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 Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:35 am
((We lost the two-three first posts to the internets, but a short summary of those posts are as follow - Maji gets lost in the Desert while following a prey beast. By the time she's noticed her hunting trip has failed and she has not only not taken down the beast, but she has gotten horribly lost, the sun is slowly sinking into the horizon.
She travels the desert in search for the border back to the Savannah. Meanwhile, Sinbad was also out hunting near the Firekin borders. He spots the lioness and decides to have a bit of fun with her before deciding what to do with her.
Queu Maji hating her life and herself for getting lost as soon as she spots Sinbad.
If we find the first 3 posts we'll edit this out and post them.
PS - Please ignore typos till we get around to fixing them? XD; ))
----
If she had been wary from the moment she'd lay eyes on him, she was beyond concerned the moment he smiled at her and opened his mouth to talk. Her instincts were screaming at her to turn around and run away, but logic was telling her that doing so would not only show weakness, but it was possible he might catch up with her, what with the fact he played within known territory.
All in all, she felt like she was pretty screwed. Despite that, her ears pinned back and she offered him a scowl for his efforts, taking one step back, obviously put off (or turned off, depending on how one looked at it), "Yes, well... I saw no signs on my way here," her head lifted and she made a show of looking around before turning her gaze back upon him, "If this is your home, let me tell you, you have a horribly bland taste in decoration. "
A pause followed her words and she tensed up as he demanded to know her name. For a moment, as she lifted her head and nose up, it looked like she wasn't going to answer, but thought twice about it, "Maji'moto," she told him softly, her tail flicking nervously, "It's rude to ask for a name before offering your own, specially seeing as how you're my host, apparently?" her grimace made it obvious she wasn't all too pleased with this 'welcoming'.
Her obvious discomfort only seemed to amuse him more. He stopped and sat down in the sand, taking a moment to groom one of his paws and run it along his still bloody maw before even considering his response. It was comical. Poor thing had no idea where she was or how to get back home- he had a new toy for as long as he wanted to play. It was a good excuse for not heading back to the pride right away.
"Might not be the nicest place in the world to live, but you don't get strong by living among soft grass and fat prey." He lowered his paw back to the sand and flexed his front limbs. In his mind there could never be a more perfect example of firekin lineage. And he hoped that perhaps she would take note of it as well.
"Oh I'm a host? That's news to me." He chuckled. "I suppose it won't hurt though. My name is Sinbad. Lord Sinbad."
Her eyes racked over him, up and down before her nose wrinkled, "Didn't keep you from getting fat," it was obviously not a compliment - it was almost as if with such few words, she was starting to believe that he wasn't all that good a hunter, which... in turn meant that giving her persuit might be harder for him than she had initially thought.
There was still the problem that she had little to no idea which way to run, while he probably did, leaving her still at a disadvantage if he so wished to track her down.
The blood did little to bother her, though it did cause her stomach to growl uncomfortably, reminding her in an awkward fashion of just WHY she was out in the desert to begin with. Tossing her head up, the lioness rolled her eyes heavenward in frustration. Not only had her prey escaped, but she was lost, and had somehow managed to topple with a brute that didn't look like he had an IQ higher than that of a rock, "Right, Lord Sinbad," she hesitated at the title, a brow arched, as if she didn't really believe him (in her mind, it took more than brawn to get such a title), but had decided to play along, "Would you kindly point me in the direction of the exit? It will be nightfall soon," her unspoken 'and I don't want to be here when that happens' hung heavily in the air.
Of course it didn't stop him from getting...wait what?! Fat!? "It's not fat!" He protested, nearly losing the sly, casual tone that he'd been exercising so freely. "It's pure muscle I'll have you know! But where you come from I doubt you'd ever heard of such a thing. Most powerful thing you'll ever see is a gazelle! Little stick legs, long stupid necks, that...blank look on their face." He grumbled.
Fat. He wasn't fat. Never. Not him.
His tail snapped as she continued to pry- and indirectly insult him. Okay maybe he wasn't a lord anymore- but she didn't know that. He still had his bloodline- something the half-blooded royals could never make a claim to. Why couldn't he keep his former title? It made no sense. The world was cruel.
"You won't make it before nightfall." He snapped. "Stupid. You've gotten yourself pretty far out. Besides- I wouldn't want to be you if one of the others catches you. They're all spoiling for fights right now, helps elevate our rank. If you think I'm mean, you should meet my sister. She'd rip you apart..."
Another pause from the lioness, whom was fighting hard to conceal the mild spark of amusement that shone in her eyes. Ahhh... so it wasn't all THAT hard to rattle him up then - for some odd reason it was mildy entertaining. Or it would have been if she weren't horribly lost in the middle of nowehere with him as her only chances to find her way out, "Right," she breathed, "Muscle... I'm sorry, but you're a bit far away, and by the looks of the blood splattered on you, it didn't look like you made a really big kill. Those tend to be a lot messier than this," her head tilted, as if she were trying to get a better look at him from the distance, "Doesn't look like you've ever dealt with prey larger than a rabbit, M'lord. Where I come from, we're a tad better than that - can't blame you though, since you live in... well, I rest my case. Now, savannah, if you please?"
She was starting to realise that this was pretty much a lost case, but she was still willing to insist. It was either insisting... or facing the desert at night, which she really wanted to avoid.
"Oh, don't worry about me, M'lord. I just need a direction - I'll find somewhere to spend the night, along the way. I'm pretty... good at conceling myself if need be. I just need directions," a pause as she took one step forward, then another, "Or could it be M'lord doesn't even know the way out?" maybe grasping for straws would help....? "You could tell me, or perhaps even act the rank you claim to have and escort me that way?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:38 am
Again Sinbad snorted at the biting insult. "I'll have you know I've fought my own kind." Never mind that he hadn't won. Not yet. "And I've brought down plenty on my own. I just don't need to eat a whole lot to keep me going, that's all. And I don't feel obligated to share my meals."
His gaze hardened as he stood himself up and shook off the sand that had collected. "Or my directions. You'd best learn how to speak to me or I'll end up finding you with your bones picked clean by the vultures come daybreak."
He looked off to the side and sighed, "But I suppose if you apologize and behave I can be your escort."
And.... perhaps her little plan of kicking his ego had worked after all! She hadn't really been expecting it to work, in all honesty. She made a show of stopping to consider her chances, her gaze racking over the heated dunes of the desert, watching as the sun lowered deeper and deeper into the horizon.
She released a sigh she hoped was convincing enough, her head lowering a notch as her ears flopped, "I suppose you're right. I am lost, after all," it was in her best interest to play along with what he wanted - she had no problem with that, so long it ensured her survival.
Unfortunately for him, she wasn't stupid, and was well prepared to keep a constant eye on him in case he decided to turn on her. She was still pretty much sure she could outrun him and as she believed her lither body to be far more agile than his bigger one, "Please do forgive me, M'lord, I'm afraid I'm not quite myself. I'm stressed and hungry and am not very used to trusting myself into others' care."
Now, all she had to do was hope he'd bite into it.
For all she knew, he'd bitten hook, line, and sinker. Sure he knew the way to the savannah. But she didn't. For all she knew, he was leading her back home when he turned his course and began walking towards the open desert. Perhaps she would have gotten her way if she let him have his. Perhaps not. He liked having something to toy with- it ran in the family apparently. Still- best play along.
"Of course I'm right. You don't walk into someone else's territory making demands and insults like that. Not if you need help especially. Just take this as a warning not to do it again."
Still, she was not an idiot - of course it had occurred to her that he might be leading her astray. However, the signs of a pride nearby were always visible well before reaching the borders. As a rogue, she would have recognized them and likely turned tail and ran away (granted, she would have still been lost - but as the saying went, better alone than wrongly accompanied).
Her eyes slid up to him as he turned and began to walk, a mild, elegant sweep of a brow his only answer for the time being. Something told her that silence would be better than playing along, "Hmmm," she said before focusing on the landscape.
Sadly for her, all she could see was... sand, and her ears flopped back down in mild frustration - no signals, no way to orientate herself. She wasn't even sure which way she'd headed, north, south, east or west when she'd begun tracking her prey (an amateur mistake that she was never going to make again - she'd gotten so excited when she's scented out the old, crippled wildebeest).
"So," she said after a long silence, "What does a desert lord actually do, anyhow? And where is your guard?" conversation was good, in her mind. If she could keep him occupied, perhaps she'd keep his mind occupied from any plotting he might be doing?
Sinbad shrugged. The thought of the pride's markers, the scents they left here and there, along with the scouts had slipped his mind. 'Getting the shrew back' was first and foremost. Of course- there in lied the problem with the male's mind. One thing at a time- regret later. Not that he quite knew that.
"I don't need a guard. As you can guess I do just fine. Our kind has no enemies that can stand against us-" Mainly because they'd already invaded and taken them over, but that was beside the point, "And anyone else is too afraid to come into this territory. The worst thing you can ever encounter out here is a sand storm. Gods help you if you get caught in one of those. Not even someone like myself could fight off something like that."
He chuckled, "But I suppose it's the god's way of flushing out the unwanted stock."
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:41 am
A snort of air escaped through her nose at his words, "That seems..." a pause as she paused and coughed a bit, as if to clear her mind and stop herself from saying something that might offend him, "Ahhh... not particularly smart - no one should fight a sand storm. You can't fight nature. No one can. Not even the gods can fight their nature so anyone going against a sand storm is highly stupid. They should seek refuge. It's like going against the ocean when there's a hurricane."
Unbestknown to him, she had actually grown up near the Baharimoto shore - her parents lived there still, she was pretty sure. She'd known the ocean, which was... in her mind, rather similar to the desert; it was a big expansion of ... nothing but water. This place was nothing more than an ocean of sand.
"Hmmm... religious, are we then?" of course, then again, the girl was only new around these parts, which meant that she had yet to hear stories about the Firekin. She had no idea he was Firekin, or what they stood for - new to the place, she had no way of knowing just how deep she'd traveled into the proverbial wolf's mouth, "I believe I control my own destiny. Not the gods, not anyone."
He rolled his eyes. "Well of course no one can fight one of those. I've only ever seen one from our den. You can't see anything...and new dunes form in just a night. The entire land changes." He chuckled, "A grass-paw like yourself doesn't stand a chance out here. There's only one way to navigate."
"Religious to a point." He corrected her, "The firekin are decended from the goddess Finar-Si. However... only a few of us still carry her blood. Myself- Well..." He smirked, "I am as pure as you can get without actually being the goddess herself. That's why we're typically so large. As far as controlling destiny-" He snorted, "The gods don't give a damn about us. They'll come down and breed now and then, some play around with mortals, but they couldn't give two shits about the grand scheme of things."
"Hmmm..." it was neither an agreement nor a disagreement, almost as if she were giving his words the benefit of the doubt, "It's not all white and black. I've seen and survived a hurricane. Have you? It doesn't matter where you are, or where you're from. All that matters is what you are, and what you could be."
Her eyes slid up to him and she arched a brow. She herself was not a descendant from any god or goddess - she was pretty much normal, as far as she was concerned. She was typically larger than most rogues, but nowhere near as large as he was, "You believe that just because you descend from a goddess, it makes you better? Hate to bust your bubble, M'lord, but there are many gods, and likewise, many descendant of gods, I'm rather sure. What makes you, or your kind so special in your eyes?" a pause, "Not that I care," she added as an afterthought.
"I've seen a god before. It doesn't look like they don't give a damn - it looks like they have a job to fullfill, and that's what they live for. We just happen to be part of that job. I think there's a difference."
He chuckled. "Exactly..." His claws slid out and dug at the sand as he walked. What he could be...exactly. This whole...hunting thing was only temperary. A warm-up for what he could expect in his future. Even if it was Ali who made it in with the royals- not him -he could look forward to a very nice life. Surrounded by females fighting for his attention and their chance to mother the goddess' blood.
A doofy distant grin spread over his features. For a moment- he might as well have been in another world.
Her question snapped him right back to reality with a grunt. "Because- no pride can challange us. And no god or goddess can compete with ours. I'd challange any of them to try."
Of course... the present rulers...soft. In the glorious past, they kept slaves from every lineage, every pride, every corner of the known world. They had lived comfortable lives. They'd lived like the kings they were.
He snorted. Gods were.... whatever. He didn't care. "Think what you want. I just think they're a bunch of lazy bumps playing with us for fun."
"Delusional," she told him softly, making sure to take care as she walked thee dunes - she was getting horribly tired of all the sand. It was making itt hard to walk, "Maybe it's less of a... no pride can challenge you, and more of a ... no pride WANTS to, or needs to. I'd never heard of the Firekin till this day."
Something about his last words cause a small snort of a chuckle to escape her; it wasn't bitting, and it wasn't aimed to hurt or harm - it was just a flash of honest mirth, "Not as lazy as you might think. I don't know. They have the power to ruin you, to ruin all of us, but they chose not to. That's... always been interesting."
She'd seen the doofy grin, and his far away look for a moment, but wasn't all that sure what had triggered it, unless it had been her own words. The wheels in her mind had instantly started to turn when she'd noticed that - either he had been lieing over his rank and wished to achieve it, or he was stranger than she'd initially thought, which was possible, "You're a strange creature."
He snorted. "Who cares what it is. Point is- we're the best. Or were. Or will be." He Shrugged. Who cared if anyone knew who they are. Right now anyway. Of course the pride's memory would wane after a few generations. No other prides had to guard their boarders. They didn't have to worry about becoming slaves... in a small, strange sense- they had benefited the others. Why no one saw that... it was worse than he thought. They should be begging for the old ways!
"They do...but I'd like to see them try. Finar-Si abandoned us. Kenna says that she talked to her- and she was all for having our pride become a nation of sissies. I don't know if I entirely believe her. Kenna was always a little wrong in the head."
A strange creature? He glanced over. "....you're a lion too. If I'm strange- so are you."
"No idea who this Kenna is - all I know is that.... gods will be gods, and we probably do best keeping our distances and not relying on them too heavily," another snort of amusement seeped through at his words, "I didn't mean physically. You're a strange creature, as an individual."
A pause followed as the lioness caught movement out the corner of an eye. Instantly, she tensed up, her head turning towards the origin of what she felt might be a threat. Unconsciously, she moved a step closer to the larger male, even though for all she knew, he could be the source of the threat.
In the near distance sat a lion that stood out against the sand dunes like a fly would against milk - his pelt was green and blue and every which color one might think of. Two pairs of wings with long peacock feathers remain pressed against his sides, his eyes heavy lided, staring off into the horizon.
Maji's ears instantly pressed back against her head and she took another step back - she'd only ever seen one god before, but she knew enough that she felt they should sneak off while they still could. She dared not talk, but as she looked up at the male, it was obvious she thought they should leave before they attracted the god's attention.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:45 am
"Gods will be ruthless." He corrected her sharply. "Why punish your most loyal followers to serve under filth? It's not fair. And it won't stand long if I have anything to do with it... once my offspring are grown and strong- the royals will-"
He paused as the female stepped closer to him. It seemed strange...closeness already? He froze and slowly followed her gaze.
His first reaction was to bristle. Those colors...those -hidious-, atrocious, patheticalloy weak colors! It took him a fair bit longer to notice the wings.
He bristled. This was his chance... he'd give that god a piece of his mind. Wing or no wings- this was -his- territory. Perhaps it would be just what he needed!
"You stay here... I'll take care of this."
Maji's mouth opened to talk but she snapped it shut rather shiftly, the only sound a mild hiss coming through her teeth as she shook her head wildly from side to side. Was he insane?! They should be getting the hell OUT of her, not going out to greet the god!
She made an attempt to stop him, mostly because at the current moment, he was the only one that could take her to the border. Sadly, her attempt was to no avail, and instead, she was left alone by a sand dune, her feet moving restlessly as she battled her instincts - she wasn't sure if she should run away and leave the male here, or if she should stay and help.
Meanwhile, the God had finally spotted them. His eyes, green in shade, fixed upon the male firekin as he approached. His expression remain dead, apathetic, but his eyes never wavered from the approaching male, almost as if he were looking into his very soul.
Sinbad ignored the attempt to bring him back to his senses. A very small part of him squeaked in protest against the very brash, half-baked idea. He sqashed it quickly with small illusions of what -might- be. Returning to the pride with his claws bloodied on a god's pelt, a new female at his side wooing over her champion, and the nobles trembling in fear at his paws.
A twisted smirk grew behind bared fangs, giving the male a very unstable look.
The god remain seated on the sand, his eyes upon Sinbad, his wings still neatly folded, as if to show he had nothing to fear. It was only after a moment or two that he tilted his head, as if to get a better look of the mortal in front of him,"That's.... interesting," he drawled out before finally standing up, "You care for nothing. You can for no one but yourself - not a care or tie in the world. You hurt others, use them and then dispose of them once their time has come, or once they stop being useful to your purpose," a pause, and finally the god smiled, but it radiated no care, no love. Instead, it looked like a smirk, dark and contrasting against his beatiful features and pelt,"You're damaged. Nothing more than a damaged good, and in order to life, you need to damage others in turn."
The smirk melted away and a scowl covered his features, "I, Karma, hereby curse you to care. There will be no little action you do that won't cause you damage inside. Nothing you do will be without consequence, and you will be at the mercy of those you have most hurt - you will find yourself caring for even those you most hate, and you will find yourself falling for the ones you can not have. So it is said and so it shall be."
The god's lack of action- at first -only acted to infuriate him. He roared, mane bristled out and body tensed up- drawn tight like the string on a bow. Any flinch, any sudden movement and he'd go flying forward, ready to strike. The god, however, didn't seem to even bat an eye at his threat.
Instead....he started to talk.
Care? Care?! What did caring do? It was a weak emotion...reserved for the flower-picking mistweavers or the weeping females demanding that he provided some assistance with raising his young. He would- when they showed promise. Inflicting pain on others came naturally. If they couldn't protect themselves- they deserved it. They should -thank- him for keeping them on their toes.
He froze. "....shut your....trap..."
Something wasn't right. All the sudden his body felt heavy, almost distant. The burning rage was fading away. Desperately- he clung to it, clawing whatever was tugging at his mind. Panic soon overcame his thoughts. Whatever was happening- the god was behind it. That or...maybe he'd eaten something. For the moment- he'd blame the god.
In a burst, Sinbad sent himself flying towards the god- claws extended and maw wide open.
The god's wings spread at the same moment Sinbad flew forward, and while it was true the firekin were big and rather strong... Samsara was bigger and stronger. While the fireking were halflings, Samsara was the real deal. The god's eyes narrowed, a silent snarl marring his features as he lifted a front paw.
He met Sinbad's charge with a slap of his paw, claws outstretched, aiming to basically back slap him away from him.
From the near distance, Maji allowed herself to shriek in horror - what was this male THINKING?! He was going to get himself killed because of his ego! She'd been too far away and had heard nothing of what the God had said.
There was a time in his early cubhood when he'd wondered what it was like to fly. After a hammerblow to the side of his head -which left him in a spinning daze- he got a taste of flight. The world seemed to slow as he watched the god become...small again from over his belly. He watched his feet as the landscape flew past. A tiny part of him wanted to laugh- he'd been flicked off like a flea. If it had been anyone else, it would be amusing. But it was him.
And that was the ground.
The lion hit the ground hard and skidded a good few feet through the ground. The world spun. Between the blow, the curse, and the landing, the lion was left reeling.
The snarl endded, and the god took a moment to look down at the fallen firekin before he turned to look towards Maji, now standing absolutely petrified in the distance. Then, wordlessly, he spread his wings and jumped up into the air, vanishing from view in just a few seconds.
The sun was now dangerously near the horizon, and all was left deathly still. The wind did not blow, and thee sand did not stir. Maji broke down into a full blown panic; cold fear washed over her, and for a moment, she could not move, as if her moving and destroying the stillness would cause more harm then good. Her eyes landed on the fallen lion, and she wished with all her might that she could simply turn around and leave - he was a jerk, and he probably deserved what he got, but she couldn't just... leave him there.
Was he even alive?
The cold fear washed over her in waves once more and she sprinted forward till she reached him, padding circles around him, "Oh, god, oh god, oh god," she paniced, never realising how ironic her words were, "He's dead, you're dead, oh my god, what am I going to do?!"
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:51 am
Aside from the slow rise and fall of his sides- he certainly looked dead. His mouth had fallen open. A bleeding tongue hung from his mouth, his eyes had rolled back, and he didn't so much as twitch. By the time he did move, the sun had vanished and the sky nearly glowed with its final rays.
A paw slowly lifted to his head. Every inch of him felt as if it had been filled with rocks. A heavy stiffness kept him pinned against the sand. What had happened? His head throbbed...
Unfortunately, Maji was so panicked by the turn of events, that she hadn't taken notice of the slow ride and fall of his shoulders. She shouldn't have cared - didn't really care, at least not for him individually, but rather... she cared because it had happened before her very eyes. That aside, aside from having a rather sharp tongue, he hadn't done anything to her.
He had offered to escort her when he could have just as easily attacked her like he had thee god - she had nothing against him. As far as she knew, he had kept his word and was leading her tot he borders, for she hadn't taken in the scent of guards or scouts, and no signals seemed to point to a pride nearby.
Then, his paw moved, and the girl tossed her head back with relief, "Oh, thank the gods, you're not DEAD! I thought you were dead, what the ******** were you thinking?! Were you even thinking?! Who was that? What happened?"
Thank the gods indeed... if he was in a more stable frame of mind he might have given her a verbal lashing for that one. Instead, he simply groaned.
The groan grew into a whimper, which soon evolved into a slow curling of his paws around his eyes and a pitiful cringe. His head hurt! Why did it hurt!? Why did that guy hit him like that? What the hell kind of god went around hitting people!?
"My head hurts.... it hurts...." He whimpered. The strong, cocky voice had been replaced by one rivaled only by a whimpering cub's. After a few more moments of moaning and grunting, the lion lifted a paw, checked it for blood, then looked up to the lioness. "....you're not hurt! He didn't get you...good. Are you okay? He didn't scare you did he?"
Relief washed over her in washes, replacing the panic and she was pretty much prepared to defend herself verbally for giving a damn about him when he spoke. Her world kind of crashed around her, like a shattering mirror - for some odd reason, his words were .... a amusing and so horribly out of character for what little she'd seen of him, that she was left speechless, with an extremely comical expression written upon her features, "Huh...?"
For a moment, she wondered if she'd heard him wrong, but soon enough realized that no, she had heard him perfectly well - maybe he'd been hit far worse than she'd thought, "I .... am fine," she said carefully, and then followed the words by a pause as she tried to drag her mind out of third gear and back into proper thinking. The adrenaline was doing a good job at keeping it stuck in third though, "What is wrong with you? What the hell happened?" she lowered her head and sniffed around him, "What did he do to you?"
Sinbad's entire demeanor had done a complete turn-around. His tone, normally gruff, strong, and cocky was now almost fearful, pitiful, and lacking in confidence. He was having difficulty meeting her eyes, difficulty keeping his head up or his shoulders back. He starred at her quietly, his false sense of dignity lost. His mouth was hanging open, eyes darting back and forth between hers.
She was okay. He sighed and slowly reached up to rub at his head. It hurt...it hurt so bad. His lower lip trembled as he pulled his paw away and inspected it. At least he wasn't bleeding.
"....he hit me." He whimpered.
Ohhhh... boy, there was something seriously wrong with this picture. The fact she had NOT heard what the god had said made it all even more surreal, "I... saw that," she told him, "I meant, what the hell did he do-" she stopped talking and rand a paw over the front of her face, suddenly deciding that actually, she really did not want to know.
She had nothing to do with him.
She didn't care for him and had nothing to gain OR lose from whatever the god had done to him. Hell, he probably deserved that slap, the cocky b*****d. Still her thoughts made her squirms with horrible guilt, what with the fact he HAD sort of protected her (even if he'd done so for his own motive and following his own agenda).
"Can you... can you still walk? Come on," this said, she pushed herself against him, as if trying to help him stand, "You were going to help me get to the borders, but something tells me.... we're not going to get anywhere anytime soon," the sun had already descended behind the dunes and the cold of the desert was already making her shiver, her nose twitching, "I'm not a desert dweller, but I don't think it's wise to go prowling this place in the dead of night - can't see sand storms in a distance anymore, and lord only knows what else might be lurking in the darkness..."
She could NOT believe she was going to suggest this, but, gods have mercy on her, she had no other idea, "Is your pride anywhere near here? Or is thee any den you might know of where we can spend the night?" She just hoped he hadn't suffered a strong enough concussion that he wouldn't be able to answer.
"The boarder?" Oh right.. she wanted to go to the boarder. He blinked, head still throbbing. Between the blow, the curse, and his memories blurring in and out, his old self draining into a new, almost pitiful self.
He slowly stood himself up. His claws weakly gripped the sandy earth as his body swayed about. Everything seemed to blur and spin about him, still he tried taking a few steps forward only to side-step and nearly trip over his own paws. After a few more attempts he slowly settled himself back down to the ground. "I just need... a few minutes. Please. To get my head on straight. I don't think we're close to the boarder I was...", his voice tightened, "I lied..."
Oh gods he lied! How could he do such a thing? Thinking back on it only brought another wave of pain shooting through his head.
He nodded slowly at her second answer. "..I was taking you to my pride in the first place. I wanted....nevermind. I'm sorry...."
"I... kind of figured. I was prepared for that - I was going to-" and then stopped and frowned, because she had NO idea why he was telling her this and it was seriously confusing her, to the point she had no idea what to do or say. Her expression must have shown this because she looked like she'd been slapped and was struggling regain her bearings, "Nevermind that - which way is the pride? O a den, either or," risking the pride was probably better than catching their death in the desert. She just hoped she wasn't making the mistake of her life.
Either way, he looked harmless right now, pitiful even, and her own morals simply would not stand for kicking him while he was down, "Lead the way," a pause, "What was your name again?"
Sinbad continued to rub at his head as she spoke, his eyes narrowed and brow tightened as he listened to her speak. Every noise at that point was absolute torture. Thankfully, aside from the conversation, the only other sound of the desert was the quiet humming of bugs and the occasional breeze through the sand.
He blinked sluggishly and slowly stood himself up once more. He wasn't entirely ready to walk, but he might as well get himself worked up for it.
He rolled his head back and looked up to the sky. After a few long, silent moments, he turned himself and nodded in that direction. "It's that way... I think my son will be waiting- My son!" He whimpered.
Her question ended a whimpering tirade before it could begin. "Oh...it's Sinbad."
Well, whatever the god had done, she wasn't too sure she LIKED it. Something about him was making her squirm guiltily - as if SHE were to blame for this, not him, "Shhhh," somehow, she must've guessed the fact his head hurt, and merely made a small noise, pushing her head against him, as if to indicate for him to walk, "Maji'moto," she whispered back at him, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Sinbad," it was almost as if she were introducing herself again - as if the lion before her were an entirely different being from the one she'd been with before.
Another small nudge of her head against his body, as if to tell him to lead the way. She would follow. Gods help her... she would follow. The voice in the back of her brain was telling her this was a BAD idea, but there was nothing else she could do.
Sinbad whimpered as she nudged him forward. So pushy! His head still hurt... but she was right. The desert wasn't a place they wanted to be at night. There were scavengers and hunters about that would take advantage of two lonely lions. He staggered forward slowly, nearly rolling his paws now and then as he pushed forward.
"Nice to meet you." He answered back, though as if from a haze. "Just...so you know...the pride isn't...nice. I'll talk to them."
"I guess I'll have to take my chance..." she murmured back at him, taking one last look behind them as the padded off deeper into the desert.
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