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 Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 8:11 am
((Anyone who wants to join may, I'd be happy to have some company :3 Otherwise this'll just be a slow 'getting to know the character' self rp for me )) 
He'd learned to be quiet. Though the earliest memories of his cubhood were already fading away, becoming mere snippets of scenes he could still remember enough. Some words and lessons of wisdom within his subconcious, things that would likely sculpt the creature this tiny figure would grow to one day be.
Quiet, he'd learned... silence was akin to safety. He could see the nasty expressions still, hear the tone of her voice that twisted his stomach even if he didn't understand the words. Be self reliant and quiet.
That wasn't the only lesson though, was it? Blue eyes shutting softly, Palak tried to pull forth the picture of the tender lioness. Kahawia... Sadly her image was slowly being replaced by new mother Kione... something he felt guilt about. It was hard to remember it all with a mind that was so young.. especially considering all the new things associated with the pride coming his way. On the other hand.. what he'd learned from her would never fade. Protect. Care. Keep safe.
He'd been far too young, too small to do anything on that day that fate split them. It had been enough that he'd been able to quall mildly his fear of the looming male. But now that things were as they were he was growing stronger. And though their life had improved, and things felt safer in this stable den life cuddled in with a family that used soft voices and warmth, he nonetheless felt the urge. The silent, subconcious promise. He had to protect them. His old family... his new family. The girls ecspecially. Just like Kahawia did. That for now, was the one things certain to the little dust colored boy.-
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 7:40 pm
-He rolled, letting the sun filter onto his lightly hued belly, head cushioned in grass. It was soft.. nice. Slowly he wriggled his back against the strands enjoying the sensation, eyes openning to the blue and white of the sky.
His mouth cracked open with a contented yawn, before he turned once more to his side, tail thwacking the ground mildly again and again. Where was his family now actually? As of yet he hadn't been allowed to wander too far from the family, they must be sort of close. Palak waited for the grass to sway, not trusting his eyes to pick out the dark pelts that faded into the shadows so easily.-
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:14 pm
-He watched for a long moment, ears and tail still, breath held but nothing appeared. As he puffed out his breath, sucking in new fresh air he laughed a little, pulling himself up before shaking lightly. It was just the wind he supposed.
Or maybe the spirits? Did the spirits work like that? He didn't quite understand all that stuff that Kione was teaching him. He'd have to ask her later if spirits could wiggle the grass, if they had nothing better to do then amuse a cub. Drawing forth a mild smile he began to pad his way along, looking left and right for anything exciting as he headed back in the direction of 'home'.-
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Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:01 am
A bright orange adolescent lion could be seen walking lazily through the grass not far away. He was rather scrawny for his age, but the black mane that had started to grow thicker on his head and chest signalled that he had at least started to walk the road towards adulthood. Blota was not in a hurry anywhere at the moment, he had spent the better part of the morning watching the warriors and he was sure to have picked up a few new moves. One day that would be him, but in the spirit realm.
The brown cub would probably have gone unnoticed if he hadn't moved when Blota turned his head in his direction. The colour of his pelt was similar to dry grass or dirt, and the cub was definitely better camouflaged than the bright Sacrifice.
"Out hunting?" he asked with a friendly smile. He remembered his own excursions as a cub, when he had hunted insects and small rodents or pretended to scout the borders of the pride, protecting it from intruders.
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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:44 am
-Any momentary surprise that might have hit him was hidden under his puffing of pride. Tiny little boy so pleased that he had been right, there WAS someone there, even though he was quite mistaken, this new male had just shown up.
Catching the pleasantries in the orange boys tone, it took only a few seconds for the edges of his maw to curl up in a friendly manner. Palak was quiet for a long moment however as he studied the extremely bright figure before him. His whole family had been brown, grey, and black and so far most of the lions he'd met in the pride had bits of color only in small amounts. But this one glew like the sun, only standing out brighter against that ebony black mane. His awe was obvious, but he finally spit out a reply.- "Thinking. And looking some."
-He didn't want to admit that in fact he was still not quite completely weaned, enjoying an occassional drink from 'mother' along with food brought in for them. His interest perked however, hunting wouldn't be a bad thing to start learning early.- "Are you hunting? I wanna learn sometime."
"I'm Palak!"
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Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:24 am
The cub seemed friendly enough and since Blota wasn't going anywhere in particular so he lay down in the grass, simply enjoying the day.
"Nice to meet you Palak, I'm Blota," he said. "And I'm not hunting right now, but I do hunt from time to time. I'm sure the minders will teach you the basics soon enough too."
If what he did could be called hunting... He still had to stick to smaller game and leave the more exciting prey to the real hunters. But it was all for a greater good, and they all had their places in the pride. The hunters kept him fed and Blota would fight to keep them safe when that time came.
"But no big game," he admitted reluctantly, "I have to be careful not to get hurt you see."
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:20 pm
 There were some aspects of pride life here that had taken all of his remaining youth and then now some of his adulthood to adjust to. It was so vastly different from the Unity Walkers, yet at the same time it didn't feel all that strange given who his mother was. He had met several other pride members though for the most part he had buried himself within his studies. He was eager to learn, and didn't seem even slightly phased by the grim act of studying entrails. They seemed to give him powerful visions of the creature's past, and sometimes that of those that it had last interacted with. He was quite enjoying the time spent learning there.
For once, though, he wasn't busy training, but only because he was in need of more to practice with. If he could find a good sized hare perhaps...
Instead of hare Haki found two of the pride's youths, a cub and one of the sacrifices, made evident by the brilliant orange of his coat, leaving him easy to recognize. With an excellent memory to start with it was hardly difficult to place coats and faces with names. If he was phased by the knowledge that he may well one day be witness to Blota's death, or even taking part in the ritual, it didn't show.
"It's good to see I'm not the only one out and about..." Haki rumbled calmly to the two, casual and with no hostility or threat about him. Laid back and calm, just as the icy purple tones of his coat suggested.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:05 pm
-He was happy to have company, somehow more pleased that he was older, though the similarity between the two was lost on the young cub until Blota's words sounded.
Careful not to get hurt? Well.. he supposed noone liked to get hurt. Perhaps his mother would get upset..? Ahhh.. Words hit him, a soft memory. Hadn't he too at one point been told that sacrifices had to be keeped safe? Obviously this one was one, just like him! His ears perked, tail straightening at the strange concidence.- "I hope they'll teach me. I really want to help to. Before... you know."
-Excited enough to sharpen his sense, he noticed the large adult a mere moment before his voice touched the air, admiring the markings and colorings, piping up politely.- "Hello"
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:07 pm
The thought that Haki might some day send him to the Spirit realm didn't enter Blota's mind, and he would probably not have been bothered by the fact even if it had. He knew that his chance to serve the pride would come after this life. And that grand day couldn't come soon enough in his opinion. Until then he must prepare and strive to learn all possible skills that might aid him in the world of the Spirits.
"Good day Haki! You're the one that's Spirit-born, right?" Blota said, unable to hide the awe in his voice. "Have you learned about them yet Palak?"
With an unusual pattern and an unusual past, Haki's name and face was one Blota remembered.
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:59 pm
Haki gave another soft rumble to the young one, recognizing him now to be another one of the pride-born sacrifices. Having never fathered cubs of his own he felt no particular way towards the idea that children might be born and raised specifically for the purpose of dying in the end, perhaps aided in this detached apathy by the knowledge that everyone died eventually anyway, usually at adulthood if they were fortunate.
"Good day to you both as well, Palak, Blota." Haki nodded his head quietly, watching the two with passive eyes. He nodded gently at Blota's question. "Yes... my mother is the spirit of sacrifice." It was no secret to those that knew that this was a largely contributing factor in him coming here. His visions had led him to this place and he'd found his curiosity well fed in these lands. To learn what significance sacrifice played in day to day life for some-- to understand how a domain such as hers could sustain belief, that was what he'd wanted to know at first. That became the urge to further his powers, and after meeting the queen and joining the pride he wanted to put his abilities to use for the pride just as these two young males wanted to put their lives to use for the pride someday. It always came full circle in the end somehow.
"What are you two up to, if you don't mind my asking? A bit of an impromptu lesson?"
He smiled, glad to see Blota helping to teach Palak a thing or two, and not minding serving as an example if need be.
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:28 am
-His young eyes went back and forth between the small exchange, once again particularly impressed by the familarity and closeness even between what seemed to be almost strangers. It was comforting in some way, so different then the fading memories of his mother, who didn't even care to recall their names. He filed away the new name in the back of his head, promising himself to remember them.
Spirit born, spirit of sacrifice. Curiouser and curiouser, drawn from inside his little mind, Palak nodded a bit to Blota's questioning, though finding no reason to lie about the depth.- "They've started to teach us a little. But it's still a little confusing here and there."
-Head cocking, tail twitching, he gazed at Haki for a long moment, before testing his memory.- "So you... talk to the spirits then? What kind of things do they tell you?" -And then he remembered.- "Oh!! Can spirits move the grass and stuff?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Blota's eyes glazed over a little from a sudden bout of hero worship. The Greater Spirit of Sacrifice! He did know that Haki was spiritborn, but he didn't know that. In fact, this was the first time he had heard that there was a Greater Spirit of Sacrifice, and the fact that Blota was a sacrifice made him feel a certain kinship with the older lion. He desperately wanted Haki to like him.
"Oh, nothing much," Blota admitted, trying to act cool, "But it's a fine day for doing nothing in particular, right? And I suppose everything is a learning opportunity if you care to look."
He composed himself and turned to Palak, slightly confused by the shift of topics to grass spirits.
"The spirits are everywhere," Blota said vaguely, not sure if he understood Palak's question. "Uh... And a greater spirit can show itself to mortal lions. And when they mate with a mortal lion their cubs are stronger in spirit than regular lions. Like Haki."
He hoped this little lesson was up to par in Haki's eyes.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 2:41 pm
Were Haki a less easy going lion he might have had room to feel a bit flattered by the look in Blota's eyes, but down to earth (In a manner of speaking) as well as humble about his origins-- mother was mother, her domain said to him only that it had been his calling to come here, not that it made him anymore special than the next spirit-born or seer or even the next sacrifice. --he saw Blota and Palak's places just as important-- more so --than his own in the pride. It was them, so willing and happy to serve in any way they could, even to the point of looking forward to death, that gave the pride morale and they were the backbone of this place. The pride could not function without sacrifices, and of course this was proven by the great care taken in their upbringing and welfare.
He certainly hadn't meant to make either feel pressured to impress.
Haki gave a soft rumble and nodded to both, slow and gentle.
"I do... they tell me all manner of things, from when to expect the seasonal rains to when the herds will be moving through the lands. Sometimes I can even see things from the past, or things happening in other places."
He smiled faintly.
"They can, and do."
It was not a lie, after all, since at least the "Greater spirits" were capable of such things, and he'd met one that had a love for causing such mischief. Since coming there he was also starting to find, believe, that the movements in nature were more than mere coincidence. Sometimes it really did seem like the souls of the past were communicating with those granted the ability to "hear and see".
"Hmm... yes, it's as Blota says. I've a half sister who also chose to take a mortal mate. Though..."
He paused, wondering if he should make the comment or not, but it was for a lesson, right?
"Though I have seen some children of greater spirits with disgraced colors. Even greater spirits will birth weaker spirits... or, stronger weak spirits, I suppose."
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:56 pm
-His childish excitement escaped in a peep, body sitting up straighter as his maw widened.- "I think I saw one then earlier! I saw the grass following and wiggling after me." -It was a small and proud statement, and as soon as he'd made it the cub was happy to settle back and listen to the two, trying to piece together the new information trickling in.
He still wasn't quite sure he understood 'Greater Spirits' but when he did, he had this bit of information to add to it.
Looking between the two again and again as they exchanged words, he pondered over the this and that, trying to offer anything he could, pawing lightly at Blota's leg as he spoke.- "My spirit is.. young, I think? And yours is brave, right?" -He could see that. Blota definately looked brave and awesome.-
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:38 pm
"The Pure's sister," Blota whispered, "She has a bit of green on her."
He wondered briefly what she could have done and who she could have been in her last life. She was re-born with the colour of disgrace, but she was also a spirit born. She must have had a high standing in her last life, and whatever she did couldn't have been bad enough to degrade her to a regular lion, or even a spiritless creature.
Blota suddenly remembered one of his lessons as a cub, when their Minder lined up all the young sacrifices to use their bright pelts as an example of what a lions colour could say about their spirit. Was there any green among them? He couldn't remember.
"The bright orange shows that my spirit is strong," he confirmed, "And a lighter pelt means a younger spirit. Do you remember what the colour purple says about a spirit?"
It was fun to pass on the knowledge his Minders had once imprinted in his mind, and Blota found that teaching Palak made him remember his own lessons more vividly.
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