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 Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 5:56 pm
Fireheart hadn't seen much of Vodnitvar as of late, which was disappointing. He had continued to train her for a few weeks before she was appointed Hunt Leader, and she had to start organizing the various hunting parties that went out for food. She was busy, but she loved her position in the pride. She just wished she could have more time to talk with her friend and train more. There was always room for improvement, after all. She decided to take a walk as her duties wrapped up for the evening, as she had missed her morning run on the beach. She was tired, though, and decided to simply walk. Perhaps Vodnitvar would be there...he did enjoy sleeping in the sand for whatever reason. She had shown him the caves where the rest of the pride slept, but he did prefer the beach. A little smile crossed her face as she thought about his rather odd ways, preferring to be alone at night than with others. That was fine, of course. Everyone in this pride was a bit odd. Fireheart settled into a slow pace as she reached the beach, enjoying the sunset that was beginning. Ah, so gorgeous over the water. She let out a little sigh of delight before starting off down the sand, pausing to look for tracks. Ah, a paw print. Good.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:53 pm
A loud snort spread out across the beach, as the large, older lion rolled over in his sleep. The setting sun had felt great against his fur, and as usual he'd succumbed to slumber. He didn't think much of it, but truthfully, the pride was beginning to get to him. Never in his life had he been free to do whatever he'd pleased, and now that he could - well, he couldn't get enough of it! Especially sleeping along the beach, while the sand could be a bother when it stuck in your fur. It also had a very soothing effect, when the sun warmed it just right, it was very therapeutic!
A wave crashed onto the beach, spraying a mountain of mist onto the sleeping mountain. It jolted awake, claws at the ready, his chest heaving in anticipation. OK - so he wasn't completely adjusted to his new way of life, but he was certainly getting there. Attempting to regulate his heart rate once more,Vodnitvar tried to peak his interests elsewhere, hoping to dull the pounding in his chest.
Lucky for him it didn't take him long to catch her scent, unlucky for him - his heart only raced more. She'd sort of grown on him throughout the bulk of their training, and for once he wasn't ashamed to admit it. Though he was saddened that her new found duties had put a damper on their meetings. He rather enjoyed them. Shrugging it off, he prepared himself for her arrival, gently shaking the excess sand from his fur and sitting gently in the sand. His head now trained in the position he expected her to arrive from.
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 6:46 am
Fireheart didn't bother brushing away her tracks as she moved down the beach, to intent on looking for her friend. This was a friendly visit, after all, not a test of skills. She had no need to hide herself. In fact, that really couldn't be further from what she wanted to do. After a talk with her mother, she had come to realize that she had a bad case of puppy love for her teacher. She had kept it quiet from others, too embarrassed to say she had fallen for the very male who was showing her new fighting and hiding tactics simply because of their age. She was so much younger than him, not even fully adult... But of course, that had changed in the past month or so. She had grown into her paws, taken on a much more mature, large stature, and had finally reached adulthood. Now that she wasn't considered an adolescent anymore, perhaps she could peruse Vodnitvar for other things than lessons. She spotted the familiar blue fur against the red sand and water long before she could smell him. The wind was blowing against her favor for the time being, so there would have been no hope of finding him by scent alone. Her heart sped up a bit as she smiled and turned her paws in the direction of the water. "Good evening," she said as she approached. "I thought I might be able to find you here."
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:35 pm
Sure enough, shortly after he trained his head in her direction she appeared. He noticed she wasn't swiping her tracks clean, and mentally chuckled. He couldn't really blame her, he knew she'd been quite the busy bee lately, so she was entitled to being a little exhausted. Besides, she wouldn't be in any danger here, she was home, and he was near. Not a soul would dare challenge either of those factors. He knew that one for a fact, most of the lions around here stared at him with awkward or scared glances. He wasn't really worried though, he expected the stares. Such a battle scarred and bitter faced lion was meant to be feared, and he took a sort of pride in that.
"And you were right again." He smiled fondly, ushering her forward with a gesture of his paw. "Come have a seat and tell me about your recent duties. I'm sure you've got some juicy stories to tell." He grinned an awkward toothy grin, knowing or rather HOPING she would actually take the seat. He was sort of ashamed to admit it, but he'd come to have a certain affection for the female. Something that went a little deeper than student & teacher bonds. Of course now that she was older, he shouldn't feel so ashamed, but at times he still couldn't help but look at her the same as he did when he met her. An eager to learn lioness, just beginning to grow into her own. But looking at her now, he had no doubts that she had left her youth behind, clearing the way for a lovely lioness. The thought alone made his paws clammy and his heart began to beat a little faster.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:57 pm
Fireheart had to chuckle quietly as Vodnitvar spoke. Right again...she had seemed to pick up very quickly on his lessons, and whenever she was right he seemed to harp on that. Not in a mean way, of course. In a teasing way. And to be honest, she kind of enjoyed it. She was thankful that the sun was setting to hide her slightly embarrassed expression. "Oh, there haven't been many exciting things," she said with a sigh as she sat down after the blue male offered. "I suppose the most exciting would be the other day when we took down the huge male wildebeest...an adrenaline rush for sure. But other than that..." She shrugged. "We live in a peaceful area. I just have to keep my skills sharp in case something does happen." Fireheart paused for a moment before glancing up at the older lion, a little smile on her face. "But you...I'm sure you have lots of stories. I don't think you've ever told me one about your past victories." If he was a past general, he must have quite a few. You didn't get that high up the ranks without doing some amazing things. "Why don't you tell me a few stories?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:05 pm
It was a slight disappointment for him to hear that she hadn't gotten the excitement she'd been expecting. But in a way, he was relieved, excitement meant possible danger, and well, while he would be proud of her for doing her duties, he really couldn't imagine how furious he would be if something were to happen to her. But he needed to shake off those thoughts, else she might catch on. She was quite a quick learner, he knew that, she knew that, anyone with a brain knew that! Attempting to focus his attention back on Fireheart, he found it increasingly difficult. She was smiling at him, and he could just feel his face curling into a dopey smile. Dopey smiles weren't for warriors, they were for lovesick pansies. "Wazzat? Stories?" He held back his frown, and tried to focus beyond the female before him. "I suppose I have a few, but do you really want to be bored by old war stories?" He grinned a toothy grin, before letting it disappear. He knew her answer already, but he was still going to taunt her a bit before giving into her request.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:16 pm
The dopey look on Vodnitvar's face nearly made her laugh. The normally serious and sure lion looked oddly adorable like that. She had to tell herself to hold her ground, embarrassed to find that she wanted to move a bit closer to bump her head against his. Oh dear...perhaps what her mother had told her was true. She had talked with her a while ago about the funny feelings she had whenever Vodnitvar was around and had been told she liked him. Well obviously, she thought. He was nice and funny but serious at the same time, incredibly smart, handsome, kind, handsome....wait. Then she had understood what her mother had meant. Now she understood even more. Now that she was older she was starting to explore this side of her a bit more, taking the time to think about her mentor in ways that weren't strictly as a teacher. "I won't be bored of them!" she said, her tone shocked at the suggestion. "How completely ridiculous of you to even suggest that!" She swiped at his front leg lightly with her paw, giving him a little smack to be so crazy as to suggest that. "Tell me a few. You've been here for so long and never even told me one."
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:30 pm
"Are you absolutely suuuuuure?" He teased, falsely contemplating whether it was something he should do or not. He tried to contain his laughter at her playful anger, but he just couldn't. She really was adorable, and she was even more so when it looked as though she wasn't trying. He playful swat only forced him to chuckle more as his taunting became more progressive. "Hey now, violence doesn't get you anywhere ...." He paused a moment contemplating that ... "Or does it? Hmmmm I can recall quite a few times when brawn was better than brains..." The teasing, while fun, could only last for so long, and he knew that. "Alright, lets see. I could tell the one about the time I saved an escaped female from a Viking. Or I could tell the one about how I got my scar .... OR Even one about my first hunt..." Quiet contemplation wasn't really his thing, especially when he was doing it on purpose. "Decisions, decisions, decisions...." Peeking up from under his eyelids, he winked quickly at Fireheart, wondering how she would react to all of this torture. SilverLutz DERP! It would probably help if I remembered to quote you XD
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 6:02 pm
"I'm positive," Fireheart said as she got comfortable in the sand, looking up at the blue lion with wide eyes. She felt like a cub again. During festivals and special times during the year, the cubs would always crowd around the story tellers and listen with wide eyes and open ears. As Vodnitvar went through his story list, her ears pricked up at the second one. She had always wondered how he got that scar...it was obviously still painful and affected how he walked, so she was curious to know about it. "That one," she said, putting her paw down in the sand. "The one with your scar. You've always said you'd tell me 'later'. Now is later." She smiled up at him a bit, both curious and a little scared. Vodnitvar was a great warrior, after all. Something that could do that much damage should be looked out for. Depawsit It does help, yes >XD;;; -draws-
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:06 pm
Well she had him there, he did like to put her off about that story. But he couldn't really blame himself, it was a very touchy subject for him to get into. But he had never intended not to tell her, he had just planned to put it off as long as he could. Now here she was anxiously expecting the story, and he really didn't want to let her down. "You're sure then are you?" He laughed at her anxious and excited appearance. "I warn you, it may sound interesting but its really quite dull. And i'm not storyteller either!" He paused a moment, allowing his words to sink in. Vodnitvar really didn't want to get her hopes up, about an amazing story. Especially when he so badly wanted to get closer to her. He inhaled a deep breath, preparing himself for what could turn into a long story. "It seems like so long ago, but really it wasn't. I was at the height of my leadership, held in high esteem among warrior's of my pride." He was trying not to come off as completely self centered - but also really wanted to make himself shine. But, he wasn't doing a very good job of finding a nice balance. "We'd been at a high state of alert for a while now, a pack of hyena's had moved into our territory and had decided to claim it as their own. My King wasn't very happy with that idea. For the most part, they didn't seem hostile, just very territorial. They wanted the land and that was it. But then, they began to grow in numbers. What had once been a waiting game, was now slowly escalating. Our cubs were coming home injured, or not at all. Our prey were moving on, fearful of the expanding predators." He paused again, coming out of his glazed over look to take a quick peak at Fireheart, was she still interested?
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:21 pm
Fireheart nodded eagerly as she got comfortable on the sand. With the sunset behind him and the waves creating a nice background noise, she felt like it was the perfect time for Vodnitvar to shine. He didn't seem to like talking about himself, which was a shame since she enjoyed learning about him. Every little detail was tucked away for later use. As he dove into the story, she paid close attention. She wanted to know every little thing about what had happened. A smile stole over her face as he started with a little bit about his status. Height of his leadership...it was incredible how those few words made her heart leap. This was a great lion before her, strong and powerful and smart. It made her want to bow her head in respect and lean in to nuzzle him at the same time. Weird emotions. Vodnitvar continued and started to get to the conflict of the story. Fireheart's ears pricked forward in interest as he went on, her claws digging into the sand just a bit. What beasts...harming and probably killing little cubs! "Brutes," she murmured quietly as he paused, her tail swishing slightly. "I wouldn't stand for that. I'm sure you didn't, too." She could tell where the story was going, but she didn't want to assume anything. Surely Vodnitvar would have tried to drive out the hyenas.
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:53 pm
He wanted so badly to smile at her words, but he needed to remain in character. To keep her interested in his story, and ultimately in himself. "Various attempts at peace were made, but these new additions to the pack pushed for violence and dominance. My King wanted immediate action, I was one of the few who agreed. Most were weary of what our actions would do for our young. What if we were to lose, or be infiltrated?" Vodnitvar paused a moment, thinking over his next words. "I assured them we would be safe, that no harm would come to our pride. We were a proud pride, and nothing could take us down. So we planned our attack. It was a simple assault at their most vulnerable point." He winced as he thought back to his next bit of story. It really was the most painful part for him. Why wouldn't it be, it was the climax after all. It was what she'd been waiting for, but now that it was here, was he really ready to tell it? "The problem was, they hit us first.
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:11 pm
As Vodnitvar continued, Fireheart sat up a bit straighter. She could tell that the meat of the story was finally coming. Her claws sunk a bit further into the sand at the notion of someone attacking a peaceful pride. She knew exactly what she'd do if that ever happened here. She'd fight, take no prisoners, and protect her family and her pride. It was her duty as a high-ranking hunter to do just that, as there were no guards or warriors here. Surely Vodnitvar with fight by her side, even with his injured leg. As Voddy continued on, her ears fell. This was it. They attacked first. And the outcome was obvious. Well, she didn't know if he had driven away the attack at the price of his health, but she did know that his leg would never be the same after this part in the story. "Cowards," she muttered quietly, kicking a bit of sand to the side as if to bury the stupid animals that had attacked Vodnitvar's pride. She held her tongue after that, sea foam eyes glancing back up at the story teller for the evening. She bumped her paw against his lightly to let him know he could continue. She'd stay quiet.
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:07 am
"I was out on my usual patrol, making sure the sentries were properly rested and alert. For the most part everything was fine, I sent a few on their way. The area seemed calm enough, that a few less sentries wouldn't hurt anything." He shrugged off the comment pretty easily, if anyone were ever to ask he would tell them the same thing. He still had no regret for that decision. "I was alone when it happened, a strange high pitched whine. A mewling. A cub in pain. I knew it had to be one of our own, so many had been turning up scratched and nipped at... but this sounded much more pained. The whines continued as I grew nearer, following the scent of fresh blood. My heart was in knots as I approached the figure before me. It was a cub, covered in blood, in need of immediate medical attention. I grabbed her in my mouth and turned to leave.
But I wasn't going anywhere."He had to stop and take a deep breath. He was getting far too into the story, reliving the tragic events that had cost him his status, but had given him an even bigger opportunity. His claws were unsheathed and now dug deep into the sand at his feet. Releasing a deep breath, he continued. "It was an ambush, at least five of them. their thirst for blood evident in their eyes. The cub's blood wet on their fur and mouths. There was nothing I could do, I was attacked before I knew what had happened. In the mad rush, I managed to release the cub, and toss her a few feet from the scuffle. I could only pray she would be safe.
It didn't take long at all, for them to get what they had come for. They had been sent to take me down, and with one trap they had succeeded. Most of them went for my throat, but I had none of it, my mane was also a significant blessing in that case. But another - obviously the youngest and weakest of the group. He went for my legs. My thinking is that if he could immobilize me, I would be easier to take out. He bit hard into my leg, as I fought the others at my front. His breath picked up as the flashback went on. "My yowls of pain only brought the others onto his idea. They made a sport of it, biting right through the bone, I could feel it snap. But they didn't stop, scratching, biting, rubbing dirt into the wounds. It didn't seem to end. But it finally did, as I gave into their trap, I gave in to defeat." Vodnitvar's voice fell as he admitted his weakness. "I gave in, played dead. I knew my first priority now, was the cub. Nothing else mattered except the pride's bloodline. I took a small glance at her before I feigned death. She had managed to hide herself among some tree roots. A fine place. I knew she would be safe, they wouldn't worry with her much, her job had been done. They only wanted me."His words faded as he sat there, now in another state of mind. He was trapped in his own failure, and all else was forgotten to him. It took a while before he could pull himself from it. "As expected they left shortly after gloating over my body. I stayed down for hours, unsure of what to expect from there. But no one returned. I forced myself to my three feet, and left the last to dangle. I had to get the cub back to safety. As I picked her up on my teeth, I noticed her various injuries, and I lost it. I cried silent tears as I drug her and myself back to our pride. Silent tears for the cub's quality of life. She would be scarred for life now, if she even managed to survive. And I ... I could have prevented that."His story now finished, Vodnitvar returned to the present, inwardly flinching at the horror his story could have bestowed upon his friend. He could only wait now - wait in silence for her response. Would she look at him in horror? Disgust? Anger? Or Respect? No one had ever looked upon him with the respect he deserved. No one had ever told him thank you, for trying to save that cub. No one had ever even told him, if she'd managed to survive.
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:57 pm
Fireheart sat very still as the story began to get intense. She could tell Vodnitvar's mind was back in the moment this whole thing happened, with his tensed muscles and the way his claws were digging into the sand. She had half a mind to reach out with her own to calm him, but she thought better of it. With the state he was in he might lash out at her, and they'd both regret that. As the story wore on, Fireheart could feel her chest ache for the lion before her. She knew she would have done the same thing: cubs were the life of the pride. If they didn't survive, the pride wouldn't. She'd put her life on the line for any one of the cubs, family or not, and knowing Vodnitvar did that exact act made those silly feelings increase tenfold. He was so incredibly selfless it hurt. She winced as he went into detail about how he acquired his wound. Snapped the bone? She was amazed he still could walk today. He must have had a healer to help, otherwise she doubted it would have healed as good as it had. Fireheart couldn't help but wonder about that poor cub...had she survived? For all that Vodnitvar had gone through, she certainly hoped so. As the blue lion fell silent, she couldn't help herself. It was obvious the story still hurt him to retell, and she doubted he had ever received a positive reaction from telling it. She pushed herself up from the sand and moved forward, tucking her head under Vodnitvar's chin and pressing her shoulder against his chest. The contact made her stomach twist in a way it had never felt before and her whole body felt hot. "Thank you for telling me," she said quietly, closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy the contact. "That...gods, it takes a very special lion to sacrifice himself like that for a cub. I can't tell you how...how proud I am just having the privilege to know you. I can't believe you were punished for what you did...without you she surely would have died. At least you gave her a fighting chance."
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