[PRP] - Truth or Dare [End!]

[Daffupanda]

-- AIM RP between Kioo and Ntombi ((Ume & DFA))

It had been a week. A week, Kioo had spent wandering. Usually he wandered with purpose, carried himself with an air that he ruled this vast prideless country. But his attitude was different. Because his thoughts weren't about himself. They were about someone else. he had known the journey was doomed almost from the day it started, that he needed to end it fast. But he hadn't ended it fast. It had lasted over days and it had done exactly what he was afraid of. He had gotten attatched. And there was only one cure for this attatchment that he could think of. He needed to do what he had wanted to do in the first place for the same reason. Kioo needed to tell her. Tell her so that she'd know, so that she'd hate him and he could no longer dwell on the thoughts that plagued him.

And it was this exact resolution that held him where he was, right on the edge the mteo. He walked that imaginary line like one well-accustomed to pacing it as a tightroper might, one paw placed carefully in front of enother, back to front. He stared down at the line, rehearsing to himself. There were so many chances that he could run into someone who was /NOT/ Ntombi but rather a lion less inclined to be friendly to a large rogue lion hanging out on the borders of their pride. But he'd take his chances. Plus if it wasn't her but someone like that, they could possibly tell people back there. And then she'd know he had at least come. He reached a baobab tree and turned around to continue his pacing.

As it was, Ntombi hadn't strayed away from the borders much in the past week; it helped that Mteo territory wasn't really extense. She'd gotten into the routine of hunting the borders, or just beyond them, before venturing back to her family. Every single day. Though her pride had indeed missed her ("Where HAVE you been?! Are you hurt?!"), most of them had figured she'd gone too far during her hunting trip. Which was the truth. Or half truth... for she'd spared Kioo from her tale; she'd kept it simple for them, almost as if she didn't really want to talk about it. She'd told them she'd gotten lost and a stranger had helped her back; it'd been imposible for the others to pry any further information out of her, and after days of trying, they'd given up.

The change in the princess' behavoir was clear though; not only was her routine affected, but the way she acted when she got back... forlong, as if she were pondering, or perhaps, drowing in her thoughts. Whatever they might've been.

Still, she refused to give up, and hunted the borders for ghosts; that's what he was. A ghost. He was gone, but she refused to let go; even today... her hunting had gone fruitless and as she padded her way back home, she refused to give up. She refused to admit that it was over, no matter how many days had passed. Needless to say she was struck dumb when suddenly his scent assaulted her sense; a frown rippled her features, her head snapping up. Ntombi inhaled again, deeply, just to make sure that she was indeed, not dreaming, and then, she broke into a mad dash, following the scent till his figure became visible in the distance.

She spoke not, but rather, once close enough, jumped, aiming to tackle him.... to grab him, touch him, and make sure he wasn't, in fact a ghost.

Kioo had become so absorbed in his thoughts that he was oblivious to everything around him. It was indeed interaction that he had been waiting for but his thoughts had taken him away. So focused that it wasn't until he felt an almost crippling weight tackle him on the side that he was zapped out. It was the sort of shock where one's limbs become loose and they almost seem to let go of themselves with shock. It was great enough to knock him over. But before he could turn onto the offensive, he noticed the friendliness of it all.

"Ntombi?" he exclaimed in shock, sliding out from under her. He couldn't reach out to embrace her. He still felt a wall between them And that wall was formed by his secrets. He needed her to know. So he couldn't let his face light up in joy. Not yet. Because for all he knew, she wouldn't even be anywhere near him after he told his story. "I want to tell you something. Tell you what I've been meaning to tell you for a while. Probably what you've wanted to know yourself. Even if maybe you don't want to hear it." He had rehearsed it over and over again. But hopefully he wouldn't lose the elegance he had rehearsed through speaking it.

The shock of being able to touch him was great; she'd honestly figured he wasn't really there. That it'd been some sort of illusion when she'd seen him, however... when her body hit his, there was no longer any doubt left. Her sense were not lieing to him, and suddenly, all the hunting she'd done along the border had a meaning to it. Everything had a meaning now, "Kioo!" it was a response to her own name coming from his lips. She smiled even as he slipped away from her; she didn't mind. It was uniquely him, and besides.... the purpose of the tackle had been to truly see if it was him. It'd had it's purpose.

Before she could ask anything however, he pulled fully away from him, nervous, looking very much troubled; she recognised that look. He'd been aiming it at her for a while towards the end of their journey, but this time, he looked almost as if he was actualy ready to TELL her what was going on.

Seating herself down, the princess looked up at Kioo, blinking once, seriousness creeping over her features, "What is it?" it was meant to encourage him to go on; to continue with what he needed to say. Ntombi was no longer afraid to ask; to pry it out of him, if it meant they'd both be able to march forward. She wasn't sure where 'forward' would take them, but it was better than backwards, no doubt, "Go on."

He inhaled nervously. He almost seriously wanted to back out, to just make something up and not tell her. Because it just felt so.... ackward to tell it. It almost felt silly. He shook himself as though he were covered in water, using it to calm him. "Well you'll probably find my name to be quite fitting. My dad was the one who gave me my name, Kioo'vunjika. It means broken glass and my dad himself was a little broken. He was crazy. But my uncle was king and had no children of his own. So he named me heir. Everyone loved me. Or so it seemed so. But then one day the Queen has a litter and everyone seemed to turn on me. They all stopped paying attention to me and I was no longer heir. Now, I was the son of a crazed man, not the heir to a respectible pride. But I guess that humiliation wasn't enough. I got kicked out, exiled. They said my behavior wasn't suitable enough. And I guess I must not have been. Although how was I supposed to know? I was raised to be the way I was afterall.

"And it seems that after that, trying to find sympathetic people to help me out wasn't the right thing to do. Or I guess maybe it was that the way I addressed or dealt with these sympathetic people. Anyway, I'm cursed. You see, the goddess of justice found me and she wasn't too happy. I've been cursed. Everytime I do a bad deed, my life is shortened. I have to do good deeds, a total of 100, to remove the curse. That was why I helped you when it seemed like something I wouldn't do. Because I'm essentially required to. But I want you to know that although I'm a horrible person, horrible beyond belief, I don't regret it. Because without it, I wouldn't have met you. I mean, maybe you're better off having never have known me but not me." He clearly hadn't explained it elegantly and probably had been a little bit confusing. He was afraid to completely incriminate himself, to say "yes, these are the horrible things I did". It was evident based on how in the beginning of his tale, he tried to sound innocent. And it wasn't until the end that he was able to admit that yes, he was a horrible person.  

[Daffupanda]

She watched him hesitate and prepare himself for long minutes, however, never once did she talk, but rather, silently encouraged him by tilting her head once or twice, as if in question. As he began his story, she settled herself more comfortably to pay attention, her tail curling about her body; the first thing she thought that his name was hardly his fault. Her own name meant 'lady', which she'd suddenly found oddly befitting after the first encounter with him, where he'd dubbed her 'lady distress'. She kept her thoughts to herself for the time being however, merely listening.

As he continued, her brows creased, a frown forming upon her features; when she'd been born, her older brother had already been chosen heir. She could not really blame him so far... heaving the throne stripped from one's claws must've been a bitter experience. The more he told her, the more her brows creased, and the more that their past journey made sense to her; she'd always known that he was.... trying to gain something from it all, alas, she'd never had guessed it was... this.

At first, the lioness remain silent, and her gaze suddenly shifted from his face to the floor, her frown having turned into a scowl, as if she were pondering... thinking over what he'd said. It was a long moment till she finaly looked up, and rather than talk, she closed the distance between and her paw raised, almost as if to strike him. Except... it never did.

Instead, she grabbed his head, pulled it down softly and planted one short lick on his cheek, "That's for helping me, and for being YOU," she said softly, and then her tail flicked and smacked him on his side, almost like a whip, however, the pain must've been none-exhistant, "And THAT is for NOT telling me before, goofball," she let go of him and pulled back a pace, "I know you're not perfect; I know you're not a knight in shinning armour... but nor am I the perfect princess," she pause and looked up sincerely, "I like you. For you. As you are now. Standing here before me. I like THAT you."

People laughed at him when they found out. They sneered. They jeered. "You must had been horrible," some would say to him. Others would look in horror at him and begin to pray to a god they held dear. Whether they considered him a monster or just pathetic, none had accepted him with open arms. He held himself before her a little rigid. He saw that paw. He expected a blow. It was only his due, right?

The sign of affection, though, was not what he had expected at all. It gave him a bit of a shock almost to the point where he didn't recognize the attack to his side. Perhaps it was because he had gotten what every one needs but he had never expected: forgiveness.

But he couldn't help but crack a smile. "Goofball? You know, I think I liked Mongral better. But I don't like you for you. No, gotta slather you up in mud~." He teased. "But seriously, I do like you. And I think that scares me just a bit. If you had asked me on our journey why I am the way I am, I would have had to have told you. But I couldn't tell you of my own free will because honestly, if you had know all of that from almost day one, would we even be talking to each other right now? It seems like the perfect opportunity to believe in fate." He smiled ruefully. Another tease was coming. "Especially since you're so short."

It was only right after all; she knew what it was to be spoiled... to have everything, to WANT everything, and to get it. What she did not know what how it must have felt for him to have that, to a greater degree than she'd had.... and then to have it stripped from his very paws. Of course he was bound to throw a temper tantrum; so would've she. In fact, hadn't she done just that when she'd gotten lost, only weeks ago? Had it really only been weeks ago? It felt like years away now!

There was no way Ntombi could have judged that past; in fact, had she seen anyone sneering at it, it was proble she'd have stomped her paw and demanded THEY feel how it felt to have it all... only to have it stripped away. In a way, she'd felt similarly when Kioo had left.

Never had she desired something as strongly as she had that day, and never had she felt more helpless.... knowing that the one thing she most desired was out of her reach. That there was nothing she could DO about it.

"You got an upgrade," she told him with her own smile, "Or maybe a downgrade... you can chose," chuckling mildly, she wrinkled her nose somewhat at the mention of mud, "I think I'll decline the invitation this time; it feels like I only just cleaned that mud off; the next time I see mud, it won't be a moment too soon."

She stommped her foot then, "I'm NOT short! I'm big enough for what I NEED to do!" tossing her head up, she looked like the perfect picture of 'vain little princess'. Or would have, had it not been for the small smile she cracked then and the way she looked away, almost embarrased... which was rather out of character for someone as blunt as Ntombi, "I like you more... than just a bit," she admited before her gaze trailed back at him, "And no, I wouldn't, not at the start, but you'd been surprised... had you mentioned it half way along the trip," another pause, this one longer before she took a step closer again, "Stay with me," it was not an order, but rather, there was almost a pleading note, "Please."

Kioo had gotten used to accepting that fact that the things he wanted most were things that would never be attainable. So used to them in fact that he had done a pretty good job of avoided whatever it was he wanted just so he wouldn't have to suffer the temptation. Coming to see her had been a feat. Maybe because he didn't want to give into temptation. Or maybe because he was afraid to look it in the eye and come out a man. Having not been struck by lightening or anything that severe had been a bigger energy boost than any filling meal could have done. If he had been looking downcast and downtrodden, it had melted away.

"Aw, but mud gives your fur just that right~ hue," he teased with a wink. But then, he found himself shocked. It seemed to be happening to him quite frequently actually. What was it that seemed to have surprises attracted to him? His breath caught in his throat. About a million excuses flooded his thoughts, each one fighting for the right to his vocal chords. Each seemed plausible but flimsy at the same time. So he took in every inch of her face from her grey-pink nose to the white band of fur from her eyes to the corner of her mouth to the tatoos that graced the sides of her ears and back to the depths of her eyes. He let out a long sigh, looking at her with a mournful face, a face ready to feed excuse after excuse. But the battle still continued so he squeezed his eyes shut while his lungs fought for air. "I want to," he said finally.

She snorted at him, "Really now? You think so?" a brow was arched, however, she knew a tease when she heard it, "Maybe I'll let you see that hue later then, but only if I am acompained; I think brown looks quite galant on your mane too," the words held a mocking tone to them as she winked right back.

She'd gazed at him as he drew in that breath, and for a moment... for a long agonising moment she thought he was going to decline her. The hope still bubbled up her throat, like butterflies swarming up through her stomach, multiplying as seconds went buy, only to plunge into nothingness when he closed his eyes. She closed her own, ready to tell him that really, she understood... she really did, no matter how disapointed she felt.

When his words slipped his maw though, the lioness' head snapped up and she could not help but tackle him into a huge; granted, her form was much smaller than his, but that didn't keep her from pushing against him, using her forearms to hug him as best as a quadruped could. If anyone would have asked, Ntombi would have claimed that really... it didn't happen like others say; there were no fireworks, and there were no angels singing in the background, because life was not perfect, nor was he... nor was she.

She did, however, feel such a relief as she nuzzled his head, "You can," there was no way to describe the way she felt.  

[Daffupanda]

Really singing angels and fireworks might have shocked Kioo into an early grave. The gods didn't like him. To hear angels sing before him with voices claimed to be so "fearful" to human and lion ears would have sent him cursing and fleeing to hide under a very large rock. Fireworks would make him think of thunder and lightening as though the world had come to steal away his happy moment. No, the way this was right now was best. And, he'd admit, he wouldn't desire it any other way. He did his best to reciprocate the hug.

He pulled away at her words of reassurance and pulled away. "But would they accept me? I mean, I don't come in any other package but this one." He gave her a look. "Plus, I look horrible in brown. I mean maybe some nice black or silver ribbons, some beads. Dress me right up, don't you think?" Although he tried to joke it off, it was very clear he was serious about his question. He didn't expect that because one person cared enought to see past his flaws and to accept them, that immediately others would do so willingly. Not mention she WAS a princess. He was just an exiled prince, a rogue, a nobody with a tarnished past.

Had Kioo picked that moment to ask Ntombi, she'd have claimed, that perhaps.... just perhaps, the gods didn't hate him all that much. That perhaps, they'd just been leading him, and that perhaps, just perhaps he was well on his way to what others might have called 'redemption'. Tell truth, the lithe lioness wouldn't have changed him, or his way of being for the world; granted he was difficult, and granted he was strange... he was not perfect. But over the past few days... weeks, she'd come to notice that life was hardly perfect, and that THAT was what made it all the more worth living.

She understood his fear, but after giving him a reassuring lick, she pulled away, a dance in her step as she did so, "They will; my father has been claiming... the pride needs rogue-blood. Every pride needs new blood for it to survive, and though you may not be perfect, you're real," it was a compliment; a strange one, but a compliment nonetheless. She smiled mildly as she motioned towards the baobabs, "They'll accept you... and I will help you," it was a threat and a promise; it was hard to figure out which of the two was more stuborn, "You don't have to change for me... them, or anyone."

He pushed his nose against her cheek, nuzzling it and breathing in the scent of her fur. Like a tracking hound, he would never forget that scent, marking it down unconsciously in that part of his brain that wanted to record all special moments. "Thanks," he said, a light laugh added to the tone of his voice.

A pride's policies on rogues he had never bothered to learn. As a matter of fact, growing up he had always thought of rogues as being on the same level as slaves. Perhaps it was because he had considered pride life to be sophisticated and since he was on the top back then, he took the liberty of seeing them as that lowly. It was a bit of that sort of feeling that transferred itself to his current situation, that others wouldn't think much of him, a rogue with an attitude. But he had to trust her. She was a princess of this pride. She grew up here and knew it better than he did. "You'll have to keep my tongue from slipping though," he joked.

Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to do likewise, breathing in his scent scent as he breathed in hers; she'd already recorded his, however, this was diferent. More intimate in a way, "You're quite welcome," and she was surprised to note that she really did mean that. Had anyone told her she'd be saying or feeling such things, only weeks ago, she'd have laughed in their face.

How was such a thing even POSIBLE? She'd have claimed. Yet now, it was not only posible, in her mind, but probable, "Hardly," she told him, "The pride isn't too large; it's comfortable enough... and you'd be surprised by the attitudes.... a lot of them have sometimes," she paused and smiled sheepishly, "If they've put up with me without so much as batting an eye, I think you'll fit in just fine," she bumped her head against his, adding with a smirk, "Besides, I'll drag you away by your tail, or ear, if you get into trouble," she reached up to n** at his auds as she talked, "I missed those ears..." it was a whine, amusingly enough.

"Well now I know where you get your spunk from," he laughed. It was almost as if his whole life had been building up to this moment. Because there was a part of him that, at her words, felt like he'd fit in as though this pride existed so that he would find it. So that his life wouldn't forever exist of roaming. Of course, he also dealt with attitude ....with attitude which could get him in trouble. But at least it meant he could hold his own.

"Ooh really now? Sounds like I have something to look forward to." He winked at her. Lowering one side of his head to make an ear ever so comfortably in reach, he laughed. "You know, they missed you a lot more than I did. It's quite sad really. I don't think they shut up once. They're actually the reason I came back. Just wanted a moment's peace." He took the moment to reflect upon how lucky he was that she had come. He had been able to run into her the day he came back. He didn't have to wait for a long time just to see her. As a matter of fact, this was all going good for him. Maybe a little too good. Where was the catch?  

[Daffupanda]

"You'll do just fine," she told him with a firm nod; if asked, the lioness would've never been able to voice why, or how it was she was so sure; she just was. For one reason or another. It didn't change how she felt, "And if you don't... I'll go with you," there was such a seriousness in her voice that would have surprised her parents, her family; never had the spoiled little princess been so serious about anything in her life as she was at that moment. She was sure all would go just fine, however, even if it didn't, it wouldn't have mattered, for just like he was prepared to give up on his current life (or lack-there-of), she too, was prepared to do likewise if the need should arise, "Actualy," she lifted her gaze to the sky and blinked, "My parents have no idea where I got it from; must've skipped a generation, because both of them as sweet as can be.... makes me wonder how they manage to put with me, of.... certain sibblings of mine."

A chuckle rumbled her chest, "Of course they missed me... why wouldn't anyone miss lil ol' me," she told him with a wink. Almost as if reading her mind, she leaned in to whisper into his ear, "I think the catch is we have to go talk to my parents at some point in the very near future..." she pulled away to smile at him, "However, it can wait till you're ready; no one will miss me... if I go on a hunt tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and return at nightfal every single day. Nor will anyone really pay much mind to a rogue in the borders if he means no harm. Take your time."

"Well I'm very glad then that you didn't take after your parents." How else would this have all happened? Of course, he had already discussed the whole "if things had been different" speal out loud and in his head. So he skipped over that long train of thought. He laughed. "You make it sound like one of those romantic stories young teenagers tell each other. 'Sneaking off to visit her forbidden love'." He laughed nervously. "But it might be for the best if I wait at least a day before facing your parents. Don't want to take a chance and spoil today."

"Speaking of hunting, perhaps we should go get something to eat. Give you can show off your hunting skills." He winked. She had the tattoos of respect. But she had gotten lost while hunting. But he amused himself with thinking that was a one time thing. That, and he was kind of hungry. All that worrying and confessing had worn him out.

"Of course you're glad," she teased right back at him, "You're a glutton for punishment," a chuckle was offered, "Well... I always was a dreamer," she murmured, taking a moment to look at the sky, "Always did dream a knight in shinning armour... a prince, would come rescue me," she paused, still looking at the sky, then she squinted, "Who'd have thought it'd be the reluctant anti-hero I'd fall for," that was as much of a confession as he'd be getting for now; they needed time, both of them, to adjust to the posibilities that life was offering them, "You can wait, and take your time."

There was time to spare, after all.

She lifted her paws in the air a bit, "I got carried away while following that buck! It's not MY fault it decided to weave a path to bloody hell!" besides, had she not gotten lost... well, she didn't really want to go there anyhow, "I'll show YOU," she proclaimed with a snort as she took another n** at his ear and turned to trot away, pausing only to wait up for him; oh, she was DAMN well not hunting solo today. Not today.

"You know it~!" He sang. His life was made up with punishment although perhaps this was one of the few that he actually enjoyed.

He laughed. "No. But if was your pride that told you to follow it. And I'm sorry if I'm bloody hell. Not my fault that I can't keep my firey abode clean." He trotted sillily after her, his face bobbing from side to side with each step. "Oh I'm looking forward to it, Hunny. Lookin' forward to it. Who knows? Maybe I'll come out on top again."