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 Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:08 am
 Castiel looked out over the Pride he now would call home. He'd not expected to find what he had when he and his sister had come here, broken and bloodied, their father and sister dead, buried under the mountain, high above the clouds they had called home.
He'd trained all his life to be a warrior for the Gods, to do their bidding, to protect those weaker then he. To aid those who need his strong shoulders and shielding claws. Odd it had been his sister who had need him first. He'd protected her by sheltering her with his body, keeping her under him when the rocks fell. He'd been hurt the worst, but he had made it down the mountains, keeping her safe, till hey had stumbled across the Kitwana'antara, him more dead then alive.
Their healers had taken him in, healed him, brought him back from death...only to tell him that he could not leave for they were cursed and the God of Pestilence was now the God he served. His sister, thank the God of Mercy had only been battered, and she was free to leave.
Closing his mist colored eyes, he thanked the Gods again for sparing her, whom he loved more then a brother should, hoping the wind that blew his golden mane across his shoulders would carry his thanks to them.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:20 am
Caoilainn had been as busy as her father since taking on the job of Guard. Yet as diligent and as hard working as sh was, even she needed time off on occasion. She often spent her free time with her 'mother', the lioness who had adopted all of her father's rogue-born children when they were brought back to the pride. She was the eldest of a hord of 22 kids, and had been a juvenile when the second litter had been brought back by her sire. Instantly she had stuck in and helped her mom, the Head Healer, Eva'raja, and the habit had become so ingrained, the infirmary and healer's den were as much a home to her as her own den and that of her family's.
She had seen the white male with the strange face-mask marking when he had first been brought to the pride, and had even sat with him and given him tonics and pasted salve on his wounds. She herself was immune so she carried no threat for him. Now, seeing him standing outside, healed and as healthy as a recently recovering lion could be, she smiled and padded over, wondering if he would recognize her now he was well again.
"Greetings Castiel. How are you feeling today? The white and blue lioness stood almost as tall as her sire, though she was sleek where he was strong. She was no wilting wallflower though and walked with the confidence of the well trained warrior.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:30 am
Castiel turned to look at the white and blue female who bore a mask much like his, a worn smile on his muzzle. He remembered her in half born dreams between fevers and pain. She and another lioness, this one as dark as the night sky were the only two he could recall out of the half dozen he knew tended him.
He admired the way she walked, not in a way that a male might a female, for his eyes and heart were turned where they should never be, but in the way warrior might for another. He hoped some day soon he might spare with her, regain the strength and stamina he had lost recovering.
" I am well lady," he said politely, for he could not remember her name, " gald to be free of the healers, and eager to find my place her within my new home. Though I miss the misty mountain top of my youth."
If there was fear for the plague he surely had caught, he spoke not of it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:36 am
Smiling she nodded with approval. He had healed well, and he seemed to be a polite sort. She knew he had been a warrior of some kind and hoped he would take that role here within the Kitwana, but she nor anyone else would push him to it and she was curious to see how he handled his new home.
"That is good to hear. And it is expected that one would miss their homeland, though I can not remember my own and there for, can not miss it really." Chuckling she drew to a halt in front of him, vivid neon-green eyes bright and alert, a sparkle of dry humor seemed to live within them permanently. "I am Caoilainn, most call me Kay." She never expected a lion she had cared for to remember her, there were so many healers and often the patient was not fully aware.
"Have you seen much of the pridelands yet?" She asked curiously. if he had not, she would be happy to show him round, for there was much to see aside from the inside of the healer's area.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:11 pm
" I am Castiel, and have always been called that. I think my sister called me Cas once. She decided she did not like it, so Castiel it has always been."
He tilted his head to one side, giving her a quizzical expression, " This is not your home, I thought I heard you call the dark healer, the one who seemed to be in charge of the others, mother?" He knew it was rude of him to ask, but he also knew it was important to understand his new home, since it would be his forever now.
Looking back over the horizon, toward the distant mountain he had once called home, he was shocked he had managed to travel so far with his sibling to find this Pride, " No I have seen nothing of this place, my...memory of coming here..is not clear..only that something guided me. Kept my paws moving, kept my strength going and the predators off mine and my sisters trail till we arrived. The Gods favored us somehow even after they destroyed our home for my father's pride."
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:18 pm
He would quickly learn that not much fazed the tall female, growing up as older sister to 21 other cubs had knocked out any sensitivity she may have possessed, especially with the boys. Chuckling she nodded, green eyes alight with that forever laughter that seemed to fill her.
"Castiel it is then. Maybe one day we will be good enough friends that I may come up with a nick-name for you." His question didn't faze her, though she did get a rather large grin on her muzzle. "Ahhh.. you wish to open that can of worms eh? Well then... ready your ears my friend... the tale is rather peculiar." Chuckling softly she explained t him about her father and the task he had been sent on by the Queen, his year long journey across the savannah in his quest to find females willing to bare him cubs, cubs he then brought back to the pride. There had been four litters in all, but many more failed meetings, for it took a certain lioness to bare offspring and then let the father whisk them away, knowing she would never see them again. Once she finally finished her tale that included 21 other cubs, four rogue females and the explanation about who Eva'raja was to them, she tipped her head expectantly and gave him an amused look. It certainly seemed like she did not mind her unusual family roots, and dotted on her younger half-siblings.
"I hope you come to love it here as much as I do. Of course there are issues... but you will not find a better bunch of creatures on the savannah, and our healers are some of the world's best. I can show you around a little if you like?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:29 pm
Castiel found the whole thing fascinating and listened with rapt attention to the young warrior in front of him, his glacier colored eyes wide with near cub like wonder and the unusual story of her family history. There had been a reason why the Gods had brought his sister and he here, for even if she chose to leave, what he held in his heart for her could be hidden in the deepest part of his heat, held like the treasure it was.
Finally at ease with himself, with the torture that plagued his soul, he gave Kay the first true smile she had seen from him, " I would very much like to see the rest of my home now Kay, and if I could..I would like to begin to train with your warriors. I gave my oath to the Gods to be their shield and claw, and they brought me here to the Kitwana'antara, I must believe this was were they meant me to be."
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:37 pm
His reaction to her story pleased her, for she loved her family and found much amusement in the tale herself, and in the confusion all of them often brought to the pride, for they were clearly related, her sire's genes were strong and all but a few looked stamped by his seed. The twins were his miniatures but coloured in brown, her own full-blood sister had green paint markings and one younger sister was a total anomaly in oranges and reds. But all together they were clearly his children and when they all wen out together (which was sadly a rare thing) they fair filled whatever part of the pride they were in.
Grinning at his wide-eyed expression she smiled warmly. "Then I would love to show you, and I am sure the warriors would be happy to have you join them. I myself am a guard, training to be a scout (well, that was a lie, but she couldn't exactly tell him she was going to become a spy) but I often spend my spare time with them. They are a nice bunch, just beware of Eberon's humor and Hester's temper." Turning she glanced at him over her shoulder with an inviting smile. "Where would you like to start? There is the dens, the cresh, the training area, Beo's Bench...?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:01 pm
Castiel furrowed his brow for a moment, thinking, " I would like to see the den's first if I may. I do not know if there is a place that I will call my own. Do I stay still with the healers? or do the warriors all stay together in a larger area?"
His frown grew a little deeper as if he were mulling things over, " Training grounds next then, and I guess this Beo's Bench you speak of, though I do not know what it is? Is it a look out point?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:08 pm
"Of course." She smiled at him before setting off, moving slow enough for him to keep up easily. "Well... the dens are just altogether, though some couples like to find a place a little further from the main cluster. For obvious reasons." She winked at him. "But aside from a personal choice, it doesn't really matter where you go. The warrior's have their training grounds, but nothing outside of the job is regimented. Our lives are often too short to restrict them in too many ways." She explained gently. "And yes, Beo's Bench is a little glade up the hill. It gives a great view over the pride's land."
She chatted as she walked, showing him the denning area, the warrior's general area and then taking him onto the meadow via some of the regular pathways and trails. Once on the meadow she pointed out the bits of the landscape, explained them and their significance and even where the boundary meandered into view.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:13 pm
Castiel took it all in, filing away what she told him to sort it out for later, learning his new home and the places he would more then likely spend most of his time.
When they crested the ridge to Beo's Bench, he smiled, looking at the panoramic view of the lands around him, a peace settling into his breast. Yes this was where he was meant to be, where the Gods has sent him, for better or for worse. Content with his lot, the stoic, penitence male listened to what the female told him about his home, his heart excepting it for what it was.
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