Well, it was time to meet his children. Kai hadn't been quick to set an official meeting date, not for lack of want but simply because... well, he didn't exactly know what he was doing when it came to parenting. Like, at all. He'd spent a long time not really knowing even what he wanted out of life, from his period of captivity to his subsequent servitude spent in Winterfell; how was he supposed to know how to raise kids? He'd gotten the impression Justice wasn't all that thrilled to be raising his kids, or any kids at all, and while he wasn't willing to claim total responsibility for them... he would claim some. Parenthood had always been something he knew he wanted eventually, and now that it was here he figured the best thing to do was dive right in and figure things out as they came. What was the worst he could do, really? Permanently traumatize them? That seemed rather likely, but Kai would try his best to make sure he wasn't a terrible influence on them.

Nearing Valhalla's borders, he decided against calling them right there. Why not make the little ones work for it? Life was about challenge an adventure, not about staying idle in one's home. Wait - how old were they, again? Were they even big enough to be going this far? Worse case scenario, Justice could drag them all here. That'd be just fine. Once he wandered further across the rocky landscape, he finally lifted his tusked head to the sky in a call for them. It was time to meet his kids at last.

Though she'd yet to meet her father, the sound of her call was unmistakable - somehow familiar in its own right despite being something entirely new. She'd been busy just a few feet from her family's den, digging in the dirt and looking for bugs. Although what she was doing was deemed very important, at least by her standards, her post was abandoned quickly at the call. Should she get her mom? Warily she glanced back at the den, deciding her mom would be happier if she let her sleep, something she seemed to like doing. Her siblings might want to go too, right? She'd lost track of where they were, and though she wanted them to come if they wanted... well, she wasn't going to drag them all the way across the world to meet their dad if they didn't want to go.

As she headed that direction, she lifted her head to let loose a call for her siblings to join her. Just in case, she told herself with a nod as she went. Shaking as much dirt from her coat as possible, she hurried along, moving into a full-blown sprint as she rushed across the plains. Hopefully he dad would like her! Apparently she looked a bit like him, with her tusks, so she wasn't all that concerned about him not liking her. And she was even less concerned about not liking him. Of course she'd love him. He was her dad, after all!

By the time she reached where he'd called from, she was panting hard, her little chest heaving up and down. Not that she was all that little anymore. Kaija was already growing fast, and her tusks were extending past her jaw, not completely unlike her father's. "Dad?!" Her bright violet gaze was transfixed on him as she closed the distance between them, grinning from ear to ear.

The boy had been quite serious about catching the squirrel. He was going to catch it, and take it to Ma, and then maybe she wouldn’t be so cranky all the time. Arne knew he got cranky when he was hungry, and he could only assume she was the same. She was probably hungry because she was sleeping when she should be eating.

However, there had been a bit of a... miscalculation. You see, squirrels were a lot smaller than puppies and Arne had thought to chase the rodent into a hollow... As his legs seemed to realise his error before his head did, he had skidded, slipping on loose leaves. His head made it into the hole, small tusks lodging themselves in the soft bark of the inner tree, but his shoulders were too wide. Pushing back didn’t do him much good with his tusks stuck and his shoulders jammed, and to top matters off, the squirrel had started to drop things on his head from above!

He huffed in frustration, shoulders wriggling to give his neck a bit more room, neck straining to get his tusks free. He was finally released with such force that he propelled backwards, landing squarely on his butt. His eyes narrowed, giving the tree a closer look. He hadn’t realised he was getting bigger. He could have sworn he would have fit in there a month ago.

Shaking some of the loose bark from his head (there was still a small bit of wood clinging to one tusk and a dusting of timer fragments decorating the hair over his shoulders and about his neck), he only caught the end of the call. It sounded a long way away, and for a moment he thought to ignore it... but then, what if his siblings managed to meet someone new and he missed out?

Just has he suspected, Kaija hadn’t waited and for once he was glad that he decided to show up when someone wanted him. He held back a bit though, having heard his sisters greeting but not entirely trusting it himself. His tail arched up over his back, a low uncertain, Ooowoo? leaving his chest as the fur along his spine displayed his discomfort and uncertainty, the boy leaning back but not retreating. Sure he looked like them, but did that really mean this was their dad?

"speech".

running around like a clown on purpose

Fidelias lay under the now-familiar rabbit-flag over the family den with his hind legs kicked out to the side and his forelegs sphynx-like out in front of him and his purple gaze tracked curiously as far as he could see. Movement would sometimes mark a bird, or a small animal, and he'd stop scanning to watch them for a while. Sometimes it was one of his siblings as they explored and played nearby. Behind him he could hear his mom doing... something that he hadn't quite figured out, on the other side of the little hillock that formed their den. She seemed to be cleaning a big circle on the ground, though he couldn't fathom why. Moving sticks and rocks and even trearing out grass to make it dirt. It was odd but then, adults seemed prone to odd things.

He lifted his head when a call rang from the border in a voice he didn't recognize. It seemed to be calling for them though, and both his siblings took off immediately towards the call. Fidelias hesitated, brow knitted, and then twisted to look at his mom, who just waved him on distractedly. Oh, so this was one of those things that she wanted them to learn on their own. All right.

He pushed himself up to his paws and carefully oriented himself towards the call, well behind his siblings as he trotted off after them. He slowed as he passed the rock wall of their territory, certain somehow that they were breaking the rules even with his mother's implied blessing. His eyes traveled over the stranger who his siblings had already found, and narrowed warily as he stepped up next to Kaija. The stranger looked a LOT like Kaija and Arne, with the red fur and the tusks, so this must be the father Justice had told them about. Del didn't have the clearest concept of what a normal family consisted of, though with Aurielle and Red he at least had the general idea that a father was basically the same as a mother, except male. Silently, Fidelias looked the stranger up and down, but found himself tongue-tied in the face of someone he'd never met, but was nonetheless important somehow to them.

Before long the children began to amble up, first a girl with tusks, and then.... another boy with tusks, and finally one without. Well, if he'd been doubting their lineage at all all of his worries were suddenly cast aside, replaced with a bright grin. He already had an idea who they were, given that he'd offered names for them to Justice. It was the least he could do as their dad, after all. The girl must be Kaija, the tusked boy Arne, and the silent one, Fidelias. Kai found his tail wagging rapidly behind him. He nodded enthusiastically at Kaija's question, but Arne looked more wary, and Fidelias.. well, even more so. They sure looked like both him and Justice; there was no mistaking that. But he wasn't quite sure how to convince them of who he was if they seemed uncertain. "Well... hey guys!" He spoke up after a moment, as friendly as possible. His experience with kids was painfully limited and just because they were his, well... it didn't make it magically less difficult. "I'm your dad. I figured I'd come introduce myself. I know I don't live in Valhalla with your mom and you, but I wanted you to all know I want to be part of your lives and..."

Was this too serious for kids? They were so young; maybe he needed to not get too deep with it. Kai shrugged, loosening his shoulders which were tenser than he'd realized. "You can come find me anytime. Call and I'll come. We can hang out, or go on adventures, or I can teach you to hunt or... anything at all!" Honestly, he'd been raised to be independent but family was always important. Some of his fondest memories were of exploring with his father as a youngster, and he wanted to get to know his kids as much as possible and extend the same opportunity to them, even if it took them all awhile to warm up to him, he'd just keep trying.

As the big man spoke, Arne relaxed, his tail taking up a steady wave and a grin growing on his face. By the time the man was done he had begun to eagerly bound forward. This was different, this grown up wanted to spend time with them? And he could teach them to hunt?! His face darkened for a fraction of a second, taking into account his most recent attempt and he lifted is paw to dislodge the small bit of bark that still clung there. "I wanna hunt!" He declared excitedly, throwing a glance to his brother and sister. "Can we go now?" Could they go outside?! His small heart began to thud but it’d have to be ok if their dad was with them, right?

"speech".

running around like a clown on purpose

If Kaija noticed that their dad seemed uncertain, she made no sign of it. She twisted around to gauge Arne and Fidelias's reactions, who both seemed more cautious than her, especially Fidelias - which wasn't much of a surprise. He was always quieter and kept back a bit more than his siblings, so Kaija wasn't surprised, even if she wanted him to be excited too. This was great! They had a dad, and he was already telling them he could take them on adventures and teach them how to hunt and stuff. Now that sounded exciting! "Yeah, me too! I want to be a strong hunter!" Maybe if they could learn to hunt they could help feed their mom and the rest of the pack. That sounded super awesome to her. Her little tusked head bobbed up and down, clearly thrilled at the prospect. Now definitely sounded good, as Arne suggested. Their mom hadn't shown up to yell at them for leaving so Kaija could only assume they'd be okay to go spend some time with him. Somewhat uncertain, she glanced to Fidelias expectantly, hoping for some sign of approval.