Zhou 'Spud' Myrkul's Story

In the explosion of magic visited upon the nearby mountain a quietly waiting overbeing took the opportunity for cover. In a disused alley behind a small shed a whirlpool of distortion comes with an oncoming conduit from Genesis. A small webbed foot with smooth sandy skin sparked with dim red bolts among the grains. A red corona came from its mouth that followed above it eyes with a galaxy of fuzz made from red oscillating networks of bolts somewhere deep within its eyes. They look to and fro fuzzy flexible horns on his head wobbling slightly as hair moves in patterns against the winds to the tips. His four ears flap further open to hear the environment before emerging from the tunnel entirely. Spinal ridges pump in waves quite quickly as the nervous creature breathes quickly in and out the Aether the tail slowly turning translucent pumping a red glow in time. The trail it left sizzled ash from the stone though it have the telltale ash of fire.

It chirped a high-pitched children's voice as the well of distortion closed behind it, "Myrkul! All things are different! Fun!"

The voice continued in a warbled one-sided conversation as it was picked up in the mouth of a stray dog and shook, "Pretty patterns of concordance! WHEE! What is animal doing? Eating? I am not for eating! Spud is angry!"

The tail lashing at the stray dog's side left whip marks of destroyed flesh as it growled while trying to tear apart the small creature. In its mouth Spud's sandy pierced was pierced though did not bleed. Deep red bolts emerged from the pierced flesh to aggressively erode the dog's enamel as well as its mouth. The dog yelped and Spud turned with a fuzzy dark red tongue to lick the holes away the spine-gills pumping wildly oscillating the growl while Spud licked the holes away the fuzz growing from each hole.

Spud understood what an enemy was, Myrkul told it so that it could avoid notice, and it didn't like this animal. It was trying to eat Spud. Spud ate better than the animal. The dark red light in its mouth flared as Spud's four ears went stiffly back spine-gills flaring and pulsing wildly with its throaty hiss.

The starving stray dog's instincts told it to run from the small creature but hesitation was its downfall. Spud loosed a network of translucent tubes crawling through space from its small maw that made contact with the dog's shoulder rooting through flesh and out the side of its skull. The network stiffly held in space turned slack a net containing a twitching dog with roots from another hungry mind in its brain. Across the stone spud retracted the twitching body angular roots disappearing into the deep red glow until the dog reached its maw. Roots exploded throughout the dog's body as its skull and bones cracked to drag the dog inside Spud's maw. Thin ash came from the spine-gills that discarded discordant ectoplasm from the dog's maladies as it was consumed.

Spud didn't like the city place. It was very busy and the bad doggy tried to eat him. So Spud ate him back then left the busy locale. He ran a long way until it got dark and light again then shifted a few times to different hills. Myrkul said reaching the planet was expensive and told him to walk after a while. So spud got up off of all fours and stood up to walk. The sandy skin realigned as his inner bones refit to biped movement. He still had an graceless thwap of webbed feet but didn't stand very tall. He was almost to the hips of the humans but not quite though Myrkul said Spud would grow big but not much right now.

When walking through tall trees his eyes were on the canopy. Behind him his tail left a sharp line of ash like some giant pencil marking his path. It didn't ignite anything as much as the translucent red tail reduced the surface it dragged on to ash. The gills along his spine fluttered with mad abandon as excited to see the big trees as he was. Panting in erratic gusts soft squeaking noises sound while he flaps along. Then his eyes saw a long peg holding a message to a tree which clopped his mouth shut with a soft WHUP. He had to have the thing!

Scurrying up the tree little black marks remained where his webbed feet touched bark. Each stuck as if bark was more floor so he could inspect the paper and its words. The fuzzy rack upon his head tilting to and fro as he inspected the long peg with the pointy bit on the end. There was birdstuff on the other end that Spud knew because he ate a bird on the way. So the deep red glowing mouth of Spud revealed a maw of sharp angles and bit the feather edge of the peg off. Was it Jerky? He thought it was jerky. Dried thingflesh with birdy on it! Spud's jaw pounded at the material tearing like a bandsaw. High pitched thumping showers ash down the tree as he evaluated every morsel. It wasn't as good as fresh birdy. He pulled the rest out then stood up perpendicular on the trunk to catch the paper as it fell. Seeing the hole he'd made Spud put the arrow back in the hole where it belonged and kept the paper. The falling hair got instinctively caught by his other grasping appendage, his mouth. Spud's horns shimmer blood red as pores open to sprout along the forked antlers a thin layer of blonde hair. He ate a Humanthing and it was tasty! Was he supposed to eat humanthings? This wasn't anyone in the humanthing. It must be okay.

He had his treasure! Spud read the paper front the words taking a moment to shape in his mind. Sireth? A hole has a kitty missing? He will find the Kitty! Lines on the paper's back caught his eye with lines on translucent paper pointed skyward. It was real treasure with a map! Find kitty, bring to hole on map! Spud turned and let go of the trunk forgetting about gravity in its entirety. A second or two later there came a Spud shaped divot stony earth at the bottom of the tree. The small creature crawled out of the relief and stuck the rolled up parchment in his mouth.

He walked off set to look for the kitty. Trailing blonde hairs of someone else's make as he went. Now blonde-haired antlers sprout ever more as he went.

Creatures that hadn't any real bones found it easier to squeeze into strange places. Ones that also could have an overbeing transpose them in chase of someone exploring made themselves even further removed. In this particular case a small red-gleaming black skinned horned creature requested somewhere small and dark near a certain redhead warrior.

Gaia proved too hostile for Spud so he was going somewhere with fancy people. Ones without dogs that try to bite him! He asked Myrkul for someplace dark so that's where Myrkul sent him. Overbeing couldn't see exactly but Spud would have to discover when it arrived!

A psychoportation locus the size of a firefly careened in wildly from outside then through a door into an empty shower room. It lingered a moment whirling around a center point looking for the darkest area. The unused shower was dark already but a corner reached the search pattern first. The psychoportation locus flared then to tile drops a stumpy-legged black creature into a shower with a web-footed splat. The gills along its spine flared in excitement as the red light of its tail and mouth heated up from a dark rose to a bright cruor. Its two pairs of ear flaps, on each side of its horns, flipped up to pivot in independent pairs as it inspected its new environs. Everything was stone but a human construction! The ashen swirls behind eye covering had the barest of visible tracked pupils inside that dart to and fro.

The first thing that came to a flaring red mouth was a scented soft rock it had sniffed out. It was green! Spud took a bit and found it a fatty treat. It didn't burn well so Spud had to chew it a while. The creature made loud smacking sounds as it ate the bar of bath soap.

It took her about ten minutes, but when Linda finally managed to dodge around Mr Punchy and get a bearing on where she was gonna crazy for her nap she went to her bedroom, which was more or less a broom closet sized room with a bed and a window leading to where she normally slept outside in a gazebo in the parkland below the Girls Dorms.

But as the werecat closed her door she heard.... chewing ?

Was someone eating ? She didnt recall food being allowed in the girls dorms, sure she had seen other girls eating food from the cafes across campus, but even then she hadnt dont it herself, Better to err on the side of caution and not do something. But the sounds of someone, or something, eating, came from, of all places....

The girls bathroom

Oh sweet Mother Moon Linda thought please dont let it be a boy sneaking past Mr Punchy again She stepped into the bathroom and turned on the light, who was eating in the dark ? "Hello ?" A soft meow instead of human speech was said. Linda for all intents at that moment was both confused and slightly scared. In a more human voice she asked "Anyone in here ? Eating in the bath is...." She faltered when she caught sight of Spud in the shower......

Or rather the bar of soap he was chowing down on White isnt gonna like that The werecat thought, White was one of the Mean Girls all schools had them, big cliche group, White was the leader of the pack and they refuised to even acknowledge that Linda even existed. At least until that last New Moon and Linda had chosen to spook the absolute hell out of the so called Mean Girls only meeting in the park that rudely woke her up at the time

Seeing a nine foot two inch tall bipedal cat complaining about being rudely woken up by loud music of a frat party at first made everyone laugh, until Lindas feline side took over and she somehow sent one of the party members to the medical wing on sheer accident.

Her mind went back to the present as Spud continued chowing down on Whites bar of soap "Uh.... hi ?" Linda said croching down to balance on her heels to get closer to Spud. "Are you lost ?"

Two pairs of ears fluffy on the underside flicked up then turned toward at her presence as it was busy eating the soap. While he'd been eating the bath bar spud foamed at the spine through his gills but didn't seem terribly perturbed. He smelled strongly of mulberry now if not from the small mountain of foam behind him. It wasn't watery the foam was thick and heavy as if the bar itself had been microwaved. Hit pivoted around and the white foam could be seen still extruding from his back illuminated by his rose-colored glow.

The small creature's face opened wide in excitement and one could see the rose-colored noise inside scouring the inside of his mouth for bits of soap. The teeth were black with some pattern of the arcane emerging from within them. His digestion process had a similar sound the pink noise giving him the faint audio of a fireplace. He waved his small arms webbed toes and digits clearly seen.

The voice was youthful and fearless its eyes full of rose stars, "Nope, Humankind! Big Worm knows! Big Worm knows! Spud eat dɐos! It is sticky! Want better food now!"

The fact that the bar labeling meant something when it wasn't upside down appeared to completely lost on Spud. Even though it had pronounced the word exactly mirrored.

When Spud looked at her and spoke Linda out of reflexes backed up a half step before falling on her own butt with a chirp, thankfully only Spud was there and was more interested in proper food. Yeah White wasnt gonna be happy, but as far as Linda was concerned it wasnt her fault this time.

It called me humankind ??? the werecat wondered in her head confused at what the little.... thing meant, she was at the dorm for a nap not to feed something. She only had one free period, which was fourty minutes, enough to catch fourty winks for sure, maybe even eighty if she was lucky.But the way things looked, she doubted as much as fourty winks thanks to this creature, if she was lucky White was at history period at that moment, but then her luck wasnt that good to begin with.

Linda thought a moment, maybe she could take him to her gazebo outside ? Without thinking it she stood up, her turquoise green dress reached her feet nicely and was very pretty, which made many a man after her hide for marraige proposals, all of which were turned down. This thing called itself Spud, and it wanted better food, but what did a Spud eat ? The voice sounded male, so Linda figured Spud to be a male.... something

She went to the door and closed it, locked it as well, in the case that White showed up and somehow thought Linda was responsible for the wrecking of the soap. "What kind of food does a Spud eat ?" the werecat asked

Spud took a deep breath then stuck its webbed thumb in its mouth. Its cheeks puffed out as it blew hard the small cheeks bulging out. Flakes came from its back at first then a snowstorm of dried soap foam from its spine gills. Most of the tile behind it now coated in messy spackled clumps of white fluff. In a sense the creature had to clear what could be poorly described as 'lungs' of the former white goo to consider eating proper food. The mulberry scent intensified with the snowblower of propelled material.

The small knee-high creature's ear-fluff grew deeper as it paid more attention to her speaking. It climbed up a wall as she fell on her butt and the spread-eagle critter just arched its bodybackward to gawk at her with a smile upside down. Along its back the gills furled and spread in a rapid pulse showering the remaining soap in white dust toward the floor.

Unstrained and less bothered by her fear it spoke at her from the position, "Angry fur things! Tried to eat Spud. Spud ate it back!"

It made a fair mimic of the angry stray dog it had eaten on Gaia, "*BORK**BORK**BORK* Spud crawls inside. Animal was tasty!"

Then it crawled up the divider wall raising the two webbed fists with a mouth spread with a toothy excitement making noises of burning pine, "Ate tall pointy leaf! *cracklepop**cracklepop* Climbed up top!"

It shrugged the rose-star eyed creature making noises of a laden tree limb, "Dead humankind on string. *creeeeak* Tried eating head nails. head nails not tasty. No not tasty."

Linda looked sick as Spud explained what it ate, he ate a barking thing ? Then she recognised the sounds of burning wood. Ok so that didnt exactly answer her question. Now eye level as he had climbed up the wall a bit and after she had locked the bathroom door she went to the door and listened, nobody, perfect she had a clear shot to her gazebo.

But then her luck always sucked so she wasnt gonna risk going out into the commons room of the girls dorm with Spud in hand, sooo She went to the window, it was large enough when opened for someone to exit that way, uopn opening it she saw her gazebo, her bedroom so to speak, only a few dozen meters away.

Perfect

She turned back to Spud "Im not sure if that answers my questions, But.,.. What about stuff outside ?" Sadly when the window was opened the sweet smell of ROCKS {sand stone, limestone, possibly some gesalts too} wafted through the window and directly into Spuds .... nose ? {did he have a nose ??} "Im heading outsidse through this window, as long as you dont eat my gazebo, I think you'll find it better then a borker or a tall pointy leafs"

She said nothing of the dead human though, just the mere thought of doing such thing made her sick. She quickly unlocked the bathroom door, but as she did so she heard the voice she was hoping to avoid entirely. There was no time to wait for Spuds reply! Without thinking it she snagged up the strange soap eating dragon thing and pretty much dove out the window, Transforming slightly as she did so her tail snagged it and it slid closed just as White started to enter the bathroom

There was no way Linda was gonna get MORE detention by getting into a unwanted fight with White

At first removing Spud felt like trying to dislodge one of the tiles. Its surface while not burning felt like a hot tub with whirling inner vibration that periodically thumps from behind its velveteen skin. When its webbed feet instinctively planted on her dress to transfer it didn't seem likely they would easily let go from there any more than the tile. Microscopic threads of pincers grabbed onto comparatively huge cords of dress just as well as tile as equally rough to them.

Its tail was no less sticky and though it glowed red hot wasn't more than room temperature outside. It wrapped around her waist pointed forward as Spud was. Its hands detached last as she pulled Spud free its gills to her chest to put its webbed sticky hands on her forearm. The gills pumped slightly if they were free though it still smelled of mulberry and something else now. At close range if one could sense it the creature breathed out a faint raw magic from those rose-lit slits. Raw power often adding the air smell of octarine and burnt tin as some strange expression in the mind when raw magic tries to earth itself.

A ragged-pitched titter came from SPud with a wide toothed smile as she lept from the window, "Hugs for Spud! Spud fly!"

As Linda careened down from the window Spud flapped his small arms very fully engrossed her questions forgotten, "Flap flap Spud birdie!"

Spud didn't seem to have bones as its plush velvet hands repeatedly thwacked Linda in the chest every so often.

It was cute quite honestly, Spud was, in all angles, innocent as heck. Linda couldnt help but smile as he flapped his arms happliy, a few times whacking her in the boob directly, it was a bit painful, As heavy as he was hooked on the tile in the shower stall she somehow managed to get him with her out the window Before White entered.

Of course they both heard White clearly shrieking in the bathroom of her soap being destroyed. Out of relfex as she darted for her Gazebo, Linda covered Spuds mouth, at least what had ot be his mouth ,for all she knew she was covering his butt. Then again his tail was wrapped nicely like a belt about her waist and even then he wasnt too hot to the touch

But her hands were burnt a bit, inso far that her paw pads had formed to counter the sudden burning of flesh. Quickier than thought possible by the werecat they were easily out of sight of White when the Mean Girl gfot to the open window. which meant thankfully that Linda could set Spud down on the rock she normally used for a pillow.

Gently lifting his tail from her waist Linda held up a hand as Spud still flapped his arms cutely "Easy little guy, easy. Its alright, it... no no shush, shuu shhh" Linda said frantically then as her hand went to his mouth as he looked about to mimic White from the bathroom. She bent down to her rather well kept bed, build of sod, some dirt, and a few nice smooth stones it did the job of a good bed with the thick leather blanket, it made for a good bedroom that gazebo now that Spud could see it.

Linda set Spud on her rock pillow, the smooth stone glittered like broken glass. his feet held onto her dress somehow until he let go enough for her to set him gently on the rock. There were no tears in the cloth as it resettled on her body at that moment. So they were out of Whites crosshairs, that was good.

It was then as Linda reformed to proper human appearance aside from her slightly burnt hands still bearing feline like leather pads on the palms of her hands edged by dark fur as she gently stroked Spuds back. Finally she simply asked, clearly confused "What are you ? You're too cute to be an experiment here"

So much for her catching 120 winks

As soon as Spud heard White scream he turned and a hand was placed over his mouth. The breath she restrained had that same scent of burnt tin and octarine. Then with it came one muffled girly-pitched *MMMMRRRRRRRRRRRFFFF* as Spud accurately mimicked the howl. The burning to her pads wasn't as much ignition as the very top layer of her skin being separated into its constituent components. Though once the yelling stopped, at least as far as Spud could hear, it turned both pairs of ears up to look at Linda and the burning stopped.. As close as she was Linda could see The outer set of ears blew the threads in and out as Spud breathed. The front of Spud's snout had no semblance of nostrils at all just a smooth pattern of faintly undulating rose pinpricks.

His gaze followed Linda when she walked away from the window and padded over on two ungainly legs its short arms dangling, "Zhou! Spud is special. Big worm makes Spud!"

As the glowing tail swished along the wooden floor it scuffed the boards smooth as the webbed fingers pointed to shrubbery outside, "Go big green! Big nasties. Spud leaves big green."

It pumped its fist as a flurry of red lines flail at the air along the horns as the small barnacles capture errant hairs from her hand, "Follow big red! Find mutablekind!"

Its back was as fluffy as the rest of it and the gill-flaps pushed against her hand. The swishing tail had made a shining polished surface of the gazebo

"Eat now?", the toothy matte-eyed grin asked.

Linda winced as Spud pretty much burnt her right hand to well past crispy, but thankfully the regenerative abilites of werecats was going to kick in as soon as she fell asleep. Which sadly wasnt going to happen any time soon. Spud's tail was polishing the floor of the gazebo quite nicely, it was, now that Linda really thought about it, the cleanest that the Gazebos floor had ever been in as long as she had it.

"What exactly can you eat ?" It wasnt like she had anything readily available for him to chow down on.... a second passed andbefore Spud could answer Linda corrected herself "What exactlky do you want to eat ?" She sat on the low bench which also acted as her bed, made of polished granite and steel whool. a mattress of a sort laid upon it neatly.

the gazebo was, afterall, Lindas bedroom, her dorm so to speak. Linda examined her burnt hand, the leather pad of a cats paw clearly visible a dark leatherpink hue quickly fading into the burnt patches of the pads, each length of finger also had a bit of leather pad. Reflex alone ensured her claws wherent harmed.

Then she had a confused question, and an even more confused expression "Zhou ?' Why did that name sound familar ?

Spud put its webbed hand to its chin with a sucker noise. Its spine-gills fluttered with rapidity while it thought about what could eat. It had considered eating some of the shiny structured things all over but Spud thought they were too spicy. Rocks were soft and easy to eat.

The small black creature spun around and slapped on two webbed feet toward the edge of the gazebo. The red pips on its sout flaring in waves while swiping back and forth from rock to rock. Two black ones get a smattering of unified flares of pips as Spud qualifies their complexity. Two stubby arms bend down to grab them then web-footed slaps waddle the small creature back with dark basalt stones. Matte eyes look to the big rock then to the small ones then it waddles over to her bed to gingerly place the rocks down with a small bend of the knees.

A maw full of teeth gleaming with runic patterns it pointed to the rock, "Soft foods! Shinies hard! Bigger Spud then stronger teeth!"

As an answer to her question it pointed a small finger to her, "Humankind!"

It wasn't correct given the fuzzy hand, certainly, but unlike the other servitors it actually was a child. It had a bit of growing to do.

Then pointing to its head and patting its chest, "Spud is Zhou! Different though. Spud grows."

Both webbed hands reach to the ceiling as the matte-skinned creature bounces on its feet as if it could demonstrate growing. The pips on its snout and the spine-gills flaring through excitement.

A wind blew across Ellaria, colder than usual. The entropy of magic across Gaia was felt by many. Some wouldn't notice it until it was too late, but to the most magical of beings there was a difference. It was as if there was a leak somewhere. Where was the magic going? It couldn't of simply been disappearing...

A dark cloud rolled over the continent of Ellaria.

From northern far, in, a deep chill seeped, to the bone, through the scale, up the roots. White pockets of fire erupted throughout- advancements made by those within and foreign tools come here for final rest ceasing to exist with a flash and bang. A lament was cried from the Bez Daha Trees to Saggitae, to Gaia, to anyone who could hear and would, that again did Eras breathe upon this realm; and would continue to breathe, continue to inhale their realm, continue to flex chaos and destruction, until Gaia drew breath no more.

Psychoportation of a soft speck of servitor in coal-skin through the Way network to Gaia was expensive to Myrkul but both creatures were ever curious. Adolefactus as Spud's architect needed regular examinations, in any case, to see how the isolated servitor handled a metaphysically isolated realm the new psi-seed was for. Serpentine wobbles down walls along the deep crater and a few ten-meter falls showed a particularly dauntless curiosity. That its head ended buried the antlers rammed into stone yet proved otherwise largely unharmed. Spud chewed at interesting things swishing its long pointed red tail around its feet. The spine a similar glow as pumping gills exhaled component elements and excess aether. Folded crimson space of a disjoining engine used as the stomach destroyed low entropy objects to spit out constituent parts. Most of the magic spud could not store simply vented to aether. The best effort of native psionic creatures to make organic life he had thumping organs, small brass clockwork cubes, fibrous fluid sacks of interconnected motes, all next to layers of sparkling white silt where fat might be in meatier creatures. Just enough that one with detailed awareness could tell its makers found organics inherently foreign.

As the red light tore and fissured a plant in his small stubby hands stuffed into his mouth they hung out then fell as the lightning hit. Mouthful of flowers forgotten as the power and thunder washed over spalled white silt from leathery coal-grey skin. All four ears straining upward to listen. The flowers shuddered then fell away as the antlers atop Spud's head flared into flower petals.

Flashlight-mouth beamed joy along with the red beacon under its wide flat-black eyes, "BOOM! BIG BOOM!"

Little velcro-slaps of a four-legged dash moved down the chasm toward the ring of fire.

It would seem to be a dream. The top of the clouds, facing space and beyond, took the faintest bout of pink around the edges. Eras, the dead star, was slightly off position behind the massive structure looming beyond Gaia's atmosphere. To the closest observer, they may notice the dead star beginning again to glow.

Something approached the ring of fire. As the something drew close, the ring turned white hot. Blinding flames licked at the sky. There were whispers coming out from the fire, a woman's voice, soft...
THE END STIRS FROM THE DEPTHS OF WHERE BURIED IN TIMES LONG PAST BENEATH THIS EARTHEN PLANE LOOK FOR THE HALF TRUTHS BEYOND THE SKIESARE YOU THE ONE WHO WILL DEFEND THE VALE?
Again the sky lit up with lightning, the rains stopping abruptly though the cloud above remained. Far to the north, the horizon was the faintest of pinks.

A ripple of glitter undulated across the entire planet of Gaia. It whispered across the valley and danced in the flames, twirling up the sword in a celebration of sparks. Almost invisible to the naked eye, but nonetheless a sign that Gaia wouldn't go down without a fight.

It would take a while to see it from down in Dorant Valley but a head would rise to breach the clouds on the horizon. It was made of stone, and there were great scraping noises as it rose. The being glanced down to the valley, but turned it's attention away from the sword and the creature to someone else.

The small creature stood on his hind legs as inner structure reorganized to accommodate a biped. Though his feet still slapped on the stone ambled forward to better hear the voice. Spud's mind remembered every word his brain organic only by the design sensibilities of a machine. Glance north to look for pink slapped his webbed feet ever closer the small stubby arms swung at his sides. Transfixed then on the fire for a long moment scraping noises came from outside the valley.

He raised a hand and pointed to the large head his small mind finally making connections, "I hear you whisper lady! Adventure! Spud will need huge sword! Tainted. Eat the tainted!"

The ebon-skinned creature stood far closer to the flame than any living creature would prefer. The red glow to his tail leaving its own carbon marks on stone further revealed his tolerance. The all-black shining eyes peered straight up at the sky not sure how he would go about bathing in them. Spud needed a people. A smart people.

Amidst the valley, a ripple formed in the air, stealing form and definition from around it, before a nearly perfect circle stood in the air. Wind whipped and twisted around this anomaly, and from it fell a creature, furred and long eared, it resembled a tiger given over to a humanoid form, saved from complete travesty by retaining most of it's predatorial features.

N'dal whimpered as he struck and stirred, and groaned as he realized that, yet again, he was not home where he had wanted to go. More than two dozen attempts to return to his world and each time he finds himself in some strange part of the world, if he's lucky enough to even be on the same world he left from.

"I just want to go home!" He howled at the sky, his laments reaching out to deaf and uncaring, or perhaps dead, gods.

In the center of the valley, an ebon-skinned creature stood dangerously close to a dancing ring of flames. From the center of the ring emerge a blade. High above, the skies slowly began to clear. The clouds thinned ever so slightly and the backlit silhouette of the giant rising above the mountain range began to pinken.

Both Gaia and Eras took note of the creature as it appeared in the valley. Eras, though withdrawing, grew excited. Gaia, slowly awakening again, felt apprehensive.