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 Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:41 am
 Kirjava kicked up the froth as she meandered down through the lapping waves of the sea; her ears folded back against her head, chin jutting. She wasn't sad. She was simply thoughtful. Thoughtful about all that had happened and all that could happen as a result.
The tidal wave had taken so much and yet it had given, too. It had given her courage and strength of heart and though so many of her family members were missing, she knew they were fine. Knew it in her heart of hearts. But she sometimes wished she could see them. Speak with them. Have simple conversations like they once had. Her poor mother and father and so many of her siblings...she hoped they were having a better time of it than she was. The lands felt...lonely nowadays.
Twice now she had seriously considered taking a vacation to see her aunt and uncle in the Nchi'mahadhi lands. But though she had always craved adventure and excitement she also couldn't bear the thought of abandoning her pride in the aftermath of the natural disaster. She wanted to be here when her family returned and welcome them back. The clean up was still in progress and there was much to do. She just wished, somehow, that the sea hadn't given her a disaster as her wish for adventure.
Why hadn't it just...washed a sea monster to the shore? That would have been a lot better for everyone and then she would have had a chance to befriend it.
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:58 pm
Further down the shore was no sea monster, but for his rate of temperament he might as well have been. Faine was in a mood. Something which he frequented... but this was a bit more severe than usual.
It didn't help that Lua wasn't around. He was off and about- apparently with some eye for some lady or another he was championing. Faine knew enough not to be a third wheel for his friend, but without the generally grounding personality of his companion... Faine found himself wallowing. If there was a championship of wallowing, he'd certainly be its undisputed champion.
What he was wallowing about was another story. It seemed he was never short on things to agonize over. Nightmares, reflected emotions from the mortals and gods around him... it soured him. Old memories were coming back more and more, reminding him of the various things he had accomplished over a lengthy existence. "Accomplish", anyways. To him, it seemed like a long list of regrets that could never be absolved.
With a sigh, the white lion sunk further into the sand. His wings were gone, although he still could never quite remember to get rid of those two prongy horns of his. He didn't care much for the sea, but at the very least it provided a dramatic backdrop for his moping. And considering he didn't need to eat, he could spend quite a long time doing just that.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:32 am
His white shape was incongruent against the shore and her eyes found him without them even meaning to.
A moment later and Kirjava drew to a slow halt, her brow furrowing thoughtfully as she regarded his sullen shape. She had grown up in these lands and was related to a good percentage of those living within them. This male, white and void of markings as he was, certainly was not a member. Or, if he was, he was so new that she hadn't seen him around before. But either way, whether he was Bahari or not, he seemed to be in a rather sorry, unhappy state and Kirjava was not one for passing it by without trying to be of some assistance. That would have been rude, wouldn't it?
Besides, she was lonely. Maybe he'd prove to be an interesting conversationalist.
So, with her mind made-up, she brandished a smile as her weapon against sorrow and trotted across to him; walking with big and purposeful steps so that he would hear her approach. Only when she was a few strides away did she call out a jolly, "Hellooo!" And moved to drop down next to him. "I hope you don't mind but I saw you out here all by yourself and thought that I'd come for a chat. You looked as if you could do with a bit of cheering up. Are you new? Or just passing by like the other rogue I met not too long ago? If you're new to the lands then welcome to the Bahari. I'm Kirjava, nice to meet you."
She blinked, pausing for a short breath before continuing. "I haven't seen a lot of new faces around here since everything that happened."
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:57 am
Faine inwardly winced at the sound of a voice above him. Lovely, company. Company threw a major wrench into his brooding, as Lua would aptly note. It was difficult to balance his desire for attention with the need to agonize over every little thing in the world. So while he was bitter over the change, he didn't take the easy way out of simply vanishing.
Truthfully, Faine didn't like to be alone.
Not that he helped the situation out much with his attitude. The white lion crossed his paws, and glowered out of the corner of his eyes. "I do not know what lands this currently is. It seems like a beach like any other to me," his tail flicked imperiously. For a moment, he was quiet. It didn't take long for the guilt to eat at him. "...something happened here?"
His ears perked, and he glanced around the scenery. He couldn't sense anything. No regret, like what would have permeated the ground with war. Sickness? She seemed healthy enough, although he had heard it was going around. "...I don't.... I don't know this place so I don't mean anything by it."
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:25 am
It was hard to say whether Kirjava strategically avoided his 'moodiness' to try and get him to cheer up, or whether she just didn't notice. Either way she wasn't about to be put off by his less-than-chatty manner, especially when he asked her questions about things she liked to talk about. Specifically, her home.
"Ah, but see, that's where you're wrong! This is the beach of the Bahari'Mtoto lions! We've been settled here for a long time now and the sea is...well, this part of the sea is special - to us, if no one else. It's part of our daily lives and without it...well...life wouldn't ever be the same." She paused, scrunching her face with a sudden growing concern that she wasn't explaining herself very well. The sea was special, like...like a huge living thing that...that was a part of them. She wasn't sure what she could compare it to in a way that the lion would understand.
Oh, wait, she did have one idea.
"It's like, you know there are some lions that worship gods? I suppose the ocean is like our god. We respect and cherish it." There, that sounded better. Hopefully then he would understand the importance of it.
She smiled at him and his attempt at an apology. "Don't worry about it. I don't think a lot of people do. But yes, recently the sea grew very, very angry. It swept up and flooded the lands and chased us from our homes. We've only recently moved back in and started clearing up all the mess. A lot of my family and friends are still missing." She trailed. Speaking the words out loud made them so very real. "But I'm sure they'll come back soon!" She pushed the smile back onto her face and continued. "After all, from what I've heard, there's all sorts of exciting things to be found out in the rogue lands. Maybe they got sidetracked and they'll head back as soon as they've finished adventuring."
Her curious eyes turned back to him. "You didn't happen to see anyone who looked like me on your travels, did you?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:36 am
You know how some lions worship gods?
He stared blankly out at the rolling ocean. Yeah, he knew. He knew more than most, as the eternal hypocrisy of it all was something that kept him up with relatable frequency. A god of the ocean. He was sure such a thing existed. He wondered if that ocean god even cared about the devotion these 'simple mortals' heaved upon him.
Faine was lost in thought when she continued. There had been some sort of disaster here? The thought felt heavy upon him. Not like he could have done anything. But it was compulsive, even innate. "I did not hear of anything like that," he said quietly. And he certainly hadn't seen anyone that looked like her. But to be honest, he didn't often remember faces. He always trusted Lua to be the personable one. If anyone was to remember someone they had met on their travels, it was him.
"I don't...recall anyone like that. I'm sorry," he confessed, his ears flattening on his head. "You still love the ocean even after all of that? I would go away, leave so it couldn't hurt again."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:54 am
"It's probably a good thing you weren't around when it happened." Kirjava agreed with a solemn nod. "I don't try to think about it too much but I think some lions...well, they probably died." Even saying the words made her feel sick and for a moment she struggled to continue speaking, her throat suddenly gone tight. "But we don't know that. They might be okay. You never know. Stranger things had happened." But now she was sounding desperate and naive and she allowed herself to trail off.
"It's okay." She said, quietly. "They'll be back someday." Kirjava had to believe that because if she didn't, who would? She had to carry the hope with her that the others would return someday.
"Leave your home?" She enquired gently. "This is the only place I have ever known. I was born here. Grew up here. My family and friends and everyone I care about is here - or will be here again someday. I'd rather risk another wave than wander about in the outside lands all alone, without anyone there with me. Doesn't it get awfully lonely out there?" She inquired. "I met a rogue, recently, who travelled with his friends. That sounds better to me. To have that companionship. But..."
She paused, glancing around. There was no one else in sight. "You are alone? Don't you have a home somewhere? Some family?" Was this white lion speaking from experience when he spoke about 'hurt'?
He seemed a sad fellow and this topic wasn't going to bring a smile to his face. "From what I hear...there is danger everywhere. Bad things happen but we just need to work through them the best we can."
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:56 am
Faine felt a very familiar emotion pang through his chest. He didn't know what to say. Which always ended up only exacerbating the feeling. One would think a lion that spent so much time agonizing over all of life's unpleasantness would have some insight on why things were the way they were. But he didn't. He was always stuck firmly in one gear. "I..." he stopped himself short of saying he doubted her optimism.
Things never ended up the way they should.
"I see..." he said quietly, shifting his paws through the sand. "I remember where I was born. That's about it. I have no attachment to any place, because they all... feel the same." The same broken dreams and sorrows wherever he went. The same wrongness.
"I have a friend!" He said, with a bit more spirit. To say Lua was a friend was a bit of an understatement. There were times when Lua was functionally a part of Faine's inner mind. "I mean...he's a friend of mine, we work together. But he's off and its easy to spend too much time thinking. He says I spend too much time thinking."
Faine wasn't sure of that. He thought Lua didn't spend enough time thinking. His brow furrowed. He didn't know how to work through his problems. "I think its better expecting the worse. Then I am never surprised."
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 11:30 am
"They all feel the same?" She echoed carefully. "I think that, if you continue in your travels, someday you will wander upon a place that will feel quite different. It will feel right and it will be as if you have lived their forever. Then you'll know you have found a home and a place where you can be happy. What will make that place special for you, I can't begin to say, but you will find it eventually." She believed that. The land was wide and diverse. There was a place for everyone if they took the time to seek it out.
She smiled, though, when he spoke of his friend and gave an encouraging nod, glad to hear that he did have a travelling partner - though he wasn't around at that time.
"But if you go around expecting the worst all the time you'll forever be unhappy. A bit of positive thinking can go a long, long way. Think about it. If this pride had caved and fled after trouble, there would be no life here now. No culture at all. It would become just another shore again, instead of a home." With a short laugh, she reached out to poke him in the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go for a walk. I can show you the caves down by the shore. The sea has retreated for a rest at this time so the path to them should be clear. I spent a lot of time there when I was younger, collecting the treasures that had been washed in during the high tide."
And where she had been lurking around watching for sea monsters, too...
"I can't promise that bad things won't happen - because they do - but I think they're more likely to occur if we expect them too. Almost as if we're willing things to go wrong." She grinned at him and gave him another poke as she backed away to give him room to stand. It was quite clear that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 10:07 am
Nothing had ever felt that way, not in all of his traveling. Not through any of his lives...although he admitted that he didn't always remember them perfectly. All he remembered was the heavy feeling of something being not right. That he had done things far too numerable to ever feel such a feeling. "I am not sure everyone is meant for a home."
His ear twisted slightly. Caves? He remembered faintly, traveling through one when he had been younger. Following a king. That hadn't been home either, it seemed.
But he was an inquisitive sort, and while he did enjoy wallowing in his own misfortune, he also liked to be distracted from it. At least when he was aware of it. He couldn't help but be reminded faintly of Lua- he would have liked this female. She would have liked him a lot better too, but...
Well, he was off anyways. He squared his chin and stood up, sand clinging to him in a rather undignified mess of mud for a god. More likely to occur if he expected them? His colorless eyes went wide for a second. "That can't be true!" he blurted out. "Is it?"
Had she done tests to prove this? Surely she hadn't! You can't just make statements like that! He could possibly attract misfortune when he was trying to prevent it!
But then why did it sound right?
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 12:25 pm
She gave him a small shove, laughing out loud. Laughing so suddenly that for a moment it hurt. He was incredibly cute for a fully-grown adult male and for someone who had travelled around so much. There was an innocence about him. A naivety that struck a chord in her. She wouldn't ask - because it would bring down the mood - but it seemed to her he hadn't had many people in his life who had taught him about the world and the way it worked. She had always felt herself one of those innocent lionesses, but she'd clearly picked up more than she'd thought she had.
"Well, there's one way to find out." She replied, smiling across at him. "Try being positive for a couple of days and see what happens, hm?" Kirjava gave him a wink and launched herself forwards, loping forwards at a speedy pace across the sand. A few moments later and she spun back to face him, twisting in the sand.
"Come on. Time's a wasting!" And with another laugh she turned and headed onwards. If there was one thing she knew how to do it was being positive. Perhaps, for once, she could be the teacher instead of the student.
Yes, she rather liked the sound of that.
/fin
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