Welcome to Gaia! ::

Three weeks had passed since the group had left Dekra, the capital of Garnelia. Though it had taken them only two weeks to get there, they were in no particular rush on their way home, so the extra time was of no concern to them. They had warned the others ahead of time of their impending arrival, thanks to Uruloki, so they were certain the others would be ready for them.

There were differences on the trip this time. Earendil of course could no longer help with keeping watch at night, though Cael was more than happy to take his turn for him so that no one had to watch longer or more often than previously. Cael and Lancaeriel had their own tent, which meant that there was more room in the tent that Kyrie, Wren and Miyuki were now sharing between the three of them. Lin and Earendil still had their own, and it meant that Andarien also had his own - being the only boy, it made sense. He liked it because it meant he could have his Pokemon (except for Ponydash, who stayed outside at night) with him. He did miss the forges of the palace, though, and he hoped Miyuki would soon work on creating that mobile home for the family.

They were also far less anxious on the trip, since there was far less danger; with the exception of Kyrie, who seemed to grow more agitated the closer they got to the Shiezin border. No one spoke to her about it, since it was a very personal thing for her, and they all knew it.

At last they arrived, tired from the trip but not abnormally so. They headed first to the site where Shiro, Kaito, Daeron, Iorlas and Amir were staying, so that they could set up their tents and settle in again before Kyrie left them for her own home.

"There they are!" Iorlas called to the others excitedly when she spotted them. She was playing with Amir just outside a tent, and at her exclamation, the child looked to see what she was looking at. He had grown in the time the group had been gone, and his hair had begun to grow in as well: it was soft and fuzzy and though most of it was a coppery red, the roots of it were white.

Daeron stepped out of the tent behind them and grinned. "Finally."

Shiro was nearby, working on his tablet, and he blinked when he looked at the group that was approaching. "They've got someone extra," he commented. He looked up at the tree above him, where Kaito was napping in the branches, his tail swaying lazily back and forth.

The pale neko's ear twitched, and he cracked one golden eye open. "Ehh?" he slurred sleepily.

Shiro pushed himself to his feet and tucked his tablet under one arm as the group approached.

"Hey!" he called out to them, raising his free hand to wave to them. "Welcome back!"

Kaito sat up and rubbed his eyes, but in doing so he lost his balance and fell from the branch he had been lying on. He twisted around and spread his wings to catch himself, and when he landed on the ground he landed on his feet.

"Hey, who's the new guy?" he asked sleepily, stretching his arms above his head.

"Cael, huh?" Daeron held a hand out to the man to shake. "I thought it was Coriander."

Cael smiled and shook Daeron's hand amiably. "In my original life, yes," he confirmed. "But Lan and I both prefer Cael, so I decided to stick with it."

"It's short for Caelamondorion," Lancaeriel added, a twinkle in her eye as she did so.

Daeron let out a low whistle. "No wonder you shortened it to Cael." He looked over his shoulder for Iorlas, who had been silent, hanging back, since Lin's introduction of Lancaeriel's husband. She was holding Amir and looking rather shy, much as she'd seemed when the group had first met her.

Iorlas approached slowly, but she stayed close to Daeron's side, biting her lower lip anxiously as she looked at Cael.

Cael, for his part, started when Iorlas was introduced, and Lancaeriel put one hand on his arm. He looked down at her, took a deep breath and nodded slightly. Then he turned to Iorlas and held a hand out to her.

"Iorlas," he murmured. "It's been ... a very long time."

Iorlas reached forward, and she was trembling slightly as she shook his hand. "I hope you are well," she said softly, more formal than she had sounded since their time in the Westland.

Cael smiled at Iorlas. "I am back with Lancaeriel," he said warmly, looking back at his wife. "I could not be better."

It was only then that Iorlas seemed to relax a bit. "I'm glad."

Kaito was still half-asleep, which was probably the only reason he hadn't interrupted the two of them already; but now he stepped forward and greeted Cael, and Shiro was close behind him.

While greetings were being exchanged, Kyrie approached Lin and Earendil, her expression serious.

"Do you need any help setting things up?" she asked them, nodding towards their bags. "Otherwise I'm going to see if Ahkshi is at home."

Earendil had to strain to hear Kyrie, and in the end he simply looked to Lin and let her either repeat it louder for him or else reply on both their behalves.

Kyrie smiled gratefully. "Thank you," she murmured. "I'll be back out here tomorrow to see you all if you don't come see us first."

And she hurried off towards the city.

Cael and Lancaeriel meanwhile had been dragged into conversation with Iorlas and Daeron, and while Shiro turned his attention to Wren, Kaito came back to talk to Lin and Earendil.

"So tell me what happened there," he grinned at the two of them. "You were gone for quite a while. Did you have fun?"

Once again, Earendil was having trouble hearing over the chatter nearby, and rather than frustrating himself by trying to make himself part of it, he leaned close to Lin and murmured, "I'm going to put our tent up. Do you mind fielding questions for me?"

Earendil smiled at Lin and murmured a hasty thanks before he took their bags and went to set up their tent.

Kaito watched him go, surprise etched on his face. "What'd I do?" he asked Lin in a bewildered tone. "I didn't even say anything about him looking like he's wearing war paint ..."

Shiro had made quite clear to him what would happen if he made a big deal of Earendil's scars. It was hard not to stare, admittedly, but he thought he'd been doing a good job of not staring!

"Well, maybe that's a good thing," Kaito mused. "I mean, if he can handle Daeron's reaction, there's a chance he might be able to handle Aunt Luthien's reaction. Still, he should tell everyone before they think they've offended him."

Most of them wouldn't know what to do if Earendil started ignoring them. He was always so interested in everyone else.