"I am so bored," Xellandria moaned, shuffling along the dirt path along the trees, "it's been three days and there's been no internet or signs of other such civilization at all..."

She sighed, pulling her hair out of her face distractedly, staring ahead at the road. Exploring the secret passage in Iotaniya Field wasn't such a bad thing, was it? After all, it's not like she had anything better to do to pass the time, what with everyone else off doing *stuff*. So she had gone into the passage, to check out all the little twists and turns, and to see if there was anything interesting in the dark undermountain labyrinth.

There was. She had come out of the dark underground to a bright, soft-looking forest-type thing with a nice little dirt road a few feet away, in the underbrush. However, when she had gone to said path, and turned around again (just to make sure her pathway home was still there), lo and behold, all she could see was trees, trees, and more trees.

And so, she found herself on the boring lil' pathway, noting in passing there hadn't been very many chirpy little birds or dart-y little squirrels (which was quite fine with her, thank you very much, as they annoyed her immensely). "God damn," she muttered, "why'd I have to be so anxoius to wind up in some abandoned pla...ce....."

Xella trailed off as she noticed the trees were thinning, and she could just make out a building in the distance. She grinned, picking up her sluggish pace to a faster trot. "Lucky! Maybe they have a phone port I could use or something! Lalala~!"
 

Suddenly from above came a loud booming tennor voice, singing very drunkenly and rather off key in an unknown language that sounded like a cross between Latin, German, Russian and a few African languages.

Suddently the voice switched into English. "SecOND Verse! Diffrent then the First!" There was a pause. "An' I still dunno the words!" The strange language started up singing to the tune of Henry the 8th again.

Hawk looked up and spotted the singing floating drunkenly over head.  It was a man, clad in black garments that looked expencive and well made. He had long flowing white hair and large white feather wings that were flapping more or less in time to his song.

A dark figure fled after him.  Periodically it would look up, calling "Master?  Master, come down....  Please, Master!"  A long black cloak spread out behind it.  While looking up, it ran into Xella, knocking both back.  With a panicked cry, it skittered back a few steps, cloak swirling around it and obscuring it.

 Xella had almost gotten entirely to the building, and was about to slow down, when she suddenly found herself on the going in the opposite direction.  She blinked, stopping herself from going further.

She paused to examine what she could of the figure that had crashed into her.  When that proved fruitless, she shrugged it off.  "Are you alright... um.. sir? Miss," she added hesitantly, not quite sure how to address the situation at hand.  "I'm sorry.. I didn't see you there, and..."

Nikita looked at Xella warily, hissing softly.

"Who are you?" he asked in a soft voice.  "What do you want here?"  He glanced up.  "If you try to hurt my Master I will bite you."

Xella paused, blinked, then giggled.  "Teehee.  'If you try to hurt my Master I will bite you.'.  That's so.... BDSM-style Dracula.  But I dun even know who your Master IS, let alone why I would want to hurt him... Oh, um.. my name's Xellandria, most people call me Xella, though."

Nikita looked at her warily, then up at the sky again.  He wished Master would come down and deal with this girl because he didn't know how to.

'Master?' he called tentatively.  'Master, come down....'

The singing stopped. "Nikita?" the drunken voice called down, slightly conserned. "Where'd you g--oof!" One of the trees near by shook from in impact. There was some cursing and a crackle of energy, followed by muttering and the smell of charred pine.  "Nikita? Ah HA!"

The winged man swooped down and hovered an inch or two above the ground and from Xella's nose. "What are you doing to my Nikita!" he accused, voice sobering.

Nikita grabbed his Master's arm, holding himself close to the older man.  Closing his eyes, he began putting out the energy to make Master sober again.
 
 

"1.. 2.. 3.."

Callista supressed a giggle, then ran off into the house. How she  loved Hide-and-Seek!

She skidded into the living room, and bounded off into her mother's  bedroom. She looked around for a minute, then dove underneath the bed.

After a few seconds, she decided that this hiding spot sucked, so  she rolled out and snuck into the bathroom and hid behind the door.

Two nanos later, Callista realized that her shadowy reflection  appeared in the mirror when she hid behind the door, so she quickly  abandoned that hiding place as well.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Sevvie's voice rang through the house.  Poop! No seconds left, and still no good hiding spots!

Callista desperatly searched for cover, and spotted her mother's  closet door slightly ajar. Without a second thought, she jumped in  and shut the door behind her.

Callista smiled, proud for finding such a good place. She could hear  Sevvie still looking for her, but she'd never find her here!

Just then, a terrifying thought came to her. All Sevvie had to do was  open the door, and she'd see her! Callista turned and pushed aside  some clothes, deciding to hide against the back wall where she'd be  concealed even better.

After a few yards of walking, Callista came to two conclusions: One,  her mother had way too many clothes, and two, she would indeed never  be found. She kept walking, wondering how Sevvie had gotten so many  articles of clothing in the few years that they had been living here.

She stopped abruptly when something slammed into her nose. Aha, the  end! No.. wait.. walls do not have doorknobs! Callista grabbed said  doorknob and twisted it absentmindedly, not even thinking that she  could've gotten turned around and was going to give away her hiding  place..

..and tumbled into the tavern/bar/building/thing.

Callista blinked, looking around. There was a dude reading comics,  and furniture scattered about. All in all, it was a pretty normal  looking room.

"Eh?" she looked back through the door behind her, expecting to see  clothes, but they too had gone. The door behind her now led outside.  Callista sat there, utterly confused. "Meep?"

Nav cackled to himself, grinning at the comic. Shorts and Tshirt man was fighting Mr. Meatball. It was making him hungry.... "Mmm.. Meatballs..."

He put the comic down and blinked, seeing a random small child. "Bloody..." he began, then paused. The girl was confused, not happy, so all was good in Maku land. He paused, sniffing the air. Was he having hallucinations or did he really smell meatballs being cooked?

He looked at the comics. Go eat meatballs or read more? He grinned. Why choose? He grabbed the next comic and headed towards the smell. "Mmm... Meatballs.... spiced with confusion and mild panic. Life is good."

 Callista sat there for a few minutes, attempting to sort out her  thoughts. But, alas, one so young is not very skilled at that sort of  thing, so she figured that her best bet was to stay where she was  until her mother found her.

After all, that's what Yenrab always said to do when you're lost.  Stay in one place, and your Mommy will find you.

Yep.

That's what he said.

Mhm.

After a few minutes, Callista started to get worried. All kinds of  horrible thoughts worked their way into her head, as horrible  thoughts tend to do. What if her mother never found her? What if her  mom thought that she was just hiding in a really good place and  decided to stop looking, thinking that she'd come out for dinner? It  had happened before. What if she never came looking, and she was  stuck here forever in this horrible little room with some guy who  likes meatballs? What if some awful monster came and wanted to eat  her but she couldn't run away because if she did then her mom might  come looking and never find her because she moved when Yenrab said  that she shouldn't? What if she had to stay here till after dark and  through the next day and-egads, what if she MISSED THE YENRAB SHOW?!

That was the anvil on the camel's back. Callista took a deep breath,  scrunched up her nose, opened her mouth wide, and did the one thing  that never failed to make someone she knew come running.

"WWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH HHH!!"

 Nav nearly jumped a foot (which is hard to do when sitting on the floor) and let out a started yell of his own, holding up the comic as if to repell something.

Slowly he realized two things: First: It was a small unhappy child, which posed no threat, and infact, was putting off some rather tasty emotions.  Second: Shorts and T-shirt man would not protect him from a small child, because he liked to kiss daughters, and every girl was a daughter (with some exceptions. He didn't think Aralu fit the catagory. She probaly spontaniously came into being somwhere in the 5th century. It was the only way to explane her sometimes.)

He then came to another relazation. The small unhappy child was not shutting up, and it was rather annoying to read a very cool comic series when there was a loud blubering girl near by. What if her tears got on the comic?!

Picking up a convenient stick that had somehow appeared near by he poked it at the girl. "Hey... be quiet. I'm tryin' ta read...."

 > "WWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
> HHH!!"

Hawk looked up from his maps and swore under his breath. What in hell was going on in this place?

He walked into the building to find Nav poking a stick at a crying girl.

"What in-- give me that!" Hawk exclaimed, grabbing the stick and twacking Nav with it. "What the hell are you doing? Dumbass."

Nav pouted. "She won't shut up...."

"So you POKE her with a STICK?!" Hawk gave an exasperated sigh and turned his attention back to the girl, crouching to be at her height.

"Hey..." He said in a somewhat soothing voice, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Callista paused in her fit to cast a teary-eyed glance at Hawk. "N-no.. do you know where my M-mommy's closet went? It has shirts..  and skirts.. and l-lots of.. sh.. sh.." she sniffled, then let out  the last word in a wail. "SHOOOOES! WAAAAAAAAAAHh!!"

 Hawk gave a small sigh, smiling slightly. He was developing a theory about this place...

"Were you hiding?" he asked.

 Callista sniffled again. "Uh huh. I was the hider and Mom was the  seeker and I hid in the closet but then there was a wall with a  doorknob, so I turned the knob and then I was here and then..  Dumbass? started poking me with a stick." Callista pointed accusingly  at Nav. "And it hurted."

Nav had gone back to reading his Adventures of Shorts and T-shirt man comic.

Hawk sighed. "That's Nav. You can't call him Dumbass until you know him better," he smiled. "Don't mind him, he's not good with people. I'm Hawk," he introduced. "I'll stay with you until you mom finds you, okay? What's your name?"

"My name is Super Happy Smiley Really Cute Pretty Pretty Princess of  the Whole Entire World Plus Infinity Uber-cool Special Lucky  Callista. Do you have any ice cream? Can I have some if you do?  Pleease?"

Hawk looked bemused. "I think I'll call you Yin-Yang Cali instead, is that alright?" he asked, smiling.  "As for the ice cream, the way things are going there's probally some in a freezer that wasn't there five minuts ago," he said dryly. "Kiction's this way," he dirrected, standing up and heading for the door.

"Yay! I like you. I'll tell Mommy not to eat you when she gets here."

Hawk blinked. "Not to..." He sighed. So her mom was either a werecritter, a vampire a something similar. Wonderful.

  Callista zipped past him and had the freezer door open before you could say 'Who's your daddy!'. "YAY!! My favorite! Vanilla with  carmel and chocolate swirls with sprinkles! Wee!"

Hawk gave a slight smile. 'Allright... so this place does give us what we want...' he mused.

"Hey, Cali... do you want your mom to find you here?" he asked.
 

> The winged man swooped down and hovered an inch or two
> above the ground and from Xella's nose. "What are you
> doing to my Nikita!" he accused, voice sobering.
>
> Nikita grabbed his Master's arm, holding himself close
> to the older man. Closing his eyes, he began putting
> out the energy to make Master sober again.

Xella narrowed her eyes the slightest amount and poked The Hovering One in the nose lightly. "If this person right  here is 'your Nikita', then I'm apologizing to him for bumping into him, and answering his questions. If this person  right here, however, is NOT 'your' Nikita," she said, shrugging, "then I see not how it's any buisness of yours. My  name's Xellandria, as I told.. Nikita... thought most people call me Xella.  And may I ask, sir, what your name may be,  as I answered your question, and you have yet to answer one of mine, it is only fair, ne?" She smiled, but took a step  back anyway.

Erik blinked as his nose was poked. If he had been less drunken he would have blasted the girl right there.

"If this person right here is 'your Nikita', then I'm apologizing to him for bumping into him, and answering his questions. If this person right here, however, is NOT 'your' Nikita," she said, shrugging, "then I see not how it's any buisness of yours. My name's Xellandria, as I told.. Nikita... thought most people call me Xella. And may I ask, sir, what your name may be, as I answered your question, and you have yet to answer one of mine, it is only fair, ne?"

 Erik frowned. "You can ask... weither I answer or not is entierly my choice," he sniffed. He vaugly noted that his head was starting to clear and attributed it to the fact that Nikita was clinging to his arm and probally sobering him up.

Xella beamed. "Exactly. Whether you answer or not is entirely your choice.  That, too, is only fair."

She paused a moment, almost appraising the man in front of her. He seemed odder than his smell, somehow, as if  she should know him, but didn't. At least, if she did, it sure as hell wasn't coming to mind as to whom he was. She  nodded slightly, as if to affirm something, and said, "I think, then, sir, that I will indeed ask. May I know the name of the  person to whom I am speaking?"
 
 

> "Hey, Cali... do you want your mom to find you here?"  Hawk asked.

Callista paused in her eating, fresh tears shining in her eyes and  chocolate smeared across her face. "More than anything in the whole entire world!"

 Meanwhile, in Quinnealisis, Sevvie was getting quite pissed off. "Alright, Callista, I give up! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Sevvie screamed to an  empty house.

Suddenly, it hit her. Maybe Callista gone hidden somewhere in the  backyard, or in the trees beyond it, and couldn't hear her. Sevvie  ran out of the house and jogged towards the trees.

After a bit, she came that that ole dirt road. Sevvie blinked. There  wasn't a dirt road like this last time she checked..

Sevvie looked ahead, and could see Xella and some other people she  didn't know a little up the road. Maybe they had seen Callista come  by. She walked towards them.
 

 Callista stood up, having finished her ice cream. "I'm gonna go find the potty.."

She wandered off into the room she'd been in before, where Nav was  still reading. Distracted by the shiny object that was Nav's comic  book, Callista toddled over. "Whatcha readin'? Can I see?" Callista reached for one of his comics  with her chocolatey caramely vanilla sprinkly fingers..