In the Light [Malik]

The light had begun to fade on another day over Librium. The evening sun painting a canvas of magenta and tangerine lit rooftops and cerulean trees. Much of the pride seemed to have scattered to the winds that day, leaving the woman called Bishop to a day of solitude and reflection.

It had been several months that she'd wandered into Malik's eclectic group of wanderers. A change mishap that brought the solitary panther into their familiar fold. Even after all this time, Cyd had not exactly settled in perfectly. Nessa still kept a wary eye on the tall blonde, keeping the panther at arms length. Lisette was like any kitten, so very curious, but old enough to not like the idea of someone else watching over her. She was, after all, an adult. At least, her age would state so. There were others still getting used to the silent woman among them. And then, there was Malik. He had accepted her. In fact, he'd taken a further step to learn the skills that were so innate to the older feline woman.

Yet, there were still the quiet scars that came with being born a soldier to Omni Corp. #32781 still had flashbacks. Memories of being a young feline stealth operative soldier, who had lost those she'd grown up with to the dogs of war. They would forever be imprinted in her memories. Wondering why they had had to die for a cause that was not theirs in the first place.

Sitting on the rooftop of McGregor's Bar, her back leaning against an ac unit, she looked through shaded sunglasses out towards the billowing colorful clouds dimly illuminated by the fading sun. Elbows rested on her knees, fingers fumbled soft caresses against the tips of the mates of her other hand. Her worn leather jacket kept the chill of the winter evening from getting to her skin. But, it couldn't keep out the cold that snaked through the hidden recesses of her heart.

Laying low after every great heist, master thieves knew the importance of laying low. Their duo job had netted one hell of a payday, and Malik knew what needed to be done. Their money was hidden away, the Pride took various jobs to keep up the flow of revenue, and they continued as if nothing had changed. They didn't know all of the details, thankfully the one person who knew everything also preferred to not drawing attention to herself. The job was two months behind them, but they kept up appearances so there would be no slip up that brought the wounded corporation down upon them. The rest of the Pride was out going about their business, but he and Cyd decided to spend some down time with an old and new friend. McGregor was an old friend to Malik, and had taken a liking to the leggy blonde that had become a part of the family.

Cyd had disappeared while he and McGregor were lost in nostalgia as old men were known to do when they got together. Even though she had given him some training, she could still disappear like smoke in high wind. Malik turned to look about the bar for her and saw nothing so he decided to go looking for her. He took a quick swig to finish the last of his beer, then held up two fingers to McGregor. The bartender pulled two bottles from the cooler, popped the tops off of them, and set them down on the bar. Malik took them in one hand, and ventured out into the bar, following his nose to his prize. The trail led him to the back stock room, and up the ladder at the back. The roof?

With one hand, Malik scaled the ladder, and pushed open the unlocked hatch. It wasn't until he was lifting the metal panel that he realized he was employing what she had taught him. He had thought about finding her as a playful hunt, and his body instinctively began to stalk silently. A smile crept across his lips and he continued on silently. Fingers first tested the wind through the crack and then his nose took it in. It was blowing across the roof which meant he was downwind from most of the surface area, and the scent of Cyd on the wind told him she would not smell him coming. Noiselessly the hatch was replaced and Malik slowly moved across the tarred rooftop towards her.

The closer he got to her, the more excited he became. It was like a cub sneaking up on another cat for the first time, feeling the overwhelming urge to pounce. Malik wanted to put himself to the test and see how well he had learned his lessons. When he reached the AC unit he leapt up on to it, landing on the absolute edge so its construction would hold his weight without buckling or deforming to sound his presence. Malik could see the back of Cyd's flaxen head above the unit opposite him. He bit down on the bottom of his lip trying to contain the smile that consumed his face. He could feel the childlike desire to pounce on her overflowing his good sense. Instead of pouncing, same feline agility that allowed him to balance on the edge, took him across the unit to the opposite edge in one step.

With his feet at either side of Cyd's head he finally broke his silence "How far did i get before you noticed me?" he rumbled. The smile was overwhelmingly noticeable in his voice as he lowered himself down to the top of the AC unity. Malik spread his legs so that his legs fell to either side of Cyd's shoulders. He held one of the beers out before him, and because she was now between his legs, it rested just over her shoulder so she knew it was for her. He brought his own beer to his lips for a most rewarding pull of amber brew. A satisfied exhale came from Malik's chest, and he fell silent as he looked out on the city of Librum and the sky above it. The best sunsets were out in the Wastelands, but the skyline of the city changed the quality of light, making rays streak across the sky. The sunset was something completely different inside the city a kin to a beautiful painting. The world seemed to slow as the angle of the rays gradually changed with the darkening sky. All things of nature knew that in the presence of Terra's majesty both beautiful and deadly, you fell silent long enough to pay homage.

The fingers of Malik's left hand invaded the strands of spun gold at the side of Cyd's head to massage the scalp beneath. Things were different now. Malik always closed the gap between them without warning or testing the waters first. Unless she made it known that she wanted her personal space, the lion was bold and made her know she wasn't alone in the world. Gentle fingertips teased the sensitive nerves behind her ear, and down to where her neck began. "You ok?" the air around him rumbled because his whisper lived in his chest. "You seem really far away." She wasn't alone anymore. If the other members of the Pride decided to leave, she would still have him. Even if she decided to leave, she would still have him. Whether he was waiting patiently for her to return, or hunting her down to take her back, he would always be there.

For years she had been a loner. Prowling through a world that had it's boundaries. Invisible high wires threaded with barbs and running with electricity. If an outsider stayed too long, they would surely feel the sting that was waiting for them to make the wrong move at the right time. Cyd had met that vicious prick to her skin many times. She'd been forced to fight for her life. Only to end up chasing that setting sun into new district after district. As a feline, it had been a painful existence to be alone. An existence that Malik would continue to battle, and to remind the silent panther, she would never be alone again.

Just beyond McGregors, she could hear the distant call of a siren. A clarion call that she recognized as a firetruck, soon followed by that of an ambulance, and police. It was several miles from where she sat now, and yet it was as if they were racing right by her. Sculpted brows knitted together against the noise, feeling it rattle the nerve endings of her skin. A gentle lift of her chin marked the quiet chuffle of air. A concerned feline sound made, as Cyd hoped that no one from the pride was the cause of the faraway alarms.

The light tap of tin caused her to lower her chin. The chiseled line turned slightly to the right, as she honed in on the whisper of a noise. A soft subtle grin pulled against the soft line of her lips. She let her body relax once more, gazing out into the distant streamers of the sun's shadow lacing through the city buildings. She couldn't pull his scent from the air, but she knew it was him. Few could slip towards her without so much of a peep of a sound, and not come to mean her harm. It could only be him.

"Far enough that if you had wanted to kill me, you might have had the chance," she purred, her voice soft like a feather dancing in the wind. Cyd fought the want of her body to turn to him. The feline desire to shift where she sat and to brush against his skin, painting the masculinity that was all his across her ivory flesh. Instead, she remained still. Feeling the sweet blanket of comfort wrapping around her, that he was there. She hadn't wanted to leave the two men at the bar. Yet, memories of the past had called her here. And sometimes, those calls needed to be met alone.

The amber glint of glass caught her eye, as he lowered the bottle near her view. Cyd reached up to take it. Graceful pads took the cold vessel gently, letting it slid lower into her palm. Then with a light tilt of the bottle, she brought it up to her lips. Eyelids laced together, as the little river of fluid streamed past her lips. It's amber taste welcomed by her tongue, that frolicked in the waves that escaped to the back of her throat.

Pulling the mouth of the bottle away, she let her arm rest against on her knee. The bottle suspended with the light hold of her fingertips. A few minutes passed by, as both watched the sun fall lower and lower. Until the ribbons of light became dusky cimmeran wide bands melting before their eyes.

Contact was made to her scalp, provoking a low pleasant rumble beneath her breasts. She leaned into his touch. Turning her chin towards the skim of his fingers. Fine hairs began to rise at the back of her neck, as the electric pulse of affection rolled over her skin. It had been years since someone had been able to break down Cyd's boundaries. Malik had done that and more, easing into the wary cats world and becoming an essential part of the puzzle that was the panther.

She lifted her free hand to reach for his. Long digits threaded through his fingers to curl a gentle hold on his hand. Cyd brought his hand up, her fingers pulling back his digits to press a tender kiss on his palm. Her nose brushed against his fingers. Then, she turned her head to rub her cheek against his palm. Nostrils inhaling his scent to flood within the confines of her mind.

"Yes. I .. just needed a breath of fresh air," she began, cautiously letting the truth slip from her lips. Confidences weren't always easily shared by the panther. Yet, Malik had gained the trust she needed to continue, "Memories. They come to haunt me from time to time," she paused, letting his fingers to, as her hand reached in a backwards twist to strum pads against his knee,"I don't think the wars will ever let me go. The people that are still 'back there'. I don't know how so many people seem able to forget.. it all so easily."

The words uttered filled him with a profound sense of pride. Malik knew that she wasn't stroking his ego. She was too hard a teacher, too cruel a task master to ever do that. She pushed him as hard as any drill instructor that he had ever encountered through his life. Malik felt his chest swell a bit more with each breath and he sat up a little straighter. He would never be as good as her when it came to stealth, but how many lions could even say they could be quiet if they had to be? Malik knew his own nature, and the nature of his kind. He knew he was one of a rare few if not the only one. It wasn't common for New Breed to stray outside the auspices of their birth.

He was pulled from his thoughts and the enjoyment of playing in Cyd's hair by fingers on his skin. Malik lowered the beer from his lips, and looked down to see what she was doing as he swallowed. Her touch was like ghostly silk caressing his skin, and he gave her unrestricted access to move him as she pleased. Even sitting there as she was, Cyd moved like a dancer in his eyes. Those eyes closed when he felt lips on the inside of his palm. His fingers curled to sneak a slow caress of the sensitive skin beneath her chin. He liked being behind her walls, able to do as he pleased. He knew personally how high they rose and how hard they were to scale. He chose the impossible task of busting through them because climbing would take too long. Nothing was impossible when one's resolve and mind were set to the same goal.

Cyd's words troubled him a bit, but they were softened by two things. The first was the fact that she was even talking to him about it. She was the type of woman that kept her own counsel and kept secrets buried. The second was that he knew exactly what she meant. Malik's hand kept contact with Cyd's skin as it snaked down her neck and over her shoulder. She felt his knee move as she stroked it. He was standing up and strong fingers on her back between the shoulders gave her gentle guidance. The lion moved her forward slightly and lowered his thick body between her and the side of the AC unit. He could feel her warmth in the metal defusing into his skin through his shirt. The lion settled behind her, and stretched his legs along either side of hers. He shifted slightly to get comfortable, then raised a knee, and pulled her back so that Cyd could rest against his chest. Despite the chilly air and lack of a jacket he was quite warm.

"I know what you mean," he said after taking another sip of his beer. "Some people are just better at hiding...." he gave a rueful laugh, "bad choice of words. Some are just better at burying the past. I'm not one of them." Cyd could feel his head turn into her, and his nose draw in a breath that made his chest expand more than the other rises and falls. However small the purr was, it made his chest rumble with her against it. "We were born for war, and lived it. Some bureaucrats signing a piece of paper doesn't change that. We do what the old ones taught us to do, we find a way to survive. That's why I started running a crew. I was tired of being alone. The memories of everything I did, the shit I went through, and the people I lost made piss poor company."

Even as she held to the faith that she could whisper her soul to the lion, the darkness within her being shivered with the expressed vulnerability. She had lived her life behind a mask. Moved as a shadow. A thing expected to hold no emotion, to never fear, and to near feel the sting of heartbreak. She had been born a 'beast'. A thing to use, to breed, and to throw into the most dangerous of spy situations. It was to this world that Cyd had moved, and become the woman she was now. Cold, heartless, and stealth like machine.

However, there was more to silent Bishop than others would realize. And it was first to Malik that she would dare lay herself bare.

Soft lips pressed firmly together, gritting away the inner turmoil of her loss. Beneath her leather jacket, soft milky white flesh would tremble over her shoulders. She quickly brought the bottle's tip back to her lips. Splashing another drink to the back of her throat, as if to wash away the memories in that single forced swipe. He would see the rise of her shoulders, lifting quickly with a deep draw of breath, before easing back down slowly, as pieces of the past filtered away in an expressed breath.

With his movement, she turned her head slightly. Watching as a bit slid down to the gravel of the ceiling next to her. Her mouth pinched in a crooked uneasy smile. Her body shifting like a gentle willow. Slender branches moving aside to make room for the broad form of the lion moving behind her. The hand that had caressed his knee ghosted his leg as it moved. Her body never leaving more than a couple inches in the space between them, she felt in this moment her skin hunger almost becoming an overwhelming need. Contact was something that she needed, and he knew this. His comforting strength settling behind her, gently guiding her back to the hardened wall of his chest.

Her hand wrapped around his thigh, fingers coiled into a gentle hug. She sipped at her ale, listening to Malik's understanding words. He'd been there. Been through the battles, and lost so many at his side. The small pride that moved with him now not near the numbers of armies he had probably crushed the opposition with back in those dark days.

Cyd pulled her knees up towards her chest. In a movement so very feline, muscles and bones moved in a way they never should have been able to. Turning the blonde about between his thighs. She brought one boot up over his leg, then the other, so that she was sitting to face him. The beer in her hand rose above his shoulder and was set down upon the AC unit.

She studied him for a moment. Pondering the view of the past that moved behind his dark eyes. Searching them softly, before she would mesh her own memory into the same frame she believed he might see. Sapphire oculars swept their gaze over his masculine and yet beautiful features, then lifted to where her fingers stroked light little swirls in his short dark hair. Then her eyes fell back to his. A soft smile tempting to edge at at corner of her pout, "I need new memories. I want you...to be all I remember."

She knew that one learned from the past. But, there were times when their haunting reminders hurt too much. So much more than any battle wounds she had suffered. And even if they had been doing their own fare bit of killing, and living in the shades of the world, Malik was there. Ever close, ever quick. For once, someone else had her back.

The pads of her fingers ghosted the frame of his jaw. Slowly rising to lift a finger that painted a caress across his bottom lip. "I want to remain here.. with you and yours. You told me I could decide...for myself."

"This.. is what I want.. not to be alone again," it sounded as if she were asking so much, at least in Cyd's mind. She just wanted to be apart of his world. Not to contain it, but to be part of it's flowing existence as it moved through the changed world. Cyd's blue eyes fell down to his mouth, where her finger continued to draw now just beneath it's soft full frame, as her mouth quivered a wider smile, "I think Nessa has decided not to run me away... at least."

A long slow breath streamed from Malik's nostrils as he let out Cyd's scent. His chest relaxed and he settled behind her so she could get comfortable. He thought she was just going to nestle against his chest but that was far from what she intended. Watching Cyd bend and contort her body with inhuman control and precision brought a thrill. Malik always marveled at how close to the surface the beast in Cyd always was. There seemed to be a thin and blurry line between feline and woman that was crossed without thought.


Malik ducked his head slightly as one leg passed in front of him and a smirk settled on his lips as Cyd settled herself into very intimate positioning. This was unheard of for the panther unless they were completely alone and behind closed doors. They were alone but anyone in a window with a higher vantage point could see them. It seemed like she truly was relaxing her aloof demeanor. Quite a bit had happened over her months with the Pride and as far as he was concerned, she fit in just fine and had earned her place among them. When she finally settled, Malik locked eyes with her cerulean pools, his hands snaked around her hips, and pulled her in snug against him. He liked the intimacy of touch, both halves of his being craved it.


The low spoken words brought him in closer as much as the scent of her had earlier. Hazel eyes blinked slowly and never returned to their fully open state. The world vanished from his vision leaving Cyd as all he saw. "You earned your spot. Even if you chose to leave it would still be here waiting for you." His deep voice was a rumbling purr that couldn't be heard beyond their bodies. His hands flexed like a cat's paws and fingers kneaded into the muscles of he lower back as he gripped her hips. The beast inside was very content and instincts buried deep within him were showing it. "Nessa was like that with Lis at first. It passed after they almost killed each other. She's actually not as bad now as she had been then. Give it some more time."


His left hand left her hip and rose to push fingers up along the length of her slender neck from nape, to curl around just behind her head. "I'm glad you stayed." he said as his thumb traced the contour of her jawline. "I'm not saying I would have stalked you," he smiled, "but I would have tracked you down and made you reconsider." Malik had leaned in to her touch when she touched his jawline and traced the bow of his lips and was returning the skin awakening favor.


Malik's touch grew more commanding and brought Cyd closer to him and he lifted his chin to take her lips with his. He didn’t think twice about it, nor did he hesitate. The time for that between them had passed months ago when they were training for their heist job. He seized her lips and drank deeply, enjoying the touch of her soft pads, and dancing with her. His hand pushed further into her hair, playing with the saffron locks. Malik took his time in the kiss, and his hands moved to the small of her back. All at once he lifted her up on to him, bringing their torsos close, pressing their bodies together. Finally he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes, ”You’re stuck with me. You’ve got a home and a family now. We can make all the memories you want.”

She settled against him. Her knees nestled on either side of his hips. The toes of her boots tucked against the gravel of the rooftop, as Cyd relaxed comfortably flexed like a feline without hard and rigid bone. One hand splayed fingers upon his stomach, while the soft tips of fingers memorized the gentle curl of his mouth. So simple the touch, and yet every skin cell sent a recognizable stamp upon the prints of her fingers. A current rising along the path of muscles, slipping through woven sinew to swim upstream of her arm like salmon to leap upon the pounding muscle of her heart.

Cyd gradually lifted her eyes to his, searching his clear pools for the whispers of her own soul. Primal songs lifted from the back of her mind, rolling with the roar of large cats long ago. She and him, their dear Lis, they weren't human. Even Nessa somehow seemed to understand, fitting into the pride's feline version of family. It was a family that she wanted to be apart of, as much as she wanted to be apart of him. The male alpha whose fingers dug so sweetly into the swell of her hips. Hands gripping want he wanted, as his words and smile promised that it was much more than a simple fancy. Malik wanted her.

The hand upon his stomach rose along the hard mantle of his chest. Fingertips tripping over the fabric of his shirt, before lifting to cradle the strong line of his jaw, as the other hand fell to mirror on the other side. Coral lips spread in a small delicate smile. Cyd could feel her heart become electric, recognizing home in just his words, in just his touch.

"Don't ever let me go," the words were like a soft caress of velvet on his lips, as she drew even closer to him. Pulled into his body by the firm grip of thick fingertips drawing her against this body. Feminine hips rolled forward, her body resting against his like the perfect curved lines of a puzzle. Her mouth went to his. Soft plush lips crushed beneath the pressure of teeth. A little mewl curled at the back of her throat, when she felt the clutch of fingers in her hair. His hand's smoothing touch tempting pores to awaken, opening wide like the parched earth seeking drops of rain.

She didn't want to breath then. She just wanted to feel. To taste his mouth, the damp confines, her tongue grazing against the sharp line of his teeth seeking the hint of sharp canines hidden within, then rolling to caress his tongue. An intimate dance in the dark, as she held herself to him. Nostrils wide, suckling in the air, seeking his scent, the musk of man and lion blazoned into one.

Cyd's lips felt parched in the moment that their lips parted. Even as she took deep breaths that drew in the taste of his warm breath, and his pheromones to sweep against her tongue. She stroked the pad of her right thumb against his cheek, as he spoke. The sweet thud of her heart tattooing each syllable within her being.

Leaning her forehead to his, she closed her eyes. Shutting out the sounds of traffic and people just beyond on the street, to hear only his breath, and to feel only his touch and his skin. She all her senses register in the moment, before lifting her large oceanic blue pools to meet his sea grass oculars, "Malik...let's go away."

"Not leave.. but.. just escape. Humans take vacation all the time.. I want to see some place new, some place that hasn't been touched by the wars of man. Lisette, Nessa...they need a break, too." Her mouth fluctuated in a light smile, then she leaned forward to whisper a soft brush against his mouth, "You need ...a break..to get away. To see a horizon without another man standing in the way."

Cyd was a specter, a wisp of smoke that seemed to barely exist on the edge of notice, but now there was no denying the reality of her.  She had weight that pressed down into the tops of Malik's thighs as she nestled atop him.  Her fingers traced paths over his neck and scalp, leaving behind electricity that rushed to the core if his being.  His hands ran over her body as well, gripping curves like handles, feeling flesh meld to hold, using them to pull her closer.

 

Everything about her drove him wild.  Her scent:  strong , feminine, and heated intoxicated him, stealing his reason.  The taste of her kiss passing his lips, dancing on his tongue as he tangled with hers made him hunger.  The feel of her made his body rise to the occasion, craving even more.  All of it was tearing at the bars of the cage within him.  Malik kept the beast within restrained without much effort, but Cyd was making that task far more difficult.  When she spoke, he simply grunt, ”Never….” and seized her neck with his mouth.  It took every ounce of control he had to keep from throwing her down on the gravel covered rooftop and have his way.

 

Malik pulled his head back and looked up at Cyd.  He rested his head against the cool aluminum, and gulped mouthfuls of cold air trying to clear his mind and regain control.  His eyes were heavy lidded, and glassed over with passion.   It worked for the most part, but his hands still hand minds of their own.  They slipped beneath Cyd’s shirt and rubbed over the taut skin of her abdomen and sides.  The cat in him wanted to touch, wanted to kneed, wanted to languish and purr after the deed.  The man however, listened to the voice speaking to him, as Cyd rested her forehead against his.

 

”You’re right…..” he said through a breathy smile, ”I could use a vacation.”  His hands continued to play across her flesh as his heart refused to slow as long as she was this close to him.  ”With the pay day off our last job we can afford a vacation.”  Malik looked from Cyd to the city around him.  The sun was almost done its descent beyond the horizon.  The light was being cut off by the massive walls that surrounded Librium.  Rays of diffused amber sun shone up over their barriers giving him a stifled feeling.  Malik was feeling confined in the city despite its size, and her idea of getting away made him realize it.

 

Malik leaned up and seized her lips again for another kiss and then said, ”Let’s do it.”  His hand came down to give her a swift and playful smack on the ass.  ”Lets go away for a while.   Ness and Lis could use some down time too.”  Malik let Cyd get up off of his lap and he pushed himself up to standing.  He reached down and grabbed the bottles that he had brought up.  He waited for Cyd to be ready to go, and he led the way over to the hatch in the roof that lead back into the building.  Carefully he climbed down to the storage room, and made went out to the bar where Mac stood filling pint glasses.  They spoke to one another for a few moments and then Malik grabbed Cyd by the hand to lead her out of the bar. 

 

The Mule was parked on the street outside the bar.  The two of them hopped inside and made their way outside the city to the place where the trailer was parked.  Malik reengaged the locking mechanism between the two, and disembarked the cab so that the two of them could go inside and start packing.  ”Grab what you'll need.  I'll leave Lis and Ness a note.... Nah... On second thought I'd better call them.”. Malik pulled out his phone and punched in Vanessa's number as he walked to the section of the cabin where he slept and kept his stuff.  The line picked up after a few rings.  Luckily the two of them were together, saving him time on a second conversation.  After a while he hung up, and rejoined Cyd.  He had a large backpack slung over his shoulder, and a massive gym bag hanging from his left hand.  ”Let's roll.”



Once outside the Mule Malik locked the door, and climbed the ladder to get to the roof of the trailer.  Up there was another toy that he had built to assist in their rift Beast hunts.  It was a four wheeled All terrain vehicle that was built after the style of an enclosed dune buggy.  The over sized tires were perfect for gripping and surmounting broken terrain.  The vehicle was solar powered to ensure that it wouldn't run out of fuel while in the field.  Malik walked it down a ramp using the wench system that kept it held secure atop the Mule.  Once it was on the ground he put up the ramp and locked the trailer down once more.  Malik picked up his gear, threw it in the back seat, then tossed the keys to Cyd.  ”You're the expert on secluded spots, you're driving.” he said with a smile and slid down into the passenger seat. Once she got in, Malik reclined his seat slightly and placed his hand on her thigh.  There was no need to tell her to be careful. She was a member of the Pride and being capable was part of the job description. 

””

Silken tips of her fingers caressed the rough prickle of shadow along his jaw, as Cyd watched him look off towards the distant light seeping past the barrier of the fortress like city. She could see the yearning of freedom in his eyes. The want to prowl beyond the walls into the plain of freedom that mankind seemed to have forgotten. They feared that open space. Yet, creatures such as Malik and Cyd hungered for it. Danger be damned, they were just as a part of the feral nightmare of man. Caged, chained, the feline within needed to stretch out beneath the sun. To leave concrete and metal behind. And to listen, to nothing but the sound of another's breath.

A tilt of her lips began to rise, before the smile would be taken by his lips. Cyd's joy could be felt, as muscles tensed ready to spring. A leap that was made quicker by the playful pop on her bottom. Cyd laughed, getting up with fluid ease, dancing back on her boots, before turning her now excited eyes towards the distant sliver of light. She could hear the clink of the bottles joining one another in his hand, just as that light beyond abandoned the horizon of the city. She released a soft sigh. Her thoughts whispering to the silent ghosts in her head....how she longed to race after that setting sun.

Moving a boot behind her, she turned on the heel, then looked to Malik. Her troubled features earlier now aglow in a gentle light. The leggy blonde followed him, easing down the ladder, then leaping down to land silent on the round.

Cyd walked behind Malik in an idle step. Falling into her quiet world, she was already thinking of the view beyond the city. Her mind escaping before her body had a chance. She barely saw the faces of the bar patrons, some of them glancing her way. For now, Cyd only had eyes for Malik, and the world that she had not yet seen. She could feel the cat within pawing at her chest. The dark leopard stretching within, ready to bask and roll in soft grass untouched.

It wasn't long, as she was moving through the hardened metal walls of the mule. Grabbing what few things which belonged to her. The old olive backpack soon filled with folded clothes, a few essentials, and of course weapons. Throwing the backpack over her slender back, she waited on the ground. Watching the agile grace in which Malik climbed the Mule, and began to release the ATV.

With a crooked grin, she wandered to it's side and looked at Malik, just as keys came tumbling through the air towards her. She captured them in her grip, then looked at the lion with a tilted curious grin, "Alright. But, you better be prepared to enjoy getting lost."

Cyd tossed her pack into the back, then climbed into the driver's seat, and slid the keys into the ignition. Turning the engine over, she offered Malik a sly smirk, "Don't worry, we won't really be lost. I just want to go...somewhere I've never seen charted on a map."

"Ready?" she asked, just as she felt his hand settle on her slender thigh. Within the content purr lifted, feeling comfort and deeper emotions swell within her behind at Malik's touch. Cyd leaned over the middle console, and pressed her lips to his. A soft, but firm kiss, that lingered for a second more, just to feel the warmth that came from him, the scent that escaped from him. Slowly, she leaned back. Gazing into his eyes, then turned her focus on the alley, and began to pull out. Waiting for a second, before turning right onto the main road and heading into the direction that the sun had escaped them.

She spun through the city, moving a bit easier as the darkness seemed to empty most of the streets. They were headed towards one of the main gates. Not certain that they were going to be allowed to move through. She pressed her lips together, and gave Malik a look, as the buggy settled behind a rather short line.

The ATV rumbled softly, moving up closer and closer, until finally the two were at the check point. Cyd inhaled a careful, but sharp breath, as the guard began to saunter in their direction.

When she leaned over and touched her lips to his a sense of well-being permeated through Malik’s being. He returned the simple but telling gesture and then settled back into his seat. The Lion didn’t need to think about it. Everything about this was right, and he knew that where ever it was they ended up, it was where they were supposed to be. The only thing that mattered was that they were together. Cyd had found them in the chaos of the world after war, and found home. In them she found a family. In him she found a companion. All of those feelings were mutual. Malik knew that Cyd filled a void in his world that he knew was there, but wasn’t searching to fill. It filled itself when it found the piece that fit. The lithe beauty was the perfect fit.

Fingers tensed reflexively to give her thigh a gentle squeeze before relaxing and rubbing gently. As Cyd drove her way through the city, Malik watched the buildings pass by since he didn’t need to pay attention to the road ahead of them. He knew where Cyd was going. Their unknown destination lay to the west in the unsettled wilds, and Librium was such a massive City that driving around the outer walls from where the Mule was parked outside the eastern gate would have doubled their travel time. The shortest distance and fastest route was through the city to the western gate. When they finally reached it, the dune buggy was stopped at the line leading up to the gates for a minor security check. The security leaving the city was significantly reduced so there wasn’t much wait.

At the gates they pair of them simply needed to flash their ID’s to prove who they were and that they were licensed to carry the weapons that they carried on their persons. With that formality done the two of them were on their way and into the wind. Malik leaned forward and flipped the switch on the dash which lit up a display screen. The dune buggy was equipped with a sensor array that detected heat signatures and showed them on the screen. IT gave a good three hundred and sixty degree field of view around them as they moved through the wastelands. There was always the threat of rift beasts and that threat grew the farther they got away from civilization.

His phone chirped in his pocket and he pulled out the device to check the flashing alert on the screen. It was a text message and the contents made him smile briefly. ”Just got the text from Lis. She and Nessa got my message. They said ‘have fun’. Roughing it in the wild isn’t their idea of a vacation. I would say humans, but I think it’s a generational thing for Lis. She’s never been one for the rougher side of nature.” The lion was content to be quiet for the next leg of the journey because he had the quality of company that could enjoy a comfortable silence. The scenery of the setting sun sending its prismatic rays racing across the sky and land also silenced words on its own merit. That display of light and majesty didn’t last very long which was the reason its performance was so commanding.

The sun finally set behind the horizon and darkness took the sky. The sensor display screen dimmed with the ambient light so that it wasn’t enough to ruin night vision, and small blips of heat flitted across it. Finally Malik broke the silence that existed comfortably between them. ”You really don’t have any idea where we are going do you? Have you ever gone out west after the Enlightenment? Im talking about farther than you’ve been with The Pride. Not many people venture out that far. I’ve made a few treks out there before I started the crew, but I didn’t find much. Haven’t been out there since because jobs don’t call for it.”

Pitch darkness swallowed up the land. The glow of headlights becoming a moving beacon through the inky black. Cyd kept the ATV's lights on dim. Enough to give a warning, really, for anything that might wander across their path, and to follow the law. Just because the panther could see them, didn't mean anyone else could.

Giving a fractured glance towards the display screen, when it was turned on. Then returned her attention to the road. Here, at the edges of the wild, everything changed. The scents that drifted across the road came from places where wind had caressed feral beasts. Where it had caress the exotic plants tangled in the low grass, and vines that embraced the trees in tightening hugs. The Panther inhaled these aromas slowly. Pulling them within, then exhaling them slowly out back into the darkness. Her body cooling with the drop in temperatures, as she let herself become part of the black. The blonde's metabolic rate began to slow. Her heart pumping at a barely registered beat. Hard training over so many years had become innate. Lose yourself. Do not get found. Being found brought pain. Brought starvation. The reminder that your life was sacrificial to the cause.

A corner of her mouth quirked in a half smile. Despite her age, Lis seemed forever young. She had been born in another time, another place. Cyd was thankful for that. She had rather Lis never have to know what it had been like. The young cheetah knew enough of the hard edges of life, without feeling it's sharp cut lash through her skin. Nessa would be with her. One woman who they all knew had the 'kids' back at nearly any cost.

Cyd bobbed a slow nod. The chiseled line of her jaw lowering slowly, before it lifted to it's regal view. Her crystalline sapphire hues now a pale wheat glow. Dark irises had expanded to large circular obsidian pools to soak up as much light as possible. The smile had left her features to leave behind a painted countenance of one very content. Malik's hand on her thigh. Her grip on the wheel relaxed, Cyd felt the rare sensation of nothing giving a care for the world, but enjoying it for what it was. Falling into the quiet and comfort that feel so easily between them.

They had driven for a few hours in this silence. Slipping into the black void of the wild, with only the glow of the dash to illuminate their features in an almost halcyon glow. Supple lips tugged in a hint of a quick smile, "No. I've been further south, but not out west. At least, since things changed."

"I've wanted to see it again. See what happened, what it looks like now," Cyd said, before glancing over her left shoulder into the dark. Lashes fluttered for a moment over the auric pools of her eyes, adjusting to the deeper view of the night, before returning to look forward of the road again, "Like you said, it's harder to make money out here."

The grinding sound of asphalt changed, as rocks began to growl under the rubber of the tires. They had driven far enough west now, that no one cared to keep the roads paved or maintained. Here, again, the scents began to change. The air beginning to dry her nostrils with each breath. It reminded her of the war, with everything torn, dying. Just now, there was no ting of burning fires, or rotting death.