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[center][h1][color=DarkOrange]Scar Lionhart[/color] and [color=MistyRose]Odette Swan[/color] - Present Evening - The Pride Lands[/h1][/center]

After Dominic's disappearance, The King of The Pride Lands was forced to step outside for a bit. He knew it was near impossible for his men to locate the sorcerer as he had asked; magic users had ways about them in order to not be found, and it was that thought alone that had his already hot blood boiling. If he were to change, and he was damn near certain that he would, he would not succumb Odette into such a danger as he. He had killed his own wife and child in cold blood while under the visage of The Beast, he had no doubts that the situation couldn't be re-created with his newly adopted daughter. 

The fresh, cooler air (though still very warm) of the night sky in The Pride Lands did him [i]some[/i] good, but it took nearly an hour before Scar had managed to collect his head and be in complete control of himself once more. Only then did he feel it would be safe to return to Odette, and place her in the safest part of the castle until Maleficent decided to 'grace' them with her 'ever-so-mighty presence'.

Gods he hated magic.

Returning to The Great Hall where he had left everyone rather abruptly, he was pleased to see that a good majority of the room had emptied itself of unwanted occupants from the evening banquet. He just hoped that Odette was still around here somewhere.

"Malaika!" He called, heading towards the front table where he had seen her last.

Bringing her neck in she curled up in the dark shadow that the large front table provided her the sudden excitement from earlier causing her to drop from her perch on the cushions to the floor below the young swan determined to hide from the large crowd that was rushing back and forth around her each and everyone of them panicked by the sudden dissapearence of her friend and the angered outburst from the King before he had stormed out leaving them behind to clear out of the room; even now after most of the people had left the room and the panic died down around her she still couldn't help her mind from getting lost in the thought that Dominic was now being hunted down by Scar's men, the thought that it was her fault for asking him to take her all this way in the first place causing her stomach churn making her feel sick for the first time in months.

Her eyes were glued to the spot in which he had last been standing the flash of white light taking him away from her before she had even gotten the chance to thank him for all his help and say goodbye until it was time that the two of them met again which she was sure was going to be quite some time considering that now a Kingdom wide man hunt was in progress to find and drag him back to the castle whether he liked it or not, [i]'Why did they have to leave me on my own... Both of them... Gone...'[/i]

Just as the thought crossed her mind the sound of her name being called from across the room caused her to jump her feathers ruffling in surprise as she searched out the source of the noise her light blue eyes catching on Scar's figure coming closer to the table his own eyes searching for where she could have gotten to, pushing herself back up to her feet she slowly moved herself out from under the table stopping at the top of the stairs her neck extending out to him her beak brushing against his hand as he got close enough to show him that she was sorry even if he didn't believe it to be her fault.

Finding Odette peeking around the corner of the table from the floor at him, his heart softened half a fraction. How could he go on with giving her a stern scolding for bringing that man into his home when her innocence and purity, itensified by the persona of the swan in a more physical sense, radiated around her being like a beacon on the darkest of nights? Sighing as he approached, keeping to the lower floor level so that their height difference wasn't too great, he allowed his hand out to pat the top of her head where she nuzzled him with her beak in return.

"Quite the friend you've got." He repremanded her, though not unkindly. That was all he would say on the matter... for tonight. He could tell from the way her entire body seemed to droop that she felt bad enough about everything as it was. "C'mon kid, we've had enough excitement for one day." Reaching his other hand out, he scooped Odette up by the underside of her belly, using his opposite arm as support while he held her against his chest.

Folding her wings in tighter against her body as she let his one and only statement about Dominic and his earlier actions sink in her head dropping as she lowered herself against the ground showing him just how sorry she was, even though she had known that Dominic like herself and Scar had been placed under a curse by the same person that had been holding her captive she never knew that he himself had possessed magic the thought coming to her as just as much of a shock as it had come to the others who were around her.

Tensing her body out of the pure instinct of being a bird she hesitated her body pressing hard against the ground at her feet until she felt him lift her up her feet leaving the ground and folding up underneath her as she let her body lean into his his warm and gentle embrace supporting her small and fragile figure, reaching her head back up she closed her eyes her beak softly brushing over his cheek as she tried to speak to him knowing full well that until she was able to either break her curse or go back to swan lake where she would be able to see him again as a human all he would be able to hear were the loud honks of a swan, /"I-I'm sorry father... I did not know that he was magic..."/

"It's not usually like this here at Pride Rock- the uh, castle. It's not always this... active." He told her while heading back out of the Great Hall with her, the doors opening to them by the two doormen on each side as their King approached them. They didn't even bother with giving their King a strange look while he continued to converse with the swan, as they too had seen quite enough 'weird' for one day. "On a normal day, I think you'd quite like it here, actually. The Pride Lands is vastly different than Swan Lake, you could spend the rest of your life learning new things here..."

Keeping her close, Scar walked the both of them down a maze of different hallways until one hallway, more narrow than the others, seemed to drop down a couple degrees; a welcome change in the otherwise dry heat of both the land and the castle.
"I've the perfect place for you while you are here." He explained, taking a stone spiral staircase down once they reached the end of the hall where the only option was to go down the steps. With each step down he took, the area around them got darker and darker until finally the only way she was able to tell that they were still climbing downwards was the sound of his sandals hitting the stone steps in a rhythmic pattern. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a small stream of pale, blue light lit up his feet as he continued to descend. The small light traveled up his legs to his chest where Odette lay resting against him and finally illuminating his face as they finally reached the bottom of the stairwell and their tight confinement of the stone walls opened up to reveal a dimly lit [url=http://www.boston.com/travel/blog/grotto%20cave%20spa%20%28Large%29.jpg]cavern[/url], rivaling the very size of The Great Hall.

Turning her gaze up so that she could look up at him she tilted her head slightly her curiosity peaking as he began to explain that he knew of the perfect place for her to stay while she was living in the Pride Lands the dark stairwell causing her throat to seem as though it was closing up the enclosed space something she knew she would eventually get used to if where he was leading her to was to become her new chambers, closing her eyes she lowered her head once more her feathers lightly brushing over his skin as she gently nuzzled into his chest her body relaxing into his as she tried her best to ignore the claustraphobic feeling and instead enjoy that of his loving embrace as he held her close carrying her down to where ever it was that they were going.

After what seemed like a lifetime she lifted her head back up shaking out her feathers her gaze turning to look over at him before her attention was caught by the sound of gentle flowing water her beak parting as she snapped her head around her eyes widening as she looked over the room that he had brought her to the indoor grotto looking just as beautiful as her lake did under the light of the moon, /"T-This is all for me..? I will be living here?"/

The word 'room' wasn't exactly the right word to describe it. Although massive, the ceilings were low and in place of the usual stone surface that made up a good majority of the castle's structure, the entire place was uncut, unshaped and untouched by human hands in any way. The rock walls jutted out in various depths and directions. Stalagmites and stalagtites reached their spikes towards one another, some even connecting to form thick, jagged rock columns. Against the wall in which the pair had just come out of was perhaps the only man-made surface out of the entire room. A thick, widely spaced flat path circled halfway around the construct before molding back into the untouched rock, sloping down at an angle on both sides until it dipped into the turquoise waters that made the area, not a room, but a grotto. The pool of water made up a majority of the center, it's waters reflecting the pale light of the moon thayt trickled down through the ceiling in various opened places, some holes big enough to gaze out of and look upon the twinkling stars and lumonosity of the moon.

Stepping towards the unbanistered ledge of the path, Scar squatted down and set Odette back on her webbed feet onto the stone. With a hand, he motioned to the area just under his feet.
"The pool runs under the path, there's a small grass area past the width of the path that opens up a bit more. There's plants and other little things you can nibble on if you get hungry, but if you need anything else, just let me know. I'm not going anywhere."

Spreading her wings out she flapped them gently her legs swinging back and forth in her excitement to explore the grotto as he lowered her back down to the stone path letting her waddle away until she was able to stick her head under the bar her eyes examining the waters below them the gentle sparkle of it calling to her inviting her to just jump in though she chose not to knowing that she should pay attention to what was being said to her, turning her head she looked back over at him before she quickly moved to stand once more in front of his body her head nodding to show him that she was indeed listening to what he had to say to her about where she could stay, /"Will you be staying here in the grotto with me as well father? Or will I need to search you out in the castle if I need you?"/

Standing back up straight and moving a hand to the back of his head, he scratched the back of his neck for lack of knowing what else to do. She was honking at him again, but that could mean anything, though it didn't sound (nor did she look) particularly angry with him. Well that was a first, [i]not[/i] having someone angry at him. His inner thoughts had him second-guessing himself as though he had done something wrong, that she [i]should[/i] be angry with him for something, but he quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

"Though I suppose you can't [i]really[/i] tell me if you need anything..." Scar went on, having no idea that the swan had attempted to ask him a question. "But we'll make do kid, and tomorrow... well we'll just see what tomorrow brings." He refrained from telling her anything about Maleficent's visit. For one, he wasn't quite sure what Odette's knowledge of the woman was, if any at all, and for another, he wasn't about to get her hopes up if the horned witch had anything up her sleeve that might end up screwing him over, and in turn, screwing Odette over. So for now, he remained silent on the matter. "Now go. Explore. Get comfortable. This is your room now, for as long as you are here."

Waiting patiently she tilted her head listening to what he had to say before she took his words of encouragement her body quickly turning away from his as she ran back over to the railing that she had been looking through before her body lowered against the stone as she slipped herself under the bar her body falling forward and off the edge until she had disappeared from view altogether, pushing her wings back and against her body she let herself glide effortlessly through the water until she pulled herself up her eyes closing as she broke the surface her head shaking sending droplets flying from her feathers and back to the waters she now floated upon her feet pushing her slowly forward as she looked around happy that he had thought about her needs for while she was staying with him, /"It is so beautiful..! Oh thank you father, thank you so much..!"/

Turning herself around in the water she looked up at him pulling her front up as she spread her wings flapping them in his direction the tips of her feathers kicking up some of the water though if any of it hit him she hadn't of meant it as she tried to show him that she was happy with what he had offered her, lowering herself back down onto the water properly she pushed herself forward moving under the path and out of his sight before she eventually came out the other side coming across the grassy bank that he had mentioned was available to her earlier on before she had run off. Slowly making her way onto the bank she slowed to a stop her eyes once more closing as she shook the water from her feathers letting it fly everywhere before she nestled down her head turning back at the mouth of the tunnel, wondering whether he was going to join her and stay or whether he was going to leave her be to allow him to go off and do what ever it was that Kings did.

Watching the swan but for just a moment, realizing that she was going to go check out the small little alcove of the only thing green in the grotto where he could no longer keep an eye on her from here, Scar stripped himself from his sword, sheath, belts that went around his torso connecting at his hip and shoulder pads, sandals and finally the leather shoulder guards. Putting them all into a neat little pile against the wall to keep them from getting wet, Scar returned to the lip of the pathway and with one arm, braced himself down on the stone as he squatted back down and hopped into the pool. The water was cool, kept that way by the natural rock walls and by how deep down they were; a refreshing reprive from the stale air of The Pride Lands. Standing tall, feet on the sandy bottom, the water reached only to his naval but it was of little consequence. He headed in the direction of the small tunnel-like opening underneath the main portion of the path and hunching himself down so that only his head was showing above water, waded through until he reached the other side.

He walked up the slight incline and out of the water, coming up to the small grassy area where Odette was and laid himself down on his side, keeping himself propped up with an elbow. Looking to the swan, he tilted his head to the side curiously, wondering a great many things about Odette and her presence here at The Pride Lands, but most importantly,
"Need anything, kid? Maybe you could... spell it out in the sand with your beak, or... draw a picture..." He suggested, ignoring just how strange this was all sounding.

Watching him as he moved closer to her she turned her body over the ground following him as he made his way up the slope before he laid his body down their eyes connecting as he once more began to talk her stomach churning nervously at his request when she realized that even something as simple as writing what she wanted was out of the question, lowering her head slightly she shook it letting him know that she didn't need anything before she closed the gep between them her body pressing up against his her feathers brushing lightly against his skin as she settled herself down trying not to think of how he would react if she found that she could not even preform such actions as reading and writing.

Extending her neck out she lowered her head letting it rest over his forearm that was pressed into the ground keeping his upper body lifted her eyes closing as the days excitement finally began to weigh down upon her causing her to grow weary and her eyelids to grow heavy with sleep.

Watching her coming into him, Scar waited for her to get situated before running his hand over her back in a few short, gentle strokes, feeling the softness of the white feathers under his calloused fingertips.

"I'll take care of ya, Malaika. Let The Great Animal come, he won't get anywhere near you. So long as you are here, so long as you are with me, you are safe." He promised, keeping his voice at a low whisper as he looked down on her, watching her struggling to keep her beady little eyes open. "Get some sleep kid. I'm not goin anywhere."

Unable to keep them open any longer the swan let her light blue orbs close her breathing gentle and steady as she listened to his voice his words assuring her that no matter what happened he would keep her safe from danger even if that meant facing the man who had ruined their lives in the first place, her head tilted to the side leaning up against his upper arm as she let the calming motion of his hand gently stroking over her feathers relax her his words getting drowned out as eventually the motions sent her driting off into a peaceful slumber in his arms.