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backdated to a few days following jade bangle | accompanied by Taro | pinging Shēnléi for visibility, welcome to all

Lotus greets the morning with prayer, but they are hasty. She hopes the ancestors can understand - she can see the green valleys and slate mountains of the Tianlong! Her home, her people! She had not wanted to return home under cover of night, for the triumphant jubilation of the Tianlong would have surely roused the good people from their beds. No, she would make her homecoming under the morning sun, fur aglow in the light of it. Their princess slept in the shadow of the dynasty's territory, close enough to see it but not close enough to cross into the safety of the borders. Poor Taro must carry his duty as guardian for a little while longer, and the lotus is sure to shower him with befitting praise and thanks for his tireless work on the behalf of her dynasty.

As they get closer and closer to the borders of her home, Lian falls quieter and quieter, almost subdued. Her pawsteps, quicker and quicker, until her strides are just barely on the side of walking instead of a hurried trot.

Tianlong. They are hers. She is theirs. Springtime on the continent is beautiful and lush. It has not forsaken the Dynasty's lands the gift of its beauty - humidity tangles in Lian's fur, and the scent of blossoms and rainforest and budding fruit envelopes her along with the telltale orchestra of Tianlong wolf-scent.

She is home.

There is but a momentary pause, as delight glows from her demure posture. Lian tilts her chin over her shoulder and beams a thousand-watt grin toward her steadfast guardian. It is thanks, relief, joy, rolled into one. Then, she must smooth her pelt down with a paw. She arranges her features into that of princess, instead of the adventuring, curious, quick-witted girl that has slowly revealed herself over the days of travel and absence from the duties of her blood.

She wants to see her father, and throw herself childishly into his arms. But her people deserve to be assured of her safe return. They have lost much recently, and regaining something is a celebration owed to all of Tianlong. The lotus tilts her chin back, sings to the cloudless blue sky: a summons, a greeting, a melody.

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The two disappeared princesses were very concerning, to say the least.

Especially to Yue, who sometimes felt as if she were their step-mother, especially in the absence of Mei, their true birth mother! Who else would mourn their loss, not only for what it meant to the Dynasty, but for the spirit that ran through all things? Their disappearance was an offense to all things beautiful and whole.

The Emperor, certainly, had already dispatched search parties for the wayward girls… but the Empress, she prayed — often, and with a fervency she had not felt in recent years aside from her fertility concerns. She asked the Crystal Dragon that he may guide both Fen and Lian home – all of those from Tianlong who were now lost, Yuezhuo and Rihe included – and asked the Crane to watch them and keep them safe in their travels.

Yue was quite convinced, after Layre and Yuezhuo had both traveled home from the great battle, that most others were out there, lost and aimless. It made sense to figure that the wayward Princess had gotten lost, as they were relatively sheltered within the Dynasty for their entire lives. There has not been much navigation necessary.

Then, all at once, her prayers had been answered! A call emanated from the farthest reach of the Grace, and Yue could do nothing but immediately identify it as Lian. It was her beautiful voice! Such a wonderful thing! Immediately, the Empress pitched into a full gallop.

When she laid her eyes on the beautiful young shewolf, Yue was ecstatic. Princess! she called out with glee, losing any sense of priority in her rush to embrace Lian. Oh, princess Lian, how fortune shines down upon us!

At least one of two daughters was at home safe, and now that half of Shenlei could relax. Now, more than ever, the Empress was fully convinced that it was only a matter of time before Fen, too, made it back to her place in Tianlong.

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