[PRP] Stubborn and Blindly Hopeful [Angusho/Chekelea]

[ShinosBee]

Chekelea came huffing down the slowly developing game trail that wove between the thick and prickly shrubs that formed a half ring, half canopy around and over their--his--den. Several times a day she'd picked her way free of the sheltering growth to fetch water until she'd finally had time to crack the skull of the gerenuk open for a slightly deeper bowl. After that she'd only had to roam for occasional fresher food (like it or not a recovering body took a lot to do its work) or to refill the dish, and once a day if there was nothing else to do she slipped away to scout the area. After a day and a night following her...discussion with Angusho she'd determined he was already healing, and would not be in too much danger if she left for a short while. The first night she'd done so she'd been so worried that she'd barely been gone a quarter of an hour before she came slinking back to check on him (rather to his ire.)

Now though she'd come back from a winding hour-long walk. Each day she'd gone in a different direction, but even now that she'd finally done the full circle of options, she'd found nothing. She sucked back a sigh at the thought, and reminded herself of what the angry male had told her. If they were dead, she would know it. Well, she supposed he'd know.

It still boggled her mind all that he'd been through. He'd told her it'd be himself who sought out his son, for the sole reason of killing him. So much anger and turmoil. She didn't understand it. She hadn't asked his reasons, though she'd lay awake after he'd drifted off, turning the situation over in her head. Perhaps his son had been a wicked lion, and Angusho had tried to shoulder the horrible burden of putting him down. Perhaps there had been some kind of awful misunderstanding.

Perhaps Angusho was the terrible one.

She was not the fool he'd thought her, and the idea that he might be at fault had indeed crossed her mind. He had been crass enough to her...but after a night of contemplation, he'd woke to find her still there, still stubbornly trying to tend to him. So she probably was at least a half fool. By now of course she knew he'd live if left to his own devices. But not easily, and not well. And just because maybe he'd been bad didn't mean she had to be.

"I'm back," She called softly towards the den, not wanting to wake him if he was sleeping. "Still no sign of anyone at all. It's like we're the only two lions for miles. Not a soul to be seen."

cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Angusho wasn't sure why she was still THERE. After she had cleaned and tended to his injuries, they had been healing pretty well. He had avoided infection and that had been the biggest problem to deal with. They were gruesome and painful, but it didn't seem like they would be enough to kill him. Though he supposed that had been the plan all along. His weak willed son hadn't wanted to murder him, only keep him from causing any more trouble. If he had been able, he probably would have ripped every claw from his paws so he wouldn't be able to use them. Crippling his leg had done the job well enough, anyway.

He had spent most of his time sleeping while the female came and went. Chekelea seemed intent on coming into his den to check on him, often bringing food and water along with her. Given how difficult it would be for him to hunt, he supposed it made sense to use her for his food, but somehow it didn't work to tell himself he was making her do it. He knew she was helping him, not serving him.

There was a big difference there.

His body hadn't gained much of its strength back, but it was still better off than it had been when she had first discovered him lying in a pool of his own blood. It wouldn't be long before he had his energy back completely. It wouldn't change the damage to his leg, but it would at least give him the strength to drag it around.

He sighed to himself, opening his eyes to find that the female was not there. She must have gone on one of her walks- he didn't know what she was up to. Why not just leave if she kept wandering away from him? He didn't care if she never came back. Let her family find her and take her off to the blissful life she undoubtedly wanted. Though, she had been gone a long time. Longer than usual...

Annoyed, the large male struggled to push himself to his paws- a feat that would have been impossible not that long ago. Now, though, he was standing, and aside from the pain he could support himself fairly well. His three working legs didn't buckle from under the weight of his own body. With slow, careful steps, he moved himself towards the opening of his den, his wounded leg hardly responding as he attempted to move it. Growling, he continued forward, his fatigue catching up to him before he had even exited the cave. It was just as he got to the entrance that he heard the female, the large animal stepping out into the fresh air as his empty eyes found Chekelea.

"Probably for the best," he grumbled, "out here another lion would not be a welcome sight. Where do you keep vanishing to, anyway? Just looking for better company, are you?"

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

Grumpy or not, the sight of the old scar-ridden lion limping out of the den made Chekelea smile brightly. He was already so much stronger. It was almost unreal, how hard he'd pushed an how fast he'd been to get back on (most of) his feet. When she'd found him send been so certain that he would die, or at least never walk again. An hour tending him'd cured her of that notion but still. He amazed her.

"I suppose so," she conceded. "I'm not a very good fighter, if they ended up being dangerous..." She'd never raised a claw in her life, to tell it true, beyond hunting. Of the two of them only one would ever be thought by anyone a warrior, and he happened to still be recuperating. "I could always run, I suppose. Lead them away." The thick thorn bushes would hide him and the den while she drew anyone unsavory off. Then as long as she could outpace them, and didn't have any inopportune visions, they might just be okay.

"Of course not," She gave a sad smile. "I was looking for any signs of my pride. If only to know if they'd come by." The 'or if any were even alive still' went unsaid. "And seeing what food was around." There wasn't much left of the brace of hares from two days ago. "I saw zebra, and some kind of little antelope." They were called sitatunga, though she didn't know it. "Do you have a preference?" It was still a daily battle to draw him into conversation, but she was a determined little thing. She knew so little about him still, and not all of it good. That didn't mean he was bad though. Or would keep being bad. And she wanted to know him, even if he seemed still to simply want her to be gone.

If he chose either she do her best to get it. A zebra would be hard to handle alone, but she would try. It still probably wouldn't impress him.

Goodness knew why she'd felt more and more the need to try to win some favor from him. But she did. She'd yet to see him smile, and it made her all the more driven.

cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Angusho didn't like the idea of her leading any threats away. Not because he was particularly worried about what might happen to her, of course, he was just annoyed that she seemed to think he needed his foes distracted and taken away from him. Did she think she was being noble? Sacrificing herself at the chance of saving him? That was annoying. He didn't need to be saved. He hadn't wanted to be saved the last time and she was already thinking about doing it again! "If anything were to attack," he growled sharply, "I am still more than a match for them. I don't need all four legs to fight." He wondered how true that was. Jeraha hadn't crippled him for nothing. Clearly it was a handicap.

He just didn't want to admit it.

Heaving a sigh, he started to move again, limping slowly past her and venturing away from the cave. "I grow tired of this place," he grumbled, "not to mention your constant whimpering. If finding your pride is of such a concern to you, then we might as well continue your little hunt. Perhaps a new location would provide some better food, anyway. I am no longer interested in what is offered here." He didn't look at her while he spoke, continuing along his path as though it suited him and he wasn't taking her into consideration at all. Of course he wasn't- he didn't care if she was happy or not. She was the one who had latched onto him, and if she wanted to leave she could do so at any moment.

Still, he supposed if she was going to keep sliding back to him then he could at least get her to be less annoying about her home. Then he wouldn't have to deal with all the pouting, right? So he was totally helping himself.

Only himself.

Stopping a moment, the tired male looked over his shoulder, glaring back at the female. "Come on then," he snapped, "maybe we can find some trace of your damnable pride if we just start moving. Pick a direction. You must have some inclination to which way your pride would have traveled."

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

She nodded, wide eyed, at his chastising remark. She knew of course that he was strong, far stronger than her. Likely if there was danger he'd quite surprise any enemy, far outstripping their expectations. She did wonder though if it wouldn't mean the end of him as well. She'd watched him too long not to notice the fatigue he still felt even just moving about the landing. His fourth leg was still effectively useless, but at least it pained him less.

She was more than a little confused when he started trudging down the trail she'd come up. He was...leaving? She leapt to attention when he barked at her to come along, and to tell him which way she thought most likely. He was helping her...? In his own hard, rude way, he was offering to go with her, to look for her pride, or at the very least let her look for them.

The realization was so shocking she didn't immediately race after him.

"I...I checked each direction. But...I think...maybe towards the south?" She stammered, and then did come trotting after him, grinning like he'd just given her the best gift in the world. In a sense he had, if you thought of hope as a gift. She resisted the urge to rub lightly against him, not out of fear she'd knock him over, but because so far he'd not seemed the type to abide affections of any sort.

She effortlessly adopted a pace to match his instead, stamping through the brush at the side of the path rather than get ahead or lag behind. She didn't offer a shoulder to ease his way...but it was there for the taking, if he decided to demand one.

cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Angusho moved slowly forward, mostly because he didn’t have much choice in the matter. But, even if it wasn’t the fastest pace in the world, there was something to be said about him moving at all. After the wounds he’d received, he had been pretty sure that walking wouldn’t happen for a long time, if at all. Though, he supposed the portion of his body he thought wouldn’t be able to walk, his leg, was holding true to thoughts. It wasn’t moving much at all, mostly just dragging along beside him. It would likely cause scrapes along his toes, maybe some lost fur, but he didn’t really care.

Wasn’t like he could feel much of it, anyway.

As they moved along, Angusho was mostly quiet, pondering his situation and wondering why he had ended up in such a strange situation. And why was he allowing it? He might not have been at full health, but he was strong enough to take her if he needed to. He could still see the wounds on her from when he had caught her with his claws the last time. Clearly he was strong enough to make her suffer if he needed to. Then he could be alone and mostly back to normal. All the brooding he could want. But, somehow, he supposed it wasn’t completely intolerable having her there. Perhaps he did owe her something, anyway.

Once he helped her find her pride, he could leave. They would be even, so there wouldn’t be any need for him to linger alongside her. That seemed like the best plan.

“If you’re going to be grinning the whole way, I may get annoyed,“ he told her in a grumble, “find something to talk about, if nothing else.” The silence was making him uncomfortable.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

Chekelea didn't realize that she'd been smiling his way every few yards until he made mention of it, and even then it was hard not to continue. She was (perhaps a little surprisingly to him if he knew) genuinely happy. Pleased to be looking for her people, pleased to have company, and curiously even more so that it was his company. Part of that, maybe, was realizing that he was doing well. His leg was dragging behind them, leaving a small trail in the dirt, completely useless...but other than that? He was up and moving, perhaps not easily, but well enough.

That he was willingly going with her too also made her beam every time the thought wandered through her mind.

Understandably not smiling was going to be very hard. Maybe she could at least pull back a bit. Since he'd...well, not asked. But he'd not shouted or sworn at her either. She made a rather bizarre face as she tried to shrink her grin. It felt odd, but after a few moments managed to contain herself and content herself with a small, almost shy little tilt of the lips. "It's hard not to smile, but I'll try," She offered. "I'm just...well, happy, I suppose." Because of him.

Talk about something? Hmmm. What could she talk about? She could tell him about her pride...or what had been her pride. Would he be interested though? Talking about herself seemed egotistical somehow, and asking him about himself nosy. She DID want to know more about him but...if he offered that was one thing. Being nosy was another.

Eventually she settled for asking him if he knew anything about the lands they were headed towards. He was more experienced, and more traveled, though she didn't expect him to know the exact lay of the land or anything.

cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Angusho frowned. He was used to seeing her happy, but something about knowing she was happy and he wasn't doing anything to stop it really rubbed his fur the wrong way. Perhaps it was just because he was not used to letting people STAY happy. Normally, he would have killed her long before she could start to become annoying to him. But he had been too weak to when they met, and now... now he felt like it might be too late to kill her.

Not that she had grown on him, of course not.

"I don't know this area very well," he replied lowly, moving through the brush as he scanned the area, "I was only here because my son's scent led me in this direction- I have never been here before otherwise." He had been too focused on his son to really take stock of what was around. He didn't know what prides were near, or if they were familiar to her. Of course, he wouldn't have known that anyway, but still.

He continued to travel for quite some time, but eventually his body reminded him that he was not as strong as he used to be. He flopped over sideways right in the middle of their stroll, breathing heavily as fatigue got the better of him.

a normal lion might have asked to stop and rest, but he had decided to be stubborn about it and had continued until his body simply couldn't anymore.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

The lioness ducked her head in deference to his claim. She couldn't blame him for not knowing anything - she didn't either, and how fair would it be to be disappointed in him? They'd get to explore it together, and that'd be a good thing, she already decided. Company for her and aid, in whatever form he'd deign to accept it in, for him. She remained as ever unaware of his internal conflict over letting her live. She hadn't lost her respect for his strength - she'd simply decided to trust he'd not raise a claw to her again. The last time she'd trusted him had left her with several still fading scars, but it'd never been said that she wasn't stubborn. Or maybe it was that she was just blindly hopeful.

She had kept a careful half-eye on him as they went along for some while, always concerned and aware that he might be feeling the strain of their travel but determined not to make him feel coddled or looked down on. Well, at least not until he flopped right over on the trail. Then she was looking down on him in a literal sense, if nothing else.

For one awful moment she thought he'd pushed himself too hard, perhaps his leg had given out or (a thought she didn't like to entertain) his heart. But no. He was simply panting in the dirt, still alive but clearly worn out. She nearly said something but bit back the words at the last second, making only a little muted noise of a sucked breath instead. If he bothered to listen, the only other sounds were her slinking away into the brush. And a moment later a louder rustling, followed by the curios sensation of a light breeze through his fur.

She'd found a rather large leafy frond and was clutching it in her teeth, trying to simultaneously shade him and fan him. Neither was really working well, but darned if she wasn't trying. All the while she was scanning the area for any sort of den they could take up in for a while. They'd gone far - maybe only a quarter of how far she'd be able to go alone, maybe a bit more - but enough was enough. Perhaps she could claim to be tired too if he tried to urge her to continue. He thought her soft. He might believe that she was that weak. Maybe.

Cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Angusho stayed put for quite some time, just letting his heart settle down after the long trip. He felt like he had been running for days, and needed a moment to let his body settle down. A long moment. Several long moments. He opened his eyes when he felt something cool blowing against his fur, raising his head and looking over at the female. She was attempting to cool him down, it seemed, though at first he had thought she had just gone off without him. She hadn't said anything, and he had heard some rustling some time ago. He turned his head back towards the front, lying it down in the grass and closing his eyes.

He stayed silent for a little while, before heaving a sigh. He understood that she was attempting to help him, yet again, but that didn't mean he was anymore pleased with it than he had been the first time around. Still, at least now he understood more about her personality to know that it wasn't because she pitied him, no, she was doing it because she was 'a nice lioness'. Someone who helped others that needed it, whether they wanted to or not.

So he didn't have to snap at her for it. At least that saved him some time and energy.

Sighing again, he opened his eyes, though he didn't look back at her this time. "I am tired," he commented, though it was rare for him to admit such things, "I do not think I can travel further today. If you wish to continue without me, I will catch up to you."

He wondered if she would leave. Somehow, he didn't think it was possible, but he knew she also wanted to find her home. Perhaps offering to travel with her had been foolish. He just wasn't as strong as he had once been, infuriating though it was. It grumbled to himself, thinking about it making him somewhat cranky.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

The lioness' eyes jumped back to the resting male when he spoke, nearly dropping the leafy frond in surprise. She hadn't known him terribly long, all things considered, but already she knew how rare such an admission of weakness was likely to be. If given to one such as himself, probably it would have been all the more reason to leave him behind. He was disagreeable, and a bother, and weak... But he'd admitted it. And to the little plum lioness it was only a good thing. It made something warm bead at the base of her heart, a strange fondness for the battered, aged lion. He was so terribly strong, it was humbling to hear him this way.

It took a different kind of strength, she thought, to admit when you could go no further.

"No. This is far enough," Her words held no contempt or malice, muddled though it was around the stem of the leaf she kept waving. "Resting now will give you energy tomorrow, after all." It was true, really. If she went on and he DID decide to catch up (there was still some doubt in her over if he would - he had made no effort to hide his desires for her to be gone) then by the time he reached her he might be tired again. And if something were to happen, an accident, a stampede...Well. Her pride could only migrate as fast as their slowest member. There'd been elders. Cubs. (Oh gods above, she hoped there still were - that they'd not been burned up in the fire that'd taken her home...)

And even if he had been hale and fit, there was never any guarantee she'd find them. This way at least she had company. Grouchy, angry, bitter company...but he wasn't all bad. Not really. "And besides. Traveling in a pair is safer than alone." She was careful to make it clear that she meant safer for herself. In reality she could probably do a better job fleeing than him, but even with three legs he was far fiercer. And she was not very fast. It was the smart thing to do, sticking with the veteran. And the right thing. And the thing she wanted to do. "You will...tell me if you need anything?" Food, water. They'd both be fine days longer without, but she was ever eager to help. A 'good lioness' indeed.

Cajanic

Eyyy my writing's so rusty! 8D OOPS. I told you I'd do it though!!

 

[Cajanic]

Angusho watched her a moment, though he wasn't surprised when she said she would stay. Even if she desperately wanted to find her family, which he was sure she did, she would probably stay with him, just because she was too 'kind' a lioness to leave him there and carry on with out. He still didn't quite understand it himself, but he supposed if it made her happy than she could do as she pleased. As long as it didn't get in the way of his own plans.

Of course, he didn't realize what a strikingly different train of thought that was for him. It didn't matter if animals and their plans got in his way- he used to attack anyone who he thought seemed weak.

Frowning, he turned his head from the female again, the lion heaving a sigh as he made himself somewhat more comfortable to rest for the night. After a moment, he spoke again.

"Lie down near me," he ordered her with a grunt, "if you're going to stay, then I'm going to keep you near me."

ShinosBee

(we can end this one up and start another set alittle while after they've been searching, if you want. XD )

 

[ShinosBee]

The lioness didn't hesitate in moving to obey Angusho's request, but her actions were not those of someone leaping at an order. Just those of someone who was comfortable and content to comply. Like being asked to lie down beside a brutal and brutally scarred killer was something she did casually every day. She set the leafy frond aside and slid to sprawl on her side next to him. She didn't quite make contact, but if it was out of concern for his injuries or out of concern he'd disapprove...well, to be honest, she probably simply didn't want to hurt him or intrude. She clearly did not fear him.

"I'll be right here, then," Her voice was light but hung in the air. There because he'd asked her to be. There in case he needed her. There because there wasn't anything that she wanted to do that was worth leaving him behind.

Cajanic

(Sounds like a plan~ <3)