[Shieba]

"I'm heeeeere! And jumping! I'm here and jumping! Jumping and here in the forest!" Chaotic, in one of her happy moods, bounced cheerfully through Tengel while her sister, Stella, followed close behind her.

On their way back from Idalani, Chaotic had, as usual, strayed from every available path and so, they had ended up in the middle of a forest again, only that it wasn't the forest around the beautiful falls this time but a more hostile environment.

Not that Chaotic cared, of course. Oblivious to the fact that they were completely and horribly lost, she just jumped on. "Oooooh! There's mooooooooss! Stella, moooooss! Moss is chaotic!" She bounced right over a huge stone and landed on a moss-covered part of the ground. And before Stella could even ask why exactly moss was 'chaotic' (not that she expected a logical answer or an answer at all), Chaotic's paws sank deep into the ground which was obviously swampy from the last rain. "Ooooh! I'm here! And stuck! I'm here and stuck! Stuck and here in the muddy forest where we will diiiiiiiiiie! Yaaaaay!"

Stella sat down on the large rock and watched her sister. There was no way she would ever help her sworn enemy and it was a relief to the eyes to see Chaotic rooted to the ground for once, so she just enjoyed her break while Chaotic more or less struggled to get free.

[Indigo]

Mustard had lost his ear again.

It was possibly the most uncooperative piece of flesh a vitality-challenged Slynx had ever owned, as he had told a rather startled postman the previous week. Most of his limbs tended to stay in place for at least a couple of weeks after they were reattached, but his left ear somehow always broke its stitches after only a day or two. He was beginning to wonder if it wasn't, in fact, a sentient being which didn't much care for being attached to his head.

In some ways, it was worse to lose it here. Normally it fell off in some dry, uncluttered space where it was easily found, because Mustard tended to frequent those kinds of places. But today, for some inexplicable reason that might have something to do with his life*, he had found himself drawn to the Tengel Rainforest of all places. He was pretty sure his ear had fallen off near that dead tree, the one with all the ants, but there was a lot of mud around there and he was afraid it might have sunk by now...

No, wait--there it was, half submerged in what promised to be a particularly dank and deep patch of mud. With luck, he could dry it off before mold started to grow on it. He pulled it out after several tries and a nearly-detached paw, the mud being particularly thick and his strength being rather sub-par for an undead entity, and examined it critically. It would require a bit of cleaning, of course, but at the moment it was more important to reattach it to his head, which was not something he was capable of doing. He had brought his emergency sewing kit in a small box strapped to his back, but needed a mirror if he didn't want a crooked ear. He'd have to find someone who could sew.

Such as, perhaps, those two convenient Felloxes over there. Without concern for the possibility of danger--he was already dead, after all--he approached them, held out the ear, and inquired, "Excuse me, but would you mind terribly sewing this back on for me? It's just that I'm not very good with ears. If you can't for some reason I'll understand, of course, and I won't trouble you."

Mustard always made an effort to be polite.

---

*His current state was more of a death.

[Shieba]

Stella was absolutely unprepared to suddenly face someone else in the forest and almost jumped when she and Chaotic were suddenly approached by a Slynx. Her gaze quickly darted to Chaotic for a second - startling the other Fellox could be a reason for a mood swing which would turn her insane sister into a killer - but Chaotic seemed simply interested.

Because, quite frankly, the Slynx held out an ear and even Stella had to admit that this was pretty...chaotic.

"Ooooooh! It's an eeeeeeeear!" Chaotic stated the obvious. "That's so chaotic of you!" She tried to get free again, only to land face-first in the mud. "I'm here! And in the mud! Heeeere and fallen into the mud! And looking at an eaaaaar!" She struggled to get up. "Do you want to trade eeeears with meeee?"

Stella sighed. "Please ignore her, she's not right in the head", she quickly offered as an explanation to the Slynx before getting a better look at the ear in question. "That is...quite the unusual problem you got there, I must admit." After her mother had started taking in all kinds of pets, Stella had seen her fair share of injuries and wounds, but she had never, ever, been asked to sew an ear back on. "I...am a healer. Well, a bit of a healer, anyway." She tried to get a better look at the wound the Slynx had to have but found no heavily bleeding gash. "Are you sure that all you need is some...sewing? Maybe a healing spell and a visit to a hospital would be more in order."

"I'll take the eeeeeear!" Chaotic offered. "And I'll seeeeew it to my noooooose!"

Stella snorted. "I'm sure that would look quite interesting on you, you crazy nut." She turned to the Slynx again. "Then again, the next hospital is far and you seem...prepared." She eyed the sewing kit. "I admit I've never sewn in my life, so I am not sure how much help I can be, but I'm certainly willing to try. You should see a doctor about that 'problem' of yours, though..."

[Indigo]

Mustard grinned at the muddy and apparently insane Fellox. "While I'm sure trading ears with you would be very interesting, I'm not sure it would be a very good idea. The thing is, you probably bleed when someone, er, cuts off bits of you. I don't." He didn't mind talking to people who weren't quite right in the head; there were all sorts of weirdos back home, and he was in no position to judge the oddities of others.

To the more coherent Fellox he said, "Oh, a doctor can't do much to help me. I'm dead, you see. Well, technically. I mean, I don't look particularly dead, apart from the stitches--" He raised his right forepaw for inspection. "--but I assure you I am. There was an accident with some necromancers, I believe." There is really no good way to explain one's undead-ness to another person, as Mustard knew well from experience. He hoped that this time there would be no screaming or running, as there had been in the bookstore a few days ago. What a mess that had been. Admittedly, the mad Fellox was stuck and wouldn't be able to get away, but the other didn't seem much inclined to help her companion, so she might well decide to run off.

Seizing on her apparent willingness to help, at least for the moment, Mustard began unbuckling the straps that held his supplies in place. "Actually, a healing spell wouldn't be unwelcome, either. This ear of mine is particularly troublesome, falling off all the time. It's the only piece of me that never stays on properly, in fact. Perhaps the magic would hold it a little longer. Now, then..." He opened the lock, which had been specifically built for paws, and pulled out the most important objects in the box: an extremely sharp needle, and a spool of thick black thread. He bit off the length that he thought would be necessary, examined the edge of his ear until he found the holes, and threaded the string through the first one. Then he held it out again. "If you would be so kind..."

[Shieba]

Chaotic nodded, as if actually thinking about what Mustard had said. Then she nodded. "And then I'd bleed! And diiiiie! But I'd have a funny ear! I want the funny eeeeear and dieeee!" She tried bouncing up and down, but was still hampered by the mud. "I'm here! And still stuck in the mud! Here and still stuck in the mud! Ooooh I know!" She suddenly threw herself into the mud full force and rolled, with a bit of effort, onto her back, her paws in the air. "I diiiiid it! We can moooove oooooon!"

Stella just sighed and turned to the far more interesting pet in the forest, not only surprised by his statement but also that he was treating Chaotic with so much respect. "You are...dead." She slowly tried to comprehend that fact. That couldn't possibly be normal or healthy - if 'healthy' was a way to describe someone undead. "This is quite...unusual, I think. Aren't you, you know...rotting away?" For some reason, this seemed to be a rather rude question to ask someone.

"I want to be dead tooooo! Then I could sew my eeeears to my nooooose!" Chaotic contributed.

"You being dead would be quite nice", Stella agreed. "But really dead, not like that kind man here." She waited until Mustard had taken out the sewing kit, then tried to figure out what to do. "I'll try a spell then, even though I'm not sure how much good it'll do. Do you have any experience with this? Would the spell be of more help before I sew or afterwards?" She took the needle and the ear. Stella had never held a body part before...it made her feel a bit queasy, but she was healer enough to not let it show...hopefully. "Could you bend down a bit? I need to get a better look at this."

[Indigo]

((I'm sorry that this seems to be coming out as mostly talking--do you have any ideas for a more definite plot? I don't intend to be boring.))

Watching the mad Fellox roll in the mud, Mustard chuckled to himself. "Well, I doubt you'd die. Assuming, of course, that the ear was sewn on properly and quickly...but based upon your companion's reaction, I wouldn't count on that. Anyway, I'd rather keep my own ear, troublesome though it is." He realized, of course, that it was futile to try to have a reasonable conversation with someone such as she, but he was compelled to do so by some innate politeness. That, and it was very amusing.

"Your friend...or charge, as the case may be...has great entertainment value," he commented, though he was still watching the mad one. "As to the rotting, there's something in the resurrection spell that takes care of that. I have some minor decay problems, though, which is why the stitches are necessary. After all, I had already begun to decompose by the time the necromancers got to me; I have been dead for nearly six hundred years, and alive for twenty before that." Mustard did not think it at all strange to be discussing his own decomposition, his death, or the persons responsible for his current state of being. At home--his current home, which was much stranger than his original one--people spoke of odder things on a regular basis; he knew one or two that rambled on about their own little worlds, and one was actually from another reality.

He bent down obligingly at the Fellox's command. "If I were to guess at it, I would say it would be better to do the spell with the ear already in place--after the stitches, that is." And this was, indeed, a guess, because Mustard had as much experience with healing spells as a goat has with quantum physics. A resurrection spell is not at all the same thing, being concerned more with reanimation than damage repair, and he'd never considered its helpfulness in his peculiar case.

Although in the slightly bizarre position of having his ear reattached, he nonetheless attempted to make conversation. "Pardon me, but I don't believe I caught your name? I generally go by Mustard."

[Shieba]

((I have no real ideas for something. :3 If you can think of a plot, go ahead. I don't think it's boring so far, but I suppose we should have some action in there somewhere.))

"Dying because of an eeeeear would be chaotic, though", Chaotic reasoned while trying not to drown in the mud. Luckily, it was not swampy enough to cover all her face while she was now stuck on her back. Not that she minded. "And my taaaaaails are troublesome, too! Because they're there! And attached to my back! There and attached to my back! Attached to my back and theeeeeere!"

"We get the point already", Stella sighed. She looked at Mustard. "She might be entertaining for now - and believe me, even that changes when you're stuck with nothing else but that - but she has sudden mood swings which turn her into a violent killer. Which is the only reason I'm going after her: To protect innocents from her killing sprees." She started to sew the ear on. "Well, if you're not having major problems with decomposition after 600 years, it'll probably not cause trouble in the future, either." It was weird to reattach the ear; the lack of blood was disturbing her almost more than a normal wound would.

Stella sewed the ear on one time around and then, just to be safe, a second time. "My name is Stella. The nut there is Chaotic. Not that that's her real name - it's just that no one knows it. She claims to have forgotten her own name because--"

"--that's chaoooooootic!" Chaotic concluded.

"Yeah. That." Stella shook her head. "Anyway, pleased to make your acquaintance." She finished her work. "I'll cast the spell now, it'll only be a bit longer."

[Indigo]

Having a large appendage, such as an ear, sewn back on is an interesting sensation for one who doesn't feel pain; it tickled slightly, but mostly it was akin to the feeling you get when your foot falls asleep and your other foot brushes against it. Mustard was used to it, however, being inconvenienced with the troublesome ear, and so he managed to focus on what the Felloxes were saying. The muddy one seemed particularly fond of calling things chaotic, which was rather confusing, but she was insane anyway, so he supposed it didn't matter.

Stella's explanation of, er, Chaotic's assorted sanity problems, however, surprised Mustard considerably. He could understand how the disjointed ramblings could get irritating after a while--although, having been alive for much longer than any normal entity, he had an extraordinary amount of patience--but violent killings? It seemed so at odds with what he was seeing now that he had to ask, "Killing sprees? Are you sure? I mean, I suppose there aren't many Felloxes that look the same, so it could hardly be a case of mistaken identity, but...it seems so implausible." And while he was at it, "And what's all this about things being 'chaotic'? What does that mean?"

Perhaps it wasn't a very good idea to question someone who was sewing his ear back on, but the worst she could really do would be to remove some of his limbs, which he had dealt with before. Tell people you're undead and suddenly everyone wants to test it. Still, it was a good idea to make sure he didn't come across as rude. "Pleased to make your acquaintance as well. I'm sorry about all these questions, but you're both different from most other people I've known."

[Shieba]

Instead of answering, Stella focused on the spell first. She carefully let the healing powers seep into the part where the ear was attached to Mustard's head by her sewing now. When there seemed to be no immediate, harmful effect - you never knew if healing spells didn't harm undeads or something like that - she powered the spell up some more. "How does that feel?" she asked. "I can't really see any effect right now, but then again, your body is probably a mystery only you can understand. Do you feel any difference, good or bad?" She stopped casting for the moment. "If it helps, I'll do some more, but I'm careful just in case this hurts or anything."

She sighed at the topic of Chaotic. "Believe me, while you probably would not guess Chaotic in her killing mood was the same Fellox she is right now, it's all true. As for the whole 'chaotic' thing... damned if I know." She watched how Chaotic was still happily treading air. "We just... appeared out of nowhere one in day in Whisper Forest. That being us two, our six brothers and our mother. We're all having amnesia, besides mother - who tells us nothing - so I have no idea if there's any reason why Chaotic is like she is, but it has always been like that. That I take care of her. Like I draw my powers from light, she draws hers from darkness. It's the same with our brothers. All pairs of light and dark, fighting each other. Why I am stuck with the crazy nut... I have no idea."

"It's because I'm aweeeeesome!" Chaotic yelled. "And chaotic! Awesome and chaotic! Chaotic and awesome!"

Stella just sighed. "Why don't you just go and bang your head against a tree or something? I'm sure the tree would find it chaotic."

"Oooooooh! That's a grrrrreeeeat idea! I've never done that before! I'm going to tryyyyyy right now!" Chaotic struggled to turn around and finally get up. She needed a few tries to get out of the mud, but eventually succeeded and turned to the next tree two steps away. "Heeeere I go!" She bounced up and down two times - and then against the tree. "Weeee! Ouch! Again!"

Stella watched for a second, then turned to Mustard again. "It's not like something in that head of hers can break any more than it already is. Maybe we can talk in peace now for a few minutes." She gave him back the sewing kit.