|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:22 am
 By now the grey lion had exhausted his vocabulary, ranging from the eloquent to the downright crude. One might have been so bold as to assume that he was having a bad day, but others might say that he simply couldn't form his thoughts into a coherent sentence. He'd managed to get a week into his journey, a whole week and just as he had caught the scent of the preybeasts again, he'd be struck by a sense of what could only be described as homesickness. It didn't even make any sense, the roguelands were his home so how in the hell could he even have gotten homesick? Well, this was the question he had posed to himself repeatedly as he had pressed onwards after the herds.
...By the time he'd reached one of the more torrential rivers and had observed it's brutal rapids and fast flow, that homesickness had gotten worse. No, it had been made worse by the water. He had been astonished to say the least, of all the things he would have anticipated, this was not one of them! Unsurprisingly he had taken a break at this point, planting his backside on the riverbank as he observed the land that lay beyond it. He was familiar with it, he knew it well...in fact, he knew everything about it. The preybeasts waited beyond there and guaranteed him a good meal but even so, the pull wasn't quite there.
It wouldn't have come at any surprise at all to discover that the words 'goddamnit' had escaped his lips.
Before he had even gathered his wits his paws had moved for him and within another week (that's two weeks in total), he found himself back at a familiar site. Greeted by the now familiar scent of coastal air and the ocean sprays, he stared down in a rather nonplussed fashion at his own paws which now splayed naturally across the sand as any local lions would. Even now his brain hadn't completely caught up with his instincts and silence seemed to be the aim of the day, he'd eventually come to his senses, but now wasn't the time. Instead, the lion did the only thing he could do and allowed his paws to lead him. Fortunately, they didn't lead him to the dens or the inner hub of the Bahari pride, but they did lead him to a now very familiar set of boulders.
His basking spot.
"Heh," he uttered, capable of finding some element of irony in his entire state of affairs. Alas, rather than question it, he simply let his paws do the 'talking' and clambered up onto his perch. Flumping down in his usual fashion, he lowered his head onto his paws and stared out at the horizon beyond the shore. Well, at least he didn't have that churning homesickness anymore, even if he still thought his body was playing jokes on him. He wasn't a social animal, since when had his body decided that he was? Last time he checked...there was usually a consultation period before that happened!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:40 am
 It had become a ritual for her to get up from her place in the den and head down to the rocks. It had been two weeks since she had last seen Xenon and he was still on her mind. A fact that hadn't escaped her close knit family. Her father seemed especially worried about her. She didn't want to worry them but she felt heart broken that he had actually left. She expected him to turn around and come back to her, like in the old tales of true love. It hadn't happened though and it made her feel sick thats he had relied on something like that to bring him back to her.
The rogue lands she had been told were dangerous for lone wanderers and though Xenon was a great warrior there was a possibility he could be attacked and killed and she would never know.
She hated these thoughts, they made her all fidgety. The splint that had bound her back leg had been removed just the day before and she was finally able to use all four of her paws though she hobbled when ever she put her back paw ont he floor. She had worked out a method of walking with it lifted most of the time though he mother had told her to put it ont he floor as often as possible or the muscle would never come back strong. She had also been told to swim. Swimming apparently made the muscle work, it certainly did it made it ache. She followed her mothers instructions though and that was why she was going down to Xenons rocky outcrop.
She had gravitated towards this spot, the sea was calmer here and she could swim out and back to the rocks, using them as a guide to return her to the safety of the sands. Or so she told herself, truthfully she hoped she would come down the beach and see the dark fuzzy shape perched amongst the hard rocks. She had often imagined he was there and today it seemed was no different.
The furry shape washed in to her vision and she shook her head letting the tear fall down her cheek as she pads towards the waves. She was going mad. Xenon was gone, he wasn't coming back, he was long gone with his herds back in the rogue lands like he wanted. he had left. She had to stop imagining he was still there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:54 am
"Ah ha ha..."
It came out as a deep throated chuckle, a recognition of the irony that seemed to be biting at his heels on an almost hourly basis as of late. He'd scarcely been on his perch for more than thirty minutes when something entered his peripheral vision. He wasn't surprised that something was there, it was more who was there. He would have needed to have been blind to not recognised her, particular with how often she had been around him prior to him taking his leave. From the bright blue fur to the little, fluffy black ears, he knew who she was, even without twisting his head round to look at her properly. Of all the lions he could have stumbled across upon his return, the first one had to be her, didn't it?
"Good morning, Afina," he murmured, scarcely raising his voice. He made no attempts to move from his current position, though his eyes to flit to the right to observe her as she approached. He was comfortable up here and had no immediate reason to come back down - short of rolling him off the rocks, there were probably no way to get him to move anyway. He'd make a fantastic climbing frame for children at some point in his life, something he was probably going to have to get used to if he developed homesickness when he moved away from the beach.
...The beach for the gods' sakes!
He couldn't have selected something more masculine, could he? A volcano probably would've been his preference.
"If you're going to shout at me again can you wait for at least a few days?" he continued wearily and released a small sigh. "I'm really not in the mood to have my ears ripped off by nonsensical females," he added as some form of explanation, though there was a risk that it could probably be taken as an insult and he'd get his ears ripped off anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:06 am
Her ears twitched as he spoke to her. She blinks owlishly, shock clear on her face. "You..You're really there?" Her mouth hangs open for a few moments, taking in the sight of him. He was exactly as she remembered, his gray mottled coat blending with the dark rock, his dark teal mane looked smoother, the rogue lands obviously didn't do to him what the sea did. Shaking her head she lifts a paw and pokes herself with a sharp claw. "Ouch, yeah, not dreaming."
She smiles an extra radient smile. "You came back?" She whispers, her voice catching in her throat. She pads towards him clambering up on to his rocks and without a moments hesitation she wraps her paws around him. "I thought you were gone forever." She snuffles in to his mane. She didn't even fully hear his insult so absorbed was she in holding on to him.
"You're not going again are you? Please say you're staying this time! I don't want you to go away again." She squeaks her paws holding tightly around his throat, clearly unwilling to un-attach herself from the big male.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:18 am
Oh dear gods, she was going to kill him. His brows rose immediately as she clambered onto his perch - he fully anticipated that he was about to lose his ears. Instead, he was greeted with such a ferocious hug that he might joke, a considerable feat, given his size. His expression was decidedly dubious in these moments, his eyes glancing backwards to keep an eye on the lioness who had now adopted his mane as a pillow of some description. A small part of him wished that he'd pretended he was just a figment of the imagination, but such things would be difficult if she'd decided to investigate and poke him anyway.
Imaginary things weren't squidgey, warm, or breathing.
"Yes, I came back," he replied quietly, not entirely sure why she insisted on stating the obvious so frequently. Perhaps it was just the way she was, he could pre-emptively answer a question and she would still ask it anyway! "For a while, at least," he added, not quite prepared to admit that it had been homesickness that had brought him back. A small part of him still planned on leaving again, perhaps when the preybeast herds returned in the next season, but whether or not that came to pass remained to be seen. "The preybeasts had too much of a lead, it made more sense to remain here until they journey south again," he explained - well, it was certainly a better reason than the truth. His male pride just couldn't handle the truth, he might as well shave off his mane and call himself Xenonia if he was going to do that.
An exaggeration perhaps, but still!
"So yes, I am here to stay for a while, at the very least," he confirmed and then shook his head. "Even if I do disappear for a day or two to hunt something bigger than a damned monkey," he finished, clearing his throat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:29 am
The young blue lioness peeled herself off him and smiled softly. She listened to his reasonings and wondered if they were true. She never knew with Xenon he seemed to be black and white most of the time but he had to have shades of gray that he didn't mention. Everyone had shades of gray. "I'm so glad you're back!" She smiles, ignoring the fact that he might leave again when the herds came back. She would convince him to stay forever this time.
"I could teach you to fish." She states a smile crossing her maw though happy tears fell down her cheeks. These tears were much different fromt he last time she had seen him, those tears had been accompanied by a lot of snot and the feeling of abandonment. She was just so happy to see him.
"I.." She pauses for a moment, if she said what she had said at a distance he may think she had gone mad while he as gone. "I'v been thinking of taking up a den on my own." She puffs her chest out proudly, she wanted to show him that she was a grown up adult, able to live apart from her family unit. "Do you want to..... help me find one?" She was going to ask him to come and live with her, but maybe that was pushing it? He had only just come back and she had no idea if he would stay or why he had returned, she was just so pleased that he was here that she could see him and smell him and touch him.
She smiles and brushes a strand of his mane in to place, her gaze rather dreamy. Here he was and she would tell him how she felt this time, she would tell him then he would never leave her again..well..maybe..at some point she would definitely tell him!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:43 am
"I know how to fish," Xenon pointed out, a touch defensively. It wasn't that he was disgruntled at her presence, she just didn't appear to understand that when it came down to it, something with his size and muscle structure needed something a bit, well, bigger. "I need bigger food than fish, hence my natural appreciation for the preybeasts," he explained with a patience that even surprised him in the given circumstances. Alas, whether or not she listened to what he had to say remained to be seen, she seemed to be rambling and lost in her own world at the moment...especially as she patted down his mane.
Gods, he hadn't had anyone do that since he'd been a cub!
However, such matters were completely blown out of the forefront of his mind as she continued to speak. Either he'd zoned out or she had completely changed the subject, possibly both, but the mention of a den and whether he wanted to help did have him spluttering as though he'd just been struck by a tsunami himself. Within seconds he was on all fours and had leapt away from Afina, potentially knocking her off balance in the process. To be fair, he couldn't really be blamed for his reaction - where he came from, that was generally reserved for couples.
"W-what?" he choked, his eyes wide and expression suitably startled. It was rare that he was surprised and she had certainly managed to pull it off. As a male who had very little understanding of this particular pride, it made for an even worse response. Was this a normal and purely innocent request or should he be more wary? He hadn't been near a female for years and now...well...
Oh pants.
"You want me to what?" he shook his head, closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "You know, where I come from that's generally reserved for couples," he pointed out. There, he'd said it, now woe betide him for whatever fate befell him!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:04 am
She stopped herself slipping off the rock by opening all of her claws. She tilts her head looking at the big male with a confused brow raise. "Well I was just wondering if you would help me find a den. You're really good at finding things. You found me after all." She blinked innocently, her golden eyed gaze curious. Why was he so worried..Oh! He had taken her question wrongly, or rightly, or the way she anted him to take it perhaps?
"I..I mean..Uhm.." She stutters a deep red blush spreading across her blue cheeks, despite their dark colour the blush was clearly visible all across her nose. "I thought..You would like to help me, you helped me before." She mumbles turning her gaze to her toes, she shuffles her front paws and pads towards him, settling herself in to a sitting position she looks up at him, her eyes wide and hopeful.
"I hoped, I hoped you would come back, to me, for me Xenon." She states simply, putting her heart out on her sleeve, she knew could be dangerous but she had to. She had, had this conversation with her mother, it was hard to be totally honest but she had let him escape once already, she wasn't going to hold all of her feelings back and let him run off to the rogue lands again. She wanted him to stay here, stay with her.
"Would it be so bad to be with me?" She whispers her eyes still fixed upon him. "I'v missed you so much, please, please stay with me." She sighs her lip trembling slightly as she waited for his reply, her soul laid out before him. "I would like to be a couple."
She thought she sounded a bit desperate and she cursed herself a little for sounding so childish, but she knew what she wanted and what she wanted was Xenon, she wanted him to be hers to never leave again except to take down a big beast to eat, to stay by the sea with her forever. He just had to say yes..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:18 am
Was she babbling again? No, she wasn't babbling again which probably meant that he was being swept away in shock. So overwhelmed was he that he could barely hear, the ocean wasn't even angry but he still thought it was roaring in his ears. He was sure there were a number of males who would probably yell, shout and celebrate, howling from the rooftops that they had been propositioned in such a way. Alas, unfortunately for Afina, Xenon was not one of those males. Whether he was out of practice or had simply been oblivious through lack of practice was anyone's guess, but he certainly wasn't responding in the most poetic or romantic ways.
"W-what?" he croaked, his impression of a frog absolutely perfect. "You thought... and then you wanted me to," he stumbled backwards, waving about one paw as he attempted to gain a better grasp on what he'd heard. Unfortunately he was neither elegant or graceful in these moments and as he opened his mouth to speak, he also slipped from his perch. His eyes widened in surprise as he lost his footing and then with a small yelp he disappeared from view, tumbling backwards and landing with a muffled thump, upside down, on the ground below.
A world weary sigh followed and Xenon made no further attempts to right himself. Instead, he elected to just sit on his head, which his hind leg resting up against the mount of boulders. It was about the most normal thing he could have done in the circumstances, at least, that's how the grey male thought at this current moment in time.
"Ffffff," he murmured in yet another incoherent moment, staring at the grains of sand that lay underneath him. He'd never been propositioned before, in fact, he'd never really been around females for the simple reason that his role had never required it. Courtship was lost on him entirely, though he was fairly certain that there had to be something involved in between. Argh, had he been doing that by accident, without even realising?
How had Poseidon not killed him yet!
Another sigh followed, perhaps a touch more wistful as the older lion seemed to accept that today, tomorrow and apparently forever more was going to be a world that made absolutely no sense to him, and seemed to enjoy making him question his sanity. A tiny part of him rather missed the roguelands in this respect, at least there he knew what the hell was happening.
"Why me?" he said finally, his tone a touch muffled given the unusual position he was now 'sat' in. "If this is hero worship, I would encourage you to reconsider..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:36 am
She watched him stumble, watched him fall and even giggled a little when he righted himself. She slides down the rocky pile with a grace that even she didn't know she had, she nudges him lightly and settles next to him, as close as she could her fur very nearly touching his. He hadn't said yes yet, he hadn't said anything much with coherence in it. he had just, stumbled. He was clearly shocked by her revolution.
She was going to take offence to his question of hero worship but she knew that, that was a part of it, but it was a thousand other things too. Taking a deep breath she looks up at the big male making sure to capture his gaze so that he had no reason to think that she was lying to him. He hadn't said no yet after all.
"It started as that, you rescued me ont he worst day of my life, you saved my leg and my life on that day and then, then we went on little adventures." he barks a quick laugh "Perhaps not adventures to you but I watched you all the time, I watched you help creatures you didn't know, watched you save my family, not just my main family, those who are extended from me, the pride." She lets out a breath and smiles up at him. "You were tireless and every step you took was to do something for another. I thought I could ignore the feeling in my heart when you left. I thought I would be sad forever, thought I would never see you again and it made me very depressed." She rolls her own eyes at this silliest of statements.
"My parents have ben worried for weeks that something was wrong, but it was only that you were gone." She smiles a slightly weak smile. "I want to be with you Xenon, you are everything I could ever want, you're strong and handsome and brave and sweet, even if you have no idea about females." She laughs, she was young but she knew what it was like to be a female, she knew how her father and uncles were around their females, they were sloppy, loving, they were brave too and her father hadn't been afraid to say I love you.
She takes a deep breath, she had to take the reins in this relationship, she wasn't going to let him go. "I love you, and I don't care if you know it or don't understand it but I do and I won't let you go without a fight." She grins a little, she had strong blood in her vains and she would get what she wanted, she wanted Xenon, she wanted him so much it broke her heart to think of letting him go again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:01 am
It was interesting sitting on your head, Xenon could understand why so many cubs felt comfortable in this position. It wasn't that it didn't hurt his neck, that was already beginning to ache, but it certainly provided an individual with a unique view of the world. Afterall, it almost looked alien when you were upside down - the sand was his sky, the sky was his ground and Afina appeared to be hovering upside down. All in all, it mind the entire encounter incredibly surreal and given the conversation, Xenon was inclined to believe that it all fit together rather well...
He barely responded to her nudge, merely accepting that at this point in time he didn't really have an option. She seemed determined to take the reins when it came to this discussion and in his current state of mind, he didn't have the necessary defences to save himself. She wasn't quite domineering, but she was finally beginning to show off that stronger side of her personality - gone was the weeping child, only to be replaced by a female who was telling him on no uncertain terms that he should be her's... and no, she didn't care about the age difference.
So shut up and accept it, right?
That was the moral of this story apparently and Xenon obediently listened to her as she explained her reasons for picking him as her unfortunate object of affection. Okay, so 'unfortunate' probably wasn't accurate, most would celebrate this as she was exceedingly pretty, but this just wasn't the done thing for a bachelor like Xenon! He held his piece though, his lips pursed in a thin line as she explained what he had done while helping the Bahari - truth be told, there was really nothing incredible about that, the rest of her pride had done the exact same thing!
Nevertheless, she continued and eventually confessed to pining for him which did cause his brow to crease a little more. Of course, this almost immediately dissipated at her real confession and he stared at her incredulously. Now there was a phrase he never thought he'd hear directed to him from anyone other than his mother. Ah but...there was another of his vulnerabilities, he wasn't really the best at returning the sentiment. It wasn't that he wasn't fond of her, he certainly was and he appreciated her company a great deal but...
"Your father is going to kill me," he murmured in a moment that appeared to imply that he had conceded defeat and accepted her request.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:24 am
"No he won't." She laughs nudging him again looking at his odd position she leans down and touches her nose to his. "I'll protect you." She smiles and nudges him a little, wondering if he needed her help to right himself. "Do you need help?" She asks, suddenly feeling emboldened, she had said it, at last, she had made her feelings clear and it seemed he had accepted, or at least conceded to her demands.
Her smile widens and she flickers her tail looking out over the gentle waves. She could be grown up and happy again and she would have Xenon, even if he thought her father was going to hurt him. She wondered why he would think that. her daddy was perfectly wonderful as far as lions went, a gentle giant.
Well, as long as he knew she wasn't going to let him go again, no matter what her father, or anyone else said. She wanted Xenon and now that he was back and at least accepting, if not very vocal about her advances, she wasn't going to let him get away from her, she was after all a strong female, even if she was young. Now that all that was out of the way and she had said her peace she sighed lightly. "Would you like to take a swim with me before you go to see my father?" She raises a curious brow. "I need to swim to strengthen my leg."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:45 am
Wait - he had to meet her father? Now? More importantly, he still had to meet Poseidon even though Afina had technically pursued him and he hadn't really had a choice in the matter? At which point did someone regard this as a fair and 'done thing'? There were so many questions rattling through the lion's mind that he was unable to give her any immediate answers. All he knew with certainty was that he was probably going to die, despite being Poseidon's size and more well built as a game hunter, Xenon was still going to be annihilated. He'd seen this sort of thing happen before, love and rage had a way of making a creature godlike in strength...all things considered, the grey lion didn't really stand a chance.
He released another of his world weary sighs.
"Yes he will," he said at last, rolling back and forth on his shoulders until he could use his hips to thrust himself forward. It was at this point that he tumbled over and righted himself, blinking rapidly as the world fell back into focus and the blood rushed away from his head - well that was certainly one way to get a rush without consuming dodgy meat. "I would kill me," he pointed out dubiously and raised a brow. In fact, if he had been a father he probably would have torn the unfortunate male to tiny shreds and hung his entrails up like christmas lights as a warning sign to any other males - don't come near my daughter or I'll kill you. Ah, but hopefully Poseidon wouldn't be quite that creative, Xenon liked his entrails where they were...inside him.
"All right," he said finally, satisfied that the world had stopped spinning and he would be stumbling as though he were drunk. "Let's get this over with," he murmured and shook his head. He'd sooner not delay the inevitable, he could probably use the salt water swim as a way of sealing his wounds later - all things in a logical order, it paid off in the end.
...Well, it usually did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:53 am
The young lioness shakes her head, for such a strong male, he certainly was a worry wort. Her father would be pleased, she was fairly certain and if he wasn't well she would go to her mother and complain and then things would go the way she wanted them to.
"Don't worry so much." She smiles softly and moves close to Xenon licking his nose quickly before turning away and trotting back up the beach. If he wanted to see her father first that was fine by her. They could have a nice swim together, when her father said okay.
Everything would work out just fine, it always did in the end even if there were always rather rocky beginnings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
