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 Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 8:38 pm
There had been an . . . upset as of late. Rivaini had been tiptoeing ever so lightly from here, to there, and back to here again. Along the way, she had seen lions and leopards alike, their eyes alight with the sweet, kissable glint of gold; and gem, turquoise, feather, bead. But mostly, it was the gold.
Something about the situation tickled her nose and bunched up her whiskers like a poorly fitted--well, we'll just leave it there.
Rivaini asked questions, as she was wont to do. From there, she had trudged fearlessly across the plains until. . .
Hm.
Sand.
A shrug. How dangerous could it be? The first footfalls were easy enough, before it had begun to sink and inch its way beneath her fur. It was like one, giant ocean-beach. Or, so she kept telling herself.
It was approximately dusk when she was creeping her way up the next ridge, licking her lips from thirst. She stopped, halfway up the dune-covered rock outcrop, squinting at a male figure shadowed dark in the fading light. That red-pelted pride, or more rogues? In either case, where there were lions, there was water. And where there were lions, there was information.
"You look. . . " There was a second one just down the ridge. A girl? Handsome probably wouldn't cover it. "Strong," she eventually decided. "Help a girl out?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 8:55 pm
Azar was finally letting Hraga out on his own. His own patrols! Even if they were on the easy side of things, the young lion could not have been more thrilled. It didn't really occur to him that the lack of water was starting to thin their ranks. In his mind, it was the start of something big. Responsibility. Honor. Yesssss. He was ready. He was so ready.
What he wasn't ready for, was Tarsa trying to steal his spotlight. The fat adolescent had gotten off his shift early, and seemed to think Hraga wanted his company. The fact that Hraga had only barely just started to grow in a mane didn't help things. Fat Tarsa and his luxurious mane. It wasn't even fair. "Tarsa, I swear. Would you go do something else? I'm doin' guard work. This is serious business. Not for soldiers."
Tarsa rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid. Only reason you're out on your own is 'cause they're changin the shifts you know. My commander asked us to help out with the guard. So I'm helpin you, cause your only barely tolerable. Rest of your class is so dumb, I'm not even kidding."
The black cub narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well I don't need your help Tarsa. Unless you're just scared to be all out on your-"
There were certain things young guards and soliders were taught to expect. Rogues, invaders. All of which could look very much like the sleek brown lioness before them. But the second both of the young boys laid their eyes upon her, all training flew out the window. What was in front of them was a female that didn't look like anyone of the pride. It was an immediate contrast that struck home. Hraga was smitten. "I uh...um-"
Tarsa, on the other hand. The round lion narrowed his eyes, and glared. "Hey, lady. You can't be here. Get out of our lands. Your not even the right color."
Hraga immediately slapped Tarsa in the face. "SHUT UP TARSA. I mean, my friend, he's...he doesn't mean that! I mean. You can't stay but...I mean, you can stay a bit, I think! You need help? Are you hurt? I can call the medic?"
"You can't call the medic for a rogue," Tarsa growled.
"Isaidshutup!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:10 pm
Guards. Her favourite.
Wait. One eyebrow rose, the other joined her narrowed eyes."You have medics?" She had her the red-pelts were a large, almost barbarian group. This lead her to thoughts of those before her, not a sophisticated society.
Leaving the discussion of the medic behind, Rivaini instead focused on the young male, who she had just previously mistaken for a female. This one was presented with a broad smile. "It's okay, kitten. Your friend wouldn't understand."
This was too easy. Almost impossibly so.
"I need a place to stay!" she alighted on quickly, once it was suggested. "If I stay with you, you could keep a careful eye on me." The one with the small mane was passed a very casual wink to go with his already over-used smile.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:21 pm
"Ok!" Hraga agreed. His bright green eyes practically melted out of his head. "We can do that! We'll just uh-"
"Escort you out of the pride," Tarsa barked, snapping Hraga out of his delirium. "You doofus. You can't let her stay with you. Who is she gonna stay with anyways? You know the rules. I thought you'd be all over this guarding stuff."
The round lion crinkled his nose, and sauntered towards the invader. Despite his half mane, he was still hardly what could be called intimidating. "We're firekin, don't you know that? You gotta be certain colors to stay here, and you ain't any of them. So you gotta go home. No duel for you." Tarsa squared his chin. "So goodbye!"
Hraga frowned, his eyes practically tearing up. Unfortunately, Tarsa was right about one thing: he couldn't keep her. And she certainly wasn't allowed to just hang around, especially if she wasn't on pride business or anything. The young lion gave a low sigh. "Tarsa's sorta right. I'm on duty so I can't let you pass. That's the rules. But I didn't make them or nothin."
"Doesn't mean she can stay," Tarsa added.
"Nope," Hraga lamented. "Only people we can let through that aren't members got to have permission or know someone here..."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:33 pm
Bollocks.
Isabela recoiled her head as a nose was stuffed in towards it, and gave him an equally strong look in return. No one would ever know she was bluffing.
"That seems rather unfair." Fairness did not seem to be in this older one's vocabulary, and the muttered rumble in the back of her throat quickly faded into the desert.
"Well, you're not doing your jobs very well. Neither of you bothered to ask me if I had permission, or even if I knew someone." Now she was stretching it. Still, if she could get them arguing again, she could sort of . . . disappear.
"It's not as though I want to stay, long term, honey. I'm on business." When all else fails, tell the truth.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:43 pm
"Business?" Hraga said. It was a little hard to hide the excited squeak in his voice. Why hadn't he asked before! Of course she had business! Lionesses like her didn't just stumble around all confused! No! They had plans. They had...well, they had plans. "I'm sorry! I didn't know! I mean...it's...um...it's kind of my first day on the job and I-"
Tarsa pushed Hraga aside with the flat of his paw. He didn't even toss the black cub a passing glance. "What kind of business? We don't just let anyone go through just 'cause they say they got to meet someone. Who are you meeting? Why didn't they come inform the guard ahead of time? That's proper procedure. Hraga I can't believe you don't know that."
Hraga growled, rubbing his head. "Of course I know that! Stop being so rude, Tarsa. I was just about to ask who she was going to meet!" He sat himself back up, dusting the sand off of his chest. "I'm the guard, not him."
Tarsa rolled his eyes. "Well? Who'r you meetin? I think you're just lookin for water, personally. Which we don't got a lot of anyways."
"Why would she be looking for water here? Uh, that's kinda really dumb Tarsa. Seriously. What are you even talkin about," he said. "Obviously she's an ambassador. Or somethin important. Right?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:52 pm
Water. Damn she was thirsty. That tongue made a comb over the inside of her mouth and over her teeth.
"That's cute, hun." The neutral comment sought to distract her from the remembrance of the long walk to get here. She would need to get in, apparently steal water, figure out what she needed, and leave all within a day. Things got less and less easy by the second.
"It was very last minute," she explained. "And private. I've been told to give you a description, and not a name." Well, for the next rise and fall of the sun, she was going to be an 'ambassador'. Interesting.
There was an off-chance that, perhaps, She was the one that was going through all this dirty-business. In which case, it was her very lucky day. If not, she fit the description of half of these bloke in any case. "They're very large." That should cover most of them. "They have a black pelt, with a sort-of-sideways moon on their shoulder. And they have a habit of collecting things."
A long display of teeth for both of them that was meant for Tarena. "You wouldn't have anyone like that here, do you?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:06 pm
"We don't have anyone like that here," Tarsa immediately retorted. "Why would you make somethin up like that?"
For a moment, Hraga felt deflated. But then, he remembered something! "Uh, yeah we do stupid," he started. "Isn't that Naseera? You know, the one that lives a little farther out from here? With them long teeth?" He motioned with his paws, pulling back his lips to show off his own small fangs. He couldn't really get the snaggle-tooth effect going, but he made a valiant effort.
The round lion paused, his brow knitting together. "What are you... you mean the one who beat up whats his face? The one Fen'wei and Veru got all those jars from?"
"Yeah, that one! She's got all those strange things. You know. Like the shiny things? The ones buried in the north? Yeah, she's diggin them all up. Don't know what she'd want with them though," Hraga continued. His ears flicked on either side of his head. "Bunch of junk."
Finally, the black lion seemed to remember. "Oh, her." He scowled at the stranger. "She's kinda new so I didn't actually remember her."
"I did!" Hraga added, like it was apart of some sort of evaluation. "Are you a friend of hers? Tarsa can go get her if you want."
"Uh, why would I do that?"
"Cause I'm still on patrol, doofus."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:16 pm
It was almost time for the last resort card, which involved quite a lot of movement furthered by sprinting. In this sand, Rivaini was unsure she could outrun the other two.
Rivaini raised that first paw, ready to make the treck backwards when the partial-mane was beginning to speak again.
"Long teeth sound about right." The corner of her mouth twitched. Behind her, there was an apprehensive flick of her tail.
"This would work better if you escorted me to her," Rivaini corrected with a great deal of strain placed into the words. "Remember, I'm here on business and since her junk is where she lives, it's easier if I go to her." Junk. Honestly. Naseera must have been making a fortune right under their noses.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:27 pm
Tarsa and Hraga exchanged glances. What the stranger had said certainly seemed right. All Naseera's strange stuff was a bit aways. If Tarsa went to get the other guard, it might have just meant more walking for all of them. But it didn't change the fact that Hraga couldn't leave his post! "I..." Hraga started. His whiskers drooped. "I guess I can't go then. My patrol lasts another hour..."
Tarsa sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was escort some rogue. "Why don't I watch the post? You take her to see Naseera or whatever her face is. I don't really want to walk all the way there."
Hraga's tail swayed in calculated thought. Technically, he wasn't supposed to abandon his post. But, he was allowed to escort rogues away if needed, wasn't he? And if the soldiers really were helping out on their shifts, then Tarsa was as much his partner as Azar would be. "Tarsa, you'd better watch it though cause I'll be in so much trouble if you-"
"Hey, I don't wanna get in trouble either. But I don't want to walk. You go take her and whatever," the black lion twitched his tail. "But if no one is back in an hour ima find you all."
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