Rebellious

Chapter Two

The feeling of warmth hits her face as she awakes to the blinding sun.
She blinked her eyes awake and sat up straight, glancing around confused. By the sight of the sun almost in the middle of the sky she knew she slept too late.

"Dammit, come on we have to get going now." She tells Azule who was now sprawled out in the dew covered grass. The trees gently swayed with the breeze that relieved the scorching sun.

She stands up and takes a band out of the bag at her side, and puts her hair up into a ponytail. She scans the horizon, checking to see how far they will have to walk today. The next village where they needed to make a stop at wouldn't be for another few miles in perspective so she knew they'd have to get there today if they wanted to get the things necessary.

She walks forward and stares down at Azule who's still sleeping peacefully. She hates to disturb him but the sun isn't going to remain in the sky for long, and although she prefers the nighttime, it makes it much harder to navigate.
She nudges the leopard with her boot and he groans, rolling over on his side, refusing to get up yet. She sighs and pushes him harder trying to get him out of the slumber. He snarls and claws at the ground with each gentle kick she gives his side.

She doesn't plan to hurt him but sometimes she needs to be forceful.
The fresh green grass is matted down now from all the rain and thunder last night. With one more kick the giant cat jumps up and turns to her with an annoyed look, his teeth showing. Ayana trusts him not to hurt her after all this time and she knew he was just being grumpy. "Come on, let's go."
She rolls her eyes at him when he starts shoving her with his snout in a playful manner. She chuckles and rubs his head with her hand, smiling at his adorable playfulness.

He almost knocks her down but she fights back, shoving him by the head. He lowers himself onto the ground and pretends to be hurt. Ayana blinks at him and leans down to poke his nose, making sure he's not actually hurt. She knew he was just playing around but she had to be worried sometimes.
He was the only one she genuinely cared about. With one swift movement he jumps up, hitting her with a big paw.

She stumbles back with wide eyes and narrows her eyes challengingly.
Azule was much stronger than her, with the fact that he had sharp fangs and flesh sinking claws that made anyone shiver at the sight. But Ayana was much more intelligent, giving her an easy win in swiftly taking down the beast. Of course she never would actually challenge him but this was just some fun they did every once in a while.

She felt more tired than usual but that didn't stop her from turning around on her heel and  running full sprint towards the other side of the field, heading up the slight hill and into the forest leading up to a mountain in the distance.
Azule is quick to follow, chasing after her with paws that thud loudly against the ground. That was her other advantage, her movements were swift and quiet while his were loud and aggressive.

The wind blew through her thick creamy hair and Azule lifted his head to breath in the fresh morning smells.
The ground was still wet from the fresh rain but the moss coating the ground helped them not to slip.
The mountain grew larger as they approached and Ayesha slowed down to a steady pace so she wouldn't get exhausted on the long road ahead. The bag at her side was filled with her gold coins and plenty of supplies she had found along the way. She made her money by trading at the towns she would pass by.

Two silver daggers were firmly snuck in her belt that helped her survive any attack. It was a simple weapon but she was exceptional with the knives.
So much blood had touched the two weapons that the stains were becoming hard to get rid of. She took good care of her things and that helped them last longer.
Out here there was nothing she could waste.

Birds flutter out of trees as they stomp past the treeline, starting up the steep mossy hill. Azule slowed down more so he could carefully plant his feet into the rocky hillside.
Climbing would be a challenge but there was no other way around the path she took herself. Azule would occasionally let her climb onto his back and rest while he led the way, but Ayana refrained from doing that because she felt much stronger and proud trudging through these lands on her own two feet.