[JRP] Free of the Den (Phosphor x Ashta)

[SilverLutz]

Phosphor blinked in the sunlight. He hadn't seen it for quite a few days now, as per order of the pride. He was older than most cubs that had to stay inside the den, but as he was new, his grandmother needed to teach him the ways of the pride. Thankfully Phos was smart, and caught on quickly enough to be let out in just half the time. He had seen a few other cubs his age, but so far none had approached him.

That didn't bother him much, though. Phos liked to keep to himself for the most part, playing with bugs or rocks for entertainment. Now that he was out in the pride, though, curiosity was getting the better of him. There were so many new lions and animals that he had to meet a few of them, right? He had that thought in mind as he trotted happily between a few large rocks, and in the process walked right into a large spider web. He sat down to pull the webs from his face, encountering the angry spider as he did so.

"Oh, sorry, little guy," he said quietly as he smooshed the spider under his paw once he flicked it from his face. "Here, let me help...oh..." He lifted his paw as he felt the guts squish against his paw pad, sniffling the remains of the spider. "Whoops."

magnadearel

 

[magnadearel]

SilverLutz

Ashtarosh'sha was walking through the area near the dens. He was doing his special walk. Anyone else would call it a slink. The white lion walked on thorns when his sister was not around. His pale coat marking him with disgrace. Ashta tried his best not to be noticed by those lions who ruled the pride. The demons. When he did gain their notice or run into them, he was very very careful not to be rude. Some were mean anyhow. He expected it. It was their nature.

So the white lion dreaded having to go out among the other pride members. Every second he expected claws in his back. Red eyes glanced side to side. With his ears laid back, he belly crawled across an open patch of ground. Better to crawl than be seen strutting and bring the wrath of some demon down upon him. The growl of his belly pushed him onward. Perhaps today there might be some scraps left after the cubs finished playing with whatever animal was brought back. Ashta never hoped he'd get a whole beast or even a decent part of one. He did with what he had and didn't complain. His father would most likely beat him black and red if he complained.  

[SilverLutz]

Phos licked hesitantly at the remains of the spider, making a face as the sour innards touched his tongue. He licked his lips as he wiped the spider on the ground, wiggling his toes to make sure it got completely off. Note to self, spiders are not tasty. Once his paw was clean, he glanced up and looked around for something to do. It was then that he noticed a large white lion crawling on his belly. Intrigued, Phosphor headed over and started to crawl along behind him, his tail flipping in the air as he focused on keeping low.

This was rather fun, he thought with a grin, keeping just behind the lion so he wasn't noticed. Perhaps the lion was playing a game! The whole lesson on slaves had left his mind for the moment, and as he scooted up to stand normally beside the larger lion's shoulder, he treated him as he would any other adult: he pounced. Little claws and teeth dug into Ashta's mane, but after grabbing nothing, he fell off the other side. Laughing, Phos got back to his paws and swatted at the large white shoulder.

"Hey! What game are you playing? Are you playing sneak? I like sneak," he said with a little nod. "I'm good at it. I can sneak up on rocks and sometimes my grandma, but I think she might pretend not to see me," he added, frowning just a bit. "You're really good at it, though! My tail always pops up real high and lets others know where I am. I have to work on that. What's your name? I'm Phosphor."

magnadearel

 

[magnadearel]

SilverLutz

So intent was he on being stealthy that he didn't immediately notice a dark cub start tailing him. He was thinking perhaps he would get his scraps today when a dark shadow appeared by his shoulder. Ashta cringed and didn't look up to see who was standing beside him. What he never expected was the lion to pounce on him. He yelped in fright as a tiny body attacked his mane; being in no position to keep his balance the white lion fell over onto his side.

Ashta panted as he lay on his side. He had glimpsed a dark coat and that was bad. The words however surprised him. Game? Maybe the demons thought it was a game to sport with him. He just wanted a snack. It was time to risk a sneaking glance. From the sounds of it, he wasn't more than a cub. Ashta turned his head to glance at where the voice was coming from. He was a cub, and he was dark. Very dark. Normally demons talked to him, and maybe they would ask a question but they never expected him to really answer. What was he suppose to do?

"It-its not a game." Ashta wouldn't look higher than the cub's toes, but he did blink when the cub said he was good at it. How could he tell this cub that his tail always got yanked, hard too, whenever it stood up when he was learning to walk? "Others will teach you," he whispered softly. This cub wanted his name? Only his half-sister had ever ask that and given her own. "Ashtaroth'sha." It had to be because he was still only a cub. Ashta would treat him with all the due respect he would treat an adult demon.  

[SilverLutz]

Phos tilted his head as the lion didn't look at him. Huh...that was weird. The one thing he remembered from mom was that he was supposed to look people square in the eye when he spoke to them, to be polite but to also assure his position in the conversation. He flicked his tail in confusion before ducking his head, pressing his cheek to the dirt to catch Ashta's gaze.

"Hey, you know it's not very polite to look at someones toes when you're talking to people," he said matter-o-factly, no malice in his voice at all, confusion if anything. "Mom said to always look people in the eye. Did your mom tell you that?"

The name made him brighten a bit, and he lifted his head to move, standing next to the lion's large paws. "That's a long name. Can I call you Ashta or Ash maybe? That'll be easier for me to remember," he said, gazing up at the lion again. "You can call me Phos if that's easier for you to remember."

magnadearel

 

[magnadearel]

SilverLutz

Ashta couldn't believe this cub when he put his head in the dirt to look into his eyes. Was he not right in the head? No no that couldn't be it. "Pssst! Don't do that please Master Demon. You'll get me in trouble." He glanced around worriedly someone might have already seen. No dark toes were thankfully in sight. It seemed he would need to set this cub straight before he got someone into trouble. Ashta carefully lifted his head and rolled onto his belly so the cub could sit up right. He kept his voice low as he talked.

"Sit up above me please. You're a mighty demon, even if you are young, and I am just a slave. It's not my place to look into your eyes." Ashta glanced away from the ankles of the cub for a moment as the mention of mothers. "My mother is not a part of this pride, and I have not seen her since I was a very tiny cub."

"You may call me anything you wish Master Demon." He made no move to rise up off his belly as the cub stood by his paw. "It would be presumptuous of me to call you that." Since this boy was just a cub, Ashta wasn't going to be anything but respectful in case an adult came around and thought he was being disrespectful by called a demon by his name.  

[SilverLutz]

Phos tilted his head again as the larger lion spoke to him, his ears flicking forward as he remembered what his grandmother had said. That was right! Slaves! They were here in the pride, and usually had lighter coats. Bluish-green eyes squinted in the sun as he glanced up, a grin on his face.

"I remember now! You can call me Master Demon then since you called me that already. But just in case you do know my name," he added, standing up to stand above the older lion. "That must be kind of uncomfortable," he added, reaching down to put his paw on Ash's head. "I hope the other lions around here are taller than you so you don't have to go around like this all the time."

He was quiet for a bit before spinning in a small circle. "Look! You see my cool markings?" he said. He was particularly fond of the sun-like pattern on his shoulder. "You have really cool ones, too. I bet if you had a dark coat you'd be an awesome demon," he added, grinning just a bit. "You could always roll around in the dirt a lot and pretend to be dark. That might work!"

magnadearel

 

[magnadearel]

SilverLutz

The white male was relieved when the cub caught on so quickly. This cub wasn't being mean, and actually quite friendly. Ashta relaxed just a bit, but kept his eyes politely on the cub's toes. He was sure to keep his head below the level of the cub's, but a hint of smile touched his lips.

"Thank you Master Demon." Phosphor. All demons were master demons, but he would make a special effort to remember this cub's name. He shook his head, then nodded. It wasn't a direct question, but he tried to answer him without speaking out of turn. "They are. I crawl just in case." With time, this young demon would grow too. Ashta wondered how bad of a demon he would become, and if some day he'd come to fear him.

At the command to observe the markings, Ashta lifted his eyes to look the cub over. "Yes Master Demon. Your markings a very cool." The cub seemed to take pride in them. His eyes dropped back down at the mention of his own markings. He'd never really considered them due to his mostly white pelt. "I wasn't blessed to be a demon." The idea of rolling in the dirt was.... ludicrous. There was so many way it could come off and his white pelt show through. He was his father's shame.

"The others know me for a slave." This was delicate work. He didn't want to upset the cub who might go running to his mother. How to tell the cub his idea was a really, really bad one if he didn't want to be beaten or worse.  

[SilverLutz]

Phos put his smaller, dark paw against Ashta's red and white one, humming softly as he cocked his head to the side again. As of right now, he only knew that dark lions were okay and light lions were not. He hadn't been told what or why that was the case. But Ash was nice! If a bit shy, in Phos' eyes.

"Oh, right...you've been here a while, huh?" he said, looking at the larger lion again. "I just got here about a half moon ago. My grandma is taking care of me! I guess my mom used to be part of this pride but she left...I dunno why. Didn't ask. But I'm here! I like it a lot. I've seen lots of other cubs and you're very nice. Kinda shy, but nice," he said with a wide grin.

"Hey! I know...you're a slave and I'm a demon, so I can tell you to be my friend, right? Even if you didn't want to be my friend?" Having adults as friends was pretty cool, and if he had a slave friend...that would be even cooler! Right? All the cubs would think he was pretty awesome to be here for such a short time and already know so many.

magnadearel

 

[magnadearel]

SilverLutz

Do you want to wrap up this rp? I'd love to do another rp with them.

The touch of the smaller paw against his own was discerning. Most only touched him to punish or hurt him. He doubted that's what Phosphor had in mind; though he would let the cub do anything he wanted to him. He gave a nod to the question.

This cub was just like him. Arriving here without his mother, except he was assured a protected place as a demon. Ashta nodded to show he was still listening. He choked down a cough as the cub called him nice. Slaves didn't have a choice. Still it was pleasant to be called nice, even by a naïve cub. The white lion glanced up at the cub's face to see if he was joking or serious. Him? A slave, friend to a demon?

"Yes Master Demon." It was so funny to be called friend by this cub, instead of slave, that he almost laughed. Much discipline allowed him to keep a calm, serious face. Cubs born here were usually much meaner since they knew they could get away with stuff. Ashta would gladly call him friend, and hoped Phosphor didn't become too mean when he grew up. He would be friend for as long as the cub deemed it so.  

[SilverLutz]

When Ashta agreed, Phosphor grinned and flicked his tail high in the air. Good! He'd made a friend, then. Literally, if the lion didn't want to. He was a slave so he kind of had to...but it still counted!

"Good! I'll be the best master demon friend you've ever had, I bet. We can chase bugs together! I bet you'd be good at that, being so sneaky and low all the time. This one time, I was hunting a dung beetle, and I almost-"

But he stopped mid-sentence, and ear swinging around before his head followed to look over his shoulder. He sighed after a moment, looking back at Ashta with a sad expression. "My grandma is calling me back to the den. She said I can't go too far still since I'm still new. But...I'll see you later! Okay Ash?"

He winced as he heard his grandmother's voice again and didn't wait for a reply. He turned and darted back the way he had come, bounding happily over the dirt and rocks.

magnadearel

Definitely! I feel like when Phos grows up he'll be like. Super protective of Ash XD Like no this is my slave go find your own D< and then just do stupid things with him XD He's not the most demon-ly demon out there if you stay on his good side.