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 Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:13 pm
AIM Log -- Nuxaz & Felyn
Xipil & Kenina Xipil found himself wandering near the outskirts of the Simo. He wasn't quite sure what had brought him in the direction but he enjoyed the quiet of the walk and the area he found himself in. Silence had become something he found appreciation for, it wasn't say that he didn't like noise, he just liked the calmness of it. Thinking was something the male was always doing, something he couldn't help but do of course. And not just in the sense that he was thinking about things that had happened or would happen.
No.
The red male was always thinking about how the way the world worked and what made it tick. He also found himself thinking of what interesting, or what he found interesting, things he could find and share with his mother. He was also thinking of the path he would ultimately chose in life.
Would he continue to apprentice under a hunter or should he move on to finding a soldier to teach him the ways of a military lion? He thought that would be a wise decision because of his level-headedness but at the same time...
The male let out a sigh as he forced himself to pull from his thoughts and actually pay attention to where he was going. He found himself in an area he wasn't exactly familiar with, but that was okay. He had plenty of time to find his way back and still keep his schedule. But this place looked familiar.
Had his parents told him about it and he just found it? She honestly didn't know why she had wandered so far away from home, though she suspected the culprit of her wandering was probably none other than simple boredom. Perhaps she'd also gotten it into her head to see how far the sand stretched - maybe there was an end to it somewhere, where she could be happy and sandless, with a clean pelt. So far, the only thing worth noting was a funny rock, only large enough for her small frame to lay upon.
She was in the process of using her paws to dust off the sand (and grimacing all the while as clouds of dust stirred up around her), when the bright figure caught her eye. At first, it was simply a dot in her peripheral vision, but ever so slowly it became such a nuisance that she brought her head up and narrowed her eyes upon it. Another cub? Well, she'd certainly never seen him before, and he was coming from the opposite direction, which made no sense. She'd been walking a really long time!
That's when she realized which way she must have been walking. Had she gone towards those Simo lions? "You should turn around, kid," she said, standing up tall on her rock and narrowing those brilliant yellow eyes. It took him a minute of taking in his surrounding to notice the figure on the rock. He paused in his walk to tilt his head and squint trying to make out what it was. After standing there for a minute or two he concluded that he was much to far away to really get a look at whatever it was. So, he started walking again unaware tha he had been spotted and that the lion on the rock could have been a lion from the Safi. It didn't cross his mind at all until she spoke to him.
He was startled by her voice, he hadn't expected her to talk to him. "Why should I turn around, I'm doing no harm in simply walking." He replied cool as he continued to walk forward almost as though he was daring her to come and make him turn around. He couldn't understand why he was asked to turn around, most of the time he was left to his own devices as a result of who his parents were. So he was confused.
.
"Who are you to order me around?" He asked his blue eyes regarding her with calm."No harm?" she asked with a little smirk, her eyes dancing in the sunlight with a devilish little gleam. She was her mother's daughter in some regards, perhaps just lacking the violent tendencies. Her tail lashed behind her, and she shrugged her shoulders as she stood there on her rock. "Maybe you aren't doing any harm just walking, but whose to say a Safi lion won't come and snap you up for being too close to their lands, or kill you?" The threats were real, in her opinion. She knew her brother probably would have attacked him.
She was more content to tease, to simply be a nuisance, at least until he asked that last question. She could be haughty when she wanted to, and though she knew he had no way of knowing who her mother was, it still grated her nerves that he had to ask. "Come onto my lands, and I'll order you around all I like," she tilted her chin up a bit, narrowing her eyes, "Simo lions have no right to be here." And that, in her opinon, was the truth.
"Besides," she said lazily, taking a step off of her rock and fighting hard not to grimace as the feel of sand between her toes returned, "my mother is the Queen of the Safi lands." Xipil arched a brow at her words. A Safi lion? That idea was ridiculous! He was still in the lands of the Simo. He knew that much, he was probably getting a little too close to the border but he was still in his lands. He knew he was. "That's a ridiculous idea, why would a Safi lion be here in the Simo?" He questioned back calmness still in his tone and demour. "Your lands? I highly doubt these sands could be called your lands." He stated almost smugly."You're nothing but a cub." Well she was older than a cub but it still meant the same thing, to him.
He observed her as she stepped off of the rock and spoke. He tilted his head slightly, brow arched at her words. "My parents are the Regents of the Simo." He told her rather proud of the fact. Then it registered in his mind that she said her mother was the queen of the traditionalist. He found himself suddenly gasping. She was from the Safi!
Of course he only realized it now. "Why is a Safi lion in the lands of the Simo?" But whose lands were they really on?
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:16 pm
"You're no older than I am," she said with a little scoff, lashing her tail behind her again, though careful to avoid hitting the sand - the last thing she wanted to do was stir up a cloud and get her pelt dirty. She already needed a bath terribly. "So even if I am only a cub, that makes you a cub as well, which means you don't have the right to make such a call either." She was quite proud of her arguement, to be honest.
Her maw twisted lightly in a grimace as he spoke of his parents. She knew her history well enough to know who the regents were and what that meant. Unlike some of the Safi, however, she resisted the temptation of letting a freeflow of insults fly out at him. She supposed he really couldn't help the misfortune of being born to them, you can't choose who your parents are. "How deliciously amusing," she said instead, forcing her grimace away and dragging her smirk back into place. The cubs of the reigning authorities in both prides - it'd be laughable if it wasn't dangerous.
"I still don't believe these are your lands, Simo, and thus I don't think you deserve an answer to that." She shrugged again, then brought a paw up to examine, tsking lightly as she shook a bit of sand away.
"You're no older than I am," she said with a little scoff, lashing her tail behind her again, though careful to avoid hitting the sand - the last thing she wanted to do was stir up a cloud and get her pelt dirty. She already needed a bath terribly. "So even if I am only a cub, that makes you a cub as well, which means you don't have the right to make such a call either." She was quite proud of her arguement, to be honest.
Her maw twisted lightly in a grimace as he spoke of his parents. She knew her history well enough to know who the regents were and what that meant. Unlike some of the Safi, however, she resisted the temptation of letting a freeflow of insults fly out at him. She supposed he really couldn't help the misfortune of being born to them, you can't choose who your parents are. "How deliciously amusing," she said instead, forcing her grimace away and dragging her smirk back into place. The cubs of the reigning authorities in both prides - it'd be laughable if it wasn't dangerous.
"I still don't believe these are your lands, Simo, and thus I don't think you deserve an answer to that." She shrugged again, then brought a paw up to examine, tsking lightly as she shook a bit of sand away.
She laughed softly, though her mouth remained curled into a smirk. "I didn't so much give you an order as I did a suggestion," the words were almost a purr on her lips, tail twitching behind her as she narrowed her eyes on the cub a bit, "though I suppose I could understand the misinterpretation." After all, she strived to be like her mother, and anything her mother said came off as an order - even her suggestions.
At his babblin about chaos and cubs and so on, she simply sighed and rolled her eyes in a bit of annoyance, sitting carefully in the sand, directly in front of her little rock. "Well, aren't you a little philosopher?" She was clearly in no mood to listen to that sort of mumbo jumbo, now or ever. She wasn't the sort that liked to talk about that sort of thing.
"Well, perhaps they are a middle grounds," she shrugged her shoulders, "but I still don't think either of our parents will be happy to find us here." She had a feeling it would go quite like it had with they themselves - whoever arrived first would probably claim the lands as their own. That was, if they came to look for them - perhaps they'd get lucky and go unnoticed for a bit.
Xipil cocked a brow at her words before shaking his head. This girl was interesting to say the least. "Perhaps, one should always be careful of how they say their words." He responded with a shrug. "Hardly." He retorted, almost snorting. Him a philosopher? That was a ridiculous thought, he didn't seem to realize just how true the statement was. He could see that she didn't want to talk about such things as the disorder that could result so he let the subject result and return back to the territory they were in.
"For times sake let us say that it is a middle ground and if our parents find us," he paused picturing the confrontation that would undoubtedly occur. "We will let them discuss the matter." He just wanted everything to be simple regardless of how impossible that really was. It didn't matter. "Besides they might be more unsettled about our meeting regardless of whose land we stand in."
The Simo and the Safi just didn't work well together, or at least that was his mindframe. Yet why was he having such a...pleasant conversation with the female before him. He pushed the thought from his mind. It wasn't important. "What is your name?"
"Alright, middle ground it is then," she said with a pleasant shrug, twitching her tail behind her calmly as she listened to what he was saying. She did have to agree that if their parents found them, they probably would be ultimately more upset over the two of them meeting than they would about who was on whose land. She imagined it wasn't a good idea for either of them to be talking - what if one of them rubbed off on the other. That could be a dangerous mix of ideas. The thought would have made her laugh if Simo principles weren't so.. vile.
"My name?" she said with a quirk of a brow, her maw curling into a smirk as she considered whether or not to actually answer him. Her name was personal, and she didn't know if he'd actually earned the right to know it. Then again, she had to admit that for a meeting with a Simo, this wasn't going terrible. She was actually finding it quite enjoyable. Ah, she might as well then, right? "Kenina," she said proudly, tilting her head up a bit. She turned her golden gaze onto him, watching him intently. She wouldn't ask for his name, but she simply expected him to give it to her.
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:18 pm
He nodded, good they had come to agree. Perhaps the Simo and the Safi weren't so different after all. Then he laughed mentally, of course they were. If they weren't then the two prides wouldn't have split, although he wasn't entirely sure why the had. All he knew was that it was related to beliefs. That bothered him, why would an entire pride split into two different groups just over beliefs? Everyone had a different belief than someone else at least in some way. Xipil was just to young to understand, he hadn't learned enough yet. One day he would discover how different they really were, but when that would be, well he didn't know.
"Xipil," he told her dipping his head just slightly. Despite the 'order' she had given to him she was rather pleasant which surprised him. She was nothing like he had expected from the tradtitionalist. He had been taken off guard. "You know we don't seem that different from each other. At least in my point of view," he paused. "I mean we both uphold the tradtional colors of our pride and we aren't biting at each other's throats." Another pause. "What is so different about us. Well besides you being female."
She nodded at his name, committing it to memory, although she highly doubted if she'd ever see him again. This was surely just a one time thing, as cubs weren't often allowed to wander off so far for so long, completely unnoticed. Still, she supposed there was always the chance of a fluke, or some random enouncter in the future. One never really knew the twists and turns fate threw in life's path.
"Are you kidding?" she said with a short laugh, tilting her head to the side as she stared at him with unbelieving eyes. Her mother had made sure they knew their history, their beliefs, the reason they were driven from their true lands. "You really don't know, do you?" She narrowed her eyes on him with a bit of a frown, then shrugged her shoulders with a sigh a she prepared herself to explain. If he told his parents about this, she would be in trouble most likely. "There are a lot of differences. For one, the Simo no longer believe in the goddess Finar-si, which is a tradition as old as the Firekin themselves," she watched him, but at least she was not being nasty about this, as some of her siblings might have been, "and another, is that we have slaves in the Safi. You don't."
Confusion decorated his features at her question. Slowly he shook his head, no he wasn't kidding. He never kid! He honestly could not see what was so different about the two of them. About the two prides. "Why would I be joking?" He asked wrinkling his nose. He glanced behind him to see if anyone had managed to come across them. No one had and he relaxed. He wanted to hear about what she had to say, he wanted to learn. "I don't," he stated almost defensively as she frowned. What was the big deal? Was it a crime that he didn't know that much? He was learning, always hungry to learn more.
He fell silent, listening intently as she spoke about the major differences. He blinked in surprise. That was big, they used to believe in a goddess? "So, why believe in something you never see?" He asked, not once had he even heard or seen the goddess called Finar-si. If only he knew the truth, how he was distantly related to her. He shrugged almost bored with this information. It wasn't that great, every tradition passed at some point. He was more schocked by the thought of slaves. He never saw anyone was beneath him so the concept of having someone who was born, or treated as such was disturbing. "Slavery is something that no pride needs." It appeared he followed the beliefs of the rebels very much so.
"I don't know," she said with a shrug, answering his question about Finar-si with the only honest answer she had. She was little more than a cub, with no real ideas about the nature of religion and worship other than what she was told to believe. She believed in Finar-si because she was told she existed, and that was simply that. "They say she used to visit us, but she hasn't in a long time," she frowned and looked up at the sky with a tilted head, "maybe we've just disappointed her is all."
At his comment about slavery, her eyes snapped back down, and she let out a little chuckle. She couldn't say she appreciated the way that a lot of the pride members used their slaves for things they themselves should be doing - like hunting. That was purely a train of thought borrowed from her mother. "It's not so bad, my mother's slave is kept very clean and proper." She didn't really have any opinion about that either - Slaves just were in her society. They existed as much as the idea of Finar-si did.
"That's not all of it though," she looked out past him, towards his pride, narrowing her eyes at the horizon, as if she might be able to see his home from where she sat. "We don't accept outsiders like your pride does. The adults drive them off, or kill them. Somtimes enslave them, though. I think that was the big reason for the split," she let her eyes turn back to him then, "your dad wanted to accept new blood, and the traditionalists don't." Though she knew that was changing too, her own father was from outside the pride.
"If we have angered her than we have probably deserved it," he commented thoughtfully trying to imagine this goddess they didn't believe in. He supposed that even though they said they didn't believe in her they had to admit that she existed, otherwise there was nothing to not believe it. "If I ever meet her I might change my views." Doubtful but it was a possibility. He based everything on logic, if he hadn't seen it, if there was proof of some sort that something was real, then to him it wasn't. Intil he met a god, or goddess, he refused to believe they even existed. Regardless of the idea that he admitted they were there to not believe in. Then the topic flowed back towards slaves. "Why should one person be allowed to say that another is beneath them? Though I suppose royalty works the same way."
He had to consider that, those who were born to royalty were automatic declared special because of the bloodline. He wasn't special, well not really. People he didn't know showed him respect because of who his parents were but he wasn't royalty. No, not to himself. "New blood can keep a pride alive. Once it's down to only the pure blood it can become tainted with inbreeding. Something that no one, not even Finar-si would want. At least I would imagine so." It didn't take him long to start spilling all of his thoughts on the matter out. No it all flowed freely from his mouth. "Perhaps my parents only wished to keep the pride alive."
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:20 pm
"Oh, I'm sure that if we angered her we deserved it. I don't think she would be the type to baby us - that's not what the Firekin are about." She smirked lightly as she brought up a paw to examine, extending her claws and tilting the appendage this way and that, watching the light glint off of sharpedges.
Her gaze peered at him over her paw as he brought up another of those silly philosophical questions, a brow quirking momentarily. Then she simply sighed and put her paw back down, as if she were simply irritated and bored of this conversation. He was becoming a bother with this constant questioning of her pride beliefs. Weren't the old traditionalist fools supposed to be stuffy ones? "Why should a cub be questioning the views and opinions of a generations and generations of a pride? If a system works, don't destabilize it." Though she had her doubts, it wasn't her problem to disect - it was her mother's.
"New blood indeed," she said with a little laugh, as if she knew a secret that no one else did. In all actuality, she did. The Safi were not supposed to be accepting 'new blood', but her father was, at least in part. It was a dirty little secret. "I'm too young to be bothered with what your parents did, or why they did it, especially when I don't belong in their lands. You wanted to know the differences, and I told you." Her eyes rolled lightly in her irritation, her tail flickering behind her. She was growing bored at this point.
Xipil looked a little flustered when she called him out on his many questions. He frowned cocking his head to the side. "There is nothing wrong with questioning the way things work," he replied defensively as he shook his head. She didn't understand, he couldn't expect her to understand something she obviously didn't care about it. "When you are interested in something you want to learn about it which was simply what I was going here, if you find that not to your liking then you do not have to partake in any of it." He told her lifting his head up just a bit. "Just because something appears to be working does not mean that it is, in reality, working."
He shrugged, perhaps it was not something to be discussed with someone who obviously wasn't interested. When she laughed he cocked a brow, "I do not see the humor in that statement." He was oblivious to her family's dirty little secret. Would he actually care? Probably not but if he had the suspicion that something was wrong he would want to know. "Are you now? Don't that say that the youth are the future. How are we supposed to learn from the past if we don't dig into it." Ah more questions, it seemed like he never really learned. "I do appreciate you sharing your knowledge."
She sighed as he continued on with his train of thought, or rather, simply continued asking questions and disecting the things that she stated. She was growing ever more bored with this little game that had been, at first, so entertaining. The royal offspring of the two opposing pride heads meeting? That had the prospects to be a genuinely fine experience, and here he was ruining it with debates and philosophy. She would have paid anything for something exciting to happen. As it was, she simply didn't see that coming now.
With a little shake of her head, she pushed herself up slowly to her feet, whipping her tail behind her to shake off the bits of sand that clung to the tuft. "I'm afraid interested is the key word here, my dear Simo," she murmured, her brows rising as she gazed at him with those golden eyes. "My interest is waning, and with it, my attention, so I'm going to part ways with you here and now and go on to find more interesting ways to spend my time than debating the inner workings of my pride."
She smirked and turned to head back in the direction she had walked from earlier in the day, throwing her gaze over her shoulder for only a moment. "Nice meeting you. Try not to think too hard, hm? Cubs are supposed to be playful, not so serious." She laughed lightly beneath her breath and turned her head away again, beginning to trot away, already letting her mind wander to different thoughts.
He was busy mumbling things to himself trying to decipher the inner works of both prides as though it was a rubix cube. Once he found the right way it would be simple. He almost didn't even notice the actions of the Safi lion, in fact only when she spoke did she gain his attention. "Hm?" He blinked jerking his head up to meet her gaze. What did she mean? Then she continued and he found himself feeling a little, stupid per say. How had he not seen that coming. Not everyone was interested in the things that he was. He sighed, "One day it will be important madam Safi..."
He shook his head watching her turn away from. "I suppose the meeting was nice," he mused with a curls of a faint smile. "You didn't seem very playful yourself." He called as she started to walk away from him. She was interesting, different from what he had expect of the opposing pride. She had been so calm and collected, willing to help him even in a roundabout way.
Xipil wondered if he'd meet her again, until he looked at the sky and found he had just wasted precious time. All thoughts of her had been erased as he spun around and darted off. "My schedule!"
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