Behind The Veil

[Haley Blue]

Cheats-Fate held the spider in her hand. She'd been yapping with the palm-sized arachnid for the better part of the day, squirreled away in one of the more densely overgrown parts of the park. Wyld spiders weren't anything like their Weaverish counterparts, thank the Earth Mother for small favors... and probably not a whole lot like the Wyrmish ones that she could remember hearing about but had no personal confirmation on the existence of... her little friend was as meticulous as Spider should be, she still took care with all that she did, but her patterns were all over the place.

~ Tell me again, Sister Coyote... why do you need my teachings? ~

This was not the first time the spirit had asked the question, and in her wisdom Xochipilli had been certain to never have given the spider the same answer twice, which they both seemed to find proper enough.

“Well, for starters there's about three-quarters of the City that I've never been able to explore. Cities are really vertical places right? There's SO much of this place I've never seen and could never get to without your wisdom.”

All eight of the wyld-spirit's eyes narrowed, searching the Nuwisha's face for subterfuge and not finding any... that was directed at her anyway. ~ Why not ask Fly or his children? This gift belonged to him first . ~ The spider shook out her behind, spraying Haley's hand with fine, slippery silk.

Xochipilli winked at her kindred-kind, tipping her golden eyes towards her prospective tutor conspiratorially. “From one Teacher to another, Trickster-kin too... I think you're probably a much better teacher for the likes of me. That and everyone knows that some flies, and especially maggots, though their mortal children have their purpose in the world, many of their spirit parents serve the Unmaker. I cannot sully my divine self by the Wyrm's hand.” She gave a little shudder for emphasis. This was serious business.

Spider considered the Coyote's proposition. The payment for her services had been discussed at length, though she had yet to decide which offer to take. Climbing up Haley's arm, the spirit came to rest at her shoulder, her voice like the buzz of a printing press, paper thin and brushing against itself... ~ Show me how you climb, Sister Coyote. Then perhaps I will show you how I climb. ~

The tanned shifter nodded, pushing herself up to her feet, then leapt into the nearest tree without checking to see if it was climbable. That would have probably ended in disaster anyway.

[Noah Autumnchild]

Noah had come out deep into the woods to commune with nature...oh and to do some laundry and work out. His favourite white tank top had become intolerably dirty so the Galliard used the excuse of cleaning it to trek out deep into the woods where he'd determined from a local map that a stream must be. The map wasn't wholly accurate which made him all the happier that he'd chosen to shift to Lupus once he was out of the potential sight of humans. Backpack in mouth he'd made much better progress and his heightened smell and hearing had lead him to the stream faster then any map could have.

Since he'd only ever had one set of attuned underwear he decided to strip out of everything and have a bath while doing some laundry. The experience had been cold but refreshing and there was something humbling about trying to work out stains with just your hands and some rocks. Once finished he emerged from the water and shifted to Lupus to shake himself dry. Unfortunately he couldn't just shake dry his clothes so he shifted back to his birth form and hung up his clothes to dry. He figured that the California sun would take care of the dampness problem in a couple of hours, just enough time for a Fenrir inspired work out.

Before starting, the bashful Galliard dawned his dry underwear. Under normal circumstances he never would have been caught dead with his scars on display, but he'd chosen to go out deep in the woods so that no one would see him and he was intent on living it up as much as he could. For a long moment he stood and simply basked in the feeling of wind on his bare skin. Finally he felt like he wasn't going to over heat at a moments notice.

Having indulged in such selfish environmental enjoyment for far longer then Dagny would have liked Noah got to work. He started with general stretching, moved on to yoga, and then more aerobic calisthenics. The Fenrir Ahroun who'd been his trainer had worked him hard, but taught him that pain could be a symbol of a reward to come, one of the more important lessons he'd ever learned from the Get. Inspired by the Viking spirit the Child of Gaia worked until he was hot and at least a little winded. His muscles had begun to protest, but he wasn't even half way done yet.

Using the excuse of searching to cool off just a little, Noah found some suitably big rocks which he could be used for heavy lifting and muscle development. The inventive Galliard found numerous uses for his new stoney friends turning them into temporary free weights or medicine balls to provide the resistance he would need for real strength. Dagny had told him ages ago that she suspected that Mother Maggie's deprivations had robed the ex-Spiral of any chance at the might that was his birth right, Noah was determined to prove her wrong.

Having finished his ground work he moved on to doing chin ups on the thick branch of a nearby tree. By this point he was near exhausted and every part of him ached, but his drive to defeat the Wyrm in all things forced him onwards. He closed his eyes to better focus on what he was doing. When he finally opened them again he saw a face staring down at him and promptly fell out of the tree.

Noah landed with all the grace of drunk, but at least he hadn't cracked his skull on one of his rocky friends, Gaia be praised for small miracles. He was aching, sweaty, bruised and generally in a lot of pain but at this point he had a choice. Rolling to his feet the Child of Gaia began to laugh. He laughed at how much of a deal he was making over such petty pains, and he laughed at the pain for thinking that it could stop him. After all he'd suffered as a Spiral, this was nothing! Still he probably looked crazy as far as the lady, he thought it was a female face, in the tree could see. Putting on his best grin and opening his hands wide to say he wasn't a threat the Galliard called out to her.

“Hey you up there? How's it going?” he said then remembered he was pretty much naked, “Ummm...I've got pants around here somewhere. I was just going to go for a swim would you like to join me?” might as well be hospitable since this poor girl was going to see more of him then he let most people ever see.

[Haley Blue]

Xochipilli sat in the top of her tree, tan legs wrapped around the trunk. It was pretty comfortable, swaying with the wind... feeling the breeze through her hair... Sticky sap smeared across one cheek. The wyld-spirit that twiddled her front feet against the latrani's shoulder seemed impressed enough by the ascent. She was talking anyway, which was a good sign.

Spider braided the Coyote's hair while she wove her tale. It was one of her favorites, as she'd told the tale of how Old Man Coyote wooed the Queen of Spiders at least twice in her life... It bore mentioning of course that given her nature twice was saying a lot. The arachnid flinched reflexively at the commotion that came from the ground. She had been right at the best part. ~Friend of yours?~ she paused in the telling, her tiny patterned, splotchy bottom wriggling in irritation. She sprayed some more silky goop onto the latrani's bare skin. It was neither the acidic or the paralytic kind so there was that to give thanks for.

"Uh... No. I don't think so anyway. An' I really don't remember us passing by any 'spiritual barriers' if you catch my meaning." Haley whispered to her... shoulder. Crapdamnhellasstits. Company. Why was it that working for family meant you never got a day off for anything? She didn't recognize the face when she chanced a glance down, though he was clearly... Well he was down there. What was her alias to Pricklebush again? Was it Ashkit? That seemed lazy enough an answer to be correct.

"Ahh... Naw. I'm good actually. Sort of in the middle of something right now... Yknow communing with nature. But swimmin' sounds good. You should totally do that." Cheats-Fate drawled away, the spirit tucking up behind her mane of deep brown hair and clinging tightly to the back of her neck. It occurred to the trickster that not only did she not want to anger this particular spirit who had been so difficult to track down, but that she was in fact not a flying squirrel and hopping away tree by tree wasn't really an option for her.

It was a good deal that the tree was so comfortable. She could see why baby bears liked them so much.

[Noah Autumnchild]

The embarrassed Galliard was all too happy to comply with the woman's (to judge by the voice) suggestion. He hadn't planned on any human company this far out into the woods so her very presence was a little suspicious, but not enough for him to investigate. Live and let live, was a pretty reliable piece of advice and Noah was all too happy to practice it.

Trying to walk away in a dignified manner without turning his scarred back to the tree took some effort but eventually he managed it. Once out of sight of any arboreal observers he turned around and headed at a quicker pace. Returning to his established base camp he discovered much to his dismay that his clothes still weren't even close to dry so fleeing the woods was out for now.

He was still hot, sweaty and sore so a swim might actually take care of some of the numerous complaints his body was making. Picking up his clothes, he headed up stream till he found a small pond where the stream had pooled. Hanging his belongings from a nearby tree he slipped out of his only piece of dry apparel and went skinny dipping.

Once the cool water hit his overheated skin he found that he could think more clearly. The girl's face returned to him with a strange familiarity to it which he couldn't quite place. Along with the visage came a song and just like that the Galliard was belting out a rousing rendition of the Doors “Hello, I love you.” He presumed it was one of those moment of inspiration Mother provided so he sang it for her. Once more having driven himself to distraction Noah emerged from the pool only to find a surprise waiting for him.

[Haley Blue]

The probably garou went about his suggested business, which struck Cheats-Fate that he wasn't a local. None of them would have moved on until they'd gotten close enough to identify her. It was interesting enough, more than sufficient to divide her attention much to her tutor's irritation. Rarely had learning a gift felt quite so much like being held hostage, not that Xochipilli minded... it was exciting in the extreme. Wyld spirits thought and did wyld things and daring darling Xochipilli was eager to learn by the teeny tiny feet of that teacher... even if it looked for all intents and purposes that her too-clever brain might be elsewhere.

Coyote's children were so predictable sometimes. It was of course anathema to Spider, though she was barely surprised enough to be truly angry when the Trickster's child caught sight of flesh and was instantly less studious than a moment ago. ~ You want to follow him? Then do it.~ The spirit flexed several sets of prickly legs against the Nuwisha's tan skin, as though articulating something. ~ But do it my way, Little Sister. ~ Arachne's wyldling gave a chortle at the involuntary shudder the movement got from her student. Good. That had caught her attention.

“Your way? Hmm.” The latrani asked, slouching against the tree in thought. Tightening her grip at the legs, she leaned back and undid her belt, pulling it back through the loops and wrapping the notched end around her hand. “That's very clever Cousin. I don't think I'll ever be able to float through the air as your light body does, or be able to produce a substance so fine as your silk to sail aloft on... but maybe I can reach this closest tree with a humble secondhand accessory.” Haley smiled, flicking the buckled end of her belt out at the closest, sturdiest looking limb the next tree over, in roughly the direction of the skinny dipping young man.

It took a few tries but soon enough the devil-may-care girl was leaping through the air, not so much using the belt to swing as she was using it to guide her to the trunk with as few incidental wounds as possible... these would heal almost instantly in any case. Climb and hop and climb and hop. Maybe flying squirrely wasn't so far off after all. In a short while (that is to say less than a day and more than a minute) she clung securely from a lakeside tree, pleased enough with herself that she was ready to crow about it.

~ You make your Oghma proud, Flower Princess~

The blond boy was still swimming, though he was not alone in his movements. Something rustled by the shore. “That is possibly the whitest butt I've ever seen. Maybe that's why he's shy about it. Wants to even out his tan before doing any streaking.” When had her hands gotten all... not sticky but tacky? Xochipilli couldn't remember having landed on any truly sap-laden tress... what were those little green shapes up to?

About the size of her feral self, the small brushy satellite-eared one of course, scuttling like naughty children... nude little imps, scaled and mossy colored, like the stories Haley's Nana had told by firelight. They were picking up the boys personal effects, rummaging through his things. It almost looked as though they would move on and leave the swimmer's things mostly unmolested until one of the strange little green men lifted his head and met the Coyote's eyes. He squeaked in alarm, rousing the small group who all fled the scene, along with any items still in their hands. Only the underwear had been spared.

Cheats-Fate laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Laughed until she was dangling upside-down from a branch, tears streaming up her face and off her forehead, cheeks red, hair flipping about in the breeze.

She waved at the stranger as he emerged from the water, gleefully pointing out the obvious. “They took your stuff! It was wicked! You know I heard that there were lizard-men at Elizabeth Lake... but I'd never seen 'em 'til now.” They had almost been sort of cute, if anyone had asked her about it. Not hardly the otherworldly abductors those conventions claimed them to be.

The Spider was laughing, and Haley didn't have time to stop and think about why her arachnid instructor might be doing so before the spirits burbling voice was in her ear again. ~You're doing well, Daughter of my Mother's Brother. But part of this is learning how to land~ There was a cold numbness as Spider's fangs pierced the tan latrani's neck. ~What is it that mortal girls sing Xochipilli? Light as a feather, stiff as a board?~

Like the back-beat of Ride the Mindway, one little bit, the tiniest nip and everything was light and color, sound and vision, all too bright, throbbing, overwhelming. The Coyote's heart sped up, her back twisted, the pain hit, she yelped, spasmed as Spider burrowed her head under the skin, forcing her body into the wound, shrinking, growing and finally settling between her pupil's shoulder-blades, leaving no trace but a bite and a bruise. The Spider's kiss was fierce, but a kiss was a kiss was a kiss... and a kiss was something to remember.

It was like being a marionette. First one of her legs straightened, like a shot from where it braced her to the tree branch, then the other. Then, though there was little she could do about it, she was falling like a Star, idly watching Daisy's boots ahead of her (or did this count as behind now?) as she careened once more towards the Earth. She laughed straight up until she hit the ground with a crunch that was more horrifying to hear than it was to feel. Still alive! Praise Coyote.

[Noah Autumnchild]

Noah looked up to see that the pretty face in the tree had followed him. He knew many stories about this sort of encounter but usually the shoe was on the other foot, so the Galliard had no idea how he was supposed to act. He began by blushing from head to toe and covering his maleness with his hands like he was about to block a penalty kick.

“What did you say?” he asked but before he could get an answer she was falling. Tree Girl hit the ground with a noise which temporarily distracted Noah from his considerable embarrassment. He rushed to her, proving in the process that no matter how kind Father Fenris had been to you there was still nothing funnier then a naked man running.

When he got to her, his hand immediately brought unnecessary relief. He had no clue that the girl was a Latrini and that her wounds would heal instantly so he touched her on the forehead, his hand bringing healing from the power within him. “You'll be alright now.” he said gifting her with a smile warm enough to fend off an arctic winter. Then he remembered he was naked and promptly bolted before he got a good look at her face.

His CoGy duties fulfilled Noah grab his underwear from the branch and dove behind a bush putting on the garment as he went. This could not be done with any dignity nor grace so the Galliard found himself flat on his ass behind said bush. “Listen, I wasn't going to do anything I swear! I was just swimming, that's why I was naked. I'm not that kind of person!”....at least not anymore. The once rapist was horribly embarrassed and a little ashamed. He'd forced his nudity on a woman and he'd sworn he would NEVER behave like that again. He wondered if he could have a rite of cleansing done when he got back to the Sept, he felt dirty. “But ummmm....what did you mean someone took my stuff? Who took it? What did you mean by lizard-men?” he asked shamefully using a barrage of questions to distract her from his earlier sexual harassment. He was really going to need that rite now, and would probably have to confess to a Philodox.

[Haley Blue]

Xochipilli stretched out her back, hearing a sharp pop-pop-pop as her abused vertebrae realigned themselves. Was it the second time she'd woken up to unrequested taint this week? That was admittedly what you got when you fell asleep in the hot tub at a frat party. Then again a certain tea-bag intending young pledge now knew just how hard the latrani could pinch.

So the purple guy with the hot pink butt had said something... something about her health, all of which seemed to be in order except for maybe the cotton-mouth, the none-too-gentle craving for blood, and the need to ingest chlorophyll that the golden girl was currently suffering from. That and the very not-okay feeling she was getting from being on her back, which was odd. Haley usually she slept on her back, all four paws in the air if she was in her birth form but it didn't just feel weird, it felt wrong.... vulnerable to be laying so casually in the brush with her soft underbelly exposed... soft...

SPIDER. RIGHT.

The Nuwisha groped absently on the ground around her, her vision adjusting to this new sight... like bas-relief in florescents... Collecting a handful of greenery she sat up, stuffed a few leaves in her mouth and started munching away. Her fingers still felt all tacky and strange, though try as she might once she'd chewed her way through that handful of vegetation (none of which was of the typically edible variety, thank Earth Mother for a supernatural digestive tract...) licking them clean didn't help a whit. Crawling up onto her knees and then her feet, Cheats-Fate wobbled over to the water's edge, nibbling on the various ants and other insects that had gotten stuck to the leaves that were stuck to her hands as though it were a typical behavior. “Yeah... I mean, s'gone isn't it? Lizard-men... visitors... little people who aren't actually people...” She slurred, bending over to wash her now mostly empty hands in the lake.

She stood up and clapped them together...

Nope. Still sticky. Note to self: Do not try to fix your hair.

The girl's golden gaze fell to the shore, that section of sand that separated water from earth... and smiled at the colorful hand and footprints that she found there. Like one of Niko's paintings... but so much smaller and so many... going down to the water, something inside of Haley yapped that they had been fishing, then to the boy's stolen goods ('Exploring! They were exploring!'), and then back up the incline and into the woods. Their wet little footprints left a very distinct trail, sharp and vibrant even in the technicolored landscape that blossomed in the Coyote's eyes. “They went this way.” She announced, not really paying a terrible amount of attention to whether or not anyone was following her as she clip-clopped off into the forest, weaving drunkenly and using her suddenly extremely helpful hands to guide herself along and provide more insect based snacks as she progressed.

Her tutor watched in silence, content to send a tingle here, or helpful twinge of discomfort there, egging Haley forward towards her self-appointed goal: capturing a little green man. The Trickster's child whistled while she worked, the tune she chose was not merely appropriate, it was crisp and clear enough in the forest that the shivers it could induce would have made Mark Snow proud.

[Noah Autumnchild]

Sweet merciful Gaia she was distracting. Noah couldn't help but curse his own nudity which kept him firmly behind cover for other firm reasons. The self abusing Galliard found fault even with this little truth that his body refused to keep from him. How dare he be attracted to a hot girl without asking first!

Luckily she was a hot girl in retreat. Apparently she could see the foot prints of the little green men that had stolen Noah's clothes and that was good enough for him...provided she kept her eyes on the path and not on him. He followed her, dutifully sprinting between the bushes and trees he was using as cover. He'd followed uglier girls for worse reasons.

Soon enough the drug-addled beauty's visions were vindicating with highly useful evidence in the form of Noah's much desired pants. The Child of Gaia sighed heavily with relief once he was able to finally put on some clothes. No longer distracted by his own body the Galliard found time to appreciate the woman's walk....he knew that waggle from somewhere. It couldn't be....nope it had to be, nobody on earth had an ass that fine!

“Earth Ange...” he started just as she fell into a hole. Fuck NO! He'd come all this way, she couldn't be lost to him now! She just couldn't! Noah panicked the thought of losing the woman he loved drove him to stupidity. He tried to go after her head first, but didn't account for how big his shoulders had grown. Fear and body dismorphia left him stuck upside down in the hole his favorite coyote had disappeared in. He should have been more concerned but he had more pressing matters to worry about.

“Earth Angel! Are you OK? Please tell me you're alright.” he shouted completely ignoring his own predicament or the feeling of being poked in the leg by something on the surface.

[Haley Blue]

Cheats-Fate had not fallen. The apt descriptor would have been that she had leapt.

Maybe at first she had tripped but the glue-ish nature of her hands wouldn't let her stumble too far. Her spun-out mind squealed, spotting the entrance (likely one of many if the lizard-men were half as smart as rabbits...) to the warren. The psychedelic nature of her stalking activated a playful prey drive in the Coyote, she was eager to give chase, ignoring the warbling calls of the boy behind her which translated into white noise and static as it reached her accutely elsewhere ears. She was a predator, hot-blooded, in pursuit of the rarest of prey: The Unknown.

I'M GONNA GET ME A LITTLE GREEN BOYFRIEND!

Head first as was right and proper, the latrani pulled her stick-icky hands off of the tree that supported her and plunged forward. The Nuwisha slid into the tunnel with an excited yap, merrily slipping and sliding her way through mud and silt like an otter. It was cold and dark but her amber eyes adjusted easily to the lack of light and the chill of the earth against her skin was magic, like silk. She had always understood why well-to-do ladies wanted to sit in a bath full of Earth Mother's good stuff, it felt good. It was the bit where they paid a fist full of dollars for it that she couldn't comprehend.

She hit the end of the tunnel with a joyous titter of laughter, the scorpion in her back chuckled hollowly in time with her. Spider, Scorpion... they were both arachnids and both venomous, it was close enough for quarters. Close enough for close quarters, come to think of it.

~What do you hunger for, Xochipilli?~

The Coyote righted herself, groping for purchase in the tight little den. Her amber eyes flitted about the space, noting the scurry of much smaller feet in adjacent tunnels. The thud and call from above caught her attention as she answered Sc-Spider's question. The query rolled around in her mind a few moment before the answer could break forth through her smile. “Knowledge sister, knowledge! I want to learn!”

Words broke through static, the boy turned from white-noise to a a whole set of voices, a choir belting out a tune that she felt no small affection for nor could she help but croon back at the radio. “Will you be mine? My Darlin' dear... love you all the time...” Fumbling around she located the pathway she'd descended down, suddenly sullen at the decided lack of small green men. “I think the visitors have fled the the spacecraft... I hope you're not stuck.... I don't think any of these other shafts are big enough for me to squeeze out of.” Gaia that was practically lucid given the circumstances.

“If anyone starts probing you, do you think you could ask one of them to come back down here and show me around? Without a host I'm starting to feel like an invader down here.... it's sort of lonely.”

[Noah Autumnchild]

She really was the most perfect girl in the world, mainly because she tended to change the world just by visiting. She'd certainly turned Noah's day upside down. He'd intended to exercise and do some laundry, now he was shoulder's deep in a mound which belonged to some unknown, but probably green creatures who were poking his legs. Perfect.

“The little green things have fled the den which we're both in various degrees of stuck in. That's good news I suppose. I wouldn't want to have to face down a potentially dangerous form of life on it's home turf.” he mused and the little green things began taking off one of his shoes.

“Say buddies do you think maybe you could give me a hand out of here?” he asked for no real reason aside from something to do. He was already making a pitiful amount of progress squirming his way out of the hole. At this rate he'd be out by sometime tomorrow, he didn't need their help. “Or if not that then could you maybe go talk to my friend? She's super lonely.” he asked politely.

“Oh and Earth Angel, it's Noah. Remember me?” he asked doing his best to sound casual when his heart was in his throat.

[Haley Blue]

Alright, so Captain Obvious up-top had successfully parroted the present back to her. Thanks for the update, new boy. None of this information was hooking her up with a scaly-gray boyfriend any faster and Xochipilli somehow doubted the Visitors spoke english when she took a moment to stop and think about it. It would be Spirit Speech from there on out. Though no aid came immediately for the galliard, the prodding abated when he spoke, his deeper voice reverberating through the tunnels of the warren, being amplified and contorted by the strange space. “Uh...I remember a Noah. Nice guy, lots of animals.... really pimped out boat?”

She called out with her gift just to see if anything would respond. ~Remember that night at my window, when I waved at you?~ Cheats-Fate had always been in love with the Stars, entranced by Sky, reaching up towards Heaven believing there was more to the Universe, more spokes in the Wheel than even her own people knew. It often came as a surprise to others to find the inexplicable empathy she felt for those entities that she had never met. Recounted around firelight by drunks back on the rez, talking about balls of shimmering crystal in the night sky. Dreamt of ever after. ~I must have been only five or so but I never forgot you...~ The Coyote murmured as she crawled around on her hands and knees, her alert ears noting some squeaks and squawks from a thinner channel. Nosing her way in, she spotted the kits, little and gray-green, wide dark eyes... though she had little to help her guess the ages of the children in the hiding spot. ~I wonder why you choose those others and you'd never come to call on me. When I'm the one who's waiting for you. I really need you, please pick me....~

Besides, why couldn't aliens exist? Haley had seen and done things that would break the fragile reality of even the strongest willed mortal. Wanting to be alone in the universe (she didn't) would not make it so, no matter how far under the sand they jammed their collective heads. As blatantly as that tactic had failed during interspecies encounters (It didn't matter to Haley if the species was earth based or not. If she could freely converse with spiders, mountains, bears, Lunes, Celestines and the spirits of over a dozen dead Hollywood stars it wasn't as though a little xenomorphia was going to put her off.) there were of course always those who would find a way to make it so. Yes, genocide could make a species right about it's importance in the grand scheme of things, but only to them and no one else. The Universe knew better and her memory was longer.

There was always an adventurous cub in the litter. Xochipilli's golden gaze fell on the nest, gleaming with mirth, her expression softening to invite, to coax out that one child who would start the avalanche and bring on understanding between them. Being feral was to be alien to the mortal world. Being Nuwisha, more spirit than body, was to be an outsider in the physical plane. Wyld in the realm of Weaver, she was an outsider. The Otherworld was as real as Cheats-Fate.

Topside, the lizard men shuffled about, stilling again when the Nuwisha spoke in that other tongue. ~I think he's stuck in your door. Which means you're stuck with me until he gets free... cuz my booty's a little wide to make it out any of these other tunnels... Do you... wanna come help me get him out? I bet he looks pretty funny.~ She waited, still and calm.

A tiny hand came out of the nest, not an infant (she didn't think) the digits were too thin and the absence of baby fat on the hand was clear enough... ~Booty?~

Haley nodded, undeterred as the delicate faced lizard-child peered out from it's hiding spot. She backed up slowly, carefully so as not to frighten the little ones, then jammed her daisy-duke clad rear into one of the smaller tunnels, though not hard enough so that she was legitimately stuck. The Coyote wiggled expressively. ~Yeah see?~ she pointed at her butt and hips throwing her hands wide. ~Booty.~

Oh how lucky, how joyous how right a response from that youth, as brash and daring as Xochipilli was, a sound that was the same no matter what language you spoke, that noise broke down barriers and made men's hearts still.

The child laughed.

[Noah Autumnchild]

She doesn't remember me! He was utterly and instantaneously crushed. For all of his love of her he was nothing to her, not even worth being recalled!....Oh...right, I wasn't called Noah back then.

He heard vague muttering from within the hole. Apparently his lady love was busy negotiating with something, this could only go well, but wouldn't if he interrupted, so he waited. He waited till he heard the tell tale signs of Earth-Angel's work, the laughter of her success was unmistakable. Secretly he was thrilled by the sound of her.

Noah laughed his way into the conversation. “So you're right Noah was a guy with a boat and now he's me but I used to be Siggy. You getting help from the Zims? I only ask because if they aren't helping then I'm all the more curious about what they're doing with my legs.” he announced in response to an intensification in the poking by his terrestrial hosts.

[Haley Blue]

The children, bolstered by their eldest's bravery started piling out of their hiding place, brazenly approaching and prodding the Nuwisha. It wasn't very long at all before several climbed up her tan and muddied limbs, squeaking in delight as she reacted the way only a truly ticklish person can, by twitching and giggling. Haley held as still as she could, wanting to avoid squashing a kidlet by accident. That would be sad, aside from being a terrible interspecies race relations move. Squawking little voices to go with equally scrabbly little hands pulled at her hair ~ Your tail is in a funny place! ~ and climbed up onto her stomach ~ She's bouncy, like moss! ~ and pried at the toes of her boots ~ She has hooves like a deer! What a funny animal...~ among various other observations came as the kits explored.

It reminded her of Gulliver's Travels but cuter and with less bondage. ~ Alright troublemakers, who of you is brave enough to go outside and sweet talk your parents into helping me dig him out? ~ Xochipilli asked, waiting the few moments it took the older children to argue out who got to venture outside and implore their parents for aid. Eventually two of them scuttled off, clearly racing to get topside first. In short time, the tony hands that had liberated Noah's boot were fast at work trying to pry loose the silt around the wolf's shoulders.

There it came again, a name from that Otherworld. Teaching meant that someday each and every lesson came to an end, a logical (despite the illogical nature of the instructor in question...) result that came when the student decided they'd learned everything they needed (which wasn't the same thing as what they could have benefited from). The Siggy she remembered wouldn't be stuck in a hole that big... he'd been sort of on the rangy, stringy side if she recalled correctly. “Don't worry Siggy, I think it's all good. They've gone to implore an adult.”

“If you're still alive, my regrets are few.” The latrani bubbled as she wriggled back up the tunnel towards the Child of Gaia. She was a rustic vision in mud and dirt, locks of hair plastered to her silt and moss speckled cheeks, all reflective honey eyes and brilliant smile. “Why am I somehow not surprised to find you jammed in a hole just like Winnie the Pooh?” She mused, digging her nimble little fingers into the dirt where the garou's shoulders were wedged, prying away chunks and trying to make a space so that she could get her hands in there.

“Nothing's broke is it? I can hear your heart from here.” She observed almost casually as she started pushing the galliard free, hands braced on his shoulders. “What are you doing up here anyway... didn't I drop you off in Canada?”

Really... and she had the gall to think of him as oblivious.

[Noah Autumnchild]

Noah had no idea how romantic relationships actually worked. While Rita had provided a loving home, the old Dene woman had been a widow for long enough that the subject rarely came up. What little information the kinswoman had imparted the Spirals had erased and replaced with pain. Since then Gaia had taken away the pain but there were still giant gaps in the Galliard's understanding of love, courtship and relationships in general. For most of his life this hadn't been a problem, but with the love of his life no more the a few inches from him, the information suddenly became critical.

“I....my heart it's fine sorta....and you left me in Texas. I left because....” he replied, his face retreating from hers as he was pulled from her and the hole by the little green men.

Panic set in the instant that Earth-Angel was out of sight. He'd seen her disappear with far less help then a big dark hole. If he lost her now he might never find her again. Ironically his fear of losing her lent him the courage to say what he'd always wanted to tell her.

He leaned over the hole, making sure that the mud touched beauty was still there before making his confession. “I left because of you. Because.....because I love you. Because I loved you since the first time I saw you. Because I was wandering around the Sept miserably searching for what was missing from my life, and then I realized that what was missing was you.” he said with desperate sincerity.

Declaration made, the fear immediately turned on him. With no reference point as to what might happen next, Noah's fertile imagination began filling his head with terrible thoughts. He back pedalled. “But you don't have to love me back if you don't want to, or even keep talking to me, or ever again if you don't want to. I really will leave you alone...I just needed you to know how I felt. I'm sorry for being so selfish and pushing this on you, but I love and I would like to be around you if you'll permit it.” he apologized now certain that his love must offend her in some significant way. How could it not? She was a subterranean goddess and he was just the surface scum. Noah was so wrapped up in his cowardly self-recrimination that he mostly forgot about the zims, to his mind there was no one there but her and him.

[Haley Blue]

Unseen didn't mean unheard. It didn't take the Coyote long to find her voice again, a murmur of laughter escaping her as she wriggled her way up the slippery incline, which was no easy task. “Sorta fine? I should hope so. If everyone's hearts were whole all the time then no one would need one another, would they?” The latrani didn't bother telling the boy that she hadn't left him anywhere. Not unless that's what he thought getting sucked into an umbral vortex was. Explaining things to wolves was usually a lot of work. They were much better at show and tell.

“You know honey, you always worried too much. It sounds like you still do.” The Nuwisha replied sweetly as she clawed her way out of the alien warren. Xochipilli didn't dwell too long on silly things like distance and time. Last night and last year weren't all that far away from one another, love given was love rekindled as easily as drawing breath. Clambering to her feet the muck smeared girl stretched up to give the addlepated galliard a kiss on the cheek, one that fell short and landed along his jaw. She certainly didn't remember Siggy being so tall.

She had asked Spider for knowledge and the wyld spirit hadn't disappointed. It wasn't 100% the kind of knowledge she'd anticipated but Coyote's children weren't picky about little details like semantics. There was a reason she hadn't been more specific in her query. Life was better with surprises. “Of course you can hang out with me, Dummy. I missed you too, right? Or do we really have to re-hash the Love Foolosophy again?” Cheats-Fate shook her head, laughing. Homids. Boys? Maybe. You could answer every question they asked truthfully and they would still find reason to doubt, to over-analyze, or to outright refute whatever it was you had professed to them. At a certain point she'd stopped explaining herself.

That was the trouble with being a Trickster sometimes. You could try your damnedest to be open and all it did was make people even surer of a lie.

Haley picked up a few of Noah's things, squawked some more gibberish down the warren and stood back up to address the Child of Gaia. “C'mon. Let's go back down to the lake and wash up, hey? You can tell me what you've been up to since we last saw each other.” This was part genuine interest, part ruse. His gift of the gab would give the Nuwisha some much needed time to remember who she'd been. She remembered the trip, the boy, and the beasts. It was the girl that remained a mystery.