[PRP] I'll Never Give Up On You (Issa/Idris)

[Painted Moose]

Asili'issa padded down through the tall grass with a heavy heart. It was already so late in the day, but he had decided not turned to go back to the den. Guilt ran strong him as he walked around the hunting grounds. What was he supposed to say when he went back?

Idris hadn't lied to him, neither had his mother really, but he felt so betrayed. Every time he would try to concoct a way to fix things in his mind, something would crop up to stop him. They had almost fought, for Gods' sake! Looking over his shoulder, the tan lion gave into a sigh. Somewhere out there his mother was fuming, and Idris might be as well. When they calmed down, though, his mother would weep and Idris would worry. Neither of which he wanted. How do I start fixing this? If he even could.

Cornetified

 

[Cornetified]

Lying in the den, Idris just stared over at the wall of the cave. Life... was wonderful. She loved her mate, she had beautiful children, they were safe and healthy and strong... She finally had a home again. So why...? Why did Ruva have to come and ruin things? That wench was always ruining things!

She sighed softly and squeezed her eyes shut. Ruva was Issa's mother... How had she not seen it? How had she been so blind? ...How had Ruva given birth to such an amazing guy?

..But, now, that amazing guy was wandering around somewhere other than home. He was out there, trying to figure out what had just happened between his mate and his mother... Not knowing what he was thinking was driving her crazy, weighing like a stone on her shoulders. She couldn't just leave Issa, but.. how could she handle what she'd learned? Her enemy was the mother of her mate... The longer he was away, the longer she wondered if she could look at him again and not see Ruva in his face... There were so many different kinds of emotions and pain simmering within her mind. ..She hadn't felt so down and low and afraid since she'd been exiled from her birth pride.

Issa... Was she going to lose another family?  

[Painted Moose]

Cornetified

It had taken Issa a couple of hours to come around, but he had eventually decided to return home. The male padded heavily with his head hung while a thousand little needles pounded into his skull. That's what I get for thinking too much today. His family meant the world to him, and he couldn't just let that fall apart because of some in-fighting.

Sure, it had gone on for years before he was even born. Sure, he had unknowingly brought about war. Sure, there would likely be no peace from now on. It wasn't as if he was the only one in the world with a mate and a parent that didn't get along, right?

...and to this degree? So long as they didn't kill each other he might have a shot at mending this thing.

"Idris?" He called out hesitantly. "You home?"  

[Cornetified]

As the evening darkened, Idris started clawing at the wall of the cave to distract herself. She didn't want to leave if Issa came back, but she hating sitting and waiting. She hated not knowing...

She froze when she heard the paw steps shuffling outside of the den, ears perking to listen. She nearly cried with relief when Issa's voice reached her ears, but she kept her maw stiff. She couldn't melt yet. Idris pushed to stand and padded out of the shadows toward the mouth of the den. Eyes falling on Issa though, she paused.

Violet eyes looked at Issa... and still saw Issa. He was Issa, and always would be. She felt her eyes burning slightly, that annoying water trying to fill them. "Issa... please.. let me tell you about Ikanna..."

Painted Moose

 

[Painted Moose]

Cornetified

His ears were folded back into his mane, expression mixed between uncertainty and longing. He had it bad; at times Issa still felt like that adolescent who had fallen head over paw just to get her attention. Yet, there was a side of her he didn't know and that made him hesitate. Could he still love her, once he knew about her past? Would she still love him because of his mother?

"Is he...is that your brother's name? Ikanna?" His soft mane fell around his eyes, giving him an all together vulnerable look. He wanted to know what had happened to cause this huge rift between those two, but how much could he push without the crack getting worse?  

[Cornetified]

Hearing Issa say her brother's name... Idris nodded shortly. With how her life had been going lately, she hadn't spent much time thinking about her brother. She still missed him, wondered how he was and what he was doing, but she'd been busy with a mate and cubs. She had a new life. Now, it was all bring dragged back out.

She tried to start talking, but her breath was caught in her lungs. She didn't even know how to start... Finally, she exhaled heavily, and inhaled again, sitting back on her haunches. "Ruva and I came from another pride. We grew up together, in a sense. ...We've never done anything but fight for as long as I can remember." The innocent days of their friendship were too far in the past to recollect for her. "Ikanna.. was my world. He took care of me, and I took care of him. Our parents died when we were just cubs, so we raised each other." Finally, a few tears fell from her eyes, making her clench her teeth. Ikanna... If she was to honor her brother, if she was to keep her mate... She gasped softly, shaking her head to keep herself going.

"Then.. Ruva said that she and Ikanna were together. That she loved him. Ikanna never spoke of it to me though. She had to be lying. ..I confronted her about it, and there was a fight." As her mind went into the past, her words came out more desperately, gasping softly when she paused for air, the words falling out quicker. Her heart was pounding, and the tears came more freely. "We ended up in the river. There were crocodiles. Ikanna came and got us out, but he got attacked by them. He was hurt so badly, he couldn't do his job as a guard anymore. Ruva and I were banished from the pride. ..I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. I lost everything. ..We lost everything."

She gasped a few times, and shook her head roughly again, eyes squeezing shut to bite back the tears. She hadn't felt so vulnerable.. well, ever! It was a miserable feeling. "I hate her, Issa. I hate her, and nothing you say will change that. But, I don't want to lose you. I can't.." Gods, what could she do?

Painted Moose

 

[Painted Moose]

Cornetified

Issa crossed the distance between them and placed his paw on Idris'. He could tell this was hard for his mate to talk about, and he didn't wish to see her go through anymore pain than she had to. Even through all of this, he wanted to protect her. The lion kept his mouth shut, and allowed her to work through it. This was something they both needed; Idris had to open up to him for Issa to understand. That's all there was to it. Seeing his normally stoic mate tear up, though...It killed him.

"So...you think that because the two of you fought all the time, that she was only saying she loved him to get at you? Did you ever ask him about how he felt?" The possibility that his mother had actually loved someone, had felt what he felt now, was baffling. There was no doubt that she loved her cubs, but to love another...Lying like that wasn't below her, but at the same time Issa had to think of his mother. She had never mentioned Ikanna, or any previous lovers outside of his father, but did that mean she'd never loved?

"...I wish I had known." Issa shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment while everything settled in his mind. "I couldn't have kept you from the memories, but I could have been an ear to listen. For both of you." When he opened his eyes, Issa looked to his mate. He reached up to wipe away her tears. "You don't have to like her; I'll never ask the two of you to be close and I won't try to force it. If you...if you promise not to hide anything from me again, then I'll promise not to hide anything from you. I'm as much at fault in this as either one of you. I should have told you who my mother was; I was afraid of her, of what she would do, and-" Issa paused and shook his head. "-but not now. I love my mother and I love you. I'm never going to leave you, Idris, so you're stuck with me."  

[Cornetified]

Idris couldn't help a small snarl as Ruva was defended. "Ikanna would have said something if it had been real. Explained it. Something!" Biting her tongue, she looked down at the large paw covering her own. She couldn't believe that her brother would have hid something so important... Sure, she would have been furious, but still-!

Speaking of hiding though... She looked up as the tears were wiped at, and she slowly shook her head. "I.. I'm sorry, Issa. I didn't mean to hide it from you. Not purposely. ..It was a past that I was ready to forget. I thought is was behind me. I wanted to moved on, with the pride, my new life, and with you."

She couldn't help that Issa loved his mother, so that was how she would see it. Ruva and Issa's mother were two different parts. She could appreciate the mother half, even if she loathed the Ruva half.

It took a moment for his words to finish sinking in. A wave of relief washed over her, and she nuzzled her head up under Issa's chin. He wasn't going to leave... "I love you, Issa."

Painted Moose

 

[Painted Moose]

He pulled back in the after shock of her attack. "Okay, okay, so maybe he would have. Maybe he wouldn't. We don't have Ikanna here to question, so we don't know his verdict." Although, after all of this blew over, Issa would be tempted to seek out the male. If anything else he could help mend the war that climaxed because of him.

"You can't really bury the past, Idris. Not really. It has a way of catching up to you. Look at our son; he looks exactly like my deceased father, and is a reminder of the folly that brought me into this world." His mother had thought herself so sneaky cheating on one twin with another, but it had come back around to bite her; hard.

He brought his paws around her and held his mate close. "I love you too, Idris." Issa laid his head over ontop of hers, breathing in the scent of her as Idris' mane tuft brushed against his paw. "...Even if you are an old woman now." He had to grin a bit. "I didn't get the chance to tell you that you're a grandmother. Vogel and Brynne had a litter, and Waridi's mate is pregnant. We'll be swamped with cubs soon."

Cornetified

Your next post can end it. 83

 

[Cornetified]

Idris clenched her jaw tight. That's right. Ikanna wasn't here. She'd never see him again anyway...

She gave a little blink of surprise as Ruva's choices were brought up as example. Well, the past had been brought up. Time to let it rest again. She could be content now, knowing there was nothing else buried within.

Growling playfully at the 'old woman' title, she nipped at his neck before nuzzling it again. It took another moment for Issa's words to sink in about their family. "...WHAT?!"

Painted Moose

Fin! XD