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 Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:20 am
 White-tipped black paws carefully traversed across the sands. The little black cub, with her dark red tail and facial markings, did her best not to slide down the dunes. She shouldn't have a hard time, she knew she shouldn't have. But she knew exactly why she did. As she tumbled down the shallow side of the dune she was on, Jua'taka scowled.
Curse him... Curse him for lying... She'd come to understand very fast what was going on in her mind - She had seer powers, and she was having visions. They had come in her sleep normally, which had caused her to pass them off as just dreams. But when she'd started having them while awake... They were always the same, though. An orange and black lion in the neighboring Pridelands. It was clear to her who it was. It was the father she and Wakia dreamt of meeting. It disgusted her deeply to think about it. He was a PRIDELANDER, and their poor mother had believed him. She let out a huff, getting up.
She'd never tell anybody, of course. She'd take it to the grave rather than let her mother suffer that knowledge. She could already see that Ripuka was a few stones from losing it, and the knowledge she'd bore the offspring of a Pridelander... The cub sighed, walking between the dunes. She needed help. But not just from anybody... Help from another seer. She flicked her ears, wondering who in the pride besides her could see the present.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:25 am
 Savitri rolled a bit in the sand and dirt, trying to stain her coat. Even if she looked like a slave... She didn't care what color she was, as long as it wasn't white! The cub sat up, letting out a grumpy snort. There was no use, there was just no way to cover up this... This CURSE! No matter what she did, the dirt came off and her white coat shone just as bright. To the cub, it was an eyesore.
The snow-white cub looked up, hearing somebody approach on the dunes. Hiding behind a scraggly bush, she watched a slightly older cub approach the water. Black coat... It made Savitri jealous. But somehow... The markings seemed familiar. Where had she...? The storyteller, of course! It was the storyteller's daughter.
A hiss behind her made Savitri jump. There, in the same bush, was a snake, angry and hissing. The cobra rose up, hood splayed. She wasn't stupid, she'd seen this sort of thing before with the smaller desert animals. That snake was either going to bite or spit, and neither was going to be pretty. But she couldn't look away, she couldn't turn her blue gaze, so wide with fear.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:26 am
Jua looked up, gold eyes narrowing. She wasn't alone. The dark cub, grown to almost a juvenile, krept across the sand. There behind a bush was possibly the palest cub she'd ever seen. Probably just a slave. And from the way she acted towards the snake, a NEW slave. With a growl and something of a roar, Jua went bounding over. She feared no snakes. She feared little, in fact. Claws bared, she tackled the cobra and fought it. Somehow, she avoided the teeth, the spitting, and being bitten, just enough to wear it out and send it running. The dark lioness then turned to the white, eyes narrowed. "You must be new if you're so stupid as to not see a cobra, slave." Despite the knowledge of her impurity, she still held the fierce slave-driver spirit of the Firekin, proud and strong.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:28 am
Savitri watched the whole battle in shock, surprised someobdy almost as young as her could fight with something as deadly as a snake. At being called a slave, though... Her fur ruffled. "I am no slave!" As little as she liked slavery... She disliked being called a slave.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:30 am
The dark lioness frowned, circling the white lion. "You're not? You LOOK like one, and you ACT like one... Who are your parents?" Like any good Firekin, she questioned claims of Blood status. Her tail flicked, gold eyes boring their way into the blue.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:31 am
"Bodaway and Kiunguza are my parents - Proud and pure Firekin!" The pale cub watched the darker, her own eyes narrowing. "I can't help Finar-si cursed me to look like this. We can't help how we look, can we?" She eyed the other cub, circling in return. "And who are you? I know you're the story teller's daughter... You have the same markings."
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:32 am
Jua'taka's eyes narrowed a bit. "And what is your name...?" The parents checked out... Who in their right mind would lie about being the daughter of one of the princesses, after all? Her ears flicked as she kept moving. "Jua'taka..." The dark lioness paused, watching the white. She'd have to ask her mother about how a lion of the Blood would be cursed by Finar'si. She'd seen white cubs before, after all - There was a whole litter with white cubs galore in it.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:37 am
The pale cub sat down, watching the other. "Savitri." She eyed Jua'taka, a frown on her maw. "You have no idea how much I envy you..." And her own sisters... Blacks and reds, all of them. And not one was solid like Savitri. Even their parents had more color...
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:38 am
The older cub shrugged. "What should be envied is in the eye of the beholder. I have little to envy about me." She flicked her tail, looking away. "I see the present for what it is. As on... I can see what's happening somewhere else, right now." Like the Pridelands and her father. She shivered, squeezing her eyes shut. The feeling... She hated that feeling. It was happening again... The cub lay down, curling up as the vision overtook her.
The orange lion was mad, fuming and angry. Below him was the frightened form of a white lioness, marked with black and posessing almost fiery gold eyes. She begged for forgiveness, said she was sorry. But the lion wasn't having it - Somebody close to him had been hurt, and there was no standing for it. "I know just where to take you..." His gaze turned to the desert, and only one other word passed his maw. "Ripuka..."
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:48 am
She'd seen something like that before. Her mother did that. Somehow, Savitri just... Knew. Her mother was a seer, and two of her sisters were seers, too. She just had no idea what they saw. She'd asked her father once. He figured Kiunguza saw the future. Warily, the white cub went over. She didn't touch the other, though, not until she'd relaxed. "Are you alright...? What... What did you see...?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:54 am
Jua'taka sat up, panting a bit. The orange lion... She knew who he was. She stood up, looking at Savitri. "I have to go... I have news for Mother." She flicked her tail, turning and running across the sand. He was coming... Father was coming! Mother would be so happy, and so would Wakia! Stretching her body, she thought of another vision she'd started to have. Another... Not Wakia, but... His hair was the same, some of his markings were the same... And he was their age. She'd worry about it later, though. She had news Mother would be joyous about!
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:55 am
What was THAT about...? Savitri could only shrug. Whatever it was, it wasn't her problem. Tail flicking, she turned and headed for home. She wanted some comfort, after the snake and being called a slave. Maybe she'd find a way to cover herself with red... Blood was red, wasn't it? She could stain her coat with markings like Momma. That was an idea.
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