Welcome to Gaia! ::

As Hari stepped into the mists, feeling them swirl around her for the first time, she was surprised to learn that they were actually somewhat damp. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. They seemed to cling to her whiskers, almost weighing them down, and the way sounds - even the sound of her feet - were muffled just amazed her. It wasn't like that in the den, though she rarely heard anything from outside when she was within. Experimenting with this, Hari began to sing:

"Today the sky above is grey, today my fur is brown! The mist's around me every way, my feet are on the ground!" She was young, and while she loved to sing and hear her own voice, her lyrical skill left a bit to be desired. For that matter, her notes weren't so creative either. The way the mists absorbed her voice fascinated her, and she continued to sing just to experiment. Sometimes she punctuated her singing with a few very high yowls and very low growls, curious about the way they failed to echo.

While she walked, her green eyes stared into the mists, but she couldn't see very much around her. Certainly she didn't see an older lioness stalking through the mists, crouching low and ready to pounce. Not until she nearly stumbled over the pale adolescent did she see the flash of pink.

"Oh!" she exclaimed.

Ngoma made a sound of surprise as something small and fuzzy practically stumbled into her. Normally SHE did the sneaking up! She backed up a bit, blinking. Unlike the cub, Ngoma was used to the mists and how they played with sight. So small...she was probably one of the new cubs! Ngoma smiled brightly. Huzzah for something new!

"Hi there! I didn't see ya! Good job, though. Usually I end up sneaking up on others, not the other way around!" Someone was very bright and cheerful, despite being run into.

Hari's green eyes widened enormously. No one in her family was particularly misty-colored. She wondered if that was a bad thing. It probably wasn't. No one would be so silly as to think a person was less of a person just because their fur wasn't misty-colored, would they? Clearly her exposure to the world was extremely limited. Obviously. It was her first day out of the den.

She leaned in closer to hear whatever wisdom Ngoma decided to share with her. When Ngoma finished confiding in her, telling of her youth spent practicing, Hari started backward, exclaiming, "You have? Really? Do you think I could learn to be as good at it as you are?"

Hari smiled widely, showing very sharp baby teeth. "It's nice to meet you, too, Ngoma."

Something else the older lioness had said caught Hari's attention, "What's your Da like, besides white? I don't have one. I don't think. I mean, I haven't met him if I have. Maybe he's really good at hiding himself, like you are." The idea was appealing to the cub.

Ngoma nodded. "I'm sure you will! You just gotta remember that you're one with the mists. No matter your color, no matter your size. Here...this is our home, the place we were born. The mists like us." She was certain of it. How else could they hide in them so well, even with the help of the eidolon?

The question about her Da made her blink. "Oh? Well...my Da's pretty neat! He's really nice and cares about others a lot. And he's a GREAT hunter. He can be kinda a goofball though. Especially around Ma. When me and my brothers and sisters were little, he let us climb all over him, or get rides on his back...cause he's tall for a lion. He's got long legs."

It was a little disappointing that Ngoma didn't know whether the mists talked or not, but that meant there was something for Hari to find out for herself. Another adventure to have some other time. Maybe if she could keep quiet enough, or sing to the mists, they would talk back. Or maybe they'd even sing back. That would be really exciting. Especially if she was the first person the mists ever spoke to.

"Das can be not-nice? I didn't know that. It's good that you can get new ones when they're bad though. Your Ma must be really smart." Hari's mother was really loving, and Hari had always assumed she knew everything, but maybe that was something all mothers could do. Maybe when Hari grew up and became a Ma she'd know everything, too.

"Oh! That's a lot of siblings. And they all look like you, with really pale fur? That should make it easy for me to tell who's in your family. I don't think my family's as big as yours. How old are you, anyway? Are your older brothers and sister Mas and Das?"

The pale adolescent nodded. "Yeah. And Ma is really smart. Makes up for my Da. He's nice, but really dense in the head sometimes." She giggled again.

"No...not all my sibs have pale fur. One of my sisters is all bright pink, and another is this really dark purple. They're really pretty. My older sister actually has fur colored a little like yours, with browns, and my older brothers are browns and grays and one is mostly black." Her family had all sorts of colors!

"Me? I'm not all grown up yet. And my older brothers and sister...they're not Mas and Das yet. Haven't found mates. Two of my older cousins are Das though."

"Oh. I don't know what I want to do when I grow up. Well. What can a person do when they're grown-up? What does a Scholar do?" All of this was new to Hari, and she wanted to learn more. This was proving to be a great excursion. She was learning so much. Mists might talk. People could be pink. All sorts of things. The bit about the mists talking was the best thing she'd ever heard. She really hoped that one day she'd hear them.

"Is Shairi really smart, too? Like your Ma? And what's a near-twin? What's a twin?" More new things to learn. "Is a twin just like a sister or a brother, or is it something special?"

Hari ducked away from Ngoma's patting paw and jumped to the side, landing without much grace. "Oh. A mate. I don't think I want one of those yet. But what other stuff do you have to do? Is there a test or something? How can there be bad Das if there's a test?"

Ngoma grinned. "Oh, there's lots of things you can do when you grow up! You could be a Ghost or a Warrior, and help keep bad creatures out of the pride, and bring good ones in. Ooooor...there's Shepards, who look after cubs, and Shamans, who help us when we hurt ourselves. The Seekers go out into the world to find new blood for the pride, while Hunters help keep us all fed. My Da's a Hunter! And Scholars tell the history of the pride...they have REALLY good memories, so they can remember everything that happens. Especially the big stuff. There's the Mystics, too. Like my Ma. They can See things...like the past, or what might happen in the future. Sometimes they See things that happen FAAAAAAAR away!"

She didn't mind all of Hari's questions...curiosity was good! "Shairi's very smart, yup! She definitely takes after Ma in that respect. And twins are special. It's a brother or sister who looks just like you do, same colors and markings. And a near-twin is a brother or sister that is ALMOST a twin...but something about their colors or markings is JUUUUUST different enough that they aren't."

The white and pink adolescent frowned. "Well...it's not something I can really tell you yet. It's something you find out about when you're bigger. Like...my age. I didn't find out about it until recently, myself. But the way things are done...there's no test. That's why there's bad Das out in the world. But not here. Here, there's only good Das."

Hari nodded enthusiastically. She was far too young to appreciate that sometimes it was best to be discrete and even silent on the subject of visions. She was just excited to learn that there were others who did the same thing. To her knowledge both of her siblings did that, too. She was beginning to come to the conclusion that it was a normal trait to have, and might have reasoned, upon learning that it was not one everyone had, that it was a skill which could be learned.

"Wow. Do you have to be a Mystic if you see things like your Ma and I, or can you still do other things?" Hari asked. She thought it might be interesting to meet other creatures. Not that she was even sure what other creatures there were to meet. The only person she'd met outside of the family so far had actually been Ngoma, since she'd been too young before to remember any of the lions and lionesses who might have come to the den to see her and her siblings when they were just born.

"That would be really good, wouldn't it," Hari replied, not really sure what to make of all this. Ngoma certainly made it sound exciting.

Ngoma shook her head. "Nope! My Aunt Codail Sees things too, but she's a Shepard. Because she loves being with cubs, and is really good with 'em." She stretched. "And I think there's a couple others in the pride like that, too. Who See things, but are good at other things."

The adolescent struck a very 'adventurous' pose. "It would be very good! It'd be like having a grand adventure, but I wouldn't have to leave home and make Ma and Da sad!"