Neige had gone and gotten herself LOST. They'd left near Auntie Ninon's pride, and started for their Daddy's pride...and she'd managed to wander not only AWAY from her Mommy and sister and brothers, but AWAY from everything she'd seen! That...that wasn't good. The cub, near juvenile, sat in the grass of the odd place she'd stumbled across...and started the lion cub equivilant of crying. It was dark out, she was hungry, she was lost, and SHE WANTED MOMMY!
It was not Neige le'Croix's night, to say the least.
If any creature counted themselves lucky to run into another lion, they would be mistaken to meet Rasul. The brown and red adolescent stalked through the grass, ears back, sour look on his face. He'd failed to hunt anything down this time, and his painfully thin body could attest to that fact. He was stubborn, refusing aid, and wanted to feed himself, on his own. He wasn't about to be babied by anyone.
And then a sound reached his ears. Crying? Somebody was CRYING? Nobody CRIED in the Aikanaro lands! Letting out a low growl, the brown lion followed the sound, amber eyes soon landing on... A cub? No, a juvenile... And very pale... Stalking over to it, he circled. "Who are you and what are you doing here?!"
Neige jumped, not used to that sort of tone in someone's voice. Not to mention he'd snuck up on her, since she hadn't been paying attention. The near-juve sniffled, her ears back and her expression scared. "I...I got lost. I'd followed a very pretty bug away from my family, and then couldn't get back. And I still can't find my way back. I've been lost all day..." A very long time, for one as young as her.
A lost little cub... Rasul sneered, placing a paw on her tail. No sense in letting her run off... For someone of unworthy coloring, she was rather pleasing to the eyes. "You're not lost, you're in the lands of the Aikanari'hini." He leaned down, slowly grinning at her, revealing yellowed teeth. He seemed ever the picture of personal neglect.. "Here the lands are full of demons... We're a tough lot, and we do not tollerate crying cubs.." He stood up, staring down at her. "We do not tollerate a LOT of things.."
Neige blinked, going from sad to confused. "Demons? What are demons? If you're tough, does that mean you're like Mommy? She's very tough. Loves fighting and scrapping." She wasn't bothered by his paw on her tail...after all, she'd never had to worry about anyone mean or 'evil'. "What does 'tolerate' mean? I don't think Mommy ever used that word."
Oh but this was going to be easy! "Demons... Are lions with a wicked soul... We take what we want by force..." He pushed her with a paw, trying to get her to walk. "Come with me... I can show you what I mean by that... And tolerate.. Means we don't like crying. We do not like a lot of things." His wicked grin seemed to grow. "But what we do like... Are little cubs like you..." If he got her deep enough in the lands, he could hide her away and teach her to be obedient to only him... And then she couldn't leave.
Neige squeaked when he pushed her, but she followed the unspoken 'suggestion' and got to her paws to walk. "Oh...I'm sorry for crying, than. If I'd known, I would have cried elsewhere. Mommy didn't like it when I cried either." She had no idea what he'd meant by 'wicked', but it seemed to be a good thing to him? So she didn't ask. "What other things do you like?" Suddenly, she felt a little better.
"Oh, a few things..." He kept close, so he could grab her if she bolted. "Making others suffer, for one... Ripping apart small animals unworthy of my time... Then I can eat them." His claws pricked the dirt as he walked. "Common one... We enslave others... Wild dogs, hyenas, small animals... They're not really demon-blooded therefore unworthy of us..."
Neige wrinkled her nose. "Ripping something apart doesn't sound any fun. Then you can't use the parts you don't eat." She had to quicken her steps to catch up to him. "And what's 'suffer' mean? And 'enslave'?" He kept using words she'd never heard before! It was...well, oddly exciting. She was learning all sorts of new things!
This was the fun part to him. "Enslave... Means that I..." He pushed her down. "Own you. You are my property now." He leaned over, smiling in her face. "Do you understand? You do what I tell you to... When I tell you to. I am your master now." He pricked his claws against her. "And suffer... Means that I cause others pain. They suffer, because I torment them, I smack them, hit them, roll them around between my paws like a toy."
Neige squeaked, ears going back and eyes going wide. She wanted to cry again. But she had a feeling that would be a bad idea. "Please don't hurt me...I'm no good at fighting. I can make you things? I''m good at making things. Pretty things."
"Do as I say, and you won't be hurt... Badly..." Rasul considered her words, thinking it over. A slave that would make him things... Make him a head-turner... One had to admit, bones and skins could only go so far. "I think I'm going to like you, though... What's your name?" Not that it mattered much, it was unlikely many lions would use her actual name, only refer to her by her lowly rank.
Neige perked up a bit. So far, she seemed safe! Well...kind of. Mommy and her sister and brothers weren't here, and Daddy certainly wasn't, but...well, as long as he asked her to do things she coul do, he wouldn't hurt her! "I'm Neige le'Croix. But Mommy usually just called me Neige."
That name was a mouth full... "Then you'll go by Neige. It's much simpler." He removed his paw from her, then shoved her again. "Now come on, I'll show you my den. You're not to leave unless I tell you to, got it?" He didn't want somebody else wanting her. She was his, only his. And he planned to make sure she knew that good and well. And if anybody tried to take her, he'd fight them tooth and claw.
Neige nodded and kept following, doing her best to keep up with him. "Okay. What do I call you though?" She needed a name to call him, after all! Especially if he was keeping her. Oh...she was never going to find Mommy at this rate!
The brown lion stopped, looking down at her. His answer was short, a solid end to the conversation. "Master Rasul." He then started walking again, one eye keeping back to watch her.
She nodded, and simply followed. She was unconsciously already falling into the position he'd declared for her, her head down, but eyes alert.
