Thalion: (10:19:44 PM): It had been a long walk...far too long.
The rebellion was still fresh in his mind. He, Kenna, and the others of her litter had watched from the safety of a nearby cave as the older lions met in battle. A storm where blood fell as rain and roars thundered through the air. They had lost...he remembered the long walk then. He'd walked beside Kenna, quietly as always, but he'd been there with her. He knew about her secret lover, a male from outside the pride. He never said a word to her or anyone. The blue lion rarely spoke, when he did his voice came quietly, rhaspy, and unpracticed.
This walk seemed longer. Perhaps because back then he'd looked forward where as that day, he'd done nothing but look back. He was free...but now he was without purpose. He'd never learned to hunt. He'd been the princess' "toy". A prize she held over her younger siblings. He groomed her fur to perfection as she kept his in top shape in return. Afterall, she couldn't be seen with a sickly slave.
He never learned to fight, the instinct for hunting was there but was just as unpracticed as his words.
She had a mate...she had a litter with that mate...and he didn't deserve her. Zaphod's distant expression hardened as he sat himself atop a broken boulder. He was the night's watch. Despite his being a slave, Mwali seemed to have some trust in the blue lion.
Reeshie: (10:34:38 PM): Makaa was in a perpetual state of sour disposition. Leaving his birthplace and Zapa, well that just made him frustrated and annoyed. He hadn't been sleeping very well on this journey, but at the least he was making an attempt to in the past couple of nights. This time, he didn't care enough.
Ndevu curled carefully on top of his head, hidden in his dark mane, he walked away from his father and sister, climbed up onto the rock beside Zaph and sat down with a frustrated sigh.
Thalion: (10:52:20 PM): Zaphod rolled an ear and shifted his eyes slowly. The small lion's face rarely bore an expression. His eyes rarely lit up. In fact, one might assume that rocks had more personality. However, as the cub seated himself at his side, a brow slowly raised upwards and his chin tipped just slightly against his thin mane.
Reeshie: (10:58:47 PM): Makaa growled a bit but shook his head only slightly before looking up at Zaphod.
What are you going to do now, now that you're not bound to my sister anymore?" he asked bluntly, his red eyes glowing brightly in the moonlight.
Thalion: (11:00:51 PM): Zaphod had been wondering the same thing actually. While the confusion didn't leave his expression, his face twitched slightly. A wince, though Makaa could have easily mistaken it for having been startled by the question.
He turned his head once more, eyes scanning the desert sands slowly. "...I don't know." he answered, quietly.
Reeshie: (11:09:25 PM): Makaa, even in his young age, was rather perceptive. He noticed the flinch, but also had the decency to write it off. But then, he didn't have much to say, really. He had no idea what he would do, other than just go day by day at his father's side. Learn to hunt and fight, protect his sister, that was all he had in his mind for any future plans.
Thalion: (11:11:12 PM): "...you...aren't distancing yourself from me." He observed. Half a statement, more or less a masked question. It was strange...of the litter, this one seemed different. Much of Mwali's litter had left the aging lion for the very lot who had driven them from their homelands.
Reeshie: (11:21:03 PM): Makaa shrugged. He didn't like admitting he was different from his brothers and sisters, but there was no hiding it, really. He felt differently about colors and Zaph was something of just another lion to him. He wouldn't want any of his sisters involved with him, but other than that, he really didn't care. Besides, the visions he had intrigued the younger lion. He knew he didn't have them, but he was interested and wanted to know more about them.
"Why would I? You are with Father and Pari and me. Distancing myself from you would be dumb, in my mind."
Thalion: (11:35:56 PM): "I suppose." He answered after a time.
The cub had a point. The party escaping the desert was a relitively small one. In a hostile land such as this, it could even be seen as treachery. Kenna had even bowed her head to the new way of life. He couldn't say he blamed her....faced with the options, he might have done the same- if he were a different color that is.
"Your name's Makaa...?"
Reeshie: (11:41:55 PM): "Yes, Makaa'yamoto," he replied shortly. He had to think for a moment whether or not he was comfortable with the ex-slave using his nickname. Of course... He would have to get used to the world outside his pride. The rational part of his young mind reminded him that no one would ever care that he had once been a lord of the Firekin, that he was son of the great Mwali, grandson of Makadri.
"But you can call me Makaa. Most do."
Thalion: (12:13:14 AM): "Hm." He nodded slowly. He didn't seem to have very much to say on the matter. He had always quietly thought that longer names seemed...unnecessary. Too flashy. He opened his mouth to say something else then seemed to freeze.
His eyes went wide, pupils narrowing into thin, nearly non-existent flicks as his head fell back. He began to tremble, his breathing began to stutter.
Reeshie: (12:18:59 AM): Makaa's eyes went wide when Zaph froze, his face going thoughtful and his brows furrowed. He felt Ndevu scratch a bit at his skull, but the mouse hidden in his growing mane was not the important thing right now. He knew that look, Zaph was having a vision. As much as he wanted to ask what the older lion saw, he knew better and decided to wait, wait until it passed. He didn't want to know what would happen if he interrupted the vision.
Thalion: (12:23:00 AM): Zaphod's claws stretched to grip the ground under him, his entire posture seemed to arc upwards. "I.....s....se-e... a pride....far....far away....a...and....two golden ones. One falls....a bea-beast-t-t-t....tainted, masked....devouring...like a flame...it devours the flame and grows larger...ah...."
Reeshie: (12:29:18 AM): Makaa frowned, trying to get his mind around the words. At least it wasn't too figurative. A pride. Two golden ones. Royalty? A tainted, masked beast, devouring the flame... The Firekin were of the flame. Was it the pride itself... Or one of the members. Maybe it consumes the pride and grows into a larger force?
"Uh-huh, take it easy," he whispered to the older lion, trying to coax something more from the seer.
Thalion: (12:32:23 AM): Zaphod's teeth chattered as his body seemed to freeze him into silence for a moment longer. His body shuddered, slumped, then fell to the ground in a heap. He was panting as if he'd run for miles, and as always- he said nothing further to explain what he'd seen.
Reeshie: (12:37:01 AM): Makaa watched the blue lion for a few more moments and then looked over to where he had left his father and sister. He should probably go get his father, tell him what happened, what Zaph had seen. Either way, he would tell his father, but he decided it might be better to wait until morning. He didn't want to wake Mwali, or Pari if by accident.
Thalion: (12:41:13 AM): Zaphod slowly lifted a paw to rub at his head. He always had a migrane after a vision. Even the dim moonlight was enough to send a stab surging through his head at a glance.
He slowly sat himself up, head down-turned, and settled his eyes down on his paws.
