[LOG] Interesting (Aldan, K'i-lin, & Nipsting)

[Princess_Feylin]

KasaiLoki

Aldan had a very dangerous secret he was hiding. It didn't help, his tag along today was annoying him to the point of spilling that to her just to shut her up, however, Aldan did enjoy his life, even it is seemed rather boorish at times.

"You don't have to follow me, you know?" The male said quietly as the gold and white female walked beside him.

"You know the lands right now," K'i-lin said. "There's something going. We need to figure it out before it claims us too you know. Brains work better together, not separately." The freeborn stated with a frown. She had eaten this morning, yet there was a funny pit in her stomach like she needed to eat again.

"Who knows...I saw someone today not able to even get up. What if we're next?" The female asked, her eyes closing. "I don't want that life."

Aldan nodded, agreeing somewhat. "I am sure the Gods won't let our lands die." He said, a mimicking frown on his maw. "Just...hopefully they answer our prayers soon." If he had to, he'd go bug his Warrior friend. However, he knew he had his paws full recently that it probably wasn't the wisest idea.

Princess_Feylin

: Nipsting was eavesdropping. She did a lot of that. It was the best way to find out things people didn't otherwise want known. Those were the best sort of things to know, in her opinion. There was so much a lioness could do with forbidden information. Secrets. Unfortunately, there weren't any good secrets to be overheard here, so she decided to insert herself into the conversation to see if she could direct it toward secrets. The grey lioness fancied herself a masterful manipulator, though in actuality she was mediocre at best.

"The gods are absolutely going to let our lands die," she announced with a certainty she didn't feel. The goal, of course, was to spark an argument and lure her opponents into revealing why they felt confident the gods would look out for the land. They might know something she didn't after all. To drive her point home, she continued contentiously, "We are one hundred percent going to starve to death."

 

[Princess_Feylin]

KasaiLoki

Aldan's ears turned back as a newcomer had entered the conversation. He was wanted to get rid of his tagalong, not have someone else enter! The male groaned as he turned his attention to the adult that spoke, narrowing his gaze.

"Why do you say that?" He growled out. "Do you not trust Our Gods?" Aldan did. He had no reason not too.

K'i-lin frowned at the female's comment. "What is your problem? Who are you even to say that." The lioness asked, her own eyes glaring at the newcomer. "We are only going to starve if you allow it." The young kirin snapped. "And I'm not ready for that. If you are decided that's how you want your life to go, then you can just leave now. Why even bother staying here?"

Princess_Feylin

Nipsting yawned and a well-timed stomach rumble gurgled up through her throat, almost as if she'd planned it that way. Alas, she had not. It had never occurred to her to use her stomach as a rhetorical device.

"I say it because it is true. Surely there is sufficient evidence that we are in dire straits?" She flicked her ears and tail as a low-energy means of gesturing around them. "And I'm completely baffled that you think I have any say in the matter of the pride's starvation."

Deliberately misconstruing things other people had said. Classic way to induce rage-fueled explanations. Nipsting loved those. They were good entertainment, and with everyone in the pride so...lethargic, good entertainment was hard to come by.

"I suppose there are a few things that could be done," she mused. "Though the priestesses haven't decided if they're ready to go that route yet."

Her lips stuck a little to her gums, which were dry - a side effect of her recent privation - but she managed a sneering smirk anyway. An expression calculated to invite query. She'd just had a scathingly brilliant idea.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

KasaiLoki

Aldan shook his head. Lies. Everything she was saying was lies. Aldan knew Warriors was in the pride. He could help them! If he could shake the two females, he would head to the male's den now to ask him! Surely the deity had seen something, felt something. Whether or not he was affected was still questionable.

"We are, but doesn't mean we should just roll over and consider that the final answer. We need to work towards a solution to fix this, not just up and quit!" His ears flickered towards the growl, his own talking as if to answer Nipsting's.

"And what could be done?" K'i asked. "What do you know that some of us don't?" The different between the three right now was two were adolescents, just out of cubhood, learning the way of life the hard way. This gal probably had more experience than the two combined, which mean she knew more than they did.

K'i thought of following the path to become a priestess herself, if she got the inside scoop she would gladly take it.

Princess_Feylin

"Who's quitting?" Nipsting asked. "This is my pride. Stand or fall, there's iron in my blood, and I won't abandon my pride. Surely no one's flower-blooded enough to consider doing that."

This time her scorn was not forced. Of course starving was a terrible way to die, and she'd definitely rather not, if it came to it, but if the only way to saver herself was to leave, she'd just have to die. Just because she wasn't a reaver didn't mean she hadn't a warrior's strength.

"As far as the priestesses, they're considering going back to the old, old ways," she lied smoothly. Well. They might even be. They were supposedly pretty effective, after all. She wasn't going to say more, though, without prompting. After all, she was mostly doing this for sport - hers, of course - and part of the fun was seeing what other people thought.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

KasaiLoki

"You sure have a funny way of showing it." The son of a deity Rebirth said with an eye roll. "We are one hundred percent going to die. Words sound familiar?" Aldan questioned.

"I don't know. When was the last time something like this happened in the pride?" It would have been way before the two younger lion's lifetime. "I see other tempted at the borders. It won't be long before they make a break for it to get out of hunger." He was sure thralls would be the first to attempt such an action, and likely be punished for it too.

"Old old ways?" K'i-lin asked. "And what are those?" She was still young, so what she knew was only of the current War Lord. It was unlikely that her father would know what the Freeborn was speaking, he hadn't been born of the pride either. She needed the information, it could help her future.


Aldan would be lying if he said he hadn't been intrigued either at the comment.

Princess_Feylin

"Stormborn don't fear death," Nipsting replied dismissively, refusing to waste emotional resources on that particularly argument. "But that doesn't mean we can't acknowledge it's coming. Those who hover at the borders should just go, and alleviate the drain for the rest of us."

She rolled her shoulders, trying to put off the need to scratch an itch. Unfortunately, her reduced diet meant that her coat and skin were constantly dry and itchy feeling. When her hollow stomach wasn't twisting her up with hunger, she often felt that was probably the worst thing about the famine. Who wanted to die an itchy, flaky mess?

"Of course, that's more or less what the priestesses might do, too," she went on. "Long ago - before my time, too - we used to sacrifice lions to the stormlords, not just hares and herdbeasts. Warrior blood to appeal to warrior gods. And the rites took the form of battles, of course, to ensure that the sacrifices would still go to the good afterlife."

There was some truth to what she said, but much of it was cobbled together from stories and hearsay, then filled in with her imagination, which was fertile.

"You just watch. There'll be an announcement of a great tournament or something soon. Unlike the last one, it won't just be for points. It'll be to the death, and each death will be consecrated and serve a dual purpose: bribe the gods, eliminate mouths to feed. They're brutal bitches, our priestesses."

 

[Princess_Feylin]

KasaiLoki

Both of the adolescents listened intently as the adult spoke. The lingered on her words, Aldan making a face white K'i-lin's eyes widened considerably. Her purple gaze took a moment to look at Aldan, before back to the adult.

"I don't believe you." Aldan said. "The Warrior gods aren't looking for spilt blood. It would be of no use to them." He frowned, the words of the other continuing to flow through his mind on a constant repeat.

"The gods can be bribed other ways. I am sure of it." But was he? Aldan wasn't too sure.

The kirin daughter sighed. "And did you hear these words straight from the priestess? Or are these just rumors going around?" she asked with a shake of her head. The words seemed true. When they parted, she would likely ask her father his thoughts. The look in her friend's eyes said he planned to do the same thing.

Princess_Feylin

It was gratifying to see how the girl's eyes widened. Comic, almost. No mistake, Nipsting enjoyed that she could have that effect on others still, with just her words. She appreciate the martial prowess of the Stormborn reavers, of course, and could hold her own in a fight, albeit briefly, but she'd always been of the opinion that the magic the priestesses did with their runes and the power the lawspeakers wielded with their words were equally important. She liked to think she had a little bit of that, despite never pursuing either career.

"And what would you know of the stormlords' wants - obviously they don't need blood. It's just a token...a way of getting their attention and demonstrating the sincerity of our pleas."

One of the nice things about being Nipsting is that she had never been much bothered by whether the words that came out of her mouth were true, false, or a mixture of the two, so long as they produced the intended results. She didn't consider for an instant admitting that she'd made the whole thing up. "But you're right, of course. Priestesses are also a close-mouthed bunch when it comes to outsiders. I've only had it from one of their daughters."

"Believe what you want," she concluded with more apparent indifference than she felt. She'd been proud of her story, and didn't appreciate that these youths were already beginning to doubt her credibility. Of course, if they'd known her any better, they might've doubted her a lot faster.