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 Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:53 pm
Kitambi yawned widely when she awoke, having spent the night curled up in the shadow of a large tree. The sun was just beginning to rise, the light breaking the shadows around her and causing her to open her eyes. Her first night away from home. It really was rather exciting. The world was quite different from how she had originally imagined it, though she hadn't yet decided if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Luckily, her first night had been uneventful, and so she could get up and start the day without any worries.
It felt weird not to welcome the sun as it rose, and before the young lioness knew it her feet had already begun her morning dance. With no drum, it was hard to get a decent rhythm on the ground, but the sound resonated enough. There was nobody to sing with, so Kitambi settled for humming quietly to herself, as she beat out her rhythm to welcome in the morning. Even this far from home she could not forget her customs.
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 12:36 am
 Amadi had gotten an early start that particular morning, having been unable to sleep well the night before. It was, no doubt, because of the fact that he hadn't been so lucky with finding a safe enough place to sleep. He did manage to find a rock to sleep beside, hoping the shadow cast by the moonlight would be enough to hide his bright yellow pelt. However, it wasn't enough to reassure him and allow him a good sleep...so..there he'd been, a good few hours before daybreak when he woke up.
It was morning now, the sun beginning to slowly rise to its highest point in the sky. It was nowhere near at the moment, so he was hoping to find shade before then. Without any food or water he'd surely die under the heat of the afternoon sun. The juve sighed, rather depressed.
Why? Why did he have to go and explore that stupid oasis? If it hadn't been for those stray hyenas, he'd be lying in the shade of what he'd deemed his home among the stones now several days behind him. Damn his curiosity..
And Amadi would've wallowed in those thoughts for some time, had it not been for the very interesting scene he was now witnessing. Ruby red eyes caught sight of a brown lioness....dancing? He approached quietly and cautiously, his (damned) curiosity once more getting the better of him.
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:15 pm
The approach of the yellow leopon didn't go unnoticed by Kitambi. It was hard not to notice him, his yellow fur standing out very brightly between the pale beige blades of grass. But her dance was not to be interrupted, and for now she let the observer be. He could watch. Being watched wouldn't disturb her welcoming of the morning. After all, everybody watched everybody else back home. That was how you learned how to dance and beat out rhythms on both the ground and the drums.
The young lioness continued her dance, paws beating against the ground as she moved to some unseen music. After a final two-beat with her paws, she stilled, and turned her brown eyes to the leopon. He resembled Binafsi's children in both shape and size, though his colouration was quite different from the earthy colours she was used to back home. He looked young though, far too young to be out here all by himself. She tilted her head at him, ears swiveling forward as she asked, "Are you lost?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:55 am
What a sight! The lioness had probably seen him by now, as he was too entranced by her steps and movements to really care whether or not she noticed him. The juve had slowly moved in closer as she continued, but not too close - just close enough to watch the dance properly, eyes taking in every step. When the lioness had finished Amadi was replaying the scene in his mind again and again until...she said something, and he snapped back to. And though she asked him a particular question about his situation, he couldn't help but to steer the conversation in a totally different direction.
"That was incredible!!" he said, excitement very evident in his voice. "Where'd you learn that? That was so cool! D'you think I could learn it too? Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase??" Amadi, at this point, was directly in front of the lioness, pleading eyes looking up at her...hopeful.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:38 pm
The excitement took Kitambi by surprised, and for a moment she was quite taken aback by this young leopon. She had been expecting questions, for sure, but not this. Most of the creatures she had met had regarded her with interest when they watched her move, but they had never asked her to teach them about it, nor had they ever sounded eager to learn. They had merely been curious about her 'strange behaviour' as she was sure they saw it. It was nice to have finally met another who could potentially sure the same passion about rhythm as those in her pride did. Perhaps a little bit of home had come out to meet her on her journey.
Though she did not smile, the young lioness's posture indicated that she was quite open to the leopon's questions now that she had gotten over her surprise. "I learned it from my mother, and my mother from my pride. And anyone can learn it, so long as they hear music. Do you know what rhythm is?" Rhythm was key in learning how to do what she had just done.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:47 pm
Amadi's smile widened when she answered his questions, and even more-so at the thought of learning to do what she just did. It wouldn't be long, he thought, until he too would be dancing as she had done. And his mind was reeling, thoughts of an entire pride doing the same movements, and his mind flew to thoughts of other steps that he would likely learn if he became a part of this pride. It was all...very exhausting, and after a moment of thinking these happy thoughts the leopon found his body weakening already. He couldn't keep himself from yawning, at which point he promptly apologized and thought about her question.
"Rhythm? I've never heard of it...is it important?" he asked, a bit of doubt entering his mind. Did he need it? Was it something she was wearing? His ruby red eyes wandered to her trinkets and such, curiosity filling him and wiping the exhaustion from his mind (not his body, and he had to force back another yawn).
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:02 pm
Was he tired? Kitambi studied the youngster quietly for a moment while he gathered his wits. He looked too young to be out on his own. Hopefully his family was nearby. She didn't much like the thought of a leopon so young wandering on his own. Anything truly dangerous tended to be wary of her, her numerous trinkets and bracelets creating enough noise to ward them off. Even without the noise, she was a lioness, and that it itself was good enough to deserve respect. Though young, she was not young enough that she couldn't pose a potential problem for anyone who thought they could get the better of her. The same couldn't be said about this leopon. Poor kid.
"It's very important if you want to learn how to dance or sing," she replied easily, still watching him. "It's the basis of everything. If you don't embrace rhythm then you can't do anything. Everyone has some sort of rhythm though, you just have to know where to look for it. Have you ever stomped your feet, for instance?" She demonstrated, the sound not near as impressive as her pride's drums but loud enough to make a point. "That's rhythm."
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:50 pm
Stomped his feet? Sure, he did that all the time. Whenever he was angry or upset he'd do that, though no one was ever there to pay any attention to his pouting. He never realized that it was essential for something like singing, which he did on occasion to lull himself to sleep on restless nights. And...he'd never heard of dancing, let alone seen it, until now. The leopon's smile widened when she said that his first was to embrace rhythm because he was fairly confident that at least that much he could do.
"Sure!" he answered excitedly, demonstrating his ability by beating a short rhythm into the dirt. "I do it whenever I'm not in a good mood...I didn't think it'd be important for anything though." Amadi stomped his paw again, listening to the familiar, yet strange sound, now that he saw it in a bit of a new light. "That's so cool.."
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:05 am
Kitambi watched him quietly as he stomped, her expression changing from neutral to somewhat pleasant. Getting the lioness to express any sort of facial expression was always a challenge, but it was safe to say that she was quite pleased with the leopon that she had found. It was the first youth that she had met in a long time who demonstrated a talent in music without being taught (or so she assumed, since he didn’t seem to realize the significance of what he was doing). She had always believed that there must be other musicians out in the world, that her pride was not the only place where felines embraced their inner rhythm, and she was proud to say that she had been correct.
“Beating out a rhythm is the first step to everything. You stomp when you’re angry, but you can also stomp when you’re pleased or have something to express. Rhythm can take all sorts of different beats depending on how the feline is feeling. It can be upbeat if you’re happy, heavy if you’re trying to be serious or angry, or even sad when you’re remembering someone who has died.” Her bracelets clinked together as she shifted. “Can you show me a happy beat? Or something other than an angry beat?”
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:52 pm
Amadi took in everything she said, making sure to take in all the information she was giving him so he could start learning immediately. He had a feeling he'd be a bit late considering he was already a juve and he assumed that others from her pride started learning about rhythm when they were still cubs. He'd have a bit of catching up to do, if that was the case.
Her last request caused the juve to tilt his head a bit, trying to wrap his mind around the idea of stomping a beat that wasn't angry. He'd never thought about it before, actually, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that it was very possible indeed, and all he had to do was try. So, without another thought Amadi tried to stomp a happy beat.
He stomped the ground in a different beat, a bit more upbeat with a few taps in between the notable stomps. He used the tip of his paws to make a softer tapping sound, and his whole paw to make the full stomp. When he'd finished he looked up curiously at the lioness. "How was that?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:18 am
While it was true that the cubs in her pride practically knew how to drum before they could walk, the leopon wasn’t too old to be taught. After all, Kimanda had been able to learn about rhythm, and he had been an adult when he met her mother! The cheetah probably had a natural talent for it though, but as far as Kitambi was concerned, so did this little leopon. If they had the talent then they could be taught. This little one already seemed to have figured out a good deal on his own. It was a good start.
Kitambi let Amadi figure out what he was going to do, before her ears perked when he started to stomp. He definitely had promise. Whether it was the leopard blood in him or simply because he was trying hard, he had a good stomp to him. It surprised her. But Kitambi did not stay surprised for long, and she nodded approvingly when he finished. “Very good! That’s exactly what I meant. As you see, rhythm can take many different feelings depending on our mood. Stomping out rhythm is good practice, just make sure you don’t hurt your paws. You’ll get better sound on a log or a drum.” She paused for a moment, before she asked, “Were your parents musical at all?”
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:21 pm
The bright juve beamed at the lioness's approval, his tail swaying a bit faster behind him. He was excited no doubt, and it was very obvious on his young face. However, at mention of his parents his expression dropped, and his ears went back. Lowering his head, Amadi sighed and thought back a bit, on the verge of tears. The subject of his biological parents had always been an issue for him, and despite meeting someone that had taken him in a while back, it wasn't something he'd get over anytime soon. Plus, said individual left him alone again for various reasons, so while the experience of having a guardian was a good one, being abandoned pretty much negated the positive effects on his young mind.
"I wouldn't really know.." he said with a sniffle, eyes looking down at the ground as he shuffled his front paws. "I never met my father, and my mother abandoned me and my brothers and sisters when we were really, really young."
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:23 am
Well, she hadn’t been expecting that reaction from him at the mention of his parents. Apparently she had hit some sort of sore spot. Oh she could understand not really wanting to talk about one’s parents (or just mother in her case) but she had never met another who looked so downright sad about it. Perhaps they were dead. She had never really thought about that, though she probably should have. Why else would he be wandering around like a lost soul for her to find?
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kitambi really did try to sound as sympathetic as she could. “So do you live with anybody now? Or are you on your own?” She didn’t want to push it, but if he was living by himself she might as well point him in the direction of her pride. He’d at least be taken care of there, whether or not he wanted to join.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 5:03 pm
Amadi kept quiet for another moment, before deciding that this wasn't the time or place to be depressed about his family. With a sigh he let the thoughts go and glanced skyward at the lioness, a rather lonely smile spread across his maw. "I was with two travelers not too long ago, but I felt like I was being a burden to them, so I snuck off on my own."
The juve stopped talking again, looking a bit nervously at her, not sure how to continue. He didn't want to jump ahead of himself and ask to join her pride, after all. Sure, he was interested, but somehow he felt that it wouldn't be right to just...ask.
"It'd be nice to find a place to stay," the juve started again, then gave a shrug. "Though it's fun to be out here too, so I don't mind so much.."
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:00 am
“Ah.” It didn’t sound like the smartest decision in the world, but Kitambi would not fault the young male for it. Doing things to avoid being a burden to others wasn’t such a bad reason, after all. She had done many things so that she did not trouble her mother. Even if it had ruined her relationship with her sister, she had been willing to make that sacrifice. Sometimes you had to do things you didn’t like. That was part of life.
She nodded at his words, before gesturing with her paw back across the savannah. “If you go that way, follow the path that I’ve been making, you can find my pride. There’s lots of other felines who appreciate rhythm there, so you can stay with them if you want. They’ll offer you protection, and even if you don’t join you can still stay there. Nobody will mind.” It would be up to him, after all. She couldn’t make that decision for him.
“I have to be on my way, though. I hope we’ll meet again.” The young lioness inclined her head, and set off into the savannah once again. She had hunting to do.
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