Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil tied his bags (since he had two by now with all of the stuff he'd been buying along the way) onto his horse's saddle, and then without even waiting or hesitating, he headed over to Lin and smiled warmly at her. Without asking if she needed help, he made a stirrup with his hands and braced himself to help her up.

"At your service, as always," he told her with a grin.

Earendil chuckled and made sure Lin was settled comfortably. "You know you never have to ask," he reminded her. "You ought to know that by now."

He smiled and patted her gently on the shoulder, then headed to his own horse and mounted up. "Off we go?" he asked, looking around at everyone else.

It was four days' journey back to Tor Karad, and when they arrived back in the city, Earendil had to admit that there was a certain satisfaction in arriving back home. The sense of familiarity ... was nice.

"Home again, home again," he murmured softly with a smile. He turned to Lin. "Did you enjoy the trip?"

Earendil grinned. "Kind of makes you eager to see what else is out there, doesn't it?" he asked softly, looking ahead as they rode up the streets. "Still, it's good to be home again." He chuckled quietly. "I can only imagine how it might feel, returning after being gone for who knows how long ..."

And who knew how long their trip would be? How would they decide how many lands was enough to see?

"Doubtless," Earendil agreed. "Perhaps the question is, how long would you like to be gone, or are you willing to be gone?"

After all, if all who were going on the trip were immortal, then time was essentially irrelevant, yes?

Earendil's smiled warmly. "Then I suppose that our only limit will be our supplies," he nodded. "And now of course the only two things we're waiting on are the ship itself, and your training."

"And Shiro and Ura to get back here," Kaito spoke up. "Think they'll be back yet?"

"With him, who knows?" Earendil chuckled. He waved at some of the townspeople who called out greetings to him. "But once we get back to the castle, we can have a nice hot bath ... wash ... rest ..."

"Eat," Kaito purred.

Earendil laughed. "Eat. And I'm sure Ninako will have questions for us, though I'm sure she would want to talk to Tinuviel first. And Mother and Ada will be glad to have us home ..."

"Maybe we'll have a feast tonight," Kaito said eagerly, his yellow eyes gleaming at the thought.

"Yes," Kaito said without skipping a beat. "Starving. At least, starving for some real food. Let's face it, when you're traveling food doesn't stay very fresh, especially not in a desert."

Earendil chuckled. "Well, I'm sure that we will have quite a welcome waiting for us," he murmured. He looked at Lin thoughtfully. "Lin, you know how big the baths here are ... and I know you're not entirely used to your new wings yet ... will you need help with your bath? I know you usually prefer to bathe alone, but some of the servants I'm sure could help you ..."