[PRP] Seeing Double (Tapiwa x Ram x Huo)

[Epine de Rose]

In the years that followed there would be lessons to learn. Time and fortune had been mixed and while the landscape hadn't changed overly much, the air certainly had. Even as they drew closer to home the older male could detect his son's setting jaw-line. The firey male had already tensed, prepared for some form of disagreement or another and yet not a single individual was around to cause an issue.

To an outsider the old royal should have been much more concerned, more tense and more prepared for a fight... and yet as he drew nearer he began to relax. You see, the Bahari'mtoto lands were still intact, they still looked much the same as when he had first laid eyes upon them and that meant only good things. While much controversy now surrounded his home, a part of what made it so special had survived.

...To the old Royal, there was nothing to be concerned about.

"Settle yourself," he rumbled towards his son and finally cast his gaze towards him with a wry smile. "Are you expecting a poor reception?" he asked curiously. To his knowledge Huo had not left after any particularly dramatic battles and as such there would be no reason for him to be unwelcome. Nevertheless, Huo was also not aware of the machinations of his own father, nor the number of eyes his father happened to have kept on the pride in his absence.

"Anything could have happened while we were away," Huo pointed out coolly and shook his head. "They were getting to him, I already told you this," he added.

Ram did nothing more than afford a warm smile as they continued on.

"A little faith would not go amiss," he replied simply.

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Tapiwa had been very busy searching the jungle with other members of the pride and with the other guards. Finding the ritual site in the cave when he was supposed to be on a nice walk with Solenn, he had hoped that the events of the past would be gone forever and yet they found fresh evidence and he was shocked and angry. He was grateful that Opo had found evidence that he was not the Kizi, the relations with the Kizi were bad enough without Shui finding a reason to blame the Kizi for ritual murder. That would just be all-out war. With as many females who had no choice but to leave the pride and go to the Kizi or lands beyond the chances of having to kill family were far too high if a war started between the prides.

Tapiwa had not been a member of the Bhari for very long and he knew that some thought that rogue life wasn't a bad choice, he thought it was harsh and hard to survive. He had lived as a rogue and finding food and water was not easy but remembered the female who felt insulted by his suggestion that rogue life was a punishment. He did not understand all the history of the Bhari and he did not agree with everything the King had done.

Tapiwa continued on till he saw the male lion that his thoughts had just been on with another lion he did not know but looked he didn't know what to think. He blinked the color was wrong this wasn't Shui but he didn't know who this was. He shook his head to see if the stress of recent events was messing with his eyes.  

[Epine de Rose]

A border guard, he only vaguely knew of this one. Huo had been around for those fateful disagreements between the Bahari'mtoto and Kizingo'zaa. That day had done more damage than Huo had been happy with, but it had also allowed him to bear witness to another accidental misstep by one of his own brothers. When it came to politics, a subject he didn't enjoy, even he knew that when guards looked towards someone else rather than their King...bad things happened.

Alas, what had happened after that had been a source of mystery to Huo. Soon after the immediate drama that had befallen his pride he'd begun to hear whispers on the wind. As the lands had been torn asunder by the heavens he had left alongside a number of friends and in doing so, he'd uncovered a much more complicated and tangled web of a tale than he could have imagined.

Over the course of his journey though those whispers had turned out to be true and after several months, if not longer, he'd finally found his way towards their source.

His own father had survived.

Battered, bruised, and entirely unfit for travel the old King had sought to remain where he was and remained unconcerned with the threat posed to the Bahari. To this day Huo couldn't understand the lack of urgency, but then again, his father acted in ways he didn't always understand.

"Border guard," he nodded towards Tapiwa, something that resulted in Ram providing a small nod in return. Unsurprisingly, the King remained calm and relaxed.

"Taking his job seriously at that," Ram remarked as they drew within talking distance of the awaiting lion. "Though perhaps a touch weary, if his gait is anything to go by," he mused and offered a smile. "Good afternoon."

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Tapiwa blinked and then shook his head "These are serious times, I am Tapiwa." He nodded to the pair "Hou" He said so much had been going on lately it was hard to remember if Hou had been gone for months or if he had just been out searching the jungle with this other male and only been gone for hours. Tapiwa could not keep track of every member of the pride, perhaps other members of the guard knew the royal family better than he did but in this case, Tapiwa was a little clueless. These two should know what was going on if they had been around if they had not been around, well then Tapiwa had a rude welcome for them.  

[Epine de Rose]

"A name for a face," Huo could still remember his manners when he needed to and with his father still so relaxed, it was hard not to at least settle. Nevertheless Tapiwa remained grave and Huo glanced briefly at his father before returning his gaze to the guard. Had he arrived too late and the pride was passed the point of no return?

"Not so serious as to let the weight off your shoulders," Ram shook his head calmly, his tone soothing as he glanced between his son and Tapiwa. Even in the midst of controversy there had been some new faces in the pride, one could take solace in that, even if there were several bits and pieces that needed to be addressed in the future.

"Perhaps..." he lifted his paw to tap his own nose as he strode passed. "You should also have a little faith," he remarked. Understandably, Huo shot his father a perplexed look.

"Did they spike your food with something while you were there?" he asked as he came to a halt beside Tapiwa and raised his eyebrow. "It's not exactly good form to dismiss something if someone deems it serious, father."

Ram cast a look towards his son before regarding Tapiwa with a level stare, his expression would have been difficult to read in those moments.

"I will give myself three guesses, you tell me if I cam correct, yes?"

Huo's brow raised higher, perhaps on behalf of Tapiwa given the behaviour of his own father.

"First guess; there's something you don't like in your midst but you're having a hard time finding it."

A pause.

"Second guess; you think you've seen it but you still can't find it."

A final pause.

"Third guess, you are concerned about what might happen if you can't find it."

"Eh?" Huo wasn't exactly eloquent in those moments but his confusion was clear. Suffice to say that whatever his father might be speaking about was beyond his realm of understanding.

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Tapiwa frowned as the male with Hou started guessing what was wrong and in a strange way he was not wrong. He did not like the feeling going threw the pride, the guards who believed that the Kizi was the source of the ritual sites. That darkness was something that Tapiwa wanted to blow away with a breath if only he could.

He wasn't sure if the second guess was right beside his gut feeling that the Kizi were not ritual killers, perhaps naive and foolish but they seemed different from that. "If we do not find evidence that the Kizi did not commit ritual killings, there will be war between our prides." Tapiwa frowned he shouldn't have blurted that out, considering Tapiwa wasn't sure what they were telling the pride. Sollen knew because she was with him when they discovered the site but telling Hou and a lion he did not know at all. He sighed out.  

[Epine de Rose]

"The Kizingo'zaa are most assuredly not responsible for this mess," Ram replied smoothly. Confidence radiated in his tone and he smiled warmly towards the guard. Tapiwa was definitely new, no doubt joining after Ram had fallen to his exaggerated 'death'. If anything, the guard had been unfortunate to come in at a time of great turbulence and significant trials. It wouldn't have been Ram's personal preference when it came to welcoming new blood into the Bahari'mtoto but...there you had it.

"And if there is anyone that my son will listen to, it's his father," he raised his paw to pat Tapiwa's shoulder. "My authority will trump that of his little shadow unless all is truly lost," he glanced over his shoulder towards Huo and then back at Tapiwa.

"And last I checked, Huo wasn't informing me that I needed to bring his brother to heel, were you...?" He added and peered at his otherwise quiet son. Evidently, Huo had been taken by surprise by just how much his father had remained aware of the state of affairs in the pride, up to and including the apparent source of the entire damn controversy.

"Uh...I uh..." Huo coughed. "Actually I have no idea what's happened since I left," he admitted. "Kind of just going on a 'he can't be that stupid' mantra right now, if I'm honest..."

Huo was relying on faith in his brother for this one and he wasn't entirely sure if it would pay off. He'd seen what toxic whispers in ears could do and he really didn't want to see the worst case scenario!

"Hm," It wasn't the answer Ram had wanted, but it was accepted nonetheless. "Do you have a name?" he said finally as he returned his gaze to Tapiwa.

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Tapiwa's mind had been all over the place till Ram mentioned being the king's father, he should have seen it sooner but things had been a bit crazy as of late. He had never met Ram personally, only have heard stories of his death. Tapiwa had joined by chance coming upon the pride during an acceptance ceremony with the sea, the last that he knew about since which was sad he had felt comfortable with the ocean and others needed to reconnect with that feeling as well.

Tapiwa shook his head "I do not think all is lost just yet, I just hope we have found enough evidence in the jungle to cross one pride off the list and then figure out what is really going on." Tapiwa looked between the old king and the other royal family member. He lowered his head and then said "I am Tapiwa a member of the guard."  

[Epine de Rose]

"There you go, Huo," Ram smiled towards his son. "According to our new friend, all is not yet lost," he added. Tapiwa's concern seemed to be fairness and justice, he didn't want the innocent being falsely accused and Ram could respect that. The fact that there were individuals working so hard to ensure that this goal was achieved was something that the blue lion found particularly comforting.

...And more importantly, it seemed that certain parties were willing to listen to what these parties found.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tapiwa," Well mannered as always, Ram ensured that the guard received the acknowledgement he deserved. "Now perhaps you might lead my son and I to your acting King so that we might say hello?" he asked.

On this occasion it would be advantageous for Ram to act more quickly than he personally preferred, particularly if there were parties in the Bahari who held a genuine concern that perhaps someone would find something that would point towards the wrong culprits. The Bahari'mtoto were not ready for war, nor should they be subjected to it in the first place... Ram would ensure that such arrogance was put to rest in regards to that subject.

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Tapiwa was not willing to throw in the skin and just call everything hopeless, yes it was hard but he had chosen to stand with the pride during the mad king's ballad and this was just another thing they had to get thru as a pride. He shook his head "All is not lost until the members of this pride stop looking for the truth and stop trying to do what is right." he said firmly. If that happened there would be no saving the Bhari. Tapiwa cocked his eyebrow he had not realized the situation with kings and acting kings, but he had a job to do and he would do it. "Nice to meet you as well and of course sir." Tapiwa turned and lead Ram and Hou to the acting king this was going to be interesting.  

[Epine de Rose]

"Wonderful," Ram motioned for his son to follow, an instruction that Huo was happy to follow on this occasion. Both soon fell in to line with Tapiwa and moved further towards the inner most regions of the pride. Eventually, the guard would bring both lions face to face with Shui and from there... Well, whatever happened would happen.

However, Tapiwa had said something very important and Ram would have to remember to remind the pride of it. More importantly, he would have to make sure that all were aware that it had come from within, as opposed to him. Just like Tapiwa had said...there was still a chance provided that those in the pride kept trying to do the right thing.

For Ram, it was time to ensure that his son remembered this as well.

MiddyGlow

/fin!