Part 1 - Let the journey begin... [Finished]

[Dakota]

Karensha was lost in her thoughts as she sat there holding Sanura in her embrace, all she could think of was how could they outsmart Rondea, she was sure there wasn't a hope they could get to Meri, but she knew she had grit and determination and with Sefu's tenacity, they would come up with something.

Taking a breath, she held the cub from her and leant forward and licked her face gently,
'shhh little one, everything is going to be alright. We are all smart capable cats, we have to regroup and see what we come up with. Sefu over there, is keeping Rondea talking hoping that the others will catch up with us, and Figgy.. well you know Figgy he always has these madcapped ideas,a nd who knows maybe something that comes out of his mouth, will be the right plan for us to find Meri and bring her back to us..where she belongs.'

Looking over the small tiger cubs head, the snow leopard narrowed her eyes, and stared into the bushes hoping for some small miracle that the others would magically but quietly appear before her. Finally turning away, she whispered to Sanura to climb on her back and not say anything, she needed to get closer once more to hear what Sefu and that traitor were talking back and forth about.

[Deleted]

Sanura relaxed as she heard the snow leopards voice whisper in her ear and then lick her cheek, it was tickling her fur and she pressed her lips together so no noise would come fom her mouth and give away their position.

Climb on my back and keep quiet was what she heard karensha say to her next.

She was atop, nestled into the purple fur, it was soft and warm and all she really wanted to do was burrow in further, but they had a mission to do, they needed to get her friend Meri back.
Tangling her paws gently into the fur, she held on as the snow leopard moved in quietly and closer, but still they had bushes in front of them protecting them from the big lions eyes.

[magiccat]

Cat was shocked, to say the least, when her mum hugged her like that. In fact, worried was a better way of putting it. Cat tried to resist at first but quickly melted into the hug. Her mum, she liked her. Cat felt a purr rise in her throat and was all to happy to stay here for all eternity.

Her mum pulling away was like losing her lifeline and falling from a bridge. Cat bit back a whimper as her mum spoke to Figgy. As her mum spoke to her Cat felt all the love for her mum draining away slowly. However the haappy hug, fresh in her mind, made Cat a tad unsure of where she stood so she simply nodded with a smile. "Um. ok mum" She said, turning to follow Figgy. "Sanuras missing? Oh geez, probably gone off to think up more ways to hate me." She muttered to herself as she trudged through the bush. At least this time her mother seemed to be a bit toned down. Maybe they could all save Meri somehow. Whoever Meri was...

[cheezeegriff]

"Sanuraaa!" Figgy said, bumbling over a small rise and then dashing down the shallow slope towards the river. Darn it - in his haste he had lost her scent. Karensha was going to KILL him!
Something grabbed at his front paw as he ran headlong down the hill. "Whoop," was all he managed before he fell head over heels down the leaflitter, crashing through the underbrush like a giant furry boulder. He came to a jarring stop when his chin slapped the stony ground at the water's edge, and he staggered to his feet, seeing Roneda at the other side of the river, and Sefu to his left.

Figgy's head was spinning, and he was seeing double, but he still managed to say,
"Hey, you! Give back Meri now, or I'll come over there and sit on both of you!"

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kali crouched, a little more upstream from the rest of the group whilst everyone's attention was on Figgy. The bumbling idiot had made quite an entry. As Cat walked up beside her she placed her paw on her rump, firmly but gently, pushing her into a crouching position.
Below her, down the gentle slope through the forest, was the snow leopard's white form, and beyond her, further downstream, was a lion on the other side of the river. She heard Figgy bellow at the him and realised: he had been the one to steal the baby.
Then her eyes widened.
"Cat!"
she hissed, turning to her daughter, an ecstatic smile spreading across her sharp features.
"The lion on the other side hasn't seen us. Climb this tree. See? It's branches extend across the river."
She pointed to the tree only a few steps in front of them. A big fig tree, dripping with fruit, its knotty trunk full of places for a young cub like Cat to hold onto. Its thick branches mingled with another one across the river, twisting over in a manner akin to a pathway.
"Stay out of sight. See if you can get across and see were they've taken that cub. Remember what I told you about stalking: keep your body low, and if the leaf litter rustles, walk on the BACK of your paws rather than the front."
She gave her daughter a wink, then waited for her to move.

[Dakota]

Standing there so quietly with Sanura snuggled down in her fur, Karensha decided it was time for action, she wasn't about to stay hiding behind this bush all day, frustration was starting to eat away at her.

Tilting her head suddenly she could hear some sort of noise, it started off quiet, and then got louder and louder as she could hear something heavy rolling towards them, she just wasn't sure of what it could be. Moving more to her right, so herself and the cub wouldn't be caught up in what was coming, the snow leopards eyes widened as she saw this mass of brown lion whoosh on past taking everything in it's path as well.

Not sure whether to laugh or be angry with him, he indeed looked a comical sight,that was until he crashed his jaw against the stones, but he surprised her by somehow getting his portly body to his feet and addressing Rondea across the river.

"Well Sanura, looks like we don't have to hide any longer... Figgy has just arrived."

[Kirsui]

"Why is the cub so special that you have to chase after her for awhile? Couldn't you have just made more cubs, or did all lionesses find you that repulsive in your pride."

Rondea laughed. Sefu was so clueless that the discussion with him was becoming more and more amusing at each passing moment.
"More cubs, yes... But you see, some of the lionesses are very attached to Meri. They say she is special, the only white lion among the brown ones..."
The tall male shrugged. He was still smiling pleasantly with no sign of anger on annoyance.
"Believe what you wish, it matters not. But Meri belongs to my pride, and with my pride she will remain until she is of age to decide herself."

"Hey, you! Give back Meri now, or I'll come over there and sit on both of you!"

With a tilt of his head, Rondea turned to look at Figgy. If the fat lion was here already, that meant the rest of the group could not be far. In fact, he was fairly sure everyone were at hearing range.

"I apologise, Figgy, but I can not do that", the tall male replied to Figgy.
"You see, Meri is no longer in my possession. Though... I would not give her to you even if she still was here."
His smile widened slightly, and now one could see the tips of his teeth.
"And do tell, Figgy, how do you plan to get on this side? Because to me it looks like that if you step into this river you will simply float and drift downstream."

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy wrinkled his nose at the deceptive lion, eyes squinting in concentration.
"You know i've come to learn that lions aren't that tough after all. When I get across - and I WILL get across - you're going to wish you'd let Meri choose for herself NOW."
Figgy turned around, bumbling back up the hill, staring at the ground as he muttered to himself. Sure, he couldn't swim across a river like that. He wasn't even sure he could swim at all, but there was more than one way to skin a cat.
He walked over the crest of the hill, out of sight, and began looking around. What could he use, what could he use, what could he use... Slowly, a grin spread across his bignosed muzzle.
"It's so simple!"
He said, looking up at a tall tree whose high narrow branches interlocked with those over the river, and slowly, began climbing its bumpy, leaning trunk.

[epppe]

Sefu let out a small laugh from hearing Rondea insult Figgy, but hearing Figgy try to insult all lions irritated him. He just thought to himself how dumb Figgy was insulting lions when there was one right by him. Looking over, he noticed that Figgy was walking back behind a hill. Not wanting to bother Figgy so he could think of something to do, Sefu stayed where he was to make sure the lion across the river would stay there.

"He's not the brightest, that's for sure."
Sefu said in a friendly tone.
"But back to the cub, I don't think she does belong with your pride. When you have too kidnap her doesn't exactly help your case now does it."
His tone was getting more serious he continued to talk.
"And hearing the other cub describe you earlier, it seems your hiding behind a mask, trying to deceive everyone until you have a chance to get what you want. You expect me to leave the cub in the care of someone like that?"

[Dakota]

Karensha realised there was no point standing behind this bush hiding as if she was scared of him, she wasn't, she just had to be cautious and they all had to plan very strategically, to beat him, he might have size and strength on his side, but between them all, she was sure they could come up with a resonable plan.

Moving back a few paces so Sanura wouldn't be snagged on an overhanging tree branch, the snow leopard looked up and over gasping suddenly.
There he was in all his glory trying to climb a tree. stupid male, does he think his weight will not pull him back down to the ground again with a thump. Thank goodness he has enough body fat that hopefully he will just bounce ad not break any bones.

Looking back where Sefu was still in control mode still talking calmly to Rondea, hmm any more laid back he'll make himself go to sleep like a baby.
"Sanura, don't say anything and keep lying as low as you can in my fur, we're going to try and sneak back and around to reach Figgy, again he's trying to be helpful, but.. I just don't know as usual what the outcome will be"

As quiet as she could, she was sure Rondea didn't know her position, Karensha used her rump to push herself backwards and into more undergrowth, and then turned and headed into the direction where she saw Figgy pretending to be a monkey.
Moving closer to the spot where she had glimpsed the lion before, she looked all around, somehow expecting the other cub and her nasty thing of a mother to be there as well.
hmm not to be seen, should have expected it, all hot air and no brains, typical of those lioness.

Hearing a noise above her and a shower of leaves falling down to land on her then drop again to the floor, karensha slowly tilted her head upwards.. and there he was.
"Figgy, what do you think you are doing, get down here before you break your fat neck, you ... you... fool ".

[magiccat]

Cat looked up at her mum with unblinking eyes before she turned her full attention to the tree. Using practically boundless energy that only cubs seemed to posess a lot of the time, she hurried forward. Her little feet barely stirring up dust.

She frowned as she came to the tree and mewed quietly in confusion. She had climbed many trees but those had been straight, not leaning like this one. She took several steps back and ran forward, she leaped forward and dug her claws into it's trunk. She clinged on for dear life until she felt safe enough to climb up. Cat panted, focussing her full attention on the tree and ignoring everything else. She found the first foothold and she was off. She climbed up the tree with amazing speed. Cat came to the right place quite soon after she set off.

Cat's eyes darted from place to place, waiting to make sure she had plenty of breath before she charged off again

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy struggled higher and higher into the tall tree, holding on for dear life, using his sharpened claws to sink into the tree branches. The other hunting dogs used to say his sharp claws were a sign of his laziness. If only they could see him now. He was climbing a tree!

"Figgy, what do you think you are doing, get down here before you break your fat neck, you ... you... fool ".

He paused at Karensha's voice, almost looking down, but deciding against it.
"Just a few... more... steps..."
he said, then reached forward with his claws, pulling a very long and flexible vine from where it had looped about the tree. Biting into it as hard as he could, he sheared in two, and grasped the longer end with both paws. A small tug and it dislodged a little from the canopy above, holding on only by a distant thread, all the way in the tree branches across the canopy.
"Perfect!"
he said, then risked a look down at the fluffy white cat.
"This is for Meri, and for all who love her,"
he said, then, holding onto the vine, he leapt off the tree.
Wind rushed in his ears. The water of the river came up fast, but then remained below him, and he sped over the top on his vine with shrill cry in his throat, heading straight for the patchy lion that was Roneda.
When he felt his tragectory was correct he let go of the vine, and spread his arms for the meanest tackle in history.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Kali was watching her daughter crawl forward when she heard an almighty roar. Well, she wasn't sure it was a roar. It might have been the mating call of a very large bird, but when she looked up, her eyes widened.
The fat lion was gripping a vine like a monkey, and swung through the air faster than anything she had ever seen, straight across the river, straight for the lion on the opposite bank.
Even she closed her eyes before the impact. He had been moving so fast it seemed impossible that Roneda could have moved out of the way. A rustle of leaves and a thunderous whump met her ears, and carefully she opened her eyes to survey the carnage.

[Deleted]

The tiger cub stood high on the fluffy purple tuft of fur that was swirling around the snow leopard, her head turned upwards as high as it could go, her eyes wide open amazed at what she could see.

He had let go of the vine and he was...flying. Mr Figgy was actually flying, with his arms and legs spread out like birds wings. Sanura had started to laugh and couldn't stop, as he flew his tummy was wobbling all around, all over the place.

" GO FIGGY GO, FLY LIKE A BIRD."

[Kirsui]

Rondea had thought that Figgy would surely break the tree he had tried to use in half, but to his surprise the tree did no such thing. He stared at the approaching Figgy with lifted eyebrows and wide eyes. From the other side of the river he could hear Sanura's laughter, which confirmed his suspicion that everyone from the little group were present.

When Rondea's mind finally registered the fact that the fat lion indeed was flying towards him with increddible speed, and he though it was already too late for him to completely dodge. Surely Rondea was a large lion himself, but Figgy in all his wobbly glory was still heavier. And so instead he quickly went through his options of how to avoid as much of the massive blow that the impact would cause.

Rondea's eyes flashed and he made up his mind. He didn't dodge to the side, he didn't jump back... He pounced forwards, towards the river, and tried to land as flat on the ground - or in the water - as possible in hopes that Figgy would fly over him and land on the ground.

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy whooshed over the air above Roneda as the lion dived for cover, but at the last minute the swinging lion reached down and grabbed hold of Roneda's tail. However his grip was poor and he tumbled over, hit the ground, tumbled and tumbled and tumbled again until something hard stopped his progress and he lurched to a halt.

Nevertheless he got straight up, staggering, now on the OTHER side of Roneda from the others. He looked down at his paws, which were full of brown fur - the same coloured fur of Roneda's tail - and a grin spread across his muzzle.

"Ha! how do you like that, you soft-spoken mongrel."

He said. Roneda was still in the water, Figgy could see, but he wondered what was left of his tailtuft. Without another thought Figgy charged forwards as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Come on guys, help me!"
he bellowed.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kali had opened her eyes, and watched as the fat lion took the charge. He moved with surprising speed, after spending a good deal of time accelerating, and she wasn't sure which lion she would rather be. Nevertheless she got to her feet and dashed forward.
"Keep climbing, Cat!"
she said, and took a running leap into water, clearing nearly a quarter of the river before splashing down and paddling furiously to the fat lion's help.

[epppe]

Sefu couldn't believe that what he was seeing, Figgy flying over the river towards Rondea. He hoped that Figgy would be able to Rondea but barely missed the tall lion. Hearing Figgy call for help, Sefu saw the lioness from earlier jump in to help him. The thought of crossing the river like the lioness made Sefu uneasy still even if Figgy could distract Rondea.

Thinking of what to do, he decided that he would just copy Figgy by swinging his way over there. He rushed to the closest tree and climbed up it as fast as he can. Reaching for a vine, he grabbed the first vine he could and cut it.

Keeping a tight grasp on it, Sefu leapt off the branch hoping that the landing wasn't going to be painful. He let go of the vine and was trying to figure where he was going to land. His landspot was a few yard away from Figgy. Landing straight on his paws would hurt Sefu from how fast he was going, so instead when he land on his paws, he rolled to his back and back over.

"Thank you Figgy for that little plan,"
Sefu whispered to himself before turning to face the two lions on the same side of the river.
"So Rondea, what's your plan now?"

[Kirsui]

Rondea bit his lower lip when he felt Figgy get a hold of his tail so that he would not yelp out loud. Then he landed into the water with a huge splash and sunk almost completely underwater before he pushed his feet down to the bottom and rose up. He shook his mane, now flat from all the water in it, sending droplets fly to all directions. Then he turned to glare at Figgy. The fat lion charged, but he did not look so fast now that he was on all fours instead of flying through the air.

Rondea mentally cursed the fat lion. His tail was now throbbing, and judging by the looks of the fur Figgy had had in his paws, his tail was missing quite a bit. He flicked his ears when he heard a whooshing sound, and he realized that Sefu had borrowed Figgy's little trick and was now with the fat lion.

"So Rondea, what's your plan now?"

"My plan?" he asked while backing away towards the center of the river where the water would be deepest.
"What is more interesting is what your plan is. How do you think you will get Meri back from my pride? Even if you kill me, that would not change the fact the lionesses want to keep her."

He managed to keep his relaxed stance, even when he was quickly going through the options he had to survive from the claws of this group. He was surrounded, and they outnumbered him. His chances of winning a fight - if a fight would begin - with the group looked very grim.

[cheezeegriff]

"How do you think you will get Meri back from my pride? Even if you kill me, that would not change the fact the lionesses want to keep her."

Figgy's charge slowed a bit: Kill him? Is that what they were trying to do? It did sound a bit harsh, and besides, Roneda was right: killing him wouldn't do any good at all.

Then again, he had a better idea. He stepped forward to continue his charge, but then noticed something moving towards the cubnapper through the water, eyes gleaming like a crocodile. Figgy cried out a "No!" as the angry lioness mother leapt from the water with her fangs and claws beared, aiming for Roneda's neck.

[Dakota]

Karensha stood still on the side of the river, there was so much action going on from everyone, she wasn't sure what she should do. Her first instinct was to get into the water from here and attack that loathsome creature, she still held in her mind that it was all her fault that poor Meri was no longer with them, it was her that should have rebuffed the large lion when he came to them all, except she had been taken in by his quiet demeaner and his softly spoken words.. something that had touched a chord in her for some unknown reason.

Her paws moved forward, cool water laping over the top of them now, her eyes fixed on Rondea in the middle of the river, still finding words to throw Sefu and Figgy off course. Karensha raised her front paw once again ready to close the distance, when she felt movement on her back, she had momentarily forgotten little Sanura, who had so bravely done everything she had asked of her and was still holding on tight to her fur.

Realising she couldn't go through with attacking Rondea and still trying to protect the cub, karensha moved slowly into the water, but started paddling away to the left, staying away from the melee, her eyes forward onto the opposite bank, somewhere she could place Sanura out of danger.

[magiccat]

Whilst absolute chaos erupted below Cat picked a careful path across the almost pathway of branches. Her eyes were drawn to the group as she heard Figgy yell and the instant she saw her mum looking so fierce, she looked away.

Cat sped up a little, wishing she could try the vine thing. She finally came to the end and allowed herself to clamber down the tree that was there. Despite her best efforts Cat hated to think of her mum attacking somebody. So she didn't dare look back at the others and instead continued doing what her mum had asked her.

Her mum...Cat would never forget her mums look...how sharp her fangs looked. How had she, sweet story telling cat, come from that...that thing! She shook her head. She had seen the nice side of her mum and when they were done with this she would bring it out again. Finally, she came across a scent trail. Getting into a stalking position, Cat crept forward, following the trail as quietly as she could.

[Deleted]

Sanura was still on Karensha's back hanging on tight, her eyes were wide opened, her head moving in every direction, there was so much going on, she wasn't sure who to look at first.

She could feel her paws and legs getting wet and now the water had reached her tummy, she turned back to look in front of her to see that the snow leopard had reached the bank of the other side of the river. Sanura could feel a thumping vibration under her paws coming from karenshas body, and realised it was her heartbeat and now she could hear her panting as she climbed up the bank. They were safe at last, away from Rondea.

The next thing she knew she was being pushed under a bush and leaves were being placed in front of her, hiding her from everyone, but there was a gap where she could see out and see everything.
Sanuara, stay here and don't move.promise me now, quickly promise

The tiger cub whispered back that she wouldn't move, and watched as they all started to move towards Rondea.

[Kirsui]

"No!"

Figgy's cry was the only warning Rondea got. There was no way he could have dodged the attack that the enraged lioness made. So instead he tensed his muscles and lifted both his frontal paws on air so that he was standing on his hind legs. The lioness crashed at him, and in an instant she made contact he wrapped his arms around the lioness and then pulled her underwater with him. He couldn't see, but he did feel the lioness slash at his throat either with her fangs or claws.

The tall lion struggled to get rid of the lioness while still keeping underwater. At some point he couldn't feel her touch him any more, and at that moment he surrounded to the flow of the river so that the water would take him with it. His neck was bleeding, that much he did know, and he was probably leaving a red trail after him in the water.

Did he care though? No... He had gained what he had come to seek... His lioness had got enough time to take Meri away from the group, and he could now surrender to his fate, be it death or not.

And so Rondea disappeared from the scene of battle.



((OOC: I hope I didn't do too much in the fight scene. I am pulling all my characters out of this role play, I don't have the time to keep up with it sadly, even if it was my first role play I joined here at TLKGO.))

[Deleted]

(OOC. I will remove this post and yours once you have told me what you would like to do.

Epppe
Rowley
Magicat
Dakota

1. Do you want to continue with this RP now Kirsui has pulled out ?
2. If so..do you want it reopened to allow 2-3 more people to join ?
3. Should it just be closed and sent to Graveyard ?

Safila

[cheezeegriff]

I am enjoying this RP:) The way I see it:

1) We could ask Kir if we can continue the search for Meri. One of us could take over that character (meri.). Not sure I like this idea because in order to create a decent plot of it, the person playing Meri would also have to play other members of her old pride in order to simulate an actual plot. It'd probably fall on me... so I'd probably have to give up my other characters.
2a) We can continue from here and pretend we're still following Meri (hoping that Kir will come back once we track down her pride... sounds like a very long shot).
2b) We can continue from the practice RP "First Actual Try at RP," Which is really just wanderers with me, Blaqk.noise, Safila and Dakota. This is based some months after the current events - enough time for Figgy to get fatter, and for Figgy and Karensha to form a relationship. The only difference from 2a will it'll be a timeskip forwards, and will be a chance to refresh the series somewhat and for the current events to be a little less urgent - we can pretend we either saved Meri or did not (I say we pretend Meri got away and, after months of searching, the Wanderers split up and got on with their lives, and now they're coming back together). Blaqk.noise will be in it. This is my favourite idea - to move that practice RP to this folder, and for that to be the new Wanderers.

Either way, Blaqk can join any version if he wants, and I'll be continuing any version with Figgy, and Kali, so long as Cat decides to continue.

Short answer: I'm in.

[epppe]

I like Cheez's last idea of just using that practice RP as the continuation of this one, since it's pretty much like that already.

[magiccat]

Well of course I'm in and Cheez's idea to do the continuation with the practice roleplay sounds good to me.

[Deleted]

OK.. you have all stated you would like part 2.. to be the practise rp that cheese, dakota, Black and myself are doing to be the continuation of 'Let the Journey begin..

I will sticky lock this thread and get Admin to start the new thread and transfer over that Practise rp, so then we can all join in..

Thanks
Saff