Inheritance of Chaos [Invite]

[TheRoguePrince]

Keto's change bothered him tremendously, who was he? What would he become? There was no clear answer as the lion rested on the edge of a waterhole some miles away from the place where he had nearly killed his erstwhile companion in hot blood. His clean coat and full belly made him feel more relaxed and able to think, but open lacerations and bite marks riddled his muscular physic, bringing minor pain to accent the deep thoughts broiling inside him. No longer a prince, no longer loved, Keto was just unable to find an answer to a path greater than his own survival. He was a loner, selfish and yet selfless for most of his life, yet here he was unable to accept the existence he had seemed so conditioned for.

The difference was, he still had a heart left to fight for. His honor was tarnished and his motives corrupted, but deep down there were still lessons and morals buried in his troubled soul. Values that forced him to stop killing the rogue despite his maddened desire to vanquish the threat, and values that still nagged at his conscious as he lay safe and healthy while somewhere out there, deep in the night, a wounded, terrified lion was struggling to live on. No, he had not killed the lion, but if he didn't swallow his pride now it would have been better if he had. He grew steadily more restless as the thought processed repeatedly in his mind.

It was well before dawn when Keto moved off the waterhole, hauling in his jaws the remnants of a small kill he had made the evening before. It was not a Westerly course as he had set the previous day, but rather an Easterly one back in the direction he had come. Possessed of a desire to redeem himself, and perhaps save his heart the trouble of dealing with yet another death on his paws, Keto set out to rescue the rogue that had attempted to murder him twice in two days. The only path Keto had at this point that would save him from primal madness was the one that would likely end his life.... The ex-Prince and tarnished champion loped back into the darkness in search of the very enemy he had tried to kill, in other words, he was spiting luck...

[DGFone]

As the day slowly came to an end, Delano repeatedly tried to get up and move. But as the sun set and the stars began to shine overhead, all he succeeded in doing was crawling a little bit from where he fell originally, and where the lion had nearly killed him. A mixture of emotions ran through him, mostly fear and anger. Fear of the world, and of his own mortality, for Delano was only too keenly aware how close he was to death. As if waiting for him to die, several vultures were already circling over head, barely visible against the black sky, but never the less an omen to what was left of his future. He roared up at the birds, hoping that they will disperse from the noise. When they didn't, he roared again, this time out of anger at the birds who were only waiting for his life to end...

And he felt anger towards the lion. To the lion who came so close to killing him, but did not have the courage to finish the job, instead running away, while leaving Delano behind for dead. Using the anger he felt as an aid, Delano grimaced, but managed to get up to his feet. H grinned slightly, feeling like he might just survive after all. Raising a paw, Delano took a step forwards...

...and promptly fell back to the ground as his anger dissipated, and his strength with it. Gasping from the pain the fall caused, Delano rolled onto his back, staring up at the stars. Tears once again covered his eyes as he looked up at the small lights far above, resigning to the fact that no matter how much he tried, he wasn't strong anymore to move himself anywhere, and therefore, he was good as dead. The stars twinkled as they always did, seemingly oblivious to the fact that down on the ground, Delano needed any help that he can get.

Unable to deal with the thought of death anymore, he rolled over onto his side and curled up in fear, placing a paw over his eyes as he tried to hide from anything and everything. He was afraid to die, but as things were now, that's all he can do...

[TheRoguePrince]

It was shortly before dawn when Keto found himself on familiar ground where he could orient on his objective. The spot was not terribly hard to find, but there was some reluctance to be back here so soon, and especially with his current purpose. Fortunately the lion looked to be asleep when he arrived, probably exhausted, as it seemed he had tried to move himself from the location, only to collapse under the dead weight of his torn body. Keto let out a sigh of relief and anguish all at once as he saw that he was not dead, but close to it. In a few short, strong movements Keto had dragged the rogue onto his back and oriented back in the direction he came. This lion was going to need water and food quickly once he gained consciousness again, and he would need to be cleaned immediately to avoid infection.

It was going to be a long haul for Keto, who had assumed too much in thinking to bring the food with him, as the object of his search was in no condition to eat the peace offering, let alone thank him for it. The Sun was rising quickly in the Eastern sky behind him, and Keto knew that he had to reach the waterhole he had made his temporary home at before it got too far ahead, or he too would end up exhausted and then both of them would be in deep trouble. Luck was again on his side, however spited it may have been, and he arrived shortly after dawn was full on the land. He promptly dropped the lion in the shallow edge of the pool he had found.

With a sigh of relief, only taking enough time to make sure the lion wasn't going to drown in the shallows by lifting his head onto the bank, Keto retired to the shade of a nearby tree where he took his leave of responsibility and settled into a fitful, but light, sleep. In a few hours the rogue would either show signs of improving, and take the meal offered him just a few yards away, or he would succumb to his wounds, which would be a great disappointment, but given the circumstances, far less troubling then letting him die alone and subject to the desecrating influence of the vultures Keto had spotted overhead. Food for the birds was no way for a proud warrior and hunter to go. He owed him that much, even if he did have a spot of worry that he would kill him if he recovered.

[DGFone]

Consciousnesses took its time to come back to Delano. When he finally woke up enough to realize that he was alive, but still in great pain, he moaned quietly, wishing for it to end either by leaving him, or by killing him already. But he did not want to remain in this hazy state of half-wakefulness, with only the pain to remind him that he was still alive, if only just... and some other strange feeling that he wasn't fully awake yet to comprehend.

Opening his eyes, Delano scanned the area around him with his eyes, not recognizing anything. Where ever he was, it did not appear to be where he last collapsed at, but neither did he remember moving anywhere afterwards. Slowly, he placed a paw next to his head, and froze when he saw that it was wet. Did it rain, or what? He looked up at the early morning sky, which was clear of any clouds. Looking behind him, Delano frowned when he saw that he was lying half in a pool of water. How did he get here? Despite his confusion, Delano crawled out of the water, before moving back to the edge of the pool and taking a long drink.

Once his thirst was quenched, he backed himself away from the water, stopping when he hit something soft. Twisting around, his confusion rose even more when he looked the remains of a small kill, but with some meat still left on it. Too hungry to worry about who left the kill next to him, Delano dug into the meat, finishing it off almost right away. Tossing the last of the bones aside, he scanned the area around him, feeling more awake and alert now. His gaze fell on a furry body resting beneath a tree.

Crawling over to it, Delano examined it, and recoiled back in horror when he recognized who it was. Crying out in fear, Delano desperately began to crawl away as fast as he can, which was still very slow, away from the crazed lion who had already tried to kill him twice, nearly succeeding both times.

[TheRoguePrince]

It was the cry that awoke Keto from his slumber under the cool shade tree, a cry of terror that broke the peace his dreamless sleep had granted him temporarily. It took only a moment to orient on the origin of the sound, his wounded obligation was awake, and seemingly not pleased to find he had been rescued. Seeing as the lion was crawling, and slowly at that, Keto rose slowly and shook himself to wake up, then loped slowly toward the rogue, who hadn't gotten more than a few dozen yards in the time it took him to collect himself. A half amused and half concerned look took his face as he positioned himself in the path of the foolish lion's escape.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Keto asked out of a mixture of genuine curiosity and ironic sarcasm, "I don't really believe you actually think you'll make anything of yourself by doing that. At least you can clean up first, you're a mess..." In contrast to Keto's silky brown coat, the rogue was still half covered in ash and dust from the storm, and the dirty wounds, even though the most serious had been soaked, were a cause for concern. As terrified and upset as the rogue was, Keto had no plans of letting him go nuts and get himself killed for no good reason. "I would have thought you'd have realized by now that if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."

Keto said this matter-of-factly, but of course he meant it too. Sure, he had allowed himself to go a bit overboard, horrifyingly so, but he had acted both times in retaliation, not aggression. The rogue, who had still refused to name himself, was going to have to live with the fact that Keto was not going to kill him, or let him be killed any time in the near future. He would at very least take care of him till he was capable of surviving on his own again. This would both allow him to hone his individual skills, and to have a companion, if a rather unwilling one. "Listen, I understand you don't want anything to do with me, and I don't blame you, but at least let me help you get back in order before you run off on your own." Keto seriously hoped the lion would see sense enough to accept his offer, they both still needed it.

[DGFone]

Delano stopped trying to crawl away, if only because his path was blocked by the lion. "It... it was you who brought me here?" He looked back at the water, feeling as confused as ever. First the lion chocked him to the point of unconsciousness, run off and leaving him to die alone, only to come back and rescue him in the middle of the night. "But... why did you do it?" He struggled to sit up, but unlike before, was able to keep himself from falling back to the ground. "But you nearly killed me! You... you left me to die out there!" He felt his anger rise again, but it quickly faded as the lion's words finally reached Delano's comprehension.

"But you... you saved me." He shook his head, trying to figure everything out. "Why would you leave me to die, only to come back later?" As much as he wanted to remain angry at the lion, Delano found that he couldn't. Ironically enough, even though it was because of this lion that Delano had nearly died, it was also because of the lion that Delano was still alive right now.

Unintentionally, Delano lifted a paw to his throat, feeling the area where the lion chocked him. "It's like you're a different lion now... When you were chocking me, your eyes... you didn't look like, well, like you are right now." He sat his paw back to the ground, needing its support to keep himself upright. "So who are you really?"

[TheRoguePrince]

"Who am I?" Keto pondered that question slowly, "If it is a question of what I am it would be a much easier answer, but to ask who I am... Your guess is as good as mine now." He shook his head in discontent, unable to look the other lion straight in the eye as he rubbed the area of his neck where he had choked him the day before. "My name, however, is easy enough to give at least. I am, or at least was, Keto, and I am not your enemy." Perhaps the weight of what he had said struck the lion, but he was no longer trying to escape from the little oasis. At least he wasn't going to try and get himself killed, that made the job much easier than it would have been.

"I'd still like to know who you are too, but its your right not to tell me." He nodded his head in the direction of the fresh water behind them, "At least go wash yourself up, I would have done it myself, but I assumed that would be inappropriate given the situation." He walked away to give the rogue some space and to collect his own thoughts. Two days of harsh conflict and near death experiences, thats what it took to finally bring the rogue to trust him enough to not run off. Confusion seemed the likely cause, his imbalance internally had led to what was in effect two different lions residing in him. For now, the one that had nearly killed the now badly injured rogue was contained... for now.

He knew the meat he had provided for the rogue was not enough to constitute a whole meal, and it was unlikely the other lion was going to be able to hunt for himself any time in the near future. It was as good a time as any for him to learn to hunt properly on his own. He would head out later that evening when the temperature was tolerable to fetch some fresh meat. For now the water would have to sate the two occupants of the area. Fortunately the rogue didn't seem too eager to accost him for the pain he had caused, especially after the alarming rescue he had performed. The rogue might not know it yet, but his life was more a favor to Keto than it was to him. His other self was still too dangerous to allow himself time alone...

[DGFone]

Keto walked off, leaving Delano feeling dazed. "Delano! I'm Delano!" Not knowing if Keto had heard him or not, Delano grimaced as he got up and stumbled over to the water, allowing himself to fall into it. The water felt refreshing, but as he started to clean himself off, Delano almost wished that he had remained on dry ground.

As more dust and ash were washed off him, Delano saw just how many cuts and wounds he had, and it wasn't a pretty sight. He examined the wound that was hurting so much, and saw why it did, being noticeably bigger than the rest he received during the fights. Feeling fatigue setting in again, Delano hurried with his washing, and before he got too tired to stay in the water, retreated back to solid ground.

He lay down eagerly next to the pool, turning his head to Keto. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, that he almost didn't know where to start. "So where did you find me? Why did you even come looking for me again?" He really wanted to know why, when Keto had left him for dead, Keto decided to instead return and save him from certain death. This lead to the most important question he wanted to ask. "Why do you want me to live, even though I already tried to kill you?"

[TheRoguePrince]

"Delano, nice to meet you, that is, officially anyway." Keto had settled under the tree again, enjoying the relief from the hot Sun overhead. Delano was asking all sorts of questions, despite the fact that he was obviously suffering a great deal from the wounds he had suffered at Keto's own claws and teeth. "Finding you wasn't all that hard. You hadn't moved much from where I left you, and there was something just not right about leaving you there to die." He shook his head, that was certainly a given. No true lion would leave another to be devoured by lesser beasts, especially the dratted scavengers of the air.

He hesitated as Delano asked him the last question of the bunch, not certain if it was right to tell him why he was keeping him around. It seemed almost unfair to Delano to keep him around if it was merely to postpone another outburst of his darker self. He instead chose to blow it off for now, wanting nothing more than to get to know the first talkative being he had met since he was forcibly uprooted. Despite the horrible array of wounds Keto had given him, Delano wasn't all that bad looking for a rogue. Perhaps his luck had run out over a contest for a lioness in his Pride, or maybe just an overprotective ruler...

"What about you? How did you end up like this?" Keto asked with interest, eager to get off the subject of why he had let the other lion live. Fortunately, Keto was fairly certain he wasn't going to have to entertain questions for much longer, as Delano showed signs of needing more rest now that he was fed, hydrated, and as clean as he was going to get. As soon as he got the answer to his question he was going to suggest the other lion get some sleep. It wouldn't do to have him die of exhaustion after all that had happened to him recently. Keto had put far too much effort into keeping his sanity in one piece to permit the glue to pass from him.

[DGFone]

Delano lay in the sun, allowing its heat to dry him up slowly, figuring that if he got too hot, he will crawl over to the shade like Keto had. While he was disappointed that Keto didn't answer his last question, Delano didn't press the matter on. "Me? Nothing really special about me. I was born and raised in a pride, and when I got old enough, I left." He looked over Keto again. "And what about you? You should have left also, I mean, you look roughly as old as me, but if I heard you correctly, you lived with your pride until... until recently."

He placed his head down on a paw and closed his eyes, wanting to get some sleep. Even though he consciously knew that Keto won't hurt him anymore, he still felt that fear in him of the lion, fear that Keto might randomly turn on him and finally finish him off. But at the same time, he was afraid of being alone again, the memory of the previous night, of being all alone as he slowly died, was still too deeply engraved in his mind for him to feel comfortable being alone.

Opening his eyes again, Delano looked over at Keto, finding it odd how he now felt like he didn't want the lion who had nearly killed him to leave him behind again. "You said when we were still in the ash lands that they were your home... what does that mean? Why would you want to live in a place like that?"