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 Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:54 pm
She had told them to become strong in other prides. To keep up the belief and pass it on to their children. The idea of breeding with the common had disgusted him, but he had been assured by Her that it was a necessary cause. Without it, their true lines would become weak.
He would not pick someone small. Only the hardest and most blood-willed would pass his test, and he had not been too kind with those he had come across. Blood had marked his claws several times, and many of those times they had not been fair fights if fights at all.
For now, the blood was wiped clean of his paws on the too-green grass of the plains after a rain. He was busy walking to a rock outcrop while he waited. He had told Ure he'd be somewhere he could see her when she made a kill; he was intending to make very sure that was still the case.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:19 pm
Mwokoti was often known as a mortal among Gods. A single glance at her would tell you otherwise; her massive size, the wings, the objects no mere mortal would have access to all indicating her to be what she truly was. The root of the title was not due to being a mere mortal herself, but a result of her constant interaction with them. She lived to serve, existed for it even. A docile entity with passive abilities whose numbers paled in comparison to most.
Only once had history seen the land quake under her wrath.
Only once. But, soon, it would be twice.
The rage she felt laying eyes on that red coat, white mane, bulky build could be measured in the weight of a mountain. Hovering high as she was, there was no mistaking it. It was Uzulu.
Mwokoti more dropped out of the air than landed, the ground meekly crumbling under her size, and with her wings extended threateningly a less arrogant soul would have no doubt cowered then and there.
"You let her escape," was all she said.
For now.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:28 pm
Uzulu didn't see Mwokoti at first. It was the shadow which caused him to look up, and when the goddess plumetted, eh leapt back and snarled low and deep.
His hackles were up, and his claws dug into the earth with a screeching sound as they hit something hard. His coiled state didn't last long, however, and he was quickly straightened up and staring the female down.
He pinned his ears then and lowered himself onto the strength of all four of his legs with every intention to go around the goddess and ignore her presence. Let her escape?
That was almost funny. "Begone, goddess. Until you bring Finarsi here Herself to speak on your behalf, your existence is naught."
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:42 pm
Off in the distance, a roar of thunder sounded, as if nature itself was warning Uzulu of things to come. A mere coincidence; Mwokoti harbored no control of the weather or it's voice.
A voice that was rivaled only by roar of an angry Goddess, who in this life had nearly forgotten that she was one. She remembered now, towering over him with nothing below killing intent. Every claw extended, nearly every exceptionally sharp tooth bared, and the soft spoken voice now yielded to make way for a booming, terrifying substitute.
"How dare you make attempts to command me, you insolent, useless mortal! Look now at your own existence, at that of your people! Reduced to nothing more than aimless rogues, cast aside by a higher being simply because she grew tired of harboring such inbred filth! Who are you to speak in such a high tone to anyone?!"
Somewhere between the words 'high' and 'tone', Mwokoti had lifted a massive paw and taken direct aim for Uzulu's face. Or maybe his whole head, given the size of what struck him.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:01 pm
That he had not been expecting. ******** inferior goddesses!
Trying to avoid the impact was useless. It caught him by the cheek and jerked his body to the side. He rolled on instinct, making the strike less foreful, but the cut no less deep.
With a harsh snarl, he got back to his feet. The blood could hardly be seen against the already red nature of his fur, but his scowl and the wrinkle in his nose spoke for him.
"You seem pissed enough about one, useless mortal that you couldn't control, witch. What the hell do you want?" He was still angry, but he was smart enough to sit and listen from this point forwards. Death was not a task he had planned for today.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:19 pm
Talk was cheap, but Mwokoti wasn't wealthy enough in patience to put up with it any longer. Had it been anyone but Uzulu, maybe, just maybe she'd have kept her head on her shoulders like she always did. She'd have explained, calmly, that Ohahira posed an indirect threat to her son that had to be dealt with somehow.
She'd have went on to tell him she wasn't in the market for killing mortals over personal matters. Those words wouldn't have been believed to hold any merit to them even if she did choose to say them considering her next move.
In one swift motion, the Goddess struck him again, this time in the side. She spared no claws, and although she didn't realize it, the deep marks that now ran along his back were near identical to the scars he had left Ohahira with for the rest of her days.
From there she launched at him, but he was faster than, and dodged the advance just before she landed on the ground with a thud.
Quickly, she span around, but was just a bit too late in doing so...
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:39 pm
When there was no answer from her, Uzulu quickly realized that trouble was beginning. He debated running. The debating cost him the few precious seconds when the heavy paw wrenched into his side.
Tumbling over in pain for a second time, he decided to change his motive. Sucking in a deep breath, he made a run for it, and was granted by luck when she missed him. He took his chance and sprung as she was spinning.
He was nearly flung from her back in the process, but he sunk his claws into her wings to stay on and his teeth into the base of her neck. There was the taste of blood before he felt himself torn off.
The ground hit him like a hammer and he scrambled off to the rock outcropping, praying to Finarsi for a place to hide and praying even harder that it was too small a space for Ohahira to reach him.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:48 pm
A few hisses, snarls and growls later, Mwokoti found herself the barer of a bloody bunch of feathers and a nice neck wound. Nothing fatal, in the end. Not that it would have mattered. Had she died there, rebirth would have been a faithful friend to her. No one but Mkodi herself would stop the terror she planned to unleash on this male.
Her wings extended painfully, facing the drawbacks of being shredded quickly. None the less, she managed to make herself airborne and wasted no time.
Her intention had been to tackle Uzulu. Mostly, she crashed into him, but the end effect was the same. The former Firekin would find himself pressed beneath her entire weight (no one knew the exact number because a lady never tells!).
At that point looking positively homicidal, the final blow would have had most onlookers boggled. Mwokoti drew her head back and smashed her skull into his, so hard she nearly rendered herself unconcious as well as him.
In this story there were no 'onlookers', just an onlooker.
It was then she realized Ure not far in the distance, one violet eye seeking her out, the other closed to avoid the trail of blood invading it.
"Child, return to your master now!"
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:57 pm
Uzulu was sure that he could hear the snap of his spine. There was a shrill, pained cry from his mouth that almost monumented to a scream before it was silenced by the weight of the goddess smashing his head into the earth.
He pushed his paws down and shifted. It ached, but it did not tear through him like a knife; there was nothing broken. He was thankful that he wasn't to rot here paralyzed from a back injury.
What he heard from the goddess, however, did not please him. Who the hell was out there? He had seen no one; it could only have been Ure. He wanted to bark and order to send the slave the other direction. As it was, she was his only chance of survival. With is mouth pressed into the dirt, however, he could not.
Ure looked with wild eyes as she came running up. For someone who had never seen anything with wings before, it was quite a shock.
Her ears were flat, and she went skirting around the goddess' hindquarters. In some sort of dumb fear, she prayed the giant creature wouldn't see her. Instead she hopped off to the front where Uzulu was pressed flat into the dirt.
Her ears came up and they rotated. There was blood everywhere. She didn't understand what was going on, and because she had never seen the goddess, she automatically assumed. "Finarsi? Has Uzulu done something wrong?"
Because, clearly, enslaving and beating other lions didn't count as 'something wrong'.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:07 pm
Many a time had Mwokoti wondered about her own daughter. How could she possibly be so cunning to begin with? More so, how could she use this skill in such a horrid way? How could she use and betray others? Lie to them right to their unknowing eyes?
The devil was all too often an image in the mirror. Mwokoti hadn't taken enough time out of her day to gaze upon her reflection and realize exactly from who her daughter had inherited these traits that were in her; only more dormant.
Seeing opportunity in the question of the enslaved one she did nothing but give her a stern look at first. Fearing and knowing well Uzulu would defy her words, and just as concerned Ure would believe them over hers, she yet again struck the lion. This time, hard enough to leave him out like a light.
Her first instinct? Kill him, of course.
So many thoughts were going through her mind, and a few latched on to a flickering light bulb that soon burned brightly.
No, she had a better idea.
"Yes, child, he has done his kin wrong. I will permit him a second chance, for now, but there will not be a third. Follow me, and you will continue to live and serve this blood of mine. I warn you... My patience is a sickly thing as of now."
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:12 pm
Ure looked to the unconscious creature that was her master. She looked back to Finarsi. The lioness would be kind upon her if she followed, but her instincts made her gut churn.
There was another glance. It was the way the Blood punished one another, of that she was sure. There was little doubt in her mind that it was what Finarsi willed.
Still she wavered and then relented. Ure could not possibly know what Uzulu had done, but she knew that Finarsi's wrath and Finarsi's will was greater and so she stepped over the limp body and came to stand in front of the great goddess.
Her tail flicked once, twice, and then she asked two questions. "Where are we going?" and "What is your will?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:20 pm
"Follow, and do not question me," Mwokoti commanded. Such a demanding tone hadn't been exercised in years save in the company of the limp lion before her. She snatched Uzulu by the scruff of the neck, hauling him up like a mother would a cub.
Well, almost. She had more of tight grip around his neck, should he decide to wake up feeling... rebellious. Just because she didn't want to kill him (yet) didn't mean she wouldn't.
The Mtaishi was not far from them by her standards. Then again, for someone who traveled everywhere all the time, very little was. It was a matter of two or three miles that she drug the lion, not too concerned with any further damage she might be causing in doing so.
Any awe-struck looks from the members of the Nchi as they weaved through were ignored. Finally, they reached the Mtaishi, and it was there she loosened her jaw.
When Uzulu fell to the ground, her paw was placed over him immediately. The first to find them was Amira. The adolescent quivered at the violent scene before her. It was a sight like nothing she had ever been submitted to before.
"Bring me the queen and the seer descended from Banji!"
"R-Rosko is gone," squeaked Amira.
"Then bring me the queen and return to me yourself!"
Amira wasn't the preferred seer, but now wasn't the time to be too picky. Mwokoti watched her dash off at a speed that would make a cheetah blush.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:28 pm
Ure trotted along behind with her tail low and her head similarily dropped. If the harshness or demand of Finarsi's (that is Mwokoti's) voice was noticed, it was clearly not at all found surprising. Uzulu had used such a tone on her before. It was natural. Had Finarsi spoken to her with light, kind terms, Ure would have felt the panic begin to spread.
She seemed a little pleased that Uzulu was coming with them, even if he looked more like Finarsi's snack than anything else.
The three miles went by as next to nothing. It was with curiosity that she looked at the quivering lions. They looked nothing like Firekin. It was a matter that kept her eye, but her mouth remained silent.
And here was a queen. It was as Uzulu said. The women were meant to rule, and here Ure would be able to meet this. Perhaps she was to serve under her until Uzulu once more made up for betraying his Kin.
In silence, she settled by the limp body of that master and waited. She did not glance at Finarsi in query; she did not ask questions.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:37 pm
Soon enough, Amira returned with Waseme beside her. The Mtaishi was not so widespread a land it would take her long to find the queen. Unlike most members, Waseme didn't leave even to wander or hunt. The younger lioness had never been more thankful for this. She didn't want to get on the bad side of a blood-soaked Goddess.
Indeed, Waseme looked nothing like a Firekin or a servant of the true Finarsi. She never identified herself as queen in Ure's company, though, because before she could speak Mwokoti was barking orders again. "Amira, take her to the gardens. Do not speak of this pride or it's members."
The Mtaishi opened her mouth, but then thought better of it and closed it again. Cautiously, she approached Ure and guided her away from them.
"So... Uh, what's your name?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:43 pm
Ure could guess that it was the queen that was brought back, because it was what Finarsi had asked for.
She stood when Amira came to get her, and paused only to dip her head in symbolic submission to that queen. Finarsi would expect no less of her in this situation.
Looking over at her guide, she didn't answer at first. Instead her brows furrowed together and she swished her tail from side to side in agitation.
It was a long while before she finally blinked and looked over. There was a smile on her face as she did. "Ure," she answered. "My name is Ure. My father is Upendo'Mpaji, my mother is Ohahira. I have one brother and his name . . ." and it went off like this. She listed her whole family. The immediate family that was. "We're separated, but still related by Blood." The smile widened a little and then vanished as she turned her head back towards the front view once more.
Ure had never seen so many flowers in the entirety of her life.
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