[Kestrel]

Night! Night... If you don't get off this instant, I'll boil you in a pot of soup! Astrum warned the little Kudagitsune that was clutching her tail.
The little creature whimpered, and glowed cloudy dark blue. This was her aura, which she changed according to her mood. But only Astrum could actually understand it. Because she was the only one that paid enough attention to see it clearly.
Night! I'm not falling for your 'I'm so sad' thing again! Astrum thought.
Night shimmered to a bright, fiery orange, in one of her little rages. She, unlike Astrum, was offended easily.
Night, I'm here to meet some Lokiri person. If you mess this up, I won't be happy. Astrum glared, and Night wilted, turning a blue-gray color. The only reason the lucain was actually doing this was because, otherwise, when she actually did get in a breeding with him, at least she'd know him a bit.

{28}

[Soriana]

After taking several wrong turns and walking in circles for at least half an hour, Lokiri was apparently back on track again. And he had already found reason to blame someone for his current situation. If this is all some clever prank orchestrated by that idiot Picasso, he can expect to find paprika in his cinnamon porridge tomorrow morning. I didn't come all the way out to Roraldi to waste my time. Besides, none of the other members mentioned this meeting. For the love of Zu'hai, must they always keep me in the dark?! I keep saving their sorry skins, the least they could do is be a bit more informative. The demigod was obviously in one of his moods again. He'd been in a fix ever since Soriana decided to start an organization dedicated to exploring Evelon and rescuing those in need. Sure, it was an exciting prospect, but it didn't leave Lokiri enough time to make mischief. Pulling pranks for amusement was basically his life in a nutshell. Almost.

Stopping to rest by an old fallen tree, Lokiri sensed the presence of another. He stood up, and walked a few paces north. Sure enough, he spotted a female lucain just ahead. He did not speak or call out, he simply continued to approach her, wondering if she was in fact the reason he'd been sent all the way out to Lambastia. Well now, he thought, this should be interesting.

{1}

[Kestrel]

Hearing something to the left of her, Astrum whipped around, throwing Night of her tail. Was this Lokiri? Tensing up, she prepared a 'welcoming' speech.
Lokiri? Astrum thought, then decided against that. Too short, too expectant.
Who are you? But that was too open, and besides, she already have knew who he was. Pretty much.
Are you Lokiri? Sounded, well, just, wrong.
So, she decided to let him speak first. Suddenly, she felt a pull on one of her tails.
Night, is that you? she asked, as if she didn't know. She swung her tails forward, and saw the little Kudagitsune, who was happily swinging back and forth, glowing a bright, happy green.
Night, get off there! Can't you see we have company?! Astrum hissed.
Night froze, and looked straight at Lokiri, then dived under Astrum. Shaking, and turning to the colors green, purple, and black, trying to blend in as much as possible.
Astrum, on the other hand, was staring fiercely at Lokiri. She wasn't going to let her guard down, not for one second. What if he wasn't the person she was suppose to meet?

{29}

[Soriana]

Seeing that the female was obviously not going to begin the conversation herself, the Juridian demigod had no other choice but to introduce himself. It was no embarrassment to Lokiri, though. Besides, he thought, she is rather lovely. Clearing his throat slightly, he raised his head and stared directly at Astrum, hoping his red-eyed gaze wasn't too intimidating. He was doing his best to display charm and wit, but the male wasn't exactly what you'd call a perfect gentleman. "I believe it was previously arranged that we should meet here. I am Lokiri. Just Lokiri, if you will. And you, my dear, must be Astrum. A pleasure." That was probably a bit too brisk. Ah well. I wonder if she was tricked into this as well. Or perhaps she was agreeable. Hmmm. Maybe I won't tamper with Picasso's breakfast, after all.

{2}

[Kestrel]

Astrum said nothing, and continued staring at him, not blinking at all. Night, on the other hand, scampered out from under Astrum, and ran onto her tails again.
Recently, Astrum had been practicing mindreading. Unfortunately, she only had Night to practice on, and half the time, Night was thinking of how fun swinging on her tails were, and Astrum could tell that by Night's expression, so she didn't know if it was working or not.
However, Astrum did sense something within the male's mind. A sense of annoyance. And, a picture of her? Well, now she knew he was annoyed, and was thinking something about her, whether good or bad.
Then he spoke
Lokiri, Astrum repeated to Night. His name's Lokiri.
My dear?! she thought to herself. My dear?!
Narrowing her eyes, she tried to penetrate his mind farther. But all she got was a picture of porridge, cinnamon porridge, and some man eating it. And her, again.
Astrum bit her lip, wondering if she should speak out loud or not.
"Ye-es," Astrum cursed herself. Why did she speak out loud? She always stuttered when she did that!
Switching to thoughts, she added, I am Astrum, then stepped back, her face half shadowed by the shadows of the trees.

{30}

[Soriana]

(Sorry about the whole "my dear" thing. As much as Lokiri hates Picasso, he's still picked up some of his habits.)

Lokiri, being a demigod, had already sensed something special about this "Astrum." Sori had given him a briefing a few months back concerning psychics and mind readers. Such as the way some of them stutter when they speak using their mouths, and whatnot. It was all a little blurry to him now. And then, of course, there was his father... The lucain adjusted his posture slightly, balancing his weight evenly between all four of his legs. Ah, I see. You're a telepath. I understand completely. And forgive me for not noticing earlier, I'm usually sharper than that. He paused, swishing a small clump of mud off of his tail. I suppose it's lucky, though, that I can communicate through my mind as well. Speaking the regular way can become a bit of bore, can't it? And it is a rather primitive way of making conversation.

{3}

[Kestrel]

(It's OK. It's just Astrum. She's, sensitive to things like that.)

At this point, Night had run up to Lokiri, and was climbing up his tails, testing his tolerance.
But Astrum told her, Night, come back here right now!, and a glowing gray Night returned. Astrum stepped deeper into the safety of the trees, wondering yet again if this was who she was suppose to meet, and if this was really the right place.
Then,

he spoke. Not from his mouth, but telepathically. Astrum was shocked, but quickly, her expression of surprise was taken by something else, suspicion. She turned to go, had not Night pulled firmly on her tails, signalling that she was not leaving.
Night! Stop that! I'm going, whether you like it or not!
Night glowed a firm red, then changed to rainbow. Then back to red. While she was glowing rainbow, she pointed to Lokiri.
Night, do you really think he's OK? Astrum asked.
The Kudagitsune nodded.
Positive?
Night nodded.
Fine. But I'm doing this only for you!
Smiling happily, Night led the way back to Lokiri.
Astrum took a deep breath, then said, You can speak telepathically.
Night glared at her.
Clenching her teeth, she added, Who eats cinnamon porridge?, referring to the picture she had seen earlier.
She caught another picture. A turquoise colored male Lucain.

{31}

(Arrikanez was the 'mother', right?)

[Soriana]

(No, I think Mahj-Ahno actually had the pups. To be positive, you could ask FireHeart or Arrikanez. And Astrum is from Barakka, right?)

Lokiri was taken aback slightly, as he realized that he'd been thinking about Picasso and cinnamon porridge whilst he introduced himself. And he didn't particularly enjoy the idea of starting off the conversation with Picasso as the main topic. He's just a roommate. Nobody, really. The demigod felt satisfied with his lie, until he remembered that he was speaking with a telepath. She wasn't like normal people, she could tell if he was being truthful or not. Then he started to regret it. Doing the best he could to mask his opinions, he thought privately, I should have just told her the truth. What harm could it have done? Changing the subject, Lokiri continued, So. You come from Barakka, I see. My home is located in Nabias, but the headquarters of the organization I work for can be found in Lamenolai. Lokiri flinched. He usually didn't tell people exactly where he came from and all that, but there was something about this female that made the demigod slip up. Once again, he made sure Astrum couldn't hear what he was thinking. Astrum's telepathic powers are obviously very advanced. Powerful. Even I learned something new: I really should work on improving my own mental barriers and blocks. My mind is so easily penetrable, compared to other members of my family. The Juridian didn't like admitting it, but the fact of the matter was that he was psychic. And he needed practice. A lot of practice.

{4}

[Kestrel]

(Well, in the Hall of Records, it says the Lovey-Love Potion was used on Arrikanez, but Baal apparently wasn't sure, because she put a question mark after it. And, I guess she comes from Barakka)

Astrum narrowed her eyes. A roommate. Just a roommate. Then why, could you tell, was he the only person that was on your mind at the moment? If he's just 'nobody', as you say, then why are you thinking so much about him? I can only sense and see the very strongest thoughts, and surely a plain roommate, a 'nobody' wouldn't be one of your strongest thoughts, now would it?
She had sensed something from him. Guilt or regret, she couldn't tell which (or was it both?). Two reasons he would be feeling that (or them): Either he had done something against this person, or he was lying. But as she had said, the latter seemed more possible.
A word flashed in her mind, not from one of her own personal thoughts. Truth. He was thinking something about truth. Obviously, her powers were growing. At the start of the day, she could only sense emotions.
Nabias and Lamenolai, Astrum repeated. She would've told him she hated towns and cities, but right now, she wasn't feeling very trusting.

{32}

[Soriana]

The lucain silently cursed himself. Listen, he began, there are some things about me that can be... disturbing, to say the least. I underestimated your powers; I shouldn't have lied so openly, so freely. Picasso is my superior officer on an exploration team dedicated to journeying all across Evelon. That's my primary occupation. We.... we don't get along very well. It used to be better, but... nevermind. The matter is extremely complicated. But we were never friends to begin with, so it wasn't a terrible loss. Lokiri didn't think that Astrum seemed very trusting at all. And oddly enough, he was feeling less and less open to discussion of personal matters. Usually he was never like this, especially with the ladies. I'll have to talk with Rainbow when I return to HQ. She'll at least give me some straightforward advice.

{5}

[Kestrel]

Astrum nodded. He was telling the truth. Night seems to like you, she noted, pointing to the Kudagitsune who was attempting to crawl onto Lokiri's head. At this, the Kudagitsune grabbed Lokiri's ears, and pulled herself onto his head.
Astrum saw another picture. An arkuhna.
An arkuhna? she asked Lokiri.
She herself knew an arkuhna, and he wasn't that... enjoyable. And the picture came with a few words. Odd, Dicuss, Trust, Never. And, herself, again. They didn't seem to be in the right order, but Astrum decided that was because she wasn't that great at this mindreading thing yet.
Picasso's a common kuhna, she said.
Sensing that Picasso and the exploration team was not a comfortable subject for conversation, Astrum said, Night's a Kudagitsune.

{32}


(Does Picasso have an anthro form?)

[Soriana]

(Currently, no. But he really needs one...)

Lokiri shifted his stance again, but this time he appeared a bit nervous. At this rate she'll catch glimpses of every single EoE agent by this time tomorrow, he thought. Yes. The arkuhna's name is Rainbow. She insisted upon naming herself, instead of all the agents offering suggestions as usual. She claims that the process takes too long. Anyhow, Rainbow is the one we field agents always come to for advice. She really is wise beyond her years. You'd understand if you met her. Lokiri sat himself down upon the forest floor, his ears perked, his haunches raised, and his mind completely open. Oh yes, I noticed Night earlier. She is.... She's your aura, am I correct?

{6}

[Kestrel]

A naming process? Astrum thought to herself. Why ever would you use a naming process?
I take it that you, Rainbow, Picasso, and several others are part of something called the EoE? Most likely the 'exploration team dedicated to journeying all across Evelon' you were talking about earlier? she asked.
Night? Oh no, she's not my aura, not at all. Noticing that Night was attempting to bite him (she didn't have teeth), she asked, You seem to have some sort of scent she likes.
"N-night!" she called. The Kudagitsune responded more often to spoken words.
Quickly, the Kudagitsune form of Astrum perked up her ears, and rushed to Astrum's side, hoping for a treat or something. Smiling, the lucain sweeped her tails across a berry bush. Immediately, several bright red berries fell to the ground.
"Th-here you go Night," she said, after checking that they would not harm the little creature.

{33}

[Soriana]

Ah well. She does have the feel of being very close to you, if I may be so frank. Lokiri swished his right tail vigorously, as if he were shooing an insect away. Right. The naming process. I objected to the idea of having others choose names for us. It was that Picasso's brain child in the first place. You shouldn't feel too sorry for our arkuhna friend, though. 'Rainbow' isn't the worst name I've encountered in my travels. And luckily, I met Sori already having been named. I was spared the humiliation of being designated by that...that oaf. At least in part. You see, top field agents receive rather vibrant classifications from the number one agent. Mine is "Mister Grumpy." And... The lucain's voice trailed off, and a pang of nausea stabbed him in the gut. His temper flared. It's ridiculous! It's overrated! If I wouldn't be expelled for insuboordination, I swear I'd teach him a very vivid lesson. One he wouldn't forget too soon. Hgggggh, that no good, glory-stealing imp! Grrrrrr... Even though his thoughts had evaporated, his low growl continued outside their telepathic conversation. His ears were drawn back low against his skull, and he appeared to be challenging the forest floor to a fight.

{7}

[Kestrel]

Astrum watched Night gobbled down the berries as she listened.
She attached herself to me on an earlier trip. Astrum told him. Actually, she had been sent, but Night could've run away, but she decided to stay, so that was like attaching. The lucain looked down at Night. She was glowing a bright green and reaching up to pick some more berries. Astrum helped her by sweeping one of her tails across it again.
All this talk was getting boring. Without an explanation to Lokiri, Astrum scaled the nearest tree, perching on the highest branch, Night right behind her, bringing up several of the red berries. Astrum stretched out, laying her head in her paws, Night munching on the berries on her back. Astrum looked down. Would he wonder why she went up here? Did she care? That was a confusing question. While she was wondering if she should tell Lokiri why she was up here, Night pulled on her tail, turning a blue-gray color.
"Wa, water?" she asked the Kudagetsune.
Night nodded. With a sigh, Astrum began climbing down the tree.

{34}