[JRP] The Moon Turns Black (Bozi x Weyard)

[SilverLutz]

Bozi had been led by a lioness to the Mwezi in the hopes of joining the pride, and no sooner had he set foot on the lands than he was given the run-down of what was expected of him. On the full moon he and a few other joining rouges and adolescents were given a flower to eat, and they were told that they would fall asleep. Depending on when they awoke would determine their rank. Bozi wished he could simply ask to be a slave and be done with it, but he knew that to truly leave his old life behind, he had to accept whatever this plant had in store for him.

The plant took hold of him immediately, and he was asleep within minutes of eating the flower. The others rose around him during the following days, leaving Bozi to continue to sleep soundly on his own. Days turned into weeks, and finally the little lion opened his eyes. He was hungry, thirsty, and completely disoriented. Where was he? Why was he so weak? What was going on? Why was it so dark? He blinked in confusion, his limbs shaking a bit as the last of the flower wore off. He'd been asleep as long as was possible, the new moon high and black in the sky, nearly invisible to those who didn't know what to look for. Bozi was too concerned with trying to remember where he was than the moon, though. Had the demons captured him? Was he dead?

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

Weyard was a guard, and being one, that meant she knew more than most pride members who was coming and going, who was joining, and when something important was going down. Or really, she had been in the know. Lately things were...different. The pride was not as well at rest as it had once been, there were murmurs of trouble on the wind...Still! That hadn't excused her from her duty. New joining rogues weren't common, but nor were they terribly rare. A few had joined and submitted to the moon when last it was full, and all had found their place in the pride since.

Well, all but one.

The pink and gold lioness had kept an eye on the drowsing pale male for a few days of his slumber - they took the shift in rotation - and had wondered about him in the vague sort of way one did when they had never shared a word with the object of their interest. He certainly was a heavy sleeper. But then, he'd seemed timid and battered when she'd glimpsed him before he'd gone unconscious. Something about his disposition...it wasn't one she'd seen before, but she thought she might know how he felt. He looked just like she'd felt back when...well. Then. Poor thing.

That was why she was hustling now. One of her sons had distracted her from her shift on guard a bit longer than she'd planned, and now she was late. Odds were he'd not wake up tonight - it would be a bad night for it, she noted - but if he did...well some times rogues didn't accept their fates, or were disoriented. Almost all were weak. It helped to have someone there with them.

Of course, cresting the low ridge to see the pale slave - because that's what his luck and the moon had fated him to be - looking forlorn and confused made her pick up the pace. She called out when she got close, not loud, but not too soft either. This would be a telling moment. Would he try to fight? Lash out in confusion? She hoped not. He looked like he'd been through enough, and she didn't want to have to make this a potentially worse day.

"You woke up," she called out, slowing so she didn't look like she was running at him. "You okay? You look a bit out of it..."

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Bozi tried to look up at the sky to orient himself, but the stars were very bright and there was no moon. He squinted as he tried to remember what the shaman had said that meant, but his head hurt from the effect of the flower and the lack of food.

A noise startled him and he whipped his head around to see what made it, and when he spotted the brightly colored lioness he froze. Was she in the pride? Was she a spy for the demons? Wait, no, she was the wrong color to be a spy...and he was pretty sure there were no rouges this far in the pride lands. She must be friendly. Even still, as she spoke, he rolled back onto his side to submit to her.

It took another few moments for her words to reach his tired brain. Woke up...out of it...definitely. "Um...I...think so," he said weakly, not looking at the lioness as she stopped a few paces away from him. "Just. Confused. As to where I am...and what waking up now means."

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

It had been so long since Weyard had lived in...that pride...she almost didn't recognize the gesture of submission for what it was right away. And once she did she found herself frankly confused. Who said he needed to go belly-up for her? She wasn't anyone important. Of course, waking now did mean that she did outrank him, quite a bit...but at least this pride's notion of what made a slave was different than where she'd come from. And where he'd come from, it seemed. It had been difficult enough for her to wrap her head around, and this guy looked like he was going to have it a lot harder. Poor guy. Her heart went out to him even as she trotted up, gently nosing at his face.

"Maybe you should lay still until your head clears. I remember feeling like I wanted to throw up, but I had nothing in me...Oh! Right! Stay right there. I'll explain once I'm back," She urged him. It wasn't a command, but it was in a firm enough tone that it might be taken as one. A gentle command. Maybe. She darted to a nearby cache the pride had set aside for just this occasion and returned in a blink with a slab of meat. She placed it near his head and nudged him again. "Don't eat too fast. It'll make you sick. You have that, then I'll explain, alright? I'm Weyard, also. A guard, and one of the ones here to help you get...adjusted."

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Bozi widened his eyes as the shift in position made him dizzy, and indeed his stomach rolled unpleasantly as the lioness mentioned she had felt nauseous. He looked at her for just a moment before squeezing his eyes closed, her pelt making him a bit woozy as well. She was very pretty, but her pelt and the pattern seemed to dance before his eyes.

The command to stay was a welcome one, both because he was used to following orders and because he wanted nothing more than to continue to lay there. He did just that as the lioness - Weyard, he learned later - ran off and returned within a few moments. The smell of meat both enticed and repulsed him, so he didn't move for a few moments more.

"I'm Bozi," he said very quietly. He was always a bit ashamed to give his name to those outside of his pride, as it didn't have a very savory meaning behind it. "Thank you for helping me, mistre- I...I mean, Weyard." Right...no more master and mistress, even if he was a slave here. That was for his old pride. He was done with the demons, he was officially in the Mwezi. He was safe now.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

Lucky or not for Bozi, Weyard had never really known too many 'foreign' names. Her own pride (long, so long gone) had had its own sort of style of names, and so many names, unless they had literal meanings, were lost on the pink lioness. She didn't look in askance at the male, nor with pity. Just interest. "It's my job, like I said. Sometimes the flowers make people sick. Worse than you feel now I mean. Really sick. Sometimes lions wake up so confused they forget what happened and lash out. I protect you from the pride and the pride from you, at least until things settle down." She didn't mention about how now and then a lion wouldn't wake up at all. They'd wither and fade in their sleep. It was very rare though. And he needn't know.

"So, Bozi...I don't know what all was explained to you...about the phases of the moon as what they mean. Once you eat, I'll explain...in the meantime...why not think a bit about if you, say, wanna change your name? Some do. This is a fresh start. If you'd rather me call you by something else when we go to meet the others, you just have to tell me." She watched him still just laying there and sighed. It wouldn't do to let him go join the pride proper with a half-month's worth of bed-mane. Without hesitation she crept closer. "Would you mind if I helped you with your fur?" She asked. Asking was important. She wouldn't force him to let her.

"It's just a bit stuck up, and most folks want to look nice to meet people. If not that's fine though."

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

The striped lion was surprised when there was no flinch or frown. Perhaps names didn't have much meaning here like they did back in his old pride. That was good, he supposed...a name that didn't hold you down or limit you in what you could do. To be free...that would be amazing.

The suggestion to change his name surprised him. His ear flicked and he lifted his head, even though it made him dizzy again. "Oh...that...that's a good idea," he murmured quietly, looking at Weyard once more. Now that he was waking up he could focus easier, and his mind was starting to settle down. He couldn't say the same for his stomach, although that meat was starting to look more appealing by the second.

"I might do that," he murmured, more to himself than to the lioness. Quite suddenly she was much closer and he looked at her with wide eyes, unsure of what was going on. She explained herself though, and he tried to look at his mane.

"O-oh that...um. If. I mean. You don't have to, I'm sure you've been doing quite a bit for me lately," he said weakly, not wanting to be a burden.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

She nodded at his consideration. It WAS a fresh start. She'd been very near to changing her own name when she joined...but it was all she had left of her birth pride. Of her family. So it'd stayed, and she'd been content with that. "Nonsense!" Her tone was light as she flopped down alongside him. "Not much to do when someone's just sleeping. Wasn't like you were asking for anything." And there really wasn't a lot of reason to groom the sleepers - they'd just roll over and muss it anyway.

She began to pick through his fur, efficiently tidying him up enough to look at least half as nice as he might in top form. That'd have to do for now. There was too much to go over before they went to join the pride to waste time bathing on a more serious level.

"So, Bozi. You may have noticed, there is no moon tonight. The pride believes that this is a dangerous time - it is the moon spirit who watches out for us, protects us from harm." She paused every few sentences to let him absorb what she'd said or ask questions if he needed. "When lions are born, or 'wake' and the moon is full, their spirits are thought of as safe because the moon is watching closely. But when things are dark...lions born or joining are less protected. The moon misses their birth or awakening. The moon...doesn't see them, and can't keep them safe. And so they have to turn to the pride to be protected. And in return, they are the lowest ranked lions, and help their protectors with..whatever they need. The pride calls them slaves, but...they are not like slaves of other prides. No slave would EVER have a paw raised against them. They simply have to work to repay the pride's protection, as the moon has given them none...does that make sense?"

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Bozi ducked his head slightly as Weyard settled down beside him to help make his mane a bit more presentable. He would be turned loose into the pride soon for sure, and he didn't want to make a bad first impression. He lifted a paw to the part of his mane that flopped in front of his eyes and tried to smooth it down a little bit before the smell of the meat finally got to him. He wasn't used to eating in front of others, but his stomach was snarling at him now.

As he ate Weyard told him of his rank, and honestly he was relieved. It was a bit sad that this moon spirit didn't protect him, but if he were being completely true to himself, he'd rather have the physical protection of the pride than the invisible defense of the moon. Perhaps if he had grown up here he'd be a bit more torn up about it, but as it stood, he couldn't be happier.

"It does,' he said, although he was surprised to know that slaves were not beaten. "Do slaves belong to certain lions here?" he asked between bites of the meat. "Or are they just a collective group?" Back in his old pride it was a bit of a mix, with some demons laying claim to some slaves. For the most part, though, the slaves were called upon by all the demons at any time.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

SilverLutz

He seemed...oddly alright with being a slave. She hadn't expected that. Anger was more common, or confusion, sorrow even. This fellow...he seemed pleased though. It was very odd...but then, she HAD known lionesses only too happy to be kept like pets in THAT pride. She'd never understood what they got out of it...but they'd been content. Maybe he was like that. Or maybe...well. Some had been beaten if they HADN'T acted placid and happy. That would have been just as bad.

Still, she would work with what she had. She regarded him for a moment and then rose, motioning him to follow along with her. It was time to get a move on. "No one 'owns' a slave. Not even the pride as a whole. I told you, calling them slaves...it's not the right word. But I don't know the right one." This was a bit harder to explain. "I think most of them stick together, but some...those born in the pride usually, but not always, will stick closer with their own blood. It's crucial that your...rank...don't wander too far. At night dark spirits roam, and away from the pride and its spiritual safety. Well. I don't know that something bad would happen, but better not to take chances, right?"

She didn't know what she'd have done if her sons had been slaves. Worried for them most likely. Kept them close and sheltered, and done her damnedest to find them mates of at least one class higher. Then they would share their brides' status, and be taken in under the moon's protection. Maybe this male would be so lucky. She glanced back surreptitiously at him. He was rather gentle looking, and some would call his coat lovely, in color at least. She shrugged mentally though. Poor delicate thing. He'd need a strong female to stand beside him, between him and the evil spirits...She let that path of thought slip away as they drew nearer to the pride's central area.  

[SilverLutz]

Bozi stood as Weyard did, taking the cue from the female. She obviously knew what she was doing since she was the one to collect him. He nodded at her explanation and glanced back in the direction he had come from so many days ago. This was it...his new life. Already it sounded better than that of the pride he had been born into. The slaves here weren't treated so badly, although he was sure they were expected to work hard. He had no problems doing that, and with a little smile he followed Weyard as she moved into the pride lands.

"Oh yes, best not to take chances," he agreed, shivering at the mention of 'dark spirits'. He assumed that it had something to do with the religion of the pride which he was sure he would learn, but to him that would always mean demons, and he was very aware that those existed. Still, he was in a safe place with strong lions to keep those demons at bay.

Letting out a little breath he shifted his pace, walking a bit quicker to keep up with the female. She had been so kind to him thus far, he felt as though he was in debt to her. Perhaps he could follow her around and do whatever she needed for a while to repay her kindness? Or would that annoy her? Trotting along, he felt a small smile work its way onto his lips. It was a strange sensation to be sure, but one that he felt as though he'd come to use more and more.

ShinosBee

Last one from me!