!!! Please allow @Delphine and @Lysander to post first!

An adventure had been promised to the babes. Beautiful sights to see - endless ocean waves, forest canopies that blocked out the sun, mountains that hugged the sky. Not that it took much to draw out Aphelion's enthusiasm, a simple dare would have sufficed to get him to where he was now. The small redhead marched along with zeal, long, girlish lashes fluttering over his eyes as he glanced back at his siblings. Papa had explained to them that they needed to keep going until they could not see him anymore, and that this was imperative if they were to get their prize. Perfectly sound logic for a 3 month old babe. What Aphelion did not see was the uncertainty and fear in his father's eyes, the demanding and purposeful glare from his new bride as he explained the terms of their Day of Fun. What he had not heard was the argument the night before, hushed and angry whispers to get rid of them, the feeble and mumbled counter-arguments of their father, and eventual resignation.

So the trio marched, unwittingly losing themselves to nowhere land.

Even if fate was perhaps not on their side, the weather was. It was a beautiful and mild day, a gentle breeze whispering between the children as they went. Small paws pitter-pattered on the dirt as they went, three small specks in a vast bridge between home and Neverland. Each child was significantly different from the next, hues of bronze, mauve and gold, the main similarity being the cream blaze they had inherited from their one common parent (their father).

Aphelion hummed brightly to himself, gazing ahead with determination. "I wonder how much more we gotta go," he piped up, glancing around at his siblings for their opinions.

table by ferus

no child wanted to believe that their father was capable of something so cruel and so terribly gut-wrenching -- and so what other choice did they have but to indulge his game of wonder and adventure, with equal parts zeal and jovial excitement? delphine thought nothing of it, at first, bolstered by the company of her brothers as they set off across the dry sands, in search of the faceless prize that their father had so joyously promised them. but the further that the trio went, the babe felt a bubble of uncertainty starting to grow within her chest. the feeling planted small seeds within her mind, which began to fester and to grow -- an ugly monster, rearing its head for all to see, as she started to ponder the inevitable.

as the journey grew longer and fatigue started to set in absently across her bones, the petite cub was forced to quicken her gait to keep up with @Aphelion and @Lysander, certainly not wanting to fall behind. her chest heaved as she swallowed a quick, eager rush of air, struggling against the loose terrain, before speaking up in response to aphelion's inquiry. "i dunno, but, what if we can't find our way back?" a valid question in her mind, as the sole sister glanced sparingly across the earth around them, only to find a desolate, quiet, and almost unnerving scene. there was something there, hanging upon the air, but, alas, she could not quite put her finger on it just yet.

table by ferus

As the largest of the three, he wasn't quite feeling the full force of exhaustion that he might have, if only because he got to take smaller steps than his shorter siblings. Though they were born within days of each other, Lysander already showed the oversized paws and lanky limbs that hinted at the size of his mother's lineage, and from his father? His selfishness, possessiveness, and laziness... but not when it came to his partners in crime.

He lingered at the back of the pack, happy to let @Aphelion lead the way as usual, veering off to inspect something interesting before trotting back. He'd forgotten to check to see if they could actually see their father anymore for a while, and it wasn't until the voice of Appy pulled his attention back that he remembered to turn ruby gaze behind them. He stopped, both to squint his eyes into the distance and to let @Delphine have a rest.

"I don't see him anymore," he said, turning back to them, "He would come and find us... right?" He still hadn't moved, not sure now if they should keep heading into the ravine beyond, not wanting to lose their promised prize, but also not wanting to be lost himself.

table by ferus

The woman wandered ceaselessly through the valley between the mountains, the sands buried up inside of her pads as she did so. Maude had passed this place as she had come in on purpose but as she strolled through now in an effort to catch a meal or three, she found something unusual. Three little babes wandering through the dirt and sand - each unlike the other while very much alike.

As a woman who had never had the pleasure of producing children (or finding a partner sufficient enough for a long-term relationship), she couldn't help but feel three times lighter in the chest. Yellow and pink eyes looked cautiously around though saw no other adult in sight, leaving the three in the middle of nowhere to be plucked aside. Maude had nothing to offer them but she knew what it felt like to be abandoned, if that were the case. Hello, she greeted as she made the distance between herself and the three young children, now readily seeing their differences easily. Two small boys and a girl; travelling by their lonesome.

table by novi

@Lysander @Delphine @Aphelion

starting to fly

I get so forgetful when I look in your eyes

He knew the nature of this land only through his own experience wandering through as a rogue, greeted by nobles who claimed to want to know him and Silver, though ultimately failing to show any kind of true desire to welcome them into their fold. Kiton thought that he wanted to do just the opposite by greeting travelers and respecting the journey they had likely been through to get to Amaryllis, his own adventures through vast lands telling him that their struggles and triumphs had likely been great.

As he lumbered through the paths leading up to the passage, he first spotted the lioness’s figure from afar. Kiton let out a chuff of friendly greeting as he approached, his stance that of someone expecting to meet friends rather than foes.

“Welcome to our land,” he greeted her as he neared, only then seeing the tiny figures of three cubs standing a bit away. “I am Kiton Hodari, King of Ecrosia Mire. Are you all safe?” He asked with a gleam of concern in his gaze for travelers so young as them.

@Delphine @Lysander @Maude

code by corvus

The sea wind turned, caught in the sails of her ears erect atop of her clay crown. The young Casimir was inundated with the mixture of aromas that came along into her nose and danced between her flaring nares. Multiple strangers, fresh, old, the prides. An indistinguishable number of scents hit her all at once and she could only manage to pick apart the strongest of them from the weak. Fresh. Those she followed and the complexity of the aroma suggested it was not just a single soul she was about to wander upon.

Her tracing meandering brought her to a pair of adults, as she saw from a distance, and with a few treks closer the children were noticed. In her approach it was evident when she saw the kids- she paused. She faultered and left a forepaw hanging in the air mid step. Kids? Interesting. She set the hovering paw down and continued until she was in and amongst the recruiting circle. Hello. Siofra Casimir greeted the adults as she first approached as her peach eyes found them readily and easily upon her eye level. Her tone was smooth, passive and like still water in nature. It was neither overtly friendly nor hostile as she recognized both @Kiton and @Maude with a nod. She then purposefully turned to the three children, her heart stricken with images of her younger siblings that made her features soften a little bit. This could have been them alone out in the wilderness; wandering, left to fate if a kind or killer soul would find them first. She swallowed once and blinked silently. She had not found herself to be great with children and it felt unnatural to treat them as children at all. Instead they were merely mini-adults. The group of three was given another nod and she left herself standing upright while her peach eyes flickered like a firefly between the three of them. You three must be on quite the adventure. She mused and mustered up more warmth for them than the neutral respected the adults were offered.
@Aphelion @Lysander @Delphine

ooc; so sorry for the delay ;o;

His sister's doubt tugged at Aphelion's little heart and he shifted uncomfortably, uncertainty flickering in his brazen gaze as he glanced at her. Lysander piped in as well and the small strawberry boy looked at him as well, regarding him for a moment as he contemplated. The unspoken leader of their group, the little cub took things into stride as best as he could. "Well," he said slowly, glancing around and squinting at the sight of strange figures appearing, materializing out of the distance. "We will be okay." He said stoutly, short of any further comforting words to share with his siblings.

A motherly sort of figure approached, greeting them softly. Aphelion eyed her suspiciously, his experience with the women in his father's life having been somewhat unsavory thus far. She did seem awfully nice though. "Hullo," he said warily.

A great male approached and Appy gaped at him with saucer-like eyes. A King? He stared in awe. The little boy puffed up as big as he could get, girlish lashes blinked over his eyes as a haughty expression overtook him. "Thank you Mister Kitten." He said loftily, his baby pronunciation leaving something a bit wanting. "Follow my lead," he whispered to his siblings, not as quietly as he probably should have been.

The other lioness commented that they seemed to be on an adventure and Appy inclined his head in what he imagined to be an elegant nod. "Yes we are. You're the Queen then, right?" He asked her, nodding between her and the King. "We are here..on vacation" he said, awkwardly stumbling over the big word. "Dad sent us." He nudged his siblings, urging them to play along. He wasn't quite sure where his diplomacy would take them, but well..these strangers seemed nice enough, and he bet his dad would love him making plans with royalty.

table by ferus

while the trio trudged on, naive and hopeful in their adventure, the mood changed very, very quickly, at least for delphine. she deflated visibly once the strangers began to pour in, first @Maude, then @Kiton, and then @Siofra, each body seeming to peel away at the girl’s fake sense of security. she suddenly became excruciatingly aware of their vulnerability, ears flattening along the contour of her skull as she halted to a stop alongside her brothers, situating herself comfortably within their larger shadows as things began to unfold. much to her relief, @Aphelion took the lead, which would allow both delphine and @Lysander to fall into a rhythm behind him and his words, should they choose to do so. her lashes fluttered towards each stranger as they spoke, confusion masking her complexion in a bold and unfiltered manner, until her voice finally bubbled up from between parted, onyx lips.

"your land?" she questioned, puzzled by the statement. what kind of place had their dad sent them off too? though she blinked when realizing that he was a king, she had no clue about what other formalities they were talking about — a mire, an adventure, safety. what, did they all think that they were orphans or something like that? what a silly inclination for them to make, especially when their father was right there — or, err, out there somewhere. "what‘re you guys doing here? all the sand kinda stinks." she commented again with another small frown, not comprehending the coincidence of three adults stumbling across them in the height of day.

table by ferus

The little golden cub couldn't help the bristling of his fur at the sight of adults descending upon them, and strangers at that. Growing up as royalty-adjacent had meant lots of strangers at least, but their mothers or someone familiar was always around. Luckily his siblings seemed more confident in what they should do. The adults spilled a lot of information that didn't mean much to the baby bastards, but that didn't mean @Aphelion wasn't slick enough to pretend otherwise.

Lysander settled down behind his siblings as they asked their questions and spun their tale. "Yeah," he piped up in agreement with @Delphine, looking around at the barren lands around them. "Where's the good vacation spots and we'll just go that way." His childish voice was overconfident and internally he willed his father to miraculously appear, glancing over his shoulder to check again before turning back to @Kiton, @Siofra, and @Maude.

table by ferus

A part of her had hoped to be some sort of assumed parent to the children so that she could just frolic with them. Eager to get her feet somewhere and have a moment but none of the cubs seemed to take an interest in her. That was fair, she supposed, as she was a stranger -- but she had hoped. Maude had very little experience with children but it wasn't for lack of trying; she'd tried... a lot. Every litter that she had produced always came up stillborn or the children were sickly and never made it more than a month. So seeing these children she thought maybe she'd have a shot but being in the presence of other more worldly adults and all that, clearly wasn't her time. It never was. It seemed neither of the adults that came across them desired to talk to her, as their focus was primarily on the children. Forcing Maude to feel quite dejected and unwanted; again, nothing she was new to. Immediately forcing her to disappear, uninterested now that a wall had been put up. exit maude

table by novi

@Lysander @Delphine @Aphelion