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 Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 10:52 am
Miah was beginning to feel himself become one with the rocks. At night the pride was always quiet, and so far on the outskirts of the group he sometimes forgot he had been captured at all. In the Nergui, chanting often continued way into the late hours. One always felt unity, even if it was a dangerous one.
These firekin were silent. Only in battle did they seem to come alive.
Not that he had ever joined in on the chanting, which was part of the reason why he found it so ironic that he missed it now. Looking out across the far stretches of sand, he tried to remember what the black mountains looked like when it was dark. His father had once said, before he had left, that they were the fangs of the old one, ready to bite at the heavens.
The black lion pulled himself to his feet, his body almost misshapen from having been seated for so long. He shook out his mane. Small debris still clung to it like nettles.
Sometimes late at night, when the guards forgot he was here, he'd go and wander the desert. There was no place to go, and he always returned. The truth was when he got too far out, he remembered that the hongshan still remained, and despite whatever they might have thought- he felt one of them. So he returned back to the rock by the morning light.
Still, it was a lonely existence.
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:58 pm
Early morning, before the sun began to rise across the vast, rolling desert was always the best time for gathering supplies for her mother's use in treating wounds and sickness that cropped up within the pride. In a land filled with warriors the former was more likely than the latter in most instances. Atsila Inadu wondered distantly if she might one day become even half so skilled as Ea, but it was a concept so far reaching that the doctor's daughter couldn't put it out of her head fast enough.
Life here in the Motoujamii seemed forever changing, a fact she was still trying to wrap her head around as she teetered between in a limbo between youth and adulthood, slower to come into her own than the rest of her siblings. Sometimes, the chance to get away from it all was it's own reward. Dangerous times with the Nergui threat, the elders would say, but when wasn't there threat? The great drought she had managed to survive through, one of only a few cubs at that to have been born during such a tense time in the pride, was testimony to that end.
At least most trouble seemed to come in waves. A golden gaze admired the soft petals of a pale desert flower, one of the species that only bloomed at night. Very soon it was likely to begin shrinking beneath the sun's relentless glare. Inadu plucked it without a second thought, tucking the delicate blossom into the satchel slung across her shoulders. There were already several other items inside and though she wasn't entirely sure if this particular flower would prove to have medicinal benefits, but it never hurt to bring new things back to inquire about.
With her sights flickering about for things she recognized as useful inventory, the shadow cat barely noticed how far she had come until another body came into view. Almost completely obscured by the quickly fading darkness, eerie markings made him far more distinct than he might have been otherwise. The pariah, Miah, who had arrived with the refugees. A group Atsila had never been very particular to. Her head rolling to one side as she inspected him warily. This was the first time she'd really had the chance, and it was somewhat disconcerting that on the whole he seemed, in many ways, similar to most firekin males on first glance.
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 4:54 am
It wasn't rare that he might encounter others while drifting about. He made an effort to avoid them when possible, but sometimes he found himself drawn in. He was not a social lion [to say the least], but he did enjoy...existing around others. In the nergui he had often trailed other camps, watching. Never bold enough to mimic the strange social conventions the others had, but still wanting to be close.
The female before him he did not recognize, but then he did not recognize most firekin who were not guards. Firekin all looked similar. Even the ones who the nergui would have called 'blessed', had brothers and sisters that resembled their strange coats or eyes. This individual he could not distinguish. Her markings were similar to several dominant traits in the pride. She could have been anything: guard, soldier, medic, water seeker.
Since the outcome was rarely the same, he felt no need to alter his behavior.
The think male kept walking in a slow, stiff legged gait. Soon he was passing by her. His eyes turned somewhat, watching her in case she rose to attack. Such things were rare, but not uncommon.
It did not occur to him to greet her.
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 7:48 am
As if looking into a mirror, Atsila mimicked the stranger, watching him as they passed in a vicinity all too close to one another for her immediate tastes given how little she knew of him and his situation. Attacking her would have been particularly stupid, they weren't in the heart of the pride, but they also weren't miles away from the nearest guard. Of course, there was no accounting for the crazy thoughts that got into the heads of some lions.
Passing in mutual silence would have been the best decision, there were still a few more supplies she would have liked to collect before anyone noticed she was gone, but the flea in her ear made Atsila stop. Just beyond tail to tail the lioness swung her head to stare at his black backside. Why do they keep you separate?
It wasn't a question without thought, but there was a certain brazenness about it. The sort of curiosity that was blunt and tactless. After all, he had come with the others who bore warning of the Nergui, if he was someone to keep an eye on, then why weren't the rest of them?
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 3:58 pm
He missed going out to look for water... Though his travels around the desert now, while aimless and directionless, HAD proven a boon for the two-tone red lion. At his paws, a black jackal scurried, keeping him company and providing a voice for the silent beast. Strangely white eyes flashed for a moment as Tulipalo noticed Atsila and Miah in the early darkness. He looked to the jackal, then curiously went over. Silence had its benefits, and the lion found he enjoyed listening to others. So long as snakes weren't involved. He said nothing as he walked up, ears pricked as he tilted his head in a manner he'd by then come to express as curiosity, the jackal stopping and sitting at his paws.
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 4:42 pm
Miah blinked slowly, for a moment seeming more apart of the landscape than someone you might wish to have a conversation with. His expression was one of slight confusion. As though the words had surprised him. He sat in a strangely surrendered position, shaking out his stringy mane. "That is the way it is."
He remembered, briefly, a time when it had not been that way. Twice in fact. The first time had been when he was a child, back before his strange habits had segregated him from the horde. He'd huddle up with his brothers and listen to his father chant. It felt like companionship- even if it did not last for long. He'd felt it again when he'd helped the hongshan escape. For a time they had traveled through the black mountain, and out into the desert. They'd huddled together out of fear.
Miah hadn't felt the fear. But lying so close to the others, listening to the steady rap of their hearts, he could almost pretend he did.
He continued standing there, watching her. Much as though it didn't occur to him to make a greeting, it didn't occur that she might have wanted more elaboration than that. When it seemed certain her stance was non-agressive, and taking a further moment to estimate the position of the jackal, he rose to leave.
"I don't walk far."
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Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 5:53 pm
His words were so simple it was incomprehensibly frustrating to the young lioness. That's the way it is? The way it is?! To hell with the way it is! What exactly was that supposed to mean anyway? The way things were in his life or the way things were in her pride? Feeling her tail twitch in short, agitated movements and unintentionally stirring the sand. There was a lifelessness in this outsider's voice that made her reconsider her initial thoughts.
He was nothing like a firekin at all.
Watching him in strained silence, a brief glance was all she afforded Armada's spawn--easily recognized by the bone markings he bore. If Ea's daughter wasn't mistaken, he was one of the ones sired by her own father, which made them half-siblings to some. All it made them to the practicing medic, was rivals. Adding pointedly when the black beast seemed ready to leave with parting words of--what? Reassurance? H didn't seem the sort to ask permission for anything, but then, he also hadn't resisted his segregated state or tried to escape either. It made Miah all the more bizarre.
I don't care about that. It was frank, but true. Don't you feel betrayed?
She didn't feel the need to elaborate, as if the bitterness in her knit brow could fill in the empty space her words could have filled.
(Sorry for the delay, guys and sorry again for Atsila, Drani. ^^;)
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:40 am
[No worries!]
Miah paused. His ear slowly pivoted, betraying the inner workings of his mind. Betrayed? That involved anger, which he did not feel. He'd never felt anything quite like that- although like other emotions, he'd tried very hard to understand what it meant by studying others. A lot of shouting, he'd found.
He'd never been compelled to shout.
"Have I been betrayed?" He said. When no answer came immediately he shuffled his feet as though uncomfortable with the question. "I am nergui, they are hongshan. You are firekin. I have not harmed anyone."
That wasn't entirely true. His head shook and he recanted the overstatement. "There was one, a nhoi, who tried to stop us when the hongshan escaped. We killed him before he sounded the alarm. Another hongshan fell sick and neared death. I said to leave. So I suppose I have harmed those."
Had he been betrayed? It was true he had never fit in with the nergui. He had thought, perhaps, he would be hongshan then. Perhaps they would understand him. But he had not been understood by them, nor the firekin afterward.
"It does not cause me harm," he explained. "I am used to walking alone."
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:07 am
[Eh, I don't imagine Luut would get too much affection from his half-siblings xD ] It didn't take much for the bone-marked lion to realize the jackal at his side made the Nergui nervous. He just wasn't entirely sure WHY. When he made a motion to shove the canine behind him, Moesashi responded by simply hopping over the paw, taking his seat again by the red lion's paws. Luut gave him a sour look, then eyed his half-sister. Even in a brief glance, he had a good inkling of what the lioness thought of him. He'd certainly heard it enough from P'leimis. The word 'betrayed' reached his ears, and he wondered for a moment... If his father were to speak, for he'd heard from Aunt Shula that once upon a time he DID speak, would he find a strange companionship in this lion...?Moesashi, in the mean time, let out a bored yawn, before his large ears pricked. Nergui... "Lions and your labels!" It was the first words he'd spoken, and he waved a paw to dismiss the look Luut was giving him. "Hongshan, Nergui, Firekin... You're all lions to jackals. I don't see many differences on the outside... What makes one lion more special than the next, besides who's stronger?" He got up, stepping a bit closer to Miah. "As far as I care, you're the same as every other lion in this desert - Until you do something either in or against your favor, you are a neutral party to a jackal." Or at least, to this jackal, and maybe his father. The black and tan animal, either way, didn't much care. "Where your from shouldn't matter, but who you are should." He got ready to say something more, when a large red paw snaked around and covered his mouth, yanking him back to the two-tone male.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 10:20 pm
Wasn't that the point? Even though Miah had caused no harm--well, no significant harm given his admissions of guilt--he was still treated with mistrust. Treated as an enemy. Maybe it was because of the stories of her father and his unjust treatment that caused outrage to simmer towards the surface. Lips drawing into a grimace of frustration, though before Atsila could speak she found her ears being assaulted by the yapping of her half-brother's companion. Of course, what firekin in their right mind would keep such a creature was utterly beyond the lioness. The only suitable familiar to be kept in the desert, were low maintenance snakes, obviously. Besides that, the little dog was startlingly insubordinate, talking out of turn, disobeying it's master and clearly butting that black nose where it wasn't wanted. Bristling at the snack-sized jackal and his lion in evident annoyance. Control your mutt.
Or I will. Atsila didn't have to say it, the words hung ominously in the air, swinging a more tolerant expression on the Nergui--or whatever he was if he had left his own twisted kin to save the band of refugees. Haven't you?
She returned the question inquiringly before adding her reasoning, You came together, but only you are treated as untrustworthy.
As a cub the Hongshan had made it clear that they would rather see her die than spare what little water there was with pride members they considered expendable. Luckily, her brethren had been strong willed and resilient enough not to succumb to the weakness of temptation and have barely waited out the drought while rationing the water to everyone within the pride, but the memory left a bad taste in Atsila's mouth. In her opinion Miah's companions were no less untrustworthy than they claimed him to be. Despite herself, a frown threatened to form at the images of loneliness Miah's words conjured, no matter how hollow his voice seemed. If he was seeking belonging, he certainly didn't appear to be finding it.
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 7:14 am
Miah tilted his head, a look of confusion crossing over his face. He was no stranger to being suddenly accosted by multiple people asking him questions. But the nature of the questions required far more introspection than he was probably capable of doing. He blinked slowly.
"When we left, the Hongshan believed I was someone I was not," he said. More to the point, they hadn't exactly asked. He'd offered a way to freedom and they'd taken it, hoping with blind hope that he was one of the other captured rogues and not a nergui spy. But that alone was not the cause of the suspicion. "They believe I lead the others to this place."
In truth, he hadn't...although he had wondered how his plan had been found out by his brethren. He suspected that for some time, Svarr and his mate had been plotting to remove him from his father's troop.
He seemed still for a long moment. "The Hongshan cling to each other. They are the same. The nergui war together. They are the same. I have never been the same."
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Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 9:47 am
Luut scowled at his half-sister, offering her a rude gesture for her attitude before ushering the jackal out of forced hiding. If the thing irritated her, he was MORE than happy to let it yap! After all, when Singh had brought the thing before him with its father at his own paws, the understanding was that it could be a voice for the silent lion. The trouble came in communicating to the jackal what Luut wanted voiced, though this time his expression was doing the talking to Atsila.
The jackal did a rather good mimicry of Luut's rude gesture at the lion's half-sister. "I am not a MUTT, that implies that I am a common domesticated dog of unknown parentage! I am a JACKAL!" He then let out a surprised sound as he was shoved out. His tail twitched for a moment, before looking over to the dark bone-marked lion. "Being different isn't a bad thing. Look at Luut!" He turned and pointed at the brightly-colored lion. "He can't talk. Doesn't stop him from trying to enjoy being around most of the rest of the pride." Perhaps Miah's point had entirely flown over the jackal's head, though...
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Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 8:37 am
Atsila missed the first rude gesture made by the lion she begrudgingly acknowledged as kin, if only in part, her attention focused on Miah. The outcast's words were lain out in a way that held a steady indifference and yet she still felt more than heard his isolation. Maybe she was projecting her own emotions on him, her dark face drawn mute with thought. Yet just as she chose to speak she found herself being interrupted by the annoying bay of Luut's annoying furball. Reeling her head around to stare at the little beast with all the ugliness she could muster. If that thing was the tool through which the silent lion was expected to be given a voice, it was embarrassing.
The fire snake almost felt sorry for him, almost. Then, for some reason, it gave her a sick sense of amusement and she felt herself grinning sharply at Luut and the Jackal both. Returning her attention to the dark lion as if the other two had disappeared, her tone was blunt. They may never believe otherwise even if you are proven innocent, even if you cause no harm. So why stay? The guards don't seem to keep you, I don't think they would go out of their way if you left in the night.
Perhaps it was treason to speak that way, to suggest escape to a captive, but Atsila couldn't entirely understand why. There didn't seem to be much interest in making sure he didn't run. More curiously, even though Miah seemed to realize as much, he stayed anyway. Perhaps, in her own mind, she made the suggestion to find out why.
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Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 6:41 am
Miah stood still, perhaps considering the question himself. His tail pulsed. The truth was, where else would he go? The nergui had not accepted him, nor had the hongshan. The firekin called him 'drudge', but he had come to understand this was not acceptance either. Enemies, allies, strangers- Miah had known the bitter taste of each, and was not inclined to branch out to others.
At least here in the firekin he was not often troubled. People gave him a wide berth, as though he might at any moment launch onto some sort of nergui war march. The Hongshan even allowed him to sleep nearby, and for a time, he could almost pretend he was welcome. Such things were not as possible among the nergui, where the nohoi would patrol and bite at his heels.
He had no desire to be proven 'innocent'. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what the concept entails. It seemed like it would have been a farse- he wasn't that innocent after all. He trained his strange eyes upon Atsila, and seemed to really look this time. "Nothing to be gained in leaving," he admitted flatly.
He craned his neck. The night was continuing on, and he felt like the stars had drifted. How strange. "Thank you," he said mechanically, and without inflection.
Then, he turned back towards the night.
[ So sorry about the delay, I figured I wrap this up so people can use it as a completed RP! ]
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