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 Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:33 pm
The lioness listened as the winds howled, seeming to be in protest of her return. Thoughts conjured up sounds that mimicked the cries of war or children in pain…But her legs did not regard any of it. She pressed into the dark soil and approached that of a lighter type with haste, her slow walk bursting into a full blow sprint just to shorten the gap quicker. For what she endured, since surely no one from her old pride went through anything worse, Awiki was remarkably unnerved by the return to a familiar terrain and almost seemed to welcome the grainy touch beneath her paws. There were no scents that tapped into her memory, no landmarks that reminded her of a pride lost, but just being surrounded by the color and subtle heat were enough to draw a sob from her chest. It was enough to make her almost feel welcomed once again.
Blue eyes scanned the sands out of habit however, searching for the one red figure to come galloping her way and chase her off...
Thankfully, as the moments passed she realized none would come, and the tension in her shoulders faded some. Scent trails moved this way or that, but none matched what her nose would never forget and with that in mind she grinned. It had been too long; far too long, and though her heart still ached for the lives of both the cubs and her master, Awiki knew she could not call any other place home. Taking in a long breath, the lioness whispered "Home." before falling back on her rump and staring out to a sun light sky.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:11 pm
Nahmba, however, had no idea, and though she had searched frantically at the time, she'd since forgotten all about that little son. She had far many more daughters and sons to match since, and now there were a few white hairs sticking out in places there shouldn't have been some.
But Nahmba was not at all worried about getting old. She still felt fit, happy, strong. She went skip-hopping over a dune, wondering where the nearest water source was. She'd been sent out to find it; they needed to drink on their journey back to the other side of the river.
She'd hoped to get a good look from the top of the dune, but there was hardly anything here. Well, except for a rather bright young lioness that seemed settled into the surroundings.
Clacking her teeth together and swishing her tail, Nahmba decided that it was a safe bet. She hurried down from her lookout and spread sand this way and that as she trotted over to the other inhabitant.
"Um, excuse me. You wouldn't happen to have stumbled across water on your way here, might you have?" Her head was cocked to the side, her tail still moving too and fro expectantly.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 9:54 am
She caught wind of Nahmba just as the pleasant memories began to well up within her, furrowing both brows together in distress. How unlucky was it to finally feel as if the past were just as deserving of praise as it was rejection, to then be swept away by trivial conversation.
This was...also unexpectedly what Awiki wanted. Seeing the all but vicious look in the blue eyes of this stranger opened the lioness up to a feeling she had long since forgotten. Moving casually on to her back paws, she awaited the female until the smooth and questioning words were in range.
Sliding her own jaw and grinding the teeth together once, the peach colored girl frowned. "I have not seen water in a couple of hours, and that was way back near the edge of the jungle." an awkward look of sincerity passing over the continued, knit brow.
Settling back on to her hind quarters with the assumption that this girl 'meant no harm', Awiki lifted her left paw up toward her mouth and licked against the surface once. Just before another lick she uttered softly, almost impatiently, “So, are you a slave too?” Even if there were no familiar smells, perhaps the lions of old Firekin were dead and their children in charge today. She simply had to ask. Dragging that long pink tongue down to her forepaw toes, she continued to eye the other lioness curiously.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 2:31 pm
Nahmba smacked her mouth nervously as the lioness frowned. Her ears were perked forwards, hair slightly on end as there were a few words spoken between them.
"Oh. We don't go near the jungle," Nahmba informed softly. She glanced out over the peach female's shoulder as if she could see the jungle from here. It was horrible for hunting, easy to get lost, and would be a sure way for her to find herself misplaced and waste away.
The ease that the other lioness took left her a little bit unsettled. Confusion was the name of the game, and her ears swivelled in thought when she was asked the strange, strange question.
"Well, uh, no." It was her turn to frown, the thought playing over her mind as she played with the word on her tongue. "I'm not sure we really have slaves in the pride."
Then, as if the sudden strangeness became apparent to her, she asked, "Why are you all alone?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:12 am
Trying to keep facts straight left Awiki baffled. So the pride spread its control this far out? It made sense that the fiery lot did not mess with the jungles; they were accustom to sands rather than dirt. Mauling over comments and suggestions, she retorted. "That is kind of a shocker, really. So, you're not a slave..." Were they talking about the same thing?
Then, as the next question came she quickly tensed up.
"I'm not alone." Her soft voice snapped. Awiki was indefinitely living life as a rogue, but who was this girl to assume it? To so blatantly ask that of a stranger? Perhaps on a day where she was not reminded of past events, would she feel more inclined to be kinder…but the sands shifted beneath her bum and stirred the worst within her. Stamping her paw in the ground, Awiki seemed to bypass the sincerity in the question and stuck to her defensive guns.
"I'm actually just coming home. I have--someone waiting for me." Kymbo...Ugh."And really, it does not matter. Do you own these lands?" she paused, tail curling stiffly around her thigh. “Are you the new Firekin queen? I would certainly apologize if that be the case…otherwise, I don’t see why you have come to question me. The desert has always been an unfriendly place, with unfriendly faces to meet...”
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:07 pm
"No," Nahmba answered the rhetorical statement. She was not a slave.
Two steps back were taken as the lioness in front of her tensed up, but there was no springing, no snapping, and Nahmba watched, still. It wasn't long, however, before her eyes began to wander this way and that. They left eye-contact, came back again, but mostly stayed on the ground or at the nature beyond them.
"You're not alone?" Nahmba repeated. She looked behind her, to the dunes she'd travelled over and then farther back, squinting into the horizon in search of something. There was no one to the left or right of Awiti, either, and it left Nahmba sorely confused as to what was happening between them.
"The Firekin!" she exclaimed with a click on her tongue. "No, no. We don't go there. There's not enough water there, and the lions there swish their tails and act very unpleasant." Out of habit, she stopped twisting her tail this way and that.
"It's not safe to be alone," Nahmba told her, eyeing her as though she were a daughter. She looked young enough! "Is your friend always this slow?" Friend seemed the most logical choice of word.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:06 pm
Settling a bit further back on her rump, Awiki looked to find comfort in the words spoken and even mustered a grin. "Well," her first words rang, a viper-like tongue still flickering. "Thank goodness for that." Dismissing the Firekin assumption, the lioness breathed out a sigh.
It did sort of irk her to spot the blue eyes of this stranger wandering in the backdrop, so blatantly uprooting her web of lies. Was it really any of her business anyways? For now, she chose to ignore the remark and beg a few questions of her own...again.
"It is better to be alone than in bad company, I always think." she raised a brow accusingly. "You never answered my question though; do you own this land? What is this place if not the Firekin desert...?"
"and furthermore, who are you?" Catching the mother like glance, Awiki softened a bit and smiled. Nahmba WAS giving her the attention she so needed!
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:24 pm
Nahmba echoed Awiki's actions by raising her own brow. Her practice with the expression was far less natural, and it came out in exactly the manner that described it: a fake, mirror image of someone else's idea.
"Oh, no! Well, I mean, I don't. But, well, we do." She looked back over shoulder and grinned. The dunes seemed to twinkle back at her.
"This connects to the Firekin desert!" Nahmba explained, excited to tell her stories. She always loved telling her children about all the land forms. She wasn't the best woman for terrain, but she knew her fair share like any mother should.
"You see," she explained, taking a few steps forwards and then turning around so she could plant her hind end next to Awiki. "It wraps all the way around the lake out there, and then zigzags across no lion's land until it expands as far as the eye can see, and that belongs to the Firekin." Nahmba moved her head in a wide arch as she spoke, enunciating the path of the dunes.
"I'm Nahmba," she said with a smile in answer that broke over her lips slowly and then grew big and broad. She was very pleased with this fact. "If you are bored waiting for your friend, I can take you back to meet the pride. But you have to show us where you found the water!" This would be a good day if she could convince this lioness to take her so far.
Nahmba was so excited, she forgot to ask for a name.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:40 pm
That face...Awiki was impervious to not very many things, and ranking nearer to number one was a silly face. Whether or not Nahmba was sincere of the gesture, though it looked to be not, Awiki tried desperately not to chuckle. This was always her first fault, and every time she attempted to hold back, it would only get worse until she had to release. A laughter that was cool and light shook her chest and for Awiki, seemed out of character. "Stop, please!" Her words shook between breaths and came far after Nahmba had moved on.
A pride, she thought after gathering composure once more. Firekin was all she knew, Kymbo was all she ever imagined when she thought of pride; in all honesty, Awiki was not sure she was ready for another family. But with her ears forward and eyes watching the Nahmba's lips and body move rather than the land, the acceptance became too good a chance to pass up.
Having shuffled nonchalantly away from Nahmba out of habit, Awiki made a 'Hmm' sound, before turning her head.
"Uh, my friend." Awiki tried to think quickly on her feet. It was hard to do so while seated, however. "They might not want me wandering too far off, just in case they show up and get lost..."
It all seemed fine and dandy, and almost too good to be true. This time, at least in this moment, the insecurity and distrust got the better of her; but it wasn’t too late for Nahmba to try for a second time.
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:04 am
Nahmba did not seem to notice Awiki's eyes on her. Her body language did not change, neither did the location of her eyes that fixed themselves on far reaching places, animals, and plants that weren't visible to her now.
The words 'my friend' snapped her back into action, and she swivelled her head around to look at the speaking lioness.
Her daughter's had given her excuses like this before. They all seemed rather strange, and Nahmba couldn't help but feeling the discomfort was related to something. Maybe her friend was mean to her. That might have been it.
"We could have someone wait for your friend," was the obvious solution. "Because if you give us directions, we will get lost. The boys don't follow directions well." They needed to be led, without option, and it was up to the females to see that it was done.
"Please say you'll guide us! I'm very tired of looking for water."
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Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:30 pm
Brows beginning to knit, features crumpling up in ways that neither seemed natural nor appealing, the lioness whispered, "Weeell..." Shifting her weight Awiki slid one paw across the sand in large circles, pondering.
Strung up by her neck in lies, the peachy feline was not particularly pleased with Nahmba and this whole ordeal. This seemed to take attention to a whole other level, one in which Awiki was never too keen on entering. There didn't seem to be any other option, and though she really did not want to take Nahmba to this pool, or any of her friends for that matter, Awiki almost felt obliged to. It was...nice to feel wanted.
"Um...alright." Her throat stung now with the impending truth to be told. "And...don't worry about my friend. I'm--uh, sure he can find me. He has a, uhm, great sense of direction. Unlike your friends." Within her staggering words, a light chuckle surfaced.
It was curious that this lioness would be so open and so willing to have a stranger lead them...well anywhere. She could be bad, run them straight in to a pride of savage lions who are cannibalistic in nature! Perhaps Nahmba had a great sense of character, and read through to Awiki's inner self. That would be terrifying though, for Awiki, and as always would chase her off more than likely.
Rising up slightly on her back legs and settling her weight on bent knees, she spoke. "So...should I go back with you to get your friends or wait here? I don't really care either way." Through the grit in her teeth, she smiled.
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:39 pm
Nahmba cocked her jaw to the side in growing confusion at the lioness' words. Eventually, she gave up on trying to understand and assumed Awiki to know what she meant even if Nahmba could not understand the reasoning in her logic.
The important part was that Awiki was going to lead them to the drinking water! "Oh, thank you!," she answered, getting on her feet and making a full, rotational circle.
"You should come back with me," Nahmba told her immediately. "I have a bad sense of direction and will not be able to find a single lion. I can find the pride, because it is big."
Her maw parted across white teeth and she took a few hopping steps forwards, looking back. "Come on! It's not too far. I am lucky today!"
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