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"Mmmm...." With a slow, sinuous stretch, Safi shook off the last clinging fingers of sleep and rose to face the the challenges of a new day. He yawned lazily, ruffled his wings, and shook out his mane, each small motion perking him up a little bit more. It was a silly habit of his to rise so early, he knew, but he had always taken great pleasure in being up and about at the dawn of the day, watching the sunrise, seeing the flowers waking up...it had always been a time of day which struck him as supremely beautiful, and a time to truly rejoice in being alive.

Obviously, it wasn't everyone's cup of tea. As he yawned again, Safi glanced down at the sleeping form of his lifemate and bit back a chuckle. Like Safi himself, Duo slept in a distinctly bird-like fashion, curled on the ground with his head tucked under his wing. From beneath the blue and gold feathers, Duo's long brown braid emerged in a graceful coil, winding around his neck and resting comfortably on his shoulders. The grace of the scene was somewhat marred by the snoring, but it was still a sweet sight overall.

Shuffling again, Safi glanced over into the corner where their daughter Saffron typically slept, only to start with surprised. It was barely dawn, but Saffron's 'nest' was just an empty pile of grass and sweet-smelling herbs, with no sing of its inhabitant anywhere. How very unusual, he thought, glancing out towards the cave mouth. Like her father Duo, Saffron was usually dead to the world until well past sunrise, and sometimes even past noon! What was she doing, up and about so very early?

With a last glance at Duo, Safi slipped out past the sleeping stallion and into the gloom of the pre-dawn.

"What's the word, Boss?"

Safi smiled at the speaker, a small blue fox whose coloration, pattern, and coat markings so very neatly echoed his own. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd first met Cerdi, rescuing him from a Kawani hunter's snare. But ever since then, Cerdi had fallen into the role of dutiful familiar and first lieutenant. It was almost embrassing, the amount of adultation he received from his familiar, but every attempt to rein in Cerdi's deferential mannerisms, up to and including his insistence on calling Safi 'Boss', had been met with minimal success, if any.

Cerdi had been with Safi before anyone, and had over the course of the years played babysitter to Safi's first two children Saiena and Kileyo, played devil's advocate when he'd first met Duo and been unsure of Duo's intentions, and played nursemaid to Safi and Duo's daughter Saffron. He also liked to fancy himself a border guard and tended to position himself as a sentry when the whole family had turned in for the night. Safi's dawn appearance was a sign for Cerdi to head over and report, scuttling over to sit at attention at Safi's heels.

Raising a brow at the fox, Safi responded with a measured, "Well, it's morning, so I suppose that's a word? Although actually, now that I think about it, I think the new word should be, 'have you seen Saffron,' as she appears to have been quite the early riser today!" He wasn't worried about their teenage daughter; ever since she was a youngster, Saffy had proved herself sensible to the various dangers that lurked around their home; gopher holes, slick spaces, fast moving water, etc. But he'd noticed that she had been extra moody as of late, and that, coupled with some behavioral aberattions he'd started to notice, made him worry a bit.

A twitch crossed Cerdi's nose at the question, which Safi ignored; the acerbity between his familiar and his daughter was hardly lost on him. Still, any personal sentiments Cerdi might feel towards Saffron would be ignored in the face of duty, and Safi was prepared when Cerdi jerked his head over his shoulder towards the lake. "That way, Boss. She's been out for a while, just wandering back and forth on the shore and mumbling to 'erself."