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 Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:40 am
He stretched his young, strong body and curled his clawed toes into the sand, enjoying the feel of the strong, cushioning ground beneath him. Long ago he had ventured outside of these lands and though he had been astounded by the beauties of the world, there was no place quite like home.
He breathed in the hot, dry air and stepped lightly out across the compacted sand. Bands of undisturbed light fell across his back, warming it immediately. His time in the shade had cooled him but it did not take too long to get hot again in this part of the world.
Even still, the land had been troubled as of late. Newcomers here to join had ended up bringing trouble with them, though he had left that to the job of that male Kimacho to lead. Oh, and not to mention Kenna.
Despite that, however, he thought he might take a stroll over to see how things were going.
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:38 pm
She heard it. She was told. She, born of a then-royal bloodline and the blood of a firekin who had helped during the rebellion was not true firekin, she was huria. It stung her eyes and her heart, she bit her lip and tasted her own blood refusing to show tears, refusing to show weakness as firekin were strong, noble, honorable, wise. But now she knew, she would have to leave, leave!
Her mother, Karana'Mzaana, historian of the pride, was nearly in tears when she spoke, but she had spoken solemnly, like there was nothing that could be done. Her pelt was not as red as others, Mwako'nakama admitted, nor was her orange color as vibrant as her sisters, but she was of sun and sand, burnt sunset and fire! Could no one see that? See past the color that was on her pelt?
Mwako'nakama had ventured near the borders, not too far, but far enough she thought she was secluded. She did not go over to where her mother worked diligently on the slate slabs that held the history of her home, her family, Mwako'nakama did not want to see her form distant from her family, on the outskirts.
She had heard of another, like herself, a male, golden in color, who was sent away.
But what was gold but not the anchor of a flame? What was her color if not the edges of red that would lick and burn objects to cinders?
Why?
Nakama had settled herself near a puddle, drying up in the sun, but there was sand, wet and brown, dark, almost red, and clay, orange, creating a bowl. She dipped her paw in and saw the color change on her forearm. Her ears folded back in sadness, worry, the want to stay.
She had the eyes of her mother and the marking of her father in her stripes, was that not enough?
Nakama touched her paw to her cheeks, her forehead and her back where she could reach, making herself, dying herself a more 'proper' color. But she wasn't happy with the result, the pelt that shown through her mess was who she was, why did she have to cover herself.
If she covered herself in mud daily, could she stay?
Nakama curled up by the puddle, looking at her reflection, looking at her eyes.
She was firekin, she was Firekin.
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:28 am
(( sorry for being slow, I'm going to try and make a real effort to get online at least once a day from now on ^_^ ))
His sand-coloured eyes caught hold of that sand-coloured cub, no longer a cub but a budding juvenile. Kidondo found that her coat pattern startled him. Yes, he had been out in rogue lands, seen all the colours of those rogue pelts. He had loved little Uddhava and he was good friend of Azarax. He had expected this to happen. Hurias to be born, that was. Yet, it startled him to see a young lion, not red black nor white, standing in these lands.
It was an odd thing, indeed.
And yet, it very much broke his heart. For he knew, as well as she did, that her time here would soon be over and that she would no longer be able to live here. She could not call this place home. Nor could she raise a family here. She could not even die here.
He thought of Uddhava and wondered, briefly, how he was getting on out there in the big wide world.
He drew closer, allowing his shadow to pass over her and then, softly, he called out to her.
"Hello there, little one. You are the historian's daughter, are you not?" He hoped he would not scare her with his size and sudden appearance.
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:34 pm
((No worries luff I understand how busybusy you get<3))
A shadow engulfed her form and she didn't look up, sadness was in her eyes and on her face and she tried to put mud on her arms again, not turning, his voice was pleasant, not harmful. Who would want to pick a fight with her anyway? Since she wasn't truly a firekin...that's what they said. "That's my mommy...mother, yes," her ears folded back. She was the historian;s daughter, and she wouldn't be allowed to stay...she wouldn't exist here after she was gone.
She didn't want to go.
"My father-" no mistake this time, "Is Sinbad, he's very strong, so are all of my other siblings," they all had the right coloring, except her.
"I don't want to go...why won't this stay on?" she asked turning to face Kidondo for the first time this moment, she knew who he was, his eyes, his pelt, she had studied her mother's paintings from afar, she held up her paws, mud falling off in little clumps into the sand and small pool of water that turned slightly orange-brown from sand, mud and clay caked on the bottom.
"Why won't it change? I don't want to leave! I love my home and my family, my fire is just as strong as everyone's, its just on the inside, it flickers in my pelt in the sun and warms my spirit at night," tears were in the corners of her silver eyes.
"I don't want to go!" she curled up in front of him, close to his paws, trying to find solace and comfort.
Why only her?
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:59 am
His eyes grew sadder still as he listened to her. She was in despair, confused and feeling...unwanted and unloved. He knew that allowing rogue blood into the pride would bring such misery and yet, for all his power, there was nothing he could do about this. Nothing, except, try and encourage this little one.
He settled beside her, not wishing to tower over her, his belly pressed to the sand.
"You have good parents." He agreed softly. "What is your name, little one? I am Kidondo. Some call me Ondo. Whichever you prefer." He paused, watching as she curled in front of him, muddied. His heart felt desperately saddened.
"I believe you, little one. You are strong. Perhaps stronger than all of us for bearing this burden."
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:25 pm
She watched him move from the corners of her eyes and she shrank down close, half nesting herself i the sand and against his form, lower, nearer to her. "Good parents, yes, good blood too? Isn't who I am enough?" she asked looking up at him, eyes shining, stinging, "what is within my heart is just are bright as your pelt or any other. My blood if fallen would be just as red," she buried her head down yet again. A sort of sad sadistic thought she believed once, that if she coated herself in her own blood, maybe she would be good enough, good enough to belong visually.
"I don't want to be alone, I don't want to lose my family, my home, can't I do anything to change what I look like?" she noted she was rambling, letting her emotions take her and fly. She sniffled, and wiped her nose, she was muddied now, dirty.
"I am Mwako'nakama," she knew the meaning of her name, and still knew not why her mother chose it. And she almost feared if Kidondo knew the meaning, and she doubted he wouldn't know, he knew everything here.
Burning fire...the burning vengeful fire...burning revenge.
Why such a name?
Wouldn't such a name propose she be valuable here? Protect the pride? Mother always said that the sister she sought after most, her blazing orange color seemed like that of a great lioness of the past, now fallen.
Was she supposed to fix something with such a name?
"Have there been any others?" she questioned, wondering how many others had to be driven away, was she to be alone when she left too?
"I don't want to go Kidondo, I don't."
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:59 pm
Listening to her, Kidondo wondered whether there was anything he could do or say to help her. Would he have been consolable if he knew he had to leave behind his loved ones, his home? The answer was simple but it did not comfort him to know it.
"There has been one other, he left this place shortly before you were born." He still missed Uddhava, the last tie to his foster mother who had died long ago now. "He was sad to leave but...his circumstances were...a little different."
He blinked and turned his eyes to her again.
"Mwako'nakama." He smiled softly. "A good name. Cherish it always." A pause ensued, an ear flicked idly as he sought to find the right words.
"Has your mother told you much of our past, Mwako'nakama? Of our creation? Of our creator, Finar-Si?" He felt somehow, that by relaying the history to her, perhaps she might understand that - whilst terrible - it had to be this way.
"If you have time, I'd be happy to tell you anything you wish to know. Not just about past history, but about history I have seen unfold before my very eyes."
She didn't want to go...
He couldn't tell her to forget about her home or her family, but perhaps he could encourage her to see that the outside world wasn't all so bad. After all, he'd met the love of his life outside of this desert.
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:20 pm
"No, she hasn't," Nakama lifted herself up and tried to rub what dirt she could from her fur, "I always want to go and talk with her, when she is working, but I feel like, if I'm supposed to leave, am I...supposed to know anything that records? I dont, want to see myself separated there," her ears fell back as she moved to sit next to Kidondo, he was so large to her small frame. She was hte youngest of her litter, the smallest, and the one that had to go.
"I feel like if I see myself there, separated, I'll get angry, I don't want to be angry with my home, my family, no matter if I have to leave, this will always be my home, even if...I can't stay," she lay her head on one of his paws closest to her and sighed, looking forward, trying to imagine a world where she could grow up, be a soldier, and make her family proud here.
"I want so much to make my father proud, be a soldier, protect these lands, but if I can't stay, how can I? I can't linger on the broders forever, it will just make me want to come into the lands again..."
She flicked her tail and looked up at him, and shok her head. "No, I've not heard too much of her, I know some start and then stop while I walk by...its not allowed, is it?" she questioned. She knew there were different firekins here, from different blood and backgrounds, so she wasn't too sure.
She felt so distant.
"I want to know the history of everything, but what I want to know more is this," she looked up at him, silver eyes searching his, "if I have to leave, can I ever come back? Can I visit, or try again?" what if some god could change hte color of her pelt?
She lay her head down again, took a breath, "I don't know what I would do, if I had to leave, and never see them again, see anyone here again."
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 12:30 pm
She was so sweet. So innocent and she reminded him so much of Uddhava that it stung his heart. He had held no hate in him either. Sadness. Confusion. But not hate or anger. And, when the time had come the golden one had smiled and he had said farewell and Kidondo had managed a smile, too, no matter how hard it had been to find.
He nodded slowly, understanding.
"You may find that once you are outside, you might not wish to come back." Kidondo replied. "Your blood family is here and you will not forget that, but along the way you will make other family. Family not from blood, but through trust and love." He smiled fondly. "I found my mate, No, outside of here. I don't dare to think of what life might have been if I had not met her." He loved that black cat so completely, he didn't think he could go on living without her at his side. "The world out there is not so bad as some Firekin may think. There are strong prides. There are good and honourable lions. There are lands of green that stretch endlessly all around, just as the gold sand does here. Herds and water is plentiful. Life is not so difficult."
A pause. "Even still, if you truly do wish to return, perhaps there is something we can do. No and I have been discussing those of the Huria not so eager to break their ties completely. Perhaps granting them their own special title as Ambassadors." He paused again, drawing in a slow breath. "They would go out into the world and bring back news of the outside world from time to time so that we might always know what is going on." He hastened to add. "But the Ambassador could not be allowed to dwell in these lands long, nor breed here. His or her family would have to remain on the outside world, which I feel, may not be practical for some."
He looked regretful, but perhaps it would bring her a little hope?
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:49 am
If only there was a way to make this better, a way to darken her pelt. If she stayed in the sun, would it change to a more suitable color? Could she dye her pelt a darker, more vibrant red? It would take time and experimentation, berries and other substances to see if it would work. But she was running out of time.
"No is wonderful," she was a strong lioness, perfect for this place, just as that all black male. Even so simplistic they were bound here by strength and accepted by appearance as well. She sighed and snuggled herself closer to his arm, letting her head rest on a paw.
Kidondo was strong but gentle, he seemed to understand.
Ambassador, it was an idea, but could she really come back home knowing she could only stay for a few mere moments, that she couldn't stay with her family? How would she protect them if she was gone, how could she not want to fight and stay.
It was too much to consider, to think about, comprehend at this point. She was still so young, so small, yet she wanted to be different, wanted to be firey red. black, something.
"Maybe I'll find another way," she spoke softly, she felt tired, wanted to stay in this spot a few more moments. Perhaps if she nestled herself in certain areas for a while, she could take those memories with her if she found no other way.
"Can we stay here, for a little while longer, please?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:21 pm
He wasn't sure what she meant by that. Another way? Perhaps she was trying to think of a way out of this situation. Perhaps she maintained some sort of hope that one day she would awaken red, black and white. Yes, she was a good strong girl with a noble heart. It saddened him to think that they would lose her over pelt colour.
But alas, that was one rule that could never be changed. Not ever.
"We can." He replied softly. "And I'll tell you a little of Firekin history, if I may?" He settled and slipped easily into his stride. Talking had once come difficult to the Regent, but his role had demanded for it and now it came easier, though he'd never be a storyteller. "As you may know, our creator was a Goddess who went by the name of Finar-Si. She created us from her own blood, so, you see, the Firekin grew bigger and stronger than any other. We were the elite, made stronger by the desert we crafted as our own. We prided ourselves on our red and black pelts, pelts that mimicked our Goddess' own colours. Back then Firekin were no more than egotistical monsters. They enslaved those they thought inferior, which you may have guessed, was any other lion except a pure-blood Firekin. Half-bloods were killed or banished, along with the sinning parent. They lavished in the power they had over other lions and flourished in their reputation on the outside world."
A pause and his face grew solemn. "And then the plague came, and with it all but a few of the bloodlines were taken. Those that remained struggled to maintain the ideals. But, as you will come to understand someday, new blood is an absolute necessity to the survival of all living things. I was born in a time after the plague, when the pride dwindled. I saw, and others too, that the pride could not continue. So, in an attempt to set things right, I took things into my own paws as heir to the throne. I went into the outside lands and saw for myself the strength of the outsiders and met No. Much happened between that time and the downfall of my father, Kimeti, but many were not happy with my decision to allow rogues to settle in these lands. Many are still not happy now and would rise against it. Some are still so blind as to not see it was this way or demise. And yet, for all the changes I made, there was one that I could not make - could not ever make. And sadly, it is the one thing that will have you leave us, Mwako'nakama."
He looked at her regretfully. "The Simo-way was to move on without religion, without Finar-Si's guidance and strike out on our own. And yet, pelt colour will forever remain an important aspect of being a Firekin. It is not fair, but it is the only way. A lion can only be forced to accept so much change before he bites back."
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:49 pm
She listened to his words, her eyes becoming half-lidded. She was tired, physically and mentally of thinking of anyway she could stop the inevitable. Nakama wondered then, if a goddess existed and could bring a pride to life and strength, and even a downfall, was there one that could change her color, change her appearance? Something settled in her heart and spirit, if she could find one to change how others saw her, maybe she had a chance. But still, she would have to leave to go on that quest, and would she really be able to go on such a journey alone?
She had plans to make, and ideas to consider.
"Do you think I could meet No?" she asked softly, flicking her tail. "I want to meet as many faces as I can before I have to go, so I can have some memories to keep, if I ever saw them when I would return to say hello to my family, I want to remember names."
Mwako'nakama wondered if there were other prides like this, where appearance was key. Slaves, she thought, made her angry. Her mother and her family would have been banished before Kidondo's time of rising.
Her eyes lit with fire, thinking of the simple rule that would keep her from fulfilling her life here. Not anger, frustration.
She wanted to fix this.
"Who knows, maybe one day, before or after I must go, my pelt will darken somehow, or be bleached clean, its something to dream about," and want.
Only actions could change the course of her future now.
"Would you tell me other things, on other days, and show me everywhere here? So I can remember later? I want to see my mother's work, but," she closed her eyes, took a breath, "I don't want to venture too far where I am not supposed to."
So much she wanted, but perhaps, she would never receive.
Sad truth, but maybe she could change the future somehow.
For now she would have to wait.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:46 am
She wanted to meet No? His eyes sparkled and his smile grew warm again. "Of course you may meet her. She's a busy cat but she always has time to speak to her peoples, especially the young ones." He continued. "I'd encourage you to talk to as many members of the pride as you can, hold those memories close and use them to make you stronger, Mwako'nakama." He touched a paw lightly to her nose. "I would most certainly like to meet with you myself again before you leave, to touch on what I spoke of before about becoming an ambassador for the pride."
He quieted as she spoke of those hopes. Those empty hopes, for how, he wondered, could a lion possibly change the colour of their pelt? He worried, too, for the lengths she might go to to get what she wanted and thought of deities outside of their lands, wreaking havoc.
Kidondo believed in them alright, for it was hard to deny what you could see with your own two eyes. But he did not believe they were good and certainly would not bestow powers without some sort of payback needed.
"Then I hope such happy things fill your dreams, little one."
He stood and, with a small smile, added one last word before taking his leave. "If you ever wish to talk, I am never far away. Remember that." And, dipping his head respectfully to her he turned and took her leave, wondering what the future would hold for that little sand-coloured girl.
/fin.
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