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 Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:18 pm
 Rap was alone and that time had been cruel to him. Very cruel. He was a large lion and always had been - even as a boy - but now his size seemed to work against him. With very little food in his belly and walking day after day after day, his huge frame had lost weight, leaving him haggard and weak. If he had been smaller, he might have not looked so bad as he did now.
And yes, time was cruel.
He had suffered much in his life and still he suffered - to such an extent that he was beginning to think there was no respite. He had lost everyone. Everyone he had ever cared about; either through parting ways or death. And he had witnessed a lot of death in his relatively short life; still a young adult in the grand scheme of things. And now he was alone again and it was mostly through his own doing. The pain he harboured was his alone and he did not want to share it any more. Did not want to have to explain himself.
And so he trudged ever onwards, his head down, his tail barely held up from the ground. Lost in his world of memories; the tears bit at his eyes and he left them there to fester and grow. He had cried many times before now but still the tears came.
They never seemed to dry up.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:26 pm
Nakama felt strong as she padded forward across the ground that felt hard under paw. However, it was not as she wanted it to be. She wanted it to be hot, moving, alive, the sands of the firekin. But she was still so far, it seemed, and not nearly close enough. Kessek flew overhead, not able to locate Gaddith, had returned to her lady, and they traveled together as one. They were heading home, Nakama had said to Kessek, but all Kessek knew was they were going to a new place.
"Will we stay there from now on now?"
Nakama pondered the question her avian friend gave her. She wished for it, perhaps even prayed for it every waking moment she thought of home, her family, mother and father, she hoped so, but would not say so.
"You will see when we arrive, fly steady now."
They continued on, until Kessek gave a call and Nakama stopped, looking forward, head up, trying to catch a scent on teh wind. "What is it?"
"Another lion...looks big, male, like you."
"What do you mean like me?"
"Well...he is orange...but seems tired, I cannot tell, shall I go closer?"
"No, we go together, stay up, Kessek, do not be within reach," the last thing Mwako'Nakama needed was a rogue eating her avian. She began moving towards him, the orange hue coming into view, and something stirred in her memory. It looked like the lioness on the slates back home.
Why was he alone and...in such a state?
She roared towards him, making her presence known, but did not approach with haste, she needed to read his movements carefully as she could not see his eyes.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:37 pm
A roar.
It startled him into action and he was cursing himself for letting his guard down as he spured into a defensive manoeuvre. Setting his hind paws against the firm ground he pushed forwards and came down again on his front legs, bracing himself against the compact earth as he prepared for attack. Immediately the lessons of his youth came to him and he could even hear his foster father's words in the back of his mind.
Never let your guard down. Keep your stance wide to brace for impact. Use your size as an advantage...
And that was one of many lessons that he had been taught. He held each one close to his heart and put them into practise whenever the time came to use them. But if there was one thing he had learned it was not to spring into action too soon. That had been a mistake he would live to regret for the rest of his life. He was a more cautious fighter now, though he would quickly rise to meet a challenge.
He was thus surprised when he looked up to see that the roar belonged to a sandy-pelted female. A female of all things. Even still, she had roared and he was wary to let his guard down. After all, there had been some fierce females in his family, too - not that he would have ever told them that. "I'd warn you against making trouble." He replied, trying to blink back the tears that still burned hotly in his eyes. Oh yes, what a strong warrior he looked! All doe-eyed and fangs laid bare...
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:43 pm
As the male reacted Nakama lowered herself some, put tension in her forearms and shoulders, ears back in case he reared, but he did no such thing. He knew how to fight, for one thing, and knew how to prepare. She smiled at his, silver eyes searching for his own as Kessek fluttered above. Her tail moved behind her idly as she took a step towards him, and as he spoke, his eyes met hers and she felt confusion.
He acted as if strong, but by appearance, he wary weary, and mores, distraught.
"Really?" she said with question. Peraps he knew not her descendence as she was huria, not traditional as he was. He looked so..ragged, he was no huria, but he could have stayed. Why was he out here? "I would be wary yourself, stranger, as I know where you hail from, and much more," she said with a grin.
She stood and straightened her shoulders, let her posture become less threatening.
"Tell me, why would a firekin, who could have stayed, be way out here? You look nothing like the golden one, but moreso...your mother, I assume."
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:59 pm
If he could have looked more surprised it would have been a difficult thing to achieve. His eyes widened as his head shot up, ruining his defensive stance completely. His mouth hung agape for a moment, clearly trying to conjure some sort of response. But she kept on talking and suddenly his heart seemed ready to burst out of his chest.
And she was grinning!
Swiping angrily at his face to disperse any signs of his previous grief, he advanced a few steps, growling as he did so. Even as he spoke, the growling didn't seem to cease, underlying his words and filling the pauses. "You mock me, do you? Then you will live to regret it. Those ones you speak of, they died long ago; murdered by those false Firekin living in the home of my ancestors. And if you know that then you are one of them - or were - seeing as you're out here, too." He snapped his jaws together in a fury. "Do you know how long I have sought revenge for their deaths?" He dug his claws into the ground and made to attack her, lunging forwards.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:09 pm
"Mock you? No, you misunderstand, probably as you've been in the sun too long," she said with a step towards him even as he advanced towards her. He was larger than her, even in his state, but she would not back down. It was not in her nature to do so. As he spoke, she snarled at him, "Murder? You've been out here too long, letting your mind be cast to the wind! How dare you speak of my family in such ways!" she snarled.
"From what my mother knew, and recorded, your mother brought the golden one to the lands! Nothing was done against her! She was a daughter of the firekin and they tried everything! You let yourself become so consumed by hate you never even knew the truth about your brother!"
She huffed at him, and as he moved forward she did as well. She was smaller but she had strength and as they collided, their bodies tensed against one another, "You are so blind to your anger you never even went looking for your brother did you? I would think you would want to be with him so he would not seek for a home without family, he has more sense than you! Least he takes care of himself!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:18 pm
Rage. It built in him, burning hot so that it blinded him. He heard his foster father's words of wisdom again but the sound of the blood pumping in his ears drowned it out and he pushed against her, intent on dragging her to the ground beneath him. He'd shut her up then and she could stop with her mockery of the cruelties he had endured.
"I know what was done! My mother took my brother to those lands to keep him safe but they turned on her. They killed her! What was she but an old lioness and a mother? Whatever differences there was, surely there is no pride and glory to be found in killing an elder?!" He refused to give any ground, tensing the muscles in his shoulders.
"What was there to look for? An unmarked grave out in the desert?!" He was hearing what she was saying. He couldn't believe his brother was alive because as far as he was concerned, his brother had died that day. His poor nameless brother whom he had loved.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:24 pm
As she felt pressure on her she dug her claws into the ground trying to give her traction. She didn't need to hit the ground, she'd be vulnerable then, and he was male, stronger if he wanted to be, and she wasn't sure why he wasn't listening to reason. Did no one ever tell him? Or was he blinded by his own rage, someone else telling his falsities?
"Why won't you listen? No firekin harmed her...she was found, injured, bringing your brother to the lands. He was her last light, her final flame passed on, she fought for him, but could no rekindle what was within herself! It was a sacrifice of love and family, no firekin harmed her, and her passing was felt by all."
She only wished she had known his mother, so that perhaps he might listen, might absorb what she spoke.
"Tell me, what reason would any firekin have to harm her, hmm? Nothing!" she said with a snarl trying to push him off and away from her.
To look for?
"How about his eyes? His smile and shining fur in the sun?" she spoke with a strained voice, trying to not fall to the ground, Kessek was screeching above them, unsure of what to do. "I spoke with him several days ago you buffoon, Uddhava is his name, and more a gentleman that you appear to ever become!" she snarled.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:37 pm
And still he pushed, his emotion surging as he found himself personifying everything he hated about the Firekin as this sandy-pelted female. It was wrong of him and he would hate himself later, but in that moment his head was a state and he couldn't think quickly enough to realise what she was staying.
"You mean to say the 'new Firekin' mourned the death of a traditionalist they had attacked and banished?!"
He snarled, his face transforming as she continued to speak.
"What are you talking about?!" He snapped. "How could you just speak to him a couple of days ago!?" And with an angry growl, he wrenched free of her, spinning back to face her before she could throw herself on his back. "Why would you attack my mother and leave my brother alive?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:43 pm
"Regardless of who she was, she was firekin, and by being blessed by firekin blood and strength and honor, she would still be mourned as such and honored as such. She gave her life for her son to live on, that shows strength, she came to the firekin, those who you say hated her, to bring her son to live, that shows trust in us. If your mother fought to protect her son, you brother, to bring him to the firekin lands to live, why can't you trust who she obviously had faith in?" she snarled.
She turned and reared, pushing against him, pushing a paw against his face to get herself away from him and took deep breathes while nearly one length away from him. She was getting tired, this was not looking good.
Nakama was on her way home, her blood could not be spilled now.
"If you opened your ears your heart might do the same. We never killed your mother, never laid a clawed paw upon her, and her son lived on and chose to leave on his own accord. He told me himself, for a male with such strength and fortitude, he has a soft heart, and will do well in the world. I wasn't born yet when your brother was brought to the lands, I'd only seen his painted image, but his eyes do more in person than upon a slate."
She wondered, as only seeing him a few days earlier, if his scent might even be on his fur still, as they had been in close proximity, the wind blown around them.
"You're a fool to turn your back on your family and pride for something you never understood fully, and never gave the chance to learn the truth about. Perhaps then, you'd be with your brother now."
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:51 pm
His brother was not dead.
The weight of that realisation crippled him and as he stood there, facing her down, he realised that there must have been truth in her words. How could she know this and not have met him? But how did he know it was the same? He had never known his brother's true name for their mother had never given him one. Not whilst he had still been on the Safi lands, in any case.
"I never had faith." He spat, his tail whipping wildly to and fro. "How could you just happen across him when I have been wandering these lands for the majority of my life? I cant believe it is him. I can't. Because if the Firekin didn't kill him and my mother, then who did?!" If it was an unknown, who would he direct his anger against, then? It could have been anyone. Anyone at all. But who else would be wandering around in the desert? Someone had gone there with the intent to kill and if not a Simo, then perhaps a Safi? Maybe one of his own kind had gone after her, seeing what had happened?
He backed up a step, too overwhelmed, and then he fired up again, roaring out his words. "I never turned my back on my family! They left and they died and I was the one left alone!" He advanced another step, though this time he wavered as if unsure whether attacking her again was really the right decision.
"The Firekin you knew. They were never my family. Never my pride. I was born outside of those lands and the only time I--" No, don't go there. He jerked from his thoughts. "I am not one of you."
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:01 pm
Kessek was a flutter above them, not knowing what to do. he was so big! Her lady, so small, least in ehr eyes? What could she do what could she do? Could she go for help, go get the golden male?
Wait.
Gold.
Kessek flew to the nearest branch, high enough from the ground and began going through the feathers on her tummy, one might believe she was preening, but, it was something else entirely.
Where was it?
"How could you not have faith in those that held at least some beliefs just as yours?" she asked, in all honesty. "To lose faith is to lose yourself," she knew it all too well. She shook her head and looked away from him, "Your family is not only those of your blood, but that of the pride, they are your family too. You were never alone," not as she had become anyway.
She was getting angry, frustrated, exhausted in emotion.
"They were your family, your pride, your home," and he stopped, and she quirked a brow. "Do not withhold from me," she snarled, fangs bared.
As he said he was not one of them, her, she wished the burning in her eyes would fade.
She thought of home, her siblings...her mother.
The words nearly choked rom her throat, "I am not one of them either...not anymore," she shut her eyes tightly and looked away from him, bit her lip and refused to let any tars fall.
Not one of them...huria, but oh how she wanted to be...how she wanted to change.
"I want to be, so bad, I tried it all, but your brother even said I should not change who I am."
Kessek, screeched upon finding a small bundle she kept within her feather, and she plucked two strands very carefully before hiding the rest within her fur.
Unknown to her lady, Kessek liked to keep scents of those they could trust upon her so she knew a familiar one when they came across one another again.
Kessek flew in front of the male, quickly, and held out a talon, clutched within was a strand of golden fur, and one of white, with the same orange gradient at the end.
"Kessek no!" Nakama said trying to reach out to her avian, she did not want her to be harmed.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:11 pm
"Now it's you who isn't listening to me!" He snapped angrily. "I have no beliefs. I care nothing for Finar-Si or the stupid traditions that split my family apart. And nor do I care for the lions who forced them out of their home in the first place. I am not a Firekin. I am a rogue and have been since I was small."
And he blinked, taken aback by her declaration. "Because of your pelt?" He replied without much caring for his bland tone. She had not a scrap of red on her. Was this what the 'New Firekin' did then? Make outcasts of those who did not fit into their colour scheme? Was that not cruel in itself? This female was clearly torn up about being kicked out of her home. Perhaps he would have felt the same in her position.
"None of my family are there in those lands now. They're dead or long gone." He thought of his brother again, closing his eyes to try and picture him. Gold. He only remembered gold.
And then there was movement and he was tensing again, readying to attack - except that the female called out in horror - and he leapt back as if trying to avoid something fearful Except that it was only a bird and...and what was that?
He growled, curling a lip, and then saw what it was the avian had brought. Some strand of fur. Golden fur. "What is this?" He snapped. "Some proof of my brother's existence? As if you had this all planned? Are you trying to deceive? Get yourself killed?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:15 pm
"Kessek back! Now!"
"No! He must see!," Kessek said looking to Nakama who was inching forward, ready to try and take her out of the sky. She looked to the male and still, held out her talons to him, stands in claw, "I take pieces, that I find that the wind gives me," she said simply. "As my lady and I have traveled, I keep those scents, those who have been good to us, close," she said tapping her small feathered chest.
"Kessek, get away!" Nakama looked to him, "Do not touch her! Even if I was not able to stay within the lands because of my own golden pelt, I am just as strong as my family, my homeland, and I will end you if you harm a single feather upon her!" she snarled gritting her jaw together.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:22 pm
"You think I'd harm a bird? It wouldn't even be worth bothering for a snack." He snorted angrily, his eyes flicking back to the fur the kestrel held. "My brother is dear to you?" Rap shook his head. "What am I supposed to think of all this? I spend my life mourning a brother who isn't dead. Seeking vengeance against a pride who is innocent? My life is ruined. Ruined."
He backed up a step, shaking his head vigorously. The tears were back again. Burning. He just wanted the ground to swallow him whole, to forget. To become a void; empty of all of this pain and disbelief and anger. He was so exhausted. Tired of his life.
"I don't want to fight you. Just go away. Just go away."
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