[PRP] Temporary Solace [Fashaq, Myrnh, Mpapuro]

[oo Ded]

The sun had only recently risen. The air was still cool and dews spotted the grasses. The morning light was soft against what seemed like endless grasslands. Against the soft, organic shapes of plants shifting in the faint breeze, the lion's form was stark with bold and abstract shapes that shifted with each step.

"There's nothing here," the blunt and somewhat irritated voice spoke form behind him. A pale lioness followed Fashaq, staying near enough to her brother to where he could hear her but far enough to where she felt like she could actually breathe.

"There is," the lion returned in a passive, rumbling tone. Fashaq stopped his steps, lavender eyes resting on his sister for only the briefest of moments before he looked back to the horizon. A pride. He had heard of it from a passing lion a few days ago. It was a friendly one. Or so he had heard. The pair had no intention of settling down (if they were, it certainly wouldn't be a place such as this). But it would be good to stop somewhere where they weren't in the middle of nowhere alone.

Anywhere friendly was a decent enough place to stop when you're being followed.

Myrnh turned her nose up and gave a breath of annoyance, a wrinkle forming in her brow. Still, she stopped her movements when her brother did. These past few days it felt as though she was following his lead. The lioness didn't like it. Her pale eyes looked towards the horizon. No, she didn't like it at all.  

[mouselet]

The sun-furred Huntress was making her way slowly but surely towards where two lions stood. Two? That was a surprise. She hadn't been able to judge the time of day very well, but since one of those was the lion she had seen, Mpapuro was clearly not that far off in her original estimate.

"There you are!" she called out cheerfully, coming close. "I was starting to think I'd have to wander all the Rogue Lands to find you!"

She convieniently forgot that most people were unlikely to have seen their future lover ahead of time if they'd never met before.  

[oo Ded]

Myrnh's eyes immediately darted towards the bright lioness as she called to them. Speaking to them… as if she knew them? She was sure she'd never met the stranger before, and unless Fashaq had started to keep secrets from her…

Pale blue eyes swept over to the lion's form as Mynh narrowed her eyes to her companion, her voice coming out as a displeased hiss as she spoke. "What are we doing here, Fashaq. What did you see?" It wasn't unusual that during their travels, out of the blue Fashaq would take over leading. After recognizing some landmark, she was sure. Some landmark neither of them had actually seen before, but that the lion had still recognized.

Seers. The thought of her brother using the power that he and their mother possessed irritated her to no end. Fashaq, unsurprisingly, didn't respond to her questioning. That was answer enough for her and, quite done with the situation, the lioness turned and moved away, only muttering a "find me later" before she was out of earshot.

If Fashaq cared any for his sister's moody tantrums he certainly didn't show it. His eyes didn't move from the lioness that approached him as Myrnh sulked away. His expression stayed blank, his form rigid and his head tall. His tail brushed through the grass once before resting at his side. "My name is Fashaq," he called to the nearing lioness. And he left it at that. No further questioning as to what exactly her words meant. He already had a feeling to what she was talking about, and left it to her to continue conversation.
 

[mouselet]

"And I'm Mpapuro!" the bright lioness replied cheerfully. She looked over towards where the other lioness had been. "What about your friend? What's her name? Why didn't she want to stay?"

Well, okay, maybe she also knew what was going to happen here. But there was no need to get right down to business. It wasn't polite. Besides, Mpapuro enjoyed talking to people and liked meeting new ones when she had the chance. Not to mention that she hadn't Seen the lioness and was curious about her. From what she'd glimpsed, the other lioness' fur was as striking as the male's, though in a different way. Such a pity that she'd left.  

[oo Ded]

"Myrnh, my sister," he responded, his tone a low and velvety rumble. Fashaq looked her over and did his best to soften his expression. The effort didn't go far, though. Instead he continued, letting loose a breath that sounded vaguely like a sigh. "She doesn't play well with others, I'm afraid." The lion met her eyes with his own gaze, thinking about their current situation. She seemed to be expecting him, something he could only attribute to having abilities such as his own. And yes, the lioness before him seemed vaguely familiar. Fashaq was a decent enough seer, but his visions came to him only in dreams. Good in that he wasn't ripped from consciousness during times of importance to have body wrenching visions (he had heard from his mother that he had an aunt and uncle with such conditions). His visions weren't hampering, but at the same time they didn't stick well. He recognized this lioness and this place, but in a way that felt like grasping at a dream that had already half-faded.

"What is this place?" he asked, his eyes moving towards the direction from which Mpapuro had come.
 

[mouselet]

"Yes, but what's your sister's name?" the lioness prodded. All he'd done was make some unintelligible noise that males seemed to prefer to silence when they had nothing better to say. At least he hadn't cursed or sworn. But that was beside the point.

"It's a shame, I'd've liked to meet her. Maybe later?" Mpapuro suggested. Afterwards, who knew? He was an attractive lion, sure, and that voice! Gods, she could feel a thrill running through her fur already at the sound of it. How lucky for her!

"Well, these are lands unclaimed by any pride," the Huntress explained in answer to Fashaq's question. "I'm from the Pridelands of course," she gestured vaguely over her shoulder in the direction she'd come from, "which is a rather large pride. But I left a couple days ago to come here." The Seer offered no explanation for why she'd come. It was obvious to her of course, and she tended to forget that what she saw was not what most others saw. But those who did know her tended to simply smile and nod at whatever strange things she said and did.  

[oo Ded]

Fashaq opened his mouth to correct her—to politely inform that no, that was his sister's name, but he deemed the explanation not worth the effort. Instead, he returned the lioness' suggestion with a nod and a look that could be called a smile, but only barely so. "Maybe later," he affirmed, his voice quiet.

The lion shifted to look towards the direction she gestured as she spoke, closing the gap between them as he did so. Fashaq, though he was one that often gave particular mind to what some might call a 'personal bubble,' didn't seem to mind the close proximity in which he stood beside his new companion. He listened as she spoke, and when she mentioned leaving a couple days ago his smile marginally grew. Ah, a seer indeed.

"Days ago, hm? And what for?" He asked the question though he had a feeling that he knew the answer. For some reason the lion didn't mind being close to her. Didn't mind her suggestion of 'maybe later' that implied they were to be in each other's company in the present. He couldn't place the reason for the feeling. He didn't remember the particular details of the dream that had slipped away.
 

[mouselet]

Mpapuro grinned up at the lion as he promised she could meet his sister later. That would be so much fun! And then she'd get a good look at the other lioness' pelt. She was already looking at Fashaq's, seeing the markings that she'd know very well one day...

"Our children, of course!" the Huntress answered as if the question had been so obvious that no one in their right mind would bother with asking it. Smiling up at the male, Mpapuro took a step closer so that the tips of their fur were brushing each other.  

[oo Ded]

Fashaq had been in the middle of taking a breath. He'd been in the middle of thinking over this whole situation. In the middle of trying his best to figure out exactly what was going on.

He hadn't expected her to give him the answer. Certainly not that… well. Directly.

The breath he was taking in was choked on and Fashaq faltered. Eyes darted to her and, in a feat that was accomplished infrequently and much to the lion's dismay, Fashaq looked bewildered. "Our…" His eyes narrowed and he looked perplexed. Our children. He didn't need to repeat the lioness' words. He'd heard her clearly and he knew it.

"So you've seen them?" he asked, trying his best to quickly adapt and gain his composure. He hadn't met a seer before who was so… direct.
 

[mouselet]

"Well, sure!" the lioness replied happily. "They look a lot like you, and a bit like me, and somewhat like my parents...but that's what you'd expect, right?" Mpapuro asked after rambling on for a bit about her vision. Then she smiled more smugly than before. This was all nice and fun, but if there were going to be cubs, they did have some work to do.

Rising up on her tiptoes, the Huntress stuck her cold nose into Fashaq's ear, following it up with her tongue. Withdrawing the pink appendage, she whispered, "But they're not here yet to interrupt us."  

[oo Ded]

Yeah. Yeah, that's what you'd expect.

Fashaq considered her. Well, she was an attractive lioness. And she was a seer. He didn't know of that meaning anything for any future children they would have, but there was potential. Besides, it wouldn't hurt for them to have allies in this pride, right? It was large pride, she had said. Well, it wouldn't hurt.

She was coming on to him, and he didn't really know how to react. He'd never been in a situation that was so straight to the point. But the more he thought about it, the more the venture seemed... well. reasonable. And besides, if she had seen their children in a vision (and he didn't doubt that she did), what was the use of fighting fate.

The brief smile grew slightly and his gaze softened. He turned his head to her, cocking it to the side a tough. "Indeed not," he murmured low, "Well, Mpapuro. Lead the way."


-fin