Pride Over Power Continued

[Lyonize]

This is a continuation of Pride Over Power starting from the point where the group gets struck by lightning. Leorgathar and I are retconning two new characters into the story and all inactive participants characters out of it. Should previous participants choose to continue, we can work that out.

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Alari awoke slowly to the breeze. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs to the brim, stretching her diaphragm and expanding her somehow sore ribcage. The young lioness exhaled sharply and opened her eyes. For a moment, time stood still. Leaves hung in the air and birds in the sky stayed in place. Then, everything resumed. It happened all so quickly that she questioned that it had even happened. But what was that weird lightning?

One by one, her gaze rested on each member of the group. First Mahali, then Phyllon, then Zainab. Alari stumbled over to them one at a time to see if they were alright. Everyone seemed to be just now waking from a deep sleep.

"What was that?" She asked, seeing the others had begun to stir.

---

"What was that...that...that...that..."

Mahali felt like he was outside of his body as Alari's voice seemed to echo inside his head. He opened his eyes to see darkness, but somehow, he could still see perfectly. A moment later, he opened his eyes again, coming out of what was the strangest, and the shortest nightmare he had ever had. Normally, his first thought would be to get up and see if the others were okay but what he just saw, or what he just dreamed weighed so heavily on his mind that for long seconds at a time, he wracked his brain to make sense of it, yet, try as he might, he couldn't draw anything out of the dream. Nothing about it was mentally tangible and it disturbed him.

Mahali's mane fell over his eyes as he got his forearm underneath him and pushed himself up, reclining slightly. His muscles were very weak but as he slowly gathered himself, strength returned to him. He looked around, dumbfounded and confused, waiting for someone to say something that might explain what had just happened.

[Leorgathar]

Zainab woke up abruptly, opening her eyes wide and gasping for air. She had been laying on her back, so she quickly rolled on her belly to look around for the rest of the group, hyperventilating. The first thing she noticed was a kind of big glowing bubble surrounding her. A bright amber light, like the color of her own eyes. It seemed to glow brighter the more confused she was, but instead of freaking out she tried to regain her breath and calm down. It seemed to work, because the glowing began to reverse and dim until it had disappeared completely, like it had never been there.
Zainab's stare was lost into nowhere, trying to assimilate what has just happened, but Alari's call brought her back from her trance.

"What was that?"

"I'm... not sure," she replied, suddenly remembering the lightning and how loudly and close it had struck... really close. She looked at the younger lioness with concern. "Are you ok? Where are the others?"
As she scanned her surroundings, she immediately saw Mahali a few meters away to the right, who seemed to be just as confused as she was and regaining his strength little by little. She looked to the opposite direction and spotted the cub, Phyllon, who had landed in a puddle of murky water and was just coming back to his senses as well.

---

Phyllon emerged from the puddle and sat straight up, feeling nauseous. He opened his muzzle and let out a mothful of mud down his sticking tongue.

"I'm ok... Thanks for asking."

[Lyonize]

"Are you ok? Where are the others?"

Alari padded over to Phyllon and helped him up as she answered. "It looks like everyone is here. Mahali?"

"Yo." Mahali answered, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he stood up.

"You good?"

"Nope." He said sarcastically.

"Yeah you are." She wasn't looking but Alari could practically hear Mahali's eyes rolling. "Anyway, I'd kinda like to get dry and figure out what to do about the food issue." She turned to Zainab, awaiting her input on what they should do next.

(OOC: I'm trying a slightly different style for controlling multiple characters but I think it works.)

[Leorgathar]

"Anyway, I'd kinda like to get dry and figure out what to do about the food issue."

Zainab remembered how they were trying to hunt gazelles in that open prairie, right before the lightning struck. But there were no more gazelles to be seen in the area, and dark clouds had already covered the sky. It was about to rain heavily. Zainab sighed.

"We should find shelter first, then we'll think about looking for food. Here in the open we're exposed to more lightning, and... we might be not so lucky for a second time." The lioness began scanning for possible caves or large trees in the distance. "But perhaps on the way we might still catch a small prey for Phyllon at least... no cub will starve on my watch." She added, smiling faintly for the little cub.

Phyllon smiled back. "Thank you, Zainab, but... I'm not hungry right now, I can wait."

Zainab chuckled. "Yeah, right... After the way you woke Mahali up in the morning, and insisted on joining the hunt... Don't be so polite, cub, we'll find you something to eat soon, you'll see."

The cub looked at Mahali with a nervous grin, like playfully apologizing without using any words for how he shouted into his ear to wake him up that morning. But then he realized how strange it was that he didn't feel hungry anymore, because he didn't lie to Zainab, of course he had been desperately hungry before the lightning struck them. When he regained consciousness in the middle of the puddle, though, he felt all refreshed and full of energy, as if he had just eaten.

The thought weirded him out, but he decided not to talk about it and let the bigger lions focus on the next step. At least the idea of being in the rain put him in a good mood for some reason.

[Lyonize]

Mahali and Alari admired the way Zainab took care of everyone else, especially Phyllon.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Mahali brushed his way past Alari and trotted off toward the nearest cluster of trees. Alari gave chase and passed him easily. The two arrived at a clearing among the Tamboti and Marula trees, only to find it already occupied by an, unfortunately, recognizable lioness.

"Imara." Mahali groaned.

"Good, you remembered my name." The solidly built lioness replied. "Hopefully you still remember what you owe. He's been waiting for your contribution. It's been a month since your last one and he's getting impatient." Her emphasis on the 'he' was unnecessary. Mahali knew who she was talking about.

Alari raised an eyebrow. "Pff... We're working on it. We just took a break to play in the lightning. You should try it sometime."

"You saw that storm, right?" Mahali was getting impatient. He just wanted her to leave the group alone.

"Of course. There was a similar one last night..." Imara trailed off. Her eyes darted away and she shut her mouth quickly. She was hiding something. Mahali was about to ask her more about the storms but decided he'd rather see her gone.

[Leorgathar]

"Isn't it too stormy today to be pestering us about food?"
Zainab caught up on the group and joined the conversation, walking past Alari and Mahali, and standing protectively in front of them. She faced Imara with a menacing glare.

"Zainab," Imara snorted. Zainab's amber eyes glowed almost like flames, but she decided to control herself and calm down. Her days as an assassin were over, after all.

"Tell your boss he'll have his share soon. We'll hunt when the raining stops. Now, leave our group alone, we need to regain our strength."

Imara's throat growled, but then she chuckled. "Alright... but you know what will happen if you fail," she clawed a tree stump that was nearby, then turned around to leave. "You have until tomorrow at noon... Don't keep him waiting." She finally sprinted off.

Phyllon hid behind Mahali during the whole scene, wondering what had that been about, and if there was somethin he could do to help. There probably wasn't, he really couldn't do much about grown up stuff, and Imara really creeped him out.
The cub sat down sighing and flicked his tail. Upon catching sight of his tail tuft, he got startled and fell on his back.

"Aaaaah! My tail!" He yelped. He reached his tail with his front paws and brought it closer to his face to examine it. Very freaked out. "It's all green... And leafy!!"

[Lyonize]

The dynamic of the meeting changed as soon as Zainab stepped in. Mahali was relieved to see Imara recoil a bit. With the three of them there, he now felt relatively safe. A newfound confidence set in as he felt Phyllon peek around his hind leg. A protective instinct gave Mahali a more purposeful stance.

"You have until tomorrow at noon... Don't keep him waiting."

Alari exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding as Imara disappeared into the tall grass of the savanna. She smired and turned to Zainab. "I'd have kicked her a-"

"Aaaaah! My tail!"

Phyllons terrified scream nearly made Alari jump. "What?! What is it?! What happened?!"

"It's all green... And leafy!!"

Mahali had to keep himself from smirking but he couldn't help letting a little chuckle escape. "Oh, don't be ridiculous. It's just a twig..." He paused when he realized that the cubs simple description was indeed accurate. Not only were there leaves 'attached' to his tail, but his tail itself had begun to turn green. "Uhh... Zai?"

"It's probably just dirty or something." Alari said as she trotted over to him. "I'll take him to get it washed off." The lioness picked up the cub by the scruff on his neck. A trot, and a skip and WHOOSH! There was a massive rush of air and a moment later, they were back at the puddle they had woken up next to. Alari stood there, staring forward, dumbfounded with Phyllon still hanging from her wide-eyed face and the scruffy fur on top of her head blown back.

[Leorgathar]

As she watched Imara go, Zainab became lost in deep thought, concerned and wondering how would they find prey in this weather's condition for the next day. A burning growl began to grow in her throat. These strange lions demanding Zainab's little group to hunt for them... Zainab had vowed to live a peaceful life ever since she put her violent past behind to care for other young lions' futures instead, and the price for that life didn't seem as much back then, but now these other lions have been getting more impatient, to the point of threats and intimidation. Zainab's primary instinct would be to not have any of it and rebel against them, but she had decided to contain herself and find a peaceful solution instead.

"Uhh... Zai?"
Mahali's call interrupted her train of thought, and as she turned to see the others, she saw Alari disappear before her eyes while carrying Phyllon in her jaws. Zainab gasped.

"What was that? Alari... Where did she go!?" She asked Mahali very alarmed. But she noticed a trail of dust in the air, heading in the direction where the lightning had struck.

Phyllon hanged from Alari's muzzle swinging back and forth until he stopped, all contracted without moving a muscle. After a whole minute, which felt longer than it really was, he blinked, just realizing where they were.

"Did you just..." He began, but made a long pause to register what had just happened. "Wow... You never told me you were so fast!"
The cub felt somewhere between afraid and awestruck, a part of him thought it was really cool... But then he looked down and remembered why they were there.

"MY TAIL!" He struggled out from Alari's grasp and jumped straight into the puddle. Then he took his tail again in his paws and started scrubbing it impatiently. "It's not coming off!"

[Lyonize]

"We should probably follow them and make sure they don't do anything..." Mahali tried to think of a descriptive word for anything Alari and Phyllon shouldn't be doing. "... Yeah, anything." He finished.

Mahali headed in the direction he thought Alari had disappeared, and 'disappeared' was an accurate term. Mahali couldn't see them ahead of him but he was sure they went back to their resting place from last night. There was a relatively deep puddle of rainwater where Phyllon could wash himself off. When he arrived, he really had no words. Phyllon was viciously scrubbing his fur and tail which was quickly becoming more and more green. Alari was looking extremely stressed.

"You ate those weird berries, didn't you, Phyllon! I told you not to eat those berries! Just because the baboons eat them doesn't mean they're good for lions and now you're probably turning into a baboon or something!"

"Alari? What's going on? Wait. Baboons aren't even-" Mahali interjected.

"Mahali!" Alari interrupted. In an instant, she closed the distance between them. For a moment, Mahali wondered if he had blinked. "You stay here!
I'm going to go find the baboons andfindoutwhatsdopadsdfjgposidhfokay?" Alari's speech suddenly sped up to incomprehensible speeds which was confusing enough, but immediately after, she disappeared in a dust trail leading toward the treeline.

Mahali was speechless. He looked at Phyllon and back at the cloud of dust, then back at Phyllon, trying to make any sense of whatever was happening. One moment later, Alari was back, appearing out of nowhere, again, silhouetted by a cloud of dust.

"Guys! Everything is going really really slow!" She shouted, eyes wide with bewilderment.

[Leorgathar]

Zainab caught up with the group right after Mahali. She became more and more confused with everything that happened in that weird scene.

"You ate those weird berries, didn't you, Phyllon! I told you not to eat those berries! Just because the baboons eat them doesn't mean they're good for lions and now you're probably turning into a baboon or something!"

Phyllon whimpered while looking at his tail, then shouted to the heavens almost crying. "But... but... Those berries were delicious!!!"

He suddenly became quiet with eyes wide open when his attention turned Alari's strangely quick speech and sudden dissapearance in a flash. He looked at Mahali, who seemed just as confused as him. Alari came back just as quick as she had gone, startling the cub.

"Guys! Everything is going really really slow!"

"Alari..." Zainab began, but Phyllon interrupted her.

"Slow for you! How did you run so fast? That was amazing!" He asked and began to pad towards her.

"Phyllon..." Zainab now addressed the cub, but again she was interrupted by him. As soon as Phyllon stepped his paw into the mud, there was a slight moment where he could sense every single strand of grass around him, as if they were part of him. Vines grew up in a circle around him all of a sudden. He looked back to see his tail, which had now grown a flower bud.

"I don't think the berries are doing this... What's happening to us!!?"

Zainab became both scared and irritated, she had been trying to control herself and think clearly, but it was impossible with everyone freaking out like this. She only needed one moment of silence, and she wanted it now."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" She roared. A strong wind blew in the direction she was facing, and shook everyone else there. She tried to regain her breath and calm down again. "What... is going on...?"

[Lyonize]

Seing Zainab angry, even if only for a moment, was unsettling. She didn't often loose her cool. With all the confusion, Mahali was already a little freaked out but when Zainab raised her voice, he suddenly hoped her attention wouldn't be drawn to him.

"What... is going on...?"

Whoosh.

In an instant, all the colors faded and the sound of the birds and insects stopped. The only thing he heard was a gentle wind.

"Whoa! What just happened?" Mahali asked as he backed up and looked around at the desaturated scenery. But nobody answered his question.

(Reminder: Mahali is now in a completely different plane of existence. Nobody can hear/see him but he can hear/see you.)

It was hard not to notice the disappearing lion. Alari was the first to react though. She looked intently at the spot he had just been standing in and shouted. "Mahali?! What did you just do?" There was no response.

"I don't know! He yelled."

"Mahali, where are you?"

"I'm right here!" He yelled as he ran around to each member of the group. For some reason, they couldn't see or hear him. "I'm st-"

Whoosh.

"-anding right... next to... you." Mahali finished as the color came back to the world. He now stood in a different spot. It startled Alari.

[Leorgathar]

Phyllon had almost been blown away by the strong wind hat came from Zainab's roar, but he planted his claws in the ground, and he felt his grasp becoming very strong, as if he had grown roots. It didn't last more that a few seconds, just the exact duration of the blow. The cub was paralyzed both by that and because of Zainab's sudden burst of frustration.

Zainab felt embarassed and tried to calm down.
"I... I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to do... that." She said, unable to find words for her strange burst. Mahali's sudden disappearance and Alari's reaction to it distracted her from her thoughts. But soon Mahali reappeared, apparently while he had been saying something, which came out as an incomplete message. Phyllon noticed that too.

"You too, Mahali?" The cub asked. "Wow... we're all doing weird stuff!"

That's when it hit Zainab. Phyllon was right, all four of them were doing strange things, and that couldn't be a coincidence. Whatever had happened to them all, it must have happened at the same time.

"That lightning..." She said. "We were all struck by it. It must have... changed us somehow. There's no other explanation." The lioness walked closer to the group and sighed, still a bit ashamed by her attitude before. "We should all calm down and analyze this... Are you guys ok?"

[Lyonize]

"I think I'm ok." Alarai said. "Wait!" She shouted and then paused, seeming to concentrate on something on her mind. "Yeah I'm alright."

"Yeah, I'm not hurt or anything. I mean, I don't think I am." Mahali said. "The lightning is a good theory. That was a weird storm." Suddenly, it dawned on him that Imara seemed to know something about the storm. She even mentioned that there was another one the night before. Could she have been struck by a similar bolt of lightning?

"Zainab, I think Imara knows something. I think... they... might know what this is. She seemed to be hiding something when we were talking earlier." He paused and gulped. "We might need to talk to Asali to get any answers."

Asali was the one name Mahali always hesitated to say. Asali was the leader of the group of bullies that held the land in an iron fist.

[Leorgathar]

At the mention of Asali, Zainab clenched her teeth. Mahali was right, Imara had indeed mentioned a similar storm happening the night before, and the way she acted certainly seemed suspicious, but it was still too early to jump to conclussions.
"No..." She answered. "We should keep a low profile for now, at least until we can get a hold on these... strange abilities. Asking them right away about it could put us in unnecessary danger. I mean, what if they also have them, and know how to use them better than us? Or if they see us as an immediate threat? I think we should just do our work and try to gather as much information as we can next time we meet them without revealing what we can do."

As Zainab was talking, Phyllon became distracted with the vines that had grown around him. He somehow found out that they were moving by his own will, as if they were part of him. Through his claws dug in the earth, the cub could feel almost every plant form in his immediate surroundings. From the little strands of grass, to the mighty lonely tree over the hill nearby.
Soon he spotted a zebra grazing at the foot of the hill. Each time the zebra took a bite, Phyllon felt a ticklish sensation on his paw. He giggled a bit, finding it very funny.
The cub was suddenly curious about his newfound ability and gently squeezed the earth under his paw. In what looked and sounded like many whips at once, long vines sprouted out quickly around the zebra and trapped it pulling it down to the earth with a mighty pound. Phyllon got startled and cringed.

"Oops! Sorry..." He didn't really mean any harm to the poor animal, but... it didn't seem to be moving now, and he was pretty sure he killed it.
Zainab looked at the scene with her jaw open, and after a few seconds of awkward silence the cub said:
"I... I think I just did my first hunt."

[Lyonize]

Alari and Mahali stood dumbfounded, mouths agape at what had just happened.

"Well! I guess that solves out most immediate problems, then." Mahali said, now visibly annoyed at how confused he still was. He began walking away. "I'm going to go figure out what's going on with me. If I never come back, it's probably because-" Fwoosh.

Mahali was interrupted by his own disappearance. A couple moments later, he popped back into existence, now on the edge of anger. He let out an exasperated growl and trotted off again.

Once Mahali was out of earshot, Alari piped up. "I think I'm just stupidly fast." In almost no time at all, she had disappeared to a tree nearly 100 yards away and gave a shout. Then she was on top of a rock even further in the opposite direction where she cheered again. A moment later, she stood next to the Zebra Pyllon had killed. Finally, she shot back next to Zainab. "What about you, Zai? What's going on with you?" She asked.