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 Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 8:23 pm
It was a quiet afternoon and there were few visitors around so Tetemeko had plenty of free time to waste. He considered going around to visit some shrines, he didn't see nearly enough of them but sometimes it was just a little awkward. Also some of the shrinekeepers were a little strange, but that wasn't really anything new. There were all kinds in the Pridelands.
Then he had a better idea. He would go and visit Salma.
As usual, he didn't really know where she was but he just seemed to know what direction to walk, humming cheerfully as he went.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 8:30 pm
Salma was exhausted. It felt like everything that could go wrong today, had. She just needed a break, somewhere where no one could find her. Even if it was just for a small part of the day, she needed a way to gather herself up before she just quit. It wouldn't be good for her to quit already.
She stumbled a bit as she walked slowly, not really paying attention to where she was going. It was hard, since she only desired some peace and quiet and alone time.
Her ears jumping up first, she raised her tired head only to see Tete around. Oh. Well. She liked hanging around with him a lot, but she felt like she was going to be just no fun at all today. She felt like...like a little whining cub, really.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 8:40 pm
If Tete hadn't been looking for Salma, he might have overlooked her entirely, she was so quiet. Not to mention she blended in well enough. He spotted her just as she looked over at him and immediately he put on a smile. She didn't exactly look cheerful but she could clearly use some cheering up. If something was actually wrong and he was interrupting, he'd find out pretty fast.
"Hey," he greeted her, walking toward her, "Where are you off to?"
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 8:45 pm
She felt a twinge of guilt as he approached. Hopefully he could help, and her mood wouldn't drive him away. "Somewhere..." she started slowly, debating on inviting him or not. "Somewhere quiet. Do you want to come with me?"
She sighed, the guilt still lingering. "I just need a break for a little bit. Do you know of somewhere where I can hide from my responsibilities for a little while?" She smiled weakly, feeling cubbish but she couldn't help herself. Forget it, she could handle the repercussions of it later.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 8:52 pm
Even knowing something had to be wrong, Tete was surprised how fast he found out. She was tired of being in charge of everything- and why shouldn't she be? She was a young leader and she handled everything by herself. She had help, of course, but it was still all on her.
"No," he said thoughtfully, then smiling, "But I'm good at finding places."
It wasn't a lie, he was very good at finding things.. but that wasn't entirely what he meant. Trying to find a place could be fun, it certainly wasn't a responsibility.. and you would look busy if someone saw you.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 9:02 pm
She smiled warmly and nudged at his shoulder. "Hey, you should know a couple. What else is a good guard for?" She laughed lightly, straightening out her back more as she felt the weight off of her shoulders lift, if slightly. Some of these members were going to drive her up a tree! And she'd never get out of it, nope.
"Well, hopefully you can find one soon, before someone else just has to tell me something they think is important." She was going to have to just tell some of these workers that no, not everything was an emergency. One day.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 9:09 pm
"Nobody said I was any good at being a guard," he said, chuckling as she obviously cheered up a bit. He hesitated a moment too long looking at her and snapped back to the task at hand when she commented about finding a spot soon. Somewhere low traffic but comfortable. He could work with that.
"No no no, this is important," he said, smiling and taking the lead. He seemed like he knew where he was going and deep down maybe he did but for the most part he was just walking.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 9:21 pm
Aaah. He was so nice. She flushed slightly when he started to lead, grateful to be following someone else for a change. As she followed him, she wondered what her mother would think. A lot of things, and probably not all of them good. But...Salma felt that she had something good going, and her mother would appreciate that. Love it, really. Love...
Snapping herself back to attention (as thinking about her mother brought too many conflicting emotions to hold in right now), she let here eyes linger over the jungle in a different way. More like a visitor, maybe. New, exciting...still loud, but in a more natural way. Not with crazy growing leopards and wild dogs and lions.
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 2:55 pm
Tete didn't need to look back to know she was following along with him. He weaved through the trees, thinking of where they could possibly go. The jungle was the busier of areas, heading for the mountain seemed a logical choice.. and it was clear very quickly that that was the direction they were headed. Toward the mountains, getting farther and farther from the central lands, the smell of water getting increasingly difficult to ignore.
Eventually, after a good distance, Tete slowed down and led the way out of the trees to a clearing where the jungle met the mountains where they found a waterfall- one that look like it fed one of the streams that cut through the jungle. It wasn't grand and noisy but it was beautiful.
"Huh," Tete murmured, breaking the silence that have taken over most of their walk.
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 3:02 pm
Salma trusted in Tete. Perhaps a little too much with what stage their relationship was in (just friends! really!), but she didn't care. Who was there to judge her? She was tired, but she felt the complaints melt off of her body the longer that they walked. She shouldn't be quite this far away at this time of day...but she just really didn't care right now. She could worry about it later.
She raised her head as she heard Tete's voice, really taking a glance around at that moment. "It's beautiful," she said with a tired, but warm voice. "Perfect. I never want to live anywhere else," she added on.
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 3:12 pm
"I guess we've found where the stream comes from," he commented, walking closer to the water and looking into it- and then down to where it went. That was about right. Had anybody else been up this far? It didn't look like it had gotten many visitors.
"Mhmm," Tete agreed, looking around and then back at Salma, "Told you I was good at finding things."
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 3:22 pm
She grinned at him, flicking her tail in amusement. "Well, you've proved yourself worthy to keep around." She couldn't help it, he opened it up for attack! She found what looked to be a comfortable spot and flipped down. She probably should have waiting a bit, but she was tired. Maybe she could blame it on the last bit of her growth spurts. Late bloomer, sigh.
"Thanks," she said a moment later, already feeling a bit better. "And I mean it, Tete."
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 3:47 pm
"Well, good," he said, grinning, "I'd like to stick around."
Tete didn't go right over and make himself comfortable, instead staying over near the water, dipping a paw in. This was a very good place, he decided. It almost would have been the perfect place for a shrine but then it would be busier, not such a great place to hide away.
"You're welcome," he said, glancing over at her, "You should take a break every once in a while."
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 4:38 pm
"Yeah," she said. "I should."
Salma felt like there was going to be more silence. She was tired of silence, at least between Tete and her. So...what better way than to just dive in, head first?
"Um, well, what do you think of me?"
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 5:41 pm
Tete froze when Salma asked her question, surprised by her directness. There were a couple ways to interpret the question, especially considering the circumstances but there was only one best way. He'd come along with Salma to begin with because he was tired of nothing happening and he was determined to make things happen. That hadn't really stopped since settling into a pride.
"I think you're wonderful," he said, straightening up and looking directly at her, no more glancing this way or that.
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