It was just pasted dawn and the mostly white female was giggling as she walked across the beach feeling almost as if she was at home in the dunes where she was born before she went searching for her father. She took a deep breath taking in the strange smells of the ocean water. Never had she thought water and sand would go together so perfectly. She smiled before looking over the ocean waters.
"Beautiful." She said before not noticing a large wave come up and totally drench her furr. "AHHH!!!!!" she screamed out from the cold water hitting her as she leaped away from the beach edge and began panting heavily from the cold water as she tried to shake it off her.
Hadaya was having a rough morning. He had been woken up early by a bird that seemed dead set on yelling at the top of its lungs, right outside the mouth of Hadaya’s den. So he had dragged himself out of his sleep to pounce the annoying creature, but it had escaped and all he had managed to do was jam his paw in a rock in the effort. Sore, bitter, and drowsy, he wandered away from his den and the bird in hopes of finding another quiet spot to nap.
Yawning profoundly, his ears deafening as the yawn shook his whole form, he didn’t spot the female on the beach until he heard a yelp. Ears perking forward, heart leaping into his throat, he looked around and spotted a white lioness running away from the water. He hurried over, thinking she had nearly drowned or had been bitten by something, or SOMETHING. He was a bit of a worrier.
“Are you okay!” he called, stumbling in the sand as he slowed himself abruptly and came to a skidding stop near her.
Rana looked at the male her lips pressed together in a funny maner as her cheek became red till finally she opened up her lips letting out a bell like giggle as she fell onto her butt holding her stomach a little as she closed her eyes while she laughing.
"I think the questions is...Are you okay?" She said smiling a little as she got control of herself.
Hadaya watched her laugh, looking absolutely dumbfounded. He looked out over the water, then back at her, wondering if she had swallowed too much of it or something. Still thinking something was wrong, despite her laughter indicating the opposite, he shook his head in wonder. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern, his sweet, gentle eyes reflecting this sentiment as he looked at her with an expression much akin to what a deer might look like in headlights.
“Me?” He asked, flabbergasted. He ruffled his fur, his thick mane poking out in odd directions as he tried to make himself look a bit more intimidating and cool. Really, he just looked fluffy, “I’m fine. I thought you screamed and I came over to see if… if you needed any help… but… you’re laughing… so… you’re okay?”
She nodded moving over to him she was going to try and help him up but she tripped as her fell into him slighlty their nose touching softly aas her eyes widened and turned away quickly.
"So...sorry I'm well...umm I'm fine really." she said trying to get her wounds to act right and come out correctly.
Hadaya almost leapt out of his fur. He wasn’t much for close contact with people he knew really well, let alone with complete strangers. He bristled like he had been electrocuted, raising up on his paws, his back arching, his muscles coiling. In a flash he was two feet away, leaping back on impulse, crouching down and watching her carefully. She might as well have attacked him, for how terrified he looked.
A fully grown lion, looking like he was about to run for the hills. Probably not his proudest moment.
“I’m sorry,” he sputtered, as if it were somehow his fault. Or maybe he was apologizing for his reaction. “I’m uh… I’m glad you’re okay. The beach is… uh… dangerous, sometimes. Do you… live? I mean. No. I know you’re alive. I mean. Do you live around here. Yeah. Around here?”
She giggled again her sheek turning back to their white color as she stood up shaking the sand off her fur before she shook her head. "No...I'm looking for someone." She said before sitting down where she wasn't not wanting to do anytihng more stupid and make him run awaay he was intresting. The way he wore his emotions on his sleves it was sure entertaining.
Hadaya sighed, watching her as she seemed to relax. Well, if she wasn’t too embarrassed he supposed he didn’t have to be. Swallowing hard, steeling himself, he took a few steps back toward her, tilting his head and nodding as she spoke.
“Looking for someone? Who? Maybe I could help. I mean, I doubt it. But sometimes I get these visions, and I never know who they are… or who they’re for. So I think maybe if I keep meeting people they’ll… match up with someone, or something. I don’t know. It usually doesn’t work that way. But I guess you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
He sat down, flicking his tail in the sand. He liked the sand, and he smiled, looking down at it as he sank his paws into it.
She looked at him blinking sevral times seeming to be completely confused. "You...have visions too?" She squeaked out a litlte before gulping a litlte trying to wet her throat so it wouldn't crack.
"I have them too...their usually only of my father though. Thats who I'm trying to find. He disapeared from my visions though. I can't even find him at home so I'm looking for him." She said softly before looking the male. "He's a god..." She whispered that last part softly.
“Too?” Hadaya’s ears perked forward, and he grinned excitedly. He liked meeting other people with visions. Though, sometimes it made him feel like a bigger failure, considering they often had some manner of control or some cool ability to their visions that shadowed his pitiful future sight.
He frowned, though, as she went on, looking down at the sand again, but this time because he felt uncomfortable looking at her.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s not really my business… I’m sorry he’s gone though. I haven’t seen any Gods in my visions. I wish I could help you. If it’s any condolence, I never knew my dad, really, except when I was really little. Before they left me. I hope you find yours though. They’re good to have around, I hear.”
She smiled as she giggled a little. "Yes...but I'm sure you can see i'm a big girl but I feel like I still need him." she said softly as she looked down at her paws. "I just...don't want him to be lonely." She said as she began to paw at the sand.
"So you live around here right?" She asked trying to turn the subject onto something else.
“I still feel like I needed my parents. The older I get, the more I come to understand that being a parent is… important. You know? More than yourself. I live with a family who had cubs together, and they’re in love, and they seem so happy. That’s how it’s supposed to be, I think. I just… I don’t get it. Not yet anyway<” he shook his head thoughtfully, not knowing why he went out on that little tangent.
“Yeah, I live around here,” he said, smiling, “my pride lives near these beaches. It’s a nice place, I think. I live the sand. Before coming here I’ve never seen sand before. Just dirt and grass in the savannah. This is a lot softer when you fall down, I’m telling you. I mean. I fall down a lot. ER,” he shook his head, trying to take back those last few words, “not A LOT, of course. Just – uh – just as much as any… other lion…”
She giggled againse before slowly moving to sit beside him wathcing the morning sky fade into late morning. "You know...sand is easier to fall into rock and dirt. I think the gods that I was born in the desert otherwise I think I would be loosing a limb if not still alive at all." She said smiling before giving the male a glance. "Its okay to fall as long as you pick yourself right back up." She said with a nod. "Atleast...thats what my father told me."
“The desert, huh? I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been to anything. I heard it was really hot there. It can be really cool here, with the wind coming off the water. So it’s sand and nice weather. But I’m just bragging now, aren’t I? Sorry. I just like living here, you know? It’s nice. Having a home, and knowing that it is, in fact, your home. And it’s not going anywhere.”
He smiled. He’d heard that before.
“Yeah, you gotta keep on muddling along, I guess. Like with you and your search, right? You wouldn’t just give up on it, if you still felt you could find him or even if you still just… wanted to. I wouldn’t just stop trying just because I fell or failed or something. That would be a tough way for me to live,” he laughed, shaking his head ruefully, “I get a lot of stuff… uh… wrong. But I keep trying. Such is life.”
She smiled giggling once more. "Your very smart did you know that?" She said as she looking to the ocean. "I knever would have thought that you would be. Cause you don't look it. Its actually...rather appiling." she said smiling as she took a deep breath before seeing the sun peek over the clouds trying to warm her still wet and cold body. She shivered a litlte as her eyes closed.
"I know I'll find him but I'm getting to the point to where do I really want to see what he has become?" She said softly. "I've seen a few things...some terrible things and its making me scared that he is no longer my father." She said softly.
Hadaya looked at her, tilting his head, his fluffy mane billowing around his face as he craned his neck. He raised one eyebrow quizzically, looking perplexed.
“Smart? No, I’ve never heard that before,” he flashed a goofy grin, which faded as she went on. He nodded. He wasn’t the most clever looking of creatures. He was long and lanky, muscular, but in a thin way. He had no way of controlling it, though he ran every night to tone his muscles. He just wasn’t a very heavy lion, and that gave him a spindly, push-over appearance. His eyes were always soft and kind, though his expression was usually an anti-social frown, which made him look constantly confused. Or at least when he wasn’t paying attention to his facial expression.
He moved closer to her, seeing her shiver and not thinking before acting, as usual. He wanted to supply her with some of his warmth, though he didn’t realize it might be a personal space issue for her. He sat close and spoke without giving that any real thought, “that sounds bad… but I don’t understand? How could he… not be your dad anymore? I’m sorry. That’s a dumb question, I shouldn’t ask you that.” He frowned.
She shook her head before leaning into him gladly accepting the warmth. "I...well...its a long story I saw him get hurt." She said softly before looking up to him resteding her head against his shoulder. "Your very warm its nice." She then muttered closeing her eyes as she rested there against him. "I can't see all of the vision just yet but its scaring me. Each time I see more and more." She replied.
Hadaya sat there, looking thoughtful, and apparently completely oblivious to the young lioness leaning against him. At least in the sense that he was an awkward boy and she was a girl, and they were pretty close. He was too concerned for her story, and the sadness in her voice, to notice anything else. Besides, he was more or less a warm towel for her at the moment.
He drew a deep breath and looked down at her, tilting his head and then putting it back carefully in its upright position. He didn’t want to tweak himself and make her uncomfortable. “That sounds awful. I’m sorry you have to see it. I’m sure he’s fine? I mean, I don’t think all visions come true. Mine never seem to. Or maybe I’m just not around for them when they do…” he frowned, not being very comforting at all. He didn’t know what to say, “but maybe you’ll find him and it’ll all be okay!”
She smiled as she snuggled into him as she began to purr. "Your very sweet and I don't even know you name." She said giggling a little before she looked up to him. "Maybe I should just call you Captin Interesting? Hmm hows that sound?" She asked giggling a little as he tail brushed against his as she blushed a little before wrapping her tail around her paws.
Hadaya winced. He knew he had forgotten something. It was going a bit too smoothly, after all.
“No, that name wouldn’t be very good. I’m not really all that interesting. You just think I am because we just met. But, really, I’ve pretty much exhausted all the interesting things about me at this point,” He chuckled, flicking his tail. He didn’t realize her tail had brushed his, thinking it a crab or something.
“I’m Hadaya. And you?”
"Taika'rana." She offered with a smile before rolling her shoulder a little snuggling into him once more. "Most just call me Rana though." She said with a litlt hum. "Infact the only people that call me that is my father since I don't relaly talk to anyone else." She said giglging. "You see my mother was never really nice to me." She commented a little. "She was always to demanding and i'm a free spirit." She said in a matter of fact way.
He swallowed hard again, now noticing that she was a girl and that she was leaning on him. A younger girl. He looked around awkwardly, but remained in place, rigid and barely breathing. His mind had a way of over reacting to things. Like the way she moved against him. He felt his heart skipping a beat from its lodging in his throat.
“Rana is pretty…” he choked out, his voice cracking like a juvenile’s might in their growing stages, “and so are free spirits. Er. I mean. It’s good. To be that way. I’m a bit grounded, I think, because I’m uh… I’m not going to say ‘scared’ but… I’m wary of everything. I know I’m not the best… lion… around, so I don’t do anything… too risky. Like. Well. Anything. Really.”
He looked up at the sky, not knowing where else to put his eyes. “I didn’t know my parents very well, though. They abandoned me when I was little. So all I remember of them is that day, and that’s not really the best impression to leave on a kid.” He laughed, though it was forced.
She blushed a litlte looking up to him. "You...you think I'm pretty?" She asked before looking away quickly. No one had ever called her pretty. No one really had the chance to talk to her other then her father. Now here she was blushing madly as she snuggling into the side of this other male.
Hadaya flushed, stuttering for a good long time before any real words came out.
“Well, yeah. I mean. You are. It’s. Uh. Yeah. I think. Why not? You are. So. Saying so… isn’t bad, right? I mean. I’m a dork. I’m sorry. If it was… weird. Or I shouldn’t have. Uhm.”
He coughed, the eloquent speech coming to an abrupt end.
“It’s probably… I should get back to the den… before the cubs notice that I’m not there… not my cubs, of course. The couple that adopted me… their… uhm. Sorry.” He bowed his head in defeat.
She giggled happily before scooting away. "Will...will I see you again?" She asked looking to the male a litlte hopefull he was nice to talk to such a laugh. She then shook her head. "No wait probably not I move around alot." She said sighing as she looked to her paws.
Hadaya hesitated, looking thoughtful.
“Well, where do you plan on moving to next? I could… meet you somewhere? I don’t have to stay here all the time. I like wandering, and I run around every night, when I can. But… I mean, I wouldn’t mind coming and finding you so we could talk again… though, hopefully next time you’ll be a bit more dry.” He grinned, shaking his paw on the side she had been leaning on.
She giggled happily. "Yes that would be nice." She said before looking to him. "Hmm How bout just a little north of here where there no water that might come and attack me again." She said with a small giggle.
Hadaya smiled, backing up slowly.
“That sounds good! I’ll come find you soon, I promise. It’s a date. Er. No! I mean. It’s a promise. Yeah. Let’s stick with that. Oop,” he stumbled over a piece of drift wood a wave had brought high on the beach a long time ago, though he would convince himself that it had been moved their just recently, and just for the purpose of tripping him.
“Okay. Well. I should go now. It was nice meeting you, Rana. I’ll see you again soon.”
She giggled before moving a paw up to wave goodbye. "See you then Hadaya." she replied softly before getting to her feet moving off the opposite way back to where she had made up a little camp up of sorts.
