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 Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:14 pm
The walk there had been pretty quiet - if not somewhat quick. She trudged along at a supremely eager pace, one that suggested all she wanted was to get out and away from this part of the land and get on with the mission she had as a worried mother; to find her son. It was with relief, then, that her eyes fell upon the great mouth of her parent's den - the den she had shared with them not so long before hand. Her pace, if possible, quickened, until she found the slumbering figure of her great father.
"Dad," she breathed heavily, worridly, in an eager tone as she pushed at his head idly with her paw, "dad wake up, please."
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:38 pm
Asi grunted and slightly growled. Dad. His ears flicked slightly, he hadn't heard his eldest daughter's voice in a long time. Wait, why did she sound worried? She was using the word please... He groaned and let his eyes open wide, the first thing they landed on was not Sye but her mate, and his fur bristled slightly. "Heh, wha' be wrong, princess?" He sat himself up slowly, his gaze remaining on Uumi. Had he done something wrong? It certainly would give the king an excuse to rip the red lion from limb to limb.
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:39 pm
Uumi was beginning to get a little winded, but it was probably all of the stress that was beginning to form. As they reached the den he sat himself down, close to the entrance, or in his mind, exit. His own firey eyes narrowed as the king set his gaze on him, he wanted to spit out some remark to the bloody oaf but he remained silent, his gaze breaking from the staring match and landing on his beloved.
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:03 pm
It had been a long time since Syeira had learend to ignore the deathly looks her father gave to Uumikaji. There were things there were probably never going to change, and the mot she could ask of either of them was that they just grin and bear it - and for her sake, they did most of the time. Though, she wasn't going to dwell on this matter right now, not when her only child was missing.
"Dad, it's Taabu," she said quietly, tail flicking as she tried to calm down her voice long enough to speak, "he's gone. He's dissapeared, and Uumi and I are going out to look for him int he Pridelands. We think he may have gone to see Sarabi, and if not, we'll keep looking until we find him. We don't know how long we'll be gone," she stopped for a moment, frowning as she leaned to nuzzle him, "but if he comes back, keep him here, would you?"
She turned her gaze up, towards Uumi. He was winded - she'd talk to her father long enough for him to catch his breath, then they were leaving.
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:59 pm
Asi blinked and his head jerked toward Syeira. Taabu, his grancub? "Missin'.... 'e be missin'?" He growled out in surprise and slight upset. His tail flicked as she slowly explained where she thought Taabu might be. It made some sense, seeing as Uumi and Sy had brought their son to the pridelands before.
Wait... "Yeh wan' meh ter stay?" He almost sounded a little disappointed. He could help look, too! But he understood. He nodded. "I be tellin' yer mother so we can be keepin' a look out aboot our lands, eh?" Yes. That was still helpful.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:40 am
Uumi was catching his breath fairly quickly, sitting there. He was glancing between Asi and Sy, finally letting his gaze flick toward the cave entrance. Good, the big oaf understood. Now they could leave... right?
He glanced to Sy, realizing why she might be taking a little longer than she would want to. Him. He almost growled and told her to hurry up, but instead he forced himself to calm down more. There, his breathing was pretty much normal.
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:57 pm
Syeira nodded slowly as she saw the gleam in her father's eye. She understood why he'd maybe want to come help - but taking both Uumi and Asi would prove to be a chore. She'd probaly spend more time protecting Uumi's life than she would looking for her son. That, and she wasn't sure her mother would appreciate it very much if Asi just up and left her with all those silly cubs to take care of. Besides, her father wasn't one for getting up early and working on only a few hours of sleep. He was a lazy git, and he was getting older now - it was best if he just stayed here and looked out for the cub.
"Thank you," she said quietly, leaning to nuzzle her father's neck, her tail wavering as she started to turn away from him. "And if he comes back, you make sure he understands he's not to do it again," she glanced back to her father, a look in her eye that would make even a firekin shy away from her. True, she was worried about her son, but after the initial worry was settled when she found him - oh, he would regret the day he ever even thought of leaving. She loved him, but she wasn't going to wander the world looking for him without giving him a little piece of her mind once she finally found him.
"Come on, Uumi," she said finally, "I'll be back as soon as I find him, Dad." She threw another glance over her shoulder then nodded, pressing her nose against Uumi's neck as she stalked towards the entrance. "Let's go find our son, darling," she whispered, tail writhing behind her.
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Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:16 pm
Asi nodded slowly. "Yeh be careful now, yeh 'ear?" He muttered as they began to leave, settling back down slowly. He looked tense still, though.
Uumi sure wouldn't want to be Taabu right now, Sy was pretty angry, though the upset hid most of that anger. He moved with her, tail flicking. Once they were out of hearing distance from the old oaf Uumi glanced to his mate. "I think we will be passing the firekin borders while we go to the pride lands. Do you think your brother is still slave to them?" He said slowly, thoughtfully. If they somehow came upon the other by chance... well, most of this search would have to be put to chance. They were wandering the savanah, after all.
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Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:13 pm
Syeira nodded slowly as she trudged along at the side of her mate, trying her hardest in the world to bring back the strong facade that kept her atop in almost ever situation. "I doubt it," she said quietly, "Denahi never let anyone be on top for very long," she mumbled under her breath, though she was already heading out towards the pridelands - the way that would have them passing the firekin borders, "but it would never hurt to go and look around on the edges, would it?" She cast him a weak smile, her eyes rather hollowed.
Every minute that passed, she worried more and more for her little son.
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Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:19 pm
Chapter Two - On the Edge
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Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 8:09 am
It took them less time than it normally would to reach the firekin borders, if only because they were sleeping less and traveling a good portion of the day. It was hard going for Uumi, he often needed to fall behind to catch his breath and catch up as best he could. Often Sy stayed behind with him though, as much as she wanted to get to finding where their son was.
But he could see the great sands in the distance, and he was growing a bit weary. This was the place that he and Kiuma had always wanted to visit... but these days he was not so sure about it, especially when he'd found out more and more about the lands. Especially since Sy had began to change him, slowly but surely. Cub's dreams, he supposed. He wondered how many lions had such dreams, only to grow and forget them?
His gaze flicked toward the pridelands direction. It was still far off, pride rock wasn't visable. He missed home sometimes.
He glanced around, firey eyes seeking out Syeira. He was panting lightly now, they'd just had a break a little bit ago. His eyes then began to scan the area, wasn't anyone around?
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Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 8:35 am
 Dwindling on the borders like a mourning ghost was a lioness who was both familiar and a stranger to the approaching red lion.
She had once been a cub full of joy and love with a curiosity that craved for adventure. She had been innocent, blind to danger and had loved life to it's fullest. Nothing had ever gotten her down, nothing had ever distracted her from her path to freedom.
And yet this ex-pridelander who had left home as a juvenile to become a rogue was now nothing more than a petty slave.
And where she should have been enjoying her early days of adulthood she was dwindling between life and death, living only to try to fulfill her promise to her family.
That someday she would return home to see them.
Her figure now looked broken, her body small and painfully slender. Ribs jutted out from her dirt-covered pelt and her eyes that had once glittered with life were now empty.
In fact most would think her dead if they spied her lying on the ground.
The reason she was at the border today instead of slinking around the Firekin dens was simple:
She'd had one of those dreams again. The dreams that haunted her every night with promises of another life waiting for her. She could see friends, family, the pinnacle of Priderock as a distant spectacle on the horizon. She could feel the breeze and the grass and hear the sway of the leaves. Such feelings and sounds had been forgotten long ago, and memories of her cubhood seemed as if they belonged to someone else.
Her only link to happiness was a pridelander adolescent and one she kept close to her heart, and she was sure that if it hadn't been for Zenoni she would have died long ago.
A blast of sand caught her in the face and sent her into a coughing fit which saw her crumpling to the ground in a pitiful heap. For a moment it sounded like her lungs were going to be hacked out, and then she fell silent, her rasping breath the only sound that could be heard.
She walked with a limp ever since the fight she'd had with Nuri - a Firekin lioness - and eating had become difficult due to the wound on her muzzle.
Life was hard but she had no choice, she had to survive.
Too tired to get up now Kiburi rolled to lay on her side, back resting against the steep curve of a dune and after a moment her breathing eased into a peaceful rhythm. She'd rest here at the border awhile before returning to her duties.
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Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 1:22 pm
Syeira, though outwardly as strong as any great huntress might would find themselves to be, inwardly she was beginning to trouble her own mind to the point of sheer panic. True, she never let it show, but she knew that deep down a hundred different things could have happened to her son - he was barely more than a cub, he had tendencies to become quite ill when pushed to his limits, and sometimes he was far too trusting, even with the lessons Syeira had instilled into him. She feared that, perhaps, he had gotten himself into some sort of trouble - and she would not dare verbalize her worst fear, but in all matters, it was not uncommon for a young male to find his end before his life had ripened into adulthood.
With a sigh, Syeira stopped, tensing her own frame and squeezing her eyes shut to tightly that it blocked out every form of light that the great golden orb threw down over her coffee toned frame. In some ways, she eased away her thoughts of horror by shutting herself off from the world - but it was only a matter of moments she could do this, because every second she did was another second that she was not looking for her son.
Finally, however, it was the horrid coughing that brought her through to her consciousness once more. She frowned, immediately turning to glance behind her, thinking that it's source was none other that her unfortunate mate - so unblessed in health as he was. "Uumi, are you alright?" she called, slowly slinking backward towards the direction she had last seen him. True, she could see him from where she stood originally, but he had fallen behind again. It was only upon closer inspection that she realized it was not her mate that was causing that horrid racket, but something else.
True as it is that Syeira is not a kind lioness, it does not mean that she cannot put sense into things - she knew where they were dangerously close to; the firekin lands. Any sort of creature hacking in such a manner was probably victim to one or the other of them, and in most cases, they were those pitiful ranks that the firekinds called slaves. Syeira had met one, once, and she could not say that she envied that life at all. Even her brother seemed stolen of his fire when he was under their rule.
She frowned, rather immediately, and began a hunt around - she just prayed against hope that it was not her son that had found some sort of cruel fate in these border lands between earth and hell. "Who's there?" she asked, calling out, not so loud to attract attention from too far off, but loud enough to find the close victim.
"Uumi, you heard that, didn't you?" she asked quietly, those bright, icy eyes turning onto the firey counterparts of her lover.
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:01 am
His fur prickled slightly as the horrid coughing entered his ears, and for one moment he thought he could smell such a famaliar scent. But along with the gust of warm wind the smell was gone, as was the noise. A puzzled look etched onto his face as his crimson gaze began to move faster, wanting to spot the source.
As Sye asked her question Uumi moved his gaze to greet her icey blue orbs, he nodded only once. No, the pathertic coughing wasn't him this time. His ears perked, because for another moment he caught that scent.
He began to move quickly toward the dunes, the most probably place if they could not see the victim now. And if they were not up there it was a better vantage point than down there. "Yes, I heard it. I keep catching someone's scent, as well." He glanced to her as he began up the dune, hesitating. It was a little odd to climb up, since it was sand.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:57 am
The sound of voices calling stilled Kiburi's breathing for a moment, her eyes flying open to gaze almost feverishly about her. Someone was here. Someone was here! Her head turned this way and that as she tried to locate where they were. This task was made almost impossible by the steady stream of panic that was beginning to set in.
A hoarse cry gurgled past her throat and as she rose onto her shaky legs she raised her head and peered up the dunes, their golden forms towering above her with all the might and power of the world.
What if they were Firekin! Maybe they had come to take her away, or kill her, or punish her for laying around when there was work to be done. It didn't seem to register in her mind that the voices were coming from the direction that led to the outside world and not from the heart of the desert.
She wavered unsteadily, body flinching at the sound of paws against sand. They were here! They'd come to get her!
She took a few shaky steps to the left, gazed around in a seemingly lost fashion and seemed to give up, letting her body fall to the ground again. She couldn't out run the Firekin and she definately couldn't out fight them, she just had to hope that whoever it was, it wasn't Nuri!
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