It was an odd place, the Rainforest, compromised of most things Violarum hated; humidity, trip-hazards and claustrophobic trees. It was easy to forget the forest had once been his home, plucked so innocently from the claws of Talitha; the tiny woman who meekly... gave it away. It hadn't suited him, however.

Perhaps @Valdi still holds that against him, but given the accusation was so insignificant in Violarum's mind, he has mostly forgotten it. He has not forgotten his son though, how could any man? As much as time had been taken away from them, through chaos or simple life hurdles, Vio still thought of him often.

He was anything but stealthy, tripping this way and that amidst the dim, morning light. Mist did little to help his situation as he clambered onwards in the wake of the boys scent, chuffing breathlessly amidst the tangles of border-trees.

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It had been a little while since he had seen either of his parents. He'd mostly forgotten his anger at @Violarum, but that was mostly an out of sight, out of mind issue.

He'd fallen in love with the Rainforest when his mother had moved them here and Talitha had begun to show him the secrets. Now he felt he truly had a place he belonged, thanks to Maia, and he was happy staying here in the thick jungle. He was a simple boy, easily pleased.

He'd gotten rather agile living among the thick trees and and underbrush, where vines and roots and plants were constantly reaching out to trip the unsuspecting traveler. He was patrolling the borders now, picking his way through the familiar territory with ease. The still-growing boy had taken to trying to be as useful as possible in his time here. If not for his patrol his weak ears might have missed the chuffing sounds of a visitor entirely.

When he was able to focus his hearing and turned to begin to move closer to where he heard the sound, he could also pick up on the sound of struggling footsteps tripping their way through the forest along the border. Well, that was certainly curious.

When he finally reached the sounds it was easy enough to recognize his father. He blinked at the lion who seemed a bit out of breath and quickly realize that the tripping probably meant Vio struggled with the terrain here. "You should come here more often," he advised. "Practice makes it easier to walk through it."

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Thankfully his son doesn't keep him trudging along for long, and soon enough the burly male is left standing before a child that is far less a child than before. He shifted awkwardly against the matted forest floor, doing nothing to hide the surprised intensity of his stare; a silent pout befalling his expression as he gazed upon the Sigrun boy.

"No thanks," he said sort of absent-mindedly at @Valdi's suggestion, always unfiltered, "I want you to visit me next." As though just assuming the duo-toned yearling would do so willingly, it is projected with a boyish innocence. "Why are you so big?" What happened to him? Because he wasn't cute anymore.

He was big, and hairy and... handsome.

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It was true, Valdi wasn't exactly a child anymore. But he wasn't really all grown up yet either. There was still a little time before he would truly fill out into his full form, and his mane was still working on growing in fully. He was quite a bit different from either of his parents, too, with his white coat. But the brown in his markings definitely came from his father.

And, like his father, he didn't have much of a filter. "Ok," he said shortly after. "I can visit." Why shouldn't he? Relationships were a two-way street after all. "Are you here to steal the Rainforest again?" Blunt, just like his father, and right to the point. Nevermind that @Violarum's first words implied that he was only visiting. Valdi wasn't quite so good at catching things like that.

If his father was here to steal the Rainforest then Valdi would have to stop him. That was part of his job, after all, as a Barony...right?

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Violarum was entirely oblivious to the likeness of his son to he; their temperaments different, and yet so alike in many ways. Where @Valdi was more prone to using his honesty in kinder ways, Violarum's lack of filter often led him astray - despite a lack of bad intentions. His ears perked, a paw flipping off a vine absent-mindedly, "No."

A clear answer, with no offense taken to the boys question, "The Plains is better." Why would he want a jungle when he could have a sunny field? He sought to stride lazily closer, wanting to stand near enough to his son to view him in entirety. He concluded that he really didn't look much like him at all, perhaps aside from the promise of height.

"I didn't want to leave you here," the King reveals, recalling the day Ragna had allowed him to stay. If it had been up to Vio, he'd have dragged him kicking and screaming - perhaps then he would have had time to learn to love The Plains, to learn to love his rightful home.

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The sense of relief when his father said he wasn't here to steal the Rainforest was almost overwhelming. He'd grown fond of Maia and the others and didn't want things to change. In fact, Valdi had found that he didn't like big changes. Small ones were ok, but big ones weren't much fun.

"Good," he said with a nod. A simple response for a clear answer. So alike, the two of them, and yet so different at the same time. "I like the Rainforest. There's lots of things to see here." Colorful animals, lots of different plants, and lots of variety in terms of the lions that lived there. He didn't want that to change.

"Well I wanted to stay," he said firmly, hoping that would be the end of it. "Maia is nice, she made me Barony," he explained. For some reason Maia trusted him, and he liked that and wanted to do right by her. "Why didn't you want me here?" he asked, the smallest touch of curiosity pushing the question out of his mouth. He didn't know his father well so he wasn't sure what the reasoning behind such desires would be.

@Violarum

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As he looked upon the features of his son, he concluded there was a whole lot of Ragna - and Sigrun at that. The split face of @Valdi is enough to remind of Saga, the woman who had killed Erna, and yet it isn't something he particularly dwells upon. If nothing else, the yearling is host to enough Violarum-ish brawn to remind of his roots.

"I'm nice," he pouted, as if Valdi were suggesting he weren't, "And you could have been a Royal." Wasn't all that better than Barony? Mostly, wasn't having a family the best of all? "Because cubs should be with family. Now, you think your family is here," he frowned, realizing the truth behind his own words. Had Valdi returned all those months ago, he might have considered himself even a little bit Frei.

Most importantly, maybe he would have been happy in Lorien - even happier than here, and Vio too.

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"You weren't nice to Talitha," Valdi whined with nearly identical pout to the one his father put on. "But you were nice to me," he added on, remembering the time they had met in the dead forest and played. That was before he had even known that @Violarum was his father.

"Why would I want to be royal?" he questioned. Barony was plenty useful enough in his opinion. He liked the rank he held here in the Rainforest. He tilted his head, confused by what his father was saying. "This isn't my family," he said with a frown. He knew better than that now that he was a little older. Before he wasn't even sure Vio could be both friend and father.

"You're family; these are my friends. But I like the Rainforest. It's pretty. Lots of things to see." Didn't his father understand that? "Besides, I'm not a cub," he said firmly. He was a yearling now. Much older than a young cub. And he had been close to being a year old when they had found him here. Maybe they shouldn't have lost him in the first place!

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There he went with Talitha again. The woman who had essentially cub-napped him and made no effort to find his parents, knowing full well where he belonged. "And where is Talitha?" a flick of his ears would signal the building of frustration. The boy had little reason to cling so desperately to the tiny, meek woman in his eyes.

"You're soft," a quiver at the tip of his tail-tuft as the King would shift. They were going around in circles apparently, and Violarum can't be bothered listing off reasons as to why being Royal was so much better than Barony - given the youngster wanted to claim the rank as some kind of gift or higher purpose.

"Well, I guess you like looking at trees more than your mother and sister then," a hefty shrug, shameless and not intended as sarcasm - instead a genuine thought. Violarum could imagine leaving family in pursuit of dreams as a youngster, but to not even take the time to know them first was different.

@Valdi

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Valdi frowned at the question and thought. Where was Talitha? He hadn't seen her in a long while and that was mildly concerning but, well, what could he do about that? "I don't know," he said honestly with a shrug. "She and Mordecai left somewhere. Some of the others stayed." Simple fact from a simple boy. Perhaps that was all @Violarum needed to see that he wasn't clinging to Talitha so much as recalling that Violarum had stolen a pride - only to abandon it abruptly with the end result being a missing son in the ensuing chaos.

"I am not soft," Valdi said firmly, lifting his head up and looking his father in the eye. "Maia makes us practice our skills; I'm learning things, getting stronger." And he was. His muscles were filling out and he was slowly growing into the man that he would be in less than six months. "I have to work for what I have. Nothing is given to me." As if he were scoffing at the idea of being Royalty simply because of who his father was.

His frown deepened as his father continued his criticisms. "I can see mom and Rhetta whenever I want," he declared. And he could, unless Violarum tried to stop him. He had spent the first several months of his life with nothing but them, and where had Vio been then? Certainly not present.

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