[PRP] Familiar Faces (Primrose and Vukasin)

[belloblossom]

This is an RP between belloblossom's Primrose and Mameha Otome's Vukasin. Please don't post here if you weren't invited. heart

 

[belloblossom]

It had been a long road that Primrose had walked. Her life had never once given her something that she had expected and by extension, was full of both happy and unhappy surprises. It was nice that recently the good had been outweighing the bad, but how long was that due to last?

Her daughters were the light of her lives, naturally, but when Primrose had been asked to leave Auberyn's family herd, she made sure that they didn't feel any pressure to travel with her. She'd be sure to visit, she told them with a smile and so had set off on her own once more. It was lonely at first, being without the constant company of the herd or her daughters at her side, but she was doing well enough now, coping with the waves of various levels of nostalgia.

Today she was travelling up a rough mountain path, not actively wanting to seek out a crowd of Soquili, contrary to her usual moods. She wanted to take time to reflect on her imprisonment at the Carousel. She had often thought of her departure as an escape, but she had taken recently to thinking of those she had left behind. She thought of one face in particular, a stallion that had disliked his Carousel experience perhaps more so than she did. They had initially bonded over this fact, but had come to become close friends over the seasons. She hadn't even thought of him when she made her escape. She wondered if he hated her for it. Maybe he had been able to escape too, maybe even on the same night. Or maybe he was still at the Carousel with the others she'd left behind. The thought made her heart ache with guilt.

"Oh, Vukasin..." She sighed. "I do hope you're alright."

Mameha Otome

 

[Mameha Otome]

He scraped at the ground, around the roots of a tree, digging up several small plants and rocks. Bark flaked off the base of the tree occasionally as he claws struck it. He paused for a moment to look around at the rest of the trees around him and sighed in frustration. If he was still going to be seen and treated as a walker, he was at least going to make the area look like one currently lived there. That might at least deter anyone passing through...for a few days at least. Then it would be time to move on again. He continued until the poor tree resembled the rest, then retreated back into the bushes nearby to lay down for a while.

"Hopefully tonight no one will show up here...maybe then I can finally get a night to relax." Vukasin mumbled to himself, casting his gaze out toward what little horizon he could see across the path. He couldn't deny that he was thankful to be free of the hell the Carousel put him through for too many years, but he realized he was also alone now without a friend in sight. He barely got to know more than a small few, but those he did...he cherished with all his soul. Their company and companionship offered freedom from the terrors wrought upon him with each show.

"I wonder how many of them got away..." He pondered aloud, still gazing off into the distance. "They all deserve to be free...no gentle soul should be part of that place..."[/size

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Primrose was so lost in thought that she wasn't paying attention to the scenery around her, so much as the ground in front of her paws. She couldn't afford to trip and fall without anyone around to help her if she got hurt, after all, which meant looking out for snake holes or unsteady ground.

It wasn't until she heard a voice up ahead that she looked up and actually noticed the trees around her. Her muscles bunched up instinctively as she observed the scenery around her. The ground had been torn up here and there and roots of trees had been torn. What kind of creature could have done this? Wait...

Putting out one of her own paws against an upturned root, she observed the claw marks that were similar to her own. Not quite exactly the same, but certainly similar. Was there another pawed Soquili nearby? Her ears perked up with interest. The mare had heard of skinwalkers, naturally, but the voice hadn't sounded particularly evil.

So, taking a leap of faith, she approached further, turning around a corner and coming to a halt. She stood so incredibly still, one may have thought she'd turned to stone, until she finally found it in her to speak. Because it wasn't a skinwalker she found before her nor a stranger, either. In fact, it was...

"Vuka...?"

Mameha Otome

 

[Mameha Otome]

Vukasin was just beginning to lower his head for a bit to try and get a short nap in when the faint sound of someone walking caught his attention. No one was honestly stupid enough to still come investigate all the damage he did, were they?

The walking continued. They were. They really were. He quickly pulled himself back on his own feet, ready to defend himself should this encounter turn south, much like the rest had. The stallion kept looking in every direction in front of him, but it was the voice from behind that left him feeling like he was dreaming.

"Prim...?" He questioned, slowly turning his head to look at her. "Is this really you and not a cruel joke or nightmare about to turn on me?"

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Primrose couldn't stop staring at him and she was only vaguely aware how she must look, eyes round and jaw hanging, but when he spoke, she couldn't help roll her eyes a little and giggle.

"You always did have a darker sense of humor than I. Though I suppose it was appropriate at the time." She made a sound that sounded somewhere between a laugh and a choked sob as she sprang forward, her paws landing just in front of his and she pressed her muzzle into his shoulder. He was still taller than her, despite the growing she'd down over the past seasons. He was still the same stallion she remembered... Wasn't he?

"Oh, Vuka, I never thought I'd see you again! I mean, when I left the Carousel, I was so close-minded, I just ran." She babbled. "And then I realized I was free, but I didn't know where anything was, so I tried to go back, but then everyone was gone! I couldn't even find the Carousel! I thought... Oh, Vuka, I thought you were gone too and..." Oh Angeni, now she was crying, but that didn't stop her from sidling up against him and leaning against him, her paws gripping the terrain beneath her. Goodness, she must look like a mess, but she didn't care because finally, finally here was someone who knew her and understood what she'd gone through. Finally, here was a familiar face.

Mameha Otome

 

[Mameha Otome]

Vukasin couldn't help but tense up instinctively as she first pressed her head and face against him. It had been so long since he had felt another's touch that wasn't meant to harm that he couldn't help it. He stood in silence, letting her babble on, getting it all out as a faint smile crossed his features. He could feel his muscles slowly relaxing the longer he stood with her. It wasn't much longer before he pushed into her a bit, lowering his own head around her neck.

"Prim...thank everything it's you..." He murmured, letting her have her moment. "I wasn't sure if you had gotten away or not, I'm glad to see that you did. By the time I got out of their grasp, I couldn't see anyone else around. I had no idea what had happened..." He pulled back slightly to smile down at her again. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this way. Happy, sane, safe...so much was going through his mind now.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Primrose breathed to calm herself down, until her tears reduced to sniffles and she was able to tilt her head in a way that she was looking up at her friend. She listened to him with rapt attention and perked her ears forward.

"I still don't know what happened to the others," She admitted. "But I felt the change in the air-that's honestly the best way I can describe it," She added with a one-shouldered shrug. "It was like the pull to stay with the Carousel, the pull that stayed whether I actually wanted to stay or not, it... it lessened. As soon as it did, I just bolted until I couldn't feel it at all." She sighed. "It wasn't until later that I realized I didn't have a clue where I was or what had happened to anyone else." She blinked her magenta eyes at her friend. "Which brings me to the question: what happened to you, Vuka? How did you manage to escape? Was it the same, or...?"

Perhaps they ought not be speaking of the hows and whys in regards to their escape. Primrose was honestly still stunned that she had found her dear friend. Goodness, she had so much to catch up on with him, not even covering the Carousel, but to explain to him that she had daughters... She was sure to get some reaction out of him at that, but the thoughts of her family caused another question for him to emerge in her mind. She had had a family, but was there anyone he'd met in his travels who he'd had... intimacy with?

Later, later. She told herself. One question at a time. Let's not overwhelm ourselves here.

Mameha Otome

 

[Mameha Otome]

Vukasin debated as he listened to her. Something he couldn't help, letting thoughts tear through his mind, despite how attentively he would listen to others. How could anyone feel a pull to stay there after knowing what things happened there? He just didn't understand. They spent so long devising ways to get away, questioning the foreigners and travelers that came to see the Carousel, that it made no sense to him to hear anyone would feel a pull to stay. Was it because of him and the others? He shook his head, becoming aware of her allowing him to speak again with her trailing off.

"Ah...no...I felt no attachment to keep me there. Nothing felt better than bolting that night. I can't deny I didn't even consider anyone else once I started running...and felt awful later about it. Once you have that freedom to go anywhere, to feel new ground beneath your feet..." he shook his head and sighed, looking down at her again. "I had no idea where I was either, at least we know we were both lost and clueless of the new world around us." Another smile for her, he felt she needed to see that along with his companionship.

"...you've at least been well, since you got free, haven't you?" He asked hesitantly.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

So he had left in the same manner she had, had he? She wondered if it was the same night and then wondered still why their paths hadn't crossed. She shook herself slightly. Naturally they would be too busy running to notice or think of anyone or anything else escape escaping. The Carousel really had been a dreadful place, she thought.

His smile brought one to her face too and she smiled right back up at him. She had forgotten how much she'd missed his company. She wished never to part from it again. At his question, she let out a soft laugh, looking away from him with pink tinging her cheeks.

"Well? Yes, I suppose I have been." She scuffed the ground with a paw and then drew back. "Shall we walk? Or sit? I have a feeling my story may be a long one to tell." She asked, looking up at him again.

Mameha Otome

 

[Mameha Otome]

He felt relief upon seeing her smile back, and then laugh. There was that happiness he had missed for so long. With her question, Vukasin glanced around them, he had done quite the number on the area as a deterrent that obviously wasn't going to work if she felt no fear coming into it.

"We...could stay here if you want, or try to find another place before night sets in...?" He asked, looking back down at her and flexing his claws into the soft earth. "I want to know everything...but I also don't want to deal with more trouble. If you weren't afraid to come into the mess I made, who else isn't going to be?" He asked, glancing around again.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Primrose blinked at her companion and tilted her head to one side.
"Do you think we're in danger here?" She asked and looked around. It certainly looked unsettling, what with the claw marks everywhere, but once she had heard his familiar voice, she had to go forward, even at the chance that she would find someone else instead.

Yet, looking at him now, he certainly seemed uncertain and so she smiled at him and continued.
"Vuka, if you'd like to find someplace else to stay, I'm happy with following your lead." Indeed. Now that she'd found him, she wasn't inclined to let him go any time soon and would follow him anywhere.

Mameha Otome

Sorry for the wait!

 

[Mameha Otome]

The stallion glanced around again, slightly nervous at the thought of keeping her out in the open all night. If he didn't think it was safe, it clearly wasn't going to be and it wasn't going to be fair to put her into that kind of danger. Vukasin looked back at her and nodded before starting off towards the trail.

"This way...I know a slightly better place we can talk and spend the evening out of sight. Safer...you know?" He offered another smile and looked back ahead of them. Thankfully it wasn't too far away to a small grove at the entrance to a cave.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Primrose wasn't quite sure as to what Vukasin meant by safer. She had never found herself in danger before, well, not since she'd left the Carousel, that was. The Kawani lands, as she had been taught they were, had been welcoming to her and all of her encounters relatively pleasant. Yet, looking upon Vukasin, she wondered if he had had worse experiences and her heart ached on his behalf.

"I will follow you anywhere, Vuka." She declared firmly. "Goodness knows now that I've found you, I'm not letting you out of my sight." She nudged his shoulder and added in a mock-serious tone, "Whether you like it or not." To show that she was teasing... For the most part.

She was certainly not inclined to see him going anywhere without her and she couldn't think of a reason for him to leave her, after their reunion just moments ago, so she thought it reasonable to remark that they would be staying together for a long while, though a voice within her heart told her that she wished for them to never again be parted.

So she kept close to him as they walked, her coat often brushing up against his as she thought of what to tell him, how to even begin to tell him all that had happened to her and she prepped to hear whatever he wanted to tell her, though from the way he was acting, she suspected it wouldn't be happy news. Again, she felt like crying for him. Her poor, dear Vuka. If she had her way,he would never again experience any sort of pain or despair. No matter what came their way she would make sure he was happy for as long as she was with him.

Mameha Otome