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 Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:46 pm
 Jasiri had a new home, for now. In trying to steal two females he'd unwittingly beaten one of this prides male leaders, and now he was some kind of junior pride leader. Or something. The alternative had been to try to beat all the current leaders, and since he was still sore from fighting with one of the females, he'd opted for the easier way out. He had zoned out somewhere in the middle of all the explaining, but the gist of it was that he would have a bunch of females feeding him and fawning over him and all he had to do was help protecting the pride. Piece of cake! At least as long as the rest of the females weren't as crazy and/or violent as the two he'd encountered with the ex-leader. But what would the odds be for that?
He'd spent the first day hanging with the other males, recovering from the fight, but today he'd found a spot of shadow on his own. His intention was to get some quiet time to think and try to sort through all these new impressions. The females seemed to admire him, and he enjoyed their stares. He knew that he was far more handsome than the guy he'd beaten, but it was nice that they noticed his looks too.((Yeah... they're probably staring because he's new... Feel free to interrogate the new Inselelo!))
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:55 pm
 Toboa eyed the new male suspiciously. She didn't know anything about him and, while she was far from being 'orthodox', Jasiri was extremely bright. Not unattractive. But bright.
She hated feeling like she was excluding the new lion - or disobeying the Abaholi by not treating the new male with respect - but she couldn't help but be wary. The only other Inselelo, Nguvu, at least had family in the pride and ergo a reason for staying.
After much contemplation, Toboa rose to her paws. After a quick groom she started to pad slowly toward Jasiri, decidedly friendly. It was, in a way, her place to make the Inselelo feel welcome. And she couldn't very well write him off before she'd met him.
"Jasiri? Welcome. I am Kutoboa'Nadhari. Toboa, for short. How are you settling in?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:25 pm
Nehanda had also noticed the new male, but had heard of his usurp of a previous inselelo before spotting him. She had seen the oddly decorated male pick his place in the shade a few minutes ago, but hadn't gone over to investigate just yet. While she was very kind and sweet, Han was also a fierce traditionalist. It had been quite some time since any of the males had been replaced and she wasn't quite sure how she could go about greeting him. It had to be done, of course, but she was a bit hesitant. He was a potential mate, after all, and he would surely be looking at the females that approached him with that sort of eye. Han was small. She had been sick when she was young and still wasn't as strong as a normal lioness. Thankfully it wasn't too apparent when she was calm, but her size spoke volumes of her youth. She knew the likelihood of her becoming a mother was small, and it shouldn't concern her, but the place of females was to hunt and produce offspring. Unable to do the former very well, and unsure if anyone would pick her to do the latter, she was very nervous around males, even if she didn't show it. Finally taking a deep breath, she padded forward after another female had gone to introduce herself. She paused behind her darker pride mate, a small smile on her face. His markings were very odd but intriguing, although his mane was a very disappointing white. Her own dark tail tuft flicked back and forth as she waited for Toboa to finish speaking. Once she was done she moved forward just a bit, staying behind the other female still. "Hello," she murmured, her voice sweet and light. "I'm Nehanda...welcome to our pride. I do hope everyone has made you feel welcome so far."
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Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:55 am
Ulaka was absent. She was likely crammed into a shallowly dug hole with her children. It was more than possible that she was viewing the male at a distance, but it was just that: a distance, and a long one. Male lions had been known to kill offspring that weren't their own to insure the survival of their own genetics. The opinion among females was greatly mixed on whether this truly aided in survivability (if a previous Umholi was defeated, did that means his offspring were automatically inferior?). It could be said with almost near certainty that any mother would find the practice heinous on her own cubs once they'd been brought back to the pride. Better then, to stay far away in case the others got any ideas.
The small, dark Umholi was also present to keep strange behaviors down to a minimum. Wodi would find him a particularly easy specimen to harass today and the brown lion's ears swiveled atop his skull at even the hint of disagreement.
He stayed close to Jasiri's side, though it was unapparent whether this was for Jasiri's protection or the females'. If the lighter male were to look back towards him, Surtak would provide a glinting smile of his sharp canines.
"I'll bet he's one of my grandsons with a coat like that!" Nahmba's voice chirped out. The lioness had come back with a slight limp in both her hind legs, though it was slightly worse in the back left. Upon questioning, she simply would have given an excuse about age and carried on.
Her attention was focused, as with others, on spreading as much information and good will about the Inselelo as possible. It was likely her who had been first responsible for sending his name to the far corners of the galaxy. Fortunately, most who knew Nahmba knew her to have a soft spot for handsome rogues, even in her old age. They likely took what she told them with a small grain of salt.
Matifa, dark brown daughter of the late, deceased Umholi, was nothing but skeptical. The lioness was standing just back from the group, so she had to lift her head to catch a good sight of the burly (maybe that wasn't the correct descriptive term) white mane.
Her face was contorted, and her hair was unknowingly standing on end. Not enough to be aggressive, but certainly a visible sight the Umzingeli was apprehensive about the stranger.
She did not greet like the others, far too nervous and far too suspicious. The young female only stared.
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Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 2:43 pm
Toboa turned her smile on the smaller female, a genuine warmth flooding into it at the presence of a lioness she both knew and liked. She blinked affectionately at Han before turning her attention back to the new male.
As her bright blue eyes roamed from one to the other, Toboa noticed Surtak lingering nearby for the first time. She had been so focused on figuring out the new Inselelo that the darker - and more alluring - lion had escaped notice.
She respectfully dipped her head to the Umholi, a light fluttering in her belly.
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:13 am
Jasiri grinned as a black and white female approached him, shortly followed by a small tan female. Neither of them was as freakishly huge as Impoqo, and they both looked and sounded friendly. The smaller female appeared to be a bit shy, but there wasn't anything wrong with that. He assumed that new males didn't show up every day so they might not be used to it. He wasn't aware of the prides views on mane and pelt colors, but he knew they valued strength. It was a foreign concept for him that his mane might make some question his strength.
"Thank you," he said, "Everyone have been friendly so far. Were you both born here?"
Well, nearly everyone had been friendly. Impoqo had been downright scary for a while. These two females had been very pleasant so far, and the males had treated him with respect once he accepted to become an Inselelo to replace the male he'd chased away. He wondered if Nehanda was fully grown or not, and made a mental note to ask around discretely about some of the pride's customs regarding adolescents. He knew some prides could get quite upset if a lion should happen to accidentally seduce a young female and he didn't want to cause a scene. There were plenty of females around and he should be able to keep very busy without nibbling on forbidden fruit.
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:32 am
 Buna was not impressed. At. All.
She was secretly a little bit pleased that Kamal had got his tail handed to him, and that he wouldn't have the chance to infest the entire pride with fleas again. But this? Another pale maned half-male for the weaker minded females to swoon over. Ugh... Two proper Abaholi and these two Inselele. He better be a good fighter and help protect the pride properly, because with that snow white mane of his he'd have a hard time wooing females. No wonder he didn't challenge all the ruling males. Between Gakere and Surtak there wouldn't have been much left of the challenger. They would probably have turned him inside out without breaking a sweat. Now that would have been interesting to watch.
She watched with narrowed eyes as first Toboa and then Buna's little cousin Han approached the male. Buna wouldn't be among the first to greet this new male. She was trying to decide if it was worth her time to go there and try to make him squirm. The greeting process had been very calm so far. It had been much more exciting when Surtak the small was introduced and properly harassed into his place as Umholi. Bah...
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:47 pm
Han glanced around as a few other lionesses and even a lion came into the area. Her eyes remained on the dark Umholi a bit longer than they probably should have, and she glanced at the dirt in front of her when he realized she was staring. She was talking with the new male and, while he had earned his place, he still wasn't really one of them. She knew most of the females would be wary of him and she was fairly bold to be standing and speaking with him.
The question made her look up, a surprised expression on her face. He'd actually spoken back to them! Sometimes the new males acted like they owned the place and it took a while for their egos to deflate. While he was obviously still riding the high of being in such a pride, he also seemed to be more friendly than the average male.
"Ah...yes, I was," she said with a slight bob of her head as Toboa smiled back at her. She flicked her tail and smiled in return, bobbing her head again in respect towards the darker female. "I've lived my whole life here," she added, glancing back at the light male.
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 7:01 pm
"I share the same story; born and raised here. To be honest, I'm a little surprised to hear you say that everyone's been friendly. I guess you happened to meet all of the few of us willing to be polite." Toboa chuckled, noticing Buna out of the corner of her eye as the older lioness watched. She didn't want to be around for that introduction.
Shaking the thought away with a smile, she returned her attention to scrutinizing the new Inselelo. She was a little disgruntled to notice the way he looked at Nehanda; not that she was jealous, and Han was a very pretty lioness, but he hadn't been here very long at all. To already be considering taking a mate... the more traditionalist females would have a field day.
A little bolder than perhaps she should have been, Toboa subtly moved closer to Han until the two females pelts' brushed. She felt oddly protective of the pale female - there was no way to tell whether it was due to Han's shy nature or the fact that Toboa didn't really consider Jasiri to be one of them just yet.
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Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 2:27 am
Toboa. Nehanda. Jasiri repeated their names to himself. He suspected he'd have a hard time learning the names of all the pride memebers, but he was going to give it a try. The males names weren't that hard to keep straight, but in a large group of females with many mothers, aunts and sisters he would most likely end up mixing people up sooner or later. Many knew his name already, but that was to be expected since he was the newcomer and they only needed to learn one new name today. Nahmba worked quickly...
Jasiri raised his eyebrows at the surprisingly venomous comment, not sure what to say about it. Perhaps it was better to leave the subject of manners to avoid accidentally insulting someone's mother or cousin... He'd been told that the females liked to stick together, but evidently there was internal friction as in any group.
"That's interesting," he settled on, smiling at the two females, "I left my mother when my mane started to grow larger. Do you two have many relatives here?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:24 pm
Toboa settled herself on her haunches in the grass, wiggling a bit to ensure she wasn't being poked by anything. With a furtive glance toward Surtak, she tried to make herself relax, reasoning that it was only natural for Jasiri to be interested in the lionesses - it was a little soon, but she'd just have to deal with it. Circle of life and all that.
Jasiri's story and following question pulled at Toboa's heart; her father was dead and her brother had left when he'd reached maturity. While her mother still remained in the pride, the two didn't speak. Toboa missed her family dearly and so her voice cracked slightly as she replied.
"I have a fair amount of extended family in the pride - for example, Gakere and I share the same father. But of my birth family, only my mother is still with us."
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Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:45 pm
Han glanced at her aunt with a little smile as she settled closer to her, completely oblivious to the look Jasiri had given her briefly. She assumed no male would ever look at her 'that' way, so any looks that were sent her way were completely missed or brushed off as looking at a lioness behind her. She let her tail flop over the larger female's, a purr rumbling in her frail chest for just a moment.
The question, however, made her ears droop. Her own family was strong and well, but Toboa...well. She couldn't say the same. She nuzzled her shoulder as she answered before glancing back at Jasiri.
"As mentioned, extended family is far and wide here. But my immediate family...I have seven siblings in all, half of us males, the other half female. My mother is Baie’mooi...I'm not sure if you've met her yet..." Probably not, since he said all those he had met thus far had been kind to him. She was a very strong lioness who was far more vocal about her traditionalist views. Jasiri here would probably be laughed at before being chased from her presence.
"And my father is Gakere," she added, smiling just a bit. "So Toboa is part of my extended family.' Really, she was sure all of the lioness' here were connected in one way or another. Finding an aunt that was in that first generation was hard to do, though.
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 3:08 am
Buna's ears moved and she didn't take her eyes of the orange male. They appeared to be making small talk, but she couldn't hear what they were talking about. She was curious about the newcomer, but she was also too stubborn to approach this new male and ask questions.
She rose from the spot where she had been resting, and for a moment it looked as if she was going to walk up to the male after all. But instead the brown lioness turned away from the small gathering and walked up to Nahmba. The older lioness had spent some time with Jasiri already and she was quick to pick up news and gossip. It made sense to get the story from one of the Abazingeli and not from the outsider.
"So he managed to beat Kamal," she asked. "Was it a good fight?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 6:24 am
Dina wasn't completely sure how she felt about the whole thing, and was attempting to gather as much information as possible before actually meeting the new male. Of course, all the rumors and tidbits she'd heard had all seemed to come from the same source; Nahmba. So, instead of actually looking for this new Inselelo, she was keeping her eyes peeled for the older lioness, deciding it better to go to the source of the information. Luckily, her eyes landed on the pale little lioness before they'd actually managed to find this Jasiri fellow. She paused to consider, when her daughter's exasperated voice reached her ears. Dina sighed, tossing a glance at her daughter. "You go on ahead then, I won't be long." Unwilling to listen to any argument, she changed course for Nahmba and Buna, keenly interested in any details that might have been glossed over by second-hand gossip.
Chazama bit her tongue, frustrated with her mother, and though she had wanted to meet the new inselelo together, it looked like she'd have to do it on her own. Her pale pink eyes darted from the retreating form of her mother to the small gathering of lionesses she had spotted earlier. With a huff, Chazama drew herself up in an attempt to be confident now that she was on her own, and made her way toward Toboa and Han- decidedly less confident the closer she got. Not at all unfriendly, with more than a spark of curiosity behind her eyes, but definitely willing to approach slowly and linger back for as long as possible. She hadn't even gotten a good look at him yet!
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:15 pm
 Nguvu had kept his distance from the new Inselelo, so far.
He was not intimidated, but rather, intrigued. He eyed his golden pelt, adorned with swirls that seemed a little too... fanciful, for Nguvu, some how. He was a simple lion. It had always been said that he had the brawn of the family rather than the brains, he supposed.
The pale mass of lion had picked itself up from it's resting point, a little over from the group, and began to slowly pad over. As he was knew he suspected he may be recovering from a fight. Perhaps he didn't need too. He narrowed his eyes.
"Jasiri, is it?" He cocked his head gently, but flashed a friendly smile.
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