Inheritance of Chaos [Invite]

[TheRoguePrince]

"Things are different when you're being groomed to succeed your father as King." He said, almost noncommittally, remembering all the time he had taken for granted in his once beautiful home. "The land wasn't always like that. Instead of a barren waste, there were rich grasslands, great herds, and fresh water flowing year round. That was, until my Pride was attacked, and our whole world burned to ash." The anger and remorse in his tone as he said this were self evident, accented by an uncontrollable snarl and his claws kneading the ground in subconscious fury at the thought. He was dangerously close to another fit.

A deep breath, and the surprised, frightened look on Delano's face stopped him for going over. Yes, he was no longer alone, the knowledge, at least some of it, was no longer hidden in his heart. It was still too early to tell him any real details, like why he had survived, or how he had come to escape the fire itself, but it felt easier to carry now that his somewhat captive audience had heard it. The other lion was obviously exhausted from his ordeal, and his curiosity couldn't keep him awake for much longer. It was still midday, and Keto wouldn't be able to go hunt for the food they needed for at least a few more hours.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Keto asked the lion, hoping to get some peace and perhaps a bit more rest for himself before the coming evening. They both needed it, especially the wounded Delano, who would need to conserve as much energy as he could to recover from the deep, painful lacerations marring his form. The knowledge of the fact that he had done that, and with a great deal of pleasure, made Keto shudder as he looked over the extent of what was going to have to be healed. Its a miracle he survived at all given how close some of the gashes were to vital points on his body. There was no doubt about it, the will to survive was there, if only he could get him to see that he understood it too.

[DGFone]

Delano wanted to learn more about Keto's past, but when Keto began to get angry again, he began to think that trying to run again might be the better idea. Just in case, he placed his paws below his body, so that if he he will need to, he would be able to spring up and run away, or at least try to. But then Keto began to relax again, and while Delano was still afraid of another outburst, he decided to place his limbs at a more comfortable position.

Switching mental states again, Keto changed from the angry lion seeking revenge to the caring one. While Delano was't as sure about what had happened, Keto's advice for some rest sounded really good at the moment. "Where are you going to be?" He closed his eyes and rested his head on the ground. Resting is the most he can do now to get better, and as long as Keto won't go crazy again, being next to him was the best place Delano could be now, in the state he was in.

As his mind slowly wandered from wakefulness to sleep, Delano thought it weird how he was now basically entrusting his life to the very lion who nearly ended it early. And yet at the same time, as odd as it was, there was no other place Delano could think of where he could rest and recover as well as here, with Keto next to him. Still wondering what was up with that lion, Delano fell asleep.

[TheRoguePrince]

Peace, at least one of them had it. Delano, as independent and strong as he had been before, seemed to accept that at least for the time being Keto was going to have to make sure he recovered. The day was still hot, and there was little chance Keto was moving anywhere for the time being, so he settled himself down into a leonine cat-nap as he enjoyed the presence of another lion and the cooling shade of a good tree. This whole situation seemed improbable to Keto, who had assumed he would be at very least alone, if not insane by now. There was still a threat of the latter happening, but at least he was safe from having to communicate with himself for survival in immediate future.

"I'm going to be right here as long as it takes..." He whispered, both in response to the question presented, and reassurance that he was actually here. Keto, while making his life much harder for the foreseeable future, greatly appreciated the occupation and challenge of protecting and caring for someone else. He didn't exactly care for Delano, Kings knew the fact that he had tried to murder him twice was still very fresh in his mind, but they needed each other for mutual support, both physically and psychologically. Friends they were not, but the forced companions were bound together now, for better or worse.

Ears and nose still perked for danger or a change in his surroundings, Keto slipped into a sleep fit for the watch, waiting for the decline in temperature of the evening to alert him it was time to hunt. Nothing reached his senses as he slept fitfully, aware of the heavy breathing of the lion sleeping a few yards away from him in the hot Sun. Those facts calmed him more than anything else as he carefully avoided falling into a sleep deep enough to cause him to dream. The violent flashbacks he often got when dreaming could cause a fit of insanity, and there would be nothing Keto could do to prevent himself from killing the helpless Delano, who was essentially both protecting his sanity and needing it to make it back to health.... It was going to be a long process.

[DGFone]

The sun had started to set when Delano woke up again. He slowly opened his eyes, averting his gaze away from the painful glare of the sun's rays, and once again settled his gaze on Keto, who appeared to be sleeping under the tree he lay down at. Not wanting to wake the lion up, afraid that he'll get attacked for doing so, Delano instead lay as he were, and watched Keto, trying to figure the lion out.

His mind wondered back to when they first met, how Delano had sneaked up on Keto and, instead of ambushing, had threatened him to run away. His threat had backfired, and the ensuring fight lead to the two of them hating each other and nearly killing one another, and at the same time, because of that, they were now right here at the pool, together, if only for now.

Delano wondered if, they hadn't fought initially, how things would have turned out differently. Would they have hated each other as much? Would he had simply met Keto and left right away, barely acknowledging the lion who was now resting so closely to him? As he was wondering these things, Keto began to stir in his rest.

[TheRoguePrince]

Keto yawned his discontent as he awoke from another pleasantly dreamless afternoon of dozing. The Sun was fast descending on the Western horizon, and it was high time he got to hunting before night was fully upon them and the nocturnal predators became a major issue. Fortunately, the prey didn't have to be too spectacular given the fact that only two needed to eat, a creature not often considering a lion a threat would do just fine for a pair of males not planning on moving anytime soon. Delano was already awake, and something about his expression concerned him as he took his leave to secure their night's fare.

It was clear that he was only staying because he knew, well, maybe not entirely, that Keto wouldn't kill him, and that leaving was a certain death sentence in his condition. At least the hunt provided some satiation for Keto's violent side, allowing him to kill without the consequence of losing his self to the monster within. It was moderate game for them tonight as Keto managed to ambush a young ostrich that had not been wary enough of his presence in the area. Dragging the meat back to the waterhole was the hard part, and that gave him an unfortunate amount of time to his thoughts. By the time Keto got back to the pool he was tired and somewhat off balance again as his thoughts of the chaos he had endured churned in his embattled mind.

He dropped the bird in front of Delano, who had barely moved an inch since he left and promptly turned away to return to his tree. "Have at it, I'm not hungry..." Keto growled as he returned to his inner thoughts. It had been over a week since the terrible events of his near death and the tragic loss of his family, but he relived them repeatedly as if they had happened only moments ago. Keeping it in was only making it worse, and if he wasn't careful he was going to end up losing the remnants of his sanity. He had to be strong, the shreds remaining of his honor demanded that he ensure his weakness didn't kill the one who he'd wronged. Even if keeping him alive was mainly to ensure he didn't end up a primal monster...

[DGFone]

As Keto left, Delano was building up the courage to ask the lion where he was going. But by the time he felt calm enough to ask, Keto had already left, leaving Delano alone in the night, lying by the pool. Without Keto, Delano knew that if any danger came, he would be helpless in the condition he was in, so every little noise scared him, making him look around and watching every little detail, alert for anything. A few times, he would manage to convince himself that he was safe, and that getting some more rest would be a good idea. But whenever he would close his eyes, a new noise would echo through the air, and he would once again look madly around for the source.

At last, Keto came back to the pool, a dead ostrich in his mouth. Delano looked at the meal when Keto dropped it in front of him, then back at Keto. There was something wrong with the lion, noticeable by the low growls emanating from Keto. Delano ate quickly, not only not believing that Keto wasn't hungry, but also growing more and more frightened of the lion next to him, who was clearly angry at something. When Delano finished eating, he at first tried to fall sleep again. With Keto, he was no longer afraid of the small noises around him. But also with Keto, he tried to ignore the noises that Keto was creating, which compared to being alone, were even worse.

Unable to stand listening to Keto build up his rage anymore, Delano picked up what was left of the kill and dragged it and himself over to the tree. "Keto..?" He didn't even know what he wanted to say. Would it be a good idea to tell Keto that he was scaring him? Probably not. "Keto... what's going on? Why... why are you growling like that?" He looked at Keto, and as much as he tried to ignore it, he had a sickening feeling that the gaze in Keto's eyes was looking very similar to the same one Keto held both times as he nearly killed Delano.

[TheRoguePrince]

"There is a monster in me... a monster that is both me and not me." Keto growled as he tried to fight back the tide of memories and trauma rising against his mental defenses. "You have no idea what real pain is, no idea what it feels like to hold the only account of the destruction I have witnessed wrought upon innocents. You have no idea what I had to do to be here today." He said this between clinched teeth, the battle raging in him making it difficult to control an outburst, let alone speak of the horrors inside. The real Keto was afraid now, terrified of what he knew was only moments away, more blood on his claws.

He turned his face, trying with all his might to push back the insanity and rage filling him, driving him to wreak havoc upon anything in his path until his vengeance be satiated. The thirst to see compensation for the wrongs done him, and most of all, for the wrongs he himself had committed in surviving his family, was becoming too much to bear. Delano, laying helpless not five yards away was stricken with terror as the invisible fight ran its course, and there was nothing Keto could do to stop it if he could not release the agony soon.

The fire lit his eyes once more, and with a savage snarl he swiped his paw across the bark of the tree next to him, leaving deep gouges in the hard wood. He had to stand now, had to find a way to defeat this beast lest he become its embodiment. "You may never know what true pain is, but if you value your life, you will listen well to what I am about to say. If you do not understand the gravity of them, this may be the last moment either of us is truly ourselves again." Keto drew a deep breath, digging deep to buy time for a response, and hopefully, for venting his damage to the lion laying nearby. He could not wait long...

[DGFone]

At first, when Keto spoke, Delano simply stared back, confused. Something was clearly wrong, but e didn't know what, nor what to do about it. "Keto, what are you talking about? What did you do?" When Keto turned and began attacking the tree, Delano shrank back, instantly afraid for his life. He covered his head with his paws, hoping that he won't become Keto's next target, knowing fully well that he can't run away, no matter how much he wanted to.

But instead of attacking him again, Keto spoke once more. Delano carefully looked up at the lion, hoping that Keto had enough control to stop from attacking him. Once again, what he said made Delano only get more confused. Added with his fear of Keto, the pool was now the last place Delano wished to be at. "Keto calm down! Please!" He hoped that if Keto would hear the desperation in his voice, it will calm the lion down. "Tell me what I need to know, but please, calm down! You're scaring me!"

[TheRoguePrince]

With great effort, Keto forced himself down, forced his mind to form a barrier to the storm raging in him strong enough to hold off his fall. "It was just over a week ago when my life was destroyed, and the monster was born of my desperation. It was a dark day, and an unseasonal storm blew in from the West, bringing with it a sense of foreboding I could not place. I was soon to find out there were worse things in life than I had ever imagined..." Keto let his mind drift back, living once again his fateful downfall, and the events that shattered his seemingly solid life. This time it wasn't rage that welled up, but sorrow as he relayed the events to his captive audience...

The world was alight with fire as the storm dropped little rain, but lit up the dry land with lightening and great claps of thunder from on high. Keto couldn't pay attention to the devastation of his homeland, however, as he was far too involved in the fight for his Pride's home. Atop the highest hill in the area, littered with boulders and small caves, the Pride had lived in relative peace to this point, but now they were caught up in a desperate fight for survival. Keto did not know how many he had killed, or how many wounds he had sustained, but sheer base terror kept him on the fighting retreat his Pride had fought as wave after wave of foes swarmed the hill. Many were lost, and yet the dark, spotted fiends kept pouring in as the lions lost crucial fighters more and more often of exhaustion and overwhelming numbers.

Soon it was down to just a few surviving stragglers trapped atop the ridge, completely surrounded by the enemy, but they would not surrender, nor would any surrender be accepted if they did. As the whole world burned before his eyes, Keto, so strong and bound by honor, watched as he and the few remaining survivors, including his only brother, were set upon in the final fight. As he saw the others fall, something snapped inside him, and an unbearable rage and sorrow filled him, but despite his primordial fury, nothing could stop the tide, and he was quelled beneath the sheer weight of numbers. As he lay badly wounded, completely exhausted of energy, a dark form appeared above him, filling his darkened sight with its presence, and as the world faded, a searing pain flashed across his right cheek, quelling the last remaining reserves of strength he had. He was left there to die, surrounded by the bodies of so many, yet the world was ever so cruel, and denied him the peace of death.

"I woke up a day or two later, the world was gone, but the bodies were still there, a testament to the unbelievable tale. I should not have lived, did not deserve to live, yet here I am. A monster in a disgraced form, only alive by sheer luck, but I would gladly have traded places with any of my kin to have not seen the dead bodies of my family that morning, covered in ash and dried blood, as I was, but never to rise again..." A very rare tear formed in Keto's eye, and he turned his face away, mind still awash with uncertainty and anger, but somewhat more controlled now. Why was fate so keen on his survival, when all he wanted to do was rejoin the ones he loved, but never loved enough...

[DGFone]

Delano was left speechless when Keto finished describing his past. He winced slightly as he felt around his neck, where Keto's claws had pierced it, now understanding what had caused Keto to lose his mind like that. But the understanding also gave him a sense of dread, now that he knew exactly how much the lion he was relying on keeping him alive was struggling with his own wounds, albeit mental ones. He also felt glad that he himself grew up in a small nomadic pride, never having to worry about take-overs or attacks unless it was a new rival male or over food. But nothing on the scale of what Keto had described...

Crawling over to Keto's side, Delano forced himself to sit up before placing a paw on the now trembling lion. "I don't think you're a monster. Not all the time. After all... you saved me, even though twice you could have killed me." He thought again what Keto had described, trying to imagine what a large battle between a lion pride and its enemies will be like, with every member trying to kill anyone belonging to the opposition. "Those who killed your family... do you know who they are? Where they are from?" Almost immediately, he saw Keto tense because of his questions, and regretted asking them. "What I meant was, what are you going to do now?"

Sitting next to Keto, Delano began to understand why he was still alive. Just as he had meant to hurt or even kill Keto in the beginning, and Keto nearly killing him, Delano now felt like he wanted to help the lion next to him. He didn't even know why, and he still felt every now and then those surges of fear or anger against Keto rise up, but for now, Delano felt that as Keto would help him, he will help Keto in turn. "I don't know if it sounds like much, but I'm always right here. I won't be going anywhere."