AIM RP: Memetuka and Akida
Memetuka was out for a walk, thought she was sticking near the center of the Pridelands. She was still unnerved by her meeting with Abedari, she didn't want to risk running into him again so she was sticking where she was certain he would not be. With nothing else immediately needing to occupy her time, she thought that perhaps a little walk to Pride Rock might be a good way to spend some of her time. She hadn't really spoken with her niece since she joined, with her own grandchildren growing so fast she only wondered how much the little princess had grown as well. Thinking of it made her smile, so that was the direction she went.
Akida started off his morning like most days; a nice stretch in the warm sun. As he exited the den happily, he basked in the warmth the sun radiated. Purring, the young adult made his way down the path from Pride Rock and towards the grasses. His stomach growled lightly, as it was obvious that he needed a little breakfast to pull him over for the morning. Then he could really find something huge for dinner! He darted into the grasses, his head sticking out slightly. Licking his lips, Akida headed towards a field mouse with much entusiasm.
It wasn't long before he captured his prey and was soon bounding on his way back to the den, with the creature in his maw. He wasn't nearly as good as the lionesses, but he could manage a few small things here and there. After all, mommy didn't teach him to hunt for a living! He only kept his manners and leading thoughts deep in his mind. He was hoping to go off early in the afternoon and take a little scope around the lands.
Nearing Pride Rock, Memetuka paused a moment to look ahead to determine if anyone seemed to be out and about this morning. There was the usual hustle and bustle of the well populated lands, but nearer by was a somewhat familiar looking figure that looked to be heading the same way as the older lioness. So far she'd not gone wrong wandering around and talking to those she met, the only undesirable lion she'd met was in fact her former mate and he was nearer the rogue lands than they were now. She was always being reminded of how friendly everyone was in the pride, and how she truly need not worry about talking to anyone. She paused, wondering if she should wait and see who it was. There was much time in the day still, she could take her time going to see anyone on Pride Rock.
As he approached the path back towards the den, Akida twitched. Was someone following him? Curiously, the male turned around and looked behind himself. He saw a figure, but couldn't make out very much what it was. Tilting his head, he waited for the lion to approach him. "Is there any reason your visiting the royal dens so closely? Most of the members of the pride don't usually come this close without having a real reason. Though, I guess curiosity gets the better of some of the members. So, what brings you here...?" He squinted as the figure came into view; a lioness. Hmm. She looked familiar, and very similar to the colours of the whole royal family.
Memetuka wasn't too surprised to find that this lion was heading for the royal dens, he looked familiar and soon she realized why. He had to be one of Kami's children, he was very similar in color to Sarakiva. There was no denying it when he stopped and she was given a chance to catch up, and she was not at all surprised to be asked who she was. She wasn't terribly well known, and she was more than happy to stay like that. She was very dedicated to her family, but she wasn't entirely sure how to approach many of them. She'd been preoccupied with her daughter, grandcubs and the incident with her former mate lately, as well.
"I was coming to visit with the queen," she answered honestly, introducing herself and daring to be a bit less than formal, "I'm Memetuka, and I'd be surprised if you weren't one of the royal bunch."
"Ah, I see. Well, nothing wrong with that, then." Akida smiled warmly and dropped his meal to the ground. "Oh, you want to visit mother? Makes sense." Nodding, the male turned and looked towards the dens proudly. "Of course i'm the son of Kami, Akida. My sister Sarakiva is my twin." He pointed towards the dens with a smile and picked up his meal. "Follow me, i'll take you up to the dens."
Meme was not surprised by the warm reception, and was only surprised to hear that Sarakiva was his twin by the fact that they'd obviously grown up a great deal since she'd last seen Sarakiva. It was almost sad to know how fast they grew up, but at the same time it was amazing to see. She followed after him, wondering if she should better introduce herself- explain who she really was- but that could wait until they were stopped and he didn't have to carry his prey again.
Akida led the lioness up the path to the dens slowly, his small meal dangling from his jaws. The taste lingered in his mouth, which wanted to eat it more and more. But, he could wait! That was the proper thing to do. He noticed that the lioness didn't seem very happy, like the rest of the members. He mumbled lightly as he looked back to speak to Meme. "Is ... something the matter, Memetuka?"
Soon, they reached the top and Akida placed his meal at the den's opening with a smile. "I'll eat it later." He turned to look at Meme. "So, I know your here to see mother, but have any other reasons? I mean ... where are you from? I've never met you before."
She smiled at him when they stopped and he placed the food aside, shaking her head when he asked if something was the matter. She never meant to come off sad or upset, but sometimes it seemed like she was incapable of being in a stable state. She was slowly letting herself become less paranoid about Abedari, and she was trying to get back to the calm and happy life she was beginning to enjoy more and more. This visit was meant to help that, to make her smile again. A perceptive and caring nephew was never bad news.
"No, I've been rather shy you could say," she excused herself from having met him before, though she felt she should have, "I'm actually.. your great aunt. Your grandmother, Sarabi.. she was my sister."
When she mentioned she was being shy, he become confused. Once she spoke of her relation to the young male, he paused. "Wait, I have a great aunt?" It seems so illogical. Mother never spoke of her aunt, or that Sarabi had a sister. "Wow, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Shocked, he felt the need ... to ... hug his great aunt. "I didn't know I had an aunt! This is a great day, indeed! I'm so happy to meet you, and get to know about you." Purring with excitement, he led Meme into the dens. "Oh my, this is so neat! The thought of having an aunt never crossed my mind!" He seemed to ramble on forever, it seemed.
His rather excited reaction made her smile, to say the least. She wasn't too surprised to know she hadn't really been mentioned a great deal, she truly should have come and visited more often. She had a feeling it would be impossible to meet all of her neices and nephews, surely the family had grown incredibly since she was young. But this bit of her family, she was sure she could easily spend some more time with them. Truthfully, she should already have told Shiri about them, and the cubs. She was sure they would be interested, would want to meet their cousins.
"I'm very happy to finally meet you, too," she said, "I met Sarakiva, but she was much smaller than you are now. I should have come around more."
"Ah, really? Sarakiva never mentioned anything to me about having a great aunt ... " Frowning, he felt a little out of the loop. "Hmm, well ... heres the dens. I'm sure you've been here, correct?" His smile returned once he asked her. "Well, either way, it seems like ..." He peered around in the den, confused. It seems like everyone went off and wasn't around. "Weird, some of them were here, earlier. Guess they all went off and did their own thing." He plopped down on his behind and yawned. "If you'd like, you can rest here in the shade until they return. We can stay up here and chat. Theres so much i'd like to know about you!" He grinned.
Meme took a look around curiously, noting the odd fact that no one was around. Such a large family, you would expect someone to be, but the day was young and there was plenty to do on the beautiful days. She took a seat when she was invited to stick around and chat, happy to do so. "I'd like to know more about you as well, Akida," she said, "I don't mind waiting for others to come back, I could have worse company."
"Ah, really?" Smiling, he looked towards the opening with a wide smile. "Well, i'm obviously Akida, my parents are Ta and Kami. I have lots of other siblings. Safuma, Simi, Sarakiva, Alphons, Semine, Mzuma, Illuae, and Matlai. We live here on Pride Rock together. I also have a very special friend from the Graveyard lions; Nerissa. Shes a very nice lioness, and we've known each other since we were cubs. Mother insisted on me getting to know her more. I ... kinda like her, a lot." He blushed lightly, as he plopped onto his side and looked at his aunt. "So, what has gone on with you lately, Aunt Memetuka?"
"That is a lot of siblings!" Meme commented, already knowing a bit about the royal family from simple observation or word around the Pridelands. She had only yet to truly introduce herself to them. She tried her best to listen to all of the names, but all of the S-names along threw her off, and with such big numbers.. well, it would be impossible to learn and remember all in one go. When Akida mentioned his special friend from the graveyard, Meme could help but smile knowingly at him. She wasn't at all surprised to hear him say he liked her, and blush. It was rather adorable. And it seemed only fair when he finished that she tell him a bit about herself as well. She hadn't even confessed she had a daughter to Kami, yet- nor did Shiri know about her maternal family. Akida would be the very first to know!
"I've been living rather happily, though not so quietly, with my daughter, her mate and their cubs," she explained with a smile, "Shiri is my daughter, and my grandcubs are Hodari, Angavu, Dakarai and Jasiri. Poor Angavu is the only girl, but she's probably one of the more.. defiant of the bunch. I haven't yet mentioned their relationship to you lot, but I'm sure they'd love to meet you."
"Oh, you have a daughter and grandcubs? Oh wow! Very neat! So, I have cousins? How old are they?" He felt like a broken record, just shooting millions of questions out from his mouth. Figured better ask now while he still had the chance to speak one on one with her, himself. "Thats so neat. I'd love to meet them, as well. I have many relatives, but ... thats because the family is just so very large to begin with. But, thats so neat that I have cousins from someone other than my grandmother." He was learning more and more of the great pridelands everyday. Almost all of the families in the lands somehow linked to the main one, since even Kami had many siblings, and they all went their seperate ways. And soon, Akida and his siblings would be going off and starting families -- and extending even more onto the ever growing circle of life in these great lands.
Meme was not entirely sure how well Akida would be at figuring out things from ages, but she saw no harm in answering the questions. So far she was still rather reluctant to let on how young she had been when she had had Shiri even though Shiri had forgiven her and it really made no difference to anyone else, except for Abedari who had no right to be upset with her, having left their daughter on her own. She didn't mind the questions at all, and laughed when he mentioned how large the family was. She was not surprised at all.
"Shiri is an adult, older than you are, probably closer to your mother in age, or a bit older," she said, "The cubs, though.. they're still quite young. Seems they have a neverending amount of energy, always wanting to do something exciting. Hard not to witness something like that in a place like this, so many cubs running around. It's such a wonder to live in a place where you can feel comfortable letting the cubs be cubs, someone is always around."
"Yeah, its such an amazing sight, isn't it? I love these lands for it. Our children roam free in the safety of our great lands with no fear in their hearts. Just as it should be. Which is why I was planning on scouting later today. I like to make sure that the borders are clear, and the cubs and families are safe. Mother taught me the way of the leading, and I intend very much so to follow it." He nodded firmly, and smilied at the thought of his cousins. So, wow, they were younger than him? I guess it somewhat made sense. I mean, whose to say when and why others decide to have cubs. He for one couldn't dictate it, so he left it to the females to decide. He did very much respect them for taking such great roles and raising such huge litters of joy and fluff. After all, the cubs were the next generation to follow. He needed to respect them for that alone. "Nothing wrong with that, i'm sure Shiri had her reasons for waiting; I know mother did and she ended up having more than she could bargain for!"
"Mhmm!" she agreed wholeheartedly, fully understanding now why she had never really been able to leave- and why she never really should have tried. This was her home, and it should always have been. Things could have been quite different if instead of leaving to be with Abedari he had come and lived with them.
"I'm sure!" Meme laughed, "We have fun with just four of them, and they don't outnumber us nearly as much. Though I'm not always responsible for them, part of being the grandparent instead of the parent." Then suddenly something occurred to her. With their last little adventure cut short byt the meeting with Abedari, Meme had promised to go another time with Angavu- in exchange for her silence on the meeting with the strange lion. The poor girl was probably looking for her at that very moment! With an apologetic smile, she got to her feet.
"I'm terribly sorry, Akida! I forgot I promised Angavu that I would go somewhere with her today," she said, "She's been trying to surprise me for days. Please tell your mother I dropped by, I may come by to visit again shortly." The lioness smiled at her nephew, and started out from the den. At least now he could enjoy his meal.
"It was nice to chat with you!"
Fin!
