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 Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:56 pm
With the drought, to say that Shula was in a bad mood was becoming an understatement. She was having to watch her cubs grow thirsty and weak, while everybody remained stubborn and bull-headed about remaining. It seemed like four of her own brothers, one sister, and her half-siblings were all determined to stay... And so was Kosuke, and even some of her own children! She huffed as she padded, soon spotting a two-tone red pelt. By the spotting, she knew it well, and began to wonder... Just what DID her brothers all think? She was sure Vlam wanted to stay... Because Ea stayed. What about Azar'bijan, Jua'mwiba, and Khurshid all think? And what DID Jyotika think? She opted to, for now, start with the first one she saw. With a quickened pace, she hurried after her brother. "Bijan!" It felt silly, to her, to call him Azar... Between the Regents' daughter and that Azarax fellow...
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:03 pm
Azar'bijan would have been happier if the water had been prioritised. After all, here he was, protecting the pride from 'monsters' from the north and being generally brave and wonderful, and those damn stupid hunters were rationed the same water as he was!
It was maddening!!
Thankfully, some of the other pride members had seen fit to encourage the 'less rank Firekin' to take part in water-seeking or even get them out training. He had to admit the idea of those floundering idiots trying to spar with one another did sound like quite the entertainment. A shame then that he didn't ever have time to idle away down at the training ring to watch.
He was just returning back from his morning patrol - casting a backwards glance to make sure his young apprentice, Hraga - had headed away to get some rest. He wasn't in sight so Azar figured that he must have done. Strange really. He'd never thought he'd actually like the kid, but he had potential and he was proving far more talented than that lazy, idiotic son of his. Grumbling quietly, he turned back to face the direction he had been heading and heard his name being called.
Or...one half of his name being called.
His idle eyes tracked across the sand to where Shula hastened towards him and he drew to a halt, lifting his head to try and shake away the look of fatigue that no doubt lingered in his eyes. "Haven't you heard, Shula?" He replied in his way of greeting. "It's Corporal Bijan, now." Yes, the one good thing to come out of all of this. He had proved his worth enough to get a promotion and he was still buzzing from the memory of it. "If you want a duel it'll have to wait until I've had my share of shade."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:02 pm
The lioness snorted as she reached the male. "First, I'm still going to call you Bijan, even if you're the Magistrate. You're still my brother at the end of the day." She bumped her shoulder against his, a sign of sibling affection. "Second, I couldn't duel you right now if I wanted... Not that I really could to begin with. That's why YOU'RE the corporal and I'm not." She let out a huff. "My mind's too occupied with this drought, anyway..." Her gaze turned toward him. "Do you think it'll end soon...? I've been thinking more about taking my cubs beyond the borders... Until either the rains return, or they grow up... Whichever happens first..."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:12 pm
He gave her an exaggerated scowl, emphasised with a less-than-enthusiastic grunt. Sisters...they were always so...so...sisterly. "Magistrate? Magistrate? Pah. You mean General." His tail flicked and though it might have been taken as him joking he was, in fact, deadly serious. There was no point in setting your sights, low, after all and General Azar'bijan did have a wonderful ring to it...
Seeming to be slightly embarrassed at her show of sibling affection, he gave a gruff snort and turned his head to look at her with some suspicion. Okay. So...he wasn't used to people being nice to him. This was too weird. He'd have been much happier, maybe, if she'd aimed a good slap at his snout. He knew how to deal with that, at least.
This...this--not so much.
"Well, if it doesn't end soon, they'd best rethink their equality policy or else the Firekin will sink into legend and myth before we know it." He grumped and then fell silent as her words sank in.
"Leave?" He seemed confused at first and then his face grew stern. "Firekin don't leave, Shula. Not ever. That'd be like what those huria do, only worse." How it could be worse he never said, but in his mind, it clearly was. "Why would you even think of doing that?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:53 pm
The lioness let out a rough sigh. "Because, Bijan, have you seen my cubs? Vlam had cubs with that bone-marked lioness... With the weird eyes... And they've grown so big. I worry that mine are going to not see the end of this drought..." She couldn't help having a large litter, of course. And Vlam's litters were both so... Small. It was less mouths to feed, less to water... "Kosuke says they'll grow up, that he's seen it in visions, but... That doesn't stop me from worrying..." She looked up at her brother, ears going back. "I hope it ends soon..."
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:27 pm
Azar'bijan snorted, sitting heavily and swiping a crescent shape into the sand with his paw - almost a dismissive gesture. He was not the most sympathetic of creatures and neither did he have the sort of maternal instincts that Shula had. His own children had been...an unwelcome surprise of sorts and though he was sort of proud of them he'd mostly left them to fend for themselves as they had grown up. Ursa had been better with the whole parenting thing anyway. He was out busy doing Guard stuff.
"Hey, it's not my fault you keep getting yourself knocked up." He huffed. "Seems to me like there's too many cubs running about this place. What is wrong with everyone? It's like there's nothing better to do than fool around with the opposite sex. Does no one work any more?"
Maybe he was a bit jealous that he didn't really have a relationship now. His life pretty much centred around work. Work, work and more work.
"I wouldn't listen to the prattle of some lion who says he has 'visions'." Azar continued. "The sun's probably just scrambled his brains for all we know." And then he sighed, his mouth feeling suddenly incredibly dry at her last words.
"We should have prioritised..." He grumbled under his breath.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 6:57 am
It was Shula's turn to give a huff. "I do NOT keep getting knocked up! I've only had one litter!" She gave his shoulder a jab. "And I assure you, we DO work! It's the best way to distract one from this persisting dry spell going on!" Even with her cubs growing far slower than the rest, Shula had insisted on continuing her duties. She'd even gotten back into shape relatively quickly, sparring against not only her half-sister, but a couple other lionesses.
Her ears went back. "I highly doubt the sun's scrambled Kosuke's brains..." Then again, she had no proof, did she? The lioness went quiet for a moment, then looked at her brother. "What if this splits the pride apart? Like it had been when we were cubs?" She didn't want to see the pride part in two again. She didn't think they'd survive as a pride it if they did. She let out an exasperated sound. "If not prioritise, we should move the cubs to a more watered area. To the desert's edge, or a neighboring land... Somewhere they can grow up safely, and come back to fight for the pride."
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:25 am
"One litter too many!" And he was one to talk. He'd gotten a female pregnant when he was just a teenager - though it had been a mistake and it'd been more burden than joy as far as he was concerned. He loved Ursa, though it was a secret he kept to himself, but even loving her had not stopped their relationship from crumbling.
He huffed. "Fine. Then listen to him spouting his nonsense. Trusting in magics is what brought us trouble in the past."
And then he stood, exasperated, and paced a few steps back and forth. "Leave? Leave? People who leave shouldn't be allowed back. Traitors! Why should they leave us to suffer? Run in the face of hardship and then expect to be welcomed back as one of the Blood?" He spat. "No. Leaving proves weakness and there's no room for weakness. We will survive or we will not survive. Perhaps the drought will cull the weakest of us and make us stronger." He growled, clearly not caring if he might upset or anger someone with his words. "Some good has got to come out of all of this."
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:28 am
Shula's jaw dropped as her ears, brows, and eyelids lifted in shock, before she turned on her brother. "Oh, you're one to toot your horn, with YOUR own litter!" She got up in his face, glaring. "And at least you can still see me hanging around Kosuke, and Kosuke around me! Where's YOUR mate, Azar? The mother of YOUR cubs?"
She snorted, backing away and pacing. "The very types of things Kosuke sees.. They're at least some form of hope for the future, that this drought will end! It at least makes lasting each day a bit more WORTH it!" Her tail lashed as she paced. "And you should know as well as anyone else that Father went out there at one point in HIS life! And he came back to the pride, ready to help, after a plague had all but destroyed it!" Then she got back up into his face. "And must I remind you of the history taught to us? That KIDONDO left... And came back with help for the pride. If he'd never done so... You and I wouldn't even BE here, because he wouldn't have brought Mother with him."
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:59 am
( Yeahhhh~ way to go Shula! *will look forward to posting his response* )
"That was different!" He retaliated almost instantly. It had been a mistake. Hormones. Nothing more than that. And okay, yeah, he had grown to love her and his kids (sort of) but then they'd all become such disappointments - or most of them, anyway. He growled, not liking where this topic of conversation was going. "Ursa?" He almost growled the name, flattening his ears back. "She's not worth my time."
Ugh, lies, and it hurt him to speak them, but it was the only way he could think of to save his pride. "I'm better off without her." Again the pain in his chest, but he pushed it roughly away.
"That was different!" He snarled, kicking up clods of sand in his temper. "Kidondo left to save the pride, not to abandon it and...and..." But what of Father? What of Mother? He wrinkled his snout and turned his head away, refusing to look at her now. "Fine. I don't care. Leave. My family does seem to be full of disappointments, one or two more won't make any difference at this point." It was sad really, but his anger was there because he cared. Because it killed inside that he couldn't make things work with Ursa...that his son had no backbone, that another son had left the pride never to return. He was an unhappy lion, that much was clear, but he was too stubborn to do anything about it.
Maybe he always would be.
"Go on then." He snapped. "Get out of here."
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:03 pm
Shula sighed, then managed to hug her brother. Somehow. The fact her arms fit around his mane amazed her, really. "To take the pride's cubs to somewhere else, with water and food plenty for them to grow... That would be to help save the pride. The pride is nothing without its future, and that's what my worry is. The cubs of the pride are the future. But..." She buried her face in his mane. "If it worries you that much, I won't go, and neither will my cubs." She paused. "Except Paniwi, but that'll come in time." She then licked his cheek, before padding off. "Good luck with Ursa... Or replacing her."
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:30 pm
He said nothing in response. What could he say? That he wanted her to stay? That he wanted her to go? He knew he did not want her to go but admitting that wasn't his way. So he stayed silent and very still as she embraced him, not daring to move at all.
And her parting words put another stab of pain through his chest.
Ursa...
There was nothing there to rebuild any more but neither could he begin to think of replacing her. He wasn't ready for anything serious, wasn't sure he would ever be. But, at least...at least he had his work. Work was all he really needed now and with it he was useful. He was helping.
He watched Shula leave and, with his heart heavy, turned away from her and moved on, wondering why it was that she had embraced him after everything he had just said. It made no sense to him. No sense at all.
/fin.
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