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 Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:21 am
It had been two weeks.
Two weeks since the dreadful day that Amari had left the pridelands for a new life...one without his precious mate at his side.
His heart still ached as it had the very day she had left him and he was beginning to show the signs of a deep depression and loneliness that he hadn't felt in a long while.
He was lying beneath the boughs of a tabgled looking tree, his great head lying upon rusty-coloured paws. At first it might seem he was asleep, but he was not. He hadn't slept proeprly since. In fact he was lying motionless with his hazel eyes open to gaze across the dusty covered ground.
"Why was I stupid enough to fall for you?" He winced, body tensing as he remembered the sharp and pain-filled words of his mate. The meeting had been haunting his nightmares ever since.
"You are not the one I fell in love with anymore." Was it true? Had he really changed that much? Was he still not the fun-loving lion he had always been? He trembled and seemed to curl up, crumpling in on himself as if trying to shut out the world.
He had changed, for this was no longer the loud, cheerful lion of the past. He was somber, grief-struck and terribly lonely.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:49 am
Masuka didn't know what it was like not being alone. She had been so for so very long that the memories of pride life were nothing but fleeting memories, a friendly groom here, a pleasant word there. They were what sustained her on her seemingly endless journey, memories, stories, thoughts of what her son was up to.
Her paws ached, weary, almost as weary as Masuka herself. She felt like she had walked an eternity, spooling out the path behind her like an ever winding ribbon. But still, despite this tiredness in her step and manner, she didn't appear sad, her life was all she had ever known and she lived each day as it came.
Today she was surprised to spot another lion in her vision, alone too. Loners had been getting hard to come by these days where the prides bloomed and flourished. Drawing nearer, she paused thoughtfully, just within hearing distance, a graceful ghost of a figure against the lands.
He looked familiar but no matter how she sought, the female couldn't place his face.
"Hello." she said after a time, not wanting to simply stand there.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:58 am
His face had been buried between his paws, ears flattened back so that his hearing had been reduced. It seemed he no longer cared if he left himself unprotected. However despite his vulnerable position he still had not expected anyone to approach, let alone hear a voice that sounded familiar.
He raised his head, blinking in mild surprise as he turned to stare upon the pale lioness. For a moment he thought her a goddess, come down from the heavens to help ease his pain, perhaps take his life so he'd no longer feel so lost. Then after a moment he realised it was no ethereal being and that it was simply a rather stunning rogue lioness.
Where he had seen her before he could not quite recall but he knew that sometime in his past their paths had crossed.
It now seemed like they were about to cross again.
"Hello there." He called, moving to sit up, a faint breeze catching at the tresses of his mane to blow them back away from his eyes. "What have I done to deserve the company of such a rare beauty?" He chuckled, giving the other a somewhat crooked and charming grin.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:16 am
As the lion looked up from his thoughts, Masuka finally got a better chance to examine him, he was familiar, that anchor marking she remembered, recalling the day that she was first introduced to Asi's charming friend. That felt like a world of time ago, and even the memory of those happy days spent out in the southlands in the company of friends made her smile to herself, her blue eyes fixed upon the rusty male.
She gave a playful chuckle and shook her head "And here I was thinking chivalry was dead and buried." she waved a paw slightly, Masuka had a tendency to speak using gestures, very much like her son, her tail movements betraying her mood "Very much like the past, I always thought, but here it is, come back when I least expect it. Nice to see you again Amari, wasn't it? It's Masuka, Asi's old friend."
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:23 am
Those blue eyes enchanted him, and as she spoke her name he remembered. He had been younger then, full of life and freedom, wandering the lands as a rogue and nothing more. He had led an innocent and ignorant life of bliss and knew nothing of such rejection. Even the cruelty of his mother had not hurt him as deep as his seperation from his mate.
"You have a fine memory Masuka, I apologise for not having the same skill." He smiled, stepping forwards across the ground. "I try my best to treat a lady in the way she deserves, and you have my eternal respect. Have you been wandering all this time?"
Did she never get lonely? Want to settle down in a pride and maybe raise a family of her own? It seemed that every rogue he had met in his past had done so and it seemed sort of odd that she wouldn't choose the same route. Mabye she preffered to walk alone to avoid any unnessecary heartache?
Perhaps that is what he should have done.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:45 am
Masuka nodded "Thank you Amari, if only there were more like you these days." as he asked of what she had been up to all this time, she spoke simply "Indeed, I've been going where the wind goes, travelling hither and tither over these vast lands, not through choice really, it's beautiful but very lonely." her blue gaze drifted upwards for a moment, lingering on the impossibly blue sky overhead that seemed to mirror their hue. "I think I wander because I have never once found anything worth stopping for."
In that instant there was visible in her expression the slightest wistfulness. There had been one lion, once, whom she would have stopped her journey for in an instant, but that part of her life, just like all the others was long gone, lost to time and out of reach. She didn't resent her choices, having been raised to beleive everything has a reason.
She glanced back at Amari, clearly snapping out of her daydream "Oh! I'm sorry about that, seems too much walking wears out the skills of speech, eh?." she sat daintily down, taking the weight off her tired legs. "So what of yourself? Has life been a friend or foe to you?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:58 am
He smiled softly as she spoke, eyes glistening as he listened to her voice. "I'm sure there are many fine lions out there Masuka, perhaps you will meet more someday. I hope you do at any rate." He nodded, exhaling as she spoke of things that were familiar to him. "The world can be a lonely place for a rogue."
He thought back to Maawio and realised that she had been the only thing worth stopping for in his life. Now what would he live for if not for her? He sighed, snapping to attention the same time to Masuka, "no need to apologise."
At her question he tossed his head upwards, flicking the mane from his face as he gave a bark of laughter. "I wish I could say it had been a friend, and it had up until recently. I was settled in the Pridelands with someone I thought I'd spend the rest of my lfie with....but lately it seems I just don't fit in so I left that life behind me to regain my status as a rogue." He blinked, "it's taking me a while to get used to the loneliness, though seeing such a beautiful face as yours has helped ease that feeling."
He grinned playfully, bringing both ears forward to focus upon her. Other males had to be blind to miss such an eyecatcher as she.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:45 pm
Masuka nodded, she had met many lions in her tireless walks and not all of them had been bad, in fact she counted many as friends in her memory. But she agreed with his statement "The old adage isn't very true, in my experience, everyone isn't in this together, I've always found when it comes down to it, we are all in this alone." a chuckle escaped her, faced by the bleakest of futures, Masuka would simply laugh and ask what else it could throw her way. "But thank you, I hope there are other lions out there like yourself, polite and handsome."
She listened intently, ears perked as he spoke of his life in the pridelands, however, her expression softened as she heard the reason why he had appeared so desolute when she arrived "Dear me...seems you can take the rogue out of the wild but never vice versa. Welcome to the dillema of my life. " she tried to smile reassuringly as possible "Life's tides are hard to predict, one minute you are high and dry, the next swept up and off your feet."
A swish of her pristine white tail and Masuka rose to her feet, not wanting her muscles to get stiff from sitting.
"You flatter me too much Amari, I'm not all that beautiful, life has worn me." but still she smiled, her blue eyes deep as oceans, the scars over her eye a mere badge of honour to be remembered "But I see it has worn you too. Come on, walk with me, it might help leave those troubles behind you in the dust."
And with that she led the way forward across the land, trusting he would follow.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:36 am
And he did follow.
The mane swayed back from his eyes as he trotted at her right flank, filling the peace and quiet with his deep toned voice. "It's not often I recieve compliments from females I'm telling you." He laughed. It made him feel somewhat strange to be callld handsome, especially by anyone other than Maawio.
He scowled, annoyed with himself and his inability to forget her. "If you wish it, I would like to keep you company for a while, it has been a long time since I had anyone other than youngsters to talk to." He smiled, "and no matter what you say you are beautiful." He indicated her scars with a tilt of his head, "those scars don't ruin your grace, they may even help to enhance it."
He breathed deeply, "I wish I could be as trouble free as I was when I was a youngster. No responsibilities, no painful memories, just myself and dreams of a promising future." He sighed, "ashame that life is so cruel."
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:51 am
Masuka smiled playfully at Amari's words "I'm not like most females you might find, darling." the very inflection of her voice and tone was similar to Ausha's, apparently his source for his odd habits lying in her. "When you spend so long on your own, you tend to lose the meek unassuming habits typical of most lionesses."
The thought of a travelling companion however, brightened her mood greatly. "I'd be glad of the company." At his compliment she all but glowed with gratitude "Thank you so much."
A look of concern darkened her grateful mood for a moment however as he lamented his loss of innocence. "You can be as trouble free you know. At least, I think so." Her life so far had been fraught with troubles, but at one point she had decided to simply shake them off like a dog shakes off rainwater "I always find out here, if you really listen to the landscape, you realise just how small and petty troubles can be. After all, our lives are much too short to waste musing on the past." She smiled warmly "I'm sure I will have plenty of time to mourn the bad things in my life after I'm gone."
Playfully, she picked up her pace to an easy jog "But for now, I think, I'd like to live." and with a laugh that seemed to linger in the air, she broke into a short run, just wanting to feel the cooler breeze on her face, to stretch her legs. She didn't run too long however, and once again slowed to a walk. "After all, all we are are youngsters who have dwelt too long on our problems."
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:16 am
He found himself grinning at her reply, her smile contagious as one spread itself across his own face. Oh it felt good to wear a cheerful expression after weeks of misery. This lioness was a breath of fresh air, she was hope! "That much is true I suppose, and I'm glad you are willing of my company. I must say I'm feeling a lot better since meeting up with you."
His despair was already beginning to fade and a glimmer of light could be seen shimmering in his future. He listened to her words with interest and realised just how wise she truly was. He was still rather childish in most of his ways, a lumbering oaf who had a heart big enough for an entire pride of lions! He opened his mouth to reply, only to find that she was quickening her pace. She was right, so so right!
He ran alongside her, his great paws thudding against the ground as he moved, picking up speed as she slowed so he could whirl around to face her and cut her off from their original path. There was a mischief in his eyes that bespoke of his thoughts as he lowered himself to try and pounce at her in a playful manner.
"Too true, too true!" He finally replied to what she had spoken of before, "then maybe we can help each other forget."
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:41 am
Masuka laughed again heartily as she allowed her path to be cut off and to be pounced, however, playfully she leaned into his motion and just before impact, sprinted forward a litte more, spinning around in a most graceful manner to agree with him. "That's the best idea I have heard in a very long time."
It really had been much too long since she last spoke with another, and indeed, Amari was like the distraction from her introversion she had needed for so long. With him to focus on, she didn't have to dwell on her place in the world, the fate of her son - surely he could take care of himself now? - anything.
All at once it seemed she became aware of the land round about her, the endless sky, the forever landscape. If she closed her eyes for an instant she would be once again walking the pawprints of her youth, surrounded by the rich southlands. It seemed all this time her past had been the link to contentment and in the most odd way, Amari was that link.
Despite what he had said earlier, in Masuka's eyes he hadn't changed one bit. She didn't see his problems, didn't see the cares the world had heaped upon him, she merely saw the lion with whom she had been impressed so long ago and who now she regarded, thanks to the sweetening of time, as a fellow survivior of an unjust world.
Laughing again, her voice silky smooth, she grinned and flicked her tailtip before launching a playful pounce of her own at the much larger male.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:50 pm
She was graceful and agile - her slender form allowing her to do what his big bulk of a body could not. He paused to watch her twirl about and tipped his ears towards her, feeling his heart grow warm again. Oh how he had hated the feeling of agony and depression, he was a social animal and being such meant that he needed others around him - preferrably female.
His heart opened up, freeing itself of the harshest blows of pain so that its ache was hardly even felt. It was true that he still loved his old mate, but he knew that things could never return to how they once were. The most he could hope for now was a friendship with her, and perhaps one day that would indeed be rekindled.
His future...his new future lay in the lands that he was to walk, both alone and with this ghostly female who had seemingly captivated him. His memories of her were faint and brief but he knew even then that she was a wise lioness, and one who would beat whatever was thrown in her way.
He only snapped from his reverie when he saw her leap towards him and with a great laugh Amari rolled onto his back to try and fend her off with his great paws. "You know how to take a male by surprise!" He chuckled.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:31 am
Masuka playfully batted at and generally mucked about with Amari for a time, before, with another infuriatingly contented smile, leaping free and running off again, her tail waving in the air behind her like a banner.
"That I do, dear!"
Her heart soared, glad to be free of the burden of solitude she had placed upon herself. She would enjoy his company while he chose to offer it to her and think nothing of her worries.
The wind whipped at her sparse mane as she jogged, simply enjoying the movement for what it was, sure that the rusty male would keep up.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:56 am
Keep up he did.
He had rolled over onto his stomach and was on his paws, giving chase quicker than a blink of an eye. He had found a friend in this lioness, one who set his heart free from its burdens. When he smiled it was genuine and as he ran he felt as if each paw had spread a wing of its own and aided him in his stride.
It reminded him of a dance, a ritual, or a game more mystical and amazing than ever he had played.
With this lioness he could be someone different than what he was with Maawio. For this ghost of a lady had brought out the cubbish innocence inside of him once more. He was stripped of responsibility, of his past and left with his fun-loving self once more.
The thunder of his paws on the ground heightened him, made him remember that with each step forward he could leaeve his past behind him. No, no he would never forget it, but it was time to let it rest, it was time to bury it.
He quickened his pace as he battled to keep up with her, throwing back his head to laugh aloud in delight. "I'll catch you!" Was his challenge.
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