[PRP] Euphoria [Ethiopia & Peke]

[wooga Paes]

It had been a while since Ethi could say she had really had fun, or kept herself entertained. And when this happened she usually reverted into a rather... unpleasant state of mind, that she would rather just avoid. Today seemed particularly bad, for apparently no real reason. She hated this feeling, and wondered why it always just sneaked up on her! The monochromatic lioness was just beginning to believe she would never truly be rid of it.

But she was certain to always force it away, at any costs!

So today Ethiopia had decided to do something totally different, and perhaps even silly. But she had never really seen the valley from above, something she envied her avian companion for. Just imagine all he could see! With that in mind, she set out that morning to find a way up onto the valley walls, so she could look down on the world, maybe it would inspire her somehow.

Of course, this was easier said than done. On most parts, the walls of the valley were nearly vertical! And where they weren't... well, they got vertical pretty fast, too fast for her to reach the top. She walked along the enormous walls, trying to find a path up, while Dire Dawa flew above, and grudgingly helped her look.  

[Nuxaz]

Little had change in the Peke preferred to do things since he was a child, he still chose to roam the lands alone. He liked to keep himself more than ever lately, even opting to separate from his ivory bonded whenever possible. The raven hated watching Peke wander off alone but had long since stopped arguing with the stubborn loner. There were times when the lion's darker thoughts would resurface and he would wander off on his own to reflect and distract himself.

Today had started off as one of those days.

Sleep the night before had not come easily to the young adult, it was sleep plagued with nightmares. It was flecked with memories of his childhood, the frightening chase that had lead to the death of two lions, the death of his sister and of shadows that seemed to be creeping ever closer to him. He had a difficult time shaking the feeling that something bad was approaching. There were still times that he struggled to differentiate the dreams from his visions.

He had been wandering around aimlessly, a clouded look across his features. He happened upon the valley walls by chance and when he saw the familiar colors, or lack thereof, he blinked. Blue eyes crinkled at the eyes and he shook his head. "Ethi, what are you doing?"  

[wooga Paes]

Even though she hadn't really been expecting to run into anyone today, Peke was hardly an unpleasant surprise. She blinked, raising her eyes and finding him, smiling almost on reflex. "Peke! Hi!" She deviated slightly from her route to trot over to him and give his shoulder a friendly bump with her head. It felt like a while since she had last seen him!

"I'm trying to find a way up onto the valley walls." She explained, though it wasn't that complete an explanation. If he asked why, for example, she might be in trouble, considering that she couldn't lie. And she didn't like telling people when she felt sad. It made things somehow seem more pathetic, and worse.

(Nuux, I'm sorry ;; had to go to bed, tis late and I forgot I'm going somewhere tomorrow. I'll reply once I wake up/before I leave if you leave a post, though!)  

[Nuxaz]

Peke had always struggled with physical affection and seemed to tense up when their shoulders connected. He laughed uncomfortably, he hadn't been touched by anyone except Nguvu in over a moon cycle, and offered her a weak smile. He appeared skittish as if he hadn't interacted with anyone in many moon, it was true though. Not many outsiders filtered through the pride any more, most of the missing pride members had made their way back by this point so he had kept to himself.

He felt weird being around someone again, especially someone he was close to. It made him awkward.

"Why?" He asked cocking his head, brow wrinkling slightly. He pawed at the ground nervously, his ear flicking back and forth as he waited for her to answer.  

[wooga Paes]

Nuxaz

She briefly took note of his tension, and wondered if she had overstepped some line. After all, she hadn't seen him in a while. But Ethi still considered Peke her favorite lion in the pride, right beside her brother. Hmm, maybe she should have visited him, or something.

Of course Peke would asked. She gave a half-hearted laugh. "I just want to see the valley, might cheer me up." She knew better than to lie to Peke, but at least intended to keep her voice very light, so it didn't seem like she was bothered. "What're you up to?"  

[Nuxaz]

"Why do you need cheering up?" He asked bluntly. It seemed that the gruff-looking lion had forgotten what tact was. He felt bad, he should have been more aware of what was going on with those that he was close to. He had been neglecting too much again. It was as though he was relapsing into the darker times of his childhood when he was nothing more than a rebel who rejected sleep and avoided anyone and everyone. No wonder Nguvu was worried about his bonded.

"Just thinking about the past," he admitted with a sigh. He hated his ability to detect a lie at times, it made him feel guilty about his ability to lie back to them. So he avoided lying when he could, especially among friends. "I miss my sister, I fear the darkness and I have a terrible feeling that something bad is coming." He quickly mumbled, everything coming out in a jumbled mess of words.

"I wanted to get away and just...breath I guess."  

[wooga Paes]

Ethiopia shrugged, because she didn't really know. It always ended up like this. It seemed like her natural state was sadness, and she always had to fight it back. It got tiring sometimes, but she refused to stop. Of course, she was always much better at keeping such feelings at bay when others were around, particularly those she cared about, and knew had their own problems.

She frowned when Peke spoke, because she wasn't really sure how she could be helpful to him here. "I understand." After all, Ethiopia, too, had lost family. "If you ever want to talk, I'm here." She offered, though she feared he wasn't really the talking sort.

The gray lioness was momentarily distracted by a small shriek in the sky, and she glanced up to see the small shape of her bonded. "Oh, looks like he found a way up." She smiled. "Come with me! I think it will be neat." Besides, maybe Peke could enjoy seeing the valley from a different perspective, as well.  

[Nuxaz]

Peke was hardly a depressed lion, he was more of the mysterious angry loner type so it was harder for him to understand when someone else was upset or why. He tried, sometimes he could relate but Ethi hardly ever talked about what upset her. He didn't know how much they truly had in common. "I know," he replied offering a small smile. "I hardly feel like talking about it anymore," he admitted shaking his head and looking at the ground. "But if I do, I'll come find you."

See, Peke had the terrible tendency to bottle things up until he couldn't contain it any longer. He had lost count of how many times in the aftermath of the invaders that he had exploded with anger at his raven companion. He still felt guilty whenever he would think about it.

"Uh, sure," he replied hesitantly, he'd never traveled to higher grounds of the pride. Often it was too difficult to travel that way but Ethi seemed eager and if it helped to cheer her up, he couldn't complain too much.  

[wooga Paes]

"Alright, come on!" Ethi was quite good at giving off an appearance of happiness, and everything being okay. In fact, she was hardly ever usually faking it! It just went away quickly when others weren't around, or she wasn't finding some way to enjoy herself somehow. So she glanced up to the sky again, to find the place Dire Dawa indicated, then turned and trotted in that direction, perhaps picking up more speed once she was sure Peke was following.

The way up was fortunately not too far. At least, the start of it. Of course it might be a bit of a climb to get up high. It started off going into the walls of the valley, then upwards, like stairs, and it continued like this for a while. But then it veered off to the side, and got more complicated. There was a least one part where she would have to jump over a gap, and another where it was very narrow.

She and Peke were lions, though, and could handle this sort of thing. Not as well as an Ibex, perhaps, but they could do it, she was sure... "Hah, you up for that?" She turned and offered Peke a smile.  

[Nuxaz]

Peke was filled with a strange mixture of feelings as he trailed behind the gray lioness. It was pleasant to be out interacting once again with someone he knew but he had a sense of uneasiness from his lack of interaction with anyone outside of Nguvu. In some ways, he simply felt awkward.

His steps were uncertain but careful as they made their way up the wall, the jumps were easy but the narrow passes made him nervous. At one point he stopped seeming to refuse to go forward. He opened his mouth to say something to her, furrowed his brow then shook his head before closing his mouth. What was he going to say? That he was afraid because he wasn't but he was worried about what could happen if either fell, the trek up and the trek down were dangerous if they weren't careful.

He gave a fake laugh, swallowed then nodded. "Sure, we've done crazier right?"  

[wooga Paes]

Unlike Peke, Ethi was actually seeming to have quite a bit of fun. Usually to distract herself she usually had to hunt, or do silly things, like run around and... well, silly things. This was actually something that required quite a bit of focus, and she relished in it. She also made a point to not look out to the valley as the climbed higher, so she could have the full effect once they reached the top.

"We have!" Well, that was partially untrue. Because they had done silly, perhaps crazy things before. But even Ethiopia would admit this was possibly the most dangerous. Eh, still worth it, she hoped. She honestly hadn't even thought about getting down yet.

They were making surprisingly good time, and at one point Ethiopia looked up and realized there wasn't much further to go, and she grinned back at Peke. "Hey! We're almost at the top!" She announced, then turned back to the mountain to make it up the last few meters.  

[Nuxaz]

"At least this time it was one of our ideas," he laughed scurrying to catch up with her. His hesitation had created more than a few feet of space between them and he was quick to close the gap once his nerves had calm down. "You always had a way of getting into trouble," he told her tilting his head back so he could accurately judge how much distance was left between them.

"Are we? Good, I'm ready to get off this edge," he admitted flicking his tail behind him. When they reached the top he let out a sigh of relief, he really hadn't liked the narrow pathways. He moved into the center, away from the edges and sat down. He needed a minute to just breath. "Do you ever get jealous of your bonded?'"  

[wooga Paes]

"Oh, Peke, admit it. You've been wanting to do this forever!" She teased as she made her final little leaps up to the top, seemingly gaining a bout of energy just because she knew the trip was almost over. The highest point she could reach! She waited patiently for Peke to get up, as well, though she didn't have to wait long. Ethi didn't even realize she was panting.

"Of Zay?" The bird's name was actually Dire Dawa, but she usually referred to him as Zay. "All the time! who wouldn't be?" And because it seemed appropriate, and unlike Peke, she didn't at all feel a need to rest, she went right over towards the edge of the cliff. "When you can see the world like this all the time!"

Because she had scurried over quite quickly, it might have looked like she would just walk right off. But Ethi wasn't an idiot, and stopped with her paws right on the edge. "Look, Peke! It's amazing!" The view of the valley was just spectacular, and the lioness was positively awestruck. The trees, the river, everything!  

[Nuxaz]

There were times when he was envious of the raven that often stood by his side, but it wasn't his wings that Peke was truly jealous of. It was that of his freedom. Even though the two had an inseparable bond, if he truly wished it Nguvu could leave the lands of the Aka'meli where Peke did not feel like he could. It was a jealous he hardly spoke of.

He would have days where he felt chained to the lands his mother had led them to but standing on the highest point they could reach overlooking the lands, Peke felt free. He smiled, a genuine smile that spread across his entire maw and reached up into his eyes. It wasn't one of those half smiles he often offered where it was nothing more than a fake.

He sucked in a grateful breath and stepped forward to join Ethi at her side. "It's beautiful, it isn't often that we're privileged to see it as such," he mumbled, blue eyes sweeping across the lands. "It's hard to imagine that everything we see is apart of our pride."  

[wooga Paes]

It was windy up here, and it felt pretty good, so she raised her head slightly and breathed in. Even the air felt different. She smiled back at Peke, then turned her eyes back to the valley because it was just hard to stop looking at. "No, it isn't." She sighed, just trying to take it in. It also felt so weird for the sky to feel so open above her, without the valley walls closing in on their horizon. Yes, all of this was their pridelands. Somehow it seemed both larger and smaller at the same time, and that was just amazing.

She could see some lions' bonded flying about, and it felt weird to see a few of them from above. Seeing their backs, instead of their bottom! "Look, I think that's Hisa!" She used a paw pointed to a red shape the swooped lazily somewhere below.