[PRP] Waiting for the Night (Lailah and Yavin)

[Kimaria]

Evening was creeping across the lands, turning the sky from blue to grey above his head. There might even have been a rather radiant sunset to admire if his view hadn't been blocked by undergrowth and rocks which acted as a rather effective wind-block. So, whilst the view might not have been as spectacular as it could have been, his comfort was guaranteed and, in the hollow amongst the grasses, the young prince groomed his front paws with a casual laziness that hinted towards the stereotype of an 'upper-class' citizen.

The last few hours of his day had spent doing much the same thing. Lounging around, watching the hustle and bustle of others going about their daily business. As far as he was aware none of the hunters or huntresses had brought anything back that might warrant some attention and as for anyone else...well, they were too busy to speak to him, apparently.

Pausing in his grooming, Yavin stretched leisurely, working the muscles in his shoulders and back and then shifted his posture, turning his head to gaze out through the darkening shadows. It was quieter now, anyway. He loved this time of day. The moment when light shifted to dark and the Great Lion began His steady climb up into the sky. No matter how many days he had seen turn to night, the sight was still soothing. Perhaps because he knew that the Great Lion held him in such great favour.

The prince yawned and settled back down to wait for the night.
 

[mouselet]

Ghosting along in the growing darkness, Lailah strode confidently. She was heading home after more lessons with Stellaluna. The white lioness often thought that it was a bit foolish, to still be only an Apprentice even though she was an adult in her own right. But...the pride needed, could only have! one shaman. Two and the Mwezi'Johari would be vulnerable to the worst kind of internal struggles.

Lailah, of course, understood that. And agreed with this philosophy that kept her an Apprentice even now. But it was hard when anyone else her age could be properly called Hunter, Guard, Lord or Lady. She tried not to mind it too much.

Resolutely, she turned her attention to the world around her, rather than her own thoughts. Her yellow gaze fell upon a lion nearby. What made his position worth noting was their proximity to the heart of the pride, where the King and Queen lived with their family.

"Good evening!" she hailed him, heading over.  

[Kimaria]

His head lifted at the sound of a greeting, both ears drawing forwards to focus in on the owner of the voice. A female. Pale as moonlight with a marking fashioned in His image emblazoned on her shoulder. She was familiar. Yavin should have known her name. But he couldn't quite match a name to a face. He briefly closed his eyes as if trying to summon it from the deep recesses of his mind whilst an internal voice told him he needed to get out more. To be fair, he probably did.

Still, deciding he may as well be polite, he straightened his limbs and rose smoothly up onto his paws, swaying his tail out behind him. "Good evening." Came the rumbling response. And, after a moment he took a small step forwards.

"And it truly is a splendid evening. No clouds at all. He will be joining us soon enough." He indicated the sky with the smallest tilt of his head. "What brings you here?"  

[mouselet]

He must be one of the Princes, Lailah was sure of it. One of Selene's brothers. But no one who had been particularly vocal or social, else she would have known him already. To her embarrasment, though the lioness could easily determine what this lion was, she had no idea of his name. Curses!

She nodded in response to his comment of how the moon would soon rise. It was small at this time, a crescent that would grow soon enough as the Great Lion's eye opened wide and gazed down upon His children.

"Yes indeed," she answered. "I was heading home after a lesson," the white lioness offered simply. The lessons were with Stellaluna, and it was not her place to describe their content to any...save the day when she was Shaman and training her own Apprentice.  

[Kimaria]

Well this was...awkward.

How could he orchestrate this conversation so that she gave her name away by accident? Or whether he could at least find out what she did for a living. If she turned out to be a slave then he was being polite for nothing...and that was not a good thought. He was a prince. Not a commoner.

Ah, so she was having lessons. At her age? Wasn't she a bit old for that? He tapped a paw against the ground and tried not to look too distracted by his thoughts. "I trust your lesson went well?" He enquired politely, hoping to glean some more information from that innocent question. "Someone told me that it is good to learn something new each day. Keeps the mind sharp."

Who had said that? He couldn't quite remember. And what had he learned today...? That he needed to be more savvy when it came to remembering names.

"I was just waiting for the night." He continued. "A shame to waste a clear sky."  

[mouselet]

This was probably the most awkward conversation Lailah had been a part of in quite some time. And she felt so bad about not knowing his name! He didn't look any older than she was, not the way Selene did, so she could guess that they were just that, about the same age. The King and Queen had had a litter about the same time as her mother, or so she'd been told. Actually, Stellaluna had remarked about how surprising it was that it was Aysu's child who had become her Apprentice, when the whole pride had expected a Princess.

Not that there was too much difference there. Or that there was anything to change now. The job was Lailah's and that was that. No way was she going to give it up now! But that had little bearing on her conversation with the Prince and she really had to focus on that.

"It went as it went," she answered. "There are always things to learn, and if not learn, to refine my knowledge of." Every time she and Stellaluna went over some small gesture, some plant, they came away with a better understanding of what it was and what purpose it served.

But all this brooding was getting the white lioness nowhere. She seized on the change of subject eagerly, redirecting this awkward conversation.

"A shame to waste your day, waiting for the night, my Prince!" she chided him with a smile. "For there are many things which are better done in the light, instead of the darkness. Wouldn't you agree?"  

[Kimaria]

Okay. So should he just come out and say it? That he didn't know her name and that he wanted an introduction? No. No. He couldn't do that. He was a prince and princes were supposed to know everyone who was worth knowing. And the familiarity of her markings was driving him mad. A name was so close now, just beyond reach. He grabbed at it and it skittered away, taunting and mocking him. Nevertheless, he was confident that she wasn't a slave, at least. So that was something.

"Sounds invigorating." He smiled, trying his best to sound as if he meant it and failing miserably. He'd thrown out a line for her to catch and she'd batted it away. He was no closer to getting to the bottom of her role. What a bother!

And when she phrased her next question he peered hesitantly at her, as if trying to find some sort of trick underlying those words. What was better done in the day?

Meeting people, he supposed. But other than that? Not a lot, surely.

"An example?" He asked with the smallest of smiles. She seemed to know who he was, at least. He supposed he ought not to have been surprised. He was an important lion, after all.  

[mouselet]

He sounded less than interested in her lessons. Well, that was understandable, given how little she was permitted to say about them. Most of the time they were fairly engaging, but sometimes they were as boring as he seemed to imply. So the white lioness merely inclined her head in acknowledgement of those words.

He seemed willing enough to focus on her change of subject, to the point of asking for an example of what was better done during the day. Hmm...she'd just kind of thrown that out there, but now had to answer. Well, daytime had more light, though the nigh tof the full moon did come close. So what was best done during the light?

"Well, the Hunters can track much better during the day. And the Guards can see farther. There are some plants that are best gathered at specific times - some of those are under full sunlight as well." Others were in the dark of the night, dependent on the phase of the moon, but again, she couldn't say that.

"Oh and travel. Every prefers to leave in the morning, from what I can tell," Lailah concluded with a grin. There! She refused to allow this Prince, whose name she still couldn't recall, to stump her!  

[Kimaria]

Well she was a know-it-all, that was for sure. He gave a short huff and tried to look unmoved by her examples. "I suppose there are some advantages to the daylight." He would give her that, at least. "I don't think I'll be gathering flowers any time soon, though." Yavin almost laughed at the thought of it. Nor was he particularly keen on hunting. Such things were below him, after all. He'd been selected to take on a higher role...

...Though what that was, exactly, wasn't quite clear. Yavin didn't really seem to know the answer to that himself. He'd figure it out one day though. When he took the time to think about it.

"And what about you? Planning any early morning travels? If so, I could suggest that travelling at night could be safer. The cover of darkness..." He trailed. This was...strangely fun. "But that would be me being difficult, so I'll keep my mouth tightly closed on the matter." He smiled that thin smile again. "And when was the last time you took a moment to look up at the night sky, hm?"  

[mouselet]

Well, he'd admitted that she was right. Somewhat. Even if he was making fun of her gathering herbs. Well, hmph! They could wait until he was injured and then how would he feel about herbs as they were used to treat his wounds, hmmm?

And now he was trying to argue for traveling by night. Yes, His Eye was more easily visible then, shining over them, but there were other disadvantages! But the Prince seemed to not want to linger and argue over a topic that they clearly felt different on. Well, fine then! He just didn't want to lose the argument, obviously!

"Two nights ago," Lailah answered promptly. Two nights ago when the moon had been almost completely dark, but for the slightest sliver of the Great Lion's Eye opening. Stellaluna had wanted her to come see it and they had discussed the significance of that time of the moon's turning.  

[Kimaria]

Yavin was not a good loser. That much would become clear to anyone who stuck around him long enough. If he sensed victory sliding out from under his paws, his tactic was usually to change the direction until he was back on track. Much better than tumbling into the hole of defeat and being unable to climb back out.

Her answer to his question seemed to irk him. Two nights ago? Was she teasing him or was she being serious? He arched a brow, staring at her for a moment as if to decipher which of the two it was. It seemed to him that she might have been serious and if that was the case then there would be no opportunity to tell her how blind to the world she had been all this time.

"Is that so?" He replied, trying to look as if he didn't quite believe her. "Well, aren't you a proactive individual. You have put me to shame entirely!" His tail swung behind him as he tried to think how he could get one up on this female. Damn, if only he hadn't been such a lazy a** for...all of his life. He might have had more clout to throw her way.

And right now he had nothing.

"A shame you weren't out the night before that. The shooting stars were spectacular." It was a lie, but it was the only thing he could think of at short notice. He'd have appreciated more of a warning for this sort of competition. Not any of this spontaneous conversation. He needed time to plan!
 

[mouselet]

Lailah's face fell as he spoke of the shooting stars. Why did he have to have been up to see them? The star shower had been very late at at night, the quiet hours, when no one was save those whose duty it was. The white lioness had wanted to watch, but after a long day of lessons, followed by a longer evening spending time with her younger siblings, she had fallen asleep long before.

"I had heard they would be...but I was unable to see them myself," she admitted to the Prince. Then her yellow gaze fastened on his. "Tell me all about it!" the lioness demanded eagerly. "Please?"  

[Kimaria]

Uh oh.

Okay, this was fine. He could lie. Lying was easy.

He cleared his throat and then waved a paw as if suggesting that it was taking a lot to give in to her request. "As you asked so politely." He added, rolling his eyes. "You certainly missed quite a show! There was nothing at first. Just a dark sky filled with unmoving stars. And then, out of nowhere, the first one came. All twinkling and bright. It moved so fast though. I could have blinked and missed it. After the first, there were a lot more. I lost count."

He cleared his throat, falling quiet. Did she want more detail than that. Shooting stars were just moving stars, right? Though why they moved and how, he couldn't even begin to fathom.

"It lasted quite a while. Shame you missed it, really. Anyone out and about would likely have seen it if they had taken the time to look up."  

[mouselet]

The lioness sighed happily as the prince-whose-name-she-still-didn't-know described the shower. Oh...if only she'd been able to stay awake! His recitation was not quite bare-bones, but it wasn't much better and she longed for a more...elaborate and romanticized telling.

"I had fallen asleep!" she responded indignantly when he accused her of not taking the time to look. "I had meant to stay up, but between a long day of lessons and then I had to help my mother with my little siblings who are juveniles and get into the worst trouble...and after all that it's no wonder I didn't fall asleep standing up!" Lailah complained. She supposed she shouldn't do that with a Prince, but her rank was close to his and she felt so very comfortable here, with him. It was all quite relaxing, actually. Even when she was arguing with him or complaining to him.

Whatever his name was.  

[Kimaria]

Perhaps, someday, this certain prince might be able to describe things in a more romanticised fashion. But not this day. And not the day after. It probably would have helped if he had actually have seen them. If he went into too much detail she might realise he had lied and then he'd be back into that hole of failure. He didn't want to go there. Not when he was doing so well.

And hearing her complaining was amusing. Poor thing with all of her lessons and annoying little siblings. Shouldn't her parents be taking care of them? Or was this a usual family set-up? Heck, he had no idea. But it did sound tiring.

"Well there will always be a next time. When it comes around again I'd suggest shirking your duties." That sort of sounded bad, but that was what he would do. Might as well share the knowledge. "The world won't end if you miss a lesson, I'm sure."