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 Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:56 am
((players: alpaca chobi and graceangel))
It had been quite a long and tiring day. Well, actually maybe it had been almost a few days. She hadn't slept since the nap before Moke arrived. What with a hunt for food, the incident with the hybrid; it all left her feeling quite ready for some downtime. As it turned out, with the hybrid leaving, she didn't have to take the parts of meat she prepared for travel anywhere. Instead she ate more of what wasn't packed, but she pushed what was packed under a rather sturdy tree in the nearby. She had found one with a gaping hole at it's bottom. It was probably big enough to sleep in, but with the air feeling mild and pure. It was definitely a night for sleeping under the stars.
She went to climb it, and she paused halfway up. She turned and called back to Moke. "I'm gonna go up here and relax. Come if you want to." She grinned a slightly mischevious grin, and then she was quickly up into the arms of the tree. She found a spot that several thich branches crossed. That would make a nice little net to support her. It was big enough to support Moke too if he came up. She walked in a circle in that spot a few times. Her paws pressed into the tree's arms kneading away at it. Once she found just the way she wanted to lay, she sank down. Her eyes watched the night sky with its stars popping out. Her tail slipped between two of the branches. She wondered if it were a good idea, but maybe it'd look like part of a snake to unobservant passerby's.
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 12:33 pm
The two travelers had a very annoying run in with a hybrid. One that Moke was sure if he saw again he'd kill with out a second thought. Just thinking of that Drusus just made him want to strike something. How dare he inquire about his business. One thing Moke had trouble dealing with were emotions. Namely emotions of embarrassment. Rather than deal with emotions he would go straight to anger and lash out at the cause. This time it had been Drusus who had embarrassed him quite a bit with the teasing. But a female voice came along and tugged him out of his thoughts. Moke looked up to find Imbali giving him a mischievous sort of grin which caused his ears to flatten on top of his head. Moke was very under experienced when it came to women so a lot of times he had no idea how to make heads or tails of a situation. Yes, deep down the more animalistic side of him self wanted Imbali like animals do, but the more sophisticated side kind of stupefied those urges and instead confused Moke. She was attractive, no doubt about that. But it was a little embarrassing to just out right admit that. Did he have feelings? Moke wasn't sure. But he did have urges which he kept in check. Imbali was the first female he'd really tried to get to know after all. Besides their relationship was pure business in his mind. A little unsure of him self the young male followed after the female. Drusus had confused him beyond words and his thoughts were still very much scrambled.
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:56 pm
When Imbali had heard him close enough, she reached an arm down to help him up the rest of the way. When he had made it on to the branch, she curled her tail around one of his rear ankles. "Come and stargaze here with me."
She was really only just sharing something she would do on her own with him. She had no romantic intentions at all. She generally wasn't overly given to those sorts of notions in general. She found females who succumbed to that also ended up being quickly the victims of having big families and a loss in personal freedoms. She was not at all interested in having that happen to her. Not having had any meaningful relationships at all in her life helped root those view points. Any sort of biological clock ticking was always shattered by channeling the energy into combat. She'd use it to spurn her take down of prey.
From time to time, she did enjoy the temporary company of another individual. Thus far, Moke had turned out to be fine company. He could take her hits from their first meeting. That was a plus for him. If she wanted to get aggressive, he wouldn't be a crybaby about it.In fact, to her recollection he had stayed with her the longest of anyone so far. That was rather remarkable to her. Why not risk allowing this to be a tad more personal.
"Moke... so where did you come from anyways? Like... Before you happened on me by that lake? Are you just a traveler like me in the roguelands? Or, are you just visiting from one of the prides who inhabit lands all around these rogue parts?" Her tail uncurled from him, and it wrapped around her hind thighs.
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 10:26 pm
Graceangel Today turned out to be a busy DMV day for me x DD Sorry for the wait. Moke followed her to the top of the trees. Star gazing. He'd never really taken part in such a juvenile activity since , well , ever. It seemed like such a waste of time. Stars. But if Imbali wanted to do it than he didn't mind. Still he felt a little off of him self being around a female for as long as he had. Females in his pride weren't dismissed completely but the males usually were favored at least in terms of Thona's children. He'd been raised along side his brothers and not his sisters. Sure his mother had some to do with his raising but the majority of it had been his father. "..?" Imbali's question had Moke turning his head so fast he risked whip lash. "You.. Why would you care about that?" He was more interested that she asked the question then anything. " I mean would it matter if I came from a pride? Are you from a pride?"
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 10:50 pm
Imbali's eyes flashed at seeing his quick movement. Did she strike some sort of nerve? Interesting. She'd file that away in her mind somewhere in case it became useful. She looked at him very evenly with a few blinks of her eyes.
"I ask because I am curious about you. I mean... I'm not often inclined to trust others really. Others are unreliable. You know who I can truly count on? Myself. That is a fact which I know for one hundred percent certainty. You just never know out here. There are rumors those devils from wherever they come from pop up around here sometimes. We hear of cats from the firekin lands. Some of their slaves from time to time turn up free felines out here in roguelands. You just never know what the story is behind anyone you meet out here. There are lots of us who just have always been here, but there are also many who come from other places. Some of them return to their original homes. Some go to find new ones. To assume anything about anyone is nothing short of stupidity. In case you haven't noticed, I am not stupid. Vain, sure... Stupid? I think not...." Her last statement hung there for a second.
She exhaled a relaxing sigh before rolling over on her back. She stretched an arm out to gently bat at the end of Moke's tail. "I am not from any pride. At no point in my life that I have recollection of anyways. I suppose it's not beyond reason that one of my parents could have come from one; though I cannot say I even have any remembrance of either parent. I guess I don't have a lot of early memories. As long as I can remember, I've always been out here surviving. Roaming freely."
Talking about it made a part of her realize that perhaps there was something ultimately tragic that surrounded her birth or the reason she had both no parents and no memory of her childhood. Repressed memories perhaps? She found those sorts of thoughts exceptionally dark, and she had no interest in going to that place of herself. If her mind shut it out to protect her, then she'd let it remain so until such a time as she might be confronted with it. She preferred to stick with the here and now. She smiled thinking about the here and now. It was peaceful at least for a moment. She gently pawed at one of her own feet.
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:11 pm
"Parents, " Mokes head dipped down some. He had those and both were alive and well. He'd never felt that emotion of love for either of them. Depended on them both, sure, but it was hard with his family. A lot was expected of you especially if you were a male. Mokes tail flicked. "You probably didn't miss much with your parents," He sighed deeply his tail twitching from side to side as he thought more on the matter of parents. "At least if they were anything like mine." What he was saying was completely heartless but the leopard didn't care. To him it was the truth. A loving family was not what he'd describe his own as. His whole family seemed either distant or at each others throats, there wasn't a whole lot of love there. "I do come from a pride but I'm not out looking for slaves to take back. I actually don't know why I'm out here with you if you want the truth." He looked at her with his deep cold blue eyes. His head turned to the side, "I guess I'm just out here doing what I want. I mean my freedoms never been restricted where I come from but..." He looked up at the stars for a moment. Really more so that he didn't have to look her in the eye as he spoke, "I wouldn't call it the friendliest place. You're either tough or you're nothing."
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:22 pm
She rolled over and once more again. She nuzzled up to him on his shoulder to comfort him. Apparently talking about home was a touchy topic. Had he been touchy about everything all this time because of having a bad family? It was interesting a great deal to her, but she didn't want to cause him discomfort. That notion made her wonder at herself. Usually she did actually like to cause others discomfort sometimes. It was a vague way to amuse herself as she often lacked proper socializing.
"Ok. Don't worry... we don't have to talk about your family then. And, good for you... you ditched their sorry boring asses then. You're out here embracing life. This life out here.. it's free. There's noone to rule over you. Noone to boss you around. Sure... there's lots of everyone here. Still.. it's not so bad. Those who decide they need something more go off to visit the various prides. I mean... there are some families out and about in the roguelands, so if you really wanted a family, you could have one here. I mostly stick to myself. I guess it's probably just because there's always just been me; but you can be my wingmate ok." She gave him a gentle playful shove into his side with her paw without any claws sticking out.
"I sure hope I didn't go and make you all depressed. You're not suddenly spiralling into a sea of depression... right?" She was just making sure. And, then she asked herself.. why was she even making sure. That was dumb. Why is she having all this cutesy cutie pie disgusting dribble coming out of her mouth. Well, she had said it all, and it felt ok to say it. Still, something inside felt incredibly vexed and perplexed. She felt like maybe she should be fighting herself; only just she just didn't feel like it. She was enjoying this too. Who knew it wouldn't be so bad having someone around.
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:56 pm
Moke didn't budge when Imbali set her head upon his shoulder. In fact he did the opposite and stayed perfectly still as if he was a statue and listened to her while she spoke. "Wanted a family, " He frowned. "Who would want one of those? I'd be a fool to father cubs." And stick around hung in the back of his mind. There was no reason he could enjoy a night and ditch. But in all honesty, that wasn't him. That was something his father might do or some of his pride mates but not him. Some small part of him couldn't do that to a female. He'd just rather not know. But Moke was sure there were no sired cubs of his lurking in the rouge lands. "Depression?" That gave Moke quite a deep throated chuckle. Anger problems were one thing but depression? He'd never thought of him self as depressed at least. "I am sure I am not," He smirked. But deep down he did feel a little off. Moke wasn't about to admit that to anyone though not even him self. "I guess I did lie though. Some slaves would be nice, " He yawned, "But I dont think I'd take them back with me. I don't really honestly know what I'd do with a slave if I ever got one."
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 5:25 pm
Imbali watched him a little and then moved around to shred her nails against the tree's trunk. "Well, maybe the day didn't go as either of us would have expected, but in the end, we got to have as much of that buffalo as we liked. AND!! That guy did leave. At least, it seems like he left. I guess we'll know for sure when we set out again. If he resurfaces within a day or two, then he might turn into an issue."
She then stretched a little as she was winding down and feeling almost quite ready to fall asleep. This was a safe place to sleep. Also, she hadn't slept this close with anyone before. She hoped it would be ok. She wasn't one hundred percent certain, but her gut instinct made her feel that it would be fine. She sat up a bit and rubbed the top of Moke's head with the heel of her paw. "Good night my friend. I'm beat, so I'm calling it a day."
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 5:44 pm
It was true that at the very least that hybrid was gone and that was a start. "I suppose you're right. If he turns up again I will kill him." And Moke meant it. Killing an annoyance wasn't something beneath him at all. No, Moke had never killed any one in his pride or even something lesser like an out sider, but he had killed jackals and other smaller creatures for the mere crime of being an annoyance. If this hybrid insisted on being an annoyance the leopard would have no problem putting him in his place in the great circle of life. Moke yawned when she yawned. He was pretty tired too. His eye lids were heavy as were his limbs. With out a word he started to doze off beside her.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 6:30 pm
It was hardly dawn out. The sun had just barely touched the darkened sky with the rippling of gold and white rays of like streaking the morning sky. This immediately woke Imbali up. She looked to her side to see Moke sleeping what seemed like sound asleep. She decided not to wake him, but she would go see about this herself. When she was almost down the tree, she paused and peered around. She saw a pile of bones and some pieces of torn fur on the ground that were the remnants of yesterday's kill. Just as she had assumed; the vultures, hyenas, and wild dogs had all come by taking what they wanted of what was left. Now, nothing was left but some small bit. She suspected eventually other wild dogs or hyenas might pop by to take the bones back home. Maybe some lion out there who used bones in crafting in attempts to create their little lion villages. She grinned to herself. What a lark. She found that type of thinking a little silly, but hey.. if it made them happy right?
There was the soft and subtle sound again that woke her up. What was that. She had to go see. She would never get back to sleep if she didn't seek this out. If it was anything smaller than herself, she was gonna kill it for sure.Thus she had wandered off some ways. What she found surprised her. Well, if it wasn't her old little friend, Almassi. Imbali snuck up behind her and then pounced her. Her pounce was followed with a rather hefty bop to Almassi's head. She talked quietish as to not wake anyone who would be sleeping nearby. She tried to whisper yell at her servant. "There you are! You had me worried sick about you all day yesterday. Why did you go so far? Do you know we took down a water buffalo yesterday. You missed it. Great meal.. now you get to starve for being insulent."
Imbali sat there both happy and relieved. Her servant was back. She could return to giving orders and indulging her selfish whims. She then stopped to listen to Almassi's tale about being chased about some brush by a few hyenas, a wilddog, and almost getting squeezed to death by a snake she hadn't noticed when stepping on its tail. Imbali had wanted to yell at her some more, but she decided to go easy on the little girl this time. She then also had that strange sensation again. What was it with her? Was she growing soft? What on earth was causing this? It had better stop before she ruined herself. She then told Almassi about her new friend Moke. She also told her that Almassi would temporarily be obligated to cater to him as well until they could find Moke his own servants.
Finally, by several hours later in the day and a stop at a cactus they opened to drink from. They returned to the tree that Imbali had left Moki sleeping up on top of. She called softly up for him. "MOKE! Hey guess what... Moke? Wait here Almassi, I'll go wake him up and bring him down." However, she was surprised and a little dismayed at first to find him not there at all.
Imbali hopped back down the tree quickly. "Huh. I guess he went on his way. I won't begrudge him. If I were to skim anything from what he revealed to me; i'd guess his freedom is still fresh and newfound. He can enjoy it. I wonder how to find him though. OK, Almassi... I guess you just got lucky. You won't have to cater to him at all unless we happen on him again. Just... if we see him, keep in the back of your mind. Well.. unless he's found his slave..."
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