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Post by Kirsui on Apr 4, 2011 19:01:35 GMT
"You know Meri, we would be able to help you a lot more if you told us what's wrong. Just a moment ago you were running around, smiling, and laughing, and now you're terrified. We want to help you, but we can't unless we know what the problem is."
Meri glanced between Basilisk and Sera, but she still refused to talk. Instead, she tilted her head down slightly, hiding most of her face in her hair. She was still trembling, though less than she had when Sera had found her from the caves.
The cheelion couldn't help but sigh once again at how difficult the lioness was to calm down. She examined Meri momentarily, then came to the conclusion that the lioness really wasn't afraid of either her of Basilisk. She pushed herself up on her feet and opened her mouth to say that she'd go check what the situation was outside. However, she never got the chance.
"Th..e..y... a..ll.. d..ie..d... l..i...ke th..a..t..."
Sera froze on the spot, staring at Meri with wide eyes. The lioness was coughing now, and for a moment Sera wondered whether or not she had heard right.
But she must have... She was certain that Meri had spoken, despite the fact that her words were difficult to understand and her voice raspy. Clearly she hadn't spoken for a long time.
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Post by blaqknoise on Apr 4, 2011 19:10:19 GMT
When Sera got up, he assumed that she was going to leave and check out the corpse, but when Meri spoke she stopped.
"Th..e..y... a..ll.. d..ie..d... l..i...ke th..a..t..."
Basilisk could barely make out what she said, but he figured it out. He was happy that he had decided to say something, but what she had to say only brought up more questions.
"Who's "they", Meri?" he asked in a calm voice.
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Post by dakota on Apr 8, 2011 3:49:47 GMT
Karensha stared at Kabechet and found herself almost whispering.
"There's a dead cub close by... that's why there's no one here. you think one of them have something to do with it and they aren't telling me ?"
Without waiting for an answer Karensha broke into a run, heading straight back to the cave, her thoughts running amok about what the snake had just tossed at her and for once she knew Kabechet was innocent in whatever had happened.
Seeing the cave before her, karensha didn't slow down and bounded inside right in time to catch what the small lioness was telling Basilisk and Sera.
Standing still, the leopards lilac fur tuft seemed to stand on end with it all floating around and over Maji who was still clinging onto her, and she moved closer to where Meri was trembling.
Not looking at the others Karensha bought up a paw and gently moved some of the lionesses fur away that was covering and hiding her face, pushing it to the side and then with that paw bought her chin up, so they were looking eye to eye.
"Meri... did you know who that cub was you saw just now ? and whoever you are running from, as Basilisk said, we need to know who they are.... because now we will protect you, but also we have another cub here to care for, and he is very much alive and I intend for him to stay that way."
Turning her head she grabbed Maji and held him by the scruff of his neck and positioned him in front of the lioness face.
"Look at him Meri... open your eyes properly and let him take away the bad thoughts that are filling you right now, that's overwhelming you.... Meri nuzzle him feel his warmth."
Karensha stood there hoping Meri would react to seeing Maji in front of her and snap out of her frozen state, so they could get some answers, she needed to leave the cub with her and go look around to start with.
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Post by Kirsui on Apr 8, 2011 6:07:46 GMT
"There's a dead cub close by... that's why there's no one here. you think one of them have something to do with it and they aren't telling me ?"
Kabechet watched with an amused smirk as Karensha raced off to the cave. Calmly she put her head back on her body. It seemed that the leopard wasn't so suspicious of her any more. Either way, what would happen now would definitely be interesting.
"Who's "they", Meri?"
Meri glanced at Basilisk from between her coughs. But before she could do anything, Karensha appeared. The white lioness froze when the leopard lifted her chin up.
"Meri... did you know who that cub was you saw just now ? and whoever you are running from, as Basilisk said, we need to know who they are.... because now we will protect you, but also we have another cub here to care for, and he is very much alive and I intend for him to stay that way."
Meri remained frozen when Karensha paused and put Maji in front of her. The lioness stared down at the cub, but all she could see was the mental image of that dead cub that she had seen a moment ago. She didn't even hear Karensha's last words, the memory of that dead one was too fresh in her mind.
And so she whimpered miserably and jerked back, crawling backwards to put enough space between herself, Karensha and Maji.
When Meri jerked back from Karensha and Maji, Sera had had enough. She placed herself in front of Meri, blocking her view of Karensha and the cub.
"Thanks a lot", she snapped at the leopard with a cold expression.
"We almost got her calmed down, and now you made her all upset again. Why don't you go pester someone else who's not quite so close to a breakdown as she is?"
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Post by blaqknoise on Apr 8, 2011 6:32:15 GMT
"Meri... did you know who that cub was you saw just now ? and whoever you are running from, as Basilisk said, we need to know who they are.... because now we will protect you, but also we have another cub here to care for, and he is very much alive and I intend for him to stay that way. Look at him Meri... open your eyes properly and let him take away the bad thoughts that are filling you right now, that's overwhelming you.... Meri nuzzle him feel his warmth."
Basilisk became frustrated as Karensha very impatiently asked Meri questions and gave her the cub. All that progress that they had worked for was now gone because of the snow leopard decided she wanted answers right away.
It seemed Basilisk wasn't the only one who was frustrated though.
"Thanks a lot. We almost got her calmed down, and now you made her all upset again. Why don't you go pester someone else who's not quite so close to a breakdown as she is?"
"Relax Sera. I don't think she knew about the emotional state of Meri."
He then turned to snow leopard.
"We need to be a bit more patient Karensha. If we want answers, we have to work at getting them slowly and make sure Meri doesn't feel uncomfortable."
He let out a frustrated sigh and looked over at Meri.
"What now?" he asked himself.
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Post by dakota on Apr 8, 2011 6:45:48 GMT
karensha held her tongue as Meri started whimpering and pulled back away from Maji and herself, she needed answers and sooner the better, if Naheem hadn't been travelling alone and had seen her with Maji and then mistook for some reason the other one and had killed it, she had to start making plans.
About to move in close to the small lioness again, she was blocked by the cheelion.
Thanks a lot,
We almost got her calmed down, and now you made her all upset again. Why don't you go pester someone else who's not quite so close to a breakdown as she is?"
Stepping back Karensha calmly placed the cub down on the ground and turned her back on both Maji and Meri and faced the female who was glaring at her.
"Thanks alot....thanks alot... you say."
Moving in close to the cheelion, Karensha lowered her voice as cold clipped words came out.
"I will do what I have to do, to survive out here with Maji, whether you like it or not, so you Miss precious need to get out of that girl what she knows, or else I will do it regardless of what you think about it."
Picking up Maji, karensha pushed past Sera, nudging her hard, glancing at Basilisk as she went past. Sighing to herself Karensha realised she was probably on her own again.
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Post by Kirsui on Apr 8, 2011 7:09:51 GMT
"I will do what I have to do, to survive out here with Maji, whether you like it or not, so you Miss precious need to get out of that girl what she knows, or else I will do it regardless of what you think about it."
"'Do anything', huh?" Sera asked bitterly, ignoring Basilisk's remark that she needed to calm down.
"You.. you... idiot!" she hissed at Karensha's retreating back. "Is your own curiosity and need to know what the hell's going on so much more important to you than Meri's feelings? Are you so damn ignorant of others that you have to do whatever is best to your interests, regardless of what it does to others?"
She sneered in disgust.
"You disgust me, Karensha, if that is the case. You don't probably care what my opinion is - judging by the names you call me all the time... But seriously, I damn sure am not gonna let you hurt Meri any more than you already have with what ridiculous display of yours."
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Post by dakota on Apr 8, 2011 7:24:52 GMT
"We need to be a bit more patient Karensha. If we want answers, we have to work at getting them slowly and make sure Meri doesn't feel uncomfortable."
Karensha opened her mouth and then shut it again quickly, fine she'd be the bad guy, while they all hovered around Meri, she'd go and see if she could find answers herself.
Looking back at the cheelion, Karensha looked her up and down and then sneered at her.
You.. you... idiot, Is your own curiosity and need to know what the hell's going on so much more important to you than Meri's feelings? Are you so damn ignorant of others that you have to do whatever is best to your interests, regardless of what it does to others?"
Karensha should have kept walking, but instead placed the cub on the ground and took a few steps, once again stopping in front of Sera.
"This isn't MY INTERESTS you fool, this is the cubs, this is hers over there you are protecting, would you rather just sit and wait and bide your time till when she wants to talk again, while maybe we are all being stalked. You think I'm the threat.. fine I'll leave, but you'd better watch your back, cause know one else will be doing it for you."
Turning, Karensha picked up Maji , refusing to look at Basilisk, walked out of the cave and moved to find Sefu and Jabari, hoping they could fill her in on what they found.
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Post by blaqknoise on Apr 8, 2011 7:54:37 GMT
Basilisk sighed as he listened to Sera and Karensha go back and forth. Now was not the time for this, they needed to figure out what was going on, and what Meri was talking about.
"This isn't MY INTERESTS you fool, this is the cubs, this is hers over there you are protecting, would you rather just sit and wait and bide your time till when she wants to talk again, while maybe we are all being stalked. You think I'm the threat.. fine I'll leave, but you'd better watch your back, cause know one else will be doing it for you."
Basilisk decided that it was time for him to intervene. He jogged over to Karnesha and jumped in front of her, stopping to snow leopard where she was.
"We could have sent you away a long time ago, but we decided to let you stay because we wanted to help you. We know the risks of letting you stay with us, but we still allow you to be here. All of us are looking out for you and putting ourselves in danger for you. Meri doesn't deserve to be threatened by you like that, and Sera doesn't deserve to be treated like that. These two are your allies who, like I said, are putting themselves in danger for you. They have your best interests in mind, not theirs."
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Post by Kirsui on Apr 8, 2011 8:11:07 GMT
"This isn't MY INTERESTS you fool, this is the cubs, this is hers over there you are protecting, would you rather just sit and wait and bide your time till when she wants to talk again, while maybe we are all being stalked. You think I'm the threat.. fine I'll leave, but you'd better watch your back, cause know one else will be doing it for you."
Sera was seething at Karensha's words. How could the leopard be so dense?! Stalked? For all they knew, the cub could've died out of natural causes and a scavenger might have taken a bite out of it!
She didn't have time to say anything to Karensha though when the leopard suddenly bolted out of the cave. Basilisk went after her, and she was left alone with the still horrified Meri.
Sera sighed in frustration, trying to suppress her rage.
"Sorry 'bout that, Meri", she said with an apologetic look.
"No one wanted to scare you, we're all just a bit edgy right now."
'Not to mention that Karensha and I simply don't get along', she mentally added with a sigh.
She approached the lioness slowly, crouching low in front of her and reaching out to touch Meri's paw with her own.
"You ok? No one's gonna hurt you, none of us will let that happen."
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Post by dakota on Apr 10, 2011 1:26:21 GMT
Jabari looked at Sefu as he suggested they needed to tell Karensha about the dead cub. Releasing a small sigh, the cheetah wasn't sure how she would react... one it being a cub who was the spitting image of Maji and two whether she thought it was some how conencted to her.
"So.. you want to be the one to break the news to her?"
Smirking a little Jabari stood there.
"And when you do, I'll be right behind you...watching out for you of course."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karensha needed to get away from them all and find where Jabari was and this dead cub, she needed to see it and look for any signs that it could have come from Naheem.
Before she could get further out of the cave, she felt another beside her and then Basilisk was blocking her way,standing in front of her.Gritting her teeth she managed to get out to Basilisk before he interupted her.
"Get out of my way and go back to the princess and co."
"We could have sent you away a long time ago, but we decided to let you stay because we wanted to help you. We know the risks of letting you stay with us, but we still allow you to be here. All of us are looking out for you and putting ourselves in danger for you. Meri doesn't deserve to be threatened by you like that, and Sera doesn't deserve to be treated like that. These two are your allies who, like I said, are putting themselves in danger for you. They have your best interests in mind, not theirs."
Karensha snorted at the lion, letting some fur fall down and cover her eyes so he couldn't see what she was feeling.
"Those two are my allies and are putting themselves in danger for me, plus they have my best interests in mind.... oh please who are you trying to fool. Meri is so close to collapse she couldn't fight her way out of a paperbag, and the cheelion, well she will be the one to surprise you. Yes you and Sefu came and helped me with Naheem and you both put yourself in danger for me...but don't worry it wont happen again.. I'm used to being on my own and looking after myself."
Stepping around him, Karensha moved on, willing herself not to look back at him standing there. Straightening her shoulders she sniffed at the air and followed the scent , as it was getting stronger with each step she took.
Remembering Maji was still with her, she knew she had to trust Jabari or Sefu with him, while she went out and scouted around, the trouble was which one. Moving her head slightly she spoke in a gentle voice to the cub.
"Maji... I'm going to have to leave you with the cheetah or Sefu for a little bit, while I go and have a look around and see if there's any strangers around that could disturb things, but I will be back for you, remember that and be good for me."
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Post by epppe on Apr 11, 2011 10:24:19 GMT
"So.. you want to be the one to break the news to her?"
"I was hoping it would be you," Sefu said before Jabari continued to talk.
"And when you do, I'll be right behind you...watching out for you of course."
Sefu just let out a sigh before speaking again, "I'm sure I could handle things myself, but I guess if you want to deal with things if they go bad, then that means less work for me."
Hearing something in the distance, Sefu's ears started to twitch trying to hear what it was. He could tell that it was the leopard and lion and they also seemed to be argueing about something. Getting up, Sefu just started walking in the direction of which he heard the two.
"Well come on then, I don't feel like standing around here all day," He said to Jabari as he started walking. It didn't take very long before Sefu started hearing Karensha start speaking from no far away. Sefu listened closely behind a bush as she seemed to speak to the cub.
"Maji... I'm going to have to leave you with the cheetah or Sefu for a little bit, while I go and have a look around and see if there's any strangers around that could disturb things, but I will be back for you, remember that and be good for me."
"I say leave the cub with the cheetah," Sefu said to Karensha as he made his way around the bush and into her vision, "He's probably more responsible, and I want to follow you out of curiousity."
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Post by blaqknoise on Apr 11, 2011 22:01:35 GMT
Basilisk decided to let Karensha walk off after she had spoken. She obviously wasn't going to change, or even try to change, her view on this whole situation.
He walked back into the cave and looked at both Sera and Meri.
"Karensha has a one-track mind. There's little we can do to change that if she isn't going to listen."
He looked at Meri once more. He wanted to get some more answers from her, but he decided to wait a while and let her calm down. Until then he wasn't sure about what to do. He looked over at Sera to see if she had any ideas.
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Post by dakota on Apr 14, 2011 2:36:16 GMT
Jabari smiled to himself as the lion suggested he could handle things himself with Karensha, this time he would just watch and listen as to what the outcome would be.
As Sefu started to walk off, the cheetah took one last look at where the mauled cub lay and was about to follow as he could hear voices raised when the lion ahead of him turned.
"Well come on then, I don't feel like standing around here all day," .
"I'm coming, we need to get to the leopard before she finds this I think."
Moving after Sefu, Jabari nearly bumped into him when he stopped before some bushes listening to what was clearly Karensha's voice talking to the cub.
'Should I tell her about the cub or should I let Sefu do the talking, what if he's too blunt she can't go rushing blindly into anything'.
Before he could think about it any longer Sefu had pushed thru the bushes answering a question of the leopards but Jabari had missed out on what it actually was. Quickly he followed Sefu his ears twitching while catching the conversation.
"what do you mean leave the cub with me ?, where are you two going anyway ?"
Coming to stand beside the lion Jabari gave him a little nudge.
"Before you make plans for anything, Sefu here needs to tell you about a little incident that has happened ...and who were you arguing with anyway, I can't see the snake or anyone else for that matter ?"
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Post by Kirsui on Apr 17, 2011 12:14:40 GMT
"Karensha has a one-track mind. There's little we can do to change that if she isn't going to listen."
Sera let out a frustrated sigh.
"Wish she wasn't so stubborn about everything..."
She looked at Meri worriedly. The lioness had turned her back at them and was facing the wall. She almost looked like she was asleep, but Sera saw how tense she was and knew that the lioness was faking it.
The cheelion sighed again and glanced at Basilisk.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
Kabechet slowly opened her eyes and flicked her tongue out. She laid motionless for a moment, then seemed to make up her mind as she launched herself into the grass. She slithered soundlessly through the blades, her forked tongue keeping track of the surrounding scents.
Then she froze momentarily, seemingly waiting for something. A smirk spread on her muzzle when she pushed herself forward, her maw opening and her fangs sinking into the flesh of her unsuspecting target.
She retreated just as quickly as she had struck, watching with unblinking eyes as the other snake trashed in front of her as her venom worked its way in its body. It was notably smaller than she was, hardly even worth her time. However, she knew the snake was poisonous, and she didn't want it here.
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Post by blaqknoise on Apr 17, 2011 17:47:35 GMT
"What do we do now?"
"Well..." Basilisk started as he looked back at white lioness. "We wait untill Meri has had some time to calm down, and then we start from square one again."
Basilisk sat down, knowing they wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.
"Is there something you want to do while we wait?"
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Post by dakota on Apr 19, 2011 2:53:55 GMT
I say leave the cub with the cheetah ,he's probably more responsible, and I want to follow you out of curiousity."
Karensha's head snapped up when she heard Sefu speak, and there beside him was the cheetah as well, looking somewhat sheepish.
Staring at them both one by one, she then took a step closer, leaving Maji behind her, hopefully out of earshot as she listened to Sefu explain to her about what they had found.
Karensha kept her fringe hanging over her eyes masking her emotions, she was good at keeping them hidden and her body still so no one would know what she was feeling, she'd had many years perfecting that art, and for now there was no one close enough to her, for her to let them in wanting to share.
"So ..Kabechet was correct in telling me something was amiss over in this direction and that I would want to know.... You both realise that I need to scout around just to satisfy myself that it wasn't connected to anything or anyone from me."
Glancing behind her towards the cave where the others were consoling the white lioness, Karensha sighed and looked to Jabari.
"maybe you should take Maji and go find the females.. It seems I've incurred Basilisk and Seras anger once again. They took what I was trying to do as bullying Meri when I was trying to get some information so I could protect them.. again."
Leaning over Karensha picked up the cub and placed him on Jabari's back before anyone could object, gave him a quick nuzzle and stepped back avoiding the cheetahs eyes.
"look after him Jabari, I don't know if I trust the others now, and I'll be back as soon as I feel nothing is connected to me."
Moving back Karensha didn't look at Sef either but let her words hang in the air.
" you'd better tell curiosity to hurry up Sefu, I need to see what you two found "
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Post by epppe on Apr 21, 2011 10:06:35 GMT
"Before you make plans for anything, Sefu here needs to tell you about a little incident that has happened ...and who were you arguing with anyway, I can't see the snake or anyone else for that matter ?"
Sefu knew that he should have told Karensha about the cub, but it seemed she already knew what was happening. He just assumed that the others told her about it and didn't bother telling her anything else.
When Sefu saw Karensha put the cub on the cheetah's back, he wondered if it was such a good idea to follow her. Before getting too caught up in thinking though, he heard the leopard say something to him.
"you'd better tell curiosity to hurry up Sefu, I need to see what you two found"
He walked in a quick pace to catch up with her and was soon walking next to her.
"So how many others were in your group not counting you, the lion and the snake?"
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Post by dakota on Apr 24, 2011 2:36:15 GMT
One moment they were all standing there and the next plans had been made and he was apparantly to look after the cub, while karensha with Sefu were going to 'scout' around.
Thoughtfully the cheetah looked at their backs as they moved off, and then rewent over what the snow leopard had been telling him.
"maybe you should take Maji and go find the females.. It seems I've incurred Basilisk and Seras anger once again. They took what I was trying to do as bullying Meri when I was trying to get some information so I could protect them.. again."
Giving his back a little wriggle feeling the cub hanging on, Jabari spoke soothingly to him.
"karensha won't be long, but for now we're going back to the cave to see what's been happening, you can stand tall and show me the way Maji."
With one last look he saw the two disapear through the bushes, so the cheetah turned and made his way back to the waterhole, to see what could be made of Karensha's comments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karensha turned her back on Maji before she could change her mind about taking him with her, but she knew for him to stay safe when uncertain things were happening around them, he needed to be with the cheetah, for now what trust she had been finding in Basilisk was with Jabari.
Walking away she heard Sefu trail behind her and then they were side by side. About to quizz him more on what he and Jabari had found, it seemed Sefu had bet her to it.
"So how many others were in your group not counting you, the lion and the snake?"
Surprised at his question coming out of nowhere, Karensha paused for a moment and then turned and faced him.
"There used to be a pride of about twenty or so, the number went up and down over time at Naheem or my father's whim, it was survival of the fittest on some ocassions."
karensha turned away from Sefu quickly adding.
"I left when I could without causing too many...problems shall we say, and I have no intention of going back there ever again... and that's that."
With her nose leading the way, the snow leopard followed the smell that was getting stronger as she got closer, till at last she stood before the bush, where she could see that it had been partially covered by foliage, and slowly pulled back what was covering the dead lion cub.
Holding back a gasp, Karensha walked closer and surveyed what was left,and with a paw, moved the head so she could see the other side and if anything was under it. Leaning in she sniffed at the soil and stared all around inspecting things closely, the training her father had drummed into her, naturally kicked in again.
Carefully placing the head back down, she then moved around in a circle sniffing at the ground and ocassionally licking at crushed leaves that lay strewn around, but nothing really arousing her suspicions. Coming back to stand by the lion, Karensha stared at him for a moment wondering why he had come to be amongst them all, alone at that.
"So what do you think Sefu ? any idea of why he was out here alone and why he's looking like he does ?"
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Post by Kirsui on Apr 24, 2011 10:52:09 GMT
"Is there something you want to do while we wait?"
Sera shrugged. "Not really."
She frowned thoughtfully as she watched Meri.
"Maybe we could just casually talk about... what ever. It might calm her down a bit."
She glanced at Basilisk.
"So... anything you wanna talk about?"
Kabechet flicked her tongue once and approached the now motionless snake. Without giving it much thought, she opened her maw and took hold of the smaller creature. After all, the easiest way to get rid of it would be to swallow, and this way she wouldn't need to hunt for a while either.
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