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 Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:58 am
 Eal forced herself into a trot, still patrolling the edge of the Stormborn's border. It would be easy to test the theory that out there, the hunger ended. Just on the other side of that invisible line, the gnawing in her belly would stop. But she wasn't allowed out there. Hel, she was testing the limits as it was. Besides, seeing Gudina - a healthy, hale and hearty rogue with no trace of the famine in him - on the other side of that line should be proof enough. No, if she were going to cross for herself, it would be for the sake of relief, not discovery. Ealhild was growing less and less sure that relief was something that she deserved.
At least, for herself. There was still the matter of squirming, mewling cubs. The sound of them was the reason she was out here at this hour, dread in her heart and peals of fire boiling in her belly. They did not deserve this. Most of them had never set foot outside of the pride - what evil could they have done? The same went for many of the thralls, now that she thought about it. They were being punished for no other reason than they were here.
The lioness shook a tawny head. It wasn't right. But until she could find out why this was happening, keeping others like Gudina from suffering just because they were here was as much as she could do.
No sooner had she decided this than her head lifted. Ghost-pale eyes lit on the shape of a lion at their border, his shape just visible in the evening light. Were the borders always so active? "Hold on there, Grandfather!" Eal grunted as she picked up the pace, hoping no one wanted to challenge in today. "You're treading a little close to the border, there. You might not want to do that."
Ignore how tired she was. Keep her voice light, keep the meeting friendly. Don't think about how, if this was a challenger, she would absolutely not be able to receive them. Definitely don't show the concern that no one else who'd been home for long would be able to take them on, either.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:05 am
 When he walked the lands in the day he took he form of an average looking lion. Neither large nor small he took the form of a lion who could simply blend in to the crowds, though he certainly held on to his more slender look. It was as he was about to step over the boarder and release his wings that a voice spoke to him. Blinking a few times he let his eyes fade from dead gray to dark silver.
He took a breath, calm, remembering to do so and tilted his head at the soft brown female.”I have not been called grandfather for a long time.” He paused for a long moment. “I often walk the border, very few challenge someone as elderly as myself.” He settled himself in to a sit, his tail curing around his paws.
“Do you need something child?” His words were calm, deadpan almost, his throat seemed dry and as he took a shallow breath his throat wheezed. It was always difficult for him to remember he should breath, he had been holding this mortal guise for weeks now, returning to his immortal form when the night rolled in ans the fog settled on the ground. He knew of course there were many who wanted to know why he was here and he never failed to tell them if he was asked. During the day though he was just another mortal, hungry and quietened by the famine.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 4:09 am
The lioness blinked at him, the sheer strangeness of his statement slowing her paws and her thoughts. He often walked the borders, with no challenges? That wasn't right, it wasn't their way. She stood to get an ear torn off for allowing Gudina to hang around the edges of the pride for so long; for someone to allow him to pass them by, again and again? Someone or other would have to be dropping the ball in a very serious way.
"I'm sorry - I didn't mean any offense." Although he certainly looked like a lion that had gone unchallenged. There was something about him... A feeling, nibbling between her ears, that she just couldn't shake. He seemed so thin. Maybe her warning came too late, and he already knew...? But Ealhild had never seen this lion in her life, she was sure. The Stormborn were a big pride, yes, but their elders fell few and far between. Visually shaking it off, the lioness moved closer. If she weren't so concerned with getting him away, it might have been impressive the way that the old-timer stood his ground. Especially assuming that he knew how visitors to the border were usually received. "I just wanted to warn you. The borders aren't safe these days. If you come too close, you'll start to feel hungry."
In spite of her earlier conviction, Ealhild couldn't help but feel silly explaining it to him. She couldn't place why. After all, it should have been no different than explaining things to Gudina. But here, she felt...childish. The way she'd felt watching her sister tell Dad how to braid his hair. It was as if those silver eyes already knew how she felt. And while they watched her, trying to say anything else about it would be nothing so much as pointless.
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 1:23 pm
The disguised god listened as the lioness spoke. She was concerned for him. “I have never not felt hungry.” He rumbled, his voice deep and thoughtful. This was the first lion in the whole pride that had warned him away from the borders.
He felt a small pang of guilt, he was the reason such a lioness was starving, but the pride was getting it’s just desserts. He had yet to have anyone come to him and ask for forgiveness. He had, had many challenges in his god form, anger, betrayal, attacks. As a god, he was strong, powerful, despite how he looked.
“Why would a lion of this pride warn one such as I? I have had many encounters but none have warned me away from these lands. Kindness, as I know it, is not in a Stormborn blood.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 3:02 pm
Eal's ears flickered at his response, eventually settling close to her skull. That feeling - that something wasn't right, that there was something she was missing about this - only grew with his words. Unless their definitions of hunger were wildly different, there was no way that this stranger had lived to such an age feeling like...this, all the time. Thin or not, it simply wasn't possible - right? Her gaze, wider and more imploring than she might have wanted, searched the passionless silver one. Whatever she was sought there, though, seemed less than forthcoming.
"It sounds like you've met some...more unsavory of our number." A wince accompanied the words. Her head lowered at just the thought of who the stranger might have run afoul of. "I'm sorry for them. It's hard to think of others when you're hurting, or your family is hurting - but not everyone is like that. Some of us have managed to think past the hunger." She tried to smile. It was a little lopsided, and a lot apologetic, but genuine. "You said you're used to the feeling? I'm sure you can understand how difficult it is, then. I don't want to make anyone feel like this if they don't have to." For whatever reason, just now, the Stormborn had to. But wanderers, like this old-timer - or Gudina - they didn't. Ealhild wasn't sure why that was, but she was sure what she wanted to do.
Except that this lion had also admitted to hunger. And to meeting the Stormborn before. He clearly wasn't one of them, so why had he met them so often?
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