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 Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:24 pm
War had broken out, but Samehe was as far from the battlefield as she could place herself. The lioness was torn by indecision, something she had thought she had dealt away with after conforming herself to the Dhati's beliefs. But it rose again, constricting her heart without mercy. Her family was split farther apart than ever before. Her brother still fought with the Mizimu, her sister had run off like a coward, and in the middle of it was herself, a member of the Dhati. She wasn't avoiding battle just because she couldn't fight, she was avoiding it because she no longer knew what she wanted to do. Should she go after Alizeti? Her sister could easily fall to harm out in a world she wasn't familiar with. But her brother was at a greater threat. What if he was on the battlefield now? While he was a member of he Mizimu, Samehe did not want him hurt. She'd do whatever she could to protect him.
It was essentially Alizeti, or Majaliwa, and it was a decision Samehe couldn't make. But was neither really the best option? Alizeti might be safe, away from the battlefield, or so Samehe could hope. If she joined the fight, she might be able to protect her brother and her friends in the Dhati. The answer seemed clear, yet she couldn't move herself in the right direction. Something held her back - the fear of making the wrong decision, perhaps even the fear of coming to harm on the battlefield herself. If only Alizeti hadn't run off! If her sister had stayed by her side, Samehe would have been able to watch over her. She was still mad as hell at Alizeti, but that did not mean she would let her come to harm. If Alizeti had stayed, Samehe could fight, Samehe could try to save the rest of her family.
Alizeti hadn't stayed, and the only way to bring her back was if Samehe went out and dragged her home by her tail.
Samehe paused, glancing towards the horizon, as if that would hold the answer. Beside her, the few Sacrifices that had chosen not to join the battle, stood. Samehe wasn't sure she'd stay by their sides for much longer. She couldn't let this indecision get the best of her. Any action was better than no action. She was accomplishing nothing by staying put, running scenarios through her head to see which one had the best result. The lioness sighed, her ears pressing against the back of her head. What should she do? What was right?
The pulse of her heart shot up, the sound pounding in her ears as the sound of fighting rose up. Had they unwittingly headed in the direction of the battle? Whatever the case was, Samehe could not die here. How would she see her brother again, how would she be able to rescue her sister from the rogue lands if she died now? Truthfully it was fear that sent her repelling backwards. No, she wouldn't stay here. She wouldn't die. She didn't want to fight - and so she'd run. Samehe took a few uncertain steps back, and hardly spared a glance to the other Sacrifices with her.
With little hesitation, she slunk off in the other direction. If she could go around them somehow, or maybe if she found a nice place thick with cover she could hide away until this was all said and done. Whatever she did, she would not die now when her family was falling to pieces.
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:41 am
This was war - it was cold and it was merciless. The rigid form of the Mizimu's Vates stood on the horizon, his eyes as cold as the dried blood plastered to his fur. His mission had started out as a simple one - find the sacrifices and, well, sacrifice them. He should have known that like everything with these damned Dhati, nothing could be that simple. All of the sacrifices he had encountered thus far had fought him every step of the way. Where was their honor? Where was their pride? Some had died begging while others had died fighting until the last second. Something about sacrificing them didn't settle well in his stomach - what good would they be to the spirits after all? They couldn't be pleased with such distasteful behavior.
Hodari was not alone, however, and he could not spare the time to contemplate the bastardization of his duties. He said no words to the hulking lions trailing in his wake, but merely threw a sidewards glance to the male that had made himself the leader of the Vates' tiny army and moved forward with confidence in the fact that they would simply follow. At least warriors were simple - they followed orders well, especially when there was a promise of bloodshed.
It was a bittersweet moment as the group emerged onto a small pack of sacrifices hiding away from the center of battle. It was more sacrifices to kill, and yet, it also meant more begging and disgrace on their part. The Dhati had certainly abandoned propriety when they left the Mizimu. Without order, Hodari's group of warriors swarmed the sacrifices, pinning them down in fits of rage and fear. It didn't take much for the well-trained fighters to overtake a few poor excuses for sacrifices. They weren't meant to fight, after all. Just die.
Still, Hodari spared no time for niceties, but simply fell into action as the nearest sacrifice was taken down. This was his job and he would do it better than these fools could claim to be doing themselves. His prowl was malevolent, his eyes colder than he would have given proper sacrifices. They didn't deserve this honor after all. As he came face to face with a particularly bright female, he crouched down to level his eyes with the pinned foe. They were sadly defiant as they stared back at him, as if the girl thought she could still escape. At least he was giving the spirits a strong soul if nothing else.
"Go with the spirits," he said in a low, quiet voice. Then he sprung forward and clamped his jaws around the throat of the sacrifice before she could cry out. Sharp teeth dug through fur and flesh, clamping down around the wind pipe and crushing it until he was sure she would never scream again. Blood poured down around his maw, blood that would have stained his fur if it wasn't already dark as night. He gave her throat one good wrench, ripping away at the wound. He pulled away with the taste of blood filling his mouth and the screams of other sacrifices filling his ears. Yes, this was their fate and it would not be kind to them. He unsheathed his claws, honed for this purpose alone, and set them against her belly. With careful precision he ripped through the fur and muscle, exposing guts that tumbled forward to greet him. They didn't tell him anything he wasn't already aware of and he hadn't expected them to, this was all just a formality. With a slight frown of distaste directed at the clouding eyes of the female, he turned and moved to the next group. His warriors could have their fill of her if they wished but he wouldn't eat that tainted flesh.
It was a long and grueling process, set to a soundtrack of screams and roars. When all was said and done Hodari was covered in more blood than fur. 'His' men were eating their fill of the traitors, letting nothing go to waste, but Hodari was more interested in moving forward than partaking of that vile flesh. Thus, he began a careful patrol around the area of his guard, slowly getting farther and farther from their sight and unknowingly closer to the escaped female.
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:59 am
The sound of fighting grew closer and closer, as if it was following in her wake. Oh, spirits, she could hear screaming, she could hear the desperate struggle, and was running from it. This was cowardly beyond measure. Her friends could be dying and she was running away. Samehe paused, keeping low to the ground, to keep herself from being seen. It... couldn't be helped, could it? Samehe was not a fighter, the Sacrifices were not warriors themselves. If she went back, she would die. Her family was more important than her friends, and she still had a chance to help Majaliwa and Alizeti.
Her ears pressed flat against the back of her skull again, trying to tune out the sounds of screaming. Run. It was her only option. The fighting was too close for comfort, and so she straightened up and ran away. She had to get away from it. She couldn't stand the sounds, the fact that her friends were being killed when she was powerless to help them. It was shameful to let them die, but she saw no other choice.
Her running brought her to the figure of a dark lion. Samehe's breath caught in her throat, her body freezing in place as she stared at him.
The Vates.
He was covered with blood - blood that was fresh. She could see it dripping from his maw, and if she glanced just down to his claws, they were covered with it too. There was no denying who he was, and what he was doing. That blood was too fresh, the sounds of screaming had died away to soon. This lion...
He killed them.
He slaughtered them. Her friends.
Knowing that it was happening was somehow different from seeing it face-to-face. Something clicked irrationally in her mind. He would die, he would die for killing her friends cruelly. He was larger, stronger, probably more skilled with combat and killing than her. But... Samehe would kill him. She'd dirty her claws for them, for the friends she had lost.
Samehe lunged for the black lion, claws and teeth bared for a fight she would no longer avoid.
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:23 am
Luckily, Hodari had noticed the lioness before she sprung forward. As a stickler for the tiny details in life it was hard to miss the bright speck on the battle field. He recognized her immediately as one of the sacrifices but without his horde of warriors there was little way to perform the rituals unless she came willingly. He knew that was an impossible solution before he ever saw the expression on her face change from surprise to anger. He was no warrior but all lions were born with an instinct and his job as Vates, the grim reaper of the Mizimu, had at least given him good knowledge of where to strike to not only incapacitate a foe but also to deliver a killing blow. Still, there was a big difference between knowledge and skill and he found himself second guessing his abilities as she suddenly charged forward.
They were all such dishonorable fools.
With that single thought echoing in his head, Hodari gathered himself up and used his anger to propel him forward. It wasn't often that he let his emotions rise to the surface, as guarded as he was, but anger was clearly evident in the snarl over his lips. His muscles worked beneath his pelt, drawing him closer and closer to the smaller lioness. His charge ended in a leap; he sprung forward and, at the last moment, swept out his clawed paw in an attempt to slash her tender neck. It was ill-planned, but he'd had little time to think over the possibilities.
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:39 am
Seeing the large, black form of the Vates charging straight for her should have scared her. It would have frightened her silly in any other situation. Her anger overrode the fear, it overrode her own spirts-be-damned common sense. Samehe was at a disadvantage, and yet she met his leap. She felt the sting of his claws slicing the skin at the side of her neck, a glancing strike, but she hissed with pain. She had to get away from his front, where claws and teeth were waiting to tear her apart. Samehe couldn't even get as his neck as effortlessly as he had reached her's. His thick mane protected it, and put her at a severe disadvantage. How was she going to win if she couldn't even reach his neck to deal a final blow?
With a growl she pulled her body away and to the side. She couldn't attack from the front. He'd get her before she got him, and so she tried to put herself at his backside. If she had been thinking straight, she would have tried to cripple him by lunging for his back leg. Instead, she tried to leap onto his back, to drag him down onto the ground much like a lioness would do when she was hunting.
If she could get at his backside with her teeth and claws, she'd have a little time to do some damage before he swiveled around to meet her with his own weaponry.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:58 am
Hodari had a momentary sense of pride as he felt his claws connect with her neck. However, in the flurry of fur and pelts he had little time to stop and stare, which left him with little sense of exactly what he had accomplished. Was it a killing blow, or just a glance? As he saw her shifting from the corner of his eyes and aiming for his spine, he knew he'd actually done relatively little damage to his foe. He felt her weight spring onto his hind legs, felt himself being drug down. Unfortunately for her, he had the weight advantage even if he was as poor a combatant as she was.
He grimaced as his legs began to buckle beneath him, only beginning to imagine the damage she could do if left in such a position. He had only moments to consider his possibilities - less than moments. With a deep growl in his throat, he twisted sideways in an attempt to throw them both down onto the ground. His only advantage here was surprise. As he felt his shoulder connect with the hard earth, he twisted to try and aim a blow to the side of her head with a heavy paw. He wasn't foolish enough to think he could reach her with his jaws at such an angle, but perhaps if he could just land one hard blow it would confuse her enough to give him an advantage back.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:25 pm
She fell down to the earth, shoved by Hodari's weight. He had all the apparent advantages, heavier, more muscular, and he probably had a better idea of how to fight than her. But, Samehe would not lose, not to him. She would not die to him, would not go without vengeance. She had too strong of a will to think otherwise. Even with the disadvantage, she would not give up until his blood dirtied the bottom of her paws, was smeared across her lips like the blood of her friends' was staining his own.
She was momentarily blinded by a large smack to the side of her skull, her vision blurring with disorientation. Precious moments were wasted as Samehe tried to gather her senses, knowing enough to roll away from the other lion before he could shred her to bits. With a low, angry growl she rose to her feet, backing up a few more steps to try and keep some distance between them so her vision could clear. It almost appeared like she was backing down, and she hated it... but she couldn't charge at him blindly. She needed to get around him, maybe deliver small blows and back away before he could hit her back.
It was really her only option at this point.
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:10 am
Hodari was realistic, he knew when his actions were skill and when they were simply luck. Thus far, in this battle (if one could even call it such), everything had been a matter of luck. Neither of them were warriors and he just happened to have the advantage by being male and having a better idea of killing blows. Still, he had no sense of tactics because he was not a warrior and that was where this skirmish became little more than a scramble in the dirt. She could get lucky just as easily as he could. He knew he needed to end this and end it quickly, but lying on his side on the ground wasn't going to help him.
Once she rolled away, he wasted no time in doing the same and scrambling to his feet. As he faced her he quickly realized he had time to think; her disorientation was plain even from a distance. So he used what weapon he had honed the most - his mind. She favored a lioness he had encountered earlier in the day and although he didn't know each Dhati by name and relation, it would take a blind fool not to know they were somehow related. If they were both in the Dhati then they had probably come together. That lioness' blood now stained his paws, mingling with half a dozen others. Before she could come back to her senses, he'd have to strike with his words, so he pulled on a stony mask and narrowed his eyes.
"I could have sworn I already took care of you earlier today," he said lowly, his voice carrying a mocking tone even as he crouched down in preparation for a possible strike. "After all, I've never known a sacrifice to get back up after it's been killed, but I suppose I could have imagined your entrails lying on the ground." It wasn't like Hodari to taunt or tease, he had always thought such things rude. In such a situation, especially with a lioness he barely considered worth the effort of sacrificing, it was purely self preservation.
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:32 pm
Her mind went blank, for a few, precious seconds she saw nothing, heard nothing, she felt nothing.
She was brought back to the farthest reaches of reality by the tightening of her chest, her heart constricting with pain at Hodari's words. 'I could have sworn I already took care of you... after all, I've never known a sacrifice to get back up after its been killed...' They resounded in her skull, over and over again as reality dawned upon her what it must mean. "Liz..." she whispered, it was a miracle she could even speak in that moment. Her sister, who looked so alike her... was dead.
Samehe thought she would be safer, running away to the rouge lands. That's what she had heard, not that she was dead. She couldn't be dead! Samehe, despite all of her fights and struggles with her sibling, loved Alizeti. She couldn't be dead, not when Samehe had wanted so badly to preserve her life! This couldn't be happening, he had to be lying!
She couldn't... couldn't...
Samehe couldn't come to terms with it. Her expression was captured by a deep-rooted shock, not even a muscle in her body twitched. The wind did not seem to touch her, did not seem to even make the tips of her hairs brush together for the tiniest of moments. She was a still statue, lost to reality, to the fact that her sister's murderer was standing just across from her, ready to kill her too.
She couldn't pull herself out of this. Samehe couldn't see beyond the truth, beyond her sister's death.
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:35 am
He wasted no time with the break he had been given, not pausing to relish the fact that she had fallen right into his trap, not even to taunt her further. He simply sprung forward as she fell victim to her own mind and brought a paw up to swing at her head, aiming a heavy blow at her skull. He was no fighter - but he knew a crippling blow when he saw one. The body of the female crumpled at his feet, conscious but only just. It was with a grimace that he stared down at her still form, a sneer curling his lip as he heard the first movement of the warriors beyond the brush.
The sacrifices in this pride were barely worthy of the title anymore. The spirits demanded their bloodshed and they would get it - but this one, this one he was certain was no longer worthy of such an honor. He watched her body, wavering on the thin line of decision before he turned and looked at the warrior that was in some what of a command. His distaste for him was no less apparent. Slacking off on the job did not sit well with Hodari.
"We're going to take her back to the Mizi, Jini and Sakata will know what to do with her from there." He brushed passed the male and waited on the edge of the clearing as they decided how best to drag Samehe back.
It was such a shame she had to ruin her finest moment.
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