Emery

As it turned out, three and a half weeks had gone by after Avuri brought that news scroll back with her, and we hadn't seen heads or tails of Vale yet. I expected he would be back within the next few days, which meant that Avuri and I would be taking our little trip soon.

I was pretty certain that Cierra and Stena could sense that we were preparing to go on a trip because they were acting more clingy than usual. Stena, who had taken to sitting on our laps a little less over the last two years, had started claiming us as her seat more often again. And Cierra was generally just trying to spend more time with us as a whole family than just playing with her sister.

As the potential for us to be gone got closer, I was starting to become convinced that it might be a good idea to spend a day with the girls for special family time before we needed to take a trip without them. Avuri, instead, suggested getting out and doing something beyond the Basin as a family.

"What do you think about going into the city and getting some more animals?" Avuri suggested one morning when I mentioned it during breakfast. The girls had stuffed their faces and run off to wash up before whatever we had planned. We promised them we'd do something together as a family today, and they were incredibly excited already.

"That's…not a bad idea, really." I considered.

"I know. That's why I suggested it." Avuri said, sounding remarkably smug. "Our chicken coop is full - speaking of, actually, we should probably build a bigger one - but the barn is still mostly empty."

"I'm aware." I said, nodding, "The chickens are very useful to have on hand. Especially with the way the girls seem to crave chicken dishes. But I haven't felt like we needed to get more animals because we haven't really needed them. Other than Mila, anyway."

"And the girls love that cow, don't they?" Avuri chuckled.

"They do, but the poor girl is basically useless for us now." I shrugged. "I bought her after we first set up the barn and coop to help with plowing the fields and other field work, but after we both broke into the Sky Realm, it's easier to do all that with just our Cultivation."

"Well, why not get a horse or two and some pigs? Or maybe add some ducks to the mix? And a farm dog." Avuri said, counting off the various animals on her fingers. She looked enthralled with the idea.

"I'd like to start by saying that I am not against expanding the animals we have, Ri. But how exactly do you plan on carrying any of those animals up the mountain?"

Avuri's excited expression slipped off her face. "Oh…how did you get Mila up here? It was before I joined you."

"Vale." I said simply. Of course, the process had been anything but simple. We had to give the cow some medicine to put it to sleep to avoid it getting terrified of Vale's dragon form. But that also meant that we had to defend the poor animal as we trekked up the base of the Peak to get to a safe spot for Vale to even consider transforming to begin with.

The poor cow was terrified for the first few weeks she lived with us after the trek through the lower part of the mountain. Thankfully, she adjusted well once she realized she was safe in the basin, but it took weeks of coddling.

"Oh, that makes sense." Avuri said. She looked down, scratching her chin in thought. "So we'd have to wait for Vale to be here to get any of the larger animals."

"More than likely. We could probably reasonably carry a small foal or donkey over our shoulders, but we couldn't do that and take the girls with us." I said. "But the other question is why do we need horses?"

"To ride." Avuri said, as if it was obvious. "Why else?"

"Ri, there's nowhere around here to ride like that. We can't exactly use a mortal horse to travel up and down the Peak, so it'd just be stuck here running around the Basin. I'm not about to do that to an animal that should be getting lots more exercise."

"That's fair, I guess. I just thought it would be fun to teach the girls how to ride a horse."

"Maybe we can do that by renting horses in the city? But even then, that should probably be when they're a little older."

"True." Avuri sounded dejected over the unfortunately logical choice.

"As for ducks, I don't think we've got the amount of water they would need to live up here; although I suppose you could take care of that, couldn't you?"

"I could."

"With the number of chickens we have, is it worth starting a duck coop?" I asked, considering it myself. I continued my thoughts out loud so Avuri could weigh in. "They would offer much the same as the chickens - more eggs, and potentially meat. But they need a fair bit of water. And my understanding is that they make a big mess."

"They do?" Avuri asked.

"It's what I've heard, at least. I considered ducks instead of chickens at first. But even if I could solve the water issue, they apparently splash a lot and like to throw the water around and end up making big muddy messes."

"Huh. I never actually worked the duck coop, although my…family had one. So did the Frozen Mountain Sect, but they had a spirit beast variety of duck that was heartier than normal for the cold temperatures."

"Now, pigs." I said, changing the subject so Avuri didn't dwell on her family. "Pigs we could do. There's already a good spot for them in and next to the barn, they eat just about anything, and you and I could easily carry a few piglets back with us and the girls."

"We should do that, then." Avuri said. "Then, when Vale is around, we should get at least a bull as company for Mila. And maybe a farm dog."

I rolled my eyes, but felt the same way. "You're right. I've been meaning to get a companion of Mila at least. Cows are herd animals, and her being alone up here is probably unfair to her."

"On the plus side, we can still look at and pick a cow or two with the girls today."

"Good idea." I agreed. "But no mention of getting a dog today, alright? I have no doubt the girls would go crazy over a dog, and I don't want to put that idea in their heads until we're definitely getting one."

It was Avuri's turn to roll her eyes at me. "Alright, that seems like a good point."

"I guess we should get ready to go, too." I said, rolling my shoulders and standing up from the table. The girls' dishes were still on the table with ours, so there was still a bit of cleaning to do, but it wouldn't take too long. I glanced over at Avuri, and smiled. "If you want to go get dressed while I clean up, I'll come after and do your braid for you."

"Sure." She also stood and twisted at her hips a bit and stretched. "Don't take too long here or you might regret it." She teased as she sauntered toward the door. I rolled my eyes again, if only to stop myself from watching her go.

I gathered up the dishes - which really only amounted to a few plates, chopsticks, and cups - and took them into the kitchen for washing.

The water Qi Arrays really made the process quite easy. With just a slight touch of Qi, they produced a constant stream of water from the center of the Array. It did require a constant feed of Qi, but the amount necessary for a full's worth of chores was basically within anyone's reach. Cierra could already do it all by herself in the Core Formation stage. And any Human Realm Cultivator would be able to use them with ease.

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Even Stena was able to turn the Array on in the very beginnings of the Qi Gathering stage, but didn't have the control or endurance to run it for long. She did laugh every time she got a chance to make the water come out of the wall though.

I had only made it through half the cleaning when Cierra and Stena came stampeding down the stairs from their bedrooms. They were both dressed and ready for the day, the wide, brilliant smiles on their faces showing their obvious exuberance for whatever plans awaited them.

"So?" Cierra said, leaning on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. She was only barely taller than it, and even that was a fairly recent development.

"So?" Stena echoed her sister, pulling out the chair she sat in at breakfast to sit down.

"You said you'd do something special with us today, but you're still doing chores!" Cierra whined as she looked around. "Also, where's Momri?"

"She's getting ready while I finish cleaning up," I said, glancing between the two of them and the dishes in my hands. "We're going to take you with us into the city today for some shopping."

When they heard they were going into the city, I could see their eyes light up. Cierra's, though, dimmed considerably when I mentioned shopping. Stena still looked excited though.

"Shopping?"

"Mhm. Don't want to go?" I asked, knowing full well that Cierra had gotten very bored the last few shopping trips because we hadn't really indulged the girls much while trying to make sure we cleared our shopping lists. Stena had enjoyed the trip anyway, but I suspected that wouldn't last much longer either with how quickly she seemed to be growing up.

"Is it just for kitchen things again? And clothing?" Cierra asked.

"Not this time." I said. "We want to get a couple piglets. And maybe look at cows and bulls to get Miss Mila a friend."

At the mention of animals, Cierra's slightly darkened mood cleared up in an instant, leaving nothing but the bright, sunny expression from earlier.

"Really? We're going to look at animals?"

"Animals? Can we pet them?" Stena asked, kicking her legs adorably under the table.

"You know, I'm not sure." I said as I put the final dish on the drying mat. "We don't usually go into the coops to pick out new chickens, but we did look over the cows when we chose Mila. So I would think so."

Both girls cheered and started talking about what kind of animals they wanted to pet. A dog was pretty high on the list, leaving me feeling rather vindicated about saying we shouldn't mention we were even considering a dog.

I untied my apron and tossed it over the hook by the kitchen door where several of the dirty pieces of clothing hung. They probably collectively needed a wash, but we needed to get more soap for them to soak in.

"You know, we probably need to visit a few other stores, too, actually." I muttered. Cierra immediately groaned.

"Why?" She whined, drawing out the single syllable.

"We need soap and some other things, I think. So we need to at least go by the apothecary."

"Oh. That's okay." Cierra said, dropping the whining tone. "I like looking at all the soaps and things they have. And they smell nice."

I snickered. "Well, good. I promise we'll be quick and spend most of the day at the farm, okay?" The girls cheered again as I continued, "But I still need to get ready to go out myself, and I promised to braid Momri's hair."

"Okay, but be fast." Stena said.

"I'll do my best." I said, and kissed both girls on the tops of their heads as I passed by to head upstairs. "Can you two go downstairs and try to meditate for a bit before we go?"

They both nodded and shouted a quick "Okay," before rushing off down the stairs to the ground floor of the house. I kept an eye on them through my Domain while I walked upstairs to the bedroom.

"Took you long enough." Avuri said as I opened the door. She was already dressed in a fine silk dress and was sat primly on the bed, her hair draped over one shoulder with a comb in hand.

I smiled. "Sorry, the girls distracted me a bit."

"I know. I could hear them."

"I know." I said, sliding onto the bed behind Avuri. I took the comb and gingerly started working it through her hair. She practically purred, especially each time I reached back up with the comb and it scratched nicely against her scalp.

"Any special style today, my love?" I asked, leaning forward and craning my neck around to see her face. Her eyes were closed, quietly content.

"Just a loose braid, I think. We may be going to the city, but we're also going to the farm. I don't think anything too elaborate is worth it." She said, keeping her eyes closed. She looked wonderfully at peace.

"As you command." I said, half in jest, as I continued to smooth her hair. As I gathered it behind her, I kissed her shoulder gently before sitting back upright to focus on her hair.

I did my work in relative silence. My hands were so practiced at braiding Avuri's hair that the process was done quickly, efficiently, and without much conscious effort. When she wanted to make the style more elaborate, I still had to put in effort - but for a simple braid? My hands practically moved on their own.

"All done." I declared, lightly tugging on bits of the braided hair to make sure it was holding steady. Satisfied it wouldn't come undone too easily, I leaned forward again to drape it neatly over her left shoulder. At the same time, I leaned the other way, leaning my head against her right.

I felt her lean her head toward mine, resting against me. I smiled, easily as content as Avuri had been while I worked on her hair.

"Can we just…not go into the city today?" Avuri whispered, then turned her face into my hair.

"I don't think the girls would let us get away with that." I whispered back, "Besides, getting out as a family should be good for us. We spend a lot of time here."

Avuri sat up and gave me a flat look. "It doesn't make sense," she whined, but I could feel her playfulness through the bond. She wasn't being genuine. "Why should we leave the house for a day to make up for us taking a trip later? Wouldn't it make more sense to stay home and do nothing as a family instead?"

I rolled my eyes again, making a show of it with an overdone sigh. Avuri giggled at the dramatics as I said, "As I recall, Ri, you were the one that suggested going into the city for more animals." I scrambled up onto my knees on the bed facing Avuri, and shuffled toward her menacingly.

"And, if I'm not mistaken, you were also the one who suggested going out somewhere in the first place." I slid forward again in time with my verbal prodding. "If you wanted to instead just stay here all day in bed," I slipped right up in front of Ri, narrowing my eyes threateningly, "you should have just done this."

Avuri would have felt my affection coming through our bond, so I had no doubt that she knew what was coming when I sprung at her, pushing her back and pinning her on the bed with a predatory grin.

Ri flushed, just a little, while I held our position there for a moment. Then I leaned down, gave her a light, chaste kiss and rolled off the bed.

"Mom! Momri! Are you too ready yet?"

Cierra and Stena were tromping up the stairs and clearly making a beeline straight to our bedroom. Avuri remained laying on her back on the bed, toying with the end of her braid like a cute little girl while I moved off to our closet to pick out a more public-ready outfit. I wasn't about to wear food-stained, plain clothes into the city.

"Didn't I ask you two to meditate while we got ready?" I called while swapping out my shirt.

"We tried. Got bored." Cierra said. I imagined that, given how excited they were for our little outing that they couldn't concentrate. I poked my head out of the closet door to see the girls round the corner into the room while Avuri was still playing with the ends of her braid.

"Ri, stop that." I said, picking out the rest of my clothing for the day. "You're going to make the braid come loose." I paused, trying to actively get a read on her emotions through our bond before continuing, "We can pick up where we left off tonight, if it bothers you that much."

Avuri's response was to scoff and sit up, throwing her braid over her shoulder indignantly. "Just get ready. And you two - let's go wait for Mom downstairs, alright?"

"Kay." Stena said, as Avuri took their hands and led them back out.

"You better be prepared." I heard Avuri's voice in my head as she led the girls away. "I'll make sure we're back with plenty of time tonight."

I rolled my eyes again, but had to make an effort to keep my thoughts away from anything too adult. Avuri and I couldn't exactly read each other's minds, sure, but she could definitely tell the general flavor of my thoughts. And I didn't think the girls would appreciate us postponing the trip to the city for a couple hours.

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