[PRP] One More For The Road? (Mirsajadi, Aara)

[Mogami]

Aara had seen her father for the first time in her life.

Well, not so much as really seen him but more like caught a glimpse of him as he left the den carrying her sister in his mouth. There was no doubt in her mind that the stripped lion was Mirsajadi as he was like the missing piece of her family, closely resembling herself and many of her siblings. Aara stood up slowly, all traces of lethargy instantly gone from her mind and body but she hesitated, one paw dangling in the air until she finally made her decision. The young cub stepped closer to the mouth of the den and was greeted by the unsettling stillness and darkness of the night that always intimidated her. She froze.

Aara looked downright miserable. Other cubs she’d seen from the den often walked around with their father’s by their side and she’d missed the chance to talk to the striped lion. She had started to believe that Mirsajadi wasn’t happy about his cubs and that he was somewhat disappointed in them, in her. Now he’d come to the den and taken two of her siblings but not her. A part of Aara wanted to run off to her mother and cry on her chest but she remained on the spot with her head low and ears pulled back.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Returning to the pride was much faster than leaving it had been. He could move at a trotting pace which covered significantly more ground. It helped that he also didn't have to sneak, since he would be recognizable to any sentries he might encounter and allowed to pass without difficulty. Perhaps not without being questioned, but because of the strange hours he had been keeping and the time he'd been spending in the rogue lands lately, it wasn't likely he would even be questioned on his way to retrieve Aara.

Mirsajadi had discussed with Aylin the fact that he would be taking one of her cubs with him when he left. He had even told her in advance which of the cubs it would be, so that she would not worry unduly when Isa went missing one night. The decision to take Aara had been one that he'd only made in the past few days while watching the cubs from a distance. Aara and Isa got along, and he thought it might be easier on both cubs if he took both of them with him, even though that came with the risk of increasing the likelihood that the cubs would grow up remembering their mothers and their life in the Ukuucha'Wafalme. It was a risk he was willing to take.

Even at his faster pace, it still took him a little over an hour to make it back to the den. He passed unmolested into the pride, as expected, and made his way silently through the lands until he came to his den. There he was actually startled to find himself greeted by a very dejected looking cub. The very cub he'd come back for, in fact, but which he had not expected to see in her current position.

"How long have you been there?" he asked.  

[Mogami]

Drowning in her own little pool of misery, Aara only noticed the adult when he spoke. Her head sprang up, nose twitching a few times as she tried to confirm his identity. The familiar scent had her completely convinced that this was indeed the lion that had been too busy or too disappointed to spend time with Aara and her siblings.

“Daddy…?” she asked quietly, her tiny voice shaky. She needed to be sure that this truly was Mirsajadi, the lion that the older banu said was her father. She didn’t answer his question because she had a dozen of her own floating around in a mind that couldn’t decide if it was happy, sad, confused, angry or hopeful. “Where’s Isa?”

Not that she didn’t like her brother Khozar but the fact that the lion hadn’t brought her sister back worried her a little bit more. What if her mother woke up and she wasn’t there?!  

[Princess_Feylin]

A scowl tugged at Mirsajadi's features but he did his best to smooth it away rather than give the impression he was angry with Aara. He wasn't angry with her, after all. Though it would make things simpler for him if she would keep quiet.

"She's safe with Khozar," he told her, hoping very hard that it was true. He had spent a great deal of time recently making sure that the den he'd made beneath the roots of an enormous tree smelled of male lion so that other predators would not have to come too close to tell that this was a den they did not want to investigate.

"I'm going to take you to them," he said, still speaking in a low voice. "But you have to keep pretty quiet, otherwise you'll wake people up and they'll be angry."

Probably they would be less angry at being woken up than they would be to learn that Mirsajadi was "stealing" his own cubs away from the pride, but Mirsajadi had no reason to let Aara in on that secret. He wasn't even sure she and her sister were old enough to grasp some of the concepts there. He didn't plan to go into them now, at any rate. His goal was for all three cubs to forget this night in short order.  

[Mogami]

Aara looked a little worried at first, her father’s initial expression scaring her a little. Still, before she’d even had the opportunity to ask if she was allowed to go to wherever her siblings were staying, her father told her she was going to join them soon. It was a relief to know her father didn’t consider her inadequate in some way and that he was finally going to spend time with her.

She looked back at the dark shapes inside the den for a brief moment. She still wasn’t at an age when she could simply walk away from the den even after asking for permission – that was still a foreign concept to the young girl. She’d been told to always stay near the mouth of the den unless an adult was accompanying her and here he was, her father. Who better to escort her around the pride?

“Is anyone else coming?” Aara whispered, her happiness so obvious that no one would be able to misjudge her state of mind. Maybe another one of the boys would go as well like the first time Mirsajadi had come.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Mirsajadi did not really feel like standing around to answer questions, but he couldn't very well use the same trick on Aara that he'd used on Khozar for the main reason that Aara was the only cub he could pick up and carry, and she was too awake to tolerate that without protesting. Instead he took a few steps away from the den, testing whether Aara would follow him.

When he answered he spoke even more softly than he had been before, forcing her to come closer to hear him. It was most definitely cheating, but Mirsajadi was intelligent and good at getting others to do what he wanted, for the most part. He enjoyed manipulating people, too, for what it was worth. Even his own family. He hoped that the cubs he'd selected would be able to learn some of his skills, too.

"It is only you, and Isarmaq, and Khozar. I wish only to bring the best with me, but I won't force you to come."

He took another few steps backward, doing his best to show her that it was her choice whether she would follow or be left behind. It was a risk, but again he did not want to use the tactics he'd used with Khozar. This was Aara, a daughter of his loins. She deserved better than a stern look and firm command.

"If you come, though, I will have to carry you. Isa and Khozar are not anywhere nearby and you will not be able to walk that distance before dawn."  

[Mogami]

Aara nodded vigorously even though… she didn’t really understand anything her father was saying. She failed to grasp the concept of “forcing” especially when she was so eager for Mirsajadi’s acceptance that she would’ve followed him to the ends of the savannah and she had no idea what her father had meant by being the best. While he hadn't confirmed that he was indeed her father, the young cub could see the similarities between him and herself... and uncle Raja. Clearly, they were related. It made sense that she spend time with him, after all and nothing else really mattered. Aara disn't realize she was making a choice. With each step her father took backwards, the little cub took one forward without even realizing it. It was hard to hear him so she tried to be as close as possible.

“Okay.” She accepted her father’s last words easily and quickly got into position, lowering her head so that her father could easily grab her by the scruff. So it was a night adventure! And only three cubs were allowed to go and she was one of them. Aara couldn’t wait to tell all the others about daddy and all the things they’d seen together. Maybe he’d tell her why he didn’t like to spend time with them in the den.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Mirsajadi strode forward and picked up his daughter. As his mouth settled into the correct position his jaw ached and he realized that maybe carrying cubs around for hours at a time was more strenuous than he had anticipated. Or perhaps it was just that he was unaccustomed to that particular task and the muscles of his jaw weren't in shape for it. That was more acceptable.

It didn't take long for him to get into a good stride as he walked. This time there was more briskness to his pace and so Aara's ride was probably less smooth than Isa's had been, but he did his best to keep his grip gentle, even though his jaw ached. Setting her down while he scouted briefly for sentries at the pride's border was a welcome relief that made it all the more difficult to make himself pick her up once more.

As he carried her across the border and into the rogue lands Mirsajadi wondered what she must be thinking of all this. So far she had been very good about being quiet, but in his experience cubs could not maintain silence for prolonged periods of time. Unless they were asleep.

He huffed a breath out through his nose and trod on, increasing his pace once again.

Mogami

 

[Mogami]

Princess_Feylin

Yikes! Sorry, I missed this!

It wasn’t a very comfortable ride but Aara did not complain even once. She was so happy and relieved that her father had finally acknowledged her that the young cub would simply accept everything that he told her to do. When her father placed on the ground the first time, Aara looked around eagerly as if she expected her siblings to pop out of nowhere but it wasn’t long until she was being carried again. She sighed quietly and then yawned, claws flexing repeatedly.

“It’s very far…” the cub whispered slowly, looking up at her father with bright eyes, her expression growing a little worried. She disliked talking while she was being carried as the skin of her neck and head was pulled up uncomfortably but she was also growing impatient with each step. This silent ride was starting to feel a little awkward and strange.
 

[Princess_Feylin]

Mirsajadi had no hope of seeing Aara's expression as she looked at him. She was dangling from his mouth, which put her face about where his chin was. There was just no way. He could tell from her voice that she was concerned, or worried, but he really couldn't answer her any better than he could see her as long as their positions as they were, which would be the duration of their trip.

They were making better time than he had done when he had to make his pace match Khozar's smaller step-size, but Aara was not wrong in observing that it was far. It had to be far, by necessity, or else preliminary searches for the cubs, if not for him, would find them. Because he had been in the habit of going into the rogue lands for long periods of time Mirsajadi hoped that no one would think to factor in how far he could travel in a night when they went looking for three missing cubs. At least not right away.

It was a relief to the former pad when he once more drew within sight of the tangle of roots that formed a small but acceptable den where he had left Khozar and Isarmaq to await his return. Not just his jaw, but his neck and shoulders now ached from carrying cubs for so long. And this was just the beginning. He would be doing this more in days to come, he reminded himself.

"We're here. Khozar and Isarmaq are under there already, sleeping."  

[Mogami]

The uncomfortable and repetitive rocking motions were slowly getting to the cub, making her drowsy and less responsive to any changes in Mirsajadi’s speed and direction. It wasn’t long until she was purring quietly under her breath and when her father finally placed the cub on the ground, Aara eyed the den for a few moments in silence, not really thinking clearly anymore.

“In there…?” she asked sleepily, looking up at her father with eyes that seemed to be struggling to stay open. The striped cub yawned, taking one step closer to the mouth of the den. She felt exhausted. “Can we sleep, too? Play tomorrow? You’ll stay with us tonight...?” her last words were accompanied by a rather worried expression. Part of her was afraid her father would suddenly disappear and be replaced by the familiar shape of her mother while she was sleeping.  

[Princess_Feylin]

It was sort of endearing the way she blinked up at him and tried to ask him questions that he doubted she would remember the answer to. Nevertheless, he gave her an answer because he wanted his cubs to grow up to have inquiring minds.

"I'll be here all night," he assured his daughter. "And in the morning when you wake, and every day after that."

Actually, he probably wouldn't be sleeping beneath the roots. He wouldn't fit very well with the cubs in there, too. But he would sleep outside of it and guard his daughters and Arezoo's son through the night. In the morning he would set about learning what they needed to know and figuring out how he would teach them.  

[Mogami]

Aara offered her father a sleepy smile before she started making her way towards the roots. She paused before entering, looking back at the adult almost as if to make sure he was still there and then walked back and rubbed her body on Mirsajadi’s legs in a somewhat hesitant way. She wasn’t sure he’d like the little familiar gesture so she quickly ran into the little makeshift den before she could find out.

The moment the little cub nudged her body between her warm siblings, Aara closed her eyes, fell asleep and dreamed of a pair of watchful eyes of a color she could not name.