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 Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 1:38 am
 The waves crashing below was certainly a soothing sound, she'd give the area that much. While her old pride's lands had been near the far-distant western seas, though, it had been far dryer than it was here. Irmak lay on an outcrop overlooking the waves, the sun setting behind her, and admired the view. Strange and giant fish, much like what one of the locals had described to her, were darting across the waves. They were unlike anything she'd ever seen before, when she was a cub, and it suddenly struck her that she didn't remember much about her cubhood outside learning to fight.
The magenta-eyed lioness sighed, turning her gaze away from the waves. If she had cubs, would she raise them the same? Would they spend their cubhoods learning how to fight, instead of learning how to play? How to sing? How to simply have fun?
It had been a while, but the memory of somebody happening upon her chasing the gulls was forever burned in her memory, the embarrassment at doing something so... Cubbish. Reflecting on that embarrassment gave her a new embarrassment at the fact she had been ashamed, when so few here appeared to be. In the distance, she only heard the waves.Epine de Rose Tadaa ~ That may have... Gone a bit overboard
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 2:29 am
 She hadn't been the world's best diplomat... If anything, she had barely gotten her paws wet. Most of this had been due to the elders educating her in such great detail that they hadn't actually allowed her to negotiate anything until they were confident she was well aware of everything the Bahari stood for. Unsurprisingly, there were still some who were not entirely certain the hybrid was quite ready to negotiate anything, and there were another number of outsiders who had been swift in pointing out that there would be some who weren't entirely welcoming of her 'kind'.
Nevertheless, she took great pleasure in being released for the day to enjoy some of the finer pleasures of her home.
Fine weather? Check.
Pleasant beach? Check.
Interesting wildlife displays from her aquatic neighbours? Check.
All in all it was shaping up to be a wonderful day as La'Seine bumbled her way up the shore in her usual lackadaisical manner. Unaware of the rather camouflaged lioness, the hybrid was more than determined to find herself a nice breakfast and simply laze about in the most unlady-like fashion.
That's right, she was going to flip on her back and let that belly hang out, no one was going to lecture her today, nuh uh!
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:54 pm
One ear flicked as Irmak listened to the world around her, over the din of the waves. If she listened carefully enough, she could hear some sort of whistling and chirping coming in off the water. What was making that sound, she wondered. What could sing like that? She saw no birds out over the water that could whistle and chirp, only the gulls.
One ear shifted, causing her to lift her head. Irmak could hear somebody approaching, possibly not aware she was there. The pale brown lioness shifted, eyes straining to spy who it was. Soon what looked like either a particularly large-boned and more filled-out cheetah, or a very lanky leopard, came into view, and after a moment her brain caught up with what she was looking at: A leotah. It took another moment for the leotah's name to come to mind. "Good evening, La'seine. What brings you up this way?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 7:07 am
"Ah guh fuuuuuu huh?!"
It was a response that was worthy of respect from any amoeba, truly one of eloquence and full of philosophical musings. Accompanied by a startled, wide eyed stare, it was evident that Irmak had caught her by surprised - such was the way for one who had no real grasp on the world outside and that fact that Irmak's colouring was really rather standard.
Eventually the Leotah recovered, and promptly patted down her chest in a manner that hopefully indicated she had totally expected that and she hadn't just had the tail scared clean off her. Absolutely she knew Irmak was there this whole time.
Like anyone would believe her...
"Good Evening!" Her voice still quavered, but the merry smile had found its way to her lips and despite the mild quaking her nerves were returning to her. "Just a little bit of freedom, a break from all those studies," she replied and tilted her head to the side. "You?"
"Did I miss a hide and seek game that I may have accidentally won? You can hide again, I won't tell anyone."
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 11:51 am
If she were another lioness, Irmak would have laughed at the attempts of the leotah to not look startled. She wasn't another lioness, though, only watching somewhat blankly. When La'seine had calmed, she inclined her head. "I'm playing nothing so cubbish as hide and seek." She shifted, looking back out at the waves. "We didn't have many places to hide where I'm from, so there wasn't a lot of opportunity to practice hiding from the enemy or finding the enemy." Plenty of wrestling, though. Some of the scars lions obtained were from rolling around with siblings or cousins, biting and kicking each other to show who was the more dominant lion. "What sort of lessons were you learning? They must be very different from the ones I learned."Epine de Rose 3 posts in and I'm already almost at 500 words... |D
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 1:13 pm
La'Seine couldn't avoid raising an eyebrow at the lioness, it wasn't a reaction she had expected and all in all, Irmak came across as rather flat. She had most assuredly not been raised in the Bahari. but the Leotah did have to wonder what had brought her here if things were so different...
"How not to offend various cultures," she replied after a few moments. "Some prides have particular customs and expectations that don't necessarily coincide with Bahari views," she lifted a paw and gave it a wave. "There are ways to respect them, or at least tolerate them, so as not to cause offence," she lowered her paw again and peered at the lioness more closely.
"There's nothing wrong with being cubbish, even grown-ups play games," she added. "At least here they do."
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 2:24 pm
Seemingly finally, Irmak smiled just a bit. "I've noticed." She crossed her paws, then shifted to better look at La'Siene. "I'm genuinely curious, how many cultures are out there? So far I only know of a few, from those who came here from elsewhere like I did." She started ticking off what she knew on her paw. "The Burkuteshti and Qyrhyeshti, which turned out to be identical in how they functioned... I was from the Qyrhyeshti side. If you've seen her around, Umut bint Canaan is from the Burkuteshti side." She went back to ticking prides off, "The Ithamb'hlabithi, the Jini-msemi, I've of course learned about the Kizingo'zaa next door... Um..." Irmak shifted again, patting the ground with a paw. "There's a few more, I can't remember what they are, though."
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 2:38 pm
"A lot," Seine heaved a sigh and lifted her paw to rub gently at her forehead. "So many that I've literally spent my entire life in school because the Elders are determined to make sure I know of all the ones they know of," she pulled a face and shook her head. "And even they admit they don't know about them all, they only recently learnt about some from the rogues that came in..."
"For example, did you know there's a killing tribe of warriors on nearby shores? Apparently they pillage, plunder and steal other beings to enslave them," she wrinkled her nose. "There's no honour in that whatsoever but apparently I have to be aware of them just in case I need to negotiate."
She pointed at the lioness.
"Seriously, how do you think you could honestly negotiate with something like []that? Only negotiation I see there is a 'who has the biggest army' contest..."
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:55 pm
Irmak shifted, ears going back. The thought of other prides, who simply took their enemies as slaves, didn't sit well with her. Her lip curled back in just the slightest snarl. "I don't think I'd WANT to negotiate with them." She rose to her paws, tail lashing just a bit. It smacked into a leaf behind her, before she started pacing just a bit. "Back in the Qyrhyeshti and Burkuteshti, the closest we had to that were lions who owed the pride a debt for taking them in when they needed help." She nodded off somewhere in the distance. "That's why Akbar came in with us, he was found at the Burkuteshti border injured. When they save somebody's life in battle, of the side that took them in, they become either a full member of the pride, or are free to leave. But nobody was otherwise forced to do anything, let alone stay, once they'd paid their debt off." Irmak paced away from the ledge she'd been watching the sea from, ears still back. "If they have the power to enslave others, that means they could crush us in a war. We need to build the number of guards we have." If there was one thing Irmak knew, it was how to fight.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 5:01 pm
La'Seine smiled, unsurprisingly the lioness had had the exact reaction she had. A sudden bought of fear and anger, a desire to arm, and yet the elders had raised their paws and silenced her. Contrary to popular belief, the Bahari were not as weak and timid as many war-like prides might have perceived.
"There is a difference between pacifism and weakness," La'Seine said gently and tilted her head to the side. "Just because we have chosen not to fight, does not mean we aren't capable," she paused briefly to consider her words. She didn't know why the pride hadn't encountered this strange pillaging pride before, or whether they had and she'd simply never been told but...
"The last time something happened and it required action, the King acted without hesitation," she smiled mildly. "I have confidence we are in good claws, though there is no harm in offering your assistance if you feel you have skills of value?" she motioned towards the dens. "I think I'm the first to admit I don't know everyone here or what they can and can't do - most like a life of modesty and rarely step forward to display their prowess..."
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 12:10 pm
She remembered that quite well. Watching Ram dive into the sea had been something to behold, not a second thought before the waves swallowed him up for a moment. But it had been worth it, to see five cubs saved by him. Irmak was still unsure about many things that came with Bahari life, but like she'd heard several others whisper, she was sure that was a blessing from the sea itself.
"Well, the best we can at least do is prepare." Irmak ran thoughts over in her head, then offered La'Seine a smile. "It's been a pleasure chatting. I should probably leave you to your relaxation time." She had so many thoughts in her head now, but she didn't want to take away from somebody's escape from lessons to talk about more of the same with them. She'd bother Umut or Gabedi with it instead.Epine de Rose And I think... That's about a good point to finish ~
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 12:21 pm
It was nice to speak to another who was able to accept her input, while Irmak's views might have been slightly different, she still had the capacity to see another's point of view. La'Seine had always liked that in being and it was a simple pleasure for her to witness. Sometimes she rather felt that the elders disagreed with her, though at times she assumed that they were doing this on purpose.
...had to test her decorum and all that.
"That's very true," the Leotah agreed and offered a small wave. "Enjoy the rest of your night, please don't let them know I'm here or I'll never hear the end of it!" she added. Knowing her luck, there would definitely be one or two elders out there who would haul her back for another lesson. Not that she hated having them, but sometimes everyone needed a break!
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