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 Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 5:07 pm
It had been many moons since he'd been in the desert. Kope had lived a very lazy life as a rogue in other, richer lands: for awhile, he'd gotten positively fat off of the easy pickings. Little had seemed like hardship after being raised in such a hostile, unforgiving environment.
But time had a way of putting some of his thoughts into clearer perspective, and he found himself pulled back toward his homeland, albeit reluctantly at first. He'd lingered around the edges of the pride during the great rebellion, but had left before it had properly come to a conclusion, and he was curious to know who had managed to wrest - or keep - power from the ones that had been in charge. Perhaps his mother had meddled in mortal affairs again. That's what she did best, after all, he thought sardonically: meddling. It wasn't as if she actually cared about the pride she had created, except as a glorified experiment.
The large male padded through the fringes of the desert, vaguely aware that he would need to find one of his typical watering holes soon: it was getting later in the day, and he was getting somewhat thirsty. His massive paws swept up through the sand as he crested yet another dune, pausing to take stock of his surroundings.
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:50 pm
Celosia had snuck away again. The little one didn't seem to understand how her actions would adversely effect those who labored to find her, what with water being scarce, and scarcer still in this great drought. She was just hoping to find water so the adults would stop their arguing about it. She really was getting tired of hearing about it....
The seriousness of it all was utterly lost on her. Such was the blessing of youth.
It was then she spotted him, and thinking Kope simply another member of the pride (not simply one returning from hiatus) bounded up to him with laughter and a smile in her purple eyes.
"Hey~ did you find any water!?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:29 am
Kope heard a rather high-pitched voice, and turned sharply, ears swiveling forwards as he looked - at normal height - to find the owner of the voice. Puzzled when he found no-body, he blinked, then looked down.
Gods. It was a cub. Where the hell had that come from? He was so surprised by her sudden appearance, and so taken aback by her obvious lack of fear for him, that he actually answered her without really thinking much about it. " ... no."
Brows furrowed, he sat back on his massive haunches and glared down at the little girl, wondering what he was supposed to say or do. He'd never been around cubs, even back when he was with the pride; he left cub-rearing to the females, who were supposed to deal with such things. Vaguely, he understood that cubs were an important part of the pride, but that didn't mean he had to look after them.
"Who the he - er, who are you, kid?" He demanded, also vaguely aware that swearing in front of a child might not be such a good idea. If this was a rogue cub, he wouldn't care, but if he wanted entry back into the pride, it wouldn't be good if he got on the bad side of the rulers ... and if he was really unlucky, this was a little princess who somehow got away from her nannies. Great. Now he'd have to return it.
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:50 pm
"Awww~" Celosia pouted, plopping her little butt on the sand, as the lion admitted to not finding any water. Drats!
She was surprised, however, when he asked who she was. She thought everyone] should know who she was! She was simply that conceited. And even though she wasn't a princess, she was daddy's little princess! Well....one of them, anyway. She straightened up from her slouchy pout and proudly introduced herself to him anyway.
"I am Celosia, daughter of Khin'del and Azar, granddaughter of Kidondo and No."
If anything, she was taught to have pride in herself and her family.
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:46 pm
Oh, good grief. She was a great-niece. Damnit, was he that old? It was a disconcerting thought. And he wasn't really sure what to do with her. He'd ask any adult about the current status of the pride, but he hardly thought a cub would know anything about that. Well ... maybe she knew some basic things.
"Kidondo, eh?" There was a dark chuckle. "So big brother had a kid, at least. Who runs the pride now, Celosia? Who's in charge? Is it Kidondo?" The name 'No' didn't ring a bell; maybe she was some rogue his brother had taken, or a lion from a lineage he didn't know about?
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:22 pm
What? He didn't know? What rock had he crawled out of? Wasn't he a pride member? He looked like one. Celosia was beginning to wonder though... She recalled what she'd been told one day about monsters lurking towards the north, and for a moment an assessing look passed over the youth that finally painted her otherwise pleasantness with tell-tale Firekin seriousness.
But...he didn't look like a monster. Then again.....what did monsters look like anyway? But he had said 'big brother' so... Oh, it all just made her even more confused! Celosia fought back another pout, instead settling for;
"Maybe!" complete with a nose stuck up in the air and a tail swish.
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:21 am
The male's eyes narrowed considerably at the cub's brazen behavior and words. Part of him wanted to whack her one, but he realized vaguely that there might be some repercussions for something like that. Hitting cubs was not generally beloved by their parents. He decided to try for a stern tactic, which the vast majority of children will ignore once they realize you don't mean business. "Look, kid - " He just barely held himself back from saying 'brat' or something much worse " - I just want a simple yes or no answer. Is Kidondo the current king, or is someone else?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:42 am
"Well if you're his brother then surely you should know~" she said in all the brattish glory of a child. "It would help if I knew what a king was." And she would have stuck out her tongue if it would have been lady like, but it wasn't, so she didn't. Daddy would be proud.
Indeed, she was born way after the titles of royalty were abolished, and instead the council formed, and the titles of 'regent' and 'regentess' were bestowed upon her grandparents.
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 6:38 am
By the gods, he never wanted children. Kope growled low in his throat, but his 'scary' stance didn't seem to be having much of an effect on the child. If only she was a rogue cub - he could send her head over heels with a hard swat of his paw. Why did lions want these sort of things, again? They were nothing but a bloody nuisance.
To his surprise, though, her reason for not properly answering him was a strange one. "A king," he stated slowly, as if he thought she were particularly stupid. "A ruler, a leader? Someone who makes all the important decisions? Surely you have something like that here." Please, tell him that his pride hadn't fallen so low as to have gone the way of several weakling prides he'd met, that had no proper rulers -
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:02 pm
Celosia wrinkled her nose and gave her reply, "We have a council for that. But Granda'n'ma head it."
It had taken a while, but finally Kope had managed to get that bit of information, who was now thinking a fellow pride member had been out in the desert too long and he'd hit his head. Amnesia? That's what it is called, right? But hadn't gone completely stupid, so Celosia wasn't sure.
The little cub was thoroughly vexed.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:25 am
He took that as a 'yes.' But what the hell was this 'council' for? It sounded as if Kidondo had lost some of his power ... at least, the absolute power of the old king. Kope frowned at her, his tail twitching in agitation behind him. "Hmph. Well, I suppose I'll find out for myself, sooner or later. Scram, kid - go home."
"No, wait - " He said belatedly, remembering something. He'd been searching for awhile, but hadn't come across it, even though he could have sworn he knew where it was. "There used to be a small oasis somewhere around here, to drink from. Know where it is?" Even a cub should know that, he thought.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:53 pm
Celosia was about to respond to his order to go home with an indignant 'I am home!' but just as she opened her mouth, his next question came, and she was left to frown again, little ears drooping.
"It's hiding. All the water is hiding. We're having to ration what we have. There was a big vote on how to do that. It upset a lot of the pride members."
Mommy and daddy had been conflicted in their votes, but thankfully united in their desire to put the children first. Mommy won, but it seemed like everyone had truly lost that day.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:26 am
There was a drought? Well that explained the lack of easily-available water. Kope stared at her. And since when did his pride vote on anything?
"A messy situation all around," he drawled, both indignant and curious. He eyed her, then relented a little. She was only a cub, after all. "Hopefully the damned water comes back soon," he said, forgetting to watch his mouth; old habits died hard. He stretched, shaking out his white mane, and got to his paws.
"Suppose I'll have to go find your grandpa and see if he'll welcome his little brother back into the pride." There was a faint smirk.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:48 pm
"They say if the lack of water dun get us, then the monsters to the north will. It's kinda scary. You'll help fight the monsters if they come, right? Like mommy and daddy will?"
Obviously the little cub, indignant as she might have been, wasn't a complete brat. She had worries, too, which was why she was all the way out here in the first place.
She rose back to her feet and stretched a little, "You know, I thought the presence of water was supposed to put out fires. But it seems that a lack of it might just do the same thing. I hope not," there was thoughtfulness in those young, purple, eyes.
[Fin?]
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:11 am
Monsters? What the hell were these monsters? Hyenas? Another pride of lions? He'd never heard of any prides to the north, but that didn't mean that one hadn't settled there. Kope frowned, a little annoyed that he hadn't met anyone a little older; the cub could only tell him bits and pieces, and even then, he wasn't certain how accurate most of it was.
"I'll do what I can," he said absently. It would be a pity if the pride fell; he couldn't allow that, no matter if he thought some of his kin were damned idiots. "Have you seen any of these 'monsters,' kid?"
To his surprise, the little girl was smarter than he'd thought, and he blinked at her, feeling rather discomforted by those curious purple eyes.
"Um. Yeah. It might." Yeesh, mystical stuff. He'd gotten enough of that with his mother. "Just be careful, kid."
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