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 Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:32 pm
It was early in the morning, right about dawn, and already there was a lion awake and moving around. It was Ashki, and he moved and sat near the edge of Pride Rock, watching the sunrise. He did this almost every morning, his time alone having given him the time to notice and appreciate the true beauties of the world. He had seen the sunrise once and instantly fell in love with it, getting up early every morning to watch it.
The sun already half way up, he sank down to his belly then rolled onto his side. The rock was cold from the night, but it didn't bother him much. Nothing really bothered him anymore, not now that he had found Kit and this wonderful place. Everything had turned out perfectly. Kit had said that the lions here would accept him, and that's exactly what they had done.
Sighing happily, he lifted his head to look off towards where Kit would be sleeping. He couldn't see her, but he figured that she was still soundly in dreamland.
Smiling to himself, the purple male rested his head on the rock again, eyes hardly blinking as he watched the sun come up over the horizon.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:05 pm
A soft purr sounded from behind Ashki as Kit padded up to his side. "I've been wondering where you've been going ever morning," she said softly, still half asleep. Plopping herself down at her friend's side, she lifted her muzzle and followed his gaze, up to the sunrise. In an instant she was awake, in awe of the beauty right before their eyes.
"Wow," she whispered. "I've seen sunrises before, but that..." She trailed off, her eyes lit up by the soft pastels tracing through the sky.
Kit remainded silent, her body pressed lightly against Ash's as she watched the sun rise through the sky.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:20 pm
Ash smiled as his friend noticed the sunrise and seemed just as awed by it as he was. "Isn't it beautiful?" he asked, his eyes watching her for a moment before they went back to watching the sun. "I've been watching it for a long time now, even before I met you. But I think it's best from up here."
When he felt her body slightly against his, he blinked and glanced over towards her. Even though she was a good friend of his, he still felt awkward. All that time training as a slave had never prepared him for this sort of stuff, like interaction with other lions and everything like that. It was the reason he was so shy and clumsy all the time.
Feeling incredibly strange, he flicked his ears nervously as he watched the sunset. Finally, he decided to take his mind off of it by talking.
"I've always missed the sunsets, though. I'm always doing some thing or another and I've never gotten a chance to really see it. I think I'm going to try and catch it tonight." He paused for a moment to look at Kit again. "Care to join me?" he asked hesitantly, a churning feeling in his stomach making him a little sick. Was this good or bad?
Feeling embarassed, Ash looked off towards the sunset again. "But if... if you don't want to it's fine," he added afterwards, feeling like he might be pressuring her or something.
Nervous as all heck now, he merely looked down at his paws. He really needed to work on his people skills.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:35 pm
With a smile, she listened to Ashki speak awkwardly. The young lioness was incredibly patient with the adolescent, knowing that it must be hard to revert from his old ways. As he finished, she chuckled softly, leaning over and licking his cheek. It was something she had grown accustomed to doing, both as a reassurance towards him, and because she (rather secretly) found his embarassed reaction to be cute. Even if she was too young to truly be having feelings for someone, she had grown attached to the male, and considered him her best friend at this point.
"I'd love to!" she replied brightly. "It's been a while since I enjoyed the sunset, and it's always nice to have company."
She looked back to the sky, where the sun had breached the horizon and was now lingering just above it. "I was thinking, Ashki... we've been here for a few days now, but we haven't really gone out and looked around. Want to go exploring today?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:41 pm
Unknowing of the female's secret feelings, Ash felt like a complete idiot when he had stumbled over his words and spoken them so hesitantly. He knew that she was patient with him, but he couldn't help but feel like he was letting her down somehow, not being able to come out of his shell so easily and everything. Yet then Kit said that she'd love to see the sunset with him, and suddenly he let out a sigh of relief.
"Good, I'm glad," he said softly, glancing at her for a moment before looking back at the sunrise. The sun, by now, was almost completely up, and he felt like he'd have to get up and move around so that he could at least feel productive. So when Kit asked if he wanted to go explore, he smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds good, Kit," he replied cheerfully, rising to his paws slowly then stretching out his forelegs. Once he was done, he looked out over the lands.
"Where to first?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:03 pm
Kit smiled brightly, if not a bit devilishly, and padded past him, flicking her tail against his shoulder. "You'll see," she said slyly, "if you can keep up with me!"
With that, she bounded away, her paws striking the ground quickly as her slender legs carried her across the fields. The wind caught in her fur and she lifted her muzzle as she ran, relishing the sense of freedom. Her tail was held almost straight behind her, lifted by the air that circled around her as she ran. Only occasionally did she look over her shoulder to make sure Ashki was following; she was confident that she wasn't going too fast.
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Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:11 pm
Ashki gave a lopsided smile as his friend tapped his shoulder with her tail then suddenly sped off. It was early, but already he was ready to go out and run, play a game or two with Kit.
Narrowing his eyes playfully, the male quickly bounded off after her, his pace an easy, gentle one as he kept up with her. He wasn't about to pass her or overcome her at this point; right now he was just enjoying the freedom of the plains and the wind whipping through his almost-fully-grown mane.
"You'll have to do more than that to lose me!" he called to her, laughing slightly as he ran nearly next to her.
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Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:42 pm
Kit smirked at him, her green eyes shining playfully. With every step she took, she became closer and closer to Ash until their shoulders brushed. It was her way of "pushing" him aside without actually pushing him. As soon as their fur touched, she leapt aside and dove into a large myriad of bushes that seemed to be hiding something.
"C'mon, Ash!" she called, shortening his name for the first time. "It's right back here!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:51 pm
Ashki ran beside her, taking her on stride for stride. Yet when she suddenly leaped off to the side and into some bushes, he did a double take, his mind not registering that she had gone off somewhere. This caused him to trip over his own paws and go tumbling head over heels a few feet. He stopped with his legs all jumbled and his 'mane' all in array.
Groaning, he slowly rose to his paws. "Kit?" he called, lifting his head and looking around. He hadn't remembered where she'd gone off to.
"Where are you?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:07 pm
Blinking, Kit stepped out of the bushes, her fur now dripping wet. She shook herself off, though retaining some moisture in her fur, and padded over to him, pressing her nose to his cheek. "Are you okay?" she asked in a tone mixed with worry and amusement. "It sounded like you fell."
Her green eyes were wide and she tilted her head slightly, her tail swishing behind her. "I wanted to show you the watering hole," she finally said. "It's just behind that hedge." Grinning, she looked down at her damp fur. "The water is nice. Not too warm and not too cool! Are you up for a swim?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:20 pm
Ashki folded his ears back in embarssment. Wasn't it the males who were supposed to be strong and never fall down and look stupid all the time? Wasn't it the males who looked after the females? Feeling as if their roles were oddly switched, he averted his eyes and lowered his head slightly.
"Yeah... I kinda tripped," he admitted, for some reason feeling bad that he should have to. Normally he wouldn't care. He was just a slave, right? Then why did he feel like he should act brave and strong for Kit?
When he heard her mention water, his ears perked slightly and he looked off towards where she had indicated. "Water?" he repeated, tilting his head in slight confusion. He didn't think lions ever really liked the water. Or, at least, the lions he had been around in his life hadn't really. Maybe Kit was just different.
"Uh... I guess I could try. I've never really been swimming before." Blinking a few times, he soon rose to his paws and craned his neck a little, as if trying to get a glimpse of the water. Would he like it?
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:19 pm
Kit smiled, missing the fact that he was embarassed. His reply pleased her and her eyes sparkled mischeviously. "I think you'll like it," she confirmed, before adding as a precaution, "but if you don't, that's fine too!" She bumped her shoulder to his and flicked her tail against his hip in a friendly manner.
With that, she took off at a brisk trot, this time making sure not to lose him. The lioness paced all the way around the extensive hedge, finally coming to the edge of the pool of water. In a flash she was in it, splashing around joyfully, her fur darkened several colours darker than it's normal shade. Kit quickly turned and looked at him, an expectant grin on her lips.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:26 pm
Ashki nodded at his friend, reminding himself in his head that he should keep an open mind. This whole water thing might not be such a bad idea, despite all of the things he had heard from other lions. Maybe they had just been wrong about the water.
Determined to give this whole water thing a fair try, he followed quickly after Kit. When she splashed into the water, he stopped for a few moments and blinked. Her fur turned darker and looked a little heavier. Definitely didn't appear comfortable to him. Yet then the female turned around and grinned at him, as if coaxing him to get in the water.
Somewhat drawn in by her, Ash took a few steps towards the pool. Eventually he ended up chest-deep in the stuff, the sensation on his belly making him squirm a little. It felt a little awkward, but then again it felt good. The cool water gave him some relief from the heat of the sun on his dark pelt.
"It feels good.." he purred, smiling and splashing Kit a little.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:34 pm
Kit positively beamed, glad that he was enjoying it. When he splashed her, she gave a fake gasp, her eyes widening as though she were offended. The twinkle in her eye gave it away, though, and she swam towards him, pushing her paw to splash him as well. As soon as the water flew into the air, she dove underwater, a steady stream of bubbles rising from her mouth to the surface.
She swam around like a shark, her fur slicked back in the cool water. Kit tapped his leg playfully before darting away like a fish. Finally, out of breath, she rose to the surface, gasping for air and laughing all the same.
"So, you like it?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:45 pm
Ashki's eyes went a little wide when his friend went under the water and all he could really see of her were the bubbles coming from her mouth. He wondered if she really should be doing that. It didn't seem like anyone could really breath underwater.
When she touched his leg, he jumped and whirled around, his eyes wider than before. When she finally came back up, he rushed over to her and looekd her over, checking for anything that might be wrong. Finding her to be fine, he sighed in relief and grabbed onto her ear with her teeth. He tugged and growled playfully, afterwards letting go and hopping away for a moment, a sheepish smile on his face.
"Yeah, it feels good. It's cold and keeps me from overheating in this sun."
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