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 Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:10 pm
 Xinavane wandered the lonely plains... searching for the jungle up ahead. She could see it... she was almost there, to where the rumors had been leading her, but she hadn't arrived yet. It would be a while before she got there...
She was amazed how much things had changed over the past few months for her. She had never really expected to gain so much confidence... And she knew much of it was thanks to a God she still partially denied the existance of. But now it was on principal that she denied the existance of Gods, rather than the blind hatred she had felt before. But ever since she had met him... things had changed for her. She had defended herself from a leopard she might have backed down to before. She had helped a cub in need when many wouldn't... and she had heard word of a group where she might finally be able to do all she had ever dreamed of doing.
She wanted to thank him for that... for showing her that she could do everything she believed she could do, but she didn't really know how to find him. She didn't know what she would say to him if she did... besides maybe yell at him for not saying goodbye to her last time.
But still... when she thought of his smiling face, it made it harder for Xinavane to want to punish him for leaving her. It wasn't as though he'd had some kind of obligation to stay. Not really. The two of them were both their own creatures... and besides, he was a wanderer.
She was a wanderer who now had a destination in mind.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:17 pm
She tickled at the back of his mind. He never quite forgot anyone he met, but Xinavane was one persistent memory. Ever since he'd left her, he'd been aware of her, in the way he was aware of every wandering creature that set paw or hoof to solid earth. And lately, he'd been aware that her state of wandering had changed.
And that they had been coming closer and closer to one another as the days meandered onward.
In a way, knowing that annoyed Zuru. Part of enjoying his bailiwick was not knowing who he was going to run into, even if this particular lioness was a dear friend.
From his perch upon the limb of a tree, Zuru chastised himself for thinking like that. After all, he'd felt right from the get-go that they'd meet again. And she had rescued him!
His blue eyes scanned the horizon of the Plains. Today, the little tickle had become an itch he couldn't scratch, and he knew this was the day. And he did want to see her again, even if his paws had started to fidget at the bark beneath him for want of ground to tread.
Any moment now, he thought, scanning the horizon again. Any moment.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:19 pm
Xinavane very nearly went into shock when the lion she had been thinking about appeared on the horizen in front of her. At first, she wasn't entirely sure what she should do... but then she just smiled and looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "You wouldn't be stalking me, would you Zuru?"
Unlikely, she knew that... Zuru had a tendancy to come and go as he pleased. She supposed it came with the territory. But still... she felt this time was different than the last time they had met. It was more of her that had changed... because she suddenly knew where she was going, instead of wandering as she had been. It was getting to be time for her to stop.
She walked up to him and smiled, "Here I was doubting that I would run into you again... but I guess I should put a little more trust in the word of a God, eh?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:48 pm
Zuru's breathe was similarly taken away. Since when had Xinavane become stunning? Nothing physically had changed. The blue-eyed god beamed, the annoyance of moments ago as he attempted to put his paw on what exactly had changed about her.
Same cute spots, same cute eyes, same cute nose, wait...
"Confidence." he said aloud, not meaning to. He caught himself, and recovered. "Ya jus' need to have in confidence in me, Xinavane. Ah wouldn't care so much if you trusted the word of a god, but Ah do hope ya trust me."
He grinned, and walked forward to butt heads with her fondly.
"So, missy, ya got time to tell an ol' friend 'bout yor travels? They seem to 'ave done ya a mess o' good!"
He tossed his head in the direction of the cool shade beneath the nearby trees. A comfortable place to catch up.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:28 pm
Xinavane grinned and followed after him, nodding, "I guess I have changed a bit, haven't I? I can't remember ever feeling so... good. While I was traveling... I met a lot of new creatures. Ones I might have feared once... some that I was able to help... And I think I've finally found the place I'm supposed to be." Though she could barely believe it.
She walked next to him, and sighed a little, nodding, "I still don't trust the idea of Gods entirely... but you, Zuru, you're alright. Now I know you'll keep your words... I wanted to believe it, and now I finally can."
Someone else she could trust. Even though it was time for her to stop wandering, she knew that she would never have been happy unless she had gone off in the first place. She had always been a bit arrogant, but now she had more than that. She had real confidence.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 3:39 pm
Zuru chuckled.
"A place yor supposed ta be, eh? Ah've heard a lot a good things about that particular place. Never found it mahself." he replied, moving into the cool shade, and making himself as comfortable as he could be when he wasn't going to move for awhile. "Not mah nature, Ah reckon. But Ah'm glad ya could find yerself that place."
He laughed at what he was saying, and made a conscious effort to rest his stomach on the ground.
"What is this 'place', anyway? Since you're fixin to settle down, Ah won't be able to keep track a'you anymore. But if Ah happen to run into this place yor goin', Ah'll make sure to look for ya."
Zuru felt his good mood falter a little bit. And frankly he was getting annoyed that his emotions couldn't seem to make up their mind. First he was annoyed that he knew he was going to meet her again, and now he was sad at the prospect of not knowing if he'd see her after this.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:24 pm
Xinavane smiled, "No... I think your heart belongs to traveling. That's where your home is. I thought it might be mine too, for a while there... but I've finally found other lions like me. Ones who will stand up and stop what's been going on out there..."
She glanced at him, giving him a light shove, "Not going to miss me, are you?" She laughed... though she had to admit, she did feel a little sad, knowing that she wasn't a part of his domain anymore, "It's a demon hunting pride... It's probably going to be dangerous, but I think I'll be able to do some good there."
The lioness almost wanted him to talk her out of it... but she knew her mind was already set. She had found the pride where she would be able to do the most good, fighting against the growing demon threat. Even if it meant she had to stop traveling... other things were more important, "I want to be able to help other creatures, so they won't end up as lost as I was... after all, you can't help everyone find their way, can you?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 7:54 pm
AIM RP Log:
"Heh, that's a good way to put it." Zuru said softly, amazed. Her words struck a chord in him he'd never quite heard before. "Ya know, it's crazy, but Ah never quite reckoned it that way before. Travel is mah home, huh."
The revelation of Xinavane's intended pride struck another, unrelated chord. Demon hunters? Could she mean THOSE lions? An unsettling thought. Zuru had the recent questionable fortune to run into a member of a particular pride. A part of him stirred uneasily at the memory. As a god, he had little to worry in terms of being outmatched by a mortal. Even one professing that they had a demon inside them, and the seeming backing of a Demonic god to prove it. How would Xinavane fare against them?
Zuru almost cut in to ask Xinavane not to go. But one look at her face was enough to shut him up. Her words cinched the deal. She needed to be able to help others. It was a need that far outweighed her need for safety. She really HAD grown.
The corners of Zuru's mouth curved upwards in defeat. He wouldn't stop her. Oh how he would worry about her from now on, but he wouldn't stand in the way of her decision. She was out of his domain.
"It's one a the cow pies a bein' a God of Wanderin', darlin'." he agreed, a touch of melancholy to the tone. "It's very easy to stop wanderin', an' start bein' lost. 'Too much a somethin',' an all that."
Zuru restlessly got to his feet again, and paced a few feet away from Xinavane.
"Ah don' wanna be a 'poke, but..." he said, facing an unremarkable bush. "Ah'd hate ta happen upon yor pride, an' find ya gone an gotten hurt. So..."
He looked back over his shoulder at her, blue eyes filled with concern. Honest folk lived such short lives.
"Watch out fer yerself, ya hear?"
Xinavane looked at him and couldn't help but smile. He was worried about her... that was nice. He didn't ask her to stop, that was nice too. Honestly, she knew what she had to do, and she wouldn't back down... but it was good to know that someone wanted to look out for her, and know that she was alright.
"I'll be careful... I've already spoken with their leader. I'll mostly be staying behind to watch the pride itself, so I won't be on the front lines... but making sure that everyone who is will be taken care of is just as important." She smiled at him.
"Thank you though Zuru... for worrying about me. You're all I've got right now who knows what I'm doing... so it's good to know that you care." She looked off, "But I'll be alright... it's just a feeling I have. So I'm not scared... not really. I know I'm doing the right thing now."
She looked over at him, "You watch yourself too. Not many lions out there will heroically pull you out from under things, so without me around, you shouldn't get yourself into too much trouble." Though... the idea of someone else rescuing the God almost made her feel... jealous.
Wierd.
Zuru laughed once in relief, and looked away again, surreptitiously rubbing at one eye with a paw. It did relieve him to hear that she wouldn't be up in the thick of it against those lions. He still knew she'd be in danger from though.
The reference to how they first met caught him off guard, and the irony of the situation soon had him laughing so hard, his ribs ached from the effort. He was asking HER to take be careful! What a riot!
"Ahhh, Ah needed that. Ah really did, Xinavane!" he said, when he could draw the breath to do so. Zuru walked back to her, and wrapped his paws around her in a heartfelt embrace. "I'd need ya tah keep me from taken meself too seriously as well as savin' me from rockslides. Ah don't think Ah'll ever forget that."
"I should hope you wouldn't..." Xinavane said, wrapping her own paws around him, "You need to be way more careful than I do, you silly thing you..." She really couldn't believe she had just called him silly... but at the same time, it felt right.
"Anyway," She said, deciding to stand her ground on her choice, "I'll miss you... so you had better come and visit me if you're ever in the area, alright? Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big scary demons." And she owuld miss him... and she would miss wandering, even if she did know where she needed to be.
She had loved being a part of his domain... she had loved meeting him. He had taught her, once and for all, that all Gods weren't as bad as she had deemed them throughout her childhood. And she felt better for that.
"Ya got that right." he agreed, smiling widely, and holding her a little more tightly as she wrapped her paws around him. This close, she smelled good, he decided. Like summer grass and wind.
"Ah'll do mah darndest to wander into you again someday, Ah swear it, Xinavane." he promised, drawing back to look her in the eyes as he said it. "Ah'm gonna miss ya somethin' awful."
He meant it, too. He fully intended to do nothin' but mope for a week after she left his domain completely. Lionesses of her type didn't come along very often, 'an he made a mental note to wring a promise of safety on her part, should he ever meet the patron deity of her future pride, the lucky schmuck.
He left the embrace, and turned to look out at the Savannah from their spot in the shade. The sun turned the golden landscape into a white hot dazzle on the eyes. From behind him in the jungle, he could make out birdsong.
"It's a nice day." he observed aloud, and leaned over to bump Xinavane's shoulder, grinning at her from the corner of his eye. "If ya don't hafta leave right now, we can spend a few hours together..."
Xinavane looked at him and smiled, nodding, "I have time." She always had time for him, really. She had found that, like he saw in her, lions... or Gods she supposed, like him were hard to find. She was quite certain that she might very well start moping around the second she left his company... so she wasn't exactly looking to leave it.
"And you had better wander back, because I'll never be able to find you out there." She grinned, looking out into the wide world around them, "It's so far... I remember feeling lost, when I first tried to find my way... But now it all feels so much like an adventure waiting to happen. Less scary."
She looked at him, "Thanks Zuru... for everything you've done for me. Whether you meant to or not, you changed my life. So far I'd say for the better." She grinned, nodding out, "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget you..." Nor did she want to for that matter.
Zuru watched her from the corner of his eye, and smiled happily. He slowly leaned into Xinavane, and sighed contently.
"Same here." he agreed. "Same here."
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