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 Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:31 pm
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 Kuzimu was....glad to be back, she supposed. Life outside of the Firekin was interesting and very, very different, and she was a bit surprised to find she had missed the sandy, hot hell hole she called home. She had learned quite a bit and now she needed to relax and think about everything she had seen and done. There hadn't been nearly enough information on the Nergui to satisfy her, but she had learned some bits and scraps at least. They were no longer where they originally lived, they had gone off somewhere that no one could find. A bit unsatisfying, certainly, but it opened new doors and new questions.
She made her way to one of the watering holes, lapping up the tepid water with delight. There was something about the flavor and the temperature that was far more satisfying than any jungle pool or ocean had to offer.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:57 pm
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Many moons had passed since Ikhti had made a place for himself among the Firekin and with each day cycle that slipped by, the more at home and at peace he found himself. The heat had settled in his dark fur like a warm embrace that never left and there was a certain comfort to be had in the feel of sand that pressed into the dips of his paw pads now that he had grown accustomed to the shift of it. He walked like a lion that had found his place at long last, proud of his might and skill.
His mother would have been proud, he thought.
He hoped.
The sun was lazy on the horizon, drawing the first streaks of orange and rose gold across the late afternoon sky when he saw her. He had seen his share of large, white lionesses since he came to stay among his new pride - after all, the colors they allowed within the lands were not exactly a large variety - but he still would have bet his right eye that it was the very same lioness that he had met so far away next to the seashore. The faint outline of the bone markings she bore coupled with those impossibly bright, haunting blue eyes..
"Hey," came the bold, inelegant greeting as he drew closer. "You're back at last, hm?"
SilverLutz HOORAY weekend! Also, I posted him for the memberslist. /bast eyelashes |
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:12 pm
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The small smile on her maw, accompanied by her gentle praise, pulled one corner of his mug up to mirror her expression. It was peculiar to him that she was pleased to see him but, more than that, it was peculiar that he was glad she was.
"It was harder than I expected," he answered honestly, making an attempt at small talk with his pointed remarks, "but not impossible."
He moved past her to the pool she had been drinking from, lowering his dark head so that he could lap up the water. After being in the blasted sands so long, he knew by now that one took water when it was available, thirsty or no. Who knew what might happen between that moment and the next he found himself at a watering hole? It gave him a peculiar sense of danger at times but he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the bit of stress. Only the strong and sharp survived a life here. It felt good.
"Thank you," he said at last, raising his head even as water dribbled down his chin. "For pointing me in this direction, I mean. I was waiting to tell you that."
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:25 pm
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Kuzimu's eyes narrowed into pleased slits at his admission. Ha...she could remember him sounding a bit cocky when she had said the way to enter was through a duel. Although she burned to know more about the Nergui, she was quite proud of where she came from and the strength of her pride mates. She was glad whoever he had dueled had given him a run for his money.
As he moved to drink she turned to face him, watching his every move, studying him more than she had when they had met. He was here now, after all, and was no longer just a passing rogue she had met. Now she looked at him with a different eye, a critical one, picking out his strengths and his flaws. Obviously he was ideal in coloration for the pride and he was physically fit enough to win entrance. He was to the point and didn't mince his words, just like her. He didn't back down from a challenge...
His words made her blink - another rare occurrence - and she turned her bright blue gaze to his face once more. Thank you? She cocked her head to the side almost comically, whiskers twitching with surprise. No one had ever thanked her before as much as she could remember.
"You are...welcome," she said slowly as if tasting the words as she spoke them. "I am Kuzimu. Who are you?" He was here now, after all. She didn't need to waste time asking for names of rogues she'd never meet again. Now she had a reason to ask for his name.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:34 pm
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The pause was peculiarly enticing and he found his eyes tracing her mouth as she spoke, reading the hesitance laid into the words. It felt a little like prying open a clam to hear her not absolutely sure of herself and if he hadn't already started half-smiling, he probably would have then.
Who are you?
What a loaded question. For a moment, he didn't speak, only stared at her quietly with heavy eyes. He was a great many things to different lions - the captain of his mother's small army, the son of a God, the rogue with nothing to lose but too much to prove. He was all of that and more but now was a chance to start over, to simply live for himself.
"Ikhtiyari," he said at last, nodding his head in a small, almost imperceptible jerk as it was his turn to work awkwardly through his words, "you can.. shorten it if it's too long."
That was what friends did, right?
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:42 pm
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Kuzimu waited, their eyes locked on one another without blinking or moving as the silence stretched. To any other lion it might have been an uncomfortable few moments, but for the pale lioness it was completely normal. She got an answer, after all, and at the offer to shorten it she gave a little snort.
"Ikhtiyari. Welcome to the Firekin," she said, a little warmth stirring in her chest at being able to welcome him formally now. If he preferred to go by a shorter name she was sure he'd tell her, but she would use his full name until then.
"What rank have you taken?" she added, shifting to move closer to him, her steps measured and precises in the sand. She circled him slowly as she waited for an answer again before stopping in front of him, now within inches of his face. His size had been impressive from the first time they had met, but she was quite fond of the fact that he was larger than her. Most lions here were quite large and she was among them, but it was oddly nice to have to look up just a hair to meet his eye at this distance.
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:49 am
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Ikhtiyari watched her the best that he could as she circled him, admiring the way she moved on the sand like he had so many others of this pride. She had seemed formidable even when they were in territory he knew better but here, in her homeland, he could see the power and elegance written in her steps.
As she came to a stop so close to his face, he found himself staring back into the depths of her eyes. They were blue as the ocean they had left behind, too bright to match the shallow watering pools that his new pride cherished. Instead of backing away from her, he simply sat, content to take the moments to get to know her - body language said so much more about a lion than their words.
"Soldier. I've spent too long playing at it to do anything else. It's what I know."
He had spent his life fighting for someone else's cause, for a purpose that seemed too grandeur by comparison, that he almost felt at peace with the concept of lending his strength to the well-being of a true, unified pride. It was strange that such a common concept felt odd to him.
"I need practice. The sands are.." he shook his head, frowning, as he tried to summon a word for it, "..frustrating."
SilverLutz omg I'm so sorry I took so long, March was hard ;3;
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