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 Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2014 3:00 pm
 The Word was spreading. Each night, Nyeusi woke intending to insure that one more person - at least! - heard the Word. And there were those she had spoken to who had seemed both intrigued and interested, and the black lioness had hopes that they too were informing the rest of the pride. But...she didn't know for certain. Which she should, or so the lioness supposed. Her eye fell upon a familiar white form with distinctive purple wings. Vesper! One of her earliest recruits! Surely he'd helped the cause! Nyeusi diverted her course to head straight for him. "Have you spread the Word, Vesper?" she demanded as she came near.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 7:53 pm
Since Vesper had accidentally become part of the Nyeusi's little group of followers, he had done as much as he possibly could to figure out how to help her, to stop her-- but there didn't seem to be any stopping her and so he only had more and more questions about everything that was going on. As it was, he was caught between the desire to hide himself away and ignore everything and the need to find Nyeusi and talk to her.
Unluckily for him, he didn't have a choice. As he was slowly wandering about, trying to make up his mind, he was found by the crazy dark lioness. When she called out to him, he froze and turned to stare at her, looking stunned.
"N-n--"
No, she probably wouldn't want to hear about how he didn't (and wouldn't) do what she insisted they all must do.
"Nyeusi," he said, putting on a sheepish smile, "I was hoping we could talk."
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 5:22 pm
The lioness tilted her head as she studied the white male. Her recruit seemed nervous - how could he be, when he bore the Word? Perhaps he didn't know how! It seemed so obvious to Nyeusi, but maybe that was why he was having such trouble now. The black female nodded agreement with her thoughts.
"Of course! I see I've been remiss, and neglected to explain to you how we must spread the Word!" she proclaimed. "It's really quite simple. You simply go up to a pridemember - anyone will do, and tell them the Word!" As she spoke, the lioness had come closer to Vesper, until they stood nearly nose to nose.
"Do you need some practice?" she asked kindly.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 2:09 pm
Vesper watched her and could practically see her mind working over his hesitation- and her kind, helpful reply was hard to take, especially standing near nose to nose. And in that second, he made a decision. He would have to get better at playing this part if he was going to stick with it, and he wasn't going to ditch Nyeusi and anybody she managed to convince. So, with an inward sigh, he put on a small smile.
"I think that's it, I just need some practice," he said, "But I just don't know how to explain it right. I tried once and was stumped. I told my sister the Word--"
He nearly stumbled over 'the Word' but he kept going.
"She started arguing that if we really believe it, it doesn't make sense that we stay here. And it's hard to refute, even acknowledging that this is our home."
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 3:49 pm
Nyeusi nodded sympathetically. The poor boy! She'd have to help him a lot more than she'd thought - he clearly didn't have the fire in his soul yet. "We'll get you some practice. As for staying here...you're right. This is our home. And just because the Great Lion's back is turned to Shangyue doesn't mean He has abandoned us. He is simply waiting for the eyesore that is our "King" to be removed before gracing us with His Blessings once more," the black lioness explained as if it was the most logical thing in the world. "Now, let's see you practice!" the crazy lioness announced, straightening up to look around for the next convert. Her eye fell on a pale purple lioness not too far off. "There! Her! Go spread the Word!" Nyeusi ordered him with a nod in the other female's direction.  Atz'mayiy was rather pleased with herself tonight. She'd managed to get a light-pelted lion to step in a rather deep pile of mud and a dark pelted lion to do the same but in a pile of chalk dust. It had been hard work to set up both incidents, but to have them both pay off on the same night - delightful! She was aware of the black lioness and white lion standing nearby, talking. It was a common enough sight. The male was Vesper, a fellow Guard. She thought the female was a Huntress, but that was really just an easy guess. Most of the lions she didn't know were Hunters. It looked like the black lioness was talking about her? Well, that was what her expression and gesture implied. Strange, given that Atz didn't know her name, but whatever. Weirder things had happened.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:00 pm
He wasn't normally so nervous and meek but he was out of his element, it was hard to go shouting in the faces of strangers when you weren't sure you truly believed what you were expected to shout. And this really felt like the opposite of helping Nyeusi.. even if this was the kind of help she wanted. He hesitated at her explanation of the king himself being the problem and the only reason the Great Lion abandoned them.. and suddenly everything felt a little more dangerous.
At least it took prying to get to the "get rid of Shangyue and everything will be fine" part of the agenda. Hopefully it would stay that way for a while yet, but he just wasn't sure.
Then she pointed out a familiar blue lioness for him to go convert. He recognized Atz'mayiy, she was a fellow guard and that made the whole ordeal that much worse. He'd rather have gone up to a complete stranger but it clearly was not his night. He looked back to Nyeusi and then, with a resigned sigh he completely forgot to conceal, back to Atz.. and started walking over.
"Excuse me!"
He already didn't sound convincing.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:59 pm
Nyeusi remained where she was, to give Vesper and the lioness a bit of space. She could hear them well enough, and had faith that her first convert was equal to the task. The lioness wasn't rejecting him yet, and all he had to do was speak up!
The black lioness leaned forward slightly, willing Vesper to do better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atz looked up politely as Vesper hailed her and came over. She wasn't sure what was going on, but the pale lioness was in favor of waiting to see what was going on before making decisions. Especially if she could use whatever it was to play a prank.
Vesper looked nervous. That was already promising for the mischevious Guard.
"Good evening Vesper," she greeted him with a friendly smile. "What can I do for you tonight?" And what kind of entertainment was he about to give her? Hopefully the subtext wasn't too loud, though a mischevious twinkle shone in her green eyes.
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 2:56 pm
He had to fight back a cringe at the sound of his name, all hope that she might only have some vague, passing familiarity with him shattered-- but not surprisingly, considering he knew her name, too. It was too late to worry about any of this, though. Nyeusi was watching him and he was going to remain on her good side.. so it was time to commit.
He just didn't have it in him to shout fervently at anybody yet, though. Still, he was silent just too long, lending itself to a different kind of insanity.
"Have you heard the Word?" he asked, his tone earnest and his expression more nervous than anything, "The Great Lion has turned his back on us! The King-- it is his fault!"
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 4:43 pm
The black lioness could critique Vesper's performance, but that would be later, once he'd finished regaling the pale lioness with the Word. He was telling her, that was what mattered. He did seem a bit shy, but more practice could cure that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Word?" Atz pondered aloud as Vesper paused. He seemed nervous, but that was fairly reasonable given how his words could be seen as treasonous. Not that the Guard was going to nitpick that. She was a fan of anything that could cause some harmless fun.
Speaking of which...this Word seemed to be an excellent opportunity.
"Really? Tell me more," she insisted, a small smile hovering over her lips.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 12:20 pm
It took a loud internal struggle not to openly glare at Atz for messing with him- a fact that was pretty apparent to him. He could feel his nervous but earnest speech lacked the crazy flair that offered some protection to Nyeusi.. but he was not yet comfortable enough to try to sell it that way.
Still, when she demanded more information, he stumbled. He gaze went to Nyeusi for help and then back to Atz as he struggled to remember some coherent version of 'the Word'.
"The Great Lion-- he does not- would never-"
A pause at his emphasis, and suddenly it seemed much easier. Because he truly believed it.
"The Great Lion would never approve of what the king has done, how he has taken lives and twisted the low class- the lions we are bound to protect in the Great Lion's place- to do his own dark bidding," he said, scowling, "The pride can't survive without the Great Lion and the Great Lion will not give us his blessing until the king is gone!"
And then he realized how loud he was getting. Did that translate to crazy?? He wasn't sure.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:18 pm
Vesper didn't seem to know what to say, the lioness mused as he stumbled over a few different words. But then she could see him stand firm, breathe easily, and then...he spoke. Perhaps not the same exact phrasing Nyeusi herself would use, but certainly acceptable, and the lioness glowed with pride. All he'd needed was a bit of practice!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atz watched Vesper. It was strange, he'd been so nervous, then all of a sudden the white furred Guard found his confidence. Fear of public speaking? But now he seemed to be over it. Hmmm. A lost opportunity, that.
But the message itself was also intriguing. Atz'mayiy had heard rumors about this message, she realized. The Word, eh? But definitely treasonous. The Guard wasn't necessarily a supporter of the King, but she also wasn't a rebel against the pride.
Though this message, this Word said that the pride would be fine if not for the King.
"That is very interesting," she replied at last. "But also treasonous. You do know that, right?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:38 pm
Looking sheepish, he shook it off and then shook his head sternly at the one question Atz seemed to have for him. Treasonous was undeniable.. but not beyond redirection.
"The Great Lion comes before the king," he said, "It's his job to help us stay on the right path, to do as the Great Lion wants. And he hasn't. He is not a proper king."
Lower volume, less stammering.. way too sincere.
He still felt silly but, good or bad, he realized he firmly stuck on Nyeusi's side. He only hoped that his performance, so lacking in unrelenting enthusiasm, would not make him the danger to their cause.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:53 pm
Something had changed, Atz realized, as she looked at Vesper. He'd been so nervous when he first approached her tonight, and now he was standing firm in his beliefs. A sight the lioness hadn't been certain she'd ever see.
She grinned at him.
"Whatever you say, Vesper. I just wanted to be sure you knew how dangerous this was. It sounds fun to me!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nyeusi watched proudly as her protege stood strong and spread the Word. The purple lioness didn't look lik eshe was a believer - yet - but she'd listened and that was the most important part.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:14 pm
"Is it worth it, staying safe from the king, when your spirit is in danger because of him?" he asked, still not smiling but appreciating that Atz was being good about all of this, "Will any of us get to join the stars, or has he doomed us all? What if it's not too late to fix it!"
And he glanced back to Nyeusi again, but this time not for help. He smiled.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:52 pm
The smile was all she needed to see. Nyeusi smiled back and nodded at Vesper. He had the confidence now to spread the Word as eagerly as she could have hoped. And he certainly didn't need her watching over his shoulder anymore.
With that satisfying thought in mind, the black lioness faded into the darkness as she headed off to spread the Word elsewhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atz shook her head, still smiling. "You can ask my mom and dad and anyone, but I've never once cared if my spirit's in danger. I'll do what's fun and maybe that'll be what the Great Lion wants, and maybe not. I'm no Priestess you know."
Really, it was nice to see the white lion stand up for his beliefs, strange as they were, but the purple lioness refused to take sides in this whole political nastiness, preferring to simply play pranks as she saw fit. It was easier that way.
"Maybe you should go share your Word with someone else," she offered, taking a step back. "There's plenty of other lions in the pride."
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