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 Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 2:54 pm
"Can you help me?" she'd asked a late night resident of the training grounds. This wasn't the first time she'd wandered by and spotted this particular lion alone out here. He'd eventually directed toward her toward where he was "pretty sure" Azar slept and she'd completely missed the expression of disbelief he had in doing so.
Most lions were more tolerable when they were fast asleep. She had vivid memories of cuddling up at her mother's side as a cub, of that being the only time she felt like she had a mother. Leave it to Azar to be loud even when he was unconscious.
Niu cringed at every snore, curling her lip back in disgust. He really had no grace. At all. Ever.
She searched the vicinity for something to toss at him. Niu was acutely aware of her weaknesses and his attitude. For all she knew, he'd wake up and start swinging to kill. Probably having a dream about the war right now, the zebra's a**. If he caught her off guard, that didn't bode well for her.
Luckily, she found a rock just big enough to get the job done.
Annnd... maybe it was kind of immature how much fun she had taking aim at his big head.
Niu swept her paw forward and sent the rock barreling toward the space between his eyes.
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 3:11 pm
He was a deep sleeper, too - though he probably had to be to avoid waking himself up with his own snoring. In any case, it was such a deep sleep that it would have taken something - say, a rock - hitting him straight in the face to get him to stir. Fortunately for Niu, she had chosen just such a thing and so, when it struck, the lion jerked immediately into a dazed wakefulness and was on his paws in little more than three seconds. It took his mind, however, a lot longer to catch up with his body and for a moment he was left blinking away a sheen of fog; trying to clear his head.
And when it finally did clear. He saw her. Her. Oh. What did she want?
He shifted his weight and reached up to rub a paw across his forehead. "I hope you have a good reason for waking me up." He grumbled. "Otherwise you're going to be in serious trouble."
Psh, yeah, because what was he going to do? Exile her? Send her off to the Regents for punishment?
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:12 am
"I do or else wouldn't have. You reminded me of a friend fast asleep like that. He was an elephant." Niu couldn't pass up an opportunity to hassle him just by telling the truth. Once upon a time, she really had befriended one of those giant creatures and he really did snore. Their companionship had been short-lived since both their parents insisted on "moving on" in different directions. Sen hadn't cared whether or not her daughter had friends.
Looking at Azar, she wondered if whatever they had between them qualified as that.
"I'm sorry I hit you with a rock like that," she said, defaulting back to her "professional" tone and "professional" posture and the way she made a profession out of having a stick up her a**. "I didn't want you to strike me by mistake if I were to prod you."
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 11:20 am
Azar had never seen an elephant. He was a poor sheltered soul who, in truth, was a little afraid of stepping outside of the boundaries of the desert. Still, coming from Niu, it didn't take a genius to work out that she was probably trying to wind him up with some sort of insult. "Ha." The sarcastic laughter left him in one short bark of sound. "You're so incredibly funny. I don't think I've laughed that much in ages." Which was probably true. Sarcastic laughter was pretty much the only type of laugh he ever made.
"And I'm not that paranoid." He snapped, shaking his pelt and easing back down into a sitting position. His head still hurt though and he feigned washing a fore paw as he tried to rub at the ache between his eyes. Yep, he was smooth like that. And damn, that stone was totally going to leave a bump. These women were having a bad effect on his appearance. At the rate he was going he'd be in pieces before the Nergui even arrived. "And there's no stopping me from trying to strike you now, is there?" He grumbled, though he clearly wouldn't. In a duel he would not hesitate but he wasn't about to go around hurting women unless they gave him extremely good cause. And seeing as he hadn't struck out at Fia when she had attacked him with the intent to harm, it would have to be something pretty severe. Still, it didn't hurt to keep up his tough guy attitude.
He dropped his paw back to the sand and eyed her with the best 'disinterested' look he could muster. "Out with it then, woman. What do you want?"
Although now he was beginning to think that he probably wouldn't want to know.
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:05 pm
"Good instincts are not about paranoia, Azar." Niu spoke in such a way it was as if he'd woken her up for training; she looked upon him as if she were a mother bestowing great wisdom to her son. If nothing else, her follow-up made it very clear that was not the case. "I wanted to train with you now. Regrettably, it's easier for me at night for the time being."
The culture shock was startling, but not all that "shocking" when push came to shove. Adapting to the weather was another matter. No one needed to know she'd later thrown up everything she ate after that fight with the Pridelander and the trek to the outpost. The heat was exhausting when the sun was up and she wondered if it was some kind of trigger for her unwanted, otherworldly abilities.
The nights here were frigid and Niu could handle that fine.
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:34 pm
His eyes narrowed. What was this? He was getting lectured now? Had he been demoted when he wasn't looking or was she just trying to assert her authority? Unfortunately, he only got as far as opening his mouth to respond when she hit him with the reason for why she was here. His maw immediately snapped closed again, his ears twisting back into his mane. Uh oh. He had been right. He hadn't wanted to know why she was here. Why had he gone and asked? He should have just rolled straight back over and gone to sleep. Now he was going to have to think up some excuse as to why he couldn't. Not because he was scared or anything like that. He just...didn't want to train with her, that was all. Not now. Not ever. So think of an excuse, already!
"Uh..."
No, that wasn't an excuse, Azar. Come on, think. Think.
"I can't." A little better perhaps. His jaw tightened and one could almost see the cogs working there behind his eyes. "Go and bother someone else. I need my sleep for training during the day like normal lions. I'm sure there's some poor nocturnal victim you can go beat up, hm?" He huffed and began to shift his weight to lay back down again, letting his forelegs slide forwards until his belly was back on the sand.
There. Argument put forward. No one could possibly argue with that logic, right? Right...?
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 2:59 am
"Oh..."
Evidently, Niu agreed that "logic" of his was impeccable. She tried to keep the disappointment that she couldn't abate from being too obvious (such a childish emotion); it turned out to be pretty easy when surprise barged up and held every feature on her face hostage.
Yes, she could just go train with the lion outside, but.
"That I could go beat up?" That's what he'd said. He hadn't said "train", he'd said "beat up". And now that she was thinking on it, since when did he act so... reasonable and responsible? Niu's eyes squinted at him in the darkness and some (accurate) conspiracy theories were going on behind them. Uh oh.
Word choice, Azar. Word choice.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:53 am
What was she looking at him like that for? That was...disconcerting.
He shifted, awkwardly, and curled his paws in against his chest, as if to strengthen the point that he was not going to move. Why couldn't she just give him a break and be intimidated by his 'serious' expression or just because he was him. Surely rank had to mean for something. Surely when he gave an order people should listen to him, right? Okay, so it hadn't quite been an order, but if he made it one, would it make any difference? Or would she just stay standing there staring at him all suspiciously.
"Yes." He said, almost carefully that time. "Like you did with that rogue, remember?" Crazy female.
And then, after an extended pause: "I don't see you leaving. I hope y ou don't plan to stand there all night." Because it wouldn't work. He wouldn't go. He wouldn't.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:05 am
Niu could take orders. What she couldn't take -- or didn't want to -- was the hint.
"I don't see you leaving. I hope you don't plan to stand there all night."
If things had been different, she would have come off as a smartass for laying down. The atmosphere just wasn't right for that, and she looked guilty; not at all in a trouble-making mood. As further evidence, she did not address him as his "nickname" and instead --
"Azar, I didn't beat her up," she said, but that wasn't really where she was going with this. It didn't really matter. "I wanted to talk to you about that -- or, I should say, I wanted to apologize for that. I know you wouldn't have hurt that rogue on purpose."
Niu's shoulders tensed and she looked alarmed.
Had she just -- That rogue?
Oi. She was starting to sound like a certain someone...
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:54 pm
This was...weird.
He hadn't expected this conversation at all and apologies were really not his thing. "Well congratulations on working that out." He growled, wishing that he could find some way of getting out of this conversation. Now he was almost starting to think a duel with her would have been better. "Just because I don't take the time to trade pleasantries doesn't mean I'm out to get people hurt. I'm a guard, remember? Guards protect people?" But he didn't need to explain himself.
"And what about you, huh? Your duel was hardly what one would call reserved." He smirked. "Had something to prove to yourself, is that right?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 2:47 pm
"I was as hard on her as I needed to be," Niu defended promptly. "I'm one of the nicer ones around here, and I most certainly was the nice one around there. She'll need to be --"
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. Why was she going through all this effort again? She didn't owe him an explanation for her duel.
Niu's famous last words:
"This isn't about me," she said. Like it or not, he was going to hear her out.
--But, uh, what had they been talking about again?
"You are just -- outrageously difficult to speak with, you know that? I'm trying to thank you and you just -- Why do you have to argue with me all the time?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:06 pm
He gave a dismissive snort. "Whatever. I wouldn't have stopped you." Although truth be told he wasn't sure what he would have done. Would he just stand by and watch if his kin was duelling a rogue and was taking it a little too far? Actually...he probably would have. But he had been pretty sure that Niu wouldn't have done that. And maybe the fact that he'd been quite surprised, too. He'd not expected her to give such a show of strength - particularly since he had duelled her himself.
Okay, yes, so he had lost that one (hence her being here) but it had been like watching someone else. She'd clearly been working hard. An admirable trait, to be sure. It put some of the desert-born Firekin to shame.
"Thank me?" He seemed surprised at that, too. "For what?" And he narrowed his eyes at her, trying to come up with an answer to her question.
Why did he have to argue with her all of the time? Or anyone, for that matter.
He gave a shrug. "It's a gift."
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:20 pm
Niu's mother told her it was the thought that counts when it comes to gifts. Yet another reason to never listen to a word she said. There had never been any lessons on thanking someone gracefully; Niu was self-taught in that area.
"For not telling anyone, which I assume you haven't. No one has looked at me any differently. And for not... reacting poorly to it." Niu scrunched her nose back and was suddenly an awkward juvenile having to confess to her caretakers she saw things they didn't. Seers were more common than Niu knew at that time, and in many places, widely accepted if not worshiped.
All she knew was it made her different in ways that were bothersome and interfered with her lifestyle.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:29 pm
Azar blinked. "What are--" Oh. Oh yeah. That. That seer thing. He didn't understand it. Didn't understand what she was going through or why she might be nervous about people knowing. Perhaps if he thought about it he[d realise that perhaps there were many others in Firekin who hid their gifts for fear of reproach. In fact, even the regent, Kidondo, had taken to shunning his gift until it had grown stagnant and weak.
"Look." He sucked in a short breath. "As long as it doesn't effect your job then I don't care what you are, alright?" And he said it perhaps a little louder than what he should have. "So stop--I don't know--stop getting all stressed about it. I don't need it."
Azar didn't really do talking quiet.
Maybe, he wondered, her 'gift' might be of some use to her out on the border. It was worth taking into consideration - so long as it didn't have her getting any ideas about trying to overtake him in rank.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:54 pm
Niu's expression remained neutral throughout his tangent. She didn't know how to feel about it, let alone how to look. Probably for the best she take it as a good thing.
Outside, Shunqa was tiptoeing around, keeping an ear out for... for Nergui. Definitely not gossip or suggestive noises.
Why was the new recruit going into Azar's den this time of night? And she hadn't been coy about it at all! He just-so-happened to be passing through and, you know, he overheard some stuff.
"As long as it doesn't effect your job then I don't care what you are, alright?"
Huh?
"So stop--I don't know--stop getting all stressed about it. I don't need it."
Wha?
Shunqa only had their words and tones to go by. This sounded pretty serious! He couldn't see Niu nod her head to signal she had accepted the subject was closed, and with that, started a new one she'd been wondering about.
"Is Heti your son?" Niu asked. "He looks like you."
Shunqa's jaw dropped. Could it be?
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