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Well, surprise had been what Laureat wanted; he just hadn't anticipated it being sprung so rapidly! While he knew his brother's family technically occupied a large bit of land, he'd thought to find Tony much closer to home; like, in the cave he and Loveless actually slept in. Still, it wasn't a bad thing, running into him this early; there was nothing like a good visual aid to help when explanations were happening!

Sensing more than seeing Berry's shell-shocked reaction to the sight of her first-ever Kalona hybrid, Laureat decided the charitable thing to do was give her a few moments to gather herself. After all, she was probably expecting another Wind! "If I didn't know better, Tony, I'd have thought you were expecting me! I could ask you what you're doing all the way out here, but I suppose you did ask first, and fair's fair. We," he said, gesturing at Berry and himself, "were coming to find you, in case you couldn't guess. An interesting puzzle has fallen into my lap, and I thought you might be able to help out." Stepping back so that he was next to Berry rather than in front of her, he gestured to her with a rather dramatic wing motion. "Tony, this is Berry, newly arrived to our part of the world and rather innocent in many things, like the fact that until she met me, she'd never seen a Wind, and until about 15 minutes ago, she'd never heard of nor seen a Kalona. Berry, this is my big brother Antony, or Tony, who is, in case you couldn't guess, half Kalona."

During the course of this introduction, Antony had maintained the same mildly curious expression, giving Berry a polite nod in response to her somewhat stammered greeting. He was used to others being uneasy when meeting him for the first time; even though he was clearly a hybrid (no horns, no Kalona tail, no split hooves), the wings and fangs, paired with his size, were enough to give anyone pause. Add the effects of the scar to that, he was one potentially scary dude. But Laureat's explanation added a little more insight; imagine, never having heard of a Kalona!

"Half Kalona, but also half Wind. And defined not so much by my breeds as by my behavior...or so I like to think," Antony said with a light rumble of laughter. "It's nice to meet you, Berry, and I hope I'll be able to help you with your puzzle..." He trailed off, looking from Berry to Laureat expectantly. "Once you tell me what it is, of course. And please, Berry, try not to be nervous around me," He said with a warm smile, toothy as it was. "I promise, I don't bite."

Neither Laureat or Antony was prepared when Berry suddenly launched into her laundry list of questions; for a moment, their eyes met over her head, a mixture of surprise and amusement evident in both brother's faces. Still, curiosity was a lot better than fear or anxiety, and neither Tony or Laureat minded indulging her.

Since the question seemed to be directed at him, Tony stepped up to the plate first. "Well, I'm half Kalona because while my mother was a pureblooded Kalona mare, my father...our father," he amended, gesturing from himself to Laureat with one wing, "Is a Wind stallion. That means that my blood is mixed, so I'm neither a pure Wind or a pure Kalona."

"That's right," chimed in Laureat cheerfully. "Remember all those traits I told you about? Size, wings, horns, fangs, hooves, tail, size? Tony has some of them, but not all; like, you may notice he doesn't have any horns on his head, and his hooves are solid, like ours, rather than split. And his tail is just a normal hair tail, same as ours. Since pureblooded Kalona have ALL the traits on that little list, you know by looking at Tony that he has some non-Kalona blood in there. But yeah, mixed blood is common; you obviously can't tell by looking at me, but MY mother is a Regular Soquili, like you Berry. No wings. Our oldest brother is a pure Wind, since his mother was also a Wind, but my mom and...Louie, Bettina, and Rosa's mother are Regulars."

"I also don't have to eat meat," Tony added suddenly. "I have fangs, and I'm CAPABLE of eating meat, but I can manage just fine on grass and plants, just like a normal Soquili. As a matter of choice, I don't eat meat, and I also don't hunt. But a few of my children have to eat meat; their bodies reject a plant-based diet, so they have to hunt in order to stay healthy. It just varies with mixed bloods, what traits we inherit. In my case, I got the fangs, and the wings. Don't let their folded appearance fool you, my wings are actually more than sufficient to carry me in flight," Tony said with a devilish grin at his little brother. "I can more than give Laureat here a run for his money, for all that he prides himself on his speed. The spikes are a part of me, and they don't hurt any more than your hooves hurt your feet. That said, they might hurt YOU if you were to bump into them; so just be mindful if you get close. And my hooves are purple...because they just are. They've been that color since i was born, same as my mane and tail. And I think that covers all of those questions; do you have any new ones, or do you two want to tell me what brings you out here?"

There was only so far curiosity could stretch, after all!

Antony's gaze had been steadily locked on Berry for the first part of her speech, though one dark brow arched upward in query at the idea that he'd be able to provide some answers. However, as she continued to speak and her story, summarized as it was, spilled forth, he shifted his gaze to lock eyes with his brother. He hadn't really looked at Berry before, but once she started talking about being abandoned, about how Laureat thought she might belong with them...it would take a much slower mind than Antony's to see where this was going. There could only be one possibility.

Again he arched a brow, but this time it was accompanied by a sharp look at Laureat. In return, Laureat inclined his head towards Berry, gesturing slightly at her coat with his muzzle. He could tell Tony knew what was being asked; the slight narrowing of Antony's eyes and the tightening of his muzzle were clear indicators that his thoughts were going to an unhappy place.

Still, it wasn't Berry's fault, whatever place Tony's thoughts had gone, and he wasn't going to take them out on her. In the same calm, level voice, he said, "So, Laureat thinks you might be related to our wayward sister Amary. Though I'm surprised, Laureat; I didn't think you'd met Amary before to see the resemblence. Or no," Tony corrected himself almost absent-mindedly, "You probably based your deduction off of Guirien. Guirien, by the way, isn't here, if you thought to ask him about this," he said suddenly in a fierce, protective tone. It only now occurred to him that his brother might have thought to talk to their nephew about this; well, if that was the case, then Tony himself was firmly going to intervene. While the relation was definitely a possibility, he was NOT going to upset Guirien without first making some judgement himself.

"Whoa, no one wants to talk to Guirien, so cool your jets, Tony," Laureat said in a placating tone, stepping up to protectively cover Berry with his wing. "I know Guirien isn't around, that's why I decided to head this way. Believe me, I know this is a senstitive thing. But still, don't you think it's possible? I mean, the color is sooooo similiar. Amary didn't mention any other children when she appeared at home a few weeks ago, but I was wondering...Guirien's brothers? Maybe?"

Now Antony's eyes were almost dangerously narrowed, and his tone was like ice when he said "Amary was home? After all this time, she chooses NOW to come back?" His whole body tensing, he gave Laureat the Look; the intesnse, awe-inspiring, 'I am the Big Brother' look that could force the truth out of anyone. "How did Dad take it? Is he ok?"

Giving Berry a reassuring hug, Laureat shook his head at his brother. "We can talk about that later, Tony, but Dad is fine. He wasn't there, and she didn't get a chance to see him. After the encounter we had, I don't think I'm in the running to be her favorite brother, and she probably won't be coming back to the clearing any time soon. But ANYWAY, what do you think? About Berry?" Turning to Berry, he gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry; as you can see, sometimes communication slips a little bit in big families. We really need to get some familiars."

Antony was annoyed, but thinking about his younger sister tended to inspire that emotion in the big stallion. Family was very important to him, and he'd tried to make allowances for Amary in her youth. But after she'd abandoned her sons in what he still considered cold blood, Tony was done with any allowances as far as she was concerned. Whatever her thought process had been, there was NOTHING that could excuse her behavior, abandoning three colts barely out of their baskets! He had tried to do his best by Guirien, but the fact that the other two boys had vanished was something that haunted him to this day.

So as angry as the news of Amary's reappearance may have made him, Tony was not about to dismiss any possibilities suggesting Guirien's brothers may have survived. On top of that, he realized from Laureat's defensive posture that he was quite likely scaring Berry right now, over something that wasn't her fault to begin with. Oy...

Sighing, Tony passed a wing over his face as he collected himself. "I apologize, Berry; I don't know how much Laureat has mentioned about our sister, but to say I'm unhappy with her is a gross understatement. That said, it doesn't affect you or your appearance, or the question at hand. Here, step into this brighter light for me so I can look at you better," he said with a slight gesture at a place where the bright rays of the afternoon sun formed a wide pool of light.

Not having the same conversational experiences with Berry as Laureat, Tony didn't know exactly what experiences she was referring to with her comment. However, whatever her herd life was like, there was truth in her statement; every family, every herd, had its own little quirks. "Very true, Berry; as similar as members of a family can be, at the end of the day we're all different Soquili. Still, those similarities can't be ignored."

As he spoke, Antony moved closer to Berry, his pale eyes taking on an intense, scrutinizing expression. He could guess that Laureat had brought her here because of his relationship with Guirien, as well as his previously closer relationship with Amary. Aside of their father, Amary and Laureat's mother, and Amary's twin brother, there were few in the family who could be as thorough and knowledgeable in their examination.

Looking at Berry's coat, he could see why Laureat had been reminded of their sister. It was the same red-purple color, albeit a touch darker and more subdued, a little more on the red side than the pinker tinged coats of Amary and Guirien. Her feet attracted his special attention, because his nephew Guirien sported the same white hooves and faded white/pinkish fetlocks. Also like many members of the family, including Amary, she had curly hair. She did NOT have the cardinal mask, obviously, and he didn't know of any other member of the family with those white speckles...though didn't Luca, Laureat and Amary's mother, have some white speckles? He was pretty sure Juan, their brother, had some of those white flecks as well, though not nearly in the amount Berry was sporting. And green eyes...no one he knew of had green eyes in the family, but still...

In a very thoughtful voice, he asked, "Berry, this might be a bit of a personal question, but do you have any guess as to how old you might be? I agree with Laureat, there are definitely some very, very strong similarities between you and certain members of my family. You actually have the same hoof and fetlock coloration as our nephew, among other things."

For his own part, Laureat was nodding along with Antony, beaming from ear to ear. He actually hadn't noticed the foot thing, but he had only met their nephew a couple times; surely he could be excused for not knowing what color Guirien's hooves were!

Both Laureat and Tony were nodding at the end of Berry's information; she was definitely young, that was a sure fact! Younger than Tony, obviously, and younger than Laureat to boot. But her age relative to them hadn't been in question; what Tony had been trying to detemine was whether she was young enough for Laureat's theory to hold water.

Well, the information was definitely promising, and Tony gave his brother a slight nod, which Laureat returned with a bright, beaming grin. "Well, Berry, at this point there's no way to know anything for sure; maybe we never will. But I think it's definitely possible you could be a relation of ours; a grand-niece would be my suspicion, possibly a daughter of one of our missing nephews. You have several physical traits in common with Amary's branch of the family; we know there are Regulars in the family. We suspected the worst when the boys vanished at so young an age, but who knows? Perhaps you're the missing link," Tony said with a smile.

"Great-niece? Geez, Tony, you couldn't think of a possible relation that made us sound less ancient?" Still, Laureat was obviously pleased to have Tony's support; suddenly, the idea of having a long-lost relation seemed a lot more feasible. "Though either way, I think this is pretty exciting! The last time a long-lost family member turned up was before I was born; it's nice to know that the tradition is still alive and well." Perhaps it was a bit premature, but the possibility was looking a bit more like a probability!

Antony knew he was monopolizing the conversation at this point; he was easily saying double or even triple what Laureat was, potentially even double the combined total of Laureat and Berry. But as the senior family representative, and as the one with the biggest connection to this issue (barring Berry herself, of course!), he felt no qualms about this. After all, this wasn't a subject to be taken lightly, even if they were making up their minds relatively quickly. He could understand Berry's desire to know; having grown up sure of who and what he was he couldn't begin to imagine the sense of emptiness that must come from a lack of family. He wanted to help her, regardless of whether or not she turned out to be a relative.

But he also wasn't willing to rush things.

"The relationship is definitely possible, Berry; of that, I don't have any doubt. But the rest is complicated, much more complicated," Antony said with a shake of his head. "I don't know how much Laureat told you," he continued with a slight glance at his brother, "But our sister Amary is NOT in the family's good graces. Unknown to anyone, not even her parents, she became pregnant and had foals. Three of them, in fact; a trio of colts. When the boys were barely out of their baskets, she, for whatever reason, abandoned them. After waiting for days, exposed, alone, and increasingly hungry, those three young colts went off seperately to try to find her, or some help. One of them, our nephew Guirien, made it here. The other two..." His jaw tightened reflexively as he thought about that horrible period, how he and his father had spent weeks looking for the two missing colts, to no avail.

"We don't know what happened to them, or if they even survived. Guirien has been like a son to me and my mate ever since; we raised him, and couldn't be more proud of the stallion he became. But to say he has strong negative feelings about his mother is an understatement, and though he won't come out and say it, he's always felt guilty about his brothers. As far as we knew, Guirien himself is the only one of the boys who survived. I don't mean anything personal by this, but Guirien has been through a lot; at this point, even if he was around, which he honestly is not, I wouldn't be comfortable introducing you. I'd rather this possibility be considered further before we risk reopening those old wounds."

As Antony spoke, Laureat was nodding his own head, understanding and agreeing. He wished there was more they could offer Berry on that front, but to be faced with such a situation could be beyond traumatic for their nephew. "Yes...as far as we know, Amary's 'branch of the family' consists of Amary herself, and Guirien. Amary herself hasn't been seen in these parts since she abandoned the boys, until reappearing a few weeks ago. Which," Laureat said, rapidly raising a wing and waggling it at Tony to forestall any questions on that front, "we can talk about later, Tony. I'd say you're more likely to get somewhere considering alternate possibilities for the time being, Berry," he said with an apologetic head bob.