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 Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:14 am
 Aushi paced back and forth in a slightly muckier part of the swamps. She was growing more and more worried each day. Her body grew longer, sleeker and certainly something she termed more 'adult like'. It had been at least two weeks, if not longer, since she and her sister last spoke of the naming journeys. Why had she not been chosen to go? Would she forever be stuck 'a child'? Never to leave this place...
ah! Her tail flicked and mentally she calmed a little. She didn't think it would be too bad never to have to leave her homelands... it would be quite charming in fact! But you would be the largest cub ever... She blinked and wondered why her mind gave her doubts of staying. She wanted to stay here! Outer world was strange!
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:35 am
In truth, Aushi had nothing to fear; her time had simply come later than her sister's. And now, at last, Asali'jua came to send her on her way. The pale lioness, fur as ever splashed with the water and mud of the swamp, squished her way through the mucky area to her Consort's niece with surprising grace.
When at last the silver-tailed child came into view, Asali paused several feet away and smiled, saying only, "Mti'a'Aushi."
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:12 pm
Aushi's gaze landed on the elder lioness with a wide, surprised look about them. "Oh no." She moaned lightly, mostly to herself and she hadn't meant it for the other's ears. "It is time..." She said faintly, again more for herself than the other.
She did not want to leave! She did not want to grow up! Where was her sister when she needed her most? She just kept staring at the other, her paws reluctant to move.
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:50 pm
Though what exactly she said didn't reach Asali's ears, the uncertainty was clear. When the Queen spoke again, it was gently. "It is time, child. Time for you to leave here and learn; your body grows, but so too must your mind, or else you will never truly be grown, no matter how beautiful you become."
"Your mother gave you a name, once. She called you Mti'a'aushi; it is a child's name, and as long as you bear it, you will be a child in the eyes of the spirits, in the eyes of the Mother, and in the eyes of the pride as well."
"You must find a new name, your true name, and be child no more."
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Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:55 am
Oh how she had dreaded and needed this moment to come for so long! True, she more dreaded it than needed or wanted it to come... but the want and need were still there, tiny and hidden in her heart. It was a strong will to live and to grow, a secret passion to be something great in stead of a shadow in the swamp...
Slowly she bowed to the queen and with a shuddering breath she nodded her head. She understood, she did! Oh but if only she could move her paws! She swallowed and shut her eyes. An adult name. A name for who she really was...
Finally something of a calm enveloped her mind and her eyes opened and she gave the other female a soft, respecting smile. It was a smile that said 'I am ready!' As she started to believe in herself and the journey she would have.
After a moment she slipped through the swamplands, heading for the boarders.
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Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:00 am
As she watched the young lioness turn and go with approval, for despite her reluctance she delayed no at all, Asali'jua called after her, "Know this, Mti'a'Aushi: if, after one year and one moon, you have not returned, know that we will say the rites for you, so that you will not roam as a ghost forever."
Was it intended as warning? Reassurance? It all depended on how you looked at it.
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