Welcome to Gaia! ::

Trio had finally gotten the hang of this front-carrier packish sort of thing that held Annora. It had taken a while, of course. First there was the fear of hurting Annora's neck, and then, when the girl's neck grew strong enough to hold her head up, it was just the general worry about being jostled. But finally, after a lot of time, Trio had grown comfortable enough with it that walking through downtown Durem was a snap, despite the crowds around her. She'd already done her shopping, picking up new diapers and food for the girl, along with a couple of new outfits. The items were heading back with Dalreidan, leaving Trio with just Annora, Sankouri, and Trinity to worry about. The fandangle, disliking crowds, darted upward, floating a couple of feet above Trio's head as she made her way along the sidewalk, windowshopping casually. The Zurui, on the other hand, remained close, pressed nearly against Trio's shin as he padded silently beside her.

Keelan balked at the people, calling out names that sounded like, WinK, Angie, Zero, and made a few sounds that sounded entirely equine as he whickered when he was pushed through the crowd. With a small kick he tried to plant a hoof on the shin of a man who had shoved him a little more roughly than the others. As his hooves tripped over the cobblestones he tipped over and slammed lightly into a door of a nearby shop with a small whinny, tears running down his small face. He wasn't sure coming to Durem had been such the wonderful idea now that he had been seperated from Zero.

Trinity was the first to spy Keelan, the fandangle twisting for a moment before darting through the crowd with practiced ease. He came up behind Keelan, examining him closely for a moment before stretching out one blue gem to tap Keelan's head lightly. "Hello!" came a bright, mechanical voice.

Keelan was wiping his eyes as the fandangle looked him over, but when he heard the voice, so near and felt the tap on his head, he jumped a little, looking at the thing with bright, scared eyes. "H-hello," he said, startled into not being rude by the weird thing before him. It was so pretty ... and it talked? He just stared openly, his tears on his face, drying, forgotten.

"Are you unhappy?" Trio's familiar asked, in a curious, unsympathetic voice. It turned, gems spinning about as it started to float around him.

Keelan watched the fandangle, blinking in awe as he watched it move, his head turning to follow it's movements as he thought about this. "Yes," he said with a realizing pout as he came up with a responce. "I'm lost. I want to go home, and I need help and everyone here is mean." Tears threatened to overturn from his eyes again.

"Trinity!" came a sharp voice through the crowd, Trio finally catching up with her wayward familiar. She drew up short as she noticed him talking to Keelan, her brows drawing together a bit. He was... well, not small, precisely, but not large either! "Uh... hi?" she tried, as Trinity remained near his new friend. Sankouri padded forward a bit, sniffing at one of Keelan's hooves.

Keelan's eyes went wide as he looked at the creature sniffing his foot, his horse-instincts taking over he whinnied loudly and jumped a little, scrambling to get to his feet."Hello," he said a bit belatedly. Looking up at Trio he blinked, eyeing her carry-pouch that was anchored to her chest, though keeping an eye on Sankouri.

"He won't bite," Trio assured him, reaching out to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Sankouri's just curious about you. Are you okay?" she added, curling one hand around Annora as she leaned forward to peer at Keelan. "Where are your parents?"

Keelan blinked up at Trio, and while she wasn't much more taller than the boy (he usually came up to WinK's waist, and the angel was rather tall himself) he still felt slightly uneasy. "I don't know," he said, looking rather guilty. "I got scared, and ran off. I'm looking for home," he said, looking back up at the woman, and reaching out on a limb asked, "Do you know where WinK lives?"

"...Wink?" Trio blinked, the name very familiar. "...Wink who helps care for all the Nereids?" Trio grinned.

Keelan's eyes shot open. Finally! Someone might be able to take him home, instead of just guessing. "Yes! He has a lot of them! Mari, Covet, Angela, Aerin, Dehlia, Lorilei, Maris, Seanah, and ... an egg," he added, blinking. He looked up at the woman, his hands clutching. "Do those sound familiar? Do you know WinK?" he fired questions at her, clinging to hope.

"I've met him sometimes, but I don't know where he lives," Trio said apologetically, then offered a soft smile. "However, I DO know how to get you to a place where either someone will know where he lives or where he comes often," she added, standing straight and offering a hand to him. At her shoulder, Trinity spun gleefully. "What do you say?"

Keelan blinked, looking forlorn for a moment before the hand was offered. Tugging on his short stump of a pony tail with one hand he took her hand with his free one. "Where is that?" he asked, trying not to get upset again. There was really no point was there? He was getting closer to WinK all the time, though at the moment he still felt completely lost.

"The Nereid pools. Wink goes there ALL the time, and Envy's there," Trio said gently. "And I'll be there. I'm not about to leave you until I know you're back with Wink, or that you're headed there and ONLY there, okay?" she promised.

Keelan looked up at the woman and blinked, decided that he could trust her. He'd trusted all the other nice ladies hadn't he? Why not this one? Besides ... the floating thing that talked with the metalic voice was nice. "My name is Keelan," he offered with a small smile.

"I'm Trio," the blonde smiled at him, squeezing his hand lightly. "The fandangle there that found you? He's called Trinity. And the zurui that was sniffing your hoof is Sankouri. And this little girl is Annora," she added, leaning forward again so that he could properly see the sleeping baby's face.

Keelan nodded, looking at each of the introduced creatures in turn, trying to remember their names easily. Lifting his chin a little to look down at Annora easier he let out a sharp whinny and backed up a few steps, his hand tugging on Trio's so he couldn't get very far. "She's a siren!" he said, his eyes wild.

Trio blinked, then smiled and nodded. "That's right, she is. You know of them?" she asked, trying to keep herself from looking alarmed. If she seemed even slightly startled by Keelan's reaction, it could make him feel more afraid of... well, whatever it was he'd been frightened by.

Keelan looked at Trio as if she'd grown three heads. "She's a siren! They can be deadly!" he said, remembering the words his father had taught him while still living in Arcadia before he came to live with WinK. "'Be lured not by their beautiful voices, for in beauty comes death,'" he breahted, looking at Annora and shaking, his voice barely above a whisper.

Trio glanced around, then waved Keelan over to a small alcove for a shop's door. Kneeling there, she awkwardly lifted the little girl out of her carrier and held her up. "It's okay," she said gently. "she won't hurt you."

Keelan still kept his distance from the baby, though he followed Trio, his hooves prancing over the cobblestones wearily. "They can kill even as small children," he said, looking over the child. "My father warned me about them when I started playing by the river ... " He frowned, looking at the baby that seemed so harmless.

"Wink warned you?" Trio prodded, raising an eyebrow. "Or your first father?"

Keelan looked up at Trio, his big gray eyes blinking. "My father, Delahn-fel. He told me I had to live with WinK, and so I did because I am a fel and I do what is best," he said, nodding. The words sounded as if they had been practiced, a stanza said over and over again through time.

"Kinda like how Annora came to live with me," Trio said softly. "Only... I don't think she remembers her parents. You're luckier than her for that, aren't you?"

Keelan wrinkled his nose, thinking slightly as he pondered this, his eyes still on the baby. "I'm not sure. I remember my parents and my friends, and that I am a fel, but none of that matters here does it?" he looked up at her, taking his eyes off of the baby. "I'll always have those memories, but in the end I'll wonder which world would have been better for me." He blinked, mentally kicking himself. His father had told him that on Gaia with WinK was the safest, best place for him, and he had questioned the leading fel. He looked a bit shamefaced as he realized this.

Trio carefully put Annora back into her carrier, smiling as the girl woke and fussed a bit. With practiced ease, Trio reached into her pack, grabbing a small disk that seemed to sing and handing it to the girl. Almost immediately, she quieted, one tiny hand clutching the sprocket while her cheek rested against Trio's chest. That done, the blonde reached out, drawing Keelan a little closer. "What if... I taught her that hurting others was wrong?" she suggested to Keelan. "Would you feel a bit safer around her, knowing that?"

Keelan was drawn out of his musings as he was drawn towards Trio and listened to her words before thinking deeply about them. His small head nodded, his loose black strands of hair moving slightly as he nodded. "Maybe she'll listen and not kill anyone?" he asked, not realizing how silly he sounded. Annora was only a baby, but to his young but trained mind she was still a threat in the end.

"Maybe," Trio nodded, offering Keelan a smile. "Maybe you could help me teach her," she added, grinning at Keelan.

Keelan blinked, looking down at Annora something in his mind, the fel part of him, kicked in and he nodded before looking back up at Trio. "If I can, then I would like to," he said simply, his tail swishing slightly.

"Good," Trio grinned at him, squeezing his hand again. "I bet, between the two of us, we can make sure she knows that hurting people is wrong. What do you think?" At that, she rose, smiling brightly. Annora shifted when she did, moving so that her huge, indigo eyes could watch Keelan curiously. "Let's go, hmm?"

Annora's eyes lit up as he spoke, and her mouth opened, something garbled and incoherent slipping from it as she reached out a hand to bat at him. The hand then moved into her mouth, and she sucked on her fingers quietly as Trio walked.

"I'm glad," Trio noted, not missing the way Annora responded to Keelan. "I think she likes you." She offered the fel a crooked grin, squeezing his hand gently.

Trio smiled, navigating through the crowds easily, even with Keelan beside her. Trinity had darted up, peering over the people to help guide them along. "Once we get to the bus stop, it's not too far. Have you ever ridden a bus before?"

"Well, buses in Gaia are a bit different from elsewhere. I think you'll be okay, though you probably won't be able to sit down," she decided. "And it'll be a good experience for you!" She made her way to a corner, stopping near a bright red sign with a stylized bus on it. "This is a bus stop. You wait here, and eventually, a bus will stop and pick you up."

Annora shifted, starting to fuss slightly as she decided that the front carrier was becoming a bit too confining.

"It'll eventually come," Trio assured him. "Sometimes, they just take a little while because the drivers get to have breaks and eat, too. Generally, on weekdays you wait around ten to fifteen minutes. Weekends, you can wait up to a half hour." She reached up, awkwardly lifting Annora out of the carrier and examining her closely, including sniffing at the air near her. Satisfied that everything was still more or less clean, she tucked the girl back in the carrier, then rummaged in the bag at her side for a stuffed animal which Annora used to cuddle. "When we get there, I'll spread out a blanket and let her relax a bit on the sand."

Trio opened her mouth to say more, then grinned, peering off into the street. "And here comes our bus," she noted, fishing in the bag again and coming up with some change. "We'll be there in no time."

Annora had moved on to chewing on her stuffed animal's arm, eyes wide and curious as she continued to watch Keelan. Again she tried to speak, this time not even bothering to remove the toy from her mouth, which only made things worse.

Trio lifted a hand, stroking Annora's hair as the bus pulled to a stop before them, the doors swinging open. "Okay, Keelan. You on first, and just wait near the front for me to get on and pay."