Burying the Past [PRIVATE: AC & The Whistlerify]

[TheWhistlerify]

Dakari stayed where he was, and despite that he was drawing some warmth from Kijamii's position next to him, he was still the one who was by the entrance and was taking most of the wind. The cubs seemed to be getting more comfortable, but he himself was still shivering. "Me? No, no. I'm f-f-f-ine." He didn't want to seem like a wimp to her, especially after being called a wimp so many times by others. "Besides, we have to keep those two warm enough." He already knew that the cubs were going to be alright now, so it was basically just an excuse to avoid appearing weak infront of the first lioness who ever payed attention to him.

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Lina was as usual curious about what Juhudi was about to say, but beforeshe asked about it, she noticed the way Dakari and Kijamii were cuddled up in. For a moment, she felt like trying the same with Juhudi, but she quickly snapped the crazy idea away. It was going to be embarrasing if she suddenly placed her head on Juhudi's shoulder like that. Her normal teasing mind soon took control, causing her to chuckle, "Look at that." she said, keeping her voice low enough for only Juhudi to hear. The way she knew Juhudi, he would play along like he usually did, "I know they're just trying to stay warm, but I'm almost completely sure that Dakari found himself a crush."

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Marini at first hesitated, but Taga's words caused her to reconsider. He was right,, she knew that talking such things out could help her feel alot better, and Tanga seemed like someone who could understand what it felt like, considering the fact that he had been through such an experience. When the two locked gazes again, she didn't notice the slight blush that took over her cheeks, but if she did, she would probably start praying that Tanga did not notice it. She sighed, "I want to finally let it all out,I really do, but I don't know how to start..." Telling her story for the first time was not going to be easy. "Just give me a few more moments."

[AustralianChaos]

Kijamii did not buy Dakari's assertion that he was perfectly fine, and pulled her head off his shoulder so she could look directly at his eyes, frowning slightly, although more from worry than anger. "Dakari, don't lie...please. I can tell you're not fine...I can even feel how cold you are now. I understand that you want to stay strong, Dakari, for them...but don't be stupid about it. I don't want to see you, or any of us...fall ill because of this."

Not caring if Dakari protested her next action, she moved away and, after checking and noting that the cubs seemed much more comfortable now, stood up and walked around to Dakari's other side...the side exposed to the howling winds, and the source of his cold. As she moved out into the path of the winds, she could feel that, now that her fur was dried out somewhat, that the wind had a much lesser effect on her, and it was not blowing quite as heavily as before. Dakari's terrible, freezing condition was because the cold wind was not letting his still-wet fur dry off properly.

Taking the weakened winds with only a mild shiver...more of discomfort than true cold...she lay down on Dakari's other side, making her the one shielding them all from the elements. Blushing lightly, she snuggled up as close to Dakari as she could, letting their bodies come into contact from the shoulder to the hip, giving Dakari as much warmth as possible as she once more rested her head on him...this time on his opposite shoulder. "Here," she said softly, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice. "This should help."

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Juhudi breathed a small sight of relief when Lina got distracted, and even smiled when she pointed out Dakari and Kijamii. "Maybe..." he said, not quite sure what to make of Lina's assumption that Dakari had found a crush. But when Kijamii got up and moved to Dakari's other side, obviously protecting him from the wind now, he chuckled along with his best friend. "Forget Dakari, I think Kijamii...no, take that back, I think they've both got a crush...on each other," he whispered back to her, grinning all the way. He was certain Lina was going to tease Dakari mercilessly for this, and Juhudi was all for joining in when she did.

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Tanga did his best to give Marini an encouraging smile, missing her blush in the gloom. "Just start from where you think it all began," he said softly. "The rest will almost tell itself, usually." He then nodded as she asked for a little more time. "Take your time, Rini...there's no rush...not while this storm keeps up, at least." He added, glaring towards the tunnel mouth, as if the glare might actually scare the storm off. "Besides, I've got nothing better to do with my time, anyway," he added with a small grin.

[TheWhistlerify]

Dakari was about to protest what Kijamii had said, but he sighed a rather shaky sigh as he realised that she was right and that there was no point in arguing with her. He was so focused on making sure the cubs were warm enough that he didn't notice Kijamii moving away, or maybe it was because he was too cold to even feel the difference. He did feel it when Kijamii snuggled up to him from the other side, which had an immediate affect. The fact that she came this close, even if it was just an attempt to warm him up, caused him to turn his head in her direction, which ended up in Dakari finding his muzzle an inch away form hers. He was frozen for a second, but he quickly moved his head away a little and gave an apologetic look. "I... uh..." he said, slightly embarrassed "Thanks." he then smiled at her, a rather forced, shy smile because of how nervous he was.

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Upon hearing what Juhudi said, and noticing Kijamii come over to Dakari's side and cuddling up to him the way she did caused the cub to chuckle. She would have assumed that Kijamii was just trying to keep Dakari warm, but she noticed the slight blush on the lioness' face. "Yeah, definitely." She was unaware of the fact that she and Juhudi were cuddled up in almost the exact same position as the two adults were, "Hey, I have an idea!" she said, before bending over and speaking quietly to her friend, "How about, when this is all over, we wait for them both to be in different places, and then we go to Dakari and make him admit it to us?" she knew that slowly torturing Dakari into admitting his crush and then pretending they were about to tell Kijamii would be hilarious, "We should try that, and then make it look like we're going to tell Kijamii, he'll freak! We wont really tell her, so that we can investigate her as well afterwards." She was feeling quite proud of her idea, "Pretty genius, don't you think?" she asked with a smirk.

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Marini sighed, before deciding to follow Tanga's advice, but she started by pointing out the obvious. "Well... As you've probably figured, I wasn't born here. I was born in a forest, not far from here, somewhere outside of the lands we're at now. I was raised mostly by my mother, I do remember my father a little, but he was only around for about a week or two after I was born. I do remember that he had blue eyes, like mine, a red mane, and golden fur, like yours. After those few weeks I never saw him again, my mom always told me that he had responsibilities, of course I was too young to realise that he his pride to look after and was trying to keep us out of a war's reach. Mom always told that he would come back get us someday, that we could finally be part of a pride and that I was going to meet more cubs and make friends. But months passed and nothing changed for the better, we didn't know whether his pride won or not, and whether he survived or not."

She paused for a moment, because this was the part which would be harder to tell. "Well... Like I said, time went on. What I'm about to tell happened when I was around Lina's age." she would have settled Juhudi for the age example, but Tanga hasn't met him yet. "I was busy exploring the woods with my mom and looking for something to do when this lion showed up. He appeared to be injured, or something like that, he started talking to my mom..." she tried to recall what exactly happened, "And then... He looked at me, as if he was trying to figure out who I was..." she knew that it really was what the lion did, "Anyways... My mom offered him to stay the moment he said that he knew my dad. She wanted to know as much as possible about my father, but the lion said that he couldn't remember anything."

"He stayed with us for a while, untill his wounds got better. But he didn't get those wounds by helping my dad or his pride..." she fell silent for a moment, allowing Tanga to figure out what she meant by bringing up that piece of information. "I kind of understood that one day later when I was alone at the river... He kind of showed up and tried to kill me... Luckily he took his time by talking about what a fool my father was and how he was going to make sure that there would be no familly left when my dad returned. I guess that, according to the way he was behaving, that my father is still alive somewhere, but my mom..." she stopped, letting out a heavy, shaky sigh, "She showed up a moment before the rogue did what he came there for. They started fighting... I..." she felt the tears begin to trickle, and her tone became alot more unstable, "He killed her... just like that... next thing I knew Dakari showed up and he brought me here before..." she then completely lost control of her emotions, and in her seek for comfort brought her head down and placed it under Tanga's. As much as she tried to stop herself from crying, she just couldn't.

[AustralianChaos]

At Dakari's sudden turn of shyness when he almost bumped muzzles with her, Kijamii simply smiled, and actually giggled lightly when he stammered out a thanks. She was not completely clueless, thought...and had a sneaking suspicion that Dakari liked her...a lot. But right now, she was too cold to voice it, and figured she would say something away from Juhudi and Lina, anyway. As such, she responded to his thanks by shuffling even closer to him, actually purring slightly as his warming fur gave her own body some more life back. Huddled together like this, she realised that by now, the storm must seem like almost nothing. She just hoped Tanga was faring as well as she was, and that he wasn't stuck on his own, freezing to death.

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Juhudi simply grinned broadly as Lina outlined her little plan. When she asked if he thought it was genius, he nodded, his grin turning into a smirk. "It's completely evil, too...but you always were an evil genius," he said, adding a small tone of teasing to his voice. "But yeah, it'll make him freak out completely, it's gonna be soooo much fun!"

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Despite his desire to say something at various points during Marini's story, Tanga remained quiet, letting her tell it at her own pace. As her story progressed, he felt his expression grow more and more horrified. She never knew her own father...and a random lion tried to kill her when she was still a cub, killing her mother in the process! He felt sick and sad, all at once, and could tears welling in his own eyes as Marini suffered a complete breakdown, buring her head in his neck and crying into his mane.

Knowing she really needed some comfort right now, and that he was the only one around, Tanga, with some effort, managed to cast aside his shyness, pulling her closer as she continued to cry into his mane, wrapping his forepaws around her shoulders, letting her know he was there...he was not leaving her alone to deal with this...as he softly hugged her.

"I'm so sorry, Marini," he whispered gently, hearing the sorrow in his own voice, and feeling his own tears for her suffering. "I had no idea...that must have been so horrible. But...I'm sure your mum's watching you now, happy that you made it this far...just as you showed me how my parents are watching me. I know you must miss her so much...but you have friends here, you have Dakari...and I'm here, Marini...and I'm not going anywhere..." The words were coming out almost on their own free will, and Tanga silently prayed he was saying the right things.

[TheWhistlerify]

As Kijamii responded to what just happened with a giggle, Dakari felt his cheeks going completely red. He thought that his face couldn't get redder than that, but he realised he was wrong when the lioness cuddled even closer than she already was. He suddenly remembered that Lina and Juhudi were there, and was relieved to see that they were busy talking to each other. If he knew what the two were planning he would have probably freaked out. He turned his attention back to Kijamii, smiling a more genuine, thankful smile at her. "Thank you, I'm feeling better already." he said, before looking outside and seeing that it was still storming outside, "But wont you get cold now?" he asked as a worried expression came over his face.

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Lina laughed slightly as Juhudi said that her plan was pure evil, "Well, duh!" she said, speaking out the obvious. Dakari was going to go completly insane once she and Juhudi were though with him. She tried to guess which part was going to be funnier; getting him to reveal his crush to them or the part in which they will be pretending that they're going to tell Kijamii. She decided that it wasn't that important, and that she was going to really enjoy this. "It will probably be the funniest sight in the world!" she added with a giggle, "I met Kijamii a little bit before you came, and you should have seen Dakari's face when I asked him whether she was his girlfriend right in front of her! If that's how he reacted to that just imagine how funny it will be when we threaten to tell her!"

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Marini was drawing alot of comfort from being cuddled up to Tanga like that. His fur and mane were very warm, and despite the fact that she never believed she could ever come this close to anyone, she kind of liked it. When he suddenly wrapped his paw around her shoulder and hugged her, she finally began to calm down. Once he was done talking, she moved her head back up so that she could look at him, "I know that... I just..." she said weakly, before smiling at him, "Thanks." she then nuzzled him for a few seconds, before sighing and again placing her head beneath Tanga's. She was relieved that she finally told someone what happened to her, and she was happy that Tanga was the one she spoke to.

[AustralianChaos]

Kijamii smiled a reasurring smile as Dakari grew concerned over her taking the brunt of the storm. "Actually, I feel fine," she replied with complete honesty. "The wind's not as bad as before, I think," she said softly. Despite this, however, she had no intention of moving anywhere for the time being, and just lay there, her head on Dakari's shoulder, purring softly. As she did, though, she remember the two cubs behind Dakari, and raised her head to look over his shoulders at them. "You okay over there, you two?" she asked brightly, her quirky, energetic mood coming back now that she was fairly warm again.

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Juhudi grinned even wider as Lina told her story of how she first met Kijamii, actually falling into a mild fit of laughter, which forced their conversation to a halt. The laughter would easily reach Dakari's ears, and now he'd be listening to find out what was so funny. But they had their plan, now, so it was no big deal. When Kijamii asked them both if they were okay, Juhudi turned and smiled at her, trying to hide his smirk at the thought of how Dakari was going to react over their little plan. "We're fine...thanks for helping us both out there," he said, smiling at the older lioness. If it weren't for the two adults, both of the cubs would probably be freezing cold, and most likely ill, too...and Juhudi knew it.

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Tanga managed another shy smile as Marini looked up at him for a few moments, smiling as she thanked him, before surprising him by nuzzling him for a few moments and placing her head back under his, her muzzle back in his mane as he sat there, frozen. He definitely had not expected the nuzzle, and was floored by it. Add that to his crush on the lioness in his paws, and nervous tension suddenly claimed Tanga. He was able to continue the hug he was giving her, trying to comfort her...but now he was suddenly nervous. Did Marini like him, too...or was the nuzzle purely a sign of appreciation for his help? Questions and contradictions raced through his head, leaving Tanga almost unnaturally still, as he did not know what to do.

Eventually, he realised that he had not said anything, and finally came back to the real world. "You...you're welcome," he said, before cursing himself silently...his nervousness was clear for anyone to see in his voice, and Tanga was sure Marini would pick up on it. Awkward conversation, incoming, he thought dryly as he waited for Marini to ask him what was troubling him, knowing he was going to have to reveal his secret...he would not lie.

[TheWhistlerify]

Dakari still didn't like that fact that Kijamii was the one taking in the heavier part of the storm, even if she did say that she wasn't bothered. "Well... If you feel cold all of a sudden... Just say so." he said, despite the fact that he didn't want to have to move from the cozy position he was cuddled up to the lioness. His eyes locked onto the two cubs, who seemed to be okay now. In his close position to his crush, along with the nervousness it brought upon him, he hadn't notice that the two were giggling and poltting the entire time. He hoped that their parents weren't too worried, but he knew that they were probably concerned. They weren't very fond of him the last time their cubs were out in a storm like this.

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Lina was now filled with excitement and impatient as she continued to think over the plan she and Juhudi came up with. The more she thought over it, the funnier she knew it was going to be. She looked at Kijamii as the lioness adressed them, smiling at her, "We're okay, thanks." she said, trying to hide the excitement she was feeling. There was however one problem with their plan. Ever since Dakari met Kijamii, they hadn't moved even a single step from each other. She was going to have to think of a way to seperate them so that she and Juhudi could have a little one on one with Dakari, while not raising Kijamii's suspicion. But how was she going to get Dakari to go somewhere where Kijamii wasn't at?

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Purring noticeably, Marini shuffled even closer to Tanga, while keeping her head in it's cozy place in Tanga's mane. She was no longer cold, but she really like the warmth of Tanga's fur. She noticed that it took him quite a long time to answer, and that he was sounding more nervous than he usually was around her. She guessed that her nuzzle probably stressed him, but she still found his shyness around her really cute. She began pulling her head up so that she could look at him, running her muzzle through his mane while doing so. "Is something wrong?" she asked, looking at him in the eye and smiling at him, "You seem more nervous than usual."

[AustralianChaos]

Kijamii nodded at Dakari's words, quickly realising that arguing the point was useless...he was simply too kind to let her suffer there without taking his turn at the unpleasant cold the storm used to offer. "I will...but it really isn't that bad any more. Besides, I'm comfortable where I am," she added, her purring very effectively proving her point. She was very content lying there, cuddled up to Dakari...part of her really didn't want the storm to pass, since it meant she could stay like this as long as she wanted. But she knew the storm would pass sometime soon, and they would have to move...it must be late in the day by now, and everyone would have to start heading to their respective dens for the night.

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As the storm raged on outside, the rain making a constant, incessant noise against the grass outside, Juhudi's tail started flicking, a sure sign of one of two things; he was either really excited, or really bored. It was fairly easy to guess which emotion he was feeling then, given the blank look on his muzzle as he retreated into his own little daydream, barely aware of the outside world, as he tried to find something to do while they waited for the storm to pass.

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Sure enough, Tanga's fears were confirmed when Marini picked up on his nervousness, and that shyness was not helped when her muzzle ran through his mane as she pulled her head up to look at him, the contact sending rather pleasant tingles down his spine...he definitely liked her, but he was worried about how she would react...they hadn't known each other very long after all.

Tanga sighed, running a paw through his mane as he tried to figure out how to explain his nervousness. "No...nothing's wrong," he finally answered, which was true enough, to an extent. "It's just...I, uhh..." he felt his courage failing, and sighed again, wanting to tell her but at the same time wanting to avoid the subject entirely. But he doubted she would accept a simple 'I'm fine' or any evasive comment, and he had already promised himself that he would not lie. "I...I don't know how to explain..." he finally said feebly, pointedly avoiding her gaze in his nervousness...he doubted he could hang onto his courage if he looked into those kind blue eyes, anyway.

[TheWhistlerify]

Dakari at long last lay his head down on his paws, making sure to do it slowly since Kijamii's head was on top of his. His eyes stared at the wall for a few moments, before he glanced outside at the storm, which appeared to be weaker. He didn't know whether the storm was really starting to come to an end, or whether the fact that he was warm inside made it look like it. For a moment, he wanted to start a talk with Kijamii, and maybe find enough courage to ask her out, but he remembered that Lina and Juhudi were right next to them, and he knew that those two would never stop teasing him if they found out, or even if they had a suspicion. At some point he fell asleep, hoping that the storm would be over when he woke up.

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Lina at some point also began to grow bored, and her mind tried to come up with something she, and maybe Juhudi could do. But there weren't many options in such a small den like Dakari's. It was as small as the one Kijamii and Tanga were staying. She wondered whether Kijamii and Dakari would start sleeping in the same den. She suddenly noticed that Dakari's eyes were closed. Slowly walking over to him, she poked his muzzle once, seeing that nothing happened she laughed and looked at Juhudi. "Look who fell asleep." she said, thinking that maybe it was possible to involve Kijamii in her little plan, but waiting for Juhudi to say something. It was going to be funnier if Kijamii was a good actress, and was willing to play along.

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The soon Tanga said the part that it was too difficult to explain, Marini realised that he was trying to tell her that he had a crush, on her. She found herself smiling and blushing at the same time, the only thing she had to do was to get Tanga to talk it out, which seemed impossible. Noticing that he was avoiding her gaze, she decided to try something. "Oh come on..." she said with a pleading tone, before nuzzling his scruff in an attempt to get him to look at her. "We said we can tell eachother if something's bothering us." she said, looking at him again, "You can tell me."

[AustralianChaos]

Kijamii kept her comfortable, her awarness of the world around her slipping. She was far from falling asleep, her mind simply too active at the moment to let her drift off...but she did slip into a daydream of sorts; awake, and yet, at the same time, not quite alert. Part of her wanted to pace, move about, use up some more of that seemingly limitless energy...but she couldn't do it...not when Dakari seemed so comfortable.

As if her thoughts were a premonition, it was that moment that Lina decided to poke Dakari, and make a comment, bringing her back to full alertness just in time to catch what Lina said. Turning to Dakari, she smiled when she noticed that the cub was right...Dakari had fallen asleep, if his shallow, even breathing and relaxed expression was anything to go by. Smiling to herself at the peaceful look on the lion's muzzle, she simply lay back and relaxed herself, deciding not to pull herself into a conversation with the cubs...not yet, at least.

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Juhudi pulled himself out of his daydream as he noticed Lina get up and wander over to Dakari's side. "Lina, what are you doing?" he asked, his curiosity kicking in since he had nothing better to do. But when she poked the older lion, then turned to him and commented that he was asleep, Juhudi actually laughed a little as he looked at Dakari, confirming it with his own eyes. "So he has...only he could fall asleep in a storm this bad," he commented light-heartedly, chuckling a little more.

He eventually stopped when he noticed a look in Lina's eyes...a look she typically had when she was plotting something. Guessing it had something to do with their plans to tease Dakari over his apparant crush on Kijamii, Juhudi gave her a questioning gaze as he shifted his body so he could stay lying down, but look at her without hurting his neck. "You look like you're making another evil plan," he commented simply, hoping it was enough to get Lina to elaborate...he was still bored, and if this evil plan could be started up soon, he was all for helping her...anything to cure his boredom.

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Tanga sighed again as his own words about letting Marini talk to him about anything came back to haunt him. She seemed insistent on figuring out what was wrong with him, and Tanga knew that, if she was as persistent as he feared, he cave in to her pleas and demands very quickly. When she nuzzled him again, however, he turned to look at her again, stunned at her forwardness.

"I-I-I..." he tried to stammer out, before giving in for a moment, taking a few breaths to steady his nerves...and his heart, which he was convinced Marini should be able to hear, with just how hard it was beating with the emotions running through him. Finally gathering his wits, he tried again. "I really don't know how to tell you, that's all. It's just..." he hesitated, briefly considered trying to drop the subject, before giving in once more. "You've been really nice to me, Marini...you're the first one outside my family to be like this, and I..."

He paused, trying to think of something else to say, to either stall for time, or hopefully distract Marini. But his self-conscious and nervous mind was not up to doing much thinking, and he sighed once more, before looking straight at her. "I like you, Marini...really like you...and I...I don't...I just..." At this point, his nerves failed him, as his mind convinced him that there was no chance Marini was going to take his crush well.

"I shouldn't have said anything," he said softly, his voice carrying a tone similar to resignation and defeat as he pulled away from Marini, and got to his paws, turning and fully intending on walking away, intending on giving them both some time alone to get over his stupid admission, believing he should have just kept his mouth shut.