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 Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:52 pm
Muujiza was hardly the only thing he had to really consider right now, though. As time had worn on, Juke had been growing more and more homesick. The sea had wooed him at first, capturing his creativity and imagination, fooling him into thinking it was the place he was meant to be. Now, however, every little thing was reminding him of those soft beige grasses, and the songs that only a savannah choir could sing. He missed the birds there and the critters, the bugs and the natives. Wild dogs didn't live by the open water, it seemed; nor did antelope or warthog for that matter. The beach was a paradise, but too much of paradise was a bad thing. He felt that if he didn't get out soon, he'd explode. Yet, Muujiza was here, and so happiness was here. He couldn't leave her, not now. Not after everything they'd been through. With his thoughts once again focused on his favorite green lioness, he bobbed his head once again, humming a happy tune.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:05 pm
Only now that she thought about it did Muujiza realize that she and Juke had come to this seaside paradise quite some time ago. It was everything a paradise was - peace, gorgeous views, the enchanting sound of waves slopping against sand. But there was something that was not quite right about the place, not quite perfect, and as long as that something was off the place wouldn't be complete paradise for the strange green lions.
Perhaps something to go over with Juke.
Ah, Juke. Every time she thought of him, it reminded her that she hadn't seen him for quite some time. Perhaps that was what it was. She didn't see Juke now as often as she had grown used to over their days of travelling together. There were long spells of time when she would only catch a glimpse of him but she hadn't really talked to him in some time.
As she wandered down toward the beach, she wondered what else there was to say to him. He was the one lion she was closest to in the entire world, and that of course made him all the more special to her.
Jiza's paws touched the beginnings of the beach, her paws sinking into the light dry sand as she drifted off with thoughts of Juke and the savannah, which she, realized with a jolt, she had come to miss reasonably much.
Her wanderings drew her along the beach, on which the green lioness had taken to strolling. And then, as if by magic, there he was. Juke was there! By the vacant look in his very posture, she could tell he was thinking. In his presence, she could hear music in her ears, more melodious even than that of the ocean, and perhaps that of her beloved leaves.
"Juke!"
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:13 pm
As he sat, a few new notes came to the song that surrounded him. They were odd, the kind of notes that you don't really expect to go together, yet when you hear them it sounds so enchanting that you can't help but nod your head and hum along with them. It's that sort of catchy song, that once in a life time unique melody that hits you deep in the soul, grabbing your attention and demanding it's undivided affections. It was fierce, yet at the same time, it was relaxing and soothing, chasing away all of Juke's worries for a few moments. He sighed, visibley calmed by it. Some creatures might be so lucky as to hear such a song once in their lives; he had the privelage of being graced with it when he happened to run into his good friend. He needed more, though, and he knew how to remedy it. As her voice floated on the salty sea breeze towards his white tufted ears, the male turned his head in her direction with a smile. She had an uncanny way of showing up when he needed her. There was so much to talk about, but at that moment none of it seemed to matter. Only one thing was important, at least for the moment: he hadn't seen Muujiza in a little while now, and had missed her. Looking into those bright yellow eyes, he said, "Jiza." In a swift movement, he was on his feet and moving towards her. After the few short paces, he rested his head on her shoulder blades, taking her into a warm, feline version of a hug.
He kept the embrace for a few moments longer than was customairy for two friends greeting eachother, and then pulled back, an unmistakebly pleasant look on his features. Everything about him echoed his happiness about seeing the green lioness. That funny tingley feeling was back again, and his face felt flushed. Luckily, blue fur covers up anything that might show he wasn't a calm as a cat. Just seeing her was good enough for him, but in the back of his mind he knew there were a few things they needed to talk about... and one very important thing he needed to tell her. As his thoughts dwelled on his conversation with one of Nkechi's new cubs, he searched Jiza's yellow eyes, as if they might hold a hint about how to go about it. Her out there personality, however, always threw him off a little. It might be frusterating to some, not knowing the reaction that was soon to come. Juke, however, foudn it to be one of the many things he loved about Jiza. Her unique personality was probably what made her solos so incredible, though. That was it! The music! She could hear it sometimes, he was certain. They could dance. A slightly smug smirk coming to the male's face, he looked around to see if they were alone. "Want to learn how to dance?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:07 pm
She returned the embrace, breathing in deeply the scent of him, perhaps simply because he was Juke, and when she went for so long without so much as seeing him, something had to be done to refresh the memory. Oh, how he looked like the sea. The very thought brought a smile to her face. If ever they were to leave this seaside wonderland, she knew that the very sight of Juke would be enough to bring it all back, and now she knew - it would be okay for her to leave such a place to return to the savannahs she greatly missed, okay for her to leave paradise, just so long as Juke was there.
In her days spent on the beach, she had often tried and failed to imagine life without Juke. She thought back to the days when she had lived alone, scoffing at the thought of feline company. But something about Juke had changed that, and it was during one of these failed attempts that she had realized just how much she depended on Juke. The steely blue lion had somehow wrought himself a place in her heart, which previously had been closed to the world around her.
She hardly noticed that they had held the embrace a little longer than what would have been done with simple friends, for when Juke was around, time seemed to stop. He had that effect on her, or perhaps any other lion, she couldn't be sure. Only that he did have that effect on her, and time was nothing but a faded memory.
"And I'd thought you'd forgotten!" Jiza laughed. Could there be a more perfect place to learn to dance? The lull of the ocean made the most beautiful music.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:43 pm
In actuality, Juke had been thinking about their dancing lessons quite a bit. He had tried to come up with the perfect time and place to do it, but had always come short. Now, though, with his acceptance of his feelings and the need to talk over so many things... it just seemed that dancing would help relax them, make the conversation that was to come easier. Besides, if what he wanted came true, it would be one of their lasts days in paradise. At least, physical paradise. Life with Jiza always by his side sounded like the absolute perfect way to remain happy. Love is the closest thing any creature can get to mental paradise, and Juke found that to be far more appealing than lounging on a beach with the gulls over head and shells all around. As long as he had that bubbly green lioness with him, he'd always be in paradise. Especially if they happened to find their way back to the savannahs he still called home in his heart.
Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, Juke shook out his muscles. "Close your eyes and listen to the music. Just listen." He breathed deeply again, exhaling slowly, relaxing. "Let it control you. Don't just hear it, see it. Watch the notes move around you." There was a warmth in his voice that only came from talking about the things he loved. "When you get to that point, just let your body react. Start with your head, maybe a few patters with the paws... just let it take control." As he said it, his head was bobbing, his tail swaying. When he stopped talking, he started humming lightly, instinctually. His paws started shuffling a little. Before long, he was practically tap dancing through the sand, twirling here and there, as if in a mixed up waltz.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:07 pm
Jiza shut her eyes, her ears turning toward the sound of the rush of the sea, the gulls. For a moment their music had been overpowered by Juke's, but slowly, it came back, gradually melding into the music that positively radiated off the steel blue lion, although it remained a cool background to the notes that she heard from Juke.
Just listen... And for the moment she did precisely that. She let the music flow into her ears and fill her. It was everywhere, and everything, painting pictures of joy and freedom in her mind. Pictures of the fish in the ocean, and the scream of the seagulls as they winged through the skies.
See it... See the music. Somehow, through closed eyes, she knew where Juke was, she instinctively she turned her head toward him. Instantly, the music changed. Juke's solo swelled and the sound of the ocean died away to nothing but a disregarded background music, and in her mind she saw Juke, smiling, and she could almost see the notes, faint shadows that floated past across her mind, darkening the image of Juke wherever they went.
Remember Juke's instruction, she relaxed into the flow of the rhythm. Her head, her tail, paws, moved instinctively to the sound and time of the music, the gentle oceanside beat that was both familiar and exotic, and before long she left all control to the music.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:27 pm
Almost cautiously, Juke opened his eyes a little as he waltzed around, shuffling sand. He watched Jiza move to the beat, a faint smile on his face. Slowly, as if not to alarm her, he moved closer to her, only lightly brushing her paws with hisas he moved to the music beside her. In a lion sort of way, he danced with her, keeping his eyes open. It was the first time he had ever danced without keeping them closed. Usually, he liked to watch the wild colors that raced under shut eyelids. At that moment, however, a much more appealing sight was before him, far more appealing than watching the music fly around him. When he looked at that green lioness, though... the music seemed to still move around her, as if it loved her as much as he did.
"You're good at this." There was a tone in his voice that had not been there before. It would've been unmistakeable to those who know the emotions gentley rolling through him at that moment, but to anyone who hadn't heard such a voice, it could've just come off as a bit different. He'd have to talk to her soon about leaving this paradise, but he didn't want to break the dance just yet... Just a little more time. Until they got tired and had to rest, that would work. Then he could admit to her what he had realized while speaking to a little native cub, and ask her if they could go back home where the music was familiar and friendly.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:35 pm
She felt a paws just slightly against her own, and she could tell that it was Juke. Together they shuffled through the little waltzing steps, and she wondered if the music would break if she opened her eyes. Slowly, she opened them, to see Juke before her just as she saw him in her mind. If anything the music seemed to grow clearer, stronger, as she gazed into Juke's pale eyes. Music danced in them, loud and clear, twinkling, and she smiled.
"Am I?" She grinned. "If I knew how to tell, I'd say you are too." She would learn to tell, she knew, but at the moment she was completely new to it all.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 6:32 am
A smirk came to him as she said it, but he didn't comment. Instead, he continued their little waltz for several more moments, loosing his thoughts in the music and company. After a while, though, the ideas and topics that he had to talk to his lovable green lioness about crept into his mind, telling him that no matter how much he was enjoying himself, he'd have to end it shortly. After a few more happy moments, he slowed down his movements, until he had come to stand almost still, his paw once again touching Muujiza's to tell her they had to stop. The only thing left moving was his tail, which still swayed slowly to the beat. "Not that I want to stop dancing..." He falshed a half hearted grin, torn between just keeping the dance going and doing what he really had to do. His mind raced for a few moments, trying to settle on which topic he should start on. Maybe he should get bussiness out of the way and cautiously hint at leaving paradise.
Walking to the edge of the dry sand, just above where the tide rolled, the blue male let his body flop on the ground rather ungracefully, but he seemed comfortable. His tail wrapped around him to gently pat the sand to his immediate right, hinting that Jiza should join him. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about..." He looked around them for a few moments, taking in everything as if it would be the last time.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:34 am
She had come to know Juke so well that the slightest of his movements indicated something for her, something that she understood perfectly well, so that they were able to communicate without so much as words. If any other lion had touched her paw as Juke did during a dance, she may simply have mistaken it for clumsiness, but somehow, even as his paw moved toward hers, Jiza knew that he had something more important than a simple dance, and gradually, she pushed the rhythm away, smiling. "I know," She said with a small nod, that seemed to say that for Juke, she would do anything.
The green lioness followed just beside Juke as he walked along, and stopped when he flopped unceremoniously onto the sand, shaking her head with a small frown. "Juke, the sand," She said exasperatedly, although her eyes glittered at the joke, and without waiting for his reply she settled her rump down into the sand beside the blue lion.
She had known all along that he had something important to say, although for the life of her she had no idea what. The sharp yellow of her eyes searched Juke's pale ones, as if seeking an answer to the mystery that lay before her, unfolding itself in his pauses. Her eyes followed his gaze as it swept the beach around them, as if he were saying... good bye. And all of a sudden, an inkling of what Juke wanted to say started to form in Jiza's mind - or at least a part of it - and she embraced what was coming, sitting and watching him with a gaze that showed obviously the affection she held for the lion sitting before her.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:48 pm
The little butterflies flitting about in his stomach vanished entirely as his eyes settled on hers. In that brilliant yellow, he saw the undestanding and what he thought was a playful affection, though he couldn't be sure. Deep down, the small warm wave that washed over him whenever he thought of her swished around lightly, as if to roar up again. That talk, however, was for after the more important one. His tail tapping the sand behind them absent mindedly, the male let out a deep, rumbling sigh. "I can't stay here." As he said it, he knew it wasn't entirely true. If Jiza had wished to live out the rest of her life here, he was sure he would find a way to survive in the sand. He wouldn't neccesarily enjoy it, but at least there was music and a certain green lioness here. The silver lining to every cloud.
Turning his thoughts back on the important conversation, he looked back into the striking eyes. "I miss home. It's nice here, but I miss the old songs." He waited for a reaction. Even though there was a flicker of doubt in him, he was almost sure he knew what was coming. Almost. That was the thing about Jiza; he could be almost sure of what she do or how she would react, but there was always that little bit of doubt.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 7:47 pm
She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Juke wanted to leave? And in so long, she had thought the same and been worried that he would want to stay. For a moment, she was silent, trying to bring words forth, words that could express her surprise. "You know, I've been thinking the same thing." She said finally, grinning. "I like the ocean, I'll miss it, but I can live without it."
She paused. There was something that she knew she couldn't live the rest of her life without. Trees, leaves. They had that here, but it wasn't the same as those back where they had come from. She missed the music of the leaves talking to her through the wind. The leaves here didn't speak the same language. They waved and sang, but it was nothing that Jiza's ears could understand, and this was what she liked lest about this seaside haven.
But most of all, she knew she couldn't live without Juke. But they were headed the same way, of that she was sure. And wherever Juke went, she would go too, because that was what he had come to be - the one thing she needed to live.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:13 pm
Juke couldn't have been happier with Jiza's response. He lowered his head onto his front paws contently, looking up at the lioness with a warmth that he couldn't show any other. "I think I'll miss it, too." He did enjoy the music here, he couldn't pretend he didn't. It was so unique and so soothing, yet it was different. The savannah songs were still his favorite. He supposed it was kind of like a creature liking the place where they were born. He didn't have a home pride, so he had a home tune, or something like that. Either way, he missed it. "When do you think we should leave?" He couldn't help but hide the eagerness in his voice. "I wouldn't mind going as soon as possible..."
For a few moments, his eyes wandered over the surrounding area, taking it in. Going home was definately what he wanted to do, though he wouldn't mind visiting the little paradise again. "Y'know we could visit the ocean... and maybe dance to beach music again." A playful glint came to his eyes as they settled once again on the lioness beside him. He knew he had to say it soon, but it just didn't seem quite right yet. Give it a few more moments, then he would. He had to let the moment settle in first.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:19 pm
It was settled then. They were going home. The word resounded pleasantly in her head - home. At that moment, Jiza realized that the savannah was where she loved to be, and belonged. It was the one place she truly called home, and it wouldn't ever do to leave it for too long. She felt a strange excitement welling up inside her at the mention of returning to the savannah, and suddenly she had the need to travel, the need to simply be walking again. She raised her eyes to cast a sweeping glance around her, knowing that as much as she would miss the ocean, soon it would become nothing but a faded memory, and she wouldn't miss it so much then. "We can leave any time." She said with a smile. If she didn't need some preparation, some time to say good-bye to this land, then she was sure that she didn't belong to the sandy beaches and the rolling waves and more than they did to her.
Jiza nodded slowly. Yes, they could visit the ocean again. This wouldn't be the last time she would see it, then, and they could dance to the ocean's unique music once again.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 11:41 am
Juke was honestly tempted to leave that very moment, the home sickness aching in his heart. Logic, though he rarely used it, told him it would be a far better idea to spend the night somewhere on the beach in order to rest up for the long journey back home. "My paws are already sore." He looked back at Jiza and chuckled lightly, lifting his head so as to hold up a paw, feigning injury. Their travels simply to get to Bahari'mtoto had made his feet sting and his muscles scream for rest. The way home would more than likely be just as straining, although he had heard that going home always seemed shorter than leaving. Hopefully that ould be the case for Jiza and him.
As the sun set in front of them, Juke let his head drop back on his paws and gazed out at the gentle waves. If he missed anything here, it'd be the view. Sunsets were absolutely sepctacular here. Sure, they were nice on the savannah, but here... it was out of this world. In his mind, though, it wasn't really worth staying. Besides, if Jiza was going with him, the view would always ben cheerfully green. At least, he hoped that would be the case. Closing what little space there was between the pair by scootching over as much as he could, the male wrapped his tail around the lioness and sighed contently. After a few moments, while looking out at the sunset, he whispered gentley, "I love you." He let the words hang in the air for a few seconds before tilting his head to catch the reaction in those brilliant yellow eyes.
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