[PRP] Into the Unknown

[SkyLetha]

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After less than an hour of walking, they came across.. Generally nothing, especially not in this darkness, but Nissim stopped. "Here. Follow me." He advised, nudging Jirani and trotting over to a rocky area. Among the crevices, he used a careful purple paw to push aside foliage and rocks, showing a curious passageway, running water heard faintly in the distance. "Quickly, run in, before anyone sees. Ill lead you through, but I need to cover the entrance behind us." He advised, looking around quickly. "We don't wish for others to find this place. A safe space for us to stay is vital." He urged, nudging for the prince to run through the foliage he held open.

Through all of this, he was thinking about what was to happen next. They shouldn't roam around alone for the rest of their lives, it would be a shame for the Prince to let all of his training go to waste. Optimally, find a group of lions to lead, a mate, and bring up a new powerful pride into this world, better than there has been before. Jirani already seemed to have new ideas for his pride, so this was a rather fresh start, one he could make his own. Nissim himself.. he wasn't sure what he would do. With Jirani, he could always run off and investigate his own personal business when his parents decided to shun Nissim, or Jirani was in classes. Now, in the wilds.. Jirani is going to need constant protection, so if Jirani doesn't wish to follow Nissim into some pretty concerning situations, Nissim wouldn't get to.. No, he'll deal with that when the time comes. Jirani was reasonable, and seemed to like the purple lion's adventures well enough. It shouldn't be a concern.  

[Anderleit]

Jirani's steps followed Nissim's in silence, eyes trained into the night. Though he kept his Guardian at his shoulder, letting the other lion's sheer size and subtle glow be his guide, the Prince was unfocused. He had not even begun to look toward his future. Instead, he found that the silence of their journey turned his thoughts inward. They dwelt, as they often had, on the calamity that befell his pride. The losses he had suffered spun around him, more distant than mere hours ago - but not nearly distant enough to keep from aching. Those open wounds in his soul festered, fostering resentments and suspicions for that which he should have trusted without a thought. Such it was that when Nissim spoke, Jirani's eyes flashed upward in a momentary glare. How dare his brother lion interrupt his thoughts! Especially with a notion as foolish as safety. Nothing was safe, nor could it ever be again!

Those thoughts were fleeting, however. For the most part, Jirani knew them for irrational the very moment they had passed. "Be careful," he murmured, knowing the admonishment would go unheeded. Nissim would do as he liked, and come back fine. The lion might as well be made of iron, and part of Jirani envied him for it. What was he made of? Feathers, or something similarly flighty? Gold, or something just as precious? Both equally ineffectual, and in their current situation, useless. How was he to know?

The purple-haired male lingered just beyond the entrance, a lashing tail betraying his inner turmoil. If Nissim happened to notice, he might realize that the look in Jirani's eyes was one that had certainly never been turned on him before. The Prince wondered if, perhaps, that was one of the reasons that his flailing mind chose to entertain the idea that the lion that had been his constant companion all his life might now choose to turn on him: because in Nissim's absence, Jirani might find out what kind of lion he really was.

SkyLetha

 

[SkyLetha]

What.. What was Jirani doing? The whole walk to the safe haven, Jirani had been silent. Usually, that is a blessing for Nissim, as then he has time alone to process the day's events, but.. Jirani had been acting oddly the whole day, joking at one moment and completely serious the next. It was unnerving to Nissim, as he had not dealt with such a situation often. He was quite sure the young prince was going through.. what's the word.. emotion.. Emotional turmoil. He was.. feeling loss. Loss on its own is a foreign concept to the guardian, and emotions were another topic entirely. He had no idea how to help Jirani in this situation, he could not "empathize", nor mourn with him.. He felt nothing for the fallen pride, as he became detached to it the moment be started training as a guardian.

The guardian training.. Ruthless on its own, disconnected from everyone in the pride to be trained into a merciless killer, brainwashed into obeying every command and idolizing your nobles.. It only partly worked on Nissim. While yes, he did become disconnected from those around him, he never.. had that respect. He could fake respect, as they taught him how to do so, but he never felt anything for those he served. When they inevitably crashed and burned, he felt relieved. No more orders, no more punishments, no more stupidity, he was free. To be quite honest, he did not believe that the Prince would be ordering him around anytime soon. Having raised Jirani better than his own parents, Nissim had the younger lion's respect and admiration, so it would be "morally" wrong to talk down to him. A perk of their partnership, he supposed.

While there are perks to Jirani, there were also cons.. Like emotions. What a dreadful thing. Judging off the thrashing tail and cold look in the Prince's eyes, he was sure Jirani was not in the best of states.. Never mind that, Jirani was strong, he could atleast manage until they made it to the waterfall..

Nissim jumped through the opening, vines falling back into place behind him. After a moment, he turned and pushed the rocks back up into place, jumping backwards quickly to avoid being crushed by them. The way he placed them, he would be able to push them back out when needed. After inspecting his handiwork, he turned back to the younger male. "That should keep us hidden for now." The guardian said, walking over to Jirani's side. He looked out over the pathway, seeing a bit of water in the distance. Their destination. In the pathway, though, there was cracked ground and rocks stacked to the ceiling, creaking every so often to make sure you knew they were unstable. One wrong step could send you crashing through the floor, or crushed by boulders..

"Now, Jirani, I need you to be very careful where you trod. Right up ahead is the waterfall, with clean water and safe sleeping grounds, the occasional prey.. Though its empty for a reason. The ground here is unstable, so one misstep could bring this ravine crashing down on you. I am going to demonstrate where to step, so watch very carefully where I place my paws." The guardian instructed, tapping on Jirani's paw to get his attention. Once he made sure the Prince heard, he immediately sprung into action.

Nissim had done this many times before, so his path was slightly worn with his pawprints. Surprisingly carefully, he lightly stepped onto each pawprint, his tail high above the ground. Eyes hyper focused on his task, he inched from rock to rock, muscles tensed. After a few minutes, he reached the end, and carefully stepped onto the soft grass, standing in the entrance to the oasis. Once stable, the star speckled lion turned to Jirani, staring at him from the end of the hallway. "See, simple. Now, your turn."  

[Anderleit]

Careful where he stepped? Jirani arched a brow, watching the larger lion draw even with and pass him. What manner of cryptic puzzle was this? It put him in mind of the obstacle courses Nissim and his fellow Guardians must have run in their youth, twisted designs born from the selfish machinations of his forbears. But those were created by paw, and for a purpose. This...was it possible that nature itself could be responsible for something so cunning?

The lion frowned, pale gaze flashing for a moment in the direction of his companion. Or was he giving nature too much credit? There could, of course, be another architect responsible - one who commonly spent long hours away, doing Gods-only-knew-what in his spare time.

"I don't remember this being so difficult," the prince murmured absent-mindedly, tracing one paw over the cracked earth. Obviously he wouldn't, though: they had already covered that the last time he was here, it had been slung over a broad, star-speckled back. He'd almost prefer to travel that way now. The ground around him looked fragile as anything, but if it would take Nissim's weight, surely his would be no trouble. Right? Nissim's pawtap on his own came just in time to stop the younger lion's thoughts from absconding with him - again. For the moment, apparently, his Guardian was determined to fill that role all on his own.

Watching him run this mad gauntlet brought with it a new surge of memories. Jirani was suddenly reminded of a time when the sun baked the plains, his mane had scarcely grown in, and he stood watching the lion he already thought of as his run one of those aforementioned obstacle courses. Even then, there had been more muscle in a teenaged Nissim than in the next two largest Guardians put together. Not that he seemed to care. It had always interested Jirani that Nissim hadn't seemed the competitive sort. He did what the trainers told him to, and he did it perfectly. If not the first time, then the second. Drove everyone absolutely nuts, and it was one of the young prince's favorite things about him.

He was no less agile now, for all he'd bulked up since their teenage years. And his mastery of his own form, the purpose behind every movement, every muscle - his Guardian was still a joy to watch. A feeling without a name, uncomfortably warm, flushed the length of Jirani's spine.

Maybe that was why he jumped into action so suddenly once Nissim had made it across. Back then, he had been forbidden to train beside his Guardian. It had been taboo to measure himself beside such a lowly standard. Now? Regardless of what had once been (and how ridiculous it was, or how many times he had flaunted it), the unit of measure across from him was that he had left. So the prince plied all of his facilities, every scrap of muscle memory that he'd once maintained, to mimicking the larger lion's movements. Maybe it really was skill that worked for him. Maybe it was simply that he was smaller, lighter lion. Either way, where Nissim had crept forward, Jirani skipped like a stone. And until he put his hind paw wrong, it was working for him.

A shocked expression crossed the smaller male's face. He felt himself slipping backward, and had no leverage with which to jump for the safety of the grass right in front of him. Surprised eyes drifted up to Nissim's face, and Jirani's mouth parted, perhaps to speak his Guardian's name - but the sound was drowned out by the rumble of rocks overhead. Rocks that, in his present state, Jirani had no ability to evade...

SkyLetha