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 Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 5:23 pm
 So now she understood the meaning of oppression. More than that, had she felt the claws of a tyrant piercing her hide. A few days had passed, her wounds had healed, some of them leaving scars, and all her supplies of herbs had been moved into Soro’s cave. There was no water in Soro’s cave, as there was in her own, which had been convenient, but with the river so close it was not really a great loss. She resented her loss of independence most of all. In spite of that, she was determined to hold onto her sense of pride.
Moving through the lush jungle, the dense trees shielded her from the midday heat, the air was thick and moist. She was making her way up a steep rocky incline leading to the top of the waterfall, in search of a special moss. The trek took her far from the main dens. She thought of it like a vacation.
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 5:57 pm
 Elphaba had only just arrived and was accepted to the pride before the takeover started. Before she even spent a few nights resting in this area, the takeover had started and she was even more lost as to what to do. When she picked her job as a guard, but that was pointless now. Her job had been pushed over for her to become a unofficial hunter instead. While she disliked killing animals, she disliked being in the dens where she could be seen as even more tempting game.
Since the day had been hot, she hoped the males were resting either alone or, to her disgust, a chosen female. The hostiles had spared no moment in taking their prizes, looting the females for their own precious gems and while the females prided themselves on being diamond tough, it was still tested every day.
Luckily, she had managed to avoid detection and she thought with a sense of bitterness how the features that had been unappealing to others had made her overlooked by the males. Still, she wasn’t about to test it. While some might said avoiding was cowardly, she saw the logic in remaining away from danger. While Elphaba wasn’t a fan of water, the rocky ledge overlooking the water was a great escape. Resting from a strenuous hunt, the men being merciless in their demands for easy meals, she rested atop a rocky surface that cooled her stomach. At least here she hoped she would not be discovered and taught a lesson for spending some time away from working. Would Kiuma, the female leader, have thought she was a poor excuse as a new member and have thrown her out by now? Then again, it wasn’t like she knew any members of this pride aside from a few hunters by just a short, curt word here and there. There wasn’t anything tying her here and she COULD turn and leave. Still, she too felt that silly thing called hope keeping her here, hoping she would experience the pride she was attracted to when it was reclaimed by the females once more.
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 6:57 pm
Lorelei paused to catch her breath. The air was cooler up here. She gulped it greedily. The gentle rumble of the falls accompanied her as she walked along the river’s edge, eventually coming across a large stone. The lioness’s pelt startled her, reminding her of Soro, but chill of fear soon started to melt. She sniffed the air and found they were alone, a weary smile gracing her lips. Soro wouldn’t notice if she came back a few minutes late. Even if he did she’d think up an excuse. Maybe she sprained her ankle and needed to rest for a bit. Soro would buy that.
“Well now, this is interesting.” She said aloud as she approached the other female. “A pretty set of legs I haven’t had to mend yet. I hope you’re not one of Xibalba’s crones.”
She was being a little flirtatious. Ever since her last lover turned out to be happily mated, and to a male, she preferred to keep to herself and didn’t socialize if she could help it, but with the pride taken over by males and Soro’s bulk pressing against her every night she was beginning to feel lonely.
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:19 pm
Elphaba looked up from her spot, eyes scanning quickly at the voice. Who knew if it was a female of the hostile group she had yet to meet. Tense, she noticed it was not a female she remembered seeing with the group of males. The name eluded her, as most names in this pride thus far did, but she was at least relieved that she was not found out. Breathing out, she smiled. She hadn’t been the flirtatious type, being more to the point. Some found her dry while others found her sarcasm aggravating.
"If I am not careful, my legs might be the only thing left of me if they find out I’m here. ” And yes, some of her remarks were a bit morbid. Of course the “they” had become a popular and understood term to the females.
“I’m not one of the group, but I wouldn’t be surprised you wouldn’t know me. I only recently joined. Right place, wrong time. ” She sat down on the rock, enjoying the rest. After traveling the rouge lands to come here, she still hadn’t had time to recover. Now she was overworked with hunting and adjusting to both the original pride and the fear of the rogue males. She came here from the rogue lands to escape the dangers of those lands, but it seemed to have followed her.
“I’m Elphaba. I would have been a guard.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:08 pm
Oh, she liked this one. She wished they’d met before the fall, when times were better. She sat beside Elphaba’s rock. “Now that would be a pity. Lorelei, the herbalist.”
She sometimes alternated between healer and herbalist. Most lions went their entire lives without so much as sniffing a herb and couldn’t fathom why any other carnivore would, causing confusion. Something about Elphaba made Lorelei think she would understand. It was the way she held herself as someone who knows a lot about the world.
She sighed. “That’s life for you, but you’re not alone. We had a serge of new members just a few weeks before the intruders showed up. You hear a lot of stories in my line of work. A lot of stories.” She said the last with a hint of disdain. Even during these trying times she could become annoyed with chatty cattys, but she did her best to comfort those who needed it. “From the look of it, you’ve managed to avoid their claws.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:41 pm
While company had been something she usually didn’t entertain, even she knew that sticking with members of the pride was smart. She did tell Kiuma she would stay true to this pride to prove herself and while the lioness was gone, her word did not. Lorelei seemed to be a member who had been here a while and seen rogue like her come into the pride countless times. The grave matter of the takeover and the death of the leader must have come harder to her than Elphaba.
“Yes, being a huntress had let me avoid most of the men. You on the other hand look to be in worst shape. It shows how poor off we are when even our own herbalist wear the signs of rough manhandling. ”
Long stories were not her taste, and the point of seeking sanctuary in a pride was to not bring up the past. This event however did bring up only bad memories for the females who either escaped males for a reason or were never exposed to them. While there was a sense of strength in the women to band together, there was also a weakness in that they had a good group that were afraid of the males. There were victims of trauma and shy lionesses who never had been touched by a male. The tragedy would come for this violent exposure to them.
“It’s still good that you are putting up a fight. I’ll give this pride that. They have pride and common sense to know what is right and wrong. I hate these fear tactics.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:20 pm
Lorelei swished her tail and brushed at some of the scars on her leg. “These are nothing. Baby cuts.” She needed to tell herself that. Only by mocking your enemy can he truly be overcome.
She enjoyed Elphaba’s slow, precise style of speaking. Here is a female who knows what she wants to say and says exactly as she means. There’s honesty in that. Creatures that let words pour out of their mouth like water from a stream only think they’re being honest, when all they’re doing is releasing whatever trivial thought happens to be on their mind. Still, I should be cautious; I don’t know this lioness well. Someone who speaks as well as she does must also know how to lie. Lorelei found that part exciting.
She nodded in solemn agreement, but she didn’t come here to talk about the state of the pride. All the talk in the world couldn’t change things for the better. No matter what they said Soro would remain in his den, waiting for her. “What brought you here?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:39 pm
Baby scratches indeed. A full fight seemed more like it, and it was either the fact she had to remain alive for a purpose or had the skill to fight her way free that she was still here. Maybe the true testimonial to her abilities as a healer would be to see the outcome of her scars. Still, even mediocre medicine was desired in these times.
The conversation was short but friendly, or as far as friendly went for Elphie. She had to admit she was starved for attention with anyone who didn’t want to tear her to shreds. “What do you mean here? Here for today, or here overall?” She was a new member after all. Deciding that she already told the later story to Kiuma, she went for the other.
“I came here to take a rest without having anyone claim me in the dens or be called off to hunt again. I choose to be a guard, not a hunter. I’d rather not kill prey beasts, but that’s what I find myself doing. ” It was also why Elphaba was skinnier than most. “It’s far off enough to not be bothered, but close enough to get back the pride without loosing my way. What about you? ”
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:21 pm
“Red moss. Grows on some rocks around here. I needed an excuse to get away from ‘Master’,” she rolled her eyes, “for a little while, and I was out of the stuff anyway, so I came up here to get fresh supplies.”
That wasn’t really what she meant. If her new friend didn’t want to talk about her origins Lorelei supposed she shouldn’t push the issue (though it was starting to bother her now that Elphaba was avoiding the subject, simply for curiosity’s sake). She paused to scratch at an itch behind her ear. “I came to this pride with my grandmother. She’s the one who taught me how to be a healer, back in our old pride. They forced females to have cubs early there, wanted us all to marry young, so she’s still pretty spry. My first littler is already grown but they’re not much older than me.” She smiled briefly, proud of herself for being a successful mother, but fearful for Antianeria’s adolescent females. It wasn’t easy having cubs at that age.
“Even though my old home was strict on females it wasn’t as bad as this.” Her eyebrows knit. Even as she was talking, she was thinking about something Elphaba said. She was almost certain she’d heard wrong. “Did you say don’t like to kill prey beasts?”
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 1:22 pm
“Keeping females pregnant and attending litters Is a way for males to keep themselves powerful. You cannot assume a high status when you are worried about your litters inside and later outside of you. I see these males will be trying to do the same. I heard a male stole a cub just recently. I assume more will target cubs to get to the mothers. Then we have the young lionesses.” The females who had never seen a male and would be traumatized by the attention their young, healthy bodies would attract.
Shaking her head, she looked out as she thought before looking back at Lorelei. “I do not like killing prey beasts, yes. I know there is a necessity in killing animals, but too many of them assume that intelligence comes with being a predator. I have met smart prey animals that have taught me a lot, and I wish for them to have the same stations in life as we do. They should not be treated as lowly animals because lions have enforced that idea. It’s unfair to them. I hold strong to that idea. I only eat the sick and dying because it is our way, and I need to. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t, and I take no joy in slaughtering an animal because I could.”
"I tried to get others to feel that way, but they disagreed. I do not force the idea now." Some lions had their way, and she gave up being a activist long ago.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:27 pm
Lorelei listened intently but after a few seconds her ears turned back skeptically and she lowered her eyes. The idea of an antelope holding the same position in a pride as a lion was ludicrous of course and ordinarily she would have laughed at it, no matter how rude that might have seemed, but her mind was on the cub. In her old pride males would sometimes kill or abandon their female offspring, especially if their litter had no males. She hated to see cubs abused for the selfish desires of their fathers. Sadly, there didn’t seem to be anything she could do about it. She sighed and shuffled her paws.
“Something has got to change. This is supposed to be a pride of warriors, damnit. Why doesn’t anyone stand up to them?” She looked at Elphaba critically, as if she somehow had access to answers. Lorelei knew this was not true. She needed someone to vent her anger with.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:29 pm
“That’s not how it works. Most of the lionesses here are young or have families. The rest are around to keep the rest going. Are numbers are smaller than they were. I keep hearing them talk of the others returning, which makes them hesitant to act. I don’t think they would rebel unless they were sure no one was coming for them. Right now, everyone wants to play it safe, keep each other safe, and wait till everyone comes back. I wonder how long they would wait..” Her eyes looked out, thinking of the runaway females who escaped once Kiuma was attacked. Her daughter, who had taken her into the pride, and a few others Elphaba did not have the chance to know.
“If nothing happens, it would be smart to band together and wait for an opportunity that lets us have the advantage. You all know these lands better than they do. There are also females in dens that could be used. Planning on that scale would involve everyone working together to keep morale up and keep everyone informed, but the risk is too high with many lionesses becoming injured or just left in shock from being taken to dens. It will be made worse if any of them get pregnant. Like I said. A lioness with cubs is a way to keep the women from gaining power.” She looked over to Lorelei. “As a healer, you have a great way to meet many of the lionesses without being seen as suspicious. If the rebellion does not come, you would work well as a informant, if you have the patience for it.”
She rose up and shook her pelt. “…but I’m just talking. The pride might be made from warriors, but they are smart not to start fighting when they would only be hurt. Once that happens, once the chance comes to fight, they would not be of any use and could tilt the scales when the rebellion does happen. It would be best if they kept healthy for when they come so that they can be of the most use. ”
Elphaba knew a thing or two about overthrowing higher powers that had more numbers than your own.
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:12 pm
Lorelei arched a brow. “Seems you’ve got a handsome mind to go with those pretty legs.” She wasn’t flirting. Her words came out slightly bitter because she’d been presented with the truth when she only wanted to vent her frustration.
“Of course I’m doing all I can. Unfortunately, I don’t have my old den anymore. I can still travel to other dens if need be, but Soro insists I do my healing where he can keep an eye on me. He likes to watch.” She looked at Elphaba critically. “When the time for rebellion comes I may be of use. I’ve been formulating a plan, but it will require the cooperation of the huntresses.”
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 1:20 pm
Elphaba narrowed her eyes on the other lioness. To her, she couldn't decide if Lorelei was flirting or being sarcastic. She went for the later, and she brushed it off. At the other thing that was said, she turned to face her more directly.
"...and you want me to help since I'm with the other huntresses?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:45 pm
Lorelei nodded. She would have to make her proposal quickly. Soro would be expecting her back at the den soon. She spoke in a hushed tone, though the waterfall would drown out their voices to anyone who might be listening in.
“Just as there are herbs that can cure, there are many that can harm. As you know, the usurpers always eat first. There’s never much left after they’ve filled their bellies. If we could taint the meat we could create a moment of weakness and exploit it.” She sighed. “But there is one problem. For this to work, we need a poisonous plant that doesn’t taste bitter.”
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