Zatch smiled at Arlori, the only responce he could muster. After a seccond he said, "Your hope will keep you alive-"

Before Zatch could finnish his thought, feeling his hand being gr*censored*ed and tugged. He looked down to see Tess, and chuckled. How could he ever say 'no' to her. It was his greatest weakness, and the entire flock knew it. He would lecture one of the older members of the flock about doing something stupid, but if a younger member asked him to, he would probably agree. He was a little different every situation, but it was sually no contest.

"Alright, we're comming, we're comming!" He said, a bright smile appearing on his face as Tess pulled him across the room to where Dusk had pulled out the anchient version of the game.

Ember finally landed behind the house and stayed there, leaning against the back wall. She concentrated on her breathing and the feeling of the light breeze rushing of her skin. Her arm ached, but the pain was almost gone. Lifting the bandage, she inspected it. Only a small scab remained where her teeth had punctured her skin. In an hour or so, even those would fade away. She had never told anyone else in the flock about her regenerative powers, it made her feel alienated from the rest of them and she didn't want that; they were alienated enough already.

---

Raze grumbled softly when Arlori, Tess, Dusk and Zatch invaded the main room to play SORRY. He turned over onto his side, pointedly lifting his wings only to snap them back to his body again.

Zatch had to open his wings part way to avoid laying his wings on the floor and sitting on his feathers. He gave a smile, seeing Raze as 'acsidentally' hitting him with the tip of his feathers. "Oh, lighten up!"

His tone was soft, as it always was with the younger members of the group. As he sat on the ground and refolded his wings to his back, he looked around the room. He scooted a little closer to Arlori, gesturing for Ember to sit on his other side. He enjoyed both their company, and to be honest with himself he wasn't sure he wanted to play a child's game, and would gladly be cheerleader to somebody else. By gesturing to her, he was offering Ember both company and his place in the game. His smile didn't fade as he turned back to Arlori, seeing her sweet smile. They had some common ground, even if Arlori was more into animals, and Zatch more into children.

((non-epic fail.))

Arlori stretched a bit to see Ember, safe and back at the house. "Come and play, Ember!" Arlori laughed, feeling like a little child. It had been some time since the flock really had fun, Arlori thought. She also scooted along the side to make room for Ember.

Bryce was still leaning against the wall. He saw Arlori and Zatch gesture for Ember to play along. He turned his attention to the red-head. 'Hm.' He thought. 'She seems more troubled then the rest.' He grinned. 'This is going to be even more interesting.' 

     Tess gasped. "But there can only be four players!" She gasped, "Oh well. Zatch, make more room. Ember's gonna take your spot." She tried to shove Zatch out of the way, but she wasn't strong enough. "Move!" Then turning to Ember, "Come play with us, Ember. Come play!"

-~-

      Naaya returned to the house, dripping wet. She almost kicked the front door open, not even caring she was getting water everywhere. Grabbing the little note pad from the floor, she headed over to the "office", rolling her eyes as she saw Tess and the older kids playing SORRY. So cute. Ginning to herself, she slipped into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast that someone had forgotten to take out of the toaster. Entering the office, she sat herself down in the computer chair, clicking the computer on. She left a trail of water.

((We'll miss you, Fox. *sniff*))

Zatch laughed as Tess attempted to move him out of the way. He had to spread his wings a little more to move successfully, scooting across the floor using his hands so that he was further away from the table and still a little closer to Arlori. He sat cross- legged now, knowing that his feet would fall asleep quickly as a punishment. (He had sat cross-legged for several hours in his cage in the school, and while running a maze Zatch tripped over the sleeping tissue and shattered his left foot in several places. He'd made a full recovery, but hadn't sit cross-legged since.) He continued to beam as he folded his wings back, tight against his spine. Zatch didn't protest in the slightest, but decided to leave himself a small opening so he could still see and cheer from the sidelines, even if the other flock members just laughed at him.

[[So... what is SORRY? xD]]

Arlori waited along the side, feeling a bit squished by the much larger Zatch. She leaned back, pressing her wings even closer to her side. When Arlori saw the young Tess boldly ordering Zatch around, she giggled a bit. She knew that Zatch had a weak spot for kids, just like how she had a weak spot for animals. Sighing, she glanced out the window, and saw a small, yet smooth movement. Arlori gasped. She instinctively tugged Zatch's sleeve. 

"Look! Snake!" Arlori cried. She held herself back from rushing out and picking it up. She loved any animal, no matter how disgusting and dangerous they were. Arlori always thought that snakes were 'misunderstood'.

(its a board game, not complicated :d I doubt we'll be playign in detail so dont worry about it) 

Ember could not help but smile as the group playing SORRY bantered with one another. Ember took her place, where Zatch used to be, and glanced over at him, a big smile on her face, she hoped he could read the message written on it. She turned back to the game board and clapped her hands together, waiting expectantly for the game to begin. Then Arlori sprang up. Glancing over to try and see the source of her excitement, Ember was hardly surprised to see a snake now held in her arms. Scowling with playful displeasure, Ember said,

"I'm going to laugh when it bites you."

---

Raze bluntly ignored Zatch, preferring to keep his face pressed against the back of the couch. Despite his efforts, Raze found himself daydreaming about how satisfying it owuld be to give Zatch a good whack on the head. Before long, his breath had turned into a light snore and his wings twitched in time with the dream he was beginning to have.

Ember sighed, already getting used to Arlori's fondness of animals. she reached out and lightly stroked the snake's head. He's just trying to live in this world to, aren'tcha? She wondered silently, a light smile creasing her lips. she looked up to Arlori and said,

"You should take him outside, he doesn't belong in a wooden box of a house like this."