Renaissance, Touj + Kitz

[Touj]

51.2:11.2
There was that augmented, adrenaline-filled, distorted sense of reality that was fashioned in the rebirth of spring, that exhilaration of fresh air and freed movement. The sky was bright, though the weather was brisk, the only warmth found in clement sun. Her movements were light, quick, blithe, but slightly out of tempo and awkward, as if she was a caged bird just released to fly. She seemed somewhat uneasy with her surroundings, as if unused to them, encased in an alien world. A large raincoat protected her light clothes, khakis, a tank top, sandals, shielding her from cold and hot alike. It was in this fashion that she sat on the branches of a tree, lounging with moderate balance upon thin branches, enjoying the day.

Below her, a wild equillion stood, looking up. Its ears flattened against its head, its tail whipped back and forth with fret, its dusty brown fur seemed to prickle with anxiety as it looked up at the fae. Tensed muscles waited, as if caught between trying to jump up the tree as well or to fall back to relaxation without protest. The brown ribbon wrapped around his leg became the voice to his qualms.

(What if you fall?)

{I won’t. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.}

(I think that if you fall, it would be regardless of whether you feel fine now or not.)

{Yeah, well… Nnn. Too bad. I won’t fall.}

Touj stuck her tongue out at him, pouting slightly, but refused to move. The sun was warm, shining heatedly on her back, patches of shade from the tree flecking the light. She didn’t want to move; she wouldn’t fall. She just wanted to stay here, to relish in the fine day. The warmth of the sun comforted her, lulling her to a peaceful lethargy. Cake, anxious, refused to move, but resigned himself from pacing to laying against the tree. He looked up at her every few seconds, reassured but not convinced of the span of her safety. Slowly, though, he drifted off too, staring into the grass around him in a perturbed daydream.

Only minutes passed before the fae was asleep and the equillion calmed. Irony played on Cake’s nerves, a sharp crack resonating higher up in the tree, a limb snapping of, pulling itself from its origin. Though it was far from harm, Touj startled from her nap, falling, stiff midair with abrupt confusion. Her companion shot up quickly, paranoid, senses high. He darted to under her, flinching only slightly as the girl rolled into his shoulder. She slid down his leg, shocked, bemused. They sat for a moment, unsure of what happened.

Cake recovered quickly.

(I told you. I -told- you! I said it wasn’t safe. I said you’d fall. I said it wasn’t safe. I warned you! I saved you! You could have gotten hurt-)

{I get it! I get it! I was wrong. I know.}

(You could have died. You could have fallen and broke your arm or your leg or something- something serious could have happened! You have to be more responsible. You have to-)

{Okay. I get it. I’m sorry. Thank you.}

His apprehensive resentment died down quickly with those two words.

(You could have gotten hurt.)

{But I didn’t.} She smiled, looking up at him from the crux of his leg. {I had you.}

(But I might not…)

He didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t want to. Touj’s smile faded from her face, knowing what words would follow. Knowing his previous death. Memories flooded the couple, and they stayed, reflecting, trapped in their own thoughts. A pause in reality.

[Kitzu]

The city was calm, shining with a quiet grandeur in spring; despite its lack of history, the place exuded the aura of endurance, as if another year was far beneath it, of little consequence to its foundations and sturdy cobbled paths. Water from the recent rain ran in rivulets between the stones, and the air had a cool, fresh feel, charged with a subtle energy and scented with leaves. Everything was new and old. Spring was here.

In the midst of all this walked a young girl, a Mammalian of maybe ten years, her fur a darkened auburn accented with cream. Her eyes were wide, as if in attempt to take in everything around her; the small, round ears turned this way and that, as if of their own accord. Her tail hung just inches off the ground, coiling and swaying and flicking, ever in motion. She appeared at first to be alone, but there was an incongruous blotch of red, black and white at her shoulder, too small to see from any great distance.

It was truly a pleasant day. Unfortunately, Kitzu could only think of how difficult it had been to get Claire to leave the house, sans Cole.

"Oh come on, it's not so bad. Besides, Cole's off to go find slugs in the garden, and you don't like those at all." She refrained from commenting that Cole didn't really care for them either; the venture was wholly Juni's idea, but mentioning the young Issen always put Claire in a mood. The two were constantly at war for Cole's attention, and the poor boy looked to be increasingly stressed by it. Kitzu and Rey both knew, but there was little they could do... For today, however, Kitzu amended by half-cajoling, half-coercing the stubborn Claire into taking a walk with her. Unlike Juni, who did well enough without Cole if need be, Claire really did need a life.

"It's spring," she went on, "the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming... Nice weather for a walk." Claire said nothing (she didn't know how, none of them did), but glared pointedly at a stream of water pouring down a drain, then raised a brow at Kitzu. The girl bit back a sigh.

"Just enjoy yourself, okay?" Claire's expression suggested that such an outcome was unlikely, but Kitzu chose to ignore that. You couldn't force someone to have a good time, and maybe Claire just needed a little while to calm down or something.

Presently the two passed a tree, guarded, it seemed, by an Equillion. Kitzu thought nothing of it; pets roamed through the city on occasion, unaccompanied or owned by those who would hide at the approach of strangers, and all these were well enough behaved; however, a cracking noise made her turn her gaze upward, ears laid back and tail fluffed in surprise. Claire fluttered her wings, making a clucking-noise of displeasure.

There, was that...? Oh, a name, a name! She was sure she knew that face...

[Touj]

51.3:11.3

The lapse in reality was broken by whisperings, the noise of another child’s voice sharply breaking their contemplations. Within moments, Touj gained harmony with veracity, recognizing the voice. She wasn’t confident from where- usually she remembered the few, other children in the city. Was it someone from a shop? A party? …The mines. She knew that whoever the voice belonged to, she had been with them before at the mines. Quickly, she straightened her back and peered around, looking for the source of the familiar tone. Cake, realizing her objective, helped her. With the flick of his tail, he pointed out the pair that approached them, a mammalian and a harachiu, as it appeared. She realized that she was correct- she had gone with the fox-child into the mines before, and had seen her elsewhere various times. The name beckoned, but it evaded her- she struggled with her mind, trying to squeeze the answer out of it. What was it? K… It started with a K. Kit? Kit-u… Kitsu? Kitzu!

“Hey! Kitzu!” She yelled, waving at the familiar faces.

(Do you want to go talk to them?)

{Yeah, let’s go.}

The fae got up with fluency, rising onto her toes. The equillion stretched beside her, moving in time with her as she walked over to the other duo. She didn’t know the mammalian very well, but it seemed rude to avoid her. Anyways, it was nice to be better acquainted with people you’ve seen more than once- it probably will happen more. Cake agreed with her intentions, somewhat silent. He was still not quite back to reality, still thinking about the past, still lost in personal musings. Touj didn’t try to bring him back; she knew she was the cause of most of his pains. She let him think in peace.

Up close, she could see the harachiu better. It was one of the new ones- a pixie? She knew Eajik, her little one at home was a Brownie, and she was fairly certain the other one was called a pixie… She didn’t know for sure, though. It looked custom, reguardless, a pale, pretty girl with green eyes and gorgeous wings. She was adorable. She smiled at it, bringing her hand up to wave before hesitating, unsure of if she should address her companion first. Yes, that seemed more socially correct.

“Hello! I don’t know if you remember me… I think we went mining together? Oh- and I saw you at that harachiu get-together. But with a different one.” She spoke quietly but eagerly, her voice uneven, speeding up with some parts and slowing down to a near stop in others. Her nerves were never good with talking. “This one’s cute, though. Really pretty. What’s her name?”

She wasn’t sure if she should be addressing the harachiu directly- Tale would be really angry at whoever didn’t talk to him first- but she had only heard one voice, so it seemed to be the more likely solution. She leaned against Cake, gripping his fur as she leaned against him, smiling at the couple in a hopefully-friendly way. She hoped that this was the right thing to do- that since they had met before, it was right to approach them. Oh, interaction was so confusing. Curse it.

[Kitzu]

(Kitz is actually a marten Mammalian. XD; But that's not important)

The other child, best remembered as being younger than she and quite shy, surprised Kitzu with a greeting. She managed a mute wave in response, her own mind still grasping. It had been far too long a time since she'd had other, human company; the Harachiu were mute yet, and Nox familiar if somewhat absent, his attention divided between various other things. Daimon provided the sole source of conversation, and that a dour, mocking, wholly familiar spiel. Her manners were lacking at best, and her memory withered for want of use, at least as far as people were concerned.

Shy. Yes, she remembered that... Accompanied by a Hara too, one with dark skin, which was as much as the Mammalian girl had been able to tell, for the dark. She wondered how that fellow was doing now. No, think of the name. It would be terrible if she failed to remember...

In the meantime, Claire proved a most useful diversion, peering dubiously at the pair. The one who fell from the tree, or the huge brown thing, which would be the better target for her disapproval? Glancing at the stubborn, displeased set of Claire's features, Kitzu sighed inwardly; she really did have to stop her from hanging out so much with Dami.

"Hullo," Kitzu said easily, trying not to dwell on the lack of a name. "Yes, I remember that," she said with a laugh, "it took me ages to find you then!" She didn't mention how awkward the other child had seemed; a wariness of strangers was common in these parts, despite the lack of cause. The town housed, as far as she knew, a variety of strange and unusual pasts, being more like a refuge than she liked to think about.

The Harachiu gather... That had been the boys, hadn't it? At the mention of her name, Claire inspected the fae with suspicion, but the compliment seemed to mollify her, the Pixie relenting enough to twirl a honey-brown lock between her fingers and fluttering her wings prettily. Kitzu grinned. "Claire... She's the baby of the family, and currently giving Dami a run for his money for the position of 'most spoiled'." Upon hearing this, Claire broke off in her preening, sticking out her tongue at the Mammalian.

"How is your family doing?" she inquired, having remembered seeing different Hara accompany the fae at different times. "I don't think you've introduced me to that handsome fellow yet," she added, indicating the Equillion, her voice light and jesting.

[Touj]

51.4:11.4

Thin lips formed an ersatz smile as she listened to her acquaintance speak, caught between civility and panic. She regretted speaking first, the energy of interaction quickly draining her, making her tired and angry at her rash decision. Still, she refused to flee. Touj returned a sheepish smile as Kitzu commented on the misfortunes of their mining escapade. She wanted to apologize, but held her tongue, taking interest at the pouting harachiu. She laughed lightly at the comment.

"Oh, my company is fairly spoiled as well... I hope they're not worsened for it..." She trailed off, debating for a moment the reprecussions of spoiling the children. Too late now, though. "My family's doing fine, thanks. My youngest... Eajik... I think I brought him there- the one with red hair- he grew up."

Her language was halting, memories turning back to the harachiu- she needed to play with him soon. And teach him some things, as well... oh, she needed to spend time with all of her 'family', didn't she? She'd been distracted for so long... At the mammalian's next comment, she shifted further against Cake, pressing him for comfort. He returned the gesture, and looked inquisitively at Kitzu, somewhere between kindness and caution.

"This is Cake!" At last, Touj reached a topic that she spoke confidently of, beaming up at her equillion. "I got him when I moved here, by a nice lady named Zevi. I don't think she lives here anymore, though."

(Tell her hello for me.)

{I think she'd be confused by that...}

(Maybe.)

The equillion flicked his tail, shifting his position to look at the opposing duo more closely. The harachiu was a familiar sight, recognizable as a fairy-creature, like the ones running around at their house. The mammalian was new, and spoke to Touj with minor hesitancy, as if forgetting something, or as if there was a reason to be nervous. He stated this observation, but Touj disregarded it- she was uncomfortable with interaction, it didn't seem odd for the other child to be as well.

"So! What've you been up to?" She stabbed weakly at conversation, flinching inwardly at her own attempt. Hopefully it wasn't too pathetic. "Seeing that it's been a while, and..." She cut herself off, her words trailing to silence. Oh, she wasn't good at this.

[Kitzu]

... Touj. That was it. That was the name of the other girl... Oh, it really has been too long since she'd last talked to a person, and not one of her Draconic family or Daimon or some other creature attached to a ribbon. On that note, she noted the one attached to the Equillion with some curiosity; the two seemed close. She'd seen Touj's expression change sometimes in response to something Kitzu could not identify; that must be it. Her thoughts went to Daimon then, with whom she shared a similar bond. Perhaps she looked like that too, in the Cave's company? The idea of beng so close to an Equillion was foreign to her, and she could not quite wrap her head around it in musing, but then she supposed it might be just the same for Touj and Vulticus.

Besides, this 'Cake' fellow didn't seem nearly as intent on menacing everyone in sight (or, at the very least, shaking them up a little). No, there was simply no comparison to be made between the two.

She listened with patient politeness as Touj talked about her Harachiu; it was always interesting to hear about the exploits of other small flower-children, these having such varied personalities and a universal endearing air to them. Even when they're brats, she thought, as Claire yanked at her hair in casual, spiteful boredom. The story concerning Cake was interesting as well, though she'd certainly never heard of a 'Zevi'... Not that she would, holed up indoors as she was.

Finally, Touj asked something of her. New things? There were always plenty of new things... Pets she was training (these were one collective project of hers this summer), learning to swim with Luke (a somewhat frightening endeavor) and new additions to her ever-growing population of-

... ah.

"You know, I found something odd the other day," Kitzu said, her ears flicking back and forth as she tried to recall, eventually settling to a slightly somber cant. Her eyes became shaded with sorrow. "There was someone in the market- the trading district, that is- selling a very pretty Yin... Or was she a Yang? She's got dark clothes, but her hair's white... Well, nevermind.

"I took her in, but she's... not doing so well. Won't eat much, or do anything other than sit and stare at walls, or cry. I think she misses her family, but..." Here she paused, looking troubled, and then suddenly angry, her tail lashing fiercely once, as if to strike at the air. "Who would do that?! Sell," she spat the word with vehemence, "their own Harachiu!"

Claire startled, leaping up and flaring her wings for a moment, before settling back down on the still Mammalian girl. None of her own bunch knew that sort of trouble; she'd been careful of that. Some of the younger, less sensitive ones, the girls especially, were puzzled and irritated, preferring to leave the new addition to her tears. She'd seen Rey trying to comfort her sometimes, but she suspected it would take time...

"I'm sorry. About my outburst, that is," she said lamely, looking sheepish now that the moment was past. "See, it's just that... I wasn't even given a name. We've been calling her Echo; it seems to fit, but I know that wasn't the one she was raised with..."