Among the Temple Ruins

Rules:

-Open RP. Anyone can join!
-Violence allowed. As usual please avoid nasty maiming attacks or death unless you make sure to ask first.
-This takes place just outside of Belwyn, on East Rendali.

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She rushed ahead of her mother, reveling in the taste of fresh forest air. It had been weeks, possibly months, since she'd left Tieto - let alone Falden. It was just so refreshing to see the forest and to hear the woodland birds. Lilith slowed her running to a walk, eyes taking in the sight of what they came for.

An old, crumbling temple stood before them, it's great pillars cracked and broken. Ivy climbed up the side of what was left, wedging itself between the crevices in the rock. The marble floor was riddled with breaks, and from between them grew soft, green grass. Every now and then, a flower sprung up between them.

Lilith felt a great weight in her heart, and grew sad at looking at it. Such a beautiful place of worship, now sacrificed to nature. She walked inside, eyeing the centerpiece of the temple. A great statue of the goddess Daila, weathered by decades of rain. Still, her face smiled down at Lilith, as clear as the day the statue was sculpted. Between her hands, held out towards whatever worshipping Shinlai came, was a small bouquet of lavender. Lil cocked her head slightly, it seemed the temple hadn't been entirely forgotten as she was told; at least one Shinlai came to worship recently.

Lilith looked back towards her mother, who approached through the forest now, grumbling all the while. "It looks like someone has been hear recently! I don't know how much you should count on those scrolls you heard were here!" She called.

The gurgling of a creek caught her ear, and she turned to it. Ah, seems there was a pooling from the nearby brook was here as well. She approached it, admiring her reflection. Even through the rippling water, she could see the stunning red on white of her mask, as well as the striking colors of her mane. She absently drew a paw over one of her long, trailing braids.

Looking through the clear water to the bottom she spotted something and grimaced, reaching in a paw. It was far deeper than she would have imagined, nearly reaching all the way up to her shoulders; she brushed one braid over her back to avoid getting her mane wet. From the bottom of the pool she pulled out a soaked, likely ruined scroll. She frowned, sad and angry at the same time. That someone could let scripture like this go to waste.

"I've got one scroll...." She called over to Serenity again, "Hopefully there are more- and in better shape. Perhaps you can restore this though, hm?"

Serenity hobbled along in Lilith’s wake, her quiet grumbles and creaking of the leather harness hardly audible over Lilith’s scampering and the birds. Her joints were stiff and she needed a break, but knowing the temple was just a little further kept her going, if she remembered correctly it was quite impressive back in the day, now though... now it was a ruin, but still quite striking. "It looks like someone has been hear recently! I don't know how much you should count on those scrolls you heard were here!" She head Lilith call out, with a groan and quiet growl she lifted her heavy head higher, gold spikes glinting. "I've got one scroll... Hopefully there are more- and in better shape. Perhaps you can restore this though, hm?" Lilith added.

Serenity broke through the trees to see her holding a sodden scroll. “Ugh.” She huffed. “Spread it out across some rocks, let the sun get to it.” She said, gesturing with one paw. She shuffled over to the altar, and sat down, pulling a pair of small candles from her bag, lighting them with hardly a thought, and set them either side of the statue. “Now, let’s see this.” She said, moving over to Lilith and the scroll. “What dimwit left it outside in the first place?” She growled quietly, brows furrowed as she scanned the sodden scroll.

Lilith turned, placing it on the stone steps, where the sun shined bright through the trees. She considered heating the rock herself by torching it for a few minutes, but she couldn't know if the paper would go up in flames after being laid down on it- even as soaked as it was. "The text is barely readable on this," she muttered, sounding very much like her mother.

She moved aside, letting her mother see the water-damaged scroll. "I'm not so sure it was left outside. I don't know whether or not that pool was always there." She turned her eyes skyward, towards the destroyed ceiling. "And I know that wasn't like that."

She scanned the temple quickly, looking for any signs of a bookshelf. "I don't see anywhere it could have been kept, but there might be a cellar, or something similar. I know the one back in Velocifero used to have one for incredibly important scrolls, as have a few others I've seen."

Lilith turned her eyes back to the scroll that her mother was now working on with careful paws just hovering over it. She could just make out the remains of beautiful illustrations, and her eyes grew sad again. The only thing she put such passion into was so often destroyed or left to wither away.

She shook herself, loosing dust from her coat, and stretched like a cat, paws scraping against the stone and striking sparks. She smirked to herself, she knew her mother didn't much appreciate the noise; it sounded like nails on chalkboards. If you think we'll be here a while I'll go fish out some lunch. I'm sure this brook widens into a river somewhere close." She paused, "Unless you want me to look for some secret tunnel or bookshelf or something."

Serenity grunted in reply, distracted by the scroll, but her eyes narrowed as she heard Lilith’s claws drag across the stones. She rolled her eyes to the sky, debating about telling her off, she settled for glowering at Lilith’s back.

“Yes, fish would be good.” She said bluntly. “I’ll see about finding more scrolls, we could read them while we eat.” She said, sitting back on her hind legs and fumbling with the buckles on her harness, eventually she managed to shrug out of it, leaving it next to the rock with the scroll.

Rolling her shoulders and carefully shaking her head, so not to be thrown to one side by the sheer weight of her horns, she padded along the length of the ex-temple, eyes roving across the walls and floors. Usually the scrolls were kept towards the back of the temple, either in a cellar or in a vestry behind the altar. With a quiet rumble in her chest, sounding as though she was having trouble breathing, she found a wooden hatch in the ground, right at the back of the temple. With a quick snort, the wood disintegrated into ash with a puff of flames and she eased herself down the first few steps. A small ball of flame appeared between her horns to light the cellar. While there were shelves, there were only a couple of scrolls, probably unimportant ones, the main ones would have been removed quickly, but none the less she continued over to them.

And hissed as her foot sank into water. The cellar was flooded, the ripples spreading across and making her realise that only the top few shelves were viable. She snarled to herself, realising that if there were any more scrolls, they’d probably be under water. Grunting and hissing she climbed back out of the cellar and sat down next to the hatch.

“Sod’s law that they’d be underwater, when I can’t swim.” She grumbled, rumbling quietly and snuffing the flame between her horns. “And Lilith won’t want to mucky her fur in that water.”

Heavy red fur shuddered with slow, rhythmic breathing beneath a cool grove of trees and rotting leaves. A body of muscle and antlers such as this could barely hide within the semi dense forest; and yet it didn't matter. A rack of antlers as large as this, could only belong to an aged shinlai. A force no critter would think long of crossing. And so the giant slept on undeterred by the sound of her own kind's voices not far off.

The green bundle of fluff beneath her heavy paw though... it seemed to have other plans.

It's small snout raised amongst it's mother's maroon body, sniffing the air. An ear twitched as two female lai nearby conversed, and then the second ear followed upwards straining to hear. The small ball of a pup poked its head over Viva's paws. A sheltered young darling, this was the first time he'd ever heard the voices of strange shinlai.

With a small squeak he hurled his tiny body forward, untying himself from his mother's sleeping grasp. Lucky she was a heavy sleeper, her pup realized as he winced waiting for her to rise with the mighty temper she boasted regularly.

Unlucky though, as the green babe blended into the grass and wobbled onwards passed the tree line, towards a crumbling shelter.

((BEBE LAI OMG))

[[BEBE! I'll post a reff on tumblahhh]]

Lilith was mildly disappointed her mother didn't speak up at all. She flicked her tail briskly, like a prissy show horse, and headed up stream. She laughed, and just before leaving managed to jump off the stone steps in a way that caused her rear claws to scrape against it viciously, creating the same sound. "I'll be back soon~!" She called, almost in a sing-song voice.

Lilith hurried up the stream, out of reach from her mother; Lilith wouldn't have been surprised if a stream of fire was shot after her, but it seemed none came. Just as she had guessed, as she traveled farther and farther up stream the brook widened into a river. The water was as clear as it was in the temple, and she could see perch and even salmon swirling the depths.

Lilith slowly and carefully reached a paw in, seeing how deep it would go. She frowned, annoyed when she realized it was probably deep enough for her to swim in. Lilith could just barely touch the bottom if she really stretched her forepaw down. She huffed, and a small puff of smoke came from her nostrils. She was tempted to boil the pool and see whatever floated to the surface.

A nearby splash caught her attention though, slightly farther upstream where the water wasn't so deep- maybe coming up to her chest if she stood in it. She sat by the side, waiting patiently for a fish to swim close; her paw held out and spread like a cat ready to snatch one out of the water.

Minutes past, and Lilith's un-characteristic patience was rewarded with two flopping, silver fish. She made a face briefly, placing a paw on them to still their flailing- only to remove it and have them start up again. She gingerly reached forward to grab it's tail in her mouth, but was slapped by an angry fish's tail instead.

She growled and slapped it in retaliation, sending it flying into a nearby rock. It didn't flop much after that.

Lilith brought the two fish back to the temple, throwing one (the still one she sent flying) at the top of the staircase. "OI, GROUCHY!" She shouted into the temple as she sat down with a fish between her paws at the top of the staircase. She hadn't noticed the small green bundle nearby.

(OMG BABY <3 HE'S PRECIOUS)

Serenity’s head had dipped lower, with the weight of her horns and her age making her tiered. But her eyes snapped open at the sound of a wet slap from the fish landing in front of her. "OI, GROUCHY!" Lilith shouted, reciving a deep growl from Serenity.

“What is it girl.” She snapped, picking up the fish and heaving herself to her feet, heading back through the temple until she could see Lilith. With a jerk of her head she flung the fish back at her daughter, grinning in satisfaction as it hit Lilith’s back leg with a wet slap. “You called?” Serenity sang with a mockingly sweet voice.

With a snort the fish was wreathed in flames for a brief moment, before extinguishing with an oh so tasty smell coming from it. Serenity plodded over to it, almost shouldering Lilith out the way as she sat down, almost on Lilith’s long tail to eat the fish. She licked her lips and chewed on part of it, her horns slowly dragging her head lower until she was almost face down on the ground.

“I saw scrolls in the cellar, but it’s filled with water, so I can’t get to them, and I have no idea how deep it is.” She explained between bites. “Water’s pretty nasty though, I doubt you’d want your pretty little mane getting dirty.” She added.


((BEBE SO CUTE. He's gonna get alllll of Sen's luuuurv e3e ))

A gust of wind heaved the pup backwards in a small tumble. Rolling side to side, legs straight as pins, he tilted onto his side getting back up onto his unstable legs. He was greeted by the heavy smell of cooked fish... he could remember the smell from when his mommy and pappy used their light elements to slowly roast the gross scaly cold things into delicious mouthwatering slabs of yum.

The babe licked his tiny chops and plodded forward, his chunky baby body making him trip every so often.

Soon, he came to the edge of a stream. Quite wide for the youngin' and much too deep. His green little ears laid down as he took a step backwards. He plopped his silky tail and butt onto the ground, bowing his head. He was much too small to cross rivers. His pappy always carried him across. If only he was strong like his mommy.

Suddenly, the pups ears perked, a metaphorical light bulb almost shattering in his head from the sudden idea. An excellent idea, as all children's ideas were. His soft toes and feet took a bracing stance as his chest puffed out and he arched his head.

Pappy always said that if he ate his greens, he could be big, strong and brave like Mammy.

"Well guess what, world!" The young boy peeped, taking a running start towards the wide river,"I ate my GREEEEENNNSSSSS"

The babe jumped, feeling his fur toss in the rush of the air around him. He loved the feeling, relished the hot sun and the empty feeling beneath his paws. For a second, he didn't notice he was falling towards the water.

Lilith hissed when the fish slapped against her, spraying water and that nasty fish smell all over. Lilith growled, baring her teeth at her mother before sitting down. She drew her tongue over the spot where the fish hit her a few times before settling down. She shouldered her mother back and away from her tail, pushing just enough to be a bother.

Lilith eased herself on her side, ripping the skin of the fish off to eat the soft, fresh flesh beneath it. She was careful to eat around the bones. She noticed her mom cooking her own fish. Lilith took a strip of raw flesh and smiled at Serenity, "It'th suthi" She grinned, before flipping the filet down her gullet. Her eyes glittered, she knew her mother disapproved of raw meat.

“I saw scrolls in the cellar, but it’s filled with water, so I can’t get to them, and I have no idea how deep it is.” She explained between bites. “Water’s pretty nasty though, I doubt you’d want your pretty little mane getting dirty.”

Lilith made a face, scrunching up her muzzle- very obviously seeing as the way her masked moved. "Damn right I don't." She shrugged, taking another mouthful of fish, "Maybe we can get Iapto or Alkyone down here. Someone tall or some Water Shinlai," She spoke around a mouthful of fish.

"Well guess what, world! I ate my GREEEEENNNSSSSS"

Lilith's head turned just in time to see the pup jump in the water. Her first instinct was to laugh, and a grin lit up her face. She watched curiously, eager to see how the youngling found the cold water but instinct told her all was not well when he didn't immediately break the surface.

Lilith was on her feet in seconds, bounding over to the side of the pool. She didn't immediately rush in for fear of pushing the young pup further under the water. Her eyes caught something flailing under the clear water. Lilith had felt the bottom of the pool before, and estimated it to be 6- maybe 7 feet deep. Perhaps she could just...

Lilith reached a wide-spread paw into the water, cupping the pup as best she could and roughly bringing him towards the surface. It might not have been the gentlest way of drawing him out- but it was easily the most effective. She ducked her muzzle in, grabbing him in her mouth.

"'Ere," She brought him back towards Serenity, who was hobbling behind her as quick as she could. She gently dropped him from her mouth on the ground. "Is he alright?" She asked, eyes wide with worry. What a stupid pup!

"Damn right I don't. Maybe we can get Iapto or Alkyone down here. Someone tall or some Water Shinlai," Lilith said around a mouthful of fish.

Serenity growled quietly, at least she could swallow before talking, speaking with your mouth full was just rude and disgusting. “Maybe.” She said, her tone clipped as she lifted her head up again. “I’m not sure where Alkyone is, but Iapto’s probably around. I’ll send up a flare once we’ve eaten.” She said, gnawing on the fish.

"Well guess what, world! I ate my GREEEEENNNSSSSS" She heard faintly.

“Pardon?” She asked Lilith, looking around and finding her daughter was on her feet and running to the water, dragging out a soaking green pup and picking it up in her jaws. “Oh goodness!” She exclaimed, lurching to her feet and hobbling over as quickly as she could, more of a brisk walk than a run.

“Little one what are you doing all alone?” She asked, dropping to the floor and bundling the pup into her arms, broad tongue dragging across his fur removing the worse of the water from him. “Oh you poor poor thing.” She simpered over him.

((I'm off to bed! See you tomorrow <3 ))

[[Night!]]

The falling feeling was strange, but it wasn't as terrible as the sinking feeling he got in his stomach. He suddenly remembered the last time he tried to swim without his parents and squealed horribly at the memory, just before he splashed into the water.

Though the current was not strong, nor the water too deep for a normal lai, the panicking pup lashed frantically, until a long white paw reach in and scooped him out of the water. A warm feeling wrapped around his scruff as he coughed up muddy water. Too tired to turn around and check who his savior was, the boy still knew it wasn't his mother. The mouth that held him was a slender, gentle muzzle; as compared to Viva's broad, strong mouth.

A muffled sound came from the mouth above as he was plopped gently onto the dry ground.

"Is he alright?"

The babe curled into a ball like his mammy had taught him when he saw a big shinlai pad up to him. Though he knew he couldn't disappear, it was instinct now more then anything. He blinked wide eyed as the lai bowed to the ground scooping him up and giving him a prompt bathing.

“Little one what are you doing all alone?” “Oh you poor poor thing.”

The nice lady battered on as the pup only thought of one thing... how much he hated baths! He knew better to complain though. His mammy always got angry when he wiggled too much. He stole a glance at the thin white lai standing in front of them,

"My mammy's sleeping and I was bored!" He groaned,"She's always tired when she takes me hunting."

He huffed, as the bathing continued, when suddenly his natural curiosity kicked in.

"Who are you guys?" "What are you doing?" "Where's your mammys and pappys? I can smell fish!Do you guys have fish?Ilikefish,fishtastesgood.Especiallywhenmymammymakesit"

Lilith watched, confused as the thing curled up into a ball and hugged itself on the grass. Maybe it was going into a... comatose kind of state. She didn't know.

“Little one what are you doing all alone? Oh you poor poor thing.”

Lilith snorted and rolled her eyes. Oh how her mother doted on pups. Lilith sat down again with an annoyed huff, and began cleaning the water off her paws. She simmered with a slight bit of jealousy before deciding to be jealous of a pup's attention wasn't worth it at all. Besides, the little green furball would probably be on his way off in no time.

"My mammy's sleeping and I was bored!" He groaned,"She's always tired when she takes me hunting.

Lilith paused her grooming to look down at the pup with a cold expression. Pups weren't very clever now were they? Lilith always held to it that she was very clever as a pup, at least she could settle her own arguments. To Lilith, often clever and simply brutish were the same thing.

"Who are you guys?" "What are you doing?" "Where's your mammys and pappys? I can smell fish!Do you guys have fish?Ilikefish,fishtastesgood.Especiallywhenmymammymakesit

Lilith would have turned her ears backwards in attempt to block out the noise, had she still had them. She opened her mouth to make a nasty remark, but thought better. She guessed Serenity wouldn't hesitate to send a fireball her way when it came to being mean to pups. Lilith bounded up to the top of the stairs, resting down once again with the fish between her paws, making a point of ignoring both Serenity and the pup.

Serenity waited until Lilith had bounded back up the stairs before replying to the little pups torrent of questions. “My name is serenity and that’s my daughter, Lilith, we’re exploring the temple for old scrolls and books!” She said, smiling down at the little green one.

“What’s your name little one?” She asked, carefully pushing herself to her feet, crouching briefly to pick up the pup by its scruff and carry him over to her cooked, cool fish. “Eat some of that and we’ll see about getting you to your mammy.” She said, plopping him down next to the fish, watching him for a moment before looking up to Lilith.

“Oie.” She said, tone quite different to the one she used with the pup. “Send up a fireball, would ya, see if Iapto’s in the area. Once he’s eaten something, we’ll see about finding him mum.” She said, eyes flicking down to the pup, she was concerned about how far off he’d wondered, the forests and mountains were awfully easy to get lost in and walk for hours without knowing it.

"Oie."

Lilith looked up at Serenity, eyes narrowing and a frown crossing her face. Well that was a pleasant way to address someone. Lilith's lip twitched as she thought about snarling at her mother. She flicked her mane out of the way slightly and decided against it.

“Send up a fireball, would ya, see if Iapto’s in the area. Once he’s eaten something, we’ll see about finding him mum.”

"Gladly. I'd like to get back to what we were doing," She said, a clear tone of annoyance in her voice. At least Iapto was company, and Lilith rather liked the street-smart girl.

Lilith looked towards the sky, opening her mouth. It was glowing orange down her gullet as she prepared a flare to send up. She took a deep breath and shot it towards the sky. It seemed like a normal flare at first, whistling up into the sky. However, once it reached the peak it exploded like a firework, glittering in different colors (and it was noticeable that they were the colors of Lilith's mane). Hopefully Iapto was in the area. They saw her briefly in the port city.

Rubisa waited off the grounds of the temple, all the while fidgeting and watching the surrounding area for mivement watched in wonder as Candy approached the likeness of Daila. She scooped up the lavender stalks and closed them within her paws, whispering a hope, a dream and a wish...

She places the lavender back, as it had transformed the lavender shoots into silver, the buds amethyst. Gently she replaced the offering to Daila's hands.

She leaves the ruins to find Rubisa had disappeared into the shady boughs of a tree, and other shinlai had arrived. A nearly-drowned pup and then fish. Rubisa hopped down through the limbs to land, knees bent, then transferring her energy forward into a tumble. Back on her feet and the ground again, she waited for the introductions.

Slowly Candy steps forward with a shinlai grin. "I think he's ok.... I'm Callandrea. My human traveling companion here is Rubisa."

"My pleasure, I am sure... Who is this little guy?!" Rubisa asked, her composure vanishing and all pride gone as soon as she laid eyes upon the pup. "He is adorable!" she all but giggled.

"I'm hungry!"
"You just ate."


"...I'm still hungry."
The Blonde coloured female sighed, as the small pup perched between her horns continued to whine. She loved her daughter, but she was seriously doing her head in.
"Muuuuuuuuum."
"Nariaaaaa." Breeze replied, imitating her pup's whiney tone.

The pair continued like this as they wondered closer to the ruined temple, Breeze didn't notice the shinlai ahead

"AUNTY CANDYYYY!!!" Naria's leapt from her mothers head, Breeze barly managing to catch the pup with a 'cushion' of air before she hit the ground for the near twelve foot jump from her head.



(I hope it's ok to join in c:)

[[ I hope you guys don't mind me jumping into this ^^; ]]

The zebra like shinlai plodded through the forest, stepping over, on, and pushing through bushes as she made her way through the forest. One thing she liked about wandering around allot, she got to know places pretty well. It was a nice life in some sense. The scenery was often beautiful between cities. Camping under the stars was just marvelous. She got to see everywhere. The only thing that she didn't like about it was the cities. Finding good places to have a seat in play. In the winter she sat outside in the blistering cold, and in the summer she had to try and find comfortable places where there was shade and lots of shinlai and or people passed where she could play. The money she made wasn't much, and all of it went to her family except for small bits she kept just in case. Finding food wasn't a problem. She wasn't a person who couldn't chase down a deer and eat it. She was capable of getting food for herself. She loved the time inbetween towns and cities. The time outside of them was just marvelous.
Esther's next destination was Belwyn. All her gear- her drums, food, tent, money, everything were set far back at her campsite. She would probably reach the city by tomorrow, and wanted a day to herself in the wilderness. Esther wasn't worried about a theif taking her stuff. First of all, what theif would want to steal a bunch of shinlai sized drums and a tent? Second of all, she doubted anyone who wasn't an air shinlai would be able to reach them... considering they were high up in a tree. All she had to do was fly up there with her stuff, come back down, get some more stuff, and head back up. It had been rather tiresome, but it was better to be safe than sorry if there were any 'music theives' roaming the forest.
Upon approaching the ruined temple of Dailia, the air shinlai made a face. Being a Darkblood, the air shinlai did not approve of worship of the 'Goddess'. She herself even said she should not be worshiped. She was no god. It was good that whatever had brought the ruined temple down had done so.
Esther chose not to approach the shinlai and a human as them seemed to congregate around the temple. What were they all doing here? Were they trying to restore it? Or were they just meeting by chance here? Unsure if a Darkblood would be welcomed (not that she was planning on blurting out to a bunch of Dailians that she was a Darkblood) the air shinlai held back, hiding as well as her white fur allowed her to in the undergrowth.

[[ Sorry guys! I spent the day at the beach B) ]]

The boy pup yawned and stretched intensely within the warm grasp of the motherly shinlai. While his rescuer padded away, he felt his large eyes begin to grow heavy.

Having been hunting with his mammy almost all day, plus all the recent excitement; he was having a terrible time fighting back sleep. His small fluffy body grew heavy, flopping a top the motherly lai's paws. He knew somewhere in the back of his young mind that he should go back to the den where his testy mother slept; amongst a nest of woven trees and grass. What had his pappy told him?

"Always stay close to us, Signia..." He heard heard the angry growl of his mother lightly," Or else."

He didn't like it when his mammy said 'or else'. From what he was told in his bed time stories, shinlai with the element Light, were normally motherly, soft and caring... the pup attempted to scramble free from the stranger lai then. It was the knowledge of how much his mammy wasn't any of those things that moved him. Certainly not when she was mad.

He barked pathetically towards the brush just ahead, where through closing eyes he saw the faint gleam of his mammy's tell tale blue orbs. His legs gave out then, and he forgot about moving. All he could think of was his hungry stomach - wait did that lady mention something about fish?! - and the sudden sleep that wafted over him.

Lilith was clearly interested in the Shinlai and human that approached first. However not particularly the kind of interested that forebode good things. Lilith shifted herself in front of the temple and she looked much like a sphinx guarding a pyramid. She wasn't kind, but she wasn't mean either. She was simply waiting for a move to be made that didn't agree with her.

"I think he's ok.... I'm Callandrea. My human traveling companion here is Rubisa." Lilith listened sharply, eyeing the new comers. She flicked her tail, the only sign that she may have been irritated. In truth, the rather bold colors of the female Shinlai and even the human annoyed her. If there was one thing Lilith enjoyed above all it was being the center of attention and easily the flashiest Shinlai in the area. There was a reason Lilith died her mane with blues and purples in addition to the pink and orange her mane naturally was.

"My pleasure, I am sure... Who is this little guy?! He is adorable!"

Lilith's lip curled slightly, flashing several teeth., annoyed that this pup was attracting more attention. Although, truth be told, she was likely just frustrated no one had noticed her yet. Fine. Lilith would just have to introduce herself.

"Hello." She spoke plainly, not much tone in her voice. She wasn't about to let her dislike of these two thus far show- yet. "I'm Lilith, this is my mother, Serenity," Lilith gestured to the pup. "We found him a few moments ago. The pup had jumped into that pooling brook over there."

Lilith studied the pair, not at all ashamed of staring. "What brings you to this temple?" She asked, her curiosity beating out her desire to stay rather mysterious.

(No worries Frap! And you're welcome to join Sky-Gin!)

Esther kept low, scooting around from bush to bush as she tried to find a good place to hide and figure out what was going on. It was hard though. Shinlai weren't small, and she was no exception. She had to weave her way through bushes keeping as low to the ground as she could without being spotted or heard. But as she looked over the thickness of the bushes, her hopes died instantly. Maybe... Maybe I could use the air to move them so I don't.. uh, make a bunch of noise in them? Well, might as well give it a try. Air manipulation was her strongest ability in her air powers. Second to that, flight. Yet pushing the air around a bunch of leaves wasn't helping. And making the air any stronger would cause too much of a disturbance. Yet her pelt was too conspicious. The bushes weren't quiet thick enough so that if one took a hard enough look at it, white would show through between the leaves. And nobody warmed up to the thought of someone spying on them, friend or foe. Yet moving would of made her quiet visible, so she stayed put as the shinlai with the vibrant mane and tail inquired about the shinlai and the human.

Callandrea felt the peace that the temple filled her with fading... Lilith's lack of tone suggested that she may be hiding something?

"I am a traveling jeweler and mask maker... I draw inspiration from Daila, and often stop at the temples and shrines' ruins that I stumble upon."

"Naria! Darling how are you?" She asked, copying Rubisa's funny accent and making a silly face. As the pup 'flew' she giggled, and clapping her paws when Naria 'stuck' the landing. Candy scooped up the pup with her large paws and flopped over onto her back, cuddling and faux-wrestling the pup.

"Hello, Breeze--AHHH NARIA THE WILD THING HAS GOTTEN MY EARS!!!!!!" Candy cried, grasping at the sides of her head where her ears were prior to masking, making a ruckus.

Rubisa smiled, greeting Breeze as she passe the golden shinlai and scooped up the sleepy pup from the rocky area. She strode a few feet from his cold damp shady spot, depositing him on a bed of short grass in the sun, leaving Candy to her loved ones and Hello's... somewhere he would be easily noticed if/when he scampered off. Rubisa turned then to Lilith. "You take quite an interest in the affairs of others, Lilith. One would to well to be careful... especially where Daila is concerned."

"Play NICE, Rubisa..." Candy growled a warning.

[[ Hey guys! I'm gonna wait for everyone else 'till I reply again, but can everyone send me reffs of the characters they're role playing with? I'm doodling some of the scenes currently and would like to draw everyone right!

Note them to me on DA yes? www.holyfrap.deviantart.com

Also, Skygin, which part of the forest are you hiding in? If you're near the edge of the forest line, to the west, then you should know that my cranky mother lai is sleeping there in a brush. Don't step on her! ;) hahaha ]]

Serenity watched the others approach through narrowed eyes, where were they all coming from? But she made no move to rise to her feet, the pup in her arms was her main concern right now, looking after him till she could find his mother, and obviously making sure he didn't go hungry. She glanced down at him, seeing that he had drifted off to sleep. With a pained grunt, she pushed herself to her feet, picking the pup up by the scruff again, and moved towards the drying scroll, she disliked being surrounded by other Shinlai, she'd much rather be alone with her books or daughter. Stopping by the scroll, she carefully placed the pup on a tuft of soft grass, his green fur blending well, and pulled a scrap of cloth from her bad, usually used for wrapping around her writing implements. Happy that he was covered safely she glanced back to the group, a low rumble in her chest, not quite forming into grumbled noises.

"Where is that girl." She huffed quietly.

"Right here." The quiet reply came, Serenity looked up to see the skinny human leaning against a tree, just over the brook, her dark clothing blending with the trees and surrounding forest. "You got a job for me?" She asked, receiving a nod in reply.

Serenity glanced at the group again before moving over towards the brook. "This temple has a cellar, it's filled with stale dirty water, I can't swim and you know what the brats like. There's at least three scrolls there, and probably others under water." Serenity explained.

"So you want me to swim in dirty water and risk infection?" Iapto asked, raising an eyebrow from under her hood. "Eh, I've had worse." she decided with a shrug. She pulled her coat off and dropped her bag, heading for the back of the temple, following Serenity. "Tell the others I'll be with them once I'm done." She added, when they reached the hole, while serenity waited Iapto stripped down to her under things, flinging her clothes across Serenity's back, before slowly moving down the steps, followed by a couple of small fire balls controlled by Serenity.

Serenity sat and waited calmly, eyes flicking from the cellar, to the group, to the sleeping pup. And hearing the occasional 'UGH' from Iapto, she'd certainly owe the human a lot for doing this, that water was nasty from anyone's point of view.