...//Moments Like This....
More backlogging! biggrin
More backlogging! biggrin
Freodwyn
Kimaji paced about the cave her family was currently residing in, wishing she was able to explore the land beyond its protection. Her family had been wandering since as long as she could remember; staying in a place like this made her uncomfortable, almost afraid that she would be trapped forever if she didn't wander somewhere else.But she didn't think her mom and dad would stay here for long. They kept talking about Mist-somethingorothers that they were trying to find. Those Mist-somethings were supposedly lions like them. She hoped so; finding someone like her and Ushuafu to play with would be fun!
Kisoni
"Kimaji," The dark brown lioness's voice broke through the relitive silence of the dry, dusty forest that had once been so lush and beautiful. Picking up the swollen carcass in her teeth once more, Kizuka came into view a moment later, breaking through the foliage without a sound, despite the somewhat thin antelope she was dragging with her.
Once more the meat hit the ground, this time right outside the cave. "Kimaji," Kizuka called again, "Dinner time!" The lioness was too hungry to keep herself from bending her head back to tear a good chunk of the leg off the dead creature, but she saved the softer, better meat on the throat, stomach and flank for Kimaji to take her fill first. After all this time, and all their hardships, Kizuka would be damned if she let Kimaji waste away now, here.
Hunting was getting ever more difficult, and Kizuka was increasingly more and more surprised that she hadn't run into a single other lion during those hunts. Surely game was so limited they'd be hunting the same herds. Hot blood corsed down her throat, sweet and wild as a forest fire, and just as energizing..... and destructive. The lioness glanced at the face of her kill--he was young. A little too young, and she'd hated having to take him. All the older ones had been picked off already, however, as had the sick... she'd had no choice, if she didn't want to take a female the herd so desperatly needed.
She'd waited almost till sunset to choose the one who made the most mistakes. If she were going to cripple the pack, she'd make it as light as possible; choose the one most likely to get the herd into trouble later on. Unfortunatly for this little man, he'd wandered too close to a 'sleeping' carnivore that'd made her position quite obvious. If that weren't the dumbest thing she'd ever seen a creature do, then she wasn't a lion.
"Baby, come get your dinner!"
Once more the meat hit the ground, this time right outside the cave. "Kimaji," Kizuka called again, "Dinner time!" The lioness was too hungry to keep herself from bending her head back to tear a good chunk of the leg off the dead creature, but she saved the softer, better meat on the throat, stomach and flank for Kimaji to take her fill first. After all this time, and all their hardships, Kizuka would be damned if she let Kimaji waste away now, here.
Hunting was getting ever more difficult, and Kizuka was increasingly more and more surprised that she hadn't run into a single other lion during those hunts. Surely game was so limited they'd be hunting the same herds. Hot blood corsed down her throat, sweet and wild as a forest fire, and just as energizing..... and destructive. The lioness glanced at the face of her kill--he was young. A little too young, and she'd hated having to take him. All the older ones had been picked off already, however, as had the sick... she'd had no choice, if she didn't want to take a female the herd so desperatly needed.
She'd waited almost till sunset to choose the one who made the most mistakes. If she were going to cripple the pack, she'd make it as light as possible; choose the one most likely to get the herd into trouble later on. Unfortunatly for this little man, he'd wandered too close to a 'sleeping' carnivore that'd made her position quite obvious. If that weren't the dumbest thing she'd ever seen a creature do, then she wasn't a lion.
"Baby, come get your dinner!"
Freodwyn
The little lioness perked up at the sound of her mother's voice. "Dinner?" she squeaked, moving quickly toward the shadowy form at the entrance of the cave. "I'ma so hungry, I could eat a whole herd of elephants!" Despite her bold proclamation of hunger, for a moment she stared at the kill her mother had brought back. He didn't see very big. In fact, he looked almost like a little baby just like her. Was there really so little food around here? Why had they come to this strange place that was so full of death?
She was too hungry to not eat the meat that was presented to her, though. The little prey was already dead, and little Kimaji was very much still alive. She just wanted to get something out of this land other than the dark, wet cave and eating prey that was as young as she was.
"Mommy?" she asked after she was finished taking her fill. "Why did we come here? Can we wander away soon?"
Kisoni
After Kizuka'd had enough to take the edge off her gnawing, she raised her head. Her ears perked forward towards the little girl opposite her. She wanted to leave? A moment's blankeness overcame the lioness before a small voice at the back of her head retorted, Well who in their right mind wouldn't? She doesn't have the memories you do of this place.
A shake of her head brought her back to reality and Kizuka's tongue ducked out to wipe some of the blood off of her maw, "Kimaji...... ... just a minute honey." Unable to find the simple words to explain what she and Triv'an were feeling, the lioness instead bent her head to the carcass to finish her meal. For such a small thing it did well for jsut her and kimaji... she'd help Triv find more later, if he needed it.
By the time she'd finished, she thought she had a good way to explain all of this to their small daughter. After checking that Kimaji was finished as well, she took the carcass and pulled it a good distance away to discourage others from taking over their cave, then came back for her daughter. Kizuka bent her head to lick kimaji's muzzle clean of blood, and smiled, "Walk with me, Maji-Kaji."
Kizuka turned to head away from the cave, holding back larger branches so that kimaji could easily follow. Down the dark, jungle trail they went, a few dry leaves and limbs crackling under their paws. After what have seemed to be an eternity for the kit they came out into a small clearing with a large flat rock that still radiated heat from the afternoon sun.
The lioness hopped up ontop of it, turning to scoop her cub up to bring her with her. "Settle down here with me, Kimaji.. and I'll tell you a story, okay?"
A shake of her head brought her back to reality and Kizuka's tongue ducked out to wipe some of the blood off of her maw, "Kimaji...... ... just a minute honey." Unable to find the simple words to explain what she and Triv'an were feeling, the lioness instead bent her head to the carcass to finish her meal. For such a small thing it did well for jsut her and kimaji... she'd help Triv find more later, if he needed it.
By the time she'd finished, she thought she had a good way to explain all of this to their small daughter. After checking that Kimaji was finished as well, she took the carcass and pulled it a good distance away to discourage others from taking over their cave, then came back for her daughter. Kizuka bent her head to lick kimaji's muzzle clean of blood, and smiled, "Walk with me, Maji-Kaji."
Kizuka turned to head away from the cave, holding back larger branches so that kimaji could easily follow. Down the dark, jungle trail they went, a few dry leaves and limbs crackling under their paws. After what have seemed to be an eternity for the kit they came out into a small clearing with a large flat rock that still radiated heat from the afternoon sun.
The lioness hopped up ontop of it, turning to scoop her cub up to bring her with her. "Settle down here with me, Kimaji.. and I'll tell you a story, okay?"
Freodwyn
The cub waited as patiently as she could for her mother to finish, her excess energy seeming to flow into her tail, which was rapidly moving back and forth. She let her mommy give her a quick bath, then grinned at the mention of her nickname."Okay, Mommy-Wommy!" the cub said of the request, falling in step behind her mother. Walking through the jungle was a nice change from the cave, though the feeling of dry limbs under her paws wasn't the greatest of sensations. She wouldn't complain, though; Mommy clearly had some sort of a plan. Just because it didn't make sense to her didn't mean it was a bad plan. Kimaji reserved her right to doubt things, though.
It was a rather long walk, with no communication from her mother, and the place seemed creepier by the moment to the little cub. But when they reached the clearing, Kimaji smiled at the rock, which she knew had to be warm. Warmth was good after being in that cave.
After her mom scooped her up and mentioned a story, Kimaji settled down. "A story? What kind of story? I love stories!" The cub grinned. "Can you tell me a story of when you were little, Mommy?"
Kisoni
"Actually, that's exactly what i was going to do," Kizuka chuckled. One of her paws lifted to try to trap the cub to the rock gently as her mouth desended. Her rough cat tongue came out, beginning to work its way along Kimaji's back as the older lioness slipped once more into thought; slow but steady, a sort of 'family motto' of theirs. It was funny, Kizuka usually wasn't that good at it.
After a few moments she paused to inspect her work and began. "There was once a land I have told you of many times. A land of greenery and flowers and waterfalls... a land of mist and mystique were legends were made and lost." As Kizuka voiced her story, her mind began to wander back on its own to the time she spoke of.
"In this land, there was a pride of lions that looked very much like you and me. They were full and happy, and lead good lives in that valley, far from any others. Their god, The Storm God, was a good and kindly caretaker to his people and their valley, and everything flurished. .. of those, i have told you many times. However, I have never told you the end of this story."
Kizuka's focus returned for a moment then and she found herself looking up into the stars through the sparse canopy above. Her eyes ventured back downward to the daughter in her arms and she licked the side of kimaji's muzzle. "One day... a darkness spread across the valley.
"This darkness came in an unseen enemy; a virus that killed many things, but most notably attacked the lions. It lasted for a long time, and many died; those that did survive were left weakened and burdened with great hardships, for food was now hard to find. But things could have gotten better; we were growing stronger again, and the herds were returning."
At this point the lioness had to stop and sigh. It was so long ago, and she was still angry.. but at least the sadness of her families demise had gone. "It was not meant to be, it seemed, for no sooner had the first darkness begun to lift that another came, this time in a much more physical form. Lions, like us and yet not, came into our devestated lands. They were strong, seemingly untouched by the ravished of the plague, and began to forcibly take our lands from us...."
Kizuka's eyes met her daughters and she nuzzled her sweetly. "That is why your father and I always wandered so. From our lands we ran when we were only a litle older than you... and we thought we would never be able to return."
After a few moments she paused to inspect her work and began. "There was once a land I have told you of many times. A land of greenery and flowers and waterfalls... a land of mist and mystique were legends were made and lost." As Kizuka voiced her story, her mind began to wander back on its own to the time she spoke of.
"In this land, there was a pride of lions that looked very much like you and me. They were full and happy, and lead good lives in that valley, far from any others. Their god, The Storm God, was a good and kindly caretaker to his people and their valley, and everything flurished. .. of those, i have told you many times. However, I have never told you the end of this story."
Kizuka's focus returned for a moment then and she found herself looking up into the stars through the sparse canopy above. Her eyes ventured back downward to the daughter in her arms and she licked the side of kimaji's muzzle. "One day... a darkness spread across the valley.
"This darkness came in an unseen enemy; a virus that killed many things, but most notably attacked the lions. It lasted for a long time, and many died; those that did survive were left weakened and burdened with great hardships, for food was now hard to find. But things could have gotten better; we were growing stronger again, and the herds were returning."
At this point the lioness had to stop and sigh. It was so long ago, and she was still angry.. but at least the sadness of her families demise had gone. "It was not meant to be, it seemed, for no sooner had the first darkness begun to lift that another came, this time in a much more physical form. Lions, like us and yet not, came into our devestated lands. They were strong, seemingly untouched by the ravished of the plague, and began to forcibly take our lands from us...."
Kizuka's eyes met her daughters and she nuzzled her sweetly. "That is why your father and I always wandered so. From our lands we ran when we were only a litle older than you... and we thought we would never be able to return."
Freodwyn
Kimaji listened attentively as the time passed, smiling at the familiar story of the kind Storm God and the valley of lions like her and her family. But these new additions to the story were scary; a darkness, and a virus? She wasn't exactly sure what a virus was, but if it killed lions, it was something most scary. And those other lions that stole the land sounded scarier still."Could that virus-thing kill us, Mommy? And are those big scary lions still around! I don't want to die!" At this the cub buried herself into her mother's side, as if her mother was the sole cure to everything frightening about the world around them. "I want to go to that pretty valley you always tell me about! Where is it, Mommy? Why aren't we going there instead of staying here?"
Kisoni
"Well, my darling, we are at that valley." Kizuka sighed softly. She lowered her head onto her paws, fitting her daughter in between her chest and neck, with one paw wrapped around the girl's tiny form. All around them the branches swayed in the wind, the leaves crackling together a little in the wind.
"The virus is long gone, Kimaji.. it won't hurt you.. and neither will the scary lions. Your father and I will never let anyone hurt you... but we needed to come back here. This valley isn't what we remember it, not yet.. but soon, very soon, things will change and the Storm God will smile favorably on our lands again, and they will become green and fertile and misty..."
The lioness drifted off for a moment, eyes falling upon the ground but not seeing it. How did one exlain this to a child? It was difficult, and she wasn't certain Kimaji would ever understand. "This was our home once, Kimaji, and we want it to be yours too. We mean to stay here."
Freodwyn
Kimaji took a closer, critical look at the land around her. It seemed the opposite of the valley Mommy said it was, but if Mommy said the virus thing and the scary lions were long gone, then it had to be true. Her mommy said so, and she had faith in that, if nothing else. She could almost imagine the Storm God running through this very area, winking at her as he spread rain, greenness, and happiness to all in the land. As she squinted, she could almost see the mist and the green that Mommy always said was there. "I hope the Storm God comes soon, Mommy," the cub said. "If we are going to stay here, he should return. We're his lions, right Mommy?"
Kisoni
A grin broke across the Lionesses face at her daughter's last question. That the cub understood that made her heart swell with pride. This girl in her arms, despite not being raised in the land, was a true mistweaver and always would be. "Yes, my love, we are." She raised her head to continue Kimaji's bath. "And we always will be. Don't ever doubt it."
--The end
--Dated: May 16th 2006
