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 Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:28 pm
The early light of dawn had yet to brush the peak of pride rock, and Palesa took the time to awaken. Usually, Na would be fast asleep, almost as if he hadn't gotten to bed until early. Sometimes, Palesa even found him knocked out so badly, that no snores escaped from his maw. But that was a rare occasion indeed.
Moving into the open air, the pale lioness took a moment to strech her soar muscles. Because the wounds were still sensitive, the scarring had yet to happen. Every movement she made somehow would crack the scaps and cause her to withstand even more pain than usually. Yet, being the rogue she was, she didn't bother Na with her troubles. She simply left early to clean the wounds on her own, returning later in the morning to wake him as if nothing was the matter.
Making her way down the stone steps, she took deep breaths to get her mind off of the wound. Slowly, she knew it would heal, though sometimes she just wished it would scar and be over with.
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:43 pm
Mrost had never left the pridelands of late. He knew that Na lay within the borders and was not going to leave until he found him. And the god had all the patience of those who called themselves immortal, he could spend it seeking.
Na would not escape.
This morning he crept around the area like a vast shadowed demon, scenting the air and hunting, seeking his quarry.
He was interrupted from his prowling by a faint movement nearby, he looked up from where he was, eyes narrowed. That scent...there it was. He stepped closer to Palesa, a bristling midnight blue vision of nightmares and spoke.
"Na-Be. The failure. His scent is about you."
He looked manic, like a lion on the edge.
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:48 pm
The pale lioness snapped to attention as the god crept up upon her. Somehow, her skills failed her as he made way close enough without any sort of sign. Turning to face him, her glare faded as sharply as it came, and her soft brown eyes widened with surprise.
To put it lightly, she had seen nothing of Mrost's sort in all the ages of her journies, and standing there in his glory sent chills of fear down her spine. Even the bravest of mortals cannot stand face to face with war and feel no fear.
As her eyes froze in the depths of his vision, she almost lost the words that he spoke, though blinked out of her trance and looked down to his armor. Armor that was coated in blood.
"Na," She whispered out, a croak until she swallowed and collected herself. Looking to his face once more, she set her gaze and closed her maw, clearly not about to say anything to the large lion before her. A lion that was impossible and unbelievable.
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:00 pm
Mrost knew it was careless to approach a mortal uncloaked in his illusions, but in his current frame of mind, so close to his target, the very stench of the abominable offspring about this female, he would not have been able to maintain it anyway.
He saw the fear in her eyes as she looked on him and felt nothing. He did not delight in the fear of a single soul. He only revelled in the quaking of nations. But she knew...
She knew him. He made the assumption on her stunned utterance.
He snarled, lunging forward in an attempt to pin her on her back, using his speed to it's full potential. She would tell him. He would make her.
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:03 pm
His speed was something to marvel at, had Palesa even seen it. All at once, she heard the snarl, though it was not what she could see. Before her ears could perk at the dark noise, a weight of epic proportions was upon her form and throwing her back. Landing with a sharp snap of her neck, she felt the form push her body into the ground with anger unchecked, and gasped to catch her breath and stop the spinning of her mind.
However, the pain of his weight was nothing compaired to what Red did, and that knowlage send her glaring up at the god, showing resistance even while she was pinned and for the taking.
"I won't tell you where he is," She forced out darkly, "I can survive anything for Na, he deserves to be safe and away from you."
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:17 pm
Mrost's snarl only intensified as he pinned the lioness, unsheathing his claws so she would be able to easily feel their length and danger, he pressed them until they pierced skin but didn't draw more than a pinprick of blood. He knew how this went.
He leaned uncomfortably close to Pale's face, smirking nastily making every attempt to inflict a personal space intrusion. He wanted her uncomfortable. Her defiance only made him grin.
"Ah, so you are /that/ kind of prisoner, eh? Well I know methods of making lions talk. Torture of the kind that would make your worst nightmares seem like mother's bed time stories."
He laughed aloud. "But that's great b***h. I like the fiesty ones and either way I win. You tell me, I find him and you go your merry way or you don't, I kill you and then catch him too. He can't hide from me. Never" his voice was a deathly hiss by the end of this statement.
"And as for what he deserves. I'll tell you what he DESERVES. he deserves to DIE for sullying my blood. For being a ******** FAILURE." furious again he lashed out a paw, cracking Pale across the face before grabbing her muzzle and holding her up to his face.
"Now TELL ME. Where is he?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:37 pm
Feeling claws pierce her skin once more, Palesa bit back a whimper as her brown eyes wavered slightly. Swallowing, she kept her eyes on him dispite how close he was, holding her breath while he spoke. The words were like blows of their own, each mentally berating her and breaking her heart.
As he laughed, she could see just how much he wanted Na, how much the hunt and failure had caused him to go insaine. However, when he lashed out at her, she felt her vision and mind spin from the force, blood dripping from where she bit her tongue. The pressure he pulled her up was almost worse, and his demand made her flinch.
It was at that deloushional moment that she let out a light laugh, the rogue grin spreading across her maw as she grew defiant, just as he liked her to be.
"Who is the failure...him for keeping away for so long and safe...or you for not being able to find him?" Prepairing for another blow, she continued on without a breath, letting him listen while she still could speak, "If you kill me, you won't have a lead to where Na is, and you will be right back where you started...without any clue." Her smirk grew to a taunting grin.
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:51 pm
Mrost raised a brow as, in response to the blow, Palesa simply stood in further defiance of him. He had not expected to break her so easily but her words were irritating. He snapped. "I did not seek him until recently. I was indisposed." he grinned "But that is over and I've found him."
He leaned in again, close enough that she would be able to see the slits in his eyes, the near reflective blue of his irises, the lack of mercy there. Then he pulled back and headbutted her back to the ground, using his helmet for the blow.
"Actually. That's where you are wrong." he cackled "I have caught his scent elsewhere in these lands. You are merely an amusement. And if you know where he is and are so willing to give yourself up for him, how would it affect HIM if I killed you?"
He laughed, his voice echoing.
"You forget. I am WAR. I have killed more prisoners than anyone and broken more hearts in doing so." he grinned, revealing all his fangs. "But it ends here." and with that he made to dive for Pale's throat, only to be stopped by a voice that barked out.
"She's MINE you b*****d! HERE I AM. COME AND GET ME."
Na stood not far off from where he'd been watching. Red had been ready to get him out of there, the visions having come strong to him that night. But the voices had reached him and in the end the lion could not give up that which was his to the god who had taken everything from him.
"You want your own blood spilled? Then come SPILL IT."
And with that he ran, as fast as he possibly could in the direction of Pride rock, his every muscle pushed to capacity.
Mrost let out a roar like the hounds of hell and, shoving off of Palesa, went after Na, gaining on him with his every stride.
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:58 pm
The headblow had knocked her unconcious for moments, not giving her the chance to hear his words nore see how close she was to losing her life. As the weight increased before disappearing completly, she opened her eyes to the bright light and moaned for the first time, rolling to her side and coughing while air rushed to her lungs. Everything was coming back into focus as the seconds increaed. However, it was not that, but the fact that she could see everything again.
Na was running.
Mrost was chasing.
"Na! No!" She yelled loudly, tears in her eyes. She had witnessed first hand the powers of Mrost, and she knew that Na would be gone within seconds, nothing could outrun a god unless he was a god himself. Pushing to her paws, she stumbled lightly but was there, and realized once more she could do nothing. Na was losing his distance, and though she had no idea it was actually Red who was running, she felt fear spill.
After a second of sitting there doing nothing, she realized she could do something, and she looked both ways. The paths were open, none were around, and she needed to get away before Mrost came back. Had he been so keen to kill her before he found Na, she didn't want to think of the after. Limping on her soar legs, she pushed towards the grasses that led to the edge of the rock, hoping to whoever was watching that Na would make it. One eye ahead, one glance to the side, she held he breath and pushed to the sloped rock that was so close, yet so far.
Finally, after pushing herself to her limits, as well as braving the pain from the god, Palesa felt the stone beneith her paws. Scrambling up past the slumbering lions in the other dens, she went to their secluded one and searched in silence for the blue lion. Upon seeing him not there, Palesa fell to the ground, exausted and letting out a cry.
"Na..." She whispered, her heart failing her for moments. She had failed him, she promised everything would be alright, and now. Now it was all over.
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 5:11 am
Red had never run so fast in his whole life. At that moment, whatever blood he had inherited from his father was being pushed to it's capacity, his every journey honed muscle pushed to breaking point.
But still Mrost gained on him. What was a tremendous effort for the demi god was nothing more than a simple sprint. He was so close to his target now, close enough that he could scent Na's blood, the similarity to his own scent. Memories of a female he had consigned to the sands of time and obscurity.
Yes. He'd eradicate Na and eradicate any reminder of how close he'd once come to the mortals.
Letting out another growl, he leapt, all claws spikes and death, closing the gap between him and Na
FLASH
Mrost would lunge. Red saw it coming thanks to Na, and in a sudden skid, he changed direction just in the nick of time, feeling Mrost's paws rake along his rump as he just missed, their sheer keenness drawing blood from just that.
He was flying on wings of adrenalin, a mortal, dancing with the gods, finally showing Mrost what a mistake it had been to have a son. But it was only a matter of time till he was caught and slain, he could see through Na the thousands of possible futures that swirled and shifted in his every pawstep.
Some of the possibilities were more profound than he had considered. What if he was the one to challenge Mrost's dominion in the yars to come? If he died here it could cost more than anything. Red was no bleeding heart, far from it but he could never tolerate Mrost being in power.
Pride rock was in sight so he ran on blindly, almost stumbling with the sheer speed he was trying to maintain, his amber eyes seeming cold with an inner resolution. The visions had to be correct, if they were not, he was doomed.
For the first time, Red placed his continued existance in the paws of Na.
How had he seen that hit coming?! Mrost let out an enraged snarl. It was as if this lion could read his moves, see them coming, even when he wasn't looking his way. It made no sense and only served to enrage him further as he felt his claws inflict nothing more than a flesh wound.
He spread his wings, using them for the momentum he needed.
As Na drew into the shadow of pride rock Mrost lunged again.
This time Na didn't dodge in time and the two of them went sprawling, tumbling, all glinting armour, blood and snarling.
Mrost smirked at Na's feeble attempts to claw free, hardly feeling the attacks knowing that all the blood at the moment was Na's. He dug his claws in further, eliciting a snarl of agony from his son.
"Endgame!" he cackled like a madman.
"No!" Red bellowed at him, as defiant as Palesa in the face of war. With one last wriggle, he managed to get free, turning and half running half limping into the sanctuary of the prideland dens.
Sanctuary was right.
Mrost, trying to follow Na, seemed to singe his paws on the stone of the inner dens of the great stone rock. He leapt back snarling furiously. There was no way NO WAY that Na could have known of the sanctity of peace. It was such an obscure thing, no mortal could have known.
He could not tread on ground where only peace had reined for so long. There was no trace of war and he was not welcome there. It was old magic, very old and, in his opinion, soppy as hell.
He roared again like an enraged dragon, slitted eyes narrowed. "I'll get you though. One day you'll be too far from your precious rock. Then I will have you. And that little green whore of yours."
And with that he flapped off, seething.
Red watched him go, letting out a wry "Heh." before hanging his head and trying to gasp in the air that his muscles ached for, making every effort to ignore the deep injuries that crisscrossed him from the seemingly insignificant scuffle.
He limped towards Palesa's den, hoping she'd be there, if only to look after Na and as he stepped inside, he kept his promise, he let Na back in control.
He stumbled and fell only a short way from Pale, curling up like a hurt kitten.
"It hurts."
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:04 am
Her eyes snapped open and her head snapped up as she heard the breathing enter the den. No tears had escaped from her eyes after she had fallen, though that didn't mean her worries had disappeared. Turning, she just starred wide-eyed at the blue lion who stumbled, as if he had just gained control of his body and had no idea just how bad it was. Pushing quickly to his paws when he fell, the pale green lioness moved slowly towards him, eyes trailing each and every wounds.
"I know," She whispered soothingly in response, cursing their luck but just leaving it as a bad week. However, she quickly dismissed the thought as his curled form revealed even more cuts to her eyes, and she realized just what had happened.
The two had indeed caught up with one another.
While at any other moment the pale lioness might have laughted at the cute form of an adult curled like a small cub, this was not the time. She too had her pains, though he had his wounds and they needed cleaning. So once more, she decided to look after him like he had done with her, and moved in to help clean everything before they got worse.
"Here...let me clean you up Na, you just need to relax. You were so brave this morning..." Her voice was soft and soothing, like a wave or a breeze as the whispers filled the cave. Speaking, she tried to get his mind off of the pain so she could see what needed to be cleaned first.
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:22 am
It took Na several minutes to even realise that he was safe in the den, that the horrible visions that raced in his head were merely "what could have beens" and that Pale was there beside him. He was disorientated, aware only of the pain of the cuts and the bruises from when Mrost cracked him off his feet. On top of all that, with Mrost so near, he could feel the war god's aura, his precence, the sights and sounds of war that he unknowingly inflicted on the seer. He wavered somewhere between blacking out and realisation for a few unsteady moments until Palesa's attendance to his wounds brought him back into the correct thread of reality.
The visions faded away leaving only echoes in his head and that ringing promise. "I will have you." His father was stronger than even his nightmares could have guessed, the "bad lion" of his nightmares revealed to be one and the same as the lion he had sought all this time. And they looked so alike, that was what stung most of all. He looked like that murderer - he had witnessed almost all of the deaths Mrost had inflicted of late.
War ran in his veins. That was why he had brought destruction to all of the gangs he had ever joined. He had even brought chaos to the pridelands, to Palesa.
He opened his amber eyes and uncurled, looking up at the green lioness. He gave her a wry smile before stating. "Thank you. But, it was red, you know. I wanted to run away, I was scared, too scared to do anything." he let his head fall back to the floor.
"I can't even look after myself."
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:33 am
Soft earthy eyes gazed down at the broken lion with sadness, not quite understanding this new side of Na. Any other day, the lion would be up on his feet and ready to talk Palesa's ears off. She too had seen the likeness of the two lions, and right away knew that this was the winged father that Na had spoke to her about the first day they met. It was so obvious in how the manes mimiced, how their markings were.
"Somehow, I think you helped Red as well...he trusts you enough with the wounds, doesn't he?" She tried to sound logical as she watched him uncurl, and did not show the wince that threatened her being, "Look, you aren't as bad as I first thought, you lived through it and now it is time to heal and show off your wounds. You are a survivor Na, not a coward."
While he whined about looking after himself, she caught sight of a nasty gash from the god's claws, and lowered to his side to lightly lap up the pooling blood. She needed to get the blood to stop from the bigger wounds, not knowing how much he had already lost. Yet, if he could walk, than that was a good sign indeed.
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:45 am
Na silently agreed with Pale, he had been key in helping Red escape Mrost. Without his visions they would have gone down at the first lunge and that would be the end of it. But somehow he had come out of it alive. The whole reason he was so down was because of how badly hit he'd been by the chaos of late. He was feeling more negative emotions than he had had in a long time.
But that was what red was for, wasn't it? He was the one who dealt with the bad things. Na just got on with it. It wasn't his job to understand the whys, the hows and the wherefores.
"You're right. I made it, and you are alive, I should be happy." he sat up a little, careful not to set any of his half-clotted cuts bleeding again. "I'll sing more from now on." he grinned.
As far as the injuries went, some looked worse than they actually were, once the blood was gone they were not as devastating looking. Some latent combat knowledge had served him well. Red had avoided getting vital organs hit. He'd be alright with rest.
He shook his head "He's scarier in the flesh than any dreams I've ever had."
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:55 am
Ignoring the tangy taste of the blood, Palesa just worked all of the new red liquid from Na's pelt, finishing before she answered any of his responses and questions. Eyes flickering up, she moved back a step as he sat up, and mimiced his grin a little half-heartedly.
When he appeared to be settled, she moved on to another wound, cleaning it just as he cleaned hers a few days prior. Silence answered and she all but waited for him to fill it with some sort of noise. She could always count on the lion to fill the silence that once surrounded her.
"Maybe..." She said between licks, pausing to catch her breath and survey the damage once more, "...one day I could try singing with you..." Glancing up at him, she wanted to see him smile, to see him forget the past and just keep with the present. Happiness was what he stood for, and now that he was down, Palesa didn't know what to say anymore. But, she opted to avoid his last statement. They would be able to discuss Mrost with time.
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