[ Last time, on Age of Chibi, Ada met a woman claiming to be her mother, and they yelled at each other! Wow, it's almost like they were family. ] [ Meanwhile, Ethan wandered off so he wouldn't get killed when his big mouth opened itself and something stupid fell out, and the Troll followed him for the plentiful free food. Sei stuck around, which means he is either braver than we'd thought, or a lot dumber than we'd thought. ] [ In today's episode, the shouting match likely continues! If we can remember what we were thinking a week ago today. How's that for awkward, eh? ] [ Session Start! ] [ Ada's mother sighs, apparently taking Ada's brief statement as a sign that the coversation's over. "Come, Ada. There is a great deal we must do if you with to cure your friend." She glances around. "Such as find him." ] * Ada seems about to say something, then nods curtly. "Fine." [ The woman starts to say something, stops, and then instead says "We... ought to find him quickly. This part of the forest is dangerous." ] * Sei blinks. * Ada looks around. Whatever magic she was throwing around has gone, and she's all business now. "Where should we start? Your... guardian seems to have gone with him." [ She sets off in the direction Ethan and the bridge troll went. "I believe they wandered off this way. Unfortunately, there are packs of bandersnatches that live hereabouts." ] * Sei follows along. * Ada walks after her. "And what are those?" [ "Imagine a great cat some nine feet long and composed entirely of metal. I'm not sure why they hunt, as they don't appear to eat, but they're quite vicious anyway." ] That sounds...quite nasty. * Ada nods. "I would say so." [ "They are. The pixies describe them as 'frumious', which is a phrase that I'm afraid doesn't translate very well." ] Lovely. Would the pixies be the girls with wings we passed on our way? [ She nods. "Yes." She takes a gemstone dangling from her wrist between thumb and forefinger, chants something quickly, and when she's done there's a loud, metallic howling from the woods to your left and a collection of heavy footfalls running off. ] * Ada blinks and looks that way. And those were? [ Looking that way, Ada sees a collection of gleaming forms moving off at great speed. "Those were some of the bandersnatches I mentioned. Fortunately, I know what the less pleasant creatures of the forest do not like." She continues on. ] A necessity, I imagine. * Sei nods. [ "Yes. When one beast or another is always trying to destroy your home, you learn how to dissuade them quickly." ] * Ada nods, almost absently. [ Soon, you come upon another bridge. The troll is there, along with another troll - apparently, every bridge in these parts has one. They're both talking shop and eating off of what look like the cooked legs of some enormous creature. ] [ Adamom approaches them, and talks to them in some weird language. They talk back, seeming to be very nice now that they've got food, and soon the woman turns back to you. "They say he went on ahead to my home. He said something about wanting to make sure it was easy to defend or not." ] * Ada shakes her head. "Ethan, you idiot." * Sei grins. "Well, that is Ethan for you." [ Adamom starts heading across the bridge. "I just hope he doesn't touch anything he oughtn't. Tell me he doesn't just eat anything that looks edible?" ] * Ada walks across the bridge. "That depends. Does it simply appear in his hand?" * Sei follows. [ "No. It appears on a cooling rack in the kitchen." ] (Or drop out of the sky? Or land on his head? Or be handed to him by an evil witch? ... Oh man, he's so dead.) Then he may, but I doubt it. [ She frowns. "It smells rather good, too, come to think of it. I was going to use it to bait a young dragon that has apparently gotten lost in the forest." ] And if he eats it? [ "Well, the treat was designed to keep the dragon in a sedated slumber for several hours. He will probably sleep for a day or so." ] Ah, that's all? [ "Probably. He seemed in decent health. And if he's from the warlike lands to the south, he's probably built up a partial immunity to dozens of different substances already." ] ( Rat poison? Please. I've been feeding you worse for years. ) * Sei grins. (Cham just showed me that for CC and Chako. Brr.) ( That was the funniest thing I've read in ages. I loved it. ) ( Er, anyway. ) [ Soon, you reach what is probably a house. It's rests in the cover of a tree, literally; the tree forms one of it's walls, and roots have found their way down all sides of the abode. From one of the tree's branches projects a metal spire, which is connected to a cable running down to a large glass jug of something set on the ground just near the doorway. ] [ Once you approach to about thirty feet, you hear someone snoring. Loudly. VERY loudly. ] (Yardwoooork!) ( Yardwooooork! Riding Mower Gundam! ) ...yup. * Ada gives the house a one-over and keeps walking. She looks resigned about something, though it doesn't take a genius to know what that is. [ The house looks nice. It's not very big, even though the tree itself seems to have rooms in it, and it certainly isn't the lap of luxury. The woman opens the door, holding it open for the two of you. "Welcome to my home. Try not to touch anything magical, unless you're familiar with its use." ] * Sei bows. "Thank you." * Ada nods. She walks in, looks around, and simply decides not to touch anything at all. * Sei follows, being a bit less paranoid than Ada, but still cautious. [ The home is rather cozy, and feels more lived-in than it should, despite being neatly and functionally arranged. The furniture looks comfortable if a tad small, there's lots of books and scrolls, and there's even an instrument of some sort sitting on a pedestal near a far window. Ethan's snoring comes through an archway on the right side of the room you enter into. To the left is a small iron spiral staircase leading up. ] [ Many things in the room bear papers stuck to them with strange writing - you could swear some of the letters glow. Gems of one sort or another hang from various places, and there's a telescope sitting in a corner. No big iron cauldron yet, tho. ] * Ada notices the instrument and, before she can stop herself, decides to have a look. Look. Not touch. * Sei browses the spines of the books. [ The instrument appears to be a violin. Sei can recognize about half the languages the books are written in. ] * Ada studies the violin for a moment, then frowns and looks away from it, going to check on Ethan instead. * Sei beams and starts writing in his notebook. [ Ethan is passed out on the kitchen floor. Clutched in his hand is what looks like a cookie with chocolate filling. He is snoring very loudly. ] * Ada shakes her head. "Impossible." She dislodges the cookie thing from his hand and looks for a place to set it. * Sei comes into the kitchen, his notebook put away now. "Ooh, that looks good." * Ada waves the cookie-thing to Sei. "Have a bite. Then, when you wake up, you'll be emotionally and mentally scarred for life." [ "Please, do not eat it. ...or eat anything after touching it without washing your hands first." ] [ She reaches down and picks Ethan up, leaning him over a basin in one of the counters that's probably supposed to be a sink. The squeezes his nose in several places, then hits him hard on the back of the head, evicting all the nasal inhabitants responsible for that awful racket. ] [ Ethan, of course, keeps on sleeping, blissfully unaware of being smote. ] * Ada sets the cookie thing on the counter and watches her hands. She does keep an eye on what her 'mother' is doing to Ethan, though. [ Adamom sighs. "Could one of you help me drag him to one of the chairs in the den?" ] Ah, sure. * Sei picks up one of Ethan's arms, in a safe manner. [ With Sei's help, she drags him over and props him into a chair. She heads back into the kitchen, coming back with a largeish seed. She takes out a small knife, whittles off a layer of whatever seeds are covered in, and waves it under Ethan's nose. ] * Ada is nearby, watching, though she didn't help with the EthanDragging. (My slash-addled brain is saying terrible things about Ethan and drag.) * Ethan bolts up to his feet. "Whosthere? Whattyawant? ... ow, my nose." *rubs nose* (I blame Todd.) ( I blame Dicesuke. ) [ "There we go." She puts her knife away and walks back into the kitchen. ] * Ethan shakes his head. "... woah. What the heck? Last I remember, there was a cookie..." * Ada speaks up, "And you always eat cookies in other people's houses?" The cookie was a dragon bait, Ethan. [ "And a dragon sedative. And you snore, by the way." ] ... you bait dragons with cookies? Who baits dragons with cookies?! Why not pump a sheep full of dragon sedative? I assume these dragons like them. No need to waste a poor sheep. * Ethan blanches at Ada. "Well, no... but it looked tasty." * Ada folds her arms and eyes Ethan. "Uh huh." [ "There aren't a lot of sheep around here anyway. Too many dragons, trolls, and bandersnatches." ] And I've never had anything bad happen to me from having a cookie before... it's a cookie. What could be more non-threatening than a cookie? A cute, fuzzy rabbit? ( Obviously, you never seen were-rabbit. ) ... close, Sei, but I think the cookie still wins. * Ethan turns to Adamom, and bows. "Sorry about eating the cookie and the snoring and the having to drag me here and all..." [ Adamom smirks. "It's a witches' cookie, Ethan. Didn't your parents ever tell you stories about what happens to little boys who eat witches' cookies?" ] Nope. Only stories my dad told me were about what happened to little boys who didn't protect their supply lines from flanking maneuvers. (Attack the supply depot!) * Ethan clears his throat. "Good boys guard their flanks, or else they starve and die slow, painful, agonizing deaths." [ Adamom shrugs. "Too bad. I'll bet they're nowhere near as fun as the stories about witches' cookies." As she says this she plucks a cookie from the air near Pantryfiller. ] * Sei blinks. ... hey! How'd ya get Pantryfiller ta give you food? *munches on a carrot* [ "You just have to know how to ask it." She looks around. "Anyone hungry?" ] * Ethan downs a donut. "Besides me, I assume." * Ada starts to shake her head, then pauses. "Actually, I think I am." * Sei considers. "Not right now, thanks." [ She smiles. "Good." She says something in Serioli, "--is cooking dinner tonight. What would you like?" ] * Ada blinks. "What?" Gesundheit. [ She glances at Ethan. "What have you named the weapon?" ] * Ethan blinks. "I didn't name it. s'called Pantryfiller." [ "Then that's what you've named it." ] ... that doesn't make sense. s'like saying I named Sei 'Sei' because his name was Sei. * Sei grins. History does strange things to language, Ethan. [ "Anyway. Who wants what?" ] [ End session! z.z ]