Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ai smiles thinly at him. "Sometimes I forget how young you truly are. You seem so mature, then you come up with a question like that and remind me how much you still need to learn." She gets comfortable and pats the ground at her side, encouraging him to join her.

"I'm a shape shifter, but my form isn't this one, right... You've seen my true form. Truth is, in the lower planes, my body is more of a vessel for energies, than a true physical construction... these energies are my essence... my thoughts, my sense of self. Had I been mortal, my body would have been far more integrated with this essence. Think of all the strange changes my body has undergone over the past month. I've shrunk, been turned into a child... something I"ve never been by the way... been frozen solid... and faced with a myriad of emotional challenges that came darn close to severing my essence from the vessel. I don't believe I would have died... most likely I would have simply been drawn back to Paradisio... but I wouldn't want to bet my life on it. It was close... very very close. A good deal of what happened stemmed from my own efforts and hence could have been very fatal... and I fear, had I been mortal, would have done just that. A body... a true body, would not have survived the ordeal."

Ai laughs bitterly. "No... no such thing... Obviously... or I wouldn't be sitting here with you. But truth be told, I'm probably going to pay for this one way or another..." She nuzzles him fondly. "The social mores of this plane kind of frowns on parental figures who mate with their young... Technically we are not related... and I... I could not control what happened to me... I am not human... I may seem to live by human mores, but there are things that happen from time to time that remind me just how different I am from them. But I doubt that there will be many who understand or are willing to understand what we've done. I'm sorry to say, even Shar will have trouble with this... though Mica might be willing to accept it to a point, if he remembers that I"m more of an intelligent animal than a walking talking man."

Ai nods slowly. "That might work. Though I feel as though hidng it might not be the best idea, still flaunting it will do us no good either. Just be careful what you say around people, dulcha. Living a dual life isn't easy."

Ai smiles at him and returns his nuzzle fondly. "I would like that very much, I do kind of miss my bed. I'm getting rather spoiled I fear. But is it safe? We came out here to avoid trouble, we won't be taking any back with us if we go, will we?"

She eyes him thoughtfully. "Flying might be fun and far less strenuous. Are you up for a lesson on shape-shifting?"

One look at his eager face sends her laughing. "Dumb question, wasn't it? Ok... do you know what went wrong last night? Why your wings were so large and cumbersome? I could tell you, but it might be better for you to figure it out for yourself."

Kero sighs and shakes his head. "No, I can't... I wasn't even wanting to have wings... no, I was wanting to have wings, big wings like yours, but it was only wistful thinking. I really wasn't trying to grow them."

Ai smiles at him and walks to the center of their small clearing by the water. "Come here... we might need the room." Once he joins her she walks about him in a slow circle.

"I think we should start small, like fixing your fur... it's still rather long and curly right now. People might start asking questions. Now one of the reasons you can shift so easily is because your older self did it all the time. In fact, he never went about in his true shape. But then, no one looks at a small dragon and thinks... wow... he must be a powerful voidmage. Mostly they think... oh how cute. Catch my drift? Also, he underwent his rejuvenations in specific forms... lion, human, elvish... what have you... He never did tell me what all those forms were, but I've met a few of the reincarnations, so I know some of them. You are not the first time he's gone lion... I think he enjoys it., It gives him something in common, a reinforced tie to Hopian. Who, while not a brother blood born.., is indeed a blood brother. The two of you have always been close, Kero... closer than many true siblings I know. No doubt it is due to the soulbond you two share."

Kero nods thoughtfully. "What us a soulbond... exactly? I know I have one. I know what it does... but I don't know how I got it or what it is."

Ai shrugs, a movement that sends a ripple of color through her fur. "If you don't remember yet how it came about or Hope hasn't told you, you need to talk to him about it. It is a confidence I'm not at liberty to share. Still, I can explain what a soul bond is for me. I'm not so sure what if any connection it has to you though. The term may seem similar in effect but actually be referring to two completely different reasons."

She sits down for a bit and thinks. "You know that Bez and I share one, right? Ours is a psychic bond. A union of two parts that make a whole of a sorts. Our powers when joined magnify each other's. I am his defense, he is my protection... or something along that line. It is kind of confusing, really and hard to describe. It doesn't mean by any stretch of the imagination that we are bound to one another. Obviously, neither of us would still be around if it did. The emotional ties we share are just that, emotional ties. But the soul bond takes it a step further than the usual swedh bond. Like you and Hope, he and I cannot exist without the other. Several of my brethren have bonds like ours, but are no where near as strong or as close as we once were. Most are like the bond I share with you. They can feel and know how the other is feeling... I once thought Verias was soul bonded to Elaria, but now I'm not so sure. He survived Eliaria's death, though it had to have been a very near thing as it drove him completely mad. But we are working on shapeshifting here, not a study of psychic bonds, so let's get back to business, shall we?"

She grins wickedly at him. "So... you wanted wings, did you? Let's see what happens when you want to return your coat to it's former condition."

But a tiny bit of doubt creeps in, reminding him of the night before and the sensation of having nothing but skin across his back, the chill of the air and the embarrassment of having it happen.

"Patchy would be a good term for it and rather long, quite long, where it exists. It appears that had it been spread out evenly across his back, it might have been close to the proper length. But as it is, parts of it come close to touching the ground.

Ai giggles softly, the nuzzles him gently to remove the sting of her laughter. "I suggest you try again. Though it is straight... so if you are afraid of making it worse, we could just trim it and say you got caught in some really strange substance that caused the rest to fall out. Not sure if it would grow in though and I doubt you want to look like that until you turn old and gray."

She sits down before him, watching his efforts with a critical eye, finally interceding on his third try. "Kero, don't try to work on any one thing just now... work on being just you. Think of how you look to yourself, of how you feel on a good day... embrace the sense of you that you have... got it? That is how the kitsune have to approach the matter."

Ai chuckles warmly. "So do I, dulcha, so do I... welcome back."

Opening his eyes, he blinks at her in confusion until she urges him to go over to the river and look at his reflection.

"See... you are the lion... it is you. Like I said before... the older you is very fond of this shape and I think I now know why. Brave, courageous, with a cat's curiosity so large it knows no bounds... this body suits you, Kero. And it is the one you've grown into from a cub."