P I Will Find You

Brighid,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

It called to her, the water. Of that she is certain, and it was the reason she found herself drawn to the lake. Drawn to the cool liquid, over and over again. Slowly she moves, the gravel beneath her paws crunching and shifting with each step. Claws easily dig into the gravel, adding to her traction. Dark brown eyes locked on her target, the edge of the water. Mind churned, going a thousand miles an hour even as she walked. Several thoughts rushing through it, causing the distracted look that was plastered upon her scarred pale face. While she had met several nice lions along her journey through the lands and had promised to assist in finding one lioness' daughter.. .she could not help but be drawn here. Where she halted at the edge of the water, staring at the crystal clear liquid. She does not move further than that, ignoring the gravel that digs into her paws. It was a mild annoyance, something easily ignored. She thought then about her plans, where she would go. Would she join a pride? Could she really move forward with her life instead of hypothetically treading water? Could she move on? She did not know the answer to any of these questions... Not then, and not now.

"Speak"

That Night That Shimmering Moon

art by ale-tie / code by twesh

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

That shimmering moon. His confidant, his best friend. Wokabi's emergence and reentry into his life had left him thinking near constantly of Brighid. He dared to have hope she might come back into his arms. He dreaded what life might take as payment for such rewards but greedily he wished anyways. Karma could come for what it willed from him- give him just a day, a moment. And Karma answered. Longingly he found his green eyes would not leave the pale white at the edges of her face even as he cleared his throat and tried to get her attention.

"You trying to look as handsome as me with all those scars?" He tried to make light of it despite the ache he felt in his heart seeing she'd been hurt. Knowing he could have been there to do something, to take the pain for her if he could. Brighid was a strong woman, he never doubted she could suffer and bring herself back when she needed. He loved that in her- but when he could take the beating for her why not? And that time- or however many times- he wasn't even in the picture. His guilt amassed and became humor, became levity, despite the plague in his mind. "Because you already had me beat from the start- you didn't have to try." I'm sorry. His eyes pleaded, his face hurt and it took nearly all the will in his soul to even feign enough humor and snark in his words to pass.

That Night That Shimmering Moon

art by ale-tie / code by twesh

@Brighid

Brighid,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

So lost in her thoughts she did not hear his approach, did not hear the gravel beneath his paws. She didn't even notice that distant but always remembered the scent as he drew closer. Her gaze does not waiver from its position staring at the water until he speaks. Only then does she react, her muscles tensing at the sound of his voice before slowly, slowly – almost cautiously – she turns her head in his direction. Many times through the past year she had dreamed of him finding her, it was one of the things that had kept her going. Kept her fighting against Roman, the desire to find her best friend and love of her life. Yet now, there he stood before her. At first, she wonders if she fell asleep, but deep down she knows she did not. She knows she is awake, and as she sucks in a breath his scent confirms it. He was really there.


His words are light, but she hopes he has missed her as much as she has missed him. Her head lifts then, from her previous drooped position. "You know I gotta keep up." She replies, a slight smile plastered on her face. She was strong by herself, yes, but she had always found being around Verm, being with him made her stronger. Braver. She moves then, twisting her whole body around to face him, before moving towards him. A low chuckle escaped her vocals at his next words, head shaking. Nah, he had always had her beat in her eyes, but she knew they could argue it back and forth all day. To her, he was perfect in every way. "We will have to agree to disagree on that." She told him, stopping right before him as if making sure he was real. Not only that but she had never been one for affection, preferring to just be around him, and was happy with that. She stares at him then, a soft expression upon her face for the first time in a year. It's not your fault. She wishes to say the words aloud to him but she doesn't. Instead, she breaks character and attempts to burrow her face in his mane and breathe in. "I've missed you." You found me.

"Speak"

That Night That Shimmering Moon

art by ale-tie / code by twesh

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

Keep up? The swampy colored lion huffed slightly and chuckled while shaking his head. She didn't need too, she shouldn't of had to. Even if, he was starting to realize, it did make her look particularly rugid and beautiful. "Agreed." It had felt like a lifetime without his loved ones, all of them, around him. And he harbored some concerns they'd have changed or as was more likely the case he changed. But Bri's stubbornness, how futile and silly it was to try and steer her away from her opinions, he did not doubt that still to be true. He hoped with all his soul it was. She was something steady, a rock both unmovable and secure. She hadn't changed, not in that way, and he let out a little happy sigh of relief. This world was not strong enough to break her. She stood across from him powerful, his eyes traced the new to him scars on her body and he felt both pain and pride seeing them closer than before. Were they all from defending their daughter? What other adventures had she found herself on in their time apart?

As badly as he wanted to know he also felt it wrong for him to ask because he had not been there and he should have been. It was a time in her life without him, he had no right to know of it. Maybe he didn't want too, it seemed like it would make his guilt worse if he did.

Vermillion leaned inwards as she pressed up against the rust and inky strands of his mane. Every bit of his body acting without regard to his brain and propelled by his heart and desires, coiling as near to her as he could and lifting a paw to wrap around her forelimb and pull her into his embrace. Should fate be kinder he could fade away some and be allowed to be as close as he wanted to be to her then. Fate was not so kind. "I've missed you too my moon." Ever gentle Vermillion aimed to brush his nose against the crown of her head, bury and lose himself in her aroma while placing a few soft licks to the top of her skull.

@Brighid

Brighid,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

She would never believe that she was as beautiful as he thought, it was as simple as that. Where she had once believed herself beautiful, she now knew she was covered in scars. Oh do not get me wrong, she was not ashamed of them. They proved she was strong, that she had survived and kept her daughter safe. She would do it again in a heartbeat, but as she stood there before him, she did not feel as beautiful as she once did. Her once flawless pelt was now marred, marked up by another. He agrees though that they will have to agree to disagree and it causes her to smirk. Did he remember how stubborn she was? How hard-headed? It was a trait she got from her parents and one that had stuck around all her life.


She feels his paw wrap around her front limb and she shifts, attempting to scoot even closer to him. Impossibly close, she secretly wants to just be surrounded by his scent. "I'm here now, and I don't intend to leave your side." She vows, sternly. She had no intention of being pulled away from her best friend again, it had been hell without him. Perhaps one day she would tell him, but for now, she simply enjoys his presence, pressed as tightly against him as she can possibly be. A low purr rumbling from within her chest as he gently licks at the top of her head, her face burrowed into his mane so that his scent is the only thing she can smell each time she inhales. "Not even if you told me to." It was a reference to her promise when they were younger when she had promised him she was his until he ordered her away. Now though, now she would not leave even then. She needed him, she knew this now. Her face nuzzled into his mane as she attempted to scoot even closer to him, though she knew it was impossible.

"Speak"

That Night That Shimmering Moon

art by ale-tie / code by twesh

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

"I will share all my remaining moments on this earth with you-" Here or there, the world around them did not matter for she was a plentiful cornucopia of wealth. In the desert she was an Oasis, the the darkest jungles the moon through the trees. His eyes closed and the large swampy lion exhaled contentment and warmth from flared nares. His chest rumbled and rolled with deep sounds of pleasure brought about by their affirmation, they were each other's. And Vermillion was weak when it came to his heart... "- and then an eternity beyond." Whatever came after this, forever and ever.

Ever so gently and carefully Vermillion shifted so that they were split; purposefully and needy he wanted to look on her alabaster face and the realm of bark and earth locked away in her eyes. "Brighid Maat you've seen the worst of me and endured the time I was not able to keep our family together. If it's still me you want then I am yours. Will you be my mate... again... still?" What had come across in his mind as something grandiose, beautiful and romantic fumbled a bit at the end. Vermillion let out a little frustrated growl and rolled his eyes at himself; degrading into a tired chuckle and then a look of weakness and vulnerability as he waited for her answer.

@Brighid

Brighid,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

His words, his promise stirred within her an emotion she had never felt before. It was nearly overwhelming, and the only way she could describe it to herself was …..gratitude. In her life, she had seen pain and heartbreak, but for some reason, the world had seen fit to place this amazing being in her life. They had given her, her best friend and for some reason – despite her flaws – he seemed to love her just as much, if not more than she loved him. Even now, when she returned to him, beaten and bruised... no longer the beautiful woman she had been in their younger years he still seemed to want her. It was something she did not get, for she knew that others split. She had seen it with her aunt, who had many husbands while she grew up. She knew how lucky she was, though she did not know how to verbalize her emotions. Instead, she releases a soft rumble in return to his own. Content to simply be there with him, that is until he moves back.


While she is displeased with this change she does not vocalize it, for she figures there is a reason for it. She does not need to wait long before he speaks once more, and his words cause her heart to squeeze in her chest. Did he really think she would not want him still, had she made him doubt her love and devotion to him? She waits, until he is finished speaking out of respect - one of the few people in the world she did respect – and fondly shakes her head at him when his frustration shows. It is only when it morphs into something much more vulnerable does she break the brief silence. "I never told you this, but when we were young I often dreamed of finding someone I could love with my whole heart. Someone who would be there, be my equal and my best friend. Then I found you and you became all that and so much more. It was the desire to find you, that kept me fighting when we were separated. There has never been a moment in my life that I ever doubted I belong with you.... I will always be yours." She tried to reassure him, and express that yes, she wanted him.... yes, she wanted to be his mate still, for in her mind there was no need for again. She had fought to get away from Roman in the hopes of reuniting her family, and now he was here. She felt whole for the first time in years.

"Speak"

That Night That Shimmering Moon

art by ale-tie / code by twesh

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

I will always be yours. Always. If all this time apart was any indication that promise was true, one she'd hold and keep forever she shall live. "I'm yours forever Bri, you're the only girl for me." He leaned inwards again to close back up that cold space he'd made between them. His body ached for her warmth and to refresh the aroma of her in his nose. He could not bring himself to be as vulnerable and sentimental. He hoped she knew she was just as important to him; she held him together so much it was a wonder he hadn't fallen apart in these past years. "You, me, Wokabi, we'll be a family again-" His voice, happy and in disbelief that it was all real, was fading away and the large swampy lion let out a content sigh. It took a moment until it clicked in his head and his muscles tightened; he lurches away from Brighid again with a big old stupid smile on his scarred face. "Shit Wokabi!" The damning realization that he's an idiot was comfortably familiar to him. His overjoyed face and expression managed to grow larger and he let loose a hardy laugh while his tail slapped at his hips and his ears perked up excited.

"She's here!"

@Brighid