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 Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:49 pm
 Part of Asper knew that when he woke up, his brother would be nowhere to be found. He and Atheris had gotten into a disagreement just two days past about Atheris and his affinity for wiling away his days in that meadow where he'd met the lioness, and Asper had ordered him to desist in his foolish pursuit of this lioness that had caused him to go daft. This "Stormborn" pride was likely full of old foolish lions that sat around droning on and on about their glory days. Atheris had been gone for two days now. Asper had decided that if his brother was no where to be found on this day, he would find this "Stormborn" pride and drag his brother out of it. "Stupid fool," the blonde lion whispered to himself as he emerged from the cool depth of the den he'd shared with his brother these past few weeks.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:44 pm
Isti had been more or less trailing his cousins since he left the pride. It wasn't on purpose, quite. He had set off in the same direction as they did initially, but it wasn't until he actually picked up on their scents after several days on the road that he realized he had more or less been following their trail exactly. By accident, he would have sworn, but it would be hard to prove it.
He was still several days behind his cousins, having left after they did, but lately it had seemed like he was catching up to them. The signs of their passage were fresher and more obvious. There were also signs of other lions in the area, but those were fainter. He wasn't much of a hunter or tracker though, so he didn't know what to make of the signs. He wasn't even really one hundred percent sure he was following his cousins or just imagining it.
Just why Isti would want to follow is cousins was a bit of a mystery to him, but he had to do something. Maybe he should have waited for Timorien. He knew his brother, too, was planning to leave the pride. He felt sorry for their mum and aunt when he thought about it. He tried not to think about it. Instead, he focused on his tracking and hoped his cousins would have a plan that he could go along with. Isti preferred to have a plan.
So when he saw his cousin Asper emerging from a den, all unexpected-like, Isti yelped with excitement:
"Asper!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:54 pm
Asper's head jerked towards the direction his name had come from, his eyes lighting up upon spotting Isti. His cousin?! How had his cousin found him? And why had he followed the brothers?
And how was Asper going to tell Isti about Atheris?!
A smile quickly spread across Asper's face as he approached his cousin. They'd been raised together in the same pride, and like most males decided to leave when they had reach adolescence simply because they had no reason to stay. True, Asper missed his mother fiercely but there was nothing for him back in the pride. His position there had never been cemented, and Asper didn't like doubting himself.
"Isti," Asper called out happily. Ah, well. Didn't matter why his cousin was here. What mattered was that Asper wasn't alone and he wouldn't have to continue on his way all by himself unless Isti didn't agree to travel to the ridiculous "Stormborn" pride with Asper. "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you, cousin."
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:05 pm
Isti jogged to meet his cousin, shortening the time before they met up and could converse without shouting. Something about the area did not seem to encourage shouting. The young lion had suddenly been hit with the feeling it was not exactly wise to draw attention to his presence. Something to do with the other lions he had smelled when he came around here.
"I'm so relieved to see you, too," Isti said. "I thought I was following you and Atheris after a few days, but I was never really sure. Not until I saw you just now."
He decided not to go into how bad he was proving to be at hunting on his own, and how much he hated being alone in the dark at night. He and his siblings didn't always get along, and they teased him mercilessly for his name when he was a cub, but he was still used to sleeping with lots of bodies around him. There were a lot of aspects of his new life that didn't agree with him. It was a physical relief to see Asper.
"Was I wrong in thinking Atheris was with you?" he asked, realizing that he hadn't seen his other cousin, who probably ought to have heard their small commotion and investigated.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:10 pm
Asper was silent for a long, long time while he grinned stupidly at his cousin. His mind was racing despite the outward calm he tried to exude, but he finally cracked. That self-assured, stupid smile broke, and a frown slowly crept over his features. Asper, usually so calm and precise, was scowling in such a way that his cousin had likely never seen.
"Atheris," Asper spat, ears flattening against that fair mane of his, "is a damned fool, Isti." He skulked a few feet away from his cousin, glaring in the direction that he knew Atheris had taken.
"We are skirting the boundaries of a pride of lions who call themselves Stormborn. Atheris," the name seemed sour on his tongue, "has gone and gotten himself captured after meeting a female that he seemed to instantly fall in love with." Scowling, Asper grit his teeth as he turned back to Isti, his tail lashing in obvious agitation.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:44 pm
Isti's grin mirrored his cousin's. Not exactly, because they did look different, but closely. Their mothers had been twins, after all, and the cousins did have many similarities, despite their different colors. It was a stupid grin Isti was wearing, sort of. Just the delight and relief of a friendly, familiar face. Even when Asper's expression shifted to an utterly unfamiliar frowning scowl, Isti couldn't help smiling.
The smile faded though when Asper actually spat his brother's name and glared off into the distance. The behavior was so unlike what he had grown up with from his cousin, it was definitely jarring. Even when Asper had sometimes joined in making fun of Isti - which Isti still resented, but less now that they were both removed from the immediate situation and there was no one else around to remember it - he had never seemed like that, flat-eared and slinking.
"The...Stormborn?" That was nearly as stupid-sounding as his own name. Lions couldn't be born from weather patterns. "And Atheris let them capture him. Because of some female."
Well, at least he wasn't going to be the thoughtless, impulsive one in this group. Not compared to what Atheris had done. Gods, he could be the sane one for years based on this. It was a very nice feeling, even if it was a pretty gods-awful situation.
"So we're dragging him back by his stupid tail, right?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:04 pm
Asper exhaled harshly, shaking his head in disgust. He was thankful that Isti had picked up on his fury towards Atheris. Asper would never stop loving his brother (and even his cousin -- after all, they were family), but sometimes he just boggled at the idiocy that was known as Atheris.
"I am not quite certain how he was captured, or if he went willingly. That is one thing that we will find out once we find Atheris." Asper's brows were heavy over his brilliant green eyes. "I do know it was about this Stormborn female that may or may not have cast some sort of spell over him. Isti," Asper paused and turned his gaze to his cousin, "I have never seen Atheris act like this."
Asper shook his head and gestured with a paw towards the direction that he knew Atheris had gone. "Yes. By his stupid tail, cousin. I can only hope that everything goes according to plan. We will have to see what we are going up against, and very carefully lest we be captured as well."
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:21 pm
Isti had been an impulsive brawler as a younger lion. He took offense very easily, and that hadn't really changed. The only difference was that he'd gotten better at asserting himself and others around him had learned not to provoke him unless they wanted a fight on their paws. He was still more of a berserker than a technical fighter, though, so his odds in any given fight were iffy. His family members had chided him for being so quick to fly off the handle, too, but suddenly his past behavior had nothing on Atheris's idiocy.
"I still don't quite get what you mean by captured. Has he been enslaved...magically?" Isti wasn't sure that he believed in magic. He had never seen any evidence of it, and he had learned not to be particularly credulous as he grew up. It was just another way to be tricked and then teased. He had also learned to pay very close attention to the exact words spoken to him. Similar words could mean very different things.
"I'm sure there's nothing magical about it. It's just some stupid crush, I bet. In which case we definitely need to swat some sense into him." He hesitated, focusing on a specific word his cousin had used. "What is the plan, by the way? Reconnaissance and then infiltration?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:27 am
"I'm not sure what happened, Isti. All I know is that my brother wouldn't leave me to purposefully traipse after some lady love. He just wouldn't do it. Not to me." Ahh, and the truth will set you free, Asper. The hurt was becoming more evident now, and Asper didn't seem so certain that his brother wouldn't ditch him just so he could go after some female.
"It has to be a spell or something magical." He scowled and shook his head again. "There is just no way that he would leave like that." Asper refused to believe it. He would be in for a rude awakening soon enough.
"I think we should be very careful about how we proceed. The last thing we want is to find ourselves captured as well." Asper looked thoughtfully at his cousin. "Recon first. Infiltration once we learn more about these Stormborn. Who knows what other magic spells they have up their sleeves."
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:25 pm
Isti kept his thoughts to himself on what Atheris would and would not do in that circumstance. Personally, he knew he would throw over his entire family for the right girl. There had been that one he'd loved so deeply at home, a huge part of the reason he'd left, actually.
He couldn't bear to be around her and be reminded of how she'd laughed at his attempts to woo her. He didn't love her any more, that much was certain. She had laughed at him, humiliated him. He felt nothing for her but loathing. He wondered if Atheris had learned nothing from his experience. If that was so, more fool he.
"You're probably right about Atheris," he said to Asper. Just because he had his own doubts didn't mean he had to infect his cousin with them. "And you're definitely right about how we should go into this."
Isti would have rather died than somehow become a captive or a slave. He didn't have any lady love that he wanted to impress. He just wanted to help Asper get Atheris back. So the plan of recon and then infiltration worked for him.
"Can recon wait until tomorrow? I'm kind of famished," Isti said sheepishly. "I mean, unless you think he's in danger?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:50 pm
Atheris snorted loud enough that his throat was a little sore before he shot Isti a sideways glance. "I'm glad you agree. Actually, I'm glad you're here, Isti. It is nice to see you again. I would've had to do this by myself if you hadn't come along."
The fierce frown that had twisted his features for the last few moments swept away and a small smile lifted the corners of his maw. "I'm sure Atheris can wait until tomorrow. I'm pretty hungry, too," Asper admitted, bumping his shoulder against that of his cousin.
"Tomorrow we will put our plan into action, Cousin Isti. Under the dark of night we'll sneak in to this Stormborn pride and gather whatever information we can. But for now," he bumped his shoulder against his cousin's once more, "we hunt."
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