an informal invitation
In all honesty, Roan didn't know what he was doing this far away from Obsidian. Despite all the chaos @Alaric had caused in such a short time (he assumed) within Amaryllis, there was a nagging need in the back of the Hodari's mind to at least meet this man officially, one way or another. Roan was not keen on treading too close to Ecrosia, however, and thus made his way through the familiar, neighboring swamps to the north of his former home. It wasn't a place he figured many would traverse, so the risk of being seen or overheard was far less than if the mauve man had arrived upon the borders of the Mire. Once the masked lion found a somewhat dry-ish patch of earth within the swamps, he'd call in hopes that the new king of Ecrosia might hear him. As much as the Hodari hoped to use his surroundings to conceal himself away from prying eyes, he also hoped it wasn't too difficult for Alaric to find him either.
No fights in progress
No fights in progress
No fights in progress
No fights in progress
No fights in progress
he heard the call but did not rush to answer it, stalking towards the closest border before moving carefully in to the swamp. he took his time, alert to his surroundings, breathing deeply of the scents that surrounded him. there were few to take note of, and in fact he was surprised when he realized just who had summoned him.
it made sense that it was not at the mire borders, though he was still uneasy moving in to a neutral territory (even if it was close to home) to meet a possible enemy. the fight he had had with roan had been a good one, and he had not intended to make enemies with the hollows king. that being said he knew it was a natural outcome, and thus was immensely curious why he had come to meet.
once he was certain it was only @Roan he approached his fellow king, ears moving atop his head as he made sure they stayed alone. "roan," a greeting with a dip of his head, stopping some strides away. he did not sit but stayed tensed and ready, 'less a fight show where he did not wish to find one. "what can i do for you?"
What did he want out of this meeting? What did he expect to gain in speaking with the new Mire king? Roan was already convincing himself that @Alaric wouldn't show anyway. That is, until he finally heard the subtle sounds of footfall nearby. Despite being the one who had called for this encounter, the moment he assumed to the movements to be the Starke, the mauve man could not deny the tensions from his own muscles. What if Alaric brought company with him? Roan had made a bold risk in showing up alone, suspecting that the mist would aid him in slipping out unnoticed by the rest of his pride. This was a private meeting to which the Hodari hoped the wheat male would abide by.
Minty gaze became transfixed upon his former opponent the second the Mire king came into view. "Alaric," Roan offered in return with a mirrored dip of his own crown. He could see the tension clear on the other's face and in his unwillingness to take a seat opposite the Hodari. What can I do for you? It was hardly an unexpected question, mush as it would have been should Roan have arrived upon the borders themselves. This was as close as he wished to get, though, at least for now. "Please, sit." Roan did his best to invite the male to lessen his tensions as the masked lion neatly folded his own hind end beneath his frame. "You have my word that I am here alone." Did he expect Alaric to trust his word? No. Was it dumb to openly admit that he was here by himself? Probably. Did Roan care at this point? Not really. "I just want to talk." The mauve lion would go no further than that for now, curious as to how willing his former opponent would be to having a chat.
"I have no problem with that," he said, though he still waits to see what exactly Roan has to ask. "You gave me a good fight, Roan, and I respect that. I hope you understand my challenge was not meant to be personal." Same as Alaric understood that it was impossible to challenge for a pride and have it not be at least a little bit personal. Where he was from, though, it was just the way things went. The strongest lion led the pride, and the rest were cast out. Obviously things were different here, and he had made a great deal of enemies in the process of learning.
Roan was actually a little surprised to see @Alaric relax, even just a little. He fully expected that the male wouldn't trust the Obsidian king enough to believe his claim to be alone, but then again, the Hodari really knew very little about the Mire king. They knew very little about each other, for that matter, and Roan hoped to change that. Even if they did not end up as allies, and might even become official enemies, at least the masked lion would have a better understanding about his former opponent.
With the invitation to talk accepted, the Hollows king is careful to keep a neutral air about himself. Alaric was quick to mention their fight before anything else, even commending the Hodari on the quality of the fight itself. "I suspected as much," Roan offered in response. "I hadn't heard of you before that day, after all." How would the Starke have known to attack someone without knowing them? Roan couldn't imagine anyone trying to take away his home for personal reasons against the Hodari, unless it was like a Casimir thing or Zoticus challenging for his crown. Other than that, though, he couldn't imagine a reason anyone would pointedly target the Hollow. "I have to ask, though, why were you so intent on taking over a pride? Between Obsidian and Ecrosia, it seemed pretty obvious that you were set out for a throne above all else. At least that's how it appeared to me." Roan didn't want to sound accusatory of anything. He just wanted to understand the process and the goals. It had not been lost on him that Alaric had been part of Andal at some point, so why had that not been enough?
it frustrated him, truthfully, to see the web. he could not ally with the oasis (seneca made his opinion of his wife very clear) and the lagoon and the cove were off limits for obvious reasons. the brook, from what he knew, was also a strong sigrun ally, and the bluffs... well, they stood on their own from what he knew so far. at war with the oasis, but also unfriendly with the rainforest.... it was enough to make his head spin.
he grunts, then, as @Roan asks a question he had expected and pulled him from the thoughts. "where i am from it is the only thing that matters. the strongest lead -- they are the ones to have cubs and wives. i wanted a home for my wife and our cubs, one that i had some say in." a furrow at his brow, as he decided to be uncharacteristically honest with the man -- "i'll be honest, roan, the politics of amaryllis are not what i am used to. everything is taken so personally, and it seems that you can lose allies at the drop of a hat, and cannot be friends with those that your allies do not like. and yet it is a mess of interwoven relationships." he scowled, the more he talked about it the more frustrated he felt.
"i believe in looking a man in the eye and forming my own opinions rather than believing whatever is told to me." first hand opinions, not second and third.
Ironically, the Mire's current and only ally at the moment was probably the only ally Roan would never support. Almost everyone else in Amaryllis the Hodari could make an argument for either allying with or creating a neutrality agreement. Almost. But not Firnen. Not while Zoticus ruled it and probably still had it out for the Hodari, for whatever reason had started that feud in the first place. The war was long since over. Sangria was dead, as was Kiton now. What did Roan even care about Zoticus? Nothing. Nothing at all.
As @Alaric explained himself to the mauve lion, though, Roan remained respectfully attentive. He was genuinely curious about it all, and could understand a bit where the male was coming from. It felt a bit antiquated when posed with the politics of Amaryllis, but that was not the Starke's fault when it was all he knew. "Amaryllis is, indeed, a complicated web of politics," the Hodari would muse in agreement as he mulled over what the wheat king had stated. "The way you were raised is not unheard of, but it does seem to be far removed from the lives of majority of those who live here now." Roan paused for just a moment, deciding how much of himself and his own background he wanted to share with the other. "I do get it... the need for some say in one's life. I would be a hypocrite not to recognize that luxury as I sit here as a fellow leader. I did the same. I took a pride to give my family a home, but I fought for a vacant piece of land instead of seeking to uproot someone else's life. Was it any better to descend upon the scraps of another pride's broken home? Maybe not, but I can live with that a whole lot better than I can live with the thought of deliberately challenging an existing ruler." It was the honest truth. Roan could not ever see himself wanting to challenge a leader just for the desire to have a home of his own.
"Knowing this, and having fought against me before, what is your opinion of me so far, if I might ask?" If Alaric was so keen to make his own opinions of those in Amaryllis, the Hodari was more than curious to hear what impression he might have made so far. For that matter, though, he was also curious as to what impression he had of Zoticus since the Firnen male had been their to support the Mire during the attempted uprising.
"As much as I am trying to adapt to the politics of here, there are definitely aspects of it that do not sit well with me." Mostly the web of alliances, the notion that if you hurt my friend you were immediately my enemy -- how was it possible to ever make a safe move if you were inevitably going to step on somebody's toes? Alaric had to concern himself with losing alliances because of friendships he already had, or being unable to form new friendships because of alliances. It was infuriating, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record he didn't repeat his frustrations.
"I understand taking an opportunity where you see it -- but how long was I meant to wait? From what I've seen there are many big families here, and no matter what move I made I was going to step on toes. I could have waited years for a pride to face some calamity, but I prefer to take charge of my own destiny." Did that make Roan a better man than him? Perhaps.
He was surprised to be questioned on his opinion, taking a moment to think on it before answering quickly. "You seem to be an honorable man," he mused, with a slight tip of his head, "with a pride that loves you. That tells me a lot." Alaric had a feeling that if he had won Obsidian he would have faced just as much backlash, if not more so.
"The fact that you're here at all tells me that you form your own opinions and seek out information before forming them -- that is more than many would do." A slight shrug, though it is clear that he respects the Hollow King because of it.
@Roan
This was a strange feeling, to be so willing to talk so openly with a lion who had not only tried to take away Roan's home, but who had succeeded in taking away his cousin's home. What would Maia and Jafar even think of Roan having this conversation to begin with? Considering that @Alaric had seen the mauve lion's loyalty to the uprising, it said a lot that even he was willing to talk to the Hodari.
Roan couldn't help the tiniest of smirks to push air through his lips. To say that there were aspect of politics in Amaryllis that didn't sit well with him was an understatement. Perhaps that was why the masked man was so unwilling to commit to solid alliances with other prides except for those he wholeheartedly agreed with. Could he get an alliance with Wolfbron? Probably, but Roan couldn't get himself to agree with everything the Dieudonne did. The same could probably be said with the Lagoon and the Cove right now, so in the end, he was only comfortable solidifying himself with the Brooke. "Yeah, it's impossible to be friends with everyone," Roan mused with a slight roll of his shoulders.
"That's a fair observation, but then again, you'd be surprised how often it does actually happen in Amaryllis. Before the man you fought for the Mire ruled there, my brother and I did. We were forced out, though, by a flood that left Ecrosia uninhabitable for a couple months." It actually came a little easy to mention his former tenure within the Mire. As the months moved on, the loss hurt a little less everyday. Never completely gone, but more tolerable to carry around with him. Roan wouldn't linger on the comment for long, however, before moving on. "There will always be toes that get stepped on, however." Not that Jafar trying to take back the Mire was a means of stepping on Roan's toes. In fact, he was more than happy to see the Casales reclaim the Mire, but the Hodari wasn't ready to return to the lands that had taken so much from him.
Roan leaned back a little, almost bracing for whatever sort of opinion Alaric had formed of him thus far. Much to his own surprise, the lighter colored man was not tainted in bitterness over losing to the Hodari before. He was level-headed enough to recognize Roan's goals and the means he would go to achieve them. "I like to be informed," the masked man affirmed with a nod of his head. "And despite the fact that the male you fought was my cousin, I do wish to form an opinion of my own about you. You have allowed for anyone not wishing to stay in Ecrosia to leave by their own choosing. Not all new leaders would do that." It was this fact that solidified the notion that Alaric only wanted a home for himself and his own family. He wasn't interested in the numbers or any sort of strategic vantage point, as far as Roan could tell at least. Just as Obsidian was likely a random target, so too was Ecrosia. "Now that you have a pride of your own, what are your plans with the Mire?" It was one thing to claim that he only wanted a say in his own life, so he took over a pride, but what was the plan going forward? What would be his rules? His instructions to his followers?
It was surprising to hear that Roan had ruled in the Mire, and all the more surprising to consider that he had not been the leader of the Hollows for long. Things changed so quickly around here, and perhaps if he had been more patient he might have earned less enemies. Or perhaps he would have waited too long, and his cubs would have been born as rogues. "It does seem like it could be a big risk here," he said about the floods, making a mental note to do what he could to fortify against it. Perhaps some well placed logs could maintain dry areas and keep his family safe.
More information came, learning that Jafar was his cousin. Alaric had known they were friendly, but he had not realized they were family. As for the rest -- "I may be ambitious but I am not a complete monster." But his tone is light and there is a grin on his lips. Not anymore, at least.
"I have no true plans," he answered, "beyond keeping my family safe." This much was true, but he was sure that it would not be enough to satisfy. "Short term, recruit and gain strength so as it better protect what is now mine." It was a common goal, wasn't it? "Beyond that I am unsure." Short-sighted, perhaps, but also cautious. He did not wish to spill his intent to dethrone the Sigrun without knowing where @Roan stood with them.