18 ♐ He is a very important 8 year old you see

[aim_exorable]

Who: A young Zahhak not named Equius plus ~Vatheon~
Where: Throughout the city
When: Throughout the day
Style: Anything
Status: Open
Note: Darkleer is 4 sweeps old aka almost 9 years old in human terms.

Scene 1

For anyone trying to go about their business this morning, they might... not notice a very small "Ahen". It's very quiet. The next "Ahem" is just a bit louder, but it's the third they might notice someone is trying to get their attention.

It is a very young troll boy, some grub fat still in his cheeks and with long black hair that falls in front of his face and down to his very knees. The only thing he's wearing seems to be a tanktop that was obviously built for someone MUCH larger and taller than him; the bottom brushes his ankles. He's trying to seem taller than he is, very important you see! But it is failing due to a few reasons. One, his hair is in front of his face. Two, the look in his eyes makes it very clear that he is on the bare edge before he flips out. Three, there is an extremely tiny white pony following him around and chewing on his hair.

Watch out, 'tho- the large white bird one might see perched nearby seems like she means business.

"Ahem." Oh, looks like the young troll is ready to speak up! "By the order of the Alternian Empire, I order you to tell me where I am and what you have done with my lusus, along with anything else important." He keeps his chest puffed up for but a second before deflating. "I mean. Please?"

Scene 2 - Open

It looks like the young troll boy has stopped accosting random passerby for information. Now that it's noon, he can be found sitting on the plaza fountain with his two 'pets' with him.

Some brilliant local thought it a smart idea to give him an ice cream cone. Judging by the shattered cone all around and his hands dripping with ice cream, it's fairly obvious what happened. The large white bird is cooing and rubbing against his face. The miniature pony? A bit busy licking at the ice cream.

No, the boy isn't about to cry. That isn't why he's hiding his face behind his hair more than he was already. He's had a hard day, okay? Shut up.

Comments

2!

[wavesofjade]

She'd have to be foolish to not have realised that something strange was going on but as of yet the full scope of it hadn't been revealed to her. Odd things happened here, she knew that already, but when she saw the young troll on the fountain her first thought was not that it could be yet another unfortunate victim of the current peculiar circumstances..

Her first thought was that he looked quite upset, and that was what drew her to him. It became quite clear after a moment, exactly what was happening and indeed who this might be, and the Dolorosa crouched down, putting herself closer to his height, and smiled kindly.

"Are you alright, little one?" she asked gently, not knowing what kind of reaction she might get, but her nature made it next to impossible for her to simply pass him by.

[aim_exorable]

"Yes!" The answer comes out a little too forceful, and he quickly tries to rub at his face, smearing more ice cream and tears about. "I'm a blooblood-" Yes, he is drawing out those 'oo' sounds. "And we're always okay. We're really amazing so we have to be okay. So we are." By the end of this little statement, however, his tone of voice is a bit too miserable to make it sound honest. A bit of a sniffle, and he peers from behind his hair. The large bird lusus is making threatening bird noises in defense, just in case. She's not familiar with the jadeblood yet.

As for him? He's not familiar with that color. He points a pinky at Dolorosa's sign. "S'a weird- That's a weird green."

[wavesofjade]

His protest was not very convincing.. but she had heard this kind of thing before. When he peered from behind his hair she tilted her head and smiled at him, shifting her weight to balance herself a little better as he pointed at the sign on her gown.

"I am a jadeblood," she told him, familiar enough with how some trolls - particularly young ones - might even be unaware that the colour existed. They did live such a strangely secluded life. The large bird was given a calm, if slightly wary look, and she pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, offering it to him. "Here. Are you alone?"

1

[bestestfurrend]

"Oh, hello!" Nepeta has noticed by now that strange events indeed are going on today, but as of yet seems to be unaffected herself. This means that the first order of business of the day was to march outside and find out if any of her acquaintance has been hit by the curse.

It looks like that question has just been answered.

Young Darkleer is small, and quite adorable, and she's reasonably certain it's him and not Equius. She'd recognize her moirail at any age! "Are you okay? This is Vatheon! I see you've been making friends with Dural and Svaeth." She digs her hand into her pocket and comes out with a sugarcube to give the tiny pony, distracting him from the young one's hair for a while.

[aim_exorable]

Oh noooo, it's an... Is that an adult? He can't quite tell. Still, he hides behind his hair a bit more with wide eyes, forgetting his questions for a moment. When she feeds the tiny pony, however, he decides she's okay. Anyone who feeds hoofbeasts has to be okay.

"Are they your lusi?" he finally asks, ears twitching a bit. They aren't his lusus, that's for sure. His is much bigger.

2!

[hecklinghare]

Bugs was casually strolling through the park, not noticing much but keeping an eye out on everything. That's how he spotted the some what familiar bird and the little troll she was comforting.

"...why's it gotta be tears?" He sighed and pocketed his carrot, moving over to Darkleer and holding out a handkerchief.

"Here, kid. Blow."

[aim_exorable]

Sorry, Bugs, the little troll boy is a bit too busy staring with wide eyed wonder at you to take that handkerchief. It only occurs to him a second later that what he's doing is very rude. Very rude.

Ducking behind his hair again, he takes the handkerchief as carefully as he can between two fingers but doesn't do anything with it. He just keeps peeping from underneath his hair. "Wow," eventually slips out from him.

2! Equius is about three sweeps here

[stayb100ponyboy]

There's another little troll with arrow-shaped horns and long hair wandering around, but this one has found himself a friend. He found this metal man, you see, who has a sign just like his, and horns like his except one is broken, and who can talk but only in his head! This fascinating new discovery has softened the blow of not having his lusus nearby, and the little blueblood approaches the other little blueblood, who looks like him too except older. Once he gets close enough, his bravery fails him and he hides behind the metal troll's legs, although he does manage to find his voice.

"... hi."

[aim_exorable]

What a coincidence! That sign looks just like his too, and the horns are almost like his too. Those are things he notices right away when he looks up at the sound of metal footsteps. He almost misses the little tiny troll, too, but hears his voice. Carefully, he gets down from his seat on the fountain and brushes away some of the hair that's falling over his face.

If it's just a smaller troll, than maybe it's okay? The smaller trolls usually don't know about him and don't make fun of him until the others tell them about him. So it should be okay.

"Hi." His voice is soft too, but he's a bit emboldened by how timid the other boy is too. Something occurs to him, and he points to the two white animals still sitting on the lip of the fountain. "Are one of them your lusus?"

2

[fightforastar]

The bubble is certainly full of lost children today. A lot of lost, strangely-familiar-looking children. Tifa thinks she's got this one figured out, though most of the kids don't seem to remember where they are, and she's guessing this one is no exception.

She's honestly not sure if this is Darkleer or his relation who looks just like him, but it's clear enough he could use a friendly face.

"Are you all right, sweetie?"

[aim_exorable]

Definitely no exception. There's no recognition at all in his big gray eyes as he looks up at her, although there are a couple of tears threatening to form. He quickly wipes at his face, although that just smears some ice cream around.

"I'm a troll! Of course I'm alright. We're always alright." He tries to puff his chest out and use a "tough" sounding voice, but he deflates fairly quickly. "...I broke it."

1, and a new icon just for you

[onlyasign]

Sufferer is his normal self, but once he realized what was going on, he set out to gather up any and all of the missing grubs who didn't have a lusus to care for them. Dolorosa will help him figure out what to do, and Nepeta is helping. He's so lost in thought that he doesn't even notice the young troll until he speaks. Then he pauses, turns, and...

It's Darkleer. It has to be Darkleer.

Sufferer turns, moving slowly so as not to spook the little one, and goes down on one knee. "You're in Vatheon, little one. You don't have to be afraid; you're among friends here."

gneeeee

[aim_exorable]

It is most certainly Darkleer! Not that that is his name yet.

He hadn't seen those horns- nubby as they were and easy to miss- so it hadn't occurred to him that this might be an adult. Despite Sufferer's efforts, he still shies away a bit, ears lowering in worry. At least the little pony pressing up against his side helps reassure him.

"Your eyes are weird," slips from him before he can stop himself, and he presses his hands against his mouth looking embarrassed. That isn't what he meant to say at all.

2

[replicatedcourage]

Obvious indeed. So obvious in fact that Sola goes out of his way to grab another ice cream, this time in a little metal bowl with a matching spoon, and a towel before approaching. He thinks he has some idea of who this particular bitty might be.

"Darkleer...?"

[aim_exorable]

Metal bowl, good idea. A bit colder, but harder to break, and the temperature won't be so bad to someone with such cool blood. The young troll perks up at the site of it. Oh, wait, a question from the alien.

"That isn't my name," he responds, shaking his head. "That is an adult name. I'm not an adult yet. I'm only four sweeps old. My name is Chiron Zahhak."

2

[rebull]

"Tink-?" A word after a long pause to stare across the plaza at the younger troll- shit this, hit him a bit harder than it did Summoner. Wait a minute, crying? Did this not just...

A very awkward, very gangly looking Summoner moves to face the child that's obviously his matesprit but- he's not exactly acting like he normally would, while Summoner's noticed this has only been a physical curse- well, for just him anyway. He has no wings- atleast nothing visible- and his hair's a little more punk, less suave but brighter red, dressed in a mix of dyed black leather, animal furs, and mangled black clothing. He's also void of his usual bandages, but only has ones here and there, along with a lot of bruises and small open wounds. He's around 16 it looks like, little younger or older than that, hard to tell, and he seems pretty taken aback by what he's getting a look at now.

"Tink you-" Oh shit no, he's going to cry, okay before anything going to stop that... The younger Summoner puts up his hands, brows furrowed and looks around before moving away from Darkleer and his 'pets' again. A bit later he comes back with more icecream, to the young Darkleer it's oddly a type he enjoys though he may or may not know this orangeblood. The icecream's in a bowl now and Lysunder keeps his hold on it, even as he kneels down infront of the blueblood.

He is trying really hard not to smile right now, the last thing he needs is for bittyDarkleer to think his anguish is funny...

"Hey uh,-" Voice crack, damnit, also he can feel his stutter worse than ever... Fuck this, man... "Ice cream right? Since it looks like y-y-you finished yo-your last one." He'd face palm if it wouldn't deter Darkleer, but he'll just try working on his stutter again later... A week right? Yeah...

[aim_exorable]

This mostly certainly did hit him a lot harder than Summoner, and perhaps a few other people. There are definitely mental changes at play here. As young as he was, he had latched onto the first lusus-like animals he had seen and immediately set off to try and find his own. Try and find his hive, too...

He's only just realized that maybe "Tink" refers to himself when Summoner leaves, so he's left staring with a befuddled frown on his face. It's still in place when the older troll returns, and he shrinks back a bit. It's only Dural's reassuring coos and Svaeth's attempts to nuzzle Summoner that makes him relax a bit. He cups his hands together and carefully holds them out.

"Yeah- Yes. I finished it," he replies, pursing his lips. That's obviously not what happened, but he'd feel embarrassed if he told the truth to an older troll. He squints a little as he looks at Summoner, trying to figure out his blood color. "I'm not "Tink". My name's- name is Chiron."

2

[thelastgallifreyan]

Well that simply won't do.

[The Doctor rummages around in his jacket pockets.]

Here. Have a mint. Kids like mints.

[It's no normal piece of candy. It's a Venusian creme mint. It has swirls, sure - just like any other red and white Earth mint you might find- but the swirls actually appear to be moving a little.]

[aim_exorable]

They do?

[Not said because he's an alien, but because he's an isolated little kid who honestly has no idea what other kids his age like. Still, he seems interested, tears clearing up a little as he leans forward and holds out his hands so that the mint can be dropped. If he just takes it, he's positive he'll break the candy himself.]

Why's it- Why does it do that?

2

[crabbygenius]

For most of the morning, Washu had been wandering in and out of the shop gathering supplies. If there were children running around, someone may as well feed them and she didn't trust most people to know the correct nutrition a growing child might need.

Plus, it was an excuse to bake even more. Besides, if she was going to be trapped in her adult form, she may as well play mother for whoever needs one.

Which brings her to the current scene before her. It took the scientist a few moments to realize it was Darkleer, but when she did she couldn't help but smile. Before she approached, she sent her packages home and went and got two dishes of icecream.

"Here, this might work better then a cone for you."

[aim_exorable]

He hiccups as he looks up from beneath his hair, trying to blink away any tears that might be gathering. He doesn't understand why this weird alien is being so nice to him, but he just chalks it up to Alternian superiority. That's what other races did for Alternians, right? Right. Probably.

Very slowly, he starts to reach out for the bowl before stopping. Svaeth snorts against his side. "Might.. I might break this."

[zelda_hylia]

Zelda isn't sure if this is Equius or Darkleer, but either way this boy would benefit from being brought back to his hive. The princess has had the good fortune to age up rather than down, now physically twenty-five and more regal than ever. She smiles kindly at the little troll, holding out a handkerchief.

"Here you are. You should clean it up before it dries, all right?"

[aim_exorable]

There's a small jolt at the sound of a voice, and then the boy is hastily wiping at his face. Unfortunately, this just means smearing around a bit more ice cream and tears. Whoops. Dural is puffing up a bit in defense, although that is more because of the little troll's reaction.

"I knew that!" He's still trying to sound impressive and in control, but he can't help the way his voice wobbles. He eyes the handkerchief a bit in worry before very very very very carefully taking it between two fingers. He seems a bit hesitant to use it.

1

[faiofmisfortune]

It was rather unplanned, but Fai had decided to spoil himself with a couple of pastries from a bakery. He was pleasantly drifting back home with some more tasty treats for his brother when this troll catches his attention.

The first thing he does is jump, because wow he did not see you there. Thank goodness he doesn't drop the food. "Um, hi..." he then stutters out. Who the heck is this? It's not Equius, he remembers that troll having a broken horn. But he looks so much like him and Darkleer. And now that he's look around Fai is pretty sure that's Dural he sees nearby. Is it a new troll who's come to live at their home? Vatheon stop being so confusing.

"You're in a place called Vatheon. I think Dural is the only lusus here."

[aim_exorable]

"Oh..." His ears droop a bit and he glances down at Svaeth. The pony pauses in his devouring of his hair just long enough to stare back, ears flicking back and forth. "I guess his eyes aren't right for a lusus..." He'd been hoping that white hoofbeasts would be a sign of his lusus being around, but if that bird is the only one here...

He fidgets in place for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, he puffs himself up again- even his cheeks, which kind of goes against the effect he was going for, which was "intimidating". "I want to see the leader! It's not right, because I'm a highblood, and highbloods shouldn't be kidnapped."