a/n: Hello! Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out! I've been writing it during study hall and have been too lazy to type it up with Finals **shudders** and my birthday and all. And guess what my mom got me for my b-day?! A new computer!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!! It's really great. This year I get a computer, next year I get a car… and my step dad gave me a beautiful sapphire necklace! Being an only child on the North Shore is good! The North Shore thing probably won't mean much to you unless you live in the area. Never mind. Just Read and REVIEW!!!!!! Thank yous at end.

Disclaimed

*~~Chapter 7: Slap-Happy Birthday~~*

Surreal and Falonar had had no interest in marrying each other, although each wished to have a child. So, being friends who sometimes had sex, they decided to have a child together. And they worked out a schedule. Their child would spend spring with her mother at Ebon Askavi, where Jaenelle and her… entourage lived; summer with both of them and everyone else at the Hall; fall with her father at Ebon Rih; and winter was with both of them at Ebon Askavi, where an ever-changing amoebae of people spent the season for Winsol. On paper it looked complicated, but considering the fact that the two parents were still good friends, the schedule flowed smoothly.

*

Fall

"Come on, Luthar!" Aravian took off without waiting for an answer. They had had to take a Purple Dusk thread, because Aravian wasn't sure enough of her ability to bring him and Avaesel with her on a Sapphire thread, so they were still a mile or two away from Vinan, a landen village. It was Luthar's sixteenth birthday, and she was eager to give him his gift, which was in the village.

He sighed at her back; he knew that when Aravian was in an impatient mood, especially excited and impatient, there was no slowing her down. So he took off after her, struggling to catch up. Avaesel calmly lay down to take a nap.

*Why is it we're going to this village again?* he asked her when he caught up.

She glanced at him, grinning. *It's a surprise.*

*Oh, joy.*

What felt like an eternity later they touched down in the village. Without giving him a moment to catch his breath Aravian tugged him along, headed for a house on the edge of the village. She knocked on the door.

An old man, with lots of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, opened the door. His old gray eyes widened at the sight of the two adolescent Eyrians, especially one as odd looking as Aravian. Then he seemed to nod to himself, and he asked her, "Good day t'ye. Would ye be that girl I was told would be coming by today?"

She smiled happily. "Yes I am, sir." The old man looked surprised at the politeness from a member of the Blood. Aravian was oblivious to it. "My name is Aravian, this is Luthar. Could we please see them?"

"Sure sure." He opened the door farther and stepped back. "M'name is Old Flann, m'son, he lives next door, he's Young Flann." Old Flann led them through to a back door, which he opened onto a small but lovely yard, with a low fence running around it. "They're right around that corner there, take your time about picking one, I hear ye Blood can talk t'em an' such. I'll wait just inside here, if ye dun mind, I ain't as young as I used t'be." And with that Old Flann went inside.

Aravian turned and smiled at Luthar, then tugged him around a corner of the house. Lying in the

shade was a dog, a rather large dog, and her litter of puppies. Luthar recognized them as kindred immediately, but judging by the mother, who was a Queen, these were much too big to be Scelties. The mother had a huge blocky head, extremely wrinkled, and a very tough muscular body.

The dog stood, looming over her pups protectively. She lifted a lip. *Stay back, Bat-Humans.*

Aravian smiled and knelt down, extending a hand in a friendly gesture. *Hello. We promise not to hurt your pups, but if it is all right with you my friend would like to take one home. I promise he'll take good care of him or her.* The bitch (a/n: yes, as in female dog) came forward and warily sniffed Aravian's hand. Her tail gave a small tick-tock.

Unbeknownst to either or them, a small fawn colored bundle was inching toward the unsuspecting ankle of Luthar.

Luthar jumped as he felt small prickly teeth gnawing at his ankle, harmless though. He knelt down and gently picked up the warm, squirming puppy, holding it at eye level.

*Hello there,* he said on a white thread, knowing the puppy would have to hear him there at least.

*BAT-PERSON TALKS!!!!* She raised one paw nearly bigger than her head.

"OW!"

Aravian and the bitch, Quickleap, turned to see a surprised looking Luthar clutching his nose in one hand and a squirming puppy in the other.

He saw their looks. "It smacked me!"

Aravian blinked. She blinked again. "It smacked you."

"Yes! It --well, she-- smacked me!" He stopped rubbing his nose.

"I see."

Ten minutes later Aravian had paid and they left with the slap-happy puppy. Quickleap hadn't been overjoyed at having to give up one of her pups, but three had already gone and she knew it had to happen eventually. They promised to let her visit if she wanted, but Quickleap had told them that Old Flann didn't understand about the Kindred and would be upset if she went anywhere. Not that any involved had any choice in the matter-- the puppy had chosen Luthar more than anything else.

When they finally landed by Avaesel (who was still asleep) Aravian asked Luthar excitedly, "So what do you think?"

Luthar glanced at the puppy and set her down. "I'm not sure if I should thank you or start planning your death."

She smiled, almost nervously. If it had been someone else she might have been worried, but Luthar just wasn't the violent type. He rarely physically fought in any way, a source of much displeasure at his house, mostly with his brother more than his father. It wasn't that he was poor at any of the skills that the Eyrians valued so much, he just had no interest so rarely bothered with it. Aravian was never sure she entirely understood it, but she was far too close to Luthar to ever press him about it.

"So what's her name?" she asked.

"Elasia." They watched Elasia as she clumsily crept up on the Arcerian cat. Aravian knew he was awake, but he hadn't yet bothered to open his eyes or test the wind. She wasn't about to warn him that he was in for a surprise.

Elasia, with her massive paws, suddenly pounced on Avaesel's middle. The cat sat straight up with a shocked "Rrroww!" He looked at the tiny canine, who now seemed intent upon the siege of his paw--

which also happened to be about the same size as her.

He looked from Elasia to his Intimate in disbelief. *What is this?* he asked on a Purple Dusk thread so Luthar could hear him too.

Aravian, showing impressive control even for an Eyrian, didn't laugh. *That's Luthar's new friend. Sorry, she'll be around for awhile.*

He turned his great blue-gold eyes back to Elasia. Warily, he sniffed her.

She turned her own copper eyes up to the cat. Then she smacked him on the nose.

He reared back quickly, lifting his feet off the ground momentarily. He sneezed greatly, then stalked

off behind the two friends… who were handing off each other they were laughing so hard. Elasia

followed him, attempting to pounce on his tail.

The huge, fearsome predator glared at Aravian as he fled from the tiny puppy. *Make. It. Go.

Away.*

*You make 'it' go away. You are significantly larger than her.*

After rounding the Eyriens several times Avaesel finally air-walked higher than the puppy could

bounce. And bounce it did. The image of an 800 pound, nearly full grown Arcerien cat hanging in

the air above a jumping little brown puppy was one of the strangest she'd ever seen; being raised around Jaenelle and the coven, she'd been privy to some very strange things. Avaesel's fur was all on end as he attempted to return to his nap.

Elasia finally gave up and came back to sit on Luthar's foot. That's right, not at his feet, on his foot.

*Teach me how to do that.*

*NO!!!!!* came the panicked yell from Avaesel. He looked like he would have no reservations about eating whoever taught Elasia anything.

Aravian went to her Familiar and stroked the soft fur on is back. *Poor Avaesel.* He snuffled in agreement.

Luthar picked Elasia up. *Maybe…on another day…*

*~~*~~*

Aravian, Luthar, Avaesel and Elasia entered Luthar's through the kitchen later that day, assuming that no one would be there. They were wrong.

Lucivar, Daemonar, and Nickolaes all looked up as they clattered in. Marian's kitchen, spacious and airy, suddenly seemed cramped. Let's see, with Lucivar, Daemonar, Nickolaes and Avaesel they had four dark-jeweled Warlord Princes (one of which happened to take up a great deal of room), then a Warlord, and a dark jeweled witch who appeared to be a natural Black Widow. And then there was the hyper witch puppy, and while she only wore Birthright Tiger Eye, was still a hyper puppy. Yes… all of those in one room will make for a cramped feeling.

The two groups blinked at each other. Then Nickolaes raised one eyebrow (making Aravian grit her teeth), and said, "Hello, Luthvar, Avaesel, Pest," Aravian growled at him. "Who's this?" He was

looking at Elasia.

Luthvar smiled. "Hi, Nickolaes. This is Elasia."

Daemonar asked, "Is she kindred?"

"Yup."

"Looks like we have another person with a Familiar," Lucivar said. He was looking very pointedly

at Luthvar's foot, where Elasia once again sat like a furry foot-warmer, glaring about the room territorially.

"Where did you meet her? Happy Birthday, by the way," Nickolaes said.

Luthvar smiled. Other than Aravian he'd been the first wish him a happy Birthday. Maybe he was being unfair; he'd only seen his father and brother briefly early that morning, merely to tell them that Aravian was dragging him somewhere and he'd be back whenever she decided returning home was suitable. They all knew he let Aravian mostly control his life, except when they were at the Keep… then nothing could pry him away from the library, where he spent hours talking with Geoffrey. Luthar was proud to say that he generally knew more about the history than most anyone, except some of those that had been there, because he was interested in the history of landens too. He always thought there might be more to them than the rest of the Blood thought, and after extensive searching he had found a section in the most cob-webby, least used portion or the library, which was about the landens.

His father and brother wished him happy birthday. "I didn't really 'meet' her, Aravian-" she looked up at the mention of her name from where she was helping herself to the contents of their cold box, "-took me out to a landen village where a bitch, a Queen, just had a litter recently." He grinned, "I think she thought I need more friends."

Lucivar scowled. "You should have more friends. And you would, if you weren't digging around in that library all the time-"

Oh no, here it comes again. Hasn't he ever just felt DIFFERENT than those around him?! Luthvar thought.

Nickolaes stood, interrupting the familiar speech. "Uncle Lucivar, didn't you want to show me that new maneuver you and Daemonar were working on?"

Luthvar gave his cousin a look of gratitude as he led their relatives out the door. As soon as it closed though, he sighed gustily and sat down in one of the vacated chairs. He didn't even notice the fact that Elasia's hackles were up as she glared at the door, then returned to her post on his foot. Aravian stuffed the last bit of the piece of turkey she was eating into her mouth and sat down next to him, a look of sympathy on her strangely sweet and feral face. As he'd realized she would, Aravian had gotten prettier as they got older, and with her toned lines from the fighting she did daily he knew it wouldn't be long before the other boyos started seeing what he already noticed. Avaesel sat on Aravian's far side, so when he lay his enormous head in her lap he was looking at Luthvar. While the bond was from Avaesel to Aravian, they had all spent their lives together, and Luthvar and Avaesel considered each other dearest of friends.

He commanded the attention of the whole room, but he didn't have anything to say that he hadn't said before. Over the years he'd had this conversation with the other two time and again, and he had nothing new to express now. He didn't have to use words with Elasia, now that his father had mentioned it he could start to feel the subtle bond between himself and her, the one that Aravian had tried to explain to him when they were so young and Avaesel had entered their group. She had been right, it didn't make them anything less, it was merely different. It was subtle enough, natural enough that he wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't known what to look for.

Not knowing what to say to him, Aravian sat in hushed sympathy. She wasn't good at comforting, it wasn't something she had ever learned, and she knew the wrong words then from her would be worse than his father's. So she said nothing, allowing the quiet to speak louder than she had the eloquence to do.

They all sat silently for a time, until Elasia stood. She started sniffing about the edges of the room.

Luthar asked her, *What are you doing?* He was smiling in a befuddled way.

She didn't look up. *Looking for the best spot to piddle.*

Luthar groaned. Aravian smiled malevolently, "Welcome to the joys of puppy-hood. Come on!" She tugged on the shoulder of his vest as she stood. "Let's explain things to her and get going! You're going to be late for your own party!"

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

A/N: Puppies really do sit on their owner's feet! My 100 pound dog still does. But that's not so bad. The 150 pound one likes to crawl into people's laps **looks at poor squished legs** And by the way, the fact that it's his birthday has NOTHING to do with the fact that the day I wrote this (Jan. 16) happened to be MY birthday **smiles** Woo-hoo!!! One year until I get my own car!! **does the happy dance**

Skie: Yes, it is definitely the water. Definitely. Well, nice to know some people other than my friends and I seem to be infected by it. Thanks for giving me an even number!!

IceQueen: Thanks for the review! I'm glad the pronunciation guide was helpful. I use the word 'glad' too much. Oh well. It's apt.

Bunny Barton: So! You return! **grinning** I think it's impossible to not like the brushing Lucivar thing.

SilverWolf: **nervous laughter** I swear I intended to send it out sooner. But between finals, my birthday (woo-hoo!!), and my demanding mother **glares**, this kind of got lost in the shuffle. Anyway, great that you liked it, I'm sending you an e-mail in a minute, so… yeah. Of course, if you're reading this you've probably already gotten the e-mail. I'm shutting up now.

wordweaver: If I were going strictly by the books, Jaenelle might still be alive, but she'd be old and withered. I, because I'm a sap and in denial, am fudging that little bit of information. Basically, anyone I like is being treated in my fic as long-lived. I threw this in the middle of some rambling author note somewhere.

Goddessnmb1: Gotta love that scene! Thanks for the review!

Jimaine: I'm thinking that Jaenelle doesn't really have a Familiar, that sort of all the Kindred are her Familiars and she their Intimate. He could be though. Just decide for yourself. See you tomorrow. Sorry, cake is REAL cake, not that gross ice cream cake stuff you all eat **makes an unladylike face** **looks thoughtful** then again, knowing how sporadically you sign-on, 'tomorrow' might very well be before you read this. Whatever.

Alanna Roseguard: Oh god! I can't believe I forgot that! I thought Aaron and Sabrina sounded wrong! I couldn't remember though, so I just went with who they all arrived with in Heir to the Shadows. I corrected that as soon as you reminded me. Thank you so much for telling me; I feel like such a dunce. I'm glad that you liked the chapter though!

Lady Lye: I haven't heard of the Forbidden Ring, but if you mean The Invisible Ring then yes, I've read it and own a copy! I loved it. Not as much as the trilogy, but hey, what could beat the trilogy? I've also read Anne Bishop's Pillars of the World, which while not in the same world is still very good. I like the play on words with your pen name, much more creative than 'Rachel Hunt.'

dreamsmadeflesh: **is flattered** sure you can use the Familiar thing! Just please leave a little acknowledgement thingy in you're a/n or disclaimer please? Thank you!