Jaz Sotalo's Story

Caleb had left the main room long before Cosmo had begun his story of magic books and spells. He lay on his bed that he'd been given when he came here a few weeks ago, and stared up at the ceiling. His stuffed Tiger sat in the crook of his arm, and he fiddled gently with the ring he wore on his right ring finger.

He sighed and sat up, turning so he could lean against the wall the bed was against, and so he could get more comfortable. Unable to do so, however, he sighed again, thumping his head against the wall with a thud. He picked up his stuffed Tiger and stuffed it in one of his jacket pockets, walking out of his room and back downstairs to where Cosmo had finished his little speech.

He let out a small scoff at Cecil's response to Cosmo's bringing him up. But whatever, he walked past the room to one of the other sitting rooms and found a comfortable chair to sit in, a book nearby. He tilted his head, and reached for it, curious as to its contents.

((OOC:: Don't forget to tag who is in your post, everyone; it lets the writer(s) know that you've posted about their character!))

Cecil had heard the scoff being directed at him. His eyes narrow as he watches Caleb walk by, considering whether he should trip him or not. Looking down at the sleeping girl with her head in his lap, he decides that she might be upset if she found out that he tripped someone. He grumbles under his breath and looks down at his phone. "You guys hear about the witches wandering the forest lately? It's a trend now apparently. Young witches come into the forest and do spells and shit."

His language earns a smack from the little girl who was previously asleep on his lap. Lucy yawns and sits up, frowning at him. "Don't say bad words! And I'm sure the witches are nice witches. Right?"

Cecil makes a face at her. "Dunno. Sounds kinda fishy to me. Y'know since most of us have useful abilities, someone's gonna come looking for us eventually. Could be one of those witches." He looks down at her, grinning, and wiggles his fingers menacingly. "Maybe they'll come for you, next, Lucy." This gesture causes some of the children to cower, but Lucy just giggles and pats his face.

{ ooc: oops! i forgot about that ;; sorry! }

Even if Rhys hates being among a lot of people, he loves hearing the older ones talking, so that's why he heard everything from the tale Cosmos spoke. Things that seemed like fiction, but he actually knew they were not. Magical and adventures stories were always his favorite ones.
He even clapped loudly when Cosmos had finished the tale, and his hand directly got to where he laid his pocket videogame. Rhys only has two games to play, and won the second in an internal contest with another child, but he played and played then for years. But the pocket videogame wasn't where it would be supposed to be.
"Where is it... where is it?" He was worrying in murmurings, the thinking speaking louder than he wanted to. The pocket videogame already were his best friend in the worse moments, like when he couldn't sleep, afraid of the storms and the strong thunderbolts.
"Where did I lose it..." he was even starting to cry.

Faye Chalmers

Faye sat quietly towards the back of the room as Cosmo told his story in the main room by the fire. The children gathered there had been listening intently. Faye had leant her head on her hands enjoying the tale. She loved stories of all kinds, she loved to read new tales in the many books that resided in this house. She especially adored the romance novels.
Her heart thumped for a moment as she thought of the stories she had read, all the main characters had a close companion, a lover, a mother, a father even a friend.

She sighed. She was too nervous to make any friends. Her books were her friends.

She brightened as Cosmo directed his attention towards Cecil. Sitting up a little bit Faye looked towards the boy as he sat comfortable with a younger girl on his lap. Lucy.

All this talk of witches made her a little uneasy.

She watched quietly as Cecil began to gather companions to his detective regime, Sapphire and Willow stood to follow. Seeing Sapphire's red cheeks made her smile. She wondered if she turned as red as that when embarrassed. It seemed like fun

Listening to the chatter around her Faye heard a slight tapping in the distance. It sounded almost like a knock at the door? Looking back at the group before her no one else seemed to have noticed it...

Oh no, I'm going to have to talk.

She gulped at the thought.

"Um.." she raised her hand to grab someone's attention. However as her hand lifted into the air it struck a nearby pot that had been sitting on a side cabinet. Before she could react it crashed with a loud shatter causing her to flinch and suddenly freeze her eyes quickly looking towards the floor.

Oh god are they looking at me? she wondered not daring to look up her hand still in the air afraid to move it back.

With another gulp she pulled her arm down and spoke "I - I think there's someone at the door." She said quietly tugging at the sleeves of her jumper embarrassed by her own clumsiness. A small shard had cut her hand as she pulled her jumper over it. She didn't want any more attention. It didn't hurt very much, not compared to... she pushed her memories away not wanting to remember.

Cecil, contrary to the notion the other members expected of him (that is, to throw Willow off of his arm), makes no movement to do so. He smirks slightly, but other than that, there's not much of an indication of a reaction. In truth, he does like Willow a great deal. For one thing, she acts so childish that she reminds him of a child, and he certainly has a sweet spot for those. For another, she turns into a cat, and he absolutely loves those.

Lucy, on the other hand, had ditched Cecil's side at the moment in search of someone better to spend her time with. She comes across Rhys, who she had noticed had almost started crying, and she ducks down slightly to be in his line of sight as he's looking down for his game. "Hey, what's wrong? You look really sad! What's wrong, what's wrong?"

When Sapphire steps over to the two of them, Cecil smiles, uttering some things along the lines of 'that's a good boy!' and 'you'll do just fine' before opening his mouth again to ask again if any others were willing to join him. It's then that Faye makes the comment about someone being there, and he looks toward her. The pot that crashes doesn't faze him in the slightest—rather, as soon as she opened her mouth, he expected something like this to happen. He looks down at the shattered pot briefly before his green-eyed gaze rests back on Faye, as some of the other residents were also doing.

"Someone? At the door? You think it could be a witch?" He shakes his head. "No. Unless a witch were pretending to be a wayward child—which I doubt they'd try to do in the first place—they would've tried to break in through the windows. That one'd be the easiest one to break through." He points towards the kitchen, and since that one seems to be the biggest, he'd be correct. He lowers his arm a bit to set Willow on her feet and he carefully untangles her arms from his. After about a half a minute of looking at the door, he says:

"Must be a wayward kid. And I don't think you talking was just a coincidence, either." The brunet casts a sideways glance at Faye, giving her a smile. "While your voice is lovely, you don't do that much, do you? Talk, I mean." His babbling probably doesn't make much sense, but he's using his ability. Assessing the situation. He tilts his head at the door. "Whimsical, maybe?"

S-S-So cold...

In the woods, a boy staggered on a twig as he headed towards a light in the faraway distance.

He was fifteen years old, but years of malnutrition had taken its toll on his scrawny body, causing the teen to seem younger than he actually was with little body fat to help insulate his body against the cold, and the red flush on his cheeks indicated fever. He was underdressed for the weather, snowflakes landing on a thin tattered jacket and grimy pants a couple of sizes smaller than him. Cold seeped into him like knives every time a snowflake dropped onto him, stabbing him with icicles that sank a little deeper with every move. Shivering uncontrollably, the brown haired teen had stuffed his hands under his armpits in an attempt to stop frostbite, but it was a futile attempt.

He couldn't feel his fingers anymore, was what he was saying. And his toes and come to think of it, everything else.

It was like his body was slowly turning into an icecream cone - he even had a frosty white topping of snow on his head from the hours of walking outside that mixed with his hair and made it look like he had an extreme case of dandruff. The boy could still feel cold, but it was a distant feeling, as if his internal core of heat was slowly starting to freeze over. Hot and cold at the same time. Get a g-g-grip, self. The boy told himself, gritting his teeth to keep it from chattering. He looked dazedly in front of him, squinting to make sense of things in the snow and dark. Jaste Sotelo will not give in to a stupid fever -

He stepped on a branch, slipped and fell to the ground, landing in a pile of snow.

For a moment, Jaz didn't move. That moment stretched out to a minute, which stretched out to ten. Then, gritting his teeth, Jaz weakly shook his head and made to pull himself up. His arms buckled at his first attempt, but he made it to his knees on his second attempt out of pure willpower even if his arms trembled from the effort. Dazed, covered in snow from the snowmound that he couldn't be bothered to brush off, Jaz staggered to his feet like a zombie rising from the grave, shaking so hard it was a surprise that his bones hadn't vibrated apart.

With dazed, fever-glassed eyes, jaz checked the light in front of him, forcing himself to stay up with sheer willpower and thankful that the cold and snow had made the pain in his body die down to a dull ache and covered the (not scary just the wind) whispering sounds he'd been hearing since he'd entered the forest. Sleeping in the snow meant death. Jaz did not want to die. It's... closer than it was before. A lot closer. Or this is a fever dream brought on by the cold, yay.

Hallucination or not, heading to the light was the highest chance for survival. Hunching in on himself to preserve what little body heat he had, Jaz took a step forward -

And let out a hoarse shriek of surprise as his foot landed on nothing but thin air, momentum pushing him over into nothingness.

Anyone with rational thought and the ability to see could have avoided the small incline, since the light snowfall did little to block out the slope, but as Jaz currently had the sight of a halfblinded elderly cyclops thanks to having a high fever - and also because he didn't think to check the ground before taking that step forward - Jaz slipped down the slope and sprawled towards the ground, hands outstretched to stop his fall.

Naturally that was the moment Jaz's arms decided to give out on him. With nothing to stop his momentum, Jaz's head hit the ground with a harsh thud. That normally wouldn't knock him out cold, but since Jaz currently had the temperature of 38.4 degrees Celsius and the strength of a newborn kitten...

I hate the snow. Was the only thing Jaz thought before blacking out.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Dennis? Where are you going?"

The blonde boy in question stiffened like a statue at the voice, one hand almost touching the door. Devon and Gabriel had just walked down the stairs for a cup of hot chocolate, and they were just in time to notice Dennis about to open the door that lead to the outside. They leaned against the stairs, Dev raising an eyebrow and Gab smiling brightly at Dennis.

The boy turned around, giving off a slightly sheepish air. He gestured at the door and opened it, revealing the snowy front yard and beyond it, the snowy forest. It was still snowing, frozen flakes landing lightly on the ground and forming mounds of snow. It was a bit hard to see thanks to the darkness, but that just made the place look more picturesque.

"Oh, so you wanted to see the snow?" Devon asked, enlightenment forming on his face. "Or go out to play in the snow," Gabriel added, noting that Dennis had his winter clothes on. Dennis gave a small nod of confirmation, and Dev and Gab both exchanged a look with each other before facing Dennis again.

"Why?" They asked the same time.

Dennis opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked around helplessly, as if unsure how to express what he wanted in words. He twisted his hands together, then brightened up - Gabriel and Devon could literally feel Dennis cheer as the lightbulb went off in his head despite his expression remaining unchanged - and patted himself down quickly, rummaging through his pockets. Shrugging, Gab and Dev settled down against the railing of the stairs and waited.

Dennis brought out his sketchbook and pen from underneath his coat. After some quick scribbling he held it up for the twins to see, the anxiety he was feeling radiating off the blonde boy like smoke.

"Oh, you were looking for Cecil, Willow and Sapphire to see if you could tag along with them while they went out?" Gab said, grinning. "And you thought they went out into the snow already, so you wanted to look for them outside?"

Dennis nodded fervently.

"Hmm." Dev stroke his chin thoughtfully. "I think they're still here... Why do you want to join them, anyway?"

Dennis furrowed his brows as if he were getting his thoughts together, then gestured to the outside with both hands as if he were welcoming a guest star, jazz hands and all. It felt like he was saying 'Isn't it pretty?'

Dev and Gab exchanged a whole conversation of looks that lasted a few seconds. Then they shrugged and turned to face Dennis again, who was starting to feel like he was a bit anxious. "Ok, I guess," They said in unison.

Dennis's aura light up like a happy lightbulb.

Gabriel smiled and added, "Don't get lost!" and Devon added with a teasing grin "Don't get caught by the witches either!"

By the time they walked down the stairs, Dennis had already darted out of the house, door swinging shut behind him with a quiet click. Devon held up a pack of cards, Gabriel grinned at him, and the two walked towards the living room and quietly grabbed seats at the table. Gabriel started to shuffle the cards, and the twins began to play a game of two-person poker.

---------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Dennis had found Cecil, Sapphire and Willow. He ran up towards them, coming to a pause in front of Cecil. He gave a wave of hello to Sapphire and Willow before looking up with beseeching eyes at Cecil, a 'can I come with you?' air surrounding him directed in full force towards the older boy.

Sapphire had corrected Cecil's musings, calling them a stereotype, and he shrugs. Stereotype or not, he can't imagine anyone passing up a cute little kitten in front of them. In addition, he seems incredibly unfazed about possibly digging up something unsavory about the other's past. He lowers his voice gently, speaking pointedly at Sapphire. "Don't worry about my ability. Even if I'm able to decipher things about yourself you'd rather keep down, I'd never tell anyone else."

He reaches into his bag and fishes out two macarons—one white speckled with black, and one pink. "Do you want one, Sapphire? The pink ones are peach-flavored, and I save them for cute boys." He laughs gently and holds the cookie out to him, noting Willow latching back onto his arm.

It's then that he notices a rather different figure—a smaller one than all of them. Cecil peers down at Dennis, who had followed them all the way out here. His green eyes widen slightly, an eyebrow lifting. He opens his mouth, likely to tell Dennis to go back to the manor—to keep himself safe, because it's dangerous out here and he could catch a cold. But the eyes the boy gives him...

The wannabe detective sighs and relents. "Alright, you can come. Please be careful, though. If I tell you something's fishy, stay behind me."

Just then, Cecil can make out a noise. Something of a shriek, it seems like, but not too loud. His head jerks in the direction of where he heard it, the sound being muffled quite a bit by the snow, but Cecil's attention to detail won't let him miss even the quietest of screams. He looks back to Sapphire, Willow, and Dennis, and asks: "Did any of you hear that? We should probably go check that out. It's too early to tell even for me, but someone might be in trouble."

He'll be disappointed if the person need isn't being hunted by a witch, or if they aren't a cute boy, but he supposes he'll help anyways.

--

Lucy nods excitedly, glad Rhys seems enthralled in her magic. "You can touch 'em! Just be careful, though. If you touch 'em too hard, one could disappear!" She tucks the notebook back into her backpack and grins. "Waywards could be super heroes, too! Kinda like Batman. He doesn't have a superpower. You're like Batman!"

Dennis's disappearance into the forest hasn't gone unnoticed. For sure, she starts growing jealous. She should've thought about escaping, too...

--

Somewhere in the forest, a bush shakes with the urgency that only a person could make...

Willow started sulking as Dennis wriggled out of her hug. Still, the teen straightened up and followed him, bouncing back to her normal bubbly self. "You made Cecil agree just by looking at him! I wanna learn to do that too..." A wide grin spread across her face as she started to imagine what she could do. Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted a snowflake bigger than the others. Popping into her cat form, she raced after it, bumping into Sapphire in the process who merely rolled his eyes at her excited form.

The blue haired teen then nodded at Dennis. "It'll be nice to have you along." Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over at Cecil just in time to catch his statement and the wink at the end of it. Feeling himself blush lightly, he turned his face away. "Yeah, I trust you."

After a short while of walking, with Willow trailing behind the three in her cat form, they came across someone laying in the snow. Listening to Cecil's analysis of the situation, Sapphire was just about to lean down to pick up the boy when the brunette patted his back. "I can't carry him, because I haven't eaten in a few days, and I don't trust myself to carry someone under these conditions. Dennis is too small. And Willow..."

At this, Sapphire gave a concerned glance to Cecil. "When we get back, you will eat something, ok?" Still, he didn't comment beyond that, merely crouching down into a better position to pick up the boy. Glancing at Willow, he noted the girl turning back into her human form, an overly worried look upon her face as she helped Sapphire move the unconscious person onto the blue-haired teens back.

Once he felt that he had a decent grip, Sapphire moved to stand and Willow threw Sapphire's jacket around the boy, hoping to stave off some of the cold, even if the material was so thin it might as well not have been there. Taking a moment to get used to the weight, Sapphire then glanced over at Cecil. "I'm ready, let's get going." With that, Sapphire turned to head back toward the residence, Willow fluttering about behind him, the white haired girl keeping her eye on the boy despite the fact that she probably wouldn't notice if his condition changed.



They weren't certain how long they had been in the dark for. All they knew was that the candle had burned out a while ago and the food they had been given had been long eaten. They could feel hunger gnawing at their stomach. In the dark, one tended to lose track of the time, and in this Rune was no exception.

Rune hissed slightly as the metal cuffs around their wrists rubbed against the already raw skin beneath. The chains limited their ability somewhat, but the markings on their arm nullified some of its effects, leaving them with a bare minimum of their power. Not much, but enough to potentially do something with. They also didn't restrict their movements too much. Each wrist was bound separately, connected to a point somewhere in the center of the area they were enclosed it. It allowed Rune the freedom to move around the room, though they couldn't touch the walls unless they used their feet to do so.

Currently the teen was sat in the center of the room, staring intently at their wrists, even though they couldn't see them. With each hand free to move, if awkwardly because of times, Rune was trying to rub away some of the skin on one of their wrists. if they could just get a little blood...

They quickly stopped as they heard noise coming from outside, though once that passed they waited for a little longer before carrying on with their task.

It wouldn't be the first time that Rune had tried to get away from the witches, and it likely wouldn't be the last. They would keep trying until either they were free or they were dead, whichever came first.

One of the runes that Rune had studied was from the Elder Futhark and was simply made up of a single, vertical line. It was the I-rune and a lot of its meaning returned to ice, though one of it's uses was to stop unwanted forces. If they could just draw the rune onto the surface of the cuffs that bound them, maybe they can suppress the magic in the cuffs long enough to escape from them? Still, at this point they were willing to try just about anything.

Feeling a warm liquid under their fingertips, Rune's eyes widened suddenly, a grin tugging at their lips. Just as they were about to draw the rune onto the cuff, a light appeared at the edge of the room and they had to blink a few times at the sudden intrusion before swallowing nervously.

Well, it seemed they had been discovered.

Cecil nods and turns to follow after Sapphire, placing a hand between Dennis's shoulders and guiding him back towards the Residence. "No witches today, huh? Oh well. Maybe we'll get lucky another time." He nudges Sapphire's shoulder gently. "Since you're the one who told me to eat, I'm expecting you to take responsibility and make me food." He laughs, and it sounds as pleasing as soft bells. "I'd say it'll take us twenty minutes to get back to the manor, probably. That gives us ten minutes to try to warm him up." His eyes rest on the unconscious Jaz. "Cutting it close, to be sure, but I think we can make it if we walk fast."

{ ooc: if it wasn't obvious already, alexus has control of the witches right now :p }

At Cecil's comment about there being no witches today, Sapphire inclines his head slightly in the other teen's direction. "Yeah, another time."

A moment later he felt a nudge on his shoulder. "Since you're the one who told me to eat, I'm expecting you to take responsibility and make me food." Cecil's comment was followed by a laugh which prompted another blush from Sapphire.

"Y-yeah, sure." While he wouldn't call himself an expert in cooking, the blue-haired teen did know how to make a few simple meals that were healthy, if it would get Cecil to actually eat then he would make something for the other teen.

The brunettes statement on how long it would take them to get back caused Sapphire to start walking faster. He was in agreement with his next statement as well, they would indeed by cutting it close. Sapphire glanced at the white-haired teen beside him. "Willow, you think you can run ahead and let the others know? We'll need something warm to wrap this one up in and it'd be best if they have it ready for when we get there."

Willow's face was uncharacteristically serious for once as she nodded. "Got it." Taking a second to orientate herself, she set to running back toward the residence, soon disappearing in the snow ahead of the remaining group. She wasn't sure what had caused the boy pass out, but he looked really cold and being cold wasn't fun at all. If her warning Cosmo and the others would help, then she would do it.

Cecil laughs low and tonelessly under his breath, eyelids lowering slightly. Everyone seems rather concerned about him, which isn't a bad thing at all—but it's always strange to Cecil when people fuss over him. Still, it isn't exactly their faults. It's normal human nature to worry over someone who doesn't take care of himself. He reaches into his bag, looking over to Dennis and smiles, taking out a macaron. "I'll be fine, I'll eat something right now. See?" He puts the treat in his mouth and eats it. To be fair, this shouldn't be much better—eating something that's nothing but sugar while not having eaten in a few days doesn't exactly sound healthy.

The mansion is visible in the distance—it's hard to miss, especially with all the bright flowers around it, even in the snow. Vines run all the way up to the highest tower of the Residence, a tower that Cecil likes to imagine holds the Wayward Plane. The tower is skinny in nature, but much like the rest of the manor, it's quite spacious inside. He looks to Dennis once more and fishes out a Cookies and Cream macaron from his bag. Those are his favorites, and he doesn't usually share those, but—

"This one's for you, Dennis. It tastes like oreos." He holds out the macaron, smiling slightly. "Consider it compensation, since we didn't stay out here too long. I know you wanted to see the snow a little more."

Bursting into the residence, the white-haired teen ran into the living room before starting to talk loudly and quickly, words blurring together. "Someone cold! Sapphire carrying cold person here, they need help!" Message delivered, she sank to her knees, breathing in and out as she tried to catch her breath before suddenly a cat was in her place, spread out on the floor looking exhausted. She would leave it to them to figure out what to do next, she was sleepy and it was warm here...



Hearing Cecil's claim about him eating now, Sapphire turned to look at the brunette just in time to watch him eat a macaron. "I'm not sure that's healthy, but it's something I suppose..." Turning back to face the way they were going, the blue-haired teens eyes widening it bit as the residence came into view. Would they make it in time? He hadn't been keeping track of how long the trip had taken. Barely noticing the exchange between Cecil and Dennis behind him, Sapphire quickened his pace more, he would run but he didn't want to jostle his passenger too much, or lose his grip on the boy.



In the end, the punishment hadn't been as bad as Rune had feared it would be. Their wrists had been bound so tightly in bandages that they were starting to wonder if their blood flow was being cut off. This did, however, prevent them being able to use any of the blood they'd managed to get. The cuffs were still on of course, they had been taken off temporarily while their wrists were cleaned and bound, but the witches weren't likely going to leave them without some form of restraint. The one time the group had done that Rune was half way to the nearest town.

Now the short teen was running around the little camp the witches had set up, doing errands for pretty much anyone that told her to do something. It was so bad she supposed, though some of the messages she had to deliver were a tad weird and she didn't understand half of what they were about. Something about other people nearby? But this was the middle of a forest right? How could there be other people nearby?

Shrugging off such thoughts for the moment, they carried on with the tasks set for them. It would likely be a while before they could attempt another break out again, they needed to collect their strength for the occasion.



Snow. While he didn't overly mind the cold, Corvus wasn't a huge fan of the snow, it was something that forced a lot of animals into hiding so that they wouldn't die from the lack of food around. He much preferred storms, something about the chaotic weather, the flash and the rumble, soothed him and sometimes he would spend several hours just laying in the rain as the storm raged above him.

Instead here he was trudging through the snow. He was cold and a tad annoyed, especially since all the snow was making his clothes wet, he would have to change when he got to where he was going.

Something rustled in the bushes next to him and a small, frail looking fox stumbled out of them. It looked half-starved and likely hadn't had a good meal for a while. Fishing through his pockets, the ginger pulled out a scrap of food he had been saving, though in all honesty he had forgotten that he had it until now.

Kneeling down next to the sorry looking creature, he held it out, not surprised when it came over to snag the meager meal. "Hungry, huh? Sorry, I don't have anything else for you..." After a moment of fussing over the fox, he watched as it scampered away, a little more full of energy than before.

Sighing a little, the teen stood back up again, stretching a little and accidentally knocking his hat askew in the process. "Come on, not far to go now..." Fixing the position of his hat, he started walking again, grumbling slightly under his breath about the snow as he did.

Cecil shrugs. "You're right. It's something. After we get this kid warmed up, I'm counting on you to take care of me, Sapphire." He winks at Sapphire as they arrive at the door.
--
Lucy taps her chin. "I've never really tried something like that! Maybe I could, though. Let's seeeee..." She starts to put her crayon to paper, but—
--
At Willow's words, some of the children inside exchange glances with each other. Cosmo reappears out of thin air, saucers with tea cups full of warm tea on them floating around him. He looks at Willow, bewildered, before she shifts into cat form. He lowers himself to the ground and crosses his arms, turning towards the others. "Alright, listen, listen! If there is a Wayward Child in need of help from the cold, we're all going to need to prepare! Hot towels! Blankets! Heating pads! Anything that conducts heat, please, please!" He turns toward the door just in time for it to swing open.

Cecil and the rest of them arrive at the door, with the brunet stepping into the room with a bit of urgency. A few of the other children trickle into the room with the requested objects, and Cecil scans the room. "... Are Dev and Gab around? I think we could use them, since they're doctors. They won't be able to heal something like this, but..." His eyes shift over to the unconsccious boy on Sapphire's back. "... I'd like them to take a look at him." After all, doctors should know what to do for hypothermia better than an amateur detective.

Lucy widens her eyes at the scene, a little perturbed by the sight of an unusually pale boy who isn't conscious. She frowns and grabs onto Rhys's sleeve to guide him with her before stepping over to Cecil's side. Suddenly, she isn't so mad anymore.

{ ooc: i think i tagged everyone who is in the front room? if i missed anyone let me know on the forum! }

Arriving back at the residence, Sapphire took a look around the room they had just stepped into before finding an empty couch. Striding over, he absently noticed Willow passed out in the middle of the floor. Still, he crouched down next to the empty piece of furniture, laying the unconscious kid down gently, propping the boy's head up with one of the cushions before taking a step back to let those who needed to get closer.

With that done, Sapphire scooped up Willow who didn't protest the action in her dozing state. Cat in hand, the blue-haired teen moved to stand next to Cecil once more, watching things unravel with a concerned look upon his face. Sighing softly, he murmured under his breath. "I hope everything turns out alright..."

Cecil looks over to Sapphire and grins at him. "With our help, he'll be fine. We actually made it a little earlier than expected. Once we get Dev and Gab get here, he'll help them out. For now, look." Some of the other members have been putting everything warm on Jaz, and one child even lets flames flow from her fingers, holding them out towards the unconscious boy as if she were imitating a furnace. "Teamwork's a beautiful thing, isn't it?" He bumps the boy's shoulder.

Lucy grabs a hold of Cecil's jacket, and he looks down at her, a small smile on his face. "I see you made a friend. You're a little scared, huh? Well, don't worry about him. He'll be fine. My guesses are never wrong." He pats her head.
--
Oliver, who had been taking care of all the indoor plants, had walked in from the kitchen to see what all the ruckus was. Upon surveying his surroundings, and seeing an unconscious boy on the couch, he widens his eyes. A few flower petals flutter off of his body in shock.

---

Lisi couldn't help the excited squeal that slipped past her lips as the new child excepted the stationary she had offered. She felt herself bouncing up and down in anticipation as she waited for them to finish whatever they were writing. When they were finally done she quickly rushed over in order to read what was written on the paper.

She let out an excited gasp as she realized that the child had finally informed them of their name. "Your name is Ash? What a wonderful name!" Lisi said with a big grin as she clapped her hands together happily. When she read the second part of the note however, she couldn't help but look at Ash with confusion.

"I'm talking to you because I want to get to know you better. Why wouldn't I want to talk to you?" She tilted her head curiously, wondering why the younger child would even ask why they bothered to talk to her. However, before she could get an answer she head somebody burst through the front door.

Turning, Lisi watched with wide eyes as Willow rushed into the living room and shouted something about a 'cold person'. Not long after she watched as the others rushed inside carrying a boy between them. It was obvious that this was the so called cold person that Willow had been speaking of, and soon just about all of the children were attempting to warm him up.

Motioning to Ash that she would be right back, Lisi walked over to the freezing boy and made a contribution of her own. Taking off the hat that she always wore, the girl carefully put it on the boy. "It's important to keep your head warm!" She stated to no one in particular as she moved out of the way so that Dev and Gab could reach the child.

Walking back over to Ash's side, Lisi attempted to smooth her hair down. She wasn't used to walking around without her hat, but this was for a good cause. Turning to the child at her side, Lisi smiled a bit warily before saying, "Well, it looks like you aren't the only new kid anymore.". Lisi just hoped that Cosmo would take the time to explain things to this child, she obviously wasn't really cut out for that job.

At the twins' announcement that the kid would be fine, Sapphire slumped slightly in relief, leaning ever so slightly on Cecil. "I'm glad..." He smiled as Lucy dragged over a younger boy, tilting his head back to look upwards as he listened to the exchange between Cecil and the girl.

It wasn't until he felt something being put into his hand that he looked down again, noticing Dennis in front of him. Looking at what he was given he noticed two small piece of macron. "Thank you Dennis." Sapphire smiled warmly at the boy as he then went on to pass a piece over to Cecil as well. Straightening up, he ate his piece before gently nudging Willow awake so that the cat could eat hers too.

That done, Sapphire turned to ask Cecil if there was anything in particular that he wanted to eat but the door opened and from the corner of his eye he could see as a small figure with bright orange hair peered through the opening.



Thankfully by this point the blizzard seemed to be dying down a little, but Corvus knew better than to trust that it would stay that way. Predicting the weather was something he had never been good at, thus he had been caught out in his fair share of miserable weather during his travels.

He had stopped his complaining a few minutes previously, and had now settled for glaring at the snowflakes as they melted on his clothes. Shivering slightly, the ginger knew that if he didn't get to where he was going soon he might end up freezing. Rubbing his gloved hands together to create a little more warmth, he then shoved them into the pockets of his trousers, losing himself in thought as he forced himself to move forwards.

A short while later a familiar fox appeared before him, making the teen pause and blink a couple of times at the creature. "I don't have anything else for you." The small thing continued to stare up at him and he sighed a little. "I see, you want to stick around then, huh?" At the affirmative bark from the fox, Corvus rolled his eyes somewhat. "Very well then, come along. I can probably find something for you to eat when we get to where I'm heading."

The pair traveled through the snow in silence and about ten minutes later Corvus could see the residence up ahead. It looked just the same as the last time he was there, except that there seemed to be more flowers than before. The building seemed a little quieter than usual, though everyone was probably inside because of the weather so that was no cause for concern.

Cosmo had never seemed to have a problem with the ginger just waltzing into the building before, so that's what Corvus did. After closing the front door behind him, he could hear people talking in the living room and he headed in that direction, maybe Cosmo was in there? He did need to talk to the man to see if he didn't mind having the orange-haired teen stay for a few months.

Reaching the living room, he pushed open the door and peered through before stepping into the room fully. Corvus had to resist the urge to scowl when his scan of the people in the room showed that most of them were taller than himself. He also noted a slight level of tension in the air, and was that someone ill on the couch?

"So... I suppose this is a bad time then?"

At the sound of a newcomer's voice, Cecil is surprised. It's rare for Cecil to be surprised, so the brunet's green-eyed gaze snaps to the doorway, squinting his eyes slightly. He pats Dennis's head in thanks and pops the macaron in his mouth, chewing on it, before his features settle into a deep frown. As the other children scramble off to do what the good doctors told them—like change him into new clothes, move him closer to the furnace, and such, Cecil pats Sapphire's shoulder before he steps off over to Corvus, expression and tone blank.

"Who are you?"

Of course, he's seen this face before. He's always coming to visit Cosmo, but he never stays. He's always in and out of here, like it's nothing. Cecil wonders how someone could step into this place and not want to stay.

Lucy peers out from behind Cecil to see the redhaired boy, and blurts: "Whoa! He's really short!"
--
Oliver steps over to the crowd, petals falling out from his hair occasionally. He seems worried. "Ah... I w-was wondering, if there was anything I could do." He says to Dev and Gab, looking from one to the other. He presses his palms together a bit sheepishly.

Faye Chalmers

Faye smiled to Cosmo as he fixed the pot she had broken. She was grateful someone could repair her clumsiness so easily.
As she picked up the now fixed pot and placed it back where it belonged, very carefully, afraid it would fall again, she listened as some of the children began to leave for their witch hunt.

She frowned as Cecil left with them, she hoped they would be okay. It was awfully cold outside after all.
Quietly she moved towards the fire to contemplate the events. Has someone made her talk back then? It puzzled her so as she lifted her hands towards the warm fire.

It was then that Lisi brought in the new child, the one she had heard knocking at the door. Faye watched as the twins Dev and Gabe performed their act. She giggled at their eccentric performed and found herself amazed. She was always amazed at the gifts the other children had. Far better than hers, all she could do was walk up walls, as though gravity wasn't an object for her. However when she heard Ash's hard remark to Elise she frowned. It wasn't very polite of the boy to do such a thing.

Suddenly Willow burst into the room shouting about someone being cold? Cecil returned with Sapphire and few companiogns, to her horror a young boy was carried in on Sapphires back. Everyone began trying to keep him warm.

Faye knew she had to help, as Lisi gave the unconscious boy her hat Faye ran past her out of the main room. Skipping the stairs as they would take too long she jumped and connected her feet with the wall running along its surface adjacent to the floor. She hurried quickly to her room. Upon reaching the door she dropped down from the wall and burst into the room.

"blanket... blanket.." she muttered to herself rummaging under her bed. "ah!" she exclaimed upon finding her favorite gray one. It was fluffy and had been with her since she was only 6. It was one of her most treasured possessions, it was the warmest thing she owned. Bundling it together in her arms she quickly left her room and ran back down the stairs along the walls.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs Faye jumped back onto the floor and ran head first into the main room. "oomph!" she rasped as ran straight into something solid knocking her back a few steps. Rubbing her head she looked up to see what she had ran into to find a stranger standing there. He had bright orange hair and a fox was sitting beside him. He wasn't very tall, but then she wasn't very tall either. In fact taking a look he was about the same size as her.

"ah - um I'm so sorry! are you okay?" she said rubbing her head still as she felt her cheeks began to heat up. She was going red from the embarrassment she could feel it.

"I-I wanted to give this to- t-to the boy over there - I-I thought it would help - I was in a rush - I'm sorry" she said stumbling over her words nodding towards the unconscious boy near the fire and gesturing the Gray blanket in her arms. It appeared Dev and Gabe had already looked him over to Faye's relief.

"I-Is he Okay?" she asked peeking around the newcomer to get a better look at the unconscious boy.

---

Resi stood up from her desk and stretched, placing a hand against her mouth as a yawn floated past her lips. Looking around her room lazily, the blonde spotted a notepad and pen that she has been using earlier. Picking it up, she examined the half finished list of vegetables that she had been making for her trip with Oliver out to the garden tomorrow morning. They were going out before breakfast in order to pick some fresh vegetables for the kitchen. Gently seating herself once again on her desk chair, Resi decided to finish up the list she had been making.

Normally at this time of day the girl would still be downstairs in the kitchen, making anybody any last minute meals they needed before they headed off to bed. But today some of the younger children and kept her busy since the morning asking her if they could help her make some meals for the other residents. Unable to deny them, Resi had been on her toes all day attempting to keep the children from burning the Residence to the ground. Needless to say, she was a bit exhausted by this point and had informed the children that she was heading to her room. Telling them that if they needed anything to just knock.

Finished with the list, Resi set it aside and rested her chin on her hand. Maybe she'd make omelets for breakfast tomorrow. Resi made a mental note to ask around a bit to see if that was ok with everyone. Deciding that it was probably time to get ready for bed, the girl began to head towards her closet when she was suddenly stopped by a noise downstairs. Straining her ears a bit, she heard what sounded like people rushing into the manor from outside. Curiosity getting the best of her, Resi decided to go check it out.

Making her way down stairs, Resi looked to see that it appeared that everyone was gathered in the living room. Walking over to the doorway, she noticed Faye and a person that she had never seen before blocking the way. The new person had fiery orange hair, and setting her hand on one of their shoulders, she softly asked, "Excuse me Miss, but may I enter the room?"

However, when she got a better look at the person's face, she could barley contain her laughter. It was a man! One of the girl's cheeks puffing out in an attempt to choke back her laughter, Resi looked at the boy with delighted eyes. "Oh dear! Do excuse my mistake! It's just that you have such lovely hair, and such an adorably petite stature!" Looking down at the boy from her elevated height, tears were beginning to form in her eyes from how hard it was becoming not to laugh.

As the girl looked over the boy's head into the living room however, her demeanor quickly turned serious once again. Carefully slipping past the two at the entrance to the room, Resi made her way over to the sick boy laying on the couch. Her eyes filtered over all of the tense looking children that were present in the room. She thought about how late it was getting and let out a tiny nod to herself. "Excuse me everybody. I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but it is getting quite late. I believe that it would be best if we all retired for the night." Looking all of the children in the eyes, Resi smiled before gesturing to the unconscious boy and continuing. "This boy isn't going to get any better with all of us just crowding around him. Lets all head to our rooms and give the doctors some room to work." Clapping her hands together in finalization before walking over to the mentioned doctors.

Resi came to a stop at Oliver's side where he stood next to the twins. Reaching out she caught one of the petals fluttering out of the boy's hair before picking it up between two of her fingers and examining it. "Oliver, there is no reason to be so timid. I've told you before that you should be more confident with yourself, haven't I?" Smiling sweetly at the older boy she then turned to look at the other two boys. "I'm sure that Devon and Gabriel would be more then happy to have your help." She said with a reassuring smile, placing the boy's petal back into his hand.

"Speaking of help, do you two think that you'll need anything from the kitchen?" She asked while tilting her head slightly, ready to lend a hand if it was needed.