[PRP] Politics [Rapha & Tomor]

[Kaelyndra]

Sad excuses for warriors like the Grey Warrior were exactly why Rapha detested working with those of lower-order ranks. They either had no intelligence, no backbone, or both.

Unfortunately, Graos Oma did not always cast greatness on those who had earned it. Many a time, it was the small, hopeless scout who encountered information that was vital to pride movement. In rare times, they chanced upon a god. When they killed one, then she would call these meddlesome creatures great.

Tomor was certainly no High Warlord, nor an accomplished seer. However, his mate must have seen something in him.

Rapha's eyebrows furrowed at the thought. The idea of letting a male touch her already made her skin crawl. Mchawi was intelligent, and yet she chose to let a male have his way with her; it was perhaps her one failing. The Kaar Oma had explained of her mates return, and that he might provide valuable information. Detest set aside, Rapha's intelligence required her to know.

It did not take long for word to spread that she desired his attendance. When she sent a messenger, it took even less time to issue the orders to meet her after he'd had his fill of the most recent kill.

She only wanted to do this once, and the last she needed was a male whose mind was muddled with thoughts of hunger and tiredness. No, he needed to be in his best. Rapha waited for him quite a distance from her den in an area she had picked out for meetings of the Visionaries should they eventually catch back up to this small, off-shoot group.  

[Kimaria]

If Rapha had asked Mchawi a couple of years ago whether she would have ever envisioned herself with a 'mate', the answer would have been instantaneous. It would have been a no. No hesitation. No moment of thought. Mchawi did not believe in love, or perhaps - more correctly - she did not believe love brought any good. Still, a lot had changed since then and, though she would hate to admit it, her plans now required her to have children. And for children, one needed a male...

And she had picked Tömörbaatar.

She had been as careful as a female could be in the Nergui when it came to mates - one of the biggest risks she had had to take. For the moment her children were grown, any other male might have tried to lay claim to her. That was why she had sent for him to return, before someone else got it into their head to try and make her his.

The Shuko was not a high rank but he had other qualities that had made him the perfect candidate. He was out in the rogue lands more often than not. And he was easy to manipulate. Fine qualities in a male!

Tömörbaatar arrived at the meeting spot without a moment's delay, pausing to show his respects with the deepest bow he could manage. "Xakaav Oma. I received your message. You wanted to speak with me?" He was a typical male in many respects. Proud and confident. But he was respectful and well versed in Nergui traditions. Rapha spoke for Graos Oma. He would do all that she asked.  

[Kaelyndra]

Wanted to speak with him was asking a bit much.

Inside her mouth, Rapha's tongue pressed against the roof. Rather than voicing her discontent, she swallowed the nasty, berating words. He had been respectful enough, and he had information.

"You've been in the rogue lands long enough for a full generation to grow." Her eyes flicked over him as she debated whether he was a worthy figure or not. The obvious answer was not, but no rank in the Nergui save for Visionary was constant.

"I expect interesting news." Both of Rapha's eyebrows went up. "Do you have interesting news, Tomor?"  

[Kimaria]

He nodded. "I ended up following a number of leads, Xakaav Oma, though initially it was to discover a promising new recruit that my mate Mchawi had seen in a vision." And that had been so long ago now. It was scary, sometimes, how quickly time went. He had been away for a whole generation. Mchawi had been pregnant the last time he had been amongst his own people and now his children were fully grown. He had two fine sons. Strong and worthy. Enough to make any father proud. He supposed his daughters would be well enough, too, if they took after their mother. No doubt his mate had been busy teaching them all they would need to know to get on in the pride.

"Unfortunately, this recruit was in an unfamiliar location and the direction I was pointed in was rough at best. I used the time searching to scour the lands and learn of the local prides. Most were small, insignificant. I doubt many of them would cause us much trouble were we to run across them during our journey down into the south. The only noteworthy pride I heard of was one that had recently dispersed - a grave shame as it appears it could very well have been a sanctuary for a number of Kulukadok. If we had discovered it before, who knows what we might have gained." Perhaps, he wondered, it might be worth another excursion or two, to try and locate these abandoned lands. They might hold some clue as to where members had dispersed to or still be home to artefacts left behind. "I believe they called this land Tuiat'tekam."

Other than that, the southern lands had held nothing but rumour and many of those had led to dead ends. The problem with speaking with bored rogues is that they exaggerated stories or made them up altogether.

"Not long after this, I came across clues to my target and pursued."  

[Kaelyndra]

"I am not looking for excuses and interpretations, Shuko." They would only muddle the information, and should the other Visionaries appear, she would have to share this with them. She did not think that their patience would be any greater for statements such as this will not be a threat.

"And where are the members of the Tuat'tekam now?" The word sounded strange and flowery off her tongue. Surely a pride could not disband without creating several groups. Recently? Perhaps the Kulukadok had betrayed them.

The question was waved aside with an idle paw. "Your target, then." She was unaware of this recruit that had been seen in a vision. Mchawi was brining in a startling number of recruits from her visions. Rapha made a special note to keep an extra eye on the Kaar.

"What were these clues, and what did they lead you to?" More importantly: where was the target now.  

[Kimaria]

Boy, she was...delightful. No, no. Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself. He needed to remember who he was speaking with. Rapha Oma. Their leader. Their voice. His voice. She had the right to be short with him if no one else did and there was really no point bothering her with the excuses of what had taken him so long.

He need only to stick to the main points. The sooner this was done the sooner he could get back to getting himself up-to-date with the goings on amongst the horde.

"I do not know, Xakaav Oma. Perhaps some have turned rogue. Perhaps some have joined with smaller, local prides. Perhaps some have even come here - for I noticed we have acquired a number of new members. I can make some enquiries, if you wish it." The moment the words were out of his mouth he knew they were likely a mistake. She'd think him seeking favour or something akin to it. He cursed himself. Rapha was not just any female to be trifled with. In an attempt to cover up his blunder, he hastily continued.

"I came upon it by chance." Though Mchawi would say it the work of her visions, no doubt. "The sound of a fight. By the time I arrived on scene, it was over, but there was fur and blood and the scent of one I thought might be able to help. I followed the trail and, upon sun up, spotted her. A hyena." He replied. "Fierce and proud. Certainly a good candidate to join the other Nohoi. I trailed her for a time to evaluate her and made myself known a few days after. She fitted the description perfectly."

The meeting had not gone well, though.

"I brought her here with me." Though she had not been willing at first and some of his fresher scars told the tale of the initial struggle. "She will take her vows soon enough."  

[Kaelyndra]

Hyenas.

They were more agile than lions, and their jaws could still rip and destroy an opponent. They served well, and minded themselves. Rapha enjoyed their company perhaps more than the lions. Their males were hardly interested in proving their worth against her. They did not need to be reminded to behave.

I brought her here with me.

Though they did not close, Rapha's eyes were not watching Tomor. They scanned the space beyond him, following a hyena no one else would be able to see.

She will take her vows.

A small voice was whispering in her ear. A reluctant, angry hyena following a pack of lions. The feeling of wanting to escape. A refusal to take vows.

A nicer lion, a weaker lion would have given Tomor a second chance. Perhaps they would have decided that it was a slip of the tongue, or asked him to repeat the information. Nicer, weaker lions did not see through the eyes of Graos Oma.

Rapha took the sign as she took most. It was hardly a powerful vision, but then, it had hardly been a powerful offense against Graos Oma. The leader unsheathed the claws in her right paw and struck, in one fluid motion, across the face of the informant.

"Graos Oma does not look kindly on those who try to mislead his followers." This was his warning. Any further disrespect and she'd let the hyenas rip him apart on their own.

"What is being done with the hyena?" A slave, perhaps. That was what they usually did with those who showed promise, yet refused to convert.  

[Kimaria]

Perhaps he should have expected it, but he had not. Her paw had moved with swift precision and the pain registered before the realisation did. She had struck him?! His eyes widened a little as he reached up with a paw to touch the bloody mark now engraved across his cheek.

Immediately, submissively, he dropped his head, lowering his eyes. She had known. His small, white lie. She had seen straight through it. A gift given to her by Tra Ord Omak, perhaps? Or perhaps a gift she had always had, one that had won her favour with their beloved and illustrious leader.

"My apologies." He responded, his voice toned low. "I did not mean to mislead." He opened his mouth to explain himself. To tell her that it would only be a matter of time. Their people were persuasive. She could be convinced just as many others had been in the past. But he closed his mouth a second later, deciding very quickly that Rapha would not want to hear it. Better to leave it be and answer the question.

"She was shown to where some of the other hyenas are resting but she did not seem to like them much, either." They would discover that this hyena preferred to be alone save for her jackal companions. "For the time-being she is there. She is being watched."  

[Kaelyndra]

There was a brain left underneath that thick, blue mane. Rapha slipped her tongue over her teeth and blinked, once, before releasing the momentary tension in a breath.

"Good," she told him. Tomor could at least follow basic precaution and protocol.

"You have one month to change the hyena's mind." It was going to be a long month for the male before her. "Should you, I will look on it favorably." The lioness' lithe, muscular shoulders rolled. "Should you not, you only have your own shortcomings to thank."

There would be no punishment for failure, not from her. Rapha punished for intentional misleading, rash decisions, and direct disobedience; lies, mutiny. Attempting to succeed, however, she wished to encourage. The more the Nergui fought one another for power and renown, the less they fought her.

Self-failure sucked the disobedience out of a lion, or so Rapha might think from looking at her father.  

[Kimaria]

"As you command, Xakaav Oma." He replied, still not daring to look up until he was certain her anger had subsided - momentarily at least. To win over the hyena and win favour was a pleasing thought and one that he couldn't help but yearn for. Just to hear a word of praise from her would be enough. The others would hear of it and their jealousy would certainly please him - for a time, at least.

"Is there anything else you would have of me?"

He hoped not. Hoped she would dismiss him and be done with it. He was in pain and on edge and - at the same time - eager for the future. He could charm the best of them. Surely a hyena would be no problem for one such as he.
 

[Kaelyndra]

Tomor was in wonderful luck.

"No," Rapha's voice was cool, and if she continued to be angry, it was only to memorize Tomor's eyes. She'd be sure to stare at them as he died should he ever be foolish enough to knowingly cross the will of Graos Oma again.

"If there is nothing else, then you may leave." The Visionary's head bobbed a direction away from the area. It didn't matter which one. With that face wound, he would likely be scuttling away with an exact destination in mind.

Who was she to tell him where to go next, as long as it was away from here?