|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:24 am
As it was, because she was used to the shifting sands she hobbled across the pale sands with relative ease. She was eager to get going now she felt better and she could think of no better way to get going than to show Xenon around. He, as far as she knew, had been busy helping the pride. He was a hero, not on to her, but to others, she had very little doubt that he wouldn't have tonnes of admirers, all falling over themselves to get in his good books.
He was the ultimate hero in her eyes and the young lioness was keen to show it. She just had to find him. Padding dow tot he waters edge she stands with her front toes 'tasting' the tide. Despite all that had happened, she still loved the sea and the now gentle tide she hoped meant that the sea was once again shining upon the pride.
Now, where was Xenon?
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:37 am
Sleeping.
After a decidedly busy evening, the male was at last taking a well deserved rest. Consequently, he was perched comfortably atop a number of boulders with his back to the sun. Basking had always been one of his strong suits as a nomad, particularly as a lion who had moved alongside the herds of preybeast that lay beyond the borders. When they stopped, he would stop, when they moved, he did too - it was a rather routine state of affairs and as a result he had long since mastered the art of relaxing. Suffice to say that at this time of the morning, the dozing lion looked very much at home despite being a foreigner within these lands.
Alas, Xenon was not completely lost to the world and despite his need to doze, he was aware of the passing lions and lionesses. Each time a breeze would press against his nose, he would take account of the pridal lions and other creatures that were nearby - admittedly, they were rarely in his immediate vicinity but he liked to be aware of their presence! However, this afternoon appeared to be an exception as the sea breeze once again tickled his nose and didn't just bring the scent of the ocean, but also the scent of another, familiar individual... He had company?
He gave a 'huff' of grogginess, debating whether or not he should or shouldn't make himself known. All things considered, he was surprisingly well camoflauged on the boulders - his splotched coat had turned out to be a surprisingly good match for this region! That being said, the longer he lay there, the more he became aware of the strange, muffled gait nearby - for all intents and purposes it was a hobble rather than a proper walk. Add the gait and the scent together, and you got...
"Good morning, Afina," he murmured without opening his eyes, his voice a low growl as if to reinforce his sleepy demeanour.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:39 am
So entranced was she looking at the sea that she had completely missed Xenon so when he spoke to her she jumped, automatically aware, claws out, eyes wide, until she of course realised who it was. "You scared the bajeebus out of me lad." She states, her accent falling in to that of her fathers because of her moment of sheer surprise.
She laughs and pulling her claws back in she trotts over to Xenon, or she liked to think of it as a trot it was more of a hobbling gait though she certainly moved on the sand easily enough. She had been born here after all. She smiles, a sweetly dazzling smile, her deep bronze eyes smiling happily up at her saviour.
"Good morning to you too." She takes a deep breath and flickers her tail. "I was looking for you." She states turning her gaze to her toes for a moment before lifting her eyes to rest on the big grey dappled male. "I thought you might like a tour now I am back on most of my paws." She giggles in a VERY girlish manner at her silly joke. "I know all of the best places to hunt and fish and rest." She shuffles her toes through the sand her ears swivelling a little nervously incase he was too tired to follow her about. He had a right to be tired he seemed to be a very busy guy!
"I can teach you to walk on the sand if you want. Or..Or to fish, I like to fish..Or anything really." She stumbles feeling flustered, she hadn't let him answer yet, she realised, so biting her bottom lips she looks up at the big male hopefully.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 5:59 am
Gone were the days when he was as energetic and full of life as those with young blood were. He wasn't past his prime just yet, but when it came to sleep he rather liked it and was less inclined to spring from his bed at a moments notice. Alas, Afina had well meaning intentions and it was with a heavy sigh and a very large yawn that the lion flicked one eye open to observe her as she hobbled closer. Unsurprisingly he wasn't able to get a word in edgeways and was forced to wait until she had realised this herself - suffice to say that Afina was quite the chatter box when she wanted to be. He hadn't known this immediately but once she had recovered from the shock and the pain wasn't as prominent in her leg, she'd pretty much talked his ear off.
He was beginning to think the days of peace and tranquility were gone, this pridal region was endlessly busy as of late...and loud, very loud, it had been a long time since he had been in the presence of children!
"Lad?" he enquired, his voice still a low growl as he heaved another sigh and shut his eye once more. "I'm older than you are, Afina," he pointed out drily. Alas, for a time it appeared that the lion was less inclined to play and seemed very close to rejected her offer. However, after a momentary delay his large body did seem to shift and then, without warning, he unceremoniously rolled himself off the boulder and fell onto the sands with a muffled 'thump' - it was perhaps the least graceful way anyone could have made an entrance. His eyes remained shut for a little longer and then finally he opened them, groggily at first, but they did slowly widen and with a groan he pulled himself to his paws.
A shake or four, a full body series of stretches and he was ready to go. Few could deny that he was rather dishevelled but the coastal air had been playing absolute havoc with his fur lately and there was nothing he could do about it - well, short of fleeing in land at least.
"The tour sounds reasonable enough," he offered after a moment of rapid blinking and padded towards her. Fortunately he was becoming much more comfortable on the sand, even if he wasn't perfect just yet. "But I suspect the fishing can wait for a while," he finished and gave another wide yawn. Truth be told, the lion was more likely to drown than excel at fishing in such a groggy state!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:05 am
The young lioness stifled a couple of giggles as she watched the big male dismount and stretch ut his limbs. He looked so funny, he was so, messy. As she had been born here, she was used to her families look, a wavy sea going look that covered each of her family members, it seemed it was something that you had to get used to though because Xenon just looked funny. "Force of habit, my Pa calls everyone lad or lassy, I say it sometimes." She smiles excusing her accidental slip.
Stepping up to him she balances on two paws, lifting her right fore paw she licks her paw and touches his cheek flattening a piece of fur that was stuck out at a very odd angle. She rests her paw for a moment before putting it back to the sand a slight blush floating across her deep blue cheeks.
"Where would you like to see first?" She asks clearing her throat and turning her head away slightly to hide the flush of heat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:38 am
Grace wasn't a word that entered his vocabulary when he was sleepy and as a result, his dismount from the boulders was perfectly acceptable. All in all, it complimented his dishevelled state quite well, or so he was inclined to believe! Alas, he wouldn't have found it surprising that his looks were regarded as amusing based on the fact that he had originally had a very flat and tidy mane - ah, but it would seem that the sea air was rather merciless in that respect. Once upon a time his hair had been soft and poofy, now it was beginning to warp into something much thicker. Well 'thick' may not have been the appropriate word, 'coarse' was likely to be much more suitable...
Fortunately for Afina, her moment of embarassment was largely ignored. It wasn't that the older lion had intended to be oblivious to her blushing, it was simply that he was unaccustomed to it. That was the only problem with living in isolation for so long - without the interaction of other lions one generally fell out of practice when it came to such subtle motions. To him, his initial interpretation was that she had found a strand of rebellious mane that was of exceptional annoyance and as a consequence, she had fixed it. Why she had elected to blush in those moments would have been lost upon him! Ah - he certainly wasn't naive to the company of females in a more carnal sense but the subtleties... suffice to say that the feline might need to return to school for a short while.
Embarassing incident aside.
"Wherever you would prefer," he replied smoothly, slowly coming to his senses as the moments passed by. "While I may have been wandering around these parts I have no idea of what is, or is not, of significance to yourself and the pride. I suspect that anything you show me will be of ample interest, regardless of whether I have a preference or not..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:25 am
The young lioness smiled broadly, she was glad he hadn't seemed to have noticed her blush! It made walking beside him less awkward. Flickering her tail she looks deeply thoughtful and turns her self towards the river and the jungle that bordered the prodes lands. "I'll show you the river." She beams, she liked the river, when she was younger she had been allowed to play in the river, she learned to fish there, it was the first place she ever swam, the first place she had splashed before she was allowed in the sea.
She hadn't been back to the river since the tsunami but she thought it couldn't have suffered too much. She certainly felt a little worried as she padded up the beach, she looked back at Xenon flickering her tail. "If you splay out your toes you'll move easier ont he sand." She giggles and breaks in to a three legged trot her tail standing straight up in the air as she cavorts across the sands.
Pulling up slowly she starts to walk in a mostly dignified manner, panting only slightly, she was after all a fit girl despite the state of her leg. "Come on slow poke, keep up." She smiles a happy, dazzling smile twitching her ears happily. She was so pleased she had gotten Xenon to come and explore with her. She did, after all, think very highly of him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:45 am
Slow poke? The cheek, he had only just woken up out of a doze! It was a miracle that he had been able to school his expression into a fairly neutral one as he had half a mind to be affronted! The young bucks of today always seemed to think they could get away with such things didn't they? Just because he could barely walk on the sand didn't make him an invalid! Ah, but wouldn't he show her? He might have been of a reasonably mature age but that didn't mean he was too old to learn and as a consequence he would make sure that he was even more graceful and significantly faster than them all.
Beat that. Hmph.
Alas, he refrained from providing her with any retort and instead, the most he permitted himself to do was puff his cheeks out like a hamster for a few moments. He'd get her back for it later and besides, her decision to proceed towards the lake was one that he could appreciate - since it wouldn't be salty he would be able to enjoy a refreshing drink and a bath... Suffice to say that the feline was still unaccustomed to the additional weight of the salt in his mane. A part of him suspected that he may fall into a habit of being the most metrosexual male (whereby he constantly washed and conditioned it) in the pride, something that his comrades would have never thought possible.
"I splay my toes just fine," he murmured smoothly, lengthening his stride to match the lioness' now that she had made it clear her leg had improved enough to increase her pace. "They just need to be persuaded to go a little further which may take a while," he concluded. He was accurate in this sense, the muscles around his toes were stiff and tight, he was going to have to ease them into a more flexible form over time - of course, he didn't know this in a scientific sense, he just knew that it wouldn't happen over night.
"Just wait, in a few months I'll be faster than you, young blood."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:00 am
Afina smiled slightly apologetically at the big male. He seemed to be insulted that she was trying to help him. She sighs a little banishing away the thought. "I guess when you live here your whole life, you, you forget that others have to learn." She raises a brow and continues to walk along, letting the silence flow for a moment.
"I'm not that young." She whispers feeling indignant. "I am an adult in the eyes of the pride I have swum out and completed my rites." She pouts a little keeping her gaze forwards as she traversed an incline and pointed. "The river."
Looking down upon the place she had learned to swim made her feel sad. It was full of branches and trees and greenery and bodies of creatures. She thanked the gods that there were no lion bodies down there as far as she could tell. This place used to be a place of fun and happiness but the tsunami had seen to it that the land was different.
"I learned to swim and fish down there, when I was a little tadpole. Thats what my pa used to call us." She sighs gently her deep bronze coloured eyes resting upon the land below them. "Come on, it's messy but it's the best place to drink and fish." She smiles wanly padding down towards the slow flowing river.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:28 am
Haha, he'd managed to get a lowblow on Afina as well - that'd teach her to call him old! Bizarrely for the usually gruff and otherwise isolated male, he took a childish level of pleasure in the fact he had successfully scored a point. Suffice to say that there were certainly benefits to lurking within pridal lands and it encouraged just a little nostalgia towards his former life. While he might have been a rogue for a long time, he could still recall his old pride with clarity and the company had been pleasant for the most part... Company very similar to this, actually.
"You might be an adult within the pride but you are still a munchkin," he pointed out smoothly. As of yet, the lion still intended to take his leave once it was certain the pride was now out of crisis and into a recovery period. While he was nostalgic for the company of others, he suspected this might be temporary and in time, he would return to following the preybeast as he always had. Consequently, he had yet to accept the way in which the Bahari operated on the whole, to him, Afina was still a young blood.
...Then again most lions were, even when they were adults!
Nevertheless the lion did draw to a halt as he regarded the havoc the Tsunami had wrought upon the river. It would need cleared of the corpses and the trees would ultimately have to be shifted to the sides. A small part of him couldn't help but raise silent concerns about the integrity of the river banks and their edges as well, water had an unusual way of cutting away at the earth's defences.
"It's messy everywhere," he added after a few moments and offered a wry smile, sweeping his tail around to point at his mane. "Case and point," he continued and shook his head. "But lead the way, let us see what's so special about this region, no?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:38 am
A thought crossed her mind as they padded on down the banks towards the churned up river and without a moments hesitation she stated it "You know, technically, you're still a cub according to the prides traditions." She giggles, her deep golden eyes sparkling. It was cheeky and silly and she knew it, but it felt good that technically she was an adult and he wasn't.
She giggles a little hopping over a particularly large branch before carefully edging down towards the river. She was no fool, she had fallen in the river before because the sides had crumbled under her paws. She wasn't silly enough to think that the river would still be safe, or that the sides wouldn't be even more precarious. It was fairly choppy still and though it was usually see through it had changed to a murky brown. It made her sad but it was still a place she loved and had learned so much from.
Edging forwards carefully the young lioness finds a solid place to sit her leg pointed out at an odd angle. She smiles lightly and looks at Xenon. "I learned to fish here, of course, the water was a lot clearer then, you could see the fish. I bet I could still catch something though" She pursed her lips looking down in tot he murky water. "Well maybe not." She laughs. "It's sad, seeing the world I know so well turned to this." She sighs and shakes her head. "Do you think it will ever be back to the way it was Xenon?" She asks, the usual confidence fading out of her voice with a wistful sigh.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 4:22 am
"In this pride, yes," Xenon replied smoothly and then shook his head. "I am not part of this pride and therefore, for the sake of politeness, I am exempt from your traditions," he pointed out. He spoke the truth of course, he had made no official decisions and was still of the impression that he would be leaving. The moment he was certain that the pride would be able to recover without him, he would gather up his wits and set off in pursuit of his preybeasts. He already knew it was going to be one hell of a run and a hike to make up the distance, but it wasn't the first time he had been left behind. In all honesty, this was a legitimate reason for falling behind the herd - it wasn't in him to leave creatures in this state.
"To the outside world, you are still a cub," he chirped and coiled his tail around his leg. "Well, more like teenager than anything, you're about as lippy as one," he amended, a touch cheekily. If she wanted to play that game then so could he, he'd put up with worse goading from his pridemates before they had been forced to disband! When push came to shove, this lion could give as good as he got, and fortunately he was the sort who accepted the teasing in return. Nevertheless, he did fall silent as he followed the lioness, making relative ease of the obstacles. It wouldn't have been inaccurate to assume that he was pleased to see her leg healing, she was certainly a lot more mobile.
"It will return to the way it was," Xenon replied matter-of-factly as she asked her question. He wasn't saying it to paint a whimsical picture either... He'd come from the roguelands, the savannah, where the rivers ran dry and returned with blasts and waves of mud when the heavens opened. For a day or three, the rivers ran with a murky and muddy quality, but as it flowed it grew clearer. Experience had taught him that things would get better. "If the rivers in the roguelands can churn up mud and still run clear after a number of days then this river will run clear again too," he murmured.
"Although it may be a number of weeks before it does," he conceded and shook his head. "It has a lot of mud and sand to return to the sea before it's fully clean," he mused. "But it will go back to the way it was, nature has a way of working through this sort of thing with far more grace than the rest of us."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:12 pm
"I learned to swim here. This is a place of peace. Its where all cubs come to learn before they take their chance with the sea." She smiles at Xenon, she didn't mind him ribbing her, but she still felt she was an adult. She was no teen or child or cub.
It made her feel a little in-superior to the older large gray male. "Can't you think of me as an adult at all?" She asks, a slight twinge in her voice, she wanted him to think of her as grown up, not a cub he had to look after, as an equal. She looks to the big male with a little pout her deep bronze eyes fixed upon him, hopefully.Turning her gaze quickly back to the murky waters to hide another flush that floated across her cheeks. She really had to stop looking at him so expectantly, so intently.
"Can you swim Xenon?" She asks, almost as if the thought had just flown in to her head, She had never thought about it before. She hadn't seen him swimming and his ruffled mane was no judge. She had seen rogues before who's mane became ruffled just by being beside the sea with its whipping winds and constant spray. They looked as much in disarray as Xenon now did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:21 pm
She made a valid point, he certainly was regarding her in the same fashion that an adult would a cub. A part of it was probably down to how he had found her... The vulnerability that had radiated from her had reminded him of a cub. Suffice to say that in the roguelands he very rarely met any individuals who exuded this level of vulnerability at her age unless they were cubs. He had the decency to take her remarks into consideration and peered at the lioness for a time being before closing his eyes. It was at this point that he released a sigh and shook his head. "Perhaps I should give you the credit you are entitled to," he conceded and returned his gaze to the river.
"I suspect there were be plenty of replacement sites for the cubs to practice in until the river is clear though," he reassured her and nodded back over his shoulder. "The rock pools can be deep enough with the correct tide level, with supervision they would be able to practice there with reasonable ease," he pointed out. He wasn't sure if Afina would have an aversion to rockpools after she had been found in one, but they were a reasonable substitute in his books - maybe not perfect, but they were something.
"And yes I can swim," he replied after a moment, flicking his gaze back to the lioness in the process. He lifted a brow at that point and canted his head to the side, "Why, did you anticipate that I couldn't?" he enquired curiously.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:38 pm
She smiles, good, he could think of her as an adult. It made her feel less vulnerable to be around him. She wasn't a cub and though he had rescued her and in that moment he had become her saviour, she was still an adult and feeling more confident on her leg the longer she hobbled around on it. Again another thing she was thankful to Xenon for. She owed him so much and yet she wanted him to treat her a specific way, she wanted him to be proud of her for recovering so fast, for being an adult. It was a silly thing to wish but she wanted so badly for him to treat her as if she were grown up and suitable. Suitable for what? Well that just fetched another flush to her cheeks, this was no time to be thinking that!
The rock pools? She thought about them often and though it rose a small shiver to run down her spine, the rock pools had been a place of joy in the past, a great place to learn to fish, the tiny sprats and hermit crabs proving to be fun to play with if not eat and the lightning fast colourful fish that darted away before you ever really looked at them, waiting anxiously for the waters to return. "Yes, the rock pools are lovely, its a beautiful place to go when the tide is out, a good place to learn to fish." She giggles and looks at him. "I almost feel nostalgic, am I babbling?" Se asks getting to her paws. "Come, lets go in to the jungle, maybe we can bring something meaty home between us hmm?" She smiles. "You'll be missing your meat hmm?" She smiles her eyes dancing happily.
"Well.." She looks thoughtful returning her mind to the thoughts of his swimming. "My grandfather, he came from a land of beauty but of small water holes, which were not really fit for swimming in, what with the crocodiles." She chuckles and shakes her head "And my grandmother she came from a land of endless sands where there was no water, any where. They dig for their drink, so no swimming there and my uncle Vuai went to the rogue lands and he found that the world was a lot drier out side of our pride. So I was curious." She smiles "Surely not everyone knows how to swim. Perhaps a better question would have been do you swim well?" She raises a brow hobbling along her leg lifted so she didn't drag her toes on the upturned ground. She was getting very used to walking on three legs but she sure hoped her leg would be fixed soon, she missed swimming.
"I miss swimming, but mother says I can't until I can move my leg properly, and the splint can be removed. It's very odd not being able to swim." She sighs slipping a little on a patch of mud, though she quickly regains her footing and inches her way back up the bank.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
