Gremio:He was frantic.
The one day he abandoned watcher's rock to get in some early hunting was the one day that his head count was one cub too short. Jowy, when questioned, had yawned, blinked up at him with a pair of sleepy eyes, and shrugged. Riou and the others hadn't stirred.
In full panic, Gremio spent much of the dusk hour searching high and low for Aila with little sucess. Breathing heavily and walking with a tense, tight edge, the lion returned to the den, fully prepared to bear the bad news. The moon was slowly climbing into the sky and much of the troupe was out and about. To his great relief- there was Aila, sound asleep beside a strange cheetah cub.
He frowned, noting the now dirty scarf wrapped around them, the wear on the cub's paws. He stepped up quietly, silent as a shadow, and cleared his throat. THe little spitfire had some explaining to do.
Aila:Aila jerked awake at the sound and blinked the nap from her eyes. She hadn't been asleep for long, but then she probably wouldn't know that. She'd been so focused on rescuing the male in her vision that she hadn't paid much attention to the position of the moon. Who had... Her searching gaze fell on Gremio and she smiled a little. It was the kind of smile that she said that she kind of knew she was in trouble. But when push came to shove, she knew what she had did was right.
"Morning Gremio...."
Jacques:
Jacques opened one eye when Aila shook awake and he saw the large lion almost immediately. He didn't look happy.
He was a small cheetah, but Aila had saved him. She had no idea that in doing so she'd gotten herself a protector for life. He didn't know why he did it, didn't know why he had decided to be that, but that didn't really matter. Especially not at the moment. What mattered was that there was a large, unhappy lion towering over them.
The young cheetah sat up and moved himself slightly between Aila and the lion, his ears flicking back slightly.
Gremio:
"You left the cave." He said firmly, his brow tightening as the small cheetah took a defensive stance between himself and Aila. Gremio's eyes drifted down , giving the cub a short inspection. He was a little thin, very dirty, and his paws were swollen from travel.
"Where did you go? Who is this? Why.... WHY did you leave!? I looked everywhere!"
Aila:
Aila's ears flicked back at Gremio's words, her look genuinely remorseful as she stood and moved to sit next to her friend.
"I did. I was just stretching my legs a bit at first, I wasn't gonna go far, really. But then I got a bad feeling and a vision," she replied and looked back at her friend, whom she still didn't know the name of. She gave him a smile before looking back up at Gremio.
"He was being chased by dogs. And when he tried to cross the river, he was gonna fall in! I didn't know when it was happening but then I heard the barking and rushed to see him hanging on the edge of the gully." She didn't say any more because she didn't need any more explanation. Someone else could have said that she couldn't just let him fall or something like that, but to Aila that went unspoken.
Jacques:
Jacques looked from Aila, back to the lion, Gremio she had called him. He still looked mad, but Aila wasn't afraid of him. Was her her papa? No... No, she had called him by his name, you didn't call your papa by his name, right? And they didn't look a thing like one another.
Geez, he asked a lot of questions. Jacques wasn't sure he liked a lot of questions being asked. But the lio- Gremio had asked who he was and now probably wasn't the best time to be quiet.
"Jacques." The name was soft, but audible enough.
Gremio:
"You ran off! You should have called for me... heavens Aila." He dropped down to his haunches and brought his paws up to rub at his temples. She could have been killed! The wild dogs could have torn her apart, she could have been snapped up by a crocodile, she could have drowned, been swept away- there were a million things!
"Next time... just call me... I'm glad you're safe. And your friend- Jaques?"
He looked down to the cheetah, "...where is your family?"
Aila:
"I didn't think there was time... I was scared I was too late already," Aila replied and glanced back at the cheetah, Jacques. She moved closer to Gremio and placed a paw against his fur.
"I almost was. Without all the running Feng makes us do, I probably would have been." It was a scary thought, to have reached the river just in time to see her new friend fall into the jaws of the crocodile waiting below him. She closed her eyes and shook the mental image away.
Jacques:
Jacques watched Aila interact with Gremio for a few moments. Was this what a family was like? She looked upset when she finished explaining, so he scooted closer and bumped his nose against her cheek, giving her a small smile when she looked at him.
Oh, right, Gremio had asked him a question.
He looked up again the smile being chased away for a pensive frown. And then he shrugged.
He had no idea where his family was, who his family was. He couldn't remember. Did he have brothers and sisters? Would he even remember his mama's face if she was standing right in front of him? He really didn't know.
Gremio:
"I would hope that would inspire you to be more puncuial when it comes to attending your training." He raised a brow but soon enough, his firm look melted into sympathy. He sighed, deflating, and looked down to the cheetah cub.
"Well Jaques... I suppose you're one of us now. Be sure that you don't run off until you've completed your training."
Aila:
Aila nodded firmly, several times in fact. She really understood now the reason they were always training. Even as a cub, it had helped her save someone's life. And it sounded like Gremio was perfectly fine with Jacques staying. It wasn't her papa's permission, but Gremio's was just as good. She grinned and hugged Gremio as best she could.
"Thank you!" It was a little weird for her to be thanking one of the adults for letting someone stay in the troupe. It wasn't like they turned anyone away. But she was really happy that Jacques was getting to stay, she was being a little irrational.
Jacques:
Jacques nodded when Gremio told him to stick around until his training was finished up. He wondered what they meant by training. Sounded like it had to do with running a lot. He was good at running, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Besides, if it meant he could stay, that was what counted.
He smiled a bit.
And then drew part of his scarf into his mouth, sucking like a cub might at its mother. Aila must have seen him do it because she giggled a bit.
Gremio:
Gremio brought a paw around to pat the cub's back as she hugged against his leg. It was an awkward gesture, but it was appreciated regardless. IT would take him all day to calm down though. He could have let one of the little ones die! Of course... it might have meant that Jaques had been kiled... fate had a funny way of making everything turn out alright.
Sighing away another wave of anxiety, he looked down to Jaques, eyes going wide.
"Heavens! Get that out of your mouth! It's filthy! You might get sick!"
Aila:
Aila looked up at Gremio when he exclaimed and then back to her friend, noticing that he had part of his scarf in his mouth. It was a strange thing to do, but why should she question it? She did strange things, too, like touch rocks when she got feelings.
Jacques:
Jacques frowned up at Gremio when he told him to take the scarf out of his mouth. He'd done this a lot since he could remember, he wasn't really sure why. It made him feel more safe when he did. And it had really helped on the days when he hadn't been able to find anything to eat. He'd suck on his scarf and forget about the hunger pains.
He put a paw to his scarf and sucked a couple more times before letting it fall out again.
Gremio:
He took another deep breath and pushed up to his paws. Shaking out his mane, he threw a look over his shoulder. It was getting late.... they'd all be hungry. Oh heavens, he hadn't brought back anything.
"Alright well... you keep that scarf out of your mouth and Aila- you stay within the boarders."
He looked back, his eyes moving firmly from one cub to the next. "You two promise me."
Aila:
Aila nodded.
"I promise I'll stay in the borders, unless it's an emergency, like if I have to run from something. But if something like this happens again, I'll try and find an adult," she said, wanting to be clear just so that she wouldn't feel bad if something happened and she had to leave the borders again. That said, she looked to Jacques. He didn't look too happy.
Jacques:
Jacques frowned when Gremio told him not to put his scarf in his mouth anymore. But, but he liked sucking on his scarf! It made him feel better. And he hadn't gotten sick yet.
His ears flicked down and he gathered the trailing end of his scarf close to his chest with one paw.
"Makes me feel better..." he murmured, not talking his gaze from Gremio.
Gremio:
He nodded firmly. "Just... be safe and be sure you stick to your training."
He looked down to Jaques. The cub was going to be a problem... that scarf was going to be the death of him, he knew it. Did he even know where it had been? What it had touched?! It was filthy.
".....get it washed then."
Jacques:
Jacques watched as Gremio looked unhappy with him, but he finally gave in and simply told him to wash his scarf. He could do that... just as long as he wasn't washing by the snappers. Those were scary.
"I can do that."
Aila:
Aila let out a breath she hadn't realized that she had been holding when Jacques complied. She didn't want her new friend to be getting in trouble and kinda breaking rules. She flashed Gremio a grateful smile and then turned back to Jacques. He still looked tired, so she nudged him back to where they had been napping. She was kinda tired too, all the running and fright had tired her out. Her friend must have gotten the hint, because he moved back and laid back down with a little yawn.
She caught the yawn and flopped down beside him.
"Just a little nap, I promise," she mumbled at Gremio before closing her eyes.
Gremio:
He nodded slowly. Good. At least he'd be keeping it clean. Now what his definition of clean was up to anyone's guess. For the moment, and for the sake of his rattled nerves, he'd trust that clean meant clean. Next to godliness.
As Alia curled up again he smiled softly. "...good... I should be back with dinner before too long."
With a short glance back to Jaques, Gremio turned and padded from the cave. Perhaps Tir had already gone out...
