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 Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:38 pm
 Niade's stomach rumbled with hunger as she followed the signs of the herd. She restrained from growling herself; it was her own darn fault she was this hungry. The lioness had gotten lazy after a minor injury and hadn't budged to chase so much as a hare and now she was starving. She picked up her pace, determined. Potential food was close, all the signs were there.
She was close enough to hear them and slowed to a more cautious approach, it wouldn't do to alert them now. She was not going to be denied this meal . . . at least not by her own behavior. An all too familiar sound had her heart sinking, the sound of a panicked herd on the move. Maybe there was still a chance, she raced forward desperately hoping luck would be on her side, maybe they'd been startled in her direction. But it was too late, the herd was too far and on they moved in the opposite direction.
She cursed her luck, or lack of it, as she slowed to a more casual pace. There was the scent of another lion in the air, probably one just as hungry as herself had found the herd first. She lifted her head to more fully take in the scent, a lone male. There was something very slightly familiar about that scent, someone she'd met in the past but couldn't fully recall perhaps? Curious, and hoping to get a share of the meal, Niade slowed further and cautiously approached.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:47 pm
 The herd had been a lucky find for the big lion, complete with a foolish young buck that tripped himself up. The lion was older and occasionally felt his age now and couldn't maintain a good run like he used to. This kill was his largest in some time and he was about to set in to enjoy it when he picked up the scent of a lioness approaching. Strangely the scent was somewhat familiar . . . Though older he wasn't so old that he didn't still enjoy female company, there were probably a few more litters in him if he chose. Perhaps the approaching female was a past fling forgotten in his roamings, that would explain the scent being familiar. Well he'd let her approach and see what she wanted, but in that moment all Mephis wanted was to dig in to his meal. He did so and also kept a cautious watch for his approaching company.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:53 pm
It wasn't long before Niade was able to get a good look at the lion and she stopped in her tracks. The golden eyes, the red-tipped mane reminded her forcibly of her brother, Belial. But this lion was bigger, older, scarred and though the markings that framed his eyes were the same as both siblings they were red, not black like Bel's. The familiar look, the age, the something familiar to the scent, it all pointed to this lion being someone she had hoped never to encounter.... her father...
Still she was hungry and he had food so she stood there a safe distance away waiting for him to acknowledge her presence. The sheer arrogance of eating even while he watched her approach made her want to challenge him but the situation was more complicated now than if he'd just been some random male. Would he recognize her for what she was? He'd never known about the second litter, but she was clearly her mother's daughter and with the eye marking just as clearly his.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 1:16 pm
Mephis watched and waited, admiring the way the lioness approached with such confidence. The surprise he saw in her eyes when she grew close enough to get a good look at him had him narrowing his own eyes. Who was she? He studied her as she studied him, all the while tearing chunks from his kill. It was the way she finally just settled in to stand there watching, confident but not challenging, combined with the slightly familiar scent that jogged his memory. A beautiful pale lioness silvery grey, green and purple with eyes the darkest of blues. Those eyes stared at him now framed by that same green but in markings the same as those he saw in his own reflection.
A rumbling growl escaped him as the pieces fell together. He had thought that good-for-nothing Belial had been the only child to survive those years he'd spent with her. That b***h, she'd left him for another while she was carrying his seed. He stood now and roared challenging the very existence of this lioness that stood before him and again turning the name of the beauty that betrayed him into a curse.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 1:37 pm
The violence of his reaction startled her and she danced back a few paces before roaring back at him, not daring to let the insult to her mother to stand unchallenged. "Yes. I am Niade, daughter of Iofiel, sister of Belial. It's so good to finally meet you, Mephis, Father," she sneered.
He hadn't respected her mother enough to be a partner rather than a dominating force, making her seek out another even while carrying his children. Niade had nothing but admiration for her mother and her mate, the lion she truly looked at as her father. Niade could see why her mother had been attracted to the big male, even starting to show his age and with the scars of battles on him, he was a handsome lion. The kill between them showed his strength. There was much to admire in him still, but she had too many stories from her mother and Belial. It was because of these stories that Niade couldn't stand to be around most males, especially those with domineering personalities or that otherwise thought lionesses were there for their use and amusement.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:14 pm
Mephis paced glaring at the lioness, his kill still between them. He couldn't help but admire her, his daughter so much like her mother but not. Iofiel would never have challenged him so blatantly. She'd had a strong personality but in a quieter way. This Niade, this daughter of his was different. He raged and challenged and she gave it right back to him. In an unrelated lioness this would have annoyed him no end, but from his blood....
His gaze turned from anger to curiousity. "Niade is it? How is it that you seem to know of me, but I know nothing about you?" He also wondered how she knew of her brother. Obviously Niade had come from a second litter and Mephis himself had raised Belial.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:52 pm
The change from anger to curiosity calmed Niade slightly but she still kept her distance. "Yes, I know of you. When I became a restless adolescent Mother told me the truth, that the lion I'd thought was my father was not actually my blood. Nothing I learned of my blood father made me have any desire to meet him." She tried to hide a rumble of hunger with another growl but the rush of the confrontation was begining to wear on her.
Her words challenged him. "Well now here we stand. I have done nothing to you and it is your mother that left me for another. I never did anything to harm her, only sought to create a life with her." Mephis couldn't help but notice her hunger. He was sure that was what had brought her here. What would she have done had he just been another lion? Seduced him, challenged him, or just waited him out?
His tail lashed, but he couldn't not do something for a lioness in need. "I can see that you are starving and this is more than enough for two. I've had a good start, I'll even step back to allow you a share. I just ask that you tell me your story." The big lion backed away a few paces before sitting down and motioning her toward the waiting meal.
Niade looked at him in surprise, suspicious of his motivation. Then again she knew her brother was a disappointment, perhaps it truly was curiosity about her that drove him to make the offer. She wondered what he would have done had she just been a random lioness approaching. Invited her to join him, try to seduce her over the meal, or chase her off for daring to approach? Well she wasn't going to miss out on a meal, she'd at least be able to take the edge off.
She proceeded to tear into the carcass her pose much as his had been when she first approached, feeding, yet still wary. Slowly she shared tidbits of her early life before moving to what he wanted to hear the most, the story as her mother had told her. She spoke about the handsome yet misogynistic lion that had won her interest and lost it as they raised their first litter together, losing two girls to illness, while their father focused on raising the son. "I learned I had a brother out there somewhere, and I decided to try to find him. Strangely enough I actually did manage to find Belial. We're really quite close. I heard even more about you from him."
She let it stand at that while she focused on getting more meat in her before he decided to chase her off....
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Tygress Dream generated a random number between
and ...
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Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:56 am
Hearing the story from the opposite perspective did nothing but rouse his anger. He'd never thought of himself as such a horror. Well it was their loss, Iofiel and Belial both. He growled a bit but otherwise remained silent. So much bitterness is this daughter of his. He couldn't understand it, perhaps it was her independence that made her that way. It couldn't be his fault. Even with the stories her early life had been good. "Such a wonderful picture you have of me. . ." he finally said. "Yet you stayed even after recognizing who I was, why? It couldn't just be hunger."
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:34 pm
Niade paused to swallow her last bite then stood. "Actually it was mostly still hunger," she started with a light laugh. "By the time I was close enough to recognize you, we were practically face to face. I didn't really think of leaving as an option, though you did startle me a bit roaring like that when you realized who I was. Then you just pissed me off, so leaving was off the table unless you decided to take a real swipe at me."
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:13 pm
Mephis just stared at her, no emotion showing on his face. And suddenly he started laughing. He liked this girl, no denying it. He wished he had known about her, he'd have taken her on rather than her failure of brother. The big lion struggled to get control of his laughter, but the look on her face was priceless.
Niade watched him ready to run, fearing she had pushed him too far with her honesty. When he started laughing she actually jumped back and then stared at him with open-mouthed surprise. Finally she just shook her head and laughed a bit herself. This meeting had turned out nothing like she had imagined.
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:30 pm
Mephis finally steadied himself from full on laughter to chuckling, "You're nothing like your brother. I'm glad to have met you, Niade," he said finally. He looked back at his interrupted meal. "If you don't mind I have a meal to finish. You're welcome to stay if you need a bite more to hold you over til you make your own kill."
Niade grinned, "Thanks, I'm always glad to hear how unlike Belial I am. It's been.... interesting having this chance to meet you as well, ... Mephis." She couldn't quite get herself to call him father without the bite to it so she stuck to his name which she managed to get out sounding at least neutral. Her grin turned wicked as she added, "And I'm glad you don't seem to be quite the a** that Bel and mom painted you to be. It might even be nice to run in to you again."
"We'll just have to see what the future brings then," Mephis said with a respectful nod to his daughter before turning his full focus on his meal.
"Indeed," Niade commented as she moved to leave. She strode off a few paces before turning, "I might even introduce you to your grandchildren someday..."
Mephis looked up choking on his food, "What..." he managed finally.
But Niade was already on her way leaving her laughter echoing in his ears...
[fin]
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