[PRP] Negotiations (Kimya and Sorra Suau)

[belloblossom]

Kimya had been walking for a short ways away, but the water hole that Sorra had bathed in was already small in the distance. Finally deciding they had come a far enough distance away from where they started,
Kimya fixed her gaze on Sorra and blinked at the other lioness.

"I'm going to be honest, after I just showed you that." She flicked her tail tip back towards the way they had come, meaning the water hole. "And in turn I had asked you to tell me about yourself. I hope you won't think me rude, but I don't like being used to taken advantage of. I will still hear you out in regards to this new favor, naturally, but we will need to establish some sort of give and take relationship if you keep asking me to do things for you. Do you understand?" She inquired, perking her ears and inclining her head forward with a friendly smile. "Of course, if this turns into a friendship,
I'm more than happy to help out of the goodness of my heart, but there have been too many that have tried to take advantage of my generosity and I don't know you yet." She reasoned and then straightened.

"Now, speak your favor, if you will. And anything else you want, of course." She said with a grin.

- Mynsed -

 

[- Mynsed -]

Sorra stopped short, blinking. Give or take? Sorra opened her mouth to angrily respond, about to point out that the lioness had attacked her earlier and the least she could have done was show her the bathing area. But snapped it closed. No, the lioness had also saved her from the alligator. So maybe they were even. She hadn’t expected the lioness to think the bathing area was a gift of sorts. Her tail flicked in minor irritation and her chin lifted but she remained silent.

”Well,” she began sharply, still a bit miffed. ”I had wanted to ask you to teach me of your language. The brute is an awful teacher,” she muttered before sighing. No, she shouldn’t be waspy with the lioness, especially when asking her of this. ”I will be happy to pay someway,” Sorra supplied before pausing. With what? Her fruit were now being held hostage and she had nothing else to her name. ”Although, the only sort of item I could trade you with is currently not… available to me.” Her ears twitched, looking at her for a few moments, considering. ”I would like a friend in this place. I have yet to find anything good about it,” Sorra replied almost quietly before pausing and shaking her head. ”Well, the water hole was interesting and great. And at first, I thought you were… unwell in the head, for attacking me randomly. But then, so did the brute.” Okay, maybe Sorra had charged at him first. But he didn’t have to get that rough.

Belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Kimya raised her eyebrows at the other lioness who sounded indignant at her proposal. Didn't she realize with her treatment from the pride and from Larak that by joining the Nergui, she wasn't entitled to anything? Clearly, she thought she still had some value in the pride and sure, with Larak being able to convince the Kaar Oma to make Sorra a Emkurcar instead of a slave, it was an improvement, barely.

Evidently, Kimya was going to have to explain some things to this lioness. Her lip twitched when the lioness suggested she wasn't right in the head when she attacked and Kimya flexed her claws.
"Sorra, let me be frank." She began. "This pride isn't your average pride. We do not hold the same values here and you know it or rather, you don't know it. In the Nergui, you have to accept that you don't know anything and be willing to learn everything new. That's what joining a pride is, whether you came here willingly or not." She looked pointedly at the other lioness and then went on. "Learning the language is just a small portion of it, if you go around acting like you're entitled to everything you may have had in your old life. It's harsh in the Nergui. Possessions are shared or stolen. Challenges are made and met. Give and take is a driving force of companionship and loyalty with strong or clever allies you make one day and never speak to again will still back you if you prove your worth."

She unsheathed a claw and pressed it into the sand, drawing a small circle and then a line to a larger circle and then another line to an even larger one.
"These circles represent the honor system. If you win challenges in battle and show that you are not easily beaten, you can gain more honor and respect in the pride. You can move up in the military or you can avoid getting attacked by others, because they will fear or respect your might enough to leave you be." She informed Sorra and then pointed to the highest and smallest circle. "Here are the highest ranks one can achieve. There's commonly only one to the following ranks, sometimes more than one, but not usually. They are the Xakaav Oma, who leads everyone and those below them which are the Worrurd Hesr, our commander and Kaar Oma, our overseer. There are also Worrurds, which are captains of the military units when the need arises. Occasionally they are challenged, but they have a lot of respect to have gotten that far in their rank. Ah, let's throw the Muvukol in this group too, just because there's only one of them. They are typically in charge of the Emkurcar. I'll get to that." She pointed to the middle circle next. "Here, we have the military ranks. Braak, the brute force, appropriately what Larak is. Shuko, the stealth guard, which is what I am and the Nohoi, the hyena faction of the Nergui." Finally, she came to the largest group. "Here is the majority of the Nergui, the Emkurcar, your rank as a hunter and the Kaar, who are gifted the ability to see beyond their eyes. While the majority, they aren't very impressive and are often bullied do to their inability to show their worth in battle. Dhlurr, slaves aren't worth anything so they aren't included into the majority." She added.

Shaking her paw before sheathing her claw, she stared at Sorra.
"Do you see now? With all the Nergui put on fighting ability, I was trying to do you a favor. If I gave you some battle scars, you'd look like you had seen battle and made it out alive. My battle was an offering to show the pride that you weren't some weak, entitled lioness that should have been made into a slave, with all she's been contributing to the pride since coming here." She bared her teeth and then sighed. "I'm sorry, I get so caught up in things, I just..." She got to her paws, tail lashing. "I just want you to understand that things are different here. I want you to see how easy you've had it, even with Larak being a brute compared to the lions you must be used to. I won't go on about how hard it must be on him, I know you won't understand that yet, maybe not ever, but you can at least try to comprehend what kind of a place this is and what you will need to do to survive here." She looked at Sorra again. "In short, you're going to need to stop whining, stop acting like everything is going to go the way you want because that's 'how it was from where you came from' and toughen up." It was a harsh reality, but Kimya had to lay it on her cold. If she was sympathetic, she was worried the lioness would start crying for home.

"I'll teach you the language, but you have to promise to be willing to put in the work and effort to become apart of this pride. I'm not going to waste my time teaching someone who's only going to be torn apart by one of the more vicious pride members." She lowered her head and looked cautiously optimistic. "And if you're angry and you want to fight me, let's go back to the pride, so they can at least see that you're not one to piss off, ok?" She added quickly with a small smile, her offering of peace in after a difficult topic.

- Mynsed -

Kimya doesn't pull her punches, yo.

 

[- Mynsed -]

Sorra stared hard at the ground, attempting to wrap her mind over the system. Nergui was… certainly different. And strict about order, it seemed. Perhaps not complete savages. Brutish, sure. But savages are usually reserved for those without order. And they had their own language, Sorra had to admit. Frowning, Sorra sat down, staring at the circles and lines, before sighing and looking up at Kimya with a disgruntled look. ”How was I supposed to know any of this? I was dragged in, had to bribe the brute with… with… well, to keep my life, and then I was attacked. None of this was explained.” she narrowed her eyes before glancing at the circles and lines again. Her ears flattened at the bared teeth, fur bristling but she kept herself sitting.

”Things certainly are different,” she huffed and had to bite back a skeptic laugh over the idea that Larak had it tough. Yeah right the brute had it tough! He must enjoy tormenting her. And really, she had no time to laugh when she was feeling quite offended. She had not been whining! ”Great compromise, my life or, well, my livelihood,” she muttered before standing up, giving Kimya a peevish look. She really did want to give her a tongue lashing after insulting her but… could she really afford it?

So, she swallowed her pride and nodded. ”Fine. I promise that I’ll avoid being torn apart by any of the vicious pride members. Or at least, die trying,” she added with a wry smile. She wasn’t going to promise more, couldn’t bring herself to commit to more than that. It would have to be enough. But don’t you plan on breaking your promise to Larak? a small voice whispered. She quickly shoved the thought away. That was different.

”I’m not going to attack you,” Sorra said with exasperation. ”I’ll try to fit in, but one step at a time. I can hardly recall all the information, nonetheless act upon it. But,” she added with a forlorn sigh, ”I will try to… learn.”

Belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Kimya watched the other lioness trying to take everything in, but it was better that she learned it now that later, when someone took offense at her ignorance and taught her a very different sort of lesson.

Her tail flicked at the remark on how no one had explained any of this to the lioness. Kimya had just explained it. This lioness ought to be grateful, not spiteful. Yet, she could see the effort her companion was making to be civil and Kimya curled her tail around her front paws, keeping it still as she listened to the other.

Different was an understatement, Kimya thought, smiling inwardly and trying to overwhelm irritation with amusement. She may have joined by choice, but she had had to learn this all on her own. There was no friendly lioness who showed her where to bathe or what the system of order was. No, Kimya had to spy and steal and learn by trial and error order how to survive here. At first, she had thought she would regret her choice, but she came to accept it and she was certain that her new companion would do the same... Even if her temper proved more... grating than Kimya's own.

Yet, towards the end, it seemed as though Sorra had come to a smart conclusion and Kimya inclined her head to the other respectively.
"That is all I can ask of you." She replied and then got to her paws. "So, on that note, shall I show you around? Or we can review this again, if you'd rather." She tilted her head slightly to one side. "I'm sure you can go back to Larak's side, too, if you've had enough of my company for the day. I'd advise you to stick with one of us, but I don't want to keep you at my side if you'd rather be elsewhere." She shrugged. "So, I guess a better way to say it is, what do you want to do, Sorra?"

- Mynsed -

 

[- Mynsed -]

”Oh no, we don’t have to review,” Sorra Suau told her quickly, putting on a nervous grin. There would be no way she would be able to memorize it, even if Kimya told her it again. It was just too much to take in. And would likely result in a headache.

The idea of going back to Larak’s side was… unappealing. He was a stranger. He was a brute. And he was a constant reminder that she was stuck. No, she would rather not go back to him until she had to. Sure, Kimya was a stranger and had attacked her as soon as she saw her. But Kimya was helping her and was kinder. In her own, savage way of course. The lesser of two evils, Sorra supposed. And Kimya just seemed likeable. ”I would love to be shown around,” Sorra told her with a smile, trying to not let her disturbance over the idea that she would have to stick by someone’s side. Privacy was a luxury here, apparently. ”Let us get to know each other.”

Belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Kimya raised an eyebrow at her companion, but after a moment smiled and got to her paws, using her tail to brush away the chart she'd drawn in it.

"Alright then, follow me." She said cheerfully. "I'm happy to have someone I can actually talk to now. I'm sure this'll be fun!" She remarked. "By the way, since you're new, you're welcome to ask me any questions. About the Nergui, about the hyenas," She flicked her tail to where a Nergui warhound was glaring at the passing lionesses with malice in its eyes. "Or even about Larak. I know quite a lot. It's my job, sort of." It was her job to be sneaky and it was killing two birds with one claw to be able to eavesdrop as well as go unnoticed. She neglected to mention this to Sorra, yet. She didn't want to unnerve the lioness too much!

"So, anything that comes to mind immediately?" She asked her companion.

- Mynsed -

 

[- Mynsed -]

Sorra followed her, head tilted a bit curiously as she listened intently. She didn’t really care to know more about any of those categories but it would probably be for the best if she did know a bit more. She wondered if questions about Kimya were allowed as well. ”How long ago did you join the Nergui?” Sorra asked, glancing over her companion as she walked on the burning sand. She was never going to get used to this heat.

Another question occurred to her. ”What is your job?” Sorra blurted out, stunned. She had never been in a pride but her parents had told her about the basic formation of the prides. Such as ranks that served as jobs. Each pride was different, however.

Belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Kimya wasn't surprised by the question and she gave it some thought. She'd often thought of herself as a new recruit, but she supposed now, she'd been there long enough to get into the usual swing of things. Come to think of it, she thought, halting, she joined the pride when Larak was only a cub. Glancing at the young lioness beside her and realizing how young the couple was in comparison, it caused her to smile a little. She was growing older, wasn't she? She'd better find someone to sire cubs of her own, if she was ever to be remembered for being more than just a pretty face.

"A significant while, come to think of it." She replied. "Several seasons, at the very least." She shrugged her shoulders and decided to confide the memory in her new companion. "In fact, come to think of it, when I just joined the Hoard, Larak was merely a cub. I saw him running around with his siblings from time to time, but never got very close. He was about this tall," She raised a paw about a foot or so off the ground. "And his mane was the fluffiest thing you ever did see. Looked like a tumbleweed, he did." She snorted and then went on to answer Sorra's other question.

"My rank is that of a Shuko. Your rank is that of am Emkurcar, which means you aren't suited for fighting, so much as hunting. Braaks, that's what Larak is, are the brute strength of the pride. When the Nergui is in danger, the Braaks are on the front lines. I, as a Shuko, however, don't go to the front lines. Instead, I slip around the sides and go at the sides, picking off those who are caught unawares. More glory if I go for a larger or stronger opponent and still bring them down." She paused and then added, thoughtfully, "I'm similar to a hunter, but it's not limited to prey, so much as anything that threatens the Nergui." She looked back to Sorra. "Does that answer your question?" She glanced over the lioness, who looked like she could use some shade and offered. "How about we head to my place? I could answer more of your questions there, if you'd like?" She suggested.

- Mynsed -

We can call this finished, once you reply a final time!

 

[- Mynsed -]

Was nothing ever simple?! Of course, Sorra hadn’t actually been in a pride before but she could never imagine all the information needed to be a member. Not that she was genuinely interested in being a member but may as well know hell if you were going to be there. Hearing about Larak was somewhat interesting, though Sorra refused to go soft. He was her enemy still, her captor. And sure, she was supposed to move past it, but it would definitely be more than a few days between decision and action!

”It does answer my question,” Sorra murmured, deciding not to add on that there was more information than she cared for. Better not be rude to her one friend in this place. ”I-“ Sorra paused before nodding. There was nothing better to do and she’d rather not go back to that ugly place that Larak called his home. ”I would love to go to your place.” Sorra told her decidedly, following after her. Perhaps Kimya had a better looking place than Larak. Idly, she wondered if she could move in with Kimya.

”Belloblossom”