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 Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:21 pm
Gremio:
Thanks to Shoka, his hunt had been successful. He'd managed to find a herd of gazelle and corner one of the young ones between himself and the river. He'd brought the kill back, picked it apart, and discarded what he didn't feel the young ones should ingest.
He'd pulled one of the legs free for Safi, who was no doubt keeping herself occupied with her dancing. Too occupied to come in and feed herself.... dancing took so much energy, she must have been starving.
 Safi:
Quite the contrary, Safi was not dancing. She was actually sitting on the rock that Gremio sat on when he had day-watches. She was staring intently out across the land with a thoughtful frown on her face. The run-in with the lioness when she was hunting birds for Altai had really got to her for some reason. Every time it crossed her mind she shivered a bit and worried not only about the old lion the lioness had told her about, but also the lioness herself. She had seemed off and that worried Safi. She hadn't been sleeping very well lately, had been distracted by her thoughts. Of course, she hadn't gotten the chance to actually tell anyone about it, though she was certain Altai had noticed that something was a little off about her mommy.
She let out a slow breath, turning her head slightly and perked up her ears, listening to the world around her.
Gremio:
Gremio approached silent as a shadow and cleared his throat when he came to the base of the watcher's stone. He freed his mouth by laying the severed leg down in the thin grass.
"I figured you would be hungry."
Safi:
Safi's ears pricked and she turned her head quickly when she heard someone approach. Her face softened when she saw it was Gremio, and that he had brought her food. Part of her didn't really feel like eating while the more rational side of her knew that she should probably eat something. She didn't want to be weak or get sick or anything like that.
She smiled a bit and hopped down to give him a little nuzzle of thanks.
"Thank you for thinking of me," she said and moved to the leg, but kinda just pawed at it.
"I should have been with the rest of the troupe for food... I guess I've just had a lot one my mind lately..."
Gremio:
Gremio gave her a short nuzzle back and took her place at the top of the watcher's stone. She had her meal to distract her and while it was a 'safe' time of the day, he still felt better keeping watch over it. Settling down and stretching his paws out, Gremio turned himself so he was half watching the boarder while half watching Safi.
His ears rolled back as a concerned frown creased his features.
"Is something troubling you? Oh dear..." He bit his lip and looked off to the side. "Was...it what I told you last time?"
Safi:
Safi looked up in surprise and quickly shook her head.
"Oh, no, it wasn't that..." She looked down again and shook her head again. She bent to take a bite of the leg and chewed a bit, trying to figure out everything to say. She picked up the food and moved a bit so that she was a bit more in his vision.
"When I was hunting for birds to teach Altai how to pluck feathers, I met a lioness. She... There was something strange about her. As if she was very, very old, but she looked so young, and there was something... wrong about her. She told me about this old lion to watch out for, said his name was Neclord and that he had something of hers and that he was evil..." Safi paused to put her paws on the rock and place her head on her paws, looking up at him with more than a little concern.
"I'm worried..."
Gremio:
The lion went from a quiet, anxious nanny to the dangerous veterain in a matter of moments. His ears flattened back against his mane and the flame of war blazed in his normally gentle eyes. Neclord... he knew the name well enough.
"She's quite right. There is not a drop of good blood in that creature." He took a deep breath, attempting to swallow the rage in his voice. "Who...was this lioness?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:47 pm
Safi:
Safi's ears flattened, she was a little afraid of the change in Gremio and yet thrilled at the same time. If she needed him to, he could protect her. She fought against the urge to hop back onto the rock and curl up neck to him for comfort, she knew she should probably face him with this discussion.
"She wouldn't tell me her name, but she kept calling me child, though she looked younger than I am... She was all white with a gray mane and red eyes. I almost thought she was completely white, but I think there might be a dark mark by her paw," she replied, doing her best to remember the lioness beyond the chill in her eyes.
Gremio:
It didn't ring a bell unfortunately. The description didn't sound like anyone he knew... the mark, however, could be one of the runes. Tir carried one, as did Riou and Jowy.
"The mark...what did it look like? Did it seem...different somehow?"
Safi:
"I couldn't really see it, it was covered by a pelt and cloth cloak she wore around her shoulders. But... it kind of looked like the moon at a crescent, except there was something in the middle of the hollow, something that was connected to the inside of the moon," Safi replied, trying her best to explain when she hadn't really gotten a very good look at it. Did it have something to do with the marks that were on Tir and Taban, Jowy, Riou, and Leknaat?
Gremio:
He looked to the side. Again it didn't sound very familiar, but it was possible it was another one of the runes. He would have to ask Teyd later, the leopard was deceptively old despite his youthful features. It could be a tie-in to this strange lioness.
"I see... well whomever she was, she's right. This creature, Neclord, fancies himself a vampire. He kills his foes and drains only their blood. There are... many under the delusion that drinking just the blood gives you the strength of your victim."
Safi:
Safi looked horrified at this concept. Draining the blood of their victim? How was that supposed to make you strong? Sure, she drank the blood of her prey, but it was only because there was still blood among the meat she ate, it wasn't like she went out of her way for it. And it was the meat itself that made her and the others strong and healthy.
"That's absurd! Where would they get that kind of idea?" she exclaimed, shaking her head.
A thought came to her mind and she frowned some more. If this lioness was looking for Neclord, why had she been in this area? The only real possibilities were that she had tracked him here, or that she was simply wandering and hoping to run into him.
Safi didn't think she was much of a lioness for the latter.
Her gaze flew back up to Gremio's face.
"We should keep a closer eye on the cubs."
Gremio:
"There are stories...", He looked out towards the boarder again, half expecting to see the black terror himself moving like a storm cloud over the boarder. "Long ago... a clan of lions worshiped the moon and the god there of. They drew power from it, they sacrificed and praised all in the name of the moon. They were blessed while they remained loyal. Apparently, over time, the pride became corrupted by the power that the god's blessing gave them. They began to take advantage of their power. Angry, the god turned his back on them. Their blessings were gone, their land began to die, and they turned on each other. Desperate for that power, they began performing rituals on one another. They devoured the flesh of their brethren and developed a taste for blood. Now...of course, the strongest in the pride survived, but it became the belief that they became strong because they drank the blood of their kind and drew out their strength. These lions became mentally ill, believing that blood gave them power."
He nodded firmly, some of the fur lifting up off his back. "....Aila ran off earlier."
Safi:
Safi shuddered at the story. Normally she liked them, but this one... She couldn't hold herself back this time when something inside told her to jump onto the rock. Doing her best to take up as little room as possible, she curled up next to Gremio. He was as upset about this as she was, probably more since he knew what these... creatures were like. She was glad she wasn't alone.
"She did? Did she say why, is she okay?" she asked, glancing up at him for a moment before putting her head down against his paw.
Gremio:
Gremio, normally comforting and warm, laid still as a statue, his eyes watchful and his ears perked and alert. He thought he'd heard Neclord's name for the last time... the lord of the vampires, the betrayer of the moon itself.
"She's fine...she found an orphan at the boarder, just by the river. From what I understand, she saved his life."
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:34 pm
Safi:
He was in warrior mode, she shouldn't have expected any sort of comfort. But just being next to him, knowing he was there helped somehow.
"Oh, well... then I suppose it's something of a good thing that she ran off. It seems difficult to punish her if she did it to save someone..." Safi replied, trying to figure out what she would do is Aila was her daughter. Her daughter... She was suddenly struck by the worry she'd gotten from the rumors she had heard, that cats like herself, who had mixed parents, couldn't have families of their own. Why was she so worried lately? Everything seemed to be bothering her.
"You'll tell Taban and the others, won't you? About the lioness and Neclord, I mean?"
Gremio:
"She said something about getting a vision of his strife. A young cheetah. A male... he seems quite attatched to her already." And his scarf. That dirty thing... heavens why did he insist on sucking on it?! It was one thing to wear something so dirty, it was another thing entirely to suck on it.
He drew his attention back to the present and nodded. "I will. I was going to ask Teyd and Master Tir about this marking."
Safi:
Safi smiled when Gremio told her about Aila and her little friend. They sounded adorable. She was glad the little spitfire had a real friend now, before it had just been her and the boys since she didn't really mesh with either of her sisters. A best friend would be good for her, and probably good for the little cheetah.
"Thank you. I wish I remembered more to help you..." She finished with a small sigh, shaking her head. She just hadn't been as observant as she should have. She'd been distracted by the lioness' presence as well as her words.
Gremio:
"Oh you know me... I tend to dwell on old scars of the past." He offered her a half-smile, his eyes softening only slightly. "You shouldn't fret. We'll take care of this...situation." He didn't want to call it a problem, nor did he want to assume that Neclord was actually in the area...
"Rest up. I'll keep watch."
Safi:
Safi sat up then and matched his half-smile. She gave him a quick lick to his jaw.
"Gremio, you really are my hero sometimes," she said after she had pulled back. Once she had spoken, she hopped back off of the rock and returned to the food he had brought her, refusing to leave because she thought it might just make her look embarrassed for giving him the lick.
She was, of course, but she didn't want to look like it.
Gremio:
Gremio's entire body froze, his eyes going wide as his whiskers flared.
She....maybe he had something on his face. Blood from the kill? Maybe. She hadn't... no. Maybe he was over-thinking it. Clearing his throat, he looked back out to the boarder.
"I-It's.....n-nothing."
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