[PRP- EAST] Experience and Possibility

[demon_pachabel]

Deiwei wasn't back yet. Tonkareta found there was a certain level of.. awkwardness to the fact that their brave and fearless leader was taking so long to come home, but what was she to do at this point? Nothing? Wait.

Take in what was happening at the given time and just hope her 'possibilities' wouldn't show her the image of the lion in ruin. No, they all depended on him - it was an almost... creepy dependence, but what was she to do? This was the home she'd chosen - or perhaps been destined for.

Not that Tonkareta believed in this 'destiny' thing. There was too much wiggle room for it to be anything further than 'possibility'. She believed in that at least. Maybe a little TOO much. But it was all she saw - it almost made her personality linger somewhere between 'optimistic' and 'cynical'. Then again, she was extremely particular.

But...
...
...

It couldn't hurt to just sit in the grass and wait a little longer, right?  

[Excited Apathy]

Tail sweeping back and forth, Ukali padded across the grass. His passage wasn't silent by any means, not with his size, but neither was he loud. He'd come far from those days, not so long ago, when he'd cared not a whit if anyone heard him coming. He'd thought himself invincible, after all.

He'd been a fool.

His wounds had scabbed over, and many of the scars would fade to nothingness, but that lioness had left an imprint on his mind that would never fade. That vow to himself to change, to be different from the unthinking brute he'd been...to use that dusty brain of his.

Pausing a respectful distance away from the young lioness before him, he dipped his head. "Greetings."  

[demon_pachabel]

Her ears swiveled ever so slightly at the approach of her old-time companion, though the 'old time' wasn't as ancient as it may have been made to seem the way she went about it.

"I'm just...waiting. Again." she said, without even waiting for the possibility that he'd actually ask her why she was out staring into the rogue lands like she always did. Alas, what else was there they could do about it?

Waiting on possibility was all she really had. But she sighed and rose to her feet, looking over her shoulder at her ever so 'experience' labeled companion before allowing her shoulders to slump a bit. Ah, she was so apt at being 'dramatic' when it came to how long they'd been waiting on him.

The strange male, Deiwei.

"Is it strange of me to be waiting like this? Every day without even thinking he's just not coming back?"

Thinking outside of the 'possibilities' she already knew? Then again life or death or just running away from his 'responsibility' were all a big possibility for him, now weren't they? Alas.  

[Excited Apathy]

Ukali smiled slightly, curling his tail about his paws as he seated himself next to Tonkareta. "I see that," he acknowledged, seemingly unruffled by her 'answering' of a question he'd had yet to ask. Sure, it'd freaked him out at first. But now that he was more familiar with her, he could see that it was simply...something she did. She just seemed to know things, sometimes.

He frowned thoughtfully at her question, his mind turning it over and over for a few minutes. At length, he hesitantly replied, "I...don't think so. I mean, it's not like you're sitting here as some old grandmother, waiting for someone disappeared when you were a cub." Did that make sense? He wasn't sure...this 'thinking' was still something to get used to.

It was nice, though. It hadn't gotten his a** kicked yet.  

[demon_pachabel]

"You mean like the story of the lioness," Okay, it was originally a human tale told with many variations, but telling it as a 'lion' tale made more sense when it came to her, "who sat and waited and waited and eventually turned to stone before the one she was waiting for came back?"

It was quite a hilarious comparison, and nobody would have really been able to tell right off the bat if she'd petrified... what with the slategray coat and all of those good things. Hell, most of the lions in their house, sans the currently given male in her company, were colored in such a way - earthy, she meant.

But alas...
......
......

Hmmm?

Her ears suddenly perked up and she frowned lightly at movement in the distance, immediately rising up to her feet and taking a step forward. "I wasn't expecting company..."

and for Tonkereta, that was a big statement.  

[Excited Apathy]

"I...guess so?" Ukali eyed her with surprise, one dark brow lifting just a hair. He hadn't known there was a story like that out there...then again, he didn't know a lot of things. He'd have to ask her about that story sometime. Later, when she didn't seem distracted.

When she rose, he didn't think much of it at first. But as soon as she opened her mouth, he looked in the direction of her gaze, tensing automatically. "Do you think it might be an intruder?" Well, that sounded not-bright. But there was always the chance the unexpected visitor could be perfectly harmless.  

[demon_pachabel]

Well, his statement did have validity to it, though that didn't keep her from frowning before romping out into the grass to see if she could get a better look at their new visitor. All it took was a familiar glimpse for her to suddenly look back over her shoulder at her companion.

"It's Deiwei!"

Well, a limping and not-so-happy looking Deiwei. All it took was him hearing his own name however for his ears to perk up and look towards the source of it, coughing a bit before shouting out (damn his voice sounded bad too..) to see if the other party could hear him.

"Hello?"

Which of course was enough to send Tonkereta romping off further into the grass to greet their 'leader' (in a sense, ha ha).  

[Excited Apathy]

Wait, where was she going?

Ukali opened his mouth to call her back, then thought better of it and simply hauled himself to his feet to trot after her like a good dutiful guard. However, her next words startled him so badly that he stumbled, staring after her in slack-jawed surprise. Could it really be...yes, he'd recognize that sandy pelt anywhere. "Deiwei!" he bellowed, leaping into a run towards the lion who had, in a sense, given him a home.  

[demon_pachabel]

He was tired, so very tired...but it seemed that he had indeed attracted some company, Tonkareta practically throwing herself against his side, nudging at it with a sort of special care to keep the brown male up on his paws. Why was he walking funny?

Was he hurt?

Her eyes darted all over the side of his pelt, checking for any sign of injury before she leaned against the side she was supporting him by -- just for the male to groan with pain. He was hurt!

"Ukali!"

HAAAALP!  

[Excited Apathy]

At Tonkareta's cry, Ukali's claws dug into the ground, propelling him along at breakneck speed. Spraying gravel everywhere as he skidded to a halt, sides heaving with the exertion of his reckless sprint. "What's wrong?" he panted, eyes darting back and forth between the two. He didn't dare to try to touch Deiwei, not when he wasn't sure what was wrong, what was hurt. He remembered all too well how...nice...it felt when wounds received pressure.  

[demon_pachabel]

Deiwei couldn't help but chuckle at the pair's distress over the unpleasant sound he'd made before coughing a bit. "i-I'm fine." he insisted, albeit not convincingly, before he all but fell against Ukali's side.

Tonkareta was NOT impressed by it in the least.

"Let's take him back." she ... was trying to sound as though she had some authority, but she couldn't bring that sort of a pressure into her voice -- it was more like pleading at this point, not able to help Deiwei, as now the side that could be supported was leaned against the fire-y colored male.  

[Excited Apathy]

Alright, so he was safe to touch, though the sudden weight made Ukali grunt. There were two options in his mind: carry the consort like a carcass, or prop him up as he made his way to... ... ... Did their house have a healer? With a minute shake of his head, the large male dismissed that as unimportant. If they didn't have one, they'd get one.

"Walk with me," he said, sounding--and feeling--significantly calmer now that he had something that he could do. He would match his pace to Deiwei's, and hopefully that would be that until they got back.