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 Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:34 pm
i will add an image later, sorry! <3
Blissful.
That was today. The rain a few days ago had washed away her scent, and he felt relieved, maybe a little more like himself. A little less nervous as well. The rain made the ground wet, which meant tracks were left, which meant Apollo would have no worries about getting lost on the way home.
Usually hunting scared him, or irritated him, seeing as it meant going away from his tree, his safe-roost, away from what he was sure about. Hunting had no control, you could not be sure you would catch something everytime. For all one knew, they could starve before getting food. Hunting was a variable that was far from controllable. And if one knew Apollo, they knew he preferred control. He preferred it to the point of fearing the lack there of of it.
But today was fine, and he crouched low, watching a mother impala and her child graze just ahead.
Delicious, a meal to suit a king (or so Apollo believed his was). But still, impala brought on memories, memories of dashing pink fur and a laugh, golden chains and beautiful eyes. A leopardess tha--
'OH STOP!' he yelled to himself, silently, 'YOU CANNOT LOVE HER! DO NOT BE FOOLED! IT IS UNCONTROLLABLE!' He frowned, eyes focused on something beyond his prey now, perhaps nothing at all.
'But, what is if it is better?'
'A good question,' his other half retorted, then supplied, 'but what if she leaves, takes your heart with her, leaves you broken and alone? You cannot control her, she is not like the one night flings. She could hurt you. And not just in the physical sense.'
'Point taken.'
The fear had set in, and he felt that bubble of love fall back to the pit of his stomach, and now again concentrated on his meal.
Step by step the lion inched closer. It seemed today he would have food, nothing would scare this young mother and her babe away. It was just him and her.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:39 pm
 Laika was rolling around in a particularly soft patch of green grass, hiding away under a tall tree. There was a perpetual shadow, from the tree and a well placed rock, that kept this one spot well shaded from the blazing sun, and a nearby water source fed it life. It was big enough for the puppy to sprawl out in, and cool enough to let her enjoy a midday nap.
It was her little spot, and she was used to having it all to herself. So when an impala and it's youth wandered close, Laika wondered if they were going to discover this tiny oasis. Not a selfish creature, she was more than happy to share with them: it was just a matter of figuring out how they would all fit between the rock and the tree.
They were close now, grazing happily. Though, they looked hot. Letting her tongue hang out, she panted and climbed atop the protective rock to watch the duo from a better vantage point. The bright pink of her fur was stark and obvious against the browns of the plains, and yet the two creatures did not look over. She wanted to show them the shade, to let them take a break from the sun.
So she decided to get their attention. Leaping from the tree, she ran toward them, barking happily, as loudly and consistently as she could. Birds sprang into the air from the cover of the tall grass. The mother spotted her and, with a buck of her head, shooed the youth away. The two tore across the grasses, much faster than the young pup could ever hope to run. Skidding to a stop, panting now from exertion, she sat down and tilted her head.
"Wait come back!" she howled, "I have this little shady spot that you would like! It's not very big but I'd let you go in and sit out side if you wanted! I just want to talk and say hi!" Heaving a sigh, she had to wonder why everything ran away from her.
Just because she ran up to a prey beast, barking like crazy and flashing her sharp little teeth... was that really any reason for her to be unable to make a friend?
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:56 pm
One more step, then he could pounce!
...
Or so Apollo thought, and then suddenly there was a ball of pink and white RUSHING AT THEM. It barked and yapped, and his was-going-to-be dinner rushed off into the horizon. Apollo felt a rush of panic in his body. This was the lack of control he feared!
But he pushed it away, and instead stood tall and roared his dismay with a pathetic, "NOOOOOOOO!!!" It just wasn't fair! He worked so hard to get close so he could get a meal! And now look! It was running off into the sunset. The lion looked so heartbroken as he watched the retreating impala. And then his head snapped to the side.
"THANKS!" was what he wanted to yell when he saw the stupid thing that had chased his food away. But he was close enough to her to see the little sad look on her face, the way her tail dropped, and he frowned. She was a pup, a dog, but not a big one. He felt his heart soften a little, and sighed.
"You know, usually prey beast, like those impala, don't like mixing with us."
There was a laugh in Apollo's voice, and he tilted his head, "Do you usually run up to impala like that?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:30 pm
Laika bounced a good two feet off the ground, straight up into the air, as a mournful wail hit her ears. She landed on her back paws first, tottering and falling forward to land on her front ones almost gracefully, though she could not take any credit for the act. It was just where gravity deposited her.
Crouching low, she spotted the unfamiliar lion standing nearby, and she knew she had done something wrong. She always knew when she had made a mistake, but the realization always came after the fact: there was no going back. She did not learn from her mistakes very well, though, and was prone to repeating them. Still, in the moment, she was aware that she was responsible for a bad thing.
The lion spoke to her, though, and that was a clear invitation for her to talk back. If he was mad at her, he had a funny way of showing it. So, obviously, he was not angry: in fact, he looked very much like he wanted to be friends. She grinned up at him, as much as her muzzle would allow, bopping up and down excitedly as he tilted his head at her.
"Well, not just like that!" she said eagerly, as if explaining something very complicated, "Sometimes they don't run away, and they didn't see me first so they were surprised. I was just showing them my little spot over there! It's my favorite, and they looked hot, so I wanted to see if they would come and sit there with me. Not with me at the same time, though, because I don't think we would have all fit. You wouldn't fit. I think you're way too big, but you could always try!"
She wagged her tail furiously, trotting up to him without any sign of fear. She had met a big male lion before, and he had turned out to be a sweet pillow of a creature. It taught her to like them, and treat them like friends. So far, it hadn't gone wrong.
"What's your name? I like your fur. It's a nice color! Mine is nice too, but I like yours. Does that fur on your neck get very hot? You have a funny feeling around you, are you weird?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:29 pm
Apollo was a simple lion. He liked to take things at leisure, so he wasn't sure as to WHY he had been foolish enough to even bother this little pink ball of insanity. Maybe it was because after meeting Nima...he was feeling more social, if not still nervous. But still! She was just chattering on and on. He could barely understand her, and frowned.
She was cute though, and whole body seemed to shake as she wagged her tail, and she was far from frightened, even though Apollo was a rather large lion. She just trotted right up to him, grinning from ear to ear, talking about shade?! Apollo looked even more confused, and then remembered that his lunch was gone, so going home was a good plan. He looked down at the dog again, and noticed she was talking.
SO MANY QUESTIONS! Apollo wasn't sure which to answer first!
"Uh, uh!" he stuttered, faltering, and then managed, "I am Apollo, no my mane doesn't bother me, and what," he leaned down, so he was now eye to eye with Laika, his purple orb glinting with irritation (and perhaps laughter?), and continued, "do you mean, weird? I am not weird. But I am going home, if you want to come, I have a shady tree that could easily fit us both underneath it?"
DAMN!
Why did he just say that? If he invited her, she would talk more (Apollo barely knew this young girl, and he was already sure she would talk his ear off!) and drive him insane.
But he couldn't tell her to bug off, and she did seem friendly....
Curse you, feelings!
Life was so much easier when all he cared about was getting the girls.
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:11 pm
"Okay!" She barked loudly, right in his face at his offer of going to his shady place. As much as she loved her perfect little nook, she would much rather spend time in someone elses company. She got lonely, talking to herself, because she knew the things she was going to say before she said them. So there was no point saying them. It was a rather exasperating situation for the talkative young wild dog, and company was the perfect solution.
"Did I say that I'm Laika? Because I am! That's my name, and yours is Apollo. That's a weird name. You ARE weird! See, I knew it because I could feel it. You don't like being called weird, I can tell, but you are so why not like it? I like being called talkative and annoying and insane, because I guess I am! If someone else tells me so, I guess it must be true, right? And that's what they think, so they have to be right, true?"
She paused for a second, looking puzzled as she shut her mouth tightly. It lasted only a moment, her tongue soon lulling back out and her voice quickly following, "haha! I confused myself!"
Yipping suddenly, she ran a circle around the large lion, looking him over from all angles, "where do you live? It's pretty hot out so shade would be nice! Shadows don't work the same. Like if I stood under you like this," she moved close to him, huddling in his shadow, "I wouldn't be as cool as I would be under a big tree. Why is that? Is it because you're not cold, so you can't make your shadow cold?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:27 pm
Apollo, to say the least, was confused by this ball of energy. He wished nothing more then to squish her beneath his paw until she calmed down. But at the same time, it was positively....cute?, and he smiled a little even as she ran around him in circles. He tried following her small body, but it made him dizzy, so he opted to pout in an irritated, immature action. But he made no comment her telling him he was weird, because...well maybe he was. And he liked the way she had accepted her self. It was interesting and refreshing.
Instead he laughed again when she stopped, and the questions started again.
"Well," the large purple lion said softly, "I live just a little ways off, if we follow my tracks," he waved a paw to the side at the imprinted marks in the soft ground, "we will come upon my tree and my rock and my little pond." He smiled a little more, and lifted a paw as she scooted close, careful not to step on her as he set it back down not to step on the small wild dog. "I am not sure why my shadow isn't as cool." It was a good question. But it hurt Apollo's brain to contemplate such a thing, and he found himself saying, "I am sure Oboe would know," and then he looked slightly ill. Rats. He had mentioned her! Damn it, and he thought he had put her off into the back of his mind!
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:18 pm
"Follow your tracks! Yes!" Laika barked happily, "I can do that! I love to follow things! But you know where they're going, so it's not really a surprise. When I follow something new I'm usually surprised by what it is because I don't know where it's going or what's going to happen or anything! But that's okay because I guess I don't really know any of those things right now, either."
"Who's Elbow?!" She asked eagerly, ran a short burst, only to come skidding to a stop in front of him, turning herself around with the momentum. It looked rather expert, but it was actually just an accident: she had no idea her body was going to turn like that when she just wanted to look at him.
Quickly losing interest, she hauled herself into a run again, darting across the dried grass only to jerk around and come right back to him. She repeated this a number of times, until she was panting furiously. Sitting down, some ways away from him, she looked back and waited for him to come to her, wagging her tail expectantly. When he did come to her she was expecting an answer to her question, because she hadn't forgotten asking it, so why should he forget to reply?
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:26 pm
So much energy!
He watched her antics with a soft amusement, and laughed when she continued her little spurts. Back and forth, back and forth the young pup would run, and Apollo let himself be almost...hypnotized by it. But he knew that, from the way she looked at him when she finally stopped, that he would have to answer her question.
Slowly the purple lion trotted up to his young friend (for surely, they could be friends?), and smiled a little more, "Oboe," he said the name slowly, so it could be pronounced correctly, and then continued, "was...is," was made her sound like she was dead, and surely she wasn't, "a friend," was she a friend?, or maybe something more?, definitely not less!, "of mine. She is a leopardess, with bright fur, pink like yours, but darker, and golden eyes. She wears gold jewelry all over her body, and she likes to tease me a lot." he smiled, "She...she is..." he looked away and frowned a little. What was she? The love of his life? Important to him? Nothing? A friend?
"I care about her, a lot..." he said softly, finally. Saying he loved her, that would be foolish. That would go against his rules he had lived by -even though they crumbled each day-. And any way, no pup would understand love!
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 3:09 pm
Laika nodded as he pronounced the name, not taking the time to note the care he took as she was too busy pretending to be at rapt attention. Frowning, she realized she still had no idea how to pronounce it. But that wasn't really a big issue, seeing as that animal wasn't there at the moment, and wouldn't be made if Laika got her name wrong.
"You're a friend of mine!" Laika replied to his struggle to find words, oblivious to his inner turmoil as she grinned up at him. Wagging her tail impatiently, she got to her feet when he got close, barking happily and running around him as he walked. She darted in between his legs, not being too careful about getting stepped on.
"Pink like me! Maybe we're related!" She was panting, but that did not seem to stop her from running around wildly, "I don't know what jewelry is, but maybe if I wear some she'll be related to me! It doesn't work that way, does it? I'm glad you care about her a lot! It's not fun when people don't care about you. I care about everyone! I care about you!"
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:59 pm
She was so sweet, and Apollo had to admit. She was a friend. She was a young, excitable friend with a quirky attitude. And by the gods, he did find her annoying...but in a good way. So when she was bouncing around, he wasn't shocked to find that pain in his heart slowly fade away. It was as if someone had scooped up his hurts and buried them.
When she started her talk of relations, Apollo couldn't help but laugh. A lion? Related to a wild dog? It was a curious, and far from possible. But...he nodded. "You can be..." why was there no fear here, why did he not feel afraid to say what he was about to say, when so many times before it had scared him?, "my little sister. How about that? And I am sure Oboe would love to have you as her sister as well." He grinned, and then moved forward. Laika...she was gentle, naive.
And she cared, and for some reason, he could believe she did.
So they walked along, and she continued to run and run, and Apollo watched as the sun drifted along. He must have traveled farther then he thought, and he was careful to check and make sure they followed his paw prints in the moist earth. They weren't lost, seeing as he was almost sure another lion had not passed by them to leave paw prints.
After a while, they reached the tree, and Apollo tuned back into Laika's words, because she seemed to never stop talking (annoying, but cute), and smiled. "Well...here is my home. Though, with the sun lower then it was," he shook his mane, "it doesn't seem so hot, does it." There was a hint of tired to his voice, but he still smiled, and nudged the pup with a paw, "It was times like this that I always loved to play when I was cub."
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:09 pm
Laika was more than excited to hear Apollo say they could be brother and sister. She hadn't even told him about the family she was collecting and now, with the addition of Oboe, she had two new siblings. It was almost too much to take in, and she barked eagerly before she was able to find actual words to express herself with.
"I'm glad you're my brother now!" She exulted, "I have another brother, but he's a doggy like I am. We're not really family, either. None of my family is! But I love them anyway, because they said they would be a part of my family and that's all that matters! And I want to meet my new sister sometime! Does she come and hang out at your spot, too, so I can see her? I want to see her pink fur!"
Tripping over herself, she scampered after him as he showed her his nice little spot, completely oblivious to the fatigued way he carried himself. Her own limbs were beginning to give out on her from all the running, and she hardly seemed to notice. There was no hope for her to see tiredness in someone else.
She watched him as he nudged her, barking in response and leaping away, crouching with her tail high in the air. Wiggling excitedly, she leapt to the side, then back again, each time returning to the crouching position, as if she expected him to leap at her.
"You have a nice home!" she told him, through pants, "it's bigger than my spot! And there's water!"
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:28 pm
Two sisters.
It was odd to think he had a twin, and now he seemed to have adopted himself into Laika's family, which was even odder. But it was nice, because she seemed so happy, and it made Apollo grin.
She was definitely a pup, and her heart was pure as gold. So now, as she bounced back and forth, he watched her, and crouched down. She was tired, he could see it, but she seemed to either not notice or not care. When she spoke, the large lion exclaimed, "Ahah!" and pounced, carefully catching his young friend-sister and scooping her into his paws as he rolled. He laughed and hedl her close, smirking. "You let your gaurd down, silly," and there was genuine care in Apollo's voice as he spoke. He let his head rest against the ground, his back pressed to the earth, paws wrapped around the pup. He sighed, blinking away sleep, and smiled. "It is a nice home...isn't it?"
Would he want to share it with others? With a family? With Oboe?
"Aren't you tired, Laika-pup?" he mumbled, hopping maybe she would admit she was, and then maybe they could take a nap. Or something. Because he was really comfortable right here, with her little pup body pressing on him. It was...relaxing?
Odd, that barely weeks ago, he would have ignored such a hyperactive pup, but now....
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:53 pm
Laika howled a giddy laugh as Apollo lunged for her, unable to escape his large paws as he caught her and rolled with her. She wiggled, barking and laughing, licking and nibbling at his paws until they came to a stop. She flattened herself against his soft, warm fur, feeling at once very safe and comfortable.
She closed her eyes and was asleep before he had even finished talking to her. She was utterly exhausted, though she never showed it. Her body was glad for the chance to stop moving, and seized the opportunity to send her off to sleep without a fuss or battle. She rubbed against his fur, getting comfortable under his paws and sighing contentedly.
It was nice to have a family that never stopped growing. She had her brother Suika, the first she had found, and her father Mito. She would not care if she had a hundred fathers and mothers, a thousand siblings, because she had more than enough love for all of them. All she needed in return was the knowledge that they returned some modicum of those family feelings she searched so hard for.
And even if they didn't, she could still care about them. Because that happened in families, too.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:09 pm
Her silence, at first, scared him. Had he hurt her? She had howled when he tackled, but her movement had seemed playful, not frightened. But she was so quiet. That was, until he felt her nuzzled against him, her warm little body pressed happily close, and she sighed. Asleep. That was all. The panic faded and Apollo looked up at the sky, where the clouds were fading from white to gold as the sun lead downwards, the moon drifting up in its place.
He wasn't sure if he really slept or if just daydreamed, but time had passed when he came too, and Laika was still resting on his stomach, though one of his paws had dropped off her pink body. He groaned as he moved and his back seized, but silenced himself, as to not wake his friend.
She had a home, she had mentioned it, but he didn't want to wake her, but he felt he should take her back. This was a problem, and Apollo frowned, trying to recall anything from his memories to help.
He remembered the feel of a warm mouth around the back of his neck, his paws, as a cub, lifting off the ground, the sound of breathing over his ears, his mother's paws padding as she carried him back to the den...
The idea was simple enough, and she was small, he could lift her (hopefully). So Apollo carefully rolled, easing Laika to the ground, and then looked at her, his heart racing in fear she might wake, but she didn't, so he slowly brought his mouth to her neck, and gently closed down, then lifted up. She was lighter then he had suspected, and he hopped he wasn't hurting her as she dangled there, though surely she would complain if she was in pain.
Her scent went every where, but he followed it, and was amazed to find he actually managed his way across the savannah in the dark, without an idea as to where he was going until he got there. There being a small area of green grass (silver under the now risen moon) with a tree and a closely placed rock. It smelled strongly of Laika, and from what she had mentioned, this must be where she stayed.
With love and gentleness he had never shown before, Apollo set the pup down near the rock and sighed. His jaw hurt from carrying, but he was glad to know she was still asleep, and he took the chance to just look.
She was a beautiful pup, and he enjoyed her company, and maybe...maybe he would see her again. But for now Apollo needed to go home, back to his tree. Something was telling him to go back, and even though he wouldn't mind curling up beside Laika here, he couldn't.
"Good night, Laika," the awkwardly caring lion whispered, nuzzling the spot right behind her ear. "Sleep well."
(Mur. if you want me to, I can do a different post, but i thought that this would be how it could go. > 3<)
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