[PRP] A Welcome Return (Uriah x Haru)

[Epine de Rose]

They'd been gone for quite some time now, and in that time Uriah had done little more than socialise with her new found friends, both of which were quite the characters, and continue with her duties. All in all, the day to day activities of the Firekin hadn't changed much despite whatever the expedition might have set out to achieve. Quite frankly, the only gossip that seemed to have come of it were how many lionesses would have found 'worthy' individuals to sire their children... and how many simply would have acted out of desperation.

The men...? Well, there was no guarantee that any cubs from their nights would ever cross paths with them again. Nevertheless this did cause Uriah to ponder whether or not her mate might have found someone to occupy his time while he was beyond her sight. They'd both been rogues before, she knew how it worked, and yet she somehow had significantly more trust in him than she would have done in one of those born into the pride.

...He knew what temptations were there, they didn't. He knew how to ignore them and their true value, she wasn't so sure the Firekin born within the sands truly did.

Alas, as the weeks had wiled on she did have to wonder when they would all be coming back. At this time Asyria hadn't received any news from her father which she'd taken as a positive, but nor had she received any news from any avian either. It was safe to say that there had been total radio silence from them and she was just a touch concerned.

Syrius Lionwing

xD Let's get this done properly and nice and quick so we can plunk them back in again (I should have counted in that meta better)!

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

The blood red male was glad that his paws were back on sand again. It was safe to say he had enjoyed his time out in the world, however, home had constantly called him and now that he was back on the moving dunes he had one thing on his mind.

Uriah. He had missed her so much on their journey, he hadn’t really realised just how much until they had turned for him and gotten, sidetracked, a lot. They had visited the salty shore and the pride of the moon, the mwezi. Moving so many beasts who were used to travelling on sand but not really used to travelling as such a large group had been an effort in itself. Luckily there had been no major incidents.

His pale mane whipped across his eyes and the familiar scent of his lady, one he could never forget tickled his senses. He turned his coal black eyes on the familiar coat, a smile lifting on his maw as he stood silently simply admiring His lady.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

He'd arrived without fanfare, much to her surprise. She had expected there to be a bit of hustle and bustle about the pride as they had returned but it seemed that it was all a bit muted. Many had slipped in without even mentioning they were back, and it was for this reason that she assumed only key individuals would be required to provide reports... Until such times as females displayed signs of pregnancy. Thus, Haru had successfully managed to get the jump on the red lioness who had all but left herself in a vegetative state as she stared out at the horizon.

...It was only when the hair on the back of her neck began to rise that she narrowed her eyes and turned round, fully prepared to chastise the louder of her friends who often had a habit of acting in that 'spooky' fashion to see how she and Asyria would both respond. She was not greeted by the black and red lioness that day however, instead, she saw her own mate standing a short distance away.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded. Not that she wasn't one for romantic embraces and cooing, but he'd been away for a long time and she honestly felt that she deserved an explanation. At the very least, she deserved to know where they'd all been for so long!

"Do you know how long it's been!"

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

Epine de Rose

He couldn’t help but laugh. Her ‘welcome home’ well, what else did he expect? She was his Uriah after all, he wasn’t expecting any sort of embrace or even a sweet lick to the cheek. The red male slowly descended down he dune he had been perched upon taking his sweet time approaching her. His coal black eyes never left her dark red form the whole time and only a small, smile jutted on his maw.

“Out.” He replied at last as he pulled to a stop before her, settling himself in to a slow, purposeful sit close enough for her to breach the gap should she choose to.

After a short pause the pale maned male turned his gaze to the sky and decided he should probably answer the second question a little more honestly, or at least from the heart “Too long.” He breathed a heavy breath a sigh of pure relief.  

[Epine de Rose]

Uriah's expression should have been enough to tell him that a small part of her did not appreciate the wit, at this point in time she was frustrated with him and the amount of time it had taken them to come home. Quite frankly, she suspected that she wasn't the only lioness (or lion) who felt this way. Nevertheless that other side of her could appreciate the wry wit, and she would forgive that in a short while after she'd at least gotten some form of explanation as to where on earth they had been.

"Well no duh," she said finally and extended her paw to given him a rough nudge, that was as much of a telling off as he'd get for his reply. "But if you were gone that long, where in the heck did you all wander off to?" she asked and shook her head. "You would have gone to the opposite side of the world to make that type of time scale make sense, I thought this was meant to be a smaller jaunt that kept a little closer to home?"

...Clearly that hadn't happened.

At this point she was just curious as to where they'd all ended up going and the adventures that had awaited them. Had they gotten stuck somewhere, lost, or had they simply enjoyed their time elsewhere that they'd stayed for longer than they should?

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

Epine de Rose

The streaked maned lion tilted his head and rubbed the place where she had cuffed him, a rather fake, sorry look on his maw. “I’v been gone for ages and I don’t even get a nuzzle?” He huffs and tilts his head comically, a look that was far too silly for him really. He was a big guy, serious to a fault most of the time but when it came to Uriah there was a something that just made him act like a dope.

“We’ve been to the edge of the world Uriah.” He sighed heavily, it wasn’t exactly a lie. He had seen the big water in the past, he’d even spent a day by the shore in his youth, the feel of the sand there was totally different from the firekin, not unpleasant, just wrong. “We went to the sea.” He frowns just a touch at the word, the sea.

While many of the lions he had gone with had never seen the endless void that was the ocean and were fascinated by it, and even went in to the salty waves, he had not been tempted. He had even thought that they would leave sooner than they had. “It was a long journey Uriah. I’m glad to be home.”  

[Epine de Rose]

The sea? She'd always like the ocean and by extension, she'd like the water in general. That was probably why she had the position within the Firekin that she did, but she knew that when it came to Haru his inclinations were a tad different. A small part of her felt a slight jealousy in that respect and she rather wished she had been able to go with him...if only to see it again. After all, water wasn't always so easy to find here and there was something quite nice about being able to swim in it freely.

"That is quite the distance," she said slowly and shook her head. "I really did think you were staying close to home this time," she confessed and hazarded a wry smile. "I guess they followed their paws and ended up much further than planned eh?" she could forgive him for that, enthusiasm had a way of allowing the majority to get a touch carried away!

"Where else did you go?" she asked curiously, at least providing him with a more gentle and reassuring nudge this time round. She'd seen that ridiculous look, comical as it was, he did at least deserve some form of proper welcome. "Can't have just been one place after all this time, and I can only assume you were all on your best behaviour..."

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

Epine de Rose

She was astute as ever his lady, she could pick up on things, very easily, she would know if he lied to her. She was far to canny, still there was nothing to lie to her over. Still he felt he should give her some sort of reassurance “You know you’re the only girl for me Uriah, no one could turn my heads quite like you do.” He gave a small smirk and finally leaned forward to nudge her cheek gently.

“We went to this moon loving pride too. The Mwezi’Johari, we followed a couple of Huria in. There were bridges built Uriah. Companions made, bonds truly forged. I believe.... I believe that there will be further expeditions. Maybe next time you can come too?” He smiled. “It would have been a much more interesting journey if you had been there.”

The look she had given of missing out on something, the sea, he knew she enjoyed a swim, hadn’t escaped his notice. Part of him did wish she had come along. Maybe the next time they could go together, though honestly he had no wish to go back out in to the rogue lands and beyond any time soon. He really had missed home, he’d missed the sands and his love and really he had missed just being settled. There really was no place like home for him, he guessed his age really was turning him in to a home body.  

[Epine de Rose]

"Perhaps if we're allowed out next time, I'll give it some consideration," she mused. It would be nice to wander around with him, if only for old times sake to see just how much had changed since she had found her home here. Plus, it would be interesting to see how these new prides acted and what 'bonds' they might have thought they had achieved and whether or not the Firekin at home agreed with their views.

...After all, though Uriah had never met the Mwezi, there were likely to be certain things she would absolutely not see eye to eye with. The Firekin hadn't had slavery for a long time and to her, siding with those who did aspire towards it by simple fact of 'birth' would probably be a grave insult to her!

"But for now you might as well make yourself comfortable," she patted the ground beside her and offered a wink. "You can tell me which of these bonds and friendships you think is most likely to make its way here," she suggested and tilted her head to the side. "And any other interesting stories you can think of... I'm sure our folks found the sea to be bizarre to say the least."

It would be a good opportunity for them to catch up, she had no duties to attend to this evening and she could only assume that he was in dire need of a rest. Easier to lie down and tell stories than to march around any more than he needed to, right?

Syrius Lionwing

Fin after your post? n_n

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

Epine de Rose

all fin!

Haru gave a sigh and a nod, he would happily just lay with Uriah and rest. He had many stories to tell her. He had things to tell her she wouldn’t like, but those things could wait, for now he would tell her the tales of the sea farming pride.

Settling down beside the dark red female he let a yawn stretch his mouth, his coal black eyes resting happily on his mate. The evening shadows were starting to creep in and the familiar chill that always fell over the desert cooled his fur. It was a nice feeling.

He was glad to be home, glad to be back with Uriah, maybe the future would take them out in to the rogue lands again, but for now he could be happy just to be home.