I'm assuming you're intending to make the Hollows your new home? Keep ruling it? That should be the plan, right? Roan almost wanted to say no if only because none of this was ever in his sights until the opportunity just showed up. "Yeah," he finally confirmed with a nod and an awkward silence, not knowing what else to say about it. Luckily, @Aquila was quick to offer his support before Roan could even offer his own. "Thanks." The Obsidian lion almost sounded a bit sheepish. "You'll have ours as well. Whatever you need," he'd repeat the same sentiment. Neither man needed to go into detail. Whatever you need very clearly said it all. They would do whatever was needed to aid the other.

"It wasn't planned.... just so you know. Taking over Obsidian.... I didn't plan to take another pride like this," the masked lion then suddenly felt the need to clarify things. "I was going to come here to join, eventually, but I just.... I needed time. After losing Kiton..." But Roan trailed off without finishing the sentence. He figured Aquila didn't even need the words to know where he was going with it anyway. The Hodari weren't the only ones to have ever lost someone, lost a home. The bronze man hadn't exactly gone straight back to the Brook after losing Valhalla after all, so maybe he could understand Roan's inability to immediately flock with his family to Vermeda.

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Good for Something

Maybe it's for the best you never made it out here to join. Aquila suggested with a sight tilt of his head. His voice kind and soft, strange for him, but somber still in a very much more normal way of speaking for him. Roan hadn't been here to be harmed by Viridian, by the strange lions who also attacked the Sigrun there. Hadn't gotten hurt like Furia had. And he had the chance again to make something for his family and settle them into a home once more. You might not have had the chance, or drive, to take the Hollows like you did when the opportunity was there. He didn't want the Hodari to live under him and his family. They deserved a home of their own, the one they'd been trying to carve since they came here.

I need to set out on some patrols. Aquila said with a glance to the left and right through the forest's trees. Their defense movements had been increased since that day they took their home back. It more or less always ended up being nothing but provided a few moments of calm when you didn't find anything. You're welcome to join if you don't have business of your own elsewhere. He readily invited but would have no hard feelings if there was something somewhere else the other High Sovereign needed to attend to.

ooc: abusing some liquid time if you don't mind ;)

"Yeah, maybe," Roan nodded with a simper. He knew he wouldn't have struck up a challenge against an existing monarch. At least, not unless that pride was causing a serious threat to his family or Amaryllis as a whole. Maybe Vermier would have been the only possibility on his radar, but there was also the thought that those loyal to their leader would rise up. No, taking over an empty pride was about the only way Roan preferred to stake his own claim.

With things mostly settled @Aquila declared his need to get back to things around the Brook. Roan would take no offense, and honestly wouldn't mind joining, but there was one last piece of business he needed to address before the two leaders got lax. "Sure. I've got nowhere to be right now," he nodded. "Before we go, though, just one last thing. Hanneth has come to the Hollow already, and she wants to stay. We both just want to get our family back together." The biggest question was if Furia would want to come to Obsidian, but that was a discussion he would have to have later with his aunt and uncle. Their children would make that a more difficult decision certainly. "Will you release her, Aquila?" It was with utmost respect that he asked, almost certain that the Valour wouldn't deny his request. Roan almost even offered to set up a trade, but knowing the Valour, he was almost positive that that wouldn't be necessary either.

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Good for Something

The request was disappointing but one Aquila met at first with a neutral expression of thought and receptiveness to hearing. Historically lions would always come and go. Those in need of shelter would arrive, heal, receive help, and if they desired be on their way. It never meant anything before but not Aquila felt the impact a loss would have. Numbers had dwindled, two now wanting to leave and some never returning. Their ability to fight back lessened. But... Hanneth was already gone anyways by the sounds of it. And truthfully she quickly became an afterthought. The same thoughts that Roan had over Furia immediately entered Aquila's mind. She, the children, Tae, were his family too. As free to leave as Hanneth and free to take part of Aquila's heart with them if they did...

Aquila's thoughts were not vocalized, it would be a heartbrake for later and one he'd have to prepare himself for. But an observant eye would see the shift in his face, the corners of his lips frowning and eyes worried with the things unsaid. The prospect of losing more loved ones, of loved ones leaving him just like Caeso... Yes. The response came simply and with a swift turn of his head away, steeling up himself and caging away the darkening thoughts Roan would leave him with as the pair parted.

/exit

A one worded answer was not reassuring, but the Hodari had no other choice than to accept it. He couldn't begin to know what the Valour were going through right now, having never had the fortune to return to a home he was driven out of. Assumptions could be made, however, that perhaps not all had returned yet. That was something Roan was all too familiar with. Numbers were small, even in Obsidian. They were starting from scratch with still so many missing from what family they had in the Mire. "Thank you, Aquila," the masked man finally spoke with a solemn expression, only able to imagine what might be going through the bronze male's head.

Though he was going to join the Valour on his patrol, the moment @Aquila had spoken, he had turned his head away. Even though he had agreed to release Hanneth, Roan could tell that it was not without a sense of loss. Whether that was for Hanneth in specifically or simply the idea that he was losing valuable members, the Hodari could not be certain. With the bronze lion's gaze turned away, Roan took it as a sign that maybe he needed some time to himself. The mauve lion wouldn't seek to impose himself when he had asked something so great of Aquila. "Take care." It was all he could seem to offer for the time being. Neither male had felt the need to talk in depth about their loyalty to one another and their prides, but they both knew the loyalty was there. It wasn't that Vermeda's numbers were dwindling and Obsidian was growing with the trade. It was just a shift of Hanneth's banner, and nothing more. In Roan's eyes, their numbers were shared, both willing to do whatever was necessary to aid the other. And it was with that thought he would take his leave of the ever supportive Brook.

exit Roan

Table & Image by Amanda | Background | Lineart