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 Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:52 am
 When first she'd found the Firekin pride, adrift in a sea of sand, Saharan hadn't expected to fall in love with one of the males there. She also hadn't expected him to flat out reject to go home with her. She should have seen it coming or understood---she did know some things about the pride's culture after all. But she'd always heard matters of the heart would trump anything else...foolish. So she'd run, run home. And there she'd found only disaster. With nowhere else to go, she'd come crawling (well jogging, really) back to the desert.
She'd asked to be taken in, and been given a chance. Irony, that she'd have to fight for her right to stay. And doubly so that her opponent was both the lion who'd trained her to fight, and her erstwhile lover. She hadn't seen him around since she'd come back to the desert. Perhaps he'd been avoiding her? He'd not be able to now. She stood patiently on a stretch of flat sand. Sooner or later Naur would turn up.
The night before she'd tossed and turned as she'd tried to sleep. Had he missed her? Would he be glad to see her, or angry? Maybe, if she fought hard enough, would he take a liking to her again? She'd made up her mind to fight as best she could, for herself if not for him. This was all she had left, and she wouldn't let her emotions get in the way. Or she'd try not to, at least.
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:00 pm
Naur couldn't get that wandering lioness out of his mind, though he had spoken to Iroh and the elder male had told him it wasn't a bad thing to have a girl in his thoughts. But Iroh, for all his training and wisdom, was a bit squishy. He was a romantic, where Naur was... not sure. Anyway, what was romantic about it?
Maybe he was just in denial.
Still, when she had left he found himself going to where they had first met, in case she came to the pride again and wanted to find him, or was simply lost and waiting for him already. Why? He wasn't sure. He was never sure, these days, it seemed. The large, proud male tried not to think about it, tried to focus on his duties around the pride, and taking care of his younger siblings, teaching them about the pride's ways.
But he found he would rather be teaching her, if she would come back.
He eventually stopped visiting that place, one of his young sisters needing constant attention because she was as stubborn and stuck on the idea of becoming strong as her parents. It was easy to get lost in helping his family, considering his parents having another litter had been a bit of a surprise for him. But they were getting bigger now, and didn't come to him for his sagely wisdom as much. Maybe because they figured out he didn't know as much as he said he did.
Padding over the sand, he came to a stop when he saw something he hadn't been expecting. Blinking, he moved toward her. He wasn't going to let her leave again, damn it: she was going to become a member of the pride and stay this time. He hoped.
"Saharan!"
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ShinosBee generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:06 pm
Saha's legs nearly buckled when she heard that voice. He...he was here! And he didn't sound angry at all! She wheeled around to face him, and then broke into a jog. She'd come all this way, and now here he was! His face was just as she'd remembered, and the ache in her heart told her that this was the right choice. It was now or never...
...As she closed the gap she lashed out, a wide flat paw aiming for his head and a snarl on her lips. Of course, being so close, she could very well read his expression. And, perhaps surprised at what she found there...she missed by a mile. She hurried to dodge away, and kept a wary eye on him. This was a duel after all, right? So he'd probably try to get her back. It was very, very good to see him though. If only she didn't have to do this!
"Naur...! I'm surprised you remember me. I thought you'd be rid of your memories of me too by now!" She couldn't keep all the bitterness from her voice as she watched him. Maybe he loved her now, or regretted what he'd done, but he'd still hurt her...and now she was going to have to try to hurt him, just so she could be with him.
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Lithiasaur generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:08 pm
Naur saw her coming toward him and grew tense. He wasn’t used to these kinds of things. He was supposed to be a warrior, right? What if she ran up to him to nuzzle him and tell him all the things he thought she should say to him, and wanted her to say to him? He wouldn’t know how to react to that, even though he wanted it to go exactly that way.
Inside, anyway.
He opened his mouth to say something to her, and then she swiped at him and he jerked his head back in surprise. He thought for a moment that she was angry with him, even though she had been the one to up and leave him, which wasn’t fair. He frowned at her, then his expression softened, then it grew angry again. He was confused, to say the least.
But he knew what he wanted. Kind of. He wasn’t aware that he had done anything wrong, and was damn certain not going to let her win a duel easily, even if it did mean she would be able to stay in the lands with him, and not go off any more.
He charged at her, aiming to tackle her to the floor.
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ShinosBee generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:08 pm
She watched his face closely, and was surprised to find herself feeling almost exactly how he looked. Torn between righteous anger and uncertainty at that very anger, she nearly missed when he leapt at her. Only a fast side-step let her escape his tackle. She shook her head, white tuft flicking out of her eyes. That was too close. She wasn't could to hold back just because of her feelings for him. To do that would be foolish. And worse, it might mean she'd have to leave again.
She snarled and tried to cuff him before he recovered from his tackle, but the swing went wide and again sh missed. Darn it! He'd taught her better than this, hadn't he? Why...why couldn't she hit him? Was it because she didn't want to hurt him? Or maybe...
...Maybe she wasn't cut out for a life here after all? Maybe she just wasn't good enough?
No! She couldn't think that way! She didn't have any other choice but to win! She'd prove that she'd learned well, that she could take the heat, that she could fight and be strong! Be a firekin! She could do it...right?
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Lithiasaur generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:12 pm
Naur watched her sternly, still feeling in over his head and completely baffled. Why did girls have to be so complicated? Why didn’t they just say and do what they thought and felt, and made it easier for lions like him to know if he was doing the right thing or not? Right now he had no idea, and he hated that fact. He wanted to just know for sure where they stood.
Or rather, he wanted her to tell him she felt the same confusing things he did for her. At least then they could be confused together.
At the moment he felt like he was adrift, alone and just making things worse by being so. Still, he followed through with the attack and the duel, half wanting her to win if it meant she would stay, though he knew he could not go easy on her. That wasn’t in his nature, anyway: he was a warrior, strong like his parents, like his whole family. He had to do the pride the honor of fighting like he meant it. Even if his heart was elsewhere.
He lunged at her, swinging his heavy paw for her face, wanting to get close and to stun her, more than wanting to do her real damage. He knew he could win without hurting her, and that was what he was aiming for: a win was a win, after all. It wouldn’t be holding back. It would just be strategy.
The kind that would allow him to talk to her again.
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ShinosBee generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:13 pm
And stun her his attack did. She knew to expect a real fight; firekin didn't go easy on you. It wasn't their way at all. She knew that just because of their history, Naur wouldn't pull any punches...but she'd still faintly felt that he would. Oh how wrong she was. The paw connected with the side of her face full on, and she jerked back and away, shaking stars from her eyes. He...he'd really hit her! She felt like hitting him back and crying at the same time.
And given she was a sitting duck just standing with a spinning head, that was what she did. It was a blind swipe, but she felt it connect with some part of him. It was a solid hit too. But she couldn't assume that'd mean she'd be given room to breathe.
Hitting him'd boosted her spirits. She was still torn between being angry with him and sad because he'd hurt her, but now too she was feeling the slightest ray of hope. If she could win, or at least do as well as him...Then she'd tell him how she really felt. That she still loved him, and had never stopped loving him, and that he could see now that she'd become strong enough to stay by his side. But she'd only tell him once she'd won!
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Lithiasaur generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:17 pm
Naur watched her, growling softly. It wasn’t a particularly adversarial sound, though he was frustrated from confusion and his innate need to fight. He watched her, eyes keen, narrow, paws digging into the ear, claws rending small grooves as he flexed his pads in anticipation of her next move. He was fully on edge now, and ready, instincts overriding most of his concerns, save those to not hurt her.
He still didn’t want to do that.
Of course, his definition of hurt was a bit unique. He would hit her, scratch her even, but he did not want to damage her. There was a difference between sporting wounds and bruises than getting a leg badly damaged, or a flank ripped open.
When her paw smacked him hard in the face he was surprised and drew back, shaking his head. Stars had erupted in front of his eyes and he was stunned. He looked at her.
With another growl, not much different than before, he lunged at her and landed right on top of her, pinning her to the ground with a might shove that was probably a bit jarring. He growled at her viciously, finding that he had time to say what he wanted to now, but he didn’t know how to phrase it. So he just bared his teeth and readied for the next attack, lifting his paw. He wanted her to win, in the pit of his heart, but he just couldn't let her. She had to earn it, and then maybe they could talk.
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ShinosBee generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:19 pm
Still a little stunned from the blow to her head, it was all too easy for Naur to take Saharan down. She writhed under him and snarled right back in his face, and even got in a solid kick or two with her hind legs--but he was much larger and heavier, and she found herself unable to get free.
His continued shows of what she took for anger caused a small bit of fear to blossom inside her. Had her leaving affected him so badly? He'd made the choice to stay behind, but...he seemed still tormented somehow. It was all her fault, this was. Returning to the Simbafutaji had been a mistake. The pride was in ruins, the spirits there were furious. If only she'd followed her heart, not her head and stayed, all this would have been avoided.
She berated herself internally for her own shortcomings. She prided herself on her brains, her smarts. How'd she been so dumb? Her ears lay back, flat against her head, and she bared her teeth halfheartedly. She needed to win this fight, but she no longer felt like she deserved to. The spirit'd gone clean out of her in the face of his displeasure with her.
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Lithiasaur generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:20 pm
But... but! I never stopped!
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ShinosBee generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:22 pm
OH YEAH WELL TAKE THI--what? You didn't? Oh...*cough* >_>
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Lithiasaur generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:27 pm
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