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 Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:04 am
She returned to the dens alone, following Ripuka's advice of before. She would change... She would be her own lion, no longer following orders blindly. But first... There was the matter of the now. Who knew what the future would bring? The past had certainly rendered its own troubles, its own concequences. Now she looked at the present... And the future. As she drew close, she found herself looking at Jua'taka, looking more than angry. Before she'd even uttered a word, pain exploded in the lioness's face.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:05 am
"You left Mother ALONE?!" Paws moved fast as Jua let the slave know of her displeasure. She hadn't missed her son's seer powers, nor his mumblings in his sleep about rogues, blood, extinguished fire... Letting out an angry roar, the shadow of a lion beat the paler lion into the sand and rocks, ears back and eyes wild. She didn't heed any cries, not even fully noticing as somebody pulled her back by her scruff.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:07 am
Crawling away, Kimiko looked back at the lions standing over her, eyes wide. Since the war, neither Ripuka nor Jua had raised a paw at her. Sides heaving, she tried to make herself small, afraid to lick her wounds. "S-she told me to c-come back!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:08 am
Getting between Jua and Kimiko, the male looked between daughter and slave. "Jua, there is a saying out in the rogue lands... Don't eat the messenger bird!" He looked over at Kimiko, gently lifting a paw to move her mane tuft out of her face. "Calm down, now... Where's Ripuka, slave...?" Where was his mate, the love of his life? The one he risked his own life to be with...
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:09 am
Looking between the black and orange, she couldn't help the fear gnawing at her. Finally, she looked to the male. "S-she went on... Alone... With the cub..." Swallowing, Kimiko closed her eyes. "She told me to come back... Not to worry..." She looked between them, whimpering just a bit. Gods she hoped they didn't beat her...
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:10 am
Holding back her anger, Jua let out an angry roar, frustrated. She paced, then looked at the slave. "How do you know she's not DEAD?" The words burned in her mouth, bitter-tasting to her. She motioned to the den, where hopefully the other cubs still slept. "What if they have no mother? What then?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:12 am
Moving his daughter aside, Makaa gave her a stern look. "Jua, go lay down and relax, okay? I'LL handle this." He returned to the slave, watching her cower. "You only obeyed your mistress's orders... You are not in the wrong..." He reached up, getly ruffling her hair tuft. It was almost affectionate... Almost, but not quite.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:13 am
Letting out a grunt, Jua went to the other side of a rock formation. As she lay down and closed her eyes, a blinding pain struck her head full-force with a vision.
Rogues, entering the desert; Ripuka laying the cub aside to protect him as she confronted the rogues; Claws, teeth, angry words, and a broken body cried at by a cub..
She sat up as quickly as she could, stumbling as she returned. "FATHER!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:16 am
Looking over, Makaa frowned. "Yes, Jua, what's wrong?" From the way she stumbled... He was immediately at attention, going over and checking her. The stumbling indicated one thing... She'd had a vision. "What happened, is something wrong?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:16 am
Trembling all over, she looked up at her father, eyes burning. "Mother's being attacked by rogues!" She looked over, glaring at the slave. "Because SHE left her alone!" In an instant, she was on the slave, claws digging in in anger. Once again, she was pulled off by her father, eyes still burning with anger and hatered.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:19 am
Getting between Jua and Kimiko, Makaa glared at her. "Jua, stop it! We can't change what's already happened, only what will, and we don't know what will happen yet! She may come back yet, so stop worrying!" He looked back at the den, noticing a pair of green eyes watching. The fiery tuft of hair on the white head told him just which of his cubs it was, watching... Listening... And fearing.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:20 am
Tumbling over his paws, a cub hurried up to the adults. He'd left the den he slept in with his brother and sisters and mother, seeking the adult lioness. "MOMMA!" Tripping on a rock, he tumbled into Makaa, finding himself staring up at his grandfather. With an ulp, he hurried over and hid behind his mother's legs. "Momma, I saw bad things in my sleep! Gran'ma, an' a brown lion, an' a lil' cub like me, an... An' Gran'ma went to sleep and didn' wake up! She vanished!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:22 am
((After this post, cub owners may post their cubs' reactions to the arguing etc.))
Looking from her son to her father, Jua glared. "You said she might come back! That's not coming back!" Without much more word, she groomed the cub. "Come along, Kosuke... We need to go home..." Picking him up, she hurried away, ears back. Not a glance was spared, paws moving swiftly. Let him deal with what the cubs would think..
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:51 am
What was all that noise? Grr, didn't anyone care that he was trying to sleep down here?!
Rap's fiery eyes flared open and his little face creased with annoyance. One glance around the den told him that it was void of adults, apparently, and only his siblings remained, curled about him in sleep. But...not all of them. Where was that gold one? The runt he'd nicknamed Fry? His bro? Wasn't he supposed to be here too? Unless...he was what the argument was about?
Had he gone up to upperworld without permission and gotten himself lost? Ugh, what an idiot. After all his 'weedy' and 'weepy' moments, had he really gathered enough courage to do it? Well that wasn't on. He wouldn't be left behind, no sir-ee.
Clambering over his siblings, not taking the time to move lightly or delicately, he stomped up to the entrance of the den and peered out into the sunshine just as Jua was stalking off. Good. That dark one was a moody creature. Rap was not about to go bumping into her again. But daddy was there and the white, scarred female who'd startled him and Ngoma before.
So, where was Mama?
"Dad!" He called out as he trudged clumsily across the sand. "Where's Runt? Where's Mama? What's going on? All this noise hurts my ears!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:52 am
Kosuke wasn't the only one that had been listening in. Awakened from her nap by raised voices and sharp words, Zapaliti had yet to move from where she lay, huddled and shivering. What had happened to the one who had been curled with her when she'd gone to sleep? Where was her Sun-brother? As Rap toddled past, nearly stepping on her, she rose to look around. Momma was gone, but she knew that...they'd been yelling about it and...
She was out of the cave just a few steps behind Rap, wobbling unsteadily and blinking at the harsh light. There was Papan...and someone else. A big white lion? At first she wondered if they were related, but after hearing how the others yelled at her...
Leaving her brother to do the questioning (she would keep her ears on him, of course), she changed course. She stopped just before Kimiko, and shyly nosed at one of the wounds Jua had left. "You okay, Me-colored?" She'd still not learned the word for white, or the lioness's name, and so she'd done her best. "You know where Momma and Sun-brother are?"
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