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 Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:21 am
She let out a loud sigh though. Tonight she needed to hunt for the pride, not sit around and watch the stars. She was never any good at hunting. Occasionally she brought in a small prey, but it was nothing compared to the usual catch of those more skilled hunters. Her friends would often point out that she wasn't really meant to be a huntress, that she should take on a different role in the pride. She would always smile at them arrogantly and proclaim that she chose this rank because she didn't want to show off in a different rank. The truth was that she was terrible in everything the pride offered.
Either she wasn't bright enough, creative enough or she was too self centered for the task. She couldn't imagine anyone having so much trouble with so many jobs. When she was little she was sure that there had to be at least one thing she was good at. As she grew she tried rank after rank and found nothing she excelled at. The only thing that happened was she brought attention to herself. Of course this wasn't a terrible thing for her. She found that the males in the pride were willing to support her more for her lack of talents. When they would flirt with her she was flattered, but she would tell them that she wasn't ready for a relationship.
It was funny to her, years ago when she was a cub, she used to try everything to get a future mate. She wanted to be in a relationship so badly. Now she began to avoid them at all cost. The males in the pride were all wonderful, but for some reason they never seem to be what she was looking for. She guessed that the vision she had when she was younger ruined all males for her. It was a quick vision of a lion that was red and white. She saw him telling stories to some cubs. He was her first real crush. She knew that there was no way to know him, but she would have loved to meet him, just once. It was hard for her though to tell the difference between a vision and reality. She kept an open mind though when meeting males, despite her knowing they could not be the 'one'.
She took a glance back at the sun. Her male troubles would have to come later, she thought. She knew she should hurry and catch some prey before it got any later.
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:25 am
He had no idea where he was going. But, honestly? He didn't really even care. As a cub, he used to dream of going to see all the beautiful places his father told him about in his stories. As he grew older, the feeling never diminished. He had hung off his father's words like his last lifeline. The places to go, to see, to experience. They were almost always at the front of his mind. Except for one other thing. His father himself.
Aureo was- IS a great father. 'Labi could trust him with anything and know that he would still be loved no matter what. He would do ANYTHING for his father.
Accept follow him to the Pirates.
He- he just couldn't. If he had gone, it would have killed him. Either emotionally or physically, but surly he would die. Akin'Labi considered himself a pacifist. He wished no ill-will on others, much less inflict it himself. It broke his heart to have to tell his beloved father that he could not follow him for once in his life.
Now he was lost. Both in heart and in wandering steps. He barely noticed the heat of the desert, his gait slow, unhappy and dragging.
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:28 am
Ak-kila climbed up a sand dune and surveyed the land in hopes of spotting some sort of prey. In the distance she spotted red and white against the tan of the desert. Whatever it was it was too big for her to catch, she thought. If she had a hunting partner maybe she could catch it, but she was solo tonight. She was about to walk away when she noticed that red and white animal had a mane. 'Oh he must be a guard,' she thought as she watched him walk. It wasn't uncommon for her to spot a guard on duty when she hunted. She always thought of them as brave for what they did, protecting the pride from outsiders. It was odd though for a guard to be so far away from the pride. She realized that he might be new and perhaps lost.
She knew she ought to be hunting, but she would hate herself for not helping. If anything she could hunt after she checked on the lion. She dashed down the dune and headed to the lion. Once she was closer she slowed down to a quick walk. She looked at him carefully, from mane to toe. He looked familiar to her, but she couldn't put a name to his face. There was an odd resemblance to the lion that she had a vision of. Ak-kila ignore it though. The lion in her vision was older. This was just a coincidence.
“Hello stranger!” Ak-kila greeted with a grin. She quickly walked in front of him. “Are you patrolling here? I've never seen a guard wander this far away from the pride. Are you on a quest from one of the gods perhaps?” She knew that she was asking an awful lot of questions, especially since they just met. Her curiosity knew no bounds.
“Oh how rude of me! I forgot to tell you who I am. Here I am just rambling on and you don't know who I am. My name is Ak-kila and I'm a huntress for the pride.” She stopped and got into a stalking position. Than she pounced next to the lion. She looked up at him. “I'm not very good though.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:29 am
'Labi was startled to suddenly see the lioness in front of him, had he been that oblivious? He was more so confused by the rapid fire questions she asked. Pride? Was he near a Pride land? Judging by the fact that she hadn't attacked him on site, he was willing to guess they were at least semi-friendly.
Patrol? Oh, did she think he was a Pridemember? He had never had a Pride, just his father and the Roguelands.
She introduced herself and displayed her 'talents' as a huntress, her actions managed to get a small smile out of him.
"Greetings Ak-kila, mighty huntress of the sands." he smiled as grand tales began to grow in his mind, of adventure, mighty battles and star-crossed lovers- but he stamped those thoughts out. They would do him no good. Not anymore. A brief pause and he returned back to the conversation at hand. "My name is Akin'Labi of the Roguelands and I am afraid to admit that am lost beyond all belief." He took a quick look around and saw nothing but sand to both horizons. "Would you possibly happen to know where I am?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:30 am
'Mighty huntress of the sands?' she thought with a giggle. She couldn't wait to tell her friends that line. “Akin'Labi of the roguelands, it is very nice to meet you.” She did a quick twirl to see her surroundings. “Well you are pretty close to Tuait'tekem Lands. That's where I am from. I've lived there all my life. In fact this is probably the furthest that I've ever gone from it.” She glanced in the direction of her home.
She thought she was lucky, compared to some of the members of the pride, with her gift of vision she was able to see different places, places she's never been before. The only problem was that the more she saw of those places the desire to leave home grew. She thought often about leaving the pride, of seeing what lay beyond the sand. When ever these thoughts happened though she though about her family and how much she would miss them. Her siblings were all grown up now and some even had families of their own. The thought made her happy though, but at the same time it made her upset. There was always an itching feeling that if she did stay there she would end up alone, with no mate and no cubs. Sure she would be surrounded by family, but she wanted to find her own happiness.
“I was wondering Akin'Labi, what is the roguelands like? Some of our pride members come from the rogueland. They way they describe it, it almost sounds like one adventure after another.” She was always fascinated by the dangers the roguelands faced. There were exotic animals she had seen only in visions. The other major desire the roguelands held for her was meeting her father. She didn't even know his name. All she knew was that he was a god. That was why she and her siblings were seers. It was also the reason her mother wasn't shunned when she had her cubs from a fling.
The fact that she was an offspring of a god never affected her. She avoided mentioning it. It was a little embarrassing for her to only have one parent when the other cubs had both. Instead when she was younger she would boost more about the fact that she was related to the royal family. It never got her anywhere bragging. However it made her feel better, it made her feel special.
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:31 am
Tuait'tekem?! The mythic Dawnwalkers?! Aureo had told him of the tales of the lions with braided manes and fascinatingly unique beliefs. Had he really stumbled upon them? A swell of excitement seemed to sing in his mind. He had so many questions to ask! What were- NO! He crushed the thrill and pushed it back into the corner of his mind where he kept the memories of his father. The father he had failed.
Akin'Labi's guilt grew when he realized that he had missed almost everything Ak-kila had said. He started listening again in time to hear her ask about the Roguelands.
The dams broke that tried to hold back on all of the great wonders his father had imparted upon him.
"Lady huntress, the Roguelands hold so much that I have barely even started to paw at the dirt of it's surface during my travels. The lands can change as quickly as the sky sinks from dusk to night. Individuals as unique as the stars cross these shifting skies, either to make their lives in its wild existence or to travel to places just as strange and beautiful as they are. I have met warriors, healers, merchants, and even those who say they were born from the shifting seas." His soaring spirits wavered with the mention of the seas. His father was drawn into the embrace of those who called it their home, their awaiting grasp promising only death for him if he were to follow. He began again, though a bit more subdued, his former lively posture also sinking into itself. "But it can also be a lonely place where those with nothing left wander until they are but a whisper that blows through the grass."
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:31 am
Ak-kila was drawn to ever word he said. She listened carefully to the way he described it. Her thoughts lingered back to the lion in her vision. The storyteller lion. As Akin'Labi talked the more she was sure that he had to be in someway connected to the lion from her vision. She didn't want to say anything about it though. Even if he was similar to the lion of her visions, it didn't mean they were meant to be. She wished that he was the lion though, more than anything. If he was, it would seem that the gods had led him straight for her, so they could be together. It was an opurtunity she wasn't about to waste.
The best thing for her to do now would be to get to know him better. She would be able to judge if he was her lion in time. “The roguelands sound like an interesting place. I might have to venture there sometime. You must really love it there.” she said with a nod of her head. “The sea... That is one place I wouldn't mind seeing. It is so different from the ocean.” She closed her eyes for a moment and could see the waves crashing against sand. If she thought hard enough she could almost smell the salty air. She snapped out of it though and instead looked at Akin'Labi.
When she had a vision of a far off place she tried her hardest to keep it a memory. It made her life living with the same scenery easier. She glanced back toward the pride. Her life in the pride wasn't completely boring, she admitted. There were creatures here she knew didn't live anywhere else. She looked back at Akin'Labi. Out there though had places she could only visit in her dreams. She took a deep breath in, taking a moment to think before she spoke.
“Akin'Labi, I think you are rather interesting. I was hoping you wouldn't mind escorting me to the roguelands. I want to take a visit there and see for myself how wondrous it can be. You seem to know a bit about the roguelands so I figure you would be an excellent guide. In return I can offer you in gems from my land, meat or anything else your heart desires.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:32 am
A self deprecating smile tugged at 'Labi's lips as Ak-kila mentioned his love for the land. "It calls to me in many different ways, some leaving a murmur of promises to come while others scream and crawl in my ears with reminders of mistakes that have past. I both adore and curse it, for it has given me so much, but has taken more then I was willing to offer." His father had been counting on him. But when push came to shove, he wavered and lost the single most important thing in his life.
So when Ak-kila asked him to be her guild through the Roguelands, he was blindsided so hard that he almost felt his head swim. Him? A guard?
He stopped to think about it for a moment. Right now he had no purpose in life, no direction. His feet had taken him here and had led him to Ak'kila. Maybe it was the Gods playing with mortal affairs, or such pure happenstance. Either way, it would give him a path to walk for now. At least until he was able to find his way back to his own.
"I would gladly accept to be your escort Lady Ak-kila, though I need no payment. Companionship would be wealth enough. Though I must recommend to prepare yourself for the journey. Wish your loved ones a promise of your return and gather any supplies that you might need."
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:33 am
Ak-kila nodded her head. Without a word she hurried back to the pride. It took her hours to get there, but she didn't mind. She made her way to the temple. When she arrived she found her mother sleeping soundly. Quietly she shook her with her paw. “Mom I am leaving. I will be back soon,” she whispered. As she was leaving she saw a necklace and some beads left on the floor of the temple. She thought that perhaps Akin'Labi would like them as a gift. The beads matched his eyes perfectly. Carefully she put the necklace around her neck and wrapped the other beads around her paw.
She took a glance around the temple. It was so peaceful, with all the members sleeping. She knew she wouldn't be gone too long, but she already felt herself missing it. As quietly as she came in she left. She dashed back to where Akin'Labi was. By the time she arrived she was out of breathe. She laid down next to him. “Alright. After I get my breathe back I will be ready to go.” She said between pants. After giving him a smile she grabbed the beads around her paw and the necklace from her neck. “Found these for you. Thought you might like them.”
She handed him the beads and necklace, hoping he would like them. “If you don't like them we can always trade it along the way.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:34 am
As Ak-kila dashed off to tend to he arrangement, 'Labi settled himself down for a decent wait. It gave him time to think a bit, to really let it sink in what he was getting himself into. He had just met someone, a complete stranger, and had agreed to be her escort through the Roguelands. Just thinking about it made him smile. Eh, he had done weirder.
When the huntress returned, bearing some gifts, he was a bit surprised. Maybe this was going to be a lot more strange then he thought. But he meant that in a good way.
"And haggle off gifts from the sands themselves? Never. Thank you, I shall treasure them." He slipped the necklace over his head, but the other was just to small for his paw to fit through, so he added the gift to his tail, liking the added weight. He turned back to Ak-kila and smiled, a small, but real smile. "I do believe we are ready to take the first of many steps upon our adventure, Great Huntress of the Sands."
Akin'Labi was a Pacifist. He wished no ill-will upon others, nor did he wish to be the cause of it. But so help him if you try and hurt something important to him, he will fight fang and claw to keep it safe.
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