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 Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:37 pm
A long walk in the eastern direction had taken Mtima'safi over hills and near a waterhole but it was by one of the rivers, the Tamu'maji, that she'd decided to stop. At the river bank she stopped to check the water, neither seeing nor sensing anything of danger hiding in the dark waves. The goddess was still enjoying her time and exploring in the Pridelands. The Umande'mfuni lands were beautiful, as she'd heard, but she was a part of the Pride here now.
Humming quietly, she dipped her toes in the water. Mtima was not feeling thirsty, but was still intent on enjoying the river.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:48 pm
Amazingly, someone else seemed to have the same idea as him. As he walked closer to the watering hole, he noticed that there was another lion there.
Stopping suddenly, his ears went back in embarassment. Though he had become a little more confident during his stay in these lands, he still wasn't comfortable with one-on-one interaction with anyone other than Kit. So that was why he simply sat down, his head lowered as he looked off to the side. He was thirsty, and knew that he needed a drink, but he wouldn't barge in on this female's space unless she showed him she didn't mind.
And so he just sat there, not saying a word and looking off somewhere else.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:05 pm
Mtima'safi continued to splash gently in the water with her paw, remaining oblivious to the lion behind her for several moments. It wasn't a terribly amusing activity, so she shortly lost interest in the splashing alone. With a content smile, she turned her head to inspect the area around her for other creatures or something else to do. Initially, her gaze passes over Ashki.
"Huh?" she murmured, doing a doubletake back to the lion. Her smile widened almost immediately. Another purple lion! Mtima turned her whole body around and took a couple steps in his direction. He wasn't paying attention, but she felt it'd be hard to have ones body facing this direction and not notice someone by the river.
"Hello there," she called once within earshot.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:24 pm
Ashki continued to stare off to the side up until the other spoke out to him. When she did, he jumped slightly--he hadn't expected her to notice him that quickly--and blinked at her for a few moments.
"Aah, hello, Miss," he said quietly, his eyes flicking quickly to look at her for a moment before he went back to watching his paws. His little glimpse of her didn't give him much of an image of her, but he knew that she was mostly yellow. That was really all he noticed, and so he wasn't at all disturbed by her or surprised or anything.
"I'm... I'm sorry if I i-interrupted you, or anything."
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:33 pm
Mtima stopped several feet away from the purple lion, admiring his fur and wondering at how he avoided looking at her. She absently glanced over her shoulder, wondering if perhaps something was wonky with her illusion but found nothing odd. Her eyes followed his from the side, to her, to his paws and then she laughed.
"You're not interuptting anything," she commented, taking the first step and introducing herself, "My name is Mtima'safi, what's your name?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:00 pm
Ashki hadn't noticed anything unusual about her or anything, it was merely his upbringing that had made him act this way. Raised and trained to be a slave, he felt that he was inferior to every other thing on the planet. Kit had told him that he was equal to everyone here, but when he was alone he felt that sometimes it wasn't true.
When the lioness introduced herself, however, he blinked and looked up at her for a few moments. This female showed as much kindess as Kit had, and it made him wonder if everyone around here was like that.
Hesitating, but still trying to gather up some courage, Ash blinked once more before answering her. "It's A-Ashki, miss."
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:13 pm
Mtima waited for him to gather up the courage to reply, though not without a touch of impatience. She shouldn't seem so intimidating, especially not when she's pretending to be a mortal! Looks like it was lucky that she was, though, or he mightn't have introduced himself. Or so she would like to believe, it didn't occur to her she might just look strange- he might not have a clue about the gods.
"Ashki," she repeated after him, smiling, "That wasn't so hard to say, was it? You have a beautiful pelt, Ashki." Mtima leaned over to get a look at the markings on his back, then leaned back in and smiled at him.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:47 pm
Ashki honestly didn't believe there were any gods. He felt that if there were, they wouldn't have allowed so much suffering among his kind. It was simply unnatural that one species could enslave its own, though he said nothing about it out loud.
"N-no, it wasn't, Miss," he lied quietly, still looking at his paws. It might not have seemed all that hard to the female, but to Ash it was practically the hardest thing in the world. He actually preferred hard work and labor to being nervous like this, simply because he didn't understand the feeling.
When she said that he had a beautiful coat, he blushed under his fur and shook his head slightly. "It isn't so great, Miss." At lest not where he came from. His pelt was the sole reason he had become a slave in the first place. It was nothing great to him. He would've changed it if he could.
"Y-yours is better, I think."
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:56 pm
Mtima'safi could sense that it wasn't so easy for Ashki to have a simple conversation like this, but she had to do her best to be encouaging! The last thing she wanted was to make him uncomfortable, on purpose anyway. She could even tell he was lying about it being easy, it was obvious he was just agreeing with her by the way he stammered and wouldn't look her in the eyes.
"Why thank you," she said gratefully, with a smile, "Are you being modest or is there a reason you don't agree, and won't look at me?" Her tone was friendly, as gentle as she could manage. She had not a clue about his pelt being the cause of such grief.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:13 pm
Ashki looked up at her when she asked if there was a reason behind him not liking the color of his pelt. His eyes shone with fear, not for her but for something else. Something that went far deeper than anything he had ever known.
"Th-there's a reason, Miss," he admitted, looking back down at his paws. He wondered if maybe he should tell her. Normally, before he had met Kit, he wouldn't have had a problem saying that he used to be a slave. But recently, he had learned that slavery wasn't common nor normal around these parts and that some lions couldn't believe it. Because of that, he had kept his mouth shut most of the time. But this lioness had asked him a question, and he couldn't exactly avoid it.
"I... I was a slave," he said quickly, wanting at that moment to just run away and hide. But he knew that he had to continue. "I was born in a pride where white and black coats, simple coats, were preferred over all others. So those with coats like mine... they were made into s-slaves." He paused before he began choking on his words. This was a bit of a sensitive subject, but he knew that he must learn to handle it and deal with it. "My mother was... killed... for having cubs. Me and my siblings sh-should have been too, but instead it was decided that the pride needed more slaves and so we... we were spared." He stopped again, his eyes closing as all of the memories rushed back to him.
"I was taught that... I was inferior to everyone, Miss. I was made to work long, hard days. I was malnourished, never fed enough since birth. Finally I escaped, but everything I learned about being a slave stuck with me. That's why, Miss, why I can't look at you. It was unheard of for a slave. It meant he was rebellious and was often beaten for it."
His story over, Ashki merely sat there, his head hanging low.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:27 pm
When Ashki claimed there was no reason that he was acting as he was, she only gave him a look and waited for him to explain it. If he didn't, perhaps she would question him, or perhaps she wouldn't. Mtima was about ready to say something to explain her own opinion when he finally spoke up. Her eyes widened at the explanation, especially at the mention of black and white and simple pelts being the superior ones. They may have an easier time hunting, but there was much to be said for bright pelts.
"That's not fair," she said finally, when he finished his explanation, "Coats do not make lions more superior than others, there's much more to it than that, Ashki. It's just too bad others believed that. If anything, your coat makes you more special in my opinion."
Mtima'safi inhaled deeply, now was her chance to explain why she'd complimented him for one, "You are a good lion, Ashki, I can tell. Your fur is lovely, it's one of my personal favorite colors in fact. Purple is a color associated with royalty and the soul." She smiled fondly, not sure he'd really go for it but it was still how she felt about it!
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:40 pm
Ashki winced slightly when the goddess said that it wasn't fair that someone's superiority might be based simply on the coat they wore. He knew it wasn't right, but it was what he had been taught and it was just something that had stuck with him after all this time.
"I.. I know!" he cried, shaking his head and rising to his paws, stepping back a few paces. "It's just what I was taught, okay?" He frowned, mad at himself for speaking this way to someone who really meant no harm, and a lioness no less! He must have looked like a total loon, acting the way he was. Sighing, he let his head hang.
"I'm... sorry, Miss. I'm just bothering you, I should go..."
Yet then the other talked about how purpled was associated with royalty and the soul. Blinking, he lifted his head and looked at her, tilting his head in slight confusion. "I.. I don't get it," he said quietly. "Where I came from, plain white or black coats were royalty."
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:49 pm
Mtima was surprised by his violent outburst at her comments, but was pleased to see he had it in him to stand up for himself. She smiled at him, "I know, it's ok."
She watched him back away, not too worried about him leaving or not. Based on what Ashki had explained, and how he was acting, it wasn't easy or comfortable for him to talk like this. It would not offend her too greatly if he tried to do himself, and possibly her, a favor by leaving.
"The color of royalty may vary from pride to pride based on blood," she explained calmly, still smiling ever so slightly at him, "But beyond that, on it's own, purple is symbolic of royalty. More importantly, though, the soul. Your soul is not connected directly to your family, to your fur, but symbolism is still something I quite enjoy." A lot of what she was saying would make more sense if she wasn't hiding her wings, immortality and status..
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:08 pm
Ashki still didn't quite understand what the female meant with all of this symbolism stuff, but he merely nodded. It was what she believed in and he respected it because of that.
Blinking slightly, he glanced up at her again. "Why.. why purple?" he asked curiously. It didn't make sense to him. He couldn't see why purple, of all colors, represented royalty just in general. Actually, he couldn't see how just any one color could represent royalty. To him, it was the heart that represented royalty, not color or anything like that.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:37 pm
"I don't know why purple," Mtima replied with a shrug, "It's a beautiful color, bright.." She trailed off. She herself had never questioned why certain colors meant certain things, it was just something she knew, something she enjoyed. It may not be solid fact, but her domain was all about the non-solid part of the living, why think only of fact?
"It's doesn't mean those that are purple are royalty, though," she added with a small laugh, wondering how hypocritical she's sounded in her explanation, "One could be bright purple, golden or any other bright color and still be a bad lion."
Mtima paused, smiling, "You aren't one of those lions, though." At least he seemed curious, perhaps she should stop trying to explain and let him be.
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