[PRP] So Far from Home? (Asali x Obadias)

[Dulcea]

It seemed to Asali that one could wander on forever and never step again in their own footprints. At least, lately. On and on she walked, endlessly lost in her own mind. She had moments of clarity of course, anchored to her constant search for the next beautiful thing. At the moment she had stopped for water, laying out her things carefully along the bank to prevent them from tumbling in. It was a strange habit for a lioness to have, hoarding minor trinkets such as a raven would, but it was one of great importance to her. She counted them over in her head, the pink crystal, a shell, a few odd leaves. Everything was accounted for, and she was comfortable looking away.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Obadias was, admittedly, enjoying his time away from the pride. He had been born into the lands and had never left, so when the opportunity arose for him to leave and find a banu to return home with, he had anxious but happy. He would get his fill of wanderings and return to his family, a Pad of the pride. His brother had gone off...somewhere, as he often was seen doing now though Obadias was not afraid to leave his side, he would have preferred that they stayed together.

He was curious though, what he could find on his own. He still had one eye out for his brother's familiar colour, but happy enough of his own, for the moment. He smiled a little, the expression an little odd on his darker face. He was not a cruel male, though his pelt and heritage made many think he was, he was simply...quieter than most.

 

[Dulcea]

Asali felt oddly watched, and very slowly she turned to look behind. She spotted him only briefly, but could not bring herself to look away. His eyes seemed to have stunned the small lioness, and absently she shuffled to cover her things with her body. Though he was smiling, she had learned to be more cautious with those who bore eyes like his. "What do you want?" she asked boldly, sitting on her things, "I've nothing here." For a moment she looked away, bearing her ears back, but she turned back almost immediately. She wanted to know what he was after and where he had come form. It seemed the lioness was becoming rather personable, if in her own unique way.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Obadias had barely noticed the lioness before him, until she had spoken. Starting, his eyes shot to hers, the red normally a disturbing sight to some. Oh! A female. He tilted his head to the side. She didn't seem overly friendly.
"Nothing!" He assured her quickly, when it seemed she took offense to his stance nearby. "I am merely passing through," he smiled at her again, this time slightly strained, trying to make her see he was not a threat. "I applogise if I startled you."

 

[Dulcea]

Her entire stance seemed to shift when he responded apologetically. He was no threat to her, and he had not seemed to notice her things. "I was not startled, I was simply..." She grasped for the word, a bit of her tongue lolling out, "Distracted! I was distracted is all, yes." She could not have him thinking she was so defensive for a reason, he might catch on. Thinking that she shifted, turning fully to face him, "Where might you be passing through from?" There was not much to be found in this area, and she believed she was quite far from the last place she had seen eyes such as his.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Obadias hid a smile at her response, not really believing her comment of simply being 'distracted', but he shrugged it off and made no further mention of it. Instead, he focused on her last question.
"From the Ukuucha'Wafalme lands," Obadias explained. "I am on my coming of age quest, then I may return there. So at the moment, I am merely...wandering." He could have admitted that he was searching for someone, but that seemed a little abrupt in the conversation.
 

[Dulcea]

"Coming of age, coming of age," she mumbled meaninglessly, liking the feel of the word, "You can't return till it's done?" She recalled the name from her meeting with the beybanu, and wondered for a moment if she should be wary of this male. No, though she was small he was still young, she would be fine. She stretched, mind drifting as it often did, "Have you found anything interesting while... wandering?" It sounded odd for her to delay the word as he had done, but there seemed to be no trace of mockery behind her voice.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Obadias nodded to her repititon of his words and then shook his head when she asked a question, looking faintly amused. She was rather...odd, it seemed, but not in an unbelievable way. He paused at her next question and frowned, once more shaking his head.

"No, nothing interesting." To behonest, he shoudl have questioned her, asked if she wished to return with him, but he had little interest in the lioness before him. "Say, have you seen a female leopard recently? She'd be...perhaps around your age now, green with brown markings on her back?" He remembered that the girl hadn't liked lions, but it had been ages since he had spoken with her. The rogue lands was a big place, he realised, a little daunted by his task.
 

[Dulcea]

A leopardess? "Can't say that I have," she said, looking around, "But I'll let you know if I do." He seemed to be in the midst of something important, and she began to wonder what. What had he been sent out for? "Is she what you're looking for?" she asked curiously, wondering how he could be expected to find one leopardess in the whole world? He might be out here forever if that was the case. Though, given her own situation, perhaps it was better to wander forever with something specific to seek.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Obadias hesitated, disappointed that she couldn't point him in the right direction, before nodding. He glanced over her shoulder, out into the surrounding landscape, a frown on his face. "Yes," he told her, a little reluctantly. "I...met her when we were young, and I said when I came out on my quest, I'd try to find her, just to check in on her." He sounded a little embaressed. "Unfortunately, I hadn't relised quite how big the rogue lands really was..." He gave a short laugh, but it wasn't happy, more self depreciating. He shook his head and gave a tiny smile. "I may stumble upon her sometime though." It might take forever though, and he didn't wish to be away from Parvana for too long.

"Are you a wanderer?" He asked, to move the conversation off of him.
 

[Dulcea]

Asali yawned, "I suppose I am." She had grown a bit of a dislike to the word, it sounded somehow negative in retrospect. "I guess I'm a seeker too though," she argued to herself, "I seek pretty things." That was somewhat close to what he was doing, she thought. Except that his pretty thing was a leopardess, and hers were bits and bobs that kept her company. "You always find what you seek, eventually."  

[Velveteen Angel]

"A Seeker?" Obadias repeated, sounding curious, but decided not to pry. After-all, that would be rude and she did not volunteer the information, so obviously it was somewhat private. He looked pleased at her words though. "Thank you. Have you stumbled across many pretty things?" He asked, unable to resist questioning her a little. What did 'pretty thing' mean? It could equate to so much - people, objects, flowers, plants, furrs - and he was curious what she meant by it.



 

[Dulcea]

"Some," she said suspiciously, looking at her things, "They are my pretty things though, others will have to find their own." He wouldn't try to take them, she figured that much, but he might tell others. And if others knew she had pretty things she would be easy picking. She wasn't exactly a fighter. "Have you?" Clever Asali, turn the question back on him. Never give away too much about yourself, keep a distance. "You told me of your one pretty thing that you've lost and need to find, but do you have any others?" she pried, looking him over. She'd heard about that pride, they rarely had just the one.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Obadias nodded, looking at her curiously as she spoke of her pretty things. He didn't even think of anyone stealing them, as he had been rather sheltered and did not know that others might want to steal what another had. He had never been exposed to that way of thinking, as he'd always been a generous sort. "Fascinating," he told her.

He perked up at the female's question to him though, and a smile unconsciously came to his face. "I have one other," he agreed, with a nod. "She was the first pretty thing I found, and she will wait for me at the pride until I come back." As his first love, her knew Parvana would wait for him. She was already within his harem, and her father was looking after her whilst he was away, so she was safe.

 

[Dulcea]

Asali nodded fervently, understanding the way one could want to preserve a pretty thing, and with the two he'd surely be happy. "You had best not make her wait too long," she advised with a bit of a laugh behind her voice, "Or she might tire of waiting." She didn't know how the pride worked, just rumors. "Do you know which direction you're going?" She asked suddenly, tipping her ears side to side as she did. If he didn't, it might take him forever.