[JRP] Journey's End [Kizuka & Cubs/Kai'dena]

[Excited Apathy]

Kizuka'ruya was exhausted.

She couldn't remember when she'd had a decent night's sleep, let alone a decent meal. Freedom had proven a mixed blessing so far--while her life was no longer lived at the whim of those she had betrayed, surviving on her own was proving...difficult. She was forced to scavenge when she could, and simply went hungry when she couldn't. At least it was better than the hell of living with a triumphant Malaika and her pack of hate-spawn. The b***h wasn't even really silent anymore, what with that stupid buzzard of hers. For a moment, toes flexed in the mimicry of claws she no longer possessed as she walked. Between that damn bird and the eight cubs her cousin had managed to bear for Hate, even starving was better.

But something had changed the game. Six somethings, in fact.

She turned her head a little to the right, her good eye glancing over the six cubs that followed. She'd been furious to discover she was pregnant--of course a good meal and a pleasant night would have attached some strings to itself. She could barely take care of herself, let alone cubs! But shortly after their birth, she'd noticed something...different...about several of them. They knew things, sometimes. Just often enough to make Kizuka wonder who that rogue really had been, and for her to suspect that perhaps, just maybe, these cubs were spiritborn. More than that, they were the only family she had left that didn't despise her, or she them.

Turning her eye back to the way ahead lest she trip (a damnably frequent occurrence if she let herself be distracted), she pressed on. If she kept going long enough, she was bound to find a pride--and a better chance of survival for them all.

-----

Afya's feet hurt. Young as he was, it hadn't taken long for the wandering to take a toll on his sensitive paw-pads. And he was hungry, but he was always hungry so his feet hurting took precedence in his mind. Complaining would only make mom cranky, though. Crankier. She was cranky a lot. They had to keep moving, because mom said so.  

[Duelist of Pokemon]

Momma was cranky again.

Padding behind his siblings with eyes looking this way and that, Xipil paused for a moment to sniff at something on the ground-

Only to squeak and stumble/run to catch up with everyone when it was apparent they and Momma weren't going to stop. It seemed like they had been walking for ages though! ....And the little obsidian cub, too, was beginning to feel hunger pains cramp at his stomach.

But that was okay!
They would make it!

Besides, who would protect Momma and their sisters if he and their brother fell over from silly stomach noises? They would! They had to!

.....Darn it. His feet hurt too. Biting his bottom lip, Xipil looked up to stare at his colored brother and sisters before glancing back towards their parent.

 

[Das Tor]

Ficha quietly followed her mother, the pain in her paws something that barely registered in her mind. It had become something constant shortly after they started moving, so why should she pay it any mind? The rumbling in her tummy, too. That was rather normal, considering the short amount of time she'd been alive. The brightly-marked cub stayed near her brothers, eyes looking around as they moved. Everything was new to her, interesting. She just wished her mother wasn't so cranky. But until then...she would stay quiet and just look around.  

[Ameh]

Nurzhan's life along with her siblings and mother hadn't always been a happy one. In fact, it wasn't really happy at all, for the short amount of time they had been alive. In that amount of time, however, they had grown used to the somewhat bleak perspective of life, and while they weren't happy, they never really were in a poor state, either. The somewhat scarred, sort of beaten physique their mother had was normal for all and Nurzhan that they didn't care about pouncing on her or scratching her at times to play - or at least, Nurzhan paid no attention to these conditions.

They just followed her, and this was another day. The ground they were walking on seemed to dampen... or perhaps it was just her. Since their birth, however, the litter had displayed rather different and unique knowledge that their mother seemed to approve. It was all good for them all and Nurzhan, so no one asked or questioned it whenever she or another sibling would say something out of the blue. Sometimes, their mother would even react to it with an acknowledging look.

In turn, Nurzhan obeyed. None of them really knew where they were going, but following their mother was at least a start.  

[ShinosBee]

Hajawika was tired. And hungry. And she wanted to be done walking. But she didn't say anything. Her paws hurt, she was sure when they finally stopped and she turned them over, they'd have been torn open. Another night licking grit from her toes. Distantly she wondered when they'd stop...and the vision came to her, unbidden, as always.

Well. Not as always. They'd come and gone frequently since as early as she could remember. Lately they'd seem to come more and more when she wondered about something yet to come. She couldn't quite force them, or direct them once they came, but it was getting closer. Unlike her siblings though, she didn't tend to talk about it.

This time though was different. Wit ha squeal she raced forward, darting past her plodding siblings and then even their mother. "This way! It's this way! The no-more-walking place!" She'd seen it, at last, and knew somehow that this night would be one of the last few spent mending torn feet.  

[DragonsRage24]

She was home now, though it was still taking her a little while to get used to the idea. She had seen so much while away from the swamp, and she wished it had not taken so long. Glad to be home, Kai'dena walked by the border looking out from the thick underbrush, vines and raised roots towards the plains that were very close, but not as damp or lovely as the swamp under paw.

This was her home, she would not be leaving again.

However, something caught her eyes as she walked, and she stopped, her silver, blind looking eyes blinking seeing a small group of..something. Surely not prey, they would not wander this way willingly.

Squinting, she saw a lioness and..children? Her ears flicked forward and Kai'dena began to head towards them, feeling strange not have submerged in water or mud, but she had to make sure the group was all right.

Were they a part of the pride?

She was unsure...she was gone for so long, so many faces she didn't know.  

[Excited Apathy]

Kizuka's good eye caught movement.

The dark lioness froze. A part of her registered Hajawika's delighted squeal, along with one of those declarations that was so damn certain that it had to be spirit-sent...though only a part. "Careful," she growled as the female half of her twins darted past her, but her eye, and most of her attention, was now on the stranger. Sloppy, sloppy. She tried to avoid others before coming too close--if a rogue attacked, she had no defense for her or the cubs.

Nothing to be done for it now but pray the spirits were feeling merciful today, though. "What is your intent?" she called out, her voice blunt and her gaze--what there was of it--direct.  

[DragonsRage24]

She saw...lots of movements, lots of children. How many were there in total. As Kai'dena got closer, and the female..mother, she corrected herself, called out, her ears pressed back against her head and she ducked slightly to the ground, feeling the hard soil underneath. She wished it were mud, she'd be more comfortable. Her intent? She gulped. This mother did not seem familiar nor friendly. A traveler? With this many children in tow?

How would such a thing be possible?

"Intent? I was..coming to see if you were all right," Kai'dena called out to her, them, all of them. My goodness, so many.

"You are coming near to the Jini'msemi pridelands, have you traveled far with them-?" she left a question in the end for not only time traveled, but perhaps a name in exchange.

"I am Kai'dena, a huntress of the Jini'msemi, no need to be wary."  

[Excited Apathy]

Kizuka relaxed somewhat, but not all of the tension left her frame. She had come too damn far to take anyone at their word so quickly, not when she had lived so long in a family steeped in ambition and deceit. There was, however, a glimmer of hope in the information offered so freely. Jini-msemi pridelands...that blazing orange eye flickered toward the daughter that had foretold an end to their walking before settling back on the stranger.

"We're alive, for now." Steeling herself against the risk, she raised a paw to plainly show the scars where claws had once resided. "As you can see, that is the best that can be expected for us." She carefully schooled her expression into something much more neutral, then. "Far enough."

As far as she was concerned, the now-dead Mizimu had no relevance here.  

[DragonsRage24]

"Alive is no good way to speak of oneself, as well as children, I too have traveled from my home out into many places I wish I had not seen nor been. However, it is part of our culture to do so." Her ears flicked as she watched the children, so young, so inquisitive, they seemed restless, but needing rest, as well as this female. Perhaps they could find home here.

"I've no idea from where you've come, nor the hardships you and your family might have faced, but the Jinimsemi is very warm and welcoming, if you don't mind your home being within roots, vines, thick underbrush and swamp, but that is what makes us who we are. The mud, though much different from the hard packed soil of the plains and roguelands is much more pleasing to tired paws than more walking, I assure you."

Se watched them, looked from the cubs to the female, no judgement in her eyes, "you appear as if your family has journeyed far enough. From what I've told you, does my home sound pleasing to you?"

She knew of course the Jini were very accepting, and if the leaders of the pride were to agree, this family may find sanctuary within the swamplands.  

[Excited Apathy]

Culture...once, Kizuka might have been picky. Might have been able to afford being picky. These days, survival took precedence, and as long as she wasn't walking back into slavery--or sending her spiritborn cubs to it--she could deal with a little culture shock. Followers had clung to the edges of the Mizimu, often from the rogue lands, sometimes from strange prides with strange customs. She had paid little attention to them, then...she almost wished she had.

...It probably would have made little difference. There were many prides.

She fixed the stranger with her odd-eyed stare. "If they'd take us."  

[DragonsRage24]

Kai'dena offered a smile, took a side step, as if leaving an area for which the female may walk with her children. "If you and the children are wanting to have your tired paws come to ease and relax, and find a home, and have them learn the ways of our lands, then I cannot see why we would not take a family into the hearth of our swampslands." They were a pride of family, culture, and pride. They were one with the swamps and the swamp protected them. Though she did not say it aloud, Kai'dena believed this family needed that, especially the mother. She seemed to have lived a hard life.

"Come with me, I will show you the way, bring you to where you and your family will meet the others, of more importance of course, our leaders," and there, she presumed, this family would be given a new life here.

"What is your name? And your children? So that I may introduce you when we arrive?"

All Kai'Dena knew was this was a family, and the swamplands would be open to those who wandered near and far, wished to find a home where they would seek refuge from the outside world where there were so many judgements, so many different labels, so many different things Kai did not like when she had seen them on her journey. She was glad to be home, and glad to offer this as a home to this family. They would do well here, she was sure of it.

She guided them to where they had to go, though spoken word between them, Kai'dena, knew, would be short lived. No doubt this family would want to seek out their own little splotch of territory to call their own within the mud and vines here. Hopefully they could become accustom quickly.

Times would be well for them, she was sure, and just as the sun and moon had their own paths to continue along, she only hoped that this family would be able to find theirs here. The children, Kai'dena assumed, would have to do the same journey as she when old enough. But they would be well, they would be strong and strengthened by the swamp and the others within.

They were one large family, and as one, they thrived.

She was not worried, they would do well.

Kai'dena walked at a somber pace with them, making sure all the children were in tow and not getting too enthralled with those things around them, it must be a curious place, indeed, compared to the outside world. But who could blame them for curiosities? Kai'dena could not, she had loved the swamp since a cub, and would continue to do so, perhaps, one day, with a family of her own.

One day, perhaps one day, and then they would all be friends.

They would all do well, be well, and have wonderful lives in the swamp, this she was sure, her hope and spirit could not deny her these thoughts, and she embraced them with a smile.

((Kai'dena word count 1055))  

[Excited Apathy]

"Kizuka," the scarred lioness said bluntly after a short nod, before turning slightly to her cubs. "Afya, Ficha, Tazama, Nurzhan, Xipil, and Hajawika." She gestured with a clawless paw at each one as she spoke, her eye lingering for a moment on the one who'd appeared have the most recent 'knowing.' Spiritborn... What god would disguise himself as a mortal of no particularly distinguishing markings, she didn't know...but with the abilities of six cubs, they could be nothing else.

Falling silent, she followed Kai'dena deeper into the swamps, keeping her eye on the brood that followed her as best she could.