Finally. Finally he had come to find their trail. It hadn't been easy, but it had been doable. It had taken many moons, but he would drag the two of them back home. This was not where home was; home was back with their families, where they should be. This was a strange and very obviously untamed land. Growling, he swatted at the brushes that clinged to him, as if to say 'don't go.' He wouldn't let the land charm him like they had his sister, and her. Her.
Rustling alerted him. Someone had spotted him. Tightening his muscles, ready to fight against whatever wanted to stop him, it wasn't what he expected.
"Rhy."
"Nia," he growled, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to get the first exclamation here.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered, feeling her stomache drop. SHe had never forgotten about her brother, but then she didn't know what would happen if he had found them. And for a while, she had thought that he would never find them. No such luck now, and things were going to go bad, fast. "It's an absolute disaster that you're here." She couldn't raise her voice, to worried that someone would find them, and the foreseen disaster would happen even sooner.
Rhy growled at his sister. He was furious. Why was she not greeting him with open arms? What had happened to make her act like this? Everything seemed wrong, and it seemed even more wrong that Mio wasn't right next to her. They were inseprable, joined at the hip in everything that they did. "What the hell do you mean what I am doing here? You're my sister, and Mio, well, you know." He growled. "I cannot believe you would treat me this way. You disappeared from our home and never returned. I knew that you went out to try and find Mio, but you yourself never returned. SO what else did you think was going to happen?"
Nia shook her head. It was too true that she herself hadn't returned. She had meant to take Mio home, but once she had finally found her heart sister, it was too late. "I wanted to bring her home," she started, though her voice was shaky. "Once I had found her, there were things too interwoven to just return home..."
Rhy raged at this. "What! There never could be anything to prevent her from returning! From returning to me!"
Nia cringed at her brother's anger, her blody lowering itself to the ground. He was never this angry, and though he didn't know the whole situation, he certainly had a reason to be so upset. More than just one little reason.
"And you, instead of doing what you know would have been right, kept her from returning to where she belonged!" Rhy was so frustrated, he felt so betrayed by his sister. What was she hiding from him? There was no other reason that she would be covering for Mio, for stalling him and trying to turn him away. The thoughts that flowed in his head only made him more angry.
Nia was starting to feed off of his anger. She pulled herself up, standing at nearly eyelevel to him. There was no way that she was going to let her stupid brother get the best of her, especially when he was acting to irrationally. "You have no idea what happened to her when she disappeared. How dare you still act like she wouldn't change because of that? We all knew that she couldn't have possibly ran away, something had kept her from us. Most of the elders thought she had been certainly killed, for why would she not return? The males searched for her, and nothing. TIme passed, and everyone else gave up." She glared at him, watching as his posture shrunk back a bit. "WHy else would I risk my own hide to go find her? Because I loved her, but not in a way that you did. We were one split into two, and I couldn't live without her anymore. If you were anything the mad you claim you are, you would have come with me. But you didn't, you still hid from the world, assuming that she would find her own way home."
Rhy had nothing to answer to that. Instead, he let his eyes wander around himself, not wanting to be a part of this conversation anymore. There were too many painful truths that he had always pushed down, not wanting to recognize that he himself was much of a coward. A nice boy, deep down, but he never possessed much bravado that many other males he had grown up had. No, he had been too scared to look for Mio, too scared to find her rotting corpse, and to come home more heartbroken than when a lovebird dies before it's mate. He certainly would have lost his mind, and instead of finding closure, he let himself cling to hope.
"Stupid," hr finally mumbled, but Nia only shook her head. "No, brother, you are the stupid one. What makes you think, after all these moons and more, that things would be the same? You have been living in a hole all this time, keeping everything s fresh in your mind as if it happened yesterday. You lost yourself to fantasy, and left behind reality. THe rest of us faced what we needed to, and you just let yourself get carried off. Things changed, Rhy, and I don't want you to have to face them."
Rhy was stunned. Though there was certainly still anger in his face, it was apparent that there was something much deeper here than he had thought. Yes, he thought that since he had found Nia in such high spirits, Mio was still alive and fine. Everything would return to normal. They would go back, and restart their lives, forgetting the moons and moons that had passed since the two of them had seen one another.
"Please," he pleaded, not knowing what else to do. The shame of remembering how he had acted had cooled his anger, and now he only wanted desperatly to see her. "Please, Nia, I know that you know where she is. There is no other reason you would be here, especially so far away from home."
Nia snorted, "Oh, so I'm still not good enough for a man, hm?" Nia knew that it was a running joke with everyone that she couldn't hold onto a male for long. There was nothing wrong with her, it was just some sort of bad luck that followed her regarding relationships. Nia had eventaully given up on it, and it had helped when Pacha had come by looking for someone to raise her cubs. Even though they weren't her's, Nia still cared for them like her own. The fact that they were so old now reminded her that it had been such a long time since she had seen Rhy. Even longer for Mio.
Oh, how was he going to take this?
Nia shifted uneasily, worry plastered across her face for anyone to see. "Oh, Rhy, I really don't think that's such a good idea..." It would only turn into a disaster that she wouldn't be able to stop. Imagining Mio's face only made Nia more uneasy about it as her stomache lurched. Seeing Rhy begging her so bluntly made her give in, though. She glanced around, not seeing either one of Mio's attendants. This wasn't good, she didn't want it as a surprise. Mio was probably preforming some lessons, which means that they were with her as a relay for messages. There was no one to warn her. Nia knew she couldn't hold off Rhy for much longer, or he would just go tromping through the House's lands. If one of the royal guards found him first, especially Akasha....no. Nia would have to take him herself.
She gulped, and nodded. "Fine. You better behave yourself. She is in a much higher station now, and there are many that would kill you if you tried to rush her for any reason."
Rhy nodded, though it was apparent that the words didn't stick. All he knew was that he was finally going to see Mio again after so, so long.
Nia was only frightened as she guided him through the winding paths, only hoping for some peace at the end of the trail.
