Belpheobe

The sun slowly began to set in the distance, and Gakuru breathed the air in deeply. The egg would hatch any day now, and he would have a child. Okay, he did already have another child, Grigorii, a Nephidae whose egg he had adopted after the Cruix earthquake disaster, but this one would be his; his with the one he loved. Not that he didn't love Grigorii; he loved him as if he was his child, this was just....different though.

Gakuru was suddenly tackled from behind, two strong, young arms encompasing his neck, and was knocked to the ground.

"Gakuru! Gakuru! I found you!"

Gakuru scrambled upright, and unwound Grigorii from him, "Why were you looking for me?" Grigorii hopped infront of Gakuru, and blinked smilingly up at him, "Rose was looking for you!" Gakuru's ears flicked round, "Why?" Grigorii carelessly looked around at the sky as the stars slowly began to appear, "I dunno... She seemed excited about something though." Excitement began to mount inside Gakuru. Could it really be? Without asking anymore questions, Gakuru began to charge back inside, with the young Nephidae trailing absentmindedly behind.

Belpheobe lay in the grass, arms streched out, and gazed up cheerfully at the coulds in the sky. She liked it in this forest, it was so quiet and peaceful. She closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply, just happy to be here. Valan was such a beautiful planet. The sound of the river a few meters away almost lulled her to sleep.

Ice cold water suddenly drenched her head and shoulders, and she sat straight upright, shreiking her head off. She heard the sound of laughter, as she did so.

"Grigorii!!!!" The laughter just increased, and when Belpheobe finally opened her eyes, she saw Grigorii rolling rocking on his back in the grass infront of her. Her teenage brother may of been four years older than her, but he sure didn't act like it. She got up, and walked over to him, still laughing hysterically on the floor, and she began to grab handful's of grass and hurling them at him, "Why do you always have to do that to me?!!" He began to put his hands above his face, trying to keep the grass away from it, and replied, while still giggling, "I've been wanting to do that for sooo long now!"

"What are you talking about?! You did that to me yesterday!!" She stopped throwing the grass around, and he finally stopped laughing, and he shrugged his shoulders, not really caring that much. Belpheobe stuck her tounge out at him, and turned around, stomping a few steps away, "You always pick on me!" He got up , and followed behind her. He was quiet a bit taller than her, and was a lot stronger than the young Valanir.

"You know it's only 'cus I love ya'!" he said, wrapping his arm round her neck, and ruffling her hair. She smiled, and shoved Grigorii away from her. However annoying he was, at least that was true. She grabbed a leaf from a nearby tree, and shoved it into her mouth. She loved the leaves that grew from this tree, they were sweet and crunchy.

"Yeah well, can't you at least show it in a different way."

"Like what?"

"Liiiiiike.......giving me a piggy-back all the way home?" Grigorii smirked at her.

"Not a chance!" he laughed, shoving her shoulder as he walked past her, and heading in the direction of their home, but as he did so, Belpheobe put both her hands on his shoulders, and jumped onto his back.

"PHEEBES!! Get off!" Laughing loudly, she clung on tightly as he tried to shake her off, but eventually he gave up, "Fine! Fine! I'll carry you. But don't blame me if you end up getting knocked off by a tree!"

The sunlight streamed throught the window, and Belpheobe yawned and slowly opened her eyes. Blearily she looked outside and saw the leaves of the tree brushing gently against the window pane. She climbed out of her bed, and slipped on her dress, before heading into the kitchen to get breakfast. It was earlier than she usually cared to get up, but she wanted to get out before everyone started to fuss over her. She grabbed a large, juicey friut from the bowl, and skipped outside, heading over to the forest. She'd spend the whole day there, no stress, no worries. Just time to relax by herself, and come to terms with the fact that she was now officially an adult. She loved her parents, but they could be a little overbearing at times, especially for things like this. It would be constant fussing, fussing, fussing. At least this way, the fussing could be kept to a minimum. She shifted into her animal form, deciding to see how far she could fly into the forest, before it got too dark to see anything.

"Is she back yet?" Gakuru asked, as he came back home, covered in other people's hair.

"No, not yet," Rose replied, hoping over to him, and giving him a quick kiss, "but she'll be back soon. Either that, or she misses her surprise!" Gakuru gave her a quick smile and a hug,

"Thats true. I'll go and clean myself up quickly, and I'll be right back out." Rose gave him another quick kiss, "Kay. I'll just start getting things ready then," before heading into the kitchen.

The door finally opened, and Belpheobe finally stumbled through, dirty and with her hair full of leaves, just as the sun was almost set.

"Hey! There you are! Where've you been all day?" Rose asked, finishing laying out a bowl of red fruits on the table. Belpheobe headed over to the table to look at the feast that had been laid out, "Mum, you didn't have to do all this for m-" She stopped, as she noticed a plate of meats to one side of the table, but before she could ask, her question was answered. The door opened, and Grigorii came in, still in his new uniform, and carrying a bag, "Surprise!" Belpheobe rushed over to hug him happily, before pulling back to look at him, "I didn't know you were coming!! Look at you! I haven't seen you in ages! How are you? How'd you like your new job? Are you staying?"

"Hey! Hey! Calm down! I'm great. I love my job, I get to travel loads. I'm gonna be staying about 4 days. So. Now it's my turn! How are you?" He smiled, and ruffled her hair, before putting his bag down by the wall, and heading over to sit on a chair. She closed the door for him, before Belpheobe joined him round the table, "I'm great! I just got a job a couple of months ago, working at a book store. It's great!" Gakuru and Rose joined them, and they all began to eat, bombarding Grigorii with questions about his job, and cooing over Belpheobe, just as she had thought they would, and in general had an enjoyable evening.