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 Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:47 pm
She was so amusing, in a good way. Shazidi wasn't sure if he'd ever smiled this much outside the comfort of his family. Between her shy, shaky nature and her thoughtless compliments she kept him on his toes, not sure if she'd just fall over in nervous fear one moment or become and wicked vixen without even thinking about it. Not that he could really picture her as the wicked vixen sort - she was too sweet.
He didn't acknowledge her compliment and waited patiently for her to catch up with the conversation with a slack, easy smile. "There's nothing I do that the ten other lions in my family can't do themselves." He chuckled. "I can sit right here with you until the sun sets and rises again, and they'll be just fine." He looked down at his paws. He would sit here for that long, if that's what it took for her brother to find her. He couldn't imagine leaving someone so similar to himself all alone somewhere they didn't know.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:57 pm
"You're probably right," Gliri agreed. Ten other family members! His family was practically a pride unto itself. "At least, I should hope they're able to manage for themselves."
She was trying not to think too hard or read too much into Shazidi's declaration that he could sit with her until the sun set and rose again. She told stories to Muscardini every night, and in those stories that sort of statement tended to indicate a level of devotion rarely found in new acquaintances. Or affection. Gliri shook her head and decided she had to dispel her undisciplined thoughts.
"I hope he won't take that long to find me. I could make it easier on him by retracing my steps until I lose the trail. Muscar's a very good tracker." He still wasn't a terrific hunter, but growing up with Gliri as a sister had turned him into a great tracker. Sometimes they joked about that together.
"You could come with me, though. At least until I recognize my surroundings."
Assuming she could retrace her steps to that point. The speed of her journey meant she'd be easier to track, since the impressions of her paws would be deeper and she would have broken stalks and stems from plants as she ran. But she still wasn't much of a tracker, and stood slightly less than even odds of losing herself.
What didn't occur to her was that she was unconsciously trying to avoid having Muscar meet her new acquaintance. She didn't want to run the risk of her brother disapproving of Shazidi or disliking him. That would make things awkward for her, since she was inclined to like Shazidi and unpracticed in disagreeing with her brother.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:05 pm
He laughed. "They'll be just fine," he assured her. He didn't do all that much for them anyways. His father and brothers took care of the hunting and protecting. He pretty much just held down the fort and helped them avoid melt downs. And he was even bad at that, with his cowardly nature. Some big part of the family he was. Pathetic.
He nodded at her logic, but still felt uncomfortable with the thought of her on her own. Relief relaxed him a little when she asked him to join her. "Yeah, we can retrace your steps." He nodded. "Do you remember which way you went?"
If anything he could help a little. His nose wasn't awful, at least. He could maybe track a little by scent.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:19 pm
Gliri smiled, pleased to have made her companion laugh. It felt like an accomplishment. After all, she wasn't much good with new people, in the majority of her experiences. She wasn't comfortable with them and her obvious discomfort tended to put them on edge. When people around her were on edge it made Gliri more uncomfortable and added another layer to the problem. Shazidi didn't seem to much mind that she was a nervous creature, and she was able to relax with him. Maybe that was why she was doing so well in dealing with him.
"This way," she said, standing up and turning in the direction she'd come from. The sudden motion put her a little off-balance and she had to take a few quick steps to recover her balance. So much for grace. That was a little embarrassing. She usually moved very well. It was a side effect of lots of practice being stealthy and unobtrusive.
"Um. Your family won't mind that my brother and I are staying within a prolonged run of your home, will they?" This thought occurred to her as she walked and remembered a number of instances where larger families had minded and asked them to move on with varying degrees of cordiality.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:37 am
He followed behind her, keeping an easy pace so that, while she needed to get home, they could be careful and not make any wrong turns. He would hate to be lost himself, because then both of them might have some problems. His family wouldn't be as worried if he was missing for a day or two, and that left just her brother to come and find them. Maybe it was paranoia, but Shazidi wasn't so keen on meeting a brother just yet. He didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea if they disappeared for a day.
He shook his head reassuringly. "No. We like visitors. These aren't really our lands, we've just borrowed them while we've taken the time to grow up, you know? People are free to come and go, and are encouraged to visit us. We like company." As if they didn't already have enough. "You and your brother will be fine here for however long you want to stay."
He bent his neck, moving his nose tot he ground. He could smell faint traces of her here, though it was obvious she'd been in quite a hurry because the sent was so minuscule.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:30 am
"That's reassuring. Though I'm not sure I'm ready to go up and introduce myself to a family of eleven. It might be a bit overwhelming." And when she said 'might' she meant 'would absolutely.'
Every so often she would stop to sniff the ground. The problem with trying to track herself was that she was more or less surrounded by her own scent all the time, and so it was more difficult to detect it. She was grateful that Shazidi was helping her with that. He probably had an easier time picking up her scent. In the back of her mind she wondered how she smelled to other people, and then decided it didn't really matter, since there was nothing she could do to change it.
"So...you wouldn't mind if my brother and I lingered a while?" She asked this with her nose to the ground, looking up at him. "I can't remember the last time we had friendly neighbors. It would make for a nice change."
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:53 pm
He shrugged. "I can't say that you won't meet any of us. We're all over the place, but you probably won't meet all of us at once unless you're trying to." He smiled and tipped his head, listening. There was a soft sound to their left, but it was small enough to be considered a little animal and be left at that. Her scent was a little fainter here, like she'd put on extra speed.
"Stay as long as you'd like. There's plenty of food for everyone, and enough space that you shouldn't feel crowded and pressed to move on." He smiled. Hopefully she would stick around and he'd get to see her again. It was nice to have someone outside his blood to talk to.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:44 pm
"I'd like to. Stay, that is," Gliri said softly. "I like it here. I think Muscar would be relieved to be able to settle down for a while, too. I'm afraid his life would be much simpler if he didn't have to constantly worry about me."
She flashed a quick smile at Shazidi so he wouldn't think she felt sorry for herself. She didn't, after all. Her brother said, and she believed him, that he liked being relied upon to provide for her and protect her. That being the case, there was really no reason for her to feel guilty about being the way she was.
While she was looking up at her companion Gliri noticed a bunch of scrubby bushes she recognized. There was a family of hares that made their home there and she and her brother had discussed the possibility of picking them off one at a time if it came down to it, but decided it would be better to allow the young to mature and establish their own warrens so that there would be even more of them to hunt later, when game was scarcer. Gliri now thought it was a good sign Muscar had planned for the future like that. Maybe it meant he'd be amenable to staying here.
"I think I know where I am now," she said regretfully. "I can get back to the den from here."
Her tail swished as she struggled to make herself speak her next words. It was a real challenge for her, she was discovering, though she had no idea why it should come as a surprise, given her shy nature. No doubt Muscar would have told her and spared her the difficulty, but he wasn't here. Thank goodness.
"If. If I was trying to meet any of your family. Like, for instance, you. Is there a place where I would be more likely to encounter that person?" She just managed to contain her grimace at her awkwardness. Barely.
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 7:14 am
He frowned, looking around. He hadn't been this way in months, it seemed. He barely recognized anything, but he would remember this path if he ever needed it, for any reason.
"You sure? Don't go getting lost on me again." He smiled at her, a joking, soft smile. "Be careful and find your way home quick, before it gets too dark."
He mulled her question over for a moment, not really picking at the specifics of it, though his mind wanted to pick it apart for every possible meaning. "Back where I found you, in that little clearing. That's the path I take most often. My family's den is just past the hill there, so if it's an emergency, just barge in." He laughed. "If it's less urgent, wait in that clearing and I should show up before too long. I'll take you to whoever you need to see."
He stretched his legs, letting out a soft yawn, and gave one last good look at his surroundings. His memory was a little sharper than the average lion's.
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 6:05 pm
"I'll try not to," Gliri replied with a grin. "Get lost, that is. At least I'm not afraid of the dark."
"I think I can find that place again," she said. "I'm glad you found me there, by the way. It could have gone a lot worse if you'd been someone else. Thank you."
She took several steps in the direction of her den, keeping her eyes fixed on a point in the middle ground. She paused in her paces and smiled to herself as she ducked her head and sneaked a glance behind her at Shazidi. Then she set off once more toward home.
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