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 Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 7:56 pm
((First, important notes!
ICly, this takes place in early February. If your lion was living in the swamps on or before February 7, they were here. Even if you decide not to post. There are absolutely no exceptions to this. Cubs and all, everyone is here.
This is Asali's first appearance since her rebirth. No one knew she was around, or that Pili used to be Mama, save for Jabali, Nari, Roho, and Teuzi.
Thread is open, so post away!))
Narindima'moyo had to do his best not pace while he waited for the pride to gather. He'd sent his consort, Piliroho kwa Kwini, to do this for him, and she in turn had recruited Mwenye-Heri Tarishi and Ini Haki to do the same. With the three lionesses scouring the swamp, and given that pridemembers were supposed to be staying in groups, hopefully it wouldn't take too long. Not that he'd have known the difference; he was too busy managing his anxiety. It was hard enough to speak in front of everyone at the standard pridal occasions, which he'd grown used to - even funerals, sadly - but this was different. This was...unscripted, as it were.
As the pride arrived, it would be impossible not to notice that he stood near the unconscious form of Mysmyr, or that a wounded Domevlo sat nearby as well. What they didn't see was the invisible goddess who stood beside the King, her gentle leaning a comforting weight against him. His mother. Her presence was a welcome reminder to breathe and stay calm.
Once everyone had gathered, and Piliroho had returned to his side and confirmed it, he took one last deep breath and began.
"Another of our brothers has fallen. Unuspuniceus is dead." It was short, to the point, even blunt, though he didn't say it without sadness. Unfortunately, short and somewhat ineloquent was what happened when he didn't have Pili to help him with these sorts of things beforehand. And the weight of his mother had gone, causing him slight distraction as he wondered where she'd gone to.
"His death, however, will be the last. The murderer has been found and subdued by Domevlo. Mysmyr. It is Mysmyr who betrayed us!" Though it disgusted him to do so, he bent his head and took a mouthful of the smaller lion's pink mane, half-lifting him to make sure that everyone could see. He dropped him then, carelessly, so that he could continue.
"I have called you here to witness his fate!" Another deep breath, and Nari lifted his paw to deliver a killing blow -
"Allow me, my son." A familiar voice from behind the King, that even he turned his head to see. The former Queen let the power that kept her hidden from sight fall away, and stepped up to stand on Nari's right. "If you would?"
The ram-horned goddess looked to her son, and upon his nod pointed a paw at Mysmyr. In the next moment, he was gone, and in his place was a toad. Asali snatched the creature by one of its legs, tossing back her head to throw it into the air, and shut her jaws on it with a formidable snap when it came back down. A mere swallow and the murderer was no more.
The Goddess of the Swamp threw her head back again, this time to give voice to a savage roar.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:13 pm
Domevlo was no doubt surprised to see the former Queen appear, though baring a notable difference. To him, though, it was still the queen. How, what, why, and when was not something he felt need to know. There was just,...a heartfelt acceptance, and the lion sat up somewhat straighter from his previous slouch.
Pale gold eyes widened at the display of power, watching Mysmyr turn into a toad, then be consumed. A part of him wished the murderer would have been awake to endure his fate, but Domevlo was satisfied. The murderer was gone.
One thing though - what of his children?
Domevlo very much liked to believe in the good everyone was inherently born with, but how much had they learned from their father before now? And how would this affect them? How everyone treats Mysmyr's children after this would no doubt effect them. For better or worse? We'd see.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:22 pm
Asce Kibou stayed near his mother and siblings, ears back, waiting for the rest of the pride to gather. Why was Mister Mysmyr sleeping, looking hurt? And Mister Domevlo was hurt, too. It confused the little cub. And then the pride gathered, and the King spoke.
Mysmyr was the reason some of the pride would never be around again. He was the reason Asce would never know some of the pride, the reason Asce's mother never let them out of sight. Asce pressed against his mother. Why? Why had Mysmyr done it? Everyone here...they were family! Why had he hurt his family?
The female voice that came from nowhere, and then the goddess unveiling herself, spooked Asce something fierce. He hid under Alais, bright blue eyes wide as the murderer was changed and eaten. Asce didn't feel happy at the event, leaning against one of his mother's sturdy legs as the goddess roared in front of them all. No one else would die, yes. But others already had died, hurt by one of their own family. It didn't seem right to be happy or relieved.
What happened now?
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:27 pm
Mle could only give the offending lion a look of disgust. He had trusted the other lion, as he trusted any lion in the pride. Instead, because of him, because of this pink-haired lion, Mle's son was dead. His upper lip curled, betraying his extremely rare anger. Nothing else in his life had ever made him mad, except this.
The sudden appearance of the queen, thought dead by all, surprised the anger out of him. Once again, the little lion was placid, though the anger was still there, somewhere, buried. He could only watch as Asali changed Mysmyr into a toad and ate him, much of the anger vanishing with the change. Some of it was still there, though, anger directed at so many lions having to die to catch the lion, the injuries that had to be incurred. He sat down, letting out a quiet sigh. "I am happy to see justice dealt to him... But am still sad for the lives lost..."
He looked up at the Goddess' roar, ears suddenly becoming alert. Was there more to be said...?
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:47 pm
Wahadi had only recently learned the truth about his relationship to Kabusha, the lioness he thought was his mother. Kabu was still his mother, just a different kind of mother; and Tana was still his brother, just a different kind of brother, though he was away on his name quest now.
When Piliroho called the pride to the meeting place, Wahadi went with Kabu and his siblings, anxious to see what the fuss was about. He stayed close to Kabu.
While they waited for the rest of the pride to gather, Wahadi surveyed the scene. He recognized the unconscious pink and white lion. He had seen him around, though never spoken to him, and at first could not remember his name. He shifted from one paw to the other. If only he could get closer, but his instincts told him to stay close to his mother.
"Another of our brothers has fallen," the king said. "Unuspuniceus is dead."
Everything stopped. It was as if he had been running at full speed and the ground had fallen out from under him. Unuspuniceus? His father?
The next thing Wahadi knew, a white lioness with horns on her head had appeared suddenly out of nowhere and gobbled up the frog that was once Mysmyr. It all seemed so much like a dream. Everything he saw, everything he heard, everything he felt was too absurd, too terrible to exist in reality. The king's words kept echoing through his mind: Unuspuniceus is dead. It is Mysmyr who betrayed us!
Mysmyr.
Wahadi stood beside Kabusha, too shocked to move. Even the bone rattling roar of the swamp goddess could not upset the quaking of his broken heart.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 9:34 pm
Since Kataa'tamaa and her family had found their way home, nothing had been going right. She had been with family when they were gathered up, certain this meant another death. She trembled as she tried to get a headcount of family going but she couldn't figure it out, there were so many new members, cubs and mates both.. and not everybody was in the one group when they were gathered up. She was so occupied, she didn't notice Mysmyr or Domevlo near the king. She stopped trying to figure out who was missing when Nari spoke up, confirming her fear. Another was dead, another family member. An in-law but a family member nevertheless. And all the old lioness could do was sit down. As Nari continued, she finally noticed that Mysmyr was an unconscious heap nearby and what Nari said made her ears ring.
First Adhabu-shinda and Ukosa, cousins, dead for no apparent reason, leaving cubs and questions behind. More recently.. Kigugu'angaza, the daughter she never had, and Unus. But the two most personal of the deaths, the two who haunted her memory. Muhali, her grandson.. and Bangili, only a small, defenseless thing. Dead, very dead. Brutally murdered in ways she'd never have wanted to see and yet she was the one who had found them.
She and Mysmyr.
Tamaa felt numb, she didn't know what to feel, how to react. Knowing it was someone who seemed perfectly friendly, perfectly normal.. who had shared in a terrible experience with her. It didn't make any sense, it wasn't right. She watched as the swamp goddess appeared, turned him into a toad and finished him off. She didn't move, she just didn't know what to do.
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Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 3:10 am
Dastgir had been staying very close to his little family when word of the murders had touched his ears, the large black and orang lion continued to stick close to them now. The young juveniles flocked around his large paws and he made sure that with every step he had his eyes on each of his family members, including his mate. Sitting before the congregation the big male pulled his family close to him, counting each little fluffy head in succession, getting them all as the king spoke his words.
It was a surprise to him that anyone could hurt someone else, intentionally, purposefully kill someone, but that was why he was guardian to his family. The goddesses appearance as a strange thing to watch, but clearly she was supposed to be there so he simply nodded and accepted it and he nodded a swift nod as the perpetrator was disposed of by the goddess. Poa sat firmly on his fathers toes as he watched the proceedings, he didn't know what was happening or why it had happened, his parents had kept him and his siblings very sheltered during these rough times. due to his size, he couldn't fully see what was happening but the toad being eaten, yuekh, why would anyone eat a toad? His father seemed pleased though so he accepted that the toad being eaten was a good thing. The fur on his neck rose in a shiver as the goddess roared and he wriggled closer to his siblings for support.Alba bounced about, she was excited about this outing, at seeing all the different cubs about , seeing all the other lions, their family was a very tightly knit and closely watched one, her father always close by watching each one of them like a very large dark hawk. She completely missed the toad being eaten, viewing each lions reaction to the words being spoken almost individually, and was only awoken from her joy of scanning the crowed by the loud roar of the goddess that was suddenly before them all. Something good had clearly happened and she had missed it. Shrugging her shoulders she returns to looking at the crowed, they all seemed pleased at what ever had just happened, so she too broke in to a sweetly childish smile.She was old enough to remember a time before Piliroho was king and upon her return after many years of travelling the world, Lawanda was not surprised to see him upon the throne. Of course returning at such a time of chaos didn't exactly bring joy to her heart, after all these years she had come back to the land she remembered, only it had changed, become a sad place because of these dreadful murders. The old lioness hobbled to sit and watch proceedings her blood red eyes quietly scanning the layout before her. It seemed that at last the perpetrator had been caught and they could finally breath easy again.
A little breath of awe escaped her as the old queen appeared, a goddess? Well at least the wise old queen was still watching over them, this pleased the older lioness very much and she watched without disgust as the killer was taken care of, bowing her head in mourning for those lost, the dark khaki lioness lets out a sigh of relief as the pale goddess lets out her roar of triumph.
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Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 9:10 am
Alais kept her cubs near her, even little Arden, never letting them out of sight unless they were going with another adult that her dreams said were alright. And now...now it was over. There would be no more fear, no more deaths. She smiled very slightly, ducking her head down to nuzzle Asce. The poor boy...he wouldn't understand. None of her little ones would understand.
With a paw, she gathered her other cubs to her as Asali roared, whispering. "It's over now, dears. Everything will be right again." She hoped. She glanced to Semira and her cubs. What would happen with them? How would the cubs do?
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Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:09 am
As the sound of her roar faded away, Asali stood for a moment, looking out at the pride and letting them get a look at her. Finally, with a toss of her head to flip her braided forelock out of her eyes - not that it ever stayed for long - she stepped towards Domevlo and, without saying a word, set to licking his wounds.
She'd always been rather fond of him, and had been quite dismayed that some of the pride's newer members had thought him the killer just because of the way he looked. She'd have given them a good whack, if she'd been able. Really! Like she'd ever have let a murderer into the swamp.
...nothing against Nari, of course. He'd had no way of knowing.
Her tail swaying busily behind her, the goddess purred intermittently while she worked.
There was little else to be said. But now they had a funeral to prepare for, and so Nari slipped away to find and tend to the body of Unus. He didn't bother asking Domevlo where to find it; he'd dragged Mysmyr here, after all, so the trail would be easy to find and follow. In the meantime, if anything came up, Pili or Asali could handle it.
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Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 1:00 pm
Domevlo was at a loss for words. The gentle touch of another, cleaning his wounds none the less, was foreign. There was, no doubt though, a silent thanks from the large lion. He watched as Nari slipped away - no doubt to find Unus and give the lion a proper funeral. It had taken a few hours to drag Mysmyr here, but it probably would take only a third of that to find Unus.
It was sad that Unus had to fall before Mysmyr was found out. However it had seemed that the lion was growing weary of life. Domevlo could not fault him that though. Unus had died with a smile. Domevlo remembered when he had taken the spare minute after his battle with Mysmyr to pay a silent farewell to him. Domevlo remembered looking up to the stars and thinking that perhaps this had been the kindest thing for Unus, who was now with his mate, and watching over their children from the spirit world.
Domevlo looked up now and there were no stars, but the pale light of morning. A new day for the swampland.
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