(( Merino: Manda
Illyon: -_Wish of the Goddess_- ))
His tail had not strayed from between his legs since they'd arrived in the woods. Ears were always flat in his pale blue mane, and violet eyes darted about. Illyon shook, lowly growling as he tried to get about each tree trunk, "Stay away from meeeee. Evil things. I know you're plotting." He hissed that out. fur bristling.
Merino sighed softly as she glanced back at the larger pale blue male. Really... trees? Out on the plains, it hadn't been that big of a deal, and she had kind of secretly thought it was funny. In a way. Noooot anymore. Gods, what in the world had inspired the thought in his head that -trees- were evil? She herself wasn't exactly used to them, but there was not malicious about them... really there wasn't. "Illyon ... the trunks at least aren't going to move. The branches might but they're waaaay up there..."
He glanced at her, and moved closer, gently nuzzling her side, "Sorry....Just....They're gonna get me...'f I don;t pay attention. Trust me, Merino...Just trust me...." Illy moved close, watching the trunks and glancing upwards at branches.
"Branches don't even -bend- that way," she replied, sounding slightly frustrated. As if to prove her point, she walked over to one of the trees and reared up on hind legs, clawing at the trunk. "See? Nothing."
Darting back at that, he stared at her, "....Yeah....I see that...but..." He whimpered softly, "You don't understand.....I've...it was from cubhood, okay? Just one of those things." He left it at that, and walked on, avoiding the trees slowly.
... Great, now she just felt like she was being a bully. With a little sigh, the pink female glanced about for a moment, then padded back over to him. "There's a little clearing up ahead, I think ... if you wanna tell me about it? I'll listen..."
Thinking to himself, he murred thoughtfully and nodded, "Sure.....I guess I could manage that." He grinned at her, and licked her cheek, sticking by her flank. Really, he was still much like a cub, despite adulthood.
Merino smiled at that and padded off between the trees - the undergrowth was a bit thicker here, but bushes didn't 'count' the same as trees - she hoped. So it shouldn't be too hard to push through to the clearing she'd seen on the other side. "C'mon... I saw it a few minutes ago..."
Illy nodded and followed her, easily, glancing back at the trees only momentarily. Concentrate on Merino, only on Meri. She would get him out of this okay...he knew it....
"Here we go~" she said finally, plopping down in a little clearing between the trees. She wasn't sure if having trees -surrounding- him for a little while was worse than walking through them. But at least in here they were a bit farther away.
The clearing was nice. He lay down in the dead center, tail flicking back and forth, "It was because, when I was young....Something happened...I don't really remember much, outside of tree branches falling, and my mother carrying me out of there, somewhere safe, and then leaving..." That was about it...
She blinked a bit at that, and tilted her head. Tree branches falling...? "Do you think maybe ... if you remembered more of it, it would help any?" she asked carefully.
Shrugging he simply gave a non-committal, "I guess." Getting to his paws, he moved closer to her, just to lay himself back down by her. She made him feel so much more calm. "I have no idea."
Merino pressed in a bit closer to him at that, sensing that he needed the comfort at this point. "Well ... we can try. Do you remember anything else..? Like, was it storming?" Her thinking was that maybe a tree got hit by lightning and then fell on top of him. Or nearly so.
Illyon pressed his flank against hers, and thought. "There was strong wind, and....light. And it was hotter than normal at the time..." His tail tip twitched as he thought, eyes closing as memory failed to return.
"Ah ..." Seemed like her thought was correct, though where most cubs might associate the storm with the fright, Illyon had associated the tree. "What it sounds like... is that there was a storm that knocked a tree over on top of you. It wasn't really the tree moving..."
He blinked. The tree moving? The tree....moving? It never moved...."I guess....I just never....All I remembered was the trees moving," It kinda did seem silly, when she put it like that.
She purred at that and nuzzled at him gently. "It's all right... I don't expect that it will help things -instantly- or anything. But it's something to think about, right?"
He nodded," Yeah. I'll definitely think on it." He nuzzled her in return, swiping his tongue gently over her ear. Being this close to her...it was warm, in that good way. The male purred low in his chest, and let himself press a bit closer.
Merino's own purr deepened a bit at that, and she snuggled up closer. She... really did like him, beyond just as a friend. Gods, she had never thought to fall in love with someone on this journey... but it seemed that was what was happening.
He was indeed falling for her. The warmth within, the fact his heart beat quickened a little bit...It was nice. He nuzzled her and licked again, a few times, "This is nice....being with you...going to this place you told me about...
"It is... if you want to get out of the forest today, though, we should keep moving," she pointed out with a little flick of her tail. Unless Illy wanted to spend the night in here... though she almost hated to move.
He blinked slowly, and a sigh rumbled through his chest. He liked being here, in this nice, cozy set with Meri. Sure, the trees still made him horribly uneasy, but...., "I like this...but...we should get moving....I still...I like being close with you like this."
Merino smiled at that. "Me too... but we can do more of that outside the forest too," she teased lightly. Maybe he felt the same way ... it certainly seemed like it. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
He laughed. The sound was nice, a low rumbling chuckle, "Of course. We'll have to. I'm eager to." Illy's eyes sparkled eagerly, and he trotted towards the tree line, "Come on, Meri~"
Merino got up and stretched a bit, glad to see him going toward the trees without hiding behind -her- for once. "I'm coming I'm coming..." They should be out of the forest today, and then ... it shouldn't be more than another day or two before they got to the lands she knew.
