Aching paws had finally taken him to this final, unexplored secret.

The fireflies buzzed an endless dance above him, burnt orange lights turning him a warm peach in their glow. Despite the cold the great best felt bathed in warmth, sat at ease and blinking slowly as the air hummed around him. The place thrummed, chorusing in words he couldn’t understand.

She would have loved it here.
The empty chasm in his gut opened up again, threatening to suck up his heart whole. Fionn managed to ignore it most of the time, but in this beautiful sacred place, the silence was deafening and all that was left was him, and the great black chasm.

Mindlessly, he dragged a paw through one of the shallow pools before him, watching the ripples venture outwards and kiss the edges of the earth. He would find a new home, he insisted. He would find somewhere to make his own, to protect and guard, even if it were the last thing he did.

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"Your paw will shrivel if you leave it in there too long," Maia muses as she approaches Fíonn, yellow-orange eyes falling on his pink colossal figure. She was drawn to him, but couldn't explain why. Perhaps it was his chivalrous nature in their encounter with Gwyn -- he hadn't needed to step in and 'save the day' for a complete stranger, but he had done and the girl wasn't sure how to show her gratitude.

Maia takes a seat and looked around the Hidden Grotto. She hadn't been following him -- more wandering and his scent trail had caught the yearlings interest. "Penny for your thoughts?" She queries, looking to the salmon-hued beast for some clarification on what plagued his mind.

Fionn was woken from his stupor by a freckled cheek and bright, sunshine eyes.

He snatched his paw out of the water as though it had been burned, a sheepish smile attempting to make it's way across his face, trying to conceal whatever melancholy had resided upon him.

It was the slate grey woman, from his encounter with the brute Gwyn. She seemed fine, almost singsong in nature, and Fionn found himself slumping with relief. Only just blossoming into a young woman, he'd worried what may become of her in these wilds.

Still, she was petite now, even as she grew... she would become a fine looking young woman, Fionn was sure of that.

He chuckled lowly at her question, bass tones rumbling like thunder under his ribs. "I might crush you under pennies if I did that." He half joked. He drew his green eyes up to meet her bright yellows, "I'm glad. To see you faring well." He admitted, voice a touch too soft.

@Maia

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Maia chuckled at his response and shook her head. “I wouldn’t let you — I may be small but I sure as hell can move.” She remarked with a cheeky smile, taking a seat besides Fionn. “That much on your mind?” She asked with a slight frown, curious as to what was occurring within the pale man’s mind.

Her ears twitched when Fionn remarked that he was glad to see her fairing well. The statement was questionable: Maia had lost her sister, knew not of any living family and didn’t have a home. She wouldn’t exactly say that she was fairing well. “Thank you. Same to you,” She replies, noting the softness in his voice. Was he always like this with women?

Fíonn was becoming increasingly aware of his odd behaviour, and the question in the beautiful young lady’s eyes was enough to wake him from him stupor. Stupid sentimental fool, he was.

Her chime of laughter was a balm to his ears. He smiled weakly. “Oh I’m not so sure.” he began lightly, “My skull’s pretty empty,” he chuckled, shaking off the spiderwebs of memory clinging to his mind, feeling far older than he actually was. Age felt like a curse to him, resting in the sticking place, even though he was in the prime of his life. The blush man couldn’t help the frown that persisted on his maw. “Please forgive me. I’m not good company at the minute.” he glanced at her, ashamed “I don’t recall your name a mhuirnín.”
@Maia

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The girl's ear twitched slightly as she grinned at the man's shyness, which was quite flattering. Maia had never experienced a shy man before, but it was a breath of fresh air which she was welcome to.

But the woman frowns at his comment. "I don't believe that your skull is empty," She retorts after a moment, twitching her tail gently. "What makes you think that you're not good company?" Maia queries, curious as to why @Fíonn was to think that.

"My name?" Maia echoes with a small smile. "I'm Maia. What's yours?" She asks, aware of the foreign tongue he spoke in -- what was he talking about? A slight look of uncertainty crossed her features before being quickly banished, replaced with a brief smile.

“Fíonn.” He answered simply. He wondered how she came to be here amongst the dancing fireflies such as him, and she did look lovely in the orange hum of the little bugs.

Wide eyed, he cast a glance over their cosy surroundings, and he pondered aloud. “What do you make of this? It’s quite a sight. Like stars in the day time.” he raised a brow, “Once the fog lifted I had to come and see it.”

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Maia sat silently and watched the fireflies dance around them, her ear twitching gently in the dim light. Fiery eyes turn back to @Fíonn, and she offers him a smile. "It's sure nice to meet you, Fíonn."

The pink male - who had a warm glow around him offered by the fireflies - asked what the grey lioness thought of their surroundings, and she took a moment to study it carefully before answering. "It's pretty." She muses quietly, wrapping her tail neatly around her paws. "I wonder what else the fog has in store for us." Maia ponders, looking to Fíonn with a questionable, yet curious, glance.

Hm. What indeed. Fionn watched her, and on a whim, gave her more about himself than he had yet.

Whatever it is, I want it to be mine. he stated, fact plain and naked for all to see. He thirsted for a home, a place to call his own. To own, to command. All these prides going around claiming people - I want to make my own. No claims. No tyranny.

He'd spouted a bit more than intended, realising he must sound like a ranting loon. He cleared his throat, voice retreating back into himself. I just want to make a home for anyone who cares to have one. He finished simply. Is that mad?

@Maia

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The air between them fell silent for no more than a few seconds, fiery eyes watching the peach titan until he spoke once more. Light-tipped ears perked at the mention of wanting a pride, and the girl smiled. So he was an ambition one? Perhaps this could stead well in her favour -- should she be accepted.

She smiled at him and shook her head at his question. "No, my dear Sir," Maia muses with a grin. She saw ambition and want in his eyes. "I think it's quite sane, to want such a thing." It was true: men were known to want a pride to rule and a home to claim as their own. Maia couldn't blame him for wanting such things.