Vacation

The representatives from Tarsus Four left the Throneroom. The Emperor sat back against the Golden Throne, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had been suppressing a major headache for the last several days. Malcador glanced over at him, and indicated to the administrators to delay bringing in the next petitioner.
"You should take a vacation," Malcador said.
"You know I can't," the Emperor said. "The Imperium will find me no matter where I go."
"I can cover the Imperium for a few days," Malcador said. "I may be old, but I'm not incapable."
"I never said that," the Emperor said. "You know what I meant."
"I do," Malcador said with a chuckle. "Just as you know what I meant."
"Fair enough," the Emperor sighed.
"Besides," Malcador said. "The Primarchs will enjoy it. We've been very busy the last few weeks. They should be rewarded for their patience with you."
"That is very true," the Emperor said with a ghost of a smile.

***********************

"Father's home!" Horus called. He had been on lookout, a new thing the Primarchs had started with the Emperor so busy for so long.

"How does he look?" Magnus asked. He could sense the Emperor's weariness through the door.

"Tired," Horus replied, glancing through the peephole that Perturabo had installed for this purpose. 

"I wish there was something we could do," Corvus said. "More than behaving, I mean."

"I know," Vulkan said. "It's been a long time since he's laughed."

"I could get drunk," Leman suggested.

"That won't make him laugh," the Lion said. "You'll just get in trouble. You'll be a fish for sure since you were just in trouble."

"I guess," Leman sighed. The door to the Palace opened just then so the two Primarchs turned away from each other.

The Primarchs chorused a greeting to their father. The Emperor gave a distracted reply as he went to sit on the large couch. Fulgrim checked to make sure the servitor was making dinner before joining his other brothers at the couch. Sanguinius, Horus, and Vulkan had gotten onto the couch and arranged themselves around the Emperor.

"Malcador is insisting that we take a vacation," the Emperor said after a moment.

"Where are we going?" Roboute asked.

"I don't know," the Emperor said. "What kind of vacation do we want?"

"Camping!" Leman said before anyone else could voice an opinion.

"We've been camping," Lorgar said.

"We went to summer camp," Leman said. "Allfather wasn't with us. We also stayed in cabins. I was thinking we could stay in tents."

"I like this idea," the Lion said. "We could go with only vital tech. That'll keep us from being disturbed."

"And I can bring Freki and Geri this time," Leman said.

"We could all make our own tents," Rogal said.

"Yeah!" Perturabo agreed. "You do have good ideas sometimes, Rogal."

"I always have good ideas," Rogal retorted.

"I'm going to make the perfect tent," Fulgrim declared. This caused Perturabo and Rogal to pause, look at Fulgrim and then look at each other.

"No," Perturabo said to Rogal with a shake of the head.

"Agreed," Rogal said. With that decided they turned to starting their designs. 

"We'll need to tell Valdor," Roboute said.

"Naturally," the Emperor said. "However, that can wait until the morning."

"Of course, Father," Roboute said.

************************

"You seem torn, Valdor," the Emperor said the next day. He had just told Valdor about his upcoming vacation.

"I am, my king," Valdor said. "I do not like the idea of you being out of reach for any extended period of time. However, it is also part of my duties to see that you are well, and this vacation is good for that. The less tech that you have means you are less likely to be disturbed, but it also puts you at risk."

"Your concern is appreciated," the Emperor said. "However, the benefits should outweigh the risks in this case. I won't be alone, nor am I incapable of protecting myself."

"Naturally, my king," Valdor said. "That was simply my views on it, as Captain-General."

The Emperor suppressed a sigh, he could feel his headache pounding behind his eyes. He was well aware that Valdor was doing his duty, and there was no fault in that. In fact, he always needed Valdor to be doing his duty. 

"I should be the one apologizing," the Emperor said. "It seems that I have been putting this vacation off for too long."

"The demands of the Imperium are many, my king," Valdor said. "It will not get lighter as it grows."

"True," the Emperor said. "Best to take what breaks I can, when I can."

"Even if I do not fully approve," Valdor said. "Have a good vacation, my king."

******************************

It took nearly a week of arrangements before their vacation could truly begin. Part of that week was spent in transit to the planet they would be camping on. The Primarchs had insisted that the Emperor choose where they were camping, as the camping idea had come from them. He had chosen a remote planet to the galactic northern edge of the Imperium called Pallern.

They arrived on Pallern. As part of the vacation was about setting aside the duties of Emperor for a time, they had come in a personal craft, not the Imperator Somnium. They left the ship at a landing platform that would care for it while they were camping.

"Scouts trip?" the man at the service desk asked, indicating the Primarchs.

"Family vacation," the Emperor replied. He was disguising himself, intending to only be responsible for himself and the Primarchs on this vacation.

"Big family," the man replied. 

"Indeed," the Emperor said with a smile. "Let's go, sons."

"Yeah!" several of them chorused. Their chosen campsite was fairly deep into the lush forests of Pallern. This meant a hike to check out the terrain. 

Ferrus felt strange without his auspex. He had agreed to leave it behind as it was not strictly necessary. The only advanced piece of tech they had was a small homing device that Omegon had insisted on bringing. He said it was only for a situation where they were in need of assistance, the Emperor had agreed to that.

Freki and Geri were pausing to sniff nearly every tree they saw, and there were a lot of trees. It made the hike slower, but the Emperor allowed it. They finally arrived at the campsite, a clearing next to a small river. The Emperor had chosen it because it reminded him of his own childhood so very long ago. The Primarchs spread out, and began to set up their tents. Leman's was a bit bigger than most of the others as he had room for Freki and Geri. Vulkan's was the biggest tent among the Primarchs, only the Emperor's tent was larger. 

"Keep Freki and Geri close, Leman," the Emperor said as the pups began to wander farther away from the group. 

"Yes, Allfather," Leman said before calling the wolves back to him. The Emperor was a bit concerned that the pups would rejoin the wild. Leman didn't seem as concerned about that, he strongly asserted that he was part of their pack, and they would stay with him.

"Where's Jaghatai?" Magnus asked. Jaghatai had decided to explore around the campsite a bit, but hadn't returned. The Emperor looked around, but didn't immediately see his son.

"KHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!!" the Emperor called out. Jaghatai came barreling through the underbrush, certain that he was in deep trouble for wandering off and getting a bit lost. He looked apologetically at the Emperor, who began to laugh.

"You're not in trouble, Jaghatai," the Emperor said after a moment. "I was quoting a movie called The Wrath of Khan. It will be next for movie night."

"Whew," Jaghatai sighed in relief. "It's good to hear you laugh, Father."

"Yeah," Vulkan said with a massive smile. "It feels like it's been forever since you laughed last."

"It has been quite a while," the Emperor said. The last time the Primarchs had heard him laugh was when Angron woke asking about his diving score during the Olympics. He had gotten very busy right after the Olympics and had almost completely stopped laughing. He hadn't realized how much it had affected his sons until just then.

"This was long overdue," the Emperor said, looking fondly on his sons.

"Indeed," Horus said. Many of the other Primarchs nodded. 

"I'll start gathering firewood," Vulkan said cheerfully.

"Try not to get lost," Jaghatai said. "It's easy to lose sight of camp."

"I'll try to be careful," Vulkan said and headed off. He made regular returns with armloads of wood. Several of the other Primarchs started going out and foraging for wood with him. 

It wasn't long before Vulkan had a fire going, They had brought food with them, but still needed to cook it. The Primarchs were all quite happy with this camping trip. It didn't involve crashing, being hunted, or having to hide from normal people. Also no one was injured, or at any form of risk. Rogal was a tiny bit disappointed that he didn't have to make a shelter for everyone, but he had mitigated it with making his own tent.

"It's time for bed," the Emperor declared after they had spent some time identifying constellations. The Primarchs headed into their tents without any complaint. The Emperor hoped that would continue for the whole trip. He doubted that it would though.

Leman left part of his tent flap open so that Freki and Geri could let themselves out to use the woods in the night as they needed. He was certain they would come back to him if they did go outside. They had stayed with him during the events on Centae Quintus, though he hadn't slept for very long that time.

*****************************

The Primarchs and the Emperor woke the next morning, looking forward to a day of exploration in the forest. Leman found Freki and Geri missing. He came out, hoping they had just beaten him out of the tent.

"Freki! Geri!" Leman called when he didn't see them within the group of tents. The two wolves did not appear though, and Leman began to get very concerned.

"They're probably close by," Horus said, trying to cheer Leman up. "Maybe they are stalking something."

"Or they could be hurt," Leman said, jumping to conclusions.

"More likely they are just lost," Jaghatai said. "Freki got smacked into a wall by that Custodian the one time, and he wasn't hurt at all."

"Maybe," Leman said, trying to take heart from Jaghatai's words. It was true that Freki had not been injured at all by the Custodian.

"We were going to go exploring anyway," the Lion said. "We can just change exploring into looking for Freki and Geri."

"Lion has a good point," the Emperor said. They set out, fanning out slightly. Everyone called to the wolf pups, hoping they would show up.

****************************

Freki and Geri were confused. Geri had gone out first, Freki had followed when Geri did not return. They had both been snagged and made to sleep. They woke in a cage surrounded by strangers. There were no recognizable scents, and they didn't see their two-legged pack brother. 

The strangers were taller than their pack brother, a bit taller than Silver-pelt. They carried none of the feel of Silver-pelt, or The Alpha. Freki began to howl, calling for his two-legged brother. Geri took up the call a moment later. 

"Shut them up," said one of the strangers. He seemed to be the alpha for this group. A different man approached the cage and gave it a sharp rap with his weapon. This did nothing to deter the wolves though. Geri paused long enough to snarl at the man, but then recommenced howling. 

"Get in there and shut them up," the alpha man said.

"That's insane," the other man whined. "They're Fenrisian wolves. They'll eat me alive."

"And they'll be quiet while they do it," the alpha man snarled.

"There's no meat on him, boss," said a third man. "They won't be quiet for long."

"Maybe they'll both choke on his bones,"  the alpha man said. "Then they'll be quiet forever."

"We don't have buyers yet, 'member?" said the third man.

"I know," the alpha man snapped. "That don't mean that I can't want them dead though. They'll give away our position."

"Why is that so important?" whined the second man.

"This isn't Fenris now is it?" the alpha man jeered. "They were brought here, and we don't want the ones who brought them here to find us."

"Who runs around with Fenrisian wolf pups?" said a fourth man. "I think this is a trap by the Arbites."

"Just 'cause you had to run from whatever mudball you came from don't mean that they're after you anymore," the alpha man said.

"Have you never been wanted?" the fourth man asked. "They never stop hunting until they've caught you."

"If you can't get them to shut up, I'll find someone who can," the alpha man snapped at the second man. He seemed to be the omega of the group, however this alpha was very dominating so it was a bit hard to tell.

"Good luck with that," the second man said. "All things Fenrisian have minds of their own."

The alpha man glared at the third and fourth men, both shook their heads. The third man put up his hands in a gesture that said he was having no part in silencing the wolves.

"If I'd wanted to get eaten, I would've gone to the Northwilds, not offworld," the fourth man said. "I'm plannin' on living."

***************************

"I don't sense them anywhere, Leman," the Lion said after over an hour of searching. He sounded sad and disappointed. It was clear that though the Lion hated Freki and Geri, he didn't really want them to be gone. 

Leman tried not to sob, he missed his wolf brothers. He was beginning to fear that something terrible had happened to them. The Emperor kept a close eye on Leman, though he still hoped that the wolves would return. 

"We'll find them," Vulkan said. "They've never strayed far from us."

"Vulkan's right," the Lion said. "I can always sense them when we have them with us. It's weird that I can't sense them now, knowing they aren't home on Terra."

"Really?" Leman said, surprised.

"Yeah," the Lion said. "It also gives a bit more sense of normalcy when we're offworld. They sort of round out the group somehow."

"So you like them now?" Leman asked.

"Not really," the Lion said. "But I have come to accept them."

"I guess that'll be the best I can hope for from you," Leman said. He did find that to be a little helpful. Then he picked up a faint sound, like howling. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Yes," Horus said. "It sounds like howling."

"It sounds like Geri," Leman said. "I'm sure of it."

"I believe you are correct," the Emperor said, he turned his sons in the direction of the howling. 

"But it's just the one howling," Omegon said after a moment. He was very good at knowing when it was two or one voice.

"Freki's got to be with him," Leman said. "They're always together. They're a pack."

"Maybe Freki's trying to escape," the Lion suggested. 

"Maybe," Leman said.

*****************************

Freki was in fact, trying to escape. He was testing the bars, Geri kept the song going so that their two-legged brother could find them. Freki had dominance over Geri, so it fell to him to work on the way out. 

"Stop that one from chewing on the bars," the alpha man said. The omega man threw a stick at Freki, but made no other attempt to deter the wolf. The other three men kept their distance from the cage, forcing the omega man to deal with them. Freki moved on to other bars, looking for any weaknesses in the cage. 

****************************

Leman lugged the gray pup towards the Emperor. He paused a moment to make sure that the white pup was behind him still. It was, sticking close to his heels and its brother that he carried. He saw the Lion dart forwards, a knife in his hands. The Emperor snagged his brother by the back of the neck, lifting him off the ground. Leman stepped in front of the Emperor, and set the gray pup down, next to the white one.

"Can I keep them, Allfather?" Leman asked, looking up at the Emperor. The Lion was trying to squirm out of their father's grasp, and failing. "Please?"

"Can you take care of them?" the Emperor asked.

"Yes, Allfather!" Leman declared with all of the conviction of a young boy. "I'll feed them, and walk them, and they will be my wolf brothers."

"Very well," the Emperor said. "You'll have to come up with names for your new brothers though."

"The white one will be Freki," Leman said without hesitation. "The gray one is Geri."

"You had that worked out ahead of time," the Lion growled.

"Of course I did," Leman said. "I named them when I found them."

        "I can sense Freki and Geri now," the Lion announced, breaking Leman out of his memory.

"That's good," the Emperor said. He hadn't liked the timing of this disruption, so early in their vacation. However, it was clear that the two pups hadn't simply gone back to the wild, but had been taken. 

"You need to make them stop!" a voice called out ahead of them.

"Well what do you suggest?" snapped another voice. "They're Fenrisian wolves for crying out loud! We don't have anything with us to control them."

"Knock them out again," suggested a third voice.

"We don't have any more sedative," the second voice said. "You don't think I'd thought of that?"

"I never said anything about sedatives," the third voice replied. "Hit 'em up-side the head with a stick or rock. That should put 'em down for a bit."

"I still think this is a trap," said a fourth voice.

"You're an idiot," said the first voice. "We're on the edge of the Imperium, there's no Arbites here to set a trap."

"The man who thinks it's a trap sounds like a Calibanite," the Lion said, keeping his voice low.

"I agree," the Emperor said.

"The others sound like underhivers," Horus said. 

"Indeed," the Emperor said.

"Why would they want Freki and Geri?" Leman asked.

"Wolf pelts are quite expensive," the Emperor said. "They could be planning on skinning them and selling the pelts to the highest bidder." 

Leman's lower lip started to quiver. He didn't want his wolf brothers to be skinned, he knew it would kill them.

"They haven't been skinned yet," the Lion said, noting his brother's distress. "They're alive, or I wouldn't be able to sense them."

"Lion's correct," the Emperor said. Leman seemed a bit happier with that, but was still very concerned for his wolf brothers. 

They continued following the sound of the arguing men, falling silent as they got close enough for mortals to hear their talking. The Emperor began to use battle-sign with his sons. They spread in a circle, Leman moving so he was close to the cage where Freki and Geri were.

*****************************

Freki looked up, he had caught the scent of their two-legged brother. Geri had also caught the scent, and paused in his howling. Their brother howled to them, encouraging them to keep howling. Freki took up a different song, not that the humans could tell. 

There was a sudden movement, and The Alpha stepped into the clearing. The almost brother following close behind. The humans looked over, startled at the sudden appearance of The Alpha. Freki continued to howl.

"You really should let them out," The Alpha said. "They need space to run, or they won't stop howling."

"They are none of your business," the alpha man said. "We have them well in hand."

"I somehow doubt that," The Alpha said. Their brother crept up as the two alphas were talking. He began to work on the door to the cage. Freki continued to howl as it covered the sounds of his brother.

"You doubt that we have them in hand?" the alpha man was saying. "We have them in a cage."

"That implies that you have no control over them at all," The Alpha said. "If you could control them, you wouldn't need the cage, seeing as they are puppies still."

"We're.... training them," the alpha man said.

"Training them?" The Alpha asked, clearly unconvinced.

"Hey!" the questioner said sharply, he had looked over to the cage and spotted their brother.

"What d'ya think you're doing?" the alpha man said as he rounded on their brother. Freki growled a warning at the alpha man. His brother slipped into a fighting stance.

"They are my wolf brothers," his brother said in a low voice. "I'm freeing them from you thieves."

"I knew this was a bad idea," the questioner said.

"Shut it," said the third man.

"They're our wolves now, boy," the alpha man said.

"They are not yours, nor shall they ever be," their brother said. The alpha man rushed forward, clearly intending to bowl their brother over. This did not happen as the hawk came in from the side. Their brother launched himself at the alpha man, taking him down the rest of the way. Silver-paws found some rope, and their brother dragged the alpha man to the other three. The Alpha bound them together with the rope. Their brother then set them free from the cage.

***********************

"Do you have the homing device?" the Emperor asked Omegon.

"Yes, Father," Omegon replied, producing the device from his pocket. The Emperor took it, and activated it. He placed it near the four bound men, just beyond their reach.

"That should bring the local authorities," the Emperor said. "Let's go."

"Indeed," Leman said, happy to have his brothers back. "This didn't ruin our vacation did it, Allfather?" 

"No, Leman," the Emperor said. "Though I would have rather had it happen later in our vacation."

"I would have preferred to skip it entirely," Leman said.

"That would have been ideal," the Emperor said. "However, it is over now."

"Yeah, and we can get back to our vacation," Horus said. 

The sun was going down when they arrived back at their campsite. Fulgrim paused in the bushes before fully returning to camp. A few moments later, he approached the Emperor.

"Father, my butt itches," Fulgrim said in a shy voice. The Emperor was suspicious he knew why, but needed to confirm it.

"Do you think you could show me a leaf like the one you used in the bushes?" the Emperor asked. Fulgrim nodded and disappeared for a few moments. He returned with a leaf, and the Emperor's suspicions were confirmed.

"Poison ivy," the Emperor said. "The itching should pass in a few minutes. Don't use those leaves next time."

"Right, Father," Fulgrim said. They had recently learned about poison ivy at Nova, and he was a bit embarrassed that he hadn't recognized the plant.

*************************

The next two days of their eight day vacation were spent hiking around the area. They also swam in the river next to their campsite. Freki and Geri stayed close to Leman, their ordeal with the thieves seemed to have upset them. 

"Were those men who had Freki and Geri rogue traders?" Leman asked one day.

"No," the Emperor said. "I have made sure that all rogue traders can identify Freki and Geri. They are also told that if they do somehow get Freki and Geri they will lose their protection as rogue traders."

"That's good to know," Leman said. He didn't want to risk that happening ever again. 

"Go have fun, Leman," the Emperor said.

"You have to have fun with us," Leman said. "That's why we're on vacation."

"I am having fun," the Emperor assured Leman.

"You could be having more fun," Leman said. Konrad heard this, and quickly began to organize Sanguinius, Angron, Mortarion, Vulkan, and Corvus. The six Primarchs gathered around their father and Leman. 

"How so?" the Emperor asked Leman, though he was aware of the other six.

"Get him!" Konrad called, he and the other five grabbed the Emperor, lifting him with some effort. They then hauled him to the river, and dumped him in. Konrad made a high-pitched sound as the Emperor snagged him on the way in. The Emperor would have gotten Sanguinius as well, but he launched himself in the air.

"That's not what I was going to suggest, but I like it," Leman said as he laughed.

The Emperor surfaced, the river wasn't very deep where the Primarchs had dumped him in. Konrad had escaped from his father's grasp and reappeared on the riverbank.

"Why did you chose this spot, Father?" Magnus asked, always curious.

"This area is rather like the area where my village was," the Emperor replied as he got out of the river.

"Your village?" Horus asked, becoming interested.

"The village I grew up in," the Emperor explained.

"What about flooding?" Sanguinius asked. 

"We just rebuilt after flooding," the Emperor said. "Our houses weren't of the best construction, Rogal can build better with worse supplies. All of you can."

"That must have been annoying," Fulgrim said.

"It was what we could accomplish at the time," the Emperor said. "This was all very long ago, and most of the building techniques that you all know didn't exist yet."

"But we don't know any of the advanced techniques, like the ones you used to have home built," Perturabo said.

"Those came much later," the Emperor said with a chuckle. "Some of that I invented as I was having the Palace built."

"It's nice here," Corvus said. "Peaceful."

"That it is," the Emperor said.

"The only thing I find missing is large wildlife to fight," the Lion said.

"I'm sure there's some predator somewhere for you to fight," Leman said.

"Probably," the Lion said. He and Leman had been getting along better since getting Freki and Geri back. The Emperor was quite happy about that. 

"What kind of predators do they have on Pallern?" the Lion asked the Emperor.

"Bears," the Emperor said. "At least in this part of Pallern they are the most dangerous. They are also bigger here than they were on Terra."

"That sounds like fun," the Lion said. "Can we find a bear tomorrow?"

"Alright," the Emperor said. He knew that if he didn't agree to it, the Lion would likely go off on his own to find one. He much preferred being able to ensure the Lion's safety while he fought. 

*****************************

The next day they set out to find a bear for the Lion to fight. He was very excited, it would be a fun story to tell Frederick when he got home. There was always the slight possibility of Frederick showing up at their camp, but it wasn't very likely. 

They came across a trail that was too wide to be a game trail. The Emperor scanned the ground for prints, and showed the Primarchs the bear prints that he discovered. The tracks were fresh, no more than an hour old. Excited, the Lion forged ahead of the rest, disappearing from sight.

"Lion! Get back where I can see you!" the Emperor called after a few moments. He and the rest had continued on the trail, but the Lion had gotten quite far ahead of them. There was no response from the Lion.

"He hasn't gotten out of earshot has he?" Leman asked.

"I doubt it," the Emperor said. The reason for the Lion's silence became apparent a moment later when they heard the growling of a bear. They rushed around a corner and found the Lion squaring off with a gargantuan brown bear.

"What kind of bear is that, Father?" Magnus asked.

"It appears to be based on the grizzly bear," the Emperor said.

"It's the size of a Dreadnought," Corvus said.

"Have some faith, guys," Leman said. "Lion can take it."

"What if he can't?" Corvus asked.

"Allfather's here," Leman said simply. "He can get it if Lion can't. However, that's not going to happen."

The Lion and the bear circled each other. The bear lumbered forward and took a swipe at the Lion. It hit, knocking him sideways into a tree. The Lion rebounded quickly, leaping high at the bear's exposed back.

He landed, and began to assail it with ferocious punches. However, it was clear that he wasn't getting anywhere without a weapon of some form. The bear, now enraged, reared up, trying to dislodge the Lion. The Lion grabbed onto a tree branch and swung upwards.

Realizing that he needed something more than his fists to fell the bear, the Lion clambered up the tree, looking for anything that he could use as a weapon. Baring that, he was looking for height, if he could get high enough, falling on the bear could possibly injure it. The bear realized that the thing that had been antagonizing it was up the tree, and began to push against it.

"This doesn't look good," Corvus said. The tree was swaying as if it were caught in a strong breeze. He was concerned that the bear was strong enough to up-root the tree. 

"It'll be alright," Vulkan assured Corvus. "Leman's right, Father's here. Lion's got back up if he needs it."

The Lion appeared near the top of the tree. He had found nothing to use as a weapon, no broken branches or the like. He waited until the bear backed up to hit the tree again, and jumped as it charged. The Lion angled his feet downwards, forming a focus point for the impact energy of his landing. It also caused him to fall a bit faster as he was streamlined.

He landed squarely in the middle of the bear's back. There was a wet crump and the bear let out a roar as it collapsed. The Lion rolled off the bear, and grabbed a large boulder near the tree he had climbed. He carried it over, and ended the bear's suffering.

The Lion extracted a tooth for his prize, and then stumbled over to the others. One of his legs had gotten twisted when he had slammed into the tree at the beginning of the fight. The Emperor stepped up to meet him, kneeling so that he was closer to the Lion's height. The Lion made it over to him, and slumped into his waiting arms.

The Emperor examined the Lion's leg, assuring that nothing was actually torn. Assured that the Lion's leg wasn't seriously injured, he lifted the Lion, setting him on his shoulders. It had been years since he had set any of the Primarchs on his shoulders, so the Lion was a bit startled at first.

"You'll have to watch out for tree branches," the Emperor said to the Lion. 

"I will, Father," the Lion said, now happy to be so far up above his brothers. He was also nearly certain that this would only last until his leg was better, which would be before they made it back to camp.

"There's more of a trail here," Horus said. "Wonder where it goes."

"We can follow it and find out," the Emperor said. The Lion glanced up, and noted that they still had several hours of daylight left. They headed off, following the trail. They expected to find the bear's lair, a cave Magnus was sure, or perhaps another river. it was likely that they would have, but their hike was interrupted by the sound of other people moving through the forest, possibly lost. They didn't sound like they were on the trail that the Emperor and his sons were on.

"We're lost," a male voice said hotly. It sounded familiar, and Freki growled. Leman grabbed Geri by the neck to prevent him from heading in the direction of the voice. 

"I know the ship I used is around here somewhere," said a second voice. This was clearly the Calibanite thief. The Lion scanned the forest from his vantage, but could not spot the speakers.

"I don't think you do," said the first voice. "I think you've forgotten where you set down."

"It's here," the Calibanite said. "We wouldn't be having any issues if the local enforcers hadn't taken my auspex."

"You should have thought about that before we made our escape," the first voice said. "We could've grabbed it when we were headed out."

"I wasn't gonna take that risk," the Calibanite growled. It was clear that these two were the only ones to have escaped. The Calibanite was trying to assert his authority over the first speaker. 

"Maybe you shoulda," the first man said. The Calibanite grumbled something the Primarchs couldn't quite make out.

"I see them," the Lion whispered to the Emperor. He had finally spotted the two forms through the trees. "They're coming up on the trail ahead of us."

"I see them too," the Emperor whispered back. He motioned for the others to get behind him. He didn't really want a confrontation with the two. He would give the local authorities a report on what he saw, just as a normal Imperial citizen. 

"Keep hold of Freki and Geri," the Emperor said quietly to Leman. "I don't want a fight if we can avoid it."

"Right, Allfather," Leman said. He did want a fight, but he didn't want to spoil their vacation either. That meant doing as the Emperor said.

"Wait," the first voice said. "There's people over there. They look like that guy who caught us, the one with the wolves."

"The Arbites agent," the Calibanite said. He seemed a little bit paranoid about the Arbites, the Emperor was not sure why.

"I doubt that guy is an Arbites agent," the first man said. "He's got kids with him. Probably one of those Galactic Scouts leaders or something. He woulda turned us in to show the boys that breaking the law is a bad thing."

"Maybe," the Calibanite said. "However, they've seen us, so we have to do something about them."

"You're just as crazy as Ashford," the other man said. "There's nineteen of them, if you haven't counted. Also the one has wings, he can escape easy."

"Then we'll just have to ground him," Calibanite said. They made the trail and turned towards where the Emperor had stopped.

"We don't want any trouble," the Emperor said. 

"Well, that's do damn bad," Calibanite said. "We don't want you Scouts telling the authorities where we are."

"We will not," the Emperor said. This didn't seem to be enough for Calibanite however. He approached the Emperor, drawing a long knife that looked more like something a Catachan would have instead of a Calibanite.

"It doesn't have to be this way," the Emperor sighed. He lifted the Lion back off his shoulders, going to set him down. In an unexpected display the Lion embraced the Emperor. 

"There's someone following their trail," the Lion breathed in his father's ear. The Emperor nodded, pulling the Lion away and setting him on the ground. The Lion's leg had healed for the most part, so he was able to stand unaided.

The Emperor touched the mind of the person that the Lion sensed. It was a member of the planetary authorities. He subtly encouraged the man to go faster, that he was close to the men he was after.

"What, you're not even gonna defend yourself?" Calibanite asked, surprised as the Emperor seemed to merely stand there.

"I said that we do not want any trouble," the Emperor said. "I am unarmed, as you can clearly see."

"So you aren't going to protect the children with you?" the other man asked.

"You have done nothing more than wave a knife in my face," the Emperor said. "It seems you want to scare me more than actually kill me. Someone actually intending to hurt other people would more likely have done it by now."

"Well, no time like the present," Calibanite said and charged the Emperor. The planetary officer burst through the underbrush at that moment. The Emperor dodged the knife, allowing it to be by only millimeters. The officer let out a cry, which caught the attention of Calibanite.

"Freeze!" the officer said, pointing a bolt pistol at Calibanite. "Drop the weapon!"

"And what if I cut this man's throat instead?" Calibanite asked.

"You wouldn't leave this planet alive," the Emperor said calmly. "My sons will have all witnessed their father's murder. You would be put to death for such a crime."

"He's right," the officer said. "If I didn't shoot you where you stand that is. Put the weapon down and turn yourselves in, both of you."

The other man quickly knelt, showing that he had no weapons. Calibanite seemed to consider for a moment, and then launched himself at the Emperor again. The Primarchs cried out, but the Emperor merely side-stepped again.

The officer tackled Calibanite. They rolled, both knife and pistol skittering away from them. The Emperor kept the Primarchs well back, despite them wanting to get involved in the fight. Calibanite managed to escape, and made a grab at the knife. However, the officer had grabbed a pair of manacles and attached them to Calibanite. 

"You just earn yourself a new charge," the officer said. "Assaulting an Imperial citizen."

The Primarchs looked to their father, waiting to see if he would reveal who he was, or if that charge would remain the way that it was. The Emperor made no move to say who he was. The Primarchs followed their father's lead, keeping quiet. The officer grabbed the other man, putting manacles on him as well before hoisting him to his feet.

"Are you alright, sir?" the officer asked the Emperor. 

"I am unharmed," the Emperor said. "Are you alright, sons?" The Primarchs all nodded their heads, indicating that they were alright.

"Excellent," the officer said. "Apologies for interrupting your hike." He then lead the two prisoners away. 

"I think that's enough excitement for me," the Lion said. "We can head back now."

"Agreed," Horus said. 

"Yeah," Magnus said. Even he had lost interest in what lay at the end of the trail.

"Alright," the Emperor said. He got the Primarchs turned around, and they headed back to their camp.

******************************

The rest of their vacation was fairly uneventful. They did go back a few days later and found the lair of the bear that the Lion had killed. It wasn't as exciting as they had hoped. A few days after that they found a waterfall and went exploring in the cliff behind. They did find a cave, but it was shallow, and there was nothing terribly exciting.

They returned and picked up their voidcraft. There was a different attendant, but she was nice as the Emperor proved which ship was theirs. 

"Did you have a nice trip, sir?" she asked.

"Yes," the Emperor said. "My sons greatly enjoyed it."

"That's great," she said. "Have a good day."

"Thank you," the Emperor said with a smile. 

They arrived on Terra and were greeted by Valdor. Malcador was too busy to make it out to the landing pad. The Primarchs swarmed Valdor, they were nearly as excited to be home as they had been to leave. 

"I killed a bear nearly the size of a Dreadnought!" the Lion called from the press of Primarchs, holding up his bear tooth so Valdor could see. 

"I thought you left all your weapons here," Valdor said. 

"We did," the Lion said. "I broke its back jumping from a tree."

"That was a smart way of doing it," Valdor said. The Lion looked pleased with the praise and stepped away. 

"It looks like this vacation was a success," Valdor said, turning to the Emperor.

"Yes," the Emperor said. "It was very much a success."

"That is good, my king," Valdor said. "Malcador wanted me to relay his deepest apologies for being unable to meet you here."

"It's understandable," the Emperor said. "How has he held up?"

"He seems to be alright," Valdor said. "Though I suspect he will be happy to have you back tomorrow."

"Indeed," the Emperor said. "Though he does have to remember that this was his idea."

"I do not think he will deny that," Valdor said with a chuckle. "Though I think on some level his plan backfired."

"How so?" the Emperor asked.

"I think he missed all of you," Valdor said. "Even the company of Custodians is not the same."

"We will have to greet him when his day is done," the Emperor said. "He should appreciate that."

"No doubt," Valdor said with a smile. "I'll make sure he knows to stop by your residence before he goes to his own."

"Good," the Emperor said with his own smile.

*******************************

Malcador paused before the door to the Emperor's residence, he tried to summon a smile but was too tired for it. Abandoning the attempt, he entered the residence of his lord. He was almost immediately swamped by the Primarchs.

"Hi, Uncle Malcador!" Magnus called. Malcador did smile at that.

"Thanks for running the Imperium so Father could take vacation with us," Corvus said.

"Yeah!" Vulkan chimed in. "He really needed it."

"You're welcome then," Malcador said with a chuckle. "Did you all have fun?"

"Yeah!" they all chorused. Freki and Geri made excited "talking" sounds as they approached, seeking attention.

"I see they had fun too," Malcador said.

"For the most part," Leman said. "They got abducted on our first night, but we got them back."

"Interesting," Malcador said. "I received word that Zephyr's father has finally been apprehended."

"He was?" the Lion asked, perking up.

"Yes," Malcador said. "In fact, I almost wondered if you were involved at all, he was captured on Pallern."

"He might have been the Calibanite we encountered," the Lion said. "He was involved in the abduction of Freki and Geri."

"Then he tried to attack Allfather when he escaped," Leman said.

"That wasn't the kind of vacation I had in mind," Malcador said.

"It wasn't the whole of our vacation," Horus said. "It was almost more just flavoring."

"Well, I guess that is good," Malcador said. "It's good to have you back, my lord."