Welcome to Gaia! ::

How long have we been searching?. The thought circled constantly around Odi's head as he walked into a quiet meadow with the moon and stars gently illuminating the colors of his pelt bringing out all his colors.

Upon getting close to the center he stopped and gazed up at the stars that knew the hardship he had to endure. Having his kits kidnapped from him; having to raise them as best he could, and one of the worst feeling however was the longing of his mate.

"The stars are just like her pattern...Aracelis. Oh how the gods are cruel." His gaze lowered to the ground as he once again pictured his red and silver mate. How he wished to smell her scent and feel her touch. However he knew that they have been gone so long another fox could of taken his place.

"Ah yes, our illusive father figure."
"Subject of much myth and speculation."
"Supposedly able to outrun wind, if not Mom, lift a thousand Modifoxes upon his shoulders before breakfast-"
"Read minds and outmanuver any enemy, and predict the unpredictable."

Two deep laughs rang out, belonging to two very similar-looking foxes. Toreth and Kaleth weren't exactly twins when it came to looks, but they more than made up for it with their deep bond to each other. The smaller of the two, with eyes are green as his mother, stepped forward.

"Come on, Mom, we told you we just met the girls. It's nothing serious, they're just friends. We gave you a heads up before we even started dating!"

The other, with brilliant gold eyes, chuckled.

"You know Mom, Kaleth. I don't think she's happy unless she's scolding." Laughter glittered in his eyes as he glanced at his mother. "You know she's in a good mood when she starts up the talk about Dad." Which was true. The boys had noticed that when their mother was feeling down that she couldn't look at either of them. Especially not Kaleth...

"Yea, she seems lively enough," Kaleth said, chuckling. "So, if our dear, sister-in-the-middle anywhere nearby?"

Toreth reacted instinctively, swinging around with a growl in this throat and teeth bared ever so slightly. Kaleth, lacking in the instincts of a warrior but very much in tune with his brother, swiveled around as well and stood at Toreth's back, legs braced and a scowl on his face. Neither boy was particularly aggressive, and chances were this wouldn't come down to a fight. A little show of strength never hurt though.

At least, that was the thought.

"What the-," Toreth muttered, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure Kaleth was indeed still there. He had to mentally review the landscape again; there was nothing but trees so it couldn't be a shiny rock, and there was no water around so even if the creature was on the ground and not standing like life he couldn't be a reflection.

Then Toreth noticed his eyes. Gold, brilliant gold, just like his. He might have been a ghost to those eyes though, for all the notice this strange male took of either boy.

Kaleth was just as shocked as Toreth, and returned the bewildered glance his brother sent to him. While Toreth went through terrain maps, Kaleth's mind was able to skip that and speed along the track of who this might be. It was probably useless to go through all those possibilities since there was only one sane and highly likely answer, but Kaleth went through them anyway just to be sure.

"It can't be."
"It can't be anything else. Can't be anyone else."

Kaleth's voice cracked a little on the last sentence. Who could blame him though, this was the last thing anyone was expecting!

Toxic hadn't been to far from her brothers and mother, but, she hadn't been to close, either. Rarely did she visit because she didn't really enjoy her families company much. Kaleth and Toreth were often so much alike, and, much like her in a way. They had a quick tongue like her, and while she often enjoyed little battles between herself and those that found themselves clever, she wasn't a fan of doing so with two boys that thought a lot like her, so, their bickers never ended. Now, she didn't hate her brothers. No, not even Toxic could do that despite previous assumptions. She just didn't know how to function with them.

Ara. Her mother. Toxic found her disagreeable. She was weak for staying with a man that had vanished, weak for letting emotions get in the way. How? How could she let someone keep her so chained? She was an example of what "love" did, and, Toxic was not amused. Ara was weak because she could not control love. Toxic herself found interest in a fox recently, and yet, she would never let herself wait like that. Sitting there, never knowing if they'd come back. Just hoping.

It sickened her. Disgusting, seeing something so "pure" as love chain someone down like that. Hence why she had been known for breaking men and womens hearts at whim, teaching them what she wished her mother learned. Don't let love chain you down.

So, when she approached her family she didn't really notice Odi. In fact, she walked past him and approached the group. Why was she visiting? Because she had nothing else to do. However, the look on her mothers face caused her to turn, eyes locking on Odi. Who the hell? Where was Kaleth? Near the man. Toxic was smart, clever, and it took her seconds to figure it out, and be disgusted.

Their father. The man that made her mother weak. The man that was never around. And here he was.

Ara smiled weakly, though from her position no one could see it. "I've always known that much. Otherwise they'd have copied your eyes into Kaleth's face instead of mine." It wouldn't have affected how she felt about Kaleth, Ara would have made sure of that, but it still would have made her heart squeeze every time she looked at him.

Ara pulled back, for the moment still oblivious of her sons and her newly arrived daughter. "Where have you been? What-." She stopped and looked around, face creased in worry. "Where are the others?"

She blinked when her brothers approached her, for once flashing a slight smile at a living being. She shrugged at the mention of scheming, wiggling her tail. "Scheming? Such a harsh word for it." She purred, greeting her brothers with a nose touch. Even she could be civil, and besides, her brothers were not beings she hated.

At the snort she huffed back, defiant slightly. However when they mentioned her mother not pinning after Odi her eyes widened slightly. So, her mother was not a pathetic sap. Her brothers rarely lied, and, she would be able to tell if they did. Her eyes flicked to her mother, harshness relaxing ever so slightly.

When the last phrase was uttered by Toreth her lips twitched into a smile, very slightly. "Really? Like me? That is a new thought. Though, perhaps you know my ways better than I thought." It was true, she didn't look for love because Toxic knew it wasn't there, so why not have her fun and tease boys and girls here and there, think they had found it and then lose it? Yes, Ara and her may have a similar process, and this had never dawned on Toxic, but their ways of dealing with things were different.

With this she stared at Ara, disgust slowly falling from her face and now pointed at her father. Yes, where was her other siblings, anyway?

The boys raised their eyebrows.

"So kidnap-,"
"-heroic quest-,"
"-battle to the death-,"
"-bad nagivation and bad timing conspiring against you in the directional sense,"
"-another quest to find your way home while thinking of your lovely wife and raising some of your children,"
"-ending with accidentally stumbling upon said wife with no intention to do so."

They looked at each other, then back at Odi in mirror movements.

"Your luck totally tanks."
"Agreed. I mean I've told some out there stories before, but nothing that bad."
"Seriously. I'm not sure it's safe to let him to back on his own to get the others."
"I know, right."

Both boys looked at Toxic expectantly. They'd about summed it all up, but knowing their sister like they did she'd have something to add. Probably an insult to intelligence. Either their father's or theirs, but they were prepared for either.

((Pst, Toxic. Defend Odi, it'll blow their brain fuses XD I'm gonna post Ara after Toxic, just to warn ya Ebil.))

Ara frowned at all the foxes gathered.

She frowned at Odi because she did not want to hear he'd left them somewhere. They were all adults, and adults tended to wander. Goodness knew her children had done it! What if they decided they didn't want to follow their father anymore and just took off while Odi was here? She was concerned and anxious, and that wouldn't go away until she had seen all of her missing family again.

She frowned at Toreth and Kaleth, but mostly in a parental, behave way. Ara was well-aware that the boys loved to tag-team others, even their sister. Or, Deities forbid!, tag-teams others with their sister! When the duo became a trio, even Ara was powerless to stop them. She could understand that they might be a bit concerned and rebellious against suddenly having their father step into their life, but she'd hoped they wouldn't be quite so....blunt on their first meeting. Ah well, it had been foolis to hope in the first place.

She frowned at Toxic, because she believed her daughter was plotting something. Call her horrible, but Ara knew what her daughter was like. Toxic was not sweet. Anytime she acted like that it was literally an act, used to gain something at the end of the line. Ara didn't know what Toxic was aiming for though, and it made her just a touch nervous. But what could she really say, anyway? All she could do was sigh and try to ride the wave.

"You must all be tired," she said, soothingly, looking at all four foxes. "Toxic, dearest, you seem to travel so much farther than the boys have to." She glanced at her sons. "You must be tired as well." She looked over at Odi. "I'm sure you are as well, if you'd been traveling all day."