[BORDER-PRP] Just Passing By! (Althea x Saoirse)

[Epine de Rose]

She'd made her way carefully through the Kitwana borders and successfully navigated her way beyond them. All in all they had been a polite pride, but she couldn't see herself staying in the location for a long period of time. It hadn't sat right with her, something had been a little off and she couldn't quite put her paw on it...But she wouldn't begrudge those within it, so long as their business didn't hurt anyone then who was she to judge?

With that in mind she'd continued on her merry way to explore what other options might lie before her. Now that her pride had dissipated the world was very much her oyster and she was taking the opportunity to find out what secrets it held. She would eventually find a new home, or at least a place she identified with (even if she remained rogue), but for now she felt under no pressure to rush into that decision.

This morning her wanderings had taken her into the depths of a dense forest, it was a pretty place to say the least and had many smells she wasn't entirely accustomed to. One had to hope that it was either unoccupied so that she could investigate it further, or at the very least its denizens were willing to grant her permission to inspect the region...

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Althea smiled as she jumped down from the tree she had been sleeping in she loved her life in the pride she taught the young cubs and she spent time with other members of the pride. It was a peaceful life and she very much enjoyed it. She was on her way to the border today to explore for more things she could tell her class about. Plants, animals, stones, anything she could find that she could teach her students about.

She saw a creature on the border and she looked at them curiously, they kinda looked like a lioness and kinda not. She knew a little about hybrids, but the hybrids who lived in the pride only stayed until they were adolescents and then they had to leave the pride. So Althea had never seen an adult hybrid, she could have been wrong about this creature being a hybrid perhaps they were a thin lioness? "Greetings." She said in a pleasant tone.  

[Epine de Rose]

Oh, company!

It seemed that each time she crossed a pride's borders she was quickly found, unintentionally or otherwise. Unlike her former home it was evident that others took their safety more seriously and as a result, spent much of their time securing it. Whether peaceful or war like, she was starting to suspect that there were always eyes on new blood in the land and today would be of no exception.

Fortunately for the hybrid it appeared that this particular leopard wasn't approaching her with ill intentions. If anything, the smile on her lips and the pleasant tone seemed to make it clear that at the moment Saoirse wasn't about to be cast out on her ear. She'd grown to like places like this, but she dared not assume just in case they had rules like the Kitwana.

"Hello," she replied gently. "I'm not trespassing too badly am I? I know there are some prides that would prefer I be nowhere near them but others are slightly more open to it...Probably best for me to ask before I wander too far!"

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Althea blinked as she listened to the hybrid babble on she had seen a few hybrids in the colony but they were not allowed to live in the pride for their entire lives so she had never planned on mating with a lion or cheetah herself since she wanted her family to stay together. "No you are fine, I'm afraid you won't be able to join the Elimisha'sombea pride if that is what you are seeking, but I have heard of another pride that accepts one and all that sounds very nice." She said in a polite tone. She didn't want to be rude but she hoped the female was not seeking a home where she would not be accepted. "I am Althea one of the tutors of the colony."  

[Epine de Rose]

So in summary, the pride were intolerant (she wouldn't go so far as 'racist' yet).

She'd encountered a few like that and while she didn't wrinkle her nose at the revelation, she did make a note to avoid it going forward...and probably pass on the information to any individual passing by. She had a preference for groups that were more open and tolerant of others, to be excluded simply by the nature of her birth was unfair. Quite frankly they didn't even know her and beyond the difficulties she may have in reproducing, she was just as good as them.

"I didn't have any intention of joining," she shook her head. "And I wouldn't be inclined to join any place that was intolerant of others anyway," she added. She had used a polite tone, but it was clear that the Elimisha had already made a poor impression on her.

She probably wouldn't spend any time here with that in mind.

"But I will be mindful and not spend time here," she added. Better for her not to be driven out by their kind, she'd simply seek a more appealing place to explore. Why bother trying to pretend you were decent when the truth of the matter was that you were far from it.

Still, manners were manners.

"My name is Saoirse," she finished. "I'm just passing through."

There would be no mention of exploring now, not that she knew she wouldn't be welcome here no matter how polite this one might try to be.

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Althea was sad with what she had to tell the hybrid she sighed it was hard to argue and it would seem that history would one day tell that her colony had made a mistake and sent away some wonderful creatures, but she wouldn't risk having her heart broken by having to send her children away. "I wish I could say it is nice to meet you Saoirse and I hope your travels lead you to the perfect home, perhaps my colony had a number more lessons to learn before they will accept hybrid cubs, it would break my heart to not be with my family forever."  

[Epine de Rose]

"It's still nice to meet you," She chuckled softly. Unpleasant as a lack of tolerance might be, Althea had been polite. She hadn't driven her off, merely warned her of the realities of the colony she now found herself in. Saoirse would have been tolerated for a short while if she wandered here, but she'd have never been welcomed. This was simply an area that was exclusive to Althea's kind and while the hybrid couldn't understand the need, she would respect it.

...That being said, she had a few choice words for any individuals who would actively have hybrid offspring and then cast them out. It was the epitome of cruelty, those cubs would never asked to be born.

"Whether the colony someday chooses to be more open remains to be seen but I won't chastise them for their beliefs," she pursed her lips. "I've heard of plenty of other places where they're even worse than that and far more brutal, so I'll count my blessings," she pointed out with a smile.

"...Even if you chase my kind out, at least you aren't doing something worse to them, you know?"

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Althea blinked what was worse than a mother being willing to exile her cub as soon as it was an adol? She wasn't sure she wanted to know but she also had a deep curiosity and desire to learn. "What is done to cubs and adols in other places that are hybrids?" She asked her tone soft. "Yes, they are sent away as adols not allowed to remain in the colony or gain rank." She shook her head sadly "I could not do that if it were to happen I would have to leave with my cubs I could not leave them to the world alone, I can not imagine a mother being able to."  

[Epine de Rose]

"Where I came from, nothing really..." She smiled warmly. "We were treated like everyone else, though there wasn't really any pressure on us to have cubs. Apparently that is a bit of a struggle for us," she admitted. At this point in her life the hybrid had no experience of this herself, she hadn't encountered the pain and anguish her kind might have had in attempting to start families... But none had been shy about advising her that such a fate likely awaited her.

"But in other places I've heard they enslave them, or simply ensure they don't reach adulthood," she added and shook her head. "I suppose in a way you prepare us for life outside and then let us be," she paused briefly to consider if she could have survived on her own as a teen.

Could she?

Possibly, but now she would never know.

"As cubs it would have been a death sentence but as a teen... we'd probably be ok so long as we were smart, you know?"

MiddyGlow

 

[MiddyGlow]

Epine de Rose

Althea smiled she was glad that this female had come from a good home and she hoped she would find a place she belonged someday as well, Althea had already chosen this colony as her home and she didn't think she would choose to leave, even though she knew she could never be with a lion or a cheetah. She had a set path and she would not leave that path and have to choose between her home and her cubs because she would choose her cubs and her home be damned if she fell in love with a lion or a cheetah. She shook her head sadly "Yes I think I have heard some rumors of those prides, I have never seen them myself." She shook her head death for cubs that was just a waste of life and horrid. "I am sorry to hear that." She said softly.