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 Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:40 pm
So she kept on, for days beyond the pridal border. She hunted only minimally, not enough to fill her belly entirely, but full enough to keep her going. She didn't try to pick a direction, only heading from the point in her first vision. Imagine her surprise that as the sun slipped above the horizon on the fourth day, she had a second vision. This one was expanded, showing the male with bowed shoulders, amongst a scattering of colorful... somethings. Small and delicate. Petals perhaps? But the next flash, rather than her crossing the border, it showed a setting sun, and her heading just to the left of it.
With the brilliant light now fully above the horizon, she squinted at it, followed its eventual path across the sky, then lined up with the new information and marched on to her destiny, not daring to let doubt waver her trust in the vision.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:47 pm
He'd rescued them to begin with, which perhaps made this even more difficult than it would already have been. Swept away in a sudden monsoon, nest obliterated in the torrent, chicks tumbled from their safe abode and half-drowned in the newly made, swiftly running stream. Such tiny little things they had been! Delicately, oh how gently, he had fished them out, one by one, laying his own body as a dam to prevent them from sweeping further out onto the plains.
All for naught. Those tiny, peeping voices, now calling him daddy... the memory made his eyes burn and cloud with tears once more. Miserable and heart-broken, he laid himself down once more, buried his face in his paws, and sobbed as many a masculine feline could never do. But he was alone, with none to see, not even that pesky, if dear, leopardess. Noone to comfort him or see this vulnerability. All alone, his cries tore the heart of the wind.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:54 pm
Two days. Two days she traveled just to the left of the setting sun. It was surprising really, how very near he really was. Somehow she'd thought she'd be traveling for weeks, perhaps months, led on by the enigmatic visions. But this was not to be so. Just a week's easy walking from the pride's borders, and she came upon the scene she'd last seen in her vision. A deep blue lion, hunkered in the wreck of color. However, now that she could see the whole, it was clear that these were not petals. Not at all. No, these flecks of dainty pinks, blues, purples, reds, and greens were feathers.
In the middle of all this, as if he'd been the cause of it, with bits of the rainbow fluff stuck at odd places on him, the male was groaning with every ounce of soul that could be attributed to a living thing. His face was in his paws, his mane was a mess, and it looked as if he might have been tearing out bits of his mane recently.
Overall, it was a shocking sight, and not at all what her visions had prepared her for. Somehow she'd had some romantic idea of swooping in and he catching sight of her, eyes filling with joy and light, and off they'd prance, back to the pride. How juvenile could she be?! Heart touched by his wrenching grief, she stepped closer, trying to discern what had happened before speaking.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:00 pm
The soft step alerted him like an electric shock. His head jerked up, but it wasn't a friend he expected to see. Ears were pinned, fangs bared in an instant snarl, claws extending on all four paws before his eyes even focused on who dared intrude. Upon seeing the wide, startled, frightened orange eyes of a young lioness, his expression relaxed in slow confusion at not seeing the expected culprits, returning to the scene to mock him. That was the only reason he could imagine that he'd be approached, thus his bafflement at seeing her, standing there uncertainly, but not running for the hills after his violent greeting.
The fur smoothed back flat along his back, claws sheathed, and lips covered his teeth again swiftly, though his ears remained back. Their message altered from anger to chagrin, though, and with his whiskers drooping, he looked for all the world like an overgrown cub scolded for something he hadn't realized was wrong. Turning his head away in shame, face hidden by his flyaway mane, he mumbled an apology. "Pardon, miss. You don't deserve that." He let the motion of his head carry his whole body, turning him completely from her and back to the ravaged remains of colorful feathers, head hanging dejectedly.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:06 pm
Well, this was certainly it. There was no question that something was drastically amiss, and that he needed someone. His first reaction had nearly made her flee, but something deep in those eyes, those same sad eyes from her visions, had glued her paws to the ground. Thus she was able to witness the change from vicious killer to shamed boy, all in a dozen heartbeats. It took her breath away, so that she couldn't immediately answer his soft apology. The stark honesty of it softened her further, and made it easier once she found she could move again.
Instead of turning away, she moved down into the depression where he sat, staring down at the flecks of color speckling the ground around him. An unconcerned observer might have supposed that he was regretting a meal he'd lately consumed, but to her, he did not look like the impulsive, melodramatic sort. This meant there must be more to it than the obvious. So she came and sat her haunches down next to him, also looking down at the feathers beneath their paws.
Without any introduction or segway, she asked a single question. "What happened?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 pm
If he was startled by her presence or her question, he did not show it. Truthfully, he did not have the energy to spare to react. he was too exhausted with his guilt and grief to bat an eye at the quiet inquiry. Instead, he followed his instinct and answered it, not knowing the dam of emotion it would release.
"They took them," he answered, choking on the last word, throat closing painfully around the memory. "I tried, but they took them!" No more words would come out, and his eyes were burning again, though no more tears came. He reached down and lifted a pink and white feather, cradling it gently in his paw as if it were a beloved friend. He stroked it with the pad of his other paw, drawing a deep, choking breath. When he could talk again, he tried to keep it together better. "They trusted me to take care of them. I tried to fight for them, but there were just too many."
Another long pause occurred before he went on, with only the soft sigh of the wind in the grass. "There were eight of them. Downy little chicks, too young to fly just yet." He stopped to swallow, not looking at the female beside him, speaking to the wind. "Six girls and two boys. Tad liked to sing, Sween was so clever with her tiny claws. Hawk was such a brave lad, and Teli was a shy sweetheart. Hish was already learning to hunt, Mip just talked and talked, ruining her sister's hunt. Tip and Tap were twins, and so very beautiful." He squeezed his eyes shut and closed his paw about the small feather, bowing his head further in grief.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:19 pm
She listened. That was all she could do. Simply listen. It seemed enough, though, for the story came out, broken and painful, like shattered pieces of ice in the bitter cold. He didn't exactly say, but it seemed he had adopted a set of avian siblings, mere fledgelings and helpless in the big wide world. Respectfully she bowed her head, as he described and named each of them. Eight little souls, taken from him. She wavered about whether to say anything, but finally ventured, "Could they... be alive... still?"
Her voice was weak and small in her own ears, flat despite the good intentions of her statement. Silently she berated herself for being so foolish and unkind. Would he, such a large lion, be here mourning if there was a chance they still lived? She doubted so. He didn't appear to be one of those warrior-type lions she'd heard of, but neither was he a weakling by any stretch of the imagination. He was one of those robust males who could easily overcome an average female. Kicking herself mentally, she asked instead, hoping to bypass what she'd already said, "Who took them?" This time her voice sounded more sincere and gentle in her ears, and though she regretted her mistake, she could only move forward from here, in hopes of offering what comfort a complete stranger could.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:29 pm
His heart squeezed a little tighter at her first question. He knew she meant well, and she was such a young thing. He cast a sideways glance at her, somewhat surprised to realize that, though young she might be, she was an adult in her own right. Not so young and little, then. He heaved a great sigh and let the feather in his paw fall back to the dismal earth. "No," he replied, his voice low and strained. "No, the hyenas killed them the moment they could get their jaws on them." He steered his mind from the terrible sounds as chicks scattered, necks broke, and breath was crushed away.
He looked at her again as she asked this second question, her tone evidence that she truly was trying to help assuage his grief. It was a brave thing for a female to approach a rogue male in the first place. More so to do so with a grief-stricken male. To offer a strange male comfort? It was a bold move, though she hardly looked like the assertive type. Her eyes were on the ground, her expressive face traced with genuine sorrow.
"A gang of thugs," he answered her finally, still watching her. "Lazy hooligans who knew how to frighten the poor things and distract me enough to get their dirty paws on every last one of them." Self-recrimination rose in a bitter wave, and he closed his eyes tight against the sorrow and blame. "Then they left me with laughter, thanking me for their tasty meal." He barely contained the groan that fought to get out of his tight throat.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:37 pm
She did not catch his look, for she was doing her best not to seem intrusive. Staring at him seemed rude in the extreme, and she wanted to comfort him, not discomfort him! So she studied the feathers, imagining the little creatures, wondering what kind of bird they had been, what sort of individuals they'd have turned out to be, with him looking out for them. His words also brought to her images of what it might have been like for him, and one heavy tear rolled down her nose to dampen the earth at her paws. Those poor things, but more so, the poor adoptive father.
She raised her eyes to see him, eyes shut so tight that he looked ready to explode. It dawned on her that he blamed himself. The mocking words he recounted echoed in her head, and combined with that expression on his face, she couldn't help herself. With a soft sound in her throat of pity, she sidled closer and slid her head under his chin, comforting with touch because she had no way to comfort him with words. Naively trusting in the gesture, she leaned against him softly, letting her own tears roll down her cheeks and into his tangled mane. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, her vision forgotten entirely in this moment of someone else's pain.
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:45 pm
His eyes shot open as she nestled herself against him, freezing in place for a handful of heartbeats. But her innocent attitude of gentle sympathy radiated from her, giving those few whispered words more soothing balm than any others could have. The single desire to offer her sympathy was palpable. His heart melted at the altruistic gesture, so that his body relaxed against hers. He was startled to realize she was weeping as well, dribbling her grief into the mane on his chest. He hesitated only momentarily, before wrapping a paw about her and opening his heart. His own tears came again, then, and trickled down upon her. Together they mourned, and in so doing, melded their hearts into a softness that let them touch without pretense or plan, closing the chapters of loneliness and opening upon a new time of togetherness that neither had ever anticipated.
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