[PRP] Fleeting Sanity (Rizardon/Velsignet'gatskap)

[Painted Moose]

Velsi had been feeling like a ghost as of late. Without the support of her family she had been lost in herself, but there was a larger part that had been pulled in by the connections she had made here. She had never seen so much snow in her life! The setting certainly was frigid enough, but the individuals she spoke with were anything, but.

She had stayed warm in her snowy den until the last of the rain had passed, and now freely migrated across the ground. It was weird, feeling such coldness beneath her paws after the burning intensity of the sands she had been born to. Burning like the glares I get. Yes, why she had been greeted warmly by some upon joining, others had turned to her with disdain. Prejudice against her coloring, as if she were from the same taint as the Queen. Bah! What was so wrong with the way she looked?

Snorting, she kicked up a big spray of slush and stomped off towards the lake.  

[Lithiasaur]

Painted Moose

Rizardon had been out and about for some time, and he was glad to be heading back home. Sure, it was getting colder and colder, but he had come to really like that cold, and his fur just did not feel as cozy without the cold chill blowing against it. He had a thick coat, anyway, and did not find himself too well suited for the warmer areas of the rogue lands.

He had enjoyed his outing, though, as he had gone to a place called the Pridelands, and he had a lot of fun making new friends and helping a young lion deal with some anger issues.

He saw something splash and looked toward it, seeing someone who did not look as happy to be home as he was. He frowned, confused, and moved to follow after her.

"Are you okay?" He called, padding up. The big red lion was a bit dumb sometimes, and relied on his strength more often than his brain, but he did have a soft heart, and hated seeing a lady in trouble. Or whatever might be troubling this one. He was not sure he should be jumping to conclusions, but she certainly did not look happy.  

[Painted Moose]

Lithiasaur

Velsi's fur was growing thicker with every passing day, but so was the chill. She suspected that after being in the area for a few years it wouldn't bother her as much. As it was she kept herself moving, using her boundless energy to keep herself warm.

Awkwardly turning to meet the speaker, Velsi quirked her brow before lurching forward in a silent laugh. It was a natural response. He stuck out as much in this snowy environment as her blue father had in the desert sands. The thought should have made her nostalgic, but she couldn't break away from her amused thoughts long enough to feel sad.

"Yeah. Well, more or less." She shrugged her shoulders. Some of her snappy attitude was coming back. No matter how good a moment was, it wasn't enough to drag her from her funk. "Hey, here's a question; when you look at me, what do you see?" She didn't say it in a cross tone; more of a probing, curious voice.  

[Lithiasaur]

Painted Moose

The big red lion tilted his head at the smaller, white furred one. Her pelt color was fairly snowy, and he knew that some lions in the pride felt they were responsible, somehow, for the snow and the freeze. Rizardon chalked it up to his being a little on the simpler side, but he just did not see how a pelt color had anything to do with the snow from the sky or how cold the air was.

Maybe there was a curse, but he was just not the type to be able to believe in that stuff. He wanted to understand things, and maybe if someone explained their reasoning to him he would be able to understand the argument, but he had never bothered to ask.

Let them be grumpy about something dumb, it didn't impact his day to day because he was a servant of the pride, regardless, and he didn't have a snowy pelt anyway.

He did notice she was laughing at him, though, and he frowned thoughtfully. Was he making a stupid face or something?

"I see someone that was laughing at me a second ago, but I didn't tell you a joke. Other than that, I see a reasonably pretty lioness. Why? What am I supposed to see?" At least he wasn't shy about answering questions as honestly as he knew how. For better or worse.  

[Painted Moose]

Lithiasaur

Turning her slender body for his inspection, the white lioness felt more insecurities than confidence when displaying her body as such. She had always been the stalwart one; the leader, the knight, and the victor. Until she came here. There were so many things she loved about her new home, but the bias against pelt color was not one of them.

It wasn't as if she believed Queen Elsa could have caused the blighted cold. If there was a God behind this, how could the mortal queen have been able to channel their gifts? It made no sense!

"I was laughing because you look like the one fire that manages to burn in a tundra. It's very...poetic." Even as she said it Velsi rolled her eyes with a smile. It was something her mother would have called "romantic", but in the broader sense of the word and not just the lovey dovey s**t her father pushed.

Pausing to truly look at him, Velsi felt her heart lighten a considerable amount. She gave him a harsh stare that was only broken with a relieved sigh. "I don't know if you're lying to me to get on my good side or what, but damn if it isn't working. What's your name, anyway? You seem like the type of guy a gal isn't likely to forget."  

[Lithiasaur]

Painted Moose

Rizardon smiled at her and tilted his head. He thought her coat was lovely, and he did not really get why so many others got caught up in who looked like snow and who did not. For him, as long as they were loyal to the pride, that was all he really needed. Everyone should be judged by their actions.

Maybe he was a simple lion. Hell, he knew he was, but he just did not like hating someone without actually having a reason to.

"Poetic?" Rizardon was not sure that he understood poetry. It took him a very long time for him to understand just the basic principles behind an art like ice sculpting, though now he had made a friend in the 'business', and he was happy with that.

"I don't lie to anyone. I try not to, anyway. My name is Rizardon, and I'm an ice carver. I dig out dens. this might be dumb but... I am a little dumb, so that's alright. But what is 'poetic'?"  

[Painted Moose]

Lithiasaur

When he tilted his head like that Velsi's heart gave a little flutter. He truly was a handsome lion; even if he wasn't entirely aware of it. Perhaps she should be bolder in asking him to...? No, surely not. But maybe?

"Hey, digging out dens isn't dumb. It's cool." She smirked at her little joke, reveling in the pun. "And you're not dumb. You're talking to me, aren't you? A dumb lion would have passed me by and would have been too stuck up to act like I wasn't cursed." It was true, too. Really she didn't understand the whole coat concept, either; the Queen was a wonderful lioness, as pretty as the sky even and in Velsi's eyes she was pretty damn blessed. "My name's Velsignet'gatskap. Velsi for short. My brother got to name me, and he took it a little far. I'm a Fisherman, so no wonder I haven't seen too much of you." Or seen him at all, really. She didn't tend to notice others if they weren't in her daily routine.

Pondering on his questions, Velsi bit her lower lip for a moment, and started to explain. "Poetic is being mindful of using poetry and...Well, it's like magic, but with words. Almost like singing too, except you're just talking. My mother described it as looking at ordinary objects as if they were Gods and Goddesses. I'm not really too sure on the whole concept myself."  

[Lithiasaur]

Painted Moose

Rizardon smiled. He did think he was pretty cool, but not many tended to agree with him. He was generally considered slow or stupid, which he was in a way, but he felt he deserved more credit than he got, most of the time. He knew some things, just not about... everything.

Okay he did not know a lot but.

It worked for him.

So far.

"Oh, cool," he said, after a long moment. "I get it. Because of the ice. Ha, you're funny. I wouldn't have thought of that." And he wouldn't have. He blinked at her name, though, not catching it the first time and it sort of made his brain stall out for a moment as he struggled to back up and hear it again in his head. Failing that, he was relieved for the shorter version, nodding his head. "It's nice to meet you, Velsi. I think your brother might have been uh. Playing a joke on you. I mean. It's pretty but it's... it will take me a while to remember the whole thing."

He considered her words, then nodded his head slowly.

"Well, I'm not sure about it either, but the way you described it sounded... poetic. So maybe that's the whole point. You're very smart."  

[Painted Moose]

Lithiasaur

It took him a while to get around to talking, which kinda made her wonder if he really wasn't a little slow, but he was cute so he could get by with it. "Yeah? Maybe I should spend more time on jokes, and less time trying to fish." It wasn't as if she hadn't been trying to learn the trade. She really was! Velsi just had a problem with slipping on ice and falling on her face.

Grace seemed to have skipped a generation.

"I'm sure he was. Vittorio's a jerk like that. Lovable, but a typical big brother." She grinned and shook her head. Maybe she should try to contact him now that she was settled? That is, if he had even settled himself. Boys were weird, especially if you were related to them.

Velsi blinked a few times. Then she stared at him as if he had grown a third eye. "Woah, that's not even sarcasm! You really mean it, huh?" Velsi grinned. "Thanks. I've never been called smart before. Annoying, raunchy, a little mouthy, but never smart. I like you, Rizardon. You're good company."  

[Lithiasaur]

Painted Moose

Rizardon was all too familiar with slipping on the ice, but he tended to just power through it while walking. Even though he slipped everywhere and his paws went in different directions, making him look hilarious while he traveled sometimes, he did not let himself get deterred. And he refused to let gravity win.

He was a big lion: falling hurt. A lot.

Her look drew him out of his thoughts, and he blinked in surprise. Did he say something wrong? He sometimes made others mad at him without really realizing, and while he could also deal with that and not care too much, he was enjoying the talk he was having with her and did not want to run her off for no reason.

He needed to get better at the whole talking thing, it seemed.

"You've never been called smart? Huh. Well maybe you're not talking to the right creatures. I think you're smart and it's pretty obvious. Anyway you keep using words I've never heard of, so that's a good sign for it. Hey, you said you fish? How about we go do that, I'm not very good at it, so maybe you can show me some insider tips."

If she needed to know how to dig a hole in ice, he was her lion.  

[Painted Moose]

Lithiasaur

"Apparently I haven't." Velsi grinned. It seemed to her it was a matter of perception as to who was really 'smart' in this case, but it was flattering, never the less. "They're just stuff I learned from my parents. Dad was a..a scholar I think, in their pride before it disbanded. A scribe? Whatever, he did a lot of thinking and healing - s**t like that." Her father was mute, though, so what he had learned had been kept sealed tight until their mother could eventually figure it out by his paw gestures.

"Sounds like a plan to me. If you help me get through the ice, I can teach you what I know." Maybe even get a stomach full, as well. Depending on how much they caught, of course, which wasn't likely to be much. "Just follow me." Velsi nodded her head in a vague direction, and started walking.  

[Lithiasaur]

Painted Moose

"It sounds important," he said, blinking in wonder. He was definitely not made to be a scholar of any sort, but he was alright with that. He was happy in his lot in life, even if he did sort of sometimes wish he knew more things.

Rizardon moved to follow her lead, looking forward to being able to show off his skills a little bit.

As limited as they were.

Once they reached a good spot for fishing, Rizardon stretched out his legs and clenched and unclenched his claws for a while to get his paws loosened up. Once he was done with all that prep work, he was ready to dig them a hole. It was not the most glamorous work, but he definitely liked it. He was able to break through the ice and dig them a large enough hole to fish out of.  

[Painted Moose]

Lithiasaur

"I guess so." She shrugged nonchalantly. Velsi had never really been interested in that stuff, but it sounded nice enough to bring up in conversations with cute males.

Once a nice spot had been chosen, the white lioness moved out of his way to let Rizardon work. Of course her spot gave her prime viewing opportunities, of both him and the digging place. She tried not to make herself too obvious.

It wasn't working.

"Ooh, very nice!" Velsi chirped, moving around to stand at the edge. She rolled her shoulders, shimmying her rump as she lowered down onto the ice. "Now...don't laugh. You have to promise not to laugh. And if I go down face first, pull me up as fast as you can." Her voice was as stern as it had ever been.

Using her claws to steady her, the lioness moved so that one entire foreleg was free above the water. She waited in stillness, flexing her claws when her nerves go the better of her, until a fish passed her way. Before it could escape she shot her paw down into the water, hooked it, and drug the fish up.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

"Get it, get it!" The fish was flopping freely on the ice in a vain attempt to escape the lions. Every time she moved to pounce on it the creature would flip itself into the air.
 

[Lithiasaur]

Painted Moose

Rizardon watched her as she moved to the ice, smiling but getting a little distracted by her movements. She was a very pretty lioness, after all, and he was a male that spent way too much time alone for his tastes. He liked nice company, and she certainly counted as that on many fronts.

She seemed like she was a pretty good fisher, too.

"Oh!"

Rizardon, however, was not. He was too big and bulky for dainty work, and was really only good for digging holes or bringing down large prey. Small, slimy, bouncy prey? Not so much.

Leaping at the fish, it gracefully danced away from him and he ended up face first on the ice, sliding a few feet accidentally and bumping into her because of it. He struggled to free himself from her, wanting to catch the fish for both their sakes now.

"I've got it!" he declared, and was immediately proven wrong as he leaped at the fish one more time, caught it in his paws, then managed to slide right over the hole and lose the fish immediately into the water. "Uh. Well. It was... small... anyway... didn't look very healthy, you know?"  

[Painted Moose]

Lithiasaur

"Omph!" Velsi slid away from him as a result of the bump and struggled to get her paws under her. Her claws were giving her traction to stand, but in her mad dash to catch the fish Velsi ended up running in place. The fish was covering more distance than the Fisherman.

She fell once more, this time on her side. Using her now damp fur to her advantage, Velsi tugged herself to the hole, watching with hopeful eyes. He had it, he really had it! "Aweso- what?!" Sitting up, she could only gape as her catch escaped to frigid freedom. "Oh no...no no no..." She put her paws to her head dramatically and groaned. "Why does this always happen to me? They're going to cut me out for sure now..."

As if just remembering he was still there, Velsi loosened up. "It...it was kind of small, right? Probably better we let it go...it looked like something was on it's scales."