"You haven't changed much," the lioness scowled as her eyes settled on the familiar figure of a lion she once loved. The restlessness she felt upon his departure so long ago lingered in the back of her mind as she looked him over, scanning him from head to toe as a bitterness settled in the back of her mouth. This moment felt amplified by the lack of words he spoke, and this only made Yuna's frown deepen. "Why have you returned after all this time?" The question was simple, Djura never would dare show his face again after what he put her through, there had to be a reason he was risking his livelihood here in this moment. "Answer me." the once-Firekin demanded, snarling at him as he stopped and glared back at her.
"Yuna," the lion started as he smirked under his own apprehension," please settled down, I've come to talk." Well, that was probably not the right reply to the lioness's temper but it couldn't be helped, Djura had always been blunt and to the point of things. His eyes narrowed as he gave her a half-smile, doing his best to hide his own emotions. There was a history here, one that was hard to wash away no matter how hard the pair tried.
"I'll always be able to find you," Djura smiled as his eyes lingered against her strong frame. "I know you, it's not hard to hunt you down."
"Stop talking like this." Yuna demanded as growled under her breath. "I have not forgiven you for leaving me, and I will not forgive you now."
"I've not come to beg for your forgiveness." the mismatched lion stated as he slowly sat down at the entrance of Yuna's den. "I've come to offer you a place beside me, a hunter in my ranks."
"Your ranks? You sound stupid." The female laughed as Dajura spoke, rolling her eyes at his disillusion. "Please, Djura, you can not be serious."
"Always am," the lion chuckled as his large paws pressed against the ground, claws digging deeply into the earth beneath as he followed her every word with a cocky grin. "Yuna, we were once a team, you and I," his words trailed off as he paused, gazing into her den, the darkness around them heavy. "I never meant to hurt you."
"Stop it." The female snarled as she quickly lifted herself to stand. "You just said you didn't come here to apologize."
"I'm not. I can tell you I never meant to hurt you without begging for your forgiveness."
"You are really starting to piss me off, you know? What gives you the right to walk back into my life like this? I've moved on." Yuna gave him another nasty glance as her ears pinned back in anger. He was starting to really dig his way back under her skin, this was a feeling the lioness couldn't handle... at least not right now.
"Moved on? Yuna, you live in the same den, you hunt in the same area, you haven't changed, not for one second-" Djura gave her a firm frown as his eyes moved from her frame long enough to find the cold stone wall. "Look," he started, "I've not spent this time away from you lost at sea. I've done what I always have, I'm just like you, unchanging."
"So that is your excuse for abandoning me?" she huffed, flicking her tail from side to side, his presence was absolutely nerve wrecking.
"Yuna, I did not abandon you." The lion found himself frowning as he inched closer to lioness, slowly, keeping himself just far enough from her reach so that she couldn't take a swipe at him in her anger. Yuna had a temper after all, this was something he knew well. "You wanted something from me I could not give, not at the time, at least." there was a small sadness that lingered in those words, perhaps he did feel some remorse for the history the two shared?
"I don't understand why you thought I'd want anything to do with you after what you've done, Djura-" the lioness found very little comfort in the words he spoke, this was clear by her eyes that would never reach his. The wound no matter how old still felt so raw, would this ever heal... this... thing between them? "You act as if I asked you to give up your Gods for me, I never once tried to tame you, Djura, I only wanted to share this life with you."
"-and that frightened me, lovely." The lion spoke out as he looked away from his once lover, glaceing at the opening of her den. "It made me to afraid I ran, I will admit that without shame. You never asked anything of me and that was hard to handle. You did everything so effortlessly, I often felt unworthy of your kindness and love."
Her eyes went wide at his words as she looked him over once, frowning under her own frustration. "Why are you saying this..."
"It needs to be said." the lion nodded as his eyes locked back onto her face. "I never wanted to hurt you, or destroy all we had created together, but at the time Yuna I just wasn't ready to settle down, to give you all of myself."
"I never wanted all of you, just enough of you to feel connected." this was hard to admit, but the lioness felt a sadness settled in her chest as she gave in and finally looked back at him. "I just wanted to be near you, Djura."
"I know. I am sorry for it, Yuna, for the hurt I know I caused." he had come back to this place to try to win her over with his self-confidence and charm, but that just wasn't how it was going to be. Maybe these things needed to be said after all. While he wasn't here to apologize he found himself doing it anyway. The lion owed her that much, he knew it.
"I am sorry for leaving you without a word. I will always regret my own weakness."
"What?" Yuna found herself moving to stand as she slowly closed the gap between the two. He was so intoxicating, it was hard not to feel the pull she felt as her heart longed to be close to his. "Djura..."
"No, don't, Yuna. You don't have to say anything, just know I am sorry for it. I didn't come here to dig up the past or to hurt you with what once was. I meant it when I said I want you by my side again."
His words made her heart sink as the large female withdrew herself from him long enough to find her place back down ontop of her pelt. For a long moment she sat in silence, thinking over his last words. "Sit with me, tell me everything."
Yuna wasn't about to toss him out, not after he had said what he did. She would give him the floor to speak, for now at least she was settled enough to offer him that much.
WC: 1195