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 Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 9:06 am
Sekizen had been on the verge of a nap... He'd tried to hunt something, but failed again to catch anything of great value. Just a rabbit, that he gave to a rather hungry-looking cub on his way back home. The lion wished that he had the strength to get some... substantial food. No, rabbit was the best Sekizen could muster.
He had long since returned to the cave and awaited the return of Malika. He was glad that she was starting to feel comfortable with the lands, she fit in perfectly with the beautiful surrounding landscape. He had been just about to sleep when he heard her familiar voice, though something was wrong with it... It sounded more desperate, weaker. He immidiately got up and left the cave to see Malika staggering towards him. She had a cut on her face and looked in poor shape.
"Malika!" He cried as he hurried towards her so that, should she collapse, he'd catch her. "What happened?" He'd failed her, but that was at the back of his mind.
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Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 9:21 am
 The white lioness was staggering toward the mouth of the den. Her breathing was harsh and shallow making her whole body tremble with each intake of breath.
Seeing her first born daughter again had sent a jolt throughout her whole body, terrifying her yet....exciting her at the same time. The whole meeting had flow by quickly but it wasn't pleasant, no not at all. The truth of the matter was that it scared her, scared her terribly.
Zagaa'Tamanio was like a stone, an angry stone, for the lack of a better way of describing her eldest daughter. She had strength, determination and most of all anger. It was the anger that frightened her. However it wasn't just that, it was the fact that Tama had shown up, so suddenly. It was like Nyekundu didn't want to let her go, wanted to keep haunting her in a sense.
It wasn't to say that Malika wanted to forget about her daughters, no it was quite the opposite, she wanted to be apart of their lives, but knew that she never would be now and the only thing she wanted to forget was him. The salmon striped beast.
Would she ever be able to? No....she probably wouldn't. He would continue to haunt her sleep or flit in and out of them.
Right now Malika really needed someone by her side. Not just anyone, the white and black lighting marked male. She needed Sekizen. "Sekizen?" She called again rather weakly feeling hot tears build up at her eyes and running down her cheeks. Then just as she called him he came.
"Thank god you're here." She mumbled wearily stumbling forward toward him. Almost collapsing she shook her head shutting her eyes. "I thought she was dead.....I thought they were all dead....then she came..." Malika probably wasn't making any sense.
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Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 9:44 am
Sekizen squinted as he went to her side and helped support some of her weight. "You should sit down, or lie down. Come on, let's go into the cave, it's cooler there." He said simply, helping her as much as he could. Sekizen was fairly scrawny, for an adult male, but he was still stronger than her, and strong enough to help her into a place where she could rest, a place where she was safe; it seemed she'd need that soon. As for now, her mind was obviously more troubled than her body.
Was someone hunting her? A group? He suddenly had an urge to move their "home base" further inland, but he wasn't going to jump to conclusions. More of her past would be revealed to him, he felt, but as always, he wasn't going to push her. He headed off towards the cave with her, but he didn't want to ask anything until he knew she wasn't going to collapse. Once she was comfortable, he'd ask.
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Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 10:05 am
Once he was by her side she leaned against him, even in her state of shock and troubled mind it felt nice to have him there next to her. She followed him as he led her into the safety of the cave. Once inside she collapse to her belly all of her strength leaving her.
"She hates me....Sekizen. She hates me and will never forgive me..." She told him shaking her head, tears still streaming. "I can't blame her though.....no...I did abandon her....abandoned all of them.." Malika was still rambling but bit by bit it was starting to connect and make sense. "I'm a terrible mother..." She whispered burying her head in her paws.
She couldn't look at him, not at all. Everything was just building up around her and then falling to pieces. Would her past mistakes greatly affect her future?
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Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:17 am
Sekizen layed down by her, hoping that somehow it'd help. He was about to ask who hated her, but then Malika answered his question.
His face turned to one of desperation. The last thing he wanted was for Malika to be upset... Or this torn up. He didn't know what to say, but he let her finish what she had to say. "Malika," he said with a soft deep tone. His voice was warm, inviting even. Though he was unused to showing his feelings, he knew how to handle them. He had often finished off his own emotions just to hide them. "It'll turn out fine," he purred as he rested his head on her back. He'd never had cubs before, so he didn't truly understand the viewpoint of Malika's. He purred... "You must have had a good reason to leave them, perhaps she doesn't know it," Seki offered, hoping it would help rather than hurt.
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Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:44 am
"Will it really? How can you know?" Malika asked, almost demanding that he explain what he meant. "You should have seen her....she had scars all over her body and she was angry....so very very angry. No wait...Bitter is a better word for it. She was bitter and...Oh gods it's all my fault." She tried to explain things but found that she couldn't. "It's all my fault she's like that, she's pregnant too but not the happy kind...that can only mean one thing!" She couldn't finish the sentence, it was too terrible.
Malika still had her head buried into her paws and slowly lifted it up to look at him. "Do you want to know the truth?" She asked rhetorically before continuing. "I'm not sure why I left....It's all a blur, I...I think that...that...that" Great she was stammering again, something she hated so much about herself. It was the one thing that seemed like it would never go away. "It happened when his daughter, the princess....yes the princess....came and made an announcement...." She stopped having a faraway look in her eyes as she recalled the day she learned of the kings death.
"He's dead." Afritti announced stoically.
Dead? A murrmer went through the crowd of lions who assembled, most out of fear of the princesses father.
"The king, my father Nyekundu is dead." She said one more time coldly before turning away and trotting off to the mistweaver boy, Moses. "Let's go Moses, there is nothing left for us here."
That having been said the princess left.
Everyone around her murmered about signs of finally being free. All except Malika. For her it seemed like the world had stopped. Had she really just heard that? Nyek was dead? What about his promise? His promise to be there. To help her. And now he had gone and died!
Before she knew it she was running, hard and fast out of the oasis not knowing where she was going only that she had to get away fast.
Suddenly she winced and jerked away from Sekizen covering her head with her paws. "No, no no no!" She was cringing at the memory. "I ran away...."
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:28 pm
Sekizen didn't want to tell her to forget, but... he could think of nothing else. He shook that idea out of his head quickly. "Shh, Malika. It's ok..." He pulled himself closer to her, an apoligetic look on his face. Females were so... complicated. He wished he understood parenthood, he'd be more of a comfort, but he didn't. "I'm here for you now, I'll always be here for you. I'll stand by you in whatever you do, Malika," he said softly. "Whatever you want to do, I'll be with you," he said as he laid his head on his own paws, nose touching her elbow.
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:05 am
Her body was still trembling as he spoke and drew himself closer. When his nose touched her she moved her paws and looked at him still shaking. Then Malika buried her face into his mane since he was so close..."Do you promise? I don't want to be left alone again....not again..." She needed him to promise her because if he didn't she feared that like last time when someone told her they'd be there they disappeared or died leaving her on her own.
It had happened with the seer of the oasis and then with Nyek..Was it bound to happen again? "I..I..I'm scared..S-S-Sekizen...scared.." Malika stuttered more tears falling from her cheeks.
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 10:19 am
"I promise you Malika. You won't be alone anymore," Sekizen said softly, nuzzling closer to her. "You're fine, don't be scared. I'll be with you, I promise," he said again, hopefully emphasizing his point. He really did mean it. He knew now what exactly it was that he felt for her; he loved her.
He knew that for now, the best he could do was let her cry and be there for her. If he told her to stop, that would hurt her more (and be mean anyway.) She needed to get it all out, he knew that most couldn't just dispose of emotions like he could... he was pretty sure anyway.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:09 am
His words were calming, she knew that she could trust him. Perhaps she had always known but just hearing him promise just made things better. The tears kept coming but their flow was slowing and less and less were falling as she leaned against him. "T-thank you." She whispered softly closing her eyes.
Everything would be better now in the pridelands, especially with him at her side. Now when she went through hard times she knew everything would be alright, because of him.
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