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 Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:17 am
 It had been many years coming. She had heard she had family in a pride called the Chokwe and as soon as she did, Lela set off for it. However, her sense of direction left something to be desired. That, and she got side tracked with having a litter of cubs and letting it be taken to the pride of their father. She was only able to take care of them until they were weened. She imagined they would be close to adulthood now.
It hadn't been the same since she wandered away from her family and gotten utterly lost. She desperately searched for many years, taking refuge and help where she could. She learned from many different species how to hunt, protect herself, and to loosen up and stop worrying about things she couldn't control. Now that Khahlela was a lot older, she was once more on the search for her family. She wouldn't ever step foot in the pride her cubs went to, because she didn't want to risk being sick. The male, who's name she couldn't even remember, had fed her a story about how they needed cubs born outside of the pride because they had a much higher chance at surviving.
Lela was too much of a coward to go and see them at any given time. They probably grew up without ever hearing her name uttered. Oh, well. One couldn't change the past. She wasn't the first one this happened to, either. She'd run into a female or two this same male had done this too. At first the dark female had been really pissed about it. She'd taken her anger out in her hunts, in her play. That's how she worked things out.
But now? She just wanted to be near some family again, family she knew. Like her twin, her mother, even her father. Though it all seemed completely hopeless. Looking out over the vastness of the lands, the air was stale for a while, not even the wind blew. All of a sudden, a light breeze picked up and she smelled it. The scent of a pride nearby. Would this be the right one? She'd asked so many guards directions and gone the complete opposite way that they told her too, on accident.
"Please, please, please let this one be the right one...." She muttered to herself. Lela would approach slowly, cautiously; some prides didn't take too well to newcomers sniffing at their edges like she was doing now.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:45 am
Security had grown tighter over the past few months. Between the threat of the vampires, the birth of another litter, and yet another recent deserter, the guard had been doubled. Taban even took up patrols, loping from one boarder marker to the next with his maned wolf companion. Vahn had been posted towards the east, his eyes watching the horizon from the safety of one of the territory's highest trees. Viktor had gone into the pride to make his internal rounds and Flik had taken his place to the west.
The Tengou flexed his claws impatiently, his eyes drifting from one source of movement to the next. Those ankle-biters were out there somewhere... They were hungry for new blood no doubt. Their numbers couldn't have been anything impressive with the silence on their existence in the surrounding prides. Still, even one vampire was enough to raise alarm. Poor Viktor knew that all too well.
Sighing, Flik risked a glance over his shoulder.Another had left...perhaps out of cowardice, perhaps out of...other reasons. Nyak's family had spawned two deserters. The news hadn't been received well by one of the younger recruits. The others were out in the roguelands with their mother, gathering stories and keeping an ear to the ground for rumors.
A shadow caught his eye and with all the speed of his namesake, the 'blue lightning' commander turned back to his watch. A black lioness broke the gold and green of the grasslands, sheepishly making her way closer. Sucking in a deep breath, Flik filled his chest and began down the small hill to meet her.
"I've no quarrel with you if you've none with me. Speak your purpose- and quickly."
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:51 am
Something caught her eye. Purple eyes moved to whatever it was that was speeding towards her and she stopped in her tracks completely. Ready to defend herself if need be, she listened to what the male had to say and then blinked when she found he stopped a good distance away. Alright, so he was a male, and another lion to boot. She looked him over from top to bottom as she thought about what she was going to say.
A pink tongue darted across a black muzzle as she finally opened her mouth. "I'm looking for some family in a pride called the Chokwe. I think my brothers are there. Do you know the pride?" She asked. At least a fight could be avoided if she had no business here. She'd high tail it out as fast as she could, because this male looked massive. He wasted little energy coming here, it looked like. Perhaps he was trained that way. She'd heard of some prides taking to training armies that way.
"If you do, tell me where it is and I'll be on my way." She was nervously shifting her weight from left to right, tail flicking. Probably not the best thing to do in this situation, but she was nervous.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:06 am
"Calm down now..." He raised a paw as he came a little closer. My but she was skittish...Very strange for rogues. "You are on the borders of the Chokwe troupe, yes." He paused for a moment as he leaned his weight to one side and took a longer look over the lioness' pelt. She was black and white- but the markings and placement were all too familiar to him.
Smirking, he looked back to her. "Shoon's sister then? And Rhoy- though you look nothing like him. They're both here."
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:16 am
"Yeah, but nobody looks like freakin' Rhoy," she mutter, shaking her head. She was so relieved she'd finally stumbled upon the right pride. Letting out a huge sigh or relief, Lela laughed and nodded. Looking the bigger male over and then arched a brow. Was he going to take her to them or bring them to her? Honestly, she wanted to sit down and just rest for a bit. She'd been walking her whole life and now that she'd found two of her brothers, she wasn't about to leave.
"Sooo, can I see 'em?" She asked, giving him a hopeful grin. "Or do I gotta like... chant something and walk through special water or something. I mean, there are some prides that are just crazy with how they treat newcomers, let me tell you." Though, he probably knew, so she didn't really want to tell him.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:34 am
The lion scoffed. He couldn't say whether or not Rhoy had any relation to his siblings as far as looks went. Shoon never mentioned it and Rhoy kept to himself for the most part. It seemed he was the oddball of the family.
Had he been Viktor, he might have made up something for the lioness to do- that was just his nature. The larger lion delighted in small, childish games like that, but Flik was often accused of having sat on a stick the wrong way.In response to her question he only shook his head. "Oh no. You'll just need to be with one of us until we can trust you to move about. Standard procedure. Things are a little tense right now, you'll understand."
He jerked his chin back the way he'd come and started moving towards the hill.
"If it's all the same to you, I'm going to call on one of the others to escort you in. I don't trust my post to be left alone."
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:43 am
She didn't understand, but, hey, that was alright. It looked like she got to see at least one of her siblings today. Grinning, she nodded and followed him when he jerked his head. She would climb up the hill with him and with each step she took, the more nervous she got.
"I'm Khahlela. I go by Lela, 'cause I've been told my name's a mouthful," now was a good time for introductions, in her opinion. Following some strangely marked lion into a pride without knowing his name sounded like a good way to get killed. At least if he killed her she'd have a name to go on to haunt him. Looking around, she got even more nervous when he said she was being handed off to someone else.
"Yeah, sure. No problem." She wanted to play it cool until she got into the pride and near a brother. Then she'd probably flip out and tackle whichever she saw first out of sheer joy and nervousness.
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:24 pm
"It's hardly a mouthful." He assured her, "Our leader took a mate last dry season who's name we can hardly pronounce. You have to take a seat before you hear it, else your paws may grow weary."
Smirking, he glanced over a shoulder. "My name is Flik. I'm the equivalent of a commander here. If you have any problems to address, you can bring them to me or one of the other Tengou of the pride. Our leader, Taban, is a little busy trying to make sense of a few recent developments."
He paused as they rose up to his watchman's hill. Down below, the seaside valley stretched out at their paws. A lush, green place with a pair of rivers flowing out towards the sea. An island was just within reach of the coastline, accessible through a small landbridge. A few stoney ruins sat in crumbled remains just along the coastline and a few of the members were already lounging about, enjoying the day's sunlight. Shoon, unfortunately, wasn't among them. He was likely sparring with someone on the sands.
Flik rose his voice in a short but thundering roar. Nearby, a white, gangly creature lifted his head and got up to his paws. At a cheetah's pace, the feline made his way up to the Tengou.
"Jowy, I need you to escort Khahlela into the territory. Find Shoon and see her fed and watered. She's our guest today."
The Cheetion eyed the stranger critically, his jaw squaring off and his large, boney shoulders rising over his awkward mantle. "Alright... come on, miss."
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:08 am
She took in all the information without saying much. Following Flik was easy enough, up the hill and her purple eyes widened at the sight of the land. It was lush and beautiful. Not at all like she would imagine given where she'd wandered from before hand. She had been through deserts and flat lands with no shade from the heat. This was paradise to a wandering female such as herself.
She winced at the roar and sighed a little before shaking her head. Males always seemed to do that to get each other's attention. Well, she was no better, to be honest. She did it quite often when they were cubs. She'd roar out for Shoon or anyone else and they'd come running. Still, she never got used to it being done right next to her head without warning. Her tail flicked as she saw someone's head rise and then sprinted this way.
Blinking, she tilted her head at the hybrid and how his words seemed clipped and curt. OK, this would be an awkward walk, now wouldn't it? Giving her pelt a quick shake, she looked to Flik. "Thank you. I'll be seeing you around, I suppose." With a quick grin, the female looked to the cheeton and nodded. "Khahlela. ...Or Lela. I go by either."
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:08 pm
"Certainly. I am a Tengou here. A star of Conflagration." The lion offered with a smirk. Perhaps she would come to serve in his unit- if she fancied combat. If not she'd likely be brought to meet the other stars of earth to find her footing among them. Either way, he was glad to see another newcomer. Shoon and Rhoy, no doubt, would be over-joyed to see their sister.
"He means he's something of a general here." Jowy explained with a short shake of his head. "We have a lot of words here that you may not be familiar with right away. Just ask anyone, we're laid back for the most part."
Flik cleared his throat and gave the cheetion a stern look. Forgetting himself, Jowy dipped his head. "Ah right... my name is Jowy'Atreides. Just Jowy will do though. I'm a Tenei. Essentially a soldier."
Turning his back on Flik, he began loping down into main territory. "You look a lot like Shoon..."
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:04 am
When the cheeton got a stern look, Lela couldn't help but laugh at that. She didn't honestly mean to, but it was always funny to her when someone got in trouble she laughed. It was just something that happened. Clearing her throat again, she nodded.
Yes, the terms they used were weird, but if Shoon and Rhoy could get used to them, so could she. "Shoon's my brother." She followed Jowy at her own pace, looking around with a grin. "Shoon and Rhoy. Though.. Rhoy is a bit of the odd one in our family. Like I said earlier, no one looks like Rhoy in our family." She laughed at her own joke and shook her head before sighing.
"Alright... I don't have to be a fighter, do I? I can hunt, but I'm not one for fighting, honestly.."
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:10 pm
Jowy snorted. "Rhoy's just an interesting character, but Shoon's dependable. For a meathead, he's got a lot of solid common sense. Something severely lacking these days."
He broke into a more brisk lope, his long legs bouncing him easily over the grasslands towards the long slope down to the sea. At least the new female would have family to help her warm up to the idea of a new home. That was always a plus. Her question earned a short shake of his head.
"Nope, but I'll show you around. Let you talk to the heaven and earth stars before you settle on anything. Welcome to the Chokwe.
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