Sabra
Another hot evening. Sekayi lunged forward towards a bird with a roar and watched as it quickly flew away. While it wasn't as hot as the desert sands had been the lion wished that there would be a good breeze to cool him from his training. Ever since traveling with Iesha and Xennek he found that his stress was rising and training was the one thing that helped him to feel normal. Maybe I'm just going crazy. Still at the thought of Iesha and the teasing that she always put him through the lion felt his cheeks warm.
He just needed to train some more. Running his body ragged gave him little room to think about things after all. Another run or two should really keep his mind focused. What sort of warrior was he to become so distracted after all? Still as he darted around the few rocks that stood out against the plains the lion was happy to see a stream running through the land. While the others were back at their temporary camp he could relax here.
Moose
Iesha had adjusted well to the heat of the desert, even if she hadn't particularly liked it. She much preferred racing through the mountain side with her leopard friends in an attempt to ditch her siblings. They hadn't liked fighting as much as she had, though, so to the desert she went.
Traveling with the two males was beginning to wear on her. She had found it jovial at first, since her first adventure she had been entirely alone, but now she was starting to think a little space would be good. Iesha was far too similar to her father to hang around him for long, and Sekayi...well, she could only tease him so much.
A girl had needs, and Iesha had left earlier that day to see them fulfilled. Now she was returning with a kick in her step almost as jaunty as the smile on her face. Of course, from her elevated position Iesha could see the area around her plainly enough to spot the red runner. Even as she descended he continued to go through the paces before he veered off towards the stream.
Naturally, she followed.
Iesha whistled a sweet little tune under her breath as she trotted, coming up behind Sekayi with a sweet little smile. "My my, how I adore watching you run~"
Sabra
Dammit all. How cursed was he? Feeling his cheeks flush Sekayi looked over his shoulder to spot the red lioness, "Iesha." He choked out before shaking his head, "Shouldn't you be back there with Xennek or wandering around or something?" Just anywhere but here. As much as his heart acted weirdly to seeing her the lion just wanted a moment to breathe and sort himself out. It seemed that it just wasn't meant to be.
Still he found his paws moving him forward through the tall grasses, "If you aren't here to train then I would suggest going to see if we're moving ahead soon." He spoke as calmly as possible considering the racing of his heart. Of course that was from his run, right? No way some lioness would get that far under his skin, "As it is I'm taking a moment to rinse off before catching back up." His paws touched the cool waters and without hesitation he slipped in.
Maybe if he began to swim a bit she would get bored and wander off?
He could only hope.
Moose
Iesha had the grace to frown, "I've been wandering all day, and I just got back. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit." He seemed so genuinely troubled that it was hard to torment him. It was a little odd for her to deal with things like this; normally Iesha wasn't the type to stop and think on anything.
She kept walking after him, though. "I'll go back as soon as I've had a moment to cool off. I know how much you don't care for me, so I'll make it quick." Iesha played it off as jaunty, hoping to get some sort of reaction from him. That was wrong though, wasn't it? Why should she care if he wanted her around or not? It shouldn't bother her as much as it apparently did.
"Besides, I need to wash off this blood before it dries." Walking a little further down stream than him, Iesha waded a bit into the water. She reached up to strip off her head band, which had served as a make shift bandage. Thanks to it and her flop of a mane the head wound she'd received earlier that day had been covered. When she dipped her head into the water to wash it off the stream around her darkened. "Oh Gods, that feels awesome."
Sabra
Sekayi sighed, "Alright then. What did you want to talk about?" If he focused strictly on business and their journey then perhaps he could survive. The less teasing he had to endure the stronger his resolve. He knew her type, it was just like her father's and respected that neither of those two would ever be tamed. So he was trying his hardest to save himself from that trouble by steeling himself now. Once they got to their pride the trio would split...well at least he believed it was possible that they would. Traveling together was only for this time right? Sekayi closed his eyes for a split second at the thought. I really don't know how to feel about any of this.
He raised an eyebrow at her comment and had to swallow his protests, "If that's what you believe." The lion shrugged casually before ducking his head below the water. It truly was nice and refreshing. Also his cheeks were in dire need of some water to quiench the fire that they were currently feeling. As he reemerged he looked towards Iesha, "Then wash off." He frowned at the sight of her injury, "Is it going to clean well or should we get you herbs for that?"
Whether he was trying to be distant or not seeing that injury made his heart clench. What a crazy female, she was just as bad as her father. How the two of them have survived for this long astounds me. He moved away from the darker waters and sighed, "If you're going to contaminate the stream you might as well get in and contaminate it fully with your whole body." If she was that bloody there then gods only knew how the rest of her body was faring.
Moose
She scrubbed at the wound with a rough paw, wincing as she did so. Iesha was nothing if not determined though. Once she had the area cleaned she dipped her head band into the stream to scrub it against one of the submerged stones. "It's fine; it stopped bleeding hours ago, and I don't feel dizzy anymore." The lioness lifted the length of cloth from the stream and wrapped it about her head, careful of putting too much pressure on the injury. There was no use opening it back up, after all.
Iesha stuck out her tongue. "You say that like I'm a nasty little bug! How cold." Frankly, she did have an odor and her fur had more dirt on it than actual color. Grumbling something about stupid males she trudged further in to scrub up. "So...you never really explained why you left. Xennek and I...well, made sense for us. But you? Stuffy guy like you should have done well in the Firekin." Iesha held out a paw and scrubbed at her fur. "Made Captain, settled down, had a dozen cubs...that sort of thing."
Sabra
Sekayi gritted his teeth as he watched her cleaning her wound. It took all of his resolve not to climb back up onto the bank and to pull her close to inspect it. Hours ago? She was just letting it bleed out? The lion had to tilt back his head and offer a prayer to the heavens that he didn't rip into her there and then. Why couldn't she be safer?! All these dangerous games...Sekayi sighed, "As long as you made it back here then I guess that means you aren't going to die on us." He would make certain of that, "Just be careful to let it heal up." He would find some herbs for her later as well.
The lion had to hide his grin at her reaction, "Don't insult bugs so easily. At least they don't make such big messes." He nodded towards the stained waters swirling downstream. He was glad to see her climb into the water though. He knew that he had been a mess as well so they both needed the bath, "Why I left?" Sekayi shrugged, "Does it really matter?" He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her comment of 'stuffy'.
"But as it is I was growing bored with the battles there. I want to learn all the fighting styles in the world and the desert is so isolated that it's hard to do so." He swam up the stream to duck his head under one more time, "Plus who was to keep you and Xennek from rampaging the lands except for me?" Not to mention he hadn't had any eyes for any female to make a family with. He actually had never even gave a female any second look over except for one. Not that he would ever openly admit that to her anyways.
Moose
"Yeah, you're telling me. I got into a fight with a HUGE lioness over some food. She didn't seem like she would be that easy to take, but man, for a slow b***h she packs a whallop." Iesha rubbed her sore skull as she remembered the events. Of course, when she had left she had expected to get a little sweeter action, and while that had happened, the rough play hadn't been what she was looking for at all.
Okay, so maybe it was, but she hadn't expected to get hurt.
As he spoke she washed up. When she tried to be Iesha could be very charming, and as it turned out when she was clean she was quite the talkative companion. Perhaps it had something to do with the cooling waters allowing her fire to burn low, or the blood loss that helped her to open up. "That's it?" She laughed. "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for. I just needed to get out. No one really wanted me watching their cubs, anyway, and hell I wouldn't want cubs of my own in that pride. My family has too much purple. Imagine if I had actually settled down long enough to spawn and then BOOM." She splashed the water. "Hurias everywhere."
Sabra
Sekayi sighed, "You should have just let her have it then." But that was like speaking to a stone wall. When it came to battles all three of them refused to run easily. Sekayi once had been like that until a certain lion had nearly killed him and only Xennek had saved his life. Another reason he was so resolute to keep following the older lion. I still owe him my life from that day. He had been so ashamed of the weakling that he had been that for many moons he had focused solely on training. He had to become stronger so Xennek wasn't always saving his a**.
At her laughter the lion paused, "What does it take more?" He shrugged, "Maybe I get attached to others as well. Is that what you wished to hear?" Honestly out of all the firekin his bonds to Xennek and Iesha had been the strongest. Why would he let them leave him behind in the desert when it seemed that their adventure would be far more exciting? Plus it was better to be here and tormented than to torment himself by missing....the action. Yes it was about the action, not about the tight feeling he had in his chest without her there.
"So that's the reason you never settled down to have a mate?" Sekayi tested the waters, "Not wanting hurias? That was it?" Why did it relax him to hear it? Not like he should care that Iesha would have a mate or not. She was like Xennek after all impossible to tame. The thought made his heart relax a bit despite the sorrow he felt at the idea. Hard to love the wind...Sekayi shook his head before splashing himself in the face, "I mean I guess I would have been in the same boat. Not that I had any interest in any females there..." He found himself rambling before clearing his throat, "Anyway I think I'm cleaned up enough."
He should get going soon before he screwed himself up again. Just remember distance, distance. That was key to defeating his inner demons. All this struggle because of one lioness. He really was losing it then.
Moose
There was a little goading hint in his tone that gave her earlier suspicions validation. Iesha felt a little pleased to see that it bothered him enough to ask, and she didn't see anything wrong in answering truthfully. "That was part of it." She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I just never found anyone I could tolerate for more than a few nights. They would have to be brave enough to run with me, and so far no one's stepped up. Just because I refuse to be tamed doesn't mean I can't be loved."
She looked at him from the corner of her eye. Just what would he say to that, she wondered? It didn't seem as if she would find out though, she thought with some displeasure. Sekayi was keen on fleeing the scene. "Oh....Oh!" Playfully she gasped and hid her mouth behind a paw. "Sekayi...you poor dear...of course they would have picked on you if you had said..." Iesha nodded her head in a knowing way. She waited a few good moments before washing up and standing.
"I'll keep your secret from Xennek, but if you're looking for love from him you'd have better luck romancing a rock." The female nodded in a sympathetic way before traipsing back to camp.
Sabra
Sekayi eyed her quietly, "I feel bad then. It must be hard to find love if no one can keep your interest long enough for it." Her words rang with him though. Someone brave enough to run with her? He smirked faintly, "Someone to run and to be willing to take a good pounding you mean." The lion didn't belittle her fighting spirit or her fiery personality. He wanted to say what an unlucky b*****d for anyone who did catch her interest for so long, but at the same time his stomach clenched, "Let me know if you ever find someone that you want to keep up with you. I'm sure they would be lucky." For once a true statement if not a jealous one. He couldn't volunteer himself he couldn't dare imagine her wanting him to be that one. Wouldn't she rather have someone as wild and crazy? What was it she normally called him? Stuffy, stiff?
As he lead the way towards the camp Sekayi rolled his eyes at her comment. Hahaha, so funny. Though as he took a few more steps forward he couldn't help chiming in under his breath, "The way you are sometimes it does feel like I'm trying to romance Xennek." Gods only knew how similar the father and daughter could be.
And one truth was that both of them would drive him crazy by the time they reached the Stormborn. That was something he could definitely bet on. Still the faintest flicker of a smile crossed his features as he wandered back to camp.
