Welcome to Gaia! ::

Naveen sighed as he entered headed towards the valley cave that he and Cynthia had settled in. Dying plants and leaves crunched underneath his feet and the wheels of his cart as he moved forward. "Cynthia," he called. "I'm back!" What would his mate say when he showed her the little surprise he picked up...?

"It was fine." Naveen smiled as he came into his mate's view. These short trips were still fun, but there was something relieving and satisfying about coming home again. He hesitated before continuing. "I... picked up something special from Longwei," he said. Longwei was the wise dragon in the mountain that they'd befriended on their first adventure there. He opened his cart and started carefully unpacking the other contents besides the surprise, then walked over to Cynthia. He gently nudged the contents of the cart, getting a squeak out of it as he prepared to carefully tip the cart over and shift the surprise to the straw bed they'd made. Out tumbled a little filly in her blanket, who let out another squeak. "Longwei called her Acacia Winter," he said softly. "Her parents left her in his cave after they saw him and ran away. He thought we could take better care of her than he could." His gaze met Cynthia's searching for her approval. "Is it alright if she stays with us?" He knew she wanted children, but this was definitely a strange way to get one. But he couldn't leave the poor child shivering up in the mountain cave. Longwei had all of those badgers to take care of and a foal was very different from a baby badger. Even so, he wanted Cynthia's consent in this. After all, they would both be taking care of her...

Naveen relaxed, smiling as he watched his mate and new daughter. "He might've been waiting for me since I had a way to bring her safely here." His cart was much safer than trying to lead the little blanketed filly down the steep mountain path into the valley. He reloaded his other goods back into the cart and unhooked himself from it before heading back over to them. The stallion laid down beside Cynthia, curling around her and the foal that had nestled herself into the mare's side. He rested his head by Acacia, smiling in amusement when she sniffed it and sneezed cutely. Acacia sniffed the air, grunting. "Ma?" Where was her mother?

"Ma," Acacia repeated mournfully, whining. Still, she seemed to accept Cynthia's kind words, snuggling close to the mare and going still. Naveen watched the foal sadly. She was old enough to know her parents' voices--or at least their scents. "Maybe I can look for her real parents on my next trip," he suggested. It was worth a try... he would be more than happy to be Acacia's father, but if the biological parents were better for her...

Naveen smiled and nuzzled his mate softly. "I'll head out and look in the morning, then." It was getting late, and he wouldn't find Acacia's parents in the dark. For now, he was going to rest and spend time with Cynthia and their foster daughter.

"I shouldn't be long," Naveen reassured her. "They should be somewhere nearby." After all, if they brought their foal to the mountain--or their foal wandered into the mountains--they had to be nearby. Right? And even if they didn't live nearby, they couldn't have run too far...

Naveen smiled, resting his head against hers. "We'll figure things out. For now, let's get some rest." It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

Naveen smiled, closing his eyes and falling asleep against his love.

(( Time skip to when he comes back? ))