Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ciro was lounging in his den.

It was one of the few times he found himself alone, without the company of another. Well, excluding his raven companion that was. A golden eye glanced up tiredly at the ledge that once nested his falcon companion Gwen, but now, the tattered god in disguise seemed to take the place of. Ciro sighed, his eyes closing as he rested a large head on his paw. The injury from his last viking had since healed. Ngaule did a good job at that. One day, he needed to find a real way to repay her. If only she would accept his advances. Who knew, one day she might.

The silence didn't last long. Just as Ciro began to doze off, the small sound of paws hitting the ground entered his ears. He didn't open his eyes however, knowing it would be one or few of his children coming to visit.

And sure enough, there they were. The black and white daughters from different litters, bounding happily into the den. "Dad!" Enkeli, the lighter of the girls giggled, while Haruhi pounced into the light gray and white mane. "Mom says you get to watch us today!" The daughter of the former Aka'mleli said.

"Is that so?" Ciro asked, without opening his eyes.

"Mmm" Haruhi murmured. Looking around the den, spotting the raven. "Oh, Dad's got a bird!"

Ciro glanced towards Judeau, giving him a smirk.

"mmm. They might be. I have eight of them," that I know of, Ciro added mentally. Oh, probably should avoid some of the area he had visited the last couple months. Who knew what little flame marked children might be hanging around.

"Enkeli, Haruhi, go say hello to Judeau. Judeau, be nice to them." Ciro chuckled as both of the cubs bounded off him, pawing at the ledge the gray raven was on.

Haruhi's claws dug into the rock as she tried to hoist herself up to get a better look. "I want a bird. Dad get me a bird. Mom has a bird. Why don't we?" The darker of the sister's asked.

Enkeli, following suit of Haruhi, tried to climb the small rock ledge as well, but found herself sliding down. "Oh, I want a bird! Can I have this one?" Enkeli's gold eyes peered curiously at the raven.

"Mom's bird has a longer neck than he does." Haruhi observed.

"Yeah...and he's not as scraggly looking either." Enkeli chimed in. "Is he broken?"

Ciro laughed. Oh, the joys of children.

"Yes. Actually." Ciro admitted, finally rising to his feet, only to sit on his bed of pelts, his tail curling around his front paws.

"They are just cubs, Judeau. Don't worry they can't do much damage." He grinned sheepishly at his raven, deciding to give him a little reprieve from the sudden cub assault. "Haruhi, Enkeli, leave him alone for now." for now.

"Aww." The girls chorused, but listened to their father and backed away, heading back to him in the center of the smaller den.

"When can we have our own bird?" Enkeli asked. Now that mom AND dad had one, she wanted one.

"Can we pick our own! I want a pretty one. Not like him. He's ugly."

Ciro snorted, his gaze turning towards Judeau. "Well, he's mine, so you can't have him." As much as Ciro hated to admit it, he rather enjoyed having the raven around. He had gotten use to his grump, and his pecking.

"I want a purple one!" Enkeli chimed.

"Ohhh Orange!!!!" Haruhi was quick to add.

"Guess we gotta find your a lady friend, huh Judeau?" The lion laughed again. The two cubs before him gave him a confused look. They obviously did not know about the birds and the bees, and surely Ciro would not be telling them. Njia could, if she preferred.

One of the pebbles intending to hit his daughter was miscalculated and ended up hitting the Captain. "Ouch. Judeau!" Ciro growled. "Knock it off or I will sick all of my children on you at once. Ever been tackled by eight rambunctious cubs? If you won't want to experience it, I suggest you stop." Ciro taunted. He would let the raven watch all eight children at once. If Ciro and Njia left, he was sure his bird pal wouldn't leave them alone to suffer. Judeau may have been grumpy, but he had some kind of heart in that feathered chest deep down.

"Hmm." Nope. He needed them. Ciro couldn't have all the fun with the ladies. "I think another reaver has a pretty falcon..." He said to himself, loudly enough for Judeau to hear him.

"Why does he need a lady friend dad?" Enkeli asked, giving a curious look to her father before glancing at the bird.

"Yeah. He'd probably just scare them away with his looks." Haruhi agreed, the trademark smirk of Ciro's forming on her own lips. Obviously she had come from his line with her expression.

"Er---best let your mother tell you that one." Ciro said sheepishly. Well he probably was going to be in trouble with the dark female now for even mentioning that to the kids. Ah...well they needed to learn some day right?

"Oh, you think so little of what I can and will do. Remember that for next time Judeau," Ciro smirked, nudging the darker of his daughters that was trying to gnaw on his paw.

His ear flicked towards him as he shook their head. "Nah, I enjoy my alone time with Njia too much to try ruining it if I were to" his tone lowered at the next words, "burn their little ears." Just a hint above a whisper, the golden eyes watched as the raven fluttered to take residence on his head.

"But, if you wish to explain it to them. I will happily leave to tend to some...other duties while you and the girls talk." He shook his head to ruffle the raven.

"What are you two talking about?" Enkeli asked with a huff. She glanced at Haruhi, who returned a shrug.

"Can we go plaaaaay? Come with us! The ugly bird can come too." Haruhi stated with another smirk, bounding towards the entrance of the cave. "Come on Enkeli, first one to the fork in the road has to touch the grumpy bird!"

"Hey no fair! Cheater!" Enkeli shouted after her sister as she raced after her.

Ciro watched the two leave, knowing it would be best to follow them. "You wanna stay here or do you want to go with me?" He asked the bird still on top of his head.