τφ When Two Worlds Collide φτ

[Kifo]

" It's no trouble at all." Lynk smiled back, hoping the smile could be heard within his words.
Kilier, however, was thinking over what Gemma had just told them. If Omega was a cyborg and he was often pushing himself to his limits, wouldn't he have something that told him, within his systems, what was happening with his body? After a few minutes of thinking it through, she voiced her thoughts.

To say that Kaygis found it a little weird that an alpha was letting him direct a hunt was an understatement. But he had been with Bane for a little while now and had learnt that the vampire was more of a relaxed leader than first appeared. So he was forced to accept it. He just hoped that the pack's omega didn't feel uncomfortable about his intrusion into his hunting plans.
" Let me give this sheep to my wife and children and I will join you with the dragons." He said. " Please send my apologies to your omega if I have intruded on any plans he had made."
After waiting for Bane's response, Kaygis gathered his prey and made his way out of the pen. He quickly spotted Ebony by the dead campfire with their slightly older children, grooming them both to make sure that they were okay. Beside them were Lakshmi, Astro and Kokoda who were also getting groomed (much to Kokoda's distaste). Looks like he wasn't going to be enjoying mutton this morning. Even so, he made his way over to the two families.
" Good morning, everyone. I've caught a sheep for your breakfast." He called after placing the food in front of them, quickly thinking up a bowl of bamboo for Kokoda as he did so.
" Good Morning, Kaygis." the tigress returned. " Are Astro and I welcome to join you for breakfast?"
" Of course you're welcome to join. But I'm going back to the pen to help Bane and the others hunt for everyone, so I won't be eating with you."
" Can you at least tell me why you aged the children?" Ebony asked, looking up at her husband with a tilt to her head.
" I'll explain that after breakfast in a meeting with the other Rebels. It doesn't just concern our family." her love replied, his gaze softening as he spoke.
" Alright. God jakt."
" Og lykkelig å spise."
Ebony smiled as she watched her husband make his way over to the dragons now by the pen. Kaygis' Norwegian was getting better. Unfortunately, Lakshmi was having a little trouble trying to figure out what was said. So she explained the exchange over mutton.
Upon reaching the dragons, Kaygis couldn't help but smile at Uphere's return to the outside world.
" Welcome back to the outside world, Uphere." he called as a way of greeting. " I bet you are hungry."
Uphere nodded as he and his siblings turned their attention to the black jaguar. " I am a bit. Iora, Demanicus and I were just discussing hunting."
" Funny that, I was just coming to see if you three wanted to join the vampires and myself in a hunting party."
" Can we?" Iora asked, somehow finding herself excited to be hunting with vampires. She had always been a bit curious about their hunting tactics but no one would let her near a hunting vampire coven.
" As long as you don't mind that the vampires can get a little excited during the hunt."
The dragons looked to each other for a few seconds, silently weighing the odds of success in their minds. It wasn't long before the three of them all nodded to each other before turning back to the older male.
" We're in." They said in unison.
" Awesome. Let's go. We've got some things to discuss with the others."
The dragons happily followed Kaygis over to where the vampires were waiting with Phoenix and Tsume.
" Good morning, all. Hope you don't mind us joining in on the hunt. What's everyone planning to take down?" Kaygis asked once they had reached them.

" Nightshade." Anjou whispered, testing out the nickname.
His mind was instantly bombarded with thoughts on the new nickname as well as the one his brother calls him. Nightshade was a much better name in his opinion. And was it because of the colour of his eyes? He never realised the odd purple colour could bring forth such a cool sounding nickname. It honestly made him smile. The only thing he didn't realise was exactly how close Taka and the Forza brothers were to their little group... within hearing range, in Sarba's case.

Sarba's ear twitched, having heard the nicknames he, Kaine and Taka had been given thanks to his heightened hearing. Taka and Kaine, however, didn't seem to have noticed. So he figured it was up to him to correct the grey wolfdog.
" Actually, if you're going to give me a nickname, I would prefer it to be Ghost. Whitey is my little brother, Aztec. He's the white lion cub that's bounding around here somewhere." He said, taking a step closer to the group and noticing how Anjou was snapped from his thoughts to look up at him. " My actual name is Sarba. The lion beside me is my brother Kaine and the jaguar is Taka, though I think some of you already know him."

(Og lykkelig å spise = And happy eating, God jakt = good hunting (Norwegian))

[Bakura]

Gemma looked down as she thought about Kilier's question. She thought over what she knew of Omega's condition from both himself and Aluna and shook her head.
"To be completely honest, I really don't know much about his cybernetics. It has always been a taboo topic ever since we first met Omega when he broke his sister out of the breeding fercility that once held Dakota captive. From what I've heard through his sons though, it was pretty brutal... I'm not sure if his pain tolerance is just extremely high due to the treatment or if he just has a total disregard for his saftey when it comes to his sister... But I have healed his tail after he near tore it off in his effort to protect her before so I am more inclined to believe the latter." She explained in an uneasy tone at the topic and her eyes remained trained on the floor throughout her speech.

Bane nodded his approval of the Dragons joining the hunt and smiled slightly at the near stranger who seemed happy to apologise to an Omega. "We will wait for you by the fence." He said softly and watched as the panther headed over to a group by the fire before he returned to his packmates outside the pen. "Kaygis said sorry for taking over your hunt." He said cheekily towards Phoenix who he knew would be relieved at not having the pressure of hunt leader on his shoulder, and Phoenix let out a sigh before sitting down. The group - except Asylum who was eagerly up against the fence watching the prey with a wagging tail - waited patiently for Kaygis' return and when it was with the three dragons in toe Bane smiled.
It was Phoenix who spoke up first after bowing in greeting. "It is us who is joining your hunt, so thank you for having us. We will follow your lead." Phoenix said and Bane sat quietly beside him happy to let him speak for the group.

Spitz gave a genuine smile at the younger wolfdogs reaction to his nickname but frowned at his reaction to a new voice. When he turned to see who had spoken, his lip raised in a low snarl at the three upsetting his new friend over something that clearly wasn't Anjou's fault, if his situation was anything like Links as Evie had said. Despite the fact that they had gotten along during the hunt he remembered Taka's first meeting with Link and it put him even more on edge just thinking about how the new comers would treat the green wolf if this is how they treated their own kin. He calmed when he felt something bump his paw and noticed the familiar silver ring. Shifting his gaze to meet the worried teal eyes of Shanara, he drew in a deep breath to calm himself and, ignoring the fact that his companions seemed to relax from their tensed postures as he calmed, turned back to the white lion with a neutral expression.
"Ghost it is then," he drawled before sniffing hautily and looking down on them despite being shorter. "Any other objections?"

[Kifo]

Kilier's face softened at what Gemma said. She couldn't help but remember, as Gemma spoke, what had happened between her and Lynk not long after they had first met.
" I can only guess how troubling it can be to know and witness this. Or at least the effects." She found herself sighing. " From what I'm hearing, it sounds like Omega must really love his sister. I know for a fact that Lynk would give his own life to protect those he loves, even from himself if he had to. So I can only imagine the extent that Omega would go to in order to protect those he loves. And I'm glad that he has someone like you who can help him heal when his urges take over."

" It's fine." Kaygis smiled before looking over the penned animals in thought. After a few minutes, he returned his gaze to the rest of the hunting team. " Okay, the first thing we need to do is figure out what we need to hunt. I don't know how I know this, but the maximum number of mouths we need to feed it eighty-eight. That's essentially everyone in camp. I'm going to leave this open for everyone, but what prey do you think we should hunt?"
" We'd need something big... or a few somethings that are big enough to have multiple people feeding at them." Demanicus pointed out.
Kaygis nodded, taking in the dragon's words. But he still waited for any ideas on the type of prey they were going to bring down.

Taka and Kaine, not having heard the nicknames they had just been given, merely looked confused at the question. But they did not fail to notice the hostility that Spitz was showing towards the three of them... at least Taka didn't. Not having met the grey wolfdog before, Kaine remained confused and wary.
Taka looked at the faces of the animals surrounding Anjou and could see the protectiveness in their eyes. Looking over to Anjou, who had calmed himself after realising who it was who had snapped him from his thoughts, he noticed that he now sported a distant look on his face and his ears were tilted down. As he watched, he noticed the wolfdog's tail tucking itself tighter into his body and his nose began twitching. Taka had a feeling, as he returned his gaze to Spitz more than the others, that he and the Forza brothers were about to get caught in some kind of misunderstanding.
" Sarba," he called to the white lion, " you might want to step back. I don't think Spitz trusts you right at the moment. Or Kaine and I, for that matter."
The request slightly confused the white lion, but he did as he was told regardless. Still, he kept an eye on the group for any more signs of hostilities.

[Bakura]

Gemma nodded slightly as Kilier spoke and blushed lightly at the praise given to her. "Thank you." She said softly, for both the comfort and understand shown by both wolves.
She jumped slightly when Link's head fell on her shoulder and snuggled into her now sleeping son as they waited to get back to camp.

"I know the groups have gotten a little bigger since the teens hunted for us all, but why don't we do the same thing. A few larger animals for the adults, a couple younger animals for the teens, a few critters for the pups and we can supply milk or whatever else the littlest ones need?" Phoenix suggested and the brothers all nodded in approval.
"It just comes down to preference in meat, and as Kaygis is hunt leader he gets to pick." Tsume added from where he was lying on his back observing the black panther, side pressed up against an uninterested Skype. Bane was about to add more when Talus gave a disgruntled yelp. The orange wolf was seated with one blood splattered paw raised in the air and a look of disgust on his muzzle. Before him lay 2 mice and a bird, all dead and beside him sat a ruffled Asylum carrying a dead hare which was dripping blood onto his and Talus' paws, Bane hadn't even noticed he had left.
"I may drink the stuff but you know I hate getting it in my fur." Talus snarled at Asylum before he began locking at his paw.
Asylum dropped the hare, not in the least bit apologetic, and his bloodstained muzzle flashed a toothy smile in Kaygis'direction.
"How many do we need? I wasn't sure what to get!" He said, voice laced with excitement. He was on his feet again ready to sprint off at a moments notice to retrieve more prey.

Evie sighed as Taka cautioned the lions. She understood Spitz' anger, she had felt it herself but she knew, as she looked at Anjou, that Spitz' reaction wasn't helping the wolfdog right now. 'At least it proves to him that we all care.' She thought to herself before she decided to reign him in. "Spitz, enough." She ordered and when the wolfdog went to protest, clearly too agitated to be stopped by a couple of words, it was Akyme that stopped him buy draping her scarf over his muzzle.
Not wanting to damage the precious heirloom Spitz froze and slowly lowered himself to the ground, careful not to get his fangs caught in any of the threads. Once his belly was on the ground and his ears laid back, eyes trained on the brown fabric, Akyme felt it safe to retrieve her treasure and Spitz when let out a sigh of relief, Krystal giggled.
"Look at that, the vicious beast tamed by a scrap of cloth!" She barked and everyone laughed at the wolfdogs expense, Spitz chuckle along, mood brightened by the infectious sound.
Evie smiled at the difused situation and silently thanked Krystal by curling her tail around it's brown partner and giving a chuckle of her own.

[Kifo]

Both Kilier and Lynk shared a smile. They were glad that they could provide some comfort to their new friends. Also, a clearly still sleepy Link looked kind of cute.
" I can see the camp clearing just ahead. We'll be there in about five minutes." Lynk announced, looking up and out of the window.

Kaygis stared at Asylum's enthusiasm for a few seconds, more shocked by it than anything else, before he shook himself out of that shock.
" I can see the enthusiasm, Bane." He said with a giggle before going back to slightly more serious matters. " We have about seven youngsters in camp that are under the age of one. If you want to go for something small for them, be my guest. The only thing is I am not sure if they will eat the meat or if they are still on milk. I am only guessing they have been weened. We also have ten children who are between the ages of one and ten years, so they are definitely old enough to eat meat. Maybe hunt for something bigger than what Asylum was it? is getting for the babies, for want of a better word. We also need to feed thirty-two teenagers and thirty-six adults, so we're going to need some big prey. Keep in mind, this is not including anyone who has already eaten. Who wants to do what?"

Anjou gave a sigh and rubbed at his eyes with a paw, coming back to himself from hearing a rather sad story from a young six month old spirit.
" It's alright. All of you." He said looking up and directing his gaze towards Spitz. " Sarba, Kaine and Taka are getting better around me, although it is more than I expect coming from Uncle Luigi's sons. Their appearance merely startled me from my thoughts. I had not noticed them until Sarba had spoken. But what happened with your Link and what happened with me are two totally different things. I know we've spoken about this before, Shanara, Evie, but I still don't feel like I deserve your protection... after what I did."

[Bakura]

Gemma let out a hum of affirmation to show she had heard Lynk's words and remained curled into her sleeping son with her eyes closed.

"We have a few pups in camp at the moment, only Elena, Jasmine and Serenity still require milk, Aden, while late in the process is fully weaned, like my too. And I believe Kurama is as well." Bane reported going over the pups that he knew were in camp.
"Our two boys, despite their young appearances, are some of the oldest present in camp so they will eat what they are given." Talus said gruffly from Bane's right and Bane nodded. "That just leaves Lelani who is the eldest of our pups. The teens aren't fussy but some hunting seems to have already been done this morning, so I assume some around the camp have already eaten." He said with a proud lilt to his voice having witnessed Evie's little hunt earlier and noting, with a glance across camp, that the carcass was now with a group from the rebels family.

At Anjou's words the eternal teens laughter left them and varying degrees of concern were directed towards him, but it was Evie who replied.
"The situations may not have been the same, but I assure you, the feelings were. When it comes down to it, whether you were meant to be there or not, you injured a family member, knowingly or otherwise which, without intent to seriously harm him, lead to his death. And Link watched as Kaylee died." She recounded, voice lowing and tinged with sadness towards the end, her eyes flicked to Spitz and Akyme to see their reactions to what Anjou had done but neither wolfdog changed their expressions of concern for the younger. "Regardless of the cause of their deaths, we both lost a family member due to another family member." She continued, making eye contact with Anjou to assure him she knew he didn't do it on purpose, then forgetting she had just chastised Spitz for the same thing, her tone darkened. "But unlike your brood," she then turned her gaze to the three rebels with anger glazing her eyes, "We know when an accident is an accident, preventable or not. And while I can't fault you for harbouring negative feelings over the situation, you keep those feelings to yourself and don't leave the pup you played with hours previous out in the rain alone when they are already miserable!" Without realising it, the usually calm Alpha was on her feet, tail raised and ears laid back in her anger.

[Kifo]

" Okay, so we should only need six meals for the youngsters." Kaygis noted. " Add to that the ten older children and we should need about sixteen rats, birds or rabbits. I am happy to give free reign on exactly what you want to hunt. The bigger question, really, is what we're going to give the teenagers and the adults without wasting much."
" What about sheep or goat for the teenagers and bigger animals for the adults?" Iora asked.
" I know I could eat an elephant." Uphere muttered under his breath, earning a glare from his sister.
Iora quickly returned her attention to the vampires in front of her. " Forgive my ignorance, especially seeing as I have been in camp with you for some time now, but would you vampires need your own meals or would you share?"

" Enough!" Anjou barked, also getting to his feet. His tail, however, remained level with the ground. " Forget what happened in the aftermath. Look at what actually happened. Kaylee told me, just then, that she was killed by a stranger and that her brother did everything he could to save her. He may think he needs to be punished for not acting soon enough, but the fact remains, he did not kill. Me, on the other hand, I have killed. I have physically ended the life of someone I loved. Alright, he was a family friend, but he was still my uncle. And he was Sarba's step-father and Kaine's actual father. And I was told, by the spirits of his family, that I had to stop him from himself. I picked up a gun and I fired it at him. Yes, I intended for the bullet to hit his paw or at least his leg, but I got his heart instead. I have his death on my hands. My hands are stained with his blood. And instead of facing up to what I did head on, I ran away. I should have been charged with manslaughter even though I was a kid when I did it. Heck, my own brother calls me 'Shots' for what I did. So I can see why the people I grew up with act the way they do towards me now. Who's to say I won't kill again? Who's to say I won't suddenly turn on any of you? Who's to say I won't turn on Shanara, the first friend I gained since the attack?" As he spoke, his voice and his head visibly got lower.
It was clear that it was hurting him that he was causing a rift between the teenagers of the camp. He just wanted life to return to before everything happened, after all. But he knew that would never happen. So he did the only thing he could do, he raised his head and slowly cast his gaze on everyone present.
" I've wasted enough time. I need to go see my parents." He sighed after a few more seconds.
Without another word, he turned and headed over to where his family sat watching the exchange. Sarba, Kaine and Taka all watched him go before the lions both stood up.
" Sarba and I arrived with Anjou and his brother." Kaine said softly. " While keeping the two from killing each other we were able to reconcile with Anjou. We both know that what happened was an accident that just ended in the worst case scenario and we both still hurt because of it. Its only expected as it was our father that died along with our grandparents and a good majority of our pride, but their deaths were not caused by Anjou. I remember when it happened, I ran away too. Uncle Zolo found me and he told me that the pain will never go away. He told me that I may never see Anjou the same way as I did before, and he was right. It took me a while to accept the pain and the grief that came with the loss, but now that I have, I want to get to know the new Anjou, because I know this changed him as well. It changed all of us. I guess today just isn't that day."
" I follow what Kaine said, although I did not run. I found myself helping another of my brothers hold the family together after what happened." Sarba added solemnly. " I had to hold in my pain for the sake of my family. And I am ashamed to say that I initiated a fight with Anjou when we first found ourselves here. We both broke down in tears, effectively ending the fight. But it was as we were comforting each other that I realised the pain that he was in and I've wanted to correct myself since then." The white lion shook his head. " But I can see that we're not welcome here, so Kaine and I will leave you."
With a flick of his tail, which brushed against the smaller lion's leg, Sarba led Kaine away from the group. Taka watched them leave, lowering himself to the ground and resting his head sadly on top of his paws.
" If you want me to explain myself, I will." He sighed. " I've always had an inkling that Anjou wasn't all that bad, but whenever I tried to talk to him, either he walked off or I was dragged away by someone else. No matter what I did, I was never able to get Anjou alone. Eventually I just gave up. I thought that I could try again now that he had been found. I thought that we could all be friends. Some part of me still thinks that, though after the reaction I got from when Link startled me that time and now this... I'm not sure any more. I just... want to stay here, though. I don't want to walk off like the others, but I will leave if you want me to."

Lakshmi watched the exchange with a low growl erupting from her chest. It was clear that she would have made a move sooner, she had even gotten up to do so, but Ebony's paw on her own stopped her from taking any further steps towards the teenagers.
" Ebony." She growled to the black jaguar beside her.
" I know," Ebony replied with a sigh, " But there are things that we can't solve for the younger generation. Remember, neither of us were there when it happened. We were looking after the children, no matter how much you complained about it. Kubikuro and Anjiti were watching as well. I have no doubt that if they deemed the situation to get any worse, one of them would have stepped in. Now try and relax. You're scaring Astro."
True to her words, Astro was looking at his mother with his ears back slightly. Just looking into his eyes, as well as the eyes of Kokoda and the Valore twins, clearly showed that they were confused about what was going on and why Lakshmi was acting the way she was.
" Mum? What's going on?" the young tiger asked.
Lakshmi let loose a sigh and turned to face her son, forcing herself to calm down. " Everything's okay mera bachcha. One day I'll explain what happened, but not today."
" Okay."

[Bakura]

Asylum's eyes lit up at the dragons comment and having learned the numbers that he needed to hunt, Asylum vanished from the group again. Bane just chuckled before tilting his head in thought. "I know dragons have much bigger appetites then the rest of us, you also havn't eaten in a while." Bane said to himself before he nodded. "I will have Talus and Skype feed the dragons so remove them from your calculations." At his words, the two in question sprinted around the pen and out into the forest. "Also our pack has grown used to eating dried meat on occasion, so my brothers and I sharing a meal with the others won't be an issue. We generally try to stick to the same kill anyway, so at most two will consist of dried meat, leaving the rest fresh for those who don't want the dried meat today. As for what to hunt, outside of cravings we generally eat what is available at the time and have learned to not be picky about it. Does your family have any preferences, if not then we can just take down a variety and the others can choose what they feel like? I know we don't mind sharing with your group." Bane said as he got to his feet, though not as excited as his brothers, Bane could feel his body itching to go, Tsume and Phoenix also stood up, stretching as they prepared.

Tasuki's ear twitched in the teens direction as he silently observed their encounter while remaining curled around Kurama. He listened to the cats hushed words between eachother and to the kids they were watching and sighed with relief when they chose not to act. He really didn't want to involve himself in a situation that his young Alpha seemed to be handling, however shakily and was prepared to stop them should he need to. He relaxed as the tension he didn't realise had built up left his body and curled his head so Kurama was beneath his chin. His ears still following the encounter as he shut his eyes.

The Eternal teens all remained silent with lowered heads as Anjou explained exactally what happened and Shanara let out small whimper at his question which mentioned her. When he dismissed himself and walked off, it was Spitz who shook out of the cloud of sadness that had washed through them at the story and he called over his shoulder so the fellow wolfdog would hear his words.
"Nothing has changed. When you are done with your parents, you're more then welcome to come join us again. You always got a spot our the pack." He shouted adding as much reassurance to the words as he could when shouting at someone, and though not as loud but just as reassuring, agreement of Spitz' words echoed through the rest of the teens.
When the lions stood in her periphery as she watched Anjou leave, Evie hushed the group knowing they had something to say. When the two rebels were finished speaking and had walked off Evie frowned. She flicked her eyes to Riki who was watching them go and when they made eye contact she nodded. Riki seeing her approval got to his feet. He nuzzled Akyme to push her further into her brothers warmth and quickly trotted after the two lions.
Evie heard him call out "Hey, wait up!" to them as he caught up. Seeing that Taka remained, Evie turned her gaze back to him and frowned as he spoke. At his offer to leave, she shook her head.
"I'm the one who should apologise, I lost my head and shouldn't have gone off on you guys like that. Anjou is right in saying that what happened with Link, is not the same as what Anjou did. But for a brief time after Kaylee died, we all believed Link was at fault... But in saying that, even with the belief that Link caused her death, our little cousins death, Charmed's sisters death, we all mourned. Together. We held in our anger, our negative feelings towards Link over the loss and let out the one feeling we all had in common, our sadness. We let go together, we mourned together, and we came out of it together. I know after we all found out just what happened that day that some of you still blame him a little, after all he could have tried harder right? But what happened, happened. Kaylee is gone, Link is still here. " She said eyes flicking around her familiy members who she could tell were going over their own actions in their heads. She then looked to Taka. "I still believe the situations are similar, yes, on our side it was a stranger involved, but in the end wasn't Anjou protecting someone? He said the Spirits told him 'to stop him from himself'. Doesn't that suggest to you the one who died wasn't in his right mind? Kaine mentioned they lost most of their pride that day, for one present and to survive such death isn't it possible to loose ones rationality? What if this... Luigi, became the danger, the stranger in your situation who attacked. Anjou's actions were the same as Links, he defended with everything he had, not to kill but to protect and both outcomes were unfortunate." Evie explained what she had taken away from the words she had heard from Anjou and Kaine regarding the situation, she then shook her head of the conversation and offered a smile though she spoke with an undertone of protectiveness.
"Anjou is my brother, and my instincts will defend him as they do my own kin. Before all that though, he belongs to the Rebels and as much as I dislike you all for how you are treating him, I understand your actions. You are more then welcome to stay Taka-" She invited but was cut off by Shanara.
The brown wolf sat up, from where she had instinctively arched herself over Aden when Anjou had initially yelled at everyone to stop, and looked Taka directly in the eye.
"On one condition, if you are not serious about fixing things with Anjou then leave now. I will be the first one to call you out on it. You know have to know, that someone who kills on accident and feels absolute remorse for the action, would never actively do it again, especially that sweet, hopeless dog." She said sternly before offering him a small smile. "If you do choose to stay, please sit on Akyme's other side. She may be part arctic wolf, but she has intolerance to the cold and it is still quite chilly this morning." She added, gesturing to the small white wolfdog who was burrowing into her annoyed brother, seeking the warmth that Riki took with him.

[Kifo]

" If that is the case, then we will still need to feed thirty-three adults. Where we come from, eighteen is the legal age where you are considered an adult, and the dragons are all twenty." Kaygis explained. " As for preferences, no one's interrupted us for any requests so I'm happy with hunting a mixture."
It was at that time when Demanicus looked up and noticed the Blade Falcon hovering over the trees just in the distance and coming towards them.
" Not to throw a spanner in the works, but Uncle Lynk's coming in with the Blade Falcon. Should we hunt for them as well?" He asked.
" I'm sure Lynk would have sorted out something to eat for everyone on board. If not he, then Kilier most definitely has. If anyone is still hungry when they land, I'm sure someone will find room for them at their meal or else they will get something for themselves. For now, just focus on feeding the sixty-five teens and adults that woke up in camp."

" You heard what I said. I was never able to talk to Anjou about what happened. But... he helped my brother realise who he was inside. And there's something about him which I want to understand. He's... different, like my father. I think in a good way. Please note that this is not all of us. There are other children of the Rebels who also try to get through to Anjou, but they are not here. They can at least talk to him. Whether or not their words can get through to him is another matter. I've found that only his twin sister seems to get through to him, though. I want to make him a true friend like Tobias and Iora are to me." Taka said, looking up with unbidden tears lining his eyes. He nodded to Shanara's words and got himself back on his feet. It took him a few seconds, more to balance himself so he could rub at his face, but he did as he was told and moved over to Akyme's other side, laying back down. " I'm sorry if I'm not as warm as you're used to." He added to the white wolf, even as he resumed his last position with his head on his paws.

Anjou's ears flicked back as Spitz's words reached them. He was comforted by the fact that he could return to his new friends, but as every step took him closer to his brother, that comfort seemed to hide away a lot more easily than he would have liked. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of his parents.
" Anjou." His mother sighed, rubbing her head against his as what felt like a million emotions seemed to roll off her at the sight of him.
" I'm safe, mum. It's okay." He said in reply.
" Are you ready to talk?" Kubikuro asked, not too unkindly.
" Yes."
" Then tell us everything that happened last night, from when you and your brother arrived to the time you arrived in camp. Shiro, I don't want any interruptions. You will get your turn after Anjou."
" Yes, father." both boys said in unison before Anjou proceeded to tell his side of the story.

" Riki?" Kaine called, stopped by the other lion's call.
Sarba stopped their journey to where Jaymie and a few of the other Rebels children were talking under one of the trees just on the edge of camp and turned back to his brother at the sound of his voice. He was surprised to find Riki following them, but he still went back to Kaine's side.
" Yes?" The white lion asked, curious about why they had been followed. He was sure, after all, that they weren't wanted.

[Bakura]

"My nephews are still teenagers but they do eat like adults so I guess you could class them as such." Bane said in a thoughtful tone before he nodded. "Alright well, whenever you are ready, we will follow your lead."

Evie settled down beside Krystal with a slight nod of her head, content with Taka's response and Shanara got comfortable herself as he took his spot beside Akyme.
"Thank you, it's kinda silly that I get so cold despite my breed but I do appreciate the extra heat, it usually doesn't bother me. But this morning, my scarf just doesn't seem to be warming me up as much as it usually does." She tried to explain and smiled when she felt Spitz' tail wrap around behind her, brushing against Taka's back as it swayed in a slow wag.

"I.. Ahh.. Just, wanted to say that you're welcome to join us." He invited uncertainly as he slowed to a stop. "I know what just happened was... intense, but things have calmed down now, and if you really do mean to make amends with Anjou, then we would like to start over and be friends."