[PRP] Scars from Tomorrow (Asil/Evren)

[Meepfur]

It had been months now since Asil had been out on his first patrol, a patrol that had led to a glorious fight and his victory - and, more importantly, his very first scar! It was not, if he was honest, a very impressive scar, little more than a line across his shoulder, but he was very proud of it. It gave him character, he thought, and would surely make him more appealing to the lionesses of the Burkuteshti...although he was beginning to suspect that he was going to need more to accomplish that, as he had yet to actually garner the extra attention he'd been hoping for. Unfortunately for him, his patrols since had been quiet, and so had almost everyone else's.

If he'd been older, or at least wiser, the quiet might have unsettled rather than simply disappointed him. It was rather annoying, really, that the Qyrhyeshti had been so reclusive of late; he wanted to kill one next time, but was beginning to get bored with waiting for his chance to do so.

In the absence of danger on his 'day off,' Asil went looking for his sister. As adults and warriors with responsibilities, they could sometimes go a few weeks without seeing each other, and though it would be difficult to ever get him to admit it, he missed having his twin around all the time.  

[Hopefolly]

Evren was young, with plenty of lessons to be learned and wisdom to be gained. A battlefield left unattended didn't perturb her either, but disappointed? Far from it. The quiet lulled her into a false sense of security. In peace, she found comfort — and in comfort, she knew shame. Evren had a lust, but it wasn't for the blood of her enemies. She had her ambitions, but they weren't for victory. She did her best to retain all she'd been taught, all the beliefs she'd been raised to have.

She played her part. At times it was so convincing she started to wonder if she wasn't becoming who she'd always wanted to be: More like Asil. More like she saw everyone else, blessed with a uniform sameness and so certain of the world. Yet at the same time, she feared being nothing more than another corpse, another soldier, another anything. She kept to herself as much she could, watching and listening, hoping to find what she was missing and just be — and want to be — normal.

If not for the absence of combat, Evren's other secret would have been easily overlooked. Her pridemates would be too busy surveying the horizon for the enemy to note her lingering glances toward a certain someone, and that Evren was often in close proximity of that someone, and that she seemed anxious to excuse herself from any male company not of her blood outside that someone's. Suspicions and gossip started to become more akin to common knowledge.

The sky was blue, the sand was hot, the Qyrhyeshti were thieves, and Evren bint Tolu had a foolishly amorous fixation for the Bey's brother.

It was pure happenstance Asil caught her dwelling on it, though. She set up away from the others, off by her lonesome, in her own little world, running her paw along the sand to create pictures that resembled four imaginary sons.

She paused.

And one daughter. A precious little female of her very own.

"Darya bint Evren," she recited, and perhaps Asil heard it. She'd already noticed him approaching. By time he reached her, the new addition was complete.

Evren wished for a peaceful world where she could keep all her cubs, where none would have to die. She hoped their opposition had been somehow decimated so this could be her reality. Another secret to keep, but no one would fault her aspiring motherhood and she felt relieved to know she could finally share something genuine with her most beloved sibling.

She turned and smiled at him, still seated. "Look, Asil. Four nephews and a niece. What do you think?"

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

His twin, it was fair to say, had a significant helping of sense that Asil was in distinct lack of. Perhaps he would grow into some - or have it beaten into him - eventually, but for the time being he remained a young, foolish male obsessed with glory. And, to no small extent, females, and in the Burkuteshti, glory and prowess in battle were prerequisites for attracting members of the opposite sex. If he didn't fight and win, what good could he be considered to anyone?

Well, perhaps Evren wouldn't mind if he were useless, but everyone else certainly would, their mother included. Tolu wouldn't just be disappointed, she'd be ashamed, and that alone would have been motivation enough to push him into fighting. He'd rather face the whole of the Qyrhyeshti than his mother.

As he strolled casually to his sister's side, he thought he heard her something that ended in 'bint Evren,' but...no, surely he'd misheard!

Or not. He opened his mouth, shut it, blinked wide gray eyes at her and her drawing, and opened his mouth again. This time, words actually came out. "This isn't your way of telling me something, is it?"

Hopefolly

 

[Hopefolly]

Mix Evren's sense with Asil's foresight and together they stood a chance of being downright intelligent. It hadn't occurred to Evren what the drawings might infer without thorough explanation prefacing them. She tittered a laugh. "No, not yet, but one day. I was just killing time — although, I'd rather be killing Qyrhyeshti. Not much to do but fantasize since they've kept to themselves." She smiled again, one warm and exclusive to her brother's presence. "What did mother say when you showed her your scar?" queried Tolu's lesser child, who despite her silent pleas of peace, admired the disfigurement with envy.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Good." He breathed an audible sigh of relief and plopped down beside his sister. "I wouldn't want to have to kill the Bey's brother. I don't think that would go over very well." Oh yes, he'd heard the rumors about Evren's infatuation - which was all well and good, fine, everyone had a crush at some point or another, but Evren was his sister. If some scarred-up old male thought he could just saunter into the picture and sweep her off her paws without at least asking him, they were sorely mistaken! Although he suspected that if he said as much, he might end up smacked.

Asil cleared his throat and grinned, shooing brotherly concerns to back of his mind in favor of self-preservation. "I thought she was going to fuss at me at first, the way she looked, but then she just said 'It's a start.'"

Hopefolly

 

[Hopefolly]

Meepfur

As he sat next to her, Evren laughed. She'd have done anything but kill for Asil's confidence and that was most of why she needed it. I would miss you if you tried, she thought. The love for her brother knew no bounds. But it was a familiar, steady love of a different sort. No matter who she'd choose to cheer for if Asil and Gaspard met to brawl, she knew it wasn't her twin who would stand the victor.

"Is that all she said?" Evren chortled with disbelief, not merriment. "I shouldn't be surprised. Wouldn't it make more sense for the best warriors to not have scars? As in they... They'd just crush their opponents before they knew what hit them!"  

[Meepfur]

"We're still a long way from being the legendary warriors she had in mind," he said with a snort, though his tone was not without affection. He really did love his mother, even if she could be...overzealous. She was far from the only Burkuteshti parent who could be accused of such.

"Theoretically, I suppose, but if their opponent wasn't good enough to get a hit in on them, then they weren't a very good warrior, and defeating them wouldn't be impressive. Something like that."

Hopefolly

 

[Hopefolly]

Meepfur

"I hadn't thought of it like that." She was thinking it now and it still didn't make sense to her. Why couldn't a lion just be such a superb warrior that no opponent, inept or skilled, could get a hit on them? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And all this battle talk...

"Is there someone you like?" Evren asked, not for the first or second or fifth time. Since they were cubs she'd been nagging him about this, and unlike most siblings, it wasn't to taunt him. This she knew more about than him. This didn't make her feel inferior to talk about.  

[Meepfur]

"I like everyone," Asil deflected cheerfully, an answer he often gave to the question she often asked. The smart-mouthed moment was soon followed by a sigh, however, and a sagging of his posture, and then an honest answer. "No. No one in particular. It doesn't matter, anyway. I haven't done anything that would impress anyone."

Why would someone like him, when he barely had any scars? There were much more impressive, experienced males than him to choose from.

Hopefolly

 

[Hopefolly]

Meepfur

Evren had snorted at that joke once. Twice tops. She made a habit of rolling her eyes at it now, albeit not disparagingly. She had no justification for even that; his sister wasn't anymore innocent of repetitive quips. "Sure you do," came the echo of Bad Japes Past. "You have the prettiest coat on this side or the other." Evren grinned at him.  

[Meepfur]

"Not anymore, sister! I'm afraid yours is now prettier than mine, since mine is no longer perfect." Asil did his very best to look and sound broken-hearted at this development, though it was difficult to hold the grin back. "Now you're going to get all the girls."

Hopefolly

 

[Hopefolly]

Meepfur

Asil's face was promptly reintroduced to Evren's paw when she lifted the right one and swatted at his forehead. "Shut up," she blurted out, absent any witty come backs and any real agitation. "You're such a cub, you know that?"  

[Meepfur]

Paw. In his face. Not the first time, very certainly not the last. Asil grunted and fell back overdramatically. "Cub? Hnph. I'll show you cub!"

And just like an overgrown one, he pounced.

Hopefolly