Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ari giggles as she finally figures out what they are talking about. "OOO... shame one ye... both of ye... and what does pipe music do to ye? I know ye play, ye've played fer us."

"Works better than a leash, I guess..." mutters Mara softly thinking og the possibilities.

"But only iffin she was watching him..." laughs Ari with a wink.

With Mara guiding him, Kero makes good time weaving his way gradually upward coming out onto the trail that leads up toward Emnast's cave. Over the years it has taken on the air of a well tended path, lined with patches of sweet scented flowers and a haphazard collection of what at first appears to be more of Tam's carvings, but a closer inspection belies that.

"Em's been taking lessons from Mama..." says Ari when she notices Kero looking at one of the larger pieces with a puzzled frown. It is a rough carved pair of foxes, one standing as if on guard, the other curled up at the feet of the first. "He does a lot of stuff like this. Ma says it's cathartic for him... whatever that means. He never finishes them though and when I asked why he says because it pertains to something that was never finished as well."

Mara laughs rudely. "He's just pulling yer leg, Ari... He just gets bored too easily. Ye know he'd rather be reading or exploring. Not sure what he's looking fer though."

Ari nods. "Em researches because he likes to learn things... hmmm.... he called himself.... the perpetual student once and Dad laughed at him, but he wasn't being mean. Daddy is very much like him I think, only he doesn't like books much. Still show him something new and he's got to learn all abou it."

"There's all forms of learning, girls." comes a deep voice from the side of the path.

Kero grinds to a halt in alarm. He had been so caught up in their conversation that he hadn't been extending his senses to make sure there were no intruders ahead of them.

Emnast steps out from behind an enormous boulder wearing a tool belt filled with mallets and chisels. "Living is learning.... and for some... learning is living."

"Took me a bit of time... still find it hard to slip into, but it's hard to work with the stone any other way. Actually the twins kind of talked me into it. And it is a heck of a lot easier to eat dinner at the table iffin yer not dwarfing it. I've grown a bit since you were last here. Not too much, but elephants in the kitchen aren't very welcomed..."

Ari slips from Kero's back and goes to give him a hug. "Since we eat most meals at yer place anyway, what does it matter?" she asks giving him a hug.

He takes her by the shoulder and holds her gently at arms' length, frowning. "You are a mess, Ariana. What have you been doing with yourself?"

Mara stays put and laughs at his blatantly transparent bout of concern. "Mama and Daddy had us on one of those aural scavenger hunts and I think Ari worked too hard. It was a bit longer than most have been. We think he put the last of the tokens in the bath... do you mind us looking?"

**it is... that is Em's pet name for her... sorry forgot to indicate this was so...**

Emnast laughs and helps the red haired teen up onto Kero's back. Then he climbs up as well. "This is a first... me getting a lift. I'm usually the one providing rides on this island."

"Fair to middling I suppose." laughs Emnast, maintaining his balance with ease. "Ai and I have been teaching the girls about some of their powers. Bez has been teaching them about the world. Can't say I agree with his view points from time to time, but he is surprisingly on top of things. About seven months ago Ai taught the girls how to call up their intrinsic shapes... Mara is... well... she's Mara, a bit of Ai and a bit of Bez... and it shows in her shape. She's a feline hybrid, black furred as she's always been, not quite a panther... not quite a lion, not sure what you'd call her. Ariana though... she's... well, shes..."