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 Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:25 pm
 Goodbye, Mom. Dad. Brothers. Sisters. Nephews. Nieces. She was giving all of that up... The injustice done to the royal family was enough to drive her and Mjrn away from those lands. She regretted that her family (beyond Mjrn and her cubs) hadn't decided to come with her. That was their decision, this was hers.
Noyana knew about where the boundary would be for the Pride that was about to be set up. There was a river down below, not too far, but she sat perched on a patch of grass atop an overlook. She looked down for the equally-bright cub that was often at her side. "Be careful, Usufii. Don't go too close to the edge. You can look, just don't get too close." That'd be quite the fall. The Pridelands behind her, the outlands ahead... She would only return to those lands that she'd grown up in once more, for sure. She'd go back and help Mat with Valse later in the day... But for now, she was scoping it out. Usufii wasn't entirely sure about what was going on... Mom and dad were acting odd lately. Talk of leaving. He was fine with it, he knew why.
The cub couldn't help but peek over the edge into the river... Fallen trees, though it was a bit of a way down.
"What's out there, mom? Beyond the river?" "Our new home, Usufii. We're moving out of the Pridelands to there, a place where justice won't desert. Beyond that, I'm not sure what it's like" Her eyes closed a little way.
It didn't look bad, actually. There was water, and she was sure that Sara wouldn't have picked a place that was uninhabitable. No, this would be rather nice. A new place, she was getting a bit tired of the Pridelands anyway, having seen most of what there was to see. This would be more interesting for Usu, too.Usufii had had a feeling that they were going to move. He took only one more step closer to the river, squinting as if it'd help him see farther into the lands. All the better, most prideland cubs he'd met hadn't been bright, but immature, stupid little things. Some were genuinely decent, but... Most of them were annoying, in his eyes.
He sat in silence, pondering... He hadn't had much time to get to know the Pridelands all that well... nor the roguelands where he'd been born. He hoped he'd have the chance to get used to this place.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:42 pm
Sarafina had come to look at the border. The move would be later that day, as soon as the younger cubs were rested and ready; right now they were still with mijrn, suckling at their breakfast. Already they'd almost been weaned to solids, but cubs grew fast--faster still when they needed to. The young Queen liked to come here, though. Sukari often found her when she was out by this border, though they had not yet met up this day. Instead, the world decided to throw a bright splash of sunlight in her direction.
The stolid lioness, for she was aging as surely as her peers, padded up behind the in-law that was coming with their family. She'd arrived in time to catch young Usufii's question and a smirk drew across her lips. I wonder, she thought, if this one is so rude as his sibling?
"Towers." She answered, voice booming in comparison though she'd barely raised it. Emerald eyes roving over the cub, she made her way to sit before them, half turned so that she could easily see both Outlands and Pridelands equally. "Towers of mud and dirt and clay that stretch into the sky like claws. Leagues of towers and crags and broken, jagged earth filled with caves and holes and wonderful places for cubs to explore. And, beyond that, grass like this--but golden, not green. Grass and a river.. and a jungle nearby, just across another river."
Sarafina smiled at the cub, not particularly sweet or vengeful--a blank smile that revealed nothing but a superficial kindness that cubs weren't wont to look beneath. The lioness reached out a paw, dark black claws ever extended, to left his chin that she might inspect him. "Welcome home, Noyana. Matishou said you'd returned but I'd yet to see you."
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:01 pm
Usufii gave a slight jump at the sudden appearance of the darker lioness. This must be Aunt Sarafina... Usufii thought to himself, judging off descriptions of her. He hadn't heard her at all, and from the slightest jump his mother gave... It would appear that she hadn't heard Sarafina coming either. He thought he might be able to identify the type of smile... He gave the superficial one all the time to pridelander cubs he'd run into. Why yes, I'd simply love to go exploring with you! he would always lie, knowing that somewhere down the road, they'd have their usefulness... he couldn't see how, now... Maybe someday he'd be able to use them as he'd planned.
At Sara's inspection, he gave her a weird look, but nothing more. Had she been unrelated to him, she would've gotten at least a snarl, but she was family, he "knew" her. He tilted his head the way he thought she wanted it to go, unsure of what to expect from her.
"Towers? Sounds awesome!" he said oddly enthusiastically for him. He'd never seen a tower that climbed so high into the sky as what Sara was describing!
Noyana hadn't been expecting Sara either, but she managed to conceal most of her little jump. She listened attentively to the description of the land. A huntress since her youth, such details were extremely important. Gold grass... She'd fit in perfectly, though she was used to hunting in green grass. She wondered if there was much of a difference?
"Thank you, Sara. I meant to seek you out, but these guys," she said, giving a quick jerk to Usufii, implying that his brother was also in on it, "have been keeping me busy. How are things going? Pretty good, I'd suppose..." She said. Word of mouth had passed on the location of the new pride's lands to her, that meant Sara had probably been busy. "What an awesome idea, to form a pride," She commented. It was Taka-like, from what she'd heard of him.
She also gave Sara a bit of an odd look when she began inspecting Usufii, and she waited to see how he would react before she straightened her expression out again. He'd made the right choice, she could see, and was at ease with that alone.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:17 pm
Settling her paw back on the ground, Sarafina relinquished her nephew from her grasp. Her gaze turned towards the termite towers visible on the horizon and she smiled softly. Home. She'd felt that the minute she'd first stepped foot onto that unclaimed territory,and she felt it again even stronger now that they were on the verge of beginning that dream. It wasn't an ending to anything, oh no.. not by a long shot! But it was a blissfully brilliant beginning.
"Children will do that. We have more than a few in the family right now.. but thankfully, there is a large family to watch over them." Her smile went back to Noyana. "And what else would we have done? They need a proper place to grow up.. a place with higher values and most... careful upbringing than this place is wont to give."
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:53 pm
Noyana had been concerned about the upbringing her sons would have in the Pridelands. While she was raised there, she had the sense to not believe everything everyone says. Did Valse have that? Did Usu? She wasn't sure, nor was she about to find out... That'd be too difficult to do.
"You're absolutely right. A proper upbringing, more and more, I see, is only possible here." She too turned her eyes to the towers. Huge towers with caves... Noyana wanted to explore them as did Usufii, she was still as curious about new things as she had been as a cub. And honestly, she'd never seen a termite mound more than a few inches high. She felt a lot younger again, excitement coursing through her at not only the rush of a new home, but also for all of the amazing opportunities that would present themselves in the new lands. The gods only knew what adventures awaited. Her eyes danced at the thought.
Silence.... For a moment, there was silence. Not for much longer. "Aunt Sara, is Kadaj going?" Usufii had met his cousin briefly, but only for a little bit. He couldn't help but wonder... "And are there going to be other cubs? Other than Valse and I?" He hoped so. While he liked to be alone in the Pridelands, where the cubs were... undesirable to be around, he was sure that any in this pride would be good. Urbane, that was the word. Usufii already had high expectations for the lands. Urbane, yet ready to go meander the termite mounds with him.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:06 pm
"oh yes," Sarafina answered them both in two words. She lifted a paw to pet down her nephew's back. It was a habit of hers, a way of familiarizing the cubs with her and the fact that she wouldn't hesitate to lift a paw to one of them--for better or worse. Then, to Usu she continued, "many cubs, actually. Your brother and yourself.. and yes, Kadaj and his sister.. and then you have four new aunts and uncles that are your age."
Since that was likely a surprise to Noyana. Sarafina looked up and raised her brows. "Tiah passed on after she'd birthed them and left them to our care. They're with Mjrn at the moment, but we were hoping to have another that might help with their nutritional needs." That was as much an order as it was a suggestion, but Sarafina turned her gaze away so that Noyana might think about it. If she'd really wanted to press the issue she could have, but it would do little good to be rude or demanding--especially with ones in-laws. "I expect we'll find a place to house all of you together... Usulii.." Sarafina thought that was the name she'd heard, and hoped she was correct. "Won't that be fun? A whole bunch of other cubs to play and take lessons with."
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:30 pm
Noyana was shocked not only at the news that Tiah had had more cubs, but also at the news that she was gone. She'd only met Tiah once... she must've been pregnant when they met. And Noyana liked Tiah! She didn't get a chance to know her that well... She turned her eyes to the ground, though she doubted that it hurt her nearly as much as it had hurt Sara. And Tufah. And all of their siblings. She turned her gaze back to Sara at the mention of help. "I would be honored to help with their nutritional needs," Noyana said honestly with a nod, sorrow gone from her face. Look to the future, but don't forget the past. "Usufii and Valse are almost completely weaned, so they won't be in the way." She shot a glance at her son to be sure he was paying attention. That was his hint- no more milk for him, he'd need to eat all solid food now. He didn't need milk anymore anyway, he and Valse were both old enough to be on a solid diet. He had made eye contact with her, so she assumed he got the message. "Or if they're on solid food, I'll help hunt, of course!"
Usufii waited until the adults were done talking about... feeding. He had got his mother's message, he was sick of milk anyway, so he put up no complaints. The news that Tiah had died was painful to him, too. He'd been with Noyana when they'd met his grandmother. He'd gotten a great respect for her, it made him sad that she died.
He was unsure of what to make of his aunt, he had a hard time reading her. She seemed... Nice enough, but she intimidated him. He didn't want to cross her... Deep in him was a hint of fear of his aunt. Whether it was well-deserved or not was yet to be seen.
"It's Usufii," he said quickly and quietly, as if it was unimportant, or just a slip of the tongue on her end. That sentence only preceeded his next set of questions. "Aunts and uncles my age? I thought aunts and uncles were supposed to be older, like you! How can they be my age?" He didn't yet understand the definition of an aunt or an uncle. He knew that, for instance, Sarafina was an aunt because he'd been told so. He turned as much as he could to look at Sara in the face for an answer.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:45 pm
"Thank you, Noyana," Sara replied with actual gratitude. She nodded to the yellow female then gave a slight chuckle to her Nephew. Before replying to him she answered Noyana's unspoken question, "They'll wean quickly, i think, but they do still need milk for now."
She then looked towards young Usufii. "Usufii, I apologize," Her smirk cracked into something of a smile and as her hard gaze softened somewhat. These two were far more pleasant to be about than the father and (elder?) son. "Well, they're your aunts and uncles because they're my brothers and sisters." She smiled, deciding not to confuse him right now with the halves involved. Instead she drew a few very sketchy lions in the dirt in the shape of the tree. "These two up here are my mother and.. father. They have me and your father and uncles, and so forth.. and then your father had you, and Kadaj's father had him.." She illustrated each point with a line and new lion-like squiggle. "but then my parents had more cubs."
Sarafina went back to add more, smaller lions to the second most rung of the ladder she'd created. "Because I am your aunt, so too are all of my sisters your aunts. And like Tahka, all of my brothers are your uncles.. except your father, of course. Kadaj is your cousin, because he is the son of your uncle..." And aunt, actually, she glanced at Noyana. Too much would be confusing, though.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:13 pm
Noyana nodded and felt great for the gratitude. She had always considered Sara higher than her in the pecking order, now more than ever, and she did like to serve those above her. Such was the duty of a member of the unit, after all. She watched Sara sketch it out in the dirt, smiling at his question. It was a good question for a cub, she would've asked the same at his age. She caught Sara's glance, too, when it came to Kadaj and Malkia. Noyana didn't even know what to call them, they were double-cousins, might as well be plain out siblings, really... Weird how things turned out.
"It's alright," he said in response to her slip-up. He then turned his attention back to the drawing in the dirt. His eyes darted from sketchy-lion to sketchy-lion as Sara spoke of them. He thought he understood it, but he wanted to make sure. "So Grandma... she had another litter after yours. And they were born around the same time as us, so we're the same age?" He asked, pretty sure he was right, turning around to look at the adult again.
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:02 pm
"That's correct." Sara nodded and gave a soft chuckle. Her eyes rose to Noyana, "Bright one, he is." There was a slight smirk as a reward for the mother, and then Sarafina let her gaze drift back to the pridelands. "i've others to see and attend to. I will see you both tonight, I assume." That wasn't a question, and she turned to head back towards the den where they'd left her baby siblings.
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:25 pm
Noyana smiled back at Sarafina, proud of her son. He'd always been quick to catch on. "Thanks," Noy said, though she knew the compliment went to Usu as well. "... and yeah, see you tonight," Noyana said, watching the darker lioness trot off.
Usu caught her compliment, though Sara's gaze hadn't been on him. "Thank you," he chirped soon after his mother, proud that he'd impressed her. His gaze remained on his aunt, but not nearly as long. He soon rose to his paws and took just a few steps closer to the river, seeing the columns in the distance. "We're moving tonight, aren't we mom?" He asked, tilting his head just towards Noyana, but not taking his eyes off the lands ahead of him.
"Yes son, we're moving tonight." She stayed only for a little while longer. They'd have to get back to get ready for the move. "Come on, Usu, we've got to get to your father and brother." With that, the two bright lions turned and headed back into the Pridelands... perhaps for the last time.
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