[PRP] One with the Earth (Minoru/Dever)

[Andranis]

The clans were on the move again, the festival at an end. Minoru watched as first the Mantis Clan left, then the Sky Clan. The Shadow Clan hung around for a while, before they, too, were gone, and the Bird Clan taking another path away from the Star Grove. The Earth Clan, for the moment, remained, biding their time before they, too, left. The dark clay-brown lion found a spot under a bush to relax, listening somewhat remotely as his mate, Meztli, interacted with the other clan lionesses. His mate... It brought a smile to his face. Even knowing she'd had his nephew's cubs, which was in itself an odd thing to say, he still wanted to be with her. It didn't matter to him that she was a tough lioness who didn't take anybody's crap. She was a force to recon with, and he found himself an even match for her. His size certainly lent aid, but that wasn't the only thing going for him. Size wasn't everything, after all.

He let out a sigh, closing his eyes as he started to doze a bit.  

[mouselet]

Anyone in the Clan who wasn't asleep (or close to it) had noticed by now a young, gold lion going around busily. He would approach a randomly selected spot of ground and immediately begin digging a hole in the earth, sending dirt flying everywhere.

This was, of course, Dever. He was, to say the least, new to the Ela'wadiyi, having only been welcomed at the recent Tree Ceremony. He was very excited to be here, and seemed quite eager to continue digging in the dirt.

"Not here...not yet..." he could be heard murmuring happily to himself as he continued to act like an insane wild dog.  

[Andranis]

Minoru's ear flicked, before he lifted his head up. "Eh..?" He looked around, before spotting the other lion. Gold, pale markings, red hair... He almost looked like a Pridelander. The silver-haired lion flopped back over for a moment, trying to go back to sleep. But it became impossible, as his mind began to buzz. What was the other lion doing? Was he looking for something? Why was he looking for it, if he was looking for something? He rolled over, covering his head with his paws, willing his mind to shut up, but Minoru soon got up with a huff. Sleep was NOT going to be his today. Curse his mind... He left the bush he'd been laying under, going over to the other lion, curiosity nagging in his brain. "Hey, um... I can't remember your name, only that you're in the same clan now... What're you doing?"  

[mouselet]

Dever was so focused on his digging that he didn't hear the other voice at first. When it penetrated his focus at least, he turned around to where he'd most recently been tossing dirt. There was an orange-red, silver-maned lion there, looking right at him with curious green eyes. Dever's own brown eyes blinked as he registered the question.

"Looking for my spiritual connection with the earth, of course," he answered simply, before turning to dig yet another hole in the ground.  

[Andranis]

He tilted his head in confusion a moment, frowning... And then thought of both his half-sisters, Kabichi and Kohpi, and of what Meztli had told him about her sister, Nenetl. Normal was a subjective term in both their families... That wasn't even getting into the lion from the Shadow Clan he'd met who planted POTATOES, something that had the lion's mate exasperated. She'd stated that when they had cubs, they would have a family name that meant 'potato-like.' Meztli had had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at how ridiculous it was. Going over to one of the holes, Minoru looked in it. "How will you know when you find it?" There was no question about the logic, only how to identify the object of obsession.  

[mouselet]

Dever hadn't been paying overly much attention to the other lion, busy digging his holes and searching. Then the other male asked him a question. Dever opened his mouth to reply when he realized something important.

Mouth slightly agape and eyes wide, the gold lion turned to his companion. "I...don't know," he answered slowly, somewhat stunned.

That was actually a good question, therefore. So he should think about it. He'd been digging in the earth to find his spiritual connection because, well, earth. So how would he know when he found it?

"I think...I think I'll feel it," he answered at last. That sounded right. Sort of. Mabye. Hopefully?  

[Andranis]

Minoru moved some dirt with a paw, holding it up. His clay-brown coat made him look very fitting of the Earth Clan, as did Meztli's own coat. As he shook his paw, sifting the dirt between his claws, he let out a pensive hm. Looking to the other lion, he gave a nod. "Well, you're a gold-brown color like sandy earth... And your hair makes me think of clay... Your eyes are also brown like this dirt here, so I think so far you have a pretty good connection to the earth." He put his paw back down, giving another nod. "Plus, when we die, our bodies become one with the earth, and then the grass." He looked to the prey animals far off. "And when we become the grass, the prey eats it, and then our pride mates eat THEM... And so on and so forth..." He had, in essence, described the Circle of Life.  

[mouselet]

The gold lion listened intently as his conversation partner spoke, describing all the ways that he was already connected to the earth. He supposed it was logical, earth colors and all that, not to mention the inevitable death and decomposition of all living creatures...

...but that wasn't what he was looking for. Not something he couldn't help or something that he wasn't going to (and wouldn't want to) experience because he'd be dead. It was...not for him.

"That's not it at all," Dever argued. "I can't just have a spiritual connection because of things I can't help or can't avoid! It's something to be found, and nurtured!" He firmly believed that this sort of thing had to be sought, had to have effort put into it. Lazy lions did not deserve spiritual connections with the earth!  

[Andranis]

He sat down, rubbing his chin with his paw. "Something more than what you can't help... Hm..." His brow furrowed, seriously considering ways one could be spiritually connected with the earth. "This is a tough one..." He looked at the dirt again. "I don't suppose just rubbing the dirt into your coat would help..." Great, now he'd be wondering about this for the next several days!  

[mouselet]

Dever shook his head regretfully. He'd already considered that idea and, well, the less said about the experiment, the better. It had taken him days to get the stink off...

"No, if it were that easy, I'd've found it already," the gold male insisted. "Trust me, that's not the way to go."

If only he knew the right way! Then he would be so happy!  

[Andranis]

Minoru began to say something, when he heard Meztli calling his name in the distance. He flicked one ear in her direction, then turned and looked toward where she was. "COMING!" He looked back at Dever, offering him a smile. "I'm afraid that's my mate calling me to help her with something." He stood up and started to walk away. "I wish you luck in your quest to find your spiritual connection with the earth, clan brother." As he walked away, he wondered... How DID one find their spiritual connection? Maybe Meztli's sister knew...  

[mouselet]

Dever watched the other lion depart. He didn't know that he was any closer to finding his spiritual connection, but he thought maybe he'd eliminated another way of going about it. Strange, but at least he was reasonably certain now that digging holes wouldn't help.

Drat. Back to the drawing board.

The golden lion shook his head and wandered off, looking for his next source of inspiration.