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 Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 11:54 am
Ihlosenka had settled into the Kusini'mwezi lands as if she had been born here. Very little of her memories existed of the time before here, of before her father and her new family. Her new duty as big sister. Ihlo saw very little of her brothers these days, but she didn't doubt they were upto some sort of trouble, breaking a lionesses heart or off exploring places.
All the while, she was here. In a secluded, guarded land with a family. Her mind sometimes wandered, thinking of what lay beyond the forest or the hills. But there was enough here that could keep her heart happy.
Ihlo lay by some of the calmer and shallower parts of the Dya'comi, sprawled on her back and tail swishing about in a rythmnic fashion. Just looking at the sparse clouds of an African sky.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:21 pm
 It had been a long time since Njozi had left the lands with his grandmother and father to go out and explore. He had seen the lands of his grandfather's heritage, where part of his family still lived. He had seen the lands his grandmother had first grown up in, and he had seen more of the world than he had believed existed. He had been taught how to take care of his brother and his uncle and those of the pride taken by mind sickness. He had seen many things, but he was so very glad to finally be back home.
Stalking along, head high and a gentle smirking smile on his maw, he ate up the scenery of the land that he had missed for so long. Only an adolescent, but like his father, already as large as many grown lions, perhaps larger than some, and he still had a good deal more growing to go through. It was for his size that his grandmother had chosen him as a protector, and it would be for their size that his cousins, sons, brothers, or nephews would be chosen.
Thinking to himself, he didn't realize that he had stumbled upon another habitant of the Kusini lands, not until he saw her laying there before him. With a gentle grin pulling up one corner of his maw, he changed his direction and made a beeline for the lioness.
"My eyes deceive me, or is there an angel laying on the ground?" he quirked a brow as he invited himself to sit down, seeming very comfortable with himself - as well he should be, he was royal blood, and this was his land.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:56 pm
So engrossed in the blue sky, Ihlo hadn't even heard him approaching. She jerked up her head at the sound of his voice, and looked at him from behind the curled paws on her chest. Then came a slow scramble to her feet, a slight blush forming on her muzzle.
"It'd be a long way to fall if I was an angel," she smiled.
His appearance didn't ring a bell, she'd seen a fair few of the faces in this pride by now. Could he be new?
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:37 pm
He smiled to himself at the way she scrambled up so quickly to her feet, noting the small blush that danced on her pale fur. She was cute, even if she wasn't an angel.
"Ah, yes, that is a very long way, and you do not seem to be crippled, so perhaps I am wrong," he said with a small nod, "you're probably just the daughter of a goddess, right?" He liked to tease, and he liked to flirt, and this was right up his alley, more or less.
"Forgive me, forgive me; I haven't been home in a long time and I'm full of energy at finally being back where I belong," he mumbled, giving her a soft bow of the head.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:52 pm
Ihlo's blush deepend further until it almost matched the red swirls that adorned her eye. She felt almost guilty that she actually quite enjoyed his flattery. Sometimes, it was easy to forget you were a girl, a lady, when you were trying to be a good big sister.
"And surely, such words could only come from a prince charming," she returned the compliment, bowing heer delicate head. "My name's Ihlo, a pleasure to meet you."
His next wrods seemed to capture Ihlo in a moment, as if she'd been frozen in time and the rest of the world moved around her. He'd...been away from these lands? So he'd seen the far-off places she had come to forget? Her interest peaked.
"Back? Where from?" she asked with keen curisoity.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:23 pm
"Oh, Prince Charmings wish they could be this smooth," he said, grinning despite himself, and holding his head a little higher at her comment. Njozi loved himself and in his opinion, every one else should love him too.
"I went to the pridelands and the southlands mostly, I dabbled around a little here and there, though," he said with a grin, flicking his tail back and forth. "My Bibi took me and my dad out to train us as "Usare'Wasii". We've been gone a long time, actually." He frowned as he calculated up the months, then shrugged it off and smiled again.
"Ihlo is a beautiful name for a beautiful lioness," he said, then gave a little bow before speaking again, "I am Njozi, son of Taabu, son of Princess Syeira." It always sounded so cool when he said it that way.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:31 am
Ihlo chuckled at this revelation of an ego, but it didn't bother her much. He was young, and male - it was to be expected. Although, her rapt attention at his every word was likely to feed his ego. She couldn't help it! She loved to hear about the adventures of others, what they had seen and where they had gone. She probably couldn't remember but she had been in the Pridelands once, if only for a brief time in her young childhood.
"Wow, impressive. I can only imagine the things you've seen and the lions you've met. Did you meet any of the royalty in the Pridelands?" she asked, scooting a little further forward. "And if I haven't seen you as I've grown up here, then you've definitely been gone a while...n-not that I'm really old or anything..."
She was loosening up a bit, breaking free of those 'first meeting jitters'. A broad smile garced Ihlo's maw again. She could get used to this flattery business.
"Oh...Princess Syeira's son...so you are a prince afterall," she said, cocking an eyebrow and going a little stiff again. As casual as this all was, suddenly she felt like she had to be the picture of politeness in front of a member of the royal blood.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:06 pm
He grinned at her rapt attention, flicking his tail as she scooted closer, so eager to listen to him. He rather enjoyed talking about everything he'd done - it was part of his ego complex - and he loved lionesses who were so eager to hear about it all. He hadn't met many, but then, most lionesses he had met had been much farther in the world than he had. Well, if she was going to keep asking, he was certainly going to keep telling!
"Of course I did, beautiful. My Uncle Denahi, Bibi Syeira's brother, is mated to Princess Rehani; he really wasn't very happy to see me and my Bibi Syeira, though." He grinned, then suddenly remembered something else to boast about, "My Bibi is mated to the prince of the pridelands, Uumikaji. Babu Uumi lives here, but he stays away from others though, so you may never have seen him - he's a big red lion."
"Oh, no, I don't really think I'm a prince - I don't have that title," he said quite suddenly, frowning at her change of attitude, "I'm a princess' grandson. Well, a prince AND a princesses granddaughter, if you count Babu Uumi. That's as much of a title as I have though, I think my father, Taabu, could be a prince, but I'm not sure" he said, leaning towards her, "so don't get all stiff, please?"
((Ah, Bibi and Babu are grandmother and grandpa in swahili. I don't want to confuse you <3))
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 2:31 pm
((Haha, it was my fault actually xD I read 'son of Taabu, son of Princess Syeira' as Syeira being his mum xD I am such a dork, lol!))
Ihlo continued to fidget a bit awkwardly, but tried to smile with his assurances. All the same, she should at least try to keep polite and do as he said - loosen up again.
"Still, it must be quite exciting to have royal blood," she commented, a brief mental musing on her origins, humble as they are. "I mean, just look at the family you all met. Well, aside from a grumpy Uncle," she chuckled.
"I...think...I was in the pridelands once...but I can hardly remember it," she said. "Was it beautiful?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:23 am
He frowned at the way she still fidgeted, but after a moment simply figured that it was all she was going to do. He would have to talk to her and get her to come around before she was going to relax again. He shrugged it off and plastered his handsome little smile back on his maw, his dark tuft of hair falling down into his shining, crimson eyes.
"I suppose it is. I mean, it keeps a lot of lions from bothering you, but it also makes some of them really angry," he frowned at the thought, flickering his tail, "some don't like it that they are thought of as inferior in general, whether you say it or not. I know a lot of rogues can be that way."
"Oh, Denahi is just a bad apple," he said with a chuckle, forgetting his former statement and mood almost immediately. "The rest of our family is actually very nice, or most of them anyway. Babu is grumpy, but he's always been that way from what Bibi says. Everyone else is really sweet, except for a crazy uncle or two." That was the truth, though Azima was more eccentric than crazy; Tamu and Damu were the crazy ones.
"The pridelands is very beautiful," he said quietly, "almost as beautiful as the angel in front of me." His grin turned into a rather mischievous one, but he simply shook his head in a joking manner. "The lions, the ones without rogue lineage, are all gold. The ones with rogue lineage are a mix of gold and other colors. It's a beautiful pride and a beautiful land." Indeed, he had thought it so - almost as beautiful as his own home.
((Oh, I'm sorry. That's how a species in a book I read introduces itself - by listing a parent, and then a grandparent. It just sounded nifty.))
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:50 pm
"I guess I'm still a little girl in that respect, I always dreamed it'd be fun to say I was a 'princess.' Although angel is just as good," she said, once again blushing at his flattery but enjoying it all the same.
Ihlo did indeed keep fidgeting, but this was partly her fault anyways. By trying to make herself so presentable, she was just sitting there. And Njozi was just standing there. Her eyes were sometimes drawn back to the lovely shallow waters of Dya'Comi.
Oh sod it all!
Without warning, Ihlo simply flopped onto her side, looking far more comfortable now.
"Golden lions? Now thats a sight to behold. Makes me feel quite strange being so white," she began. "I don't know much about the rest of my family, except that I have some other siblings elsewhere...in the graveyard, which sounds ghastly. I doubt I'll be going there anytime soon." She chuckled in a girlish manner.
"Do you have any brothers and sisters here?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:48 pm
"Well, if I'm anything, it would probably be more like a lord, not a prince. The idea is slightly amusing though - I wouldn't mind it one bit," he said, flopping down to sit as she lay onto her side. This was a rather uninteresting bit of conversation - he would have to think of something fun to do, otherwise they would very probably run out of things to talk about.
"Well, yes, I suppose they're more yellow than golden - they don't really shine or anything," he said, furrowing his brows. "The graveyard? I've heard of that. My mom has a good friend that lives in the graveyard," he said, nodding his head. He actually thought that 'mom's good friend' was the heir of the graveyard pride, but he wasn't about to go off and start talking about any more royalty he knew, that would only set her off again.
"Ah, yeah, I have a brother and six sisters, but only two of them are really my sisters, and my brother ran off somewhere before I got home," he said, flicking his tail, "do you have any family at all here?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:15 pm
"Hehe, Lord Njozi...has a ring to it, I'm sure you'll agree," she chuckled and playfully thwapped him with her tail. "You should save all your stories for when you have grandchildren, become a legend across all the plains."
Ihlo was a talented girl - she could multi-task quite well, being able to do one thing and very easily keep a conversation going at the same time. As such, she began batting at wafting pieces of grass, pinning them down and then raking her paws along them. If she could plait, no doubt she'd plait a necklace or something.
"Really? Now thats a coincedence. For all we know, its my mum that was your mum's friend," she replied with the quirk of an eyebrow. "Maybe why my mum brought us here."
"Hehe, I can beat that. I have two brothers, and five half-sisters," she smirked. "Although I daresay my brothers have ventured off themselves as well. They want nothing to do with my father..."
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:44 pm
He thought about the name, but then shook his head with a little laugh. "It has a ring to it, but I don't think I'd want to be called that; it's a little too cheesy, don't you think?" He simply smirked and flickered his tail back and forth, "I won't be a legend, I don't think. I also have to have children before I can have grandchildren in any case - and a mate before any of that." He gave a dramatic sigh with a paw raised up to his forehead, "alas, but no one loves me."
He laughed as she thwapped him with her tail, settling himself down into a rather comfortable laying position with his crimson eyes intent on studying her grass-batting.
"Possibly, but I don't think my mum brought anyone here. After all, my dad brought her here, she was from the Mistweave lands, I think." He furrowed his brows as he tried to remember his mom's stories about where she was from, but it had been so long that he quickly just gave up and looked back at her.
"You don't beat me!" he said at her words, smirking and batting at a piece of grass she was playing with, "that's seven and seven, silly!" He shook his head, but the smile was genuinely kind. "I'm sorry to hear that; they sound a bit like an uncle of mine." An uncle that had, actually, proved to care about his family after all.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:53 pm
"Hahaha! It is a bit tacky, now that you mention it. I suppose it could be worse, you could call yourself something Lord Overseer of All That is Great, or something daft like that," she chuckled, imagining some pompous overbearing lion out there that really did refer to themselves in that way.
Ihlo thwapped him again after getting a response from him, and even dared to nudge him with a paw. A bit like youngsters who fall into rolls of laughter just by shoving and shunting one another.
"Meh, all I knew was that my mum brought us here for 'safety'...which panned out in the end really. I think it was cruel fate that my father also happened to be here..." she broke off for a moment. Any conversation involving her father often made her pause, just because she had been accepted back into her father's loving glow, whereas her brothers hadn't.
"Lets just say my brother's never really got over our father abandoning us...it came as a shock to me to find him here, with a new family in tow as well. But blood is blood, and I couldn't be happier. My half-sisters all treat me like I was a real sister," she beamed.
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