{PRP}Then a Shadow Fell{Marinette x Ashtaroth'sha}

[magnadearel]

Kathryn Dragonna

He didn't often get play time to himself. There was usually something or someone going on. Most often: his father. With another lesson to 'toughen him up'. Ashtaroth'sha dreaded those. If not Roth, then usually a demon from the pride come to torment him. Those weren't very pleasant encounters either. Ashta was a very miserable juv. He didn't fit in with the pride's colors, and didn't have enough backbone to suit his father.

So when a chance came to cheer himself up, he usually tried to make the best of it. At the moment he'd managed to pull up a long strand of grass. Ashta found himself a small place to play that had some boulders around it that sort of hid him from view. All he needed was for someone to see him. The young male hooked the grass and tossed it into the air with a front paw as he whirled around on his other front paw. Then he would jump and turn before springing on the fluttering piece of grass. It amused him to see if he could catch it before it hit the ground again. He was successful about half the time.

Ashta was nearly completely silent as he played. Early on he learned that any noise might attract unwanted attention. So now there was just his paw steps on the ground as he ran and bounced. Otherwise he was utterly silent. No mock growls or cheerful sounds.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Marinette was resting her paws from the rogue lands while she had her cubs. She tried to spend at least half her time with the little dears, because she did not want them to end up like her brother Crue or her father Roth. Unfortunately she was sure at least one of them was going to end up like those two. It made her sad, really, but there was not much she could do about it with the pride she lived in. And she could not spend all her time with her cubs 'babying' them as the rest of the pride would see it. She help them as best she could to survive.

Mari took trips out more to see their brother that she had left in the paws of a rogue friend, than to travel about, right now. Tamin was understanding, at least. He was another influence that would try to compel her children to the pride's ways. She had a demon name, she played along with having a demon, but really Mari thought the whole business a bit silly. She was herself, that should be enough to scare others into leaving her alone. She also felt bad about having to leave one of her children outside the pride to avoid him being a slave and mistreated.

With Mari's thoughts turned inward, she was not paying much attention to where she was headed, and her paws took her close to Ashta's playing spot. She saw the rocks and distractedly climbed up onto them. She blinked as she saw the white juve playing behind them. He looked... familiar. The sock markings and such, but she could not quite place him. Her father had brought home a new litter a while back, but until she had her own cubs, Mari had not been home that often. She tilted her head as she watched the slave playing with his grass. "You are quite graceful, young one."  

[magnadearel]

Kathryn Dragonna

The juv had just landed from another jump when a voice spoke out above him. Ashta gave a frightened squeak as he crouched down on the spot. Had he been making too much noise? How long had they been watching? Worst: what had they seen? The young male firmly kept his eyes on the ground. He didn't want to risk the anger of this demon by having a slave look at them.

They said he was graceful? But he was just a slave. Ashta wasn't sure if he was suppose to respond or not. It had been spoken to him, but it hadn't been a question or order. He tried not to tremble as he lay there.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Marinette was not really surprised by the reaction of the juvenile to her presence. He was a slave and that would mean he had to assume she was going to treat him as many of the other demons would. Even if a slave belonged to a nice master, they often had to worry about demons not their master tormenting them. It was, as a result of this common practice in the pride, very reasonable for the slave to be afraid and cowering at the presence of a demoness like herself on any occasion, let alone one when she had sneaked up on him while he was distracted and enjoying himself.

Marinette would have to put him at ease to get any kind of conversation out of him. She might as well start with the basics, introductions and all that. "Hello, young one. I am Marinette, or Azrael, if you prefer my demon name. What is your name?" It was simple enough, introduce, ask name in turn, get a normal non-threatening conversation going to prove she was not going to hurt him. "You do not have to cower or look at your paws, if you do not wish to do so. I promise you I mean no harm. I am a Succubus. If you have not learned the distinctions yet, it means I am a pleasure seeker for myself as well as others..."

"Some of my rank might waste energy on harm and cruelty, but I find these are not worth my time." It was the truth. Marinette had more important things to do than beat around slaves, and she had the cubs to prove her point. "It would be my pleasure to speak with you, but only if you wish to do so." She would have to wait and see how he responded to her offer, but hopefully it would be in a positive manner. She really did not want to scare him off. He was a cute kid and brought to mind her son on the outside. They might not look anything alike, but they would have shared a rank if she had raised him in the pride.  

[magnadearel]

Kathryn Dragonna

No scolding. No blows fell. Ashta wasn't sure what to expect, except it wasn't what he normally got. The voice was female; she hadn't acted like a demoness yet. He wondered if she was putting on a show until he did something, then she'd be all over him. The juv licked his muzzle nervously. A very quick glance toward the lioness assured him. Yup, she was a demon by all rights. Her devulation of her rank confirmed it.

It left him uncertain. She was being nice by all standards, particularly to a slave like him. Did he chance it? What really shocked him was when she revealed her demon name to him. Why would she do that? He glanced anywhere but toward the lioness. She specifically asked his name, so he had to answer.

"Ashtaroth'sha. Miss Demon." Very quiet, very subserviant. Nothing threatening about him. Nope. He wasn't sure he was brave enough to take her up on her offer of not staring at his paws. His paws were safe! Demons didn't have to hold to their promises, he'd learned early. Particularly not to slaves. He did give a slight nod when she mentioned her rank. That was something he had learned recently, and driven home because his father was an incubus.

"An....anything y-you lik-ke," Ashta stuttered out. Was that another way to give an order? Best to error on the side of caution. The pale male did take a tiny risk to give another glance at the female. The adult female.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Marinette stretched out a paw and very gently touched the cub. She had a very maternal urge to cuddle him, but if she did something like that and anyone saw it, she would never live it down. She hated her pride at times. Then again, she always hated Jerkface. The cub's name brought something to mind, though. She was sure she had heard it before. One of her siblings had said something about Roth's new litter, Roth himself said something about them, and yet it still took a moment for the name to click in her mind. This was one of her siblings by Roth.

"You are Roth's son, if I remember the name correctly." Mari waited for the cub to speak and affirm this information. If she was wrong, she would find out whom he belonged to. If she was correct, she would cuddle the boy and probably make excuses to spend time with him because he was one of her siblings, even if he was a slave. Family was family to her regardless of color, and it was one of those things she was sure would make her mother proud.  

[magnadearel]

Kathryn Dragonna

He was utterly shocked when she reached a paw out for him. Ashta tried not to flinch, shiver, or both as the soft paw touched him. Oh no, oh no! The male had no idea what he was suppose to do now. She wasn't hitting him, as expected, she wasn't yelling at him, as expected. In fact she hadn't acted anything like expected. He was completely out of his depth.

It surprised him, when it shouldn't have, that she placed him. Ashta mutely gave a nod. What else could he do? She didn't appear to desire to leave anytime soon, and he was fairly sure she wouldn't accept him departing either. He was stuck here for the meantime.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Mari did not like the way Ash flinched when she reached for him. She would have to blame Jerkface for the way the cub acted. She wanted to snuggle this little brother of hers. It did not really matter to her that he was a slave. What mattered to Mari was that he was nice family and that he was scared. The demoness finally coud not resist the urge to comfort and with a last look around to make sure nobody was watching them, she scooped her brother up to her side and nuzzled him.

"If you are Roth's son that makes me your sister. You have no need to fear me, little brother. I am not like our jerkface father. Family is important, only reason I haven't tried to poison Jerkface." Mari held Ash in place and started grooming him as if he were one of her own cubs. Really, he was not that much older than her litter. If she thought that Roth would have agreed to it, she would have offered to take Ash in as her own slave. He certainly would have been spoiled with his older sister as his mistress.

The fact that Mari knew her father would never give up what he viewed as his was what kept the red lioness from daring to think she could take this juve as her own slave. She would discreetly test if Roth cliamed his son as personal property, of course, just in case, but, she held little hope that she would find thins in her favor unless Jerkface died. There was an idea. She could claim him after Roth died. Might be a while, but if the slave did not protest it when the time came, she would do it.  

[magnadearel]

Kathryn Dragonna

The juv felt nearly like he would die. Or at least faint, as the adult female pulled him close. At first he couldn't figure out what she was doing or what she wanted. Ashta sat stiffly as he was nuzzled. This.... wasn't so bad. Slowly he started to relax. It utterly shocked him when she revealed her family relation. Ashta stared at her for a long moment before remembering his lessons and looked down.

"Are.... are you really family?" The only family he really knew was his father and siblings. The former tried to teach him to be a man, and the others just harrassed him. None of them did what she was doing. "Why....." He really shouldn't ask. It would probably get him into trouble, but he had to know. "Why are you different from dem?" She admitted to being Roth's daughter but she acted absolutely nothing like him.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Mari was a little offput by the initial response she got from the juve. His stiffness showed that he was not at all comfortable with her, but she could expect no less really. She did not let it get her down, since she knew that as a slave, her little brother would not have been treated very well. The worst of it was likely to have come from her siblings. Roth's children were almost all monsters, Mari knew that she was vastly different from them, not just in having been accepted into Hakuna's family as an honorary member, but also for her general actions.

Mari smiled down at her brother when he spoke. She hoped that he would come to trust her in time, but it would take a lot of time, she was sure. "I am family, I am your sister." She licked his nose, just to break the serious moment. "And I am different from them because I never was quite like our father... Perhaps sometime I shall tell you the whole story of where I get my niceness." For now she really couldn't trust to tell him that she had managed to search out her birth mother and speak to her. Something like that could get someone upset, or have them tailing her, and she could not have that.

"I have cubs of my own right now... but none of them are slaves. I have a feeling that with the rest of the family like they are, I am going to have a hard time teaching my cubs to be as I am." Mari gave a little sigh at the thought. It would be a shame if any of her children turned out like Roth, but she knew it was bound to happen. It was hard to be part of her family at times, even for her as a demoness. Such a shame she could not go to her mother and her nice siblings. Her pelt kept her from even considering trying it, but she also knew that she would feel uncomfortable among a bunch of tree huggers too.  

[magnadearel]

Kathryn Dragonna

He had to believe what she said was true. Although he couldn't figure out why a demoness would want to claim him as family. Ashta wrinkled his nose with a small snicker as she licked it. He looked up at her with big eyes. Slowly he was warming up to her. She wasn't mean and actually cuddled him. He nodded and wondered when someday might be. For now he was grateful she would consider telling him.

For a moment he perked up when she mentioned she had cubs, then his hopes were dashed as she revealed none of them to be slaves. Ashta shuddered that the thought of encountering them based of his time with his own siblings. Mari was nice. He had no guarentee her cubs were. Even she admitted it that they might not be.

Ashta wondered what would happen now. She couldn't stay around all the time and his father would expect him to be around him.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

"I think I shall visit you more. Perhaps when Jerkface is not around." Mari did not care for her father in the least, so while she plotted internally to take over Ash's care once their father was dead, she also thought it best for the time she got with her brother now to not be brought to Roth's attention. She did hope that if her cubs met Ash, they would be nice to him. He deserved some family to play with, as he seemed a very nice cub. Unfortunately life was not fair to him and had given him the wrong pelt color for their pride.

Mari felt her heart wretch and she thought of her own cub that she had left with others to raise. She had done what was right by him, of that she was certain. Seeing Ash and knowing his future in the pride, made her all the more certain that she had done what she had to for her own son. The thoughts in her head were not at all pleasant, but she was glad of them regardless. They showed that she still had a heart for her mother to be proud of her for and to keep her doing things like helping this brother of hers. "You probably should head back before Jerkface misses you."  

[magnadearel]

Kathryn Dragonna

Fin

"I.... I think I'd like that..." Ashta whispered very softly. He gave the adult lioness a shy smile. It would be one thing that he could possibly look forward to. Somehow he didn't think she was lying to him. At least he couldn't bring himself to believe it yet. With her suggestion that he return to his father, the young male nodded slowly. While it wasn't his first choice it was certainly better than the bigger lion come looking for him.

"Good bye.... sister." With a quiet fairwell the white lion slipped out from his play grounds.