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 Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 11:48 am
For some reason, the baking sun of the desert had never felt so good. Perhaps he'd been away from his almost forgotten homeland for far too long, perhaps he just wanted a change. Danzi wasn't entirely sure why, but some unknown reasoning had drawn him into the desert.
He'd lost sight of Pride Rock hours ago, growing more accustomed to the way the sand felt between his toes and under his paws as he walked. Ears back against a wind, the bright orange lion scanned the dunes. Somehow, he expected lions to still lurk out here. He couldn't forget encountering the lions that smelled of the sands, of the desert, of a place he never realised until now that he yearned for. Pride Rock felt like home, but so did the desert. It was tearing at him, deep down. Letting out a sigh, he started down the steep side of a dune, aiming to get out of the sun for a bit.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 11:57 pm
Sand sprayed up from her frantic steps as she paced the outskirts of her lands. Once or twice she came close to crossing the borders but she always slunk back again, seemingly agitated. The truth was that Ripuka was close to losing her mind.
All around her tradition was falling apart. Her home was all but gone and no one seemed to care. Was there no one here who wanted to keep things the same? Ripuka was terrified. Terrifed that these new generation Firekin would turn on her, chase her from the only home she had ever known. For she was passionate about the desert and about her kind, yet now it seemed her home was changing and there was nothing that could be done about it.
Her tail thrashed angriliy as she tried desperately to put togethersome sort of idea. She needed to raise a rebellion, gather together the remaining traditionalists and crush the new Firekin before it was too late. She needed...she needed...
She paused in her pacing and threw back her head, tottering sideways a little. She was getting old. Time was running out. Ripuka could feel her time slipping through her paws like the sand. She knew what had to be done but she was...she was ashamed almost.
She remembered her little halfing cubs. The cubs she had birthed when she had been an adolescent and suddenly she pined for them. What if things had been different? Her cubs would have been here now, been here to take care of her and protect her ideals.
What if...what if...
But who could she possibly take as a mate? She was not exactly ugly but it was clear she was aging and truly...could an old lioness be seen as beautiful?
She threw back her head and ripped the sky with a Firekin roar so filled with rage, anguish and confusion.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:58 pm
Standing up from where he'd lay down for a short rest, Danzi looked about. A roar, the kind he had only heard at a distance as a small cub... The roar of a Firekin. So lions did still live in the sandy deserts, the brave souls they seemed to be. Furrowing his brow, he looked back at himself. Could he pass for one? Other than size, there was one way to find out. He turned and headed for the roar, traveling in the shade of the dunes. He would find the source of that roar, even if it meant injury.
Sandy-lemon toed paws soon stopped, green eyes seeing a pacing form upon the sands. In a moment of hesitation, he wondered if he should approach. Something in him gave him a kick and he began to scale a dune, having decided he'd risk it. He was already miles into the desert, and he would have rather run into a lion that could easily make him a slave than die where he was. The sun shining down upon him again, he got a good look at the other lion. Something was familiar... Very familiar. Even if recognition wasn't emediate, he knew he had met this lion before.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:55 pm
It was very probable that Ripuka would not remember this lion. A lot had changed since her mad days of wandering as a rogue. In fact it seemed for a moment she might have returned to some sort of normal mentality state, if it were not for the recent goings on.
Lost, all was lost!
In her mad rage she did not notice the lion until he was close and when she did realise he was there she all but threw herself at him. "You!" She hissed, her good eye strikingly bright. "Who are you to approach me!?" She was angry but she also needed comfort.
She found comfort in the colour of this lion's pelt. For though the royal line's red had been bright and brilliant her family line had always maintained an orangey hue. This lion reminded her a lot of her father.
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:42 pm
Flicking his ears, Danzi lifted his head in a way he imagined a Firekin would. A thought passed through his mind - Why was he trying to pass as one of them? To keep from getting killed, perhaps. Or maybe... He was getting so desperate to know someone, anyone, that he sought company with even the fiercest of lions. Another thought came to mind, one he tried to brush away as fast as possible. Maybe his father was starting to shine through after years of being a gentle lion. He didn't stop to question in his mind why he said what passed his maw. "Makaa'kali." Bitter embers... Thinking of his bright orange coat, and his former bitterness, renewed slightly by how distant he was feeling from other Pridelanders... It felt fitting. "And who're you?" How long could he pretend to be what he wasn't?
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:02 am
"Makaa'kali?" She replied, it was a lovely name and very Firekin-esque. She pulled back a little and gave him a good long stare. His pelt was very much like her father's, though it did seem lighter in hue.
"You are familiar to me. Yes, very familiar." She snorted. "Do you know the name of my sire? Paytah?" She thought to her father with his thick black mane and glossy eyes. She had admired that lion very much and loved him still, even though he was long gone, slain by the plague. He lay as ashes with mother now, mates forever.
And she? She would die alone.
"I am his daughter, Ripuka, Lady of the Forgotten Flame." She smiled as she realised she was no longer forgotten. She cackled then and swept towards him, brushing her shoulder against his before turning to look at him with a piercing gaze.
"You're built like a Firekin. Handsome too. You have come to help restore tradition? Then you are come to late!" She seemed to be going off on a tangent now.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:58 pm
"Perhaps we met a long time ago." They had, he had that feeling that they had. Watching her, he ficked his tail slightly. Time to think of a good story... "I'm afraid I don't. I was very small when my mother took me from the desert." He made a face, showing distaste of it. So it wasn't a total lie, his mother DID take him from the desert when he was small. But she had no choice at the time. "I suppose it was a wise move, what with the plague that swept through and all..."
Lifting his ears, he turned slightly. "Ripuka... It has a nice ring..." He had heard of the traditions of the Firekin. Loosely. Very loosely. "Forgive me for what I must say, but please explain to me the traditions. All Mother told me was that slaves were kept and other prides feared the might of the Firekin." Very truthful it was for him.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 12:01 am
"Ha! Traditions! Traditions have become a joke on these tainted lands." She hissed, moving to circle him, she moved with great, powerful steps, for whilst she was old she surely was not frail. She shook her head, irritated and paused to glance at him. "Tradition is gone. Our prince and heir has left us. Now the King and I seem to stand alone. Nothing can help us now."
She paced again. "We are doomed. You are too late...too late...far too late." She paused again, hesitated and then glanced up into his face. He had different eyes but the same proud muzzle and a large, thick mane.
"Once we were powerful, a fearsome pride! We knew war and blood and we revelled in it. We kept to ourselves. kept scretive in this land. Now, however, our great Finar-si has abandoned us and all the good in this Pride died with the plague. Gone they are!"
She released a great breath and her sides shuddered.
"You, you who look like my father. You who have come in vain. You should leave now before the same dissapointment and resentment fills you heart."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 2:08 pm
Pacing after her, Danzi frowned. "Then perhaps you could try to stop the traditions from being completely forgotten. Raise a new generation of Firekin to know the traditions and hold to them." Swatting a little desert creature away, the male stood as tall as he could. "Teach them to be the feirce Firekin they should be, proud of who they are, what they are, instead of sniveling little rogues!" As the words passed his lips, Danzi couldn't help but start to believe himself to truly be a Firekin. "Be the one to help the pride, keep the blood from becoming weak."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 11:56 pm
She snorted and threw up her head, laughing until she coul dlaugh no more. It was not one of those joyful, carefree laughs. She was laughing because if she did not she would cry. Then when she stopped she turned her one, piercing eye on Danzi. Oh he was a mighty lion indeed and his words were so familiar.
"We are like minded, or we would have been once. I thought I could do something to help. Find a mate, raise a little of cubs to uphold tradition." She snorted. "But look at me now, Makaa'kali, look at me. Old and mate-less, a dying breed."
She flattened her ears. "Find me a blind, traditionalist pureblood and then that idea can be realised...maybe."
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 3:50 pm
"I'm not blind, but I am a pure traditionalist." Meeting her gaze, he stepped closer. "It may not be too late yet. Even if it's only a small pawful, a single pawprint amid many, just one lion can change everything." From somewhere in the distance, a breeze fled past. Blowing through Danzi's black mane, it mingled into his own scent the grains of sand, the scent of the land. As he always did, he pondered what it meant. "You can be that one lion who sets change in motion, and I may be able to help."
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 8:41 am
Her eyes fixed on him and a strange churning began in her gut as he spoke. She was no fool, she knew what he meant by his words and yet she hesitated. Yet there was a desire there too, a desire to raise new life, new traditionalists who could help her preserve what she so loved.
With this Firekin male, a new hope could be born.
She wanted to believe it so badly, so terribly badly. He was powerful strong and big. He was handsome too and his fur burned with the colour of rich, untamed fire. Perhaps if she had paid more attention she would have noted the very subtle differences, but right now those weren't important to her.
"Makaa'kali..." Her eyes narrowed up at him and behind her a long, fiery tail swished fiercely back and forth. "You are of Firekin blood, you are a traditionlist you say?" She glared at him, straight into his eyes, his beautiful eyes.
"You truly think an old creature like me could help?" She shook her head. "Mother...father...they would have...they would have been ashamed, so ashamed of what had happened but...but if I could try and stop this...stop this nonsense." SHe was blathering again and she realised it. She snapped her jaws closed and cast her gaze up into his face.
Was she truly considering a fling with this strange male? When she was young she would have thought this romantic, aventurous. But now? Now it would just be the desperate act of an old fool. And yet...and yet...it was so very tempting.
The masquerading male would clearly be able to see the moral battle raging in her mind.
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:17 am
As he watched, he did indeed see the internal struggle. He stepped closer, almost touching, to the female. "Ripuka... Even the runtiest little Firekin can help." He flicked his ears, tail curling slightly. Could he do this? After a moment of thought, he mentally nodded. Yes, he could. He wanted, deep down, for his adopted sibblings' children and descendants to hear about the mighty Firekin, to fear them. There was no indecision in his eyes, but patience for what Ripuka might decide.
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:26 am
She growled. "That may be so, but I will raise no runts." She sniffed. "My family line may not be royal but it is strong." She was so very proud of her family and of her pelt. It may have dwindled when compared to the blazing red of royals but as far as she was concerned she was special because of it.
She lashed her tail and then glanced aroun as if to see if anyone was watching. She felt like a child again, doing something she wasn't supposed to.
"Follow me." She replied finally and led him back into the lands. She was too old for love now, but this wasn't love, it was something far more important than that. She crossed the sands with ease, moving as if she were a part of the land itself.
"Tell me Makaa'kali. What do rumours of our kind say in the outside now? Do the rogues think we've all but died out?" She growled. "They'd be right, you know."
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 10:03 am
Danzi couldn't help but chuckle. "Sometimes, a runt can grow into the strongest and fiercest of lions, if only to prove it's just as good as its brothers and sisters." He turned, following after her. His paws had sunk into the sands only hours ago, yet he felt at some form of ease moving across it. It had to be the slight dunes of the desert he hailed from, the one that had caused him to set foot within the Firekin lands.
"From what I understand, only the Pridelanders seem to remember the Firekin. I haven't been everywhere, but I've heard little of the pride. It's a bit sad, to know how dead we seem." He let out an exasperated sigh. "The pride truly needs a boost."
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