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 Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:14 pm
 She hadn't heard from Shinda in a while.
Vunjika assumed that the Warleader's eldest daughter was being kept busy with her own plan, fired by the desire to know about her mother. But Vunjika was more interested to know more about other...things. The growing lack of prey, lions leaving the Mizimu'Tungika, the scent of danger looming ahead. And that she wasn't the only that could sense that something was wrong.
Narrowing her eyes, she finished grooming herself, licking the last tuft of fur; oh how those cubs loved to play rough, and decided to find out things for herself.
Something was wrong and Vunjika wanted to know why. Now.
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 3:56 pm
"Now you can come, right?"
The smell of blood. Rich, heavy, permeating the air, making it succulent, almost palpable. That smile, so devoid of malice, so hopeful. And the eyes. Eyes in which she saw herself reflected. Eyes that were hers, her own...
Yuusa awoke with a start, her claws digging hard into the earth as if to keep her from falling back into the nightmare. She lay perfectly still for a while, listening to nothing but her wheezing breath and racing heartbeats until they had quietened enough for her to unclench her paws and take a couple of deep, calming breaths.
Now, this wouldn't do. This just wouldn't do at all. It must be the tension, and the lack of food that had affected her, but really, so much that she would have a nightmare? She begun carefully grooming herself in an attempt to drive out the lingering horrors of the dream, but was only partially successful. This wouldn't do at all.
Standing up and shaking herself down to get rid of the last vestiges of sleep, Yuusa finally gave up on the idea of napping and went off to find some company. Any company, really.
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:07 pm
Well, well, what a coincidence. Vunjika narrowed her eyes upon seeing the light colored lioness in front of her and sped up her walking pace a little to catch up with the other.
Yes, she remembered this one as a cub. Yuusa. And wasn't there another? A sister that was purple, instead of white? Skugga. Yes. That was her name. Honestly, she had been a Minder to so many cubs that it sometimes took her a while to scan through her memory and find what she could remember of them. Sometimes, the memories were vague, but if they were outstanding, well, it was much easier to remember.
"Your sister hasn't been around." She spoke when she was beside the younger lioness, her eyes glancing towards the other, a spark of curiosity in their depths.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 1:32 am
Yuusa startled at the sound of a voice right by her side, her claws once again digging into the ground - but this time only for the briefest of moments. When she saw who it was that had spoken, she quickly relaxed and smiled at the older lioness.
"Ah, Vunjika. How good to see you," she said, but deep inside she wasn't sure if she really meant it. Was a voice and a face so distinctly linked to the past really the best company right now? And of all things, to have mentioned her sister...
Then again, perhaps it was exactly what she needed. Yuusa looked into the Minder's gray eyes and her smile faded away as she continued softly:
"No... Skugga hasn't been around for a long time. Didn't you hear?" It seemed impossible to Yuusa that there could be a single lion within the Mizimu who didn't already know what had become of her sister, but she had to remind herself that they weren't all Skugga's twin. Or even family, for that matter. "She left us a few seasons ago."
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:29 am
Though many of the cubs she had taken care of would usually say that upon meeting her again, Vunjika had wondered how many were actually truly glad to see the Minder who had been so strict with them in their childhood. Those feisty ones didn't seem to understand her efforts until they grew up and matured...well those who actually matured anyway.
"My dear, I can hardly keep up with where all my previous charges are." There were many lions in the Mizimu'Tungika, and lately, she had been kept busy with the influx of cubs. "And besides, it seems like others beside your sister have left us as well."
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:21 am
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry." Yuusa bowed her head and smiled again at the Minder, but this smile, too, was short-lived and gave way to a concerned frown. "But it does seem to be true, what you are saying. I mean, there have always been those who closed their hearts to the spirits and left the pride before, but..." She hesitated, unsure of how much she should say. Vunjika was older, experienced and still in many ways a lioness that Yuusa respected, and the subject was one that needed very careful handling in the first place.
She lowered her head and glanced at Vunjika through her bangs. "...There are whispers among the sacrifices..." she cautiously began in a low voice, waiting to see the reaction to her words before she delved any deeper into the subject.
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:38 am
Indeed, there had been some before. Mostly, those were Sacrifices, cowardly and afraid of meeting death when the pride deemed it so, casting the shadows of the pride's contempt on their families. How silly it was, really. Saving your own life to throw your loved ones into this pit? How could one taste the invigorating sense of freedom without that twinge of guilt?
Fortunately, she had no family. No blood ties to any of the lions in the Mizimu'Tungika.
Eyes narrowed in interest as she leaned in to catch the soft words Yuusa murmured. "Whispers?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:52 pm
Yuusa nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off of the older lioness' features.
"Whispers about... another pride. Following in the Mizimu's shadow." She was getting into dangerous territory, here, both because of the sensitivity of the subject itself, as for her own sake. She must choose her words very carefully from this point on.
"I don't know how much truth there is in this, but many others believe it. They say that it is a pride made up of dissenters, who do not agree with the way the Mizimu'tungika handles their Sacrifices." She couldn't help but frown in worry and cast her eyes down as she continued, her front paws more or less unconsciously kneading the ground in a gesture of clear discomfort:
"It really is quite troubling. Some of the Sacrifices... I mean, none that I can really point to or anything, but some of them almost seem to appreciate the idea."
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:48 am
"Mnn." She simply murmured, a gentle nod of the head beckoning the other lioness to continue her words. That would certainly explain the lack of food the cubs had been getting, and these days, Vunjika had to often bark out orders to some desperate hungry ones who attempted to steal scraps from the others, when they had already allocated a certain portion to each. It was rather disconcerting to watch, really.
"That would make sense. There have been always been dissenting voices arguing about how one would know if the spirits did deem the Sacrifices ready to die." A problem that had surfaced from their beliefs, and had caused some to distrust the Heart.
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:13 pm
Yuusa shook her head slowly, still paying more attention to her paws than to the other lioness' face. This topic troubled her on a deeply personal level, and for a moment she almost forgot to be catious.
"Our way is clear, as it always have been, as it always will be." She finally looked up again, and this time it was with a look that was transparently distraught, and very, very close to that of a cub asking its minder a difficult question. "How can they doubt? The will of the spirits is interpreted by the Scryers, the Haruspex, the Augur, even the Vates and the Queen herself! If we can not have faith in the Queen..." she shook her head, finding the mere thought of it baffling. "...then what can we believe? What do the dissenters believe? Who do they think is better at interpreting the will of the spirits? I... I..." She dropped her gaze again, her ears flattened out. "...I don't understand."
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:03 pm
"Sometimes they think there might be...problems contacting the spirits." Vunjika chose her words carefully as she tried to explain. It was rather strange to say something so conflicting to the beliefs of the pride she had taught cubs to hold and not question. Honestly, she would not question them herself; she was more interested in the prospect of a rebel pride out there.
"I believe..." She trailed off, staring up at the sky, her face set into an impassive expression. "They think one's life should end according to how Fate deems it, and not at the claws of the Haruspex."
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:30 am
Yuusa glanced up at her old Minder again. "But it means going against the will of the spirits. It can't end well." To her own surprise, she found her voice trembling at the last words. And, as if all it had needed was to have her attention directed at it, all the grief and sadness that still lingered from her nightmare, and had been built up by the tension that this conversation instilled in her, suddenly roared to the surface.
Her paws begun to shake, as if her body was suddenly too heavy to support her weight. She sat down and squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing hard to press back the swell of emotion.
"I'm sorry," she whispered hoarsely. "It's just that... sometimes, I worry about Skugga. About what will happen to her spirit when..." She swallowed again, opened her eyes and pressed out an apologetic smile. "Old habits die hard, I suppose: Once a twin, always a twin, even if we are far apart. And I always did have to worry about her, didn't I?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:32 am
Vunjika watched Yuusa crumple before her with a concerned, yet somewhat distant gaze. As a Minder, there was always the problem of worrying and fretting about how their charges were, but there were so many that diverting their attention wasn't an easy task. That, and sometimes, there were other cubs that appealed to her more than the others, those that stood out.
"There, there, child." She murmured gently, giving Yuusa a gentle nuzzle on the cheek. It still seemed rather surprising that the twins had separated, they had been inseparable since young, she remembered, the two cubs with bright stripes always sticking together. And yet, she wasn't as surprised; Skugga had always been outshone by her twin sister. "That's always how it is with someone you care about. You can't stop worrying, no matter what happens."
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:56 am
Yuusa gladly let herself be nuzzled, the physical touch helping a great deal in her endeavours to get back in control of herself. Gratefully, she nudged the old minder back and took a deep, only slightly shaky breath before recapturing her smile. This time, it felt more genuine.
"Yes... I do suppose so. And still, sometimes I can't help but think that maybe it was a good thing after all. Not that she left, but that she made a decision for herself, you know..." A memory of brighter days fluttered by, and she couldn't help but giggle even though the trembles had not yet subsided. "Do you remember how sometimes the other cubs - even older lions, for that matter - sometimes used to talk to her through me, as if she wasn't standing right next to me? 'So, what about your sister, does she think...'" She trailed off into a resigned sigh. "It was frustrating to me, but I can only imagine what it must have felt like to her."
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 5:21 am
She remained in contact with the younger lioness, pressing herself gently against the other, figuring that it would provide a source of comfort. Vunjika knew exactly how it was like to care for someone, and to worry for them when they did unpredictable things that made her question their reasoning.
"It's never nice to be in one's shadow. Though, back then, your sister didn't seem to mind so much." Vunjika herself treated all her charges harshly yes, but equally, and merely strove to bring them all up as worthy members of the pride. For a split second, she wondered if Skugga's decision had also been prompted by any resentful emotions she might have harbored towards her sister for being the more outstanding twin.
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