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 Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 7:57 pm
This was an unusual day. Amaranth found herself out near the border, on an errand to get something from just across it. The fact that Susu placed so much trust in her had amazed the lioness... But then the look Yu had given her had spoken volumes. Perhaps they were planning something, or the seer lioness had Seen something... Or maybe her creepy twin daughters Seen something else. Probably her demise... They liked to joke about it.
Regardless of the reasons, Amaranth found a spot to do something she hadn't done in a while - Relax. The object of her search had been found in short order, but she had some time on her paws. She removed the fur she wrapped around her neck and stepped into a pool of water, closing her eyes and smiling as she sank her paws into the mud. One wouldn't say such a thing normally about mud, but it felt just so good, especially in combination with the water.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:09 pm
Of course, spotting another black and red and white lioness did much to improve his mood! Just what he was after! He kicked up into an easy jog, darting towards the little watering hole and the lioness. Thankfully he didn't look like he meant to attack - then again, maybe he was a madlion, grinning wide and friendly as he charged his prey. Who could tell?
"Hello there!" He called out, slowing to a stop a few yards away, but easily close enough to be seen and heard without yelling. "Is this is then? The desert's this way?" Wait, desert? Surely he was mistaken. All there was this way were more plains, then cliffs and the sea! Whomever he was, he really was terribly lost!
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:15 pm
She wiggled her toes in the mud a moment, then looked up. Somebody was coming, somebody was... Very very lost. She stared for a moment at the lion. He was black with gray markings, and red marks on his back and a darker red mane. He made her think of the lions she'd heard about, huge brutes of the north deserts. Amaranth frowned, ears slowly folding back. Her neck was exposed... He could easily see the incriminating pink mark on her neck...
But did he know what it was from? Did he know WHO it was from? Probably not, she told herself. She encountered less and less lions who knew what it was, something that made her rather glad. "No, the desert's not this way, and if you go much further, you'll be called the same as me. Thrall." Slave. No true rights of her own, no true direction of her own in her life. And yet... She'd felt directionless before, and now she felt like she HAD direction. Structure and instruction.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:24 pm
He didn't even notice the mark on her neck, no more at least than any of her other markings. It meant nothing to him and he essentially didn't see see it, let alone realize what it was. Of course, the look on her face caught his interest. Was she...was she afraid of him? It almost seemed like it. She was upset at the least. Well that wouldn't do. He hadn't meant to cause that at all.
He gingerly stepped forward, making no sudden moves. How did you make yourself look friendly? He didn't know, he'd never had to try. "It's not that way? Oh..." Well shoot. Maybe he'd gotten turned around somehow! Or maybe the lioness had been long...She was long lost in the wind, but he had no thoughts of trying to return to her and get any kind of revenge. Mistakes were made, and it had been long enough that he wouldn't be able to manage it anyways.
"What's that? You're Thrall?" That was a weird name. Not very feminine. "Well, I'm Tepezade. Just Tepe's fine too. That's my dad's name." He beamed for a moment. He'd always idolized his father. Or at least the idea of what his father was. "I guess I was going the wrong way..." He eyed her over, noting the fur on the ground draped over...something? He couldn't tell what. "What're you doing? Swimming?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:13 pm
He wasn't like some of the other li-- No, no, he was like some of the other lions. Especially that one lion that sang around Susu and Yu. His presence seemed to irritate Yu, but Susu was delighted by him. She'd asked once, something about Haki being her cousin's mate, and she'd stolen him away. Unfortunately the incident surrounding the event had robbed him of his memory of part of his life. Not that he seemed to mind or care.
She shook her head. "No it's not that way, and Thrall isn't my name! It's my RANK. If you keep going this way, somebody will catch you and make you a slave!" She stepped out of the water, shaking it off and going back for her things. "I was having a relaxing moment... My mistress sent me on an errand and..." She suddenly stopped. They knew she wouldn't LEAVE. She was directionless out there, even amid her brothers and sisters. Here she had a purpose and she felt she could repent for a crime that wasn't hers but she still felt tainted her. So what did this male have to do with her being sent out here? "She... She would be mad if I dally TOO long..." She glanced at the pride, then the male, playing words spoken to her some time ago over in her mind.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:18 pm
Tepe had...well he had heard of the idea of slaves before. His mother's pride hadn't kept them, but they'd threatened to make his mother into one for the colors of her fur if she didn't leave. Was that what had happened to this poor female? He felt a sudden surge of kinship and fondness for her, and again inched closer. The look on his face was plainly gentle, and if she at all tensed he stopped dead, letting her know he would not get too close without permission. "Then I guess I won't go that way. "I won't keep you then. I don't want to make trouble for you, since you've been so kind as to warn me...but...I don't see anyone else here? If you don't like it, if its' bad, why don't you leave?" Maybe she could go with him? But then...he already had to look out for his mother. Hmm...
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:26 pm
Amaranth let out a sigh, looking back into the pride's lands. "I have no direction beyond these borders. I don't know where to go or what to do with myself. My grandfather committed terrible acts, and because there are still lions who know his mark, I fear finding them... I stay here, because I feel I have purpose, and I feel that, in a way, I'm helping repent." She glanced at the male, noting quietly how close he was getting. She relaxed a bit, though, as he showed no ill will. "I'm Amaranth, by the way..."
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:30 pm
Oh. That was...sort of sad. It wasn't her fault though. She hadn't done the bad things, right? Then again, maybe if she felt like she should repent...if it made her feel better to be a slave, or thrall, or whatever...it still seemed odd. "I'm sure you'd find something. Something better than serving. Isn't there anything you'd rather do? Be a warrior, or a great hunter? Make things, or travel?" Of course, aside from reuniting his own family he didn't have many goals himself. Maybe he could understand what being purposeless felt like...nah. And he hoped he never would. It didn't seem fun at all.
"Amaranth. That's pretty. I'm Tepezade." He thought he'd said that. Had he? Oh well. "You seem nice. Not worth being a slave. But if it's what you want..." He didn't understand, but that was okay. He didn't have to. She seemed...maybe not happy, but alright. "You really could run though. No one's around at all. Just me, and obviously I'm not going that way to tell."
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:33 pm
She smiled rather shyly. "Well... I've been in the pride a while now, and... I like what the bards do. My mistress' brother said he'd claim any cubs I had as his own to protect them from being Thralls, but... There's this one bard in the pride..." Granted, being taken as his mate would elevate her out of Thralldome, but that wasn't her goal. "I kind of want to BE a bard, myself, and if he took me as his mate... I could be..." Her prospects weren't very good so far, though.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:37 pm
Okay...well..that caught him more than a bit off guard. He understood somewhat. She wanted to be a mother. His mother had been that way. Her family was her pride, tiny as it was with just him, really. But...well...hm. If he thought back to how his father and she'd met it had been sort of like this. But this time he'd be expected to not stay, unlike his own father. It was very weird, and put him off his footing just a moment. "You want to be a bard? I don't know if I could help with that, uhm..." Of course, if she was asking him to help her be a mother, that was a thing he COULD do...but he'd known what it was to grow without a father. But...but they WOULD have a father. Her mistress' brother, at the least. Would the bard she favored care for her more if she was a mother? It was all very strange...but he had offered to help, if he could. He supposed that was it then. "Is there...any way I can help...?" He'd leave it up to her.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:41 pm
"A bit, yes... But to be a bard, I have to be a Freeborn." She sighed, feeling forlorn, then thought a moment. Finally she smiled, looking at Tepezade. "I think just keeping me company for a while would be good. It's nice to just talk to someone else and not have to worry about their rank."
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