Spaki awoke to a dead goat tossed unceremoniously in front of him. He blinked, staring at it for a few moments then looking up at his blue 'roommate'. "Eat." He frowned up at the emotionless blue face and sat up, as if to say 'I'll eat when I want to!'...But Spaki did want to eat. So he swallowed his pride and dove in. The blue female went to sit at the mouth of the cave, focused on something else. He briefly paused to roll his eyes. What a weird female. It didn't take long for a lion as big (and as hungry) as him to finish up the goat, but he was barely done when the blue female spoke up again. "Clean up. We're going soon." The (former) firekin didn't feel too inclined to be bossed around by the female, but he quietly recalled the lions from last night, and when his new empress had said, and grumbling, began to clean his white fur. He wondered why he should bother looking all nice.
Without even looking to see if he was clean, he was soon commanded to get up and follow, and making faces, he did. Because it didn't seem like he had much of a choice, and he wasn't in the most confrontational mood. Just as they exited the cave, he already saw his new leader climbing down a small, narrow path from a cave somewhere above their own. He scowled, looking away. Wonderful. He'd have to spend more time with her. "Hello, Jiang. And brute." The empress greeted them casually, and he smirked and the nickname. The blue female was beginning to reply when he cut her off. "Oh, I get it! It's because I don't have a silly name yet! That's clever. You're very smart." He grinned, but then frowned when the empress didn't seem affected. In fact, she still had that stupid smirk on her face. Ari just nodded and walked past them, and much to his dismay, it seemed they were supposed to follow.
"Hey, where are we going?" He asked the blue female beside him, moodily, as he kept his eyes locked on the empress. Of course she wouldn't answer. "Hello? Talking to you? Blue? Blue? Answer. Are you listening?" He pestered her, but the female's expression didn't change. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to be stuck in this situation for long, and he heard his name being called. "Moto'Spaki, you come with me. Jiang, you know." He scowled, not quite understanding the command she gave the blue lioness. He looked to the side, and found the female was gone. He snorted, and stared at Ari, who seemed to be waiting. He sighed in exasperation, before picking up his pace to walk beside the empress.
"So, Spaki, have you chosen a name yet?" The male took a page from the blue lioness; he furrowed his brow and ignored her, petulant.Of course, she didn't seem bothered. She was never bothered. Or never let it show. "I see. Well, if you don't choose one soon, I'm afraid I'll do that for you." He huffed in response to that, but didn't honestly care. She could call him whatever, it didn't matter. He was getting out of here the first chance he got. "Let's see. There's Bai, Xing, Yang, Junjie, Fan, Niu..." He rolled his eyes, and gave up his ignoring game. "What do you want from me?"
"Fan it is." He blinked, then gave up. He could play her game, then get answers. "I'm not a fan." He was surprised that he managed to make her laugh. "Alright, Niu." He shook his head. "No. What do you want?" The empress again didn't answer his question. "Bai? You don't look like a Bai to me." He was honestly beginning to question her intelligence. "Fengxiaoblingaling. Whatever. Answer my question." Again she laughed, and this time he looked at her, let his eyes linger for a moment, but his expression was still sour. "Not until you have a proper name, so you'd best cooperate, Spaki. How about You?" Despite her light tone, there was still something...imperative about what she said. He didn't argue. "Fine. I like Junjie. Or Yang." You would be confusing. She nodded. "Niu it is." He rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. IT seemed pointless. "Okay. now, my question..."
"So impatient." He didn't argue with that, so she kept going. "I want you for the same reasons anyone would want a new member for their pride. There's strength in numbers. And having more firekin in our ranks is always helpful." Aww, so he wasn't special or anything. "If you behave, you might get to be my royal guard, too. Jiang needs to be able to switch off every now and then." He frowned. He could barely stand her, and she was considering him to be her bodyguard? He opened his mouth to argue, but she interrupted him. "You'll get over it." At that moment, Spaki set his mind to always not-liking her. But it seemed he was already failing; he already hated her less than yesterday.
"Okay, so tell me more about this 'pride' of yours." He put an emphasis on the word pride, because he was happy to show his distaste. But there she stopped, and turned to face him, and he was surprised by the fierceness in her eyes. "I can understand some attitude from you, Moto'Spaki, but this is getting old, and it's dying fast. You're doing nothing but making an embarrassment of yourself, if you keep this up, there will be repercussions." Normally, Spaki would question such a reaction. He'd challenge her, ask what kind of repercussions, what could she possibly do to him?
...But he was looking in those eyes of her and he suddenly felt small. He looked away, and knew he had lost. "Alright. I'm sorry." He sighed, furrowing his brows, but not looking half as tough. "Tell me about your pride." From the corner of his eyes he saw her nod with satisfaction, then turn and keep walking. He moved to follow her, feeling humbled. "My parents created this pride. You've met my father. Do you remember him?" He nodded. A little hard to forget. "His mate and my mother is Afu, or Tzu Hsi. Remember this. I imagine you'd recognize her if you saw her." He nodded, saving the name to his memory. Afu, or Tzu Hsi, former empress. "The pride is divided into five houses. The central house, this is where you are. North, South, East and West. I will tell you more about these another time." So the pride was like five in one? Seemed like he was messing around with a big place, then.
But she stopped, and he frowned, glancing at his surroundings. Up until now, they had been climbing over and around very treacherous terrain, but now they had reached a small plateau, as if the gods had reached in and scooped a hole out of the mountains. The floor was relatively flat, and walls surrounded them from almost all sides, reaching just above their heads. It seemed almost like an arena of some sort.
"This is where sparring may occur. And that's what you will do right now." Spaki hadn't woke up today expecting to fight, but he looked at the empress expectantly. Would he fight her?
...Much to his disappointment, the blue lioness made her reappearance, and when he looked back to Ari, she had climbed atop the walls and perched there, looking interested. He looked between her and Jiang, then backed away as the latter approached. He smiled, he might actually enjoy this.
