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 Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:39 am
Nyesha was getting worse and, as much as she wanted to hide at home and try to sleep it off, she couldn't do that to herself or her family. Nobody else at home was this bad, not that she had noticed, and she was determined not to bring them down. So, once again, she was out for a walk. Every step she took felt like a gamble, she was having trouble keeping the world still beneath her but she knew dizziness was a sign of worse stages of the disease. In fact, it was the only one she knew- so she was ignoring it.
Not that ignoring it was doing much. When struck with vertigo, her steps became slow and determined but undeniably unsteady. When the world stopped spinning, she was quicker but undeniably nervous.
She had been trying to avoid busy paths but ultimately decided she needed a drink and so her direction changed to head for water. Having a specific goal made it easier to keep moving, she was still vulnerable to distraction from her symptoms and it didn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:14 am
Lutum was getting more comfortable with the idea of living in a pride as he got older. He still remembered Aestivus, his father, but most of those memories were blurred with the exhaustion and knowledge of walking day after day, hour after hour. Here and now, he only needed to walk so long as he chose. And if he didn't always have a destination in mind, it was no long a mind-numbing march into the unknown. He'd decided that as far as that went, living here was better. And even if he still didn't understand all that Nawiri wanted of him and his sister, at least the lioness cared how they did, what they did, and where. Lutum might not remember too much of his father, but he didn't remember Aestivus asking a single question of either of them. The juvenile was distracted from his reverie by the sight of a lioness, not yet adult but still older than he, walking carefully through the pride. The direction of her steps seemed to be towards the watering hole, but the manner was...odd. Being young and still not completely understanding the disease the pride lived with, Lutum supposed that she was doing this on purpose. It seemed a strange choice to him, but many things were still strange to him and what was one more to those? The young prince walked over and sat down on the path, in front of the adolescent. She'd either have to stop and talk to him, or walk around. He supposed that he should say something, Nawiri having gotten that much of manners into him. So... "Why are you doing that?" the boy asked.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:21 am
Before she reached Lutum, the world began to spin again and she was far too distracted to notice the lion blocking her path. When he spoke, she stumbled to a sudden stop, lifting her eyes up. She tensed for a second as she waited for the world to right itself again, blinking a couple times until Lutum stayed still before her. At first glance she almost thought it was Eione but she could see different now.
"Doing what?" she asked, not daring to look herself over though she wondered if maybe she looked worse than she had thought before going out.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:25 am
"Walking weird. Almost falling," he replied simply, watching her. The lioness' body language was kind of odd, and she seemed cautious as she moved, but nothing her her voice made her shy. Lutum had the sense of a puzzle that he could try and put together to answer his own question.
Maybe...maybe she wasn't choosing to walk like that? But if that was true, why would it be so?
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:33 am
"Oh."
So she wasn't being as discreet as she hoped, but she was still out and about so how bad could it really seem? Maybe she'd have to work on walking more steadily on the way home, where her mothers were more likely to spot her.
"I'm just a little dizzy," she responded, putting on a smile, "But I'm OK. You're Eione's brother, aren't you?"
Nyesha lifted her head up more, looking him over slowly and carefully just in case the dizziness started again. He and his sister looked a lot alike but still very different. His green mane was probably the most obvious difference.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:38 am
"Yeah," the response was startled out of him. He hadn't expected that this lioness would know his sister! Well, he supposed it couldn't be that weird, after all, Eione lived here too and Nawiri had been on both their cases to get out, explore, and meet people. Actually, more on the "meet people" than the "explore", but Lutum wasn't as good at that. Eione was the more outgoing of the two of them. So he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was.
But the older lion had said she was dizzy. And dizzy wasn't good. He felt like there were more reasons than just the obvious why dizzy was bad, but the boy simply couldn't remember them at this time.
"Maybe you should sit down?" he asked. He himself was still sitting on the path, where he'd set himself not too long before. If she sat, maybe her eyes would clear and then she'd be okay. That's what happened for him after he ran in circles for a long time and got dizzy, after all! So it should work for her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:53 am
She was surprised when he brushed off her question so easily. It wasn't going to be so simple, changing the subject. He was more concerned about her dizziness, but he seemed almost puzzled about it.. which might explain his focus on it. She'd been that way when she first noticed signs of the disease around the pride.. of course, she'd murmured questions to her mothers, not confronted the strangers.
"Maybe," she agreed, though it was nicer even just standing still, "It's not so bad, though. I was headed for the watering hole."
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:58 am
If Lutum was more conscious of social norms, he would have offered to lend the lioness a shoulder and help her get to her destination, recognizing that she was having trouble moving. Unfortunately for Nyesha, the boy in question was still an outsider in the civilized pride and his manners were a thin veneer over a young savage.
Even so, Nawiri had managed to instill some semblance of awareness into him and Lutum knew that he should do something for the older lion.
"I'll go with you then." Lutum hadn't been going there before, but he was a little thirsty, now that he thought about it. To suit actions to words, the lion got up and turned himself around.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:08 am
Nyesha perked up- and very nearly sent the world whirling around again- when he offered to go with her. Eione had asked to join her when she'd run into her, it was very similar circumstances, actually. Except Eione had been looking for company on her search for Lutum. Part of her wondered if now she might have joined the other side of such a search. She would have been happy to see Eione if she did show up, though.
"Sure," she said, smiling.
Now that she had company, she felt more confident in walking.. except that standing still had offered a nice rest and she wasn't sure how fast it would get as bad as it had been before Lutum had interrupted her.
"Oh!" she said suddenly, realizing they'd skipped over introductions, "I'm Nyesha, by the way."
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:11 am
The boy blinked. Sure? Why did she say that. He hadn't really been asking a question or anything like that, he'd just decided he would go with her. Why did that warrant a Sure? Sometimes people made no sense at all to the brown lion.
Then she told him her name. Nyesha. It sounded familiar, like he'd heard it before. Not sure where, but the fact that he did already know it in some context made the Prince feel more comfortable. Belatedly, he remembered that when someone told him their name, he was supposed to reply in kind.
"Lutum," he replied, starting to walk towards the water. The juvenile looked back over his shoulder to see if the lioness was following.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:16 am
He was a strange little prince, Nyesha decided, watching as he started walking. Eione seemed so different than him, but still similar enough. It was interesting to see. Maybe others saw it with her and her siblings, but she wasn't sure how many friends they shared. Maybe their mothers saw it.
She was distracted thinking about family until suddenly Lutum was looking back at her expectantly. Coming back to the situation she was in at that moment, she started walking after him. Her first step was careful but when no immediate wave of vertigo overtook her, she walked with more confidence. Maybe it was done for now.
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