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       #Post#: 1586--------------------------------------------------
       A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 12:19 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Time had passed and the regenesis oasis came to be. After many
       struggles and feats did they finally truely settle. Eden grew to
       be what  it was. Melita was making her way to notice a small
       group making their way to the oasis. Her eyes blinked a bit
       before she headed her way to meet with khali who was patrolling
       the edge of the oasis.. the place encircled by solid rock.. the
       entrance looking tightly locked by vines.
       -----
       The firey form of Flint's birdlike body flew heigh above his
       mate and the kids they were charged with caring for. His circled
       in the air trying to not think about what they had just escaped
       and kept his eyes peeled as he led the group to the entrance of
       the city wall. This was their only chance. They were out of food
       and water and the kids wouldn't last too much longer. Flint
       landed on Shade's shoulder as they approached the wall.
       Blade was towards the back of the group, trailing behind the
       others. He would never admit it, but the desert was a hard place
       for a half water dragon to survive. His instincts told him to
       show no weakness as they approached the walls to the oasis.
       Orian was fairing slightly better than Blade, but not by all
       that much. They were all tired and hungry.
       -----
       Melita wasn't alone in her discovery of the small approaching
       group. The dragoness Kayda had just completed a patrol sweep
       outside of Eden when she sensed their approach. Her head turned,
       nostrils flared and silver eyes narrowed into slits as she moved
       to hide among the vines and foliage, her skin camouflaging to
       match her surroundings. As the man and children drew closer, she
       slowed her breathing, taking in each as they passed her. The
       sight of the Phoenix had her eyes widen and a thrill of
       excitement go through her.
       The strong strange scents of them danced in her nostrils, as she
       struggled to identify the more puzzling ones. The majority of
       the kids were easy to figure out, save for one sweeter smelling
       one. But the man was quite confusing.
       -I shall have to tell l Father about the Phoenix! He will be so
       excited! I wonder what the other man is, maybe a shifter? Smells
       kind of like a cat- Kayda thought to herself. Once they were far
       enough away, Kayda moved into a more open spot and shifted into
       her dragon form. She was soon in the air and heading back to the
       outskirts of Eden on the south side where the patrol tower and
       Eden's Watchmen met. As was her duty, she reported what she'd
       seen to the commander and then headed to find her Father to tell
       him of what she'd seen.
       As a former Observer, Tynan was ancient and wise beyond anyone
       else in Eden.
       -----
       Khali took notice of the approach of a small group of people and
       the Phoenix. He blinked a bit as he took notice of shade
       carrying a small female form in his arms around melita’s  age.
       ”just a little longer Moyra.” Shade said as they got to the
       entrance of the place for the man to stop in front of the gates.
       Khali carefully went over to check on the group to see a boy
       lagging behind and another looking exhausted. Melita had gotten
       to the gate to peer through. Khali being how he was sensed her
       right away.  Normally he would have chastised her away, being
       this would have been a safety risk.
       ”tune the vines open.” He said and looked at the man and the
       pheonix.”please enter, you’ll be joined by a copy of mine inside
       to see our leader and be accounted for the one that is able
       bodied to.” He said to look at flint.”the young ones can get
       water and the young woman treatment.” He said as his green eyes
       flickered as  a double appeared. The vines glowed as they seemed
       to writhe to life opening a way into what looked like paradise,
       a young girl stood there looking curiously at the group. She
       knew Kallios would be in awe of the Phoenix.. but,she couldn’t
       help but wonder what the others were.
       Shade continued to walk and looked at flint.”you got this?” He
       asked as Melita drifted back to finally notice blade fully.
       “Khali I can take them to the communal water- mean .. you only
       need to take one to mom right?” She asked her cerulean eyes much
       like her mother’s seemingly already making up her mind. “It be
       faster and you don’t have to use all your mana for your
       mirages!” She said as she heard the deep sigh.”so be it, this
       girl needs a healer.. take them to the one with the refugees..
       if they decide to stay for good, we can give them a place.
       Melita smiled hearing no real opposition.”okay!” She said and
       got to a fork of the place.”please follow me, be able to get all
       the water you want.” She said.
       -----
       Flints head nodded at Shades question. "Of of of course," The
       Phoenix stuttered out as he fluttered off of his mate's shoulder
       before shifting to land on two human like feet.  "Please please
       please lead the way way way." He told Khali, gazing back at his
       made as he went a different path than the rest, following the
       man to the mentioned leader, already having plans to pled to be
       allowed to stay.
       The opening of the vine gate came at a slight relief to Blade,
       it meant they would at least get to rest soon. He perked up a
       little at the mention of water, following behind the others to
       where the woman would lead them. The half dragon was so focused
       on water that, when he saw a massive lake of water, he couldn't
       help but sprint towards it, diving in as he shifted into his
       dragon form, settling at the bottom for a good long while as he
       rehydrate.
       Orian couldn't help but roll his eyes at they guy, staying with
       the other, the other unicorns, his siblings, sticking close to
       him. "Couldn't wait another minute could you?" He complained as
       he followed their guide to where the promised drinking water
       would be.
       -----
       Kayda landed outside her family home and shifted into her human
       form and made her way inside. She followed sound of her younger
       siblings giggles along with Tynan's chuckles into the playroom
       on the main floor. She grinned at the sight of the three younger
       ones wrestling with their father on the floor.
       Kayda leaned against the doorway watching from a safe distance.
       At least until the youngest spied her.
       "Kayda's back!"
       Before she could move, the three were on her begging for treats
       and hugs.
       "Oh I know better than to hype you three up even more," Kayda
       laughed as she hugged them. "Mother and Father would never be
       able to keep up with you," she teased shooting a grin at Tynan.
       Tynan got off the floor slowly with a groan and chuckled.
       "That's quite true. Why don't we go help Mom in the kitchen, and
       Kayda can tell us how her patrol went,"
       The twins raced off, with the youngest chasing after them; Kayda
       and Tynan following.
       "There was a new group today, and they had a Phoenix with them,"
       Kayda shared once they'd started working in the kitchen.
       As this Tynan went still, an odd look on his face. "That's
       interesting,"
       Kayda frowned, getting the feeling there was something her
       father was holding back from saying. Was the appearance of a
       Phoenix a bad sign?
       -----
       Melita was walking with the group to the refugee encampment
       where some were hoping to stay and some traveling through. She
       felt a rush by to see the boy dive right the hell on in. Of
       course it didn’t phase her at all to chuckle.”it’s okay- he’s
       not the first to dive in..” she explained to the other man as
       she got them to a tent where Lyra was at work with the others.
       The harpy woman dressed showing more skin than the past to call
       back.”we have another one- someone bring me some water and some
       lotion…!” She called as Deku came over to check on the
       girl.”dehydrated for sure - heat exhaustion.” He said as he
       checked with his tuning.  He guided shade to a small fur bed to
       lay Moyra back into it, and was told to get her out of the
       clothes to the lighter ones they provided.
       Lumine was being put down by eclipse- having piggy backed her-
       as another approached to check up on them and given water.
       Melita who was with them started to worry about the man that
       dove in… as he never came up. Eclipse saw her about ready to go
       in after blade.”wait! It’s okay..” she heard.”he’s half water
       dragon- he can breathe down there.” She said as melita’s eyes
       went wide.”ohhh… another dragon? We got  two here too!” She said
       with a smile. She moved to get fruit and some nuts to place it
       and meat and fish for those that ate it.“Here’s some food..
       don’t worry about what you can’t or won’t eat.. pick what you
       like.” She said with a smile. Her face turned to the water where
       blade had went- a slight blush apparent. The boy did look cute
       to her after all.
       ——
       Twyla was fussing in the kitchen as she heard the shout of kayda
       being back. The woman was cutting up some meat and cooking as
       she paused at what she heard.”my love- is it a bad omen or is it
       a sign of rebirth.” She asked as she continued her work plating
       up the food when her boys gave her the plates.”get to the
       table..” she said to watch her rambunctious boys make their way
       to it.
       Her eyes settled on them..she never thought she’d be this happy
       after all they had been through.. nor the brief moment of seeing
       her father again. She aged gracefully, unlike most.. but given
       the part from her father allowed for such a thing to happen,
       once they were settled at the table she took her seat by tynan’s
       right and began to eat.
       ——-
       Khali led flint down the path that winded their large oasis..
       some of the land seemed to float above, waters pouring in places
       giving a place of paradise.
       People lived where they pleased, some in caverns.. some built
       their homes from what they could without compromising much of
       the place.  They reached the center of the place, where a
       waterfall sat. “This way if you please.” He told flint as he got
       to a blue rock to press it down as the waterfall parted showing
       it hollow. Once inside it clearly looked as if someone made a
       home out of it, built furniture littered the place along with
       furs of animals that had been hunted. The rock walls littered
       with paintings and somehow carved to allow like a bookcase in
       places. The center of the place had a fire pit.. the embers
       looking as if it cooled. “Leaders” He called out. “You have a
       guest!” He heard movement and a groan.”I’ll be right there!” He
       heard a female voice he knew well enough.”Eden- you better have
       a top on this time!” He shot back. The man sighed even after all
       this time Eden still had no sense of shame. The woman finally
       came out of a room that had cloth acting as a door for her room.
       Her outfit a soft green, her top one a gift from Lyra- while it
       covered important parts allowed for some air. She tied her hair
       that had gotten a bit long over time.. but besides it seemed to
       not age. Her masked eyes took in the man before her. “Can I help
       you?” She asked making her way  to sit in a chair decorated with
       furs .”my lovers will join soon.. they are getting dressed.” She
       said with a small smirk,
       ----
       The Phoenix followed his guide silently as they made their way
       through the oasis and to a waterfall that served as the home of
       the leaders. Once inside, it made him miss his nest. It had
       burned shortly before they had fled the forest. He gave Eden a
       smile when she came out of the back room asking how she could
       help him and claiming her lovers would be along shortly.
       "Yes yes yes you can help help help us. I came came came with my
       mate and and and several children, mostly mostly mostly teens.
       We are looking looking looking for a safe place. Our our our
       home was burned and we we we were driven out. Many many many of
       the kids have lost lost lost their parents so my mate and I I I
       have taken charge of them them them. We request sanctuary
       sanctuary sanctuary. We have hunters after us us us." Flint
       tried to explain, his stutter catching on every few words as he
       spoke.
       ---
       At first, Orian's untrusting nature had him reluctant to accept
       the help being offered, but soon he was drinking and eating his
       fill. It had been too long since he was able to put his guard
       down, even now, he was still looking for danger as he looked
       around as he ate fruit. "Blade probably fell asleep, wouldn't be
       surprised if we don't see him again for a few hours if not til
       tomorrow. Hasn't had a body of water to use since we left." He
       found himself commenting to what his sister said.
       ---
       The water dragon dozed under the lake for the better part of two
       hours, his hunger being the only thing to coax him out. He
       shifted just as he reached the surface and shook his now wet
       hair once he was out and went looking for Shade and company. It
       wasn't hard to track them down. Once he had checked on Moyra,
       the half dragon sat down near the food, taking any fish and red
       meat on offer. "Finally decided to join us?" Questioned Orian,
       who had finally relaxed a little though now that he had finished
       eating, he was on full alert, his instincts telling the young
       stallion to protect the herd.
       -----
       Kayda's head jerk towards Twyla's soft words, her frown
       deepening a bit more.
       Tynan let out a sigh as he got Dawn settled in her place with a
       plate. "I'd have to go more research to know for sure. Which
       will have to wait for later."
       Kayda carried over a salad bowl and her own plate, seating
       herself between the twins. It was really the only way to keep
       them from getting into scuffles at the table. "So I should keep
       this quiet for now?"
       Tynan reached to squeeze Twyla's hand and nodded. "For now yes.
       You might try and get to know the newcomers. Spend some time
       around others your age,"
       Kayda barely managed to keep her eyes from rolling. "I could,"
       she agreed digging into her food.
       Once the meal was finished, Kayda cleaned the dishes and the
       kitchen up. After spending some time with her siblings, she set
       off to find the newcomers. She couldn't deny that she was
       curious about them.
       Her arrival at the welcome area wasn't noticed straight away,
       giving her time to watch the teens interacting with one another.
       -----
       The news of the new group had spread rather quickly through the
       community, reaching Kallios at the end of a sparring session.
       Knowing Melita, she was probably already hanging on their every
       word.
       Kallios took his time to clean up and change before heading
       over. He slide into the tent silently, brushing past Kayda who
       was listening at the doorway. "Might as well come in, Kay," he
       told the dragon girl before slowly approaching the group and
       taking a seat next to Melita.
       He reached out to tug on her hair in a teasing manner.
       "Hey Smeli, have you gotten around to actually introducing
       yourself yet? Hi, I'm Kallios, this one's older brother. And
       that's Kayda,"
       He reached out to snatch some grapes and glanced around at the
       group. "What are all of your names?"
       ----
       Eden listened to the man. Her face changed a little at the
       repeat. She knew a few stuttered in camp- but flint felt unique
       to it. Her face turned to concern at the talk of children and
       mostly teenagers. Her face filled with empathy- people had been
       seeking refuge in their oasis, not that she minded.. but thanks
       to enough hashing out became necessary to make sure they didn’t
       have a repeat of Yuwichi. She grown concerned at the sound of
       hunters.. it seemed there was an influx of mostly rare beings.”I
       can provide it.. but it means you’ll need to follow our laws as
       they are instilled.. you’ll need to read them over with your
       mate.. the teens can be taught by the hawk priestesses, I do
       require some self sufficiency after a time- everyone has to do
       their part.. the only acceptions are those who are under 13.”
       Said Eden. “Also I take it the rest are already being checked
       over- suggest you do yourself and note anything they may have
       issues with food or any other issues.” She said falling in line
       with her way of thinking. “Also will not tolerate infighting- if
       I see it I will take care of it. If it’s the teens please know I
       have my methods to straighten them out.” She added. Her leg
       crossed over the other as her head moved.
       “Also your name? You can call me Eden- find being called leader
       a bit too stiff-“ she said. “Adan! We kind of need that paper
       thing you did for those wanting to stay!” She called out.
       ——
       Melita made a soft face.”a water breather..“ her face turned to
       the lake as she seemed a bit dazed a little at the sound of
       another one. Sure she had seen Namor bring back a mermaid or two
       but never a dragon such as that. It made her more curious about
       the world.
       It seemed after a while did the boy come out to sit down, by
       then Moyra was up and eating. She saw her cousin to smile a
       bit.”feel better?” She asked. Melita hadn’t left as she listened
       to them talk,her eyes taking them in a little. Now that blade
       was closer she could see how he looked much closer.
       -----
       Twyla felt her hand squeezed.”I understand my love.. make sure
       to inform Adan either way.. stuff like this shouldn’t be secret
       from them in the least.” She said. She watched her adopted
       daughter head out smiling softly. She never thought how attached
       she’d get to the girl when she first came out of the egg.
       ——-
       Melita was pulled out of her small stare by the tug of her braid
       and the nickname her brother often used.”it’s not smeli, it’s
       Melita get it right or next time you go bathe will freeze your
       feet to the water before you come out.” She warned. She watched
       as her brother went for the grapes.
       Yuze was minding his business and was dozing against his mate.
       The travel had been long and was the first real rest he seemed
       to allow. His hair drifted in front of his face a little bit to
       snap awake for a second at the new comers.. once deemed not a
       threat to doze off again.
       -----
       "I I I understand my mate and and and I will look over over over
       the laws. I I I will talk with the kids kids kids about
       fighting. We we we have no isaue carrying carrying carrying our
       own weight. I I I am called Flint. I I I just request you are
       gentle gentle gentle with them if it come to that that that,
       they have lost lost lost everything recently." The Phoenix
       explained, easily agreeing to the woman's terms.
       He then went into detail about him being a phinox, what his mate
       and what the children's races and names were, stammering all
       along the way. By the time he was done talking, it was easy to
       tell he got frustrated with his stutter, making it worse.
       Once everything was settled with the leaders, Flint headed out,
       going to the area his mate and others were. He came up behind
       Shade, wrapping his arms around the man from behind. "Everyone
       settling in okay?" He questioned as he nuzzle the man. Sure, he
       was hungry and thirsty, but he could worry about himself later.
       ----
       When none of his siblings or the others seemed willing to answer
       the strangers, Orian found himself doing the introductions.
       "Well, I'm Orian, that's my twin Eclipse, Lumina, Moyra is on
       the cot, water boy over there is Blade," he began going through
       everyone that was with them as far as kids went. "Those two are
       our guardians, Flint and Shade," he finished, seeming more like
       he was just providing a report rather than actually being
       friendly.
       Blade couldn't help his scoff when Moyra asked if he was feeling
       better. "I should be asking *you* that, your bitch ass is the
       one that had to be carried.... but yeah, little dip in the lake
       and I feel right as rain." He shot back, though still answering
       her question.
       Tama felt his mate stir, causing the centar to look towards the
       tent entrance. The stallion always on high alert no matter where
       they were. He had become far more antsy since they had to leave
       their home territory. Seeing no threats at the moment, he
       settled down, watching Yuze doze.
       -----
       Adan and Snow finally emerged from their quarters, straightening
       their clothes and messed up hair.
       "I have those in my office, I'll go grab them." Adan replied
       and disappeared into an open doorway.
       Snow took in the stranger, his gold eyes slowly roaming over
       him. He introduced himself, as did Adan when he returned with
       the paper. They settled down to listen while Flint told them his
       tale.
       Once the Phoenix had left, Snow reached to pull Eden into his
       lap and stole a kiss.
       "He seems like an interesting fellow. We should probably meet
       the others soon, maybe after they've settled in though. We don't
       want to overwhelm them."
       Adan nodded in agreement, quite curious to learn more from the
       Phoenix. Being an immortal, Flint probably knew things no one
       else did.
       "Give them a couple of weeks, then we can host a lunch or
       dinner."
       ------
       Kallios gave Melita a toothy grin before popping some grapes
       into his mouth. He could tell by her annoyance that she was
       embarrassed by the childhood nickname being used in front of the
       boy she'd been so fixated on.
       "Strange that you're being the serious one for once," he replied
       with a slight shrug. Normally being the younger one, Melita was
       teasing and making him miserable.
       He went quiet when one of the boys spoke up, introducing
       everyone.
       "Nice to meet all of you. If you'd like a tour of Eden, we can
       show you around. Or if you'd like to wait, we could do that
       tomorrow. There should be a hut or shelter available soon for
       you to get settled in. Is there anything you might need that we
       can get for you? Clothes maybe?."
       His gaze fell on Orian and Blade for a moment. He probably had
       clothes they could use until some could be made for them.
       ---_
       “Flint.. I like that name, and don’t worry- it’s not tough or
       anything it’ll just keep them from putting hands on each other
       if anything.” Said Eden.
       She listened to their talk her body straightened at the sound of
       what the others were. She could tell he was getting frustrated
       and gave a soft smile.”alright.. please don’t worry terribly
       about being around here. Just let us know what kind of place
       you’re hoping to settle, I can have some people look around and
       see what’s available. Given what you are maybe somewhere around
       the water?” She questioned. Once she has her answers she watched
       the man go off.
       Khali’s double had faded off when Eden felt the pull in her
       lovers lap.”of course.. last thing I wanna do is overwhelm...
       the influx of people is starting to get as bad as Jalal had
       predicted.” Said Eden sadly. “Think it’s better that way and
       better managed.. not hard to mingle that way.” Said the woman.
       “Think you can get back in the mood?” Asked Eden with a
       smirk.”was enjoying seeing how Adan was playing with you like a
       puppet..” she said with a grin to slide off and to the room to
       entice the two back to their play.
       ——
       Melita blushed hard.”this is Kind of different kal. “ she said
       and thought for a bit.”oh I can show you where the waters plenty
       deep blade, think there’s a cavern not that far that I recall..
       water goes pretty deep.” She said thoughtfully.
       Eclipse was busy with her younger sister when her brother
       introduced the group.Melita lit up at blades name a little.
       Moyra made a face at him.”I’m fine thanks.” She said flicking an
       apple core at his head. She let her breath out feeling good that
       he was okay, her eyes went to the new group taking in the dragon
       woman and kallos her eyes couldn’t help but flicker over the
       man’s form a little to blush.
       “I know I need stuff..” said Moyra to blush a bit. Being out and
       about meant no real supplies for a woman for Melita to get it.”I
       can get all that..get some clothes too.” She said finally
       breaking herself from staring at the boy that seemed brash.
       “Gonna have to visit Lyra too.. she’s good at altering stuff.”
       She said thoughtfully.
       Shade was finishing his fish before feeling arms to blink and
       nuzzle back.”yes..how did the meeting go?” He asked as his own
       voice felt tired. He got some water to give to flint.”eat..
       drink you need to.” He said showing the food before them.
       ——
       Shu was on his last leg seeing the oasis, he came to a spot
       nearby to collapse in the sand, the man burned from the sun and
       clearly roughed up from running from several beasts that had
       overtaken the desert. “I’m gonna die.” He mumbled in the sand to
       roll over, his bird repeating the man till a face popped over
       him.
       -----
       "Good Good Good. We can stay, if if if it is as safe here as as
       as it seems... we could rebuild here here here.... they gave me
       me me some paperwork I need to go over with you you you....
       but.... later..." Flint said with a yawn as he only nuzzle
       closer to Shade. "My my my arms hurt.... feed me me me  pretty
       please?" He questioned. Having flown nearly the entire way he
       felt like he could barely move them.
       ---
       "A tour would be nice, though, I know a lot of the herd is
       tired, its.... been a long trip...." Orian said, his voice going
       a little quiet as he tried not to think about what they had just
       survived.  "Tomorrow afternoon maybe? Mean, not going to speak
       for everyone... but you can show me around if nothing else."
       Orian said, a slight smile coming to his lips at the idea of
       being shown around by the handsome guy.
       "Clothes would be great... we couldn't take much with us." He
       answered, trying not to go into detail of why they couldn't
       bring anything with them.
       Blade waited til the last moment to dodge the apple core,
       smirking at Moyra. "Should work on your aim, cuz it sucks," he
       teased as he stuck his tounge out at her. His attention was
       swiftly stolen when he heard someone who wasn't Orian's annoying
       voice say his name. He quickly turned finally paying attention
       to what the others were doing.
       His eyebrow raised at the mention of deep water. He always loved
       exploring cave systems. "I wouldn't be against checking that
       cavern thing out." He said, taking in to girl speaking. She was
       a stunning blonde. Her eyes drawing him in. He had to avert his
       gaze to keep from staring at her. "Yeah, fresh clothes would be
       nice... i don't need much else, long as i have deep water to
       sleep in." He said with a shrug. His eyes couldn't help but go
       back to the girl, "we could go check out that cave shit now if
       you want," he suggested, rather eager to find a new den. He
       felt, insecure, without one. Without a place to retreat, he was
       vulnerable.
       At least that is what his instincts were telling him.
       ----
       "You are finally growing up," Kallios couldn't help but say to
       Melita, a bit of pride in his tone. While he liked to give her
       shit at times, he did care about her.
       He didn't catch Moyra looking at him, but had the feeling some
       was staring. He brightened when Orian spoke up, agreeing to go
       on a tour with him.
       It didn't really surprise him that Melita's offer was accepted
       by Blade. A part of him was a little uneasy about her being
       alone with the guy. Yet he knew she was more than capable of
       taking care of herself.
       "If Kayda can show the others to the house, I can give you and
       whoever else wants to go on a tour," he replied, shooting a look
       over at the dragon girl.
       Kayda blinked a bit surprised at being volunteered to show the
       others around.
       "I can do that," she agreed softly. "But you owe me a favor Kal.
       I'll pass the word around and you'll have clothes coming out of
       your ears," she added with a smile.
       Once the new people decided what they wanted, the three groups
       headed off. Kayda led the bigger group off in the same direction
       as Melita.
       "The cavern she mentioned is actually under the tree house that
       was chosen for you," Kayda explained. "I should warn you,
       there's a giant black panther and leopard and their kits that
       live here too. They may look scary, but are big sweethearts."
       A short walk later they came to a small pathway that led up to a
       huge tree that had been reshaped into a home with many rooms.
       Several women were just coming out having finished cleaning it
       out and getting it ready for the newest arrivals.
       "And here we are, your new home,"
       ------
       The huge Panther had been on his way to the oasis when his ears
       pricked at the sound of a voice. He slowly ambled on until he
       spied the collapsed man and the blue parrot sitting on his head.
       He came closer, his interest peaked, and stopped over the man.
       His huge form blotted out the bright sun.
       Sion let out a loud purr, wondering how the man had become
       stranded. His big paw moved to nudge the man gently.
       +++++
       Shade chuckled softly.”of course my sweet bird.” He said as he
       fed flint some fish. The idea of finally being able to rebuild
       was more than enough for him.
       —-
       Moyra made a face.”I don’t miss twice.” She said flatly to stick
       her tongue out right back.  She watched as her cousin seemed to
       be staring a little too hard at the girl that had gotten his
       attention. She smirked a little at him.
       Melita felt a spark go off inside at him wanting to go and
       smiled.”totally!” She said.”we do have other water breathers..
       so don’t be terribly suprised at the few exploring.” She said.
       She blushed at her brother “I’ve grown plenty thanks.” She said.
       She saw eclipse kind of tuck her sister in her
       arms.”sweethearts- sounds like predators to me.” She said her
       eyes looking a bit worried. The dragon woman had a look she
       didn’t quite mind, it felt she was sensible to her. She took
       lumine in her arms to stand up when it was time to go to follow
       the group to the house, Yuze having snapped out of his nap heard
       something about homes to stand up.”slept too long..” he mumbled
       to rub the back of his neck.
       Once things were settled Melita didn’t think twice to grab
       blades hand.”this way.” She said to start walking. Some animals
       showed themselves monkeys passed through the way as well as
       other creatures as a blue one flew by.”gonna die rawww.” Lumine
       blinked.”that one talks?” She asked bemused.
       ——
       Melita managed to break from the group to bring him to the
       cavern below the tree.”come on.” She said with a smile. She slid
       a little to some sand that looked fine and black. “We can check
       things out here.” She said as she started to undo her top, to
       wrap her pack in it and sat it to the side. Her pants came off
       to show some shorts as she looked back.”aren’t you gonna strip?
       Easier to dry.” She said with an almost innocent look on her
       face.
       ——-
       Shu heard a cat to look up and saw Gale had already split crying
       out.”gonna die” the whole way. “Just finish me already- I’m not
       gonna make it kitty.” He said to the big black panther as he
       laid there waiting for death.
       ----
       The Phoenix opened his mouth, gladly accepting the offerings of
       fish and water as his mate fed them to him. He was just starting
       to relax when he noticed the kids starting to leave. "Where
       where where are they going?" He questioned, letting go of Shade
       as he stood up properly, listening to what the teens were
       planning. "Looks looks looks like we might might might have a
       place to get get get some sleep." He told his mate, following
       the group headed to the treehouse.
       Once he caught sight of it, Flint shifted into his phinox form
       and flew up into the tree and through an open window, flying
       through as he checked the place out, shifting back to his human
       form when he got back to the ground level door. "This this this
       place is perfect!" He declared before ducking back inside as the
       kids hurried inside to check the place out, which quickly became
       squabbling about rooms.
       ---
       Orian was more than happy to follow Kallios as the groups split
       into three. The adults going with the bulk of the kids while he
       watched Melita take Blade's hand. He half expected the teen to
       yank his hand away. Blade was notorious for not liking to be
       touched, so it surprised him that Blade just let the girl drag
       him off with a weird look in his eyes.
       Orian tried to ignore it for now and focus on the cute guy
       giving him a tour of the town, okay, it wasn't just him, Moyra
       was there too but it still felt pretty special. He had never
       hung out with anyone outside of people he considered family.
       ---
       A slight blush crossed Blade's cheeks when Melita took his hand
       and pulled him along. He had never been one to enjoy being
       pulled around, but for some reason, this was okay. He allowed
       the blonde to lead him to the mentioned cave.
       He hadn't expected her to start stripping. His eyes went very
       wide as he watched her strip out of her clothes before noticing
       he wasn't stripping. His cheeks turned even more red when she
       questioned why *he* wasn't stripping.
       It took him a moment to regain his composure. Rather than
       throwing out a snarky comment like he normally would when he
       felt most emotions, he complied.  His tattered shirt and pants
       soon discarded in a crumpled pile, deciding to only strip as
       much as she did. "Happy now? Ready to get in the water or what?"
       He questioned with mock annoyance as he got into the water in an
       attempted to hide how much Mel turned him on. "Pretty sick
       tattoos on your back," he found himself complementing.
       ---
       Seeing Yuze wake so suddenly got a chuckle out of Tama. "How do
       you figure that. You need to rest. Been pushing yourself too
       hard lately..." the centaur said as he brushed away some stray
       hairs out of his lover's face before caressing his cheek. "It's
       okay for you to sleep sometimes" He teased.
       ----
       Kayda noticed the worried look on the purple haired Eclipse's
       face and stayed by her side during their walk.
       Her head jerked up at the squawking blue parrot and her brow
       wrinkles slightly.
       "It's a parrot, most can learn how to talk if you teach them,"
       she explained to the younger girl.
       Seeing the Phoenix man shifting to explore was quite a sight to
       see. It was nice to see the newcomers so excited and pleased
       with their new home. Though she wasn't sure what to do with
       herself as they all hurried inside to explore it.
       Kayda decided to shift and found a sunny spot to sunbathe for a
       little while. She had been up quite late the night before star
       gazing with Orion's telescope. Her iridescent scales shone and
       sparkled, sending prisms into the open windows of the tree
       house.
       ----
       Kallios started with the common areas of the village, showing
       Orian and Moyra the community hall where they had meals and
       meetings.
       "You are always welcome to get meals here, or hunt or gather
       your own. I would advise to go in groups. There are classes that
       happen in here as well. The board usually shows what's being
       offered," he added pointing to a large board with paper bills
       posted on it.
       "Do you want to see the library, stables or training fields
       next? Whatever we don't get to today, we can see tomorrow."
       Kallios asked, turning to look at Orian and Moyra.
       A moment later he was tackled by a giggling red haired mini
       tornado and went down on his backside.
       "Feria...you little fiend, let me up," Kallios groaned as the
       mini tyke sat on his chest, babbling a mix of gibberish and
       words.
       He was saved a moment later when one of the child watchers came
       rushing over to retrieve the little girl. "Sorry, she always
       gets away from me. She's a wild child through and through," the
       woman chuckled. "just like her mom and dad,"
       Kallios sat up slowly shaking his head. "sure is," he commented
       with an amused chuckle.
       -----
       Sion's ears swiveled back at the parrots swift flight, the voice
       ringing. He let out an annoyed chuff at the man's words. He
       didn't eat humans. He might bite and hurt evil ones, but the
       taste was not something he enjoyed.
       It took him a few moments to get the man into his back. Then he
       headed back to the oasis moving with care.
       Knowing his normal way of entering wouldn't work, Sion stopped
       at a small pool outside the walls. He nudged the man's chest and
       then took the man's hand to drop it into the water. When that
       didn't wake him, Sion licked the man's face.
       Once he was sure the guy could get some water, he climbed up the
       vines and went to find Thesia to let her know of the man
       outside.
       Thesia was quite shocked that Sion had found a man in the
       desert. She hurried to get a healer and together they went
       outside to find the man and give him aid.
       "Sir, are you wounded? How can we help you?" She asked, slowly
       approaching the tattered man.
       -----
       As he fed flint and spoiled the bird he listened to the talk.
       His eyes flickered between the kids to settle back on his
       lover.”not sure guess we will see.” He said to chuckle. As they
       walked, he took in the sighs and smells of the place his eyes
       flickering places. He saw his lover shift and smiled softly at
       the declaration of the man. His eyes flickering where he saw
       blade and Melita were going. His head tilted at the fact he was
       letting this *girl* drag him along.”maybe this place will be
       good for him..” he mumbled before he headed inside with the
       remaining children- being eclipse and lumine as they looked for
       their rooms.
       Lumine made a small face of awe.”so that one was taught! So
       cool…” said the young girl as they found the house.
       “Good thing we get to first..” said the girl as she found a nice
       perch, and her little sister finding one with a reading  nook.
       Once the two made it clear what their rooms were by making their
       own signs went their way as the younger girl was tucked in for
       sleep. Eclipse gave a soft sigh to make her way down to thank
       the woman to see her in her dragon form.”is this your other
       form.. it’s so pretty…” she said her eyes taking in the scales.
       ——-
       Moyra was taking in the place- seeing blade holding hands with
       the new girl felt odd to her. She knew she was going to tease
       him later about being a ragdoll later.  She decided  to take the
       proactive route of figuring their place out. Her eyes flickered
       over places as she heard kallios speak, her eyes flickering till
       she heard a noise and stepped back watching a toddler crawl over
       the guy. She bursted out laughing a little bit.”was going to say
       the library but seems the tyke wants to play.” She joked before
       seeing a woman come to get the wild little red head. Her hand
       went out to help the man up.”seems like a nice place.. who runs
       this place?” She asked her head looking around. She could see
       some people doing some work- and others being mediated with. It
       seemed as if things were truly at peace.
       —
       Shu felt himself being rolled to his back as his mind assumed he
       was being played with before being eaten- the heat finally
       getting to him to be delirious. He didn’t move at first Till the
       cat licked him. He made a face.”I’m up I’m up..” to roll and
       drink. After a time he saw a woman and a man running up as he
       looked up.”If you count sunburn as a wound..” he said before
       trying to move.”but I’m tired.. kind of ran off on a chimera..
       and almost got myself lost.” He said as he allowed for help, not
       feeling unsafe in the least with these people.
       ——
       Melita saw how his face looked red.. what snarky comments that
       were said before not met with.. but compliance. Her eyes
       couldn’t help but look over the tattoos blade had, she figured
       leaving her shorts on was enough when she heard the teen call
       out. “Ah sure!” She said to start getting in the water to make a
       noise,”mm cold.” She said and looked back.”thanks.. Tre does
       good work- think we got other tattoo artists but he’s the best.”
       She said with a chuckle. It was clear blades eyes roamed and
       blushed a bit. “Come on the system is actually pretty cool..”
       she said to take a breath and go under. Once she saw blade to do
       the follow me and went down into what looked like a hole on the
       side of the cavern. She would find air pockets easily having
       explored some places before to take her breath and go back under
       to take him to what looked like a large chamber.. inside glowing
       crystals showed. Melita took in the stones for a little bit to
       look at blade, before she went to swim slowly for the air pocket
       that was beneath as well she took some air in her lungs that was
       burning a little. The place almost looked like a nice secret
       spot,  the air pocket turning out to be a cavernous like place..
       “this is new.” She mumbled her face turning up to see other
       stones that glowed different from the ones in the water.”are
       those air stones?” She mumbled to herself as she swam a little.
       ----+
       Yuze looked at Tama.”I only pushed due to the dangers.. I didn’t
       want to lose anyone else.. especially you.” He told Tama. The
       shock of seeing Luna, smoker, al, and quang was why he drove
       himself to be more protective. To have been accepted and helped
       before the real enemy showed themselves made him more than
       happy. The collar that once graced his neck was broken the
       moment Luna had died. His eyes lidded as he couldn’t forget
       their faces, desperate to protect the children. AL’s pained
       voice at the loss of Luna who went down first. He shook his head
       and sighed.”At least here we can gain some peace.” He said with
       a watchful eye over Moyra and Orion.
       ----
       The rest of the afternoon Flint spent making sure the kids got
       settled into their room and then got to work on gathering things
       for a new nest. He only got about a quarter of the way done
       before he fell asleep on a branch outside the window of the top
       floor room with a branch for the nest still cluched in his beak
       as he dozed.
       ---
       A sad look came into Tama's eyes as Yuze mentioned not wanting
       to lose anyone else. The pair had lost their closest friends and
       now only a small collection of their friends children were left.
       "I hope that is the case." He agreed as the pair followed the
       troup of teens along with Flint and Shade. The centaur stopped
       following once they reached the tree and looked around outside
       the place.
       "Maybe we can find a cave nearby?" He questioned, not liking the
       idea of living in a home with stairs. Tama was unfortunately too
       tall and long to fit in most indoor spaces.
       ---
       It wasn't often anyone could hold the reclusive unicorn's
       attention, especially when it came to such mundane things, but
       somehow Kallios made it far more interesting and easier to
       listen to as he followed the guy with Moyra.
       The dark haired teen was asking what they wish to check out next
       when the guy was attacked by a seeming toddler. It caused Orian
       to back up several paces before realizing they were safe still.
       He offered Kallios a hand as well to help Moyra get the guy to
       his feet.
       "Surprised you don't want to go scope out the training ground,
       was starting to be convinced training was all you and Blade ever
       did, I'm good  with checking out the library...." he found
       himself teasing the girl.
       ----
       The cool water was relaxing against Blade's skin as he waded in
       the water, waiting for Melita. "Don't be a wuss, its not that
       cold," he teased before raising an eyebrow at the girl
       mentioning a tattoo artist. "Good to know," he mused before
       following the blonde under the water. Unlike Mel, he didn't need
       air. He more lazily swam behind her.
       He was in no rush to get to the air pockets like she was but
       still followed after her from air pocket to air pocket as they
       explored the cave system in the water.
       A massive grin came to Blade's lips when they found the cave
       filled with air crystals. "I think so... this would make a
       perfect den!" He said as he looked around the cavern walls at
       the space. He swam to the shore, pulling himself out of the deep
       water to get a closer look at the space. It reminded him of the
       home his father had back at his lake. He was sufficiently
       distracted from the girl's nakedness, at least until he looked
       at her again and had to quickly look away as his face turned red
       again.
       -----
       Kayda lifted her elongated head up at the sound of footsteps and
       tilted it to the side at Eclipse's question.
       `It is, thank you. Give me a moment,` She mentally spoke to the
       other female.
       It took a moment of concentration for her to shift her body back
       to her normal form, her magical amulet shining as it reformed
       her clothing as well.
       Hearing the ogre and centaur talking of finding a better suited
       home for themselves, had her get a thoughtful look. "There is a
       cave a few yards from here if you'd like to check it out. It's a
       good sized one too. It would need to be cleaned first though. If
       you'd like, I can get you a tent to use for the night." She
       offered. "I don't believe I caught your names earlier, I'm Kayda
       Thurayya,"
       ------
       Kallios couldn't help but smile at Moyra's infectious laughter
       over him being knocked into the dirt. He accepted both of their
       offered hands and dusted off the back of his pants.
       "My Dads and my Mom are the main leaders, but we've also got a
       council that keeps things running smoothly." Kallios explained.
       He couldn't hold back his amused chuckle hearing Orian teasing
       Moyra a bit before agreeing to checking out the library.
       "We can see the training field after," Kallios suggested as he
       led the way through a rather crowded trades market.
       "This is actually a new area. People barter and trade their
       skills or creations for things they need.  It's kind of chaotic
       though, so stick close," he had to almost yell to be heard above
       the noise.
       At one particular crowded junction, Kallios stopped to grab
       their hands to get them through. "Sorry about that," he
       apologized as they neared the library building. "I hope it
       wasn't too loud for you,"
       The building was one of the few structures that wasn't made out
       of a tree. It's stone structure was covered in flowering vines
       and other tropical plants, keeping it from standing out too
       much.
       "There's more than just books, the library also holds a lot of
       cool artifacts and weapons too," Kallios added.
       "do you want to go in? There's a lot to see,"
       ----
       -----
       Thesia got a concerned look at just how sunburnt the man was.
       "With a sunburn like yours I'd say it is," she said
       sympathetically.
       His explanation of how he'd gotten out there had her look rather
       shocked. "Well let's get you slathered up with some aloe, fed
       and resting. I'm Thesia, what's your name?"
       Between her and the healer they got the guy inside and taken
       care of. Soon he was resting on a cot in the healers tent.
       ----
       Shade was helping flint get things in order when he walked by a
       window to chuckle a little at his lover. He made a gentle tug of
       the branch to put it in the nest for him.”you deserve some
       rest.” He said to stretch a little before shifting himself, he
       found a nice sunny spot near that window his tail swaying lazily
       as he fell asleep.
       ——
       Yuze nodded to the man.”I’m sure we can..” he said before
       hearing the dragon woman speak.”thank you.. and go ahead and
       request the tent!” He said. He knew that cave needed a door at
       least. Being how he was he knew how to fix things up. He led
       Tama in the direction of the cave and saw the size.. it helped
       to know that some fruit was growing nearby as well.”convenient.”
       He mused to go inside. He loved how roomy it felt as it tapered
       to a separate area.”mmm can make this a room and the front like
       a common room.” He said to look back at Tama.”plus back here can
       have all the fun we want..” he said to give a flirty look toward
       the centaur.
       ——-
       Eclipse watched with wonder as she shifted to blush a little bit
       at the sight.”oo I’ve never seen an amulet like that.. is there
       anyway to get something similar?” Asked eclipse. She loved shiny
       things- and the amulet looked beautiful.”or least maybe someone
       versed in to make these?” She asked curiously.
       ——-
       “Normally I would but knowledge is power you know.. be nice to
       find more spells.” She said honestly. She clutched the pack she
       had on her. Her mother’s spell book inside. She let off a breath
       as she felt a pang of pain remembering her.
       Moyra blinked at the plural of dads. “How many dads you have?l
       she asked before blushing for a hot second about the idea of
       crushing on a leaders kid. Blade came to mind as her hand went
       to her face.”god please don’t let blade do anything stupid.” She
       mumbled a little bit. Last thing she wanted was to be on the
       wrong side of those in charge of the place.
       “Sounds good- be best or blade will bitch about not being able
       to find it.” She said to chuckle.
       As they got to a spot that looked busy felt her hand taken to
       seem to gain a look of ‘oh this guy is brave.’ To feel the tug
       of him guiding them through the crowded area.
       She blinked a bit at the building her eyes looking it over.
       “Artifacts?” Asked Moyra almost interested.”what kind?… and I
       wouldn’t mind checking out the weapons.” She said with a smile.
       ——
       “You can call me Shu.” He said feeling the people collect
       him.”If you see a blue bird talking that’s Gale.. nah be a bit
       skittish- she doesn’t like cats.” He said with a sigh.”If she
       comes back.” He added before letting them treat him.
       ———
       Melita got out to wrap her arms around herself a little feeling
       the goosebumps. “I’m glad.. and it’s clearly unclaimed-“ she
       said before seeing his reaction. A smile formed on her face.”for
       a bad boy like you… your easily flustered..” she said to chuckle
       and wrapped her arms around his one arm.”I think you’re hot
       too.” She said with a smirk.
       “I better least take a few crystals though.” Said Melita.”magic
       ones like these can be used in people’s homes.. may run out
       after a time but a temporary fix for some of the issues.” She
       said thoughtfully.
       -----
       The centaur gained a smile as the dragon's suggestion and was
       more than happy to follow Yuze to the mentioned cave. It was
       perfect! His smile twisted into a smirk as Yuze suggested the
       back most 'room' would be prefect to have their fun in. "It had
       been too long since he have been able to enjoy each other," he
       responded flirtatious back.
       ----
       With Kallios on his feet, the tour resumed, a promise to see the
       training field after the Library as they continued on. When they
       reached the crowded market, Kal took his and Moyra's hand,
       earning a blush from Orian as the teen guided them through the
       crowded area. Even when they were out of the crowded area, Kal
       still didn't let go as they reached their destination.
       "Magic artifacts sound cool," Orian agreed, trying not to look
       at either his newest probable crush, Kal, or at Moyra who was,
       while still a recent development, a steadily growing crush. He
       hadn't ever considered he might like both men *and* women. His
       blush grew a little as Moyra was adorable when she got excited.
       ----
       "Fuck yeah," Blade mused before Meltia seemed to suddenly be on
       a mission to make him as flustered as possible. First, pointing
       out that he was being easily flustered had him blushing all the
       more as his eyes got very wide as she held onto his arm. Her
       supple bare breast pressing against his arm. Her claiming she
       thought he was hot too, broke whatever restraint the adolescent
       dragon had been clinging to.
       He hardly even heard what else she had said before he grabbed
       her arm and shoved her against the cave wall to kiss her deeply.
       He had never had to resist urges like this before so it was
       nearly impossible for the hormonal teen. "Not usually flustered
       so easily, pretty sure it's just you..." He finally said, his
       one hand holding her wrist against the cave wall while his other
       was on the other side of her head.
       ----
       Kayda reached up to touch the amulet at Eclipse's compliment.
       "it's one of a kind. I'm sure my father could make you one. It
       doesn't have to be the same type of stone either. We could find
       one that suits your taste. Are you a shifter yourself?" She
       asked curiously, eyeing Eclipse a bit more closely.
       After showing the ogre and centaur the cave, she turned back to
       Eclipse. "Want to go get the tent with me? We can make a stop at
       my house and you can talk with my father Tynan about getting an
       amulet made," she suggested.
       "Just fair warning, I've got 8 yr old twin brothers who are very
       rambunctious. And a 5 yr old sister that likes to play with long
       hair," she added eying Eclipse's soft purple wavy hair.
       ------
       Kallios glanced at Moyra, noting the surprised tone.
       "I've got two. Adan and Snow. Adan's my natural father, and
       Snow is Melita's. A lot of the kids here have more than one mom
       or dad. It is a bit different," he surmised, realizing there
       might be a lot of things the new comers might find strange.
       "All sorts of artifacts. Before my parents settled down, they
       did a lot of traveling and exploring. There are all sorts of
       amazing things."
       Kal realized he was still holding their hands and flushed a bit.
       "I'll let you have your hands back," he apologized and let them
       go, moving to push the door open. "The artifact room is the
       first floor, so we'll go there and save the rest of it for a
       different day,"
       He led the way in, pausing to sign in at the front desk. "Shall
       I add your names or do you want to do it yourselves?"
       Kallios was soon taking them to the artifact room and showing
       them all sorts of amazing things. Magical weapons, statues, old
       scrolls, spell books and even paintings that moved.
       "Oh and this is Poseidon's triton," he said pointing out the
       huge pronged weapon. "My parents actually met him once and knew
       his son Namor."
       ----
       -----
       "We'll keep an eye out for your bird, Shu. Maybe one of the
       pixies can charm her to come back," Thesia said thoughtfully.
       "Once you're healed, we can find you a place to stay."
       --+-
       “Is that an invitation?” Said Yuze with a chuckle to see the
       flirtation of the man.”it has been a while..” he said to pull
       the centaur down for a kiss.
       ——
       Moyra was still settling into the idea of having two men..
       especially after finding out that it was normal started playing
       with that idea in her mind. Once they arrived she blushed a bit
       and glanced at Orion.. she could still remember how they held
       hands to help each other up. She stuffed it down as Kallie’s
       continued to talk about the library to sign her name to hand the
       pen to Orion.
       She took in the place to see spell books and blushed a bit at
       them. She knew her mother would have loved this place. Once they
       arrived to the weapons section did she get more excited.”no way!
       The gods actually walk this place?” She asked looking at Kal.
       ——-
       Shu gave a grateful look.”that be best- she be me first mate.”
       He chuckled a bit to settle back drifting slowly to sleep.
       ——
       Melita was brought out of her words as she felt the shove
       against the wall and a mouth on hers. The feel of the tongue
       running against hers had her reacting to make a noise. Her wrist
       against the wall and the freed one against his chest. “Oh me hm?
       The red in your  face told me otherwise.” Teased the girl. She
       looked at blade to wrap her free hand around his neck.”well
       let’s have some fun.” She said her blue eyes giving a flash to
       chuckle before her mouth met his. The idea of doing *that* had
       entered her head and the boy was plenty cute. Thanks to her
       empath abilities running wild with her hormones was easily lost
       in the act, what was left on even tossed to the side without
       much thought.
       -----
       Eclipse blushed a bit.”sorry just like shiny stuff and I am- I’m
       a unicorn.” She said with pride.”mom and dad named me as I did..
       just.. don’t ask Orion he doesn’t like being known as a
       unicorn.” She said and smiled. “Sure and I don’t mind..if it
       gets to be too much I can throw it in a ponytail.” She said with
       a smile.
       ----
       A chuckle left Tama at his mate's question, gladly kissing the
       mand back as his arms wrapped around the orge, pulling him
       closer before one traveled lower to caress the man through his
       pants. He could already imagine the fun things his mate might
       have in mind.
       ---
       It was surprising to hear Kallios explain that he had two dads
       *and* a mom. The idea of having more than one mate was a strange
       concept to him, but not an unappealing one. Though he imagined
       something like that didn't just happen. He couldn't even get the
       nerve to tell Moyra how he felt let alone a guy he just met.
       Orian took the pen from Moyra and signed his name before the
       followed Kallios deeper inside. The tour itself was more than
       enough of a distraction  to keep his mind off of his feelings as
       he admired the artifacts, drawn to the ones with fantastical
       stories attached to them. "Have you met them?" He couldn't help
       but ask when Moyra asked if gods had walked this place.
       ---
       Finding that Melita seemed just as needy as Blade felt had his
       eyes go nearly black with lust as he returned her kiss
       vigorously. The small amount of clothes between them was
       discarded withing seconds as his hands began to travel down her
       curves, being a little rough as he played with her perfect
       breasts that he had been dying to touch since she took her shirt
       off.
       He let one of his hands travel down after a bit to tease the
       lips of her womanhood, slowly pushing his fingers inside as she
       allowed. His lips finally broke the kiss as they traveled down
       her jaw before biting her neck as he played with her body.
       "Going to be honest... I've never... done anything like this...
       don't be shy about telling me what feels good," he purred
       against her neck.
       +---
       Kallios was very much enjoying playing tour guide, happy to
       answer all of their questions.
       "I know Namor was here in Eden when I was little. The gods
       probably have been here, not that they've let themselves be
       seen. I have at times felt as though they're around," he
       replied answering both of their questions.
       "I do wish I could meet one face to face one day," He admitted.
       "I've heard stories from my parents about meeting them when they
       were kids, so it's likely it could happen."
       Once they'd gotten their fill of the artifact room Kallios led
       them out to the training field. Quite a few of the young adults
       were out training and sparring with one another with various
       weapons.
       On one end were different obstacle courses set up, most for the
       younger kids and teens to practice with.
       "You both will get the opportunity to join in on training
       lessons, whenever you are ready. We can watch for a while if
       you'd like,"
       ----
       -----
       Kayda's eyes widened at Eclipse's response. "Dragon kin like
       shiny things too. That's pretty cool. I've never met a unicorn
       before,," she admitted.
       "I'll try not to bring it up around him,"
       Kayda couldn't help but grin at the gorgeous girl, and got a
       sudden idea. "Would you want  a ride there? I can shift and let
       you ride on my back,"
       ----
       Once Shu had fallen asleep, Thesia went out to find one of the
       pixies. Which wasn't all that hard since their pixie princess
       had brought her tribe to live in Eden. After she'd passed on the
       request, hundreds of pixies would join in on the search. Gale
       was sure to be found before the night was over.
       ----
       #Post#: 1587--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 12:27 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Yuze’s lips molded to his lovers as he felt a hand travel down.
       He could still remember their first time granted it was awkward.
       But since then had gotten better with it.”mind making sure I’m
       slick enough for you.” He growled a bit as his thumb pressed
       against Tama’s bottom lip.
       ——
       “So they do come down here?”as Moyra as a sliver of an idea came
       to mind. “What gods have they met?” She asked as they walked.
       Her eyes took in the training field.. not that she minded but
       she knew with some of hers was different.”what about magic
       users… I’m a witch so I need room to use that.. and my familiar
       as well.” She said.
       The talk of doing it now seemed to make her shake her head.”I
       don’t train without flint or blade with me..” she said to cross
       her arms a little. “Fighting together is important to me.” She
       said her eyes taking in how others fought.
       —-
       —-
       Eclipse chuckled a bit, “we are a rarity now.” She said and
       seemed to get a soft look. It was then she heard kayda. “Your
       okay with it? Blade almost never lets us ride except maybe
       Moyra..” she said her eyes glint wide a little.”Hope I won’t
       intrude on your family.” She said.
       —-
       Melita’s hands explored themselves, touching spots that made
       blade react. The feel of his lips against her neck and the
       teasing he did was fogging her head with desire. She could feel
       the lust coming off from him as much as she was pressing her
       desire on him by way of the empathic ability that had gone a bit
       crazy. “Me neither.. but exploration and discovery is what
       always makes things fun.. if I feel it wrong.. I will tell you.”
       She said in his ear. The press of the fingers in her folds, made
       her blush a little.  She reciprocated by  her own mouth finding
       spots on his neck to make a mark, her hand slipping down to
       touch him, her hand wrapping around him a little.
       ----
       A shiver ran through Tama at the growl of his mate as he felt
       his body reacting to the man already. The centaur dropped down
       to his knees on his front legs before letting his rear down,
       with a leg kicked out to cause him to be more on side to let his
       growing member have plenty of space.
       Tama pulled away the cloth hiding his lover's member before
       greedily taking it into his mouth now that his head was at the
       perfect level to do so. He moaned around the man's member as he
       relaxed, letting the dick all the way into his throat as he
       looked up at Yuze with a lustful gaze of need.
       ----
       The amount of Knowledge Kallios knew off hand about each
       artifact they asked about was impressive. Orian could have
       listen to his tell stories all day. The trio soon made it to the
       training ground and the young stallion made a face at the
       mentioned training. "I'm not much of a fighter myself. My dad
       was a great fighter, but unfortunately I spent more time running
       than we had time for him to teach me anything..." He said,
       making himself a little sad as he remembered his parents death.
       They had already lost so much before that point so looking their
       parents to top it all off was a lot of emotions to unpack that
       he had very much been avoiding.
       The skittish unicorn shook his head realizing he had gotten
       caught up in a flash back, rather than saying anything, he began
       to walk off in a random direction, towards the nearest forest
       area. Despite how tired he was, he needed a good run in his
       proper form.
       ---
       A needy moan escaped Blade, her words encouraging him to give
       into his instincts as he felt more and more need and desire,
       having no clue he was feeling both of their need. Her lips
       marking his neck combined with the hand teasing his throbbing
       shift was enough to drive him over the edge as he pulled his
       fingers away and wrapped her legs around his waist before
       thrusting deep inside her, rutting into her as he deflowered her
       while pressing her against the wall. Her moans driving him.
       ----
       "from what I've learned, the gods roam the earth all the time.
       We're far more interesting to them than one might think.
       Sometimes they even influence our lives," Kallios explained.
       "Well, I know my dads' encountered Artemis before. And there
       have been quite a few Auradon gods that have visited. You might
       not have heard of them before, but I can teach you if you'd
       like,"
       Kallios shot a surprised look at Moyra's asking about magic
       users and saying she was a witch. "You'd probably want to talk
       with Yuwichi, she's a witch too. Or maybe Tynan the dragon kin.
       He can do some magic. They could probably put up some protective
       wards so you can practice safely," he suggested. "If you want
       space for you and your friends to train, I can help you set that
       up,"
       Hearing Orian's soft explanation made Kallios feel sympathetic
       for the other teen. "Not everyone is a fighter. Some just train
       so they can defend themselves."
       Kallios hadn't expected Orian to suddenly take off. "Orian, wait
       up!" He called and hurried after him. "You don't want to just
       wander off alone!"
       -----
       Kayda nodded in a knowing way. "Dragon kin are pretty rare as
       well."
       Kayda chuckled lightly at Eclipse's question and mention of
       Blade not letting just anyone ride on him.
       "Dragons can be picky. Dragon kin are a bit different. We're a
       little less sensitive and more open. Wait until you meet the
       dragon god Snips. He should be due back any day now. He promised
       my little sister Dawn he'd be here for her next birthday,"
       Kayda stepped back a few feet before she shifted and then used
       her long slender tail to lift Eclipse into her back.
       `Best hold on, I'll try to not go too fast,`
       ----
       Yuze watched his mate react almost immediately earning a smirk
       from him, once he felt freed felt the hot mouth sliding to the
       back of Tama’s throat .”gods Tama.. still greedy as ever hm?” He
       said with a hot groan. His hands slid down.”and suck a sexy face
       you have…”he said with a smirk.
       ——-
       Moyra gave a suprised look.”really they can do that for me?” She
       asked. It seemed this place was full of knowledge and more. It
       felt like they found a great place to be.
       While listening to Orion Moyra turned  to see his face. Her own
       filled with empathy. She followed reflexively worried for the
       man to hear kallios.”it’s fine you come but just don’t mention
       what you see.” She said as she caught up with Orion.”he’s not
       wrong this place is new to us.. don’t go alone without me at
       least.” She said to blush a bit.
       ——
       Eclipse got on with the dragons help.”just how many dragons do
       you know? she asked as she held onto what looked
       appropriate.”blade is really picky.. only reason Moyra can is
       cause their like really close cousins. “ she said to think.”we..
       ah.. lost our parents during the trip here…” she said quietly.
       ——
       Melita felt blade getting more and more intense as her ability
       ran a bit wild out of her control. The fingers left causing a
       small protest to feel her legs pulled up to blush and cling her
       arms around his neck as her back hit the cool stone of the cave.
       The first quick thrust felt some pain to gasp before she clung
       that much more. Her voice began its noises as she took it, the
       feeling turning into something more pleasurable. Her emotions
       felt intertwining with blades of infatuation, desire, and lust,
       her mouth going against his. She clearly getting lost into their
       pleasure before she felt a knot inside come undone as a cry
       slipped out as she clung closer.
       ----
       Soft moans escaped Tama at Yuze's comments, making him blush a
       little as he made noises of agreement as he pleasured his mate.
       Once he felt the man was wet enough, the centaur pulled his
       mouth back with a pop as he released the member from his mouth
       before swirling his tounge over the tip.
       "Can't help but be greedy with a mate as incredible as you, I
       think you are wet enough," Tama mused, not breaking eye contact
       with the orge as he continued to tease his member with his
       tounge, more than ready for the man to take him.
       ---
       Hearing Kallios and Moyra's protests about going off alone gave
       the stallion pause for a moment, but then the idea of Kallios
       seeing his true form hit and he was soon sprinting to the
       nearest forest edge, shifting as he passed the treeline, only
       his pink tail flourishing as he vanished into the forest running
       fun speed.
       Orian ran hard for several minutes, jumping over logs and nearly
       tripping over an unseen hole which caused him to finally slow.
       Limping a little, he made his way to a small pool of water he
       had stumbled across and lowered his head to drink before
       deciding to lay down next to it. He knew it wouldn't be long
       before Moyra tracked him down. He hadn't exactly been careful in
       hiding his path of broken branches and twigs, his hoove prints
       even in the softer ground.
       The unicorn took in the peacefulness of the forest, enjoying the
       sense of calm the forest brought.
       ---
       The sounds and noises Blade was managing to get out of Meltia
       was driving the half dragon ferral as he thrusted harder and
       faster into his new lover's body. Feeling her tighten around him
       caused the inexperienced teen to spill his load deep inside of
       her as he moaned against her lips, trembling as he felt the
       swirl of emotions from both of their ecstasy before he let them
       both sink to the ground, moving so his back was against the cave
       wall now as he held Mel against his chest enjoying bliss like he
       had never experienced. Clueless of the consequences  of their
       passion.
       ----
       "I'm sure they will. I'm not sure of how much work or how much
       time it will take though." He explained.
       Kallios and Moyra weren't the only ones that took off after
       Orian. There was a flutter of small wings that followed in the
       chase, and saw the boy change into a unicorn. The pixie's eyes
       widened in wonder and awe, knowing the others would be excited
       to hear of the unicorn shifter
       Kallios easily picked up on the trail left, noting the
       hoofprints and feeling a bit curious about what sort of change
       Orian had gone through. When they drew to a stop, the sight of
       the beautiful unicorn made his jaw drop in awe.
       "Whoa, you're gorgeous," he breathed out slowly, staying a few
       feet away to not startle Orian too much.
       It was Kallios that spied the pixie as it zoomed down closer to
       the Unicorn. "Not too close, you don't want to startle him,"
       The tiny pixie obeyed, fluttering back. "A beautiful unicorn! I
       never dreamed I'd see one!" It said in a high pitched excited
       voice.
       Kallios let out a sigh, knowing the pixie would be spreading the
       word about Orian faster than a wildfire. Not that he wanted to
       tell that to Orian.
       "Best go back little one."
       The pixie took another long look before heading back to the
       pixie village.
       -----
       Kayda let out a soft sound much like a chuckle at the question.
       `Just a few. The bigger a dragon is, the more territory they
       need. Thankfully we all get along well enough, some can be more
       aggressive and territorial,` Kayda explained.
       Once she was sure Eclipse had a good hold, she rose from the
       ground and started off to her home on the other side of Eden.
       She kept herself high enough not to run into anything, but low
       enough to keep from frightening Eclipse.
       Even with the wind going around her head, she was able to hear
       what the unicorn girl was saying.
       `I'm sorry to hear about your loss. If you ever want to talk
       about it, I'm willing to listen`
       After a few minutes she was landing outside her family's tower
       home. Like the library it was built out of stone and covered
       with flowering vines up one side. After assisting Eclipse off
       her back, Kayda shifted again and moved to push the door open.
       "Mother, Father, I brought a new friend to visit," she called
       out.
       Dawn scurried out of the playroom to hug her legs and then
       glanced up with huge eyes at Eclipse.
       "She's got pretty hair!"
       Once the rest of her family came out, Kayda introduced them.
       "These are my parents Tynan and Twyla, the twins Varys and Varun
       and my sister Dawn. Everyone, this is Eclipse."
       After they'd said their hellos, Kayda asked her father about
       making an amulet for Eclipse.
       "I can definitely do that. I'll need a stone, crystal, or
       another jewel to use. You could probably find one in the crystal
       cave, or ask one of the pixies for help,"
       Kayda turned to look at Eclipse. "We could go look for a little
       while before it gets dark out if you'd like,"
       -----
       Yuze enjoyed the noises as he felt the vibrations during the
       act. His body showed himself to be more than ready. “I think I
       am too.” He purred before pulling away and got himself into
       position. His arms shifting a bit with more control to allow him
       to hold onto tama’s a.ss.”moan my name my mate..” he murmured,
       as he slid in to groan at the feeling.
       ——
       Moyra followed diligently, her worry for Orion mounting. This
       wasn’t the first time for the teen to do this. Her eyes
       flickered for where he went and stomped.
       Once they got there, Moyra pushed the man’s jaw up a little.”he
       is.. but easy with the stare.” She said to chuckle as she eased
       her way to the teen. She was too fixed on getting closer as she
       said softly.”you did it again- you know you shouldn’t run off
       Orion..” she said and noticed his limp.”you hurt yourself… can I
       heal it?” She asked her hand slowly touching orions neck. She
       always felt both his sides were stunning.. and been trying to
       get blade to just stop picking on him. But the damage was done
       when the boy refused to acknowledge his status as a unicorn.
       ——-
       Eclipse  seemed to enjoy the flight- now understanding why Moyra
       was able to convince blade to take off.”it’s not much to talk
       about.. mom and dad had us.. we were protected by the parents
       that my friends Moyra and blade are kids to. “ she went quiet
       still remembering huddling with the younger siblings her father
       charging in- their mother holding them close before going in
       after. “They were the last to die.. they were not meant to..“
       tears welled up a bit for her. It finally sunk in after that
       long trip about her own loss as she used the time to let her
       emotions roll some before they had arrived.
       The sight of the children were surprising, and blushed a bit at
       the girls sudden interest in her hair.”thank you, you have
       pretty hair too.” She said.
       She spoke with the family, they felt so warm and kind. Her head
       turned to kayda.”I wouldn’t mind looking..” she said as she
       played with her hair a little bit.
       “Maybe next time I visit- could I bring lumine? She’s one of my
       younger siblings.. think she’d make good friends over here..”
       she said shy like.
       ——-
       Melita held onto blade as he slid to pop him out, her body
       staying close. “Amazing..” said the teen girl. The feelings she
       was experiencing with his bliss mixed with hers was so profound
       that it manifested to a love that would bloom on its own.  Her
       face looked up at blade. Her eyes finally faded off from going a
       bit wild. She snuggled close without reservation, and much like
       Eden’s ability to make a decision without putting much thought.
       Decided she was keeping this one for herself. “You alright?” She
       asked as she felt a bit thirsty.”May need to drink some water
       with all that…exploring.” She teased.
       ----
       The centaur bit his bottom lip as he watched his mate move
       around to his rear before shifting his arms to get a good grip
       on Tama's ass. A hot moan leaving him when Yuze pushed inside
       his needy hole. "Yes! Yuze! Fuck me nice and hard," he moaned
       out as he moved his human half to twist around and wrap his arms
       around Yuze's shoulders and neck as he kissed him deeply.
       ---
       The moment of peace Orian had found was quickly stolen when he
       heard footsteps and got back to his feet seeing Kallios with a
       look of shock with his jaw practically on the ground and Moyra.
       When the Pixie rushed in with her high-pitched voice had the
       skittish Unicorn rearing up as he took several steps back with a
       winny.  His hooves hit the ground again as he took another few
       steps back before the pixie finally left.
       Orian behaved much like a wild horse as Moyra slowly approached,
       his hooves stomping in agitation but allowed the girl to get
       close enough to touch his neck. He snorted as he let his head
       lower, finally relaxing a little. He nodded his head in
       agreement of Moyra's help. Most of his kind could still tall in
       this form, but it was a learned skill that took time so Orian
       could only make horse like sounds at present.
       ---
       The dazed state Blade was in didn't break until Melita asked if
       he was alright. "Hmmm yeah... that was... incredible.... feel
       like I could sleep for a week," he found himself joking. "We
       should head back before anyone comes looking for you... I...
       hope this isn't just a one time thing..." He said making himself
       blush at how attached he already was to Mel.
       ----
       It took a few moments for Kallios to recover from his shock, his
       face going a bit pink from Moyra's touch. He dropped his eyes,
       feeling a bit sorry for having stared.
       He mumbled a curse at the pixie having startled Orian, wishing
       there was a way he could help comfort him.
       Kallios watched with curiosity as Moyra neared Orian and offered
       to heal the unicorn's hurt leg. He'd only ever seen tuners
       healing, not magic users.
       Realizing that his watching might be seen as an invasion, he
       turned around to give the two privacy.
       "When you're done, we should probably head back. Oh and fair
       warning, pixies are the biggest blabber mouths. I'm sorry but,
       everyone's probably going to know about a unicorn showing up.
       People will figure out at least one of you is a unicorn,"
       -----
       Kayda felt sad hearing about what had happened to Eclipse's
       parents. It was unfortunate that there were so many losses and
       tragedies like Eclipse's.
       `there are many here who know what you are going through. The
       loss of loved ones isn't something you ever get over. It just
       hurts less over time,`
       Kayda was relieved that her brothers were far too curious to be
       their normal wild selves.  She was sure they'd have overwhelmed
       Eclipse otherwise.
       Kayda brightened at Eclipse agreeing to go searching.
       "Great, I'll get you back before dusk!" Kayda said excitedly and
       then shot a look at her parents when Eclipse asked about
       bringing her little sister over.
       "You gotta sister? Cool. We can teach her some of our games!"
       Varun said excitedly, his eyes changing to a bright yellow.
       "She is very welcome to come with you the next time. How about
       the day after tomorrow?" Tynan suggested.
       Once the next visit had been decided, Kayda dragged Eclipse out
       to get out of the excited chaos of her younger siblings.
       "Oh when you come over next time, I'll show you my room." Kayda
       promised as they headed out of the house and through the
       training field. "Oh, the crystal cave is on the other side of
       the pixie village. They can get a bit..handsy. just wait. I'll
       probably come out with a completely different hair braid," she
       said chuckling a little.
       ----
       Yuze continued to kiss the man his hips working at Tama, he
       began to get rough as his eyes darkened a bit in lust as he did
       so, he became a mess of moans his pent up frustration
       manifesting to practically ravaging his mate. He pounded a spot
       thought brought out the best of noises of his mate.”mine..” he
       growled with familiarity to the word of the mate he continued to
       make passionate love to.
       ——-
       Moyra smiled softly.”got it Orion.” She said to move to his leg,
       her hand going out. She paused to hear the man to
       chuckle.”alright- it’s probably best since someone has to sort
       through stuff-  blades too lazy to.” She said flatly.
       “*Mother Earth I beseech the, to my hand to the one I touch, I
       borrow from you the healing touch- Father Time I call on you to
       speed up time and mend anew.*” the words spilled from her mouth
       in a rhythmic way, her hand glowing green as the place around
       showed the earth and plants about glowing. Once done she stood
       up.”feel better Orion?” She asked her eyes taking in the
       unicorn.
       —-
       Eclipse gave a smile.”I have a twin as well.. but I’m not sure
       he’d be comfortable to come around yet.. but day after tomorrow
       would be best.” She said to smile. The words the dragon woman
       told her rang in her ears.. at least they were not alone in
       their grief.. but take time to gain a sense of norm in this
       place.
       “Other side?” She asked. Her head tilted at the sound of
       pixies.”I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one.. long as they
       don’t pull on it..” she said to blush.
       ——-
       Melita chuckled at his joke. “You’re right,  I don’t get going
       mom is gonna wonder where I am and she always manages to find me
       no matter where I go around here.. same with my twin.” She said
       to chuckle.”and this isn’t going to be.. I’m keeping you.” Said
       Melita. There was something about blade that just resonated with
       her. Not that she could explain it. The way he blushed and how
       he was felt right. She reluctantly slipped from his arms to get
       her shorts.
       -----
       Moans of Yuze's name spilled from Tama as his mate ravaged his
       body, the growled word getting a shiver out of the centaur as
       the man gave him everything he had. All the pent up frustration
       and need thrown into hitting that perfect spot over and over.
       "Yuze! You are going to make me cum," he moaned out as his body
       tensed as his release spilled onto the floor under him.
       ---
       The stallion took a deep steadying breath as he allowed Moyra to
       touch his lame leg and closed his eyes as she cast her spell.
       Moments later it felt good as new. He put his leg back down on
       the ground, nodding his head in an exaggerated manner at feeling
       better.
       Orian's ears pinned back at the mention of heading back, not
       wanting to be around others at the moment. He gave a snort of
       protest as he turned away from the two before looking behind
       himself and looked at the pair, his muzzle gesturing to his
       back, inviting them to climb on. He felt it was only fair seeing
       as they had followed him all they way out here.
       ---
       When Meltia claimed she was going to keep him, Blade couldn't
       help the deep blush that colored his cheeks. "Keeping me? I
       guess as long as that doesn't involve a cage I can allow it...."
       He said as he forced himself to his feet and got his shorts back
       on. He already found himself missing the feel of Mel's skin
       against his when they were on their way back out of the caverns.
       Blade memorizing the way back, fully intending to make this his
       new home.
       When the pair got back to their clothes, Blade pulled Melita
       into a deep kiss, caressing her bare chest before letting her
       go, smirking, "sorry, couldn't help myself, wanted one last
       taste before you left,don't know when I'll see you again..." He
       mused as he went to grab his clothes. He pulled his pants on
       fine, but the shirt ripped into more of a vest when he tried to
       put it on. "Oh fu.cking great... " He complained.
       ++--
       Kallios couldn't help but wonder about the gods that Moyra
       referred to in her healing spell. Could they actually be the
       same gods that he'd read about? It would  be interesting to find
       out more about them.
       He turned back around watching the unicorns protest over going
       back. It's actions and movements took a moment for him to
       understand that Orian wanted him and Moyra to get on his back.
       "All right, if you insist," Kallios replied and waited for Moyra
       to get on, before pulling himself up and sitting behind her. "Do
       you mind if I put my arms around you?" He asked Moyra, feeling
       his face heat a little at how close they were.
       +--++
       Kayda nodded at Eclipse's explanation of her twin. "Everyone has
       their own comfort level, so that's understandable. There are
       actually several sets of twins in the village, most are complete
       opposites,"
       "When they aren't in a mischievous mood, they're not so bad,"
       Kayda said with a grin. "I guess it depends on if your head is
       sensitive or not. I barely feel a thing,"
       The passed by the stables and stepped into the wild jungle
       surrounding the oasis. They hadn't gone more than a few feet in
       when the sound of high pitched voices could be heard excitedly
       talking about a unicorn being sighted. When the mini village
       came into sight the colorfully dressed pixies nearly swarmed
       them with the news.
       "Calm yourselves, no need to talk all at once," Kayda said with
       a smile. "Every pixie, this is Eclipse. She's new here."
       The pixies greeted the girl, gifting her small trinkets to take
       home and started asking her questions. Sensing it might be too
       much, Kayda took Eclipse's hand promised to bring her friend
       back for another visit soon. Then led her out of the pixie
       throng and towards the well hidden crystal cave.
       "Sorry about that, they can get to be too much sometimes," Kayda
       apologized.
       "And here we are, the crystal cave." She added pointing out the
       cave hidden behind vines and overgrown foliage. "Might need to
       use my light spell so we can see,"
       #Post#: 1588--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 12:37 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Moyra blinked to blush a little. She almost never rode Orion,
       for her it was a first. She climbed on as she found what was
       comfortable to grab and not hurt Orion as she felt kal get
       behind her.”of course.. be kinda dumb not to- rather you not
       fall off.” Said Moyra her normal attitude showing through as her
       face was hidden by her hair and her face bright red at that
       point. Course when he put his hands around her waist she grabbed
       one more over her stomache.”like that!” She insisted trying to
       act calm.
       ——-
       Eclipse looked around the jungles, the girl acting skittish at
       the amount of pixies. She clutched kayda reflexively as she
       spoke to the group to get them to back off.”t..thank you.” She
       said. Once they arrived to the caves she blinked a little to go
       to the vines.”you know magic? Moyra knows lots of magic.. she’s
       a witch..” she commented as she followed the girl inside the
       glittering caves. Her face heated at being so close- but she
       didn’t know how far the light spell would go. “Pretty… do you
       get crystals here often?” She asked.
       ——
       Melita chuckled.”no cage.. just.. your mine now.” She said
       simply.”mom and both ny dads kind of just knew they belonged..”
       she said and blushed.”soulmate.” She added.
       Once back, and shivering a little felt the pull in and the
       mouth. Feeling his hands rub over her breasts caused a noise.
       She blushed a bit.”I don’t mind.. as you let me have a taste of
       you yourself.. I’ll be around- though tomorrow morning is
       hunting day..” she said as she got her clothes on. She gave a
       small giggle at his top”still look good.. but you can always go
       without the shirt…” she flirted a little.
       ——
       Yuze, felt the shiver from the centaur. He heard the man cry out
       about cumming to see the mess. He continued to pound as he
       neared his own end. He came filling the centaur. He huffed as he
       bent on tama’s back to catch his breath.”gods it’s been too
       long.” He said to chuckle softly.The bliss of being near his
       mate and the fears of staying alive had eased the man. He
       snuggled closer to Tama moving to his side.”swear.. I love you.”
       He said to put his forehead against his mates.
       -----
       Another shiver of pleasure ran through Tama as he felt Yuze fill
       him. He finally let go of his mate to let himself fully lay out
       on the cave floor, enjoying the bliss of his mate having claimed
       him after so long. A soft smile came to Tama's lips at his lover
       claiming it had been too long while the man rested on the
       centaur's back. The smile grew as Yuze moved to lay with him,
       their foreheads gently pressed together as the man confessed
       love.
       One of Tama's front legs hooked around Yuze to pull the man in
       closer, his arms encircling the man as he snuggled closer. "I
       love you too.... more than anything...." He said softly before
       kissing his mate lovingly on the lips.
       ---
       Feeling the pair climb onto his back was a strange sensation for
       Orian as he waited for the two to settle. A snort left him as he
       noticed neither were holding onto him with their knees and would
       likely fall off the second he gained any real speed. His neck
       bent about to nudge Moyra's knee with his soft muzzle, nipping
       her to try and convey what he wanted her to do when she didn't
       understand at first.
       Once he felt the two wouldn't fall on their faces, Orian did a
       small rear to get the two to *properly* hold onto him before he
       began to walk through the forest, slowly picking up his walking
       speed as he felt the two riders moving with him. The idea of
       running with the two on his back entered his mind for a moment
       before he stopped suddenly. A shadow of a large bird flying over
       them. This was enough to spook Orian into a full run, sprinting
       out of the forest, only to skid to a stop when Flint landed not
       to far in front of him. The force of his stop, caused Moyra and
       Kallios to slide up his body for the pair to be awkwardly
       clinging to his neck.
       Flint had been woken the moment he felt Moyra use her magic and
       had flew over to them as quickly as he could. A look of
       annoyance in his eyes as he walked over to help the teens off of
       the unicorn so Orian could shift back to his human shape.
       "What what what are you doing doing doing Moyra?? You know know
       know you aren't supposed to cast cast cast magic without me
       unless unless unless you are in danger!" The Ohoenix chastised,
       "it it it is time to come settle settle settle in you two....
       tell tell tell your friend bye....." He instructed the teens
       getting a deep frown from Orian, but no protest as he looked to
       Kallios. "See you tomorrow." He found himself questioning, a
       hopefulness in his voice that he would see the teen again soon.
       ---
       The idea of Melita already considering Blade her soul mate was
       quite daunting but her sureness had him believing the same
       thing. A chuckle left him at her acceptance of his affection
       before explaining her morning the next day would be busy. "I'll
       be around somewhere, come find me when you get back... we can...
       hang out or something..." Blade said as a smirk grew on his lips
       at her comment of him looking good without a shirt. "Not as good
       as you look without one," he found himself flirting back as he
       gave her one last appreciative once over with his eyes before
       they began to head back to where the others had gone.
       "So... does this make us mates now or something? Or what?" He
       questioned, showing off his lack of knowledge on courtship.
       ----
       Kallios' face flushed even darker when Moyra adjusted his hand
       higher. It distracted him enough that he didn't remember to
       tighten his legs until Orian's head turned and nudged at Moyra.
       That made him flush even more.
       And then they were moving off and slowly gaining speed. A part
       of Kal was hoping there was a better way of hanging on, but
       wouldn't dream of even suggesting a halter.
       The suddenness of Orian being spooked had Kal letting out a
       startled cry, and reaching to grasp the unicorn's mane. He
       prayed he wasn't gripping it too tightly, but really didn't want
       to go flying off.
       The abrupt halt had him grunting as his body nearly slammed into
       Moyra's. He thanked the gods nothing bad had happened under his
       breath as he was helped down and moved to sink into the soft
       ground with another soft groan.
       All at the same time he was silently in awe of the Phoenix and
       the man it had shifted into. He'd never heard of such a thing
       before.
       Hearing the man chastising Moyra made him feel badly for her. He
       too frowned when the man instructed them to say goodbye.
       "Are you not going back just yet?" Kal asked and glanced around,
       trying to get a sense of where they were. "It can get tricky
       finding your way back," he added. "I will find you tomorrow if
       you'd like me to. I've got classes and training in the morning,
       but should have the rest of the day free,"
       ----
       "I'm happy to help, sorry they were so pushy," Kayda apologized,
       feeling an odd sensation in her stomach.
       "I can do a few things, I'm still learning. Our magic is a bit
       different than a caster's is. It's hard to explain."
       Once they were in the entrance of the cave, Kayda cupped her
       hands together focusing her energy and a bright bluish white orb
       formed. It flared up and moved to float in the air in front of
       them, making the small crystals in the cave walls sparkle and
       shine.
       "Only when we need them. I like coming down here for private
       moments. The house and village can get pretty crowded and noisy.
       I get kind of super sensitive during my monthly cycles," she
       explained, turning her face to hide how it reddened.
       "Ooh..there's a couple of nice sized ones," she exclaimed
       pointed them out to Eclipse.
       ----
       Yuze took the man’s kiss and nuzzled closely.”just a bit longer-
       then we better figure out dinner.” He said to chuckle.”anything
       your feeling in particular?” He asked.
       ———
       Moyra blushed to tighten her knees a little as  she felt the
       rear and said.”alright I get it I’m holding!” She said before
       Orion took off. Moyra noticed the shadow to clutch a bit as the
       run felt exhilarating… least till the stop as she collided with
       Orion's neck and blushed harder with Kal coming up behind her.
       “Flint!” She said before hearing the chastise.”I’m sorry but I
       didn’t want Orion limping around- he had a flashback.” She
       started as she was trying to remain calm. But what struck was
       the talk about saying goodbye. Her frown deepened to a likeness
       of her father.Her arms crossed before she heard kallios”oh we
       will.. I know I will-” she said glancing at flint.”I’m going to
       go visit this yuwichi person and dragon guy- was told I can
       train for my magic-take you won’t take objections to that?”She
       asked now sounding annoyed at the interruption of enjoying
       someone she had feelings for before.. and a possible new
       one.”what flint says we follow and we will be fine- he found me
       so he most likely will guide us back.”said Moyra. Reality she
       didn’t want Kal to see her moody side that had been kicking in
       the past few days, nor the cramping that came up that caused her
       to crumple a day or two before. “Flint we need to move a bit
       fast.” She mumbled as she walked off without much thought as she
       grumbled more.
       ——-
       Eclipse listened as she looked around at the crystals to see a
       purple one.”ooo.. I like this color.” She said before she heard
       what she said next.”cycle? What’s a cycle?” She asked blinking
       at the dragon woman. Given being on the move and since their
       parents had passed didn’t manage to have some important talks.
       Though the girls always suffered per month without knowing fully
       what was going on.
       —-
       “Sounds good, I can show you around the place a little bit.”
       Said Melita.”the oasis is pretty big, so we try to keep it
       natural-“ she said as she walked out with him to chuckle at what
       he said.”glad you don’t mind that-it sometimes tends to get too
       hot in here sometimes..so if I  come topless - it’s normal.” She
       said with a chuckle.
       She walked till she heard his question her face heating up at
       the word mate. “Mates.. she said as the word settled.”in a way
       we are.. but since we are 17 and living apart more like a
       boyfriend.” she said blushing more.”we may live apart but still
       enjoy the fun stuff and getting to know each other-we can still
       have fun.. and explore..” she said and got close.”maybe doing
       something more adventurous.” She winked. “We can be mates once
       we move in together..” she said and smiled.”hopefully you don’t
       mind that..” she said her hand resting on blades chest to see a
       cat land on blades head.”where have you been?” She heard. Melita
       blushed to just about squee as shadow felt the pull.”he’s so
       cute!” She said letting her guard down as shadow began to
       squirm.”let me down!” She heard to do so to see him shift to his
       human form. She blushed a bit.”I’m so sorry!!! I thought you
       were a talking cat.” She said now flustered at having offended
       the man.
       ----
       The centaur nuzzle his face into the crook of Yuze neck as he
       enjoyed the closeness of his mate. "Hmmmm could go have a look
       around, haven't had a real meal in a while. I wonder if we could
       get our hands on a Stew of some kind," he mused, his mind going
       back to a happier time before he lost his tribe, his herd. He
       had been a young colt back then, barely 4 before he lost it all.
       The idea of his mother's vegetable stew played in his memory. He
       could almost smell it. Tama was soon dozing off in his lover's
       arms.
       ----
       The grumpy expression that took over Moyra's features reminded
       the old Phoenix so much of the girl's ill-tempered father. The
       girl's sudden eagerness to go had Flint surprised. Though,
       considering it involved learning about magic he couldn't tell
       her no. "Very very very well, let's get going." Was all the
       phinox said before shifting back into his true form to guide
       Moyra and Orian back to their new home. He would follow Moyra as
       the girl went out looking for some person named Yuwichi.
       Orian gave Kallios a half hearted smile before he started
       following after Moyra before he was left behind. "I'll see you
       when you get out of class tomorrow," he found himself saying,
       overthrowing his words and making himself blush by the time they
       had made it back. Flint instructed Orian where to go before
       going off with his witch.
       Orian slowly made his way to the treehouse of a home, going
       inside and picking a room for himself before crashing in the
       bed. He hadn't realized just how tired he was until he was
       snoring away.
       ---
       "Just don't be surprised if I can't keep my hands to myself...."
       Blade teased as they walked. The idea of being Milita's
       boyfriend was playing in his thoughts as the explained the
       difference, or at least tried to. His cheeks flushed pink when
       Mel got in front of him and put her hand on his chest hoping he
       didn't mind waiting to live together. "I... I don't mind..."
       Blade managed to get out before something landed on his head.
       He froze hearing Shadow's voice and groaned before the cat was
       snatched from his head and snuggled by Blade's new girlfriend.
       He couldn't help the hysterical laughter that left him as he
       watched Shadow's protests at the girl's affection towards the
       black cat. He wasn't surprised in the slightest that his
       guardian then shifted to his human form. "Oh that was fu.cking
       amazing," Blade managed to say between bouts of laughter.
       ----
       After getting the news of the newest arrivals being his
       neighbors, Arik had decided to get a few things together to take
       over to welcome them to the oasis. When he'd first arrived, the
       acceptance and generosity of everyone had helped crack his rough
       exterior.
       Not knowing what food might go over well, he'd put together a
       basket of fresh produce and started a big pot of vegetable stew.
       He'd have added meat if he hadn't run out. The smell wafted out
       of the window his small shack, while he cleaned up a bit.
       He'd made it halfway to the tree house when he noticed the ogre
       and centaur laying together near the empty cave. This prompted
       Arik to approach them slowly, not wanting to startle them.
       "Hello there, do you two plan on sleeping out in the open? I'm
       betting you're some of my new neighbors." He called out.
       -----
       Kallios was happy to hear Moyra's agreeing to see him. Though
       her eagerness to leave had him wonder if there was something
       else going on.
       He gifted Orian with a grin. "See you both tomorrow then. Just
       don't freak out if you run into the chimera or the panthards!"
       He called after them before following a few yards behind them.
       Not really ready to head home just yet, he made his way back to
       the library to immerse himself in a new book. If it hadn't been
       for Moyra and Orian, he'd have spent the entire afternoon there.
       When he heard the clock chiming the dinner hour he put the book
       back and headed home.
       -----
       Kayda moved to the purple crystal and shifted her fingers into
       long claws. She used them to dig the crystal out for Eclipse and
       dropped it into the other's hand. "Good pick, it definitely
       suits you,"
       Kayda's eyebrows shot up super high at the question. She caught
       herself from demanding why no one had told Eclipse about a
       woman's cycle. It was likely her mother had died before she'd
       been able to reach Eclipse about it.
       "So...it seems there is something I can teach you." Kayda said
       gently. "Let's go back out, and I'll explain more,"
       Once they were back in the sunlight, she led Eclipse over to a
       comfortable spot to sit down. Then she explained it all, pausing
       to answer any questions the girl had.
       "If you or Moyra need anything, just let me know. I can get you
       supplies from the women's healer," she offered. "We should
       probably head back before we lose the sunlight. Oh and do you
       want a silver chain or a gold one?"
       ----
       “ I don’t mind don’t that..”he said with a smile.he watched his
       lover doze as he was till a voice cut into the silence of their
       time. It caused Yuze to turn with his blade, he blushed
       realizing he had no pants and stammered.”this is normal for us..
       “ he said clearly calming down. The time in the desert clearly
       done its work making him sensitive to sudden encounters.
       ——-
       Moyra managed to get a distance away and let off a sigh. It took
       sometime and some questions to find the hut of Yuwichi. She
       noticed a sweet looking person taking down some things from the
       line before meeting eyes with her. Lyra blinked at the new
       comers.”hello can I help you?” She asked as Moyra glanced.”are
       you Yuwichi?” She asked as the woman blinked.”I am not my lover
       I’ll go get her.” She said softly.”why not come in?” She asked .
       She saw a soft nod and her going  in to be seated.”Yuwichi! You
       have a visitor.” Said Lyra as she moved to the kitchens to make
       tea.
       ——-
       Lumine who was up and active was quietly playing till she heard
       Orion coming in. She saw he had drifted off to tug the blanket
       more over her brother and made a smile to put her stuffed animal
       near by to ‘,chase away,’ bad dreams before going back to her
       room.
       ——-
       Melita blushed harder when blade was laughing. “Really I’m
       sorry- I just love all animals and I lose all self control.” She
       admitted. Shade sighed.”it’s alright as long as you don’t do it
       again.” She heard to put her hands behind her back.”uhm ,just be
       aware my mom will do the same thing.” She told shade.”and she
       has about the same level of self control when it comes to
       animals…” she warned.”she’s not hard to miss, red hair probably
       shorter by a bit from me, and she looks to be maybe 20-22
       physically but she’s damn near 40-45..” she said blinking.”see
       you blade.” She said to kiss his cheek and scamper off with
       shade’s brow raising a bit at blade.”already going for girls
       already?”
       He asked as he directed blade inside.”your turn to help cooking
       by the way.” He said.”it’s our night.”
       ----
       Eclipse smiled to see the crystal. It seemed it took time to
       understand things to blush a little. Her mind wandered to when
       Moyra collapsed it wasn’t but a day or two ago to pale a
       bit.”uhm.. anyway we can get it now? I think Moyra was
       experiencing it.. complained about cramps.” She said after their
       conversation as she got up to walk.”silver.. think it’ll work
       like the moon.” She said with a soft smile.
       ----
       Feeling his mate jerk away suddenly had Tama sitting up and
       looking around frantically for whatever danger was nearby, only
       finding a human looking man with long grey hair. It didn't take
       very long for the centaur to figure out that the man wasn't
       wheildinh a weapon so he put a hand on Yuze's shoulder to try
       and steady the man.
       "We are new to this place," he confirmed as he git back onto his
       hooves, letting his body do a shiver across his skin to shake
       off any dust and dirt on his horse half. "Can we... help you?"
       He found himself asking as the smell of food hit his nose making
       his stomach protest that it hadn't been fed.
       ----
       The beautiful song of Lyra's voice calling to the Dryad pulled
       Yuwichi out of her meditative state. A practice she had taken up
       to aid with her 'anger issues' she had been told she had.
       Something to quell her inherent nature that thrived on chaos and
       destruction. It took a moment for her to register what her Lover
       had said, causing Yuwichi to stretch herself out form the
       seemingly complex meditative pose she used before walking into
       the room that held her guest.
       A look of surprise came to her red eyes seeing a new young face
       sitting at her small table. She took a moment taking in the
       young woman and the fire bird resting on the girl's shoulder.
       "Well, hello there. Been a long time since I have seen a
       Phoenix. Thought they were all dead theses days." She mused
       darkly in greeting. Flint's feathers ruffled in agitation at the
       mention of the rarity of his kind. "So, how can I help you two?"
       She questioned as she sat down in the armchair across from her
       visitors.
       ----
       Blade finally calmed down enough to quiet down to a mild chuckle
       as Melita gave her explanation, and a detailed description of
       her mom. He went silent with a *deep* blush when Mel kissed his
       cheek. "Later," he managed to get out with a half-hearted wave
       as she left.
       The blush didn't get any better as Shade questioned him, "One
       girl isn't *girls*....." Blade grumbled.
       He gave no resistance as he was ushered inside letting out a
       groan of complaint at being told he would need to cook.
       "Fuuu.uuuuuuuuuuuck..... whyyyyy?" He complained as he got into
       the house and located the kitchen area. The grumpy hybrid
       grumbled to himself the entire time he worked on making dinner
       for the group with Shade.
       ----
       Arik froze, his eyes widening when the ogre turned brandishing a
       blade and giving him a full frontal view of everything.
       "Normal?" He asked in an awed voice. "Sorry for startling you,"
       he apologized once the two had calmed down a bit.
       "Actually I brought over a stew to share, it's Vegetarian if
       that's okay. I'll have to go on a hunt soon. I'm Arik, nice to
       meet you both,"
       ------
       "Oh dear, of course. We can stop by and get supplies for both of
       you. And maybe get her something sweet. That helps too," Kayda
       replied.
       "Silver is a good choice. I'll get the crystal to my father so
       he can get started on the charm spell."
       Kayda led the way back to the village, stopping to get the
       supplies for Moyra and then gave Eclipse a ride back to her new
       home.
       "I enjoyed spending time with you  today, Eclipse. If I don't
       see you around tomorrow, I'll see you the day after for sure,"
       Kayda told the unicorn girl with a bright smile.
       ----
       Shade just chuckled as he broke blade in. It wasn’t hard for him
       to smell the scent of the girl on blade but given the amount of
       tired he still was brushed it off as he went to cut the meat.
       Once he was done prepping he left blade to cook and he
       ‘supervised’ by sitting at a chair. “So, what got you so quickly
       going for the girl guide?” He asked as he tried some meat blade
       had cooked to make a smile at the taste.
       ———
       Yuze felt his lovers hand calm him down from his blade at least
       to getting himself together and trying to cover up. The roaming
       eyes making him blush. “Yes… sleeping in the wild is normal for
       us.” He said as he wished he had that tent right then. He could
       smell the food and blinked. “I don’t  mind the idea of food, and
       sorry.. just came from dealing with things outside this place so
       I’m a little jumpy still.” He said to hear about hunting.”oh?”
       He questioned.
       ———
       Eclipse held the things together as she heard kayda.”I did too
       and thanks for telling me, hopefully Moyra isn’t in a too bad of
       mood to listen to me.” She said remembering times where the
       woman would just shut up and try to be by herself. She could
       still remember how she freaked at first wondering if she was
       going to die.
       “I don’t mind seeing you tomorrow. Probably will be finding a
       nice place to run in my other form?” She asked. She found
       shifting to be normal and dabbling into the normal tendencies to
       do so.
       ———
       Lyra sat some tea down, as Moyra looked at it and seemed to have
       a slight untrusting look Lyra knew well to take it and drink
       some.”see safe.” She said as she watched the girl take
       it.clearly it looked as if the teen was a little on edge.
       ”he’s my familiar flint.” She said to stroke his feathers to
       smooth them down.”Kallios told me if I wanted to practice magic
       you or dragon guy could provide wards to do so. So no one else
       would get hurt when I practice-believe I was told you might have
       spells I might not even know too. All I got is my mother’s spell
       book left, so anything would work.” She said as the talk seemed
       to bring her back to when she was small, her hand tightened
       around the cup of tea a little as she quietly refused to start
       tearing up right now of all times, granted it still happened.
       “Want to learn as much as possible so I can be a capable witch
       one day.” She finished.
       ——-
       Melita had broken into a small run, racing by einar and Hama who
       clearly were wrangling in their kids with the oldest daughter,
       her hand waving at one to continue her way to their home. The
       place was bustling and was full of people getting things for
       dinner or going to others of familiar faces. She about ran into
       Kallios and blinked.”sorry.” She said to chuckle.”figured I’d
       better move it before mom decided to come find us.” She joked a
       little as she headed toward their own home.
       #Post#: 1589--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 12:45 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       The mention of a vegetarian stew peeked Tama's interest, a smile
       coming to his lips at the man's offer to share food with them.
       "Seems the gods heard my craving for stew," he couldn't help but
       joke, rather enjoying the flustered state of Yuze. It wasn't
       often he got to see the man like that. "It's been a long
       journey. I am Tama, this is my mate Yuze, we appreciate the
       hospitality." He said, introducing them both as he remembered
       manners were a thing.
       Once Yuze was covered, Tama looked around before finding a new
       place to settled down and let his horse half settle lazily on
       the grass as he wait for Yuze and their surprise visitor to join
       him. He was more than ready to eat.
       ---
       The dryad silently listened and watched as her Mate interacted
       with the girl, coaxing an explanation of why she was there. The
       spill out of emotions was not something Yuwichi had expected as
       her eyes gained a softer look to them. Seeing the dew collecting
       into girl's eyes as the child seemed to have a determination not
       to cry in that moment. Yuwichi sat there silently for several
       moments without moving or even blinking as she thought over the
       girl's request.
       Finally the dryad let out a heavy sigh as she made a mental
       decision of what she would do.
       "Why does it not surprise me Kallios is the one who sent
       you...." She mused. "I don't normally take apprentices.... but I
       suppose there is a first time for everything. I can teach you
       and help you in your training but I expect you to put your all
       into it. If you are so much as late for practice I will no
       longer help you. The kind of magic I know takes strict
       discipline. We will meet on the training grounds in the morning
       after breakfast. Bring your spell book and familiar and I can
       assess what you already have learned..." She said. "What is your
       name?" She added, mentally kicking herself over Lyra's bleeding
       heart rubbing off on her.
       ---
       Despite Blade's complaints, the guy was a natural cook. A trait
       he picked up from his father. The young dragon and Shade soon
       had the whole kitchen filled with the sounds and smells of
       cooking. He hadn't noticed Shade had stopped helping as he got
       frustrated with his shirt turned vest as it tried to dip into
       everything he was working on, resulting in Blade ripping it off
       and throwing it into the nearest trash bin. His ire towards the
       cloth was distracted when his guardian asked about Blade's
       suddenly going for Meltia. He couldn't help how his cheeks
       turned red again.
       "Well, her name is Melita for one... and... I don't fu.cking
       know... she dragged me off.... spent some time alone while she
       showed me an underwater cave system that would make a good
       den... she told me I'm her boyfriend now.... whatever that
       means..." He said in explanation as he went back to tending to
       the cooking food.
       ----
       Arik shifted slightly, realizing that the ogre had misunderstood
       him. But it was probably wise to keep his dirty thoughts to
       himself for now.
       "I completely understand being on edge, I was the same when I
       first arrived." Arik replied.  "Ah yes, perhaps the Gods
       inspired me to fulfill your wish for stew," he chuckled and then
       turned to grab the pot of steaming stew and set it down.
       "It's nice to meet the both of you," he said once he heard their
       names. "I'll be back shortly. I've got some more stuff to grab,"
       Arik hurried off to grab bowls,  a ladle and some spoons along
       with the basket of produce. He set them down on his return and
       filled the bowls generously and handed them over before filling
       one for himself.
       With the stew still being quite hot, Arik stirred it and
       remembered how Yuze had seemed interested when he'd mentioned
       hunting.
       "Would you both want to join me on a hunt? I usually go out for
       a week at most, catch what I can and use the meat to trade for
       other things. The village uses more of a barter system, which
       helps when one is skilled and doesn't have money,"
       ------
       "when there are this many people around, you need to slow down,"
       Kallios replied looking a bit irked by her carelessness.
       "Did you and Blade have fun?" He asked, falling into step with
       her as they walked the remaining few feet to the base of the
       massive tree that held the original families that had started
       the village.
       Normally their family would have dinners together away from the
       noise and crowds. It was a time they could relax and spend time
       together, cooking and talking and unwinding after a long day.
       Kallios headed into the kitchen, the smells of food already
       cooking filling the air.
       "Oh are we having buttered chicken? How can I help?" He asked
       going over to where Eden was working.
       -----
       "If there's anyway I can help, let me know, I can get that way
       myself too." Kayda sympathized.
       Her stomach fluttered again when the girl agreed to seeing her
       again the next day. "if you get up early tomorrow, I could show
       you the perfect place for that. It's not exactly easy to find
       your first time. I'm usually up a little before dawn, if I know
       where your room is, I can knock on your window," Kayda
       suggested.
       ----
       Yuze chuckled a little at the man’s words. “Yuze,” he had said.
       He sat to enjoy the sunset as he leaned on Tama to see Arik come
       running back to take one to start eating. After eating a bit
       seemed to think hearing what he had said.”I wouldn’t mind.. I
       don’t like sitting still- kind of use to being on the go.” Said
       Yuze. His eyes looked over the place where they picked.. just on
       the hill to allow a bit more of a sight. “I don’t mind but most
       will be going to the children here. Most lost their families and
       more.” He said his hand running in his hair to free it from the
       ponytail he had going for more comfort as he settled to eat
       more.thoughts of his ogre bretheren filled his mind. The man
       never was good at following- he wondered if his perception would
       change in time.. his instincts to challenge whoever led the
       place fighting at him. He licked his lips a bit.”this is quite
       delicious.. thank you.” He commented at the meal as he finished
       off the bowl and asked for a little more.
       ——
       Moyra heard the sigh to lol up, her eyes flickered immediately
       with excitement.”I will and I won’t be late!” She said almost
       coming out of her chair. She nodded a little and blushed.”Moyra
       is my name.” She told Yuwichi.”and thank you!“ she said as her
       mothers more prominent desire of learning magic seemingly had
       imprinted on her. While she fought with the idea of physical
       fight training- magic was all she lived and breathed for- to
       have someone agree to teach her was a leap and a bound for
       her.”I will see you after breakfast.” She said with a gleeful
       smile.
       —-
       “Melita hm?” He listened as he shifted to his cat form as he
       listened his tail swaying lazily. It made a twitch at the sound
       of boyfriend. “Feel sorry for that girl .. should run the other
       way..” joked the cat as he watched him cook. “But it seems she’s
       good for you.. quite the shade you’ve turned blade..” he said to
       chuckle
       ——
       “Hey, sometimes going slow isn’t my thing- book for brains.”She
       said to tease him a little.”mmmm lots of fun.. what about you?
       Did that boy and girl you were eyeing enjoy that tour?” She
       asked as they headed to the space. The smell of food hit her in
       a way that brought warmth and family. She could hear her mother
       humming a tune as she cooked to eye kal as she heard her
       mother.”it’s mostly there..check the bread and see if it’s
       ready. Melita my dear.” She said to turn, her face fell to see a
       hickey. She fought a small smile knowing snow might not be happy
       about it- but it felt nice knowing they could explore without
       worrying about the dangers. “Get mommy’s favorite alcohol hm?”
       She said as she turned back to finish up what she was doing.
       “Alright..” said the teen as she went to do what she asked,
       going to the glass bottles that have been made in time to pick
       out what she knew her mother favored.
       ----
       Feeling Yuze settle against him had Tama Feeling relaxed once
       more. The on edge tension slowly leaving him as they waited for
       their new friend to return. Once the centaur had the bowl of
       stew he held it close to nose taking in the smell for likely
       longer than most would consider normal as he remembered his herd
       and life before enslavement.
       He named to snap out of it when the mention of going hunting
       with the man, Yuze seeming to warm to the idea. "We have never
       stayed anywhere for very long, would be good to help out Shade
       and Flint with feeding all those kids...." He commented as he
       finally started to eat. Tama made a pleased sound at the flavor,
       practically moaning. "Oh this is better than my own mother
       made!" He couldn't help but exclaim, tucking in to the dish and
       finishing it rather quickly once he started. "You are a
       fantastic cook." He praised, working on his second bowl once
       given.
       ---
       "Alright Moyra, I will see you after breakfast, enjoy your
       evening and get plenty of rest." Yuwichi told the girl, taking a
       cup of tea to sip it slowly. The though of dinner for herself
       and Lyra crossing her mind as she wondered what they would have.
       ---
       A scoff left Blade when Shadow make the comment that the girl
       should run from him before pointing out the blush. It made the
       teen go even darker. "Don't know what you are talking about..."
       He lied. While he didn't realize his feeling showed up on his
       cheeks the way it did but he knew he must be showing his it in
       some way.
       ---
       Arik was quite pleased that Yuze and Tama wanted to go along.
       "I know that feeling, probably the Viking blood in me. The need
       to move and be active runs high in my lineage."
       His eyes softened at the mention of children and the families
       they'd lost. He knew that feeling all too well having lost all
       he'd cared for many years ago. He was more than a little
       impressed that the two wanted to help provide for the kids.
       He shoved a bite into his mouth, watching Yuze's long hair fall
       down on his shoulders.
       "You're welcome. I'm glad I could share. Eating alone can get
       lonely. I know i could go eat in the community hall, but it just
       gets too loud for me." He admitted.
       Arik served up more of the stew to both, feeling his face heat
       at Tama's praise. "Eat as much as you both want. There's quite a
       bit. I'm used to making large batches and end up eating the same
       thing for an entire week,"
       Once the three were full, Arik let out a satisfied sigh and
       leaned back a bit. "So it's going to take me at least a day to
       get supplies together. So, we can head out the day after, if
       that works for the both of you."
       ----
       -----
       Kallios ignored his sister's teasing words. "being impulsive can
       cause more problems in the long run," he warned, though Kallios
       knew she wouldn't listen.
       "They did," he replied, not giving any details of everything
       that had happened. He felt a bit badly about it, but didn't want
       to reveal Orian's secret. "I'll show them more tomorrow. They
       really liked the artifact room,"
       Kallios did as his mother asked and pulled out the golden brown
       bread, setting it onto a cooling rack on the counter. Hearing
       Adan and Snow getting the younger ones washed up, he started
       setting the table.
       When they came racing out, he greeted them with hugs and helped
       them get settled while the food was brought over and served. He
       took his spot at the table and helped his 4 yr old sister focus
       on eating when she got too distracted.
       "Melita, what is that on your neck?" Snow demanded finally
       having spotted the hickey on his daughter's neck.
       ----
       Moyra nodded to wave at yuwichi before she headed off, her feet
       carrying her home to the tree house. Her eyes took in eclipse
       with the dragon woman to continue her way to the house to see
       eclipse.
       —-
       Eclipse nodded softly.”of course, “ once they arrived she showed
       where her room was to wish Kayda goodbye, her head moved to see
       Moyra and flint coming up to smile. The girl exceedingly happy.
       Eclipse took her hand.”we need to talk for a second.” She told
       her to pull her in and past the food that smelled so good.
       Shadow noticed his lover to stretch at the sight.”I’ll go set
       the table blade.. by and by.. the more you blush the more you
       give it away”he said to shift to his human form and did just
       that.  He made a motion for flint to perch on him as the girls
       went upstairs.”So I’m guessing it wasn’t an emergency?” He asked
       his lover.
       It would be moments later eclipse, would come down with lumine
       in hand. “Smells amazing.” Said eclipse smiling at blade as she
       got her younger sister in a chair.
       Upstairs Moyra found Orion asleep to gently shake his
       shoulder.”come on- let’s eat and you can sleep more after.” She
       said as she attempted to wake him up.
       ——
       Yuze chuckled.”.. you just wish for a connection.” Yuze said
       quietly.”I can understand that.. everyone craves for some bond
       to someone.” He said as he ate more.”maybe we can start doing
       that since we are no longer on the move.” He mused to himself
       before hearing the man talk.”a day hm?.. mean I can wait a
       little but I’ll probably see if there is anything to do
       tomorrow.” Said Yuze. “I never thought Luna’s crazy dream would
       exist in a place like this.. real coexistence.” He said as he
       spoke of one of their friends.”she was a crazy witch, kind
       through and through though.” He said.”if she were alive I’m sure
       she would have been having the biggest smile. Al and smoker may
       just be in shock that it could happen.” He said with a chuckle.
       ——
       Melita just chuckled as she listened.”everyone likes the
       artifact room.”
       Once Melita had sat the alcohol down and gotten settled to make
       sure her brothers and sisters had some plates started eating.
       The girl that felt on cloud 9 felt a drop in her stomach at her
       father’s demand.
       Eden who poured her glass of alcohol took a drink and
       chuckled.”I wouldn’t lie to your father.. just saying.” She said
       as Melita blushed a little.”you lie all the time.” She said
       flatly.
       Her face went back to her father and sighed.”it’s a hickey
       papa..” she mumbled. Her eyes immediately looking away from the
       man to focus more on her plate. Soon as the food hit her mouth
       her mother asked.”so who’s the lucky girl?…boy?..” to see Melita
       blush at the last part.”boy.” Eden said to smirk a little bit.
       “He’s one of the new rescues..” Melita finally broke down.”he’s
       cute and bit funny… he’s my boyfriend.” She said as Eden just
       chuckled more to look at Snow. She knew how the man was about
       their kids. Her hand slid on the man’s free one, giving a
       comforting squeeze.
       “Adan love- I forgot the juice in the kitchen- mind getting it?”
       She asked her other lover.
       ---+
       Lyra watched the girl go to look at Yuwichi.”i made a cream stew
       today- does that sound good?” She asked as she poured more tea
       for her lover. Since the time together did Lyra loosen up, she
       showed a bit more skin than she had, her clothing clinging
       loosely to her form. “Maybe a nice pudding for dessert?” She
       asked with a soft smile to look down at Yuwichi as she slid in
       her lap.
       -----
       The second bowl of food was soon empty before Tama grabbed a
       piece of fruit from the basket. He took a single bite and chewed
       it slowly as he listened to the two men, Yuze mentioning how
       much Luna would have loved this place and how shocked Al and
       Smoker would have been. "This would have been her paradise..."
       the centaur agreed softly before taking another bite of the
       fruit in his hand.
       "Think we will have plenty to do tomorrow checking out this
       place... among other things," he said as he gently pushed some
       strands of his lover's hair out of his face. Once he was done
       eating, Tama got to his feet and stretched. "Thank you for
       sharing this food with us, you are welcome to cook for us
       whenever you like," he said with a grin, trying to pull his mind
       away from those they had lost.
       ----
       Soon enough, the young witch was gone as quickly as she had
       arrived. Yuwichi let out a fresh sigh, mentally cursing herself
       for giving herself more work to do. A smile returning to her
       lips as Lyra seemed to read her mind, mentioning what was for
       dinner. The smile grew as her love slid into her lap with a
       mention of dessert. "That sounds lovely my little bird. You do
       so spoil me," she mused, taking another sip of her tea as she
       snaked an arm around Lyra's waste and held her close.
       ---
       The only response Shade managed to get out of Blade was a
       disgruntled sound at his face giving him away. The moment Flint
       noticed his mate gesturing to him, had the Phoenix flittering
       over to the man to rest on his shoulder. "No no no emergency,
       Orian hurt himself when when when he got spooked by a a a
       flashback.... nothing serious...." He explained as he got nice
       and comfy riding his lover's shoulder as the man set the table
       for dinner.
       A slight grin came to Blade's lips when Eclipse mentioned how
       she felt the food smelled. "Corse it does, I the one fucking
       cooking it," he couldn't help but say, the man had a ego the
       size of the moon.
       ---
       A groan of protest left Orian as he felt himself being shaken by
       a gentle hand. He turned over groggy, pulling Moyra down to
       snuggle the girl, not even registering what he was doing. "Mmmm
       but sleep," he mumbled.
       ----
       #Post#: 1590--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 1:08 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Yuze's insight had Arik go quiet for a moment, realizing that
       the ogre was right. Connection was the one thing he had yet to
       find, and craved so deeply. Maybe one day he'd find that.
       Rushing into relationships wasn't really his style. It had taken
       him years before he'd found his first mate among his own people.
       "It is a good way to pass time, and keeps me active and fit,"
       Arik spoke up.
       From the way the two spoke of their friends he could sense just
       how much they missed them.
       "I often feel my own tribe would have been shocked by this place
       as well. It's not like any other place in the world,"
       Arik felt an odd tinge go through him, watching Tama's loving
       touch to Yuze's face.
       "I've heard it can take a couple of days to really see
       everything, especially in the library. If you want to take your
       time seeing it all, I don't mind waiting longer," Arik offered.
       Once they'd all gotten enough food, Arik gathered up the dishes
       and pot. "You are very welcome, and of course I will. Have a
       good evening Tama,Yuze. I'll see you again soon," Arik replied
       with a wave and headed back to his hut.
       ------
       Kallios couldn't help but sneak a look at Melita's neck, feeling
       sympathy for the hot water she was in. He was sure he'd have
       been interrogated just as much if he showed up with dark marks
       on his neck. Though Snow probably wouldn't have looked quite as
       murderous.
       Adan laid a calming hand on Snow's leg under the table, giving
       his mate a gentle look while Eden  encouraged Melita to speak
       up.
       Snow's gaze softened a bit as he listened to his daughter
       explaining and talking about the boy she'd met. Until she
       claimed he was her boyfriend.
       "You just met this guy today, and he's already your boyfriend?
       Maybe you should slow things down a little bit. Take your time
       getting to know him better,"
       Adan let out a sigh nodding at Eden, pulling away to go get the
       juice for the younger kids.
       When he returned Adan changed the subject, wanting to keep the
       night from ending badly.
       "You two should invite your new friends over for dinner one
       night soon. Let us get to know them better."
       Kallios blinked, looking a bit surprised that his father knew he
       had new friends.
       "I was in the library when you were showing them the artifact
       room." Adan said with a chuckle. "You might think of playing
       tour guide more often,  I was impressed by what I heard,"
       Kallios' face went bright red and he ducked his head. "maybe,"
       he said evasively, wishing he could disappear.
       -----
       Yuze leaned into his lovers touch. He saw how the man’s face
       read a little his eyes taking him in. “Don’t mind a guide to
       those places either Arik.” Said the ogre to blush a bit. He took
       his time to gather dishes together and helped made sure they
       were together.
       “Good evening Arik.. sleep soundly.” Said Yuze with a smile. He
       made a small bow before noticing kayda with the tent and thanked
       the girl kindly. The man took his time to fashion a front on the
       cave and with some work managed to get it done. What was left
       was spread on the ground like a blanket.”come tama.. some real
       sleep tonight..” he said with a relaxed smile.
       ——-
       Melita blushed a bit.”that’s what boyfriend means dad.. you know
       - getting to know someone.” She said as Eden made a small
       chuckle.
       Melita heard the change of subject as the attention shifted.
       Eden watched her son’s reaction to chuckle again. “Remember
       melita. Hunting is tomorrow morning. And it’s time I take you
       outside the walls with me.” Said Eden. “We are hunting the big
       game.” She said to finish her meal.”been hearing the serpents
       are collecting on the northernmost part of our oasis, better
       take care of it- we can use the meat and their skin for things.”
       Eden said thoughtfully. “Be ready by the morning.” Melita heard
       to nod.
       ——-
       Eclipse chuckled.”that’s because you cook the best.. mind
       teaching me how to cook more later?” She asked a bit hopeful.
       She wanted to try to get better at things and she knew blade
       knew how to make a meal that was more than delicious. She sat at
       the table after she got her sister up.  Her nose wrinkled
       wondering where her brother was.
       —-
       Moyra felt the pull in and blushed hotly. Her face so close to
       his.”c..come on Orion- ya gotta wake up..” she said before her
       features softened. His sleeping face always did seem peaceful to
       her. “You don’t wake up I’m gonna…” she started before She moved
       a bit in his arms to place a light kiss on his lips.
       —-
       Lyra enjoyed their meal she had made and afterward snaked her
       way back in her lovers lap.”never thought you’d take on an
       apprentice- I know you’ve turned down quite a few- what makes it
       different with this girl?” She asked as she nuzzled close.
       -----
       "I'm not exactly big on indoor spaces," Tama commented at the
       mention of a library. "Probably just need the day, I mean,
       unless you wanted to show Yuze around that Library thing." He
       found himself suggesting, feeling a little guilty that his lover
       might feel held back by Tama's dislike of being inside. Most
       places wernt built with his kind in mind. "Good night, sleep
       well," he said as everyone made their goodbyes as the young
       woman from before returned with a tent that Yuze was quick to
       get the cave ready for them, beckoning the centaur once he was
       done.
       A wide smile stretched across his lips at the idea of some real
       sleep. He gladly, and rather sleepily, followed his mate inside
       the cave to lay down with him on the much more comfortable
       floor. Once settled, Tama pulled the tie out of his long black
       hair that cascaded down to past his human torso. It wasn't often
       the man ever let it down so it was a wild mess that would take a
       lot of work to untangle but at least it hadn't began to form
       mats yet. Taking off all the ornamental straps and such he wore.
       It felt nice to truly relax. It wouldn't hard to fall asleep in
       Yuze's arms with a full stomach and seeming safety. He was
       pretty sure he was not the only one who had never experienced
       such, security. They had always had to be some level of on high
       alert for anything from predators, hunters, even slavers in
       Tama's case. He barely even gave his lover a hood night kiss
       before he was out.
       The next morning, Tama woke up slowly. Groaning softly as he
       moved away from his mate to stretch. He had never felt so rested
       since he was a child.
       Seeing as he was already out of what little clothing he would
       tolerate, Tama decided to go take a proper bath and brush out
       his hair. The sun was starting to get rather high in the morning
       sky by the time the centaur would finish. He even untangled his
       tail. His hair, coat, and tail had never looked this good as he
       did as cleaned up. Finally done he left the water.
       ---
       After a quiet dinner, Lyra was right back in her place in
       Yuwichi's lap, nuzzling against the dryad's neck and getting the
       witch to properly relax. A fresh sigh leaving her at her lover's
       question. "Neither did I..... something about the passion in her
       eyes... besides, not often you get to work with a phinox. We
       will see how much I regret it when I have to wake early in the
       morning," she mused before pulling her lover into a passionate
       kiss. The pair enjoyed a passionate night in bed, falling asleep
       with her little bird in her arms.
       Morning came far too soon and Yuwichi begrudgingly woke up,
       kissing her lover sweetly to rouse her. "I will be heading out
       soon to get those wards up for practice. I will see you around
       lunch my love," she told the woman before she headed out to the
       training ground. She used stakes to mark out the area of
       protection before waiting patiently for her new student to join
       her, doing so meditation while she waited.
       ----
       The smirk on Blade's lips grew at Eclipse's words. "Hmm maybe,
       see how I feel about it later..." He answered as he finished
       preparing dinner and got plates ready before taking his meal to
       the basement that led to the cave system. He preferred eatting
       along. Once done, he went to sleep at the bottom of the pool of
       water in dragon form, not coming out again until well in the
       afternoon the following day. Sleepily emerging to go lay out in
       the front yard to soak in the sun. His black scales glittering
       like a rainbow under the sunlight.
       ----
       Feeling Moyra squirming in his arms and speaking, threatening
       him vaguely as he started to open his eyes. Orian's eyes opened
       wide when he felt the girl's lips on his own. Seeing who's lips
       were on his had his face turning all kinds of red but didn't
       stop him from kissing her back, letting his feelings for the
       witch push back his fear of her not returning his feeling
       because clearly she did.
       ----
       Arik rolled out of bed seconds after his eyes opened the next
       morning. He got straight to work, packing up what had, making
       lists of what else they'd need in supplies and gathering up
       things he could use to trade.
       By late morning he knew he needed a break, and a cold bath. He
       was covered in sweat and feeling quite hot. As he gathered up
       his supplies, he wondered if he might run into Tama or Yuze at
       the nearby lake.
       "Hello there Tama!" He called out when he spied the centaur.
       "You're looking..good," he finished admiring how nicely Tama had
       cleaned up.
       He set his clothes and towel on a branch and undid his braid,
       putting the hair tie on his wrist. After he'd left his boots
       close by, Arik pulled off his dirty pants and walked down until
       he was waist deep and splashed water over his face and chest,
       gasping a little at the cold water.
       "There is a hot springs, but it's a bit further off. I can show
       you later if you'd like, Tama." He offered, knowing that the
       cold water wasn't always the best.
       Arik walked in further, letting his entire body dip under the
       water, taking a breath before his face and head went under. He
       came up a few moments later and swam around a bit before he
       started scrubbing his hair out. Once he felt he was clean
       enough, he slowly came out, the water dripping off his muscular
       tattooed body. "Was the fruit enough for breakfast? If you go
       into the village, you should check out the pastry tent. They
       have the best honey buns ever,"
       -----
       ----
       Kayda was up super early the next morning, going through her
       wardrobe picking out things that Eclipse might like. Then she
       dressed in her training outfit, form fitting pants and a
       sleeveless tunic. She fixed her braid so it wasn't so messy and
       then made a bundle, grabbed some breakfast to go and headed over
       to Eclipse's tree house.
       Hovering near the girl's window, she tapped on it with a claw
       and then a little harder waiting for an answer.
       -----
       Kallios was woken up by the smell of bacon frying. He let out a
       groan as he moved his youngest sibling off of his chest and
       disappeared into the bathroom. After a quick shower he got
       dressed and helped get the other kidlings dressed and into the
       kitchen. With how many there were, all hands were needed to get
       them moving along. Not that Kallios minded.
       "I can start the toast," Kal volunteered, seeing everything else
       was nearly ready. He got to work on slicing, buttering and then
       stuck them in the oven to broil. It was the fastest way with
       their family pack.
       "Since Eden and Melita are heading out on the hunt, do you mind
       getting the littles to the caretakers after breakfast, Kallios?"
       Adan asked as he filled up plates with food.
       "Yeah, I can," Kallios replied, keeping a close eye on the
       bread. He pulled one tray out when it was lightly toasted, and
       gave another couple of minutes for the next tray.
       Breakfast was lively and full of the littles happy chatter. Once
       they'd seemed to get enough, Kallios gathered them up, and led
       them off.
       His ears were more than ready for some peace and quiet by the
       time he let them off with the caretakers.
       Kal's morning seemed to go by more slowly than normal. It wasn't
       that his training and lessons were boring, it was more his
       impatient. He wanted to get through them so he could see Orian
       and Moyra.
       -----
       Eclipse made a smile. “Okay.. really wanna learn from you.”
       Admitted the girl before she watched him leave the table. Part
       of her wished he’d join to eat with the rest with them. Her fork
       played with the food some as she thought about kayda. The
       thought of running through the glade ended up being apart of her
       dreams as she slept, the dawn of the new day broke as she heard
       a tap on her window as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. She
       saw her younger sister at the window.”big dragon!” She heard to
       chuckle.”her name is kayda.. don’t be rude.. now run along so
       you can eat.” She told her to open the window.”morning! Just
       give me a little bit and I’ll be down.” She said with a smile.
       ——
       Moyra watched as his eyes opened wide.. and it was as if they
       really saw each other for the first time. Her mouth molded with
       his as it left her breathless as they parted.”I do like you
       Orion..” said Moyra.”a lot more than you know… but we should go
       eat before flint or shade comes looking.” She said with a light
       blush.”maybe after morning training.. can see Kallios? You could
       go to the library for a little so you don’t flashback again.”
       She said softly. Her fingers trailed on his jawline to smile
       rather softly. Finally feeling able to tell him how she felt..
       made her more than happy.
       ———
       “Tama I’m sure if we look around we can see if they are
       accommodating.. mean we found this cave.. and given the amount
       of various races.. maybe they do have ways for you to get
       inside?” He said. Yuze felt for his mate.. but even at a few
       glances around before finding their own home, did find things
       accommodating in places.
       He had passed out as quickly as Tama. The ogre slept harder than
       he had for the past few weeks. Morning crawled in a form of an
       empty bed. The ogre waking up and wiping his sleep from his
       eyes. He yawned to get up and throw his sheath in his clothed
       belt. He began to stroll taking in the various wildlife. His
       face clearly smitten with the nature of the place.
       The soft sounds of birds chirping filled his ears as he felt an
       inner peace he hadn’t in a while for a morning. He made his way
       around what looked like a rock in a shape of a dragon to come up
       upon a sight. His mate looking totally cleaned up and like a
       snack.. his eyes drifting to a rather naked Arik to turn his
       face after realizing he was staring.”why are you not dressed
       yet?” He asked his face bright red. The ogre tried to remain
       calm as he went to a place to get ready to wash seeing a
       convenient bush that hid his lower half until he got in the
       water. The feel of the cool refreshing water against his skin
       -felt like a breath of fresh air. His long hair hanging down
       before he dipped to come up to wipe the water from his face as
       he tried to not look ariks way by focusing on Tama.
       ——
       Melita woke with a start. The smell of breakfast filled her nose
       as she moved slowly. The girl got her sisters going, to shuffle
       them to the table. She got on her own breakfast duty, as she
       filled the kids plates and was making her own breakfast as she
       heard daddy adan talk. She could see on his face that Kallios
       was upbeat- more than his usual self to smile. Once she got them
       sat down helped make sure the four year old ate. She took notice
       their mother was not at the table yet.
       Eden was enjoying a soak in the part of the waterfall that lead
       to their own hot spring. The woman’s thoughts eating at her as
       she could feel end craving special attention.”if they don’t come
       down. We can try to convince twy.. but you seriously need to
       give her breaks.. I’m running out of gift ideas to make up for
       your bullshit.” She said as the head tilted the other
       way.”alright alright.. I just miss skoll..“ pouted end. Eden’s
       head turned a little to the other side.”if we have to we can
       always air walk.. they’ll just have to bite their tongues.” Said
       Eden before she chuckled to herself in the place. Being natural
       as it was allowed for her to enjoy some quiet.
       After a bath she got herself out, the water streaming from her
       naked form before seeing Melita with a plate of food.”you
       weren’t there so..” she said to look to the side.
       Eden chuckled.”let me get dressed, gather the weapons my little
       honeydew.” She told  the girl to get the clothing up that she
       use to wear in the desert. The woman use to trying to meld with
       the landscape despite the shock of red hair.
       Tattoos now littered more of her form.. a heart designed on her
       chest. Her circle on her back looked fresh with ink thanks to
       atreus' work. She slid her bottoms on to eat breakfast as she
       went to fuss with her top, her daughter handing her the choker
       Jalal found again. She fascinated it to look in the mirror to
       look at herself. She grabbed her blades as the two headed out
       toward the place where the serpents had been collecting.
       ----
       Melita felt her breath hitch at the gates. She watched as her
       mother used her tuning looking as if a tree in the wind, her
       arms winding around before the vines let them through. What
       motions she did next closing them off. The two patrolled till
       they came upon what looked like quite a group.”oh good.. try to
       snipe at the smaller ones.. remember tune your wind.. ice use if
       your surrounded.. the water in your water bladder will be your
       back up.” Said Eden as she slid her blades out. They were brand
       new thanks to the blacksmiths of their oasis, crystal blades in
       place of metal. It glittered in the hot sun before she took off
       her body twisting with the winds she summoned by her swooping
       movements of a bird.
       Melita who was almost mesmerized by her mother’s ability shook
       herself out of the stare. Seeing her mother tune before was
       merely lessons- this felt as if she was gaining an understanding
       of how she should use it- it was as if she gained more of a wish
       to have that much control one day. She notched an arrow that had
       a stone attached. Her focus going on one that was slithering its
       way to the rocky walls. The winds wrapped around her form to the
       arrow before she released it. It shot out like a blur nailing
       its target clean through. A smile dawned on her face as she went
       for another.
       The two had a talk while they fought. As Eden said she was fine
       with her being with a boy, but to be safe.. cause no matter be
       it desert or the oasis pregnancy could be difficult. Not knowing
       of what would come.
       Eden seemed to take out the bigger ones that seemed normal..
       least till one reacted like one that had consumed a stone. It
       shifted as flames erupted over its form. Eden seeing this took
       off to hit its body, the blood spewed from its form. It
       collapsed as Eden joked.”looks like this one cooked itself.” She
       said to chuckle. After some more of thinning and feeling it safe
       did Eden give a signal as people came to move the beasts to be
       cleaned and harvested for meat.
       The two were walking back about noon when Melita saw blade in
       his dragon form.”so pretty..” she mumbled as Eden chuckled.”they
       always seem to love the sun.” She commented.”I’m going to get
       lunch.. see you later honeydew.” She told her daughter to pat
       her head like she always did before she walked her way to where
       they would be gutting and cleaning the meat to go help.
       Melita got a bit closer as she noticed a marking similar to
       blade in human form.”blade?” She called out softly.
       -----
       Hearing Arik's voice had Tama standing up in the water before he
       spotted the man. He couldn't help the blush on his cheeks as he
       noticed the man admiring him before telling the centaur he
       looked good. "Good morning, thank you, took all morning to
       untangle all my hair.... been too long since I've had the time."
       He said as he greeted the viking. He couldn't help but stare as
       the man walked down to the water with nothing hiding his naked
       body until the man was deep enough in the water. "A hot spring
       would be quite relaxing, you will have to show me when we get a
       chance." He agreed.
       Watching Arik cleaning up, Tama relaxed back in the water,
       enjoying the view as it were. He particularly liked the part
       where the tattooed man got out of the water, watching the
       droplets cascade down that perfect body stirred things that he
       quickly pushed down and looked away. He had to remind himself it
       was rude to stare.
       It was then that Yuze finally arrived. The look his mate gave
       him making him grin. His eyebrows raised sewing how his lover
       reacted to seeing Arik. A smirk played on his lips as an idea
       began to form in his mind. He would have to talk to his love
       later. "He only just got out of the water, could just enjoy the
       view," he found himself teasing his mate. He rather enjoyed
       seeing the man so flustered.
       Soon enough, Yuze joined him in the water. Tama watched as his
       lover started to get cleaned up, seeming to struggle to keep his
       eyes off Arik. The centaur moved over to his lover and pulled
       the man into a loving kiss before whispering in the ogre's ear,
       "hard not to look huh?" He questioned playfully as he went about
       helping his mate to clean up.
       ---
       Hearing his own name on the voice of his girlfriend had Blade's
       eye cracking open slightly in acknowledgment of her being there
       but not moving much more than that otherwise. *`'How was your
       hunt?'`* he mentally asked his lover.
       ----
       When Orian heard Moyra's confession when their lips parted had
       the unicorn blushing even more.
       "I.... I like you too.... Moyra.... yeah... we... we should go
       eat.... uh... yeah I can hang out there for you guys after i
       graze some in the morning...." He admitted before agreeing with
       her on heading down for dinner. Even once they were back around
       everyone else, it was hard to not steal glances at Moyra as he
       ate his dinner.
       The pair didn't get much of a chance to talk after that, as,
       having such a full stomach in relative safety had the stallion
       fast asleep in bed not even a half hour later.
       The next morning he woke up to the chaos that was the morning
       with so many people. Orian, was quick to escape the moment he
       saw the opportunity, heading out to the nearest isolated stretch
       of land to shift and begin to graze the grass. It was a rather
       relaxing breakfast. He would often graze with his sisters but it
       was nice to be on his own.
       Once he had his fill, Orian headed into the town and found the
       library after a little time looking. He settled himself down
       with a book the librarian recommended before curling up in a
       corner and diving in.
       ---
       It had been far too long since Hati and her mates had returned
       to the oasis Eden had made. It was going on six months at this
       point and Skoll was about ready to commit mutany in order to go
       and see End. The oasis finally came into view and Skoll took
       over. The moment the skyship was docked, she kissed her mates
       lovingly goodbye before she rushed to go see End.
       Kylo never really understood why his mom's other side liked it
       at Oasis so much. He didn't understand the deep connection Skoll
       and End had. All he saw was some woman he saw every now and then
       steal his mom from his dads. Still, he enjoyed coming to this
       place. The Library was massive and the training grounds were top
       notch.
       Once the ship was docked, Kylo helped to get the kids who wanted
       to go down, get off the ship safely before he headed out to go
       have breakfast in the common area. It had been too long.
       ----
       Kayda peered in the window, amused by the younger girl's
       fascination with her. `"it's okay, I don't mind her looking. My
       own siblings love my dragon form too."`
       Kayda swung the bundle from her claw into Eclipse's open window,
       nodding. `"I brought you a few things, use and modify them
       however you want. I'll be down by the door waiting,"` Kayda
       spoke mentally and twisted around gliding to land on the ground
       below.
       Once Eclipse appeared, she took off flying slowly to show the
       unicorn girl how to find her way to the meadow. Kayda hovered
       above the ground, using her tail to set Eclipse on the ground
       before heading off to her training session.
       `"I'll see you later, enjoy your morning run,"`
       On the training grounds she shifted and made her way to find
       Kiya. The veteran had started training her in berserker moves,
       which while chaotic and unpredictable, made Kayda feel powerful.
       After close to an hour of sparring, Kayda was ready for a break.
       She headed over to get a drink and to wash up a bit, her gaze
       catching sight of the other groups practicing and Yuwichi
       waiting at a far end of the field. She idly wondered about who
       might be training with the witch and then headed off to check on
       the watch schedule.
       She completed a few tasks in the watch tower and then headed off
       to find Eclipse, hoping the girl had found her way back from the
       meadow without any trouble.
       ----
       "Oh I'm aware of the struggle with tangled hair. If you'd like,
       I could braid your hair for you. It usually helps mine from
       getting too tangled," Arik explained, wondering just how soft
       Tama's hair might feel.
       Arik could feel the eyes on him, but didn't say anything. It
       became a bit awkward when his exit from the water was seen by
       Yuze who seemed a bit flustered before demanding why he wasn't
       dressed. "I.."
       Tama interjected, speaking up and bringing a light blush to
       Arik's face.
       "Well feel free to enjoy, I usually like to sun dry after a cold
       bath," he replied and moved to retrieve his towel and set it
       out, laying on his stomach to enjoy the warm sun.
       He normally wasn't quite so bold, but found he rather liked
       getting the attention of Yuze and Tama. Plus, he needed to
       charge up his runes with the sunlight.
       After about ten minutes he flipped over letting the rest of his
       body soak in the sun. Once he'd had enough, he pulled the towel
       around his waist and went to get dressed.
       "I've got to head into the village to get supplies, if you want
       to walk there together," he said, emerging from the bushes bare
       chested and working his long hair  into a more elaborate braid.
       ----
       Like was normal, Theon was up early doing his chores around the
       group home. He liked the silence in the morning and being able
       to avoid the looks the others gave him. Being a minotaur even in
       this place wasn't easy.
       It probably didn't help that he was known for lashing out when
       his anger took over. Though he had been learning better ways to
       control it using  meditation and working out. Not that he felt
       like using the training field when others were around.
       Once he'd cleaned up a bit, Theon headed off to the community
       hall to get breakfast. He blinked at the blonde haired teen,
       that seemed familiar though he couldn't quite place him. His
       curiousity won over his antisocial mood for once and he sat down
       across from the teen, eying the guy closely.
       "You look familiar, have we met before?" He finally asked in a
       low voice.
       ----
       Yuze blushed only harder to dip in the lake further with his
       nose a bit out. Once he managed to relax he scrubbed and cleaned
       as he flickered glances at Arik feeling bashful.he felt the pull
       over and the man turned another shade of red.”of course it’s not
       but I didn’t realize you had an interest.. did you want to… add
       another?” He asked in a low tone to his lover. His head pressed
       against Tama’s.
       ——-
       Morning was a new day as Moyra was up to help with breakfast
       duty, she had eaten and rushed out almost leaving flint behind
       in her rush. The girl looking brighter than she had been since
       the loss of her family.
       She skidded as she chuckled   Making her way to the training
       grounds to see Kallios at work. Seeing him practice left a blush
       on her face. Of course she didn’t know if Orion was that kind of
       person.. though her mind did wander. She saw Yuwichi.”see on
       time and ready.” She said clearly short of breath but full of
       vigor and sense of ready to learn. A smile played on her
       lips.”so did you want me to show what I am capable of first?”
       She asked to be sure she remembered yesterday.
       ——
       Melita got a little closer to blade itching to just touch this
       form. She settled by the sleepy dragon.”the best- mom took me
       past the wall today.. use to have to stay behind..” she said
       before her head tilted.”.. got to see mom really tune today.. a
       true master tuner.. now I know why mom talks so obsessively
       about it.” She said.”I’m getting better.. used wind to make the
       arrow go faster- gave me clean hits.. “ she said with a
       smile.”do you like to hunt?” She asked as she scooted closer
       with a smile on her face.
       ———
       Eden was in mid work with Glo, it took time to repair what
       friendship they had. But glo knew it couldn’t be the way it was
       when Eden fully rejected her advances after the agreement of
       visits for skoll and end. The two still flirted and had their
       raunchy talk.
       But as the time passed and glo’s attempts only to be rejected-
       did it hit her it wouldn’t be the same. Eden and end found
       themselves committed to those who fully accepted both sides.
       Eden paused to hear something to turn and see the ship coming
       down.”I’m done you finish.” Spat out the familiar blunt end
       before she took off leaving glo to sigh.”that’s just not fair-
       moment skoll arrives- I am  left with all the work.” She
       complained to watch the retreating back as the woman was already
       making a beeline for where skoll would be in a direction.
       Ends head shifted till she saw her to tune water doused it over
       to get rid of the blood of the meat work and fire to do a
       dry.”skoll!” She said to get close and grabbed her arms to let
       her head press affectionately to the woman she loved. She
       scooted her eye covering enough for her to see.”I missed you.”
       She said to slip a kiss over her mouth.
       ——-
       Eclipse smiled.”I am glad.” She said and saw the things.”oh
       thank you.” She said in a sing song voice. She went to adjust
       her pendant, making sure it would work with what she had and
       came downstairs. Once she came out and rode the dragon to a
       glade. “Thank you…”
       The girl enjoyed the sounds of the chirping and quiet.. before
       she shifted to a dark black form, the hints of purple in her
       mane as she took off. The feel of the hooves to the ground, and
       the smell of the sweet grass was enough for her to feel free
       again.
       After a good run, she went to make her way back to town… in her
       unicorn form to get a few stares.
       Grim who was already trying to figure out a way to cause havoc..
       took notice and about dropped his sandwhich.”holy shit a
       unicorn.” He mumbled before seeing the shift to a female form.
       “Huh..” he said to see end already kissing  skoll.”two best
       females already in the same place… “ he mused.
       —-
       Inizio couldn’t understand why their mother would run off with a
       woman like that.. but he didn’t mind it. He liked the oasis and
       it seemed to be more populated when they come. He saw his
       brother being approached by a man to grin. He could never let
       his twin not go totally unnoticed. He slammed into his
       twin.”oooo.. this guys hot.” Said Inizio,”tell me this guy is
       hitting on you or you him-“ he said with a smirk.
       --++
       At Yuze's question of adding another, Tama glanced over at the
       sunbathing man, admiring the way his ass looked in the sun. "I
       wouldn't be against it... I see the way you look at him... I
       never see you so flustered... so... maybe it's something worth
       exploring?" The centaur suggested softly as he gazed into his
       mate's eyes.
       In Tama's mind, the idea of his mate being able to be with
       someone more like himself, a being that walked on two legs and
       didn't have the struggles like he and Yuze had to overcome. The
       centaur had always been insecure over being enough for his mate
       and wanted more than anything to give the man everything he
       desired.
       ---
       The Phoenix trailed behind Moyra as she ran to the training
       ground to meet up with her new teacher. He landed on his witch's
       shoulder once she had stopped. Yuwichi moved out of her
       meditative position to stand tall when Moyra and her familiar
       arrived.
       "Yes, I see. It would be a good idea to show me what you can do.
       I should also look over your spellbook to see where you may need
       more tutoring." She said, her eyes glowing brighter and brighter
       as she cast her spell to imprison them in the area with the
       stakes. "You may begin." She said as a shadowy opponent appeared
       to fight Moyra.
       ----
       `'I am glad you enjoyed yourself. Watching masters tune is
       always pretty amazing. My dad was centuries old and could tune
       water like I've never seen anyone else be able to do... that's a
       clever way to use your wind. I do enjoy hunting... though I'm
       more of a solo hunter.'` Blade sleepily mused as he moved his
       head to rest in his girlfriend's lap.
       ---
       The moment Skoll caught sight of End, a big smile crossed her
       lips as she embrace her love. Gazing into End's unveiled eyes as
       she confessed missing her. "I missed you too," she managed
       before End silenced her with a deep kiss.
       Seeing the skyship, Yarick went out to look for End and Skoll.
       Having not seen them in far to long, he felt the need to
       reconnect with the few he counted as friends.
       He was far from surprised when he saw the pair kissing in the
       middle of the walkway. He couldn't help but clear his throat at
       the pair. "Having fun?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow and
       bored expression on his face.
       ---
       Hearing a voice Kylo vaguely  remembered had him looking up at
       the handsome minotaur as a blush found his cheeks. "Oh... um...
       I don't know, maybe?" He started to answer before Inizo appeared
       out of nowhere to call the guy hot and then suggest that one was
       hitting on the other. "No one is hitting on anyone! Stop being a
       pain..." He complained to his brother.
       -----
       Arik wasn't sure if the two had heard him or not, and wondered
       what the two were talking about. He probably should just go and
       leave them be to enjoy each other. Yet, he was a bit too curious
       to not ask.
       He moved in a bit closer to them, speaking up a bit louder.
       "I guess you didn't hear my question, something going on?
       Something distracting you?" Arik asked.
       Was it normal for him to feel this strongly attraction to the
       both of them so soon? He figured it would be best to not bring
       it up, he didn't want to get between the two mates.
       -----
       Unlike her other siblings, Jana was in no way weirded out by
       their mother's affection towards Eden. In fact, it wasn't all
       that different from seeing their dads kissing. Then again, Jana
       was more like her mother than the others. Her second personality
       was starting to form, though she hadn't shared this with anyone
       other than Kain. And she knew he wasn't going to tell anyone.
       "Come on Kain, let's go find some fun and make some new
       friends," she said tugging her twin over to repel down to the
       ground.
       Kain followed silently, pulling his hood over his head as if
       trying to hide in a protective shell. Being the milder of the
       two, he would usually defer to what his sister's plans were.
       "Where to first?" He asked softly, his eyes slowly taking in how
       the place had changed since their last visit.
       "The other kids are in training at this hour, so...we could go
       watch, or go for a swim while that lake is empty,"
       Kain looked over at his sister, surprised she was leaving the
       choice up to him. "Swimming?"
       Jana nodded, grinning with approval. "Less eyes, and less as.ses
       being rough,"
       Even though Jana would stand up to anyone that tried bullying
       her twin, it was nice to actually relax when she got the chance.
       ---
       Theon's head jerked up and he tensed at the approach of the red
       haired teen. His hands clenched into fists, his anger rising at
       the roughness and other's annoying questions. Was this guy
       always so obnoxious and rude?
       Theon stood abruptly, barely hearing the blonde's response as he
       stormed away. He really should have known better trying to be
       around other people. Not to mention being made fun of like that!
       Why would anyone say he was hot? Everyone knew he was nothing
       but a monster.
       His mood soured, he stomped through the village, people moving
       well out of his way to avoid him.
       #Post#: 1591--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 1:14 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Yuze smirked a bit at what tama was saying, “he is easy on the
       eyes.. long as your attracted too..” he said to him.
       Yuze finally heard Arik to blush a bit.”thing is.. you are the
       distraction..” admitted the ogre. “Too damn hot for your own
       good.. “ he said as he moved his delicate build in the
       water.”that is .. if your into having two..” he said.
       ——-
       “Yes ma’am.. just be careful with it.. it’s all I got of my
       mother left.” Said Moyra with a soft tone to it. She could feel
       the magic to look around seeing they were imprisoned and saw the
       shadow. Her face twisted to dodge. “*Fire and brimstone, flicker
       and flake. With a snap and a spark, a flame arrow I will make!*”
       The words spilled as she moved and dodged thanks to her fathers
       teachings, while her mothers multitasking showed. A flame shot
       out like a shot to hit the shadow. She saw the next one as she
       darted. “*slip*” she murmured to slide to the side.”*darkening
       skies rumble it heralds, lighting strike hard and true, that of
       purple hue!*”
       Lightning shot from her hand as it hit the shadow, her feet not
       leaving  the ground as she slid to a stop.
       Practice continued as she showed her abilities with water and
       wind.  Some showed weaker than  others.. by the end she was
       sitting on the ground taking a break.
       —-
       Melita blushed.”water.. that sounds amazing..” she said with a
       smile. “I tune strongly with water and ice.. wind is something
       most would know.” She explained.”though unlike my mom- we can
       use our abilities more naturally by nature.. stones boost our
       abilities given our terranian parts.” She said.”believe it or
       not we are mixed. My daddy Adan Kals birth father. He’s fae..
       papa snow was audorian.” she recounted, she looked happy to see
       his head resting his head in her lap to stroke his
       head.”speaking of, I wanted to invite you to dinner with my
       folks sometime… if you’d like..“ she said softly. “I just didn’t
       know if you’d be available or if you’d be busy.” She said.
       —-
       End was enjoying her mingling with the kids to hear her
       friend.”yes I am.. and you look bored. Should totally find
       someone soon.” She teased before seeing grim.”oh great… Yarick
       mind taking care of the trouble maker? He’s already picking a
       fight again and I’m starting to think he likes me kicking his
       ass.” She said looking at him as she noted the guy giving
       another a shove.
       ——
       Inizio blinked”what’s his problem.. mean he’s hot.. and tall..”
       he said with a small smirk.
       Meanwhile a bit of ways, duo was doing his ‘work’ when he
       noticed the Minotaur male stomping his way through. His eyes
       flickered to a kid that was in the teens path as he quickly got
       over to the tall teen and put his hand up.”hey.. I get your mad
       but not everyone can get out of your way… “ he said to reach
       down to the small kid to look around. “All the caretakers in
       this place and they always manage to have one get away.” He
       mumbled as it looked like a red headed tyke to hear one rush up
       and mumbled and apology.
       ----
       The concern of Tama also being attracted to the man brought a
       flutter to the centaur's stomach. Gods did he love his mate.
       "Wouldn't agree if I wasn't," he murmured before Yuze pulled
       away when the human they were talking about got closer, speaking
       up and pointing out their distraction. A chuckle left Tama
       hearing what his mate said to the man.
       He wasn't wrong, Arik was quite the distraction with his
       rippling muscle with tattoos covering him, enhancing everywhere
       the ink touched. The way they slightly glowed in sun was
       mesmerizing. The big question of if the man would be willing to
       have two hung in the air.
       It was this moment that Tama decided it was a good idea to get
       out of the water, he was getting a little on the chilly side, so
       he made his way to shore, his body shaking to get as much water
       off as possible before ringing his hair out before leaning over
       himself to do the same to his tail.
       ----
       "I will return it in the same condition you give it to me,"
       Yuwichi assured as she took the spellbook and began to flip
       through it as Moyra got to work on showing off what she knew.
       The witch had to admit the child was impressive in the way she
       fought and even the clever ways she used her magic.
       It didn't take long for Yuwichi to get what she needed from the
       book and from watching the girl. The shadow figure vanished when
       the fight was finally over and the young witch was sitting on
       the ground. The dryad looked up at the sky, determining that the
       girl had done enough for the day.
       "Good work, I must admit, I'm impressed by your talent. You
       mother was quite the witch wasn't she?" She found herself asking
       as she handed back over the spellbook. "That is enough for
       practice today. We will pick back up in the morning." She told
       the girl, needing to think over the best ways to help the young
       woman improve her skills even farther. Yuwichi dispelled the
       barrier before giving the girl a soft smile before headed back
       home to do some meditative thinking.
       -
       #Post#: 1592--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 1:45 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       `'He was pretty amazing... I'm like him in that I can only tune
       water, the other elements are beyond me... I don't know anything
       about terranians or audorians.... don't have those where I grew
       up... though... I grew up deep in the last true wilds... never
       realized how sheltered I was until I got here.... and I've only
       been here for a day...'` Blade said mentally, a sad tone taking
       hold of his internal voice.
       His eyes opened, suddenly quite awake at the mention of being
       invited to have dinner with her family. `'I.... don't normally
       eat around others...'` he answered at first as he lifted his
       head and stretched his dragon form before shifting into his
       human shape, still shirtless as he hadn't gotten a replacement
       for his old shirt yet.
       The look in Melita's eyes gave Blade the feeling this was
       something important to her and gave a heavy sigh. "Fine....
       clearly it means a lot to you so I guess I can suck it up for an
       evening. I have no plans tonight, other than maybe spending more
       time with you..." He finally said, a blush coming to his cheeks
       as he was never so accommodating.
       ----
       At End's teasing of finding someone for himself, Yarick rolled
       his eyes. "I'm always bored..." He told the woman  before his
       attention was drawn to Grim when End requested his help. "I
       mean, fighting is fun, yeah ill deal with him..." He said with a
       fresh sigh as he stepped between Grim and the person that was
       about ready to fight with Grim for being shoved. A sharp glare
       from Yarick was more than enough to send the person running off.
       "Come on, clearly you have pent up energy, might as well use it
       up training," he suggested.
       ----
       "Pretty sure it is you Inizo.... not everyone likes how forward
       and blunt you are...." Kylo complained as he got to his feet.
       "Go find someone else to annoy please?" He requested of his twin
       before he ran off after the angry minotaur. He had just managed
       to catch sighed of the guy again as the guy was stopped by a man
       with two toned hair. Half black and half white.
       "Hey! Wait up!" He called put finally getting close enough to
       put his hand on the guys upper arm. "Sorry, my brother can be a
       jerk, I sorry he upset you..." Kylo said in an almost plee for
       the Minotaur to forgive him. "My name is Kylo, you probably have
       seen me around before, my family lives in the skyship that docks
       here every so often.... my mom has to visit the leader or
       something like that... pretty sure they are having an affair..."
       He said with a sigh.
       ----
       Yuze's reply had Arik go shock still, his eyes widening and his
       mouth opening. He'd never thought or even imagined being told he
       was hot enough to distract another man before, let alone two
       handsome creatures like Yuze and Tama.
       "Two? At the same time?" He stammered, not quite sure if he
       could even manage one of them. "I'd be interested, but how does
       it work that way? I'd hate to get between the two of you...I
       mean your relationship that is," he stammered clearly having
       dirty thoughts flooding his mind.
       Arik couldn't help but watch the powerful centaur get out of the
       water and gulped, wondering just how sex would work with Tama.
       At least with his runes, his body would repair from any vigorous
       endeavors.
       "Let's just see what comes naturally. No pressure on any of us
       that way." Arik finally said.
       -----
       Spying the outstretched hand, Theon came to a halt and snorted
       at the lecture eyeing the little girl in the man's arms.
       "Feria would have moved, she's a mini cyclone," Theon retorted
       dryly.
       He held back an amused laugh at the stranger's comment about the
       caretakers losing Feria.
       "You little terror, how do you keep getting out?" The frazzled
       caretaker asked as she reached for the red fuzzy haired tyke.
       Before the woman could get her, Feria bit down hard on Duo's
       hand growling. It took a few minutes for the worker to pull
       Feria off of the man, and apologizing while Feria screamed at
       the top of her lungs. "baddie baddie...bite the baddie!"
       Theon wasn't sure what to think of that, eyeing the guy
       suspiciously. Maybe the kid just had memories of someone that
       looked like the man.
       Theon was startled by the hand on his arm and glanced down at
       the blonde teen from earlier. His mood slowly shifted at the
       teen's apology for his brother and recognition dawned when he
       heard his name.
       "Your dad's are Zan and Solis. They brought me here. I think I
       actually did meet you in passing three years ago. Sorry for
       rushing off. I'm Theon,"
       ----
       As Jana and Kain drew near to the lake, they heard a few voices
       speaking. Kain slowed down shooting a worried look at her.
       "Sounds like adults, relax. I bet they're about done. I'll go
       check it out first." Jana reassured him.
       She pulled off most of her clothes, leaving on her undershirt
       and shorts and stepped out to test the water with her big toe.
       Seeing the huge Viking dude and the centaur were out she figured
       the lake was empty. "Come on Kain! The water feels great!" She
       called and then raced up a nearby boulder and jumped into the
       water with a gleeful cry, hitting the water with a loud splash.
       If she'd looked before leaping she would have spied the ogre in
       the water a few feet away.
       Kain watching from the bank cringed, and hid his eyes behind his
       hands. He was sure  what followed wasn't going to be pretty.
       ---
       Kallios was happy to have a break once his training finished and
       headed a bit closer to where Moyra was practicing her magic. It
       amazed him just how good she was. He watched, mesmerized by her
       movements and control of the elemental magic.
       Once she'd finished and Yuwichi departed, Kallios walked over
       and held a hand out to her.
       "That was amazing. If you want, we can find Orian and decide
       where to explore next. I do have some lessons to finish, but my
       dad's my teacher and would let me do them later tonight if I
       ask."
       ----
       Yuze smiled a bit to chuckle.”well with some work and
       imagination we can manage.. mean my true form I mostly don’t
       show, it’s rather.. large.. but I do shift my hands and other
       parts depending on what I’m doing.” He admitted.
       He continued enjoy the water to decide it was about time till he
       heard a childlike voice. His eyes widened as he saw a blur of
       white before he scrambled for the shore the moment he saw Jana’s
       face. He grabbed his pants and with some work managed to get
       them on to look back at the young girl.”young lady, you should
       know better than to be jumping in the water haphazardly!” He
       started.”where are your parents?” He asked his brow raising as
       he fussed trying to tie his wet hair back.
       ——
       Inizio looked at his twin.”I paid him a compliment you’d think
       with how he was acting it was an insult.” He said flatly before
       he watched his twin run off.”well.. least it worked- should get
       hooked to the Minotaur..” he said to chuckle and make his way
       out.
       Duo gave a dry look of his own.”nonetheless you really should
       understand you can run into people if they don’t get out of your
       way.” He said. Duo felt the bite to grunt.”you sure got a pair
       of chomps .” He said to hear her words. He heaved a sigh not
       really bothered. He knew some kids just knew. He shook his
       hand.”she even broke the skin..” he said ago shift for his
       pocket to wrap it up.
       It was then he saw someone come up and heard him talking.. but
       despite the words duo was focused on the teens eyes. They
       reminded him of the sea.. stories that his mother once told him
       that he craved to see.  He didn’t want to be rude as he
       said.”I’ll let you two be, I’m gonna.. get my hand fixed.”He
       finished.
       ——
       Moyra seemed pleased at hearing the dryads praise.”thank you and
       she was.. probably as good as she was crazy.” She admitted. She
       took her book back and watched yuwichi leave. The thrill of
       using her magic showing on her face.
       “see flint! I knew I was close to being where my mom is.” She
       chatted before seeing a familiar face. She took his
       hand.”thanks.. magic keeps me going and love to learn as much as
       I can.. Orion went to the library so we can go find him there.”
       She said to pack her book in a bag sling.”it’s because this
       place brings him to flashbacks.. sometimes it just happens.” She
       told him.
       ——
       End gave a chuckle and smiled.”thank you, bestie.” She told
       him.”me and skoll gonna have a little more fun.” She said to
       wave him off as she took her hand.
       The place was bustling as end took what she needed and led her
       lover to the waterfall living space. While she did sleep with
       her mates.. there was times she needed space for herself.. and
       that was occupied with the two women during their own time.
       She walked by the solid rock to a place where it started to run
       to crystal, the steps that clearly been tuned going up to a
       large room filled with furs, and some shelves holding alcohol,
       and more. She placed the sweet fruits and more to make a sweet
       look as her mask slid off finally. Her red eyes giving a
       glow.”want to have some real fun.?” She asked.
       —-
       Meanwhile grim who was left with the man chuckled,”pfff
       trainings for pu.ssies.. too many safety stuff so boring!!” He
       said to see the two women already taking off.”oh come on- skoll
       finally comes back and was looking forward to a real fight with
       the two.. don’t get me wrong end is good- but skoll is just
       perfectly wild… “ he said with a groan.”what about you hm?“ he
       said to go in to kick out with his foot.
       ——
       Melita’s eyes went wide a little. “With me you’ll learn alot of
       things.. promise.” She said to nestle her head on his. She had
       shifted up at hearing his words. Her eyes filling with some
       pleading to brighten up at his words. Seeing his face and how he
       was made her bend down to kiss him.”I mostly tune water.” She
       told him. “I tune other things but I don’t use them unless
       necessary.. or making snow treats.” She said enjoying how
       relaxed everything felt.
       ----
       A dark blush colored Tama's cheeks when he heard the two mens
       responses to each other. Hearing Yuze claim it just took some
       imagination had him shaking his head with a laugh. "You don't
       need to stress about our relationship... we... are wanting to
       make you a part of it... if you want that is...." He had started
       before his attention was stolen away by a child jumping into the
       water and startling his mate.
       Seeing Yuze loose his cool like this made him laugh as he walked
       over to his mate and helped him with his hair, taking the hair
       tie and securing the man's long locks. "Come on, let's get going
       my love, I could use a good breakfast after fussing over my hair
       all morning." He mused, kissing Yuze's cheek.
       "When my hair is dry, would you still want to try and braid my
       hair and tail Arik?" He questioned as the trio finally made
       their way away from the children.
       ---
       "Yes! Those are my dads. Hati is my mom... she goes by Skoll
       sometimes... and no worries! My twin doesn't know when to keep
       his face hole shut, it's nice to formally meet you Theon. I like
       your name, it suits you. Believe it means godly hunter if I'm
       remembering my Greek names correctly." He mused, happy to see
       the anger behind the minotaur's eyes slowly dissipate.
       Kylo's eyes went back to the unfamiliar face as the guy
       mentioned leaving them be to go get his hand fixed after looking
       at Kylo in a way that made the teen blush a little. "Oh um...
       okay, hopefully they can patch you up quick? See you around," he
       said to the stranger.
       ---
       "If if if you need me I I I will be at the nest nest nest,"
       Flint told Moyra when Kallios and the girl began chatting and
       deciding to go look for Orian. The boy seemed reasonable enough
       to leave Moyra in his care while he went about building his nest
       just right. The Phoenix flew off and went about gathering
       sticks, branches and moss to build out his nest on the tip
       floor.
       ---
       A chuckle left Skoll as End seemingly dismissed their friend
       before getting what she needed and lead the woman away to a cave
       hidden behind a waterfall. It had been far too long since Skoll
       had seen the inside of this place.
       Seeing the expression on End's face being so sweet as her love
       let the mask fall from her face. Those red eyes glowing and
       drawing Skoll in. "I am always ready for real fun with you my
       love," she purred as she pulled End in for a steamy kiss as her
       hands began to roam the woman's body that she missed so deeply.
       ---
       A scoff left Yarick hearing Grim complain about End and Skoll
       leaving. He stepped back as the man kicked out and shook his
       head. "What about me? I mean... I can properly kick your ass if
       that is what you are wanting. I'm always down for a good fight.
       Better yet, won't even hold back on you," he suggested in a very
       bored tone.
       ---
       "If you say so," Blade said as a chuckle escaped him when Melita
       kissed him to seal her promise. "Snow treats? What the hell is
       that?" He questioned as he gazed up at his lover. "So.... if I'm
       your boyfriend.... does that make you... a girlfriend? I know
       nothing about courtship...." He admitted.
       ----
       Arik blinked, a bit surprised by Yuze talking about shifting his
       hands and other parts.
       Hearing Tama's laugh and explanation cleared up any misgivings
       he had had before.
       "Oh, okay. This is all new to me, but I would like to be with
       the both of you," Arik replied, feeling quite eager and excited
       about getting to know the two better.
       Though the appearance of the young girl was surprising, Yuze's
       reaction and words made him chuckle a bit.
       "You do realize I'm 13 right? Haphazardly in this sense is what
       i do regularly," Jana replied back with a roll of her eyes at
       the ogre. "I don't have to tell you diddly squat about my
       parents. You're a stranger," she shot back.
       Kain was standing frozen on the bank, wishing he could
       disappear. Jana always seemed ready to talk back and give
       attitude to anyone that wasn't their parents.
       Arik held back his amusement at the girl's sassy words and
       gathered up his things to follow Tama and Yuze. "I'd love to,"
       he said with a grin. He was already thinking about what braid
       style might flatter Tama the most.
       Once the three were out of sight, Jana swam over to splash
       Kain's legs. "Come on in already. You could use a swim,"
       Kain sighed and made his way into the water. The two were soon
       swimming and playing in the water, enjoying having a moment to
       themselves.
       ------
       Theon gave the strange guy a flat look, though inside he knew
       the other was right. He'd try to be better about storming
       around, or just avoid the village altogether. It wasn't as
       though he felt he belonged anyway. It was probably a good idea
       to leave before he hurt someone in a fit of anger.
       Theon's attention went back to Kylo as the bright haired boy
       spoke again. "I know too many people like your brother
       unfortunately," Theon snorted, feeling a bit interested in the
       possibility of spending time with Kylo. "You are correct, though
       sometimes I wonder why my mother chose it for me,"
       A tinge of sadness filled his eyes, as a memory of his mother
       fluttered through his mind.
       Theon's head swung back towards the man mentioning getting his
       hand cared for and   noticed how the guy was fixated on Kylo.
       That had him frowning. "If you find one of the tuner healers
       they can heal it right away," he pointed out.
       "Uh...do you want to..talk some more?" He asked Kylo, feeling a
       bit uncertain and nervous all of a sudden.
       -----
       Kallios could see from the expression on Moyra's face that her
       magic brought her a great deal of joy.
       Kallios helped Moyra to her feet, listening and waiting until
       she was ready to head off.
       "Is there anything that helps Orian get through his flashbacks?"
       He asked, a concerned look on his face as they headed off to the
       library.
       While he'd never gone through any traumatic experiences, he'd
       seen other kids get triggered and act out. The worst he'd seen
       had been Theon's. While it had scared a lot of people, he'd felt
       sorry for the guy.
       It didn't take too long for Kallios to spy Orian's pastel head
       bent over a book. He headed over and sat down next to the boy,
       peering at the page. "That's one of my favorite books, how are
       you liking it?"
       -----
       Yuze felt his hair tied back. He blushed at the kiss on his
       cheek.
       Yuze chuckled at gave a tap to his nose. “I caught your smell so
       I can find them- jump in the water again with people in it I
       *promise* I’ll find your parents.” He said with a smirk. “And as
       are you- for jumping almost on a stranger is far more rude.” He
       said and stuck his tongue out a little before seeing Kain.”least
       one of you is behaved.”
       He turned to follow Tama, with Yuze a bit behind.”I wouldn’t
       mind a braid.. I keep trying but I fail.” He said as they
       continued down the way.
       ——
       Duo gave a wave.”see you.. “ he said to walk a little after
       hearing about healing tuners.”I’m well aware but thank you.” He
       had said. He paused long enough to look at kylo one more time.
       He gave an aggravated sigh to himself.”much as I would like to..
       probably be punished for it.” He mumbled to himself as he went
       to get his hand fixed.
       —-
       “If anything maybe if we can find someone who can help with his
       mental well being.. most we can be is comforting.” She
       explained. She heard flint talk about going off to nod.”don’t
       work too hard- make shade help you!” She said to watch him fly
       off to continue walking with Kallios.
       She saw Orion reading to sit right by the guy to loop her arm in
       to get her face a tad close.”what’s it about?” She asked.
       ——
       Melita smiled.”I can make that- tuning helps with making it
       quick. And yes I’d be your girlfriend.. if anything we are
       learning about each other- interests.. hanging out..” she said
       as she saw a bush full of ripe fruit berries. She tasted one to
       see if it was sweet to get a few as she placed it on the
       rock.”course I was gonna see if you wanted to sneak past the
       walls sometime.. there’s this ruin place I wanted to see.” She
       said as she flowed her hands as her water bottle let her get
       some and made a few more hand formations as they froze in their
       droplets. She grabbed a grinder she kept on herself to set the
       droplets in some bark she found and cleaned off quickly to
       crush. Once done she grabbed the berries to squish the red
       juices all over and got a wooden spoon she often carried.”it’s
       good when it’s too hot”. She said getting a bit on the
       spoon.”try a bite.” She said with a smile.
       ——-
       “Mean your hot enough- but do you *hit* as hard is the
       question.” Grim retorted.”could just kick then fuck your ass.”
       He said with a brow raised. His knuckles cracked.”I’ll even be
       nice and not tune.” He said sorely underestimating the person
       before him.
       ——
       End felt the pull in and the hands. Her own already working at
       what skoll was wearing. She managed to slip her top off kissing
       her and letting her hands run up her back to entertwine in
       skoll’s hair to draw it back to expose the neck.”tasty..” purred
       the master tuner as she licked to find a spot to bite lightly.
       Her hand ran over one of skoll’s perky breasts. “What to do what
       to do..” said end against the woman’s throat. Once skoll was on
       the furs did end work at the bottoms and swiftly yanked them off
       to look down taking in the wild woman’s form. A smirk formed as
       she undid the belt as the fabric drifted off still attached to
       her choker. She went to the gold clasp to undo it enough to yank
       the fabric down and locked it in place her own chest bared.”god
       you look beautiful.” Murmured end. She slipped down to crash in
       the woman’s mouth as her hands ran down her chest, taking her
       time to enjoy the foreplay.
       ----
       The stallion couldn't help but laugh and shake his head at
       Yuze's threats to the child before his mate finally followed
       after him, Arik trailing behind the both of them. "We can stop
       by the cave, I can get my things, and then we can get some food.
       By the time we finish eatting, I should be dry enough for you to
       play with my hair," Tama suggested as his tail swished, as if to
       emphasize what he was saying. While it was wet, the tail behaved
       like a whip as it moved. The comparison was even more apparent
       when the centaur would kill annoying flies with his tail.
       ----
       "Clearly she had high aspirations for you!" Kylo said with a
       grin before looking back to the injured teen. "Good luck," he
       couldn't help but say, seeing the way the guy looked at him
       making him blush a little. His mind was quickly pulled back to
       the handsome Minotaur next to him.
       "Sure! I would love to talk more with you! Why don't we go
       somewhere quiet? Don't want to make assumptions... but you don't
       seem to like crowded places all that much.... maybe the Library?
       I love a good book, especially history dramas." He began as he
       took Theon's hand into both of his to tug the much larger teen
       along with him. The positive turn in the guy's mood encouraging
       the occasionally chatty blonde teen.
       ---
       Clothing was quickly shed before End had a handful of Skoll's
       hair, pulling her head back to feast on her neck, earning a
       needy moan out of the wolven woman. The purred words turning her
       on even more as her lover before feeling the bite to groan out
       her lover's name, "End!" The roaming hands enticing her even
       more as the woman asked her what she wanted to do. "I want to be
       your plaything my love," Skoll admitted with a deep blush before
       they were on the furs and what remained of their clothes was
       cast aside. She was mesmerized as End took her own clothes off
       and gazed on her goddess. "Not as beautiful as you look," she
       purred before their lips crashed together as the pair enjoyed
       teasing and playing with each other.
       ----
       The quiet morning filled with a good story had Orian entirely
       obsorbed into what he was reading. Already nearly done with the
       thick volume. So when Kallios, and then Moyra seemingly popped
       up out of nowhere, sitting so close, Moyra even getting *very*
       close to his face as her arm looped into his. The timid Unicorn
       couldn't help the deep red blush that crossed his cheeks having
       so much sudden attention.
       "I um.... it... it's good, I'm almost done with it.... a
       fairytale about the history of terrians I believe... pretty wild
       stories..." He explained with a stammer, feeling quite
       flustered, especially having not talked to Moyra about the kiss
       from the previous night. It didn't help he had a growing crush
       on Kallios. "How... how was training?" He questioned, clearly
       flustered.
       ---
       A dark, dry chuckle left Yarick at Grim's threat, "you sure
       about that? You would have to catch me first," he gloated before
       his wings unfolded from his back. He then used his ability to
       speed right into Grim and give the heavily tattooed man a nice
       hard gut punch, or five before going back to the spot he had
       started from. When he was in this state, the whole world just
       looked slow to him. Every movement, easily avoided, every block
       easy to work around. Even if he couldn't tune, Yarick was a
       force to be reckoned with.
       ----
       A grunt of understanding left Blade as Melita explained what the
       title meant. He watched with curiosity as Mel worked on making
       the cold treats for the both of them. He blinked several times
       in surprise as she offered him a bite with full expectations he
       would try it. While he didn't like to eat around anyone...
       something about the idea of disappointing his new girlfriend had
       him reluctantly trying a bite, making a funny face at the
       sensation of sudden cold in his mouth. "It's so cold," he
       complained as his hand went over his mouth as he chewed and
       swallowed. "It's good though...." He admitted.
       ----
       Arik chuckled at Yuze's reply to the girl and her indifference.
       It was obvious she was fearless or just didn't care about the
       ogre's threat. Or maybe she didnt think Yuze would actually
       follow through.
       "It's harder to do on your own hair," Arik replied. "It took me
       months to figure it out,"
       Watching the two walking in front of him made Arik wonder what
       might happen during their week long hunt. He might want to find
       a few extra things to take along, just in case.
       "Sounds like a good plan, just add in a stop at my shack. I'll
       need my wheelbarrow to bring stuff back in." Arik added. "I look
       forwards to playing with both of you," he couldn't help but add,
       fully intending it to have a double meaning.
       After they'd made their stops to gather up what they needed,
       Arik stashed his wheelbarrow near the stables and led the way to
       one of his favorite food tents.
       "Trust me, you don't want to go on the dining hall at this hour.
       Deidre makes the best vegetarian dishes you'll ever try,"
       The line outside the tent wasn't too long and soon Arik was at
       the front ordering enough for a small army from a rather
       stunning faun lady.
       "Make some new friends Arik?" The woman asked as she started
       getting their order together.
       "Uh yes, this is Yuze and Tama. We're going out on a hunt in a
       few days, are there any roots or ingredients you need me to look
       for?"
       "Welcome the Oasis gentlemen. I'll get you my list after you're
       done eating. Enjoy your food, and I hope to see you all again
       soon," Deidre said, handing over containers of food to Arik,
       Yuze and Tama.
       Arik led the two off to a small open space with tables and
       benches nearby and sat down at one of the higher tables, that
       would accommodate Tama better.
       ----
       Theon wasn't quite sure what to make of Kylo's optimism. Maybe
       he was right though. He didn't really remember much about his
       mother's plans for him.
       It was more than a bit odf the way his insides twisted while he
       waited for Kylo's response.
       He was surprised at how readily Kylo replied, sounding rather
       happy to be asked by Theon.
       "N-no you're right. Crowds aren't my thing," he agreed softly.
       His ears flicked up at the suggestion to go to the library.
       "Oh okay, sure. It is quieter there. Just have to talk quietly
       or we'll get kicked out," he replied.
       Theon's eyes widened at Kylo's grabbing him and tugging on him.
       If he hadn't wanted to go, it wouldn't take much effort to keep
       the other boy still.
       "I like to look at all the old maps and books on different
       places," he admitted. "Oh and, I'm not supposed to go in the
       artifact room without a worker present," he added his face going
       a bit red.
       ----
       "There are a few people that could probably help him with that,"
       Kallios said thoughtfully. "Probably best to wait until he's
       ready though. You can't force people to do something they're not
       ready for,"
       Kallios tried to not feel jealous over how close Moyra and Orian
       were. They had spent years together as friends and it was likely
       they had deeper feelings for one another.
       Kal glanced away when he noticed Orian's blushing face.
       "If you ask my parents they are sure those are real things that
       happened, not fairy tales. My mom's a terranean, which makes me
       half," Kallios spoke up.
       "Training was tiring and sweaty," he replied with a sigh. "So,
       what do you want to do next? Explore somewhere new? Find a
       swimming spot? Maybe get a sweet treat?"
       -+---
       Yuze nodded.”I can help with the brushing a little- maybe even
       learn to braid that way.” He said with a smile.  His head
       shifted to eye Arik as he spoke about bringing things for the
       hunt and a blush came to his face.”playing hm?” He said to
       chuckle. He saw the lines and looked around to see if there were
       ones with meat to take notice that there were plenty of places
       that could accommodate Tama.  Once the two got their order he
       went and got meat in addition in a small order to go with the
       veggie dishes. He began to eat.”it really is great here.. seems
       they do have plenty of places you can go tama!” He said with a
       smile as he ate.
       ——-
       moyra agreed with Kallios.”it’ll be some time though.” She had
       admitted. Once there her eyes flickered enough to when Kallios
       was talking and took notice of how he looked away. Her eyes
       followed to Orion who was blushing as the puzzle piece connected
       that this guy liked Orion.”be cool to, mean it’s almost like
       casting spells but with your body- I’m interested in seeing it-
       My cousin tunes water.. much like my uncle did.” She said. Moyra
       heard swimming and got a quiet idea. It meant more solitary talk
       and maybe even finding out how Kallios felt about Orion. “How
       about a swim? I don’t mind that.” She said with a blink.”know
       anywhere private? Really just don’t like crowds.” She admitted.
       ——
       Grim blinked at the words to see the wings.”your a-“ he started
       before he was hit in the gut. The speed threw him off, his body
       reacting to trying to fight back.”oh fu.ck it I’m tuning! Your
       fae as.s is mine!” He sounded as he tried to blood tune to
       realize this guy couldn’t be controlled without a proper line of
       sight. His body was smacked around as he went to defense.”damn
       your fast… you just as fast in bed?” He joked to chuckle.
       ——
       Melita gave a chuckle.”it’s cold but it’s a nice treat on a hot
       day.” She said to smile. “Plus I think you meeting my folks you
       can ask things- mom gots loads of stories - most may sound like
       a fantasy but my moms fought a lot in her life. She even went
       toe to toe with a tuning chimera to actually having one around.
       Wren, mom’s friend has one running around- so don’t freak. It’s
       actually pretty cute- mom’s been actively finding one for a
       pet.” She said with a laugh. “There’s even one where mom and my
       dads faced off with a god of war as old as time.. she may be
       shorter than me, but she can pack a punch.” She said with a
       chuckle. “And believe it or not both my dads are royalty.. papa
       snow just didn’t remember for a while. Daddy Adan was unaware
       till a whole scandal came to light.” She mused.
       ——
       End’s hand slid for a silken tie. Thanks to settling and finally
       being stationary for to explore more comfortable ways of her
       type of play, tied skolls left hand, the loop to a post that
       stood.”oops well we can’t just have the other one free hm?” She
       said to grab the other hand and tie it off.”so vulnerable.” She
       said smoothly. Her hands slid over the woman’s form, her fingers
       finding the pearl swollen, and her folds wet.”you are really
       soaked..” she purred. She slid down, and stood up as she lost
       her pants and shorts. She grabbed a bottle of alcohol to take a
       drink and lick her lips as she looked for a few fun toys. She
       grabbed what she wanted to go back and kiss the woman lightly
       turning her on as much as she could to attatch some nipple
       clamps.”be a little more sensitive later..” she said to tug the
       chain a little in the middle to watch the breasts bounce a
       little as she let go she settled in between her legs to latch on
       the pearl to give a suck as her tongue ran over it a little. Her
       hands groping at her thighs before giving a small tug at the
       chain to get the reactions she wanted. “You’re gonna be a nice
       hot mess when I’m done..” said end when she latched off for her
       tongue to find her folds to worm it around a little as her
       fingers began to pump at skoll as she looked up loving the faces
       she was seeing from her female lover.
       ----
       A nod came from Tama in acknowledgment of Arik's desire to stop
       by his home on their way into town before a blush colored his
       cheeks at the man claiming to look forward to play with them
       both. It didn't take the trio long to get back to the cave he
       and his mate had claimed, going inside briefly to grab what he
       considered his clothes before slipping on the bands on his arms
       and the other ornamental 'clothes' he wore. He didn't bother
       tying his hair for now, knowing he wanted it good and dry for
       when Arik braided it.
       After a quick stop at the vikings cabin to get the wheelbarrow
       before the man stashed it at the stable as they made their way
       to the food tents.
       They got into line for one of the food tents, a look of surprise
       coming to Tama seeing the faun. It had been over two decades
       sense he had seen anyone even close to like himself and couldn't
       help but stare for a moment  before they were introduced. The
       centaur gave a wave as she welcomed the to oasis. "Thank you,"
       he said as they collected their food. He followed his mate to
       get some meat to go with his veggie dish before going to the
       tables.
       He couldn't help but look around this place in awe, having never
       been to a place that acomidated folks like himself. It was nice
       to not have to lay on the ground to enjoy a meal at a table.
       "It's quite surprising, though, my kind is extinct where we are
       from... not used to spaces like this... it's nice," he said as
       he processed his feelings and went about digging into his food.
       "Mmmm this is so good!" He praised with a smile.
       ---
       Hearing that the stories were likely true had a look of surprise
       come to Orian's face as Kallios suggested speaking with his mom
       on the subject. "I might have to... uh... we can go swimming,
       though.... I wouldn't mind picking up something sweet on the
       way... haven't eaten since I grazed this morning." The unicorn
       said as he put the ribbon in the book to save his page, ready to
       go with the pair.
       ---
       "We will just have to keep our voices down is all. Old maps can
       be fun, have a bunch of them on the airship, maybe I can talk
       with my parents about showing them to you. If you want to look
       at the artifacts, I can hunt down a worker," Kylo suggested
       excitedly. Seeing the blush on Theon's cheeks, he opted not to
       ask why the guy couldn't go see the artifacts without a worker.
       Given the short fuse he saw in the guy when Inizo triggered him,
       it likely had something to do with things getting broken. Still
       it didn't matter to him, as long as he could have an enjoyable
       time with his new friend.
       ---
       Watching Grim's reaction to his speed had the fae chuckling as
       the man took back his claim of not using tuning. It didn't seem
       to aid the man in fending him off. Yarick zipped around, hitting
       Grim in every spot the man wasn't actively protecting. Having
       the guy be unable to catch him was always something the fae
       found amusing when fighting.
       "I am confused, do you want to fight me or fu.ck me? Mean, would
       have to catch me to do either I guess. Are you ready to yield or
       do I need to knock you out?" He questioned, with a air of
       arrogance in his voice, circling the man as he spoke. By now, he
       had forced Grim out of the busy part of the market the guy had
       been in and had been pushing him towards the training grounds
       and forest.
       ----
       "You know me, the conversationalist.... don't know why you want
       me to meet them... not like you can meet mine...." Blade said,
       making himself sad at the idea that he could never introduce
       anyone to his parents. He sat up as he listened to her talk
       about her parents. "They sound cool... think I might go look for
       something to eat... you said you want to go out past the wall
       right?" He questioned, desperate to chance the subject before
       his stoic mask broke. He didn't need her knowing the emotional
       pain he was in.
       ---
       It wasn't a surprise to Skoll when End used the ties to restrain
       her. A chuckle leaving her at her lover's joking, "can't have
       that" Skoll agreed before blushing at being told she was so
       vulnerable. His caused a flutter in his chest as her love
       continued to play with her and get her more and more turned on.
       Then End got some clamps out to attach them to Skoll's nipples
       before tugging and making her breast bounce enticingly. "Oh
       fuck! End!" She moaned out before the woman was between her
       legs, devouring her wet slip, the combined sensation of the pain
       and pleasure was driving her closer and closer to the edge, "you
       are going to me me come!" She gasped.
       -+-+
       "I can try to teach you," Arik told Yuze. His mood dimmed for a
       moment remembering when he'd first learned and why. The memory
       took a back seat in his mind when he noticed Yuze and Tama's
       reaction to his comment on playing.
       Arik was glad to have come a bit earlier than normal, usually
       the crowds were bigger and would have kept the waiting longer.
       By the time they settled down to eat his stomach was complaining
       loudly.
       "Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure Deidre and her adopted herd were the
       ones that fixed up these tables. I'm sure she'd introduce you to
       the others if you wanted Tama,"
       After he'd eaten enough to stop his stomach's grumbling he told
       them about other interesting places Tama could visit. "There's
       also a really cool arboretum behind the library. It's like a
       covered garden. The librarians will bring out whatever you want
       to read. I've not really had a chance to spend much time there
       though. I've heard they often have gatherings of musicians and
       storytellers. As well as other entertainment,"
       ----
       Hearing Moyra getting excited about seeing someone tuning, had
       Kallios consider showing her and Orian what he could do.
       "That's cool. I'm sure you'll get to see other types of tuning
       soon enough."
       Kallios considered the nearby lake, but knew it wasn't all that
       private. "There is one spot that's private, but it's a bit of a
       hike to get to."
       Kallios stood up, offering a hand to help them both up saying.
       "All right a stop for food, then off to my hidden water spot.
       What kind of food are you wanting?"
       Once they'd figured out what food to get, Kallios led them out
       to the food tents.
       "Oh, my parents did mention having you both and your family over
       for dinner. It doesn't have to be right away though. Just
       whenever you both are ready."
       ----
       "if they don't mind, I'd like that," Theon replied softly,
       hoping that perhaps their maps might actually have what he was
       looking for.
       Theon was relieved when Kylo didn't ask more about the artifact
       room, and why he had to be supervised. "it's probably better to
       stay away, at least for a little while longer," he mumbled.
       The whole incident could have been avoided if he'd not been so
       easily incensed. A part of him felt like the guy that had
       insulted him could have been held accountable for his part in
       the accident.
       They were soon walking up the stone steps and through the double
       doors of the library. "The maps are on the third floor," Theon
       said moving to the large partially open elevator on the far side
       of the entrance.
       Once they'd gotten on, Theon engaged the pulley system and they
       were slowly pulled up to the top floor. It was a space that was
       normally used by students and scholars in the community. One of
       the head curators, Reuben spied him and waved the both of them
       over.
       "It's good to see you back again Theon. Is there any particular
       maps I can help you locate?"
       Theon was a bit surprised at being greeted so warmly. "Uh..any
       that reference Greek Islands or lost islands in the Aegon seas,"
       "I'll go see what I can find msp wise. If you want books, there
       should be some in 917,"
       "Thank you," Theon said ducking his head to avoid an overhead
       light fixture and led Kylo over to the right section.
       ----
       Basredun was still pissed over the loss of his prized male
       leopard lizard. It's mate had yet been caught, but with how
       focused that pixie captain was, the dark elf warlock knew it
       wouldn't take long.
       He'd just have to get some new specimens to play with and use to
       create chaos. Or find a new distraction.
       Such a distraction soon appeared below his invisible domain
       inside the forest in the form of two fighting warriors.
       The voices drew him out of the shadows to peer down at the
       speedster fae and the familiar tattooed body of Grim. He'd been
       watching Grim for awhile now, amused by the young man's trouble
       rousing antics.
       "Such wasted energy," he sighed softly turning to eye his
       lurking shadow demon. "Should we perhaps give Grim some
       pointers? Or just enjoy the show?"
       He mused over it until the fae and the tuner's scuffle had them
       far enough away from the village folk and snapped his fingers.
       The shadow demon transported him instantly to the ground next to
       a tree, a few feet from the fighters.
       "I could give you a few pointers if you'd like Grim. Or you two
       could forget this fight, and join me for something more fun,"
       Bas said, posing against the tree, his gold and red eye glinting
       brightly.
       ----
       “Adopted herd? Sounds much like our own. I lost my kind due to
       the meddling of hunters.. I’m not sure if I’m the last but the
       ones I led did die.” Yuze said and sighed. He heard of the
       library and blinked at the sound of storytellers.”I wouldn’t
       mind that.. it’s been quite some time since I heard a story from
       that of the mouth, always found them entertaining.” He said with
       a chuckle. He took another bite to take in the collective of
       different races.”mine is about as extinct as well.. well for the
       band we came with.. even the young witch while human - not many
       spell speakers are left.” Yuze said and sighed. “Even the
       dragons are quite rare.” He commented as he watched a rather
       delicate looking beast kin of a jackalope walk by, the bunny
       ears listening around,
       ——
       Grim chuckled as he heard the man ask as he saw him circle
       around.”that’s the fun- I catch or beat I get to have fun
       with..” he said as he seemed to be getting ready to fight again.
       Grim was on the defense again to hear about pointers.”oh heya
       bas- some tips be nice- he’s damn fast.“ he said managing to
       dodge a few things. He flew back a little to roll back.”damn..
       make that a nice male hottie too..” he said to smirk a bit as
       his eyes gave a small glint.
       ——
       Moyra  gave a smile.”that be cool. The girl took the hand and
       followed Kallios with her arm looped with Orion, the kiss still
       mulling in her own head. She found the sweet she wanted to pack
       it in her pack. Her ears pricked at his words.”they want to meet
       us?” She asked her head tilting. Her silver hair getting in her
       face to brush it out.”I.. ah don’t mind… Orion?” She asked her
       eyes focused on him a little.”I don’t mind in a few days or so-
       kind of need to get settled and stuff and.. maybe talk about
       things with the guardians..” she said to blush.
       ——
       Melita blinked to pick up on blade’s feelings. Her eyes softened
       greatly. “Yeah.. I do.. maybe we can find those ruins.” She said
       sensing his desperation to change the subject. No doubt in her
       mind that the man suffered great of loss. Her hands drifted to
       the sides of his face to draw him into hers.”maybe a little more
       fun hmm?” She said and gave her playful smile in an effort to
       break the negative emotions that she felt bombarded with.  A
       small bird zoomed by his head as a honeyguide touched her
       shoulder.”oh there ya are bumble.” She said.”this is my partner-
       bumble. He finds honey for me pretty easy when I need it.” She
       said to touch the feathers of her friend.”bumble meet blade.”
       She said as the bird flew to touch his shoulder to ‘eye’ at
       him.”us empaths tend to have animal partners- my grandfather
       managed to do that for me long time ago.” She said.”bumbles
       gonna be keeping eye out for us.” She said with a smirk.
       —-
       End was enjoying the sounds till she was told skoll was close to
       cumming to stop. A smirk came on her face  a little as she
       slowed down to simply tease.”so close already?” She asked as she
       tugged the chain a little. “Beg a little bit my wild love.” She
       said as a lustful look came over on her face.
       ----
       A blush colored Tama's cheeks at the mention of being introduced
       to the herd before the talk went on to the Library. It wasn't
       something that had come up for him before, but the centaur had
       never learned to read being he was in slaved as a child and even
       after Yuze saved him, he never had the time to learn.
       "I don't know... maybe eventually I can meet that herd... as...
       far as the library though.... I," his blush intensified as he
       struggled to admit it, "I never learned how to read..." He said
       as he ate, soon finishing off his food. After making sure his
       hands were clean, he ran them through his hair. "I am going to
       head back... I'll see you both at the cave?" He suggested before
       gathering up his trash and went to dispose of it.
       He then headed off back to the cave as the amount of people
       coming to eat steadily increased. When he had a clear enough
       path, Tama took off into a full run, partly to get away from the
       town center, but also to aid in drying himself. Once at the
       cave, Tama settled near the cave entrance with his quiver of
       arrows to insure they were sharp enough and that he had enough
       for when they went hunting. By the time the others git back to
       the cave, he was working on carving a stick into the proper
       shape to be a new arrow, having the flip his long hair out of
       the way as he had yet to pull it up.
       ---
       Orian took Kallios's hand as the teen helped him and Moyra to
       their feet, offering to get food before they headed out to go
       swim. It brought a grin to his lips as they made their way out.
       Jealously flaired as Kal didn't let go of Moyra's hand but let
       his go.
       "Why... why do your parents want to meet us?" The unicorn asked
       in confusion as they headed to the food area. It didn't take
       long for Orian to locate the pastry tent and was *more* than
       happy to take what he could, stuffing his face as they walked to
       the hidden lake. Sugar on the pastries hanging out on the
       corners of the unicorn's lips as he continued to make quite
       happy sounds. He loved sweets.
       ------
       "If you say so," Kylo said with a shrug as the pair made their
       way onto the lift to get to the third floor where the maps were
       kept. Once there, they made their way into the map room, being
       spotted by Reuben near instantly, getting a big smile out of
       Kylo as the guy was kind to Theon and gave the teens a good
       place to look for what it was the Minotaur was wanting. "Thanks
       for your help!" He said cheerfully as he followed after his
       friend to the right section and began looking for books of the
       islands the guy had mentioned.
       It didn't take all that long to locate the books that the
       Librarian had mentioned and Kylo had his arms full of them as he
       carried them over to an empty table. "So, do you just really
       like maps or are you trying to find something?" He questioned,
       wanting to be as helpful as possible.
       ---
       #Post#: 1593--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 1:57 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       A sigh of annoyance left Yarick at the tattooed man's words
       before his attention was taken briefly by another man appearing
       out of thin air. It caused him to roll his eyes as he resumed
       his fight.
       Grim was starting to get better at dodging the quick punches,
       but the guy could only dodge for so long before he was knocked
       back again and the fae stood back several yards away as his
       wings fluttered.
       "A few little tips isn't going to help you beat me..." He said
       with a scoff, even cocking his hip with a hand on it, his sass
       coming out strong in the moment. He was quite curious as to what
       this stranger might suggest.
       That was when Yarick got a bad feeling in his gut, something was
       off but he couldn't figure out what that something was.
       ---
       A slight blush crossed Blade's cheeks as Melita drew him in,
       suggesting they have more fun while out of the walls of the
       oasis, getting a smirk out of the young dragon. Before he could
       answer her, a bird flew way to close to his head to land on her
       shoulder.
       It had the teen pulling back to glare slightly at the creature
       as his girlfriend explained the bird to him. Then a fresh look
       of confusion came to his features as she explained empaths
       typically had animal partners. "What is an empath?" He
       questioned as he got to his feet, just eyes looking to where the
       nearest wall to the oasis was and tried to think of how they
       would sneak out of this place.
       He didn't particularly like the idea of letting the girl ride on
       his back, he was a dragon, not a mount, but he knew it would be
       the easiest way out of this place. "You got a plan on how to
       sneak out?" He questioned as he thought over their next move.
       "Mean... I could fly us over the wall... but I don't exactly
       like people on my back... guess you aren't exactly people being
       my girlfriend..." He said, making an effort to sound bored,
       though his cheeks told he was fluttering himself over admitting
       the nature of their relationship.
       ---
       A whine of complaint left Skoll when End didn't let her cum. The
       denial getting her to squirm before another moan left her as the
       chain was tugged again. The color of Skoll's cheeks darkened as
       End told her to beg. That got a huff out of the wolven woman.
       "Can't help it, it has been too long since I've had your
       attention like this..." She protested before her head fell back
       again as the woman teased her body.
       "End, please, let me cum, I'm at your mercy please!" Skoll said
       as she finally caved to beg for the woman to let her reach her
       peak.
       ----
       Arik got the feeling that Tama might actually like the idea of
       meeting the herd from the way the centaur had blushed.
       "It is a mixed group, I don't think they have humans though. I'm
       sorry to hear that Yuze. I went through something similar
       myself. You don't ever really get over it."
       The Viking was happy to hear Yuze's enthusiasm to check out the
       arboretum and the activities that went in. He turned when Tama
       weighed in, looking a bit embarrassed by not knowing how to
       read.
       "Hey, I still struggle with reading. I started learning when I
       first moved here. Vikings tend to pass along information by word
       of mouth," Arik explained, not wanting Tama to feel bad.
       Arik was still thinking of how shocked Yuze would be when he
       learned there were already quite a few dragon shifters and
       dragon kin living in Eden.
       He nodded at Tama when the centaur moved to leave. "I'll meet
       you there in a little while. Just got a few things to grab."
       He shot a concerned look at Yuze as he gathered up the
       containers to return them.
       He had the feeling that big crowds might overwhelm Tama a bit.
       It took him a short amount of time to stock up on what he needed
       and carried the bags to his stashed wheel burrow and headed back
       to unload everything at his hut. Arik grabbed a comb and some
       extra hair ties and went to find Tama and Yuze.
       Seeing Tama working on shaping arrows when he came closer he
       couldn't help but smile. "so, where do you want me to start?
       Head or tail?"
       -----
       Kallios blinked taking in how easily Moyra looped her arm with
       Orian's. He released Orian's so he could steer them through the
       crowd , though he wished he didn't have to.  At some point he
       was going to have to tell the both of them he liked them. He
       felt rather nervous about how they might react.
       Kallios finished off his mouthful of pastry, nodding and then
       elaborating a bit further to Moyra and Orian.
       "They like meeting all the new people, especially those
       that...my sister and I become friends with. It wouldn't be right
       away. They've got meetings all this week and things they need to
       finish."
       After they'd finished eating, Kallios noticed that Orian had
       sugar stuck to his lips. "Uh you've got a little bit of
       something stuck to your lips, here let me," he used his napkin
       to gently wipe it off. "There, got it," he said feeling his
       cheeks flushing.
       "We should probably head on out," he murmured and led them off,
       this time snagging Orian's hand.
       The walk to the hidden spring wasn't too bad, though it took a
       good half hour to get there.
       It wasn't too big, and it was well hidden if you didn't know it
       was there. Large frond plants and flowering bushes surrounded
       the 20 foot spring.
       Kallios moved to undress behind a bush, leaving his underwear on
       and slide into the water quickly. "I'm going to keep my eyes
       closed until you're both in the water." He said closing them and
       swimming over to the opposite side, his face feeling super hot.
       -----
       Theon was starting to find Kylo's cheerful demeanor rather
       enjoyable to be around. They worked silently gathering up all
       the books he could find on Greece. Theon set his high stack onto
       the table that Kylo had chosen and sat down to sort through
       them.
       "Looking for something, can...can you keep a secret?" Theon
       asked glancing around warily. Once Kylo had answered, Theon
       leaned in closer, whispering to the boy.
       "There's a secret island that my mother told me about when I was
       little. A place where my kind go to when tragedy's or war's
       destroy our hunting lands. If I can find it, I might find more
       of my people. And then I won't be alone anymore,"
       ----
       "He may be fast, but there are  ways to get around that. Think
       several steps ahead, and you don't have to play fair," Bas
       replied, enjoying watching both Grim and the Fae's bodies as
       they fought.
       With a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, Bas waited
       until Yarick went in to attack again and made a slight motion
       with his hand.
       His red eye flared up bright and the shadow demon reached out,
       tugging on the Fae's shadow making it trip the speedster.
       ----
       Yuze saw the man blush softly- it was why he mentioned the
       storyteller and not the actual books. He gave a soft look to see
       him finish. The way he walked off brought a profound sadness. He
       watched him go to turn to Arik.”thing is- the reason he never
       got the chance was he was enslaved for a very long time. I came
       along and freed him- we been together since then.” He told him
       to take his trash. “I read but it was for sakes of my mission-
       and getting into spaces. Normally would be in my actual form..”
       he said to trash his things. Once done he made his way back his
       hands in his sleeves, he saw Tama hard at work to walk in and
       kiss his cheek before getting his blade and looking at its
       edge.”mmm think I’ll sharpen it a little..” he mumbled before
       finding a wet stone to get to work.
       The two been at it till Arik arrived with a brush it seemed as
       the ogre continued his work as it was directed towards Tama.
       ——-
       Moyra also had the same questionable look to see how messy Orion
       was being again, a small mischievous look played on her face
       before kallios took the initiative to clean his mouth as she got
       a slightly annoyed look to bring thwarted as much as the man
       switching to orions hand,to see how he *blushed*  she was
       finishing her own. Her head turned at his answer.”I don’t mind
       meeting them- and I understand. “ she said to finish off her
       pastry and licked her lips as she watched the man go to the bush
       and seemed to act a lot like a gentleman. She wondered just what
       his family was like. She shifted her bag off and worked at
       pulling her pants off- after her coat. While she seemed to look
       like she didn’t care- moyra’s face read otherwise.
       She made the decision to keep her shirt on and went toward the
       water to slip in. It felt cold but refreshing. She went under
       and back up to slick her hair back to look at Orion.”come on-
       it’s perfect!” She said going up as the water was at her waist
       and her shirt clung to her curves.
       ———
       Grim saw the co.ck of the man’s hip and the sass just made him
       feel a whole lot more. “I’m aware I don’t have to.. “ he said as
       he dodged again, one grim was out of the way watched something
       come out of the shadow to see it trip Yarick.”speedy can’t keep
       up with his own feet?” Slid out as he came forward to jump on
       the fae once he saw him on his back to straddle him and had hold
       of his arms.”look sexy underneath me.. be mine?” He purred.
       While he was one to take advantage of the situation- it was
       clear that the man could potentially beat him. Like hell he’d
       let that slip away! He dipped and kissed the man out of the
       blue- the first time he did anything like that-successfully. “I
       win- I’ll be good now…” he purred at the man below him.
       ——
       “An empath is someone that can feel things from others.. I’m
       still developing my abilities.. sometimes they can go a little
       haywire and let others feel what I feel.” Melita explained.
       “Like right now you’re feeling a bit annoyed but still feeling a
       bit dirty hm?” She teased a little to run her hand against his
       chest.
       Her own eyes looked above till she found the spot.”yeah.. mom
       made sure that holes in the place was sealed- but up top there’s
       a tuning sensor or two out.” She said. Her eyes flickered to
       blush herself. “I don’t mind a lift from my boyfriend- but it’s
       probably best you don’t go dragon.” She took his hand.”but I can
       get us both up okay- maybe on the way down you might have to.”
       She said to blush herself.”it’s just due to the tuning sensors..
       they’re close together to try to catch those coming in really.”
       She explained to take his hand.”ready?” She asked with a smile.
       ——
       End took in skoll squirming around and how she blushed. She
       chuckled at the huff given.”I missed you too my love.” Said end
       her hands continued to tease and play, fiddling with the chain
       to finally taking it off. Her mouth taking advantage of how
       sensitive they’d be now when she heard the pleading, her teeth
       giving a soft bite. “I’ll let you cum… but I’m not stopping this
       time..” she had warned. She would work at skoll bringing her to
       her peak, to continue working at her till she would peak again,
       the sounds of skolls voice driving her on, she pulled back to
       kiss skoll deeply as she released her hands. “You simply were
       delicious my love.” She purred to smirk a little.
       ----
       When the sound of footsteps began to approach, Tama looked up to
       see his mate approaching, giving the man a smile as Yuze kissed
       the centaur's cheek before mentioning sharpening his blade.
       "Good idea," Tama mused before going quiet again. Only the sound
       of blade against wood filled the silence as the pair worked.
       When a second set of footsteps approached with Arik asking if
       Tama wanted his head or tail done first, the centaur blushed a
       little as he thought for a moment.  He threw his hair back out
       of his face, easily deciding he needed his hair pulled back as
       soon as possible. "Head first... I need this mess out of my
       face," he answered.
       ---
       The last of the pastries gone Orian had gotten were finally gone
       by the time Kallios finished explaining how his parents liked to
       meet all their kids friends. His mind didn't even have a moment
       to process the information as Kal commented on there being
       something on the unicorn's lips before using a napkin to clean
       him up earning a blush, that intensified as the teen took his
       hand to lead him down the trail.
       His stomach was filled with butterflies by the time they reached
       the lake and Kallios finally let go of his hand to go and strip
       out of his clothes behind a bush before going into the water.
       His eyes widened slightly as Moyra began to strip out in the
       open before going into the water herself and beckoning him to
       join them. He watched the pair for a moment before pulling his
       shirt and pants off to toss them over a low hanging branch
       before he went into the water, shivering at the chill before his
       body grew used to the feeling. "We need to go over your
       definition of the word perfect... this water is soooo cold....."
       He complained as he sank into the water up to his nose.
       ----
       Hearing Theon's answer on why he was so interested in maps was a
       secret, it peaked Kylo's curiosity. "I'm great with secrets," he
       assured before the minotaur continued to explain he was looking
       for a lost island that his kind went for safety.
       "Well, I will help you in any way I can to help you find this
       place." He said as he helped the teen sort through the books
       they had collected.
       ----
       Another roll of Yarick's eyes  followed what the new face had to
       say. The bad feeling only got worse as the fae went back on the
       attack, unlike before, when he missed, he felt something pulling
       his feet out from under him causing him to hit the ground *hard*
       knocking the wind right out of him.
       The man rolled onto his back to try and suck in a breath of air.
       A glare came to his eyes at Grim's words of triping over his own
       feet before he found himself pinned by the handsome tattooed
       man. Yarick tried to struggle, but he knew it was pointless, he
       was caught. The man's words had the fae blushing quite dark. He
       wasn't used yo others flirting with him, especially during and
       after a fight.
       The sudden kiss showed Yarick just how serious the man was in
       wanting to claim the fae, getting the blush to darken even more.
       Grim's following words got the fae to huff as the man claimed he
       won and he would be good now. "You can't be serious... you...
       you cheated..." was all he could sputter out as he turned his
       face away, clearly flustered and embarrassed at being pinned
       down like this, helpless and at the mercy of the man holding him
       down.
       ---
       The blush of Blade's cheeks deepened as Melita explained she
       knew what feelings the dragon was having before giving her own
       suggestion of how to get out. He was quite glad to hear her
       solution didn't evolve sitting on his back and was more than
       willing to let the girl pull him along as she led him to the
       place she felt they could get out of this place at.
       ---
       It seemed End was dead set on tormenting Skoll as she continued
       to tease and play with her body. The chain finally being removed
       before End began to play with her nipples getting more needy
       moans out of the woman. The teeth on her nipple making her back
       arch. "Yes! Please End I want you!" Skoll begged before his
       lover finally gave her what she was begging for.
       Her body reached it's peak again and again, even End's comments
       on how she tasted was enough to get another wave of release
       before her love finally released her arms.
       Skoll couldn't stop herself from pinning End down as she began
       to worship her lover's body, using her mouth, tongue, fingers,
       and even a nice big toy she had found to fu.ck End with to make
       the woman come for her until they were both worn out.
       ++++
       Arik had been thinking over what Yuze had told him about Tama
       and about himself. He cast a look over at Yuze working,
       wondering what his real form looked like.
       "Yuze, I'll do your hair too. I may need a break after I do all
       of Tama's though," Arik told the ogre as he waited for Tama to
       decide where he wanted him to start.
       "I gotcha, I hate mine getting in my face too." Arik moved to
       stand on one side of Tama and gently brushed through his hair,
       sectioned it out and began making different sized tight braids.
       Once one side was done, he repeated the pattern on the other
       side, finishing by tying the last one off.
       Arik then tackled the tail, making several small braids that he
       wove around a larger center one.
       "These should last a week before I need to do them again," Arik
       said admiring his work.
       "All right Yuze, your turn. I'm not meaning to be rude, but do
       you not feel comfortable  to be in your other form? I guess I'm
       just curious," Arik admitted moving to stand behind Yuze and
       started working on his hair.
       -----
       Kallios stayed on the far side, treading water, smiling when he
       heard Moyra saying the water was perfect. He chuckled hearing
       Orian's complaint a few moments later and turned back around to
       see the teen was in up to his nose.
       "You'll warm up soon enough. If not, I could help you earn up,"
       he said with a wink, swimming a bit closer.
       His eyes widened a bit seeing Moyra's shirt clinging to her and
       showing all her curves. His face flushed and he slowly sank into
       the water to cool off.
       After a minute or two he came back up trying to think of what to
       say. "So..tell me more about yourselves. Or ask me anything you
       want to know about me."
       There were times when Kal got awkward, and it seemed like even
       more around his two new crushes. He hoped that didn't last too
       long.
       --++-
       Theon felt the oddest urge to kiss Kylo for being so willing to
       help him find the information he was looking for.
       "Thanks Kylo," he said  giving the teen a rare crooked smile.
       For the next few hours Theon and Kylo searched and compiled any
       information that might be helpful.
       When he finally looked at the clock and saw the time, Theon
       started cleaning up the table and stacking up the books. "I'll
       just have to keep looking, but i do think there are a few
       possibilities in what we found. Is there anything you'd like to
       do now?"
       While Theon hadn't ever dated anyone before, he'd heard the
       others talking of going on dates, and taking turns doing what
       their dates wanted to do.
       -----
       Watching the exchange between Grim and Yarick had Bas chuckling.
       Seeing Grim stealing a kiss made Bas' eyes gleam with a great
       deal of interest.
       "Oh but Grim didn't cheat. He was assisted, which means I get a
       kiss too," Bas spoke in a much deeper tone.
       He was instantly standing over Grim and Yarick. He took in the
       gorgeous sight and then slide his long fingers into the Grim's
       hair and pulled the man's head back. He leaned down and kissed
       Grim deeply on the mouth.
       Bas pulled Grim off of Yarick and helped the fae to his feet.
       "Now it's your turn fae," he murmured gently pulling the Fae in
       and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. He released the fae and
       stepped back.
       "Just as I imagined, sweet and a bit spicy," he murmured with a
       wink. "Might I suggest trying to woo the fae instead of forcing
       yourself on him?" He said turning to look at Grim.
       +---
       Yuze gave a soft smile at watching the two together.”I don’t
       mind waiting- mean I’m sharpening my blade for the hunt so take
       your time. “ he said with a soft smile. By the end of the work,
       His mates hair looking fantastic at the end of the long work.
       Yuze had finished his blade to sheath it as he heard it was his
       turn. As he was posed the question he answered.”my other form
       drives on natural instinct.. I try to not use it often anymore
       as it is use to being a leader- I may have to talk to whoever
       runs the place and hope they’re strong enough to beat him. It’s
       different than having a dominate mate- it’s just how my blood
       is.” He explained as he felt his hair being worked on.
       ——-
       Moyra saw how Kallios blushed and sunk just about as low as
       Orion who was enjoying the water despite the complaints that it
       was cold.”better than the hot desert.” She said with a laugh.
       “Besides you seem to be enjoying it.” She said to wrap her arms
       around Orion her chest at the back of his head.
       She heard his question. “Well for me- I’m a witch.. both my
       parents from different backgrounds. Their love story was pretty
       wild.. all I can say is my mom took to my dad and managed to woo
       him her way.” She said to chuckle.”for you…” she blinked.”what’s
       your father really like- the one that you said was your birth
       father?” She asked.
       ——-
       Grim chuckled at the flustered man. Before he could answer bas
       did himself. He heard about the man grabbing a kiss.”wait I
       didn’t..” he said to feel his hair gripped and pulled back to
       give a groan and a hot kiss that came after. He was a bit
       stunned but pleased.. and even more so at how hot that looked to
       him when he kissed the fae rather gently.
       “I am wooing- fighting is wooing.. and I took advantage of the
       situation so therefore I get to fuck his ass.” He said with a
       grin on his face.”but I can wait.. for a rematch.. and don’t
       worry you won’t find me- I’ll find you.” He said with a wide
       grin.
       ——
       End was suprised by a pin to smirk at her lover, knowing what
       was coming next. Feeling her body used and fucked was what she
       needed, to the point where they both were exhausted. She softly
       gathered the wolven woman in her arms to give a soft kiss to her
       head before they would rest in their afterglow of sex.
       ——
       Melita took his hand as she tuned her wind, the two wobbling
       their way up as she held his hand, once to the top she held on
       to blade a bit more to pull him with her with a smirk.”don’t
       yell.” Their bodies plummeted to be cushioned by air as they
       were righted to their feet.”that was fun!” She said with a
       smile.
       What she missed was a bird- acrow eyeing their escape as they
       began to go in the direction of a ruin. It wasn’t far and it
       jutted out showing all sorts of symbols. She took blades
       hand.”come on- mom went to one of these once- said it was a pain
       but learned a lot of things.” She said to draw him with her down
       inside looking at the walls. It shimmering in a way showing that
       it wasn’t just some ruin.
       She stopped to see a symbol that was similar to the one on her
       mom’s back.”my mom has that tattoo- it must be a tuner ruin!”
       She said with some excitement.  Her eyes wandering around the
       place.
       ----
       Kallios's claim that he could help Orian warm up had the teen
       blushing dark before Moyra joked about it being better than the
       desert. He laugh was infectious but what got him trying to
       impersonate a tomato was when he felt her boobs press against
       the back of his head as she hugged him from behind. He didn't
       know what to do as she continued on talking like she wasn't
       teasing the hell out of him in that moment. He barely even heard
       her question of what Kallios's father was like.
       It took several moments for Orian to decide to scoop Moyra's
       legs to hold them as he stood up in the water, causing her to
       slide down slightly, which unfortunately didn't have the affect
       he wanted as feeling her slide against him like that only made
       the hormonal stallion want to do things he knew would be a bad
       idea. "I'm not interesting, just a unicorn.... I enjoy baking...
       I guess that would be a hobby?" He said unsure in his own
       response.
       ---
       "Of course! No need to thank me, that's what friends are for!"
       Kylo said with a grin as he loved that smile on Theon's lips. He
       had to force himself to look away in order to work on sorting
       information with his new friend.
       Time flew by as the pair worked at looking for new information.
       The blonde hadn't even realized it was time to go until he saw
       the minotaur begin to clean up. "Well, we can always meet back
       up and try looking more, maybe you can come to the air ship next
       time with me. As for what to do right now.... oh! We could go
       out the back of the library, there is this lice garden area that
       is perfect for playing music. I could play you some songs, maybe
       tell a story or two? What do you think? You don't have to say
       yes, I know you don't like crowds." He said, making himself
       blush at his own forwardness in inviting the teen to watch him
       preform.
       ---
       The grip of Blade's hand in Melita's tightened as she began to
       use tuning to work their way up to the top of the wall. His eyes
       widened when she told him not to yell once at the top.
       His whole body tensed as she leaned leaned back, letting them
       fall as she held him. The dragon closed his eyes tight before he
       felt an air current righting them so they landed on their feet
       getting a sigh of relief out of Blade. "Warn me next time!" He
       scolded with a sour look on his features before letting his
       girlfriend lead them out into the desert.
       It didn't take the pair long to find the ruins Metlia had
       mentioned, tugging him over to one saying something about her
       mom. The place seemed boring to the adolescent dragon before the
       carvings in the walls began to glow. He looked at the ruin that
       she pointed out with a surprised look. "Interesting..." He said,
       rather enjoying his girlfriend's excitement.
       ----
       #Post#: 1594--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 2:02 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Kallios felt a bit bad about staring at Moyra and making her
       sink further into the water. Though it would help him
       concentrate on talking at least. "True, the desert can get
       pretty hot. my first time out, I got burnt really bad. Took
       awhile to heal from that," Kal muttered, feeling a bit jealous
       of how close the two were. Though it might be a bit new given
       Orian looked as red as a cherry.
       "I wouldn't mind hearing more about them. They sound interesting
       to me. Well...most people think my father, Adan, comes off as a
       really intelligent guy. He kind of remembers everything he's
       read, so there's that. But he's also a very skilled fighter.
       He's more diplomatic these days, a sort of peacekeeper if you
       will. Honestly, he's a really great guy, and he's taught me a
       lot. As for My dad Snow, he's more the tough love and ready to
       rumble type. But he kind of had to be, growing up in the desert
       with the ravagers." Kallios explained.
       Watching Orian moving Moyra around had Kal glancing down and
       biting his lip until he heard Orian speak up.
       "Do unicorns have healing abilities? I read somewhere that they
       did, but it could have just been wishful thinking or made up. I
       love eating baked goods, anytime you need a taste tester I'll
       gladly volunteer," Kal said with an eager grin.
       "Do you have any hobbies Moyra? I guess my hobby would be
       learning how to play different instruments. The more exotic and
       rare, the more fun it is,"
       -----
       Theon was realizing that he could listen to Kylo's chattering
       and not be bothered in the slightest. Most people that he had to
       listen to were usually not as nice as Kylo.
       He stiffened a bit at the thought of joining the large crowd
       that gathered behind the library. Theon was a little surprised
       and touched that Kylo wanted to play for him and was giving him
       an out on being there.
       "I wouldn't mind seeing the airship if that's okay. Maybe you
       could give me a private show of what you're going to play later?
       I have a place I go in the forest that's really pretty that I
       bet you'd like."
       "I..I could try coming by the library garden. I can't promise
       I'll stay through the whole thing though. It's not just the
       crowd, it's all the little noises they make. I kind of hear it
       all, and it gets overwhelming," Theon admitted and scratched
       around his right horn.
       It was the first time Theon had ever told anyone about his
       hypersensitive hearing.
       ----
       ---
       Kayda was quite relieved to find Eclipse safely emerging from
       the jungle when she grew near. "Have a good run? Would you like
       to get second breakfast with me?" She asked, feeling rather
       aware of how sweaty she was.
       "Or maybe a quick dip in the lake near your place and then
       something with carbs and loads of sugar?"
       As fate would have it, they'd only gone a short ways, to spy
       Melita and Blade disappearing over a spot where the wards had
       gone down. "seriously? Sneaking out? What is wrong with that
       girl?" Kayda grumbled and shook her head. She shot a look at
       Eclipse. "Should we go after your friend and the wild child
       Melita? Or tell someone?" She asked.
       Kayda wasn't about to report this to the Watch commander,
       knowing he'd go tell the girl's father. Everyone knew that
       Leader Snow had quite the temper. Plus it would probably be
       better if other people got Melita and Blade back inside.
       ----
       Moyra felt her legs scooped to cling to Orion to slide down, her
       shirt somewhat sticking and showing a bit of skin. “You do bake
       well- loved the brownies you made the last time you did.” Said
       Moyra with a grin. “Burns don’t get me started. I’m just lucky
       that I had magic to prevent from looking like a lobster.” Said
       Moyra shy like.
       “For me I read.. or go practice fighting with blade. He’s like
       family. His parents and mine were pretty close as such.” She
       explained.
       ——
       Eclipse saw kayda to smile as she heard her ask questions to
       chuckle.”I don’t mind something sweet.. “ she said to see how
       she was.”maybe a quick dip would be nice.” She said as they
       walked. Her eyes went wide at blade going over with a girl at
       that.”uh oh- blades gonna get it..” said the unicorn.”it’s best
       we go get Moyra- blade can be pretty stubborn with others- for
       some reason even if they act rude to each other tend to listen
       to the other the most.” She said to take the dragon girls hand
       racing to find Moyra by smell.. of course the closer they got to
       the swimming area the more she noticed not just Orion’s but
       another smell she felt was vaguely familiar. She marched out to
       see Orion and kal her eyes flickering with recognition. Moyra
       looked semi annoyed at the interruption.”Moyra blade went over
       the wall… with that guys sister!” She said as Moyra
       blinked.”what?” She asked.”you heard me- we need to bring them
       back- it’s dangerous out there.” She said with a worried look.
       “And you’re the only one I know blade will listen to.”  She said
       as the girl waded their way, getting out to blink and grab her
       clothes.”alright let’s go.. can’t use magic yet- first we find
       blade and get that stubborn ass back here.” She said huffy at
       the fact he didn’t think to tell her he was going outside the
       walls.. and the fact that someone else would fight with him- far
       as she was concerned he and her fought the best together.”he got
       some explaining to do-“ she said to grumble.
       ——
       Melita looked back at him, and smiled.”and I believe we said we
       could have some fun hmm?” She said to go forward and kissed him
       softly.”no one can hear us here either.” She said for her eyes
       to glow a little as her intentions would be felt by him as well.
       Her body slid back as she took off her top, letting it cast on
       the floor.”or are you still mad about me making us fall back
       there?” She teased to press against him a little, as her finger
       traced along his collar bone.
       ----
       At the question of if unicorns had healing abilities had Orian
       pause for a moment as he thought. "Well, I know unicorn blood
       and tears can be used to heal... but I can't like, put my hands
       on someone and heal them. I... wouldn't be apposed to you being
       a taste tester... suppose I should start baking more then to
       keep you coming around..." He said with a new dark blush at what
       he said and Moyra's praise of his baking.
       "With how much you and Blade fight I'm surprised you still
       tolerate the ass..." He huffed, showing his distaine for the
       dragon who just so happened to be his bully as well. Their time
       alone in the lake was quickly interrupted as Eclipse came
       rushing up claiming Blade ran off with Kallios's sister.
       "He had to find a way to make trouble didn't he?" The unicorn
       complained as he followed after Moyra as she left the water. It
       didn't take long for him to throw on his clothes, an annoyed
       look on his face. "Why aren't you just telling Shade or Flint?"
       He questioned, not wanting to leave the oasis, but he wasn't
       going to let his sister or Moyra go out there on their own.
       ---
       Hearing Theon agree to going to visit the airship had Kylo
       smiling wide, the grin grew even wider hearing the minotaur say
       he would try and come see him place. "If you can't sit through
       it with the crowd we can definitely go out in the forest
       tomorrow to listen to me play for you. I have to ask my dads
       about you coming to the airship but that shouldn't be an issue,
       we can meet up at the library tomorrow if you want and then the
       forest. Maybe the airship after if my parents are cool with it."
       He suggested, practically bouncing as he spoke.
       "Don't push yourself to hang out in the garden, I don't want you
       getting overwhelmed and something bad happen. Buuuut when I
       start it shouldn't be bad, usually takes a little while for the
       crowd to form." He said as he took Theon's hands into his own
       once they were done cleaning up and led the teen put to the
       back.
       Once there, Kylo rolled up the right sleeve of his shirt,
       showing of an intricate tattoo of a violin that he was able to
       magically pull out of his skin before resting the base between
       his shoulder and chin as he pulled the bow out and settled onto
       a perch to start playing a soothing melody.
       -----
       A wide smirk crossed Blade's lips when Meltia mentioned having
       'fun'. "You did say that," the dragon agreed Once the kiss
       broke. "Mmmm I'll make you sing nice and proper for me then," he
       purred darkly as he felt her desire as his own, feeling an
       intensity to claim her much like before. Seeing the top come off
       was more than enough to push him over the edge of whatever
       control the teen hand as he pulled Mel close, kissing her
       hungrily as his hands began to explore her body and ripping off
       what clothes were between them. "I suppose I can forgive you for
       now," he teased as he moved her against a wall to lift one of
       her legs as his fingers began to play with her heat before he
       got down on his knees and put the lifted leg over his shoulder
       to devour her womanhood and enjoy how good she tasted.
       When Blade couldn't hold back his own lust any longer, he moved
       back up to hold both of Meltia's legs up over his shoulders
       before sinking himself into her needy hole before he began to
       claim her body rather savagely. His mouth capturing hers as he
       pleasured himself with her body, spilling deep inside of her
       when the feelings between the pair became too much to handle.
       ----
       Kallios couldn't help but feel alarmed by Orian mentioning blood
       and tears being used to heal. It made him worry that someone
       might try and capture Orian and his siblings. "Just let me know
       where and when and I'll be there," Kallios promised Orian.
       "Oh you are lucky," he told Moyra. "I did look like a lobster
       for awhile there. I sadly take after my dad. He went through the
       same thing. Though Snow did find a healing spring that came in
       handy,"
       It was a strange contrast to Kal how the two spoke about Blade.
       He had the feeling the guy might give Orian a harder time than
       Moyra. Probably even liked bullying the softer Orian because he
       was an easy target.
       The sound of footsteps coming closer had Kallios tensing up. He
       relaxed slightly seeing it was Kayda and Orian's sister Eclipse.
       His relief was short lived when he heard why the two were there.
       "Are you fu.cking kidding me right now?" He swore his eyes going
       rather dark. "She's not just gonna get a lecture this time.
       Snow's gonna be livid,"
       Kallios pulled himself out of the spring and quickly got
       dressed. "you aren't going out there without me." He insisted
       and shot a look at Kayda. "You coming to? If those two catch the
       attention of anything, we're going to need a dragon on our
       side,"
       Kayda was starting to think she should have told her father at
       least, but seeing the determined and pissed off looks on the
       other's faces nodded at Kal's question.
       "It probably would be faster if I give you all a ride to the
       spot," she said backing up and shifted into her other form.
       `Hop on and let's get moving, we don't have long before someone
       comes looking for us,`
       ------
       Theon nodded slowly, rather enjoying the happy look on Kylo's
       face. His stomach felt a bit odd, though he reasoned it away
       recalling how he'd skipped breakfast and lunch.
       "Okay, thanks. Most aren't all that patient with me,"
       Theon perked up a bit at the idea of spending the next day with
       Kylo as well. "I'll be there after I get my work done. I can't
       give a specific time though. I never know what tasks I'll get
       ahead of time," he said a bit apologetically.
       It was kind of cute seeing Kylo  so excited.
       "I'll stay as long as I can manage," Theon replied blushing as
       his hand was taken and followed after Kylo,  ducking where
       needed.
       Theon moved to lean on a pillar watching in stunned silence as
       Kylo used some dort of magic to pull a violin out of his skin.
       The sound of the music playing had a calming affect on him, and
       brought tears to his eyes. His enjoyment of Kylo's talent was
       brought to an abrupt halt when he heard a voice say rather
       loudly.
       "Aww is the monster boy crying? Didn't think that was anything
       I'd ever see,"
       Theon's nostrils flared, his eyes going red as his head twisted
       to glare at the jerk that had made the comment.
       "Oh, you gonna make me shut up? I dare you. Then you'll for sure
       get kicked out for good," the pimple faced teen sneered at him.
       Theon dug his fingers into his hands, shaking and fighting the
       urge to smash his bully's face in. He was fighting the rage and
       anger so much that the veins in his arms were popping out.
       #Post#: 1595--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A New Start
   DIR By: Minyaagar
       Date: February 23, 2026, 2:18 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Moyra chuckled.”well that’s cause he’s like a brother - even if
       we don’t have the same parents.” She said rather honestly.
       Moyra answered Orion’s next question abruptly.”because me
       getting there and using magic will get him there faster for the
       lecture and I wanna watch.” She said flatly. Moyra blinked at
       what Kallios said.”pissed? Is his temper that bad?” She asked as
       she got on kayda’s back as naturally as blades in his dragon
       form. Eclipse behind her holding her waist. It wouldn’t be long
       till the group would be headed in a direction where the teens
       would be.
       Crow who was already on the move noticed some people in the
       distance to click his tongue. He had already sent a crow to
       Eden/ end knowing they’d make it to the place faster - given her
       abilities if things got bad. He took notice of a shadow passing
       by to look up and got a face seeing teens on the back of
       kayda.”out of all the teens girl.. I thought you knew best.” He
       sighed as he continued to run. He took out a few pack members he
       ran into, he had a nasty feeling.
       Meanwhile after some tracking thanks to eclipse’s nose and Moyra
       casting tracking magic for her cousin halfway helped them find
       their target. Moyra was already making her way inside to hear
       funny noises with eclipse, the two happening on the naked blade
       and Melita to blush.”your fucking kidding me!” Moyra said.”get
       dressed blade- pretty sure flints on his way- so this is why you
       breechibg the wall to go for a girl in heat?!?.” She exclaimed.
       ——
       Crow had made it to the ruin- where his other crow was perched.
       He whistled for it to go inside to see a bunch of teens, and
       Melita scrambling for clothes to grasp what just happened.”I go
       out to bring back two and you multiply.” He mumbled with a flat
       look.”we have issues and the pack is out there, already killed a
       few.” He said to look at Kallios.”your mother should already
       been informed.” He told him and Melita as his head shifted her
       way as she flushed. He crossed his arms as he told them.
       “Outside of Kallios and Melita- how many can you fight if they
       get close?” He asked. Moyra raised her hand.”I can.. flint
       should be here hopefully soon- he’s a familiar.. and our
       guardian.” She said.”blade can too, if need be.” She said
       quietly. Eclipse spoke up already scooting her sleeves up. “I
       may not look it but I can too.” She said with a firm nod.
       Crow seemed to have some semblance of a look that made him relax
       just a little.”non-combatants stay from the entrance- we are
       simply to defend. I’m not sure who else is out there.” He told
       them. Moyra made a face.”we can fight— blade and I practically
       are good together.. if we.” She started to see a glare that made
       her quiet.”this isn’t turning into a life and death fight.
       You’re going to listen.. “ he warned to hear movement. His body
       tensed as a few men came in. “Suggest you give it up Leo.” Said
       one as he got ready to fight. Crow didn’t think twice to rush
       forward as he killed the three showing he had abilities to
       fight.”be ready to defend those that can’t fight- your the last
       line if I go down.” He warned, as Melita now dressed got her bow
       to clutch it and got in front of blade naturally. She didn’t
       mean for this to happen- and now it seemed they were all in
       danger.
       ——
       End was relaxing till she saw a crow come in with a note tied to
       the leg to slide out of her lovers arms. She untied it to read
       it as her face read all sorts of worry to tell skoll.”be right
       back- got to get my daughter.” She said as she got her pants on
       to grab her top. She rushed down the steps passed Adan
       saying.”we got some wall jumpers- one being Mel mind being ready
       to calm snow down.” She said fussing with her top. Her swooping
       movements began before she swiftly took off to the skies.
       ----
       The high of emotions and pleasure Blade felt as he held Meltia
       there for a long moment was dashed away when he heard footsteps
       and then Moyra's yelling voice. To outsiders, one might have
       thought she was his girlfriend who had caught him cheating. A
       heavy annoyed sigh left Blade as he pulled out of Mel with a
       groan before letting her back onto her feet.
       "Awww is someone jealous?" Blade taunted seeming entirely
       unphased at being caught. He did as he was told though as he
       pulled his clothes back on as a new face walked in. "I came out
       here to hunt, this was just a detour." He added as he pulled his
       shirt back on, soon fully dressed again. A smirk crossed Blade's
       face at when the guy said something about issues and a pack. The
       smirk grew seeing the guy attack and kill three intruders.
       "Aww look, they are talking about your pansy ass Orian, guess
       you will have to hide here ya little chicken," he snarked as
       Blade grabbed Moyra's wrist getting a deep look of jealousy out
       of Orian as the dragon pulled the girl along. Once outside, he
       picked Moyra up and *threw her* up into the air before shifting
       into his dragon fork for her to land on his back as he found the
       nearest thing to kill.
       The way Moyra ran across his body casting spells as he used his
       teeth and claws was almost like a dance. It was when the group
       was really started to get into trouble and were well distracted
       that Orian spooked and took off away from the fighting. Even
       going as far as to shift as he ran, not even looking where he
       was running two as some of the attackers chased after him.
       Flint decided to show up moments after Orian was out of sight to
       cause a fire cyclone to appear around the teens and crow before
       landing on Moyra's shoulder to get a huff of complaint out of
       Blade as the first words out of Flints mouth were questioning
       what they were all doing out here.
       ------
       The music filling the space seemed to move Theon in a way Kylo
       had hoped, seeing the guy get a little teary eyed. It was when
       some bullies showed themselves that Kylo lost the smile on his
       lips. Thankfully,  it seemed that Kylo wasnt the only one to
       care about Theon as two men intervined on the situation.
       "Music moves people, at least those that have a heart.," came a
       deep voice from behind the bully.
       "You little shit, shut up you're ruining the show!" Came from
       the very annoyed Hama who cuffed the teen roughly. "Git, before
       I tan yer hid for trying to start shit," the man growled causing
       the bullies to run off.
       -+-++
       Theon's eyes widened in surprise at Einar and Hama stepping in
       to chastise and chase off the bully before his anger got the
       better of him.
       He turned to focus on the music Kylo was playing and it slowly
       calmed him down enough that his muscles and hands relaxed. His
       hands were bleeding a bit from where his fingernails had cut
       into the skin, making Theon wipe them on his pants.
       When Kylo had finished playing his third song, Theon gave the
       boy a slight wave before turning to go. The crowd had grown by
       now, making it far too much for him to handle.
       "Hey Theon, can we talk to you?"
       Theon paused hearing Einar and nodded. He walked with the two
       men silently for a few moments before they found a secluded spot
       far from the crowds.
       "Thanks for standing up for me earlier," Theon said a bit
       awkwardly, wondering what the men wanted to talk about.
       "We should have stepped in sooner. You don't deserve to be
       bullied or treated like that," Einar replied and shot a look at
       Hama.
       "How would you feel about joining our family?" Hama asked.
       Theon's eyes flickered between them, not quite believing what
       he'd just heard. "R-really?"
       "Yes really. We want you to be a part of our family, we meant to
       ask sooner." Einar replied. "I apologize for that. You deserve
       so much more than that foster home. Adan's going to be moving
       the rest of the kids around as well,"
       Theon blinked, feeling more than a little shocked by this turn
       of events. "Okay," he said slowly. "I would like to live with
       you. But...my anger is...can be hard to control. I don't want to
       hurt anyone,"
       "Theon, you showed tremendous restraint back there. If I'd been
       insulted like that at your age, I'd have slugged the jerk," Hama
       spoke up. "We can help you if you need it. You are in control.
       You just need better tools, other than hurting yourself,"
       Theon's cheeks flushed as he looked at his hurt hands. "right,
       okay. So...when do I move in?"
       Einar smiled and gently squeezed Theon's shoulder. "How about
       now?"
       ----
       -----
       Kallios waited for the others to climb onto Kayda's back before
       he got on last. "Not any more than any other father with a
       teenage daughter that likes to sneak off. This isn't the first
       time Melita's done this sort of thing." Kal sighed and used his
       legs to hold on tightly to the scaled body, wrapping his arms
       around Orian's waist.
       The flight to the hole took moments, and the group was soon
       outside the Oasis and had the ruins in sight. Kallios held back
       a bit, not really wanting to know what the his sister had been
       up to inside with Blade.
       Kayda spun at the sound of an adult's voice and frowned hearing
       Crow saying they had trouble. Her eyes settled on the others,
       uncertainty and worry filling her. She should have just taken
       Eclipse to her watch commander. If someone got hurt, it was her
       fault.
       Kayda tried not to feel offended by Crow's disregarding her
       ability to fight and protect the others.
       Her head snapped over at Eclipse when the girl said she could
       fight as well. Of course things didn't quite follow Crow's plans
       as the fight was moved outside the ruins, leaving Kal there to
       protect Orian, the others exploding into action.
       Kayda shifted, protectively covering one side of the ruins and
       sweeping away any that got too close. Only moving out to aid the
       other fighters when a giant sized fighter drew too close.
       Kayda unleashed a time freezing spell on the huge man and then
       slamming her tail against him, making the man fly a good fifty
       feet in the air and then  catching and tearing him into pieces.
       -+++
       Kallios watched the unfolding battle scene in front of him,
       shaking at the carnage. He'd never been in a fight before and
       the smell of blood made him feel sick to his stomach.
       He'd stayed near Orian, using his air tuning to blind the
       attackers where he could, or shifting the sands under their
       feet.
       When Orian fled in fear, Kallios cursed and used his air tuning
       to follow after him as quickly as he could. "duck Orian!" He
       yelled in warning, and sent a blast of strong winds to force the
       attackers over the unicorn's back and crashing  into a boulder.
       Kallios caught up to Orian, putting a calming hand on the
       other's shoulder and spoke in a calming tone to the unicorn.
       "It's going to be okay Orian, we need to go back. There's safety
       in numbers, and my mom and others will be here to help too,"
       ----
       ----
       Adan's eyes flashed in alarm after hearing End telling him about
       wall jumpers and Mel being outside. He had the feeling that
       Kallios had found out and was out there as well.  His son had a
       very strong protective side when it came to family, much like
       himself.
       "I'll do my best," he promised. "Just be careful and wait until
       you're back before laying into the kids."
       -----
       Athion had been nearby when the news reached End and couldn't
       fight the urge to follow her and the other fighters out to
       retrieve the teens that were undoubtedly in danger already.
       After he'd used his charm spell, he'd been stuck in human size.
       Not that he minded all that much. It meant he'd get to test his
       abilities on bigger foes.
       His multiple set of wings made him faster than others and he was
       soon engaging in the fight, taking out the pack fighters with
       both his sword and his fists. Spying an attacker about to ambush
       Crow from behind, he rushed in and took him out.
       "Best keep a better watch of your back, bird man," Athion warned
       before rushing off to take out another foe.
       ----
       Duo had entered the place when the music began. The man leaning
       against the wall listening to it in a sense that lulled him to a
       place far in his mind- a place described as nothing but water
       and not a drop to drink.
       He heard a boy being disruptive to make a face, but relaxed when
       Hama and einar took care of it. He added as the boy was led
       out.”pretty shitty if you are doing that to kick someone out-
       ass..” he mumbled to listen to the rest of the concert, when it
       was done- he couldn’t help but move to Kylo thankful to have at
       least a few moments alone. He approached the musician.”that was
       a beautiful  sound.. kind of sent me back to a world my parents
       spoke of.” He said with a small smile. “My names duo.. didn’t
       get a chance to introduce.. it seemed you were already talking
       with someone..” he said to blush a little. His eyes couldn’t
       help but zero in on kylos blue eyes that ended up feeling like
       an intense gaze of someone wanting to know more of another.
       ——-
       Melita took notice of how blade was talking to Moyra and felt a
       twinge of jealousy.  Moyra hearing the question abruptly almost
       said yes but recovered saying.”if your doing that at least don’t
       go to places where your gonna end up hurt!” Flew out.
       Both Moyra and Melita  looked at blade with his insult. Before
       either could get onto the man about making fun of someone did
       Melita see him grab moyras arm causing more jealousy to flare,
       crow seeing the start of something he couldn’t later contain
       tried to stop them to see a dragon.”shit..” he mumbled as he
       watched the girl land on the dragons back that nailed in
       melita’s small fire of rage. “Why does *she* get to ride on his
       back.” Came out as eclipse moved.”Moyra is the only one he
       allows.” She explained before seeing a wave of people and
       creatures to get worried. The moment she saw Orion take off was
       the moment she took off shifting, attacking the ones that chased
       her brother. She swiftly got to his side to try to press him
       toward the group, her head making a knicker.  She felt a hit of
       something in her leg to make a pained noise to back kick the one
       that did so to try to keep up with Orion to work at calming him
       down.
       Moyra was doing her work her body flowing much as her father
       told her as she casted her magic.”flint we can talk later! We
       got issues!” She said. She saw something flying their way, a man
       as she shot off a lighting spell for him to dodge she ran to get
       missed and shocked him to watch him fall.  Her breath was at a
       rapid pace as they moved.
       Melita was highly distracted at what she was seeing, not seeing
       a man slip behind her before feeling a hand over her mouth and a
       tug as she jerked and fought.
       About this time End was nearing to the shit fest that was going
       on- Kal looked as if he had it handled. Kayda working on her
       own- her face scanned for Melita to see a teen girl and an
       adolescent dragon fighting, and it looked like it turned for the
       worse when one of moyras spells was countered by another.
       She watched as the two fought but clearly were struggling with
       the amount of elemental tuning involved before a bunch headed
       their way. End took her way forward making her way toward the
       two.
       Moyra who was flowing saw that she couldn’t deflect the
       elemental magic as fast as she liked, not only that but she was
       wearing out.”blade I’m running on empty.. “ she said before
       seeing a bunch of different ones headed their way. She paled as
       she yelled.”brace for impact!” What she didn’t expect was a red
       blur and a bright light as the elements were met with a small
       figure. For a moment she thought she saw someone else before
       seeing red hair and a circle tattoo on the woman’s back. She
       watched as she deflected the gifts in such a way right back to
       those that weilded it. End huffed as she kept herself in the air
       her face still looking for Melita feeling her.. her tuning out
       told her a water tuner was also present.
       She watched as her daughter was dragged out by Erix looking
       terrified, and near tears. Her hand twisted behind her back and
       blade against her neck.
       “You two stay close you hear?” Moyra heard the rough tone that
       made things sound awfully familiar.”they do not care- you go in
       her direction she will die.. don’t be stupid.” Warned end with
       her head tilting their way. “Follow.” Ordered the woman as she
       went down to the sands.
       “Ah Eden.” Said erix as the head of the woman tilted in a way
       that was displeased.”I’m end get it right.” She said in a tone
       that sounded livid.”get your hands off my daughter and you will
       live.” Was her one warning to the man.
       “End… all I’m asking is for your surrender.. all we want is the
       oasis.. it’s simple..you’d be able to stay- but you’d just
       relinquish your control.”said the man as end’s head seemed to
       tilt. Almost as if thinking.”just disarm yourself and we can let
       all of them go home.. “ said the man as end seemed to listen.
       -++-
       End made a few hand signals that Moyra couldn’t understand but
       clearly Melita did, her eyes going wide to nod a little before
       feeling a tight feeling as erix didn’t like what he was seeing.
       His blade went cutting her throat as Melita was tossed to the
       ground, despite the wound the girl grabbed the man’s ankle as a
       pair of gold eyes showed his way looking pissed. End was in his
       face to blow him back as she let go, his body thudding to the
       sands  his body taking a beating down the dune, his body resting
       at the bottom.She the  turned to her daughter that was fading
       fast to heal the wound. She scooped Melita up with a
       yell.”everyone out now- “ she said to go back to Moyra and the
       dragon.”follow me to my home- now…” she ordered her head raised
       a little at the two.
       -----
       A roar of pain escaped Blade as Moyra's spell was countered
       causing the dragon to get hit by the attacker's tunning to cause
       him to swat his tail at the pest to send them flying. He paid no
       mind to Flint as the man began to help in the fight. As things
       began to get overwhelming, a redheaded woman appeared seemingly
       out of nowhere as Moyra warned she didn't have much left in her,
       causing him to be more on the defensive to try and protect her
       but causing himself to take more and more blows, bracing himself
       as a particularly nasty attack headed their way to be saved by
       the redheaded woman.
       The blow never came getting a look of confusion out of the
       dragon before he heard the sharp words of the woman telling them
       to stay close. Blade was transported back to the last fight he
       was in before his mother died. Without question he followed the
       woman, obeying her orders as they found Meltia in the arms of
       the enemy. A dark growl escaped Blade before he settled on the
       ground, laying down as if listening to the demands of the man
       who had his lover.
       Blade's eyes closed as he seemed to be sleeping now. Though
       Moyra would likely be the only one to pick up on the fact that
       the water dragon was finding all the water he could hidden deep
       in the ground, bring it to the surface under the man who was
       holding Meltia. His eyes opened the moment he smelt fresh blood,
       his eyes going red at seeing the girl hurt and on the ground.
       The sand under the man who hurt Mel went soft as the water
       bubbled up, causing it to become quicksand, pulling the man into
       the ground before Blade sprung into action. His jaws closing
       around the guys torso as Blade shook him violently like a dog
       with a chew toy. He had every intention of ripping the screaming
       man apart for laying a finger on *his* girlfriend.
       ---
       The smell of blood and sounds of fighting had Orian running full
       blast through the shifting sands of the desert. Hearing his
       sister behind him as she fought off attacker's had him running
       even harder as he fled. He reared up as he slid to a stop when
       Kallios managed to get ahead of him, the teen seeming to try and
       calm him down with the hand on his shoulder.
       The frightened unicorn looked around, wincing as Kal and Eclipse
       kept the enemy away but it didn't stop him from trying to back
       away, using his soft muzzle to pull the boy back away from the
       fighting. A frightened whinny escaped Orian as he felt something
       on his back causing him to buck to try and get it off, resorting
       to shifting back to his human form to slip away and try to run
       again.
       ----
       Seeing Theon watching as Kylo pulled the bow across his
       instrument was nearly having the blonde blushing as he played. A
       look of disappointment crossing his face when he watched the
       minotaur walk off with the adults that had saved him from the
       bullies.
       The end of the song soon came and Kylo let the violin drop form
       it's place under his chin as he stretched a little. A sudden
       voice pulling him out of his thoughts of Theon as the teen who
       had been bitten previously in the day approached. A grin came to
       his lips at the complement the two toned haired teen paid the
       blonde getting him to blush.
       The blush only grew with the way Duo stared into his eyes, as if
       the man was entranced or something. "Oh.... um.... thank you,
       you are the guy who was talking to Theon. How is your hand? That
       kid seemed to really give you a good chomp." He said with a
       grin. "I'm Kylo, glad you enjoyed the music, debating on playing
       another song though, I could use something to eat... would you
       want to grab some dinner together?" He questioned, liking the
       idea of another new friend. The intense way Duo stared at him
       had him feeling all kinds of funny on the inside.
       ----+
       Biting down on the stone in his mouth, Kallios brought up a mini
       twister of sand, sending it after more attackers coming for him
       and Orian. Though he could hear the chaos of fighting around
       him, Kal remained focused on defending Orian and himself as best
       as he could. He couldn't afford to let himself be distracted.
       The muzzle pulling at him, made Kal step back, throwing up a
       torrent of wind and sand to blind another two that had veered
       their way.
       Hearing the frightening whinny had him turning to see  a
       tattooed thug trying to get a rope around Orian's neck.
       "Get off of him!" Kal yelled moving to aid Orian. The unicorn
       shifting into his human form momentarily shocked the man, giving
       Kallios the time he needed to unleash a mighty wind into the
       barbarian, crushing him into the sand.
       "Orian! Wait! You're going the wrong way!" Kal yelled, using
       another gust to catch up to the teen and pulling him into his
       arms. He pulled up another gust to redirect them in the right
       direction, carrying Orian back to where his mother was ordering
       everyone to head back.
       Feeling Orian still shaking and seeing the panicked look in his
       eyes, Kal knew he needed to calm the teen down before he tried
       to run off again. He did the first thing that popped into his
       mind and leaned in to kiss Orian gently on the lips. "You're
       safe now, you're going to be okay," he said softly after he
       pulled back.
       ----
       ----
       Kayda was starting to seriously worry as the fighting got more
       intense around them. She kept moving, and using her skills where
       she could, until she spied Eclipse being left behind and two
       huge guys with clubs and chains.
       Her eyes flashed a bright white as Kayda was filled with anger.
       She hurtled her dragon form into the air and then dive bombed
       the two, knocking them out and flinging them away with her long
       tail.
       `Bastards!` she growled and then moved to gently pick Eclipse up
       in her front claws and flew the unicorn girl back to a safer
       spot. If there hadn't been others that needed her help, she
       would have just taken Eclipse back to the safety of the Oasis.
       The sight of Kal kissing Orian was a rather surprising to say
       the least. She hadn't realized Kallios was into guys. At least,
       he'd never mentioned liking one before.
       -----
       ----
       Amidst the fighting, a cloaked figure hidden in the shadows of
       the ruins watched the skirmish unfolding. Using an invisibility
       spell the drow wizard began to move through the battleground,
       checking over the fallen attackers, checking them over and
       retrieving any items that might be useful.
       When he came across the tattooed barbarian he was pleased to
       find the man was still alive. "Most fortuitous for me," he
       grinned and lifted the man out of the sand, erasing any signs
       the man had been there.
       "Let's get you fixed up and then I can get some answers out of
       you," the wizard purred as he stepped back into the shadows and
       teleported himself home.
       ----
       ----
       It seemed the fight was dying down once Erix had been dealt with
       by Eden and the new dragon shifter, much to Athion's relief.
       The pixies eyes swept around the battleground at the fallen foes
       and those still fighting off the pack. Most of the Oasis' people
       heard Eden, turning to head back. Save for Crow, who was dealing
       with two fighters on his own. Athion sped off to take out one of
       them then snatched the fighter up, carrying the man back. "You
       heard the boss lady, time to go Crow,"
       ----
       “It’s alright- I got a kid brother that has done worse.” Said
       duo with a chuckle.”we are beast shifters wolves are in our
       nature.” He said to show his hand,”all healed up.”
       He heard the talk about another song and getting food to blush a
       bit.”I don’t mind another piece and dinner does sound lovely.
       Any place you’re wanting kylo?” Duo asked as his arm leaned
       against the post as he looked at him.”I don’t think I’ve
       properly met you- were you from that airship?” He asked
       curiously. His eyes couldn’t get enough of the eyes of the
       other. Despite the boys hair being that of the sun- he was
       smitten.
       ——-
       Eclipse was attempting to keep up with her brother to end up
       being driven away by some large men to shift to her human form
       and looking terrified- till kayda came in. She felt the snatch
       up and started to freak a little as she saw her brother running
       ever the further away.”kayda let me go- we can’t be seperated..
       please!” She said her body wriggling despite the arrow that was
       still quite stuck in her leg. Her fear and adrenaline was
       kicking enough to ignore it. Flashes of when they scattered the
       first time plagued at her when she witnessed her fathers death-
       the group attempted to make their ways differently but echo
       deciding to do what they did caused them to die as well. Once
       down in a safe place she about took off again to be blocked off
       somehow.
       Of course during the whole thing the kiss didn’t go entirely
       unnoticed by the twin. The call to get out was met with being
       swiftly picked up again as her sounds of panic would sound on
       the way back.
       —-
       Crow saw a man to go down and accepted the pixie man’s
       help.”thanks!” He said huffing to look back at the man that was
       being treated like a chew toy - before noticing a strange
       movement of the shadow. He saw bas for a brief second to narrow
       his eyes.”let’s get back- the kids to the waterfall.” He told
       him. He made a whistle to get his crows that observed from above
       as they made their way back.
       —-
       *****************************************************
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