Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

Broad beige paws carried the large feline silently through the alleys of Orion. Today he was simply out exploring. Brilliant baby blue eyes swept from one side to the other as he walked. The walls weren’t overly close here giving plenty of space on either side for the young lion to turn and move about. James hadn’t come with him this time so he stalked quietly through the alleys so as not to disturb any creatures that might be resting or hiding.

Taking a turn the young lion found himself on a much wider side street. Aristotle cast his gaze around, and lifted his muzzle scent the air. He was checking to make sure it was alright. Finding no danger present in the air Aristotle started off down the side street he had found. Though he had left James at home he was not alone. Hidden in the thickness of his mane was a small little body. A tiny head peeked out between his ears, and tiny fingers dug into his mane to keep the little body from falling off. Are you having fun Sun? The young lion asked the little creature clinging to the back of his neck and head.

It hadn’t been but maybe a week since James and Aristotle had found Sun in the swampy forest of Cetus. James had been trying to teach him how to use his magic when he had felt Sun reach out to him with his magic. It had made things a bit stressful between James and Aristotle but things settled quickly enough. It hadn’t taken the two long to work out routine for Sun and themselves. When Sun napped, they napped, when Sun was awake they were awake. He let them know when he was hungry though he knew few words and he got his points across pretty well.

Wandering down the street Aristotle soon found himself at a shallow stream. Tadpoles swam this way and that in the water. Do you want to play in the water Sun? The lion asked the little creature on his head. Slowly and with controlled movements the lion sat down on the small bank of the stream so the little creature could slide down his back if he chose too.

The little monkey clung tightly to the back of the lion’s head and neck. He was watching the world go by with bright and curious emerald green eyes. Fluffy daddy had decided they would go for a walk today, and they were going to just explore around and see if they could find anything fun or interesting in the ruins.

Sitting on fluffy daddy was fun. He wasn’t as tall as long face daddy so it wasn’t scary riding on him. Not to mention that fluffy daddy was easier to hold onto, and he was a much softer ride. Long face daddy’s back was broad and hard from the muscles. Fluffy daddy was just that, he was soft and fluffy around his head and chest.

Tiny pointed ears on the side of the little monkey’s head perked as fluffy daddy spoke asking him if he was having fun. Fun! Fun! Like it! The little monkey chimed in his little voice. His words accompanied by a bright and cheerful laugh as he bounced in place on fluffy daddy’s head.

Soon though fluffy daddy sat down near a thing of water that was running. Slowly the little monkey slid off fluffy daddy’s back and peeked around his side curiously looking at the running water. Slowly the little monkey made his way to the water, however he stopped a bit short and perked up as tall as he could and peered at the water. Slowly the little monkey reached out a single hand and dipped it in the water. Finding it safe the little monkey loped the last several steps to the water where he quickly splashed in. Hooting happily the little monkey splashed and rolled in the water.

@Akaari

There was something to this place, something she couldn't put words to. She had made a conclusion before, how long before she couldn't quite remember, that the stone here was too ordered, too unnatural, it rose too straight and wasn't as jagged or lumpy or chaotic as the stone everywhere else. The stone rose high and there were hollowed out boxes and cave like holes to enter them but even the holes had too many straight lines. It was as if the way the stones were ordered also led you town the centre - the circular shape - as if they purposefully formed a path. She was young and naïve but she wasn't dumb (sometimes) and she knew that natural rocks did not form paths and hollow boxes and straight lines. She had had no time to contemplate on it though, and where would she even start.

She was on a usual walk (usually there would be a wisp hovering beside her but apparently her magic refused this time, a little rude but it happens), searching for new things to discover or somewhere else to go when she heard voices. Voices meant that there were creatures near by, not creatures you can eat though, creatures near by meant that they had things to share. Knowledge!

The bigger one was a little strange looking. "You have a lot of fur around your neck! What's it for? Is it to protect you? I have teeth, do you think I could bite through it? I also have really soft fur, do you want to feel? I think mine's softer than yours." Fast words spilling from her mouth in a torrent, a filter was not something she knew about let alone had one. She also opened her mouth so that he could see her teeth to make a better estimate about being able to bite through his mane, it would probably be easier to just bite him though...that didn't seem like good manners. Better to ask first and then test the hypothesis. If it's useful she should make herself something around her neck, she could get Archimedes and Glaive to help, they were sure to know things.

She noticed something, someone, else close by with those paws that she had seen could hold things that made shapes in the stone. "You can hold things!" Like the tools those creatures held...interesting. That could be useful in the future, and she definitely needed useful creatures on her side. "I mean hello!" Yes, manners Akaari, did you forget all about those? Archi would be ashamed. Hopefully neither of the two noticed the slip up, if they did she would tell them they were wrong. She had come to stand in front of both of them, making sure to keep the two creatures (one of them was absolutely tiny, it would have to get bigger if it was going to be of much help) in her line of sight, best not to trust them. Since she had fallen silent she had grabbed her tail, holding the end in her mouth as she stood watching them both.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

The lion sat watching the small monkey splash about in the stream, though his attention was quickly drawn away as he caught the scent of someone approaching. Turning his head this way and that, he found a black and white feline approaching him and Sun. The lion stood as the younger feline walked up. Suddenly she began spilling questions out at him. The lion reached out with a paw to quiet the girl. Hold on a sec and I’ll answer you. The lion responded in a clear kind voice. Yes my mane is for protection when fighting. It’s meant to protect my neck and chest. The lion explained rubbing a forepaw through the side of his mane straightening it.

I see that you have teeth, so do I. The lion said baring his own teeth in a show that his were a bit bigger than hers. No I don’t think you could bite through, it’s meant to NOT be gotten through miss. He was having no trouble explaining about himself, though he wondered where she had come from and why she had so many questions, and who she was for that matter.

Protectively Aristotle stepped between the younger feline and Sun. A low growl began to rumble in his chest as he lowered his head. He wasn’t sure how he felt about her just jumping in and asking him questions he could not answer. He’s a baby. He can’t talk very well yet. The lion explained relaxing a bit as he realized she meant Sun no harm. Yes he can hold things, they’re called hands. Apes have them. Aristotle explained what Sun’s hands were, as she admired them. The young monkey had stopped splashing and was now peering at the young feline from beside Aristotle.

Finally the young feline blurted out a greeting, this made the lion relax more and step farther away from the little monkey. Hello, My name is Aristotle, and the young one is Sun. What is your name miss? The lion asked curious about the girl himself. Where did you come from? He was curious how he hadn’t noticed her much earlier than when she was close enough to start spilling questions without his notice.


@Akaari

The little monkey had been rolling and splashing in the water. He had even taken to chasing the tadpoles in an attempt to catch them. However his festivities were cut short by the appearance of a new fluffy creature that vaguely resembled fluffy daddy but did not had the thick fluff around her neck and head.

Slowly the little monkey came to where he could better see the girl, his emerald green eyes looking at the girl. She was covered in black spots and her fur looked exceptionally soft, and he suddenly had the urge to pet her. However he didn’t approach instead standing by as fluffy daddy answered her slew of questions.

All the while Sun sat on the bank of the stream his pelt dripping water on the ground as he looked at the new fluffy creature. Fluffy Was the simple word Sun spoke. Suddenly fluffy daddy jumped between him and the girl, he was making angry sounds as the girl asked about his hands, and then suddenly introduced herself.

Slowly the little monkey toddled forward one hand outstretched as he let out soft hooting and cooing noises. He wanted to pet the new fluffy girl that had been excited by his hands. Emerald eyes watched the girl cautiously as he approached her his hand stretched out to brush over her side.



@Akaari

'Hold on a sec and I'll answer you' his words repeated in her head in a mocking tone and her eyes locked on the movement of his paw, held out, a universal sign: pause; stop; calm; quiet. There was a surge of an uncommon emotion in her, broiling and bubbling to the lip as she cocked her head at the image. A tiny creature playing beside them and a maned one not much larger than her who told her to pause. Pause. Don't pause. She would give him the benefit of the doubt, keep him on her side for now, she needed the use of his companion. Or, more importantly, his companions hands. Though she would pretend to snap out at his outstretched paw, teeth clacking together, she was too far away to have reached him but she wanted the warning to stand: don't tell her what to do. "Just because it's not meant to be doesn't mean it can't!" Better to pick and choose the rules you want to follow.

Blah blah blah He put his body in-between them, a threatening stance, yet, she would not react to that, other than a slight smile. So he was protecting the smaller one? Interesting. "Why don't you teach him to talk better? Talking is great! You can make people know things and they can make you know things and then everyone knows things, it's wonderful." Perhaps he didn't know how to teach, she was good at teaching and if they joined her she could help, they could be her first desciples!

Weird sounds were coming out of the small one's mouth and it caught Akaari's attention, head flicking between the two creatures as if she didn't want to lose sight of either of them. "Yes! That's me, I'm fluffy!" She had not had someone reach out to touch her before, it was always a quick push of her head against them and then retreating. Enough for them to know that she had soft fur but nothing more. "Akaari. I see things when I touch stuff!" Enough information about her, they would need no more, not yet, and she gave up nothing of what she wanted from them.

The girl shoved her face out towards Sun, crouching down slightly to be more on his level. Here was the one she really needed on her side, for now. She wasn't against his prodding of her fur, someone had to appreciate how great it was, but as the ape thing came closer a wisp would appear in the air, a dull green, and would dart in between the lion and monkey. "Where are you from? Where are you going? What are you doing?" So maybe subtle manipulation was not her thing, she was told to find out what they want and she was trying to do that, it was not her fault she was more like a brilliant lamp rather than a gentle flame.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

As he set his paw back on the ground the girl bit at his paw. At this the lion cocked a single eyebrow at her as if to say he would do as he liked. The lion just stared at the younger girl. He was clearly quite a bit larger than her as he was nearly fully grown now. He would be four cycles old soon, though he himself had never met another lion genetically his body knew he was nearing full size. That’s true but mine does. He ran his long sharp claws through the side of his mane as a demonstration. See even my claws don’t get through and they are far larger than your teeth miss. The lion explained growing a bit weary of the girl.


The girl simply smiled as he growled in a defensive position standing between the girl and Sun. He would not let her near. He’s not even a cycle old yet. He just hatched about a week ago. So we are teaching him to talk; he just hasn’t learned much yet. Aristotle explained why Sun didn’t talk well yet. He wasn’t entirely sure he liked the younger girl, or the fact that she talked in circles and danced around her point. He liked things short and to the point, this girl was the exact opposite of that.

Aristotle watched closely as Sun moved closer to the girl of his own free will. If he approached her that was fine, otherwise he would refuse to move from between them. However Sun had reached out to pet the girl and Aristotle watched the interaction with caution, ready to spring and grab Sun at a moment's notice to run. A light smile played on the lion’s muzzle as he watched Sun sink his fingers into the girl’s fur. Then he spoke and the smile on Aristotle's lips widened a bit. Sun seemed completely enamoured with the girl. Then she sprang up a wisp appearing near the girl. Aristotle looked at it curiously. Is that yours? Did you make that? What is it? He asked curiously, he simply wanted to know what it was, each question asked with a pause between as he inspected it.

Then the girl was once more up and asking questions. Sun is from Cetus, I’m from Eridanus. Next she wanted to know where they were going. Where were they going? Aristotle had merely planned to bring Sun to the stream to play for a while then head back home to James. We’re not really going anywhere in particular tp be honest. Aristotle responded in an even clear tone. What were they doing? Just what it looked like. I’m watching my son play in the stream. That was kind of a stupid question. Where are you from? Where are you going? Aristotle asked the same questions in turn though he didn’t ask what she was doing as she was clearly talking to him and Sun.

Sun stood behind fluffy daddy for a moment as he and the new creature conversed. She looked a little like fluffy daddy except smaller and without the thick mane. Her tail was far longer and her paws just about as large as fluffy’s. She was pretty to look at and he really wanted to see what she felt like.

Slowly he made his way up to stand beside fluffy daddy, one hand rested on fluffy daddy’s leg. As he made his soft hoots and coos, it seemed to draw her attention to him which made him happy. At this he gave a rather excited hoot followed by a little jump.

The little gibbon was pleased when the girl shoved her face down to his level. Gently with both hands he reached out and gently dug his fingers into the girls fur. It was thick and soft. He leaned forward giving her a tentative sniff. She smelled pretty too. With that he gave a soft coo of pleasure and sat back on his butt looking up at the girl. Kitty nice. The little gibbon commented giving a sweet smile. He also thought she was pretty but he wasn’t able to convey that just yet.


@Akaari

Not quite sure what to think of these two she was stuck between wanting to gain information from them, though they didn't seem to know much, and just thwack the big guy over his head and run off with the ape thing...now there was an idea. Those claws might be a bit of a problem though, but it looked like he was just using them too groom his hairy neck so maybe she wouldn't have to worry about them. Larger than her teeth, sure, but she was convinced they were pretty useless right now. "Not learned much yet? Must be dumb." Now, she didn't exactly mean it as an insult just that he had much to learn and he should do it faster, but there was nothing wrong with learning!

She wasn't a huge fan of the hairy guy, that's just to say that if he was playing on a stage she wouldn't actively buy any of his tickets but if her friends got her one she would turn up and hang around at the back. That was good enough to her. Yet, she perked up more when he wanted to know about her magic, maybe he wasn't so bad. "Mine, yes! It's a wisp. I control it and make it appear, I can make more! Sometimes they are big and bright and sometimes they are small and dull." A pause to take a breath and to make the wisp float over Aristotle's head, just lingering there. "I just think about it and bam, it's there! Actually, sometimes it doesn't work and once I tried it and things went poof, that wasn't great and I fell over because it surprised me but that only happened once, it mostly listens to me! I can change the colour too, just when I think about it in my head." She could talk about what she knows forever and a day, and would gladly do so, but then there would be no time to learn anything else so what would be the pint of talking then? "I can do other things too!" Pause it there Akaari, don't clue them in too much, keep things to yourself. Actually, even she didn't know exactly how much she can do, one day she could only see visions and then she could create wisps, budge objects a little and now...well now let's just say she can do a little more than budge.

Cetus, Eridanus. She had never heard of those places before, maybe he was a little more useful than she gave him credit for. She would have to find those one day. He could help there, that just means keeping him on her good side. Not too hard. Again, his questions would go unanswered, nothing important there, nothing for her to learn since she already knew the answers to those questions. "Where are those places?" She almost pulled away from the little hands of the creature digging into her fur, instead she only gave it an odd look when it sniffed her. Did she smell strange? No, maybe she smelt good? "What can you do? Like my wisp, can you do that?" The questions were for the lion, though she kept her eyes focused on the gibbon, trying to keep the other guy talking.

The gibbon was close to her, sat right in front of her, and though she wasn't even really half grown the little guy with hands was still much smaller than her. "Kitty nice, yes, come with kitty." It was a whisper to the little guy, he wouldn't mind if she borrowed him for a little while. She had use of him.

A quick glance at the lion.

An attempt to move her wisp in front of his eyes.

Then, as quickly, delicately and gracefully as she could (which, let's face it, wasn't much) she attempted to try and grasp the neck of the creature-with-hands-ape-thing so that she might run off borrow him.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

Aristotle watched the smaller and lighter feline cautiously. He didn’t trust the girl. She seemed way too interested in Sun and he didn’t like that. Baby blue eyes watched the girl as Sun investigated her, if she made any funny move he would be on top of her. A low growl rumbled in the lion’s chest as she called Sun Dumb. He’s two weeks old. I’m not going to rush him. Everyone learns at a different pace. The lion affirmed that Sun was just learning at his own pace. He was after all only two weeks old, he wasn’t going to sit down and force the boy to learn things at a faster rate.

Aristotle looked at the girl as she spoke of her magic. So it was her after all, the little bubble of glowing fiery color. So she didn’t control how big or bright they were, they weren’t like his magic of being able to grow things small or large. He was capable of controlling the size of the plants he grew. I see. How interesting. You are quite intriguing, I think James might like you. He can make rocks glow with his magic and they don’t ever go out. He was willing to give information about others but not himself and Sun at the moment. So she could control the color but it seemed rather fickle in and of itself. How interesting. The lion mused thoughtfully as she spoke. What other magics are you capable of? I can feel others' magic around me. James told me it's a spell called detect magic. One of his less useful spells but he wouldn’t mind sharing about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t know alot it was that he didn’t feel like sharing most of all with someone he had just met that for some reason just rubbed him the wrong way.

His questions that he turned on her went unanswered. To Aristotle that was a bit rude and he didn’t exactly like that very much. If one asked questions and expected an answer then one should intern reply when asked those very same questions. The lion narrowed his eyes at the girl. She was rather rude was she not? As she asked him where they were he seemed to ignore the question as she did. Is there anyplace you find particularly interesting that you’ve been? One last attempt at civility was placed on the table. He was nothing if not a nice person at heart, he would often give multiple chances. But this girl seemed to want to take all of his patience and push them to the limit.

Aristotle watched the girl closely, noticing that her eyes never left Sun, and that she seemed to only be making a pretense of conversation. Strike two at being rude and a little bit creepy. At that Aristotle moved a bit closer to the little golden gibbon. The lion stood within striking distance to roll the girl if she tried anything. As I said, I can detect other beings' magic if they are using it, or say the magic within a gem that holds life. He repeated the one ability he had given out. He would not show her any of his other tricks not until she proved trust worthy or friendly. WHich she was currently failing to do.

Suddenly the wisp was in his eyes and he let out rawr of displeasure, and shook his head. The lion reared up on his back legs and came down sending out a wave of his magic. As he did so, roots sprang from the dirt beneath her. The roots threw themselves around the female feline’s legs in an attempt to hold the girl still. The lion let out a very angry roar as he sprang after the girl his large form quickly gaining on the girl as he lifted a paw and growled. Put him down. NOW! The lion roared the last word angrily. His slender tufted tail waved behind him angrily. I will only warn you once. Try that again and I’ll rip your throat out. Aristotle threatened seriously. I’ve always wondered what a gembound like you looks like on the inside. The lion growled his baby blue eyes blazing with anger as he stalked around in front of the girl.


@Akaari