Sphinx - normal
Kasai - Bold



When Aldan awoke, it took him a moment to realize where he was. The pain in his shoulder was great, but not as great as the pain currently in his heart. He had made his decision. Right now though, he was thinking about how to do it.

A sigh, or more so a groan, echoed in the den, causing the captain snoozing in the corner to wake. Ciro rose to his feet with his own groan, heading to Aldan.

"How do you feel?" He asked quietly, his tail flicking behind him.

"Like I've been stabbed."

"...So good then." Ciro chuckled, watching Aldan struggle to his feet. "Do you need help getting home?"

"No..." Aldan said on shaky paws. "I'll be fine." A lie, but he couldn't burden Ciro anymore.

"Thanks for everything Ciro." Aldan said as he exited the den, slowly heading home. His mind whirled. H didn't want to do this...but it had to be done.

Yorshka had arrived back home in the early hours of the morning during a time where the sun wasn't completely settled in the sky, leaving her mother at Ny's den to decompress and rest. Her mind was clear for the first time in months. "Aldan?" The lioness called out as she entered the den the couple shared. This was her home or at least it had been for the better part of a year, nothing would change that... at least not for her. Whatever Aldan felt now was completely beyond her, the fight that transpired between her lover and brother had been a complete shock to the pale lioness. Would she ever be able to forgive Airion for what he did to Aldan?

Why did everything have to be so confusing? Slowly the lioness tip-toed into the den as pale blue eyes searched every inch for signs of her counterpart. He wasn't here and it didn't look like anyone slept here last night. "...." Yorshka's mind wandered as she slowly moved to sit on top of a pile of pelts.

All she could do was wait for him to return home.

She had so much she needed to say.

The conversation with her mother had given the female some much needed clarity. Zimrain was so good at seeing reason.

Would Aldan ever be able to forgive her brother? Yorshka felt overcome with worry with every second that passed, the seer needed to see Aldan's face again.

She missed him. More than he would ever know.

The male's shoulder ached the more he began walking on it. He made a sound of discomfort, as the den entrance came into view. A low sigh followed as he eyed his home. What if Yorshka was home...? What if she wasn't? What if her brother was there? What if her mother was there? All these thoughts distracted the throbbing in his shoulder as he stood a few feet from entering. He couldn't bring himself to do it just yet...

Finally, the lion willed himself to move. His eyes closed as he practically limped into the den. Yorshka's scent hit his nostrils almost instantly, as his dark eyes opened, spotting the female.

"....Yorshka..." he whispered, pausing as he watched her, a small frown on his maw. "I...I thought you would with your family..." He said slowly, finding himself unable to look away from her bright blue eyes. Oh how he loved her. This was going to be so difficult.

He only hoped his heart would follow through with what his mind had already made up.

"I...I need to tell you something," he found himself saying quietly, as he began to approach the former Pridelander. Gods, why was this so hard.

"Aldan!" The lioness exclaimed as she brought herself to her paws. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry..." Her words trailed off into silence as her eyes darted across his large frame. It pained her to see him like this, knowing that it was her own brother that caused thus injury made her sick.

"My mother is with Ny, Airion left. It's fine, I promise." Yorshka had so much she needed to say. "Aldan, please come sit down..." The lioness wanted to nuzzle into him and tend to his wound, but she knew he needed space. If he was upset with her she would understand.

"Wait, what? What do you need to say?" As she questioned him her brows furrowed into a frown.

Aldan sat near Yorshka, his injured shoulder pointing away from her.

He took a deep breath, his eyes closing. Come on....you can do this, he said to himself, before his dark eyes settled on her.

"I...I think you should..." He paused, his heart pounding, already trying to turn the subject. "I mean...I think it would be best if...if you went....we home with your family." He finally admitted, finding himself looking anywhere but at Yorshka. "I...I want to release you from your thralldom. You will no longer be bound to this pride," silently he added 'to me'. Aldan closed his eyes. He could feel the emotions threatening to fall.

"It is not fair I took your from your family." Granted, it was a certain red haired demon that was the actual culprit. "...I love you." He finally looked at her. "I don't think I could ever love anyone else...but..." he closed his eyes again. "Your family loves you too...and if they are willing to travel this far to get you to return, I...I don't wish to stop them."

"This is for the best." He found his voice cracking at these particular words. An obvious lie that Aldan was trying to convince himself as true.

At first his words didn't dawn on her, all she could do was focus on his shoulder he kept carefully tucked away from her. He wanted to always be so strong... for himself and for her sake, but the lioness longed to heal him. It wasn't until he spoke of releasing her that her attention snapped back into reality. For a moment she sat in silence with wide eyes and heavy breath. "What..." What was he saying right now? Her stomach felt sick as her wide eyes cling to his every word. Why was he... doing this?

He loved her, right? So why was Aldan talking like this? The lioness moved herself closer to him before she spoke again, this time her voice broke in frustration. "Aldan... what are you saying?" Why was he doing this? Was this punishment for what Airion had done?

"...I'm sorry for what happened but-" The female paused as tears started to swell within her eyes. "Don't just throw me away..."

Why was this happening? Yorshka's ears pinned back as her body shifted in anxiety. "-But this is my hom-home.." the lioness stuttered.

Aldan couldn't help but shy away slightly as she moved closer to him. It was just as he had done the first time Yorshka had accidently placed her paw on his.

"You will be happier not being a thrall..." He had to stick with that argument. "I know you don't like being one and...and your family from the Pridelands loves and misses you..." He felt his confidence waning. How was he suppose to keep up this case?

He looked at her sharply. "I'm...I would never throw you away..." He sighed. "I love you. I went to find your mother on more than one occasions...the first was a failure, but the second...the second I told her you were safe...And...asked for her blessing to...." his voice drifted. He couldn't finish his sentence. "I was going to just let it slide...to continue things how they were...but when they both showed up? Your brother and mother...They love you too, Yorshka. It...It isn't fair to keep you all to myself. We....We can't even discuss the possibility of....maybe having cubs together, for risk of their future...."

Another deep sigh as Aldan felt his adrenaline fed courage begin to dissipate.

"...Your home is with your family...You are just a prisoner in these lands." Maybe...Maybe if he became a little harsher with his words, she wouldn't try to fight it? "Your home is in the Pridelands."

He had gone mad, that had to be what was happening here. Nothing else could explain his actions toward her, nothing else would be able to comfort Yorshka now. Her blue eyes shifted from his figure as she spoke sharply and out of anger. "Why are you doing this? Out of everyone in this world I chose you. That has to hold some weight here." Her cries became harder to suppress as tears ran down her pale cheeks. Yorshka felt utterly alone.

"None of you are listening to me or what I want. Not a single one." This wasn't love, no, this thing they all were doing to her was controlling and the lioness wouldn't have it. Aldan was so misplaced and confused and he seemed so set in his decision to just let her go. Had he ever loved her at all?

"...." Her heart broke as the female did her best to look away from her lover. This was her home, nothing he could say would change that for her.

"I can't leave you..." her voice was small and broken. How much longer would she be able to take this?

He was leaving her.

He was.

"...I'm sorry..." Aldan found himself wincing as he said that. As much as it was hurting her, the words he was saying were killing him. Ciro had told him that if he loved her, he had to let her go. Aldan truly loved this female. He couldn't let her be unhappy.

Plus, how could he protect her, if he couldn't even ward off her brother in the fight? It had left him practically crippled for the moment, and who knew when he would be at his best.

"I'm sorry..." he said again, small tears slowly falling from his eyes. He looked away quickly, to hide the emotion behind his words.

"I can't protect you. Your family can," he whispered, his voice still cracking even at the low tone. "You will always be in my heart....but they deserve you more than I do." Aldan's legs had begun to shake, as a small sniff from his nostrils to try and get a hold of his emotions.

"...please..." he pleaded. "return home with your mom..." He really didn't want to make this harder than it was. His voice, his posture, his overall appearance...it all contradicted what Aldan truly wanted.

He wanted Yorshka to stay. He wanted Yorshka to be his wife, and to start a family. He wanted to protect the female with all his might, and take her on adventures around the world. Most of all, he wanted her safe.

For the first ever Yorshka felt truly beside herself, weighing this emotional storm with a now broken heart. It wasn't like Aldan to say things he didn't truly mean, this however had to be some type of joke. After everything the two has shared together... this was how he was going to depose of her? A jolt of lightening ran down her backside until her body was no longer able to stand beside close to his, she turned sharply in response. "...." Silence echoed throughout the den, until the space between the two felt raw and disconnected. "Alright." Why would the lioness stay when he so clearly wanted her gone? This was it, the moment she feared the most.

The one that that could destroy her stood invisible between the pair until it rotted them from the inside out.

"...." Words seemed hard to conjure and grasp in this moment. Silence kept a grip on her pale neck until Yorshka could hardly take it. Slowly the lioness moved past him as her shoulder dumped against his on her way out of the den. The memories these walls carried would be nothing more than that soon, memories long forgotten to time, love unrequited and undesired. Aldan most likely had given up on loving her a long time ago. Maybe he had been afraid to tell her the truth?

That had to be it, how else would she be able to walk away thinking anything otherwise? Softly she settled herself at the entrance of the den, standing as still a ghost in midday.

"...I love you." It hard was to mutter those words, it was even harder to keep her tears from overpowering her stern demeanor.

"I will leave, if that is what you command." Aldan still had control here, he owned her right? Yorshka had to do what her master told her to. Slowly the lioness moved out and into the day, the sun hit her pelt warmly as she stood drenched in sunlight.

He wouldn't be able to see her cry, not this time. This time the lioness would hold her tears back until she was back safely with Ny.

Yorshka had just lost everything that mattered to her the most.