Kohrisu - NovaCracker
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Mori'earsira - Das Tor
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Moricorm - Das Tor
Kohrisu was forcing himself to sleep days. The blue male found the night scheduling difficult but it gave him something while he waited for Ri, besides hunting as his wounds allowed. The moon would never match the sun, Ri would scream at him certainly for running-- and he almost wondered if this was worth trying. But she needed him.
Didn't she? His determination was wavering. She was for her flaws a strong, capable lioness. He was... A runt, who didn't enjoy harming others. A healer for the gods' sakes. Maybe she didn't need him. He was still a weakling physically after all. Frail, like his grandmother.
Ri was...somewhere between furious and distraught. Koh was missing. MISSING. And she'd gone looking for him. How could she NOT go looking for him? He was HERS. Ithil had gone out looking, increasing the ground they could cover. He couldn't have gotten far. Not with his wounds. His wounds...She still wanted to kill Hera for that. Something about that...she'd hadn't felt that angry since Drathir had killed her father and won that damn Tournament. Had derailed her plans further. And this anger, is was ALL hers. It did not stem from her demons and their pride. And now...she was angry at Kohrisu for running away. And distraught because he was gone. GONE. She'd become so used to his presence that...
"Mistress!" She startled a bit, Ithil landing on her head. "I found him, Mistress! Follow!" And Ithil took off again, Ri close behind her. And after a bit...she caught Koh's scent. FINALLY!
Koh was getting up to do his evening hunt, still stuck with his internal turmoil. What was he thinking? Or was he so infatuated he wasn't? He stumbled, and frowned, the blue male making a frusterated noise as he paced a bit. What was wrong with him?
After his scent became apparent, it didn't take long for Ri's bells to be heard. Shortly after, Ri herself burst through the grasses in front of Koh, Ithil on her back and a less than pleased look on her face. "Ithil, I will meet you back with the others." Ithil made a noise of assent and flew off. "YOU. How dare you leave me!" And so many other things. He was no demon...SO WHY DID HE MAKE HER CARE?
Time was up. Koh sat down calmly, ears flat the only sign he was aware sheb was displeased.
"Because frankly? You terrified me claiming me as a slave without my knowledge." Blunt.
How...how could he be so CALM? She tried to school her face into neutrality, but all she succeeded with was pursing her lips as she sat, trying to get her temper under control. She was NOT going to lose control because of HIM. She was not! After a few seconds, she spoke again. "I am a demon-lion. What the hell did you think you were? And I never struck out at you. I made sure you had good food, a good place to sleep. I never tasked you with anything beyond what you could do."
"I thought? That you loved me." He frowned, getting up.
"But obviously that's not the case."
Love. He thought...For a moment, Moricorm, one of the most calm and manipulative demons out there, the one best at hiding her feelings...looked lost. And stunned. And unsure what to say. "I..." Love. Love was something she'd been denied once, by the edicts of her pride. Love was something demons didn't do. And yet she'd seen demons in love. And now..."Why?" Why in the hell did he want her to be in love with him? What foolish thoughts were in that pretty little head of his? (Pretty? Why the hell did she think that?!)
Kohrisu sighed, looking at her.
"I'm from the Matembezi'Wasakaji. My great grandmother, my great uncles and aunts? My father? Warriors. Most of my pride and family are warriors, or hunters, or guards. Me?" He growled. "LOOK at me. I was the smallest in the litter. I abhor fighting. I'm a healer Ri. I'm weak. The only other was my grandmother and only after she was enslaved and nearly killed."
He looked away sharply.
"I hoped I'd found someone who didn't think I ewas weak. And I can't even return home or I'll die. I left for you."
Ri...felt a small seed of guilt. Left for her. And he couldn't return. She knew the pain of leaving a home one loved. Knew it far too well. But when she'd left the Aikanaro...he hadn't seen the pain she'd felt. "I don't think you're weak. Strength is more than the body. It is also the mind and the soul. And you..." She shook her head. "I wish you'd been born a demon..." And an enslaved mother...He wasn't the only one whose mother was once a slave.
Kohrisu looked over, blinking, and walked over, putting his paw on hers.
"Just because I'm not doesn't mean the potential isn't there. My mother and father both have dark pelts. My great grandmother has a fine red one.... Many family are either very dark or very light. There's... I might be able to give them to you..."
But he had a look in his eye.... That he still wanted her happy. He still cared.
"Being a demon isn't all about pelt." Though she didn't acknowledge them in the Aegnor...the Aikanaro had had pale demons. "It's what's inside of you. A...a spark." For the first time in her life...someone besides Nyota or 'Tani was seeing the Ri beneath the layers of a need for control. "Kohrisu..." He wanted to give her cubs...and she wanted it. Beyond her original plans to have a line of slaves bound to their darker siblings, she wanted HIS cubs. She wanted him. And he wasn't a demon. The obvious struggle with what to say showed on her face.
Sira had heard Ri and Koh, and kept an eye on things from a distance for a time before turning away and leaving them be. He of all demons, current or former, could understand the struggle Ri had between keeping tight control, and letting go. And this was something he did not need to be a witness to. It was between those two, and those two alone.
Kohrisu blinked then sighed. Looking down.
"I have... One other affliction. And I apologize but... I see things." Wince. "Other's pasts... I can't control it. But I see others' pasts... Sometimes future glimpses lately but... Mostly the past. Ever since I was born. I saw... You... I'm sorry."
He turned away to let her attack, kill if needed. He understood. But... He knew his fate belonged to her.
A seer. Koh was a seer. And he'd seen HER. Her ears went back, and she kept her demons at bay, refused to let them forward. "What...what did you see?" Had he seen her origins? Her mother? Her plans that had kept getting derailed? Her defeat at Drathir's claws? The moments she had been most vulnerable? She was slightly terrified.
"....Glimpses. A lot of things." He cringed further. He... Hated himself.
"I'm sorry. I can't control it... I was sick... I couldn't get you off my mind..." He shivered. "I never told anyone before... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said anything...."
She shook her head. "Seers can't help it." She knew too well, from her experiences with seers in the Aikanaro'hini. "I....I suppose I shall just have to keep you near, than." She was looking to one side. Ri...was coming as close to admitting things she felt as she could come. At current. "You know enough about me to be an asset to those who would want me dead, and you are...are too valuable to kill." She couldn't say the three words that would explain everything plainly. She couldn't admit that out loud.
"I see." He nodded, but remained huddled up. Useful.
He was only. Useful. His head dropped.
Moricorm moved over to him and licked his ear, sitting, then laying down and hiding her face in his shoulder. She couldn't say it...but she could show it in her small ways. Like the vulnerable position she had just put herself in. For him. And there was a whispered, muffled 'I'm sorry'.
Koh leaned, closing his eyes. He... Was just needy, he supposed, and groomed her muzzle softly, looking over.
"I don't plan to tell anyone anything." He hoped that would reassure her.
"Thank you." She shook a bit, shifting to look at him. "Why do you care for me? You've seen what I am. Things I've done." How could a non-demon love a demon like her? A demon who fully believed in slavery, in lies and manipulation, in terror and fear...
"Because I've seen the good things too." He looked at his paws. "And if there wasn't good in you, you'd have killed me by now for being non-demonic."
Moricorm...didn't know what to say. Perhaps...there were no words she could say. "Let's go home." That seemed best. And if he didn't want to go...then she wouldn't force him. She COULDN'T at this point. She just...couldn't.
Home.
"I'd like that, if you'll have me." He smiled. "I was waiting for you. But only when your ready." He snuggled a bit. Wounds be damned!
Ri nodded. And gave him a small, awkward smile. "I am ready when you are." And she looked in the direction of Mori'earsira, raising her voice for him to hear. "I scent you Sparda-line. Thank you...for watching him." Sira came out from behind the rocks, and nodded.
"I knew you'd be by to retrieve him." Ri nodded.
"Give my half-sister my regards." As he nodded again, she stood. "Let us go, Kohrisu." She'd regained a measure of her control over herself. She knew word of this lapse would not get back to the pride. Either of them. Her half-sister and the Sparda-line male she'd taken up with had left. "Let us go home." Even if home was only among others, and not a set place.
Kohrisu nodded, smiling to Sira.
"Thank you, friend." He smiled a bit. "I hope we meet again."
Oh!
"If you and your mate wish company, there's a black lioness alone out there." He looked to Ri.
"Unless you want to collect her. She helped me when I was ill."
Sira chuckled, shaking his head. "We've company already. Aamira, remember? And besides..." He nodded to Ri. Who looked...intrigued.
"I would like to meet this lioness. At least to express my gratitude." And perhaps see if she had a demon. If she did...perhaps she would have an addition to the Aegnor.
Kohrisu nodded.
"Alright." He looked to Ri.
"Shall we?" Smile.
Ri nodded. "We shall. Show the way." And Sira moved to join his mate and Aamira again. He was glad the Moricorm had far more to her than he remembered. That was good. Haramu would be glad to hear it.
Kohrisu got up and began to lead her there, smiling slightly.
He was right after all.
