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 Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 1:24 pm
 Herryk did not feel bound to his pride as most lions did, and so when he felt the urge to run and explore he often did as he pleased. Three days had passed since his departure from the pride and he did not currently feel the urge to return. He would, in time, only because of the love he held for his family, but for now it felt right to explore. He would never stride across the softly rolling savannahs of his homeland -- no, Herryk felt more at home among the gnarled branches of the forests. At times he took great pleasure in watching those that passed beneath him, and this was one of those times. A pale lioness had caught his eye -- she was pretty enough, he supposed, and Herryk had to idly wonder if she was a feyblood like himself. His bonds to the forest were strong, after all. Interested in this female, Herryk watched her attentively as she meandered along the forest floor beneath him.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 1:57 pm
Pur had been walking for days. No, not just days, but days upon days. She had been walking for so long she wasn't sure which way was 'home' anymore. She didn't know which way was her brother anymore, and she was desperately missing him.
The pale lioness sighed heavily and decided here was as good a place as any to rest. It was such a dense forest that anyone passing through could hear her and her hear them. She hadn't considered that lions or leopards could possibly be lurking in the trees above her, but than again Pur wasn't the type to consider things to begin with. After all, she had just traveled all this way by herself and left her brother behind because of a vision. Most people would have just dismissed it, but not Pur.
Stretching herself out quite well, Pur gave off a contented sigh and flopped onto the forrest floor. She was not bothered by dirt or mud or the crunchy leaves. It felt good to her, and it served to distract her mind from her current quest. Looking for him. The male of her vision, the father of her children. Him.
"I like this place," She said quietly to no one in particular, "It is much nicer than the desert, don't you think?"
Pur had taken to talking out loud, but not to herself. Knowing your father was a God gave a girl odd trains of thought. For Pur, she was convinced that despite the fact she had never met her father, Al-Hattal, she knew he could hear from wherever she was. So to keep her company, she talked to him. Held one-sided conversations with him. Missed him.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 2:09 pm
Herryk grew more and more intrigued by the female. She looked at home in the forest, even going so far as to rest on the forest floor. She did not pay heed to the earth that would undoubtedly dirty her pristine alabaster pelt, not did she mind the dried fallen leaves that were clinging to her fur. His brothers would wonder why he seemed so entranced by the female if they knew of his thoughts.
Thankfully they were not here.
Canting his head to the side as she spoke, Herryk was convinced that she'd seen him somehow. No, that would be impossible. He was high above her, yes -- but not so high above her that he could not be seen, perhaps. With a scowl, Herryk rose to his feet on the thick tree branch and leapt agilely to the forest floor. The leaves and earth gave way beneath his feet with a soft crunch, those yellow-gold eyes of his locked on the form of the female before him.
He did not speak, far too intrigued by the words she'd spoken.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:06 pm
To say Herryk caught poor Pur off guard would be an understatement. When he landed on the ground and the soft crunch of the leaves caught her ears, Purr quickly went to scamper up from the ground. Forgetting that the forest floor beneath her was much slicker than desert or savannah ground she quickly slipped back onto it's surface, disturbing piles of leaves and finding streaks of mud adorning her face.
Managing to scramble around to face Herryk she starred up at him, he hackles raised and her stark white eyes starring him down. It was like being watched by a ghost.
Her heart pumped with a quick pace before the markings on the male's face before her caught her eyes. They were like the markings from the male in her visions. The lion who would father her children and be present at their birth. While she recognized this, it had still not clicked in her mind. Pur was at a loss of words, and still a little shaken. She simply starred, gulping hard.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:12 pm
Her abrupt actions did not sway Herryk in the least. Part of him was thrilled that he'd caught her off-guard.
It was safe to say that Herryk was a little wild at heart. He did not have the normal sense of right and wrong that others might have. When she rose to her feet and then slid back down, he frowned slightly. When she'd finally made her way to her feet, Herryk was two steps forward, his eyes intense on her own. It didn't bother him that she stared at him. He was doing some staring of his own.
His steps were light as he made a wide circle around her, finally coming to a halt in her line of sight. She was finely made, he could tell that much, but was she fey of blood like he himself, like his mother was?
Herryk's eyes lingered on the dark marking that adorned her chest before lifting his unreadable gaze back to hers. "Are you of these woods?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:38 pm
Pur was leery of the male circling her as he did, but she was far too hesitant to make a move away or towards him. He seemed so calm and sure of himself, she didn't believe she could shake him up, even being the full grown lioness that she was.
Pur wasn't accustomed to being evaluated by a man, even a younger one. The only male in her life was he brother and their relationship was that of siblings, loving siblings, but just siblings. Nothing more. Nothing less. She could feel a race of thoughts in her head, but most simply screamed hopes that this strange male wouldn't attack her or take her.
She was anything but a talented fighter. Sure, Pur was a rather apt hunter and she did that job well, but to defend herself? To strike another person or engage in an all out brawl? It was not in her. She was far too lithe for that. Far too soft-pawed.
When the male's gaze met her once more, Pur blinked. His eyes were golden, like the sun, but frightening for their stillness. When he spoke, she stayed quiet for a moment before finally thinking of something to say, "I'm of everywhere and nowhere."
Ok, so she didn't exactly answer his questions, but it was true! She really didn't have a home. Everywhere was a home.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:44 pm
Herryk did not know why he felt so drawn to the female. There was just something about her, something he couldn't put a paw on. She did not back down from him when he circled her. This was admirable in its own right. He was not used to such soft-spoken females. All his life he had been surrounded by females that were battle-scarred and out for blood, or females that were so wrapped up in their duties that they had no time for advances from a male.
Lustful advances, even. Herryk knew full well what occurred between a male and a female, and while he'd never felt the urge to dominate one of the burly females in his home-pride, he could not deny the flames that stirred in his chest when he stared at this female, flames that only ignited further by her words. It confused him, too, though he wasn't sure why. She was different from what he was used to, and that was reason enough he supposed.
"Everywhere and nowhere," he said thoughtfully, narrowing those intense yellow eyes at her. "You must have many stories to tell," he continued with interest, "having come from such an infinite -- and yet miniscule -- place."
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 4:10 pm
His eyes narrowing at Pur caused her heart to pound, but not in the frightened way it once had. It was the type of heart-throbbing accompanied by, oh! Pur could already feeling her cheeks and ear-tips redden from the starring. It was making her slightly uncomfortable, if only because she had never been starred at like this before. She was such a wispy thing.
"I do, actually...," Pur piped, before quieting herself once more with a flustered expression.
The amount of stories she had was endless. From her visions of her family. The family she had met. Escaping her mother, being betrayed by her sister, living with her brother. It was endless. She even knew the story of her own conception, which was comprised of her mother claiming she was deceived into sleeping with the god. Though, even with Pur's simplicity, she found that quite an unconvincing story.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 4:42 pm
Herryk inhaled deeply, drawing her scent into his lungs. A small smile tilted the corners of his muzzle.
"Perhaps you will tell me of these stories," he said quietly, one brow raising upwards. He wasn't really sure what stories she could possibly know, but by the looks of the pinkish tint to her ears and cheeks, well.. she was probably full of innocent stories. Herryk didn't really mind that he didn't know her name, nor did he care that he'd yet to introduce himself. Pleasantries were not commonplace for Herryk, and honestly this was the first stranger he'd met since his mother had taken him from the forest to the Stormborn.
"These woods are not my home," he added as if he needed to make that known -- they were on common ground here, and he hoped that it calmed her. Even still, those golden eyes of his did not leave hers.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:59 am
"They're not my home either," Pur admitted, glancing to both her sides cautiously.
She wasn't used to bumping into lone lions. Normally there was one or two others lurking nearby, or plainly in sight. It was a habit of the Rogue Lands, unless you were godly tough you didn't travel alone, you traveled with others. She was trying to look for those others, but she couldn't spot much in the density of the forest.
"I guess that's something we have in common than," Pur said, a small careful laugh escaping her lips as she returned Herryk's small smile.
She looked back to the male in front of her quietly, and hesitantly lowered herself back to there ground. There was no reason for her to be uncomfortable at the moment, although she wondered if this was a smart action on her part. She was uncertain.
It was at the moment she lowered herself to the ground that the thoughts about the male from earlier clicked in her mind. The familiar markings, the dark mane. It was him. It was the male who would father her children. The realization caused Pur's hair to stand on end and her eyes to widen slightly. She wasn't alarmed, and she tried her best not to look that way, but when you were starring up at your future it was a might bit hard.
"Uhm, a story," Pur said hesitantly. Should she tell him her vision? Would he believe her? Pur licked her maw quietly as she tried to form the words to her story. Even if he didn't believe her, he couldn't escape fate. What she had seen, she knew it would come to pass.
"A lioness slept underneath the starlit sky peacefully as she always did, her brother by her side," Pur began, not taking her eyes from Herryk. She felt that if her eyes left his, he'd disappear. She didn't want him to disappear. "Both were white as snow, adorned with markings of their mother. Hers were black and his were red... As she lay there sleeping her mind began to stir and her eyes opened.
They did not open to the starlit sky she slept under, but to a living dream. A living dream that showed her things that no one else could see. In this living dream she saw a male, but this male was not her brother and she had not met him before. His face was warm and inviting, with markings that looked like cracks on fire. The snow lioness looked around the living dream and saw she was in a cave, and beyond the cave entrance was trees.
She tried to look upon herself but her gaze was blocked. A big white belly was all that she could see, and suddenly... all she felt was pain. Moments of pain were followed by joy from a tiny squealing cub. The lioness looked back to the fire cracked male and saw his golden eyes filled with worry and love, framed by his thick black mane. The lioness blinked her eyes and as they opened her living dream disappeared."
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:32 am
Her story sounded much like any other story would until she mentioned the living dream. He was not a dense lion and he knew by her words that she was speaking of herself. Herryk had heard of these 'seers' that were blessed by the Gods with sight and visions. Blessed or cursed, well, Herryk couldn't decide that. If her words were true, and he believed they were, well then he'd just met his very first seer.
Not only had he met his very first seer, but he was convinced that she was speaking of his father, Aesir. That thought filled him with a sense of irrational rage -- he could not explain why this rage filled his chest like a heavy weight. Explaining away the acrid, bitter taste of -- what was this? Jealousy? -- would be impossible, and that rage was fueled even further by the tinge of envy.
Herryk snorted.
"You must be another of his females. My father can't seem to keep himself from dallying other lionesses, it seems," he added with disgust, watching her with narrowed eyes. It never even occurred to Herryk that she was speaking of him. "I'm afraid you'll have to get past both my mother and my father's wife if you're going to be vying for his affections." Having lost interest in the pretty feline, Herryk rose to his feet and stared down at her as she rested on the forest floor.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:04 am
Pur's ears pinned to the back of her head when Herryk snorted at her. He seemed angry at her and she wasn't sure as to why. She had given him the story he asked for and it didn't seem like he picked up on the fact she was trying to tell him she had seen him and her, and that she was to give birth to his children. So why was he mad at her?
"I-i... I don't know what... what you're talking about," Pur choked. Herryk's narrow eyes and obvious disgust with her was not the reaction Pur thought she would be getting when she tried to tell the father of her future children that they were destined to be together. To say that it upset her would be an understatement as tears were already flowing from her ghostly eyes.
"There wasn't a-any other females. It was just me, and, I," Pur was really upset. She couldn't even form sentences to explain that there was some misunderstanding. She wasn't talking about his father, whoever that happened to be. She was talking about him. She was starting to feel like she had made a big mistake trying to search him out.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:50 am
Although Herryk was usually a smart lion, keen and cunning within his own rights, he really just wasn't getting it. In fact, her words seemed to ignite the irrational anger that he was feeling towards her at that very moment. Perhaps he was so angry because this was the first female he'd ever felt interest in and her visions were telling her that she was going to give birth to his father's cubs.
"Of course there weren't any other females. He does a fine job of keeping them oblivious of one another, not that they have any interest in interacting with each other." He snorted again, even going so far as to pin back his ears. Herryk paid no heed to her tears. She was just another lioness that had been sucked in by his father's presence and she hadn't even MET Aesir yet.
"Is it his black pelt that draws females? His dark mane? His markings?" Herryk shook his head.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:22 am
"The pelt is not black!" Pur yelled, trying to get the males attention.
This was wrong, all wrong. This was not how she had hoped her journey would turn out. Desperately she got to her feet, mud covered and shaking. She hadn't seen anger of this kind since she tried to leave her mother and she managed to walk away from that with her life, but looking like hell. She didn't want to see this, she wanted him to calm down.
"It's orange," She said shakily, trying to extend out a paw and touch Herryk's coat. "You're orange. YOU are orange."
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:54 am
A stunned sort of eeriness crept over Herryk's expression as he watched Pur reach out to touch his pelt. Her words registered in his mind but he couldn't comprehend exactly what she was saying. He didn't understand what she was trying to get across. It hadn't hit him. It didn't hit him until she put emphasis on the 'YOU' -- and when it hit him, it hit him hard.
Herryk took one step backward, then another. His brow lowered and then raised, ears pinned back then flicked forward again. He'd gotten it all wrong, hadn't he? Aesir wasn't the father of this female's cubs.
He was.
The normally cool and collected Herryk was shaken down to his very core. He wasn't sure how to respond or how to react. He wasn't sure what to say. He certainly hadn't expected this conversation to take place when he'd taken that leap from the tree to the forest floor. Herryk didn't know whether to stay or run. It didn't take him long to decide.
Herryk ran.
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