Sihiri:Sihiri woke up alone. That wasn't unusual, though, she was often alone when she woke up. Her mother was an early riser, out to get something for them to eat. She could hunt on her own, but she was really all that was left of her mother's children and she had a feeling that all her mother wanted to do was baby the last cub she had left as much as she could. She hadn't actually lost any of her brothers and sisters, but one could only stay with one's parents for so long. With her father gone... Sihiri couldn't leave her mother alone. She worried it would break the healer's heart.
No, waking up alone was normal. What wasn't normal was waking up, looking up, and seeing a world unfamiliar. She was under a rock shelf in what looked like a valley. There was grass and scattered trees and lots of bushes, all damp from the rain, and the sound of the falls and river...
She had fallen into the river, over the falls. Had she died? No, surely not. This was all too real and the pain in her body, that had to mean she was still alive. But how had she not drowned?
There had been someone, she had thought it was a dream. A male, no, a huge male. He had to have been, she was no dainty flower, after all. She and her two litter-sisters were the largest out of their parents' cubs. If it had been any more than the three of them... Sihiri didn't like thinking of her mother being dead. She remembered... very little of her rescuer. Perhaps blue eyes.
A paw went to touch her aching head, eyes closing for a moment. The world was cast in shadow, a combination of the valley walls and overcast skies. She had to get back to her mother, but first she needed to find some herbs to deal with this pain in her head and side.
A moment more to compose herself and she was standing and heading out into the damp, quiet world to find something that could help her head.
Atticus:He had left her shortly before the morning sun had announced its presence. He had not wanted to be there when she woke up, and he was sure she wouldn't have wanted him there. Though he felt the need to look after her while she was harmed, and in need. His blue eyes had never left her as he watched from a dark shadowed rock. It was easy to hide, when you blended in with all your surroundings. It was one reason he had loved the pelt he wore. It hid him from everything, and his face from everything. It was important he have it.
He watched as she stood, making her way in the silence of the valley. He wasn't sure what she was looking for but he arched an eyebrow under his pelt and frowned. What could it possibly be? She was hurt. She needed to stay down. He pushed himself up off the rock, and slunk along the shadows. His voice was echoing, a quiet roar when he wanted it to be.
"You shouldn't be up."
Sihiri:
Sihiri's ears perked at the sound of a voice and she looked around, only to have a crick in her neck complain at her. She winced, but her eyes still scanned her surroundings for the speaker. Was it her rescuer?
"I wanted herbs, for my aches," she explained, still looking around, but more slowly now. She sighed when she didn't find him, changing her target from the source of the voice to what she was looking for.
"Are you the one who saved me from the water?" When she asked her question, her eyes were focused on the grasses around her, looking for the types of herbs that would help dull her pain. She needed to eat as well, but hunting seemed out of the question at the moment.
Atticus:
She was lucky he had throught of her much like her mother would have. The wildebeest he had taken down had been older, but it was no match for his huge size. He had taken it down easily, and while he had nibbled a bit of it, the body remained by the waters edge where he was sure she would find it. She was close enough to the waterfall anyway..
"I may have." He said, not really wanting to own up to his good deed. He followed her movements, matching them with his own though he remained hidden. He hoped that his sparkling blue eyes wouldn't give him away.. He didn't want to be seen.
"I hope you find what you are looking for. The valley can be rich in nourishment but no one cares to look into it. Must be afraid of it's look of emptiness." He responded back to her.
Sihiri:
She looked around her and while she would agree that in comparison to the jungle on the cliffs above it was very stark, but she was not without shade and shelter here. She shook her head once.
"I wouldn't call it empty. Secluded and more open, but not empty," she replied. standing and walking to the base of a tree on its lonesome. It wouldn't protect from rain, the leaves were much to small, but it was shade if she needed it. She sniffed at some of the plants at its base before carefully plucking off a few leaves.
She wanted to ask how to get out of the valley, she was afraid she would be stuck here and how her mother would take that. Not knowing...
But she couldn't ask. What would it matter anyway? She was in no shape to travel.
"Thank you, if you did indeed save me. I would owe you my life."
Atticus:
"You owe me nothing." He said, his voice turning a bit darker. He wanted no one in debt to him, and he wanted to be in debt to no one. He frowned, looking at his black toes and grunted. He was so ugly.. Or at least in his mind he was. He wanted nothing more than to have this thick brown pelt cover the entirety of him.
"Why were you out in such a storm? Surely you are smarter than that. It's a fools task, whatever the reason." He remarked, stopping as she stopped.
Sihiri:
"I was gathering herbs and plants. When it started to rain, I wasn't really bothered by it, so I finished what I was doing. It got worse as I was heading home, the thunder startled me as I was crossing the river and I fell in. I tried but couldn't get out on my own." Such a simple explanation, really. Sihiri moved away from the tree and moved slowly towards the sound of water. She stopped at the bank of the river that no doubt ran through the valley. She licked the leaves off her paw and then bent, lapping up a fairly large amount of water. It would take some time for the herbs to come into effect, but knowing that she had them and the pain would eventually leave made her feel much better.
"Why can't I see you?"
Atticus:
"Why do you ask such questions?" He asked, hoping she would notice the carcass that he had caught for her. Sure it hadn't been hard but he still wanted her to know that she was safe. Maybe she would enjoy staying here. He rather liked having hte company, but he still didn't want to show himself.
"Why is everyone so obsessed with their vision? What would you do without it, hmm? Surely you would be completely out of luck if that were the case."
He wasn't trying to offend, but.. Well.. Wasn't it the truth?
Sihiri:
Sihiri did see the carcass, but she needed a moment to collect herself. He didn't want to show himself to her. And on top of that he hedged around her question. She had to think about how she would answer. If she couldn't see?
"It would make herb gathering much more difficult, but I would still manage, by smell. But with others... I would want to know they were near me. Be able to touch them to know they were close, I suppose. If I couldn't see my mother's face, I would at least be able to feel it." She looked away from the voice then with a small sigh.
"It's fine, though, one of my neighbors won't let anyone see him, either." She neglected to include her encounter with Raynah. "At least you're talking to me. That's something."
Atticus:
"If you're looking to feel, You could close your eyes." His voice rang out. What was he telling her? Maybe he just wanted to smell her again but something about her was allowing him to feel that way. But..He growled a little, hoping it was inaudible to her.
"If feeling is what you need, that I can permit. But if you look at me, I will be forced to leave you alone, and I won't be back." He warned. Not that he wanted to leave, but he would retreat to his home after telling him where she could go to get home.
"I rarely talk to anyone. I would call you lucky."
Sihiri:
A bit of hope rose in her when he said that she could touch him, as long as she didn't look at him. Her curiosity would just have to be satisfied with that.
Sihiri closed her eyes as she sat down, waiting for him to come to her. She would feel very foolish for trusting his word if he did not, but then she was rather trusting to begin with.
"If I had something to cover my eyes to guarantee it, I would," she replied, her ears perked as she listened to him.
"Then I feel very lucky, I would feel... very alone here if I didn't have someone to talk to."
Atticus:
He took a deep breath. He hoped with all inside of him that she would not open her eyes. Would not see the horror that was his face. He stepped closer, one large paw at a time. The belt clung to his neck with the strap that held it to him. It hardly shifted with how tightly it clung to his body.
When he was close to the golden lioness, he stopped and stared at the distance between them. He could leave right now, turn and run and she would never know. He could likely hide out in his den and never be found. But.. He wouldn't do that to her.
When he was close, he shifted his tail and let it flick against her leg.
"I..I-uh.. Don't know what to say.." He asid, at a loss for words. It had been his adolesence that he had stopped talking to others.. and now here he was an adult.
Sihiri:
She jumped a bit when he was suddenly there, and had to squeeze her eyes to keep them from snapping open in surprise and going back on her promise. A startled laugh escaped her and she shook her head.
"Next time you do that, keep talking. I nearly jumped out of my fur," she replied with a smile, reaching up a paw and finding what she guessed to be his shoulder. It traveled up, feeling his shaggy mane. Gracious, he was big. Even the Huntsman was only a little bit bigger than she was. This male... He might even be larger than her papa. It was very attractive.
When she trailed her paw up to his face and jerked it back as if she had been burned.
"Are you wearing something on your face?" she asked, confusion obvious in her voice.
Atticus:
"I'll remember that." He said, having felt terrible for startling her but then again it wasn't like he could really help it. He was so bad at socializing.. He stiffened under her touch, though his instinct told him to lean into it. He refrained, and just held his breath. When she got to his face and pulled back, he stepped back a little, eyebrows furrowing together as he sneered.
"What does it matter? Do I not appeal to you? Am I ugly to you? Why would you be any different? You have never seen me yet you question me so.."
He didn't mean for it to be as harsh as it was. Not really. But he was tempted to tell her to look at what it was she had touched.. To look at the horror before her.
Sihiri:
Sihiri's ears flicked back and she cringed back just a bit at his accusations.
"I didn't say that." She couldn't help the small growl in her voice. She had heard him step away, so she moved forward and found his face again with her paw, balancing so that she could put her other paw on the opposite cheek.
"I was just surprised. I've never seen a lion wear something on his face." She frowned as she blindly inspected it with her paws. Oh, gods, it was a lion's pelt. A flashback of her cubhood ran through her mind, of an old male with her father's eyes and the feeling of claws in her back, and she suppressed a shudder as her paws fell back to the ground.
"You... won't hurt me, will you?" Had he killed the lion? Or did he just scavenge it? Or was it the pelt of a relative, father, brother? Did he wear it out of memory? Or fear? Or some sick fetish? No, he could have hurt her last night and he didn't. He'd saved her... Unless he hadn't... No, he had, she recognized this smell, from last night. He was the lion who'd saved her.
"I'm sorry, you don't need to answer that. I've just never met a lion who would... wear another's pelt."
Atticus:
"If I wanted to. I could have already don't you think?" His tone had softened slightly but still held that cold edge he was unlikely to lose very often. He let her take his face in her hands, but the frown never left his features. He felt her touch him and try to figure out what it was he wore.
He smiled bitterly. "I imagine not many are like me." He responded. He really was doing a piss poor job at this..
"The pelt hides who I am. I am hideous, and no one should lay eyes on that. So I wear the pelt as a mask."
Sihiri:
"I really don't think there are," Sihiri replied with a small nod and smile of agreement to the idea that there were not many creatures like him. He certainly seemed very different from all the others she had known. Except perhaps the Ghost, but she didn't actually know anything about him.
Her features fell when he explained why he wore the pelt. It was... That was horrible! Had he been scarred? Or... or had someone just... told him he was like that?
Her head tilted to one side, ears flicked back.
"Oh." What more could she say to that? That she was sorry? She was, but that might make him think she pitied him. She did, but not... in a bad way. If she asked how so, he might think that she didn't believe him.
Her toes wiggled, only it was a slow sensation. The herbs she had taken were kicking in. They wouldn't knock her out, but she would be a little numbed for a bit. She could still walk, sort of, but definitely not run. It was good that he had left a kill nearby.
Atticus:
He could almost sense her pity, but he said nothing about it. He did not pity himself. Though once he started thinking about it, he imagined maybe he did. He hated who he was, and maybe Cor had too. Was that pity?
"I won't hurt you." He said, as he began backing away. He wanted to go back to the security of the shadows. He knew that soon the sun would fall, and she would need to get to shelter before then. He sighed, looking at his paws and wished that it had been different. He wished he didnt want her to stay, but with every inch of him..He wanted her around..
"Call out my name, if you need me. I'm Atticus." He said, a little momento before she could open her eyes to the food near her.
Sihiri:
"I really didn't think you would," Sihiri replied, suppressing a sigh as he backed away. She couldn't deny that she had liked the nearness. He had such a pleasant scent to him, even if the pelt dampened it.
"And my name is Sihiri," she added, giving him another one of her sweet little smiles even thought she had the feeling he was leaving her. She turned her head away, in the direction she remembered had food.
"I wish you could stay, but I need to open my eyes to at least get over to the food. The plants I took, if I tried walking with my eyes closed, I'd be liable to trip and fall into the river again."
Atticus:
"Do it. Eat and enjoy it. I made sure it was a fresh kill. You need your strength." He added. He didn't say anything more before he began padding away slowly, his paws brushing against the rocky earth. He sighed, wishing he didn't have to leave but he knew..Really knew that he needed to for the night. He was getting too close, and he didn't like it.
Sihiri:
She waited until she couldn't hear him again before she opened her eyes. The world seemed rather empty now that she was alone. She had never minded being alone in the jungle, but here... She didn't want to be. It was just so unfamiliar to her.
"Thank you, Atticus," she said rather softly, looking back to where he had once been. But he wasn't there anymore.
With a sigh, she headed to the kill, lying down to slowly eat as thoughts of home and a pelt-covered lion wandered through her slightly foggy mind.
