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The rogue lands was a strange place, Obadias decided rather dryly, as he walked along the edge of a rather large forest. It was a long stranger than the Ukuucha had been. On his banu quest, he had left only long enough to find Mihika and then he had returned straight away with her, and he had never looked back since. In all fairness, he didn't want to look back, the Ukuucha was his home - but now the roguelands was. Where was home now? Wandering and wandering was tiring.

Obadias sighed, carefully navigating the terrain. He had left the girls back further, and he was scouting on ahead. He loved them dearly, but would not ask them to walk endlessly in any direction, without knowing first if it would benefit them any to walk that way. That would be cruel.

He missed living in one place.

With a little light hearted step Zarine pounced around the area near her mother’s tree, head up, and limber legs carrying her forward at a fast pace. She wasn’t looking forward to the day in which she would have to leave her mother’s side, so being happy a little while longer was some of her more cherished moments. “Home” was a weird word – one of which she preferred not to think on.

In her little walk she’d gone a little farther than she had meant to, and was now within visible distance of a grown lion. He was darker, with a wandering gaze that put her on edge. Zarine had never seen a lion before, had only heard tales of them, and as such she froze for a while before shrieking. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her back to the tree, which wasn’t all that far away, and hid at its base, peeping around at the lion in the distance. “Mom, mom, we gotta go, now!”

Scheherazade wasn’t as quick to panic as her daughter. The vague leopardess craned her head with a lazy sort of wonderment, sliding into an easy laying position with her tail dipping down against the bark. In the dark of the forest she stood out like the sun in the sky. Still, that didn’t mean that he did and it took her a while to make out the lion, though she couldn’t see him clearly enough to know who he was. But he did look…No, no it couldn’t be.

Obadias was getting close to turning back when he paused. In the distance was a figure, smaller than a leopard, or a lion, but...familiar somehow. Must be a hybrid, he mused, perhaps a cheetah one, as he knew only the lion ones that Mihika had birthed. He did adore his little balls of fluff, though it made him sad that he could never see a grandcub come from one of them. It was such the way of life though, and perhaps some day Mihika and him would have more, and he may gain a grandcub from them. He almost turned back, seeing the hybrid dart to a nearby tree.

He'd probably startled her, he realised, and felt bad. He continued at his current pace. Perhaps he could apologise to her, she did seem quite young...but everyone seemed young to him right now. He felt old, tired, and a little bit run down.

A flash of white caught his eye in the trees, and his gaze slid upwards. Pale coat, shimmers of pink...No...He froze, and stared. It couldn't be...

"Scheherazade!"

As he approached, Scheherazade felt her own years wash off of her. Those same sharp markings, the way he walked, the look of his eyes…She felt her heart clench in her chest for the first time in years. Then Obadias called out to her, and felt at home. “Papa?” Scheherazade rose to a sitting position, almost a little too quickly; too eager, too happy. She leapt from her branch to the boulder, then to the ground and approached him. “You…you have to be a spirit of the dead. My papa’s in a pride with mama, far away from here…”

Zarine looked around the tree between the two, and with some comfort at seeing her mother approach the lion, she made her move to stand by her side, albeit a little behind. Papa? Her mom had a papa? Then this…this was the lion she’d talked about so much, back in her old life, the one Zarine had been barred from knowing.

When she leapt to the ground, the same familiar movements of years ago, he felt like crying. Not because he was sad to see her, or that those years were sad to him, but because he was so damn relieved that she was safe. He had been terrified when she left, so afraid to see her hurt in the rogue lands but she was safe. She was happy. She was...she was still his baby girl!

"Oh Scheherazade," he said fondly, as he crossed the last distance between them. He nuzzled her gently, letting out a low and rumbling purr. "I have so much to tell you! You are not seeing a spirit, I am here." He wanted to encase her in his paws and hold her tight - but he feared that he would never let her go if he did so. He couldn't protect her forever, but damned if he would not try.

He had barely noticed the hybrid behind Scheherazade, but she caught his gaze, and he paused. The markings, some of them were different, but that curl on her back. The same as Mihika's.
"Hello..." he said, smiling at her. He had already scared her earlier, and he was starting to realise that this little hybrid was special. She couldn't be...

Just to feel him so close to her brought about the happiest smile she’d had in a long time. Beyond the birth of her cubs, her days in the rogue lands had been a mixture of duty, work, and finding a place for her to belong. She had been so worried that they would have forgotten her, or even a little hopeful she’d been drug home, but after nothing…This was too good. She rubbed back against him, unwilling to let him go! “I missed you so much. I never thought I’d get to see you again.” Pulling back a bit, she smiled up at him, then turned to her daughter, who wore a similar expression to Obadias.

Zarine still wasn’t moving. Her legs were still, tail lowered towards her legs, but she wasn’t terrified, just wary, and more than a little awkward. It was weird, seeing her mother affectionate to anyone other than herself and her siblings, but her eyes couldn’t move away from the scene. “Hi,” She smiled back.

“Papa, this is my daughter, Zarine. Zarine, this is your grandfather, Obadias. Surprise,” Scheherazade laughed lightly.

Obadias blinked...and stared first at Zarine (a pretty name!) and then his daughter, and then back at the hybrid before him...it took him a moment or two to find his voice (or better yet, shut the mouth that gaped just a little). His daughter! Had a daughter! But...but she was so YOUNG! Not that he did not have her when he was young, though biology said he never 'had' her at all, but still! She was so young! And the baby was already grown!

As the shock faded a little, he felt an overwhelming flood of emotions rush his body. "Surprise indeed," he said, a little breathlessly. "I..." he shook his head, and gently, pressed his cheek against hers. "I am proud of you. Both of you." He pulled back, smiling at Zarine. "I am sorry I was not around to watch you grow up," he told her honestly, and it did sadden him. He would have loved to have been there to help his daughter. "But you have grown beautifully, much like your mother."

Scheherazade didn’t know what was better; the awkward way Zarine was twisting her paws in the dirt, or her father’s face. The little gape in his mouth was enough to bring a full fledge laugh out of her. When she stopped she was all smiles, and bright eyes, looking at two of the people she loved most in the world at the same time. She rubbed her cheek against his, and nudged him towards the leotah.

“Oh, hey, it’s not like it was your fault, right? No apology necessary, really.” Zarine shuffled her paws, finding herself becoming a little more relaxed with the situation. Was this what it was like to have extended family? A grandfather, apologizing to her! Blood related or not, this was the male who’d raised her man, and this was really amazing! “Thanks. What are you doing here, though? Sorry, not trying to be rude, but this is leopard territory. I’M not even supposed to be here anymore.”

Obadias smiled, amused at the whit of his granddaughter (oh god, he felt old). She was quite right though, it wasn't his fault but still, he hoped to make up for it some day. He blinked at the trees, and looked rather contemplative. "Leopard country, huh? That does explain the sheer amount of trees," he mused. He shook his head, and glanced first at Zarine and then Scheherazade - he addressed them both but spoke mainly to his daughter. "The pride disbanded. There was a storm, and it got bad. Many people fled, and your mother and I, along with Parvana, fled also. I fear there's not much left to the pride now. Nothing but the bare bones where it used to stand."

It was sad, and he was quite worried for his offspring. "I have heard of no injuries or fatalities though," he was quick to reassure. He had many family that had lived there, and he knew she would worry.

“It’s the Elimisha'sombea, and mama’s on the council.” Zarine stated proudly, lifting her head a little higher. Even if she wasn’t allowed to stay anymore, she could still respect the life that her mother had built for herself. There was honor in something like that! And Obadias seemed like the kind of lion to appreciate something like that.

“Zarine,” Scheherazade chided softly, giving her daughter a warning gaze. She had never been the type to sing her own praises, since for so long she didn’t have any, and now it had been so engrained in her that it made the leopardess uncomfortable. Not to be compared with the news she heard. “Behnam’s family? They are safe?” Her Pad, when he had been her Pad…his family had been so kind to her that her worries were with them as well. “I’m glad that you, mama, and Parvana are safe, though I can’t say I feel the same about the pride itself.” She wouldn’t sugar coat it; it wasn’t her style.

“Where will you go now?” Zarine edged, stepping a little closer. “Are you moving to another pride, then?”

Obadias looked surprised at Zarine's words, but smiled at Scheherazade. "I am glad you found something for you out here, I only want for you to be happy, whether that is amongst leopards or not." He had always worried that Scherazade was unhappy with the lion dominate pride, and now she had found a place to call her own, amongst the council of a pride. "To tell you the truth, I'm not surprised she would be on a council," Obadias couldn't help but muse. "She was always a bit terrible at taking directions." She hadn't seemed happy, being a quiet female that could only speak when spoken to. Council suited her better.

"Behnam's family, from what I have heard, is as safe as everyone else is, just a bit more mobile than usual," he said, soothing his daughter's nerves. He placed a paw on hers at the mention of the pride.

He glanced at Zarine. "You ask good questions," he said with a small chuckle. "We are not sure yet. Parvana has family in a pride, but they only allow lions and I cannot, and will not, leave Mihika on her own in the rogue lands, nor will I let her leave my side." He was quite determined with that.

“Remind you of anyone, hmm?” Scheherazade spoke of her mother, who had never fit into the mold of Banu very well. It was only because of Parvana and Obadias that she had even tried to stay passive, though she’d always managed to do her own thing. Still, to hear such praise from him was nice, even wonderful, she hadn’t expected to see him ever again in her natural life.

“She still is,” Zarine laughed. “You should see the other council members when they’re trying to find her. I think one, I forget his name, he’s so uptight, I think she’s likely to give him a bad heart at this rate.” Oh how her mother enjoyed to torment him. Her aloof nature was natural to Zarine, but he found it more than infuriating. “Maybe you should go to the pride anyway, but just don’t join it, like what I’m doing here. Live on the fringes so Parvana can see her family, but you won’t be forced to leave Mihika.” That was her grandmother, right? Or was Parvana her grandmother? These names would be the death of her.

Feeling the weight of his paw on her own helped Scheherazade to focus on the present. She was going to be losing him again, so soon? “Do you even know how to be a rogue?”

Obadias chuckled. "I never doubted that you got it from your mother. I am still surprised she never yelled at a Pad." Sometimes, when the pads were being cruel to the banu, it was hard for even Obadias to resist screaming at them, but now, he didn’t have to deal with that at all. He was free of that way of life.

He laughed again at his granddaughters words. "I feel sorry for him, but I am sure that she is doing it with good intentions." Orr, she could just be having fun. He wasn't going to deny her fun. He nodded at Zarine. "We could do that too, that might be useful. I don't wish to isolate either, but I only hope to find somewhere that is safe for all of us." He sighed.

He smiled at Scheherazade. "All this walking hurts my paws, and I fear I cannot protect Mihika and Parvana from the horrors of the rogue lands on my own. I want something for them, something safe, so I can know that they will always be secure." He had been dreaming of death, recently, the visions creeping back in his mind. He was afraid of his own mortality and what if he was not there to protect them? A life of a rogue was not a safe one, without family to protect them.

“Maybe she did, but he was just so shocked he forgot to yell back.” She grinned. It had happened to her, with Behnam, but that had been between the two of them. He’d been less than traditional, and she couldn’t imagine what would have happened had her mother actually done such a thing. “You shouldn’t worry so much about mother, she can handle herself. Concentrate on Parvana and my sisters.” What sisters would have stayed, anyway. Her brothers she didn’t worry over, since most of them should have gone out to the rogue lands some time or another. The girls would have been more vulnerable.

Zarine hesitantly took a deep breath, and spoke up, “I can help you. If you’ll let me, I can show you safe places to stay that aren’t in pride territory, and what to watch out for. I’m not the best, but I can watch my back, and assist you in finding a place to rest your paws.” It would be better than waiting on the fringes of her mother’s colony for the rest of her life. “I would understand if you don’t want me to tag along, but if it’s alright with you, I would at least like to meet her first. My grandmother, that is.”

Obadias chuckled loudly. "That sounds like it would be the case, actually," he mused. "I'm sorry to say but I will always, and I do mean always, worry for your mother," he said smiling. "It is my job to worry, and she is as equal to me as Parvana and your sisters. I will protect them all in any way I can, and unfortunately, that means quite a bit of worrying!" He shook his head and wished, for the thousand time, that his brother was with them but they had been exasperated and that terrified him.

Obadias blinked at Zarine, shocked at her offer but it took him only a second to decide. "Yes, you are always welcome, Zarine, wherever I am. You are my granddaughter, and I would be honoured for you to help us. Your grandmothers will be thrilled to meet you, I am sure." The pluralisation was not an accident but he wondered for a moment what she had told her daughter of the former pride.

Scheherazade leaned against him, rubbing her lighter coat against his. The way the conversation was turning wasn’t pleasurable to her at all. While she admired the way he was speaking of her mother, the thought of them being on their own, and now with Zarine, her baby girl leaving… “Are none of my brothers with you? Did Parvana not have any sons to help you?” It worried her, thinking about her father working so hard, worrying so much.

The young leotah practically glowed. She was a little confused by his wording, but it didn’t phase her. Zarine wasn’t ignorant to the harems of the Ukuucha, but the finer workings, on the other hand, were a mystery she hoped to have solved. “I look forward to meeting them, then.” Grandmothers? For her? Who knew!

“You’re not leaving, Zarine. I forbid it.” For a moment, Scheherazade held the steel in her voice of a Pad. Her back was straighter, her tone deeper, and her eyes were leveled with the young girl.

It was all terribly confusing for her daughter. “Mother…why? I can’t stay here, I-I want to go, and I thought it would be alright! He’s my grandfather, right, so why not?”

“Because I won’t let you go alone. I’m going with you. Both of you.”