A Shadowed Past

[Deleted]

Amaiza bent down and nuzzled him gently. "Are you sure?" She asked. She wanted to be sure so that nothing bad would happen to the lion.

(OOC: by the way.. i'll be joining up another character for this roleplay soon. )

[Lorien]

Zander smiled gently. "I'm positive. I'll be just fine." He looked around at all of the others, wondering if he should listen to the words of his dream, and whether he should tell his friends about them or not.

OOC: Awesome! I am too, but it's not going to be any time soon ^_^

[Kirsui]

A bright white lioness walked slowly through the grasslands. She was tired, she had been running all day. She turned to look back where she was coming and saw the jungle far in the distance.
She waited for a moment, making sure she really wasn't followed... That she had lost her followers and finally managed to escape.
A gust of wind blew and made her long, blue hair wave in the air.

The lioness sighed and continued walking. Her legs were hurting badly. She was in need of water and rest... And she needed them soon.
But the white lioness didn't dare to stop, still in fear that she was followed by someone. She took a few more steps and suddenly fell down. Her legs coldn't carry her any longer. She tried to stand up, but she couldn't. She opened her eyes and looked around. The left side of her face was covered by her hair, only her right eye could be seen. It was very light blue, almost white.

The lioness sighed and again tried to stand up. She saw the sky became filled with clouds. She could feel the rain coming. She wished she wasn't followed anymore, for that she would be easy to catch with no energy to run anymore.

[Fire]

Fire saw clouds in the sky build up and then gulped a little. Rain was not something that was going to fit in his agenda for right now. Even though Fire loved the rain and water, for some reason, he didn't want it to rain. Maybe because of Zander... Maybe because of the cool air... Whatever it was, it didn't make him feel good.

Gazing out into the distance at the horizon for what's to come, he spotted something blue in the short grass that was near the waterhole. He thought nothing of it since at first since it looked like water to him. While scanning out the land again, he saw the water-like blueness, but this time, it moved. Water doesn't move...... Unless.....

He turned to Amaiza and thought up of an excuse to go out and check on the mysterious blueness. "I'm going to check to see if anyone is still around. You know how I said before how they might come back for him? I'm going to the rock near the waterhole to get a better view of the grassland."

He bounds off out of the jungle and jumps down onto random rocks, bursting with power, speed and agility as he runs in the grass area, determined to find out what the blue figure was. He hoped it wasn't anything dangerous.

He runs near the water hole and then stops for a moment to see the white lioness for afar. Wow.... She's... unique. I have never seen a lioness like her... He slowly approaches the lioness, her experession telling him that she was afraid and scared. Not wanting to frighten her anymore than he wanted to, he walks slowly towards the lioness with a very light smile on his face. "You look exhausted..." He spoke to her in a soft and calm voice.

[Kirsui]

The lioness looked at Fire. She was breathing fast at first, thinking he was one of her followers, maybe wanting to take her back.
But once she realized Fire wasn't going to hurt her she relaxed a bit. But still she was too afraid to move.
When Fire said she was looking exhausted she just nodded, still watching Fire closely. She blinked her eyes as she felt the first raindrops falling down to her nose. She tried again to stand up, but her legs still coudln't carry her and she fell back to ground.

[Fire]

Fire watched her nod and get up, trying to stand and walk, but falling as she was extremely tired. He rushed to her side and just caught her head against the back of his neck, hoping that it didn't hurt her. "You need rest... Badly... I'll take you back to where I live..." He lay down on the ground so that it served as a stepping mark. "Climb onto my back. I'll carry you. Do you think that you have the energy to do that?"

Her head felt really heavy againt his neck because she put hardly any effort into holding herself up. She really needs rest...

[Kirsui]

The lioness gave a thankful look to Fire. Then she slowly climbed to his back. She needed to use all her energy to do that. She gave the last scared look towards the jungle in the distance and then let her head fall down. Her long hair almost toughed the ground, even though she was in Fire's back.
The lioness closed her eyes for a moment. She was relieved that someone actually wanted to help her, instead of hurting her. Some more waterdrops fell on her.
Soon it would be raining heavily. The lioness hoped Fire would get to a shelter of some sort before the rain would go stronger.

[Fire]

Fire felt a sudden heavyness as the lioness climbed onto his back, feeling a few raindrops on his cheek and felt a sudden worry. Rain, I don't want you right now.... He felt her long hair gently touch his shoulders, running into the grasslands while trying to balance her. Unfortunately, the rain was getting harder and his fur was starting to get extremely wet. Fire could hear the lioness groan and looked up ahead. Thankfully, the shelter wasn't too far and he picked up the pace, his legs now crying out painfully to him as they were begging for rest. Legs, don't do me wrong... You will get rest soon enough. Fire lets out a roar of power as he bursts up the hill to where the shelter was, leaping onto the rocks and tilting his body forward so that she wouldn't fall.

Fire entered the shelter with Amaiza, Zander and Isiro carrying the white lioness, panting heavily and rain dripping down from his mane. His knees were shaking from all of the carrying and running that he had done during the day. He spoke extremely weakly and he looked like he was going to pass out. "H-help me... Please..." With a final breath, he collapsed onto the ground, the lioness still on his back and his body flat on the dirt. Fire was breathing very softly as his body was extremely overworked. His mind was running through manty thoughts, the one that constantly played through his mind was, "I hope I got her safe........"

[Lorien]

Zander rushed over, dispite the throbbing in his head. He gently pushed and pulled the white lioness off of Fire's back, setting her gently on the ground before him. He looked down at her, not recognizing her before. She looked exhausted and probably needed lots of rest and caring for. He then stepped away and looked to Fire. "What happened?" Zander looked out of the tree to try and see anything outside, but all he could see was the falling rain...

"Is she hurt?" he asked, looking down at the small lioness. When he saw others in need, it seemed as if his own ailments became of no importance to him. He couldn't stand to see suffering in others lions.

[Fire]

Fire spoke through deep and heavy breathing while trying to get up slowly. "I...I was going to see if anyone else was near by... And I found her near the waterhole...." His rain-soaked fur was extremely damp to a point where it was dripping off. "She looked really exhausted... And she had a really scared look on her face... Almost as if someone was making her run..."

[Kirsui]

The lioness' eyes shot open in fear and looked at Zander when he helped her away from Fire's back. When she heard Zander asking if she was hurt, she sook her head.
She wasn't hurt, but she needed a lot of rest. Despite that she still tried to stand up, still a bit afraid of all these lions around her. But her legs couldn't hold her up and she collapsed back down. In the process her long hair moved away from the right side of her face.

The lioness sighed deeply as she looked up to Zander with her both eyes open. Her left eye was light blue, but the right one...
It was all cream white with a long scar starting just above it and going down to her mouth.
And with her right eye the lioness couldn't see anything.

[Fire]

Fire walked over to the lioness, her fur being soaked as well from the rain. It was very sad to see her like this. He looked over to Zander. "Do you think that you could get her something that could help her rest?...."

[Lorien]

Zander looked down at the lioness, as she was looking up at him. As he did, he felt sorry for her, and wondered what could have happened to cause such a scar. "Just lay still, we'll take care of you." He then gave a warm smile. "No worries, alright?"

He then turned to Fire, an extremely calm look on his face despite the circumstances. "Before we do anything, we need to get her drieid off. The last thing she needs right now is getting sick from the cold rain." Zander then looked back down to the lioness. "I'll be back. I know of an herb that relaxes the muscles and helps to soothe them." He looked to Fire. "Make sure she gets dry somehow. Hopefully the plant is around here somewhere..." With that, he bounded down from the tree and into the surrounding jungle, looking for the mysterious plant.

[Fire]

He nods as Zander goes off into the jungle, thinking of a way to get her dry. There wasn't anything dry around and the leaves that were there were slipping water from the tips. The only way he could think of to dry her was to keep on using his mane to dry her off. It seemed like the only option at the time and it was the only thing that Fire could think of.

He shook off all that he could off of his own mane. Suprisingly, he was really dry despite the fact that he was out in the rain the same time as the lioness was. He leaned his mane into her fur, rubbing it against it to try to get her as dry as possible. He got an idea in his head on how to make a really good heat source. Fire.

Even though that he was limited to his stature, Fire had learned to cope with that by using it to his advantage. He gathered a bunch of dry grass and sticks that were covered by the trees into a pile just above a high rock. With a stone at the the bottom and a bunch of other rocks, he jumped up onto the high rock with the other rocks in his mouth. He dropped the light rocks onto the rocks that were on the ground, causing sparks to fly from them. A few more attempts caused the grass and sticks to smoke. Fire used this to his advantage and jumped down, wincing a little in pain form the jump. Leaning his mouth near the smoke. he blew into it lightly, making a little flame in the fire. He grinned as it grew bigger, adding more sticks as it grew. He lifted the lioness onto his shoulders and carried her near the fire. Putting big rocks around the flame so it wouldn't spread, he watched it intensly. Fire discovered how to do this by watching a couple of hairless animals do it that had thumbs. He watched and figured out that when you hit the two rocks together, it makes sparks.

Fire looks over to the lioness and nuzzles her softly. "You doing ok...?" His concern for the lioness was very deep.

[Lorien]

((Sorry this is so long....it was about time Zander had a violent flashback...and I felt like busting out with a little more detail than normal ^_^))

Hopping down the rocks, Zander soon found out how cold the rain really was. He looked above him, water splashing in his eyes as he did this, at the blackening storm clouds. They clashed together, making booming sounds that seemed able to shake the ground. The lightning flashed, illuminating the now dark grasslands, showing for the world to see those stray animals trying to find a means of shelter from the storm. Zander then turned to the jungle, looking around as he did this. Something about the darkness made him have second thoughts. The lightning flashed only to show the shadowed jungle floor stricken with tangled shadows and mysterious shapes. Zander then thought about the lioness in need of rest back in the tree, and he plunged quickly into the vast wilderness...

Looking around, he could see nothing but black. Occasionally, the lightning would guide his feet and eyes, but his other senses were being put to the test. His sense of smell got to work, trying to sniff out the bitter smell of the plant. Zander heard snapping twigs every once in a while, making him jump a little and shudder. He didn't know this area and he didn't want to find out about it's inhabitants at this moment. So with his head forcibly held high, he plunged deeper into the shadowed jungle in search of the plant.

Luckily, Zander found a path to follow, and follow it he did. His eyes darted around hurriedly every time the jungle floor was lit up from overhead, the booming sound of thunder quickly following. He heard the flapping of wings overhead as a bird shook the water from it's waterlogged feathers. He wanted to get out of here, but knew that he couldn't until he found the plant he was looking for. Then, he saw it just as the last bit of lightning was fading. The green leaves strewn with red markings caught his eyes. He slowly walked up to the plant and sniffed. His nose felt the bitter tang of the plant's unique smell and he nodded to himself. He then took some into his mouth and pulled it off the vine. He pulled away sharply, a swift pain in his mouth making him flinch. Thorns, Zander... He had forgotten all about the thorns. In fact, it was much a wonder he remembered the plant at all with his mind in it's current condition. He decided to grin and bear it for the sake of the lioness back at the shelter in need.

Zander bent down to pick the loose leaves back up with his mouth when all of a sudden, a high pitched ringing filled his ears. He roared out as the pitch increased its volume and filled his entire head with it's echo. He looked about himself, down at the plant and then to the trees surrounding him. The jungle floor was spinning and moving in every possible direction. Then the ringing in his ear faded out, but incomprehensible voices replaced it. Zander thrashed his head and body about, trying to get the voices out of his head, his eyes clenched shut. He felt like he was going crazy. The voices became louder and louder and every once in a while, he would hear them clearly. "Zander.....Zander.." They would call his name, as if beckoning him. Whispers and shouts flooded his ears. He put his paws to them, trying to cover them up. He opened his eyes, but the jungle was no longer there. Instead, he saw hundreds of himself, staring him down, maniacal grins on each face. They had no eyes, only black holes. "NO!" he shouted, closing his eyes, but the images were still there. He unknowingly ripped bits of his mane out, trying to rid his head of the images and sounds. Then, his conscious self collapsed on the jungle floor and his sub conscious mind took full reign of his thoughts.

Zander opened his eyes to look upon a scene he had seen before. His mother and father, surrounding him and looking down on him with adorning faces. He was a young cub and he looked up at them with a smiling face. As he looked on this picture, the image of his mother began to have a look of horror on her face blood poured from wounds that appeared out of nowhere. Zander looked at his father, who no longer had a loving smile on his face but a grin of the purest evil, his claws extended and paws smeared with blood. The blood of Zander's mother. He looked around and saw his own look of terror as the cub him stared at the spectacle before him. Zander's mother dropped motionless on the ground at a final blow from his father, who then turned on the cub. "Daddy loves you, Zander. Mommy is sleeping right now, so why don't you go outside and play." A smile played on the face of his father, the father who had killed his own mate right before his son. "Mommy needs her rest...and it's almost time for you to go down for a nap as well." The smile changed to a snarl as the father lunged at the whimpering cub, who bolted out of the cave they were in as fast as his small little legs would carry him. Into the nearby jungle he went, and the adult Zander followed from above, observing the entire scene. His father's grinning face flashed before him as the scene disappeared before his eyes.

Then the great lion from his dreams appeared, long black mane blowing in the wind and purple eyes piercing into his own. "You must heed my words, Zander. You must go now on the journey ahead of you. Use the help of friends to aid you on your way. Only through me will you find the truth. Go Now! You are in grave danger. Your future lies ahead of you through the grasslands and to the mountains, yet so does your past. To recieve the future that has been laid out for you, you must confront your past. I am the holder of the key to your victory over the past that is shrouded in darkness. Your journey will show to you who you are and what you will become. Now Go! Become that which you are destined to be! The mountains in the East will be your first obstacle." The lion's face faded away and with it, Zander regained consciousness.

Shaking his head, which was throbbing with the worst pains, he slowly stood to his feet. He looked around, the jungle floor and trees surrounding him once again. He looked down and saw the plants that had caused his tongue to swell and throb as well. Remembering why he was here, he quickly grabbed the leaves and rushed down the pathway to the safety of the tree, the images of the dream running through his head. But no matter how much he tried, the image he couldn't get out of his head was the grinning face of his father. The face that he somehow knew he was going to see again.

[Kirsui]

((OOC: Good post Mighty! ;D ))

The lioness flinched a bit as Fire started to dry her. But with no energy, she couldn't pull herself away. After a moment something in her mind told her she was going to be ok, that Fire was only trying to help. She relaxed a bit and looked as Fire took some dry grass and sticks, wondering what he was going to do.
When she saw the fire, she gasped in amazement. Never had she seen any lion making fire!

As Fire lifted her closer to the heat of burning sticks, she smiled at him thankfully. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening how the flames ate the dry sticks.
Then she heard something else.
She opened her eyes and slowly turned her head to look outside to the rain. She had sensitive ears, and she had heard Zander's steps through the rain, although he still wasn't that close to the cave.

[Deleted]

Bahreeka Heard a roar and came out from underneath a tree. She saw a lion get up and start running. She Stared at the lion then decided to catch up to him. Bahreeka took a deep breath then sprinted off after the lion. She finally caught up with him, she was now running next to him.
"Umm.. hi.." She said between panting. "I'm Bahreeka.." She sniffed the air and noticed there were more lions, not just this one. "You from around here?" She said while still running next to the lion.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Amaiza got up and went down to the others, she lay down next to the new lion. "Hi.. I'm Amaiza.. are you ok.. what happened?" Amaiza stared at the lioness blankly.

[Kirsui]

The lioness quickly turned her head to Amaiza, who had layed down next to her. Her left eye focused on her. She hadn't noticed Amaiza when Fire carried her here, so she was a bit scared of where Amaiza had appeared. There was a sad look in the lioness' face when Amaiza asked her about what happened. With a sigh she layed her head down in silence.

[Lorien]

As Zander was running past the greenery, he suddenly heard footfalls and a voice beside him. He looked down to see a cheetah running next to him, trying to carry a conversation. He nodded to her in greetings. "Hy nahy ii Zanner..." he said muffled, trying to talk with his mouth tightly clamped about the leaves for the new lioness. When she asked if he was from around here, he decided to not try that again and he just shook his head no. He beckoned for the cheetah to follow as he sped up, seeing the opening from the jungle ahead of him. His head was still throbbing uncontrollably. As he reached the opening, he tore out of the jungle and bounded to where the fire was...Wait, there was a fire? He decided not to question it, but instead looked down at the white lioness and smiled, setting the leaves down from his mouth.

"Chew these leaves up...they might be a little slobbery..." It hurt to talk as his tongue scraped across his mouth, upsetting the tiny cuts the thorns had generously provided. "They will help you to relax and will probably put you to sleep..." He then looked behind him to see if the cheetah was still there and, seeing that she was, he smiled. "Everyone," he started, motioning to Bahreeka, "This is Behreeka." He looked to the jungle and then to her. "I'm sorry I had no time for a proper introduction. "Name's Zander."

[Fire]

Fire had jumped down from the tall rock that he had been keeping sentry on and landed smoothly on his four paws, sitting next to the lioness that was laying beside the fire. "My name is Kino. But, everyone calls me Fire." He looked over to Bahreeka. "Nice to meet you." He nods his head to her. He turns his attention to the rest of the group. "If your wondering where the fire came from... I made it... It's something that I taught myself and learned from these two-legged hairless animals. I find it quite useful for the situation right now. And don't worry about it, I have it under control... I learned that the hard way..."

[Kirsui]

The lioness was startled as Fire jumpped next to her. She hadn't seen him, since he had jumpped to her right side...
The side she couldn't see.
But once she saw it was Fire, she relaxed. Then she remembered the plant Zander had brought for her. She looked at the plant and carefully picked it up with her paw. The plant smelled very strongly and she didn't like it. But when she gave a quick look for Zander she decited to eat the plant.

As the lioness carefully chewed the plant, she flinched. The plant was very bittery, it tasted awful! She digged her claws to the ground and forced herself to swallow. After that she gasped and blinked her eyes. She shook her head a bit as her eyelids became heavier.
The lioness placed her head down again and closed her eyes. Then she drifted to a dreamless sleep.

[Fire]

Fire turned to the group and spoke in a soft tone. "You guys might want to leave her alone for a couple of hours... She was totally exhausted when I found her." Fire sat beside the fire with the lioness, the glow of the flames radiating throughout the area. "In the meantime, let's rest and talk. We have a guest, don't we?" He smiles at Baheekra.

[Lorien]

Zander smiled at Bahreeka as well. He then looked down at the white lioness. "Don't worry about her, Fire. She will be fine. She should sleep through the night, the plant has already taken its effect." He then smiled, but it suddenly faded as the throbbing pain in his head suddenly reappeared. Once again, he tried to play it off and he soon looked to Bahreeka. "Sorry I was so rushed earlier. As you can see..." he glanced down to the now sleeping Meri, "...I had someone here that needed quick relief from her ailments." He looked back up to the cheetah with a smile, despite the pain racking his head. "So what brings you here? Do you live in this area?"

[Deleted]

Bahreeka follwed the lion to a clearing. There was a group of other lions there as well. She smiled at them all and nodded her head as a greeting. "So what brings you here? Do you live in this area?" She heard Zander say. "Well.. i'm looking for my big brother actually. It's a long story.. to make it short. When i was little the males in our pride went out to fight another small cheetah pride who wanted to take over our territory. They never came back.. so over night i ran off to find my brother. And here i am, still looking for him. So i guess that answers your other question, no i don't live here. I was just gonna camp out in that tree for the night and then continue on my journey." She said and stared at them all. "You don't ind if i stick around for a while do you?" She questioned them all hoping for a yes. " I mean.. i haven't had company in a long time.."

[Lorien]

Zander smiled. "I'm alright with it, and I'm sure everyone else feels the same as well." He looked to the others and his thoughts suddenly trailed to his most recent vision. Use the help of friends to aid your way... He knew that he had to go on the journey, there was no doubt of it in his mind. But could he drag his newly found friends down with him? He didn't even know if he would survive it, and he couldn't bring himself to ask them to risk their lives as well. He shook his head to get the thoughts out, but it didn't help. They were still there. And the sight of his father...and mother were prevelant as well. He didn't know what to do. He just sat there, looking at the ground as these thoughts ran through his head.

[Fire]

Fire didn't feel like talking about why he was here. Everyone had mentioned something about looking for family and brothers or sisters. He got a slight sad look on his face. Fire had no brothers to turn to for help... He was all on his own...

[Deleted]

Bahreeka smiled at Zanders reply. "thanks guys." Bahreeka looked around. Everyone seemed to be sitting there staring at the ground.
"So urgh.. do you want me to go get us something to eat.. or something?" She asked blankly.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Amaiza just smiled. "Sure.. if you want.. oh and by the way. I'm Amaiza."

[Prince of Pridelands]

(oh man this is really late! sorry guys! I hope its ok)

Due to his mostly reserved personality Isiro remained silent for most of the time. He watched as Fire left to scout the area. It had started raining in the meantime and Isiro curled himself some more to keep warm. A while passed before Fire returned... with an unusual lioness on his back. He assisted in gently placing her on the ground and stood there if any assistance be needed. Fortunately she seemed to be mostly fine. Zander left to fetch some medicinal herb he mentioned. He kept an eye on her with Fire as he was starting a fire. He was impressed by his knowledge of fire. As Zander returned he noticed he looked worse than he did when he left, but he refrained from asking the poor guy.
Apparently he brought a guest with him, a cheetah. He introduced himself with a nod and smile as everyone else did. Her story was saddening. Isiro felt a bit strange... he didnt have any family or such that he could attend to. He lowered his head in thought. He looked up as Bahreeka asked the question. He was about to speak but looked to the others instead seeing what they decided.

[Lorien]

OOC: Of course it is ^_^

BIC: Zander suddenly looked up, his mind coming back to the reality around him. He looked to Bahreeka and smiled. "That sounds wonderful. I haven't had anything to eat in..." He pauses and thinks. "Well..I really don't remember when the last time I ate was..." He chuckled to himself, laughing at his present condition, even though he knew it was nothing that should be laughed about, especially by himself.

"Would you like any help with the hunting?" Zander asked the cheetah. Although he really wasn't in the best condition to be going on a hunt, he didn't want to leave the responsibility up to one individual. She might need some help, and he was never one to pass up giving it.

[Fire]

"Zander.... Keep in mind that you are not in the best condition..." Fire warned Zander with a concerned tone. "You need rest... How about if I take your place?... It would be a lot more effective if I did... No offense..."

Fire didn't want to say what he just said. Even though it was true, it still made him have a small pit in his stomach.