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Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:12 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:40 am
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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."
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 7:24 am
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"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.
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 7:50 am
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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.
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 8:29 am
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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."
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