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Ripples in Velvet Sand

Started by Lion, March 08, 2016, 11:40:38 PM

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Lion

Her evaluation was startlingly accurate. And he found himself frowning at the thought that thought.  It was true, humans were killers and violent and took joy out of the suffering of others. Not everyone was like that, of course, but it was hard to see the forest for the trees. And the spaces in between were often deafening at the sounds of screams that echoed from within.

"In Essyrn, people do find mates. They wed or...make their union official in the eyes of the law and in religion - that is another beast altogether. But...not all humans relish in violence and death. We are not perfect."

He hadn't realized it but he picked up her tail in his hand and was gently petting the tuft at the end. It was soft and he was feeling anxious.  "It can be pretty horrible, and...it was a life I used to know. A life I used to cling to. But not anymore," he said, clutching that tuft softly.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Rhindeer

Oh.

Oops.

Tiaret flushed again when she realized, too late, how judgmental she must have sounded. We are not perfect, he said, and his words reminded her all too sharply that neither were her kind. Far from it.

If they were, they wouldn't be living separate like this. They wouldn't fear males of their kind. They wouldn't have child survivors of infanticide among them or women with the scars from their mates. They weren't all bad, not by far; Tiaret hoped her brother would do better, be better, and some prides lived harmoniously. But other prides could be unstable, and territory battles were bloody; her mother's pride had been usurped, and that was where things got ugly. Very, very ugly. Tiaret only knew that much, for Chephirah chose not to talk about it.

She opened her mouth to apologize, to say he wasn't alone and that things weren't all peace and harmony among her kind, either. But then she jumped when she felt something grab her tail and stroke the tuft, and she reached down and grabbed at it--and found his hand instead.

"Oh!" she said, startling yet again before letting out a sheepish laugh. "Sorry, that's just you! I don't know what I thought that was!"

And it was while she was clutching his hand in hers that a familiar, feminine voice suddenly boomed, "WHAT do you think you're doing?"

There Chephirah was, marching up behind them, hands curled at her sides and lip curled enough to bare sharp fangs as she glowered at them. Or, more specifically, Atalier, who was in but his smallclothes and holding her daughter's hand.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Lion

Atalier spooked when he heard Chephirah behind him and although he let go of Tiaret's hand, he stayed where he was beside her. He squinted, furrowing his brow to get a better look at that angry lioness and he just sniffed. It wasn't meant to be mocking, but it probably sounded like it.

"We're just sitting here talking," he answered honestly. Gods she could be scary. This time, however, Atalier was determined not to be intimidated. He wasn't doing one goddamned thing wrong.  "Care to sit with us? Go for a swim maybe?"

Yeah, get her cooled down. Good plan, Atalier.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Rhindeer

Chephirah wrinkled her nose like a cat that had just smelled something awful. She flicked her tail, quick and jerky and agitated unlike the relaxed swishes of Tiaret's tail. Oh, well, this was a change. Before, she could practically smell his fear, and now...now he had it in him to act haughty?

"I hate swimming," she growled, which came out more petulant than she intended. But she was distracted, too busy eying how closely he was sitting to her daughter, their sides touching, and too thrown off by how...fearless he suddenly was. She didn't like it one bit. She liked it far better when he was nervous, and she wasn't quite sure how to handle this new, confident, far too reasonable human. He was far too comfortable far too fast and what was worse, her daughter had thrown caution to the wind, as well!

"Where are your clothes?" she snapped, not about to be swayed.

Tiaret frowned at her, her tail going limp. "He swam, mother," she said tiredly, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Annoyance! It was so rare when Tiaret gave her attitude. "His clothes are..." She sniffed the air. "Right there. We're just talking. Or we were, until you started roaring."

Chephirah took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. She closed her eyes. Was she being unreasonable? This was a human. Someone lacking claws and teeth. If Tiaret shifted, she would be bigger than him, stronger than him. And it was true, he had shown no sign of threat. But she still couldn't help her unease--and she was well aware that it was no doubt just her issue, her past, coloring the present. The last time a strange male had come through...

But that was a lion. Was she just being unfair and overbearing?

The human would be gone soon, anyway.

"Perhaps water would be a good idea," she conceded at last, and knelt by the water's edge to drink from her cupped hands. Maybe the heat had gone to her head. "What were you discussing?"
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Lion

It was a risk he was going to have to take. If he was scared of her, she would kill him. If he wasn't, at least he didn't die a coward. Instead, he would just die an idiot.

"I swear, that's it," he replied, although she seemed more focused on her daughter than on him. Oh, then she started to calm down. Atalier had been bristling and hadn't even realized it, and he settled down when she cupped that water to take a deep drink of it.

"Talking about...other humans," Atalier said honestly, eyes flitting over Chephirah's form. "She asked me what people did for fun, my kind. It wasn't exactly a pleasant discussion."

He sighed a little and shifted his ass around to keep it from getting numb.He dusted rocks off his bum and shifted so that he was crouching down beside Chephirah. "Look I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Your daughter is a very good listener. And an excellent conversationalist,"he muttered, and extended a hand to her. "I apologize if I offended you in any way."




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Rhindeer

Spirits above.

Chephirah looked at his offered hand, then at him, and lifted an eyebrow. He was...apologizing? Behaving like a rational, polite creature? Even in the face of her blowing and bellowing like an elephant?

If there was one way to suck the wind from her sails, that was it. And Chephirah realized, grudgingly, that perhaps she had been too keen and quick to label him, and too stubborn to admit it. She had seen a human. She had seen a man. And her immediate thought was to distrust him on that alone. Being wary and taking no chances was what kept her folk alive and healthy, but...

She glanced at Tiaret, her daughter's face turned in her direction as she calmly listened. She looked relaxed, and the human just looked weary. And even after all her growling and grumbling and full on attacking him, he had been nothing but polite.

Ughhh.

She hated it when she was wrong.

But it was also her job as a leader to know when to admit it.

With a quiet sigh, she took his hand in hers. "Perhaps...we did get off on the wrong foot," she said slowly, as though hating every word. "You did not offend me. You have done nothing. It's just my nature to be wary." Another low sigh. "I'm sure you can understand, after what you yourself have lost?"
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Lion

"It takes a big woman to make that kind of admission," he said. And immediately cringed inside. He flushed a furious red. Oh, pfft, not a big woman. Because Chephirah was huge! In comparison to himself.

"I mean big of heart," he quickly corrected. Good going, shoved that foot right into his mouth. Atalier sighed and chewed on his lips. As if he needed to give that lioness or any of the others in her pride a reason to tear him a part.

There was still the issue of his contract. He needed a pelt. He needed to take one back with him. And the longer he sat here, spoke with these people...the more he began second guessing himself.

"I have no home," he found himself saying. "I was driven away and my family was murdered. So I understand. You're perfectly justified to feel the way you do."

He was fed, cleaned, quenched, and temporarily sheltered. There was no other way to go about it, he told himself. If someone had a cure for his curse...what other choice did he have. He could bury this place in sand, no one would know it was here for the next thousand years...

"CHEPHIRAH! CH-CHEPHIRAH!!!"

That hoarse voice cracked and echoed out against the stone as a young lion scrambled up the side of the pool's edge, clawing red dirt, and collapsing down at her side. He was a young male with a mane like hers and he was panting hard.

"Chephirah! Th-there are things in the canyon! Things like him!" And he pointed a finger at Atalier, trembling with exhaustion. "They're all over! I don't know how many! B-but they're coming through! Coming here!"




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Rhindeer

Luckily for Atalier, Chephirah only blinked at his flustered correction, not understanding. She was a big woman. Tall, strong, broad-shouldered, with well-earned muscle, for all intents and purposes built much like a male, and indistinguishable from one in lion form. She was big, and big was good among her kind. It meant strength and power and health and the ability to pull one's weight and come out on top in a fight. Small, like Tiaret, wasn't so good. It was weakness and vulnerability and, for some, an early death.

So she only snorted at his correction. Big of heart, indeed. She cocked her head slightly, giving Atalier a pensive look at his words, at the loss of his family--oh, she definitely knew her share of loss--but before she could think of words to say, another voice cut in.

Male and familiar.

Tiaret's back went as rigid as Chephirah's, their ears erect, but it wasn't with alarm--just surprise. At least at first.

"Adeyemi?" Chephirah breathed as the young lion crested the edge, watching him shift from lion to human-ish as he collapsed in the shade. In a flash she was kneeling at his side, splashing water onto her son's hot skin. Her son, who wasn't even supposed to be here, who was supposed to be out securing his own pride, his own life, because he couldn't stay here. He had been lingering all this time? Watching them? Another time and she would have been angry with him despite her relief and joy at seeing him--he knew their ways--but then he babbled out words that made her freeze.

And then the surprise did turn to alarm.

"What?" She snapped a look at Atalier, her eyes flashing venom, her tail twitching, jerky and snake-like. "I thought you said you were alone?" she growled, lips pulling back to show sharp teeth.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Lion

If Atalier's eyes had gotten any wider, his eyeballs would have popped out for all the cold gut flipping his stomach was doing. He was here having a half-decent conversation with a giant lioness when this interruption came about and flipped the table right on top of him. Atalier sprang up to his feet just when the finger came pointed up to him.

He put his hands out, and he shook his head fiercely. "NO!" he was quick to reply. "I don't know what's going on! I came here alone, I swear!"

"They're coming in droves.  Looks like they already know where they're going too," Adeyemi panted, breathing only now evening out and he glared at Atalier. His kind weren't welcome here, and the very fact that Chephirah had one of these  smooth-skins in her presence was troubling.

"Chephirah!" Atalier murmured when he tried to step forward. Adeyemi released a low throated growl and moved to stand beside his mother.  "Please! The both of you, let me help. I don't know who they are, but if they're headed for here, it's not under good intentions. I swear to you on my honor that I came through here by myself."




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Rhindeer

Chephirah's eyes narrowed as she regarded Atalier, and they didn't leave his eyes for a long, hard minute. She wanted to suspect him, to blame him; it would be simpler that way. But his surprise and fear seemed smelled genuine, his body language guiltless. Either he was a very good actor--something she doubted--or he was telling the truth.

Which meant the truth of the matter was far more complicated, and troubling. It would have been an easy answer if he'd lead the humans to them. If he didn't...how did they find them and what did they want?

Nothing good, if history was anything to go off of, and Atalier confirmed that.

She relaxed a little, covering her teeth. "I believe him. For now," she said, giving him a warning look. "Let's give him a chance to prove himself. I'll kill him myself if he's lying."

Adeyemi let out an exasperated sound, not liking that a bit, but she cut him off. "Gather the lionesses. Get them moving. Leave our things behind, there's no time. We'll go south, head to the old territory."

While Adeyemi reluctantly obeyed, she turned back to Atalier. "How do you plan on helping?"
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

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