[PRP] I Really Was Just Passing By (Seiram and Naomi)

[ramenli]

It was a perfectly wonderful late summer day. A cool northerly wind had picked up, letting a gentle breeze rustle the branches on what otherwise may have been a hot day. It had been fairly dry, and a light crunching noise came from the blades of grass that Seiram was crushing as he walked through a lightly wooded field.

His life had been uneventful as of late, some may even say boring. And he might agree with them. He had set out on his journey while he was young, hoping to find his fortune. And instead he simply found himself getting older. Oh, he was still young, still spry, but having no direction was beginning to take a toll on him, beginning to make him doubt his decisions. He sometimes even acted beyond his years, what other stallion his age walked around in the early morning thinking of nothing but the weather and the dew. He snorted softly at himself and shook his head. He was not going to think about this again. It was just the end of another day, and who knew what could be in store for him on the horizon. "Likely nothing," something whispered in the back of his mind, and he resolutely tried to ignore it.  

[ATh e a r t]

The cool air of the approaching night told Naomi that it was time for her to rest. It wasn't that she didn't want to or was afraid of the dark, but it was more so she didn't have the energy to. As Naomi was about to sit, her muscles gave out and she fell down. Almost instantly, Naomi's familiar, Fluffy, came into the scene.

"Naomiiiii," the little lion said with elongated sounds. "Are you okay? I should of watched more carefully... That shouldn't have happened!" Fluffy stood next to Naomi, pouting just a little bit.

"My dear," Naomi responded softly. "It's not your fault at all, my muscles are just tired." She closed her eyes and yawned. Putting her head down on the ground, she looked at Fluffy. "Are you ready for bed yet?"

Fluffy grinned a toothy grin for her beloved Naomi. "Never! I'm going to watch out for you okay? While you sleep and everything? I wouldn't want you to get hurt..."

"Okay, okay..."

Bouncing around, Fluffy went around, searching for any potential danger. She was in her aggressive mode, low at the ground and listening for any threats. Sniff, sniff. Eventually, she found a scent... of some stallion? Following it, she saw that it was someone. Fluffy roared loudly and pounced the stallion, sinking her teeth into the stallion. Of course, Fluffy was young and quite small, and all a bite of hers would feel like was a small pinch.

Where Naomi was resting, however, she woke up almost immediately after the roar. Her body was still tired under her so she couldn't stand. "Fluffy," she yelled. "What are you doing?!"  

[ramenli]

The loud noise and sudden movement barely had time to register to the poor stallion before the feeling of fangs closing on his flank forced him to defend himself. With the young lioness' bit not able to fully sink into his flesh he was able to dislodge her and skirt to the side, dancing out of range of another pounce.

Nostrils flared, his ears flattened against his skull, and a hoof pawed the ground in front of him as he glowered at his attacker, somewhat surprised to see such a small creature. Surely it would not attack him without backup, and that put him even more on edge. Then a distant voice reached his ears. It didn't sound aggressive. "Exactly," he growled, only able to assume that this fiend was the so called Fluffy, "what are you doing?" In some ways he was more furious at himself than his attacker, how had he not noticed it? Was he losing his senses already?  

[ATh e a r t]

"It's nothing, Naomi!" Fluffy yelled back. Right afterwards, she continued to glare at the stallion. "What are you doing here and what do you plan to do?" The little lioness was wary of what may or may not happen to Naomi. Even with her size, she would make sure nothing happened to Naomi.

Fluffy bared her teeth, not knowing that Naomi had managed to pull herself up off the ground. Naomi's breaths were rapid, but at least she made it there. "Little One, what are you doing to this poor stallion..?"

"Naomi! What are you doing here? Well... I FOUND THIS STALLION AROUND HERE AND I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Fluffy ended up sitting on her bottom and looking up at Naomi, pouting once again.

On the other hand, however, Naomi looked at the stallion. "I'm sorry, Sir. Little Fluffy here is a bit... Over protective." Naomi looked over at Fluffy and smiled, getting a toothy smile in return. When Naomi looked back at the stallion, Fluffy continued to glare.

"Are you okay," Naomi asked gently.  

[ramenli]

The exchange between the two was slightly confusing to the stallion, put together they were the most words he had heard in several days. As the lion sat he allowed himself to relax slightly, ears slowly ungluing themselves from their flattened back position. The two didn't seem to be a serious threat, and the bite had merely grazed him, giving him a rather superficial scrape.

"I'm alright ma'am," he responded, finally taking his eyes away from Fluffy for more than a couple of seconds. "It seems like you have quite a guard...er...cat there. I was just passing by, I didn't mean to intrude on your territory." The mare looked a bit unwell herself however, and her breathing sounded wrong even to him. "Are you okay though?  

[ATh e a r t]

Fluffy jumped up and snarled. "I AM a guard and I am a lioness, not some cat!" The lioness was just plain annoyed which sparked her aggressiveness even more. Fluffy stood there, ready to pounce on the stallion once again, but right before she could, Naomi spoke again.

"Fluffy... Stop it please." Naomi looked at Fluffy with very stern eyes. Fluffy also knew that if she was called by her name, she was going to be in trouble if she didn't stop. Fluffy cowered under Naomi's hind legs; Fluffy knew that Naomi wouldn't hurt her, but it didn't mean that Naomi couldn't be scary.

"Don't worry about me," Naomi said with a smile. "I'm just tired from too much traveling today. My body can't really--" Without being able to complete what she was saying, Naomi's legs gave up from under her again and she fell on the ground. "Haha. Sorry about that... My body is not able to handle that much stress. Which it is probably best that I not move from here until morning... I could always try to find a more comfortable place, but moving shall be harder now.

Fluffy had been quick to move out of the way so she was not crushed. Naomi looked at Fluffy and teased. "If it were not for this little girl, I probably would be been comfortable on the soft grass!" Fluffy pouted again and looked like she was going to cry before Naomi nuzzled her gently.  

[ramenli]

Seiram looked down at the mare, at a complete loss at how to continue. He had never met someone who just collapsed so easily, or who seemed completely unphased and well, natural about it. He somehow felt that it would be rude to stare, though it was hard not to, similar to trying not to look at a horrendous scar or natural disfigurement. To distract himself he looked at the lioness. "Sorry about that," he apologized, and then with a rueful tone added "you seem to do a good job," as he gestured back to his flank with a slight toss of his head.

Normally he would still consider it early enough to keep moving, as the sun had not completely set. But in some way he felt responsible. They were not in a particularly sheltered area, and her guard was, to put it quite bluntly, small. Still, this was a stranger. Quickly, before he could take the time to mull it over and regret it, he spoke again. "If you want me to I can stay in the general area, I don't know anything about the territory and it might be dangerous."  

[ATh e a r t]

Fluffy smiled when the stallion told her she did a good jop, but then she frowned when she mentioned the attack. She felt bad, but also not so bad because she still didn't really know this stallion. She stuck her nose in the air at the stallion. "At least he's sort of polite!"

Naomi felt bad when the stallion said he would stay. With her emotions, she tried to push herself off the ground, but fell again with a slight thump. That didn't stop her from trying again, however. "N-no... It's not your fault. No one's to blame, really. I'll keep trying to get up so you can enjoy the rest of your evening.

She kept struggling over and over again. Fluffy wanted to make her stop, but the lioness knew that if Naomi was determined, the feline companion could do nothing about it.  

[ramenli]

He huffed slightly at Fluffy before the mare tried to stand. Watching the mare try to get up with no success was possibly more painful to watch than for her to actually experience. "Please, its no problem, really," he fretted. It was quite probably the lioness's fault for attacking him, but he felt responsible for her predicament anyway. Besides, it was naturally for Fluffy to feel protective of her companion, who did not seem up to protecting herself.

"You should probably rest before you try to get up again. You'll end up using up all of your energy like that. I would have been stopping soon anyway." It wasn't exactly a lie, soon was rather open to interpretation. He moved a few paces away and made a slight show of grazing, trying to act like it was what he had been planning to do all along.