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 Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:11 pm
 This land he had wandered to... it was a little too different for Azria, too far removed from everything he had ever known growing up. The dense, impenetrable forests that covered everything for as far as the eye could see (though admittedly, that wasn't very far at all; there were too many obstructions growing within close quarters of each other); the simple strangeness of it all... it confused and disoriented the young lion, leaving him feeling more than slightly put out.
It was too difficult to mark a clear path through the tangle of trees that confronted him, and fairly impossible to remember which way was what. Azria could have sworn that he had passed that large, slightly bent twice already, and yet... somehow, it seemed different. He was beginning to blame the apparent similarities on the fact that he had spent too much time lost in these thick woods, on the fact that he had never had extensive experience with trees and could therefore not be expected to be able to tell them apart. But his less egotistic conscience knew that there was no way to put it other than that he was completely and utterly lost.
If Azria had been more prone to worrying, he would have been worried. He had wandered into the forest half a day earlier, and had since lost all sense of direction. He couldn't quite tell if he was headed deeper into the mass of trees, or if he was headed toward open space, and he certainly couldn't tell where he was. As it was, he was a young lion off on the adventure of a lifetime, and he had yet to learn what it meant to feel unsettled about his own well-being. Perhaps in time, he would acquire the skill, but for the moment, he was content to remain blissfully unaware of the potential dangers of his situation.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:25 pm
 To say Kerusey was agitated was to put it mildly. He was furious. Not only had his incompetent brother spawned, but one of those spawns had spawned! With each direct descendant that Eytucan gained, his own task became that much more difficult. While Kerusey could not force the delicate task of swaying his people's opinion, it was becoming more and more apparent that he could not wait for them. He was almost glad for this, in a way. Without such a neccessity, he would never have had cause to concoct a plan that his brother would never see coming.
Thinking of his plan soothed Kerusey somewhat. There was still the fact he had to put it into place, of course, and that all the while rogues were mixing their filthy, untrustworthy blood with the purity of his pride. But such details would be taken care of in due time.
His ear pricked at some fool thrashing about. None of the Na'vi would be so careless, so clumsy. A rogue, then...and the first of several tools he planned to wield. The thought that this rogue might not be a suitable tool was quickly discarded. If he wasn't useful, he would be driven off.
"Who dares invade pridal lands?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:47 pm
He was close to giving up for the day, and if he had found any sort of clearing, he would have stopped and taken a well-earned rest right then and there, leaving the pathfinding for another day. A problem for future-Azria, as he liked to say. Right now, rest was in order.
The voice ringing through the trees caught Azria off guard, and for a second, he froze, glittering eyes flitting this way and that in search of its origin. But before fear or any sort of defensiveness could come into play, his youthful disdain took over, and straightened up to scoff, "Pridal lands?"
The last thing Azria would have imagined this place to be was inhabited, and the fact that there must be an entire group of lions living within these dense confines boggled the mind. In what world could be possibly be comfortable to live in a place like this? The dark lion shook his head. "Who would want to live here...?" He said, more to himself than anything.
"Oh, I didn't mean to invade," he added loudly, casting his voice into the trees, in no particular direction because he couldn't quite tell where the first speaker had come from. "I didn't realize there might be anyone living here. It's kind of... cloistered, if you know what I mean."
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Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:47 am
Amidst the shadowed foliage, Kerusey's muzzle twists in a silent sneer. "This is the Iknimaya jungle, home of the Na'vi, and you will address this land with respect." Insolent, ignorant rogue! But it is this ignorance that will hasten the implementation of his plans, he reminds himself. With deadly grace he stalks into the open, circling around the rogue as bright, cold eyes look him up and down. Dark of pelt, just the sort his fool brother would welcome into the pride with open arms. Perfect. "Those pure of blood and spirit dwell here...but not for much longer, if my brother continues to rule as he does." He would plant the seeds of doubt from the start--with luck, it would prove difficult for his brother, or those that blindly followed him, to corrupt this rogue.
...Hah. Corrupting a rogue. Was that even possible?
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:35 am
"Well, I respect it alright," Azria said with a laugh glancing through the trees around him. If for nothing else, he respected this godforsaken jungle for its ability to disorient him. Getting lost had never been a problem that the dark lion had struggled with, and this, perhaps, was the first time in his life that he had ever felt unsure of where he was going.
As the other lion appeared out of the darkness, Azria fixed his bright-eyed gaze upon the other, and watched carefully as he circled. "What's wrong with your brother's rule?" He said finally, forgetting for the moment that it was neither his business nor in his best interest to know. A better question would have concerned his finding his way out of this tangle of trees.
But as Azria's youthful sense of adventure was wont to do, he abandoned all thought of escape from this trap of trees. His own well-being, admittedly, had never been such a huge concern.
"And who are you?" He added.
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:09 pm
"Everything," Kerusey spat, his self-control slipping just for a moment in a burst of anger. He quickly drew the cold calm about him again, but his eyes still burned with righteous fire. "He perverts our ways, inviting rogues in to dilute and weaken our blood until there is nothing of the Na'vi left. If he is allowed to continue, within a few generations there will be no Na'vi--only strangers with familiar faces. He seeks to destroy us from within!" Words he had spoken many times, although less often as of late as he attempted to lull his brother into a false sense of security. It felt strange, saying them to a rogue. "I am Kerusey. Supposedly, I am my brother's adviser."
A hollow title, to be sure. Kerusey could count the times Eytucan had actually followed his advice on one paw.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:42 am
"Well, then, advise him out of it," Azria replied with a shrug. He had little knowledge of the politics of prides, or any politics for that matter, and he didn't think to doubt for a second the verity of Kerusey's words. They didn't have much bearing on the young lion, in any case. He didn't know the pride in the slightest, and in all honesty, he didn't much care. All he really wanted to do was to find his way out of this forest.
"Or just leave," he added. Why get so attached to something that seemed so prone to causing anger and frustration? Leaving it all behind seemed a good enough solution for everything to Azria, and this was a prime example. Sometimes, it was just easier to stop caring than to stand by and watch everything good crumble into dust.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:15 pm
If only it were so simple...
Kerusey began to tell the young rogue as much before his next words sent the dark adviser reeling. Leave? Leave the pride that was the chosen of Eywa, that had been the home of his ancestors for time immemorial? His home, that he had fought and bled and seen his brothers and sisters die for? His claws dug into the earth.
"That is precisely why rogues have no place here," He sneered. "You simply fail to understand the importance of home and heritage." His fool brother felt they only needed to be taught...pah. Kerusey doubted it.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:42 pm
Azria could only shrug. "Never had much to understand," he said simply, glancing about him as he tried his best to understand what these trees could offer. But he had never known his father, and he had never had a pride or a real home that stretched back several generations. Nothing to keep him tied down to anything, or to offer him the incentive to stay.
Maybe they were just different. That, Azria didn't doubt. The other male was leaner and lankier, longer of limb than Azria's Firekin blood could ever have allowed him to be. The young lion was altogether bulkier, heftier, and completely unsuited to any sort of life within the close confines of the trees.
Still, this other lion was only trying to preserve the lifestyle that he knew. Change, Azria understood, was not always welcome, although he himself had never had a problem accepting it. He had never really managed to grow too attached to anything, and there had never been a cause for him to fight for. Maybe that was what his life was missing. A purpose of some sort.
He shrugged again. "So change things."
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:12 pm
Kerusey's face twisted as though he'd bitten into something sour. As much as he hated it, hated admitting any sort of vulnerability to a lowborn rogue, he had to bait the hook if he wanted to catch him. With luck, the fool would see his expression as that of the righteous rage he held for the desecration of his pride. "Too many have blinded themselves to the doom waiting on their path," he growled, claws sinking deeper into the earth. "Allies are needed. Allies that will respect this land, respect this pride, and refrain from mixing their blood with it."
Hopefully a rogue was capable of that much.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:13 pm
The dark lion just watched, trying to decipher the meaning behind the other's expression. Anger, he supposed, for his homeland. He could understand that, in a roundabout sort of way. Though no land had ever captured his heart, Azria imagined that Kerusey's feelings were akin to the ones he would have felt if anyone had tried to destroy his family. There wasn't much Azria cared for in the world, but he was nothing if he couldn't love his family.
But the thought returned: what if there was just something missing in his life? That cause to fight for. He didn't really understand respect - not in the way this other lion suggested - and he couldn't rightly promise anything about not mixing blood. Azria was a young lion, after all, and... well, hormones and all that. But he didn't think it would be a problem, and what Kerusey didn't know wouldn't kill him.
"Allies, huh," he echoed, thinking. "I could help you there."
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