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"Come on Sash'ka, Yassu! Hurry up!" Osu's voice rang out over the sound of the tide lapping gently at the shore. Kicking up clouds of sand as he moved, the young spellweaver darted over the beach before abruptly spinning around in a pirouette to face his guardian. He remembered coming this way before when they had gone onto the big bridge of sand. That big tower had been there for a start. He wondered if that's where they were going again.

Bouncing impatiently, despite the heat of the sun burning above, Osu waited for Ieyasu to catch up.

Sasha made it to him first, her soft paws leaving little depressions in the dry sand as she bounded up to him. Skidding to a slightly undignified stop, the tiger gryphon picked herself up again and shook the particles of sand clinging to her fur. She then paced around behind Osu nonchalantly, as if her clumsy stop had never happened.

Stopping behind the spellweaver, the gryphon cocked her head, eyeing Osu's bushy tail with her sharp blue eyes. Craning her neck towards it, she gave it a gentle nibble. It was just too tempting to resist!

Ieyasu caught up to the pair just as Osu burst out into a fit of giggles. Smiling at the pair, he glanced up at the sun high in the sky and then over towards the old watchtower and the forest.

"It's getting hot out here now. Why don't we find somewhere a bit shadier and we can have a snack, hmm?"

"Ok!" Osu nodded emphatically in agreement. "Can I get a drink too, Yassu? I'm thirsty..."

"Yep. Let's head up over there-" Ieyasu pointed over to the edge of the forest "-and find somewhere good to sit."

As usual, as soon as he knew where they were going, Osu dashed off ahead. Ok, so maybe they weren't going over the big bit of sand yet, but it was cool here too!

Reaching the shade of the trees, Osu bounded behind one large trunk, catching hold of it with one hand and swinging his body around to the other side with a giggle.

"Here?" he asked, skipping over a protruding root to meet Ieyasu as he arrived. "'s all shady an' stuff."

"Yup, here looks good," the kitsune replied, sliding his backpack from his shoulders and setting it down on the ground. Crouching to unfasten the zip, Ieyasu began to rummage about inside, looking for the things he needed. With a high pitched chirp, Sasha slipped around his legs to nose at the pack. She was thirsty too and she wanted a drink. Sitting back on her haunches, the gryphon stared directly up at Ieyasu and chirruped insistently, her long, striped tail swaying from side to side.

"Ok, ok, it's coming." Pulling a small bowl and a couple of cups from his pack and setting them down on the ground, Ieyasu then returned to the bag for his bottle of water. Unscrewing the bottle's lid, he poured a drink for both young Aerandir, before pouring a cup for himself. Sasha made her way to the bowl before lapping up the water eagerly. Just as Ieyasu was taking a drink from his own cup, Osu spoke up suddenly, staring across towards the sand bar.

"Yassu, look, look! Someones coming, an' I think theres a 'nadir too. No, two! Ones all big an' stuff and ones liddle!" Still holding his cup, Osu began to hop from one foot to the other excitedly, sloshing a little of the liquid onto the ground.

"Careful - you're spilling your drink." Ieyasu replied, standing up and making his way to where Osu was standing. Osu was indeed right - there were three figures that he could make out, and they appeared to be approaching. He didn't think that there were two Aerandir though - one was far bigger than any gryphon he'd seen yet - even Nehanda when she was a gryphon - and didn't have wings either.

Grinning, he called out loud. "Hello there!" Raising his free hand, he waved to the three figures. Hopefully, they'd spot him.

Ieyasu grinned as the humanoid figure returned his call and wave. He had originally thought that she was human when he had first spotted her from a distance, but he could see now that it was not the case. She had a tail for a start, and seemed to be covered in fur. Yet, she wasn't an Aerandir, as she clearly didn't have wings. The kitsune's next thought was that she was perhaps a fox spirit too, but quickly discounted that idea too. In all honesty, he didn't know exactly what she was. Not like it mattered, though. Ieyasu had come across his fair share of beings of all shapes and sizes, and not much fazed him when it came to that. With the exception of dragons and oni, of course.

Taking a few steps forward to meet the trio making their way towards them, Ieyasu watched for a moment. The girl seemed to be uneasy - perhaps nervous about something. Furrowing his brow slightly, Ieyasu turned to glance quickly behind himself before looking back again. They didn't look intimidating or anything, did they...?

On the other hand, Osu was oblivious to any signs of unease that the other group had. All he had noticed was that there were new people arriving; he didn't know them and they looked like fun! Waving an arm energetically and hopping on the spot, the little spellweaver called out to them cheerfully. "Hiya!!!~" The big 'nadir was nearly there now. He was huge! And fluffy, too! With a delighted giggle, the young Aerandir bounded over to him before stopping a few feet away. With his bushy tail flicking back and forth, Osu greeted him with a grin almost wide enough to split his face.

"Hiya!! I'm Osu, what's your name? You're huuuge! Are you a 'nadir too? How come you don' have wings??" It didn't matter that Toby couldn't answer Osu's torrent of questions - he was going to ask them anyway.

Meanwhile, Sasha had also been paying attention to the three newcomers. She was just a little more discreet about it. Pausing next to Ieyasu's feet, she stared at them intently for a moment. These newcomers all looked very different to the people that she knew. This required further investigation!

Slowly, and not breaking her stare once, the gryphon began to creep forward, placing each paw down carefully as she moved. She lowered her head, holding it horizontal to her body, and her pale tail swayed slowly from side to side. Not that she was scared or anything, of course, but it was always good to take your time when investigating something new. And that thing that was closest... it was really very big afterall...

As the lady spoke to him, Osu turned to look up at her curiously. Hey, she looked kinda cool! She was all furry like he was, but she didn't have wings either. Maybe she was like Yassu? He had big ears and tails and stuff too. Only.. he put them away somewhere when he was awake. Osu only knew he had them because he'd seen his guardian asleep. Maybe he'd ask her later. But for now..

"Hiya! I'm Osu!" he replied cheerfully, before looking at her questioningly. "Whats a 'ruff border collee'?" he asked, before looking back at Toby again. He looked so fluffy! Osu had never met a dog before, and he was naturally curious.

"Ah, neither did we actually. We just decided to take a walk today out of Cetalu." Ieyasu grinned, glancing over at first Osu and then Sasha.
"Nice to meet you though. The name's Ieyasu, and that little one there sneaking up on you is Sasha," Ieyasu replied to Emi's introduction. He didn't introduce Osu, since the bouncy little spellweaver had already done that for himself. As Emi extended her hand, Ieyasu reached out to shake her hand. He wasn't exactly used to such gestures, tending far more to casual introductions, but he was happy to respond to them.

"Are you guys from the other island then?" he asked with a smile, his aquamarine gaze flickering up to the sandbar a short distance away. He didn't think he'd ever seen them around Cetalu village, and now that the crossing was there, it was much easier to go between islands.

Sasha continued to creep towards the big person holding the white gryphon. When she realised that the white gryphon was paying attention to her, she stopped, turning her attention to Blanche. Why was she all the way up there?

Deciding to abandon the pretense of stalking, Sasha sat back on her haunches and gave a high pitched series of chirps, directed at Blanche. These new arrivals certainly looked interesting!

Osu listened intently to Emi's words before breaking out into another huge grin.

"That's so cool! I never met a dog before, but I seen one in my book!" Pausing, he looked at Emi for a moment, his expression suddenly turning curious. "Why you change colour?"

Ieyasu smiled as Emi commented on Sasha. "Thanks. She keeps me on my toes anyway." With a light-hearted grin, he cast a quick gaze over at Osu nearby. "Well, they both do." Looking down at Blanche as she bowled over into the bag, Ieyasu laughed a little at her antics.

"Your little gryphon is lovely too." Pausing for a moment, his expression turned thoughtful as he watched the gryphons. Blanche looked decidedly vulpine in her body structure.
"..Is she part fox?" he asked, looking back to Emi again, the smile still on his face.

Sasha edged back slightly, rising to her feet as the other gryphon leapt off of the rucksack and bowled to a stop on the ground. With another high pitched chirrup, she padded forward on silent paws, intent on getting a closer look at Blanche. As the other gryphon rolled over from her rather rough landing, Sasha stopped a few inches away. Ruffling her brown and white wings, the young gryphon chirped as she stretched her head forward towards Blanches' in a decidedly curious manner.

Ieyasu grinned, nodding his head. "Osu's part fox too. Although, he's red fox, rather than artic." As Emi asked about lunch, Ieyasu paused, before glancing at his pack.

"Ah, I actually brought some food too. Since we were coming a fair way from Cetalu, I thought we'd have a picnic out here." The pale haired man's grin turned slightly sheepish, before he crouched down to rummage through the pack. "It's not sandwiches, but I brought some rice balls. You're welcome to have some, if you like." The kitsune produced a wrapped packet, unfolding it to reveal several shaped cakes of rice.

"Osu, you want something to eat?" Ieyasu glanced up questioningly at the child.

"Uh huh!" His question about changing colours forgotten, Osu bounded excitedly back over to Ieyasu, still holding his empty cup. By now, what he hadn't drunk from the cup had been spilled. There had been too much going on for Osu to notice though. He was hungry now though.

As Yassu held the packet out to him, Osu put down his empty cup and took one of the rice balls, beaming at his guardian. "T'anks Yassu!" Holding it with both hands, he began to munch away on it, dropping little particles of rice on the woodland floor. After a moment or two, he stopped eating, and looked over at Toby. Yassu was talking to the furry lady, Emi, Sash'ka was playing with Blanche, but Toby was sitting all on his own. Deciding to change this, Osu made his way over to the old dog, grinning cheerfully at him.

"Hiya Tobee! How come you all on your own? You want rice?" he asked curiously, glancing down at his half eating rice ball, and then back up at Toby again.

For a brief moment, Sasha almost touched noses with Blanche. There was a pause before Blanche clicked and abruptly dropped into a pouncing position. Initially, the tiger gryphon pulled back sharply, expecting the other Aerandir to make a swipe at her like the house cat would. When she realised what the fox gryphon's intentions were, Sasha was delighted. This gryphon was really interesting afterall! Descending into a rapid series of happy chirrups, Sasha moved back onto her haunches, her front paws leaving the ground for a brief moment. Bringing herself forward again on all fours, the striped Aerandir dropped briefly into a pouncing position of her own before standing up and bounding around to Blanche's side, emitting a playful chirrup.

This Aerandir would play with her, and even better, would play at pouncing! Sasha liked this gryphon.