[PRP] You Better Choose Carefully

[Lethrossen]

The white lion moved through the lands slowly, humming softly under his breath. He'd come a long way from when he'd left his pride all of those moons ago. He glanced over his shoulder and beamed at his child, the only one still in his company, noting that his cubs had come a long way too. All full grown; the other three off on their own to deal with handling their own lives. He was not absolutely sure why Taurid has chosen to stay behind with him, but it was so.

"Come on, slow poke. There's certainly a pride not far off now." A friendly pride or a pride ready to chase them away from their lands; he had no way of knowing. He'd rather have the brightly colored lion close to his side either way.

He scoffed at his father's 'order', rolling his mismatched eyes. The only one to receive similar eyes to his father, though not in color. Even his twin brother possessed two equally colored eyes where Taurid did not. He found his eyes to be quite the conversation starter, or at least a little bit rare and there for attractive. He used them to his advantage, in any case. He made no show of quickening his pace at first but within a few moments he'd sped up to walk along side his father.

He wondered how often his father was made to think of their long unknown mother? Chandran often claimed that he and his siblings must have gotten their markings from her side of things as they just weren't known in his family line. "You must be getting old, obviously there's a pride ahead." Taurid jutted his chin forward to draw attention to a number of felines able to spot in the distance. Many held brightly colored pelts, like himself. Which meant there might be some good pickings for some flirting. He smirked a little, pulling ahead of his father. "We should check it out. Look, the prey just seems to hang about near them." That was slightly odd, and something worth investigating.

Both adult males made there way closer to the pride, their pace still leisurely and both on guard less they be attacked for being unwelcome.  

[Quaji]

"HALT!" Broke the still of the air.

Quickly a form made itself present not long after yelling. It was a lioness covered in dirt and a tattered cloak made of mix-matched furs that covered most of her body. Only her head was showing but strangely there were a few leaves stuck in her head tuft. She stood proudly atop a flat-top rocked, looking down at the two lions with piercing pale grey-green eyes.

Somehow Celene had managed to get passed not only her brother, but all the chevalier and any bard or assassin that was after her. Of course she was impressed with herself for that accomplishment! She had also managed to find a couple of rogues wandering her borders while exploring. Today was already quickly mounting into a good day for the empress.

"What are you two doing in my lands?" She asked, though she seemed more curious then threatening by the tone in her voice. A definite change over the authoritative 'halt' she had yelled only a minute before.  

[Lethrossen]

Taurid bumped into the back of his father at the 'halt', having planned to ignore it to be honest. His gaze had caught sight of the speaker quickly enough… but who were they to order him around?

Chandran tossed a long suffering look back at his son, frowning slightly. He had to remind himself that Taurid did not grow up in a pride. Often didn't understand the rules and regulations of what pride meant or how dangerous moving into someone's lands was, regardless if you planned to stay or pass through.

Chan's eyes roamed the beautiful pelt of mismatched furs for a short moment before his gaze focused on the lioness' face… at least he assumed lioness. The build was slightly obscured by the cloak but feminine no less… still, it could have been an adolescent male. With the next words he cemented the idea of the stranger being female, her tone easier to decipher since it was less commanding.

He dipped his head in greeting, nudging Taurid to do the same. His gaze kept flicking to the little tuft of hair he could see, curious of the similarities to his own mane. "We simply happened upon it while traveling, we were hoping to seek a place to rest for a while, it's been lonely out in the rogue lands for a long time now." His own tone was polite and friendly, the frown he'd offered his son long gone and instead an easy smile in place.

He'd automatically assumed when the lioness said my lands she'd meant the term in general; a guard patrolling the boarders. He certainly had no inkling that he was talking to an empress, though he probably would have answered in much the same way. "I am Chandran and this is my son Taurid. Do we have permission to enter your lands?"

Taurid snorted quietly, tail flicking. He didn't get why lions couldn't just go where they pleased… he didn't think he'd ever understand prides. To him it was just an area where many pretty faces could be found all at once.  

[Quaji]

Rogue lands? That got the lioness' attention as she jumped down from her stone perch. They had already convinced her of one thing: they were worth stopping and blowing her cover.

"It's my approval you need. Our empress is the one you need to seek entrance from. I could take you to see her, but I don't buy your tale of being travelers." Celene said, her eyes watching the pair as she circled them before finally sitting down in front of them both.

"Well Chandran and Taurid; tell me a story of your time in the rogue lands and perhaps I will change my mind and take you both to see our empress. She is a lover of stories from beyond our borders. Perhaps your story will be good enough to convince her to let you rest and eat in her lands." A starry tipped tail flicked behind her while she grinned at them both. This would be interesting to see if they could actually convince the disguised empress to allow them passage or if they were worth calling the chevaliers on. "Well, go on. Otherwise you might as well turn around and head back into the rogue lands."

Lethrossen

 

[Lethrossen]

He cleared his throat and nodded his head, "Ah, of course." Had it been so long he'd been gone from his pride that he forgot protocol? He should have asked to be escorted to the one that would give them permission. At least… that was how it used to happen in his birth pride too, wasn't it?

His mouth was slightly open and the look on his face was a little lost as she declared that she didn't believe they were travelers. What else could they have been? Unless the pride was wary of rival prides nearby? Chandran's head was already spinning and he didn't like it.

Taurid snorted quietly, more to himself than to the cloaked female. His father looked completely lost… as usual. He squirmed a bit, groaning louder than he'd meant to. Uuugh he hated his father's cheesy stories! And if he was expected to tell a story… well no thank you!

"I..I… well.." Chandran stumbled over his words as he was oft to do when suddenly put on the spot. He slowly sat himself down, looking perplexed. She this lioness… guard… whatever she was… wanted a story from their travels? Most tales would just be about long afternoons walking the savannah trying to keep track of his little ones. Like that one time Taurid almost got his twin brother gored by a rhino due to some really stupid dare.

Besides… did she just mean a retelling of some events that had happened or an actual story, embellishments and all? He cleared his throat and finally gave a slow smile, nodding. "Yes, alright." He wondered if it wouldn't be better to go to the empress herself, this story was a long one… but perhaps he could just tell it in bits.

"A long time ago, many many moons now, there was a young cub who had only known the world for a short while. Perhaps no more than twelve or thirteen moons at most. This young cub was born to a land of sands, very different from this one." He paused, giving the stranger a slightly questioning look as though wondering if he should go on. She'd asked for travel storries… but perhaps the reason why he was traveling would be a better start?

Taurid rolled his eyes. He used to get told this stupid story on a weekly basis. He could probably tell it himself, word for word!  

[Quaji]

Ooo, this would be interesting. He agreed to tell her a story and not just any story: one that seemed to have actually happened. Perhaps stopping these two turned out to be a good idea after all. Celene sat herself down, both ears turned around and at attention as she listened intently. A land of sand, how intriguing. She had only heard of deserts from her mentors and they weren't anything grand as far as she recalled; she hadn't really paid much attention. He paused and her tail flicked with mild annoyance as she waved a paw in the air, beckoning him to continue his tale. There was no way the curious lioness would let him leave such an interesting story to hang right there.