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 Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:18 pm
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Night was quickly approaching the land.
Ebbe enjoyed this particular time of day. There was a nice breeze that swayed in the area, kicking up dust and loose sand particles as it blew. He would sit on a nice boulder as he overlooked one part of the Outlands, reminiscing on the day and particular the skills of the unbranded in training. Some showed potential. Some...not so much. They likely would not be suited as a Scar, but perhaps a Guide or Scryer, under the guidance of Shetani or Katiti. Those that did show potential in the militia form, Ebbe would keep a closer eye on.
His orange eyes closed as he a particular heavy gust of wind pushed at him. When he felt no more sand grains pushing against his face, he opened them into slits focusing on the land before him. It had been sometime since he had been home, he needed to get use to the feeling of the prickly sand against his pelt.
Scanning the area, Ebbe was just about to leave when he saw the dark lioness he had met ever-so-briefly at the Queen's ceremony. His nose twitched as her name came to mind. Delphi. Unbranded. he recollected, rising to his feet as he made his way towards the female.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 4:16 pm
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Delphi had not yet attempted her duel; she wanted to, Aithne pushed her toward it with all the support a Firekin born warrior could muster, and she by no means felt as if she were afraid of the physicality of it itself. There was only that gnawing anxiety of failure that bound her. It seemed almost a blessing to simply arrive at the grounds for training instead and she did so without a word against it, waiting to find her confidence while she soaked up what she could of the knowledge they imparted to them.
Ebbe was wise to the ways of his craft, as were his Scars. There was no doubt about that. Even with that small admiration forming for the older lion, the dark lioness still felt her stomach knot as an orange blur registered at the corner of her eye. She turned her head in his direction and nearly winced; if she had pretended not to have seen him, could she have gotten away without this encounter?
No, she thought not.
With her fate looming before her, closer and closer with each step of his great, broad paws, she pulled her pride securely into place and greeted him with a playfully questioning face. There was nothing to do but address him head-on. She turned the rest of her body towards him and waited, patient except for the tail that snapped restlessly behind her.
"Can I do something for you, Queen's Claw? You look pensive today."
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 5:13 pm
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Ebbe smirked as the female addressed him.
"I am just trying to figure you out, Delphi, Unbranded." The Queen's Claw stated. "I've been observing these grounds on a daily basis; I have seen you out here, yet I haven't seen you actually lift a paw to fight." He circled the darker female, as if analyzing his prey. "So tell me, if you wish to not fight to get out of your Unbranded rank, why even come down here at all? There is only so much you can learn from watching; you must experience the battle to get the most from it." Sometime during his comments, his claws unsheathed from his paws, digging into the dirt.
He didn't do anything. It was a tactic Ebbe liked to use to see how other's reacted. He was a shorter lion than most, but he had more than enough scars littering his body to prove size meant nothing for the Outlands. |
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 5:37 pm
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The lioness had to admit, her admiration of him wasn't dampened even as his claws unsheathed mid-gait. Delphi had always been feisty, scrappy, confident in ways her father had never been; he could fight, but he hated it. Ebbe, though? She could sense the danger in him, keenly backed by a confidence that only came from someone that never backed down from a challenge. Aithne felt that way to her too, sometimes, and she knew that she sought the same thrill of life as her best friend and this old soldier - but she was hesitating.
It irked her that he saw through to that so quickly, too. And why wouldn't he? There had to be others that looked a duel in the face and fretted their failure so much that they felt frozen. How many, she wondered?
She went rigid as he circled her, choosing to stay put where she was instead of foolishly rotating at the center of his attention. Her gaze found him at her shoulder and narrowed, countering his smirk with her own as she did her best to remain unphased by the very real threat his proximity posed to her. A chill crawled the length of her spine despite the effort, though, and she had to fight the urge to flinch away from him as he shifted next to her.
"I'm just waiting for the right moment, that's all." Her eyes followed him as he continued his pacing, keeping up until she lost sight of him somewhere behind her shoulder. Her tail raised to brush him, just so, as he passed - it could have been coincidence, playfulness, or a simple attempt to keep track of where he was when she could not see him. Whatever the reason, she did not remark on the brush of fur, but simply called lightly to him where he still remained in her blind spot: "There's so many others that yet to try, does it really matter so much yet?"
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 6:06 pm
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A silver platter? She scoffed at the thought, restraining herself from rolling her eyes at his words. They were hitting home, each and every one of them; as a lioness trying to prove she was an indignant little princess, she certainly still felt like sticking her tongue out at him and storming away. It wasn't comfortable to have someone poking claws at sore spots in one's nerves but she supposed that was the point of his show, after all.
"No," she heard herself answer, grudgingly. She opted for the mature adult's path for one of the first times in her life. He was her better in all ways and, at least until she was no longer an Unbranded, he had more say over her life than anyone but the Queen. Playful as she had tried to be in order to avoid this confrontation, now was the price she was paying for misjudging him at the homecoming.
"I'm certainly not as afraid or inexperienced as you seem to think, I can find a dueling partner. I didn't know my opportunities really mattered that much to you."
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 6:02 pm
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At the two little words, Ebbe smirked. There was a small sound of approval that emitted from his maw too, as he backed away from the female.
"Good." He turned his back towards the female, although his ears were still focused on her.
"Meet me at the fields at first light. Tomorrow. There you will prove your strength to me." It wouldn't be a fair duel by any means, but at least Delphi would be able to test her strength on a powerful pride member. Who knew, maybe, just maybe Ebbe would go easy on a pretty face. Unlikely, coming from the source.
"Until then," the lion stated, walking off from the dark female, intent on finishing his rounds before night fully fell. There were some late night duelers he wanted to watch, see how their skills at night were. |
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 6:16 pm
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Delphi watched him as he turned and retreated, offering him no other words, no sign that she had heard him but the small flick of her ears in what she could admit was utter annoyance. She wanted to ask what gave him the right to treat her in such a way but she already knew - the Queen had. This was his purpose and he had not been selected for it out of random chance.
She stood where she had been long after he dwindled into the distance, watching until his orange pelt faded into the hard-packed clay of the Earth beneath their feet. At a distance, he was nothing more than one more piece of the Outlands, just one of the currents that moved the pride.
Just. Who was she kidding?
Now that he was gone, she pulled a frown onto her face and turned back in the direction she had originally intended - the direction of the den she shared with Aithne. It made her stomach churn to think that she had accepted a duel with the Queen's Claw, of all the damn members that she could have chosen. It was the price she paid for dawdling, she supposed.
Her pale eyes fell to her paws as she trundled towards her best friend, watching intently as they lifted from the red earth and left the trail of her prints in her wake.
Well, she supposed, she was about to get her answer come first light.
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