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 Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:20 am
Busy busy busy. There was always something going on in the pridelands, even those without a great deal of family should be able to find something to keep them occupied. There were so many lions around, after all. Despite all of this, though, Sharifu was wandering off on his own for the afternoon. Some time to himself was not unwelcome, and so he had gone off to hang out by waterhole for the afternoon. Relaxing, he sat at the water's edge and started to groom. Dust clung well to his dark fur, dulling it in some places- but he was better off than those with paler fur.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:28 am
 Auri happily plodded a little bit away from the edge of the Pridelands, like she usually did. It was a rather hot day today. The dry kind of heat, too, not the humid kind. Which made it worse for a daily walk. So she changed course and headed towards a hidden waterhole, one she thought only a handful of lions knew about.
Surprise, surprise.
As the lioness neared the area for a good, long drink of clear water, she saw a dark-colored lion cleaning himself by the water's edge. Hoping to not intrude, she circled around and ended up on the opposite side of the hole, giving the male plenty of privacy for his task. Her muzzle entered the cool water and she gave an inward sigh of happiness at the rush of coolness flooded her body.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:39 am
Not expecting any company, Sharifu was not paying enough attention to notice the lioness until she too was at the water's edge. Pausing in the midst of cleaning a paw, he watched as she drank for a moment before finishing up with the paw he was on. She looked somewhat familiar, but then his whole family was white, black and gold. And with so many lions around, it'd be easy to see someone in passing and not actually go up and meet them.
But he was intrigued and she was right here, no need to be rude. She was polite enough to give him space, so he waited until she seemed finished and he had a good opportunity without interrupting her.
"Hello," he called out, putting down his paw and looking across the water.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:48 am
Auri's green eyes flickered upwards towards the friendly greeting, as she lifted her head from the water.
"Hello," she called back. "I haven't seen you around before. Come here often?" she asked, a warm smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
There were many lions with dark coats, though. If she knew his name she might know of his parents, or perhaps siblings, if he had any. As large as the pride was, it was the kind where everyone knew everyone else. It was hard not to, after all.
The lions looked so alike much of the time.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:53 am
"Sometimes," he replied, and got to his feet now that she had greeted him so nicely. Clearly a conversation was not unwelcome, and to keep shouting across the water was not the best way to have one. He walked around the water, stopping a couple feet from Auri and grinning.
"My name is Sharifu," he introduced himself, "What's your name?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:59 am
"It's a hot day today to be without water," she commented. "I know of a few watering holes this close to the edge of our lands, but this is the most popular and biggest of them all. And therefore a pleasant spot to meet new lions," she added as her smile grew.
"Auri." She bowed her head in greeting. "It is nice to meet you, Sharifu. What brings you out here?"
His name wasn't that familiar to her, but she could go home and ask Father, or even Mother. Mother knew everything.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:06 am
"Yeah," he agreed, "Especially for those of us with dark fur." Sharifu smiled, not meaning to downplay the weather for her- but dark fur absorbed more of the heat, at least her white fur was on her side.
"Auri," he repeated with a smile, "It's very nice to meet you, too. I came out here to take a break, my family is quite large. And you're right, water is the place to be on a day like this." He glanced around, there weren't too many shady spots here but it was better than some of the other waterholes. This was the best one to chill by on the hot days.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:10 am
She shrugged innocently. "If I could change what color fur you had, I would, if only to make it easier. Though its a curse in a cold winter: I don't absorb enough heat to stay warm. Forced to use body heat from my family. I only have brothers, too, which is bad enough," she joked. "They smell."
A large family? She had heard of many cubs from different pairs being grouped together as a 'family,' but she wondered if his truly were all blood-related.
"Really? How large is yours?" If this conversation continued, they would probably have to find a better spot somewhere closer. The sun was almost directly above them, beating down with a strong heat. She could think of one place with ample shade for the two, not a long walk away, but it was in a wide den of a place, built by a cluster of rocks.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:26 am
"Nah, you shouldn't want to change what you look like," he said with a small grin, and he snickered at the mention of using brothers as a heat source. He had plenty of family members with pale fur, mostly from Aziza and her cubs- which were his age, of course. It was one way he'd been able to keep straight which of all the cubs running around were siblings and which were nieces (and nephew). Not counting Jua, all the white cubs were nieces- and nephew.
"Well," he said slowly, taking the time to try to count everybody, "I have eight brothers and four sisters, and eleven nieces and nephews- but only Feo and Aziza have had cubs, they had a lot each."
Finally, he added, "My mother is Shomoro, she's on the council."
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:35 pm
She nodded, accepting the fact that you shouldn't change who you are no matter your appearance. Her father had taught her that as well. "Very true."
She blinked, her smile growing, at the numbers of his family.
"That sounds like a handful to watch over and care for, let alone feed. That must be an interesting situation," she joked. "I have three brothers, two right now. The other one...not disappeared, per se, but we think he was cubnapped by Father's enemy..." she trailed off, ears flicking backward momentarily before she picked back up on a happier topic. "But the two that are still here smell as bad as ten lions put together." Her nose wrinkled reflexively.
"I'm sorry to say that I honestly have not heard of any of your family, though I'm sure your mother is an excellent council member. Has she been one long?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:35 pm
He beamed, always happy to talk about his family and rather pleased at the smile she had when she commented on the situation. He was in the younger part of the group, though not the youngest- they were still cubs- so he hadn't really had to deal with much other than a very busy cubhood. Which he'd quite enjoyed, most of the time.
Sharifu wrinkled his nose when she mentioned her brother being taken by an enemy of her father. There was a time he would have doubted such a thing could ever happen, but with what happened to the queen it wasn't seeming so impossible for things like to happen.
"I'm sorry about your brother," he said, not wanting to imagine any of his siblings disappearing. But they were all getting older, and with as many as there were of them.. they were bound to start spreading out more than before. He grinned at her comment on the smell of her two remaining brothers.
"Nah, it's ok- I didn't know if you would or not," he shrugged, "Mom's been on the council since it started, I guess- but that wasn't that long ago."
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:34 am
Auri's smile widened. She just couldn't help it, though. This lion was one of the most friendly she had met so far, and a stranger at that. She felt drawn to him, enjoying the conversation and wanting to know more.
"Thank you," she replied to his apology. "It's no one's fault. The lioness who did it was crazy anyway. Who knows what her motive was.
"It's probably my fault I don't know of her, actually," she laughed. "My family doesn't pay as much attention to the Council and all the political things going on as we should. Mother says: "We just live here. When we don't like it any more, we'll move." But we haven't had the excuse to do so, so we've been here all my life. Have you been here just as long?" she asked in return.
Surely, with his mother on the council, he would know what all was happening in the lands. Who knows? Hearing of such a thing might spark a flame of interest for the lioness. Maybe she could educate her family about it, then.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:49 pm
Sharifu nodded as she added one detail to the story about her brother. Maybe whoever did it was crazy and that wasn't their fault.. maybe.. but it still didn't seem right, fair or a pleasant situation to go through. Hopefully her brother was at least as well off as she was. She looked very nice, he noted.
"Huh?" he said suddenly when she explained how and why her family did not pay attention to the politics of the Pridelands, tilting his head. It didn't make sense to him. Your home was a good thing to be passionate about, up there with family and friends (though partially because home was the best place for family and friends). Not counting some recent events, they had a pretty safe, happy and easy-going place to live.
"No no no," he said, shaking his head, "It's more than just where you live if it's where you've been all your life, isn't it? I mean, I'd rather be here than be a rogue or something. This is where my family is and we all work and live together.. uh.."
He trailed off, pausing a moment.
"I don't know," he said finally, smiling sheepishly, "But it's home, not just a place to live, I guess."
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:29 am
"That's true," Auri nodded in agreement. "I'd much rather be here than in the rogue lands, or with the Firekin. I've heard only bad things about them and would not like to experience anything with them. But it's good that you have such an outlook on the Pridelands. I've never thought of it that way before."
The sun continued to beat down upon them. She bent to take another drink, eyes blinking from the large amount of light reflecting upon everything.
"It's actually getting pretty hot out here," she commented with a dry laugh. "But then, what else is new? I know of a shelter not far from here, with lots of shade. If you'd like, I can show you, and we can sit and talk there instead. Either way, you're welcome to use it afterwards as well."
In truth, the area she spoke of was large enough for three full-grown lions, at least. There would be plenty of room for them to lay and rest out of the hot sun. The cluster of rocks that formed the den were at a tilt, much like her own den and her grandfather's den. Her family liked the rock-homes more than a tree one or anything else. Boulders were easy to spot and easier to customize. It was just their thing.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:59 pm
"Yeah," he agreed with a slight shudder at the mention of the Firekin. One bad pride was more than enough to keep him here, but to imagine more like that could be out there. But logically, there would be more good ones too.. but this was home so none of that really mattered. Sharifu smiled again, watching her take a drink silently.
"It is," he agreed when she spoke again, looking away from her finally and looking up at the sun with squinting violet eyes. Shade did sound very nice, he decided, looking back to Auri with a nod.
"Shade would be good, show me the way," he said, getting up and shaking off a bit.
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