My Family, My Gold

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

"Ain't the worst place I've seen-" His gravelish voice hummed quietly aloud to himself as his sea foam gaze considered the strange formations of the waste. Some looked ready to topple over at the slightest breeze (of which there was little today which made the wastes stuffy even in the cool November air). He stood in the shadow of one; his eyes kept going up and up and he thought for sure such rocks could not be so tall? It looked like something built up by hand and paw more than anything natural the earth made herself with water and wind. In the shadow, it could fall and flatten him at any moment (a fittingly uneventful end for Vermillion...). And here alone no one would find him for ages, he was sure. It was quiet here. In the daylight hours not much was out save for the swampy colored lion too stupid to avoid the heat of the sun in the arid landscape.

His eyes finally reached the top of the rock formation and the halo of white from sun cresting over the reddened top. He squinted, grumbling and shielding his gaze by a turn of his head. An emptiness hung in his gaze, in his face. He didn't like this quiet, his mind grew too loud for his comfort and it brought back aches and memories he would rather have let go...

@Wokabi

Wokabi,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

If she was going to settle here for a bit she figured she could get the lay of the land. Steadily she moved through the various lands, it took her days but it wasn't as though she had anything better to do. Up ahead towers rose up from the ground, made of clay, and yet it didn't seem like they had been made naturally. It was almost as though someone had sculpted them, and left them there for others to see. So focused on them she didn't notice her pace slowing, to near cautious steps. Nor did she notice the figure in the shadows of one of these towering pile of rocks at first. It took several moments of her constant staring, for her instincts to inform her she was not as alone as she thought she was. You know the instinct I mean, the one that puts you on edge?


Muscles tensed as she slowly began to scan her surroundings, dual-toned gaze sweeping across brush and rocks. Where was this other being? There! She spotted the figure standing in the shadows and tensed even further, but it seemed he was more interested in the rocks as well. But wait... there was something vaguely familiar about that figure. The coloring, that two-toned mane.. she knew that mane. Her dad had a mane like that. It was enough curiosity to drive her forward, cautiously moving towards him. "Da?" Her voice was quiet, hesitant almost as though she was afraid to really hope... wish that this figure was indeed her Dad. Clearing her throat she swallowed and stepped forward once more. "Is that you, Da?" This time her voice came out louder, steadier. Now all she could do was wait to be disappointed.

"Speech here"

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

He got that feeling down his spine. The one that kept them all alive, the one that said you have company better check if they're friend or foe. His ears twisted around amongst his thick mane. He looked down and across in one swift movement while the sound of footfall rang clear in his ears. Who stood there was the last soul in the world he would have expected. It could have been anyone, it could have been a hare darting past in flight across the wasteland's grounds. Instead it was his daughter.

"You- you can't be here." It was disbelief that filled his voice and caught up in his throat. It threatened to choke him; nasty little black fingers clawed at his very soul to drag him back down. There was no way, this was a cruel dream. He was not the lion to deserve such a glorious and happy reunion; his daughter, she... she deserved better than him. He had failed to give her a happy, safe stable life. When Bri had had to watch her father die Wokabi's had been separated, a less severe state but did it matter when in the end their family severed? Vermillion's legs were frozen in place, his chest rattling with a number of quick breaths. "- you... you're here aren't you?" He asked this time with a voice weak, threatening to break the second 'no' hit his ears and she danced away as a specter on the breeze. Nothing but the result of too much time in the sun without water.

@Wokabi

Wokabi,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

She believed he would turn and tell her no that he was not 'Da' and who the heck was she? But his reaction nearly broke her heart where she stood, watching as first he looked in her direction to his uttered words. She couldn't be here? Was it dangerous? Was he simply in disbelief like she was? But his words confirmed that he was in fact her Da and she felt her heart stop and then leap into jackrabbit mode. Beating against her ribcage as she stood there, staring at him. She had not seen him since she was young, when their family had been separated, not once... but later she had also lost her mother. She had learned to survive alone and yet, she strangely did not resent the male standing before her. If anything she felt relief, relief at the fact that he was there, alive and hopefully well.


The silence stretched even though it felt as though he could hear her heart beating against her ribs. Silver ears flicking when he spoke once more, almost as if asking for her to confirm she was there. She moves then, towards him slowly but her movements aren't cautious. Why would she ever be afraid of her father? He had never given her any reason to do so when she was younger. "I'm here, I can't believe I found you.." She confirmed, before attempting to butt her head against his right shoulder. As if to show him that she was in fact real, while also confirming that he was real. While she had her doubts she wished to confirm it, to smother those doubts that her father was standing there before her. That after years they were finally reunited and hopefully would remain together because she didn't think she could bear it if he told her to get lost and that he had some new family and didn't want her.

"Speech here"

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

Vermillion felt himself flinch a little as Wokabi shifted forwards towards him- No. His mind screamed and inwardly he braced for the hit of reality, the brick wall he was most definitely running towards right now. She reached for his shoulder. He inhaled deeply the wonderful aroma of his family, his daughter, and what few precious memories he had of her when she was little came rushing back to him all at once and brought a tear to his sea foam green eyes. Her head butt against his shoulder and he could have shattered then for he was glass. She was real. "You're all grown up." Vermillion spoke the sentence with a powerful emotion woven into each word- fluctuating between heart broken and utter pride. He had not gotten to see her transform into the young woman who stood here today, and perhaps fate was right to deny him that, but without him she'd done it. And hopefully she would be stronger for it. He hoped she'd be stronger than he, stronger than her mother. He suffered his hurt in silence- tried to choke down the emotion from his face so he could simply be happy for her, so that she could feel her Da's pride and none of his pain.

@Wokabi

Wokabi,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

The flinch went unnoticed for if she had noticed she would have stopped, but it was missed and thus she didn't. His scent flooded her senses and she felt her tensed muscles relax instantly. Safety. It was what his scent meant to her, and it brought back memories of her as a wee cub. Back when their family was whole and together, she and her siblings, her mother. Times she missed, simple times before everything went to shit. His words brought a sad smile to her face as she kept it there, pressed against his shoulder so that he could not see her face for the moment. Taking a second to get her emotions back in check, shoved back down into that vault where she kept them, something she had learned from those she met on her journey. "I am." She agrees, before pulling back once more to stand before him with only happiness upon her face.


"I've missed you Da." She had, she had missed him a lot when she was younger, but as she grew older she thought she'd never see him again. Yet here he stood before her, healthy and there. "Where did you go when we got separated?" She was not accusing, not angry. Merely curious about what she had missed in her father's life. Had he found some place safe to settle down? Had he found a new family and didn't want her? She had not grown up with him, there was the familial bond yes because he was her Da... but what if he had a family here? Could she truly handle that?

"Speech here"

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

He felt her warm against him and it was like she had never been taken away from him. She was the small child at his side, nestled between him and Brighid, with a sparkle in her eyes and the world ready to bow before her. His daughter pressed against him and Vermillion let out an audible sigh while the muscles in his body, tight with tension and worry, melted and became loose. Real, real real. His mind and heart sang together and Vermillion did not fight the tears that raced to cloud his vision. His dark and swampy features showed joy, his heart felt warmth too great for even his darkest demons to fight away. For now at least. His doubts still swam around- he still wondered why he deserve this reunion, but should this earth and land have given him a second chance to be a father to Wokabi, if she'd have him, he'd take it greedily.

"I was with other Tollaires for a time." A frantic whirlwind of action, inaction, lives torn asunder with lions grasping for whatever life raft they could find. Whoever they could find to have comfort, to lament their shared loss of souls more important to them. "And alone for awhile after that- I was everywhere, nowhere? I don't know." He spoke with rambling and inconsistent gait. It had felt like a lifetime since he'd seen her last and he wished he could share it all with her, that she could tell him of all her journeys so he might relive them along with her. "None of it matters more than where I am right now..." And in those words he felt a thousand needles stab into his spine, a guilt. She was not the only child he had not been able to raise; at least with her it had not been a conscious decision...

@Wokabi

Wokabi,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

So much time had passed since she last saw her father and yet as she stood there it felt like no time had passed. She could remember playing games with him and her siblings, growing up – as long as she had – surrounded by family and love. Only to have it all ripped away from her in a cruel twist of fate. Yet there was that saying, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? It was true for her, growing up alone she had learned how to stand on her own four feet. She had learned how to survive, and thrive. Hell, she had made it this long and yet she was tired, tired of being alone in this cruel world. His answer pulls her from her thoughts and memories and she perks up slightly. "Are they here?" Did she have more family here? Hopeful perhaps foolishly, that his response would be yes that they were here as well.


While she may not know them, the mere fact they were family made her wish to meet them, to get to know them. Make up time that she had missed, learn from them and her father. She knew of her mother's side of the family, of their pagan ways and rituals but she knew very little of her father's side. It was something she knew she would bring up later with him, because what little girl doesn't want to learn from their Da? His final words cause her heart to clench and release once more, for she wishes to stay with him here. Stay with him wherever it would be he would go. She hopes he means being here with her, now. Pushing aside any nerves, she brings herself to ask as she forces back tears she feels welling up. Tears from fear of rejection, tears of joy. Hidden behind a mask her mother had taught her, hidden from view because she did not wish to sadden her father. "We can stick together right?" It comes out as unsure, as a question. Begging, pleading. Let me stay with you Da It said silently. Let her finally have a home, somewhere safe.. and she knew she'd be safe at his side.

"Speech here"

@Vermillion

Vermillion,

Lion of Prideless

Played by Twesh

---

His gut reaction was to shake his head - no. They were not here. But something caught him up and part way through a shake of his large dark head he looked thoughtful. He knew of none, none had come with him. But the same was true of her... and well fate was weird sometimes. It did like to provide a boon every so often if only to ensure it had ways to mess you up further down the road. "Well I guess- they might be? Shit if you're here I wouldn't put it past anyone else to show up." For the first time Verm sounded a little bit like his old self, that healthy dose of snark as he surmised maybe the world was conspiring to make him look the fool here? Seeing Wokabi in the flesh, his child, he thought maybe it was selfish to get hopeful that others would end up here? That he might have his family back around him. "-do you know where your mother is?" No situation he fathomed in his mind seemed to be complete without her there. However joyful he dared to let himself get he did not reach the heights he did when he imagined Brighid. Was the saying not absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Her request was so simple and it would surely bring Verm joys he hadn't felt in a long time. Joys he'd tried to wrestle out of every avenue he could and was denied at each turn. The large lion reclined onto his rear and as he sat he leaned over and aimed to brush his muzzle along the top of her skull. "Wokabi." His voice fluttered, her name seemed almost forbidden. "I can't ever make up for the time we lost together. I can promise a future together, if you're willing to give me the chance to be your father." A yes in theory but woven tightly into a thread of doubt, of guilt, that had plagued Vermillion since the start of their reunion. He knew in his heart he did not deserve the second chance to be a parent to her, he couldn't ask that of her unless it was what she wanted. And selfishly he needed to hear it; he needed to know beyond all the doubt that ravaged his mind.

@Wokabi

Wokabi,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by Sheena

---

Hopeful was one word someone could use to describe her. She was hopeful for family to be here, to be surrounded by those she cared for. Yet as she watches her father, she notes him start to shake his head no – she assumes – and feels her heart start to drop at the thought of not being around more family than her father. She had been robbed of that growing up, and now perhaps it would remain that way. But it seems he changes his mind then, as his words give her hope. Hope that they too had found their way here. “I hope they've found their way here.” If not because she wanted to meet them, but because they were her fathers family too.


He asks the hard question then, he asks about her mother. A frown crosses her face and she looks down, shaking her head no. “I haven't seen Ma in a year.... Not since she told me to run and lead some male away from me.” She informed him softly, glancing back up towards her Da. “He was nice at first … but then Ma didn't like how he was looking at me, so we fled. He followed and Ma told me to run and not look back. Its my fault I lost her, Da.” Tears started to well up in her eyes, she didn't even know if her mother was alive or not. She knew her mother had loved her Da, as she often told her that he was the love of her life, and spoke of him often as she was growing up. “I shouldn't have listened to her.” She should have stayed with her Ma.


She feels him brush against the top of her skull then, drawing her attention back to him and out of her thoughts. His words make her heart clench and she moves, attempting to burrow her face into his mane. “Of course I want you to be my Da. I've missed you so much. Ma spoke of you often, telling stories from when you were both growing up.” She had been told how her Da was her mother's best friend and confidant.

“Speech”

html by castlegraphics; image by Sanctuare

@Vermillion