|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:11 pm
Marini was enjoying having someone specific to find and harass more often. Ever since she'd met Manuku, she'd had a companion more often than not and she was finding it suited her much better than wandering around alone. And there was something that made it more satisfying than harassing her siblings or her parents, though she wasn't sure what it was. Either way! She hadn't yet located Manuku that day and had set off looking for him. She knew where his family lived but she wasn't sure about just barging on in to a crowd.. so she was taking her time, hoping Manny would appear.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:19 pm
Her little brown body was sprawled out on it's side on a flatter section of a large rock. The surface beneath her had been cooled by the night and was now slowly warming due to the growing morning, but was still comfortably below the air temperature. The exposed half of her was soaking in the sun's rays while it was still bearable. Eventually, she would retreat to the shade or perhaps go find her mom or a sibling to sit with, but for now she was content to be where she was. This was the life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:24 pm
As Marini walked along, she eventually spotted the little brown and blue lioness laying on the rocks-- and, of course, she immediately thought of Manny. They weren't quite the same shades of blue or brown but the combination still made her think of him. And she was in the right area for it. She looked so cozy and comfortable laying there, though it wasn't going to stop Marini from going over to say hi-- maybe she would know where Manuku was. And if not, she might be family of his, that would be interesting. And if not that, well.. it could still be fun!
"Hello there!" she called out, walking up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:31 pm
Laza had her eyes shut to the light until she heard someone talking. She lifted her head only enough to turn it and drop it back on her chin, facing the owner of the voice. "Hello." Her voice sounded as if she was talking out of a dream, and she was a little bit. She had been in the state between sleeping and waking, where one is touchable by the outside world still, but influenced by the inside.
She was quickly coming to, though. This was a new face to her. Occasionally, she came across a new face in these parts. Usually, though, she only saw family. "Pleased to meet you." If anything, Luhlaza was polite. She wasn't quite polite enough to stand up and fully face the lioness, though. She was, after all, still rather young and had much to learn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:35 pm
Marini laughed.
"I haven't even told you who I am and you're pleased to meet me?" she asked, "I'm sure I am pleased to meet you, though." It would be hard to be displeased with such a polite little one. She obviously caught her dozing off- though the fact her eyes were closed really had tipped her off before.
"I didn't mean to wake you up, I was looking for someone and thought maybe you could help me," she said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:39 pm
Luhlaza seemed surprised at the question. "I don't see why I wouldn't be pleased to meet you." She thought about it, though. Perhaps it was easier to be pleased to meet someone once you knew a little more about them? Maybe that was something that would come with time, when she had met a great many lions. For now, meeting someone new was a much more rare and exciting event since she had yet to spend a lot of time away from her immediate and even extended family. So yes, she was actually pleased to meet this lioness. "Yes, I am." She nodded to both herself and the newcomer.
She smiled genuinely. "It's not a problem. I always have time for sleeping. Who are you looking for?" She suddenly found it strange that she was willing to help this lioness find someone when she didn't even know her name. Since it hadn't been offered yet, though, Laza decided not to ask. And not to give her own. Yet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:45 pm
"That just usually follows introductions, I can tell you, though, that you are very pleased to meet me."
Who wouldn't be? She was nice and friendly, she had yet to meet anybody that didn't really deserve to be treated nicely and so she was nice to everybody. Or she tried to be.
"I'm looking for Manuku, I know he lives around here somewhere but I didn't want to barge in on his family," she said, forgetting to introduce herself despite her having just mentioned it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:51 pm
Laza pulled herself up onto her front legs, with her hind legs still spread out to the side. Of course, she knew Manuku. She wasn't exactly sure where he was that moment, but she knew him. She found it interesting that someone had come looking for him, someone whom she had never met or heard of. Had she heard of her? No, she didn't think so. And it was interesting that someone would come here. Someone who wasn't a part of the family. Not that they were a small or exclusive group.
"Manny is my uncle. I don't know where he is right now, though." She looked around quickly, as if he might happen to be walking by. That was a distinct possibility, honestly, but there was no such luck at the moment. "He may be with Hamamu or Mkate?" She didn't know if this lioness knew her cousins or not, but it was worth a shot if she knew her uncle. "I'm Luhlaza. And you aren't barging in." She smiled warmly and with welcome.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:54 pm
"Oooh!"
She had clearly found a cub of one of Manuku's many, many siblings! How very exciting! That explained the likeness- at least in her mind, even though she knew he had some step-siblings he treated the same as blood siblings.
"I'm Marini, your uncle's friend!" she introduced herself cheerily, "He's talked about you before- well, not you specifically but all of you. You have a really big family, don't you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:00 pm
Laza was glad to hear Manny had a friend. She wasn't sure why she was glad to hear it, but it seemed like a good thing. All of Laza's current "friends" were relatives. But it did seem good to be reaching out of the family circle to someone sometimes. "Oh, good!" She smiled again.
"Oh, yes." She giggled lightly. Big didn't really scratch the surface to describe her family, and really Laza didn't even know about some of them. She only really had the ones who lived here on her mind, since those were the ones she saw on a regular basis. "We're kind of a big deal." She meant that mostly in the way that they were an extremely large family, not an important one. But it could be read either way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:11 pm
Marini laughed at Luhlaza's description of her family. She wasn't sure why but it seemed appropriate and rather cute of her to say-- clearly Manny's family was full of adorable cubs, this was three she'd met (if you counted the surprise half sister) and they were all great!
"I bet!" she said, "I've only met a couple of you guys so far but you're all so nice, I want to meet everybody!"
Goodness! How long would that take? Manny had so many siblings, meeting all of them individually would take forever. Add in all the babies of everybody.. well, that would take a long, long time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:21 pm
"If you stick around here, you'll meet them." She said reasonably. She managed to see her family pretty regularly. If she didn't see someone one day, she usually saw them within the next few days. Mostly everyone lived somewhere around here. Even Kimbizi, who didn't have cubs to look after like Manny. It could get a bit hectic, of course, but that was just how it went. Laza managed to stay out of drama, but she was young. Of course there was the occasional disagreement between her and a sibling or a sibling and a sibling or even between cousins, but that was simply because they spent so much time together.
"It might be a bit overwhelming, though." She cocked her head to the side. For someone who wasn't used to all this activity, suddenly being thrown into it could be a real shocker.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:39 pm
"Yeah, it sounds like fun but I'm working my way up to it," she said, smiling, "I think it's more fun getting to talk to you individually, though. You're very nice, it'd be a shame if I hadn't got to really chat with you because there were so many others around, you know?"
Maybe there was some way she could sneak her way into the crowd undetected. Maybe if she met enough of them away from the the group, she could just appear one day in their midst and nobody would stop to wonder 'Who is that strange lioness?'
Maybe!
"Do you like sitting out here a lot?" she asked, glancing around, still wondering if Manny might appear out of nowhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 6:59 am
Luhlaza thought about that for a moment. She supposed it could be nicer to talk to one individual at a time, or at the very least it could be easier. And, as she got older, she much more enjoyed the company of one when she was in a talking mood, like now. In groups, she tended to be quieter and simply observe the chaos. Of course, she still did enjoy wrestling with the other cubs and playing games, but as she got older she was more quiet while they played. It was easier to be that way in a group. "It can be nicer, yes. But sometimes it's nice to be in the middle of it all, too." Perhaps that was just a trait that this family developed since they lived in that kind of environment all of the time.
"It's nice out here." She looked off to the side again. It was starting to get a little warm for her liking, but it wasn't to the point where she'd have to get out of the sun yet. "It gives me space to think." It seemed like you needed space to do your best thinking, at least to Laza. "So, how do you know Manny?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 9:12 am
"That's what Manny says," Marini said when Luhlaza said sometimes it was nice to be in the middle of everything. That was what Manny had said about all of his siblings while Marini struggled to imagine the chaos. A couple more of her brothers and she was sure she'd have been trampled flat when she was small but.. perhaps not.
"I don't know, we kind of met by accident," she said, thinking back to when they had first met, "I guess I decided he needed another friend."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
