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 Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:27 pm
Nsundu sat silently at the foot of a large tree, watching the sun set. She had found her shelter for the night, meaning she had time to sit outside and think. Things had come a long way since she met Kazi and was introduced to the customs of her pride. Her pride. The phrase now rolled effortlessly off her tongue, though it had taken her a while to come to terms with the idea. She would be in charge of a group of lions and lionesses, required to teach them about things she didn't fully understand herself. No doubt, as Vinya had said, it would be hard. But she could do it. She had to be able to do it. Not only was her pride (in the figurative sense) at stake – Kazi would never let her live this down if she failed – but something inside her wished to see the land her mother had come from. Mnyama had said that she'd turned down her place as queen of the pride for Nsundu's father. Now Nsundu was going to take her mother's place.
The young lioness sighed, stretching out on the cooling dirt. She knew the way home, but what was left? Had another pride taken over since the death of the Nchi? Nsundu didn't know, but the uncertainty made her worry. Wait, worry? Nsundu, the daughter of the coolest quadruped was worrying? Blasphemy! The young lioness shook her head briskly to clear it, chasing away the unwanted feeling. She would not worry. She would hold her head high and face all challenges that came her way.
She smiled to herself, before beginning to sing softly the song she liked the best, " Woza, oh woza. Woza ushapho, oh woza..."
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:02 pm
Isithunzi wandered tiredly across the lands. Would she ever be home? Would there be anyone left? Even just one; one would be enough. One other... The lioness stopped at a tree nearby Nsundu's, unaware that she was even over there, and started drumming on it, as was custom for the lioness. Claws in, she pounded out a beat, humming gently to the syncopated rhythm; it had been her mother's tune, she never forgot it, and had gotten into the habit of playing it recently.
That was, until another voice reached her ears. It was nearby, but quiet enough to be drowned out by her rhythm until the song called for a few rests...
"I recognize that song!" She said, hope bubbling in the shadowy lioness. She bolted towards the source, the quiet song growing louder until she rounded a corner to see the singer. She squinted in confusion; this looked like her queen! (Given, it was dark out; dark enough to mask the differing features from Nsundu and her mother.) "Mnyama?" she asked tentatively, peeking into sight. How she hoped her guess was right.
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:06 pm
Nsundu swayed absently to the beat of her song, remembering the way her mother used to sing it to her when she was small. She said someday she would need the song, though the young lioness had never really understood why. The song started off as a calling, the calling of a family. It then went into the meanings of rhythm, of how the Nchi'mahadhi were supposed to live. Nsundu was not sure when she would need it, which was why she continued to sing it aloud in the hopes that someone would help her figure it out. It appeared that today would be that day.
The young lioness stopped abruptly at the sound of approaching footsteps, ears perking. Who was there? In the darkness it was hard to make out the figure, however what she could see was that it was female. Suddenly on the alert, Nsundu was about to ask what the lioness wanted when Isi's question threw her totally off guard. Mnyama?! "How do you know my mother?!" Nsundu demanded, mind racing. How DID this lioness know her mother? Could it be?
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:15 pm
"Y-your mother?" Isi asked in amazement. She squinted, as if that would help her night vision, and approached the lioness. She was right; this certainly wasn't Mnyama, she was different somehow. Younger, really, by a lot. Younger than Isithunzi herself!
That meant... If Mnyama was her mother... This was the rightful heir to the throne of the lands she was going back to. Whether this stranger's mother was alive or not was still unknown to Isi, but there was one thing she did know; she would hear those glorious drums at least once more.
Immediately she bowed, "Your Highness, I am glad to have found one of my kind," She raised herself up again, though her posture was not as straight as it had been a moment before. "My name is Isithunzi, I am one of the few survivors of the plague that swept over the Nchi'Mahadhi Pride," She said, hoping desperatley that this young one knew her bloodline, and knew what responsibilities were bound to fall on her shoulders.
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:26 pm
Nsundu could only wait with bated breath as Isithunzi repeated her question. She had only ever met one other lion who know her mother's name, and he had had a connection to the pride she was about to lead. The question was, did this lioness know of her mother from outside? Or did she know about her when she was part of the pride?
The young lioness was momentarily confused when the lioness bowed to her, however her expression changed instantly to a grin when the lioness began speaking. Found one of her kind? That could only mean one thing! She was one of the remaining Nchi members! And Kazi had said there weren't any. Who else would know her mother and know the pride's central song?
Still grinning madly, Nsundu dipped her head in greeting. "I'm Nsundu, daughter of Mnyama of the Nchi'mahadhi pride. I had been told there was no one left." Even though night was nearly upon them, the lioness could not bring herself to be tired. She had found an old pride member! "Were you really part of the old pride? Could you teach me?" The questions tumbled out almost instantly after she'd introduced herself.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 11:47 am
"And I had thought the same, I didn't even know whether Mnyama was still alive, let alone whether she'd had an heir yet," Isi said, pink eyes bright with hope. Yes, she was going home.
"I would be more than honored to teach you everything I know. As a cub, I was kinda obsessed with our culture, I haven't forgotten a scrap of information," she said honestly. She was glad to have found someone like her; someone who was going to the same destination. "Are you going directly back home, Nsundu?" She asked, tilting her head the slightest bit. If she wasn't, Isi would be more than willing to get a headstart and start to clean up the place, if it was in rough shape.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:10 pm
Nsundu's nose wrinkled slightly at the mention of her mother being alive. "Well... I don't know if she's still alive. But it doesn't matter, I'm here." The young lioness couldn't help but puff out her chest. She didn't need her mother's help to start this pride. Besides, she had Isithunzi now. The lioness would teach her everything she needed to know. Her mother could just keep on chasing her father, for whatever reason she wanted to do that.
Her grin widened when Isi said that she hadn't forgotten anything. "Excellent! I need a really good teacher, 'cause I wanna learn everything!" She did a small dance on the spot, so glad that she had found this lioness. Bickering with Kazi had been rather troublesome, but now she had someone she could count on! Not to mention she was a female. That was always a good thing in Nsundu's books.
"I am," she replied with a small nod, "But I gotta pick up a new pride member on the way. The others are coming on their own." She paused for a moment, before asking, "What's our home like?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:23 pm
Isithunzi nodded. Yes, there was much work to be done, including recruiting members. Little did either of them know that three new members were sitting in Isi's belly, none big enough to be noticeable to anyone; be it the mother or another creature.
"Our home is on a vast lake, the beaches are covered with black sand, and there's a giant cliff face that composes all of the dens," Isi said looking just above the lioness' head; somehow this helped her think. "There's a circle of drums of all kinds in the center, and when everybody is at a ceremony, the earth shakes beneath your paws from the pounding drums," she said, as if in a dream. She had loved ceremonies with the powerful beat.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:33 pm
"Black sand?" Nsundu repeated, trying to envision that. "Do we use it for something? Or is it just like that?" Truthfully, she'd never even seen sand, however she had heard about it from other travelers that had come from the ocean. It was rough and brittle, and apparently got stuck in your fur. Still, sand had always been the colour of the dirt. She was rather interested in this black sand.
The lioness nodded slowly to the rest of the description, picturing it all in her head. It sounded nice. "Do you think any of the drums'll still be there? Or will we have to make some new ones?" She wasn't very good at this drum making thing, but she blamed that on Kazi. It was totally his fault for being a bad teacher.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:50 pm
"We use it when you have someone announce their pregnancy," she said. "The pregnant lioness is painted black with it, then tested, along with the father of the cubs," She said with a nod. No, Isi was clueless that she would be going through this ceremony sooner than she would have thought.
"As for the drums... I think they'll be there, but I think they'll need repairing. I don't think anyone who ran ever went back to the plague-ravaged lands, there were so few survivors..." Isithunzi said. Her parents had died there, she had had to run and escape; she had been alone ever since... "I'd bet the gourds would be fine, just a new drumhead would be needed. The bone drums are probably alright too, I doubt they've weathered too much. It'll be a bit of a fixer-upper, but I'll bet if we can get a few other lions to help that we could get the whole thing fixed up in a day or two; at least the main area in the center," She said, more to herself really. She now had a to-do list. She suposed she was the most knowledgable besides Kazi...
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:00 pm
"Oooh," Nsundu murmured, mentally cataloguing that ceremony in her head. Kazi hadn't told her anything about ceremonies, but this one sounded interesting. Parents tested before they had cubs. She rather liked that idea. It was fitting for a pride under her rule. The last thing she needed was a repeat of what happened to her. "Are there lots of ceremonies I should know about? I know the Umshayi leads them, but I should know about them, right?"
She listened intently to Isi's talk about the drums, nodding along with her. Fixing the drum circle would be the first step towards recreating the pride. It was almost symbolic really. The Nchi'mahadhi, rhythm of the earth pride would be brought back with the recreation of the drum circle. Perhaps she had better start practicing her dancing. Speaking of which, "You were a member of the old pride, right? What position did you hold?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:15 pm
"Oh gosh, that was so long ago," Isithunzi said honestly. "The plague hit when I was just barely a juvenile, but I was aiming for Umshayi; I memorized every song and what it meant, I was an apprentice under the old Umshayi," She said. The name was forgotten; erased with the trauma of watching the old lion die of disease, but her face was etched into Isi's mind. "I haven't forgotten any of it, as I've said. I remember all of the ceremonies, and which songs were used and I could replicate them perfectly," she said. If only she had a drum... hers had gotten broken over the years, and the struggle to learn how to hunt on her own had often left her physically drained, unable to go gather the materials to make another. She still knew how to do it, however. Now that she was older and stronger, she should make a new one.
"You're going to be the Malenga, right?" She asked hopefully. "Such is only proper, you're of the bloodline of royalty," she said. That, and Nsundu seemed to have the necessary drive to lead that was so rare in lions anymore.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:29 pm
A juvenile eh? Nsundu mentally ran through her list of rankings. That would have meant that Isi had just barely become a real member of the pride before the plague hit. Man that must have been bad. Still, she was very glad that Isithunzi had such a good memory. It made her life that much easier, plus it meant that she now had a lioness fit for one of the most important positions in the pride. She had her Umshayi. "Well, since I'd say you're definitely old enough now, would you be the Umshayi? I don't know of anyone else better qualified, plus I'll need your help a lot." She grinned sheepishly, not against expressing her inexperience to Isi. She would understand.
Nsundu nodded at Isi's question, unable to help but stand a little taller. "Yup. I got you as the Umshayi, and a couple of other lions who'd be willing to learn about the pride and take other positions. You might have to teach them as well, especially the Kongwe. Is that okay?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:41 pm
Isi got such a thrill at the offer; being Umshayi had been what she'd always wanted since the day she first heard drums! The lioness beat the ground heavily with one paw, "Of course I'd be your Umshayi," she said gleefully, obviously excited to get the position. "And I wouldn't mind at all teaching the Kongwe, teaching anyone for that matter," she said with a vigorous nod.
She just hoped she wouldn't have to hunt too much... She'd never been properly trained, and therefore wasn't the best in the world. If she was lucky, she could catch an antellope, but that was about it as far as ungulates went. Her main diet as of now consisted of rabbits and other rodents. It would be nice to be in a pride.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:49 pm
The beat against the ground sent a shiver of excitement through Nsundu's body. She had only ever really been exposed to true rhythm when her mother was around. Since then she had had to do her best to find it. She had a feeling that this pride was where she would find her own rhythm, and be able to share it with others. The uniting and dividing force. "Good then, it's settled. I made sure not to pick anyone who wouldn't be willing to learn, so you'll have an easy time." Hopefully.
"Do you think you could help me explain rhythm to a new member? I'm supposed to be meeting her tomorrow, and I don't think she believes what I'm talking about." Perhaps it was her lack of knowledge, but Vinya had been a little skeptical about the Rhythm. She hoped that since Isi knew better, she would be able to explain it a little better. That, or teach her how to feel it. Those paw beats were amazing. "You'll have to teach me how to beat my paws like that. I've never done that before."
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