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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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 Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:00 pm
Lakoni's heart broke in two to see what her simple (least in her mind they'd been simple, convinced as she was they'd forget her soon enough, though her son might hate her for the rest of his life she'd live with that as long as he was safe) words had done. She had been mindlessly cruel to him, though she'd thought the whole paws-around-her this morning had been nothing more than a chance fluke, and that he'd distanced himself slightly on purpose. The look of hurt on his face as he'd told her she'd not used him, told her that maybe there was more than she realized at play here.
Though she was fairly sure she had fallen in love with this soft-hearted male (though she wasn't totally convinced it wasn't more than rebound and grief, and the chance encounter of a trusting soul) some time in the middle of the night, after having been reassured by Livulo that she wasn't abandoning his memory to feel something for someone else, and giving her permission to do just that, she had thought maybe she was being too reckless by falling so quickly so soon after that dream.
Add the fact that he refused to take Byron without taking her as well, touched her, especially when he'd basically just declared his love for her. Could she risk having another family? Maybe...maybe instead of forcing the decision, she should let them choose. "Aki....Akilles...," she pleaded as she stepped up her pace to head him off, and look him square in the eyes. "If you stay with me, you risk your lives, is that something you can truly say is worth doing? Can you say that for your daughter too? I....I don't know if I could handle losing another mate, nor live knowing the risk I'm putting the children through, Aki. I don't know if I'm worth you dying over, and all I seem to be good at is hurting you. You deserve better, and so do the children." For once all her defenses were completey down, as she stared into his eyes. He'd be able to see everything she was feeling, from the idea that she cared about him to her being terrified out of her skull about meeting her brother and having lost her previous family(s), to just be so scared and uncertain about the future she had no idea what to do. She'd not had a clear idea since the night she ran.
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:41 pm
Silent tears were sliding down his cheeks and he didn't really care if anyone saw them. For a male, he was rather emotional and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. He always thought it was because he was rasied with and around women, but no, that wasn't the case. If anything they had taught him to show the truth with his feelings instead of lying through a facade. There was a quick and painful thud in his chest as he tried to deny his aching heart. Had she thought that he was pretending? Pretending to show such interest in her song, in her life, in bringing her to her brother? No. He had done it because he thought there might be a chance for mending. He had grieved over the loss of Veritas's mother for a while, maybe a short while, but now he knew what he wanted. Did Lakoni not see he wanted to help her mend too? They were two wounded souls needed eaching to become one. Sniffling a bit he let out a shaking sigh.
"What's wrong papa?" Veritas said as she leaned over his shoulder, her little paw pawing at his cheek to wipe away the tears. "Why are you crying papa?" She asked again, in the most sweetest voice he had ever heard.
"Lakoni wants to leave with Byron... and Papa doesn't want her to leave..." He said with a saddened smile, turning his head to rub it against his daughter.
"Leave? Why would she leave? I like her here.... She makes you happy Papa, I like it when you're happy..." She said with a saddened voice, turning to look at Lakoni.
Before Akilles could speak again, Lakoni was standing in front of him, staring him in the eyes, so he stopped.
"Isn't that choice mine? Ours?" He said refering to his daughter and himself, his tone showing he was a bit offended. "I can protect myself and my daughter, but what I shield us from is not you, or this so called curse. It's from the actual pain thats out there. Hyenas, Cheetahs, hunger... physical things, you know?" He said, another tear falling from its perch before he lowered his head and wiped at it with his paw. "How do you know how things will happen if you don't give it a try?" He added softly, his eyes showing the determination he felt to make her stay, to bring her the happiness she deserved. "I'm not promising a pride, or even a bigger family, because at the moment Veritas... and Byron..." He turned to the cub then, giving him a small smile, "are more than enough to share my love with... and there is always room for one more."
He then raised his head and straightened his form, standing as proudly as he could. "And right now, what I want to do most is to take you to your family, because to get he mending started, you need to see you have more than just your son in this world."
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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:05 pm
Lakoni simply nodded, took a step back and waited for him to lead the way, basically resigned to the fates. Her head hung a bit low, and unable to think of a thing to say, gave in to silence. Her mind elsewhere, she barely felt the pawing of her son, until he started gnawing on her ear.
“Hmm?” she inquired.
“Can I ride on Akilles yet, Mama? Please?” he begged. “You think he’d let me now?”
“Maybe…”
“Are you sad, Mama? Don’t be sad, please, Mama…I miss you playing with me like Akilles and Veritas do. You used to smile and laugh…”
“Mama lost her happy place, sweetie…”
“Well…if it’s just lost, maybe Akilles can find it for you? “
“What if we don’t find it again?”
“Then Akilles can find you a new one! I bet he knows LOTS of happy places…!”
Her son’s enthusiasm for a stranger touched her heart, Akilles had to be special to break through her son’s fear of strangers since that night so quickly. He normally refused to leave her side, or hid where no one but her would find him, whenever they came across other lions. Sitting down, she let him slide down off her back and watched him run over Akilles to beg a ride in his mane. It made her smile, and yet sadder, but it was the realization that even if this king ended up being her brother, it made little difference anymore. She wouldn’t belong there, and soon enough they’d be back to their lives, and she back to her little scrap of an existence.
Reluctantly, she got back up, and trotting to catch up, retook her place at Akilles heel, her demeanor more of a resigned servant than anything else.
She concentrated on thoughts of her son as she took deep breaths to steady her heart and mind, trying to find the courage she’d need to make this work…
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:23 pm
As Akilles started walking, he had to take a moment out of the silence to regain his compsure. It wasn't too often that emotional break downs caught him off gaurd but something in Lakoni was bringing it out the strongest he had ever felt it. As he kept moving, he felt Veritas shifting on his back, making him lose his balance trying to keep her situated. Before he tripped over his own paws he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her, "What are you doing up there you little demon?" He said with a smirk and flicked her with his tail feathers." But before he could get an answer from her, a small voice at his feet was asking for a ride on his back as well.
"Why of course Byron, I've got room for two!" He said with a smile and used a paw to help scoop him on his back. With the two bodies on his back it brought back sharp memories of both of his daughters riding on his back. Closing his eyes and shaking away the memory he turned his head to Lakoni, "Shall we then?" He said gently, not wanting it to seem like their argument had built a wall between them.
After a short distance when he felt that Lakoni was behind him instead of beside him he paused and looked at her. "In my opinion, I'd rather have a woman beside me then behind me... I occasionally like to look at them while I'm walking, it makes the time much more pleasureable. And with you back there, why I might risk bumping off one of the kiddos trying to take a glance at ya." He said with a smirk and nosed her shoulder when he fell insto step beside her.
"I see the trees ahead, how about we settle in the cover of them for a couple hours as the heat of the day passes by? Maybe scrounge up a bite to eat?" He said with an encouraging smile.
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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:54 pm
Lakoni couldn’t help the smile, or the small bit of a laugh, that managed to escape when he teased her, but it passed quickly and she was once more silent and somber. She no long contemplated leaving, she doubted Akilles would let her go anyways (not that she was a prisoner, he just didn’t seem the type that would let her run without a fight she didn’t want), and their first argument had depressed her. Overall, she still remained mostly silent and complacent to do as he suggested, grateful for the bit of shade in the heat of the day.
”Hullooo!” called a cheerful voice from the strand of trees that drifted on the wind. “If you are hungry, we have a kill we’d be happy to share…fresh from the herd!”
The voice came from a mostly green, with hints of tan, lioness who was difficult (if not impossible to spot) when she was laying in grass, until she stood up to shake herself off. She’d been taught well by her father to welcome all strangers, cheerfully and without reservation. Holly, the oldest daughter of Blake, was the unique one of her particular set of birth siblings to actual resemble her parents complete with her mother’s colors and her father’s markings. Her companion, Ethel, was her neice, and while the colors were completely different (neither of her birth brothers looked anything like their parents, which still amused her to no end), the family resemblance still shown strongly but not just in the chest marking. The air about them was similar, one of happiness and a general love of life in general.
Nosing her neice, she murmured, “I think that one white male is the one you told me about before…he’s handsome…!”
Lakoni broke into a run, her famished appetite making a new appearance, and she had eyes only for the kill, never truly seeing the lioness that had spoken once she’d mentioned food. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d really eaten… ‘Food..!” she exclaimed before digging in. “Oh gosh, I’m so hungry…”
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:24 pm
Akilles smiled when he heard the lioness's voice, although he saw Ethel first then realized that it was the lioness beside her that was talking. "Ethel!" He said with a grin and sped up a bit, trying not to lose the cubs who had become excited at the voices in front of them and decided to squirm. Laughing he stopped to let the children off, Veritas darted forward, her tiny tummy giving a growl as she hurried up next to Lakoni to bite into the carcas.
Feeling a little guilty at keeping his daughter hungry all this time, had be been paying attention to her instead of worrying about his feelings he would have noticed long before that she was squirming because she had been hungry. Shaking the idea from his head he went to greet Ethel and the other lioness.
"It's good to see you again, Ethel!" He said with a bright smile, looking to the other lioness and nodding a hello. "I'm Akilles, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said to Holly. "Ethel here was quite a nice change of pace as far as conversation goes." A chuckle escaped him as he spoke, "it gets a bit lonely when all you have is a cub to talk to, not that that is a bad thing!" He covered quickly as Veritas looked up and gave him a pretend scowl. "Oh, this lioness here that is famished, although she said she was perfectly fine a couple of hours ago..." He said giving her a coy look, a smile hiding in his features and obvious affection showing in his eyes, "is Lakoni, and that is her son Byron. You remember Veritas? My daughter?"
Ethel about blushed when Holly said Akilles was handsome, but she was right. He was a good looking guy, but lately she had been waiting to see another lion, a not so solid lion... but she hadn't discussed the newest man she fancied to her aunt. "Akilles! It is fantastic to see you again!" She said with a grin and rushed forward to give him a friendly nuzzle. She winked at Veritas when the child wasn't stuffing her face full of food. "How have you been? It's been a while since I've seen you, but it looks like you've found some good company, perhaps a little bit hungry, but they seem like a lovely couple!" She said with a smile and nodded at Byron and flashed a grin at Lakoni. "Lakoni is it? What a lovely name, I am Ethel Rowena, but by the looks of things, Akilles already told you who I am. Let me introduce my Aunt Holly. We were just out here enjoying some space away from the pride. Holly doesn't come visit as often as I'd like her to, so we needed to steal away for some girl time." She flashed her Aunt a grin then, her tail twitching back and forth showing the good mood she was in.
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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:55 pm
Lakoni couldn’t remember a time when food tasted so good to her, and so she ate like she’d not eaten in weeks…which was pretty much the case. A bite here and there never does quite satisfy, and since she was never truly hungry, it’d not mattered to her. When she was finally satisfied, she looked to see the cubs beside her, Byron attempting to play tug-of-war with Veritas which made her smile a little to see. It wasn’t until Ethel spoke her name, that she truly paid any attention to either lioness, and felt a bit guilty for having been such a rude guest, and backed a couple steps from the kill and then towards Akilles, sitting next to him since she was terrified of what was about to happen next. She needed that bit of reassurance to keep herself steady and attempt to hide the fear she felt.
It took her a moment, but she realized that Ethel and Holly were aunt and niece, the more plain of the two…would be Blake’s daughter. How much she looked like him took her breath away. Could she doubt that he had to be her brother? Licking her lips, she asked tentatively, “Akilles told me you might know my brother. My brother, Blake. He was lost as a cub, and I never found him. It was..somewhere in the desert…He looks so much like you, Holly…the markings…,” her voice faltered and she leaned a little closer into Akilles’s side.
Holly gaped, “Your…his sister?! Oh gosh, Daddy’s going to have chickens…! Ethel! We gotta tell him…! This is so cool…! I’m his oldest daughter, from his first litter. He…told me the story of being lost in the desert, having slept under a bush and waking up everyone was gone. He’d wandered off trying to find them, but instead he found an oasis, and it’s where he stayed till he grew up, and it’s where his Pride is located. It’s so beautiful now, he grows roses all over it, and it’s got a lake and everything you could want!”
Lakoni leaned her head into Akilles mane and closed her eyes, feeling a bit faint. So, it was her brother after all…the story had confirmed it beyond a doubt. Here, before her, stood her neice and grand neice…and they were beautiful as the day was bright. “Blake’s done alright for himself after all,” she murmured, rubbing her head into his fur in a half-nuzzle, half-courage-seeking for what was to come, she was still scared as hell, if not quite so terrified…would he remember her?
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:07 pm
"More family!?" Ethel squeeled and surged forward to nose Lakoni under the chin purring like a motor boat. She may have a huge family, but that didn't mean she didn't love them to pieces. "So if Blake is my grandpa... that makes you my Great Aunt? Well you sure as heck don't look old enough for that but I'll take what I can get." Ethel said with a laugh and licked Lakoni's cheek, while flicking her tail feathers towards Byron, "So what does that make Byron? My second cousin twice removed?" She said jokingly.
Akilles was watching the interaction with a grin plastered to his face. He knew that when Lakoni saw her relatives that she would see the resemblence of her brother, although Akilles had never actually seen the lion. "Tola ya so." He said in a whisper, nose her cheeck affectionately. As she drew in closer to him, his tail twisted with hers and he purred softly. It was when he felt her nose bury into his mane that he leaned his head over to rub against hers. "One step closer." He murmured as he licked her other cheek lightly, a small blush coming across his cheeks.
"Why Holly! She needs to see him now! Isn't it obvious she hasn't seen him since he was a cub? Why look at her, the poor thing is about to faint!" Ethel smiled and leaned against Holly, she was so excited for them! She had heard of her grandpa Blake through her father Neo, but she really didn't know much about him and his family as cub.
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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:40 pm
Lakoni could help but purr herself after Ethel's affectionate greeting to her discovery of yet more family, and she honestly didn't mind being smooshed between her and Akilles in the least. In fact, it was helping her to relax, being around such happy lionesses as these to meet her. Reaching up, she tugged lightly on one of Akilles ears with her teeth before licking him lightly with a coy look to her own face. "Fine, I concede to what you said earlier about family. You win, and I hope your happy." She licked his cheek in response to his caresses.
"Ya know..," Holly stated, looking at the trio of them with a grin, before taking her own place over opposite of Ethel to lean against Akilles free side. "I coulda sworn Ethel told me you were single, and yet you show up with a mate...." she couldn't help but tease, seeing the affection that existed between the two. "And if your mates, that makes you my Uncle, Veritas my neice, and Byron my nephew. How awesome is that...!"
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:25 am
Akilles mouth hung slightly open and he could feel the blush blooming across his cheeks, even spreading down the back of his neck. Thankfully his mane covered most of his neck. He stiffened a bit which caused him to pull away a bit from Lakoni, although he didn't really want to pull away from her. His tail stopped flicking at the end, it lay lifeless on the ground. His heart was poundingin his chest and his eyes were wide as headlights. And yet, he had no way of speaking... he couldn't find his voice.
Veritas stopped playing with Byron when she saw her father going pink. She stared at him for a moment and giggled, "Papa's having chickens!" She squeeled with laughter and ran forward to Ethel, burying her head between her paws. "Why's Papa have chickens?" She said with a curious look.
Ethel watched Akilles, fascination showing across her features. Something told her the two weren't quite a couple, but by every other sign other then them saying it, they sure acted like one. When Veritas said Akilles was having chickens, she burst out into fits of laughter that literally put her on the ground holding her sides. Tears streaming from her eyes. "Oh gosh Holly! I love this little girl!" She said as she pulled Veritas into her paws.
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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:38 am
Holly was grinning, Akilles reaction amusing her to no end, but it wasn't until Byron did something similar to Veritas in that he walked over to her, cocked his head and asked "what are chickens?" that put her rolling on the ground herself. It took her a few moments before she could even start to regain her composure, but the mental image of Byron's innocent look just kept her going in giggling hiccups. "Ch-chickens are little fowls that eat bugs, sweetie" she finally managed to get out between fits of giggles.
Lakoni stiffened and had sorta pulled away from Akilles herself in almost horror, but not because of what they'd been doing, but because...the girls were right. She blushed deeply, opened and closed her mouth for a moment like a drowning fish, before looking to Akilles for help. What she saw there was so....cute? Definatly hilarous at how dark his blush was getting, that she ended up giggling herself, and Veritas's announcement of him having chickens sent her over the edge. It was the first time she'd truly laughed in months, and it came from her heart and soul. Maybe falling for this guy wasn't such a bad thing after all, he treated them right, and he cared.
It took her a moment before she could say anything, but she grinned, and finally said, "Red looks good on you, Aki."
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:09 am
Mortified, Akilles' blush deepened and he scowled at the women. How it reminded him of his mothers and sisters. Even his daughter was laughing at him! Taking in a deep breath he turned his head to Lakoni, giving her a teasing glare. "Don't you start laughing too!" He groaned as he turned his back, seperating himself from Lakoni (because even at this point any touches from her would bring back the rosey color to his cheeks in an instant)to regain his composure. When he turned back around he settled himself a little bit away from Lakoni, not because he wasn't flattered at what Holly and Ethel had said, he just couldn't take blushing as deeply as before. He was definitely one to show his emotions.
"Do we have that out of our systems now?" He said with another scowl to the lionesses.
Ethel, finally gaining composure, sat up with a smile still bright on her face. "Well it was only the truth, Akilles. You were plainly single-- that is, only you and Veritas, last time I saw ya, and now you are plainly taken-- and that is, you've showed up with a lioness and her son and by the tint of that blush you apparently have feelings for one another. Thus we come to the assumption she's your mate." She said with a smirk, her eyes still filled with the light of laughter. "Please do correct me if I'm wrong, Akilles, Lakoni."
She turned to Lakoni then and cocked her head to the side, "He sees something special in you, Lakoni, when I saw him all he could talk about was finding his 'lights'. All this time I thought he was talking about the lights in the North... but I think he now means you and Byron... you've shead some loving light into his hard life." She smiled genuinely then, "Plus he's handsome to boot!" She said with a grin.
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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 2:24 pm
Holly was watching Byron now that she'd given her explanation to him of what a chicken was, and the look of intent concentration as he studied Akilles, first from one side and then bounding to the other was so cute. She completely lost her composure again when he asked her where the chickens come out. "Oh dear..!" she snorted, rolling onto her back and kicking her feet in the air. Finally getting SOME composure back, she rolled limply onto one said and added, "I'm so love having him as a nephew, Aunt Lakoni. He's so like Dad!"
Lakoni snorted as well, partially at her son and partially at how happy Holly and Ethel were, so carefree...had she ever felt that content in her life? Yeah...and she missed it. For once she couldn't keep from glancing at Aki (her new little pet nickname for him) on occasion, his glare and scowl so cute. This time, she didn't fight him distancing himself, but still...were they...? She wanted to answer affirmative, and could she? "He's not the only one to have a hard life...and he's put light into mine as well at a point in my life where I thought none could ever exist again. So...maybe..we are?" She looked to him for confirmation or denial. "We take a vote of the cubs...if they agree then...?"
"Well, I for one vote yes, though mine doesn't count for mu-....Daddy's coming!" Holly fairly bounced to her paws. "Get ready for more chickens, Byron!" she yelled as she raced away from the group.
Lakoni, in surprise, was watching her race off, not quite knowing how she'd known her father was coming as there'd been no roar or sound she'd personally heard. A dark figure caught her eye coming down a hill and it finally dawned on her that Holly had simply seen him. She glanced at Aki for a moment, a bit of a pleading look in her eyes, but she made no move towards him...in fact she felt glued to the ground. She did feel better when Byron raced to sit between her paws. She nuzzled him affectionatly and waited for what fate would bring.
Father and daughter wrestled in greeting, Holly acting much like a cub attempting to gnaw on her father's ears, and the scene reminded Lakoni of Aki and Veritas earlier that morning. Clearly the relationship he had with his children was still as strong as ever. Curiously, she watched as Holly said something to him, and she saw Blake stare at her for a moment before disentangling himself and making his way once more forward. Once he got closer, Lakoni had no doubts that the strong male that stood before her was the brother she'd considered dead all these years. "Blake."
Blake paused about 20 feet away from her, disbelief and shock etched on his face that was nearly as comical as Akilles scowl, to her eyes. "La-Lakoni..? Is it really you, Laki?" he asked. When she simple nodded, Blake whooped, burst forward and pounced her, sending her rolling as he nuzzled her.
Blake was elated with joy, so much he couldn't contain it. He licked, tickled and nuzzled Laki until she was laughing and kicking him to let her go, which reluctantly he did. Looking to Byron, he laid down nose-to-nose with the cub. "And I bet your my nephew. You taking good care of your mom?" When Byron nodded shyly, Blake reached out one paw and rubbed the top of his head and messed up his fur a bit. "Good boy. You're Mama's a trouble-maker."
"Blake!"
Laughing he swiftly grabbed the cub up, rolling onto his belly and placing him there while acting like he was now mortally wounded. "Aaack! You're so strong, you have defeated the horrible-cub eating monster...!" which served to send Byron into fits of giggles as he worked to keep his balance. "And you've got an accomplice!" he declared in mock horror even as he noticed and then swept up Veritas and deposited her beside Byron. "Horrible cub-eating monsters don't stand a chance around here...! And what might your names be, my wonderfully-conniving-niece-and-nephew-after-my-own-heart?" He was frankly assuming from the start that the white male and his sister were mates.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 2:52 pm
Akilles watched with sheer joy as as Holly and Ethel floundered with laughter, it made his heart lighter. No wonder Ethel had made such an impression on him after their first meeting. When he turned to glance at Lakoni, his eyes full of love for her, although he hadn't meant to show it to her, he was caught off gaurd when she was looking at him exactly the same way. "I say..." his eyes were shining, a smile was tugging at his mouth and he was raising to come towards her, but before he could finish Holly had bolted off towards Blake.
Closing his mouth he nosed Lakoni's shoulder, letting her know it was alright to see Blake, that he was indeed alive and not a mirage in the distance. His heart was pounding, his tail flicked back and forth anxiously. He had nearly gotten it out... how badly he did want to have that place next to her side, that place with the designated title of best friend, shoulder to cry on... mate. Yes. Yes he wanted that very much, but now was not the time to get back to the conversation before Blake came, Lakoni had some catching up to do.
He was jolted out of his thoughts when Veritas gave a shriek of laughter as Blake scooped her up, setting her next to Byron. They may not have looked like siblings... but they sure acted like they were...
"Veritas! My name is Veritas! And that's my Papa, Akilles!" She said with another peel of laughter as she buried her face into Blake's mane. He smelled like a papa... but older... he reminded her of her great-grandpapa Mekare. "You smell good Uncle Blake!" She said with a giggle and a small purr. Glancing up at Lakoni, little Veritas blushed lightly. She obviously wanted Lakoni to stick around, so if that meant playing with the cub-eating monster then so be it! "Doesn't he..... Mama?" A shy smile was hiding in her eyes.
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Lunar Mirage Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:23 pm
Blake, for being little more than a cub himself in many ways, was pretty quick on the uptake that this little femme-fatale of a cub was not Lakoni's after all. He tickled her, looking her markings over carefully and coming to conclusion that his original assumption was wrong. However, in his mind all that mattered was if the cub was loved, and it was clear both were. He tickled them both before setting them down and rolling over onto his belly, the two cubs now between his big front paws. "I sense there's a story here.," he said raising an eyebrow to his sister.
"Oooh, story time! story time!" Holly fairly purred, curling around Ethel, and pretending to gnaw her ear in play. "So much for girl-time, but this should be interesting...How DID you lovebirds meet?"
Mama. Lakoni's eyes and face became soft as she looked to Veritas, "Of course, sweetie. Just like roses...you always smelled like a rose, Blake." When Byron, having just realized what Veritas had said, squealed and exclaimed that she was now his sister, and then proceeded to attempt to wrestle her between Blake's paws, it made her chuckle, but then brought back the memories of her other sons doing much the same thing before they'd died. How she missed them.
Lakoni grew sad, her ears drooping a bit as she said, "It's a pretty long story..." She told it from beginning to end, first to the older girls about their grandparents, their birth, a little about cubhood with the three of them together. About the day Blake disappeared, how Lakoni had come back and searched and searched for her brother, but eventually had to be dragged away by her parents. About their Aunt Sashi and her attention whore personality and how she'd just up and left one day, intent to find her way someplace else. About how she'd tried to get the attention of her parents, and the one night she'd felt like an actual daughter - the night of the wolves. "I wish you could of been there," she murmured, lost in the memory for a moment before finding her thread once more.
She continued on, this time describing when she'd finally left on her own, fell in love with her mate and had three children. She told about the pride they'd joined, and with her special ability with plants, just like her own mother, she'd been a shaman for the pride. About how for a short time things were grand, but then bad luck started happening...first small things and then it escalated to more horrific details about attacks and ambushes, how she worked hard to heal the members, but eventually she was threatened and told to leave. She described when she refused, the events that led up to the betrayal and the death of her mate Livulo and her two other boys, and how she and Byron barely escaped with their lives.
"I've done little more than keep on the move for the last three months, the most daring thing I did was to join another pride, but it was just to keep Byron safe. We...haven't been there but a few weeks, and I found I could not just stay there...we've been on the move around the pride and it's borders since, personally hoping that by doing so I'd not bring bad luck down upon them. However, it seems that last night has been a turning point, and for once in my life my luck has been the best thing possible. Would...you believe, Holly...Ethel...that we only met last evening? It was Veritas that heard my lullabye....the one Mama taught me the night of the wolves. She led him to me..."
Holly, totally engrossed by the story, was touched and saddened by all her aunt had gone through such a short time ago, and it made her love her all the more. Quietly, she asked, "Would you sing it for us?"
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