http://www.lioden.com/lion.php?id=550468842970

Smite stepped forward hesitantly. She wasn't normally that cautious, but after her time spent in the pride, being a one-man-show for a bit was unnerving. Everyone was going through a lot... Herself and Callum were the only completely sane ones left, and as he was the King now, he needed to stay and protect everyone from the demon child. It was her job, as Queen now, to serve as a diplomat. She scanned the area surrounding the waterhole, eventually seeing a strange-looking lion. "Just when I think I've seen everything." She muttered to herself, but walked over anyways to greet them. Their remaining eye was glowing blue, and bits of flesh were falling off in seemingly random places. Smite stopped a few yards away, giving the lion some space. It wouldn't do anyone any good for her to go off and get herself killed, even if the group her King had contacted would, according to him, 'help everyone get along'. "Hullo." She said simply, trying her best to look friendly enough. She unconsciously tensed her muscles she'd gotten from hunting, unsure of how her greeting would be reciprocated.

You have liked this post!

Asani, naturally, had scented Smite long before she came into view, so her approach hardly surprised him. He pulled himself up into a sitting position, staying there only seconds before flopping back down onto the rock. It felt so nice and warm.... Anyways. He figured that it would be easier for people, if he tried to look as nonthreatening as possible. "Hey," he said, his voice coming out low and rumbly, like thunder. "You part of the coalition? Where's your king?" There were some--not him, but others--who would take full advantage of a lioness unprotected by her king; while this coalition was meant to help the prides, well, not everyone was honorable.

You have liked this post!

You have liked this post!

"Well, then, welcome... Smite. Do you know when the king who organized this whole thing will be showing up?" He was curious, oh yes, but didn't feel the need to press further. Especially not when his questions might break the still-forming alliance. No, he needed people on his side, and he wasn't about to do anything that would risk their support. He grinned suddenly--an expression that looked very odd on his zombified flesh. "Oh, and you're probably wondering about my... appearance. Got possessed by a demon a while back, when all of that other weird-scary stuff was happening. This is the result, plus a slight preference to the dark side."

You have liked this post!

You have liked this post!

"It was a long time ago, before the snow," he said. Laughing it off was the only way he could deal with the memories, the seemingly-endless fight with the demon. Thank the gods that the Prophetess Marieth had still been alive back then, with all of her knowledge. He'd barely survived even with her help. Now, he wouldn't be so lucky. The new Prophet, Imamu, wasn't quite as talented as Marieth, nor as experienced. "Locked inside your own mind, fighting just to tread water. Not even surviving, just hoping for a moment--and then the next, and the next. But finally I won, and here we are."

You have liked this post!

You have liked this post!

"Well... our Prophetess, Marieth--she's like an oracle and a healer--recently died. Her successor, Imamu, he's having a bit of a hard time adjusting. Thankfully nothing serious has happened, but Imamu was never meant to be the Prophet. The next oracle should always be descended from the previous one, but Marieth's first cub, well, she said he wasn't the right person. I guess he wasn't, because as soon as she said that he attacked her. Koni was exiled immediately, of course. Not by me; Azizi was still king then. And Marieth's daughter didn't wish to have that sort of power, and no other cubs were born to her. So I suppose that's a good thing, that Imamu was chosen." He fell silent then, assessing his words. Had he said too much? No... this was an alliance, and surely it was better for his allies to know what was going on. "Azizi was the first king.... We hardly knew what to do, how to act, with him gone. Most of us had grown up under him, and his death caused a gaping hole. I was never supposed to rule. Amiri Jasiri was the chosen heir, but when everything happened to me, he left. Said he couldn't handle it anymore, needed a break. Well, he still hadn't returned when Azizi died, Imamu was already Prophet so he couldn't do anything, and Ijimien wanted nothing to do with leading. So I stepped up." He paused, taking a deep breath. "And, er, how are things going with your pride?"

You have liked this post!

Keupe
Chokoleti (He was a cub when I made this post and didn't realize he was a day away from adol)
Kuuzwa Zawadi

Three lions strolled towards the Watering hole safezone, one more confident than the other two on how well this idea of a coalition would work. Lions, naturally, did not cooperate with anyone beyond their brothers and cubs well. They might sell to each other here and there, gift lioness and help upstarts if they needed it, even trade items or cubs, but beyond that they were still territorial and opportunistic in many ways. Kuuzwa didn't know how this would work, especially with such a young and weak lion spearheading it. And if all the kings agreeing to this were just as weak... this coalition and their pride might not survive past their first real hardship.

Keupe, on the other hand, was knew this would work. The spirit told him it would, and he trusted the spirit. Not that he was planning on sharing that little detail with anyone, spirits were tricky business no matter what. Regardless of all of that, he knew that with enough lions working together their prides would be strengthened and the bonds all lions should share together would grow. So in an act of faith he brought his Heir along as well. If all went well, the boy would be the head of the second generation in the coalition council. If things went wrong... he has his snakes and Kuuzwa can get him to safety.

Chokoleti didn't understand what was going through Keupe and the Spirit's minds, but he wouldn't question it. Whether it worked or not didn't really matter to him, he wasn't even sure what the point of all this was when these would be stranger lions his future pride will be dealing with. But this was a simple result of youth and arrogant niavity, he would see the value in this group soon enough.

The three saw two lions talking upwind of them some distance away, "So it seems we've attracted a half dead king and his queen..." the youngest of the muttered with some amount of disdain in his voice, only to yelp when Keupe 'accidentally' stepped on his tail.

"I'm sorry, I should really watch my step." The king certainly didn't look or sound sorry. They seemed to arrive on the latter end of a conversation, hearing the flesh patched lion ask the lioness before him about her pride. So it seemed he wasn't her king.

Politely, Keupe cleared his throat in order to get the two's attention (and to dispel the lump that suddenly formed in his throat) before speaking, "Good evening, I'm Keupe, King of the Asili Rangi Pride. I hope I didn't interrupt anything." He smiled kindly, knowing lionesses would sometimes be sent out for diplomatic reasons that the king couldn't attend to himself, "I'm the organizer of the coalition plan."

The lioness gave a quick nod of her head towards the strangers, "And I'm his Queen, Kuuzwa." Chokoleti, as easily distracted as any cub naturally gets, began pouncing after a lone locus, his snakes hidden from site now, "And that one is our heir, Chokoleti."

You have liked this post!

Ma'ak http://www.lioden.com/lion.php?mid=75645
Kouga http://www.lioden.com/lion.php?id=542861011453

Two lions walk silently towards the waterhole, where the meeting of an alliance was to take place. One was a khaki pelted lion with a feathery headdress and had three bugs jumping after him. Those bugs were his scouts. The second lion was younger, he had a tusk headdress and a necklace made from claws. A scar also decorated his left side, it was from a tussle with an Ibex he had always told everyone. They made it to the watering hole and saw that some lions had already gathered. Ma'ak, the older lion heard that a pale young lion was the head of the alliance, and that he had his heir and Queen with him. He also spotted two other lions near them, one quite old and from the looks of it, had suffered from the demons that had roamed the savannah when he was just beginning to form his pride. He remembers that time well, running from cowardice trying not to get eaten or plagued by the demons. The other was a lioness, a Queen or a delegate sent instead of the King. Ma'ak made his way to the small group and bowed, Kouga, the younger lion following after him. "Greetings fair Kings and Queens, I am Ma'ak, the King of the Makawe pride, a pride near the streaming river. And this," Ma'ak nudged Kouga's left side, which made him bow, "This is my stepson and my heir, Kouga."
Kouga grumbled and huffed "Thanks dad, I can introduce myself as well, but oh well" he sighed and his eyes fell on Smite. She looked lovely, he wondered if he could chat with her, then again he feared what Dhara, his betrothed would do to him, if she found out.

You have liked this post!

She laughed lightly, trying to put a humerus spin on the fact that her pride was in danger. "I've really only been Queen for a week. But hey- Could be worse." She had heard lions approaching when she'd spoken, but only turned to face them now, giving a bob of the head. She was relieved to see another lioness amongst them, even if only one. Her ear twitched as she wondered if that was how things were supposed to work. Maybe she should've tried harder to get Callum to go in her place, and leave Anti-Gravity as a guard. Oh well. She dipped her head politely, taking in the three new names. "Hello Keupe, Kuuzwa, Chokoleti. I am Smite, Queen of the pride over yonder." She flicked her tail in the general direction she'd come from. It had been a long walk, though, so she wasn't concerned about someone intruding. Yet again, more lions appeared on the horizon, and she went through her miniature spiel again. "Welcome, Ma'ak, Kouga." She figured they'd heard her name, so she didn't bother saying it again. No use tossing about useless infromation. She scanned the five lions and lioness gathered, marveling in how different everyone looked. Demon-flesh, a cub with bright eyes, and two who were wearing headdresses, as if they belonged to a different world.
-gah somethings broken, it won't let me post the entirety of it... Here's what's written before that. Let me know if it's just my screen. xD-

Smite listened carefully as the rotting king spoke, trying to make sense of it all. There were a lot of new names to add to her list, and she wanted to make sure she would know who they were if mentioned. In the back of her mind, she wondered how his pride had felt about him taking over, considering he hadn't been planned for. Maybe that was normal for them. When the question reversed on herself, she shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "Someone is picking us off one by one. We've had three lions die in the past two days, and that's not counting those who died when my daughter went on a rampage and our king died."

You have liked this post!

Ma'ak smiled, as if understanding that he looks different with what he and Kouga were wearing. He cleared his throath and looked at Smite. "Young lioness, you seem to be glancing at our headdresses. We look different, yes, but I assure you this is my pride's little tradition. It is harmless." he smiled and shook his head, shaking the feathery headdress. Kouga sat down and sighed "Yeah, the headdress shows rank, My father the king wears feathers as a symbol of elegance and so does my mother, the Queen. I wear tusks as a symbol of courage" Kouga put his front paw on one of the tusks. "Shaman wears a skull of our ancients" Ma'ak interrupted Kouga and then cleared his throat again. "Enough of the chit chat that mostly doesn't interest her probably." Ma'ak sat next to his stepson Kouga, giving a larger appearance with his feathery headdress. In fact, he was actually smaller than Kouga, yet he didn't pay it any attention. "I would like to hear the ruled and general basics of the alliance. Ma'ak was a king who hated killing, forming an alliance was a great idea in his opinion. His lioness once was slaughtered by an unknown rogue when she was out on a stroll. He vowed to never let it happen again.
Kouga glanced at the demonic king, he was interested in how was one alive and rotting. He didn't know much about the plague, he was born later, during the spirits. He kept staring, not noticing his rudeness.

You have liked this post!

The rotting-fleshed king nodded to Smite, and resolved to ask her more about her daughter's rampage later--she seemed nice enough, and if they were to be allied he wished to offer assistance wherever he could. "Call me Asani," he said, as soon as the others had come into view, making note of their names. So most had brought others with them.... But he had no one else, truly. Azizi, before him, had had a Council made up of the most influential pride-members, to help with making important decisions, but now that Council had been dissolved. Ijimien wanted nothing to do with politics, and Imamu also preferred to stay out of it. And as for the lionesses... Asani had his own reasons for not wanting most of them here. He glanced over at Kouga, unsurprised to see the young one's interest in him. "Long story short, I was possessed by a demon, and this is what became of me. Keupe, I'd like to hear more about this coalition. How, exactly, are we to help one another?"

You have liked this post!

The submale kept staring as he suddenly heard the king's voice. He jumped up and dipped his head. "Ah, very sorry sir. But you look so cool, and strong" he seemed very interested. "I was born much later, I don't know much about demons" Kouga laughed awkwardly.

You have liked this post!

//bump

You have liked this post!