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 Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:20 pm
AIM Log - Kisoni / Tahja
He had taken it upon himself to patrol the borders on occassion, while the pride now split in two, the rebels side, was still finding it's paws. Rankings were yet to be decided, life was at a momentary standstill yet still surging forward as the desert itself: Deceptive to the passing eye but ever changing to the watchful one. One only had to know what to look for to see it.
The usually broody youth was in a fairly good mood -this- late evening, just reaching the border that separated their lands from the stretch of desert between the Simo and the Safi. Kadogo paused, stopping on the crest of a dune to stare out in that direction. Some of Ilahle's family was over there. Some of most of their families were still over there. It had come to this because bloodlines were too stubborn to allow for change, but similarly, he and his siblings, hadn't they fought mostly because they themselves were half blooded? There was that and their mother's difference of opinions... but Kadogo knew that even that aside -he- had his own reasons. He hadn't grown up under his mother's dictatorship after all.
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:22 pm
Lady Azula of Motoujamii Safi was troubled. It had started weeks before when she'd run into the outlander trash that claimed to be her brother. A shiver still ran through her brilliant scarlet pelt, defiant of the heat around them, each time she thought of it. And it was all that she could think about.
The self-titled "princess" wasn't normally one to ask many questions of herself or others, always having been confident in her thoughts an opinions when she was younger. Now, as she neared the cusp of adulthood, suddenly she wasn't as sure of herself... or her values.
As a Lady she didn't have to work, though it wasn't often that she or her siblings chose to lay about the pride. With such unsettling questions on her mind, she'd asked her sister for a small sector to patrol near the border and had been granted it. It was nice to be away from the others, free to think her thoughts without fear of slipping. At this point any sign of rebellion, and taint, was considered betrayal by most of Safi.
She didn't notice when she'd wandered a little too far into the area between their lands. Didn't notice until, that is, she came upon territory only too familiar. Home, the word ached in her heart as she took in the sight of rocks she played upon as a child. damn them... damn them all. But her heart was not in it.
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:23 pm
Kadogo's eyes halted abruptly, stopping on the form of a familiar figure. Last he'd seen her face to face she was just a cub, now she was even older than the slave cubs that had been sent away. Adolescent, perhaps? The size of an adult rogue lioness, he was sure. His eyes narrowed first and foremost.
Traditionalists. Was she alone?
He looked to make sure this wasn't an attempted attack but saw no others and felt no other presences.
He growled at the as of yet smaller female, not that she would likely hear it from this distance, and it quickly died in his throat again as his expression cleared once more. Looks like they might get that intellectual rematch that neither had actually been waiting for.
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:24 pm
Azula sighed at the rocks. She was too far from... home. In more ways than one, really. She couldn't go back, nor was she sure she wanted to. The female stood to turn away, head back into disputed territory when she caught a scent on the wind.
Azula's head whipped around to catch sight of a rather big male not too far from her and looking her way. The fur on the back of her neck began to rise, but she fought the urge back. Cool and poised, Azula reminded herself... cool.. and poised..
Did she recognize him? He looked.. vaguely familiar somehow. The female lifted her nose to its usual height, ears tipping backward a little and she dropped her tail. Rather than continue her retreat, she merely stood stalk still, as if she had every right to be there.
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:29 pm
"What business do you have here, 'princess'? Looking for an early death?"
He would be pretty irritated if it came to that though, since he wasn't really ever in the mood to take a life. Truthfully, by what rules had been established she'd get off with a warning, or something to that effect, but that all depended on why she was here, what her intent was, and how much of a danger she was or wasn't. Kadogo hadn't seen this girl since they were both young, much younger than they were now by feline standards. Who knew how she had changed or IF she had changed, after all, he really had no idea what she was like even back then, besides snotty.
"Or maybe you're looking to defect..."
Hell would sooner freeze, and he knew it, but it didn't stop him from throwing that out there. What else was he going to say, how's the weather in your part of the desert? He'd never admit it, but in truth he found it interesting to run into her again after so long. So much had changed even if they hadn't. What a turn of events! It at least made his patrol less mundane.
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:10 pm
Azula snorted, "Hardly." What question she was replying to wasn't stated, and her eyes narrowed instead--as if she were on her own turf, and not, technically, trespassing, "What I do and where I do it are my business, Traitor. If I choose to pay a visit to our rightful lands then I damn well will."
In actuality she wasn't so certain of her words as she tried to pretend that she was. Had she been in her right or normal state of mind, this wouldn't have shown at all. The terrible thoughts plaguing her mind, however, caused a nervous twitch to her tail, a sad to her shoulders, an errant facial tick that caused her ears to try and twitch backward, belaying her distress. She was not Kenna. She was no match for a full-grown male. Not yet, at least. If it came to that, though, she would fight. "This is as much my home as it is yours. ... More so, in point of fact."
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Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 1:34 pm
Kadogo surveyed all of these little signs, though at the moment he was paying them little mind they did ease his tension just a bit. The fur settled back from his hackles just as neatly as they had risen. He remained calm and assured. To him, really, she apparently -hadn't- changed. The first time he met her they had that verbal banter, and for whatever the reason was, she'd similarly given a retort that she wasn't seemingly all that sure of. Had Kadogo known how much she'd actually gotten around that rare stumble he might've admitted to himself to being just a bit under impressed, but never to Azula.
"By all means, visit all you want, just don't be too surprised when we run you out with your tail between your legs." He shook his head with a mild snort. "You haven't changed, I see. Still talking tough like you own the place. So why are you out here? You don't strike me as the nostalgic or suicidal type."
"My reasons are none of your buisiness," The female snapped, half turning as if she were going to leave. She couldn't put her back to him, though--not to an enemy. Her father had taught her bet-----
The thought of her father made her give a very visible wince, and her ears flew back against her skull. Why did she have to think of him? That.. that.. miserable.. disgusting.. hypocritical! Azula nearly sobbed, but caught herself in time. Oh this wasn't the time or place to break down! The female gave herself a mental slap and growled. "none of your goddamned buisiness, ok? Just leave me alone." With that, she did turn her back to him and began to stalk off into... wherever. she didn't care or bother paying any attention.
Finally Kado's eyes narrowed. He was very much aware of those changes this time, and he had no intention of just letting it go. It would be foolish to think that a traditionlist would actually defect so easily, but something still nagged at him not to let her just walk away on that note either. Something... something had her shaken up.
"What the hell is that?!" He shot back, irritated by the turn. He moved after her a ways and stopped for the moment, glaring at her back. "Firekin don't turn tail and run!"
The words were harsh, but not at all unlike him. Kadogo had inherited nothing from his mother except for her sharp wit and half of self control, it seemed. She taunted with cruel words and bait, of course, but this wasn't like that. He was inexplicably irritated seeing her running off from this confrontation so easily! It wasn't Firekin, damn it, and dare he admit it bothered him? He wanted her to snap out of it, if it took a scuffle to do it then fine. All the better. At least she'd be acting like the girl he'd met, then. It was harder to see them as enemies if they were running around like broken toys. That was why he'd detested having slaves and been so hard on the twins. They reminded him of himself at that age, and there was nothing that he hated being reminded of more than how pathetic and needy he'd been as a cub, how his mother used to glare at him with those scathing eyes...
He didn't even realize he'd started to growl until he stopped thinking and came back into focus. "Kch... I thought you'd actually still have a spine after all this time." He spat lastly, wondering if she'd take the bait, come back to smack him around a bit. Shocking enough to realize he wasn't actually interested in hurting her.
Damn... maybe he hadn't done as good a job building up those walls as he thought.
The firekind comment got her. It broke through the melancholy of self pity and caused her to literally freeze in place, every folicle of hair standing on end. Reflex fixed that a second later, and the female shook herself out in a liquid-like gesture and put her fur back into place. Azula then turned to face him again, stalking straight over to shove her face into his, "YOU are hardly one to say what is or is not Firekin."
The female couldn't help but spit the words, vehmenent as they were, "You traitors who have soiled the blood with outsider filth, with those who should be rightfully cowering under our very paws! YOU who turned against your own kind, siding with the very poisonous blood that comes from the degenerate masses! WHO ARE YOU to speak of what is or is not Firekin."
That was much more like it. He'd never admit it but there was a brief flicker of relief as she seemed to snap out of it. He didn't even so much as twitch a whisker or flinch as she stalked closer, and in fact the only moment he finally let his prior expression break was as his face twisted up into a snarl, shoving his right back at her with a hot reply.
"A Firekin of the same blood as you, but one who isn't blinded by that damnable cur you call a goddess! She's done NOTHING but led you towards the path of destruction! Just what do you think will happen, princess," He sneered the word. "when the numbers have dwindled? Will cousins rut with cousins just to keep the bloodline going? Inbreeding? Is THAT the Firekin way? Is THAT Finar-si's answer?!" He snarled again. "If you expect some miracle to come falling out of the sky then you really are all delusional! We keep the traditions that -matter-. We carry the true spirit of Firekin with us. It's not about a thinning bloodline, or what some fictional being can do for us! It's the warrior's spirit! But maybe we should do things your way. How GRAND an end for the fierce and terrifying Firekin, didn't you hear? They dwindled away down to the last generation!"
He drew back and narrowed his eyes further, glaring at the female, letting the sarcastic words hang in the air until she saw fit to fill it again with her own retort.
A derisive snorte answered him, the fur at the back of Azula's neck rising once more. "YOUR KIND were the ones that made her turn her back from us! Don't you see? Of course she's angry with us! She's angry with the likes of YOU turning from her word and perferting it into.. into.. this." She spat , shaking herself with her fury and distaste of him and is world. "She won't abandon us! She won't allow us to die! But we have to prove ourselves worthy of it first..."
The girl drifted into silence, then said much more calmly as she narrowed his eyes, "But what would you, so traitorous and quick to doubt, know about faith? Know of proving yourself worthy. The moment things get a little hairy, you turn from them and embrace easier ways--because you're too much of a coward to trust in anyone. To dare to prove yourself, no matter the hardship, to anone but yourself."
Now that it was said aloud, there were parts there that didn't quite make sense. Azula wasn't about to admit that, though. Not to him, anyway.
His anger came to an abrupt simmer, some of her words striking close to home, and it showed with the momentary fury that flashed in his eyes that he could not hide.
"I know all too well what it means to prove myself, but I know the difference between an unhealthy dependence and having the strength to stand on my own!" He snapped, fangs bared briefly before he slowly let his anger cool again, thoughts of his b***h of a mother slowly fading again. He hated that she still had that kind of control on him to drive him to such a rage.
His chest heaved just slightly from the effort to compose himself, but once he had regained that control he drew back, though his muscles still quivered a bit from the rush.
"It doesn't matter what we think now. Time will tell. Time will always reveal the truth."
Azula watched as he composed himself, never moving despite that her face was a scant inch from his. Her eyes remained narrowed, instead, focused on his with an intense sort of rage that boiled deep in her veins. "oh yes, we'll see," She hissed so lowly he would likely have to strain to hear it. "We'll see indeed, traitor." Azula remained for a moment longer, staring him down, before she turned again to leave.
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