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Earendil smiled at Miyuki as he reached for his boots again. She was just adorable ... and not terribly vocal.

"I hope they had a good visit," he commented to Lin, referring to her parents. "Maybe you and I could try again sometime, since we really didn't get any visiting in."

Haldia reached the dock just then and she pulled herself up onto it, panting slightly and dripping water everywhere. "Time to go back?" she asked, looking up at Lin and Earendil as they stood in front of her.

Earendil nodded down at her. "Dinner will be soon, I'm sure. It's quite a ways back, so we should try not to be too late."


"Bye bye!" River waved back happily, heading back towards her grandmother's house with her.

Earendil followed after Lin, and Haldia squeezed the water out of her hair before running after the two of them. She hoped she would be dry by the time they reached the ranch again ... she didn't want to make a mess of Haradhel's nice clean house, after all.

As they rounded the corner of the house and Kara and Donovan and the twins came into view, Earendil and Haldia both waved.

"Think this is going to go well?" Haldia quipped as they started towards them.

Earendil grimaced. "If there's trouble, it won't come from me, that's all I can say," he replied quietly.

Earendil smiled at Kara. "Well, Aliya was there and commenting on how River couldn't swim because of how close it was to dinner," he explained, "so we figured it might be time to head back. We don't want to hold up dinner for everyone, after all."

"Though I may end up doing that anyway," Haldia quipped, squeezing more water from her hair. She would have to dry off and change her clothes before she could eat anyways; but at least they wouldn't be late to begin with, that would save them a bit of time.

She looked over at the others. "If we're in a rush, we could fly," she suggested with a grin.

Earendil laughed. "There's a thought. Donovan, Kara, how would you like to fly back to the ranch?"

Haldia grinned and stepped away from the others so that there would be room, then touched her mark and swung her hand away from herself. There was a shimmer in the air, and suddenly Rhiel appeared, wings spread to their full thirty-foot span. The roc let out a cry, then turned to face Haldia.

Haldia giggled and reached up to stroke the roc's head lovingly, then kissed it on the beak and turned to the others.

"Impressive, eh?" Earendil grinned, glancing at Donovan and Kara to see their reactions.

Even he, who had seen it so many times, was still impressed by the bird and by Haldia's method of summoning it.

Haldia's face flushed warmly at the praise, though her black skin hid it fully, and she smiled widely at Kara and Donovan. She motioned for them to climb onto the roc's back, and Rhiel flattened herself against the ground to make it easier for them to climb up.

"Go on," Earendil nodded to them, kneeling and holding his hands as a stirrup to help them up.

"I've only met her once before," Earendil murmured back to Lin, still holding his hands as a stirrup so that Lin could climb up after her parents, "but as I recall, she does like magic. And being an angel, I would imagine she would also like heights?"

Haldia kept stroking the roc's head, waiting for everyone else to be seated so that she could come after them.

"Could always ask," Earendil grinned, climbing up after Lin and settling in next to her. He reached a hand down to help Haldia, but Haldia hopped up without his help and settled with one leg on either side of Rhiel's neck. With a word, they were off, the powerful wings beating strongly to lift them into the air.

It was strange, but for a moment, it felt good to Earendil to be in the air again. He smiled and turned to look at Kara and Donovan and see how they were doing.

Earendil grinned as they flew over the forest, and he turned back to Lin.

"It seems as if your parents are enjoying this," he told her, though the wind caught away some of his words. "Your mother especially."