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A full moon rose over Mt. Tenjin, bathing the peak of the mountain in a soft glow. True to its name, the Reflecting Pool in the center of the Nexus mirrored the moon's image exactly, until the Labyrintine's Elder stepped into the shallow water and walked slowly into the center. His presence caused ripples and waves to move over the glassy surface, disrupting the reflections of the night sky.



Daedalus's movements stilled when he reached the middle of the Reflecting Pool, and the water calmed itself alongside him. He stared at the surface of the water, seeing his own face reflected among the stars above him.

On this day, Daedalus's four children were born. He was happily mated, his fledgling tribe was growing, and now and forever he could claim the title: father. Daedalus felt so blessed. He hadn't felt this way since he first arrived at Mt. Tenjin, so many years ago. He was still a kit then, and he had fallen through a small crevice in the mountainside and landed in Mt. Tenjin's labyrinthine cave system. The experience was terrifying, Daedalus had never been so alone before, but he knew his only chance of reuniting with his family was to find a way out.

At first Daedalus had wandered through the caves aimlessly. He had no idea where to go or how to navigate an environment like the one he was in. Daedalus was starting to grow frantic, his shouts and cries for his mothers echoing around the cavern walls. However, just before he began fully panicking, Daedalus stopped. He took a deep breath. He felt a mysterious calming presence around him, though he was sure he was alone. Daedalus steadied his breathing and slowly began to open up his senses. He could hear a faint noises, feel the flow of the air through the caves, and suddenly he was exploring -- REALLY exploring, rather than just wandering around -- these caves.

Daedalus discovered many of the mountain's hidden secrets that day, including the spot on which he now stood. Just as he did when he was a kit, Daedalus stared into the waters of the Reflecting Pool until a second visage appeared alongside his own. When he was a kit, the sudden appearance of glowing yellow eyes in a huge face startled him. He had yelped, made a big splash as he jumped out of the pool, and ran to hide behind the tree. Present day Daedalus bowed deeply, almost touching the water with his snout, before looking back up and smiling at the figure that appeared before him.



Enki, the Modeity of Enlightenment, suddenly stood in the pool in front of him, though his appearance caused no new ripples in the water. His black fur, illuminated by the moon's light from above, revealed intricate patterns and designs on a coat that at first looks plain. Enki smiled back at Daedalus. 'How are you feeling?' Enki asked without even opening his mouth.

It had taken Daedalus a while to get used to Enki's preferred method of communication: telepathy. This was only the third time they were meeting face to face, but Daedalus often heard Enki's voice in his head as the Modeity kept up with the goings-on of the tribe. 'I'm overjoyed,' Daedalus sent back. 'There aren't words that can truly express how... Honored I am to be a father.'

'You understand well, Daedalus, what it will take to raise children. There is a lot to learn, and there will always be more to learn.'

Daedalus nodded his head solemnly. 'I am dedicated to my life-long pursuit of knowledge and growth.' When Daedalus looked up again, Enki had already disappeared.

Daedalus stepped out of the pool and shook himself dry. He looked around, taking in the rest of the Nexus bathed in moonlight. In the morning, the whole tribe would be gathered here. They would think it strange, meeting for an announcement at the Nexus rather than in the much more spacious Forum underground. But once he and Antheia revealed their BCRs, it would all be made clear. The Nexus is the appropriate place to celebrate new life.

Daedalus retired for the night much later than everyone else, and awoke before everyone the next morning. He gathered the BCRs and snuck quietly out of his cave, not wanting to disturb Antheia. While she knew the whole plan for the morning, it was still way too early for the meeting to start. Daedalus returned to the Nexus to await everyone's arrival. He sat right under the tree at the edge of the reflecting pool and hid the BCRs under his bushy tail until it was time for the big reveal.

Wolfram blinked waking up slowly. He was curled up with his mate Orion and was feeling lazy this morning. He eyed his mate with a smile and was tempted to pounce him this morning. The whole family had just moved to this young budding tribe and so far they had enjoyed it. He moved slowly to touch his mate. No response. Good. Like a cat Wolfram had the urge to touch and play with things with his paws. He had was very happy and the ablity to pounce his unawares mate was going to overwhelm him leading to a long morning when a voice called into the den. “HEY IN THERE TIME TO GET UP!” It was Mintaka. Wolfram sighed knowing they would have to get up and head out or his daughter would come in and drag them all out. There was something they had to do today with the tribe elder. It was a shame to waste such a good morning. The purple eyes of his mate looked at him. The sneaky male had been awake the whole time. “To tempting to keep your paws off me?” Wolfram grinned but rolled his eyes. “Only as something to chew on. WE'LL BE RIGHT UP!” The pair were snarky to one another but they loved each other deeply and their sass was normal between them at this point. With that they got up to go greet their three daughters.


"Morning dads"

Pappas~

"More sleep."


With the whole family gathered they headed up to the location they been told to gather.

Adonis had been up four hours. He was getting tired, but the day was only just beginning. The previous day, Daedalus had pulled him aside to request a favor of Adonis. "We're going to host a surprise celebration tomorrow morning," the Elder had said. "I don't want to tell you what it's for just yet, but would you mind secretly preparing a small feast for the morning?" Adonis had agreed, of course. He was curious for whatever this announcement was, but he was sure it'd be worth the trouble of a pre-dawn hunt. Adonis was more worried about keeping the feast a secret. All of the tribe members new they were to meet in the Nexus just after sunrise, and the assumption was that it was to just greet the family of new foxes that had just joined. But Daedalus definitely hinted that there was something more to this occasion.



Adonis didn't want to ruin the surprise for anyone, so... He just didn't tell his mate, Tithe. Adonis went to sleep early, snuck out of the den, and went hunting. He did, however, tell his son Lukas. Lukas never joined the Labyrintine Tribe because he loved living on his own, but he was always welcome to visit his parents and stay for a few nights. Adonis was lucky he was here now. Since Lukas wasn't a tribe member, Adonis didn't mind telling him about the surprise feast. Lukas was able to help hunt and carry food back, and it was a good bonding experience for father and son.

Together they caught a good variety of game, and more than enough to constitute a feast. The two dragged the food into a little antechamber off the Forum to hide it from anyone passing by on the way up to the Nexus. "We still have a bit of time before we have to head up to the Nexus," Adonis said to Lukas. "Think we can sneak back into the house without your mom noticing and pretend we've been asleep this whole time?"

Lukas just raised an eyebrow at his father. "I could get away with it easy. I don't know if you can, old man," he joked.

Adonis playfully shoved Lukas in the shoulder for his comment, chuckling as he led the way back to their den.

Anatolia
Anatolia yawned finally decided to get up. Lately she had taken to somewhat sleeping in but then sleeping was what you kinda did when sad right? Still she had to move on with life eventually and their elder had called for a gathering so she should go to it. There were a lot of new faces and maybe she just needed to see everyone to get back in the grove of things… or at least pop her head in before going off to the caves. Before everything that happened she had found a rather interesting rock formation she wanted to study more. When she left her den she frowned at the sunlight. Oh she was up earlier than normal…. Eh she could turn around and go back to bed for a while longer right….right and that was about the time that she ran across some tribe members. Yawning again she made a motion to acknowledge them. However been seen meant she totally had to stay awake. They looked like they were heading back to their dens. Mmm what where their names again. Adonis and um… someone who looked like Adonis. Lukas… ah yes that was right. He wasn’t usually here at the tribe not being a member so it took a while to place him.
“Hello… good morning.” She replied and left it at that just in case something important called their attention back home.

Interesting. Miel had arrived at the meeting late, although only to chase off some overly curious wanderers getting too cozy with her bees. She was a new addition to the tribe and had brought with her several hives, eliciting the curiosity of her peers. It was truthfully getting fairly annoying at this point, but eventually, they'd grow bored and actually heed her warnings -- maybe once someone was stung enough times.

The Elder and their mate looked vaguely suspicious, especially with the moth-like vixen practically wedged into Daedalus' tail. Something was up, and Miel was into a little change of pace -- keeps things fresh and exciting!

She caught the sound of one of the other newer members, head tilting to eyeball the group. Miel had yet to mingle or make friends, but that wasn't uncommon for the studious vixen. Bees were her friends -- they just got her. They also were surprisingly easy to please if you knew the right way to handle them; unlike other foxes. She cast a glance at her tattoo and winced inwardly. It wasn't like she regretted the decision. Far from it! She just wasn't used to so many other foxes, and hadn't ever been expected to keep her social standing at some level of positivity if she wanted a drama-free life. She had to watch her words and make sure she didn't push any buttons, which was easy enough when you avoided everyone to the best of your ability.

Still, he seemed to be fairing well -- Mehmet, was it? He and his sister had joined around the same time Miel did and they both seemed to fit nicely. Miel wasn't sure if she did, but, well... she also wasn't sure if she wanted to go out of her way and make any connections. Teaching was enjoyable enough; she wasn't sure she needed companionship on top of it.

"It's too early for this," Miel mumbled to herself as a yawn threatened to stretch across her face. Hopefully, the meeting would start and end soon!

Lukas noticed the other fox before she greeted them. He always saw her around the tribe when he was here, but couldn't seem to remember her name at the moment.

"Oh, good morning, Anatolia," Adonis greeted her. "Are you heading up to the Nexus for the meeting already? I suppose it's later into the morning than I thought it was."

Ah, so that was her name. Lukas smiled at Anatolia, and nodded his own greeting as his father continued to talk. He glanced at his dad. "Maybe you should just run home quickly and see if mom's up. I'll head straight to the Nexus and... save you both a spot?" he suggested.

"That's probably for the best," Adonis agreed. "I'll see you both up there in a few minutes, then." With that, he turned and continued on his path at a faster pace than he had been walking previously.

As his father walked away, Lukas turned back to Anatolia. "Do you mind if I accompany you to the Nexus? I'll be honest, I do still tend to get lost around here," he admitted with a small chuckle. The caves in Mt. Tenjin were always confusing, and Lukas normally stuck with either of his parents when trying to get around the tribe quickly. He enjoyed exploring the mountain on his own sometimes, but still had no idea how to actually navigate in this place.

Meanwhile, Adonis returned to his den, calling out to his mate as he entered, "Tithe? Are you awake?"

Ah, speak of the devil.

Mehmet couldn’t help but chuckle at his sister’s timing. “Derin, there you are! We were just talking about you.” He teased lightly, giving a little wink. “Nothing bad, of course. Promise.” Turning his attention back to the group, he smiled as Mintaka introduced herself and the rest of her family, resisting the urge to chuckle again at the interaction between father and daughter. “I’m delighted to meet you all, truly.”

Looking towards the fox Mintaka had addressed, Mehmet gave a few friendly wags of his tail. He immediately recognized the vixen, despite not working with her or having much interaction beyond brief greetings and passing glances - she was one of the other newbies to the tribe, joining around the same the rest of them had. She dealt with... plants, maybe? Insects? Flowers? Something along those lines. “Good morning. Care to join us?” Giving Derin a gentle bump with his own shoulder to catch her attention, Mehmet leaned in to speak in a hushed tone, “I believe she’s a teacher like you. Can’t recall her area of study though.”

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Melomar

Reoakee

NymiiNym

Oh she wasn’t quite expecting them to stop and call back, but then thinking logically it also made sense. They had looked like they were heading back to their den, however polite greetings did get you polite responses back. She worked through some of the sleepiness as obviously she should work on being more aware.
“ well it’s still relatively early, however I figured I should get up least you know the warm bed keep calling to me, and then there would go the whole morning.” Anatolia answered with an attempt at some humor. She was trying her best to get used to being more her upbeat self. She did watch the play by play between the father and son with some amusement. Maybe when everything had calmed down, then she’d go visit her mother.
”i think some of the tribe members who have lived here a while sometimes get lost as well so no worries. I can totally escort you there.” she answered with a tiny smile.