subtlety) and she wasn't likely to believe him. He could pull out the king deck and try ordering her around, but given her personality she wasn't likely to respond well to that either. So he went for the truth... as far as he knew it.

"So you're a b***h and I'm an a*****e." He grinned at her. "I'm just gonna lay it out on the table so that we're all clear... I find you attractive AND fascinating. You're spiteful and yet smart, truthful and scientific. You have quite the bite on you and that's a good thing in my book. I like to see people who don't take guff from anyone... but you're lonely. I know it. And if you ever get to a point where you decide that you're not going to be quite so lonely anymore and need a friend, then look me up." He stood and stretched nonchalantly. "Cause I'm the only one who's gonna smile to see you walk down the path towards me, and that's a fact."

He took a couple of steps to the water, dipped his head and took a drink without looking at her, then shook slightly and smiled up at the sun.

"I'll see you later then, unless you have somthing else to say?" He had a hopeful and almost friendly lilt to the end of his sentance.