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Noyana, too, was oddly nervous, though she did everything in her power not to show it. She walked with a relatively loose but brisk stride that at least portrayed some sort of confidence- as if she belonged on the lands that she tread. However, some uneasiness could be seen in her face- Noy's eyes were tense , and her lips were pulled tighter than usual. The air seemed thicker than usual… It didn't help that she could feel Mat's stare on her, really… She didn't say anything at first, just turned to him, and gave a quick smile. "There shouldn't be any problems, right?" she asked, seeking some sort of comfort in the fact that they both seemed to feel uncomfortable.

Would they be seen as traitors- not to be trusted? How couldn't they be… She had left the Pridelands not only chasing her mate, but also because she had felt the throne had been unjustly given to the wrong lions. Would Tufah remember her? Was her mother still well? And her father? How ticked would Chane still be? She had left her twin behind in these lands, and she knew that he hadn't been happy about it. How many of them even still remained here? Honestly, she didn't know. Noy looked then to Usu, thereby passing on "the stare" to the next lion down the row.

Her son, sharing her own bright coat as opposed to Mat's more muted tones, walked more confidently besides both of them. He could only just remember the Pridelands, to be honest, so it's not like he had been the one to make a conscious decision to leave. Besides, he had turned his back on the Outlands with his brother, and as such, he figured he couldn't be counted as a traitor, right? More importantly…. Well, it had been dumb luck he had caught his parents when he did. Usu had struck it out of the Outlands in a sort of predictable rebellious phase, and been successful as a bachelor for quite a while. Given, he and Valse worked something like a team, whether they cared to admit it or not, but that was the single life as far as he was concerned. Having caused a good deal of "occurrences" in the roguelands, he had thought it would be a great time to visit his parents… And he had just so happened to decide this to coincide with their moving.

A discussion had led to the conclusion that the two brothers wouldn't mind too badly to join up with their parents again, at least within a particular pridal land… Certainly not to den anywhere near them, but the little bit of life he remembered from the Pridelands was that they were nearly as carefree as the roguelands, but with the added benefit of not having to search for other lions to entertain oneself with.

He felt his mother's stare, but also saw someone in the distance… "Doesn't look like we'll have much time before we find out," he chuckled, leaning to Valse more than Noy as he said this. He made eye contact with his brother with a quick mischievous grin. Things were about to start into action- how would Pridelanders take to four former Outlanders…?

Usu quickly quirked a brow, but the expression was wiped away as soon as it came. He had expected to run into little trouble- he hadn't expected to be welcomed so blatantly. Yeah, maybe things really were loose in the Pridelands. Usufii had little more to add to his brother's short answer than a curt nod, glancing from one gold-coat to the other. Their colors were quite common around here, he remembered… He wasn't particularly keen on meeting with the king, but he accepted it. His brow furrowed, however, when the stranger knew his father's name. Usufii was equally confused as his brother; their grandfather (on Mat's side) was scarcely mentioned, if ever. He lowered his head before shoulder level as his eyes darted from his parent's faces to the others. "And hey- if you know his name, isn't it fair that we learn yours?" he asked in a polite-enough tone, trying to move the subject (unsuccessfully) off of their grandfather. Usu caught sight of his mother…

Noyana's hairs stood on end at the thought of him… Kinari. She remembered having to take care of Mat in the aftermath of a run-in with him… What kind of lions were they allowing in these lands if they could spot Kinari's genes so readily? It was obvious that he knew of him. She had never seen Mat in such rough shape before that… Or since, honestly. Still, a quarrel of this sort was perhaps not the best way to get back into the pride. Actually, she was pretty sure of it. She was likely the most logical of her family here, in a situation like this, and was quick to swallow fear of the name and step in. "We can discuss this later," Noyana told Valse, hoping that he would get caught up in getting settled in and completely forget about it, so they wouldn't have to discuss it. Kinari was a hot-button topic for Mat, she really didn't want to have to go there.

Her son had a point- a fair information trade was in order. She shot Mat a look- hopefully to calm him down, and did her best to continue Usu's attempt to change the topic. "I'm Noyana, these are our sons, Usufii and Valse." She kept it relatively ambiguous by not naming which was which. If they wanted to be specific, they could be. She just hoped that being civil with these two wouldn't anger Mat after the male's comment… "Who are you two?" she asked with a head tilt.

"Good to meet you, Ezekiel, Ger," Noyana said with a slight nod to both of them, her typical-of-a-Pridelander smile coming back to her muzzle. So these, it turned out, were some of Mat's relatives. Noyana didn't often think of the non-Tufah-related lions of Mat's family… She thought it was interesting that these ones were here. Noyana figured they must be quite confident in his containment, judging by the way they were talking. She looked to Mat to get his impression on this matter, but she could tell he was thinking the same as her: "That's all great and good… but is it enough?" She had never heard of Sheng, either, so this was not of much comfort to her… But, it seemed to be enough to placate Ezekiel and Ger, and… well, the last she'd seen of him had been quite a while ago. It apparently had to be good enough, right? She kept pace by Mat's side as they walked in. She couldn't discern through all of this Kinari talk what he felt about the two who were bringing them to the current king, but she knew she was actually… Quite happy to be "home."

One way or another, she felt pretty safe in the Pridelands. If nothing else, the shear number of lions was an excellent shield. Noyana started to pad forward, following the pair. Upon her son's question, Noy responded, "Yup! Most, anyway… Honestly, I've kind of lost track of them… I have a twin brother, you know. When we left, he was still a Pridelander, but I don't know if he'd be willing to speak to me anymore… He wasn't particularly happy with me for leaving. But such is life!" She said with a bright chuckle, though it was clear that this did concern her quite a bit. "I know that a bunch of my siblings have dispersed… Plus, you know Aunt Mjrn from the Outlands… I don't know if she was planning on coming back here or not." Mjrn was probably Noyana's closest relative that the boys knew. "I should introduce you to all of your Pridelander family on my side- plenty of us are here."

Usufii had a lot to mull over… Family-wise. It seemed his grandfather wasn't exactly… normal. Of course, nobody's family is normal, his least of all. But still, he gathered clues from Ger and Zeki's words. Valse turned the conversation over to mom's side of the family- yes, he knew of more of them, though most he hadn't met. He remembered Aunt Mjrn and tried to remember if he knew her destination- he didn't. "I'd like to meet grandma and grandpa" he said with a nod. "Do you know them?" He asked the golden pair, "Their names are Na'Ilah and Mika'Il?"

Noy piped up as well, though not nearly as vehemently as her mate. "He had caused some trouble…" Noyana would likely never forgive the male either. She knew better than to try to "protect" Mat, by this point in her life. (Standing beside him as equal would be the best she could do in a fight,) but he was still her mate, and she would still be defensive. Kinari had proven, in the past, to be a threat to those she held dear… A crime not easily forgiven. However, unlike her mate… She personally didn't seek out any kind of tangible vengeance. Probably because one: she doubted she could carry out said vengeance, and two: she'd end up getting in more trouble than she had started with. What came next, on Ger's part, was somewhat unexpected.

Just like that, it had become apparent to both Noy and to Usu that Ger was, in fact, related to Mat. Kinda distantly, since he managed to smile during all of that, but still related. Noy would have laughed, if the atmosphere hadn't been more tense. She nodded too, just in case her pint-sized comment had been found offensive as well.

Usu simply exchanged a quick brow quirk to his brother, having never seen such a reaction in his father before. He's being guarded by a /god?/ the young lion thought to himself. "Yeah, let's. So you've done a bit of traveling, Ger?" Usu said, not sure whether or not he should really be addressing this lion at the moment. He took a shot, though. "We've been doing some traveling ourselves," he said, tilting his head towards Valse. "Yup- did a little soul-searching…" he snickered at the memories.

"Sounds like you're pretty busy with travel," Usu said to Ger, despite his not turning around to address him. It would have been counter productive, he supposed, since their primary goal was to get to Pride Rock. He remembered it well enough also… "I've been to the beach, but not in any Pride's territory," he said. "It must be nice."

Apparently, when Ger spoke of his family members, they were Usu's family as well. Odd how your relationships tended to grow, wasn't it? He hadn't even had that many cubs. He thought.

"Thank you for the escort in!" She called after the pair of them. "Hmmm… Ezekiel and Ger, apparently family!" Noy said to Mat. "We should, certainly," she said, but happy and a bit anxious to meet up with Tufah again, after all of these years. She did hope… that she wouldn't be mad at Noy. The way Chane inevitably would be. Childhood friends and twin brothers were separate entities, though. She let Mat lead the way, Usu in tow.