Would she even recognize him by the time he returned?
The caravan had stopped for the night. It wasn't comprised of many members, a falconer and their bird, a huntress that he had previous dealings with, a few other guards and soldiers, but that was it. Their party was not a large one and it didn't need to be. Their objective wasn't to make a presence, but rather a statement. They were going to be there to train others for a time and then go home with a few more members, at the request of the emperor of course. The captain's stomach was in a twist though as he sat atop of a rock overhang that the rest of his company slept under.
The Pridelands was only a day or two off from their current location and while they could have pushed and made it before the following nightfall, there was no reason to strain. They were ahead of schedule anyways and there was a good chance that they would want him to begin training immediately. Best to keep his and everyone else's energy up. The thought of his homeland saddened the captain as he looked over the stars that were made up of his family and countless others.
Would the Pridelands even recognize him as one their own or had he become too much like the Tianxia? Was that even a bad thing if it did? That was his home now after-all. Sighing heavily, Thrain let his head left into a small breeze, his mane swaying with every small twist of the unseen force.
Out of the darkness, a roar echoed across the relative silence, a silence that up until then had only been filled with the sound of herd movements in the distance, the relaxing tune of insects chirping and the rustle of the grass in the breeze. The captain's head snapped towards the sound, his ears rounded forward as his golden eyes narrowed into the night. There was nothing....there!
The rest had already begun waking at the aggressive sound by the time Thrain had leapt from his post. Pausing momentarily, he looked towards them, giving them a silent nod before running into the grass with no one at his back. They would follow behind at a distance, silently and downwind if they could help it with the changing direction of the wind, and help if needed, while a majority stayed behind.
They had been trained for this sort of thing, but he had not been expecting anything, especially so close to the Pridelands' border.
Weaving through the grass, his paws searing from a sudden cut, leaving a small blood trail in his wake, Thrain looked around his surroundings. The source had to be around here somewhere unless the-...He never got to finish that thought before the roar returned but this time directly to his right. The owner? A large brown lion who had already leapt out at him. Golden eyes widened as the two went tumbling onto the ground and into a small dried up watering hole that held nothing but mud at this point. Their paws already covered in mud, along with much of both of their bodies, the two finally got a good look at eachother.
For Thrain, there was hardly anything special about this lion, but for Durin, it was like looking at a ghost.
The older male's eyes spread open with surprise, his mouth fell open and his entire demeanor changed with seconds. "...Dumac?" Durin called out quietly, taking a single step closer to the lion he had just attacked. In the darkness and against a background of stars, he hadn't noticed this male's coloring or his markings, but now...
Wait, what?
"How do you know my father's name, stranger?" Thrain asked with a raised brow.
So he never spoke of him...Not that Durin was at all surprised. He hadn't been the best father to him or to any of his other children, but this other male looked almost identical to Dumac, to his son, except for the markings upon his body. No, those were more like his own. Sighing heavily, Durin turned and began trudging his way out of the mud and back up upon the bank of the shallow pit.
Thrain's golden eyes narrowed as he didn't receive any answer, only a saddened sigh and a turned back. What kind of game was this lion playing with him?
"Come on, we have a lot to discuss it seems."
"Discuss? If you had wanted to talk, why did you attack me?"
"I thought you were someone else." Like that excuse would work, but it was true at least. He was getting older and he had to stay more alert to threads inside of his own territory. That also meant taking the time to make the first strike, just in case.
"Thought I was someone else?" That wasn't at all a new one for him and normally the captain would have gotten some mad, at least slightly so, but this other lion knew his father's name and seemed genuinely wanting to talk. "Forget that part, what did you want to discuss?" Finally he asked as he followed suit and left the muddy watering hole, the brown mess dirtying even his belly as his legs sunk into various parts. The Tianxia wasn't exactly a muddy kind of place so luckily for him, he wouldn't be fighting in it.
"My pride's right around here. Why don't you call off your hounds and we can all go rest there. There's a small den and a leftover zebra from earlier today. I doubt you found hunting to be great around here." That was partially to blame on the Pridelands with their exorbitant numbers, but they did at least have a solid amount of herbs that migrated through so at least there was something to hunt versus nothing at all.
Thrain's ears spun forward at the mention of 'hounds'. Of course he knew what this darker male meant by that and of course he didn't like his party being referred to in such a way, but at the same time, he understood it. Lowering his jaw, he let out a few short, low roars. Four bodies made their way towards him as distance began growing between him and Durin.
"What's going on? Are you okay?" One asked.
"I'm fine, soldier. There was hardly even a fight." Glancing at the back of the other, he sighed and began following after with the four trailing behind him. "He...invited us to rest and eat with his pride."
"Is that wise? Shouldn't we just head to the Pridelands...?"
"He called me by my father's name. I need to find out why."
"Need?" Another asked. "You mean want. We're on a mission we can't..." Their voice trailed off as they looked up only to see that Thrain had stopped and was glaring back at them, a low rumble emanating from his throat. "I...alright, if there's food, I'm fine with it." The other had spoken the truth. Despite all of their prowess hunting in the highlands, prey seemed scarce outside of centralized areas. Maybe it was because of the approaching dry season, or maybe it was something else, who really knew. At least maybe they'd all have something in their stomachs.
"Fetch the others," Thrain called out to Coo-ku, a small bird who belonged to their falconer and who had been silently flying overhead since the four had joined up with him. "It seems we're headed northeast. Have them meet us there. I'm sure there will be scent markers." The little bird tweeted happily before flying off, back towards their small hovel of a resting spot. Thrain's shoulders sank. Was this even a good idea?
It was too late to turn back now.
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