S P I R I T S

[Roxilicious]

"There," a soft voice murmured with joy and satisfaction. "Prepared just the way you like it, Osaze."

A young woman dressed head to toe in tribal wear and spiritual attire, from her traditional feathered headdress to the face and body paint in tribal markings, brought a banana leaf platter over to her wingless dragon. On this platter sat a half-watermelon, the melon itself carved out. Inside the rind was a wide array of fruits, crushed, dried, and solid. It was topped off with a decorative lily.

Nayeli Kaliska placed the banana leaf platter on the ground for her precious dragon to eat. They were together in the spiritual guide and healer's sort of greenhouse. It was her special part of the rainforest just behind her quaint, little hut where she did most of her alchemy and spiritual mumbo-jumbo and healing stuff. It was also where Osaze slept.

"Now, I'm going to go search for Kai," she said, wondering where her little vara had disappeared to. "Oh Kai! It's dinnertime!"

Nayeli walked through her house and, after not finding her vara anywhere, exited out the front door. Perhaps the vara had gone out into the village?

[Julianna]

"I didn't think I would see anything but water ever again!" Ica exclaimed as he walked ashore, weighted down by all the salty ocean water that clung and sat on every fiber of his dark, earthen clothing. He stood for a moment and let his emerald green eyes roam around the surroundings as the water rushed past his ankles. Water dripped from his dark, exposed skin and down his face from his mahogany hair like miniature waterfalls, but that didn't faze him at all.

"That is strange," he murmured as he trailed slowly out of the ocean water and onto the land, water droplets leaving splattered patterns in the earth for an instant as he headed forward. "Why does it seem like there is no.....?" his voice trailed off in octaves as his gaze traveled up and over to one of the many large trees that spread across the land, and focused in on a rope that slithered down from the canopy like a serpent. "No way..." his expression lit up as he sprinted over to the worn rope, taking it carefully into his right hand. "That is one of the funnest things I have ever seen!"

He leaned his weight back on his heels, his eyes trained on the rope as he pulled it taunt to make sure it would not snap away from wherever it was secured to with his weight on it. He leaned forward again and smiled, satisfied that it held up. He placed his other hand above the one that had originally held the rope, and ascended up the rope with his legs hanging off from the rope. He stopped about halfway, and took in the sights around him. "This is absolutely beautiful..." he marveled, and continued on his way up the rope.

He tumbled off onto the leafy canopy once he had reached the top, rolling head over heels a few times before coming to a complete stop. "Woah, well that was fun." he laughed, his head spinning as he pushed off onto his feet, treading carefully across the canopy so that he would not end up falling through it and back down onto the forest floor where he had began at.

"Well that explains why I did not see any form of civilization while I was down below the trees...." he spoke quietly as he came upon the village in the trees. The call from the Northern edge of the village, not far from where he was, made Ica almost jump out of his skin. "What in all hell was that?" he gazed in the direction the voice had come from, and started that way, his mind set on finding the person, whomever they were, and seeing if they needed any help.

[Ams]

His blue eyes scanned around just coming out of a shop. He peered up for just a moment noticed a young woman walking out of her place carrying a platter of something that looked like a Watermelon, from his distance, he was unsure what it was. The demon smiled a tiny bit watching the woman walking over to her wingless dragon. Then, she bend over and his smile grew larger. His eyes were locked in his amusement for that moment, that is until he heard a familiar voice.

The Calvare boy eyes looked down to see who it was. His smile grew larger, "It's Ica aye?" he mumbled to himself and walked over to a ladder. The demon placed his right foot on the second step down so he could grab a hold of the sides of the ladder. He brought his other foot down quickly and slid down the ladder with his hands in a rather quick pace but not quick enough so when he landed he would make a large sound.

Jake smiled as his feet touched the end of the ladder. He turn his body quickly around and stealthily walked up behind Ica's body. Once the lesser demon reached him he grabbed on to his shoulders and spoke into his ear at the same time, "Hello Ica," smiling devilishly.

[Holly]

Kai giggled lightly, watching as the outsider found fun in the trees of Kokoro village. It was always quite entertaining to watch people the first time they entered Kokoro village. And it was especially fascinating to have them see the native spiders that made the webs that people traveled upon. The boy liked to talk to himself and he acted just like a child, which just made the vara smile more.

Her ears quivered, then perked up in the slightest as another man approached the first. Ice? What was that supposed to mean? Normally, the vara could rely on lip reading to get a clear message of what people were saying, but since the demon was facing away from her, she could only barely hear him and guess.

"Oh Kai! It's dinnertime!"

The vara turned her head and nodded, quite sure that it was Nayeli calling her, though all she could clearly pick out of it was her name. Something time was in there as well. Maybe dinner? Either way, she needed to leave. Carefully and delicate, she picked her way back to Nayeli.

"Sorry," Kai apologized when she arrived. "But, it's interesting. There's two people I've never seen before not too far away. They seem... Fascinating," She chuckled lightly.

[Roxilicious]

"Yes, yes I think I see them," Nayeli replied uneasily, retreating back into her home. She walked to the back of the house where Osaze enjoyed his quaint meal and set down another watermelon rind bowl for Kai. Inside was a beautifully-prepared meal, exclusive to Kai's likings. There were two mice, already stripped of their fur to be used for clothing. Their eyes had been carefully removed and suspended in one of Nayeli's mysterious preservative liquids. The tails had been cut off and put away for further alchemical purposes. While they didn't look appetizing right then and there, there hadn't been a part of them that would go to waste. On the other side of the watermelon rind bowl was Kai's serving of greens: a few leafless strawberries and two stalks' worth of celery chunks neatly contained within a rounded lettuce leaf.

"You enjoy that," she said earnestly, smiling with saccharine eyes down at Kai. "I'll be back in a moment."

Nayeli went back out her front door. She crossed the primitive, rope suspension bridge with the fragile wooden planks into the main part of the village where Ica and Jake had found themselves. It was rare to see strangers in Kokoro Village, and if they ever found their way to the peaceful community, everyone knew they were foreign.

"Pardon me," the young woman, still dressed head-to-toe in her spiritual attire, headdress included, said nervously as she approached the strangers. "Can I help you?" Her voice was not unwelcoming; rather, it sounded kind with a touch of apprehension to it.

---

Osaze had taken a peek inside Kai's food bowl. He smiled and closed his eyes in subtle amusement, finished with his dinner.

"So you got the mice tonight, hm? I wonder what you did to earn that!" His voice was lighthearted and only kidding, as he didn't mind a strictly vegetarian meal. A little meat, however, would've been nice.

"What do you think is going on with those strangers?" the dragon asked his step-sister, trying to peer around Nayeli's rainforest hut to see what was happening.

[Julianna]

Ica's entire frame tensed when he sensed someone behind him, as he felt what he called their 'aura of life' around him. When they grabbed onto his shoulders, their voice traveling quietly through his ear, he could almost instantly tell who it was without a glance behind himself. He smiled and shook his head, his expression a mixture of amusement, surprise, and a slight hint of defeat.

"Jake Calvare...." he hooked his hands under Jake's wrists and twisted his body around so that he faced the lesser demon, letting go of his wrists as he did. "It has been a while, hasn't it?" He questioned, vague curiosity stirred up in his mind as to why someone like Jake would be in a place like Kokoro Village. "What brought someone like yourself to a place like this?"

He turned on his heel sharply when a second person approached, but he relaxed almost instantly when he saw Nayeli. She did not appear to have any ill intentions, and the way she greeted the two almost sounded....scared or nervous, but not unwelcoming. "Well um..." his voice trailed off a little as he tried to gather his thoughts.

Why am I here again....oh wait! There was someone I was going to help the girl....but wait....what if this lady was her....?

"I came here to see if this village had anything I could use that is not found where I currently live. Also, from the few I have heard from, this sounded like a fascinating place to travel to...." he pointed over his shoulder to Jake, who stood off behind him. "I have no idea on why he is here though...." He jumped for a second, like someone who was struck by lightning. Or a thought. "There was this girl I heard screaming and yelling.....I was heading this way to see if they had needed help..." He moved from pointing out Jake, to just over the Nayeli's shoulder. "It was over there somewhere....."

[Ams]

Jake smiled as he felt Ica's body tense under his hands, knowing that he had frighten him. He let the high elf grab his wrists and twist his body to face him, "it has been a while, hasn't it?" he smiled semi-friendly to his younger brother's childhood friend.

The demon looked up and down at him for he hadn't seen Ica in years, "How have you been- " his words cut off as he saw a woman approach in a strange attire. She looked like the woman that he was looking at earlier. He couldn't be sure though, since she was far away. He listened to Ica as he explained to the woman, as he pointed over his shoulder he grabbed his finger and gave it a quick pull to pop it then let go as he pointed to the other side. Jake moved from behind Ica and relaxed his arm on his head, "Honestly, I am here because I got bored where I was previously, so I just traveled to here." he looked at her and smiled slightly to her trying to be friendly.

[Holly]

"Who knows?" Kai replied, flicking her ear and smirking mischievously. She finished her dinner quickly, only leaving one little mouse behind just in case Osaze wanted it or else she got a little snackish later. Curious to what was going on, she hopped onto Osaze's back, then crawled up his long neck to peek around the edge of the hut. Her ears were forward, trying to pick up any of the conversation, but it practically hopeless. There were just mumbles.

"I think the two men know each other. I don't believe they're of any harm. Well, when I was last watching them, that is," The vara explained, jumping off Osaze and landing gracefully onto the jungle floor. "I mean, I hope they have some manners at least when they speak to Nayeli," She murmured.

---

Pascal stumbled around on the spider web highway, still very mixed up about where he was and where he was going. From the spider webs, he could assume he was in Hegatzi. Now he just needed to get back to Acerbus Umbra to them what had happened.

He stopped.

The ferret needed to get back there as fast as possible, but he couldn't just leave Aria's body back on the ship. What would Aria do? She would want him to tell everyone first; to be strong and to tell Holly that she loved her like a daughter. She would want him to tell Roxanna that they would be just fine in Acerbus Umbra without her and to tell Falkor not to be a gloomy mess every day.

"Excuse m-me," Pascal ran up to Ica and Nayeli and Jake. He tried not to look sad as he asked, "Could y-y-you te-tell me which way to Acerbus Umbra?"

[Roxilicious]

Nayeli just looked at Ica and Jake. Her eyes were big with uncertainty and underlying innocence as well as a touch of confusion. Her expression was soft and her lips were pressed together cutely, though this was due to a feeling of discomfort. Her eyebrows were knitted and raised. She held her arms crossed against her stomach, and as wild as it sounds, she almost felt silly the way she was dressed, even though it was Ica and Jake who should've felt that way as they were the most out of place.

A silent prayer of thanks echoed inside Nayeli's mind as the distraction of Pascal gave her reason to talk instead of just stand there, unsure of what to do. She looked at the source of the small voice and then looked back at Ica and Jake.

"I um, actually don't know much about Osoa outside of Hegatzi..." she admitted feebly, looking down at Pascal with sorrowful eyes. Acerbus Umbra? That was one of the bad person places, she thought. It must've been located somewhere in Verfall, but she could only guess... Verfall was east of Hegatzi, right?

Nayeli stumbled around in her mind trying to make sense of the continent. She was horrible with directions and location. She probably couldn't even properly direct this little ferret to Utro.