RP Log - Orion (Ecavi) & Halili (mouselet)
Orion was in a state of shock as he trudged back to the den he shared with his wife. Things had quieted down significantly since Queen Kimondo had taken over the pride, he should have known it was too quiet. So little happened after the night so many Shangyue supporters were sent away and a peaceful life was promised to the pride. It was a nice kind of nothing, of course. He had enjoyed being able to hunt and keep his head down again. But that was going to change, regardless of what exactly happened next.
The only sure thing was that he needed to talk to Halili, and he needed to do it now.
Halili had gotten home before Orion and was puttering around, tidying up the den. The Slave was even humming as she worked, something that hadn't happened in long years. Shangyue was gone and his reign of terror ended. Queen Kimondo was restoring some things, but also changing others depending on what she felt would best serve the needs of the pride. It was a happier time than the lioness had known for a long time, and she felt hope for the future.
In fact, part of her cleaning up was to begin a campaign, little did Orion know...it was time to talk about cubs again.
Halili's humming reached his ears before Orion reached the den. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread, though he knew this was actually good news.. it was, without a doubt, something he fully supported. He just wasn't sure how he felt about it being him.. and more importantly, how Halili would feel about how it affects her. This was literally impossible.. until the Queen made it so.
He stood outside the den for a long time before he finally worked up the nerve to speak-- and he almost did, until he realized where he was. Standing in front of his den in the middle of the area reserved for slaves, ready to shout a sensitive secret to his mate within earshot of who knew how many slaves.
So he closed his mouth and stepped in, looking far more serious than usual.
The lioness turned at the sound of a familiar step, pale eyes lighting up to see she was right and her mate had returned home.
"Orion! I was just thinking about you," she told the dark male with a smile. Of course, considering that they were mates meant that Halili was likely to be thinking of Orion at any given time. But that didn't mean it wasn't nice to know someone was thinking of you, and therefore it bore saying.
Then she realized that his expression was grim and her smile melted away into concern.
"is something wrong?" Maybe this wasn't the time to broach the subject of more cubs...
Looking at how happy Halili was, his doubts began to resurface.. she was finally happy again, they were happy again. He could refuse without her ever being the wiser, considering his so-called peers he doubted she would know the difference.. but he couldn't decide that for her, either. Or for himself without her input, for that matter.
"No, nothing is wrong," he said, having hesitated long enough that it was extremely obvious something was indeed wrong, "But we have to talk about something."
Orion's voice was lower than it normally would have been while at home, which didn't help put him at ease and likely didn't help convince Halili of anything.
Halili's eyes narrowed in a way that was likely familiar to Orion at this point. She did not like the tone of his voice, especially not in light of how happy she'd been mere moments before. The lioness took a couple steps closer to her mate.
"If we have to talk about something, then something is clearly wrong," she informed him coldly. "Is there some remnant of Shangyue's reign that the Queen is taking issue with? Maybe your rank as a Royal Guard? Maybe one of his...offspring is causing trouble? I've never trusted that Dwyllodrus..." the lioness trailed off muttering angrily to herself.
Thank the Great Lion Halili had loved him long enough to already be familiar with him like this, arguably at his worst. Her glare, her tone and her words all told him he was leading this down a very wrong path- and it was not at all her fault. The last time he had come home with distressing news to discuss, he was being threatened into becoming a Royal Guard for a usurper he was reluctant to support.
"No, no," he said, scrambling to diffuse suspicion, "I was summoned by the Queen but that's not it. Quite the opposite, actually. I mean, it's hard to explain, I don't fully understand myself, she was talking a lot and I was trying to pay attention but you don't know how to listen when something like that happens.."
And he ended up rambling.
The lioness waited, watching Orion as he tried to explain himself without upsetting her further. Clearly, whatever he'd come to say, he'd already made a hash of. It was possible they were both getting worked up over nothing...but history dictated otherwise. After, the last time he'd come to talk over something so serious, he'd been covered in Tyfu's blood.
"You didn't kill someone else, did you?" Halili asked at last, still suspicious, but trying to lighten the mood. She wasn't entirely certain she'd succeeded though.
When Halili cut off his rambling with a question reminding him of their actual last serious conversation, Orion shut right the hell up. She didn't say it like she meant it but it emphasized just how silly he was being about all of this, so he should his head before working up the courage to just spit it out right.
"Queen Kimondo is establishing a new rank," he said, "Knights, for lions who have done something amazing to help the pride. S-somehow, in everything that happened with Shangyue, she picked me."
"Why...that's wonderful!" Halili replied after the few moments it took her to process what had been said. A new rank as a reward for helping the pride. Similar, in some ways, to what the Royal Guards had been, but the lioness was relatively certain that Queen Kimondo would not abuse her powers and followers in the same way.
"If anyone deserves to be recognized for helping the pride, it's you," she told Orion, closing the gap between them to lay her head upon his shoulder.
So it probably was Tyfu's blood on his paws which had won him this new rank. Still, it was for the best. If only they'd refused to let any of her spawn remain in the pride...sigh.
He was relieved when she took the first part of the news well, but it was clear he was still nervous when she rested her head on his shoulder- he was shaking ever so slightly. Orion had always been an insecure lion, by itself this was still something that put him into the spotlight and gave him credit for things he didn't think of as extraordinary. If anything, saving Uchanjaa had been the only choice he had and killing Tyfu was self defense. He appreciated that it gave Uchanjaa the opportunity to make his sacrifice but it was still.. just what had to be done.
With Halili so close, now, it became easier to just spit it all out.
"Knights are going to be a part of the High Class," he said, "No exceptions. That means I won't be a slave anymore, and- and neither will you."
Halili froze, feeling her mate's body quake against hers. Slowly, deliberately, the lioness picked up her head and took a step back. Then another. One more step away allowed her to look him in the eye.
"That...can't be right," she said slowly, the words forcing themselves out of her mouth as she stared. Halili was female, and all lionesses in the pride were bound to the class of their birth. The only potential exception were the monarch's children, and they would resume their birth class once they were no longer children.
Halili had been born a Slave, and so a Slave she would remain until her dying day. This had always been true and nothing could change it. Except now it seemed that the Queen was intent on turning this stricture upside down as well? This was going too far! Yet the lioness couldn't articulate any additional thoughts on the subject, only stare in horror at her mate as thoughts swirled 'round her head.
And there it was, the reason he had been so nervous. What impossible, vague hope he had of her taking it well evaporated in an instant and he knew it had been silly to even have a fraction of hope for this. He couldn't related to Halili so much on this, he had been born in the high class and chosen to join the low class to be with her. His religious standing was not fixed from birth. If not for the relatively recent split from Halili, he might have taken it harder, felt more firmly in place where he was and had been for so long now.. but it still wouldn't compare to how she would feel.
"The lioness is the heart of the family," Orion said dully, repeating an old lesson learned by everybody in the pride and adding a new twist he didn't realize he had actually been paying enough attention to repeat, "But the Great Lion would not watch over his heroes and deny their beloved. It's not the same as being in the High Class, exactly.. it's like being in the High Class. You couldn't be a slave like that."
You could try, of course, but knowing the Great Lion watched.. it wasn't the same. And nobody would treat you the same, either.
"I don't have to say yes."
The lioness was trying to reason out what Orion had said against what she had known - what she had always known as the absolute truth, immutable and unchanging. To be in the High Class, after everything that had been said and done...it was unthinkable! It would utterly negate what she had stood for, what she had been, what she had done.
What had she done? She had prevented her father from killing Shangyue when he usurped the throne. She had torn a rift in her family wider than the sky that they still hadn't recovered from, and likely never would. She had been offered the position of Royal Guard and turned it down, forcing Orion to accept it when Shangyue held his figurative claws against the throats of their family. She had caused Uchanjaa's death. Indirectly, yes, but it was her fault.
And then Orion spoke again.
Halili raised her gaze from where she'd been staring at the ground, thinking, to meet her mate's eyes once more. Her pale purple eyes were filmed with tears as she looked at him, the love of her life. Born into the High Class, but he'd chosen to give that up to be with her. He'd stumbled onward, despite the situations her selfish choices had placed him into, and somehow come out on top despite it all.
And now he offered to give it all up for her again.
"How can you say that?" she demanded, the tears overflowing her eyes and starting to stream down her face. "How can you stand there and offer to let me ruin your life again?"
Faced with tears, Orion faltered. He always wished he could be more assertive, speak more honestly with himself and with others about what he truly wanted.. he liked to let himself believe that he didn't want much in life, he just wanted Halili and he wanted her to be happy. He did want that, but contrary to what he thought about recent events and the impact they had on his life, he was allowed to want other things, too. This wasn't a bad thing, even if it was a difficult thing..
"You've never ruined my life," he said firmly, his voice finally rising above the secretive volume chosen for their conversation, "You've only ever made it better. I don't know if I deserve this chance, I don't know if it's the right thing to do or if it can really work like this just because the Queen says so.."
Shangyue had big, unusual ideas about where slaves could fit into the hierarchy if they did the right things. Kimondo had assured them that this plan had Lailah's blessing, that the shaman knew what was going on and believed it was a good thing to do. Surely extraordinary circumstances could draw the attention of their stubborn, sleepy god.
"But I do know that this isn't just about me," he said, "And I think there's nobody more deserving than you.. to get a chance to really show the Great Lion what He was missing when he turned His eye from them."
Halili may not have started on the side that won the war, but she had her convictions and she stood by them the whole way through. Of course she had opinions that were different from every day members of the pride, more complex.. not only was she a slave but her family had been targeted specifically by Shangyue. Her bravery was not in some simple action that could somehow be traced forward to key moments in the rebellion.. her dedication was a quieter kind.
Quieter to the outside world, it had certainly been loud and clear to him.
"We have time," he said, "Until the next full moon.."
It wasn't much, but it was something.
"Of course you deserve this!" Halili was still crying, but there was no mistaking the indignation in her voice. "You always put everyone else before yourself, except for that one time in your entire life when we were arguing and you've given up so much for me, to be with me, and now you have a chance to gain back everything you ever had and more...and you would give it up for me?" The lioness sniffled, trying to smudge away her tears.
"I'm...not nearly as deserving as you are, Orion," she continued, tears refusing to cease falling. "I'm selfish, I can be cruel, I have a bad temper that I somehow stopped trying to hide, I don't like to forgive or forget...and you want to bring me with you? To the High Class?"
"That is the kindest thing you've ever offered to do for me," Halili faced her mate head on again. "And...I have to admit, it terrifies me to my very bones. Because I'm not like you, and I'm not worthy."
He couldn't keep his eyes on her feet as she argued with him, finally giving in to the urge to close the gap she had put between them. Hugging it out seemed to be a huge help lately, and he was hoping on it making things better this time, too. He hated hearing her argue so indignantly about his worthiness, but not as much as he hated hearing her put herself down like that.
"You don't have to be like me," he said, nuzzling in and pulling her closer to him, "I love you just the way you are."
He wouldn't repeat himself about his opinion of her worthiness, just like he wouldn't argue with her reassurance of his. That could go in circles for a while and he would be the one to lose that argument for sure.
"I think we can do this," he said, "It won't be easy, but I'll help you if you help me."
That felt much better than rambling about who deserved what, and with the intensity of the conversation finally declining after the big reveal he remembered something he had been meaning to bring up sooner.
"I- I'm not the only one," Orion added, "I meant to say that. I saw your mother there. The Queen is going to honor your father, too. Him, Meshach and Umepatwa. I guess there's a hierarchy to it, they're all above me.."
As he trailed off, his voice quieted again.
When he came over to her, clsoing the distance between them and nuzzling her, it was more than Halili could take and she broke down, sobbing into her beloved's shoulder. That he could and would stand with her through all of this? It was far more than she had ever deserved. She had thanked the Great Lion for reuniting them after the debacle with Shangyue, but never as fervently as she did now, for simply allowing them to be the mates they were.
She almost didn't hear him as Orion started talking again, but she heard enough to twist her neck around so that she could look him in the eye - one of them at least.
"Why don't you tell me everything that the Queen told you," she prompted her mate.
Orion was happy just to stand there, supporting his mate and trying to keep himself together. He would need time to adjust, too, but the first step was getting Halili on board with it too. And it was looking like it just might work out.
Then she asked for a full account of the meeting with the Queen and he muttered a curse to himself under his breath. He had been able to recite more of it than expected, but now they would find out if he really had absorbed more.
He nodded and sat himself down to begin the long, strange story of the most unexpected summons.
Fin.