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 Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:52 pm
Today the only visible results of the outcome of that struggle was her lack of hunger and a long, shallow gash in her shoulder. Those small prey had flinty sharp weapons, their hooves and horns having torn her hide in several places. Nothing too bad, to be sure, and nothing as obvious as the mark on her shoulder. Even so, with a full belly and the slight pain of her wound, she was taking it easy today.
She was following the foot of some low mountain, weaving along a trail made by untold numbers of paws and hooves. It was narrow and not much traveled, and was threading some rather nasty foliage. Thorns as long as her own claws sprouted from some of the bushes, while others bristled with tiny needle-like leaves. Content to wander anyway, she did not stray from the pathway.
Before long it led her into a jumble of massive boulders, like some giant of the gods had swiped a paw across the mountains and flung these as pebbles from the top. To her they were immensely more than pebbles, but who knew the minds of the gods? The path wound between them and looked to pop out onto the wide plain beyond. Just as she padded up to the last narrow passageway, a warning screeching sqeak halted her in her tracks.
Crossing the pathway not a lion's length from where she stood was a meercat on alert. It stood up straight and glared at her daringly. Finding no reason to provoke the small creature, and being in a contented mood already, Awani obligingly too two large steps backward. It harmed her not at all to let his bold little critter move on, if it would. So she sat down and waited patiently.
Little did she know what she was in for!
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:04 pm
It had been a long journey to this place, his path had crossed plains and valleys, hills and rivers. He had seen things he had never thought possible, and others that had been exactly as expected. He had met many strangers, both pleasant and argumentative. And he possessed fresh scars from the latter to prove it. Several of the marks were still raw, in the early process of healing and bare of fur. Others were older, shiny with age and mostly hidden by the thick regrowth of his coat around the damaged skin. Blood darkened the pale fur of one front paw, the delicate skin between his toes having been torn in a scuffle the day before and since he refused to rest it had not yet scabbed over, the constant movement of his paw as he walked keeping the wound from healing over. But it was not a hindrance and he showed no sign of any discomfort as he moved with an easy, fluid stride.
The long days of walking had left their mark on the pridal lion, already hugely tall and strong of body, any soft tissue he had carried previous had been stripped away, leaving only the lean, solid muscle that flowed like silk under the black and blue coat of the male. His mane was thick and wind swept but glossy with health, and the large paws padded over the earth with an even step, covering the ground with an impressive length of stride.
He had come a long way since leaving his pride for the second time, dropping off three young cubs from the lioness Maile. He was travail hardened and far more wise to the outside world than he had been that first time he had left, naive and inexperienced in the ways of the rogue. Thus it was with a calm and measured pace that the huge lion padded along the pathway. He had scented a leopardess as he had walked, though her trial was fresh, she wasn't lingering and he didn't expect to come across her on the pathway. Since he wasn't in a hurry and he had no actual destination in mind, he didn't fret about the scent that preceded him. Only when he rounded a large bolder did he stop, amber eyes instantly drawn to the dark, graceful figure sat in the middle of the pathway.
Wonder why she stopped... He thought silently, raised front paw lowering to the ground so he wasn't balanced on three legs. Though he didn't close the last few strides to her, unsure what kind of temper she was in. He had no desire to fight this day, feeling rather mellow and relaxed.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 1:36 pm
The tiny thing chittered haughtily at her and dropped to all fours. It bounded forward swiftly to disappear, but just as her muscles flexed to rise, another came into view from the other side of the path. It too stopped, eyeballed her saucily, and then scampered on. She watched it go with amusement, rising to her paws, but before she could take a step, two more scurried into view. Her brows lowered, a faint frown crossing her face. What was this? If two hadn't shown up, she'd have thought it was some kind of prank, with the same meercat crossing again and again. But no, there were two now.
She sank back down onto her haunches and watched suspiciously as one of the two scamperd straight across, while the other stopped and stood up, peering this way and that anxiously, but treating her as if she were just a rock. Puzzled, she bided her time. Nothing had changed, she was in no more of a hurry. But how many more were there? Even as she questioned silently, another ran straight across, past the standing one, and to the other side. She blinked in surprise, whiskers spreading as she tried to scent the small creatures and garner some knowledge of their numbers. How very odd! She wracked her brain for how many were likely to be in a troop, but no answers were forthcoming.
So engrossed in the traipsing critters, she had yet to notice the large shape that hovered on the path behind her.
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:14 am
It took him a few moments but finally his gold eyes picked out the movements, small and sharp, just beyond the female.
Ahh... so that was it..
Chuckling silently to himself, he started forwards again, moving on silent paws until he was just to the side of the leopardess, his deep voice holding a hint of amusement as he spoke in his classic low, husky tones. "There will be around twenty of them.." Head tilting as he watched another small brown furry body scurry past the meercat sentry. "Sometimes double that, but usually.. its around twenty or so."
Lifting his gaze from the furry critters he looked over at the leopardess, expression friendly and calm. The male was huge, not broad, but tall with a thick ruff of mane and startlingly bright golden-orange eyes like the setting sun, all set amid the black and blue skull-like patterning of his fur.
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:33 am
She glanced over at the sound of someone joining her, and found herself looking at a thickly furred shoulder. She raised her gaze, finding some amusement considering she'd had to look up at the last lion she'd met as well. "Greetings," she said pleasantly. At least this time her fur was clean and she wasn't in a half-tormented state of itching. "Twenty hmm?" She eyed the narrow opening as another scampered by, trailed by two or three scrawny, gangly forms. "It seems we are in for a wait," she offered conversationally. A meercat darted out, stopped, looked at the, chirped in alarm, then ran on. "And possibly a show," she chuckled.
She looked again up at him. "Introductions seem to be in order," She smiled up at him amiably, curling one paw and dipping her shoulder in a fluid half-bow. "Awani at your service!" He seemed a comfortable sort of fellow, strong but not brutish. She tended to prefer those who were comfortable in their skins like this male, who needed to prove nothing and yet were perfectly self-sufficient. Not to say they lacked nothing... everyone lacked something. It's what made life interesting, or part of it anyway.
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:58 pm
Gold eyes moved from the procession of meercats to meet the leopardess's gaze, a warm and unconcerned smile on the male's muzzle. Curling his tail he settled down on his haunches, turning back to watch the little critters dart cross. "So it seems." He agreed amicably, looking right back at the one meercat that seemed to give them a glare before vanishing across the path.
Turing his attention back to the leopardess as she spoke again, the dark lion dipped his head in a low polite bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Awani. I am Sliabh, of the Kitwana'Antara pride." Pausing he studied her a moment. He had not yet met may leopards, though he had met a male leopon who had proved to be a splendid fisherman, and his shy leopard mother. It was nice to meet one who seemed far more casually confident and settled.
"What services do you offer?" He asked with a faintly playful smile.
Sliabh had always been a quiet, almost invisible lion, despite his size. But after setting out into the rogue lands, he had slowly grown both more knowledgeable about the world, and about himself, gradually acquiring an easy, unpretentious confidence that was as low-key and as relaxed as the lion himself.
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 3:52 pm
She took his teasing question without any rancor, nor did she acknowledge the possible suggestive ramifications. She merely chuckled and shrugged her shoulders in a ripple of muscle. "Oh, I help others with all sorts of things," she said. "I've helped search for lost cubs. I've battled hyenas beside another female. I'll assist anyone in need of my help." She watched with some amusement as a cluster of three or four meercats jumped across, tails high, and one tumbled nose over paws several times before scrambling to its feet and following its fellows.
She turned her gaze back to him, tall and lean as he was. "You don't seem as if you need any help," she observed, "but one never knows until one asks." She tipped her head to the side to gaze at him intently. "Is there anything you could use assistance with, Sliabh?" Her expression was thoughtful, eyes searching his. There was a lingering sense of... something. Someting about him was much deeper than the surface calm. Like a puddle turning out to be a deep well in the earth, understood only until those depths were touched, or disturbed.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 3:41 pm
He smiled faintly at her reply. He himself had fended of a gang of hyenas from a lioness protecting her meal. Though he had not had much to do with cubs other than his own or the pride's, he assumed parents tended to keep them away from overly large, imposing looking males like himself. At least, he had been told he was imposing several times so he assumed it had to be true.
During his musing he had returned to watching the tiny meercats, curling his tails round his hindpaws as he settled in for the wait. Gold eyes lifted to meet the leopardess's as she questioned him, studying her thoughtful expression with one of his own. "I have been sent here, to the open lands, in search of aid for my pride." Lifting his head he gazed up the path, expression troubled. "We are a small pride, and there are too few cubs born to us that survive. I have been sent here to ..." Looking back at her, something raw and pained moved behind his brilliant eyes.
He could see them.. tiny cubs moving about at her paws, black, blue, grey, white.. little balls of fluff and wonder with violet eyes. She was the one... she was one of those that he had been sent here to find...
Closing his eyes he waited for the vision to fade. His seer ability had scared him the first time it had manifested, that first week after he had left the Kitwana, made him think he was loosing his mind, obsessed with his task or simply insane.. But they had led him true this far, shown him those who willingly agreed to aid his quest.. warned him of those who would harm his offspring, himself or his pride.
Gathering himself he looked back at her. "..to father cubs and take them back home. I am also looking for full grown members and any others that need a home. I am one of the few in my pride who can do this, who are immune to the curse of the goddess. That is why it has been given to me as my task."
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:09 am
She sobered fully at his words. So there was indeed more behind those bright eyes than just a pleasant demeanor. There was sorrow and determination. She looked at him... not the outside him, but the inner him. The invisible part that shines through the fur and skin and teeth, that shows what one is truly like. She did not see a sly and wily lion with a lusty heart and lying tongue. She saw a good heart, a quiet soul, and a mind driven by need.
Meercats forgotten, she rolled what he said over in her mind. He needed to father cubs and then take them away. There were two sides to that coin, for her. On one hand, she knew her life was not that suited to a mother. Being pregnant would slow her down, make her clumsy, make her vlunerable. Having nursing cubs would make her even more so. But on the other hand, the idea of bearing cubs and then saying goodbye when they were weaned... it tore at her heart.
It flashed through her mind that perhaps she could stay... go back with this tall, handsome stranger and stay there with him. But he'd said he'd been sent out to father cubs... he did not say he'd gone seeking a mate. Granted, she wasn't exactly looking for a mate either, but there was a certain amount of disappointment at realizing the attractive male was not so much interested in her for who she was, but in the life she could provide for his pride. It was a noble cause, however, and could be one she could help with, if she could overcome the rather odd set of circumstances this put her in.
She drew a deep breath, turning her back on the scampering rodents so she could better face him. She pinned his eyes with hers, searching them for truth, for reassurance, for the love she'd demand he give their children. "You have not asked directly," she began slowly and delibrately, "but I know you are asking anyway." She paused, her body stock still save for her whiskers. "I am capable of doing this, to help you, to help your pride. But there must be stipulations." She was very firm on this, leaning forward with those whiskers bristling. "I cannot give you cubs randomly with no agrement to things. You have a part to play other than just your seed." Still intent on his eyes, she waited to hear his reply before stating her requirements.
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:42 am
While she had been lost in her thoughts, the dark-coated lion had returned to watching the meercats, though the amusement was no longer bright upon his features. Instead, he looked sombre, slightly troubled and certainly a male with a weight resting on his shoulders. Yet there was an air of everlasting strength about him, a determined doggedness that spoke of his unflinching will and indomitable spirit to carry on. With his huge size and the easy ripple of hard muscle, it was clear he was a lion of strength and ability and yet, he was not a bully. He sat silently, quiet and still beside her as the meercats passed them by, giving her the time to think over what he had said and to make her own mind up about him and his pride. he would never force his ideas or needs on another and even though his visions had claimed her as one of the Ones, he was not going to persuade her. it would be her choice alone.
Only when she finally drew a breath, catching his gaze, did he turn back to face her. Quiet gaze attentive, expression sombre. There was nothing hidden in his eyes, the honesty and truth of what he had said gave amber eyes a clear, unrestricted light. There was also a hidden tenderness that was not at first apparent in his sheer size, and a mind that was far more alert and aware than most would give him credit for.
As she spoke, shock flittered across his expression, followed by an almost embarrassed acceptance. He knew the reputation many rogue males cultivated, and he didn't blame her for being wary. But there was no way he would 'sow his oats' and then leave, the very idea was abhorrent to him.
"I know. And I would not wish to leave if you agreed. I understand how hard it is to bear new life. If you would allow me, I would hunt for you throughout, I am a guard in my pride so I can promise to protect you. I am not wise to the ways of female desires but anything I could provide you, I would do so." Pausing he seemed to become rather tongue-tied and a slightly frazzled expression passed over his features as he sought for the right words. "What you would do for me is a gift beyond any other. Something I could never fully repay you for. Anything you have need of, I will do my uttermost to provide." Looking back at her he fell silent, unable to be as eloquent as he wanted to be, he could only hope she understood his sincerity and forgave his lack of flair.
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:03 pm
If he had but known that flair would have put her off and made her all the more wary, whereas his honest and ungarnished truths held more sway than any smooth words or coaxing tone could have. She let him have his say, nodding solemn agreement at several points. Good. He'd already met one or two of her requirements in that promise. She took his vows seriously, and would hold him to them.
"That is one of my requirements. I am no helpless maid, but a hunter, a prowler, a fighter. But I cannot do these things as well with a swollen belly, and can't do them at all with cubs trailing in my wake." The idea of a trail of cubs lumbering after her as she stalked a zebra made her pause to smile. "So hunting and protecting certainly are part of what I need from you."
"Another is less tangible, but perhaps much easier," "if I am right about you," she added mentally. Again she searched his eyes, looking deep. "You must love these cubs. You must love them dearer than your own life." She paused, taking a breath. "I do not ask that you love them more than any other cubs you sire, for such a reqirement is unfair and wrong. Every child deserves love. What I need from you is the promise to truly love them." Easier to do, perhaps, for a loving heart, but harder for a mother to judge in the male asking to take her cubs away to a place she'd never been.
But there was a last requirement that took care of that as well. "Lastly, after the cubs are born and able to walk," she raised her chin, almost defiantly but boldly, "we msut begin the journey back to your pride. I will not promise to stay, but I want to see the place my children will live and grow and love." It would give her more time with them, and a chance to refuse to let them stay if she despised the place, the people there. It was asking much to request she merely bear the cubs, raise the halfway, and let their father cart them off to who-knew-where to live out their days without her. It would also give her a place to return to see them, to be able to stay in touch. She had no intention of just leaving these cubs motherless. She might not always be there for them, but at least they would know who their mother was, and see her from time to time.
"If you do these things for me," she slowly finished, not dropping her eyes demurely but her expression becoming less certain, "then I will do this for you and your pride." It was coming home to her what she was promising, and what all that involved. Parental love she had known and savored. But love between herself and someone not related to her? Well, this wasn't exactly love either. Even so, it wasn't something she had experienced before. Ever brave, though, ever steady-hearted, she did not quail from her promise. She was not frightened, merely... hesitant in the face of the unknown.
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:44 pm
Dipping his head quietly as she spoke, he allowed himself a small smile at the image of tubby cubs following her about the savanna. He knew all too well how hard it was to cover ground with young ones in tow, even at the age he had taken Caoilainn and her siblings and later, Saoirse and her brothers and sisters. The latter had been a far bigger litter with further to travail, but he had hit upon a handy method of letting them rest while still moving, four of the cubs rode on his back while the other three walked, and then they would swop. That way they covered more ground and the youngsters didn't get worn out. He had tried carrying all of them, but they couldn't seem to sit still that close together and the inevitable argument had broken out.
Her second requirement truly startled him and he could only blink at her for a long moment. Eventually he tilted his head then gave a rather sheepish smile. "I can promise that. Nothing is more important to me than my children." Lowering his gaze he smiled softly to himself. "Being a father is not only a job given to me by my Queen... it is something that gives me great joy, and I would not change any of my children at all. I miss each and every one terribly." Chuckling softly he looked back up at her, the honest glow of a father's joy in his expression. "Haruma is my oldest.. I adopted her after she and her siblings were left at the pride boarders.. she actually came up and asked if I would be her father." Smiling warmly at Awani he seemed to pause then remember where they were and shifted a little in embarrassment. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to ramble."
Attentively, he listened to her last request before smiling softly. "It would be my pleasure to show you my home. It is not a paradise, but it is home and the pride is warm and friendly. We look out for each other and look after each other." As she dropped some of that confident, 'ready for anything' demeanor, Sliabh stood and lowered his head, looking up into her eyes with a gentled and understanding smile. "I know it is a lot to ask, but I am very grateful you are willing to do this. I promise to do all the things you have asked of me, and I will be right here with you.." Giving her an apologetic smile.
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:56 pm
She met his gentle gaze, strangely and deeply reassured by him. He was strong, quiet, sincere... alluring in a way no slick crooner could ever understand. Satisfied that he would do as he said, and feeling less uncertain just by his understanding of her position in this odd situation, she glanced over her shoulder where the parade of rodents had been filing by, now long forgotten. As she suspected, the way was clear of tiny furry bodies, though visions of other tiny, furry bodies wisped about her mind now. "It seems they've cleared the way for us," she said, turning back to him and speaking softly, though she couldn't have said why. "Shall we go?" With a tip of her head and a heavy grace in her step, she led the way to their mutual future.
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