[PRP] You're from Bahari aren't you? (Furiko and Zephyr)

[Izzy Makani]

The sun was sitting at the highest point in the sky and was beating down hard on the beach. With the thick curls his fur held Furiko was always in search of a way to cool down. Today he was trying out the ocean waves as a cooling source. He didn't want to try and submerge himself out in the deeper water instead he was laying on the beach at just the right spot to where the waves hit him as they came in and swept past him by just a few feet so all his body was hit by the water. This method was working well for him as the breeze coming off the ocean would hit him and leave his wet fur feeling nice and cool against his skin.

He was thoroughly enjoying himself at the moment and he couldn't have been more content after all the drama that had occured. He still couldn't believe that the two prides had now become allies. This type of events probably wouldn't have happened in his old pride. There probably would have been war but he just had to keep reminding himself this was not his old pride and somethings were done differently here.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Izzy Makani

Was she mad about her current circumstances? Not in the slightest.

Did she regret them? No.

Life as she had known it had been turned upside within a few seconds and it had all been through her own doing. It was a necessary sacrifice though and ensured that unnecessary bloodshed had been avoided. Cubs had been returned safely and a more permanent and peaceful solution had been found. The only thing that had been exchanged was herself and Eglantine. All she had to do was live with the Kizingo'zaa for a year and all would be well!

They seemed like a nice pride, they might have been desperate, but they held no malice either.

It had been a risk but it had definitely paid off and she was beginning to appreciate the Kizingo'zaa way of life. They had an artistic flare and an air of positivity about them - The Bahari were equally optimistic, but they had a different way of showing it. Nevertheless, there were times when she missed the ocean and this morning she was particularly homesick... it was for this reason that she had wandered towards the coast just to get a sense of familiarity. What she hadn't expected to see however, was a hulking blue mass lazing about while the ocean touched his paw tips.

...Why did some lions seem so edgy about water? She was never going to understand that bit!  

[Izzy Makani]

Furiko had his reasons for not wanting to submerge his whole body in the waves. He prefered where he was simply because in all his life he had never seen a body of water this large until he came here. It was very intimidating and he did not want to get out there and drown. Drowning wasn't his idea of a dignified way to die.

He laid watching the waves for a few moments before an urge to look around came. There was always pride members coming and going around the lands. He didn't like the idea of being caught off guard by one of them at all. His intuitions had been right too. As he looked over the beach he spotted a purple female at the edge of the beach. He recognized her from the meeting between their pride and the Bahari. She was the lioness they had traded for one of their own lionesses.

She was looking at him...

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Izzy Makani

Yup, he was frightened of the water. He was staring at it in that weird way that only giant, fluffy cats did when they had a phobia of the water. She couldn't fathom why anyone would move to the coast if they had such an issue, but when it came to the Kizingo'zaa she was still learning, suffice to say that they seemed to accept anything and everything - not necessarily a bad thing, but it was still puzzling all the same.

She recalled this lion as well, he'd squared up to Ram upon the king's arrival and in response, Ram had taunted him. She knew it had been a test of strength, moreso directed at Furiko than it was Ram, but he had taken the bait. Suffice to say that she was quick to assume the blue lion did not like the Bahari ruler - an awkward state of affairs no less, given that Zephyr appreciated him a great deal!

Still, he was gazing at her with suspicion and she tilted her head to the side in reply.

"You don't like me, do you?" she observed thoughtfully, pursing her lips as she wandered passed him and paddled into the sea.  

[Izzy Makani]

Furiko watched her closely as she moved nearer to him and then strode right on into the water. Her question to him caught him by surprise and for several moments he just simply watched as she paddled around in the water. Finally after a good amount of thought in the moments he was silent he was able to come up with a reply.

"I don't know you so I don't know how I feel about you per say. I know where you come from and I know who your leader is but I don't know enough about you as an individual to say I don't like you." Furiko replied as he marveled in her abilities in the water. He had never seen a lion swim so well. "I don't like your leader but that's not your fault."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Izzy Makani

"You are lucky he didn't kill you," she replied with a small smile, treading water as she turned to face the lion. She'd heard rumours of what Ram had done to this one and for a while she had been worried, but in hindsight she now recognised that this was just how her leader was. He'd come from the roguelands where hostilities were common, a more brutal outlook on life was necessary to survive and he had tempered this to the best of his ability when he had taken over the pride.

She had a suspicion he could be much worse.

"He has very little tolerance for those without honour," she explained, tilting her head to the side as she regarded the blue lion. "And I suspect that if you asked any pride how they felt about cub-napping, 'dishonourable' would be the least colourful of the descriptions," she pointed out gently. She had no intention of provoking him, but she wouldn't accept that her leader had been in the wrong either... He'd done his duty to recover the cubs that had been snatched from their homes, it hadn't been the other way round.

"All done and dusted though, you shouldn't let these things weigh on your mind and leave a lasting impression. It'll only leave you jaded."  

[Izzy Makani]

At her comment about him being lucky he didn't get killed Furiko just shrugged nonchalantly. He'd traveled in the rogue lands before to get here. He'd crossed a lot of land to get from his mountain home to the beaches of the pride. He had seen a lot during that time and learned that life could be cruel so dying at Ram's claws would have been his mistake but a part of life too. "I'm still alive. I doubt he wanted to take on all of this." Furiko replied to her and then rose to flex his muscles.

"I was only doing what my king told me to do. I wanted to show I could be part of the pride. This is the home I chose to settle in and I am not going to turn on them just cause they might be going against my moral compass. I was sticking by my decision and showing I could be a true pride member." Furiko started out calm as he spoke but by the end he was growling as the words many of the pride members had said to the king when the Bahari cubs were in the pride came back to his memory. It angered him to think how quick the pride would turn on their own king. He was their leader and Furiko couldn't stand that they had turned on him just because they didn't like his decisions.

After a moment Furiko took a deep breath and let it out with a huff. His body relaxed and his usual calm demeanor returned. "The past is what makes me who I am. I let go as much as I can but it still shapes who I become. I may someday play nice with your king but I will never like him."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Izzy Makani

"So if he told you to jump into a fire would you do it?" she hazarded, treading water as she turned to face Furiko. The waves lapped across her sides and caused her to bob in front of him, though this seemed to have little affect on her. "If he instructed you to provoke the wrath of the mythical hairless beasts to the north, would you do this as well?" she pursed her lips gently, seemingly unimpressed by his dedication. Then again, she didn't hold anyone in high regard if they lacked honour and integrity.

"I disobeyed my king and ignored his orders," she pointed out, paddling forward she then waded out of the water and gave herself a shake. "He instructed those incapable of combat to remain in a safe place, to stay at home," she lifted a brow and shook out her paw, silent for a time as she watched the water slide from her paw. "Yet in disobeying him I prevented a war and I have no doubt that Ram has conceded in accepted my judgement despite my rank."

"Perhaps the manner in which the Kizingo'zaa is run is different than the Bahari, but all members have the ability to voice their dissent," she murmured and shook her head. "Even if it means calling out the actions of the king - if he cannot answer for them, then he does not deserve his rank. Whether you usurp, elect or are born into leadership...this does not and never will entitled you to respect and loyalty."

"You have to earn it, and while the past has made you who you are, letting it shape you to the point that you destroy all concept of morals, integrity and honour...is rather dangerous."

She paused.

"However if this is how you wish to live your life then I can do no more than accept that," she finished.  

[Izzy Makani]

Furiko just stared at the lioness for a few moments. She may have had a few good points but he would never turn his back on his leader. He had grown up knowing only that orders of the king were to be followed even if that meant running yourself into the ground and destroying your home. He had followed the king of his first pride till there was nothing left to follow. He had lost his mother when the pride had separated and all his brothers and sisters. He had no idea if any were even left but he did not regret his decision to follow his king.

“Our king had his reasons for stealing the cubs…. And while I may not know what those reasons were I do know that he was sure that by stealing them he was saving his pride.” The determination to stand by his king was evident in Furiko’s voice. Sure the female was right about something’s but he refused to admit that going against his king was right. “I am… Loyal to my king. If he is wrong then I am wrong. Even if all others turn against him I will be by his side till everything crumbles. It is who I am.”

Epine de Rose