What the...

[donotmail]

| characters | Arj and anyone!

| date/time | Wednesday afternoon, just after the crystals shatter

| location | 1st floor of the tree

| rating | PGish?

| summary | Arj gets a sudden welcome when the new floors open up!



Arj is outside when he hears the commotion. He'd slunk off into the outdoors some time earlier, in search of a quiet place to hide. Outside, he'd been overwhelmed by the vast forest in front of him. Did greenmount trees really get this big?

Of course none of it matters, because this is a hallucination, and he is going to be calm about it and not get into trouble. So he's found himself a nice hollow in one of the great tree's roots, and is how hiding behind a curtain of illusionary moss. He's curled up in a tight little ball, ears turning this way and that. He can hear things outside, people talking, but he is going to be sensible about this. There is no point whatsoever in talking to anyone who doesn't exist.

Until the crystalline sound of shattering pierces the air, and he startles, the 'moss' vanishing into nothing. Against his better judgement, he half runs, half slinks over the massive roots to the hollowed out trunk.

"What on Ryll was THAT?"

Comments

[donotmail]

Arj groans and covers his face with his paws. "Who knows? Maybe you are. Maybe we're both sleeping. Wouldn't that be something?"

It's mild, compared with his normal attitude, but even here and now, he can't bring himself to snap at a child - unfamiliar as her species is, she's too much like his sisters...

"I've never met a... whatever it is you are... before." He takes away his paws and lifts his head, eyes half lidded. "Does that make us even?"

[lady_bug]

"Hmmmm..." Agitha pondered aloud, clearly not offended by Arj's outburst. "I remember waking up this morning, so I certainly can't be dreaming! Unless, it's one of those dreams where you dream that you wake up! But, oh! That would mean I would never get to meet a talking kitty like you!"

No, that wouldn't be any fun at all, she decided. She was going to accept that they were both awake. But what to do about their other problem?

"I know! We should make it official, to clear the air!" She giggled and curtsied. "I am Princess Agitha, of the insect kingdom!"

[donotmail]

"I'm quite sure I woke up this morning, too," he says. It's the rest he isn't sure about. "Why? Was there a lot of light for you as well?"

But even he can't resist a tiny smile at Agitha's actions. It's exactly the sort of thing his sisters did as fluffy cubs, declaring their ownership of... well, usually the nearest rock. There wasn't much else to declare ownership of, outside of the dens.

And, Archetype Spirits take him, he'd liked his sisters.

He got back to his feet, and nodded to her. "Arj," he said. "Of Clan Aauron."

[lady_bug]

"Arj!" Agitha tried the unusual name out. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance! If you're part of a clan, does that mean there are more of you somewhere?"

The prospect of more blue talking kitties was almost too much for her to bear.

[donotmail]

"Yes," he says. Agitha would be in luck if she likes blue cats - fully half the clan are blue. Most of the rest, his father included, are shimmering silver. "Quite a few more, though I don't think any of them are here."

He looks around, just to be sure. It would be just like them to set this up, strange herbs he's eaten and all, as a prank.

[lady_bug]

It didn't matter too much what color a kitty was. A kitty was a kitty was a kitty, after all.

"Ah! You're alone here, too?" Agitha put a finger to her lips. "That happens to a lot of us, it seems. Like me!"

[donotmail]

He looks back at the girl. His ears are lowered again, but not in anger. "Yes," he says. "I rather think I am. Or that... we are?"

He tries to regain his composure, but he isn't very good at it. "Is everyone alone here?" That's an odd thought, he thinks, as he gazes off into the distance. Surrounded, and all alone at the same time.