[PRP] Unfamiliar Faces [Nathifa x Etawa]

[oo Ded]

It had been a while, now, since the Tree Ceremony and Nathifa had settled into the Shadow Clan—while not seamlessly, per say—comfortably enough. And though she had been around, she hadn't met too many faces outside of her clan. She wandered, instead, through the lands, head towards the sky and a smile that matched her bright, lavender eyes. Today was one of those days; the sky was clear above, blue and bright and without a glimpse of any sort of cloud. The breeze was soft and cool and the lioness… well the lioness hadn't noticed that she had become completely and utterly lost.

Nathifa's eyes fell from the sky to the land around her, and her smile flattened out a bit. Perhaps it would be better if she kept some company. Albeit this was probably the first time she'd become lost in the pride lands, but she'd become close many times. Her tail twitched as her steps stopped for a moment. A sigh left her, light and faint, and she continued to press forward, wandering through the lands. It wasn't like she was going to find her way out by just sitting helplessly.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

For his part, Etawa was a little disappointed that the sky was so very blue and clear, because the sky was much more interesting when there were clouds! He liked to watch them while he thought, and tune out all the things that tended to interrupt such thinking. Having the clouds to concentrate on made it easier to do that, he'd found.

But, since there were no clouds, he had to find something else to fixate on this afternoon, which was harder than it sounded. Nothing worked quite as well. The river was the next best thing, but Mantis wasn't near enough to it at the moment to merit him going there to stare at it for an hour or two. The dark brown lion sighed and pawed at a small rock so he could watch it roll.

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

The sound of rocks moving caught the lioness' ear. After that, she noticed the form of the brown lion near instantly. Her ears perked and a brow raised. She didn't recognize him; he must've been a member of a nearby pride. Nathifa looked him over, eyes glancing over the tattooed markings she had become so accustomed to--though she had none herself.

A smile cracked her features as she made her way in his direction, her movements light and carefree. "Hello!" she called, head high as she made her way through the grasses. She spared no volume to shyness, but her voice wasn't one that carried too loudly, even without holding back. "I'm afraid... I'm afraid I've become a bit lost. Could you tell me the direction of the Shadow Clan? Or at least, perhaps, where exactly I am?"

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Hnn? Oh, hello." Etawa made a small sound when a voice interrupted his thoughts about, well, the ideal conditions in which to have thoughts, and raised his head to get a look at the owner. His first reaction was surprise and curiosity - she had no tattoos! Not that he'd never seen anyone without tattoos, but most former rogues got at least a few. Before he could really get to wondering too much about whether or not she was an actual rogue, though, she answered that by asking how to get to the Shadow Clan.

Of course, she could be a rogue and looking for the Shadow Clan for some reason, but that wasn't terribly likely. "No, I'm afraid I don't," he replied apologetically. "I'm Mantis, so I could tell you where they are, but I don't know where Shadow is right now. But we're, hm, about two days north of the southern border, and a....day and a half east of the river, if that helps."

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

"Oh! I'm sorry if I startled you…" Her eyes fell momentarily, but seemed to flick right back towards him as he spoke. The lioness was silent, absorbing his words. "Mantis," she repeated after him, registering what it meant. He was of the Mantis, then. Nathifa nodded in understanding and smiled after he gave the explanation. "Ah, yes. Thank you. I… ehm. I am of the Shadow, since the last Tree Ceremony. I'm afraid I still haven't gotten quite used to the unfamiliar terrain…" her voice trailed off as she spoke, her eyes spanning once over the land around her. Though she hadn't left her family until she was a young adult, Nathifa had still wandered the rogue lands for a long while. She had, then, not the keenest sense of memorizing paths. The lioness was much more accustomed to simply going where the paws took her. Yes, the life of a pridal lion was one she still had to learn of.

"Thanks, for your guidance. I hope to one day get used to… all this." Her voice trailed again, motioning to the pride lands around them with a turn of the head. "To tell the truth, it's much more difficult than I would have imagined." After, she looked back to him, eyes bright. "My name is Nathifa. And again, I apologize if I have interrupted you…"

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"It's alright, I was only thinking. Nothing important. It's not like I can't think about it later, as long as I don't forget what I was thinking about in the first place..." The male allowed his train of thought to trail off, and finally let it go with a shrug. After all, as he'd said, it wasn't important.

"Anyway, I'm happy to help." His thoughtful expression was quickly replaced by a cheerful smile. "It's a pretty big place, and there's a lot to remember. My parents used to get lost, too, so you're not the only one. I'm Etawa, by the way. Etawa Atadiusti."

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

Meepfur

"Etawa Atadiusty," she repeated, nodding. "It's a pleasure." At the sight of his smile, Nathifa's expression turned upwards as well. Her body seemed to relax slightly, and she moved forward to close the distance between them. "Are your parents not from here, then?" she inquired, eyebrows raising as she sat nearer to him. Her purple colored eyes looked over him more closely, investigating his tattoos. They were still intriguing to her. After a moment, she looked back up to him with a cheerful gaze. If she was invading his space, she certainly didn't seem to notice.

It was nice, meeting someone else. Nathifa was a social creature, curious of the other clans. And Etawa seemed like pleasurable company. Perhaps getting lost wasn't too bad, all in all.  

[Meepfur]

"Well, yes and no," Etawa answered, watching with smile still in place as she took a closer look at his tattoos. He was quite proud of them! He'd earned them, after all, and his mother had been the one to give them to him. "My mother is half Ela'wadiyi, from the old Mantis Clan, but she wasn't born here. She left her old pride, the Mteo'nyungu, to come here after my grandparents died. She met my father on the way."

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

The story made her brow raise. Nathifa nodded. "It's a sweet story, traveling and finding love on the way." Her paws crossed before her in a dainty fashion. The talk of family made the lioness think of her own, and for a moment she seemed to drift off. It had been a long time, now, since she'd seen any of her family. She missed them, somewhere in the core of her, but the homeliness of a pride mostly made up for it. "I've never really been a part of a pride. I mean, other than here. I had family, but," she paused, her brow wrinkling as she thought of the right words. After a moment, she gave a little, quirked half-smile. "but well, they're gone." She glanced upwards in thought, shrugging her shoulders. "It's nice here, and all. I've never felt more at home. But it's hard not to be a little lonely."

After another paused, she blinked and gave a little, sheepish smile. "I, ehm. I don't mean to dump all this personal stuff. I'm sorry"

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Isn't it? Mom likes to blow it off and say that things just happened the way they happened. Not very sentimental, see. But I think it's a good story." Everything had fallen into place just right. Fate was a curious thing, a thing he could think about for hours...

When someone wasn't talking to him. Drifting off into thought in the middle of a conversation wasn't very polite. "It's okay, I don't mind listening. I like listening, actually."

"You were always a rogue, then? Have you been many places?"

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

Meepfur

"Romance is lost on the happily wed, it seems" Nathifa have a quirked half-smile. "Which is a shame. I hope my love life doesn't meet such a fate." Her voice seemed to drift off a bit as she murmured a quiet "Not that my love life is that existent" to finish off the statement. When she realized that she was drifting off in thought a bit, she snapped her gaze back to her company. He doesn't the only one to drift, it seemed.

"I have!" She answered excitedly, eyes beaming. "The oceans and the deserts and almost everywhere in between. You wouldn't believe all of the different lions, out there. All of the different prides..." Her voices faded again as she looked upwards, almost dreamily. "Here, though." Nathifa looked back to him, "this place feels more like home than anywhere I could have imagined..."  

[Meepfur]

"I can't imagine that it would, not if you don't want it to. Or at least, it seems less likely." Etawa stopped, pondering the possiblities, and entirely missed Nathifa's murmur.

He did not miss her answer, though, which pulled him back to rapt attention. Oceans! Deserts! Different lions and whole other prides! All things that were thrilling to consider. "Sometimes I think about going and seeing things. About what they might be like, or really are like, since nothing's ever really how you think it is, is it? So you can't know unless you see, but...but I don't really want to go. I want to know, but I don't want to go. So I just think about it instead. I guess that's silly, isn't it?

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

Meepfur

"I suppose that makes sense. Try to be more conscious of it. But I don't want to be one of those lionesses that obsesses about finding true love, y'know?" Nathifa wrinkled her nose, brushing her tail in little circles behind her. She paused for a moment, listening to him speak. The lioness had conversed with others from various prides, who had been born and raised there. She'd talked to others from her clan, too. But still, she couldn't imagine a life in one pride. Living in the same place all your life. Not seeing any of the different sorts of worlds out there.

"I don't think it's silly." Nathifa gave a quaint, little smile. "I can understand having a home. I don't think 'comfortability' is the right word, but it's the first that comes to mind. It's the feeling that I settled here for. And thoughts and imaginations, there's almost as good as the real thing," she grinned.  

[Meepfur]

"Mmnn, I think I do. Opposite end of the spectrum isn't the best, either, but I guess it's that way with most things. Happy mediums and all that." He'd thought of love from time to time, of course, but he thought about most things - and, much like having adventures, it was something he'd never actually done...though he was a bit more likely to. Eventually. Maybe. He wasn't sure how he felt about changing clans, as he was rather comfortable where he was, with his family.

"That sounds...close. Contentment, maybe?" He thought about the various words that could apply, but soon shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever it is, I'd be sad to leave it. I know that much."

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

Meepfur

"Happy mediums, indeed." Her paws crossed before her in a curt and mindful motion. Nathifa surely didn't want to seem desperate. But she didn't want to be lonely, either...

The lioness stretched her paws out before her before settling down, laying out in a comfortable (if not a bit sprawled) position. She felt antsy; her paws wanted to move. But the conversation was nice (and her company was nice on the eyes, but she'd keep that to herself...), so why not rest and enjoy the talk?

She gave a little, faint smile. "It must be nice, feeling so secure in that respect." Nathifa wasn't particularly used to having solid footing--in home, in family, in love. It was all strange feeling. Like wearing a different skin.