Are was careful as she walked the other cheetah home. She wasn’t quite familiar with the lands, but water mostly saturated the air, hiding the scents of anyone that may be patrolling the border. Alonya quietly mentioned there was a patrol and that it was possible that they would be stopped at the borders. The pride’s lands weren’t far from where they were, but the pair walked slow. Ilwe flew above them somewhat hovering over the two of them. He kept an eye out for this so called patrol, calling out when he could see the border. He flew ahead a bit before circling back towards Are and Alonya.
The blue raven landed gently on Alonya’s shoulders. It would be easier to talk to Are this way, he figured. Alonya nearly jumped out of her skin, but Ilwe gave a small rub of his beak against the back of her neck - a comforting gesture.
“There’s a group up ahead,” he informed them. “Seems more like a search party. They’re spread out, and one is coming this way...” Ilwe’s feathers ruffled as he spoke. He seemed somewhat nervous.
Alonya frowned. A search party... So they were looking for her. She knew she shouldn’t have tried to escape the pride. If she had kept running, they wouldn’t have searched so far maybe... She was concerned. She wondered who it was.
She tried to face the bird on her shoulders, eyeing him a bit. “Um, what did they looked like?” She asked curiously. Perhaps it was one of her siblings. She didn’t have an owner, exactly, but she was still a slave in the pride. She hunched her shoulders, kind of worried.
“A silver thing, rather lanky though.” Ilwe cooed, hopping a bit and fluttering back over to Are’s shoulder.
“Sound like someone familiar?” Are asked walking a little closer to the younger cheetah. She watched as Alonya closed more into herself, a thoughtful look on the other Cheetah’s face.
She tilted her head before speaking. “Did he have white markings, just down his back? White mane?” She asked. If it was, she knew exactly who was coming towards them.
The bird nodded. “That sounds right.”
Relief dragged at Alonya’s shoulders. “Its my younger brother,” She informed the pair, still soft in her words. “His name is Nalani, he’s nice.” It was a brief description of her brother. Nalani was something else, probably the closest to their father in personality.
It didn’t take long for the silver cheeton to be upon them. There was a breathless moment between the four of them before Nalani huffed a sigh of relief. “Alonya, you know you’re not supposed to cross the borders without one of us with you,” The words were gentle, careful. He was younger than Alonya, but of a much higher status.
He still wasn’t quite sure how to act around her. Not like Krishna, who was nearly the same age as him, but had a different mother. Krishna was cocky and brave, where Nalani was shy.
Alonya shied back from him a bit, ears flicking back. She didn’t looked scared just upset. “I...” She started, looking back towards Are. The other cheetah couldn’t help her in this situation, and she stepped back a bit. Alonya shook her head before facing her brother. “I was just going for a walk,” She mumbled.
“Dad was worried sick, you know. He thought you’d gotten hurt. We’ve been searching the pride all morning and no one had seen you.” Nalani gave a soft sigh, tilting his head a little. It was a somewhat disappointed expression, and Alonya flinched again.
Are frowned at the exchange. She understood the dangers of the roguelands, but this seemed a little over the top, even for her. Ilwe could tell what she was thinking and hopped to the ground, between the cheeton and the younger cheetah. He clacked his beak a bit in a somewhat threatening display.
Nalani furrowed his brow at the bird and stepped back away from his sister. He shook his head, huffing, looking towards the yellow cheetah finally. He tilted his head at her, frowning at her. “Who might you be?” He asked. His words remained light and kind, even wiht the defensive avian at his feet.
“Are, and this is Ilwe,” She said with a frown. “We didn’t intend to intrude on the lands, just returning Alonya here.” She said curtly. She felt uneasy around the Cheeton, wary of how sickly sweet he seemed. She wasn’t having it, at all. Who kept that close of an eye on their... Sibling? The two looked nothing alike.
Nalani frowned at her in return.
“Thank you, I can take her from here.” They were lucky their sister was the leader of their group, otherwise their could be punishment. If he allowed a cheetah into the lands to return his sister instead of seeking them out, the rest of the council could talk. It’d look bad on his sister.
He wished Alonya would understand that.
Alonya sighed, crouching down towards Ilwe. She gave him a small ‘thank you,’ nuzzling him on the head, turning towards Are to give her a big smile. “Thank you for bringing me back home,” she said sinceraly. Are nodded, giving an encouraging smile herself.
Ilwe hopped towards Are, flapping his wings to resettle onto his companion’s back. He gave a soft humming sound, still unsure about the situation.
Alonya turned back towards her brother. “Alright, lets go home,” She said softly, nearly pressing into his side. Perhaps she could seek forgiveness for running so far. She wasn’t sure how to fix this wound that she tore. Would they be untrusting of her being on her own now. Would Kande scold her? Would her father? She sighed, making a small nervous sound.
Nalani gave his sister a soft look and the pair took it slow. “It’ll be alright,” the wing-marked male said softly to his sister. “I’ll make sure nothing goes awry.” She gave a small grateful smile at him, pressing a bit closer to his side.
The pair crossed the border, continuing their journey home.