|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:56 pm
((DUM DUM DUM D< ))
Kwana was dreadfully lost.
She had been wandering for days, weeks, farther and farther from the desert she once called home. And with each new step, her craving for the sands grew. For the blazing sun over the golden dunes, the midday hunts while the scant prey around the desert's borders were blinded by the sun's rays, the single tropical oasis only a brief walk from the caves, their only source of water, their only tie to life...
To any outsider, the desert was a curse. To a Firekin, there was nothing more beautiful.
But, against her will, she had left, retreating from the rule of her brothers, the rule that should rightfully be hers! The lioness sighed, brushing these thoughts from her mind. What use was there in dwelling on her past? The present was more important.
And she was lost.
Her guide and companion, an adolescent cheetah, had gone running off after who knew what an hour past, and she had seen sight nor sound of him since. Rising from the vast expanse of plains before her, far in the distance, she could see a massive rock formation and, having no other destination, had chosen that for her goal and was padding slowly towards it. Maybe Kimbio would think to meet her there.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:07 pm
An orange form wandered near the border between Pridelands and the desert, having not yet explored this part of the lands. It was an intent to patrol, but instead, it had turned into his own curiosity. He could see, far in the distance, the peeks of the dunes Mwali had come from. His mind wandered to another desert, far away, where there were no dunes but still dry and hot. It was comparable to something found in the land across the oceans known as America, even to a land called Mexico. But it was still an African desert.
A sudden scent of sands and travel struck his nose. Mwali still held a bit of such a scent, and a lioness he'd encountered before held the same scent. It was the scent of a Firekin away from home. He stopped, tail twitching as his ears searched for any sounds, eyes scanning the land. And then he spied her, a red lioness of the desert, wandering from the desert into the Pridelands. He wondered if she was coming for slaves, as he'd heard Firekin kept, or if she was simply... Leaving.
Large paws carried him closer, stopping a good distance away. He had no idea how to greet her, really. All he had an idea of was to keep a comfortable distance, since he knew not what she was capable of doing to him. Even if he was an adult, he was likely still no match for a Firekin, even a female Firekin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:25 pm
The grass of the pridelands was somewhat uncomfortable to Kwana's footpads. Every so often she would step on a particularly thick patch and cringe, immediately stepping sideways to avoid it. How irritating it was after the gliding sands of the desert, how foreign the green was to her eyes. The lioness was on edge, wincing at the slightest of noises, jumping away from brightly colored insects bussing in the grass, starting whenever a bird took flight nearby.
It was all so...strange.
However, across the globe there was one scent she would never forget, and it now wafted towards her on the breeze. The lioness' ears perked, eyes snapping towards the bitter orange form only a stretch away. She tensed. He smelled of these lands, of the green, of the colors, but the orange of his pelt was far more familiar to her than many she had seen. Still, she relaxed not a bit, holding her stance, making no move towards of from the stranger. Let him approach if he wished. She was not a fan of foreign lions.
But then, she was not a fan of her own kind any longer.
Perhaps she would tolerate him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:32 pm
He watched her sidestep the thick patches of grass, shifting a bit. Somewhere in his mind, he wondered if any scent of the hard, sun-caked desert he'd been born in lingered on him somewhere.
Stepping just a bit closer, he continued to keep his distance. "You're a Firekin, I'm guessing... Silly thing to guess, since you have a red coat, you came from the desert, you smell of it... And you avoid the grass..." He sat down, tail flicking idly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:37 pm
Kwana was hard pressed not to roll her eyes. A moment passed in silence and then, figuring a bit of conversation wouldn't hurt, calmly replied, "I was a Firekin, once upon a time. Some weeks past I left my pride," carefully avoid the fact that it hadn't been by choice, "And here I am now."
"Though," she admitted after a beat, "I do not know where 'here' is... What is this land? And who are you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:43 pm
Danzi bowed his head. "And I was once a simple rogue seeking a home when I found these lands." He shifted where he sat, tilting his head. "These are the Pridelands, ruled by King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi." He smiled just a bit. "And I am Danzi, son of the rogue lioness Madaha, adopted by Bakhti."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:51 pm
The Pridelands. Kwana inwardly grimaced, gaze briefly leaving the orange lion to turn back towards the formation still some distance ahead. The infamous Pride Rock, she now knew. She had never seen it herself, nor had she ever held a particular desire to do so. The Pridelands were the enemy. Lower, worthy to be slaves, perhaps, but certainly nothing to bother with.
Of course, the enemy were allies nowadays.
"Danzi," she repeated, testing the name even as she returned her icy gaze towards him. "A...pleasure," she offered, though it sounded rather dry. "I am Kwana." Another pause while she hesitated, then, eyes darkening, she continued a bit softer, "Daughter of Kiu and Kinja, Grandchild of Makadari. Heir to the Firekin throne." She paused, sighing, "And now exiled."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:58 pm
The male's eyes followed the Firekin's gaze a moment towards Pride Rock, then turned back to Kwana. "From the sounds of it, you'd rather be home, huh..?" He smiled just a bit, standing back up. "Nothing worse than wanting to be where you can't go, I guess..." He'd only felt that once, long ago, when still just a small cub, hiding frightened in some bushes with his sisters. The thought was shoved from his mind. "So... Got a direction to wander in? Perhaps to some far-flung desert where you can take your rightful place..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:14 pm
"Well...Yes and no. I have no desire to return to the pride itself any longer, but... I do miss the desert," she admitted quietly, heart traveling back to the waves of sand.
It was exceedingly rare for Kwana to let her vulnerable side slip out, and she captured and locked it away again almost immediately, the hard icyness returning to her eyes. "Far better than this coarse grass."
Realizing how ridiculous it must sound for a lion to be bothered by greenery, she quickly took to the next subject. "Not really, no... I had a guide, but he, eh, wandered off earlier this morning. ...I have no desire to form a pride of my own any longer," she murmured, eyes softening slightly. "I simply want to find somewhere to live my life comfortably, free from the failing law of the Firekin."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:21 pm
He paused to think this over, glancing between the dunes and the distant Pride Rock. "Well... Maybe you could live here...? I mean, there's already ONE Firekin in the pride, so why not two?" Danzi's green eyes returned to Kwana, almost in a questioning kind of way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:41 pm
"The Pride Lands?" She blinkg, then, grimacing faintly, lowered her head, ears falling back against her skull. "It's very...green," she lamented quietly, blue eyes falling to the grass beneath her paws. "And you saw me before, I am unused to--"
Suddenly pausing, she looked back up, raising a brow in curiosity. "There is another Firekin in the Pridelands? Who?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:05 pm
"Well, there's plety of grass-free paths you can walk on. And I'm sure with time, you'd get used to the grass." He smiled at her, confident in any lion's ability to adapt.
"Yes, I believe his name is Mwali." He settled, ears flicking towards the lioness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:53 am
"Mwali," she echoed thoughtfully, pondering. Mwali, Mwali...where had she heard that before? He sounded distinctly familiar, and yet... Shaking her head, she gave up on the name, instead returning her attention to Danzi. If she saw Mwali, perhaps she would recognize him, but for now there was no point in dwelling on it.
"I shall have to think on it. Regardless of this Mwali's presence, I doubt I would be welcome in the Pride, or, at that, that I would be comfortable staying with them. Their traditions are...far different from my own, and I do not intend to give mine up simply to be accepted."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 11:40 am
A thin black eyebrow rose up. "You don't HAVE to give up your traditions when staying with someone... I myself have no reason to believe in the great kings of the past stuff, since I was a rogue up until coming to the pride." Danzi stretched a bit, a yawn escaping. "So... What's the desert made of shifting sands like...? The only one I remember was flat, hard, and covered in stones."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:23 pm
"There is a far greater difference between the Pridelanders and the Firekin than simply their religions," Kwana replied dryly, raising a brow herself. The Firekin's superiority, for one. Pridelanders were good only for slaves in the rare times that they wandered across the desert. ...Kwana was quite sure their views would differ on the subject. How this Mwali had become comfortable enough to join the pride, she would never know.
As his questions turned to the desert, a longing sadness rose in her eyes, gaze automatically shifting back in the way she had come. "The Firekin desert... There is no where else quite like it. The scorching sunlight after the icy desert nights, the warm, soothing sands underfoot, the midday hunts while prey is blinded by the sun's reflection on the sands...our single oasis..." She paused, sighing, and shook her head. "One must grow up there to realize the desert's true beauty. To others, it is a perilous place."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
