Welcome to Gaia! ::

"It was a dark, and stormy night!" A voice announced, ghosting past his ear and then it, and his sister, were gone amongst the trees. Any mortal would be lost in this wood a thousand times over, and they were generally intelligent enough to know when a camping trip was out of the question. He chuckled, too low for the prey but that didn't mean Adaliz would miss it, and it would have been all too easy to shift the noise into a growl instead. He could practically taste the creatures running about just under his nose, just a few strategic moves and... but no. He had promised he'd be home tonight, and 'Shara had a ridiculous tendency to worry about him whenever he was late. If he didn't get there soon, he would be. Lockesley paced, working on convincing himself that just because he knew the location of every living creature in a mile radius (at least), that he could hear their heartbeats and feel their warmth, did not mean he should give in to the temptation of it.

He forced himself to concentrate on only his surroundings, nothing more. It was a pretty picture, in a way his family would likely appreciate more than most. Rain pelting down at a near perfect diagonal, everything similarly effected by that, and the whole ecosystem of the forest reacting as it should. He wasn't though, reacting as he should. He should have been home by the fire before it had started, and also he should have been home before his mate began to realize that.

"Hee-eey. There's no way she's worried yet." Adaliz said, appearing in front of him like a burst of color, looking soaked to the bone. Her leathery wings fluttered with deliberate slowness, her head tilting sideways at him with deep-bronze eyes. He knew she was only trying to knock him out of his thinking, from standing and pawing at the ground for minutes, looking restless and frustrated. It just wasn't working very well. With a sigh, he replied and began prowling forward, "Liar."

The storm must have been worse now than he had originally assumed (as it was often worse on this side of town), because suddenly a small creature ran straight across his path blindly. He tended to ignore mother nature, she didn't generally effect him except in a predictably fashion, and he was a vampire after all. He seemed to have more self control than his sister, who darted after the scrawny thing, her having followed him. His tail lashed, realizing he was late now as well, and with a huff relaying his barely restrained instincts, he raised his voice, "Sophie, do stop jumping in puddles and get over here please."

The next moment she was there, hair sopping and half-curled where it held water, eyes a direct match to his own. "Hey papa. I was wondering when you would call, we're late. Momma's probably wor-" The look on his face must have stopped her, so she let out a half sigh and turned to face the direction Liz had recently run off in. "Hey Auntie~ You're invited too, you know." Lock groaned and ran a paw over his own soaked face, realizing belatedly and stupidly that everything would be impossible to trace the next day. They were going to be later than he had originally intended.

(lD Annoying reply, I know. I don't know, however, why I only went with Lock's point of view. They'll find their way home next post prolly, just wanted to give everyone sufficient time to worry about those indestructible sparkly dudes in the woods.)

The moment Zeru crossed the threshold, his mother threw her arms around him, tears shining in her eyes. "Ru, you scoundrel, you worry me almost as much as your father does!" She gasped, clutching her youngest son to her. A soft, melodious laugh rang across their ears, making the white male look up. His Gramma stood, smiling at her daughter and grandson, pride making her silvery-golden glow brighten. Ushara huffed at her mother, kissing him quickly on his cheek, before releasing him so he could go to her.

"My, my. You look wonderful, kitling. So much like the warrior you and your brother are," Avarice murmured, her golden chocolate eyes shining. Around her neck, Havarand uncurled, giving him an odd fanged smile. "Yess," she hissed, avoiding using Feyan too much around the "younglings" as she called them, "You will both be sstrong fatherss when the time iss right."

"Ha! Typical Hava, always taking about children," Ladon piped up, having appeared suddenly at his brother's side. His golden topaz eyes fell on his lighter sibling, a bright smile beaming across his face. "So, brother, where is this shei'tani you told me about earlier?" He announced, loud enough for his entire family to hear, sending the same thought spearing into the woods around the house, searching for his father.

Three female heads snapped up, three pairs of eyes landing on Zeru like six tons of weight as they waited for his answer. Thanks, brother. I'll make sure to return the favor. He growled mentally before smiling at his family. "She's right here," he purred, stepping aside and dropping the sight shield he'd woven around her just before entering. He'd hoped to surprise them, but, as always Ladon had sensed that intent and utterly shattered it. “Mela, Brother, Gramma, Havarand, this is my shei’tani, Avia.”

A small, high pitched squeal ripped from his mother's throat as she threw herself at him once again, squeezing him tighter than before. "You have no idea how much I've prayed for this, Ru! And you're finally getting it and... and... " She stopped, her voice choked with the happy tears running down her face. Then, in a flash, her attention snapped to the female behind him. Her jaw dropped upon closer examination of the vixen. She was a Goddess. Her son's soul mate was a Goddess. Her legs went weak and began to shake, though she refused to fall. With quick steps, she came forward, gathering Avia in her arms. "Welcome, dear." she whispered, squeezing her gently once before letting her go, a bright smile on her tear streaked face.

The click of nails on wood, soft and barely audible, came closer and stopped, pulling the golden brown form of the family’s “matriarch”. Avarice’s golden chocolate eyes scanned the Goddess, examining her from the tips of her ears to the tip of her tail. “She is quite pretty, Zeru-kitling,” she purred, approval ringing in her soft voice. With a smile, she took her daughter’s place and hugged the Goddess before her.

Ladon’s ears dropped, his eyes flashing with bright green sparks. “Congratulations, Brother,” he murmured, curling his tail around his legs.

Zeru growled softly, moving towards his brother to drape his single feathered wing over him, “You will find someone, Brother. No one deserves it more than you.” He smiled briefly to him, then turned his eyes toward the window. “Mela? Where is Gepa? He was supposed to be here with Soph and Aunt Liz, was he not?”

Ushara rolled her eyes, huffing slightly. “You know how your father is, Ru. He looses track of time.” Her ears flickered back, pressing against her skull. Her gold eyes darkened, glaring out the window. She did not like the fact that her mate did get sidetracked sometimes, but she didn’t like the fact that he still refused to take her with him every now and then. She would have to talk to him about that when the children weren’t around. Isn’t that just silly? All of them are vampyres like he is, so they’d know anyway. She chuckled to herself, moving to her curl her tail affectionately around her mother and sons, giving Avia a warm smile as she waited eagerly for the rest of their family to arrive.