Peace
So this isn't an adult piece *gasp!* I know, I know. But its my attempt at something with adult themes and possibly with adult scenes later on, but for now it is just a kind of cheesy love story about two lovers thrown together with little knowledge of each other or of the others culture. So as this series progresses you will get to know both of these characters better and find that they are far more complex then what you see on the outside. Well I hope you read, enjoy and review! Thanks!
Talia sighed as she sat down in the stone temple where she was left by her brethren. She was trained since birth for this moment, she was a lioness priestess. Three hundred years before, there had been a great war between her people and the savage bears of the north. Eventually that war ended in a peace treaty with specific terms set by her people, who had the upper hand in the conflict. One of the terms was that one hundred representatives from the Bears and one hundred representatives from the Lions, half male and half female each, would be selected every two years to mate with an opposing member of the others species and colonize the border of the two peoples.
Her people figured that at the very least they could bread out the Bears if not pacify their war lust by making them think twice before trouncing over their own people. A strange result of this however was an entirely new type of civilization on the border, as the two cultures merged into one. The border breed, as they became to be known, also became very independent of both races leading to a virtual third state on the cotenant and a powerful one at that.
This state worked well as a buffer for both sides aggressions and rivaled both states in power. Their power scared both the Bears and the Lions so both sides continued to send representatives out of fear of what the border breed would do if they stopped sending new genetic makeup. Both sides developed their own ways of choosing these new border breed participants yet both were very different. The Bears sent their third born children into the boarder while the Lions developed a system of training orphans as 'priestesses' and 'knights' to give the impression that they were truly training these offerings while most of their training was little more then basic pleasure slave training for the priestesses and basic combat for the knights. The boarder breeds also built temples at the original meeting places of the two groups, and the mating ceremony for the boarder breed had become very ritualistic and both groups were required to learn them in detail before coming to these temples.
Talia thought for sure that these boarder breeds would be there to watch and make sure the mating ceremony was handled with proper decorum and circumstance but since the other members of the delegation left to walk to their own individual temples she hadn't seen a single living thing. No one had really seen these boarder breeds save for high nobility as the breed kept to themselves, as such there were always wild speculation that the real reason few had seen them was because breeding of Lions and Bears brought forth horrible abominations and neither side wanted to give any credence to the unrest already abound at the now ancient practice. Talia never thought about it that much, she couldn't believe that her future cubs would be freaks of nature and there would be no way the nobility would be so afraid of the boarder breed if they were twisted and ugly.
Talia was young for a priestess, barely the age required for the journey, as she turned the proper age during the trip. She was prepared for her duty but was not meant to go on this excursion but one of the priestesses became ill and died just before the trek and she was rushed into her spot. Though young she was very well formed, average height, a tad over the average weight and very curvy, not overly but she was quite the eye catcher in the training facility among the knights and other priestesses. Her body was especially eye catching after she dawned the ceremonial silk wrap that left little to be imagined and along with her specific arrangement of gold and silver jewelry, which hung off all over her body, her already attractive build was accented with a near irresistible beauty.
Though she was attractive to look at, it seemed all the traditional garb was for not as she sat in the small plain circular stone temple with a small hole in its domed roof that illuminated a hard stone tablet where the coupling was supposed to take place. She fiddled with her jewels as she waited for what seemed like forever for her chosen mate to arrive. She was a bit apprehensive, not about the ceremony, years of sex slave training taught her not to be ashamed of her nudity nor of intercourse, but mostly about the male she had only written too a handful of times before arriving.
His name was Vulfbrum, a strong and eager warrior trained since birth by his parents in the ways of war and farming. He was rushed out as well, though he was two years older then her, so that he could be with her during this ceremony. She liked him well enough but there was that twinge in her, that this was the male she would be with the rest of her life, father of her cubs and protector of the household. The thought that you were just about to meet the person who is going to be the most influential on you for the rest of your life does tend to make one nervous.
"Where are you Vulf?" she said in her melodic voice as sigh escaped her lips, her legs dangling over the edge of the large palate impatiently. To her surprise she heard a shuffling in response to her questioning as the door behind her, opposite of the door she entered opened revealing a large tall bear, Vulfbrum. He was at least a foot taller then her and in his ceremonial tunic, shield and sword he looked as if he was a great champion returning from a heroic quest. He has some scars on his body and face showing the intensity of his training and his experience in combat.
He was nothing like she could have ever imagined, in his letters he was versed in poetry and knowledge of philosophy as well as the arts of war and the way of the land. She had pictured a skinny, but muscular bear with glasses and a goofy smile. Now she had a full blown Bear standing before her with the physique of an ancient hero. She sat there, looking at him her mouth agape at his appearance, studying him as he didn't move a single muscle beyond the entrance.
After the initial shock wore off she realized that he too was amazed that the creature sitting so delicately before him was the blubbering rational priestess he read about in her own letters. After what seemed like days of them staring at each other Vulfbrum broke the silence. "Sorry...sorry about my tardiness, the other side of this hill hasn't been looked at in months it seems. There was a tree and overgrowth on the trail and it was hard to follow."
She gave a smile and a nervous half chuckle in response, "its ok, at least you're here..." They looked at each other with smiles for a bit longer, the awkwardness of the situation hitting them both.
"Some first meeting huh?" Vulfbrum said as he worked up the nerve to approach the palate.
"Yeah...kinda awkward right?"
"Yeah, just a little."
"You can take a seat if you want; I haven't seen any one other then you since I left the rest of my delegation."
"Oh, yeah, that would be nice. That is a killer hill to get up after a ten mile hike." He took a seat down near, but not right next to her now avoiding eye contact with her, yet still with an embarrassed smile.
She smiled and giggled, a strong brave Bear like him afraid of her? She then scooted herself up next to the shy Bear and paced a paw on his back and her other grabbing his right upper arm while attempting to look into his eyes. "Come on there big Bear, you know me, stop being so shy."
He sighed nervously and looked up at her still with an embarrassed smile on his muzzle.
"I'm sorry, it's just...well...you and I..."
"...are about to become the number one things in each others lives?" Completed Talia.
"Yeah..."
"I have been thinking of that too."
"Yeah?"
"To be honest I was kind of scared of that before you came in."
"Why?"
"Well, honestly I thought you were the kind of male that would rather spend his time reading or philosophizing then protecting and providing for...well..."
"Really? You mean your still..."
"No, I said I was afraid of that, but now that I know you've got the body of an epic hero..." She laughed as she finished the sentence. He looked distraught not taking the compliment seriously.
"No I don't, I'm just me, normal, average."
"Vulf dear there is nothing 'average' about you or your body, I mean you look like you could kill a troll with your bare paws!"
He scoffed, matter-of-factly saying, "There are no such things as Trolls."
"Well then a Dragon, you could probably strangle..."
He interrupted her once more mater-of-factly saying "Dragons don't exist either."
A little upset at how serious he was taking her praise by sarcastically saying, "Fine then you could kill a Bear with you paws tied around your back"
He then plainly said, "I have..."
With that the playful praise gave way to a serious discussion, this revelation catching the somewhat sheltered lioness by surprise. "You what? Really?" She was in shock, the notion of killing another Lion was very foreign in her mind and for him to speak so plainly about ending the life of one of his fellow species made her a bit uneasy. Then she realized that he must have been confiding something to her, something he hadn't told to any one, perhaps this was the first time he felt he could trust her.
He looked up at her as her tone changed with a confused expression. "Well yeah, I told you I was my villages delegate to the games," He then stopped and thought for a minute when realization struck him, "you're a lion, I forgot, you must not have the same type of national games as we do. The games are a tournament of warriors, the best of each village fights to become champion, the champions village gets a reward of the champions choosing while the rest of the runner ups get recognition as official representatives to their village in the senate for one season, well if they survive that is."
"Oh!" she said as the realization of their culture differences struck her like a rock upside her head "Bears die in the games?" She shifted closer as she as he began to open up to her, she realized that this conversation was working he was lightening up looking into her eyes with relaxed shoulders and she wanted him to feel as comfortable as possible leading up to the deed they were about to do.
"They can, there is no rule against killing a defeated opponent but no one ever finishes off their enemy even if they were defeated, most of the deaths happen in the heat of combat with un-prepared opponents or others that get caught up in the heat of passion. I killed three males during the competition and all three were from lack of preparation on their part. They all fought bravely and their deaths were good deaths, but they all made mistakes. It taught me that one mistake in the games is like a mistake in combat, only takes one to kill you." He smiled as he realized she was listening in wrapped attention and while he was talking she had managed to grab hold of his right paw with her left one resting between their not touching legs.
She smiled noting his now comfortable state with her. "Guess you're really comfortable with war then?" She giggled a bit with the not so hidden double meaning in her sentence.
"I guess you could say that, but it's not my passion. Like all good warriors its best to hate war and combat, peace brings delicious fruits that are much more preferable then the thorny sour weeds of war."
She laughed and nudged him, "that's my philosopher," They both chuckled a bit before she finished her sentence fully her tone changing from her natural chipper tone to a darker, more sensual and mysterious one, "now when you say fruits, what does that mean?"
He looked at her, again quizzically and noted that her change in tone was accompanied with a change in body posture, she leaned over him more and her paws were more comfortable carefully caressing his chest as she leaned on his shoulder. He squirmed, shifted on the hard bed and sighed nervously. "Talia please...let this just happen...I don't want you...or me to force this."
She snapped to attention, slightly annoyed at his sudden attitude. She pulled her paws away from him suddenly with a concerned facial appearance. "What do you mean force, I'm not forcing you to do anything."
"You're trying to use your training on me, and I can tell you, it will work but I don't want you to want me because you're trained to want me out of tradition or because of what I look like I want you to want this because you want it. Like it or not we are stuck together for the rest of our lives if not forever. I'd rather live and love some one who is open to loving me not out of a sense of tradition or as a job. You understand what I am saying?"
Talia was a bit taken aback, while she knew she could seduce him into this if she really wanted too, she had never thought of him as an emotional type. He was after all a Bear, from what she could gather their civilization was based off of violence, alcoholism and clan loyalty none of those usually led to talks of love over obligation. She though for a moment, she knew she could, in time, love him for what he is but right now they were nearly perfect strangers, even arranged marriages back home were simpler then this, at least there the couple knew each other from birth.
He smiled at her and rubbed her back as she sat in deep thought. She purred a bit from his attention and nodded at him. "You are defiantly one of a kind, emotional, smart and strong...but you could loose a few pounds here and there." She teased as she poked his slight bulge of a gut. He chuckled and shrugged as a response. "Well I'm no goddess in mortal form like you." He smiled as he looked into her eyes.
She smiled as he brought a heavy paw to her muzzle caressing the side as she leaned into it. It was that moment, as looking into each others eyes; something seemed to just fell into place. The situation, the place, the time, the clothes, the atmosphere all of it seemed to just click as the Bear leaned in and gave the Lioness a soft but loving kiss. She closed her eyes as she embraced the kiss, feeling the moment wash over her, the love and affection they had for each other manifested in this simple action. How two strangers who had never met before, knowing only what infrequent and short scribbling they exchanged, were able to have such passion for each other in that small moment of intimacy is unknown. Such is love, a feeling that hits like a hammer one point and the ringing after the hit may last for a life time or it may fade, it is an imperfect science that may never be understood.
But the tender moment between the lioness and her mate was soon interrupted as, out of the shadows of the room stepped a robed figure. A hood covering his features and his paws clasped together under the long sleeves. This mysterious figure jolted the two lovers out of their kiss as Talia scooted away from the sudden arrival of the creature as Vulf leaped in front of her in an attempt to shield her from any threat the figure posed. He then unsheathed his sword and raised it at the robed creature.
"Stand back!"
"Calm yourself Vulfbrum son of Vulfrag, I mean you no harm," the figure said in a deep and gravelly voice, obviously an older male from the sound of it.
"You were hiding there the whole time?"
"It is tradition."
"To what sit in a corner and play peeping tom!?" chimed in Talia, now feeling violated by this sudden intrusion into her private life.
"I am sorry, but not all couples make their way from the meeting area to the city afterwards. Thus one of us is chosen to lead them to their temporary residences while they await their settling orders. I mean no disrespect, but it is also customary not to intrude on the couples first experiences with one another."
"Well what do you call this?" Asked an angered Vulf.
"You weren't going to go through the ceremony, and because its not required to do so I felt obligated to usher you on to the next part of your new lives." As the shadowy figure said this his arms parted a small object in his paw that was concealed by the robes sleeve.
Vulfbrum noticed the glint and shape anywhere, a dagger. On instinct he charged the figure that blocked Vulf's sword swiftly with his dagger. But Vulf, being the trained warrior he was, quickly reacted to this sudden change of fortunes as he knocked the dagger and the paw holding it away from the figures body, causing his own sword to sweep away from his body as well, but as these weapons were knocked out of harms way, Vulf quickly slugged the figure across his shadowed muzzle with his free hand causing the figure to topple over backwards and throwing his hood back revealing his true face.
As the figure landed with a 'thump' on the stone floor his knife rattled away from his paw. Vulf, victorious stepped on his foe's chest as he brought his sword to his throat. There lying before him was an aged lion, his fur thin from age and his features worn with time. Because the Bear was expecting a half-breed, he was surprised at the sight before him. Talia joined her mate as he stood over his prize.
"Well fought young one, my reactions are quite as good as they used to be when I was a knight." Chucked the elderly lion as a smile crossed his muzzle.
"You're like us?" Talia probed out of curiosity.
"Yes priestess Talia, I was a knight of our land in my youth, my wife a third of the Bears in hers. But we are old now and such concerns beyond us. I simply guide new couples to the capital now."
"Why you and not a half-breed? Is there really something wrong with the mixture of our species?" Vulf said as he made the elder feel the sharpness of his blade by pressing it against his neck a tad firmer.
The Lion chuckled, "Oh heavens no, my cubs were all beautiful combinations of our species, in fact my eldest is running for office in the council of the twelve this spring. You should vote for him, he is running on a campaign of expanding the northern boarder in the untapped forgotten lands which your people abandoned years ago."
The campaigning of a father for his son quirked Talia and Vulf who now began to believe this elderly lion might be telling the truth. Talia nodded at her Bear mate as a signal to remove the sword to which Vulf happily abided by, sheathing his sword and offering a paw to the prone Lion. The elder smiled and took the young Bears paw, slowly standing up and dusting off his robe.
He looked at the couple standing together as they watched him clean himself off, "You two will go far in the new world we created, you're concern for each others safety and emotions should be an example for our youth as what it means to be in love."
They both lowered their heads slightly in embarrassment, neither of them thought they were in love it was just a quiet moment that caused them to embrace each other as they did. The elderly lion bowed his head slightly as he gestured to what looked like a sealed wall to the left of the Bear door way and to the right of the Lion's entrance. The two looked at each other, puzzled as to the lions gesture but as they carefully approached the area they noticed a fait outline of a hatch on the stone floor.
The lion retrieved his dagger from the ground and joined the two. Then kneeling over the outlined hatch he wiggled the tip of the dagger into the small crevice until the blade was all the way into the ground. Suddenly a sound of machinery echoed through the small room and the hatch slowly rose revealing a lit stone stair case that lead underground. The lion, still smiling gestured for them to proceed down the stairs in front of him.
"Please go ahead of me, at the end of the stairs you will find closets with clothes for you're trip into to town, please wait for me there. If you see any other couples pass you, do not follow them; wait for my guidance."
Talia turned to the lion, "What is you're name sir?"
"I was called Sir Galden in my youth, but plain Galden is fine."
Vulf felt Talias paw grasp his tightly as he turned to Galden, "Thank you Galden and sorry for the whole...well."
Galden chuckled and placed a paw on Vulf's broad shoulder, "Think nothing of it my friend, you aren't the first to react in such a manor. Though I would only be more worried and somewhat insulted if you had lost to me."
With that Galden seemed to fade into the shadows, disappearing from the couple's sight. Talia placed a small kiss on her Bears cheek as he watched the elderly lion vanish. Vulf turned to look at the beautifully dressed priestess and smiled at her before looking down at the well lit passage below them. With a sigh he started off down the small staircase carefully clutching the beautiful lioness's paw as they walked down into the mystery underground, as they went they heard the mechanical sound once more and heard the large stone slab settle into its resting place, they stopped for a moment as it settled but once they heard the slam of stone against stone Vulfbrum tugged Talia along down the stairs, their future waiting for them at the bottom.