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 Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 8:46 pm
Tabi was oddly tired today. Something that she rarely was forced to deal with. Did she just not sleep that well last night? There was a bit of rumbling since they were only less than a day's journey from the Sky Festival this year, so perhaps that was it. She had no expectations for the Festival, but it was always nice to see some mildly-familiar faces year after year.
"Maybe I need some food...though I'm sure there will be plenty to eat tomorrow." Her tail swished behind her as she walked towards a small gathering of Shadow Clan lions, exchanging pleasantries before continuing on to find a nice place to rest. A short nap may work, or the original plan of food...but strange to be so tired. Maybe she was going to have to accept the fact that she was not as young as she used to be.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 8:55 pm
Ustalanali was looking forward to the Sky Festival. So much so that he was having a hard time tolerating the slow pace at which the clan was moving- everything was fine and on schedule, of course, but that didn't matter when you were waiting. He didn't know what exactly he was expecting but a change of scenery and some new lions to chat with.. that would be good enough. There was no reason not to look forward to the festival, unless you hated long walks for short stays.
As the Shadow Clan settled in for a break, the young lion wandered away. He crisscrossed through clan to get a look at where they would be heading next. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared to come across a slow moving obstacle and ran right into Tabi'nasi as she was making her own getaway-- stumbling just enough so that it was more awkward than painful.
"Whoa!"
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:09 pm
"Ah...!" That was not something that Tabi was expecting, so she felt her own paws stumble a bit from the sudden shift of her weight. She instantly knew it was a male, if only because of the feel of the mane.
"Woah indeed," she said as she recomposed herself. "I take it that you cannot wait for the festival to begin tomorrow, can you?" Seeing just how young he looked only reaffirmed that yes, she was getting old. Sigh.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:17 pm
He stumbled backwards a few steps and, after a quick look over the lioness he had run into, he looked himself over. He brushed off his legs and tried to straighten out his mane and feathers a bit before shaking it all out.
"Sorry about that," he said, looking back up, "Yeah, I was just planning to go on ahead a bit.. see where we're headed next.."
He was pretty sure that his plan didn't really make a whole lot of sense unless you were the restless type he seemed to be, but it didn't bother him at all so he looked on with a blank face. He knew the lioness before him but only in passing, that familiarity didn't stop him from noticing how plain her coat was.. except that it wasn't really plain, the stripes somewhat made up for the missing tattoos. They were definitely more organized and tattoo-like than his patches.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:32 pm
"I take it this is your first festival," she replied with a bit of a smile. Well, that made everything more clear, even if that doesn't really excuse his behavior. Being young only happened for a short time, however.
"There will be a lot to see and do, I'm certain you'll be exhausted by the end of it." He seemed like he was the type to run ahead and beat everyone else there; adventuring. Perhaps he'd try in the tournament, testing his strength and a bit of wits against others. It seemed that did the best in making new friends (or rivals) from other clans.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:42 pm
"Yep!" he answered, finally smiling at her. It was a big deal to be given the opportunity to meet the rest of the clans and compete against them and celebrate with them.. Ustalanali was confident he'd find it interesting even to just sit around and watch everybody else but the truth was that he was far more likely to put himself into the middle of as many conversations and games and stories as he could manage. He wasn't very good at standing back.
"I don't think so," he said, shaking his head at the suggestion that he would be exhausted by the end, "It's only a few days, after all... How many times have you gone?"
She was clearly (much) older than him, maybe she really knew. Even if he wasn't prepared to accept the idea that it could be a tiring experience, his only real sources of information on the topic were his parents and that left plenty of room for more. Even if he was thiiiiis close to seeing and experiencing it for himself.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:47 pm
Tabi laughed, but it was a bit of a tired laugh. "I've been to far too many, let's just put it that way. As you can tell I wasn't born in the Ela'wadiyi lands, so its a bit surprising to think that I've been to so many of these." She sighed, facing more realities of her age. Ah well. She sure learned a lot in those years, like this overly exited youngster would in the time to come.
"Are you going to try to fight in the tournament?" She had to voice her internal question, since it was always interesting to be a spectator. "You may enjoy it, just to see how far you get your first time entering."
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:55 pm
That made her sound even older than she looked, and Ustalanali's judgement was only harsh on that front because he still considered himself so young. Aging would not be something to come easy for him, but he still had a ways to go.
He didn't know how to respond to the idea of her having been to 'too many' festivals so he blinked and then moved on to the next question she asked. The tournament had been mentioned by his parents, of course, and he had never really thought to much about it because.. of course he was going to do everything.
"Yes," he said with a grin, "Can you imagine winning? I haven't actually seen what the whole crown thing looks like but it sounds impressive. And the Shadow Clan hasn't won in a while, and I heard most of the clans were having trouble recruiting competitors."
It seemed only right to try.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 10:05 pm
"It is a pretty impressive crown. I'm sure you would bring a lot of honor to the Shadow clan if you were able to win it. At the very least it would be nice to have a representative fight in it. There have been very few Shadow clan participants, so we would all be cheering you on if you did decide to enter."
Well, she was still tired, and being around this younger male was making her feel old, but at least it renewed a bit of her love for this clan. This was how it was supposed to be, encouraging them to do things to grow.
"Even if it was an accident getting us here, it was nice to talk with you."
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 10:10 pm
This time the smile stuck on his face as Tabi talked about the crown and how impressive it was and how good it would be for the clan to win it. Without seeing the competition, he had no justification in getting too confident that the Sky Champion would be from the Shadow Clan.. but he would absolutely make an effort on behalf of his clan.
Imagining bringing the title home distracted him, he almost missed the hint that their conversation was over.
"You too," he said, offering a nod and then taking a wide step to the side so that their paths would not directly cross again as he continued on his way to get ahead of the game.
Fin!
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