|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:37 pm
The Ufalme wished to revive the pride in the aftermath of his inheritance from his tyrant father. His reasoning was sound, though the plan's execution would be time consuming and difficult. Years of seclusion and hostile response to strangers and rogues had left the pride with very little in the way of a healthy population (perhaps the main reasoning behind the onslaught of the plague that would arrive not long after his departure). Meanwhile, any potential new members had been scared off and become so accustomed to avoiding the ancient pride that simply opening the gates was not enough to entice entry. There was simply no one in the surrounding area to join the pride. Ambassadors would have to be sent out and that was exactly what Talamo had offered to do.
Though he never would have done so without his dear friend’s urging, Talamo had acquiesced to the gentle prodding of his Ufalme. He would otherwise had never agreed to leaving his beloved homeland. Still, it was for that reason especially that the Ufalme Kibwana had asked it of him. Who better to entice strangers to their beautiful home, than someone who cherished it so dearly? So it was with a depressed but understanding mind that Talamo went about his preparations in leaving. There wasn’t much to be done, really, save to say his farewells to both land and lion. His return date was unknown, if he even returned at all.
The news that Farasi were being sent out in search of ‘new blood’ had trickled through the pride like rain. It brought forth different reactions from different members. The younger were ecstatic at the possibilities of new friends and mates, but the elder were set in there ways and viewed this change with some foreboding. Bavuwajali, a Mainyi, enjoyed a particularly close relationship with the king, but his depression in the months following his betrothal and marriage to Taadima’aali as well as the unexpected disappearance of his true beloved had kept him from much news in the pride. Still, even in the depths of his self reclusion he had gotten word of the change from a passing bit of sarcasm from his bitter wife. His own hopes from such a declaration buoyed the remnants of his spirit so that he was filled with such desperation as to be... pathetic.
So he had managed to pull himself from the practical hollow in the ground that he had made in all the time he had spent laying stone still on his cave floor. He didn’t know the whereabouts of Talamo just then, though he knew the older lion well. They had grown up together, not being too different in age, and were equally close to the king. Wandering the pride caverns in hopes of intercepting the Farasi before he left the land, Bavu stumbled often on his underused limbs so that most avoided him entirely. Others looked upon him with some disdain or sympathy, though few completely understood the source of his behavior.
Talamo had some subconscious inkling that he might be approached by his old friend Bavu. It wasn’t something that occupied his mind at any particular time as he went about saying farewell and solidifying his plans with the Ufalme – it was just something that he fully expected to happen. He knew it would have something to do with the events that had passed only a few months before but he wasn’t completely sure what would be said. Again, this was likely because it wasn’t exactly a subject that he was dwelling on. Talamo knew the details of the affair, but had chosen to largely ignore them. It was sort of like an old man and celebrity gossip: he was aware of it, but mostly through osmosis than through actual pursuit of facts. He knew because he knew all parties involved, and that was the bottom line.
So Talamo was one of the few souls in the pride who would know exactly the source behind Bavu’s stumbling about. His muscles were obviously underused and in dire need of exercise about the pride. His eyes were bloodshot and the lion generally had a scraggily appearance that was startling to those who knew him from before. Even during the reign of Konokubwa, Bavu had been one of the pride’s more endearing young lords. Catching the somewhat familiar form as it stumbled about, the Farasi moved to intercept him with a heavy sigh.
Bavu didn’t know what he wanted to say. He didn’t know where he would begin when he finally did find the knight, but he knew something had to be said. This would possibly be his only change of getting a message to Adia’dafina and it was a chance that he had to take – he couldn’t let it slip him by. What else could have gotten him out of that cave that day than such a chance? The best thing was that Talamo knew! He wouldn’t have to explain anything because the knight knew and he could help him. He had to help him. Bavu knew he couldn’t ask that it be the Farasi’s primary occupation, finding the lost princess, but he had to ask all the same. He had to be sure that all avenues had been expended and that the cause was lost before he gave up all hope.
He looked up, though he wasn’t exactly sure what made him do so, and caught sight of the dark pelt of just the lion he was looking for. A sad, partly delusional smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he flung himself in that direction and made a mighty effort of a few unfaltering steps towards Talamo. His tail swung out in order to retrieve some semblance of balance as he tried to speak, cleared his throat, and then tried again, “Talamo! My old friend, I hear you are leaving us.” Once the two of them were close enough, he exhaled heavily, “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to say farewell.”
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:29 pm
“Mwinyi Bavuwajali, it’s been too long since we last spoke.” Talamo’s voice was strained, and he knew it, but he also knew that propriety would save him any discomfort as it was unlikely that Bavu would draw attention to it. After all, it would only focus attention on the problem which Talamo pitied the poor fool for. Lost love was assuredly not something which the knight envied, though he had had his fair share of loss. His father had angered Konokubwa in his final days, and so the older lion had been put to death by drowning out by the sea. Talamo had not been as close as he would have liked to his father, but he had mourned the loss all the same. His mother had not been the same since, moaning about in their shared cavern.
Shaking his dark mane as he subtly moved closer to a stone wall, allowing Bavu the opportunity to lean against it and rest if he so chose, Talamo prepared himself for whatever request was sure to follow. He didn’t look forward to whatever candid despair the lord would display, no matter how much he felt for the poor lion. He cast a quick glance to see who might be observing but found that they were actually left alone for the time being.
A fact that Bavu observed himself – seclusion, in this case, was a gift from the gods as he preferred not to put himself on display for the entire pride’s court to view. The Yahe kept mostly out of these upper caves, but the Siti were the especially gossipy group that didn’t need to view his discomfort. He followed Farasi Talamo so that they were close enough to the wall that he could lean himself against it, silently glad that the dark lion was empathetic enough to make such a move. Bavu’s limbs were quaking with the effort of such a walk, though it would have been nothing but a brisk exercise if he were in his former shape. His former self would have even looked forward to such a short turn about the court caves, and a quick meeting with an old friend. Now his anticipation of such an occurrence was much darker, indeed. Allowing his body to lean slightly against the cool stone, he made sure to not put too much of his weight behind the movement as to appear anything more than casual.
Once settled, he turned his attention back to his friend with some trepidation. He didn’t want to talk about this. He didn’t want to bring it up, he didn’t want to breach that subject ever again and yet he burned to talk about her. The need to speak of her seared through his veins like molten lava, but still he faltered. At last, despair nearly clouding his vision, he blurted out in a most improper fashion, “I need you... I need you to talk to her, if you see her, Tal.”
And there it was. Of course, any sort of scenario that Talamo had assumed might play out had definitely not been quite so inappropriate. It wasn’t that he was completely unused to Bavu being a cheeky little devil – he always had been – and being referred to by his much underused nickname in public settings by the lord, he simply had expected that sort of emotion to come through. It most assuredly caught him off guard and for a few moments, he fumbled about mentally. His mouth opened and closed slowly as his eyes glanced about any where but at his old friend until at last he too leaned against the stone wall and his gaze was pulled back to the face of the young lord. His own dark eyes were nearly filled to the brim with unaccustomed emotion and he momentarily slid his gaze away from a second or two longer.
Finally he sighed, softly, and ventured to glance back at the dark green gaze of his friend, “What would I say to her, Bavu? I can’t force her to come back.” He didn’t want to say that he thought it best that she didn’t. The pride didn’t need to introduce some new tradition of divorce. Marriage had always been sacred to the pride and while it had been exceedingly distressing when Konokubwa had used it as a sort of punishment, it wouldn’t do to start undoing them all now.
The lion lord had some idea where Talamo’s mind was going as he watched the Farasi grapple with this unusual outburst. Bavu didn’t mean to be inappropriate, and he certainly didn’t intend to be pitiful or pathetic, but his need – in his mind – was desperate. He didn’t just desire some sort of contact with her, he felt as if in some way his very existance was dependent upon it. He simply had to know what had happened to her, and he wanted her back. He wasn’t thinking of what sort of consequences might befall should she indeed return. He didn’t comprehend what any sort of petition for divorce would do to the rest of the pride, much less to his estranged wife. All his mind, and his heart, could focus on was the possibility that she might return, that he might see her again and he couldn’t pay attention to anything else. His eyes betrayed that; eyes of a lord that otherwise showed only what he wanted them to now showed what he simply could not hide.
“Please just... tell her I’m here. Tell her I need her to come back. She’ll understand, Tal. I’ve just...” He shook his head, “I just can’t give up. You’re my last hope. I’ve got to stay here incase she does come back, I have to be here but you’re already going out so just... If you see her, please...” His pleas died out, though his mouth still opened and closed as if he were searching for something else to say, but there was nothing else to be said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:42 pm
Talamo could only silently shake his head for a number of seconds, partially in disbelief and partially in confounded concern for his friend. What did he expect him to say? That he’d drag the princess, Adia’dafina, back by her tail tuft if he had to? Never, not in a million years, would Talamo force the destruction of his dear pride by his own paw. He would never willingly and knowingly bring about something that could possibly tear them all apart. This pride was his life, and as much as he cared for Bavu, he knew that it would not be good for him either. Still, the Farasi had spent much of his life observing others and he knew well enough that this sort of response would not go well over the young lord. He needed that hope still, and Talamo didn’t want to be the one to burst that precariously thin bubble either. It could irreparably break his soul and there was still the possibility of healing there.
With a heavy sigh, he reluctantly turned the movement of his skull so that instead he nodded. His dark eyes searched his friend for just a breath longer and then he spoke, “I will do what I can, friend, but I make no promises. I must go now. Heal, Bavu. There is no guarantee on anything outside those gates, so you should focus on the life you have here.” And with that he ducked away from the wall and moved past the lord. He didn’t ask for a respectful departure for it would have been ludicrous in such a situation. Instead, he made off to make his final goodbyes and depart before he be forced to suffer another painful interlude such as the one that just passed.
His eyes had met the dark orbs of his friend’s easily enough, searching them just as they searched his for the truth. He hadn’t expected exactly what had been said, but he hadn’t really known what he had expected to hear. He hadn’t even known what he really wanted to hear, only that Talamo understand that he very desperately wanted word of his beloved. There was nothing else to be said, or at least nothing else he could bear to say. In some ways, he did want the lost princess to be dragged here by her tail tuft but in others... if she had made a life elsewhere, who was he to deny it to her? He could not bear to make one without her here, however, and though he knew she’d wish him to, he could not. Not yet, nor ever if he were asked just then. He was destined to be alone, and he no longer had an Ufalme that would send him to his death if he were to seek it.
He was doomed to suffer in this cheery paradise.
Breathing a shuddering few breaths in the silence that followed the Farasi’s departure, he held his breath for a few seconds before inhaling and shoving himself off the wall. He’d return to his little hollow in the ground of his cave and wait. Whatever his friend found out there, for that news he would wait.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
