When Lumia had initially met Vayne at the bell, she had been... surprised. The young feline honestly hadn't been expecting any other Cipher family members to be within the group. And she certainly hadn't expected the family member that was there to be her sister's daughter. Not that she had met said sister, really. Still, she felt as though she held some amount of kinship with Vayne. Not only because of the fact that they were literally kin, but also because of the way the other acted. It seemed that the both of them had been through some rough times in their lives, and Lulu had to imagine that Aphra hadn't been all that great of a mother.

It was because of this that Lumia had decided to seek the other out, once she was a bit more settled into the group. Now seemed to be that time, even if the wheat colored feline still wasn't fully aware of how things worked around The Typhoon. There were still bits of the territory that she hadn't explored, and she was still getting a handle on all of their traditions. However, she knew that she liked it here, really. It was the first time she felt like she actually had a proper home, even if it was still so new.

It had taken a little while for Mia to figure out where Vayne lived – since she hadn't been aware of Rox and Diya taking the other in – but she had managed. For some reason, she felt as though her heart was in her throat as she approached the other's home, a determined expression on her face. As much as the thought of talking about her father and sister unnerved her... it would also be nice, having someone she could relate to. Hopefully they'd be able to lean on each other in the future. Particularly Vayne leaning on her, considering she was technically the other's aunt – oh, she had barely even thought about that. She really hadn't considered the fact that she could be someone's aunt, even though it made sense. Most of her siblings were much older than her, after all.

Sitting down in front of the door, Lumia took a deep breath inwards before raising one of her paws. She knocked lightly against the door, calling out in the most confident tone she could manage, "Hello? Is Vayne home?" She honestly hoped that both Roxie and Diya were out at the moment. She didn't want to disturb the captain and her wife, all because she wanted to talk to her niece.

— Reggan

Finding out that you were related to someone you had never met before had been quite overwhelming at first, to say the least. Vayne knew her mother was a liar and a manipulator but she hadn't expected Aphra to lie about having siblings. The only family members that Vayne vaguely knew of was Aphra and Lumia's father, Caesar, and that Aphra looked up to him, and of course Aphra's litter with Pincher (even though she hadn't met any of them personally).
Suffice to say, after meeting Lumia, Vayne was having quite the ordeal but as the days went on, she got used to the wheat-colored feline being around.

A knock at the door made Vayne's ears perk up and she trotted to the entrance of her home, opening the door with wide eyes. She hadn't been expecting anyone, nor did Roxanne or Diya tell her that anyone was coming over. "Oh hi Lumia!" Vayne chirped. "I'm here -" Obviously. The thought came out as a harsh scold in Vayne's mind and almost echoed Aphra's voice. "- did'cha did something?"[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

On some level, Lumia had known that she had plenty of family. It would've been impossible for her not to hear the rumors about the Cipher family, and their many escapades. It had been easy for her to assume that she had family everywhere, but she hadn't really expected to meet any of them. The young feline had always figured she'd only know her father and only know of Aphra, and that would be it. That didn't seem to be the case, though. She now knew at least one of her nieces, and although that had been quite the shock, she had to admit that she was happy about it. Mostly because Vayne actually seemed to be calm and kind, unlike most of the rumors Mia had heard about the Cipher family as a whole.

When Vayne opened the door, Lumia found herself smiling broadly, wanting to immediately reassure the other that nothing was wrong. She knew that the other probably hadn't been expecting her. She waved a paw casually in greeting, her voice a warm purr, "Hey, Vayne. I don't really need anything, so much as I just came to talk." She continued, her head tilting to one side as her paw tapped thoughtfully against the ground, "I figured since we're family... we might as well get to know each other, right? I mean, you're pretty much the only other member of my family that I've met, besides my father. And you're... much nicer than most of what I've been told about our family." Mia scratched at the back of her neck awkwardly, her expression souring for a moment. While the rumors did have some merit considering the actions of her father and sister, it wasn't as if their whole family was rotten. She was good! And so was Vayne, and she was sure there were others. Somewhere out there, anyways.

— Reggan

Vayne was glad that Lumia wasn't here for anything other than a chat; she wasn't a high position and wasn't sure if she could help her new Crewmate in any sort of way - at least, not in the sense of approving an event or something like that. "Oh, um.. Yea! We can chat if you want, I don't really have anything going on." Vayne mewed, nodding, before she tilted her head and asked, "Did you want to come inside, or maybe walk around the beach, or something?"

Honestly, it would be nice to get things off of her chest. Although many of her Crewmates knew the things that Aphra has done, or maybe could relate to it themselves, it was a whole different level (at least to Vayne) because Lumia was a Cipher. "Your father is Caesar?" Vayne asked next, already knowing the answer but wanting some clarification in case. Clearly, there were other family members out there, even if Aphra didn't tell her, so for all she knew... maybe Aphra had a brother and he was Lumia's father.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

The suggestion of a walk on the beach was a welcome one, to be quite honest. Lumia preferred to keep moving, even when she was doing something else. That was especially true when it came to talking about something as serious as her family. She found it best to keep her mind occupied with two things at once, so that she wouldn't become too caught up in one and end up saying something wrong. That had a pretty high probability of happening when it came to talking about the Cipher family, so the young feline was quick to nod, muttering, "A walk and talk on the beach... that sounds nice. Besides, I'll make sure not to go too fast that you can't keep up." The smile that appeared on her face was one filled with humor, making it clear that she was joking. After all, the actual height difference between herself and Vayme was tiny, at best. She wasn't exactly going to go speeding off anytime soon.

As she turned to start the walk, Mia couldn't help the small wince that traveled through her body at her father's name. It was an involuntary reflex, the girl so used to his name being spat in a disapproving hiss. It took a moment before she nodded, muttering as her tail flicked behind her, "Yeah, Caesar is my dad. My mom... well, she's not really important. I didn't get to know her all that well before she passed me off to Caesar. I... always kinda got the impression she had never really planned for kids." She hoped her expression didn't darken too much as she said that, despite the way her heart sunk. What Caesar had done to her had hurt, yes, but it almost hurt more that her mom had just dumped her onto him without a care in the world. Was that all Lumia had been to her? Baggage?

— Reggan

Walking the beach was a comfort for Vayne, so the orange-spotted she-cat was happy that Lumia accepted the offer of walking around. She fought the urge to bring her bucket, figuring it was better to actually spend time with someone who was family and wasn't one of her littermates. Making sure the door closed by behind her, Vayne laughed at Lumia's little joke, trailing after her aunt.

As sad as it was, Vayne could relate to both the name of her mother being uttered with such hate, and the fact that her mother practically shoved her littermates aside. She had the better treatment in comparison to Inferno and Alia, to the point that Inferno had called her a spoiled princess - which had hurt, if Vayne was completely honest. She hadn't expected Inferno to know the truth of the matter, that Aphra had taken her away from The Typhoon and Vayne hadn't wanted to leave, but she also didn't expected her own sister to sound so hateful. "I don't think Aphra did, either," This was the girl's belief, despite it being the opposite. Ironically, Vayne's existence was planned and was a way to try and get Roxanne jealous. Which failed, of course, but Vayne had no idea that was her mother's intentions. "She, um. She never really treated us like other kits. She always told me and my littermates that everyone was out to get us, and, um. Usually tried pushing us back home if a member of the Roux family was around." That was just scratching the surface, of course, but it was still something that upset Vayne greatly.

"Diya and Roxanne adopted me, but Mother -" Vayne winced at this, recalled how Aphra always insisted on being called 'Mother' or her own name as opposed to 'Mom' or 'Momma'. "- A-Aphra really hated them, I think. She made me leave The Typhoon for a while and, um. When she came to get me, Diya said that I was her daughter and it made Aphra really, really angry." She was rambling at this point, not really expecting to spill her life story to someone who was practically a stranger. But this was her aunt, one who seemingly actually related to her.

It... felt nice, to know that there were others out there who experienced the same traumas as you.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

As Lumia walked along, she let the feeling of sand beneath her paws keep her grounded. She listened intently to what Vayne had to say, drifting her focus between the other's words and the beach. It was mainly a coping mechanism, meant to provide her with just some little speck of distraction that would keep sadness from swallowing her up. Such a thing was definitely a threat, when listening to her niece talk about something so disheartening. The wheat colored feline didn't want to fall apart, however. After all, she had come to talk with Vayne, and they were talking. She was getting what she had asked for, and it was clear that the other had just been waiting for the chance to vent.

With her nub of a tail twitching behind her, Mia eventually spoke up when Vayne was finished, "I can definitely see why that would be upsetting... no kid would want to be isolated from the outside world and manipulated like that. Especially when it's clear that nobody was out to get you. It doesn't surprise me that she'd do something like that, though. I've never met her, but... dad's influence is pretty obvious." The term dad rolled off her tongue like venom, despite her best efforts to keep it neutral. However, she doubted that Vayne would care, considering the fact that they were sharing.

Briefly allowing her claws to sink into the sand, Lu seemed deep in thought, as if trying to figure out how to phrase her next words. Eventually she just gave up, shaking her head before she spoke, "Dad... Caesar loves being in control of things, completely. And when he isn't... he lashes out. That's something that I figured out pretty quickly, while I was traveling with him. He hadn't exactly asked for me to get shoved along with him, but he still got angry when I didn't listen. When I tried to listen to those that wanted to badmouth him, or even just tried to make friends while we were traveling... he'd get back at me somehow. Either with words or his claws." Her green gaze flicked back briefly at her shoulder, and the slowly healing claw marks that sat there. She grit her teeth briefly before continuing, "Aphra probably inherited a love of control from him, and decided the best way to control you was to cut you off from everyone else... I'm sorry you had to go through that." Lumia's voice softened slightly at the end, her ears briefly flattening against her head.

— Reggan

To say Aphra was controlling definitely wasn't an understatement; Aphra had made it very clear that she enjoyed being in control and ordering her children around. Vayne had been used to the treatment and at first thought it was normal, up until the point where she was finally allowed to interact with the outside world. Roan, Seabound, and many other kids were treated much more differently by their parents and it wasn't hard to see. It was very obvious that Aphra was treating her children harshly, even if Vayne didn't initially recognize it.

"I-I don't think Aphra ever lashed out at us." Although truthfully, Vayne wouldn't put it above her. There was times when Aphra definitely threatened to harm her or break one of her seashells, but it never came to fruition. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," If she hadn't shared Lumia's experiences in a way, she would almost be echoing her aunt - but her words were genuine. No one deserved to feel unloved or unwanted by their family. "A-are you okay? I mean, like... you know. You're safe here?" Obviously to say that Vayne and Lumia were okay wasn't exactly true; they both had their problems with things, whether it came in flashbacks or other things, but at the very least Vayne knew she was safe here in The Typhoon.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

Are you okay? It was a rather complicated question, even considering the more simple way that Vayne had meant it as. Was she safe within The Typhoon? She liked to think that she was, but she also hadn't been expecting any others Ciphers to be around, either. Not to mention that it still seemed as though her father was keen on causing trouble around here, if the rumors were to be believed. Still... Lu didn't want to cause her niece to worry. It was because if this that she offered the other a slightly forced smile, her head tilting to one side as she spoke, "I believe that I'm safe here, yes. I was told that Caesar and Aphra are both banned from here, and although I wasn't expecting any other Ciphers to be around... you hardly seem to be a bad one. Besides... I don't think Caesar will put any efforts into finding me, anyways. I doubt he even cares that I'm gone." That's what she prayed, anyways. Hopefully he wouldn't take her running away as a "slight," and try to hunt her down.

Wiping that rather unpleasant thought from her mind, Lumia's bright green gaze briefly closed, a soft sigh leaving her. As nice as it was to have someone who shared her experiences – or at least something similar – she couldn't deny that it was exhausting to think about the past. When she opened her eyes once again, she found herself questioning, "I take it that you're safe here too, right? I mean... you mentioned Diya and Roxanne adopting you, and they hardly seem like the kind of people to not make sure you're safe. Not to mention everybody else around here..." She glanced quickly around the beach, her heart aching momentarily. It really did seem as though The Typhoon all truly cared about each other, a fact which was new and unusual to her. She was so used to just traveling from place to place, only really knowing rough and tumble loner groups before this... it would take some time to adjust to anyone even caring.

— Reggan

There was a relief in knowing that Lumia was safe. Caesar was exiled from The Typhoon, a kill-on-sight if spotted, but Aphra on the other hand was merely banned. Considering that Roxanne, Diya, Roan, and Michael were some of the highest-ranking people here, she probably wasn't going to be returning any time soon. "I think I'm safe, yea. Mother isn't allowed here." That isn't to say that she couldn't still be kidnapped though, but Vayne felt pretty safe here. As Lumia looked around the beach, Vayne smiled and spoke up again, "The Typhoon will keep you safe, too. We've all just each others' backs and are looking out for one another. I promise."[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]