Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yes I've come to notice that. I wonder if it's because he misses the company." and let his boots crunch through the snow. One could see the footprints of where his sister played earlier. "I'm unaware." and continued to follow the tiny footsteps. "I am curious as to who gave birth to the elders. They could not have always been there."

Kashi nodded gently. "I don't want to go to my room alone." and sat up, running his fingers through his hair and standing. The suit was fixed and brushed off, looking at Tsume and giving a small embarrassed smile. "You keep on looking over at me." the young adult was trying to focus everywhere else except Tsume.

The Patheran looked at Oliver, surprised at the raw bit of happiness behind the smile and couldn't help but smile in return. "We live in these walls, we have family in the town below. His family was spread across the world." and nodded. "The girls are always outside playing with him. Perhaps one day you'll spot him too when you travel outside in or near the forest." and stood. "You can eat the rest of that. I need to finish putting these dishes away then I may go rest for a bit. I can give you something to do if you don't know what to do with your free time."

Elliot nodded, walking through the thick evergreens, still focused on the little footprints of his sisters. "Quite positive. I've always wondered if there's one elder above the rest, and if so why don't we know about him?"

Kashi blushed and walked out of the room, waiting for Tsume before walking beside him. "I know. You've been like that since we met." and glanced at Tsume's hand, wanting to hold it but in trying, kashi's hand just swung out of reach an the hare only grabbed the little and ring fingers. He was now too embarrassed to re-adjust his grip so continued walking, holding Tsume's two fingers with a red face.

Saegthin grinned. "agreed. That's how it is in Pathera. We never saw our elder but believed. However in special cases, like the girls', they had to see him just to know he existed. His stories were nearly dead until they discovered him." and chuckled, pouring himself some wine. "The beginning of winter is always a fun time of the year."

"That would be true. Creator of all things, I wouldn't want to be known either." and turned, seeing the Reindeer standing as the girls sat around his feet, Justin pouring them more tea before looking up. "Good afternoon." He greeted, "and hail to Father Winter."

The elder lowered his head, walking around the girls, letting a bit of snow drift over them before the furry nose angled down at the swaddled babes, sniffing, the warm air blowing into Rin's face before moving to Yuki. "The winds spoke of these two."

"I want to see the babies." Annabelle said, quickly standing. "Leo! leo! can I hold Rin again? Did you bring a bottle so I can feed him?"

"Princess you need to finish your tea or it will get cold!" Justin said, finishing pouring into Emily's cup before sitting beside her.

"I call your cake.' Martha said, dragging the plate to her side.

Kashi blushed, tail suddenly fluffing up as his ears raised and tensed. "Y-yes, wel, the thought of you eating me is still in my mind. Instincts, I suppose." and looked at the rug. "What bet did you lose with my brother that made you stuck with me?" Ipo had never actually told him what the bet had been.

"At least until it starts melting. The Channel rises considerably as do other rivers, streams and lakes." he said with a nod, "You should go outside and play in the snow one day. Winter here lasts until the middle of spring so you'll have plenty of time to do so. have you ever made a snowman before? i certainly haven't but the Prime Minister insisted on showing me how."

The girl frowned sadly but pat little Rin's head before walking back to her spot, taking the small teacup and pressing the rim to her lips. "Where'd my cake go? Martha!"

"You left."

"That's not fair!"

"The wind has been nothing but chatter." The season said, standing tall again. "Reta, your children, future events. However the seer will be given a break from his visions. The true elders of the lands need to coincide and speak." but smiled with his eyes and turned back around to keep the children warm. "I am much stronger thanks to this country. I think I hear fawns on occasion."

Kashi stared, imagining this scenario in his head. His brother, tied up in a woman's house and restricted of movement. "I want to laugh but this informtion doesn't surprise me at all." But he settled with a few soft laughs instead, stopping in front of his room, hands tightening around Tsume's. He took a breath and opened the door, surprised to find it clean, beds made,what caught his eye though were two envelopes on his bed and he practically rushed to read them. "I don't know this handwriting." he knew the handwriting of everyone in the castle, those who could write anyway. Was it Ipos? That was right, Ipo knew how to write. Kashi recognized his own name rather quickly, it was the second envelope which made him stare, brain unable to pronounce the lettering which was Tsume's name. He just didn't know how to spell it. Soo-may, Sumay, but certainly not this variation so he stared at the name trying to figure it out.

"There is always time for play." and stood, stretching his back and hearing a successful crack. "You may only clean up if you promise to play in the snow. I am sure Ms. Megan or Mr. Henry will be more than happy to offer you winter clothes your size."

"That, Falian Prince, would be greatly appreciated." And bowed his head again. "When it is my turn to travel to Falia, I shall repay the kindness you have been so willing to show me."

Martha was happy when the reindeer sat back down, snuggling into the warm fur happily. "I want it to be the summer season again. It's too cold."

"You suggested having tea outside." Emily said, snuggled close to a very red in the face Justin.

"That's how you spell your name?" And slowly muttered Tsume's name, realizing that the spelling made sense, as awkward as it looked. "I can try reading my own." and took the paper out, surprised at how many papers had been shoved in, many of them having large sections crossed out as though his brother had been unsure what to write. The paper also faintly smelled of hallucinogenics. "Good god, Ipo." and continued to flip through them before going back to the first page, seeing his name on the top left hand corner.

Tsume's letter was rather short and sweet compared to Kashi's.

And here I thought I'd never see him smile again.
Thank you, Tsume.
I am in your debt.

"Thank you, and you enjoy your time outside when you get to it." The man gave a final wave before walking out and into the servant's hall where the bedrooms were. He was exhausted.

Elliot nodded. "I think Yuki is trying to curl up on himself." the child's face was red with cold, the father adjusting the blankets a bit and pulling him close to his own body. "And listen to Leo, you four. We've already had one blizzard and the skies are still gray."

"Yes sir." The girls and Justin said. Father Winter didn't seem to mind letting them rest against him, the mountains were always the first places to get snow, though soon he would have to travel to the rest of the country.

Kashi was growing frustrated with the letter. A lot of the words were short meaning his brother had tried hard to write in accordance to Kashi's lack of literacy, but Ipo had just kept on writing and his hope for simplicity failed. The words were trembled, too many things were blotted out, scratched our or blurred due to tears. The hare couldn't even try reading much past the first few sentences. "Tsume, could you read this to me? I'm not as literate as my brother thinks me to be." and held out the letter.

Elliot nodded. "They're so little, the water will have to be extremely low to bathe them. They're still so small. And they have so much hair." and ran his fingers through Yuki's once they were inside, blanket removed from their heads. "I don't know how to bathe a baby so small."

Kashi listened carefully, following the words, but all to quickly he became sad. He never knew any of this about Ipo. His brother had written this not knowing he'd die, he'd hoped he'd die. The tears started to fall again, listening to Tsume, to his brother. The letter was haphazard and had no organization but Kashi just couldn't take it, crying there, making Tsume continue to read instead of comforting him. They had been brothers! Ipo had been the only family Kashi knew! Why couldn't Kashi tell that his brother felt so alone and alienated? Why didn't his brother think that Kashi loved him? He sobbed in his hands. "he was my brother." he cried, holding the letter to his face, his own tears landing beside his brothers. "We were brothers. I loved him so much why was I so terrible to not notice?" and took a shuddered gasp only to cry some more into the paper, not caring if he ruined the wobbled handwriting.