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 Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:10 pm
  "Uh, Ru, are you sure you know where we're going?" The voice trembled with nervousness and across the way, where the lands were flat and green, was the shape of a golden male lion with a streak of red in his mane. He was not as large as the other males from his old pride but to see him looking so cowardly was a strange thing for a full-grown lion of any size. Instead of tall, this lion was short and stocky; his legs grown strong from all the travelling he had done since leaving his home as an adolescent.
Just ahead of him was a much more athletic looking, pale-pelted male. Similar in age but quite different in posture. This one was a dreamer and a curious cat. He was also confident that they weren't lost--
--even though they were.
"Stop worrying, Udd. It'll be fine. Just you wait and see. There's safety in numbers, remember?" Though he was beginning to wonder whether Udd would be of any use in a tricky situation. "Besides, even if we are in another territory my parents never mentioned any nearby ones being particularly aggressive."
This didn't seem to encourage the golden lion much. He simply gulped and dropped down onto the grass pathetically. "Maybe we should go back to your home. This was a bad idea. If something happens to you...well...your mother won't be very happy with me. She didn't seem to like me much as it was..."
Ruia nodded. He'd wondered about that himself. His mother had never been a particularly happy creature. In fact she'd spent a lot of her life in a rather depressed and frail state. And yet she'd never shown a dislike for anyone before she had met Uddhava and there was no sense in that. No sense at all. Did she not want her son to make friends?
"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding." He answered at last, peering back at his friend. "Okay, look. You wait here and I'll go ask for directions alright?"
"Y-you're going to leave me here?!" Uddhava squeaked, bounding back to his paws and closing the gap between them. "What if guards come? I won't know what to do."
Ruia sighed. Honestly. It was like taking care of a cub. "And you say you were from a warrior pride?"
Uddhava gave a sheepish grin.
"Come on. There's got to be someone close by who can help."
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Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 4:28 pm
Tizona had found herself with more time on her paws than she ever imagined after Ini moved out. Despite the sudden lack of company, something she had never truly experienced due to her large family, the brown pelted lioness didn't feel lonely. Not really anyway, though the sensation was odd, being alone. There had rarely been a time in her life where she hadn't been around another person; when she first left the den of her parents she had remained close to her siblings and then with Kol, the only lion she had ever given herself to and when he disappeared her son, Ini, took his place by her side.
Ini had always been more of an adult that she was, not that the cheerful lioness had ever noticed. In a way he had been her care taker and now that he had left her to be on his own(though he visited from time to time) she wasn't sure what to do with herself.
So she busied herself by exploring the pride, time and aging did little to take her spirit from her. She wore a large grin on her face as she practically bounding about when she caught the voices of another lion. She skidded to a stop, frowning slightly as she tilted her head, inclining it towards the voices.
Curiosity killed the cat but didn't stop Tizona from happily trotting towards the two males once she found them. "Hello! Can I help you?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 2:37 pm
"Oh, look, there's someone now!" Ruia smiled at seeing the distant shape of a female drawing to a halt and was about to call out when she turned and began to head towards them. "Here she comes!" Well that was certainly easy. He slowed to a stop to wait for her and paused to glance over his shoulder.
The golden lion had dropped back a little and was perhaps even attempting to hide behind Ruia. However, whilst Ruia was taller, he was not as wide as his counterpart and the attempt would have been made in vain. Rolling his eyes he neatly stepped aside and gave a low growl. "Come on you, don't be like that. Honestly, how did you roam the lands alone before I came along?"
"I...well I didn't go near prides!"
He might have insisted that they go right away if Tizona hadn't been there at that given moment and, at her cheery greeting, Ruia turned back to reply. "Hello there! I really hope you can. We've gotten ourselves a little bit turned around and were wondering if you could point us in the right direction. I'm Ruia and this is my friend Uddhava. We're...sort of new to this rogue thing and this is my first time away from my home pride." He blinked slowly. "Where are we exactly?"
Uddhava remained silent, hoping desperately that these lions were not as tough on trespassers as his old home had been. What if they wanted a fight? What if they were driven out or worse! Maybe he should just apologise and force Ruia to give up this conversation.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:54 pm
Tizona was still beaming up at the two males, tilting her head slightly in confusion at Udd's attempt at hiding behind the other male. Other lions were so silly! "Ooooh, you're out on an adventure then?" Tizona asked, enthusiasm defining her tone as she appeared to bounce on her paws without actually bouncing, maybe she had too much energy.
"You're near the border of the pridelands," she stated chipper taking a second to glance behind her as if to confirm this fact. "Where are you from?" She asked, eyes flickering back and forth between the two males. A frown graced her features briefly as she studied the golden male. "Are you okay? Are you sick?" She didn't seem to be able to understand why he was acting so scared.
"Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you? Oh no!"
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:10 pm
"We are indeed! I've been wanting to go out on an adventure for a long time but I wasn't that keen on going out by myself. Then my friend Udd turned up and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. We didn't exactly have any plans, though...just doing some wandering to see where we end up."
Uddhava blinked curiously. The female seemed very energetic and totally the opposite of unfriendly. Perhaps not all prides were unfriendly towards trespassers, uh, guests?
And then she was asking him questions and being...concerned? He bounced back in surprise and then shook his head. "Oh, uh, no. I'm fine. It's just...where I came from...trespassers weren't...appreciated." He flattened back his ears and gave her a sheepish sort of smile, feeling a little silly. He hadn't meant to worry anyone, and being afraid of someone wearing such a smile was surely a silly thing indeed. Vicious lions didn't smile!
"I'm from the Kusini'mwezi lands." Ruia continued. "A neighbour of this pride, I think? We've only been travelling a couple of days, so not too far away. It's nice and peaceful but not too much exciting happens there. Uddhava is...well, um actually, I don't know. Where are you from?"
The yellow lion looked suddenly sheepish. He hated telling people where he was from in case they knew of the Firekin and thought him some weird mutant creature. Besides, he had been thrown out of the lands as an adolescent because he lacked both outer and inner fire (though the issue lay mainly with the outer look). "I, um, from the desert. It's...well, actually, I'm not sure how far away it is. A reasonable way. I've been travelling since an adolescent, though I never kept track of where I was going."
Ruia gave a small shrug and turned his attention back to Tiz. "Have you been adventuring outside of your lands?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:28 pm
"Aw, I'm jealous!" She exclaimed, tail wagging back and forth much like an excited canine's would. Though Tizona was very much content in the pridelands she'd often dreamed pursuing a life of adventure, nearly as often as she dreamed of one day taking to the skies in flight. But the happy-go-lucky lioness had resigned herself to an easy life in the pride she was born in.
"Oh! I've heard of them, we get lots of lions from there," she commented thoughtfully thinking of the various lions that had come and gone. "Life can be boring if it's too peaceful," she mumbled quietly as though she were trying to figure out what she would prefer more.
"I've always lived here," she admitted frowning. "But adventure sounds fun."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:36 pm
Ruia sat, nodding enthusiastically. "Completely. Like...I love home and it'll always be home to me no matter where I go. My family is there, for one thing and its where I was raised, but sometimes its nice to get out and see new places. I dreamed of it as a cub. All the time."
Udd slowly seated himself as well and nodded solemnly. He knew how that felt. To have a home where family was. But for him, even though it was still there, he could never go back. It couldn't be home to him any longer. The thought had saddened him a lot until he had pushed it out of mind but all of this talk was bringing back that twinge of homesickness.
"I suppose you wouldn't know the best direction to point us in, in that case? We're not really sure what we're looking for, just new places. Maybe even the ocean. I heard stories about it as a kid, but I have no idea where it is or how far away it would be."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:43 pm
"Maybe now that Ini's left I'll get out and see what other people talk about," she mused thoughtfully, ignorant of the fact the two males knew nothing of her son. "Most of my family's still here, I think my aunt left with this red male a loooooong time ago and grandma left long ago too. Sometimes where you're born isn't where you're meant to be." Sometimes, despite her childish behavior, Tizona was incredibly insightful. "And when you stay somewhere it isn't meant to be permanent."
It was the only reason she could think that Kol would have left.
"You should definitely go see the ocean, I hear it's the prettiest thing in the world," she told them eagerly, a wistful look in her eye. She could remember the green leopardess who talked ever so fondly of it when she had traveled into the pridelands with the black and pink lion. "If you go, could I go with you?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:50 pm
"You definitely should! I'd recommend it! Cease the day!" Ruia grinned, his tail coming to loop around him. "It's an interesting thing, isn't it? I suppose it makes sense that some people don't feel like their home is home. Lions come and go often enough from prides, so I suppose there's something that calls to them and keeps calling to them. Maybe some lions just don't like to settle in one place. Get itchy paws and need to just--walk and walk and not really caring where. I met a rogue once who told me that."
Uddhava watched the other female intently, though he didn't say anything. If he was going to be honest with himself, as much as he loved his family and missed them dearly, he had known in his heart that he hadn't belonged in Firekin. He had no interest in duelling or fighting or putting himself in that position. He'd also hated the fact that he stood out like a sore thumb, drawing attention to himself instead of being able to slip around unnoticed.
"Of course you can come with us!" Ruia's enthusiastic voice snapped him from his reverie and he blinked; startled.
"Um, but...won't your pride come looking for you? They...won't be mad if you leave?" Uddhava asked nervously.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:06 pm
"I think it depends on the person," she replied nodding slowly as she pictured the different people who had moved in and out of her life. "Some people are born to wander, others wander until they find what they're missing, and some wander because they have to but I think everyone finds where they should be in the end," at this point she was just gibber gabbering.
"You can't lean on family forever, some day we all have to grow up," sheing wrinkled her nose as she spoke, for so long she had been defined by her family and now that she was on her own she wasn't sure how to go about life. "It's sad isn't it?" She found herself laughing, shaking her head and brushing the sad talk away before the others had a chance to respond.
"Oh really! Lovely! I'm so excited!" She chirped grinning so broadly it took up most of her face. She laughed at Udd's concern, "why would they? We're free to come and go as we please."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:12 pm
Ruia gave his friend an odd look. The yellow lion certainly did have some weird views on prides and how they should act. He never really spoke about where he came from, which struck him as kind of strange. Maybe he'd have to question him on it later, though he wasn't sure he'd get very far with it.
And now Udd was stuttering. "Um, well, I don't know. I guess that's alright, then."
Ruia nodded. "We shouldn't be too long in any case. There must be a sea close by if there as big as they say they are! And with the three of us together, there's no way anything bad can happen. Most rogues travel alone, I think? There's no way an angry one would dare approach three travelling lions." He nodded, satisfied.
"Do you need to let anyone know that you're going?" Or maybe they had all gone?
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:22 pm
It was only when Udd agreed to let her tag along, that it dawned on Tizona that they had not introduced themselves. How was she supposed to travel with these males if she didn't even know their name? Of course it hadn't occurred to her that imposing her presence on two strange males whom she knew nothing about could be dangerous. No, they seemed warm and friendly well Ruia did at least. Ini woud frown upon his mother's decisions but she wouldn't have paid him and heed if he had been there to warn him, she was old enough to be a good judge of character.
"We should head east, I hear that's where you can find the ocean. I think," she pressed her lips together in thought. "Yeah! There's always strength in numbers," she nodded enthusiastically. She swallowed thoughts briefly bouncing to her son, he had his own life now. She didn't have to report for him about anything.
"No, it'll be fine."
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:04 pm
"Excellent!" Ruia exclaimed, turning to Uddhava. "Looks like we just found ourselves another adventuring companion!" And then turning back to Tizona he gave her a wide smile and a gentlemanly tip of his head. "Welcome aboard, ma'am."
And then, with a small skip in his step, he trundled backwards a step and turned out to look east. East was where the sea lay and east was where they would head. His eyes glittered with excitement and, without a backwards glance, he started off in that direction.
Only Uddhava stayed behind to wait for the female, having judged her smile as being genuine enough that she wouldn't turn on him. It amazed him, really, how relaxed other prides were in comparison and he really did hope it would be fine, as she said. He certainly didn't want anyone to get into trouble because of them, particularly someone as friendly as she.
"Looks like we're heading off now." He spoke, though not to anyone in particular. Then, slowly, he started off after Ruia, lifting his head very briefly to the clouds above.
Perhaps this would turn out to be a good adventure, after all.
/fin
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