Taime
Taime had left the sickly hybrid and was back on the move. The black and green lion really had nowhere in particular that he was heading, pretty much anywhere except from where he came from. Taime didn't like going where he had already been, once he saw a place there was nothing to go back for. He wanted to see the whole world, and he couldn't do that sticking in one place for too long or going back to where he had once been.
Today he was moving through an open field something that made him mildly nervous. In general Taime stood out like a sore thumb with his black and bright green fur. But in an open field like this he was so much easier to spot.
Xabryel & Xayna
Xabryel cut a path through the tall grass, unconsciously making it easier for his smaller daughter to slip through behind him. They weren't far from the open savannah now, which normally didn't worry him, but rumors had grown strong enough to make him paranoid. Somewhere out there was the Cannibal, and he wanted to make sure his family was safe from it. She had already been sighted more than a few times in the past few weeks, more frequently now that they had settled her. It was unsettling, to say the least. The closer they became to the open area the more his fur bristled. Was that...was that a dark shape? Xabryel held out his paw, silently telling his daughter to stop.
It wasn't hard for the dark cheeton to slip under her father's outstretched paw to see the shape. After a moments study she snorted and curled up her little nose. "Oh come on, that's not her; it's a guy. And he's got a green mane. Her's is black, right?" Without waiting for his permission, she slipped away from the larger lion and padded out into sight. As far as cheetons went, she was of an average size for her age, but compared to the massive lions in her family, aka her father, Xayna may as well have still been a cub.
"Hey, you, moss head!"
Taime
Taime's head swiveled like it was on a axis. He turned quickly and spotted the dark hybrid. What was this hybrid week. Taime had gone through most of his life never having seen a hyrbid instead only hearing they existed. He was pretty sure this female before him was the same type of crossbread that the male he had met earlier this week.
"I usually got by Taime." he answered her call without missing a beat. "Though I suppose I could call you ash bucket." he retorted walking towards her with his head held high.
"Is there something you needed?:
Xabryel & Xayna
For a moment Xayna simply stopped, mouth slightly agape as a nerve twitched in her head. "Ash...ash bucket?!" Oh, he was going to get it now!
Before his daughter could get herself into trouble, Xabryel came up behind her and simply placed one paw on the tuft of her tail, pinning her in place. It was a practiced move; one of a father who had perfected dealing with upstart daughters. "What she meant to say was 'Hello' and ask if it was okay if we asked you some questions." Giving a sharp look to Xayna in order to keep her in line, he smiled once more to Taime. "My name is Xabryel, and this is my daughter, Xayna. We're looking for someone and I was hoping you might be able to help us."
"Someone? More like some thing," she groused. Looking back to the moss head, Xayna cleared her throat. "We're searching for a demon in black fur, with a red tail tuft. It walks around in the disguise of a lioness, and eats cubs!" She held her paws up, trying to look as menacing as possible. "No joke! She's been hunting our family for years and we're trying to stay away from her, but she's in this area. So..." Xayna tapped her chin. "Well, she'll eat you first since you're easy pickings and then we can just ru-"
"Xayna."
"Sorry, papa."
Taime
Taime swallowed hard when he saw the larger lion come into view. He was also thankful that he kept his daughter in line by pinning her with his paw. Taime stiffled a giggle, he wasn't sure that Xayna would be held back if Taime were to laugh at her.
Ignoring the female that was still clearly agitated Taime decided to talk directly to the male lion. "I would be happy t talk to you though I don't think I have come across anyone that has met that discription." he told the duo.
Taime's lips had a twinge of a smile on it when Xayna was told of yet again. "Why does she hunt your family?" Taime asked perhaps if he knew the situation he would better be able to help.
Xabryel & Xayna
He couldn't help the defeated sigh that slipped out. The search was exhausting, and leaving his family more than a little upset. "Damn. I was hoping to put this to rest." Xabryel shook his head, and ran his free paw through his mane. They were going to have to double up patrols at this rate.
"She hunts our family because she's evil. What else is there?" Xayna stated bluntly. "The demon doesn't like that our patriarch wouldn't work with her, and wants to fight back. She doesn't like that he survived, and that we still live. She's his mother; you'd think that would count for something."
Xabryel let up off of Xayna's tail, and was pleased when his daughter didn't automatically scuffle away from him. "She has litters to use as pawns or bargaining chips; if that fails, then she kills them. She left my grandfather and his sister alone to die when they were just days old. Thankfully they were both found." Granted, they had been raised by different families, but they survived. And now they could fight. "We've managed to find another of her sons, and we stole a little from her before I was born. It's little steps, but the more we keep away from her the stronger we become."
Xayna straightened her shoulders. "But that's not even the worst part; she makes deals with evil spirits and has minions everywhere. We might be getting stronger, but so is she. She's getting older, too. That body won't last her much longer and she's desperate." After all the evil she had done, Xayna had no doubt that it would be her generation to stop the violence. "So now you know why we need to find her."
Taime
Taime sat blinking as if he was completely stupid. The story was just so much to take in. He wasn't really sure how to respond, was there really anything someone could say to what he had jus heard?
"Well I will certainly keep my eyes open for her and her evil minions." he finally said. The inflection at the end of the sentence made it sound like it was a quesion but he had meant it to be a statment.
"Should I come across her I can break my rules and circle back to tell you all." he said. "I assume you live in this area?"
Xabryel & Xayna
"You better if you don't want to be eaten." She didn't even have to look at her papa to know the look he was giving her. It only helped when she felt the pressure of his paw return to her tail. "What? I'm serious; she could really hurt him. Plus, we're travelers, so whatever 'rules' ya go you better be real lax with them cuz we won't be here long. Not with her around. We just want to find her, so we can know where not to go, ya know?" Made complete sense to her, after all. "One lone lion, walking around in the open like this..."
"Truly, though, be careful. This isn't a lioness you want to trifle with. Xayna likes to exaggerate, but she's close to the truth." When he was just a boy he had wondered why one of his mother's had never spoken, why his half sister had been kidnapped and why his father was riddled with scars under his fur. Xabryel had always been an easy going boy, but with adult hood came an abrupt end to 'fun'. Life was cruel, and he had to adapt. How else was he going to save his family?
"We always have patrols around our territory, so if you feel threatened, come find us. We have a lot of different species in our group, so just use the phrase 'Tikoto rises' and they'll let you in if you've found the right place."
nessiaing
