[PRP] Some Happy Memories (Ubele and Peke)

[Nuxaz]

Peke was curled up around his bonded staring blankly at the den's wall. Though nightmares no longer plagued his dreams, not since he had met the goddess of truth, he never quite slept soundly much to his dismay. He couldn't shake the fears that when he slept he would dream of a tragedy, something terrible befalling one of his loved ones or one of his friends. He was not fond of his visions and while he no longer considered them to be a curse, he hardly considered them to be a blessing either.

As a result the young adult hardly slept for long, just long enough to not be stumbling around drowsy but not so long that he dreamed too much. Since he had spent much of his time after the earthquake and the deaths that had occurred in the after-events running away from his responsibilities and avoiding his ability his body had become accustomed to sleeping very little if any at all.

So when Ubele called into his den he lifted his head up immediately and turned it towards her. "Ubele," he replied finding a smile beginning to spread across his lips. He carefully untangled himself from his bonded as he stood doing his best not to wake the raven. He knew how worried Nguvu got and he felt that the bird deserved some rest. "I'll be back soon," he whispered lowering his head to whisper in his bonded's ear.

He stood trotting to the entrance, the smile still upon his lips. "Hey," he said.  

[Nuxaz]

While Ubele was certain of her feelings for him, and he had no idea how she really felt, Peke was unsure of his own feelings toward the dark colored female. At times he felt very conflicted when he tried to sort out his feelings for his two best friends.

First there was Ubele, he had known her for a long time, and while he had conflicts with her brother he had always had a good relationship with her and frankly it was always getting better. She understood him in ways that others could not, they had so much in common. They had both been put through so much and given so much responsibility at a young age. Whenever he saw her depressed, sad, or upset in anyway all he wanted to do was make her smile and be happy.

Then there was Ethiopia, their whole friendship was something of an accident. They had met one day while he was sleep deprived and rather, er, delirious and he accused her of being a pawn of the outsiders. She was the first one to bring out the 'child' side of him and she had easily become his best friend.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he shrugged. "I've been better," he replied letting out a yawn. "Didn't get much sleep last night but," he wrinkled his nose. "It's not a big deal, I'm used to not sleeping too much," he admitted with a half smile. "Anyway, how are you?"  

[Nuxaz]

He smiled at her warmly as she touched him. "Good, you deserve to be happy," he told her confidently. To see her happy made him happy. She had spent so much time feeling down and having so much shoved on to her shoulders that she hadn't had the chance to spend some simple time being happy. Not from what he could see at least.

He cocked his head at her when she paused, as if she had something to say but didn't want to. He found himself laughing lightly at her when she finally blurted it out. "No, no. I'm completely free," he told her trotting closer to her. "I would love to spend the day with you," he stated pressing his head against her shoulder quickly stepping back afterwards.

He hadn't spent much time with Ubele, a fact he regretted. He liked her, a lot, and was glad that he found a way to spend time with her. They were good friends, that much was true but it could always be something more.

"We don't spend enough time around each other," he commented softly.  

[Nuxaz]

He chuckled at her enthusiasm, pleased to see that this simple fact had delighted his companion even more so. It was interesting how their relationship had developed and changed since they were children. It was amazing how much Peke himself had changed since he had been a cub. He had developed into a nearly unrecognizable lion, completely different than the personality of his past.

He was still changing.

"Yeah," he mumbled quietly smiling softly at her. He bumped his shoulder against hers as they moved forward curious as to what Ubele wanted to do. "I've been busy lately but I will always make time for you," he promised.  

[Nuxaz]

Peke watched Ubele with a flicker of amusement dashing across his features as she looked away to hide the surge of emotions that overcame her. His grin had slipped into a more playful one, his blue eyes sparkling with a tempted laughter. He was quiet as he observed her, waiting for her to speak again before he considered how he might reply. The lion didn't have very many friends but he was content to say that simply being around them was just...easy.

"I should hope that you would," he replied playful, shaking his head. "I think," he paused to step forward. "That we should take a walk," he offered glancing over at her before motion with his head for her to follow. "There's a nice peak I'd like to show you," he explained starting forward, expecting her to follow him without too much hesitation.

"It's been a while since I've been to it, I don't go by very often..." he paused as sadness passed quickly over his features. "But it's a nice place to...reminisce," he told her acting as though it never had happened.

sherlolly

 

[Nuxaz]

Peke had never been good at understanding the feelings of females, in fact he had no clue that Ubele cared more for him that a friend should. Of course, he had been a fairly...emotionally unattached lion for most of his life. It was only recent that he had come to terms with the idea of feeling something other than anger, fear or fleeting moments of happiness. He could easily admit that now he felt something of...contentment.

"Do you remember," he started, blue eyes settling on her face, "right before the earthquake hit? Well maybe not, I think it was just me, Dumu and..." his voice dropped to the level of a whisper when he said her name, "Kuruka." He looked away, trying to keep her from seeing just how much his sister's memory still affected him. "Dumu insisted that we all go out and look for a bird, I tried to tell him that it wasn't how it worked but you know him. He was always the rash and impulsive one. If he hadn't dragged Kuruka along, I probably wouldn't have even gone but we went out looking for the biggest flock we could find," he told her, a tug of a smile pulling at his lips. Even though the memory had been, at the time, a scary one it was one of his fondest. Probably because it was one of the few he had of his sister.

"The hill itself is kinda small but the view is...breathtaking," he continued on, his pace quickening slightly. "Anyway, a particular bird caught my sister's attention and at the stupid urging of Dumu, she climbed an even higher rock trying to get closer." He shook his head, it always amused him that though Dumu was the older one, he had always been the more reserved and protective one. "That was when the earthquake," he added absentmindedly. "But the landslide of the area created an even prettier peak, it's a little bit of a rough trip but once you reach the top it levels out."

He had been looking ahead the entire time as it came into view. "I think you'll like it."

Sherlolly

 

[Nuxaz]

Peke wasn't one that like to talk about his feelings, instead he kept them primarily to himself and only let them out when he was alone. It was why he rarely spoke of Kuruka, not because he wished to forget but because he still hadn't forgiven himself for her death. Though it was circumstances out of his control he couldn't help but think of all the things he could have done differently to ensure that she had never ended up alone. To ensure that she had never accidentally eavesdropped on the interlopers. Though her death had not been his fault, Peke was likely to feel as though it was for the rest of his life.

So he would come to this very spot and reminisce about the time he did have with his sister.

And some days...he would talk to her even though he knew it was likely that she had moved on past this plane and into the next. He wasn't sure he believed in the idea of angels, or an afterlife or even rebirth but he was certain that wherever she was that she was watching him. He could only hope that he made her proud.

"It might be one of my favorite spots in the valley," he admitted bashfully. "I've never taken anyone here before." He looked up at her briefly before looking back to the ground. "But I figure it's time to share it."

Sherlolly