A fresh, verdant planet, not unlike a fictitious planet Moorn might have created had things gone a bit differently in his past dealings with Felina Deyono. Cherry trees about, and wetlands are the rule rather than the exception. A strange tower stands in the middle of this place... the only shelter on the entire face of the planet. The rest is wild, and beautifully so.

---

Helantri Deru
Niven Ai

---

"There you are," Ai's soft voice calls at the sight of Dewei. The goddess waves at the Serinian from her second story window, looking down at the place he stands about two hundred feet from the entrance of the tower. "I was waiting for you, Dewei!"

Dewei looks up, and his lips twitch into a smile at her manner. "You look much better, Miss Ai."

"She is fine now," her father's voice cuts in, much closer to Dewei. "You'll pardon the sudden entrance.  One of the deserts just, ah, erupted. I had to go and fix it."

Dewei stiffens at the sudden appearance, but only shows that for a moment. "I can see how that may be an issue. Ehm...how new is this planet?" It feels...very so. He examines the dirt at his feet curiously with the sole of his boot.

"About two hours old. Though I admit that Ai aided me in the design." Moorn looks up to his daughter, who is happily sunning herself upon her balcony. "Are you ready to begin learning, Dewei?"

Dewei straightens up, and nods. "Absolutely."

"Then let me first gauge your abilities." Radivishe Moorn smirks, raising his right hand. "Defend yourself." He's used this attack against Felina countless times, and wonders how well her son will handle it. The hand begins to move, quickly at first, but rising to blinding speed in a heartbeat, its pale green light writing dozens of runes in the very air. 

Ai smiles. Her runewhips had been pink, her father's green. It makes her smile to see him doing it again.

Without warning, four pale green tendrils lash out to whip at Dewei.

Dewei's eyes widen just a little, and then narrow...he drops back a step with the blinding speed extermely characteristic of his family, an angled, v-shaped, reflective shield materializing in front of him to knock the tendrils off-course while he draws his sword.

It's a good shield, and the attack had been, of course, but a test. The tendrils arc off to either side, making Ai smile brightly and cheer for Dewei.

Radivishe Moorn grins as well. Same old kittens, it seems. In his empty hand a neat sphere of fire emerges, levitating in place. "You will learn that runes can do much more than enchant. Every surface is your canvas, the very air, your paper. Nothing is beyond the master of rune sorcery." With an effortless toss he flings the little ball, which quite suddenly is not a little ball but a dozen large ones, barrelling towards Dewei.

Dewei's ears press back at this, startled, but he does react. A few small papers jerk from his belt to his hand--scripted with pre-prepared runes, though of a more common sort than the ones Moorn uses--and these he flings into the air. Several water-based spells flare to life, which he immediately directs into four shields...two of the fireballs are going to flat miss those. One he tries to simply dodge, and his sword flashes towards the other.

The sorcerer laughs softly. He loves this trick. A completely unnecessary snap of his fingers detonates the fireballs in a low-impact, high-boom set of concussive blasts.

Dewei ends up with a slight burn on his sword hand, nothing serious at all...he'd starting to leap backward an instant before the actual detonation. It's mostly the sound that gets him, and he's covering one ear tightly with a little cringe when he lands, ready to defend against whatever come next.

Moorn just folds his arms, though. "Good enough. Not nearly as daring as your mother was, but not as foolhardy either. Having observed my actions in combat, what could you tell me about the three different runes I used?"

Dewei relaxes his guard at this, letting out his breath, and then thinks. "Well...you used the same rune form that Miss Ai showed me earlier, and of course you didn't have them written on anything solid..." he thinks. "You can alter them even after they're active, and a couple of them seemed to be able to multiply themselves somehow, even though that doesn't make sense compared to most of what I've read."

"Three runes. One set for the tendrils, one for the fireball, and a set of small ones in the fire. Forget what you have read, it is wrong. Whatever you mother has told you is breath, nothing more. Now." He looks to the tower. "Go and settle in. Ai... why she gave up her given name, I do not know. But Ai wants to see you."

Dewei nods, bows his head politely, picks up his bag, and heads inside as told.

The innards of the tower lack much of the glamour of the verdant outside. Spartain, curved, and very, very white are the best terms to describe it. Not an angular surface seems to exist in the entire place.

The main foyer is not unlike Felina's tree-tower in the Celestial Plane, otherwise. A side staircase serves in place of a grand one, and an obvious kitchen, dining room, and den make use of the space there.

Ai is halfway down the stairs when Dewei arrives.

"Hello, Dewei! I have a room chosen for you if you want it, upstairs." It's almost creepy how chipper she is, right now.

Dewei smiles at her, relaxing a bit. "That's very kind of you, Miss Ai, thank you. I'm sure that it's very nice."

The goddess holds out her hand. "Come, I will show you."

He smiles, nods, and takes her hand, still trying to be very respectful about it and not forward.

Ai smiles a pretty smile, far more sparkly than her usual, and leads Dewei to Dewei's Loft.

---

"Right here." Radivishe Moorn stands about a thousand feet from the tower, arms folded, a block of clay sitting at his feet. "We are going to build a fountain from this block of clay, Dewei. Can you imagine how we might perform this?"

Dewei blinks his deep grey eyes as he approaches. Well, for clay to keep from being melted... "a lot of heat."

"In due time. Tap on the clay. Feel how dense it is." Moorn's arms remain folded, eyes set upon Dewei. The clay, as he is quite aware, is far more dense than naturally occurring clay. "This is what laymen call 'ether'."

"And what would you call it?" Dewei inquires as he steps forward to do as told and lays a hand on it. Wow...yeah. It's pretty much solid even as it is.

"Progress," the sorcerer laughs. "Ether exists between the natural planes of existence. Hence the designation 'ether plane' as this one is more attuned to the substance. All matter begins its existence as ether, the breath of some ancient, long gone god. It exists in such quantities that a new number would have to be dreamed up to imagine the amount. If measured in miles and written, a mortal man would die before he could script so many zeros at the end of a one."

"It seems like there would be better ways to spend your time, then," Dewei observes, and then looks back over to the sorcerer. "Like building fountains. Where do we start?"

"Stretch and convert. Within this block of ether lies enough material to build a great monument to my daughter. Today you will learn the runes required to shape the ether. Tomorrow, the runes to transform it into the material you require." Moorn glances at the block. "Some fools call it alchemy, and refer to ether as base metal. But they are fools. Nothing more. Begin by reminding me of the three parts of a rune."

"The foundation, the fountain, and the crest."

"Excellent." From between his crossed arms the sorcerer produces a parchment, holding it out to Dewei. "This fountain's design, and the runes you will need to create it. Once you reduce the ether to a malleable state you can mold it just like stretchy clay. For now you will do so by hand. Later you will learn to do so telekinetically. How are you at spectrakinesis?"

"At...what?"

"Light manipulation."

"Oh! I could stand to improve, certainly, but...I can do well enough." Dewei nods, a bit relieved.

"Can you draw shapes with it?" Moorn moves his hand in a blur, leaving an image of ghostly green depicting a simple stick man floating in the air. "If so you will draw the runes in that manner. If not you must bolster your skills."

"Mm...maybe.." Dewei pauses, and tries to duplicate Moorn's simple stick man. He does, for the most part, but the edges aren't nearly as crisp.

"Work on it in your own time. For now, the runes are in front of you. Do you recall the frequencies Ai mentioned?" He glances up to the balcony, where his daughter lays out upon a love seat, eyes closed, drinking up the sunlight, and smiles a smile that Felina Deyono probably never saw.

Dewei is much more relaxed around Moorn than, by all rights, he should be, since he's dealt only with the polite sorcerer and the one around his daughter. "I think so, but a reminder would probably be safe."

Moorn's eyes narrow just a touch. "Then start writing." He details the frequencies for all of the necessary marks in a quicker, colder, but more efficient manner than Ai had, explaining only when he feels absolutely motivated to do so. "When you reach the top, leave off the monument. We will use it to begin your telekinetic shaping education tomorrow. I'm sure that your mind can better picture my daughter's figure than your hands could sculpt it."

Dewei had been committing everything to careful memory this time through, but turns bright red at the last bit. "Ehm...probably." It's sheepish. He has no idea how to answer that.

"Confidence is paramount. Know what to say to everything, Dewei. Your mother's tongue is sharper than her sword, and it has saved her more times than she will ever admit." The sorcerer glances again to his daughter. "If you can fluster an enemy with words, or stall them, then you are at advantage. Now get to work. Make the ether malleable, and shape it into a crude form. Nothing detailed. You have until sundown."

Dewei nods, and turns to the either...lets out his breath. Okay. Yes. Work. He walks around the block a bit, just feeling out its energies...he hasn't worked with ether much before. Once or twice, but no more. How to start, how to start...well, he's worked with making stone malleable before. It works on wood, too. Maybe ether's the common bond? Of course, it doesn't work on everything...still, he tries it. Carefully, very carefully and rather slowly, scritches a complicated rune into this section of the substance. He isn't sure how much area its effect will cover, given this mass.

Moorn vanishes about two seconds into this. He has a world to finish, after all. The very second he is gone Ai rises from her comfy pink couch, leaning over the balcony railing.

"Don't tell Father," she calls down to him, "but I know that he scripted security protocols into those runes. He did not tell you because you are supposed to be afraid of him. Draw the rune as large as you need it, darling!" She smiles. "Try taking between your fingers, where the rune is. I bet it stretches."

He grins up at her, a little bit. "Thank you, Miss Ai." And he gives this a try.

Of course it works. The section within the rune is as soft as putty, and stretches seemingly without end.

Ai smiles. "Such a quick study... just... do not try to pick up that block. Father told me that he once used a block of ether to push a planet out of orbit, a block the size of your bed."

"That's...quite a lot of mass. Thank you for the warning, Miss Ai. Ehm...how is your suntan coming?" He asks this as he takes the malleable section of ether--about one foot square--in his spotted fists and pulls it upwards some ways, off the ground himself, of course.

"Oh, it isn't," she laughingly answers, twirling her now free-flowing hair around a fingertip. "My mother was no dark woman, and father is practically a marshmallow, so I doubt I have a chance. You know, you can use telikenisis as you normally would to shape that stuff."

"I like working with my hands...but I'll almost certainly end up employing that by the end of the day, Miss Ai, thank you." There's a ton of this stuff here. "And...I can promise that you will never hear me call your father a marshmallow." Especially not to his face.

"My father admires confidence, Dewei. Call him an asshole to his face and he will probably laugh and pat your head. Mumble that he is an asshole, and he will lash your face bloody." She glances down, smiles at Dewei, and scoots her love seat closer to the balcony so she can sun herself while talking with him. Her clothing is far from immodest, covering everything that needs covered quite sufficiently, so she should not serve as any sort of distraction lying on the couch that way. "I think he already respects you, though. He asked me a great deal about our session."

Dewei lets out his breath when he's stretched this part as far as it wants to go without more runes, and drops down to scribe a larger one on another edge. "When my mother respects a student, she beats them senseless," he observes with a wry but genuinely amused smile.

Ai smiles a bit. "Father would never teach his physical arts. I asked him, I begged him, but he refused. So beating you senseless would be kind of pointless." She leans back, sighs contentedly. "Which is not to say he won't do it."

Dewei laughs softly. "Very reassuring, Miss Ai, thank you." He smiles to himself as he works, though that fades after awhile just for concentration. He's still happy for Ai on the inside...she seems so content to have her father back. He's not sure how good it is to have grieved for so long, but...at least it's over now.

He's nothing if not a hard worker and keeps at it, making rune after rune and pulling this and that either physically, telekinetically, or both. He's pretty aimless at first, just waiting for something falls together, but eventually starts directing himself into a very rough form that will be flexible for whatever type of sculpture the sorcerer will eventually want, but still a rough composition.

He realizes after a little while that he's not making it nearly as big as Moorn will probably want. After all, the guy had just made a whole planet at least partly for the same daughter this is supposed to be for. He's already tired, but sighs, and starts correcting himself, essentially doing everything again.

"Dewei, honey, take a break. Do you want something to drink after I tell you that Father will probably be angry if you redo your work?" Ai stands, a bit pink on the tip of her nose and upon her shoulders and ears, but smiling nonetheless. "You are the machine, darling, but even machines need time off."

Dewei stops. Blinks. "Ehm...some water would be lovely, Miss Ai, thank you. Why would he be angry?"

Ai disappears into her room, but continues to speak.

"He isn't a fan of do-overs. He always told me that if I could not get something right the first time, not to bother with erasing and redoing. Just to start all over again." About a three seconds later she appears in the courtyard, a tall glass of water with ice and a lemon wedge settled into her hand. "Here you go."

Dewei smiles and bows his head. "Thank you, Miss Ai. I appreciate it." He takes the water most gratefully...not much tastes better when you've been working hard. He looks up and down the structure in progress thoughtfully, consider ways to make it more structurally sound.

Ai looks it over too. "Oh lord, darling... the measurements are accurate, but you must admit, this is quite an ugly thing thus far."

"Functional, though. Like a club in a fistfight." Radivishe Moorn answers his daughter's statement, fading into sight from walking about twenty feet from them. "Ugly, but effective. You catch on quickly, boy."

Dewei smiles a little, and bows his head, in part to hide it. "There are some structural issues, about twenty feet up...I think they can be fixed all right, though."

"Fix them when you transmute the ether tomorrow. For now, clean yourself up and prepare to eat. The shower is at the end of the hall where your room is. Congratulations, Dewei. You are not a horrific failure." He looks the fountain over, scrutinizing the rough form. "Now get out of my sight."

Dewei nods, bows briefly, and heads inside. He's quietly pleased...so far, so good. His mom would be proud.

Ai smiles at her Father. "You're going easy on him, Father."

"Not for his sake," Moorn answers back. "Go clean up, Ai. I am no cook, so I will need your help."

---

Outside, Ai's fingertips glow in their soft pink way, and a pair of blankets manifest upon the ground. She plops down in a reclined position with her tray, and hands Dewei a glass. "Meiberry wine."

Dewei takes it and sniffs it, looking ridiculously feline for a moment and making it quite clear how this world's creator had taken to calling Felina "kitten." "It smells lovely, Miss Ai." He smiles, and sips it.

"It's gooood. But you know... it's alcohol content is pathetically low." She smiles sweetly. "So I put essence of Kes'illik leaves in it." She drinks deeply, smiles. "I think it's called marijuana in Common. Sit, Dewei, enjoy the stars with me."

He smiles. He isn't familiar with the word 'marijuana,' so he has no idea just how much he's probably going to enjoy them. He sits quietly, and just looks up at them a few moments, then smiles. "It is a lovely night."

Ai finishes her glass, sets it aside. "It is. The world just feels so nice and fresh... I cannot believe father built this entire planet today. Built a planet..." she smiles at Dewei. "He said that he hoped I could have a family here, maybe. I don't think he wants to give me any siblings, but still, it is a very nice place."

Dewei smiles, and nods. "It is...stunningly impressive, Miss Ai. And at least you have him, and teh option of having a nice place to have a family of your own someday." He smiles, and sips his soup.

"I just want to know how he plans to build a society here. Without people, you can't have one." She'd forgotten her soup, and attacks it hungrily. "So Dewei," she smiles at him, holding her hand out and waving it. "How do you feel?" She knows that she's becoming really interested in her fingertips about now.

"I'm sure he's got some plan. And I feel fine, Miss Ai, thank you." He smiles at her. Maybe a little drunkenly, but just a little...he's only had a few sips of the wine.

"I'll bet he does." She looks at him. "I love your ears, Dewei. They're so... something. But whatever that something is," Ai nods, and finishes the last of her onion soup, "it's special. Can I touch them?" Her eyes are a bit red around the edges, brightening a little bit.

His are too, and he's disconcerted for a faint moment, but then manages a smile. "Of course not, Miss Ai. They shouldn't bite."

Ai blinks. "That would be great, though." She sits up and wiggles closer to him, turning her head this way and that. "Do you have to pluck them?" This she asks as she traces the outer edge of his ear with her thumb, feeling for fur or other such weirdness.

Actually, the backs are covered with soft peach fuzz. The ear flicks of its own accord at her touch, though Dewei straightens it with a little difficulty. "Not really, Miss Ai, no. The only thing I do to my ears is change earrings."

Ai is just sort of playing with it at this point. "That is so fucking cool," she giggles, then blinks. "Oops. I swore." She covers her mouth with one hand. "Sorry!"

Dewei has to laugh. "Are you...ehm...feeling okay, Miss Ai?"

The half-goddess tilts her head. "Sure am! Are. Sure... are? I am sure are fine. I..." Giggles again. "It's the wine, darling. It makes me feel floaty and bubbly. Drink up!"

Dewei laughs softly. "Right. Ehm..." he raises his glass a little. "Cheers, then?" Really, though, he neutralizes the wine's potency as he drinks it, something he'd learned from his mother. It tends to ruin the taste in large measure, so he likes to do it near the back of his throat, which helps somewhat...but if the robot-senders come back, he wants to be lucid to protect Ai.

Dim-sensed or not, Ai can feel what he's doing, though she isn't sure why. "Would you rather I got you some water?" she pouts, wondering if he's ticklish around his ears. And experimenting with such.

Dewei winces a little when she picks up on this. "Oh, no...it's not that, Miss Ai, it's just...gah!" he jumps, shoulders twisted at an odd angle, when she hits a very ticklish spot right behind the ear. "Hey! I get enough of that from Spot," he laughs.

Ai giggles. "Right behind the ear... I will remember that." She lays back upon her blanket, laughing softly, and gazing up into the sky. "So many stars," she muses, "some of them are green, some yellow, most look like fireflies with huge egoes. Dewei, why did you really come here?"

Dewei blinks slowly, and looks up to the sky, not sure what to make of the question. "Your father offered to teach me, Miss Ai...and I want to learn."

"I like simple answers," she giggles, still gazing upwards. "Someone will come for him before long," she whispers, as if trying to keep it secret. "Someone will and I will lose him again. It might be your mom, or someone else, but someone will kill him and take him from me again."

"Come on...you don't know that, Miss Ai. My mother doesn't strike unprovoked, and...well, nothing's saying that someone else is coming for your father. You can't guess what's coming, huh? You just never know. But he's here right now. That's to be appreciated." On a whim, he reaches out and sets a clawed hand gently on her shoulder.

Normally, Ai would smile her big-lipped smile at him, maybe pet his hand. However, a certain compound word has changed her opinion as to touches on the shoulder right now.

Sunburn.

"Gaaah! Ow ow ow ow ow!"

"Eep. Ehm...sorry, Miss Ai...sorry! You okay?" The hand jerks back fast.

Ai is practically dancing, but she smiles towards the end. "I'm fine, I am, it's just a sunburn." She laughs, then gazes at the ground. "Way to spoil the moment, Ai. I am sorry, Dewei."

"Oh, no...I thought it was amusing." Dewei grins reassuringly, and picks up his soup again. "I know some plants that may help that..if you like?"

Ai smiles at him at that. "You do? That would be lovely, master Tiono. I have never had a sunburn before, but..." she looks sidelong at him. "I have never been allergic to sunlight before, either. I thought being undead might reduce my skin's shield's enough to let me tan, but apparently, I just get crispy."

Dewei grins at her. "No worries, I do the same thing. Huzzah for dumen complexions, huh?"

Ai snickers softly. "Huzzah!" She lays back again, patting her belly. "Father isn't a pure Dumen, you know. He was born a vampire, but his father... toyed with him. Made him what he is. Father was actually the first Dumen." She grins. "Which makes me the first undead Dumeni quarter vampire goddess."

Dewei grins at her. "That's very interesting, Miss Ai...and quite the amusing lineage, too."

Ai chuckles softly. "I'm full of surprises."

"Ah. There you two are." Radivishe Moorn's footfalls approach quickly, though not urgently, a tray of food in one hand. "Ai, the tower has been equipped with a warning system. Should the building be assailed again, I will know immediately."

Ai looks up without rising, smiling some at her father. "Thank you, Father."

"Dewei, what do you think of this place? Perfection, is it not?"

"It's beautiful," Dewei observes, quite sincerely. "It's mind-boggling to think that you made all of this at all, yet alone so quickly."

"Quickly!" Radivishe Moorn scoffs quietly. "I have been dreaming of this place for fifteen hundred years. I know every centimeter of this planet down to the striations in the rocks."

"Ah...that would do it, huh?" Dewei looks out over the landscape. He bets there are no volcanoes. "Well." He looks up at Moorn. "Do you think it was worth the wait?"

The sorcerer drinks down a cup of the onion soup, giving himself a moment to think. Casual conversation never was his strong suit. "I have my daughter back. What do you think?" He looks at Ai, who is happily counting stars."

Dewei smiles a bit at that, looks at Ai a moment, and then just sips his wine. Yup. That answers the question perfectly well. And most of his other questions don't need to be asked. Mostly things about Moorn's relationship with his mother.

Moorn sits back, watching his daughter, mouth drawn into a thin line. "So are you going to ask, or must I prod you?"

Dewei looks up again. He isn't shy or frightened, really...just reticent at the moment. "I didn't know if it was appropriate. It's not often that mother doesn't volunteer such seemingly simple information to me."

"I strain to think of how you could mistake me for you mother, Dewei."

"Well, the wine is potent."

"If it is potent enough to provide me with satellite ears, perhaps you should refrain from more."

Ai mumbles something unintelligible.

"Duly noted. So..." he looks up. "Just how do you and my mother know one another?"

The sorceror sits back, nodding ruefully. Good question. "Fate seemed to enjoy throwing us together," he answers, carefully figuring each word. "Dozens of conflicts saw us arrive and become involved as third parties, only to end up superceding the first parties to decide the fate of the conflict. Generally we stood upon opposite sides, occasionally the same, though we almost always ended up at each other's throats eventually."

"I see." Dewei considers this quietly a few moments. "Her scar has traces of your energy attached and suppressed, and...she's the one who killed you. Right?" He's not absolutely sure on the last part. But he can put two and two and two together.

Ai closes her eyes.

"Quite so," Moorn answers, "though since I am alive again, I suppose it is safe to admit that I had never been quite so impressed with her as I was when she managed that."

Dewei's lips twitch towards a smile, though he look sback down to his glass for a moment and lets it fades. It may not really be appropriate. "She's very uncomfortable around you..." he observes... "but, you don't seem to hate one another." That's really pretty strange, all considered. Even his mother, he's sure, doesn't truly hate this man...though she certainly doesn't like him.

Moorn glances at Ai. "There is no reason to hate an enemy. Just because we stood upon opposite sides, certainly gave us no cause to despise one another." He smirks. "Though you ask that after the fact when the answer would be different."

"Yes," Felina notes, just far enough away to not be intrusive. "Passion can help a fight, Dewei, controlled, but shouldn't usually extend past it. You may overlook things."

Ai jumps a bit at the new voice, but Moorn doesn't flinch. "Come to oversee, my dear Felina? I haven't defiled him yet, do not worry your head."

"Very reassuring. Actually, I was hoping to talk to you alone."

"Whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of our children, I am sure." The sorcerer tilts his head. "We left our hatred on the battlefield a millenium and a half ago, remember? Secrets are unpleasant."

Felina glances to Dewei a few moments, then back to the sorcerer. Her pride is punching her repeatedly right in her diminuative boobs right now. "I need your help."

Something not far from amusement animatedly flickers in the eyes of the sorcerer.

"Pray tell, my dear, with what?" He can't say that he doesn't enjoy watching her squirm. Old habits.

Felina's demeanor is staying fairly even, though she's actually not blanking it entirely. This isn't the time. "The reason you haven't met the twins' father is that he's dying of a powerful series of rune-related curses. I've been trying to find a reliable way to reverse them for a long time, but I'm not moving fast enough...my stasis spells can't really delay it but by another year or so. I won't be done." And...he practically is rune magic.

Ai sits up, gazes at Felina. What a thing to ask of her father. She cannot help but admire Felina's brass.

Moorn's gaze remains even. "So that is why Dewei was so interested in counter runes."

Ai looks back at him. "You know, father, it would go a long way-"

"I will do it." Moorn glances at Felina, but quickly pays his attention to the soup in his hand.

His daughter blinks. That was... not quite what she expected to hear.

Felina's thrown for a loop as well, and is quiet for a few moments. "Quick willingness. Mending fences?"

"Maybe. Are you going to question me until I change my mind?"

She's suspicious. Not showing it, but he knows her well enough to know that that's a given. She bows most politely. "No. Thank you."

The sorcerer stands, setting his tray aside. "Ai, please entertain Dewei. Do not let him leave." He glances at Felina purposefully. The runes might be trapped, and the cursed man's life is certainly in jeopardy. Dewei does not need to get worked up over a maybe. "Show me the way."

Dewei blinks. He's still thrown from a loop to be told that there's a time limit...he'd been quite startled, and it's clearly why Felina initially hadn't been willing to say it in front of him. She bows her head, still uncomfortable with this, and vanishes for Helantri Deru.

Moorn glances at Dewei, but vanishes before saying a word.

Ai sits up, eyes still a bit unfocused. "You okay?"

"I think so." He nods after a moment, smiles a reassuring though slightly empty smile at her. "I just didn't know that there was a time limit on finding a counter. She didn't tell me that."

The goddess scoots a little bit closer to him. "Can you blame her, though? Really?"

Dewei shakes his head...he appreciates the proximity. "No. I can't. It wouldn't have helped anything...and I'd probably have hurt myself trying to push a spell too fast, and made a mistake." He pauses, looks down, face a little tight. And yet everything he'd been working for would be all for nothing. Everything he's been working so hard for...just a false hope.

"Dewei. You know, I am a little high right now, but I promise," Ai looks at him, her sizable lips quivering a bit at the emotion she feels radiating from him. "I promise, it would not be taking advantage if you needed to be held."

The half-dumen's lips twitch a little. It's hard to tell whether it's towards a smile or...otherwise. "I...would not mind that, Miss Ai."

"I know you are worried, Dewei," the half-goddess soothingly sings to him, " but Father is the very best at rune sorcery. None better, anywhere." Her arms slip around his shoulders, tugging him close. "So just... try to relax."

He smiles a little...nods. Sighs and leans on her. "Thanks, Ai."

Ai chuckles softly, holding the hybrid firmly against her. "I have no children, Dewei. A comfy cushion is the only real way I get to use these breasts." Maybe by embarassing him she can take his attention away from the worry at hand. Heaven knows, if it were her father in Orrin's place, she would go insane.

Dewei laughs softly. "You're trying to turn me red again," he accuses. Of course, it worked.

"Yeah," she laughs with him, leaning equally against him as he against her. The drugs are really starting to mess with her mind. "You know, my father told me that you are almost the same age that your mother was when they first met. He told me that their very first fight happened only minutes into meeting for the very first time."

"I'm not that familiar with their interactions...obviously. But, she did mention her first hard conflict starting around the age, yes."

"He told me that he did everything he could to throw her off in that fight, but she was a rock. Very... iron willed." Ai snickers softly. "But prudish. So he kissed her, and that worked pretty well."

Dewei blinks. Twice. Then snickers, then laughs. "Oh...dear. That would do it. I can't even imagine."

Ai giggles spacily. She lets her head rest upon his shoulder, her hair spilling over, and is about to say something else, but the wine has taken its toll upon her, and she is suddenly far too sleepy to say anything intelligent.

Dewei's eyes soften at this, and, after a few moments' hesitation, he gently sets an arm around her shoulders. "You should go to bed, Miss Ai," he notes softly. Not that he really wants her to go.

"No, I'm fine," she says, barely above a whisper. "I want to stay with you." The last part wasn't something she would've outright said un-thrashed.

Dewei smiles softly, and nods, and just holds her gently, keeping his hands carefully to respectful areas.

Ai opens her eyes a little bit. "Hey..." she begins, the recipient of a moment of clarity, "... thank you. You are comfy, too, and the stars make such a lovely ceiling."

Dewei smiles. "You're welcome, Miss Ai. This is very nice." He's quite glad, in a way, that she hadn't wanted to go to bed.

"It is," she nods. "Can I ask you something, Dewei?"

"Of course."

"Will your studies with us end, after Father dispels the runes around your father?" She pulls herself a bit more tightly against him, speaking softly this close to his ears.

Dewei waits for her to get comfortable again, and then re-settles his hand on her shoulder. "No, Miss Ai...I don't think so. I don't want to be caught helpless again."

"Father will be pleased," she chuckles, "he loathes indetermination." A pause. "I am pleased, too."

Dewei smiles. "Well. The company is good. I would be a fool to forsake it."

Ai reaches up, lays her hand upon his cheek. She moves closer, gazing into his eyes. "Dewei..." she moves her hand up, and feels along his nose. "Hee... you have a thing on your face." She blinks, smiling drugged-ly. "That is so cool..."

Dewei has to grin a little, finally breaking his darker mood for however many seconds. "Yes, Miss Ai. I've had it awhile, too. Want to go for a walk?" He stands up, lifting her up gently as well and making sure she's steady. The walk is meant to end with putting her to bed.

Ai giggles a little bit, swaying on her feet. "I don't know if I can walk that well, Dewei," she laughs, leaning heavily upon him. "I can't seem to move my toes. If they are still there." She huffs softly.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't see any lying around. Here, forgive for this, Miss Ai..." he stoops a moment, then nudges her knees out from beneath her--not that that's hard--to pick her up entirely. He grins. "Is this better?"

"Eee!" Ai squirms, then blinks, the bursts out laughing. "Aww, you're such a darling! Oh, we had better get where we are going. My father," she chuckles again, "my father would eat you if he... but he doesn't have to?" She lets her head rest upon his shoulder again. "You smell nice, Dewei. Like... wine, soup, and plaster."

Dewei smiles. "Plaster makes things interesting." He walks to Ai's roomm as he speaks. She's heavy, no doubt, since she's much taller than him and maybe a hair heavier, but he feels strangely content as they head upstairs. Besides...she's less likely to hurt herself this way.

Ai figures out where they're going about two steps from the door. 

"Dewei, no..." she clings to him, wriggling a little bit. "Don't leave me alone. I am afraid of the dark, I swear!"

"I can fix that, Miss Ai. Just give me a minute, okay?" He smiles, sets her down in her room, then takes a step back, smiles a moment, and then diverts his attention to a mostly psionic spell set, holding his hands just a bit away from one another. A light forms between them. It swirls and condenses. A minute or so later, he closes his hands, and then opens them just a little...and a small, fuzzy, big-eared, bright eyed head pops out from between them. The little creature has a long, unique face not entirely unlike some cross between a siamese cat's and a big-eyed rodent's. It twitches its whiskers, sniffing interestedly.

Ai looks at the little thing, eyes still a little cloudy. "Dewei... what is this pretty little cat?" She stares at it, then at him. Mostly at him.

"Company..." here the creature wiggles out of his arms and jumps to the floor with a borderline graceful-hoppy gait, revealing a brightly glowing tail, which also brings a bright smile to Dewei's face... "and a nightlight. Come here..." He holds the creature in place by the shoulders gently long enough to script a small rune onto its forehead to give its body stability. Through this, he keeps raising the psychic notion that there's something interesting about Ai.

By the time he releases it, the little creature bounds over to Ai and hops right up into her lap, sniffing and swishing its tail.

Ai pets the thing gently, letting it sniff her hands, eyes fixated upon its tail. "I'm not a hundred percent sure I'm not just seeing this," she observes, "Dewei, could you sit by me a sec?"

"Of course." He rubs his wrists lightly as he walks...that hadn't been an easy little thing to just throw together. He smiles at her, though, stops that, and sits down, maybe a little awkwardly.

Ai cuddles the little beast up. She leans over and lays a gentle, featherlight kiss upon his cheek, blushing furiously as she leans back. "Thank you for the cocomonkey dog. Thing. And for being so sweet."

Dewei turns bright red at this. Even his ears do. But he smiles. "It was my pleasure, Miss Ai. Thank you for being such lovely company...and for being so supportive."

The goddess doesn't look back at him. She's quite enamored with this fuzzy little monstrosity. "Dewei... you're welcome. Um..." she glances up from her new playmate. "It might sound funny but... I think you should go. I'm a little..." she blinks. "Hazy, and I think I might be starting to like you too much for one day."

The fuzzy monstrosity, for its part, is very slightly empathetic and loving the attention.

Dewei smiles and nods. "Right. I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Ai, rest well." He stands, pats the creature, and takes his leave, heading back downstairs.

"Goodnight, Dewei," she calls to him as he goes. She looks down to the little thing in her lap.

"Now I must name you," she muses, her mind straining to be clever and avoid something like Fluffy Wumpkins at all costs.  "I will name you... Mickey! No... Samink? Nope. Ah!" She looks at the light on its tail. "Dreamer. That is..." she blinks. "A good..." falls back, out like a light in a brothel. Thankfully she lands in a decidedly non-cocomonkey dog-jarring manner.

The cocomonkey dog dubbed "Dreamer" purrs--yes, she can purr--and curls up, draping her tail over Ai, and falls asleep.

Dewei, meanwhile, sets to getting everything cleaned up downstairs. Restored, rebuilt, and even, eventually, dusted. Ironically, through all of that, he forgets to go and collect the dishes left outside. When all this is in order, he simply heads off to his room and collapses, exhausted, into the pillow, asleep instantly.

---

"Wake up! Now! You are burning daylight, Tiono!"

"Uh?" Very articulate. Dewei blinks a couple of times, heavy-eyed, but manages to sit up and get out of bed even before being aware of where the sorcerer actually is. He's seen his mother deal with apprentices long enough to have expected this.

Still, he's barely awake, and just tries to get his senses.

He had best hope his assumption as to the speaker is incorrect, as shortly after Dewei rises a pair of soft lips press to his.

And those heavy eyelids snap wide open. "Mrrf!?"

Ai steps back from him after a moment, a little sparkle in her eye. "A very good reaction, Dewei. My father is calling you, but I told him I would wake you myself." She blushes a little bit. "Did it work?"

"I...uh..." he's insanely red. It doesn't help that he's not wearing a shirt. "Yes. Yes it did."

"Downstairs." Ai smiles her generous smile, and glances down at Dreamer, who is sitting calmly by her ankles. "I named her Dreamer," she informs the crimson Serinian, "we are going to oversee your training again today, now that my sunburn has healed." She takes a step back, smiling crookedly at him. "You should get dressed, dear."

"That is a good name...and yes, I'm sure that it would help." Dewei, still gathering himself after that eye-opening wake-up call, smiles at both Ai and the fuzzy construct for a moment, and then gets to taking out his other outfit. He's hoping and praying that she'll leave or at least turn her back and not just wait for him to squirm and ask.

"Oh," the goddess pauses before walking out, "make sure to greet him when you go outside. Else he won't talk to you." She smiles again, and swishes her way out, Dreamer trotting along at her heels.

"I will do that. Thank you, Miss Ai." Dewei smiles at her as she leaves, then quickly undresses, cleans up with the aid of a simple spell, and clothes himself again after making the bed. All this is fairly hurried, and his step is unusually quick. Not only becaus he's playing apprentice...he feels strangely light. Like something good has happened. And, considering that the sorcerer had been tending to his father when he'd fallen asleep....

Dewei heads out to where he senses Moorn, and looks up. "Good morning."

Radivishe Moorn is leaning against the formless fountain structure Dewei had begun to craft the day before, gazing upon a spot upon the ground a few feet in front of him.

"Good morning. Recite the frequency names of one of the runes on Ai's back. Any one will do." He doesn't look up at Dewei. "Depending on your success rate, you will be punished accordingly."

Ai steps out with Dreamer cuddled against her, a soft green and pink robe draped over her shoulders. She sits upon her settee and stretches out to watch.

Dewei blinks. "Um..." he does, though, perfectly accurately. He hesitates over one of the late parts, though, and almost gets it wrong before correcting, so he's not thrilled at the near-mistake at the end.

"Fantastic work, Dewei." Moorn points his index finger in Dewei's direction, a white symbol the size of a thumb writing in the air before it. Almost instantly the air to Dewei's right detonates with a shock wave of concussive force.

Dewei jumps, startled, but doesn't shield and takes the knock...if Moorn's anything like his mother, that would just mean an equally hard hit later. Or, immediately. So, the half-dumen gets slammed off to the side, starting to tumble but regaining balance, right ear ringing nicely and a hand clapped over it for a moment. "Fairly good mood today, huh?"

"That was for leaving the dishes out," Moorn notes with a smirk.

"Father, quit stringing him along and tell him already!" Ai calls from above, earning a warm smile that looks terribly out of place from her father.

"Right." He glances at Dewei. "Your father lives. Visit him if you like, I will allow you two hours. Though your mother is probably busy with him. Your choice."

Dewei had about to make a comment about the dishes...but freezes. "He's...awake?"

Moorn smirks his typical smirk. "Quite."

The half dumen blinks. He isn't quite sure how to react, or how he wants to even...he's seriously fighting the urge to pounce Moorn. "I...don't know what to say to that. I think I'd definitely like to..."

And, at this point, a certain very similar half-dumen half-serinian quite literally pounces the sorcerer out of nowhere. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Ting's energy level is much better at this point, by the way.

Radivishe Moorn goes down like a pro with only a slight merf of surprise.

Ai is up in a moment, but relaxes when she realizes who it is that has just tackled her father.

"Lovely, yes. You can repay me by assuring me that you have had a flea bath."

Ting grins at him, in a very good mood. "Not in a few weeks. You may want to get a good combing in tonight."

Ai shifts her weight from one foot to the other. She can just see her father reacting badly to this.

"Ting, was it?" Moorn lifts his head a little bit. "You take far more after Mara-Kuru than your mother. You can still get off me."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." She grins her fang-y grin. "I like Aunt Mara." She scampers off the sorcerer's back and tries to help him up.

"If you're into whores, she is fine." The sorcerer waves off her hands, and just levitates back to his feet, dusting himself off. "So I take it the old man functions completely, then."

Ting's ears perk, and she nods. "Yes! Well. He's not really strong, he was sick a long time before the stasis became necessary. But...he's awake! And you did it! Thank you so much!" It's really amazing just how perky and enthusiastic she can make almost featureless eyes...her face is just glowing.

If Radivishe Moorn notices this, he does not give any indication. Ai, however, is practically melting. "So cute...!"

"Your mother saved the life of my daughter," Moorn admits to his rationale at last, "I only repaid a debt."

Ting smiles at that. "Well, we like Ai anyway."

A soft surge in the energy in the area heralds the arrival of Mara-Kuru, who pops in just beside Ting.

Her face instantly goes white. "Whoops. I did not know you were, ehm, already here, Ting."

Radivishe Moorn's expression flickers for a moment, but even Ai cannot quite figure out why.

Ting blinks. She's not unlike Mara in that she acts like a complete nitwit...but is actually pretty damned perceptive.

"Is something wrong, Aunt?" Dewei inquires.

"Oh, no, nothing, not a thing, at all." Mara nods, and smiles her typical Mara smile; the one that is a perfect cover for a total idiot. "I just thought I would give Felina and Orrin a little privacy. You know." She rolls her eyes.

Ting snickers. "Auuunt..." she whines, poking Mara. "You can't fool me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really," Mara eeps a bit. "Hey," she looks at Moorn, "what are you glaring at?"

"A disruption," the sorcerer answers, "Dewei and I have business here. So, if Tiono here is not going to visit his ex-catatonic, I must insist we get back to it."

Ting bites her lip, wondering exactly what is up here. She nods, though...Dewei does too. "If he's not...ehm...free right now, then...right. Back to work."

Ting nods, bounces. "Right...thank you again, Moorn. Um...want to go find something alcoholic, Aunt?"

"Now, Ting, you know I am too young to be drinking." Mara snickers. "Sure! I have some new tickly drinks at my place, if you want to go there? I'll be right behind you."

"I'll go get them out of the rafters." Ting grins, hugs her brother briefly, draws a path to the nether realm, and steps through.

Mara does the same, squishing Dewei adequately. "I'm glad you are getting along so well, Dewei. I brought you some cookies." She beams. "They're at your mother's house. They're purple! I brought plenty." She winks, and vanishes, though Ai notices that her signature doesn't instantly vanish, like it should upon leaving the ether realm.

"Blasted distractions." Radivishe Moorn glances at Ai, then back to Dewei. "Ai, please test him on the runes used to stretch out this form. I must pick up a text." Without waiting for a response, he vanishes too, but not to the house. He reappears, signature hidden, at the Istan Cairn Stones.

Dewei blinks at all this...closes his eyes a few moments. Well. This has certainly been an interesting day so far. He finally looks up at Miss Ai. "So...it's your turn to beat me up, yes?"

"Maybe," Ai laughs. She sets Dreamer upon her couch, a little pail of food and water next to it. "Be good for me." That said, and with an answering purr from Dreamer, she hops over the rail and lands neatly next to Dewei. "Can you remember the rune you used the other day?"

"Which one?"

"To pull out the form for the fountain. The stretchy one." Ai reaches up and flicks Dewei's nose. "Alright, so I don't hit like Father does."

A few minutes later a somewhat rattled Radivishe Moorn returns empty-handed. "Dewei, you will enscribe the malleability rune from yesterday upon this fountain at four equidistant points. Do that and let's get on with this."

Dewei blinks and nods. Smiles briefly at Ai for the help she's been giving him, and then sets to it, a couple of loping jumps getting him from place to place in lieu of teleportation, which he has no easy means to handle.

Moorn watches, disapproval etched into his features. Ai shifts her weight; she knows that something is wrong. He's never openly disapproving like this, not in her presence.

"Father..." she begins.

"Later, Ai. Just an awkward situation with Ting. Faster, Dewei!"

Dewei takes a deep breath and starts trying to move things faster. He's doing his best, he is, with the redoubled effort, trying to stop being quite as painfully meticulous as he really is, skipping the "double-check" step.

"That's good, Dewei, stop." Moorn looks at the structure, tilts his head a little bit. "How good are you at replicating processes you feel in progress? Say I was to allow you to link with my mind while I shaped this fountain. Could you replicate the act with some consistency?"

"Probably." Dewei nods. "I'm not bad at it." Imitation had always been one of his mother's greatest talents, and it's one both of the twins have as well. Much more Dewei than Ting. But both.

"Then pay close attention." The sorcerer's mind opens enough for Dewei to easily watch, and with a gesture of his left hand Moorn begins to alter the malleable ether. Marble and crystal form from the unwieldy material until, within about twenty seconds, a fountain of intricate flower-and-vine architecture forms from the nothing. The monument is left bare, though.

"Got it?"

Dewei's eyes widen at the architecture for just a moment...then concentrates on teh spells, and nods. "Yes."

"Good." Radivishe Moorn lets his concentration go, and the structure degenerates back to what it was. "Do it."

Dewei's surprised...he'd expected to just be assisting. He nods, though, takes a deep breath, and, trying not to be tentative, begins scripting the same runes in the air, which he'd also copied directly from Moorn and probably couldn't yet do working from an original spell.

"Hold it, Dewei, stop." Moorn tilts his head. "You are a quick study. Start again without the trembling."

Ai smiles a little. Trembling would not throw off a rune, and they both know it. The rune is, after all, only a mnemonic device. Her father is only trying to instill confidence in the boy.

Dewei smiles sheepishly, and nods. He lets out his breath, takes a moment to concentrate, and then starts over, still very much mimicking as opposed to working the spells independently.

"Lovely work for a runt," Moorn smirks, "now invert the frequencies on the left side. My left. You should be able to do so without breaking the current runes."

Dewei acknowledges this empathetically...narrows his eyes a little. This requires him to actually understand what he's casting. Damnit. He's ginger again...careful, slow, and meticulous, and he scripts a rune in reverse. Surprisingly, it takes, and the duplicates that begin to script themselves on that side match its energy field, more strongly. Once they're in place, the weaker original is overwritten by another. Dewei hadn't known exactly what was going on in the rune, so it had been a test technique to make the rune walk him through it bit by bit.

Ai is already stepping away from the fountain. Radivishe Moorn lifts his hands to his ears.

"Duck and cover, boy!"

At once the left side of the fountain explodes outwards, destroying the entirety of that side. Marble sprays outwards in a sparkling gust of glimmer. When it is over, the ground shimmers as if wet with dew.

"Gyee!" Dewei actually makes something like that noise, startled. It's kind of semi-feline squeak. He does hit the ground, a shield springing up over him...he just blinks once that's happened. Wow. What did he do wrong? Did he do something wrong? Why didn't he notice it?

"Congratulations," Radivishe Moorn calls to him, "you have just learned how to detonate an object with rune sorcery."

Dewei blinks and looks up from where he'd covered his head. Glances back at shrapnel, then at Moorn. "I...um...yay?"

"Quite right. Fix this heap and then start on the monument after lunch. For every question that you must ask me, you will be flogged." The sorcerer turns his head. "Ai, please watch over him. Provide him refreshments or entertainment as you please, but do not help him."

Ai smiles. "I will think about it, Father."

Dewei nods as he climbs to his feet. "Right. Fair enough." He gathers himself again, and holds up a hand as the various pieces of blown-off ether begin to head back this way, not letting himself get frustrated. He's not sure when he'll want to blow something up, but...eh. It can come in handy. And he definitely understands the original rune much more since he'd had to reverse its energy.

Radivishe Moorn stays only long enough to make certain that Dewei isn't going to blow the whole thing to dust. He walks back into the tower and sits in his study, thinking. He knows where Mara is right now, and can guess as to her intentions. Her decision, for certain, though the consequences may end up being rather unpleasant.

"You didn't hurt yourself diving, did you Dewei?" Ai glances up at Dreamer, who is apparently napping. Slept through the blast. Now she is sure it is a cat.

"Oh, no. I'm okay, thank you." Dewei smiles at her. This part is easy for him, gathering the pieces. It's a psionic trick, very inherent.

"Good." Ai waves her hands in an exotic sort of pattern, and a moment later her couch, and Dreamer, appear upon the ground beside the fountain. Ai stretches out upon the cushions, propping herself up on an elbow, and idly pets Dreamer as she watches him work. "You're doing fantastically. Father never praised his students."

Dewei smiles a bit, almost sheepishly. "Well...I'm not completely out of familiar territory yet. Learning things that I haven't touched before may be more...colourful." The pieces are still gathering, at an impressive rate. He's trying to figure out how to put them back together. Problem solving is a strong suit.

At length, Ai lays her head down upon her one red pillow. She watches Dewei work for a while, but closes her eyes at last and lets sleep claim her. Last night, though much sleep was performed, little was actually had on her part.

Somewhere between then and now, Mara-Kuru appears in the courtyard, looking far more tense than she generally does. "Oh, hi, Dewei. Um... busy?"

"Somewhat...are you okay, Aunt?" A dirty-faced Dewei stops what he's doing to look up at her, concerned.

"Yeah, just a little worried about things." She looks upon the fountain, tilts her head, tilts the other way. "Dewei, I think you broke it."

"Actually, I blew it up." He looks up at it. "You would have been proud."

"Oooh, yay! Fun fun fun." Mara-kuru trots around the statue to stand next to her 'nephew', but spots Ai napping. "Jeez, Dewei, you're quick. I smell her perfume on your face."

Dewei turns very red. "I...ehm...eh-heh...right. I really should get back to work huh?" The last bit is quick-ish.

Mara eeps. "You did! My little nephew's all grown up and a man now and it just isn't fair you were so cute when you were little and crawling around and then you grew up some and I got to take you on walks and you pointed at stuff and asked me what it was and then you always wanted to look at the stars and you grew up some more and weren't interested in girls and I was wondering if you didn't like girls because you never paid them any attention but then you didn't pay the boys any attention either but your mom said you were just shy and I tried to take you out to places and get hammered and you wouldn't because you were responsible and hey look at that bird!"

A single cackling crow sits atop the fountain, preening.

Dewei blinks. The pieces continue re-gathering as he turns his attention away to hop up the edge of the fountain, up to the bird. "You really shouldn't be here. This thing's going to be shifting, and you'll bet hurt. He waves a hand to shoo it away.

The bird caws and takes off, flaps three times, and lands upon Ai's couch. Dreamer lifts her head and immediately begins to hiss, but the bird doesn't leave. An energy, foreign and unusual, begins to manifest near its ruffled wings.

Mara tilts her head. "Hey, Dewei, am I seeing things, or is there something gathering above Ai's couch?"

Dewei's surprised, and looks that way.

A sphere, about the size of a grapefruit, gathers into physical sight, moving along until it sits near the crown of Ai's head.

"Dewei, I have a bad feeling..."

Felina doesn't waste time stiffening when she appears. As soon as she senses the sphere's energy, she shifts to appear beside Ai, grabs the goddess's arm unceremoniously, and springs away with her.

Mara and Ai eep in unison. Dreamer squeals, tumbling when Ai gets moved just as a piercing beam burns a hole in pillow where Ai's head had been. The crow squawks and takes off, flying urgently away.

Felina vanishes again, following...trying to trace its link to its master, if it's a familiar. She leaves only a wordless "I'll explain later" thought hanging in the air behind her.

Mara just blinks. "Ai honey, are you okay?"

Ai shakes her head. "Mara? What happened just now?"

---

The crow flies south, towards a thick copse of weeping willow trees. Standing beside a pond, a fresh campire next to him, the human with the facial markings awaits the return of the bird.

"It isn't finished," he notes as the thing lighs on his shoulder. "A woman? A Serinian, you say... where do you suppose the father was?" And he continues on, conversing with the squawking crow as if doing so is a very natural thing.

"I'm not sure," Felina notes as she fades into sight. "But we need to talk."

"Do we?" The man flicks his wrist, sending the crow flying over to a perch not far away. He pulls back his hood , letting his short red hair and wild-looking eyes show to her. "Hello, Felina. Been a while..." he tilts his head. "Don't tell me you've forgotten Kalei already. It's only been a few millenia."

"Certainly not. Though we never did have that spar."

"I have to take another rain check on you, Puss. I'm busy today. Coffee?" He glances down at the pot upon his campfire. "Or is it business?"

"Business. Why did you attack Ai? She seems like a nice kid."

"Ai? Sure, she's nice. Very forward with your son, but nice. She's a practitioner of the same rune sorcery that has her father on my list, though." Kalei shrugs his narrower-than-usual shoulders. "Just tidying up."

"I'm a practitioner of that form of magic, as well as several dark-based arts. Just because they can be more easily used wrong doesn't mean that they're inherently evil."

"Yes, well, you do a lot of good things. Ai Orr sits at home all day and sighs. She has no redeeming value." Kalei pulls a sheet from within his cloak, glances at it. "After her, is her father. Then the redheaded you. And I really don't have time to discuss it, I have a lot of work to do."

Felina narrows her eyes. "Now I know that Mara has a good heart. These are pretty arbitrary judgements. What prompted the vigilantism?"

"Mara also helped free a genocidal lunatic from Hell." Kalei takes up the coffee pot, ignoring what should be a painful burn. "I'm trying to clean the slate. Set things the way they were supposed to be." He glances at the bird, who is glaring at him. 

Hey Puss, I hope you can still hear this. It's not me. It's the damned bird. I can't even control my voice... I don't know what's going on. I think Dun might be involved somehow, but I'm not really sure.

Felina acknowledges this with a mental nod. Okay. I'll try to figure it out, don't worry. Does your body generate the attacks, or does it? "Come on," she continues even as the other correspondance goes on, as though she's none the wiser. "How were things 'supposed to be'? There have always been good and evil forces in the universe, as far as I know."

The bird is some sort oc cacodaemon. It needs me to go from place to place, but I can't kill it, because our life forces are tied inextricably together.

"Maybe, but you and I both know that evil is winning the war. Look what evil did to your 'good-hearted' Mara-kuru."

Okay, I can work around that. "Evil's not winning any 'war' right now. Except a few relatively minor upsets," including the bit with Tanru, since if it involves only her, it's "minor," "things have been flowing along quietly for the past few centuries. Mara's still her sweet, chaotic little self. She'd turn her claws on Moorn in an instant if he raised a finger against my kids. I'm not happy with him being back, but she meant that last bit, and her admittedly emotion-clouded decision to bring him back had noble intentions."