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 Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:50 pm
As she made her little toe markings really shine, Intombi's thoughts roamed over possible home improvement plans. It hadn't even occurred to her that she had begun calling Habu's den 'home'. Originally, the plan had been for her to stay here for a while until she found her own place, but she was slowly forgetting that little part of the deal. Now, she referred to this place as their den, not his den. And now that Riko was here, it was a collective their den. For the first time since she was a cub, Intombi was beginning to feel like she really had a home.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:44 pm
Of the males living in the den, Habu appeared to be the first to wake up. He was feeling all right, especially since it seemed more and more like Riko would be OK, though he was considerably less enthusiastic and rough than he had been before. He had lost his best friend, though, it was understandable. Habu had to resist the urge to tell his uncle that he was a seer, that he had seen that she would be OK.. but since Kiwi's disappearance he had not had any visions of her, though he had hoped and tried to induce such visions. Of course, it had only been a couple of days.
He emerged from the den, eager for some fresh air and the morning light, to find Intombi enjoying it herself while grooming, looking very focused but also very happy.
"Good morning," he greeted her, stretching a bit and finding a nice sunny spot to sit down in.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:03 pm
Mid-groom, Intombi tossed her head over her shoulder to look at the stretching male. She smiled wider, glad to have some company. Especially his company. "Morning, Habu." She watched him move to a spot in the warmth and then went back to licking her little toe markings. Though she had grown to just groom when she was alone, she was comfortable enough with Habu that she went ahead with it anyway. Besides, she had no need to impress him with manners.
After a few more licks, though, and she suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Did I tell you about that cub I met the other day?" She shifted her weight a little so to face him directly. Ua had been such a doll, Intombi was a little surprised she hadn't said anything yet. It had taken her a little while to get the hang of dealing with cubs, but after she got into the whole imaginary world the youngster had created, she had a great time. Even if she didn't have imaginary foes as a young cub, she thought it was absolutely adorable
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:09 pm
Distracted by the situation with Mafuriko, Habu had completely forgotten to tell Intombi about when he too had met Ua. He hadn't even mentioned it to Riko, and certainly had not to his father. Wahabu was just taking a good look around to see how active things were in the Pridelands this morning when Intombi suddenly spoke up, and he looked over to her.
"No," he blinked, then smiled, "Go on.."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:42 pm
Intombi settled in for a nice little chat, wiggling a little to nestle into the dirt. She had every intention of keeping Habu there for a talk for at least until it got too hot to be in the sun. "Well, she was absolutely adorable! A little green girl with a bit of yellow and black. Said it was warrior paint from another life." Intombi couldn't help but giggle at the thought of that. "We decided I could've been a flower in a past life. What do you think of that?" She looked up at Habu expectantly, waiting for a comment or something from him before she would continue telling her story.
Ua had been such an adventurous little cub. Except, adventurous in the imaginary sort of way. When Intombi had been a cub, she had been pretty active in the rogue lands. She'd been exploring, met a leopard, a wild dog... watched said leopardess take down a zebra. It was still amazing to her how tight a rein Pridelander mothers seemed to keep on their little ones. Her own mom had let her run all over tarnation. When she was a mom herself (it had only been recently that Intombi had referred to that as when and not if), she was positive her own little ones would be just as free to run around as she had been. It'd yet to occur to her that there were some good reasons to keeping cubs closer to home.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:47 pm
Habu liked cubs, he always had- well, except for Kilango, but he still didn't care a great deal for her as an adult. He'd had fun when his aunt and uncles were young, not to mention when one of the young princesses had followed him around. He'd hardly entertained the idea of having his own, though he of course wanted his own family someday. He listened keenly as she described a very familiar cub, and immediately he smiled smugly.
"Was it Uabutani that you met?" he asked, still smiling, "A flower sounds much more suitable than a warrior for you.." It sounded rather like Ua to him, based on physical description and whatever game they had played that could lead to declaring Intombi a flower.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:12 pm
Intombi pushed off the ground a little, but only for a moment. She quickly sunk back in, though she was still excited. "Yes! How'd you know? Have you met?" She wiggled her front toes in front of her, liking the idea of Ua having met Habu for some reason. She had just been so darn adorable, Intombi had practically wanted to take her home. She smiled smugly at the idea of being a flower, but it quickly faded. She wasn't one to think much of past lives or anything fantastical like that. Heck, just the idea of seers and gods had jogged her logic.
"I think a feather fits you. I bet Ua'd agree." She smirked a little. Half of her reasoning was the feather she had seen him with the first time she'd stumbled along this den. The other bit... well, it made sense in her mind, at least. Feathers were soft and floated along gentley. Habu was gentle and easy going, at least in her opinion. Plus, she thought feathers could be awfully pretty, and Habu was a handsome lion. It worked out.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:20 pm
Habu smiled at her, laughing at the feather suggestion before shrugging.
"We'll have to ask her sometime," he said, suddenly a little happier knowing he had a niece. He might not care much for Kilango, or rather.. he tried not to think about her too much, but he really did enjoy meeting Ua. She was very nice, which was almost a surprise.
"Ua is my niece, I met her a little while ago," he explained, "I'm pretty sure she's my sister's daughter."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:27 pm
Riko had just woken up, and after stretching and loitering by the mouth of the den so as not to interrupt their conversation, he couldn't stay hidden any longer. He hadn't pested Habu about having a girl living with him, he hadn't bother Intombi about it either, but hearing that Habu was an uncle.. well, that was almost impossible for the proud uncle in Riko to ignore. So he emerged from the den with a grin on his face, looking much more cheerful than he had in a while.
"You're an uncle?" Riko asked.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:39 pm
Intombi's eyes widened somewhat. She had found it so odd that her conversation with Ua had linked back to Habu, at least in her own mind. And here he was, telling her that there really was a link? And she had thought it to be some crazy coincidence. "Really? I thought you're sister wasn't... nice." She remembered Habu not liking her sister coming back. Yet, Ua had explained a pretty okay mom to Intombi. "She's really a cutie. Good genes." She winked, but quickly went on. "I played a little game with her. We hid from 'monsters'."
Just then, she looked up to see Riko. "Morning!" Her smile was bright. She really did like Riko, and she liked that Habu was close to him. Even her she had no idea if she had any aunts or uncles, the idea of more distant family sticking together was sort of cute. The whole idea of family sticking together in general was cute. It was like one of those stories you tell to cubs to help them fall asleep on a bad night. "Did'ya sleep well?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:49 pm
Habu glanced over at Riko when he emerged, asking about him being an uncle now too, and he grinned at Riko. He should have mentioned it soon, Riko would certainly enjoy this news- and it was much brighter than worrying just about Kiwi, anyway. His gaze returned to Intombi when she mentioned his sister, which caused him to frown.
"Well, Kilango isn't my favorite lioness, but she's exactly like who Ua described," as Habu continued, he glanced over to Riko, "Besides, the gold on her looked just like my grandmother's, like Riko's mother.. I couldn't tell Ua that I don't like her mother, but she is a very cute little cub."
Intombi asking about Kilango reminded Riko about how Wahabu had mentioned it before. Mafuriko had been much too concerned with the idea of Habu having a niece that he didn't even think about that. He listened to Habu's description and nodded along with it.
"Morning, Intombi," he replied, taking a seat and making them into an awkwardly shaped triangle, "I guess, how about you?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:07 pm
Intombi cocked a brow at Habu, unsure what to think next. Ua had described a pretty okay lioness, but Habu really didn't like her. Without actually knowing her, Intombi wasn't sure which opinion she should adopt, if any at all. She wondered absently if anybody thought badly of her own mother, though she doubted it greatly. Nelu hadn't seemed like the type to get on anyone's bad side. Really, though, Intombi had no idea what kind of life her mom had lived before she came along. Now that they were seperated, she might not ever know.
"Well, I'll just... go along with you on this one, I guess. Most little girls like their mommies, right?" She smiled sweetly, shifting a little to face both Riko and Habu now. "Oh, pretty okay, thanks." She nodded to the younger male pleasantly. "Habu, how big is this family of yours, anyway? Honestly, I don't know what my grandma looks like. It's kind of neat that you know about yours." Then again, his grandma was Riko's mom, and he knew Riko plenty well. That could be the reason, maybe? Of course, that didn't really make any sense. Intombi didn't meet the mohers of anyone she was close to, or at least she hadn't yet.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:22 pm
Habu's opinion of Kilango was somewhat confused at the moment, having run into her in a very weepy reunion where she claimed to be a different lioness now, saying she felt so bad about the things she had done.. he had a hard time believing that the little girl that had almost killed him could change that much. When Intombi suddenly said that most little girls like their mothers, he snorted back a laugh- mostly because she was saying that about Ua, and during a conversation about Kilango. It was definitely not the case with his sister.
"Most, perhaps," he answered, "Not Kilango. She hated our mother, I never could figure out why. Kilango just never made sense to me, and she never did like mama no matter what she did to try to make it up to her."
He shook his head thinking about that and how much is had distressed his mother. Then Intombi asked about the family, which was a happier subject and he glanced over to see if Riko wanted to answer some of this.
Riko smiled at Intombi, and looked back to Habu as he described how Kilango had hated their mother. He would never understand this sister of Habu's, especially where he had loved his own sister so very much.. no matter what happened, even if he met Kilango and she was the nicest lioness ever.. Riko doubted very much his opinion would change, and he was a very stubborn lion.
When asked about the family, he nodded to Habu when he glanced over to him.
"Well, my mom and dad have five of us- had five of us," he started, helping out to list as many as he could, "Varuna, me, Kialio, Merik and Kiwi. Mom had cubs with someone else before us, too, which was Habu's dad and I think two girls.."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:45 pm
Intombi had never met a young cub that hated their mother. The idea of a sibling rivalry was easier to work her mind around, even though it had never happened to her. "Why on earth would she hate her mother? What could a mom possibley do to make their kid hate them?" She widened her eyes a little, still not sure what to think of this. When she had cubs, what would they think of her, anyway? WHenever she pictured having babies, she never really worked in names, personalities, quirks... It was always just a happy picture of her with two cubs smiling. That was it. Two cubs seemed like the perfect litter size. Or even one, maybe. Small litters were easy to take care of, right? Her mom had done fine with just two of them. Larger litters seemed just impossible.
Not liking the idea of mother-haters, Intombi was more than happy to switch to a happier family topic. "Five of you? Wow. Must've been crazy!" She could picture all five cubs running around the den and then running out for the day to get away from the madness. "Hmm... And you guys all know eachother pretty well, huh? That's so cute." She smiled at the males, trying to picture them with a large group of similar looking lions.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:03 pm
Habu merely shrugged when asked why a cub might hate their mother, for surely he did not know what had made Kilango hate their mother. He couldn't even do it now that she had abandoned him, though he wondered why. He too was more than happy to continue with the conversation.
"Then, of course, there's bibi's sister," he continued the list, "I don't know if Riko met her, but I met her and her mate. They didn't stay long, as far as I know. One of dad's sister's had cubs, three I think. Then there's Kilango and I, and I think Ua said she had some brothers.."
Riko was happiest on the topic of family as well, and even he was learning something when Habu continued on the list. So Kizamaji did have at least one sister, with cubs- he was an uncle more times than he realized! This made him a little happier, though of course it all reminded him of how Kiwi was not there, because to him she was his most important family.
"I guess," he agreed when Intombi asked how well they all knew each other, "I knew Kiwi best, but she's gone." He frowned. The conversation had turned on them.
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