It was all together too bright outside, and for once Akija wasn't out in it all, so Cacopheny didn't feel any desire to be, either. It was a relief. Even with trees above them, everything just felt too open and... and empty, when he went outside. Almost a year of living in the world--

A year....

Almost a year, anyway....

That doesn't seem like it could possibly be right... a whole year.

--and he still wasn't comfortable with an open sky. It was--

Pathetic, a shadow grumbled at him from one of the corners of the kitchen. He ignored it. It repeated itself. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic.

"I know, you can stop saying it," he muttered, and it fell silent after a rude snicker. Akija could certainly understand that much demonic by now, but then, she'd made it clear she didn't mind his mutterings at things she usually couldn't hear.

Akija. Currently, she was at the counter, putting the lid on a large, ceramic creation called a "crock pot". Their dinner was in there, and apparently it was supposed to sit in the warmed oven for a few hours to stew. Of the household, Akija was the best cook; Sentio was learning, but Chario seemed to have no interest, Kenjista obviously had no interest, and Cacopheny had a tendency to drop things on the floor, completely misunderstand an ingredient, or worse, forget one, chop a finger instead of a vegetable, or set things on fire-- completely on accident, of course, and that had only happened once. After the fourth minor emergency, no one would let him even help with the cooking. He didn't really mind; he just did the dishes, afterwards, and because the dishes were largely wooden, he almost never broke them.

The two of them were the only ones downstairs. Another two months had passed since they moved into their own house, and Sentio had added several inches to his height and over a foot to his length. Thus, today, on his day off from school, he was upstairs trying very hard to shift into his human form. Chario, having learned how to do that six months ago, was upstairs, as well, giving him pointers. Kenjista, caring nothing for Cacopheny or Akija, was with them.

Should start up a conversation, or something.

"Or something"?

Well, why don't you? She says she's perfectly content to hear you talk.

Naw, I'll just make her head itch....

The doorbell rang. Cacopheny jumped, spinning jerkily around and blinking at the door. He still wasn't used to that sound.... Akija chuckled. "I'll get it, don't worry 'bout it," she assured him, tucking the crock pot into the oven and closing it up before trotting over to open the door. Cacopheny drifted after her, vaguely curious who would come calling today.

Well, really, it could only be a couple people.

The rest of the family....

That's probably it.

The instant the door opened, Aeta was somehow inside. Cacopheny blinked at him blankly, stopping before he got inside the entry room, an annoying whispering filling his ears. What was he...?

"Akija, hi!" Aeta exclaimed through the buzz, holding the door mostly-closed behind his back. A little blue muzzle poked through the crack; Onis was still outside.

"Aeta, hi!" Akija laughed, though there was expectation in her voice. The buzz of a soft, unintelligible voice still hadn't gone away. "What's up?"

"Oh, you know, found something I thought you might get a kick out of, so I-- oof!"

The door bulged forwards, sending Aeta tumbling into Akija, and the buzz suddenly exploded into very loud, very strangely accented words.

Onis is looking! Fuego wants to see! Where Aeta? Fuego wants to see, too!

He took a step back, hand to his head, and tried to force it into a manageable volume in his own mental ears, before it drove him all the way to the other side of the kitchen. A very large, very red muzzle had forced its way through the open door-- and a pair of very large, very pale gray eyes were blinking at Akija and Aeta, in each other's arms, propped against the wall. "Hi!" that big, red, not-quite-dragonish face exclaimed. Cacopheny stared. Its shadow had-- quite loudly-- pre-echoed the word. Pre-echoed. What was that supposed to mean? Anything?

The hell...?

Fascinating! I've never seen anything like it!

What is it?

Akija was laughing, untangling herself from her brother. "What the heck is that?"

Just what he wanted to know....

"Fuego is Fuego!" the thing exclaimed-- very unhelpfully-- as Onis scampered out from under its hands and inside with a little giggle. Again, the words preceded themselves through the creature's shadow, making Cacopheny feel strangely disoriented. "Fuego"-- he gathered that was its name-- glanced at the little Water and attempted to follow him inside... but its shoulders caught on the doorframe, and Fuego's expression became one of flabbergasted surprise as its forward momentum was checked. Cacopheny stared in completely bewildered, and slightly nervous, shock as the fire-like creature-- it did look something like a less-fluffy Fire dragon, only with a little rock stuck to its forehead-- craned its long neck every which way: right, left, up, curling down to look under his belly.

What? What? What's wrong?

Then, though nothing had changed, it tried again. And then a third time. It just bounced harmlessly off the doorframe each time, unable to get inside. When it looked up again, the gaze that locked onto Aeta was one of bewilderment.

Fuego st-- "Fuego stuck!" the thing gaped.

Akija doubled over laughing, and Aeta had to cackle around his own response: "You're too big to come in, you goof."

Fuego blinked at this, examined the doorframe again, and then when it looked back, its eyes were wide and its jaw had gaped even further. Fuego has a-- "Fuego has a house stuck on Fuego's head!"

Cacopheny just stared. Akija cackled so hard she collapsed against the wall and slid to the floor, and Aeta grinned with pleasure before turning back to his new friend.

"Just back out, nut," he snickered, and to illustrate his point, put his hands on Fuego's nose and shoved. Startled, Fuego scampered backwards, hitting its head on the doorframe as it went but apparently not feeling it. Its shadow didn't even comment. It stumbled back down the front path and gave itself a vigorous shake.

Ooo, shakeshakeshake--

"Vat is-- who--" he stammered weakly, hand still on his head. Even his own shadows were, temporarily, stunned into silence.

"He's Fuego... heh, obviously," Aeta snickered. "He's an off-worlder. Calls himself a Fire ruban. He--"

Akija, still giggling, interrupted him-- and distracted Cacopheny from trying to wrap his mind around the concept of "off-worlder"-- by pointing, and Aeta had to break off with a laughing, "No, you don't!" to push the "Fire ruban" back out. Seeing as... he was trying to get in again.

Everyone inside, Fuego go inside, too-- oops!

Aeta drove Fuego out by the muzzle, and followed him outside. The rest of the group went with him, and Cacopheny felt compelled to at least go to the doorway-- squinting a little in the light and with a faint headache, born, he expected, from confusion and the strange thoughts of this... "ruban". He stopped before actually going outside, looking between Fuego and Akija, the former who had his head level with the second story, where Chario and Sentio were ensconced in one of their bedrooms and oblivious, and the latter who put her hands on her hips and grinned up at the... "ruban".

What the hell kind of a name is "ruban"?

What the hell kind of a name is Fuego?

I don't like him....

I do, I do, I like him!

Well, you can just shut up!

Tiger's irritable snarl brought the silent, insane giggling to stop, at least for the moment.

Yes, ye-- "Yes, yes! Fuego is Fuego! And Akija is Akija, yes? Aeta says!"

Tiger's snarl almost eclipsed the doubled voice, and Cacopheny grabbed the door frame. No. No no no no no. Get back. There was a brief battle of wills, and then Tiger subsided to mutter mutinously in the back of his mind, while Fuego continued. Fuego m-- "Fuego meets Aeta on road--" --falls out of-- "--Fuego falls out of Rubara!"

This is going to be tricky, Genner commented blandly, while Cacopheny tried to make out just what Fuego had said.

"Fell out?" Akija repeated-- blessedly singularly.

This time he concentrated harder, trying to pick out one or the other, rather than the jumbled mess that was both. Yes, y-- "Yes, yes! One moment Fuego saying--" --goodbye to Reitag-- "--to Reitag and Ika on teleport--" --then Fuego-- "--falling on tail in forest by Ae--" --Aeta and-- "Onis!" Fuego fall in Avengaea-- "-- from Rubara! Now--" --Fuego see-- "--morewheres!"

"What the fuck is a 'morewhere'?" Cacopheny muttered, passing a hand over his eyes, but Fuego's shadow had made it clear enough; though the word was strange, the concept was there.

Yes, definitely getting a headache....

"A teleport pad?" Akija repeated. That was one of the phrases Cacopheny had missed. "Well, then ya didn't fall, except at the end there... ya teleported. Do ya know magic?"

Y-- "Yes!" chirped the ruban, but the spoken yes was overrun by a frantic, No! from the shadow, which came fast on the heels of another Yes! No-- "No. Yes!"

The shadows were having a field day.

Oh, claws and teeth! Listen to him!

Oh, I'm listening all right....

He's worse than you are, mutt!

Well, not worse, exactly--

But he's even stupider! I didn't think that was possible!

What is wrong with him? Why does he keep thinking--

I think it's because he's stupid....

I don't care why he does it, I just want it to stop!

All you ever had to do was ask....

And, to his complete surprise, when Fuego continued, "Fuego does, but Fuego not like it," Cacopheny could not hear his shadow. He stared dumbly for a moment, terrified that something had just gone wrong with him-- but then he realized that the shadow was still there... just... oddly muted. It was like watching someone talk, but hearing nothing coming out of their mouth.

Where did you learn how to do that? he asked silently of the one, soft-voiced, childlike shadow who had offered up this strange new ability.

I dunno....

The shadow said nothing more, but kept doing whatever it was doing, and he could hear Fuego clear as he heard the daemons. "Lots of Fuego's magic is fire," the creature was stage-whispering. "Fuego not like fire." His muzzle was right down by Akija's face, and Tiger rumbled warningly from where he'd been shoved, in the back of his mind. Tensing, just in case, Cacopheny kept his grip on the door frame, not caring that he'd gouged little scars into the wood. It wouldn't be the first time.

"But aren't you a fire ruban?" Akija asked, both amused and puzzled.

"Oh, yes," Fuego replied with a kind of exaggerated gravity. He reminded Cacopheny, in an odd sort of way, of one of the nameless shadows, the one who was even now giggling softly in his ear. "Makes Fuego very sad," the ruban continued. "Fuego scared of fire. Fuego likes water. Like Onis!" He looked around briefly, then without warning scooped Onis up and squeezed him against his furry chest. "Water is Fuego's friend!" Since Onis was still smiling, Cacopheny didn't do more than jump and take one step outside. Since he still had his claws buried in the wood of the door frame, that was all he could have done anyway.

Fuego danced Onis around a little, prancing from foot to oversized foot, and Cacopheny made himself relax and step back into the shadow of the doorway. That only lasted a brief moment, before his hand spasmed, driving his claws into the wood again: Akija was back to cackling along with Aeta when Fuego put Onis down a moment later, and Cacopheny felt a little jolt that could only be jealousy. Tiger's muttering suddenly began to make a little more sense. "Fuego happy Fuego make new friends already," the creature stated, beaming as he fell backwards, gracelessly dropping to his rump to sit with his large feet splayed out to either side. "Avengaea is good morewhere!"

Look at him, Tiger's voice hissed scornfully. Moves like a giant rock. Moves like you. How dare he look at her-- how dare he make her laugh-- how dare he-- I'll make him think again... I'll make him want to forget he ever saw her--

"Shut up shut up," Cacopheny breathed, though secretly, he agreed, and thus, his command had no effect at all. Tiger kept growling softly in the back of his mind, listing everything he wanted to do to this Fuego. It wasn't pretty.

"And just what brings ya to a 'morewhere' like Avengaea?" Akija asked, sitting cross-legged on the grass, herself, and leaning back on her hands. Aeta followed suit, and Onis scampered over to sprawl on the grass and put his head in Aeta's lap. Cacopheny stayed exactly where he was.

"Fuego likes exploring!" cheered the ruban, nodding vigorously. "Akija likes too?"

Almadir started to join Tiger with the threats. She wasn't as imaginative as he was, but she was even more violent, and her furious snarling was like fuel for his fire. The nameless, senseless one rose from simple giggling to rabid, breathless, endless cackling, punctured only with gasped curses at nothing in particular. Cacopheny braced his other hand against the other side of the doorframe.

"I've never been exploring," Akija confessed, tilting her head. "Though I think I'd like it if I had the chance."

Fuego's eyes went wide and eager, and suddenly he wasn't on his rump, but on hands and knees with his muzzle back in Akija's face. "Akija want come with Fuego?" he asked, his jaw gaping in a grin and his ears perked excitedly.

Flash started adding his opinion, just as angrily as the other two, and Araski began yowling that she'd come knock all their heads together if they didn't shut up. It was all Cacopheny could do to hold in place and keep from acting on the tumult inside his head, and his claws bit deeper into the wood.

Akija had fallen had on her elbows with another laugh. "Maybe another time, thanks," she cackled.

The mental shouting drowned itself into a vague, wordless roaring in his ears, and Fuego's shadow reared up and expanded into a many-tentacled swath of translucent, very solid blackness. It lashed itself around each of the ruban's limbs, looped its bulk around his chest, and snapped his muzzle shut, then proceeded to haul its burden back from Akija's supine form and unceremoniously dump him a full ten feet back. Sounds of horror and terror from outside only dimly breeched the thundering and voices inside. Now, not only were Tiger, Almadir, Flash, Araski, and the insane one shrieking and roaring and growling at each other and Fuego-- who was still trapped by his own shadow, by the will of Cacopheny, or Tiger, or everyone, or no one at all-- but Genner was trying to make himself heard, Tek was wailing that Fuego hadn't meant any harm, and the childlike shadow was sobbing. Cacopheny couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't see anything but a fractured mindscape full of shouting voices.

Let him go-- just let him go!

Strangle him!

Twist that little muzzle around and snap his neck!

Tear out his eyes!

He didn't do anything-- he's harmless! Let him go!

Does anyone have any control here?

Fuck you, fuck him, fuck them all!

I say, will someone listen to me?

Let him go!

Kill him!

No!

Yesssssssss.

Tiger's control solidified, for just a brief moment, and the binding shadow spasmed, tightened for a heartbeat, and continued to hold. The rush of furious pleasure at the way Fuego squirmed, whined deep in his throat, and wept helplessly brought fresh protests from Tek, the child-shadow, and even Araski-- but Tiger was still struggling for control, Almadir was roaring for blood, and Flash hurling suggestions. It wasn't enough.

"Cacopheny?"

Akija.

Daddy's a little busy, sweetheart, Tiger ground out through the strain of fighting for power and holding the shadow. Somehow, he managed to make his tense voice sound silky.

Don't you-- talk to her like that--

Who's gonna stop me? You?

"Tiger...."

Maybe she will.

"Cacopheny... everyone...."

What?

What?

What?

What?

"Please stop. Please...."

The brief chorus of We're trying! was drowned out by Flash's laughter and Almadir's snarled insult. Tiger, however, broke Cacopheny's gaze away from Fuego's struggling, crying form, blinked down at Akija in a slightly puzzled fashion, and said, "Well, if you want."

The moment of distraction was enough. The shadow binding Fuego fell apart and snapped back where it belonged-- as did whatever the child-shadow was doing. Fuego's terrified shadow finally broke through, all but gibbering incoherently with fear, and on its heels came the shrieks of Onis' shadow, and the sudden panic leaking through his bond with Sentio. The kit was already scrambling down the stairs in an attempt to get to him and see what in the world was wrong.

Aw, shit, Tiger muttered as he quite suddenly lost control, leaving a blinking, light-dazzled Cacopheny behind with a headache and a continued riot in his head.

Vision returned, finally, from whatever realm of consciousness it had fled to, and his eyes once again adjusted to the sunlight. Onis was in Aeta's lap, shivering with the fear his shadow was still babbling about, his obviously equally-shaken bond holding him reassuringly. "It's okay, it's over, it's okay," Aeta was murmuring; it seemed somehow very loud, despite the inner chatter. Fuego, every few seconds tossing his shadow furtive, nervous glances, had crouched beside them with his tail curled around him, both offering and seeking comfort and protection from the supposedly mysterious attacker.

He doesn't know. He doesn't know. He doesn't--

Stupid fucker! How couldn't he?

--know. He doesn't know. He--

I don't know, but he doesn't.

Hope nobody tells him.

--doesn't know. He doesn't--

Heh, I hope they do. Think how interesting it would be.

--know. He doesn't know.

Yes, we know he doesn't know! Shut up already!

Should have strangled him....

Sentio came to a skidding, sliding stop behind him, panting slightly, but before Cacopheny could do more than register his presence and realize he had no idea what to tell him, something suddenly attached itself to his waist. His hands came free from the door frame suddenly, in surprise, with a series of soft cracks and a couple tiny chips of wood and paint, and found themselves on Akija's shoulders. "Thank you," she sighed.

"Thank you"? Almadir said incredulously.

"Thank you"? Flash repeated with a laugh.

Thank you, Tiger purred, mood quite suddenly shifted out of jealous anger and into something else entirely. Cacopheny's hands twitched convulsively on her shoulders, tightened a moment, and then he hastened to disentangle himself, trembling a little. She obligingly released him and stepped back, and he could breathe again.

You are no fun, Tiger grumbled.

"Cacopheny?" Sentio asked, behind him, "Are you all right?" Chario was with him, his shadow questioning Akija in a similar manner-- though his first question was, ::What happened?:: Akija's response obviously startled him, possibly even frightened him. Not surprising. Onis would probably be afraid of him, now, too. Again.

Cacopheny didn't respond to his own bond-- how could he? He didn't know whether he was all right, or not, and he certainly didn't know how to explain.

Tiger's got the right idea! What'd you let go for?

Go on, stupid, get her back!

No.

We'll do it, then!

Don't think we won't.

No.

You're pathetic! Spineless!

Poor little puppy, are we shy?

Go away....

He put the heels of his hands to his eyes, head aching with the noise inside and out, and without looking up, he turned and tottered unsteadily back inside, past Sentio's confused presence, trying unsuccessfully to suppress the twitches and jerks as different shadows plucked at his limbs. He needed to get inside....

"Cacopheny, what happened?" Sentio continued, backing up and out of his way, but then trailing after him as he made his slow and awkward way towards his room. "Are you all right? Cacopheny?"

Claws and blood, someone shut the whelp up!

Be glad to, if the mutt would give me an arm to do it with!

Turn around, dammit!

Bah, you would not, coward.

Just watch me!

We're going the wrong way!

Damn you all, turn around, I said!

Cacopheny kept silent, and once he got to his room, slammed the door shut. There was the final-sounding click of the lock sliding home, and Sentio sat back, staring at the door which had been so forcefully closed right in his questioning face.