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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:19 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:24 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:42 pm
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Though she spoke without thinking, she meant every word of it- and the laughter didn't bother her. Obviously, if she stood alone she could not take the King, his royal guards and the handful of loyal followers he had.. but that didn't mean the were invulnerable. Tyfu might think it was a joke to accuse Aysu of it, but there was a real danger tied to that possibility.
Being called out for being all talk was infuriating, though. It was something that had plagued her a lot lately, that she could be so upset and yet so unwilling to act- but even Meshach and Andama, who acted quickly and earnestly, had been unsuccessful.. and to take action would mean really turning on Ikwezi and Nina-dini. She could not accept their decisions and would argue with them every opportunity she got, but they were grown ups and capable of making and defending their own decisions.
"I feel sorry for your children," she hissed, "That you think you ought to control their every thought and action. Are you disappointed they aren't properly noble, or would you have preferred the bastards join the misguided slaves as royal guards?"
She had no proof, had not seen the cubs herself, but she was clearly willing to bet on what little information she had. Though she purposefully left out the title of prince or princess, her implications would be clear to anybody who knew the suspicions-- or the truth.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:52 pm
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Tyfu laughed again. Truly, it was hilarious how Aysu's narrow view of the world limited her thoughts. Not to mention the implication of who had fathered her cubs. She wasn't about to share that information with the world, but the Huntress seemed to not understand the basics.
For Tyfu it had never been power over the pride. She simply enjoyed tormenting those who would give the most satisfaction. And if she wielded no power or influence beyond that, it was her own choice. Let others rule. She had little patience for mediating and serving the people.
"I do not, and will not control my children," she informed the misguided lioness. "It is simply a matter of teaching them to desire the right results," Tyfu explained, eyes glittering cruelly. She thought about ignoring the other jab, but decided that would cause more problems than it would solve.
"Are you attempting to imply something about my litter's father?" she asked, voice dangerously soft. "I've said this before. I have no reason to share his name with the pride as a whole. I don't believe you were ever forced to do so, and I see no point. They are my children, to raise as I see fit and he will have no say in the matter. Assuming he even knows about them."
The last was a lie, but it was a safe one. There was no way for a rogue male to know he'd fathered cubs unless if the mother informed him or he chose to return to the lioness and found out the hard way. It was important to at least maintain the story that a passing rogue had been responsible.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:12 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:17 pm
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Perspective was everything. Aysu might think that Tyfu was going to raise little monsters - and she was right - but the lighter lioness' assumption that the Guard would want anything else for her offspring was somewhat mistaken. Tyfu's belief was that children were what you made them to be, and if the model you provided was a monster, that was exactly what you'd get.
And precisely what she wanted. Though that was for the future.
The dark lioness sighed. "I think you overstep yourself Aysu. I'm bored of your righteousness, and you should probably leave before things get worse." She glanced up from her affected pose. "Then again," and the sting was back in Tyfu's voice, "you can't ever seem to leave well enough alone, can you? Now, what was it that happened with your brother again?"
Sure, it might not have been Aysu's fault, from what the Guard had heard, but it sure sounded as if she'd been right on the peripheral of the events that had gotten her brother summarily kicked out of the pride. Frankly, Tyfu regretted the fact that a lion who had the gumption to half-kill another over a slight was no longer around. She rather thought the somewhat infamous Yareha Afaer would have made things more interesting around here.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:27 pm
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Aysu was looking pretty proud of herself, she was more sure than ever that the cubs were Shangyue's.. but there wasn't anything that Tyfu could have said or done to make her think differently. Had she gotten defensive and insisted Aysu was wrong, it would have backfired. Calmly turning it back on her, or changing the subject, didn't backfire but it didn't help her, either. The only thing that would change her mind now was if she saw the cubs for herself and they truly did not look anything like the royal family.
But she didn't worry about that possibility even a little bit.
Being told to scram was laughable, since Tyfu was the one who stopped her on an otherwise pleasant walk (selective memory) to initiate this rather interesting conversation. And trying to taunt her with Yareha's eviction from the pride was almost as funny.
"So you've done some research, then," she said, "What happened to my brother is nothing to do with me, and nothing to do with what's going on around here now."
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:59 pm
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Tyfu shrugged languidly. "If that's what you think, you're welcome to it," leaving the unspoken fact that she could and would hold Aysu's family against her if it suited her purposes.
"Obviously, anyone with actual guts in your family has left the pride. Leaving just those who don't mind things as they are, and those who are too nostalgic and foolish to give up hope that the "good old days" will return," the black lioness continued scornfully, beginning to walk in Aysu's direction, but on a course that would pass her, instead of going towards her face.
"Why, the only way to prove that your blood is thicker than water," Tyfu said as she came up alongside the lighter lioness, holding up a paw as if to study the limb, "is to shed it." With that, she unsheathed her claws and ran them down Aysu's flank in a sudden savage rake.
"Why look," she offered her bloodstained claws for the other lioness' perusal, "you do bleed red!" The false surprise in her voice didn't fool anyone.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:11 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:18 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:42 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:46 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:57 pm
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