[SRP] When I Let You Down (Laanfa/Al-Ha)

[Meepfur]

Laanfa was lost, in more ways than one.

After months of wandering aimlessly, this way and that, she had no idea where she was anymore. Which way was home? She didn't know, but even if she did, she wouldn't have been able to go there. She had yet to find her name, a task she was no closer to completing than she had been on the day she'd left. She was supposed to have some kind of personal revelation, experience some life-changing event or glorious moment of enlightenment, and so far...nothing. She wasn't even sure exactly how long she'd been gone; she'd long since lost track of the days. Her poor mother probably thought that she was dead.

The thought made Laanfa's heart twist. She had promised Apanthi that she would return safely, but here she was, hopelessly lost and without a name. It was shameful.

It was also getting dark, and Laanfa didn't like the dark. It was one of many things that frightened her. She needed to find somewhere to stop and rest for the night, anything that might offer her a bit of cover. She didn't trust the things that came out after the sun set.  

[Meepfur]

Al-Hattal, on the other hand, always looked forward to the setting of the sun. While being a god had its fair share of benefits, miraculous protection rom the heat of the sun was not one of them. God or no, he was still black, and that meant that being out and about during the day was still ridiculously hot and unpleasant. Oh, sure, he could have gone and sat around in the Haven, but that was, more often than not, interminably boring. Goddesses were not quite as susceptible to his charms are mortal females, he had found.

He supposed that making himself invisible might help, but he wasn't sure. When he was invisible, was he really invisible, or did other creatures just not perceive him? Regardless, being invisible was also boring. He wanted to be seen! Turning invisible only worked to impress females after they'd seen him; being invisible to begin with and then popping out of it was a sure way to scare the living hell out of someone.

Not generally advisable.  

[Meepfur]

She missed the mountain. She missed the swamp even more. She hated the big, open space that was the savannah, especially at night. She felt so exposed, so vulnerable...

The silhouette of a large tree looked promising, and Laanfa hurried towards it. She didn't like climbing trees, as she wasn't very good at it and was afraid of falling, but she'd do it if she had to. She'd far rather sleep in a tree than out in the open on the ground.

Once she'd reached the tree, she peered up at the branches, assessing how climbable it really was. There were low enough branches that she could probably get up there, thick enough that the weight of a lioness wouldn't break them. Good. She paced at the base of the trunk for a minute before taking a deep breath and starting her short climb.  

[Meepfur]

A flash of white in the tall grass caught his eye, and he tracked it with his gaze, curious, until it reached a tree and jumped up to climb it. He thought at first that it must be a leopard, but no, it was too big to be a leopard. Intrigued, he moved closer, and was soon able to make out that it was a lioness. Huh. A lioness who wasn't actually much good at climbing, from what he could see. She scrabbled, slid, and very nearly fell several times, until she finally managed to reach what apparently deemed an acceptable height and sprawl out on a branch, panting.

This sight would have been a funny one, if Al-Hattal weren't a completely hopeless failure at climbing trees. He always had been. He could hardly laugh at someone for doing something he couldn't do at all. Plus, it was a female, which made him even less inclined to laugh at her. That would have been rude.

Never able to resist meeting a lioness, the god sidled closer to the tree. "How ever did you get up there?" he inquired, as though he were admiring the feat and hadn't just watched her do it. "That's quite a perch for a lion."  

[Meepfur]

Laanfa had been much too preoccuppied with her efforts at climbing to notice the male approach, and the voice from below took her by surprise. She jumped a little, just enoguh to unbalance her precarious position, and had to scrabble and dig in her claws to keep from falling out of the tree. She clung to the branch like her life depended on it and finally righted herself, but exertion and surprise both had her panting heavily.

Once she was reasonably sure she wasn't going to fall, she looked down to see who'd spoken to her, and stared at the big black lion with wide eyes. Oh, he was big! Very big. And she was very glad that she was up here.

"I-I...um. I...I climbed," she answered haltingly.  

[Meepfur]

Oops. He really hadn't meant to startle her, and he cringed when she almost fell out of three. When she'd regained her balance, he let out a sight of relief. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you," he assured her, expressing genuine concern. "Are you alright?"

Lions had definitely not been made to climb trees, and was no exception to the rules, so what was she doing up there in the first place?  

[Meepfur]

"I'm f-fine," she replied, trying to calm her breathing. He was big and dark, yes, but he seemed nice enough. Not everyone and everything in the world was out to get her - and in fact, she had yet to actually suffer any real harm on her pilgrimage - and he deserved the benefit of the doubt. Just because he looked scary didn't mean he was actually someone to be scared of.

Laanfa took a deep breath, swallowed her doubt, and smiled politely. "No harm done."  

[Meepfur]

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," he said, smiling up at her. "I would never forgive myself if anyone came to harm because of me." A bit of a stretch, that, but not a huge one. By 'anyone,' he really meant 'any female,' but it would have sounded creepy to say it that way.

"What are you doing up there, if you don't mind my asking?"  

[Meepfur]

He had a nice smile, she decided, and perhaps he was actually nice. Talking to him wouldn't hurt anything, and maybe it would even help. She knew that some pilgrims found their names with help from others. Maybe that was where she'd been going wrong, avoiding other creatures because she was afraid of them.

"I just, um. Came up here to sleep, that's all. It's going to be dark soon."  

[Meepfur]

"That it is. Do you not like to sleep on the ground? Aren't you afraid you'll fall out of the tree while you sleep?" There must be something she was afraid of, if she was climbing trees and sleeping in them. That was not normal behavior for any lion.  

[Meepfur]

"No, I don't. And...maybe a little, but I'd rather sleep in a tree. Not much else climbs trees except for leopards, so I feel safe up here. And then I sleep better. I don't have to worry about hyenas or anything." Apanthi had told her awful stories about hyenas, and in Laanfa's imagination, they were the chief monsters of her nightmares.  

[Meepfur]

"Ah, hyenas. I wouldn't worry too much about them, unless you have a kill. Unless you have somethign they want, like food, most of them won't bother a lion. It is wise to be careful, though, when you're alone," he added, not wanting to make her feel silly for being afraid. "Would you like some company for the night? I can guard your tree for you, and you can tell me why you don't like hyenas. Or not, if you don't want to."

"My name's Al-Hattal, by the way."  

[Meepfur]

"Laanfa," she shared. "I'd...like that." As long as he stayed down there, at least for now. Maybe, once she knew him a little better, she might leave the tree, but for now, she would stay right here while they talked.