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 Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:17 pm
 Lorelei needed to be alone for a while. She had endured all she could in the company of Soro for the good of her pride, shuddering at the thought that her resistance might cause another to be taken in her place. Maybe if she had just tried to put an end to him she could have avoided this misery. Instead of healing his wounds she should have coated them with a poisonous herb to turn them green and black with disease. But what would that have done to her reputation? The other males might get suspicious when Soro fell into such terrible health in the den of the pride’s healer, might question her submission, and then what? She could not afford to arouse their suspicions. Damn him.
The long walk gave her time to think and stifle her tears. Only a few slipped down her cheeks, following the grooves left by the markings she received when she joined Antianeira. She promised Kiuma her unwavering loyalty even in times of crisis. Somehow, she never imagined her words would be tested so severely. As she plodded slowly along she licked the salty tears from her cheeks. She sighed a harsh sigh as a cold tremor rushed through her body, starting at her shoulders and ending at the tip of her tail with a sharp whip.
Finally she arrived on the banks of the pool. The pool was secluded near the boarders of the pride. Fed by a slow running branch of the pride’s main river, the water was clear and pure, perfect for a tainted soul looking for a place to cleanse. Lorelei bowed her head and pushed the herb sack off with a paw. She picked it up in her mouth and hung it off the branch of a tree. She carried her herb pouch every where she went even when she was off-duty. She took her job very seriously.
The cool water felt good around her ankles. As she waded into the shallows she paused to look at her reflection, noting the redness of her eyes and the watery streaks running alongside her scars. She scoffed cynically. “What a sorry wreck you are. Crying over a silly, meaningless thing.”
She lifted her head and inhaled, her throat making a dry sound like wind brushing against a stone. “Come on, you’re not dead yet.”
She dove into the pool.
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Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:04 pm
If the males thought they had full submission, they were wrong. Caellagh padded through the jungle, head low, teeth pulled into a snarl. Her home was invaded by males. Haven grown up taught the ways of the pride by her mother and seeing the power of Kiuma herself, Caellagh was enraged the day her queen fell and her mother driven away. Moreso when her sister left, and Caellagh had come to avoid the dens, save returning very late at night, when all were asleep, to prevent her presence being known.
She was filled with hate. Every night it was tricky finding a den without a male within, and soon she'd ceased to draw near. The male cubs, while foolish, she did not mind so much-- they were cubs, and to be protected, even if they were males. They could be useful, one day. Maybe. By now she should have left to seek a male, to bear cubs, and to return expecting. But her journey was robbed from her. Everything was taken.
And this left Caellagh filled with a wild, ravenous hatred of the usurpers, and any traitor whom welcomed them or fled. They were traitors to the pride, and traitors to Kiuma. And she would kill them if she could.
Slowly, Caellagh prowled for a pool, claws bared in case any usurper males came close. Her head was high, and her will steely. Hearing movements, she peered through the bushed, and issued a growl, in case of a male. From hiding, she watched to see who was there.
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:55 pm
She sank into the depths of the pool. Fish scattered, scales gleaming. Light filtered through the broken surface and shimmered on the rocks and plants covering the bottom, bathing her in strange patterns as she floated. She hovered motionless for a moment that felt like an eternity. When she broke the surface she threw her head back and slowly caught her breath. She padded to the shallows and shook herself off, unaware that she was being watched.
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:06 pm
Seeing it were female, Caellagh watched a bit longer. Seeing no males coming, she finally padded out, enough to be seen, and sat, observing, ears flicking forwards. She kept her head high, in defiance, and her tail switched calmly as she observed, silently. The Herbalist? Interesting. But what was she doing?
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 1:00 pm
Giving a sigh and a little shake, Lorelei stretched out her forearm and started to lick her fur, pushing the water out with her tongue. Somehow she still didn’t feel clean. She let out a soft hiss and started to look for a sunny spot to lie down and dry her fur when she spotted the darker lioness watching from the shadows. She froze, ears turned back in annoyed suspicion.
“Oh. Hello.” Her words were like tiny claws. “Pardon my dishevelment; I wasn’t expecting a Peeping Tom. Just who are you?”
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 1:35 pm
Caellagh seemed to consider the comment, and tone.
Is she a traitor? The female wondered. She decided, however, not to give her one-lioness rebellion away, and, damning the new laws, held her head high, cooly.
"I am Caellagh. And I grew up in these lands under my mother." Did she mention her mother's name? No... Not until she knew this was no enemy.
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Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:24 pm
Lorelei narrowed her eyes and arched a brow. She did not look like any of the lionesses in this pride. In fact Lorelei felt positive she had never seen the lioness before this time. Caellagh might be a traitor. Perhaps there was a way to find out. “Who is your mother?”
She didn’t know how much the invaders knew about the pride before they arrived. Certainly the leader of the operation knew of Kiuma and her daughter, but there was no reason for her to pass on this information to her cohorts once the takeover was completed.
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:39 am
Caellagh's eyes narrowed.
"I won't tell you, for her safety."
She didn't trust this lioness, and she didn't want her mother hunted and harmed. Nor did she want it known her mother had an adult in the lands... Not if it wasn't safe....
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:52 pm
“How sweet. Unless your mother is one of the invaders I’m not interested in clawing her eyes out. I’m not in the best shape for homicide anyway…” She glared at the ground. Even though she hadn’t started to show, she could feel something growing inside her. A mother knows these things. Lorelei had been one once before. At least then she was more willing.
Glancing back at Cael, Lorelei narrowed her eyes. “If you were raised in this pride I would know you. I’m Lorelei, the herbalist.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:08 pm
"Caellagh. And I tend to keep to myself." Caellagh grunted.
Especially after Huong left like a coward... Caellagh wouldn't let on, but it hurt her that her sister abandoned their family; their mother! The lioness refused to reflect pain, however, eyes remaining cold.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:33 pm
"No kidding," Lorelei snorted. She shook the water from her coat and padded toward a rock bathed by sunbeams, shaking off her feet as she went. The warm stone felt good beneath her paws but did nothing to melt her frigid tone. "Just look at you. You're living the good life. No males to keep you down, no one to make you wait your turn at every kill while the hyenas wolf down every scrap of flesh, no cubs keeping you up at night with their cries, because their mothers are too weak from hunger to produce milk. Yeah, I see why you keep to yourself."
She sat down on top of the stone. She lowered herself slowly, curling her lip against the painful cuts on her back, recently scabbed over but still deep enough to sting. As her body soaked up the warming rays her dull amethyst eyes glared at Caellgah like sharpened spear points catching sparks off the sun, enraged by Caellgah's false aloofness. "As for me, I've been busting my a** for my pride. Every day more wounds to mend, every day our morale slips a little lower. We have nothing left to hold onto but each other yet some of us would rather hide in the jungle than stand with their sisters. Your arrogance disgusts me."
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:52 pm
Circe felt her claws flex, eyes narrowing into slits. This lioness knew nothing.
"Hiding? Hiding? While you lot pander to those males?" She snarled, preparing to attack.
"They murdered my grandmother and drove my mother away. And you settle and pander to then while they drive Kiuma's ideals into nothing. You insolent b***h."
She launched at the other female, snarling.
"How DARE you, you dirty dog! you have no right to call yourself Antianeira!"
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:02 pm
“Don’t come near me,” she hissed, muscles tensing. Surely Caellgah wasn’t foolish enough to attack. There was nothing to fight over. Harsh words? They were members of the same pride; allies, comrades, sisters. They only aided the males by fighting amongst themselves. But her convinctions fell for nothing.
Lorelei leapt out of the way of Caellgah's attack, loosing a roar as she flew. She distanced herself from Caellgah, her back to the pride where she sought refuge with her grandmother, facing her attacker with bared fangs, fur wet and sticking to her body in defiance of her prickling skin.
How dare Caellgah accuse her of betraying Kiuma when she had sacrificed so much for the pride she treasured. Was this how her pride repaid her, after she gave her life to a cruel male so that others would not suffer under his claws, carried little Lulu’s messages to her mother at great personal risk and worked her paws to the bone to mend the wounds of her fallen sisters? Was hatred her only reward for these selfless acts, now that she was already paying for her sacrifice by bringing Soro’s accursed spawn into the world?
Tears raked her sight like hot flames. Anguish overtook her, her body trembled and choked with rage so thick she could not even speak.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:57 am
Caellagh was, by now, furious. Her mother was in exile. Her grandmother, her hero, dead, and her sister, run off in fear because of those males. Males the female before her reeked of. Males she seemed intent on serving.
Caellagh snapped. There was no place for one who sniveled and cowered to men, bowed to murderers. None. She returned the gesture, baring her own fangs in fury and anger as she leapt for the female again. Caellagh would offer no quarter-- she merely acted on base instinct, mind running like a broken record.
Kill the traitors. Kill the men. Secure the land for Kiuma's dream.
Her claws and fangs flashed as she attacked, a ball of hate, pain, and fury.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:58 pm
This time Caellgah was too fast for her. By the time her eyes cleared Caellgah was on top of her, claws and teeth raking her flesh, but Caellgah's blows were little pricks compared to the overwhelming despair she felt inside. She fell to the ground, belly to the earth, protecting her vital organs and covering her head with her paws in a vain attempt to protect herself from Caellgah's rage filled claws.
((And Soro enters... now!))
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