[JRP] All Who Wander (Bwana x Vassago)

[Dame NightFury]

Vassago wandered through his new home, exploring the hidden details of the deep, dark and lively forest. He explored and wandered so much that Sago had ended up lost. But at the same time not lost at all. Oh, he didn't know where he was, but Sago knew that his soul, his heart had accepted this as home and he could bed down anywhere comfortably. Home was where the heart was, and his heart was fully attached to this forest and to this pride.

Oddly enough though, Sago still couldn't find his father. He didn't know many people here in the pride, and he was going to have to remedy that shortly. Prehaps after he had explored to his heart's content and knew the forest as well as he had known L1. Like the back of his paws.

He put the mission of finding Tam Lin on the back burner. Eventually Tam would pop up. From what Sago had learned about Dad, it was that he was a free spirit. He'd often disappeared during the trek here. And the absence of Tam Lin didn't bother Sago at all. It just gave him that much more freedom to form his own attachments, opinions, friends, affairs ...

Hmm. Maybe he could explore and learn his new home while forming those friends and affairs. No reason not to do both.

With that in mind, Sago found a path that led up into the branches of the pride's land.




 

[Cajanic]

Bwana was feeling a little uneasy. He knew that there was a lot of trouble brewing within the pride, but from what he could figure out, there didn't seem to be any concrete place all the rumors and suspicion had started from. Was it just noble gossip getting out of hand, or was there something more serious going on?

As the king, he wasn't willing to just ignore things and hope they went away. He needed to figure out what was going on and how to remedy the situation.

Sighing, he continued along his aimless path. It was easy to think that he needed to do something, but actually taking action was another matter entirely. He didn't know where to start.

Being king wasn't easy.

Coming to a stop, Bwana looked up, noticing a purple make with a golden mane. He offered the stranger a smile. No need to be rude to people just because of some rumors, right? "Greetings," he offered with a polite bow of his head, "I am Bwana, the ruler of this land. How may I help you?"

Dame NightFury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Sago gave his fellow lion a big smile and bowed. His mother and step-father, it was still so weird to think of Etihad as a stepdad, would have been proud. A Duke bowing so perfectly to a "foreign" but not foreign king.

Coming up out of the bow, he threw himself into the freedom of his situation. he was hoping to make friends, and while he doubted Bwana had time for such things, that didn't mean that Vassago wouldn't try. Or at the very least be friendly. Not that he could conceive of not be friendly and polite to a monarch. His upbringing again, no doubt.

Beaming, Vassago addressed dark purple and very well dressed lion. "Greetings, my good sir!" There was a bounce in his step as he made his way up someone he hoped he could become friends with. "The forest is truly beautiful, wouldn't you agree?"

He looked around, marveling at the feeling of serenity the forest gave him. Serenity and excitement. Oxymoronic, maybe, but it felt so right!

"I am just exploring, my lord. My father brought me to the pride to live with him here. Not that I can find him, but still I feel so drawn and invigorated to this forest and to the pride."

Cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Bwana smiled, feeling his spirits lift in spite of his many concerns. This lion, whomever he was, was a friendly male, and seemed to be there on good terms. It was difficult to trust others right at that moment, given everything that was going on, but that didn't mean it was impossible.

He could still feel when someone was a good being. whatever was going on with the pride, he didn't believe this lion played a paw in it.

"Yes, very beautiful," he replied lightly, "if not a bit mysterious." There were plenty of rumors about the place, especially now. But he had never been one to believe such foolishness. About the weirdest thing about the forest was the female who came along and dropped off a bunch of children within every now and again.

"I'm happy that this place offers you such feelings! Please, feel free to explore at your leisure. Perhaps I can provide some company? It has been a while since I got to explore the forest myself."

Dame NightFury

 

[Dame NightFury]

"Mystery only makes the lady more beautiful. Never a boring moment, my liege ... Your majesty? Sire? Milord? Mr. Bwana?" Sago frowned, though the smile never faded from his maw. "What exactly do you prefer to be called, sir?" Back in L1, Vassago saw his Duke title as little more just that, a title. It didn't mean anything to him. How could it when he had been cubnapped with his sisters? But that didn't mean that was how it would be here. And if there was anything Sago wanted to avoid, it was starting off on the wrong foot in his new home with his new king.

Good thing Tam Lin was a groundling, though. Sago wasn't going to have to deal with titles and ranks all that much at all. Only the King's really. And to be honest, the King was probably the only lion that deserved the consideration of title and rank awareness.

"Of course! I would be honored. I haven't been around nearly long enough to know up from down here yet, and having a walking companion that knows his way and some stories about the way would be great!"

Cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

“Ah, so you like the ladies, do you? I can’t say I disagree.”

Bwana chuckled. He wasn’t the first not to know how to greet him. Though he supposed most of the other lions had been confused because they didn’t see him as a king at all. The runaway son of a wretched dictator. He hadn’t been Mr. Popular when he first returned to his pride. Things were different now, though. He wondered if this male was just a rogue, and didn’t know how to treat the leader of prides. Or perhaps he had been using a different title in whatever pride he had come from. Either way, Bwana didn’t mind.

“Bwana is fine,” he assured the other, “I don’t care much for titles- I find them frightfully stuffy.” Something he had never lost from his youth, he supposed.

He had never considered himself a king, either.

Smiling, Bwana started to walk. Though he seemed more familiar with the lower area, Bwana couldn’t help but look around the groundling’s clearing and at the various dens where the tinkers and artisans worked. For Bwana, it was all very interesting. “If I hadn’t been born a king, I would have liked being a groundling, I think,” he mentioned lightly, “what about you?” He didn’t know what plans this lion might have had, if any.

Dame NightFury

 

[Dame NightFury]

"I'll admit that I tend to be well liked in return. And I do everything in my power to leave them happy and on good terms." And most of the time he succeed. More often than not actually. Sago could count on one paw the ladies not happy with him for leaving and moving on, but they always encouraged him to return, so he knew he was doing something right.

Sago nodded. Titles really were useless. Titles were status symbols in Vassago's mind. "Bwana, I would have to agree. Titles are nothing more than stuffy restrictions that do very little good. Individuals, titled or not, make more impact on the world than a title ever can."

This area with the artists and caretakers creating beauty to decorate and intensify the already majestic surrounds resonated with Sago. L1 Colony had been home because it was where his family had been, but this place, the forest, the groundling clearing, the pride it touched his soul. Sago shook his head. "I can't take another title. I wouldn't be able to live with the title and everything that comes with it: the responsibility; the - the groupies for a lack of a better word. All of it. As a groundling, when I offer my help, it will be because I want to not because I have an obligation to do so. And that's how others will see it as well. No strings attached. Just me. Just Sago."

Realizing that he had ranted a tad, Sago smiled at Bwana and gave a laugh. "I imagine being King must be that much worse than being a duke. It takes a stronger and better lion to take that title on."

Cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Bwana chuckled nodded. He had been something of a player back in the day himself. All part of his plan to ignore his family obligations as long as possible, he supposed. He had even brought back a litter from another female to the pride with him.

then he had found Kal, and that all changed. He couldn't see himself with another female, no matter how attractive the terms might end up being. She was the only lioness of him.

Bwana listened as Sago explained himself, smiling. "We are very alike Sago! Though I suppose I have to deal with a title- there is a line between wanting them to know me as Bwana and wanting them to continue respecting me as their king. Still, I understand how you feel! And I hope you have fun here with us. The Groundlings always seem like they know how to brighten a bad mood. I will depend on them now more than ever to keep this pride happy."

Nobles might not have had the deepest respect for groundlings, but no one could deny their importance to the pride. without them, he wondered if there would be any laughter in the place.

"What came with being a duke?" He asked lightly, "it's not a rank we have in this pride. I would be interested to know what your duties were."

Dame NightFury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Sago bounced a bit at the prospect of being a groundling. "I'm more than happy to help whether it's lifting the moral of the pride, making the cubbins laugh, or the ladies swoon. I'll even go out on patrol or hunts if needed. I'm not half bad at those last two."

Sago shrugged as he recalled all the social injustices titles and non-titles. A system he hadn't even been raised to believe in when he stopped to think about it. And he had thought about it a lot. Even when he was cubnapped and trying to be brave for his sisters. Titles didn't do much for an individual, except for make your cubs that much more of a target. Targeted by those seeking to rise in rank, one way or another.

"When I finally returned to the pride after the rebellion was put down, I tended to the other cubnapped lions and lionesses. Extra sensitive care even for the pretenders. Socializing with the judgmental old bitties and their title-digging daughters. Well, those were the responsibilities I took on and didn't refuse out right. I spent most of my cubhood as a hostage that made titles useless. My sisters and I weren't returned because of someone titled or because of our titles." Vassago explained. "Most Dukes and Duchesses don't do anything more than socialize and judge others. Most aren't Hunters, Guards, Artists, or Nannies. They're born into leadership roles that they have no training or life experience to back up and eventually they become elders that advise or make laws. Just doesn't make a lot of sense."

The pride members were all peaceful in the clearing, working on their tasks. "Bwana, is everything okay? Why would the Groundlings need to lighten and brighten the moods more so now than before?"

Cajanic

 

[Cajanic]

Bwana nodded. "It sounds a lot like the nobles I had once had in my pride. The rank still exist, though I hope to slowly lessen the meaningless of the title. It feels like lions should be respected for more than just their fur color, though that is a difficult thing to tell the members who had been in this pride longer than even I have." He frowned. The idea of having been cubnapped really didn't sit well with him. This poor lion- he must have struggled for quite some time.

Hopefully this pride would be more peaceful for him, though right at that moment he was a little concerned about that.

He watched his pride members work, smiling faintly as they moved about their busy day. For most of them, perhaps they could work through the rumors flying around. But he wasn't worried about them working with the members of their own class. It was stopping this rift from ripping the classes apart that really concerned him.

Looking at Sago, he smiled. "Ah, nothing you need to worry about," he commented lightly, "rumors have been drifting throughout the pride. Baseless, but they have created some unrest all the same. I feel it would be wise to attempt to get the lions talking about other things, not talk that has no truth to it. Anyway, I had best be going. It was an honor to meet you, and if you have any concerns, please seek me out. My den is always open."

Dame NightFury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Nobles were the hardest casts and status holders to change unless they wanted to. Many had an attitude about their titles, even though most never had to work a day to deserve the title. He was surprised that it was the color of the individuals fur that determined the status here in his new home, but than that was before Bwana. Sago had faith that the King was doing everything in his power do just as he said, lessening the meaninglessness of noble titles.

Vassago smiled and nodded. "I'm sure I can find a way to help with that. Once I start finding willing playmates." He lifted his eyebrows suggestively at Bwana before laughing at himself. "Well, I hope that the pride sees just how much you do for them and doesn't listen to gossip. Or at least harmful gossip. Gossip that bloats my ego and increases my reputation with the ladies is welcome."

Vassago gave a bow to his new friend, well hopefully he could call Bwana a friend, but either way the male had his undying respect. "It was a pleasure, Bwana, walking and talking with you. Let me know if I can help, and point any willing females my way that are looking for some fun!"

Cajanic

Fin?