starting to fly

I get so forgetful when I look in your eyes

The children seemed to stiffen at the approach of adults, an understandable reaction, and yet difficult to observe as someone who worried for their well-being. Kiton nodded at the bronze one's brave greeting (mispronounced name and all).
"I do not have a queen, yet," he let them down easy, glancing with a crooked smile to the russet lioness who had appeared. He hoped she would take the comment in stride rather than think it some roundabout attempt at coming onto her, but still, Kiton supposed there were worse ways to try and woo a woman than with the adorable babbles of cubs. He listened with great interest as he explained that their father had sent them on "vacation". Kiton pursed his leathery lips tightly together in a moment of thought, trying to imagine Dero ever sending him out on "vacation" at their age. He could not figure for a moment that he would have allowed it, which caused the sovereign to assume that he was dealing with a band of runaways.
The mauve one snatched his attention to her when she asked about their intentions in coming to this place, even claiming that it stunk. Kiton raised his brows with surprise at the blunt truth of the comment, his stomach twisting at the apparent social faux pas of it despite how he told himself that cubs could not now any better. He reminded himself that he had been a prince, not a cub.
"This is the entrance to Amaryllis, all of the land beyond this passage. Leaders come here to find visitors and show them their pride in case they want to live there," he explained coolly, struggling to get all of the information across without using such large words that they may not understand yet.
The brightest of the bunch, a golden boy, asked that they be pointed in the direction of a vacation spot to get on with themselves, and his mind began to race with ideas of what he should do in this scenario. Given that their father could not have sent them away, they were runaways, and he did not want to take the chance of losing track of them only for the cubs to meet their demise away from their father only for him to come searching for them once it was too late.
"Ecrosia Mire is a lush place with forests and swamps, and lots of animals you've never tasted before. I would be happy to show you there until your father arrives," Kiton offered, desperately trying to make his tone sound anything but desperate. He would have to try and track down this father in his own time, but for the moment, letting the cubs go unsupervised just was not an option. He stared at the retreating form of the first lioness and the quiet form of the other, wondering helplessly how he was going to pull this off.
"Unless you are too scared of a mire to want to vacation there. You do look pretty young," he challenged.

@Maude @Aphelion @Lysander @Delphine @Siofra

code by corvus

ooc; sorry for the delay all, ready to wrap this up ;o;

Aphelion eyed @Kiton suspiciously. No queen? How could you be a king without a queen? Admittedly this seemed like a less important detail, and the cub nodded heartily in agreement with Lysander who asked boldly for the nearest Vacation Spot.

His eyes grew big and bold as the king explained where they were, and he immediately looked around expecting to see a horde of lions come trampling through at any moment. Or, he hoped, his father....it was not to be though. Apart from the strange lionesses in their midst there was no one else.

The name of a Mire caught his attention, as he'd never heard of such a place before. He stared up boldly at the king, eyes widening at his suggestion. "Hmm I dunno..." he mused, glancing at his siblings to gauge their reaction at the invitation. "I think we should wait her for dad to come get us. He said he'd be here," He said, a bit more doubtfully than the first time, glancing over his shoulder. For the first time Aphelion felt a bit uneasy. It was alot, talking to strangers, and he was starting to wonder if his own father was just as lost as they were.

At the very accusation of being scared, Aphelion whipped his head around, fire in his eyes. "Scared? I'm not scared," he piped up, squaring up to the king. "We're not scared. Right?" he glanced at his siblings daringly.

@Lysander @Delphine

table by ferus

overwhelming would have been an understatement - for beneath delphine calmed and 'cool' exterior, she felt a hot thread of anxiety snaking around her neck. it was tight and uncertain, growing stronger with each passing moment whilst it watered the seeds of doubt that had already begun to sprout within the back of her mind. where was their dad? when was he coming back? were they really as alone as the babe felt right now? the only thing forcing delphine to keep her composure was the company of @Lysander and @Aphelion -- they were her rocks, through and through, and she knew that as long as she had them, nothing bad would happen.

ears pricked forward to catch the king's tumbling words, nose scrunching up instinctively at the mere suggestion that any of them were afraid of his mire. "i'm not scared," she announced confidently, daring either of her brothers to admit their fear before their smaller sister. besides, it couldn't be that bad, could it? "but, you have to promise to come back and tell our dad where we are later, okay?" ah, yes, negotiation, a child's greatest weapon -- but thankfully for @Kiton, delphine wouldn't know any better if he decided to do what she asked or not. all that was really needed in that moment was his assurance that he would at least try to bring their father to the mire so that he could join them on vacation, regardless of whether or not such an endeavor would be successful.

table by ferus

"Well, I'm not scared either!" Lysander's confident voice broke in almost before Delphine could even finish her own statement. But they were in the presence of a King (even if he didn't even have a Queen) so the golden boy couldn't stand the thought of anyone thinking he might be scared if his smaller siblings weren't. After his declaration, however, he went back to following the lead of @Aphelion and @Delphine. His sister demanded the King let their dad know where they'd gone at least, and that sounded good to Lysander's childish mind. "Yeah! We walked all the way til we couldn't see him anymore like he said to, so he owes us a prize," the ruby-eyed boy beamed proudly @Kiton, clearly ignorant of the fact that no one ever intended to come for the bastard children at all. That their sire had just been too cowardly to finish the job himself and hoped the wastelands might do it.

table by ferus

starting to fly

I get so forgetful when I look in your eyes

He thought that tricking the runaways was going remarkably well until the last one piped in about the prize they had earned. Specifically, he explained that their father had told them to walk until they could not see him anymore. Kiton felt as if his heart had dropped into his toes.
"We can definitely see about getting you that prize," he promised automatically, his face far more excited about it than he truly felt. He tried to remember what it was like to be a cub--tried to remember what he cared about, or if he could truly comprehend the abandonment of a parent. While the death of his mother was certainly a trauma, he did not think it could be compared to the situation of these cubs before him.
"Deal. You try out the mire and see if you are too scared, and I will find your dad and explain which way you went," Kiton agreed. Their brave spirits were certainly endearing, each trying to appear braver than the last. "I should know your names if I am going to let you into my pride, though," he urged as he rotated around in the direction of home, beginning to pad away and hoping desperately that it would not be too difficult to get the cubs to follow.

[exit]

@Aphelion @Delphine @Lysander

code by corvus

The little babe nodded vigorously when Delphine made the king promise to tell their dad where they were. Sound logic in his eyes! "Yeah, that's what dad said." He agreed with a frown, gazing up at King Kiton with big eyes. "I hope he comes to see us soon."

With that it seemed that they were on their way, and Aphelion was eager to follow this cool new dude. Bounding alongside the king nearly beneath his feet, the boy piped up. "I'm Aphelion but dad calls me Appy!"

-exit with @Kiton-

table by ferus

though she did not feel the true depths of it yet, that festering seed of doubt would continue to grow over the coming days, in the very back of her mind. like an angry storm cloud, soon to seep across her vision and reopen wounds of insecurity and self-doubt — but hey, who needed to think about that right now? her jovial curiosity was far too overbearing in those moments to relish in the weight of their abandonment, and so, blissfully naive as ever, delphine would look to follow behind the group, as they set off towards this 'mire' that kiton spoke so highly off. "i’m delphine!" she chirped lightly, brushing against the flanks of her brothers, as they wandered off towards the horizon. exit.

table by ferus

Lysander remained entirely unaware of the revelation he’d just made, and he hadn’t yet realized the scope of their situation either. @Kiton gave nothing away though, and kept up his game of dares to spur on the children. It worked, especially once he’d reassured them he’d return. Besides, the golden boy could have anyone thinking he was scared of anything. Ridiculous.

As the others began to head out toward the gap in the wall of the valley, the ruby eyed boy lingered a moment longer. He scanned the horizon they’d come from one last time, searching for a familiar silhouette that would never be there. He turned back toward the others and bounded after them to catch up, “I’m Lysander!” In truth, this was all very overwhelming but what else could they do but be swept along by the tide of life. exit Lysander

table by ferus