Lions of the Cosmos: Contest of the Month Thread--CLOSED

[Keen]

Username: Keen
Your lion: Naja
Story:
Naja watched as the Pride lions entered her Oasis. This was her place and she did not trust these strangers. She knew, as a guard, that they were here to ask for military help. She only knew what she was told though, and she was not told much. Need to know and all that, she guessed. She turned away from the parade through the marketplace and made her way down to her post.

Early the next morning, she was told that they would have many new charges in the holding cell. She was greatly confused as they had not had a lion in there for a while, and now they would have "many"? She shook her head to dispel the thoughts. She would do as she was commanded, whether or not she had an explanation. She trusted her superiors and would gladly follow them where they led her. A pair of golden eyes approached down the hall as she moved off to start her rotation. She acknowledged the fellow tracker's presence, then moved past her on the opposite side of the corridor.
"Hey there Naja. Don't you think you're being a little slow for a guard?" the other lioness quipped.
"Good morning to you, too, Artesa," Naja said as she continued on her way. She was used to the pokes and jibes from her shift-mate. Naja grew weary of it sometimes, especially if the sneers hit close to home, but today she was more occupied with thoughts of the Pride in the Oasis.

As she rounded the corner to the main tunnel, she saw a group of lions being escorted down toward her. She stepped back into the doorway of a nearby room to give them space to pass, and was surprised to see that they were all Pride warriors. Her eyebrows raised as she looked at one of the guards in the rear of the procession, but he just shrugged at her and continued on his way. A while after they had passed, Naja stepped out into the hall once more, only to then be stopped by one of her superiors.

"Naja, you and Artesa will be guarding the prisoners. They are to be kept under strict supervision." Although confusion whirled in her mind, Naja trusted that they knew what they were doing. "Yes, Sir," she said with a nod and turned to make her way to the cell.

She heard their protests, threats, and snarls before she rounded the corner to them. She created a ball of light that allowed her to get a good look at the captives. They were all powerful looking, healthy lions. She noticed that a few had apparently put up more than a verbal fight and had wounds to show for it. Her brow furrowed in thought as she put out her light. The dim light of the halls unnerved her sometimes, but it was best to keep her eyes use to the darkness. She turned once more to begin her rotation in the corridor that led to the cells. It was so quiet there that Naja could hear her own soft footfalls, and her enhanced hearing ability made any other noises immediately apparent to her. She walked her course for an hour before she realized that she had not seen her fellow guard, Artesa. Weren't they both supposed to be on this rotation? Her eyes picked up a familiar golden gleam in the dim hall ahead and she called out,
"Hey, Esa, I was wondering where you were. I was getting worried."
The brown and gold lioness trotted forward and said, "I heard something down the hall," she panted. "I thought it might be someone trying to break out the prisoners, so I went to look around."
Naja was immediately on the alert. "Did you see anything?"
Nodding, Artesa said, "I did. A large Pride male was entering the tunnel through a heavy grate. We need to stop him, but he is obviously a metal elemental. He bent those bars like they were blades of grass."
Naja looked down at her own armor, entirely made of metal. She did not relish the idea of going up against this lion, but she would do what she needed to do.
As if reading her thoughts, the other guard said, "I'll help you get out of your armor, then you help me out of mine and we will go after him together."
Naja was highly uncomfortable with the idea and was about to protest when she too heard a sound in the corridor ahead.
The other lion looked frantic. "Come on! We have no time!"
Naja nodded and together they removed her armor quickly. She turned to help Artesa with her armor as well, when suddenly the lioness leaped at her. Naja was so caught off guard that she lost any advantage her greater size would have given her. The smaller lioness leaped and twirled like a crazed thing, opening deep gashed and puncture wounds all over the purple lioness's now-exposed skin. Naja desperately cried out to alert anyone who was possibly nearby, but then the smaller lioness clamped her jaws on Naja's windpipe, silencing her. The loss of blood, the pain of her many wounds, and now the lack of oxygen caused the large lioness to slump to the ground. Her vision faded to black and the last thoughts she had were of betrayal and confusion. It was not the Pride that should have been feared at all, was it? Her demise came at the paws of someone she had trusted. Someone from her Oasis. And why did they take all of those Pride warrior prisoner? Had they done anything? No.

Her Oasis was not the idyllic place she had believed it to be. Even here, shadows and deception lurked.

968 words
Ownerprompt

[Nanorat]

Username: Nanorat
Your lion: Jothra
Story:
To say Jothra was excited about the trip to Oasis is to say nothing! While technically not allied with the Pride directly, she managed to arrange going with the Pride to Oasis through her contact as an invited third party, a mercenary to boost the Pride’s ranks. Despite her usual job of trading information, she did not visit Oasis to sell their secrets later – she just wanted to learn said secrets herself. But as soon as the party arrived and Jothra had a chance to roam the place freely, her original plan of learning everything she could about Oasis was overshadowed by all the shine and glitter of the local shops. Jothra is a hoarder, an avid one at that – sparkle of a shiny trinket makes her basically drool. And with stepping into Oasis, she went practically into a paradise – a whole marketplace of shops filled with amazing goodies she have never seen entirely blown her mind. To her shame (never ask about it though, unless you want to get bitten), she didnt learned much more about Oasis than its whereabouts, because almost the entire time the Pride party stayed there she spent on the marketplace, browsing the wide assortment of goods the local shops offered – and even chatting a bit with local artisians, for precious rock faceting was an eldest hobby of hers, and given the chance to exchange some crafting tips and techs with the Oasis masters, she immidiately taken full advantage of it. After all, Jothra is an egoist and first and foremost for her, even above her job, is her beloved self, and when found surrounded by things she adores, she simply enjoyed the trip, pushing her spy profession aside.

284 words

Ownerprompt

[Dead account 01]

Wow! Can you believe the Oasis is real!? Do you have a lion who's from or is visiting the Oasis during the pride trip? Tell me about their time there! Got a rebel/nomad/pride lion that did not go to the Oasis? How are they holding up with the mysterious disappearance of the alpha and some of his pride?

[ Username ]
Oblivion-Wing01

[ Your lion ]
Soraya

[ Story ]
-



Ownerprompt

[Penultima]

Username: Penultima
Your lion: Acacius
Story:
WIP

Ownerprompt

[Red weasel]

Username: Red weasel
Your lion: Araceae
Story:

What was once a return home was now Araceae's brief visit, and Aras was itching to leave. This simply wasn't home anymore, nor was it the lifestyle for her. The taste of the outside world brought new ideas for her to mull over. She loved her family, but the life, the immortality, that the Oasis was no longer something she desired. She wanted her life to have a purpose, to do good. Besides, she had someone waiting for her. She'd have cut out sooner if she had felt like doing it, but too much happened in one stretch of time. The arrival home that she once dreamed of was turned somber by the loss of her sister, she could enjoy her return home with that memory on her mind.

Of course, cased life didn't ease out from there. Pride members started to vanish, and the fear of rising tensions came. To find out that the council, something she may have once dreamed of being a part of, would do something caused so much distress, she was stunned. Worse still, a murder arose, that her father of all people found the victim. There was some good news, as the victim was found to have been saved. Araceae no longer cared if the Oasis would aide the pride, and didn't bother to find out at first. It was no longer her home, and no longer her business.

Ara spent much of her trip to herself. It took her a while to recover from her loss. Much of her time after that was preparing to leave. She ambled around the Oasis, taking in the sights. She had expected to feel sad, preparing to leave her home, but she felt very little. Maybe it was the thought that, no matter what, she could always visit. She had yet to tell her family of her plan, and that was the action she feared. Explaining that her dreams of becoming an ambassador like her gradparents were now gone.

Wordcount: 321

Ownerprompt

[starry--knight]

Username: starry--knight
Your lion: Mitus
Story:

“You were looking for me Nox?” A burly voice echoed. “Yes of course, you asked me to let you know when the Pride arrived.” Nox responded, her sweet and soft words contrasting that of her companion. “Excellent, thank you.” The figure replied, golden eyes drifting towards the entrance of the room they both stood within.

“Mitus - I have to ask, it’s been bugging me.”
He nodded, signaling for her to continue.
“- what made you decide to answer their call? The Oasis has hidden from the turmoil of Lochren since practically the beginning of our species. Either they had compelling evidence to warrant such a gathering or you know something we all don’t.” Her words firm, each syllable laced with curiosity.

The male chuckled, his mane whisping back and forth from the deep force of his laugh. “You can’t blame me for the intrigue - after all they did contact me through my dreams surely I have never seen anything like it..at least not since when I was a younger man.” He paused, “In all my time of being here in the Oasis I never even considered rejoining the rest of our kind. The idea seemed - wrong...almost strange. But this new Alpha has me at least considering the idea of being able to send our children back onto our homeland... he is an interesting character to say the least and his pleas seemed genuine.” Mitus concluded.

“Compelling as that may be, you know how concerned the people are. They worry this will be the end of our legacy - that letting the Pride here will open the flood gates of war.” Nox persisted, worry in her tone.

“Is that all?” Mitus said, a smirk curling his lips, another haughty laugh escaping him. “ I am afraid war is already here - choosing to ignore it would be most unwise wouldn’t you say?” The large male stated, drawing onto all fours to make way into the private tunnel to request the orb be moved out. “What makes you so sure -“ Nox inquired, drawing closer and following his steps.

“Just take a peak over the bridges again, and you will know exactly what I mean. War is the inevitable course. Whether we choose to fight it relies entirely on the testimony of the Alpha on his way here. If we wait, maybe it will be another couple hundred years, maybe a thousand...but the Pride may be overthrown by then and we will be out of time ourselves - “ Mitus reflecting as he concluded “such a bizarre thought that our fate rests on one so young. Fate has quite the sense of humor wouldn’t you say.” He mused.

“Yeah - super comical” Nox huffed, though appreciated his optimism and crude humor.

(455 Words)

Ownerprompt

[Cutieduckpie]

Username: Cutieduckpie
Entry:
That's really amazing ! If I were a loc I would be absolutly excited to witness with my own eyes all of these new things.
I find it interesting that they are stuck into the oasis and it caused them to be much more curious and to learn to deal with what they had/have in their environnement, which is limited. They achieved to master the stars and many knowledge, it's such amazing news, from my point it offers so many new possibilities and views !

I love the orb facts as well, and that the members of the council are each holding in their mind 1 000 years of history and can then illustrate the images showed by the orb.
As for The Dawning of Light and The Guided they sounds like amazing celebrations to take part into and to see, it kind of reminds me to the gap year : the youngs leave all they ever knew to move to another place, to discover a new landscape, to meet new faces and make friends/acquaintances, and return mentally grown, head full with new knowledge and exciting stories to tell.

(190/150)

Nonownerprompt

[Pengu.]

Username:
Pengu.

Your Lion:
Baequaz

Story:
Baequaz has made quite an impression on the Oasis in the short time she has spent there. Though she was not exactly invited on the trip to the mystical land, she tagged along anyway in search for a new and exciting adventure. Before she had entered the Oasis, she had been quite bored with all the scouting and fighting going on in the Pride. It was.... dull. In hopes of thrill, excitement, and plenty of lions to flirt with, Baequaz tagged along with the group to see what trouble she could get into.

After the whole experience... she could say the Oasis is even more boring than the Pride is. The city was glorious and beautiful to put it lightly - Baequaz would give them that much. The scenery more colorful and crisp than the dull rocky lands of her home. But... the lions were stuffy and set in their ways. They seemed disinterested in helping their fellow species members and it was a self-centered way to be, in her opinion. Bae would even consider them quite cowardly - hiding away in their boring, secluded "Oasis" with little care in the world what happened to the rest of their kind. Her kind. The rest of the lions on the home planet could die for all they knew and the lions in the Oasis would not bat an eye... the would simply keep on existing - forever.

That was not a life she would consider worth living. If they didn't value excitement and romance and new experiences, Baequaz would make it a point to show them. During her time in the Oasis, Baequaz discovered an abandoned artisan's stall and, low and behold - a bunch of tokens just there for the taking! Baequaz isn't the smartest lioness on the planet, but an idea sparked in her mind. If she had to win over each and every member of the Oasis with her charm and flirtatious ways she would gladly give it a go! Baequaz set up shop right then and there, transforming the dull shop into a new and improved Kissing Booth. Lions of all shapes and sizes showed up for a kiss and a token. Baequaz could have care less what the other members of the Pride were doing to win over the members of the Oasis and their Council. She took it into her own paws and would win over each Oasis member one kiss at a time - and, in her opinion, she did a better job of it than Ethereal did... but she wouldn't tell him that. Too bad her fun was cut short when her sister Kaiya ratted her out to their dad, Khazix, and he drug her away. At least she made a positive impression on as many lions in the Oasis as she could. Well, everyone but that artisan who owned the shop....

474

Ownerprompt

[Red weasel]

Results - March
Owner
Mechanic Drone - 30
Keen - 30
Nanorat - 30
Red weasel - 30
Starry Knight -30
Pengu - 30

Nonowner
Cutieduckpie- 30


This months prompt is up!

[Keen]

What is your lions typical day like? Write about it in 200 words! Simple right? But wait, there's a catch. Your entry must be written as if your lion was answering the question. You may write is as a story of your lion telling another, or you may make it one quote.

Username: Keen
Your lion: Naja!
Story:

---Naja---
"Every morning, with extremely rare exception, I wake up in the arms of my beloved mate, Klay. We usually stay in the furs for a while, because the morning air is chilly and I do not have my own fur to warm me. I take advantage of his warmth and softness for as long as I can. After a while though Klay has to go, so he gets up and gets his armor on before kissing me goodbye. I hate it every time he has to leave. I worry about him. I know he is capable and strong, but still...
Anyway, depending on the day, I might head over to see Khaalida if she is around. I watch her four precious cubs for her when they are in the Pride, you know. I love the time I get to spend with them. Sometimes Klay is able to stop in and visit with us if he has to come back home for anything in the middle of the day.
If its a day when Klay does not have to go anywhere, we just enjoy each other's company. Sometimes we go out into the Pride Lands and other times we visit with friends or just stay home. Evenings are always nice, with Klay and I together after his shift. Sometimes the cubs are still with us then and watching Klay with them makes me want our own little cubs.
Once the cubs go home, we crawl back into the warm furs and everything begins again.
It's a wonderful life ^-^ I wouldn't trade it for anything."

263/200
words

Ownerprompt