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 Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 11:23 am
Natsu stretched in the sun. Today had been such a lazy day… Her stocks of herbs were good and prepared; the lioness hadn't a care in the world. She lay surrounded by beach grass today- close to the shore. The grass wasn't particularly thick in this area, but it was thick enough for the lioness to talk to it. She wouldn't have bothered coming, otherwise, but it wasn't often that she hung out on the beach, lately. She was new to the pride, so Natsuki had needed to stockpile some herbs before she could have some free time. Now that the work of "getting started" was done, she had all the free time in the world.
She lay belly-up in the grass, back paws "swaying in the wind." "Like this?" she asked for confirmation.
"No, a bit more loose. You're still too tight. Relaaaax," her muse instructed. Natsu tried to accomplish just that. "That's better. Now keep that up."
"Uh huh," she said. She was doing her very best to imitate the grass- after all, plants (her muse) had mentioned to her that it was most pleasant to sway in the wind. After that, she just had to learn.
Dagnir was charging through the grass, rushing to pick up as much of the wind as possible. He longed to fly, that was all he wanted to do. Fly like the birds who had opened themselves up to be his muse, inviting him to sing with them as they chirped and fluttered about. If only he could be as high as them! Then they could talk all the time, rather than just when they came down to eat.
Sometimes he heard them in the sky, calling for him to join them. Some day. Some day.
Leaping off a rise, he stretched out his paws, attempting to keep himself airborne longer than a mere couple of seconds. All he managed to accomplish, however, was an awkward flailing before crashing to the ground, right on top of something... furry.
It took a moment for him to realize that he had landed on a lioness. "Oh!" he yelped, "I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?" He asked, all the while staying right there on top of her, looking down with a worried frown.
"Now isn't that nice?" the plants around asked her.
"Yeah, it really is pretty ni--," she admitted before getting distracted. All of a sudden, there wasn't any sunlight as something passed overhead. She quirked a brow at it- it was moving pretty fast. And then it hit her- the wind suddenly knocked out of her. She shut her eyes tight for a moment while she got her breath back. The plants had started laughing at the apparent comedy in this situation, but she didn't think it was so funny.
She peeked one eye open to look at just what had taken all of the breath out of her. She was met with yellow- lots of yellow, with some salmon and white fur. She recognized him immediately as a young lion, even before he said anything. She went to start speaking and found that she needed to cough a couple of times before she could make any sound. "I'm fine, really. You just startled me, that's all," she said, though it was truly a lie. He had startled her and squished her, but she wasn't going to complain about that unless he had done it on purpose. It didn't sound like it, though, so she gave the young lion the benefit of the doubt.
Natsu squirmed a little to try to get out from under him, but she couldn't. Instead, she tightened up her muscles to sustain his weight. "No worries. I'm curious now, though, just what were you trying to do?" she asked with a headtilt. The plants nearby churred in agreeance- they wanted to know what was going on too.
Dagnir moved himself off the poor lioness. Though he wasn't the largest male around, he was still a growing boy and probably shouldn't leave himself sprawled over a female like some kind of bright blanket. What would the birds think of him if they saw him like that? He wasn't trying to hatch her from an egg, so there was no reason for him to be on top of her. Anyway, he was terrible at hatching eggs. That was one thing he had decided to leave to his muses after squishing more than a few under his massive rear end.
"I was just... trying to see if I could fly," he replied rather sheepishly. The last lion he told about his endeavors thought he was being silly, though they understood his want to try it. It didn't feel good to be spoken down to. By birds or other lions.
"Why were you on the ground like that?" he ventured thoughtfully,"I hope I didn't interrupt a hunt or anything..." though, it didn't seem like the kind of area where you would attempt hunting. It was open and there was clearly nothing around but grass and the water not too far from them. Nothing would risk coming out into the open like this unless they absolutely had to. Considering he could see nothing, and he was sure he hadn't scared anything off, he didn't think he had ruined her meal just yet.
Give it time, it could happen.
"Oooh, have you flown before?" Natsu asked excitedly, popping up to a sitting position as soon as she was let up. She started swaying slightly as her paws had been- she had to continue the plant's lesson even if she was talking. That was the good thing about swaying, too, you could still talk and think. She continued to the stranger, "That would be so much fun, trying to fly..." she said. "Some of your seeds fly, right?" She asked plants- the grass beside her in specific.
"Yeah, sometimes they fly, but they need wind to lift them." said her muse.
She wondered if she should try to fly, too. But then... Well, even flying seeds returned to the ground and lived their lives there. Perhaps if she had a different muse, she would have to try too. "Does your muse involve something that flies, then?" she asked with a headtilt. She had assumed that since they were so deep in the Pride's lands, that this was another member that she hadn't met yet.
"Oh, no I wasn't hunting. I'm not so great at hunting..." she said, getting sidetracked. She pulled herself back onto topic. "I was learning how to sway in the wind like the grass. It's really relaxing, you should try it," she said, still swaying even as she spoke.
Dagnir sighed heavily, shaking his head at her inquiry. "No..." he admittedly, a large amount of shame seeping into his tone, "no matter what hints the birds give me, I can't seem to stay in the air for more than a few seconds, even when I jump off of something really high up! But I think, one day, I'll be able to fly. If the spirits want me to, of course. Maybe it's just a secret the birds are meant to keep to themselves." He mused, more to himself than to his new friend.
He liked that she didn't seem confused about his position, nor was she trying to mock him about it, either. That was pretty nice of her. Did she want something from him? Was that why she was being so nice?
Nah.
"Oh! Okay!" He didn't see much point in it, but if it's something that was supposed to be relaxing, why not give it a try? Being close to the ground wasn't terrible. He moved nearer her, lying himself down on his back, mimicing her as best he could ."Like this?" he asked.
"Maybe you just need some more wind. My muse, plants, says that sometimes seeds get carried on the wind. Maybe you should try again on a really windy day?" she offered with a headtilt, wondering if it would help. "But then again, birds and seeds are a little different." She remembered Jura's words, should she be jealous of someone who had birds as their muse, always distracting the trees?
Well, he wasn't being distracting now, so she didn't mind much.
"I'm certain you'll fly someday. Someday the birds will teach you, I've got a feeling in my roots!" she said, gesturing to her claws with a chuckle, as they were probably the only part of her that was consistently in contact with the dirt.
Natsu toppled over onto her back to join him with a smile, glad to see someone else was interested in her muse's teachings! She observed what he was doing and nodded- it seemed pretty relaxed. "Yeah, that's it! It's pretty nice, huh?" Her muse murmured in agreement all around her to confirm that he was doing it right, and so was she.
Dagnir smiled as he swayed in the grass. It was nice, in a weird kind of way. If he closed his eyes, with his paws in the air, it almost felt like he was flying. He could feel the faint breeze around them, genetly brushing against the scattered patches of drying grass. Without the pressing sensation of his back against the ground, it was almost perfect. Just like that- he imagined flying would feel similiar, just with the air moving after around him and the world flying under his feet.
That would be totally cool.
He sighed softly, opening his eyes as he looked at the other, still on his back so his head remained upside down. But she was upside down too, so it worked rather well, all things considered. Grinning, he let himself plop over to one side, lifting his head to shake the twigs and drying leaves from his growing mane. The only big difference between lying there pretending and the real thing was that he wouldn't get dirty when he was really in the air.
Hopefully, anyway. He didn't like getting his bright yellow and pink coat dirty. Birds needed to be clean to be able to fly, and so did he!
"I think your muse is interesting," he said, "though I like mine better. The birds are very friendly and always seem to have something nice to say to me! Are the plants nice to you?" He hadn't yet heard of a muse that wasn't good.
She perked up when he spoke to her again, almost having missed the fact that he had toppled over onto his side she was so into the whole swaying-thing. While she didn't roll over, her paws did slow to a stop while she listened. "Your muse is interesting too, but like you, I think I'm better fitted with my own," she chuckled. "Before I got here... To this pride, I was always obsessed with plants. And when I came here, they claimed me immediately. I suppose because I was old enough. Then they started talking to me- giving me hints about the best locations of everything... Even before I joined this pride, I was quite a good healer, but I really think I've gotten even better since I came here, my muse has helped me so much," Natsu said, knowing the plants all around her were listening. "I owe it a lot. They teach me the most. We talk, but they teach me how to be like them, with the swaying. So yeah, I'd definitely say they're nice to me."
She rolled over onto her side too, after she had stopped moving her paws with the grass. "I know I sound like a broken record, but someday your muse will help you pull it all together, and you'll fly. I just hope I'm around to see it, when that day comes!" she said, eyes bright. She certainly believed in the muses and their ability to change lives. And she had the highest hopes for her new friend...
Well, she hadn't gotten his name.
"By the way, I don't think I told you- my name's Natsuki, but you can just call me Natsu if you want."
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:39 pm
"My mother always looked like a little bird to me," Dagnir hummed on the subject of muses, "I remember I used to watch her, always thinking that she would fly away at any moment. I still think she can probably fly, I'm just supposed to find out how to on my own! I'm not as pretty and bird-like as my mother, maybe, but I do hear the birds and I know they want me to be up their with them!" He was happy to think that the birds were just waiting around for him.
Like he wasn't going to scare the crap out of them just by being present.
"the birds don't tell me how to heal, though, that's really cool!" he added after a moment, so she didn't think he was just going on about his own thing. "I bet te birds and the plants will make the both of us better now that we're here!"
Then she said her name and he felt like an idiot.
"Oh! I'm sorry! My name is Dagnir! That was really rude... I should have introduced myself sooner... It's nice to meet you, Natsu!"
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:47 pm
"Maybe learning to fly is kind of like learning to hunt," Natsu said, both pondering to herself and speaking to Dagnir. "Maybe your mother can only teach you so much, but most of the learning you have to do on your own. But I'm not suited to that type of learning; I still can't hunt anything," she said with a chuckle. She had been able, though, to be useful in another way, and that made her very happy. In her current mindset, she had a desire to be useful somehow. She didn't feel a duty, she probably would if she was beyond the pride's borders; outside of insanity's blessing. But as things were, she was quite content to be half-heartedly dutiful. After all, it was more like a hobby to her, even if she did call it her "job."
"When you learn, if I'm not around, you'll show me later, right?" she asked, ears perked up. She certainly hoped so- she would love to watch Dagnir take off. "Yeah, I'll bet! They're watching out for us, I think," she said, her last comment intended for the grass and the birds more than for Dagnir.
"It's no trouble, really! It just suddenly occured to me that I hadn't gotten your name or given mine, it was as much my problem as it was yours," she said with a chuckle. "And it's a great pleasure to meet you too, Dagnir," she said with a big smile, glad to have a friend in the pride.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:00 pm
"No? I'm pretty good at hunting! I could probably show you a thing or two if you want!" Or he could just... hunt. That's what he was supposed to do as a member of the pride, wasn't it? Maybe he wasn't supposed to be teaching others, though. Would the birds mind if he spent time with someone who couldn't hear them in the same way he could?
It probably wouldn't be too bad.
"Of course I will! I'll make sure you're the first lion in this pride who gets to see me in the air!" he chuckled lightly, shaking his mane at the thought. It was exciting, really, to think about being in the sky with his dear friends! If only he could get off the ground....
He was a happy lion at the moment- making friends was always a comfort. Even with his muse to keep him company, having other lions to talk to was great. "Maybe I should get back to practicing," he said after a moment, "I want to be able to show you some progress the next time we talk!"
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:08 pm
"Oh, I suppose you could try, but I'm not sure how much I'll learn," she said as a disclaimer. "I would certainly try, though! And I suppose I should thank you for the food that I eat, huh?" she said, giving him a dip of the head. She wasn't sure if she'd eaten anything Dagnir himself had caught, but Natsu had deep respect for those who could hunt big prey. She could catch... A rabbit maybe.
"Oh good," she said brightly. She wouldn't want to miss his takeoff! It would be awesome to watch, she could see it in her head now, Dagnir with paws extended, at the middle of a flock of birds where he feels his soul belongs. The thought made her smile. And she herself would one day be one in a field of herbs, calling wounded lions. That widened her smile even a bit more.
"Alright, sounds good. I'll talk to you later, Dagnir, I'll be sure to keep in touch with you!" she said, rising to her paws, tail swaying happily behind her. "Again, it was nice to meet you, Dagnir!"
She started to pad off, a saunter in her step as she went as she tried to keep in-sway with the plants. They spoke up again, "He's nice, you gonna meet up with him again soon?" they asked to double-check.
"You bet, I'll see him again soon," she said to them, mind already thinking of what herbs she'd need to gather to keep her stock fresh.
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