[PRP] I Don't Think we've Met (Jun and Kani)

[Kimaria]

The Goddess had changed his life. She had shown him rain. She had shown him music! Now as he moved through the pride he could hear the sound of his own rhythm, pushing its way into existance. He breathed deeply and his lungs filled with the cool sweet air. Yes, for once, Kani'now felt happy. He felt content. He felt, finally, as if he had accomplished his goal. Now all he needed to do was perfect it. To get that inspiration into the movement of his paws and the sound of it on his drum.

He paused under the shadw of a large tree and looked across the lands. The air here was always clean and fresh and he knew he would always stay here, no matter what happened. This was home and the rogue lands had truly been no place for him.

He had been looking for Mawi Mai, but she seemed not to be around, so, he was now heading to look for his family and tell them the good news.

Their little Kani had found music.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Jun was in a predicament. After her run-in with Vinca the young lioness had been trying more and more to add new and exciting things to her necklaces. Bits of rock and shells no longer covered it. She had started putting in teeth, old bone bits, little fragments of tree bark, and even several pretty leaves from the trees. All this new material, however, made it very hard to compose necklaces that looked good. She had wanted to make a pretty green and blue necklace, but as she stared at her large collection of items she didn't see anything that would go together nicely. It was very frustrating.

She was just about to give up when she caught sight of Kani'noe. "You there!" Jun squinted at him for a moment, before recognition dawned on her face. She knew him! Not personally, but Binafsi had told her about her children and the young lioness was absolutely sure that this was one of them. Her caregiver had even pointed them out when the occasion presented itself. What was this one's name? Kani… Kani something. She could just call him that and be done with it. If he responded then that was good enough for her.

"Kani! Come here for a sec and help me."  

[Kimaria]

A voice?

He turned, startled, and saw the source of the call. A young female who...apparently knew his name? Oh dear...he didn't know her name! He was terrible with names! Maybe he could just pretend for now and it'd come back to him eventually? Yes, that'd do.

Obediently he turned towards her, his eyes filled with curiosity. "Help?" He asked in his quiet voice when he was within earshot. "Um...I'll try my best but I'm not sure..." He trailed off. "Um...is it music related?" He wasn't sure whether he was good enough at music hiself, let alone helping someone with their's!

A nervous flutter started in his chest, but he shoved it away - or tried to anyway.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Yeah, help," Jun repeated as she blew her black forehead tuft out of her eyes. Why else would have she called him over? She certainly hadn't been making jewellery for strangers, at least not these days. Besides, jewellery was better when you made it for felines you actually liked, like the necklace she had made for Vinca. That way it had meaning. Anything else was just good craftsmanship.

The young lioness pushed a couple of rocks around thoughtfully before she answered Kani's question. "It's not really music related. Well, it is, but probably not how you would define music. You see, I'm practicing making jewellery to help make music, and also to make our pride look good. But I can't find what I'm looking for for this one necklace." She gestured with her paw towards the collection of blue and green items in front of her. "What does this remind you of? Or like… what do you think would belong in this group that isn't already there?"
 

[Kimaria]

"Oh, okay." And he moved towards her delicately, his eyes cast towards her somewhat skeptically. However, his nerves faded as she said it wasn't music related. Well, maybe he could help if that was the case. Or, hang on...it was? Now he was confused. He stood, listening to her, waiting for her to reveal what this was really all about.

And then she told him.

Jewellery? He blinked. Lots of the lions here wore jewellery, mostly to aid them in their music. He didn't have any himself, not unless you counted his drum - newly decorated and beautiful as it was. He nodded and sat down beside her, looking at the blue and green collection before her.

"Well, um...I'm not sure." He hesitated. "I guess, the blues and greens, they kind of remind me of the sea...maybe? A little bit?" He paused, seeming sheepish and embarrased at his own hesitation. He blinked and tried again. "So, if it was like the sea, I guess it could be missing something else you find in the sea, like shells or some coral or...something." He made a pained face. "Sorry...I'm really not very good at this, am I?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

“The sea…. water….” Jun mused. That didn’t sound like a half bad idea. For a moment she was quiet, shuffling around the rocks with her paws. No, that looked too much like the one she had given Vinca, and it would be no good if all of her jewellery looked the same. She couldn’t very well say she was creative when in truth she was just copying her previous designs. The pride would surely notice, not to mention she couldn’t do that simply out of principle. With a small sigh, she returned her attention to Kani, tilting her head as he spoke about adding shells or coral. Not bad, but she’d done enough necklaces based off of lakes and oceans. She wanted something a little different.

At his question she shrugged. “It’s not a matter of being good or not good at something. Everyone can have an opinion.” She stared at him then, sizing him up, before she asked, “You’ve made your drum, right? What’s it look like?”  

[Kimaria]

He watched her, curious, as she moved the objects around, wondering what she was up to. Making jewellery, he supposed, choosing materials. But why was she deliberating over it so much? To him, the things she had chosen looked beautiful.

"I guess so." He replied. Sometimes, though, it was awkward to have an opinion. But he had to agree she was right. His ears lifted as she mentioned his drum and he nodded enthusiastically, a little of that earlier timidness floating away. He didn't mind talking about his drum. In fact, he could talk about it all day if given the chance.

"It's perfect." He replied happily. "Its shape isn't like a lot of the others. It sort of looks how an orange would if you stepped on it, sort of squashy. The top of it is blue, not bright blue like the sky, but a dark blue, like the centre of a deep lake. Then, on the sides, I decorated it with raindrops." He smiled. "Rain was my inspiration."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Squashy and perfect? Jun was not sure she would have put those words in the same sentence, but she listened patiently. She didn't really care what shape the drum was. Gourds were pretty easy to pick out, especially since they grew so well in these parts. What she really wanted to know was what he had painted onto it. The young lioness nodded along as he spoke, making a picture of the drum in her head. So rain was his inspiration? Wait, rain was water! She should make a rain necklace!

"Genius!" She crowed, brushing her previously ordered stones to the side and moving some more from her little leaf 'bag' out onto the dirt. "Rain rain rain. Perfect! Since your inspiration is rain, this should be easy to you. First, what do you like about rain?" Jun moved several black stones forward and then added a little white splashed in the middle. Lighting. Oh yes, this would be perfect.
 

[Kimaria]

His ears folded back bashfully and he gave her an embarrassed grin. Genius? Him? Really? In any case it seemed she'd really liked the sound of his drum's appearance and that pleased him. He was ever so proud of it.

He drew a little closer, watching her with that cub-like curiosity he was known for. All in all, Kani was quite cub-like, his timidness, his habit of curling up as small as possible as if that might render him invisible. His innocence, too.

"Easy?" He echoed softly. "What I like about rain? Um...well, the way it sounds, mostly. It's sound was what inspired me most. The way it drums against the ground, the leaves. The way it hisses against the water. Not just that. The way it catches the sunlight, too. The way it gives the world a new look, a fresh scent, a deeper colour. When it rains...everything is beautiful, right?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

His curiousity was welcome, and Jun didn’t seem at all bothered by his closeness. She liked it when people took an interest in her work. People didn’t have to understand it or like how it was done – she certainly would never build another drum unless her old one died – but if they appreciated it then she was more likely to appreciate what they did. It was only fair, and the young lioness was a stickler for fairness.

She waved her paw dismissively when he started on the sound, but then stopped to consider something. Could she incorporate the sound of rain into a necklace? It was an interesting thought. She had never tried that before. Jun added several wooden beads she had found into the pile, clinking them together as she did so. “Does that sound like the rain? And everything that catches the sunlight is sparkly, right? And some of it is dark and wet?”  

[Kimaria]

He watched her adding wooden beads and listened to the sound they made as she clinked them together. It wasn't exactly right but he doubted anything could capture the radiance of rain. It was too unique for that! However, the beads did clink together like rain did. It was a pretty close match.

He nodded, agreeding.

"Yep, yep and yep. Your'e good at this jewellery making aren't you? Where did you learn it? Or, did you teach yourself?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Excellent." Things began fitting much better into place as Jun lined up her little wooden beads, two each along the ground. Between them she put darker, sparkly stones, and then some other strange blue bits she had collected over time. Finally, in the middle, she moved her little lightning and dark sky stones. Now that was a necklace. She sized Kani'noe up for a moment, eyes darting between the necklace and the leopon. "Hrm… well, it certainly matches your colour. If you'll give me a minute to put it together…" She could only hope it would fit over his mane.

At his questions she grinned, looking quite pleased. She liked praise as much as anyone, and it was nice to know that other people recognized her talents. "I've learned some from the Umsini, some by watching, and some is natural talent. Kind of like everything we do in life. I'd like to be an Umsini one day. There's a lot of lions and lioness who will have cubs, and their cubs will need new jewellery as they get older. Did you apprentice under anybody?"  

[Kimaria]

He watched her constructing the piece of jewellery, watched the precision. This was something that she clearly enjoyed, clearly put a lot of thought into. She looked like she concentrated and loved this just as much as he loved playing the drum.

And then she was looking at him and he dipped his head and folded his ears flat, feeling sheepish. "Um..." But then she was answering his question and he listened eagerly. "Umsini." He repeated. Yes, that made sense. "I'm sure you could be. I mean, you can do anything you put your mind too and if you love it so much then nothing can stop you." He purred. "That's what I believe anyway. And, like you say, if there's a demand for jewellery what reason would there be to keep you from doing what you love?"

He blinked. "The...the jewellery you're making is for...me?" He didn't know what to say. He felt flustered and suddenly not worthy of such a gift. He swallowed back the nervousness and continued with the conversation as best he could.

He tilted his head. "Apprentice under..." He trailed, but picked up the thread again quickly. "Oh, well, I learnt how to make my drum from Isithunzi. I listened to the others playing their drums, too. But...well...I wasn't a natural talent...it took a little longer for me to find the music than most."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

His words made her pause and look up at him. For a moment she simply looked at him, and then she gave a soft chuckle. “You sound like her, your mother I mean,” she said as she returned to her work. “She’s told me the same thing. It’s still nice of you to say it, though. Thanks.” It was funny how much he could talk like his mother and yet look the least like her. Families were funny like that. She merely nodded dismissively at his question, not willing to take her eyes off her work. Of course she was going to give it to him. He had inspired it, after all.

"Ah. Not everybody can be talented at everything. I'm sure Binafsi's told you that one too. Besides, if we were all talented in the same thing the world wouldn't be half as fun. It's better when some lions are good at some things and others are good at other things. It all evens out in the end." She gave a decisive nod.

After adding the final touches she stepped back to admire it. Yes, it would suit him perfectly. “C’mere, I’m going to put it on.” Jun lifted the necklace in her mother and stood up as best she could on her back legs.  

[Kimaria]

He purred happily at the mention of his mother. He loved her dearly and had always looked up to her. He wasn't surprised to hear that this girl knew her. But what surprised him was that he was comparable to his mother. It pleased him greatly to hear it.

"She has." He replied, thinking of his mother now. "Everyone is different. That's what makes everyone special." He twitched his tail. "Even still. I'm glad I found the music. I don't think I would have been happy without it, even if I had found something else to be good at."

And then she was finished and he startled a little as she told him to move closer. "Finished already? T-taht was quick." And with a small nod he moved forwards, lowering his shaggy head to make it easier for her to slip the newly made necklace over his head.

"That easier?"