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 Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:02 am
A lanky, frail form lay sprawled just before the den, sitting out the heat of the day in its cool shade. Like most days, the queen of the pridelands was dozing to regain energy. Not eating much, and being so weak, ment that she often napped like this. It also ment she didn't go far from the den, no farther than the tip of Priderock unless she was making her slow way to the watering hole for her daily drink. Clouds floated acrossed a deep blue sky, heavy with rain that wouldn't fall on the Pridelands this season. It was the dry time, and the clouds meerly teased the creatures below and moved on. Sarabi yawned, baring long fangs.
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Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:12 pm
Kit continued to scurry up the path that wound up Pride Rock, her heart beating with excitement. They were ascending high enough that they'd be coming across Pridelanders soon, but Kit never dreamed that the first one they'd meet would be the queen herself.
As they rose to a flat surface, Kit's green eyes fell upon the den that housed Sarabi. Within it, she could see the lean form, and though the queen was obviously old and weak, she still seemed to have a beauty and dignity about her that took the young lioness's breath away. Nudging Ashki with her shoulder, she whispered, "That's the queen!", her instinct telling her that she was speaking the truth.
Without waiting for a reply, Kit began to pad forward almost breathlessly, moving slowly after so much running to get to Pride Rock. She stopped several paces away from the den, bowing her head politely as she said softly, "Hello?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:21 pm
Ashki followed quickly behind his friend, almost as eager as she was to get up there and finally join. As they drew ever closer towards the top of the giant Pride Rock, he could begin to smell the pride. He could always before, but now it was even stronger than before. All of the scents mingled in his nose and made him slow down. He knew he couldn't back down now, but he was still fearful.
Once they reached the top, he stopped suddenly as Kit pointed out what she thought was the queen. His eyes widened slightly as he just stood there, unable to move or anything. The queen. They arrive and the first lion they come across is the queen.
"Kit.." he called, his ears lowering slightly as he took a small step backwards. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, approaching the queen first thing. But then, he supposed, they couldn't exactly leave without being noticed now. Kit had already spoken out to the queen. Nonetheless, Ash had a twisted feeling in his gut. He didn't think anything bad was going to happen but... he was just nervous.
"A-are you sure this is so good?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:27 am
Soft ears perked at the sound of voices, and Sarabi gathered her paws under her body to heave it up into a more upright position, seated back on her haunches. Her red eyes swept over the juvenile lioness before moving to the lion that had waited behind her, trepidation evident in the way he moved and held himself. Manners always foremost in her mind where new arrivals were concerned, the queen smiled gently and nodded a greeting to the two. "Hello, young ones." She said softly, studying them. "What brings you to Priderock?"
They were probably the youngest lions she'd seen come to join the pride in a while now. Only Chinarafola had been younger. It had been mostly adults drifting in lately.
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:26 pm
A smile of amazement automatically spread across Kit's lips as the queen approached. She had never been so close to royalty - besides her own father, of course - and she felt incredibly humbled and eager at the same time.
"Hello, y..your Highness," she said in a soft, polite voice, not really sure what to call Sarabi. "My name is Kitengele, and this is my friend..." she swept her tail to the side, motioning to the purple lion beside her, "Ashki." Pausing for a few moments, she tried to find the right words to say.
Eventually it just all spilled out in one mass of words. "I was born into the Maziko pride, because my father is the future king there, but ever since I was a young cub... well... I didn't like it much there. The only reason I hung around was because my family lives..." she gulped, correcting herself, "lived there. But then I found these lands.. er, your lands... and..." she drifted off, a dreamy expression coming into her green eyes.
"I fell in love," she said simply. "And so I got my father's permission to leave his pride. I met Ashki.." she nudged his shoulder lightly with her own, "on the way here, and he decided to come with me."
Blinking at the fact she had just blabbered on to an adult - and the queen, no less! - she finally said sheepishly, "So, we were kind of coming... coming to see if we could join your pride."
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:53 pm
Ashki couldn't help but just glance down at his paws the whole time, during the queen's greeting and during Kit's whole ramble. It was in his blood and nature for him to act subordinate and low in the prescence of royalty. Not only was Kit a princess, but now he was face to face with a queen! I really shouldn't be here, he thought to himself. Back home, he would have been killed for this!
Shaking slightly, he wanted to run. Just when he was about to, he remembered that that was rude and so forced himself to keep still. He had to do this! This pride would welcome him like an equal, Kit had said. He trusted her.
Gulping, he simply stood there with his head low and his ears folded back in embarassment. How did he look in the queen's eyes? She must have thought he was such a weakling. He couldn't even look at her...
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Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 11:53 pm
The old queen smiled and chuckled at the enthusiastic little speach, hearing the ring of truth and love behind the words of the young lioness. That love for these lands was matched in the old lioness, and her smile grew as she settled to sit before them. Weariness pulled at the frail body, but Sarabi pushed it off, wanting to be able to sit here and converse with the new commers.
"You want to join the pride, eh? I shouldn't be suprised. So many have been joining lately, it seems to be all that outsiders come here for." She chuckled softly as her brown-tufted tail curled around her paws, a slight shift of her body making the beads of her necklace click softly. Some of what Kit said roused her curiosity, things like the Maziko pride and why a cub would prefer the Pridelands, lovely as they are, over those she was born in.
Red eyes flickered to the purple male, another bit of curiosity and questions pricking at her mind. He seemed so shy and withdrawn... What must he be thinking now? He seemed content to let kit speak for him, but Sarabi felt a strong need to get him to open up to her.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 12:38 am
Kit smiled at the queen's soft words, feeling the motherly aura that she had about her. She was instantly at comfort, but she could see that her new friend was not. She opened her mouth, about to speak for him, before realizing that that would be horribly rude and that he ought to speak for himself, if he wanted to.
So, she flicked her tail so that the tuft rested across his own in a comforting sort of notion. Kit did not sense the curiosity roused in the queen and instead looked up at her wide sparkling green eyes. "There are more of us? Rogues, I mean?" There were so many things wrong with that sentence. To begin with, she didn't like the word rogue - to her, it implied something darker, something unwanted. Besides that, she did have a pride... or did she? She couldn't belong to two prides, could she? Blinking, she realized that she was no longer a Maziko member. Her father's approval had been the end of her membership. Kit only hoped that Sarabi would accept them, because she did not want to have to go back and ask her father to rejoin. The thought itself wasn't bad, for she loved her father, but after admitting that she didn't like the graveyard... it just seemed rude.
So she subconciously pressed herself closer to Ashki and awaited an answer from the queen.
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:40 pm
Ashki felt completely embarassed now. Kit was doing all the talking and he must have looked like such a weakling, a lion who couldn't seem to do anything for himself. Even though he wanted to say something, to just say anything, his voice was stilled by his overpowering nerves. His legs shook as he lowered his head until it was nearly touching the ground.
Feeling like he simply couldn't do anything at the moment, the purple lion just pressed himself against the silver lioness and remained quiet. He figured Kit could handle everything... she seemed a lot more capable than he.
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Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:07 pm
Sarabi watched the two with wide, curious eyes. There was a bond there, she could feel it. Good, good... everyone needed someone, even if it was just a friend, to lean on once in a while. A thread of concern wove through those kindly eyes as the male lowered himself to the ground in a pose more submissive than she'd yet to see in a lion that had come to see her. Most were as assertive and sure of themselves as his companion, so his reaction was suprising. Despite that, it struck a deep nerve in the old queen, bringing out her famous motherly nature. All the pride had expirience it at some point, either directly or indirectly.
Movements slow, both to not startle him and to account for her frail body, the queen padded closer to the pair and settled down to sit a bit off to the side of infront of the male. One paw reached to brush the growing mane from his eyes, a sweet, warm smile growing on her old face. "Ashki? Is something wrong?" She prompted him gently, keeping her voice low and soothing, inviting him to confide in her. Sarabi's aura was anything but queenly, and far more down to earth. Mother, grandmother, aunt... that's what she seemed, far more than a creature that led an entire pride of lions at the side of her mate, the king.
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Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:44 pm
Ashki had been content to simply stand by and watch the interaction between his friend Kit and the kind queen Sarabi. It was in his nature to just stand there, unnoticed. It didn't bother him one bit, being as he had been trained since he was a cub to be a slave, to do what others wanted him to do and to not speak or move unless he was told to do so.
Needless to say he was slightly surprised when the queen went straight up to him and asked him if anything was wrong, her paw brushing his mane away from his face. He flinched slightly, though not because he was really afraid of her or anything but rather that he hadn't expected her to do something like that.
"Aah.. n-no, nothing's wr-wrong," he stammered, his tail twitching nervously. "I'm just.. just.. just.. uhm... scared." Like other lions, he was afraid to admit that, but not for the same reason. He didn't like admitting it because, most of his life, he had been around others that didn't give a squat about him. He had been around lions and other creautures that would rather jump off a cliff than listen to him mumble his problems. So he just didn't like to do it.
"I.. uhm.." Jeez. Why was this so hard?
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 9:53 pm
Sarabi's smile softened as she gazed on the young purple male. "Scared, dear? There is no reason to be..." She raised a paw, made slender and frail with her disability. "I can hardly do you any harm, nor would I wish to. I am a mother, after all, and a grandmother many times over. I want nothing more to see those I care for prosper and grow and live. There is nothing to fear about me."
The queen nodded as she spoke, finally fading into a deep purr. His unease only increased her feeling of protectiveness and her need to have him trust her enough to open up.
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 10:53 pm
Ashki dared to break away from his training. He lifted his eyes and glanced at the old queen. It was then that he noticed something. She seemed really thin and frail, fragile for some odd reason. Yet she appeared so strong in her eyes and the way that she held herself, in the way that she merely spoke. It was then that he suddenly began to admire her.
"J-just nervous," he stammered, attempting to get a grip. He wanted to be strong like her, he needed to be strong like her.
As the seconds ticked by, Ash began to find more and more courage within himself. It seemed that looking into those kind, caring eyes came him a sort of strength that he never knew he had before. Perhaps it was the fact that she was so frail and still had the power to do as she was.
Lifting himself up so that he wasn't in such a submissive stance anymore, he smiled slightly at the old lioness. "You must be happy here," he spoke quietly, ears flicking. He glanced back at his close friend Kit. He hoped that they could be happy here too, and something told him that it wasn't so much out of their reach.
"Do you think that... we could have a place in this pride?" he asked hesitantly. He had imagined Kit asking this of the queen, not himself. But he had asked it now, and he couldn't take it back. All he could do was wait.
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:11 pm
Sarabi smiled as Ashki spoke, her eyes kind. Nervous? That was sweet...
A sense of pride filled the old queen as he seemed to gather his strength, straightening up and sitting more naturally. He was opening up, and all because she'd offered him a little kindness. His next question wasn't much of a suprise either, considering it was what most lions came to her for, and Kit had already announced that intention earlier. But it was nice to hear it from him.
"Of course you may, Ashki. There is always room in this pride to offer a home to lions searching for one. As long as you two promise to be good members, and to do what you can to help out, there is no reason why you can't join."
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:49 pm
Ashki smiled at the old lioness, calmed by her kindness and motherly nature. He missed his mother, and he wondered if she had been punished for him running away. Oh, that would have been horrid. But, he couldn't focus on that now. It was in the past, and he was about to have a bright future with his good friend Kit.
Dipping his head respectfully, his smile widened slightly. "Oh, we promise to make ourselves very useful!" he said excitedly, the fact that he had found a permanent home not completely sunk into his mind yet. A home with Kit! How exciting. He wondered what they would do first. Maybe they would explore the lands first. Maybe do something for the queen to prove that they were indeed useful? The possibilities were endless. "Thank you, Your Majesty," he said smoothly, all of his nervousness gone from before.
"We shall leave you in peace now," he nodded, bowing slightly once more out of respect for Sarabi.
Turning towards Kit, his eyes gleamed as he beamed brightly at her. "We have a home now, Kit!" he exclaimed softly, his words meant solely for her although the queen might have possibly overheard. Forcing himself to calm down after that, he nudged his friend and flicked his tail. "Come on, let's find a place to rest. I'm tired!"
With that, he turned and began walking away. But before he left completely, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Thank you again," he said, a soft smile on his face. Then he turned back and disappeared with his friend.
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