[SpringsSong]

Aelylth, Akita/Ringed Lucain-----Miria, female pup; Hurui, male pup

"Momma, when d'you think Daddy will get here?" A little voice asked.  The trio of Lucain were walking along the coastline, the two pups laughing and pouncing on each other as they walked.  The older female; black-pelted with white Akita and golden rings, smiled as she watched her children.

"They'll be here soon enough, Miria darling.  I know they will.  And you'll get to see your other brother and sister, you know." She said.  The brownish male pup smiled.  "I can hardly wait to meet them, too!  All I remeber is that Brother is the same color as your Akita and Sister is the same color as you." He said, rubbing against his mother's leg.  She smiled.  "Yes, indeed they are my colors.  Just as you are colored like your father's dingo and you, my little Miria, are colored like him." She said.  The two pups yipped happily, and then went back to their scuffling in the sand.

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[[For Terri and I]]

[Terri]

"Ouch!  Get down, you devil," a voice sounded, not far away from the three awaiting Lucain.  A brief chuckle escaped Dry's throat as he came into view, a small ebony pup hanging off his neck, a wide grin on her face.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" the little pup practically sang.  "Where are we going?"  Her voice was high and light, a tinkling soprano.  It contrasted deeply with the male's throaty, patient chuckle that accompanied his reply.

"You'll see soon enough.  Now just -- Ouch!"  Dry rolled his eyes in good humour as he shook his head roughly, disentangling the pup's claws from his fur.  "Be good!  Keep your claws to yourself.  Ouch," he muttered.  The pup just grinned and trotted along beside him, her eyes wide and excited.

Just then, the male caught sight of the other Lucain.  "Ael!" he barked to himself, happily.  Despite his usual detatched manner, the sight of that Akita femme seemed to bring out any enthusiasm that his pups hadn't already clawed out of him themselves.

The little black pup's eyes widened as her gaze followed her father's.  She blinked a few times and opened her mouth to inquire to her father about the identity of the three mystery creatures, but Dry was already trotting forward, a grin sitting lightly on his features.  The pup followed curiously behind, eyeing the unfamiliar beings with wary, intensely interested eyes.

[SpringsSong]

Aelylth's eyes brightened when she caught sight of Dry.  "Miria!  Hurui!  Stop that wrestling right now and look to the horizon!" She said, standing to her feet.  In an instant, Miria had gotten out from under her brother and was looking to the eastern horizon.  "Momma!  Is that...?" She began to ask, but Aelylth was already running ahead.  Hurui looked up.  "What's gotten her?" He asked.

Miria shrugged as she followed after her mother in a full sprint.  "I don't know, but I wanna find out!" She said, slowly getting ahead of her mother.

"Oh, you wanna race, eh?" Ael inquired.  She leaned forward some, getting slightly ahead of the younger pup.  She, however, slowed up when she realized that she otherwise would have barreled into Dry, whereas Miria kept going and crashed right into her sister.

"Oof!" The orange pup exclaimed, looking down at her sister and then up at her father.  Hurui trotted up beside them, shaking his head.  "Speed-demon." He said, chuckling.  Ael smiled as she said, "Hello, Dry.  How are you this fine day?"

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[Terri]

"Eep!" the black pup squealed as she was barrelled into.  Her eyes flew wide open with shock, and she was about to open her mouth to wail -- spoiled little thing, she is -- but then she happened to sniff the air.  She tilted her head to the side in confusion, peering from the two strange Lucain to her father and back again.  A look of intense concentration was set on her features as she took a step forward and hesitantly put her nose to her sister's pelt, her eyes widening in shock once again as her suspicions were confirmed.  "Daddy, why does she smell like us?" she inquired, looking up to where her father had been only a second ago.  To her surprise, Dry had moved forward to meet the strange female, and he didn't appear to hear her question.

"I'm doing fine, Ael.  How about you?  It's nice to see you again."  His formal tone matched the femme's, though his eyes were alive with delight.

[SpringsSong]

Aelylth smiled.  "I'm doing marvelously." She said, looking over at the three pups--only they weren't exactly pups anymore.  She smiled as she said, "It's good to see you again, too.  I... I missed you."  She turned to look at her three children, and watched the curious look on her other daughter's face.

Miria gave her sister a confused look.  "You're our sister.  That's why we smell like you and Dad." She said, looking at her curiously.  "I'm Miria, and this is our brother, Hurui." She said, smiling.  Hurui lowered his head, smiling.  "How do you do?" He asked.

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[Terri]

A trace of something leaked into his carefully composed tone as he answered.  He tried to justify the strange emotion to himself, but failed miserbaly--why would Ael's words instill a sense of relief?  Illogical.  Never one to voice his feelings--not usually, at least, though Ael had a way of forcing them out of him--he dodged a direct reply to her confession.  He smiled warmly, the best response he could muster.  Putting feelings into words was not his forte.  "And how have you been doing with the children?" he inquired, casting a glance at the three young Lucain.  "They seem happy enough."

The femme blinked in surprise.  "I...I have a sister?" she said, weighing the words delicately on her tongue as they slowly sunk in.  "And another brother, too," she said, inclining her head respectfully in Hurui's direction.  She then shot a glare at her father.  "Dad never told me that.  I thought it was just Payce and I."

[SpringsSong]

Ael smiled.  "Oh, they're doing marvelously.  Their grandfather positively adores them--and dotes on them to an extreme degree.  It brings a smile to my face to see them all so happy... and to be able to see them all together.  Well, except for... was it Payce?" She asked, trying to remember the name her trainer had mentioned.  "Dad said that he's never met his brother and sister that live with my grandfather, Sire Varalus.  I myself have never met my brother or my other sister.  It's... hard, living without seeing your siblings or your other parent." She said.

Miria tilted her head.  "Huh.  That's weird.  Mom told us that we had another brother and sister--she just didn't know when we would meet up, if ever.  Maybe that's why Dad didn't tell you--to spare you the gnawing curiousity if you'd ever meet us." She said.  "Mom says that she wishes Grandpa Lennox hadn't told her she had another sister and a brother.  She wants to meet them, but she knows that it is unlikely that she will." She said.  Hurui smiled as he laughed, spotting the whiteish Sundancer out of the corner of his eye as he looked around.  "And how is our brother?  We only knew that you guys were living with Dad; we don't know too much about day to day life." He said.

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[Terri]

He didn't like i t when Ael's voice sounded like that--forlorn, wistful.  She should sound happy--it upset him to see her any other way.  "Yes, except for Payce," he mused, his eyes tightening ever so slightly.  "He's a bit of a handful.  He's not really one to hang around with family."  His frown became more pronounced as he spoke.  "It's nice to see the other three together, though.  Tapi looks..." he trailed off, then chuckled lightly.  "Confused."

"Maybe," the femme said.  "That would be just like dad; he's so afraid to feel that he's obsessed with us not feeling, either.  Oversensitive fool," she added, her voice a frustrated mutter.  She perked back up wuickly, though, talking animatedly.  "Payce--our brother--isn't very nice.  He's always running off and mouthing off to Dad."  She rolled her eyes.  "He says we're boring."

[SpringsSong]

"Well, that's... not good..." Ael said, her face twisting into a rather worried expression.  "From they way you make it sound, Payce is very much so like his aunt, Lleiadith.  She's... not the family type either.  In fact she went as far as..." here, she bit her lip before she responded.

"...she ran away."

Miria and Hurui both looked a little upset.  "Aw, that's too bad." Miria said.  "I was rather hoping to meet him..." She sighed, looking back at her brother.  His own face looked worried as he said, "Boring?  I think not.  How could our family be boring?  We have a, ah... a bit of a rich history to sift through." He said.

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[Terri]

He frowned; he didn't like seeing the worried expression on Ael's face.  She was so much prettier when she smiled.  "I'm sure she'lll come back in good time," he said, doing his best to consolidate her.  He pushed his nose into her shoulder in a brief gesture of reassurance.  "Just like Payce.  When they've had enough of the world, they'll come home."

Tapi tilted her head, her ears pricking forward immediately as she sensed a story.  "Rich history?" she piped, her eyes widening with excitement.  "First I've heard of it.  Am I a princess?" she asked, her eyes attaining a faraway quality as she floated in the possibilities.  Oh, she could be roayalty, and she might not even know it!  Or perhaps her mom was a mighty warrior who'd been cast out of a magical kingdom after falling in love with the wizard... or maybe she'd been raised by a dragon!  Oh, the posssibilities were endless!

[SpringsSong]

"I sure hope so..." Ael said quietly, and then, she turned back to her children and smiled.  "Well, now... Your great-grandmother is a warrior that is away at the war right now.  My father was actually supposed to be a Prince, but he elected to let that slide away from him in favor of a... more peaceful life.  So, actually..." She said, thinking for a moment.

"That DOES make us royalty, doesn't it, Mother?" Miria inquired.  When her mother slowly dipped her head, Miria's eyes widened.

"Now, don't go getting all girlie-girlie on me, Mir.  I like you just as you are, with just the right amount of tomboy in her to make her bearable on explorations." Hurui said, rolling his eyes.

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[Terri]

Dry's eyebrows raised infinitesimally at Ael's revelation.  She hadn't told him that.  "I've got good taste in women, apparently, he muttered to himself, watching the female explain to their pups.  He chuckled as Tapi's eyes got wider every second, amazed they didn't pop right out of her head.

"Wow," Tapi breathed.  "I'm royalty." When she glanced at her brother and sister, she winked like a coconspirator."We should go find our granpop!" she enthused, tail wagging madly.  Whether she'd grown up or not, she would forever be a whimsical pup at heart.  "He can tell us stories!"

[[ Please don't shoot me for taking forever. DX  Circumstances have been kinda precarious. ]]

[SpringsSong]

[[It's okay.]]

Miria nodded enthusiastically.  "We should... but from what I've heard as of late, Grandfather Lennox is tied up with his brother and talking with Great Grandma Tali, right?" She asked Ael.  Her mother nodded; "Lennox and Aeragorn are both relieved that Grandma Tali are home now, and safe."

Hurui cleared his throat and said, "I'm sure Grandpa Lennox could spare some time... I don't see why he couldn't..."

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[Terri]

Dry and Tapi wore matching expressions, both alight with curiosity.  Though Dry would never admit it, he shared his daughter's excitement.  So, the girl he'd fallen for was royalty...?  He shook the thought from his head and concentrated on listening.

Tapi's voice, when she spoke, was frought with excitement--a few octaves higher that usual.  She padded right up to Hurui, ignoring her mother's words of caution.  "Let's go find him!" she barked.  "C'mon, it'll be fun!  You said you liked exploring," she pointed out.

[SpringsSong]

"Go find whom, now?"

The voice almost came as a shock to Aelylth, and more so to Miria and Hurui.  But Aelylth was the one that spoke next, her voice holding some amount of shock.  "Hello, Father." She said, lowering her head.  He smiled as he gave his daughter an affectionate lick on the cheek before saying, "We've heard nothing of Lleiadith for a while now.  I fear for her."

Ael's eyes lowered.  "She was always a free spirit, Father--maybe a little too free for her own good, if Grandmother Tali?±a said she openly defied the Imperials in their own mess hall." She said.  Miria walked over to her grandfather and smiled.  "Hello, Grandpa Lennox.  We were actually just talking about going to find you.  Momma told us that you were a Prince at one point." She said, her eyes wide in admiration.

Hurui shook his head as Lennox chuckled.  "She told you, she did?  And she's right." The older male said.  It was then that Hurui's jaw dropped.

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