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Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:14 am
(Partial AIM rp between Sabra Knight and I.)
By the time the sun sank beneath the horizon the lion’s paws were dragging in the dirt. It seemed like ages ago that he had left his home, a sanctuary of plants and life, to travel this dead grassland. Not that he had left on purpose mind you. The lion visibly flinched as the memory of fire seared across his mind. All that life was now dead, put to rest by the fire and buried under their own ashes.
As was him.
After all what was left for him when he had no home, no plants to tend for? That was the only thing that had kept the lion sane during those years. A subtle whistle of a bird caught his attention and his dead gaze flickered behind him for a moment. Clea. The name was whispered across the back of his mind as he remembered. Not that it was possible, but the lion couldn’t help but to wonder. What if he hadn’t left in the past? What if he had stayed there…with her?
“Jeez, Pattin.” He whispered shaking his head slowly. The fire really had messed with his mind. Especially since he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Really he should know better, dreams and hopes were lost to him now. The fire had seen to that.
In a moments notice life had changed as she’d known it. The bulky green lioness trudged on with her head held low, a deep sigh radiating in her chest. Years of staying in the same place, doing the same ol’ same ol’, only to have it all disappear in one night.
She looked ahead of her to Pattin with a sympathetic glance. He was possibly the only one who knew what she felt, maybe even stronger. In her heart of hearts, she wanted to comfort him, but for the life of her she couldn’t come up with anything to say. So she caroused behind him for days, just staring ahead of her with a dazed look.
Only when the trees started disappearing did she speak up. “Pattin?” Clea closed in on him. “Where…where are we going?”
Pattin’s ears twitched back towards Clea. He’d been so absorbed in his thoughts that her presence surprised him. “Where?” He stopped in his tracks and looked around thoughtfully. Where were they going? Something tinted the air around him and the lion actually took a sharp intake of breath.
“Clea. I think I recognize this.” He commented, a hint of life suddenly coming back to the dull gaze. “Have you ever seen the ocean before?” Something that had once held him and even delayed his wandering paws during his adolescent journey was now coming back to him. As if in answer a strong breeze swirled around the lions bringing with it a salty taste, an ocean scent. The place around him was suddenly coming into focus. No longer was it just the dark grasses of a flat Savannah but rather an entrance to a land of cliffs and roaring waters.
“The ocean?” She shook her head, her tired ears flicking with curiosity. She side stepped around him to walk at his side. The air here was easier to breathe, but in a way that even she couldn’t understand. Clea curled her nose up at the foreign smell. “What’s an ‘ocean’?”
Then she gasped.
Her sharp intake of breath was followed by widened eyes and a hurried trot to the water’s edge. “It’s….it’s huge! You can’t even see the other side!” For the first time in days she felt a kick in a her step, though she was naturally fearful of the water. What if it came up and took her in? She couldn’t swim to the other side like the river, because like even she had noted, there wasn’t one.
"You'll love it." Pattin answered her with a soft smile. If it was anything like in his memories....and it was. Running to the shore Pattin sighed with contentment as the waters lapped at his paws. "This is the ocean."
Once under the night sky the ocean waters looked forlon and dark to him, but now with a full moon rising above the waves the lion could see his memory come to life. No sun made the waters sparkle but the reflections of the night sky were just as beautiful.
He laughed softly at her amazement, "It wouldn't be an ocean if you could see the other side." Ears twitching the lion suddenly looked around. If he remembered correctly then they were close. How could he have forgotten about this place and the lions that lived by the great water's edge?
Clea looked back his way and smiled, her eyes flipped forward like a curious cub. In the light of the moon, her agressive features faded out to simply smooth fur.
"What is it?" She side stepped herself, one paw darted out infront of the other with a curious tilt of her head. "I know that look. Your looking for something." Were they supposed to be meeting someone here? A friend to show them someplace safe? But...she didn't want to leave.
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Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:24 am
Pattin blinked at Clea before giving her a sheepish look. "Am I really that easy to read?" He asked softly before shaking his head. By now he was quite certain about their location. It wasn't too far away now. "There's a pride here, Clea. We're really close to it....if I remember correctly."
He paused thoughtfully, "A pride that lives by the ocean. It's a rather peaceful place and I've been past it before." He looked away suddenly aware of the fact that this pride was one of the reasons that he had left their old home so long before. But the herbs and other rememdies that the ocean lions knew about had broadened his own personal knowledge as a healer and the lion didn't regret it. "Anyway, I think that this place is a good stop for now." His blue gaze flickered over to her with a silent question. How long of a stop? The lion knew that they couldn't return to their old home and the smell of the ocean breeze really comforted him. But how would she feel about this pride?
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Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:37 am
"If I said yes, would you be offended?" She approached him slowly, pausing to digest his words.
A peaceful pride wasn't something she had ever thought possible before. The only ones she'd stumbled across were a bunch of muscle bound males with submissive females. It wasn't something that she was interested in. But if Pattin was willing..."I guess...I don't have any other choice, but to trust you." His gaze made hers hardened in a very digging way. "But you don't want to visit, do you? You want to...to join."
She padded back out into the water, easing the tension out of her muscles. "I'll have to see it for myself, and make my asessment then."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:08 am
"Maybe." He replied before giving her a small grin. He wouldn't fight it - she did read him very easily. No matter what expression he gave, his gaze always gave him away. "Ah." Pattin looked away towards the ocean. She was right of course. Like always.
"I do."
He looked back over to her, "Alright. Give it a chance, Clea." Waves crashed gently around their paws, "Please." After all he knew that if she rejected the pride then he would as well. Because he wasn't leaving her again.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:21 pm
Clea looked out over the ocean with a pensive glance. If she gave it a chance, what would result from it? A lifetime in a pride that she might not even like. She gave the lion a sidelong glance. If she didn't go, though, she would lose what little she had left in this world.
"You've got me." She smiled. "I'll go with you. Lead the way, Captain." Clea gave a mock bow before shifting in the sand. Someday, she might like it, but for now, it was just a grand adventure in the story of her life.
((Fin))
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