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 Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:09 pm
Maybe not fantastic but fine.
It was the day after Fuu's initiation and the announcement of their engagement and they had been instructed to go out on a walk together, so they did.
"Do you suppose your family will want to come?" she asked, having learned plenty about his pride but uncertain how they felt about visiting another pride or taking part in other rituals. She did know, however, that they would need to be informed that Fuu would be staying and it would be polite to extend an invitation to them. Fuu was extremely agreeable, that was part of how he had ended up here-- that and he'd gotten on the wrong side of his sister at the wrong time. He wasn't hating it in the Mwezi'Johari, of course, and the month and a half leading up to his initiation had been a bit nerve-wracking but they had always had a plan for how everything would work out, whether or not he was in a high class, and that was enough to keep him calm. Now, the worst of it was really knowing that he hadn't gotten through to Selene yet and they were going to be stuck together forever. He knew everything that had gone on but they'd avoided the awkward topic of Mazin for six weeks now and he was sure they would continue to avoid it. Except it seemed a big obstacle in actually opening up.
"I think my mother would like to, at least," he said thoughtfully, "I'm sure she'd love to meet you, too."
He missed his family, which surprised him. He had never expected to leave them or the Tianxia and it all happened so fast, he never had time to think about how he might miss them. And now, weeks later, he was sure he'd be happy even to see Ria.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:22 pm
 Well, Yareha had been looking for royalty, and if Selene wasn't the best option, he'd be the Shaman. It rankled to see her with Fuu, especially now that the betrothal was official. The white lion's tail lashed, but he managed to keep his temper under control. For the moment. "A moment, if you would, Princess?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Iei was, by this time, accustomed to following Yareha around the pride. She was even getting the hang of how the place was laid out. But she'd never seen the lion and lioness in front of them before. Nor had she seen her guide act so deferential to anyone. That, more than anything else, tipped her off to the fact that this was no ordinary pair. Then it hit her. Princess. This girl was from the ruling family, was one of the highest ranked lions in the whole damned pride. The grey lioness moved as if to hide behind Yareha, but stopped at the last moment. She wasn't going to hide, royalty or not, but this was incredibly uncomfortable. She still wasn't joining the Mwezi'Johari, regardless of what Aysu, Yareha, Chander or even Mazin wanted!
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:35 pm
"I'm sure I'd like to meet her, too," she offered back, wondering about his family on the details she had learned over the time they'd spent together- they really had talked about almost everything else but themselves so far. Not really in depth about themselves, anyway.
Selene was expecting some of the pride to watch them, some perhaps would even approach them-- so she wasn't particularly surprised when someone did head their way.. except she felt her stomach twist slightly, recognizing Yareha as one of Mazin's cousins. When she spotted Iei, though, her curiosity about the unfamiliar lioness was enough to distract her.
She came to a stop, holding her head high and looking back from Iei to Yareha, who addressed her.
"Yes?" she asked, "What can we do for you?"
Fuu was smiling but he didn't get a chance to say anything else to Selene before he noticed they were about to be interrupted. This was somewhat according to plan, right? He hadn't really met much of the pride outside the royal family, though, and now it was OK for him to become much more familiar than as a guest of the king and queen.
He noticed that the lion specifically avoided addressing him as well, and he seemed to be avoiding looking at him, too.. and his tail was moving quite a lot, Fuu noticed, since he didn't have to waste any effort trying to maintain eye contact. And then the gray lioness almost behind him.. her body language was very different. He offered her a smile before looking back at Yareha when he heard Selene say 'we'.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:44 pm
Yareha didn't miss when Selene said "we" either, but he couldn't exactly blame her. None of this was her fault, it was just bad luck and bad timing. Still, he'd come here with a purpose.
"This is Ieiunium," he went on, stepping aside so that the grey lioness stood revealed for the...pair. "She's a rogue who's been visiting for a few days now." Should he be so forward as to just outright ask for official permission for her to remain? Well, he should at least give Iei a chance to speak for herself. He'd come to know the lioness a bit in the past couple days, and while she often chose to remain silent, she also knew damn well how to use her tongue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blue eyes widened in sudden panic as Yareha moved aside and introduced her to the Princess and the stranger male. Her betrothed, if Iei remembered what she'd heard spoken about the last day or so.
The grey lioness dipped her head shallowly, unsure of what kind of respect she was supposed to show to the pride's future Queen. Ieiunium couldn't think of a single thing to say, however.
"It's, ah, nice to meet you," she said at last, unsure of what else she could say.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:57 pm
Selene blinked and looked over to Ieiunium when Yareha introduced her. She knew she wasn't familiar looking but it was strange to hear that she had been visiting for a few days unannounced. But.. it was better late than never, right? This felt like about the limit, though, where they were still generally worried about offending the Great Lion.
"Pleased to meet you, Ieiunium," she responded, managing not to openly react to the nervous and rather unhelpful remark from the lioness, "I'm Princess Selene, and this is Lord Fuu."
It was extremely awkward sounding using titles as part of an introduction but this was a rogue with unstated intentions and they had to be very clear about who they were.
"Have you been enjoying your stay here?"
While Fuu was in the high class and betrothed to the future queen, until they were married he wasn't technically part of the royal family and even then, his place in these kinds of conversations would be minimal until he really got into the swing of things. This was a good observational opportunity for him, really.
He offered a nod when he was introduced, but otherwise remained silent by Selene's side.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:02 pm
Yareha focused his attention on Fuu for the most part. If he was going to be stuck with this guy as King, he wanted to know what he was getting in for. So far...nothing really objectionable, other than the fact that he wasn't Mazin. On the other paw, there wasn't anything he'd heard that was exceptionally good either. Selene didn't seem entirely uncomfortable around the purple lion, but they had been spending a lot of time together over the past month and a half.
And they were both good at concealing their body language. Not at all helpful for him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's been informative," Iei replied cautiously. "I've never spent so much time within a pride's lands before." Mostly because she didn't want to end up trapped in a pride she had no desire to join. Really, she didn't know why she'd stayed so long already. It was nice to meet so many new people (in nice small groups, like, one at a time), but there were so many in a pride!
She felt somewhat ashamed though, being introduced to the Princess when her thoughts were focused on how soon she could get out of here...
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:10 pm
"Did you wish to stay?"
It was the big question for any rogue who was introduced to someone from the royal family. Most often they were petitioning to join the pride, this lioness didn't look like she really wanted to be here.. but that may have been because she was a stranger being introduced to royalty. Selene couldn't tell based only on her behavior now, she had to say it.
Fuu could feel Yareha's eyes on him- not to mention he could see it from the corner of his eye- but he was determinedly focused on Ieiunium and what she was saying. And how she was saying it. He could make no better guesses than Selene about where exactly this was going, she still wasn't saying much.
As Selene asked Iei if she intended to stay, he glanced over to Yareha, wondering how he might react to the question posed to the rogue he brought to them.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:17 pm
It was a good question, Yareha had to admit. It was also the question he had avoided asking at all costs. He could see how uncomfortable the subject made Iei and had decided to not make things any worse. He could feel Fuu's eyes on him and made the effort to not react and continue to be calm and cool.
He wasn't even sure if he had any good reasons to want Iei to stay. Sure the lioness was attractive and smart, but she was also horribly shy and had a quick temper when she wasn't feeling out of her depth. Not exactly what a guy dreamed of in a girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was part of why Iei hated the idea of prides and so many people around. Right now she was the focus of everyone's attention and she could feel their eyes on her. It was the big question, after all, and everyone wanted to know what she would say.
"I...I..." she couldn't manage to get the words out. It might have been nervousness, or shyness, or just plain fear. Perhaps all of the above. The grey lioness hung her head and looked at the ground, cheeks burning in shame at her tongue-tied state.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:30 pm
Iei's reaction was unexpected. She and Yareha had approached them, not the other way around- how did they not know what was going to be asked when they got here. Still, she managed not to react outwardly, even when Iei panicked and averted her eyes.
"OK," she said, deciding to explain the options rather than force her to say exactly what she wanted, "Typically rogues are given up to a month to decide if they want to join or not, considering the full moon was last night, it would be the full month before you could be initiated."
It was simple and honest.
"However, if you have no intention of joining at all, where you seem perfectly healthy and whole, it would be best not to stay much longer," she added. Exceptions could be made if someone were in serious need of help but she simply seemed to be a curious passer-by, if that.
Fuu noted that Yareha stubbornly avoided reacting and then looked back to Iei as she panicked and turned away. It was an interesting reaction, considering the question was completely and totally expected. His eyes went to Selene as she explained the options and how the pride typically treated rogue visitors, committing it to memory and intending to discuss it with her later.
He looked back to Iei, wondering if it helped.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:40 pm
She stared at the ground, trying to sort everything out despite the pressure of eyes on her. It had...hurt when Selene pointed out that she should leave if she wasn't interested in joining. The grey lioness was trying to figure out why she was still here if she didn't want to be in a pride. She'd never wanted it...right?
Aysu was the one who had invited her in, given her a place to sleep safely for the night. And one night had turned into two and suddenly she was here before the future rulers of the pride and they were asking if she intended to stay forever or not.
She hadn't seen the black lioness since Aysu and Yareha had had their shouting match the other day. Iei realized that she hadn't wanted to leave the pride without saying goodbye to her friend.
Yet she couldn't get up the courage to answer Selene. The grey lioness made a sound, suspiciously like a choked-off sob, as she turned and ran off. After Yareha had showed her around, she had a pretty good idea of where she'd first arrived, and it was there she was headed now. But the rogue wasn't going to stop at the edge of the Mwezi'Johari lands. She'd keep running until she found somewhere safe...and alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For all Yareha had seen of Ieiunium, he hadn't expected that reaction of all, and the white lion's mouth hung open in utter and complete shock. He watched as Iei vanished over a fold in the ground and out of sight, heading for the rogue lands she'd originally come from. Stricken and saddened, he turned back to the fiances.
"I'm...very sorry about that," he apologized sincerely. "I had no idea she would react like that..." he trailed off as he realized he had no more idea than Iei had of what to say, and his apology seemed so inadequate.
"I knew she wouldn't be comfortable meeting you," he admitted, "but she'd been here so long already, I knew she should have some kind of official permission to remain."
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:58 pm
Selene watched intently as Iei tried to formulate a reaction to what she had said, seeing as the tension built and started bubbling over.. but she never expected her to turn and run for it. Raising a brow, she looked over to Fuu and then to Yareha has he reacted.
It would be extremely suspicious, at best, to see an unfamiliar lioness running from a very central part of the pride to the outside. If they were the first officials to hear about her, she might be lucky to get out unimpeded.
"It was the proper thing to do, to bring her to us," she said.
"It's probably for the best that she left, if she felt that strongly," Fuu remarked, adding more genuinely onto Selene's attempted reassurance to Yareha. He had been so careful not to react to Iei's actions before but once she ran, it was apparent he was surprised and disappointed.
It would not do to keep a rogue around that was not interested in the pride, especially where everything had been so chaotic over the last few months.
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:26 am
The white lion looked back in the direction Iei had run off in, longing in his eyes. He'd really thought that she wouldn't...well, at least that she wasn't going to run off like that.
"I know," he told Selene quietly. His Princess was correct, and at the very least his faith in her had grown this day.
Fuu, on the other paw, was a different story. Yareha glared at the other male. "Truth or not, that doesn't mean you should say it aloud," he snapped. The white lion bowed to Selene. "Princess." He turned on his heels and left. Damnit, Mazin was a much better lion than Fuu.
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:41 am
Fuu watched him go with a smile, even after the snappy remark. With his eyes always on Yareha, he tilted his head a bit toward Selene.
"And he is?"
"Yareha Afaer," she said, sounding and looking far less amused than Fuu by how Yareha had just spoken to him, "Lower middle class hunter, definitely knows better than to speak like that to you."
Selene would have had to be stupid not to know the most likely reason Yareha was so upset, but she didn't have to like it. Assumptions about her and Mazin, however close they had been in truth, were still assumptions and it had gotten her into a big mess.
"Cut him some slack, I think he liked her more than he was trying to let on," Fuu suggested, glancing back from the now distant Yareha to Selene, "Besides, if that's the worst of it I get from the lower classes then we're all set, right?"
He was trying to be optimistic, he had expected some backlash from the lower classes, knowing the story about why he was here.. and having learned more about it just by living around here, even without Selene telling him all the details.
This was, in fact, the closest they had gotten to talking about her and Mazin.
"No."
Selene was pushed to her limits, even when she was able to present herself as perfectly content- even when she was able to feel perfectly content. If she was going to be bound so tightly by the rules, she was going to enforce them like hell where she could.
Glaring at nothing, she turned herself around and started back off toward home, expecting Fuu to follow.
Fin!
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