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 Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 3:15 pm
 Notorious Tichaona was back at it again. He had heard of a pride of lions who only allowed a few males at a time to lead and breed. Sounded like just his thing. However, he hadn't heard of there being an opportunity for him to get in. If he charged in, the dozens of beautiful lionesses would run him off and he'd be too dishonored to try to return. That wasn't his style. Tichaona was a former king himself, after all. His pride had all left him after the other king died, and he had even lost his own children to their mother who sent them away to other prides. As "peace offerings" or "political tools," but really the woman had wanted to weaken him by spiriting away his heirs. Yeah, he was pretty upset about all that. Instead of starting from scratch again (though he definitely could, don't get him wrong), it would be a lot easier to just jump in after someone else had done all the hard work of collecting females and removing males. Now, all he had to do was wait. The dark brown lion rested on a boulder under a stinted, spiny acacia tree. It was a good defense if he fell asleep and one of the pride males found him. Hopefully that wouldn't happen. But if one of the pride's females found him, well, that could go in any number of directions...
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 5:56 pm
 Umlotha padded quietly through the grass, her eyes trained on a bird with an injured wing that she'd been following for some time. Normally the females within the Bonelands hunted together to bring down large prey but Umlotha had always been a bit...different. She didn't really care that much about what others thought of her and was only concerned with herself. Sure, she'd help others out if it benefited her in some way, but she preferred to keep to herself. The bird shuffled into a tiny hole and she sighed quietly. Oh well. She wasn't very hungry, she had been stalking it more for fun than anything else. Something caught her eye and she remained low in the grass as she crept a bit closer to a tree. Beneath it was a lion, basking in the warmth of the sun on a rock. "A bit of a dumb place to take a nap," she said from her place in the grass, noticeable only if he bothered to lift his head. "You stick out like a sore paw."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 1:48 pm
Tichaona's bright blue eyes widened in surprise at the voice, then narrowed, looking around. Oh, a female. How pleasant. She must be from the aforementioned pride. They were commonly in natural hues, whites and tans and browns and blacks. Not that brighter lionesses weren't beautiful too, Tichaona really had no preference. Female was female. But he was lucky. This was a pretty one. He smiled at the adolescent. "Maybe I didn't want to stay hidden." He slipped off his stone and slunk towards her, sizing her up. She was almost an adult, he judged. Old enough to be out here alone in the roguelands where she could run into trouble (see: Tichaona). "What are you doing so far from home? It's awfully dangerous out here by yourself..." His blue eyes examined her very thoroughly. He liked what he saw.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 4:47 pm
Umlotha remained still but didn't actively try to hide. As the male spotted her she smirked just a bit at him to let him know she wasn't nervous. It took a lot to ruffle her feathers and a lone male sunning himself on a rock wasn't one of them. Thanks to her father's god status she, although still growing, was already the size of an adult female and she'd very well pass this brown male once she was done so his size didn't intimidate her. His questions made her snort softly. "Not in this area," she returned, making sure to let him know she was completely fine in his presence. She watched him come closer, amused at their similar dark pelts and bright eyes. "What are you doing so close to home?" she pressed instead, her tone of voice amused rather than curious. "This area is well-known for the males of my pride to patrol. They don't take kindly to strangers, especially ones like you." One that was obviously looking her over. She knew there was a stigma in the pride about breeding with rogues, but honestly she didn't care. Her father was the god of rouges after all. It would be rather suiting for her to have cubs from an unknown father. Her own would probably proud of her. Shifting her weight a bit, she strode forward as well to meet the male halfway. His body language and awful napping spot made it clear he wanted to be seen and she had a feeling she knew why, if the glances were anything to go by.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 6:31 pm
The male grinned slyly at her. He liked lionesses that were feisty and had a bit of attitude. They were also his downfall. Kefilwe had been feisty and she sent away all of his heirs besides Bakari, who he had sufficiently dug his claws into. Bakari, in truth, wasn't even the first born son, but Tichaona had an affinity for the boy's looks. Maybe he would do better in the future. He tossed his mane and laughed a little at the girl's question. "Someday I'll be ruling that pride. I'm just biding my time out here, seeing what comes my way in the meantime." He gave the lioness a wink. He happened to quite like what came his way in the meantime. He had heard of the rather strict rules on breeding, so did this lioness, naturally, but here they were. "The name is Tichaona. You'd best remember it. You'll be calling me King Tichaona soon enough."
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 12:33 pm
Umlotha had to laugh at the male's confidence. He might hold his own out here but in the Bonelands it would be a whole other animal. "We don't call the males king," she informed him with a smug look. "And really, the females do the ruling. The males are there for protection and breeding and that's about it. The females do the rest...and the males come and go as their strength fades. So if you do manage to win your way in, you may not stay for very long." And if he had any sort of holier than thou attitude or tried to change how the Bonelands run, he'd be chased out or worse. The females didn't stand for usurping the traditions of the pride. Which was precisely why she was more than happy to continue flirting with Tichaona. "Umlotha," she returned finally. "And while I might not call you king someday, Umholi may very well be a possibility."
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 2:16 pm
"I don't need to change the way things are, everything works in my favor as it stands." He shrugged his shoulders confidently. These were the peak years of his life, and therefore the best time to be fighting and breeding. "Umlotha," he nodded to her (he'd never be caught dead bowing, sorry), "It's just a pleasure to meet you. Why don't you tell me more about the pride I'll be ruling shortly?" He walked back to his shady nook in the bush and beckoned her to join him. He knew that she had the same thing on her mind that he did. If she didn't, then she would probably have tried to chase him off already. No, even though they had different backgrounds and different cultures, this was a language they both spoke.
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 2:34 pm
"Weren't you listening?" Umlotha asked, following the male despite his ego. There was nothing wrong with being confident, after all. She was oozing confidence to the point of annoying other pride members. If things went as planned her cubs would be absolutely swimming with self esteem. "It would be a joint position too," she added as she stepped into the shade. "There are two head males as of now and a few more that come and go more frequently. You'll be hard-pressed to get one of those spots." She laid down on her side, tail flicking a bit as she stared at Tichaona with bright, golden eyes. "So eager to be the head of a pride you know nothing about. That's both foolish and alluring all at the same time."
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 3:24 pm
The large brown lion shrugged. "I've shared ruling before," he said, nonchalantly. And females, though he was less eager to do that, he understood the ways of the world. He understood it through a very sexist point of view, but it was no doubt an interpretation, at least that was undeniable. Tichaona liked this female as much as one could like someone they had no deep emotional connection with or desire to necessarily see ever again (except that he probably would when he became Umholi). She reminded him of himself, and Tichaona was very self-obsessed. "I'm a fast learner, Umlotha, you needn't worry about me." He raised his eyebrow and a broad smile spread across his face. No, she should probably worry about herself, though. Tichaoana knew he was poor company to keep, but that wasn't his fault or his problem, he decided.
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 3:42 pm
"Oh, trust me. I'm not at all worried about you," Umlotha said with a little snort. "For more than one reason."
She was content to banter back and forth through the heat of the day, divulging information on the Bonelands without getting too deep into their rules and systems. A bit off the top wouldn't hurt, that much was for sure. She learned a bit about him as well and once things started to cool off, she decided he'd be suitable for a father to her cubs. She only hoped they'd be as off-putting as he certainly was to lions other than herself. Having a few cubs running around the pride with a rogue father and an attitude to boot would surely tick off most of the pride.
Excellent.
FIN
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