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 Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:53 pm
((Arrival in the lands of SoA. :3))
And I will walk five hundred more...
It had certainly seemed like several hundred miles they had traveled, he and Ausi'Juu. But lions have no measure of distance, only of time and space. To his knowledge they had spent weeks, moons even, on this journy, traveling through swampy marshlands to mountains to plains to grasslands and over again.
Daimyn and Ausi had come a long way in that time, both physically and mentally. The time when they thought she might be pregnant had come and gone without a litter; in a way Daimyn was relieved. No cubs to watch over, not yet, not when they were still so far from home, and still didn't know where "home" would end up.
But this place.... This place smelled promising.
There were several prides here, he could tell, though spaced far apart so there could be no boundary conflicts -- at least several days' walk between any of them. The two lions had ended up in another grassland, and far in the horizon a large rock jutted straight up out of the earth, seemingly out of nowhere...
He turned back to Ausi, his golden eyes roaming over her lovely black and white pelt, falling over the scars he had given her. It seemed so long ago. But he had learned by now that Ausi'Juu was not a vengeful lioness, and he had long since repented for them, both in actions and in words.
He had come a long way from the ruthless lion he had been before, and it had taken him a long journey, a few verbal claws in the face, and a fight to the death with rogue lions, to get him to change.
It was worth it.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:50 pm
A dark, ghostly figure eased to a stop beside the large white male, leaning against him for support. They had indeed come a long way in both senses. She trusted this male now, and though she hadn't said so yet it was because of him that she had hope again...
Dusk had fallen, and they seemed to arrive in this new land just in time. Night was creeping upon the sky and with it, brought a chorus of crickets and hoppers to perform their early-evening music. She felt as if she could sleep, but didn't quite feel like doing so yet.
"Can we stop to rest...?"
It wasn't so much that she was tired, though she was, but rather that she wanted to enjoy the scenery they had here.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:26 am
He turned to her, nodded. "Of course." Somehow he sensed her intentions, and led the way toward an acacia tree they could take shelter under. Only when she was settled did he take a place beside her, alert for any signs of danger. Even as improbable as hostility seemed at the moment, now was no time to let his guard down, especially in this new territory.
Slowly the pink-orange glow retreated from the sky, and the stars began to shine above -- first one, two, then eight, twenty, until the sky was dotted with them, and the hazy belt of cloud could be seen clearly.
It was a while before either said anything. Then Daimyn spoke, softly, still looking up at the swiftly darkening sky.
"Did you know -- in the pride I was born into, they believed their ancestors lived on in the stars. That when you die, you become a star and live on, not only in memory, but in spirit, too."
He realized that until now, he'd scoffed at the belief. But now, looking skyward... he could see why the lions believed what they did. It was hard to imagine that the stars above didn't have some sort of life in them.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:38 am
Ausi smiled softly from where her head rested on his shoulder. The older female was reclining comfortably on her side with Daimyn as a solid, warm form of support.
"Really...?"
She wondered then, was it possible that her lossed lover and their son were up there? Maybe...
"My father's pride... the one he lived in before he met my mother, he told us that they believed their loved ones became one with the sky and earth as well. They rest physically in the earth, and spiritually in the sky... reborn as stars. He carried that belief over to ours as well, and my mother adopted it as her own. I guess... they're sort of the same, aren't they? Maybe every pride believes that in some way or another."
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:45 am
Daimyn nodded, suddenly lost in thought. "Perhaps..." His eyes searched the stars, as if he might see the face of someone he could recognize if he looked hard enough. But he had lost no one close to him; had made no lasting connections with anyone. Except Ausi, and gods forbid anything should happen to her...
"It does sound familiar, and extremely similar. Maybe they are truly the same, and you just explained it better," he teased, with a glance at his mate.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:55 am
"That's because I'm a woman, sweetheart. We do everything better, including aging." Ausi purred silkily, batting her tail against his haunch.
She then rolled onto her stomach, other side, and then her back, stretching out languidly amongst the tall grasses with a large yawn. When she was done she gazed over at Daimyn with jade eyes, smiling in all of her affection.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:10 am
"Hmm." He grinned at her, laying his head down on her chest. "I'd forgotten... when I'm old, fat and grey-maned, you'll still be as slim and black as ever," he chuckled. "I'd ask you your secret, but I doubt you'd tell me..."
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:14 am
"Mmmm, working on forgetful already, are we?"
She smiled impishly, reaching both paws over to encircle his neck the best they could, looking him in the eye. She did so love to tease him, especially when he teased back and they made a game out of it. Not even her old lover had given her a verbal run for her money like Daimyn did, not for the first time she wondered how far apart she and Daimyn were in age.
"That's okay though, you'll always have me. I'm like the thing that keeps coming back."
She smirked, biting onto one of his ears and giving it a playful tug.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:26 am
"Better than me at everything, and cruel," he complained. "Ouch. That's not fair!"
He gave her forepaw an affectionate lick. "I suppose you'll do though."
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 12:42 pm
"Oh, just 'do', hm?" She teased, raising a brow in a look that seemed to say "You're walking a narrow path, sweetheart." better than any words could. She pushed his head away with the same paw he'd kissed after that, smirking playfully. "We'll, maybe I'll just 'do' elsewhere while you sleep alone tonight."
Of course she didn't really mean that. It was obvious, now. Who would have thought that they'd end up here like this now after all those months ago?
----------------------------------------- [Flashback]
You'd swear that Daimyn was some vengeful god, by the way the pride kept their distance. No one within the lot of them would want to switch places with the lioness for any price. They all thought the male here now to be a brute, a monster... for years, for generations, his father had plagued the surrounding pride's, demanding compensation in payment for allowing them to live unharmed. Lioness after lioness had been sent as demanded offerings, and week after week they also brought gifts of the finest kills. It finally got to the point that they were ready and more than willing to throw gifts at the paws of even the sons and other decendents that visited them, to avoid the "King's" wrath.
That last walk... she couldn't remember feeling this sense of dread before in her life, each step feeling heavier than the last. Ausi'Juu made her approach reluctantly but also with enough resolve to be visible. She knew what her fate was if she truely chose to accept it, and what choice did she have? She had to protect her family and help the clan. This was the only way.
The male came within view not long after, his emaculate white coat impossible to miss among the masses of darker colors. Ausi could already feel herself starting to tremble.
Daimyn watched with a slightly cocked head at the female's slow approach. He could smell the fear eminating from her, could see the minute tremble. With a glance to his cohorts at his side, he smiled his barely-noticeable smile -- more a slight scrunch of his golden eyes rather than an actual movement of his jaw. Zuni, the scraggled male at his side, leered back.
These three lions were all of lesser families, and thus had been sitting at the bottom of the food chain in his pride for their entire lives. Which was why it was easy to recruit them; desperate for more power, they had eagerly taken him up on his plan to murder his older (half) brother in return for the promise that once Daimyn claimed the throne, they would all three be treated like kings themselves. Of course, it was a promise Daimyn had no intentions of keeping. Once they had exhausted their resourcefulness, he'd planned on dropping the idiots off a cliff or something.
But then his plan had been botched; his brother lived and the four of them were no exiled. None of the lower prides knew this, however, so as a last hurrah he made his rounds, choosing only the finest of lionesses for the start of his own pride.
This one was certainly worthy of royalty; her black pelt gave off bright highlights in the midday sun. The white markings glimmered with every step she took.
He rose to all four paws, greeting her with a nod.
Ausi'Juu stopped herself once she reached the male, not daring to look him in the eye or anywhere near his face. She felt a bitter swell in her gut as she lowered herself to the ground in a show of submission, shutting her eyes and waiting for his acceptance, rejection, or orders.
"Good," he said shortly, simply. He was a lion of few words, at least when it came to visiting the lesser prides for their offerings. His silence, more often than not, spoke far more than his voice.
He nudged the lioness with his nose in an unspoken order to rise, turned and left with his three cohorts and four other lionesses they'd gathered from the prides. But instead of heading back to his home pride, he turned the other way, heading out into the open savannah.
Ausi thought on this response in a bit of sorrow, rising and not looking back as she walked away. She knew that if she did she'd see Meilin's face in the crowd, rushing out. She was the daring type like that, at the slightest sign of her sister changing her mind she'd take the whole lot of the males head on, and ******** the consequences.
As they headed into the open Savannah though, Ausi became confused. She looked about with her eyes to the other lionesses and the males. Was there another pride this way that they didn't know of?
The other lionesses seemed bemused as well, but they didn't stop or voice their confusion. All the males bore on their face was a look of steeled determination. Well, except for one of the more ragged looking ones; he bore a rather stupid grin. But anyway.
Daimyn's tail twitched a couple of times in agitation, his gold eyes roaming the horizon for any sign of his old pride. If his father had thought he might steal lionesses on his way out, he hadn't yet given chase.
So far, so good.
Ausi's look faded to one of annoyance and distrust. She wasn't sure which of them she should be more wary of, the stone faced leader or the lecherous looking followers. It was painfully obvious why all these females were here, even if not for the stupid one's expression. Ausi could only shake her head with a sense of fear. This was the true nature of lions, her father used to tell her. Males and females, they only coexist for one basic and simple reason, all this developing of free will and such, it was all well and good, but it was what was wrong amongst the pride's now. His opinion may or may not have been swayed by the division his own pride had suffered in his younger adult years but regardless, he'd founded a pride of his own and so he was allowed to make his own rules and follow his own ideals. He'd been the king of their pride of course, so weather Daimyn realized it or not, he HAD gotten a lioness of royal blood this time. She didn't hold herself higher than any of the others, however, so some more narrow minded creatures may never be able to tell.
It was just too bad that of the only allies she had at this time, one didn't believe that. Life as she and Daimyn knew it was about to take another very unexpected and unplesant turn.
--------------------------------------- [End Flashback]
Fighting off rogues, battling will against will, rape, and countless lessons in humility and compassion, they'd come so far! She could hardly believe it now, that that male back then was the same lion she'd fallen for so completely.
Daimyn had done some questionable and wrong things to her in the past (she'd always have the scars to show for it), but he'd also given her her life back without her ever realizing it had been missing. Since her mate and her beloved children had gone away she had become a mere shell of the lioness she used to be, a husk. She went through the motions, affectionate with her sister, mother, father, and various pride members. She did her duties on the hunts and maintaining peace in the pridelands, but she never laughed like she used to, she never smiled the same, she had lost her youth, and her urge to be happy. Those were all things that her family had given her, all things that had been stolen from her...
Now, she had it back again. All thanks to Daimyn...
The lioness let out the softest of content smiles, shifting closer so she could rest her head on his shoulder with a complete show of trust and affection. Her eyes slid shut delightedly.
"I guess you're just lucky that I love you too much to stay indignant with you..."
She heard a soft snort from Daimyn in response, and smirked in amusement herself.
"Plus you make such an excellent bed, sweetheart."
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