Bones and Baby Food [Open to dragons!]

[SilverShadow]

As soon as he closed his eyes Aethrie was scampering away. Factors like sound and scent didn't even occur to her young toddler brain, and she went for the first hiding spot she saw: behind a rock. It was a rather large rock, certainly large enough to hide her, but only when approached from one direction. From any other direction she was completely exposed, and totally unaware of it.

[Brisinger987]

Veraxitoc smiled, looking to Loreiaka for answers. She simply smirked, and scolded him. "I'm not here to help you cheat. Go on. Find your baby daughter." Loreiaka watched, relaxing as the two played the game. Maybe she'd join in.

Veraxitoc took a step forward, looking around. And from this angle, he saw the tip of a small dragons tail behind a rock.

"Oh dear, I wonder where she could be?" He silently approached the rock, gently taking steps.

"Unless... She's...." He popped his head over the rock. "Here she is! Rawr!"

[SilverShadow]

Aethrie squealed and fell over on her backside, startled by his sudden appearance. "Daddy found me! Aethrie count!" She had not yet grown a competitive streak, so she had no problem losing as long as it was fun.

She bounded over to the center of the clearing, plopped herself down, looked at Veraxitoc, then curled up in a ball and put her tail over her eyes. "Aethrie count!" she announced, then began to...list numbers. "One, two, three, five, six, four, nine, twelve, TEN! Ready here Aethrie come!" She had counted 10 numbers, they just didn't happen to be in order. Who likes the number eight, anyway?

[Brisinger987]

Veraxitoc shifted form quickly while she wasn't looking, hiding behind Loreiaka who laughed. The human form was something Veraxitoc had never actually shown Aethrie before, and he was quite intrigued to wonder if she'd be able to figure it out.

He wasn't hidden in reality, more standing, waiting for Aethrie to check behind the only object Veraxitoc could actually hide behind.

[SilverShadow]

Aethrie removed her tail from her eyes with a dramatic flourish, and proceeded to glance around the clearing. Daddy big. She thought to herself. Daddy not hide where Aethrie hide, but Aethrie smell Daddy... She padded around the rock she'd hid behind and over toward Loreiaka, following the scent of Daddy. It was definitely coming from over here...

She padded around Loreiaka and came face to face with Veraxitoc's human form. She sniffed him and knew it was Veraxitoc, and her eyes grew huge. Then she giggled "Daddy Aethrie find you!" she informed him. Then she added, looking completely baffled, "but you be looking all...crunchy."

[Brisinger987]

Loreiaka laughed long and hard at Aethrie's description of "crunchy" Veraxitoc. She found it amusing in every aspect. "Trust me Aethrie, you're dad's just a big old pile o' mush really."

"This is my human form Aethrie. It's small and easy to move around with."

[SilverShadow]

"Hoo...man?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as though that might help her understand. "Daddy not hoo-man, Daddy dragon! Small yes though." She studied him for a minute, then said decisively, "Aethrie like real Daddy better. Yepyep."

[Brisinger987]

"No, but this is like a disguise. It stops the humans getting scared." Veraxitoc burst into a cloud of smoke, before reforming as a dragon.

"So, you found me. My turn to seek!" Veraxitoc closed his eyes, and begun counting.

"One, two..." He carried on, while Loreiaka whispered something to Aethrie.

"Hid behind him Aethrie, he'll never find you!"

[SilverShadow]

"Oh. That good. Aethrie still like dragon Daddy more."

As Loreiaka spoke, the hatchling's eyes widened. "Aka in-jeemuss!" she whispered back, promptly creeping around to sit behind Veraxitoc and wait for him to finish counting.


((Aethrie Translation: in-jeemuss = ingenious :P))

[Brisinger987]

((OOC: Bless her, her vocabulary is superb))

"...Nine, ten. Ready or not, here I come." Veraxitoc sniffed the air, and looked down by his feet. He could smell her nearby, so he craned over Loreiaka to see if she was there, and then had a thought. He slowly turned 180 degrees, his nose to the ground, and he could smell her.

[SilverShadow]

Aethrie, catching on, moved with him, slowly moving as he turned. Her light weight allowed her steps to be silent, and no matter how he turned, she kept behind him.

[Brisinger987]

Veraxitoc turned a bit faster, still able to smell her in the circle behind him.

"Hmmmm. Aethrie... Come give daddy a cuddle..."

[SilverShadow]

Aethrie now had to trot to keep up with his turning. He tempted her with cuddles, but while she wanted them she refused to make a peep. She simply grinned and kept behind him.

[Brisinger987]

"Aethrie... I have a present for you..." He stopped, overlooking the forest, then started turning left, like he had, before whipping around to the right.

"Haha! Gotcha!"

[SilverShadow]

Aethrie, unable to react that fast, was definitely "gotten". She squeaked and giggled. Thumping her tail against the ground. "Daddy got me, but longer time Aethrie hid!" she pointed out proudly.

[Brisinger987]

"Yep, you did. One more game sweetie, then no more, daddy hasn't got the energy to play much more." Veraxitoc smiled, thinking of a new tactic.

[SilverShadow]

"One game, okay," Aethrie agreed. "Aethrie be counting the numbers this time?" she inquired. Before he'd had time to answer, she was once again curled up on the ground with her tail over her eyes. "Daddy better be gettin ready, because Aethrie be counting the numbers now!" She told him. She got the counting closer to correct this time, but still skipping over eight and substituting twelve.

[Brisinger987]

Veraxitoc went for the funny option, and went to hide behind a thin tree. Instead, he smacked into a bigger one, which began to wobble. He tried to keep it upright, but ended up bringing the tree down on his head, and bringing himself to the floor with a large crash.

"Owwww...."

[SilverShadow]

Hearing the crash and the oww, Aethrie's eyes snapped open. "Daddy!" She ran over to him, trying to push the tree off him. But she was still tiny, and it didn't budge. "Daddy okay? Daddy ow-hurt?" she asked frantically, running back and forth next to him.

[Brisinger987]

"Daddy hurts Aethrie... Daddy gonna take a break from games..." Veraxitoc lifted the tree off himself, before standing in front of Loreiaka.

"How bad is it doc?"