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 Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 5:43 pm
Where to Begin - Siyarin/Samudranta
Things, it seemed, had been eventful since she had gone away on her pilgrimage, and not the good kind of eventful. Although, when one said 'eventful,' was it ever really meant in a good way? 'Eventful' was more or less just a polite way of saying 'everything went to s**t.' Which, all things considered, was not at all a surprise where the Jini-misemi were concerned; the cycle had begun long before Siyarin's birth, and it wasn't looking likely that it would ever end. First, generations ago, the pride had been all but wiped off the map for angering their goddess. Then, the Queen who had later rebuilt the pride had died, her unprepared son had taken over, and among the rogues who'd joined the pride had been a damned serial killer. Here, in the middle of the story, a bright spot of light when their Queen returned to them as their new goddess, having been elevated by the previous one, but things had quickly gone downhill again from there. Narindima'moyo, who had never wanted to be King at all, had rushed to pass the title to his first child to return from pilgrimage, and it had been a poor choice; when his younger sister returned from her pilgrimage, she wasted no time in revealing that his mate was not, in fact, everything that she seemed: she had hybrid blood. This, Jhonki-sahna and his mate and heirs were banished, and La'u Khara'i became Queen. For a time, all had been well. She quickly produced potential heairs, and stabilized the pride after the procession of scandals that had marked the reigns of the Kings. To celebrate, she'd held games to unite the pride and better morale, and taken one of the champions as Consort. All seemed relatively well in comparison to the recent past, and by the time of the next year's games, the Queen was with cubs...but there was also a worrisome drought going on and on. In the midst of a feast, a sacrifice in high hopes that the drought might end soon, dry lightning ignited the parched lands, consuming them in fire and sending the Jini-misemi running.
Running to the Great Mountain, and on their way, right into the Ela'wadiyi. It was a small blessing that the neighboring pride was peaceful, and that many among them were connected by blood. One more spot of light and false hope. After resting and being aided by their neighbors and kin, the Jini-misemi had at last made their way to the mountain, and it was there that La'u Khara'i had given birth to her second litter. Jhulsa and her siblings had called the mountain home, but the mountain had never called to Jhulsa. The past and its stories had. The oldest stories, of the pride as it had been before the flood, and of a pride to which a Spirit-talker had been on her pilgrimage, one called the Mizimu'Tungika. And from the past, Jhulsa had built a fantasy of the way the pride should be: the way the pride would be when it was hers. But very few yet saw it as clearly as she did. They were hopeful for a new beginning in their new lands, but how could they possibly thrive so very far away from their ancestral spirits?
Now, returning to the pride not as Jhulsa but as Siyarin, and with a clever mate by her side, she saw that she had been right, and that hopes that the turbulence of the past was finally behind them had been mistakenly placed. Her mother's health had never been quite right after the fires that had ravaged the swamp, likely a result of smoke inhalation and perhaps a touch of inherited weakness (one of Asali'jua's first sons had, after all, been very sickly), and she had collapsed in front of the entire pride during a ceremony. She was no longer fit to rule, and had to abdicate in favor of one of her children...not all of whom from either litter had returned from their pilgrimages. Of the heirs available, she had selected Samudranta. And in the midst of everything, both the old hero of the pride, Domevlo, and the queen-turned-goddess, Mama Asali, had disappeared. And Samudranta was the choice to deal with it all?
Siyarin's daydreaming, energetic, optimistic, white-and-purple older sister. Oh, if only Siyarin had come back a little sooner! Things might have been different. But, in speaking with Jackal, Siyarin had come to realize that this didn't have to be a bad thing, and was now on her way to speak with her...beloved sibling.
The dark lioness found and approached the lighter with bright eyes and a smile full of sisterly love. "Samudranta! You're not too busy this morning, are you? We have so much to catch up on!"
The Queen, who had been enjoying the morning sun after her stretches, brightened at the sight of her younger sibling and bounced to her feet with a hint of cub-like wiggle to the motion. "Oh, Jh-" she cut herself off with a laugh and corrected, "Siyarin! You'd think that would get easier to get used to, but it always takes some time to get used to new names! I even catch myself with mine, sometimes, almost give someone the old one. Anyway, I'd love to chat! Would you like to go for a walk?" She took a deep breath, eyes closed, and exhaled it with an expression of bliss. "The morning air is perfect!"
"It is indeed," Siyarin agreed, taking a slow stride to indicate her acceptance of the offer to walk, and she and her half-sibling fell into step beside each other. "I travelled many places while I was away, and there is nothing quite like mountain air."
"It is something, isn't it? I do so love the sea, though! Did you go to the sea?" Oh, to have stayed there with the wind and waves, forever and always...she had been so tempted. Perhaps, if things had happened differently, she would have gone back eventually, but there would be no leaving the mountain for her now. It almost made her sad, but she was glad that she had been here when her mother had needed her, and honored and excited to do what she could for her pride.
"I did," the younger lioness answered. "I visited many places...including the swamp."
Samudranta's steps stuttered, and she turned to look at Siyarin with wide eyes. "The swamp? You did? What was it like?"
"Life is returning, but slowly. It will probably still be years before the pride could return - it's just too big, and the lands are too fragile. But we could, perhaps, send a small band to...colonize it, in the meantime," she suggested. "We could monitor the lands, protect them. Keep them safe, until the time is right."
"Safe..." Samudranta had come to a full stop now, eyes distant as she considered her sister's idea. "That...yes. That sounds wise."
Bless her blind optimism, her trust. Mother had chosen poorly, but it would work in Siyarin's favor. "Come, we've barely started our walk; should we go up, do you think? By the time we're done talking, we should have quite the view."
The Queen laughed and picked up her paws again. "Yes, I think we will!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:33 am
Umkhombo was troubled, though to be perfectly honest, troubled had been his state of being for many months now. Fate was a fickle thing, and though it had been kind to him here and there, just enough to keep him going, more often than not it preferred to throw snares in his path. He had had a plan for his life once, one in youthful foolishness he thought simple and easy. As an adolescent, he had set out from the land of his birth - leaving before he was old enough to be kicked out outright - with the full intention of returning to it sooner rather than later. He hadn't anticipated spending much time at all as a rogue, sure that he would be quick to gain the strength and experience necessary to successfully challenge the Abaholi of the Bonelands and win. But, as he had now come to expect from life, nothing ever went quite to plan. In his early wanderings, he had found himself in a harsh desert far from home, and the desert had nearly killed him; if it had not been for the intervention of a scouting lioness, it would have. He then found himself in debt to that deceptively delicate lioness and the pride she led, the Qyrhyesheshti with their strange names and stranger ways. He had thought himself a good fighter until they'd gotten hold of him and taught him many a painful lesson, learned from lions and lionesses smaller than him but infinitely more experienced, hardened and brutal fighters who lived their lives in perpetual war. It was in sparring that he had earned his first scars, given to him by the very lioness who had saved him to drive into his then-thick skull how very real battle was, how deadly serious the risk. He had before been intrigued and impressed by - not to mention indebted to - her, but that moment when she struck him so, his life in her paws, was the moment he had fallen in love with her, Aribak bint Adala. Hatun. A little lioness, a warlord! Never would he have conceived of such a thing before seeing it for himself. It always gave him a little chuckle to imagine what the Abazingeli would think of that! She could have sauntered in, challenged the Abaholi and won, he liked to think, and told her so once. It had amused her, too. In time, she had come to return his feelings, though it took a great deal more effort on his part to win her over than to had on hers to win him. But he proved strong and able, and just as importantly, level-headed in battle, given neither to rash action nor blood-blind rage. She took him as her mate, and though that had been his only ambition, their partnering came with title and duty for him. The duty was heavy indeed, for the Qyrhyeshti had long been on the losing side of the war with the Burkuteshti, and teetered on the brink of extinction. Aribak planned to change that, and he would have given his life to see her plans fulfilled and their pride returned to glory. He wished it had been so, even if he had died in the doing, but he was alive and she was dead, her bones swallowed by the gods-cursed desert that lay far behind him. It had not even been war that took her from him, but their love, and in dark hours he loathed himself for it. She had died giving birth, leaving him with a lonely child, a dying pride, and a choice, and he had dealt the final blow to her dream by disbanding the Qyrhyeshti. A handful of the remnant rested behind him under watchful guard, a scattering of lionesses who had deigned to follow him back to the Ithambo'hlabathi. At the time of their leaving, there had been as many cubs as lionesses, but it had struck him just that morning that that was no longer the case. Those who had been cubs had begun to blossom into adolescents, a realization that had settled on him with a mixture of shock and pride, and small tinge of something altogether less pleasant he could not quite put a word to. His daughter was among them, the rest being her cousins but in truth more like her siblings, as their mother her aunt who had nursed and raised her alongside them. He cherished her above all else in this world, Khazine bint Aribak. His treasure. She was a gangly thing now, going about on legs she had yet to grow into - she would be taller than her mother, from the look of it, though what heft she would have remained to be seen. In color she favored him strongly, but her golden eyes were her mother's. It chilled him, sometimes, to look into them. He tried not to let her see. Nothing was as it should have been. She should have been a princess, heir to her mother, perhaps even the final conqueror of the hated Burkuteshti, but instead she was a nomad who had never known a home, only the stories of one when she would sit still long enough to hear them. Khazine had been a wild, savage child, born to fight and thrive in a harsh place during a harsh time. Her mother would have been proud of her, and would likely have laughed at how often he was vexed by her. As she grew, though, she was beginning to calm, to show reason and even occasional poise. There was a lioness in there, a fine one, and she needed a home, not this constant wandering. Within the week, he hoped, she would have one. With the help of Tala the falcon, they would locate his former pride, and he would trade blows with Bangizwe and Andhaka. His best hope would be to catch them separately, to defeat one and then the other rather than take them both at once. He was good, but so were they, and they were two...and better fed and less weary. It did not seem so simple a task as it had in his youth, though the plan remained much the same. But nothing ever went quite to plan. Umkhombo knew to expect that much, at least.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:18 pm
It was nearly time. After many months of travelling - their journey made longer by a wandering, uncertain path, as he had been sure of only the general direction - they had at last come to lands Umkhombo found familiar, and near to sunset Tala had returned, alighting in his mane and giving him the news that she had located the pride that shifted through the Bonelands. The falcon had observed, also, the same two males who had protected it when Khombo had left, an age ago it felt.
On one paw, it was a relief to know that the pride had evidently remained stable, with no further upheavals of leadership or tradition, but on the other, that meant that Bangizwe and Andhaka were strong and able to fend off challengers. Challengers like Umkhombo, who came with no added strength to back him, and would face two capable males alone.
It made little sense, when one considered that several experienced warriors had accompanied him this far, that they could easily defeat the Abaholi together (even if he had just one of his Muharip!), but all of those loyal Muharip were lionesses, and in the Ithambo'hlabathi, lionesses were not warriors. In a pride that took tradition very seriously, only the males were the fighters and defenders. To defeat the Abaholi with the aid of a lioness, while it would amuse him greatly to do so, would ultimately only harm his cause. How weak he would look to the Abazingeli! No, no matter how it grated at him he would have to fight alone, if he were to start off well as an Umholi. First impressions and the judgements made from them would stay with him indefinitely; he remembered well the grumblings and gossip about the unorthodox manner in which Andhaka and Bangizwe had come into their positions, regardless of how well they performed their duties. He suspected the murmurs persisted even now.
He did not want to be dogged by similar complaints. He was already doing something that was sure to spark rumor and even argument in bringing near a dozen lionesses with him, from a culture as different as night from day. The thought of integrating the Qyrhyeshti into Bonelands life was every bit as daunting as going up against two seasoned males in combat, maybe even a bit more so. But it needed to be done. They had been born to and raised in war, but that lifestyle was gone with their enemies and blighted lands. It could no longer be sustained, nor should it be. So many lives lost, generations beyond counting, and for what?
Better to become something else, to leave war behind them, but not forget it. He knew they never would, at least not until those who had lived through it were long dead. The Abazingeli would certainly be scandalized when these new Busisa trained their children, male and female both, to fight. Not duel and spar the way the Firekin did, but truly fight.
He looked forward to it, and it brought him a smile to think of it rather than the other, darker possibilities: that he might lose, or not only that, but die in the trying. And what then? He didn't want to think of it, but he must, for the good of those who had given him their loyalty and trust. They had come with him this far, and he would not leave them adrift again. There needed to be a plan.
Leaving his brooding for now, he went in search of his sister-in-law, who it happened was overseeing a training bout amongst her daughters and niece, though by the time he arrived it had devolved into a semi-friendly brawl. He was reasonably certain that Khazine had something to do with that; his daughter was a dirty fighter. There didn't seem to be sides, just a savagely joyful free-for-all. There would almost certainly be blood, but no real injuries.
Umkhombo shook his head and motioned Nesf to follow him a short way off, where they would be able to speak privately but keep an eye on the mock fight - more for entertainment than anything.
"Brother," she acknowledged with quiet fondness. Some of the Qyrhyeshti had questioned her sister's choice of mate, but she had never been one of them, as she too had taken a former outsider. Aniketos, fallen in battle without ever having seen his children. She and Umkhombo bore similar wounds, and grief shared but unspoken had tightened their bonds of kinship. Nesf was not Adala's only sister to come with him, but she was the one he was closest to.
He shook his head again. "They may not understand when you call me that, you know. They don't-"
"Take mates, I know," she interrupted with a slight quirk of a smile. "I think you've told us a thousand times."
The dark male sighed. "I just want this to work, and I know it's going to be difficult. But I'm getting away from myself already, that's not why I wanted to speak with you."
"Oh?" Nesf regarded him with her single eye, intrigued.
"I have not been...entirely forthcoming with you," he began reluctantly. "As I told you, they will accept us, but I have glossed over how that will be achieved. I must challenge and defeat the Abaholi so that I can take their place. And no, before you ask, you can't help me. That would go over very poorly indeed."
His companion was silent for a moment, then it was her turn to shake her head. "From what you have told us, I am not surprised to hear it. You could have said something sooner."
"No. Life has been uncertain enough. Better that everyone think that our acceptance is a certainty."
Nesf scowled her disapproval. "And if you lose? Where will our certainty be then?"
"Intact. New lionesses - Busisa - are always welcome. It is males who must fight for their place, or else swear celibacy and obedience. While the former would not trouble me, the latter does. I will not be Ahluke, even if they would have me as such, and considering our circumstances, I very much doubt that they would."
"Let me get this straight: if you lose, even if you die, you expect us to stay?"
"Yes. Will that be a problem?"
Nesf growled under her breath, making her unhappiness clear, but that did not change her answer. "No. We have travelled too far, and it's time to stop."
"Good. Thank you, Nesf. Whatever happens tomorrow, wait for Tala. If I succeed, I will send for you to join me. If not...wait a few days before approaching, and don't come upon them all at once. You and Khazine first, speak to the Abaholi of the Qyrhyeshti's situation. They may take some convincing, given your number and connection to me, but be honest. Don't downplay it, there's no denying Khazine is mine, just tell the truth. There may be suspicion for awhile - a long while, even - but all will be well in time."
"I understand." Nesf did not nod, but glanced to the scene of the adolescents' brawl, which had by now fallen quiet. "Well, time to survey the damage. Go on then, try to get some sleep."
Umkhombo doubted he'd manage, but it was worth a try. "Goodnight...sister."
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 4:14 am
Chemankari looked up to the twilight sky with a heavy sigh, eyes searching the muted colors and few clouds for the familiar form of her avian partner, Sesh-ratri. The eagle was scouting ahead for her, as he often did, and she was anxious to know if he had spotted anything promising. Not promising as in game, which more often than not was what they were after, but not today: today, and past days of which she'd lost count, they were looking for a home. Theirs was gone. Again. And this time, it wasn't coming back. Perhaps that was for the best.
She had only just returned to the swamplands in which she'd been born, her partner and namesake in tow, when the wildfire had sparked and swept through the drought-stricken lands, destroying them and sending the pride running for their lives. She'd then headed the rescue mission into the smoldering territory to locate their missing, and that had been...a disturbing sight. They had found almost everyone they were looking for - the thought that still haunted her and always would was that almost was not enough - but she would never forget the sight of her birthplace in such a wretched state. It would linger in her thoughts and dreams forever, she suspected. They had travelled, then, through the lands of the Ela'wadiyi and to the Great Mountain, which the divided prides of Sun and Moon had once called home but had long since abandoned. Many Jini-misemi - anyone descended from Asali'jua - were descended from the followers of the Sun, although technically speaking, Chemankari was not, as she understood it. Her mother was Mama Asali, who was...the same, but not. The goddess' emotional bonds to her family had remained, but her claim to that lineage, to that blood, had died with her mortal self. Not that it had mattered to her, for she had remained as devoted as ever to the pride and her descendants.
The Great Mountain had been a haven for them, for a time. Chemankari had even found herself with younger half-siblings, the children of Asali and Domevlo, but then the goddess had simply disappeared. No one knew where she had gone, and they had waited, and hoped, while a new Queen took her place and did what she could to stabilize a pride that had seen so much strife. But nature had been against them, and a landslide had destroyed their home. Among those never recovered from the rubble had been their Queen. Some had gone to the Ela'wadiyi, their tentative allies - and, for some, family - but more still had just scattered. Chemankari had been among the latter group, but unlike some, her wanderings were not quite aimless. Sesh-ratri, who now at last came into view and spiraled down towards her, had heard stories of a pride that revered the bonds between lions and birds, and it was this land that they sought. She halted her steps while the eagle made his descent, and braced herself for his landing upon her shoulders. No matter how careful he was, he was a large and heavy specimen, his claws deadly sharp, and he marked her every time he came to rest. It didn't bother her; if anything, she took the scars as physical evidence of their bond with each other, and treasured them.
She didn't even wince, just turned her head and smiled. "Anything?"
"I've seen no evidence of a pride yet, but I did glimpse a pair of lions travelling together over to the west. Perhaps we should see if they know anything. We're in the right area, I'm sure of it. I don't understand why we haven't found the pride yet..."
"Well, if it does exist or ever did, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll know something of it," Chemankari said with a doubtful sigh as she turned to the west and walked on. So far, no one they'd encountered had known anything of the pride, and she was beginning to wonder if it was nothing more than a legend, or if it, like the Jini-msemi, had met with trials it could not overcome.
"I have a good feeling this time," Ratri said in an attempt to reassure her, but his voice held the same doubt. They'd been travelling for what seemed like ages and had nothing to show for it. If what they sought didn't exist, what then? It was a question that weighed heavy on their minds and in the silence that fell between them as the lioness walked, until in the falling dark, they spotted the figures that the eagle had seen from above. One a lion, large and heavily-maned, the other a small, slight lioness.
Chemankari took a deep breath and called out, "Excuse me! Might you have a moment to speak with us? My friend and I are lost, and in need of direction. We were hoping you might be able to help."
The steps of the smaller form hesitated, faltered, and her companion stopped to see to her. He didn't quite nose at her, but presumably said something - was it reassurance or instruction? - and she ducked herself behind him as he came towards Chemankari. As he got closer, she could see that he was striped, although in the darkness, the exact color of his coat was lost. "We have a moment, yes. Are you just generally lost, or do you have a destination?"
"A touch of both, I suppose." The ex-swampie glanced curiously at the apparently shy lioness who peered at her from behind her larger companion, but the moment their eyes met, the other looked away. Hmm. What were these two to each other, and why was that one so afraid? "We've been following stories of a pride called the Aka'mleli. Have you heard of it?"
The male's expression fell, his posture sagged and he lowered his head. Meanwhile, the female perked up her ears and shuffled out and forward just a little. "You have the right direction, but I'm afraid you won't find it," the striped lion answered with a sad shake of his head. "The Aka'mleli is no more."
Chemankari and Sesh-ratri both let out soft sounds of despair. So much time, so much hope, and all for nothing... "Oh, no. What happened? Do you know?"
"I...would rather not speak of it," was the pained answer. "It was my home - our home." He looked back at the splotchy-coated lioness who had further emerged and now stood almost evenly with him, eyes fixed on the lioness-and-eagle pair. "I'm Faraja, and this is Anu-sok. Our partners, Amini and Jaza, are off scouting, as we find ourselves in need of a new home."
Chemankari would have sat, if it wouldn't have unbalanced Sesh-ratri, but she hung her head and sighed. "I'm Chemankari, and this is Sesh-ratri. We...we were looking for a new home, and we hoped..."
"I'm sorry. I wish I had better tidings for you. But since you're coming from the direction we were headed in, is there anything that way?"
Chemankari looked behind herself and gave a slight shrug. "Lots of unclaimed territory, but there are prides, too. We've been skirting around them, since we thought...thought we knew what we were looking for. Now...I guess we wasted our time. We'll have to find somewhere else."
"Maybe, ah...maybe we could travel together?" this from the undersized lioness, who shuffled her paws as she finally spoke. "M-more people is probably safer, and you p-probably know moer about...about...what's out there?"
Faraja nodded at his companion's words. "Anu-sok is right. This is my first time outside the borders, and I have no idea where to go or what we might find."
"Fair enough," Chemankari said after sharing a look and a nod with Ratri. "There are other places we could go. They weren't our first choice, but...we can talk about it, decide what would be best. For you, for us - we may not end up in the same place, but we can help you get there, wherever you decide."
"Perhaps we can discuss it in the morning?" Ratri suggested. "I don't know about everyone else, but I could use some sleep."
Agreement amongst the newly-formed group was unanimous, and soon they had all settled down for the night. In the morning, they would decide their future.
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:02 am
Intiha-ka found that life had become...exceptionally interesting of late. And that was really something, because her life had always been interesting, from the collapse of the Kunanda' Nakhun to her time with the Antianeira, only for that pride to dissolve, and then reuniting with her mother and sire - who had taken up residence in another pride that ultimately disbanded - the lioness had had a life that was chock full of ups and downs, to say the least. Together with Sataa and Ikkuma, and her friend Aletheia, with whom she'd travelled after leaving the Antianeira, they'd continued to drift about as a small nomadic unit, and life had been fairly quiet for awhile. A little unsatisfying, perhaps, but quiet, which was a welcome change from turmoil.
Ah, but then she'd seen the Impibutho warparty, and life had quickly gotten interesting again. To see for herself the audacity and cruelness of the males, enslaving females and smaller creatures, had set her blood to burning. And not only that, but one of the so-called 'war dogs' with the group had been a lioness! It was absolutely shameful, unforgivable! Wretched creatures, the lot of them. And so she and her mother and Aletheia had brought their wrath down upon the warparty; they might have been outnumbered, but they were excellently trained, and had had righteous fury on their side - and the help of the party's captives, once they'd realized what was happening. They'd killed some and sent the rest packing, and just like that, their tiny little group of wanderers had more than doubled in size. Not everyone they'd rescued had a life to get back to, or that they wanted to get back to, and had been perfectly content to just stay with them. They could all have simply wandered on together, but after what she'd seen and heard, that wasn't enough for Intiha-ka. They could make something of themselves, provide protection and a haven, and resurrect the spirit of the prides that had come before. But better. She knew that they could do so much better! Each had had its strengths and failings, and they would build from what they needed and cut away what they did not.
For the first time in her life, she truly had a purpose, and it was both daunting and exhilirating. There was so much to be done, so many decisions to be made, and if she got it wrong...there would be the dust of yet another failed pride on all their paws. That was not acceptable. But the seeds had been planted, the groundwork was in place, and they had finally decided where they would settle. The former lands of the Einaliai Thalassai, described to her by her mother, sounded like a paradise, and a safe and fitting home for the Te'a-Nakhun. The journey there would take time, as their group moved more slowly now that there were more of them, and some of them were still recovering from their ordeal. And their path was, to some extent, deliberately meandering, as they canvased for any other lost souls along the way, lost family or friends or pridemembers, or anyone in need of aid. Any who would accept the ways of the Nakhun would be welcome among them, and be part of a strong and stable foundation from which they could grow.
To that end, as the group settled down to rest after the day's walking, Intiha-ka ventured off on her own for a look at the unclaimed lands they were passing through to see what she might see, and soon enough, she did see something: a lone lioness resting a safe distance from a small watering hole, an eagle perched in the scrubby tree that provided her a meager patch of shade. She looked in fair enough health, at first glance - no evidence that she had been lacking for food or had seen any recent violence, and Intiha-ka found herself shaking her head at the assessments she now made almost without thinking.
It was the eagle who noticed her first, vocalizing to alert his companion to the bright lioness' approach, and the brown-pelted stranger lifted her head and surveyed her with interest, but didn't make a move to stand. Chemankari was quite comfortable where she was, thank you very much. "Hello," she offered to the approaching lioness. "Looking for water, or for shade? I'm afraid there's not much of the latter, although with sunset approaching, it's not such a precious commodity as it was an hour ago."
"Indeed," Intiha-ka responded with a small quirk of a smile. "I wasn't looking for anything in particular, to be honest, but it's good to know there's water here. The others will appreciate it."
"Others?" Chemankari tilted her head curiously, looking in the direction the blue-and-orange female had come from, but there was nothing to be seen from here.
Her eagle companion chimed in then, "I did tell you I saw a group while I was looking for our dinner, didn't I? She must be one of them, hm?"
"Most likely," the colorful lioness confirmed with a nod. "We're the Te'a-Nakhun."
"Are you nomads, then?" Chemankari's ears flicked forward with keen interest. She'd heard of nomadic prides, but had never actually seen one that was truly nomadic; only the Ela'wadiyi came close, and they had an expansive territory over which they roamed, rather than moving across the lands.
"Not for much longer," Intiha-ka answered. "We're on our way to claim lands for ourselves, assuming the ones we seek are still unoccuppied."
"Interesting. Have you lost lands, then?" It struck a chord with Chemankari, who had twice endured such a loss.
"In a manner of speaking. We're from many different places, but quite a few of us are from prides that crumbled. And you? Is there a home behind or before you, or are you a true rogue?"
"There is a home behind us," she former swampie answered, and her eagle added, "But there's also a home before us. We're on our way to the Aka'mleli."
"That's a name I've never heard before," Intiha-ka said, now curious herself. "And where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?"
"The Jini-msemi," the pair answered together, and Chemankari snorted softly. Perhaps they'd had no one but each other for company for a bit too long.
"That name I do know!" Intiha-ka exclaimed. "On of us is from there! Tiisha!"
"Really? I don't recognize the name, I'm afraid, but we also change our names, and there were so many of us, I don't think I could have known everyone."
"Would you mind coming back with me? She's had a difficult time, and whether you were acquainted before or not, I think it might do her good to see someone from home."
"I don't see why not," Chemankari decided with a shrug, and stood and looked up at Sesh-ratri. "Coming?"
"I don't see why not," he chortled, and she rolled her eyes as he left his perch to settle on her shoulders, sharp claws scraping the already scarred and slightly thickened skin there.
"Alright, then - lead the way... Ah, sorry, I think we forgot names! I'm Chemankari, and this is Sesh-ratri."
"Intiha-ka," the bright one supplied, and started off with a bounce to her step. "Very pleased to meet you both!"
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:34 am
Sesh-ratri was a familiar weight on her shoulders as Chemankari trailed along after Intiha-ka in companionable silence, off to meet this 'Tiisha' who was apparently from the Jini-msemi. It wouldn't be a surprise at all to come across another swamp lion; even before the pride had collapsed, they'd had a way of ending up anywhere and everywhere on their pilgrimages, with no small number never even bothering to return. It was a great big world, after all, filled with infinite possibilities, and sending young lions and lionesses out into it was bound to result in some of them not coming back. Everyone liked to think of it in a positive light, presuming that they had found happiness somewhere else, but what everyone knew and most tended not to say was that the world was as dangerous as it was large; inevitably, some of the pilgrims who never returned met with misfortune, and maybe even with their end. It was why, once they had been gone for a certain amount of time, the pride would hold a funeral for them, just in case the worse had happened. It wasn't uncommon for one to show up later, as some of them just took their sweet time, but until then, there always lingered the possibility that they had met an unkind fate.
As they walked, Chemankari wondered which category this Tiisha fell into, as Intiha-ka had mentioned that she'd had 'a difficult time.' Had something happened to her, or was she just one of the ones who had struggled to find her way outside the pride's borders? She was drawn from her thoughts when they finally came upon the group just as the sun began to set, and she and Sesh-ratri both looked on with deep interest. They were a motley group, for sure, mostly female but not all, mostly lion but not all, and some looked to be in rougher shape than others. Huh. The lioness stood respectfully quiet with her companion as Intiha-ka answered greeting from various individuals, and informed a blue lioness Chemankari could only assume was her mother about the nearby watering whole where they had met. She - Sataa - took a handful of the group and ventured off that way, while Intiha-ka led her on to the resting form of a pale lioness, small and a bit too thin, with a hide marked here and there by scars.
"Tiisha," Intiha-ka said gently, stopping a respectful distance away and rousing her just with her voice. "I found a new friend while I was out, and I thought you might like to meet her. Ah - friends, sorry." She turned her head to indicate them when the other lioness lifted her head and blinked orange eyes. "These are Chemankari, and Sesh-ratri."
"You look familiar," the younger lioness said after a long, hesitating pause. Though the color of her eyes was bright, there were shadows there not cast by the setting sun.
"So do you," Chem answered awkwardly. "You...you're one of Paropakari and Gopala's, aren't you?" Not that she knew them, not really, but they had had a massive litter, and that was the sort of thing that everyone noticed, Chem included.
Tiisha brightened visibly at Chemankari's guess, and sat up a bit straighter. "I am! Oh, do you know them? Are they well?"
"I- I just know of them, that's all. There was a lot of talk about you, as many of you as there were!" Chem paused, trying to figure out where to start or how. "Did you ever come back from your name quest, or have you been out here all this time?"
"I didn't," Tiisha answered, shaking her head, and Chemankari could see the shadows return to her gaze. "I...I couldn't."
"Well, then." The former Ghost-ranked lioness sighed, while Sesh-ratri interjected, "You missed a lot!"
"Hush, you," Chemankari scolded him fondly. Tiisha had clearly been through a lot, whatever the details were, and they needed to be gentle about updating her. "Almost everyone's alright, but I'm sorry to say that the pride's gone. There was a rockslide, and one of the ones we never found was Samudranta. La'u Khara'i disbanded the pride, and everyone went their own way. A pretty big group, La'u Khara'i and your parents included, went to the Ela'wadiyi. Everyone else..." She shrugged, forcing Ratri to compensate and adjust his position. "Is all over the place, from the looks of it." She had considered staying with the group who'd taken refuge with the Ela'wadiyi, but seh and her bonded had instead chosen to follow old stories of a lion pride tightly bonded to birds. So far, they'd found a fat lot of nothing, but here they were.
"Oh...oh." Tiisha sagged back to the ground as she absorbed the news Chemankari brought, staring forlornly down at her paws. "That's terrible. I...I'm so sorry. But I'm glad my parents are alright. Thank you for that, at least. You don't know anything about any of my siblings, do you?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't," Chemankari answered with a sigh. "It was chaos, and once they called off the search parties for the few missing, I left." She'd been in two search parties in her life, and it was two too many. Not being able to find everyone, after the fire and then after the landslide, haunted her. Why had things happened the way they had? Why hadn't she been able to find everyone, save them? She would never be rid of those thoughts, not for all the rest of her life.
Tiisha sighed. "Thank you, though. I...it's good to know something." And with that, she curled back in on herself, orange eyes closing to shut the world out again.
Intiha-ka, still standing nearby, silently indicated for Chemankari to step away with her, and they did. Once they were out of earshot of the pale lioness, Sesh-ratri was the first to open his mouth and ask, "What happened to her?"
The leader's expression twisted in disgust. "A group of savages from somewhere called Impibutho. We found them taking slaves, and stopped them. Tiisha was among them, and had been for awhile."
"That's awful," Chemankari said softly, glancing back to the pale form. "Thank you for saving her, and the rest."
"You're welcome to come with us, if you like," Intiha-ka offered, "If you're interested in what you've seen."
Chemankari's gaze lingered guiltily on Tiisha, but after a long moment and a look at Sesh-ratri, she shook her head. "I'd be honored, but we have our own home to find."
"As you wish," Intiha-ka accepted the answer with a nod. "I wish you luck."
"You, too." One more glance at Intiha-ka, Tiisha, and the rest of the group, and Chemankari set off into the growing dark, once again alone save for her avian companion.
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:39 am
They had a new friend!! A wonderful, new, extra friend! Sona-sugandh had simply been minding her own business - really! - not doing much of anything, not even looking for a new friend, oh no. Not actively, anyway. But then she had felt it, the pull of a cub wishing for better, needing better! All alone and scared out in the big wide world, and much much much too soon for that. It was awful! Terrible! Who would leave a defenseless little cub all alone like that, where no end of horrible things could happen to it? Why, if Sona hadn't found it, it might have died! Terrible, just terrible. It made her very upset, deeply so, and angry! Oh, so mad she wanted to stomp her feet and yell about it!
But there was no one to yell at, and even if it was awful for someone to just abandon a cub like that (or, almost as horrible a thought, kill its mother and leave it behind to die too), it did mean that Sona had a new friend all her own, so she couldn't be too mad. Not with delightful, adorable, perfect little purple Kupotea to play with. Umngane and Umshomi were fine and all, and certainly lots of fun, but it was good to have new friends! There was no such thing as too many friends; more importantly, for Sona-sugandh, there was no such thing as enough friends. Whether she had three, or ten, or twenty, she would always want and need more, especially since her friends were constantly committing the terrible crime of growing up on her. Every day they got a little bit older, until the time came when they weren't cubs at all anymore. Some of them were still fin through their adolescence, but once real adulthood hit...
It was awful. Why did friends grow up? It wasn't fair! The goddess desperately wished that, like her, they didn't really have to. She could make some of them young again, but she didn't have enough power to keep all of them that way, and even when she did, sometimes they were...different. So, for the most part, she just let them go. And then she went looking for more new friends! That made it less sad.
Kupotea was a very good new friend, just absolutely a treat, but Sona needed more...more to the point, Kupotea needed more! They needed a bigger family, yes, that was exactly what they needed, and so Sona had left her little pack of playmates to find them some new ones. She'd ended up somewhere with a lot of cubs. Just...just so many cubs! If it hadn't been for all the adults around, it would have been paradise. As it was, she had to be very careful not to be found out not to belong, so she'd disguised herself as another cub to play with the rest. It was much stealthier than going about as someone bigger, and who could really be suspicious of a cub?
In its own way, being disguised was fun, too! But she was having so much fun, in fact, that she got quite sidetracked and very nearly forgot why she had come here in the first place, and didn't remember until the sun began to set and her playmates for the day had to go sleep. How boring! This also presented a problem for her disguise, since a lone cub wandering about in the dark would be sure to attract attention, and so she'd had to make herself invisible. She'd come to find a friend to take home, and now that she'd had her playdate, that was just what she was going to do.
The only trouble was that all of the new friends she'd made were happy and well taken care of by their families. Sona couldn't take happy cubs, no! That would be mean, especially when there were unhappy cubs. Just...none here, apparently. If there were no unhappy cubs, well then, she would have to make do with something else! She needed someone to make happy, and in this relative sea of lions, there had to be someone who needed that. She crept around for what felt like hours and hours, and spotted no few candidates - there were at least as many very old lions around here as there were cubs! She could work with that, yes...surely no one liked being old, after all, and would appreciate being not old!
While she pinpointed quite a few likely candidates, however, she could only choose one today. If she wanted another, she'd have to come back another time! The deciding factor, then, was that one of them was a very fetching, strangely familiar yellow...yes, she wanted that one! Surely he would make an ideal friend for her! (And Kupotea and Umngane and Umshomi, of course.) Yes, yes, he would do quite nicely, and was also very conveniently asleep. Hopefully he would stay asleep, and she could carry him off before he woke up, and no one would ever be the wiser!
And he, of course, would have no idea that anything at all had happened to him, or that he'd ever been anywhere but with her and the rest of their family. No idea that he'd once had a great fluffy mane, or lived in such an enormous pride, or ever been old or tired or whatever else he was in this moment. Sona had to rein in her excitement and keep from bouncing once she'd made up her mind, and summoned her power to make him what she wanted: a cub. Still the same yellow-and-blue lion, more or less, but as he'd been before he'd grown up, which she was sure had been a very long time ago. Before she'd even been born!
But it didn't matter now. Thanks to her, he was young again, a perfect little cub destined for nothing but happiness. The goddess scooped him up and disappeared, spiriting him away to a new life.
((ICly she's probably had Kupotea for months by this point, but Sona has a very screwy sense of time. What's 6 months when you're having fun?!))
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