// The Morning After //
[An RP with Baneful]
Turning her head sharply, her dark eyes landed on Chomo as he stepped out, narrowing a moment before her shoulders relaxed. Turning fully now, she let out a soft greeting, her voice soft and an icy purr as the sleep still wore at her form.
"Chomo, I take it you would like to leave?" It was a light question, though she of course still was debating the whole idea. Not feeling the need to voice her concerns, she padded quickly to his side before looking out to the graveyard, the sun finally hitting the far bones as the view went for miles on the hill-less lands.
Her mind shifted to the task at hand, and she hoped he would know the way, and maybe a few hunting spots as well while they were at it. Lightly ruffling her fur, she kept her eyes locked and ears perked, for she was unsure if he would even answer, and if than would he answer enough for her to get the whole idea. Turning back suddenly, she just blinked at him, not quite looking impatent but not quite getting the whole look of intrest.
"That's a question I should be asking you." he replied in a smooth voice, after all, he lived here, he had just assumed the female wanted to go back to the desert. "I just thought that was were you were headed." he shrugged "I'm in no hurry myself, I've got all the time in the world here, if you want to hang around, feel free."
He sat down and looked the female in the eyes, she was hard to read and he didn't even try to begin. He simply flicked his tail. "Are you going to go back to them? The crumbled pride?" he didn't really want to know the answer, but he asked anyway. On one hand the answer to his question could match his own thoughts, on the other it could remind him what he really was, a deserter, leaving his pride in it's time of dire need.
She sat there for a long moment, silence building around like a thick veil as the graveyard gave no other noises. Soon though, she merely took in a light sniff and glanced away from his eyes, thinking of his question.
"Now that you mention it...I am quite unsure..." The answer was slow, well thought out as she looked away from his own gaze as her eyes became lidded, "I am quite enjoying myself..." Fully trailing off at that, she brushed passed him as she padded down towards the dark dirt, running a paw through the sand-like grounds as she thought for a moment.
"The Blood has expressed that it is not the...time for the return...so while they are contemplating, I thought I would explore the other creations of our honorable mother. Already, I have learned that Finar-si created much more than our desert, and though it is not quite home..." silenced now, she lost her words, and realized she was showing a sudden weakness, so with a shake of her head, she quickly added, "Ignore my musings, nothing good will come from them..."
Chomo nodded, glad beyond words that another lion felt the wonder of the lands outside the desert "That's exactly the way I felt when I strayed outwith the pridal lands, there was so much of the lore unwritten, so many lands that had never even heard of Finar-si. I stayed here because I always felt I could do more in this place than I ever could as some peon serving a lion that claims to be of the royal bloodline."
He turned to watch her pass as she walked past him, her red pelt still an unfamiliar splash of colour to him who had never really seen his own pelt through outside eyes.
"Finar-si's work is great, and I hope one day to be able to speak of all of it, not just the great desert." he gave her a grin and added "Bah, musings can often prove the sparks that ignite the fires of change, you shouldn't stifle them.."
Turning to look at him when he spoke of the goddess' work as well, she just took a deep breath, "You always have to wonder...why was this all hidden from us? Only Finar-si knows what our elders are thinking...for some reason, I dont think she wanted this to be hidden...or else..." She trailed off, looking to the side and letting off another sigh as she took it all in, something she was doing a lot of when she finally left the desert.
Living in the sands her whole life, she almost felt like a newborn cub from the expirences and such. Taking each thing in, the sunrise, the grasses, the abudence of water and the new animals, it all was secretly thrilling - though as always no one knew that but her.
"...or else...she never would have made it so breath taking..." Turning back to step back towards him, she caught his grin, blinking at it in surprise. Still feeling surprise with the gesture, her tail sung as nodded to his words.
"My parents never encouraged musings...they believed that musings lead to weakness and challenge to authority..."
"Maybe she hid it to teach us of her wisdom before we experienced it, perhaps we would not appreciate it's importance were we born within it. Perhaps there never was speak of the desert being our only home." he paused "Sometimes mortal lips speak the words of the gods untrue. That was something my mother taught me, guess it means don't believe everything you hear. I think that everything that happens is destiny and no matter what the elders say, it is part of a greater design that I ended up out here and who am I to fight it?"
Chomo too had lived at his oasis for most of his life, his crossing over into the lands beyond had been a wonderful and enlightening rebirth for him. He had brought with him a distinct lack of cunning, something which carried over to now, he hid none of his enthusiasm for the ideas he had come up with, being not very good at concealment.
He nodded "That's why I stayed here, I let Finar-si decide my pawprints." another faint grin "My mother might have been wrong, but she always was a bit of a rebel."
Nuri listened lightly as he continued to let it all out, and she felt herself loosen in his company, it becoming easier for her slowly.
"How about..." She spoke softly after the conversations, "...we talk more about this on a hunt..." Her voice grew softer still, a bit of small sarcasim filtering through at the next words, "I am sure Ausha is waiting for some food...and I am always willing for a hunt." Nodding for him to follow, she turned and continued to the dirt, waiting for him to take the lead as her eyes trailed across the skulls nearby.
"What happened here anyways...it is almost as silent as our home..." her eyes moved yet her face still faced the other way, tail swinging as her form was calm.
Chomo liked the sound of a hunt, he felt most content when he was excercising his skills of stealth and speed, using all the cunning that had been passed down to him from his parents, hunters till their untimely deaths. "Sounds good to me, hunting is one of life's little joys." he passed over the comment about Ausha without mentioning it, he wouldn't be hungry for a while by Chomo's estimates, not with the meat that was still left over.
He followed he silently, passing by into the lead, following the path out to the open grasslands so effortlessly that his feet themselves might have been doing the thinking.
"What happened here? Nothing really, very little happens in these desolate lands other than the odd elephant coming to pass it's final moments amidst the memories of it's fellows. Sometimes I feel something larger happened here a long time ago, you often see hints that something big went down, hyena bones, old pawprints still in the dust, like echoes." he shook his head "But it's all probably my over-active imagination running wild in here."
Soon the grasslands came into veiw and it was like someone was slowly pouring colour into a world of black and white.
Keeping close, only a few steps behind, she took glanced around as they passed skull after skull, ribcage after ribcage. Most of the time, they could have easily slipped through the bar-like bones that looked like sprouting flowers in the dirt, and yet they avoided them as if they were mere mirages like the ones she saw in the desert.
"And no matter what, as long as you get a kill, you are quite set..." She said that softly to herself, under her breath almost as a noise came from under her forepaw. Lifting it up a moment later, she blinked and looked hard at the grass, still not used to such green life as Chomo seemed to talk ahead unfaltered. Pushing back to keep his pace, he finally answered her question and she just had to move to his side to speak out to him this time.
"Maybe it was the sickness." Keeping it at that, she turned her eyes onto the grasslands, and just changed the subject, "We need these closer to home..."
Chomo walked on through the skeletons of elephants gone by disconcerned, he had seen it all before too many times to pay much heed now. He still felt their echoes late at night, but in the daytime, they were mirages to him.
Chomo noticed that the precence behind him had faded somewhat and he slowed his pace, waiting for Nuri to catch up. The mists lost their iron grip on the air, fading to mere ghostly tendrils that caressed his blood-hued pelt and dark mane, trying to win a battle with the clear grassland air.
Her mention of the sickness caused the breifest flicker of sombreness to flit across his features. It had claimed everything dear from him. Were it not for the invisible plague, he would probably have grown up secure within the desert borders, blissfully ignorant, a proud hunter. But in some ways he was grateful, it had shown him a world beyond his imagining, and brought him to this point in time.
The grasslands made Chomo grin wickedly though, he broke his thoughtful silence. "Know what's the best thing about these lands? They aren't mine to hunt on. They belong to the pridelanders officially, but I always tell myself out here, it's the Firekin who are the chosen ones of Finar-si, we make a living anywhere, and we do not have to ask permission." It was true, despite everthing, Chomo still carried with him the superiority complex that he had been born to, he just never flaunted it unless he had to.
"And that..." She poked in, "Is why no one should even argue when they see a Firekin, and yet you dont hear many speak of firekins appearing in these parts...not many leave the sands as well..." Her eyes watched him for his grin, the grass causing them to stand out unlike most lions who would hunt in these parts. Feeling her head lower, she perked her dark ears and let her paws move with the breeze, the rustling covering her movements against the new elements as she quickly ajusted.
"Now...maybe we should get this hunt going...I am sure we are seen miles away with these pelts on this...grass is it...I dont even reconize it much anymore because of the rarity of oasis'." She lifted her head a moment before narrowing her eyes and glancing with a challenge back at Chomo.
"Now...you call yourself a hunter...lets see you hunt..." trailing off with light, airy laughter, she awaited for his reaction.
Chomo nodded, already guaging the lay of the land and the direction of the wind as though it were second nature. The Firekin pelt was a curse and a blessing, a curse for it's camoflage potential, a blessing for it's nobility. "Indeed, we don't want to scare everything away, and yep, it's grass, you learn to love it."
Grinning wickedly in response to her challenge he flicked his tail "I'd be a disgrace to my parents memory if I could not." It was much easier to hunt in the cover of the long grass than the open desert, and Chomo's body was fine tuned to hunt, it was his only true talent.
Without a word he slunk down close to the grass, switching from an ambling mass of muscle to a sleek predatory feline, intent on the horizon. It was a change made more shocking in Chomo, normally sort of amiable, bordering on dense. In a twitch, he slunk off, keeping to indents in the earth to keep his colour concealed.
Firekin instincts simply told him that Nuri would be perfectly capable of following that lead into her own strategy, after all, females were the better hunters by genetics.
However, Nuri decided not to quite take her own lead, instead she wished to see him in action. For the last few hours, she wondered how effected Chomo was from being out away from their home. It sent her into deep processing, wondering just what might come if she were to stay away from the sun and the sands.
And so, as she lowered her head and shoulders to settle into her customary, as well as self taught, pose of hunting. Making not a sound as to keep with the breeze, she let her eyes settle on the dark coat of her company, mind drifting as prowl mode turned all thoughts off. Soon enough, when he went for the kill, she would see just how he did it, just how he hunted.
"Give me a show..." All she had to do now, is wait and see if she would prosper from this hunt.
Chomo made mental note that Nuri seemed to be hanging back a little, but nevertheless observing, and focused his entire attention on the task at hand, he couldn't afford to be distracted.
Once again he was in his mind, alone on the grasslands, the wind blowing through his mane and fur, bringing with it scents and directions, it was a data center for those who paid it heed. Today it brought the vague musty scent of a herd of wildebeest somewhere to the west, not too far though. An adult wildebeest was too much to tackle alone, too risky, but there might be calves nearby, it was the time of year for it, after all.
Making sure on a subconcious level to remain downwind, Chomo moved on velvet paws towards his quarry. Out here there was no sand, no searing heat, but he could imagine them, if he tried. Blood of great Firekin hunters ran in his veins and he didn't intend to dissapoint them, for Chomo every hunt was paramount, failure failed them.
He saw the black specks on his immediate horizon and began to guage his attack, there were several calves, true to form, however some were nearer the big dangerous bulls and cows than he liked. One parent however, was near the back of the herd, probably a mother with her first child. Chomo smirked faintly, not cruelly though, more decisive than anything else. In the wild, mistakes were often sorely punished.
This mother would be more careful with her next child.
Setting his jaw firmly, he drew nearer and nearer, the voices encouraging him in the heartbeat he heard roar in his ears.
He turned west suddenly and she was forced to follow, her eyes watching his muscles shift as his tail caught her eye with every slow swing. Soon enough, she found herself too distracted by following someone (for the first time in her life as well) so she moved to the right, taking a thicker path as the grass covered her slimmer form. She too could catch that delectable scent that filled the air, something in such a mass that was rare in the desert and had her mouth all but watering.
So when they reached the visual point of the calves and bulls, Nuri paused in her tracks to just stare at the creatures, glancing at each one and catching sight of the mother just as Chomo did. While he moved around, she took a step back and lowered some more, ready to catch any that might be stupid enough to run upwind.
Right when he reached the closest point before he might be seen, she extended her claws and pushed towards a rock, the grasses splitting and hiding her form slightly as the rock took care of the rest. With her there, ready to pounce anything that ran, she glanced to Chomo, waiting for his first move.
Chomo knew that he would have as much chance of spottin Nuri at this moment as the wildebeest would have of spotting him, he couldn't jeapordise his position. Instead he relied on that sixth sense that seemed to imbue every creature that hunted, the sense that was 9 parts guesswork, 1 part something deeper and more primal. He knew she was ready nearby.
With steps in synch with the attention of his prey, Chomo drew nearer and nearer, so tense that he felt like a vein pulled so tight it was liable to snap any moment. They said the sweetness lay in the anticipation, Chomo disagreed, for him life was those few seconds when all that lay between you and food was open air, when nothing else mattered but the chase.
He charged.
It was a blur from there on out, it seemed like a hundred lions shared his footfalls, a hundred lions had did this all before. And at the other side, his prey, red eyes met with young terrified ones, but there was an understanding there, an understanding that transcended this place, this very time. It would all happen again as it had happened before. The calf, despite it's run for it's life was no match for the massive strides of the adult lion and it was all it's fatally negligent mother could do to flee the red death that emerged from the grasses to punish her mistake.
Chomo felt his teeth sink into the animal's jugular and somewhere in his head knew that this was the way life went on, there would be other calves, there would be other lions, he was a bridge.
Suddenly the world rushed back and Chomo collapsed to the earth, the calf in his jaws, the thunder and dust of fleeing wildebeest all around him. He was dazed and confused, he had flown, flown on wings of power, ran on feet that were not his own. It had been perfection.
But what of Nuri?
He struggled to his feet, the calf's life ebbing away in his jaws and watched to see if she could possibly catch one of the calves scattered by the disruption. If so they would feast well that day.
It took only a second for her to back down as the chaos errupted. Her heart thundered in her mind as everything seemed alive, and as her ears perked, she caught the sound of steps, racing towards her point. They were heavy with stregth, weight, and authority, and she realzied she would be encountering one of the large males. Not once, however, did she think twise, and as time seemed to slow and stall, she pushed down on her haunches and got ready for the split second in which she would need to strike.
At first, she caught sight of a flash, two horns that were quite large and quite sharp, followed by a frenzied snout. The lengthy neck came into view next, and right as she caught the sight of the base, she pushed off the ground, her light weight sending her crashing into the large wildebeast. Though her momentum caught him off guard, it was her extended claws that sent him crashing down stunned, giving her a short chance to go for his neck.
And yet, unknowingly, she did not go for the kill, instead she pushed down and looked with her paw on his neck and foreleg, eyes peering with her slow smirk. It was at that moment however, when she pulled away, that everything seemed to turn for the Firekin. Of course, not many Wildebeast decided to venture in the sands, so she did not encounter such a creature, and its next action was something she never expected.
Letting out a hiss, the two hind legs that were left alone kicked her lower abdomine, sending her off the creature and into the grass. She pushed to her stomach, having landed harshly against the rock as well as pushed on her back, and she took only a moment to steady herself before her eyes trailed to the onlooking ones of Chomo. Shame filled her being before she turned back to the faltering creature, the wounds she inflicted making it falter, and she pounced again, this time aiming with her teeth. Sinking her fangs in the warm flesh, she pushed the creature down, eyes narrowed in angry slits as the pain and the bruises were put in the back of her mind to be tended to later.
What was on her mind now, was how she was tricked by a mere beast in front of another Firekin, and not many of the Blood would be impressed with her showing. Despite the fact that the male underneath had stopped moving.
Chomo almost called out as he watched Nuri go ambitiously for one of the big males, he had forgotten that she probably hadn't encountered these beasts before, in the desert you brought down whatever you saw, out here you picked and chose. He couldn't look as the animal kicked out it's legs, an odd feeling of terror flooding him. The calf still held in his solid jaws, he headed towards the two, worried that Nuri might be severely injured, he had heard tales of lions gutted by wildebeest in the past.
But no, she was back on her feet, resiliantly taking the male on in a sort of vengeance, it was impressive to Chomo's eyes, most lions would have fled in fear of getting trampled while they were down.
His footfalls seemed painfully slow as the battle unfolded before him, he was just too far away to help out. But his trust remained in the Firekin. Oddly however, not a single thought of his judged Nuri badly for her apparent misjudgement, he was actually very impressed. If she made it out alive, he'd have to tell her so."
And still he ran.
Having been kicked quite afew times in the strugle, Nuri held many deep bruises under her fur, however, even than it wasnt as bad as to how she delt with the struggling beast. When he had stopped moving, she pulled away from the heavy form to step back and look on, realizing just how stupid she was. The Wildebeast being a good deal bigger than she, she was lucky that she had gotten him from the side, for had she gone head on she might not have made it out alive.
Panting, her eyes ranged over the forelegs, seeing the deep scratches and wounds her claws had sent across, as a reminded for it to still. Blood seeped through the air and she could even taste it on her maw, though she ignored it as the whole prospect of eating such a creature turned her away. So doing just that, she caught sight of Chomo as he was near and let out a short growl, ears flatened and bruises hurting. They moreso hurt from the shame than any of the inflicted pain.
When he made it in front of her, she glanced up with a dark, almost black gaze, "How much did you see..." A simple defence, becoming cold and harsh when she was humiliated, and as she said it, she completly ignored the kill, the Wildebeast just lying there in a huge mass of fur.
Chomo waited worriedly as the kicking stopped and the animal lay still, forgetting his own kill still held possessively in his jaws. He placed it down on the ground as he bounded over towards Nuri, clearing the last few meters at a jog. He immediately looked her over, mortified that he might see any critical injuries on her frame. He relaxed however to see that she was upright and breathing.
In response to her question, he replied "How much did I see?! You brought down a bull wildebeest! You should get a prize for that!" he didn't even mention that attacking the creature in the first place might not have been the best idea "Are you okay? I've heard those things are capable of kicking a lion's spine out" he shuddered.
"But still, wow." he was evidently in awe, not dissapointed in the least.
Nuri controled her breathing as he spoke, blinking silently for a seocnd before shaking her head.
"I got lucky...there was no skill, it was all a stroke of luck...Finar-si must be watching over me..." She turned away to streach her form, cringing, and taking a slow breath back up again.
"We should just take your catch back...I am...not too hungry anymore..." she trailed off slowly and tried not to show anything as she was glad the bruse would not show through her pelt. Now, all she had to do was walk back to the den, and she could just fend sick and rest for awhile - he wouldnt suspect a thing.
Chomo looked concerned as Nuri appeared to be in some manner of pain, he too was out of breath from the chase, but there was something pained about the manner in which she composed herself.
"Luck or no, that felled beast is something to be proud of." he cast a glance at the bull, still impressed despite Nuri's protestations. he returned his attentions to her quickly though. "If you are sure.."
Something didn't sit right with him, but he didn't pry further, he simply picked up the calf in his jaws and prepared to head back to the graveyard, intending to see if he could return to the big bull later, who knew, there might be salvageable meat at that time if the hyenas, vultures and pridelanders didn't get there first.
Heaving silently, she just glanced towards Chomo at his words before looking away quickly, ignoing his questioning and simply moving as a sign that she indeed was. The grasses tickled her paws and taunted her battered form as they danced in the winds. She slowed her pace soon after and kept to Chomo's side, making sure not to make any gestures with her form. It wouldnt be long now before she would have to rest, though her mind told her to push on for she had been through much worse.
"So..." she pushed out as they walked, but let her voice die as she glanced over to see his mouth was full with the meat. It was than her foot caught with a small rock and she almost stumbled, catching herself and pausing her steps with a faltering cringe.
"..."
Chomo didn't say anything as they walked, too busy discreetly watching Nuri, a little worried that the wildebeest might have inflicted an injury below the surface. However he didn't want to look so concerned that he offended her dignity so, after a time, he tried to focus on the road ahead. Just as he was about to leave her in peace, Chomo picked up on her stumble.
Slowly he too drew to a halt and turned to face Nuri. "How about we stop here for a bit? My legs are tired from the chase."
He didn't mention her possible injury, instead deciding to shift the blame for stopping onto himself.
As soon as he stopped, Nuri prepaired herself for when he would poke at her fault, but was caught once more by surprise when he turned it around on himself. She could only blink and glance at his legs before back up to him, her face still for a long moment before she let her screaming legs get their redemption.
"Right..." Her voice said after she relaxed with the sitting, her eyes gazing at his in a relay of thanks, "We don't want you to collapse...I might just leave you here and take the meat to Ausha instead..." It was a cover up of a joke, and she turned to stand and settle near a rock, laning lightly to support and gazing back towards Chomo.
Wondering if he had noticed, and not realizing he was watching her from before, she just let her tail slide back and forth as she descretly panted, the bruise close to her lungs and causing pain with every breath. Her honor, however, as well as her dignity forced her to hide the signs the best she could.
Chomo flopped down in the grass, placing the calf by his side, giving Nuri a grin for her comment. "Yeah, he'd just make a point of telling you in detail how much of a lazy sod I am." he chuckled. Quiet again, he pondered how to breach the subject of Nuri's condition without making her feel he was attacking her pride or grace.
He placed his large head on his forepaws and watched her thoughtfully for a moment before asking "So, are you sure you are okay?" he didn't want to sound persistent, but he was actually worried and not knowing the nature of any injury made him feel much more helpless than if he knew.
Nuri watched as he settled his head on his paws, smiling lightly at the picture he made with his dark mane falling all around his strong features. Like all Firekins, she could see just how much of one he was just by glancing over his stance as well as his pelt. Though it was rarer to see a darker firekin, for most had light pelts on account of living under the sun, she still felt a small connection since they both had the colors.
"I am not the one who asked for us to stop..." She told him lightly, her eyes moving away from his mane to touch on his own, "...I will be fine..." It was a truthful statement, she knew he was worried from his tone and his pestering, and with everything going on, she was too tired to just keep avoiding it.
"Soon we can keep moving, just a little rest for now...alright?"
Chomo wasn't sure what to do with Nuri, but settled simply for letting her take care of herself, he was sure, with such a strong personality and background, she was quite capable of dealing with an injury. Besides, if she wanted his help, he was right there.
"Yeah, I know, it was me." he gave her a grin "but I'll take your word for it that you will be." he nodded, glad to have that reassurance from her.
"And no complaints from me, I'm a lazy sod, a rest is always welcome." he chuckled. "Even have a meal too" he gestured to the calf carcass. "Only if you are hungry."
Chomo, being as large as he was, was almost always hungry, add to that the journey he had undertaken only just a few days ago and he was pretty ravenous. Removing one of the hindlegs from the wildebeest, he chewed on it casually, eating in a surprisingly neat manner for a lion whom for most of his life had been around Ausha, who ate like a pig.
Nuri just eyed him once more before rolling her shoulders into her relaxed state, her eyes lidding lightly before she let her paws scrape lightly against the dirt. Once she had caused enough dirt to stir and shape to her nails, she just let her paws fall and her own head settled down upon them. At the angle where it fell, she could easily look towards Chomo out of the side of her eyes, and yet she shifted so her gaze was not so hidden, her eyes landing right on his without any sort of effort.
"I could agree with the lazy comment..." As she said it, her voice was lidded just as her eyes were, the tone hidden and yet coming out like a relaxed pur. Not even close to being intented as an insult, she just cleared her throat and got away the purr, hiding it and speaking up in the same tone as before, as if there was no slip up, "Sure...just nothing too big...there is only so much..." Lifting her head and moving to stand, she readied herself to go and collect her own peice of the wildebeast.
Chomo was good at being lazy when he got a chance, after all, he had to hunt for two most times, so when he lay about, he made a field day of it. His hind legs sat out to one side while his blood red paws were daintly crossed in front of him. He gave the impression of a giant housecat bathing in the sunlight, his firekin pelt seeming to sparkle in the sunlight. He felt he was grinning far too often today, but he just couldn't help it, it wasn't often that another lion came along and brought a sort of enjoyable absurdity to the normally mundane act of hunting.
He watched Nuri idly, his attention seemingly elsewhere, he didn't want to look too facinated with the colour of the other's pelt, but it just boggled his mind, did /he/ look anywhere close to as refined, graceful and brilliantly red as Nuri did? Last he could remember having seen himself he was a slightly dumpy adolecent who couldn't be further from graceful.
"I take lazy to an art form." he drawled, to illustrate the point, flicking his tail across the grass.
As he caught the purr in her tone, he made no reply, only the tiniest glimmer of amusement became apparent in his expression before it faded without a trace.
As Nuri headed over, he nudged the calf towards her "Help yourself."
She settled herself next to the calf, her paw coming out to take a smaller portion of the foreleg before she pulled it to her other paw. Taking her time to claw up peices, she flicked the fur away from them and took a deep bite before lifting and chewing it lightly.
When she looked up, her eyes caught him glancing towards her pelt, and she had to swallow before she could speak up.
"You are one of the few who seem to have such a dark pelt...one dark enough to rival my own..." Taking the trail off to bite away at another peice, she seemed to forget the pain as the warmth of the meat soothed her form. After the third bite, she pushed the leg away and just looked towards Chomo, her features unsure and her breathing relaxed.
"Chomo..." She started softly, awaiting for him to signal she had his attention.
Chomo quite contentedly tucked into the leg he had taken off for himself, crunching the bones to get to the marrow, enjoying a meal that for once, didn't have to be taken back to the graveyard. He was preoccupied, but not so much so that he missed Nuri's comment.
"Yes, I noticed that myself, when I was in the Firekin lands last, I saw nothing but the more vibrant pelts. Apparently the plague must not have been kind to our colouration." he wrinkled his nose "Probably biased but I always liked dark fur better, it might not be as flashy as crimson, but it serves it's purpose." He didn't mention that the dark colour reminded him of blood too, of life. He didn't want to sound morbid.
The Firekin male let out a mighty yawn-roar and scratched idly behind an ear with his forepaw - it was a wonder he could find an ear in his mane .
He glanced over at Nuri, the pleasant warmth of the day and the meal making him slightly sleepy but very content. "Hmm?"
Nuri just watched him as her ears perked during his movements, eyes keeping track of his hunger. She was so used to eating nothing that even with such an offer for food, she merely took enough to make the day and set the rest aside.
"If you could..." She started softly, her ears falling lightly, "...would you go back to the life that the Blood had offered for you?" She let her words sit as she moved the meal away fully from her and put all the attention on Chomo, completly intrested in what his answer might be.
If he said yes, she suddenly sound another to join the pride again with her, and maybe even to travel with if they were forced out as well. The Firekins were unpredictable, so much in fact that even with her being a part of the bloodlines, she had no idea if she indeed would be accepted back after being gone for so long. Despite the fact of why she left, she would have to work to be back in - and if Chomo was there to keep her company from thoes fools she had run into before, she might just see worth in going back to try once more.
Chomo looked thoughtful as Nuri posed the question that he had never really dared ask himself. His thoughts raced as he weighed up his opinions on the matter, somewhat surprised to find that these days, many of the factors that had kept him here in his youth were now gone. Ausha was at the age where he could look after himself, the graveyard pride was flourishing and Chomo himself felt a sort of twanging restlessness in his soul which had never been there before. Finally, after deliberation, he replied, his tone measured.
"Actually, now that I come to think about it." he paused "I think I would go back. I keep feeling that my mother and father died in vain if I stayed out here in these easy lands and let my skills go to waste. Only the desert can teach me what I need to know about hunting and about Finar-si."
He swished his red-black tailtuft.
"Yes, I probably would return if given the chance. Perhaps now that I'm grown, they could see the Firekin blood that runs in my veins more clearly."
It surprised him to hear his own thoughts placed out so clearly before him, so honest and at the same time, slightly painful.
"Ausha needs to learn to face life alone now he's an adolecent, if I coddle him all his life, he'll never truly grow up." It was a painful truth really, Ausha, despite his shoulder which gave him gyp at times, was capable of hunting if he had to.
She just nodded as he spoke, gently pushing up her form until she finally was standing and looking down to him, though he reached pretty high to her even while he was sitting. Him speaking of his parents like that made her remember her own, remember their sacrifice so she could survive. Though not one to show too much emotion, she merely looked away to the lands for a second before sighing into the winds.
"Than...take this as your chance." She said suddenly, turning her head back to just look down to him with her smoky red gaze, unwavering and unblinking, "Finar-si sent a choice down your path...you can stay here...or you can go back...I think this is a chance more than anything else." She just smiled lightly than.
"Come back with me and take the second chance." It was a soft offer, and after she said it she picked up the limbs and slowly padded down the path they had traveled upon earlier.
"Lots of time to decide..."
Chomo didn't say anything for a while, not even as he got up and followed Nuri back along the path to the graveyard, part of him noted that she seemed to be walking a little better, the rest was in turmoil.
It was a chance that would not come his way again, he felt. In confusion he turned to his recent dreams, finding them the key guidance before him. The previous night's dream returned to him and he felt it click into place.
In it, Da'ath, his spirit guide, a firey raven, had led him through the desert to the firekin lands, there, waiting for him, were his parents, and Ausha. But he dallied too long and was taken by the darkness.
That was the way he had interpreted it, and it seemed all too clear to him now which path was the best one to take. Along the way, he might have to deal with some difficulties, but if he didn't act now, he'd die before he saw the sands again. Besides, at the end of that dream, he had woken and before all else, had gone to Nuri. In fact, he followed her now so effortlessly as if they had been friends all their life. Ausha had been a pale prophet to him, he felt, the white cub had kept him in the graveyard until fate came to collect him. Everything was part of Finar-si's great plan.
He watched quietly as the graveyard drew into veiw once again, feeling his decision set itself firmly into his heart, he would go, nothing would stop him. A Firekin didn't falter or dwell on things, their decisions were always correct, they made them so. Chomo was a lion sure he would land on his feet no matter how far he fell.
Setting his strong jaw, he spoke his decision to the open skies, the dusty grasses, and Nuri, the red vision in his sight. "By the grace of Finar-si, I will go back with you."
It was said.
When he started to speak, Nuri paused her steps right before she would have made way past the boundries of the lands, and she turned her head to just stare as his words floated towards her. Once he finished, she could only take in his new stance, her mind quickly comparing it to his old. He seemed more refind while the sun beat down upon them, his mane bellowing and pushing for the dark red of his pelt to stand out even more than before. The way he spoke and the way his jaw was set left her soul trembling, he truly was a firekin, and just than it showed in such a way that it made even her insides twril.
"Go back with me?" She suddenly echoed, his words taking effect as the leg fell from her mouth unattened, and her eyes just gazed into his own, searching to try and grip his soul and get the answers she needed, "Than you will come back and speak with the King with me?" Her form padded closer as she peered up, his taller form overpowering her petit, famine torn one. Though she was thin, she was still filled with muscles, and had she been raised with the chances most had away from the desert, she might have had some fat to round her body.
"Than today you will move out with me...or shall we wait to make sure everything is ready for your leave?" It did not sound daunting, merely confirming as she stood there in the Southlands, gazing back towards him.
Chomo didn't like to give himself a chance to change his mind, keep moving, never look back, mean everything you do and therefore regret nothing. He had learned much in his time in the graveyard, unknowingly Ausha had taught him humility and a respect for those not of the Firekin blood. Before he arrived in these strange lands, he had been spoiled to the point of petulance. But now, more than ever, he was ready to return to the place he formerly called home.
Formerly? No, one never truly left the desert. It was not like some unnamed grassland where you could get up, leave it and walk away. The sands were part of him, conditioned through generations into his soul. When he slept, he dreamt of the desert, when he walked around, everything was compared to that far off place. He had never really realised how deeply he seemed to miss it until today.
He met Nuri's gaze unflinchingly and he nodded "Yes, I'll speak to the king with you, surely we can make them understand."
His gaze drifted to the graveyard and his expression, normally openly honest, became unreadable. "We can leave today, but first, I have someone I must speak with." He let out a faint sigh "It won't be easy but it must be done."
And with that he started into the graveyard, turning back to say to Nuri "I 'll be back presently, you can wait here if you like." And then, with those words and resolution etched on every movement of his body, he headed off.
