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 Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 1:24 pm
[Warning - Graphic Content] 
There was never a time in the warrior's life that he ever doubted his devotion to those spirits, to these lands, or to his leaders and the loyal members of his pride. To this home he held his honor, and without this tie of blood and meaning he would have no purpose in existing. He was made to defend this home, and never took for granted that if it asked him to, he would give his life defending all that he had tied his honor, his very being, into.
And yet now, though none of that was in question directly, he had more reason than ever to live for his pride. It hadn't occurred to him in such a light before. He was not a sacrifice, and so the duty and reverence of such a death was not his. He knew his would be a violent death, at the claws of an enemy, when it came. He would not let it happen easily, however. If he died here, in this war, every moment uncertain as the threat of attack loomed over the entire pride, he would leave those he cherished most in terrible danger.
What kind of a warrior, of a Veteran, would he be if he allowed the innocent, those not trained for these kinds of fights, to die?
What kind of a mate would he be if he allowed his beautiful love, and their small cubs, be murdered?
Death was inevitable. He was not scared of death. Not of his own, he amended to himself quietly as he stared out over the lands, keeping his position as though he were a sentinel. No, he held no fear of his own death. He was scared of theirs. Kaihdin and the babies. His cubs. Their cubs. It was selfish, but this was not just for the pride any more. This was not about honoring his title and fulfilling his duties in service.
This was about protecting that which he loved.
It was a conflict of interests, of course. To have himself stationed here, the first and last line of defense for those he cherished so dearly, was more than a distraction. It was dangerous. He was emotionally invested, in more ways than a guard should be. His duty was blurred by his love, by his fear. But he did not consider it a weakness. Spirits help him, he would not bear the thought of someone else trying to defend them in his stead. If they failed he would be plagued by the knowledge that he had not even tried.
Now their lives were on his shoulders. No one to blame. Nothing to hide behind. He carried that weight with his head high, his keen, red eyes unrelenting in their watch.
Sakata had not made a mistake in positioning him here. Raruo would make sure that remained a fact.
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:54 pm
What kind of a fool was he for taking this sort of chance?
He knew the answer. It rang out louder than anything else. His reasons for being a fool, every explanation he'd had for his actions since joining with the Dhati... Shwari. Shwari, his dear, sweet, innocent sister; destined to die.
"Not if I can help it." He growled softly to himself as he picked up his pace, trotting towards the grounds where destiny awaited him. He would find whatever it was that they kept hidden here. He would do whatever he could to end this. He would see Shwari live to see another day, another dozen days.
His movements came to a halt as he caught sight of purple and grey, familiarity washing over him. A brief moment was spared for nostalgia, just as briefly tossed aside as his entire body tensed, calling out a roar of challenge before charging towards the other male. He had youth and hopefully surprised on his side... And maybe, if She was with him, Fortune.
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:41 pm
That thought alone had pushed her to do something she would have have thought to do before. She knew the chances that her brother, her heart, would not return to her were high. He was strong but the Mizimu were also. They were trained to be. He could perhaps take on one, maybe two, but not more. Not if he was going alone. Knowing that she could not just sit by and wait for him to return. Nor could she sit by and wait for someone else to tell her that he would not be coming home. She couldn't let him die out there alone. She had told herself long ago that if he were gone she would follow. Her heart could not take it with half of itself missing. Her dear sweet protective Mwako, who had given up everything to keep her safe, would -not- die alone. She would be with him always
So instead of heeding her brothers warning and his pleas to stay safe she followed him. She knew that even with the war raging around her she would be safe. The Dhati knew her, they would protect her, and the Mizimu would not dirty their hands by killing a sacrifice. So she took her chance and when Mwako left her side she followed.
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:52 pm
Raruo’s ears flicked when the roar started, and even before it died on the air he was returning the challenge with his own baritone, every muscle coiling as he turned and spotted the lion coming toward him. There was no real time for thought- or need for it. Both of these great beasts knew what was coming, and both seemed ready for it. Of course, only one of them would be walking away from this encounter.
Growling viciously, his fur bristling as he lunged forward, lowering his front portion in a very aggressive, yet protective posture, he was not too surprised by the other lion’s approach. He had enough time to get himself ready, instinct taking over. His body knew what to do, and his claws dug into the earth, tearing a gouge as he charged forward and, teeth bared, attacked the Dhati.
Somewhere in the back of his head there was a flicker of recognition. This lion had been in the Mizimu, he remembered. Always making the effort to remember faces and vague stories, he knew there was a sister, a Sacrifice. At least the markings on his coat seemed familiar enough, that they clicked with the memories of a young lion always protecting his light coated sister. They abandoned their duties, him as a warrior, her as a Sacrifice. Because they were cowards.
He had no right to come to these lands now, looking to cause chaos and pain to those who remained loyal. This brand of traitorous blood was unwelcomed, as far as Raruo, and the entire war primed pride, was concerned. No better than any of the other Dhati, even if he did remember them. He would show this betrayer no mercy.
It was war, and he expected none in return.
Maybe he was being reckless. Overly angry, not thinking, because he had such a deep personal investment here. Whatever it was, he used it to fuel his energy, the fire that burned under his muscles and fed his strength and speed, and turned his charge into a mighty swing of his paw, the first attack, claws raked forward as he swung for the other lion’s neck and chest.
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 6:13 pm
No, he had no right, but he came just the same. Were he smart he would have left the Mizimu and the Dhati. Were he smart he would have abandoned everything but the sweetness that was the familiarity of his sibling, taking her far, far away from here... Obviously intelligence was not his forte on this day, not when passions were rising so high and the fights were getting closer and closer to home. This war had to end and maybe, just maybe, this fight would be a means to it.
He rolled with the first attack, growling as claws dragged through his shoulder instead of hitting their intended mark. His lips drew into a fang-bearing snarl as he struck out with his own claws, taking a swipe at the other male's flanks. All he had to do was take this lion out. All he had to do was stay focused; for the Dhati, for all of the other lions that had joined and, in doing so, had become sacrifices... For Shwari.
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 6:26 pm
She crept carefully through the Mizimu lands knowing that if she were recognized she might not be as safe as Mwako thought he would be. If they knew who she was, and they'd know what she was so easily, they might be willing to sacrifice her to end the war. Shaking her head she tried not to imagine that. It was the one thing she and Mwako had fought so hard to not have happen.
She could tell her brother had come this way. She could smell him and she could see fresh tracks in the dirt. None had followed him either but her so she expected to only find him at the end of her trail. He had told her he would be perfectly safe, and she believed him, but she had to see it for herself.
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:43 pm
Raruo pulled sideways when he saw the way the other lion was ducking, his claws raking the other's shoulder but leaving him open to attack on that side. But he used that to his advantage, as much as he could. While Mwako was attacking his side he curled toward the other, following through with another attack to his already wounded shoulder, trying to sink his fangs into the other's shoulder.
Raruo had to be careful. He had seen his share of injuries in the past, and knew how to carry a wound and still fight, but he could not let himself suffer something that would severely hamper him. He had to keep his ability to move, to use his full strength, or the younger lion would have the advantage.
The older lion didn't see the point in trying to say anything. The Dhati knew he wasn't meant to be here, knew a fight would be waiting for him, knew that fighting to the death was inevitable. Nothing Raruo could have said would have meant anything. All they had to communicate with was calms, teeth and blood. And really, that was all Raruo needed.
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:58 am
His snarl turned into a hissing growl as fangs sank into the wound on his shoulder, tearing it open a bit wider as the sting penetrated muscle. In an attempt to shake the other male off he brought his paw up, taking a heavy swing at Raruo's jaw, claws sheathed for the moment. Why was it so hard to believe that they'd once been on the same side? That he'd once fought for all of the same ideals as the lion he was battling?
Soon the sounds of their fight would be loud enough to reach the lioness that he'd told to stay away. The wind was on her side, at least, carrying his scent towards her instead of the other way around. His focus was on the fight anyways, watching the elder lion's moves as he plotted his own, their deadly dance continuing on.
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:20 am
She recognized the lands she traveled though even though she had not seen them for so long. Not so much the ground itself but she could see the leavings of the parts of the pride, the clans themselves. It was odd to think that she could have lived here with the others.
Or not have lived. She doubted she would have survived as a sacrifice that long. Mwako would have risen fast in the ranks of the warriors and she would have no doubt been sacrificed for his power.
She shook her head before she caught a familiar scent. Her brother! Picking up her pace she quickly caught another scent. Blood. Fresh blood. "Oh no..."
She paused when she caught sight of her brother and the lion he was tangled with. His form was familier to her in a vague sense. She had seen him before with the other warriors. That would mean that he was strong and by now probably a veteran. She knew her brother was strong but was he that strong? She watched for a bit, crouched in the grass, until she couldn't stand it anymore.
When she saw her brother wounded and not able to react to the other male her restraint snapped. "Mwako!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:37 am
Raruo pulled back when he was struck, dazed but still sturdy. He took flesh and fur away with him as he tore his jaw back, growling as blood dripped from his muzzle. The other's blood.
It wasn't satisfying enough yet, though. Raruo wouldn't stop until this fight was won. He moved to set up another attack, seeing the other readying his own, but a voice cut through the air. Raruo listened without letting it take him from the fight, learning a long time ago that allowing oneself to be even distracted for a split second could be disastrous in a fight. A female voice. Worried. Calling this traitor's name.
He imagined he knew who it was.
And there was his opening. The other lion hesitated, worry flashing in his eyes for a flicker of a moment. Long enough for Raruo to seize the moment. Long enough for him to bring his massive paw swinging around, claws extended, smashing it against Mwako's jaw with all the force his huge, well muscled and honed body could muster, raking his claws in just for added measure as he aimed to knock the lion senseless in one brutal blow.
When he fell Raruo sank his claws into the others' flank, pushing down on him and keeping him pinned as he growled threatening, ready to rip his throat out.
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:49 am
There had been no need for words throughout his fight with the other male, at least not up until this moment. Now he could think of a dozen of them, half of those flying through his head in various forms of curses while one slid past his lips. "Shwari..." He had told her to stay put. He had told her that all that mattered was her safety.
Now she was in danger every bit as much as he was if not more so because she lacked his abilities. The image of her beautiful white coat stained with blood came to his mind and he snarled, the sound cut off by the press of the elder male's paw to his throat. His heart pounded with fear for his sister more than with any concern for his own life. He had not expected to come out of any of this alive, but Shwari...
Stupid female. Stupid, stupid, sweet, dear, beautiful... Why couldn't she have just listened to him as she once did? His mind drifted again, caught somewhere between the feeling of immense loss and the pain. Why...?
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 12:16 pm
"No!" She screamed as she saw her brother get hit and ignoring her own safety, thinking of nothing more than her brother, she rushed toward the two. She didn't care what the warrior did to her so long as she could protect her brother. Mwako couldn't die for her. She could not live with herself if he did.
Ignoring that one swipe from the large Vetrans paw could probably kill her she ducked down beside her brother and pushed at the purple paw with her head. "Please no .. please let him up. Please i beg you. He is all i have, please don't take him from me" Her voice wavered with emotion as tears filled her eyes and she pushed at the heavy leg with her head. She couldn't watch her brother die. She couldn't -let- him die when she could do something. "Don't take my brother..'
She may only have her voice but she would give all of them to save him. If she had not been so stupid he might have come home to her. But she'd called out and distracted him. She'd been so stupid.
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:53 pm
Fueled by the intensity of the fight, his blood burning and his nerves all but crackling, every muscle alert and ready to respond to any stimulation, be it the threat of attack, the pain of a successful blow by his opponent, or reacting to a cue for his own attack, he felt the lioness trying to push his massive paws from her brother and swung his arm in response, knocking her head away with just as much force as he had just delivered to the male beneath him. The only difference was he didn't use his claws. It wasn't a show of mercy, so much as instinctual response. She had been a Sacrifice in the pride, and with that there was an innate sense of respect inside Raruo.
He had to remind himself she had left the pride, and lost that courtesy of status. She was a traitor, as much as her brother, though she had been blessed by the spirits and destined for a greater purpose than either of the two brawlers.
"Your brother is a traitor!" he growled fiercely at her. He hated Mwako, he realized, for coming here. Not just because he betrayed this home, the spirits, or for being a coward, but because he had directly threatened the safety of Raruo's beloved family. He didn't deserve to live. Yet now Raruo was conflicted, because he couldn't shake that fleeting feeling of deference to this once intended Sacrifice of their pride. Her pleas stayed him.
"As are you," he said, his voice slightly lowered. He regarded her thoughtfully a moment, pressing his paw down on Mwako's throat, "you were blessed, but you ran away from it. You and him. You made a choice to flee your duties, your destiny, together. And now it looks like you're back here, destinies linked again. If the spirits want your blood, I don't see why your brother's spirit wouldn't appease them, even partially, if you're too cowardly to accept your own destiny."
He watched her, eyes flickering dangerously.
"I will only spare one of you," he said, decisive. He didn't have to spare either of them, but he wasn't in this to slaughter. A point needed to be made now: to every Dhati coward who thought they could simply run away from their problems, or betray their home.
These two had a new purpose. He flexed his claws, as if to accentuate his point.
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:53 pm
"Shwari..." He ignored Raruo completely for a moment, eyes focused only on the soft, comforting colors of his sister's coat. Time seemed to freeze for a moment as his eyes met hers only to come rushing back into perspective as she ran forward. "NO! Shwari, no!" Stupid. Why was she so stupid? Had everything he'd said, everything he'd done meant nothing at all to her?
He closed his eyes as he heard the sound of Raruo's paw making contact with his sister and the dull thud of her hitting the ground. For the first time in so long that only the spirits would know the exact time he was afraid; afraid that if he opened his eyes he was going to see a stain of red spreading over white fur... Afraid that he was going to lose the one thing that meant more to him than anything else in a world that had been forsaken by the spirits for many moons.
"NO!" He struggled against Raruo's paws, ignoring the cut of claws as if the pain of feeling them was nothing more than a light p***k from a burr. This pain was nothing compared to what the pain of loosing his sister would be. He knew that now more than ever. "The Mizimu'Tungika's spirits are wrong. They've been lying to you... Shwari, run... Please run. Go now and don't look ba-ackk."
His last word was partially choked by the flexing of the elder lion's claws against his throat, the movement pinning him for a moment. If it was blood that these false spirits were demanding then he was more than ready to let it be his. He had been born ready to fight battles for the true spirits.
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:28 pm
She had expected nothing less from the Vetran but she hadn't cared. As long as her brother was spared for at least another moment. Her head rang as she hit the ground and she couldn't, for now, bring herself to get up. She didn't think her body would work if she asked it to.
".... your Queen is a traitor .... not I nor Mwako." She spoke softly but her conviction was firm. "She and her followers are pitiful liars. Poisoning the ears of any who'll listen. You have been poisoned by her words too and you don't even know it. You'll kill just because she says so ... you'll kill -innocents-." She half snarled the last words. She had seen lions that had done nothing more than be born get slaughtered for lies. "I was not blessed. I was -cursed-. Cursed to die for a brother who needed me alive. Cursed to suffer because i was born soft and light rather than a vicious dark monster. I ran away from nothing but lies so that i could do something worthwhile with my life. I did what was right."
She shifted and pulled herself unsteadily to her feet and set her eyes on the black lion. "You will only spare one of us? Are you blind? If you kill one you kill both. There is no way around it. Without Mwako i am dead. Without me he is dead. Your twisted and defiled heart could never understand that. You are still stupid enough to believe that he should-want- me dead just so he can be stronger. When he is strongest when he is protecting me"
She laughed softly and shook her head. "Strike me down. Bloody your hands with a precious Sacrifice. Are you willing to risk the spirits wrath for it?" She smirked and ignored her brothers pleas. They would not get out of this alive. She knew that. Better that she die defending the truth and the one who most precious to her. "Kill me and see what power you will awaken in Mwako."
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