[PRP] Lonely Nights (Abitu & Cincindelas)

[mouselet]

Cincindelas was hardly visible in the moonlight that marked his preferred time of night, only his blue markings shone in the silvery radiance from above. It was something Ubuni had liked, she herself being mostly black with pink markings. This did mean that their children were well-colored to hunt the night, but he sometimes regretted the fling. After all, there were better reasons out there to have children. Not that he didn't love the four he had. But they had all grown up and moved on with their lives, Ubuni as well.

Leaving him alone again.

He hadn't thought he was lonely before Ubuni came into his life, but now Cincindelas regonized the emptiness for what it was. Not solitude, but loneliness. He sighed, standing up in the grass and silhouetting himself against the moonlight. He might not want to be alone, but the leopard knew well that he wasn't the most social of creatures. Having four children and their mother around had strained his ability to be around others, but he missed it now that it was past.

That didn't mean he was going to go seek out a large group of strangers. No, he'd hope to meet one or two others in the darkness of the night.  

[nessiaing]

Abitu stretched as she leaped down from the tree that she had been napping in. She wasn't usually a night owl but her short cat nap had turned into so much more. Abitu didn't find the night time to help her in anyway as her fur just seemed to glow in it. She moved quickly trying to stay in the shadows as much as possible if she avoided the moonlight she wouldn’t glow quite so much.


She made quick work of it though use to hiding in the shadows, Abitu had been on her own since a young age and had learned how to make it through life without the help of others. Reaching the waters edge her destination Abitu had no choice but to step out from the shadows so that she could get a quick drink of water. She took a quick look around and didn’t see anyone at first so she slipped out from the trees and to the water’s edge.  

[mouselet]

It might've been a sound, it might've been a change in the movement of air, but Cincindelas had the sudden feeling that he wasn't alone. He began padding forward, keeping eyes, ears, and nose alert. When he came near enough to see the water, he relaxed a little. That was someone he'd never be able to miss, even on a sunny day, he was sure.

The question was...should he appraoch the other? He'd just been lamenting to himself about his loneliness, but now that the opportunity had arisen in answer to his prayers, he was hesitant to take it. Then the leopard winced, he could almost hear Diffudi's voice, savagely chiding him if he didn't.

"Good evening," he called out, not too loudly, but loud enough to be heard, or so he hoped. He didn't want to startle the pale figure.  

[nessiaing]

Abitu turned quickly when she heard the voice call out to her. Her eyes twinkling in the moonlight. She could tell by his stance that this other leopard meant no harm to her and she hopped that he could tell the same of her. Though she was a rather small leopardess so even if she meant harm she really didn't have a chance at hurting anyone.

"Hello" she answered back, she had a sign song voice. Although Abitu had been on her own most of her life she never had fallen on hard times she had been very lucky and she had kept a very good demeanor to her. "I do hope that I am not intruding upon your lands."

She took a seated position wanting to know more about this dark leopard before her. He was very dark but she did enjoy how his blur fur glinted just so in the moon light.  

[mouselet]

Cincindelas blinked in surprise. The pale form had revealed itself to be a leopardess with an interesting voice. But the surprise was that she thought that he'd...own this land? The whole concept made little sense to him.

"How can a living creature own land?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice. "It was here before us, and will be here after us. Oh sure, prides have their territories, but I live alone." Or at least he did now. That hadn't been the case when the cubs were young, but that was some time ago now.

"But no, you aren't intruding." Not to mention if he hadn't welcomed her company, he wouldn't have spoken up.  

[nessiaing]

"I suppose I speak of prides, they can be very territorial, and there has been the odd creature I have come across in the wild that are also very territorial. I just fear of someone being upset that I have come across them." she answered them, though in truth she agreed with him the land was there for all of them to enjoy and no one had a more of a claim to it then anyone else.

She was happy to hear that her company was welcome, it never occurred to her that he wouldn't have spoken to her if he hadn't want to talk to her. "My name is Abitu" she told him sweetly. Excited to have someone to talk to, it had been a long while since she had met another out in the wild and in truth she had began to miss having someone to talk to, there were only so many conversations you could have with yourself.  

[mouselet]

"I am Cincindelas," he answered. He supposed he could understand the leopardess' unwillingness to cause conflict by trespassing, but he, frankly, wouldn't mind it. If someone was so foolish as to claim a space with no one else to help them hold it, Cincindelas was interested in forcing them to defend their claim. It served them right if they couldn't even hold him off.

"I take it you're not from around here?" he pressed the stranger. If she was, she probably wouldn't have asked about territory, or so he reasoned. That didn't, of course, mean he was right.  

[nessiaing]

"It is nice to meet you CIncindelas." she said to him, and she was quite happy to meet him. She was studding him and found him a challenge to get a real read on him. He seemed friendly enough but at the same time he wasn't friendly. It was a strange combination.

"No I am not from there area." She answered "In truth I am not from any area I have traveled my whole life never stopping in one place for any period of time, never found something worth stopping for." Abitu had had a lot of curiosity in her youth she had always wanted to know more and see more, but now that she was getting older she wondered if settling down and making a home of sorts was possibly a good idea.  

[mouselet]

The male nodded in understanding. She wasn't the first to give him such an answer, and he doubted she'd be the last. There were some free spirits who simply refused to be tied down to a single place.

"From what I've been told, that's not a bad way to live your life," he told Abitu. "Me, I like this area just fine and haven't ever felt the need to go elsewhere. But you've probably seen far more than I in your travels." He was interested in what those sights might have been, but didn't want to be rude and ask outright. It was up to the leopardess what she did or didn't choose to share. At this moment, it was enough that he had someone else to share the night with in companionable conversation.  

[nessiaing]

"Yes I suppose the nomad life has brought me a great number of stories. The lands are vast and ever changing. Not to mention the other creatures I have met. The are many that I wish I had not met, but others that I whole dear to my heart." It was true that Abitu had met many but at last no one had managed to capture her heart. She had hoped that it would happen for her at some point in time but now that she was getting older she questioned if it would ever happen. No cubs or anything for this leopardess.

"Sometimes though I am thinking that I am missing out on not having a home." she told Cincindelas. I think it might be nice to come back to the same place and have some familiar faces in the area. She offered him a kind smile. Perhaps he could be her friend.  

[mouselet]

The leopard rolled his shoulders in a barely visible shrug. There were pros and cons to every choice a person made in their life.

"I could extoll the virtues of living in a single place, but I won't. After all, I don't have much to compare it to, since I haven't traveled much." Cincindelas couldn't really protest a way of life he'd never tried. He had too much integrity for that sort of petty arguing.

"Perhaps you'll try it for a time, and then decide which is best for you." Since an indivudal couldn't hope to make the best decision for anyone besides themself.  

[nessiaing]

Abitu offered a nod it was amicable of him not to speak up his way of leaving when he had nothing else to compare to it, though at the same time she wished that he would tell her just a little about it so that she could have a better idea if this was something she should give a try.

"Well perhaps I should give it a chance then. I think I'll be sticking around this area for awhile yet." She gave him a little wink. "Perhaps we will get the chance to get to know each other while I am in the area." She was sincerely hoping that he would take her up on her offer, she wasn't proposing they share a den or anything like that, Abitu preferred sleeping in a tree anyhow and a tree was very hard to share.  

[mouselet]

"Perhaps we shall," he returned simply. It was an interesting concept, getting to know someone new who was unrelated to him and who was of his own species. If she was truly staying here for some time, there was no reason not to, he supposed. Besides, perhaps she would choose to share some of her travel tales. He was often curious about other places, though never enough to go himself.  

[nessiaing]

"Well then I shall not say good bye but instead, see you soon." she said as she gave the dark leopard a kind nod. She did hope that she would see him again soon. With that Abitu turned and began to hunt for the night.