Reunion

[saerwen]

When Miriel placed her hand on Damion's arm, he simply gave a small smile and said, "I hope not Miriel, but father is a warrior. He doesn't back down from anything. I just hope that I can get him off his business and off back home as soon as possible."

Between the comforting words of her father and Tryss, Adelahn tried to calm her shaking form, but the air only grew colder. The more that she forced herself to stop shaking the more the surrounding temperature became frozen. She could see little tiny sparkles of frost forming on the leaves of the nearby bush. The snake was noticing it too. She knew that Tryss was trying to get her to calm down because of that, but for some reason it didn't help. She was the victim in this situation. The snake had all the comfort, why should she fight to keep it happy?

As Tryss began to talk to the snake, Damion felt his heart skip five beats or so. Even though Tryss probably wouldn't be an alternative food source for the snake, if that thing bit her, there would be some serious damage. Damion didn't feel like making any trips to Cecily's house today. Maybe for some tea, but not wounds. Reaching out slowly, he gently pushed Tryss back and said in as calm a voice as he could muster considering the position of both of his daughters, he said, "Tryss, don't get too close. Please step back. If it lashes out, I don't want you to be bitten."

Damion was not going to give his daughter the chance to fight his authority. He positioned himself slightly in front and to the side of her and looked at Neron. He had never been so thankful to have someone like Neron around to help him out in situations like this. Neron could keep his head a bit cooler because it wasn't his daughter, but still realize the dangers of the situation. As Neron began to sing, Damion felt like he had just been pulled back in time about 200 years. He hadn't heard that lullaby in a long time. Granted, the lyrics of his memories were a bit different than Neron's, but that was to be expected because of their different elements. Dragons all had the same language and the same songs, but each element put their own spins on it. It was hard to determine what the originals had been now days. As Neron sang, Damion began to hum along. His voice didn't have as deep and resonant a tone as Neron's, but it was clear and strong; calming in its own rights.

As Neron began to unwrap the snake, Damion slowly reached his hand out, allowing the snake to become acquainted with his presence. After a few minutes he began to inch towards the snake and eventually put his cold fingertips against the smooth black and brown scales. It was hard for Damion to be so gentle towards a creature that was currently endangering one of his dear girls, but he was forcing it. The snake didn't see to want to let go of Adelahn. As Neron unwrapped its tail it gave a gentle hiss and whatever length of the snake Neron might have had gotten through simply inched up Adelahn as the snakes head rose to look Damion straight in the eyes. It looked around for Tryss and then pinpointed Miya, Byren, Jaedon, and Miriel. It was like he knew turmoil had been caused by his actions, and he was judging to see who was giving the best reaction. He was currently happy with Miriel's reaction. She didn't look too thrilled. Adelahn wasn't doing much better. However, after returning to Damion's gaze which was hard and rather angry, expressed through his snake like eyes, the snake thought better of what it was doing. It wasn't dumb enough to go up against a dragon, and it had recognized Damion and Neron, along with Tryss.

Damion's hand continued to rest on the snakes body, ready to freeze it the instant it made a move of danger. He was much relieved when he felt the snake loosening up. Perhaps it would come off for good without a fight. Then Damion could kill it. Heck, he would let Tryss or Miriel burn it if they wanted to, incinerate it for all he cared. As it began to slide off Adelahn's form, it slithered to the ground and began to inch away, yielding its frightened pray just this once.

Byren stared at the snake, along with Jaedon. Byren looked at it, completely intrigued. Jaedon looked at it with disgust. Both watched as it crawled away like a worm through the mud. Both were using their telepathic abilities on it. Jaedon was curious to see if there was any sentience in the snake that she could use in future situations, and Byren was doing the same, however, he knew where to look, while his mother didn't. Byren knew that the snake did have thoughts, but they weren't found through the mind necessarily. Snakes found everything with their tongues, so that is where most of their thought came from. He soon found the snakes thoughts. It was mourning the loss of a tasty meal, but it was scared of Neron and Damion. It had recognized the dragons language and realized that even if it did kill the child, it would die not long afterwards. Byren smirked and then turned back to Adelahn.

Damion didn't care much about the snake any more so long as it was away from his daughter. Looking down at her, he reached down and picked her up out of the little hole in the ground. Brushing some bleach blonde hair out of her face, he looked at her and asked, "Are you okay, Adelahn? It didn't bite you did it?" The girl shook her head no before collapsing on her fathers chest and crying. Damion's anger burned once more. He picked Adelahn up from the ground. She was covered in dirt and twigs.

Pausing momentarily, he looked back at Tryss and nodded to her, "Good job, my little Firefly." He wasn't condoning the fact that she had stuck herself directly into danger, but he was praising her level-headed action and willing to sacrifice for her sister.

After that, he walked over to Miriel, Adelahn still in arms and whispered, "I'm going to take her back towards the waterfall. I think she's had enough of the forest for today."

Jaedon smiled in relief, glad that the snake threat was gone. She looked down at Byren and said softly, but jokingly, "Never a dull moment, eh, tough guy?"

Byren just smirked back at her before realizing that he was in his true form. His eyes narrowed for a moment before POOF! His black form disappeared and Byren was back to normal. He looked over at Neron and said, "That was really cool, dad!" He actually looked excited for once. Then he sobered up and looked thoughtful, glancing at Miya, he asked, "So what are we gonna play now? Hide and seek doesn't seem to be good anymore."

[»Míríel«]

Tryss was about to argue with being stopped, but Damion didn't give her a chance. Instead she got shoved to the side as he stepped in front of her. A part of her understood that she was in danger and he was being protective, but the other hald wanted to lash out in anger. How could he keep her from helping? Adelahn was her sister and she cared for her greatly. To have to stand to the side and watch was something Tryss wouldn't dream of doing. Before she could open her mouth the sound of a chant filled her ears. Even though she hadn't heard it before in her life, nor did she understand all of the words, something in her blod recognized it. A smile came to her lips as her eyes turned slitted. She wished she could join her dad in singing, but she didn't know the song. That song was so soothing she could feel herself relaxing as the anger within faded.

Neron concentrated on the task before him. His movements were smooth, gentle, but strong as he uncoiled the snake. When Damion joined into his lullaby a slight smile came to his lips. There was something special when someone else joined in on the lullaby, it seemed to add to the power of the words. Obviously there were as many memories tied to this song to Damion as there were to Neron. HE felt more connected to Damion than he had ever before. It was hard to remember that someone else had lived during the time he had. One got so used to so many not living past 80 and one would forget that there were a few that did. As soon as the snake was uncoiled Neron set it down on the ground. The beast slithered off into the undergrowth. Neron heard the sound of steps behind him. Whirling around he caught Miriel by the shoulders as she was about to follow the snake. "Miriel, No." His eyes were still dragon like, and his voice still had the rich and soothing tone.

Miriel's eyes flashed. "That vile beast almost got one of my children Neron. He doesn't deserve life."

Neron blinked before smiling slightly at her. "Almost Miriel, almost. Adelahn is ok. You will not always be able to protect your children from harm. Let the snake go, he was only following his instincts."

"Instincts that almost let my daughter get killed!" Miriel had been looking in the direction the snake had gone. Being a bird of prey snakes were always a good treat, especially then they threatened family. As the grip on her arm didn't falter she turned her attention to Neron. Seeing his eyes and the warmth within she immediately relaxed. "I suppose you are right... Let me go." When Neron released her she turned around, glad to find that Damion and Adelahn were no longer there. They had missed her episode.

Tryss had glowed red at her father's praise. Firefly, that was her nickname, and she loved it. When Damion spoke of fire, not relating to Miriel or herself of course, he had a sort of tenseness about his voice, but when he mentioned firefly, there was only warmth.

"Come on Tryss, let's go home." Miriel reached out her hand. "Bye Jaedon and Neron, it was so nice to see you two again. Oh and Neron.. Thank you, for everything." She looked down at the children. "Bye Byren and Miya." She then waited for Tryss to give her farewells.

Tryss sighed, knowing that they wouldn't move from the spot until she had been polite and said bye. Manners could be so troublesome sometimes, but there was no getting around them in her family. With a bright smile she turned to Miya, "Bye Miya! I hope we will see you again soon!" Then turning to Byren her smile faded until it was only a trace of what once was there. "Bye Byren." Then turning with her mother they made their way home. Tryss was now starting to feel exhausted. Her feet slowed and began to trudge as ever movement took her whole being's strength. Miriel, seeing her daughter growing tired, scooped her little girl up and carried her the rest of the way.

Neron, eyes returned to the normal human's looked down at his son. He nodded towards his son. "Perhaps some day you will learn some of the ancient tongue. We may have to add it to our lessons."

Miya had been very quite during this whole thing, especially once her father started singing. Her heart had filled with warmth, and so many funny thoughts came to her mind. She had been daydreaming she supposed, and she had to pull out of it or her mother would get mad. "What?" She blinked at Byren with a blank expression. Then her usual playfulness came over her. She stuck out her lower lip, having a thoughtful look on her face as she came closer to Byren. "I don't know..." She frowned. "What about..." She looked up, now near Byren. "TAG!" She swiped at Byren and bounced around her parents feet before settling behind Jaedon, poking her fluffy head between Jaedon's ankles, complete with tongue sticking out.

[saerwen]

Jaedon sighed as she watched Damion walk off. So much for their "relaxing day" at the falls. She shook her head. Why did it always have to be them? There was enough reason for trouble to pop up when it was just herself, Neron, Miriel, and Damion. Now they had kids to add to that equation. Trouble would never be far it seemed.

As Miriel began to stomp after the snake, Jaedon was slightly disappointed when Neron stopped her. Jaedon had been rooting for Miriel. She wanted to see that snake blown to bits. As a fellow mother, Jaedon and Miriel had an understanding about that sort of thing. Of course fathers cared for their children and they would protect them with every last bit of strength they had, but in nature, it is never the father that is renowned for being the protective parent, but the mother. There was something about actually being the one to give birth that made Jaedon and Miriel have a special connection to their children. The mother's two extra senses of intuition and built in danger alarms could only belong to a mother. Watching something attack your children could create no stronger or more furious feelings within a mother's heart. From Jaedon's point of view, if it had been one of her children, that snake was as good as dead, and no amount of Neron's cooing would have stopped her. However, Miriel was not as naturally bloodthirsty as Jaedon was. At points, Jaedon wondered if that was an inherent failing in this regard, but then she reasoned that if it was in defense of her children, she could justify killing. At least then, there would be a point to it.

As Miriel bid her farewell, Jaedon lifted a hand to wave good bye, "See you later, Miriel. We will have to do this again sometime soon." She was a little sad that they were parting so soon, but it couldn't be helped. They all had children to take care of. However, Jaedon was not ready to return to their house yet. Her children were best taken home or inside after being allowed to exert every ounce on energy in their body, and Jaedon whole-heartedly championed playing outside because it was a good form of exercise for her kids. She wasn't ever going to allow them to get lazy and weighty. Her children were natural runners, so that is what they would do. Or even flying if they preferred, that could work as well. She just didn't want to take the kids home with bundles on energy still in them. That was a set up for an insane afternoon.

When Tryss said goodbye to Byren, he noticed the marked difference in her farewell verses the one she had given Miya. He just prayed that his parents didn't notice it and raise a question with it. He simply nodded his head to her and turned around. In his mind, she was still strange. Her apology to him had taken her down a few notches in his books. Her arguments had been so good, and then she went an apologized for them? Weird. The weakness of a girl was all he could account it to.

Looking at Neron with huge expectant eyes, Byren asked, "Really? Cool!" At the proposition of having more subjects added to study, most children would have groaned. Byren simply blossomed. That was the only time he let out his childish glee, the only time one could see his true colors.

Byren had a bad feeling about what Miya would do in response to his question. He knew that she would be slightly let down after their friends left, so he had wanted to keep her entertained, but now he was seriously questioning his reasoning. What was she gonna do? As tag came out of her mouth, Byren could have slapped his face with his hand, but Miya had already done that for him with her paw, firmly swiping his neatly brushed hair into his face. Looking down at the ground, Byren yet again asked himself why he had said what he did. Then, most resolutely he looked at Miya's face and then winked at her. He had a plan. Changing back to his true form he dashed forward towards Miya but before he got to her, he pulled a hard turn and leaped up Neron's leg, grappling onto his jeans, he shouted, "Tag, Father! You're it!" He then made for an escape, knowing his father could catch him really easy. It was always more fun when his parents played with them because even though they were much faster and better at the game than their tiny children, they always had fun, and Miya and Byren were challenged to try harder to win. He liked tag if his parents were playing. Yet again, his move was slightly selfish, but Miya wouldn't mind either.

Jaedon laughed at Byren as he climbed up Neron's pants. She was having so much fun watching that she hadn't even thought once about running away for fear of Neron. As Byren started for his escape, she looked down at Miya and said, "Don't think I can save you, do you?" Her little puff ball had started this, now she was going to have to follow through with it, and luckily, when it was all said and done, all three of the mischievous trouble makers in her house would be worn out, and she could spend the evening in peace.

[»Míríel«]

Neron smirked at his son's reaction to learning a new language NEron turned his attention to where the snake had cawed off to, just to make sure it wasn't foolish enough to come back. It was strange how his son was always wanting to learn more. Even though it could be refreshing to have a child that hung on every word that expanded their knowledge, there was something unnatural about it. If Neron wasn't careful this little squirt would become smarter than him. Having both Neron's and Jaedon's blood churning within him was scary enough. Byren seemed to get the darker side of both of them, thus creating more worry in his parents. Miya was to happy to worry about.

Neron was snapped out of his thoughts with something that felt like little needles were digging into his leg.Looking down he saw his son clinging onto him just long enough to proclaim that Neron was now it. Great. All of Neron's calmness soon melted away as a sense of mischief rose within him.

"But Momma! I will never win against Daddy!" Miya cried out as she pouted her lips slightly.

"Well then don't worry I won't chase after you. " With one hand he tagged Jaedon and with the other he scooped up Miya and took off. "You're it my witch!" Miya let out a little squeal of delight as she found herself in her father's arms. He placed her onto of his head, letting her cling onto his thick hair. Now both of them looked ridiculous. Neron looked like he had a strange growth on the top of his head that had eyes peering around. She actually turned around, facing backwards and updated him on his distance. "I don't see momma anymore."

"That isn't assuring Miya." You could never be sure with Jaedon, she could choose to go after you straight off, or sneak behind you and stab you in the back. Most likely the latter. "Let's keep going." Neron wove back and forth between trees. It had been a while since had run like this. usually when he just played with the kids he went slower, but still made it a challenge to catch him. With Jaedon playing though, he had to step up his game. The last time he had done something like this, running through the trees with the feeling of being hunted, it had not turned out well.

He had never been one to run, if anything he would fight to the end and that end had almost come many times. memories started flipping through his mind. Blood, terror, exhaustion, and pain filled memories filled his senses for a moment. It was a terror filled memory. He could feel his hands start to sweat with just the memory. He had vowed never to he hunted again.

Miya's grip tightened on her fathers head as images started flashing through her mind. An alley way barely lit by the moon, a blood covered hand held out before her eyes, the scent of sweat, and blood filled her nose as fear begun to seep into her. Where was she? Why was she seeing this? Why couldn't she do what she wanted? Miya's eyes widened as her claws dug even deeper into Neron's hair, now reaching his skull. The images in her head continued as what was happening around her in the present faded into oblivion. A figure stood out from one of the shadowed doorways, in its hand was a glinting blade. The figure advanced, sword raised about to attack. A quick glance around the close corners as the sound of shouts came from behind proved that there was no where to go."

Neron felt Miya's claws dig into his head he slowed his pace. Was she having a hard time hanging on? "Miya?"

Just as the figure came closer a nearby torch shed some light on his face, his mouth opened. "Miya?" How did he know her name, and why did his lips move differently than what she heard?

Neron, now concerned for his head and Miya's welfare reached up and touched her, "You ok?"

Confusion rose within Miya along with panic. The touch, startling her, was to much for her little system to take. Letting out a ear piercing screech she leaped from her father's head.

Neron was shocked by the sudden change of his little girl. Just a moment ago she was giggling with delight, now she was a wide-eyes banshie with claws unsheathed and tail fluffed in terror. Before she could drop from his head and potentially hurt herself Neron grabbed her. He was attacked with claws and bits from his daughter as she screamed with all her might. "Miya! Calm down! It's ok!" blood started dotting his arms from her attacks. The game of tag had been forgotten.

[saerwen]

Jaedon had been looking after Byren's form as he scampered off into the trees looking for a place to hide, away from Neron. Jaedon thought momentarily about telling him to not go too deep in so that she would be able to find him, but before she could actually say something she heard Neron tell his daughter not to worry. Her thoughts went as follows: Wait, if he isn't going after Miya, who is he going to go after? Crap. Neron had already shoved his hand out and tagged Jaedon, and she was officially it. Jaedon pouted for a moment, What if she hadn't wanted to play? Then watching Neron run off with Miya clinging to his head, she realized there were only so many times she would do this with her children. They got older faster and faster it seemed. Eventually, they would no longer be playing tag. They would be out hunting on their own, flying even. This was her time to cherish their baby days. So what if she got tired, or her side started hurting? It was worth it in the end.

She changed forms and slunk back into the trees out of sight before starting her hunt. Her nose caught Neron's scent immediately, along with Miya's rather faint one. Since her child wasn't on the ground, it wasn't quite as easy to track her. Her nose did tell her where Byren was. He was running parallel to his father, although he probably didn't know it. Her prey was going to end up all in the same place soon. Jaedon's pace became much faster as she followed the scents. She had caught onto Neron pretty easily. One of the joys of being married she supposed, he was always easy to track down because his scent was so familiar.

Byren was flashing past trees so fast he couldn't even remember the last time that he had run so fast. He knew that Neron would probably head after him before he would head after Miya since she was so small. He had no intention of making it easy. He found a safe place to hide and stopped to smell the surrounding air. He caught Neron's scent from somewhere upwind. It was faint, but enough to keep Byren wary. Jaedon's scent was downwind, so he couldn't catch hers, and that made him eerily aware that she was going to become a problem. His mother was a master at hiding her scent trail, just as she was a master of hiding evidence. Byren was learning well from her. But if she became it, no where would be safe.

He decided to keep moving and so began to stalk along, sure to keep his footsteps as quiet as possible, but he occasionally stepped on a twig every now and again. After going a bit further, he heard Neron and Miya. Neron was asking if Miya was okay, but she wasn't responding to him, or if she was, she was being very quiet. What had happened to her? Why was Neron asking if she was alright? Byren decided to put the game on the line and pattered towards to two. If nothing was wrong with her, he would just keep walking away and pray that Neron hadn't seen him.

Jaedon had caught Byren's trail and was following the little imp paw step for paw step, but much faster than he was able to run away. However, Jaedon's ears had heard Neron and Miya before Byren had. As she got closer to the pair, her motherly instincts began to tell her that something was about to go wrong. Her fur was bristling slightly and she felt like her stomach was lurching. But Miya was with Neron, what could go wrong? Neron was always gentle and careful with the children. Maybe she wasn't focusing on the right child. But from her view, Byren looked fine. He was stalking towards Neron and Miya carefully, trying to be quiet.

Jaedon pushed past Byren and went on towards Neron. The only one of them that hadn't been it was Miya. It was only fair she have her turn. However, when Jaedon came out of hiding, her sleek black form just barely visible in the dim shadows cast my the trees, she realized something was wrong. Miya was panicking about something. Neron was obviously bewildered. Had their child suddenly become afraid of heights or falling off him or something? Jaedon changed forms immediately and ran over to where Miya was now screaming and fighting in Neron's arms. No one could say that their daughter wouldn't give a kidnapper a hard time, as was evident by her fierce clawing and gnawing at Neron.

"What happened?" Jaedon asked Neron. She had barely given him time to answer when she reached out to Miya, trying to grab her paws so that she stopped scratching Neron. Jaedon started off very calm,"Miya, stop this. Calm down, you are alright." When her little girl didn't respond, Jaedon tried something else, "Miya, you're hurting your father, stop it!" She wasn't yelling but she had become very stern.

Byren had come running out of the trees by now, and was sitting on the ground next to Neron's feet. He changed forms and looked at his sister. She was completely terrified of something, but whatever it wasn't it wasn't here anymore. Byren looked around to see what had caused this, but he couldn't find anything. What had been the cause? He looked back to the struggling Miya and decided to try and help. Using every ounce on concentration he could, he wedged his way into her mind. What he saw was unnerving and confusing, not like Miya's mind at all. He couldn't see any clear images; everything was dark and damp. It was harder to get into this time as well, like she was putting up defenses against him, but that was impossible. Miya didn't know how to do that, at least, not the extent that it would be this hard. He continued to crawl his way in and eventually paused long enough to speak, Miya, calm down. Whatever you are scared of, it isn't real. You are safe. Father is holding you, mother is right here, and so am I. I won't leave you, Miya. You're not alone. Byren hoped that his pleading would help.

[»Míríel«]

Miya had to fight off these attackers, there were many now, and the one holding her wasn't drawing back. "Let go!" She screeched between sobs that were now wracking her body. Her claws still tore into Neron's skin and when Jaedon reached and constrained her paws Miya set to wriggling her body and flailing about like a rabid cat. Jaedon's first words fell on deal ears.

"I don't know! She was fine before she started sinking her claws into my head." Neron's pale skin on his arms were now striped with blood that beaded from the scratches that were there. When Jaedon took her daughters paws in he hands to keep them from continuing the damage, Neron now had the trouble to hanging on to his daughter. Was she possessed? He had never had to hold on to something that was trying to escape and having to worry about not crushing it.

The sternness in Jaedon's voice penetrated Miya's mind, as something within recognized her mother's voice. Miya's eyes blinked as her screeching stopped. "Mommy? Daddy?" Her voice was soft and full of disbelief and longing. Still she struggled some to get out from the hands that held her, but it was nothing in comparison to what she had been doing a few moments before.

It wasn't until Byren got into her mind that she began to awaken from her "nightmare". Just feeling the presence in her mind made her go still as she unconsciously starting bringing up barriers. The words of her brother soothed her greatly. He could probably tell as the scene in her mind was washed away and a sense of peace was restored. "I'm safe." Her words were distant as they came off her lips, it was like someone coming out of a trance. Nothing passed through her mind as her green eyes cleared and traveled around her. First she saw the sunlight filtering down through the trees, and followed its path down to her father's face. There was a look of concern on his face. "What's wrong Daddy?" Her voice still kept it's dream-like qualities. Then turning to her mother she saw the same look of concern. "Are you sad too Mommy?" There was a scent of blood in the air. "Is someone hurt?" Her usually mischief filled eyes focused on her fathers arms, being lead to the source of the blood by her nose. Her little black head tilted to the side as confusion crept into her gaze. There were scratches on his arm, from what? In the corner of her eyes she saw her claws, unsheathed and bloody. Miya's eyes widened. "What happened?" Turning her face to Byren she suddenly remembered. Tears welled in her eyes as her form suddenly shifted. "Byren!"

Neron stared at his little girl with great concern in his eyes. He didn't like this. Where had his carefree girl gone? Where was his light? She looked so dazed and confused, it was as if she didn't know what was going on. He looked up at Jaedon with a bit of fear in his eyes, something she had not seen in a long time, if ever. Something in his mind changed, like something was leaving. Usually he was pretty good at sensing someone's presence but this time it was a surprise. Before he could think to much on this subject Miya suddenly changed forms. Neron hadn't prepared himself for the weight change from cub to human, nor the texture change from fluff to skin. So he dropped towards the ground at an alarming rate in his hands, only for him to save her at the last moment by lightening the fall.

Miya felt herself dropping , which she had planned. Tears were now streaming down her chubby face as her wild hair curled about her. Although her landing was harsher than she had planned, it didn't throw her off, she was used to harsh landings. Pushing out of her father's grasp she stumbled over to Byren and reached up to throw her arms around his chest. Pulling her head to his chest she sobbed. "Thank you! Thank you Byren! Don't ever leave me! Please!" She pulled him closer with more strength than her chubby form gave credit to.¹ Then pulling back to look him in the eyes she smiled and looking into his face. Reaching a hand up she wiped her tears away with her fist. When her eyes looked back a noticeable change came over her. Her eyes light up as her smile turned to an impish grin. Her mind suddenly shifted completely. She was back to her foolish nonsensical thoughts. Shifting back to her other form she bounced over to her mother. "Why do you look so worried Momma? I'm fine! Woah!" She looked at a butterfly that was fluttering past. Her ears pricked in its direction and she watched it in a pounce-like stance until it went away. Lowering her haunches she yawned. "I'm tired. Can we go home?" Her eyes widened as she scurried over to her father. "I want Daddy to pick me up though, because if you do Momma, then I would be it and I'm to tired to be it. and..." She pulled her ears back in horror. "I would be it when I woke up."
Neron was taken aback at the sudden change of Miya. There was something wrong with his child. He gave Jaedon a look to see if she had any clue as to what was going on. Perhaps what had just happened had been a girl thing. Neron just knew one thing, he had never known a boy that was like this. HE knew two girls, Cecily and Miya were both on the strange side sometimes. It had to be a girl thing.

Looking down at Miya he opened his mouth to answer and state that she was already it considering that Jaedon had touched her, but he found that she was already asleep on the ground. Apparently the emotional stress coupled with the excitement of meeting people and playing had taken their toll on her. Looking up at Jaedon he just shook his head and then lifted up his arms. He had gotten his fill of scratches for a day. " She's all yours." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair in exasperation and confusion. "What just happened?" His gaze drifted down to Byren. Perhaps he had a clue to this situation.
______________________
¹ This of course would not be very strong still, but just a little startling.

[saerwen]

As Jaedon held onto Miya's paws she realized that if Miya didn't stop soon, she was going to hurt herself. Frantically thinking of a way to make sure Miya didn't fall, Jaedon looked down, seeking a way to get Miya to sit down so that she cool off. It was then the she noticed Byren sitting next to Neron in his human form, his black hair covering his eyes slightly, but Jaedon could see that they were tightly shut. What was he doing? If he was starting to go crazy too, Jaedon was going to give up. She returned her gaze to Miya, hoping that Byren would be fine on his own to deal with whatever was going on with him.

Byren let out a huge sigh of relief as his sister finally calmed down. It had taken a lot of concentration to keep himself inside her head. She had been fighting him so hard. It just went to show that if Miya really wanted to, she could have given anyone a hard time with reading her thoughts or taking advantage of her. She might have been rather scatter-brained in training, but when it came down to the important stuff, Miya was able to perform admirably. It was still worrying for even Byren to hear his sister's thoughts though. She had no idea what had just happened. Like always, Miya came out of a dire circumstance completely clueless and even-tempered. Byren was tempted to try going a bit deeper into his sisters mind to see if he could find what had scared her so much. What memories could she have possibly been having in order to be scared so much. Miya had never been that terrified in her life, and never had she been caught by anyone that she would have been afraid of. How could her mind have twisted her memories to where she was seeing something so foreign to her? A thought struck Byren, but he discarded it quickly, Miya isn't a telepath. She couldn't have been able to read someone elses memories.

As Miya looked around, compeltely clueless, just barely able to put the pieces back together, Jaedon mirrored Neron's worried look. This was strange for Miya to be experiencing this kind of thing. "Miya, what scared you? Do you remember what you saw?" Jaedon asked, trying not to let her worry show too much. She didn't want Miya getting scared again.

When Miya plopped out of Neron's hands and over to Byren, he looked at his sister with a strange face. It looked at first as though he might have been thinking of pushing her away, but he didn't. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her and ran the other over her wild curls soothingly. "It's okay, Miya. I won't," he spoke softly. However, when she began to squeeze him, Byren gave an exaggerated wheeze and said, "Do you want to strangle me, Miya?" Then, resuming his "manliness", he pushed Miya away at arms distance as she wiped the tears from her eyes. He gave a small smile and then jokingly said, "Tears don't suit you at all. They ruin your good looks."

Jaedon's eyes got a little wider as Miya ran over to Byren, let out some nonsense about him not leaving her, and then immediately recovered from everything. She felt a shiver go down her spine. Did Miya have some alter ego or something weird like that? What was wrong with her daughter, and why was she now acting as though nothing had even happened? Looking at Neron's arms, it was quite obvious that something bad had happened, and Miya was usually the kind to really worry about something like that, not cast it off. How could that child be babbling on like usual now about being it? The game was long forgotten to everyone except her it seemed. In response to Neron's curious glance Jaedon just blinked at him and replied in his head, We'll talk at home about this. I am happy for her to stay oblivious for now.

As Jaedon walked over to Miya and picked her up Byren stared off at a dark corner in the woods. He was recalled from his thoughts by his father's question. "Hmm?" he asked innocently as he turned to Neron, "Oh that? I have no idea. She was probably just tired and got over excited." In truth, Byren could have given his parents some more clues as to what might have happened, but he also knew that those facts would probably worry both his mother and father more than the ignorance would. His mother especially would be worried because she would realize the implication more than Neron would. The truth of the matter was that Miya's mind was either extremely overactive, and in the worst way possible, or she had tapped into someone elses thoughts. If the first option, Miya would have to be constantly looked after to ensure that her mind stayed in tact. If the second, it meant that Miya was hiding something that desperately needed out. If she really were a telepath, but concealed it for too long, she would eventually go insane.

He flicked some hair out of his eyes and began to walk off towards their home, casting a look back at Neron before saying, "Sometimes I wonder if she really is as clueless about things as we think she is." He looked straight ahead as he said darkly, "Perhaps she knows more about our secrets than we care to think." He was hinting very strongly at something, but he figured Neron wouldn't pick up on it. It was obvious to Byren that Neron and Jaedon hid a lot of things from their children, and perhaps Miya would become the means of their revelation, whether they wanted her to be or not. He would still have to think about what was going on and decide for himself, but Byren was leaning closely towards one decision already. He had always thought that with so much potential to pull from, it was strange that Miya had gotten nothing.

Jaedon looked at Neron as they walked Byren march off. She was completely at a loss, "I rest my case. We have the strangest children in the world." She shook her head and started after Byren, cradling Miya's sleeping form in her arms.

[»Míríel«]

Miya looked up at her mother and blinked once or twice before answering. "No." She was lying, but there was no way to tell besides entering her mind. She always remembered that happened in her "episodes" they would haunt her at night sometimes. Right after one her mind safely locked it away in a corner as a form of self protection. Miya was scatterbrained for protection. If she thought on one thing for to long then she would revert back to thinking about what she didn't understand. Anything that could trigger the memory of what she was was ignored, or dealt with very shallowly.

When Byren wrapped his arms around her Miya felt completely secure. There was something about her brother that her parent's didn't have, perhaps it was innocence. Whatever it was sometimes she felt more secure around him after an episode than her parents. Still it didn't last for long. She giggled at his mentioning of her strangling him. When he mentioned crying not suiting her she just pouted for a moment before sticking her tongue out at him. "At least I have good-lucks" Her eyes sparkled brightly as she smiled at him and giggled again.

Neron's heart dropped slightly when JAedon gave him the same look and replied in his head. "Great... I was hoping this would be simple..." He let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair again. This was all too much. Neron looked down at his son and listened to his reply. He nodded in agreement but something in his heart was tugging at him. There was more to this than met the eye. Still he wouldn't let anything so for the moment, all his worries and questions would be saved for when they talked. What Neron didn't like were Byren's last words. Where was he going with that. Just he way he said it sounded like he wasn't completely clueless. Neron just shook his head, he was probably just being paranoid. "Yes Jaedon. That we do. Let's go home now." Looking at his arms again he shook his head and moved off towards their home.