Post by Therdde on Jul 31, 2010 8:25:07 GMT -5
Characters:
Nyssa- Female Cougar
Kein - Male Cougar
- Rolling Foothills -
They walked for some time, the only sound the gentle breaking of the blades of grass underneath their paws. Nyssa did not pry anything from Kein that he wasn't willing to speak on his own, but the silence between them was not uncomfortable. Nyssa herself felt the tension in her shoulders receding, the freedom of being on the move again; Amaranth was never hostile to her but perhaps she had already found there what she had been looking for but, like Kein, couldn't see beyond her own nose. Eventually they stopped, not far out of the mountain's territory though still within it's shadow, and rested. Nyssa dozed, and as the sky began to glow a pale pink she awoke and stretched her limbs, settling moments later to begin a ritual, grooming her fur with meticulous care.
There's some anxiety that comes with being outside of his own territory. No trip outside of Amaranth has ever ended well for the chieftain. It kept him awake for some time after Nyssa dozed off, but eventually his eyelids grew too heavy for him to keep them open. He remains asleep, still, as Nyssa begins to groom herself. Though sleeping, his whiskers twitch often, along, occasionally, with his tail. Other than that, he does not move much, so if his dreams have continued to trouble him, it doesn't show.
Nyssa continues with her task, pausing once or twice to let her eyes fall on the sleeping Chieftain. The summer breeze is soft this morning, bringing with it the smell of flowers of late bloom. The female glances up to the rapidly illuminating sky with a smile on her muzzle, then stands and pads to the sleeping Kein. She watches him a moment, worried to wake him, but her brow furrows just slightly and she dips her head and touches her nose behind his ear, nuding lightly. Nyssa begins to purr softly despite herself, feeling the wind wrap around them both like a blanket before moving off. "Kein," she whispers, "It's alright."
Her smell is familiar, and the feel of someone trying to gently wake him is also familiar, although he hasn't felt it in ages. Kein smiles in his half-sleep, only to be startled from his dozing fantasy by a voice he wasn't expecting. His eyes open, and he turns his head to look at Nyssa while he still lies on the ground. It takes him a moment to remember the events of the previous night, and only then does his slight tenseness leave him. With an involuntary yawn, Kein pushes himself to his feet, stretching as he does.
Nyssa pulls her head away and sits back on her haunches, still smiling lightly as the Chieftain rouses. For a time she says nothing, exmaining one fore paw before continuing to groom her fur to perfection. Her tail tip dances in the short grass and then she laughs quietly and turns to Kein, "So, you do remember how to smile," Nyssa points out, pausing to reflect Kein's yawn with one of her own.
"Hmmm. Don't let that rumor spread." As Kein finishes stretching, he sits back down. For just a moment, he gives their surroundings a look. Then, he turns his attention to Nyssa, and instead watches her as she grooms herself. "Did you sleep well?" A little of his comfort from last night is gone, as he thinks of his return trip to Amaranth. He will, after all, have to go back. There's no way he could just completely abandon his tribe.
Would he, really? Placing her paw back on the ground, Nyssa's eyes fall on the Chieftain, their brightness shining with newness, with excitement. "Yes, thank you," she responds very simply with a nod of her head. "But you, Chieftain, how did your dreams find you?" For surely Kein dreams of something. There is something else on the tip of her tongue but it remains unsaid even as he eyes flit back toward Amaranth's borders before resting fully again on Kein.
Kein keeps his gaze on Nyssa, even as she looks away. He is silent for a moment. "It's enough for me that they left me in peace." Surely, Kein feels still as though he could spend the rest of the day sleeping, but he can recognize how restful what sleep he got was, compared to usual.
"They will find you well when you want them to," Nyssa replies, her tone of voice almost matter-of-fact, as though he could call pleasant dreams into existence merely by asking for them. She stops then, for the briefest of moments seeming distracted or distressed, looking back to the mountain a second time. The words from before still cling to her tongue, then with a deep breath she asks, "Kein, I have something very important to ask you." She seems motionless, rooted, even her dancing tail as fallen still; the matter of importance is heavy in her chest though... as before, she doesn't really understand the purpose for it.
Things that are important, especially very important, are very seldom pleasant. Any trace of Kein's smile that might have remained is gone now, but the chieftain does not hesitate to nod. "Ask." Kein is silent thereafter. If whatever Nyssa has to ask is not a pleasant topic, as Kein assumes, he would sooner get it answered and done with, and so he doesn't do anything to draw it out.
For a moment, Nyssa's ears bend back against her skull but she shakes her head a moment later and the gesture is gone. She hadn't intended to ruin Kein's morning quite so early but... she didn't think any sort of important news would be anticipated as so very unpleasant. She takes a breath, pauses, and then, "Please..." Another pause and she stands, stepping to meet Kein face to face and looks straight into his eyes, "If... if you are to leave... come with me." Nyssa breaths in again, her chest heavy for some reason, and finding herself unable to release that held breath. Why, why would she ask him this, and why would she feel so alternately hopeful and ashamed?
The request is not the sort of thing Kein might have expected. Neither is it particularly easy to answer. Oh, his worry has left him again, just that easily, but it is still several moments of silence before he manages to speak. "I do not intend to ignore my obligation to this tribe, Nyssa. I can't tell you how long it will take me, but if you was still here, /when/ I leave... then I think I will appreciate the company." Although he often desires solitude, he has spent his entire life in close quarters with many others. He's not sure what he'll do without that community.
There is a hint of surprise behind her eyes; Nyssa hadn't expected the answer so easily and yet, the catch. She nods, a few times, considering that response before she manages, "Kein. I can't begin to imagine the life of a Chieftain, or the mother of a tribe. It was not for me; my Guide told me as much. Still... my paws desire to move again and this time I do not want to travel alone." Nyssa stops again, looking down at her previously mentioned paws, ears splayed to the sides. "It's very selfish of me, particularly after your kindness this winter." Allowing her to stay though she contributed nothing to the tribe. "For some reason I want you to find what you're looking for, and I want to guide you there." Then almost instantly she shakes her head and takes a step away. "I'm sorry. My clan is so very different from your tribe." He may not understand. "I'm sorry."
She speaks quite a bit, and a few of the things Nyssa says are well above Kein's head. Still, he manages to answer quickly enough. "You've no reason to apologize. We asked little of you, and you did it." Respect the land. Don't put a strain on the others of the tribe. It's all he asks of anyone, especially any female. "If you want to stay long enough for me to settle my affairs, you're still welcome. But if you find you can't... well, maybe your guide will lead you back to me, sometime, if it is so important to you." And to him?
The female replies, nodding before she turns back to Kein. She still cannot say why she came to Amaranth any more than she is asking that its tribal Chieftain go with her beyond the mountain lands. "And you, Kein?" she asks of him, her voice nearly whispering. Is it important to him? He has quite a task to begin.
"Somehow, I don't think your guide should much care about what is important to me... and as you have often pointed out, I have no guide of my own to lead me to you, once I am finished in Amaranth." Kein's smile is back, though there is more in his expression than simple joy. Why can things not just be so simple that he could say that, yes. He enjoys Nyssa's company. Enjoys his ability to speak to her, and how she does not judge him just for being who and what he is. He's sure those are the types of words she wants to hear, but even so, they remain unsaid.
"Oh, Kein," she responds, laughing then with a shake of her head. "You only think that," of his Guide, of course. Nyssa still seems to be under the impression that the Chieftain's Guide has always been with him, but that he has never been shown how to listen. "I will leave Amaranth to you," Nyssa smiles. She settles herself back to the ground and resumes her grooming a few moments, her purr returning, content.
Of course. Because, why should he have even one cougaress in Amaranth whose view of him is not colored by everything he has tried, and often failed, to do, or else by conflicts between ancestors now long dead, or else by his necessary actions in the course of keeping Amaranth as it now stands safe? Fighting to keep his smile, he says, "Of course. I hope we do meet again, Nyssa. Failing that... I hope you do well." That's all the more he says before turning towards the Amaranth border.
Kein's constant back and forth between a joyous smile and that faded and dull look of responsibility sometimes floors the young female. She looks up from her task, feeling that unease returning, her eyes falling on the mountain and then to the male. Nyssa nods, silent, and then rises to stand in front of Kein. Without speaking, she reaches forward to touch the underside of his chin with her nose, a silent request that, should he allow her the closeness, that he find a way to pick himself out of his strange self-loathing mire.
Kein does not back away from Nyssa. The easy contact is something that he rather misses, and he takes a moment to breath deeply of her fur. He continues to force his smile, though it takes perhaps not so much effort as earlier, and says, "Perhaps if you feet do not drive you as hard as they could... or if the wind does not push you relentlessly... you might stay nearby." Certainly, the nearer she stays, the easier it will be to find her, and there is just something about her that calls to him.
Nyssa's shoulders relax some and despite herself brushes once more against Kein's muzzle before shyly withdrawing. The idea that this young female could be shy so suddenly is jarring, even to her, but when she looks back up from the ground to Kein's face, she is smiling and the action is soft and hardly forced. "I will," she replies easily, the words coming from her mouth without even the consideration from her mind. There is no protest from her Guide, either, only a gentle eddy and with it the smell of the mountain's pines. "The pines, perhaps?" she takes the hint.
Kein gives a little nod of his head. Some of the weight on his heart is lifted, now, and when he takes his first few steps closer to the border, his steps are light. His 'good' moods never last very long, and this one is likely to be no different, but for now he feels like he actually has some energy and he heads into Amaranth to deal with what needs to be done.
Nyssa- Female Cougar
Kein - Male Cougar
- Rolling Foothills -
They walked for some time, the only sound the gentle breaking of the blades of grass underneath their paws. Nyssa did not pry anything from Kein that he wasn't willing to speak on his own, but the silence between them was not uncomfortable. Nyssa herself felt the tension in her shoulders receding, the freedom of being on the move again; Amaranth was never hostile to her but perhaps she had already found there what she had been looking for but, like Kein, couldn't see beyond her own nose. Eventually they stopped, not far out of the mountain's territory though still within it's shadow, and rested. Nyssa dozed, and as the sky began to glow a pale pink she awoke and stretched her limbs, settling moments later to begin a ritual, grooming her fur with meticulous care.
There's some anxiety that comes with being outside of his own territory. No trip outside of Amaranth has ever ended well for the chieftain. It kept him awake for some time after Nyssa dozed off, but eventually his eyelids grew too heavy for him to keep them open. He remains asleep, still, as Nyssa begins to groom herself. Though sleeping, his whiskers twitch often, along, occasionally, with his tail. Other than that, he does not move much, so if his dreams have continued to trouble him, it doesn't show.
Nyssa continues with her task, pausing once or twice to let her eyes fall on the sleeping Chieftain. The summer breeze is soft this morning, bringing with it the smell of flowers of late bloom. The female glances up to the rapidly illuminating sky with a smile on her muzzle, then stands and pads to the sleeping Kein. She watches him a moment, worried to wake him, but her brow furrows just slightly and she dips her head and touches her nose behind his ear, nuding lightly. Nyssa begins to purr softly despite herself, feeling the wind wrap around them both like a blanket before moving off. "Kein," she whispers, "It's alright."
Her smell is familiar, and the feel of someone trying to gently wake him is also familiar, although he hasn't felt it in ages. Kein smiles in his half-sleep, only to be startled from his dozing fantasy by a voice he wasn't expecting. His eyes open, and he turns his head to look at Nyssa while he still lies on the ground. It takes him a moment to remember the events of the previous night, and only then does his slight tenseness leave him. With an involuntary yawn, Kein pushes himself to his feet, stretching as he does.
Nyssa pulls her head away and sits back on her haunches, still smiling lightly as the Chieftain rouses. For a time she says nothing, exmaining one fore paw before continuing to groom her fur to perfection. Her tail tip dances in the short grass and then she laughs quietly and turns to Kein, "So, you do remember how to smile," Nyssa points out, pausing to reflect Kein's yawn with one of her own.
"Hmmm. Don't let that rumor spread." As Kein finishes stretching, he sits back down. For just a moment, he gives their surroundings a look. Then, he turns his attention to Nyssa, and instead watches her as she grooms herself. "Did you sleep well?" A little of his comfort from last night is gone, as he thinks of his return trip to Amaranth. He will, after all, have to go back. There's no way he could just completely abandon his tribe.
Would he, really? Placing her paw back on the ground, Nyssa's eyes fall on the Chieftain, their brightness shining with newness, with excitement. "Yes, thank you," she responds very simply with a nod of her head. "But you, Chieftain, how did your dreams find you?" For surely Kein dreams of something. There is something else on the tip of her tongue but it remains unsaid even as he eyes flit back toward Amaranth's borders before resting fully again on Kein.
Kein keeps his gaze on Nyssa, even as she looks away. He is silent for a moment. "It's enough for me that they left me in peace." Surely, Kein feels still as though he could spend the rest of the day sleeping, but he can recognize how restful what sleep he got was, compared to usual.
"They will find you well when you want them to," Nyssa replies, her tone of voice almost matter-of-fact, as though he could call pleasant dreams into existence merely by asking for them. She stops then, for the briefest of moments seeming distracted or distressed, looking back to the mountain a second time. The words from before still cling to her tongue, then with a deep breath she asks, "Kein, I have something very important to ask you." She seems motionless, rooted, even her dancing tail as fallen still; the matter of importance is heavy in her chest though... as before, she doesn't really understand the purpose for it.
Things that are important, especially very important, are very seldom pleasant. Any trace of Kein's smile that might have remained is gone now, but the chieftain does not hesitate to nod. "Ask." Kein is silent thereafter. If whatever Nyssa has to ask is not a pleasant topic, as Kein assumes, he would sooner get it answered and done with, and so he doesn't do anything to draw it out.
For a moment, Nyssa's ears bend back against her skull but she shakes her head a moment later and the gesture is gone. She hadn't intended to ruin Kein's morning quite so early but... she didn't think any sort of important news would be anticipated as so very unpleasant. She takes a breath, pauses, and then, "Please..." Another pause and she stands, stepping to meet Kein face to face and looks straight into his eyes, "If... if you are to leave... come with me." Nyssa breaths in again, her chest heavy for some reason, and finding herself unable to release that held breath. Why, why would she ask him this, and why would she feel so alternately hopeful and ashamed?
The request is not the sort of thing Kein might have expected. Neither is it particularly easy to answer. Oh, his worry has left him again, just that easily, but it is still several moments of silence before he manages to speak. "I do not intend to ignore my obligation to this tribe, Nyssa. I can't tell you how long it will take me, but if you was still here, /when/ I leave... then I think I will appreciate the company." Although he often desires solitude, he has spent his entire life in close quarters with many others. He's not sure what he'll do without that community.
There is a hint of surprise behind her eyes; Nyssa hadn't expected the answer so easily and yet, the catch. She nods, a few times, considering that response before she manages, "Kein. I can't begin to imagine the life of a Chieftain, or the mother of a tribe. It was not for me; my Guide told me as much. Still... my paws desire to move again and this time I do not want to travel alone." Nyssa stops again, looking down at her previously mentioned paws, ears splayed to the sides. "It's very selfish of me, particularly after your kindness this winter." Allowing her to stay though she contributed nothing to the tribe. "For some reason I want you to find what you're looking for, and I want to guide you there." Then almost instantly she shakes her head and takes a step away. "I'm sorry. My clan is so very different from your tribe." He may not understand. "I'm sorry."
She speaks quite a bit, and a few of the things Nyssa says are well above Kein's head. Still, he manages to answer quickly enough. "You've no reason to apologize. We asked little of you, and you did it." Respect the land. Don't put a strain on the others of the tribe. It's all he asks of anyone, especially any female. "If you want to stay long enough for me to settle my affairs, you're still welcome. But if you find you can't... well, maybe your guide will lead you back to me, sometime, if it is so important to you." And to him?
The female replies, nodding before she turns back to Kein. She still cannot say why she came to Amaranth any more than she is asking that its tribal Chieftain go with her beyond the mountain lands. "And you, Kein?" she asks of him, her voice nearly whispering. Is it important to him? He has quite a task to begin.
"Somehow, I don't think your guide should much care about what is important to me... and as you have often pointed out, I have no guide of my own to lead me to you, once I am finished in Amaranth." Kein's smile is back, though there is more in his expression than simple joy. Why can things not just be so simple that he could say that, yes. He enjoys Nyssa's company. Enjoys his ability to speak to her, and how she does not judge him just for being who and what he is. He's sure those are the types of words she wants to hear, but even so, they remain unsaid.
"Oh, Kein," she responds, laughing then with a shake of her head. "You only think that," of his Guide, of course. Nyssa still seems to be under the impression that the Chieftain's Guide has always been with him, but that he has never been shown how to listen. "I will leave Amaranth to you," Nyssa smiles. She settles herself back to the ground and resumes her grooming a few moments, her purr returning, content.
Of course. Because, why should he have even one cougaress in Amaranth whose view of him is not colored by everything he has tried, and often failed, to do, or else by conflicts between ancestors now long dead, or else by his necessary actions in the course of keeping Amaranth as it now stands safe? Fighting to keep his smile, he says, "Of course. I hope we do meet again, Nyssa. Failing that... I hope you do well." That's all the more he says before turning towards the Amaranth border.
Kein's constant back and forth between a joyous smile and that faded and dull look of responsibility sometimes floors the young female. She looks up from her task, feeling that unease returning, her eyes falling on the mountain and then to the male. Nyssa nods, silent, and then rises to stand in front of Kein. Without speaking, she reaches forward to touch the underside of his chin with her nose, a silent request that, should he allow her the closeness, that he find a way to pick himself out of his strange self-loathing mire.
Kein does not back away from Nyssa. The easy contact is something that he rather misses, and he takes a moment to breath deeply of her fur. He continues to force his smile, though it takes perhaps not so much effort as earlier, and says, "Perhaps if you feet do not drive you as hard as they could... or if the wind does not push you relentlessly... you might stay nearby." Certainly, the nearer she stays, the easier it will be to find her, and there is just something about her that calls to him.
Nyssa's shoulders relax some and despite herself brushes once more against Kein's muzzle before shyly withdrawing. The idea that this young female could be shy so suddenly is jarring, even to her, but when she looks back up from the ground to Kein's face, she is smiling and the action is soft and hardly forced. "I will," she replies easily, the words coming from her mouth without even the consideration from her mind. There is no protest from her Guide, either, only a gentle eddy and with it the smell of the mountain's pines. "The pines, perhaps?" she takes the hint.
Kein gives a little nod of his head. Some of the weight on his heart is lifted, now, and when he takes his first few steps closer to the border, his steps are light. His 'good' moods never last very long, and this one is likely to be no different, but for now he feels like he actually has some energy and he heads into Amaranth to deal with what needs to be done.