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 Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:06 pm
 Priderock loomed over the horizon like an over-protective parent, bathed in the fiery light of dusk. The young male, wandering with the setting sun at his shoulder, tired to keep his eyes off the lonely spire. He had only been gone one day and already he was dragging his feet. He kept his feelings secret from Zito’s pack. All day he smiled at Zito’s wisecracks and faked being alright. Now that the pack was settling down for the night, Vu made an excuse to escape their company for a little while and went off by himself to contemplate his new place in the Circle of Life.
He climbed up onto a pile of rocks and laid down, soaking up the stone’s warmth as he lay across its flat surface, hazy eyes fixed on that castle of stone, the magnificent Rock that overlooked his childhood home. Was his mother looking for him? He licked the cuts on his lip and nose, the old scars left over from his encounter with the Firekin so long ago, remembering how his mother had yelled and scolded him for running off. Though his fur bristled every time she raised her voice, he knew that on that day she had done it out of love.
Why did I leave? Vu contemplated that question for a second or two. Adventure, to grow-up, find Mrost and find purpose. All excellent reasons to leave home. Still, Vu sighed, he missed his family.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:19 pm
 Home. HomehomeshewasHOME. Irit was home, and she couldn't help but just...sit there. The looming presence of Pride Rock was actually comforting for her. Sure...getting to see the world was great, helping Tama get his lady back and getting rid of the Peacock at the same time was great...But Irit loved the Pridelands. To her, no other place would be home.
Eyes closed, she took a deep breath, enjoying the scents she was familiar with. And an unfamiliar one caused her to open her eyes and look around. Who else was here? A new guard? Standing up, she started towards the scent, and noticed a pale lion (not that she wasn't pale herself...). "Heya! You new, kiddo?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:35 pm
A familiar voice? Vu sat up and looked. “Oh, it’s you… For a second there I thought it was your sister.”
He remembered seeing them together a couple of times, this female and Chani, though her name eluded him. Though his memories of Chani, the first cub to call him rude, first of many, were still tainted by bitterness, he didn’t sound displeased to see her pale sister out here. It was nice to see someone he remembered from when he was young even though they never knew each other very well. He tilted his head. The stark orange light at the end of the day made the cuts of his shredded lips look jagged and painful. He smiled slightly, briefly. “I’m Vu,” he offered, wondering if she remembered him at all.
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 2:58 pm
Huhwhat? Irit blinked, then raised a brow. This boy...knew her? She looked him over again, wincing mentally at some of his scars. He'd not had things easy. At all. And when his name clicked in her head with his appearance...oh. Him. Chani had mentioned him a couple of times, and she'd seen him before. Just...not with any semblance of a mane.
"And I'm Irit." Had he changed any? Irit HAD been gone a while..."So why are you outside the pridal lands? Running away from home? Going out to see the world? Or did you piss off the wrong lion?" There's no way he'd be doing something like what she'd done...he didn't seem the type to care enough about his family to do that.
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:10 pm
Vu chuckled softly at that. “Running away, I guess. My family’s been waiting for someone for a long time. I want to find him, if I can.” He spoke of Mrost, but Irit wouldn’t know that. He looked at his paws. “I think it’s time I left anyway. There’s nothing left for me to learn back home. Did Chani ever run away?”
Chani always talked of running away when they were little. She called him a coward for wanting to stay in the Pridelands, but at the time his place was with his family. Now he saw that his family didn’t need his protection. The Pridelands had no need for warriors. Maybe that was why Mrost hadn’t visited his family in so long.
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:30 pm
Well then...perhaps he wasn't all bad like she remembered. "I wish you luck in your search then." The Pridelands wasn't for everyone. For her, though...for her, it was home. And nowhere else ever would be. "Don't forget where you came from though." Irit shrugged.
"I don't know. If she has run away, it was while I was gone. I...haven't seen my family yet." She chuckled. "You're the first lion from the Pridelands I've seen since I left with my brother and the Peacock. Wouldn't be surprised if she did..."
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:43 pm
Peacock? Vu arched a brow but the curiosity didn’t hold his interest for long. “My family doesn’t really fit in there. At least, that’s what I think. Everyone there is so carefree. My mother’s been training us to be warriors since… ever since I can remember. She didn’t even like us making friends. Everybody else seems happy there, but I always felt like I was born in the wrong place.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:52 pm
Mmmm...Vu had a point. A family of warriors didn't really fit in. Then again..."I don't really fit in either, but the pride still needs me. Or those like me. Someone has to keep them on their toes. Teach the bullies the mistakes of their ways." Irit chuckled. She loved being a trickster. "And your family...I suspect there will one day be others who follow their path. Who will need the guidance they can give. And one day...they may be needed. Peace doesn't last forever." She'd learned a lot out in the rogue lands.
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:18 pm
“Well, I can’t wait that long. There must be other prides out there that need my help.” He gazed at the stars that were just starting to come out. He would never forget what his mother taught him about those stars. Mufasa was up there somewhere. Vu knew he must be looking down on his descendents. Great things had to be expected of him. Though he only knew Mufasa through his mother’s stories, though she never lived during his rein either, and always had an image of Mufasa as a great warrior, greater even than his own father.
He tried to shake off these thoughts. He always felt a sense of pride when he thought about his grandfather, but tonight it made him miss his home too much. He looked to Irit with a false smirk. “So how come you never taught me a lesson?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:36 pm
"There may be. Not everywhere is at peace. I saw that on my travels. Some prides have unrest in their people. Others have problems on the outside. Some are as peaceful as the Pridelands." At his question...she simply laughed. Not a rude one, but a good natured laugh that wasn't really loud, but there all the same.
"I am only one lioness. I do my best...but I can only do so much." She smiled. "I teach those I can, keep on edge those I can...But until I find help, find another like me, I can only do so much."
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:49 am
Vu laughed sincerely at her jokes. There was a nervous edge to his laughter. Since coming into adolescence females had started doing strange things to him. At first he thought they were intentionally causing him to have strange feelings. He never figured out a good way to ask his father about it. His urges remained a mystery to him. He stood on the rock and stretched his legs, muscles flexing. “Well, I’m sure not scared of you,” he teased.
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Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:02 pm
Irit raised a brow, both at the undertone in his laugh, and his teasing. "Hmmm...maybe that's a good thing~ I certainly don't want EVERYONE scared of me. Counterproductive, yes?" She chuckled. "So what DO you think of me, hmm?" She leaned in close, a smug smile on her maw.
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Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:27 pm
For a moment Vu appeared dumbstruck. What did he think of her? He wandered away from his new friends to hide his misery and she happened by and gave him all sorts of weird feelings, some warm and fuzzy, others lonesome, but the one feeling he was most aware of was wriggling in the pit of his stomach like a headless snake. This feeling hadn’t been there when she first showed up. It grew slowly, excited by the music of her voice and the way she moved, making him increasingly uneasy.
The stars were all shining now. Vu looked down at her, eyes perplexed, faking a smile that broke with the words caught in his throat. “I think you’re… uh…” He swallowed. “You’re really cool. I bet we could have made a good team when we were cubs. It’s too bad I’m leaving. I would have liked getting to know you better.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:00 am
Well now...She'd never had a boy act like this around her. How strange. Irit's smugness was replaced with a softer smile. He was a nice boy, despite the things she had heard long ago. Well....everyone grew up. "I think we would have." Maybe if she hadn't left with Tama, she might have had a chance to get to know him properly. But Tama had needed her. Had needed the motivation. "Perhaps...if you pass by again, we could run a couple of pranks together."
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:29 am
"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be great! We could really give them hell," he laughed, falling into silence. After a few seconds he hopped down from the rock and stood beside her. "You know, I don't have to leave just yet. Maybe I could walk you home."
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