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 Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:44 pm
 He didn't know why he kept coming back here, didn't know why, despite all that had happened, how sure he'd been that this time he wouldn't miss it, he still longed for the desert. His mind was in a perpetual game of tug-o-war it seemed, one day between the glorious ocean of fire he called home and the other between old friendships. But times had changed and Ausha no longer needed him like a child needs it's guardian. His children had needed him, but he'd never been there enough, too restless, too torn between one place and ther other.
He'd betrayed Finar-si by leaving the lands, but, like an errant child, he stood here on the borders, seeking forgiveness that would never come. His rejection of a perfect home had left him alone, with betrayal above his head that would be enough to have him killed if he dared return.
It pained him to look out at the place where the rocky sands gave way to dunes, but he couldn't help himself. He simply sat where he was, the breeze sweeping his mane, his thoughts on other, less solitary times.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:56 pm
Long, loping strides carried Azachamorel along the border as she ran purely for the sake of being able to safely do so again. Though a hunt or fight might still be a risk for the newly-healed lioness, the joy of running with a strong breeze at her back was consolation enough for now. Soon, soon she would be as she should be again!
Even with eyes half-closed to keep the sand from them as she ran, it was impossible to miss the dark red shape to which she was drawing near. Slowing her steps to a trot, she approached with caution - this lion was naggingly familiar, and she took her time in looking him over.
At last, it was the glimpse of a bright mark on his foreleg that stirred her memory. This was the very first lion she had met upon her return. This was...
"Chomo," she greeted, relaxing as she drew closer.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:08 pm
Chomo spotted the graceful huntress from quite a distance away and his immediate instincts had been to turn and run, not wanting to deal with the retribution if she was a scout. But he resisted, he was tired of walking and had nothing to run away to. It was only as she drew nearer that realisation dawned that he had met her before, his ears flicked forward and the ghost of a wry smile flitted across his features.
"You remember?" he said, amusement in his tone. "It's not really a name worth remembering Aza." he looked away, back towards the other lands that lay beyond the borders and frowned. "It's the name of a lion who was too stupid to notice he had a good thing going for him in his home."
He smiled apologetically. "A rogue. Not worth the time of a lady of the blood."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:18 pm
"Of course I remember," she said, scoffing as she took a seat. "I would be a sad excuse for a creature if I didn't remember someone who helped me."
"If you were a rogue, you would already be regretting coming here," she disagreed. "Well, if I were in any shape to do anything about it, that is. And besides, I miss conversations with adults. Won't you stay awhile? I have been too long in dens with cubs."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:27 pm
The old, positive Chomo was definately noticable in the way he smiled at the realisation he wasn't about to be dismissed right away as a returning rogue to the sands.
He tilted his head slightly as she mentioned not being in shape, not immediately observant of any injuries she had. "Hurt yourself?" he asked. "But yes, I wouldn't doubt you are a border patroller to be feared." he smirked, looking somehwat pleased that there were still Firekin stalking the borders, able and willing to see of any trespassers. It reminded him that things ticked over as usual, even while he wasn't around.
"And cubs?" he wrinkled his nose with a frown. "I've had my fill of cubs I think. Two litters grown up enough to look out for themselves, no thanks to me. You are right, after a while you end up longing for someone to talk to who you don't have to teach as you speak."
He smiled again "Since they clearly know more than you do." he implied the female's hunting skills, superior to his own. "I can hang around a bit. I have nowhere to go, nowhere to be. How are things on the sands? Lots of little hellians running around?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:40 pm
"I wouldn't say I did it to myself," she answered, laughing. "Though it was fairly earned in defense of pride and land." Scars from a rogue lioness' foreclaws ran half the length of her left foreleg, and the patch on her chest where she'd been bitten was yet furless.
"Is it two, now?" Aza chuckled. "Last we met I believe it was only one! And it's woefully true - there's at least one running around not worth the blood in her veins. She will not be long here, I think." That terrible yellow child!
"Plenty, and thankfully most with a sense of pride. One pair in particular is raising cubs to be proud of, though I've yet to meet them myself and tell them so. It's their children I keep seeing! Ra and Nyeupe'Moto are the parents' names, I believe."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:46 pm
Chomo was about to say something about the cubs in the lands when Aza mentioned one couple she approved of. The words died on his tongue and it was all he could do to stare blankly, his jaw dropped. He couldn't forget Nyeupe'moto, the little girl who Ra had told him about that had followed them to the graveyard. To hear that both were back in the desert and raising cubs of their own killed dead any other thoughts that had been in his head. He stammered.
"R--RA? That's my son!" he laughed, more amused than he had been in a long time. "I can't beleive that sonovagun has himself a family now! He ran away from where we'd been staying without a word and I thought the hyenas had gotten him."
He shook his head incredulously. "It's a joy to hear that they are doing so well." he beamed. "No idea where Ra gets the fatherhood skills from though, I always came up lacking in the parental care aspect."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:57 pm
Taken aback by his surprise, Aza soon laughed as well. It could be a very small world, at times, and in an oddly comforting way. "I can't tell you how old I felt when this little cub told me his mother was Nyeupe'Moto! I hadn't seen her since she was a child. I can hardly believe I'm old enough to be someone's grandmother."
The huntress chuckled. "I try my best to remember how I was raised; it seems to be coming back, what with all the hanging around with cubs I've been doing!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:09 pm
Ra nodded, in complete agreement. "It's scary how old you feel when you see cubs of cubs you once knew running around. But meh, I just remind myself that as long as I can still fight and hunt, I'm not old, just wiser than the day before."
He got to his feet and stretched lazily. "The only problem I have is what to do with myself these days. I can't go back to the sands or I'd be killed for my treachery, leaving once and then returning I could get away with, not a second time."
He joked "Though from the sound of it, going back to the desert would consist of getting chewed on and bothered by various cub relatives and I don't know if I'm ready to be a /grandfather/ already." he grinned toothily.
"Though I'd pay good to see Ra's expression if I appeared and demanded where he'd been."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:27 pm
"How true, how true!" Azachamorel laughed again. "I'd like to meet someone who can match me in a hunt! I doubt such a thing will ever happen until arthritis takes my bones, unless I have cubs of my own. Which, surrounded as I am by children, seems unlikely."
Listening to his reasons for sitting at the border looking in, rather than becoming a part of the pride again, her ears fell. Here was a lion of Blood, who knew what they once were and what they should be; she could hear it when he proclaimed himself to be a traitor. After her encounter with the yellow juvenile, she worried for her pride.
"Your return would be welcome, I think," she said after long moments of thought. "There have been some disturbing occurences since you left. The heir himself was banished, for daring to soil his blood and claim to love a slave."
"Good riddance to the weakling, I say," she spat.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:42 pm
He laughed with a hearty nod "I couldn't hope to touch the prowess of one of the reknowned firekin huntresses, even if you were arthritic with old age at the time." he snorted again "And cubs are over-rated. Don't get me wrong, I love my brood, as crazy as they are. They just age you faster than anything else." And this was coming from a lion who had half-raised one as annoying as Ausha.
At news of the heir's betrayal of their ideals he looked as shocked as if he'd been told the news of his grandchildren over again. "Even the royal line runs with the taint now?" he narrowed his eyes and growled darkly at the ground, in that instant allowing his amiable mask to slide to show the other side of his nature, the one usually only glimpsed by his prey.
"Disgusting. Good riddance indeed. One of these days Finar-si will return and cleanse the desert of the weakness that has crept in in recent times. And I'd be first in line to receive her judgement willingly." he flexed his claws in the dust "I may have left several times but I have never once rejected her blessing."
He gave Aza a sidelong glance. "Hmm." he said thoughtfully. "I might go back, test to see if my abscence was noted. If I am deemed unworthy, so be it."
He grinned. "If loving a slave was merely treated with a simple banishment, I doubt leaving the lands will be deemed harsh enough for death." He almost looked dissapointed at this, as if some invisible standard was slipping.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:55 pm
Azachamorel chuckled once more, accepting the praise where she knew it was due; she felt nothing but pride for what she was. "I do recall seeing you bring down an oryx, however! Not everyone is a match for horns like those."
"They are sad times," she agreed. "Bittersweet, I suppose - there are those such as your grandchildren, after all. That being said, I don't regret my downtime; it has made me realize just how diligent we must be with the younger generations. Some parents, I believe, have neglected their responsibilities."
"We could use more role models worth imitating."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:52 pm
The compliment illicited a proud grin in Chomo. "I always ended up being the one hunting back in the dismal escuse of a land I ended up in, there were no huntresses to do the job properly." Chomo was one who believed in traditional roles for males and females, but not because males were in any way superior, simply because, the way he saw it, males were better against other lions, females superb against prey. "When you have no other choice, you eventually get by. I was lucky that day though!"
His red eyes twinkled briefly with pride at the mention of these grandchildren he'd never even known about before today and his son who was doing him proudly. "Yes. It's not hopeless in the least, the blood flows in all of us and with the new generation at the point in their life where lessons learned mean the most, it falls to those of our generation to lead the way. Surely the great goddess wouldn't grudge an old wanderer coming home to help teach the lessons she taught our foreforefathers?"
He was almost convincing himself that he'd get away with it. He shrugged.
"I might not be a good dad but I do love telling stories."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:02 pm
"Surely she would not," Aza encouraged. It was true, she worried for the new generation - another traditionalist teacher could not go amiss. There was the matter of rogues on the border as well, the thought of which she could barely stand. The more strong, true members they had, the better off the pride would be.
"Which is what grandparents do best, is it not?" She laughed, unable to resist sliding in the 'old' barb.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:18 pm
Chomo set his jaw, much more decicive about where his travels would take him next then. He no longer felt adrift in a world that had moved on without him and actually had an idea where he wanted to be. "Then it's settled. I'll go back. I have some grandkids to try and steer away from growing into big soft imbiciles." he laughed, waving a paw at her in mock anger.
"But I'm NOT some old grouchy crumbly storyteller!" he smirked "If they want a story, they'll have to earn it." he started in a stroll towards the dunes, tail flicking at his feet. He was quiet in thought for a few seconds before shaking his head. "And to think, when I woke up this morning I was in the prime of my life, now just because of a little family news I feel like a decrepit old bonebag!"
He shrugged and broke into an easy jog, looking back to see if Aza was with him.
"But what the heck, this bonebag can still RUN."
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