[LOG] Not as young as we used to be (( Caide x Panya ))

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
Panya had been in the Pridelands for a while and yet she somehow didn't feel like she was at home. She supposed that wandering around for the majority of her life made it difficult for her to actually settle down and call a place home. At least now she had such a place but it was getting harder and harder for her to find a reason to stay in the Pridelands. With each passing day she found herself wishing that she could be out wandering again instead of stuck in the Pridelands. Just thinking that right now made her stop in her tracks. She was a foolish lioness. She was accepted into the Pridelands without much of a thought to the young lion who had greeted her. Slowly, she sat down on her haunches and gazed around the lands. She had protection of a pride that had allowed her to make herself home within its borders. She was being a little selfish and overlooking the fact that she was better off in here than wandering around where she could have been killed at some point in her life. She just didn't realize that until now. Closing her eyes, she tried to think to herself that maybe being in a pride was much better than wandering around in the rogue lands.

Caide:
The Pridelands may not have been where he was born, but it's where he settled down and just got so comfortable it was home. He had an ex mate here, children a plenty, but he couldn't seem to keep a mate and he didn't know why. It made the pale lion think about what he was doing wrong, if anything. He knew it wasn't the females, they were lovely and patient creatures, but none of them had felt right. Did he rush into the relationships? Had he ....forced them? He didn't think he did, but he couldn't help it. After the cubs were big enough, the females always left him. Maybe he was selfish, wishing that one relationship would just stick.

Ah, well. He took a deep breath and wandered from his den, shaking out his pale coat from the reddish brown dust that made up the caves of the Pridelands and just wandered out, breathing in the scent. There were a lot of young ones out, giggling, playing, wrestling with one another and it warmed his heart. This was one of the happier prides, from what he new. Tangerine eyes continued to look around as he walked around, just wanting a bit of exercise before they settled on a lioness who looked lost in thought.

"Are you alright...?" His voice was soft, so he wouldn't startle her too much.  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
Panya opened her eyes as she heard a voice near her. She was surprised that someone wanted to talk to her. She gazed around to find a pale lion looking at her. Smiling warmly, she nodded her head. "Yeah. I am just thinking about how great it is to finally have a place to call home," she said in a slightly shy tone of voice. She quickly gazed down at the ground, not really sure what to say next. She had met only a few lions in her lifetime and each time she had never really knew what to say to them after the initial hello. Scratching a claw in the dirt, she wondered if the lion would actually stay and talk with her. "Umm..." she started to say but she paused for a few moments. "So...have you lived in the Pridelands your entire life?" She mentally slapped herself for being too direct with her question. Hopefully he would forgive her about that.

Caide:
That shy tone of voice made his ears perk up and he blinked a little before smiling. "Ah, so you're not from here originally... Much like myself, but also like quite a few..." He nodded a little more before just letting that smile stay on his muzzle. "No. Most of it, but not all of it. I grew up.. Going between prides, honestly. Then I tried to settle in a pride full of mist and mystery, but it wasn't meant to be. So I wandered again and came here. I quite like it. I'm not on edge here..." Caide didn't seem to mind direct questions. It made talking easier. "Ah, but I'm rude. I'm Caideiseach. Caide for short, it's a mouthful." He just grinned playfully at her before shrugging and settling down next to her. He tried to keep what he thought was a respectful distance.

"Where did you grow up, if you don't mind the question?" He looked hopeful to see if maybe, just maybe, they'd crossed paths before. He thought he'd remember that, however, seeing as she had a very distinct coat and coloration.  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
She smiled a little wider as he talked about him not being born in the Pridelands and him being in multiple prides before coming across the Pridelands. She was a little happy that she wasn't the only one who had wandered into the pride and made it home after reaching adulthood. She nodded her head as he introduced himself to her. She hadn't thought of doing that before jumping into a conversation with him. "Hello, Caide. I am Panya."

She tilted her head to one side when he asked her where she grew up. "In the rogue lands. My mother mated to a rogue lion and he left before I was born. It was just me, my mother, and my three other siblings that wandered around the rogue lands. I never got to ask my mom why she didn't join a pride after she gave birth to my and my siblings. She died when I became an adolescent and after that my siblings wandered off on their own, leaving me to wander by myself. I never really got the urge to join a pride until a few years ago. Some of the ones that I joined never really peaked my interest so I left them. I tried joining the North House pride and that didn't really go very well. Another one I don't remember but last I I heard the pride died off." She gazed at him curiously, wondering if he had heard of the North House before.

Caide:
Jumping into conversation was easy to do when one was excited to make a new friend, or to just talk to someone else. He'd been along so long, sometimes he forgot his manners. "Panya. That's a pretty name.." He nodded his head and then listened as she talked further.

They technically could have crossed paths in the roguelands, but has never talked. Then he heard about her mother dying and his ears flattened before he nodded and sighed. "I suppose I'm lucky.. My mother and her twin, my aunt, are alive and well. I think my father is as well, but I don't see much of any of them anymore. Hard when you part ways to go off and have your own family." He didn't seem sad about it and then just nodded a little. "...I've seen prides come and go. Much like the pride of the mist I was part of, with my first mate. She.. was never good at direction and she wandered out one day, on a hunt, and just never came back. The pride just seemed to fall apart during that time and I looked for her for so long, but she never came back. That's when I met my second mate.. We came here, she had a litter of cubs, and things just didn't work out. Alas, here I am." Caide didn't seem too sad about it, after all, he had happy times with both his mates. "Two beautiful litters of cubs. One of my sons came here with me, from my first litter. Poor thing is deaf like his mother, but he's a regular fire cracker!"  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
If she could blush, she would have been beet red by now. "Thank you," she said in a slightly low tone of voice. No one, at least that she could remember, told her that her name was pretty. Not even the random leopards that she ran into while she was hunting.

She pinned her ears slightly back as he began to tell her his experiences in other prides. "I am sorry to hear about your first mate," she said in a somber tone of voice. She knew what it was like to lose someone close but it was slightly different because it was his mate that had died and not his mother. But the pain still stung the same way. Though Panya wasn't really sure if his first mate had died, though losing her and not knowing if she was dead or alive still hurt the same.

"At least you have some family left to count on. I just wish I knew if my siblings were still alive." Hopefully one day she would meet up with her long-lost siblings.

Caide:
He liked flirting. Seeing a female all flushed and giggling made his heart warm up. Maybe he was still young at heart.

When she apologized for his first mate, he rolled his shoulders a little. "Ah, I am as well, but clearly the gods had something else in store for me. Especially with Bahari. My second mate. She was really sweet and just.. Well, I'm sure she's making someone very happy. I'm thankful she gave me my beautiful second litter and I wish her all the happiness in the world." He chuckled a little and just looked out on the lands again, watching the grass sway.

"I'm sure your siblings are alive. Just like I'm sure mine are." He glanced over at her and flashed her a hopeful, toothy grin. "If not, well, you can always make siblings here. Your friends often become your family if you let them get close enough. That's been my experience, anyway."  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
She nodded her head at his words. "That's all the matters in the end," she said in a soft voice. She knew that some matches weren't always made to last but at least he managed to produce some offspring with two mates while she had none so far.

Her ears pricked up a little but when he assured her that her siblings might be alive. "Thanks for the confidence," she said to him. "That is true, though...it is really hard to me to make friends. I'm not really a social lioness."

Caide:
"Even the most hermit of lions and lionesses have some friends.." He said, arching a brow. "Why, you're making one right now, don't you know?" Caide gave her another playful smile and then chuckled and got into a playful stance, swatting a paw in a very cub like way at her before he settled down again. "I might not be the youngest thing around, but I like play and I like friends. If you ever need to just talk, I'm really easy to find. I'm always out an about. You can find me with a male with a bright red mane and pale colors like mine. That'd be my son, Wyoncda. Here's usually a bird around him, acting as his ears."  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
She scuffed her paw on the ground when he explained that everyone had to have at least one friend. She nodded her head at his question."Yeah, I guess I am making a friend." Her smile returned to her lips. "Then maybe I can call Iraeneus a kinda-friend, too. He was the one who met me at the border of the Pridelands when I first came here. Not sure how long it has been since I've seen him. I guess he's been a little busy." She nodded her head again. "Bright red male and pale coat. Hopefully I can meet your son, too. He sounds like he is a good kid."

Caide:
Iraeneus? He hadn't heard of that lion before, but that's honestly not surprising. Caide just grinned a bit more. "That's positive thinking. Keep your head up and you're not as lonely as you think you are. Making friends is easy." Then she mentioned his son sounded like a good kid and he nodded. "Wyconda's... got a mind of his own, honestly. He's a little sarcastic thing, but he's been that way since hew as little." He sighed and shook his head. "Kids, what can you do with them, honestly? He's all grown up and trying to find the one to make me a grandfather yet again. I've got grandcubs everywhere, I swear I do. You've probably got nieces and nephews all around. Just think of it that way." Caide was obviously the kind of lion to look at the more positive side of life.  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
She shrugged her shoulders at the comment about kids. "Love them and teach them to love in return," she said in a cheery voice. "That's the least a parent could do for their child. My mother taught me that when I was young but I never really got the concept of it. I still don't quite get it but at least I am slowly learning to love myself and to get to know what I might like in a mate."

She chuckled a little bit. "Probably. Knowing my siblings, they probably are in a pride and with a mate with at least a litter of children and those children already have children of their own. I might be a great-aunt and not know about it."

Caide:
"There you go, positive thinking along with motherly advice." He gave her a little wink before he stretched himself out, feeling himself starting to grow a little restless. Caide usually wrestled with Wyconda around this time, so his muscles were itching for a work out.

"You can't love another until you love yourself. That's what I honestly believe in. If you can't love yourself, how do you know if you're in love with someone else? Relationships are hard, sometimes very tiring, but ultimately, I believe once you find that one you're meant to be with, it's worth all the pain you went through to find them. That someone you're just comfortable with. The one you're willing to expose your whole self to and just.." He shrugged, not knowing how to phrase his words correctly. "You just... I think you'll just know that they're your soul mate." At least, that's what he came to understand from his mother. Ah, who knew? Caide's relationships were all failed and he still tried to keep positive.  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
She noticed him stretch out and she slowly got to her feet. "Do you want to take a walk for a bit? My legs could use the exercise." She waited for him to reply. She didn't want to seem rude by walking away from him without him agreeing to the walk first.

Her breath got caught in her chest. Lifemates were considered rare...at least that's what her mother told her. Her mother had thought that she had found her one true love but he had vanished without a trace when she had become with child after a one-night fling with him. She never loved another lion again after that. It was like her heart was broke after what that lion did to her. She vowed to teach her children to get to know a lion before sleeping with him and Panya took that advice to heart.

"I hope you are right about knowing who your soul mate is," she said to him. Hopefully this unknown feeling she was having about Caide was the right and that she might get closer to him and to get to know him a little bit more before confirming her thoughts about these feelings.

Caide:
Walking! Perfect. He nodded and then stretched himself once more before he started off at a slow pace in the direction he had been walking.

Lifemates were hard to find, but he believed they were out there. His tail flicked this way and that before nodding a little. "I believe I am. It'll just click. I've talked to a few elderly couples and that's waht they've said happened. They just... fell in place and never parted ways after that. I think it may take one, maybe two life times to find your soul mate, but ... They're out there. Maybe if we stop looking and just live, they'll find us." He grinned a little and just looked back at her, jerking her head.

"Come on, Panya. Let's go explore these lands we call home."  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
She followed a few seconds behind him, with her walking a few steps behind his head. She was happy that he had accepted the offer to walk for a bit. It got her thoughts off of the unusual feelings that she was feeling at that moment.

"Yeah, maybe one will come if we do stop searching for our one true love. I wish your son the best of luck in his search for his lifemate." She sighed softly to herself, wondering if she would be able to find the right mate. She had thought she did a few times but nothing really clicked. But with Caide...she felt at ease with him for some odd reason.

"That sounds like a good idea, Caide. Exploring these strange lands is the best idea that has been thought so far today."

Caide:
"Mmn, I hope him all the luck. He's a wild one, but..." He rolled his head and just grinned. He got that from some of his uncles. Caide certainly wasn't that wild while he was young. Or maybe he got it from his mother. He really wasn't sure anymore.

Walking side by side with her was easy. It left him with a relaxed feeling and he could honestly find a friend in her, he thinks. Anything more than a friend would be explored slowly, if she showed any interest in that. He wasn't going to pressure or rush things. After all, love wasn't something you wanted to rush. The consequences were bad.  

[Bronze Coffee]

Panya:
"Some lions are like that. Then there are those stubborn ones that won't change their minds no matter what others say. It all depends on their personality and how they handle finding true love." She wished it was true for her or else she would have found the right lion to have as a mate by now. At least now she had one true friend to rely on to talk to whenever she was feeling low...at least she hoped that she found someone to talk to when she was feeling that way.