Should have been logged ages ago - Ume had it in her journal though.

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Muroki was up to his old habits. Having wandered around the inner lands of the Unity Walkers for a good while, just observing, he was ready to choose a more fixed abode.He chose a cave not too far from the others, on the outskirts of the wood. It was dry inside and perfect for the lone lion.

After roughly cleaning it out with his paws, and making a shallow scrape next to one wall, he went down to the watering hole. He was a Unity Walker now, but he'd been a Dawn Walker before. So he was after pebbles to bring luck...plants for happiness....hmm....a thousand and one little touches to add to a fixed home.

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Everything was new to Laini. Joining anything was completely foreign to her in every aspect that she could not believe to a certain extent at where she was now. Her mother had always stressed how important a pride was. Then again, she had never fully understood her mother who, at the time of Laini's childhood, didn't have a pride to belong to.

There was a certain comfort that she had only previously been able to guess at in having a pride. She smiled to herself at the thought. Of course, it was thanks to a friend of hers which made it all the better: she wouldn't be alone. In her habit of exploring, she combed the area of the pride to become familiar with her new surroundings. And all that combing made her thirsty.

She found her way to the waterhole and noticed someone had already beaten her there, the very lion she had been thinking about, Muroki.

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He's already sat down, made the sacred marks in the dirt before him, and started a quick prayer by the time Muroki realised Laini was there. Unable to stop in the middle, though vaguely embaressed, he continued. His voice was soft and low, asking the sun to bless the place and the creatures who lived in it, expressing his hope that his new home would be his for a long while...

As soon as it was finished, he turned and offered her a very sheepish smile. Muroki was probably the only lion left who worshipped the sun as he did, in the old ways of his ancestors. He chatised himself for feeling...so very silly. "Good morning, Laini."

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His prayer went right into the category she was currently filling up: those that were new to her. Laini had never particularly been a religious lion although her mother had told her the importance of priests all the time. But the prayer, although she could barely hear it, sounded quite comforting -whether that was the goal of it or not.

When he looked up, embarrassed, she smiled back. She was amused by his embarrassment. Not that it was really funny but in the fact that he had no reason to be embarrassed by his prayer. Retaining her smile, she returned his greeting. "Good morning."

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"So, what do you think of the lands?" He waved a paw at the view of said lands, genuinely interested. For a lion born in a desert temple, this place seemed lush and luxurious - like the temple lake only much bigger and less water logged. A huge change. But a good one.

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She laughed, "it's certainly a change. Not as swampy as it was where I grew up, mosquitos always in your eyes. Not as arid as the plainlands either. All in all, it's a very lovely hidden part of the world." She didn't doubt it one bit. Laini really liked the place. Her only fear was that her habit of wandering would get too strong. She didn't want to leave. She didn't like being afraid either.

She put on a comforting smile, perhaps for herself, perhaps not, and dipped her head to take a drink. Then, looking up, she asked him curiously, "so what brings you to the waterhole?"

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"It's not as dry as the desert either. And everyone seems so nice....though apparently half the pride are out traveling at the moment." He stood up and went down to the water as well, far enough away from the lionness so as not to ruin her drink. Because he was wading into it and that cased a little bit of a stir where his feet fell. "Firstly to relax but also to find a few stones. Odd habits."

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Travelling... hmmm, so they did travel... No! She would not be tempted. She'd never fit in and never get to experience anything that comes with being in a pride. She could do it. Her interturmoil seemed so ridiculous that she almost couldn't stand it. Instead, she distracted herself. "Stones? What for?" She knew she was being nosey but it was better than dwelling any day.

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"Oh, home charms. The idea is that they protect your home from ill intent." Standing still until the water around his paws cleared, Muroki peered down seemingly into his own golden eyes. When he dipped his face up to them into the water and went to deposit a smooth rock - and unfortunately some grit and wet dust - on the bank. "I've chosen a cave nearby. Any idea where you'll stop?"

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"Hmmm? Oh you mean sleep? Well, I haven't thought too much about it. Probably wherever I suppose. I've slept out in the open plenty enough that I can deal." she said. She hadn't thought too much about it, didn't realize there was specific places where they chose to sleep, such as in caves.

She looked down at what he was doing: collecting rocks. It didn't look like the most appealing thing. But apparently, they were important to him, as had been pointed out in his side of the conversation. "Would you perhaps like any help?"

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"You're not making a den? And no, but thank you. I have to choose my own by...well, I suppose by instinct. Ones that look right, feel right...." He wandered across the shallows a bit, and after a quick attempt that took a bit more effort than the last, managed to get a smaller, oval shaped pebble. It was swiftly deposited by the first. "It may seem a bit insane, but as my mother used to say - what can it hurt? Even if there's nothing behind our beliefs and a rock is just a rock, at least it brings some comfort and expresses good intent."

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Oh this was ackward. Dens, dens, dens... name should ring a bell right? Having very limited contact with other lions and a mother who had chosen the shade of a tree home den was not in her vocabulary. But apparently every other lion knew what one was so of course she should too. It was only natural, right? "I'm just... taking my time," she said, trying to sound sauve about the whole idea.

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"That's wise. Spent a while choosing mine..." Another quick dip, a final paler pebble and the he was getting rid of the grit in his mouth with the water. Ugh. Nasty. Now it was just a matter of letting the almighty sun dry his prizes before choosing the right rock of the three. Meanwhile, he could go and sit by his friend. "I've not had a fixed home in such a long time! It'll be nice to have a place to call my own."

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Laini nodded with a smile. Having something that belonged to you such as a home was a wonderous thing, something to hold on to and to cherish. Of course, she had thought such a dream completed but now she was going to have to find a particular place within the pridal lands for a den? It could be hard and take a long time as he said. She didn't really want to think about it too much.

What little naivity she had left was getting to her. She was beginning to realize happiness wasn't the simply package she could pick up, open, and enjoy any time she wished, that she'd have to work to have it and to keep it. She eyed his rocks as they were drying: a family tradition with meaning it appeared. Thinking about what family traditions she could have only made her angry. But it was her turn to say something and she had no clue what that'd be.

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Muroki tilted his head slightly at her silence, but was content to sit and study the view of the lands and simply glace at her - attentive as a friend should be but not worried by the silence. For him this was all new but so very welcome. This place, set aside from the world outside...it was perfect for the young adult. It was a haven from his painful memories, a new home were he could look to the future and choose only to recall the good times. After a while, he hoped he'd become truely content and become Muroki again. Rather than the bitter lion who'd been left alone out there.

With so much promise and hope, he was peaceful and happy to the point it was probably annoying.

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Staring at rocks hadn't done a very good job in distracting her. They had, in their own way, brought more silence. Silence was perhaps more ackward for her than conversation. It made her feel like she was supposed to say something, which she had yet to discover what that was. She looked at the river and something almost silvery caught her eye.

She was so desperate to say something that she didn't realize how simplistic and childish such a phrase was. "There's fish in the water," she exclaimed without thinking.

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"Are there? I hadn't realised. Maybe my splashing scared them away before." He turned his eyes on the water hole rather than the distant scenery once more.

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He didn't seem to be offended to such a simplisitic topic she had turned the relatively dead conversation to. Maybe she shouldn't hate herself so much for bringing them up. "Yea, you see them? I've only seen fish a couple of times and they were much smaller than these ones." The simpicity of her conversation made her forget almost her age, as if she were a cub talking to another. It was a warm sort of scene that her feminine side rather appreciated.

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"There were many fish in the Temple lake when I was a cub, but none like these. Such a bright silver." It took a lot to offend the 'Walker. It was kind of refreshing after simply...debating or speaking of deep matters for the past few weeks. And how often do lions discuss fish? It was far from 'oh what a pretty blue sky'...and yet he felt that it was a sign he was returning to normal that he didn't snap at such a simple subject of conversation.

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Laini's eyes sort of glazed over in remembrance. "One time," she said laughing, "I tried to catch one. They were so slippery and fast that in the end it was me who was caught, caught by the water." Laini had very few happy memories. As a cub, not even such a scene had not been a happy one, but looking back now, it amused her so. "I don't think I ever tried that one again!"

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"I lived off those things for a while as a cub....so many little bones..." Muroki chuckled, offering his own cubhood memory. He turned to smile at her when he'd finished, a hint of the mischief in his expression. "You could always try catching one again if you're hungry later. They are right there."

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"And fail miserably?" she replied with a laugh. "I think I'll stick to land-based animals that I know I can catch." She narrowed her eyes, an equally mischevious look on her face mixed with that of mock anger, flirting with the idea of pushing him in the water. Her tail wagged playful at the thought.

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He raised both eyebrows briefly, clearly a cheeky taunt. His tone was teasing too, light but mocking. It was fun to playfight as cubs, Muroki thought. And sometimes, adult's playfought with words. "But aren't you females /supposed/ to be the best hunters? Tut tut."

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"Oh, oh," she said with a jerky nod of her head, a coy grin on her face. "Is that a threat?" She fake-quivered in fear. Hoping she had caught him off-guard, she sprang to take him down. Ever the moody one, she had taken on a very immature attitude that she had failed to even try to dissaude herself from.

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Surprised, Muroki got half pushed-down before he did the first thing that came to mind. If he was going to be pounced in the direction of the water? If he was getting wet, Laini was coming too. Both of his fore paws tried to latch around her body and his momentum was used to try to tip them both in the waterhole. Mahaha.

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She let out a surprised squeek as he began to turn the tables on her. She probably should have realized the implications of such an action and at least planned it better if carry it out at all. But it was a bit too late for that now. Squirming wasn't doing anything for her. This was what? The second time being immature to Muroki had backfired on her? Her resistive "no" was half-laugh, half-cry

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Muroki got the worst of it, on his back and scaring those lovely silver fish back to the safety of the water weeds, from wence they came. A soft 'oof' as her weight land on him, and then he was laughing and letting her go. It had been ages since he'd played like this. But quick thinking had turned the defeat into an almost tie.

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She rose to her feet trying to seem rather indignant about it all. Games that she had ever played had always been with herself so having someone to join her made it all more enjoyable. Laini went about him in a semi-circle, swimming for a small bit where she could not walk, a muffled gasp of surprise when she reached that point. Her mischevious grin was not completely gone.

With a wag of her tail, she took a paw to his face, pushing it farther into the water for her revenge, and then quickly withdrew her paw to watch his reaction. she hadn't pushed it far enough to drown or choke him but enough to make him more wet than he was

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Caught truely unawares again - he'd just been watching her circle, amused at her indignant act - Muroki was soon spluttering and trying not to laugh at it. He was on his paws as soon as he could, taking up the typical pose of a cub. Butt in the air, head lowered, fore paws wide apart.. Muroki lashed his tail once and winked - Are I silly?

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Laini sprang back and then imitated his stance. But alas for her, she couldn't hold it and burst out laughing in such a way that the smiling made the muscles of her mouth begin to hurt. She tried to stop and purse her lips back together and simply ended up still shaking with laughter.

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Muroki sat down right there in the water and laughed along with her, trying to compose himself once more. "Well -" Snicker - "It's great to see you smile so much"

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"It's all your fault too!" she said, frowning as if it were a bad thing. "And now I think I'm wetting than a fish. I came for a drink, not a bath!" 'climbing' onto dry land, she shook herself, releasing whatever water she could from her pelt.

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"Hey I was wet enough already!" Muroki pretending to shield himself from the splay of water droplets, though in truth few reached him. He did likewise, pointedly trying to shake water onto the lionness. Then making a cubbish face when he saw his pebbles. "Stupid! You got my rocks wet, I hope you never smile again~"

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She let out an exclamation of anger and shook more furiously. "They swimming in water yet?" She shook her head. "Plus you're intruding upon my den. Not my fault if they get wet in the process." She hoped he realized she wasn't serious. No one could really claim a waterhole as a home anyway, much less within a pride.

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"You call that damp dump a den? Ha!" Muroki stuck his tongue out at her.Going to sit by the rocks, he cooed at them as if they were cubs. "Don't worry, the mean lionness won't hurt you any more"

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"You wouldn't know a den if it came and smacked you in the face!" she hunched her shoulders and crept as close as she could to Muroki. She knew that he knew she was approaching but that didn't matter. "Rawr! No maybe not hurt them, hurt them, but I shall eat them!" She made the move to attack but stopped, suddenly becoming disinterested. Then again, she had been really immature from the start.

That immaturity had probably finally caught her brain's attention, telling her "no stop and be sensible.

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Muroki laughed and lay down, tail tip twitching. He could read body language as well as the next lion, and to be honest, the immaturity could only last so long. Adults have to be adults after all. He cleared his throat and tried a more sane smile. It seemed silly to say, but what else was there? "Well...that was fun"

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She nodded absently, a smile on her face. "Yea... yea it was." All that energy had been exerted that she just felt like sitting there, perhaps not moving much for a while. The sun was beating down and her coat was taking it in. Baking in the sun actually sounded rather inviting to her at the moment.

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That was exactly what Muroki was planning to do. The sun he worshipped had dried the rocks once before and would eventually dry out his fur. It was warm and pleasant, anyhow. But he could think what else to say.

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Laini let herself collapse onto her side with a mighty huff and stared lazily at the sky. Her mind was blissfully empty. Yes, yes she was content. Would she wander? Probably not. It was nice to feel at home, to feel welcome. And that she could bask in, just as she basked in the sun. "Thank you."

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"Hmm?" His great maned head now on his forepaws, he glanced sideway out of half closed eyes. Thankyou?

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"Thanks for giving me the chance to come here," she clarified. There were opportunities that came once in a lifetime. She was glad that she hadn't passed this one up.

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"I'm glad to have been able to offer one."


END