Author: Kija, Posted: Fri Jul 8, 2022 7:07 PM, Post Subject: Everything Stays [P][R?]

At the sound of the knock on the door, Kija snatched his cat and held it in front of his face as if to hide himself. Was it one of the fey? Was it Skab? Maybe it was his brother? He peeked out from Mups' fluffy fur to see a pretty woman. The cat was far calmer than the boy and just looked at the stranger with tired eyes. The young boy would run if he had a place to run to. This was HIS home! Why should he let other people there? Too afraid to fight and too brave to run, he just sat there with his great defender, Mups.

The woman knelt in front of him and spoke. The words she spoke were something he needed to hear but were like a rock to his heart. He already knew there was nobody here but hearing someone else say it… More tears and heavy breathing overwhelmed the child but he finally lowered Mups. The cat scrambled out of the child's arms and simply laid down on the kids' lap as though it would steady Kija. The woman's introduction of herself and her husband temporarily distracted the boy from his depressing thoughts. He blew his nose in the handkerchief, wondering if she would use his tears or snot for a potion.

She asked for his name and for a moment he was almost tempted to tell her. But he remembered the rules from the fey. Never tell his name. That was rule number one, unless you wanted to get hurt or to have something bad happen. She also asked for his kitty's name and a hundred other questions. It wasn't until the one called Lewis put his hand on Simone's shoulder that she seemed to stop. 

Suddenly standing up and causing the poor cat to flop to the ground, Kija gathered up some of the leaves and grass from the corners of the ruined house. He placed the leaves and grass carefully to make three piles circling around the food. He plopped himself onto one of the piles and held up the plate in the direction of Simone and Lewis. If he had a fork or another utensil he would have tried to divide the meal for all of them. 

"…Kija." He said in a quiet voice, "Kitty is Mups." 

If they were fey, then his kitty would have said something. The young boy wasn't sure whether to trust them or not but he did understand the rules of hospitality. Provide seats and a meal. As for the names… they weren't like Skab. The woman's touch was gentle and the man seemed too calm to be anything like what he found in the forest. Mups resumed its place on Kija's lap, clearly done with everyone. 

Author: Simone, Posted: Mon Jul 4, 2022 1:56 PM, Post Subject: Everything Stays [P][R?]

Also hiding alongside her husband Simone was sporting strawberry blonde curls with soft green eyes. If one didn’t look close enough they would have never even recognized the two of them. However, that only worked if the terrible two didn’t show up. Somehow Xeik and Angela were capable of noticing the two even when they were in great disguises.

Simone bounced the boys carefully who were amusing themselves with their mother’s new hair color. Luckily being what they were the children were able to recognize their parents and even Teagan could see it was her parents easily enough if only because of their love towards her.

“We actually found her here in Iria,” Simone explained gently adding onto what Lewis was saying. “Back alleys. We were delivering some potions for Angela when I noticed something odd happening. I found her when someone threw her away. I was too busy trying to save her to stop the man who did it.” Simone held a sad expressing but returned to her smiling disposition, “My quickness allowed us to save her so there is that.” Teagan was a very cute baby after all.

Lewis and Simone were almost in sync when it came to noticing the child and that went above what the resonance offered them. Even without the two being connected their desire for children would have let them see the situation.

“So…” Terra saw Lewis taking off. “You guys aren’t here just to see us are you?”

“No,” Simone could no longer hide the disappointed look on her face. “We wanted to adopt again but Xeik pretty much is paying off every orphanage he can find. Says we need to wait but he can’t determine how much love Lewis and I have to give.”

“It has to be hard,” Sophia said knowing a lot more about Simone now. “To want children and not be able to have them yourself.”

“A lot more than you know. I hope you never have these problems. If it was a simple fertility issue we could get it fixed easily but it's impossible to fix what isn’t there to begin with,” Simone let out a sigh. “We got very lucky with the older twins and these two… However, those two ways have been shut off. So we can’t do those methods again. Angela is still researching though so who knows.” Simone said it with a smile but they could tell by the look in her eyes how hard she was taking it. “Do you think you can watch the kids for us? It’s an emergency.” She passed the children off to the two. “I’ll be back. Keep them safe.”

They trusted the two to at least have the children for a little bit. Simone took off after her husband easily shedding her disguise as soon as it was safe to do so.

As soon as Lewis had tracked him down Simone recognized a tingle in the air. It was something that Simone knew well enough.

Fey.

Even in Auclair over a thousand years later did this feeling remain.

Simone looked at Lewis as she finally arrived by him. Holding up her hand she made her way inside and looked around. It hadn’t been used in a long time and the child’s voice was heartbreaking to her. A sad look formed on her face as she knocked on the worn old frame so as not to spook the child. “Please don’t run. I’m not going to hurt you.”

This child was much too young to understand what had happened to him and Simone didn’t completely understand the circumstances of what the fey did. Just that the fey tended to be unfair with children in particular. She was quiet was a moment as she slowly approached him.

“I sense a lot of fey magic,” she knelt down in front of the child. “You don’t seem to know how long you were gone.” Her voice was soft as she tried to level with him. Looking around the cottage she knew that it was ancient. “Whoever… You are waiting for isn’t going to come. They probably waited for you.” Looking at the cat she gave a soft smile and let her eyes meet the boy’s. “Somehow I think you know that though. I also remember having the same thoughts too. Fey can be rather unapologetic like that.” Her voice hesitated before she took a deep breath.

“My name is Simone and this is my husband Lewis,” she saw that Lewis had come inside once she had made her presence known. There was hesitation in her voice as she thought about it. Taking a handkerchief out of her pocket she brought it up and started to wipe away his tears. “Blow.” She held his nose so he could clear it.

“What’s your name sweetheart? And your kitty’s.” There were more pressing things as well. “How… Long have you been trying to live like this?” He had to have been hungry. Cold. Lonely. “…Can we get you something to eat? How about some new clothes as well… It’s cold here dear and you don’t want to get sick.” She held her hand out but Lewis put his hand on her shoulder and she got sheepish as she touched his hand in response.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. I just feel for you and your situation.” She didn’t quite want to dive into the screaming voice in her head that said to tell the boy he was coming home with them. That he would be loved and cared for. She was being overwhelming.

Author: Kija, Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 8:56 PM, Post Subject: Everything Stays [P][R?]

"Risotto risotto risotto!" Kija sang to himself and to Mups.

The stolen dish was actually a plate of radish kimchi but the boy thought risotto was more exotic and fancy-sounding. He traveled outside of the village to a small area surrounded by trees. They were only a few miles away from the Feeorin forest. In the center stood a decrepit ancient cottage. The only part that actually remained was the bottom half of the walls that had been built with stone. Everything else had either fallen or rotted away from the years it had been abandoned. Kija approached what would have been the door entrance and quickly took off his shoes, so as not to dirty the inside of the "house". He sat in the center of the "room" and plopped down on the ground. There had once been a floor but the wood had rotted away. Kija placed the plate on the ground and gave some of the meal to the fluffy grumpy cat then took the rest for himself. After eating, the cat meowed loudly as if griping about something.

"No! We gotta wait for brother." Kija insisted, "He's gonna come back."

Mups gave the cottage a doubtful look then meowed once more. Kija himself was confused about the cottage. He didn't know much but even he was confused about how everything had fallen apart in a year. It was only a year. So why wasn't his brother back? Why did this place look so weird? Why did the village look so different? Everything was different now. Doubts crept through his mind as he stared longer and longer at the cottage. Round fat tears swelled in his eyes as fears in his mind began to overwhelm him.

"Brother's gonna come back. He's gotta." He said with a smile as tears ran down his face, "H-he's gotta. He…"

The fluffy cat hopped into Kija's lap as the boy stared at the walls surrounding him. The answer was staring him in the face. Mups had told him time was strange in the fey world. But the child hated that idea. He just needed to hope. He needed to dream. To believe that everything was going to be okay. That's what his brother always said. Trust that everything would be okay.

So why did it feel like everything was already gone?

Author: Dusk, Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 8:20 PM, Post Subject: Everything Stays [P][R?]

It was a surprisingly calm day for Lewis and Simone as they sat down for a meal with their new friends. Lewis was looking a little bit different, nearly unrecognizable to the two teens. His hair was a dark brown, and his eyes were bright blue. He even had a ‘charming’ smile on his face.

“Oh my goodness!” Sophia squealed as she pinched Teagan’s cheek. “She’s so CUTE!” The girl was head over heels for the baby girl. “Where did you find her?”

Without missing a beat, Lewis looked over and said, “Dumpster.”

“Wait, what?” Terra replied in shock. “You found her where?”

“Dumpster. She was a dumpster baby.” Lewis shrugged. “No big deal”

“You just…found her lying in a dumpster?” Sohpia asked, shocked. “What monster would do that!?”

“I dunno but if I ever met them, they’ll be missing a hand or two,” Lewis replied, still not missing a beat.

The younger set of twins were in Simone’s arms, enjoying their mommy time. The small outing was for a few different reasons. The first reason was to meet up with Terra and Sophia and see how the Angelus Academy was doing. The second, and real reason, was to scout the local orphanages for potential kids. They had been thinking about adopting again, but Xeik had put out warnings for Lewis and Simone.

So, they improvised.

Lewis was about to pass Damond over to Sophia when a young boy came in, trading his acorns for what he perceived to b e a meal. When he ran off with the food, the staff suddenly apologized profusely to the customer. Lewis was up in a moment and walked over, offering to pay for the full meal and then some.

“Just…let it slide,’ Lewis said as he gave a look to Simone. She nodded, and Lewis took to the streets. He had tracked criminals, nobles, and a variety of other types of people and creatures…a kid was nothing. It didn’t take him long to pick up the trail. For the moment, all he was going to do was follow…

Author: Kija, Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2022 7:02 PM, Post Subject: Everything Stays [P][R?]

In a small village on the outskirts of Iria nearest to the Feeorin Forest, a couple of rumors had popped up about a strange little boy holding a grumpy-looking white cat. The boy wore clothes that were practically ancient and ran around the village stealing food and then repaying with acorns as if that was the same thing as a full meal. He always ran off before anybody could catch him. They would have caught him long ago since he was very young and relatively weak but he always ran off towards the Feeorin Forest, a place nobody dared step.

"No Mups!" Kija whined at the white cat trying to climb up his leg.

The little boy pushed the cat down as he stared at the cafe's outside seating area. There was a couple sitting at the table with a delicious-looking plate of food. His stomach growled as he gazed at the food with a watering mouth. Rummaging through his pocket, he found his collection of acorns and took a few. The cat growled with irritation at the fact that it actually had to walk and eventually run. Kija walked out from the alleyway, straight towards the couple sitting at the table. He had a big smile on his face as he walked up to their table. The little boy dumped the acorns onto their table.

"Acorns turn into trees. You have trees." He said as if he had given them the best gift in the world, "I want this."

The small business boy promptly took the plate of food closest to the woman and sprinted into a run with the grumpy cat racing behind him. His laughter could be heard as he raced back into the alleyway. In his mind, he had given them a precious gift and in turn, all he wanted was food.  Meanwhile, the cafe's waitress raced out of the building to apologize to the couple for the food heist.

"I'm so sorry!" The waitress exclaimed, "We didn't realize he would be stealing from us again. If we just knew who his parents were we could get him to stop."