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 Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:17 pm
It was very rare for Aysu to be so far away from her homelands, she had really only ventured this far once before and it had gotten her into some unforeseen trouble. Now, of course, she was trying to prevent trouble. She was trying to come to terms with the fact that her brother had almost killed their cousin and was barely being punished, she wanted to go confront him again but she didn't trust herself. Unlike Yareha, she knew when to walk away. So she told herself anyway.
The roguelands were so peaceful, it was hard to be as wary as perhaps she ought to have been out here. But that was why she was so happy to go for such a long walk in her attempt to clear her head and distract herself from the painful frustrations at home. After she inevitably tired of walking, she had settled down with her back to her pride, watching the wide empty space before her, thinking.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:21 pm
Arufu was doing his best to be clean. Presentable. Not...covered in mud. It was more difficult than he could have imagined. He thought that he would only go without mud for the short period of his pilgrimage, but constant gossip had some worrying that there was something physically wrong with him. That Arufu covered himself in mud because there was something to hide. He wanted to show them all that he was perfectly fine, he just loved mud.
So, the best way to do that was to temporarily leave the swamp, become as clean as possible, and sweep right in. He would stand out against the backdrop of the swamps because he was a fairer colour, and everyone would notice that there was nothing wrong with him, thank you.
This was awfully difficult. He walked slowly, doing his best to not think of the fact that he just wanted to cover himself nose to tail in mud.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:30 pm
Aysu might not have noticed the stranger wandering nearby if he had been moving at a comfortable and confident pace but something about the way he walked made him stand out- it probably helped that his mane was a common royal color in the Mwezi'Johari right now. He was very interesting to watch, Aysu was nosy and half of the fun was just watching what everybody else was up to.. and it required far more imagination out here, which was what ultimately bored her with the game now. He was by himself, just walking. His story could be a million different things.
So she decided to take her chances and got back to her feet and headed towards him. She wore a friendly smile but she knew better than to abandon all caution immediately.
"Hello!" she called.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:37 pm
One of Arufu's ears twitched, wondering if that voice was calling to him. "Hm?" He turned his head, almost startled to see a lioness approaching him. Sure, she was being careful, but he was not used to being approached to by females that were...adults. He was almost flustered.
"W-what can I help you with?" he said, noticing that she was a little careful. Not careful enough to completely avoid him, however.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:49 pm
As soon as Arufu looked at her, Aysu relaxed- and almost laughed at him. He was clearly surprised. He was in the roguelands, after all, perhaps he didn't have very many conversations. That was very interesting, but it was still just a guess.
She was already pleasantly distracted and she stopped a short distance away from him, not wanting to test his personal space just yet.
"Nothing, nothing!" she said cheerily, smiling at him, "I just wanted to say hello, I don't get out here much and it's not interesting if you don't make a friend."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:09 pm
"Ah."
He blinked a few times, still surprised that a pretty adult female was talking to him. He was used to cubs approaching him, but nothing like this.
"Ah, yeah, I don't either," he finally added on with a bob of his head. "I'm actually away from my pride, figured I needed a little cleansing."
His tail twitched behind him, as he tried to not betray how...exposed he felt. He would have felt more relaxed while soaking in some mud, but that was impossible at the moment. There was no mud out here, anyway. " I don't mind trying to make a friend," he said, finally easing into a big, relaxed smile.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:13 pm
Aysu's ears perked at the mention of him being from a pride, she didn't know many of the neighbours around them. Maybe the guards knew more, being more familiar with the borders here, but the Mwezi'Johari seemed almost reluctant to learn about their neighbours. Perhaps because of how it ended the last time they were allied with an immediate neighbour.
"Ok," she said, taking another step closer now that he was smiling, "My name is Aysu, I'm from the Mwezi'Johari. What about you?"
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:20 pm
Well, this was going better than he expected. He wouldn't say he was terrible at talking to females, but he wasn't that accustomed to it. He nodded to her, pleased that this was going well.
"I'm Arufu. I'm from the Jini-msemi, more commonly known as the swamplands." He glanced down at his strikingly clean paws, knowing that his cream coat was also clean. "I'll probably return soon. I needed to...cleanse myself of my love for mud, if only for a couple days."
Well, that was awkward to admit.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:24 pm
She hadn't known what to make of his cleansing comment and even with an explanation, it was hard to figure out what exactly he meant by it. She knew enough to know swamps must be very muddy, he must be more presentable now than he really was at home.. but it seemed a strange thing to do when you lived in mud.
"Why?" she asked curiously, tilting her head, "I mean, why did you need to cleanse yourself? If you love mud, it sounds like you live in the right place to me."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:29 pm
Arufu shook his head. "Some of my fellow pride members...well, they didn't understand how much I love it. I love to just lie in it as long as I can, before I get too soggy. They thought something may be wrong, like I was trying to hide something."
He sighed. "I admit, its nice to blend into the scenery, and I don't really do that with my pale coat and purple mane. But...I figured I could show them that I'm fine. I just needed to step away from the mud long enough to get that clean." He glanced around at himself, or at least what he could see.
"To be honest, I haven't seen myself this clean in months."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:33 pm
Hmmmm.
Aysu couldn't help but look Arufu over, he did look very well groomed now and as much she might not have been able to handle the idea of being covered in mud forever, it was hard to say she wouldn't have if she lived in a swamp too. Even knowing some of his pridemates were suspicious of his behavior. It was easy to side with Arufu, he was the one who was here.
"Well, you've done a very good job," she said, looking back up to his face, "I would never have guessed you lived in a swamp if you hadn't told me."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:38 pm
Arufu puffed out his chest a bit, happy that someone agreed that he looked clean. It was hard to deny. Especially with a pretty female saying so.
"Well, thank you," he said with a laugh. "I appreciate it." He glanced at her again, remembering that she wasn't at home in the rogue lands either.
"Did you decide to take a short break from your pride, too?"
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:42 pm
She would have been happy to stay off topic of her home the entire conversation but it was only fair she share her reason for wandering with him after he shared. Unfortunately, there was no good way to say she had to leave before she tried to kill her brother for trying to kill their cousin without making her and her pride look dangerous.
"Yes," she said, her smile faltering a bit, "My brother is a bit of a troublemaker, it's hard to put up with for too long. Sometimes it's nice to get away from family drama."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:44 pm
"Ah. Family." Arufu didn't have too many problems with his family, but...well, he had no idea where his mother was, and he didn't know his father. "That is understandable. I don't fight much with my siblings, but then, I don't feel terribly close to any of them either."
He shrugged, his purple mane shifting with the movement. "I think everyone has issues with their family. Taking some time to clear your head is always a good start to solving a problem, right?"
If only Arufu knew how correct he could be on some on some of his points.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:53 pm
Aysu wasn't sure she felt close to any of her siblings anymore, either. Her relationship with her brothers had taken a hit when they overreacted to her pregnancy but it had mended.. now she wasn't sure she'd ever forgive or trust Yareha and knowing everybody else seemed to be perfectly fine with it was infuriating. Maybe she was biased by her relationship with Mazin and the fact she was a witness but she didn't think without that her opinion would be different.
"So very true," she said with a sigh, even the presence of an outsider seemed to keep her calm while discussing what was much more emotional than she let on. But it was threatening to bubble back up.
"Let's not talk about that anymore," she said, shaking her head like her worries could be shaken from her mind, "You were walking before I interrupted you, would you mind if I joined you for a little while?"
She had no idea where he was going but she had no idea where she wanted to go, she just knew she wasn't ready to go back home yet.
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