A small blue and white figure sat... well, no where in particular. Matsai had done that purposely, seeking an escape from the strangeness in his head that had been plagueing him lately. Everyone he touched set it off, made it worse... till he barely knew if he was seeing the real world, or the world that played just in his head.
'Course, sometimes they were the same thing, and that's when it really got scary... It was like seeing double, only one was slightly ahead of the other in time. Shuffling to his feet, the son of Tanaka and Kiuma padded to a nearby rock and climbed up onto it, settling himself again in the hope that the slight change in elevation would have a benefical effect. Deep, emerald eyes gaved out over a land of dusty gold, of waving grass and slowly drifting clouds. For once, there were no other creatures in sight, and a touch of relief sneaked up past the turmoil. Maybe the visions would calm now, and maybe even form something resembling order instead of the chaos it currently was.
Verdad was too busy chasing butterflies and crickets to notice anything. Red paws fell against the ground as she lumbered through the pridelands at a gallop. Her tail whipped behind her nearly getting tangled in her back legs. Had it not been for the blue that circled her eyes and lined her tail, she would have been nothing but and orange blur.
Her own green eyes were intent on the quite lagre blue butterfly that fluttered dangerously in her striking range. Soon, the butterfly seemed to grow in an odd sea of blue. The orange cub crouched down once sensing a bit of movement. A grin spread on her maw as she lowered her shoulders before pouncing.
"Gotcha!"
The butterfly soon fluttered away and the blue before her turned into a small body. She barely missed him as her head smacked against the rock.
When a bright orange form came hurtling out of the grass off to his side to dive straight at him... Matsai was rather taken aback. What in the world...?
His eyes widened as he shifted his weight back onto his haunches and lifted one white-tipped paw out of the way of what turned out to be another small cub, a female one. More than the suprise of her sudden appearance, Matsai was embarrased with himself for not hearing her before she'd burst into veiw. For the love of the circle... from the way she'd moved, she must have been making enough noise for a bull elephant! Some hunter he was... getting suprised by a silly little girl cub.
His father's eyes narrowed now, his cool facade turning down right icey. "What are you doing?" Matsai drawled out, holding his lifted paw out of the way as he looked down at the female, studying her.
Verdad fell to the ground with a sharp cry. Her head throbbed. The small cub curled in on herself as she tried her hardest to stop the pain. She held her head in her paws as ringing started in her ears. Soon, once her senses were focused, she realized that it was a ringing.
It was a voice.
The orange girl was too far too naive to be embarrased. She looked up with a large smile on her face even with his icy glare on her.
"I was chasing a butterfly. I guess it got away..." It wouldn't have seemed that Ver had just run into a rock head first as she looked desperately around for her prey. "Did you see which way it went?." Her eyes bore pleadingly into his.
The blue cub, such a stark contrast to the female despite shared colors, raised on eyebrow and settled his small paw back onto the rock beside the other. "No." His eyes, intense in one so young, never left Ver for a moment beyond a slow, lazy blink.
Chaising a butterfly? How childish. The fact that he had done so before, among other things equally childish, was conveniently over looked by the blue prince.
"What's your name?" One ear twitched, catching the sound of the wind as it rustled the grass around them and ruffled the black strip of fur up his spine.
Verdad held his eyes until she was forced to look away. There was something about this cub that drove away the happiness and sucked out her joy. Her paws shifted with her weight and her tail fell limp behind her. She gazed at the ground in the dappled light. "Oh..."
It seemed as if her voice was afraid of him. Her small ornage body tensed up when the wind swirled about them. She wished that the butterfly would come back and give her a reason to leave but there was no such luck.
"Verdad." She swallowed and regrettably looked back to him. "What's yours?"
When her eyes dropped, the little blue cub let his attention focus away, suddenly not caring to stare at her anymore. He could... feel how his attention bothered her, and part of him enjoyed her discomfort. Mmm... Mother and Father, especially Father, would be proud of him. They liked it when he showed how strong he was, and what better way than to cause turmoil in another?
Some of the ice melted from his voice as he watched the grass sway, making its dry rustling sound. "Matsailema. But you can just call me Matsai." A hint of the possibility of a small smile hovered in the corners of his mouth, more emotion on his face than he'd shown so far. Matsai liked to keep himself private... very private. To the point that others knew little to virtualy nothing about it, save maybe Ahai. The cub's twin had that touch... that ability to bring things out of him, despite what Matsai wanted. Be it a smile, a scowl, or even a rarer-than-diamonds laugh, Ahai knew just the buttons to push.
Verdad quickly lowered her eyes to the ground. It was an odd feeling. She kicked at the small pebbles just beside her now dusty paws. The normally bouncy and excitable cub seemed weary and depressed. Hackles raised in cold, Ver lifted herself to her paws. The pain in her head head had dulled to nothing but a tender spot between her ears.
"Hello Matsai." The sweet and gentle cub within her wanted to pounce with an excited chuckle but she willed it back. Maybe there had been atleast a smile at the change of his voice but even she wasn't too sure. Finally, she gathered up the courage to speak again.
"Are you from the Pridelands Matsai?..."
Matsai was just a teeny bit impressed. His coldness had yet to scare the little female off, something he hadn't anticipated. Maybe she was stronger than he'd thought...? Naw. Probably just talking to fill the void of his silence, yes...
"Yes." His voice had a haunty edge to it now, accompanied by a slight raise of his white chin. Green eyes flicked to watch Ver from their corners as the little star between his brows stood out starkly against his dark fur. "I'm a prince." A simple statement of fact, but loaded with importance for the cub. He was proud of his parents, of his heritage, and why shouldn't he be? Tanaka & Kiuma were the strongest lions in the pride, there was no doubt in his young mind.
Verdad took a hesitant step forward. Her tail began to swing behind her once again as it tied to quell the rise of energy. Fear was very new to the young female and fight or flight hadn't quite set in yet. It was probably a bad idea, to her mother, for her to befriend such a cold boy but she didn't care much.
"So am I." Her open maw snapped shut. A prince? This blue cub was an actual prince. Tia had told her so much about all the royalty and yet she was so unlucky to meet them but now...
The brightness behind her own green eyes flickered and the familliar giddyness was beginning to return. "A real prince? That's so cool."
Small black ears perked forward as the cub turned to face the female again, green eyes once again on her. "You think its cool?" He asked softly, suprised for the third time today by little, orange Verdad. "No one's said that before..."
The little golden tuft at the end of his tail swept over the rock as he flicked it, some of her energy apparently rubbing off on him. He hadn't had a chance to meet many of the pride yet, and so far, none had thought him being a prince was that great, or important, of a thing. He didn't take on aires like Belial did... the few times he had, the other creature had just laughed patronizingly. Some had even patted his head like he was, horror of horrors, just some silly cub.
The little blue head tilted, eyes narrowing slightly with his renewed concentration. Did she really mean what she'd said?
Verdad's red tail thumped against the ground as she nodded her head. "Of course it's cool. I mean, I love being at home and part of the pride but to actually be important is...just so cool." Her excitement brewed within her small body as she rounded the rock to face him. She took in the pretty dark blue but was much more entranced by the glowing star on his forehead.
It seemed so undeniably strange to her but considering her own markings, it wasn't her place to say.
"I wish I was that important."
Matsai almost smiled, her words doing quite a feat on his ego. She thought he was important? The small, white chest expanded as he drew a deep breath, raising his chin as the cub looked down at the other with what he tried to make a noble, dignified expression. On him, it just looked a tad haunty. "I bet you do." He all but purred, feeling magnanimus from the ego-stroking comment. "Its a shame, really, but that's life. Not everyone can be as lucky as I am."
Matsai shifted, moving into a pose that gave her a better view of his noble physique, at least that's how he saw it. An outsider would probably just see a tubby, round little blue cub sitting un-naturaly straight with his head and shoulders drawn back, most likely eliciting a soft, knowing smile and maybe a chuckle. The blue prince positively drank in the attention, getting so little of it at home, and for such little effort too.
Verdad watched his ego expand. In her sweet little mind, she found it cute. The familiar giggle rose in volume as she watched him. It wasn't making fun of him. She was just starting to like him. "I guess not. I'm just lucky to be born." Her soft red paws lifted against the rock as she smiled up at him.
"You're cool Matsai." A soft purr rumbled in her throat at the thought of a new, if awkward, friend.
Matsai's eyebrows rose, this counting as suprise number four. She... thought he was cool? The star-marked cub was astounded, his suprise seeping into his clear green eyes. Being a prince was cool, sure... but being cool just because he was himself? Unprecidented!
He cleared his throat softly as he pushed the emotions down, struggling for aloofness once more. "Well... yeah, you are lucky..." The words were just something to say more than anything meaningful. "I mean... how many cubs get to be born as pretty as you?"
Now, he had for sure not ment for that to come out... As soon as he realized it, his cheeks flushed in his first ever blush. "I-I mean... your lucky to be so pretty." Oh, boy, that wasn't an improvement at all! Green eyes darted to his paws as they shifted on the rock, his little tail flicking agian. Drat it all! Now, why had he gone and said that? Now he couldn't take it back, and she'd be... 'getting ideas', as his mother would say. Ideas about what was beyond him, but it didn't sound pleasant.
Verdad watched his eyes for a moment before bursting out in one of her insane giggle fits. She couldn't help it. Things like that just happened. The little cub could tell that his attitude was wavering and it made her giggled all the more. Her forepaws pressed against the rock and finally her laughing stopped.
"Lucky?..." Her maw opened again to speak but she was quickly silenced by his words. He thought she was...pretty? It couldn't be true. Everyone normally thought she was weird or hard to look at but maybe this cub was different. He'd suprised her enough that he actually had emotions considering that a blush had creept under his fur. The blush tainted her maw red and she looked to the ground not quite sure what to say. Does he mean it? She was once again going to speak when he said it a second time! Now, Ver was completely lost for words. The blush deepened as she hesitantly looked up at him.
It had to be true...
"Thank you..."
That giggle was off-putting, serving to send his emotions into even more turmoil. She was laughing at him! Such a stupid cub, to say something like that to a girl. He should have known she'd laugh.
Oh boy, she was blushing now too... not a good sign. Flustered and confused, Matsai did what he always did with those bothersome things called 'emotions'. His mask snapped down and he tucked them away, presenting a cool, composed facade to hide behind. He cleared his throat softly, black ears pressing back against his tiny skull as he nodded. "You're welcome." What else could one say at a time like this? He certainly wasn't going to lie and take his words back. What good would that do him?
Her energy seemed to leave her. She cleared her throat and smiled sweetly up at the blue male. "I'm sorry I laugh like that. Things like that just happen when I don't know what to do..." Her tail flicked as she desperately tried to disregard her own nature. Though she was excited, her smile stayed calm and no laugh came from her.
"No one's ever thought that I was pretty before. They always think I look weird..." She hoped he wouldn't laugh at her. The blue rings about her tail twisted and turned with it's movements. Might as well get it out of her system now.
