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 Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 7:04 am
 A gold-pelted lioness lay still in the shade of a passing cloud, ruby red eyes set skyward as she watched the day just pass her by. Though temporary, the shade was still a welcome respite from the heat of the midday sun. Her thoughts were lingering on her current predicament, something that had been bugging her since she first started poking her nose around her new home. Since joining the pride she'd done more than a good deal of exploring. The new land still excited her, and the potential for future possible expeditions was still pretty high. Her problem though, was not the lack of new areas to discover, but instead was the lack of someone to discover them with.
It'd never been a problem before. At least not for her. She'd always been alright with wandering around and finding new things to see alone. Recently though, it just didn't seem as...interesting. Which was, to this particular lioness, a problem. Tana, with a sigh, rolled over onto her stomach once the cloud had finally passed the sun. With the shade it provided now gone, the heat had already started making her a little uncomfortable, so she decided that it was about time she find a more permanent source of shade.
"Where clouds come from.." she started to say, rolling the thought around in her head a bit. Where could she go with it, if she were so lucky as to actually run into somebody sometime soon. "Clusters of wind that can't blow on their own anymore. That's why they cluster, so together they can move around in the sky, even if it's just a little." She scoffed. "If I ever meet anyone old enough that would believe something like that..."
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 2:44 am
On one of the extremely rare occasions in which Qaletaqa Subiani dearly needed a break, he wandered some ways from his clan's lands and headed for somewhat more neutral ground.
It wasn't that life as he had always known it, and would likely always know it, had started to become a bore or a burden; rather, it was that he tried so very hard to be all that he could be for his clan, to embody what it meant to be a part of the Shadow Clan and thus make his family proud, that some days (some very rare days that had happened only once before in his albeit-still-somewhat-short lifetime) he felt the need to leave it all behind and find someplace to simply sit and ruminate.
As he padded along, his strides light and controlled and barely audible out of habit, his violet eyes caught sight of a brightly colored lioness lying in the grass. Hm. He had always done his best to meet as many lions as he could - after all, he was a secret keeper and that applied for all lions, not just his family - but he couldn't have met them all, and he couldn't help but want to. Perhaps this lioness needed his help too. Everybody had secrets.
He changed his previously-aimless course and headed toward the golden lioness. It was only until he had neared that he realized how quietly he had been moving, as he always did (per the custom of the Shadow Clan's trademark stealth), and that perhaps he ought to make some noise to avoid accidentally sneaking up on her. "Hello," he called out when he was certain he was within earshot.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:39 am
The lioness, having put off her decision to find some shade due to suddenly wanting to come up with some story or another about clouds and where they came from, was startled to hear another's voice that had seemingly come out of nowhere. She sat up and had a look around, striking green tattoos catching her eyes. He was unfamiliar to her, though that could even be said about the members of her own clan. She hadn't really made it a point to meet everyone. At least not yet. Still, she remembered most of the lions that she saw on a day to day basis, and he wasn't one of them.
She nodded at his greeting, a small smile on her maw. The gods seemed to be smiling down at her today. "Hello," she replied. Her search for a partner in crime, so to speak, was already off to a good start. What was even better - she didn't even have to try. Again, at least not yet. Hopeful, with a small gesture of her paw she invited him to come closer and have a seat.
"You don't look like any of the faces I recognize," she said, head slightly tilted. "Are you from the Sky Clan as well?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:07 am
She didn't seem like a native of the Ela'wadiyi. Her bright coat and large size (compared, at least, to the lionesses born within the pride) suggested that she had come upon pride from elsewhere. There was a certain look about her that reminded him of his mother, but he supposed that was simply the result of his overactive imagination.
He accepted her invitation gladly, making his way closer and seating himself when he had closed the distance between the two of them.
"I am from the Shadow Clan," he said with a small smile. From the way she had worded her question, he assumed that she was a part of the Sky Clan. He had yet to meet many lions of the Sky Clan, but he gathered from the friendly smile on the lioness's face that they were at the very least sociable. "My name is Qaletaqa Subiani. My sister, Eeva, leads my clan. Sometimes, I wonder how she copes with the responsibility." He added with a grin, although truth be hold, Taqa himself had no problems with responsibility. He was, after all, a secret keeper.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 4:19 am
The Shadow Clan. She hadn't met anyone from there yet, so upon mention of it she made an 'o' shape with her mouth and nodded slightly. She chuckled a little when he spoke of his sister leading his clan, the thought of siblings somewhat making her lonely. She didn't remember the last time she saw her own, now that she thought about it. "Well, it's nice to meet you Qaletaqa. I am Etana'dalila, of the Sky Clan. I'm guessing you've already gathered that though." Tana smiled, rather pleased with her company. "Ah, just Tana though. My name is too long even for me to say, so I don't expect others to enjoy calling me by my full name."
Now, to see what this guy was made of. "Hey, so do you know what clouds are made of?" she asked, feigning a curious expression as she directed her attention skyward. "I was told by the cloud god herself - I met her when I was traveling around, before I got here - that it's old wind clumped up together. Safety in numbers, you know. When wind can't blow anymore, they do cluster, and with the little strength from all of the old wind put together, they can move around rea~lly slowly."
It sounded too unbelievable, even if this Qaletaqa wasn't the sharpest of creatures (which she didn't really know). Actually, even a cub wouldn't fall for something that was obviously a lie. It wasn't exactly her best work, so she was expecting him to snort and call her out on it or something. Still, she waited quietly for his reaction, a small smile tugging on the corners of her maw.
(( She's never actually met the cloud god, who I know is a dude. ;P ))
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 11:45 pm
"Just Taqa for me, then," he said with a smile. He would forever be grateful to his parents for his name, but he never supposed he quite deserved the honor, and in any case, Qaletaqa could be a mouthful. "Pleasure's all mine, Tana." He added. So, at least the two of them already had something in common. Long names; decorative, but rather too much to be repeated over and over in full.
The young lion directed his gaze toward the sky and the clouds in question. The cloud god had told her? Taqa had never met a god, but considering that they were, after all, gods, he didn't expect that many of them revealed their identities too willingly to, well, non-gods. Mortals, they were called - at least from what he had heard. He was under no illusions that he, Qaletaqa Subiani, was anywhere on par with a god, but sometimes he chafed under label. Mortals. He supposed that it made sense; they were, indeed, mortal, but he wondered if perhaps the gods could have come up with something less reminiscent of the certain death that faced all creatures but themselves.
"Really?" He returned his violet-eyed gaze to the golden lioness. "What makes them stop blowing, then? I'd always thought wind was... well, rather like the gods. Immortal, just kind of blows on forever." But he supposed, if the situation called for it, he could alter his beliefs.
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 1:47 am
He believed her? Just like that? Tana tilted her head ever so slightly, brows furrowed and a rather confused expression taking over. She wasn't about to out herself, but it was just so hard to believe that someone his age would believe something that sounded so completely unbelievable. He even managed to find a hole in her little lie that, as it happened, she hadn't really thought about. Blinking her eyes, as though the wind had just blown something into them, she gave it a bit of thought and shrugged.
"I dunno, I didn't ask. Maybe the wind just gets old and tired after blowing for so long. I mean, wouldn't you?" her gaze was still skyward at this point, though it returned to the tattooed lion soon enough. "I think if someone asked me to run for a year or two without stopping I'd be really tired afterward. Of course, I can't do that, but I'm just saying."
She offered the other a smile. "I'll ask her if I see her again."
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Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 9:50 pm
"I suppose so," he nodded, contemplating the clouds. "If I was the wind, I would want to blow forever." He mused, wondering what it was like to be wind. It seemed like a certain type of freedom, being able to breeze about in the air, high or low, and never tire. But perhaps that was simply his imagination overglorifying something he couldn't have. And he was okay with that. It never hurt to dream.
"I guess it makes sense, though, that the wind would get tired," he added. And if it did, then Tana's idea that the wind had clustered together into clouds did make some sense - if Taqa himself had tired himself out after years of running, he would have wanted some company too. So he could see where she was coming from.
"And you'll tell me what she says, then?" He smiled in return, wondering if Tana ever would see the cloud god again. He imagined that it wasn't highly likely, but that, too, was alright.
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Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 4:55 am
"Of course," she said, her grin getting wider. Whether or not she liked that he was so willing to believe her she hadn't decided on entirely yet, but now it didn't bother her as much as it had earlier. She was especially happy that he hadn't really asked about her so-called acquaintance. Now that that subject was over with, the lioness heaved a heavy, rather lazy sounding sigh and lowered herself onto her stomach.
"So," she started again, looking at up Taqa from where she lay. "I hope I don't offend you by asking, but I was wondering. Do you lie very often, if at all?"
She only asked because he hadn't questioned her much at all, which was, again, fine by her now. "I firmly believe," she continued, wanting to clear it up in case he was offended. "That everybody lies. It doesn't matter how often or how 'white' the lie is, I just think that everybody lies." With a shrug she rolled into her side, inhaling deeply as a breeze blew past. "It's nothing personal, mind. Just my opinion. I've asked a couple of others, and I'm still not sure whether I've ever gotten a straight answer." She laughed lightly.
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 12:36 am
The brown lion lapsed into a momentary silence as he contemplated the lioness' question. A great deal of the answer lay in how he defined the word lie; a white lie was a lie, but suppose he was thinking of an omission of the truth? Was that a lie? Or, perhaps, purposefully averting his gaze in the face of a lie?
It would be best, he concluded, to assume that she meant dishonesty in the majority of the forms it could take, and answer as best he could. Tana's last words suggested that she wanted a straight answer - or as straight an answer as was possible when it came to the subject of lying - from him.
A small smile crept across his face, and he regarded her with candid violet eyes. "Yes, I do," he answered, as frankly as he could. It was the truth, after all. He was not above delivering a lie if it meant he was protecting one of his loved ones, and if the lie ever did come back to haunt him, he was certain he would be able to withstand it, if for no other reason than the one that said he was just naturally inclined to protect the ones around him.
"I gather, then, that you lie as well?"
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 5:59 am
In the time it took for the other to formulate a response to her rather strange query, Tana's ruby red gaze was pointed skyward yet again. Soon enough she grew tired of the blue expanse above, and she moved her gaze to her current surrounding. Her new home was beautiful, really, and though she'd taken the time to go wandering through them she hadn't really stopped to really...take in the sights. When he finally answered, she brushed those random thoughts aside and focused on Taqa as he spoke.
She nodded at his reply and, when he asked, simply shrugged and offered him a small smile. "No more than the average lion, I guess," she said. "But then, you'll have to figure out how true that statement is on your own."
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