On The Winds Trail

[mane6]

[ I`ll be starting with Phae & Calipso ]


The firey maned female stood atop a sandy dune as she squinted at the horizon in front of her. Her tail was lashing around, as was her fur, which was bellowing around in the wind that was starting to pick up and shoot sand crystals into her venomous eyes. She turns her head quite sharply to shield her eyes from the sand, finding no amusement in the cub that lay whining on her back.


With a heavy grunt, she moves in another direction, to the green canopy she spotted. Her eye-sight was quite good, but she was afraid she`d loose track of the jungle - her home, on the other side of the desert. It`d been a while since she was last there - hopefully no... fools infested her beloved recluse. The cubs insistant whining was getting to her nerves, and she lets out a warning growl. "Be quiet, or I`ll shove sand in your mouth." She growls - annoyance shining through her voice.


Still trecking through the sand, the wind was driving her mad, shoving sand into her mouth when ether she tried speaking. She was taking a slow pace, as to not tire herself out quickly.


The dirty cream color cub was snuggled into the firey females back mane, trying to sheild herself from the sand. She knew not to annoy her, but the cub just wanted to go to this home place. "Are we nearly there?" She says, her voice cracking slightly as riots of sand protest against her speech and whip her harshly on the cheek. 


"No." The female grunts, twisting and turning to try and stop the cub pulling her back mane out.

[cheezeegriff]

(I'll start with Figgy. He doesn't have a profile yet. I'll write one later - suffice it to say he's a lion with superfluous girth and intelligence but no common sense).

Figgy stood awkwardly with his paws tied to flat pieces of hollow branches, rather like skis, all except for one which he used to pull in a carefully woven blanket of grass and sticks and palm leaves. One of the strings was broken, but with the wind blowing the blanket about he was having a hard time fixing it. "Venture out of the desert, you said," he said, seemingly to no-one, as he tried to repair the broken strings by tying the ends together. "Test your new invention, you said. Oh how fun that'll be!"
He paused for a moment, as if listening, then raised his head. "Wait," he said, holding out a paw and sniffing the air. Then to his right he saw her. A lioness, with what looked like a cub on her back, stalking towards his left. Still not quite downwind though. He sighed dramatically. "Oh great. A hungry protective mother. Just what I need." And with that he gathered up his materials and darted (or waddled) awkwardly over the sand dune, only to peek over its crest at the lioness.
"Let's hope she doesn't spot us," he said.

[mane6]

[ Figgy is such an adorable name. ]

Lifting her head, Phae flicks her long tuft out of her eyes. She could feel someones gaze up them, but it didn`t make her feel uneasy. It made her even more annoyed than she already was. Instead of turning round to look for anything, she keeps her eyes focused on the jungle in the distance, tail lashing behind her - creating its own sandstorm. She made sure Cal was still on her back - but was quite annoyed as the cub still continued to tug on her mane. "Cal!" She snaps angrily.

Calipso ducks down some more. "Sorry." She mumbles, ears pinning against her head. The cub begins to whine, closer to the verge of tears. "Cry all you want, I`m not stopping." Phae snorts grumpily, carrying on stalking ahead.

[cheezeegriff]

(Thanks:D)

Figgy watched the lions walk by, trying to ignore the sand tickling his nose. He could hear voices over the wind – angry voices, by the sounds of it. “Huh,” he said, as they disappeared into the distance. “They’re heading to the forest too.” He paused then, cocking his head like a listening dog. “No, I don’t think they’d make good travelling companions. The woman seems… angry. Best if I hang back, follow at a distANGH!”
Without warning the wind changed direction. His matt of grass and twigs and leaves filled with wind and leapt from his grip; he barely held onto the broken line. Try as he might he couldn’t hold it down. Being worth several lions in weight it didn’t pick him up, but sent him sliding down the opposite side of the sand dune on his enormous stomach, right towards the lioness and her cub. “Make way!” he said, gaining enough purchase to grind his feet into the sand, which didn’t help much at all. “Out of control windsail! Actually, help!”

But who was he kidding? If a lion who weighed the better part of a ton couldn’t hold it down, what good would the assistance of a skinny little lioness and her cub be?

[mane6]

Phae glares angrily ahead, partly to keep the sand out of her eyes, and partly because she was angry, as always. As the sound of a voice crept through her ears, she leaps to the side at sound of the warning, looking confused, shocked, and well, still angry. "What the-" She grumbles, tail twitching in annoyance as Calipso began to laugh on her back. "Its not funny! He could be injured or something." She shrugs, seeming to not care. She just wanted the cub to be quiet. Oh, what was she thinking, taking this annoyance from the mother. She`d done the mother more of a favour than herself.

"And what are we supposed to do?" She says, shouting back at him as he rode off. "Hopefully he falls into a hole or something, I`m not wasting what energy I have. I`m already tired as it is." She grumbles, picking up her pace a little to keep the `thing` in sight. What was that idiot even doing anyway?

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy tried to use his free paw to gain traction, but he simply face-planted into the sand and filled his mouth with grit. "Break that last cord!" he coughed, pointing at the last remaining unbroken line on his windsail's left hand side. With that broken the sail would just flap in the breeze. "Hurry!" The sail was pulling him up the slope of another dune, higher and higher until he crested the top. He kicked his legs, feeling nothing, and looked back over his shoulder.
The two were following him, he could see, and for a second he realised how he must have looked, such a big blimp of a lion held up in the air like that. That fraction of a second felt as long as two, and he managed to make eye contact with the little cub on the mother's back, and smiled at her cheesily... right before he disappeared over the dune.
Then, as abruptly as it had changed before, the wind whipped around again, and the sail dragged him back over the dune, right towards the mother and cub. He would have shouted *watch out!* but he knew there wasn't enough time before he collided...

[mane6]

"Watch out!" Calipso squeals, until the abrupt force collides with Phae, sending her tumbling against the clumps of sand. She gets up more or less straight after being hit, eyes narrowed. She shakes herself, freeing some of the sand from her fur - as it was beginning to annoy her. Since the raft was right in front of them, Phae walks round and cuts the last cord, not saying anything expect staring rather angrily.

Calipso was still in the sand, laughing to herself quietly and flailing her paws around in the sand.

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy pulled at the last two remaining cords, pulling the flapping leafy sail closer and closer until he could safely roll it up. He was panting for breath with the excitement of it all, right up until he tied the roll down and sat on it. For a moment he simply stared over the horizon, then a wide grin spread across his chubby face.
“It worked,” he said softly, then threw his paws into the wind. “IT WORKED! WOO!” He jumped off his roll, untangling himself from the cords as he did and flicking off his wooden sand skis. “They said I was mad, as usual, but what do THEY know? Ha! Figgy the genius strikes again, overcoming doubters and nay-sayers to seize the day! It worked!” With a flourish he swept up the little cub, huging her to his chest through his mane, then opened his eyes and noticed the eyes of the lioness on her.
“Oh,” he said, and set the cub down before leaning forwards over his enormous paunch and grabbing her paw. “Thank you so much!” he said, shaking it vigorously. “If not for you I would have been tossed about for hours. Hours! You saved me a great deal of welts and bruises. I’m Figgy, by the way. Inventor, adventurer, follower of The Way of the Ancient of Days. Come, we should really get out of this wind and this sand,” he said, seizing his roll of twigs and leaves and waddling up the sand dune like a bear. “There’s a forest this way. Have you seen it? Let’s get out of the sun… and find something to eat!”

[mane6]

[ His character is just flawless seriously I love Figgy ]

Calipso lets out a laugh as she was pulled around. She`d only seen him for a little while and he was way more fun than Phae! As she was put down, she pouts a little, before flicking her tail and jumping right back up to her paws again. "Oh really? A forest? Is there treasure there?" She says, her hereto eyes gleaming happily.

Phae watches with some amusement visible. She chuckles quite inaudibly, before swishing her tail around and facing the stranger. "Nice to meet you." She says - her tone was stern, harsh, but that was the way she always spoke. It was a little weird for her to come out of it - it felt strange. "The cubs Calipso, I'm Phae." She introduces. "Yeah, it`ll probably stop Cal moaning. All the way through here its been something different." She rolls her eyes, staring down at Calipso, who smiles shyly back up at Phae, in almost an embarrassed way.

[cheezeegriff]

(I aim to please:). Phae seems pretty darn cool too. Can't wait to get to know her better:)).

"Treasure! Are you kidding? There's the best kind of treasure: food, water and a comfy bed! And safety. Mostly only panthers in the forest. Stay away from lions like us. Haven't you ever seen a forest, little lady?" He said, looking down on her.

Then he listened as the fiery lioness introduced herself. "Calipso and Phae. Calipso the Cub! Cub Calipso. Can I call you Cub Calipso? Pleased to meet you both," he said, winking to the cub. "So I take it your not mother-daughter nor sisters. What's your story? How are you both travelling together?" Then, inexplicably his expression changed and he bent over, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No no no you don't do that to lionesses! Or Cubs, for that matter. Haven't you any sense of decency??" Then his expression of outrage faded and he blinked back his golden brown eyes. "Heh... Sorry. I hear voices... From... Time-to-time." He threw up a finger. "JUST... Voices." Then he glared at the sky, as if daring it to argue any further. "Anyway I didn't mean to presume before. You are heading to that forest, right? Do you want to travel together for a while? I promise, I'm quite harmless." He offered a big, cheesy grin to Phae and shrugged his heavy shoulders.

[mane6]

[ Aw thanks ]

Calipso shakes her head. "I've only seen the plains, some desert - Phae was going to take me to the forest!" She pipes up, beaming happily. "Thats where we're going now right?" She cheers happily. "Yes, you can call me whatever you want!" She laughs. "Just call me Cal though, Calipso's a big big name." She says, pausing for a moment to think, before continuing walking with the two adults.

Phae nods silently, still walking with them. "Oh, its a long story." She says, swiping the huge dark mane from her eyes - the golden rings on her eyes glinting in the fierce sunlight. "Plus, we aren't exactly welcomed with open arms anywhere any more - so it'd make a change to talk to someone who wasn`t Cal." She shrugs, blinking her eyes. "You hear voices?" She says, tilting her head to the side, utterly confused. "Do they just tell you to do stuff? Are you sure its not just your conscience?" She says.

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy eyed the rings in the fiery lioness' ear with curiosity, but said nothing. "Definitely not a conscience!" Figgy said, though his tone was doubtful. "No. I trusted it once and it led me astray. Never again. But don't worry. I know a really super-effective way of shutting it up." He turned and looked Cal in the eyes again. "Lots and lots of food." He grinned.
"So why aren't you two welcome anywhere else?" he said, hefting his roll of grass and leaves. Figgy's pace was nearly sedentary, his mane and huge belly nearly dragging in the sand. "Did you annoy some pride back there? I tend to annoy prides too. That's why I tried to cross the desert. Was very glad to see this forest, from a distance. My voices were getting quite loud over the last few days. I can't wait to catch a big, juicy antellope. Or a gazelle." He licked his lips, then stopped to rock back on his chubby haunches and hold an imaginary steak to his lips. "Or, you know what tastes really nice? Crocodile. And there's often lots of them in forest rivers. The meat in their tail belongs on the tables of heaven." He let out an excited shudder, then rocked forwards over his paunch and resumed walking. "So what do you know about this forest? Much? Do you know what food we can expect there? Are there any prides that live there?" He turned to Cal. "I promise, I'm not usually so obsessed about food. Not unless I haven't eaten for a few hours, anyway!"

[mane6]

Phae seemed mightily intrigued by this lion, and blinks suddenly. "So its not your conscience, what could it be then?" She questions. As he asked her a question, she thinks for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you could say we annoyed them in a sort of way." She shrugs.

"So we moved to this forest. We usually walk around and do - other things though." She says, swishing her tail around. Well, if that involved spying on someone or taking something from a pride, thats why they were always out - away from home. "Visitors? It depends - I get lots of visitors." She smirks. "Let's just say, the things I do rake in a lot of food and nesecarry supplies such as herbs, maps, all sorts of stuff." She smiles. "I've lived here for years, but its Cal's first time coming round these parts."

Calipso pulled a face at the mention of Crocodile. "Crocodile sounds nasty." She comments, shaking her head.

[cheezeegriff]

"I like to think of it as an UPSET STOMACH," he said, glaring at the sky again. "You know, most people don't want a bone of me when I tell them I hear voices. I appreciate your... Tolerance." He gave her a modest smile, then listened as she referred to what she did, and where she lived. He was a little annoyed that she didn't talk about what food was in the forest or not - that was his favourite part, the eating part - but he was nevertheless intrigued by what she said next. "Maps and herbs! Do you use the herbs or just trade with them? I've never actually met someone with knowledge of herbs before. Well... Not up close. I did once see a baboon in a faraway pride who was purported to know herbs but I only got to see him at a distance, holding up a cub on some rock, and when I asked to see him personally about Jer..." He grimaced. "About the voice in my head, I was told the waiting list for travellers was a month and a half long. A month and a half!"
"So," he said, stopping dramatically and grinning hopefully. "Your knowledge of herbs... You don't happen to know a remedy to reduce appetite, do you?"
His ear flicked to one side, and he leaned down to Cal to say, "They're only nasty when they're alive, little Cal. When they're dead and in your dinner table I promise they're the sweetest animals you'd ever meet!" He gave her a gentle nudge, to help drive the joke home, then looked up to the top of the next sand dune. "How much further is it, anyway? I could really do with a snack and a nap about now." He glared angrily at the sky.

[mane6]

"I'm not really bothered if you hear voices are not to be honest, I only really tend to be bothered about things when it involves a reward." She says. "I know a few healing remedy's, so I keep some herbs around - but I mostly trade them for food and sometimes for some territory too. I own most of the forest - a few little patches are claimed by others. I have yet to bribe them out of it." She smirks.

"I havn't been around here in a while though, so I'll probably be tracking down some annoying pests if they've been in my stocks again." She frowns in an unhappy way, picking up her pace again. "A monkey Shaman? A waiting list that's a month and a half long? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in my life." She swishes her flamed tail around. "To cure appetite? I might have something in the back of my den - the only reason I know those herb remedy's is because of the stuff people bring me - with special herbal treatments and stuff." She shrugs.

Cal looks confused, but nods anyway.

[cheezeegriff]

"You OWN the forest?" Figgy said, but kept walking. "Does this mean you're the leader of a pride, or something? Do you mind if I hunt when we get there? I'll share everything of course. Give you first dibs! I believe you'll find me most beneficial... and are we nearly there?" Figgy was getting tired from the trip. It was hard enough work pulling his roll of leaves and vines along.

[mane6]

"Just about, yes. Not part of the pride. If you understand the art of manipulation, and well, use the foolishness of some lions - you get what you want more or less straight away." She smiles, flicking her tail around. "You can go ahead and hunt if you want - but I usually get sent food by others. For.. reasons." She smirks, taking a more sinister look for a little while, before jogging. "Almost."

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy stopped walking when Phae jogged off, not even bothering to try and keep up. "What a weird lioness," he said under his breath. "Not part of a pride; not welcome in other lands, knows the art of manipulation, maps, herbs and has food brought to her for reasons... reasons." Then noticed Cal standing there. "'Art of manipulation,' eh? Do you know the 'art of manipulation' too?"

[mane6]

"No." Cal begins, blinking suddenly and whirling to face Figgy. "But Phae said she's gonna teach me like her parents taught her, and and their parents taught them, and their parents taught them." She says, rambling on and on.

[Moonbacon]

(May i join with my two characters Lesidi and Chausiku/Riku? i haven't made a profile for them yet)

[mane6]

[ Yeah sure Moon! ]

[cheezeegriff]

(Welcome, Moon:).)

"Huh. So she comes from a long line of deceptors, eh? But Phae said she wasn't welcome anywhere. Wouldn't you prefer to be welcome everywhere? Even in the courts of royalty?" He gave Cal a grin and a wink, then wrinkled his nose, watching as the lioness jogged towards the forest. Figgy licked his paw and held it up into the wind, noticing it was blowing towards the forest now. He grinned mischievously and threw his wind sail to the ground.
"Here, help me repair these lines," he said, untangling the ropes. "Then we can race your friend to the forest."

[Moonbacon]

Two young lions who look like they've just barely entered their adolescence age. One of them was Lesidi, a somewhat lanky and thin looking lioness with dark coloured fur, pink pointed nose and big violet eyes, permanently extended claws with a reddish brown colored dorsal stripe that starts on her forhead and ends just past her shoulders. Her snout, despite being barely a adolescent, she had a slightly longer and more sharper angled snout which a pridelander would describe as a "outlander" look. For the most part she doesn't look very happy or in a good mood in general.

And the other was her brother, Chausiku, who is the same age as she is and has a more lighter gold-orange-ish fur with his mane that was just barely even growing on his head and neck was sandy brown and he has bright green colored eyes and has a more normal lion look than his sister but he was a bit short to say the least, but was very well-built for his age.

The two siblings traveled through the desert after having to run away from their birth pride and are heading towards the forest for some shelter from the sun, hopefully. Lesidi never liked being in the Jungle but she doesn't have much of a choice now.

[mane6]

"Royalty? Full of snobs. Plus- I'm pretty much treated like royalty here." Phae snorts, calling over her shoulder - before just carrying on into the distance.

Calipso jumps up and down happily. "Yeah! Lets beat her there!" She laughs.

[ Ah sorry its a little short ;u; and welcome in moon! ]

[cheezeegriff]

With Cal's help, Figgy had the lines repaired in no time. He climbed to the top of the nearest sand dune and stood with his paws on the sail. Putting Cal on his shoulders, he licked his paw and held it into the wind. "Ready? Here we go, Ancient One be with us!" Then he unfurled the sail.
It took a while, but once the sail had stretched out the ropes took up the slack quickly. Assisted by the downhill slope, Figgy and Cal were pulled forwards, racing across the desert at a tremendous speed. Figgy let out a woop of joy. "Ithn't thith awethome??" he said, lisping around the handle he held in his jaws. It felt good to have the wind in his face. It felt free. Of course he wasn't free for long.
Figgy glared angrily at the sky in response to some unheard voice. "I won't KILL huh. I won't kill ayione. I'm Figgy! The thtrength of my geniuth alone is enough to increath the lithe exthpectanthy of all my close athocia-." Then he whizzed past Phae. "Hey Phae! Thee you at the foretht." He waved one forepaw as they began climbing the next sand dune, and at the crest the wind gusted even stronger. "Whoa," he said, trying to keep control of the sail. "You ok back there?" he said to Cal.