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 Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:56 am
 Aoibh looked back over at her companion, then back toward the slowly lowering sun. She could go a few more miles yet, but Aoife was far to fragile, and still recovering from her near death with the betrayal of her sister and the near drowning in the river. No they would need to stop for the night.
Moving back to where the pure white lioness was slowly walking on weary paws, Aoibh brushed her shoulder against her's, her tone gentle as she spoke to her, years of training, of being nothing but a mere servant to the delicate aristocrat she now found her self fleeing with unable to be erased.
" Mistress, I think it best we stop for the night, even though the sun is still well above the horizon. Come, rest here in the shade, while I find a place that is more secure. I won't go far. Roar if anything comes to close and I will return quickly."
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:18 am
 Feeling her friend's gaze, she looked up form where her dark eyes had been trained on the rough ground, watching where she placed her sore paws carefully. Blushing she smiled up at the darker female shyly, though her soft ebon gaze spoke of her relief when Aoibh suggested they stop to rest.
"I am sorry... I am slowing us down..." Smiling sadly she leaned oh so briefly into the warm press of her companion's shoulder, grateful for the comfort the larger, dark-coated lioness offered, then slowly followed her to the patch of shade. Turning in a tight circle she carefully lowered her bruised body to the ground, wincing as weary muscles twinged. It had been a harrowing experience, learning of her jealous sister's betray, the loss of her prince and the near-death swim that had left her weakened and trembling. Even now the cold had not fully left her body and she felt as if she were moving through a dream-world half the time, still not fully accepting what had happened.
"I will call.." She promised, nodding to her friend's words, the young noble sighed and curled up with her back to the tree trunk, nose tucked under the tuft of her tail. Closing her eyes she tried to rest, but was too sore and troubled to find any peace.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:32 am
Aoibh wished she could take some of the pain from her Mistress, but she couldn't. She had been lucky that she'd been able to pull her from the water. Aodh had so desperately wanted Fiachra for herself even though he had been pledge to Aoife that she had tried to murder her younger sister.
Aoibh was no fool, she knew the Fiachra was a fine tracker, that he would scourer the river and find were she had pulled his princess from the water and their quick tracks leading away. They were, if they were lucky, perhaps only a few days ahead of them. She had to find away to muddy the trail, and the only she could think of was to use the river again. Tomorrow they would have to try it. Use the river, swim down stream. Till there was a safe place to exit. Maybe near a rocky shore where tracks dried in the heat.
Thinking this over, the black lioness found a suitable shelter, it smelled strongly of hyena, but it seemed abandoned. As much as she knew her Mistress would hate it..the scent covering them would help throw off the hunt for them. Nodding to herself she hurried back to her charge.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:07 am
The white swan-marked lioness had fallen into a light, troubled sleep when Aoibh returned. Blinking bleary eyes she froze for a moment as an unfamiliar landscape met her wide-eyed gaze, but then she saw the black lioness close by and her muscles turned to water. After a moment to gather her scattered courage, she pulled herself stiffly to her paws and managed a weak smile for her friend and once-servant, though Aoife owed the other female so much, not least for saving her life, that the bonds of master and servant seemed pointless now.
"I am sorry Aoibh." She said softly, shame warming her cheeks. She knew she was the one who was slowing them down, but she had never travailed beyond their small pride and she was still weak from her near-drowning. It was like her body was not wholly hers any more and refused to obey her willingly. "I am ready..." Putting a brave face over her discomfort, the slender white female padded out from under the shade and started along the path they had been following, her pace slow and lacking the grace with which she usually moved.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:23 am
" It is fine Mistress, the shelter is not far from here. I am afraid it is not what you are used, nothing we have found has been what you are used to, but it will be warm tonight and the scent inside will help mask our own."
Aoibhe offered her Mistress her shoulder, holding her up as she lead her the little way down the path to the abandoned den, " You slip inside first, and I will hide the entrance while I find us some food. It should keep you well hidden. I won't be gone long. Rest, you need it. We have a long way to go to reach the safety of the mountains."
Aoibhe was praying that she was right, that there was safety in those mountains in the distance, that the stories her grandmother had told her were not just myth but truth as she had believed.
Giving the gentle lioness she now had to find a way to protect, she hid the entrance as best she could and slipped away to find them some kind of dinner.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:40 am
"Please... call me Aoife, I am no longer a princess..." Smiling gentle, dark eyes saddened she gratefully accepted the offer of her companion's shoulder, leaning into the rich dark fur as she let Aoibh guide her along to the den the other lioness had found.
Obediently she slipped inside, though the scent of hyena made her skin shiver, she had never liked them after the scare she had received in her childhood when a pack of them had harassed her small pride and almost kidnapped a couple of the cubs. But weary and in pain as she was, she curled up in the very back, forelimbs tucked delicately under her slim body, and hoped Aoibh would join her soon, for the den felt very cold and very empty without the darker lioness to fill it.
Soon enough she fell into a troubled slumber, body curled up tight and held in tension as half-remembered nightmares plagued her.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:57 am
" I am sorry Princess, you will always be so to me. I know no other way to treat you. I have been your servant since cubhood." The dark lioness said, before she left the den.
Aoibhe was gone for about an hour, having to spend some time running down some hares. A lone lioness used to a Pride behind her had little chance to pull done bigger game till she learned how. She was going to need to find some one to teach her, and to teach her how to defend herself and her Mistress as well. These lands were dangerous and they were on their own now and Aoife had lead to sheltered a life to be asked to bloody her paws.
With a sigh, the dark lioness came back to the den with three hares. Slipping in she nosed the two fatted toward her Mistress " Eat, you need all your strength if we are to travel a little further tomorrow then we did today."
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 12:08 pm
Knowing a reprimand when she heard one, no matter how gentle, Aoife smiled softly after the darker female as she left. "Oh Aoibh... you deserve so much better than this..." She had whispered to the darkness of the borrowed den before sleep came.
When her companion returned, it wasn't hard for her to wake, struggling from hazy nightmares almost with relief as the scent of fresh meat made her mouth water and her stomach cramp in hunger. Blinking up at the other with relief to see her back and safe and sound, Aoife ignored the meal offered in order to brush her cheek gratefully against the dark fur of Aoibh's shoulder. "Thank you... but I can not eat all of it, share with me?" She knew Aoibh would run herself ragged trying to provide for her, and she felt guilty for being such a burden on so faithful a lioness. Pulling one of the hares closer she started to eat, he motions neat and dainty, the other left between the two of them, almost like a silent promise.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 12:23 pm
Aoibhe was slightly startled from the rub to her muzzle. The Princes had never been so familer with her. It was not part of their roles as servant and aristocrat. She took it in stride however and pushed the hare a little closer to her, pleased when she began to eat.
" I will eat when you have finished Mistress, I am not that one who nearly was held by the Shadow Lover two days ago."
Laying down to face the front of the den, the third smallest hair between her paws she began to eat, keeping watch in the gather gloom, knowing when the Princess was ready to sleep, she would curl against her back, and the den wall and her body would keep her safe and warm for the night to come.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 12:33 pm
Realizing her mistake she flushed under her pale fur, dark eyes turning downcast. She told herself it was merely homesickness. She had never left her family until two days ago when her twin sister had tried to drown her, and very nearly succeeded. She had never felt so alone and so vulnerable as she had at that moment... with her sister's laughing face made blurry by the water as she held Aoife under the surface.
Shivering at the unbidden memory, Aoife turned to her meal, mourning the loss of her old life and fearful for the future now they were on their own. But most of all, she felt guilty for dragging Aoibh into such a mess. Eventually she finished her hare and ate exactly half of the second one, leaving the other half for her friend before settling down. It wasn't but a few moments however when she shifted, inching over until her back rested against the dark form of Aoibh. Only once she was curled safely against the older lioness's warmth did she finally rest easy, falling into an exhausted sleep.
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