Stop chasing your tail ATTN: Odette REPOST

[Aurin]

AURIN

 

It was time again; the wolves had found another young one going through the howling. Eyota packed his usual belongings, his pack, daggers, quarter staff, power wrought dagger, and bow. After strapping everything he would need to himself he threw his green travel cloak over his shoulders and moved out of his cave to travel the route that would best take him to Saldea. It had been a long time since he had journeyed that far north; and to his shame actually had to consult the giant map in the tracker classroom.

 

Randon had accompanied him the entire way; communicating with the local packs as they moved to make sure that they knew where the wanderer was. So far she seemed to be in good health but every minute they took getting ot her was another moment that the howling could consume her.

 

Every night Eyota checked in with Janna to relate his progress. His control of the dream was coming back; he was able to control his surroundings and move to where he needed to go again. It was nice to see her in the dream and have someone other than Randon as company. Janna had been his big sister since she had first found him near to insane, and then again after he had nearly burned down half the stedding.

 

 

It had taken two weeks of hard travel but he was near her now. The wolves had shown him that she had a companion to help her along the way. And it appeared for once that the wanderer would come to him. He had yet to make camp and the sun was shinning through the branches of the forest. He was just getting ready to step out from behind the tree to make camp when a young girl suddenly bumped directly into him. And feel flat on her back.

 

Eyota reached a hand out down the help her up; “I’m sorry my lady, I didn’t see you running through the forest.†As she looked up into his eyes fear began to radiate through her scent; it was so thick he almost felt he could cut it with a knife. “You don’t have to be afraid. I’m here to help you.â€

 

OOC: Alright react how you would like. Have fun with it; and enjoy. We’ll basically be just getting to know each other. And I’ll be helping you understand what you’ve become.

 

ODETTE

 

The forest floor was cold, and lumpy. Roots from the trees had spread out quite far from the trees themselves and were overgrown, peeking out above the surface at random on the ground. A few of those roots were uncomfortably digging into Odette's backside as she lay there on the ground staring up at the noontime sky through a filter of leaves and branches.

 

Worlds collide when you run head on into someone. Odette's thoughts were a jumble, incoherent and confusing. One second she was staring in front of her, the next, she was looking at the sky. One second her feet were moving, then they weren't. At first there was air in her chest. Now, it was knocked out of her and it was taking a good deal of her effort to calm herself down to let her breath catch up with her.

 

Like a cloud blown in front of the sun, a shadow drew over Odette. When she looked up, she could make out the shape of a man with his back to the warming sun and a hand stretched out towards her. A voice accompanied the silhouette, "I'm sorry my lady, I didn't see you running through the forest." Slowly Odette's eyes grew accustomed to the shaded light and she started to make out the features of the man standing above her.

 

At first glance the man seemed as stereotypical as all the other woodsmen and travelers she had seen while working in her father's Inn. But her impression changed when she managed a good stare into the man's eyes. Twin pools of golden yellow fire burning hotter than any fire found a a blacksmith's forge.

 

"You don't have to be afraid. I'm here to help you." The man added, but his words skipped past Odette's ears as every single bedtime story and years worth of tall tales and exaggerated escapades from the Inn's patrons came exploding into her mind. Trollocs, Fades, Darkhounds, human like creatures that soar through the nights sky and steal your soul with a kiss, and even more shadow cursed monstrosities that she couldn't put a name to all made appearances in her mind. For the light of the Creator, she thought she would have been safe traveling south.

 

Odette wanted to scream. She would have were it not that she still needed to catch her breath. As it was she just managed to gasp for air a few times as she started to crawl backwards away from the man. With her heels digging into the soft earth and her hands clawing at the ground under her Odette began dragging her body along the ground, almost too petrified to get up and run. Gradually the ground beneath her changed from the soft earth to the harder root laden ground at the base of a tree.

 

Odette could make out the figure of the man better now, he wasn't alone. To his left and his right were wolves. The smaller one on the left was the one she was chasing just minutes ago. She had thought it looked playful, now she saw it with different eyes. She could see the feral nature of the animal now.

 

She was being backed into a corner, cornered like the game in a hunt. The beat of her heart quickened, loud and fast, pounding like the drum in a Gleeman's song of battle. Her breath had finally returned and she was breathing in heavy pants. The need to scream had subsided, and was replaced by the disconcerting urge to growl. The urge came from down deep inside, a near animalistic instinctual need to growl. With her back flatly against the trunk of a wide tree Odette barred her clenched teeth and a low growl escaped from her mouth. It felt natural and although guttural, it seemed to encompass all the emotions she wanted to convey better than any words could have.

 

 

 

OOC: <-- I don't know what this stands for, but I'm guessing, it's someway for me to talk to you outside of the RP. Anyway, I hope that was ok, I was having fun.

 

AURIN

 

OOC: you got it; it stands for Out Of Character. Which is a way we can communicate as it says…out of character. So now sorry for the wait.

 

IC:

This was going from bad to worse; and quickly. The howling was showing some of it’s more menacing traits. It was obvious she felt like a cornered animal and he would have to break through to her somehow. It had been his eyes; as soon as she saw them she went feral. She hadn’t had a chance to see her own apparently; this could be harder.

 

“Easy, calm down. I’m not here to hurt you.†Eyota was glad now that his weapons were all well hidden. “I’m a friend and I’m here to help. I know my eye’s are yellow. But please listen to me; your’s are as well.†He took a deep breath a stepped a little closer to the snarling young girl in front of him. “Look into your heart, find the things you love, the things that make you human. Hold onto those bring the images to the surface. Think of the face of your father.†The snarl grew louder…apparently her father was not a good subject. “Ok that’s not so good, think of your life the things you love anything. You have to hold onto those things.â€

 

Slowly her face dropped the snarl as she began to relax, and her face became more human. “Good that’s good. My name is Eyota, I am here to help you. I know you’ve been feeling changes been wanting to roam free. If you think back your sense of smell has probably grown more acute. You might even be craving more meat than usual. Think back and remember.â€

 

The change was continuing and she was becoming more and more human. She was regaining her hold on life; the howling was losing. Now she just seemed scared. The forrest was growing darker and Eyota hadn’t found a place for them to camp yet. He didn’t relish spending the night without fire or shelter. “Alright, I’m going to find a place for us to camp. If you would like to learn more please come to the camp; I will feed you and we can talk.â€

 

It was a gamble to leave her here, but with the fear that she was feeling towards him it was wiser to let her come to him. The shadows were shifting as the sun moved lower on it’s course through the sky. It only took him a few minutes to find a suitable place and get a fire going strong. All he could do now was wait for the young girl to come to him, he prayed she would or else finding her again in the morning would be tricky if not impossible.

 

OOC: Your posts are great I love the length and detail! Just keep going with this and we’ll get you to the stedding pronto!

 

ODETTE

 

t had been hours since the man, Eyota as he called himself, had left her. Odette had made her way back to the road, back to the place where she had dropped all her supplies and personal belongings. She was alone again, without even the wolf for companionship. That was one of many ill-formed and complex reasons why she decided to go back and looked for Eyota's camp.

 

The sun had dipped well below the horizon and not even a trace of it's golden light remained in the forest. Instead, the watery silver light from a wanning moon, five times more brilliant than any night before, filled the forest with its eerie nocturnal glow.

 

Finding Eyota's campsite proved far easier than she would have thought, considering her limited experience with the outdoors. The sickly sweet smell of smoke from freshly cut pine was being blown in her direction from the southwest. Just underneath the hoots of owls and the droning of Saldaean cicadas Odette could hear the distinctive cracking sound as the fresh sap expanded and snapped in the distant fire. And if that wasn't enough, the amber aura of the fire itself could be seen glowing faintly behind the darker silhouettes of the trees.

 

Odette pressed forward toward Eyota's site, taking caution only to avoid tripping over the overgrown roots jutting out of the ground. Even in the deafening calls of the cicadas Eyota must have heard her approach. At present his campsite was a small clearing amidst a copse of Saldaean spruce. Their thick low branches buffeting against the sharp northern wind that would soon pick up now that the temperature had dropped a few degrees.

 

Odette stood just at the edge of the clearing, still partially hidden behind the trees. Her body angled so that her side and a sliver of her back were facing the growing fire. Her face was tilted down and sideways, and the fire was just close enough to cast dancing shadows on her high cheek bone. Eyota had probably heard her coming but she called out anyway. "My name is Odette Rachma."

 

She was avoiding eye contact with the man, but from the corner of her vision she could see the broad smile of relief spread across his face. He started to get up from his seat adjacent the fire. The movement caught her off guard, she gasped in a breath of air as all her muscles tensed. Again, like before, she felt an animalistic impulse, this time it was to take flight. Odette had to steel her will to keep her body from acting. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed by Eyota who was slowly taking is seat back down.

 

"How did you know?" Odette called out again.

 

Odette couldn't see his reaction, but the few seconds that it took him to compose an answer seemed to drag on for eternity. The sound of the small fire, amplified by the silence crackled as loud as a bonfire at Beltane. "About your eyes? About yours senses? Is that what you mean?"

 

"No no. Not that." Odette answered as she side stepped a few more paces deeper into the clearing, letting the nettles from a spruce scrape gently across her skin and rake through the tail in her hair. "You're wrong about that." That was a lie and somehow she knew it, but it's easy to lie to others when you were lying to yourself as well. "How did you know what to say..."

 

Odette took the last few paces and made her way fully into the clearing. Still not looking directly at him she continued, stammering a little. "I wasn't myself back there. How did you know what to say to calm me down?"

 

AURIN

 

The fresh pine burning in the fire gave off a pleasant enough smell, permeating the clearing with it’s crispness. The campsite wasn’t perfect, but it provided at least a modicum of comfort from the sharp wind that was sure to pick up now that the moon had risen to bath the clearing in it’s fresh light. Eyota loved the night, the insicts the buzzed and the stillness of everything else around him. Finding peace was easier in the night, it calmed and excited his feral nature if that was even possible.

 

It had been several hours since he had left the young girl, but his instincts still screamed at him that he needed to let her come back to him. She was still lying to herself and until she came to terms with what had happened to her they wouldn’t be able to move along the path to recovery or acceptance at the least.

 

He could still remember when he was Aurin, before he had lost his hold on what was his humanity. Even now thinking back on the changes that had occurred in his life he had to fight to hold onto the humanity Janna had allowed him to grasp. Her scent came to him before the sounds of snapping twigs. Relief flooded through him, it was affirming to know that his instincts had led him in the correct direction. Still it would be better to show caution, she was still very likely close to the edge.

 

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that she had edged close to the campsite; still not willing to come fully into the light and warmth of the fire. When he began to rise her scent instantly became alert and tense, close to the edge again. He paused and slowly returned to his seat, he still needed to let her come to him apparently. It was good to know her name however. It would make things easier to communicate with her.

 

Now it was time for the questions; "How did you know?". It took Eyota a minute to figure out what she might be asking. He had two guesses and decided to go with what was least likely to be what she meant; give her a minute to adjust.

 

"About your eyes? About yours senses? Is that what you mean?"

 

"No no. Not that." The answer came quickly, but she stepped farther into the clearing, which was a good sign. "You're wrong about that." She was still obviously lying to herself but she came further into the clearing, still avoiding looking directly at him. They were making progress. "How did you know what to say..." Finally she came fully into the clearing…good very good. Even though she avoided looking at him, he looked fully in her direction willing her to look at him. "I wasn't myself back there. How did you know what to say to calm me down?"

 

And now they came to it; what Eyota felt was the real question she had wanted to ask since she had decided to come back. “That Miss Odette Rachma, is a little bit longer of a story. One which I will tell you only if you will sit by the fire with me, and share some of this stew I’ve cooked for us.†It was a gamble, but she was already in the clearing and obviously hadn’t eaten today. He could hear her stomach rumbling from where he sat, and she wanted an answer. It took a long time but she finally sat and Eyota handed her the plate of stew. For a moment she stared wordlessly at the plate; her stomach finally winning out she began to eat.

 

It was good to see and he couldn’t help but smile. The northern wind was picking up now and Eyota threw a few more pine limbs on the fire the fresh snap popping in the still night air once again filling the clearing with that wonderful fresh pine scent. “You’re experiencing something called the howling. It is an old tale, the wheel turns and ages come again. The wolves vaguely remember a time when men ran with them. Though they can’t tell us how long it has been. All wolves share memory, and even the memory of running with men is but a shadow of a shadow of a memory. But the wheel has turned again, and now we run with them. They are our friends and companions; we can communicate with them through images and pictures. And some of their trates seem to have rubbed off on us for lack of a better term. Your senses; sight, smell, hearing, have all increased. And on the flip side, the feral nature of a wolf is also inside of you and that’s what happened today.†Eyota paused to breath and realized Odette had finished her stew. Taking her plate back he topped it off again with another load of stew and handed it back to her before finishing his tale.

 

“I was married once, a year or so back my wife went to try to visit her family and was killed. I embraced my wolf side fully, becoming like a wolf. It was only Janna, our head tracker, who could bring me back. She spoke to me much as I did to you, reminding me of the things that make us human, love, anger, hate, joy, sadness. Only by fully remembering and embracing those things can we still hold to our humanity. I won’t lie to you, it is a dangerous thing, and hard at times. But there are more of us, we live in a community in an abandoned Ogier stedding. There we can teach you to control your new gifts, to hold tightly to the things that make you human; and more importantly give you a family that will understand.†The next part would by far be the trickest to explain; but she seemed to be at least listening even if her scent said she was still trying to deny it.

 

“The reason having this new family is important is because many fear what they do not understand, and even though you haven’t seen it yet, your eyes are yellow like mine. It is another side affect from the howling. But please belive me when I tell you this; you are not a dark friend you haven’t been touched by the dark one, if you had the wolves wouldn’t let you be. Wolves are aligned with the light, and by association so are we. Hear my words, see my eyes, and listen to your heart. What I’m telling you is truth no matter how hard to believe. I hope you have heard what I have to say and taken it to heart.â€

 

It was well past mid night now, the long days of traveling and the tense confrontation of earlier in the day were obviously wearing on them both. But they still had a long night ahead of them; he was sure that she would have questions, but she was still here with him and that was a good sign. Now it was time to wait again, to see if she had taken to heart what he had told her. Eventually she would break and would she would come to him, only this time she would come with words and questions.

 

OOC: Ok take it where you will, ask questions run away again, whatever you feel is needed or you want to do! PM or ICQ me if you have any questions.

 

ODETTE

 

Odette truly hadn't prepared well for her journey, what she thought was rations for a week had only lasted the first two days. She didn't even bother tastingthe stew Eyota had prepared, just the prospect of warm food had turned her stomach savage. She was near finished her second helping and she would have asked for thirds were she dauntless enough to ask.

 

The tale Eyota was weaving was heart wrenching to say the least. His face belied none of his true emotions, just a man telling a story disconnected from his life. Yet somehow, by some preternatural means, Odette could sense the cavernous abyss that existed behind Eyota's dialogue. It was identical to chasm inside of her. He had lost a wife, his partner, his soul mate, the true kindred spirit that was walk by his side holding his hand for all eternity. Odette had lost her parents, first her mother to illness, then her father to a far worse disease - hopelessness. The situations were far from similar, but the desolate nothingness was the same.

 

Odette knew he wasn't lying. The man fully believed every word he was saying. There were moments when Odette found herself wishing that this family of people, people like him, existed. It was like the tales of Jain Farstrider and the lands of Shara. They couldn't be true, but they were so fantastical and they solved all of the troubles a person could have, it was hard not to wish it existed.

 

Eyota was trying to pull her into his delusions, she couldn't let that happen. There were moments this very day where she had questioned her own sanity. Now that she had come face to face to a man who had stepped over the line of reason and sensibility it was easy to stay grounded and level headed. She knew she needed to get out of here.

 

By the time the stew had all been devoured the fire it had been warming on was reduced to a few smoldering black coals with streaks of red cracks that were radiating the final remnants of the fire's heat. Spring nights in Saldaea were just as harsh as the dead of winter in some of the softer lands to the south. With the now diminishing fire a pall of cold mist was starting to encroach on the clearing. A shiver rippled down Odette's back as she inched closer to the smoldering coals.

 

"The fire will die long before the morning comes. I'm afraid I'm going to have to get some more branches to keep us warm for the night." Eyota said reluctantly as he rose from his seat opposite Odette. He glanced around the clearing, frowning to himself as he looked at the absence of firewood. "I'll be back in just a few minutes. I promise."

 

Odette's resolve was steadfast. She was going to take flight as soon as she was sure Eyota was gone long enough. Just enough time to give her enough of a headstart and to make it frustrating for anyone to follow. She watched Eyota leave the clearing and disapear into the curtain of branches and shadows. 60.. 59.. 58.. 57.. 56.. One minute, Odette thought as she started counting backwards, ought to be enough time for Eyota to stray far enough away. 44.. 43.. 42..

 

41.. 40.. 39.. As quietly as she could, Odette took hold of the small bag that held the final remaining links to her old life, to the life that she so desperately wanted to go back to. To the life that would fill the deep chasm inside of her. To the life that she could never return to. 33.. 32.. 31.. Her heart was pounding in her chest nearly three times for every second that ticked away in her head. 21.. 20.. 19.. The knuckles on her right hand were starting to turn white as she clenched her bag tightly at her side. 14.. 13.. 12.. Odette glanced carefully around the clearing, looking for the largest break in trees for her to slip through. 8.. 7.. 6.. Her legs were tightly coiled springs ready to vault forward at her beckon. 4.. 3..

 

A rustling of branches came from across the clearing to the north. Eyota stepped through with an armload of dry pine. Odette's head snapped around to face him, the golden sheen of her eyes glinting dimly in the light from the near dead fire. She let out a vicious snarl before springing forward and crashing throuhg a slender opening between the trees to the south.

 

A stride for beat of her heart. Odette hardly noticed the branches as they whipped her body, tearing at her clothing and parts of her exposed skin as she impetuously ran through them. Nor did she notice the biting cold that she had been immune to just minutes ago. Each panting breath she expelled was a plue of white mist that parted and skitted across her cheeks as she made her dash through the night.

 

There were no thougts of where she was going. There were no thoughts of her family. There were barely thoughts of Eyota, who was, most likely, chasing after her at this very moment. There was only the need to run.

 

AURIN

 

Eyota could smell the indecision, disbelief, and fear rolling off of Odette. He had expected it and feared it. He had brought in many wanderers in the past few years but none had been so close to being consumed by the howling as this young one. He didn’t think it was caused by the overwhelming call of the wild that most felt as much as it was by the emotional turmoil that rolled just beneath the surface of her mental state. Her mind was turning to the only shelter it could find from the confusion, the hardened feral nature of the wolf.

 

He was torn on whether or not to go after her; he had done everything he could to ease her mind and explain what was happening. He’d even debated slipping a sleeping drought into her stew, but ultimately decided that wouldn’t bode well for garnering her trust. Eyota reached out to Randon and opened his mind to the images that would flood through them. Randon had been moving through the shadows next to Odette since she first took flight. Eyota had known before he even stepped back into the clearing that she was close to running; but that couldn’t change his direction.

 

It was up to her what she would now do. She would run until she was exhausted, Randon trailing her silently and Eyota following in the wake she was sure to leave through the forrest.

 

The night had come and gone and Odette had finally collapsed in a fit of exhaustion; Randon was keeping watch over her with Tail Chaser near by as well. The pack leader of the area Falling Leaves had also agreed to help in bringing the two leg to her senses. Ever since the initiation with Moon Hunter and the trackers, and becoming a fourleg in the eyes of the wolf nation Eyota had found even more cooperation with the packs that he often traveled with.

 

Now she was only a few minutes ahead with her back curled agains a boulder. Eyota moved quickly and silently through the trees and bounded onto the boulder over look the exhausted girl. He pulled out some of his dried venison wrapped in some leaves and an extra water skin and tossed down by her side. Her eyes were open and alert immediately and she stared up at him; still with a slight feral expression and snarl on her lips. “What for one second†Eyota pushed a scent through that he knew she would understand even in this state, the scent of the Alpha Male, the leader of the pack. She had no choice but to stay where she was for now. “I’ve told you only truth, and have done nothing but try to help you. Understand that until you understand completely what has happened to you you’re not safe here, or at your home. People fear what they do not understand. Come with me where you will be safe and we can help you to learn. I can’t and won’t force you, but I know even in this state you can feel the danger that your mind is in, if not your physical body. I’m going now, Randon will stay with you, if you choose to come he will lead you to me and keep you safe until we are united.â€

 

Eyota slipped off the boulder as Randon stepped from behind the trees and laid down to wait with the young girl. He knew in the end she would come, and sometimes with someone so stubborn you just had to give them what they wanted for them to see that what they wanted wasn’t what they needed.

 

He only traveled until midday before setting up camp and waiting for what he knew would happen. She had come to him before and she would come to him again. All he wanted was for her to believe that she had to make the decision. Once it was made there would be no going back, but she had to be the one to decide if she wanted to come or not.

 

OOC: You don’t have to come to Eyota if you don’t want to. If you decide not to he’ll eventually come back for you. I jjustr though this would give you the opportunity to do what you wanted to do.

[Odette]

Odette had been so exhausted and how of her senses that her blanket was still bundled tightly with the rest of her meagre belongings. She herself was curled painfully up in a ball behind a boulder just big enough to cut the early morning wind that would periodically howl past her ears. The ground had been dry, but when mixed with the warm sweat that had covered Odette in an uneven sheen it covered her arms, dress and the right side of her face with a crumbly peel of brown.

 

The sound of jostling as something was tossed on the ground beside her gently nudged Odette out of the shallow sleep that had taken over her after her dash through the twilight. Despite the discomfort the ground provided, her sleep had left her quite refreshed. As far as she knew, her crystal blue eyes were sparkling in the morning sun as she snapped them open to stare at the wild man Eyota sitting perched on the boulder she had instinctively used as a meagre form of shelter. It was almost as if the mere presence of the man brought out the beast that was burrowed deep inside her. She could feel it starting again, feel her upper lip curling ever so slightly, higher on the left than on the right and exposing her miniscule canine.

 

"Wait for one second"

 

Odette fought to resist, but the unquestionable need to obey and listen was too strong. Sprawled on the ground, knees and hands rubbing the ground as she scuffled back a few inches. Even her head seemed to droop down ever so subtly, implying that she would, indeed, wait.

 

"I've told you only truth, and have done nothing but try to help you. Understand that until you understand completely what has happened to you you're not safe here, or at your home. People fear what they do not understand. Come with me where you will be safe and we can help you to learn. I can't and won't force you, but I know even in this state you can feel the danger that your mind is in, if not your physical body. I'm going now, Randon will stay with you, if you choose to come he will lead you to me and keep you safe until we are united." And with that, Eyota seemed content to leave, letting the wolf he share a bond with appear out of the thick that he had just entered.

 

Now laying beside her, in the not so quiet forest, with the high pitched twerping of young birds eagerly awaiting their mother's return, sound of water cascading over stones in a river not too distant and the occasional rustling of leaves and twigs as some animal would skitter across the ground were the two wolves she had met earlier. To her right, the bigger of the two, sat Randon, who seemed content to simply sit there and wait for her to move. He sat with confidence, simply waiting for her to realize that she was indeed going to follow him back to Eyota. And to her left was Tail Chaser, who was twitching uncomfortably, obviously eager to be up and on the move again.

 

Forgetting about the wolves was impossible, but she was able to block out the sounds in the forest as Odette rolled over to sit on her backside and scooted up against the boulder. The whole scenario was ridiculous, everything Eyota had said sounded so far-fetched and unbelievable. Yet here she was, sitting in a forest, having only just woken up from another night with dreams filled with wolves. Here she was sitting, not four feet from wild animals on each side of her. How could it be a lie if some of it were true? And if some of it could be true, then could it all?

 

Hours had passed and none of the trio had moved much save Odette when the morning's hunger pulled her towards the dried venison laying a few feet away. The same argument kept running through her mind. I have no reason to trust him, but he has no reason to be lying. In its own way it was very compelling in its complexity. Eyota could gain nothing from her, she couldn't help him survive and she would be dependent on him, if anything she would be a burden. And then there was the gnawing fact that he hadn't lied. These wolves, they were his friends, and somehow she felt connected to them as well.

 

She couldn't pinpoint the exact justification she gave herself for getting up and following Randon, curiosity would have been nice but there was more to it than that. But whatever the reason, she was again closing in on the faint smell of burning spruce. It was beginning to become a familiar, a scent that makes you long for more when it first wafts into your nostrils. When she finally came to the clearing where Eyota had made camp, she could see him sitting patiently with a pleased grin on his face. A grin that said 'I'm glad you made it back. I'm proud of you'.

 

"Could you tell me a bit more about this place." Odette stammered out when she was within a few feet of him, the words cautiously exiting her mouth. "About this sanctuary like Stedding you mentioned? Please, I'd like to know more."

 

 

OCC: Sorry!. I know it's late. I've been really really really busy this past week. It won't happen again. Promise! ^_^