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 Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:44 am
Backlog Naming Quest
It was so strange outside the familiar swamplands she'd grown up in. At least here it wasn't as unbearably hot, though the sun still felt scorching against her fur and the air was drier than she was acustomed to. Still, she would manage well enough. All the other adults in the pride had, when they sought their names.
Had her parent's murderer done the same?
Imbali shed the thought the way those curious birds in the marshes shed water from their feathers. She didn't care to think about such things any longer. All she needed to do was find a name...and decide whether or not she cared to return home.
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:43 pm
 Orad was a wanderer, through and through. It was easy to do when he yearned to make this land healthy once more, bringing with him native plants that had been eradicated in certain parts of his home. He loved the rich feel of the dirt in his fur, the warm smell of earth. This was what he was meant to do. Today he was working in a small area, digging up non-native plants whose seeds had come on the wind or were carried by a passing bird. His nose was caked in dirt but Orad didn't pay any mind to it. This was what the lion lived for, his passion. Unsheathing his claws, he dug with fervor at a thorny brush, one he recognized as alien. Ripping at the roots, Orad would be far too busy to hear anyone approach him.
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 4:53 pm
Imbali paused, staring at a bush that seemed for a second to be moving on its own before her eyes caught the brown spotty lion that was...clawing at it? What a strange thing to do. Dogs, she knew from hearsay, dug holes. But lions? What cause would a lion have to dig?
Perhaps his prey had escaped beneath it? But if that were the case, it would have to be something so small that it would hardly be worth the sheer amount of effort he was putting in now.
"...what are you doing?" the white lioness asked finally, her paws carrying her near enough to see that he was coating himself in dirt over his attack on this random bush. Was he mad?
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:56 pm
Orad completely ignored her question as he dove in to the roots of the bush, teeth bared as he grasped the roots in his teeth and pulled. It came free rather easily, and proudly Orad turned to the white female, dropping the ragged bush at his feet with an air of accomplishment.
"What do you mean, what am I doing?" he asked patiently, giving a huge shake to dislodge any dirt and pebbles that might be clinging to him. Grit clung to his tongue, lips, teeth and nose; it would take a dip in water to loosen it.
"I'm doing my job!"
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:31 pm
Imbali stood and watched as the other lion seemed to ignore her. She was certain he'd heard her, unless his ears were bad. It seemed more likely that he was simply more intent on whatever it was he was doing to that bush...
She turned her head slightly as he shook himself, having little desire to get this dry dirt all over her face. His job? That was an odd sort of job to have.
"What sort of pride are you in then?" she asked, curious as to the customs of another group of lions. After that talk with the leopardess, she was trying to keep an open mind, but a lot of what she'd seen and heard still seemed utterly alien to her.
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:43 am
"I'm not really in a pride," he spoke softly, finally taking a moment to peer at the lioness intently. "Have you ever noticed that the land is forever changing around us? So many new creatures, so many new plants." He sighed, shaking his head. A small rain of dust fell from his mane, though Orad didn't seem to notice.
"Plants set down roots here, plants that shouldn't be here. They are suffocating the plants that belong to the land, plants that our ancestors used for healing." He seemed almost melancholy about it, as if it made his heart ache.
"I have taken it on as my responsibility to save the plants that struggle to live here." He peered at her with interest. "What about you? What sort of pride are you in?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:24 am
...save the plants?
Imbali blinked. How very odd. The plants looked fine to her, all of them were green where they should be. Well, the one he'd ripped out of the ground wasn't going to be fine. But that had seemed rather the point. Still, it was...odd...
"I'm from a pride far from here," she informed him, "I am on my quest to become known as an adult." It was, she'd learned, easier to say that than to tell people she was looking for her name. That always seemed to confuse them for some reason, apparently lions outside her pride merely kept the name they were born with rather than seeking council from the spirits.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:43 am
"What, exactly, does that entail," Orad asked. It was more of a statement, really. Why would someone have to leave home to become an adult? That boggled Orad. To him, you were an adult when you... well, when you became an adult. There was no reason to prove that you were an adult. You just were.
"That's kind of strange," he added, as if he had room to talk about being strange. "I never had to leave home to become known as an adult. It just happened." He went back to digging at the ground, grabbing great mouthfuls of soil and spitting it aside as he worked. It was unpleasant, yes, but somebody had to do it.
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