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Post by Lucca on Feb 22, 2010 17:24:57 GMT -5
Arkady was further worried by the look in Castiel's eyes. She...really did seem to be lost! But before the little pup could fly into too much of a panic, the girl turned toward Conall, and Ark's gaze shifted as well onto the odd-smelling boy. Could he lead them to the library, then? Apparently so! All hope wasn't lost, then.
Though a sudden thought came to Arkady that made him pause for a moment. What if Laika, herself, were lost? How would they ever find her then? Surely, though, she'd find one of the servants, or yell for him...as she'd done in the past in those situations? His ears straining for the half-expected call of his sister, the Solandrian padded along quietly behind Conall, adjusting his pace to fit with their new marching order. His tail gave the slightest wag at the confidence with which the other boy took the lead. It made him feel more secure, this way.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 22, 2010 19:03:25 GMT -5
Conall pretended that he wasn't being followed. It was easier that way, and made him far less paranoid. He had to be careful stopping short though. He might end up hurting someone that way if he wasn't careful.
Castiel took to marching along side of Arkady. She was humming quietly to herself as they walked along the route, taking a turn after a few feet. Now they seemed to be on the right path. But then again she had a hard time telling where they were exactly. Maybe she had to look around this part of the palace a bit more with her siblings when she had the chance.
They came to the library rather quickly now that Conall was in the lead. He opened the door and stood to the side to allow the other children to enter first. He really didn't want them behind him anymore. Less chance for accidents this way.
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Post by Lucca on Feb 22, 2010 19:51:59 GMT -5
Arkady made sure to keep a safe following distance between himself and the Bog boy. After all, he didn't want to run into those sharp things coming out of his back if he stopped suddenly. And he also didn't want to get a nose-full of that awful-smelling, greasy fur. Though he was warming up to Conall, the thought of actually touching him still sent shivers up Ark's spine in the worst way possible.
If he'd been alone with him, the Coyote might just have gone back to his room at this point...but Cas walking beside him kept him focused and glad to be here, looking for his sister. In a rather unlikely place, but she had to be somewhere...the girl's quiet humming helped a bit too. It reminded him of the nice little lullabies that he'd sometimes heard, being sung to help him and his siblings calm down.
His ears perked up and his tail gave a hesitant little wag as they finally made it to the library. He looked over to Conall as he opened the door for them and stood aside. "Thanks, Conall," the pup yipped. Normally to show his thanks, he would have nosed against the Card's hand or something...but in this case he really didn't want to. So he just walked into the library, looking around for any sign of his twin.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 2, 2010 0:06:04 GMT -5
Castiel gave Conall a rather bright smile when she passed by, still humming. The library was a big, happy and bright place. It was filled with some interesting people, and more interesting books. When she was older she'd make sure to read all of the books here. The girl glanced around the entire area.
It was actually busy today.
Conall slipped in quietly behind the pair, shutting the door lightly behind them. The library was huge for three children. More often than not the Esterberry librarian yelled at anyone who "goofed off." And it wasn't like he was going to get into trouble when he was actually looking for someone. Most of the time he was actually reading books... and she still yelled at him. Maybe it was just the smell that made her upset?
Either way the girl they were looking for wasn't in plain sight.
"Maybe we should ask the librarian?" Castiel asked.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 2, 2010 19:21:28 GMT -5
Nothing was immediately evident...which to Ark meant that she probably wasn't here. But he didn't want his new friends to get mad because they'd come all this way for nothing...-he- didn't want to have come all this way for nothing! So the Coyote determined to at least look around a bit, make sure...he sniffed at the floor, closing his eyes to try and focus...to find the scent of 'Solandria Glacier' and 'Coyote' and that extra little scent that was all Laika's own.
But to his dismay, he smelled none of these things...or if he did, they were so diluted with the large number of other Cards there at the moment as to be indistinguishable, even or his sharp nose. But before he could decide they really were out of options and admit defeat, Cas's cheerful voice spoke up again, and Ark's tail wagged, once.
"Okay, let's do that," he said softly, and took a few steps toward the woman at the front desk. Of course, he wasn't going to take the lead, and he purposefully walked slowly so that Castiel could go in front again. She would probably seem...cuter to the librarian anyway, and more worthy of time and attention.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 3, 2010 13:47:10 GMT -5
This seemed like a terribly pointless search. They weren't going to find this girl no matter how hard they looked. Castiel, however, wasn't going to give up. This was an interesting adventure, though it wasn't nice to see Arkady so stressed. Maybe it would do him some good to be away from his sister. You couldn't always be with your siblings.
She decided to take the initiative and go to the nearest librarian, motioning for the other two to follow. She tugged on the woman's sleeve to get her full attention. Asking rather politely if she had seen a Solandrian girl. Of course she received the same answer she had gotten from the kitchen staff.
Conall was starting to think that this was more than a little pointless. Would it have been terribly difficult for him to wait for his sister's return? She couldn't be helpless. If she had needed help, he was sure that one of the adults would have found her by now or something. Perhaps she was back with the rest of her family and they were all looking for Arkady.
It seemed fairly likely at this point. "Now what?" he said after the librarian filtered off.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 3, 2010 20:27:31 GMT -5
Though he followed dutifully at Castiel's side all the way over to the librarian, tail hesitantly wagging...when the answer came back in the negative, all of Arkady's doubts flared up again, and his ears fell flat to the side of his head in distress. His head and tail drooped, this time feeling more heavy than before. He was having some of the same thoughts Conall was, though he didn't know it...what if he'd missed her and she was already back with their family? What if SHE was now looking for HIM? And now he'd wasted the time of these other two kids, and for what?
He felt hot and itchy from all the running around, there were leaves in his fur and dirt on his paws from his romp through the garden, and they still weren't any closer to finding his sister. He was sure the other two must hate him by now for dragging them along on this wild goose chase. Falling to the ground, he put his paws over his eyes, tail between his legs.
For a moment, he couldn't even answer Conall's question, the very picture of shame...but then he did. "Now we...g-go back and...maybe ask Mom or something..." he whimpered softly, feeling quite low. If he could sink into the floor of the library he would gladly have done so at that moment.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 4, 2010 20:53:13 GMT -5
Castiel looked terribly alarmed when Arkady's tail was between his legs. She had learned rather early on that a tail between the legs was a bad sign. Of course she wasn't good in situations like this. When she was sad she just summoned up the smell of Yarrow flowers. But she was pretty sure that wouldn't solve the problem. It might make it worse since her Daddy had warned her about Bog and Yarrows not being compatible.
She glanced to Conall, who looked just as concerned as she did. At least. Maybe? It was a little hard to tell. "Don't be sad Arkady!" she said crouching down in front of him. "I mean we could just go and look someplace else if you don't want to ask your Mom."
Conall felt awkward. It was hard not to. He brushed back a bit of his mane nervously as he glanced around the room. The adults were still ignoring them. It was like they were making an active effort to not help them. His nose wrinkled further in annoyance. Why couldn't they help? "Is there anyone we can ask around here that you know well so you don't have to bother your Mom?"
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Post by Lucca on Mar 4, 2010 21:35:22 GMT -5
Arkady slumped, right on the floor of the library, distraught enough to barely notice it when Castiel crouched beside him. His ears flicked at the sound of her voice, but he didn't look up. He couldn't. He couldn't bear to see her kind face, and the concerned look that he knew would be in her large eyes, sweetly sympathetic. He felt like everything was just a big waste of time, and that it was his fault. After all, he was the one who was a lousy brother and lost track of his sister in the first place, and he was the one who couldn't think of the place Laika actually was, so that they could find her.
He just shook his head sadly in response to both of them. No, no he didn't know where else to go. He was all out of ideas. Tucking his tail between his legs and going back to his own room with the rest of his family sounded like not only the best, but the only option at this point. No, he didn't really know anyone else real well except the ones that he was related to. He'd never really been able to get to know many other Cards, as Arkady was naturally slow to trust and rather quiet and unnoticeable to many adults. And he was just one of the many children running around the Hearts Court, in the eyes of most of them. One in a crowd. Forgettable.
But he couldn't just...sit here and do nothing, either! Would his Father have wanted him to just give up? He slowly lifted his head, sorrowful eyes looking from Castiel to Conall...wanting to express his gratitude for the fact that they were still here, still with him despite all the setbacks...but not sure how to.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 5, 2010 22:35:56 GMT -5
Castiel looked more than a little distressed when the boy slumped over. What was she supposed to do? He barely responded to Conall's question and now he was just staring at the pair of them all... sad. She stared at the boy as she crouched in front of him, a frown clear on her face.
How was she supposed to make this better?
"Don't be so sad," she said after a moment. "We'll find your sister. It's not like she's lost in the palace for good. If worse comes to worst we can see my Daddy, and I'm sure she can fix things!"
Please smile. Please cheer up. Please do something other than look sad.
Conall refrained from sighing. He looked at the boy with a rather curious expression. Was he going to sit there all day and look disappointed? He wanted to find his sister after all and there was still quite a few places to look. Did he even know where his mother was?
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