Stories (Hai and Kubwa)

[Zee Oddwyn]

Hai, was, as happened only on occasion, stuffed to her metaphorical gills. She'd brought down a rather large antelope in the early hours of the evening, and enjoyed a meal without being chased off by hyenas, or interrupted by vultures screeching above.

Fully sated, and feeling indulgently lazy, she'd moved a safe distance away from the carcass. Even being lazy, Hai knew that it was best to vacate the kill and find someplace safe to bed down and sleep off the meal. She'd found a flat stone, flush to the grass level, that had soaked up the sun's prodigious heat, and, as the sky deepened to black, arranged herself with a contented sigh upon it.

Overhead, the stars faded into appearance, and Hai found herself looking up at them for once, remembering old legends of Kings. Her Father had told her a good story once, she recalled, when she had been a cub. She tried to remember it, but bits and pieces of it kept slipping from her mind. She started saying the parts she remembered out loud, thinking it would help.

"It was long ago in Africa, when there was First Spider... what was his name? Kabu? No. Oh, yes, it's Kwaku Anansi. He went everywhere, throughout the world, travelling on his strong web strings - sometimes...uh, looking more like a wise old lion than a spider.
In that long-ago time, there were no stories on Earth for anyone to tell. The sky-god (did he have a name?) kept all stories to himself, up high in the sky, and locked away in a wooden box..." she paused, thinking.
 

[Basil Brett]

The sky was turning darker by the minute as the world readied itself for sleep. Everywhere, lions and cheetahs and antelopes would be settling down for rest. Deep, wonderful rest.

But not Kubwa.

No, Kubwa was having one of his insomnia bouts, and would not get any sleep on this fine night. Just like the night before. And the night before. The dark male, bored out of his skull, lumbered across the savanna instead, his pale blue orbs taking in his surroundings. Normally, he enjoyed nature, and particularly lovely nights such as this one was bound to be.

Lack of sleep, however, had made the large lion grumpy. He heaved a sigh as he walked, not for the first time that day. The Memories were plaguing his mind again, as they often did when Kubwa's mind wasn't strong enough to push them away.

He shuddered, and shook his head violently. To keep his mind off such unpleasantries, he began to sing an old song he knew. His voice died out, however, as another voice caught his ear. Curious, and with nothing better to do, Kubwa followed the voice, finding its owner to be a rather large lioness resting on a rock, reciting a story. Kubwa sat silently and listened as she stumbled through the tale.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

Hai, was completely oblivious to the stranger's presence, helped by his dark coloring and her preoccupation with the story. She continued to stumble through the story, mulling for long periods sometimes before continuing. At times, she really seemed to get into the story, standing up and acting out parts triumphantly as she remembered them.

"These Anansi wanted, um, as many creatures had before him, so that he could know the beginnings and endings of things. Yet all who had tried for the stories had returned empty-pawed.
Now Anansi climbed up his web to the sky-god, Nyame, (Yes! That's his name!) to ask for the sky-god's stories.
When the powerful sky-god saw the thin, spidery, old lion crawling up to his throne, he laughed at him, "What makes you think that you, of all creatures, can pay the price I ask for my stories?"
Spider only wanted to know, "What is the price of the stories?"

Hai rose to all four paws here, and glared down her nose at a blade of grass as she intoned the price.

"My stories have a great price, four fearsome, elusive creatures: Onini, the python that swallows lions whole; Osebo, the leopard with teeth like spears; Mmoboro, the hornets that swarm and sting; and Mmoatia, the monkey who is never seen. Bring these to me."

Bowing, the spider quietly turned and crept back down through the clouds. (I wonder how he managed that.) He meant to capture the four creatures he needed as price for the stories. He first asked his mate, uh... Aso, how he might capture Onini, the python that swallows lions whole.

She told him a plan, saying, "Go and chew off a branch of the palm tree and bring some, um, string-creeper as well. Uh, Take these to the stream where python lives."
As Anansi went to the swampy stream, carrying these things, he began arguing aloud, "This is longer than he; You lie, no; it Is true; this branch is longer and he is shorter, much shorter."
The python was listening, and asked what spider was talking about, "What are you muttering, Anansi?"

She tried adding a sibilant hiss to the Python's voice, not to great effect.

"I tell you that my wife, Aso, is a liar, for she says that you are longer than this palm branch and I say that you are not."

Onini, the python, said, "Come and place the branch next to me and we will see if she is a liar."

And so, Anansi put the palm branch next to the python's body, and saw the large snake stretch himself alongside it. Ananasi then bound the python to the branch with the string-creeper and wound it over and over until he came to the head.

Then the spider said to Onini, "Fool, I will now take you to the sky-god."
This Anansi did as he spun a web around the snake to carry him back through the clouds to the sky kingdom.

On seeing the gigantic snake, Nyame merely said, "There remains what still remains."
Spider came back to Earth to find the next creature, Osebo the leopard, with teeth like spears.

His mate, Aso, told him, "Go dig a large hole."
Anansi said, "I understand, say no more."

After following the tracks of the leopard, spider dug a very deep pit. He covered it over with the branches of the trees and came home. Returning in the very early morning, he found a large leopard lying in the pit.

"Leopard, is this how you act? You should not be prowling around at night; look at where you are! Now put your paw here, and here, and I will help you out."

The leopard put his paws up on the sticks that Anansi placed over the pit and began to climb up. Quickly, Anansi hit him over the head with a tree branch. Leopard fell back into the pit, and Anansi quickly spun the leopard to the sticks with his web string.

"Fool, I am taking you to pay for the sky-god's stories."

But the sky-god recieved the leopard saying, "What remains, still remains."


There was a long pause here as Hai struggled to remember what Anansi had done. It had been something to do with a gourd.

Um... Next the spider went looking for Mmoboro, the hornets that swarm and sting.
Spider told his mate, Aso, what he was looking for and she said, "Look for an empty gourd and fill it with... water(I think it was water)."
This spider did and he went walking through the bush until he saw a swarm of hornets hanging there in a tree. Then, he... um, he... OH! He poured out some of the water and sprinkled it all over their nest. Taking a leaf from a nearby banana tree, he held it up and covered his head. He then poured the rest of the water from the gourd all over himself (Yuck). Then while he was dripping he called out to the hornets,

"The rain has come, do you see me standing here with a leaf to cover my head? Fly inside my empty gourd so that the rain will not beat at your wings."

The hornets flew into the gourd, saying, "Thank you - hhhuuummm - Aku; thank you - hhhuuummm - Anansi." (Heh. Stupid hornets.)
Anansi stopped up the mouth of the gourd, and spinning a thick web around it, said, "Fools, I'm taking you to the sky-god as price for his stories."

The sky-god, Nyame, accepted Mmoboro, the hornets that swarm and sting, and said, "What remains, still remains."

Anansi knew very well what remained - it was the monkey, Mmoatia, who is never seen. When the spider came back to Earth, he asked Aso what to do. And so, he made a fake monkey, from grass, and mud (I think that what he used.), and covered it with sticky fluid from a tree.

Walking through the bush, he found the odum tree, where the monkeys like to play. He then pounded yams, and put some in the fake monkey's hand and even more of the yams at her feet - there by the odum tree. Anansi next hid in the bushes, with a vine creeper in his (what on earth do you call Spider paws anyway? Whatever, I'll just call them paws) paws that was also tied to the doll's neck.
It wasn't long before the monkeys came, two sisters, to play. They saw the fake monkey with the yams and asked if they could have some. Anansi made the doll's head nod, "Yes", by pulling on the string-creeper. Soon the monkeys had eaten all the eto and so, thanked the fake monkey, but the fake monkey did not reply. The fairies became angry. (How can anyone be angry when they're full? Stupid monkeys.)
One sister said, "When I thank her, she says nothing."
The other sister replied, "Then slap her in her crying place."
This the monkey did, she slapped it's cheek - "pa!" - but her paw stuck there. She slapped it with her other paw - "pa!" - and that hand stuck, too. She kicked it with both one foot, then the other, and both feet stuck to the sticky fake monkey. Finally, she pushed her stomache to it and that stuck.

Then Anansi came from his hiding place, and said, "Fool, I have got you, and now I will take you to the sky-god to buy his stories once and for all."

Anansi spun a web around the last of the four creatures and brought Mmoatia up to Nyame in the sky kingdom. The sky-god, seeing this last catch, called together all his nobles. He put it before them and told them that the spider-lion had done what no-one else had been able to do. He said in a loud voice that rang in the sky,

"From now and forever, my sky-god stories belong to you my blessing, my blessing, my blessing. We will now call these "Spider Stories"

And so, stories came to Earth because of the great cunning of Kwaku Anansi, and his mate, Aso. When Anansi brought the wooden box of stories to his home, he and his mate eagerly learned each one of them. And you can still see today that Aku and Aso tell their stories. Everywhere you look, they spin their webs for all to see.

Immensely pleased with herself, Hai flopped back onto the warm stone and mulled the story over in her head.

"I wonder why Anansi gets all the credit? It seems to me Aso, his mate came up with most of the plans." she wondered aloud, still unaware of the stranger.
 

[Zee Oddwyn]

((Quoting from AIM RP))

Quote:

Kubwa grinned, silencing his desire to laugh aloud. It had been amusing, the grown lioness belowing parts of the story, but he had to admit, she was a great storyteller. He decided to tell her as much, and prayed she didn't get angry at his 'eavesdropping'. He really was not in the mood for a fight. "You have quite a way with storytelling," he said quietly, his husky timbre slicing through the near silence. "Sorry," he added quickly. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you."

"Gah!" Hai cried at the unexpected words, jumping a bit and almost falling off her rock. Even knowing there was someone there, she was hard pressed to spot the dark male. The shock of white on his chest was really the only visible point on him. Focusing on that, she searched for, and finally found his eyes. "Woah. I really didn't notice you there. Um, thanks, I think."
She was a bit startled by the compliment. Telling stories was something she'd never really considered she had a talent for, or maybe the male was just poking subtle fun at her? Hai laid a skeptical ear back and sat down again on the rock, tail curled around her paws. "I'm Hai."  

[Zee Oddwyn]

Kubwa chuckled at her response, but quickly subdued his mirth. He didn't want to insult her. He had meant the compliment with complete honesty. He had heard many stories in his life, but it was hard to find a truly talented storyteller. This Hai showed traces of real talent. Plus she wasn't afraid to 'go big'. But she had thought she was by herself. "I'm Kubwa. I hope I didn't startle you. I heard you as I passed and I couldn't help to stop and listen. That was quite an interesting tale. I haven't heard that one before."

Hai relaxed a little since it didn't seem like Kubwa was hostile. "Well, no one said you couldn't, so it's alright. Uh, the rock is still warm, so if you want to join me up here, you can." she offered, moving over so he'd have room. She wanted a better look at him, and well, he intrigued her. She didn't know many lions, and interacting with them was a rare experience. Hai was briefly reminded of Mwovu, but her thoughts quickly turned from that pleasant memory back to the lion at hand. "My Father was fond of telling that one when I was young. It was one of my favorites, too, even though Anansi was considered to be an evil God by my pride. Well, ex-pride, anyway."

Kubwa nodded and hopped up on the rock beside her, still remaining a polite distance away. He wasn't a flirt, and didn't want to give her the wrong impression. He was a very dark colored lion, a dark purple pelt,with a black mane and tail. His inner ears and a small spot on his chest were the only spots of white. He had pale blue eyes, and some tattoos in the same color crawling on his body. ((not on his image yet)) He settled into a comfortable position as to speak and observe this lioness. "Well, it was a great tale." He wanted to ask about the ex-pride remark, but didn't want to pry.

Hai watched Kubwa cautiously as he jumped up on the rock. At this proximity, she could make out the trace work of tattoos on his body. She never really understood why lions chose to get tattoos. Even with her rather unusual coloration, it had always seemed that she'd just draw more attention to herself by attempting to cover herself with tattoos. The vulture skull necklace was attention-grabbing enough.
Hai settled down beside Kubwa. "Thanks." she replied. "It's odd how stories tend to stick with you, isn't it? Especially, ones from your childhood."

Kubwa eyed the necklace, seeing it for the first time. But his attention was snagged back by her words. He smiled warmly, his own memories starting to flood back. Unfortunately for him, however, his childhood memories weren't pleasant. Though he had a few he cherished. "Yes, indeed it is. Certain things just seem to stick with you all your days." He glanced down at the tattoo on his left arm, regarding it as one would an old acquaintance. He turned back to Hai. "Er, if you don't mind me asking, that is a rather interesting necklace you have there. He could never understood the idea of wearing bones on one's body. He figured it to be rather cumbersome and a bit... well, creepy. One should respect the dead.

Hai toyed with the skull idly with a paw, following the inside of one eye hole. "This?" she said, looking down at it. "There's an interesting story behind this, let me tell you. Almost as interesting as Anansi. Almost." she laughed. "You see, well vultures tend to think I'm dead. My coloring, well, it's unique as you can see. I was actually tossed out of my pride because of it. My pride, they're a suspicious bunch, and anything connected to death, or trickery is considered unlucky, so I was cast out. On my own, I'd get bothered by the vultures a lot." In jest, she stood out and acted out how she'd singled out the head of the Vulture flock, and made a deal with all vultures. If she left them some meat from her kills, they would leave her alone when she slept. The skull was the symbol of that pact. As long as Hai wore it, the vultures would leave her be.

Kubwa nodded, not quite knowing how to respond. THe lioness did have an odd coloring, but that was nothing that one should be shunned for. He hated it when families shunned someone for a stupid reason. He knew this feeling quite personally. But he shook away those thoughts and smiled. "A smart idea. I can see how that might help you when you're out hunting."

"Yes, it's a big help." Hai agreed, lying down. She eyed Kubwa's tattoos again, and figured turn about in this case was fair play. "Can I ask why you have those tattoos? I met a lion awhile back who also had tattoos, and I don't really understand the appeal."  

[Zee Oddwyn]

Kubwa smiled, a trace of sadness crossed his face. For the first time that night, he looked very weary. He didn't really want to answer, but he had asked about the necklace, so it was only fair that she be allowed to ask him something back. " I.... I received these when I was in a... pride a while back. They weren't really my choice to get them. I ran into some bad characters, and was accused of a crime I didn't commit. They... felt I should serve the time for it." He was surprised at himself. He usually didn't reveal that much about his past. But he hadn't said anything too painful. If anything, he felt slightly better, hearing the words aloud as they came from his mouth. "I should be grateful, really. They could be a lot worse. And they do match my eyes," he added, mirth sparkling in his pale eyes.

Hai was quiet for a second, discomfited by what Kubwa had left unsaid.
"I think you have every right to be angry about it." she said, "And I'm impressed you can laugh about it." She chuckled. "You're right about how they go with your eyes, though." Hai was interrupted by a humongous yawn. She blinked in surprised. "Huh. I think my body is trying to tell me something."

Kubwa chuckled. "You're right. But if you can't laugh at your troubles, then they will just overwhelm you. And I apologize. It is rather late, and I have kept you up. I feel that I might actually get some sleep as well." He stood and stretched, his large dark body protesting at the movement. He shook out his mane and smiled. "I will leave you to your rest then. I hope we meet again. I'd like to hear another of your stories." With that, he nodded, and grinning, hopped down from the rock and sauntered off, the tale she had told weaving itself through his head.