Welcome to Gaia! ::

Who: Eula, Antoine, Rosa, Whisper, Castor (sort of) and Donato
What: Stinky otterbabe is born
Where: Uh? A lot of places.

Eula: Eula kicked along a crumpled twig, deciding she should probably head to dinner, lest Jude strip her of her eating-later-than-everyone-else privileges. She wasn't really hungry, but was definitely not in the mood to be made the center of gossip for her detached mood. Sure, she was definitely detached, but as of right now, the rest of Redwall did not know what was going on, and she didn't want to give them a reason to question her. So she headed reluctantly for dinner, assuming she probably wouldn't be so luck as she was for lunch, with Donato having had some free time earlier that day.

Antoine: ::She may have got all of another two feet, when something fast, fuzzy and fussed ran right by her path with enough force to bowl her over, a black and white beast, a recognizable one too as Antoine skidded in his path, looking forward and back at Eula with a great deal of conflict... she really didn't have any luck with Dibbuns today...:: Are you okaying, Madam Eula?

Eula: Eula winced a tad at Antoine’s question, shaking her head just a tiny bit in amusement. Grand, the young skunk was going to inherit his mother’s odd dialect. “Yes, I am okay,” she replied, distinctly, as if hoping Antoine would take the grammatical hint. “You seem to be in a hurry, though.”

Antoine: ::Once again, he seemed split between talking further, and speaking more with her, if she could help or not, and then finally, bit his lip, looking to her with such urgency:: Where is Jasmine being?

Eula: “Where is Jasmine?” Eula reiterated in that same distinct tone, repeating the question as if she had to think about it. “I haven’t seen her since this morning, and she was in the infirmary then.” Eula suddenly got excited. “You should find her quickly... and you might speak loudly when you find her, she’s a little hard of hearing today, if I remember correctly.”

Antoine: She's notting in the infirmary! ::He said, suddenly looking very agitated, biting his lip again and turning his head off, as if it was his fault for making this mistake, and then, quickly, he thought, and ran back to Eula:: My mother, she needs help!

Eula: Eula sighed, deciding she was going to take Antoine from his mother and teach him to speak properly. “Well, she may be at dinner,” she said with a noncommittal shrug. She blinked when the skunk turned back, so agitated. She held her paws up for a second. “Okay, Antoine, calm down. Where is she? I’ll go to her. But you need to go find Jasmine or... someone else, too.”

Antoine: In her dorm! ::Antoine said with such relief, and turned, running, stopping and turning once more as he ran with his full strength his legs could muster:: Merci, Merci Madam Eula!!

Eula: “Yeah yeah, you’re welcome, de rein, whatever,” Eula said, making shooing motions with her paws and making sure Antoine was going to look for someone. Then she turned quickly and turned off the grounds into a hallway, hurrying down. She came around a corner, then slowed for a second, counting the doors on her right. “Three, four... Here.” She paused irresolutely outside the door, tilting her head. She glanced up and down the hallway, then knocked undecidedly.

Antoine: ::Well, the decidedly empty hall gave no reply, everybeast must have been amassed for meal time now as she had planned, but then, suddenly, past the wooden door a cry of pain came, that could really have only further reminded her, Antoine HAD been looking for Jasmine, hadn't he?::

Eula: Eula passed a paw over her eyes in disbelief. Life really liked to screw her over. Eventually she’d have to sit down and have a nice long talk with life. Life was mean. Shaking her head and mumbling a few indecent remarks, she opened the door and peered in. “Rosa?”

Rosa: ::And, well... the scene spoke for itself, with Rosa on her bed there, the covers drawn mercifully up, as she lay there, clutching her stomach, and suddenly crying out again, and more kindly than others, swore in French so many things that really, we won't copy here incase you DO speak French::


Eula: Eula was torn between sheer terror of the situation and cynical amusement at the mother-skunk’s loose tongue. She sent some quick, hopeful prayer to the ceiling that someone else would arrive soon and she hurried over to Rosa’s side. “All right, calm down. What’s wrong? Are you.... well, is it time?” She asked awkwardly, tilting her head.

Rosa: ::Her fur was drenched in sweat, and she seemed to mutter something incoherently French, before finally speaking up:: What does it looking to? ::Just with a little indignity pinched in among all that confusion and pain, as she gritted her claws deep into the bedding and tore sharply...::

Castor: Eula? ::Saved!!!! That was when Castor came in, the otter in full dinner dress, looking perplexed to the hare... and his wife... and the sheets at his end... his eyes turned to pin pricks, as he fell back against the door, closing it, and then slumped in a pile of limbs, fainted::

Rosa: ..Zat...ees my husband... ::She tried out jokingly, before suddenly crying out again, face twisting::

Eula: “Okay, well,” Eula said blankly. Stupid question. “Well, you’ve done this before,” Eula replied completely unhelpfully. She spun around as she heard another voice, seeing the otter run in, and promptly faint. She groaned. “Hero, he is,” she mumbled. She returned her attention to Rosa. “Well... Jasmine... or someone... should be here soon.”

Rosa: ::Rosa, for all pain she was in, rolled her eyes and looked at Eula for her single comment on having done this before... when the door suddenly rattled::

Whisper: Whose holding this door shut!? What are you DOING in there, are you letting me in or are you delivering that baby all by yourself!?

Rosa: ::Rosa seemed to scream louder at that one::

Eula: "I can't move Castor!" And now Eula was on the verge of panic. "Uh.. um... Whisper? Window?" She shook her paws, shaking her head. "Rosa, you FREAKING wait until Jasmine or SOMEONE else gets here, do you hear me?"

Whisper: ...There's no window on this side of the dorm Eula... :Whisper said finally::

Eula: "I hate all of you."

Rosa: SHE...HE... EES NOT WAITING!! ::Rosa screamed in sudden retaliation::

Whisper: Okay... Eula... listen up... and listen calmly... like it or not you're the only one in there... conscious... okay? So I'm going to guide you through this...

~~~~~

Whisper: You did a good job there, Eula... probably saved Tannia having to tell you about all that later on now too... ::She half laughed as she held out a beaker of some liquid to the hare now they were out in the fresh air and on the abbey stairs. Down below, celebration seemed to have broken anew with the news of a new abbey member, above, at least the cub didn't cry like it had all the while there, but now there were still some overly joyed female abbey members there expressing congratulation, and it only served to further grate the nerves...::

Eula: "Hahahahahaha, wow Whisper, you're funny," Eula said in quite possibly the least amused tone ever. She eyed the liquid, taking it from Whisper. "What is this?"

Whisper: Butterbur, you want something stronger? ::She raised a brow there, with half a smirk, as her wings folded back behind herself::

Eula: "I'm fine," she mumbled, eyeing it a moment longer, then taking a cautious sip. "I'm going to go gouge my eyes out in a few minutes, all right? I just thought I'd let you know."

Whisper: ::At least the drink wasn't poisoned... or maybe that was a downside, warm and sweet, even without looking it, it felt like drinking a buttery honey, only a little stronger, and definitely stronger:: Whatever, Eula... ::She laughed:: Just feel proud, will you? You just went and helped give a new life to the world!

Eula: "Proud is just not the emotion that wants to surface right now." Eula rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she took another sip. "Oh joy! Because I just love Dibbuns oh so much."

Whisper: ::She looked at Eula, and waited just until she had a mouthful there...:: Weell, just remember that could be you there one day...

Eula: Normally, Eula would probably laugh along and then walk away. But Whisper just chose the wrong moment. The drink turned sour in her mouth and she groaned, shaking her head at the bat's audacity. Well, there went the drink over Whisper's head. "Enjoy. I'm going for a walk."

Whisper: ::She just laughed herself, shaking her head:: Whatever you think of it Eula, you've done something great today, okay? And open her wings went, and there she went too::

Donato: Donato had stumbled on to the celebrations about a half-hour ago. After milling about for a bit and chatting with Jude in a rare sighting outside of the kitchens, he realized that Eula was nowhere to be found. Deciding to look for her, he headed outside, first toward the pond, with a plan to check the walltops if that failed.

Eula: Eula was sitting there on their rock, sitting on the edge and twirling a footpaw distractedly in the water, a tired look on her face. She had an eventful day, and not an "eventful" she would've picked. She was happy at least that everyone else had a reason to be happy. For one thing, they'd stay away from her, and two.... she wasn't sure how long it'd last. That happiness.

Donato: Donato approached the pond, noticing Eula on their rock. He came up beside her and sat down without saying anything. Then, still happy from the celebrations in the Abbey, "Long day?" with a bit of a smile.

Eula:"Sure, a long day. We'll go with that," Eula replied, stifling a yawn. She looked at Donato from the corner of her eye, seeing he was in a good mood. Not wanting to ruin it for him, she attempted to perk up a bit, smiling. "Lots of excitement back in the abbey, huh?"

Donato: He chuckled. "I'll say. Jude left the kitchens for the party."

Eula: Eula offered a half-hearted smile, nodding vaguely, as if she hadn't really heard Donato. Then she felt rotten all over again for being a mood-killer. "Well! It's pretty exciting, I guess," she replied lamely, trying hard to seem upbeat. "How was your day?" was her awful attempt at changing the topic.

Donato: Donato, facing the pond, had been glancing over at Eula during the conversation. Now he turned toward her, an eyebrow raised. "What's the matter?"

Eula: Eula hadn't been sure to begin with if Donato knew what had happened, but now she was sure he didn't. "Nothing," Eula looked right at him with the bald-faced lie. Even though she'd accomplished eye-contact, she was a really rotten liar. Plus, Donato would be the last one whom she could get away with lying to.

Donato: "Nothing?" He asked, both eyebrows raised now. "You were fine when I left you this afternoon. What happened now?"

Eula: Eula blinked rapidly a few times. "I said nothing. What, you think I would lie to you?" she went on. However, she had gotten to that point where he knew she was lying, and she knew that he knew she was lying. Now it was just stall tactics until she decided whether or not she wanted Donato to know what happened.

Donato: "You'd certainly try," came the dry retort. He continued to look at her expectantly. How was he to know that he actually didn't want to know?

Eula: Eula cleared her throat. "We should designate a signal for one of us to use in situations to tell you 'You don't want to know.' Which is the signal I'd use now. The problem is, the more I tell you you don't want to know, the more you want to know. A vicious cycle."

Donato: Donato sorted that out for a moment, before nodding. "You're right. And you're right. Just tell me."

Eula: Eula lifted her footpaws out from dangling in the water, drawing her leg up and resting her chin on her raised knee. She faced the water, but directed her eyes at Donato next to her. She lifted an eyebrow. "I would, but there's a good chance you won't look me in the eye for a month and that would really not sit well with me."

Donato: Donato paused, looking sidelong at her. "...What did you do?"

Eula: "Clearly nothing too terrible. I did only say a month. You'd get over it eventually."

Donato: He sighed quietly. "Come on, Eula. What is it?"

Eula: Eula was quiet for a moment, then she looked resigned, as if she were just going to tell him. But she groaned and shook her head, pressing her forehead to her knee. "You don't want to know."

Donato: With a bit of a smile, Donato put an arm around Eula's waist. "Eula, come on..."

Eula: Eula tensed the moment Donato touched her, eyes going wide. "Ah- no," she said quickly, and went to move away, but finding only the edge of the rock at her side, she stood. She held her paws up before her, as if warding Donato off. She blinked a couple times. "Ummm. I love you, really, I do, but don't, um, don't touch me right now."

Donato: He pulled his arm back quickly, startled. He looked at her. "O-kay?" What the heck? He sat on his paws. "Seriously, Eula, what happened to you?" He asked, utterly perplexed.

Eula: Eula immediately felt bad when she saw Donato's reaction but she remained standing, looking down at him. "Okay, well," she started slowly, thinking of how to word this. "I was on my way to dinner, and Antoine ran up to me, and he was obviously really concerned about his mother for some reason. The reason you're sure of now, anyway..." she cleared her throat, rolling her eyes up and fixing her gaze on the top of a nearby tree. "I said I'd check on her while he found someone..." her story fell off awkwardly.

Donato:"Uh-...huh." He said, sounding awkward himself. It was starting to click. He grimaced. "Lucky you..." Then he remembered Eula's reaction to his touching her. Oh. He coughed. "Well!"

Eula: "Yeah, and-well-no one else came and...so..." she cleared her throat, crossing her arms across her front, still staring off anywhere but at Donato. "Yeah."

Donato: "...Well." Eula just had all the luck, didn't she? He studied his feet for a moment before glancing over to Eula again. "Well, good job." He offered hesitantly.

Eula: "Oh, you would not be saying good job if you could have heard the words coming out of my mouth when I realized I was alone." Eula passed a paw over her eyes for a moment. "Although I'm not sure they rivaled Rosa's choice of words," she added, shaking her head. "Tell me honestly, do I have the worst luck of anyone you've met?"

Donato: He grinned. "Honestly? Yeah." Then, "I wouldn't worry, though, unless the baby ends up having a really foul mouth when it grows up. And you can blame Rosa for that anyway."

Eula: "Well, it depends on what language it starts cursing in," Eula said, managing a laugh then. "I'm never volunteering to help with anything ever ever ever again. Dong the right thing in ANY situation backfires no me in the most horrific way. From now on I'm going to be completely selfish and unhelpful. Is that all right?"

Donato: He smiled. "Only if I get to be selfish and unhelpful too. If so, then sure, go right ahead." He shrugged, taking his paws out from under his legs. "Seriously, you can't do anything without it blowing up in your face."

Eula: "It's true, it is," she said, nodding. She had relaxed some with the conversation now and dropped her arms from their defensively crossed position, sitting back down. "I'm seriously considering taking this whole situation for granted and having a chat with Jasmine. You know, Jasmine being all 'You keep secrets and are a terrible terrible creature.' and I reply with 'Well you weren't there when Rosa had her baby.' I can win every argument for awhile."

Donato: He chuckled. "Somehow I don't see that working out. But by all means, give it a shot." Was it possible to ever win an argument with the vixen?

Eula: "Oh believe me, I'll try," Eula assured him. She was quiet for a few minutes, letting out a slow breath. She closed her eyes for a moment, rubbing her forehead. "I think my dad and brother are leaving tomorrow..." she started slowly. Why did these past few days have to be so hectic?

Donato: "Oh." He replied. Was she more sad to see them go or relieved to have them out of all of this? He looked at her, wondering. "How do you feel?" He asked quietly.

Eula: Eula was quiet for a few moments, considering her answer. "A little guilty. I've spent a lot of time with them, but I know I've been really absent mentally, because of everything going on. I don't want them to be here right now.... but I will really miss them. I wish it had just been.... different."

Donato: 'Guilty' was one he hadn't thought of. "Yeah.... I'm sure your dad understands, though. And when" - if - "everything settles down, we can go visit."

Eula: Eula turned to him with an expression of surprise and amusement. "Really? To be honest, I didn't think you'd ever want to go back to Salamandastron again. Granted, the circumstances were pretty awful, but the mountain didn't really seem to agree with you in general.”

Donato: Yeah, he was thinking of that now. He grimaced. 'We' had just come out, he hadn't thought about it. Assuming a carefree attitude, he answered, "Yeah, well. If I get too sick of it I can always just ditch you and come home."

Eula:Well, you are just the sweetest," Eula smirked, shaking her head. "Oh no," she assured. "We'd just stay for a month... two tops," she replied with a completely straight face.

Donato: He winced. "I can't wait!" He offered, his teeth clenched. Then he smiled again. "Really, there'll be visits. Five years was way too long.”

Eula: "Joking, joking," she held her paws up, laughing. "Yes, I don't know why that happened. The first year or two was more me being stubborn than anything. I liked the idea of being on my own and everything. After that I wanted to go but... well... I don't know. After that it just became too long, and awkward to think of going."

Donato: He laughed. "Well, then, we'll go."

Donato had retreated to bed after parting from Eula, where he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and slept soundly for several hours. Hence, he arose uncharacterisically early to take his breakfast with the Abbey's typical early risers. Here was one, across from whom he took his seat - "Morning, Eula."

Pausing as he reached to pour himself some cider, Donato smiled to see her wait, and answered with a bit of a shrug. "Well, I slept like a log last night... But where are you off to?"

"That's right, you told me." He nodded. "You should probably go, then. See your brother; at least you have some time today." He tipped his head to the side, looking at her. "You gonna be alright?"

"Okay, I'll see you." He watched her go, suddenly remembering how he'd felt right before leaving his grandmother to come to Redwall. Oh, he would make sure there were visits. Shrugging mentally, he turned again to his breakfast before he could sink into any maudlin reminiscences.

Donato ate slowly, watching the activity around him. No one he knew was up this early - except Eula. And Jude, but he was bound to be in the kitchens as always. He hadn't had such a leisurely breakfast in a while, and he was unsurprised when Shaftin approached. "No, not at all. G'morning." He said, waving to the seat beside him. "Eula and Payton still visiting?"

"No, not at all. Trust me, I understand - it's been... hectic the last few days." He responded. "As for me, well, as well as can be expected." He smiled a bit; how could one be doing when living in dread of seeing Jasmine? "Just a lot going on, what with Jasmine and the Dibbuns."

Donato listened to Shaftin with a slight frown, then a quick smile at his suggestion that they were keeping news of danger from him. Not that they wouldn't have tried, he supposed, but that there was nothing left to hide. "Really, there's nothing to keep quiet. The past few years have been so peaceful, for a change, we weren't expecting this-" he gestured vaguely to indicate current events - "at all. Things've been fine, it's just Eula had this dream almost out of the blue when Faith announced her plans to build this village outside the Abbey."