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 Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:03 pm
 The sun set on Vu’s first night away from home. He had been away from home over night before; the difference was that this time he wouldn’t be back in the morning or even days from now. Weeks from now he would still be away from home. Months from now home might be a place far from the sheltering shadow of Pride Rock. The towering stone spire seemed to gaze at him from on the horizon, a forlorn pebble against the setting sun. He tried not to think about what it would be like when that pebble finally disappeared from his sight. The world would be such an alien place without it watching over him.
The young lion stretched himself across a pile of stones, soaking up the last of the heat trapped in the rocks and watching the stars come out, wondering which was Mufasa, his great great grandfather. Though Mufasa died long before Vu was born, he had learned all he could about the former king. He felt his grandfather would have approved of his decision to strike out on his own. His own parents would not approve, of course, but that was why Vu had avoided saying goodbye directly. If he ever came back he would be stronger than ever before, possibly even stronger than all his siblings combined, a thought he relished without shame. He might even find Mrost. Imagine the look on dad’s face then. Vu grinned to himself.
There was still one member of Zito’s group he hadn’t met, the cheetah called Sellion. Vu hoped he was like Zito. He yawned and licked the cuts on his shredded nose and muzzle.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:18 pm
 Sellion tripped over a root and stumbled, catching himself with a shrill gasp just in time. He spun around, cursed at the root, slashed it with his claws, turned back around, and let out a horrific, villainous laugh to the darkening sky.
The cheetah continued walking, looking for the a queen of demons, Zito. But he tripped on another root. This time, he didn't catch himself. He slid forward, chin scraping the earth and paws twisting as they got stuck under the thick, burly roots of the trees. Pink eyes opened wide, teeth gritting and eyes flashing dangerously. He seethed, jerked his paws towards himself and stood up. He shot a glaring look at the roots behind him.
"Hear me now, rootssssss..." the male hissed evily, pupils thin slits. "If you ever grab at my demonic ankles again, I WILL RIP OUT YOUR THROAT AND SEND YOU TO MY MINIONS IN HELL--...OH?!" the male roared before squeaking, choking on the last of his words as he caught sight of something he hadn't noticed before.
There, in front of him, sprawled out on some rocks, was a light-colored lion male. He was big, but not an adult; that much could be seen. Sellion sucked in the male's scent, snorting repeatedly several times like a pig. He tripped his way closer, front ankles still getting over the pain of getting trapped under thick roots.
"What are you doing there...?" Sellion asked suspiciously, peering at the lion through the darkness.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:49 pm
Vu rolled onto his stomach and gawked at the ridiculous mockery of coordination. Ever since he saw his first cheetah he wondered how they all didn’t trip over themselves with those long legs. Apparently, some did just that. His torn lips twitched mirthfully and he started to laugh loud and hard at the clumsy pink cheetah, wildly shaking his head in disbelief. When the cheetah came near his laughter subsided into quiet giggles and he sat up with a big grin. Suddenly the cheetah snorted at him and he almost burst into laughter again.
“Hell's gazelles, what’s wrong with you?” he exclaimed, struggling to catch his breath. He scooted back awkwardly to put some distance between them. It was so hysterical he almost couldn’t find his feet.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:55 pm
Hell?
Did he say...
Hell?
Now, now, now...What was this lion...? A demon? An enemy of demons? With that light coat, he could've been...He could've been...But his FACE was that of a demon. Good GODS, something happened to that boy. But his eyes...Yes...Blood-red. That, paired with such facial features AND the mention of "hell" left the possibility of the lion being a demon. But he couldn't know for sure...
There was only one way to find out. And that was by asking. But did he really want to waste time? He had a mission to look after! As well as find that...mm...Delicious Zito...
But curiosity had its way in the end.
"Why do you speak of HELL?" Sellion asked inquisitively, the last word booming forth from his lips as if it were some ancient spell.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:03 pm
“What?” He felt light headed from laughter. Maybe he would fall over. “Because… I don’t know, it’s just a phrase. You don’t really think there are gazelles in Hell, do you?”
The cheetah just looked so serious. It was awful.
Maybe he was serious. Rather than find that disturbing, Vu thought it made the cheetah all the funnier. Putting on a sly grin, he added, “I mean, you haven’t been there have you? If you had you would know that.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:08 pm
Sellion blinked, his expression without any trace of humor.
How would he know what was in hell? Gazelles...Gazelles...Hm, unless gazelles could be demons, why would they be in hell? Demons ate SOULS...
...Didn't they?
HIS...MIND...! CONFUSION...!
Sellion ground his teeth, shaking his head violently, curly mop of tangled hair falling into his face.
At the lion's next words, Sellion's head snapped up and he met the other male's red gaze.
"No..." he breathed, eyes blanking until he lost focus on the world around him. "No..." He pictured his older sister, Chana, consumed in flames and burning, tongues of fire caressing her and coaxing her down into hell. Sellion hadn't gone with her that day. But he would meet her again. He would meet her again one day...
"Chana will lead me into hell when the time comes..." he whispered, trembling.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:31 pm
Vu tilted his head at the funny cheetah. The cheetah’s tone had reached a whole new level of significance. There was no doubt in his mind that he was speaking anything other than what he believed to be the truth, a version of the truth not only divorced from reality, but living alone on the beach of a tropical island situated on the opposite side of the world from reality. His smile lessened. It was still funny, but funny in a cosmic kind of way, like if you found half a dead crocodile up in a tree and all you could do was wonder to yourself, Now how the heck did that happen?
“Hey, Pinky! Come on, I’m up here,” Vu barked with a nod of his head, hoping to snap the cheetah out of his weird trance. “You have got to relax a little. Are you Sellion?”
If this cheetah was Sellion, he definitely wasn’t what Vu had been expecting or even hoping for. That didn’t bother him much. He might not be smart, agile, well-groomed, or even sane, but in spite of all that, Zito allowed him to stick around and, as far as he could tell, even liked him. Zito was a smart cheetah. She talked like a smart cheetah and she acted like one, too. There was no way she would let an insane cheetah into her pack unless he was good for something.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:42 pm
Hearing an unexpected exclamation, Sellion looked up, ears swiveling and eyes blinking until his gaze found the adolescent once again.
"...WHAT?" he screeched after a moment of silent staring.
This...lion...
...Knew his NAME.
HOWWWWW?!
He was a demon. Surely...A powerful, mind-reading demon warrior...Or mayyyybeee...His bright-red eyes could see into someone's mind and soul merely by looking at them! WHAT...POWER! It was too much to think about. Sellion could hardly stand it. His brain pulsed with fast-paced thoughts and his jagged, unkempt claws dug themselves in and out of the dirt.
Maybe if he played his cards right, he could get this demon on his side...For his cause...To RULE THE WORLD!
"Er, yessss." the cheetah said smoothly, switching into suave-mode. In the blink of an eye, he was stretched out in an elegant bow. "I am Sellion." he confirmed. When he rose, he was grinning, possibly excited by the EVIL, DEMONIC PLANS in his head. "And you are...?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:53 pm
Sellion’s loud reply caused him to flinch with a crooked smile. The sight of him bowing almost had the same effect. This was the klutzy cheetah who tripped over roots? And that grin. It would have been horrific if he wasn’t so inept. He imagined what his mother would say if she found him hanging out with this cheetah and his smile straightened out a little. Imara would rip Sellon to shreds.
That thought made him a little homesick, but it was a strange enough thought that the feeling was short lived. He hadn’t felt homesick since Sellion showed up, in fact. He was just that bizarre.
“My name is Misilivuma. Vu for short. It means Like Rolling Thunder.” He straightened up, smirked and arched a brow. “I’m a warrior.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:58 pm
Sellion's lips parted slightly as he listened to the male explain his name. The name was such that it rolled easily off the tongue, but its meaning was even more intriguing. But what came AFTER the name's explanation was what REALLY got Sellion going...
"A...Warrior?" he murmured, fidgeting as if he just barely able to contain himself. "A DEMON warrior?!" he blurted out, immediately sucking in his breath after he spoke, looking confused for a second, like he hadn't meant to speak. But it wasn't clear. Perhaps he looked confused because of something else? It was always a guessing game when it came to the black and pink cheetah.
He was insane, after all.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:05 pm
Now this was the reaction he had been hoping for all his life. Sure, it was a little crazier than he envisioned, but Sellion’s expression was close enough to admiration. At least he took it seriously. A lot of Pridelanders gave him strange looks when he told them he was going to be a warrior one day. Some of them didn’t even seem to understand what it meant. They lived quiet lives, back at Pride Rock.
He thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “What do you think?”
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:16 pm
That. Was. It.
HEWASADEMONFORSURE.
Grinning a devilish grin, Sellion stepped a little closer, eyes flitting back and forth from the male's eyes, to his scarred maw; both proof of the lion's demonic descent. But enough idle banter. Enough questions. It was time...Time for action. He would try his best talk the lion into joining his ranks, to aid Sellion in his endeavors to rule the world...But it would take careful words. Smooth talking. A silver tongue. He would carefully persuade him...It would take a long time, yessss...He had to be careful with what he said...
"Then you will join my demon ranks and help me rule the world?!" Sellion exploded, a psychotic grin smothering his face.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:29 pm
Any other lion would have horrified by the grotesque display of insanity. Vu only leaned back slightly and smiled. Sellion. Rule the world. Right.
On the other hand, with Mrost’s help anything could be possible. If he did go with Sellion and somehow managed to find Mrost, the way he always wanted to, they could rule the world together, or at least part of it. Or maybe he was just spending too much time around a cheetah with one Hell of a psychotic break. That’s probably it. He needed to get some fresh air. Vu stood and casually started to walk away.
“I don’t know, Sellion. I’ve got my own plans. Besides, I need to be a little more powerful before I start to think about ruling the world.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:42 pm
The rejection was a harsh blow at first, like a little girl getting her love letter back from the guy she tried to confess to. But his disappointed was immediately replaced with hope--EVIL hope--for the future. It wasn't a COMPLETE rejection; only partly one! For there was still room for the male to join his demon ranks in the future...Yesssssss...Once he got stronger. He said so himself.
ALL WAS WELL!
Something snapped in Sellion's head; maybe it was an idea. And suddenly, he looked at the ground, then back up at Vu, mouth open and eyes strangely blanked.
"We must find Zito." he stated. The blank look was replaced with an eager one, and he smirked, eyes flitting all over the place as his mind buzzed with thoughts and plans; thoughts and plans that may or may not have had anything to do with the current situation, but that wasn't stopping him. "Zito can help you get stronger very quickly...She is powerful; a demon royal! COME!" he shrieked like a girl, zipping away and giggling absurdly and loudly as he went.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:51 pm
Now he understood why Zito kept Sellion around. He idolized her. There might still be more to him, but his enthusiasm was enough for Vu to find benefit to his company. It wasn’t as if he was hurting anyone. Seeing him so deviously happy had the strange effect of making Vu happy, too. He would be calling Zito ‘The Grand Demon Royal’ from now on until she got sick of it and damn the consequences. Smiling to himself, Vu changed course and trotted after Sellion with a swing in his step.
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