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 Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:45 pm
 The sun had risen and fallen as steadily as ever over the sands and time had passed rather subtly and without too much strife to show for itself on Lake's end. Perhaps she'd taken care of planning things carefully, perhaps she'd just not been the target of Karma over the moons.
But she'd found herself in good company in the sands more often than not, at least in the paws of a lioness whom she had exchanged few words with in their first meeting. Not to say that they had nothing to speak of, simply that they had found needlessly talking to be.... well, needless. However, it had come to be the closest thing Lakeisha had ever had to a 'friendship' in her life. And she enjoyed it.
That particular day, Lakeisha had settled into the sands to watch the wind blowing across the desert after her hunt, the beast settled into the sand with her as a sort of 'snack' time. Not unpleasantly, persay, but she did know she would have to move on within the next hour.
The sands were bound to carry the scent of blood on towards the buzzards and as much as she would have enjoyed their company for a good scuffle, there was little to gain from it.
Just a good meal and some basking in the sun out on the edges of the denning area.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:37 pm
 The lioness snorted, tail twitching in irritation. It had started, tolerable at first, her belly growing, strength waning. It was intolerable, infuriating! Mahakali was a warrior, strong and proud, she was not some old lioness to weak to hunt for herself!
And yet now, full of cubs (god, how many were there?!), the lioness walked with increasing difficulty across the desert sands, unable to run, to fight, or to hunt. A fact that had been made painfully obvious by her failure to catch a desert hare, unable to call on the agility she had always had.
Murder, dark thoughts burned in her gaze, red eyes glaring from beneath her ram skull helm. If her talons should ever find him again, she would tear out his throat!
The scent of blood caught her nose, eyes falling on a familiar form, perhaps a small smile breaking through the snarl at the sight of the lioness, the beast who had found her respect, kindred spirit, friend. And yet her eyes narrowed, did she truly want the lioness to see her as she was now?
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:51 pm
Lake had never actually BEEN pregnant, nor seen one who was of such status, and thus had never really realized how much the status of being would have hindered her normal unattached lifestyle. Not a horrible, horrible thing, but certainly there would be some drawbacks to...
...
being unable to hunt. Especially as that had become her calling in the pride.
But that didn't mean she hadn't noticed little things like the bulk that had been adding itself onto her friend's body, sitting up in the sand as the female loomed in the distance from her and jerking her head towards her. A silent beckoning. Certainly Kali wouldn't mind leaning on her just a little bit, would she?
Not that she could really tell much of the lioness's condition over the space between them.
But no matter, Lake still summoned her friend to her. If only to sit in the sand in silence, bask in the warmth of the sun, and eat. Certainly two lionesses would do better with not leaving a massive corpse out to attract scavengers than she alone.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:15 pm
A grunt, it seemed the decision had been made for her. However, irritated though she was, Kali saw no reason to object to company, especially with one such as Lake.
The walk was an effort, a low growl to voice her displeasure. She would not yield, would not surrender, even if she had failed her hunt, she could certainly WALK.
Even so she was exhausted by the time she reached her companion's side, settling onto the sands with a deep breath, paws grateful for the rest. Someone was going to die for this, hide would be torn, blood would be shed, she just didn't know who would suffer her wrath yet, but it would come, she swore it.
She was silent for a moment, forepaws flexing in the sands, tail twitching as she caught her breath.
"An impressive hunt."
Her words were sincere despite the edge in her voice, Lake was indeed a strong lioness.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:42 pm
The sight of the lioness having to put so much effort into just walking over actually earned a light frown from Lake, a sort of concern for her odd walk, but not moving from her spot to lessen the walk or offering any sort of 'are you feeling alright' to possibly insult Kali's pride as it was.
No, she waited patiently and silently and offered her friend a light nod when she'd finally made it to her side. Mmmm, certainly the poor lioness had a certain burden to her being - it was an almost painfully obvious burden to say the least. Hard to miss, really.
"One that would be better off consumed before the scavengers get sniff of the blood and come to steal it from me."
Lake turned her head towards the beast settled in the sane for a moment, before looking back to Kali.
"If you'd be so inclined to join me." Mmmm, Dinner-date with a friend. Nothing wrong with that!
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:22 pm
She did not answer, gaze focused on the horizon, an inner struggle with her warrior's pride. Accepting such an offer, it was not a bad thing, even the strongest of creatures could not do everything alone. Hunting, a task she had always been skilled at, capable enough to provide for herself, a task that was now out of her reach, she was loathe to admit it, even to such a beast as the lioness at her side.
Pride, it was a dangerous thing, even for herself. If she did not hunt, she could not eat, she would starve as would the children she carried. She simply could not allow that, nor could she insult her companion by refusing the offer.
"It would be an honor."
It was with determined resolve that she finally spoke. When her children were born, and her strength returned, Mahakali would hunt again, her fangs would taste blood, talons would shred flesh, and in that she would take delight as she never had before. And when the day came that Lake needed her help, it would be freely offered.
But now, she was hungry, and though she struggled to admit it, Kali was grateful for the meal.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:58 pm
It wasn't often that Lake truly had one to share a meal with, so any company from Kali was well welcomed by her seeing as it wasn't a 'dinner guest' who would bite and claw at her and chase her from her kill. Or try and meet her own claws and fangs.
"You are as welcome to it as family." Lake answered, moving over as to no longer be 'looming' over her meal in a protective manner and opening the meal up to her friend, stepping over her kill to take a spot by the neck - all the better to rip open and get the closest to 'fresh' blood in a dead body from.
Alas, they would look like the nightmarish ghosts of the desert to any and all who would pass them in title of stranger - if they dared to draw that close to them.
But who would be that foolish to approach two powerful lionesses while they were feeding? Only a fool. There were no fools such as that in the Firekin (or at least if there were, they wouldn't be for long).
However, outside of offering her meal to her friend, Lakeisha had little other to speak to the solider about. No, all there was, was an offering of food between them and...
..
Silence. But not in a horrible way.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:38 pm
A grateful sigh, Kali rose to her paws, taking the few short steps to the fallen prey before settling into the sands again. Her gazed turned to her companion, a silent thanks in the small smile that touched her maw. She need not speak the words, surely Lake understood the meaning.
"As you would be welcome to the prey I catch."
Choosing a spot at the soft belly, a paw placed at the base of the ribs, Kali sank her fangs into the beast, tearing off a large piece. Normally she would have chosen the much leaner flank or shoulder, but with cubs it seemed her eating habits had changed as well, her body craving the richer meat, storing away the higher fat and nutrition for the growing lives.
A smirk crossed her maw as she ate. Such a sight the pair of them must have been, pure white, stained with blood, like ghostly demons, a horrific sight.
"The scavengers will come soon, those foolish enough to dare."
Stupid, disgusting creatures, they would fail if they tried.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:33 pm
Hnn, any beast foolish enough to try their talons at their meal would simply have become dessert to the two lionesses. Mmm, Delicious meat of the foolish. It was quite a wonderful thing that the stupidity of the meal wasn't inheritable through it's ingestion.
For that would have made survival quite difficult.
Make life easier, but survival difficult. As then the prey would simply get dumber and dumber and those who failed at hunting would obtain the same fault to their being. Either way, she made no point of worrying about the improbability and pushed it aside in exchange for ENJOYING her dinner instead of playing the card of paranoia.
"Then it will be better if we finish our meal before they test their luck." Lakeisha answered, more than amused with the image of some dumb buzzard and it's tempted talons being met by her own as she continued to eat.
Mmm. Dinner was delicious.
Perhaps even more from the images of blood in her mind, most pleasant in their right. Hmmhmm.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 6:40 pm
Her fangs sank into flesh once more, talons curled to slash into the hide beneath her paw. The beast's maw sank within the prey, feasting hungrily with each bite, white stained red with the magnificent taste of blood, her nose filled with the scent.
"Let them try, they will only find their own deaths."
She paused in her meal a moment, tongue lapping at her blood-stained maw. Such a glorious taste, the metallic tinge that filled her mouth and nose. How much more satisfying it would have been had she slain the beast herself, or even more so, had it been a shared kill between the pair. A smirk, such a day would come.
Enough, she had eaten her fill, an empty hole and bone all that remained where hide and flesh had once been. Satisfied, her tongue danced across her paws, licking away the blood, savoring the last taste of the precious gift.
Her ears twitched, tail flicking, they were being watched.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:19 pm
It was some time before the mother-to-be had finished her own meal and turned her head to stare at those who had gathered to the scent of blood, daring them. However, it seemed there was little entertainment to be found there, instead putting her time and effort into licking the blood off of her paws.
Sadly, her paws would never be the same white as the rest of her body after so much staining, but she didn't hold onto the fret for very long, having no need to be 'vain' about the state of her fur.
She already had enough marring it with the scratches down her face.
....
"So should we tease our scavengers by looming or are our efforts needed in other things?" Lakeisha asked calmly as ever, in no rush to just run off and leave her effort to feed those who even on a good day couldn't feed themselves.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:03 am
Her tail flicked, dancing across the sands like a viper, the soft click of bone with each twitch. The smirk spread across her maw, showing blood-stained fangs, eyes narrowed in a malevolent gaze, a faint chuckle as she watched the beasts.
"They have done nothing to deserve such a feast."
Even as she was, swollen with cubs, her true strength denied her, Kali was an imposing figure. A single flick of a talon was all it took to frighten off a buzzard who had dared wander to close, was it truly worth trying to take a meal from such a pair of monsters?
And yet the beast grew bored, pathetic creatures, they were not worth her time. Whether there was no satisfaction in torturing such creatures (how she longed to rend the hide of a true opponent), or she did not wish to show her weakness, the lioness was simply uninterested. Though that did not mean she would surrender or move before she was ready, a fact emphasized by a ferocious snarl that send the scavengers scattering.
"Perhaps elsewhere."
She did not wish to admit it, a belly full of food and cubs, how tired it made her.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:17 pm
Lake found herself truly amused by the sight of those who were foolishly trying to rend their talons into their leftover scattering from her companion, chuckling lightly before she rose to her paws and turned her head to nod towards the inner part of their pridal lands.
"Then it may be wise for us to move before these straggler's gather with their friends." the lioness advised, slowly rising to her paws with the same slowness one would tease an impatient child with, offering a hiss at the hopeful scavengers before she looked to Kali and nodded lightly.
Only then did she turn from the buzzards to start making her way back towards the inner 'safety' of the pride. Certainly she had no reason to flee to safety, but it was a destination.
Seeing as she'd done some of her hunting as it was needed and had no need to go out and harass the herds once again.
"...." She held her tongue a moment, giving Kali's belly this.. look but being unsure as to if she would be out of place as to comment on it... but none the less, it was quite a development. Hmm...
...
well... how did she bring such a topic up?
"....
...... Do you have any estimation of how many there will be?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:26 pm
A low grunt, a threatening growl at the buzzards who had grown to eager, the lioness rose to her paws. It was a slow movement, much slower than she would have liked, though it did hold the advantage of further taunting the pathetic beasts that had gathered around them, littering the sands like giant black insects.
A deep breath, paws moved across the sands, the way back mercifully easier than the trek she had taken out. Infuriating, tasks that had once been so simple, that she had never thought twice about, it had become an effort to simply walk across the desert sands. Her only solace that it would be over soon, surely it could not be long before her cubs were born.
"Four, perhaps five, if I were to venture a guess."
It was just that, a guess. In truth she had no way of knowing (if only she had known), though she was certain there were more than 3, she could not have been so large without a sizable number. Yet she had never carried cubs before, nor did she ever intend to again, a guess was the best she could do.
The questions, she had expected that, and though she did not begrudge her companion the asking, or regret the act that had led to it, it was likely she would only tolerate such questions from the friend she respected. She would not have been so willing to answer had another asked.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:03 am
Lakeisha had never met a lioness who was actually CARRYING before in her life, thus the inquiries had become a 'must' of sorts in her mind to try and feel into the odd 'newness' of the situation for a lioness as old as herself.
Certainly if she'd grown up elsewhere - like the pridelands - she would have been less inclined to the inquiry and simply left it at that. But she was at least respectful enough to keep from asking about the father. If Kali wanted to speak of the father, she would have volunteered a cue for such a topic on her own.
"My, that will be quite a number of little warriors." Lake said with a bit of imaginitive humor- the kind that implied she was imagining four little Kali-clones (markings and all) terrorizing any scavengers or strangers who drew themselves too close to their territory.
How terrifying it would have been of a mental image to anybody else outside of the two lionesses.
"It goes without saying that I'm sure they'll be just as powerful as their mother is."
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