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 Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:25 pm
 Azubuike was having a good day, one among many. Ah, the rogue life! It suited him very well; the long miles and the solitary hunts were building a respectable set of muscles. He was still smaller than most lions and if it weren't for his mane he could have been mistaken for an adolescent - but he could travel all day without getting tired and he walked or didn't walk as he pleased. He slept when he wanted and he got up when he wanted too. Which was a good hour after dawn because that's when he'd always gotten up.
So it was curiosity rather than any sense of loneliness that drew him towards the scent of many lions. He could only smell it faintly on the wind, but to smell it from so far away... could this be one of the "prides" Naim'Namir had once mentioned to him? A great many families all living together... he had to see this strange thing for himself!
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:55 pm
 Chocolate eyes trailed over the landscape with a mixture of despair and determination. It had been many moons since she had been ripped from her sister's side, or at least, that's what it felt like to Runa. She simply couldn't fathom how it had all happened. One moment, she and her twin were finally settled into a warm bed, surrounded by those who wished to care for them, and the next, they were being separated. In her soul, she knew that the Great Lion had a plan for her, but at the moment, she hated it.
She needed space, and not the kind she was going to get in the pride. Runa was walking along the border, or as close as she dared to go, with a little thought worming around in her brain. What would it be like if she just...vanished? She shook her head. No way! How could she? This was her home! Just because life was getting harder didn't mean that she had the right to run away from it. She just needed to accept it, and learn to move on.
Of course, when she saw the stranger closer in to the border, that same thought of loyalty didn't stop her from moving in closer. "You there!" She snapped, holding her head as high as the Nobility themselves. "What do you think you're doing?" It was a risk, she knew; a risk that he wasn't actually one of the pride's own members, but he didn't look like it. For one, his pelt was vibrant, definately something she would have remembered, and he was so...so small.
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:07 pm
Painted Moose "Oh my god, it's a giant!"
Oh s**t. Oh s**t oh s**t oh s**t.
"Uh," he said, ducking his head in embarrassment. "Is this... a pride? I didn't... I didn't quite mean to intrude. I mean, um. I was just... walking," he finished in a small voice. The excuse sounded lousy, even to him.
The voice in the back of his head that kept track of such things noted that she had a purple pelt, which made just as much sense as a blue one. Maybe she was from a purple family? Naim'Namir had been nice enough; perhaps her colors were off but that didn't mean she was a bad lion. Maybe she'd be forgiving of his mistake.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:19 pm
moineau bavarde "Like, omg, you iz so weird."
"It is." She stopped and looked him with a more dispassionate look than before. That fleeting bit of adolescent spark was starting to fade as it always did, leaving her as cold as the wind through her fur. "You've entered the lands of the Mwezi'Johari, and if I were you, I would think of a better excuse before the Guards show up. Maybe you should fake a limp, or something...?" She shrugged. What did it matter to her if he was beat up or not?
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:17 pm
Or not. Guards? There were guards for the pride? Oh, he was quite the fool... he grimaced, knowing full well that his family wouldn't have taken well to strangers walking around their territory.
"No," he said slowly, "I did wrong. I am not familiar with the way of 'prides' or the... Mwezi'Jobadi? But ignorance is a poor excuse, I should have payed better attention to the line that marks the boundary of this pride. Which is, er..." He looked around, realizing he wasn't certain where the border was. Somewhere nearby, hopefully. He turned back to the purple female, who he had mistaken for an adult. "Would it trouble you a great deal to indicate the border's location? So that I don't repeat my mistake."
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:04 am
"Mwezi'Johari." She pronounced, slow and simple, like she was talking to a child. Runa huffed. Really, she was starting to think that the Great Lion was against her today. At least he was smart enough to realize his mistakes, thus making it easier for Runa to stomach being around him.
Until now.
Why? Why why why? "It's been...marked." Just saying it made her uncomfortable, and it was visible, by the way she was shifting. Her cheeks grew darker. Some of the border was physical signs, but others...not so much. "Look, if you can't find it now, then you won't find it even after I tell you. Just turn around, keep walking and don't come back. That way, you won't cross it again."
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:20 am
"Mwezi'Johari," Azubuike repeated, not caring for the female's tone. He wasn't stupid.
Marked? Marked how? What did she - oh. Oh. He blushed as well, equally embarrassed. Yeah, that... that made sense. And now that he had the information he needed, it would make perfect sense to follow the female's advice and leave.
And yet he hesitated. To be honest, he was more embarrassed by his blatant discourtesy than frightened by the threat of guards and curiosity was starting to win over the embarrassment. "Before I go," he said slowly, "could you tell me more about this... pride? Is it true that prides have lions and leopards and cheetahs, all living together? I met a lion once, a blue fellow, who was on some form of coming-of-age quest from his pride, but I have never visited one myself."
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:28 am
Runa was ready to turn on her paw and leave when he started to talk again. She thought it had been perfectly clear that this conversation was over, but now...now she just rolled her eyes, trying to keep her cool. "There are prides that have lions, leopards, cheetahs and all that, but we've only got lions. And we have a quest, too. A spiritual one. Except instead of leaving the pride, you're given...something to make you fall asleep and when you wake up, depending on the moon, you'll know what class you belong to."
Runa didn't want to go into details, considering he was a rogue, after all, but she didn't think it would hurt to tell him a little.
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:40 am
Now she'd done it. Azubuike had never gotten to ask Naim'Namir very much about his pride and he wasn't going to let another opportunity slide past. He was particularly intrigued by Runa's casual mention that not all prides were the same. This one was just lions - which made a great deal more sense in Azubuike's mind. What was the point of having leopards and cheetahs around? That wasn't the way it was back home; it was always just him and his family. All lions, as was only right and natural.
Quests seemed to be common though. A spiritual quest? Dictated by the moon? How strange! But first...
"What's a 'class'?" he asked. Weren't all lions equal? He'd never been on the same footing as his parents, but that had been largely a matter of respect - they were his parents! There'd never been any separation between him and his siblings, how could there be? They all hunted and ate the same.
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:51 am
"Oh great," Runa murmured under her breath. She'd got herself into a trap that she wasn't likely going to escape for a while. Unless... She grinned, laughing evilly in her mind.
"You know, Nobles, guards, hunters, slaves...all that." She waved her paw in the air, already dead set on getting out as fast as possible. "Depending on which moon you're born under, of course. I've even heard of slaves giving birth to a litter of nobles." Of course, that story had more depth to it, but for the time being she was just trying to hurry it along.
Runa snapped her head to the west, then grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down. "Shh! Did you hear that? I think a guard's coming this way...and they didn't sound happy." She bit her lower lip, looking all the more worried. Honestly, she hadn't heard a damn thing, but if she could trick him...
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:11 pm
Azubuike's mind boggled at what Runa was describing. Hunters, guards... okay, that made sense. But nobles and slaves? Slaves giving birth to nobles? And all determined by the phase of the moon? It didn't make any sense. He frowned. "So, what you're saying is-
"WRGH." He hadn't been expecting her to grab him like that; she was stronger than she looked. Not that she could have taken him if he'd been prepared. He strained his ears listening, but couldn't hear a thing. But guards would be good at being stealthy, wouldn't they? He lay flat on the ground, considering his options. He wasn't all that concerned about the guard; he could always explain that it had been an honest mistake. And he did want to learn all about the pride and it's strange ways, but... but it would be wrong to get the female in trouble, especially for his sake.
"It was nice meeting you," he whispered. "I'll just... leave before I get you in trouble." He smiled one last time before twisting around so that he could make a break for the rogue lands. "My name's Azubuike! I apologize again for intruding."
And with that he got up and bolted out of there. Hopefully he'd make it well enough away before a guard spotted him; he'd sure hate to get the strange purple female in trouble.
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:15 pm
Runa watched him go curiously, her warm eyes following him as he made his mad dash for the rogue lands. When he was just out of ear shot she pumped her paw in the air, and whispered, "Yes!" It worked! He was gone! She would have liked to be able to say that he wasn't that bad, but really, he was. Why did he have to ask so many questions, anyway?
She stood up, carefully pushing the dirt off her pelt before walking back towards the pride. "Azubuike..." She murmured. "Nice name...for an idiot."
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