Chiaki felt the eyes on her tent as the group passed her by. The sight of people after so long... she'd lost count. Sticks with notches use to litter the sleeping space, until she'd gave up something happening that would change her fate. Weeks, months... seasons. She didn't want to try counting how long she'd only had Tobi's voice to keep her from going mad with loneliness. The flutter of white hair, the glimpse of antlers. It's tingled some memory in the back of her head.

Slowly she edged closer to the tent flap, wanting to see better the group. They didn't look dangerous. Not a bunch of feral males loners hunting for females to capture. Actually there was a female... and children. Strangely, like the boy she'd seen when she arrived in the past, they were not in animal form. They looked like kids from Earth, well with animal ears and tails.

Making up her mind she licked her dry and cracked lips. She needed to make some more balm for them. Chiaki stood and pushed the tent flap the rest of the way open.

The movement startled the group. They had figured whoever was in the tent would stay there and let them pass with no problems. However it looked like there might be a fight- Bai Kun stopped in his tracks as soon as the figure emerged from the tent. "Chi- Chiaki?"

Lu Yue spun around at the name. Was it really?! His eyes landed on her. She was amazing. She hadn't aged a day. Her long brown hair had grown longer. Her skin now bronzed by the sun. It didn't change the fact, it was her. Bai Kun's nose wouldn't lie and he would trust his own too. "Chiaki." He breathed. Years gone, it came out with a pained catch in his throat.

"Y-Yue? Kun?" Her voice was rough from lack of use. She grimaced at the sound. When had been the last time she'd talked to Tobi? A couple weeks probably. She should use her voice more, even alone. The thought was swiftly replaced with the realization that these were the same people... simply knowing her name said that. It just took a moment to register in her mind. When it did-

Chiaki stumbled out of the tent fully, flinging herself at the two people she knew. "Yue! Kun!"

Together the fox and deer males caught her, a three person hug. The rest of the group stood, silently watching the reunion. Was this what the pair had been searching for? Had their mate been taken? How was she here? Was the female alone? Were there others near?

Tears traced their way down salty faces. Chiaki didn't care these weren't truly the people she desperately missed. They were here.

"How?" Lu Yue asked.

Chiaki shook her head. There was so much to explain. She would do it later. For now though. "I can't believe you're real." She said, her face squished between theirs. Ears flicked at the rough sound in her voice. Throat dry from sea air. "You are real right? Please don't let this be another dream."

She had meant her mates and children. They had heard her dreaming of them. Bai Kun tightened his grip around her. Lu Yue ran his hand over her braided hair. She was there. They were there. This was no dream. Yue mumbled these words to her over and over. Chiaki began to relax he hold on the two of them. Reluctantly they let her go, remembering the fierce reaction of overstepping her boundaries.

"Just... stay, please?" Chiaki asked. It was a plea to no-longer be left alone.

"Of course." And. "For as long as you'll have us." Came the replies.

Lu Yue motioned to the waiting group. "Would our traveling companions be welcome also?"

"Yes. Yes, of course." Chiaki said looking at the mixed group."I'm sorry I can't offer much, though."

The non-mated males of the group, though pursuing the female with them were still quick to say they could provide for both females. Two females! Double the chance to be a mate! They didn't know they had zero chance of gaining a place in Chiaki's family.

Even to the two males who knew her she was an enigma. A female who claimed to have several mates (and had the marks to prove it) but who was always alone whenever they found her. Maybe they could get the story from her now.

"Why don't you stay here with Tina and her cubs?" Yue said motioning for them to come to the tent. "All the males will go hunting."

"We can't leave them all alone and without protection!" Lex argued.

"Oh, don't worry." Chiaki said as she lowered herself to the sandy shore. "Your group are the first people I've seen... in... well from the moment I arrived here. I doubt anyone else will show up." She looked a bit pained by her own answer, betraying her lonely existence for the last who knew how long. "Go hunt." She waved her had at them.

"Two hands and one worth of males, we can take down a sharp-toothed fish with that, easily." The male who had scouted Chiaki's camp from the water said. Without much more debate, they all headed into the water. They had not done a large ocean hunt before, but with the promise of a more permanent camp they felt they could handle a big catch.