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It was when the pride had first seen the boss's legitamant children. The cubs were now well in to their training when Nyoka found herself thinking of their future..It was then in the distance. she saw a familiar face. The pride had grown so much and he was one of the first batches to get to currency.. but as she thought more upon how their future was turning.. she wanted to make sure that when she leaves.. things will be in control in her absence.. "Sir Korou~ " The cheetah grazed to his side, she wasn't well. Still sick from the birth but she tried very hard to show strength as a Boss Lady. "Your doing well?" Her voice was strong and assertive in a now humbled way...
Shadows flicked patterns of thoughts and wishes across Korou's mind. It had been so long since he'd joined, so long since the last time that he had heard his beautiful Colche's voice. The small halloween colored cheetah was old and the slight silver tinge to his muzzle showed that in the sunlight. Generally the cheetah stayed out of the light, given his very dark pelt could feel as if it had caught fire when the sunlight played across his shoulders and spots.
Mind traveling back to the days when he first joined this pride, the cheetah flicked both of his white spotted ears forward and listened to the surroundings. Young male and females were training towards their future in the distance, out beyond the rock he set on Korou could hear cubs playing in the grass, their parents smiling. Once that had been he and Colche.
Now their cubs were grown and gone, as was she. It seemed females came and went in his long lifetime. Now the Cheetah was in a pride that had asked him specifically to join. Why? At the start he had been a bodyguard to the Boss Lady... now...
"As always my silent mistress." Korou lilted to the female that came up to his side, a shadow as always. He had always known she was there of course, when one lost the sight with the eyes they learned other ways to see. Korou could paint a picture of his surroundings with his ears and another sense altogether foreign from most beings on the earth. It seemed only blind things could find that sense, though most didn't make it as long as he had. "And yourself my lady? How fairs your... hope?"
The boss in charge could never have a weak moment around other members, however Korou wasn't blind in that sense. He had common sense after all.
A classy cheetah he was, someone with expirence… and her children were already itching for who would be crowned the new boss. Little did they know, that she voted for the underdog of her litter. Little did they know the events that would unfold soon enough… But for now, it was much too early. They barely made it out of their majors.. “Barely.” She huffed and slowly inched to let her hunches fall. “You have lived a long life haven’t you…” Everything was about connections, and if you knew Nyoka, you were in the running for something grand. The flavor of royalty, and royalty within these walls were a bitter sweet taste of complete power.
That power left in the wrong hands would be devastating, Thankfully Nyoka was still there but she needed to surround herself more with those she could trust.. and for some reason, Kurou never once failed her. Unlike Mana, he wasn’t her right hand but he was someone she would have long conversations with. Spend the days with contemplating and rolling figures around. Ranks, but for the reasons of the other he wasn’t apart of her committee just like Mana. He refused the extra work- but maybe.. Kurou would be different. Someone she knew this to be true.
“Its been almost before the children were born that we have had a talk.. do you mind walking with me for a little bit. I can’t stay out much longer..”
soft chuckle escaped from the blind cheetah as he rolled her words over in his head. It really had been quite some time. The female beside him had been his 'boss lady' for many moons now, he had felt the change of day from each on his fur. Her cubs had been born and each of them had grown into fantastic adolescents. it wasn't the pride he felt for her cubs himself, as he'd had no part in raising them, but the pride he felt in the pride itself and how it was blossoming.
Sure, there were things that frayed at the edges as there always were with any good pride. However they had held together over the time he'd been here. With any pride there were those that would seek to have power over it to do as they wished and Korou had seen a few in his time. It was regretable and the halloween colored cheetah had done as much as he could to bend them otherwise.
Shaking his black and white head, Korou cast a sideways unseeing glance at Nyoka. He knew that he couldn't see, but others always affected some sort of pleasure when he made the attempt to visually appear paying attention to them. Even if he couldn't see, his ears and body told him where Nyoka was.
"I've no problem with this, lady. It truly has been a while since you and I have spun a yarn with one another. Pleasure comes to me with your company every time it is presented." Korou said with a slight smile.
He knew what she was feeling, that was why he had danced around the age comment. Nyoka was not old by any means, rather she was young. Korou had seen many suns and moons in his time with is one good eye before he had gone completely blind. And he was sure he had been able to see when she was born, that had been many MANY years past since he had gone blind. His daughters with Chopi were older than her, but her beauty with speech and strength always allowed Korou to relax in her company.
He wouldn't mind a walk.
Her fur shimmered with each movement, still she had an assertive air to her, but this had dimmed down. Those whom have known her – allowed- themselves to still believe it, even if she felt it slowly diminish with time. The once number one geisha was slowly slipping and she needed everything in her power to now protect what was hers.. even if they were now able to protect themselves. “You flatter me even now, we need more like you around. Though, I hate that you are still guarding.” Her hunches went back to stretching as she slowly made her way to lead him. Looking back at him, where he tried to ‘face’ her, she somehow knew he could see her. Even if his eyes could not. Her tail slowly grazed the tops of his paws before leaving, out of habit now from her mate… whom seemed to take more jobs on now because of her illness. She hoped so dearly it would pass soon, but she only took it now in stride. Too much had happened in so little of a time, now it was time for the rest that she needed before leaving…
The walk through the center brush could have easily taken them ‘back’ in to the woods.. Though the crater was filled with rocky dirt, somehow the center remained lush of plants… “We have many routes to explore. Many more to entertain… So much has taken the extent of my thoughts to new levels… I need a relaxer. Tell me another one of your stories.. the lands that you have traveled. It has been so long since I heard them..”
It was true, Korou was still a guard. It wasn't one of the jobs that it would seem the cheetah could excell at, but he was quite adept at sensing danger when it reared it's head. He could get dirty if the moment called for it, yet he was fast and fleet on his feet. Heralding danger as it came about and calling others to him for support. Through his bi-colored eyes Korou had seen the world and wasn't afraid to barrel into a situation. Yet at the same time he knew when to step back and allow others to help him. The scar that had blinded his green left eye as a cub had left him with the knowledge of lions.
The white dotted paws lifted and followed after his dancing leader. The words of her looks and her dance had reached his unbiased ears and the cheetah had closed them. Many in the pride had spoken of her being a Geisha, of her body being fleet and beautiful. If this were the case then it simply was, he saw her soul and heard her words. These were the only things the older cheetah wanted from Nyoka. Her mate busted himself working many jobs, there must be a reason. Nyoka would kill herself with the stress of worrying over everything he knew.
"A story it is then? Hmm... well you've heard many of mine over the years. Stories of lions, stories of birds, stories of graveyards. Have you ever heard the story of the cheetah that gave his spots to make the stars?" Korou spoke calmly, his voice dancing through the brush and to her ears.
He walked smartly, his swirls and rings around his legs made him look like he was dancing beside her, the smaller size that had graced him as he grew made him look fragile. Of course that was what most of his kills had always thought when he hunted, all the way up to the moment when is strong teeth had ended their lives and one more spirit danced to the stars above to tell their own tale.
Laughter came to his muzzle, Korou's daughters had often asked him for stories, as their father had gone farther than their mother in his time. Korou had lived when he was younger, danced from place to place on the savannah. Only with Colche had he ever settled down and learned what home was. Zakiya had been his only home before that.
Now the pride was his home and he would have it no other way. Maybe with his Colche at his side, but she was....
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