VoiceOfDoom1739 (11:47:53 PM): Sepoko gradually became conscious that he was moving, but his disorientation blocked anything else. He tried not to worry about it and allowed himself to be carried for some time. Then it occured to him to wonder about his situation.
Then he remembered. Cracking an eye open, he saw Ilori pulling him along. If his head didn't hurt so bad he'd probably feel how bad he was blushing. "Oh god, I'm sorry," he moaned. He couldn't believe this, that dear Ilori had to CARRY him because he couldn't handle the heat.
demonstrationevi (11:52:59 PM): Ilori grunted a little as he moved around, smiling a little when Ssepoko woke up, "Hey... no need to worry about me... I'm used to this kind of weather... you know, living in the desert and all... I didn't expect you to know how to survive out here, my mom had to teach me... but I had it easier than my brother and my dad."
Up ahead he spotted the Oasis and was relieved when he did. Sepoko wasn't all that heavy, but after a while, in that heat... even though it was getting cooler now that night was nearing... it was still hot out. He was just glad he had been there before Sepoko had fainted, instead of finding him afterwards. That could have easily been dangerous.
VoiceOfDoom1739 (11:57:55 PM): "I know," Sepoko murmured. "I just... I hate to make you carry me." He sighed. This was genuinely humiliating, it really was. He wasn't a child, he should be able to walk on his own four feet. "You shouldn't have to carry me. You know what...?" Letting himself slip off Ilori's back, Sepoko took to his feet. He wobbled a bit at first, but then started on a steady limp. "There, see? I'm fine."
Then he collapsed. "Damn it."
demonstrationevi (12:02:11 AM): Ilori smiled a little, leaning down beside Sepoko, "Look... it's not all that unusal to collapse here. I did it when I was younger when I first got here. Only my mom didn't... and she's... well, more manly than my father, frankly." Which was... embaressing, but his mother was a tough woman, and that could certainly not be denied. And he had been younger, "I can just take you to the Oasis, then I'll give you some tips for not fainting. Besides, it'll be night soon. It's easier to move around at night then."
He stood up and looked down at Sepoko, "I can give you a hand, just this once. It will be our little secret, promise."
VoiceOfDoom1739 (12:07:01 AM): Sepoko grinned despite himself. What Ilori saw as embarassing, Sepoko saw as amusing. "More manly than your father, eh?" he asked. "I guess we have even more in common than I thought." Indeed, his mother had always been the tough one, and his father the easygoing one. God... he missed his dad. Usually it hurt just to think about him, but around Ilori it didn't seem so bad.
He sighed. "Alright, you can help me out." He braced himself to be carried and swallowed his pride.
demonstrationevi (12:10:33 AM): "Thank you." Ilori grinned, helping Sepoko back up and sliding the other lion across his shoulders, before he trecked on. The rest had been relieving, really, but now it was time for yet another long-walk. "Well... guess we just come from moms who know how to kick us into place, you know?" He let out a short laugh, "Grin and bear it, as they say. Or at least as my mom always says. Usually it's best to listen to her."
True enough... he did love his mother, and they got along just fine, but she knew how to put him in his place when it was nessesary. He couldn't help the way she and the rest of his family was... and he loved them, for all their eccentric ways. "I promise I won't tell anyone about helping you. You can even say you found me asleep at my post and brought me back. They'll probably believe that." He laughed a little.
VoiceOfDoom1739 (12:16:38 AM): "Yeah, I suppose," Sepoko concured. He shrugged as best he could while still staying onboard. "My mom always said..." He paused a moment, pondering that. "Okay, well, my mom never really says much of anything. But she can tell you more in one look than she can in any number of words." He paused for a second, startled by his own words. This was the closest he'd come to complimenting hsi mother in a long time. He let it slide and forgot about it.
He smiled, but shook his head all the same. "Thanks for the excuse, but I wouldn't rat you out like that. You can tell them you helped me... just don't tell them you carried me." He laughed, then rested his head against Ilori's mane before he got too dizzy again.
demonstrationevi (12:22:03 AM): "Yeah... families, you know?" He smiled a little, moving along as he carried his friend, getting closer to the Oasis with every step. He was actually suprised by how relieved he was. This was the first time in a long time he had felt so... relaxed, like the world wasn't crashing down on him. It was so... great, was what seemed like the right word.
"Don't worry. I'm the lazy bum around here." Ilori grinned, "No one would be all that suprised... but thanks. I get in enough trouble for being lax as it is." He really wasn't as bad as he had been when he was younger, now that he was accepting his responsibilities in the war... but he had his moments, like it or not. Sleep just seemed like such an appealing alternative sometimes.
VoiceOfDoom1739 (12:31:30 AM): "Yeah, families..." Sepoko agreed. "You can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em." He chuckled very faintly to himself, then yawned. He hadn't realized how tired he was getting. Maybe it was just the heat again.
He frowned a bit though for a moment. Resting easily against Ilori, he asked, "If you get in trouble all the time... are you sure this place is right for you?" He hated the idea of Ilori not getting to be the free spirit that he was. The Kizingo'Zaa might be crazy, but at least they let you be yourself.
demonstrationevi (12:37:03 AM): "Gotta love families..." Ilori laughed, thinking of his kind, protective father, his... wild, fun, tome-boy mother, and his prankster, selfish... though endlessly amusing brother. Something about families. He had always loved his own, but they had always been good at being eccebtric... and he had never met some of his siblings.
The question about the Dawnwalkers suprised him a little bit. He loved it there, he really did. He had always felt like he was made for the desert and he loved the lions there, he always had... but really, that didn't change that they were warriors... and though he had the never-ending urge to protect those around him... which he had no doubt inherited from his parents... but still, he loved to sleep, avoid work, and generally be free. "I... well... I... I never really thought about it... I guess..."
VoiceOfDoom1739 (12:41:57 AM): Sepoko pondered the idea of it himself. He still wasn't sure the Kizingo'Zaa were right for him himself. They heard voices. They worshipped the sea. It was all a little over his head... but he'd so long wanted somewhere to _belong_. This was where his mother felt that they could belong, and he'd always stuck by his mother... but was it really right for him, he wasn't sure. "I think we've both got a lot of thinking to do," Sepoko admitted. Perhaps they could go soul-searching together.
Licking his lips, he was relieved that the sun was going down, and yet wondered how it could still be so hot. "Are we almost there?" he asked. "I don't mean to pester but... I'm parched."
demonstrationevi (12:46:53 AM): Ilori grinned, nodding up ahead, "Don't worry about it. It's just over this sand-dune..." He walked up the hill, and slid down, managing to keep his balance as he did so, and keep Sepoko on his back. He moved more quickly now, towards the water and set Sepoko down beside it. "Here you go."
After he set Seppoko down, he still had to stop and think, "Yeah... I guess that we do have a lot of things to think about. But they need me here... and I guess that's what's important." He nodded a little, smiling, "There are lions here I want to keep safe... and the vultures... well, they have a tendancy to be... not friendly." Which was true enough... but what was he going to do after that? What was there to do? He couldn't be sure. He had proclaimed himself a warrior... but after the vultures were gone, what else was there?
VoiceOfDoom1739 (12:58:02 AM): At this point, the rust-colored lion was more than greatful to see water. It had been a while, quite a while indeed. As soon as Ilori had set him down, he stooped over and eagerly lapped at the water, which was surprisingly cool even in this hot sun. Perhaps it was just the contrast. "Thank you," he gasped between drinks.
Sepoko smiled to himself. Ilori was so loyal and dependable. It was wonderful. "Of course," Poko said when he was finally done drinking. "You should always be there for the people who need you, when they need you." He looked Ilori in the eyes, craning up his neck from where he lay. "And because everyone else is depending on you... then as long as you need me, I will be here for you."
demonstrationevi (1:02:24 AM): Ilori had stared for a second at how much water Sepoko drank. How long had it been since he had had some water? It was both amazing and worrying. It wasn't safe to wander around like that. Not in a place like the desert... which clearly meant Ilori was going to have to teach Sepoko a trick or two about staying alive.
What Sepoko said next work of suprised him. "Thanks Sepoko... really, thank you." No one had ever really been there for him before... well, his parents, but he had never had any real friends where he wasn't the one who they needed to lean on. He had never really needed anyone before. "It's nice... to know I can have someone to depend on. But if you ever need me, I'm here too. Promise."
VoiceOfDoom1739 (1:09:09 AM): Resting by the side of the water, Sepoko beamed, smiling wider than he had for most of his life. "No need to thank me," he said. "It's what I exist for. I live to serve. I thank you, though, for all you've done for me." For Sepoko, too, was not used to having others to depend on. His father and brother had abandoned him, he never had any real friends besides Ilori. His mother had been there, sure, but she was so quiet and withdrawn it was hard to talk to her. Sepoko had always felt so alone... but Ilori changed that.
It was nearly dark now, the horizon going red and orange. And in the low light, even out here in the desert, Sepoko began to see a few little flickers. "Hey look," he said quietly. "There are fireflies out." He hadn't thought the desert had fireflies, but there they were, plain as day.
demonstrationevi (1:14:16 AM): Ilori looked around and grinned as soon as Sepoko said that. Fireflies. His one hold out in all of his life... just those little bugs that he had always loved so much. And he had played with them all night once with Sepoko, "Do you remember the game we played that night... way, way back when? Where I chased the fireflies and then you caught them... I think... in a way, things were better then. Simpler."
Those had been good times. Really, they had. It had meant so much then... and still, with the fireflies out and Sepoko there, he felt like a little cub again. Though really... that had never exactly changed, when he thought about it. He had always been a cub at heart, holding out as long as possible on growing up. It stemmed laziness... which he had never really lost... and probably never would.
VoiceOfDoom1739 (1:18:56 AM): Sepoko nodded. "Of course I remember," he said. Indeed, how could he forget? That night meant a great deal to him in ways that he still didn't fully understand. But he could agree with all Ilori had to say. He hung his head. "I don't think we can ever really go back to a time like that, though. We've both been through so much..."
Even with his head low, he still watched the fireflies sparkling against the slowly darkening sky. It was hauntingly beautiful, a unique sight, the way they seemed to inscribe the very air with their light and... "Ilori... did you hear something?" Sepoko could swear he'd heard something, but he wasn't sure what.
demonstrationevi (1:22:13 AM): "I'm glad you remember... I was so little, but I still loved that night... I think I had more fun than... ever. I wish, sometimes that we could go back." He watched the fireflies as well... wishing, honestly, that he could be a cub again, with Sepoko... he wished they could have spent more time together when they were younger. That they could have gotten to know each other better.
Ilori blinked when Sepoko said he had heard something. He had been drifting, his mind a thousand miles away. How he had become a warrior, he honestly had no idea. He clearly wasn't all that great at the whole... paying attention thing. "No... what did it sound like?" He asked, looking around for the source of the noise.
VoiceOfDoom1739 (1:26:12 AM): Sepoko nodded, sympathizing with all of Ilori's statements. "Well, at least we have now." He said. It had been a long time waiting for them to meet each other again, but now that they had, it was like racing to make up for lost time. They had so much to figure out about each other... but Sepoko already knew one thing; even in absence, Ilori had always been his dearest friend, the one he held highest in his memory.
The source of the noise, however, was something lost on him. "I... I don't know... what it sounded like," he admitted. "But I heard... something." Unfortunately, the harder he tried to listen for it, the less he heard it, until finally he just sighed and shrugged, slumping tiredly against Ilori and yawning. "Oh well, it was probably nothing."
demonstrationevi (1:30:56 AM): "Yeah... yeah we do." Ilori smiled a little back. But now they were older. They had enough time to make up for what they hadn't gotten when they were younger. Maybe they could win back what they had lost because of the circumstances that came with traveling. But now... now everything would be alright.
But the sound... that was strange. He supposed it could have been another lion... but there was always a chance that it could have been something else. And something else usually meant something dangerous. "Are you sure it was nothing...? We have to be careful around here... I mean, the Oasis is usually safe, but we can never really be sure..."
VoiceOfDoom1739 (10:26:46 PM): Sepoko shook his head. No, no, it really had to have been just him. He'd heard it so clearly, he could swear, but no... there was nothing. He could scent nothing on the wind and hear not another sound. "I understand that... but I really think it was nothing." He glanced back into Ilori's eyes. "Let's just leave it be. We should probably be getting back, hm? It's late." He smiled the best smile he could for his old friend. God, he'd heard what he heard so clearly, too... but it was gone now, like the wind. He shook his head. No, he had Ilori back now... everything was going to be fine.
demonstrationevi (10:33:16 PM): Ilori tilted his head and smiled a little, "Okay... if you're sure." He looked up into the sky and grinned, "Yeah, I guess that we should head back... if you're sure." He said with another small grin, "You should meet my parents... but my brother is a little bit... well, he's rude." He chuckled absently. "Come on, let's head back... I think the fireflies should lead the way for us. Besides, it's about time that someone switched guards duty with me." He stood up and began to trot off, "Come on!"
VoiceOfDoom1739 (10:36:35 PM): Sepoko shrugged as he stood, stretching, starting to finally feel all the walking he'd been doing. "I can deal with rude," he said. "You should've met my brother... he was... more than rude." He stared at the ground. Generally speaking, he tried not to think of Ajabu much... though much as his brother had tormented him, he still found he really felt his absence. Family is family after all, and being siblingless often made Sepoko a little lonely.
No matter... Ilori's family would be his family for the time being until he figured out what he wanted. "Alright, comin'," he laughed, and he scurried after his young friend as the fireflies glittered in the night and showed them the way home like a million little north stars.
demonstrationevi (10:40:01 PM): Ilori glanced back, looking a little worried, "Well... that sucks. I'm always good at putting up with Nanuka... I torment him back." He laughed a little, "Don't worry, if he's mean to you, I'll rough-house him into submission." He decided to keep the conversation light. Really, who needed to think negativley?
He was still happy to have Sepoko trail after him... it would be nice to have a real friend around now, instead of just his family and a few aquantences. He followed the fireflies. They had always been excellent at leading him home.
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