Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jeraha wasn’t much on sleeping. It seemed to him that, should he allow himself to drift off, he couldn’t stay asleep long without something happening inside his dreams. Nightmares. Memories of his dark past. Either way, something haunted him each night, preventing him from ever getting a full night’s sleep. Sometimes he wouldn’t sleep at all. But, as the years past, the large animal had grown used to things being so tough. He wasn’t upset that he couldn’t get himself proper sleep. Not anymore.

He would rather stay awake than risk the horrors of the unconscious realm devouring him while he lie there helplessly.

So he was awake when Chikala had started to sit, the deep gray male turning his head to watch her wake up. It was strange having someone sleeping beside him so closely he could sometimes hear her heartbeat in the dead quiet of the night, but strange in a good way. Blinking he gave her a fond, but short nuzzle to her cheek. “Did you just rub your nose on me?” he asked, keeping his voice soft since it was morning and there was a chance she was not a morning lioness.

Jeraha nodded, smiling faintly. “I see,” he chuckled, “I suppose that’s alright then.” He probably would have done the same were he a little bit braver. There was no doubt in his mind that he would like her scent at night as much as he did during the day. It might even be enough to lull him to sleep. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to risk it. If she caught him leaning near her in the middle of the night she would know that he wasn’t much for sleeping. He sighed lowly, dismissing the thought. “Good thing I got washed yesterday, isn’t it?”

He watched her lie back down, lying his head down as well beside her. There was no rush to get the day started; just being near her was nice.

“So, did you sleep well?” he asked after a moment, “do you want to go for some breakfast or something?”

“Trust me,” replied the male with a grunt, “it’s a good thing. Animals migrate out of season if I go too long with a bath.” He sat up again, stretching his claws out and kneading them into the dirt for a moment to work out the kinks brought on by staying in one spot all night long. He always felt too stiff in the morning. Looking down at Chikala, Jeraha took a moment to think about his answer. There were two roads to consider: one where he told the truth and one where he lied to keep his nightmares from her knowledge. As much as he wanted to be open and honest with her, he was still learning.

At that moment, he didn’t feel he could open up about everything that went on with him. Maybe one day, should their feelings for one another continue to grow.

“I slept fine,” he replied as he got to his feet, stretching his back legs as he had his front. Changing the subject seemed the best course of action, “we should do something today,” he hummed, “it’s pretty nice out. I mean, as nice as this place is going to get, anyway.”

“No,” Jeraha replied simply, never one to waste words when he didn’t have to, “we can explore the caves if you’d like. There are some within the waterfall that are rather interesting. They seem to tunnel well into the ground under the river.” He felt rather odd mentioning it. Like perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to explore them on that fine day. The sun was bright, why not stay outside and look around for a while out there? No, he was being silly. What did he know about premonitions and the like? He wasn’t a Seer. There was no way he could know what might or might not happen to them at any given moment.

If she wanted to see the caves, he would take her.

End of story.

He had been too wrapped up in his inner turmoil to note the change in her expression. When he finally looked back at her, she was speaking to him again, the same smile on her face that he had grown extremely fond of seeing. He smiled back, albeit weak and nothing to marvel over. A blink and it was gone again. “We’ll do whatever you’d like us to do. I’ll take you to the caves if that’s what you want.”

“No, it’s pretty secret,” he replied, “I’ve never met another animal in there and I’ve explored it a couple of times. We don’t have anything to worry about. Heh. Not that you would need to be worried with me around to protect you.”

Indeed, it was empty. The animal hadn’t smelled any other scents. There wasn’t even anyone to kick out like he had with the other den- it was honestly empty this time around. A bummer for him. Jeraha felt like getting into a nice scuffle. All this lovey dovey stuff was emasculating him. Plus, fighting off something in front of her would be totally awesome. He wondered how good a home it would make. With that thought enough to make him blush, the animal shook his head, mane fluffing up a bit as he turned around and headed towards the waterfall once more.

“I was lucky,” he assured her with a grunt.

The nuzzle reminded him he didn’t need to be a grump to her, his small smile returning for a few seconds more. Getting ahead of her again, Jeraha casually led the way to the cave’s entrance behind the falls, trying not to let his own excitement show. Sure he had that ‘you shouldn’t be doing this’ feeling crawling around in the pit of his stomach, but he was also very excited to be spending more time with Chikala. That was a stronger, better sensation that soon over-powered the other one.

“Alright,” he replied, moving inside the cave. Passing around the water spared him from getting drenched, though the spray from the mighty fall was still enough to coat him in a fine layer of liquid. Shaking himself off, he looked around the cave, slick water-worn walls all around.

“Well you should have thought about that before getting so close behind me!” Jeraha shot back quickly, offering the female a teasing smirk. He was much better at the half-smile that held something dark behind it than any real one. Years of practice.

He sat back, watching her shake herself off. It was rather funny to see her fur puff up for a moment, though he knew he had looked much more amusing. What with his giant mane and all. But now he was doing a bit better; his fur was drying quickly and the cave was dark enough to hide the way his mane dangled about his body while it was moist.

Letting her lead was not something he had planned, but allowed it none-the-less. It wasn’t like he couldn’t get them out again if need be. Or so he thought. After a little while, the male came to a halt, a vibration through his paws diverting his attention to the ground. Was that a shake? His eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, surveyed the rock at his feet, finding nothing out of the ordinary.

He certainly did feel it, there just wasn’t any time to answer her. Before he knew it he was rushing forward, the rocks heading right over Chikala gaining his full attention. “Watch out!” he gasped, the shaking all around him not enough to keep him from head-butting her out of the way just in time to feel something heavy conk him right on the head. Hitting the floor, he felt another rock hit him in the shoulder, others falling around it.

The male was very lucky to not get himself completely buried, most of the rocks landing around him rather than on top of him.

Jeraha hadn’t meant to hurt her by pushing her out of the way. Quite the opposite. But he had been so caught up in the panic of the moment shoving her was the only thing that had sprung to mind. If he had caused her pain, he would certainly feel bad about it a bit later. You know, once he regained consciousness.

For the moment, he was out like a light.

The rocks continued to crumble from the ceiling even after the shaking had stopped, though not with as great an intensity or with great numbers. Small reminders of what had happened and nothing more.

The male was lying on his side, one paw over his face more from happenstance than plan. There were rocks of various sizes scattered about him, a few piled over his hind quarters. None that couldn’t be moved with some effort, though. A low groan escaped him as he heaved a sigh, eyes opening to a spinning world. Coherence was elusive at first, the gray and black animal fighting the urge to pass right back out again. There was blood running from his head, the full extent of his injuries hidden under that large mass of fur he called his mane. Blinking, he moved his head along the ground, turning it towards Chikala without lifting it.

“Hey,” he muttered, as thought just waking up from a nap, “you alright?”