secret meeting (CLOSED)

[CHEKESHA !]

L Y C R A G A N
^{also known as Cragan}

The cold winds of the mountains surrounded the wizard as he sat on the top of a granite mound, waiting patiently. He was to meet with Queen Benevolence, with whom he had mated with not too long before. She was said to have news, but all Lycragan could do was wait patiently in the mountains for her to come to him. She hadn't exactly been faithful to Kira, and this was going to cause a great disturbance within the pride. It would cause a great skirmish from inside the pride: a sort of civil war.

Well, he couldn't be certain about this, but Cragan was pretty good at figuring things out by inductive reasoning. And this just stood out to him like a multicolored stone in a sea of grey rocks. Cragan scented the air, waiting for Bene to come. He hid himself deeper in the rocks, enclosing himself in a small crevass where he couldn't be spotted from a distant. His distinctive curly fur was too easy to recognize, and he couldn't be seen here with the queen. Just imagine how well that would go over.

Cragan let himself lay down, sticking his large, brawny paws out of the crack in the stone. It was just a matter of time now.


^{OOC: sorry what a horrid post}

[Cookie -n- Cream]

[Just really quick, could he have straight fur? (not all wizards need it and I was thinking that way Beve wouldn't think that the cubs would have curly fur) it's okay if you don't want him to ;3]

BENEVOLENCE THE IV
all hail the Queen!

[/color] she scolded as she realized her leg hurt almost too much to push herself up from the fall. She shook it off, if it hadn’t been bothering her too much before, it wouldn’t bother her now. The lioness picked herself up, and dejectedly, she watched the rest of them scurry off into confusion. “I could have caught one of them if this leg would chill out.” her usually soft, cooing voice was that of a distraught melody in need of new vocals.

She walked further, giving up on the whole prey thing for a bit and leaping onto the rocks where she was to meet the Wizard. She hated heights and she hated the water. Leomus Sea filled her mind with great sorrow and distrust… which, by the way, was not something she needed. She hissed and flung herself forward until she caught the sound of a little crumbling in the rocks. Her rainbow pelt stuck out like a soar thumb, and there was no doubt that he had caught her before she had him. “Lycragen?” she whispered softly as she stepped forward on the narrow path. Hurriedly she raced across the unstable path, rocks falling into the sea- plummeting quickly and then beating the ocean with their harsh exterior… Beve wasn’t made of rock though. She finally reached the other side and looked through the rocks where she could see the Wizard. She slipped behind the pass and hid herself behind the rocks, across from him.

“Kira won’t suspect a thing, I’m sorry I’ve put you through this,” she said softly. Her lyrics buzzed about and she was obviously more in love with this creature that was a wizard (she’d learned not to trust them) than she was her own counterpart to the throne.
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[CHEKESHA !]

_{OOC: No, that's fine. He can have straight fur. 8)}

L Y C R A G A N
^{also known as Cragan}

Lonely and forgotten,
Never thought she'd look my way
But she smiled at me and held me
just like she used to do

The thoughts swirled through Cragan's head like a monsoon. There were so many of them, yellow jackets that kept stinging his brain with malicious grins that eventually turned into a unique swarm of ideas. Each one hurt in a certain way: emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. His heart hurt with the fact of what he had done, and what was going to happen within the Pride. The swarm would not quiet, but another noise came from around the crevass in the granite.

The soft tumbling of rocks and stones into the swirling waters below struck Cragan's interest. Someone or something was coming. The wind was turned the opposite way, and the breeze that swiftly passed through the crack in the rock could not carry the scent of whatever creature was coming toward the straight-haired lion. A whisper interrupted the crumbling rocks. A whisper that he would recognize anywhere. A slow hum that was most definitely the rainbow lioness that had maybe ruined his life. He couldn't be sure yet, but there was something awry with the way that Benevolence would want to meet with him out here at the Leomus Sea, on the top of a cliff, where she would never want to go. It was fishy, the way that she would climb cliffs for him, and almost suddenly plummet to her death if she took one mis-step on the top of the cliff.

Lycragan peeked out from behind the rocks, catching a glimpse of rainbow pelt that could only be one lion. Benevolence the IV. Cragan found himself ogling at Benevolence's pelt, the beauty of the hologram of colors. She was stunning with the reflection of the sun's rays flying off of her like swallows. The current below could not relate to the gorgeous lion that was coming toward Cragan. He still loved her, more than life itself.

She entered the cave, and Lycragan's mind buzzed again. The swarm had returned, and there was nothing he could do to soften its stings and pricks that echoed throughout his mind. Then the queen whispered softly in her hymn-like voice “Kira won’t suspect a thing, I’m sorry I’ve put you through this." Kira won't suspect a thing, huh? Sure he won't, his mate just went out into the jungle alone suspiciously. Sure he won't recognize her absence... Cragan thought cynically. There was no way that Benevolence's absence would go unnoticed, even if she did get away somehow without suspicion. But he didn't care. She got here, safely, and that was all that mattered. She could deal with Kira when she got back to the Pride.

But why would Bene come out here in the first place. There must be news that she had to tell him. She wouldn't climp the dragonback for nothing, there had to be a legitimate reason for her to want to meat with him this secretly. But what was it? The suspence was starting to get to Cragan, the swarm of thoughts numbing his brain as the urge to realize why Bene wanted to meet with him was strengthened like a claw tearing through his head. He decided to ask her, but how would he bring it about?

"Benevolence." He went to nuzzle his head with hers in greeting. "What is it, Benevolence. What's up that you would want to meet out here?" Was it too harsh? The way that he brought it up, with his head cocked to one side, eyes wide and eagar. He just wanted to cease the numbing experience that the swarm was creating, and Bene was the only one that could break it.

[Cookie -n- Cream]

[/i] With that the female stood up and moved out into the open.

Benevolence was unafraid now, she didn’t care what Kira thought- who was he? It was Beve’s mother that had the heir to the throne, Beve’s father that was king- not Kira’s. If the Queen wanted to have cubs with a lowly-wizard, who was to speak out against it! Maybe she could even forge his way into kingship and kick Kira out. She never loved him and he never loved her anyway. It was all arranged, more arranged than a china closet full of priceless dishes.

She looked at him in his blue eyes, her bi-colored eyes burning with a fuel of the strongest fire she could muster up. She was ready to say it. As she opened her mouth, however, the words and the air escaped from her and she withered into a melting pot of sins. “Believe me, I still wish it had never happened. I… well you see” by now she was beginning to laugh at herself to suppress the tears that wanted to flow… she was stronger than that! Her mother raised her on a thick shell with a hard as stone skin. She snorted and turned her face toward his. “Your cubs… They’re going to be heirs.” she whispered. Desperately Beve wished that he understood what she meant… she hope he understood that his cubs were also Beve’s cubs. She almost pleaded with the gods that he’d understand because she didn’t want to repeat the sinful words. “Not Kira’s,” she added.
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[CHEKESHA !]

lycragan knew something was coming, but didn't expect this much of a shock. his mind that was once spinning with thoughts of what was going on in his life had numbed, and the stinging had slowed to small pricks that were slowing by the moment. he looked down at his crimson paws, eyes wide, seeing the bright contrast between his fur and the sandy crags of the mountain pass. the queen stayed stock still in front of him, seeiming to not move as she explained the situation. cragan froze when she spoke the last words. "Not Kira's." Oh he understood what was going on here. He was in trouble. the cubs would have his markings as a wizard, he was sure of it, and Kira would discover who the real father was. cragan shook his head in awe of what was going on in the little cave, and looked back up into benevolence's multi-hued optics. they shone with what reflected in cragan's mind as diligence and a strange want to be respected and feel secure. he had mated with beve, and now his cubs, the queen's cubs, were going to be the heirs. part of him was in a jubilee, ecstatic and excited about the fact that they were bringing new life into the world, but at the same time his logical mind was contemplating the horrid decrees that would ultimately result in his death if kira found out who the father was. and it was obvious it was him, if his curly-haired gene was passed on to the little ones. whatever happened, he was still going to be a father, but a dead father at that.

his mind was bloated and numb, and also excited and fearful. so many emotions raged through his brain, stunning him into an almost comatose state of being. but, as he looked into beve's eyes something was there that caused a spark deep down in his body. he loved her, and somehow, she seemed to love him back. he could get through this as long as he knew that beve would be alright. "Cubs..." cragan whispered as he shook his head again. "When are they due?" the date that the cubs were due would give him an estimate of time that they had before kira found out. how pregnant was beve? how long had it been? when were the little ones coming? so many questions popped past his striken mind, but he held them back and asked the single question that bothered him the most. "Kira doesn't know, does he...at least not yet?"

[Cookie -n- Cream]

[/b] she murmured almost oblivious to the fact that Cragen was still awaiting her answer. She shuffled her feet hurriedly. “Kira will notice if I don’t come back with prey…. But I’m a good hunter, runs in my family.” Still, Beve was whispering thoughts to herself. She was reassuring herself that she would be fine and that Cragen’s scent wouldn’t get picked up. “I’ll get a nice buffalo and rub myself over it before I get back home, yeah that’ll work. Then I’ll have to tell Aster, yes Aster should know. She’ll help us… I know she will.” She shook her head, but what if Aster slipped up unintentionally excited that her would-be mother was having cubs? More best friends for Aster right? “No, better hold off on Aster.”

Something shook Beve when she’d finished talking to herself. Whatever it was snapped her back into reality. Her ears twitched forward a bit. Should she tell him that they were almost due and that she’d been starving herself so they would not show? She hoped he wouldn’t be mad at her if she told him that… she was eating enough to save the cubs though, she wouldn’t think of killing them, and if he even suggested it she would have already killed Lycragen for Kira. She smiled warmly at him; the reason why she loved him was because he’d never… ever. “They’re almost due. Due very soon, yes very soon indeed.” She paused and looked around. Why was she thinking about what Kira would do to Cragen, she should have been thinking about what Kira would do to her! Even if the pride was behind her, which she was sure some of it would not be, Kira could still kill her before the pride even knew about the cubs.

She desperately tried to push the thought out of her head. Kira was a hot head, but he wouldn’t dare pick a fight with the queen, she was strong and blood-lined for this strength and cunning. Not to mention she was sure Demeter would have something to say if Kira even took an attempt on Beve’s life. “What you need to do is leave, leave now… go far away! Please, just leave the pride lands until Kira cools down and stops his hunt for the red Wizard… Please. Wait until your fur is gray and still straight, then come back, come back and hopefully he will be dead. You can join me then, my love,” she whispered.
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[CHEKESHA !]

the numbness was completely gone, and replaced with full determination. what could cragan do in a time like this? there were so many choices that he could choose to push his life. he could either stay and try to protect his love from being killed before him, which seemed the best in his mind, for benevolence's sake. the next was to just leave and never come back. this was the best for his own safety, but would be utterly selfish. to leave for just his own life would be the cruelest act that he could inflict upon himself, and he knew he would be caught eventually anyway. without the protection of some of the pride members, who was he? at least if he stayed he could help protect beve and might be backed up by those who supported the queen. and then came the next matter, the cubs.

beve said they were due soon, but how soon could it be? she didn't look like she was pregnant, although she had put ona few pounds. they were not even noticable to a regular eye, but cragan's trained optics could tell that she did look the slightest malnourished. the only part of her that was larger was where she held the cubs, and they made up for her sudden attempt at starving. but cragan couldn't believe that beve would risk the life of the cubs. he tried to keep his face without emotion as beve stopped talking. he turned his head away from her and looked out toward the leomus sea. it was full of turmoil today, the waves reflecting the setting sun. beve was right, she needed to get home, and fast, before the sun set and it was harder to catch prey. if kira smelled cragan's scent on him and remembered it when the cubs were born, then he would surely be dead by the next morning. the more cragan thought about death, the more it appealed to him to stay. if he stayed he would have a better chance of dying, yes, but his mate and cubs would probably live, or at the least have some protection.

cragan turned his head back to beve, who seemed to be talking to herself again. his mind was made up, and there was no going back on it now. "Beve, I'm staying. Don't you forget that I still love you." He wanted to nuzzle her, but couldn't risk the fact that he might be caught in the long run if kira smelled his scent on her. cragan sqeezed himself out of the narrow space, the mist of the sea spraying up on his crimson pelt as he emerged on to the rock. he closed his eyes and thought hard about what to do next, and turned back to beve, opening his orbs and staring at her hard. "I will see you again, Benevolence." turning, he started back off of the granite and to lower ground. for now, he couldn't be spotted with the queen, for disaster was about to take place.