Dragonfly Fen what was lost is now found

Just like clockwork, he came, a muddied knight who strode through the reeds in a nonchalant manner. Still as robust and headstrong as ever. Mapplethorpe's tail manage to lift from the sludge to sway slightly before landing behind him. The golden prince's smile tugged his heart back into his chest; the girl was right, she and Datura had managed just fine... by the looks of it. The Advisor's eyes didn't linger on Datura or Taima for long but between fleeting glances he noticed the boy was looking for someone, and wondered if he should have allowed Naira to come along, no matter how foolish the notion had been. Would this girl hold her sway over Datura as she had over him?

Rounded ears trembled as he awaited for his lord and lady to address one another. What came instead was a salutation that sounded out Datura's relief about being discovered by someone he might have missed. Mapplethorpe simpered gratefully, staring at the back of the girl's left forearm until he felt her prod him with her shin. He looked up at her quietly when his smile faded from his face, slowly rising up onto all four of his paws. Casting his eyes to the first-born heir, he slowly lifted his head with a recovered smile. "Master Datura, you're all right..."

As much as he wanted to comfort the youth, to look him over and discover for himself that the golden prince had come to no harm under Taima's "care", he remembered that the silver heiress now held precedence over him. "And, err, y-yes..." he stammered, backing up Taima's statements. "Your mother has been worried sick, I have been sent here with the task to bring you home, safe and sound." Worry crept back to the forefront of his mind at the sound of foxes, the unlikely audience, chattering around them. "The danger here is still too great. We must leave at once."

IN QUOD ERAT IN VENIENDUM

TEMPLATE © NDA OF RCR & RPG-D

-just fades them all out here-

there is no such thing as royal blood

• DATURA AQUILA •

I believe we are what we make ourselves

"Yes, my Prince."

He ignored the edge in her voice because he wasn't sure what it meant — Taima could be such a killyjoy sometimes for the most nonsensical reasons. But they were going home! The effect this knowledge had on Datura was visible. It was if he had never been lost at all. And there was no need for all this random, verbal posturing, but Datura found that the moment was so joyous that he couldn't find it within himself to be annoyed with her. Instead, he made an artful attempt at diffusing the situation with a hearty laugh as she finished speaking. Qith equal emphasis, he said, "Of course, my Princess." And because in this moment there was such a cause for celebration, the golden boy decided it would be okay if he leaned into her and brushed his muzzle along hers and barely felt a thing.

Breathless with laughter, Datura turned back to the pack mate. What was his name again? Maple-tree? No, that didn't sound right. He was sure he had seen this strange, seedy looking man at the meeting. But blast, it appeared he had forgotten his name; he would just have to play it by ear and avoid the awkwardness of playing the name game. Inwardly, a part of Datura resented this man and the way he seemed to be smiled at him — as if he hadn't expected Datura to be "all right" at all. He didn't need to be saved, he tried to tell himself. He wasn't weak.

Yet the fact remained that he was going home. The good news overpowered any misgivings he had about this smiling man, and he dug up some more grins to bestow upon his company, though perhaps they seemed a little too bright and too forced this time. He ignored whatever it was that Mapplethopre said about the journey ahead of them being dangerous. "Let's get going then! I wouldn't want to keep my poor mother waiting any longer, would I?"

As if they were only a hop skip and a jump away.

Boldly, the gilded boy strode forward into foliage in a random direction, waiting for his entourage to follow him. Thorpe, of course, would have to tell the boy at some point that he had chosen exactly the wrong direction. But it didn't matter. They were going home.

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