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 Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:05 pm
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The past few weeks had been hectic for Phanes. Instead of heading out onto his first viking like Aldan to earn the respect of the pride and make his father proud, he had discovered a fallen star in his mother and helped a suddenly worry-driven Kafele guard her and nurse her back to health so she might rejoin the heavens from which she had fallen. He was certain she would leave any day now, especially with the new Warlord back among the storm lands. Though she pursed her jowls and cast him sidelong glances whenever he mentioned what he had seen, the great goddess did not comment upon the changes to her son. The only thing she ever said was simply, it is not my place to judge the mortal whims. Whatever that meant. Even if she didn't admit it, they could all tell that she was uneasy here for so long.
The pale, storm swirled male let a long, deep sigh pass from his lungs. He was not sure if he would be glad to see her go so that he might turn his attention back upon his goals to become a Viking and a Captain or if he would mourn her loss. When he could barely remember her, well, that was one thing - now that he knew her and she had planted her roots deeper in his heart he was sure he would miss her like the wind on a summer's day.
"Ugh," annoyed, he scuffed a paw across the moist earth beneath his feet and turned his eyes up to the toiling storm clouds over head. It was not raining, for a wonder, but that threat always loomed. Despite it, he stalked closer to the edge of the cliff before he sat. What was a little rain, anyway? It was unlike him to be worried over anything, let alone the weather or his family or his place here. Yet, with the new warlord so pointedly marking a lion's worth by his mother's heritage, he found himself wondering what that would mean for him. Sure, his father was a well-known Captain, but his mother..
Well, at best, no one knew who she was. A Goddess was nothing to balk at but would they believe such a thing of his roots?
No, it was unlike him to worry, but he felt it gnawing at his insides none-the-less.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:25 pm
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 Shiori tossed her head to get her brown tuft out of her eyes as she moved through the muddy lands she called home. The rains here made it difficult to stay clean, yet somehow the tan lioness moved through the dirt and muck with barely a speck of filth on her. Having grown up in these lands it was easy for her to navigate the terrain when the pride lived up to its nickname, finding the solid stones and shallow mud to walk through rather than slogging through ankle-deep pits of the paw-sucking glop. Although she wasn't vain, Shiori knew that a lady kept her appearance in mind at all times and she didn't want to look rough-and-tumble like some of the females here. For some she supposed it was acceptable, but for her...
Well. She had standards.
There were quite the number of Stormborn - male and female alike - that were rather upset with the new rules concering females and their place in the pride. Personally, Shiori saw nothing wrong with it. Males were generally larger, stronger, and more aggressive than females. Attitude and testosterone were two very, very different things no matter what some of the snappy females tried to tell you and that was nothing to be ashamed of. While males could go off and fight - and females could as well, she wasn't disputing that - they couldn't raise a family. That honor was for the females alone, and that was the reason why she sided with this new Warlord. Let the males go off and fight while the females remained here to raise the next generation. Without them, the pride would fail and it wouldn't matter if you were a Thrall or a Captain. If there was no pride, there were no Stormborn.
Pausing in her careful walking, Shiori spotted a rather troubled if incredibly handsome male standing near the cliffs. She tilted her head a bit as she watched him sit down and stare broodingly out towards the roiling sea. A small smile crossed her muzzle as she chuckled to herself, the thought that males shouldn't trouble themselves with difficult thoughts crossing her mind. She turned her body towards him, finding the pathway easier now that there were more rocks than mud. Perhaps she could help him puzzle out whatever it was he was thinking over so intently.
"A gloomy face for a gloomy day," she said as she approached, not wanting to startle him. She kept her expression friendly but respectful as a good lady should, warm, brown eyes watching him with curiosity.
"What troubles you so?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 4:39 pm
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"Hm?"
Phanes mechanically answered the voice that drifted across the surface of his subconscious faster than he truly recognized what it was that she was saying. A half a breath later and he shook his head, pulling himself up into awareness and turning his head so that he might settle a pair of sapphire eyes upon the stranger. She wasn't someone he recognized at a glance but the surety of her stance and the comfort writ into her bones suggested that she was definitely a female accustomed to life among the Stormborn.
"Sorry," he offered, pushing himself to his feet belatedly and dipping his head to her in a proper introduction. He had spent so long staring at her in his dazed, clouded state of being that it must have seemed like he was thick in the skull. That was definitely not the reputation he wanted to earn, least of all among the womenfolk.
"I'm not sure that you would understand," he began, though what he truly wanted to say was I'm not sure how you would feel about it. Comfortable or no, he had no idea upon which side of the fence this lady's feelings toward their new warlord lay. How he felt was not treasonous but the wrong word given to the right ear would tarnish himself, and his siblings, in the exact way that he feared. He would have been a fool to think that a pretty face was a kind one just because it wasn't trying to rip his throat out. No, for the moment his fears were better left unsaid.
"I don't mean to put a damper on anyone's afternoon, least of all a pretty lady such as yourself. Don't trouble yourself over me, hm?"
Phanes offered her a charming smile, earned honestly by his father's heritage. He hoped it might disarm her and, at the very least, make her forget about his moment of weakness.
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 3:22 pm
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"No!" he chimed immediately, over-zealous and wide-eyed. The reaction she pulled from him made his teeth grit as he clamped his jaw back shut, annoyed with both himself and her for teasing him. That smile on her face said that she knew what was she was doing and for brief moment, the polite, sullen expression on his face was replaced with the fire and pride of his heritage. He did not like anyone putting words in his mouth, least of all words that could earn him a reputation he didn't want.
The question now, however, was if she was simply being playful or digging for information; oh, how he loathed the political game of gossip that ran like an undertow in their pride.
"I never said you wouldn't understand," he stated at last, calmer than he wanted, "only that it wasn't worth your time to be bothered with it. I'm sure you have plenty of other things to worry about, don't you?"
Like what, he thought? With the new warlord that probably just meant making her den neat and looking for a husband. He decided, quickly, not to elaborate on his thoughts. His head hurt from weighing out what she might say in return and how she might twist his words; it was easier to talk about himself after all, it seemed.
"If you really want to know," he mumbled, "I'm worried because my mother isn't a part of this pride. I know who she is, I know she's not just some rogue-born pet my father found on a viking, but I've got pretty little way of proving it." His eyes were distant now, focusing on something in his memory as his tongue clucked behind his teeth. "My father is a great Captain but his reputation will only get me so far."
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 5:24 pm
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The quick reaction made Shiori chuckle softly, amused at how quick he was to try to correct himself. His back tracking made her roll her eyes, though, and her smile turned to a look of bemusement. He had just said he didn't think she'd understand, hadn't he? She knew that he hadn't meant to say it in a belittling way, but it was so fun to tease.
"Not particularly," she replied evenly, her tail flicking back and forth as she waited to see if he'd tell her what was bothering him. He could have given her the cold shoulder and simply walked away if he really didn't want to talk about it, but since he was sticking around she figured she might get lucky and hear what his woes were.
Sure enough, a few moments later the male spilled the beans. Her ears perked up with surprise at his predicament, though, as it wasn't really one she had expected to hear. Tilting her head, she thought over what he said, trying to put herself in his paws.
"Well...I can't relate personally as my mother's linage goes back quite far in the pride, but I don't see why your mother being rogue should be an issue if your father is a well-known Captain." Females were important in the sense that they raised the next generation of Stormborn, but a male's reputation could bolster a son's easily.
"My father is a Captain as well," she added with a little grin. "Ragnvard, to be exact. Who is your father?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:32 pm
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"It's just a worry," he mumbled, refraining from telling her that she had proven his point. His father often told him the same thing though whenever he expressed his concerns. At the end of the day, Phanes was simply a creature that did not want others to think less of him and with no way to prove that his mother was a great and powerful goddess, what if someone chose to believe that he was just some thrall's get? Or that his rogue blood made him weaker? His tail lashed behind him in annoyance at the thought.
At least she wasn't turning her nose up at him, though, and that was enough to make him sit down politely and finish the conversation she had started.
"Oh, I know Ragnvard," sort of. He knew of him, had seen him at a distance, knew the stories of his vikings. Phanes had always idolized the great Reavers of the pride growing up and though none earned the awe he held for his own father, he had listened to elders tell their stories about them all. Idly, he wondered what it must have been like to be from such an important lineage? If her mother was an old blood and her father such a great reaver, that made her one of the most ideal lionesses in the pride without a doubt. He probably owed her more respect than he was giving her.
"My father is Vidar." This time his chest puffed a little with pride and his head raised. Vidar was a hard lion to miss with his charisma and, well, the jingling bones that hung from his body.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:27 pm
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Bless his heart, Phanes did appear rather torn up about this. Shiori couldn't speak from experience as both of her parents were here in the pride, but she wished she could comfort him somehow. As much as having a strong Stormborn bloodline was nice, it certainly wasn't everything. This pride was very much about making your own way, whether it was through marrying a strong male or clawing your way up out of Thralldom to become a Captain. Still, Phanes seemed set on having his lineage play a larger role than most and she wasn't going to tell him to change his thoughts.
As he mentioned knowing Ragnvard Shiori gave a little smile and a nod. Most Captains were well-known in the pride, but her father was perhaps best known for his mind. He wasn't the type to boast and yell and run about challenging every lion to come his way to prove himself. No, he let his treasure and Thralls do the talking.
"Ah...I know him as well," she said with a little laugh at the mention of the noisy Captain. Vidar was loud and boisterous, but in a good way. He was very cocky but from the amount of treasure threaded into his mane it was clear he could back it up. "And if memory serves, your grandfather was a rogue who never stepped foot in the pride. And look where Vidar is now," she said, raising a brow with a little grin still on her face. "Your father made himself into what he is now, just as my father did." She left it at that, not wanting to push the idea on him more, but it was nice to see him perk up a bit, even if he was singing his father's praises.
Shifting the topic a bit, Shiori stepped just a bit closer with a curious look on her face. "Did you have a solution to your worry, or is it just going to fester?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:10 am
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"You aren't wrong," he acknowledged, finding that this strange female that he had never met was doing a rather good job of uplifting his spirits even if she was mocking him a little when the opportunity presented itself. He offered her a smile and a short, disbelieving laugh. "And to tell the truth, when I was growing up I was never worried. My dad made a name for himself, just like your father, and I've no doubt that I could do it too, but.."
But the pride wasn't what he had been raised to know any longer.
"But things change, don't they? Maybe I'm fretting for nothing but how would I know that?"
The smile faltered around a sigh as he pushed himself back up from his seated position and stretched his hind legs out to rid them of the half sleep his position had created in them.
"The only solution is to go out on my first reaving, I would suppose." He had only been putting it off because his mother was around but that was not something she wanted advertised and, regardless, she was leaving soon. "That and maybe marry a lady with better heritage than mine. I think I have to be worth first, though, there isn't a female in this pride that would think me a suitable husband just yet."
At least he was being logical, underneath all of his fretting. Nothing had changed about his feelings or opinions but at least she had done something to streamline his thoughts and pull him back from the edge of his worry. For that, he gave her a deep bow of his earthy head.
"Thank you for listening to me ramble," he offered, "I'm Phanes, by the way."
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 2:47 pm
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Shiori watched as the male spoke his thoughts aloud, working through his thought process until he reached the final goal. Yes, the pride had changed - for the better in her opinion - but that didn't mean it would stop him from reaching his own goal of being a name all his own and not just 'Vidar's son'. His comment about being husband material made her pause, surveying him with a new eye. He wasn't the most confident male but that could easily be built up within him as he went on his Vikings. He was incredibly attractive which certainly helped matters. He was open to listening to females despite their new lower rank, he seemed genuine and had the potential to be a hard worker. All things she wanted in a mate.
"Some females just want a pretty face, which you have," she pointed out with a little snort. "So don't go worrying yourself too much. For ladies with standards getting rid of that Freeborn title would do you some good," she added helpfully with a wink to ensure her words were not taken unkindly. He had all the makings for a perfect husband in her eyes. Should he return a Reaver and aim for the rank of Captain she was sure she'd be among those looking to catch his eye. Although if an old-blood pedigree was what he was after, she could certainly fit the bill better than most.
"Phanes. A pleasure to add a name to the face," she said with a little chuckle of her own. "I'm Shiori."
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:24 am
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The wink made him smile, even more so when it was coupled with her playful compliment, and he found himself suddenly more carefree than he had felt before she arrived. It was strange how someone he didn't know could settle his fears so easily but he supposed some lions just had that affect. She really hadn't said much other than things he already knew, reaffirming what he knew he needed to get done, but hearing it from someone else seemed to make it an easier task in his thoughts.
"Right, well, I guess I know what I have to do now. Thank you for that, Shiori."
He dipped his head to thank her but, as he did, he felt that awful, familiar feeling swelling over him. It was like an Earthquake was opening beneath his feet and suddenly everything around him felt too real, too vivid, like he had seen it all before. Claws unsheathed from instinct and dug into the rock, hard-packed earth as he tried desperately to remain upright where he stood before her. All that talk of being a brave, worthy warrior would be for nothing if all he did was show her his weaknesses.
Shiori's sandy face swam in his vision and he saw not today, but many days, with her pretty smile and laughter. It only told him that she would make him feel this way again and again and that was never something he appreciated because he never knew when or why. His teeth grit as it abated and slowly, he pulled his eyes back up to her. He looked tired but his smile was still there, weakly.
"I appreciate it." But the words were too short, now, and clipped.
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