[Kodai]

The Whisper Forest was known for being a place of questionable repute, what with the reported missing people, strange sounds, extreme fog, and general mysteriousness. However, there were those that lived quite happily within the forest, either ignoring or ignorant of the reputation their home had. One such resident was peering into the waters of a small river that cut through the forest, scanning its depths for any fish he might catch.

His size might have suggested that a simple fish would not be enough to sate his appetite, but as he was, in a sense, barred from fishing in the lake this river emptied into, he needed to make do with fishing upstream at this point in the river. Using the glowing light on his head both as a lure and as a lamp, the Bruma shuffled slowly through the water, having decidedly poor luck. He had been at it for several hours now, but his patience was not wearing down with his growing hunger. Suddenly, he looked up from the rippling surface, gazing out into the trees. Had he heard something...?

[Shieba]

"Ooooh! Oooh!" Chaotic bounced through the forest, cooing at everything and nothing. Her sister, Stella, walked behind her, trying to ignore the dark-blue Fellox without letting her out of sight. Chaotic had gotten them, once more, completely lost and while Stella was not worried, she would have preferred an evening at home.

"Stella!" Chaotic suddenly stopped her jumping. "Look! Look! Loooook! A-ma-zing!"

"What's amazing?" As far as she could see, there was nothing special ahead, but Stella knew that didn't have to mean anything. She heard a stream or river not far away, but beyond that, there was nothing out of ordinary.

"There is a stone! On the ground! A stone and on the ground! That's soooo chaotic!" Chaotic started to jump up and down again and then around a dirty stone so small that Stella had trouble really seeing it. "Woooow!"

Inwardly, Stella sighed. "How is that one different from all the other thousand stones here?", she asked, but didn't expect an answer anyway, for Chaotic had started to bounce away again. She quickly followed, just to hear a splash. Hurrying up a little, she found Chaotic in the small river she had heard before, trying not to get swept away while bouncing up and down in amazement, for the other Fellox had spotted another inhabitant of the forest.

Stella, rather new to Evelon, had never seen a Bruma before and was rather fascinated herself, but of course, Chaotic was downright in awe. "Loooook! Stella! A lamp! On the head! A lamp and on the heeeead! I want a lamp on my head, too! On my foooorehead! So I can be chaotic in the dark!"

"Yeah, right." Stella ignored Chaotic for the moment. "Sorry about that", she quickly said to the Bruma Chaotic probably had disturbed quite a bit.

[Kodai]

It seemed that he really had heard something, and the something had decided to splash right into the river. Now the Bruma definitely wasn't going to find a fish, what with the jumping and splashing that Fellox was doing. He didn't particularly mind, however – he had never seen this pair before, and his curiosity was overpowering his stomach.
"It's all right," he replied to the calmer, saner Fellox. "She has done no harm, except perhaps frightening the fish away." Chuckling, he turned to Chaotic. "Do you mean this?" The Bruma wiggled the biological light source to and fro. "It is for attracting fish and small creatures. It is how we Bruma hunt for food." Turning back to Stella (he seemed to realize that Chaotic was way too hyper for normal conversation), he asked, "I have not seen you before, or her, either. Are you lost?"

[Shieba]

Stella grimaced under her mask. "Sorry. I'll try to get her out of the river so the fish come back, though as long as she bounces around here, that's probably not going to happen."

"Ooooh!" Chaotic didn't take her eyes off the light. "I could attract fiiiiish! Stella! I want to attract fiiiiish with a liiiiight!"

"What do you want with fish, you nut? You eat emotions, not fish." Stella sighed before turning back to the Bruma. "We live here in the forest, though not in this part. Chaotic here just decided to randomly wander off again--"

"It's chaoooootic!"

"--and I have to follow her. She's rather dangerous, actually. But well, we're not living here since very long, either, so it's probably no wonder we haven't met before. We're pretty lost at the moment, but the magic of our mother reaches far through these woods and she can probably guide us back. Then again, I'm used to getting lost with Chaotic."

"It's fuuun! We could diiiie!" Chaotic cheered and continued to jump up and down, just to finally slip and land fully in the river. She sputtered for a moment and had trouble to regain her footing, but then managed to catch herself. "Seeee? Shall I drown you, Stella? It will be fuuun!" She beamed at her sister.

"Why don't you drown youself? It would be very chaotic", Stella commented. "But try to do it quietly, we need the fish coming back." She smiled a bit strained at the Bruma. "I'm really sorry for all the trouble."

[Kodai]

The Bruma listened and watched patiently as Stella explained the situation and Chaotic chimed in with her own thoughts. After the Fellox had finished talking, he took a moment to think over everything she had said. "So you live here, in the forest, but you are lost. But you are not truly lost since you say you may be guided back. That is good, then. And... Chaotic, is it? She is not doing any harm. I have been fishing here since the sun rose halfway to its halfway, and I have not seen any fish. ...Well, that is not the truth. I have seen fish, but only ones not large enough for eating." He shined his light over a slightly deeper part of the river, causing a small school of tiny silver fish to dart away and back again. "It is my thought that all the big fish have gone to the lake now, where there is more room for them." Thinking again, he added, "I did not tell you my name, and that is bad manners. I am Taiomah."
"HEY! Hey heeeeeeey!" A high-pitched voice suddenly cut through the stillness of the forest. "Hey! Taio! What's this, what's this?!"

Out of nowhere, a Morning Kitrell landed on his head between his ears. "Felloxes? Two of them? And what pretty colors! Blue and white and black and more blue!" The perky creature leaned down closer to one of the huge Bruma's ears as if telling him a secret, although her voice was still audible. "I've heard that the Lady likes those colors. I bet she'd like these Felloxes! Heeheehee!" Straightening up again, the Kitrell continued her rambling. "So what are you all doing here? Were you fishing again, Taio? Is Hakei still not letting you fish in his lake? I don't know what his problem is, really – I mean, it's not really HIS lake. He doesn't own it, after all, and if you wanted to fish there, he couldn't do a thing about it! You're so much bigger than he is, after all–"
"I respect his wishes and take my hunting elsewhere," Taio replied, his voice much deeper and slower than the Kitrell's almost breathless squeaky pitch. "Although I admit it would be easier to find food in the lake."
"EXACTLY!" she shouted, spreading her wings wide. "It's not fair to you that you can't go hunting in the lake just because Hakei says you can't!"
As she continued to ramble on about the injustice of it all, Taio turned back to Stella. "This is Kayo. She is a messenger for the House. ...As you can see, she is very talkative."

[Shieba]

Stella had to admit she liked Taiomah. His calm way of speaking and thiking things over made her relax; she was so used to always-hyper and dangerous Chaotic that this was a very nice change. "Chaotic might not be doing harm right now, but she can change into a state of aggressiveness without any prior indication. It's best to keep your distance to her." Stella smiled under her mask. "My name is Stella and yes, this is Chaotic. She gave that name to herself, mind you."

"It is chaooootic!" Chaotic explained before splashing down further into the river. "Shall I drown myself heeere or theeeere, Stella?"

Stella was just about to answer when the Morning Kitrell arrived and distracted her - and Chaotic as well.

"Oooh, a Laaaady!" Chaotic started bouncing up and down again, almost losing her footing in the stream once more. "Maybe I could be a gift if she liiikes me! A giiiiift!"

"You'd be the worst gift ever." Stella snorted and then listened to the Kitrell. It seemed there was another rather huge group living in this forest, from what she gathered. Maybe... "I'm pleased to meet you, Kayo. If I may ask, what is this 'House' you speak of? We Felloxes suddenly appeared in this forest a while ago with a huge Chateau. Most of us can't remember how we got here or where we have been before and the ones who know do not tell, so I'm wondering if that maybe happened to you as well?"

"I want a house, too! And then jump on it! A house and jumping on it!" Chaotic eyed Kayo with interest. "And I want wiiiings as well! A lamp on my forehead and wiiings!"

"Demanding today, huh?" Stella sighed. "Please just ignore her, Kayo. She's stupid."

"And chaooootic!"

[Kodai]

Taiomah nodded thoughtfully when Stella mentioned that Chaotic could become aggressive at a moment's notice. "That does seem to fit with what she says," he replied, noting the numerous times Chaotic used the word... well, chaotic. Mentally he wondered just why Chaotic liked being chaotic so much, but he figured that no one, not even Chaotic herself, would really be able to answer that question.
In the meantime, Kayo had begun rambling again, trying to address everything that she had heard while adding her own thoughts.
"Well, the Lady isn't here, so she wouldn't be able to see you even if you did decide to come visit. She's never here, actually, which is really weird, because it's such a beauuuuuutiful House! I mean, ohmigosh! It's absolutely huge! You totally wouldn't be able to jump on it if you wanted to! Unless you somehow managed to get up on the roof. I mean, I could go and jump on the roof if I wanted to because I could just fly up there, but I have no idea how you'd do it. Anyways, the House is over that-a-way, on the border of the forest – I mean seriously, it's maybe 20 feet away from the first row of trees –" she pointed in the general direction with one of her wings, "and apparently it belongs to the Lady, which is why Baron calls her the Lady of the House, or usually the Mistress, but I personally like saying Lady better, and she used to live here with only a few of the others, but then everyone else just sorta started coming to the area, and even after the Lady went missing, others kept coming, and not everyone actually lives inside the House either, you know, but we still consider everyone who checks in with us a member of the House. Although that's not to say that people aren't weird! There's lots of weird people here, and no one really knows anything about them, except maybe Baron, because he just seems to know everything. And hey, she doesn't seem stupid to me! Maybe craaaaazy, but crazy can be fun, too! I mean, some people think I'M crazy, but I think that's just because I talk a lot and pretty much say whatever pops into my head! Which I don't really think is a bad thing, you know, because it's good to let people know what you're thinking, and–"
"...Maybe it is a good thing if you stay and talk to Chaotic, Kayo," Taio interrupted (likely to Stella's relief). "I would like to talk to Stella myself."
"Huh? Hey, but I'M the messenger of the House!" Kayo squeaked indignantly, rightfully feeling like she was being brushed off. "I'm the one that knows the most about it around here–"
"And we are very thankful for your service, but I would like to talk to her about where she came from."
"Oh, all right," Kayo grumbled a little, but her sour mood quickly lightened up again as she turned to Chaotic. "So where DID you come from? I don't think I've ever seen a Fellox in this part of the forest before! Well, except maybe that prince, but he's not really a Fellox – if you look closely, you can tell. And he doesn't really use that form that much anyway, because he's not usually in the forest, because he doesn't really like being in there. Although he likes it better than being in the field, because the sun hurts his eye. He only has one eye, you know. He wears an eyepatch. I have no idea what happened, though."

[Shieba]

Stella was just about to talk to Taiomah when Kayo started her long explanation. Stella, used to Chaotic, who could ramble like that as well, managed to follow the monologue rather well and felt questions welling up inside of her, but Chaotic - beaming - chimed in the second Kayo had ended. "I could soooo jump on the house! I can jump well! Rrrrreeeeally well! Once Stella pushed me out of the window! And into the lake! Out of the window and into the lake and I almost drowned! That was my biiiiggest jump! It was aaaaawesome! And we have sooo many Felloxes coming to our house as well! They're soooo chaotic! But not as chaotic as meeeee!" She barely paused when Taiomah said he wanted to speak with Stella and Kayo asked where she was from. "I forgot where I'm from! That's soooo chaotic! We just went booooom and were here! Me and Stella and Haku and Ruu and Sui and Dyugra and Tau and Hilal and Mommy! And the Chateau! Boooom! And noooo one remembers where we're from! But Mommy does! No one but Mommy! But Mommy doesn't tell us! It's a seeeecret and chaotic! Chaotic and a seeeecret! But we have no eyepatches! Haku and Tau have glasses, though! I want an eyepatch! On my nose! An eyepatch and on my nose! On my nose and an eyepatch!"

"Dear goodness." Stella looked at Taiomah. "They both can talk quite a bit, huh? I think I'm way happier talking to you, even though Chaotic just covered the basics of where we are from, if you managed to follow these scrambled thoughts." She made sure to not let Chaotic out of her sight, but moved closer to Taiomah so they wouldn't have to shout over the other two talking - well, more like shouting in Chaotic's case. "Your 'House' seems to be much like our Chateau, in that it attracts others. Mother guides lost souls through the forest to the Chateau and almost all of them are Felloxes. You probably get the rest or something." She sighed. "Well, what exactly do you want to know? I'm ready to answer everything, I have the feeling I can learn a lot from you."

(Monologue attack. Sorry. D8)

[Kodai]

(Haha, that's fine. I just did it to you before, so~ )

"I dunno if that counts as a jump, though," Kayo frowned, tilting her head at Chaotic. "I mean, it sounds more like falling to me. Falling is pretty much the opposite of jumping, you know. Buuuuuut if you were flying somehow and you got dropped on top of the House, I bet that would work! Since if you fell into a lake and got out okay, you must be really good at falling! Except I certainly couldn't fly with you; you're WAAAY too big for me to carry. And I don't think there's anyone else that could fly with you. The only one who'd be big enough is Kai, and he can't fly at all! It's kind of strange, really; I mean it's not like his wings are broken or anything... Anyways, that's a lot of you guys! And you all just went 'BOOM' and you were here? Wouldn't that be more of a 'POOF'? I mean, I don't think things usually appear when they go BOOM – usually they disappear, am I right? Because they break. But hey, your Mommy sounds pretty mysterious! She sounds like Baron! I mean, they both seem like they know eeeeeeverything and yet they don't tell anybody! And you know, I think that's pretty mean! I'd like to know things too, you know?" She huffed, making a face, and then flew over to land on Chaotic's head. As she flew, it was obvious that there was something strapped to her leg. "...But wouldn't it be a nosepatch then? And how would you breathe? That seems like it would be hard. Unless it was like a gasmask and it had holes in it or something?"

Taiomah also moved closer to Stella, so that he was now standing on the bank and no longer in the middle of the river. "Yes, they certainly can. Perhaps it would be good if they became friends. I imagine it is hard for Chaotic to make friends, just as it is for Kayo." He looked over for a moment at the Kitrell perched on the Fellox, and then turned back. "Now, I will try to understand. You and your family... They have all suddenly appeared here, and none of you know why, except your mother that does not explain. She also leads others that are lost to your House, your Chateau. ... You are right, that does sound very much like the House, except that the original lady who owned the House..." He paused in his thoughts, suddenly looking rather confused. "...That is odd. I was about to say that she did not suddenly appear, but... I have not heard anyone speak of her lineage. Perhaps she really did appear from nowhere. However, as Kayo said, she has not been here for a long time now. Kai, the dragon, says that she was kidnapped during the war. It is confusing, though," here the Bruma frowned, "that he does not send out a search party. From what I have heard, he is very close to that woman. There must be something else he is not saying." Shaking his head, Taio attempted to clear his mood. "That is not what we are talking about right now, though. I am curious about your family. Chaotic said many names. How many live at your Plateau? And are any of them dangerous, like you say Chaotic may be? We should exchange information, as there are residents of our House that can be dangerous, or at least unpredictable."

[Shieba]

"Nuuuuh-uh! It was a jump!" Chaotic bounced up and down. "Seee! A jump. First uuuup, then doooown. I first bounced up aaaall the stairs - uuup! - in the Chateau and then I went doooown into the lake. So it was a jump! But yaaaay! I'm good! At falling! Maybe I can fall up onto the roof of your house! That would be chaotic!" Chaotic actually went thoughtful for a moment. "I doooon't remember if it was really BOOM or POOF! We all were just there! In the forest! In the forest and just there! It was rrreally weird and chaotic! I think Mommy is chaotic as well! She liiikes chaotic things! I'm sure of it!" Chaotic nodded. "Aaaall the others want to know why we went POOF and BOOM, but it's much more chaotic if we dooon't. So I don't caaaare!" Chaotic actually went cross-eyed when Kayo landed on her head, but didn't cease her bouncing up and down. Whatever was strapped to Kayo didn't seem to bother her for the moment or she didn't notice; it was hard to say with Chaotic, after all. "Oooh! I don't know hooow I breathe! How chaotic! See! I have a mask! Over my face! A mask and over my face! How DO I breathe? I don't know! Oooooh! I want a mask-eye-nosepatch!"

Stella watched, rather afraid, how Kayo landed on Chaotic's head. "Chaotic...has mood swings. They're sudden and really no one can predict them. She turns violent, into a killer. She killed before, often, actually. I'm actually rather scared right now with your friend so close to her", she admitted. "I doubt Chaotic even understands the concept of 'friends'. Not just because she's not right in the head - she's a dark creature who eats negative emotions. Your friend just seems to be a chatty, happy one while Chaotic is just...insane."

Taiomah's informations were very interesting, though, and she allowed herself to leave Chaotic be for the moment, hoping that Kayo would be able to just fly away if Chaotic would snap. "We have a Peacer Fellox at the Chateau who has fought in the war and hails from here", she thoughtfully said. "I have heard nothing from her about your House or a kidnapped lady. I can ask her, but she would have probably told us before if she knew anything. The similiarities are striking, though, in both our cases. I wonder if it means anything. So far, we thought mother was behind it all, but maybe this forest has some kind of magic?"

"In the beginning, we were nine at the Chateau - mother and us eight. We are four siblings of light and four of darkness. Strangely, we seem to be drawn to each other, to fight. Like I fight Chaotic, my siblings fight each other as well. Mother sees this as natual, obviously. All my dark siblings are dangerous, though they are all different. No other is insane like Chaotic, but two enjoy killing and the last one is a manipulator of great skill." She felt like pacing since that topic bothered her. "By now, we have many more residents, though. Some may be dangerous - those who work for my dark siblings, for example - but most are Felloxes either in mother's service who seem to know things and observe or they have their own problems and matters to attend to. We have a few other creatures here by now, too - two Lucain, an Imeut and a Tomb Imeut - but they seem all friendly. We're mostly Felloxes, though. Far above fourty by now. Mother also seems to know many creatures from this world already; some stop by for the night or two when they're in the area." She looked at Taiomah and sighed. "So your House has dangerous inhabitants as well? That's not good. I wonder if people tend to disappear in this forest because they're really lost or because they run into someone not exactly peaceful..."

(I still do the monologue thing. Haha. D8)

[Kodai]

"Well, bouncing is certainly jumping," Kayo replied to that part thoughtfully, "so I guess you DID jump. So you're good at jumping AND falling then, huh? I guess that's a good thing, 'cause the two are pretty much related, don't you think? I mean, up and down and up and down! They're the same thing but in opposite directions! And maybe you all went BOOF! See, that's a BOOM and a POOF! Or a POOM! But I wonder why? That's pretty random! But you know, people seem to go BOOF in this forest a lot! I mean, even some of our residents POOMed into the forest and they have no idea how it happened! But you know, they usually don't seem interested in going back to where they came from, so I guess they don't care either. Which is weird, because I would sure want to know why I was suddenly BOOFed into some random forest! I mean, what if someone else did it? Maybe your family was POOMed away by an evil sorcerer or something!" She stopped talking, looking at Chaotic's face. "Heeeeeeey you DO have a mask! And there's no nose-holes or anything! How DO you breathe? DO you breathe? Maybe you're not breathing! But that would be weird! Or maybe it wouldn't. I mean, there are SOME things that don't breathe, I guess."

Taio looked pensive as Stella told him more about Chaotic, looking over at where the Fellox was talking with the Kitrell. "I see. That is indeed very dangerous. I think it will be all right, though. Kayo is an agile flyer, and I can try to subdue Chaotic if that is necessary." The giant Bruma certainly looked like he could pin down a Fellox with no trouble. "So you have someone from the war as well. I do not think the Lady's kidnapping is common knowledge, so I am not surprised that you did not hear of it. She was not actually fighting in the war, and the kidnapping took place in a secluded spot. Only five others witnessed it happen, you see, and three of them live here." He paused. "I must admit, too, that there are many similarities between our two houses. Perhaps there is a great power in this forest... but whether this power is good or evil, I could not guess at. From what you say, many of your people are dark in nature, but there are also many of light, and in the end, it seems to be in balance. Maybe it is a neutral power, simply very strong, that draws others to it." Again, he paused to think. "Hmm. I do not think that the reputation of this forest is because of those that were drawn here. Although it may be likely that some of those who are lost in this forest are found by dangerous individuals, I believe that this forest has long been known as a place where people go missing, even before our houses came to be here." Moving to sit down, Taio looked at Stella with a kind yet serious expression. "I will tell you of who to be wary of from our House, so that you may look out for yourselves. There is the dark red Khimera that they call Ayteev, though that is not her name. She is like Chaotic, in that she is very unpredictable. The blue and white Lusikross named Sinják can also be unpredictable, but she is not quite as dangerous as Ayteev. Prince Friedrich and the Lieutenant Colonel Engelram are dangerous because they are demons and do not care for the feelings of living creatures. YK the Fallen Luhna is also a demon creature, and both he and Kuruijini the Nago enjoy harming others for pleasure. Sirenyai the Annelidrak is only dangerous if you do not give him his space, but you will likely not run into him."

[Shieba]

"Oooh yes! I'm an expert! A juuumping and faaalling expert!" That obviously made Chaotic happy. "And I liiiiike that! BOOF! POOM! That's chaotic! You're chaotic! Random BOOFing is chaotic!" She seemed to think about what Kayo had said. "Weeeeeell, Haku and Tau and everyone want to knooow where we came from! But it's so much more fuuun this way! All chaotic! And I don't wanna go back! It's fuuuun here! I found a stooone a bit ago! A stooone!" She looked up, going cross-eyed once more, as if she could see Kayo better that way when the Kitrell looked at her face. "Maybe I don't breathe! I don't know! That would mean I'm dead! I need a grave! A grrrrrrave!" She bounced out of the water and, a few steps away from the stream, nodded at the ground. "Uh-huh! Here! A graaave!" Though Felloxes weren't really meant for this, Chaotic did her best to start digging with her paws. "Stella! I'm deeeeead! I'm getting myself a graaaave!"

Stella looked up for a second. "Best idea you had in a long time! Don't worry, I'll push the earth on top of you!" She snorted, then turned back to Taoimah with a sigh. "At least she's busy, that will keep her happy for the moment and us out of danger. She has some dark powers, you would have to be careful, even if you are much stronger than her." She then pondered what the Bruma had said. "You have inhabitants of your House who witnessed the kidnapping, yet no one has seen enough of the attacker to initiate a search or anything? That seems a bit weird to me..."

Stella then nodded. "Yes, we are in balance. Mother herself, she has powers over both light and dark. I agree that this forest has powers, but I don't see mother as someone being pulled here. I'm pretty sure - all eight of us are, well, seven, probably, Chaotic doesn't care - that she came here of her own will, as a part of whatever plan she has. But I can imagine that she chose the forest for its unique power as a base. She certainly seems to enjoy all kinds of creatures appearing at the Chateau. She even guides them there if they are lost in the forest. Still...it seems contrary if your house is the same, to have a force in the forest that helps people find shelter and a new home, yet so many get lost."

She listened attentively to Taio's descriptions. Though she had not been in Evelon for too long, she luckily could identify all the kinds of creatures the Bruma had named. "I will make sure my light siblings and our guests will recieve this information as well, thank you. As for my dark siblings, well, it would do them good to get smacked down by a demon. Though they would probably get along with your dangerous inhabitants rather well - Ruby, a Fellox with blood-red fur and black markings like mine, loves torture and Dyugra, a Fellox with black fur and golden markings, loves to kill. The last of the four doesn't leave the Chateau much or at least I have not seen him doing so. And well, Chaotic...I always try to follow her around, so with a bit of luck, I can stop anything bad from happening."

[Kodai]

"Well, hey!" Kayo jumped up and down on Chaotic's head for a bit, fluttering her wings. "Just because you're not breathing doesn't automatically mean you're dead! I mean, you could be UNdead! Although you don't seem undead to me. Usually they're all cold and feel weird like they're stiff or something, and you sure don't feel like that! But hey! maybe you're breathing in a different way! Like, maybe you breathe THROUGH your mask, like frogs and stuff breathe through their skin. Or maybe you just don't NEED to breathe. I mean, Felloxes are kinda magical, right? You guys come from a different dimension or something, I think? And speaking of other dimensions, maybe you guys came here because you had to leave your old one! Maybe it was going to EXPLODE and so you all just BOOFed here to escape! That sure wouldn't be fun to be in a dimension like that and be unable to BOOF. Because then BOOOOOOOM! the world would explode and you'd be dead and you wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING anymore." Kayo looked down into Chaotic's eyes, thinking. "Yeah, I bet you guys are here because of something like that! An evil wizard or an exploding world! Or BOTH! An evil wizard that exploded the world! Although that would be really mean! And stupid, actually. I mean, if you explode the world, and YOU'RE on the world, then you just explode yourself! Unless the wizard could BOOF too. Then I guess he'd be okay. But I still don't get why you'd explode the world. I mean, unless you really didn't like it or something. But that's still not nice to everyone else! That's just mean, and being mean is... not nice!" She flapped her wings for emphasis.

"I do not know the exact details, but I believe that there is something about the kidnappers that is preventing them from going out and looking," Taio explained, addressing each topic one-by-one. "Perhaps it is that they are very powerful, and the ones who witnessed it are waiting to gain more strength. I do not know for sure, however. If you meet them, perhaps you may ask them about it: one is Kaibutsu, a Hollowheart, one is called the Leader, a Hunter, and the last is a Kuhna that is called Iiylis." He paused to think more about what Stella had said about the forest. "Perhaps that is why our houses are here. To be a balance to the forces in the forest that cause people to become lost. Or perhaps our houses were originally called here by the force like all others that come here, but instead of becoming lost, they remained, and help others to do the same." At Stella's description of the two members of her Chateau that would likely be of the most threat, Taio nodded. "I will tell Baron to inform everyone. And yes, it does sound like they may get along well... Until they try to kill each other, of course." Suddenly he turned his attention to the Kitrell on Chaotic's head. "Kayo! Do not speak of such things. They are too depressing to think about." In reality, Taio did not have much of a problem with her words – rather, he was trying to avoid having those words trigger Chaotic's chaotic personality. If they continued talking about what was 'nice' and 'not nice', Taio was sure that the two would come to blows soon enough.

[Shieba]

Chaotic stopped digging for a bit when Kayo started to jump up and down and simply joined that motion, seeing as jumping up and down was one of the things she did the most. "Maybe I breathe through my eeeeeears! That would be chaotic", she mused. "I have twoooo, after all! One for breaaathing and one for heeearing!" She went cross-eyed once more when Kayo bent down. "I doooon't think so. Well, maaaaybe we have an evil wizard! But! There are still Felloxes coming to help Mommy! All POOM! Out of thin aaaair! And they sometimes go BOOF back to where they came but then they come back again! It's aaaaaall chaotic!" She paused. "Maybe IIII'm the evil wizard! I can do magic! And stuff! Magic and stuff and kill people! Uh-huh. Kill people!"

"Sounds complicated and pretty dangerous", Stella agreed. "I will talk to these guys should I meet them. If there's a kidnapper going around, that's not a good thing." She sighed. "I still can't believe that Mother would have been drawn here by a force. She seems to be here on purpose, though I can't deny the help she brings to people lost here. It's all pretty mysterious. But I suppose it's a good thing that whatever it may be in the end, the force of this forest doesn't seem to be of evil nature."

Talking about 'evil natures' made Stella glance at Chaotic - and she didn't like what she saw. She glanced at Taio. "This isn't good...I'm afraid your attempts are too late."

"Uh-huh! I'm the eeevil wizard!" Chaotic had stopped bouncing. "I kill people! I kill people!" And she threw herself at Stella.

Stella reacted instantly; she was used to that. "Kayo, Taiomah, go to safety! I'll stop her!" she shouted at her two new friends before she met Chaotic head on, avoiding the claws aimed at her and tackled Chaotic from the side, trying to knock her into a tree or generally away from the Bruma. "Don't worry, I'm used to that. She'll snap out of it sooner or later, but I can't say how soon 'soon' will be."

[Kodai]

Before Kayo could reply to anything that Chaotic had said, the Fellox suddenly snapped and rushed at Stella, which made the Kitrell immediately take to the air. "Hey hey hey! What's happening? Why'd you do that?" she chittered, flapping her wings rapidly and hovering just out of reach.
"She is not a sane creature, Kayo," Taio called, moving back into the river. He wasn't sure if the water was a particularly 'safe' place or not, but he was not about to leave the area and abandon Stella. Even if she said she had handled this sort of attack from Chaotic before, who was to say that this wouldn't be the time that Chaotic got the better of her? "She is like Ayteev; she can be nice if she wants to, but in truth, she is actually very dangerous."
"Huh? Like the Khimera?" Kayo blinked, remaining in the air before fluttering over to rest on Taio's head again. "But she's NEVER nice! She's always grumpy and gives me mean looks whenever I try to talk to her!"
"That is her nice side," the Bruma explained. "You do not want to see her when she is berserk. She is... well, like that." He gestured at the wild Chaotic. "Trying to kill whatever she sees."
"But why is she like that?" asked the Kitrell, confused. "Why are either of them like that?"
"I am sure no one is able to answer that question. The only thing we know is that we must be careful when we are around them." He returned his attention to Stella. "Stella! If there is anything I can do, please tell me!"