The bushes had grown thinner as she'd moved away from the jungle, but the sensation that somebody was following her was still present. Amaranth didn't stop moving to get her bearings, or figure out what territory she was in now, until she found herself at a river. She panted, eyes wide as she looked around. The sun was getting ready to peek over the horizon, casting the world in the deep darkness of twilight. She couldn't see a thing, barely even the river, and certainly not the one following her. To make matters worse, her legs felt tired and heavy - She was a sitting duck now.
There was no reason, really, for him to be near the border between the Stormborn and the Mist Walkers. Well, no reason besides his sister told him to go there. She'd said there was a surprise for him. One of his much younger brothers had verified this, and Yu had gone out to check out what they'd told him. The dark Reaver was surprised, then, to find a lioness being shoved out of the Mist Walker lands. Even in the darknes, he hadn't missed the markings, and he'd certainly heard the argument. Of course, the pink was familiar for a whole other reason to Yu - He'd seen it on another Reaver, a lioness who proclaimed her cubs the offspring of a god. Whatever floated her boat...
The male persued the lioness for some distance, both reveling and hating how dark it got just before dawn. Darkest before dawn indeed... But the she'd stopped at the river. He knew the terrain of the lands very well, something he could be proud of. She had no idea where the river was shallowest and thus could be crossed safely, while he did. Not that it mattered... He jumped at the lioness, using the momentum of his jump to bring her down.
If she'd been in a panic before, Amaranth was really in a panic now! As soon as the larger body made contact, she found herself propelled to the ground and sliding along it for a couple feet. Being on the river's edge at least lessened the blow, as the mud was softer than the hard ground. She struggled to roll over, limbs flailing as she hissed and swatted at her attacker, but the dark lioness found the other animal to be much stronger. As the sun finally began to peek over the horizon, she found that it was a male lion. That only made her panic more. "OH GODS DON'T RAPE ME!" Wouldn't that be a dark twisted irony, given her grandfather's reputation?
Yu let out a snarl, deep and gutteral, that made the lioness freeze. "You have tresspassed into Stormborn territory... Are you aware of that?" The higher the sun rose in the morning sky, the more he saw the fear in the lioness' eyes. Was he really so different from the others who'd been there longer? He thought he would be, but this lioness brought something out in him... "I won't do anything... If you comply. Am I understood, Thrall?" When she nodded, he slowly stepped off and around her, hackles up. "WALK. And tell me your lineage..." There was something about her that got his anger up... He had to know what it was.
Slowly, Amaranth got up, before being shoved in a direction and walking it. "M-my name is Amaranth... My father is Moses... My mother is Afriti'dogo... They're... They lead the Mwana-a'lela..." She was afraid for her life. His threat had been clear - Rape was the least of her worries. She stumbled a few times, unfamiliar with the terrain, but found that while the male was volatile, he still held her up if she fell. Somewhere in his anger, there was still some form of kindness. But as the words about her birth pride slid out, she regretted them right away as she could hear the growl rising in his throat.
As soon as he heard the name of the pride, Yu realized what was wrong with this lioness. "The Mwana... Can burn in their jungle." He gave the lioness a rough shove, pushing her toward his family's dens. "THEY enslaved my mother, making her a shell of her former happy self. And one of them..." He spat on the ground. "Is my own UNCLE." He had cousin-siblings there. It disgusted him. Did he hate his uncle? Yes he did. He'd heard more of what Toshiro had done besides enslave Shetani.
Amaranth visibly flinched at the male's words about the Mwana. The jungle... Burn with them all...? ALL of them? "But... You're condemning them all for the actions of only ONE! And... Which one was your uncle? Please... My parents have done nothing, nor have my brothers and sisters..." So many brothers and sisters, to boot. Well, two brothers and three sisters, anyway. And what if they had children of their own? It had been quite a while, at least, since she last saw any of them.
As they walked into the pridal area, she looked around, amazed at the sheer power many of the lions clearly posessed. This was NOT a pride for weak lion. When she saw anything that wasn't a lion, she noticed that they got treated rather badly. "What... What is a Thrall... Exactly...?" Fear was rising up in her more and more. Was she being enslaved? She hadn't even known she was in another pride's territory! That seemed a pretty extreme thing to do to a trespasser! What ever happened to just running the intruders off?!
"Toshiro... What of it?" When the name left his mouth, his face contorted in an expression reminescent of eating something foul. There was no love lost for a lion who killed his mother AND his own son. Yu had met a second cousin while out in the rogue lands... The white and blue lion had been very intent on murdering his grandfather.
Giving the lioness a rough shove over to a pile of bones, Yu scowled at her. "A Thrall... Is a slave. Congratulations, you're now a slave. You can start by cleaning up those bones there. I'll find you something else to do when you're done. And don't tell me I have to NAME you, too."
She balked a bit. So she WAS a slave... She looked at the bones forlornely, wondering where to even PUT them. She'd figure out eventually... Her gaze turned back to the male. "I have no connections to Toshiro... But for who my family is, you've condemned me, so..." She gave a sad shrug. "So bit it..." She started moving the bones onto a near by ratty old skin. "And my name is Amaranth... You don't need to name me..." If he did, she'd probably be named something like Dirt, with her luck.
The male watched her for a moment, and felt a bit of pity. She was at least accepting of her fate, but that was just sad looking. "I'll keep my eye on you... Though I suppose I should point out... There is a lioness here who is entirely that shade of pink. So you won't be alone... But she's a Reaver." He cleared his throat. "If you ever have any cubs... There was a change in the pride's leadership, and our new Warlord believes the cubs of Thralls will be Thralls, so if you have any..." He started walking into the den. "I'll claim them as my own." They'd be removed enough generations to be spared, at least.
Amaranth paused to watch the male leave, then sighed, going back to work. She didn't even know his name... She'd find out eventually.
