What a turn of events.
Shandor had been born a nothing, a no body. A scrawney cub with the good fortune of surviving the illness that claimed all but one of his siblings. A scrawney youth who had depended on another for his survival until the day of their seperation. A lonely adult who convinced himself that his twin lived within his own mind- a dilusional soul with no purpose other than to make it through one more day.
It was... a shock to meet a goddess. He wasn't quite sure they existed prior to his meeting one. Lions with wings on their backs as large as three bison had always seemed like a silly tale that the rogues of the flatlands amused themselves with- not a reality. Perhaps the line between fantasy and reality was thinner than he thought. It was just a few hours prior when he and his strange little companion had encountered the patron goddess of the pride- and named them the leaders. He- the keeper of stories and her- the keeper of songs.
How strangely appropreate. Or unappropreate. He was an outsider, still learning the ways of the pride. The goddess had been correct in one thing though- who better to keep the stories than one who adored them? He was a glutton for the spoken word.
Amefungwa had never held any aspirations of rising from her rank of fortune teller. To be honest she wasn't even fit for that job. She was not a seer, and she did not read the stars as she said she did. She only translated what her muse said the stars said, and she did it in song, because it amused her, and because her muse sang, and so she should too.
To suddenly be pulled aside by the goddess herself and told, in more or less plain terms, that she was now the pride's song keeper...Well. Apparently her muse had had a plan greater for her, and lead her to it. At least this was something she could really do. Singing was in her blood, her spirit. And go figure her new friend was the story keeper! His muse was story itself so even she understood that choice. Now that she'd come to terms with her future, she'd better check on Shandor. "What you thinkin'?"
Shandor was laying on his back, watching the sea as it pulled up against the sands and whispered back into the depths. It was a different perspective- the sea was the sky and the sky was the sea. Something to puzzle over and amuse himself with rather than dwelling on the gravity of his new role here.
And then- the sun was gone. Replaced by a grinning pink face and a bright set of eyes.
"Currently? Or prior to your arrival?"
"Both, since you offered!" He was so funny, laying in the sand. She liked him though. He wasn't like most of the lions in the pride. He was so seeerious, it was good to see him relaxing some. She threw herself to the ground, rolling and twisting to get an itch on her back. "Mostly I meant about, y'know, the future? I'm excited to learn all the songs, and I'm happy that my muse did this for me, and like, it led me here? But I'm still nervous. How about you?"
"Previously, I was imagining the sea being the sky and the sky being the sea. How different it would be if lions were to walk on cloud and sand were to rain-" The lion brought his paws up as she began twisting about in the sand, flinging some his way.
"Well now we know that bit at least..." "Correct enough."
He rolled over onto his belly and leaned back away from the rolling female.
"Why should I waste time on the future? What happens happens." "She meant your plans for the future." "However should I know? Currently- eat something."
She squirmed on her back, ahhh yes that felt so good! Sea for sky and sky for sea? That would be weird. "But what if you fell off a cloud? You'd just fall and fall forever! Unless there's like...a ceiling waaaay up there, past the stars, that we can't see. You think? Oh. Well I meant about us being in charge now. But I guess that makes sense! We can't take care of others or do our jobs if we're hungry and not at peak condition ourselves! What're you up for? Zebra? I bet we could get one..."
Leave it to a singer to think too much into anything. Still- that did offer another decent trail of thought- perhaps for later. Just where did the sky go? Perhaps it was more like the sea than they knew, perhaps they both went on forever...or maybe they met somewhere in the distance.
He rolled his eyes and flicked his tail in the sand. "First thing's first... I need to learn more about this place. Peaceful as it is, no one wants an incompitant leader." "I wouldn't say no one. Some here wouldn't notice I wouldn't think. Especially the one with the shotty memory." "Why must you put a damper on everything?"
"Well yeah. I imagine that you're right for the job though. Otherwise the goddess wouldn't have picked you! That's why I'm not too worried. I figure she'd know, if anyone would. And I guess if we're no good we can be replaced too." She rolled onto her side and kneeded his with her feet. "So what more do you need to know? You've been here a while now...You've seen how we live, what we think about. What more's to know?"
Shandor badly wanted to ask after the traditions, rituals, special days of the week- that sort of thing. And most especially, this buiness with naming. All of it was crucial information that he knew and kept but as her paws touched, and kneeded at, his side, the lion broke into a roaring fit of laughter. For all the attempts to remain stone-faced and reserved, the one thing he couldn't tolerate was touch to his sides- a horrible weakness but one none the less.
And just as his words were driven from his mouth, her wonders flew from her mind. Ticklish? He was TICKLISH?! Oh it was ON! She scampered closer and dragged her paws up and down his side. The grin on her face was huge, and soon enough her own laughter joined his. One thing he'd soon learn was that the pride was very reliant on cheer and being laid back. Moments like this, just having fun together, building harmony. That was what he pride was for.
