Anakaa:
A figure moved in the moonlight, shining a pale gold in its rays as she moved towards the crashing sound. The grasses turned to dry shrubs and then to sand, the lioness' paws moving across the scratchy ground until she came to a softer area, where the water had been lapping. She stopped there, moving one paw through the damp sand, her head downcast so that she could see it.
After a few moments, Anakaa's head rose to look out over the sea. Despite all her dreams, all the traveling she had done, this was the first time she had laid eyes on it. Her heart clenched a little bit at the memories that tried to weigh her down, but she managed to beat them back as she always did and just took in the view, the sounds. The water came up in waves and crashed against the shore, rolling up the sand. She was out of reach where she stood.
But she didn't want to be.
A smile on her face, she walked to where the water came up to and sat down. The water rolled up over her paws, cool and somehow comforting. It was breathtaking and totally worth it.
Jay’mes / Hook:
Hook was a bigger, stronger lion than he had been. He was muscled, trained, and as silvertongued as one got without being too over the top. Things were going well for him, but he had always expected that. He rather liked his life here, he'd been brought to Heaven of that he was sure. Especially if you considered where it had been he had come from.
He scanned the beach, not for anything in particular but just as part of watch. The sand was warm under his paws, and soft. Unlike the desert sand that he could somewhat recall. He was a bit blurry on the details of getting here. It had been a long time, and it was a rough trip on an exhausted cub. But he had managed, and Blackbeard had been proud of him.
Now here he was. Stronger, faster, smarter.. He was a ladies man at his best, able to get anyone he wanted. It was easy to say that Hook enjoyed his life. Stealing, plundering, fornicating, and boozing.. Life didn't get a whole lot better.
That was when his eyes landed on a lioness as golden as the sun. She was pretty, and he felt a grin creeping up on his features. Well he was just going to have to go meet this little lady. It could turn into an even better night than he had originally thought. He cleared his throat, then called out to her, his voice carrying over the waves.
"If you stare too long. You may get lost in them." He said, about the waves.
Anakaa:
After sitting for a little bit, Ana thought she'd stand and start walking along the beach. But her intentions to continue her walk were interrupted when a voice called out to her. Her head jerked around and her ears flicked back in warning, ready to... Well, frankly, she'd run. While she was pretty good at bringing down food, she was a terrible fighter.
She certainly wasn't the cub she had been any more than he was the boy she met so long ago. She had grown into a fine lioness, a lean body hiding powerful muscles. She'd spent so long hunting on her own, it had made her work harder, she was stronger and faster than a pride-hunting lioness would be. And it certainly helped that bother her parents were fairly large. She was no petite little lady.
And yet she still had the braid that had marked young lions in her pride. It was a reminder of her past, one she couldn't let go of.
The male's words registered in her mind as she took in his appearance. He was familiar... Like an old dream.
"I doubt that," she called back, her posture relaxing ever so slightly.
Jay’mes / Hook:
When she turned, and her eyes met his, a sensation of familiarity hit him. For a moment he wondered if he had maybe bedded her already. But then, he would remember her. He usually remembered. But he supposed that he wouldn't actually know if he -didnt - remember.
"Doubt it all you like. The truth is still the truth." He said simply, walking closer, with a cocky gait. He was proud, and he wasn't about to have anyone believe otherwise. He stood tall, and she still stood almost with him. She certainly wasn't small, though he was used to that with the Corsairs they had around.
"Excuse me for the intrusion. However I am friendly, and only bite if you want me to." He said, his smile charming and friendly.
Anakaa:
Ana stood when he came closer, still ready to run if she needed to. The way he walked... She frowned at him. She'd met so many lions in her travelings, but that didn't feel right. He didn't look like someone she had left after leaving the desert for the first time.
"I never get lost." Oh, it was such and arrogant claim. And yet she could say it with utter certainty. She had a wonderful sense of direction. She'd managed to come back home after her adventures, after all, hadn't she? And she'd found the sea all on her own.
She shrugged when he apologized for intruding. She had been planning on an evening on her own to take in the beauty of this place, but then why should she be surprised? She remembered hearing that pirates lived on... the... beach...
Memory finally sparked and she frowned at him, studying his face and the markings on his pelt.
"So, did you grow up to be a pirate like you wanted to, Jay'mes?" she asked, a small smirk on her features, one eyebrow quirked up. She'd gotten a lot better at the look over time, thank you Kahti.
Jay’mes / Hook:
He had no intention of harming her. Quite the contrary actually. So when she stood, and backed away a few feet, he sat, facing the water. He looked at her without turning his head to her, and chuckled. Never gets lost? Yeah. Even he could be man enough to admit he had been lost a few times. It didn't happen anymore.. But it had.
He wondered what it was about her that seemed so similar. Her pelt was relatively common, but that golden braid seemed so.. familiar. He turned his head to her when she spoke, eyes only slightly wider than before.
"Ah. I knew I knew you." He said, grinning proudly. "Feels like it has been forever since I've heard someone call me that." He chuckled, and cleared his throat.
"Miss Ana, is it? How have you been? I see you've been adventuring." He observed. He had always thought she had a wanderer's spirit. He was proud to see she had gone somewhere out of that retched desert.
Anakaa:
"Laugh all you want, I really don't get lost." Ana's smirk grew a bit when she noticed his eyes widen ever so slightly. Just a tiny bit of smug satisfaction wiggled its way into the back of her mind, knowing that she was the one to remember first. Then again, he was a male, after all and females could be awfully insignificant to them. She smothered that thought before it could lead to others and sat back down.
"I have. Went out to see the savanna and mountains a while ago, went back home for a bit." She paused there, turning her gaze from him to the ocean again. "I figured it was time that I finally got to put my paws in the sea."
It was so calming, really, the sound of the waves hitting the shore. Such a rhythmic sound, she could easily close her eyes and just let it lull her to sleep. Ah, but she wouldn't sleep, not when she had company. Needless to say, she didn't really trust him.
"And, yes, it is Ana. So what do others call you if not your name? Or do you just not stick around long enough for introductions?" She didn't mean to sound cold, in fact she didn't. Her tone was simply curiosity. There had been plenty of times that she met someone and there just hadn't been time or reason for names to be exchanged. Of course, there were a number of times where giving out her name would have been foolish... She tilted her head to emphasize her question.
Jay’mes / Hook:
He listened to what she said, and nodded. He was a very cocky individual, and everything she did, he felt he had reason to thank himself for. He had told her about the sea. Perhaps that was why she was here. Though it was apparent she hadn't been expecting to see him. So perhaps he was wrong this time.
"Hook." He said, raising a left leg to show her the paw that was hidden behind the fabric. Truth was, it wasn't a horrible injury, but it served as a painful reminder. So he preferred out of sight out of mind. But his paw was scarred and his fur marred where the fabric covered.
"I'm something of a Captain around these parts." He said, clearing his throat, and putting his paw back down.
Anakaa:
Ana frowned at his paw, immediately wondering what had happened... And writing it off almost as quickly. She didn't want to know, scars were never stories that she liked to hear. It was why she never, ever asked her great-uncle what had happened. His back was littered with him and he had three jagged claw-marks beneath his right eye. No matter how much she loved stories, she never wanted to hear that one.
"Captain Hook? Has a nice ring to it, I suppose," she replied, finally giving him a proper, if mildly amused, smile. "I'll admit, in all the places I went, I still didn't hear much about pirates. Seems they aren't the most well-known individuals. So what's a captain?"
Oh, she could guess. She'd heard of the rank before, in other prides. It was a military thing most of the time, sometimes an assistant, other times a commander. She wondered what it meant to him. Although, he hadn't really said he was a pirate, that question had gone unanswered, but the fact that he was still hanging around here... Two and two is probably four.
Jay’mes / Hook:
He didn't offer more about his paw, clearing his throat, and ticking his eyes in her direction. He was glad she didn't push, though it wouldn't have mattered regardless.
"Of course it does, love. I was made for this." He said, his lids lowered as he grinned at her. He always had a mischevious, deviant look in his eyes, and it was particularly evident right now.
"Then the company you've been keeping hasn't been worth it." He said, and smiled. "A Captain, has control over his own little group of .. friends. It's quite a title, actually." He offered her in reply.
Anakaa:
No, it really hadn't been, but Ana wasn't about to give him the confirmation he didn't seem to need. She was remembering him now, and realizing that not much had really changed. He was still in parts the arrogant little cub who picked on her for trying to get closer to the stars.
"Well, then, good for you," she replied, and couldn't help but want to jab him back for his comments on her company. And for that look he was giving her. She needed to knock some of his bluster down. "I'm just a little amazed, though, that you managed to have a group of friends. One, maybe two, but a group? I haven't spent much time with you at all and I'm wondering how they put up with the ego."
Oh, there was teasing in her voice, to be sure, but it wasn't exactly like she was lying, either. It was just a little bit much. The flirtatious attitude, too, and that really put her off.
Jay’mes / Hook:
"Ah there it is. I was wondering when that was coming." He said at her quip. He wasn't personally offended. Truth was he didn't care what anyone thought of him. He was him, and he would forever be him.
"So tell me. What is it you are doing at the ocean, then?" He asked, arching an eyebrow. He knew she would have a reason for it. She had a reason for everything, from what he could remember. He knew, even if it were true, she would never admit that she came to the beach because she knew he was there.
Anakaa:
"I've always wanted to see it." The answer came out without even a heartbeat of hesitation. Ana looked away again, back out at the waves.
"My mother's uncle would sometimes tell us about it. Well, I've wanted to see lots of things and different places, but I've already cleared the rest of the list," she explained, tilting her head to one side slightly.
Innocent little nothings, no harm in talking about it. She didn't like to share, especially not with strangers and definitely not with males, but what she told him was insignificant. He already knew, if he remembered her when she was little, that she had wanted to see the world, to see everything outside of the desert she was born into. That drive had never changed. Oh, other things had, but the wanderlust in her paws never had.
Jay’mes / Hook:
Sure she did. He wondered if she had even known what it was before him. He couldn't remember. That conversation had happened a very long time ago. A lot of his childhood memories were blurred for the most part. Though one in particular, with a certain.. 'crocodile'.. He remembered that vividly.
He was finding himself trying to find something to say. She was beingrather nostalgic, and he didn't really understand nostalgia. He didn't have a whole lot worth remembering fondly though.
"Be that as it may. The ocean is a lover all her own." He said, his voice warm on the subject.
Anakaa:
"That's rather poetic. It's not a living thing, how can it be a lover?" she asked, gesturing a paw at the waves as she turned back to look at him. He probably knew more about it than she did, but that didn't mean she was that ignorant. The ocean was no more living than a rock. Sure, there had been a time where she had blamed trees for making her fall out of them or dunes for making her trip, but that was a long time ago.
She'd grown up.
Ana was starting to get tired. She had traveled a long ways to get here and frankly she never liked to sleep much. Dreaming had been nice as a cub, had gotten far less so as an adult. But she didn't want to be the first to leave. He might follow her. It was irrational, true, but that didn't change her mindset.
Jay’mes / Hook:
"The ocean is far more alive than a lot of others I've met." He said simply, and turned his head to look at the waves. He watched them rush onto the shore, and retreat as quickly as they had come. The ocean was beautiful, and he didn't think he would ever have the heart ot live somewhere far from it.
He noticed her eyes drooping a bit, and smiled. Either he was boring her, or she had a long journey for the evening. He was tempted to stand, and bid her adieu. But even he wasn't that much of an a*****e.
"If you want to follow me. I can find you a good place to rest for a bit."
Anakaa:
"You haven't met my cousins," Ana replied with a more sincere smile. So many of them were so animated, and though they weren't terribly layered, they were really a lively bunch, the elders and youngers. But she was done talking about that.
The smile fled when he offered to help her find a place to rest.
"No, thanks. I can find one myself." He would probably be better at finding one than she would, since he knew this place, but she didn't feel comfortable with him knowing where she was. It wasn't a safe idea. Especially since she still wasn't sure what a pirate was. She didn't really remember what he had once said about them, but she did remember it hadn't really struck her as being nice.
