|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:53 pm
Kumoru seemed in a dazed stupor as he herded his children off of the bus and paid for the tickets. He followed them through the turnstiles and onto the local fairgrounds, where the air was so laden with dust from people walking that the necromancer was sure he would be sneezing mud pies for weeks.
And almost immediately, as expected, his children insisted on wanting to break up and scatter in different directions.
Pleased to just be out in the open, Serif took off toddling across the asphalt and giggling until her father's hand caught her shoulder. Squishing her face into an ugly frown, she blew a raspberry at Kumoru, but sighed and settled for walking beside him.
But she was sure to point at the ferris wheel and yell until she was sure her father noticed. She absolutely was not leaving until she had been on that thing to see what it was.
Arlyn had actually asked to come along, on this first trip in quite some time. The terrifying issue with his periodically trying to disappear seemed to have settled down for the time being, leaving him confident for the moment in his ability to remain solid the whole time.
It had taken some convincing to get him through the gates with his weapon, but ultimately he had agreed to keep the sword sheathed at his brother's request. Kumoru had to wonder whether the child could exist separated from his sword, but at least here it would not be a problem. Arlyn walked along with one hand resting on Donat's arm, head constantly turning towards all the various sounds of the crowds around them.
Currently pleased with himself for his great skill at calming his brother Arlyn and bringing the red-skinned child out of his shell enough to even come to the fair in the first place, Donat happily lead him, warning him of anything in his path that might trip him up. With his other hand, he held Bhel's, keeping an eye on the young Fa'e as well - much to Kumoru's delight.
Donat was certainly the peacemaker in the family, and as he grew up, he seemed to be enjoying the whole idea of family more and more. He had certainly jumped at the opportunity to be Bhel's big brother, and Bhel fortunately did not seem to mind this at all.
Bhel gaped in wonder at, well, pretty much everything as he walked along beside his big brother. So many lights and sounds and colors... he had definitely not seen anything like it before. So many smells, as well. A lot of it smelled like food, and food that he definitely wanted to try. People were walking by carrying all sorts of things, from fluffy cotton candy in pinks and blues, to stuffed animals that were bigger than the bull Fa'e himself.
Giggling and clasping his free hand into a fist, Bhel flicked his tail and looked up at Donat. This was so cool!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:07 pm
"Ranis? Ranis put that down!" snapped Keirro as she wrestled a dirty bug from Ranis's grip. She placed the child on the ground and finally removed the cricket from the boy's hand. The infant screamed and yelled as Keirro absent mindedly threw the bug towards a family.
Ranis watched the poor bug land near the large family and saw the strangest family he had ever laid eyes on. He started screaming at the children and threw a nearby rock at a Blue toddler.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:21 pm
With a muffled *plunk!*, the stone found its mark, hitting Bhel squarely in the back of the head. He pulled his hand away from his brother's to rub the spot as he sat down on the ground and started sniffling. That hurt! The bull Fa'e cast one angry glance over his shoulder before bursting into tears.
Donat stopped to crouch beside his brother for a moment, then glanced back as well. Someone had gone and thrown a rock at Bhel? Why? The goat whirled around, clenching one hand into a fist as he rested the other four-fingered hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Hey, who did that?" he shouted at the crowd. "Don't throw rocks around like that!"
The Anima of Revenge groped at the air for a second as Donat's arm disappeared from under his own hand. Then he took the sheath of his sword in both hands and tapped around with it until he was sure he could turn around without running into anyone.
"What's going on?" he asked, tail lashing behind him. They were barely here and already the little kid was crying? At least nothing had been done to him, so there was no reason for him to react.
Serif watched the bug fly through the air, and, ignoring the rock that followed it, broke free of Kumoru's hand to go get the bug. She grabbed it gingerly between two fingers, and gave a happy squeal as it squirmed a little - so it was still alive! And now it was all hers!
Kumoru frowned at Serif but let her get the bug for now, as there were more pressing issues to attend to. He walked over to stand behind Donat and Bhel, and tried to comfort the screaming toddler.
"Come on, don't worry about it. Just a bump, right? Let me see...." He tried to be as careful as possible as he brushed Bhel's hair aside to look for a bruise or a cut; the necromancer could not be sure whether the crescendo in the boy's crying was a direct result of what he was doing, though, or if Bhel was just hamming it up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:34 pm
Ranis started snarling and growling at the child who caught his bug. Meanwhile, poor Keirro was smacking the child's hand and muttering about discipline and her mother. Ranis started to fight with his guardian and she sought to tame her child.
"No Ranis! We don't do that! Now we're going to apologize to that family, now!" snapped Keirro as she smcked the infants hand and walked to to Kumo. She already stressed out from waiting in lines at the fair and now this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:48 pm
Kumoru gathered Bhel up in his arms - a bit awkwardly, since the boy was growing like a weed - and stood straight as he saw a mother stepping forward, dragging a little boy in tow. Fortunately, Bhel had quieted his wailing in favor of just sniffling, but he still rubbed his head with one hand. He would have a bit of a bump there for a few days, but he would survive.
I should have seen if someone could come with me to manage the kids, the mage thought to himself as he watched the woman step forward, keeping his own features stern but not angry. Of course, that was just the part of him that had not seen Aylana recently, he suspected, and tried to push those thoughts aside for the time being.
Bhel clung to Kumoru's robes and sniffled occasionally. His head still stung where the rock had hit him. The rock was on the ground, so obviously he could not reach it; instead, the young Fa'e settled for grabbing his guardian's ponytail and trying to throw that.
Fortunately, the necromancer's hair was long enough that Bhel did not really pull on it, but he still blinked as the jet-black strands of his ponytail flew into his face.
"Bhel," he said gently, his expression cracking to allow the slightest bit of a smile through as he brushed the hair back over his shoulder.
The young bull sniffed again and settled for reaching over his guardian's shoulder to play with the ponytail for the moment.
"You'd better say sorry," Donat said in what he hoped was a sufficiently menacing voice. "And don't throw rocks at my brother anymore." If nothing else, Kumoru had instilled the goat-boy with a strong sense of manners, to the point that they came naturally to him, not as a result of his father standing right beside him.
Serif peered closely at the cricket as she set it carefully onto her palm. The little thing seemed a little dazed from its unexpected flight, but it was still in one piece, at least. The girl grinned as the little thing waved its antennae around. Then she cast a devious glance at her blind brother Arlyn.
So someone had thrown something to make Bhel start making noise like that? Arlyn stood frowning a little in thought as he evaluated the situation: he only needed to hit back if someone hit him; he had not yet decided whether or not family counted enough in the equation, so Arlyn left them out. He hated noise, and Bhel had certainly made a lot of noise when he was hit, which was kind of like... like hitting Arlyn indirectly....
Too much of a stretch. Arlyn need not do anything here, except just wait until the situation was over.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:03 pm
Ranis turned his nose up at the family. He didn't have to explain himself. It wasn't his fault that the other boy was blue and looked funny. The boy also looked like a cow.
Keirro was obviously frazzled and stressed out from handling Ranis.
"I'm terribly sorry about his behaviour. He's very cranky and I'm trying to get him to socialize more." said Keirro as she switched the fidgety Ranis to her other arm. The infant glared at Behl as if to size up the Fa'e and his guardian. Keirro stuck her her free hand towards Kumo.
"I don't know how you keep yours under control," she commented.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:40 pm
"Donat, that's enough," Kumoru told the goat-boy quietly. With his hands occupied holding Bhel, the necromancer could not bow in reply to the woman, so he bowed instead; it was his usual habit to do so anyway.
"Time and patience," he replied in response to her comment. Though he had his doubts about how well his methods would work on Bhel.
Bhel was facing away from the woman and the offending little boy, probably for the best, because of the way Kumoru was holding him. He figured he could turn around to see what all the grown-up talk was about, but it was not like it would mean too terribly much to him anyway, so he settled for continuing to play with his guardian's hair
With a sigh, Donat relaxed at his father's request, but still stood with his arms crossed, looking less than happy. After a moment, he turned towards Arlyn, to make sure his blind brother was still there and doing alright.
Serif crept as close to Arlyn as she dared, then flung the cricket at him. Before the bug even found its mark, she clapped her hands over her mouth and collapsed in a giggle fit.
Hearing the laughter from his sister - and knowing that was never a sign of anything good - Arlyn turned towards the sound and placed one hand on the wrapped hilt of his sword. His lips pressed into a thin line indicating that his patience with her was about spent, he started to draw the blade-
and then something hit him in the face. Something with legs that moved. Immediately he staggered back, into Donat, letting go of his sword with one hand to brush at the spot where the bug had hit him. Oh, gross, he could feel it getting into his hair!
"Serif!" he snarled as he fell backwards onto his brother, frantically swatting at the insect as it leapt out of his white hair and onto Donat.
Donat's frown faltered as Arlyn fell on him, and he twisted sideways in an effort to catch him. Then the cricket landed on his nose.
"Gyah!" he yelped blinking and reaching up to rub the bug away even as it hopped into his hair. "Eew!" Ordinarily, bugs were not too bad, but the goat had to admit that having one in his hair was a little gross.
As he flailed, he and Arlyn both collapsed to the ground in a squirming heap.
Much to Serif's great delight.
Oh, there would be hell to pay for this later....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:54 pm
Keirro let out a yelp as the two boys fell into a heap near her. She then saw a little cricket bug land on her shirt and she started to grit her teeth as she looked down on the cricket.
Ranis let out a battle cry as he assulted the cricket and then wriggled out of Keirro's arms and onto the writing pile of children. The poor cricket tried in vain to escape Ranis only to be scooped up by someone else.
Meanwhile, the little cub started to gnaw and bite whatever he could to instigate.
"Ranis!" Keirro screamed as she tried to seperate her Illusionary from the pile.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:14 pm
"Eew!" Donat squealed as Ranis lept onto him and started gumming his arm, a bit more emphatically than when the bug had been in his hair. Sheesh, this kid had no manners whatsoever! Trying to pry the boy off or stand up or get out from under Arlyn or something, the goat-boy struggled and eventually managed to wriggle out from the bottom of the pile.
Arlyn snarled back at the boy, fanning his wings and lashing his tail as he climbed back to his feet. The other child had bitten him, so now the Anima of Revenge would have to push back. Ruffling his feathers, he started to draw his sword.
... Yeah, I should have brought someone else with me, Kumoru thought as he set Bhel down as carefully as possible and leaned down to grab Arlyn's wrists.
"Arlyn, stop," he said firmly. He would use magic if he had to to avoid any issues with the red-skinned boy. "Not here. At least save it for some other day." Kumoru knew enough that the boy needed to hit back, as was his nature, but he could not allow him to cause trouble here at the fair like this. With any luck, he could get Arlyn to hold off on his repayment until some other time... and maybe forget about it, too.
Serif giggled at the pile of children as she toddled over to Bhel. He had to think it was funny, too, right? All because of a little bug. Grinning at her brother, she made little cricket noises.
Bhel blinked at Serif and sniffled once, then glanced over at the pile of boys, and wiped his nose on the back of his hand, all the way up his arm to his elbow. The corner of his mouth tugged a little, then finally his features broke out into a little smile.
Yeah, it was pretty funny. Kept his mind off of the smarting bruise at the back of his head, too.
With a sigh, Arlyn relaxed, taking his hand off of the hilt of his sword as he turned away. He folded, then refolded his wings against his back, a sign that he was still quite agitated, as he said with relative calm, "Fine, it can wait."
He was not one to forget grudges, either. It was in his nature not to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:28 pm
Keirro pryed the child off of Donat.
"You guys, I'm terribly sorry. Is there any way I can make it up to you and your kids? Usually I have better control over him, but that damn cricket. He always tries to eat them." Keirro sighed. She looked around at the carnival food. The kids could possibly a little hungry.
Ranis looked quite satisfied with himself and started to purr contently as he gave the other children a smug look. He flicked his tail like a cat while he snuggled up next to Keirro. He totally showed those brats who was boss. His ears perked up when he hear Serif make cricket noises and he started to sniff in her direction out of curiosity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:51 pm
Donat scrambled to his feet, wiping his arm off frantically on his pants. He opened his mouth to say something, but a glance from his father silenced him, and he instead edged closer to Arlyn, to place a four-fingered hand on his brother's shoulder.
Feeling a touch, Arlyn reached up to place a hand on the one resting on his shoulder. It was Donat. He let out a long sigh and tried to force himself to relax. So easily, he was letting this debt go unpaid... but he had promised his brother....
"What's his name?" he asked, wanting this information for the future, when he would get his revenge on the little boy. Perhaps when he was older.
Kumoru was about to speak when Arlyn asked his question. He allowed the Anima time to ask it, then told the woman in reply, "One of mine caused trouble as well. No need for reparations."
A moment after he spoke, the necromancer realized how stern his voice must have sounded. To try to break whatever tension may have remained, he forced a small smile and added, "Children will be children. I should get mine along and let them take out the rest of their mischief on carnival games." He shot a brief glance over his shoulder at the girl among his group, who was still snickering over the little spectacle she had helped to cause. "I'm sure they will do well at the games today."
Bhel watched his father and brothers from behind for a moment, then toddled over to hug Donat's leg and to peer at the strangers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:59 pm
"Here. Take this." Keirro handed Kumo her business card and about 12 tickets that the kids could use for games.
"I need to bring Ranis home. My name is Keirro. Call me if there is anyhing I can do for you. I'm so embarassed about Ranis's behaviour."
Ranis glared at Arlyn, but remained quiet. His energy was spent for now and he was quite content to observe the other children until he started to doze off.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:12 pm
"Keirro," the mage repeated as he accepted the card and looked it over before tucking it away into the pocket of his sleeve. "Thank you. My name is Kumoru," he said with a bow. "And I wish you luck in taming that child."
Kumoru was glad that none of his own were quite like that, though he was almost certain that this whole experience had left him with more than a few grey hairs. He would definitely have to be careful taking all of his crazy little kids out at once in the future.
Seeing that the situation had diffused, Serif wandered back over with her brothers, giving Arlyn a wide space, and clung to her father's robes. As Keirro and Ranis left, she blew them a raspberry and waved.
"Ranis," Arlyn murmured, committing the name to memory. He held the sheath of his sword in a white-knuckled grip and started digging his nails into his brother's arm, too, without realizing it. One bite, plus the embarrassment. And... he had thrown a rock at one brother and bitten the other, as well. When they met again, sparks would fly, Arlyn swore it.
And Serif would get it, too. Just on principle.
Donat carefully ruffled Bhel's hair and started to take the boy's hand again, then winced a little as Arlyn started digging his nails into his arm. "Hey, Arlyn, calm down now, he's gone," he said, messing up his older brother's hair as well before going on to take Bhel's hand. "We can play some games now. That'll be fun."
Things were returning to normal, and this made Bhel's mood improve. His head had stopped smarting, too, which meant he was well on the way to forgetting all about it.
As she left, Kumoru turned back to his children and divided up the tickets. Thank goodness the number was divisible equally by four, else the mage might have had another bout of anarchy on his hands.
Once the tickets were handed out, he herded all the children towards the carnival games, swearing to himself up and down that he would never do this alone again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
