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 Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:38 pm
Okay, so Mana had left her alone for a while, and Salma knew that she wouldn't see the Love goddess for a while. Still weird to see her, but she didn't let it bother her. Momo thought it was cute that she hadn't had a crush before, but really, Salma was a little more grounded than that. It might not have been her mother's intention, but that was how it worked out.
So instead of waiting for the goddess to return back to her, Salma wandered off instead. She could tell by the markers that she was in another pride, but she didn't quite think it would be all bad. It wasn't screaming "Keep Out!" and her, so she plopped on her merry little way, humming along and wondering what sort of trouble she might (or might not) get into.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:58 pm
Tetemeko was having a very slow afternoon. Unable to find Sharifu or Manuku (though Manny had become considerably less fun as he sulked about being a grandfather), he had decided to go off for a walk on his own. Things were quieter around home now since the massive amounts of cubs had just about grown now and he, among other single members of the family, insisted on staying close by.. so even if they didn't have any, they were around a fair bit.
His mind wandered as he tried to think of something, anything, to kill some time with. After a while, he decided to head farther out towards the borders in hopes of finding a hunting party to join. It was a good way to kill time, exercise and even socialize. Sometimes.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:07 pm
Hmmm. These lands were really green. Did it rain here a lot? She wondered about that while crawling through the grass, too used to the mud and water of the swamps. She hadn't been much of a swimmer, only when she needed to be, but this grass stuff was going to take some getting used to. The fact that it could sneak between your toes was one thing, but that it tickled and didn't just ooze, that was a whole new things.
Every once in a while she'd pick up a foot high, not liking how that certain patch had tickled her. "Annoying stuff," she grumbled, though she knew she'd have to get used to it. The more wandering she did, the more she found how unique the swamps were.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:35 pm
It wasn't terribly far into his walk that Tete spotted someone who didn't look quite like they belonged out in the Pridelands. For one, she was completely unfamiliar looking and just watching the busier parts of the pride's lands was something Tete enjoyed and that usually helped you recognize families.. and he just had a way of knowing things, sometimes. It helped that she was walking funny, and not in a funny way like she was injured.
He stopped and watched her for a moment until he was sure he would have been spotted (and called rude for staring).. then he decided to go say hello. So he put on a smile and walked closer.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:57 pm
Salma's ear twitched, wondering why. Mmm, probably nothing other than a bug. She wasn't being terribly observant, since the grass was a more immediate annoyance than anything else. She might see someone out about about, but it didn't register in her mind that they were actually there. Her mind was all about the grass.
"Ugh, forget it," she grumbled, freezing at that moment and giving up on walking. She'd sit here for a moment, hope to let the annoyance of the tickling and itchy feelings to pass. It was then that she noticed that someone was approaching her. This was...interesting. She shouldn't be surprised, but she was.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 2:19 pm
"Hello," he called out before he was too close. She'd already noticed him and didn't look anything but surprised, still he thought it was the polite thing to do. There was something unusual about her but he couldn't quite say what it was. And her fairly neutral reaction to being approached didn't help him decide or figure it out one way or another.
"Not from around here, are you?" he asked, looking her up and down curiously- now sure she wasn't injured, though she didn't look comfortable either.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 2:52 pm
She paused again, remaining quiet as she watched him get a bit closer. Hmm. Hard to judge just by looks, but it wasn't what she was expecting. Hostility was absent...and, well, perhaps he was just curious?
"Not at all," she replied promptly, lifting one paw and placing in on the grass firmly. "The grass gets quite annoying when one wants to walk somewhere. I don't know how I feel about it." It may sound odd, but she wasn't one to shy away from how she felt.
"Though I guess you must be used to it." Only confirming her thoughts that this grass stuff was more common than initially thought.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:05 pm
Tete couldn't help but grin at her comment about the grass, he hadn't really traveled extensively but in the adventure to try and find the girls who had gone missing he had seen some different lands, he was familiar with how different the landscapes could be-- and how irritating it could be, trying to get used to it. But the main difference he had ever run into was sand and dirt, and the sands' association with the Firekin made it all the less appealing.
"I am used to it, I grew up here," he said, "Where are you from?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:31 pm
"Oh? Where is here?" She knew she was in a pride, just didn't know the name of it. Like...she never knew the names, but she didn't really care. Nothing bad had happened yet, and Mana was pretty good about steering her clear of the more dangerous ones. So Salma had never really worried much.
"I'm from the swamps," she answered with a small nod. "Mostly water, mud, trees, and reeds. No room for grass..." she wiggled her toes, and shivered a bit. One day...just not today.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:34 pm
"This is the Pridelands," he said, smiling. If she hadn't heard of it before, it would be an unusual name to hear- it wasn't very creative or unique but it was so large it was hard to argue with it's name.
"Oh, the swamps!" he repeated, clearly knowing just what she was talking about, "I've heard of the pride there before, I have some nieces living there." He was, of course, thinking of Wahabu's daughters that resided there. Wahabu was his uncle, he was happy to think of his family as his own family. He had no idea, however, that he had a full brother and real nieces and nephews there.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:46 pm
Salma nodded. "Oh, ok. So you know about the Jin-msemi?" When she had spoken with Mana on the subject, that used to be a rarity. Now, well, it seemed much more common than one would think. So she wasn't too surprised. "Well, it's really big now, so I really should be too surprised you have family now." She remembered her mother mentioning how small it was when she had joined. Mother....
"Seems like everyone has family there. I sort of do, but not close enough to want to go back."
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:51 pm
"Well, I also have a really big family," he said with a small smile, "And if you want to be technical, I suppose I'm not really related to them. Step-nieces." Whatever, family was family. He was in the right family to believe that wholeheartedly.
"You're not going back?" Tete's ears perked up curiously when she said she wouldn't be going back. He knew about the quests they went on, he had assumed that's why she was so far from home. He supposed leaving would be easier if you only 'sort of' had family in your old home, though. Family was probably what kept him from wandering too far.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:58 pm
Her tail twitched. How much should she say? But did it really matter in the end? No, especially if she kept up with this aimless wandering. It wasn't leading her anywhere besides seeing the world. Perhaps that was worth it enough.
"No. My mother is dead, and I don't know my half-siblings all too well. One of them even has children a bit older than me, so it's just...strange to go back to a place where I really don't know anyone." Even...if that was her mother's one wish. She wouldn't live for her mother, even if she would cherish her memory.
"So I'm just wandering with Mana for a while. Oh, um, she's a guardian of sorts."
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:11 pm
"Oh," he murmured, frowning. He could empathize with her, he was close to the family he had here, if he wasn't it wouldn't be the same-- and he certainly wasn't eager to go anywhere he had siblings, though he was only fully knowledgeable about Tilifika. He had some small awareness that there were others, but never knew for sure.
"I'm sorry," he said, offering a sheepish smile, "I see your point, though. Do you have any idea of where you're going or what you'll do?" It wasn't easy thinking up what he might do if he decided to leave home, it wasn't anything he'd ever had to worry or think about.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:04 pm
She grinned. "No need to apologize. I've come to terms with it a bit ago." Took a bit, but it needed to get done. Moping wasn't going to fix anything, even if it was fun to wallow in and just do nothing for a while.
"I'm just wandering around. I figure that I'll find my place soon enough, it just has to find me first. Though I'm not letting it do all the work," she grinned. "It's not really all that fun to just sit around and do nothing, so I figured why not. It can't hurt when I have someone to guide me around the world the Jimi-misemi didn't warn me of."
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