[FIREKIN META] The Abandoned Temple (Nergui - See p4!)

[Motoujamii Lands]

Character: Lirda, Ljena
Location: Temple, Nergui Camp

Ljena, emboldened by having her father and her pride here with her, rushed over to her friends to make sure they were OK. There had been some debate about the worth of sneaking off, she was glad that if the Nergui noticed that they hadn't taken it out on the other two. Perhaps they were expecting this, but judging by Lirda's words about Mahiri and the hyenas (who were noticeable absent) .. perhaps not.

"You're outnumbered," Ljena said loudly, focusing on Nuri, "You can't keep us here anymore."

Lirda stared at the young lioness who had been so quiet and obedient before tonight, and then looked at Nuri, too. Maybe they did have the right Kaar before the other two arrived, but there was no way they were keeping any of them now. Ljena was absolutely right about that.

Ljena knew more than she was letting on, too. She glanced from the stunned Nergui to the group that had followed her, first stopping at Hehewuti and then then at Nuriel. So.. the Firekin were here, too.

"What happened to the Nergui?" she asked, still loud enough that her voice echoed through the room, "We knew about you, and there were so many of you before. I haven't even seen a dozen lions since we were brought here..."

***

Nuri wasn't stupid, not by a long shot. A glance at Kmorr told her he wasn't, either - Though he was scarred, he was wise enough to know, just as Nuri did, when they needed to stop fighting. She looked back, taking in a deep breath. "They're gone..."

***

What Happened to the Nergui

Disclaimer: While we in the Firekin were not directly involved with the Nergui, we were part of the plans that Kimaria was making for their future. Since she is gone and we never got a chance to properly end the war between the prides, we're taking it upon ourselves to offer a conclusion based upon the plans we had. This is not what was going to happen but it's not a great deviation from the direction things were going to be taken. The ultimate goals here are to satisfy the Firekin's need for closure, to explain where high ranking Nergui have gone in the event anybody wants to rebuild in some capacity, and to leave Kimaria something to work with if she does come back and want to revive it properly.

"They're gone. The horde is gone and they left us here," Nuri explained bitterly, "Graos Oma came to us, the vessel of Tra Ord Omak's divine power and our true leader. Not all of us believed it was really him, but our Xakaav Oma did, and the Kaar Oma. Questioning it caused fights but that didn't stop anybody, not until he did something about it. Graos Oma took so many of the horde north again and he left us behind."

Where the Nergui had gone was a mystery to those left behind, really, but they knew. It had to be him, it was the only explanation. He took away their Xakaav Oma and so many others, there was no apparent rhyme or reason behind those that were left behind. Most of the non-believers, of course, but so many who truly believed it was their Graos Oma, too. Kmorr was still there, right beside Nuri, and he was the one who brought Graos Oma to them!

"We tried to track them down but we couldn't catch up, the trail ended so abruptly and strange things began happening in the desert," she continued, "So we came back here. Some of us did, anyway. We wanted to rebuild, that's why we stole Kaar from your pride over the mountains. We should have known you'd come for them."

Especially after Zazvor and Tesak messed things up with these other two. They had a young, interesting and malleable Kaar delivered to them from the skillful paws of a stranger, a stranger who left without payment after the other two battered Kaar were brought to the Temple. Perhaps the stranger was the only smart one who took part in this plan in the end.

Summary: A lion claiming to be the Graos Oma, the never-seen supreme leader of the Nergui, appeared in the pride. While the Nergui leaders believed it was him, not everybody was so sure and there was some internal conflict about it. One night, after a couple weeks in the pride, the Graos Oma disappeared with half the pride, including the leaders. The trail led North but couldn't be followed/caught up to. This coincides with the start of the War in Heaven shop meta, leaving the remnants of the Nergui more confused and desperate. Some who stayed in the Temple decided to try rebuilding and started by looking for seers, which they found in the Mwezi'Johari. Now that they've been caught, their last hope is gone and they're giving up.

To any active players from the Nergui: Your characters were left behind. Regardless of whether or not they believed the Graos Oma had finally come to the pride, they didn't get to go with him when he left. Use that however you want!

***

The scarred lion worked his jaw, trying to find words. He took a breath of his own, exhaled, then looked at the lions with his one good remaining eye, "We were too weak... For Graos Oma, so he left us." It was the way of the Horde, after all. He had served his purpose, had aided Graos Oma in returning to the pride... And now what did he do? What would he do? Where would he go? His future had been certain before, but he was too scarred to keep up, his leg lame. Fight still filled the lion, but it now had no direction. "What will you do now, with us?"  

[Excited Apathy]

Atyadhik scowled as one of the Mwezi decided that now was a good time to swipe some feathers for themselves, but kept her trap shut. It was stupid but it wasn't worth fighting over when enemies could be nearby. At least his sticky paws had uncovered useful information, according to one of the other Mwezi with them.

Her attention shifted away from that entirely as sounds of growing commotion reached her ears. She followed the others, figuring she'd add some muscle to their efforts. No dice with the fight at the center--that was already cleaning up. She likewise turned towards the Structures.

And there they were. The other abducted lions, and more of what seemed to be the pitiful remnants of the Nergui. The Soldier growled under her breath as the male asked what was to be done with them. Those Hongshan that had suffered by their paws would very likely want to execute them, but she was not one of those but a descendant. "You're scum, but you're scum that could answer questions," she said roughly, golden eyes burning as she stared first at Kmorr, then at Nuri. Letting them rot was tempting, if they weren't too weak a group to dismiss now. But bloodline or no, slaughter was not a suggestion that would come easily to Atya's tongue...if at all.

-----

"It's too quiet," Nyota'shuti replied to Baba'nyota in a hushed tone, scanning the structures ahead. "I was under the impression that the Nergui were not a small group." A half-smile cracked her serious expression and she glanced over at the Head Guard, one of a shrinking number of lions that she'd known of since she was a cub. "I'll watch your back...nobody will get at you from that side."

Relief rushed through her as Ljena appeared, though she didn't relax yet. Their task was not yet done. All the same, it was good to see the obviously worried father reunited with his daughter.

She became aware of the commotion, and was torn--to investigate and aid, or follow Ljena whereever she was leading? She opted to follow the adolescent, trusting that she would know where the other two abducted lions were. Once they arrived she aided in cutting off escape, quiet at first. As the strangers--the Nergui--spoke, she frowned.

"What are Kaar? Why did you need them?" The other unfamiliar words seemed like leaders or religious figures of some sort...but this word was applied to their own. Was it their word for 'captive?'

Nerpin

(Bit of a catch-up post as well as a reply, whoops.)

 

[MangoMeow]

Harakhty arrived with the majority of the group in time for them to start interrogating. His eyebrows raised as they went into detail about what happened to the Nergui, as well as why they had taken some of the Mwezi. On the one paw, he found it sad that a pride would leave their own simply because they viewed them as weak, but then, this was a different culture, a different life, and who knows, maybe these ones would be happier without them.

.... Actually, no. Those who stayed here instead of leaving would likely be miserable now. The hostility from the Firekin showed that.

On the other paw, he couldn't very well say that he'd stop them either. These ones, in their desperation, had chosen to kidnap from another pride, and Har couldn't find it in himself to forgive them for that. He was a believer of paying for your misdeeds.

So the male chose to wander to the outskirts of the group, half to keep an eye on any that might make a run for it and half to perhaps track down the owner of these feathers.

He had a feeling they'd be camping out here anyway, and he wasn't worried about keeping his promise to Senka and the cubs.  

[MangoMeow]

The Mwezi guard paused as he was approached, glancing down at the feathers he'd tucked away into his mane for the moment. "Feathers that I found over in the caves." He frowned, "I was told they belong to one of the kidnapped lions, and I was hoping to get them back to them." They hopefully wouldn't be that hard to track down, though with all the hubbub going on, he'd probably have to wait until they've settled.

As the Firekin spoke up, Har smiled and nodded, "I'd appreciate it." More paws aiding him would hopefully make things go faster. He'd admit that... he wanted to walk around a bit once they took a break, for old time sake, but tracking down the feather's owner took priority.

AstoriaFallen

Np~ heart

 

[SilverLutz]

With the help of the others in the group, Ud managed to overpower the Nergui lion and subdue him. He had a few scrapes along his sides but it was nothing that required immediate attention. He was breathing heavily but out of adrenaline and just a bit of pain, and he knew that there were those from both prides that could help if he did end up needing a medic. For now he remained where he stood, keeping watch over those that they had captured.

---

Jens followed the group to the other lions that had been kidnapped, relieved to see them all accounted for. He knew it would bring quite a bit of happiness to the pride upon their return, especially since all of them seemed to be in fairly good health. They knew the reason for their disappearance now and even though the Nergui seemed to have fled far away, they'd certainly keep an ear open for their return.

[Last post from me!]