[PRP] The search continues (Xolile/Caelius)

[Fairy Snails]

His journey had led him hear, Caelius thought as he worked on digging room in the den to make it bigger. The den was at the base of a mountain. It was tall and covered with trees and large rocks. He had spotted a small cave entrance and was working on making it larger so Xolile and him would have enough room to sleep for the night. So far he had no luck finding information about his father, nor did he see any sign of Xolile's stone.

He wasn't surprise that he hadn't found information on his father yet. If his mother didn't know much about the cheetah, how did he expect random strangers to know anything. He would just have to keep searching until his luck changed.

Right now he wasn't too worried about his own quest. He already knew it would take some time to accomplish. However he wanted to do everything in his power to help Xolile get her stone. It seemed to be an important part of her pride. Personally Caelius really didn't understand it, how a stone could determine if you're an adult or not. But that didn't really matter. It was important to her.

He took a break from working on the den and stood outside of the den. It was about midday. He would have plenty of time to get the den all set up before night. This area would be a good place to search for different stones, he thought. There were a couple creeks they passed when finding this area, plus there were other caves on the mountain. He was sure that one of them had the gem they were looking for.

His attention fell to Xolile. “Almost done with the den.” He said with a smile.

SilverLutz

Sorry for taking so long to set this up!

 

[SilverLutz]

Xolile peered into the water of a steam not too far from where Caelius was digging out a den. She had offered to help, but the cheeton had been right in saying that two of them would just make the work harder. The little spot he had found was big enough for one, not two, so until he made it that way it was best for the larger lioness to stay away. She didn't waste her time, though, searching for her red stone tirelessly. There was something fun about having a partner to travel with, and the fact that he was such good company made her grin at her reflection.

Lifting her head from her search, she glanced over her shoulder at the white male as he dug into the earth. She flicked her tail back and forth thoughtfully before heading over to him, just in time for Caelius to emerge from the fresh den.

"Aw, it looks great," she said, sticking her head and paws into their sleeping area. "You're pretty good at that," she added, turning to grin at Caelius. "Speedy little paws, you've got!"

R4gn0r0k IV

 

[Fairy Snails]

Caelius grinned at her. “Thanks. After traveling by myself I learned that it's better to get a den made quickly rather than taking your time. It also helps that I'm half cheetah. Helps speed things up.” He said with a wink.

“Now that we have the den situated maybe we can do some real searching for your gem. The river seems like a good play to start looking. It we don't have any luck, maybe we can try searching the caves up the mountain?” He wasn't a fan of caves, especially ones that seemed to go on forever. But, there might be a chance that it would have a gem. He felt like he could be brave enough to search a dark cave.

Caelius couldn't think of anywhere else the gem might be. Rivers, caves, those seemed like likely spots. “Did your pride give you any ideas about where you could find it? They didn't just blindly send you out to find the gem did they?” Being a rogue since birth, Caelius didn't even really understand the concept of prides. He didn't think he could stay in a pride for too long before getting an itch to go exploring.

“Too bad there isn't a traveling rock trader.” He said jokingly. Through his travels, he had met some traders who traded their goods. Usually they traded crafted jewelry, but sometimes there were others things up for trade. He couldn't remember if he had ever ran into someone trading gems though.

SilverLutz

Sorry again for the late tag. I honestly thought that I had tagged this rp already. D:

 

[SilverLutz]

Xolile laughed at his cheetah joke, finding it quite hilarious if she did say so herself. She knew a few cheetahs back home that did nothing quickly except running, so it was nice to meet a cheeton who had a sense of humor.

She nodded slightly as he suggested rivers and caves, eager to see if her gem awaited her here. There was a nice variety in landscape here which made her hopeful she'd find the little stone. "No hints, nope," she said with a little shake of her head. "But I was talking with a few others that had the same gem as I and they didn't talk about digging, but just sort of spotting it, so I would think it would be easier to find in the rivers."

There were some gems that were more likely to be found with some mining up in the rocky hills, but there were others that were found in the water, nature doing the digging for her. "I can't imagine it would be out in the deep sections, so a walk along the river should do for now. And if we don't find anything, maybe tomorrow we can head up to the mountains."

R4gn0r0k IV

That's okay!

 

[Fairy Snails]

Caelius nodded as he headed toward the river. He stayed close to Xolile as he walked. “How long have you been searching for the gem?” He had been under the assumption that she hadn't been searching too awfully long. She seemed pretty optimistic about finding it. He had up and downs on his search, and he knew there was a chance he would never find his father. There was a single thread of hope for him and he latched onto that hope.

Their situations were similar, but he felt that she had the determination to find that gem. He would do his best to find it. As they approached the river he kept his eyes out for the red stone. He stopped next to the river and picked up a few in his paws, looking at each one. None of them had a red color. However he did find a amber colored one. He set down all the stones except for the yellow. “I'm going to put this one over here. I think I might want to keep it.” He said, walking away from the river, and setting the stone on a large rock.

Caelius didn't know anything about rocks, stones or gems, but he figured if he saw one he liked, he might as well keep it. It was relaxing walking next to the river. There was a quiet breeze and birds chirping. “I was wondering, what is your pride like?” He didn't know about too many prides and he figured if he could know more about the prides in the area the better of he would be. Knowing what prides to stay at and which ones to avoid was important.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

"Oh, not too long. I was only searching for a few days when I came across you," Xo said with a little nod. Some Padawans spend months in the rogue lands looking for their stone, but some were much harder to find than others. They always made it back, though, so she had no worries about finding her gem. "So...close to half a moon's time," she said after a bit of mental math. Not long at all, all things considered. They were further from her pride than she'd ever been, though, so she wasn't sure how long it would take to get back.

She waded through the water at the edge of the river, stopping to paw through piles of rocks from time to time. She looked up at Caelius as he made a comment about keeping a stone, and she gave a soft 'ooh' as he set it aside. "Nice find," she said with a little grin.

At the question about her pride, she smiled wider and looked up at the sky for a moment. "It's great. Everyone is very friendly there, all species co-existing together in harmony. I think my favorite part is how family-like it is...even if you don't know someone in the pride, you do know they'll have your back. It's a bit spiritual, I suppose...we believe in the Force which...it's sort of the energy that surrounds everything. We believe those that are trained to do so can use it for good. Or for evil," she added with a snort. "But we don't associate with the Sith pride if we can help it."

R4gn0r0k IV

 

[Fairy Snails]

“That's not bad at all then. It would get so tiring searching for a stone for months.” He said. “If I were looking for the stone, I think I would just wait till someone could go with me and team up with them. But I also hate traveling alone. It's not too terrible. Just sort of quiet and lonely.” When he did find someone to travel with, it made it that much more enjoyable. He was grateful for all the company he had during his trip so far, and even more toward Xolile because she had been so kind to him.

“Maybe after we find your gem, I can escort you back to your pride?” He said, without thinking much about the idea. “Your pride sound fascinating and I would love to visit it, just for a short while, as long as that's allowed.” Caelius had his main mission to keep track of, but at the same time, he wanted a chance to really explore the land. He wanted to gain something from this adventure, just in case he never found his father.

“If your pride doesn't allow strangers I understand.” Caelius added. He didn't want her to get in trouble by allowing a rogue into the pride. If he could stay in the pride, he felt like he could learn so much from them. He wasn't spiritual at all, but what she described peeked his interest.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

"Hopefully it won't take me that long, otherwise I'll get tired for sure," Xo said with a little laugh. She had high hopes though, and as she closed her eyes to focus on the Force that she just spoke of, a little thrill of excitement ran through her. It was close.

Opening her eyes, she walked a few more paces down the stream as Caelius spoke. "Of course you can," she said with a smile. "My pride is very welcoming of rogues. And if you ever find your father and are looking for a home, you'd be more than welcome to come back," she added with a little wink.

Pausing by a small pile of rocks under the water, she began again to push the larger ones aside and dig in the pebbles beneath.

"And I'd love an escort back," she said as she dug. "It'll make the trek back a lot more interesting. Are you sure you don't mind back-tracking a bit, though? We'd need to go in the direction we just came from for a few days." She supposed there was no harm in backtracking for him, since his father wasn't a rock and could move where he pleased.

R4gn0r0k IV

 

[Fairy Snails]

He watched her curiously. She seemed to know what she was doing. “I might do that. Though, I will probably first go back to my mother and siblings to make sure they are doing well before I settle down.” Caelius said. He missed them terribly. They were capable of taking care of themselves though and he knew that if they stuck together everything would be alright.

“It's fine if I backtrack a little bit. My father isn't really expecting me, so I'm not rushed to find him.” If his father knew of his existence, he might have hurried a bit more. He still needed to figure out exactly how he wanted to confront his father. What do you say to a cheetah that doesn't know he has a son?

He had done his best not to worry about it too much. It would still be a long time till he would see his father. When he was able to figure out exactly where his father was, then he would figure out what to say to him.

“Find anything interesting?” He asked.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Xolile nodded, although she didn't look up from the little hole she was digging. "All right. As long as it's not going out of your way to escort me back." She knew she didn't need the escort, but Caelius was a nice guy and she wouldn't mind spending as much time as she could with him.

All thoughts were put on hold as something red glinted under the water. With an excited gasp she reached down carefully so the current wouldn't wash it away and pulled up the gem from the stream.

"Oh gods! Caelius, look! It's here, right here!" she said with a burst of laughter, running out of the stream awkwardly on three paws to the cheeton to show off her jewel. "Oh, and it's perfect! And huge!" Indeed, it was much bigger than any she has seen...but it was also a strange shape. Perhaps the masters would smooth it down into the proper size and shape for her necklace.

"Oh...thank you so much for helping me," she said, looking at Caelius with a grin. "I doubt I would have come this way if it weren't for you! And now we can head back, and you can get back to looking for your father sooner! Ah, everything is working out perfectly!" she said as she leaned in to nuzzle the smaller feline.

R4gn0r0k IV

One more post from you and we can call this one done! Want me to send you Xo's info or do you want me to post it? o3o

 

[Fairy Snails]

And his adventure with Xolile would continue. He was eager to go with her to her pride and see what it was like.

With the excitement in her voice, he had to see it. “Congratulations!” He said, admiring the stone. Her quest was complete. Soon they would start the travel back to her pride. He wondered if there would be a celebration for her, for finding the stone? She would be considered an adult now, so something special should happen. He would be sure to make a special gift for her.

When she thanked him, he could feel embarrassment settling in. “I really didn't do much. I mean, you're the amazing one. You are the one who found the stone. It was incredible! All I did was keep you company.” He said, with a small laugh.