Oh how these trees held memories. Roan could not deny the portion of his life in Amaryllis spent in its denser territory. The Rainforest he had once ruled himself, and sought refuge in years later. Now, a Starke called it his own, another name to jot down along the numerous rulers the forest had seen.

Roan did as he was told, steering clear of Firnen's borders. It wasn't hard to do, knowing exactly how far the territory expanded as he made his way along the river just outside the Rainforest. He teetered on the edge of calling for his granddaughters, if either had joined their father within the lush terrain, but refrained from doing so when Roan finally realized he had not gathered their names yesterday. Their encounter had been so brief, too brief, but it had been enough to confirm their connection. All he could do was wait for them to arrive, hopeful that he would not be stood up and denied this change to know his son's children.

@Clove @Dalila

Table & Image by Amanda | Background | Lineart

lila had wrestled with this meeting all through the night. debating whether or not she should come, hesitating to return to the forest her father had recently taken hold of. retreating to the cove, her home now, and yet finding it painfully empty and lacking.

in the end there had been no true decision -- she could not sooner stay away than rend a limb from her body. @Clove drew her even more than @Roan, though she could not deny the appeal of getting to know her extended family. no matter that the very thought terrified her.

she finds him first. he is alone when she emerges from the thick foliage to join him, a variety of flowers tucked in to her fur. dalila had stopped more than once to gather some of the more appealing plants on her way, though she had every intention of ensuring they stayed safely tucked away for this meeting.

uncertain and with a swell of anxiety she approaches him and sits a few paces away, studying the man in quiet before she speaks. "hi." and... that's it. for now. waiting for clove with an unsettled twitch of her tail tip.

code by dee art by ziva

Clove Stärke-Vandiir ...

She was late. She knew it as she trotted briskly through jungle terrain, toeing newly saturated borders with wide eyes and searching ears. It had taken her that long to escape prying eyes amid Firnen – to go undetected in her routine patrol so she might make that meeting without an audience to put a damper on things. Clove knew there was a freedom in invisibility.

"I'm here, I'm here," she panted as she approached the pair of them, shoving one graceless shoulder into Dalila's as some remnant of an apology. Once her gaze fixed upon his of near-matching green, she lifted a brow in realization.

"Er, it's Clove. This is Dalila," she introduced in a murmur.

---

|| february y13 | two years | FR royalty | at firnen rainforest | @Roan @Dalila ||
+5 - Patrol your borders

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There was an eeriness to the sitting and waiting. It was unfamiliar territory to be this close to the borders of Firnen and not welcomed with opened arms. How long had it been since Maia had fought for it? Since Jafar had ruled as well? It aged the man beyond his years to simply sit in his idle time and think about all that had passed in the years since he first stepped foot into Amaryllis.

Roan was not left to stew for too long, however, when a rustling in the nearby foliage drew the elder out of his thoughts. @Dalila was the first to appear as her floral-adorned body waded through the leaves. She was a touch smaller than her sister as Roan took the opportunity to better take in her image. Already very much grown, a young woman. He'd missed their entire childhood by now. "Hello," the mauve man returned with a warm gentleness to his voice. He can tell there is apprehension in approaching, noting the distance the pale girl kept between them, but if that was all she wanted to say for now, he was fine with it. They still needed to wait for her sister, after all.

Waiting for @Clove, though, almost felt a bit awkward in their silence as the mauve girl was a bit later than Roan would have expected. Still, her appearance was a welcomed sight, renewing hope that the old man might get a real chance to know his granddaughters. Thankfully, the new arrival was quick to remedy the lack of knowing names between them all as she introduced herself and her sister. "And you know my name already," the older man smirked as he committed their names to memory. "It is a pleasure to formally meet you both, Clove and Dalila." Names were good and all, but what next? Where did they even begin? Already two years had passed in their lives and Roan wasn't apart of it in the least. Tai hadn't even mentioned him before, it would seem, so what could they possibly want to know about him and his side of the family.

Roan knew that he was the one who had asked to meet with them after the challenge, so he should have some sort of idea what this would be about, right? The old man took a moment to gather his thoughts, not wanting to bombard the girls with too much information about their family all at once. Best to let them lead the conversation, if they even wanted it. "Thank you both for agreeing to meet with me," he started off calmly, minty gaze moving equally between the two. "I... I really have no plan here... asking you here. I just wanted to meet you. Get to know you... if you'd let me." There was an open vulnerability in the elder's voice, knowing that he could only learn as much as they were willing to give. Roan, though, was an open book. "Anything you'd like to know about me or my side of the family, though, you need only ask." He could only assume they knew much of their Starke and Rike sides with how prevalent the members of those families were in Amaryllis.

Table & Image by Amanda | Background | Lineart