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 Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:40 pm
 Groggily, and with an ache that lanced throughout that bright red frame, the male stumbled out from this unfamiliar foliage and paused. What fell to rubble in the space behind looked to be a barrack of leaves and twigs gathered and assembled with impatience and little effort, falling at the very seams it was created with. Long and garbled groans grew louder with the passing time, filling the silence of this jungle and keeping the agony from insomnia fresh. Morning dew gathered across the plains, having clung and trickled down the black and white mane that was smeared back on one side from mock slumber. “Ohh…” he droned without thinking, pulling his rear in to a seated position and slumping as far forward as could be mustered; comfortably or not.
From the start of this adult decision he made, Tamu’meka seemed determined to stick with what was said and hate it all the while. Life was hard in general, but having his mother around seemed to simplify a lot of the things that turned out jagged when alone. In theory, he missed the pride life in all its layouts and set duties spread amongst the members. A few weeks back he nearly revised his future and turned back toward the Firekin desert but was promptly reminded not to. This was a fateful decision not only on his part but on the God’s as well. Tamu was not meant for that pride, though kind as they were to him. Perhaps he would never be meant for a specific pride, but he was sure that the life lived a rogue without a mate was not something he would look forward to and what was not destined of him.
In time he figured someone would come around and like what they saw. Or vice versa really, there was no preference besides a forming of some relationship one day. For now he would endure whatever it was nature entailed, in this moment being a back pain and a throbbing headache. Building up that makeshift den by maw and paw, as well as on whim, Tamu purposely set himself as close to a spring that he could manage. He knew come morning the dryness in his throat would not be quenched no matter how hard it rained, and the need for liquid with none to be found might threaten his health...perhaps...not likely, but it seemed like a good idea regardless.
Making a gallant effort to rise up once again, he padded along the best straight line he could manage. There was no plan for today other than live, no schedule or agenda that was filled with dates and times of which to find this object or to do that. He met the water and greeted it with a kiss, dipping his muzzle into the spring before a slip on the mud sent the entire males body headfirst and splashing.
"RAWRG!"
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:31 pm
Ki was in a daze it would seem, far away from her home pride and friends she felt neglected and somewhat fearful. Her days of wander had died down and all that was left was this vast land of the unknown and heat. She felt rather sickly inside- would she ever see her friends again? Her golden crowned head felt so hot, she could hardly see what was in-front of her. With a deep sigh she stumbled onto her paws and set off, searching for the nearest waterhole; there she would find peace, for sure.
Walking. She hated this part, it always felt like a lifetime passed her when she walked, how annoying, right? Drifting in and out the lioness moved her head upward and spotted water- and within a heartbeat started into a trot, running almost. She needed water!- she felt like her whole body was turning into sand without it.
As soon as she was close enough to see the water she spotted the form of another; a large male, red and black in color; before Ki would have been fearful of this, but right now she could have cared less, she needed something to drink and she would be damned if she let her fear get the best of her in a time like this.
Jumping into the water she called out to the male, "I'm sorry!!" -splashing water on him as she landed.
After she had moved herself up she lapped the cool waters up like it was her frist time ever having a drink of water, he could tell she was parched.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:08 pm
Maybe this was not such a bad idea, the male pondered as his limbs moved freely beneath the crystal blue. Falling in seemed life altering at first, embarrassing, painful, and just another bad omen but now as those aches diminished from thought, the prospect of today seemed to vanish with it.
Even the scent of an oncoming female did not deter him from peace. Not even the pounding of paws as they barreled closer...not even the--SPLASH. A split second before the water came crashing down; a shadow cast over him and jolted whatever clarity had come about. What was this monstrosity? Had it spoken?
"What the hec--" Tamu went to cry out but the movement buried him beneath the waves and rocked him till all was settled. Floating up and gasping for breath, Tamu shook the mane away from his eyes, blinded slightly by the glisten of water streaming from what appeared to be a lioness and the light that poured onto the top of her head. Again, he tried to speak over ragged coughs. "...WHY?"
It was not meant to sound as loud and harsh as it did and soon after it was said Tamu's features crumpled in sorrow. "Uh..." he murmured, trying to recover from the outburst but coming short as his eyes met with the sunlit beauty. Sunlight, the way it beamed down and struck her so carefully... If it were not for his mild agitation, he might have sworn (and believed!) the sun melted onto the cream and red base like butter on bread, spreading perfectly. He tried not to stare, but how could he not? When was the last time he actually saw a lion besides his family? It had been a while, he would quickly tell you.
"Thirsty are we?" he blubbered over his mixed thoughts, having at least the awareness to know it not all that rude to chat without introductions…seeing how she nearly sat on him and all. His tongue rolled out and took in a few swigs before he swiveled around and began swimming to the banks. There, he rose up and out to shake off excess water and cocked his head to one side.
Driving his paws into the soft silt, Tamu waited patiently for any kind of response. More importantly and probably more of the reason why he seemed impatient for her acknowledgement was because he wished to see her face...
Fate, so kind, knew I needed a friend today.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:03 pm
Ki felt reborn, her whole body able to rest at ease as she rolled her eyes up and gazed at the male she had run into, his figure huge. She sat in the cold waters for a long while before speaking to him, her golden crowned head tipping down.
"Hey-- gosh. I'm so sorry..."
She blushed, feeling rather silly about what had happened.
"I've just not... had a drink of water in days."
She nodded and slowly stood up, padding out from the waterhole and onto dry land. She turned herself to face him again and spoke out, her tone soft.
"I really... really sorry..."
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:57 pm
"Aaagh," he groaned, feeling the guilt thicken. "I didn't mean to yell."
With his fur drying by the same morning light that brightened the females face, Tamu watched her move along the bank and settle before him. Her words, so fragile and sincere shook the strings that held his heart and the kindness in him could not deny her. With a smile, slanted but charming, he spoke,
"I don't know of many lions who will jump into water without looking first. You must've been thirsty." setting his rump to the earth, Tamu's eyes shut in a chuckle. With her out of the water, dripping with evidence of her swim Tamu could see the length of her form and...appreciate it. How funny it was to see a lion who did not come from his pride. She held a sense of elegance, the smoothness of her head as it mingled with her neck, then shoulders and back till the tip of her tail relished in the body’s beauty. Where did they find the manly looking females that belonged to the Firekin?
What a voice she had to boot! Sultry, sweet, smooth; he felt it more than he heard it as she shook out an apology. Trying desperately to keep his eyes locked to hers, the lion purred, "So what can I call this Lady of the Lake, hmm?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:42 pm
Her nose wrinkled as she smiled at his words and laughed softly, tilting her head to the side.
"Lady of the lake? I love it."
She chimed and set her eyes upon his, ears pinning backwards as she spoke again, this time in more of a whisper.
"My name is Ki-- and you are? I've never seen anyone of your size before, or at least... not where I'm from."
She nodded and brought a paw up to her muzzle, licking along her digits slowly, lapping up the dirt from under her claws. She needed to stay clean, after all-- she was a lady.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:20 pm
He fidgeted beneath her gaze, jaw slacking to every comment made as the ends of his lips curved upwards. He had to try and indicate his pleasure, or else she might take his awestruck, empty look as 'uninterested.'
Ki, tagging the name to his thoughts. Keep your cool, Tamu. "Hmm, thats funny; I'm Tamu'meka, and I was just thinking the same about you." though this seemed to be quite the cutesy comeback at first, Tamu feared after a moment's thought that the insinuation might be misinterpreted. Back peddling, he retorted with a nervous snort, "You're a lot, well...you are lovely compared to those who come from the desert. Ahh, that would be where I am. Am from! That is where I am from." fumbling over his own words, the male would have flushed red had it not been for his already bright pelt.
How embarrassing...
But he couldn't let her wander off now. Regardless of his slipups, Tamu would push on. "So, where exactly do you come from? The males must be tiny there..." laughing off his anxiety once again, Tamu’s joke had some truth behind it. He hoped they all were extremely small and unattractive. Tamu sort of hoped she wasn’t into the leaner type, and more so than that he hoped if she happened to be mated, that he could steal her away.
Too forward?
Perhaps no one who sat in his mind throughout their chance meet would understand his thoughts, but if anyone has ever felt infatuation, then they’d know. There was no love here, he barely knew her name, but there was desire. There was hope; There was possibility.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:06 am
The ends of her lips curled as she smiled at his remarks and chuckled, damp fur drying under the sun. Her tail slowly drifted from side to side as the young lioness's body leaned in closer to his, she smiled wide.
"Tamu'meka; you have a lovely name."
She would have blushed at his comment about her being lovely if she could, but she was so red in the face to start with, it was hard to tell most of the time. Her eyes slipped upward as she moved her head to the side as if to title it as she spoke.
"Lovely? W-why thank you for thinking so..."
She really did mean it; he had this funny way about it, but it made her feel, well, pretty and needed. This, this was weird.
"So you come from the Firekin lands?"
She assumed, by his size, color and words.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:08 am
"Thank you." he whispered through a reflecting smile. Pulling back on the reigns by a hair, Tamu hiked his brows. "Of course, lovely suits you." And so much more, he thought but swallowed the words down.
On top if it being nice to have that beautiful face to look at, her presence was a perk to liven his weekly, dreary mood. Feeling the fur on his neck bristle with both the appreciation of company and her question, the male seemed to groan ever so slightly with his words. "Yes,"
"Come from being the only way to go about my affiliation." noting this with a sideway twitch of his face, Tamu huffed. He was so far away from home! He loved the distance, but why was it when confronted with the soft grains of a bank such as this, the pounding heat from the sun on certain days, or even the conversation had with a complete stranger that he could feel the desire to return home? Just to see how things were managing, perhaps?
Home sick, that was all he was. In time he would return to check on his parents and sister but for now, for at least another year, he would find where his own life ought to be.
"You never answered my question, though." leaning in as she had with a grin that wiped away all previous thoughts and emotions. "Where do you come from?" Having been sheltered, Tamu couldn't say he knew where it was she hailed from. Not even guess it.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:57 pm
She laughed a little at his last words and batted her eyes as she spoke out, her tone soft; light-hearted.
"Me? I was born in the Pride Lands, but I've left that place."
She nodded with a deep sigh and titled her head slowly, as if lost in her own thoughts for a few seconds before snapping back to him.
"Sometimes change is needed, you know?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:39 pm
Pride Lands? Perhaps he overheard the name mentioned once in a story, or during his travels more likely but...outside of that Tamu'meka was listening with virgin ears. She must belong to a land full of egotistical creeps, he figured while lost in thought just as she seemed to lose herself. The Pride Lands sounds like it would be overflowing with the type; that must be the reason for Ki's leaving!
Drawing in a sharp breath, he managed to slip from daydreaming moments before she had and caught the blank stare with curiosity, scrapping his assumptions prior. "Oh?" He responded, chin quivering with wonder and by the vibration of his deep tone. Everyone seemed to be leaving some place for some reason..."Why?"
"You don't have to tell me, actually. It's none of my business and all but...You know, I wouldn't admit this to everyone, so it is kind of hard to say..." Nervous chuckles rumbled as a soft smile sweetened the crumpled features of frustration he seemed to hold. "I know I've needed someone to talk to about why I left my home. I won't speak for you, but I will ask if our needs are the same?" Furrowing his brow sympathetically, the male's leaning pushed one of his paws forward to hold steady.
Her scent wafted his way and lingered within his nose for quite some time. Not bothering to exhale till he felt he had his fill, Tamu subtly endured the dizziness while knowing that if he could remember her scent now...it would ensure futuring meetings and thus, a friendship.... Goodness! She was lovely!
It made him question whether he would be able to let the lioness walk away from today.
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:50 pm
"I left because..."
She paused and glanced down at her paws, unable to see the look in his eyes as she thought for a long second, as if not sure of her own reasoning.
"Because I didn't feel loved anymore. By family or friends."
She nodded and turned her head away, her heart sinking back into her chest like a ten-pound-brick. She took in a deep sigh and looked up at him and added.
"My mother had more cubs, my best friend... made a move on me..."
She stopped.
"He was like, crazed or something..."
She felt sick thinking about it, knowing that maybe she loved him too at one point, but now, she wasn't sure she loved anything at all, or if she could after that.
"They all turned on me, so... I left. I'm not sure of your reasoning, but... if you wan to tell me... I will listen and not judge."
She nodded and glanced back up at him with puppy eyes, as if she was really meaning every word she spoke.
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 6:39 pm
Instantly, Tamu scowled. Did he hear her correctly? Crazed? Moves? It didn't take a genius to understand the meaning beneath her que’s, why even an inexperienced lion could sense the wreck left behind from a most devastating storm. A snarl wanted desperately to rattle the trees of their humming birds, but he let the information process and simmered down just a bit.
Poor, poor Ki. He would never say it to her face, but Tamu felt bad for the girl. Genuinely, regardless of the short time spent together the lion could feel the pain. He watched her turn away, his stomach clenching as his thoughts begged for her soft eyes to return to him and breathed a very long sigh. "Wow," he began, voice cracking with its sincerity.
So broken, he thought as words tried to seep from those ebon lips and were choked back every time. Family was...so important to the male. Granted he left all that mattered to him in the dust behind the pair, but without their love he would never have made this choice to begin with. They endorsed his wishes, knew what he wanted out of life and urged him on. They would be there for him when he returned, a mother to say how much she missed him and a father who would be oh so proud.
Deciding then that it was best not make her feel worse by apologizing a thousand times, Tamu feigned a smile, eyes misshapen by sorrow, and leapt into his own short story. "I left my pride for a very stupid reason...hearing what you have to say reminds me of what waits over my shoulders. I needed space. I needed my own life, a life that I would live for myself and for my mate and family whenever it was I got one."
"My mother was what I relied on for the longest time, and not in the sense of actually needing her. I just enjoyed the company, and she was family so...well worth the time spent I always thought. There was this...war, it broke out like a plague, dividing our people into rogues and the royals. Those of us who could not choose a side fled, and all who made up their minds either died or survived to tell the tale. Not to the same members that were there before but to new ones, strange ones who brought in different ideals and prospects for the future of the pride. The Firekin was my passion; I was part of something bigger than anything I could ever imagine and up until the take over I thought I would live my days there."
He paused, eyes having not fallen from Ki's face, that same contentment shown on his dark lips.
"Change is for the better. You are right about that, and I saw what change I needed to make when my mother and I returned to the pride. Having left was difficult enough, but leaving with only half of who I loved hurt quite a bit." His voice dimmed some, not knowing her own pain and surely not wanting to flick a switch at risk of irritating old wounds. "We saw new lands when we were away, and when we went back to the dunes I could not imagine living there. Forests, mountains, plains...I was equipped with knowledge that some Firekin members will never be able to say they know."
"Anyways, I'm rambling. Point is, I left for my own life. I wanted a mate to hunt besides me, not my mother and I needed to know I had a chance of surviving without their constant watch. So, here I am. Alone, not afraid, but...some what regretful for leaving? I miss them." he lulled, rolling his eyes up to the sky and sighing softly. "I miss them so much...but it was moments like these that I saw in my future! I knew at some point, some day I would meet someone who share a different story, and give me reason to believe everything would be alright."
"Someone in my comfort zone..." he teased, shrugging to lighten his mood and the air of this conversation.
Her words were still fresh even through the story he told, and he wanted to express his understanding with words and gestures and so much more. He wanted to tell her it would be alright regardless of what trauma she endured! He wanted to tell her that they could travel together and be apart of this new life as companions…but he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Not yet.
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:02 pm
Ki's eyes went wide as he told his story and though she felt this sorrow inside, with every word he spoke she felt like the sorrow she felt was slowly being casted aside, and with everything he said she could feel new emotions swell within her; back relaxed as he spoke to her the lioness nodded and listened to every words as if the world's fate rested on the ending of this tale.
As he ended she simple nodded slowly, her blue eyes wide. How life could be so harsh, she did not understand, but right now the lioness knew one thing and one thing only; she wanted to sit beside him, close to him. With a soft expression and tone she spoke out, her eyes drifting up to his.
"I'm... going to move closer to you now."
As if this was her way of thanking him the lioness slowly moved to his side, her paws intching closer to his as she sat right beside him, her shoulder's touching his side as her small frame drifted against his larger one. She sat very still before moving her head, nuzzling right under his mane; she could feel his warmth all around her as she took in a deep sigh and spoke out to him, her tone soft; sweet.
"I am here for you."
Was she said to him; understanding that sometimes... fixing sorrow was as simple as being next to someone. She felt something in her spark as he opened up, and because of that she felt safe being this close to him.
"I am here."
She repeated. He... needed to know she cared. Her baby blue eyes closed as she rested her face against his chest still, her tail curled around her.
"I am."
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:36 pm
It was a matter of seconds that passed, could have been more or less but all he felt was time fly. She closed the gap, lengthened herself beside him and then crumbled into his chest. He was warm, but she was cool and refreshing. Their very opposite ends of this world colliding then, the hot sands of the desert mingled with the cool shade of pillaring rocks and lush canopies! Everything began to synchronize, melding together as her yellow head rubbed ends with his white and black mane. At first he could only freeze up, welcoming her form by colliding into it and raggedly leaning in. Only when she spoke did he release the hiked shoulders from their lock and press his chin gently against her head.
"You don't know how glad I am to hear that." He breathed, tail arching toward Ki and tapping lightly against the ground. "I am sorry for being so forward about everything, especially this." Purrs shook his chest unintentionally, Tamu feeling flustered and stuttering to cover the noise.
"I am here for you too...I--I want to be the first person you look to from now on. Even if we're miles ap-part. We can't always rely on ourselves to solve problems..." The purr rumbled louder. Tamu didn't speak up to stop it.
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