Red Eagle - VoK Pride Writing

[Nia The Elf]

S6 - Gringolet, Brisen and Arktos - 4p CLAIMED

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When Gringolet was found wandering the territory of Red Eagle, practically on the pride's doorstep; he was found with two cubs curling around his paws.

Gringolet was once leader of a pride. He was liked a lot by his pride - or at least, it had seemed that way - and though it was a small pride, they stood strong in the rocky hills where they were based.
But one day, he had gone on a patrol by himself. He intended to just check the borders of the territory, but on returning to his pride - he found the place empty and abandoned.

It was a ghost-pride, like everyone had just suddenly got up and left. There was no previous indication to such a thing happening? Nobody had made their dislike of him known at all, and lots of belongings were still lying around. The meat still fresh on the pile untouched, herbs and medicinal supplies carefully laid out - the piles not at all depleted.

A few days passed before Gringolet decided there was nothing worth staying for. His pride was gone for some reason and he was laid wallowing in his den.

He had no idea where they had headed, so he picked a random direction and marched. Then walked. Then plodded. The distance he had travelled made his paws ache, but he kept going. There was nothing else for him to do.

Til he came across a couple of cubs basking under the shade of a tree. They bounced up to him, exuberating boundless energy. "Can we go with you? You look really cool," they asked him, begged him even to follow him as he travelled. He had sighed inwardly and said nothing as they tagged along. They explained to him that they had no parents, they were just walking with their pride but a fight broke out and they hid in the bushes until it was over.

So the three of them walked. Gringolet kept his eyes and ears out for any sign of his pride, the cubs keeping their eyes and ears out for butterflies. They neared a large expanse of deserted plains, the horizon a blur of reds and yellows and ashen greens, autumnal shades lit by the sun.

And then they had eventually reached what must have been the borders of a pride, as a couple lions stalked out from the shadows of some redwoods and wandered over to them.

They introduced themselves, and the founder of the pride who idled over to greet the newcomers. "These must be your cubs, what's their names?"

Gringolet choked a little, blushing deeply as he stuttered "oh n-no, they're not, not mine," but the two cubs loudly addressed over him "Arktos and Brisen".

"Follow me, we'll give you a place to stay for the night. Though our pride is always open to newcomers; so don't feel like you don't have a place here. Should you want, we would love to have you and your family here." the founder explained, chuckling as Gringolet blushed even deeper.

[Nia The Elf]

S18 - Climbing - 2p CLAIMED

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I hate this :')

[Nia The Elf]

S6 - Urricea After Exile - 4p - CLAIMED
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She raced into the desert without another glance back. Her face was hot with anger as she left her former home behind.

It had always been a possibility; planning to overthrow the rebels, she knew it would come with complications. However, she hadn't wholly expected this.

There was a part of her yelling to go back, maybe to finish what she started. The rest of her pushed her onward. there was nothing left there for her now. 

She traversed across deserts and over mountains, determined to move far away from the people she was leaving behind. It wasn’t a short journey to say the least. Urricea had no idea where she was going to go - she stayed a short while in some places,hunting as she needed, sleeping in the rain. There was plenty of time alone… too much time alone perhaps. She mulled on the events before her exile. She expected perhaps her views to change the more time she had to think, but she still felt the same, the same anger. Just less intense.

Urricea had spent months trekking to find a new start. No where had felt right. Nothing had felt like how it had when she was with the Dread King - when she was none the wiser to what the future would hold. 

The time she spent alone was harsh, but she was strong and keen. Her cunning kept her out of many a confrontation with those bigger than her. The sheer number of canid packs she had stumbled across and had to avoid was not something she could even bring herself to laugh at.

She stopped in her tracks, claws gripping into the snow-laden rock - she looked out over the land below her. She stood atop a snow-peaked mountain and below her, a landscape of variation. There were areas of a luscious green, grassy fields  and interspersed - areas of red and yellow sand. And she was here paws deep in snow? Such diverse climates so close to eachother... But that was not the only thing that caught her eye. A crimson bird flew nearby keeping direct eye contact. It's feathers almost shimmered with an ethereal look in the sunlight. 

The hawk called out at her, before swooping to dive towards the direction of a particular desert. Peculiar, interesting. Urricea shrugged to herself and began her climb down the mountain - perhaps she would head where the bird was going, it wasn't like she had much to lose. It seemed to keep in her sight overhead, calling out every so often as if urging her forward in her path down the mountain. Urricea had no idea why she was still almost following the darned bird, but something about it was unusual and drew her closer. She was nearing the bottom of the mountain when the bird circled over her and screeched loudly, before surging in a certain direction past the redwoods and into the desert plains.

[Nia The Elf]

S6 - Urricea Meets the Pride - 4p - CLAIMED
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Urricea had taken the random decision of following the unique bird she had seen at the top of the mountain. She needed to head through this land anyway to continue her trek, so it only seemed reasonable to head that specific direction for a short while. 

She made her way through the tall sparse grass, passing a herd of elephants who lifted their trunks towards the stranger, and padded towards a wooded area with tall red trees, the grass slowly fading to sand. Perhaps the boughs of the tall redwoods could provide cover for tonight. 

Ahead, Urricea caught a glimpse of a flash - blinding white reflected from the sun - and the tail feathers of the bird from before vanishing behind the trunk of a distant tree. Curving round the trees, she came to a clearing. Standing there, before a great rift in the ground, a lioness, bird standing tall upon her back. 

The monochromatic lion tilted her head slightly, watching Urricea who had paused to take in the sight before her. The bird promptly dissipated into the air - she blinked hard to see if it was a trick of her mind or something else - but the lioness stepped forward.

"Welcome to my pride. What brings you here?" 

Urricea tilted her head slightly, confused and suspicious. "Shouldn't you be.. perhaps more wary of a newcomer? Where are all the guards?" Most prides were much more defensive of their territory, it was definitely uneasy to know that she was able to just stride in with no issues.

"So long as you don't prove to be a threat, we welcome you. There are guards on watch but we prefer to watch rather than confront, the best way to welcome someone is without a whole army greeting them to begin with," the lioness paused - waiting for a further reaction. When she received none, she continued "My name is Sabira, what might yours be?" 

Sabira seemed to be overly friendly for Urricea's liking. Someone who acts this kind has some deep ingrained issue that makes them poor at their job. A founder this open and accepting? No way. 

"Urricea. I'm just here to pass through, I followed this weird bird but its gone now so I'll be going too."

Truth be told, she was pretty tired; the heat was getting to her and she had walked a while. If this founder were to invite her to stay for a while, she probably wouldn't turn that offer away.

"How about you stay for the night? We'll stock you up and you can leave tomorrow if you wish." Well, that was excellent timing. 

Urricea was shown around the ravine that this pride had called their home. It was nothing too impressive or exciting; being literally just a hole in the ground, the path in and out not even safe steps but jutting out mounds of sandstone in an attempt of being shambles of a staircase. The dens were carved holes in the walls of this packed sedimentary rock, leading to dark rooms with no greenery. Though a desert it was, this territory resembled almost no aspect of her past home.

The lions she had walked past on this tour seemed generally friendly, she shared a smile with them - best to keep herself on their good sides if she's staying the night - but there were one or two who generally seemed a little more wary of her. 

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[Nia The Elf]

S4 - Gringolet and Parenthood - 2p - CLAIMED

Gringolet was a confident and strong leader when he was the founder of his own pride, and it carried over into the rest of his life and personality. Lions of the pride in Red Eagle considered him just and kind; however he was not so confident with his abilities in parenthood.
He knew the basics of being a parent; he had seen it in his own pride as well as his current one, but he wasn't sure he could put that into practice. He was known to be stern but just, so he worries a lot that he might come across as too authoritative or stern with his cubs and make them scared of him in any way. He also knew that some cubs might not make it when they are born, or the mother could have complications; any number of problems could go wrong and though he was able to keep a calm demeanour and figure things out as a pride founder, he worried he would freeze up and panic over being a father and having any problem arise.
Gringolet, however, knew he could keep his cubs in line at the very least. He wouldn't let them grow up to misbehave or be rude to anyone - he would be strict enough to nip any bad behaviour in the bud, that was for sure.
What worried him, was that his cubs could lose their parents at any time; Gringolet was a warrior and a retired founder, he went out of his way to help with hunts and fights in patrols, so although he will fight tooth and bone not to, he could very well lose his life at any time; which he would be devastated to know his cubs would be left without a father.
Gringolet also worries about splitting up the family; because he lives in Red Eagle in the desert, quite far away, and Nova lives in the territory of the Aberrant Guild, they'd have to split up the family. Of course, he would try and visit his love and his family as much as possible, it's not always plausible. Especially when the cubs are so young, it would be a very big journey for them to make.
He would love his cubs to grow up close to each other and protect one another, to be respectful of others; in their appearances, personalities, beliefs, backgrounds, etc. He would also love them to grow up and achieve their highest dreams; anything they want to do, they are completely able to do. Gringolet was able to be a founder and leader of his own pride - losing that pride aside - so he would love his own children to aim high and reach higher. Though the main thing for him would be for his and Nova's cubs to just be happy and healthy, like any parents would want.
Gringolet and Nova discussed cubs a lot, and they seemed to agree on those hopes for their cubs, and vowed to work together separately as best as possible!
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[Nia The Elf]

S3 - Fenice, Sabira and the Anomaly - 2p - CLAIMED

Fenice was a fiery character, that was for sure. When the weird anomalies started showing up around the territory, Sabira was very cautious about them. She hadn’t any idea about magick and myth, or science and logic for that matter, so not knowing anything about what the phenomena could do - she needed to be very careful.

But, of course, one of her pride members just had to show interest in closely interacting with the thing. Sabira was not at all against others arguing their point and questioning her if they believe there’s a better way to handle something, but Fenice snapped at her founder’s passive behaviour towards the anomaly.

“We need to do something! We have no idea what this is and if it’s dangerous or not! One day, it might suddenly appear in the pride and a cub will get too curious. We need to send a volunteer or a patrol to investigate it properly. Something needs to be done, and if you won’t do it then I will!”

Sabira had no idea what she was supposed to say to that. Sending anyone to check that out could very well be a death sentence, she did not feel comfortable with that idea.

“We have absolutely no idea what it is, and I would not be a founder if I felt it was perfectly okay to send someone to their possible demise! I will not be hearing any more of this for now.”
She snapped; she rarely snapped, but she had to show how foolish she thought the idea was.
But she also agreed with Fenice; anything could happen if she did nothing about it.

Fortunately… Or, not so fortunately she supposed, she had that decision made for her. A patrol came across another of the anomalies and alerted Sabira. She went to take a look but as she got there, a red streak flashed towards it.

Fenice glanced back at Sabira, a guilty and slightly sorrowful smile graced her features, and she leapt at the shifting shards of light -

and vanished.

And the anomaly shattered and dissipated into the air.
Though all she wanted to do was stand in shock, she needed to be composed for the patrol watching the debacle.

Fenice had argued her point with her, had felt comfortable enough to express a differing opinion and be fired up about that opinion, and yet Sabira had hardly given her the time of day or the idea a second thought. She was too worried and afraid, and now Fenice had decided to take the initiative and put herself in danger.

Sabira was angry at herself. She was angry at Fenice, but more angry at herself. The fiery lioness felt the need to sacrifice herself, and it could have been easily prevented if only Sabira took the time to listen, discuss, debate, anything.

She turned slowly to the patrol members watching her, looking for her guidance. “Continue your duties. We don’t know what has happened so we hope for the best and expect nothing. If you see it appear again, you let me know immediately.”

[Nia The Elf]

The first thing Fenice saw when she awoke was the colour green. It was less of a bright emerald green like the jungles near her home though, the green here was more tinted with a blue hue. She blinked heavily, taking in her situation.

Last she remembered, she rushed towards one of the anomalies that appeared by a patrol. Sabira had looked at her with a panic Fenice had never seen before… she felt bad, but someone had to do something if she wouldn’t. But now, looking around her; she lay on the ground in a small clearing, amongst a dense blue-green tinted forest.

Except, this forest wasn’t like any she had ever seen before. The trees around her were taller than the tallest redwoods back home, and amongst the regular-sized shrubbery there were bushes with leaves bigger than elephants, and flowers more brightly coloured than any rainbow she had seen in the sky.

Slowly, testing each limb with a careful stretch, Fenice stood up and took a deep breath in. “I guess it was some sort of portal I went through then…. I got myself into this, so now I need to get myself out, get back to the pride. Oh great, I’m also talking to myself like a protagonist or something. Perhaps stories aren’t so unbelievable after all…”

So she started to walk. It was intended to be a fast walk, maybe to find another one of those portals and hope it took her back home, but the flora around her was absolutely captivating; there was nothing like it at all that she had ever seen or heard of back home. There were even calls from birds she didn’t recognise, and every so often there was the snapping of branches and distant grumbles of some beast.

“I guess, first priority is to get somewhere high and see just where I am and how far I can see… Just how much land I need to search for that darned portal.” Fenice had never been one for climbing trees, but she guessed it wasn’t too difficult - especially with the trees around her, which had lots of smaller branches jutting out all up the trunks.

Crouching low, she wiggled her hips to test her strength and balance - then she leapt up to the lowest branch. It wobbled a little under her weight, but held strong. She scouted out the best path up the tree, and pressed on, jumping up the branches which got wider the further she went, until she was almost at the very top. She stepped one paw in front of the other gracefully, balancing as she padded along one outstretched branch, and looked out on the land around her.

She wasn’t up high enough to see past quite a few of the trees around her, but Fenice was able to see the forest - which now looked more akin to a jungle - which spread out as far as the horizon. Above her, what she saw stole the air from her lungs.

Islands. Floating islands far above.
[url=The first thing Fenice saw when she awoke was the colour green. It was less of a bright emerald green like the jungles near her home though, the green here was more tinted with a blue hue. She blinked heavily, taking in her situation.

Last she remembered, she rushed towards one of the anomalies that appeared by a patrol. Sabira had looked at her with a panic Fenice had never seen before… she felt bad, but someone had to do something if she wouldn’t. But now, looking around her; she lay on the ground in a small clearing, amongst a dense blue-green tinted forest.

Except, this forest wasn’t like any she had ever seen before. The trees around her were taller than the tallest redwoods back home, and amongst the regular-sized shrubbery there were bushes with leaves bigger than elephants, and flowers more brightly coloured than any rainbow she had seen in the sky.

Slowly, testing each limb with a careful stretch, Fenice stood up and took a deep breath in. “I guess it was some sort of portal I went through then…. I got myself into this, so now I need to get myself out, get back to the pride. Oh great, I’m also talking to myself like a protagonist or something. Perhaps stories aren’t so unbelievable after all…”

So she started to walk. It was intended to be a fast walk, maybe to find another one of those portals and hope it took her back home, but the flora around her was absolutely captivating; there was nothing like it at all that she had ever seen or heard of back home. There were even calls from birds she didn’t recognise, and every so often there was the snapping of branches and distant grumbles of some beast.

“I guess, first priority is to get somewhere high and see just where I am and how far I can see… Just how much land I need to search for that darned portal.” Fenice had never been one for climbing trees, but she guessed it wasn’t too difficult - especially with the trees around her, which had lots of smaller branches jutting out all up the trunks.

Crouching low, she wiggled her hips to test her strength and balance - then she leapt up to the lowest branch. It wobbled a little under her weight, but held strong. She scouted out the best path up the tree, and pressed on, jumping up the branches which got wider the further she went, until she was almost at the very top. She stepped one paw in front of the other gracefully, balancing as she padded along one outstretched branch, and looked out on the land around her.

She wasn’t up high enough to see past quite a few of the trees around her, but Fenice was able to see the forest - which now looked more akin to a jungle - which spread out as far as the horizon. Above her, what she saw stole the air from her lungs.

Islands. Floating islands far above.
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S6 - 4p
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Vines hung from the islands, some joined islands together, Fenice was in awe at the sight.
“This really must be some place if there are islands floating up there, how does that even make sense?”

Air suddenly whooshed above her, she ducked swiftly and squeezed her eyes shut. A loud and ferocious screech pierced the sky, and looking up from her ducked position; Fenice watched a large skeletal bird circle back sound, having obviously just attempted to dive for the fiery lioness.

“Okay, this is the sign for me to climb back down now,” Fenice looked down and tried to navigate the route she originally took to climb up; urging herself to move faster the more she could hear angry crying above her.

She had no idea if the forest floor was any safer than the sky, but she hadn’t encountered anything so far, and she at least figured it a safe bet in comparison to the giant bird monster she had just encountered.

The only thing she could do now, was walk for as long as possible and hope she stumbles across the portal, wherever it may show up. She was not entirely confident it would take her back to her pride, or if she were to go through again that it would bring her back here, but she knew there was no other option and she needed to act fast if she didn’t want to become the prey instead of the predator for once.
S10 - 1p
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Hours passed. Though it felt like much longer. Fenice was beginning to feel hunger gnaw at her, and her tongue was dry with thirst. She hadn’t across any sources of water yet, but some tubular leafy plants held dew in, probably from rain, though Fenice didn’t quite fancy her chances with eating or drinking anything from these lands until she really needed to.

“I’m beginning to think maybe I should have listened to Sabira and not taken the initiative,” Fenice chuckled to herself, “i could very well be stuck here forever. Might become bird food, might just poison myself. Might not be stuck here for that long after all if either of those happen.” As much as she despaired at the thought of talking to herself in such a stereotypical manner, it really seemed to help both her sanity and her energy to keep going.

Soon enough, it was starting to get dark; well, darker than it already was on the forest floor. There were a few places to make camp that Fenice had spotted around, but there was also absolutely no telling who else would be looking to make camp in those spots for the night as well.

Eventually, she had found a small hollowed out trunk of one of the shorter trees, so she quickly gathered up some broken branches to stand up across the entrance to the hollow after she curled up inside. This way, Fenice could see out but other animals wouldn’t be able to see her flame-red pelt quite so easily.

S10 - 1p
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Fenice had hidden in the hollow just in time; the sound of rain slowly eased into existence and outside, the grass was slowly growing damp. The soft pitter patter of the rain eventually lulled her to sleep.

In the morning, Fenice was awoken by a loud and low growl. Her head shot up, claws out in preparation. Something seemingly large,and dangerous sounding, was right outside of her temporary sleeping residence. Of course, a safe and enclosed tree trunk was too good to be true.

Peering through the Branches, Fenice could see a hulking form, a dark aqua and black furry creature, akin to a gorilla but with a long forked tail and spikes running down its’ spine. It huffed at the ground, snorting and scraping around the grass and fallen leaves with large curved claws.

Well, she had about two options. Firstly, she could go charging out there with a battle cry and confront the creature. Secondly, she could cower in the tree, hope it leaves but probably inevitably be sniffed out and eaten.

She wasn’t a fan of either of those options.

Guttural growling sounded up again, and Fenice had to jump to attention. She was going to attempt to creep out of the tree whilst the beast was turned away, not looking, and silently but swiftly run the opposite direction.

When the dark creature swung it’s shaggy head away from her; she took the chance and creeped under the branches covering the hollow and curved around the base of the tree around to the back.

S10 - 1p
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It looked like she was in the clear, so as gracefully and quietly as she could; she ran.

But then she could hear thunder behind her, the creature had heard her despite how quiet she tried to be. He was grunting with each pounding stride he made, Fenice weaved through the trees but could hear the monster was catching up; getting closer and closer and closer.

She had to think fast, so Fenice scoped out the nearest and tallest tree and made a beeline for it, preparing her haunches to launch herself into the air. Everything almost moved in slow motion as she aimed and reached out for a low branch on the tree -
Her paws were met with the welcome feeling of bark, so she jumped up higher and higher before slowing to a stop around the middle of the boughs. She was high enough to be out of reach of the giant ape-bear beast below her, but also too low for the giant birds to pluck her out of the tree and throw her into the sky.

“I always seem to get myself into the worst predicaments,” She mused to herself, focussing on easing her breaths out. “Guess I’ll just wait it out, he might get impatient and I’ll be able to jump back down. Or perhaps I’ll get lucky and the portal will show up on this branch and welcome me with open shards.”

Or, a much much bigger creature will show up and scare the original beast off. Fenice nodded to herself in acknowledgement, hardly shocked at her predicament anymore.

S10 - 1p
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Indeed, a much larger monster pounded through the underbrush and tackled the other creature to the ground in one swift motion and roared a guttural, erupting sound.

What on any earth had she gotten herself into? She still believed it was the right decision to discover what the portal was, but she really was inclined to agree with Sabira’s more cautious approach now.
There really was nothing she could do. Ferocious beasts below her, aggressive raptors above her, and it wasn’t like she could hang around in a tree all day.

“Red Eagle,” she murmured to herself, “if you really follow us around like Sabira seems to believe you do, I could really do with some help right about now…” She gazed out among the boughs, hoping - praying even - for some sort of sign or help.

Well, whether it was a sign, or a coincidence, Fenice didn’t know. But a little vibrant bird fluttered in place a little ways away. She could either take the bird as a random occurrence, hiding in the boughs with Fenice to keep away from the predators nearby. Or, she could take a leap of faith and accept the bird as a sign.

She decided to take the literal leap of faith; the bird quickly zoomed away and so Fenice swiftly jumped across from her branch to the nearest of the next tree. And the next, and the next after that. She kept going, her eyes only on the bird ahead of her.

S10 - 1p

[Nia The Elf]

S2 - 2p

Ashari was born and raised by a resentful mother in a pride she fought hard to be respected in. She was never very outgoing or extroverted, so she fought in her own way; working hard to hunt and gather as much prey as she could for the pride, and she volunteered to go on as many patrols as she could handle. If you asked anyone else, they would say she worked herself to the bone. If you asked her, she would say she only did what she had to to be a valuable member of the pride.

She had an innocent and pure outlook on life, so when one of the males in her pride approached her one day and started flirting with her, she spent that night lying on her back, looking up at the stars and daydreaming about the future.

“I’ve got a patrol, I’ll see you later,” he would make a passing comment like that often, he was very busy like other lions, but it meant their relationship didn’t have much time to
And of course Ashari would let him go without a second guess or a single complaint; she wanted to make her mate happy, so she went on her way to partake in her own patrols and he partook in his own.

It had been a long time since he had first asked her to be his lover, and they had still not slept together. Ashari remained in the same den she had slept in since cubhood, left wondering when he would finally invite her to cuddle up beside him.

Though confident she was not, it got to a point where Ashari really wanted to move forward with their relationship. She loved him, it had been seasons since they got together, so she found him one evening eating in their camp, and decided to ask.

“I know it’s only been a short amount of time,” it was a long amount of time, it hurt, “and this is quite forward,” it was a simple question, he loved her right? “but tonight, could I perhaps… sleep in your den?”

There was a moment of silence. It was short, but her heart was fluttering like a hummingbird and the moment drew on in her mind. “I don’t see why not.”

And just like that, later that night; Ashari pressed her nose deep into his side and breathed in heavily. They slept together like that until morning, when she awoke alone in his den in the dark.

They didn’t see eachother during the day that much, and he often rolled away from her during the nights she spent in his den.

It was all explained soon enough one day. They were eating together one early evening when Ashari went to nuzzle him affectionately -
and he just snapped.
Not aggressively, just he leant away and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Ashari… We need to stop this, you need to stop this. I just, I’m not sure I love you. I like you, but not in the way you’re looking for.”
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S10 - 1p
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Ashari’s vision was blurred with tears as she ran. She had spent so much time loving someone who never loved her back, so much time had been wasted in trying and receiving nothing in turn.

It hurt. Her heart felt like it had shattered into a thousand pieces, and then those pieces shattered again. So she ran as fast as she could away from her pride, not daring to look back.

Night neared, the sun sinking lower and lower on the horizon; inky blackness swallowing up the last of the orange glow. Ashari’s energy was running low from crying; she began to look for a place to stay for the night, to curl up and just let her pain swallow her up and drag her down into slumber.

She scoped out a dingy cave, dripping with warm moisture. She didn’t have the heart to care.

The night wasn’t long. As soon as the dark lioness pressed against the far edge of the small cave and laid her head down, she was out cold. Her dreams plagued with images of her mother reprimanding her and her father ignoring her, of her false love and of what she left behind.

When Ashari awoke that next morning, she felt the same as she had the day before; only slightly more damp and disheveled. She stared out at the dewy grass and dull morning sky through the cave entrance before her, her eyes colourless and dim. She had nowhere to go, no one who cared.
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S1 - 2p

Ashari was left alone to wallow for quite some time. She hardly travelled over that time, but travel she did. The distance was made up of her walking aimlessly with nothing better to do. Walking seemed to be the only thing she was good at.

It was almost as if she was looking for something. She didn’t really know. All confidence had evacuated Ashari and she felt lost, but she also kept walking, searching.
It would have been easy just to lie down and give up, but there was the tiny spark miles and miles in the distance, so faint it was hardly visible; but it was a spark of hope, and she was making her way towards it without fully knowing.
Her treks over time brought her to a snowy mountain range, the tall peaks not intimidating her - she had no energy to be worried over climbing such steep and treacherous mountains - so she continued over them, ploughing through the snow.

The sight that greeted her on the other side was a wide span of vibrant yellows and oranges, dull green desert grass and tall redwood trees scattered around. It was a desert, right beside the snow capped mountains. She would have lingered on that idea, had she the interest.

But again, she continued walking. The spark of something ahead of her seemed to grow, a feeling in her gut seemed to grow the deeper she padded into the desert.

Right in the very middle, Ashari noticed what seemed to be a rift in the ground. She padded closer and peered over the edge.

It was a large ravine in the ground, with two discernible layers. And at the very bottom, carving into the sandstone, two lions worked. The striped lioness seemed to notice someone was stood at the top, because she turned to look up and smiled at the stranger.

“Hello, can we help you with anything?”

From then, Ashari was in a new pride. She had been invited down to talk with the lions who she learnt their names were Sabira and Lumis, and from there she stayed the night… and the next night.. And then the pride in Red Eagle became a permanent home for her. She was still shy, and Sabira and Lumis could see she had no self confidence left in her, but they were determined to build it up from the ground, and Ashari was beginning to feel happy and comfortable the longer she stayed and the more they helped build up her trust.

It took a while, but Ashari no longer felt like her new pride mates were going to up and abandon her every minute of every day. Instead, she began to settle in a little and loosen up. It would be a long process; she may never heal fully, since it had been her whole life that she wasn’t shown her worth, but they were working through it together.

Everything broke down even further when a new lion joined the pride; a lion whose name was Anhora.

[Nia The Elf]

S1 - 2p Claimed ^

Anhora didn’t have the best or healthiest relationship with his parents, which was why he left home as soon as he could. It was in his best interest to get out of that situation, so the moment he was considered an adult, he left to venture on his own.

He had always had a love of stories and legends, so the idea that he could be free from his parents and travel out into the world to make and discover his own stories to tell - it excited him.

First port of call? Well, he had travelled for a while, but he had arrived near some very tall snow capped mountains. There had to be an interesting tale to tell up there. So he pressed onwards, fighting through snow almost as tall as he was; his mane dripping wet as he finally reached the peaks.

On the other side? Well definitely an odd tale to tell, that was for sure. Right on the other side of the thick blanket of snow and cold mountains, was a vast desert, a completely different climate altogether.

He decided to run carefully down towards the desert in his excitement; he had heard of the animals that lived in sandy areas but had never seen them, so he was excited at the possibility of meeting a herd of giraffes or elephants.

What he found in the desert, instead, was a large hole in the ground, and two lions standing at the bottom of it. Well [isthis[/i] was certainly going to be an exciting story to uncover.

“What are you doing down there, might I ask?” He called to them, eyes glistening with anticipation at such an unusual sight.

“This is the home of my pride,” the striped lioness replied up to him, “I’m setting up a new pride here and thought this was a very intriguing place to live. As you’re here alone I would presume you might be in need of a pride. Would you care to climb down?”

So he did, though in a rather clumsy manner as he learnt which steps on the sloped path were best to take, but as he reached the bottom, his eyes were graced with a sight that caused his heart to stutter.

Stood behind the striped lioness, looking away at the ground with her head low, a gorgeous dark lioness - white spots scattered across her pelt like stars. Anhora had never seen such a beautiful lioness, and yet she looked as if she was distant, plagued with a sort of sadness that kept her held back from reaching anyone around her.

“Welcome to Red Eagle, a land which only the prideless seem to stumble across, it seems. My name is Sabira, this is Ashari-” the founder flicked her tail towards the lioness who Anhora could hardly keep his eyes from, “and Lumis is out hunting. Feel free to stay a while if you are only passing through… but here, we accept any and all who are looking for a home. My pride is open to all.”
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D2 Claimed

Anhora took any chance he could get to sneak glances at Ashari. It was weird, perhaps a little akin to a stalker, but she was just so pretty, he couldn’t help it. Sometimes Sabira sent him on a patrol with Lumis and Ashari together, though she didn’t say anything. She hadn’t really said anything at all to him.

He got the idea that she was shy, introverted or insecure in some way. She didn’t hold eye contact - well, she didn’t make eye contact for that matter - so he just tried his best to talk to her like he would anyone else; to be inclusive and hope that she would open up to him. Though, there wasn’t much to talk about when on hunting patrols. They spent most of the time fishing since there were only three of them and nobody with medical skills, they didn’t feel confident enough to take on anything too big.

“Wow, that’s a huge salmon,” Anhora marvelled as Ashari pulled herself out of the river, the large fish hanging limply in her maw, “I’ve not had much luck so far,” he continued.

It was small and fleeting, but Anhora thought he saw the lioness smile behind the salmon. He smiled back at her, a wide but charming grin which made her quickly look away.

Griflet stumbled across Red Eagle and the pride later that season and any progress that Anhora thought he had made with Ashari seemingly crumbled into dust and dissipated into the wind. The introduction of a new pride member caused her to retreat back into her shell, especially as Griflet seemed a little outwardly gruff - it was enough to make anyone feel at least a little off.

He kept at it though, holding small talk as often as he felt would be most comfortable for her. Anhora appreciated any patrols he went on alongside Ashari, and she seemed to enjoy them a lot too.

Sabira, the founder, approached him one evening inviting him into her den for a talk.
“I notice you’ve been talking a lot with Ashari,” she began, “I appreciate it Anhora - I don’t know where Ashari came from before she found us, but she seems to have opened up quite a bit since you’ve been with us. I just wanted to thank you and ask you to keep going,” she chuckled lightly and shared a smile with the silver lion, who seemed to blush slightly.
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D2

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[Nia The Elf]

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