The grass moved differently here, it wasn't the trees of the unfamiliar scents, or the strange abundance of water that seemed hell bent on collecting into every hollow and stream it could find. No, it was the way the grass bent, folding beneath the wind instead of resisting it. The grasses of his home had been far more stubborn. The cub sat alone, forepaws neatly tucked together as his golden eyes tracked the rolling landscape.

The move had happened and no one had asked him what he thought of it, Legend was occupied with her new offspring and the wolves of this new group. He hadn't truly known Satriya either, but the desert was familiar enough to his homeland to feel right. Back home there had been heat shimmering off stone, endless horizons and sand that held the memory of the sun long after dusk arrived. He missed the dry air, missed knowing what every plant was for. — missed the certainty of familiar things.

—

He’d gone through a lot, last few months.
With the addition of new mouths, new kids that weren’t him— meant attention was split. Meant she hadn’t gotten to know him like she wanted to, and like he deserved to be.

But as the infants started behaving a little more like toddlers and had longer periods of sleeping than crying, she knew a mother should disperse any lasting connections outside of their blood. Least, it was what she had seen often.
Nakhti never strayed the mind. And she made certain he was fed and had a place to sleep with her and her whelps. His own little high bed towards the ceiling, and one down lower with them.
He hadn’t attached to any other.

Nakhti had already lost one.
Legend didn’t want to be another.

She made her way to him. A half-smile, lopsided and sweet in that spicy candy kinda way.

Hey, kid.

His ears turned first to her approach, tracking the familiar rhythm "Hey, kid." his gaze lifted when her voice reached him, Hello, he greeted back simply, a subtle shift in his posture at his recognition of her.

I still don't understand why it does that, he admitted after a moment, eyes tracking the movement with quiet concentration. The grasses at home usually fought the wind, these just... he searched for the right word. ...give way. he wasn't sure if it was genuine or something used to make conversation, silence settled between them comfortably after that and he was content to sit in it, his tail flicking thoughtfully.

I found a plant yesterday that smelled similar to one from home, he offered, his gaze tracing up her dark face, ears dropping slightly. Close, he had learned, was not always comforting...sometimes it simply reminded him that what he missed was still somewhere else.

He paused again, shorter this time Do you miss home too? he asked with a slight tilt of his head, eyes remaining fixed on her patient and attentive as he waited for the truth.

—

He must’ve been bored out of his mind, focused on the flexibility of green grass and the rigidness of palace barley.

Everything here is soft.

Taking a good old seat, a paw tracing along the ground and picking up the faintest swab of purple from the ground. Puffy and not very aromatic, whatever it was, and flower-like with many different petals, but it looked more adjacent to a weed than something more conventionally beautiful. Still, it was more than what home had ever offered. Made imp’s skin crawl, good or bad.

Mushy and colorful. I’ll admit, I’m not very..used to all of it. One scene in front of us is more visual information than I’ve ever seen back home. There, their information was all in the mind and politics. About just as yuck.

Wherever she and he end up, it will be together.

I do miss the spices and the room intricacies. Cooks there? They’ve got the good stuff. I’d be back in their kitchens myself if your sibs could do some walking yet, but they’ve still got a little time to go.

"Everything here is soft." a very brief pause finds him, Yes he wasn't sure if he'd ever agreed with someone quicker than that. Then he watches as she plucks the strange purple flower from the ground. His gaze lingering on it for a moment, cataloging its shape and color before filing it away alongside the countless other unfamiliar plants he had encountered since arriving.

"Mushy and colorful. I’ll admit, I’m not very..used to all of it. One scene in front of us is more visual information than I’ve ever seen back home" Yeah...there is too much to look at. he mutters, I don't think anything here wants to stab you. he hadn't decided if he liked that or not yet, but back home most plants seemed designed to discourage touching them.

"I do miss the spices and the room intricacies. Cooks there? They’ve got the good stuff. I’d be back in their kitchens myself if your sibs could do some walking yet, but they’ve still got a little time to go." He considered that statement for a moment before deciding it was accurate enough and when she mentioned returning to those kitchens once the pups could walk, Nakhti was quiet for a moment, only a moment Will we? he wanted to know, his golden eyes settling on her face. Go back, I mean

There was no visible emotion attached to the question, though the tip of his tail twitched against the ground. I've been trying to determine whether this is temporary, but nobody seems to know

Guess it’s time I told yah something.

Nakhti had been observant since she pulled him off what remained of his mother. Unwilling to go at first, and who could’ve blamed him?
All he knew, gone so fast.
And with none who would’ve buried a feline so large, Legend had taken to it. Adorned with wildflower seeds by the end, of which she had struggled to know how to grow, but.. little sprouts appeared. So, it must have counted for something.

He hadn’t been made for the forests. Legend hadn’t either.
While there is Pharaoh Khaemwaset and Queen Merneith, an ear flick, thinking. There was also Pharaoh Senmut, and— And Queen Legend. Toothy smile, before an awkward shrug as it fizzled away.

We ran our own show, their parents old place, far away from here. Before we got a bit out of sorts, and ended up all the way over here.

Let’s say they didn’t appreciate my arrival. And those guys? Real sticklers for rules. But back in my place, I’d made my own rules. I..think you would’ve liked it there.

Senmut and her may not have been madly in love, but if it had been one thing she had, it was freedom to be whatever queen she so saw fit.
And it had been a nurturing one who let go of etiquette in favor of peace. And being her own circus master.

They might have it out for me now. ‘Specially the little guys, given that they’ve got holy blood in their eyes. I’m not sure where I stay yet, but you’ve got the best of both worlds. You’ve got me written on you, and you’ve also got you. I don’t think they’ll mind keeping a room open for you. But importantly, having Legend written on him was a dangerous thing to do any messin’ with. Especially when Nakhti didn’t need to be involved.

She was pretty good at blowing things up.

Good thing she chose to be a good guy!

He would listen with the same intense focus he gave everything, he did not get distracted between pharoahs and queens, following the words carefully and fitting them together. You were a Queen. he states in his tragic thoughtful monotone; how Nakhti lacked the childlike joy ordinary youth possessed. He could picture it more easily, Legend had always struck him as someone who expected the world to move around her. That makes sense, it was high praise from the boy.

The explanation regarding Pharaoh Khaemwaset and Queen Merneith seemed to answer several questions while generating several more. He considered asking them immediately, but she continued speaking and when her old kingdom was mentioned; and how much she thought he would have liked it his rounded ears lifted. I'm sure I would have... he mused, Nakhti's expression remained largely unchanged as she went on; but his attention sharpened his eyes narrowing slightly.

" If they don't like you, then they're wrong he concluded, Legend had fed him, protected him, answered his questions and made room for him when she had no obligation to. There was something that sat with him,

You said I have you written on me. his golden eyes narrowed slightly in thought as he looked up at her How? his long tail twitched, eyes flickering to the golden spots. I don't look like you, you look like a wolf...and I look like a cheetah...mostly his ears drew forward again, eyes moving back up to her face. Is it because everyone knows I'm yours?

If that was true, then perhaps belonging to someone left marks that couldn't be seen.