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RP in AIM between Snookie and m'self.

Though the sun shone bright above the grasslands, a shadow's movement flickered around the edges, staying always close to the scrub, the occasional tree, it's trunk providing a momentary calm, before off the dark figure moved once more, nimble paws' movement hidden. A large baobab rose ahead, it's thick trunk casting it's own great shadow, it's branches like roots turned on their head, their heights spiralling off. Beneath this the figure came finally to rest, spreading lazily, idly.

When daydreaming, one tends to miss things. Things such as large winged lionesses stopping beneath the tree you are currently daydreaming in. Uten's tail swayed back and forth as he stared out at nothing in particular. At least until the deep purple finally caught his eye. Half-lidded eyes scanned this new arrival. He had never seen anything like it before, that he was sure of.

A body hued in deep purple, kissed with blacks and greys, holds warmth in a manner not best for comfort. Kita'mauti unfurled her dark wings, no more volume than a slight ruffle of feathers escaping, splaying her body to cool. Pale eyes flitted to and fro, taking in the land around her, it's golden vista shimmering in the heat, ripples of the stuff rising from the ground. "Would that I had been born of a winter's sun," she murmured softly, before tending to the grooming of a paw.

While he probably shouldn't bother strangers, the small white cub couldn't help but be curious of this strange newcomer. Carefully, he stood up, claws sinking into the branch. He leaned over slightly, just enough to get a good look at the large wings covering her. "'Scuse me miss. Is it possible that you are an angel fallen from the sky?"

Eyes opening wide, the goddess inclined her head to meet with the tiny figure, and immediately scooted backwards a way, paws scuffling in the dust. Mortals worried her, for a fear, deeply imbedded within her mind, existed that they would recoil at her presence, be filled with horror and disgust, and chase her from her surroundings. A question, however, must be answered, and unsurely she began; "I am n-not an angel. I a-am from th-the sky, though."

"I've never seen wings on a lioness before, if you're not an angel, do you have some bird in you somewhere?" The question seemed normal to him and it never occured to him that asking about these sort of things just might be rude. Less than gracefully, he crept down to a lower branch, ignoring the creaking sound it made once he put all his weight on it.

Every step forward on his part illicited a backwards shuffle on hers, as the goddess passed her pale eyes over his small form, watching his every move. "A b-bird?" she sputtered, rather taken aback, "I am n-no bird." She had never before met with a cub, nor their questions.

Another creak of the branch ignored. Uten was far too interested to stop now. "Well if you're not a bird, then how come you have wings and came from the sky?" He dropped to another branch, nearly falling off, but never taking his eyes off her. "You're getting yourself all dirty, scooting around in the dirt like that."

The rather precarious climb and fall technique of the cub was caught by disbelieving eyes, each move taken in and rejected as fiction until the next proved it's truth. His questions were indeed not easily brushed aside, and grudgingly she admitted her fault; "I am a g-goddess." Her head was then allowed to hang, her eyes to dampen their spark. Still she continued to scoot backwards.

"That like an angel, then?" Finally, he made it too the ground. Unfortunately, it was by falling off the next branch he tried to reach. He sat there for a moment, reflecting on the pain, before shaking it off. "Do goddesses like climbing trees?"

Was a goddess like an angel? She did not know, in truth. She had met no angels. "W-well, w-we both have w-wings," she admitted, eyes widening once more as the youngster fell. He, however, made no complaints, so with a look of disbelief, she merely answered his question. "I do n-not."

"I guess you are kinda like an angel then, huh?" He stood, padding over towards the goddess, wanting an chance to examin her closer. "That's too bad. It's fun." He took a second to ponder this statement. " Actually, you probably don't need to climb trees, you have wings. You could just fly."

The child's intentions may have been harmless, but a mind unable to recognise such will never know, and stepping away from the cub, Kita'mauti continued her replies. "I d-do not fly, m-mother sky is d-dangerous."

He chuckled slightly, then looked to the sky. "That's kinda funny. You've got those big wings and don't use em." The sky didn't look dangerous to him. Infact, he rather enjoyed just sitting there and staring at it.

The goddess at this tucked the feathered appendages tightly along her spine, eyes lowered. "M-many have eyes th-they do n-not use, or ears, or t-tongues." Such she told herself often. Mother Sky had given her life, and she had refused to return to that embrace since.

"I suppose that does make sense. You're pretty smart, you know." He turned his gaze back to her, eying the wings. "So they're pretty much just there for decoration, then?"

"And irri-irritaion," that cool voice admitted. Her wings gave away too much. Her jewellery she enjoyed, for the soft chimes of the diamonds touching against each other in the breeze could be soothing, but her wings served no purpose, and merely made her a spectacle.

There had to be a way those wings could be of some use to this lioness.. "Well, you could use them for shade. And to cool yourself off, like before."

The winged femme chuckled at the suggestion. "I th-think for now they will r-remain as th-they are. Useless." With that, she nodded at the child, turning on her heel before the questions could go any further.

Rhin-yi's expression softened and she relaxed her muscles, flopping to her side with a soft 'whumpf' as she watched the others. Her eyes flicked to Binti for a moment allowing to let it be known she was watching.

"I don't beleive we've been properly introduced," her tone was completely relaxed and her features rose to imply her request.

Us'kali lay down also, a subtle sigh of relief escaping her maw as old joints shifted into a more comfortable position. However, she made no move to introduce Binti to Rhin-yi....after all, she was a grown lioness, no? And besides, it would behoove the younger lioness to learn a little bit more about how to address others--she'd been independent far too long, and needed to learn to curb her apparently inherent prickliness.

Binti flicked her head, returning the other's unsubtle gaze with one of her own. Two could play at this...

"I'm Binti." she said, tone brisk.

So much for that idea...

Ama shook his head, not understanding, nor seeming to really care about what was going on before him. As long as it didn't directly involve him, he could very well sit out of this one. Females didn't make much sense to him anyway. One minute snotty, the next minute acting as if they were the most clever and desired creatures upon the sands. He'd seen how Asa'nunu acted towards his sister Kala's mate, Aya'tas, when they thought they were alone, and when in Kala and Aya's mate U'yosi's presence. It infuriated him and sickened him. Asa knew better, knew that for her family and clan, she should stick to the mate she'd chosen. Same went for Aya, though in his case Ama had a bit more hatred for him because of the difference in treatment the hunter had between Asa and Kala.

Because of his reverie, thinking of his sister's mate, and how time upon time he'd caught the b*****d flirting with Asa behind Kala's back, a snarl emitted from his muzzle, though he probably didn't mean it to. Ama Galu'nadi was filled with such undeniable rage for the Shadow Clan hunter, and it wouldn't be too far to say that he wished the Plague had indeed claimed the life of the unworthy mate of Kala. And though it was wrong, and he knew it, he almost hoped it'd claimed Asa as well, for her wrongs against her pride, her own clan, her mate, and her children as well.

Looking to the direction of their homelands, Ama let out a soft whuffle, and a whine of sorts, visibly anxious to be on their way. Though he knew his mother must rest, and the two others needed to get aquainted, especially if they were to join them on the journey, Ama couldn't help but have the need to move on. His own injury was tossed aside, forgotten by the wayside. Desire rose in him to know the outcome of his family. Kala and the sons and daughters of the once great Ela'wadiyi pride, now scattered on the winds of change and Fate. He burned with the need to know just what happened to the others, and how many were left. To see if the Darkfire pride had succeeded in chasing after them, and had possibly invaded and taken over the lands they'd just become accustomed to. So many questions rolled about in his mind, and many of the answers were as shadowy and unforgiving as a mirage in the distance.

The goddess maintained the calm, pseudo-tired expression she'd slipped into, her eyes flitting for an instant to Ama. Hearing the snarl caused her tail to flit uneasily, there was much tension here and it brought an unwanted feel of chaos to her mind. She would need to hunt soon. Rhin-yi faked a wide yawn, lowering eyelids and stretching slightly in hopes of inspiring a few yawn from her companions and remind them that they had wanted rest.

"It was been lovely conversing...Binti...but a nap could do me some good and I understand we'll be resting here a bit..." she closed her eyes slowly as she mumbled off, ears dropping though she remained alert of her surroundings, and her breathe slowed to near that of a beast in hibernation. The goddess detested sleep, especially if night were to fall and her hunting skills were at their peak, but faking sleep was no hard task. She had no intention of sleeping but if the others did it'd be simple to slip away for a hunt, gazelle or zebra couldn't be far off.

Nudging at Us'kali once, Binti spoke to her quietly "I'll be back later..." she said, before taking her leave. She wasn't hungry, and so didn't feel the urge to hunt (although she'd never pass up the opportunity if it presented itself), but she needed to find someplace where the wind could whisper through her fur, and she could collect herself.

She was truly more comfortable with Us'kali around than she'd been when they'd first met up, but the ongoing presence of more than one lion was not something she was used to...in fact, it was not something she'd even experienced since she was a cub...

Shaking her head, she pushed through a large clump of tall grass, already feeling better.

Watching Binti go, Shujaa followed a short distance behind--not close enough to intrude, but it gave him an excuse to wander around a bit, also. Since they were going to be here a few days, he couldn't help but think, perhaps it was a chance for him to wander about a bit--he'd been at Binti's side steadily for quite some time now, but in light of the seemingly ever-growing group that surrounded her, perhaps she'd appreciate a day or so with one less around.

Nodding to himself, he veered off in a different direction, picking up his pace into a near-lope.

Us'kali simply nodded at the younger lioness' statement of intent. Even had she disagreed, it would have done naught...one of the things she'd always respected the most about the younger lioness was that she'd always been unafraid of forging her own path...she could be swayed when explained whysomething was impractical, but had never needed, or even wanted, someone else to give her permission, or even to voice their approval for her actions.

Shaking her head, she laid it back upon her paws, allowing her eyes to drift half-shut as the sounds of the savannah wove silkily through her consciousness.

Binti wandered the territory she had grown up in until the oranges and pinks that heralded the oncoming dawn had begun to bleed across the sky, the colors making the surrounding savannah sparkle with color as the dew on the grass glittered cheerfully. Taking a deep breath, Binti closed her eyes, sitting back on her haunches and taking a moment to just listen to the sounds around her--the soft cheep of a bird somewhere in the distance, the rustle of the tall grasses, a shrill death cry as some predator took down what sounded like a small rodent...

As if having decided something, or perhaps reaffirmed it in her own mind, Binti made her way silently back to Us'kali's side, yawning as she flopped her lean body down onto the ground a few feet away from the elder lioness and allowing her eyes to drift half-closed.

Us'kali barely stirred, although some part of her consciousness relaxed as she sensed the return of the younger lioness, a small smile playing with the corners of her mobile mouth.

Shifting slightly, the old lioness tripped off into a deeper slumber, her soft snores floating on the breeze.

Meanwhile, Shujaa, much like Binti had done, was memorizing the Southlands that had become home--quite how they had done so, he wasn't sure...but, he'd miss them when they moved on in a day or two.

As the next couple days passed in a sort of slow-moving blur, Binti continued to make long forays at night, and Shujaa did not return until the morn upon which they had planned to depart, both of them taking the time to memorize what they could of the land they had come to love, although Binti would never admit to such a deep-seated sentiment aloud.

((angie's turn! biggrin ))

Binti awoke slowly, as if surfacing through water, her teal eyes blinking slowly in the greyish dawn. Her lack of rest the past few nights showed in the way she got to her feet, the movement lacking her usual easy grace. Shaking herself off, she didn't comment on her own lack of motor skills, but instead licked at one of her forepaws as she waited for Us'kali to awaken.

Us'kali shifted, her rest disturbed by the faint stirrings of both Ama and Binti. Cracking one violet eye open, she dragged herself up onto her haunches, her early-morning yawn rumbling softly. "Are we ready to depart, then?" she queried, taking the time to stretch luxuriously as she took measure of Binti's rather sluggish movements, although she neglected to comment upon them.

Shujaa chose this moment to saunter back into sight, his slightly-matted coat the only indication that he'd been prowling ceaselessly since leaving Binti's presence three nights back. Taking up his usual position a few paces behind and to the side of the young lioness, he said not a word, but instead waited to hear the plans for the day, instead.

Binti nodded at Us'kali. "Unless your son's shoulder is still bothering him, today is the day we begin travelling." she said simply.