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 Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:50 pm
Though it was far from some sort of immediately relief, having talked to Kidondo did, in the end, make Sjari feel much better. Perhaps it was just the fact that the Regent had trusted him, despite all odds. If it really had been Sjari who'd led the Nergui to the desert, albeit unintentionally... then he was at least indirectly responsible for the death of Nur'yu. He'd never met the lion, but now knew the name all too well.
And yet... here he was. Alive, at least.
He didn't feel as though he was all better yet, but at least Sjari felt more prepared to try to move along. The dark lion sat outside of the strange peak he'd been shown once, where he could be alone and think, and pondered as he looked out to the sands.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:57 pm
Badieh was so conflicted. She had had a strange dream where she had to fight herself, albeit so hard to do. She was beaten down and rose to try and vanquish herself, but she was at a standstill. It was how she felt in her heart and mind. Her tail lashed behind her as she tred upon the sand, her face drawn into a snarl that remained silent. She was angry, felt betrayed by her own self, there was no balance in her at the moment. She needed to find a reason to want all she believed in, or needed a reason to change...
She was heading for the slate structure she had shown Sjari, but stopped on the other side of a dune that would lead her to the area. She swiped her claws out towards the sand in frustration, a roar emitting from her throat as she did so.
Why was it so hard to accept?
She wanted change.
Needed answers.
Wanted purpose.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:02 pm
She was most definitely out of sight, but not earshot. He had no way of identifying the lioness simply by her roar, and usually angry lions, particularly firekin, should be avoided. But, for some reason, Sjari felt compelled to stand up and make his way over. He began to jog, then sped up. It didn't take him long to reach the dune, or even make his way over it.
He'd been right, though Sjari couldn't even remember developing a hypothesis. Badieh. For a few seconds, he considered what he should do, before he began to slide down the dune's other side, towards her.
"Badieh." He spoke first, for once. "Are you alright?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:07 pm
As she went to strike her paw out again, full fledged willing to put intense pressure into the dune she heard a ice and whipped her head around. Her eyes held anger, confusion and a feeling of self betrayal, but that became more subtle as her eyes reached Sjari's. She went to speak but realized her face still caught up into a snarl, and retracted her arm back, lowered her head and closed her eyes, grinding her fangs together trying to calm her heart.
Badieh perked her ears forward, opening her eyes wide then, looking up to Sjari with a confused...very confused and awestruck face.
"You spoke...are speaking?" her words as they jumbled together showed her initial confusion.
Why the sudden change?
"How, when?"
Why had she not been properly informed?
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:14 pm
She was upset, or angry, with something. He wondered if it was him, if perhaps he really had bothered her so much. Sjari felt bad then, but now he was in too deep to simply climb out. Her surprise caused his ears to fall back "... Yes, I'm speaking." It must be strange for her.
"I... spoke with Kidondo. Need to move on." Or at least make an effort to, halfhearted as it may be. And he owed Badieh this much.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:16 pm
"Well.." she stopped, sitting back into the sand, just...looking at him. He seemed, different now, as it a rock had been taken off his back to ease some weight put on him. What had they spoken about? The things Sjari could not say before? "You have to understand my surprise then for before you were...reserved," perhaps too reserved because of pressure she herself might have placed upon him.
But now he needed to move on, he seemed ready.
Was he...ready to tell her what he could not before
Would he?
"Before...you said you would tell me why you wished to be alone...why you wished to not speak...is that what you told KIdondo?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:22 pm
He might have smiled, but humor was still a bit hard for him. He was certainly on the mend, but Sjari was far from fixed. When she sat, he mimicked her, perhaps in the hope that she could feel more comfortable. Or, perhaps that he would.
"Yes, it is." He said, carefully. "It is still hard for me, but... I can say." Some things. He completed, mentally. Sjari trusted Badieh. But, he couldn't possibly ask her to trust him. And if certain things got out... he would not be the only one to feel the consequences.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:25 pm
Her ears flicked then, watching him sit, listening to him answer questions. This was so incredibly different than before. Before, she had even yelled at him to try and get some words from him...perhaps he had told Kidondo about that? She gulped silently, hoping not. She had only wanted to know why, why he hurt so bad he kept to himself, now...would he tell her?
"What was it?" she asked, perhaps a little too blank or blunt for the situation, the slight tension she felt in the air, but her eyes held intrigue, a want to know. "What had hurt you so bad that you were...how you were?"
But would he tell her?
He told Kidondo...but she had showed him her spot. So...he had to, right?
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:30 pm
He paused, and glanced around. He would share some information with her, because he trusted Badieh. But he could not feel comfortable with the possibility of another firekin happening upon them. "Back there," He indicated the dune behind him, meaning for them to go her spot.
She must understand, so he stood up once again, and headed back up the dune. He felt bad that he would be going against what he'd told Kidondo, but he'd promised to clear things up with Badieh long before. He wasn't about to back up on that. Once they reached the top of the dune, he took a quick glance around before coming back down, checking if Badieh was following.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:34 pm
As he spoke, she quirked a brow at him and as he rose to stand and walk away she shook her head of the sand that gathered round her ears (as she had been curled up in a shaded spot and some sand had covered her earlier) and took off after him as he went up the dune. He descended, heading towards the structure and she herself stopped at hte top of the dune, looked back to where they had both sat, making note the wind was already taking away traces they had been there.
She looked to the sky, feeling the wind pick up.
A storm was coming.
Descending the dune she went to the stone structure and maneuvered her way in, motioning for him to follow, once inside she'd press upon the loose slate on the inside to place over the entrance to keep the sand, and prying eyes away.
Sitting in the dark she waited for him then, moved overas far as possible knowing full well they'd both have enough room.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:37 pm
Somehow he hadn't even realized the sandstorm was coming, but Sjari still had much to learn about life in the desert. He followed her in, and blinked in the darkness once she covered the entrance. There was still the opening, though, that allowed light in. A lion's eyes well well equipped for dim light, and he adjusted soon enough.
He let silence take over for a while, hearing only their breathing and the blood in his ears. "It is about my brother." He said, finally.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:41 pm
As he joined her and she essentially sealed them in (though light still shone slightly) she stayed silent, even trying to keep her breath to a minimum. She swore she could hear both of their heartbeats thrumming within the stone walls as the wind began to pick up outside around them. The sand,, as she knew it, never came to seal up the structure as the jagged edges seemed to defer it away. She hoped others nearby had gotten to safety as well.
Badieh listened as he spoke five simple words and she went to speak, and then closed her mouth, trying to pick the right words.
His brother? Was he here? He had never spoken about a brother before, a brother in the lands. Badieh had so many siblings, but, she mused, he didn't know that either.
"Is he...hurt? Did the nergui hurt him?" was the only think she could think of. Sjari and the others had been able to get away, from what she knew, "did he not make it when you got away?" she asked softly, wondering if he had lost his brother to some nergui who had no mercy.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:46 pm
His ears laid back, and a strange expression crossed his face. Of course she couldn't know what had happened, but he was bitter. He curled his tail around his paws, and resisted saying two simple words. If only.
"Svarr was my twin brother. We were close." He needed her to understand that. Had they not been close, he would have handled it so much better. But they'd been so alike... "It was him. He betrayed us to the nergui."
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:49 pm
Sjari became quiet, and Badieh drew in a breath. She had struck the wrong area it seemed, perhaps too close to his heart and she made it ache? So, he had lost his brother, at least that was how it appeared as he waited, he was Sjari's twin? Her ears laid back against her head, it must have been hard to lose someone so close, someone in your family you create such a strong bond with that you -
...wait.
What?
"He," she started, "he led them to you?" she felt the muscles tighten in her jaw and she resisted a snarl.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:04 pm
Suddenly he felt like he was doing the wrong thing, that he shouldn't have told her. He didn't really know Badieh, but... "You must not speak of this to anyone. Only Kidondo, No and I know this. And now you." It needed to remain that way, for the Hongshan's sake. "I promised I'd tell no one, but... I also promised I would tell you..." He trailed off, because she knew what he had said.
"But, yes." More or less. He didn't know the specifics of what Svarr had done, when he had met the nergui, what he'd told them.
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