One more suitor to find and he'd be done. One more male for Kibibi (although he'd do it RIGHT this time) and he could feel as if he'd accomplished something. Zalika didn't seem like she ever wanted to talk to him again and Bekeli didn't care. He had a feeling that Kibibi would be extra excited to see him return to the clan with a male in tow -- a male just for her. He would EVEN find a male that was even more handsomer than Sakelo, and Kibibi would be happy and Zalika would be jealous -- and that would make Bekeli happy. Deep down he was annoyed by the uppity attitude his oldest daughter had. He didn't really understand her sense of entitlement but now was not the time to be thinking of such things.
No, now was the time to find a mate for Kibibi.
A short distance away from the unsuspecting Bekeli, Oma was rearranging a pile of bones she'd spent the last three weeks collecting. It was arranged just so, and now she sat back proudly and stared at her masterpiece. She did this for no artistic value, none at all. In fact, there was really no good reason why she did do it. Oma hobbled closer to the stationary creation, lifting a paw to thoughtfully adjust a bone at the tippy top before she sat back on her haunches to grin gleefully at the pile of bones that resembled... well, no two ways around it, the pile of bones looked exactly like a pile of bones.
That grin turned into a cackle and a loud one at that.
Bekeli's ears swooped as he heard that cackle carry across the savanna. Intrigued by the bizarre sound, he belly-crawled closer to where the noise had come from. Narrowing his eyes he peered in the direction of a large, squat tree, one that appeared to have a female hyena crouching at the base. She was no male but hey, she was a female and Bahari would be glad he brought SOMEONE home, right?
"Heeeeey," Bekeli whined as he drew closer, eyes locked on the bones that had the hyena female so captivated, "What..."
"Bones, bones, bones," the female wailed happily, catching sight of Bekeli with those black , black eyes. "They are mine, go find your owns!" She clacked her teeth at Bekeli as he halted a few steps away. "Mine, mine!"
He slowly sat down, a thoughtful expression on his face. She seemed normal enough, he supposed, despite her strange looks and affinity for bones. Maybe she was a really good hunter or something, that would make the Queens happy.
"I don't want your bones," Bekeli groused, looking off-put by the merest suggestion that he might be a theif. He hadn't been having a good week, at all.
"Do you have a home? A clan?" He tried to sound like he really cared, but all he could think about was how happy Bahari would be that he'd brought back an able-bodied female.
"Oma has no home," she muttered, eyeing her rocks and clacking her teeth, "Oma likes to roam. No home, no home." She edged closer to her bones, suddenly kicking out a hind paw and knocking them all to the ground. This seemed to tickle her pink as she let out a blissful shriek and circled the scattered pile of bones.
Bekeli watched her. She ... well, she didn't seem to be off her rocker, not like stupid Manyara the lion-slave was. No, she didn't seem that bad, and he wasn't even trying to convince himself. He honestly believed she would be a grand addition to the clan.
"Well, follow me," Bekeli offered, "and you can join a great clan. My Queen is a gentle Queen and maybe you can... hunt or something. Do you like to hunt?" He hoped she did, "Or maybe you like to heal? Or ... I don't know, make stuff?" He wasn't quite sure what the crafters did in the pride, but if Bahari thought it was important, well, so did Bekeli.
"Hunt, yes? Oma can hunt. Oma can heal. Oma can craft. Oma can grunt, Oma can steal, Oma can laugh!" She chittered excitedly, dipping her head to grab one of the more maggoty and rancid bones in the pile. She bit down hard on the bone, an audible crunch rendering the morning air. Oma gurgled happily, eyeing Bekeli with glee.
Bekeli wondered if she would share that bone. He could smell it from here, deliciously rotting, decaying flesh clinging precariously to either end of the bone. He hadn't had anything delicious since giving Baharai the crown he'd painstakingly made, and at the moment he was starving.
"Heeeeyyyy," he whined pleadingly, eyeing another juicy bone that sat nearby. "Before we leave maybe I can have one of those bones?" His mouth was WATERING.
Oma let out a raucous screech, one that sent Bekeli reeling. He'd never made a sound that terrible before, and neither had his daughter even after the whole Sakelo ordeal. Dark eyes widened in something that might've been fear as he looked at Oma. She was terrifying.
"Oma says home, then bone," she snarled reedily around the bone in her mouth. She watched him expectantly, long strings of drool slipping heedlessly from her mouth. Rising to her feet she made another odd sound around the bone clamped in her jaws as she watched him expectantly. "Go, go!"
Bekeli whined but he moved to his feet and jerked his head in the direction they'd be moving. He figured she would follow him, and after sending a final look of longing in the direction of the bones they would be leaving behind, he took off running in the direction of the Clan's lands.
Oma followed him, chipper as could be. The strings of saliva that dripped from her mouth in rubbery strands picked up dust as she ran after Bekeli, giving her the appearance of brown tentacles writhing from her head. She didn't pay them any attention, no. Oma had been alone since she was a pup. Oma was excited at the prospect of having a place to call home, even if it meant she had to share her bones. That was a small price to pay, wasn't it?
wc: 1033
