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 Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 1:48 pm
The old, scarred girl was looking happy for once. She wasn't smiling and her eyes didn't sparkle with amusement but those who knew her could just tell that she was in a good mood. Her gait had a slight bounce to it (instead of her normal dragging step) and her head was held at a somewhat proud tilt instead of hunkered down between her shoulders. But a happy Zimwi did not necessarily make for any better company. Others tended to avoid her no matter what her mood was, mostly because her moods were as unpredictable as the changing winds. And only her twin sister, Bilisi, could keep her bad temper away.
Bilisi, at current time, was nowhere in sight, though it was likely that this old, mad female was off searching for her. After all, despite being given the rank of 'hunter' in the pride, anyone had yet to see Zimwi catch anything. She'd scavenged a carcass from a pup the day before and snapped up a rat a few days before that but otherwise she was eithe rnapping, meditating or skulking around looking to stir up a bit of trouble.
And it seemed like her chat with Mafuu had paid off. That hate-consumed hyena had only gone into the pridelands and stolen a cub! (Though whether or not it was because of Zimwi or not was unknown and probably unlikely). A cub! It was probably wrong to be excited about it, but Zimwi was excited. This was bound to stir trouble and was the perfect act to get those lions into an emotional state: a state that would leave them vulnerable. They would come and the hyenas would be waiting for them. Her vision had proved correct. War would come to the land of bones and the land of sun both, and she would bathe in all of its bloody glory.
She gave a horrible, choking cackle and rounded a mound of broken bones, throwing up her head to see if her sister was close by.
She was not, but someone else was.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:21 pm
"Seems like I've missed out on a joke," came a low, sand-papery voice. While Zimwi's sister might have been nowhere in sight, Mwiba was in fact quite visible as she rounded the corner. The dusty grey hyena was perched on top of a large cluster of bones and rock like a kind of ancient gargoyle. His pale skin certainly seemed the proper camouflage against such endless grey. A face he seemed to be aware of, as he looked a bit too smug for such casual chatter. "Care to fill me in?"
At that, he rose to his feet. Bits of dust clung to his coat, and it took a quick shake to dislodge them. He wasn't a particularly intimidating fellow, as far as hyenas went. He was sleek and small boned, although the deep scars in his fur hinted at prior conflicts. If he knew anything of Zimwi's temperament, it didn't show. He rather carelessly climbed down from his perch and approached.
"Of course, it wouldn't be the first joke I didn't understand the punchline to," he mused, his thick voice rolling with a slight echo. It seemed less joking then the previous comment.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:51 am
Zimwi came to a stand still and lifted her head, turning one ear forwards to focus in on him. Her eyes were bright in her face, though they narrowed almost suspiciously as he unattached himself from the grey landscape and moved down towards her. She stood her ground, lifting the tip of her tail very slightly. Then, with the corners of her mouth twitching, she relaxed her shoulders and brought her head up higher still. “Where have you been hiding? Surely you’ve heard the news.” She paused for no other reason than to add a little dramatic effect. “We’ve got ourselves a new little slave in the lands.”
She looked almost ready to do a happy little dance. Instead, she gave a loud snort and sat her rump down on the ground. The action stirred a cloud of grey dust which filtered slowly through the air. “A lion cub, no less. Poor little creature, all terrified and alone. Perhaps someone should put it out of its misery.” Then she thought of Mafuu and her eyes brightened further still.
“Ah, and such power I have over the minds of simple mortals. The power to change the tide. To change our very destiny! Some have said that you cannot hold such power without losing your mind to madness. But look. Here I am. All the evidence to see that it can[/]I be done. I hold the power to change the world and shape it as I see fit. Thanks to me there will be war and death and the kingdom of the lions will shudder in our wake.” A new era would begin and they would never have to fear the lions again.
She paused and it was not clear whether she was incredibly good at joking or – in fact – was being deadly serious. Some had called Zimwi ‘deluded’ in the past, amongst other less kind names. “So that was the joke–though not really a joke at all. But it gives us a reason to smile, does it not? Knowing that such a hyena walks amongst you; able to see to your survival and victory. Knowing that – with the stealing of a cub – we are on our first step to power.”
“And who, mere mortal, are you?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:49 am
Ah, so she was the interesting one he'd heard about.
The shaggy grey male approached with some curiosity. So they had a lion cub, did they? He was not sure if it was as auspicious an omen as she might have liked. "Any can take a child," he mused. "I suspect there's more to the cub then simply being a lion..."
At least, he hoped so. Mwiba had no love for lion kind, but he was a shrewd fellow. Shrewd enough, perhaps, not to outright make his thoughts known. Madness could be its own form of genius, after all. If there was to be war, he certainly was not about to decry the level of sanity that ran at its head. From what Mwiba had learned, war rarely encouraged a level headed mindset.
"I'm honored to be in the company of such a clever beast then," he said. "For us lesser minds, however. What sort of future did you have in mind?
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:34 pm
"No more, no less." The female shrugged, still looking entirely pleased with herself. The cub was just a cub, but she supposed he was right. The thieving of the little beast was the beginning of something far greater.
"I have seen the need for war in the eyes of those lions. Our neighbours." She growled softly as she spoke, her blue eyes zipping from Mwiba to the bones surrounding them. "They have their hearts set on the slaughter of our people. I have seen it and thus it will be so. The word has been spread. Those who are wise heed my word and prepare themselves. Those that are not...will turn a blind eye and wake to find a lion's teeth at their throats." Again, another shrug. In a way, hyenas that did not wish to fight for themselves and their own pride were not worth the space they took up. The pack would be better off without those pacifistic idealists.
Her head, quite suddenly, snapped from side to side and finally she focussed in on him. "I see a future where victory lies in war. I have seen their desires and this has given us a chance to strike first and take them by surprise." She moved closer to him still, caring little for personal space, it seemed. "The cub was our first strike against them. Soon they will rally. Soon the battles will begin." The fur along her shoulders bristled with the knowledge of it. "But it will not matter how hard they fight. The felines will lose and the hyenas of the Mava'Bunda will strike fear into their hearts."
She smiled confidently, angling her snout to peer at him from the corner of her near-side eye. "Think of how life will be when they shudder and cower at the sight of us." The excited tremor in her voice reached a higher pitch. "Glorious."
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