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Arwen passed one hand over her face and sighed. "I'm going to have to have a talk with her," she murmured. "Honestly ..."

The door opened suddenly and Leyenda stormed inside again, as quickly as she had left. "They're just finishing attaching the foremast, and then he'll be right in," she told Arwen cheerfully.

Arwen smiled. "Good." She turned to the others. "Are any of you interested in ships?"

Kaito raised one hand, almost as if he were back in school. "I am," he grinned.

"Oh, that's right," Leyenda remembered suddenly. She turned to Arwen. "Mother, I promised the cat some fish."

Arwen smiled. "You'll have to go fishing first," she murmured. "But for now, why don't you show Kaito and Lin the ship you're building?"

Leyenda's eyes lit up brightly, and she turned to the others. "Would you like to see?" she asked them eagerly. "I designed it myself, with Papa's help, and he's helping me to build it, too!"

Leyenda smiled at Lin and Kaito. "Come on," she beckoned them to follow her. "This way!" And with a giggle, she headed off down the hall again, past the room where she and Brian had been at first, and towards a flight of stairs. "Up here!"

She brought them to a room at the end of the upstairs hallway that was as large as the sitting room downstairs. Most of the room was open floor, but there were desks around the perimeter of the room, covered with all manner of blueprints. On the far side of the room were many tools of many sorts, as well as pieces of wood in many shapes and sizes.

In the middle of the room there was a stand, and on the stand was the beginnings of a model ship. Bow to stern, it was almost ten feet long, and though there was little more than the hull and ribs at the moment, it was already almost three feet high at the highest point.

"Here it is," Leyenda said proudly, standing aside so that Lin and Kaito could get closer. "Papa's helping me build it. He says that's how he got started when he was little!"

Leyenda blushed slightly at the praise. "Thank you," she said warmly. "Papa says that when it's finished, he'll help me get it to the river, and maybe he'll even take me to the ocean to float it out there!"

She ran her hand over the hull. "Smooth and sleek," she smiled proudly. "I can't wait til she's done."

Kaito smiled at the child. "I bet she'll be great," he told her.

Leyenda giggled at Senka. "It'll probably be another year or so before she's finished," she murmured, reaching over to scritch the cat between the ears. "I've already been working on it for over a year. But that's how long a good ship takes, especially if it's only one or two people working on it, and only part time."

From downstairs, the sound of the door could be heard, and she grinned at the others. "Papa must be home. Let's go see him!"

Leyenda giggled and started petting Senka as she led them towards the door. "It's okay, Lin, I like her," she grinned. "She's cute and funny. And Brian deserved to be bitten."

Kaito winced, his ears flattening against his skull. He'd heard what had happened, and he had seen Arwen's reaction ... but still, it was never pleasant to be bitten, and a cat's bite was the worst there was.

"But when it comes to something like whipping," Kaito put in, "it's not so much a matter of putting up with a person as punishing them. Still, Lin's right, it's not Senka's place."

"Ah well," Leyenda smiled, petting Senka happily. "She was good, she didn't bite him. Would you like to come fishing with me this afternoon? Mother can make fish for dinner, and I'm sure Senka would love to snack a bit while we're fishing." She grinned at the cat.

"Oh, well, it's easy," Leyenda beamed. "I'll teach you! There are a couple of different ways to fish, my favourite is spearfishing. Do you know how to swim? Papa doesn't like when I take people out in the boat if they don't know how to swim ..."

Kaito looked over his shoulder at his wings. "Uhm..."

Truth be told, he could swim ... but he really didn't like it, and he didn't like to waterlog his wings.