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 Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:18 am
The heat of the desert had been a god (or goddess) sent compared to the humidity of the jungle, and as much as Yin-li had enjoyed having a steady, several, supply of water around, it just couldn't make up for the heavy feeling that contantly haunted her limbs while treking through thick foilage-- not to mention learning to hunt in that terrain!
Huang fit right in though, with his bright pelt, he had an easy time hiding amongst the greenary and colorful plants, his dark stripes aiding him. Even her twin had an easier time there, but the rest of them didn't seem to find it quite so homey.
That had been but a temporary stop, though, and she now trekked her way back towards the borders of familiar lands, wary, so wary and cautious, but too hopeful to ignore her urges anymore.
There had been someone left behind when their family fled, and where Huang got to say goodbye to Ilahle, his mistress, and she and Chen to Kadogo, the flight had been far too sudden for her to find Azarax among the chaos. She -had- to know if he'd gotten out unharmed, if he was among the free now, or... gods forbid, among the fallen.
Thankfully her white pelt and minimal black markings made the heat more berable for her than it was for her dark siblings, and her memory was sharp, her sense of smell more so, or she'd probably have been long lost by now. Black eyes scanned the dunes as she crested the last, spotting scruffy plants that marked the beginning of the rogue lands, and the border to the old Firekin territory.
The remaining hints of the rebellion had, for Azarax, slowly began to fade. He slowly made his way down the side of one sand dune, feeling the sand shifting comfortably under his paws. Like it always had, since the day he had been born, since before he could remember, until now. And forever afterward, he knew.
This was his home. It always had been, and always would be, no matter the circumstances. He had, since the rebellion, gotten used to the constant freedom. Not having to worry about the dangers of being out and about, being caught by the Firekin. It was becoming second nature, much easier for him than for some, he knew. He had always had less to worry about.
What had not yet faded with time, however, was his constant wondering of his old friends, and of his family. Where were they now? Ripuka, how had she fared from the rebellion? He hoped her battle injuries would not be too permanent. And what of Jua? Wakia?
And at times, he thought, too, of Savitri, the pure white lioness he had met as a juvenile. And of Yin-li. The thought of the little black and white lioness put a smile on his mouth. Last he had seen her, she had curled up between his forepaws and slowly drifted off to sleep in the shade he provided.
He had not managed to find her following the rebellion, and he wondered whether she had escaped. Or if she, like Savitri, was still with the old Firekin.
Yin-li settled down onto her haunches for a moment, needing rest for a bit. She had been traveling for a long time so far that day and would have a long walk back, plus she wasn't sure if she'd be needing her strength for a fight or flight. Wouldn't that be awful to put it mildly, to be caught by the Firekin, again, or maybe killed on the spot this time? It was because of this that she went back to being alert and staying that way, eyes casting all around warily. It was due to this that she happened to catch a flash of red.
For an instant she panicked, tensed, shot to her paws at the same time that she ducked towards the sand, but then she stopped when she realized that the red was more a vision of a floating head... Azarax, with his tan form and brilliant mane! My but he'd grown since she saw him last, she realized with wide eyes. No wonder she didn't immediately recognize him, he had much more fur now!
"Azarax...!" She called out, hoping he was alone, that her voice would carry far enough. She waited where she stood for now, however, straightly poised again, just in case the situation was not as peaceful as it appeared.
He paused in his stride as the sound of his name cut through his thoughts. That voice, it was familiar. It rang a bell. But there was something different in it. From the last time he had heard it, he was sure. But where had he heard it before?
Then it struck him. Yin-li! His gaze swept the sands as he sought out the black and white pelt. Then she saw her. Looking a little tense, but far less than the last time he had seen her. Back before the rebellion, before the rumors swirling about of Kidondo's returned had been taken seriously. Before he had really heard about it at all. A long, long time ago, he realized.
"Yin-li," He said quietly, as if assuring himself that she was, indeed, there, and not a figment of his own imagination. Things like that happened sometimes.
She had grown since he had last seen her, like he had grown. She was much large - no longer able to fit between his forelegs, he was sure. But it was her, all the same. What was she doing here? He made his way forward with a smile. But she was here, wasn't she? Now, at least, he knew, she was safe.
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:36 pm
"Azarax, I'm so glad to see you again...!" She confessed easily as a slow smile slid across her features. Black orbs observed calmly as he drew ever closer, and finally when he'd reached her she couldn't help but circle him curiously, only then satisfied that he was indeed standing before her unharmed. She couldn't even begin to describe the nightmares she faced every other night when she wondered how their friends had fared; Azarax, Uuo, Kadogo'moto, Ilahle, Moto'spaki, even Azula. There would have been a very heavy price to pay had things gone wrong and Vian had only been able to account for so many.
Finally content with her findings she stopped in front of him again, relaxed, but somehow still brimming with excitement all the same.
"I almost didn't recognize you from a distance, your mane is completely grown in. It suits you..."
The soft smile remained, her eyes trailing just a bit even as she spoke, taking in the bold white streaks through the red, as if defying the natural dominance of the other color, as the rebels had done with the traditionlists not too horribly long ago.
"And I," He said with a chuckle, as if he couldn't quite help but smile in the reunion with an old friend. "Do not have enough words to describe how glad I am to see you." She was growing into a fine young lioness, he saw, as she circled around him. In the face of adolescence, she was losing the baby look that she had the last time he'd seen her, and already was beginning to look every inch a fine huntress.
"Why yes," He said of his mane. "I've been told it rather matches coat." Although, he noted ironically, he himself would never know. What a shame that red and gray do not particularly match. Nor do they clash, but they simply existed side by side. Yes, a shame.
"You've grown, little one," He added, sitting down and settling himself into the sand comfortably.
"Well, I suppose I couldn't stay little forever, though I think my parents would have been happy if it were possible." She thought to her father, whom she had barely been able to convince, comfortably, that she'd be alright making the trek out here. She knew well enough to avoid the Firekin, and had not planned to go past the border where she knew the patrol would already be stretched a bit thin. She took a big enough risk by coming at all, but nothing could have kept her away, in truth. "It seems so strange though, last time I saw you you were still towering over me twice as tall as now...!"
Though he still towered over her a bit. Yin-li would never have anywhere near the Firekin's size, no normal or average rogue lion would, and that was roughly her size as she grew. Thankfully it seemed genes didn't account for everything, so she was catching up on lost ground from being from a large litter.
"How are things now?" Yin-li inquired with gentle spoken curiosity once more as she too settled back into the warm sands, as comfortable as a fish in the water and glad now that her family had opted to retain desert life.
"Stranger for me, don't you think?" He said. "Last time I saw you, you were this tiny little thing that fit between my paws!" He grinned at the memory. Yes, she had, indeed grown. It rather seemed as if starting out small hadn't impeded Yin-li's growth one bit. She had grown much more than he would have thought. Although, he knew, assumptions tended to be wrong.
"Things are... good." He said, settling on the last word for lack of a better one. Because, how could he really describe things? There were no more slaves, and Kidondo and No were better Regents than anyone could ask for. Things were good, yes, because any other word could not have properly described the way things were. "Different," He added. "But good, nonetheless. Much better, really."
"And what about you? Where have you been?"
Yin-li giggled, a sound that had been completely and utterly absent in her youth and the last time she had seen Azarax.
"I guess you have a point there." She grinned, then calmed again. "I'm glad, you seem happier, Azarax, I'm happy for you." Yin-li purred, recalling the family's journey first to the jungle where they met Huang's hybrid friend, then to the Dawnwalkers where they met with her aunt on her father's side, and... well, she wasn't sure what he was. Uncle by "marriage", but also her mother's nephew? Did that make them cousins? If she recalled correctly, yes, it did. She had yet to meet this aunt that was his mother though, so it was harder to really think of Nukta that way. "We've made home with the Dawnwalkers. They're a pride that lives in the desert as well, which is how I was able to come to see you so easily." She smiled.
Azarax smiled again. "So do you," He said, glad, too, that Yin-li seemed a much happier version of the little lioness he had first met. Of course, a life free from servitude was much deserving of joy and laughter. It was only right, then, that she seemed so much more cheerful than before.
"You're close by, then," He said. He was glad of that. So glad, in fact, that it took him by surprise. At least she was one friend of his that he knew he would be able to see. From childhood, he had known very few lions. Savitri, he had known, but she had gone with the Traditionalists. Seeing her was more like a dream than anything now. But Yin-li, she was close. She could still come see him, though he knew that the journey here could not be too easy.
"You fit right in here," He said with a grin. And she did. The colors of her pelt were those of the Firekin, much like many of the new lions that inhabited the lands. Nobody would suspect her from afar, and in any case, she didn't face the threat of being captured or killed here.
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:26 pm
"It's a good feeling not having to live under Azula's constant watch all the time... and... I don't know, I could never really imagine what being free would actually feel like, just from their stories, it's more than I even dreamed about." She admitted with an incredulous expression before calming again. There was a little hole that she'd become aware of that led to this visit, though. She had been unable to make other friends besides Azarax and "aunt" Uuo, and when they left, Huang eventually took off to mend his heartbreak over Ilahle (Yin could see that he really loved her even if it seemed unbelieveable at such a young age, she saw it with her own two eyes.), then they had some time together before he left to join Toh Ni, who Yin suspected may just be his second love. Uuo, Azarax, and now her own brother, all faces she was used to seeing day after day, but now...
"Yes, we're close, luckily... I really missed you and aunt Uuo. One of my brothers left to join a new group forming at least two weeks travel away from here. I'm..."
The thoughts died off there, and her gaze wavered uncertainly. She was going to really miss Huang, growing up so close knit and dependent on one another as their family had been. Now a piece of the picture was missing, not completely gone, but not there anymore. Missing.
Her reply to his last comment was a small, crooked smile. "Tai-fun isn't all that happy about it I'm sure. I think she really wanted to stay somehow, but... you know, she has bits of blue in her fur... But I could be wrong, too. Sometimes I just get this feeling like she's mad we had to leave. Hua too, at least I think she misses her old 'master', like Huang did." She rolled her shoulders in a shrug, the gesture executed with unintentional grace. "But I'm glad, hopefully it means I'll be able to visit still and see you again."
Azarax nodded. He knew the feeling. To have lived a life under someone else's watch, and then, suddenly - miraculously - to have it all disappear. Freedom, or at least for him the freedom to do as he wanted without being watched, far exceeded his wildest childhood dreams. Though the tan lion had adjusted well to governing his own life, and he rarely, if ever, showed how strange it must be for him now. Of course, he had had a much easier time with it than most lions that had grown up in the conditions he had.
He smiled dryly at the mention of Uuo, remembering their brief meeting. Perhaps she had been telling the truth, she had only planned on knocking Ripuka out. But he hadn't known that. He couldn't have been sure. For all either of them knew, Uuo was about kill the old storyteller. It sure had seemed that way, though he supposed death was not the first notion in most lions. He couldn't help but have some reservations about the lioness, but he knew it was smarter to simply leave the past in the past. They were on the same side, after all.
The tan lion shrugged knowingly. "It's hard to leave the place you were born in," He said, realizing then just how lucky he had been, how all of them had been, that they had not been defeated. That the rebels, and those of the Firekin who had come to their side, could still live in this area of the desert. Adjusting to a new place would not have been an easy task.
"You make sure you visit often, then, huh?" He said with a grin. "Don't let it be ages before I see you again."
"Yes... it is." Yin offered another small smile, nodding at his words with agreement. He understood.
Her parents, for all the well they meant, probably had not taken into account the possibility that their children would come to love those lands, though they DID at least make the choice to remain in the desert. It had been difficult for many of the brood to leave the friends and allies and family they'd made though.
"I'll visit whenever I'm able." She laughed at his tease. "Maybe I'll have to make up for the time between by staying for a little while where I can, though I doubt if I could stay within the lands. I can't imagine they'd be alright with letting me come and go as I please right now." There was too much to be risked, she was sure, if the pride really was trying to find it's paws again.
He, too, chuckled. She was right. She would be fine visiting every now and then, but staying around was probably not the best of ideas, so soon after the rebellion. Things had more or less settled down already, but life would still take a while to fully return to normal. Precautions should, he figured, be taken.
It occurred to him that perhaps if he viewed Yin-li's return to visit the lands more as a bystander, and not as one of her friends of old, he should have been more suspicious. Suppose she wasn't with the Dawnwalkers, but a spy for the Traditionalists? Still, there was absolutely no way he could imagine her as a spy. And a liar? Definitely not. Perhaps he was too involved, perhaps his judgement was clouded, but she was still his friend. And he believed her. Judgement and common sense could just go to hell.
Thoughts of spies and politics abandoned, he returned his focus to the conversation. "Maybe you should move here, then," He said jokingly. "Given that you look so much like the rest of us." He paused, considering the irony in his words. "Well, the rest of... the rest of us. Me excluded." He said finally with a grin.
His words didn't have the same affect on her as they had himself. Yin-li didn't laugh, she stared, at least at first. If asked she couldn't have even hoped to explain why the words caught her by such surprise or why they made her give such pause, but she dismissed it quickly and chuckled it away.
"Oh, Azarax... you fit in to me, just fine. Maybe you're not all the 'traditional' red... but you still belong here. You LOOK like you belong here. You carry your own colors and they're the colors of your home. Maybe it's just me but I've always thought lions of the desert should look more... well, like lions of the desert, anyway. The queen of the dawnwalkers actually hails from the jungle, but she looks as if the desert itself spit her out, and it couldn't be more obvious that she belongs... I think the same goes for you. Maybe their precious 'blood' didn't chose you, but the desert did."
... Oh...
When she realized she'd been going on, but more importantly, realized what she'd been going on about and how impassioned she'd become, Yin-li had the good sense to look a little embarrassed.
He could see and hear in the way she spoke just how much she... cared. Which was more than he could say for just about everybody else. He knew he had some friends here amongst the rebels, and they all knew his story, they all sympathized. He was fine with that. But for the first time, he realized that she really, really did care. Not necessarily just for him, more for a world that didn't focus solely on looks alone, but delved deeper, to judge by character.
She was a much better lioness than anyone could ever ask for, as a daughter, as a friend, as a mate, even, perhaps, as an enemy.
"I don't know..." He began, then paused. Because it was true, he didn't know what to say. He couldn't even begin to tell her how much her rant meant to him. "Thank you," He said finally with a smile, done fishing for words that he couldn't possibly find. "You know that nobody cares more than you do right? I don't just mean about me, I mean, nobody cares, about anything, more than you do when you care."
"I can't really explain it..." She blushed, or at least the feline equivalent of one, ears rocking back sheepishly. "I just... I don't really believe in doing something with only some of your heart. If something is worth caring about, then... well, you know."
Most females with that mindset were often said to fall in and out of love very easily, or to be "in love with love", but Yin wasn't aware of this and certainly didn't think it was being fickle, as such a saying went. She just lived, loved, and played hard. Negative feelings didn't get much focus because life was too short, but the things she CHOSE to do, the things she -wanted- to do? Oh, believe us, she did whole heartedly. (She even got angry with everything she had, but that was more something she inherited from her mother's side of the family.)
"I get a little carried away sometimes, I mean, saying things. I just know it'll land me in trouble some day." She laughed a bit, sheepish again, but she was glad that he seemed to approve. Once her laughter had calmed she tried again with a bashful smile. "You're welcome, in any case."
"Right," He said, understanding her way of thinking. "Because then, why bother, right?" He was something like that, while doing what he knew he was good at - which, somewhat unfortunately, by his way of thinking, happened to be sparring and fighting. True Firekin abilities, he supposed. Mother's side of the bloodlines. But he was truly good at doing it, and when he did, he threw himself into it and held nothing back. Because, like he said, why bother otherwise?
He tended to wonder, at times, if he should apply the same mindset to everything else he did. But to adjust to an entirely new way of seeing life, it was a little bit much for a lion to do, so he had settled on what he already had. But seeing what Yin was like, it made him wonder if it would have been a good idea to at least try.
"Well, when that happens, you just give me a call. I'll come right along and fish you out of whatever trouble to get into." He grinned again. "And thanks again, in any case."
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:09 pm
"Oh?" She grinned, amused, and lightly teasing as she might one of her siblings. "So I guess you kind of have a soft spot for me, huh?" She chuckled at her own tease, hoping that he would realize she meant it all in innocent fun, and sighed softly. "It's nice to know I've got a friend I can count on."
Came the ammended reply, accompanied this time with a full smile as the lioness rose to her paws again on the sands.
Azarax grinned. "I don't know, do I?" He replied. "I'm afraid it's information I'm not in a position to divulge. I mean, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."
He nodded once more in agreement. Yes, it was nice. It was great to have a friend nearby, period. It was much more than he could have asked for - after all, all that he had hoped for was news that those he had known from before were safe and healthy. Now, with Yin-li so close and able to visit from time to time, he as if he had been granted a gift beyond any other. Perhaps there really were Gods and Goddesses up there in the heavens.
"Well, I mean. If I didn't save you every time you got into trouble, you'd be dead pretty soon, thanks to that mouth of yours, wouldn't you?" He chuckled. "And if that happened, I wouldn't have anyone around here to talk to, now would I?"
"Hey!" Yin frowned with mock-annoyance, then rolled her eyes. "You don't have to agree to -that- so readily. Flattery is the way to go when it comes to your lady friends, Azarax, flat~ter~ry." She emphasized cheekily, sniffing a bit and playing the indignant card teasingly.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, eyes widening in mock horror at what he had just done. "No, no, I most definitely have a soft spot for the lady then, don't I? She's irresistable, of course, she is." He bobbed his head in affirmative and then scowled at her as if nothing anyone ever said could change his mind in the slightest, and ducked into a largely exaggerated bow before her.
It was perfectly clear right then that she couldn't stay mad at him for long, even in jest. She broke down into soft peels of laughter, eyes shutting with the depth of her mirth as tears sprang to them. Flopping back onto her haunches again Yin-li reached out and waved a paw at the air dismissively.
"Okay, okay, get up, goof ball! I forgive you this time." A cheeky grin, and this time she nudged his jaw with her nose, prompting him to rise.
"Ah! No! I don't believe you!" He squeezed his eyes closed in denial. No, no, she was absolutely lying to him. Ladies did not forgive and forget just like that! They did not, and he knew it. She must have been lying.
At her nudge, he started, eyes popping wide open for a moment before snapping closed again as he flopped over on the sand. "Don't eat me!"
She growled, loudly, but still in the spirit of play. Moving in again she straddled him diagonally so that she had a paw on either side of his head, and took a careful mouthful of his mane to give a playful tug. "Hmph, I should! First you doubt my perfection, now you call me a liar! I should pick your bones clean and leave nothing for the vultures!"
She was having entirely too much fun, and she was sure, suddenly, that her father if he could see them now would be insisting that she put some distance between she and Azarax, but that only tickled her more right then. She and Azarax were friends, and there was nothing wrong with playing around with friends. She for one was happy that he could bring out this side of her, and vice versa, and her over protective father would have to accept that sooner or later. She'd distanced herself from "outsiders" enough on her own.
Oh dear, he was through. "Well, I... never actually -said- liar," He said brightly, as if that alone would save him from the horrible death of being eaten. "And oh, no no, you are nothing less than perfection. I never said I doubted your perfection either! You and your assumptions, hmph!"
He was rather surprised that she managed to bring out this strange side of him. With any other, he would never have come even close to this, and indeed, she seemed to make him talk much more than he normally did. It was a curious feeling, all this talking and playing around.
But no, he wasn't going to let her eat him. He reached up with his paws and grabbed her around the shoulders, rolling away from her, in an attempt to flip her off her paws. What genius.
"Not good enough." She sniffed, mocking hurt, and was just moving to grab one of his ears with a lazy rumble when his large paws came to grab her by the shoulders, and she found her balance and footing lost. With a half hearted (and still playful) growl she hit the ground, kneading at whatever part of him she could reach with her hind paws, as if that would be anywhere near enough to make him relent his hold. "See? I knew it, you're such a brute!" She teased further in yet another mock-up emotion, fury this time.
He squirmed away from her attack, found his footing in the sand, and launched himself back to his feet, towering over her menacingly. His expression shifted abruptly from mean to indignance. "Brute? Me?" He shook his head.
"No, you've got it all wrong. You see, this is what the guys do to show the ladies that they're big and strong enough. And since I so -obviously- have a soft spot for you, it makes sense. You see?" He struck a pose, puffing out his chest and grinning.
She seemed perfectly at home in the new position, at least if that lazy gleam in her eyes was any indication, followed by that partial stretch. She quirked one eyebrow at him then as he puffed up, rubbing at her own chest with a light scratch as she watched him with amusement still.
"Hmm, so what you're saying... is that you really just want to show off because I'm around."
GRIN.
What the. He froze and blinked. Damn it, she was like a conversational wizard. Because maybe he was, and maybe he wasn't. If he took it for serious, he really didn't know. But what was he doing? It was supposed to be fun, and he was sure that was what she meant it to be, but it was still a question that took some thought.
He completely deflated and dropping, belly-crawling back over, ears flopping. "Are all you girls this annoying?" He asked as he neared and dropped completely to the sand next to her. It was a good thing he was already tan, he realized. No making his coat look mucky.
There was a brief, light hearted giggle, almost a soft chuckle at that, but dark, dark gray eyes shifted in her head none the less to watch him inch closer, and she turned to lay down on her side facing him instead.
For a few seconds she seemed to be studying him, or thinking on her answer, or both, before finally speaking up.
"Mmm... maybe. I'd like to think I'm your special case though. Any other girls you come across are going to have to undergo my inspection first to see if they're annoying enough to deserve spending time with you, since that means I'd have to share."
And she liked the prospect of him having other friends, but hoped that it really wouldn't become an issue, the sharing that is, since she was fairly sure that any time she managed to snag to visit would be a little rare to start.
"Really?" He said, widening his eyes. "That means I'll just have to not meet other girls, then, doesn't it? That way, you'll just have to share with a bunch of guys." He grinned brightly, as if extremely pleased with himself for coming up with -such- a great idea.
"But then again," He added. "That's only fair because now I'm going to have to take a good look at any other lions you come across. See if they're big and strong and know how to show off enough to hang out with you."
The conversation that they were having right now was so insanely off base from what she'd imagine they'd talk about that the female couldn't help laughing again, amused.
"Oh, goodness, please no. My father's already over protective enough. Between you two I probably won't have anyone else to socialize with, not that I think either of you would complain." She giggled a bit more before opening her eyes again to watch him. Who could live up to the expectations of a firekin (former slave or not) and a seasoned soldier like her father, after all?
"Obviously not," He agreed. "We're guys, remember?" He added with a laugh. Joking and playing, it seemed, quite agreed with the tan lion. It was so different from what he'd grown up with, a welcome change in his daily routine. Such chances were few and far between, and he took his time to enjoy it. After all, Yin was probably the only one who made him light up as he did when he was around her.
"Besides, who needs to have tons of friends? Socializing is completely overrated. You," He added with a fake air of sternness. "Would be far better off sitting at home and going fishing with your Pa."
"How could I ever forget?" Yin-li grinned. She was starting to feel that light hearted high wearing away, but for now kept up the converasation, wanting to spend some more time still but wondering if she was keeping him from something, at the same time she realized just when she'd last eaten. "Hmph. I'll have you know that my pa, if he could have his way, would never let me leave the pride unattended. Then I wouldn't be here having this amazing conversation with you, right now!"
"Oh, that would have been a terrible loss to lions all over the world!" He breathed in deeply. "But that's okay. You're still here now, aren't you?" He reached out and bumped his nose against hers jovially. "And we still are having this amazing, history-changing conversation. So life is all good, eh?"
"Besides, it's bad luck to make your parents seem like bad guys, don't you know?" He said, chuckling again. "One day they'll reincarnate into... something really big and evil and come and eat you."
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:04 pm
She grinned. And then he bumped his nose against hers and she reached out and pawed his muzzle briefly in response, drawing her paw back afterwards. This time the laughter was completely open, as Yin-li recalled a conversation she'd had with someone in the Dawnwalkers pride that related to his reply. "Like your own kids. Or at least I've -heard- that your own kids are always twice as bad as you were."
"Oh dear, is that true, now?" His eyes widened as he shook his head. "That's horrible! That's it. I'm never having kids." He said determinedly.
"If I had kids, they'd be horrible, horrible little beasties, I know they would. I have to save this place from the terror of such ridiculous pests." He added, as if cubs would be the death of all of them.
Yin-li rolled her eyes tolerably, but then rolled to her paws as well and shook her body to loose the sand from her fur, chuckling at his antics. It had been refreshing to loosen up so much, but she needed to find shelter now that she knew where the safe territory was, and she didn't think staying with the newly reformed pride would fly over well. She didn't want to risk trouble for either of them if she could avoid it.
"You say that now, but I'll bet you have your own litter all the sooner just because you've claimed otherwise." She teased with an innocent purr.
"Oh, I absolutely will not!" He protested, as if completely insulted by the fact that she had doubted his ability to do exactly as he said. He followed her suit, getting to his paws and shaking out the sand that clung to his fur. Sand in hsi fur didn't exactly stand out, but it did feel much better with all of it back on the ground again.
His eyes wandered to the sky, and he realized how late it had gotten. "Oh, look at that," He said. "You might have to head off soon, huh?"
"Well, I wasn't going to head back just yet, I'd still be walking all night, but is it really okay for me to be here after all that's happened...? You won't get in trouble, will you?" She asked with concern, a small expression of such replacing the subtle affection from seconds before. She wouldn't mind, she just didn't want to make a mess of things.
Azarax nodded without hesitaing. "Sure, it'll be fine," He said. "It's just the night, after all, and if you're really worried, you can always take off early in the morning." He had considered it, and it didn't seem like a particularly huge risk - less one than Yin-li having to find her own shelter, after all. He couldn't find a reason for it to cause huge problems for him. After all, he could deal with a little problem or two no matter. Besides, it only seemed right that he offered to have her stay. She had come all this way, and he was infinitely glad to know that she was close by.
Life was taking a turn for the better once again. It seemed to be falling into a pattern now. He grinned, more to himself than anything. Yes, life was certainly getting better by the day.
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