As you grasp the handle on an old gate set into a brick fence you expect there to be some resistance. Instead the gate opens soundlessly on smooth hinges.

Looking into the walled garden you notice a small pond with a trickling waterfall that cascades gently down over a small rock edifice set into the far wall of the garden's wall. There are many different kinds of plants and from the corner of your eye you see bright flashes of color.

Why it's miniature animals. They are small enough that most fit in the palm of a normal child sized hand. They flutter to and fro. Some with wings and some without.

So will you stay and play?

Tabitha wandered through the garden humming to herself. Nearby she could still see the flicker of a wagging tail out of the corner of her eye as Magnolia wandered behind her. Tabi smiled to herself thinking that she was incredibly lucky in that she was allowed to find this tiny faery creature.

"At least I assume it must be fae to be so very small indeed." she murmurs to herself. Walking along the edge of the pond she drops down to sit while trailing her feet in the water, grinning as Magnolia jumps into the water after a particularly flashy looking koi.

"Mags you're going to drown yourself!" Tabi says with a smile.
"Nah. I'm a first class swim champ!" Magnolia replies saucily.

Giggling Tabi splashes the small dog and chuckles as she gets splashed back, though her splash was more effective than Magnolia's.

Liam peeked at the girl splashing in the water from behind a bush. In all the times he had come to the garden in the last week, he had never actually seen another human and only vaguely recalled seeing another one of the tiny creatures. Unsure if he should step forward and greet the girl or hang back because he may very well be trespassing, he crouched lower behind the bush.

"oh look!" purred Eros almost gleefully running past where Liam's boot was firmly planted in the ground, "people!". Dashing ahead the curious whimsical rushed forward and eagerly pawed at the girl, purring very loudly, "Hello!" he cried out cheerfully.

Liam nearly stumbled from the brashness of it all. Really sometimes Eros seemed to have no sense at all, barging into other peoples company demanding attention. Figuring that the harm was already done, Liam scooped the calmer Achilles into his hand and walked foreward. "Er, sorry 'bout that" he mumbled, "Eros is just so curious. Lovely weather we are havin' today isn't it?". Groaning to himself on the inside he wondered why he had brought up the weather and vaguely recalled his eldest brother seemed to talk of nothing else in his presence. Great, he was rubbing off on him - fantastic. "I'm Liam, by the way" he said sheepishly, extending a slightly dusty hand out.

Tabitha peers up at the taller youth, scooping her dissarrayed curls out of her eyes before smiling warmly and grasping Liam's hand with her own. "Nice to meet you Liam, I see you've discovered the secret of the garden." she says with a smile, before removing her hand and reaching down the pet the meowng Eros. "Nice to meet you too little Eros. Wish that I could understand you all but Magnolia will just have to translate for me."

Magnolia pulls herself up onto the edge of the pond and gives everyone a sheepish grin while dripping wet, so the effect is that of something similar to a sheepdogs grin where that's about all you can see besides the fur. "Eh oh!" she says warmly before shaking herself out and then shaking a little more so her fur lays back down flat instead of poofed out around her."I'm Magnolia, that's Tabitha." the friendly dog says to the two kitties.

Tabitha's eyebrows fly up in surprise as she realizes she's totally forgotten her manners. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I'm Tabitha and that's my whimsical - Magnolia. I've only managed to charm one right now." she says with a sheepish tone.

Eros purred blissfully as Tabitha pet him, "see, i told you it wouldn't be a bad idea to come out" he winked at Achilles (who ignored him) and Liam. Nodding a polite hello to Magnolia Eros began to clean in between his toes, managing to speak between licks, "Eros and Achilles. Though, Achilles is being lord lofty up top" he smirked before returning to his cleaning. Achilles merely rolled over in Liam's hand to get into a brighter patch of sunlight.

"Charm?" Liam asked distracted as he watched the brightly colored dog-whimsical pull itself out drenched from the pond. Worried he looked down at Eros on the ground to see that he didn't appear to be worried in the least about the dog's proximity. Exhaling slowly, he looked back to Tabitha, "Nice to meet you" he replied softly giving a half bow before crouching down to put Achilles on the ground next to where Eros sat preening himself. He assumed that the Whimsicals could talk to each other and perhaps Achilles might want in on the action happening below. Sitting on the ground not to far from Tabitha he watched the kittens a short time before daring to start his queries, "Are there more? Have you seen any other people? Am i... trespassing?"

Magnolia extends a dripping nose and proceeds to sniff at Eros," Fabulous to meet you." blinking and wagging her tail proceeding to send droplets of water flying about she grins at Achilles and says with a woof," You too." Standing she proceeds to shake out all her fur and then shivers slightly to get her fur to lay down again, she then walks to a less soggy spot by a bush and promptly sits down, watching the two cats in bemusement.

Tabi smiles at Liam," Yeah as far as I can tell these little guys are won over by charm and personality. They choose us. Not the other way around." quietly watching the kitties she splashes her feet gently in the pond before gesturing around and smiling at Liam again, finally answering his questions," I've not seen any others around here, the garden is usually pretty quiet. No you're not tresspassing, our garden is open to everyone. I stay here with my Aunt and she's a firm believer in making sure that the gate stays open to everyone with the right mindset. Otherwise you'd never be able to find the gate. So she says, honestly, I think she's a bit on the barmy side but ever so lovable." taking a breath she continues," I know that there are more whimsicals but they tend to stay to themselves more often than not."

Lapsing into silence she watches the two kitties and then says," So you'd gotten two of them? That's pretty amazing. You must be special."

Grinning widely, Eros extended a paw and pushed at the slightly younger Achilles, "I wouldn't waste words on him mate" he said winking at Magnolia, "he's a cat of very few words". "Unlike yourself" quipped Achilles smugly from where he lay curled in the sunlight. "Lord lofty spoke!" chortled Eros in amusement before padding over the Eros and laying down next to him and batting one of his ears.

"Oh i wasn't aware" said Liam as he tried not to laugh over the two cats squabbling. They were always picking on each other in little ways but seemed very close. "Oh I'm so relieved I'm not trespassing, i couldn't make myself not come after i met Achilles, and then Eros appeared as well and it would be horrible to have to leave and not come back to see them." Sobering he thought of how it had been the last week with the kittens - so much better then on his own in that drafty old house with his antisocial elder brother. They certainly had been the company he had been hoping for since he had moved.

"Special? no i wouldn't say that" he stopped, pondering why the kitties may had been drawn to him, "I would say that they knew i needed someone to talk to, so they came to comfort me". Petting Achilles and Eros alternatively he took another glance at Magnolia, "they come in all colors and shapes" he said almost surprised, scratching beneath Eros' chin and getting a deep purr of satisfaction.

Maggie nods sagely as she looks at the playfully fighting kittens, thinking to herself What odd little furballs. She gives another canine grin and wades between the two kittens, nosing them gently and sniffing, ear flickering and her tail wagging playfully, certain that this is some fun game that she doesn't want to be left out of.

Tabi smiles at Liam knowing exactly what he means," My Aunt gave me Magnolia, I think she realized how upset I was to be here instead of London with my parents. I'm not one for the countryside but with the township getting bombed left and right my parents though I'd be better off here with my Aunt." suddenly lapsing into silence she realizes that she's been blurting her life story out to a stranger, obviously he wasn't the only one that needed someone to chat with. "Yeah I think that they do. I swear that I've seen some flying about here too but then when I turn around they are all gone much to my dismay. I've been trying to explore the garden but well I keep getting drawn back here to the pond. It's so soothing." she adds with a smile, dangling her fingers into the water then letting the droplets fall on Magnolia, Maggie to her friends.

As the droplets fall, Maggie looks up and gives Tabi an affronted woof before returning to her playmates, making certain to be careful of them since they are quite a bit smaller than she was. "Heyyy. What're you two playing?" she inquires, directing her question towards the kittens.

Eros scooted away from Achilles to give Magnolia more room to climb between the two of them. Playfully he swatted at her rump as she scooched on between, grinning roguishly at Achilles as he did so. "It wouldn't hurt if you moved your fluffy tush over, you know" teased the elder cat to the younger.

Liam nodded, understanding exactly what she had been talking about, he had moved recently from London as well because of the danger and the bad memories associated with the house there. "My brother moved my mother and I out to the country also" he volunteered trying to make the odds more even since she had told him more about herself then he had told her. It was nice to have someone more your age to talk to.

"Oh! I haven't explored at all" he voiced sheepishly, "I always get to caught up playing with Eros and Achilles that i forgot everything else". Looking around him he wondered why he had never ventured the few steps to get past those first few plants to come on over to this lovely open space and pond. A few moments later he was reminded why when Achilles jumped gracefully to his knee and then made a leap towards his shoulder, "I'm sleepy" yawned the tiny Siamese, curling up next to his collar.

"Well" said Eros looking over Magnolia for a few moments before slapping a paw down softly on her tail, "you're it" he called out gleefully as he dashed into the nearest bushes.

Tabitha smiles, showing her slightly crooked teeth before nodding sagely," Yeah Maggie and I just make it a habit to try and explore a different part of the garden every other day or so. For something that looks so small on the outside it's remarkably large inside the gate." Lapsing into silence Tabi reflected on how genuinely nice it was to have someone that was human to talk to for once.

Maggie on the other hand had been scooting forwards, her tail wagging and a canine grin plastered on her face when Achilles hopped away. Slightly crestfallen the friendly puppy wuffed in surprise when the kitty tagged her. "It?" Maggie questions watching the kitten skitter away. Wagging her tail she decides that this must be a new sort of chase game. She did that with the bunnies that lived here before. Standing up and shaking out her fur she calls out playfully,"1.....2.....3....4...." until she'd reached ten and then she sprinted off in the direction that Eros took, dashing into the bushes with enough racket to cause the dragonflies that were perched lazily on the leaves to buzz angrily.

Setting her nose to the ground Maggie began to follow Eros's scent trail, her tail still wagging in the air as she searched the area for the small kitty.

Tabi watches her pup with an amused smile, holding out a palm for one of the upset dragonflies, giggling slightly when one lands on her palm. Looking slightly surprised that it did so as well, and bracing since the little dragonfly was heavier than it looked. ," Do you have any siblings? I sometimes wished that I did since it would make moving a little easier. I'd never spent much time with Aunt H. before moving here." she says somewhat wistfully, then giving a smile as the dragonfly continues on it's way.

Eros came dashing back into sight not long after Magnolia had walked into the foliage. Grinning widely the frisky cat mad a flying leap onto Liam's shirt and began to steadily climb his way up until he sat perched on his head. Looking all around he tried to see if Magnolia could be spotted from this new "high" vantage point. Giggling he turned and pounced down on Achilles playfully, calling out as he climbed back down to the ground, " you really should play Achilles, you're being such a bad sport". Glancing back at Liam he swished his tail as if to salute and bounded off in another direction.

"Oh that's a fantastic idea" said Liam politely wondering why he and the cats had never decided to go exploring together before a soft snore from Achilles reminded him that he came during the day, when his kitties were more sluggish and tired. If he were to come at night his brother would surely worry and forbid him to go back out again when he returned home.
"Oh yes, two older brothers" he said almost apologetically, "and it isn't as much fun as it would seem. they can be mean and our age difference makes things difficult.". Sighing he prodded at a dragonfly that had landed within reach until it flew off to find a more peaceful resting place. Looking around the garden he couldn't make out any sign of a living place, "You did say your aunt lives here right?" he asked curiously, "there is a house somewhere in this vast garden?".

Hello, looks like I found you!!!