[PRP] Brown Frowns [Kizalia'buga x Jhonki]

[tani duh!]

Kizalia'buga walked through the dead and dying grass of the savannah. Brown paws matched the brown earth beneath her. She dreaded the summers, plants died and the sun beat down ruthlessly on everything on the earth, including the creatures. Her dark fur made it warmer than she liked.

On the horizon lurked a watering hole, or at least she assumed as much from the many creatures she could see gathered there. She was headed in that direction herself, water sounded marvelous about now. She had once lived somewhere where water was plentiful. A swampy area, the animals were different there. She had almost completely forgotten everything about the place, but she still remembered the wet smell, ground and tall cattails that surrounded the waters. She was dwarfed by them, then, and wondered how large they grew now.

Thinking of the old wet home she once had made the treks across the dying land that much easier.  

[Meepfur]

Grass. Ugly, dry, awful grass. Jhonki-sahna hated the savannah. As an adolescent, he'd loved it, been so excited by the open expanse of land as far as he could see, the whole world and his whole life laid out in front of him. Now, in his exile, he despised it. It was nothing like the home that he could never have again, a home he'd lost because of his own arrogant stupidity, and that only made it worse. He had no home, no family, no purpose, and it was all his fault.

The disgraced King, sitting near but not too near a depressingly small waterhole, looked almost as miserable as he felt. He was thin and disheveled, with a dull coat and persistent frown.  

[tani duh!]

As she approached the water, she noticed a brown lion laying near it. He was colored in browns, darker than the ground beneath her, but lighter than herself. She continued to the water and started to drink, several prey animals fleeing when she came too close.

As she drank, she continued to think about that brown lion. She paused her laps and looked up at him quickly again. He was a bit weary-looking, malnourished and fur a little dirty. She wondered where he had traveled from. And that, that idea, sparked her curiosity. She finished drinking and quickly moved to the brown heap of a lion.

"Excuse me," she began quietly, "I know you don't know me, but is there any chance you're from a swamp?" She hoped that perhaps he was from the swamp where she was born, the swamp that she couldn't remember all that well anymore. His color, being so similar to hers and to the swamps themselves, was the only thing that made her go over and speak to him.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Someone was...talking to him? What on earth for? Jhonki-sahna lifted his head and blinked at the speaker, noting her appearance as he processed her words. Swamp. She wanted to know if he was from a swamp. Of course. She was a good dark brown, a nice swampish color. She was probably out on her quest. Really, it was a wonder he hadn't run into any pilgrims before this. And he had the shoulder mark borne by many of the royal family - she must have recognized it. So he assumed, anyway.

The exile heaved a sigh and looked away. "A long time ago."

tani duh!

 

[tani duh!]

Her curiosity sparked with his answer. So he was from s swampland! Her eyes lit up with childish excitement and her tail swayed from side to side behind her, a carefree, happy movement.

Kizalia'buga took a deep gulp, "Do you know of any families missing lions?" She shook her head for a moment, realizing how strangely she worded that. "Well, really, do you know if anyone... uhhm... how long ago?" What he had said didn't quite register with her at first, and she realized now how silly her question was to someone who, first, might not even remember if anyone was missing a cub, and, second, might not even be from the same swamp.

Her expression fell as she made this realization. She gave a little sigh, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to find my place." She sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws, feeling defeated, per usual.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Are there ever not?" Jhonki answered with a snort, looking back at the lioness out of the corner of his eye. Shoulders hunched and tail curled around himself, he tried to look as gruff as possible - he really didn't want to talk to this supposed pilgrim.

"Long enough for it not to matter." He huffed impatiently, but it was difficult to be completely unkind. "If you're lost, it's east of here. Probably a couple weeks."

tani duh!

 

[tani duh!]

She could sense his annoyance and it made her somewhat uneasy. She flicked her tail nervously in front of her feet as she spoke, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to annoy you... I'll make this brief: I was separated from my family at a very early age, we lived in a swamp, and I was hoping you might be from that same swamp." She was visibly upset now, speaking of her family and those she had unintentionally left behind.

"The swamp I'm from can't be east. I've been traveling east for a while now, before that I had been traveling north." She paused and shook her head, "again, I'm sorry."

She turned away from him, didn't move from her spot, just turned away, before speaking again. "This is all such a waste. Perhaps it's time I move on and leave them and that home to find new ones.." She looked at the animals all huddled about the water, wishing right now she was a little springer with it's extended family traveling the plains.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

The bedraggled male flattened his ears when she got upset, stubbornly looking anywhere but directly at her. The last thing he wanted or needed to deal with was an emotional lioness! It made him feel bad, and he felt bad enough already, thank you. All this talk of swamps and families only served to make him feel more miserable.

...but he still had trouble being mean. It just wasn't in his nature. "I'm sorry. I just...don't like to talk about it."

"...I hope you find them, if that's what you want."

tani duh!

 

[tani duh!]

She shook her head. He was right, if that's what she wanted... "No!" She said in a sudden and almost urgent manner. "It's not what I want." She turned back toward him, a new found confidence and excitement to her. "I've spent too long searching for things I can barely remember. I need to move forward and find new things to make memories of!" She never thought that the words this lion said to her would be what she needed to realize what she had been pursuing for so long really wasn't what she wanted.

Yes, she did want a home. And yes, she did want to find a family. But perhaps looking into the past and for those things she couldn't recall the names of anymore weren't how she should live her days.

Kizalia was beaming by now. She gave the male a fond head nod, "thank you. I don't know exactly how you did it, but thank you."

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

That was...sudden. Jhonki lifted his head and blinked in surprise as the lioness' excitement. Good for her, he supposed. It was a nice thought, really, moving forward and making new memories - a though he'd had on occasion, but there was something oddly secure and comfortable about his persistent misery. He'd gotten used to it, and had no motivation sufficient enough to make him leave it behind.

"Oh. Well. There you go. Good luck with that, then, whatever it is you end up doing."

tani duh!

...sorry Jhonki's such a lump in this. XD

 

[tani duh!]

She paused and tilted her head to the side slightly. "Now that is the question, isn't it?" As she started to think about it, she really wasn't sure what to do now. Where would she go? Where does she start? She swirled her nail in the dirt below her paws, pondering what exactly she should do.

Then she looked back at the lion, a smile still covering her face. "Well... what are you doing? Where are you going?" Her voice was full of both curiosity, interest, and excitement. This lion had used the perfect words to break through a wall she hadn't noticed til now, perhaps what he says again will give her some more direction.

Meepfur

It's okay! She doesn't really notice XD She's too excited

 

[Meepfur]

Jhonki was slow to answer, and this time it was probably far less revelatory. "I'm...not doing anything or going anywhere, really. I'm just here for now. Eventually I'll go somewhere else, but it doesn't matter. I'm only ever just passing through."

Only ever just existing, but he didn't like to say that out loud. It was just too damn pathetic.

tani duh!

 

[tani duh!]

Well, that wasn't quite what she wanted to hear. Somehow this lion had made her realize she needs to go somewhere and find life. He had to have more magic touches in him somewhere! She continued to stare at him after he spoke and she giggled a little before responding. "Well, in that case. Either you can follow me for a while or I'm gonna follow you," she nodded, a goofy grin covering her muzzle. "We can pass through places for a little while together! Perhaps we'll find somewhere we belong in the same place. Or maybe we will just part ways sooner rather than later. But you got yourself a new companion."

If the lion didn't seem to want to open up, she was gonna bug the fleas off him by trying. And even if he told her he didn't want a companion, she would just follow him and say she was going somewhere and seemed to be on the same path. "Kizalia'buga, at your side and service!"

Meepfur

SHE WILL PREVAIL

 

[Meepfur]

"Wh-what?" With more life in his expression than he'd shown yet, Jhonki drew back to regard the lioness with an incredulous, slightly horrified stare. "You don't want to come with me! I'm- you don't- you're better off on your own, believe me."

And yet, he had a terrible time saying no, particularly when there was a female involved. He never wanted to upset or disappoint them. Damn. Against his better judgement, he relented. "Alright, but only for a little while. A day or two."

A day or two of company that was going to be...interesting, to say the least, since he usually did his best to avoid it. But maybe it would be good for him.

tani duh!

emotion_donotwant pretty much Jhonki's face right now.