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 Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 6:34 am
Attacked? As the roar rang out and the warning followed, Sikitiko did not rush outside to see what was happening; instead, she darted inside the nearest den, forgetting for once about errand and duty. Fortunately for her, this den was currently unoccuppied, leaving her free to cower inside. She was all set to go and hide in the back when she heard her sister Ure's voice. It gave the adolescent pause, and was enough to make her turn around and peek out.
"Ure!" she whispered desperately, "In here!" It was safe. They could be safe in here until everything went back to normal. Right?
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:47 am
 The older female had slept away peacefully in her den till the loud roar that shook the very foundations of her being rumbled over her desert home.
She awoke with a start and practicly leaped from her den to watch as Azachamorel ran past the other dens, roaring about an attack and she quickly made her way to the rocks to see if this was true.
As her eyes looked out onto the horizon, the red spot of the old, traitor prince met her eyes and she snarled before moving back to the mouth of her den.
"Damu wake up! For today Finar-si will truely judge us!"Damu roused himself and looked out of the mouth of the den before following his mother, his ears flattened against his huge mane as his soft blue eyes looked out onto the horizon.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:38 pm
Ripuka turned her head to gaze into her daughter's eyes. She had her mother's eyes. They glittered gold in that dark face. striped dark red with her mother's markings. For the first time, Ripuka realised how much her daughter had grown, how much her daughter looked like her. Yes, she lacked her vibrant red coat but she had her build, her ways.
Pride beat strong in Ripuka's heart to have such a fine daughter.
"Kidondo, my daughter, Kidondo returns. He is Kimeti's traitorous son, a lion who seeks to bring destruction on our ways." Her voice was so full of venom, though it was clar whom it was directed to. "I once taught him as I taught you, child. I taught him and loved him as a son and he betrayed me. He has betrayed all of us." She growled. "There will be bloodshed today, daughter of the flame, there will be bloodshed." The thrill of the battle heated her old veins, raced through her being until her heart raced.
"My mothering instincts tell me that I should keep you here, safe and sound, but child. You are a Firekin, a true Firekin. I will not keep you here if you wish to protect Finar-si's ways." She drew herself upright. "I would be honoured for you to join me in battle, child."
At that moment, Azachamorel's barked orders pierced the air and Ripuka was aware of life, panic, confusion, anger. Anger.
Ripuka felt the heat of anger run through her and without another glance she leapt from the den, bristling and snarling. Some were already heading to the borders, some were hovering around the dens. But Ripuka saw none of them. Her first instinct was to reach the traitorous male, to bring him down and wring some sense into him.
With a blood-lust roar, Ripuka sprang towards the borders, the borders that held Kidondo and no doubt, his dark-pelted mate.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:41 pm
((Kimmy, wasn't sure, so just give me the OK or the cue when you want Uuo to go after Ripuka. :3))
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 12:56 am
((Ope xD Must throw Azzie out there after mom))
Azarax shivered with the mixed feelings of dread and excitement. For war was a bloody thing, he knew that, but still, the Firekin within him was stirring at the language of blood and he was at no power to extinguish the little flame that had caught hold at the feeling of battle. Because no matter how much he tried to hide it, no matter how much he disliked the true Firekin ways, he was one by blood and heritage and there was still that spark inside him that leaped for war.
All around him, he could see shapes moving across the sand. But his mind was in a blur, and it almost felt as if he had lifted from his body, as if he was looking down on himself from just above. He could see the grayness of his coat, and then the fire-red mane streaked with white. And he looked out farther and everywhere he saw bright reds, and multiple other shades of gray. He could not feel reality. It was all a dream.
Then a split second later, a sound brought Azarax right back to earth. The tan lion's hearing had always been better than most. But out of all the frenzy and confusion, and anger, his ears picked up one single roar, made stronger by bloodlust and anger, that floated to him and struck a chord. And though he could not see her, nor had he ever heard her roar before, instinct told Azarax that what his ears had just picked up was the sound of his mother's roar.
Even before he realized it, even before his mind had begun to deny that Ripuka was his mother, he was moving. First it was an undecided step - perhaps one of very few shows of uncertainty in the adolescent's lifetime - and then quickly it had risen into a jog, and then he sprang into a lope for the borders, where his heart told him Ripuka would be, and where he knew Mpaji had been headed when he had taken off moments earlier with no explanation. The world, or at the very least Azarax's world, was moving toward the future, and war. And it was this that Azarax's heart and mind would not let him stay away from.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:00 am
Tahja Estes Meilin lifted her head tiredly as the sounds of Kidondo's roar woke anyone not a heavy enough sleeper to keep their peace. Instinctively her legs curled more to draw the cubs closer (some of whom were peering curiously or nervously now), and she stared at Azula and the desert beyond the cave for a moment before looking to Vian. Only he would be able to read the silent message and worry in her eyes, telling him, begging and urging him to be careful. She knew he'd fight, and if not for the children she'd be right at his side, but someone had to stay with them to ensure they didn't get into any trouble, and that they were able to slip out when the timing was right.
"Fight smart..." She murmured, brushing her head against his while she was able, before he stood.
He slipped out of the den, his mind already on the fight that he knew was soon to be at hand. He flew across the desert with ease that was bred into his blood, the blood of a desert even if it was not this one. He did not cry out with the thunderous roars that seemed to echo across the pride. No, he was silent, but his blood was throbbing with the call of a warrior. Fight. Fight when the moment comes.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:06 am
 Moto'zita was never very social. It was no surprise that she had been off on her own, most likely looking for another tortoise or snake to torture. But just as she was cresting the peak of a sanddune she heard the commotion. There was a roar echoed by many in different places in the pride. And many of the calls, she noted, were not friendly. They were hostile. Hostilities meant fighting.
The twisted lioness immediately turned and raced down the dunes, heading towards the borders. A crooked smile was stretched across her maw as if she could smell the blood already. A fight. Oh how she wanted a fight. She didn't even seem to care who was fighting who. She just wanted to take out her claws on another living being. She just wanted to taste the blood spilled across the sand.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:13 am
She needed no more prompting. "I join you, Mother... For Finar-si!" With her own roar, something that had rarely ever left her lips, Jua tore across the sand after her mother. Ears pinned back, her muscles flexed with the strides across the golden grains.
A flash of tan, of red and white, bits of black... She glanced, time feeling a bit slow, at Azarax. And she knew... She'd not been dreaming it since a cub. Her brother... But she spared little more thought. Now was not the time for it. There was battle!
At the roaring, the old lion's blood seemed to dance. Battle... War... Something he had had impressed upon his mind since his own cubhood. His walk turned to a trot, and then a run. As he crested a dune, his own roar joined the chorus. A pause, and he looked back at the dens. Able-bodied lions moved, moved to fight for Finar-si. His old heart swelled with pride at what he'd come back to, the strength that still beat within all.
She looked back at the den, then made a decision. Quickly moving amid the others, she followed after the first Firekin she saw. As the sand flew by, she found herself feeling... Thrilled. A part of her had been reborn, and even though she had little to look forward to beyond slavehood... She decided to fight for the pride, for the traditions.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:31 am
 Gehenda lay nestled amongst his many siblings, part of a furry mass that was a swirl of the Firekin reds and blacks. Children of the Pride. Their pelts spoke of their parents pure heritage. But in this battle for change, what would that mean for them? Would they be spared as youngsters, or prosecuted as the enemy?
He started awake, first feeling the absence of his mother, then hearing her terror-inducing orders to 'stay here.' He blinked, looking about him to find some kind of reassurance from his siblings that maybe he was dreaming...or maybe it was really happening but it was all going to be okay. He wriggled in the mass, trying to free himself, disturbing his siblings further. He seemed to 'pop' free and then toddled over to the entrance of the den, only to see his mother return in a frenzy.
Speaking of attack and preparing ourselves. What...was happening? Attack?
Despite his parent's teachings and their stories, this all felt like a nightmare. Like he didn't know anything or know what to do. He shivered.
 Shetani, like his siblings, was growing into a very strong and impressive youth. The sign of their lands, their Goddess, marked upon his very paws and face. He was beginning to feel he was outgrowing the den somewhat, and whilst he stayed close, he often slept in the open or nestled by some rock or tree or in a small, unoccupied den. He didn't seem to mind much, he was always with his family as soon as the dawn rose.
But not this day.
He'd been restless, as is natural for a growing male lion, and was already awake when he heard that first roar. A roar unlike anything he had ever heard before. It wasn't its sheer audibility that silenced the adolescent - it was its meaning. Filled with a harsh and ungiving hositlity, Shetani should have known what it meant.
For as long as he could remember, his family had been divided but as a cub, it was hard t grasp. And even as he grew and heard the whispers and rumours, it felt far removed from him and his life. His family.
But it was real. It was there on the horizon.
He saw the impressive female Aza, who'd had such an influence on him as a youngster, gather speed as she tore through the dens, calling out her warning for all who would hear it.
Attack. War.
It was here. It was real. And Shetani would have to fight. But for whom?
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:04 pm
The sound of her sister caught her unawares. She jerked to a stop her ears spinning and looking for the source of commotion.
Where were the others? Where were the others? She swallowed hard, suddenly torn between orders and what fear told her to do.
'In here!' rang out in her head, and her sister's never did her wrong. She could trust her sisters.
Breaking into a run she tore into the den, wiggling up behind Sikitiko to peer around her sisters shoulder. She took comfort in the other's closesness. It meant trust and safety. Nothing could happen while they were together.
"Our other sisters are alone," she said carefully, afraid to break her eyes away from the ungoing commotion.
And what of their brother? Was he to fall to the rebellion like the others or was he, too, cowering like them? There was nothing wrong with cowering. It was safe.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:02 pm
As Kidondo’s roar faded slowly over the sun stroked canyons, No leaned into the stagnant air. It didn’t take long for his challenge to be answered- a few furious return roars were already echoing in the deep, and even more the sounding of turmoil. She sank her claws into the rock and sand and alighted her head. There, in the distance, she saw the orange glimmer of what must have been Ripuka, and surely others on their heels.
Things would be descending soon, and it was almost funny how electric even the air became. She could feel it pulsing in her chest, even in her jaw. Jerking her head back to get one last headcount of those who numbered besides them, No turned back towards the desert and let her own challenging roar slip from her throat- drawing from that charge.
“Nuri,” She called, “We’ll push inward until we hold good ground, and let them come to us.”
Let no firekin mistake her for the slave she had played.
---
Kaanga dashed across the rock floors of the dens, stumbling about and completely unaware of Mpaji desperately attempting to catch up to her. Despite her stumbling, Kaanga moved with an erratic speed that kept her flying up rocks and crevasses, her yellow eyes flashing as she tried to locate and sign of her sons, or even Uzulu.
Her heart thudded against her chest as she saw Ripuka dash past. She wheeled and looked around, as if there was some spot she had not, and flattened her ears. Too many pictures! All thrumming against her head! Her father- she jumped around, but then they vanished like a cloud passing over the sun. The sun- she could feel it burning, and…
“Mpaji!” she gaped, suddenly noticing that she was looking at him. She felt rooted, but willed herself to go backwards and catch up to where he was. “My sons!” She wheezed. “I don’t know- my father, my brother-“
She spun in a circle. What was she to do!
---
Fury bled through the old guard like a fire. An intrusion! The very idea that some scrap of a force dare challenge the might of the firekin seemed blasphemous- and yet, at the same time a kind of excitement found itself nestling in the brute’s chest. This was it. He could feel it deep in his barrel chest- this was the day he had been waiting for. Finally, a chance to repent for his sins and prove himself to Finar-Si. These invaders would be driven from their lands, and he’d slaughter every last one of them if he had to.
But age showed on the lion as he ran towards the borders. Even the other old bloods shot passed him as he grew winded. A part of him recognized his mortality, but it was just a small sliver.
Die or not, he would defend his home.
--
Elsewhere, nestled in a crook far above the rock sides in the west, a lean, hungry eyed lioness watched as small ants began to scatter amongst the stones. Still sore from her failed mission, Uriah lifted her head. Her brilliant violet eyes flashed for a moment with a kind of wicked sheen.
“Someone attacks the firekin,” The lioness breathed quietly. Kidondo and his troupe? Mother seemed to not have much faith in them, but…
Sensing a chance to redeem herself, the red pelted lioness jolted from where she sat, and dashed off in the direction she had last seen her mother.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:46 pm
Uuo hung back a bit at first, but after a few moments she grew too restless, eager to be closer to the front of the line to see what and who approached. She was among the few in this lot that knew any of the pride by face and name, but had no personal score to settle, she simply wanted to be of aide.
As she came closer, she too spotted the orange pelt blazing over the dunes like fire, and recognized it to be the old storyteller. Hadn't she not long ago had a fresh litter of cubs? Motherhood had not drained her completely, it seemed, Uuo thought with a small smirk. Good, because if the old lioness was looking for a fight, she'd find one. Kidondo had to reach the king as quickly as possible, to end this. That's what they were there for, to help him achieve that goal, to win the Firekin lands and to reform the pride, to show them what "inferiors" could do, and though their reasons may be different, free those that had been wrongly captured and enslaved. Uuo nearly silently begged for the rest of the pride to come, and oh she wished she'd be able to see the looks of shock when more of their own stepped forward to fight with the rebels.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:40 am
Even Sikitiko, who scorned her sister Tanana's silly dreams of an outside world, took comfort in Ure's presence, and worried for her other siblings. Where were they? Hiding like them, or looking as Ure had been? But they would be fine; they had to be fine, because then when everything was over, life would go back to the way it had always been. No chaos, no wild fear to make her heartbeat race and hammer in her ears. This fear was unlike any she had ever known, and that frightened her even more.
"They might be together," she said to Ure. "They might be looking. We should wait here for them, wait here where it's safe." One thing Siki new for certain was that she wasn't about to go outside, sisters or no. She was as cowardly as they came.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:28 am
They were coming.
Like a sea of blood, sweeping across the sand, the Firekin came. His sandy eyes switched from one face to another, trying to distinguish friend from foe. Telling the difference was easier than he had expected. His enemies had hatred in their eyes and they came with the intent on forcing him back. Did they know that he did not stand alone?
He wanted to cast a glance behind him, check to make sure the rebels were standing strong, but he knew they would be. They were ready for this, though they may not have been prepared for such a welcome. It even had his heart hammering and he had known what to expect. Huge Firekin lions, moving across the sand as if it were as solid and firm as rock. Their red coats glinted in the morning sunshine, some dark red, some vibrant red and some orangey-red. Amongst the red were blacks too, Firekin who had not received the red colours from their parents. There were slaves too and they stood out with their unusual colouring. They were coming. All were coming.
He strengthened his posture, braced himself against the bloodthirsty roars and waited. He would not be the first to strike. He had never intended to be. He just prayed that the traditionalists were curious enough to give him a moment to speak. He would only need a few seconds, just to explain his intentions and what would happen to those who did not desire the change that the Pride so desperately needed.
He took a step forwards, determined that if an attack should come, he would be the first to meet the angry claws of his brethren. His eyes scanned the faces again and fixed upon one that he barely recognised through the veil of hatred.
Ripuka.
He had known all along that the female would never stray from Finar-si’s teachings. She adored the Goddess, adored the Firekin. He knew that nothing would change her from that path, that nothing would alter her way of thinking. The traditions were a part of her, as much as her soul was. Some Firekin could never be reached no matter how much Kidondo may have wished it.
He glanced No from the corner of his eyes and knew that in moments they would be separated from one another, heading down their own paths, though the paths would connect again a little up the road. He relished in her roar, knowing full well that it might be the last time he heard it. Knowing that today could be his very last day alive. He pushed back those negative thoughts roughly.
He heard No speak with Nuri then and smiled. She knew what she was doing. She knew better than he about how best to take on this challenge. Yes, if he fell today there would be someone to step into his place. Who knows, maybe they’d even accept No as their ruler, for today’s battle would show them all what she was and she was superior to any Firekin he had ever met.
“They are confused.” He murmured to no one in particular. “Confused and angry. It’ll dull their wits, make them reckless.” He cast another glance at No, wondered if maybe he should say something, but decided not. She was focused and he should be too. So, throwing the rest of his thoughts to the wind, the lion took another step forwards, trying his best not to look Ripuka in the eye. His words could not falter, they had to be strong. He had to be strong.
“Brethren!” His voice was loud, deep, reminiscent to his father’s own voice. He could feel himself entering into another speech, another monologue of wisdom. “My sisters, my brothers.” He scanned the faces, looking for Kaanga, hoping to see her and yet at the same time, hoping she wasn’t here. “And fellow lions and lionesses not of the blood.” He would never use the word slave again.
“Many of you have already guessed why I have returned. Perhaps you have always known that I would, for that was always the intention. I come here today with my friends, those who you deemed inferior and yet are superior to many of us in almost every way.” He paused, gathered his words, thinking on a whim. “We closed our eyes to the outside world; we blind ourselves to everything but our own pride, our own self worth. We take in outsiders and call them our possessions to feed our egos and delude ourselves. We hide away amongst the sand, telling our own stories of grandeur, whilst the rest of the world moves on. They have forgotten us. No one fears the name Firekin anymore. We are myth, legend, creatures left behind as changes sweep the rest of our ‘inferior’ kind to a better future.”
His eyes narrowed accusingly, picking out the angry faces of the traditionalists. “Some of you claim to worship Finar-Si. Some of you claim to love her, to never turn from her beautiful vision. But are we forgetting what she stands for? She stands for strength, for change – the very change that you deny. You watch helplessly as our family lines close up. You wait for a dark and ominous future which can only spell death for us. Tell me, where is your Goddess now? Where is she when you need her the most? She has abandoned you, left you to wither up under the sun. If she is so strong and worthy, why does she not come and strike me down where I stand?” He growled, knowing full well that his words would hit nerves. They were meant to hit nerves, meant to force those that were dwindling with indecision to realise that there was only one way out of this.
The need to survive was strong. Kidondo intended to play on that instinct.
“I ask you, if there is any doubt in your hearts. If you feel that the path you tread is wrong. If you have come to realise, as I have, that the only way forward is to accept change, then stand by my side. I cannot offer you a Goddess, but I can offer you a future for you and your families. I will bring back strength where it has dwindled.” He raised his voice. “Rise up against the enemy that lurks inside your very heart and know now, that we cannot continue on this path. If you do it will take you to your doom.”
He paused and spoke his final words. “You cannot live on faith alone.”
“Heretic!” Ripuka screamed. Her mouth foamed from her anger, her breathing was harsh and laboured. She was so angry that her whole body quivered. Her one good eye was dark, murderous. Ripuka could imagine, in her mind’s eye, Kidondo’s death; his body battered and broken on the sand that he had soiled with his filthy words.
“If it were not for our faith we would have perished long ago! Back when the plague came to snap at our heels! Things are hard, but they always have been! So is the life of a Firekin! That is why we are strong! That is why we are superior!” She stepped towards the banished prince threateningly, hackles bristling.
“And when our pride dwindled and we feared we would fade, long lost brethren from the outside returned to us. Gave us new generations.” Including her own children, though she did not mention them. “Finar-si guided them back to us! And she will guide us now in our time of need.” Spittle covered her fangs, her muzzle wrinkled in a ferocious snarl. Ripuka, was half mad with rage. Her tail lashed behind her, flickering like a flame dancing in a violent wind.
She would kill him! Kill him!
And in her madness she forgot everything. She forgot her mate, her beautiful orange mate. She forgot her daughter who was somewhere close by. She forgot Wakia, brave, strong Wakia and she forgot her abandoned son, the son she loved and hated all at once. In her rage, she even forgot herself, not seeming to care that she could be throwing herself to her own death.
She leapt towards Kidondo, eyes flashing, claws unsheathed.
(( PLEASE READ:
The next chapter is where the battling will take place. This is to be done in separate threads and organised between you. If you’d like me to set up an OOC thread so people can request a fight RP then I will do so, or you can organise it amongst yourselves. Either way works for me. The battle RP, I expect, will last a couple of weeks so don’t feel the need to rush.
I will leave this chapter open for a week; in case anyone wants to post their responses before having their character go to battle. After a week I will close the chapter and create a post which will link to all the separate battle threads that you have created.
(Please note that those taking part in this plot are not obligated to join a fight RP if they do not want to. Also, please keep graphic content down as I don’t want to have any issues with RPs being deemed too gory. Also, to keep God-moding down to a minimum, it may be best for you to plan your fights OOCly before hand, so that no character gets wounded unexpectedly. NO character is to be killed without permission.)
I intend to RP the duel between Kidondo and Kimeti over AIM with Kolina and this RP will be logged in this thread. After the duel, RP will continue back in this thread as before and the rebels and traditionalists will divide to claim a part of the desert for themselves. (More info will be available closer to the time).
Most importantly, enjoy! It’s been great plotting and role-playing with all of you, and after this plot is over I’m certain that the drama will continue for a long time to come.
If you have any questions, please PM me and I will do my best to answer them. ))
(( @Taj - I'll chat to you over AIM hon <3 ))
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:52 am
Her eyes watched with a bloodlust as the fellow rebels started making ranks, and she glanced to No with the barking instructions that the female gave.
"Stand strong, and keep patient. They will try and scare us with their noise, with their so-called faith, but we are the stronger ones. We will prevail. When all else fails, remember that we are fighting together. Never forget what we stand for. We are the future and nothing will stand in our way!" She ended it all with a loud roar, one that declared that she was home, and she was no longer afraid to speak out to all that would listen.
"This is our time now!"
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