Orika Disappears Into Unknown Lands

Arv's time finally came and he layed to rest for the last time. His passing was very peaceful and had a happy feeling to it, considering he lead a full, long life.

I spent some time with Orika up in the desert before taking some time to pass out some elevines. I then returned to Orika to see how well she'd use them, only to find she wanted nothing to do with them at all. My hopes jumped when I saw her heading toward the "lift"(What they're calssified as) to use it! Only to be let down when she began going up and down in the C2 lift. With my patience tried I plopped her down in the middle of a pair of elevines as you can see here. As the hand picked her up and set her down her attention perked at the sight of something she'd not seen before! She a lot of fun playing with the spring toy!

When the spring toy had worn out it's interest she set her wanderlust sights on the future! ...Namely the boulders in front of her leading over the large waterfall. As the waters sprayed mist on her shiny santa norn coat she boldly but carefully trekked accross the boulder's smooth surfaces, and when finally reaching the furthest most point she could go she turned to face me and proudly marched in place as if to say she's the queen of the world! I worried she might slip off the edge and fall to a very painful result.. but luckily she was much more careful that I had anticipated she could be!

Then to my joy she took interest in the pretty red and green lift in front of her! I smiled as I watched her step inside and manipulate the controls to get it moving, because never before had a norn ridden this thing! I imagined the exitement she must have been feeling as the car gently lead her through the air high above the treetops!..And imagined the path it would tack on it's little wire there accross the waterfall to the other side!.. And would give her a new area to explore... except...

Suddenly it did something completely unexpected! I began to wonder if I had slipped into the Twilight Zone when the car suddenly drifted completely off of it's cable and began as if floating through the air! Orika didn't seem phazed by this and I wonder if she ever knew things were going awry. Orika just continued to gaze with wide eyed wonder at the sights drifting past the window, at the wonderful views, as the car carried her into unknown places. I wonder where it would take her!

To my surprise it stopped just above the first broken glass tube and deposited it there. She landed gracefully, without any injury, but then just stared up in confusion at the car. Either it hadn't carried her as far as she wanted, or she just didn't know why it stopped! I was baffled myself. Why would it stop in mid air where she could not reach it again? Surely this is not a safe place for a norn, they're not supposed to be in this area! Orika continued to stare in disbelief and wouldn't move... I fear even if she did decided to go she wouldn't have a very easy time getting down from this point, so I picked her up and put her back in the cable car, then pressed the button so that it would carry her back up to the bridge area, the way it came.. at least that's what I expected it to do.

Boy was I a sucker for thinking a cable car as broken as that, which had malfunctioned already, would suddenly do what it was expected. Instead of going up, it began to take a zigzag pattern back down toward the forest floor.

It dropped her in the lowest level of the treehouse. There she was safe, and it conveniently dropped her right by a toy and some food, so it wasn't completely a bad journey. Orika happily spent some time there to rest from the long journey, and practiced her musical talents on the horn in front of her. I gave her some local fruits to munch on. I had learned my lesson and decided not to risk putting her back in the cable car and pushing the button again! I began to relax, with her back with the tribe, and watched as her last surviving tribe mates played below.

Orika had other ideas though, and stepped into the car and pressed the button while I wasn't looking. When I noticed that she was on the move I saw her slowly zooming accross the screen and proudly announcing her intentions! I quickly dropped what I was doing (O-Orika! No! No!..Wait! Come back!!) and frantically tried to pick her out of the moving vehicle!

Isn't it always the time when you need to do it the most that your hand shakes too much to get a good click on something! Try as I might to save her I just couldn't get the hand clicked on the moving Orika fast enough! The cart carried her down... down.. down into the ground! (Orika!!!). Orika herself didn't think she needed saving. She kept her sights firmly set on the future and where it might take her with a happy grin on her face! Unfortunately for me.. Orika soon disappeared into the ground... under the ground.. who knows where it took her. All I know is I could no longer click on her and whenever I try to click on her picture in the norn display I get nothin. I don't know if I'll ever see her again.. Where is she?  Will the car carry her forever? Will she die of starvation... or can she even die now?? I may never know.

 With the idea that I may never see Orika again.. I had no other choice but to inject the next queen. Meet Orika's sister and the last daughter of Chiyoe. This is Luna.

After the royal teachings from the learning machine in the norn meso I carried her to the world where she will spend the rest of her life, and hopefully get friendly with the natives. Her first experiences were contently eating the local vegetation, she arrived with a hungry tummy. After filling it with food and fruits she settled down for a rest while looking at her new surroundings. Though.. I can't help but continue to feel worried about Orika..

Current population: 3 plus a lost Orika

Aging Nyrn

I returned to Nyrn for the first time in a long while, spurred on by the memory of my norns. I entered a senior citizen world. Just about every norn save for a couple is ancient or old in age and probably gumming their food by now. It was pleasant to find though, that everybody seemed to be having a pretty good life with very few difficulties. As I visited Aku he turned to me after plucking a mushroom from the ground and held it up to show me as he expressed his feelings. Unfortunately there is no source of starch where he currently is staying and i've never been able to convince him to leave his love of mushrooms to look for one. So there he stays, happily studying and exploring the mushrooms that grow. Thankfully they will keep those norns choosing this area free from dying of starvation. Aku and his friends will just have to suffer for now.

Sweet old Arvs is currently the oldest norn in the tribe right now and not even able to walk very far. He limps back and forth in front of the bee hive, completely content with his current location, with a bright smile on his face all the time so i'm confident to think he's happy. His old man walk keeps him from easily moving around but he doesn't mind, and enjoys the warm sunshine and fresh breezes. As I watched him, contemplating how he'll probably be the first of the old man tribe to leave life, Akka and he snuggled together in the cold winter air for a rest.

To my surprise the first to leave was not Arvs at all, but rather Quirin. "Oh, that's a young age to go at!" I thought to myself as I looked over his page. Aku kept him company in his last minutes so that he wouldn't be alone, and though he only lived for a little over three hours, his life was a full one, all the way to age "old"!

In the desert Orika refuses to return to the tribe. Her passion has always been to strike out on her own where no norn has gone before and explore new lands! She's been successful in doing such up to this point, however, with her age came walking issues (genetic trait i'm sure.). I felt so sad for her and shook my head as I watched her repeatedly and without tiring trying to walk over the mound of sand to get at the peppers in front of her. No matter how hard she moved her legs, though, each step either got her nowhere, or moved her backwards. Twice I had lost my patience and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward so she could gobble up the peppers.. each time I left her to check on the other norns and returned she was stuck back on that hill again though. I don't know what i'll do with her. As long as she's happy! She also happens to be the healthiest norn in the whole tribe.

Two more deaths, one after the other presented itself, and once again neither of them was Arvs. I was both happy and sad to find that, though, because while I'm happy Arvs is living quite a long time! I'm also sad to find these particular norns are dieing so soon.

 Aku will now be picking mushrooms in norn heaven while Anya will be playing with the mushroom seeds there! They'll have all they've ever wanted!

Current norn population: 3 plus Orika.