For Each End, a Beginning!

[Kunabee]

Kunabee

Despite my sadness at the pride being gone, I was here. I was here, looking towards the sky, believing in Dio in a way I never had before. I mean, I knew He was real, and I knew He loved us in this painful world, but... This was different. I was letting my scent flood the territory, letting a pride begin.
It was so soon after Eznox's destruction, but... I felt in my heart this is what I needed to do. Humans, Falomi, felines - we weren't meant to be seperate. All of us needed to work together.

The name of the pride came to me suddenly. Esson. I don't know what it was or what it meant. It was like a faded memory, far away and so terribly distant. A face, almost in my eyes, but I never recognized it. it was fuzzy and untouchable.
But Esson the pride would be. I looked at the sky, summoning all my courage. Could I really be an alpha? Could I really lead? I let out a beath, sending a prayer to Dio.
'As long as one of Your peaceleaders has lost her way, I will do my best to almost take her place. You know I can never truly be her, or a peaceleader, but I will do what I can. I believe this is what You want.'
And then the cry of help went out to all the other gods and God, and I stood up.

I was so impatient. Honestly, I hope it didn't take too long for new members to show up.
Honestly, I hoped maybe a Falomi or two would join. A mixed-breed pride... pack... whatever it would be called. It would be unforeseen... and it would be yet another step to what every God in the sky wanted.

[I L Y I C H]

Another day, another sunrise
Washing over everything

We had been walking for sometime, and it was Ashley who had first found the shocking truth. Eznox was gone...? The little gray folami pup looked about herself with panic in those wide eyes, and with a slow tread she returned to my side pressed tight. She was never one for dealing with others, it would seem, and the idea that Ende may still be here had even my eyes turning about in anxiety. Motioning with the end of my ebony tail I turned to draw Jazz closer in the same manor. The world was a dangerous place, and that was a thing my little children had differing views on. It made me mind a rather terrifying place. What exactly had happened here was the question. No blood was on the wind so any real attack couldn't have been too horrendous, but there were no scent markers either. It would have been the first thing Frezno should have acted on...

Eznox had been destroyed in a single day with no show for where they had gone. It was in my worry that some Ende soldier may remain amongst the grasses that my eyes focused on a shape. At first I thought it to be jazz, but the brown was too dark. Ears shifting into a backwards position I turned to give Daniel and anxious glance and nodded towards it. One heavy paw lifted I turned back to the creature and parted my jaws in some measly effort to smell it against the wind. Not that I had expected it to work, but it had been worth some sort of effort. It was Ashley who leaned forward, nose tipped downward who began to creep forward despite my low mewls of protest. Ears flicked backward she looked towards me and stopped just short of revealing herself and with a worried expression despite the apparent tiny size of the possible enemy and shook my head.

I would be the one to walk out first. Waving a worried tail towards Daniel in an effort to express 'keep Jazz back' I pressed out of the grasses scarred ebony flesh almost blue in the light. "Pardon..." Voice low I moved one step forward, revealing the worst of the wounds and that which gave me my permanent limp. "Might I ask what's going on?"

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

I was hiding. Oh yes, I would scare my guardians, and my precious sister. I had been creeping in the taller grasses, paws falling lightly in the ankle deep mud this world had become, for a few minutes now. Had they really not noticed I had disapeared? I almost snared, but then I saw Vice gather up Ashley anxiously, then passed her off to Daniel. It was then she saw the gray wolf straighten up and stand tall to look over the grasses, panicing as he scanned the tall grasses. Ah, something was wrong. A smile spread across my maw as I let my gaze lock upon a brown shape just ahead of us. Vice approached it, speaking kindly in her strange jumble of words. Daniel was tense, placing himself over Ashley as my name softly wove from his lips.

Ah, but the stranger was not so dangerous. From my angle, I could see it well. A small feline, smaller than me. This was not a cat responsible for Eznox's disapearance. Eyes narrowed and a cruel smirk in place, I bolted from my cover, hearing Daniel call my name in alarm at my appearance. I slid beneath Vice and lunged off the ground, aiming to tackle the stranger in rough play, though silent warning. My actions may often be careless, but all was done to test the waters to be sure my family was safe.

"You, what the heck happened to Eznox?" My teeth nipped softly towards her ear as I scrambled to land atop the small framed feline.

[Kunabee]

Kunabee

A panther approached me, and I gave a half-hearted smile. Just as I was about to answer, however, I felt something come on top of me. A feline cub. Bigger then me. Oh great. Was I shrinking, or was everyone getting bigger?
I sighed, squirming underneath her.
"I didn't see what happened," I explained to the cub, as I squirmed and wiggled with her weight on top of me. This was so embarrassing, there were no words to describe it. Tiny little Kunabee, the too-small feline, stuck in a giant's world, what with all the Falomi running around.
Finally I looked at the panther. "I think Ende chased Eznox off. That's what's been going around, anyway, and I figure it's true, since there's nobody here. This being the case, I turn more opportunist instead of considerate. I'm trying to claim the territory. Which, as you can see, has its problems." I looked up at the cub irritably.
Humiliating. Nobody could claim pride territory that way!

((wooc;; Issa fail, but it's done))

[I L Y I C H]

Another day, another sunrise
Washing over everything

A small smile curled over my maw. Oh it was rude, that I knew, but it was also normal. Normal behavior in a child that my Daniel and I had taken in. No ill effects. No nothing. Over the course of the last couple of weeks we had proven ourselves to be... competent parents. It almost made me gleeful. Though perhaps that was wrong. Maybe it was just calm joy that we hadn't managed to kill the two of them yet. It was with a careful patience that I reach out with one paw to tap jazz lightly on the head. "Come. It is not good to just go on attacking an alpha." Tawny eyes flickered, playfulness gleaming if only in retrospect. "Though should an alpha find out what jazz stands for...?" It was a game with absolutely no threat to it. I wouldn't tell and this little brown lion cub knew that. Hopefully it would be enough to get her to back up a bit however.

Throwing a swift glance over my shoulder I made a careful shrug to urge Daniel and Ashley forward. This Irimote had reacted perfectly fine towards us, but what would she do when confronted with folami? It drew my anxiety forward and I looked towards the chocolate creature with no small amount of distrust. "Left? Like that?" My awkward speech halted, head turning to stare over one ebony shoulder at Daniel's silver face. Was it really that simple? My eyes turned back to the much smaller creature, who even besides Jaquelin was child sized. "Do you have friends? To protect from Ende too?" The jumbled words made perfect sense to me but I had learned that what came out of my mouth wasn't always right in any sense of the word. Anxiety crept forward again. Understand.

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

Oh, silly kitty, I know you had nothing to do with it. Mouth full of fur, I could not manage to speak my thoughts. It was not until Vice shifted closer, prodded me softly, that I opened my jaws and leapt back, landing a foot or so away from the stranger. I glared at mother Vice in frustration at her threat. How dare she! But I kept my mouth shut, sulking over to where Daniel had sat himself, pelt brushing the left of Vice's ribs.

"What she wants to know is whether you have any pride members, yet." I clarified, my voice harsh, but not aggressive. It was merely the tense told of a spoiled child having been told 'no'. It surprised me, as I sat down beneath Daniel's chest, how quickly I had reacted to Vice's touch. She gave a demand and I obeyed. I looked quickly at Vice, eyes accusing, but said no words. Instead, I leaned my weight into Daniel's chest and simply stared.

Daniel tensed slightly at my touch, but as he glanced down his face calmed. I looked away from his eyes and merely began to stare at my shuffling paws, tightening my muscles so as to firm myself and not lean against Daniel. It felt wrong. These two were not my parents. I hated how I had come to depend upon them; to respect them. I grumbled quietly before perking my ears to Daniel's words. "I hope I do not overstep a line, but I must ask, how do you plan to lead?" My eyes looked to the mutts chin in surprise before creeping out to stand by the small stranger's side, facing the gray giant.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I challenged him, eyes narrowed. "Size doesn't mean a damn thing. You're a giant, yet you're a kitten. I'm a rat, and yet I am..." I trailed off with that, not quite knowing what to say. A monster that could shred the folami alpha? Yeah. That would sound real mature. I looked to the stranger and smirked by smug grin. "I gotcha covered, tiny. You don't need to take that crap from this big lug."

"I didn't mean it like that..."

"Hush. fool."

[Kunabee]

Kunabee

I smiled good-naturedly. Children would be children, even if it was annoying. I nodded at Vice's words. "Yes, just like that, or so it seems," I said, and was about to answer her second question until Jazz butted in. I humphed.
"You should give people a chance to answer questions," I said scoldingly, and then, "But no. Nobody belongs to the pride other than me. Yet."
At Daniel's words, I began to answer once again -- only to be cut off, once again, by Jazz assuming things. I sighed, but it wasn't too put out.
"Respect your elders," I told her. I looked at Daniel. "I'm not sure," I said sheepishly, "I'm not sure about leading. I never have before. But something in me... some sort of instinct, maybe intuition, tells me I can."
I straighten up, drawing my courage towards me.
"And this Pride's gonna have Falomi in it, too." My look is serious; my tone is determined. And then I break out into a big grin.
"I don't suppose you guys want to join?"

((wooc;; not long, but I like it ^^))

[I L Y I C H]

Another day, another sunrise
Washing over everything

I took a slight limping stride towards Daniel, giving Jazz a light tap with my tail as I stood behind her. Having lone grown use to her I didn't take much of what she said to heart, but at times it was good to provide a bit of a reminder that she was still small and perhaps she shouldn't talk like this to everyone. It was with quiet yellow eyes that I watched the words flow however, and at the end those eyes turned to my mate; questioning. This little woman knew what she wanted and how she wanted to do it that much was obvious. What she needed were friends and pride mates. What she needed was protection and a family. My round ears pressed forward, ebony spotted frame almost quivering as I stared at my folami partner. It was rare the day when he did not know what I was thinking, and I did not doubt him now especially considering how obvious I was being. but this was not my decision alone and I turned back to the irimote Kunabee with a small smile waiting for Daniel's verdict.

"We all have the ways of speech, Jazz." It came forward as a convoluted rebuttal that I hoped she understood in some way. It was rude of her to assume what was being said could only be interpreted one way. Though perhaps naivety played into it as well. Jazz and Ashley had been on there own for a wile before we came upon them. Luck had kept them alive, and thus they expected the small to be able to live for as long as they had at least. Childish fantasies in a world that called for realism. I sat down slowly, allowing my tail to flick out against my mate's thick front leg. Today was the day when we found possible safety, and if Daniel felt safe here, felt that he could be happy here then we would belong here. Ashley came form behind the man after a moment, looking up at him questioningly, obviously expecting a more eloquent answer form him. After a moment she nudged him lightly and moved to seat herself beside me, mimicking as she waited for some sort of judgment to be passed.

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

I couldn’t help but smirk at the glare Jazz dished out when she was told to mind her elders. I had poked around that phrase in all the time we had traveled together; maybe having someone else say it would push it through her head. It was clear, though, that the young girl was insulted that her defending her new friend from what she thought I had asked had only gotten her a mild scolding, and a simple lecture. She pulled away from Kunabee with this and came to be between my legs, looking to her paws, pouting and embarrassed.

When the invite eventually came, I felt Vice’s look before I saw it. Her gentle tail tap along my leg is what drew me firmly out of my panicked mental response. The idea of being in a pride or pack setting scared me, for it was too similar to that of my kind’s ways. I had made it an obligation to pull away from those instincts as well as I could, fearing that indulging myself would only make the instincts more vicious, pushing me to be what the humans had programmed me to be. But looking at the three girls—even Jazz had looked up in a guarded hopefulness—I bit down on my tongue in anxiety. I would not deny them what they so wanted. I could not.

Looking to the small stranger, I offered an unsure smile. “It seems my family is open to the idea. How can I say no these faces?” The words came out clear, only cracking as I gave a nervous laugh with my rhetorical question. Who’s to say Ashley and I would not be the only Folami here? Perhaps some of my kind were for the rights of felines, but would even those kindhearted few welcome a dog that has taken a feline as a lover? I could not be sure. I did not know how much time has changed my kind. I feared they had only made minor leaps towards peace, but I crossed my paws that that was an unjustified fear.

“So, alphess, what is the name of this humble family?” My voice cracked nervously as the term alphess slid past my lips. It felt too right on my tongue—too natural to roll past ivory fangs.

I felt like a Folami.