|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 3:12 pm
 The past few days had been a living hell for Ceres. Her mother... Her mother had died. She had seen it happen. The events of the recent days were a muddy blur, she tried to piece them together in her mind. Everything had been perfect, until a band of strangers, (with a male majority, no less) came and declared their new laws in Antianeira lands. Then, shortly after, she'd seen something awful- her mother fighting, and dying. Ceres knew it to be a vision- she'd seen the past, she was sure of it. Without doubt. She would never forget the memory of that vision for the rest of her life. And now... She couldn't even fight back.
While some caved to sorrow, Ceres was simply pissed. It showed, when she was sure she was alone. The indignation of the outsiders not only having killed her mother, let alone her Queen was enough to send the girl into a blind rage. Pile on top of that taking over the pride and forcing everyone into submission? Insult to Injury.
Ceres would have taken action, that is, if she didn't know better. A single, little juvenile throwing a tantrum would cause more harm than good- she was certain that any girl would know that, and that any boy wouldn't. No... but she wasn't going to go down easy, not on the inside, but there was no point in getting beaten. For now, she would play along. She plopped into the grass near the dens, mind whirring and reeling with all of the emotions, and the occurrences of late, and wondering what would become of her.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:42 pm
Vinjari was on the move early that morning, having decided that he would scout out the land for himself. He knew that Xibalba had done her homework before they had taken over this pride, and thus they had not walked into a land that would not support them. Still, there were things that he needed to see with his own eyes. Vultures would tell all that they knew to their master without judging the situation in the slightest. Lions, on the other hand, could be more critical. There were many things that needed his attentions, but the first would be the dens.
Accompanied by Lawahka, the blue lion and his black and white hyena companion made their way towards the prides dens. Xibalba had said that all the males should choose a den that suited their purposes, regardless of whether or not it was already inhabited. Though Vinjari did not want a den of his own yet – he preferred sleeping outdoors as he had done as a child – but he would still make the effort of surveying them. There was much to be learned about the pride and the lionesses that resided by their homes, that was to be certain.
He moved among any who were there without so much as a glance, though he was silently cataloguing those that he passed. It was Lawahka who attracted his attention to the prone form of a bright red cub, remembering the fur colour of the lioness they had killed to take over the pride. Vinjari was intrigued. "A daughter of the dead Kiuma, perhaps?" He speculated to the hyena, loud enough for Ceres to overhear them. "She is certainly young enough to be so."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:18 pm
Ceres had heard someone approaching, but it barely registered to her. She had her mind set on more important things, wondering who to run to now that her mother and older sister were both gone. The only family left to her were her sisters of her own age... To her, the entire pride (the original, male-free pride) felt like blood-related family; more than ever.
With her thoughts on this, and pondering the fact that she'd had a vision, the presence of someone else was insignificant to her- Ceres had yet to discover how strong an adult could be, and as of yet, she deemed them relatively harmless, if left unprovoked. She didn't even twitch an ear.
Until she heard their words. At the mention of "dead Kiuma" a flash of memory of that vision crossed her mind. Her mother, bloodied. The memory, and the ignorant male's tone, caused Ceres to quite visibly tense, almost like a startled jump. She lashed her tail simply once before rising slowly to her feet. She had been facing perpendicular to the newcomers.
"Kiuma is my mother," she said, refusing still that her mother was entirely dead. Mostly habit that could only be broken by time. She had each joint in her body visibly stiffened, in an attempt to keep a strong face. She felt like crying about her mother's death, but never, ever in front of one of these scumbags. She turned her onyx gaze slowly to the newcomers. A Hyena, black and white. She didn't really mind this one, not yet. But she was accompanied by a...
A male. She almost wrinkled her nose in disgust, but disguised it as a light sneeze. These were the first invaders who she actually took the time to notice their faces- she had been too overwhelmed before to care. She strengthened her voice, it came out cold and flat, "Why do you ask?"
She tried to imbue herself with strength. The gods only knew what she could get for her bloodline around here anymore... Her eyebrows furrowed very slightly at the thought and she kept her gaze between the two before her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:39 pm
Lawahka's lip curled slightly at the cub's reaction, but time with her pack had taught her to think twice before biting. Not to mention she was sure Vinjari had allowed her to accompany him because of her level head. He was right in his assumption, and she would not do anything that would sour his opinion of her. Of all the lions that they lived with, it was him that she liked the most, though she would never say that in front of her father. They had met by accident really, but it had been enough to start what some might have called a friendship between the lion and the hyena. It was enough of a bond that she was slightly protective of him, even though he would have faired much better against this lion pup than she would have. Even still, she strengthened her stance as a quiet challenge.
Vinjari studied the cub quietly almost as though he did not see the subtle movements of his hyena companion. She showed no signs of having shed a tear for her mother, if she was telling the truth about her original assertion, though she seemed to be upset about her death. Or perhaps she was more upset that she was now under the claws of a group of males. Had she been a little older he might have assumed she wanted control of the pride, but she was far too young to be thinking thoughts like that, especially since there was already a much older heir to take Kiuma's place. It was a pity she had been removed before her time.
"It was nothing really, just an idle observation. Your colouration is very similar to hers and her daughter's. I'm sure your remember Hippolyta. I am not here to remove all her spawn from the world, if that's what you fear though." The blue lion turned a paw over and studied his claws in a thoughtful gesture. "It would be a waste, not to mention it would cause unnecessary bloodshed and uproar, don't you agree?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:55 pm
Ceres studied his every move. This adult was... different from others. She immediately blamed it on his gender, in the back of her head. A silent jab at him, to her mind.
She had realized she was terribly out-numbered; it was a point that was brought to the front of her mind when the hyena curled her lip, Ceres had caught a quick flash of light against her teeth. A hyena and a lion, both adults, and she was still much shorter than they were. Not a cub, but certainly not big enough to take on two. She'd have to watch her tongue, no matter how much she wanted to use it to lash out like she would with her claws. Her brows furrowed deeper, instead.
"Hippolyta is my sister," she said matter-of-factly, in spite of the fact that they were really only half-siblings. Regardless, they were sisters to Ceres' eyes. She turned to face the pair head -on, just in case. She didn't exactly like the way the male was examining his claws.
"It would be quite the waste indeed," Ceres agreed, tone coming across perhaps a touch too strong. However, her stiff-legged standing was just beginning to loosen, she shifted her paws a little bit, just a bit nervously. Her mother's words from earlier rang out in her head- that if she strayed from Kannon, she could get hurt- why hadn't she remembered that when they came? She should've run, and now the girl found herself in a rather uncomfortable position... She wasn't used to bowing her head and obeying those she didn't respect in the least, and yet she found herself needing to do it right now. Any attempt she made, though, came out choppy and unpracticed. She would bow to Hippolyta, her mother, or any other pridemember, but not easily to them.
Relax, Ceres. Just act- it's an act! All you have to do is pretend well enough.
She put on her most submissive face and tried her best to make it sincere. "And I'm sure we don't want unnecessary bloodshed..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:02 pm
Unlike his brothers and father, Vinjari did not share the same desire to surround himself with subservient females. It wasn't that he didn't like telling others what to do – quite the contrary – but he found it tiresome to have to keep an eye out for a lioness who didn't have enough common sense to keep herself safe. There was a fine line between being obedient and being stupid. A stupid lioness would follow all orders blindly and put herself in unnecessary danger, while an obedient lioness would do as she was told when it mattered. He liked lionesses who were self-sufficient but not stupid, while he was sure his brothers would have picked lionesses the exact opposite if it was left up to them. Luckily, Xibalba would be approving their mates, and thus he was saved from abominable company. He had hoped that living among these "amazons" and they called themselves would offer him a chance to meet females of better company. So far, the prospects were looking good.
"Indeed, unnecessary bloodshed is never a good idea. Better to kill one and get the job done than to kill many to achieve the same effect. Still, Xibalba said it was a pity to have to kill Kiuma. I did not know the lioness personally, but even though she is dead there are other ways of evaluating her. Her pride seems strong enough, and relatively smart, and her children are not stupid, so one can imagine what kind of lioness she was." He was interested in this pride, despite the fact that he knew it was his right to rule over them. But they had survived without proper male rule for what appeared to be some time, and he was not sure how that had come to pass. They were not all like Xibalba, nor were they like the demon-kin Alkar'kano. It was quite curious, really, that they should all live together and allow one lioness to govern them.
He turned his attention to Ceres, putting his paw back down on the ground. "There are no males here besides the Family, correct? You do not have a pact with a neighbouring pride to allow you to produce cubs?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:01 pm
Gods-damn it! she thought to herself, trying to keep her face as straight as possible. Not one shred of goodness can come of all of this, not one. Her face showed an unhidden scowl at the mention of her mother's death, and that memory shown vividly on her mind again in a flash. She listened to his words and imagined them as poison- she could practically imagine some vile purple liquid oozing from the overly-furred male as he spoke in place of words.
To his speech on Kiuma, Ceres replied simply (and flatly) "Our Queen was a wonderfully brilliant and strong lioness- a trait she passed on to each of our pridemembers who ever knew her." And in that, Ceres meant, "everyone female in our pride."
She was, however, greatly relieved when his paw hit the dirt again. She wasn't a fool- Ceres was greatly outnumbered and seemed to be on her own on this one. On her own and too small to be able to do anything but play a part. On the inside she was raging. Her damaged pride was an injury that only riddance of these invaders could cure. Still, she'd be an idiot to rebel alone.
She listened to his words, an ear twitched in mild agitation that she would have to reveal some of her pride's ways. She mustered up her strength to reply with something other than a plain, flat voice. This time, she responded with a strong voice- as though there was no other philosophy on all of the savannah. "If by 'the Family' you mean you guys, correct. When a lioness is ready, she leaves the pride for a short while to find a worthy male. She gets what she needs and leaves him. Males born into the pride are given away to a nearby group." She wouldn't give away the alias of said pride- she could feign ignorance if need be. "A lioness, though, doesn't always need to go find a male. If she doesn't want cubs, she doesn't have cubs." All of this was spoken in present tense, a significant jab to the invaders, as Ceres was concerned. She stood and swished her tail a touch, clearly feeling more comfortable talking about her pride than most other topics.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:16 pm
Vinjari gave a small shrug. "Brilliant is an arguable point, I'm afraid. It is very possible that, when compared to the pride members, she was brilliant. Unfortunately, she was also incredibly naïve and trusting, which led to her downfall." Not every lioness thinks only good thoughts, and Xibalba was the perfect example of such a thing. Even he couldn't pretend to know everything that went on in her head. She had encouraged him to be crafty when he was younger and he had learned much from her, but the apprentice had yet to surpass the master. Alkar'kano was also hanging around Xibalba for the same reason. If Kiuma's expression before she died was any testament to her feelings, the Queen hadn't expected the cunning that Xibalba possessed. Nor would anyone else understand her fullest capabilities until it was too late. She was a lioness Vinjari both feared and admired.
He listened quietly as she explained how breeding worked in her pride. So they did leave and find a suitable male. And then the males were given to an allied pride. "This allied pride does not give you any females in return for boosting their numbers?" It seemed like a rather unfair arrangement. This other pride certainly couldn't have been offering them protection, unless Xibalba had slipped under their radar as well with the quick and dirty take over. That was certainly possible. Even so, to hand over all their sons to a neighbouring pride without getting any daughters they so prized seemed a rather silly move. It wasn't surprising they had been easy to overthrow.
"Certainly. There are some lionesses who would not be good mothers no matter the lineage of the male. Breeding is not something to be taken lightly, even by the Family." Xibalba was very picky about the females she allowed the males to court. After the fall of his mother, Vinjari understood why.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:30 pm
Anger rose in her crimson form at the criticism of her mother. These outsiders- these males knew nothing. NOTHING. The tip of her tail twitched in agitation as she bit her tongue, trying to keep it from getting herself in a world of trouble. She eyed the hyena quickly- no exact reason why. As if giving it a moment of her onyx gaze would make the thing burst into flames, or otherwise flee. It didn't. Of course it didn't.
And then he seemed curious about the way things worked. She hoped... she hadn't given away too much information. No use fretting about it now- now that the damage was done, if there was any damage.
Again, her voice came out strong. "Our allied group gives us nothing in return, that I know of. Nothing in return beyond taking boys off our paws." And that was what she knew- Ceres honestly didn't think they did anything else for them- beyond some variety of understanding.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 5:59 pm
Lawahka had lapsed into a semi-sleep state, one leg cocked as she let Vinjari speak as much as he wanted to. There were, after all, only speaking to a young lioness who was barely out of puphood. Sure Xibalba might be displeased if she allowed even the slightest bit of harm to befall him, but she doubted that Ceres could do that much damage before she got her between her teeth. Thus, the quick glance in her direction was met with a yawn. Talking was only so interesting.
"How curious," Vinjari replied, a thoughtful frown forming on his face as he spoke. "It seems as though they are reaping all the benefits while your pride loses members. I suppose you think that purging the pride of all males is helpful, however has it occurred to you that perhaps the sons of these lionesses may come to hate their mothers? Or wish revenge for being cast out? You have certainly set yourself up for potential disaster. Unless you believe that the males who you gave life to are indebted to you?" That was a possibility. The belief that all cubs owed something to the lioness who gave birth to them. It would be interesting to see if this was what the pride believed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:03 pm
The young lioness thought of his words for a moment. "I would say you're right, but... The presence of these males in our lands would be much more damaging than the 'loss of members' you're talking about. In all truth, they never were members, males aren't allowed as members in these lands." She said. "And besides, it's not like we beat them up before we get rid of them. We ensure that they are rehomed, they should be grateful that we don't just leave them in the middle of the roguelands to fend for themselves. All things considered, I think they have it pretty good. Plus," Ceres added, saying all of this in one big spurt. "They're outta here before they're really old enough to remember that they were ever here in the first place. I know that I had some brothers, but if I hadn't been told that they'd existed, they were gone before my first memory... I wouldn't even know they were there. I'm certain that they wouldn't know me if they saw me, and that's the case most of the time around here." Ceres said, growing mildly irritated by this guy's incessant questioning of what, to her, was a perfect system. This only confirmed it to her- males were dense.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:20 pm
Grateful would not have been the word that Vinjari would have used to describe such circumstances. While it was true that his mother had only played a small role in his life while he was growing up, they had still been a family. After she had died, Xibalba had stepped into that role, playing "mother" for both him and his siblings. He did not forget his real mother, however, even though she was gone. There were some ties that simply could not have been severed.
"It is certainly a gamble, and one that I don't think has paid off. Had you had more males in this pride when we arrived, things would not have turned out as they have. Am I wrong?" Even as he said that, the wheels in the blue lion's mind were already turning. Could Xibalba use more of these outcast males? How easily could they be taught to believe their mothers hated them and had abandoned them? It was certainly something worth talking about with the grey lioness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:23 pm
Ceres was starting to get flustered. This was the precise problem with males, they were all stuck up. "Yes, you're right and you're wrong," Ceres aruged, wondering how anything could be this thick. "The pride would be entirely different if we had had some males in it before you people came along," she said, ears flattened against her skull. "If we had males in the pride, our pride would not have lasted, males have a tendency of ruining everything, including the harmony that we had found. We don't care what they do, as long as they don't do anything within the boundaries of this land, as long as they let us have our world." It was clear that she was becoming increasingly annoyed, and increasingly apathetic about what happened to her, as long as she could prove the innate logic behind the Antianeiran ways.
And one day, she would make sure that this male, along with all of the others, would pay for having set one claw inside this territory, for having hurt members of the pride the way they had, and for oppressing them so. Ceres made a note of this one's face, she would personally chase him out for having spoken so coldly of all she held dear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:48 pm
"I'm wrong?" Vinjari repeated, raising his eyebrows. "I'm afraid your have a very skewed idea of what is wrong and what is right. They are not concepts set it stone. They are concepts which can be changed by the claw. Only the winner can decide what is right and what is wrong. The loser must accept it as the way of life." Utesaji had taught them that. Your way was only right for as long as you remained in power. That was why you could never falter when you were on top.
The male rose to his feet calmly, nudging Lawahka with one paw to alert the hyena that he was moving. He gave Ceres one, final, scrutinizing look before he said, "You should think carefully about your future, daughter of Kiuma, else you make the same mistakes as she did. It would be unfortunate to waste the life of someone who has obvious intelligence."
Nodding to his hyena companion, Vinjari turned and headed back towards the den that his brother had claimed in the name of their pride. Ceres has given him much to think about.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
