[ORP - Firekin] The Desert Comes to Visit

[Syrius Lionwing]

It felt like it had been forever since she had been home but when the detour had been mentioned the dark lioness had nodded and followed the pride. This was her job after all, she hadn’t become a corporal to just sit around and grow roots. The foiret in the the bahari’mtoto lands had been enlightening and seeing a pride so teeming with lions yet so peaceful had actually made her feel something most unusual. She supposed she could call it peace of mind. She had of course had a run in with that one roguish stormborn while she had been on the road but with no stirrings she guessed their pairing had not taken hold. She wasn’t much for mothering any way and really cubs would have put a damper on her career plans. She was of course intending to enter in to the tournament again next year she just had to train before then.

They had entered the Mwezi’johari on the hopes of forming a bond with these lions, these, religious lions. Geei of course had not been born in the firekin, she was an ex-rogue, so the firekin beliefs, though known to her, were beyond her comprehension, she had never worshipped fenar-si so religion had never crossed her mind. The one thing Geei did know though was how to be diplomatic. You had to be diplomatic when you were a rogue and so as they had crossed the borders and were, sort of welcomed, by these moon worshiping lions she had kept her cool and remained calm, as always. She would always take her que from Mate’moto, the lioness had earned her respect during this long journey.


Kiahi’kripi followed closely after her aunt. Before this journey she had never seen any where except for the sandy desert of the firekin. Now, she had seen so much of the world! She had met a cheetah (which was weird and wonderful) she had played in the sea (which was wet and salty!) and she had spoken to creatures that knew so much more than she ever had. It had been an amazing journey and though she was ready to once again put her paws on the hot sands of the desert the excitement of entering another pride rang in her ears.

She had been told to not ask too many questions of these lions. They were overly religious and she had to be diplomatic about it. Most of these warnings had come from her aunt, but it was wayyyyy too exciting to just sit and wait! As soon as Geei had stopped and taken up her position to watch proceedings the red and white lioness bounced forward in search of one of these moon lions. She wanted to ask them all the questions she could, in a diplomatic manner, of course...


The pale maned male plodded carefully in to the pride, it seemed yet again they would be watched here. He could see the weary ness in the eyes of their hosts and he couldn’t blame them. When they arrived they most certainly looked like a band of barbarians descending upon an unexpected world. The older brigadier moved cautiously, his massive paws gently moving him through the crowd. He was certainly starting to miss home, he missed his mate, he missed the sand. Despite being born a rogue he missed the place he called home and the lady he loved so deeply. Still this was the last stop, the last diplomatic mission before they returned home so he would of course be as diplomatic as possible, he would of course hope for a quick resolution, a promise of an alliance and a swift journey back home.

His paws were sore and his heart ached, but that didn’t mean he would let his guard down. These lions probably didn’t trust them yet and he had to make sure to smooth any worries they might have, that was what he was here for after all.  

[mouselet]

The Huntress approached the gathering, blue eyes taking in the strange sights. It was easy to distinguish the strangers from the Mwezi'Johari, for the Great Lion's people didn't tend towards such intensely bright colors or reds in general. Oh sure, there were some anomalies here and there, but for the most part Mwezi were pale or black.

And small, in comparison to these giants. A number of the strangers were huge lions, males and females both. No one the more peaceful Mwezi would like to fight, if given the choice. But they would, Nyeusi knew, if it was necessary.

She didn't like that the Queen had chosen to leave and reestablish ties with Tianxia at this time. Leaving the pride without a monarch, and with the Great Lion's eye slowly closing, it was an inauspicious time for an arrival.

"These strangers, they do not know their God," the black lioness muttered quietly, watching.


Dwyllodrus prefered the shadows that his coloration blended into instead of making a fuss. He, like many other Mwezi, was fascinated by these big, red lions. So many of them had fur the color of blood. It reminded him of the time when he and Chunyue had slain their half brother. Ah...such memories. Even if he couldn't savor them often, Dwyllodrus still held those times close.

Perhaps once he'd gotten his end of the bargain from Parisa he'd look into these Firekin and their distant lands. A pride of warriors...he could surely fake that long enough to get what he wanted.







Huozin had seen a number of things on this expedition to date. Some good, some bad. All worth experiencing if only to have that knowledge against future need. This pride, the Mwezi'Johari, seemed to be much more peacefully inclined than his own. This was hardly surprising, given that very few other groups were as inclined towards war as the Motoujamii.

He did note that some of their hosts did seem to have Firekin blood in their veins, based on size and build. Not so much with colors, but it was easily possible that such inheritance came from huria. There had been so many over the years that it was likely every major pride had some tie to his own.

The lion had been gazing at a black and yellow male with somewhat familiar wing markings when he heard a sharply quiet remark from the Mwezi ranks. A black lioness muttering about...a god? He hadn't caught all the words, but he wondered what she intended.

This trip had been both a triumph and a failure for Ruber already. He'd thought that his past as a Rogue would make him invaluable to the group, but that wasn't at all the case. Not only had it been years since the red male had lived on his own, but he was nowhere near as young as he'd once been. He'd been put in his place several times throughout the course of the journey and still seethed about it.

On the other paw, it was so wonderful to be out in green lands once more, the likes of which he hadn't known since he was a cub. And now he walked strongly and confidently as a member of the most powerful pride out there! Oh sure, they were gathering information about the Nergui in an effort to finally end the war, but Ruber had no doubts as to the outcome of that fight. The Nergui were savages, barbarians, and would have to yield or die in the end.

He seriously doubted this quiet and peaceful looking pride would have any information or aid for them. Frankly, this whole thing with these Mwezi was likely to be a waste of time.  

[Syrius Lionwing]

- Mynsed -

Thought Faruk may want to drag his bro in to the fray XD!

Zlatan, quite frankly was terrified. He had heard that this group was coming and on some encouragement from his brother he had come to see the pride of red giants. Giants was an understatement. The young adolescent had never felt so small in his whole life, sure he wasn’t exactly massive, he was about average for a Mwezi lion, but near these monsters he felt like a dwarf! He was going to decend, he was going to go and greet them, but he was feeling completely mesmerised, they looked like a band of marauders. Everyone said they were here for peace. It was way too scary to go and say hi, maybe, he could just sit here and watch for a bit.


Pyke was an elderly lion, or pretty old any way. He had seen many things in this world, he had been born a rogue and joined the Mwezi with his sister many, many moons ago, he had born a litter of cubs here, fallen in and out of love and done a lot of praying. Yet even he at his age had never seen such a massive mass of creatures. It wasn’t their number per’se Just the size of them. They were all huge and a large amount of them were the colour of the red sun. It was quite amazing.

Why the older lion was down here to see them he wasn’t really sure, he really had no interest in them, he supposed it would at least break up what was a mundane sort of day. It had been weeks since his son had left to join the queen on her trip to the Tianxia and while he had promised to stop mooning, ha, over his ex-mate he was finding it quite difficult. Maybe this little meet and greet would finally take his mind off these things.  

[KasaiLoki]

Tawi sat back towards the back of the group, his sister Astrea right near him. Both adolescents had recently began their apprenticeships with their future roles of the pride, the male a guard, and the female a cleric.

Recently, Astrea had been trying to keep a better eye on her brother, to make sure he stayed out of 'trouble' with those his age. For some reason, her brother got a long better with the adults, but their age? Forget about it. He was as bratty as they came it seemed. Astrea shook her head at the thought, wanting to rid her mind of past conversations.

"Who do you think they are?" She asked quietly to her brother.

Tawi shrugged, light gray eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He was not suspcious of the others just yet. Instead, he was watching them, analyzing there moves and words (from what he could hear). The male found himself intrigued by the way these other lions appears. Not only their size, but their pelt color. Most all of the group had the color red, or a variant of it on them. Interesting.

"Let's go see who they are," Astrea said, bumping against her brother.

"Let's not." Tawi answered shortly. He was fine watching the group from their current location.  

[SilverLutz]

Things had gone swimmingly with the Bahari and Mat felt good after leaving their new 'friends'. There had been those among them that hadn't seemed thrilled at their lifestyle, but all that mattered was the king had agreed to a friendly relationship with them. Mat wasn't a true diplomat - she was the General, after all, fighting was more her thing - but she could recognize that having alliances was incredibly important for reasons that became clear not long after their leaving.

Nergui.

She hadn't hesitated to turn their course and although they found where their enemies had once lived, it was clear they had been gone for some time. It was frustrating, but something good had come from the detour, namely another potential ally. There were more ex-Firekin here as well which was a joy to learn as it meant the pride was already exposed to at least a bit of their way of life.

She strode with her pride mates into the jungles once more. She was starting to miss the sand beneath her feet and the sun on her back, especially since she had started feeling a bit ill in the mornings, but she wasn't going to let that slow her down. She had things to do, lions to meet, more cubs to entertain, perhaps. Either way, these lions were going to love them!

Ud strolled along as well, taking in the sights and sounds and smells. He had enjoyed his time in the Bahari although he had discovered the salty water was not his friend. His mane had curled quite drastically during his time there and it was only starting to settle down now. He felt a bit self-conscious about it but he knew the lions here in the Mwezi wouldn't realize it was a far cry from his usual sleek appearance.

Although he was of a high rank, Ud didn't march out ahead. He mingled with the other Firekin before breaking off just a bit, hopeful that one of these pale lions might approach him. He didn't want to seem intimidating and do the approaching when they were all quite small. There were cubs and other youths present as well and his size alone - as well as the others that were with him - would surely be intimidating.

Coming off of her accidental recruiting session on the beaches near the Bahari, Kuzimu felt as though she had had more than enough interaction to state her curiosity even though the male had been rogue. The unsettling lioness stood very still and set off from the group, bright blue eyes unblinking as she stared into the Mwezi gathered, making eye contact for far too long to be comfortable.

She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be scouring the remains of the Nergui lands to learn as much as she could about them. But they hadn't stayed there long, much to her dismay, but perhaps if she could summon up the strength to deal with these God-fearing lions she could learn more about the pride of her father. They had lived somewhat close to them, after all.  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

A silvery lioness joined the many whom had gathered with their new red companions. She had always been a social butterfly and so an event like this was no different. "Look at them." She eagerly whispered to just about anyone who would listen, which was typically her mate, but she hadn't seen him yet today. "Look at how big they are." A gasp could be heard, one that she hadn't meant to make, but one that was made.

Olive green eyes wandered casually over the rest of her pride mates, some she had grown familiar with, while others had always been in the background to her. She beamed at the few adolescents that had shown their lovely faces about - the agonizing desire crept back into her mind which she quickly shooed. Her time to be a mother would come, patience.

Tempted by conversation she barely had a chance to bite her tongue when a big red shape took form before her view. "Hello!" She very nearly screamed at the lioness that had finally taken shape before her. "Look at how red you are." Her earlier gasp was repeated. "I dare say you're more red up close." Moments after realizing what she had just said she felt horror stricken.

"Ukulwa." She finally blurted out in a more or less failed attempt at collecting herself.

SyriusLionwing

Keahi? ;D

News had travelled fast and vividly throughout the prides lands that there were visitors from a foreign pride. One that was filled with warriors and brandishing pelts that would startle the eye, especially for such a typically pale pride. So when her parents had given her the authority, along with her siblings, to head off to start mingling she took up the chance eagerly.

"Oh no."

She had been excited only moments before Ears at attention and eyes widened in an effort to take everything in at once. However in her efforts to see all that she could see her vision was stopped at a boy, a familiar boy. Their last time seeing one another hadn't been all that log ago and yet the pair of them had changed. Adapting to her own adolescent shape had been difficult at first, awkward, and she was still clumsy as could be.

Though he brought on a number of emotions, both good and bad, she chose to ignore him for the time being. Tawi won't ruin this for me. She demanded the thought and decided to put it into action by childishly walking by the pair and pointedly smiling at Astrea. "Hey Astrea." She remarked to the much friendlier sibling of the pair. "Hope you're well." The smile faded when her gaze fell upon Tawi. Guilt was still beating at her insides like an emotional stick wailing on her heart.

Her plan had failed, she couldn't quite make herself walk passed them.

"So Astrea, what do you think of our visitors?"

KasaiLoki

 

[MangoMeow]

((He's actually a Rogue Guard though.))

Harakhty wasn't quite sure what to think about this situation. The Firekin had approached the Mwezi.

On the one paw, he'd met them before, back when they had first started their trek across the rogue lands, and he wasn't terribly worried about their intentions. If anything, it was probably good that they were broadening their connections out here. That said, he had a duty to his pride, and he knew that the Mwezi were going to be more than nervous over these visitors. Not that he could blame them. They were all huge, hulking lions and clearly trained for battle.

He needed to be on his guard. As a rogue guard and a former rogue himself, he was used to interacting with lions coming into the pride, but he also knew that fights could break out if they were goaded enough. And his loyalty was with his new home, whether he came across a friendly face or not.

He watched as a fellow rogue guard directed a welcoming speech to the newcomers, debating whether he should say something himself before deciding that it was unnecessary. No, he would watch from the sidelines for now.