The War for Surra: Wrath of Retribution

[Kirsui]

((OOC: Right then! Lets start with part 2 of the War for Surra. x) This is written purely from Kirsui's point of view to briefly get the hang of what she has experienced during the time skip, and to give an interesting beginning for the 2nd part of our role play (at least, I hope so xD).))


Part 2: Wrath of Retribution

Dark cave, dry and warm. Familiar scents floating around her, now faded and overlaid with others. This had been their cave before. Safe. Secure... Home.

She blinked into the darkness and tried to swallow. Her throat was dry, and she coughed. Someone moved in the darkness behind her, but without light and strength to lift her head, she didn't have the faintest idea who it was. But then, did it matter when one was surrounded by enemies?

Kirsui had no idea how long she had been held here. Hours? Days? Months, even? Time takes a strange turn when one does not see the outside world.

They brought her food, so they wanted her alive. Why? She couldn't recall questions. Had been questions? Perhaps there had. But had she given answers? She didn't know. She wasn't sure if it even mattered anymore.

She knew they had come to see her, at least. She vaguely recalled their leader, the one that wielded fire. Sumai. The lioness that had captured her had been there too. And the tiglon with scarred face.

She shivered. It was the tiglon that she was most afraid of. He would sneer at her without a word, his gaze so full of burning hatred that she thought it was a miracle he had not burst into flames. At first she hadn't known why he was so much angrier at her than the rest of his pride. There was always a certain air of hostility around the Belbel when they were in her presence, but the tiglon was different. Eventually it had dawned to her. He hated her, because she was the one that had scarred his face.

The pale lioness closed her eyes, and she felt her awareness slipping. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time she had been here, partially because of the loss of energy, and due to the injuries that she had sustained during the battle. That battle was haunting her, as was what had come after.

As soon as she had awoken after the battle, they had dragged her out and made her bury the dead. Her and Enzi. They had been kept strictly apart, and always under tight watch. Not that it would have mattered, she had had barely enough energy to walk. There was no way that she could have even attempted escaping. She didn't know how she had survived that ordeal. Perhaps her mind had simply been numb enough from the battle that she had no energy to think of what she was doing. She had dragged her feet across the battlefield, dragging and burying corpses, barely recognizing friend from foe.

Until she had found Talha. She had found her friend's body, lost and forgotten among the other fallen. It was Talha's face that had shaken her out of her numbness and made her realize the seriousness of her situation. She remembered whimpering out loud, loosing her footing, only to be forced back on her feet by the Belbel guarding her. They had not let her mourn. She was a prisoner, and she had a task.

She couldn't remember what had come after, only that when she was finally done she felt so weak she feared she would faint before the next step. But she hadn't. She had dragged herself back to the cave where she had woken from, and had remained there since. She had not seen Enzi again, but she assumed he was held similarly captive. She hoped he was. The alternative was far too grim for her to even consider.

With a slow sigh the pale lioness drifted even closer to unconsciousness. She hoped she would fall into dreamless sleep, one that would let her regain some of her energy. But she feared she would be haunted by nightmares of what had taken place, as she had since the last time she had seen the outside world. If only she had enough energy to summon her fire. Perhaps then she would have a chance to escape. But alas, no matter how much she concentrated, her fire would not answer her call. And with no flickering blue flames to calm her, she constantly teetered at the edge of complete despair.

It was a battle she fought every day, one that she was slowly losing even though she refused to acknowledge it. The only way to escape the dreams full of despair was to fall into an even deeper slumber, where the corridors of the old Mwani den echo with faint words that she is unable to make out, and where the landscape flickers with shadowy reflections of the outside world.

Kirsui does this once again, and the last thought that crossed her mind before complete oblivion was how long this was going to continue.

[Zorayda]

Hunger.

The indigo lioness's belly rumbled with it, but it went ignored. Already her figure was becoming slimmer in profile, her rounded belly more flat in shape, her muscles a bit more defined. The injured wing from the battle a few weeks ago was healing, though Na'hina had insisted that she keep it bound with the vines and vegetation they'd found in the forest. Her face had changed to be a little less rounded, thought the biggest change by far was in her eyes. They were hollow with none but her simmering anger and the need to do something with her newfound leadership.

Zorayda's pride--the Mwani--were all scattered, either hunting, keeping watch, or training. Some rested up or sparred with one another. The leader lioness had migrated the lot of them to the edge of the forest, on the opposite side of where the Belbel had taken over the Mwani den. The Mwani were now residing at the foot of the mountains, where there was small game to hunt. But the previous lack of resources was almost nothing compared to this... an entire pride of large lions, wolves, hyenas, and other carnivores would not survive on squirrels and small deer for long. And it was colder here... though they weren't at the top of the snow-capped hills and rocky terrain, many of the animals in the pride were not used to such chilly weather. But they endured it anyways.

The winged lioness padded through the ranks of training animals, pointedly avoiding going near Satoba's favored place of rest. He had been unusually ill-tempered with her, despite their friendship before. She assumed it was because of her cowardice in battle, how she could not save his best friend, the lioness Talha. But he also seemed to hate her attitude now, that she would plan revenge upon the Belbel. Zorayda grimaced to herself. How could he not understand that she had to fight them? That peace was not the answer right now? She frowned deeply. No, he was too naive. Of course sometimes one had to fight back for what was right... and what was right was to give those beasts what was coming to them.

---

It had been quite a while now since their well-won victory, but Mlezi could not shake the sense that they were not done yet. Sumai hadn't called them back out of the den, which made her think he was planning something... especially since their prisoners hadn't been killed yet.

The red lioness glanced over to the cages their prisoners were held in. The ice mage looked despondent. She hadn't really made much fuss, and had accepted her defeat as a prisoner should. Mlezi nodded slightly to herself. If she were defeated by a more powerful pride, she, too, would accept her fate as prisoner and allow herself to be ruled by them. It was the law of war, and the strongest ones won. She really was a pretty thing, and so talented, too... Mlezi wondered if she would ever be broken to join them. It was a thought that crossed her mind often about the little squirrel, a thought she didn't give to almost any prisoners of war. None of them had ever seemed so determined and strong as this one. The red lioness smirked a bit to herself, remembering the scars the mage had afflicted upon Zito. The fool tiger. He shouldn't have gotten so close. But he would remember and respect the pretty lioness now, wouldn't he?

The red lioness's thoughts were interrupted when a young adolescent jackal strutted her way up to the cage and glared up at the mage through her bars before snorting and kicking dirt up at her. Growling deeply, Mlezi immediately padded over.

"Nashira, what do you think you're doing?"

The canine pup jumped back, startled, but cocked her jaw. "Treating this dirty ol' Mwani how she deserves it. I bet she killed a bunch of us," the jackal growled childishly. Mlezi sighed.

"This Mwani is helpless in a cage," the lioness explained patiently. "Yes, she probably did kill and hurt a few of us. But it was a war, child. Many are killed on both sides."

Nashira pinned her ears and looked down, tears bubbling at the corners of her eyes. "But they took my friend," she muttered stubbornly, though it was ruined a bit by the wobble in her voice. Mlezi stomped a paw, startling the pup.

"That is war. That is the nature of our pride. If you can't handle it, then you cannot live with us, pup," Mlezi growled, finally getting tired of the young pup's whining.

Nashira snarled and dashed away, hackles raised.

Mlezi looked sidelong at Kirsui. "I apologize for that. Prisoner you are, but you will not be treated as a punching bag." She began to pad away, but made a remark over her shoulder. "The Belbel are too proud for that."