|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:00 pm
 He had risen early that morning, roused from his light slumber by his mother's voice. Red eyes peering into the darkness of the den, his gaze fell on her red pelt. Unlike others his age, there was no hesitation from the young lion, no protest or objection, no attempt to return to sleep. Alert in that instant, he gave his mother a brief nod before rising to his paws to follow her through the den entrance.
Stepping into the twilight, young limbs stretched to rid himself of the stiffness of the cold night, tail swaying in the morning air. The desert was silent in the eerie glow of fading starlight, the horizon barely touched with the light of day. It would have been a beautiful image had Ashi had thoughts for such things.
But Hiashi'ikusa did not look to the horizon nor dwell on the desert dawn. Rather as the cold assassin he would surely one day become, he stood calmly at his mother's side, his thoughts on the reasons she had awoken him.
"What will you teach me today, mother?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:32 pm
Early, even before the sun itself thought to rise, Azula pulled herself easily from the peace of slumber, a time when even the cold-eyed lioness allowed her idle thoughts and calculating mind to rest.
Stretching out her sleeping limbs she'd easily picked her eldest son's form from the pile of his remaining litter mates, his three sisters, with his youngest and only brother having stayed back with his adopted father.
"Hiashi." She need only call once, watching only for a brief few seconds before turning and heading for the den entrance, trusting her son would be self disciplined enough by now to wake after one call. When he joined her she glanced to him once in answer, leading him further out. She didn't teach the rest on the same level with Ashi for a reason. He was already well beyond his siblings, though at times Vita or Zari did listen well, Zita's temper still got the better of her, making her mother shorter on tolerance. No, this lesson would be just for Ashi, and not just for those reasons. She could feel that of her remaining four, Ashi would be the one that least grasped the concept of keeping those around that didn't immediately meet expectations. He was cold cut, he just needed a little preening around the edges.
Truely this family was nothing like the rest of the Firekin... there was something truely malicious about them, in a way that even other pride members might be shocked of, if they knew the truth.
"Today, Hiashi, I'm going to teach you the importance of pawns."
((ooc: XD That must sound so bad, following the narrative, but it's not related.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:06 pm
"Pawns? Of what use are pawns, mother?"
He had followed his mother, eyes looking up at her words. The question had not been a challenge, he did not doubt his mother; but strong though he was, there were still some things he had not learned.
Ashi was more of a solitary creature, he did not crave attention or company as most other lions did. Truth was he didn't care for other creatures as others might. His mother held his loyalty, siblings were tolerated, but all others were nothing, they could live or be crushed in a single instant and it mattered no more than a scattered rock against the sand.
"What creature could be worthy being so?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:58 am
"Pawns can have many different uses, Hiashi, and it takes very little to define one. Your father, and Tamu'meka for instance."
The lioness allowed a flicker of satisfaction to cross her eye, though even she had to admit that Tamu'meka had served his purpose on a mere chance. It was the first, and last time she'd allow herself anything so foolish as attraction to someone else. He'd shown so much potential as a young adult, but growing up he'd lost that edge, or maybe that was never really it in the first place. Maybe she'd only been attracted by the fighting spirit he had when trying (in vain) to truly woo her. It didn't matter now though.
"The difference between a pawn and a slave is free will... pawns will do whatever bidding you ask if they believe that they are doing so of their own free will, or if you give them incentive. Some fools will even throw their lives away just for one taste of glory. These, son, are what we call pawns. They're easily manipulated by those like you and I, their emotions or aspirations are like vices, they always get the better of them."
Azula waited until then to pause, to give Hiashi just that moment he needed to grasp the meaning of her words. Sharp, clever boy, she was certain that he wouldn't need more time than that, and so went on.
"One of the most important lessons I've taught you is to understand your strengths, your weaknesses, and your limitations. Underestimating or overestimating any of them can be fatal. I've raised you to be independent, and capable of looking after yourself, to accomplish your goals by your own means. There are some instances, however, when it's more efficient to use the strengths of others. You could almost think of them as decoys."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 3:10 pm
Eyes narrowed on the horizon, he thought on his mother's words, tail flicking lightly as if debating in his own mind. Azula had been right, there would be no need to repeat herself, her words caught in his memory the moment they met his ears. But though he heard and understood her, the importance of her words was no so instantly grasped.
Or perhaps he simply did not yet see the use of using another when he himself could achieve the same task far more efficiently.
"Why allow them to think they have worth when they have none? Would it not be better to simply destroy them and be done with it?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:21 pm
"Allowing them to think they have value is what will get you the results you desire in the end. What becomes of them once they've served their purpose is of no consequence, though you should always consider how useful they will or won't be to you in the future. They have no importance as living things, but... they can be of value to you, just not not in the ways that they might think."
Azula smirked slightly, a small expression.
"Strength means nothing if you haven't the intelligence to use it efficiently." The words were not in insult or meant to berate, simply to inform. She watched her oldest with intense red eyes that seemed as rich as crimson blood itself, but much more vibrant. Directing those eyes from her cub to the cliffs where the pride made their home, she went on. "Say that there's something you want, at the top of those cliffs, but to reach it you'd need to battle odds you can't overcome, given your current abilities. Charging in head first would be reckless, and likely cost you your life. It's worth just enough that you want it, but not enough to throw your life away. The solution is simple. Rather than rush into certain danger or death, find someone else to do it for you. Say... a 'friend'," She clearly used the word merely for show. "or a rival. Trick, manipulate, or even using the honey of a few lies to get them to face the challenges for you, and while they fight that battle, you move on. The prize is yours for the taking. While they face the consequences, you make out with the benefits, and you've the freedom to face much more important challenges and goals another day. Do you understand?"
Azula's tail brushed over the sands once again, lashing restlessly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:23 pm
He looked to his mother as she spoke, his expression unreadable, eyes cold as the morning air. He thought on his mother's words, tail giving a momentary flick as his gaze turned to the cliffs of which she spoke.
It would indeed be useful to have another die in his place should the need arise, he could allow himself to die a pre-mature death after all. However, it seemed foolish to rely to heavily on pawns for as they still had free will they could still turn on the one they served. Or worse, such a reliance could lead to weakness, weakness that could lead to one's own death, accomplishing the task himself made him that much stronger.
"Would not relying on pawns make us weak. mother? If we do not use our own strength it will fail us."
Silently he wondered, did his mother consider the white lioness Mahakali a pawn?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:33 pm
"Yes, it can, and that is by and large one of the downfalls that this pride suffers. That is why it's important that you know when not to use them just as much as when to use them. Everything is a matter of balance."
It was the reason that she would not take on slaves, though it was common practice in the pride. She'd spoken with one of the princesses, Kaanga, and found that she felt the same actually. Even those without a mind for battles and war (from what Azula could gather) had the good sense to realize what consequences taking slaves could have.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:21 pm
Eyes narrowed as he looked toward the horizon. Ashi thought little of the pride or the blood to which he belonged. He, like his mother, had encountered fools and weak creatures unworthy of a second glance. They wandered the lands like an infection, destroying the once proud pride that had claimed the sands. They could have all burned to the ground for all he cared, their ashes scattered on the winds like rocks across the sand.
"Then we will be wary, mother, least we fall onto the fool's path."
Pawns, minions, somehow he prefered the term sacrificial lambs, for that was what they would be used for.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:43 pm
"The surest way to ensure that your strength never fails you, even when you make use of such things like pawns, Ashi, is simple. Train, train daily. Using pawns doesn't mean that you stop your daily regiment, it only means that you know the importance of value, the worth of weighing out your battles before jumping into them. Keep your self sufficiency, even as you may lead others to believe otherwise, keep an open mind in all situations and in all things so that -you- can see the possibilities that others miss with their narrow minded thinking. Look at this pride, all around you..."
Azula's eyes regarded the sun rising in the East as well.
"Look at it... and remember this well. These traditionalist fools will be the death of the 'mighty Firekin' one day. All of them have become nothing but pawns in the eyes of the goddess 'Finar-si', and that is why you and your sisters were born. You were born to rise above such foolishness, and to make your place in this world. One day they will see the truth of your heritage and they will understand what little good clinging to their ways has done. They will see the error of relying on their precious goddess to take care of them. Faith, Hiashi... is for the weak and the foolish, but it is also not to be underestimated. Remember this."
She knew that she needn't worry about him falling for such a thing, but she spoke those words partly because it was her way of acknowledging his growing wisdom and strength and partly because she was genuinely proud enough of her feat in raising four strong cubs in the right way. She was -quite- pleased with herself to know this actually, but it was a pride that she knew well enough how to control, more of a sense of satisfaction. Yes, her children, little harbingers of death, born and raised in some of the harshest terrain that this world had ever known. -Her- war-bringers...
She moved to lean down, nudging the back of her son's head in the rarest show of affection, purring with a deep rumbling growl.
"Come, there's still much to practice today before we return to your sisters."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
