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It was the sort of day that made Dalasini'ua happy to be alive. The sun was shining, the breeze was cool, and the flowers on the edge of the jungle that he lived in with his mother were in full bloom, releasing the most WONDERFUL of scents. It was calming, and just...wonderful. The leopon male had decided to take a nap in a patch of the flowers, eyes closed and breathing slow as he just enjoyed the flowers' scent as he tried to drift into sleep.

Unfortunately...sleep seemed to elude him, ruining what would have been a perfect nap. He sighed and opened one eye, frowning a bit. Hmm...didn't seem to be anyone nearby...so why could he not sleep?


A laugh peierced the quiet day as a Cheeton female ran through the flowers, chewing on the ones that came apart and their petals came up in the air. Squealing in childish delight Isaura pranced and kept herself occupied from the fact her father had left her alone for the day and told her to stay close by. Sneezing hard when the pollen finally flew into her nose, the hybrid whined and pawed at it, smearing dirt and pollen alike on her fur, which.... only caused her to sneeze more. Sniffling, she huffed and started to chew at the flowers angrily.

"Take this, and this!" She laughed again and then flopped on her back to roll around. She was in a really happy mood! Why? Isuara didn't know, but she was. She just wanted to play and laugh and talk to someone. Finally she ran to far and ended up tripping over a body in the flowrs!

"Ack!" She fell face first and her back paws went over her head in a flip. Sliding a little bit, she was facing the body and blinked curiously at it. "Hello, are you dead?"


Dala did hear the cheeton before she popped into sight. Sadly, he didn't have enough time to get out of the way as he was tripped over. He yelped a bit in a most unmanly way, staring at the female in shock. He recovered himself after a moment and coughed sheepishly. "No. I assure you I am quite alive, mademoiselle." He smiled sheepishly. "Are you alright? I do apologize for tripping you."


Isaura stared at the body when he started talking with wide eyes. "Oh.... You're not dead? That's really good. 'cause then you'd be talking dead!" She laughed at her own joke and got up, stretching herself out. "Oh yeah. I've taken more falls than that. Daddy said it's OK if I fall 'cause I got nothin' in my head!" She beamed like it was a compliment or something. Watching him, she tilted her head to the side and bit on her lip. "Who are you? What are you?"


The loepon chuckled and shook his head. Talking dead? That would certainly be disturbing. And...then she mentioned having nothing in her head and he frowned. "That's not very nice of your father. You've certainly got something in there, since you made sure I was okay." He sighed, then smiled again and bowed deeply. "I am Dalasini'ua, a member of what was once the house of Anafiel Delaunay, and....what do you mean 'what am I'?" He'd never encountered someone who did not know what a hybrid was. And it seemed even odder, since the girl looked like a hybrid herself.


"No, my daddy says it really nice. My daddy's a really nice guy. You'll see when he comes back later today." She sat down as he prattled on about what house he was from. Now Isaura was more than confused. What did he mean the house of what now? It made no sense to her. "Uuuhm... You don't look like anything I've seen before? Not that it's bad, I'm just curious! You don't look like my twin or mom or dad.."


Dala nodded, still a bit...put off by the fact a father would insult his own daughter, nicely or not. And she was such a pretty thing! "Well...I suppose you could call me a 'leopon'. My mother is a leopard, and father is a lion." Not that he'd SEEN his father in MANY seasons...but he understood why the white lion had left. Neither he nor his mother blamed him.


"Oooh.. My daddy's a cheetah and mom is a lion.." She beamed and laughed a little. She didn't see anything wrong with what her daddy said. Isaura figured that whatever her dad said was true, so why be upset by it? That and she just didn't quite grasp what he meant, but that was alright. She lived in a world of blisfful ignorance. "I'm Isaura if I didn't tell you that. I don't remember if I did or not." She still had a pollen and dirt mixture on her nose.


She seemed a sweet girl, if a little cloud-headed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mademoiselle Isaura. So what brings you around here? I've not seen you before." And he'd seen everyone that lived in the area at least once before. It came with growing up there.


"Oh, dad and I are just wandering around. We move all the time. He went off to hunt or look for a den for the night. Maybe both. I think he's looking for mom to drop me off with her. I bounce between them a lot. It's really fun." She grinned at him and laughed. Half the time she didn't know what he was saying. What with the Mademoiselle part and everything. That just confused the simple hybrid. "What about you? Do you live 'round here? Is there a pride near?!" She got up and looked around, her nose in the wind to try to get the scent. "Oh gods, it's not that scary firekin pride is it?! Those lions are HUGE and they're mean!"


Dala couldn't help but laugh. "No, no. I've not heard of the Firekin, but there...isn't exactly a pride nearby. The ruins of one, yes. But...we are not strong enough to be considered a pride. Mother says it was once a grand place, full of life and love...but now, we are but a few scattered families staying together for protection and companionship." He smiled sadly. "If you need a den for the night...there are many empty ones I could direct you to?"


That pride sounded reall nice! She wanted to live in a beautiful pride with beautiful others and one that was full of love and life. Isaura hadn't ever been in a pride before. It really made her curious about it. "Uuhm... No, daddy will find us a place, but thank you!" In a way, Isaura still saw herself as a little cub. She tried to please her daddy to do what he wanted her to do. "Uhm... ....Can I see this pride ruins? 'cause it sounds like I wanna be apart of it! I never really had a family. Well, momma and daddy, but they don't get a long. Momma said daddy as a stick up his butt. I don't know what that means.. But I know momma says I'm a princess. Daddy said I'm an airhead! I like it when I get called pretty things." She beamed again and laughed.


Dala chuckled a bit, intrigued by the girl's odd brightness. "Well...I can show you a bit. Do you like flowers?" Perhaps she might like Elua's shrine. It was a beautiful area, and it always brought him a sense of peace and wonder whenever he visited it.


"Oh I love flowers! Sometimes they're really sweet smelling and sometimes they're not. I try to eat some, and I found a few of them are really tasty! Some of them put me to sleep tough. I forget which ones...." Her voice trailed off as she tried to remember which ones did it. "Oh well. But yes! I love flowers... I was playing in them before I tripped and though you died! You're... sure you're not dead?"


Dala shook his head, amused. "No, I am not dead." He motioned for her to follow. "You don't want to eat the flowers where we're going. It's a sacred place, where we honor one of the founders of the pride that was once here. He has long since moved on, but he still watches over us."


"Oh, so he comes back?" Death didn't happen her her world. She'd only seen dead animals that her dad brought home and she never thought about him killing them. Tilting her head, she followed Dala and then batted at his tail. Isaura got bored easily and always liked to entertain herself. Shifting, she started walking up next to him and examined him. "Dala, hm? It's a nice name. Is there more like us there?"


The leopon shook his head again. "No...he's a god who has moved on to the Terre d'Ange beyond." He twitched his tail a bit at the batting, raising a brow. "It is his spirit that watches over us. And...there are many like us here. Elua's only command to us was to 'Love as thou wilt'. Love in all its forms is sacred here."


A god? She wanted to meet a god. That was so not fair! "I'm in love with love. I want to be in love. Daddy said no one would love me 'cause he'd make sure that no one would. He's really over protective of me. He just wants me with him all the time. He's lonely. I want him to get with mom but they argue sooooo much."


Dala laughed, smiling brightly. "Well...you have people in love with you already. Your father and mother surely both love you. And any friends you make love you as well. There is more love out there than just romantic." He smelled the shrine before he saw the ruined marble walls, left over from when humans lived in the area long, long ago. "Ah...here we are." He lead her inside, bright red anemone flowers greeting them, carpeting the entire inside of the shrine, the blue sky above them. "This is Elua's shrine. His peace upon you, Isaura."


"I didn't know about different type of love..." She bit on her lip and then looked to the walls with wonder. She had never seen anything like it! Isarua's mouth opened a little at all the flowers and how much more blue the sky looked hear. Brows knitting together and she bit the insid of her cheek. "I feel like I shouldn't go there.. or speak loudly." Her voice was a whisper when she said it.


Dala chuckled softly, nudging her shoulder with his nose. "It's fine. Speaking softly may be a good idea...but Elua welcomes all with open arms. And no matter who you are...he loves you, as a friend or a brother or a sister or a lover...his love is for all. As is his shrine."


She still hesitated and let her ears go flat before stepping into the flowers. She was watching her step, honestly. Who would want to crush all these beautiful flowers? "There's so many flowers!" A laugh escaped and she dipped down to smell them, sighing softly. "Mmmm... They're so sweet smelling." A grin appeared on her face as she looked at the male, tail wagging. "I love it here already!"


Dala smiled brightly. "I'm glad you like them. They're Elua's sacred flower. And...you can pick a few, if you want. Just...don't eat 'em. They don't taste as good as they smell." He knew. He'd tried eating one as a cub before his mother had bapped him upside the head.


Pick them? They were like little art pieces! How could she pick them. The Cheeton shook her head and bit down on her lip. She really couldn't. Instead, she took to wandering out a little more and just sighed. It was a really relaxing place. She felt like she could just be here for hours every day and be perfectly happy not talking or playing. Grinning, she moved back over to Dala and tackled him. Being quiet and feeling like this put her in a little awkward mod, so she wanted to break it. "Let's play here!"


Dala was content just smelling the flowers and enjoying Isaura's company...and then she tackled him. He made an rather unmasculine yelp, and blinked. "Uh....alright." He wasn't sure if that was allowed...but surely Blessed Elua wouldn't mind? So long as both parties were happy. And he would be happy so long as there was a smile on the girl's face.


Oh, she was happy. It didn't take much to make Isura happy, a girl of simple mind like herself. No, all she needed to be happy was someone around her, even if that other person didn't want her there, like her father. She made the most out of being around others. Giving him a huge smile she leaned down to tug on his ear with her teeth, being careful and got off of him, moving a little bit away and getting into pouncing position. "C'mon! Play with me!" She didn't even mind his unmasculine squeaks. She didn't care if someone was gay, straight or whatever.  That was just who they are. "Let's pounce!"