Sphinx - Normal
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Chobi - Italic

"My lady, should we be traveling this far out? Soon we will be without the pride's protection." As Ico spoke a devious smile reached across her pale lips, the lioness wasn't truly worried about being protected, in reality it was Xiu's pregnancy that weighed on the spotted female's mind. "Have you forgotten the state you are in-" Ico paused with a sigh. Sometimes Xiu Xiu could be incredibility stubborn, this was definitively one of those moments. "You've been advised to stay close to the King and his kin, you are already so heavy, they could arrive any moment now." The Goddess had blessed the pride with the King's future cubs, Ico would do anything to make sure they entered the world safely.

"I am pregnant Ico, not ill or at death's door and my cubs aren't due for another month." The Goddess laughed as her blue kissed paws took her further away from home. "We won't be gone for long, I just need some fresh air and a change of scenery." Being cooped up and heavy with cubs was a recipe for disaster, the sorceress felt so restless. "Our King has given his blessing and agrees with me, so please be on my side with this, friend." When Xiu traveled with Ico she didn't need to cloak herself with glimmer and was free to flex her wings and horns with pride. "Besides, I'm sure you love this too."

"You aren't funny." The spotted female spat as the two females continued on, heading outside of the pride's border and into unclaimed land. Ico wasn't worried about protection, she knew full well they both would be able to defend themselves easily if the circumstance arose, still, her worried mind was focused on the cubs the Goddess carried in her belly. The future of the pride was at stake here. "I do enjoy traveling with you, Lady, but I would be a false friend if I didn't express my concerns."

"I know my love, and I appreciate you, my future children appreciate you. Your efforts and love have not gone unnoticed." As the wolf-eyed Goddess spoke her armored shoulder bumped against her spotted friend gently, leaning into her with affection and warmth. "We will be back home before you know it." This was a promise the Goddess intended to keep, fate however was conspiring against them. As the females pressed on the shape of an unfamiliar figure could be seen in the distance. "Wait-" Ico muttered defensively. "-who is that?"

If Rukayo was smart, he would have figured out a way to get out of the situation at hand.

Unfortunately, his female captor was stronger than he thought, and if he found himself straying away from her, a threat of darkness loomed. Rukayo very much liked being awake for this ordeal. Not knowing where he was was one thing, but not knowing how he got there was another.

The lion's eyes narrowed as he glared at the tougher lioness. He followed sullenly behind her, making faces towards her. "Where are we even going anyways? Surely we are far enough away for you to let me go? Stupid Shield Maiden." Rukayo found himself growling under his breath the last words, although if Ledz was paying attention she would have likely heard it clearly.

"Once Ciro learns about this, he'll drag your a** back to the Myrsky Syntynyt. Then again, you might like that," a smirk on his adolescent maw as he found himself hanging back just a bit more. He had yet to noticed the two figures looming near the horizon.

Ledz wanted to drop this male but she knew she needed to drag him further away to guarantee her own safety. Though, if the pride was sending sniveling little green horns like this one maybe she didn't need to worry.


Luckily for Ruka; Ledz was not paying attention to him but rather had her sights set on two distant figures ahead. She stopped with out warning and squinted in to the distance. This was too far out for the two females to be of Viking. No way two females would be let out on their own but Ledz was still being cautious.

However, Ruka broke her focus with a comment about Ciro. She did not say anything to the male but gave him a look that meant if he was to go on he'd no longer have a means to chew his food.

She turned her attention back to the strangers up ahead and waited taking a seat as she patiently watched. There were no signs of aggression which was a good paw to start on unlike the paw her and Ruka had started.

"Xiu, please wait here." Ico plead as the lioness started to move forward and toward the unknown figure, but before Ico even had time to blink the Goddess had taken flight and was heading to the greet the newcomers herself. "Are you ******** kidding me?!" The spotted female cursed as her paws moved with haste, she needed to reach Xiu Xiu before these strangers had a chance to harm her Queen.

The Goddess landed softly just a few feet from the pair with wide opened wings and a welcoming grin. "Hello strangers." Her voice was smooth and cunning like a snake. Xiu's devilish horns gave her overall appearance a sinister feel though her words contradicted the female's outward appearance. "What have we got here?" The question was a whisper to herself as Ico slowly reached her rear with gasping breath. "Curse you Xiu, why would you do something so reckless?!" The lighter female always felt like a mother scolding her cub when the Goddess acted out impulsively. For a moment Ico had forgotten the new company they kept. "Oh, what is this?" Her voice chimed.

"I said the same thing!" The Goddess exclaimed excitedly as moon-lit eyes focused on the new female in front of them. "Is this boy bothering you?" How could the Goddess know that it was the other way around? "Forgive my rudeness, I am Xiu XIu, and this is Ico, my Chevalier." As the dark Goddess spoke her tail flicked from side to side, it's flame warm and bright.

"Lady, please." Ico interrupted with a frown. "We can not trust them." As the lighter female whispered her body moved to shield Xiu, keeping distance between her and the two lions before them.

“HEY! Stupid Girl I am TALKING to you! You can’t just ignore me!!!” Rukayo all but shouted at Ledz. He was close to yelling ‘take me home!’ Before the goddess had landed before them.

Now, Rukayo /had/ divine blood coursing through his veins, but that didn’t mean he had actually met a god before. The adolescent’s jaw dropped as Xiu Xiu landed right before the pair. He had regained his composure when Ledz has been asked if he was bothering her.

“Excuse me?” Rukayo glared. “ME? Bothering her!? Try the other way around!! She’s the one who knocked me out.” A bitterness was in his tone as he glared at the females.

“I don’t care WHO the hell either of you two are. Shield Maiden. TAKE ME HOME!” While names were established, Rukayo refused to call Ledz by her.

The youngest of the group turned towards Ico with a sneer. “Maybe we can’t trust you.” Rukayo was just being a petulant child.

Ruka's childish attempts to get Ledz's attention did nothing to move the female as she sat there like an unmovable force of nature that was a rock. There was a goddess that had taken flight and landing right in ******** front of her that currently had the lionesses attention at the moment. She was not too concerned with Ruka right now.

Her own purple eyes matched up with the goddesses wolf like eyes but quickly diverted to the roundness of the goddesses belly with mild interest.

"You don't need to worry about this boy bothering me. Like he said I knocked him out," A hint of a smirk unfolded on her maw. "He is my prisoner for now. Im catching and releasing though as I only want to take him as far out as I can so he can't get more on my trail." It was unlike Ledz to volunteer so much information but the fact that a pregnant goddess chose to appear before her with another lioness in toe made Ledz feel slightly at ease.

Xiu's hollow eyes shifted from the female and to the young male as her fangs flashed with a wide smile. "Hush boy, adults are speaking." His piss-poor attitude meant very little to Xiu Xiu, but the Goddess wouldn't allow rudeness to interrupt her new encounter. "If I have to repeat myself I will not hesitate to set you ablaze." It wasn't like the youth knew what the female was or wasn't capable of, so heeding her warning might have been his safest bet. The Goddess was magical after all and full of curiosity and hormones. The combination could be fatal for the male if he crossed the very fine line she drew right in front of him. As the female shifted her weight her wings opened and closed in effort to make herself more comfortable.

Quickly her eyes returned to the other lioness as the Goddess continued to speak, "How impressive you are." The female's words rolled off her tongue with a sharp stare. "Why would he follow you?" Xiu questioned with a soft smirk. "Have you done something unspeakable? Or is this boy helplessly infatuated with you?" The strangers kept her completely enthralled.

"Lady." Ico hissed as her ears pinned backwards in frustration. "I could finish this boy for you if you'd like?" As her words left her maw the female gave the younger male a wild look. She was intense and stood still like a froze flame. "-" However, before the spotted lioness could speak again the Goddess moved forward, continuing. "Would you mind if we kept you company while you tell us your tale? We are very fascinated, aren't we Ico?"

Ico's gray eyes narrowed as the female sighed deeply. "This is a strange happenstance, I can not deny it." Though she wouldn't condone the actions of her Queen the female had very little power when it came to controlling Xiu's lust for dramatics. She was always taking in wounded birds and prideless females, maybe the Goddess was testing this newcomer to judge her worth for herself? Whatever the case was, if this male made a sudden move Ico would end his life.

"....!!!" Rukayo scoffed as he was talked down to by the goddess. Did she just...silence him? How dare she! He should make her a thrall! That would teach her. His eyes narrowed as claws unsheathed from his paws, as he found himself digging into the earth. He didn't want to push the goddess, unsure if her words were true or not.

"Infatuated?!" He found himself screech. "As IF. She is the one that is disregarding ALL the pride rules." Rukayo huffed as the unknown lighter female narrowed her eyes, and as the goddess gave him an intense look. He couldn't help but shy closer towards Ledz at this action. He may have not liked the female, but she wasn't as scary as the deity before him.

Figuring he wasn't going to get out of this, Rukayo groaned, sitting on the ground with a pout on his face. "All this to become a reaver. I'm sure the others didn't have this problem. Nooo, only has to be Rukayo that has the problem." The skeleton male muttered, eyeing all the females before him.

It was a nice feeling to have other females agree with her that this males attitude was unacceptable. She'd grown up among a good deal of fragile male egos and most never acknowledged it but adapted to not break those frail toxic masculinity mind sets. Now that toxicity was running freely in her previous home and Ledz would not be told she was lesser because of it. Her purple eyes met with the goddesses wolf like eyes with a deep relief resting on her soul.

“I will do my best to make the tale brief,” Ledz offered as she felt these words were a waste to talk about the misogyny that was ablaze in her homes culture.

“Our home is one that values strength which was something seen as male leaning. In my life time the pride equally favored male and females but as of recently the males have deemed females as lesser. We are less fit to hold a title which many of us earned the same as any son of the storm so I turned my back and left,” she shrugged. “But of course…. Some followed. This male here thought he could capture me to prove his strength but he was wrong. I'm walking him as far away as I can so I won't be tracked and brought back.”

Ledz turned to Ruka who had scooted closer to her and eyed him with mild interest.


“So I am no shield maiden. I never accepted that title and no I am not of your pride.” Ledz was calm and cool as she informed Ruka of this. Her attention turned back to the goddess.

“Honestly for one of his age he's pretty well mannered all things considered. I hope you'll spare him.”

"How disgusting." Xiu frowned as the newcomer spoke of the extreme sexism her past pride welcomed back into power, her wild eyes following every word the female spoke like it could be her last. "You are better off long gone, it sounds like the changes weren't worthy of your caliber." Softly colorful wings settled at her sides as the pregnant Goddess bowed her head respectfully, finally greeting the pair in a proper manner. "I welcome you to join me back to our home amongst the silver shore." At her last words the female turned her gaze to her companion and smiled, whispering. "So say we all?" She was looking for Ico to agree to this offer.

At first the spotted female sat in silence with a long drawn out frown covering most of her monochromatic face, slowly however this changed. "It's upsetting to hear of a place that would favor a male over a female simply because of sex." Ico smirked defiantly. "Where we come from at least, this type of thinking isn't true and has no place among us Gems." As the lioness spoke she stood and circled her Goddess, speaking out proudly and with a head held high. "If you did come with us you would be respected and revered, that is of course your right as a living being." Pale eyes flashed back to the male who was now cowering behind the larger female.

"Tell me your name? Xiu questioned with a smile. "-and the boys, if he has one."

Ico's eyes closed for a moment as she moved to stand beside Xiu Xiu once more. "I am Ico and this is my Queen, Xiu Xiu, the Goddess of Sorcery." Formalities could be so posh.

"You may just call me Xiu. My husband, the King of Quartz would welcome you into our home with opened arms." The Goddess nodded before speaking once more. "This male will not prevent you from freeing yourself from bondage, he will come with us until you are safe and far from the pride you have escaped."

"He will not be harmed." Ico mused with a flicking tail.

"I would only ask that he stay with us until you have decided your own fate." The terms seemed pretty simple and the pair was being extremely transparent. What did they have to lose?

Wait wait wait. Join them in their home? No no no. This is not what Rukayo signed up for. His eyes narrowed as an ear flicked towards Ico, listening to her. There was a sneer evident on his maw as he shook his head. These ladies, god or not, wouldn't last a day under the new Warlord.

Boy? Ruka's ears pinned back, although he waited for Ledz to introduce herself before he was quick to give his own greeting. "I am Rukayo, son of Daijur and Jupe. Best remember that." He growled indignantely, scoffing at the other's introductions.

Wait. Queen? Rukayo physically groaned. Good this day get any worse for him? Queen meant King, and low and behold, Xiu had mentioned her mate.

"I have a name." He grumbled when he was referred to as 'this male'. "I also did not agree to go with you." They were far enough from the stormborn lands weren't they?

Another face was made as Ico mentioned he wouldn't be harmed. Damn right he wouldn't! He could take them on. Not at once of course....but yeah. He could take them!

Ledz listened to the queen and her lady as they expressed their distaste with her former homes refreshed ways and mildly nodded in agreement. Both offered their names and for Ledz and Ruka to join them in the safety of their home. It was a no brainer but before she could even offer her name and thanks she was beat to the punch by Ruka. With one swift motion the lioness lifted her paw and smacked Ruka over the head, though, she made sure to with hold her full force as this was a warning.

“Prisoners don't get a vote nor do they interrupt queens.” Her voice was oddly calm.

“Ledz.” She offered her most common name and not her full name mainly because the being that controlled her every thought and action was typing this with fast thumbs over a phone and usually has to copy paste her name with all those weird a** symbols.

“It is a kind offer. We both accept. “ Ledz bowed her head as it wasn't every day a queen came across ones path and offered shelter and sympathy.

"He's got spirit." Ico's cold steel eyes pierced through Rukayo as the lioness spoke with a wicked tongue. "Your lineage means nothing to us." The young male's attitude was annoying at best but the spotted female knew he was no threat. Just a boy puffing his chest pretending to be bigger than he actually was. It was adorable.

"Ledz." Xiu smiled in reply. "A lovely name for a lovely lady." Yellow eyes narrowed as the Goddess turned and glanced over her armored shoulder. "Splendid, let us lead the way?" As she spoke Ico moved to stand beside the Goddess once more. "Rukayo, you will come with us, we will feed you and give you a place to rest before you go back to your pride." This kindness was an offer he would only receive once, Ico was not one to repeat herself.

"Good, now that everything is settled, come, follow us." Xiu Xiu interjected before she started walking away from the group. The evening had turned into something far more exciting than she could have hoped for.

"Ow, what the hell, Ledz" Rukayo growled. "I am not a prisoner. Stop treating me like some thrall!" The adolescent hissed. "Accept? You can't keep speaking for me!" The younger male rolled his eyes before they narrowed on Ico.

"It should." he sneered before glancing at the sorcery goddess.

He wasn't going to get out of this, was he? Rukayo found himself giving a defeated sigh, waiting for Ledz to move before he followed (sullenly) behind the group of ladies. "Who's gonna take me home?" He asked almost curiously. This was his first time out of the pride, how was he suppose to know his way around back to the stormborn?

It would be a challenge he would experience when it was time to return.

The stoic lioness gave a tip of her head to Ico and the goddess queen out of thanks for allowing the two some hospitality. She started off to follow when Ruka , whom she'd been ignoring til then, spoke up about who was going to take him home. Her purple eyes met his and she lifted an amused brow.

“You can take yourself home. But I'd advise you follow us.” That was all he was getting because Ledz was not about to head back now as there were Vikings and family who'd not let her leave again. Yuli had mentioned he'd turn her to thralldom and there was no way in hell she'd let that happen. So Ledz took to the other side of the goddess queen.

They were going to a pride she knew nothing about but Ledz trusted these two strangers probably because of their gender. A foolish move maybe but Ledz wasn't afraid.