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 Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:51 am
Nyoe was going home - finally going home. It was strange to think that he'd been gone from it the first place, that in his absence the rest of the pride went on. His mother and father, his cousins, everyone. What were they doing without him? Did they miss him?
He shook his head, raising a cloud of dust from his mane. Of course they missed him, he knew that. They were his family, his pride. And his brothers and sisters? Had they beaten him back? They'd tease him for being last, for sure. Or were they still out here too, somewhere?
Though he'd found what he'd come looking for, Nyoe was having trouble thinking of himself as anything other than Nyoe. It cast a shadow of doubt in his mind as he walked, heading through unclaimed territory towards the borders of the Ela'wadiyi. From there it would be still further east, to the river and then home.
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:12 am
Angua was lost.
And to say so would be an understatement. She had set off from the Kusini'Mwezi in high spirits, ready to face whatever hardships that came her way, poised, well fed and with her best friend Baph by her side, always leading her along. Still, she hadn't thought it through fully and had no idea where she was going or how to get back. As things were she was now out in the middle of nowhere, in a world of foreign sights and sounds with only Baph to cling to as a reminder of home and it's carefree pleasantries.
"Where are we now?" she asked for the millionth time that day, Baph looking back over his shoulder and stating.
"Still dusty grassland m'lady, nothing for some distance."
She frowned slightly, noting how hungry she tended to be these days, the endless walking draining her strength but not her spirit. Sometimes she caught things to eat using her colour to her advantage, most times she just put up with it. At least Baphomet didn't go hungry, there was plenty of grazing (albeit crisp, dry grasses) to be had and he knew Angua would never harm him.
"Any herds that you can see?"
"No, I'm afraid."
"Damn. Nothing else to do but keep right on walking."
"Yes. Though there is a lion over there."
"What?"
"Over to your left, quite some distance away, hard to see from here but I'd bet my horns on it being one."
"I want to talk to them."
"As you wish miss, though please be careful."
And with that he moved nearer to Angua, aware that the nearer he was to her, the further he was from the strange lion. He simply nudged her with his head slightly when she veered off-course but for the most part, kept quiet.
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:26 am
As Nyoe thought about it more, he came to decide that the reason his new name seemed such an uncomfortable fit was because it was just too long. All his life it had been 'Nyo-ay,' and now he had three times the syllables he was use to!
Narindima'moyo. He'd just have to shorten it somehow. But to what? There were so many choices! He needed one of his sisters to bounce ideas off of.
"Nari," he murmurred to him, testing. "Rindi? Dima, maybe? No, that sounds like a girl's name. I can't have a girl name. Where's Johari when I need her?"
The frustrated part of him wanted to just plunk his read end down and stop to think about it, but the rest of him wanted to get home, and he couldn't do that unless he was moving towards it. So he kept right on moving, almost not noticing that dusty-colored shape moving his way.
Almost. Turning, and actually stopping this time, he tilted his head. Huh. Yep, looked like a lion-shape to him. But was there something else? It was hard to tell. So he called out, in a distinctly deep voice, "Hello?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:36 am
Angua froze in her steps as soon as she figured she was near enough to be of talking distance, not going any nearer right away. It wasn't that she was afraid, just that she didn't immediately want to give away her blindness. Instead she played somewhat aloof, sitting down with a gentle smile, all the while twining her tail round about Baph's belly and pulling him over close to her possessively. She could not afford this obviously male lion to be part of a pride that decides her friend was simply lunch.
"Uhm, hello there." she said with what she hoped was an apologetic smile. "I seem to be lost. Very lost. " she decided a greeting was in order "I'm Angua, princess...or at least a former princess of the Kusini'Mwezi pride."
Baph nudged her with his head.
"Oh! Do you know where I am?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:45 am
"Lost," he asked, smiling back. "Are you looking for somewhere? These are the Southlands, and," he pointed a paw in the direction he'd been headed, "That way is Ela'wadiyi territory, and then Jini-msemi."
"That's where I'm from," he said proudly, "And where I'm going, back to the swamp. I'm, um...uh.."
"N-Narindima'moyo," he said finally, only just avoiding spitting out his cub name isntead. "Pleased to meet you, Princess Angua."
He eyed the klipspringer, curious. "Is that yours?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:57 am
Angua was still somewhat naive about the world outside her homelands and therefore decided that this Narindma lion was a nice individual just from the sound of his voice. She wasn't paranoid or suspicious as she possibly should have been with so many strange lions out on the open plains. Either way, she smiled more broadly, relief washing over her at the fact that he at least knew where they were.
"Nope, I'm not looking for anywhere special, just somewhere where I can stay for a bit, I don't like it out here alone, it's too empty, too big." To Angua the world was a giant dark place, the more open and exposed it was, the more vulnerable she felt, she liked to be able to feel where she was with fur and whiskers, missing the long grass of home for it's comfort.
"Call me Angua." she said casually "I'm princess of nothing out here. Not like I could be a queen anyway with my little problem." she blinked her pretty but clouded and blank eyes almost as an afterthought.
"Oh and Baph? He's not mine anymore than I'm his. He helps me, leads the way and lends me his eyes, I make sure no one eats him by lending him my claws." she petted his head idly with her tailtuft, illiciting an indignant huff from the Klipspringer.
"A pleasure to meet you m'lord." he stated almost grudgingly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:14 am
"I'm not sure I like it out here very much, either," he agreed. "It's too bright and too dry, and there aren't any frogs. I've missed the swamp.
"Angua, then." Finally, he caught onto what her problem was, staring curiously into her eyes. "Is that why you're out here? Were you sent away?"
"I see. My friend's mother has a genet friend, a little green fellow." The lion smiled. "Hello, Baph. You don't need to call me that, I don't rule anything, and I hope I never will. That means mother would have to die." His ears fell back in distress at the very thought. A world without Asali'jua would be a dark one indeed.
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:29 am
Angua nodded her agreement "Where I come from is marshy land and grass, it's much too dry out here for sure. Makes your paws ache." At the mention of her blindness she looked puzzled. Sent away? Were lions sent away for being born as she was? She didn't think it was the kind of thing Narind would do, based on his tone but the implication that others would made her think.
"Nope, I wasn't sent away but I wanted to explore, show that I could make it out here on my own. And I have. Mostly." she looked very doubtful, aware of how thin she'd gotten of late.
Baph nodded to the lion much more warmly, not one to hold grudges too long, so long as Angua was relaxed, he'd be too. Angua smirked "He calls everyone that I think, seems to think if he butters people up, they won't take a bite out of him." a playful headbutt from the little klipspringer made her laugh aloud. However, her tone was more serious as she considered any harm coming to parents, she couldn't imagine anything happening to her mother, unaware that anything had.
"Parents don't die." she said matter-of-factly, not clarifying if she meant literally or metaphorically.
"Ruling wouldn't be fun anyway I think."
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:02 pm
Narindima nodded, picking up his foot to look forlornly at the weathered pad. "My paws have got all cracked since I left. I want mud again, squishing in between my toes."
"No," he said after a second, nodding. "You're right. They don't." They went on, and came again. But for now, he wanted things to stay just the way they were. No going on.
"It probably wouldn't be me, anyway. Probably one of my brothers or sisters, not me."
He swished his tail, staring off to the east for a moment. Talking of home and family was making him more anxious than ever to get back. "I should get moving again. Would you like to walk with me a little while, Angua? Baph?"
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