[PRP] A Bit of Bad Blood [Ahlaq x Kasirga]

[oo Ded]

(ICly after Strangers and Kings but before An Invitation to Dinner)

It had been an eventful week. Ahlaq wouldn't say that he was completely comfortable in his new home, yet, but he was certainly getting more used to the place. It wasn't quite the desert that his previous homes had been, but it wasn't the humid jungles that he heard existed out here somewhere. For the dry air and the bright sky he was thankful.

The Umholi wasn't the type for long and rambling conversation, he had spoken to a few of the pride lionesses and had gotten a better feel for the pridal customs than the bits of information that he had gathered from Umkhombo before the arrival of the three Abaholi. There was one topic, however, that he had only lightly probed about. Ahlaq had gathered the names of the former Qyrhyeshti lionesses. He hadn't yet spoken to them, though. Didn't quite know how to go about it...

The sun was in its descent and the air was more refreshing than during the midday. Ahlaq was alone, meandering a little ways away from where he imagined the bulk of the pride members to be. He didn't mind the gathering--both the Bukuteshti and the Impibutho involved the pride members coming together, though here that involved significantly less rough-housing than he was accustomed to. Still, it was nice to be alone with his thoughts for a little while. That, and when he was around a gathering of lionesses he would swear that he could feel the stares and gossiping.

The sandy lion shook out his mane. He snorted, an expression of amusement on his face. The Burkuteshti wold gossip too. Somehow it went hand in hand with the training and waiting for battle. Even here, he found bits and pieces of that former life.

Ecavi

 

[oo Ded]

At the sound of a voice Ahlaq blinked and his steps paused. The sandy lion recognized her immediately as one of the Qyrhyeshti lionesses. Their presence had been enough to create for a nagging awareness of who they were and what they looked like.

But there didn't seem to be any immediate threat of claws or fangs coming his way. A step in a good direction, at the very least, though he couldn't help but tense a little.

"sim Sungus," he finished after pausing in silence just enough for it to start to get uncomfortable. sim Sungus, not that it really mattered now. All of that was a couple of lifetimes ago. He questioned himself as to what was keeping him attached to his surname. Nostalgia? Though it had been his first home, Ahlaq couldn't help but disconnect memories of the Burkuteshti with the feeling of bitter failures.

"I don't think we've properly met, yet." His voice was a bit gruff. The voice of someone who may have been a leader but was ultimately raised as a warrior, first. Though they hadn't yet been formally introduced, her colors and markings rang a few bells. Ahlaq was aware that there were lionesses here that were direct descendants of the Qyrhyeshti Bey and Hatun. His father had died sustaining wounds from the Qyrhyeshti Hatun, way back when. Ahlaq couldn't help but have some sort of bizarre appreciation for the narrative quality of all of this.

Ecavi

 

[oo Ded]

"Kasirga bint Nesf," he repeated, looking her over and matching the name to the face in his mind. "I…" His voice trailed and he shook out his mane, searching for the right words to say next. "I recognize the name. And your mother's. Though I'd have to admit that I'm familiar with them only recently. From here and from what Umkhombo tells me. The Burkuteshti were more the type to brawl than to get to know the names of the-" a pause, "the opponent."

He stopped himself from using the word 'enemy.' The prides were dead. The war was dead. There was nothing to be gained by framing his relationship with the Qyrhyeshti lionesses as one between enemies.

While the names of the Qyrhyeshti were nothing more than vaguely familiar to Ahlaq at this point, he refrained from disclosing his observation that some did look recognizable. The former Bey was certain that he had exchanged blood with some.

"So," he continued, sitting. "What brings you out here? Come to do me in while I'm alone?" His last statement came with a quirked brow and a look, though coupled with his serious tone, held a hint of amused sarcasm. Though Ahlaq might not have known his own intentions when first agreeing to come to the Bonelands with Umkhombo, the sandy lion was at least somewhat aware of what he was getting in to.

Ecavi

 

[oo Ded]

"Should I be?" Ahlaq's brow remained raised and his gaze didn't falter. There hadn't yet been any instances of Qyrhyeshti lionesses calling for his blood and to be honest he was a bit surprised. He imagined that things might have been made smoother considering the fact that he was on good terms with their bey, but if the Qyrhyeshti were anything like the Burkuteshti, there had to be some stubborn ones in there that were reluctant to let bygones be bygones.

"As far as I'm concerned, my role here is that of Umholi. Not Burkuteshti Bey. And I intend to do that job regardless of whether or not I'm in the Qyrhy's good graces." The sandy lion shrugged. For a long while the loss of the Burkuteshti weighed heavy in his heart. All the guilt and self-loathing that begat a leader who lost his pride hung with him and made Ahlaq a bitter soul. He had done his best to move on. To make a new start. He liked to think he did a pretty good job of that.

"What of you? I don't recall seeing you out on the battlegrounds." Albeit it was a chaotic time. She seemed a touch young to have met him in battle, but he wasn't among the oldest lions, himself. Still, he had yet to really talk to many of the Qyrhy about their experiences (and he expected they wouldn't be warming up to the idea of chatting about the war anytime soon).

Ecavi

Ugh, late reply is late

 

[oo Ded]

"Mm," he started. His weight shifted beneath him thoughtfully. "I mean, it was like a whole other world. Having it all taken away... it's like entering a whole new reality. When the Burkuteshti was first..." a search for the right word, "gone? It was like everything I knew since my birth wasn't real anymore."

Ahlaq couldn't really explain why he was compelled to talk to her about his experiences. Maybe he felt some sort of security in the fact that, though she was by all rights a Qyrhy lioness, she wasn't born until after the fall. In that respect, she hadn't really been an enemy.

"That is to say," he continued, clearing his throat and straightening his posture a touch, "I understand that it's hard to move on. That some might not want to move on. It's a fair stance."

It was more complicated than that, of course. Disease and the arrival of humans had driven out the Burkuteshti. It had taken a long while for him to come to the acceptance that there isn't much that they could have done. Coming to the Bonelands and being around the Qyrhyeshti lionesses, he couldn't help but feel an added weight on his shoulders as he thought of how, during the last while of the war, the Burkuteshti were winning. No doubt there was some bitterness about it.

Ecavi