Roleplay: The Seeds of Fate

[Aimee]

(Just a short post, sorry)

From the other side of the bridge, someone was watching the group. That someone was awfully confused. Askari was observing them closely. He did not know whether they were a threat or not. The bridge wasn't strong, and he doubted if they'd make it past without it collapsing. It was hard enough when he had crossed it not long ago.
The young lion 'zoomed' in on a few individuals.

A spotted cat which he presumed was either a leopard or a jaguar, a few lions, a black lioness which had caught his eye, he had not seen one before. A rusty red lioness, and a white lion too. Askari had a moment of comprehension. Perhaps this was the group from the prophecy? Even news of it all had reached him. 

Lying low, he went into his translucent mode to blend in with the dark ground. He'd wait and see if they managed to cross, and if needed, he'd help.Teleportation might be helpful in a situation such as a collapsing bridge, he thought. Even if they were mid air he'd could get them in time. Askari stopped thinking about it, he didn't want to be pessimistic, with luck, they'd manage to cross. With luck, they might let him join they're journey. He had nothing better to be doing and felt like he had abilities to offer, even if he was told they weren't the most impressive.

[Leorgathar]

"RUN! Get out of here! HURRY! HOUNDS!" Hagen had alerted all of the party, it was time to run for their lives.

The jaguar turned around and ran as fast as his limbs could handle, not letting the weight of his backpack slow him down. He reached the bridge along with the rest of the group ahead of Hagen and Lycurgus, but he stopped at the edge of a section of the bridge that had fallen. He couldn’t help but take a look down. Heights had always terrified him, and even though he had crossed that bridge before, he just could not get used to the menacing view. Back then, there was no such thing as hounds chasing after him and the group of Queen Imae’s lion guards he had travelled with.

He noticed the narrow metal rail passage everyone else was crossing through. The thought of being mauled to death by hounds was much stronger than thinking about how narrow and feeble that piece of metal looked, so he went on anyway, thinking time after time about keeping the backpack steady. There was a sudden shaking, and looking to his left, he saw a big portion of the bridge’s street lean down, and what he recognized as a tank made by humans for war purposes rolled down that slope and fell into the ocean with the might of its weight in heavy metal. “Augh! I knew it... I knew I should have tried to convince them to take the tunnel!” he thought, holding on for dear life to the rail which, as it shook violently, had caused the compass hanging from Balam’s backpack to break from its lock. Luckily, Balam caught it from its strap with his claw before it could fall down, and he was relieved that it was still intact. There was no way he would break his promise to the Queen and lose it just like that.

After a hurried but careful run, he got to the other side and joined the rest of the group while trying to regain his breath.
“Everyone okay?” Hagen asked.
“I’ve been much better, but I’ll be alright,” Balam replied, his body still shaking. He wondered why had the hounds halted their chase and turned back. I really doubt they were as scared as I was to cross, why didn’t they follow us?

“Hello. The name's Scout,” a voice said from behind him. He turned around and saw a female lynx talking to the group. “Are you sure you want to take the bridge, because the tunnel is much more safe. But the mutt's are there, so... Yeah.”
The jaguar was confused, where did this lynx come from? He didn’t remember seeing her prior to that moment. Although he did agree that maybe the tunnel could have been a safer option, but it was too late now.

“You know, living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a I-saved-your-life-now-where-is-the-thank-you?” The lynx added after a while. This startled Balam, he sure heard loud bangs and brawling behind him, but he hadn’t seen the lynx in action to help save them, which made him lift an eyebrow.
“Uhh... thanks... I guess?” he said a bit awkwardly, but then he came to his senses. “Wait, hold on... are you following us? Who are you exactly?” Balam took a fighting stance, prepared for anything.

[Lionel]

Scout's stubborn side finally understood, that someone was paying attention.

I don't have the most interesting story, but if you would get a move on,I would be happy to tell you. She started, looking if the mutt's aren't charging towards her. I'm Scout, a lynx, as you can see. I come from the North of Europe, from the forests, that once were called Latvia. It's by the Baltic sea. And I came from there to here, because I heard a prophercy about a bunch of felines and stuff, that would come from the south and save the world and stuff. And all the signs I got to know, pointed to you people. There was something about one of you guys having steel legs,so...She pointed to Hagen's legs and looked around again. The tone in wich Scout talked, wasn't disrespective, it was typical teeager talk, even a bit confused. But seeing a jaguar here - that wasn't ordinary.
And, since I know the forests from here to there like the back of my paw, I thought you would need a guide. So, I traveled down here, and went trough the tunnel, because I don't like heights, and I came just in time, because those stupid mutt's would of eaten you alive.

It was all true, though a bit snobby and ignorant. She looked around, her purple eyes scanning the bunch, that were on the bridge.
And now I have a question for you - You aren't native to here. You should be over the oceans. What are you doing here? She asked, purple eyes pinned at Balam.

[Leorgathar]

Balam’s muscles relaxed as he realized the lynx posed no threat to the group, but he listened carefully to the words that came through her mouth. A prophecy? This young lynx seems to know about us somehow, he thought. Can we really trust her? Well, at least we can agree in not liking heights.
The jaguar remained silent, seeing that the lynx still wanted to add something.

"And now I have a question for you - You aren't native to here. You should be over the oceans. What are you doing here?" The lynx said.

Balam felt a bit irritated with that question, it touched a sensitive string in his heart, but he calmed down quickly. He looked away and sighed.
“So... you know,” he said. “What I really am.” He sat down and began pawing the ground. “Not many know this, and it’s not something I’m very open about, but since you asked I’ll tell you... all of you. Yes, my kind comes from far across the western ocean, the land the humans knew once as the New World, and later South America. But my family descends from jaguars kept in a zoo by the humans in Spain, so that’s where I was born, on the land right across this bridge. Right now only my mother and I remain. I have never seen or heard of any other jaguar alive, so in a way I assume that we are the last two of our species alive... at least in Europe. It's easy to just say I’m a leopard, I’m confused a lot with those very often anyway, and I'm less frowned upon that way.”

Balam paused for a second, and then smiled looking at the lynx again. “I’m Balam, by the way, and I’m guiding this party towards my home in Barcelona, where my King, Mawsan, should receive us, and from there to plan our next move towards the North. I have never been that far away, so the Spanish borders are as far as I can guide us to… but maybe we could use having a guide through the Northern lands with us.” He then addressed to the rest of the group. “What do you guys think?”

[Leto]

Most of the conversation was outright ignored by the krajiin; there were more important things to consider now than asking for a thank you. Though he was in part thankful that the new arrival had outright ignored him with her ceaseless questions more interested in the mundane looking animals than him; which was for the better, being prodded and questioned by youngsters was not on his top agenda right now. But as Balam began to speak he seemed almost uncomfortable with the revelation that someone knew what he was, in truth the krajiin did not know what Balam was, though he had assumed the oddly geared feline was a leopard, a rather stocky and if not large leopard but a leopard none the less.

In truth this assertion had been false, yet it was a falsehood Balam himself had fronted, but then Lycurgus didn’t know a whole lot about the various species’ out there. Most animals in Africa where known to him but the rest were a perpetual mystery, “If things were different we could’ve been at our destination by now.” The dark blue felid spoke turning from the ocean scenery and towards Balam at his proposal. But as it were only he could use any wormhole he could conjure, the others could risk entrapment or even death should they attempt it.

“If she carries her own weight, I have no objections to her.” His short tail gave a flicker walking up next to Balam, his ice-blue gaze turning to the young female felid, with oddly tufted ears and rather masculine broad paws. “I know where the Baltic Sea is, it’s still ways away from our destination, but if we move quickly we should be able to reach the place before the harshest time of winter sets in.” Not that Lycurgus had any issue with snow, or the cold being nearly impervious to it and he would admit he’d prefer it to desert any day, he was naturally thinking of the well-being of the creatures from their group more adapted to southern climes.

[KanuTGL]

OOC: Lots of quoting in this one; a lot of dialogue to catch up on xP

IC:"Do you have a death wish?" Lycurgus had exclaimed as he approached Hagen. The krajiin was clearly not in a good mood, as was evident from his brightly shining markings. "You could’ve gotten killed!"

Hagen stared at him, dumbfounded. "I just saved your life. Shouldn't you be, you know, grateful? Or something?" he thought. The white lion opened his mouth to voice this opinion, but Panthera was quicker.

"We could all have gotten killed. I do not think this is the time and place for this, however. The bridge is unstable. We need to keep moving."

Hagen nodded and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted yet again.

"Hello. The name's Scout."

Hagen whipped around to find a small, cheerful-looking spotted feline standing behind them. She had a short tail, pointy ears and didn't look like any cat Hagen had seen before.

"Are you sure you want to take the bridge, because the tunnel is much more safe. But the mutt's are there, so... Yeah."

The rest of the group seemed just as confused and they all stared in silence for a moment. The little feline didn't seemed too pleased with this.

"You know, living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a I-saved-your-life-now-where-is-the-thank-you?"

"You what?" said Hagen, nearly unaware that he was saying it out loud, eyeing her suspiciously.

Balam was the first to come to his senses and asked her who she was.

"I don't have the most interesting story, but if you would get a move on,I would be happy to tell you."

And she told them her story, without them getting a move on, and occasionally looked over her shoulder, perhaps looking for the hounds. She was a 'lynx' from the north of 'Europe'. Hagen recognised the words, but they had not had any real meaning attached to them before. Scout also told them of a prophecy... A group of felines would come from the south to save the world.

"And all the signs I got to know, pointed to you people. There was something about one of you guys having steel legs,so..."

Hagen looked down on his front legs, flexing a metal paw. Mhmm... Scout then explained how she had come down here to find them and wanted to be their guide. The white lion now looked at her with a raised eyebrow. To have made such a journey so young, and all alone, through the wilderness... She must be quite something, he thought. And she sure did like talking.

"And now I have a question for you -" Scout now had turned to Balam. "You aren't native to here. You should be over the oceans. What are you doing here?"

Hagen also turned to look at the leopard-like feline, his interested aroused.

"So... you know," Balam said. "What I really am."

A jaguar. Hagen looked at his companion in surprise. And quite possibly one of the last... What a dreadful fate that must be. Balam went on to inform the lynx of their current quest, to reach King Mawsan in Barcelona, but didn't mention their final destination or true intentions. To the question of whether they should take Scout with them, Lycurgus was the first to answer and Hagen nodded in agreement. "Yes. That sounds good to me." The white lion then got on his feet, shook his short mane and stretched his back legs, feeling like he had now recovered enough from their flight. "Well, then, no time to lose" he said. "Let's get going."

[Leorgathar]

The party had been travelling through the now barren lands of Spain that evening, occasionally reaching old cities in ruins. Skyscrapers had collapsed, leaving behind a jungle made of concrete and steel. From time to time, Balam separated not too far from the group to loot whatever he could, especially looking for batteries, water, and whatever food they could get.
The Sun was coming down, and he would have to regroup with the other big cats soon. When he at last found a pair of good batteries for his recorder, he sighed and decided it was time to use it again.

“Balam’s Diary, log entry number five:

Today was… very eventful. I’m back again in Spain, but now I am here with the whole group of supernatural felines. So yes, I had to cross that stupid bridge again, for if I had not enough the first time, and this time it was way much worse. We were looking for a water source on the African side of the bridge, when all of a sudden we were ambushed by a pack of hounds. Those deformed monstrosities… The Great Light wasn’t so kind with those canines, neither the spread of diseases that followed. They were definitely stalking us from the shadows back in the village. Luckily we made it in time to the bridge, and we didn’t lose anyone. It seems that in the end the hounds were more afraid to cross it than me. The others in the group also did an awesome work with their abilities, downing the hounds’ numbers and forcing them to retreat. I... I owe my life to them...

Speaking of which, I have been familiarizing myself with the others. I know better what they are capable of, and I think I might have gained their trust, at least most of them were really useful and cooperated with me to get to where we are, even that strange bird, Iroetem.

Ijus, that clouded leopard cub... she approached me to say thanks. That’s a gesture I don’t usually get, especially from someone so shy. It felt very nice, to say the least. I think that consequently, I might also have got some approval from her protector, Mlezi. But there’s still so much travel to do, and much time to get along better as a group... if we do get along, that is.

Oh, I almost forgot! We were also joined by a strange lynx as we were moving on the bridge. When things calmed down, she told us that her name was Scout, and that she had come from the North looking for a group of big felines not unlike us. She claims that there’s some kind of prophecy linked to it. I don’t know to what extent we can trust her, or even if I believe in such thing as a prophecy, but a guide through the Northern lands could really come in handy. She’s travelling with us right now, for the time being.

Also... *sigh* guess what... that lynx called out my cover as a leopard. She knew that I wasn’t one, and so I had to tell everyone that I’m actually a jaguar, and one of the last. I hope this doesn’t change anything, I certainly didn’t like the looks the lions in Barcelona used to give me, at least those that knew. Being a leopard was much easier, at least I could blend in somehow.

Anyway, as for what’s next, we’re travelling North East to my home, Barcelona. The King, Mawsan, should receive us there until we’re ready to continue with our quest. I hope that will go swiftly, Mawsan isn’t exactly known for his humility. He will want something in return, I can foresee that.

Time to finish with this log and join the others. I’m very hungry right now. Balam out.”

[Leto]

As the jaguar split from their group when they stopped for the evening, finding a hideaway in the entrance of a dry exposed sewer tunnel, Lycurgus decided to take a look around. The architecture although mostly derelict, overgrown and collapsed was fascinating, he wondered what creature on this world had built these massive complexes, in truth it sort of reminded him of what little he could remember from the oldest cities back on his homeworld. Whoever built this had to have had an advanced civilization, but that left the question? What had happened to them? Where had they gone?

Ever since he had joined up with this group he had picked up talk about something called The Great Light, and something about a disease, it were likely those two things that was a clue just what had happened to the artisans of these constructs of fallen splendor. If only Arianja was here, she would’ve outright killed to get to explore a place like this, Lycurgus had never really understood his sister’s avid interest in the past, no less her almost enthusiastic scholarly interest in the natives… granted Lycurgus too was fascinated by the diversity of life on this world, particularly that endemic to land but Arianja was a breed onto her own.

His paw filtered through stacks of half rotted flyers and other assorted writings that were strewn about one of the open floors in the building above the sewer tunnel, were they had made camp he couldn’t read them of course, the script was alien to him almost as much as the language of these natives had been for the first few years he had travelled this world. He was certain Arianja could decipher at least some of it unfortunately he couldn’t bring anything back to her as it seemed that whatever substance it was made from outright dissolved in water, a strange property if he was to be honest.

The krajiin exhaled a sigh as he turned to head back down to the camp watching his step in the decent there were a lot of loose the debris and wobbly concrete pylons on the way down. Right now though he was feeling hunger setting in, he had to go catch some food soon, unless Balam had found yet more of those metal boxes with fish in them, he called it tuna although the flavor hadn’t been utterly horrid it was clear that it wasn’t fresh in any sense of the word, but Lycurgus couldn’t afford to be picky out here, you had to take what you could get.

[Zorayda]

It had been an extremely eventful trip thus far.

Mlezi walked in relative silence behind Hagen and the others. Balam, the leopard--no, he was a jaguar, as they'd recently discovered--kept taking glances here and there at the small clouded leopard, Ijus, who no longer took as many rides up on the large lioness's shoulders and instead used her own paws to traverse the harsh landscape. The relationship between the two young cats was a mystery, but Ijus had indeed taken to the kind, if quirky, jaguar. And in their midst were several other beings--the bird, the strange sea-creature cat Lycurgus, the lynx... and Panthera. She was a tough one to get along with, but being mostly out of the way, Mlezi never really encountered many problems with the grumpy black lioness. Together, they'd already faced the danger of the hounds, of collapsing bridges, and newcomers here and there that wished to keep their party company. Hagen, the unspoken leader of the group, seemed all right with accepting these new members, and really Mlezi couldn't blame him--they had safety in numbers, and more heads put together to traverse the world was easier to attain their goal. Though what that was, was sometimes lost to the great lioness at times... the hot sun and sore paws sometimes made it hard to remember why this adventure was so important.

The group came to a strange place, filled with old artifacts and skeletal structures from a long-dead civilization. Balam had gone off to do his thing with the human artifacts, but to everyone's great surprise, the young leopard Ijus had volunteered to go with him. Mlezi allowed a soft smile at this and 'allowed' her to leave--she'd asked permission as if Mlezi was her certified guardian.

The pair of spotted cats walked in companionable silence. Her legs had grown a bit with her body in the short time they'd been traveling, less cub-fat and more sleek, bearing the marks of adolescence.

"Umm, Balam? I w-was wondering, um..." Ijus piped up softly, her ears flattening. Her large, grey-blue eyes, milky white in the center, looked in his general direction, though they pointed somewhere over the older cat's shoulder.

"Well, wh-why wouldn't you tell us that y-you were a jaguar? I mean... if you don't want to say, that's f-fine, but..." her words stammered to a squeaky halt as the question hung in the air, having effectively punctured the silence between them.

[Kirsui]

The skeletal structures below were magnificent. Iroetem had never seen anything like them, and she took in the sight as she soared high above the ruined human city. She would never understand why anyone incapable of flight would build something like this, but she appreciated them either way. Had the structures still been standing, there would have been so many places where a bird could perch in peace, where one could have built their nest in this land that had no trees. She would have done anything if she only could have seen the constructions before the city had been turned into wasteland.

With a sigh and final flap of her wings, the great bird tore her gaze away from the ruins. She pulled her wings closer to her body and dove down from the sky, enjoying the rush of air all around her. When the ground was beginning to approach with alarming speed, the vulture spread her wings again, flapping them to slow down her descend. She zigzagged between the ruins, until she finally reached the place that the earthlings had chosen as their camp for the night.

With a few more flaps of her wings Iroetem came to a halt and landed on a tall pole that she had previously spotted all around the city, not knowing that these very same poles had once been a source of the one thing that the vulture loved more than flying; light. The metal was cold under her feet, but the vulture ignored the chill and merely lowered her body so that her feathers covered her bare feet. She gazed around her, keeping silent vigil like she had ever since their rag-tag group had been ambushed by the hounds and she had not been there to help them.


--------------------


Panthera hadn't moved from her chosen spot ever since they had decided to camp and rest. She laid just outside the dry, exposed sewer entrance they had picked as a shelter, resting on top of a metal structure that she knew humans had once used for transportation. She had seen them once, so very long time ago when she had ventured out to the savannah. They had looked different then, not as sleek and round around the edges, but the dark lioness saw enough similarities to recognize it as one of those things that she believed had been called "cars".

Thera let out a heavy sigh, her gaze tracing the shapes of the tall buildings that now laid in ruins. Seeing this all brought back memories, and though she herself had never been in a human city quite this large her memory was ready to supply her with ideas of what this place could have looked like. She was so deep in recalling what she remembered that she barely noticed when Iroetem landed on a lamp-post nearby, and simply continued to take in the sight without truly seeing anything.

[Leorgathar]

OOC: Sorry for making this post a bit long ><


After finishing with his diary entry, the jaguar went on to regroup with the rest of the big cats, but on the way he was caught up by Ijus at his side.

"Umm, Balam? I w-was wondering, um..." the young clouded leopard began, speaking nervously as she used to. "Well, wh-why wouldn't you tell us that y-you were a jaguar? I mean... if you don't want to say, that's f-fine, but..."

Balam sighed softly, trying to think of an answer to that question. He himself wondered the same thing sometimes.

“I... I don’t really know, I guess it just didn’t come up... you know... like...” Balam tried to answer, but he suddenly stopped and looked into the youngster’s empty eyes, recognizing that it had taken her some courage to approach and speak to him. Balam smiled kindly and sat down. He decided to open up to Ijus and do an effort to explain himself better.

“Ijus... have you ever felt out of place, like... you are somewhere you don’t belong to? Sometimes I feel that way in Barcelona. There are a few leopards there, but both me and my mother stand out because everyone knows we are different. It doesn’t seem to bother her, though, but for me it can feel a bit... lonely, you know. I don’t like the strange looks others give me, not even from the leopards. But back in Africa, they seemed to think I was a leopard myself, and that made me think that maybe I could one day live as one over there. Maybe I’m not an African cat, but... I felt much better at home in Africa than here in Spain. So yeah, that’s the reason I’ve been hiding it, I just wanted to know how it felt like, that’s all... I’m sorry for not saying anything before.”

Balam felt relieved having talked that out of his chest, even to the young clouded leopard. He smiled again and nuzzled her cheek. Then he reached for his backpack, taking out some cans of food.
“Hey, you must be hungry... I found these cans. I don’t know what it is, but it has a picture of a cat, so that must mean good news, right? Come on, let’s go with Hagen and the others, it will be a long day tomorrow for travelling.

---

Far away in the Northwest, the battle had reached its end. A group of rebel lions had been ambushed, and the last of them was badly injured, unable to stand up. His wounds would only allow him to crawl in a hopeless attempt to escape. A big striped paw stomped in front of his muzzle, claws unsheathed.

“And where do you think you’re going?” the Siberian tiger said in a sinister voice. “We were having so much fun.”

The lion looked at him with a mixture of anger and defeat in his eyes, then he spat at the tiger. “Mawsan will never be my king!”

“Oh, you poor thing...” the tiger replied, rolling his eyes. “That’s what you think this is about?” The tiger struck the lion violently with his striped claw, turning him around on his back. Then he pinned him with the same paw on the lion’s chest, digging his claws into his skin. The tiger’s eyes began glowing in bright yellow, and the claws in the lion’s chest turned red hot, burning it mercilessly to the bone. The lion roared in unbearable pain.

“You lions are pathetic,” the tiger said. “With your prides, your kings, and your foolish royalty. You think you are so important, you even fight for who gets to be in the throne, for who gets to lead you. Why can’t you be like tigers? We aren’t many, but we don’t need to depend on a stupid top cat. We are free to do whatever we want with our lives. Mawsan and I... we just happen to get along pretty well.”

The lion tried to force himself to kick the tiger away, but he was met with another wave of heat from the tiger’s claws, pressing him harder against the ground.
“I didn’t come here with orders to punish those who oppose the king,” the tiger continued, in a tone of evil delight. “I’m doing this for myself. Clearing this country from pests like you has given me so much satisfaction lately. I wonder who will be next.”

The lion dared to open his eyes, fighting against the horror that was seeing into the evil glowing eyes of the tiger. “Go to hell!” he said with hate in his voice. The tiger roared and finished him off with a burning bite on his neck.

“S-sir!” Another lion called from behind him, very afraid to approach too close. “We spotted Queen Imae’s group. T-they are now in Spain, and they’re on their way to the city. It will probably take them around a day or two to get there”.
“Ah, I see...” the tiger said, licking his paw. “Too bad, I was having so much fun here. Very well then, we should head back to the city as well to... greet our guests.” He finished while examining his claws. The lion gulped.