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 Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:49 pm
The clouds overhead were dark and full with rain, reading to break open and pour sheets upon the world. Thunder bellowed in the distance in warning as sheets of lightening crackled across the dark blanket of the sky overhead. The air was cool, gusts of wind picking up and blowing the fur of the golden lion in every direction. Any moment he was sure the storm would be upon them, and though he was often addle-brained with his stories, he knew that a storm like this was not a good thing to get caught in.
"This way," he breathed out to the leopardess he knew would undoubtedly be following him, the mate he now felt responsible for. This seemed like a night out of a true story, and yet, for once he wasn't even thinking of such. He narrowed his eyes as he stalked through the jungle terrain, looking around for any signs of a cave.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:55 pm
The storm had picked up not too long ago but neither of them had thought it would be this bad. The smell of rain had been in the air for a few days but even that they'd mostly ignored. What was a little rain anyway?
The storm that was bearing down on them was a different story. "I think there's some caves up away from the river." She caught up to him and motioned in that direction with her head. "Or at least .. there's sorta caves, maybe something to keep us out of the worst of it?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:28 pm
He glanced down at her as she caught up to him, a weak smile on his maw for her, even as the storm was rearing it's ugly head behind them. He nodded and glanced in the directions she was motioning, thinking over it. He had remembered seeing some shelters of some sort in that direction, hollowed out rocks probably made from the shifting river ages and ages ago.
"Alright, let's hurry up and go that way then," he said with a nod, leaning in for a moment to n** at her shoulder. Overhead a boom of thunder pealed, and for a moment he glanced up. Then, he simply loped forward in the way they had been heading, forward towards the area she had mentioned. He hoped they could get there before the storm broke, else they'd be walking in the rain and muck.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:42 pm
There was already enough muck without a huge storm. Any more and they'd be wading though who knows what. Picking up her pace she headed toward the high ground near the river with him. Even being that close they should still be fine. The caves and such were high enough that it would take days of heavy storms for the river to swell that much.
Grinning as they neared the more rocky area she paused to hop up onto a small ledge. "Can you get up here? I think i see something that's big enough ... and closed." She could swear she'd felt the first few drops of water and that wasn't a good sign since they were still out in the mostly open.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:57 pm
Taya was eyeing the river as they got closer. He had traveled this area a few times, and he too knew that it would take days of heavy storms for the land to flood enough to fill the caves. He didn't think the storm coming upon them would last more than through the night, but if it did, they would have to think of a way to get out of the cave and to dryer land. Though he was not really one to gamble, he was fairly confident in his own judgment in the oncoming storm. If it was going to be too terribly bad, he felt they would have sensed it long before now - the rest of the wildlife would have been uneasy.
"I can certainly.. try," he said, hesitating as he eyes the ledge. Her smaller frame was built for climbing and leaping where as his bulky one was, well, not. However, he felt a drop of water plant itself against his ear, causing it to flick, and he spared a glance for the sky. He had better try, or they'd be stuck out in the storm when it broke. With a leap, he scrambled up (not so gracefully) onto the ledge behind her, taking a few minutes to get his balance enough to be confident where he stood. Then he glanced in the direction she was looking. "Lead the way," he muttered, eying the ground below them with a bit of a frown.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:03 pm
She was used to being up in the air for various reasons and the height didn't bother her. She could tell though that Taya wasn't all that fond of the idea. At least inside the cave it would be harder to tell that they were up so far above ground level. "It's not too far .." She tossed a grin back at him and headed toward the cave opening she saw.
The cave wasn't as big as she'd hoped but it would at least keep them out of the storm and dry. There was enough room that they'd be able to wait it out and so long as the wind didn't shift too much the rain wouldn't come into the cave.
Padding inside she found a nice flat spot and flopped down as another loud crash rolled overhead. "Least the rock muffles the thunder a bit"
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:14 pm
He threw her a weak, but appreciative grin at her words, and followed her along the ledge. He tried his hardest not to look down at the ground beneath them, and managed to keep his eyes either on her or the path beneath his paws for the short distance. Some hero he was going to turn out to be if he was so scared of heights - heroes scaled mountains.
He didn't seem to mind the smallness of the cave in the slightest, for at least once in the cave he no longer had to look down and realize that they were quite far above ground. The cave was sturdy and he didn't have to worry about falling out of it.
He flopped down comfortably beside her (there really wasn't much room to sit apart from her, had he even really wanted to) and looked out the entrance at the sky as it turned darker and darker, more menacing by the minute. "Yeah, at least it does that. I just hope that the rain will stay out of here at this angle. I'd rather not have to go to bed with wet fur." He chuckled, just glad to be out of the brunt of the storm.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:17 pm
"it should. The wind was blowing against us from the front while coming in here. So hopefully the rain will cut across the entrance and stay out there." She shifted and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"At least we're out of it for now." The first heavy drops had started to splash against the rock ledge outside heralding the start of the storm. "It can be as nasty and as mean as it wants so long as it stays out there."
Out there meant that they wouldn't be getting wet and hopefully it meant it would burn itself out quickly. Then the rocks would be dry by morning and Taya would have an easier time getting down.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:43 pm
He smiled as she shifted, moving a little so he could lay on his side more and let her rest her form against his. He leaned down to lick her cheek affectionately as they lay there curled up in the back of the den, just letting her talk about the rains. It was actually quite comfortable, he had to admit. The warm, small cave with just the two of them while the world raged with a storm outside.
"That's right," he said with a little chuckle, glancing out at the sky, already able to see great sheets of rain in the distance, knowing any moment that it would break upon them overhead. "Maybe it won't get too terribly loud, either, so we can sleep. I don't usually sleep well in storms, they make me awfully restless."
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:08 pm
She smiled and purred slightly as she snuggled against him. She could usually sleep fine though storms. Generally even ones as bad as this relaxed her somehow.
"I like storms. The rain is always comforting sounding. The thunder's a bit annoying if it's not predictable and really loud though." She grinned. "Lightning's pretty ... even more so at night, the way it lights everything up for a moment"
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:33 pm
He smiled as she relaxed, staring down at her affectionately, for a moment simply watching her and saying nothing. It was luck, he thought, that he had found her that day. Pure and simple luck. Of course, maybe he was wrong, and it was fate. How could one really ever know for sure?
"I don't like them, I've never liked them. We used to get terrible storms back when I was cub in my pride," he said softly, his tail flicking and beating lightly against the rock behind him. "A lot of my stories have bad storms, so that probably never helped either."
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:37 pm
She tilted her head a bit further back so she could almost see him. "Pride? You never told me you used to be in a pride." That was something interesting. If he had a pride she wondered what would have made him leave it. "Can you tell me about them?" She was sure it would be another interesting story.
"You don't have to worry anymore. You've got me to keep you distracted from the nasty old weather" she could talk to him and keep his mind off it so maybe it would be easier for him to not have to think about the rain.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:47 pm
He did have her to distract him, didn't he? It was a nice thought, that she could take his mind away from the things that he disliked the most. Of course, the change of subject wasn't to something he was very particularly happy to talk about either.
"Well, I don't really like to talk about it all that much, as it's really kind of a sour subject to be honest." He offered her a weak smile, glancing down at her. He knew he had better talk about it though, it was now or never. She had a right to know, especially now that she was his mate, and not telling her felt like he was lying to her - or at least keeping secrets.
"It died out a long time ago, in the plague, and I left when I was much younger," he said with a shrug, his tail flicking behind him. "My dad, he was king, so it was kind of my duty to take his place and all. Only, I didn't want to, I wanted to travel and tell stories." He chuckled, weakly, glancing down at her with a half-smile that looked vaguely strained. "That didn't sit well with Pa."
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:02 pm
She let that mull around in her head for a moment. "So ... that means you're sorta a prince and i'm now sorta a princess." She grinned for a moment. "I'm glad you left. If you hadn't then i wouldn't have met you."
She would much rather he be happy wandering around like he was and she be happy getting to wander around with him. It seemed like a much nicer thing to do than to be stuck being a stuffy old king.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:46 pm
He had thought that talking about this with her would be awkward, but surprisingly enough, she made it much more comfortable than he could have imagined. "Yeah, I'm sort of a prince, kind of a lost prince I guess? I guess that would make you a lost princess in a way." He smiled and leaned his head down against hers, snuggling his body closer to her. "I'm glad I left too, I wouldn't want to spend my whole life there if I could spent it out here with you instead."
Not to mention, if he had stayed, he would have likely fallen victim to the plague that had taken most of his pride only months after he had fled. He had only heard of a few members surviving, his mother and father having gone down with their pride. His sister was out there somewhere, so he heard, though he had yet to see her. No, he was sure it was fate that he had left, that he was here now. Maybe fate just had a funny way of doing things?
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