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 Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:54 am
The red lion, a somewhat dusty shade in comparison to many others in the pride, sat watching the sky. Not the sun itself, but any signs of clouds. Now and then, his eyes flicked, pupils dilating from some small snip or snag of a vision. He saw clouds, but he didn't see clouds. Finally, he felt a small paw on one of his and looked down, smiling at his daughter. The smile spread on his maw. "So, Soleil, you're ready for your lesson?"
"On how I'm better than most of the other cubs?" She gave a flick of her tail, a sniff and a nose-in-the-air snub. "Of course I am!" To say the least, she was VERY proud of her lineage. The lesson, of course, distracted her from the lack of water. With the equality vote... She found herself drinking less, and wondering... Would their mother make them go on a temporary exodus?
Kosuke grinned. "That's my little princess... Now, where to begin...?" He thought for a moment. "In the beginning, the desert only had the prey animals, reptiles, and insects living in it. But then Finar-si looked down, and decided that this would be a wonderful home for a fierce pride of lions. So she made them, and made them in her image... Reds, and blacks, and fiery colors! And they were the mightiest of all prides!"
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:20 pm
"And then she decided to leave them to fend for themselves," a voice announced, humor and sarcasm woven deeply into it. "And the 'mighty pride' suffered for it, and still gave thanks to her anyway. Goddesses are notoriously finicky and forgetful - especially this one." White teeth flashed against a white muzzle, as a lion casually stepped into view from behind an outcropping. He'd been upwind of the father-and-daughter pair, and so rather undetectable to scent, at least. The male's own pelt was bright red; his mane and tail a luxurious alabaster, with white markings scattered sparsely throughout his frame. His eyes, a brilliant royal purple, flicked over Soleil, dismissed her without much thought, and then settled curiously on Kosuke. "Greetings."
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:14 pm
The dark-maned male looked up, one brow rising. "Greetings... Um..." He looked the other male over, taking in his markings. They looked like Kidondo's family markings. Or what had become the family markings. "From your markings, you're related to our... Regent..." The word rolled off his tongue as if it left a bitter taste. To Kosuke, it did. "But you seem to acknowledge the stories of old much better. I was beginning to fear the pride would be nothing but atheists..."
The cub flicked her tail, watching the other adult male. Instinct made her hide under her father, staring up at the stranger with hard gold eyes. Who was this lion, and was he REALLY related to Kidondo? If that was true... "Daddy, isn't Kidondo your cousin? Because if he is... This can't POSSIBLY be his brother or nephew or anything, he's a bit rude interrupting someone else's narrative!"
"Well, I didn't exactly leave it as a closed, private matter, Soleil..." He glanced up at the other lion. "Sorry about her brash actions..." He covered his daughter's mouth, effectively silencing her. "Sometimes she speaks before she thinks."
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:29 am
So they did recognize him, in a sense. That was interesting. It suggested that Kidondo was well-known - but the fact that he was a 'regent' rather than a 'king' made no sense at all, and Kope inwardly frowned. He'd been next in line for the throne, certainly? Why would he be regent over someone else?
"Yes," he drawled. "Kope - Kidondo's brother." Younger, but no matter. He didn't want kingship. At Kosuke's next words, he broke into a short, sharp laugh. "Well - yes. It's hard not too," he said, with a rather cryptic smile. "But I don't quite think I see them in the same light as you appear to."
As Soleil spoke up, he raised a brow, tail-tuft flicking. Urgh. Children. Impossible things. He was glad that this was Kosuke's offspring to take care of, and that the parent seemed the disciplinary sort. "Eh, not to worry. She has the spirit of her blood-kin, anyway. Hopefully when she grows, she'll put it to more practical use. By the way, I didn't catch your name - and who are your parents?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:57 am
Kidondo's brother... "I must admit, you're only the...." He stopped to think. "Second sibling of Kidondo I've run across. And much less... No offense to her, but crazy. Ah, the white one..." So many names... "Kaanga." His ears flicked. "As for my parents..." He nudged Soleil. "Actually, I've gone to great lengths to teach my children their lineage. Soleil..."
The cub's chest puffed as she stepped forward. "My grandparents on my father's side are Jua'taka, daughter of the storyteller Ripuka and her mate, Makaa'kali, and Sinbad, son of Mwali and Azachamoral! And my great-great grandparents are Makadari and Jahina!" Head held high, she looked ever the image of a lion proud of her family history and how far back it reached.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 5:47 am
Kope smiled, as if amused by the lion's words. "Insanity is an unfortunate curse of our family," he noted, with a short laugh as if he knew something that the other male didn't."Fortunately, however, I seemed to have escaped it, for the time being." His tail snapped against the desert ground, as he raised a brow, glancing over to the child.
"We're kin, then - of a sort. Distant kin, anyway. My great-grandparents were Makadari and Jahina." Not that he'd ever met either of them; they'd been dead before he was born, as had his grandfather, Kiu. He dimly had known his father, Kimeti. "So Kaanga's still around, eh? And Kidondo. Sounds like my brother's whelped some offspring, at least." Mother would be pleased to know that.
Mwali - that's a name he'd heard before, but he was surprised to hear it. Hadn't Uncle Mwali left the lands years ago? Evidently, he'd either come back, or sired some children that had returned. The lands called to blood, apparently; after all, he was back here. "And what's your name, then?" He added, glancing at the adult male. It'd be a fire name of some sort, no doubt.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:09 am
He covered his daughter's mouth. "I am Kosuke." He tilted his head a bit. "And I must express that I haven't seen you around here much before..." Had Kope wandered off from the pride during the days of the pride's split? He knew Savitri had... And then she'd come home and took his sorry red bag of bones self in. "Are you just returning to the desert..?"
Soleil would NOT be silenced forever! She pushed her father's paw away, then set about circling this new male. Revelations of his relation put her much more at ease. Surely somebody related could do her no harm! When she was finally done examining this strange related lion, she looked up at him, tail twitching. "You smell funny."
"SOLEIL!"
She scurried back to her father. "But he DOES!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:40 am
"I've been gone," he replied idly, "For many moons; I left before the pride seemed to have ... rearranged itself. But yes. I decided to return - see how life was treating my esteemed kin." There was a little dribble of sarcasm in the phrase.
"Evidently, much has changed." His expression narrowed a little. "I hear the pride's currently having some problems of its own right now, especially with the water. It's never been in abundance, but - " He shrugged. "When you take away what little we have ... what's the pride doing about it?"
He blinked down at the little lioness cub as she pranced brashly and boldly up to him, seemingly without a care in the world. What the - little b***h! Hesitant about saying such things in front of her father, he glared at the child instead at her outburst, which did next to nothing. Were all children like this? If so, he didn't understand the lure of having them. He looked back up to Kosuke, trying to ignore Soleil.
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:48 am
The dark-maned male swatted his daughter's rump. "You're IGNORING your lessons on MANNERS!" He earned a glare from the cub, and then a mope as she hid behind him. He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry about her, we try, we really do..." He shook his head a bit. "Anyway... The pride recently voted... Share the water equally..." He let out a huff. "We're going to all die here at that rate. Shula, my mate... Wants to take our cubs and leave until the situation improves..." If it did, anyway. After a moment, an eyebrow went up. "Kidondo's forsook our old goddess worship, have you?" He was, himself, torn on the matter. Would Finar-si really have blessed him with seer powers only for his own mother to chase him off for loving a rebel?
The cub popped her head around her father, looking up at Kope. "I'm sorry I said you smelled funny..." Her rump SMARTED now! Once again, she hid behind her father, mindful to avoid any further swats to the rump.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:37 am
He eyed where the daughter had disappeared behind, not quite sure what to make of it. Why did sane lions want cubs, again? Seemed like they were nothing more than loud-mouthed nuisances. Ignoring her, for the moment, he turned his attention back to her father, raising a surprised brow. "'Share'? I didn't think the pride knew what that word meant. In a drought, that's sheer stupidity. I rather agree with your mate on that one. Rest of the world might be a mess, but at least it's a mess with water and plentiful food in it."
He laughed at his religious question. "I don't deny she exists," he replied smoothly, inwardly very amused. He'd met her, it was a little difficult to deny her existence. "Whether I follow her ... that's another matter entirely. Gods or kings, never put your faith in any of them." A grin flashed on the lion's muzzle. "They so often disappoint."
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:45 pm
"I suppose..." The split-maned male thought for a moment, scratching at his mane. "But then, how well would a pride function without a leader, or faith? It would be anarchy without a leader, and without faith... No guidance." He tilted his head a bit, then smiled slightly. "But at the same time, we can find guidance from others within the pride... Parents... Teachers... Elders... Right?"
The cub, now ignored by the adults, decided the look around for something to do. After some glancing, she spotted a feather, pouncing on it and playing with it. Somewhere above, a bird flew around, circling as it hunted and lost a feather. Not that Soleil seemed to care, as she batted around the new-found toy.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:41 pm
"Prides function all the time without faith," he shot back, his tail curling around his burly frame. "Travel for a little in the outside world, you'll find it out quickly. And I'm not saying that a pride shouldn't have a king. I'm just saying you shouldn't put your faith in them - always be ready to move on to another if they should fail." He spoke casually, but with an air of confidence - or perhaps slight arrogance. "Besides, kings are out to keep power, once they have it. If anyone threatens that power - well." He shrugged. "You can go from being their best friend to worst enemy with a few choice words or actions. It's best to look out for yourself - and your family, of course," he added, eying Soleil.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:25 am
Kosuke let out a huff. "Whatever you say..." He shook his head, rising to his paws. "I think I'll find somewhere a bit more... Private... To tell my daughter the pride's history..." He paused as he started to walk away, looking over his shoulder. "Besides... Sometimes it's a good idea to remember history... So it's not repeated. And I've seen a woeful lack of remembering old history. Soleil, come. It's time to go home." With a flick of his tail, he began to walk away.
Her attention drawn again to her father, the cub glanced for a moment at the other adult. She was silent for a moment, before turning and hurrying after her father. Not another word was spared, and she knew not to push questions of what they both meant. Not now, at least, but maybe one day in the future.
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