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 Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:44 am
-- AIM Rp between Mwezi'Mtoto, Aureole and Malkia ((DFA, Ume, Felyn)) The moon was shinning tonight; it was almost odd, but be able to see it again, full, in all it's spledour once again. Funny how he'd not noticed the fact a full cycle had passed already... a few had passed since he'd begun to travel with company. Company which the male had made sure to leave protect within a shelter whilst he took on the task of monitoring their surroundings. Ever since that run in with rogues, moons ago, Mwezi had taken it upon himself to monitor any space they took as current residence. Granted, they stayed little time, and they would move in the morning again (such was the life of a king without a kingdom), but he was no longer taking any risks. He protected them because.... well, because it pleased him to do so. Mwezi always did that what he pleased.
Right now, it pleased the large, graceful lion, to move across the land at night, allowing the moon to bathe his white form. A large fluffy pelt wrapped around his form, but that was not what made him stand out against the land; it was the way he padded. The male moved regaly, with grace, almost as if such was the normal way of moving. But perhaps what Mwezi did not know was that he was within the realm of the worshippers of the moon. The full moon, the sign of her ranking, the Queen of the Mwezi'Johari paced herself, leading herself out of the protective high ground that they had made their home, the hills around it covered with their precious herb. Everywhere else it had been sparse if available at all. They had searched, the remaining surviviors of a war on their people, endlessly until the herb had been found. They could not live without the herb because the herb was the key ingredient to their way of life.
The males of her family, as long as their birth was high enough, were always guards no matter just how HIGH their birth was. She had almost expected herself to follow the same occupation, always trailing behind her father and uncles, brothers and cousins, on various training excercises ...always thinking that one day she'd be the one in training. But the war had come, wiped out her whole family except for her little brother, lost somewhere out there. It had been out of necessity that she had become queen, knowing that Unyezi needed a high-birth female to marry to remain king. It was either her or their shaman and their shaman needed her job. She was a logician and that was why she had offered. But now she wandered beyond their new borders and she couldn't think logically why.Amusingly enough, it was that very night that Mwezi found himself thinking back. Thinking way... way back, to the times where he had not been a king without a kingdom. To the times he had been a heir... to the times he could barely just recall within his mind, where there had been a pride, and he had been trained to rule. Those times were since past, and the pride in question had been whiped; by the plague, or perhaps something else, he wasn't entirely sure. He'd been sent out and after a long journey, when he had returned, the land had been barren... no one was left.
Mwezi did not moarn.
Not because he had not been sad, but rather, because he figured there was no point in doing so; moarning would not bring them back. Dwelling the past would not fix it, and now, he had... he had...
He paused his train of thought, frowning slightly as he padded. What did he have? He had Malkia. And he had Rin. What were they though? He found himself asking the question time and time again but it remain unanswered, "Pleasent company," he murmured for the moon to hear, his gold gaze slipping towards the aster, "Nothing more, nothing less," and just as he spoke, he noticed the lioness, padding his way, just within reach to hear his voice. How come he had not noticed her? He mentaly kicked himself, but on the outside, her merely blinked once, very slowly, deliberately.Aureole was a logician and also the descendent of generations of guards but perhaps those skills had dulled because she did not notice until she could clearly identify each bit of the stranger including the fuzzy foreign accessory the other had draped about him. She was stuned that he had gotten so close to her unnoticed and that he had said nothing, looking at her in what to her appeared to be a bland expression. But Aureole was queen and these were their lands now. They hadn't detected a pride nearby but maybe they hadn't searched far enough and he was a patrol. Well then they were neighbors now and time for her to be cordial, make a good impression for the sake of her recovering pride.
She bowed just a little, not too much since normally royalty did not roam from their borders so she could not expect him to be which meant she was of higher rank. "Good night," she said, for it was not evening but nor was it morning. The bow was not exactly expected, but appreciate all the same, even if a brow did arch minimaly; he was a king, yes, but he'd actualy... come to forget how it felt when one bowed to him. He'd actualy come to like the way Malkia stood up to him and snapped; it amused him. He'c also come to... though not like, at least appreciate the way Rin would run around him; as if he did not frighten her. As if were not what he obviously was.
The male found himself lost in thought even as Aureole's voice pierced the fog of his ming; idly reminding himself of the time and place, he blinked slightly, the same languid expression upon his face. Then, slowly, because something in his mind demand he acknowledge her (there was no use in replaying to polite manners with rudeness), the male inclined his head just so; she was not above him. At least not as far as he knew, for now. Sniffing the air, he soon enough noticed the lingering scents of a pride and he frowned.
"Excuse our presence in your land," he spoke in plural, as if there were others with him; maybe the scents of the female clung to his form. He was unsure, "We are merely traversing the land," after a pause an ear flickered, "We mean you no harm," he was pondering turning around, leaving, but was actualy unsure. As a diplomat, born and trained however, he sat down, as if waiting for her to do something; indicate if he should approach the situation agresively, or as passively as he had till then.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:45 am
Had Aureole been consumed with pride or used to people bowing to her, she might have been insulted that his returning guesture seemed to hold even less respect for her than she had given him. But whatever. As she had previously thought to herself, royalty did not tend to wander past the boundaries of their land. And based on his plurality of pronouns, she could assume that he was the leader of some group, thus holding a certain amount of responsibility whereas she appeared to be alone although he knew she came from a pride. He probably thought her a huntress or someone of that sort. How amusing. Aureole clearly didn't have a lot of interactions with rogues.
"I didn't suppose you would," she replied softly readjusting her thoughts as she did. His statement led her to believe that his people were rogues, refugees of some sort. Their enemies had only wanted the Mwezis' land. They wouldn't have tracked them down to here, especially when it would have been so much easier to do so a good time ago when they were rogues themselves. "I am not familiar with the lands myself," she said, eying all that she could see around them. "but I don't think there are quite suitible places out there for rest. If your company is not too indisposed, perhaps my people would be able to offer them more suitable shelter." The more bodies, the warmer and safer it was ...not to mention that within their boarders it was already beginning to smell like the home of lions. It was a very delighting fact to her indeed especially after knowing what it was like for sleeping out in the open and in make-shift shelters for so long.
"No," he said simply; it probably should have dawned on the female he wasn't all that expressive, "The wind was against you and yours; a mistake I shall not make twice," after all, mistakes like this lead to risk. Unnecesary risks, and as strong as he knew himself to be, Mwezi was both not in the mood to figth, and did not seem to think it the most pleasent of entertainments at the current time. Perhaps time back he's have thought so... but now, the idea of laying down with both bodies pressed to his side as he watched the moon sounded much more pleasent.
He tried not to think about the implications of such thoughts; he was not getting attatched. Nope. Not him. Attatchemnt would... imply dangerous grounds he was not willing to tread. Nope; this was him NOT treading dangerous grounds, he thought to himself as he gazed at the female before him.
No dangerous grounds here! He thought almost giddily, despite the fact only a twitch of his maw into an ironic smile registered to the outside.
The invitation came crashing around him and the male frowned; confused. An invitation was the last thing he was expecting, really, "We are few," he drawled at the queen, "An adult lioness, a... cub, and myself," shelter would be... adecuate, he figured as he nodded, "Shelter would be.... appreciated," he himself, was rather tired; he was used to spending most of the night awake, waiting for an attack, even if was not to come.
She did not understand his statement "the wind was against you and yours". Was it supposed to be some sort of riddle? Or an insult? They had no beliefs pertaining to the wind really so making a statement in relation to it was confusing. But he had said no so whether his insult meant they weren't worth his time or something else, she didn't bother to puzzle about it too much. The smile really didn't help either, looking almost as though he carried a menace just behind it. But things she could not justify with logic she left to think about on duller days ...and nights.
Furthermore, he stated that it was just a female and a cub other than him, a family. So he had pretended almost to be important as thought to protect them for danger. What an honorable lion, she thought to herself with half a smile. But of course, she wondered what he had been doing leaving them wherever he had to come out here. What had he been looking for? Or hoping to see? Hmmm... "Well shelter you most certainly can have. We don't have an adequate number of hunters. They haven't arrived from their journey yet so we can't afford to feed you. But shelter, yes," she said, fibbing a little. What others of the Mwezi that remained abroad, they knew not of. So while there could be hunters not yet here, chances were no more were coming.
It was always troubling to wake and find that Mwezi had gone somewhere. Ever since the night that he had left to fight the rogues, she had felt an anxiety whenever she awoke to find him gone. It was not often, true, but it still wasn't something she particularly enjoyed. However, so long as he left the cub behind, she never truly felt that he'd remain gone. He could ignore the fact all he wanted to, but she had seen how he looked at the little girl.
Carrying the precious gem along with her, Malkia made her way through the darkness of nightfall, eyes scanning the landscape as the moon gave her a path of light to follow. Ahead of her, she came across the pale form of Mwezi and a sigh of relief came out in a muffled breath against the cub she carried in her jaws. She often wondered over that - Rin seemed capable of sleeping through almost anything.
She came up slowly at Mwezi's side, her eyes shifting towards the figure that occupied his attention, and her brows creased in thought. The face of the other was quite familiar, though for a moment she could not say why. Setting the cub down as she pondered, she tried to think precisely where she'd come across her before. Then, like a lightning bolt, realization dawned upon her - the traveling pride she had seen not so long ago. This was the queen, or the one she had taken to be so at the time.
She then affected a bow, her neck remaining bent for a time. She had been taught etiquette, the ways of dealing with nobility, in both the way of an equal and that of a slightly less equal. A queen without a pride, she had need of knowing both, and her nanny had taught them. Her deep, black eyes shifted to Mwezi, then back towards the queen. "It's a pleasure to meet you", she said, voice flowing in that melodious way it did when she put the effort into sounding regal. Somehow, she felt she probably needed to show respect for the both of them; something about Mwezi's attitude said he had no idea who the lioness.
A nod was offered to the brown lioness as Mwezi turned, about ready to leave in order to find his ward and... his other... his mind seemed to stumble upon itself and the lion actualy paused mid-step, blinking once, twice. His... companion? Yes, that sounded relatively safe. His travelling companion.Pleased with his notion, he moved to take a step forward, however, paused again as the very object - objects, he corrected as he saw the bundle of fur that Malkia carried - of his thoughts appeared at his side. A frown forced upon his maw as he noticed her bow and idly took note to ask her WHY she had bowed to this lioness where as she'd refused to bow to him upon their first meeting. Hmph, he thought to himself as he turned and sat himself once more cordialy at Malkia's side, watching the scenario develop itself about him. Not like he cared. Much.
It was only after a long moment of thinking and pondering that he began to add two and two together, and his mind formed a mental 'o', though on the outside all what the male did to register the epiphany that the brown lioness was royalty was a slow blink. Really, of course she was royalty, he thought to himself, otherwise Malkia wouldn't be so pompous, which, he though snidely, she was always berating him for being, "These are Malkia and Rin," he spoke softly, motioning the queen towards each female, "My ward and..." again he stumbled; what had he decided Malkia was? Ah, yes, "My travelling companion," nothing more, nothing less.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:39 pm
Aureole smiled towards the new-comer, taking note of the youth carried in her maw, a rather un-lion-like feline although not in a bad way. The female was not too different from the male before her: both walked with a subtle grace as though accustomed to being watched by others. Not too surprising then that they were together. She heard the word "companion" quite clearly but to her, they looked as much a family as any. And family did not have to be bound by blood. No, it seemed to come from more of a kinship, much the way the Mwezi was Aureole's family.
"You are welcome here," she said to the female with a smile, assuming she had no arrived soon enough to overhear the particulars of the conversation, although it had been of few words and little importance. "But it might help if I knew your names," she said, laughing lightly. Couldn't exactly inform her people aboutt strangers staying with them if she didn't know their names. Wouldn't really be proper not to know their names anyway. Couldn't exactly going around calling them "Hey you!"
"My name is Aureole," she said dipping her head lightly out of a sense of politeness.
As she heard Mwezi pause at what to call her, her eyebrows rose just a fraction, for the smallest instant, before she managed to school her face again. It brought her mind back to the dream she kept having. It was strange, even for the dreams she had, and she couldn't quite figure out if it had been real or not - it was certainly based on a night not so long passed. At this point, she realized she was ignoring the task at hand, and turned her attention back to the queen.
With a dip of her head, she acknowledged the greeting from Aureole. "I'm glad to know that. I worry about being out here in the open with Rin." Of course, a male should have been all the protection they needed, right? For Mwezi's sake, she didn't mention that he had gone and gotten himself hurt. Even if most of the limp was gone, he still had a little ways to go before she'd feel that he was alright to be travelling a lot again. She glanced at him, and paused. Well, he had done good to introduce her and the cub - but he didn't bother with himself. He probably didn't think he neeeded introduction, knowing him.
"This is, by the way, Mwezi," she said calmly, tail flickering behind her, showing off the scale-like markings that ran down it's length. She turned her eyes to Mwezi, a smirk on her maw as she watched him - what had baffled his brain enough to make him forget that?
"Mwezi'Mtoto," he corrected the female beside him, though merely softly, a ghost of a whisper, even if was loud of enough to be heard in the silent night around them, "Mwezi is fine though," he elaborated as he turned to gaze down at Rin; it was still a wonder to him how the cheetah cub could mnage to sleep through such events. A deep breath was taken in and then released softly as he closd his eyes because he was OH so tired; he'd not been sleeping well, and he knew Malkia knew; the threat of an attack had kept him, at least, on his toes. There was nothing to indicate an attack at all, really, but he found himself entertaining the notion regardless. The many What Ifs that presented themselves to him were not at all attractive.
Tell truth, had Malkia been able to take a peek into his brain and mind, Mwezi had no doubt she'd have paused and (albeit regaly, somehow) have ran for the hills. Instead of baiting her however, as she smirked at him, he raised on infuriating brow, sweeping it to hide under his mane before snorting softly and lookng away. It took him a moment to turn back to the queen and this time the bow of his head was a bit lower, albeit somehow reminding the world how he could do such a thing and still have his dignity untouched, "We are grateful for the ah... hospitality," this said he took a step forward, as if to follow the brown lioness.
Aureole smiled at his name and gestured to the moon as though there was no better way to make the irony of his name known. "Welcome," she said, if not a bit dramatically, "to the Mwezi'Johari." They were certainly a pair to observe, the way they looked at each other as if they could speak and wage telepathic but comedic wars with one another. Aureole certainly lacked the flair and imagination for such a thing and found herself almost wanting to have it. Using logic had an advantage but also a disadvantage. She wasn't exactly fun material.
Noticing the step forward after the reluctant show of respect (at least it seemed reluctant to her) and choosing to see it as what it was rather than being intimidated by it, as she was tempted to, she took a step back and began to turn around, taking her cue to lead. No point in demanding formalities or rebuking for the lack of them when it just diverted the purpose intended.
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