[PRP] My brother...my Kubwa (Mvumo/Kubwa)

[Freodwyn]

Mvumo stood silently as he awaited the arrival of his youngest son. It was time to teach him the things he would need to know in life...he didn't know how much Kubwa had learned about hunting already, but he knew that a growing lion needed as much practice as possible. And Kubwa was a growing lion...

Mvumo couldn't tell how much Kubwa looked like the brother he was named for, as he hadn't seen Dawa since the day the two of them were separated for good. But he couldn't help but think about the way things might have been if his brother had lived and grown up. It was too much to hope for that one day, Kubwa would see Dawa and recognize him as an uncle. He knew that there was no one left of the pride. And yet...he couldn't help but hold onto hope.  

[Tisiphone]

Kubwa smiled as he walked quietly along, he was day dreaming about climbing mountains, after speaking with Mtima he had a sense that it could almost be psosible to see them one day. But there was one thing that bugged him, he would never want to leave his family, they meant the world to him.

His soft brown eyes lifted from the dirt and scanned his surroundings. He was on his way to meet his father, and the sooner he saw Mvumo's large brown form the better. If anyone asked his proper introduction to them was, 'I am Kubwa, son of Mvumo and Aadil.' How odd it seemed now for him to say that, he was nearly a man, and did men announce where they came from to those of his own pride? He did not know.

"Father!" he called softly as his father's white mane came into view.  

[Freodwyn]

Mvumo's head turned as his son came into view, the son who looked so much like a member of his former pride. He was proud of both of his sons, but he was especially glad that at least one of them would carry on the Mistweaver lines to his children and grandchildren, and perhaps many generations more. Even if Kubwa never saw the Mistweaver lands, it was enough that he existed.

"Son," he said, his trademark wide grin forming. "You are getting taller by the day. I worry that you'll be towering over me someday!"  

[Tisiphone]

Kbuwa straightened his form and quickened his pace so that soon he was standing beside Mvumo. He beamed inwardly, he knew that his father was proud of him, but why he wasn't so sure, "Hopefully, then I'll be able to climb even taller trees."

He had never shared his love of climbing to his family, but he assumed that it was a very well known fact, after all when he was not in his tree, or quite close to it he was with his mother, Aadil. "I don't think we talk nearly enough, daddy," he purred childishly. Like a cub would move he butted his head againt Mvumo's chest and his heart seemed to fill with fire. It did seem like they did no speak nearly enough, and not just because Mvumo was always so quiet, "You have a voice afterall?" he giggled a laugh that was not yet a man's laugh but no longer a child's.  

[Freodwyn]

"I have a voice," Mvumo said with a quick nod that shook his white mane. He appeared intrigued about Kubwa's talk of climbing, wondering for a moment if he should mention the extremely tall trees in the Mistweaver lands. No...no, he had made a promise to Aadil, and he certainly wasn't going to tell his son about his past until he asked directly. "I have just...had a problem with speaking...since I was your age." He was getting better at it, though...why, speaking full sentences was unheard of before he met Aadil!

The dark brown lion sighed at his son's comment about how often they talked. It was true, he didn't spend nearly as much time as he would like to do with his children. Granted, he wanted them to not be so dependant on him, as he knew that could cause them problems in life, but if it was to the point where his son seemed to think it was neglectful...he needed to talk to Kubwa. "Let us make up for that. What would you like to talk about, Kubwa?"  

[Tisiphone]

“Why have you not been able to speak? I think it is probably the only way I can truly express myself," he nodded and looked up at his father, he was surely not as tall, but he would get there, Mvumo spoke true. The pure white lion felt as if his father held something back from him, after so long he felt his father really didn't have anything to say. He also always associated his father’s silence with him to the fact that maybe Mvumo had loved Kipanya more because they looked so similar.

"I want to know what is on your mind, and why you stay so quiet, that is what I would like to know the most," he smiled awkwardly thinking that maybe it wasn't such a great question, but one he thought of on the spot.  

[Freodwyn]

Mvumo hesitated, wondering how he could answer the question truthfully and in a manner that would not upset his beloved son. "The only way to answer that question is to tell the story of how I met your mother," Mvumo said. "It is a story more complicated than you can imagine, for it spans many months of walking time and many more months of time as I matured into the adult lion I am today."

The dark brown lion looked about at the grasslands around them, thankful that they were in a place of comfort and privacy. He didn't want anyone interrupting them as he told this story. "I can assure you, Kubwa, that it has caused me more problems than I could have imagined...I truly wish that I was able to speak to you all the time as I am speaking to you right now. This speech...impediment...is not your fault...but you have suffered for it, and I am sorry."  

[Tisiphone]

"Sorry? There is no need to be sorry, Daddy," he frowned and inwardly hoped he didn't make his father feel bad, "I am almost a man, and I think I deserve to know what you hold back, what happened before you met Mom? How did you lose your voice?" he huffed quietly thinking that he had never felt so lost in his life.  

[Freodwyn]

Almost a man... The words resonated with Mvumo, and he knew now that there was no turning back from what he had to say. "When I was your age, I lived in a different pride. We had a land of mists and waterfalls, and the Storm God protected us from all harm. I...had a family, a mother and a younger brother."

"But something changed...a terrible group of red lions tore apart my family, and kept me as a slave, forcing me to do their labor for them. It was then that I lost my voice, for I had no use for it, and no one that I could speak to. I...had no family, for I had seen my mother die, and I had allowed myself to be captured by those cruel lions to let my brother escape."  

[Tisiphone]

The white young lion sat stunned looking up at his father tears started to fill his eyes as he realized what horrors his father must have went through. No wonder you do not speak... His heart fell like it was in his feet an slowly leaking out into the earth, he had forced his father to say something that was quite painful.

"So... I have a grandmother, and an uncle? We have a pride, one that we can one day see?" He looked almost hopeful thinking that their family of one would expand and maybe have others his age to talk to. He only asked to try and stray away from the topic of the red lions, he was almost positive that he would be able to just talk about family and not his father's slavory.  

[Freodwyn]

Mvumo wanted to hide from his son's tears, to shield him from the painful answers to his questions. He had remained so silent on this subject, and yet...it was only fair to continue, for Kipanya had already heard most of this story. Kipanya, however, did not have as deep of a connection to it as Kubwa.

"We have a pride...it is right here, with your mother, brother, and friends. As for the pride in the land of mists and waterfalls...I escaped the red lions, as you can tell, and I tried to return to my pride. But there was no one left...not a single lion."

"I have hope that my brother still lives, and that you may one day meet him, for you look a lot like him. In fact...your name...you were named in honor of him."

The brown lion hoped this would not upset his son, and quickly added, "That is not to say that I expect you to be my brother, for you are even more precious to me than he was. I only named you Kubwa to honor my past, for it brought me to your mother and your pride."  

[Tisiphone]

No one left? This is my home, my pride, and this is my family...our family...but how can he be so calm about the loss of so many, there must have been...why?

"Y-you named me in honor of someone you love, how can I not be proud?" his voice wavered as he spoke, "I wish that they would have survived, for your sake, and for ours. I love this pride, and I love my home, but to see where I had come from? That would have been amazing. To see the lands with mist and waterfalls, and to see a place where gods once, or do roam...Daddy, I love you and I always will," he swallowed a sob thinking that if he could some how have known so much more he would understand his father's silence.

Do mom and Kip know? he wanted to ask, but for a moment lost the voice he once had.

"Can we move on to another subject…you called me out here for something, was it to discuss this?" It was odd for Kubwa to try and brush past something, he usually dwelled on everything, but this was something he would need time to consider, he was named after a dead brother...  

[Freodwyn]

Mvumo sighed. There was no way to tell his son how much he loved him...there was no way to avoid the struggle that Kubwa must be going through. He would need time, as Mvumo had, before he could walk among the living without letting his sense of loss show to others.

"I think...it is time to teach you how to hunt," Mvumo said. If Kubwa really did want to see the land of the Mistweavers someday, he would have to be an independent lion. He would have to be more than simply his name...Mvumo would always miss his brother, but he would always have his Kubwa. "That is what I originally asked you to come here for...but Kubwa...if you ever need to talk to me about something, come to me. I will fight my...impediment...for the both of us."  

[Tisiphone]

"Father, I will tell you everything, always," he smiled and wiped the back of his paw across his eyes to brush away tears. again he moved forward and lovingly headbutted his father, but he did not move his head away from his chest, for a moment he rested it there.

"Alrighty then," he said, his voice muffled by his father's fur, "Let's hunt!" He straightened up and pulled away from the larger male his eyes slightly blurry from crying, "I'll do everything in my power to make you proud!" and with that he started slinking off in the grasses away from his father.

Was his brother's name Kubwa too..or am I named brother..? his mind shimmered with thoughts and then he started to slink fast away from him, he would hunt along side Mvumo and watch, but he needed sometime to think his life over.