VOK Event - Halloween Prompts - CLOSED

[MySpoons]

Username: MySpoons
Link to pride: The New Guard
Prompt Number: E10, E11, E12


E10 [369/150 words]

Young Astrona is not a fidgeter, but the paint smells weird. Not as bad as she was expecting. Regardless, it is still too close to her nose. She wrinkles her nose and tries not to sneeze while her mother, Swift North, continues to apply paint to her cub's face.

"You're going to smear it if you're not careful," Swift North murmured as if she hasn't had to reapply her own paint multiple times from tears running streaks down her cheeks. The white stripes on Astrona's coat are already dried-- she was able to keep those ones neat long enough (because Astrona dozed as her mother applied them).

When Swift North finishes, Astrona runs out the den and to the pool of water close by to examine her reflection. The planes of her nose, forehead, and cheeks are painted white while the rest of her face is darkened with black paint. Red stripes cut through the heavy paint on her checks and forehead. A white feather was placed in the paint on her forehead before it dried.

Astrona's father, Linanthus, wears the okapi pelt of the animal he killed that year draped over him like a mantle. He joins her at the pool.

"Did you pick out a name for him?" Astrona wonders, voice soft.

"Yes, she did. All children deserve names-- but it is her custom to not share it. It would bring bad luck."

Astrona frowns and taps the white feather. It symbolizes a young death. She would have liked an older brother. Linanthus' Pride of Stone is a well-known family of nobles. It would bring her father great honor to raise a son.

"Why does that happen?"

Astrona's father lets out a sigh and lays down next to her. "It happens, rarely. Cubs born before soul had been given to them. Nothing could be done."

"Oh." Astrona dips her toes in the water. "But that was long ago." It was, years before Astrona was born. This year, Swift North mourns the loss of her sister. It was a sudden death, no warning, no understanding why. She never woke up.

Astrona prefers her father's customs for Hallow's Eve-- wearing the trophies of her kill is much less sad.


E11 [158/150 words]

Rook Astrona does not like strong winds. The Silver Ruins are a nice place to live, but the wind cuts through the stone, seeming to push harder on her out here instead of when she is in the tress. Not to mention sometimes the gusts get trapped in corners and kick up a bunch of dirt and leave into the face of the next individual unfortunate to turn the corner.

One of the Rooks next to Astrona wakes her up by grumbling and snuggling closer. "Wind's howling," she mutters. Astrona lifts an ear and listens. Yes, it sounds very strong. Is it a monsoon...? No, there is no rain.

"That is what wind does," Astrona replies, grumpy that she had to be woken up. It's just wind! She settles further into her bedding and wraps her tail over her nose.

"Hear that? The wind's howling." Another Rook says in a too-loud whisper. Astrona turns away with a groan.


E12 [186/150 words]

Astrona is not a child, but she cowers in her den like one.

Her nightmare is fresh in her mind-- the stone trees appear menacing at night, shadows harsh and gleaming in the moonlight. Astrona finds herself returning home far earlier than she needs to after a day exploring the territory, just so she doesn't have to walk through the long shadows of the stone trees surrounding her den.

She is not superstitious, but it frightens her.

Astrona peers out, hair raised, tail puffed, ear flat against her head. It's still there! Something black in the stone tree, waving and flapping in an invisible breeze.

Slowly, slowly, Astrona backs up and curls up in the smallest corner of her den. She'll just not go out today.

(Later during midday, when Astrona is bored and hungry and frustrated, she dares to exit her den. Relief flows through her when she realizes it is a strange fabric and not a sign of possession. She does not laugh at herself, not when her mind keeps returning to the nightmare she had. Maybe she is not welcome in the valley).

[leafless willow]

Username: Rameiku
Link to pride: Kuebiko
Prompt Number:
E10 + E11 + E12
Completed Prompt:
E10
[164/150]

Every year without fail, Tak'iori uses any ingredients he can to make a wide array of facepaints. Kuebiko wasn't abundant in plants, berries, or anything else of color, so he made a dangerous journey around the surrounding terrain. He would gather fruits, plants, colored rocks, sticks, wisps, and anything that crossed his path. Sticks would be used to help apply the paint he made out of crushed ingredients, or burned to make black out of charcoal.
Personally, he uses oranges, and reds to create a sunset inspired wisp pattern on his face. Splotches of orange would wrap around web-eske lines on his muzzle, and down his forehead. He wasn't one for skull looks; not that he'd really seen many skulls in his life, let alone a lions. With his claws, Tak'iori would try his best to shade in orange to the trails of the wisps orange, just to add some depth.
Wisps were almost his entire culture, if he would admit that to himself.

E11
[182/150]

In the midst of winds howling, Tak'iori stood tall, mismatched eyes gleaming in the rushing cloud. He roars, speckles of spit sprawling into the clouds. It was time for war.
When the spirits grew rampant, and slammed into every being around with their bulky body, warfare begun. They were his warning that enemies were approaching, trampling on his land, and intruding with bad intentions. Sharpening his claws on rock, he glared menacingly. Wind was not simple nature weather. Wind was a futuristic foretelling of fanatical fears.
His form engulfed by those he deemed his protectors, he dashes within, the only thing betraying his stealth being his startling stare. The intruders knew nothing but the sharp searing inflicted on them from his claws. Their yowls were swallowed by the sinister and sore spirits, Tak'iori standing tall above them at last.
Gracefully, he steps away, leaving them to recover on their own. He would not completely take them down. He wanted no such spirits wandering his lands to haunt his pride. They would have to find their own way out.
The winds die down.

E12
[169/150]

Flapping... Where was that ominous flapping coming from...? Rarely did birds travel to this part of Kuebiko's lands. Padding along the path his perception was pointing, he hunches down as he comes across some odd...black fabric. "It can't be evil. The spirits would have warned me." Tak'iori tells himself, reaching a paw up and slapping it down. His ears fold back, uncomfortably growling as it stubbornly stayed where it was. "...The spirits could be busy today. I have never seen evil such as this."
Unsheathing his claws, Tak'iori gives the fabric another good hit, scraping down it and ripping it in half. The eerie flapping sounds only grew stronger with two pieces, loosely tied together blew in the wind. Was the wind beginning to howl? "Have I misjudged this evil? Perhaps it was a sign of good, yet I have torn it."
Frowning to himself, he tucks his tail between his legs, biting a hasty retreat. It wasn't the time for this. Not when the wisps were coming soon.

[Sixbane]

New prompts are posted

There were Four prizes in the pool today;
(# of prizes randomized in proportion to amount of people participating)
Firedancer77 won +2 tickets in the final raffle!
Frisco won a Custom Ticket
~Soul~ won a Fertility potion (Guarantees at least 3 cubs when breeding, chance of 4)
Meekins12345 won +2 tickets in the final raffle!


**Exp tickets can be used when leveling up, they will be added to bank and removed once used
**Custom ticket instructions are now located on the first post of the main adopt thread
**Breeding items are used when posting the breeding ticket
**Lions won will be posted shortly after being won and the link messaged to winner if they are not already linked here
**To use edit items message the artist who made the lion to have them added

[Ravenshadow17]

Username: Ravenshadow17
Link to pride: Soul Pride
Prompt Number: E13, E14, E15
Completed Prompt:

Altea would be furious if she received anything savory or bitter. She is a firm believer that all trick-or-treat sweets should either be sweet or sour. Maybe even both. So if she received something salty like chips or savory like beef jerky, no matter how much she would enjoy them any other time, she would be furious. The pride would be hard pressed to stop Altea from yelling at the poor unfortunate soul who made the mistake of giving her such a treat. The only way to calm her rage would be a sincere apology and a promise to never be so cruel on Halloween again. Her pride would likely also have to find her something sweet immediately to help her recover from the tragedy. Afterwards, Altea would be in for a lecture on how to be a better role model for the cubs, and on how to contain her rage.

"Malkia! You have to try this!" Altea called to her cousin. The young queen looked up at the sound of her name and approached the river. Her General, Tai not far behind.

"What is it?" Malkia asked?
"We're bobbing for apples." Sana, the healer explained. Altea eagerly nodded. "It's a test of skill. I challenge you!"
Malkia smiled. "Very well. Keep track of the score, Sana?"

"It would be my pleasure. On the count of three. One, two, three!" Sana called and instantly Malkia and Altea plunged their faces into the river, trying to bite the apples.
After a few minutes both lionesses reared up from the water with an apple in their mouths.

"It's a tie!" Sana exclaimed.

"No way." Altea pouted playfully, flicking water at Malkia.

"May I have a try?" Frozz asked, coming up to the group."

"Sure! Have Tai challenge you!" Altea offered, getting a sigh form the General.

" Let's go." Tai agreed, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"My Queen. I discovered something odd while scouting." Frozz reported as he came up to Malkia and Tai.

"What is it?" Malkia questioned. "A threat?"
Frozz shook his head. "It does not appear so. I believe it is simply some new plant that I have never seen before."

Malkia's eyes narrowed. "Show me."

Frozz led the two high ranked lions further into the territory. There was a patch of grass where strange orange vegetables appeared to be growing.

"These are quite large. I wonder if they are edible?" Tai questioned, investigating the strange plant.

"I beleive they are. I have seen some of the prey eating them and they don't appear to have any negative effect...." Frozz stopped talking when a loud crunch was heard. Tai had crushed one of the orange vegetables and he was smiling.

"We should take some back to the den for the cubs. They are quite fun to crush." Tai said eagerly.

[Meekins12345]

Username: Meekins12345
Link to pride: In the signature - The pride of Wikimak
Prompt Number: E13-Walnuts
Completed Prompt:

"Okay, okay. I like a lot of weird things. Like... I enjoy rabbit feet, slugs, wings and all that jazz. I'll eat it, you know. But what I don't like? Walnuts! Those things are awful and folks around here think they're just the greatest gift ever, especially around Framunti. I don't see what's so great about 'em. They have this really thick shell that takes a thousand years just to open. Then there's another shell within that one, so if you manage to get the first one off, you're only dreaming that you're done yet. Then guess what? All you get, is this tiiiny little nut that's barely the size of a claw! All that work for absolute squat! Sure, they taste alright, but you really gotta have a lot in order to get full on 'em. I could honestly care less if they only pop up once a year. Too much work. Too little rewards." - Alosaka, 2019 (158 wc)

Prompt Number: E14-Apples
Completed Prompt:

"This stinks!" Alosaka complained, soon puckering his lip as he sat away from the bucket. Nokomis only settled down beside him, soon nuzzling into his mane.

Kwatoko, on the other hand, just laughed at his leaders retort. "Aww, come on, Alosaka. It's not that hard." The gray male replied, soon dunking his face into the water. Mere seconds later, he'd come back out, his face dripping wet and a large apple settled amidst his pearly white fangs. The sight only made the tominatoak roll his eyes, soon shaking his head.

"Show off." He'd pout. "Just cause you can do it so easily, doesn't mean others can do it... Dego, try the apple bobbing once."

The older male rose a brow at that, soon chuckling to himself before wandering over to the barrel, only to dip his head into the water. It wasn't too long afterwards that he brought his head back up, a nice, shiny apple in his mouth and a smirk on his maw.

"...You guys stink." (168 wc)

Prompt Number: E15-Pumpkins
Completed Prompt:

Within the pride, pumpkins are held in high regard. Unfortunately, they don't seem to grow within their woods. However, the native peoples tend to offer them pumpkins when the harvest season arrives in return for a deer or two. When the lions acquire the orange vegetables, they quickly bring them back home and tear into them. It's like candy to them, and they'll eat the entire pumpkin until there is not a piece or seed left over.

Their torololla have tried to grow pumpkins in the past, but they just don't seem to grow well within the redwood forests, which is a shame to a pride that loves them. So, they tend to trade deer carcasses for pumpkins whenever possible. They've seen them carved around the areas of the native peoples, but often find it strange that someone would be so determined to make pictures and lights come from such a delicious treat. What a waste... (156 wc)

[~Soul~]

Username: ~Soul~
Link to pride: Healani Pride
Prompt Number: E15
Completed Prompt:
No Way Jose

Maile is very skittish when it comes to millipedes all the legs just gross her out. Though some in her tribe may enjoy them as a tasty snack she cant stand the thought of watching their little legs move about. Also the thought of receiving one as a gift makes her fur stand on edge, sure spiders are fun and rolly pollys are neat but millipedes are by far the grossest and most creepy thing there is. Sure when they are dead there is nothing to them and they dont move the trying to eat it already dead just does not help at all as she can still imagine how it would feel. To say that it is by far the worst gift to get is a total understatement. With that she cant help but turn a blind eye or even sneak it to her brother who would happily swallow them whole.
( 152 / 150 )

Username: ~Soul~
Link to pride: Healani Pride
Prompt Number: E16
Completed Prompt:
Almost Had It

Alani watched as the little red fruits bobed up and down in the small tide pool. The goal of the game was to pull one out while not using any of her paws or tail. Not even the water users where able to use there ability but in this case her fire control did little to nothing in advantage. Her tail flickered back and forth as she was determined to snag one on the first go. She eyes them all before finally determination the closest one to her. With a huge lung she darted in with teeth bared, mouth wide open. Though its flesh proved to be to slippery and is was only pushed further into the water. She growled, tail flicking wildly and she lunged at it again, and again. Over and over as the water splashed everywhere. There was a point where apples danced on the waves that she created and nothing could stop her. Finally pulling up she has manage to snag one, but was completely drenched.
( 170 / 150 )

Username: ~Soul~
Link to pride: Healani Pride
Prompt Number: E17
Completed Prompt:
Food?

Likeke had been sitting in front of the orange thing that was larger then him and very round and somewhat bumpy. This thing that his father called a pumpkin, something that grew in his fathers old pride land was rather odd and strange. It was meant for eating or at less he was told that but it looked hard and not very tasty. Keke walled around it and would on occasion stop and bat at it with the bottom of his paw. He then eventually found his way on top of it and started to nom on the stem in attempt to "eat" it. Finding the stem to be fun to chew on but again not all the satisfying. It wasn't till his dad Kai came over and crushed it with his bare paw was he able to get to the stringy meat on the inside...This was not meant for eating...
( 151 / 150 )

[hawkfire102]

Username: hawkfire102
Link to pride: The Howling Crags Pride
Prompt Number: E15
Completed Prompt:

Tambo was going on a casual stroll through his new territory when he saw something that was unusual. He slowly crept forward through the grass to investigate. He got closer to them and sniffed. They didn't smell dangerous but also not impressive. He approached them and circled them, giving them a thorough once over.

They looked like plants. He might have seen them before in the human villages. He reached his paw out, swatting at them lightly before giving one of them a good whack. It made a satisfying thump. He whacked them each a few times before feeling satisfied that they weren't a threat.

He sniffed them over thoroughly before giving them a sniff. He cautiously licked them. Nothing bad. He glanced around to check to see if anyone was around before he started to bat them around like a toy. He made the mistake of biting into the pumpkin. Chunks of the skin came off in his teeth. He spent the next good while trying to lick it out of his teeth.

[Frisco]

Username: Frisco
Link to pride: The Dreamcatchers

Prompt Number: E13 [ 160 words ]
Completed Prompt:

The worst trick-or-treating gift that Sen could receive would be a completely ordinary set of dice. This lion is absolutely addicted to gambing, despite having the worst luck in the world. Especially in his youth he used to lose everything he had within a single night. These days he's trying his hardest to be a responsible captain and a role model to his subordinates, but if he received a die he could not resist the temptation to play. He would talk himself into thinking that this might just be the lucky dice he needed to finally win and would have to test it out. Of course, a couple of loses would not discourage him, that's just how it is with games, he would say. He does not trust himself to be able to stop and is afraid that he would neglect his responsibilities and again become addicted to chance games. Better if he stays far away from any such attractions.

Prompt Number: E14 [ 154 words ]
Completed Prompt:

Each of the members of the Dreamcatchers pride has their own style and idea for apple bobbing. Rem, the youngest of the three, doesn't have a mouth big enough to catch a whole apple, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. He would sit at the edge of the water and try to grab the apples with a little paw and laugh out loud every time he'd accidentally splash himself instead. Sen, the most tactical and rule-abiding of the group, would try to do it properly and reach for the fruit with exposed fangs. He would not want to get wet, so he would be slow and meticulous. He would also growl at anyone who would try to interrupt him. Revas, being the biggest trickster, would probably just jump into the water, covering everything and everyone around him in water and apples, before showing off by juggling one of the fruit on his nose.

Prompt Number: E15 [ 152 words ]
Completed Prompt:

Pumpkins were nothing new to Sen, but Revas who comes from dry, barren lands has never seen them before. He enjoys their taste, but more than anything finds them a great toy to play with. They're round enough to roll around, but heavy, which makes it even more rewarding. Their hard skin makes for a fantastic chew that can last for hours or even days. Additionally they can be carved into jak-o-lanterns. Both of the lions found it weirdly amusing to cut open the gourds and pull out the wet, mushy seeds with stretching strings of pulp. It was a bit gross how it stuck to their paws, but also different and even pleasant. However, the most fun they found was after Halloween, when the pumpkins started to go off, their skin softened and collapsed. Stepping on them and squishing them into mush gave a funny sound and a very satisfying feeling.

[MySpoons]

Username: MySpoons
Link to pride: The New Guard
Prompt Number: E13, E14, E15


E13 [207/150 words]

"To keep away the bad spirits," an ancient leopard croaks and drops a pawful of things into young Astrona's bag. She smiles, barely, and trots off to the next den without checking to see what it was. Probably some carved runes or something-- some of the really superstitious elders give out weird things instead of treats to the youngsters.

Many dens later, Astrona is starting to smell something funky. She wrinkles her nose but keeps her bag of treats clenched in her teeth. Some of these costumes are a bit out there-- maybe someone went for stinky instead of scary?

Soon, though, more than one trick-or-treater is looking disgusted. Up ahead is a small gathering-- Astrona dumps her bag down and unintentionally gets a big whiff of something acrid.

"Ugh, what is that?"

A few of them are digging through their bags-- and a disgruntled looking black jaguar emerges with his face wrinkled in disgust. "No, it's garlic!"

"It'll contaminate the candy!" Astrona gasps and searches through her own bag. The stench gets stuck to other food! All of them gather up the garlic. Someone volunteers to deliver it back to the superstitious old lady, who finds it much later that night sitting ontop of her den.


E14 [176/150 words]

"I don't understand the appeal," Rook Astrona says, emerging with a wet apple in her jaws while water runs down her face and neck. She blinks water out of her eyes and places the apple at her feet with the rest of the ones she's already won. The Rooks are well into their game, only a few more floating in the water. Astrona already picked out the best and prettiest of them.

Another Rook attempts to get one-- and recoils from the water, squealing and shaking water everywhere. Everyone gets one turn to try and fish out an apple. Astrona has the most by far, the second-place Rook having three. One Rook already quit the game to find a different group to play with.

"That's 'cuz you don't mind the water." A sore loser grumbles, eyeing Astrona's pile. Astrona rolls her one, having no need for half a dozen apples. She doesn't even like apples.

"It's just water. And they're only apples." She says, inspecting her hoard. It's nice to win, though."I'd rather bob for fish."


E15 [294/150 words]

These weird vegetables are orange. Not like Astrona's orange, but garish and bright. Regardless, some of the Rooks have taken to nicknaming Astrona 'pumpkin', enamored with the new item appearing on the Silver Ruins. One of the trading caravans brought them from far north.

Astrona is not amused. They're not even striped like her! Well, not the pumpkins. Other ones are really warty and have yellow and green stripes around them. Even if they weren't a vegetable, they'd be unappealing.

"Rook Astrona, come help!" One of the trader's children, a juvenile bonobo, appears dragging a bag. Astrona jumps to her feet, abandoning her moping. She pads over, curious.

"Use those powerful jaws of yours and carry this up after me, will you?" He asks as he already begins to climb. Astrona, always wanting to be helpful, picks up the sack and easily jumps into the tree. The bonobo climbs quite high, much higher than most of the other Rooks would dare to go.

"Here, gimme."

Astrona makes sure the bag isn't going to fall and sits against the trunk on a large branch. They're about seven of her lengths up. When the bonobo opens the sack, Astrona almost leaves, thinking she is being teased. It's pumpkins.

"No, wait!" The bonobo cries, seeing Astrona's expression fall. "I've got a good game for us. Watch!"

The bonobo takes a pumpkin out of the bag and-- once Astrona is watching him-- rolls it off the branch. Both of them lean over to watch it splatter across the forest floor with an impressive splatter.

Astrona's eyebrows raise. "Impressive."

She fishes out the biggest one and bats it off. It, too, lands with a wet, satisfying impact of pumpkin juice and guts and seeds everywhere. Astrona laughs this time.

[Firedancer77]

Username: Firedancer77
Link to pride: Isle of Roses
Prompt Number: E13, E14, E15
Completed Prompt:

The worst gift that Nasaba could be given would be a dead rose. Anyone in the pride would be offended to receive one; as a rose is considered a gesture of intimacy and honor, to be given a dead one instead of a fresh one is considered an insult. However, Nasaba would find this especially insulting as he is the leader of the pride. He wants to be the best leader for his pride, so for someone to give him a “gift” that outright proclaims him to have failed at that would be devastating. If he were to receive one, he’d most likely try to keep calm while in front of them. He wouldn’t take it with him, and most likely would excuse himself as quickly as possible before finally growing depressed over the matter. He definitely wouldn’t tell anyone about the incident - he’d bee too ashamed of failing them to do so - but would instead mourn it on his own.

”That’s not how you play, Kusafiri!” Haraka growled, staring at the long-maned lion as he grabbed one of the apples with his claws.
“I can’t see if I do it your way!” He retorted. “All of my hair gets in the way.”
“No one can see when their head is underwater unless they’re a fish, dummy.”
“You try bobbing for apples when each time you go to grab something, you just get a mouthful of your own mane in your mouth!”
Nasaba couldn’t help but snicker as he watched the two bicker. “Kusafiri, relax. It’s just for fun. You don’t have to win.”
Haraka looked quite triumphant, and that’s when Nasaba knew he made a mistake. “Exactly. You don’t need to win. Just give up. You’re not going to grab an apple.”
“I’m not going to lose our deal just because you chose a game you knew I’d have problems with,” the annoyed lion snapped, shoving his head back under water.

The lions in the Isle of Roses, for the most part, would have never seen pumpkins, as they do not grow around where the pride dwells. If they were shown any, it would definitely catch them off guard. Nasaba and Mzatamo would be eager to examine one and find out what exactly they were, with Mzatamo also hoping to see if they would be any good for use in medicine and healing. Haraka would be completely uninterested, preferring to take the chance to rest in camp without any loud cubs romping around. Kotoko would be quite intrigued by them, if not a little jealous of the attention they were getting over him. He would probably try to preen and brings his pridemate’s attention back to him. Jiwe would be eager to make a depiction of the pumpkins, gathering his rocks to try and arrange them in a similar shape on the ground. Sasa and Laani would probably end up breaking one apart and playing with it, causing their mother some grief. Tenga, having seen them before when she was a part of the Coalition, would just be focused on making sure her cubs didn’t do anything stupid, like eat any of the pumpkin seeds. Kusafiri, having also seen pumpkins before throughout his travels before arriving at the Isle of Roses, would simply observe and smile.