[PRP] I have returned

[Nasaiki]

Horus waited for Apries to think about what he had said about Marius, The other fox was very like Kaname in the regard he didn’t like to talk to foxes and show exactly what was on his mind. He tended to lean towards being what others needed of him, mixed in of course with his very own strong personality. Akori needed some one who was energetic and liked exploring, to take on all the ire so they wouldn’t know how strange Akori was. Apries needed some one to step in the role of oldest for a while and Chione needed a brother to play with her. Sure Marius had messed up for a bit but he did try his hardest towards his family. Then when Chione and Apries had left and Akori was more confident Marius went off to go to his own thing. Akori stepped into the role of Shaman as a thank you, and he was good with medicine strangely and Marius became a scout.

Drawing out of his thoughts about his scout Horus blinked a while before staring at Apries. Suddenly he couldn’t hold back the laughter than escaped for a few short seconds. Sure he supposed Kaname could come off that way, but he supposed it did pay to have known the red phim from when they where small, that and be very close friends. He almost always knew what Kaname was thinking. However it was Apries Decision so… He closed his eyes and began talking with said younger brother. “well he agreed to come out here”
 

[jinxgirl5]

Apries fidgeted nervously, suddenly wishing Lani-Ai was here. This would be the first time he'd seen any of his family since he left...

"Should we wait here or keep walking," he asked, glancing in the direction they'd been heading then back at Horus.  

[Nasaiki]

"mmm I would have to say no, Marius isnt that far from us and if you really want to have a chat with him the best way is not to make him go chasing all over for us. He wouldn't like that too much" Horus replied. "so best thing would be to wait here

Marius sighed and shook his head, he had been going out to talk to Xylara about Oriana's obvious delusions and there was pretty much going to be no way to get through to her that his feelings were not what she thought but Horus had asked if he would come to the edge of the Iteru to meet up with Apries of all things. Guess this just had to be the day for family drama, he knew with flooding season being over Xylara would be pretty busy so he had some time to stop by with. He looked down towards his tattoo'd leg and lightly flicked his other paw at it. It would the first meeting the two brothers had while kemet was official.  

[jinxgirl5]

Apries sat and waited with Horus, trying his best to remain calm. It felt like he was almost divided in two, the Apries he had been when he left surfacing for the first time in quite a while to battle with the Apries he had become towards the end of his travels, when he met Lani-Ai. His mate had the ability to calm and steady his with her presence, something he had not yet been able to completely master when it was just him alone.

He saw his brother perhaps at the same time Marius saw him. Both were blots of bright color against the landscape, they'd be hard to miss. Apries felt his throat tighten as his brother approached. 'He hasn't changed much,' he thought as Marius neared and details surfaced. The only thing different was a small orange tattoo on his front left leg, identical to the green one Horus had.

Apries felt his mouth go dry, and was sure his nervousness was obvious to anyone who looked at him. Marius had almost reached them. Was he going to speak first, or did he expect Apries to? Would Horus? Bright Deities, what was he going to say?! Apries viciously clamped down on his emotions before they turned into a blind panic. He was here to prove to his family he had changed, even if only a little. He was not going to ruin it cause nerves got the best of him!  

[Nasaiki]

Marius ignored the normal fox in front of him for a bit and turned to look over at his elder. Looks like the whole ascending process had gone okay; it had come as a bit of a shock when Horus had ascended no one having any warning. Then Horus had been whisked away before everyone could really adjust. Well things had run pretty smoothly, luckily Horus had some excellent foxes to step in when he was away. Then slowly his gaze traveled back to his elder brother.

Ah the beloved oldest son or at least he should have been. Marius tilted his head to the side, it looked like Apries had fared well on his travels, which was always good. He seemed to be sporting piercings and a scarf, probably to hide the crown looking thing mother had passed on to him and Akori. Unfortunately it didn’t look too good on the second generation. However the color was a bit off. Then again why did he really care it was Apries scarf. “Why are you here apries?” he asked in a tired voice. Better to get straight to the point, Marius never did like waiting around for pleasant small talk.

Horus could have smacked his paw to his forehead if it wasn’t so utterly un elder like. Out of all the different things to start a long waited reunion it was ‘why are you here’ luckily other than being a little tired it didn’t sound judgmental. Then again that was because Horus knew the source of the fatigue affecting his scout. He looked over towards Apries and wondered if the young male felt anything towards the opening statement. Horus knew Apries had to be nervous if only through talking about what apries viewed his family’s behavior.  

[jinxgirl5]

Apries was silent for a moment. He cringed mentally at Marius' words, but quickly got over it. 'What did you expect, unbridled jubiliation,' he chided himself. 'That would be so weird. He sounds tired too.'

Now he just had to figure out what to say and how to say it. Obviously he was the low-ranker here and there should be a certain amount of respect, but it was also his family. 'That might mean I have to use even more respect,' Apries thought wryly, and felt a shot of amusement go through him. That helped to relax him a bit, and he sat up straight with no sign of cringing. He actually looked...confident.

"You look exhausted," Apries said, eyeing his brother. "If you're running yourself around this much, maybe it's a good thing I decided to come back."  

[Nasaiki]

Marius let out a snort and shook his head. Ah well that would explain why Horus had him jaunt over here. “Hmm unless you happen to want to be a scout I rather doubt it, and even then you still have to go through the training of what ever field you decided to go in, besides it’s hardly my job that’s making me tired. You planning on staying around this time, because it’s not a clan anymore there is no running away if you can’t handle it again.” Sure the words probably where rather cruel again but Apries was his brother, he had to make sure Apries knew what he was getting into this time. It wasn’t like the clan setting they where born into where you could leave and never come back. If you messed up in a tribe the modeities turned their back away from you for a long time.

Horus sat down and watched the two brothers, he figured he would allow them to talk amongst themselves for a while and work things out. After all both needed to see each others side and work things out for the time they had been away from each other. Besides resting in the shade for a while after being in the sun a good portion of the day was heavenly as well.
 

[jinxgirl5]

Apries shrugged. "I've been through a lot of different stuff while I was gone, so it won't be like training a total newbie." He flexed his claws, digging them into the hard earth and glanced off to the side. "I won't exactly be coming alone either," he said, and when he looked back at his brother he was blushing a bit. "If anything ever happened to me, I'd wanna know Lani isn't left alone again. Long story." He shrugged.

"So if it's not a shortage of scouts, what's got you tired," Apries asked. He had an idea from what Horus had told him, but he wondered if Marius would say anything for himself.  

[Nasaiki]

Hmm Marius was never really one to say anything about himself, the reason to why Apries thought Marius hated his guts, and Chione couldn’t stand being around him for a while. This time was hardly different. “Life, it has a tendency to happen. Oh you’re an uncle now, although Horus probably told you”
“ As for the whole newbie thing, hmmm well I suppose that’s true but you still have to learn the gifts that come with your field, like say you decided to go become a priest you need to know how the temples are kept up what are the different ways of taking care of the modeities when they visit, and how to wield magic.” Marius looked at his brother and opened his mouth to say something along the lines of ‘ah picked up a chick did we?’ only Apries definitely wasn’t Akori and would probably feel insulted for the mate so instead what came out is…. “Found yourself a mate did you? Well congratulations”

“Hmmm yes Apries probably will need some training, but I think this time he’s ready to come home now. After all any one who sits in a place for heaven knows how long waiting to ambush their elder who may not even show up certainly has their mind set.” Horus finally spoke up with a smile. Of course a rather ominous gust of wind blew his hair into his face. “Hmmm maybe we can resume walking again, although I do wish to know where this mate of yours is. Only because I don’t want her out in this weather”
 

[jinxgirl5]

Apries just chuckled softly. At least that part of Marius was still the same, cutting out all the common stuff and getting straight to the point. "Horus did tell me and congrats on both your own mate and your kids. I understand Akori found someone too. I'm not sure whether to be nervous or excited," he said, a small, tired smile on his face. He suddenly looked more weary than before, as tired as Marius seemed.

Apries turned his attention back to Horus, and the question he asked. "Lani is close, only about half a day's jog away. I found a small, sheltered spot and told her to wait for me." Apries' lips pressed together into a thin line. He'd had his reasons for leaving his mate behind for initial contact, but it still left something of a bitter taste in his mouth.  

[Nasaiki]

Marius licked his lips and looked away for a second. He was still rather unhappy about all the problems that had come with the kits; however the tension between all of them was calmed down, at least for the most part. Xylara even wanted a new set of babies. “Yeah I did find a mate; she has less control over her sharp tongue than I and Hollow do.” Marius warned, might as well get it out of the way if Apries was truly coming back. “pfft yeah Akori got some one, Ion’s pretty nice she’s terrified over the tribe guardian though, apparently her first night here and a crocodile tried to eat her so she doesn’t due to well with lizard looking things but you should see her and Akori get into a narble conversation” Marius shook his head.

“Hmm well with a sand storm brewing I believe you would probably find it more relaxful on your mind if she was with you.” Horus replied. This year was definitely one for disasters with one major sand storm already hit and the Iteru deciding it was going to over flood this year. Horus lightly wondered if the modeities where still fighting with each other. Horus let out a chuckle at Marius’s words. Xylara was definitely something when the tribe had been sick she had actually sat on Kaname to keep him from running around and helping other people and to actually take care of himself. Of course Kaname just walked around with her on his back but it was still funny to watch.  

[jinxgirl5]

Apries just nodded, not showing any surprise and very little appehension. He didn't say it, and he was almost afraid to think it in case his thoughts showed up on his face, but Marius would have needed someone with a powerful personality to counter-balance his own strong will.

Instead, he looked up at Horus.

"I'll go fetch her now then." He hesitated. "Should we just show up at Kemet or...," he let his voice trail off, wondering what Horus wanted to do with the situation.  

[Nasaiki]

Marius snorted as Apries mentioned meeting up in kemet. Sure he didn’t know the current situation in the tribe but as soon as both males went back they would be instantly busy. Marius with trying to tell Xylara they couldn’t start on making more babies He had tons of work to do and Horus well he had been gone to who knows where for a week or more. Kaname would not be a happy camper.

Horus let out a sarcastic weak little chuckle and shook his head. “You see the second I get to kemet I will be dragged off and yelled at by your father for disappearing again, which wasn’t my fault the modeities apparently wanted me on the wrong side of the river for the last week and half and my own mate will most likely be back to trying to kill me unless she’s been talked down and thus has forgiven me. I think there is a temple to the left of here a couple miles or so. We should meet up there.” He smiled as it was the temple Himeko and Kaname had began dating at.
 

[jinxgirl5]

"Sounds good," Apries said, only briefly glancing at his brother when he snorted. "I'll see you at the temple tomorrow afternoon." He nodded to Horus and Marius, then turned and slipped away.

- TIME SKIP -

Apries felt like his heartbeat was so loud it should have been audible to the whole world. He glanced over at the vixen trotting at his side, and was again overwhelmed by the sense of awe that he was the one she'd chosen to follow.

It must have taken a lifetime of luck to have something so wonderful happen to him.

He was nervous though. What if Lani-Ai didn't like it here, or didn't like the tribe? This desert had to feel so different from where she used to live. What if....what if she left him rather than continue living in such a harsh place?

"We're almost at the temple," Apries said, slowing to lightly press his should against Lani's. "Nervous?"  

[NymiiNym]

She would never wish for anyone but Apries by her side, her history almost a blessing in a way, seeing as it had led her to Apries eventually. The sweet man beside her was worth any trial, any hurt she had been through, and she was willing to go anywhere to follow him.

Which meant this desert.

She didn't mind the heat to much, it was different then her usual climate, then again, where she usually lived was on a single cliff. She was surprised she hadn't become obese from never leaving that cliff. The desert did not have the ocean, though she was welcoming to that. A change was always good, and this change would bring her closer to Apries.

However... her heart hammered at the notion that she'd meet Apries' family. Not only that, but the Elder he respected... Every step she took she fretted, wondering if they'd like her or find her unsuitable for their life-style. What then? What would she do?

Jolting from her worries the second Apries touched her shoulder, she smiled instantly at the sound of his voice, though it was tinted with worry. "A little." She whispered gently. "I'm more nervous to meet the Elder, if anything."