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 Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 7:23 pm
After her last little episode of missing some lessons with her father, Alcmene had been much better behaved. Now that she was getting older, more was being expected of her. She'd even tagged along with her father when he promoted one of the guards to head guard. It was interesting to deal with something other than identifying random plants and learning her way around the lands. It was exciting to think she would be learning more about what everybody else did in the pride.
But none of that mattered because she didn't have to do anything specific today. She hadn't seen Fafnir since their game with the 'turtles' and now she was actively looking for him. He easily topped her friend's list, it was disappointing that he hadn't been around since then. She had no idea where to find him, so she was wandering around where she'd last seen some of his family. There were so many of them, wandering around where they'd been spotted before had to lead near their den eventually.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:14 pm
Sprawled across a little rock, rolled on his back, he stared up at the sky with a creased brow. What was he to do? Wallow in his misery all day while Loki tramped off doing who knew what without him, or go find the one lion in the whole pride that could make him forget that his twin frequently left him behind the older they got because she enjoyed her alone time? He just really, really didn't want to get her in trouble again. He knew he had a bad habit of distracting others from what they were supposed to be doing - it was just his nature.
With a little groan he rolled over onto his belly, just in time to see Ally making her way towards them. This area was near their den and for a second, he wondered if she was here looking for him. Then, he decided that fate must have simply made his decision for him. With the flash of a weak smile, he pushed himself to his paws and leaped from the rock to land before her. "Ally!" he greeted, the white tuft of his ever-growing mane flopping with the jerk of his head.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:22 pm
Ally was not always the most observant little lioness, always trying to take in too much at once- she overlooked the dark blue spot in the distance and was looking the other way when Fafnir spotted her and called out. Once she turned and saw him, though, she grinned and jogged up to him brightly.
"Fafnir! I found you," she said enthusiastically, "Or you found me, I guess." She laughed quietly, and glanced around where they were. She would have to make note of this place, maybe, if it was where she could find him. But for that, she had to be sure.
"Does your family live around here?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:07 pm
"I think it was a mutual finding," he said with a small laugh, sitting down promptly where he had been standing once she was close enough to him that he could speak. It was amazing how he had already had such a turn around in mood in the short time that he had known her - he was still brooding at times, sure, but the prospect of being able to see her when he was down always brightened his rainy days a little.
"Yeah, we live close," he said with a little tilt of his head, turning to look in the direction of the den. He couldn't see it from where he was sitting, but he knew it was just a little ways. "It's that way, though I don't think anyone but Mama is home right now. Dad probably took some of my sisters out to do whatever it is he does." His dad was a mystery sometimes - the thoughts in his head were unknown to him and really, to Fafnir, seemed like the only soul on the planet that understood him was his mother. Maybe that's why they were mates, though.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:20 pm
She looked off in the direction Fafnir nodded, squinting a bit to see if she could actually pick out the structure itself or anyone around it. She wasn't sure if she could, but that wasn't so important. She knew how to find him whenever she wanted, just like he knew how to find her. Her family was supposed to be easy to find, and she supposed as she became more involved she'd have to know her way around well too. She didn't mind that Fafnir was the only one she knew how to find right now, though.
"Neat, now I don't have to wait for you to get bored and look for me," she said with a laugh, "If you're all alone now, why didn't you come look for me today? Do you want to play?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:26 pm
He frowned a little at her comment about him getting bored and coming to look for her. It made it sound a little bad in his opinion, as if he only came to find her when he didn't have anything else to do. He supposed, in a way, that was kind of right though. Unless Loki was gone, he usually didn't think about going to see Ally. She didn't seem particularly hurt by the idea, but he felt a stinging in his chest over the entire notion. He'd have to make it up to her, even if she didn't know it. He didn't want her to think he only came to play with her when he was bored - he really did like to play with her!
"Well, I was thinking about it," he began nervously, rubbing his front paw against the grass beneath it. The blades bent beneath the wait, pressed into the earth, and for a moment he just stared as they slowly began to rise back up into their normal upright position. Then, with a sigh he glanced back up at her. "It's just that last time I got you in trouble, and I don't want to get you in trouble with your dad." He tilted his head a little, his tail flickering nervously. "And I really don't want him to be mad at me," he finished with a mumble.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:47 pm
"Why just thinking?" she started, observing his sudden nervous disposition. He had been so cheerful, she didn't understand why he was suddenly so upset- until he reminded her of exactly why he hadn't come. Ally had already guessed that much, in a way.
"I didn't really get in trouble," Ally said confidently, though there was a touch of hesitation before she said 'really'. She never stopped smiling though, she didn't want him to be upset- especially if it meant he wasn't so eager to play with her. It was obvious he was looking out for her as much as himself, and it was sweet but ultimately less fun than actually hanging out with a friend. "I just have to be careful not to miss something again, he was more interested in seeing the turtle-rocks anyway. And I don't have to do anything today, so we can play!"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:04 pm
"He wanted to see the turtle rocks?" he said with a questioning tilt of his head, his ears perking a little from their flattened position. Well, if she hadn't gotten in too much trouble and her dad had been interested in what they had found anyway, maybe it wasn't so bad. "Did he like them?" He wasn't exactly positive what her dad had wanted in them, especially since Fafnir was mostly sure they weren't turtles at all, but it had distracted him a little from his guilt.
"Well, I guess if you swear you don't have anything to do today, we can play," he offered with a weak smile, a little more confident now that she had assured him she hadn't gotten into too much trouble. But she had told him she wasn't busy last time, so he wanted to make sure she was telling him the whole truth this time and not fibbing about some meeting she might have to meet her dad for later.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:19 pm
"Well, they weren't there before so he wanted to see if he could figure out what they really were, I guess," she admitted with a slight disappointed tone, the fantasy had been quite fun and the real answer was interesting but not the same as imagining them to be alive, "He eventually decided they had come off the mountains, in a rock slide. Like that time it thundered without the clouds, that was probably when it happened." Alcmene smiled again. She didn't understand the situation fully, and with no major damage done to their lands it was hard for her to imagine anything but the rocks simply tumbling off the mountains. She only remembered as much as she did because of Fafnir's story about the turtles and wanting to tell him exactly what they were decided to be.
"I promise!" she said brightly, her tail swaying behind her excitedly, "What do you want to do?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:33 pm
"So, they're like tiny pieces of the mountain?" the way she had said it made it sound quite mundane, and it was obvious that she was a little disappointed that their fantasy bubble had been popped. With a little grin, he lifted his chin up. "So that would make them little mountains. Do you think they'll grow into bigger mountains?" He didn't know how mountains were made, but if it cheered her up a little, he'd make up more stories.
"As long as you promise," he purred out, pushing himself to his feet and looking around. He was still just as indecisive as ever, however, and simply glanced down at her. "I dunno what to do - what do you think we should?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:48 pm
"I guess so, yeah," she agreed with a nod, and was happy when he came up with another way to make them interesting again, "I don't know, maybe they will. That would certainly be more interesting than just gigantic rocks, wouldn't it?"
She looked around, and looked again when he said he didn't know what they could do. He'd taken them somewhere last time, he'd made up the story about the turtles. Maybe this time she could show him something, though she wasn't nearly as imaginative as him.
"We can go look around for something to do," she suggested, turning and hopping a few steps away thoughtfully, "Let's go this way."
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:54 pm
"Yes, it would be a lot more interesting than them just being giant rocks," he said with a thoughtful nod. For a moment, he was lost in thought as he tried to decide how mountains really came to be. Did they grow from rocks that were once part of other mountains, or did something else make them? Then, with a little grin, he glanced back towards her, "we should go back and name them all one day. Then, when they're giant mountains that can be seen from all over, it'll be kind of special."
He simply nodded at her then, his smile in place as he hopped those few steps after her and then fell into pace following her. "I'm sure we'll find something to do, there's always something waiting to be found here, right?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:06 pm
"Hmm!" she pondered loudly at his suggestion of naming the little mountains. She wasn't sure how mountains got names, if they were indeed baby mountains you might expect their parents to name them and her parents had named her or as Fafnir's parents had named him. But mountains didn't talk very much that she knew of, they weren't very personable. Just big, tall and sometimes pretty. Maybe they could go name them, but not yet- she had to think of something fun to do, she wanted to be fun too.
"Maybe," Ally said, more doubtful than Fafnir as she tried to think of interesting new ways to look at the things around her. She was used to learning the technical information. Where she was, the quickest routes to other places, which plants were useful, which were dangerous and which didn't do anything. She walked along, trying to think quickly.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:29 pm
He let the silence fall between them as he followed along behind her, wondering what she would choose for them to go do. He was no good at this leading thing, and it was obvious by the way he simply fell into her shadow. He was content, even when she seemed unsure of where they were going, to follow along.
Though, he would admit that his curiosity was getting the better of him by far. She had seen a lot more of the land than he had because of her father, so surely she had to know all kinds of nifty things that they could do? He simply followed along, slinking behind her and glancing around every few minutes as she seemed stuck in her decision. "I'm sure you can think of something," he encouraged, smiling in her direction.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:39 pm
Alcmene kept thinking as she led the way, decidedly heading for the waterhole because.. well, it seemed like a good idea. Water was something different, worst case scenario they could find something interesting with it. At least Fafnir was confident she could find something interesting to do, but that put more pressure on her to think harder!
As they neared the waterhole, some dark flowers caught Ally's eye. She wasn't sure how much the general pride knew about the plants in their lands, she wouldn't never know nearly as much as Miakoda would, as much as Shira did.. it was what they did. Ally had to know some of it, but did anybody else? Maybe she could tell Fafnir about them, it was one of the easier things she'd learned before- and maybe more interesting than anything else she could think up.
And she knew just which plant was at the waterhole to show him! She picked up the pace, and when they got near the waterhole she stopped beside a little bush with small white flowers.
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