Welcome to Gaia! ::

Haldia glanced at the window. "We should hurry then," she murmured, "so that we do not get caught in the snow."

Earendil nodded. "Dress warmly," he told her. "And you may want to bring a blanket or something, just in case."

He turned to Lin and held Miyuki out to her. "I'll let you get her ready, and I'll go grab some stuff for us as well."

Earendil took his bag just in case, and in it he made sure there was an extra blanket and cloak and change of clothes. Haldia made the same preparations, and soon they met once again at the door.

"Now just Lin," Earendil murmured, looking up the stairs. "Perhaps I should go give her a hand ..."

Earendil heard the door upstairs and heard Lin say time to go, and he turned to Haldia and nodded. "She's on her way," he told her.

Haldia nodded back and headed outside to summon her roc, and Earendil waited for Lin at the bottom of the stairs.

Earendil caught Miyuki and held her tightly, laughing. "Now she's not going to stop saying my name every time she sees me," he grinned. "Not that I'm going to complain."

He smiled at Lin. "Yes, Haldia went outside so that Rhiel would be ready by the time we got out."

Earendil chuckled and followed close behind Lin.

"She would be heartbroken if we started correcting her how to say it," he grinned as they stepped outside. "She's so proud of herself."

At least, that was how it seemed to him.

Haldia and Rhiel were in the yard near the house, waiting for the others. The snow, already ankle-deep, had just about stopped by this time, but it was quite windy and it was blowing around still.

"I'm sure she will," Earendil smiled as they reached the roc. He made a step with one hand as he always did and helped Lin up, then climbed up after her. Once he was sitting, he leaned over and held a hand down for Haldia as well, and within moments they were in the air and heading towards the valley.

As they neared the mountains that surrounded the valley, the wind began to grow stronger again, and the snow began to obscure their vision.

"Earendil!" Haldia called back to him over her shoulder. "I need you to show me where it is!"

Earendil shifted forward slightly and pointed to one of the mountains, and within a few more minutes they had arrived on a small plateau. There was a large rock at one end of it, buried in snow, and at the other end was a cottage-style house. There was light in the windows, and smoke rose from the chimney, and it was clear that someone was home.

Once they landed, Haldia hopped down, followed by Earendil, and then Earendil turned around and held a hand up to Lin to help her down as well. "Easy," he murmured. "Wrap up warm, it's windier now."

Earendil pulled his cloak more fully around himself, wrapping Miyuki in it as well. He nodded to Haldia, and she touched her mark, retracting her spirit, then pulled her hood up. Then the three of them started towards the house.

Before they could reach it however the door opened and a pale-haired woman appeared, her blue eyes bright with excitement.

"Serenity!" she cried; but when she got a better look at the three visitors she stared at them. "No ... I've never seen any of you before ..."

She blinked at Lin. "You must be the daughter of Kara Winters and Donovan Lau," she said, her tone disallowing any argument. "No question about it ..."

From behind her, a man's voice called out, "Don't just stand there with the door open! Let them in!"