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 Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:23 pm
 Now that he was finally deemed 'old enough' by his father and to the chagrin and concern of his mother, Castor was exploring the pride lands alone. No longer was he forced to be chaperoned, or at least with a sibling, at all times. He was officially by himself. And he was exhilarated.
As he was training to be a warrior like Father, Castor was constantly trying to improve himself. So, as he was out exploring today, he was definitely trying to hear, see, smell, and touch everything that he could. If he could be familiar with his surroundings, then he could use them to his advantage if attacked. Or surprised.
Castor rounded the bottom of a hill and found himself almost face to face with a slave. She was brightly-colored, purples and oranges, and branded with the green pawprint. Oh, she was a slave alright.
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Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:47 am
 The slave lioness startled as she suddenly found herself in front of the youngster, and immediately backed a few steps. She might just have been surprised to meet anyone at all in this part of the Mizimu territory, but for an instant something about her expression and behaviour almost made her seem guilty. Guilty to what, was the big question.
Skugga tried to keep her face blank as the young lion gave her a silent evaluation. She could see how his eyes travelled and how his gaze inevitably landed on the green brand marking her as not-quite-mizimu. It was a look she had seen before, and she could tell exactly when the lion in front of her dismissed her as a slave. This young thing couldn't remember much of the war, and he might not have even been born when it ended, but he still judged her. He was still Mizimu, and since he was she couldn't help but hate him. Some of that hate must surely show in her eyes, but Skugga didn't care right now.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:17 pm
Castor narrowed his eyes at the slave. Of course he was too young to remember most of the war, but that didn't stop him from bugging his parents endlessly for stories and re-telling of the entire thing. The Dhati lions versus his pride...what a battle! If only he had been older at the time, he would have been able to help.
"And what are you doing?" He said it condescendingly, obviously looking down on her because of what she was. He also didn't notice the distain for him in her eyes.
Castor knew only so many stories about the war; his parents refused to tell him all the gory details; they mostly told him generalities. So he wasn't quite sure who this slave was, exactly. But the green marking gave him a little clue.
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:49 am
Stinking brat... Skugga didn't know his parents but from the way he looked she could narrow it down to a pawful of lions and lionesses in the pride. Not that she knew everyone, but she had a good grasp of those that had been around before she left. Many of those that still lived seemed to ignore her now, and she was just as happy being ignored by those spirit traitors. Of those that had joined or been born after her departure she only knew the more obvious ones. Sakata's lot, since it seemed prudent to keep track of her enemies, and also those that had taken to order her around. Was this what the brat was up to?
"I'm..." she hesitated a bit too long before answering, and tried her hardest to find an answer that wouldn't make it sound as if she was slacking off, "I'm between assignments. I was told to stick around this area."
Not a lie, but maybe not the entire truth. It was hard to tell by her body language. Not that he had any business in asking, she thought. Oh, she would obey any direct command for fear of punishment, but she wasn't going to give him a claws width more than he asked for.
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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:42 am
"Hm, between assignments." Castor pondered, looking around the area. Really, there wasn't too much here. At least, he didn't think so. There wasn't enough here to merit her waiting because of two 'assignments.'
"Well, you're either waiting for someone to come get you so you can continue an assignment..." he thought aloud, walking around her and inspecting the surroundings with a closer eye. He supposed that it wasn't unusual for someone to order a slave on an errand or something. That could be because of laziness or even if someone was simply just too busy.
"...or you're waiting for someone that you need to watch or meet with so you can finish an assignment. Either way, you waiting here is pretty odd and suspicious all in itself. What assignments are you doing and for whom?" He wasn't sure if he could get away with thrusting his nose in the business of others, but if it was a slave, he might as well try to manipulate himself into gaining more knowledge. About anything.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 2:04 am
Oh, for the love of... Did he think he was being smart by accusing her of whatever he was trying to accuse her of? Skugga felt vaguely offended but resisted rolling her eyes at the youngster. She decided to give him the benefit of a doubt and just assume that he was too stupid to know what he was saying. At least he had yet to start ordering her around, and that was a pleasant break after this morning. Some days she was completely left alone while there seemed to be an endless amount of things to do other days. There was little structure for the slaves due to the lack of masters and overseers. Those that were around were often occupied with other matters and that meant that anyone in the mood for a power trip could decide to keep her busy with any inane task they could think about. And the lioness that had harassed her this morning... Oh Spirits... If she hadn't promised Mazi to keep her head down she would have attacked that b***h.
"I'm hanging around here," she said coldly, "Since I'm not allowed to go near the minder dens, or the sacrifices, or the sacred places, or the borders of the land. Not many places for me to go after that, huh?"
Not that she wanted to mingle with the poor, defenceless and uncorrupted souls of the pride. What did they think she would do? Rub off on them? Go on a killing spree? No use talking to them since they were happy to drown in the delusions spread by the heart and claw.
"I guess they think I might take back the cubs that they stole from me and make a run for it," she said, and this time she did roll her eyes, "No slaves have ever escaped, but who knows? I might be special..."
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:49 pm
For how irritated she was at him, she didn't reveal a sign of it that his eyes could read in her facial features or stance. He continued on, confidant that his knowledge (or lack thereof) would carry him through this unpleasant meeting, and show him the victor of their words.
"Nope, not many places for you to go all. Not my fault you're a slave and don't have anything else better to do at the moment." An idea popped into his head. Well, he could change what she was doing, right then, since she really wasn't doing much. He could send her on some silly errand if he wanted to.
Would that please the Spirits? he thought to himself.
He snorted at her sarcastic threat, if it was one. It was useless. "You're not special. You're a slave," he said pointedly. "Besides, if you even tried to do anything you're not allowed to do, you'd be punished or killed faster than you could blink." His pridemembers weren't stupid, and certainly not lax on rules.
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:11 pm
Skugga was growing tired of listening to the young lion state the obvious as if it was infinite wisdom. She could never have been this annoying when she was young. No, she hadn't been as sheltered as the post-war cubs in the first place, and she had made the choice to grow up when she got the opportunity.
"I see you've got it all figured out," she said flatly. "Clever boy."
She wondered how big her own sons were by now since she had only seen a glimpse of them after they took them away. Not as big as the purple male in front of her, she decided. This one looked old enough to take on a task of his own soon.
"You a sacrifice?" she asked, just to turn the conversation away from herself for a moment. He looked bright enough to be one at least. And he was certainly stupid enough to swallow the lies.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:16 pm
He tried not to beam in victory. Really, he did. But Castor puffed out his chest a little, anyway, because he knew he had won this encounter. Even she had said so. Not that a slave's opinion mattered, but she had admitted defeat. And even that small win was still a win.
He blinked at the question.
"No," he answered. "I would be, but my coat isn't bright enough. I'm going to be a warrior, like my father." His tone made it seem obvious. He wasn't as bright as she was, after all. Her stripes were certainly characteristic of a sacrifice. But his purple fur wasn't enough to make him one, so he had been content to settle with a future where his muscle would be put to the test.
Castor narrowed his eyes a bit in thought, wondering if his query would be considered taboo or something.
"Didn't you have cubs?" He thought he could remember something about a slave's cubs being taken away from her once she was given her new status in the pride. He thought it might be this lioness.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 2:47 am
It was evident that the youngster was feeling very proud of himself over what he must perceive as a victory. How fitting for a future warrior to have a large ego. Might end up getting his neck broken if he didn't curb that over confidence, but that was his problem and not hers. Or rather... It was the Claw's problem, and they would probably be able to make him a decent warrior, she had to admit. He looked as if he could grow up to be strong if he didn't drown in a puddle of water or something equally stupid before that.
"Not good enough to be a Sacrifice then," she said with malice, "Well, everyone couldn't become one, or they wouldn't be any special. But I have seen Sacrifices with duller coats than yours become Sacrifices. I guess they had something you lack."
She didn't know if he would rise to the bait, but she had no time to dwell on that before he started to ask personal questions again. She gritted her teeth, but she was the one who had touched on the subject in the first place so she answered.
"They were stolen from me," she said, "Another lioness is raising them with the lie that they are her own."
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:27 am
He flicked his ears back to lay close to his head. It was an honor to be a sacrifice and they both knew it. The insult was a low one, and she definitely knew that. Castor glared at her.
"I'm happy to serve my pride in any way I can. You, obviously, are not, since now you're a slave." He sneered the word, hoping to rub in her painfully-low status even more.
"Then at least they'll be raised properly," he said quietly after her reply. "Though I'm sorry." For the cubs being taken away, for her actions and therefore the pride having no choice but to take them away from her...
After the war, Castor hadn't realized its effect on everyone. Sure, the pride had succeeded and had returned to its lands victorious. But for the lives of those that had been beaten, well...theirs were less positive, of course. It was when war happened that a small part of him wished for peace. Only a small part since he was a warrior through and through.
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 1:31 pm
Skugga didn't even bother to hide her pleased smirk when she saw that her insult had hit home. It was too easy to bait him, and his attempt at retaliating was laughable. Yes she was a slave, and that was certainly not a dream, but she'd rather be a mistreated slave with her eyes open than a pampered Sacrifice wrapped up in lies. Now her cubs, that was another matter, one that was still a sore subject.
She was about to say something nasty about the "proper" way to raise cubs, but his apology caught her off guard and she closed her mouth with an audible click of teeth. Her ears pointed forward as she tried to make sense of this new development. He sounded sincere enough and while she could come up with a pawful of mean or hurtful retorts she wasn't sure she should.
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