[PRP] I have returned

[jinxgirl5]

Apries lowered his head and nuzzled his mate. He didn't wanna tell her not to worry; she'd worry anyway and it felt like he would just be dismissing her concerns. So instead, "I'll be right by your side no matter what happens."

He pulled back and offered her a tender smile. "I'm sure you and Horus will get along just fine. He's the kind of guy who seems to get along with everybody." He chuckled, and added, "Though from what I've heard, he's got a few folks irritated with him for vanishing when he officially became an elder."

Apries looked up and nudged Lani again. "Look, there's the temple we're meeting at." Ahead the stone structure loomed over the desert. The sturdy walls had weathered many a storm, and promised shelter to those who entered.  

[Nasaiki]

Horus walked around the temple looking at the different things that might need to be taken care of. It was always a risk meeting up in a temple because Kaname could be visiting already to check it out. Then again Apries had wanted to meet with his father as well. Horus briefly looked out the entry way and stared at the Iteru. It seemed peaceful today not the raging flood water it had been only a few short days ago. Then again that was kemet. On the balance between order and Chaos. “So anything happen while I was gone?” Horus asked.

Marius looked up from his sleeping position and acknowledged his elder. “Well nothing of too much importance. We seemed to have picked up two new permas and Robin came to join the tribe. Rynn is pretty much dancing on water, nothing other than that I don’t think. We all got our modifications done and Persephone has that all wrapped up. Akori apparently got in touch with Chione for a little bit she sends her congratulations and everything. Oh they’re here” Marius spoke up and rose to his feet.
 

[jinxgirl5]

Apries and Lani-Ai finally reached the temple, stones cool under their feet after walking the sun-beaten ground. He glanced around while sniffing at the air, and spotted Horus and Marius about the same time their scent hit him.

He led Lani-Ai over, feeling like his heartbeat kicked up another notch. "Horus. Marius," he anknowledged, nodding to each as he named them so Lani would know who was who. He stepped back and lightly pressed his shoulder against Lani's. "This is my mate, Lani-Ai."  

[NymiiNym]

Lani-Ai was nervous. No, that wasn't enough... She was scared. As they reached the men she pressed into Apries slightly, gently. Dipping her head in greeting to both, Marius and Horus, she looked up once at Apries before once more looking at the two.

"H-Hello." She offered a pleasant smile, tail jerking to wrap around one of her legs, blue eyes glancing at the Elder, widening briefly in awe. Oh. She was being rude.. wasn't she? Blushing, the vixen folded her front paws, nails toying with the sand.


 

[Nasaiki]

Horus looked up at Marius’s words. Sure enough Apries was making his way over with who Horus could only classify as his mate. He waited until they where a bit closer before standing up to his full height which was a bit taller than everyone at the moment. With a sigh he shook his head, the new jewelry was still needing some getting used to at the moment. However he could and would ignore it. “Welcome back Apries.” He greeted and then turned towards the Vixen as Apries introduced her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Lani-ai. I welcome you to Kemet’s lands”

Marius gave his normal bored tone but he did give Lani-ai the look over. It kind of amused him all four of Kaname's kids, obviously himself included had ended up with girls, not one of them had anything in common either. Well or so he believed. He hadnt really seen Chione's mate but then he really didnt seem to talk to Chione. Hmm that was a bit of a bummer. Bringing his attention back to the topic at hand He gave Lani-ai one more look over. Well she wasnt too bad looking so he supposed Apries did well for himself. The sibling part wished they where good for each other or would stay good with each other. The other part really didnt care all that much. "yeah, Nice to meet you" he finally decided.  

[jinxgirl5]

Apries glanced briefly at Marius, feeling conflicted. It was funny, but even with his new body Horus didn't seem to have changed that much. Not really. But Marius... It was like being in front of a stranger. Apries just didn't feel like he knew his brother anymore.

Had he ever, really?

He pushed his doubts and troubled thoughts to the back of his mind, stilling his emotions until he radiated calm.

"Does Father know," Apries asked, looking up at Horus. "Does he know I'm here, and what we're going to ask?" He couldn't imagine Kaname didn't know. Another stab of uncertainty, quickly shoved away. How long was it going to take before his family no longer felt like strangers to him?  

[NymiiNym]

Her eyes flicked to meet Horus', nodding in his direction as confidence returned to her, remembering her mate was beside her. "Thank you, Elder." He would be her Elder soon, if things worked out as planned. He would....

A slight smile rose on her lips as Marius glanced at her, though she did press closer to her mate for his warmth and comfort. She hadn't left her cliff in years, and now here she was, in a desert meeting people that would decide her and her mates new life. She had to looked up at Apries briefly to regain the strength he gave her. Their new life was a good thing, she reminded herself. Of course she'd be nervous! Who wouldn't be if they never traveled?

Besides. She'd go anywhere with her prince.  

[Nasaiki]

“Yes, your father knows” Another male spoke up causing at least the kemet members in the room to look back towards the interior of the temple. Kaname stepped out of the shadows with a blank look on his face as he looked at his two eldest sons. He leveled a look at Horus for all the stuff Horus had made him do in his absence.
Then his attention was drawn back towards Apries and who he assumed was his mate. It looked like time had been good to his son, which would definitely please Himeko. He himself wasn’t too sure about how he felt. However he would be courteous until he came up with an opinion.
“Horus told me while he was waiting here for you to show up. I figured I would come by since I was pretty much in the area.”


Horus nodded towards the vixen giving her a warm smile. He could see that she was a bit nervous meeting them all. He also had to admit that the elder form was a bit intimidating. When Apries voiced his concerns about Kaname he opened his mouth to answer when said fox entered the room. Looking at his childhood friend he couldn’t see any form of malice or anger. In fact Kaname looked coolly detected from the whole thing. Which was typical of Kaname, he was probably deciding just what he wanted to feel.
“You’re welcome Miss Lani-ai. Anyone who is a friend of Apries is welcome in Kemet lands as long as I’m elder.” He smiled trying to move the atmosphere to more friendly. He had always been pretty welcome to those that didn’t mean his lands harm and he could tell Lani ai wasn’t one of those foxes.
 

[jinxgirl5]

Apries started at the unexpected voice and for a second he couldn’t meet his father’s gaze, looking down at the ground. But only for a second, since in the next moment he brought his head up and boldly met his father’s eyes like he hadn’t done since he was a newborn kitten and didn’t know how to be intimidated.

“Hello Father,” he said, a cautious and vaguely wry half smile lifting the corners of his mouth. “It’s been awhile, you’re looking well.” He lightly shifted, pressing comfortingly against his mate while also drawing attention to her. “I’d like to introduce you to my mate, Lani-Ai.” He turned his head, bushing his nose against Lani’s cheek. “Lani, this is my father, Kaname.”

He felt a tiny pang of nervousness again, wondering how his father would react to his mate. He knew his dad wasn’t the kind to be deliberately rude or mean, but like Marius he had a way of ignoring the presence of others that could be even worse than being insulted.  

[NymiiNym]

A smile drew across her face as Horus spoke, tail flicking gently. Her eyes drew upwards as she spotted Kaname, and suddenly her stomach began to flip-flop. This was her mates father. Father. What if he did not approve of her? What if he coldly disregarded her? Her mate drew attention to her and leaned silently, and he was grateful, reminded that her mate was still there. With this, she observed Kaname with a friendly smile, nodding in greeting. She opened her mouth, though she didn't have anything to say that was appropriate to the topic, and her mate had already introduced herself. So, it closed and she simply smiled, tail twitching.

Her ear twitched as her stomach shifted, wincing slightly and pressing further into her mate. The feeling caught her off-guard, she would need to bring it up later, when they weren't all busy....

 

[Nasaiki]

“Hello your self Apries” Kaname stated calmly. He met his son’s eyes with no problem. Well it looked like he was stronger at least not looking away as he had as a kit. He looked over towards the female again and nodded in greeting as his suspicions where confirmed. For a brief moment he almost wished he was a scout as he could feel Horus’s eyes on him so he could tell his childhood friend to knock it out. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Lani- ai welcome to Kemet lands” he stated with a friendly smile. Contrary to belief he could be just as charming and friendly as he wanted towards other foxes. He just normally didn’t give a care and ignored them for the most part.

It was then he turned toward Apries waiting for him to get to the topic of why he was here. Yes he knew about it from what Horus had told him but it was up to his son to steer the conversation towards that direction.

He was going to kill him… distract Apries, Marius and lani-ai with flying seths or something else equally strange and strangle the male phim. Then when he got back to the tribe he would just tell Hollow that Kaname had flown off to be the king of his vampire aliens and let her tell Himeko. Yep it was a brilliant plan and he was going to do it if his friend kept talking like this.

Luckily he also knew how to keep a face on and kept his friendly and nice elder face in place.
 

[jinxgirl5]

Apries glanced over at Lani-Ai, curious yet also grateful for the silent support she gave him even as he supported her. When he turned back to look at his father he was able to do so with no fear, and with even a touch of defiance. It was just the smallest of sparks of anger. He had left the tribe at a young age to wander on his own, sparking displeasure to this day that still seemed to wedge a wall between himself and his brother. He’d been gone for a long time with no news sent back towards Kemet of how he was doing. He suddenly appeared again on tribe lands with a strange vixen he was introducing as his mate, intending to ask to rejoin the tribe, which his father very well knew because there was no way Horus wouldn’t have warned him.

And after all of that, he still had to play these little games? Just once it would be nice for his father, his father to be honest with him and tell Apries what he was actually thinking and feeling. Crass as she could be, Apries suddenly would have preferred to be seeing his Aunt Hollow. She was like his father’s complete opposite, just as difficult to get along with sometimes but you never had to guess with her; she let you know exactly what she was thought about you. The realization was almost bitter.

Apries shifted his attention onto Horus. “I was thinking I could come back as a scout,” he said diffidently. “Or maybe a gatherer, if you still have need of such people still.” He suddenly smiled. “Jaci still swimming with crocs and giving Raz heart attacks?”  

[NymiiNym]

She noticed something was amiss between her mate and his father, yet she respectfully bowed her head in response. The woman wasn't going to speak for now, they were conversing and she was here for support. Still, she eyed Horus quietly, mostly out of astonishment. This was the first time seeing an Elder, and she simply could not get over how... divine they looked. She was curious, briefly, how a female Elder appeared, but she didn't vocalize her question.

She watched her mates family, tail twitching idly. Ah. They did have similar markings. She wondered what the mother looked like, did she sport that collar marking her mate so skillfully hid? These thoughts kept her amused for the time being as the official greetings went down.  

[Nasaiki]

Marius watched the staring match and shook his head. He absolutely loved his family but they had a problem of not understanding each other, or at least another member in the family. He wasn’t going to point any paws or anything, since after all he hadn’t really tried to understand Apries or Chione when he was growing up. The truth was how did he really feel about Apries coming back? He had learned to let things go and try to understand other foxes least something like what had happened with xylara occurred again. Apries seemed like he had thought It over for a while, and while perhaps the strain between the siblings would never really be fixed he could tell that Apries wasn’t the wishy washy kit Marius always felt he needed to help out. “I know that Xylara and Rynn could use some help as Fellah.” He spoke up showing he would be fine with Apries in the tribe.
Horus smiled to Lani-ai when she noticed she was eying him. He supposed being the second biggest in the temple and in his new form had to be new to most foxes, unless she was in a tribe, which was unfortunately becoming less and less frequent this age a fully ascended elder would definitely be something new to her. Elders weren’t as common as they had used to be, and while he knew at least of three others, knowing two personally you didn’t run into them every day. Shifting back to the family situation he was drawn into he looked over at apries’s other family that was here at the moment. He knew that Kaname was still deciding, even if Horus already knew his childhood friend’s answer. Marius was the more tricky one as he often stepped up when the kits where younger.
However Marius hadn’t been sending any pleas of rejection. It almost surprised him when the scout finally spoke up about the matter of apries entering the tribe. He was right about the gatherer position. Kemet had a good deal of scouts, which he actually would have to start utilizing pretty soon considering the season. “Well you know Jaci, she’s definitely still doing crazy things” Horus had to smile at the amused snort that came from Kaname. He knew his friend had to be remembering when she stalked him all the way to meet Morin. “However back on topic, I do agree with Marius. I would definitely need help in the fellah category. As the tribe is expanding we seem to be falling behind in some areas, I’m waiting for one of these days for Rynn to bite my head off for over working her.”

Kaname almost wanted to snort. He could see the slight touch of anger in his sons gaze but really what did apries want, Kaname to be cold and stand offish towards his daughter in law? He was going to attempt to be civil. Ah well he knew there was a rift between him and the children that took more after Himeko in personality. He supposed most would have been sad, however at this point the thought almost brought a sigh to his mouth… almost. So apries wanted to come back to Kemet? As he stared back at his son he pondered about the growing up part again. Himeko would be delighted to have one of her babies close to her again. However apries was his son, he could give him the honor of at least giving his own opinion on the matter and not what he would normally default to In order to make his mate happy.
He wasn’t sure what he wanted to think. He had been trying to connect to Akori and Marius and their mates, and was fine with patching up that section of the family. He opened his mouth to ask why Apries had wanted to return to the tribe but slowly shut it as he looked over at Horus. Horus had to know how he felt and had still called Apries here, so the reason had checked out with the elder. He did let out an amused snort when Jaci was mentioned and then realized, he was fine and civil with the tribe, it starting to feel like a family to him, yet apries was trying to come back to some place he must have thought of as home. Who was he to be apathetic? “I still can’t believe you encourage her to keep calling me me-me or whatever my nickname is” he sighed and then looked back to his eldest son. “I’m still not sure how I feel about you suddenly coming back apries. I’m not going to fancy that up. However I think maybe I’d like a chance to find out. I won’t guarantee anything however I know Horus accepted your reason and Marius seems to be okay with it. It’s not like I’m totally against it. I’m more neutral about it I suppose and figure you understand it’s a very permanent decision. “ Kaname finally spoke and rolled his eyes at the light smile Horus gave him.
 

[jinxgirl5]

Apries just nodded, face serious. “I wouldn’t have made the offer to return if I wasn’t serious about staying,” he said to his father. He glanced at Lani-Ai, leaning into her. “We discussed it before coming here.”

He shot his brother an appreciative, somewhat tentative smile. Perhaps too much time had passed between what had happened that he could mend the family bond, but it would be nice if he could create a bond of friendship with his distant brother.

“I can certainly take up the role of a fellah,” he said, turning his attention back to Horus. “I had much practice in my travels at such things.” The trip out of Kemet had certainly been an interesting one, and only having that basic knowledge had helped him along. He had learned a lot traveling alone, and by the time he and Lani-Ai had traveled here he’d been quite good. It always amused him a little that he knew more about plants and Lani was a better hunter, but sitting in one spot for a long time wasn’t a good way to expand plant knowledge while it did force one to greatly improve their timing or else go hungry.