He had been quietly working on gifts for each of his kids for months and months, sneaking bits of time here and there between his pack duties and still spending time with his children as well. Over the last several of weeks he had been forced to withdraw from him more than he'd like because of the additional responsibilities he took on as Aegis, but also because he was running out of time to finish their gifts and had to work over time to get them done. Ezra's had possibly taken the longest just because he had no idea what to get the boy, but with a bit of help from Artorias he finally had them all.

He carefully placed all the gifts into a pile in the atrium outside of the hallway that led to the rooms that he and his children called home and sat on his haunches beside them before lifting his muzzle to let out a quiet howl, calling his children to him. He knew that this first year had not been kind to them, but he hoped that perhaps this could be the beginning of a brighter second year of life for them and perhaps an encouragement from him to make use of his gifts in continuing to sharpen their skills. He waited eagerly for them to arrive, a small smile lingering on his muzzle. Secretly, he had a fifth gift stowed away in his room just incase Everlyse ever returned to him, but he wouldn't tell them that. It wasn't time to linger on the past. They had all done that more than enough. This would be his way to send them on into the future.

Walk | "Talk" | think

Jane Adravendi Jane was back after one of the several explorations she did, and sometimes she even dared to go out of the pack lands. Just to feed her thirst to explore. Eyes of pale blue were closed as the peace reigned over her room, one that sometimes felt empty. She didn't has a thing at all, just the pillows she made along with her father, but she hoped she could make some adorns and things to give it a new face, but she didn't have a big gasp on crafting. Perhaps later on she will be better. And there her father called for her and her siblings, the remaining ones. Something that now was getting to her but the excitement allowed her to stand up and run toward her father. "Daddy? Whats this?" She asked in a curious way. "Speech"

Lilith hadn’t made it as far from the den as she wanted to, but even with her defeatist attitude there was progress being made. Lil could indeed make her way further adventuring before she had to return home to rest. The girl was taking daily walks and strengthening herself as best she could. However her progress wasn’t to the point that she wanted to be at. When she heard her father’s call the girl lifted her head from her pale paws, she’d needed a nap after her walk, but she felt refreshed as her attention was needed.

The thin girl paced forward and slipped past the entrance to find her father and his silver eyes as he sat waiting for her and her siblings. Jane had already made her way, and her similarly coated sister questioned the call sweetly. Lilith tilted her head curiously up at her father, he easily put a smile on her innocent features. Lil sat back onto her haunches and curled her tail around her hips.

Ezra certainly hadn't been expecting his father to call for him and his siblings and he was down in the dojo that Artorias trained in when he did. He just barely heard the call from the other part of the castle, but he stopped to listen and Aquila chittered from the rafters, confirming that he hadn't been imagining things. Abandoning his training for a little bit, he ran out of the room and up to the second floor of the castle, finding his father and sisters waiting with a pile of.... something? There was furs and leather and... was it armors? It was hard to tell just from looking at the pile hidden slightly behind his father and he stopped trying to guess, figuring that he'd find out soon enough. He came to sit between the two gray-toned girls, giving them both a grin before focusing on their father to see what it was that they had been called here for. It wasn't that often that they all got together like this so it had to be something pretty important.

Ezra Adravendi

His speckled daughter appeared first, as energetic and lively as ever. He chuckled and leaned down to gently nose at her cheek. "You'll find out soon enough!" he told her before looking up to see Lilith coming to join them as well. He gave his brindled daughter a warm smile and leaned down to lightly tap his nose against hers before sitting back a bit to wait for his boys to arrive. Soon enough Ezra crested the stairs and he gave his largest child a grin. The two of them had gone though a lot, but somehow they had found their way through to the other side. He still didn't feel like he was as close to the boy as he would like to be, but there was progress and progress was good.

He waited with them for a little while longer, the minutes beginning to tick by while they waited for Emile. He peered at the stairs that would lead the boy to them for a bit and glanced between them and the hallway that led to their rooms. First not coming to the meeting and now... He let out a slow sigh through his nose. If he wasn't so worried about the boy he would have probably given into his frustration. But as it was, all he could do was wonder what he had done wrong and try to focus his attention instead on the three yearlings in front of him.

Ulric gave them a smile, putting Emile to the back of his mind for a moment. "I have something for each of you for your birthday," he told them, excited and nervous to show them the things he had made or found. "They're not much, but I know how hard this last year has been and I just wanted to do something special for you, something that you can carry with you and use. You're yearlings now so you all can wander and explore as much as you want so hopefully these will be useful and help keep you safe."

With that he turned and leaned back toward the pile of gifts beside him, saying, "For Jane..." He picked up the caplet made from a lion's mane, the top edge of the cape fastened around a leather collar that had a silver buckle. He draped it around his daughter's shoulders, helping her buckle the closure around her neck. "Oh good, I'm glad it's big enough! I had to guess on the length," he mentioned with a chuckle. It fell around her shoulders and nearly wrapped around across her chest, ending right around the top of her ribcage. "I was thinking about how it had been so cold and how you might want something to help keep you warm while you're traveling. Of course it's starting to warm up a little now, but... ah well. I hope you like it." He grinned and gave his daughter's cheek a kiss before turning back to the gifts again.

"For Lilith..." He picked up another cape, this one made of a leopard pelt with a similar collar. It was longer than the last though and when he draped it around his smallest child's shoulders he saw that it went almost all the way down her back, ending at the top of her rump. But it still draped over both shoulders and covered part of her sides. It wasn't as thick as Jane's, but it would offer a bit more coverage in exchange. "Some more spots for my spotted girl," he joked, giving her a grin as he fastened the cape around her neck as well. "If you want it altered at all just let me know, sweetheart. Same goes to you, Jane."

Lastly, he picked up the piece of armor that was now uncovered from where it had been laying under the daughters' capes, turning to hand it off to Ezra where he sat between his two sisters. He left the bag he had found and restored laying abandoned behind him for the time being, focusing on his similarly sized son. "Artorias mentioned how you liked the armor he had been restoring and he helped me put this together for you," he explained, helping Ezra get it over his head and did a couple of adjustments to the straps along the sides for him. It was slightly more robust and intricate than the girl's capes, but that was only because he hadn't actually crafted this piece himself. It had been repurposed from the pieces left in the armory. "Now you and Artorias really will look like two knights together while you're training," he added with a chuckle, sitting back to look at his three children.

He choked up a little, seeing how much they had grown. "Look at all of you... You've gotten so big. I'm so proud of all of you."

Ulric Adravendi

The silence that fell over them as they waited for Emile was uncomfortable, and Lillith’s ears rested against her skull as she fretted internally. Garnet gaze unable to settle as she searched the room and waited for him to appear. When he didn’t Lillith immediately blamed herself. He didn’t want anything to do with her anymore, and like their mom was going to leave them. She brushed away the thought as she tried to focus on her father. She lifted her chin but her paws moved nervously at the ground while Ulric began to speak.

He mentioned their birthday, and the gifts that he had gathered for them in celebration. Lilith still felt the weight of guilt within her as she wondered where Emile might be as their father brought Jane forward first. He fitted her with fur armor, the piece seemed to fit her sister to perfection. Lilith focused on Jane and Ulric as he spoke to her softly and fitted her with her gift before he returned his attention to her.

Lilith perked slightly as Ulric approached her with her own gift, a special piece made by her father. Something she could keep with her forever, she’d always have him with her and she would have the protection of the spotted cape. Lil stood up as her father presented the spotted fur, her red eyes blinked back surprise and tears as he wrapped the golden pelt around her shoulders. Lilith smiled, and before Ulric could pull away too far from her she placed an innocent kiss on his lips.

She craned her neck to admire her gift as their big brother received his own incredible armor. Lilith would have collapsed under the weight of something like that, and it didn’t stop her from admiring Ezra. Ulric told them how big and grown they were, but she had never seen her brother more grown up. Lil offered him a shy smile as her attention returned to Ulric as he addressed them once more. ”Thank you, Daddy.” She said softly as he looked them over and she tried not to think about their missing family.