[SRP] Nothing Special (See Inside)

[Epine de Rose]

Participants:
Epimetheus
Persephone
Prosperina

 

[Epine de Rose]

There was nothing special about them; he'd been watching them for a considerable amount of time, and they hadn't even seemed to realise he was there. Then again this was a common occurance when one could simply lie in a shadow and seemingly melt in to it. As both his brothers had carted themselves off to investigate separate interests, he had wandered in to a region that had now become the land of godkillers. Well, this was what the rumours said, but based on his observations these individuals were about as dangerous as an angry meerkat...which was to say, not very. They seemed to have a disposition that spoke more of a cautious and considerate nature, than one that fated the world's immortal beings to death - he knew that a gods death was possible, his mother had confirmed as much, but that didn't mean it was easy. In fact, he surmised that such an event would require an entire pride and some clever planning in order to achieve...as well as a measure of naivety from the deity involved.

Nevertheless, the more he observed this particular pair of young lionesses, the more he realised they were going to get themselves killed. Was it therefore appropriate for him to intervene, or should he simply let nature take its course? Obviously, he was his mother's son, and as such he wasn't going to allow them to die no matter how utterly ridiculous they might be. Thus, he was soon on his paws and moving swiftly towards the pair of females who were about a hair's bredth away from being eaten by the lurking crocodile in the river... until he unceremoniously stepped on top of its mouth. Now that was something he knew worked as the jaws of a crocodile were positively laughed in terms of strength - sure if they got ahold of you, you wouldn't get them off... But if you kept your weight on top of it, then it was never opening its mouth again!

"If your parents did not educate you in self preservation you should probably take some friendly advice," he said at last as he gazed down at the crocodile and carefully maintained his balance. His new friend wasn't particularly happy with his intervention at the moment and given a chance, probably would have tossed him somehow, he needed to be ready for it. "And that friendly advice is that you probably shouldn't play with things that have teeth that are half the size of your head," he pointed out. It should have come at no surprise that he was met with a pair of bemused stares, most likely due to the fact that he had simply appeared out of nowhere and he was now conversing to them as if it wasn't unusual for someone to simply materialise.

"The hell did you come from?" The black lioness demanded; on this occasion, gratitude was not her strong suit.

"The shadows," the paler lioness remarked after a moment of considering, seemingly taking a more measured approach to their visitor.

"There aren't any shadows here," the black female retorted.

"But there are over there, Persephone," the paler one continued and lifted a paw to point towards the boulders that Epimetheus had indeed been lurking beneath. The male afforded the female an appreciative raise of his brow, she was evidently the quieter of the pair and this also seemed to come with greater powers of observation. "If he was hiding anywhere, then it would have been there, on the sands no one is very easy to hear," she pointed. The now named 'Persephone' gave a delicate snort and cast a critical gaze towards the lion who had no marking or identifying feature of note, at least not at an immediate glance.

"He must have been there an awfully long time then, if we didn't see him, Prosperina..."

"I was," he interjected, noting that it was highly likely that the two would continue to converse in much the same fashion until such time as they deemed it appropriate to acknowledge his existence again. He didn't imagine he would find much appeal in balancing precariously upon the snout of a crocodile for any longer than was truly necessary, and now that he had their attention, he sprung away from it. Unsurprisingly, the disgruntled crocodile gave a snap before swimming in to deeper waters now that it had been so rudely interrupted. It would return at a later date no doubt, preferrably when the black male wasn't nearby. "But one might also question your situational awareness if you did not at least spot me on your approach, the direction of the shadows does change," he added and gave his shoulders a light dust.

"Pardon?" At least the paler one was polite.

"I said you need to work on paying attention to your surroundings if you don't want to get yourselves killed," he stated bluntly and shook his head. "He'd been waiting for you to get within snatching distance and the way you were strutting around it wouldn't have taken long," he peered at Persephone critically. "Just what exactly were you hoping to achieve with that ridiculous display anyway?" he asked.

"I was baiting it," Persephone snapped and gave another sniff. Unsurprisingly, Epimetheus glanced towards Prosperina for confirmation, it was something he received in the form of a roll of her blue eyes and a wave of her paw. The black male didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that particular response and he regarded both in astonishment, for entirely different reasons for that matter.

"Baiting it," he repeated calmly. "Why...?"

"She wanted the glory," Prosperina nudged her sister and sighed again. "It's important to our home."

"Glory in...death, right?" Epimetheus asked slowly. "Because that's pretty much guaranteed when you walk backwards towards one of those things," he pointed out coolly and shook his head.

"And how would you know that, for all you know we had everything covered!" The black lioness truly was a stubborn one and Epimetheus was certain he would run out of patience in spectacular fashion. Nevertheless it seemed that Prosperina had intentions of intervening and placed her paw upon her sister's shoulder, if only to encourage her to back down for a moment or two. Whether Persephone wanted to admit it or not, the male lion was right, he may only have been a slight bit older than they were but he had some experience of the world. He had been watching them for a while, she had only seen him on his approach and even then, it had been as he leapt on to the crocodile. Credit where it was due, this guy probably knew what he was doing out there and to he was entitled to berate her sibling.

"I'm sure you did," he drawled as he glanced between the two. "You're nothing special sweetheart," he added as he took their full forms in to accounts. They were of good stock, their parents were certainly strong enough, but there was nothing to scream that they were capable of getting out of that mess. One might survive, but the other would be dragged screaming in to the depths where they would be drowned and torn in half. "You do however look remarkably familiar," he murmured as he fixed his gaze on Proserpina and furrowed his brow. "Where are you from?"

"Here...?" They replied in unison, both seemingly confused by his question.

"All of you?" he asked and tilted his head to the side. "Parents, grandparents, etc...?"

"Mmm most of us, yeah?" Prosperina glanced between him and her sister before pulling a face.

"Not our dad though, now that I think about it," Persephone offered and shook her head. "I think the lion that bumped in to mom said he was called Adar or something, he seemed to find it pretty funny." She paused to observe Epimetheus and raised a brow of her own. "And based on your response this seems to be some source of amusement as well."

"Not so much amusement as surprise," Epimetheus confessed and pursed his lips. "He's not the parental type," he explained.

"Why not?" Prosperina pressed, it was an answer her mother had never gotten.

"He's got bigger priorities than starting a family," he breathed without going in to detail and furrowed his brow. "So you're Al-Siq then," he said finally.

"We're Nergui," Persephone corrected him.

"I get that," he waved his paw. "We're just...the same, that's all."

"So you're what, this Al-Siq thing?" Persephone continued.

"Undecided; but by blood? Absolutely."

"Undecided...?" Proserpina pressed.

"It's complicated," Epimetheus murmured.

"Try us." They piped up in unison, and against his better judgement, Epimetheus decided that perhaps, they deserved to know a little about where a part of them came from...

Words: 1470