((Syr & Light - Mziwaziwa & Hakuna))
Her tail was tipped at a jaunty angle and she we sin a very playful mood, a smile graced her maw and her soft pink eyes danced happily. It had been a good day, she had learned a lot today and she was glad of it. All of the new informations he was gleaning in this pride was wonderful. She loved this place so much, it was beautiful, exotic, completely unlike what she was used to. It made her happy.
Padding around quietly the young female had her head tilted to the air slightly, day dreaming of all the things eh had learned and all of the things she would learn. All she really needed now, we some friends to talk to, to enjoy her time with, to just be young and carefree with. Someone she could laugh with.
Hakuna sighed, but in a relatively content way. Ever since he'd seen this place, he just knew he'd had to check it out- adventure and such certainly awaited. It looked so much different from the lands he'd grown up in! The Nchi lands were so much different, with such different landmarks... He'd been attending classes regularly and was progressing along nicely. After classes since he'd joined, he searched further and further out within the pride's lands. He had to get the lay of the land before he could really start to focus...
Today was no different. Hakuna knew the places to avoid, and the places that were actually quite pleasant. Today, he wandered with no particular destination, having a vague idea of where in the lands he was headed. The sand under his paws all the time was new to him, but he found it enjoyable. It was almost like being on the beach, only without being able to see water all the time.
"Time to get used to the feel," Haku said to himself, determined to get back on track with his work. He started singing a song that he'd learned back in the Nchi lands and dancing to it as he went. Dancing on sand was a little different than on grasslands, but he would quickly adapt.
The dark khaki and peach lioness' ears perked as she heard the shifting of sand. It wasn't a very loud sound but certainly she was getting used to listening for approaching creatures. Her soft pink eyed gaze turned towards the noise and she smiles a joyous smile at what the male lion was doing. He was moving strangely, it almost looked silly but the movements he made were, well, contagious.
Padding towards him she hop skips to the beat he rendered not he soft pale earth beneath their paws. "Hey! What are you doing?" She whispers, her voice quiet but perky, full of the joys of life and youth. "It looked magical." he breathes her pale pink eyes looking at him almost dazedly, as if he was one of her silly day dreams instead of a real life lion, tracking an odd, but beautiful dance across the sands.
Hakuna hadn't even heard anyone sneaking up on him. Of course, he doubted she was sneaking, but he was still a bit startled. He stopped and turned to see who had greeted him. His own rose-colored eyes met with those of a lioness- a pride member, he assumed. "I was dancing. I'm new to the pride, but I'm an artisan, so I needed to get used to this feel," he explained, pounding his paw against the sand a few times. He wouldn't be able to make as much sound, as the sand wasn't as solid, so his slams were less effective. "But thank you, I'm honored to hear that it could be described as magical," he said with a genuine grin. Haku always loved compliments on his performances.
"Oh, my name's Hakuna, by the way? What's yours?" He asked with a very slight head tilt. After figuring out lay of the land, he'd determined that the next step would be to make a number of friends, or at least good acquaintances outside of classes. Thus far, he'd stayed a bit to himself.
Mziwaziwa smiles a gentle smile, her soft pink eyes looking the male over. Her tail flickers and she gives a quick giggle. "Well, it is very magical my mother used to sing to me a lot I always thought that was magical, but this, dancing, it's very graceful." She purrs and takes a step closer to him.
"I'm Miziwaziwa, I only recently came here too, I'm still trying to get my bearing." She purrs looking at his paws. "I'm a nanny here, I do enjoy watching the little ones so much." She grins a playful grin her tail twitching in a playful manner. "Will you teach me? I've never seen anyone dance before, but it's so wonderful I would love to learn!" Being far from shy, she was willing to ask even if he didn't know her from any other lion. It just seemed to be the right thing to say, she wanted to know how he did this wonderful, magical dancing.
"Ah, well then we're both new to this place. I've been spending a few days checking the place out, getting the lay of the land. I've got it mostly down, now."
Hakuna's ego must have inflated tenfold. He was accustomed to some amounts of "good job" after his dances from his mother or other pridemembers back in the Nchi lands, but he rarely heard that he was as graceful as she was calling him. Of course he danced well, he always knew it and always pursued making his dance better, and he knew that the little bit he'd just done was far from perfect, but he still couldn't help but inflate a bit at the compliments. He grinned a smug grin.
"Well sure, I can teach you some moves, if you want. Do you know anything about dance already?" he asked, trying to determine where he'd have to start with her.
She giggles and bounces a bit, whirling around happily and virtually glomming Hakuna "Oh thank you!" She releases him and sits with her eyes wide and curious "Oh I've never seen anyone dance before, it just looks so beautiful and fun I have to learn!" She wafts her tail on the sands pleased as punch, crating a little dusty storm around her back end.
"My mother always said I was a quick learner though so if you teach me I will absorb it." She giggles, it was a silly word but she wasn't an unintelligent lion, she was simply young and a bit silly, she liked to learn and this dancing intrigued her.
Haku was a bit surprised at the glomping, but not displeased at all. He gave her a little hug back. "Not a problem. And if you know some about music in general, that's a good start. In the Nchi'Mahadhi pride where I was raised, we believe that everyone is born with a rhythm, the whole world has a rhythm, and that your rhythm is very important. The key to my dancing is that I've spent a lot of time in life pondering my rhythm, trying to find it and sync up with it. When we're young, we go on a quest just to figure it out, our rhythm. So I've spent a long time figuring it out. I'd say you have to start with dancing by finding a beat somewhere and then flowing with it. Like this, maybe..." he said, stopping and listening for something. He listened for a few moments before speaking again. "You hear the wind on the sand, on occasion? That's gonna be my ticket this time." He listened for a few more moments before moving himself with the sound, dancing more furiously when it picked up, but more slowly when the sound died down again, moving as smoothly all the while as the sand that was picked up on the wind before he slowed to a stop. "See what I mean? Take a listen to the sounds around you, then give it a shot. Doesn't matter how it looks for now, we'll work on that in a bit," he instructed.
Mziwaziwa pursed her lips as she listened to his words, taking in all that he said, her ears twitched and wiggled as she listened for the sound of the wind rustling the sands, it was very quiet but if you just closed your eyes a bit you could hear the tiny granules moving against each other shuffling around in a quiet shushing manner.
She watched his paws and after a few moments she lifts her own trying to shuffle with the moving sand, trying to find the rhythm in the wind. "Is that okay?" she purrs her pink tongue sticking out between her lips in deep concentration. "you're very clever, I have never known anyone who could listen to the wind to dance." She giggles. "Your old pride sounds very interesting. I have never heard of dancing before, my mother used to sing a lot."
Haku watched her movements for a bit until she stopped, clearly coming up with a mental list of things to improve on and a list of things she had done quite well. "You picked up the rhythm well, and kept in the beat that you started with, that's not easy to do, but you seem to be particularly good at it. Remember, you've got the entire desert as a dance floor, so you shouldn't feel limited for space. You can make your movements a bit bigger, a bit more dramatic, if you wanted, but you don't have to. Very good for a first shot, though!" Haku said with a smile and a nod. "But that's improvised dance, it's not exactly easy. I can teach you one from the Nchi lands, if you want? I'm still learning some of the dances of this pride, so I can't really teach those ones to you yet, as I'm still working on them myself," he said with a chuckle. "Like I said, though, I can teach you one from the Nchi lands, if you want. Sometimes learning a few set steps can be easier than coming up with something yourself."
"It was nice there, and the beliefs and practices we had were certainly different from life in the roguelands, according to my mother... But it was quiet, and the days started to get boring- some routine day-in and day-out... Don't get me wrong, I love my homelands too, but I needed a change. Something new and different. Our pride has singers, too, I wonder if your mother ever visited..." He said, trying to see if he remembered any visitors who looked like they could've been Mziwaziwa's mother. He couldn't remember anyone, but that didn't mean that she hadn't ever visited.
Mziwaziwa smiles looking around herself, she hadn't really thought that there was more space than the one she was standing in, but he had complimented her, and it was her first time, she smiles, a dashingly beautiful smile, her soft dusty pink eyes glistening happily with his word of praise. "I would love to learn one of your dances." She emphasised thaw word 'your' looking up at him with a soft, dazzling smile.
"I don't think so, my mother lived in the swamps for most of her life, by the time I was born we lived in the pridelands, it was such a quiet place, and, well, well my father died, he was very old, so I took to wandering until I met a friendly jackal and she lead me here." Her moment of sadness was quickly washed away with a smile.
"Will you teach me your dance then? I can sing along to it if you like? My mother taught me some very beautiful songs."
That was the first time he really looked at her. When she was dancing, he'd been paying attention to technique and had been acting as a perfectly objective teacher. However... He wasn't teaching now, and... Geez, she was cute when she smiled like that! He blushed under his fur just at how cute she was. "Yeah, I'll teach you one of our dances... I've got just the right one in mind."
He listened to her speak for a while... "I'm sorry to hear about your father. I never met mine, and that's just fine by me. My mom never took a mate, and I doubt she ever will!" he said with a chuckle. "That's just the way she is. But I'm glad I got to meet you, it's a good thing I moved to this place!" he said with a smile. "So- you ready to get started? I'll teach you the first sequence today, and we'll work on perfection. Then, if you want to learn the rest of it, we can do it later. You'll probably get tired after a few repetitions of the first part, and the dance can pretty much be split into 3 parts. You ready?" He asked, bringing himself to her side so there'd be no problems with mirror-images and such.
She gave an affirmative nod and moves closer to him, standing with her legs a little distance apart, ready to copy his every move. "just tell me if I look silly okay." She winks, keen to get started her ears perked forwards and her toes already furling and unfurling, flashing her claws out in to the sand and shifting the golden grains between her toes.
She hums quietly, just because the thought of a rhythm being involved in the dance, summoned up some song that her mother used to sing to her as a young cub.
"Alright, we'll take it a few steps at a time, and we'll start off slow... First step, you take both front paws up, it's kinda like a fluid jump, but we're looking to get your body to make a line, nose- to -tail. Like this-" he said. He lifted up both front paws, and then jumped, but the way he went up and came down- his entire body drew an arc in the air. "See, so you kinda have to mess with your back when you do the jump. It's like you're jumping up, not out. That's the first step- and try to make as much as a slam when you hit with each of your feet. The sounds your dancing makes are as important as the dance itself. Give it a shot," he suggested, watching to ensure she'd do it right.
Stiking her tongue out between her teeth the peach and khaki lioness looks deeply thoughtful before attempting a little straight legged jump. She lands and shakes her head, she knew that wasn't right but she had to test her jumps. lifting her front paws she takes another go becoming a sort of kangaroo lion for a moment re forelegs slamming in to the sand before her back legs joined them with a dusty whiff. She nods and giggles looking at him
"Was that right Haku?" She purrs, shortening his name almost without a moments thought, it was easier to say haku than hakuna. "This is fun, I like to dance." She purrs her tail wriggling happily as she takes another shot at the serpent like jump.
He watched her first jump, and was about to comment when he saw her shake her head- she knew she'd gotten that one wrong. He waited and watched her second one... Aaand she stuck it! With a good solid clap, too! Impressive! "Wow, you got it really well the second time!" Haku said. "With a good pound at the end, too. The dust out here adds a nice touch, if I do say so myself," the lion said, repeating the jump himself trying to make the biggest dust cloud he could when he landed. Her good attitude was contagious, it seemed.
"Alright, step two!" He said, pulling himself back up to the starting position. "See if you can do the first step, and then immediately after, do a dip and a kind of side-slide, like this:" he said, getting ready to demonstrate. He did the jump and landed-letting his body sink. But then, he pushed off with both his front and back left legs, quickly pushing himself to the right. Once he'd stopped sliding, he turned around and continued, pointing a claw in the air. "A few pointers- first, make sure you keep your balance. This is an easy one to lose your balance in. Second- take it slower than what I just did- it's so second nature to me that I can't really slow myself down anymore than that. Last point- when you land, shift as much of your weight as possible to your left paws. If you have weight on your right ones, you'll trip. But if there's almost no weight on your right paws, you'll slide. Especially on this sand, it'd be easy to bury your paws on accident. This is a really hard step, so don't be discouraged if you don't get it right away. Whenever you're ready..." he said with a nod, ready to step in if she was going to trip. He couldn't remember how many times he'd fallen trying to learn this one...
The pink eyed lioness watched intently as he made the new step and aded it fluently to the first. Without any hesitation she did the jump again but couldn't quite get herself to follow with the second step. She shakes her head and smiles at him looking deeply thoughtful, she wanted to do it just right, but the second move seemed almost too graceful for her, she wasn't very unbalanced but she had never done anything quite so quickly and smoothly before. Shrugging her shoulders a bit she takes a deep breath and once again jumps..
Upon her landing though, her paws sank, just a little too far in to the sand and her slide became more like a sand pile which heaped around her ankles and with a little 'EEK' she trips, though her slow decent is quickly accompanied with a giggle.
Haku was quick to get over to her, he managed to get his paw between her and the ground to act as a cushion. "Whoa! You ok?" Haku asked, concern in his voice. He'd sprained ankles and wrists trying to learn dances along the way, he hoped she hadn't done the same. That would be a terrible way to start up life in a new pride. But then he heard a giggle, and was much more relieved. She seemed to be unhurt. "Let's isolate that step then, we'll add the first one back to it later. Sound good?" he asked, lowering himself to help her back to her paws. Once she was up, he continued, "like this-" he broke the action down into a number of steps. "Do it with me, shifting your weight-" He had obviously shifted of his weight, you could see his spine was much closer to being over his left feet than his right. He paused to ensure that she was copying. "Next, get down..." He bent his ankle and elbow, bringing his belly to the ground. His left limbs were compressed under him, most of his body was being held just by them, and his right were just where he'd left them. "Now here's the hard part, let your right legs kinda go off to the right, stretched away from your body..." his right limbs slid off to the right as his left limbs pushed himself off. "And then recover." He was still low to the ground, but was now mirror imaged to that second step. "At this point, all of your weight can be on your right, you can shift that way as soon as your right limbs have gone as far as they'll go..." He said.
She smiled sweetly at him when he 'rescued her' from her fall a beautiful smile flashing across her maw. "Thank you, 'm fine, I'm made of good strong stuff, thats what my mother always used to tell me." getting to her paws she stretches out her limbs again and wriggles her toes just to check she hadn't broken a claw or anything before nodding and going back to the lesson.
Breaking the moves down definitely seemed an easier option, she follows his steps once, mimicking him exactly, though her flow was slower than his. "Okay, i see, I just have to land a little lighter next time!" She giggles and touches her nose to his in thanks "One more time then? I think I can do it this time."
Haku smiled back at her and chuckled at her mother's words. "Nice way to put it," the lion said. He watched as she followed his motions step by step. When taken slow like this, it seemed flawless. He guessed he should've done that in the first place... There was a reason that he'd never tried to be Umshayi, or any other sort of teacher in the Nchi pride- he learned the best teaching techniques after he'd made a mistake. His eyes widened from the unexpected nose-tap. "Ah, yeah, ok. Hey! Maybe this'll help- try loosening up the muscles in your paws when you do the landing just before they hit- it'll help make a clapping noise without the heavy landing."
Following his steps with varying measures of success and failure, the young lioness keeps a permanent grin on her maw always going back for further tuition, always bouncing for that next step no matter how silly she looked when falling or stumbling,
Having learned a good few steps from the pale male the little lioness suddenly looked up at the sun "Frick! It's time for lessons!" She flicks her tail and jumps forwards wrapping her paws around his fluffy neck and pulling at a tuft of his mane playfully. "C'mon I'll race you to the temple!" She giggles bouncing off his chest and racing across the sands with her tail high int he air, held like a fluffy flag pole to guide him in her fleeing foot steps.
"And tomorrow you'll teach me some moor! I like to dance!" she calls behind her self, her soft pink eyes giggling as she bolted onwards, not wanting to loose her new friend in her hurry, but also not wanting to miss her lessons.
"Aw crud!" he said with a distressed expression. It was time for his classes too. "Alright, you're on!" He gave her that bit of a head start and raced along with her towards the temple. At this speed, they'd cut it close, but he was pretty sure they'd make it in time.
