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 Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 12:15 am
 Tal had come in with Vol only a few days ago. This pride was even more interesting up close than they had been from a distance. There was so much to see and learn. These lions were strong, they would protect her and each other, and she was finally part of protecting someone besides herself. It was a nice feeling to contribute to something like this. She might not be as strong as the Reavers or as smart as others, but she could make things. She had earned her place as a freeborn by using cunning and the tools given to her by the environment. Sunlight had blinded the Reaver she faced and he had given her right to live in the pride. She had to use her tools and ability to make things to the advantage of the pride now. She had seen many in the pride wearing things, so that would be something she could do. She could make the cloaks and other things they wore in the future, and she could fix the ones that needed repairs in the mean time.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Kivi had been feeling better since her talk with the high priestess about the ghost she'd met in the forest. She still felt a little guilty about how she'd behaved toward him, given what she'd been told about ghosts by the high priestess, but that didn't stop her from wearing the ghost-repelling charm she'd been given. She didn't want to have to be the one to talk him into the correct afterlife.
As a reward for being good through lessons she had been given the afternoon off to do as she pleased. Several of her siblings had probably gone to watch the reavers spar and get in a few matches of their own along the side of the sandy arena, but Kivi had no interest in being a warrior. She would tussle with her siblings for fun, but that sort of serious training wasn't for her. Kivi really just wanted to grow up and have a family.
"Hello!" she greeted an unfamiliar lioness with a black and white coat. "What are you doing?"
She had never seen a crafter at work before.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 11:42 am
Tal looked away from her observations to the voice that had sounded near her. She had been making things even as her eyes wondered to the sights around her. Trying to match what she was making to the feel of the pride. She had a fur that she was putting some little bones on, and looping some strips of leather to make a kind of clasp. She did all this while still looking around her. It was amazing how well she could divide her attention. But she had to take the part of her attention that had been on the pride and put it on the voice.
The voice, she found, belonged to a yellow and brown cub. The cub was rather bright and interested Tal for her coloring if nothing else. The curiosity of the young one helped make Tal feel at ease, though. If the cubs acted normal, then the pride was not going to be as hard to fit into as she first thought. The black and white lioness bowed her head a moment in acknowledgement of the cub. "Hello, young one. I am making a cloak to keep someone warm." She gave the cub a sweet smile and worked as she talked.
Tal's voice was quiet, kind, and lacked the steel that seemed to be in the Reavers even when they were trying to sound nice. She only gained that steel when she had to, and with a cub there certainly was no reason for it. At least not with a cub that seemed very well behaved and just curious. Perhaps Tal could teach the cub something. The lioness thought that could be fun, but then, one never knew with a cub.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:44 pm
 The little hyena didn't much like most of the pride. He didn't much like anyone at all, in fact, other than his family. He didn't love them or anything mushy girly like that, but they were okay. While his ego was as vastly overinflated as any reaver's, Miz was considered a mere thrall. He tended to ignore this fact consciously, but subconscious survival instincts usually kept him out of range of the surlier adults. The adult his sister was blabbing at didn't look very surly. Anyways, Kivi was talking to her, so Miz supposed he had better go talk to her too. He had to keep an eye on the littler ones, make sure they didn't go around making fools of themselves! So he strutted up to the pair, puffing his chest out and fixing the black-and-white lioness with a beady-eyed stare. "Hey Kivi," the hyena said offhandedly. He sneered up at the lioness. She was new. "Who are you?" Miz asked bluntly. "You look like you rolled in tar." He snickered. She did look like she was all covered in dirt with those big black splots on her white pelt.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 7:36 pm
"Oh," was all Kivi had to say in response to Tal's explanation. She couldn't think of a single lion in the pride who would need a cloak like that, since that would require first admitting to being too cold. Even Kivi, who wasn't in any way planning to be a warrior, was unlikely to do that.
"Miz!" she exclaimed delightedly when her strange hyena brother joined them.
She hadn't seen him approaching, but that was hardly surprising. She'd been watching Tal very closely and unlike many lions in the pride she did not find the sight of a hyena strutting about as if he owned the place all that unusual. He was, after all, her brother by another mother. And probably another father, too.
And then Miz started in on the crafter. Kivi took a few steps sideways so that she could lean against the larger predator's leg and whisper, "Miiz. Be nice. I think she's new here."
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:45 am
Tal was trying very hard to make the cloak look like the ones she had seen in the pride. That way someone would be more likely to want it, or if not, she could use it. It was coldish here, but she would not have truly called it cold so far. Then again, it might get worse later in the year. She was focused on a bit of leather when the young hyena came over. She blinked at the creature. She had been informed about the whole Thrall thing, and she was pretty sure a Hyena would be a Thrall here. She had to wonder about his attitude toward her for this reason.
Even if he was not a Thrall, he was still a youth and should be respectful toward his elders. Tal frowned at him but answered his question. "I am Talaitha. I Challenged and won against Voldemaras for my place in the pride." She was proud of gaining her place as a Freeborn rather than coming in as a Thrall. She did not like the sound in Vol's voice when he had spoken of Thralls before, but seeing what a Thrall was, she was very much glad she was not one. It did not seem a pleasant life.
She let his comment about her fur go. He was trying to get a rise out of her. Her voice remained sweet as she spoke. "You have some interesting markings yourself, young one." She went back to work, letting the young hyena think what he would of her statement. She would not be riled by him unless he got too disrespectful, then she would have to see about giving him a warning, if not turning him back over to his parents or whomever was in charge of him. He certainly was not HER thrall to have to worry about.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 7:05 pm
Miz ignored Kivi's urging to be nice. He didn't give a s**t if the lioness was new. As far as he was concerned, new translated to easy pickings--at least when the new person in question was a soft-spoken, begrimed lioness like this one. The little hyena had picked up a great deal of his Mopani-mom's disdain for everyone and everything outside of their little family, and he loved getting the chance to show it.
"Of course I look interesting. I'm awesome," the little hyena said smugly. If the lioness had meant to insult him, it flew far, far over his head. Her mention of Vol also flew over his head. The Miz wasn't impressed by no namedropping ho. Voldemaras had long ago been sorted into the hyena's subconscious 'do not ******** with' list, and from that point on, been completely ignored. Ignoring ill-tempered reavers tended to work well. They had stopped bothering to ask him to do anything long ago. There was always a larger, stronger, more agreeable lion around to do whatever thrall tasks needed doing, for one. There was also the fact that Mopani-mom, though a thrall herself, was bold and shrill enough to unleash a tirade of righteous ear-shredding momming upon anyone who pestered her cubs. "Vol is old and feeble anyways."
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 7:11 pm
Kivi figured she had made a mistake when she asked her brother to be nice because of the crafting lioness's newness, but it was definitely too late to take her request back. Really, she just didn't understand why her big brother could be so indescribably cool around the family and so unpleasant to everyone else in the pride. She had never seen anyone treat him poorly though, and had no idea what sort of prejudice he probably had to put up with from everyone outside of the family.
"He is," Kivi said quietly.
After a moment's horrified silence in which Kivi realized that it might sound like she was agreeing with Miz's assessment of the reaver Vol as old and feeble, the brightly colored cub rushed to add more loudly, "Vol is not feeble. Miz is awesome though. And Vol isn't young."
It was so hard to be fair and honest and also nice. Kivi felt stretched almost to her limit by trying to agree with everyone here.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 4:57 pm
Tal shrugged at the cubs. What she had seen so far was much less than awesome from the male hyena. What she had seen was arrogance that put him out of his place in his pride. She might believe in kindness to all, but there was a way things were supposed to be as well. If the pride said that certain things must be, then the members should abide by that within reason. This youth was outside of the within reason part. Nobody should be treating ANYONE in the pride like this, and he was even the lowest on the respect ladder! She continued her work and watched the two cubs only enough to make sure they did not mess with any of her things.
It never occurred to Tal that she could call over another Thrall to escort them back to their mother, or would be within her rights to completely flip out on them according to the pride. Tal wanted to find a way to impress upon the young male that the way he was speaking to her was not appropriate, without completely pulling rank, or getting angry. She figured that if she got angry that would only satisfy what the male wanted of her. Most of those that teased and pushed only wanted to get a rise out of the other party. This was as true of adults as well as youths to her mind.
"No, Vol is not feeble. Age often times means experience and time to build one's strength. I believe you should learn to respect the Reavers before one of them hears what you have said, young one. You should also learn to respect the Freeborn before you say something to the wrong one. I doubt you would want to be in trouble over a silly comment. I know I would rather not see such things happen to you." Tal still sounded as sweet as ever. She was used to holding her irritation at bay. This was just a good exercise in it. She smiled when she looked at Kivi. "You are a beautiful young cub, I am sure one day you will go far in the pride." She had no such praise for the male, but could not stop herself from giving such to the young lioness.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 10:36 am
Miz rarely took to anyone outside the family. It would be more accurate to say he never took to anyone outside the family. But this boring dirty lioness had to be the worst of the bunch. She was so dull. She was the most boring, horrid old dried-up stick of a lioness Miz had ever had the misfortune of meeting. He didn't really like it when the more aggressive lions shouted and chased him around, but at least that was some kind of reaction. This lioness had the personality of a stump.
His face was twisted into an expression of deep displeasure as the lioness rambled on in that awful mild voice. He snorted loudly. "A'course Kivi's pretty, she's my sister." Duh. He was going to have to talk to her about being so sweet and agreeable though. She might turn into this ... this awful boring lioness! "You are obviously a very nice and agreeable Freeborn, and you smell of flowers," the Miz said, his tone going from abrasive to syrupy sweet. Maybe Kivi would get the hint about trying to get along. Surely Kivi had noticed this lioness's sheer dullosity!
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 10:52 am
Kivi could tell Miz was about to say something awful. She could feel it down to the bottom of her toes and the tip of her tail. He said lots of awful things, and the worst part was that most of them were also really funny. If he said one of those awful funny things right now, Kivi wouldn't be able to keep herself from laughing, and then the lioness might take back what she had said about Kivi being beautiful.
It was actually news to Kivi to hear that she was beautiful. She'd never given the matter a passing thought. There were so many more important things to be in life than beautiful. Useful came to mind. Helpful. Pleasant. Talented. Intelligent. Fierce. All things that were more important to be than beautiful. Except now that it had been mentioned, Kivi did sort of like being beautiful.
"Miz!" she hissed.
A newcomer to the pride would not recognize the insult inherent in being told that she smelled of flowers, most likely. But Kivi did, and she knew that Miz would only start saying worse things if they did not soon depart. It was a shame because Kivi would not have minded getting to know her a little better.
"You are very nice and agreeable. But since you beat Voldemaras you must be a really good fighter, too. Right?" That might redeem her in Miz's eyes, if it turned out that the outlander was also a good fighter. Miz may have dismissed Vol as old, but he knew the dark lion really was good at what he did. They both did.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 3:19 pm
Tal did not quite get the insult passed her way by Miz, but she knew by the way he said it and the way that his sister reacted that it was there. She used Kivi's comments to gain the meaning of the insult. She finally turned her attention completely from her crafting to face the youths. She had had about enough of this young hyena and his stupidity. "The young lioness is pretty in SPITE of being your sister. I am not NICE and AGREEABLE. I am polite and know my place in the pride, unlike yourself. If anyone here is frail and useless enough to smell of flowers as you say, it would be you, whom is not even contributing something to the pride."
The lioness did not yell or glare. She just had that quiet steel in her voice that said she was beyond putting up with this. "As you say, young Kivi. I am a good fighter. I have been on my own pretty much my whole life and in the Rogue lands you might not be out raiding people, but a lion on her own is a target. You have to be able to know when to fight and when to be polite lest your mouth get you killed by an angry pride. Vol was not a simple or easy opponent, but it was necessary to fight him to earn my place here. All that should matter to your brother is that I did win my place which means I deserve respect."
"If he cannot respect those that are higher than him, and obviously being more useful by doing things like repairing things the pride uses and crafting new things for the pride to use, he needs to find that respect before it is taught to him in an unpleasant manner." The black and white lioness gave the young hyena a stern look. "It is a shame such an interesting pelt was put on such a worthless creature as you have proven to be by your own mouth." She kept an eye on him out of the corner of her vision, as she knew better than to turn a blind eye on even a small creature less they think themselves big enough to attack, but she went back to her crafting.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 3:50 pm
The little hyena had finally succeeded in rousing this dull lioness from her stupor. Well, a little bit at least. She wasn't yelling and throwing things and stomping around, but she was insulting him. The lioness might think she was hurting Miz's feelings badly, but the young hyena had a thick hide as far as verbal attacks went. Ordinarily he would have been excited, thinking the lioness was about to start chasing him around and shouting, but she didn't do anything. She just sat there like a big splotchy lump, working on her blankie or whatever.
This wasn't nearly as thrilling as screwing with Uncle Dump.
He was tempted to go whining for Mopani-mom, but she wouldn't do anything interesting. It was fun to see her unleash her momwrath upon unsuspecting lions, but this lioness was so utterly blah he couldn't imagine Mopani doing anything other than shooing him away from her. Frustrated, he decided to ignore the lioness for now and rounded on his sister.
"Vol's an okay fighter," he said, in a lecturing tone. "He just gets distracted by females." Ugly, stupid, boring females. "He's actually teaching me to fight so's I can beat up stupid boring blanket loving outlanders."
100% lie, but hey. Whatever.
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 5:30 am
Oh, gods. They were fighting. Kivi had known that it would come to this. There had never really been any two ways around it. Miz had been out to make trouble from the first and by refusing to react in a sufficiently dynamic way to his sallies the new lioness had succeeded in encouraging him, rather than discouraging him. And now he had a crusade of some sort going on.
The mostly yellow lion cub shook her head this was not an argument she felt like getting caught up in, even though Miz was clearly making an effort to include her in the fight by addressing her directly and correcting her. She did not know Vol well enough to say whether Miz's assessment was correct, but she knew Miz well enough to know that the remark had been made to her, but not for her. He had been once again trying to nettle the blanket maker.
"I'm not going to get into a fight with either one of you," Kivi announced. "I think you’re both being absolutely impossible.”
It didn’t make much difference to Kivi at this point that the outlander had not, actually, done anything particularly impossible. She had just spoken harshly to Kivi’s brother, and even though she’d been well within reason to do so Kivi’s loyalty to her family was greater than her inclination to be pleasant and polite. They weren’t very typical Stormborn impulses anyway, and she might even grow out of them with the right encouragement.
“It was very nice to meet you, Outlander. Sometime perhaps I will learn your name. Bye, Miz.” And off she stomped.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:44 pm
"It was nice to meet you as well, young Kivi." Talaitha was disappointed to see the nice cub leave, but she could not really blame her for wanting away from this. The hyena was being a real pain in the rear end Tal would have left too in the cub's place. Instead Tal was going to have to get away from the hyena to get any peace. She wondered how best to do that, and figured it might be best to just ignore the creature now that his sister had left. It was not as if she wanted to speak to the hyena anyway. Better yet, she could just go into her den and put her work away for now.
Tal decided on that option and got a determined look on her face. She didn't even look at the hyena as she spoke. "You have a nice day." She picked the cloak up and tossed it over her shoulder She was not going to say anything more to the pup and she certainly was not staying out here where he could bother her. She padded off into her den and put the cloak to a side with her many bones and such to make other things. She would work more later. For now, she was going to nap. If the pup came in here, nobody would blame her for chasing him out. Tal yawned and used the cloak half as a pillow as she laid down to nap. Bothersome hyena.
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