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 Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:18 pm
Jitokeza was not the most out-going lion but he had pulled through in bad situations before, he was managing OK in the migration of the Jini-msemi. His greatest source of anxiety now was the loss of Faaiza and Tamu seemed more absolute now, they could come home and nobody would be there now.. and the worry that his younger children wouldn't find them. Tseva was the only one of seven cubs to make it back to the swamp. He tried not to dwell on it but it didn't always work. It was why he had not followed Kianira to see how Tseva and the cubs were doing today, in the little camp the Jini-msemi had set up in the center of the Ela'wadiyi lands. He was sitting by himself, staring off at the mountains thoughtfully. He had not yet run into the brother or sister he had living here in the pride. He had no idea they were there, in fact.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:28 pm
On the contrary, Sado had a nagging feeling....that black lion that he had seen with the foreigners, these lions that had fled their homelands because of fire...Sado had not gotten close enough to wonder if it was his brother, but the fact he had a white tail tuft had bothered Sado. How many all black lions had that unique trait?
Well, since he was alone now, Sado decided to take a chance. It was weird having the entire pride still around, and with another pride as well....it was probably almost as crowded as it was in his homelands, where his parents still resided.
"Mkaa?" he tested out carefully, feeling more certain the more he approached this perhaps-not-stranger.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:36 pm
With his mind wandering off in the mountains, Jitokeza nearly missed Sado's approach and calling out to him. It took much longer than it should have for him to process being called 'Mkaa'. It had been a very, very long time since he had heard that name- he nearly forgot it had once belonged to him. And he blinked a couple times before, very suddenly, he realized he was staring (and blinking in confusion) at his brother.
"Sado!" he cried, jumping up, "Is that really you? What are you doing here!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:25 pm
Sado smiled and actually laughed when it indeed turned out to be his brother! "Wow, dude, I never thought I'd see you again!" He leaped up and danced around a bit too, just...thrilled to see his brother.
"I've lived here for a while! I ah...got distracted, and then had cubs...and then I just couldn't go back home to the Pridelands." He cocked his head to the side. "I see you must have left home too. Tearh is here too, though I'm not sure where she is right now."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:30 pm
Jitokeza took a few excited leaps towards his brother, smiling widely and almost taking in exactly none of what Sado had to say as he tried to process everything that he was feeling so suddenly. He absorbed more than he realized but his immediate reaction was to comment on their sister.
"Tearh is here, too?" he repeated, realizing just how long it had been since he'd really seen any of his family and feeling appropriately guilty, "I didn't expect to see you guys again, tell me about your family- are they all here, too?"
You never knew. Jitokeza had plenty to tell about his family, but Sado had no chance of meeting most of them.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:36 pm
Sado smiled. "Yes! She and her mate from the Pridelands came here a bit after I did. They haven't had any cubs here yet, but only time will tell..." Really, he wasn't sure why, but it was nice to run into them when their clans crossed paths on their migration.
"Ah, well. I have a wife..." How was he to explain this? It seemed easier to just pretend like everything was ok, even if that wasn't the case. "We had six cubs together, and they're all grown up. Even one of them had cubs....it makes me feel old, being a grandfather. I'm not sure how well Mother would take it knowing that she is a great-grandmother, somewhere out here!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:42 pm
His hesitation in mentioning his wife was noticed but not focused on, Jitokeza would have the same kind of trouble trying to tell his story from the start now. At least he spoke in present tense, like he still did have a wife. That was more optimistic than telling the story of how the lioness he left the Pridelands with had disappeared mysteriously and was assumed dead.
"Six cubs!" he said brightly, "I've had seven, one of them has cubs now, too."
He chuckled, thinking of their mother. She was a great-grandmother now, it seemed so strange to think of it that way. He still wasn't completely sure how he was dealing with being a grandfather himself.
"My mate is off checking on our daughter and her cubs now, actually," he said, "You'll have to meet her! I'd love to meet your family, too."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:51 pm
Sado nodded. "I'm sure Maddie is checking the excitement of so many visitors....and my children are all so curious, I'm sure they're there too." He was happy for a bit of the shift in tone, and nodded again. Meeting this family of theirs that was getting so much bigger would be good for him!
"Well, I guess it just proves that we're old now, huh?" Sado said with a laugh. "Sort of hard to deny it when you've got grandcubs. And they're growing up so fast, and everything..." It sort of reminded him of how unhappy he was, but at least his children were happy. That helped him get through everything.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:56 pm
It was disappointing to realize that Sado would only get to meet Tseva. It would have been nice to give the others all an opportunity to meet his brother and sister, too. Especially Fido, who spent more than enough time hearing about how much looked like an uncle he had never met.
"You never admit it, Sado!" he said with a laugh when his brother called them old, "They always grow so fast, time really gets away from you. I'm very happy to see you again."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:15 pm
"Man, you make me realize that its so hard to tell how much time is passing until it hits you. Like...how seeing you....I thought it was you, but I wasn't sure. Now that I've confirmed it, it feels like its been forever since I left home. I wonder how our folks are doing. I wonder if we could get one of the birds around here to send them a message or something. Well wishes from their crazy three kids that left home to carve out our own place in the world."
Well, that little speech was over, but it made him feel so much better to see his brother. He didn't really have any negative feelings about being part of the Ela'wadiyi anymore, not since he had lived here for so long to raise his cubs and then see one of them have her own. No, he had lived here for longer than in his homelands, but still...it was a little bit of an eyeopener to realize just what you had been doing with your life.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:22 pm
It made him feel guilty to think about all his missed opportunities to go and visit his parents. He knew several families in the Jini-msemi that regularly found time to leave and visit with families in the Pridelands. There was one brightly colored family in particular that came to mind, but he knew others that sometimes ducked in and out of the pride for visits with friends and families found on name quests.
"I bet we could find someone to take a message," he said optimistically, "But let's finish catching up here, first. Why don't we go see if we can find Kianira and Tseva, I'd love to introduce you to them. One of my sons looks a lot like you, I'm sure they'd love to see for themselves. It's too bad Fido didn't come back from his name quest sooner or you could have met him, too."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:26 pm
"Woah, really? I always thought I was the odd ball, but I guess it happened in your genes too," Sado laughed. "I would love to see them. Maybe along the way I'll see one of my kids and snag them to go see their cousins. I'm sure it'll be quite a sight, since they're used to tattoo-covered bodies, and their cousins won't have any."
Culture shock! It would amuse Sado, since he himself had been entranced by Maddie's tattoos when he had first laid eyes on her.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:36 pm
"You're definitely both oddballs," he said, continuing with a chuckle, "That's why they've heard about how much Fido looks like his uncle Sado."
Perhaps it was Jitokeza's own way of keeping his family close even when they were all separated by such long distances and pridal customs. He liked the idea of bringing along any cousins they might find along the way to Kianira and Tseva, he was eager to see his brother's family. He had almost completely forgotten about the tattoos, though around here it was impossible. Sado had so many fewer than the others and it was just so amazing that it was him, it was like he was blind to it.
"That reminds me!" he said, now that his mind was on the differences between the prides, "My name isn't Mkaa now, it took me a minute to realize that was me it's been so long now. My name is Jitokeza."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:45 pm
"Hey!" Sado laughed again. It felt good to laugh, especially with his brother. It was also good to feel a sense of purpose at the moment, even if it was only meeting Mkaa's family.
Though, finding out that his brother wasn't called Mkaa anymore was....interesting. "You changed your name?" he asked cautiously, hoping to not suddenly offend his brother and ruin everything. This was something he hadn't expected.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:52 pm
"Everybody does in the Jini-msemi," he said, surprised by the cautious tone that Sado suddenly was using. This wasn't a strange conversation to him, it was something that sometimes came up. He wasn't born in the Swamps so he knew it wasn't the same everywhere.
"It's why you won't get to meet most of my cubs, too," he added, realizing that saying he had seven and only being able to introduce him to one might bring up questions later, "Of the seven I've had, only one has ever come home from her name quest. Most of them are still so recently off, I'm not worried yet. Everybody has a cub name that they are given when they are born and an adult name they find when they join the pride from outside or go off on a name quest at adolescence. I stopped being so shy and useless when I joined, that's how I earned my name."
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