Post by Therdde on Sept 3, 2010 11:01:46 GMT -5
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Nyssa- Female Cougar
Kein - Male Cougar
- Wooded Terrain -
When she'd woken she'd thought it was just like any time she'd woken from her dreams, but in her sleepy haze she realized that something was quite different after she'd marked a few trees with both her claws and a decidedly stronger scent. Afraid of what might come of that, or what, if any, trouble it could cause for her kind host and Chieftain, Nyssa fled to the north, back toward the lake she had traveled by on her first visit to this mountain. She'd waited a week, and then a few more days after that, until she felt her cycle fall back into its normal rhythm. Nyssa is back at Amaranth's northern border again, hovering over the faint markings that Kein had left as a warning to other males, shifting from paw to paw in her indecision. To calm her rising nerves and not knowing anything else to do, she sits back on her haunches and attempts to sooth her nerves by smoothing out her pelt.
Kein is in the area, as he has been once or twice a day ever since Nyssa left. With, that is, the exception of that first day when he came here to find her gone but her scent still in the area. He knows what caused her to leave, and he has been increasingly on edge with each day that she hasn't returned. Especially since, by now, he's not sure whether he can even expect her to return. After all, he knows well enough about how long a female's season should last, and her absence has dragged on for what seems like an eternity past when her heat should have ended. As much as he has wanted to see her, though, when he actually catches something more than the stale scent she left behind, he stops walking abruptly. Unsurprisingly, she's out of her heat, and he can only assume she is uninjured. As such, he's no longer so certain he wants to see her at all.
Nyssa is there for a length of time, smoothing out the already perfect fur on her front paw before with a sigh she places it back down to the ground. It is so quiet here now and in a moment of panic Nyssa looks back to the north, squinting at the distant light reflecting off the lake, but then that panic is replaced by a sudden and uncomfortable itch at the back of her neck and she rises, forcing herself to cross the border and head deeper into Amaranth's territory. The female is obviously agitated and a little nervous but she catches on a small breeze a fresher scent than Kein's older markings and gasps very softly, her eyes darting to one side to catch the Chieftain stalk still amidst the trees. "Kein," she manages to call out, trying to approach him but finding that she cannot.
Kein hears Nyssa nearby, and a second later, he spots her. His first reaction, well outside of his will, is to frown, and it takes him a moment to manage to say anything in response. "Nyssa. I'm glad to see you well." He'd be more certain he's glad, of course, if he knew where she'd been the past week and a half. Where... and with whom. Certainly, nothing in his expression speaks to any kind of pleasure at seeing her again, but he manages to keep at least reasonably calm. He does not yell or growl, despite being so clearly upset. In fact, besides his short-lived frown, the biggest hint as to his irritation is the way his tail lashes behind him.
"Kein, I--" Nyssa finds that her voice flees her, her throat tightening as those terse words hit her unexpectedly. The Chieftain has never spoken to her like that and she doesn't know what to make of it. "I'm-- I'm sorry," she manages to squeeze out, her eyes falling from Kein's face down to her paws and herself sitting dejectedly as a cub berated for running off on an unplanned adventure. She seems to grow smaller, shrinking away from that anger that she can feel in the air around him, let alone see in his body, "I thought it best to-- to be alone-- for a little while." Yes, she was alone. Why, she wonders, does this hurt so much, having to explain herself to him?
Kein really shouldn't be doing this. Sure, Nyssa has been rather nice to him recently, and he has allowed himself to entertain fantasies about where their life might lead them, particularly once they are out of Amaranth, but she is in no way obligated to be with him at any given time, much less while she is in heat. Truthfully, he has given no thought himself, yet, as to whether he would particularly want to have cubs with her. Still, the perceived rejection has hurt him, and so before he has a chance to stop himself, he says, "You could have told me you didn't want me. I wouldn't have forced myself on you." And, yes. To some degree, he has taken it as an insult. By and large, though, he is just hurt, even though he knows how foolish this all was on his part.
Nyssa finds those hurtful word hitting her with more force that Kein might have expected, and her ears flatten and her head lowers ever further. "That's not--" true, she tries so desperately to say but her voice catches and her throat tightens so much that only a few tears squeeze themselves from her eyes. Why, oh /why/ doesn't he understand, and why must it hurt so much. She shakes her head, speaking haltingly through her quivering voice, "That's-- that's not why, Kein." The least she wanted to do was cause any disruption to Kein's tribe, making the Chieftain deal with ever more grief than he already seems to carry with him, and now she's done it anyway. "I-- I didn't want to-- to cause a stir-- with you-- so I--" Had she ever thought about having cubs with Kein before last week? Is that why she fled? Nyssa doesn't think that it was fear of what that encompasses that lead to her leaving, "I'm sorry," she finishes meekly.
As soon as Kein sees how upset Nyssa is, his own anger and hurt fades, at least a little, and he wants little more than to comfort her, to ease the pain that he just caused her. He takes a small step towards her before stopping again. His expression has softened, but his tone is still much the same, still driven by the bit of hurt he continues to feel. "Nyssa, I /want/ you to create a stir with me." Far, far from his mind is the remainder of the tribe. There's no doubt he is being entirely selfish in this, but he has thought, in the past, of how certain things within the tribe may be what eventually comes between him and Nyssa. Something is bound to sooner or later, after all. Still, he has sworn to himself that if it is the tribe that tries to keep them from being together, there will be bloodshed long before he gives up.
As awkward as the words, and as likely that they will laugh and smile about it after, what Kein says is apparently what Nyssa needed to hear. She looks up with astonishment glistening behind her tears, blinking away the last of them before wordlessly she rises and approaches him, pressing the crown of her head against his chest and neck before she sits, unwilling to break the contact she has just made. Her purr, she's managed to find it first before her voice, and it slips from her, though a bit muffled behind the tightness in her chest that is only slowly receding, "Kein-- I'm sorry," to have hurt you; I didn't mean it. Nyssa nuzzles him, squeezing her eyes shut to cement that feeling in her senses.
Much of Kein's tenseness leaves him when Nyssa approaches and presses up against him. Though the older male does not purr, he does nuzzle against the back of Nyssa's head and neck for a while. It does not last more than a minute, as he has more to say, but for the short time he is perfectly willing to just be by her for a moment. Once that moment ends, he nips very gently at her neck before backing up so he can look at her while he speaks. "If you don't want cubs, you /can/ tell me, Nyssa. But don't run from me. I can't take that again." Not while he is so certain that their time together is so limited, at least.
Nyssa enjoys that contact for as long as it lasts, her ears flicking in surprise at the teeth on her skin, gentle as it was. She lifts her head and looks at Kein's face, into his eyes for the first time during all this, her brow knitted in concern. Cubs? Her ears bend and her maw parts just slightly, sucking in a short breath; she'd never thought about it before today, what that would mean for her or for him, but now that he's said it. "Kein, I--" That's why she left, now she knows, having been afraid not that Kein would force himself on her but that the urge to have cubs would seperate the Chieftain further from his tribe. "I would like that-- very much, Kein." Then there is a moment of hesitation and then Nyssa manages to laugh softly, "Though I have never mothered cubs..."
Whatever tension remained in Kein is gone now. Even if things were fine between himself and Nayeli, even if they were as close today as when they first took over the tribe, there would be no more cubs between them. Perhaps she wants them, and that is part of the reason for the troubles between them, or perhaps she is just as reluctant to have any more cubs with him as he is to have cubs with her. There is none of that reluctance with Nyssa, though, and Kein finds himself smiling. With a quiet purr in his voice, he says, "You'll make beautiful cubs, Nyssa. Even though you'll have to make up for the fact that they won't be getting any good looks from their father." It is a light-hearted joke, nothing more, and after delivering it Kein stretches his had forward to nuzzle at her again.
Returning the nuzzle with a prolonged one of her own, Nyssa responds to his light jest with a warm smile, her laughter continuing and heard just over her constant purr. "I'm sure there is a handsome young son in your future, Kein," she responds, knowing the uncertainty of her statement makes it all the more absured to say it; she has no more knowledge in that than Kein does in their physical characteristics. It's silly and Nyssa simply plays along with her laughter.
Kein chuckles in response to Nyssa before he says, "Oh no. I wouldn't wish one of my sons on you. My sons are notorious troublemakers and rapscallions." And he misses them all a great deal. He may not wish one on her, but he would have no complaints about having a son to raise again. One that will not have to be burdened with all of Amaranth's issues. Kein nips at Nyssa once more, the gesture light and playful, before he pulls his head back and goes on to say, "Rest assured, though, that you will not have to raise them alone. I will be there to help you every chance I get." And if they leave Amaranth as soon as the cubs are capable of walking, then he should get plenty of chances.
Nyssa's purr rises in response to his words, very suddenly warmed by the idea that she would mother cubs, and that Kein would father them. "Then I will stay." Next time she will not run away, because Kein asked her not to and she couldn't bear to do so again. She will remain in Amaranth, likely keeping to herself unless Kein wished her to tred paws deeper into his lands, waiting for him and the day that they can take each other, and their cubs, from Amaranth wherever that may lead them. It does not occur to Nyssa to discuss with him the beliefs of her clan or his, content in the simple fact that she will do this because they want to. She blinks to herself, watching Kein's face for a time, feeling the warmth of what is likely love though it remains unnamed in her mind, and lets it wash over her. Smiling, she nuzzles underneath his chin, enjoying that scent.
With whatever troubles that were between them settled, Kein is more than content to just be here with Nyssa. He rests his head gently upon her, complementing her purr with his own and enjoying the feel and smell of her. No more does he attempt to speak, as no part of the silence feels uncomfortable to him, now.
Nyssa- Female Cougar
Kein - Male Cougar
- Wooded Terrain -
When she'd woken she'd thought it was just like any time she'd woken from her dreams, but in her sleepy haze she realized that something was quite different after she'd marked a few trees with both her claws and a decidedly stronger scent. Afraid of what might come of that, or what, if any, trouble it could cause for her kind host and Chieftain, Nyssa fled to the north, back toward the lake she had traveled by on her first visit to this mountain. She'd waited a week, and then a few more days after that, until she felt her cycle fall back into its normal rhythm. Nyssa is back at Amaranth's northern border again, hovering over the faint markings that Kein had left as a warning to other males, shifting from paw to paw in her indecision. To calm her rising nerves and not knowing anything else to do, she sits back on her haunches and attempts to sooth her nerves by smoothing out her pelt.
Kein is in the area, as he has been once or twice a day ever since Nyssa left. With, that is, the exception of that first day when he came here to find her gone but her scent still in the area. He knows what caused her to leave, and he has been increasingly on edge with each day that she hasn't returned. Especially since, by now, he's not sure whether he can even expect her to return. After all, he knows well enough about how long a female's season should last, and her absence has dragged on for what seems like an eternity past when her heat should have ended. As much as he has wanted to see her, though, when he actually catches something more than the stale scent she left behind, he stops walking abruptly. Unsurprisingly, she's out of her heat, and he can only assume she is uninjured. As such, he's no longer so certain he wants to see her at all.
Nyssa is there for a length of time, smoothing out the already perfect fur on her front paw before with a sigh she places it back down to the ground. It is so quiet here now and in a moment of panic Nyssa looks back to the north, squinting at the distant light reflecting off the lake, but then that panic is replaced by a sudden and uncomfortable itch at the back of her neck and she rises, forcing herself to cross the border and head deeper into Amaranth's territory. The female is obviously agitated and a little nervous but she catches on a small breeze a fresher scent than Kein's older markings and gasps very softly, her eyes darting to one side to catch the Chieftain stalk still amidst the trees. "Kein," she manages to call out, trying to approach him but finding that she cannot.
Kein hears Nyssa nearby, and a second later, he spots her. His first reaction, well outside of his will, is to frown, and it takes him a moment to manage to say anything in response. "Nyssa. I'm glad to see you well." He'd be more certain he's glad, of course, if he knew where she'd been the past week and a half. Where... and with whom. Certainly, nothing in his expression speaks to any kind of pleasure at seeing her again, but he manages to keep at least reasonably calm. He does not yell or growl, despite being so clearly upset. In fact, besides his short-lived frown, the biggest hint as to his irritation is the way his tail lashes behind him.
"Kein, I--" Nyssa finds that her voice flees her, her throat tightening as those terse words hit her unexpectedly. The Chieftain has never spoken to her like that and she doesn't know what to make of it. "I'm-- I'm sorry," she manages to squeeze out, her eyes falling from Kein's face down to her paws and herself sitting dejectedly as a cub berated for running off on an unplanned adventure. She seems to grow smaller, shrinking away from that anger that she can feel in the air around him, let alone see in his body, "I thought it best to-- to be alone-- for a little while." Yes, she was alone. Why, she wonders, does this hurt so much, having to explain herself to him?
Kein really shouldn't be doing this. Sure, Nyssa has been rather nice to him recently, and he has allowed himself to entertain fantasies about where their life might lead them, particularly once they are out of Amaranth, but she is in no way obligated to be with him at any given time, much less while she is in heat. Truthfully, he has given no thought himself, yet, as to whether he would particularly want to have cubs with her. Still, the perceived rejection has hurt him, and so before he has a chance to stop himself, he says, "You could have told me you didn't want me. I wouldn't have forced myself on you." And, yes. To some degree, he has taken it as an insult. By and large, though, he is just hurt, even though he knows how foolish this all was on his part.
Nyssa finds those hurtful word hitting her with more force that Kein might have expected, and her ears flatten and her head lowers ever further. "That's not--" true, she tries so desperately to say but her voice catches and her throat tightens so much that only a few tears squeeze themselves from her eyes. Why, oh /why/ doesn't he understand, and why must it hurt so much. She shakes her head, speaking haltingly through her quivering voice, "That's-- that's not why, Kein." The least she wanted to do was cause any disruption to Kein's tribe, making the Chieftain deal with ever more grief than he already seems to carry with him, and now she's done it anyway. "I-- I didn't want to-- to cause a stir-- with you-- so I--" Had she ever thought about having cubs with Kein before last week? Is that why she fled? Nyssa doesn't think that it was fear of what that encompasses that lead to her leaving, "I'm sorry," she finishes meekly.
As soon as Kein sees how upset Nyssa is, his own anger and hurt fades, at least a little, and he wants little more than to comfort her, to ease the pain that he just caused her. He takes a small step towards her before stopping again. His expression has softened, but his tone is still much the same, still driven by the bit of hurt he continues to feel. "Nyssa, I /want/ you to create a stir with me." Far, far from his mind is the remainder of the tribe. There's no doubt he is being entirely selfish in this, but he has thought, in the past, of how certain things within the tribe may be what eventually comes between him and Nyssa. Something is bound to sooner or later, after all. Still, he has sworn to himself that if it is the tribe that tries to keep them from being together, there will be bloodshed long before he gives up.
As awkward as the words, and as likely that they will laugh and smile about it after, what Kein says is apparently what Nyssa needed to hear. She looks up with astonishment glistening behind her tears, blinking away the last of them before wordlessly she rises and approaches him, pressing the crown of her head against his chest and neck before she sits, unwilling to break the contact she has just made. Her purr, she's managed to find it first before her voice, and it slips from her, though a bit muffled behind the tightness in her chest that is only slowly receding, "Kein-- I'm sorry," to have hurt you; I didn't mean it. Nyssa nuzzles him, squeezing her eyes shut to cement that feeling in her senses.
Much of Kein's tenseness leaves him when Nyssa approaches and presses up against him. Though the older male does not purr, he does nuzzle against the back of Nyssa's head and neck for a while. It does not last more than a minute, as he has more to say, but for the short time he is perfectly willing to just be by her for a moment. Once that moment ends, he nips very gently at her neck before backing up so he can look at her while he speaks. "If you don't want cubs, you /can/ tell me, Nyssa. But don't run from me. I can't take that again." Not while he is so certain that their time together is so limited, at least.
Nyssa enjoys that contact for as long as it lasts, her ears flicking in surprise at the teeth on her skin, gentle as it was. She lifts her head and looks at Kein's face, into his eyes for the first time during all this, her brow knitted in concern. Cubs? Her ears bend and her maw parts just slightly, sucking in a short breath; she'd never thought about it before today, what that would mean for her or for him, but now that he's said it. "Kein, I--" That's why she left, now she knows, having been afraid not that Kein would force himself on her but that the urge to have cubs would seperate the Chieftain further from his tribe. "I would like that-- very much, Kein." Then there is a moment of hesitation and then Nyssa manages to laugh softly, "Though I have never mothered cubs..."
Whatever tension remained in Kein is gone now. Even if things were fine between himself and Nayeli, even if they were as close today as when they first took over the tribe, there would be no more cubs between them. Perhaps she wants them, and that is part of the reason for the troubles between them, or perhaps she is just as reluctant to have any more cubs with him as he is to have cubs with her. There is none of that reluctance with Nyssa, though, and Kein finds himself smiling. With a quiet purr in his voice, he says, "You'll make beautiful cubs, Nyssa. Even though you'll have to make up for the fact that they won't be getting any good looks from their father." It is a light-hearted joke, nothing more, and after delivering it Kein stretches his had forward to nuzzle at her again.
Returning the nuzzle with a prolonged one of her own, Nyssa responds to his light jest with a warm smile, her laughter continuing and heard just over her constant purr. "I'm sure there is a handsome young son in your future, Kein," she responds, knowing the uncertainty of her statement makes it all the more absured to say it; she has no more knowledge in that than Kein does in their physical characteristics. It's silly and Nyssa simply plays along with her laughter.
Kein chuckles in response to Nyssa before he says, "Oh no. I wouldn't wish one of my sons on you. My sons are notorious troublemakers and rapscallions." And he misses them all a great deal. He may not wish one on her, but he would have no complaints about having a son to raise again. One that will not have to be burdened with all of Amaranth's issues. Kein nips at Nyssa once more, the gesture light and playful, before he pulls his head back and goes on to say, "Rest assured, though, that you will not have to raise them alone. I will be there to help you every chance I get." And if they leave Amaranth as soon as the cubs are capable of walking, then he should get plenty of chances.
Nyssa's purr rises in response to his words, very suddenly warmed by the idea that she would mother cubs, and that Kein would father them. "Then I will stay." Next time she will not run away, because Kein asked her not to and she couldn't bear to do so again. She will remain in Amaranth, likely keeping to herself unless Kein wished her to tred paws deeper into his lands, waiting for him and the day that they can take each other, and their cubs, from Amaranth wherever that may lead them. It does not occur to Nyssa to discuss with him the beliefs of her clan or his, content in the simple fact that she will do this because they want to. She blinks to herself, watching Kein's face for a time, feeling the warmth of what is likely love though it remains unnamed in her mind, and lets it wash over her. Smiling, she nuzzles underneath his chin, enjoying that scent.
With whatever troubles that were between them settled, Kein is more than content to just be here with Nyssa. He rests his head gently upon her, complementing her purr with his own and enjoying the feel and smell of her. No more does he attempt to speak, as no part of the silence feels uncomfortable to him, now.