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 Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:39 pm
With the weight suddenly gone from his chest, Kienge sucked in air and glowered at nothing in particular. He'd lost. Him!
... and to a female. He ground his teeth together and took a deep breath. At least she was Firekin.
His attention turned to Ilahe and he managed a (grudging) smile. "Thanks." He grunted and climbed to his feet, then inched into the shade. "I've never seen you around before."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:40 am
"Seen you though. Uzulu's son?" She gave his a sidelong glance as she finished lickinhg the scratch clean for now. They'd not met before, but Ilahle though she'd seen him around, and she had met his father once. With that slave of theirs. She'd heard a rumor that the sandy male was now father to more slaves, unborn as yet. Also had to wonder, if that huge strong lion had to call this cub 'sir' or 'master'.
"I'm Ilahle."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:18 pm
Kienge blinked, then glared at Ilahle for a moment. Finally, with a sigh, he relaxed and grinned. "Yeah. My name's Kienge."
He wondered for a moment how she'd come to hear about him, and his father. But then again, his father WAS basically royalty. He supposed it shouldn't be too surprising.
"So... where'd you learn to fight like THAT?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:18 am
"I have a lot of brothers." She shrugged a shoulder, following the motion through to stretch out her forelegs, then lay down. The cub didn't look like he was going to pounce again, so she'd relax.
Kienge, huh?
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 1:54 pm
"Oooh." He nodded sagely. That made sense. "I only have one brother, then my mom and dad." Not that his dad ever taught him much. Kai never fought either - he always seemed more interested in finding information. Bah! For a moment Kienge's ears drooped; he wondered what Uzulu would say if he found out about this battle.
Probably something to do with the greatness of female firekin, and how he wasn't worthy. The cub sighed.
"Who're your parents?" Maybe he'd heard of them too!
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:14 pm
"Ra, son of Chomo, and Nyeupe, daughter of Teleka." She smiled, very proud she'd learnt those names. Before, mother had just been mother or mama, and father just father, or daddy. Now she knew their names, and her grandparents too. Firekin's all and all with Firekin names. Names had power as well...yes, yes, Ilahle was proud of them.
"You have that sandy coloured slave too? He brought me water once." What an odd meeting that had been. Giving orders to another and being bowed to had been a weird experience. Ilahle had never been treated like that before. Maybe Kienge was used to it though, she thought. Maybe that's why he'd been so demanding about the shade.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:32 pm
... nope. Hadn't heard of them. But again, he hadn't really traveled much around the pridelands. Kienge was dutifully impressed though - she was definitely not some stupid rogue!
"Yeah, that's Mpaji. He's a good slave." At least that's what father said. Kienge wasn't really of a mind to disagree - after all, the lion had provided him a slave of his own! "Dad just gave me a slave too!"
He was so happy! Maybe that meant Dad really did value him. Well... at least a little?
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:40 pm
"Really? Is it one of his cubs? Must be nice for you." She tilted her head. Still, she had to wonder why Mpaji was a slave when he'd seemed so strong and smart when she'd met him. Ilahle guessed it was simply because those blessed by Finar-Si were just better no matter what. Still...with her traditional-and-rebel mixed upbringing, she probably though about it too much.
"Last rumor I heard he was going to be a father. How many he have?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:52 pm
"Yeah, one of his." The male grinned and scratched idly at his ear. It was good to be a Firekin! "The female slave" - Ohahira? - "had six. Five girls and one boy. Dad gave me a girl, Tanana."
He was proud of her, the same way he'd be proud of a prized pet or possession. She did everything he asked her to, though sometimes she gave him bad looks. Dad said not to let her do that.
"Do you have any slaves?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:15 pm
"No. Though I almost captured a wild rogue once." A bit of an exaggeration but she felt silly not having a slave when he did...and it had been one of the main events in her young life - the time she'd saved an adolescent rogue's life. At first she thought that she was a traitor for it but since, Ilahle had been reassured differently. Praised for her judgement even and one cub'd told her she should've made the female her slave...so it was only an ickle exaggeration...a white lie...just to seem a bit more impressive...
"Tanana, hm? So does she live with you, then?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 5:11 pm
"Really? That's amazing!" His respect for this girl was growing by the minute. She must be strong if she almost caught a slave at her age! He hadn't even really met a potential slave yet. And the one wild rogue he HAD met... well, that didn't bare thinking about right now.
"Too bad you couldn't catch it though." He stretched lazily, bright violet eyes fixed on Ilahle. "They're useful, you know."
Tanana sure was useful! She'd do anything he asked! He'd been a little doubtful at first, but with his father looming around the slave didn't dare disobey.
"She sleeps with the other slaves, but works for me when I need her."
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:27 pm
"Yeah, well, it was sort of weak, so...I doubt it'd been very useful, waste of meat feeding it." Ilahle shrugged again, faking nochalence, as if wild rogues came within her grasp every single day. Oddly, she found herself wanting Kienge to like her. He'd made a bad first impression and she didn't see why a cub would even need a slave but - he was the first cub she'd met who wasn't required to at least pretend like her because they were related.
"What kind of things does she do? Fetch you stuff?" Now, to find out what a cub did with a cub slave. Not like she could play for him or learn for him. More fun doing those things yourself.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:29 pm
"Well, if THAT was the case, then it's better you leave the weakling to die in the desert."
Rogue or even Firekin; if you weren't strong enough to hold your own and earn your place, you didn't deserve to live. Kienge had heard his father growling about rebels and weaklings. It bothered the cub to think of his pride as faltering - the blood growing thin and weak. He would keep it strong!
"Oh... she fetches dinner and cleans and helps me make things, and when she's older she can hunt and guard." Really, the uses for a slave were endless. He's never realized how much work just LIVING was until he'd gotten a slave.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:40 pm
"...Don't you want to hunt and fight when your older then?"
Okay, fetching and cleaning she could understand, but Ilahle had to raise an eyebrow at hunting and guarding. What was more essential and thrilling than the hunt? More glorious than defending these sands against all would be challengers?
"Aza, one of the hunteresses, said she'd take me out with her one day on the hunts. To see the rogue lands. I couldn't imagine giving such a treat to a slave."
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:47 pm
Kienge shook his head and waved one paw lazily.
"Nonono. Not THAT kind of hunting." Of COURSE he wouldn't let Aza take his slave out and hunt! That was a firekin privledge. "She'll do hunting when it's too hot, or... whatever. When I DON'T want to hunt."
Sure, hunting was exciting, but hey! When you were hungry in the middle of the day, who wanted to go hunt? That's what SLAVES were for. "I'll save my energy for the real problems. Hunting rogues and trespassers." His eyes glimmered at the thought. "That's where the real excitement is."
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