[PRP] No More Mystery [Hari + Nsundu + Waseme] - FIN

[Hopefolly]

Waseme did not stop moving at her mothers request. If anything hearing her voice caused the cub to panic and flail around even more. When Nsundu pulled on the gourd Waseme's entire body slung around and went flying out of the drum and across the landscape, landing with a thud. She sniffled, not out of pain but dissapointment, and waited for her mother to give her the 'Are you okay?'

She never did.

"I HATE YOU!" Waseme wailed as loud as her little lungs could. "I HATE YOU! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR STUPID DRUMS AND YOUR STUPID HEIR! I HATE YOU!" The second born turned tail and fleed, leaving a wide-eyed Hari in her wake.

When Nsundu looked at her, however long that was, she shrugged gently. "Kids."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nsundu gave a sigh of relief when the gourd came free, gently setting it down again. The damage had been done to the skin on top, but it was otherwise okay. She gave Waseme a quick glance to make sure that she wasn't bleeding or anything obvious, before turning her attention to the ruined circle. It didn't look like they could salvage that many of the drums. Oooh, this was going to take weeks of finding more gourds and teeth and getting the skin to put across and –

What? Nsundu turned and stared blankly at Waseme when she started yelling. What was this all about? She wasn't even a teenager, why was she going on and on about hating things? This was just... weird. It figured that she got one cub devoid of emotion, and the other an emotional hot wire. Sigh. Well, Waseme could go and do what she wanted. She would be back. If not, she would go to Sen, where Nsundu knew she'd be safe. Oh well.

After she managed to pick up the pieces of her drum circle and arrange the remains neatly in a pile, Nsundu turned her attention back to Hari. At the shrug, she simply shrugged in return. "I can't force her to understand Rhythm. If she doesn't want to accept being part of this community then she's better off with Sen." The lioness moved to a nearby drum, indicating with her head for Hari to follow. "Now I doubt you've ever seen or used a drum before, so it'll probably feel a little weird. But I want you to sit like this," she demonstrated, "And lift you paws up and hit the drum. You don't have to hit it hard, just hard enough to make a sound."  

[Hopefolly]

Hari looked the direction the cub had ran, taking note for later. Was this truly how her mother treated her all the time? Had all that rambling about her being shunned in this pride on the way here been more than just the rantings of a jealous cub? Hari decided then that fate itself must be on her side.

"She'll find a place she belongs soon, I'm sure." Sooner than they thought. She wouldn't even have to find it, Hari would bring it to her. She wouldn't just belong in the plan, she'd be the perfect fill-in for a certain role she was still lacking a puppet for. It would just take a little push...

Later. If she went now, it'd be too suspicious. Besides, she did need to learn this for Sen, otherwise she might start thinking more than Hari needed her to. Patience was key.

She mimiced Nsundu and adjusted with the awkward way of sitting. Her paw lifted and struck the drum gently as Nsundu instructed. In the back of her mind she was rolling her eyes and thinking Sen had been right for once. This pride was off their rocker.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nsundu nodded absently at Hari's reassurance, having already convinced herself that Waseme would be fine. Whether it was because Nsundu's own mother had ditched her early on or whether she just wasn't good at it, the lioness certainly wasn't very motherly. Most would have run after their cub to comfort her, to make sure that she wasn't jealous of her older sister and that she was really alright. It may have been Nsundu's strange way of letting Waseme be independent. It might have just been that Nsundu wouldn't know what to do with someone who wasn't like her. Whatever the reason, it would have only ended in disaster of Nsundu went after her daughter. Perhaps it was better for her to just stay here with Hari.

"Good, very nice," The lioness praised, hoping that she was sounding like Isi. In reality, the very fact that someone would just sit at a drum and not be inspired by Rhythm was very weird to Nsundu. Thus, teaching those who had never felt Rhythm wasn't really her thing, but she would do it anyways. For Hari's sake. "Now, I want you to close your eyes, and let your paws go. Just do the first thing that comes to your mind. It might feel weird, or you might feel a bit stupid, but that's fine. Feel like you're part of something bigger, but you're different at the same time, you know?"  

[Hopefolly]

"More than you might think." Hari breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. Her paws moved slowly at first. It was a simply and repitive beat that branched off into something more original. It was imperfect, not near as good as she was willing to bet someone in the pride could produce, yet it was meaningful.

She could only hope the 'music' she was making was loud enough to echo around the mountains. There was no logical reason why it would, but perhaps She would know who the source of the noise was.

I'll break you out. We'll take both of them down. For good this time. My mother won't get away with this. You'll see.

Oh, she felt it alright. It wasn't rhythme, it was revenge.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nsundu moved away from Hari, giving the lioness her space. She needed to feel the Rhythm, not feel the lioness breathing over her shoulder. The drum beat that came out was fairly simple at the start, but then again, Nsundu wasn't expecting anything amazing. This was a lioness from Sen's pride, who had probably never heard of Rhythm before in her life, and didn't know what to do.

Then, it progressed into something different and definitely much better. With a wide grin, Nsundu picked up the beat and began to move with it. No complicated dance moves, as you weren't supposed to outshine the drummer. It was quite simple, adding her own paw beats to the sounds that Hari was making on her drum. "Mmm... very nice... interesting feel to it," Nsundu murmured under her breath, letting Hari continue for as long as she liked. There would be no time limit to this lesson.  

[Hopefolly]

A moment more and the music stopped. Hari moved back and sat the more natural way for a lion, stretching out her front paws one at a time. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

Her claws dug into the Earth and she felt a small tremor flash across the ground. The direction it came from... Hari's eyes flickered back to the moutain, very briefly. Had she heard?

"This is an interesting tradition you have. I'm sure I'll be able to make Sen understand it more when I return."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

The young lioness stopped when the music stopped, ending it with a rather definitive stomp with both feet. Nsundu had enjoyed the music, however it had been a bit... creepy, for lack of a better word. There was definitely a difference between the kind of music her pride produced and the kind that Hari produced. It sounded weird to her, but she decided that it must be because Hari was from a different pride. Perhaps they weren't as free and excitable over in Sen's pride. That would explain the plainness and lack of excitement in the drum beat.

"You think so?" Nsundu asked, unable to hide a grin. "I'd like her to try this too, even if she thinks it's weird." She was curious as to what kind of beat Sen would produce. It was something very personal and close to her heart. The fact that she had shared it with Hari meant that she trusted her, even if it was just because she was Sen's friend. Regardless, it made Nsundu happy that Hari had participated without laughing. It meant a lot.

"Uh... well, we just kind of chill the rest of the day, so you can come with me to collect rocks and shells for jewellery, or you can wander around. It's up to you." Nsundu shrugged her shoulders, before heading off back in the direction of Lake Victoria. She had rocks to collect!