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 Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:42 am
AIM Log -- Wu & Nuxaz
Ethiopia & Peke
Ethiopia was booored.
Ugh, serves you right for sleeping during the day, I guess. It seemed like no one was up at night! She frowned, walking aimlessly around the edges of the valley, in the kind of area one might still find rogues, but it wasn't really expected. She sighed, continuing her aimless walking for quite a while. She briefly missed Zay, and it came to her the reason lion's here were so hopelessly diurnal. Their bonded's were. Lions alone shouldn't mind staying up at night.
Ethi flopped on the floor, bored. She rolled onto the back, and was greeted by a pleasant surprise.
At least the stars were out.
Peke was one of the few creatures that always seemed to be awake whenever one else was sleeping. He always seemed to be up and about in the early morning and into the late night. It was a habit he had picked up from his younger days. The days where he struggled to stay awake and avoid sleep. Days where he would be half delirious and almost at the point of hallucination before his body would get out on him and he'd pass out. The nights where he pushed himself too far and he would wake with out any recollection of falling asleep.
Those were times when Nguvu had been terrified to leave his bonded's side.
Now the young male would sleep without too much trouble but he was still a voluntary insomniac. He would sleep but only for short periods of time, a couple hours here and a couple minutes there. His body had adjusted to his lack of sleep and most days it hardly effected his behavior. It was more than his old sleep habits and for that his raven could sleep peacefully.
Often, when he found it hard to sleep, he would sneak out of his den soundlessly careful not to disturb the avian and go for long walks to clear his head and ease him. Tonight was one of those times. He had a lot on his mind, as usual.
Though Ethiopia still rather preferred a more physical activity than star gazing, even she knew it was nice to stop and enjoy life a little bit. They really were rather beautiful. She didn't spend much time trying to guess shapes in the stars, she really just gazed upwards and appreciated all the bright spots. She sighed, the universe just had it's way of making you feel completely insignificant. But the time she was spent wondering about her place in a universe that, though she couldn't verify it, seemed enormous, was cut short by a sound.
Not a very loud sound, just the sound of someone walking. Now, Ethi was actually enjoying the lying here and relaxing, but she might as well call out and let anyone know she was there, so she wouldn't get stepped on. Alternatively, she wondered if she should just keep quiet. She was rather near the entrance to the valley. Could be someone... not so nice.
Oh well. "Hello? " Hey, it might just be a friend or at least someone she could talk to!
Peke was deep in his own thoughts when Ethiopia decided it would be best to call out and he was startled, stumbling forward and nearly falling flat on his face. He barely managed to regain his dignity but catching himself and jerking his body upright like nothing had even happened. It was like those human movies where the kid is walking around all cool and then the trip but jump right back and act like nothing happened. Yep. That's exactly what he was doing. To a T. Well except that he hadn't actually fallen down. That was the beauty of having four legs.
"Hey," he replied once the voice registered in his head. It sounded very familiar. But he was having trouble having registering really anything. He hadn't slept more than 5 hours in the last two days, the lack of sleep was starting to effect him again.
Ethi once again heard a faint sound, only this time, less like walking and more like tripping. And falling. Or almost falling. Hm. Well, maybe it had been a good idea, it would be rather unpleasant if someone had just randomly stepped on her. For both of them! She waited a bit longer to see if there was any verbal reply, and was just about to decide it had been some random preybeast when one came. Unlike Peke, Ethi had no trouble placing the voice.
"Peke? " Oh what luck! Ethi always enjoyed spending time with Peke, easily her best friend. Rolled onto her belly and raised her head to look around and locate her friend. Once found, she raised a paw and waved. "Hey, I'm over here! " Well, she could just get up. But this was such a good spot to see the stars!
He knew who it was by the way she said his name. It always seemed to be a lot different than when Nguvu or Ubele called him. Ubele often seemed worried, stressed or strangely happy. Ethi always seemed to say it the same way, to him at least. He found himself grinning as she waved at him. He laughed because it seemed like she was always doing something goofy. "You're a dork," he told her trotting over to her.
He peered down at her trying to figure out what she was doing before shrugging and flopping down on the ground. "What are you doing up so late?" he asked concern lacing his tone lightly. "What are you doing period?" he asked tilting his head at her.
She smiled and kept on waving for a bit, even after he had spotted her. no particular reason, she supposed her paw had just gotten used to the odd movement. "Well, you're a... stork. " She had picked that word for no reason besides the fact that it rhymed. And she didn't care if it didn't make any sense. Because it rhymed. And she liked rhymes. Huh. It seemed her level of silly increased when it was late, even if she wasn't sleepy.
Ethi shrugged. "I slept during the day. Zay didn't like that, but doesn't matter. Now I'm not sleepy. " She rolled back onto her back, now that he was close enough and she knew he wouldn't trip on her or anything. "I was bored. So I was looking at the stars. Everyone sleeps at night. Except you, of course. " She tilted her head up at him. "How about you? You look like you haven't slept in an... unusually long time, even for you. "
"You shouldn't do that," Peke frowned shaking his head."You certainly shouldn't be alone at night," he scolded her with a small grin on his lips. Now he was teasing her. She was much older, bigger than they had first met but he was still worried about her. She was rather delicate, almost fragile at times and he found himself constantly worried about her well being. Especially after the last time he had seen her, when she had been suffering.
"Not everyone sleeps at night, only the normal ones," he teased. "I don't sleep much," he replied with a shrug. "Been having a hard time sleeping lately, so I was taking a walk to clear my head," he sighed. "Been happening a lot lately, not sure why."
“Bah, “ Ethi dismissed the reprimand. “If anyone jumps out of the bushes I can hit them. And annoy them to death. “ Made perfect sense. Who’d want to attack someone super annoying? But, she supposed he had a point. Ethi was perfectly aware of how wimpy she was. Not exactly the strongest lioness out there. Well, at least she was quick!
“Normal is pretty overrated. “ She nodded. Who wanted to be “normal”? It sounded so… boring. “But sleep is still good for you. Any idea what’s wrong? “ She tilted her head, glancing at him curiously. Was anything bothering Peke or was it just a random period of nights with even less sleep?
"They'd be more likely to hurt you if you were annoying them," Peke pointed out trying not to laugh at her. "Nobody likes someone who is annoying," he joked moving to sit beside her. He peered down at her face with a grin. "But that's okay, I'd come and rescue you, like always." He was going to be there for her whenever she needed him. He was sure that if she was in trouble he would have a vision and he could save her. Hopefully.
"There was once a time where I would give anything to be normal," he laughed dryly. "But now, I'm happy being a little different," the smile returned to his face. "I've had a lot on my mind recently," he told her sinking down to his belly. "Been thinking about my sister, about the relationships in my life. About the past and how much I've changed."
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:52 am
She shrugged. “Maybe. If it were me, I’d just avoid annoying people. “ At least she was just joking. It’d be quite ridiculous if Ethi actually believed this strategy would work. “If that fails, at least you’ll save me! “ She grinned. Ethi was a little too carefree sometimes. She didn’t honestly believe she would get in too much trouble. Some more caution might have been wiser, maybe.
“Well, normal or different, I like you anyways. “ She shrugged. “But you have changed quite a bit. “ She nodded slightly. Peke was still Peke, of course, but she remembered when she first met him. Somehow, he seemed like a happier lion now. Still problematic, she supposed, but everyone was.
"Yeah, maybe," he chuckled rolling over onto his back creating a little bit of space between them. "Some times it's hard to," he stated referring to the annoying people. "Haha, I'll certainly try to be there to rescue you." He was certain he would be able to be there when she needed him. He was also sure that if anything serious where to happen Ubele would have a vision and would let him know.
"Well good!" He grinned turning his head towards her. "Yeah, I guess I have," he nodded thinking about it. "I've grown up a lot, seen a lot of things in a short period of time that most won't see in a lifetime." He had been through so much and he had come out so strong because of it. He had only grown from his experiences. "It's for the best."
Ethi nodded. Besides, if Peke couldn’t save her, she could always hope for Tanz, or maybe even Raiden. A nice bonus of having a god “friend”. “yeah, you have a point. “ She agreed, amused at how she could think of Raiden as both a friend and an annoying person. He had his moments, but a lot of the time he could be pretty condescending.
“The whole pride has been. “ She nodded. Ethi really admired this pride, after all they had been through, they still managed to grow and move on with their lives. She sighed, nodding. “I guess it is. “ In a way. It was odd that changes could be both painful and also so good for a person. “But it’s nice to just relax sometimes. “ She smiled up at the starry sky.
“I wonder what goes on up there, “ She mused.
"Yeah," he agreed with a small nod. He wasn't exactly happy about the changes he had been put through but he had come to accept it. Change was a part of life and while it wanted to play a lot in his life there was little he could do to avoid it. So he took it as gracefully as possible.
"I agree, everyone needs to relax," he mused scooting closer to Ethi. "I don't know, I wonder if the god, or goddess, of stars would know. I wonder if the stars are just like us, except they only come out at night to play?"
Ethi nodded, deciding she rather liked this. She vaguely tried to connect the dots in the skies, before laughing a bit at Peke’s idea. “That’d be neat. But if I had to be a star, I’d wanna be a shooting star. “ She mused, stretching a paw out toward the sky to see if she could see any stars moving. “I’d hate to be that stationary. “ She snorted, stars were really pretty, but she liked it here more. Most didn’t even seem close to one another!
“Maybe there’s just watching us. For entertainment! “ She gasped. Her privacy felt so violated! “They might be seeing us right now, seeing them. It might be a staring contest. We just don’t know it. “ Conspiracy theories were fun. If you weren’t serious, anyways.
"A shooting star is a falling star though," Peke mused tapping his chin with his paw. "But I guess it would fit you, you always attract some kind of trouble," he laughed turning his gaze to her. "I don't know if they're really stationary or not. Maybe they're playing all day and come out at night to sleep in the same spot. Maybe they're like fireflies!"
"I bet we're pretty entertaining. There's so many different kinds of animals out here with all different personalities," he told her. "Maybe just like we watch them, they watch us. It's kind of a creepy thought actually."
“Well, then they’re falling with style. “ They looked really nice when they fell. “And, hey, I haven’t gotten into trouble for a while. “ She batted at him playfully. It really was a little funny how often she managed to get in trouble. She certainly didn’t behave like Tanz, or anything. Maybe she was just too careless!
“Oh yeah, we’re tons of fun to watch. “ She agreed, but then grimaced at his next observation. “It kinda is. I hope it’s not really like that. “ She fake-shuddered uncomfortably. “Imagine someone just… watching you all day! Star or not, that’s weird. “ She frowned. A little rude, too. Ethi Speaking of seeing things…
“Have you ever been outside of the valley? “
"Haha maybe, or maybe it just seems that way because we're so far away from them," he replied looking back up at the sky. He laughed at her statement. "Maybe not now but soon. You can't stay out of trouble for too long," he teased placing his paw on her nose. "You're a magnet for it! Just like I used to be," he grinned. He no longer went out of his way to cause trouble, but he certainly didn't try and avoid it. Half of his fun was getting out of a sticky situation.
"That would be quite disturbing," he agreed shuddering. At her question he shook his head. "I don't know, maybe when I was little since I wasn't actually born here but I've never been out since then..." he sighed. "I'm really not technically allowed to leave."
Peke had touched an interesting point there. She wondered what really seemed to trail after shooting stars. Were they tails? Colorful dust? Or was it like a fire, or something? “Well, you’re optimistic. “ She teased. Couldn’t he trust her to stay out of trouble? … Well, Ethi couldn’t really trust herself for that. It really was high time something happened. Maybe she’d somehow dump mud all over Mapatano. Ha…haha.
She frowned slightly as she listened to him, but it did make sense. They might not want him to leave, he was extremely important. And it wasn’t horrible, either. The Aka’mleli lived in a wonderful place! Ethi just… disliked restrictions in general. “Oh, right. “ She nodded. She didn’t remember much of the outside world from her cubhood.
“I want to see the ocean. “ It sounded amazing.
"Most days," he joked the grin returning to his lips again. It was easy to smile around her, even when he was depressed she could cheer him up just by being herself. When it went back to the topic of him not being able to leave he sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I love our pride, I love my friends but I hate feeling restricted," he explained needing to tell her why he felt the way he did. He had this conversation once before but it hadn't really done him any good.
"I'm bound here by a duty I didn't ask for, didn't want," he sighed. "After my sister's death I wanted nothing to do with the pride. I wanted nothing more than to flee but I have the duty to protect them when they couldn't protect my sister or I," he frowned. "I've come to terms with everything and I no longer hate my abilities or my place in the pride but I used to."
Ethi smiled at him, despite the subject. “I understand, “ She paused. “Well, I guess I can only sympathize as far as not liking being confined, but… I know, or I guess I can imagine what you’re talking about. “ She tried to explain, because she didn’t really want to seem condescending, or… patronizing, or any other bad ‘ing’ she could think of. Because she knew she couldn’t really understand everything, she hadn’t been through what he had. “I guess what I wanted to say is, you’re always telling me you’re here for me, but you should know I’m here for you too! “ She stopped herself, for the sake of not sounding redundant or dumb.
As was typical when Ethi said more serious things, she felt immediately embarrassed. It was always easier to listen to people than talk, in moments like these. As long as they weren’t complimenting you or anything, that was a little embarrassing too.
"You don't have to try to understand or put yourself in my skin," he told her with a half smile. He just needed her to listen and be there for him to talk to. Someone he could trust and not have to worry about turning on him. He didn't have very many friends, only three if he didn't count his brother. So it was really important to him to have strong bonds with them.
"Good, because I know I'm going to need you to be there for me every now and then," he told her with a laugh.
She smiled at him, briefly. “I can do that. “ Ethi nodded slightly, before looking back up at the sky, not really able to think of anything else to complete this. So she just kept looking up at the stars, before yawning. Sure, now she’d start to get sleepy. “I guess I’m not feeling restless anymore. “ She mumbled, sounding somewhat sleepier than before. Who’da thunk, serious-ish conversations made her a little sleepy.
Well, it was probably really just because she had been lying here for some time now, and it was dark. And she was a lion.
"You should go to bed then," Peke told her rolling over onto his stomach and pushing him onto his feet. He stretched his limbs out as he yawned himself. "Come on, I'll walk you to your den," he offered glancing up at the sky one last time before looking back down at his friend. "Next time come find me if you can't sleep," he told her. "Don't want you getting into trouble by yourself."
“Pff, who needs a den?“ She yawned, rolling on her side and stretching her legs lazily, before curling up slightly. “Here is fine!“ She purred, smiling up at him. She liked sleeping outside sometimes… besides, she had walked a good distance from her den, anyways. And dens didn’t have stars or nice, soft and good-smelling grass. “I’m not gonna get in trouble, I promise! “
He frowned obviously not happy with her response. "Ethi," he started before sighing. He would worry and pester her about it but he wouldn't be able to convince her to change her mind if she didn't want to. "Okay...well be careful, and safe," he stated wrinkling his nose. "I'm going to head back to mine," he stated with a shrug. "If Nguvu wakes up and I'm gone again he just might lose it," he found himself laughing. "He doesn't like me playing my disappearing acts on him."
Ethi smiled to herself, happy to know she had won this one. Mwahaha, hooray for a nice little rest-of-the-night out under the stars. Besides, she was sure Zay would find her and wake her up. “Mmkay, Peke. See you later, “ She yawned, and laughed slightly. Poor Nguvu. She hadn’t seen the white raven in a while, and briefly wondered how often he worried about Peke. And Zay… She hadn’t been with him for long, but he’d probably not be too happy that she hadn’t returned.
Well, she’d apologize later. “Night. “ Ethi’s last thoughts as she drifted to sleep were Zay’s disgruntled face when he woke up, and the stars looking down on them.
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