[PRP] Some Time to Re-Group. (Aberforth and Étaín)

[Cajanic]

Roaming along the pride’s borders, Aberforth heaved a sigh. He was happy to be home, yes, and the feeling of being welcomed was a great one he could not deny. It had surprised him to feel that way, as he had expected to return and have no one even notice he had been missing. After all, he couldn’t remember having known anyone in the pride, what should they have known him?

The fact that he had amnesia from a head injury wasn’t really a factor in his thinking.

On his back sat Uchungu, the loud female there to help Aberforth feel more at ease. This whole thing had been very hard on him, she knew that well. But she also knew that forcing him to go through it would make him stronger. Maybe even make him more social, should he not dive back into his den the moment he met every in the pride for a second time. She hope the best for him. Her boy had grown up now and it was getting time he started doing things on his own.

Still…. She could stick around for just a little while to make sure he was getting on okay. No shame in that, right?

“Cheer up Aberforth,” she directed her dear friend, “you look so gloomy I’m worried your face might get stuck that way!”

“Sorry,” muttered Aberforth, “I just feel so rotten. All these lions have been so kind to me and I barely remember any of them.”

“Don’t worry about what you’ve forgotten,” offered the pink vulture thoughtfully, “you just need to focus on making friends all over again. It’s not so big a deal, is it? You have a fresh start to show these other who you really are. I’d hate to see you run away from that.”

“I know. I know you’re right. It’s just… difficult.”

“Buck up, kiddo,” the vulture grunted, “no female is going to be interested in such a sad-sack. You have enough to worry about with your mane! Don’t go making problems from nothing. You’re fine. I promise you.”

Aberforth chuckled, shaking himself to unsettle her on his back. “Thanks,” he muttered, “that was SO helpful.”

The two continued to roam together, Aberforth on the look out for threats while Uchungu kept watch for friends.  

[laefe]

Dark wings sailed through the sky, silence surrounding them like a thick wet blanket as they flapped occaisionally to keep the lithe bird in the air. He'd been searching for days, for long long days. Sure Isacaire knew where she was, but he didn't know where her brothers were, where her friends had gone. Étaín was fairly capable, he knew that much when she'd saved his life all those months back.

She was a hard working lioness, that was why he had chosen her as his bonded lion despite the obvious small size and strange behavior she exhibited thanks to her life. Despite it all he loved her desperately and right now she was wounded and lost, cut off from those that she loved. The very thought made Isacaire want to fly faster and search all night. However he knew that he couldn't, he would die and then what good would he be to her?

Slowly the vulture drifted back down towards the ground again, a sigh escaping his beak as he landed on the only extrodinarily tiny shoulder he would ever allow himself to land on.

"Please don't hurt yourself flying like that Isa." Étaín's quiet voice came out of her muzzle in the same gruff and point blank manner it always had, she'd never been one to beat around the bush.

A heavy jerk nearly nocked Isacaire from his perch and only seconds later it happened again, a jilting step that the lioness had been forced to assume until her front leg healed. All this walking trying to find her way home probably wasn't the best for her leg but Étaín didn't care in the least, her brothers were out there somewhere. Hopefully the three of them were still alive but they were generally lost without her. Doubtless Sterk was now trying to play the leader like he always did and the other two just fell behind him working to find their way home.

She was certain that her parents were fine, her father was a guard, he was a beast of a lion that was always fine. It was her brothers she worried the most about.

Étaín continued her limping walk along the borders, hoping that her brothers might have skirted the worst of the earthquake by getting themselves to more stable ground. It seemed that the damage done by the earthquake slimmed out towards the boundaries to the valley, that was an encouragement. Maybe there was some hope for her wandering, maybe she would find her brothers safe and sound.

The silence between the lioness and her bonded bird was thick as it had always been. The two valued silence, not needing to tell the other of how they loved them or even offer any encouragement towards a thing when they knew the other always was encouraging. It just took a look and they could nod and continue when they had been about to collapse, so close was their belief and trust in the other to do the right thing.

Even something like this, wandering the edges of their beloved pride, kept them close.  

[Cajanic]

Aberforth and Uchungu had slipped to quiet, neither one having much more to say on the matter. The vulture knew her good friend would never fully listen to her- there would always be the anxiety in his mind. Foolish of him to dwell so much on things that couldn’t really be change, but if he would not listen to reason she could not change his behavior. That was just how things were going to have to stay.

Didn’t mean she was going to stop trying to convince him, however. Knowing it was useless and accepting defeat were two entirely different situations, the latter of which Uchungu was unwilling to face.

Moving along, Uchungu took to the air after a moment, to see if anyone was around to help Aberforth feel more at ease. Though introductions were often awkward at best, she knew he would be comforted to see another lion once some memory of them returned to his mind. She just had to make sure she remembered the lion, lest they meet up with someone who less-than-secretly loathed Aberforth in the past. Aberforth, looking up, frowned.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Just doing a bit of exploring,” she replied, swooping off before he could get any more information from her. What she didn’t know, however, was that he was already on path to meeting someone, and she was pretty much abandoning him on a misguided whim.

Aberforth, now alone, moved on, continuing his sluggish path to no where in particular. Sighing softly, he was just turning a bend when a spot of red caught his attention in the distance. Blinking, he moved a little closer to the figure, realizing too late that said figure was also getting closer to him. The way it moved, limp and all, made it clear that it was another lion. Maybe one he had known before? Oh Gods, where had Uchungu gone? Now he needed her to make sure this was a friendly creature and he was unable to see any pink floating about in the air. Decision time had come, the young male now faced with two roads: run room as fast as possible, or meet with the creature all on his own.

Though his mind screamed the former, Aberforth continued his path towards the creature. A few steps further showed it was a pride member with a bird companion of her own, closer still the realization that it was a female sprang to mind. Finally he was close enough to speak, but his throat had gone dry.

Carefully, he bowed his head in greeting, eyeing the floor and desperately fighting to keep his white frame from trembling. “Hello,” he choked out weakly, “are you…. Are you okay? You’re limping…”
 

[laefe]

Truth be told, Étaín didn't even notice the bright white dot in the distance, she was so focused on walking at the present moment. She would have walked by her own brother at that moment, her limp felt as if it were getting worse for all that she was doing the best she could to continue walking. A heavy sigh pulled from her tan chest and she tried to keep herself from falling as her leg threatened to give out under her.

Now was a good time to stop.

In a slow motion she sat down, the hair that hung before her face covering both of her eyes as she felt a sickness at her own incapabilities settle over her tiny red body. A shiver wracked her tiny frame and she looked down at one of her paws for a moment until it passed; her leg was bleeding again, which could only mean that she would need to rest for a little while longer. Étaín was pushing herself far too hard to...

Isacaire clacked his beak together savagely and took off into the air in a rush of feathers at the back of her head. It wasn't a warning of an enemy coming, it was a warning that something was too close and she hadn't noticed. If it had been an enemy the vulture would have been all over them in an instant.

Slowly she looked up through her mane with one eye, letting the strands of long red hair move just enough for her to see the white lion before her. Instantly relief passed over her body and Étaín nearly laughed aloud at the recognition that passed over her face. How could she forget his scent, they'd been friends for a while after all.

"Aberforth, don't sneak up on me like that." Étaín replied, her voice as gruff as normal but because she'd known him since a young age and knew he was almost as socially inept as she was there was a tinge of gentleness that touched her words that would have been nonexistant with any other lion, even her own brothers. "It happened during the earthquake, seems fishing was a bad decision. I'm glad to see that you got away from the worst of it though, you don't look as though you're in any pain."

A smile spread over her muzzle and she nodded her head to the other hunter. Truely it was good that he had gotten away from the worst of the earthquake, safe from harm like he always seemed to be. Even when they were young lions he'd suddenly go from playful to running away back to the den.

Of course that was the fault of his parents and Étaín had always disliked the iron grip they'd held on him. If only she'd been able to break it, though she simply had feelings like that due to her own life of having no blood family. Her foster family didn't push her to do or not do things, they let her live her own life, just demanded she come home at night and do the best she could as a huntress. Simple.

"The ground isn't going to make me go away 'Forth." Étaín sliced the beginning off of his name like she had long ago. Something was odd with him, but the tiny lioness couldn't put her paw on it as she stared up at the much larger lion. "Where's Uchungu?"

The pink vulture had always been around him since she could remember. It was Uchungu who gave Aberforth his bravery at times, or at least pecked him until he did it even if he wasn't that brave. It was much the way Isacaire kept her down to earth at times and made her relax when she otherwise would have been running all over and hunting every day.

Isacaire floated lazily up on the wind, his large wings catching thermals though he didn't need to in order to stay up in the air. He was no hawk, he was much more graceful in the air than any hawk could ever be. Étaín hadn't noticed the lion coming, so great was her pain, that was why Isacaire had needed to step in for his beloved companion. Of course he recognized the large lion, who could forget that mane?

It was good that Étaín was meeting up with another lion from the pride though, especially someone she had known for a while. It would give her some hope that things weren't as dire as she believed. Though the fact that Isacaire couldn't see Uchungu anywhere near Aberforth made the feathers on his back nearly stand up in worry. The pink vulture was never very far from her bonded.  

[Cajanic]

“I… I’m sorry,” the male uttered in a frail tone, more doubt than fear edging into his voice, “I didn’t mean to startle you, I really didn’t.” He could see that she seemed quite comfortable to be around him, which could only mean one thing: she must have known him from before the earthquake and he just couldn’t remember her. Guilt struck him potently, making him shift as his eyes stayed pinned to the ground. She was so relaxed, she even had a nickname for her, and for him it was like he had never met her before in his entire life.

How was he supposed to act around her?

The male felt a little silly now. He was going to have to as her who she was while she was so busy being happy he hadn’t been hurt. Still, her comment did give him a little room to bring up the subject. Clearing his throat, he finally tore his eyes from the ground, the placid green of his eyes coming to rest on her red frame reluctantly.

“Well… actually…” said the male carefully, “I didn’t escape completely unharmed. It’s… kind of weird to talk about… but… during the earthquake I was struck in the head with a large, mean rock. It knocked me out for a good while and when I woke up I couldn’t remember anything… not even my own name. I wandered away from the pride without knowing it and got hopelessly lost. I don’t think I would have survived without Uchungu. She found me and helped me greatly in regaining my strength and my memory. But, unfortunately, I don’t remember everything,” he sighed softly. Now was the tricky part of the little speech, “I don’t remember a lot of the other pride members that I’ve met, or anything about my past. Uchungu can’t tell me if I’ll ever get my memories back or not. Anyway, what I’m trying to get to is, uh, well, I just don’t know much about you. That is, I don’t remember. I’m really sorry…”

Again his eyes fell to the floor, the large male feeling a little more than awkward now. This was the first time he had really explained to anyone what had happened to him. Whoever she was, she seemed to be easy to speak with. Maybe it was a lingering feeling towards her from before he could remember. Something that hadn’t been lost due to simple amnesia.

Or maybe he was just hoping for the best.

While staring at the ground, he couldn’t help but inch his sight line towards her paws, noticing that the wound she was still burdened with was bleeding somewhat. Eyes widening, he moved a bit closer to her, more or less dragging his butt across the ground to get over to her. “Your leg is bleeding...” he offered in observation, already sure that she was aware of that. It was just a much needed subject change. It didn’t matter if she was an enemy or not- she was hurt and he wanted to make sure she didn’t make it worse for herself accidentally. Though he had had heard her question of Uchungu, he now had more focus on something he felt to be more important.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, “here I was going off about my own problems and you’re bleeding! I’m such a dork. I should’ve been paying more attention to things than that. Are you alright? Do you need me to get you anything?” He wanted to help. That was something Aberforth was, admittedly, good at. He loved to help others if he could find the room to do so, never one to leave someone hanging. Hunting and fighting were things that he couldn’t manage. Kindness was the only thing he really had going for him.

Exhaling softly, he sat back again, eyes once more shifting reluctantly towards the much smaller creature. “Oh! About Uchungu; she’s probably going to be here shortly,” he added after a moment of nervous pause, “she’s just gone off to scout about, I think. She’s fine. At least she remembers everything. Now… I’m sorry, but I have to ask; who are you?”

Boy, it seemed weird to have a conversation with someone, a nice one, and then ask for an introduction.

Meanwhile, Uchungu was heading back towards her bonded companion. It hadn’t taken her long to note that the male had discovered the company of another without her being there. A good sign, as far as she was concerned. She spotted Isacaire shortly there after, moving towards him to get a little catch-up time of her own.
 

[laefe]

The small lioness watched him through the strands of her lengthened mane with eyes that held just enough gentleness to them so that they couldn't be considered cold and gruff when in reality, that could have been a good description. There was understanding in Étaín's light eyes as she watched him. It was a long time before she could think of a thing to respond to him with, her dark tail swishing around behind her as she pondered what to say to him.

Étaín was a quiet lioness, she expressed herself with actions and hard work rather than emotions and words. To find a way to comfort someone was a foreign thing to her, something she didn't even do with her brothers. Comfort between her and her three brothers was a cuff to the head and a lopsided grin and then they got on with whatever they'd been previously doing. Even with her mother and father, they would simply nod to her.

Clearly in this situation a cuff to the head and a grin wouldn't work, he'd lost his memory from a head injury. Not the best route to take. Touching was also something she didn't do often so that was beyond the question unless he touched her first.

So what did that leave in the way of comfort she could give her old friend? Sure she'd smiled at him when they were cubs and he'd given her a smile back and he'd been fine but... he couldn't remember that now. It felt as if something tightened around her heart, to think that a friend of hers was suffereing through not knowing anything about his friends or himself. It felt like loneliness settled on her as well, here she'd found a friend once more and he couldn't remember anything about it.

"Well... I suppose the first thing is... my name is Étaín. I met you when we were very young, back when your parents ruled your life and kept you away from everyone." Étaín explained slowly, the words seeming to roll off of her tongue awkwardly as she forced herself to think of the best manner in which to tell him all this, "We used to play a lot, because in reality even though you're shy you and I have a lot in common. You were never very active but you were a good ear if someone had troubles, I think I might have laid a few of mine on you a little too hard when we were younger though."

In fact she knew she did. That was why she'd been so close to him, because he had been there when her parents and siblings had all died. Sure they'd only met for breif moments before his mother would drag him back away to the den again, chastising him for leaving and cavorting with her, but he'd been there all the same. He'd listened.

Slowly her eyes turned down to the long gash on the inside of her left leg. It was still bleeding, she'd noticed of course, but she'd ignored it just a tad. the pain was beginning to become nothing but a quiet throbbing and a gentle headiness as she lost more and more blood. If Étaín stayed still for a few minutes it would heal back up again, or at least enough for her to walk until it bled again. She was foolish, yes, but at least she could relax when she found her family, or was told what happened to them.

"There's not much that you can do that Isacaire hasn't done already, don't worry about it. With time it'll heal up." Étaín told him with a nod and she lifted her head to look up above her. "Uchungu must be worrying about you so much 'Forth. She always was a worry wart."

Up in the air, Isacaire was watching the way Étaín explained with a sad smile. He knew that she would help the other lion remember if he didn't already. But that wasn't the vulture's business, his was in the form of a pink shape that was flying through the air to greet him. It had been a long enough time that Isacaire wasn't sure when he'd last seen those wings and sharp eyes come towards him.

"Uchungu! Long time no see!" Isacaire's voice carried out across the thermals towards her, his teal colored eyes dancing in amusement at seeing her once more like this. It seemed like a long time since he'd last seen the sarcastic pink vulture.