In the Midst of the Storm (Mud)

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/2qbetnd.jp] The meadow in springtime was a lovely place to be. The grass, after having died in the winter was growing once more; flowers were blooming, and bees were busily collecting pollen from them. A weak mid-spring sun shone down, the blue sky dotted with clouds of varying sizes. All this beauty was lost on the young lioness as she lay on a patch of flattened grass, batting at a beetle that had foolishly tried to crawl across one of her large paws. Her amber-brown eyes were thoughtful and unfocused, her head practically level with the rest of her body. Why does everything have to be so complicated? She asked herself in frustration. She wished she were still a young cub, with her mother, Florence, alive and leading the Iris Pride, and her father, Panja, cheerful and lively again. Life had once been so simple for Nebula, when all she had to worry about was whether her mother would remember to feed her and her siblings, or not letting her eldest brother, Alex, boss her around. Now she had so much on her mind, so many things to worry about. Panja was a rapidly- aging wreck after the death of his mate, and therefore was not giving the Iris Pride confidence in his leadership skills. There were whispers of rebellion everywhere in the Pride; many felines were convinced that the white lion was too weak to lead them because of his grief for Florence, and this caused Alex, Nebula and Denim to be in constant fear for their elderly father's life. She had come here to get away from it all, if only for a short while, but now her mind had wandered to the issue of her Pride once more. Who could possibly be intending to attempt taking over? Surely it could only be a large group of cunning cats, or a tiger, leopard or lion, someone or someones with enough brawn and brains to even be able to believe they could achieve such a thing. And there were definitely not many large felines in the Pride. Think. Who do you know who is ambitious, or dissatisfied with their position? She urged herself. A few face floated into her mind: that of Apollo, her half-brother, Kira, his sister, and two others – Icefang, the white lioness whose daughter, Ember, Nebula knew, and Fletcher, Florence’s crippled brother. The only other large feline that she could think of was Sota, the female leopard who had been her mentor and friend before the young lioness and her eldest and younger brother had been captured by the Tempest Pack. With a twinge of regret, she remembered that she had not spoken to Sota since her return to Iris. She wouldn’t have that sort of ambition, she thought firmly. In fact. . . Sitting up abruptly, she realised that maybe the leopard could help her find the answers to her questions – she was a spy, after all, and sometimes the need did arise for a spy to gather information for those in his or her own Pride. Looking up at the sky, Nebula saw that it had darkened – a mass of clouds had gathered, blotting out the sun. A breeze ruffled her short white fur as thunder rumbled in this distance. And it was because of this that the young lioness did not notice the approach of another creature.

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[MudBug]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=height,319,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=style,background-image: url(http://i55.tinypic.com/10gidxe.jpg);] Watch my moves! Read my mind! "Hear my voice!" Let the storm come. Nature is still at work somewhere, at least. Course cast a stone faced look to the sky, closing his eyes to feel the rain wash over his features. It was no perfect storm, but the clouds look formidable, and the thunder threatened the wildlife with a near constant growl. Course smiled - though it spread across his face slowly, taking on the tone of a haunting grin - at the excitement above him. The dreariness was nothing new, but a happening of any sort excited his young spirit. It was a juvenile excitement, but he enjoyed it to the fullest, here alone in the abandoned countryside. Never one to let his youth be made a spectacle amongst his peers. Still, he couldn't feign indifference to his own heart. It seemed the world had gone quiet. As if his father's death marked the end of all troubles . . . and celebrations. No one fought, yet no one acted as though there was peace. There was a peace, of sorts. A piece brought on by the simultaneous exhaustion of all sides. The irony, he had long ago realized, was that Lexis was always meant to be the beacon of such a piece, and here he was, soon to be leader of the tribe, ready to unleash what felt like years of suffocation through fear to end. It was a strange, groundless, rather nonsensical feeling, but Course embraced it for the sense of purpose it fueled inside him. The feeling was that of a connection with the past. Like the tribe, generations past, present, and future, were all just pretending to be at peace. A segregation from the rest of Hexasol in the name of self preservation, not a higher calling. They were the true ones with sense. Lexis had long seen the fruitlessness of this war, and yet instead of putting and end to the pain that was wreaked all around them, they cast a blanket of silence over themselves. Course would not be silenced. The rumors of Iris' troubles were hardly rumors anymore, merely news of what had transpired. Florence dead, Panja dead in all ways but phsyical, and not even a slight breeze to indicate who the new leader of the feline creed should be. Tempest, well, what of Tempest? Hierarchy that crumbled around the ears of the pack, sanity torn from the solid minds that had once brought the pack to greatness, and now all that was left was the tired shambles. More than a rag tag group of canines, to be sure, but hardly the organized force that had clawed it's way to power over a legion of lions, tigers, and leopards. "Well," Course began aloud to . . . the world, "Who better than Lexis to bring Hexasol a well deserved spring cleaning."

It's nothing spectacular, mostly just Course's ridiculous ramblings about how awesome he is and everyone else fails, but it's something. Sorry to leave you to pull this thread back on course, Mac. e__e

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/2qbetnd.jp] The thunder rumbled menacingly as clouds continued to gather, having already started to let their burdens of water fall. It was as dark as twilight now, despite the fact that it was only mid-morning. For a few moments, Nebula let the rain soak her white fur, letting the regular, soothing sound of it pattering on her back and the ground soothe her. She knew she couldn't solve her family's problems by worrying; it only drained her of energy and left her feeling bitter and helpless. Slowly rising to her paws, she shook her damp body as a dog does. That was when she heard the voice of another creature - a male, from its tenor's timbre. She managed to catch some what he said - the words Lexis and spring cleaning jumped out at her. Looking in the direction the voice had come from - in front of her - she saw its source standing less that ten metres away from her. It was a half-grown lion, his fledgling mane sticking up all around his head. He must have been roughly Nebula's age, and he reminded her very much of another of their kind. She racked her brains as she tried to think who he resembled. The answer came to her after a short while: Ember. The brown lioness who was Icefang and Streiter's daughter had become a friend to the ivory female; they were both the same age, give or take a week or two. While Nebula had her brothers to talk to (Alex, mainly, for she was much closer to him than to Denim), nothing could replace the company of one her own gender as well as one of her own age; she almost felt that Ember was the sister she'd never had. So, if this young lion looked like Ember, then. . . Then he must be her brother, Course. The Pride's spies had been able to inform Nebula that it had been Streiter's wish that his son would take over as Lexis leader once he was old enough. Naturally, the ivory female saw him as a rival, even though she knew it was very unlikely she'd ever become the leader of the Iris Pride. If life continued as it should, then, when Panja died (she was still getting used to the idea of her father not being around one day), she would be Alex's chief advisor and deputy. That was what she envisioned, at least. Narrowing her amber eyes slightly, Nebula took a few paces forward, her paws brushing the wet grass and flowers as she walked. A flash of lightning lanced down from the sky, illuminating the meadow fully for a second. Halting so that she was several metres from the young lion, she angled her nose to the rain-scented air, and, sure enough, the stink of Lexis, of feline and canine combined met her scent glands. So it was definitely him, then. Sitting down to lick a particularly wet forepaw, she kept her eyes on the Lexis male despite the rain that gently struck her, her wet body relaxed. Placing the paw back on the ground as the thunder sounded again, she waited a moment before asking delicately, her voice a touch sardonic, "So you are the mighty Course, I presume?" OOC;; Extremely rambly, but finally done.

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