No Place Like Home [FINISH]

[Harpsdesire]

The floaty, invisible-bits person didn't sound as mad anymore, which greatly pleased Calamity. Generally when someone got mad it was very bad news for others in the area. He knew this from his brother. He was surprised by her question, which seemed like an obvious one, but answered it agreeably all the same. "Is just us!" He didn't sound particularly sad about it, since he couldn't remember a time when things were any different. He knew Cat really wanted a mother, but his own wants were for smaller things, like food, books, and a house with no holes in the roof.

Speaking of books... those little moving bits in the center of her were pretty cool, and almost like the pages of a picture book in a way. Luckily for Kafziel they weren't book-like enough to trigger the full extent of Cal's obsession, but only made her interesting and appealing to the child.

At her next words, a small sound of dismay escaped his beak. She was talking about the pet-making thing again! He did another visual survey of the area, but saw no one. No one except Kafziel, of course. He wished his siblings were here to see the floaty person! Having them around would also made him feel a little better about the prospect of turning into a mome. At least that way they could all be momes together.

"Walk away from the wood." He liked the way those words sounded together. It seemed like a good idea, too, since the Scary Things came from the wood. There was just the matter of not knowing what they were walking toward. If they didn't know where they were going, how would they know when they got there? On the other hand, at least that way they couldn't get lost... And how would they know which parents were theirs? He would have to talk to Fi about it. Fiasco was, in his estimation, the most coherent of his siblings.

"My name's Calamity. Cal. Cal-amity." Then he tried her name, clicking his beak softly over the strange sounds. "Kaf-Ziel."

[Kari Muffin]

Kafziel tiled her head to the side as she watched the boy. It didn't have quite the same effect as it would have if she were, say, a normal person, but it was still a sign of her curiosity. She had never seen an outsider up close, and she had never seen an outsider quite like this one.

Would she have been built similar if she were whole? Mommy was strange and somewhere between bipedal and animal forms. Mommy could take either, but she had rarely seen her mother on all fours. And she had never seen anything cat like that was put together with bird parts.

"Calamity is an odd name," she said. She would have raised an eyebrow if it had been possible. As it was she continued to stare at the boy with empty and strange eyes... or would they be considered eye sockets? "Do you even know what it means? Cal would probably be better to go by if you meet strangers who aren't from the Wood."

[Harpsdesire]

He was still thinking 'Walk away from the wood. Walk away from the wood' with a rhythmic beat when Kafziel spoke again. Walk away from the Wood. In addition to the cool sound, it seemed like walking away from the dark looming trees might be a good idea. On the one hand they would then be father away from the things that wanted to eat them up. On the other hand, they would be farther from the food. Hmm.

It took a moment to process what she had said, as he had to first push his own thoughts aside. She thought his name was odd. Cal frowned slightly, although he wasn't really offended. "My brother says that too. Someone gave him a name, but not me. My name comes from book-words. I read it, I named it myself. Also sister's name, Catastrophe, from same book." He nodded enthusiastically and seemed somewhat proud of himself for finding such cool words for himself and his sibling.

"I know what means. What Kafziel means?" His question held a note of challenge, although it was by no means unfriendly. He narrowed his eyes at the suggestion that his name wasn't proper to use, but then easily relented. Herelies Captain Underwood had said something like that before, about how shortening the name or using the whole thing changed it altogether. His brother liked to use the whole long thing, but maybe Kafziel was right, and he shouldn't let people not from the wood know all of his name.

"Go by Cal." He conceded.

[Kari Muffin]

What sort of book had he been reading to find those words. The girl couldn't help but wonder where he even found books if he didn't have a home. It wasn't like the people of the Wood were that generous. Perhaps it had to do with Torquehelms?

Her ears panned forward at the boy's question about her name. Without taking a breath she launched into an explanation. "My name literally means speedy one of God. It also happens to be the name of an angel who is a watcher rather than a doer, and presides over the death of royalty. So I was named after the angel of Death. My Daddy named me that because that was my Grandpa's real name. His sister's name was Cassiel, which I think is prettier, but she didn't like it as much."

She gave a small shrug, which translated rather strangely with her lack of proper body.

"Cal is a nicer name."

[Harpsdesire]

God. Angel. Royalty. Death. Those were the same kinds of words that were in his book! He decided Kafziel was a good name after all. "Hm. Kafziel means good words. Strong-powerful bookwords inna Kafziel." He smiled at the young Tulgey, which was slightly creepy in the way it turned up the corners of his beak-mouth and never reached his clouded eyes.

"Cassi-el is good sister-name too." He agreed. Speaking of sister... it was rare for him to be alone this long. He probably would have already panicked if it wasn't for the distraction of the strange floaty girl who had been invisible. But now... the sun was going down. His siblings had to get back before dark so they could get into a sleeping-hiding place together before the big mean things came out of their daytime places and went on the hunt.

A strange little whine escaped him. "The others gone a long time. Soon be night-dark. Anda house still broken." He looked back at the ramshackle pile of branches he had been building with.

[Kari Muffin]

The facial expression of the boy was lost on her. Most of her family didn't have proper faces, and she was used to her mother's smile that would be mildly disturbing to anyone who didn't know the Tulgey mix.

That was an interesting way of putting it, she supposed. The wolf-bird's ears pressed against her head when the boy suddenly became worried. Right. He had brothers and sisters. Kafziel wasn't particularly eager when it came to meeting them.

"I don't think that house is going to do you much good," she said after a moment. She didn't particularly think that she could lead him out of the Wood at this our, and she doubted he would go without his siblings. She wasn't about to invite him home, her mother would tear him a new one, which left her with one option. "There's a hallow tree around here. You might be able to fit into it... I don't know about your sibling..." She shrugged. Which really didn't translate with her lack of normal body. Her wings moved though, that was something.

[Harpsdesire]

"Bad house." The child glared over at his failed construction project. "Not do much good." He agreed, with a sad shake of his head. Rather to his chagrin, the heap of sticks looked no more like a coherent and protective home than it did when Kafziel first showed up.

As much as his failure at house making rankled, Kafziel was right-- he had to find alternate shelter soon. "Empty tree is good sleep-hiding place." It sounded like a good idea, and the siblings had cuddled into very tight spots before, so he wasn't too worried about that. Sometimes they woke up a little stiff and sore, but at least they kept warm. The closeness also brought a sense of security that let Cal sleep despite the strange growls and screams in the woods at night.

Poor Kafziel didn't seem to have any brothers or sisters to snuggle with, and the thought made Calamity a little sad. "You have place for night-hide, Kafziel?" He was suddenly concered that the strangely floaty girl might end up as food for a predator in the woods. Although concern for his siblings was paramount, he was not beyond extending his worry to the friendly partly-invisible one, too.

[Kari Muffin]

At least the boy wasn't picky, and at least the tree was close by. "It's just a bit away from here. We just have to walk a few minutes to get to it. I'm sure you can remember where it is and pick up your siblings..."

She would have blinked if she could have at the boy's sudden concern. He really was a strange one. Most outsiders were far more concerned about keeping alive in the Wood than the person that could send them deeper into the dangerous nightmare. Maybe Mommy and Daddy were overreacting about the outside world?

"I have a place to stay. My Mommy and my brother are waiting there for me." He brother. She really should have brought him along. She always felt.... weird without him. "But they don't like Hearts. Daddy killed one once, and they can't hear Vergel's voice. So... you can't come along. But I can show you the tree. And maybe I can show you a way out of the Wood? I don't think it's too far away from here."

[Harpsdesire]

He nodded, sure that he could find his way back to the site of his failed house, provided the hollow tree was not too far away. He was used to moving through the woods, and so far getting lost didn't seem to be a problem, although he still wasn't entirely comfortable being separated from his siblings. He was near the house, so he surely wasn't lost, but what if they were? "I can find." He confirmed, and he trotted over quite close to Kafziel, expecting her to lead the way.

She was even stranger-looking up close, but he was more puzzled than frightened by it. It looked like she had eaten some small pieces of thick paper, and her belly was invisible so he could still see the papers swirling about in there. He felt a little sorry that she had no meat and apparently had to resort to eating books-- she must have been terribly desperate indeed! He made a sympathetic little sound as he remembered the time he and his siblings had eaten leaves after days of failing to catch any food. It had not tasted good, and it had not ended well, and eating paper must surely be even worse.

At least she had a place to hide, and she did have a brother, so she wasn't totally bereft. "Good to have brother." Having a mommy struck Cal as a luxury, and he thought that Cat would be jealous of Kafziel, even if she was floaty in places and full of paper. The little girl had always wanted to know her mother, and Cal wanted much much for Cat to get what she wanted. This reminded him again of his missing family and he glanced around nervously and whined again.

They didn't like hearts? Cal considered this. He liked hearts, but not as much as Fiasco liked tongues, and if they got any meats, he'd let Kafziel and her family have the parts they liked best, since it seemed they were even hungrier than he was... oh. Hearts. Hearts. He craned his neck awkwardly to look at the rank marking on his own chest. A red heart shaped marking appeared there, with a 'J' beside it. "Oh." He knew that this was his rank, and that being a heart and a Jack was a very good thing, but his limited contact with society meant that he wasn't really aware of the implications of suit and rank in a concrete way. "Not like me?" He huffed a little, but he was more perplexed than offended.

Still she was going to show him the hiding place, and that was more than enough for Cal, who seemed to forget the matter of her family's prejudice in a matter of seconds. "Yes, you show." Proper rules of manners were another thing an orphan had no chance to learn, but Cal's tone was quite civil. He smiled encouragingly.

Way of the wood, she had said. There it was again. Walk out of the wood. Way out of the wood. The words formed a strangely comforting rhythm that was timed with his heartbeat, which was just one way that he knew that Kafziel's idea was the right one. He would get Fiasco, Cat and Hereliescaptainunderwood, and they would walk out of the wood.

[Kari Muffin]

The little girl's tail would have wagged if she had ever figured out how it was supposed to move properly. Things were going well, and she had met an Outsider that wasn't actually trying to her hurt her or running away screaming. Of course she could never let her parents know about this, and she probably would have to refrain from telling her brother, but it would at least work.

She gave a nod and started floating in the direction of the tree. It would take a little effort for the boy to go through the under brush, but the floating girl would double check every so often that he was still following her. And that he wasn't going to try something while her back was turned. They were going deeper into the Wood, though there were faint hints of a path that had been traveled more than once.

After a while they arrived at a large fallen tree. It would be a tight fit, but the children would be able to squeeze into the hollowed log.

"Here we go," she said as she perched on top of the log. "Can you and your siblings fit in this?"