A New Adventure

[DragonSong]

Hau stared at him with very large eyes, then sneezed.

"Oh!" Hana looked up at Thrax, then Kah, clearly uncertain. "Is...is he okay?"

Maybe it was a little ridiculous how nervous holding the child made her--she certainly would have been teasing someone else, had the positions been reversed. But she couldn't help it! Babies were so tiny, so was afraid a wind the wrong direction might break him!

[MadEmperor]

Thrax jerked back from the sneeze as if he, too, might break the pup.

"He's fine." Kahroan chuckled at how terrified the pair was. "He was probably just tickled by Thrax's fur."

Thrax gave a sigh of relief. "How can you be so calm? He's so tiny and fragile..."

[DragonSong]

"Well, they're more resilient than you think, for one thing," Nora said as she entered the cabin and caught that last comment. Evidently the rest of the pack was back from their hunt. "That, and you learn quick as a parent when your pup is really in trouble."

"O-oh..." Hana continued to stare down at the tiny creature, terrified, then gave Nora a pleading look.

River's pack-sister laughed and took pity on her, lifting Hau gently from her arms. "The others were just behind me," she said in Kah's general direction. "I flew ahead a bit to let you all know they're bringing back a buck. Lake said we should eat outside tonight, we've all been "too human" lately, apparently." She said the last with a slight roll of her eyes, but didn't actually seem all that annoyed by the proposition.

[MadEmperor]

Thrax made a face. He wasn't human at all, but he had been accused of that more than once. And, well...

"You're still going to, yanno, cook it, right?" He didn't relish the idea of eating like a wolf did. Even gnolls cook their meat, and he rather liked the way humans seasoned things.

[DragonSong]

Nora laughed and nodded at him. "Some of it, at least--believe me, I may be able to take wolf and hawk shape, but I do not eat like them."

"Oh, thank gods," Hana muttered reverently.

Chuckling, River reappeared with an evidently settled Mahina in her arms. "So you lot did catch something then?" As Nora nodded, she quirked an eyebrow and said to Hana with a smirk, "Couldn't even last five minutes, huh?"

"He is tiny and he sneezed and I thought I was going to have a heart attack," the kitsune protested vehemently.

"From a sneeze?" River laughed, accepting Hau from Nora so she held both twins, one against each shoulder.

[MadEmperor]

"We don't want to be responsible if they get sick or something because of us. We aren't baby people. We don't know!" Thrax argued in defense of Hana.

Kahroan rolled his icy eyes. "No one is baby people until they have one."

[DragonSong]

"Technically," Nora called as she breezed into the kitchen, "we all start out as baby people."

River groaned. "Oh, that was bad," she laughed, shaking her head.

"I liked it, Nora," Hana called after her, giggling.

"You're my new favorite, foxy!"

"D'awww." Hana placed a hand on her chest and swooned dramatically against Thrax. "I feel like bona fide family."

"Well...aren't you?" River gave her a half smile as she moved to transfer one of the twins to Kahroan. "I mean, between the four of us, we've saved each other's lives half a dozen times by now. I feel like that qualifies you as honorary pack."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax put his arms around Hana from behind. He was moved by the declaration, bashfully looking away as he gently rocked her.

"We... you know... think of you like family too..." But as that was too mushy, he added, "N' junk."

[DragonSong]

Not exactly any better at dealing with sincere emotion than Thrax was, Hana leaned back into him slightly and mumbled an agreement, cheeks pink.

"Alright, alright," River chuckled. "We won't smother you with affection. For now."

Hana gave a theatric sigh of relief. "Yeah, thanks. I can only handle so much genuine emotion in one day, and I've hit my quota."

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan dryly teased, "Did you two get all mushy at the hot spring? It does have that effect."

Thrax was grateful that his fur hid his blush. "No! We--we..."

"Shut up..." he said, incredibly embarrassed.

[DragonSong]

River laughed, and Hana groaned, twisting in Thrax's arms to hide her own blush against his shoulder.

"You two, I swear," River chuckled as she settled herself into a seat beside her mate. "It's not a bad thing to actually care about the person you're sleeping with."

"Oi!" Hana gave her a theatric pout. "I always care about the people I sleep with, thank you very much. I'm just not, y'know, used to..." She waved a hand vaguely around her head, unable to come up with the appropriate words.

"Being in love?"

"Oh, shut up," she groaned, quickly retreating back against Thrax's shoulder.

[MadEmperor]

"Fiiine." Thrax sighed, defeated and annoyed. "We're in love. There. You happy? Can we move on now?"

Kahroan barked a laugh that was several degrees warmer than his usual dry chuckle. "Yes, yes, we've had our fun. It's just... it's good to see you two genuinely happy."

[DragonSong]

Hana muttered a long string of complaints and curses, but she was smiling a bit when she finally raised her head.

"We surrender," River agreed with Kahroan, raising the hand that was not cradling a baby peaceably. She glanced to the door, ears perked--metaphorically--before noting, "Seems like the rest of the lot is back. We should head out to mee them, I'm sure Dad will want help cleaning that deer."

Hana quirked an eyebrow. "Errr...you're a very impressive woman, Riv, but...how do you plan to help clean a deer while holding an infant?"

"Oh, that's your job. Unless you'd rather hold the baby?"

"Cleaning a deer!" Hana clapped her hands together. "Right!"

[MadEmperor]

"And what am I doing?" Thrax asked curiously. He didn't mind getting dirty, but he was actually freshly bathed for once and didn't want to waste the effort. Maybe they just wanted music?

Kahroan glanced at him mate. "What do you think, Riv? I'd hate to waste a perfectly good bard."

[DragonSong]

"Oh, we always like a good bit of music," River agreed. "Assuming Thrax is also uncomfortable with babysitting duties."

Hana snorted. "I believe I can say with some certainty that's a yes." Rather abruptly realizing that over the course of the conversation and with his arms around her she had migrated practically into said bard's lap, she stood quickly and cleared her throat. "I'll go help the others then."

She slipped outside where the rest of the pack was gathering in front of the cabin, half in wolf form and half human, taking stock of the results of their hunt.

[MadEmperor]

And so, with much music and merry-making, the pack and their honorary kin enjoyed their bounty and celebrated well into the evening.


The rest of their visit went by in a contented blur of song and dance and wagging pup tails. Thrax took being part of a family to heart and, clearly moved, vowed to visit again as often as his vagabond lifestyle allowed. And, of course, bring fresh stories of adventure with him.

[DragonSong]

"And you'll promise you'll--well, it's not exactly writing, what you do. But you'll keep in touch?"

"Of course." Hana leaned back from River's hug to smile at the other woman. "The fireball-message trick can get fiddly over long distances, but we'll do our best."

"You should try to be back for the winter solstice," Elise enthused, hugging Thrax like he was one of her own pups before kissing Hana's cheek. "It's quite a to-do up here; most all the local packs gather for the celebration."

Hana laughed, nodding. "We'll do our best," she repeated. Neither she nor Thrax was much inclined for planning that far ahead.

"Keep yourselves safe," River half-pleaded as her friend stepped back toward the bard, ready to be on the road again.

[MadEmperor]

"I have a feeling that was mostly directed at yours truly." Thrax chuckled awkwardly. "Which... is completely fair!"

"I can't promise I'll change my nature but I'll try to not bite off more than I can chew. Okay? "

Kahroan smiled warmly. "I think that's the best we can ask for."

[DragonSong]

"I'll keep an eye on him," Hana chuckled, and River scoffed dramatically.

"Well, between the two of you, I suppose we'll just have to hope there's enough sense to keep each other out of trouble."

More laughter, another round of hugs and well-wishes, yet more promises to keep in touch and come visit when they could--and then they were off.


[Continued for Thrax and Hana here]