The Goldlands Around Midday
Jezebel knew that someone would be bringing her food at about this time. Well, what could be charitably called 'food', given how they tended to only give her what Iago, Othello and their 'Pride' didn't eat. Usually, it was lowered into the pit by a vine. And when Jezebel saw the vines moving, she decided that this time she was going to pull whoever was on the other end right into the pit. And when the dogs would have to lower a ramp to get their subordinate, she was going to tear whoever it was to shreds and then escape.
"Right on time." Whispered Jezebel as she grabbed the vine and yanked it as hard as she could.
And then she looked up. And upon doing so, she saw a puppy and her eyes widened in horro. She realized what would happen if it hit the ground, and just how much she didn't want that to happen. She wouldn't have cared if an adult broke a few ribs, but a kid was a whole other matter. She used her body to intercept it, leaving the small dog was dazed from his fall but otherwise unhurt. However as soon as he realized that Jezebel saved him the unexpected happened.
"You're not a monster. At all." Said the dog, still on her back. "What do you mean?" Asked Jezebel. "Well everyone says that you're a monster. That's why they keep you trapped in here. Aren't you the King Iago's crazy sister?" The puppy asked.
He got off her back and stood to face her with a happy smile. "I'm Diego" Said the dog gleefully. "Well Diego, why are you doing this job? I didn't think Cobarte would allow a pup to do this." Jezebel asked, suddenly quite confused.
"Uhh… Well my friend Yaroi, who's just two years old, needed a day off and asked me to do the job. He said he'd put in a good word with my father so that he'd let me live."
"What do you mean 'let you live'?!" Jezebel exclaimed, worried for the puppy. "Well, um… you see, I am a puppy born from a low-ranking mother that the alpha mated with. The law of the Pack dictates that for the crime of an omega female seducing the alpha male, the resulting puppies are to be put to death. And that is exactly what happened to all the others, except me. My mom hid me and was working on hiding the others when the alpha found her. My mommy died, and I was alone until another mother took me in." Answered Diego, clearly trying to keep a good attitude.
"Cobarte…" Growled Jezebel in anger, as more a musing to herself than anything else. However, Diego heard his name nonetheless. "Yes. Him…that's the Alpha and my father. He told me that he might allow me to live if I stepped up more and was of use to him." Diego, and Jezebel noted that he honestly believed this. "Is that… Is that what you truly want? To be part of your 'father's pack?" Jezebel asked in concern.
"It's the only thing I have." Said Diego after a few seconds of thinking. "A dog's place is in the pack, and hopefully not at the bottom. It's all I have, and all a dog will ever have. Just like you; don't you have a pack?" Diego asked sincerely.
"I am a lioness, so my pack would be called a pride. And you can be whatever you want Diego. Don't let yourself believe the lies around you, because a lack of options is the first thing they'll want you to believe. I know a place that would take you in if I took you to them." Jezebel reassured.
"You mean a place that won't kill me for being born from a low-ranking mother?" Whispered a very hopeful Diego. "Yes, I just need to get out of this hole and both me and you can go I will just be dropping you off".
"Hello princess." Interrupted Korofi, walking over and looking down into the pit. "So? Will you join your brothers today?" Jezebel bared her teeth, but after a few moments, she 'relented'. "I will. What choice do I have? I can't spend my life here forever. And I will not end my life as a prisoner. I can be helpful to our lionesses." Said Jezebel, in her best possible defeated tone. It helped that she allowed desperation to return to her mind just for the moments that Korofi read her mind.
"No, you can't. All of the original Goldlands lioness and cubs are dead; I didn't let not a one escape Iago's attention." Laughed Korofi. Jezebel looked down, saying nothing. "I will be back before dusk. I have a meeting with his majesty." Korofi said darkly.
The Blood Tower – Formally Known as The Ivory Tower
The larger and stronger of Blood's sons was heading to the main throne room the home of the pride and the seat of power for the Goldlands. He had been summoned by the favored son, which meant he was now forced to walk into the last place on earth he wanted to be. That is, until he entered the throne room, and when he did he realized how clean the place was. It was spotless; the floor was smooth and Othello could for once appreciate how shiny white marble actually was. Where the old throne used by all the former kings resided was now a large imposing red throne, also made of marble. On the left and the right there were matching thrones, however these sat lower than the main one.
"Brother" said Iago, sitting up to face him. "Come, sit down. We got a lot to talk about." Now, this… this really freaked out Othello. He was expecting Iago to be hostile and arrogant towards him, but he actually seemed… almost friendly. "I just got the last piece of my collection, and you can thank Korofi's magic for the remodel. Look above my throne on the cave wall." Laughed Iago clearly proud of his decoration choices. Othello dared not look Korofi in the face, because if he did he might have roared at the shaman. Instead he looked where Iago told him to.
Over Iago's throne was a groove in the stone. And within it was a set of lion skulls, all of whom Othello knew who they had belonged to but would not voice his knowledge. "It took sometime, but after my dogs cleaned off most of the flesh from Khari's skull, Korofi here cleaned it up real good. The one in the center is Mato. The one on his right is Chuma and to his left are the skulls of Khari and Sefu." To that one, Othello raised his eyebrow.
"It took him a minute, but Korofi managed to craft a skull from the dust that was left over when he vaporized Sefu." Smiled Iago, but then he frown a little bit. "However, the wild dogs completely devoured Davu, and Korofi refused to wipe a canine's ass for any bits to piece together. So no skull for him." Iago laughed at the joke that was funny only to him. "I pity, because I had use Akato's skull for my pissing pot instead. Now that one Korofi could find for me from in the death pits. However, the best news is that Korofi here has perfected that spell I requested." To that, Othello tilted his head. "Spell?" He said, and Iago almost laughed at how dumbly he said this before snapping his fingers. "I command you to come in, Sakeo." Iago ordered.
And in sauntered a young, quite beautiful tan-furred lioness, yet all Othello could notice was the blank look in her onyx eyes. "Yes, my king. The One Above All, made into flesh." The lioness droned. Othello looked at her and noticed that she was new; a poor, helpless rogue most likely. What in the fresh hell have you done?! Thought Othello.
"She no longer has free will; watch this. Sakeo I command you to jump off the tower!" So Iago happily. And as soon as he commanded it, Sakeo walked over to an opening that was meant to let in light and jumped to her death. Iago ran to the window and laughed, before remembering exactly what he had just done. "Oh… Oh yeah, that's right… Well, there's probably plenty of those where she came from." Iago remembered that he had not had her for his own pleasure just yet, but shrugged before turning to his shaman. "Korofi, send the wild dogs to clean up that mess, yelled Iago. "Sadly, it does exactly what I want it to do, and that's its one flaw. It destroys everything about an individual. Meaning if I use it on Penda, I would lose my best female warrior. But, damn I can't wait to take Lana's freewill and ride her hard as I can." Iago swooned, and licked his lips at the sheer prospect of that happening.
Inside Othello was going mad and that must have been conveyed on the outside quite well because Iago chuckled awkwardly before changing the subject. "Today brother, our sister Jezebel has decided to join us. Of her own free will." Iago said, hoping this would bring Othello's mood back to amicable. "Korofi, go now and bring her to us." Commanded Iago. Korofi left as fast as possible to not destroy Iago's good mood. Or, worse, gain Othello's attention.
Jezebel's Prison
When Korofi returned, he realized that he completely forgot about a certain detail.
"Oh, you have a guest. Let me help you both out." Said Korofi as kindly as he possibly could. With his staff, he floats the lioness and the puppy he was just now remembering right to him and sets them down. "Now let's go see your kin- brothers. Your brothers." Korofi corrected himself just a little too late for Jezebel's liking. "I hope you can all get along." Laughed the primate " Especially considering that they killed your friends."
Korofi had a plan, but what happened next went right against it. Jezebel unloaded her claws right into him, and even though he blocked her with his staff with ease the message was clear. "That's not very nice." Said Korofi, holding her in the air with his power. He hesitated however, before setting her down. "No, that would be a disaster. I can't so much as harm you, and I know this. But, oh so many options that leaves for me." Korofi hissed as he stared Diego down. Jezebel realized all too late what was happening.
"Not Diego! He's just a puppy!" Yelled Jezebel as the small dog's body glowed in a blue light; it was too fast for her to do anything to save him. Korofi held out his free hand and a blue stone floated to him he held it in front of Jezebel.
"This is your dear little friend Diego. Don't worry; he's still alive in this stone… as long as it is intact" Korofi viciously smiled. And as he was saying this, he 'accidently' crushed it into dust. "Whoops. Ooooh… Did I do that?" He laughed at his 'sleight of hand'. Jezebel growled
You bastard! You'll pay for this! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! I know what I must do now. For the sake of the fallen, for the sake of all of those who have been victimized by these selfish wastes of life. I can no longer run away from here; how selfish could I have been to think to abandon this kingdom now that all has been made clear to me. No, I must remain. If nothing else to free this land from Iago's brutality. And it starts from within the Pride.
Two Weeks into The Future
Othello talked with Iago and convinced him that, if they were going to keep Jezebel's cooperation, he'd have to at least pretend to have some decency. "I have a great idea, I will just hide most of my favorite pastimes from our sister. It'll make her trust us more won't it?"Iago said, having just had an epiphany. "Your right brother said Othello walking away. It took him this long to figure that out? Othello thought but did not voice.
Othello walked down to get a drink and spotted Jezebel having pinned Cobarte, her claws under his throat. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I thought you were just some other lione-" Jezebel's paw to his skull abruptly stopped Cobarte's simpering pleas.
"You're a fucking asshole! What the hell did you think you were doing?! You thought you were just going to misbehave on my pridesisters and go unpunished!?" Cobarte whined as Jezebel hit him again. "Were you really about to kill Madora for that, you dumb mutt?! For daring to tell you to back off and leave her alone, you bite her on the throat?!" Yelled Jezebel into the whimpering goliath's swollen face as she once again wailed on him.
"Jezebel?" Othello said, and that distraction was enough for Jezebel's grip to loosen just a bit. Realizing this, Jezebel let Cobarte up and the scalded dog ran away, almost literally with his tail between his legs and whimpering the whole time. She took a deep breath and turned to face Othello and the rest of Iago's Pride.
"That is why. That is why we mustn't allow Iago's lapse in planning to breed complacency and dependence on those wild dogs. That slobbering cur was about to kill one of our own, for no other reason than he thought he could get away with it." Jezebel growled, before regaining her composure. "However, he thought that he could get away with it because his pack provides us with our food and for that we look weak and lazy. What happened to the Pride that, just two weeks ago, was a force that could make other kings surrender?" Jezebel said. And that seemed to strike exactly the nerve she wanted it to.
"It's true. Because the dogs bring us our food, we have lost our edge. Jezebel is right; we need to have a hunting schedule and plan our own hunts, like real lionesses. We have become lazy and fat because of our king and his pets." Hissed Penda, as though disgusted with her own neglect of her training. Jezebel, seeing this, took the chance to speak.
"This is what we should do: before every hunt we meet at the base of the tower and plan. This pride needs to be self-sufficient once more, not fat bloated warthogs waiting to be taken advantage of." Said Jezebel.
"At first, I could not see why Iago and Othello wanted you on their side. But now I can understand. If you had a mane, you'd be the king, not them. You are one of us. This proves it." Penda said.
What has happened to my sister? She wears no crown, but has become a queen, and a strong one at that. However, the way she takes control makes me feel sick inside. She is slowly becoming like father. More importantly, she is becoming like Icarus, but in a good way. And for that exact reason, I cannot allow her to continue on that path. If Iago isnt careful, she could kill him one day… No more! I will not lose another family member. Othello swore to himself.
Perhaps some good can come out of this after all. It is unfortunate, but Iago cannot live. At the very least, his reign must come to an end. I know what you're thinking, Othello. I only hope you do not have to die with him, but maybe one day you'll join our side; if only because Iago will have driven you to that point. Without his pets, he is less than nothing; a sniveling, cowering weakling that doesn't even have the guts to openly be a bastard to those he knows can kill him. Penda and I are similar; we are both lionesses who had no other options. And she sees what I see; Othello and Korofi are Iago's only real hopes. If the two of us can just get rid of Korofi and bring Othello back to the side of good… Jezebel thought, and began pondering on ways to go about this.
A few hours later
Othello tried to destroy the flower that was given to him by Kinyume, but nothing works. Hopefully this withers and dies soon, he thought as he hid it in a remote cave and went back to border patrol.
"Who…" Othello started, but could not go any further as he was looking right at a lioness was laying down on a rock by the river her front paws in the water. She was beautiful; her dark tan fur had wrapped her soft, feminine muscles nicely. Her body in general was perfect; she herself was perfect. Othello was about to call out Lana's name when he realized that it was Penda.
What is she doing? Does she know that I'm here? Othello thought, before shaking his head clear. "Does being a pervert run in my family? Why am I spying on her like a voyeur?" Penda lifted her paw out of the water, her claws skewering a fish. "Oh. Oh, that's what she was doing." Othello said, not realizing he was speaking aloud that whole time.
"It's not nice to stare at a lioness like that. Hee hee, but for you I will allow it" Penda said, batting her eyes the whole time. "Maybe I could join you? I really don't want to go give Iago a report that he isn't listening to anyway." Said Othello, and saying that aloud made him realize exactly what position he held in Iago's government. That is, a pretty low rank. "Come here; let's talk. I really don't know much about you." Invited Penda, and Othello obliged. If I can't be with Lana, why not be with Penda? What do I have to lose? She is so much like Lana in how she looks and that intelligent fire inside her. Oh, it's driving me mad for her.
Othello realized his train of thought, and began to feel guilty for it. Not that it was going to stop him from allowing the Circle of Life to do what it was going to do.