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 Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 9:43 pm
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With Miyako watching over the little princes and princess, Kimondo decided she had some business to take care of. She had a plan long on her mind and it was time to start preparing to make it a reality. She already had the approval of the Shaman, not that Lailah would or could have prevented a decision on a social matter anyway.. but the next few lions who had to know were going to be harder to deal with. Hodari would be first, because this would have the biggest impact on her. And her new husband! Hopefully this wouldn't make their lives unbearable, she didn't know how much of a burden Mti thought this side of Hodari's family was..
Hodari was, thankfully, easy to find because she was currently on patrol. It was a simple matter of talking to Baba'nyota and finding her patrol leader, who pointed her in the right direction. It took a few steps but she had the time.
Instead of trying to catch up to her sister, Kimondo opted to pick a spot ahead of the guard's predicted location and waited.
A trip to the Tianxia.. it was about as far away as you could go. They'd pass many other prides along the way. And looking at the history of the monarchy around here, she didn't doubt there would be some argument about her decision to go. It would be good practice, talking about it with one of the most protective lions in her life. Hopefully she was ready for it.
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:45 pm
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Hodari, recently, had found herself with quite a bit more free time than she was used to. What with her children off finding their own lives and even her familiar having found a mate of his own, she had started to get used to being alone. She took more time to patrol the borders, often reminiscing on her adolescence. So much had changed. She was no longer the snappish,
self-isolating creature she had been, not one bit. Now, Hodari felt peaceful in the space she was given. She knew that she would go home to her mate, Mti, when she was done with her patrol and she could always poke her nose into the lives' of her children, goodness knows.
And there was always Kimondo, too. Despite the fact that Kimondo was Queen now, Hodari never felt distance between her sister and herself. They were still as close as they had been and Hodari thanked the Great Lion every day for it. And goodness was Kimondo keeping her life busy. As though being Queen wasn't enough, she now had a litter of cubs to take care of. Hodari had heard recently that Miyako had stepped forward as a cubsitter. Dear,
sweet Miyako.
Hodari's attention was already divided between fond memories of cubs and keeping an eye out for anything amiss on the horizon when she heard pawsteps behind her. She paused, ears and nose twitching, before she turned to face her sister with a smile.
"I thought that might be you." She purred. "Come to see what it's like to patrol the borders with your favorite sister?" She asked.
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:51 pm
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When she spotted Hodari, she found she wasn't quite on track and ended up approaching from behind-- and clever guard that she was, her sister caught her. The welcome was greeted with a smile, though a somewhat nervous one. This was a big deal. It wasn't necessarily life changing, end of the world stuff but .. that really wasn't for her to decide, and she couldn't know what would happen when she left.
"I wanted to talk to you, actually," she said, coming up beside her sister and giving her an affectionate nudge, "Better to do it out here than where we might be overheard."
Suspicious, but perhaps no more than 'we need to talk'.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:13 am
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Kimondo wasn't sure if she had the right to be indignant at the suggestion she had another rogue lover, but she huffed and gave her sister a playful glare anyway. She sobered up quickly, though, because she knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation unless she vastly underestimated her sister.
"I've been thinking that it's time to reach out to our allies in the Tianxia again," she said, "Shangyue never did, but then he stopped acknowledging them once his father was out of the picture.."
The Queen had a secret, one that was so incredibly difficult to keep. That Fuu survived was a big deal.. it could have been much worse if the Duke the West House sent to marry the Princess had truly been assassinated but their violent eviction was hardly better.
"They're obviously not looking to start any trouble with us, but I think if we're going to make up for what happened with Shangyue we should go there next," she said, "And I need to go, too."
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:22 am
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Hodari gave an apologetic half-smile at her sister's glare, teasing though it may be, but when Kimondo took on a look of seriousness, Hodari's own face melted into concern. She listened carefully, nodded every now and again. She had never been very concerned with politics in other prides and the Tianxia certainly hadn't been on her mind in the time of the rebellion.
Still, if her sister wanted to make allies with another pride, Hodari would stand with her. Her ears perked when Kimondo mentioned going to the Tianxia and Hodari was opening her maw to reply when Kimondo then said that she was intending on going with them. Hodari closed her mouth and stared.
"You want to go to the Tianxia?" She repeated. Between the seriousness of her sister's tone, Hodari doubted her next questions would have agreeable answers, but she felt the overwhelming need to ask them anyway. "Is the Tianxia very far? How long would we be gone?" Of course Hodari was going with her. She'd follow her sister anywhere and protect her through all manner of peril. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd be going too, but even Hodari had to admit to herself that the idea of leaving the borders she patrolled so often was a daunting idea.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:31 am
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How long would we be gone?
Great Lion help her, Kimondo knew this was exactly what she was expecting and still she wasn't ready for the process of letting her down gently.. especially since it was for a very specific reason. A couple, since Hodari wasn't just her heir but also her sister but.. it was the heir part that would make it harder.
"It takes a couple weeks just to get to the Tianxia," she said, "Depending on the size of the group that goes, it could be longer. And I don't intend to rush once we're there, either. We never did a properly get to know each other when the alliance was first made, we just went to each other for political marriages."
While the pride was stable and at peace as it was now, a trip like this shouldn't have been too big of a deal. The problem was that they had such instability in their recent history and such poor luck with the monarchy that it was going to seem reckless to some.
"Hodari," she said, pausing, "I need you to stay here."
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:45 am
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Hodari nodded again. A few weeks to get there and back, plus however long it took them to get to know the other pride. Who knew, maybe other marriages would be set up along the way. She thought of her children, wondering if any of them would want to come along on the journey or if she would be expected to not see them for a considerable length of time. She shook herself slightly. She was a Guard and Kimondo was her Queen as well as her sister. Her children, should they not be allowed to join the trip, would understand her duty to her Queen. All of her cubs were grown strong, including Yoru, who had recently found outside support in the form of a potential mate and a familiar. They would be fine.
"Alright, I'm in." Hodari said at the same time as her sister continued. Hodari fell silent and stared at her sister with wide eyes, before slowly, her expression changed from shock to confusion and anger. "Excuse me?" She asked, her voice soft. "You need me... where?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:50 am
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:58 am
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Hodari's eyes narrowed as she stared down her sister, but the reasoning of her sister's words weren't lost on her. She wanted to throw a fit, wanted to scream that she wouldn't do it, that she was going to make sure that Kimondo did return safely, because that was her job, to protect her family. Yet... She had agreed to be the Heir of the pride to protect her sister and what Kimondo believed in. She had agreed to that, but she hadn't realized at the time that it would mean at times, giving up her position as a Guard.
"I..." She sat suddenly, but her claws unsheathed into the earth and dug into the ground. She looked up, eyes uncertain. "Kimondo, I don't know the first thing about ruling." She protested weakly,her gaze sliding to the ground. She was sure there would be others to teach her, like there had been to teach Kimondo when she first became the Queen, so that wouldn't end up being too hard, but the thought of her sister leaving and with Hodari being unable to follow... It made Hodari want to cry.
"When do are you leaving?" She asked, finally raising her eyes to her sister, sheathing her claws and standing. "Because I have some conditions that need to be met before I agree to your leaving without me."
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:05 am
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When Hodari sat down, defeated by whatever argument she was preparing in her head, Kimondo couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She didn't want to do this to her sister, she knew if there was anybody she could trust to keep her safe it was Hodari, but she wasn't going to be able to leave the pride unattended. Lailah K'chol managed in a time of great need but she truly had other priorities. Ensuring the physical and social well-being of the pride was Kimondo's job and she could only entrust that job to a few particular lions. If Hodari asked, she would be the only one she trusted, however.
She didn't answer any of the questions first, instead giving her sister some time to get it out. There was an answer for her first question but it was vague, and details would, perhaps, depend on the conditions Hodari set before she would take over in Kimondo's absence.
"What are your conditions?" she asked calmly.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:43 am
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Hodari took a deep breath, exhaled and then looked to her sister.
"First of all, I would like to help choose who of the Guards will be accompanying you and who will be staying. I need to know who I'll be working with to protect the pride in your absence and I want to be sure that the best will be going with you on your trip. Second, I am going to insist..." She blinked back the mist coming over her eyes,"I would like to insist that some of my children accompany you on this journey. Notably, Yoru, since I especially think this will be a good experience for him." She took a few steps and then lay her head over Kimondo's neck, the fur of her shawl tickling Hodari's nose as she went on.
"And my last condition is that you have to let me be with you for the entirety of your days here, until the point that you have to leave on this journey of yours. I'll have to shadow you anyway, to get an idea of what I'll be doing while you're gone, but I wanted to make a condition anyway." She told her sister, before pulling away to ask. "Are we in agreement?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:07 pm
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"We are," Kimondo agreed readily.
She wanted to argue that Hodari should not send her children so far away, especially Yoru.. but if he was doing better and needed the experience then of course he would be welcome to join them. Kimondo already had a few lions in mind that would benefit from joining her on this journey. Everything else was completely reasonable, whether or not Hodari believed it, she really did have it in her to rule the pride if it came to that.
"I won't be leaving until after my cubs are ready to be introduced to the Low Class," she said, finally answering the question Hodari had asked before, "I'm sure my presence will be a hindrance to their acceptance and adjustment to life as slaves, even if I want desperately to be there for them.."
It was a hard truth, knowing that as Queen they could expect so much more from her when in reality, there was little she could do to change their lots. She wasn't going to abolish slavery, it was what lions overlooked by the Great Lion had to do if they wanted to earn his favor before they joined Him in the sky. She offered many the opportunity to leave, if they did not wish to seek His favor.. but her cubs would not be included in that, not while they were still so young.
"I'm going to need your help convincing dad to stay home," she added with a small knowing smile, "He's where you got your stubbornness and he doesn't have a pride depending on him to keep him here."
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Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:50 pm
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Hodari smiled more easily this time when Kimondo agreed so readily and inclined her head towards her sister when she brought up their father.
"He won't have a pride, but he'll have me. I'm sure I'll need some looking out for." She replied with a chuckle. "But yes, of course. I'm happy to help."
Pausing, she flicked her tail as a thought came to her and she added.
"Kimondo? I thought of one more condition I'll need to really accept this." She turned to face her sister and smiled. "I know it's impossible to ask you to come home safely, because, things happen and..." She swallowed thickly. "But promise you'll try? If things get tough or something, just make sure that you do your absolute best to come home, okay?" She asked, gazing across at her sister. It was the best she could hope for, without sounding like a whining cub, she thought. Though, if she could ensure Kimondo would come home with that alone, she'd whine about it for days.
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Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:00 pm
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