Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ai snorts softly through her nose. "Go find a rock with a hole in it... ye might get a better response... sorry, love... I"m not in the mood."

"Not to mention we are still sheltering strays and all sorts of adoptees in the realm... none old enough just yet to witness such an event." Comes an amused chuckle from the edge of their tiny sitting area.

Embarrassed, Kero jumps, causing Ai to tumble backward laughing.

"Hello, Da." she says tickled by Kero's reaction. "Still sneaking up on people I see."

"Have to keep in training somehow... but I wasn't exactly sneaking, the two of you weren't paying attention to anyone but each other... anything you might wish to tell me about this arrangement?" A tall slender, graying wolf kami walks into the sunlight, arms weighed down with books. His long silver hair is pulled back into a braided tail, it's color matching the silvery fur of his tail.

Dropping the pile on a nearby bench he turns to eye the two of them thoughtfully. "I'm not so sure I like what I see, child of my heart. You are treading in dangerous territory."

"Stand down, Kerobian.... I'm his... er... her father, remember? Oh wait, you really wouldn't remember that right now, would you? Let me let you in on a little secret, cat, never ever threaten people unless you know for certain what is going on... and Tam knows things you don't right now. Like the fact that you and I are friends... and I'd rather not change that relationship at the moment."

Kneeling down next to Ai who is once again stretched out in the sun, he runs a skilled hand through her fur, checks her eyes and even examines her gums. "You seem healthy enough. no true temp though you are running a touch on the warm side, might be just because of the sun though... But your Ma was really upset. So what seems to be the problem?" he asks looking from one lion to the other.

"Kind of hard to explain, Da. I'm tired... really really tired, but then I've just went through something I've never gone through before... could be the result of that, don't know. It was a rather emotionally charged few days, I"m afraid... and recently some odors seem to trigger nausea... something I"ve never had without good cause before. Add in the sensation of not quite being right and the inability to hold my fox shape without a struggle and well, what do you have... not a hell of a lot."

Amestru frowns. "Not much to go on, except you are never sick. Have you tried any other form... Your griffin or kitsune persona?"

Ai shakes her head. "No, the griffin form I think I can manage... but not the one you are used to... as you can see, I've developed a few new ones that appear to ring truer than those I once had... as for the kitsune... never thought to try it."

Amestru gives him a withering look that Ai is quite familiar with, the look of a father who can't believe he heard his child whine without making an effort to correct things. "Then make the effort please. It might be important to see if it goes across the board..."

Amestru watches as Ai struggles to morph into her kitsune form and fails, horribly. She does manage a nice coat of auburn fur, that almost immediately begins to bleach out.

"My skills with Light magic seem stronger in this form." says Ai by way of an explanation as Amestru examines her in alarm.

"That is blatantly obvious. No wonder your fur is so white. What color was it originally?" he demands to know taking out an odd monocular examining glass and checking out a few hairs that have come loose on his hands.

Ai laughs sourly. "Don't know... white, I suppose... been a while since I wore this shape, Da. It... it predates you, I'm afraid. Call it a toned down version of my primal state. if you must."

Amestru's head comes up at that. "Ah, I see you've gotten back some of your memories then... it always did bother you that you were like a blank slate. Care to fill me in?"

Ai shakes her head sadly. "Sorry, Da. Don't want to endanger you or Ma... or any of the kin. Might be best you don't know what you sheltered all those years. Be at peace and know... the danger lies not in me, myself..."

"But those who might fear what we know about you?" sighs the kami sadly. He nods grimly and sits back on his heels. "Is that what you believe?"

Ai nods slowly. "Something along those lines, yes. Kero, knows, but then he's always with me of late... and once he does mature to the point where his memories come back, he'll be strong enough to defend himself.... I hope."

"Heh, Lord of the Endless Void... still have trouble wrapping my mind around that..." snorts Kero with a troubled frown.

"You will do fine... just don't let it got to your head." sighs Ai dropping her head back to her paws. "That is where the danger lies for you... self-confidence is one thing..."

"But a head that is five sizes too big for the body tends to get in the way of good judgment." add Amestru fondly. "So you are saying she smells different... or is it because she's a female she smells different? Lyssie said Tam was fine when she was there... what was it... oh... a few months ago? I am sure she would have told me about this.." he adds with a gentle smile, rapping Ai lightly on the rump. "What is this anyway... not the same species as Kero... but a close relative, it seems."

"Close enough, it seems.... I'm a Snow Lion, Da... of a sorts. He's a Desert Miner. But enough of that, can you determine what's wrong without me? I... I think I'd like to go get a bath... that is if it's safe enough for me to walk about yet." sighs Ai longingly. "All we have is a hip bath back home and I want a good long soak. We could always go to the local Baths, but nothing beats relaxing in your own tub."

Amestru chuckles with a shrug. "We can surely limit our search to a short list of possibilities, especially if Kero is aware of your symptoms."

Ai eases to her feet and smiles at her dark furred mate. "Oh, he knows most, if not all of them. Hiding anything from Mr. Nosy here is like hiding candy or holiday presents from a small child. He always has a way of finding out."

At the word heat, Amestru moans, watching Ai trot off to the keep with a troubled frown. "Just one... but I'd rather rule out all the others first. I suspect neither of you are ready for what I think it might be, especially Tam. And who know, maybe I"m wrong. Tell me, Kerobian... when was this, umm heat of hers... and who's her mate? Someone did fill you in on the birds and the bees, didn't they?** Or was Tam a little slow on the preparation part? You are obviously old enough to know by now, but he always did tend to be a bit... shall we say overprotective. Not that I can say he didn't live a down to earth life. But he never seemed to have any partners that I knew of."

He turns to the lion with a hopeful look on his face, which quickly faded as he caught sight of Kero's indignation. "Don't tell me..." he moans shaking his head, collapsing on a bench.





**(*supposedly Hope did this.... remember?*)

Amestru snorts softly through his nose and lifts up one of the books he has in the stack. "Fine, have it your way. I don't believe I shall confront her though. You have just given me a very definitive answer so going to her is completely unnecessary. Your behavior is honorable to be sure, though I should warn you... You need to watch how you respond to people. If nothing was going on between you two, you would have been quick to deny such a relationship."

He sighs andf hands Kero the book in his hand. "Read this over and be careful, Kero. Tam's got a few issues that may or may not have made themselves manifested to you... He has ever been loyal, loving and honorable... but he has always taken rejection extremely hard.. and you, my son will have to reject him eventually... trust me. I tell you no lies."

Kero nods slightly, still a bit miffed. Then he looks down at the title on the book... Known Medical Anomalies and the Treating and Tending to the Shapeshifting Form.

"I suggest you begin with chapter 12." says Amestru softly, then sits there while he reads, his hands folded in his lap.

Amestru nods. "There is that. Still read... something is going on here and it may be that she is more like Lyssie than we might think. Technically, the kitsune don't breed either... not in the natural way. Oh they pair... much as any living creature pairs... but to create another life form they gather energy unto themselves and bits of scattered tattered souls, which they nourish within themselves. And for some of them, this isn't a conscious matter..."

Amestru peruses the other books, taking an occasional note on a pocket notepad, while he waits. When he senses that Kero is done, he looks up with a thin twist of a grin. "So, do you see what I mean about only one problem or malady, if you wish to call it that, comes to mind?" he asks with a lifted brow.

Putting his own book down, he stretches slightly and raises his eyes to the trees. "I've done an extensive study of shapeshifters, hoping to revitalize my dead tribe. It's all come to naught, I fear. Extinct is just that extinct... no more, nix, nadda, not around. But it has given me a bit of insight into the problems they have. And although pregnancy isn't a problem, it does have serveral side issues the two of you need to be aware of... and Kero, the reason I"m worried, isn't because it's you... or even that it's Tam. I'm fairly pragmatic about those things. The two of you have always been close."

His smile thins even more until it is more grimmace than grin.

"The problem I have is the fact that in a few years time, you will move on and he'll be on his own, raising a child who will no doubt be extremely gifted, long lived, and well.... He's done well by you, but you were not an infant... young yes, but not a newborn... and he had help of a sorts... he had your brother to call on when he needed him. Not only that but I know Tes... she's not going to like this one bit. So Tam is not going to make it easy for you to find him. He wouldn't want to come between the two of you and will no doubt make himself and the child scarse. Which means, sadly, he won't come to us either. As he knows you are free to come and go here whenever you like. Neither will he give that child up for fostering, not after losing the right to raise his first two."