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 Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:36 pm
It had been a few days since Salma had convinced Tete to come with her. And while she knew that he was older than her, and thus had made his own decision, she still felt like she had made him do it. Ah, well. It seemed like he needed something to do, and places to see. Now at least he'd be able to say that he had left his homelands. Silly lion.
The evening was drawing close, and hunting had been scarce. Salma didn't mind terribly so, since she knew that she wouldn't starve to death, but eating a hare here and there wasn't going to keep one full. She hoped that it wouldn't become a point of tension, but there was no way to really find out without asking him. Or just waiting for him to complain about it. Hopefully she'd be able to keep her own tongue in check, as Salma was of the kind to speak her mind, apologize later. Oh well. She continued to walk, as they still had a little light before finding a place to rest. She liked to walk a bit, rest, and then walk more. Avoid the darkest part of night, and the hottest part of the day.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:47 pm
It did not take Tetemeko long to begin to appreciate the big differences between pride and rogue life. For one, he was hungry and it wasn't so easy to do something about that anymore. Hunting was hard enough with a larger group, it was starting to seem unlikely they would be very well fed. It was also lonelier, even with Salma around. But Tete was from a large family.. and that contributed to a more neutral opinion of this "loneliness". It wasn't so bad being on your own but somehow it made him more nervous than he cared to admit.
He walked silently along, about a pace behind Salma so that she could lead, his head about lined up with her shoulder. The silence was awkward, he decided, thinking about ways to break it.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:51 pm
Salma started to hum to herself, a silly little tune that her mother had sung to her when she was young. She was starting to feel a little excited, since she saw a prospective resting area in front of them. While lions could just stop wherever they wanted, the fact that she was more used to swamps than open hard ground made her a little more nervous. Finding a rock to either be on or keep her back to made her feel a little more secure. Tete might have thought it was funny, or smart. She didn't know, but it all seemed ok.
"Seems like there's a rest spot up there. Want to take a break, or keep going?" She didn't mind either way, but a break might be nice. They still didn't have a direct direction, though Salma was growing more interested in the mountains that seemed to never get closer no matter how they walked.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:12 pm
With little else to do, Tete had spent a fiar amount of his time observing Salma and the things she did. He listened to the tune she hummed, he noticed that she favored resting where they had some form of shelter and that she seemed to be trying not to offend him. She was being agreeable but she didn't seem to say much. It was nice to have as little tension as possible but it was starting to get boring.
"Let's take a break," he answered, wondering if he might get a chance to pry once they were stopped. He picked up his pace now that they had a very specific target and he wouldn't be changing her intended path, sitting himself down once they arrived.
"Not bad, made it quite far today," he commented.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:36 pm
She smiled, feeling content that he seemed to agree. She blinked, seeing that he had picked up his pace. Fair game! She let herself go a bit, loping to beat him to the location. Sure, it was energy that she probably shouldn't waste, but it was time to enjoy oneself a bit. Which could just be a short race, even if it wasn't a fair one.
Once she had reached the stopping point, the adolescent unceremoniously flopped herself on the ground. "Aaahh," she breathed out, letting herself relax. It wasn't like things were always tense, but it was still better than always being quiet. Since....most of this whole trip had been so quiet. Mana had been curiously missing, too.
"Perfect place to relax," she said, stretching her toes out. Mmmm.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:47 pm
He smiled as she flopped over, shifting his weight around until he was comfortable himself. It was nice to just sit and relax, traveling was unusually tiring. But maybe that wasn't really that unusual, he just never did much of it. Just when he and some others went looking for the missing girls.
"So!" he said, putting himself out there immediately so he would be forced to continue now that he said something, "We've been out here a couple days now, we haven't really chatted much." He considered asking if she had any better idea where they- or just she- might end up but it was a very short time since they left and there was no guarantee they would stick together long.. but for now they were friends so they might as well learn about each other.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:21 pm
Salma's ears swiveled forwards and back, wondering if there was more intent in his words than he lead on. How much should she say? He certainly hadn't been very talkative himself, so why was he blaming her? Maybe not blame...but she didn't quite like where this could go. Time to fix it a bit.
"No," she said. "I don't know what to say." Truth was good, even if it was a softer version of it. "I only ever talked to my mother growing up. I...don't really know what to talk about." She shifted, not uncomfortably, and thought about it a bit more. Perhaps a bit to other youngesters here and there, but she only really knew her mother. Which was good, and bad. It had been quite the blow when she had died. Not suddenly, but Salma would never have been prepared for it, even if she had all the time in the world.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:40 pm
It wasn't hard to sense the slight alarm that came from what he said and he didn't know if he should panic himself or brush it off. It was weird that it was so difficult, her explanation about only really talking to her mother explained some but.. still.
"You don't have to say much," he started, trying to be reassuring, "I mean, I just thought since we're friends now.." He hesitated. He'd been invited along, they were traveling companions, sure but was it too big a leap to say they were friends? Maybe he ought to try being as careful as she was.
And there was that awkward silence again.
"Well, I can't say I got out much outside of family," he said, deciding to just share something about himself in hopes it would make it easier, "I tried but it didn't really work out well, my best friend just kind of abandoned me one day, I'm not really sure what happened. But by then there were lots of cubs in my family so I was entertained enough, I guess. It's not the same, though, family already just knows things about you. Close family, anyway."
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:36 am
She listened quietly, taking mental notes here and there. She let herself nod slightly, her eyes glued towards the ground. "I guess," she replied softly, initially. Her eyes moved, but they never left the ground. Oh, to have the feeling of mud between her toes again. "I only ever had my mother. I had a couple older half siblings, but they were busy with their own lives. Which was ok. I just don't feel like I have a reason to return home. So I won't."
She paused again, letting the silence grow between them. She really needed to stop doing that.
"I just don't know what to say. I don't know where we're going." She glanced up, towards the mountains that seemed to elude her. They were growing impossible to see with the dimming light. "Perhaps towards those mountains, though."
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:56 am
Her talking, however shy and awkward it seemed, was something positive so he didn't bother to point out this was information he had already received from her before. He'd been a little too surprised she was leaving her birth home and so been given the excuse. At least she was consistent, it meant she was being honest. Probably. So he listened, and followed her eyes when she finally spoke up again- looking out towards the mountains. Most unfortunately, his first thoughts were not happy ones. His mother was the goddess of.. well, he couldn't remember exactly, it was a fancy title for something regarding rocks and that made him associate her with mountains. But she wasn't mountains so that was a little ridiculous to worry about.
"The mountains?" he repeated, forcing himself into a lighter tone than his immediate thoughts might have brought about, "I suppose the closest I've been to a mountain would be Pride Rock, and that doesn't have much on the ones we're headed for."
Hmm..!
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 12:26 pm
She nodded, letting herself look up at him. She needed to stop that, really. But the idea of conversation wasn't really her strongest talent. "Yes," she replied with a soft smile. "I wonder what's up there. Are they full of things waiting to be found? Maybe not that fantastical, but it seems like there's more possibilities there than out here."
She paused, letting her words hang in the air, but only for a moment. She looked at him directly. "What do you think?" Would he like the idea, or just think it was crazy-talk?
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 12:47 pm
He didn't honestly expect they would find a great deal up there, but it did seem like a good idea, it just sounded right. And it would certainly be a more interesting change of pace for the both of them. They were from very different lands but they were both still rather flat and exposed. This would be different.
"I think it's a good idea," he said, smiling and looking back from the mountains, "Hopefully it won't be as tricky to figure out as it looks, I wonder what kind of paths we might find."
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 5:02 pm
Salma nodded, smiling much more warmly this time. "We don't have to go all the way to the top," she chuckled. "Just would be neat to see what's there. Who knows, maybe what we're looking for might be there! It'll find us before we know what it is we're looking for."
She felt a little more relaxed. This was a lot more talking than both of them had done, and it was relieving. She didn't feel as stressed anymore, about where he was leading him or what she was doing.
"Want to rest here for the rest of the night? Maybe get an early start tomorrow and really catch a decent meal."
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:19 am
"I dunno, it might be most interesting at the top," he said thoughtfully, looking up to the top and squinting curiously as if he might somehow spot something from this distance away. He glanced around the sky surrounding the mountains, his mother still somewhere in the back of his mind. That would be just great if they ran into her. It wasn't that she was mountains but she was something that probably liked mountains.
"Hmmm."
He didn't answer immediately and his stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of food. He coughed awkwardly, the only thing he could think of that might mask the sounds.
"Yeah, alright," he agreed, looking back down to her.
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