ORIGIN

The young lion inhaled deeply and it came out in a huffed rush. He was still frustrated, it had been hours since he had left Orion to let James cool off for a few days. It was the only thing Aristotle could think to do. Just let the horse either sink further into his ways, or let him think about what Aristotle had said. Maybe he hoped his best friend would come to see things with a more open mind. The young colt seemed set in his ways of running away from and fearing seemingly everything in the caves that wasn’t smaller than the horse or that wasn’t Aristotle.

The young lion shook his head in exasperation. The young lion had no idea why the young horse was so fearful. Just because it was larger than you, didn’t mean it was going to hurt you. Just don’t run and stand your ground, and most of the time you’re alright. If not then turn and run so you don’t have to fight. Only fight if you’re cornered. At least this was how the young lion looked at things. The young lion huffed again. It was a good thing he wasn’t hunting because right now he was making about as much noise as an elephant in a nursery.

Finally finding himself deep in the calm of the jungle. The young lion took a deep breath and let it out slowly to relax himself. It worked pretty well. Maybe he could teach James that little trick. Just take a deep breath and breathe out all that stress and your issues. But James seemed to let things build and finally break, that wasn’t a good way to live. Aristotle gave a thoughtful wave of his slender tail. He wanted to be near James, he wanted to be there. But James just didn’t seem to really want to be around him right now, and everything he seemed to say, rubbed the boy wrong. He hadn’t meant to upset him, he just refused formal training in fighting. It just wasn’t his way to fight unless he had to. Besides he could practice on his own and while hunting.

Later he would hunt a deer either a doe or buck depending on what he would find first, he joped a doe as their pelts were much softer and more supple to lay on. He would either take it back home and begin a small collection of pelts. The more he collected in Orion, the softer his bed would be. Aristotle stood for a moment on the trail shifting his toes as he sank his claws into the dirt for a moment. Perhaps he would start staying here in the tunnel after Abraxas was born, give James more space so that they didn’t end up fighting as much. They seemed to argue more when they lived in close proximity. He didn’t like that, he didn’t want to fight with James. He always felt horrible when he upset James, even now he felt horrible for upsetting him. But he didn’t understand why James was so upset. But Aristotle had managed to do it again. He hadn’t been back a day and James was already upset with him again.

Perhaps James should nurse the egg, and Aristotle the child born from it. No that wouldn’t be right leaving the egg solely with James as an egg only to step in after he had so tenderly cared for it. But he had plenty of sweet treats that would grow in soon. But he could make a few trips back with different grasses, and berries, and herbs. He would still make his home in Orion, but perhaps he should spend a bit more time in his secret base.

Aristotle shook his head trying to flick the thoughts of abandoning his friend away. He didn’t want to leave for good, but he didn’t want to upset James virtually every time he visited. He really didn’t like upsetting James, it hurt really bad to know James was upset. The young lion drooped as he walked along the trail. He was supposed to be looking for fruits, berries and seeds to put in his bag to take back to Orion to plant in and around the house. He still needed to drag dirt from outside inside to make planters out of the stairs and the upper floor.

For a moment he stood in place, his eyes were closed, his ears were listening, his paws and every fiber were feeling around him. It was a gentle feeling. A soft breeze rustled his pelt and mane, the soft cheerful cries of the jungle birds greeted his ears, the cool earth beneath his paws relaxed him and brought his mind back to where he was. Taking a deep breath he centered himself and then let it out slowly. He had to focus, even if he wasn’t hunting, he was looking for things. He needed to pay attention to what he was doing and the scents around him.

The young lion lifted his nose looking for the scents of plants he was looking for. It didn’t take long for the young lion to catch the scent of the sweet tasty berries. In fact he found a bush just bursting them just a few feet off the beaten path. There it was filled to bursting with fresh and ripe berry bunches. Letting out a happy purr the young lion plucked a bunch of the berries from the bush and placed them in his rabbit skin bag that hung around one leg and his neck. Though he could have easily taken more he left the rest on the bush and headed off to find more fruits and herbs to take back with him.

Having his new prize tucked away, Aristotle closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He was analyzing each scent that came to him as he inhaled. He was looking for a specific herb he had heard of and he was looking for lavender, though he was unsure if it would grow in this section of the world. A soft murr sound left the young lion as he lowered his head looking around. Either way he would collect more foods and such while he was here.

Lifting his muzzle once more he sniffed again looking for scents. There was one. He picked it up, a deep peppery scent. He lowered his head and head in the direction he had found the scent. There he found it not long after he had picked up the scent. It was a strange plant with tendril-like seed pods. He could tell from the smell that if he chewed on the leaves of the tree or the bark that his mouth would go numb. That would work well for anesthetizing any open wounds either of them got. The way James was he would probably get hurt soon and would need it. Giving a soft wave of his slender tufted tail, the young lion pulled himself up into the tree and plucked three seed pods from the tree.

With that little task finished the young lion leaped from the tree and landed solidly on the ground. He gave a shake of his growing mane and looked around to see if there were any other herbal plants nearby. Though he couldn’t tell just from looking at them, his sense of smell seemed to help quite a lot in determining herbal properties of plants. Inhaling deeply he let his nose lead him once more.

{FOUND: Cordoncillo(Used as an Anesthetic[chew then rub into effected area])}

Aristotle only wanted to spend a few hours here looking for herbs, but he wasn’t sure how long it would take for James to calm down. Maybe if he brought him a treat? Maybe that would help. He didn’t honestly know how to make things better between them. They saw the world so differently. James was cautious and easily frightened, Aristotle was curious and bold. The two were night and day, maybe this was just how things would be between them. The young lion truly hoped against that, as James was his best friend and he didn’t want to lose that.

The young lion shook his head in an attempt to dispel the worrisome thoughts going through his head. No he and James were best friends and that’s how it was going to stay. Maybe he could bring him back something pretty he found while he was here in Eridanus? But what would he like? The young colt had done and collected more than he and he was older. He had spent his time conversing with other creatures and learning about them. James had also spent his time honing his skills and learning to fight. Aristotle however had been avoiding fighting. He saw no reason in it.

Inhaling Aristotle caught the scent of a new plant. This one seemed to have a small calming effect on him. Perhaps this one would be of help to James. Perhaps it could help him relax and deal with his traumas. The young lion wandered through the thick underbrush until he came directly up to the plant that was giving off the calming scent. It was a low growing plant with long oval shaped bright green leaves, a deep green stalk and deep red berries that grew on a single slender stalk from the plant. He sniffed again making sure it was the right one. There were quite a few of the little red berries covering the plant, and the young lion was a s gentle as could be as he plucked the little berries off one by one and dropped them into his bag. He gathered at least fifteen of the little berries. Some to plant, a few to experiment with. Of course that would be on himself, as he would never use his best friend as a test subject.



{FOUND: Pusangade Motelo(Used to treat Anxiety and has calming effect.)}

The young lion stretched a bit as he looked around. Eridanus was always so peaceful. He loved it here. It gave him a piece of mind to just sit and listen to the life in Eridanus, you couldn’t find that in Orion. Orion was silent when you stopped and stood still. There were no pleasant calls of cheerful birds. There were no calls of deer talking to each other as they grazed. He couldn’t help but wonder if James knew the comfort of hearing things. He wondered if James ever lay here in Eridanus and listened to the lesser creatures talk to each other. He worried that James would stay mad this time. Any time he even started thinking, his thoughts always came back to how James was doing, and if he was still mad.

The young lion hated that his best friend was mad at him, but he just couldn’t understand James’ way of thinking. James was afraid of nearly everything he encountered, while Aristotle approached with a calm open mind. They were so different, were they really meant to be friends? No they were meant to be friends, why else would they have met? It couldn’t have been just for them to get close and start hating each other, Aristotle didn’t hate James at all. In fact he loved James very dearly, he couldn’t hate the colt if he wanted to.

Again the young lion shook his head to try and dispel the thoughts, though it seemed no matter how hard he tried not to think of James and him being angry. In reality it made him think about it more. The young lion sat down where he was for a moment, threw back his head and let out a frustrated growling roar. The cry held on for several seconds as the young lion poured all of his frustrations into that one angry cry. He didn’t know if anyone had heard him, though he doubted that hunting would go well for quite awhile here now. Aristotle inhaled and held it for a moment before releasing it in a heavy sigh. He wanted to go home to James and Abraxas but he didn’t know what to say to James right now.

Instead the young lion closed his eyes and lifted his muzzle looking for a new scent. There he caught the scent of an earthen, woodsy smell. Lowering his head he kept the scent in his nose and stood following it. It didn’t take long for him to find the source. It didn’t take him long trekking through the underbrush to find a small patch of plants with the tops of their roots exposed. Lowering his muzzle the young lion sniffed at the root finding it to be the scent he had caught. He harvested some of the small red berries that plant bore and dug up a full plant itself and cut off the plant with his claws taking the root with him. If it was the root that had the scent then it had to be the part that was used as a healing or medicinal agent.

{FOUND: Suma(Brazilian ginseng):Aphrodisiac, Energizer, Immune system enhancer. Must be eaten.}

He had already spent several hours, scenting and tracking the four herbal plants he had. He didn’t want to be gone for days like he had been before. He only wanted to be gone long enough for James to hopefully calm down a little. He wanted to cuddle with his best friend and know that all was right with the world. But right now, James, it seemed didn’t even want to see him.

Looking at the hole in the ground he had dug to liberate the plant root he had found and hoped had some medicinal effects. His bag was feeling a bit heavy with his prizes. And now would be perfect to turn around and follow his trail back home. Lowering his muzzle to the ground he picked up his own scent and began tracking it back towards the tunnel leading to Orion. He wanted to go home to James and Abraxas. He wanted to cuddle down on his deer skin with James and go to sleep, or just lay there and talk, he didn’t want to do anything except spend time with his friend. Maybe he could get James to talk about the ordeal and talk him through it, maybe this time he could keep James calm.

Tracking his own trail didn’t take much effort so he allowed his mind to wander. He should probably eat soon, it had been almost a day since he had eaten. But he didn;t feel hungry. He knew he should eat but the will and want just wasn’t there. He wanted to see James, he wanted to know that they were still friends. Aristotle worried that James wouldn’t want to be friends anymore after everything had happened recently, then he would have moved to Orion for nothing. Now he couldn’t leave because this was where Abraas was, and he certainly couldn’t move her without help. And he wasn’t going to ask James to help if he wasn’t his friend anymore, in fact he’d never bother James again if the colt didn’t want to be friends anymore. Once Abraxas had been born, Aristotle would leave and go live in his hideout in the tunnel with Abraxas. Aristotle couldn’t hold back the sad sniff that slipped out as he thought about James not wanting to be his friend. But if it happened then there was nothing he could do. He didn’t want to lose James as a friend but he would leave him alone if that was what he wanted.

Before Aristotle had realized it, he found himself at the tunnel leading to Orion and back to his home and back to James. He stood still for a moment just staring off down the dark area of the tunnel. It was unkempt as always, and that was how he liked it. After all the darkness best concealed the entrance to his hidden home. Inhaling deeply the young lion held the breath for a moment before releasing it in a sigh. It was time to face James and see what would come of everything.

Aristotle pushed through the vines and other underbrush blocking the tunnel entrance and into the tunnel itself. He started down the tunnel at a slow pace, no reason to hurry when bad things were most likely in his future. Things he wasn’t ready to deal with. First of all, he needed to apologize to James, even if he didn’t understand what he had done wrong. He needed to apologize to his friend and try and make things better. Aristotle tilted his head realizing now would be a perfect time to experiment with the deep red single berries he had harvested from that one plant to help with anxiety. Turning off down the tunnel to his hidden cave he would make a pit stop before heading home. The young lion stopped just inside the opening to his hidden cave and dumped out the contents of his bag on the floor. Here he found the small deep red berries he was looking for, and gathered the rest back into his bag. He left four of the little red berries out and started with eating one. He was attempting to judge how effective the berries would be, and how many would be needed for the desired effect.

Sitting there for a time Aristotle could still feel that unwelcomed anxious feeling. He sighed and picked a second berry up from the ground and chewed it for a time. It was a little pretty sour but had a sweet aftertaste. The flavor caused the young lion to scrunch his nose in distaste. He would have to figure out how to combat the flavor to make it more desirable to be eaten. Maybe mix it with some crushed apple or maybe even mushed mango? Maybe any other sweet fruit he could find? The Iceberrys would be good for that, they were deliciously sweet and added a slight refreshing coolness to the mouth. Perhaps those could be eaten in tandem with the Motelo berries in order to make them easier to take.

Aristotle was all about having medicine that was easier to take. He didn’t like things that didn’t taste good, and saw no reason to force them on someone else. If he could make things taste sweeter than that was all the better now wasn’t it?

After sitting for a while he still felt no effect from the berries and let out a soft hum of consideration. Perhaps it was his size that he would require more berries. Or perhaps they just didn’t work on him. In any case it gave him more time to sit and think of ways to try and keep James as his friend. Not that any ideas were coming to him, but he at least wanted to try something to keep James as his friend. Everything had gone down hill since he had taken up residence in the home beside him.

The young lion reached down and took another of the berries in his mouth and chewed. He wondered if it took three berries or more for him, how many would it take for James? He was much heavier than Aristotle was, and would continue to grow and stay that way. So it would take probably twice as many to have any effect on James at all. He gave a thoughtful wave of his slender tufted tail. He wondered how he could make it better for James to have to take them. Perhaps he could somehow rend them down into a concentrated form. But that would most likely require things he did not have.

The young lion sat for a while waiting to see if there was any effect from the newly added berry. Perhaps this would be the one that worked. He was getting a bit miffed sitting here waiting, he wanted to go home to Abraxas and James, but he just didn’t have the nerve to face James just this moment on his own.

Finally there he felt a wave of calm wash over him as his entire body relaxed a bit. A soft murr sound left the young lion as he swiped his tongue across his lips. He felt much better and far more relaxed than he had when he started on his way home. Taking a deep breath the young lion let it out in a quick sigh.

Standing up the young lion replaced his bag around his neck and leg, and began his way back to the main tunnel and back towards home in Orion.

{EXIT ARISTOTLE}