Slight back log

After their little adventure it was nice to have a chance to rest a little. Hotza was showing him around the pride. He found it very welcoming. All the pride members he met were fairly nice, though some a bit weird. He felt that he could really fit in around there. Hotza and him were making their way down the beach. He enjoyed seeing what sort of trinkets they could find on their walks. Hotza would always laugh at him when he would get so excited and pick something up. It didn't matter if it was an insignificant item or even a beautiful looking gem, he would always act like he found a wondrous treasure.

“If you don't mind me asking, what ever brought you to these lands Hotza?” Aureo asked as they walked. He had told her some of his stories, though never the full thing. His past was something he preferred not bringing up. In fact before he started his journey he had a fight with his father. His father had wanted him to become a soldier. However Aureo did not like the thought of killing another lion. He had a hard enough time thinking about how he would soon be stealing from others. After his fight with his father he faked his own death and ran away. Everything worked out perfectly. “I don't know much about you to be honest. I am really curious.”

She laughed. “Well there isn't much to tell to be honest. I wanted to find a place where I belonged and here I am.” She gave him a smile and nudged her head into his mane. “I've come to accept this place as my home. At first I think I didn't really fit in. It took me a little bit to get used to my surroundings.”

“What about you? You have been searching for the pride for ages. This pride must be something special for you as well. You gave up your life of roaming where every you want to end up staying here. What would drive a lion to do such a thing?” She asked curiously. She had known for a while that he was holding something back. It hurt her a bit to think that he didn't trust her. The fact was that she knew she wasn't trust worthy, at least not yet. The two of them had only met recently. Though she was sure they had a special bond. She was sure she wasn't imagining it. In her life she had many crushes, though they always came and went. With Aureo she was sure she had something special with him.

“I heard about the pride while I was traveling in the rogue lands. He told me stories about the adventures pirates got themselves into. It seemed like something I would like to do as well. So I decided to travel there. I ran into some trouble a few times, but always manged to scrape out of them. Than I met you.” He told the story and gave her a smile. “It's not quite as grand of a story as I would like it to be. I have a few interesting adventures on the way here of course, but realizing I wanted to be a pirate wasn't that big of a deal for me.”

Aureo hated lying, but he had to do it. He wasn't ready to explain his old pride yet. It was an old scar that still hadn't healed. He would slowly work on telling her the truth. Until than he would keep his skeletons buried. He found a small blue gem and picked it up with his paw. “This is quite lovely isn't it. Here you have it.” He handed it to Hotza. She scooped it up and placed it into a bag she was wore around her neck.

“Thank you Aureo.” She gave him a little nudge with her head. She was still saddened by the fact that he wouldn't tell her about his past, but she didn't worry. “If you ever need someone to talk to Aureo I am here to listen. I am good at that. I would love to hear about all your adventures, from your scary ones to your silly ones.”
“I will probably take you up on that offer. I like the fact that I have a friend in the pride already. I think it will be easier for me to adjust to the pride.” He confessed. It had worried him that there was a chance that the pirates might be more violent than he was. He knew he wouldn't change himself to fit in either. If they couldn't accept him as he was he would just leave. So far he was sure that he wouldn't have to. “I am getting a bit tired. Why don't we head back.”

He didn't want to wander at night with Hotza. In his old pride that would cause many rumors. He didn't want anything like that to happen to Hotza. He was okay if the pride started rumors about him. It wouldn't be any good to have rumors about her.

“Sounds good to me. Since you don't have a place to sleep yet, you can share my den.” Hotza suggested without much thought. She was just trying to be kind and generous. She didn't notice Aureo's worrisome look toward her. After he didn't answer right away she looked at him and realized that he was worried. “I don't bite Aureo and I don't expect anything. We can share a den for a night and than you can be on your way. I am not looking for a mate and neither are you I assume. Pirates usually don't have mates. They prefer to fling around. Even I have had my share of flings around here. No one will think less of you if you do so.”

Aureo had a hard time believing that flings were okay. In his last pride flings were highly discouraged unless you belonged to the soldier class. Than it was expected. That was one of his problems with his father wanting him to become a soldier. At the time he didn't like the idea of flinging around. However when he was traveling he realized that he had done the occasional fling once or twice. It just sort of happened. He planned on finding a proper mate once arriving at Maestros Del Mar. It seemed though that having a mate might be out of the question.

He thought about her offer. “I am going to find somewhere else to sleep if you don't mind Hotza. It will help me adjust better I think.” He said it carefully, hoping it wouldn't upset her. Things were happening to fast for him and he didn't want to make a mistake he would regret later.

Hotza gave him a nod. “It's understandable. If you do get lonely though you are welcome to find me.” They walked back to the pride silently. There wasn't much to talk about at that point. They reached the dens. Aureo figured he would sleep on the sand for the night. Tomorrow he would make himself a proper den. Hotza looked at him with her light blue eyes. “Aureo, I want us to be friends. I know this whole thing is awkward for you, but I want to help you through it.”

Aureo nodded his head. Hotza walked away toward her den. He found a spot on the sand and went to rest.

WC: 1,267