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 Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:54 am
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:28 pm
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 How did one adjust to a new life? How did one change who they were, from a leader to... Another of many? The answer, sometimes, was that you didn't. You found somebody new to become a leader for, and Zelda had done just that. When she'd met the bell-decorated lion calling himself Twelve Bells, she had found somebody eager to be ordered about. It had been... Refreshing. So she'd followed him, and found herself calling a beach home, a place shaken by the sea and washed by sunlight and baked by the moon. Here, she'd found not just lions turning to her for leadership, but leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, and everything in between.
She took a deep breath, then looked to the sound of the pained keen. Deep down, she was still the lioness raised to be a leader, raised to care for those she ruled over, and here was no different. She hurried to the sound, eyes sharp and looking for danger. The pair she found didn't look immediately familiar, but the urge to protect, to guide was still there. "Is everything alright?" She came close, though not so close as to be considered too close, still scanning the area. |
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:28 pm
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For her part, Zelda didn't flinch. She didn't even move. She stood her ground, staring the muscular female down with an otherwise calm look. It was something that had already charmed a few creatures into following her, this lack of fear in the face of danger. After all, there were more dangerous things out there, weren't there? Ever so slightly, the pale lioness inclined her head. "The danger is but a memory, it seems." She gave a bow of her head, ears shifting back. "My apologies, though, for potentially startling you both. You're right, I don't mean harm." She looked the leoponess over - And what else, Zelda thought, could she be? She had a leopard's tail, yes, but a lion's size and some lion form to her - and hummed, "You're a strong one..." |
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Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 12:55 pm
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(Finished over Discord!)
Andranis Zelda couldn't help the smile that played across her face. It was a tender smile, sweet and from a place of deep emotion. "She is a good mate." There was no judgement, for Zelda had seen others judge before such a union, and she wanted no part in such negativity. "Tell me, is there a place that you two call home? To return to at night?" Even with a strong mate, it couldn't possibly be safe alone. There were animals out there, she knew, who would see the pair and take offense, and even an incredibly strong leopon couldn't protect them both from a large enough group.
Keantha The vivid pink eyes turned anguished then as Shadow chuffed, ears pinning back against her thick skull. "No more" she croaked out like rocks grinding together. They were gone..all gone. Lu nuzzled her tender before looking at Zelda with tears in her own eyes, "Our family was killed, we do not know if any survived or where they went. It's just us now..." She knew Shadow would keep her safe but she grieved for the family they had, had and for the hope they had of a family to come. It was a dream that couldn't be now. Not when there was no family to protect them, no strong father to play grandfather to cubs. No cousins to teach them, no family to spoil them...no. There could be no cubs now.
Andranis She listened, ears shifting back for a bit. "A loss I know well..." When was the last time Zelda had seen Hilda? She couldn't remember, now, only that it had been a long time. She did miss her sister dearly, but she had a duty, a responsibility. It was the kind they had been trained for equally. "I do... Know of a place, though. Where you can be safe. Build a family not, perhaps, of blood, but of your own choosing..." By now, she considered Twelve Bells like a brother, as well as a couple others. It was comforting, in a way. She knew they had her back, and that they would listen to her word. Though the title seemed gendered despite it not being so, she was their king.
Keantha Both sets of dark ears swung up to listen to her as the leponess and lioness stared at her with a mixture of skeptic disbelief and hope. Could it even be possible? Lulu looked to Shadow, her expression pleading while the leoponess continued to study Zelda slightly skeptical but not daring to look at her hopeful mate. "Where?"
Andranis Nodding her head back the direction she'd come from, Zelda said, "Just down at the beach, by the cave that looks like an ape skull." The few lions that had remained there before had been a boon, and now Zelda found a good home there. "A pride was once there, and it's scraping back together. Some old, some new... A lot of changes in ways to how it used to be..." When Twelve Bells had told her about the roles lionesses had, she'd put a prompt end to it. Her paw was down, everybody was equal. He hadn't complained much, finding such a thing acceptable. Out in the roguelands, the male had found that yes, lionesses were every bit as tough as lions. Of course, he'd also found that everybody had value, it was just that she had to put it in his head that what was between the legs and under the tail didn't matter in who had what rank, just as species didn't matter in rank.
Keantha "Oh Shadow..could we? I mean...if we don't like it we don't have to stay..right?" Lulu looked from her mate to Zelda hopeful. Lu just scoffed sneering at the idea that anyone would try to keep her somewhere she didn't want to be ever again. It would cost a lot of lives to keep her prisoner.
Andranis "If you don't like it, you may simply retire and nobody will stop you." Reasons for retirement were many, of course. Simply deciding one was done with the life they were leading was certainly a valid one. "Now... How do you feel... About piracy?" It was, after all, an important question. Their answers were what their joining the pride hinged on. They wouldn't be expected to be on any crews, of course, but they would still have to be okay with the concept.
Keantha "What is that?" Lulu asked curiously as she nuzzled Shadow's shoulder trying to keep her grumpy mate's temper sweet for the moment
Andranis Tail curling, Zelda considered how to describe it. "Piracy is... We take what we want, within reason of what that is. Mostly, it is material treasures. Once in a blue moon, it might be a cub, but they are simply made one of the pride. There's groups within the pride, crews, who answer to a captain of the sub-group, though..." She paused at this, smiling. "The captain and their quartermaster, their second-in-command, are usually voted on, with the whole crew capable of voting the capain out if they're unsatisfied. And the captains... Answer to the Pirate Lords, who all further answer to the Pirate King."
Keantha Both sets of eyes blinked at her before Lulu burst into bright laughter "oh! Oh the gods must have sent us to you!" She giggled more making Shadow huff but the sound was fond. "Shadow was her father's second. Our..our family was like that. The only law was do not hurt cubs and share what you had with your own."
Andranis Zelda's head inclined, a slow smile spreading on her face. "Ah, were you members of the old Maistros del Mar? Twelve Bells has told me as much as he can about them, and words from those older certainly helps build the pride back up into the Matai o le Sami."
Keantha "No, pirates no but..family was...strong." Shadow croaked out. "warriors."
Andranis She nodded, smiling. "Well, we could always use a good strong warrior... And good minds." And if somebody had neither, but were still skilled in hunting, that was still useful. Everybody had a good place in the pride as it developed, slowly taking shape into something great. "Come, did you wish to see it?"
Keantha Shadow was still hesitant but after a long moment she sighed and nodded, "Yes." Lulu beamed "Oh I am no warrior! I am a crafter! I make things but I am also a healer."
Andranis "Healers are always welcome!" Turning with a smile at the pair, Zelda began to head for home. "Come, now, a bountiful future awaits you both."
Fin - For a whopping 1,989 words!
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