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 Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 4:12 pm
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It was never a good sign in a dream when your world went black. Unfortunantely for the Monarch's Claw, that was happening more and more. The earth shook, and a chasm opened right underneath him, swallowing him up.
While he normally didn't let the nightmares get to him, the lack of sleep messing with his mind was making him jolt awake at the end of his sleep. His heart raced. These were the days he was glad he had a personal den. No one would see his nightmares. No one to hear any sort of words he would say amidst the slumber. His mind was reeling however. Why was this dream reoccurring so many times. It was only since he had taken an apprentice it seemed they were getting worse. Sure he may have had one a week prior, but now, it was becoming as routine as his daily rounds.
Sighing, the male lifted himself to his paw. He let out of yawn, catching a shadow in the corner of his eye. Orange orbs narrowed.
"Your presence is requested." The avian said with a sneer, bobbing her head before taking to a hover. "Queen Ashiki would like to see you."
Ebbe frowned, watching the raven leave. He would need to do something to prevent one of Katiti's minions from entering again. Perhaps acquire a snake would be a good counter to them? Shaking his head, the lion exited his own dwelling, heading towards the Queen.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:42 pm
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All feeling of tiredness left when Ashiki fell into sight. Although she didn't twist to look at him, his ears perked in curiosity as she spoke his name. He hastened his gait slightly, when she turned to glance at him.
His eyes strained past her in the distance, spotting the ravens, but otherwise not much else. A frown appeared on his maw. While he would normally greet his Queen with some sort of compliment, now was not the time. Something seemed to be happening, and as Ashiki put it, they needed to investigate it.
"What is that...?" he found himself murmuring, ears flicking back and forth, before giving his Queen a quick nod. "Certainly. Should we round anyone else up?" By the sight of the ravens, Katiti was probably aware. But what about Shetani? His eyes narrowed as he thought of what would be before him. "Or best to leave it quiet for now." Ebbe offered as an alternative. "Already word is going through some pride members about these strange lights. Don't need to cause a frenzy for something that could be absolutely nothing." |
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:45 pm
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"It's.. a hole."
It was a lackluster explanation but the only one she had to give to him. What else should she call a widening crack that grew bigger still with every slight rumble of the earth beneath them?
"No, for now it will just be you and I. Katiti knows, I have asked her to inform Shetani and the pair of them will do their best to divert the pride's attention away from this area for the time being. It should not be that hard given the lights overhead."
She did not know what to make of those anymore than she did the discovery made by Katiti's ravens. Already, pride members were mumbling over the ancestors and whether or not it had somewhat to do with them. Were they returning? Were they angry? Was this something different all together? Ashiki would have gone straight away to gather the vessels and pry into what their thoughts had already and might eventually reveal but this was a bigger issue.
"Come," she ordered at last as she turned and headed for the spot where Katiti's feathered eyes were circling like buzzards over their prey. It was a distance away and the path lead them through the thick of the termite mounds and, as she knew Ebbe would guess by their trajectory, to the border they shared with the Pridelands. It would take some time to arrive and Ashiki, for one, was not keen on the silence while she worried over this.
"Your apprentice. Is she recovering?" Blunt as any Outlander, the Queen's eerie green eyes did not part from the birds even as she spoke.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:40 am
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Ebbe could not hold back the snort when Ashiki answered. He refrained from voicing a sarcastic remark. He was still in the present of his Queen, and regardless if he was friends with her, her rank would always outweigh everything.
There was something familiar about the crack that he opened up. Ebbe would dwell more on that later.
He nodded. Those lights had been distracting in training as well. A hole appearing in the ground was less exciting than dancing lights in the sky.
He followed when she spoke her order, keeping a step just behind her. While he would prefer to walk in silence, the monarch had other plans. He gave her the side eye, noting she wasn't looking at him, when she spoke of his apprentice. "Ah, yes." If Ebbe cared for the female, his tone revealed nothing. Years or practice in hiding emotion.
"She is no longer in a critical period, so she has been moved to the care of another in the pride, so I may continue my normal duties." Caring for Delphi meant putting the Monarch Claw duties on hold briefly, and his two claws needed to pick up his slack. They had, and now things were...mostly normal again.
"I expect her to return within the week's end." He shifted slightly on his paws, his gaze remaining forward now. |
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:34 am
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"Good."
The answer was short and clipped but the Queen's eerie green eyes flickered sidelong to him for the briefest of moments, a sure sign that she was investing more of her attention in him than it had seemed at first.
"I'm pleased that you have chosen an apprentice, Ebbe, but remember that's not your only duty to this pride's future." Her eyes slipped away again to the horizon and where the birds were circling through the air. They were close now but Ashiki's resolve never faltered and her words held no ounce of hesitation or shyness over what she was about to say next. "I need to ensure that my heirs have strong lions in their ranks for generations to come and that can only happen if my greatest warriors make those contributions. I hope that you understand that, as my Claw, you are the most important bloodline to my pride apart from my own."
There was no question in her words, no attempt to reason out how he felt about the issue, only a simple command laced within a brief lesson on pride and power and the future.
Whatever he might have said in response paled suddenly as an acrid stench filled the air around them - to any Outlander familiar with the lower levels of the caverns that stretched beneath their home it was immediately obvious what it was. As they grew closer and closer to this hole, it became immediately obvious why its presence was such a concern.
Ashiki concentrated on breathing through her mouth as they finally, at last, arrived upon the scene. Overhead she heard the ravens cry out at her arrival but spared little attention for any but Clio, who swooped low to settle on her shoulder.
"There was another rumble some half hour ago, my lady, I would guess it has grown half its size again."
Ashiki frowned as she stopped short of a small crevice, nearly the length of three grown lions now and slowly, very slowly, leaking an icky green gas from its gaping maw.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 3:51 pm
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An ear flicked towards Ashiki as she spoke. An ever growing frown on his maw as her words continued. His thoughts instantly went towards his past, the events in his past that had molded him to the lion he was today. A brief look of disdain crossed his face as he shook his head slightly, putting on a neutral face quickly. There was no arguing with the queen.
What she said was law. At least, in Ebbe's book.
He just wished that she didn't have to bring that up. "I assure you, My Queen, your heirs - the current and any future you may have-" It was daft to think Ashiki wouldn't try for more cubs now that the pride was growing. "- and everyone in the pride or who will join will have strong lions amongst them." Ebbe swallowed the lump that had found its way into his throat.
Great. Now he had to go have that awkward conversation with some lioness to bear his children. The only female he was...almost comfortable talking to that wasn't the Queen or one of her other viziers was his apprentice. She would make good children. She had the will to save others, as Ebbe did.
When the stench hit his nose, Ebbe paused his steps as his eyes narrowed. Just like in his dream, the world had opened up underneath him after an earth shake. The difference was he wasn't falling into the abyss as in the dreamworld.
"We need to keep this area secure. No lions within a fifty foot perimeter of this crevice." He did not want those falling through like his reoccurring nightmare did to him.
"We should station Scars around to do that." He suggested. "And if it is growing more..." He paused his thoughts, eyeing the direction the crevice was opening towards. "...Well, hopefully it opens more towards our neighbors than our pride.” |
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:01 pm
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There was no more point of discussing cubs and she knew that he would take her gentle push to heart - Ebbe was not a lion that needed prodding to do what was needed. He would do as she asked, simply put. There was something to be said for his loyalty and that, among so many other things, was the reason she needed his bloodline to continue.
"I agree," she nodded in response to his plan, doing her best to breath through her mouth and not inhale the cloying stench that was leaking up through the crevice. "I can't risk a broodling wandering out this way or one of the unbranded being foolish enough to think this is not as serious as it may become."
Almost in answer, the ground beneath their feet rumbled - it was not quite so strong that they might consider it an earthquake but the vibrations were obvious and the line at the of the crack crawled another several inches, splaying at it's tip like a web. An obvious pulse of gas burst forward like a nauseous bubble and she took a few steps back to stay clear of it.
"All I can hope is that the current pushes it downwind of the pride and that they," their unwelcome sister pride, "do not come looking for answers when they start getting sick. Make sure we choose your most capable Scars - they may encounter scouts from the golden lands."
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