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 Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:34 pm
Loki was gone again.
Before, this knowledge would have struck a deep sense of anxiety into the heart of the dragon-marked juvenile, but ever since the fateful day that Fafnir had met Alcmene, he no longer dreaded the days that Loki decided they needed to spend time alone. It still hurt, a little, but he had something to look forward to! He didn't have to curl up in the shadows and sulk until his sister came back to claim him. No, he could go out and have a grand adventure of his own, just he and Alcmene! The thought of this put a wide grin on his mug and helped him to chase down the empty feeling in his gut that was left behind from Loki disappearing. His paws beat a pace against the earth as he headed away from his den, bound in the direction of Alcmene's own.
He was hoping that he wouldn't have to make it all the way there, for the idea of having to up to the king's den and ask for her sent a raging wave of nerves through his body. He knew he could do it politely, but it still seemed out of place for someone such as himself. He wanted her to already be outside, playing, so that he could just walk up to her instead. The closer he got, the more the nerves in his stomach began to tumble and he began to chew lightly at the inside of his cheek. His pace slowed once the den came into view and he paused a distance away, simply staring with lowered ears as he tried to work up the courage. He had said he'd come to play with her when Loki was away, but what if he was too scared to go and see her after all?
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:52 pm
Alcmene was hanging out near home early in the afternoon, keeping herself occupied until her father was ready. He had told her that they would do something together today, another lesson of some kind- maybe a quiz or scavenger hunt on plants again, but Ally wasn't sure her father was really that predictable about it. Besides, she was fairly confident she could pull that off without any trouble. She was ducked down in the grass not far from the den trying to find something interesting to chase after when she spotted a familiar figure wandering anxiously towards her.
She knew who it was, and taking a chance she crawled towards him as he slowed down. She was already hunting, and she would have to pop up out of no where eventually- maybe one good scare would get it all out of him. He certainly looked anxious. She was not the best at sneaking, but that wasn't the point of the game.
"Hello!" she called, jumping forward and revealing herself.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:03 pm
Even if Alcmene wasn't the best at sneaking, she had certainly surprised the poor blue boy. With his mind running at a million miles an hour, trying to work up the courage to overcome his anxiety, he hadn't even bothered to be on the lookout for surprise attacks. Thus, as she jumped out of the grasses and landed right in front of him, his body was awash with surprise and momentary terror. His eyes widened considerably, his ears laid flat against his head, and his little body reared back onto his hind legs in an attempt to fend her off - which ultimately resulted in him tumbling onto his back at the same instant that he let out a yelp.
It was only as he fell onto his back that her words registered with his brain, and his foolishness brought a shy smile to his mug. He rolled his eyes up to look at her from where he lay, head tilting against the ground beneath it. "You scared me," he muttered quietly, twitching his tail before he rolled over onto his belly.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:13 pm
Ally watched as he tumbled back, giggling aloud and trotting around to where his head landed to check and make sure he was OK. The fact he was smiling was a good sign, and she smiled back at him and moved so she wasn't in the way when he rolled back over.
"I thought I might," she said, "I'm sorry, I saw you coming! Is your twin not around again today?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:19 pm
He shook himself off to get rid of any lingering stalks of grass and grains of dirt once he stood, his ears flopping a bit as he wiggled his head. His eyes shifted then, landing back on her, though his vision was a little blurred from waving his head around like that.
"Mmm, yes, she's gone again," he said quietly, turning to look off at the horizon as if she would come bounding back towards him any second. He paused for a moment, staring in that direction, before he turned to look back at Alcmene, bringing his pleasant smile to his maw once more. "That's why I came to look for you!" He paused, ears drooping lightly before he glanced past her to the den. "You can play today, can't you? You aren't busy?" What if she had something to do? He didn't want to distract her and make the king mad with him.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:32 pm
Ally was still smiling as she watched him recover from toppling over. Her own ears tilted when he looked off to the horizon with his answer, and she couldn't help but nudge him when she realized he was staring. She took a small jump back, her tail swaying excitedly behind her- eager to keep him distracted, like she'd promised.
"No, I can play!" she answered, completely disregarding the fact that her father had had plans for them. She had made a promise, and as long as she wasn't gone too long.. or when she explained to daddy later..
"What do you want to do?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:38 pm
The little nudge was all it seemed to take to draw him back to reality and distract him from his little troubles. It was hard to be away from Loki, but having a friend made it much better. Forgetting his problem, he simply turned to face Ally, his own tail swaying to match hers.
"Well, as long as you don't have anything to do!" His ears perked again at the thought of being able to play unhindered, his eyes immediately swiveling about him to gather in all the scenery about them, as if it might give him an idea. "I'm not sure what to do though - maybe we could just go explore?" He had to admit that he didn't get to explore much and he was eager to see if maybe they could find some hidden secrets in the land! "Maybe we could find a hidden treasure, or.. a magical meadow!" He let out a small laugh at the thought, obviously letting his imagination run wild with him.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:05 pm
Familiarizing herself with the pride's land was one of the first and the easiest things the cub was being taught. She already knew a fair bit, she knew generally how far was too far and some of the quickest ways to get to waterholes or to where some special plants grew. Fafnir didn't need to know that, though! And maybe they could find something she hadn't seen before, something that daddy didn't know yet! That was a very exciting idea.
"Oooh!" she squeaked excitedly, "That sounds like fun. Let's go!" Already having some ideas in mind, she absentmindedly jumped into the lead- trying to compromise between ideas of where to go. Not being very decisive, she had a hard time picking just one place and it showed her the very jumpy and wavy path she walked in.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:22 pm
He had no way of knowing that she was much more familiar with the land than he was. After all, he didn't know what duties being the heir to the pride entailed, so he could only assume she knew what any other cub would know. Granted, he should have expected that she knew at least a little more than he did - he wasn't exactly that familiar with the lands outside of where he and Loki usually frequented.
"Alright!" he said with a grin, leaping to follow her with a little laugh. He let her take the lead happily, not bothered by it at all, though he soon realized that she was unsure of just where she wanted to go. With her path being so jumpy and wavering, he had to slow down to make sure that he didn't run past her, especially in the wrong direction. He hesitated, glancing around, and then tilted his head as he look at her. "Do you know which way you wanna go?" he asked cautiously, his tail snaking behind him. If it were up to him, they could just choose one direction and run - but maybe she had some sense of intuition. His dad seemed to get that from time to time.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:02 pm
Ally was starting to realize she had no idea which way she wanted to take her friend just after he realized. She slowed down shortly after he did, turning around immediately when he questioned if she knew where she wanted to go. She smiled sheepishly and honestly shook her head.
"I don't know, I can't make up my mind," she said quietly, glancing around and then back at him, "Maaaybe you should pick which way." That was probably the best way for them to actually get somewhere, and the best chance Ally had of finding something she'd never really seen before. Besides, Fafnir didn't seem like the type to take the lead very often. He barely made it to find her.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:30 pm
He hesitated as she shook her head and suggested that he should pick the way. He sat slowly where he was, chewing at the inside of his cheek as he glanced around them. He wasn't used to being in control and it must have become obvious to those around him very quickly. It made him a bit nervous to be the one making decisions, but he knew the sooner he chose, the sooner they could get to having their grand adventure.
"How about.. this way?" he said hesitantly, pushing himself to his feet and taking a few steps forward. He narrowed his eyes upon the horizon, as if it would tell him yes or no, before he finally took a few more confident steps and turned to her. "I think this way is good, Ally!" the smile from before slowly returned as he watched her, his tail wavering behind him with renewed joy.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:56 pm
Ally watched the older lion eagerly, noticing the odd motion by the side of his mouth that was him chewing on his cheek. It was unusual, and momentarily she was distracted in trying to figure out what it was. After making a couple odd biting motions, she shrugged it off and waited for an answer. She nodded as soon as he made a suggestion, and waited for him to actually take the lead.
"Ok!" she said when he spoke up a second time with more confidence, and she bounded along after him, "Good picking."
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:26 pm
It felt odd for him to be in the lead, for sure, but he wasn't about to turn around and ask her to take it back. After all, it did feel nice to be able to go where he wanted to, it was just a little uncomfortable to be unsure where that somewhere was taking him. At her reassurance, he simply smiled, loping into a cub-like run that wouldn't tire him out too fast, letting his eyes take in their surroundings in silence.
It was a little while later that he began to see the first one - a big looming boulder on the horizon. He furrowed his brows and hesitated, slowing down a little as he glanced back at her. "Ally," he breathed out, "what is that?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:36 pm
Ally was used to being led around by her father, though often he turned things around and made her lead the way so she would get used to it and to test her. She hadn't been in this area since the earthquake, though, and she did notice that there was something unusual about the whole area. Nothing terribly obvious, but just enough that it seemed different.
She was busy looking from side to side when the boulder came into view, and just about ran into him when he slowed down to ask what it was that was on the horizon. With a yelp, she stopped and stepped out beside him to take a look herself (and so she didn't have to slow down quite as much so quickly).
"Huh?" she blinked, tilting her head and hesitating as he had when he first saw it. It was certainly unusual, it looked like some of the mountain had moved or something. "I don't know, it's funny looking though- let's go see!" She picked up the pace again, eager to inspect this funny moving mountain.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:44 pm
He heard her yelp, and the sound made his ears flatten until she stepped out beside him. Once she was there and it was obvious that nothing was in fact wrong, he calmed once more and turned to look back in the direction of the misplaced rocks. He had seen the mountains with his parents, but he didn't remember seeing mini-mountains like this.
"Alright," he said with a little grin, glancing sideways at her for a moment. Then, with a chuckle, he picked up his pace as well, darting out ahead of her excitedly. The closer they got to the boulder, the more in awe he grew with it. Once they reached the first one (for he could see more littered around closer towards the mountains), he stopped short. "It's so big!"
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