[AIM] Revelations [FIN]

[Nuxaz]

Peke felt...better so to speak. After his bickering with Ufunuo things felt more...he wasn't exactly sure how to explain it, normal maybe? Yes. Normal. That was a good word to describe how he felt about things. He also felt more like himself, where as before he felt empty. It felt refreshing. He also didn't feel sorrow. He actually felt happy for once.

A small smile spread across his lips as he continued to walk with no direction decided. He simply wanted to wander, which was hypocritical of him as he had told another -not- to wander. Of course he said many a things that people shouldn't do that he went and did himself. It was simply how he was and it would never change. Never.

"Hey Nguvu..." He started glancing up at the raven hovering just above him.

"Yes?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Does what hurt?"

"Your wing."

"Oh." The bird frowned, his eyebrows tilting inward in thought as he contemplated the question. It did hurt, a little, but not enough that it would keep him from flying. A passion he had greatly missed during recovery. However he knew that his wing would never fully heal, he wouldn't be able to fly as long as the other birds and he would always have the dull pain but he didn't care. He could fly again and that was all the mattered to him. "Occasionally. But I don't mind."

"Oh," having said that both fell silent lost in their own thoughts.

--

Not too far off, someone else was pretty lost in thought, pawing absent-mindedly at a leaf that fluttered ever so lazily whenever she moved her paws. Unlike Peke, Ethiopia couldn't exactly be called happy. But she wasn't as sad as she was say.. last week. The sadness was gradually subsiding, but it was still awfully fresh. Mom and dad were dead, and she was here in this strange place.

But it was nice. And everyone had these.. bond birds, which was both strange and neat at the same time. they were so -close-!

And ooh, what was that? Finally taken out of thought, which she was usually grateful for, since she had a habit of thinking about her parents(which consequently made her sad), the gray cub blinked at what she was seeing. A bird. A very, very white bird. Daga had been mostly white too, but he was different looking.

Ooh, maybe this was a bondbird? Why was it flying so low? She sat up, ears perked, trying to spot any lion that might be with this bird. Peke was still hidden by the grass, so she hadn't managed to spot him just yet.

--

When Peke paused in his walk so did Nguvu. The bird occassionaly flapped his wings to keep him afloat. "Is something...." He started before trailing off, his pink eyes having spotted the grey cub. "Do you?"

"Yes."

Peke responded before the raven had the chance to finish his sentence. He hadn't really seen the full figure of the other cub, only bits and pieces of her through the tall grasses that easily masked his form. His blue eyes studied what he could see before he pushed himself up onto his hindlegs to get a better view. "Have you ever seen her before?" He questioned falling back onto all fours. At the shake of his bonded's head he frowned. "Well I suppose I should speak to her."

"Probably."

"Aren't you..." Nguvu started before he saw the look. Peke wanted him to speak with her first. Typicial. Shaking his head he looked back over at the other and called out cheerfully. "Hello!"

--

The bird had stopped moving forward, which for a moment made the cub wonder if she'd been spotted-- she probably had, and it also looked like it was talking to.. something. Someone, most likely. So she was right, it probably -did- have a bonded. For a moment she was happy, then almost considered running off. Damn her and her.. being shy and stuff. She scratched at her ear, careful not to yank on her earring when the bird called out. Okay, too late to scurry off now.

"Um.. hi! " She responded, trying to make sure she could be heard over the distance, but didn't move to get closer.

--

Her reply was soft but it reached the ears of the raven who glanced at his bonded. "Go over to her and start a conversation." He ordered the cub finding it silly that he had to be the one to start everything. At first he hadn't minded but it was getting silly. When Peke wasn't being rude or brash he avoided others completely, leaving Nguvu to clean up the messes. Not any more. "Peke."

A sigh slipped from the cubs mouth as he nodded. "Alright, alright." He replied as though it was the most troublesome thing in the world. "Oi! Girly!" He called pushing himself up above the grass again. "Stay there!" He ordered a bit rudely before dropping down again and trotting towards her. It couldn't hurt to chat with her. He needed to meet with new people after all. Right?

Well he couldn't think of a reason nor could he think of an excuse to avoid the girl so he was stuck. Sucks.

Nguvu rolled his eyes at the tone his bonded used before moving towards the other himself wincing as a jolt of pain fluttered through him. He would need to land soon. In fact now.

Dropping to the ground he curled his wing into himself. "I...I need a minute go on without me." He mumbled his words already lost.

--

The bird didn't reply, so for a moment she wondered if it had lost interest and had just been polite to greet her, but then she saw a cub's head peek over the grass. Another cub? ..Wait, 'girly'? Well, she hadn't been called that before. At least, not in that tone. A part of her was quietly hoping this other cub wasn't mean, because... he just kind of gave her an order, and he didn't really sound excessively nice. At least the bird had sounded friendly. Maybe it was like Mapa and Hisa, the red kite was so much nicer than the black lion.

"Okay! " She said after a small hesitation, glancing around a bit as he vanished in the grass again. And the bird.. the bird did too. That was odd.

 

[Nuxaz]

It wasn't until he was almost at Ethiopia did he notice that his bonded no longer hovered in the air beside him. Furrowing his brow he spun in a circle. "Nguvu? Nguvu!" He called loudly as he spun in a circle once more. Where had the bird gone? What hadn't he said anything to him. When he finally stopped moving a in circle he realized the was within the view of the other cub. "Hey! Did you see where the white raven went?" He asked just the faintest lines of concern in his tone.

While he waited for an answer he let his blue eyes study her. She certaintly didn't look anything like any of the other pride members. None of them were gray. Well except for Hifadhi but he was old. "Where'd you come from?" He asked bluntly Nguvu slipping from his mind for just a minute. "Are you related to anyone here cause you don't look like anyone I've ever seen." Was she an outsider? Had she been sent in by Msiba and Mchawi!?!

Of course! Why not send in a cub, one that everyone would trust because after all how much harm could a cub do? Why had he never thought of this before?!

Oh yeah, because it was silly and stupid.

"You're an outsider!" GASP!

--

"In the grass. " She blinked, shrugging. Had the cub not seen his own bonded land? She got off her rump as if to help him go find the bird, she had a vague idea of how far he was, but then she was questioned.

"Umm.. " She wasn't too sure how to answer where she was from, since she didn't know exactly. Her family had been rogues, and they'd been a bit too young to get smart about names and exactly where they were from. "Not from here. " she attempted. Home had never had any other name but 'home'.

"Yeah. " She'd say more, but she wasn't much of a speaker, and Peke hadn't asked more than that. She wasn't about to ramble on about her whole life because he'd asked where she was from.

--

"Grass?" He was confused by her answer when he realized she was speaking of his bird. By putting two and two together he relaxed about the situation. He hadn't been abandoned! Instead Nguvu just needed to rest. "Oh, then he'll be fine. He just needs a minute." He stated with a shrug seemingly not caring too much about the bird when he was incredibly relieved that nothing too bad had happened.

Not from here! From where then?

Many questions began to swirl around in his mind, even more when she answered his other question. His suspicions had been confirmed! She was a toy of Msiba and Mchawi! Of course he had no actualy proof, she had just answered the questions he had asked. They hadn't been specific enough to really say that she was a tool but he just kept on thinking so.

"I knew it!" He exclaimed (if he were human he probably would have pointed accusingly at her). "You're one of them!"

--

She was growing more and more confused by this other cub, after seeming a bit concerned, he didn't even show signs of wanting to investigate more-- well, he was probably just being optimistic and figuring the bird was fine. She still wondered why the raven had landed in the first place, though.

With his exclamation, however, she jumped slightly, looking around in surprise with a kind of deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression. "One of who? " She piped up, though she took a small step back. Where was Tanz to help her when she needed him?

--

"One of them." He repeated as though she would know who they were, which she wouldn't. She was innocent. "One of the interlopers." He told her once it registered in his mind that she obviously wouldn't know. And if she did then well...she obviously wouldn't say anything to him. Because, duh, that's how a person was sneaky. Obviously. Though this didn't seem to quite get through the cub's head. Then again it wouldn't have mattered to him, he would know if she lied. Unless...

Unless she didn't know that she was one of them.

Hmmm....interesting turn of events! Not.

Before he had the chance to say another word he was smacked harshly upon his head as his bonded came by, having gotten the rest he needed to cover the last of the distance. Then he settled upon the ground before the cub. "Stop it with your nonsense Peke!" Honestly sometimes the cub was more trouble than he was worth. Tsk, tsk. "She is not one of them. Honestly!" He shook his head before turning it toward the female. "I apologize for my bonded's behavior. He jumps to the silliest conclusions ever." He sighed. What a handful.

 

[Nuxaz]

"Interlopers? What? " She blinked, though her voice was hardly demanding of an answer. "I dunno what you're talking about. " She frowned, her ears lowering even more as she glanced around again, quietly willing her brother to show up.

But the raven showed up instead, but that wasn't too bad. She blinked as it whacked the cub, but felt a little better as he... apologized for the cub. "It's.. okay. " she said uncertainly, still a bit at loss as to what was going on.

--

When she repeated a few of the words Peke had said Nguvu sighed. "It's nothing, ignore him." To which the cub responded by glaring, which he ignored. "They're...characters from his dreams." That wasn't a total lie. He figured it was better to make it seem like he was playing than accusing her of being a bad guy. When he opened his mouth to protest he silenced the cub with a look. "Now that I've gotten a better look at her, I've seen her with the King's cousin." Why couldn't he remember the name? "Mat..." He trailed off.

"Mapatano." Peke finished with a sigh. There went is amazing theory. Damn. Always ruining all his fun.

"My name is Nguvu, this rude little lion is my bonded, Peke."

--

Mapatano was the king's cousin? She didn't know that. Hm, why hadn't he said anything about it? Well, Mapa didn't talk much in general.

"My name's Ethiopia. " She forced a small smile, though still somewhat shaken about the whole.. accusing of.. being something weird. Was this cub crazy, thinking she was someone from him.. dreams or something? This just made no sense. "Nice to meet you, " This was true enough for the bird, who was nice(or seemed nice), though she wasn't so sure about Peke.

--

"It's nice to meet you too." Nguvu replied before his pink-eyed gaze flickered back to the male cub waiting expectantly. "You see he's not...good at meeting new people, he tries to play silly games all the time."

Peke rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't listen to him, he's speaking gibberish." He declared not liking that the raven was making him seem like a fool. He did that enough to himself, he didn't need help. "I guess I'm sorry for how I reacted." Yeah, he guessed. Shrugging he wrinkled his nose. "What happened to your parents?"

--

If it hadn't been for the very.. interesting past minutes, she might have found the two funny, they argued pretty much like Mapatano and Hisa. Only Mapatano didn't go.. randomly accusing people. But, according to the bird, apparently this was a game.

She was about to acknowledge his apology, as half-hearted as it was when he asked a question, and she froze for a minute. Why did he have to ask that? The cub shifted uncomfortably. Greaat, she'd been wanting a distraction from the sad junk. "They.. died. " She muttered quietly, keeping her eyes on the floor. Ethiopia kind of hated these moments, despite herself.

"Anything else? " This was asked more-so in hopes of changing the subject than impatience.

--

At her answer his face fell. They were dead? Death...death reminded him of Kuruka, his sister, and his parents who had gone missing around the time of the quake. They were probably dead too. So many deaths in such a little time span. "I...I'm sorry." He mumbled actually sounding sorry. Because he well...was. So this little girl was here alone, a lot like he was. Except he had his brother. Of course she apparently had Matapano, which was a one-up in his opinion. Although he wasn't sure how he'd feel with having an actual adult around him, telling him what to do. Heavens knew that he wasn't good with taking orders.

"ah..unless you want..." He totally lost his train of thought and everything he had thought of asking or saying completely fluttered away. Not only did he feel like a fool. He felt like an a** too.

 

[Nuxaz]

She nodded slightly at his apology, but didn't speak about it. She had Tanz, which was better than nothing. She was also positive her parents were dead, she'd actually seen them. There was Mapatano, but he didn't do much. He let them hang around his cave and let them eat whenever he caught anything. Beside's that, they rarely did anything else.

The gray cub shrugged. "You're the one that was asking questions. " Therefore, it was up to him.

--

"Do you want to ask me anything?" He asked trying to regain his composure. He looked towards Nguvu for help who simply shook his head. This was his mess, he would have to clean it up himself. Sighing he lowered his head. "I don't have anymore questions for you." He stated just peeking up at her. Where had all his fire gone? Where had his confidence gone?

--

She shrugged again, still staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing on planet earth. A part of he wanted to answer yes, because a change of subject would come very nicely, but then she also had no idea if he'd ask anything else that was..sad.

But he seemed like he regretted asking about her parents, at least. "Okay. " She said, then searched her brain for anything to say. "Um.. why were you asking anyway? " Ethiopia asked, trying to keep a twinge of sadness out of her voice. She was doing good, so far.

--

At her question he had to think about it. Why had he been questioning her so much? Probably because when he didn't know someone he always asked questions. It was what he thought he was supposed to do. But these questions, at least the last one, had been more personal that he should have asked. Why was it any of his business where her parents were? As long as she wasn't a threat it wasn't. "I'm...I'm not sure." He paused tapping his chin as he lifted his head. "I'm just used to asking questions."

True statement. He always questioned authority, always had to know what this rule was that or why they even needed rules.

--

"Oh. " Well, okay, nothing to say now. So, here she was wanting to avoid some weird awkward silence, but unsure of what to say. At least she wasn't staring at the floor anymore. Maybe she should.. go find Tanz or something, and give the lame excuse to make sure he wasn't getting in trouble. Which wasn't -too- lame, Tanz did get in trouble a lot. Or he used to.

A part of her wanted to ask about her parents, but then she was afraid they were dead too, and then they'd have an even more awkward silence. "D'you.. " She paused, trying to think of some random thing to say, but seemingly failed,since she gave up on the question. "Um.. are there many cubs in this pride? " She'd mostly met cubs. At least, now that she met Peke she'd mostly met cubs. He and Ufunuo beat Mapatano two to one.

--

He shrugged. "I dunno, probably." He paused to count how many he knew. There was Ubele, Ufunuo, Dumu, that one girl...that one seer boy...Kamau and his sister, and now her. That made eight, nine including himself. "As far as I know there are including you and I. There used to be another but..." He trailed off sorrow heavy in his eyes. Blinking it was gone. "There are fewer adults I think, probably more will show up once they figure out how to get around the damage from the earth shaking." Everyday, well every so often he'd see more adults filter back into the pride, which was welcome. As long as they weren't corrupt. "How many have you met?"  

[Nuxaz]

She frowned, another cub had died? "Sorry. About the other cub. " She didn't want to say more about it than that, though. But Peke had seemed sad about it, whoever it was. At least, for a second.

"Just you and Ufunuo. But I only met one adult, and thats Mapatano. " She shrugged. Mapatano's cave was pretty detached from the rest of the pride, so she'd never really gone to the areas where most folks hung around. "And there's my brother, but he came with me. " So he didn't count as a pridemember, did he?

--

"I am too...I am too." He mumbled when she apologized. Of course it wasn't her fault, she shouldn't be sorry but what was a person supposed to say in a situation like that? Sorry was the only appropriate thing. "Ugh you met that loser?" He asked his features twisting in disgust when he learned the cub she had met. Of course she had. He always seemed to beat him at everything.

"You have a brother?" He asked his interest sparked. Maybe it would be a male he could get along with easier. Maybe not. "What's he like? I've only got my brother now too."

--

The gray cub tilted her head. "Loser? " Why would Ufunuo be a loser? He was pretty nice when she met him. Actually, very nice. And he caught a rabbit. But, maybe she shouldn't pry on that. Kids didn't have to like other kids, after all.

"Yeah. His name's Tanzania. " She nodded, then pondered a bit at the other question. "He's playful and a little mean sometimes. He's also pretty silly, and used to get in trouble all the time. "

--

"Yes." That was the only answer he would give her. He didn't feel the need to explain his loserdom. It would take too much time anyway. And he had more important things to talk about her with. Like her family. He wanted to know what he brother was like. If he was as quiet as her or if he was completely different. Like he was from his siblings.

When being told his name Peke nodded trying to get her to move on. Sure the name was nice, yeah, but he wanted to know personality. "Used to?" He asked arching a brow. What had made the other change? Some epic event, some revelation?  

[Nuxaz]

"Well, he still does, its just.. Well, we were alone for about a month after, " she waved her paw slightly. "our parents died. And there's anyone that'll get all angry at him if he does stuff wrong. " She shrugged. Kind of hard to get in trouble when there weren't any rules to break. And Tanz had been shaken by what'd happened too, though he seemed to be getting over it a lot faster than she was. Or he was acting like it.

Y'know, it wouldn't be hard to believe Tanz was just acting tough. Certainly sounded like the sort of thing he'd do.

--

"Sounds like me." He commented before he even thought about what he had said. It was true. After the death of his sister, and well all the other deaths really, he hadn't gotten into much trouble. He had been mourning, for a very long time. Going through the motions of things but no longer spitting words back at the ones who spoke to him. He no longer tried to step on peoples toes. Well he had recently but before there had been nothing. Now?

Now he was done mourning, but was he the same. No. Never the same.

"Things will return to normal...one day."

--

She blinked. It kind-of did sound like Peke, but she didn't know him well enough to think about how much like her brother he was. But from what she'd seen, at least, they were kinda alike! She quietly wondered just how much alike they were when the other cub spoke up again. "Yeah, I guess. " Ethiopia nodded slightly. "But it won't be the same normal. " It was a bit sad to think of, perhaps, but moving on was a strange and somewhat scary concept. How could it be normal when her parents were dead? And Peke's family, too. He'd said he just had a brother left.

Normal 'one day' wouldn't be the same thing as normal would have been when her parents were around. There was no 'back to normal'. Because going back simply didn't exist.

But oops, now the mood was going down again, subject change time. "Whats your brothers name? "

--

"No, it won't." He agreed nodding to emphasis this. "Things will never be the same but they'll be as normal as they get." He laughed dryly when he realized that he had had a similar conversation with Ubele. They had both agreed that things would never be the way they wanted but they needed to deal with things the way they were. "Make due with what you have." He grumbled bitterly with a shake of his head.

When she quickly changed the subject to his brother he wrinkled his nose. He had never been on good terms with the other boy. He hated always being bossed around, even though he knew Dumu had been trying to help. "Dumu."

--

"Yeah. " She nodded quietly, though a bit confused at the laugh. What was that about? Shaking her head slightly, she decided not to ask about it. Maybe he just.. remembered a joke or something. Though it was a very weird time to remember jokes.

She perked an ear slightly as Peke answered her question, and stored the name away in memory, just in case she met this Dumu-kid some day. But now conversation seemed kind of dead. So, she had two options; either start some random conversation or end it and go find Tanz or something. Or she could.. sit here and maintain an awkward silence.

Oh, wait, she did have another question. "Y'know earlier? Who are the interlopers anyway? " She wasn't totally convinced they were just some.. dream-character.

--

He blinked when she brought the interlopers back into the conversation. Obviously she hadn't bought Nguvu's story, with good reason. It had been a terrible story, at least in his mind. "The interlopers are..." He paused his gaze flickering to the all too quiet bird, who was gone! When had he left? Well it didn't matter. He had nothing holding him back from telling her the truth. "The interlopers are bad, bad lions." Again he paused as disgust filled his tone. "They came here acting like they were trying to help when they were here to steal one of us away, one of the cubs." Oooh just thinking about them got him all riled up. It showed in the way he straightened himself and dug his paws into the ground. "They killed a lot of people here, one was my sister. They tried to take me away." Another pause as he tried to keep him in check.

"They used us, abused us and took away things that were really important to us!" Oh how he wanted to swear! But he knew that he wasn't even supposed to know any curses. "They swore revenge..." He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it anymore. "I'm sorry I ever thought you were one of them, I guess I've been waiting for so long that I just jumped to conclusions. Stupid ones. Nguvu was right." He was always right.

--

Though she was a bit startled by his sudden mood change, she was surprisingly not-scared like she had been earlier, and perked her ears. She frowned, eyebrows raising in confusion. They'd killed. They'd killed a... cub? His sister. Though a part of her wanted to know more, another was afraid of asking because she didn't want to upset Peke. "Thats awful! " Though that was obvious. "Why would they do something like that? " She furrowed her brows. She hardly knew anything about these interlopers, but something about them was quite clearly just... wrong. The question, of course, was somewhat rhetorical. She didn't expect Peke to know why.

Though, revenge explained all the questions. And maybe.. Maybe thats why Mapatano had that scar on his shoulder. Maybe his eye too, but that one looked kind-of.. old. "And its okay, I understand. " Though it was a bit silly to think of her as.. these lions. She was a cub-- a rather tiny cub. But fear could do that to people. "D'you think they'll really come back? I mean.. how much can they do? If everyone already knows what they did wrong. "

--

"I don't have a clue. Revenge against another pride maybe?" He shrugged not really giving a damn about their reasoning. It was probably trash anyway. "They wanted a seer cub. At least I think that's what they wanted. Why then came after me and Ufunuo, when they really wanted his sister." He spat his body shaking just a bit. Of course only after he gave her an answer did he realize that it was a rhetorical question. Duh.

"I do." He stated looking past her and to the area behind her. "They can do a lot...more than that. They can create a disater. There were four of them. They killed three lions, and at least one bonded. Wounded others badly." So much destruction from such a small group. "We know the wrong they've done but that doesn't mean we can stop them. Msiba and his witch of a sister survived. They schemed everything between eachother."

--

Seer! She remembered what those were, though she forgot exactly how she knew, at least she knew. She shook her head slightly, why would they want a seer so badly? And four lions.. yes, that was a lot. Well, the four lions they'd killed. And a bonded! Why would anyone kill a bonded? On the bright side, at least they couldn't trick them like that again. If everyone knew who this.. Msiba and his sister were, they could chase them off when they showed up! Or something. It was a whole pride against two, wasn't it?

"So the other two you guys killed? " He'd said there'd been four and only Msiba and this sister of his survived. What'd happened to this pride was terrible. Her parents had been lost to the earthquake, it was an accident. And this pride had suffered from the earthquake, and these lions had just.. taken advantage of them. It was just so, so wrong.

--

"I don't know, I think so. I didn't kill anyone. I think the captain killed one and then the King, or his cousin or one of them...I don't know." He shook his head. He hadn't paid attention. He had been too busy running, because they told him to. He was trying to save his own life while others were protecting him. What a coward. "I didn't see what happened. Just heard. They told me to run, so I did." The one thing he was so good at. Running when things got bad.

"We might be able to fight against them but if they were to recruit others then...I don't know honestly. We could be damned, of course that's why the need me, to make sure outsiders don't get into the pride by any means." So much responsibility in such little time. So much happening in such little time. "We'll just have to wait I guess." He hated waiting.

 

[Nuxaz]

His cousin, and since she'd learned earlier that Mapa was the king's cousin.. Mapa might have killed someone? She mulled this over a bit, quietly pondering exactly how to ask him. She frowned slightly when he talked about the running, though. A part of her wanted to say something to make him feel better, but on the other hand, she doubted he was the sort that'd feel much better especially if she said anything. She hadn't even seen the outsiders or the situation, it simply.. wasn't her place.

"Why do they need you? " She couldn't help but ask, though she immediately felt silly. "Sorry! I mean, not like.. " She added said sheepishly. Not like he was useless or anything, she hadn't mean that! She just hopped she hadn't offended him by accident. "How can you stop outsiders from coming? " He was just a cub, right? And ugh, the waiting part. Ethiopia was patient on most things, but when the idea was to wait and see if they got attacked again.. well, she could understand why Peke had acted the way he had.

--

"I'm a seer." He stated bluntly and in an emotionless tone of voice. When it came to situations like these he was always quiet and didn't really show anything. "Not only that, I'm a special seer. A truth seer." He paused letting his blue-eyed gaze drift back to her as he studied her expression. He hated being a seer, being able to know the events of the future while never knowing if it was a dream or was an actual vision. He didn't like knowing what others didn't know. It was a burden. "I know when people are lying." Another thing he hated, he had always wanted to be 'special' but not this way. This was felt more like a curse than a blessing.

"I hate it. Why should I know when someone isn't telling the truth? Why should I be able to ruin what happiness may come from the lie for them?" He shook his head. "Why am I forced to hold a position I can't stand? That I hate so much!"

--

So.. Peke was a seer. She would have said 'that's cool', but his tone, or actually, lack of a tone, kept her from it, and perhaps this was a good thing when he spoke again. How could he tell when someone was lying? Why did he.. hate it?After all, being able to tell when you're being lied to would be good... right? So you couldn't get hurt later... She blinked at him, tilting her head in slight confusion at what he said, then she got it.

It couldn't be that nice to know when someone was a liar. "Can't you.. shut it off? " She frowned, if he could shut it off for when he didn't need it, maybe it would be better?

--

While knowing when someone lied to you, say they cheated on you, would be nice Peke would rather live in blissful arrogance than to know the truth. He would rather be happy, if he ever was, than to be hurt and upset because he did know the truth. To him being the truth seer made things that much harder and that much more painful. "I wish." He snorted. Oh there were so many things the boy wished.

None of them ever seemed to come true.

Damn.

"I don't think it's possible."

--

She frowned, tapping her chin and pondering a bit. "I dunno, maybe you can learn how? How.. how long have you been able to tell? " Because maybe as he got older and he got better with his powers, maybe someday he'd be able to control it. And then he could just shut it off and only bring it back whenever interrogating an outsider!

"You never know, " She was perhaps being a bit hopeful, but what else could she do?

--

"Ever since I met Nguvu." Well that wasn't exactly true because he didn't really know. He had awaken his seer powers through a dream about the white raven so he assumed it was around that time. Of course he didn't know of it until the old seer's death. Maybe he had always had been able to just never been...aware? Possibly but probably not. "It's wishful thinking." He told her if only because he didn't want to learn to control his powers. He knew he needed to but that wouldn't change the fact that he didn't want to.

"Honestly I don't want to do anything with them. I wish I didn't have any special abilities or anything."

--

She sighed. "I guess it is, " The cub agreed sadly, frowning. Saying people wouldn't lie to him wouldn't help either, she figured. If they knew he could tell when they lied, they wouldn't lie, but then they'd only be telling the truth because they knew he'd find out otherwise. Peke seemed kind of stuck with this ability of his, and she was quite sure she'd be too.

She twitched her tail, clanging at the white tuft of fur on the tip. It was quite the burden, wasn't it? But he had them. She was a bit unsure of what to say now. "You can tell when someone lies.. Can you tell -why- someone lies? " Maybe knowing why someone lied would be worse. You'd know if they were lying to hurtyou.. but then you'd also know if they were lying to protect you.

--

Her question made him stop and think. Did he know why a person lied? Had he ever known why a person lied? He didn't think so. No he didn't know, something he was thankful for. "No. Perhaps in the future but now I do not." He smiled just the slightest bit. Talking with this girl was definitely helpful in ways that talking to Ubele had not. "Something for which I am thankful for." Everyone was entitled to secrets, if they couldn't lie to him at least they could keep their reasons quiet. That was something that he knew they would be thankful for and so was he. "People need secrets to function."
 

[Nuxaz]

She smiled, though it was more obvious than his. So people could still keep secrets from him! "If everyone knew everything about everyone, it'd be weird. " And pretty boring. And a little unnerving, actually. "I wonder if nodding or shaking your head would count, too. " She pondered. "Can people lie if they don't say anything? "

--

"It's be a hassle and annoying." He agreed with her, it would be weird. It wouldn't be right. Not it'd mess with the balance of the world. "Yes." He knew that for a fact if only because that was how he had lied in the past. As he thought about it he wondered if he could see through those lies as well. The old seer had said he would be able to see through the lies of others, which he had been but he never thought to think about gestures. Would they trigger that weird sensation he felt whenever someone told a lie to him? Perhaps. If it did he hadn't experienced it yet. "I don't know if I can tell with actions on top of words..."

--

She tapped her chin. Maybe he should test it sometime, but she wasn't too sure if it could make a difference. He'd still be able to tell when people lied, and most people that lied didn't just.. nod or shake their heads. They said yes or no or made excuses. At least, that's what she did, on those rare times she'd lied. Mostly just white lies like 'no, I didn't see Tanz do that.. ' Actually, for someone who rarely lied, the gray cub was rather good at it. Sadly, it wasn't exactly something to be -proud- of.

"Maybe you should test it sometime. "

--

"I will...eventually." He replied knowing that'd be a smart thing to do. Especially if people thought they could lie to him doing that. Now that wouldn't be good at all. Not if he was supposed to help the pride! "I should go...It was nice talking to you Ethiopia." He told her actually meaning it for perhaps the first time in a long time. "Can we.." He was struggling to ask her this question. He wasn't good at asking favors of sorts but he was willing to try. This once. "Can we talk again?"

--

As he said he should go, she flicked an ear. They'd been talking a while, hadn't they? "Yeah, I should go too. " Find Tanz and make sure he hadn't set any tails on fire. Because chances are, he could. Somehow. "Nice talking to you too! " She smiled, getting up from the floor when he began to speak again.

Ethiopia tilted her head as he paused, wondering what exactly he was going to say before he ultimately asked her if they could talk again. "Sure! " Its not like people had to ask for permission to talk to her.

--

A smile spread upon the boys lips, a nice smile not too small or too big, and he dipped his head at her. "I'm glad." He told her because frankly he was. It was nice to talk to a new person, okay only sometimes, especially one with whom he actually had some things in common and it wasn't awkward. He never wondered if she would go back to the way she used to be. If she had been scarred by the actions of the interlopers or if she ever felt guilty about the things that happened. No it was like, even though he had told her about it, those things had never happened.

He felt...human (well the lion equivalent at least) for the first time in a while. He didn't feel like some all powerful seer who had been shoved into a position of responsibility. He actually felt like a cub. It was nice. "Good-bye Ethiopia," He stated before trotting off away from her. He would find Nguvu then probably return to the den he shared with his brother and try to get some sleep.