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 Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 8:47 am
Vivid green eyes narrowed as a young female guard marched through the jungle. Her paws were wet and glistening from her skip across the water into this 'unknown' territory. Usually, being wet would bother her. But not today.
She'd passed by this way more times than she could count, just waiting to give the nameless male a piece of her mind for what he had done to her. What he had done to her was, finally, becoming clear to those in the pride. Murmers of cubs was on the wind and Tejasvi, Queen and Sister, knew now that she was going to become an aunt.
Horowai had mixed feelings and one of those was anger. Anger at this male, but gratitude too. Because, now with her in this condition, she was getting more attention than ever before! To think it! Such a simple thing granting such desperately wanted attention. Being pregnant, then, wasn't all as bad as she had thought it to be.
That didn't mean she had to be thankful, though.
So, with that determined, annoyed expression set on her face she pushed onwards, raising her head to scent the air for any trace of him.
--
Suijin had decided that it was time for him to return to the land of his 'princess'. More than enough time had passed to see if she showed the signs of a soon-to-be mother. A smirk crossed his maw as he picked his way nimbly through the vegitation. His rather small form, for a male, made it easier for him to weave in and out of the otherwise impossible areas. Before long he had reached one of the two clearings they had spent time in.
Deciding he didn't want to wait to see her he called out, "Oh princess~" In a rather cheery tone knowing that if, and when, she heard it she would be bothered by it. All the more reason really, it was after all, the very thing he enjoyed the most. Getting under peoples' skin.
--
Her ears twitched and a snarl carved its way across her beautifully sharp features. He was right, of course, the tonehad bothered her. In fact it infuriated her. The fur along her neck bristled upwards and the snarl only deepened as she answered with a harsh growl. How dare he?! How dare he try to wriggle under her skin like that?!
Letting her growl increase in strength, she snarled openly, revealing fangs that gleamed in her dark jaws.
Then, pushing forwards, she emerged from the undergrowth and into the clearing, drawing her head up high. Her eyes glinted like shards of green ice and for a moment it seemed she might suddenly grow in height to overshadow the male. But, it was not to be. She stood there, squarely, head and shoulders up, ears pert and eyes focused on the male who had changed her life somewhat dramtically.
Where once her form had been lithe and streamlined there was now a large swelling at her belly. 'An ugly bulge' as Horowai more affectionately named it. The size of her girth was quite alarming considering she could be no more than half way through her pregnancy - a sign that she carried more than one or two of Suijin's children.
"So you finally decided to show your face then, male? I was beginning to think you were too frightened to return." She scoffed.
--
"I simply wanted to give you time to...adjust to your situation." He replied with a grin as he stepped toward her moving like water over pebbles, smoothly. "I figured that by giving you time you would show more...prominately. Which you are." He stated tilting his head to get a better view of her side. Her belly was swollen nicely and considering it hadn't been too long since he had last seen her. Well it meant good news to him, she would be having a good sized litter. Perhaps one of the cubs would look like him, so much so that his image would always haunt her. He would like that.
Very much so.
"Now, now," He began sounding as though he was trying to calm her. The exact opposite of what he wanted, "You don't look so happy to see me Princess. I thought you would have missed me just a little."
--
She twitched under his inspection, feeling her skin crawl as he watched her every movement. She felt as if she were no more than an experiment and he'd returned to see the results. Were they to his satisfaction, then? Had his experiment proved a theory? Was he content that he had done all he could to see its success?
She bristled at the thought and it took all her effort not to sidle away from him as he drew near.
At this point the cubs were nothing more than that. A word. Cubs. She hadn't thought of names or what they might look like or what they would grow up to be like. Right now they were simply there, dwindling between being figments of an imagination and reality. However, if a cub was born that looked like him, what she might feel was yet a mystery. It was clear, however, that she wouldn't be best pleased.
"Missed you?" She spat, "how could I possibly have missed you? Male, if I had no care for honour, I would have torn out your throat by now. You're lucky that I would not dare take a life." She narrowed her eyes. "Look at you, so pleased with yourself. Are you proud that you tricked a female in such a way? That you took advantage of her honourable nature and have now forced her to bear children who will be no more than toys in this little mystery game you're playing?"
--
When her temper flared at him his grin broadened. She was a fiesty as ever. Good. As she continued on with her speech of how he was a terrible male, he simply watched, and listened, with amusement clear in his expressions as well as the way he held himself. "If you could my dear." He replied when she mentioned slitting his throat. Hadn't their last little 'fight' proven that he could easily out manuver her? Obviously not. Then again it could have given her insight into how he worked, even if it was unlikely.
"Why of course princess, I wouldn't have it any other way!"
He told her with a large, obviously fake grin, along with a fake cheery tone. "Now, now love this mystery game is one of the most fun." He paused almost looking thoughtful as the cheery tone vanished. "I never said you were a toy, you simply made yourself one by thinking I thought you were." He pointed out before shrugging.
"It's my job to learn the ticks and tricks of each and every person. You just happen to be more interesting than most." He explained without really explaining anything at all. "I'm glad you haven't lost your fire."
--
She drew close to him, so close that her nose almost touched his. She was trembling with anger now, barely able to control herself. She was a torrent of emotion, this girl, and she was often unable to control it, let alone predict it herself. All she knew was that this male rubbed her the wrong way. She'd go as far to say that she hated him.
Yes. She hated him.
To claw his eyes out right now would be a wonderful release of her anger, but again the urge to keep her honour stilled her paws. That wasn't the only reason, however, though she'd never admit it. She was a little afraid of him. She didn't know how he might react if she turned on him. Didn't know what he'd do. This time she had more than her own life to worry about. She had the life of her cubs.
Not their cubs.
Certainly not his cubs.
Her cubs, forever more.
"No one changes. Not me. Not you. Not anyone. You'll forever be an annoying b*****d and I? Well, I'll always be this brilliant." She growled. "Now, tell me, what happens next? Clearly I carry your cubs, which means I have fulfilled my part of the conditions of our duel." Her growl did not lessen. "You have seen me to confirm it. Does this mean you will take your leave and be happy in the knowledge that you have fathered cubs? As I've told you before, the cubs will stay here and I will not tell them anything of you."
--
He was surprised that she had gotten so close to him, he thought the simple idea of him repulsed her. However he did well not to show his surprise, instead he simply arched a brow. "Now Princess I thought you never wanted to be this close to a male again." He stated trying to push her buttons, trying to see if she would lash out at him. He knew she wanted to but he also knew that it would be very unlikely that she complied with her wishes. "Oh people change. Sometimes they change so damned much that you would recognize them if you met them again." His thoughts flashed back to the pair he had been searching for when he had first come across this firey female. They had changed greatly since they were children. He himself had changed.
He had always been a egoistic b*****d that he was now but he had grown more sadistic, more cunning, and simply more devilsh. He had evolved into the perfect schemer. One who could read the emotions, the moves to come of another while not giving them nearly as much information. More often than not they got the wrong information.
"I doubt it." He replied his expression solemn and neary unreadable. "I am never happy."
His water-blue eyes studied her for a minute. "They can remain her, probably cause her a bit of trouble. Of course I'll always be somewhere in the shadows." He paused the smirk returning to his lips. "I'm quite hard to catch, impossible if I do say so myself." He waited for some kind of reaction.
"Don't think I'm done with you yet princess."
Oh he had many a plans, many.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:30 am
At that she drew away, realising then that her anger had lead her down the path of yet another mistake. Keep your distance, Horowai, she scolded silently. "Shut up." A weak response but it showed that, once again, he had gotten to her.
Never happy?
The words took her by surprise and even smoothed the lines of anger on her face. Never happy? Could that be possible? Was this behaviour because he simply did not know true happiness? Hm, had Horowai ever been truly happy? If she hadn't been before, she had a feeling she was going to be. Surprisingly enough, motherhood seemed to suit her - the thought of motherhood in any case.
But what was this, pity for the enemy? Who would have thought it? She snatched her anger back and shoved it roughly into place. "Well, I'm warning you, male, you had better watch yourself. If you lurk in the shadows too long, someone will see you eventually and my pride is filled with lionesses who dont think attacking a rogue would go against their honour." She snarled. "And if they do, I won't be there to stop them." She wasn't sure if that was necessarily true however. Yes, she hated him, but she wouldn't want to see him dead.
"Impossible to catch? We'll wait to see about that." Was that a challenge? Was he hoping to provoke her into another duel? She knew that would be foolish but with Horowai and her incredible waves of emotion, anything was possible.
"Done with me? Is that a threat? An attempt to drive me mad? Do you think you intimidate me, male? You don't. You never will. Ever." Her eyes narrowed. "And if you think I'm going to play into your paws again, your sadly mistaken."
--
He grinned at her response. Had she been unable to come up with a better come back. Obviously. Surprisingly he decided not to taunt her in those regards, instead he waited. Like a cat watching a mouse, waiting for the perfect time to pounce. The time was approaching quickly. The mouse was falling right into the cat's paws. Perfect.
When the anger washed from her features, however brief it was, his grin faultered. She had done something he hadn't expected, she had reacted almost with compassion, in his mind, to his statement and it unsettled him. Compassion wasn't a thing he dealt well with. That was why he played with others, made them his toys. When her anger returned he felt himself relax, he liked it better when she was angry, when she was willing to fight.
"I know. I've danced along the outside long enough to see."
He replied with a fake yawn as he shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps, but would you really want to see me dead?" He asked cooly. "Be truthful. Lying won't do you any good."
--
She stiffened and the fur along her neck rippled from the waves of anger that seemed to be flowing from her. How dare he?! How dare he get to her like this!? She wished she knew what was going on in his head, but she didn't, and oh did it grate on her nerves. For the first time in her life she was considering throwing honour to the wind and tackling him into submission.
The cubs...
Dammit!
She swore loudly, hissing like an angry puff adder. "Lie? Lying won't do me any good, but since when did you care about what was good for me. You forced children upon me without considering whether that was good. Did you think I would be so disgusted that I'd turn them over to your care? Well, I won't. Even if they're born..." She faltered. This was the first time she had considered what would happen if they ended up looking like miniatures of their father.
"Even if they're born with their father's miserable face, I will not let them go. I do not know what you want. I thought you were doing this out of spite. You spoke of this other? A girl who did not ask for you to couple with her? I don't know why you have done this. Why you insist on haunting this place even when you're not welcome. Is your existence so pathetic you live only to see the light of anger in my eyes?"
She backed up further. "If it's love you want, you won't find it here."
--
"No, I did not." Suijin replied simply to her first question. Not once did it ever cross his mind that she would push the cubs onto him. No, he knew motherly instinct would win her over and no matter how much she hated him...she would love her children. Even if they looked like him. He never understood why, it was a female thing. "You wouldn't want any of them to end up like me." He commented solemnly as she continued to speak. Her words bothered him but he didn't show it. Honestly he had no clue why he did what he did. He thought it was out of spite for Kagami but was that really it? Was there something else lying beneath the surface?
He didn't know.
When she spoke of love he snorted. "Love had gotten me no where." He spat in disgust at the thought. His mothers so called 'love' had driven the girl he had loved away and resulted in her voluntary muteness. When he had come to terms with his feelings for her he had been rejected when he had been so sure that she loved him in return. She was the only one he could never read. "As for the girl...she is someone I hurt greatly who in return hurt me greatly." He told Horowai bluntly. He wouldn't go into details, they would bore her. Not to mention he didn't want an 'outsider' to know anything of the actual situation.
"No. Everything I do has a reason, whether I or they know it at the time." He paused thinking things through quickly. "Is your existence so pitiful you dueled with a stranger just to have his undivided attention?"
--
She didn't like the way this conversation was heading. It was getting too heavy and that dulled the anger and her hate. She didn't want to understand him! Thinking about it...she'd rather him stay an irritating mystery than to tell her fragments of his angsty past.
"I wouldn't." She confirmed, her look stony and cold.
"You don't need to tell me about love." She spat. "In our pride, females do not fall in love with males. Occasionally females, but never males." She hoped not, in any case. What Kunanda cat in their right mind, would lose her heart to a male? It wasn't even worth contemplating. She would love her children, love her family but that was as far as her heart would take her.
"You're better off without her then." Horowai snapped. She didn't like this. She didn't like knowing this. Stop it, she thought silently, I don't want to hear! And why? Because she didn't want to end up understanding why he did these things? Most likely, yes. Now that she thought about it, she'd rather remain oblivious to the goings on in his obviously odd mind.
His final words took her off guard. She started and a swell of sudden emotion choked her. "Shut up! How dare you!? You don't know anything about me. About my life! Don't you dare judge me."
--
"Of course you wouldn't." He replied knowing the fact all too well. He wasn't even sure he wanted anyone to be like him. He wanted people to follow him, to worship him or to fear him. But to be like him...never. He loved yet hated himself. Ironic no?
"I know." He replied to show her he knew a lot more about her pride than she thought him to. "In your pride males are the lowest of the low, with good reason I hear." He shrugged. "But I don't care. Love whomever the hell you want, it'll all end in pain in the end." He stated clearly. That was how he viewed the whole situation. A lot of time, effort and pain only to end in pain and suffering. Which was why he acted the way he did, poking other to the brink of insanity just to have a 'sane' state of mind.
"Perhaps, but it doesn't stop me from loving her." He told her a flicker of sadness dancing across his features before returning to it's natural state. At her words he arched a brow. How dare he? How dare her! "You judge me when you don't know me, anything about me." He paused smirking. "I took the time to watch, to observe you after our little 'dance'I know a hell of a lot more about you that you me."
--
Her eyes filled with bitter tears but she did well to keep them at bay. Crying came easy for Horowai. Summoning tears came as easy as a temper tantrum. But today, she had no want for them to wet her face.
"I don't want to know." She cried out, taking another step back and losing her footing amongst a tangle of roots. She stumbled, but caught herself before she could hit the ground. "Love her, hate her, but don't drag me into it. I will not be a tool for you to use. I won't!" But was she already? Had she not become a tool the moment she had accepted the duel? The moment she had submitted to him? She had somehow gotten wrapped in his plots and the proof of that lay dormant in her swollen belly.
"Don't let your heartbreak be an excuse to meddle in other, innocent, lives." She snapped. "I may have wanted nothing more than undivided attention. Do you know why? Because being the sister of the queen, being a lioness of no great colour, no great value, means none but my royal sister pays me any attention. Do not think I am bitter towards her. I am not and I would never want to take her place. I love her, but I also do not want to be ignored."
She sniffed slightly. "You think you know about me? Then fine. Go ahead and think it. I don't even know myself, so if you've figured it out, I applaud you."
--
At her outburst his smirk widened and he chuckled. "What don't want to see what goes on in this sick kitty's mind?" He asked moving forward as she moved back. "It's too late." He replied the smirk sliding off as he stood before her. "From the moment you said a single word to me." It was true, whenever anyone spoke to him he found some way to get into their head, to burry himself there and taunt them. Sometimes he would play the role of the charming prince seducing them. Regardless he dug himself into their memory. "I don't, in fact I have always been like this, since I was a young child, being heir to the throne coupled with a demanding mother can do that to a person." He told her smoothly.
"I used to be the opposite way Princess." He stated not caring that she didn't give a damn about him and didn't want to know a thing. "You'll get the attention you seek if don't show that it bothers you to be ignored. Take things in good stride and you won't have a problem." He pasued the smirk returning to his lips. "Of course that would mean completely changing yourself which is something you find doesn't happen."
"Shame, isn't it?" He asked retorically. "I think I do. You're attention-starved, devoted to your pride, bound by honor yet you feel empty." He paused to study her expression. "If you didn't have family you would be alone and lost. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself. Your tantrums aren't getting you the attention you want. They never will."
--
She lowered herself and pressed her paws to her ears, shaking her head from side to side. But even that didn't block out his voice. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut in an attempt to improve matters, but the action only forced a tear free. The tear glistened, a bead on her eyelashes, before soaking into fur and dissapearing.
Then, her eyes flared open and she looked up at him, an unreadable expression on her face as she absorbed his words. "I don't need to change to get attention." Her voice was low. "I'm pregnant. Soon I'll birth children. That deed alone will get me adoring attention. So, in a way, I got from you what I wanted after all." Yes...attention it would be, but not everlasting attention. Fleeting. Only fleeting.
As he began to describe her she felt as if despair had grabbed hold of her heart and was trying to drag it down towards the earth. How could he? Was she that obvious?
"Enough." She snapped, bringing herself up to full height again. "I've had enough of this. I fulfilled my promise. I came to see you to prove my pregnancy. Now I will go. I mean this, male, don't come here again." And she backed off, intending to slip into the undergrowth before he could attempt to stop her.
She hesitated, however, and cast him another look, a confused look that didn't truly describe what she was thinking at that moment.
--
He watched as she pressed herself to the ground, paws over her ears. Then a tear slid down her cheek before being soaked away. He had made her...cry? He had never made anyone cry before. He had made them lash out in anger, infuriated to the point of attacking, miserable even but none of them had ever cried. Not even her. "A-attention is a fickle mistress." He stated his first word faultering as he tried to regain the compsure he lost at the sight of her tears. Was he that much of an a**?
Probably.
Would he change?
Probably not.
"You say you mean it but I don't think you do." He stated stepping back, giving her even more space than what she had created herself. "Your running not because of your honor, not because you hate me, which is obvious, but because your scared." He would be to, if someone saw the real him so easily. "Your scared that I, a stranger, can see you, the real you. When others don't even bother to try." He shook his head still off because of her tear. "I'm sorry." For once he actually meant it.
It was supposed to be a game one in which he taunted, pushed and played with the other person. Not one that made people cry. For the first time since he was a child he felt guilt.
--
She blinked, not able to find the words to reply. She couldn't even say a curt goodbye and leave it at that. She stood, still as stone, watching him - unblinking.
He was sorry.
Sorry that he knew who she was?
It did scare her, but...could it make her happy too? To know that in all of the world, there was a lion who did not just see her as Horowai the Useless. He probably didn't like her, but at least they'd reached some sort of understanding of one another. She wished this encouraged her to find out more about him. But she shied away from the idea. She wasn't sure she'd like what she found there.
Finally, she blinked, and, without another word she slipped into the undergrowth, her head hurting from all the confused emotion.
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