News from the brother beach [ Complete ]

[Thalion]

FireDog put the fires of the mummers at his back and moved towards the coolness of the distant shadows. He had his dances, his songs, and his laughs but it was good to get away from the hub-bub of the celebrations and let his senses rest. There was a lot to observe on this, the Mummer's ball. There were new faces and old familiar ones, giggling youngsters and proud, smiling elders. It was truly a colorful tapestry of life and song. New blood and old blood mingling with one another by the light of the mummer's fire.

Settling against a stone, the firey prince swept his seafoam eyes over the collected gathering. Still no females that had struck his fancy. He often entertained extending himself to their cousins, the Bahari, as a betrothed. Sadly, the nobility hadn't produced any daughters that he knew of. One more year... he had plenty of time. His mane hadn't even thickened out to its full length just yet.

At least he might strike up an interesting conversation. A good nugget of knowledge was as valuable as any golden trinket- at least to a gypsy prince.

Andranis

 

[Andranis]

The dark lioness padded along the sand, the cool breeze off the ocean ruffling her mane. The pale purple streaks in the still-paler white mop fluttered and danced, moving like a creature of the sea. She loved it here, by the crashing waves of the ocean. Her fears of the water had, by now, subsided with the passage of time. She had even found love... In a creature between two worlds, of all things. The leopon by her side had come from the Pridelands, he said. It was a place she knew of, for she had ample family everywhere. Even the Firekin, that distant desert so unlike the thriving world by the beaches, provided a blood connection for her. She closed her eyes, smiling as they walked.

By her side, Mongolia, too, smiled. Unlike Athena, though, the leopon smiled much more easily. He'd grown up in a happy place, where drama was mostly relegated to the presence of hyenas, somebody leaving home to find new places, and the odd squabble over a kill, or between cubs. The Bahari'mtoto, he found, was as much the same as the Pridelands, with the only true difference being that it had a beach instead of anything like Pride Rock. What drew his curiosity, though, was their neighbor to the south. The Kizingo'zaa, from what Athena told him, were like the Bahari in respect for the sea, and allowing non-lions in... Even hyenas, in the Kizingo'zaa's case. She had no idea if the Bahari truly let hyenas in or not, as none had tried to JOIN yet. But... There was a first for everything!

The black-brown hybrid's attention was caught, as they walked down the beach so he could see their neighbors, by a lion of a dust-brown coloration with hair like fire and markings like the sea. "Athena, he almost looks like he was carved from the cliffs, sun, and sea!"

"Indeed he does..." They had found themselves upon the Kizingo'zaa's territory. She could hear the revelries closer, and made no effort to alter coarse away from the other lion. Instead, she called out, "Good evening! Tired of the party?"

Thalion

 

[Thalion]

Nico had seen the approach of the two strangers long before he was able to hear them. The lion sat in the sand, confident as any young noble but still as the stones around him. The leopon might have startled some of his pride mates, but Muhali looked...strangely like one of the half-blood folk. She sometimes walked as a lion, sometimes as a leopard, sometimes as a winged divine being. It was interesting to see a male version of what their patron god would look like. They seemed to know where they were going... which meant they were likely members of the Bahari.

That or word of the festivities had already reached the rogue lands.

He flicked his tail and laughed lightly. Tired of the party? Oh was he ever tired of his pride? No. it was more fun to observe.

"Well met, cousins." he greeted the others with a short dip of his head. "Tired does not happen here. Haven't you heard? The gypsies don't tire- or sleep." He winked. " You're...late to the party?"

Andranis

 

[Andranis]

The dark lioness let out a bemused sound. "It doesn't seem like they do, do they?" Her tail flicked , brushing the sand. "My question is, if they never sleep, do they lose strength?" Her eyes flicked over the lion, taking in his features. Perhaps one day he or one of his siblings would take their mother's place... She'd heard little of the political movements within the Kizingo'zaa, and while their dynasties were incredibly short, they were not nearly as short as that of the Bahari's. She'd asked lions who were old blood from when the pride rebanded. They'd yet to have an actual heir inherit the pride. It was something that worried her, since the closest they'd come was Ram inheriting it from his daughter.

As he looked around, Mongolia paused, ear flicking toward the lion, before his gaze turned to him. "Late for the party? Oh! Right, you're having a party!" The Mummer's Ball - The Bahari were, technically, invited as their brothers and sisters up the beach. He had no idea yet that their patron goddess could pass for a leopon if she tried... Or didn't try, really. Still, he had no idea. He DID know that the Bahari's patron gods could pass as creatures of the sea, being a part of it and all. "I forgot about the party, I mostly wanted to meet the neighbors!" His smile was genuine, a pleasant motion of his facial muscles.

Thalion

I had a thing typed up here, then I had to restart Firefox before I got to Mongolia's bit... And it totally undid what I'd done. Rargh xD; RETYPE ~

 

[Thalion]

FireDog laughed lightly and rose up to his paws in a sleek, boneless movement. The lion wasn't a large lion, but he had a solid build and four long, sleek legs. His eyes were clever and his expression was a laughing one. Every movement, turn of his head, and glance of his eyes radiated confidence and affirmation in his own being. He approached the strangers casually, his eyes moving from one to the other.

"We never lose strength." He chimed, his voice almost at a sing-song tone now. "The waves of the sea churn in our veins. The voice of the storm rolls through our chests. The lightning flashes in our eyes and the thunder fills our lungs." He flicked his tail as he came to stand at a more polite distance from the incoming strangers.

"And of course...the rocks are our eyes. There's not a shadow in this land that we do not know about."

He winked to the female then glanced over to the male. Oh the Bahari. Mkodi bless them.

"The Mummer's Ball, of course there's a party." He nodded towards the nearby fires. "Dancing, singing, brews of all sorts, and enough meat to make us all a little round by the end of the week. There's nothing more any lion could ask for."

Andranis

 

[Andranis]

It was as if an opportunity had presented itself. "What if I told you the Bahari had more meat on their paws than they knew what to do with at the moment...?" She walked over to a rock, placing a paw on it. "You see... We have this giant dead thing on our beach... And it's more than we can handle on our own..." She brushed some imaginary dirt away.

Ah, yes, the Mummer's Ball HAD been mentioned to him. Of course, Mongolia wasn't sure about trying brews... It was something he wasn't ENTIRELY keen on. Athena'd told him about what some of those very brews DID. His dark ears flicked in his pale mane at the mention of the giant dead thing. Being from inland, he had no concepts of fish past what was in the rivers and lakes, so to see something so huge had been quite the shock. He tilted his head, frowning. "It's the size of two or three bull elephants, that's for sure..." And it smelled of the sea.

"Mmhmm..." The dark lioness placed her paw back on the sand, then offered FireDog one of her decreasingly rare smiles. "I don't suppose any of the Kizingo'zaa would be interested in helping us? Granted, of course... My main interest, personally, is in the bones and getting them up to our dens to use as building materials... Of course, that's the LARGER bones... I'm also hoping to enlist the help of the near by baboon population with the promise of what small bones they want in exchange for cleaning the last bits of meat off the skeleton..."

Thalion

 

[Thalion]

Firedog's brows raised. There was more meat than a pride of lions could handle? That certainly would be a problem- or a golden opportunity. If the pride could save themselves even a day or two of hunting it would be a blessing. The huntresses would be able to spend more time with their mates, perhaps get themselves fat with cub and with food. The spirits of the whole pride would be raised as well...and whatever was this creature? It must have had a story behind it...one that could inspire the mummers.

"I would be glad to pass this word along to Riddle-Mouth. He can pass word along to the pride. Certainly, between the two of our prides, we can find a solution." He smirked. "This beast...what is it? Have you found a name for it or seen anything like it?"

Andranis

 

[Andranis]

She rolled her shoulders, a frown on her face. "Given the features the thing has, the closest I can come to on a conclusion is some kind of whale..." She tilted her head, looking to the waves. "And given one of our patron gods is the God of Fish, I imagine he might be happy to see something that eats his denizens dead..." Of course, the only whales she'd ever truly learned about were the ones that she saw out on the waves, their fins popping out of the water atop arching bodies. At first glance, they looked like the largest fish of all, sharks... But some jumped out, and were unlike any shark she knew of.

"Seems a bit big to be a whale..." Like Athena, the best the leopon had seen of whales had been rather small - At least a third the size of the dead beast on the beach. He'd likely never know that the things they saw out on the waves were dolphins, related but not exactly whales. Given the size of the thing on the beach, he wasn't keen on swimming out into the deep waters to find out for himself, and nobody would likely be able to blame him.

Thalion

 

[Thalion]

A whale? The singers of the deep?

All they knew of the anatomy of a whale was what they could observe from the coastline. Unfortunately, that meant that a whale to most lions was a large, dark hump of flesh in the distance that shot water up into the air and occasionally flipped from the foamy depths. It would be interesting to see one in person- even if it was dead on the beach. He could almost hear Lewenharto's heavy breathing now... he'd give his own back legs for the chance at inspecting such a beast.

Smiling, he nodded towards the gathering. "Come then, cousins. Let us make our proposition to the gypsy king."

Andranis

 

[Andranis]

Athena let out a hm, then looked to Mongolia. "Well... When amid the Gypsies... May as well party with them a bit, right?" She flicked her tail, following after FireDog, the white and purple-striped tip of her tail brushing under the hybrid's chin. "Come on, Mongolia!"

The leopon let out a purr, before following behind the lioness. In the distance, the waves crashed and rolled on the shore, while in the direction they walked, revelries could be heard. Life, for now, was good.

Thalion