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*blinks* well well well. look what the demon dragged in. Hey little brother.

A growl rolled deeply from a very unhappy zune
Beside her several others zunes ears perk up. Balin edged closer, while Amaya watched from the safety of the den. Bryson leaned closed to Kuma, "Who is that?" Kuma could only watch and hope his mother did hurt anyone, "That's..... my father.... your grandfather......"

The skull faced rider raises a hand and the Zune is lifted by an unseen force. Slowly he floats to the middle of the room and is lowered, unconscious, with no visible wounds.

Kutai groans and slowly raises his head, eyes opening as if for the first time in his life. His vision was blurry and hazy, and everything felt too vivid for the rest of his senses. His body ached from the long inactivity, bones popping and muscles cramping. With every twitch of muscle, a random tail did the same, which added to his apparent misery. After several minutes of struggle, he finally stands on all fours, his body trembling and screaming like he was on fire. He shakes his head slightly, helping to restore his vision by only a fraction, before trying to speak. A wheezy squeak only came out, as he had not nourished his body in some time either. With a coughing fit he takes to an involuntary bow, covering his mouth with a paw.
Thank god he has red fur, or the blood would have been easily seen. He was a pitiful sight to behold, that much was apparent.

A burst of flames shot from Fuega's mouth as she growled loudly and slowly circled around the quivering form.

Kutai kept his head down, but still attempted to remain standing. He was at her mercy.

She gave only a side glance at the one that and dropped him before stopping at Kutai himself, "After all this time and you come back a crumpled excuse of a zune" She snorted and flames coiled from her nose, "Let me guess. The adventure was better than the family you started with me. But some one finally handed your tail to you and you come crawling back here."

The rider intervenes,
"Truth be told, he was not adventuring." he says as he removes the mask, revealing himself.
"He was zune-napped. You should be thanking me, but I won't expect it from you."

Kutai breathed in real deep and slowly exhaled before speaking. "Yea...he's right. I never wanted to leave."

Her eyes snapped open at the mention of her daughter, the one she had not seen in so long. "Moirri..........." The fruit of her love for her mate, the only one that ever tried to understand her. With a growl she struck his cheek, "You stupid fox! I have worried about you all this time! Missed you! Have felt like part of me has been taken away! How!? How did you, one so bold, be abducted! It is not possible! You are stronger than that! If you weren't then you would have never survived taming me down."

He falls over to his side, a paw on his face from where he was struck. She had every right to do what she had done, but that thought did not make it hurt any less. "I...I don't know. I wish I could tell. I was out gathering food, and the next thing I know my vision goes black. And apparently I have been out of it ever since. It wasn't until a few hours ago that I could actually recall being able to control myself."

"Then where is our daughter!" she bellowed in his ear. She hovered over him like a predator taking claim of its prey.

From the shadows came a sight as if right on time. With a flying tackle and a deep growl, Moirrana attempted to pin her mother to the ground. "I was out looking for him! Where the hell were YOU this whole time, you selfish b***h?!"

Kutai was about to shake his head because he didn't know, but he did now. "Moirrana, calm down!"

Throwing Morriana off her she snorted, "Here! Clueless as to what has happened. Its not the first time either of you have vanished! What would you expect me to believe? I felt abandoned. Forsaken. Forgotten. All I had to cling to was Kuma. Then found solace in caring and guarding all the kits to keep them safe. If I had known, even had the slightest inkling that something had gone wrong I would have hunted the ones that did this and kill them myself. Instead of sitting here dying of misery and loneliness."

Moirrana locked eyes with her mother and snarled, he fur standing on end with fury that she inherently received. "Fool! Don't you ever talk to the one who owns you?! She had access to communicate with other masters! You had the option! And don't talk to me about miserable, imagine trying to fix this family by taking matters into my own hands! Imagine trying to find-"

"ENOUGH! Moirrana, stand down NOW!" Kutai burst, stepping in between the two who were mainly quarreling. "What happened before is not important, why we were gone is NOT important anymore. I am back...and I intend to fix this. Mend...us. I can't ask for forgiveness for what happened, but the assailant is taken care of, and we are all back."

She could only glare at her own daughter and drew a hiss of surprise when Kutai stepped in between them. She gave him a sorrowful gaze that only shifted to Moirrana then back. The words stung and deep hate and regret raged her. Hate of faults being pointed out, of not knowing, of her own offspring speaking to her in such a manner. None of the others had ever thought of standing up to her in such a way, and honestly, she didn't know how to handle it. She remained silent the who while and regret not being there or being the one to attend to the one responsible.
Balin edged closer, blinking at his aunt. Kuma sighed and waited for what would come.

Prowl laid quiet in the tree nearby, cautious and observant. He knew Fuega could take care of herself, but he also knew if she needed his assistance he would be there in a snap. Be it for his mate, Hoshi or anyone in his beloved family. So for now he stayed silent in the shadows of the tree.

Vega watched from below, he was more shy than his brother, Hunter, but more curious. His ears flicked when there was shouting, then soon folded back when it escalated.

Moirrana only scoffed at her mother's silence. "Are we done pointing paws and going off on each other? I hope so because I am. I want to see what my brother...has...oh my god." she said with genuine surprise and shock. "You..look...just like your father. Kuma, you actually...?! Wow."

Kutai couldn't even speak. There was more than just the original 4 of the family...they've grown quite a bit.

Balin slowly pawed at her, "I always wondered why Grandma always seemed to be found yet standoffish about me. Guess I know why now."

Sliding down to her rump Fuega turned to face away from them. Her chest heaved as she fought back a wave of emotion and tears.

"Mom?" Kuma muttered and slowly made his way to her.

Kutai leans up and touches Fuega's nose with his. "I'll be waiting patiently for your return, love."

Moirrana piped in for Fuega at the questioning towards her. "Nothing is wrong. Let's just say some more family has returned. The nine tailed one over there is your grandfather, my father, and the one who began our family legacy. Kutai. Kuma is my brother, and I am Moirrana. We're home - for good."

Hoshi's face light up, "You're finally home!" Her three tails swished happily. "I'm Hoshi and these are two of my kids. Amaya and Blaze." The other two nodded. "Oooo there is so many for you to meet! I would love for you to meet my mate, Prowl

Giving a cool smile that all seemed to be falling in place, Fuega eased past her grand and great grand children and made her way to the entrance. Seeing Kuma she stopped in front of him, "Be sure to keep a ear open. I am trusting you with looking after the clan...." Kuma had never proved to be much of a fighter, but she knew she would have to give him a chance to prove his capability one day.

Kuma nodded, "Be safe mother."

Moirrana bowed her head and smiled. "A pleasure, as always. I'd love to meet everyone new. Especially those born of our family. From what I've heard we've expanded quite a bit since I ran after my father's zunenapping."

Kutai removes himself from the bed of furs momentarily before Fuega leaves. "Stay safe, love. Don't overexert yourself out there." he said before making his way out to see the rest of the family.

Out the entrance Fuega walked on then slowly her pace picked up until she had gone from a brisk padding pace to a stalking trot. Her nose worked and sniffing out any prey while her long ears strained to hear any sound of movement.

Nodding to her Grandfather Hoshi cooed, "It is good to see you again. Though our last and only meeting was brief. I'm Hoshi. One of Kuma's daughters. These are two of my children, Blaze and Amaya. And I'm sure you met my brother Bryson."
Marri-Mac round a corner, "Hey what's going on?"

Kutai looked out the cave and smiled when Fuega was gone from sight. He turned to see the greater part of the family appearing before him. "Whoa. There's...a lot of us now."

Moirrana chimed in. "No kidding! How many of us are there?!"

Marri-Mac stopped to think, "Um....... let me think......"

"Alot!" Balin blurted out before MM could really count everyone up. Bryson shook his head, "Yeah... I think we are the largest family here. We could be a mafia if we wanted to."

Stalking Fuega lurked after an unsuspecting deer.

Moirrana blinked and lowered her head. At this point it was spinning. "A mafia? Really? Forget about it!" she said with a giggle. "We can be a many zune army at this point!" she exclaimed.

Kutai saw the family begin to come out, seeing similarities to himself in every single one of them. It was...astounding in every way possible. "By the gods this is amazing. And I'm...a great grandparent?"

Hoshi beamed, "That's right! This is one of your great grandchildren." She nudged the short tailed female. "I...I'm Marri-Mac. A lot just call me MM."

It didn't take much effort to bring the large creature down. With its neck firmly clamped in her mouth Fuega drug the deer back towards the den. I hope the clan has not bombarded Kutai and Mori with questions.......

Moirrana smiled and put a paw on her head. "Moirrana. Mori for short. Or Aunty, take your pick. I'm not particular."

Kutai took a seat on his haunches and let his jaw dropped. "Kuma....you started all this? I'm proud of you son. I really am. I'm just sad that I couldn't be around for all of this."

Kuma settled next to his father and nodded, "Indeed. And all from love. The love I feel for my mate, Tama."

There was a mummer of laughter and chatter as the spotted female entered the den with her kill pulled along with her. Nearing them she let it go, "This doesn't seem like resting to me, my love." Fuega's hallow voice carried across the stone floor.

Kutai turned his head and looked back at Fuega with a smile. "With all the excitement going on, I didn't want to try and rest. I might as well see what has become of our family. What progress that has been made. You've done well keeping it all together."

Moirrana heard the hollow tone in Fuega's tone and her ears drooped. "Uh oh."

The others blinked at Mori for a moment then Kuma nudged her and whispered, "You don't have to worry. She always sounds like that. She has a hard time putting emotions to her words.....besides anger........"

Eying her daughter in a questioning manner she shrugged then pulled the deer over to the center of the cave. There small stone arrange in a circle marked a fire pit and the ceiling above opened up to vent the smoke. Dry wood had already been laid in the middle. With a heavy huff the wood caught fire and quickly an orange light came to life. "It will take me a little time to get the meal ready." As she worked to prepare everything, "I did my best to keep everyone together. To keep them safe. Though I must admit I did fail in one way. One of our grandchildren has ran off with out a word to anyone. If I could ever find her... I would bring her home........but I did not want to abandon the others.............." Sighing she stared into the flames and a mix of sadness and anger tinged her face.

Moirrana stepped somewhat away from her mother to give her space to begin cooking the deer she caught. A lump caught in her throat as she realized that Fuega was actually sad, for what seemed to be the first time she'd ever seen. It was heartbreaking for her as well. "If you want...I can try to go find her. I found father before that Rider fellow did, so I'm sure I could track her down as well."

Kutai raised a paw. "Like Kuma said, Fuega has always been like that. I guess you can say I kinda...calmed her down before. At first I wondered what damage has happened with my absence - but apparently nothing major has happened. I didn't spy any bodies around..."