Aqua Springs ~ ART GALLERY OPEN! ~ Geezerville

[Chef_Karrie]

*winces at her questions*

*looks up in the middle of his meal* Something is wrong.

Amy... I'm afraid to say anything right now. When I was here with Kits, all I remember consciously doing was saying that I liked the shirt that Mitri picked out for her. I just... I don't want you to get hurt. *looks at her with a pleading expression* I'm sorry. I just feel like I need to be alone, at least until this is over.  

[Cuwen]

Thistle stopped eating as well. She had been getting pretty good at picking up on Amy's emotions, too, though not at this much distance. She must be feeling some pretty strong emotions right now.

"Yes... I'm scared..."

Amy wanted to look over at Karrie because she was so confused, but she just couldn't. She couldn't look at him. "But... I just don't understand, about what's going on I mean. It sounds like this doesn't even have that much to do with feelings but with whatever happened that night. Like a spell or something... If that's the case, you have no control over that."

She tried to take comfort in the fact that he didn't want her to get hurt. But Karrie was an upstanding guy. He wouldn't want anyone getting hurt, especially because of him. He'd say the same about a mailman.

"I wish we could go back to the beginning. You seemed to act like you really enjoyed being around me. We had fun together..."  

[Chef_Karrie]

I do not like this...

I don't understand either! I just... I have a feeling that this is the best thing to do right now. I don't have any control over it, so I don't know if I'll do something to hurt you! I'm afraid of what I might do. That's why I haven't gone to your house to find you. That's why I haven't been here, not just because Kits told me to leave.

*leans his head back, looking up at the sky* We have had fun. I have enjoyed being with you, very much.  

[Cuwen]

Thistle grew even more worried when Velcore began to sound worried. She looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes and moved very close to him.

"What we do?"

Amy quickly looked back at Karrie when he started to raise his voice and get even more agitated. She wasn't upset that he was doing it, and she actually momentarily forgot about being hurt. She was just suddenly really worried about Karrie. This went far deeper than Amy thought This was why he hadn't come to find her? This was why he seemed to be avoiding her and AS? What the hell happened to him?

Amy quickly turned and rested both of her hands on both of Karrie's. "Woah, woah... Karrie, you could never hurt me."

She winced at her choice of words, which completely went against what just happened. "Well, I mean, you could never physically hurt me. Karrie, I don't know what's going on, but I can tell you're really scared. I don't think this is about Kits at all. Something... Something very weird and bad is happening here. Karrie, if it is magic related, you have to..."

She sighed, paused, and then continued. "Look, this may be hard for me to say, but we need to work this out together. Not, together together because I only want to be with you if you want to be with me. But I'm a witch. I may not be able to cast many spells, but I know about magic to a certain degree. We have to figure out what's going on here. Karrie, you're still my friend. I want to find out what's going on and stop it. I don't want anything hurting you."

When she heard Karrie say that he did enjoy being with her, using present-tense terms, her heart lifted slightly. Maybe this wouldn't be the end of them. Maybe this really was just about figuring all this out, finding out what had caused Karrie's problem that night, and maybe they could be together later, possibly stronger than before.

"I'm glad you said that. Thank you. I have enjoyed being with you, too. Who knows. Maybe we'll have a future together."  

[Chef_Karrie]

We need to find them. *walks away from his food, heading for the exit to the main area of Aqua Springs*

*shakes his head* I could, and I know it. I don't want to. I just... I don't know what I might do.

I don't know what to do other than what I have been doing.  

[Cuwen]

Thistle quickly hurried after Velcore, not wanting to leave his side and also agreeing that they needed to find Amy and Karrie.

Amy slowly nodded and looked down at their hands. "You mean staying away from everyone, especially me, and trying to figure things out on your own? That won't work, Karrie. You at least need to have Velcore helping you...."

The pit had returned to her stomach.  

[Chef_Karrie]

*hurries through the grounds* Where?

I always have Velcore. He's never very far from me. Even when I don't actually know where he is. I know he's there.  

[Cuwen]

Thistle quickly caught up with Velcore. It was hard to stay right beside him when she was so tiny, but she was glad he was hurrying. "Gardens! Amy in gardens today. By big hill."

Amy nodded and slowly released Karrie's hands. "Yes, but I'm talking about opening up to him, which you don't always do. Sometimes you keep things from him. If you do that about this Karrie, about what's happening to you, he won't be able to help you. You don't know that much about magic. If that's what's going on, which it really sounds like it is, you need the help of someone who knows quite a bit about magic..."

Which she hoped would be her, but Karrie was worried to be around her. She was afraid she would lose him even as a friend.  

[Chef_Karrie]

The gardens. *turns and starts taking the direct route there. He'd fly, but that would mean leaving Thistle behind*

*makes an effort to smile* I know what I can and can't hide from him. *shakes his head* This is one of the things I can't. I don't know anybody else who knows about magic.  

[Cuwen]

Thistle knew how important this was, and she could sense that Velcore needed to get there fast. She wanted to get there fast. She needed to! She started to run. She ran and she ran and she ran. She kept thinking about Amy and how she needed to be there for her. She felt her pain, felt how sad and scared she was.

Thistle didn't know why, but suddenly she was moving very fast. Things were zooming by her so fast.

What she didn't know was that she was flying off of the ground! It wasn't high enough to really make a huge difference with her line of vision, so she couldn't tell she was flying right off the bat. She was so focused on Amy.

Amy winced when she heard Karrie say he didn't know anyone else who knew about magic. He didn't know anyone he wanted to be around that knew magic.

"I'd say you should talk with my mom, but I don't know where she is. I didn't find her that night I left. I just barely missed her. So she wouldn't be of any help. And the spell book is mostly in a foreign language. Reading it wouldn't help."  

[Chef_Karrie]

*when he realizes Thistle passed him and was flying, he took off too* Thistle! You can fly now!

*shakes his head* That wouldn't help me at all. Neither would your mother. I don't want to get more people involved in this anyway.  

[Cuwen]

Thistle almost didn't understand what Velcore said at first she was so focused on getting to Amy, but then it finally registered what he said, what it meant. She looked down at the ground and saw that she indeed was off of it! She faltered slightly at this realization and almost hit the ground, but she quickly caught herself and went back to doing just what it felt like she had been doing before. She tried to etch into her mind exactly what she was feeling from how the wind felt against her wings, the exact motion her wings were moving in so that she could recreate this later. She wanted to keep flying.

"I fly... I fly! I FLY!! Let's go!"

She raced in the direction of the gardens. She knew she couldn't fly over the hedges, not even close, but she was going so much faster than she had been when walking.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense about not wanting to involve more people... I'm sure Velcore can help with this. It just... It makes me so mad... I'm magical. I should have been able to protect you from this. If I was a better witch, I could have sensed something around you, like magic or something. I can sense my mom when she's nearby sometimes because she's so powerful and I'm connected to her. But if I studied more or paid more attention, I might have been able to prevent this. I'm so sorry, Karrie..."

She looked down at her hands and silently cursed herself. It was one thing when her lack of magical prowess just affected her, but when it affected others, those that she loved... That hurt. How could she let this happen?  

[Chef_Karrie]

Yes! *flies into the gardens, searching for the one Karrie is in*

*shakes his head* There's nothing you could have done. I didn't even notice anything untill... *gets distracted by shouts from the gardeners as Velcore and Thistle fly past them*  

[Cuwen]

Thistle flew past the shouting gardeners, not even paying attention to what they were saying. She needed to find Amy!

Moments later, Thistle came into an area that had a fountain in the middle with Amy and Karrie sitting on a bench toward the back! She found them!

"Amy, Karrie!"

She flew over to them and nearly crashed into Amy as she threw herself against her stomach. "Amy okay?!"

Amy had also heard the shouts from the gardeners and had looked off in the direction they were coming from. Moments later, Amy gasped and her eyes widened when she saw Thistle flying over to her! She was flying!

She barely grabbed hold of Thistle as she flew into her stomach lightly. She held onto her tightly.

"Thistle... Thistle you can fly!"

Thistle nodded. "Yes, fly... But Amy okay?"

Thistle nuzzled her cheek against Amy's stomach.

Amy looked up at Karrie in worry. How would she break this to Thistle? This would crush her. Velcore might not take it well, either.

When she saw Velcore, she smiled sadly at him. "Velcore.. It's so good to see you. I've really missed you."  

[Chef_Karrie]

Karrie! Amy! *lands gracefully in front of them and lays his head on Karrie's lap*

*stares at Thistle, absently petting Velcore's head* Thistle, when did you learn to fly?

Missed you too Amy. *keeps his head on Karrie's lap*