[PRP] Truth [Wook x Roho]

[Ctrl F Greenie]

The duel was fresh on his mind, he'd followed the path that Roho had created after weaving through the lions that were actively pursuing use of the training grounds - had he acted just a little more quickly he wouldn't be in the position he was now. Fortunately the winds weren't working against him and he had a decent enough path to follow in the sands, but he was still ways behind the dark lioness he predicted.

"What did I do?" He wondered.

"Was it something I said?"

Then he was beat over the head with a humble thought - perhaps it wasn't him at all. "I hope she's alright." The fool wasn't reading things properly at all - even though he felt all of the same emotions, but Wook had always been a go with the flow kind of lion, never uptight or spun in a way that caused him to react - instead he liked to wait things out. Not all things though, his current pace (which was a little bit more quickly than the norm) was a specific example of when he didn't want to wait.

Kimaria

He's coming Roho >: <3 -squeezes her-

 

[Kimaria]

Roho was not too much further. A short stride across flat sand and on the other side of a group of rocks - worn strangely smooth from the sand-filled blasts of wind that could sometimes cut in from across the dune-swathed sea.

Her back was pressed against these rocks, her chin slumped against a forearm and her eyes half-closed. The internal conversation going on within her was far more agitated than her outer appearance might let on; thoughts going back and forth between anger, frustration, blame and then...something akin to sadness.

She needed to get a grip, that was all there was to it. She just wasn't quite sure how.

The lioness released a slow breath and let her head loll to the side, wishing that life was easier. That life wasn't just swimming through all these emotions that she had no idea how to navigate. There was also the slow realisation that she couldn't just hide here forever. She'd have to explain herself at some point or forever be considered unhinged.

Although maybe that would be the better option?

Hm. Who knew?

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

"Roho?"

Wook called out, concern clear in his voice as he beckoned the sands for some form of sign. He grew silent and decided to remain that way for a moment while continuing his forward motion. Fortunately the sands were betraying her and soon the red lion was peering at a group of fairly smooth rocks. Fearing that she might bolt again (but feeling rather confident that she was behind those rocks) he walked up to them and instead of walking around them to join her side he decided to give her some space.

"Roho, I hope you're over there or this might look silly.. but are you alright?"

The concern in his tone remained, though he didn't fear looking silly - heck he'd look however she wanted him to if it meant she'd come out of hiding, but he recalled her on that first day they had met.. she wasn't immediately comfortable with her emotions, he was sure this moment would be no different. "Is there anyway I can help?" At first he hadn't been right against the rocks, but with all the activity he'd pursued getting here he was growing weary and in one set of final movements he turned and pressed his back against the rock face as well, staring back in the direction he had come from while waiting in silence.

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

At least if he had been talking to himself there was no one else really close enough to notice. Fortunately, however, it was a needless concern. She was still there, though frozen in place, her heart drumming so loud into the sand that she was sure she could see the grains dancing.

Her ears turned backwards as if trying to calculate where he would appear from and when he didn't she felt herself relax a little. She felt bad, now. She'd worried him.

"You already do help," she said at last, "more than you know."

Their first conversation still resonated with her and she recalled it so often that the memory was as clear and crisp as the day it had happened. "I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly. That was not the best start to your training." Hardly a start at all, if she was going to be honest. It was more probable that he'd get better training with someone else, anyway - at least until she'd gotten control of her jitters.

"I overstretched myself is all."

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

"I'm glad to hear that."

Then silence, he hadn't intended to grow silent - in fact he'd wanted to avoid it knowing how sensitive the lioness was.. even if she didn't seem to realize herself with that tough exterior she pushed so much. Purple eyes closed and he leaned his head back against the smooth surface of the rocks he'd rested against. When she spoke again his ears twisted to listen attentively. "You know that I'm here for you, right?" He was calling bullshit on her 'overstretched' comment the only way he knew how.

"You aren't alone."

Wook was a lion that spoke from the heart, often not thinking before speaking and this time was no different - she was special to him, he couldn't place a paw on the emotions because they hadn't seemed to exist before his first encounter with the lioness. He didn't want to push her away though, press her into a corner that she'd only want to back out of and so he remained a silent party once again - eyes still closed and body lifted into an upright seated position where his paws were lifted from the ground. If anyone were to wander by they'd see a lion relaxing against a rock, basking in the warmth (not that he was ever cold).

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

She nodded - not seeming to realise that he wouldn't be able to see her doing so - and lapsed into another thoughtful silence. Life was so hard sometimes. Trying to change was hard. Forgetting the past was hard. Moving on...it was all so difficult. For once she wished that there was something in her life that was easily gained. Just something that she didn't have to fight for -or try to earn. To take something for granted.

"You're here now," she spoke suddenly, " but what of tomorrow? The day after that? No one knows what is coming and...well, we're both military. We know what might lie ahead in our future. If trouble comes we'll...we'll be out there facing it and..." she had to force herself to keep speaking in case she lost her nerve and gave in to silence again. "And sometimes...sometimes people don't come back from a fight."

The rational side of her brain said that the Hongshan bloodshed would not repeat itself but the traumatised part of her kept asking 'what if'? What if the Nergui returned? What if something bigger and worse came to their borders? What if a guard patrol were caught off guard and slaughtered? What if Wook was there?

She bit down hard as if trying to bite that stream of thought in too.

"I don't think I can deal with that again."

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

"Ahhh.."

The sound was soft, gentle and filled with understanding - fear, that was what was stopping her. The reality that any day they could face an untimely end hadn't occurred to the lion. Wook was truly blessed in the fact that he hadn't encountered a situation where he was effected so deeply from an emotional stand point.

So when he decided to finally speak he did so cautiously, concerned for her emotional well being just as much as he worried for her physical well being. "What if.." He began by pulling from her own statement. "..we survive?" He offered gently before opening his eyes to stare out at the landscape before him, they had moistened and suggested that tears might fall.

"What if we grow old? Grow apart? See each other from a distance, forever wondering what if? What if we had just given it a chance?" Wook wanted to beat himself for how much he was pleading, the typically calm lion was finding it hard to maintain his cool when he felt so passionate about this, about her. "Roho.." I love you. Were the words he wanted to say out loud, but he couldn't, not yet. They were already so vulnerable and he didn't want to force himself onto her, so to speak.

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

Who would have thought that words so simple could have had such impact.

He'd tried telling her before. Not in these exact words, of course, but every conversation they'd had leading up until this point. A dance. A possibility. She fancied herself brave but, in truth, it was a mask, something to hide behind so that she could pretend she didn't care. But being brave was one thing. Facing the truth and willing to risk everything for it was quite another.

Her's was a false bravery. The brazenness of a warrior who had nothing left to lose. Except she did have something to lose. Her people, her home and...and her friends, too.

Roho's head came up, eyes opening to the horizon once more - out to where the sky met the sand. Did she dare?

Her name hung in the air now, the unspoken words almost taunting her.

What if they survived?

Somehow she had found her paws again, dithering in the shadow of those rocks that had kept her concealed from sight. And then, with an inhaled breath she turned and moved around the obstacle that had - so far - kept them apart. She paused to peer cautiously around the rocks at him - almost as if expecting him to be gone.

He was still there.

"...Wook?" her voice shook. She was nervous but she could [i[try. She was going to try.

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

The silence that fell between them weighed heavily upon his shoulders as the unspoken words played on repeat in his head, over and over taunting him with their promises.

For a moment, during their silence, he wondered if she'd gone, left him there to think on things for the rest of his lifetime - would she be so bold as to leave a home she'd known for so long? His mind was racing with possible scenarios when he felt a change in the air around him, then he spied movement out of the corner of his eye. Without turning his head he looked in the direction of that movement to spy the familiar dark pelt, sparkling blue eyes and a look of being nervous that caused him to wrinkle his brow.

When she spoke his name the world around him disappeared as it had when they had shared the arena together. Wook found that when he was focused on her nothing else mattered, whether it was for something as trivial as a duel or in this heated moment. "Roho." He said with a warm smile, voice deep and rich with emotion.

Without hesitating another moment he stood, moving with feline speed and grace to close the distance between them. When he got close enough he took a moment to appreciate her, glance over the fine details of her face before he lifted a large, heavy paw then stepped forward bringing that paw around to rest on the back of her head essentially pulling her into his chest for an embrace.

"I'll do everything in my power to make sure that a tomorrow never comes where I'm not there, where you're alone again. So help the lion that even tries."

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

Her heart was pounding and, in that moment, Roho felt close to hyperventilating, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps that she struggled to control. What a ridiculous thing to have a panic attack about. When did she even suffer from those, anyway? She was even starting to go giddy until Wook moved towards her - his huge form blocking out the stark light. Her eyes sought his as if trying to find something to ground her and then he was there and his mane was against her face - his arm a most-needed support around her back.

She squeezed her eyes closed again but if any tears came free they were lost in his mane as quickly as they had come.

The emotional exhaustion rendered her useless but that was okay because, right now, she needed to do nothing but be right where she was.

Abominable Greenie