|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:39 pm
Life had been so boring lately. Pipihindi had nothing to do when she wasn't helping with the hunt. Her family was large and often fun but they had all grown up and visiting too often she knew she could be tiring. She didn't want anybody to get sick of her! Humming a song and wearing a smile, she headed away from the den and towards the waterhole. The water was always the best place to meet up with somebody, there was no reason to expect it would be any different. She could find someone to talk to, a new friend to make. Maybe if she couldn't, she could head out towards the roguelands a bit. After all, some rogues could be friendly. And so much of her family, so many of her siblings had headed away from the pride, there was no reason to believe it was unsafe to wander away.
Walking along, she thought of them. Her mother, her sisters, her brothers that had left the Pridelands. She had stayed but she was really starting to miss them, especially Lala.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:23 pm
After meeting Jitokeza, Baridi'ini had spoken to her mate Gebali'moyo about her new friend losing a mate, and about him having daughters. Gebali had hatched a plan it seemed, he suggested she visit her home for the time being, after all she was lonely and missed her family. Lala missed them, even though she was sure most of them had moved on to their own lives by now, maybe one of her siblings was still around.
Walking past the watering hole Lala took in the world around her, this was not her home any longer..but at the same time she felt better here than she had worrying in the swamps.
What am I supposed to say to my family? 'Hi, I changed my name and converted to a spirit worshipping pride.'
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:34 pm
Her cheerful hum had become quiet the more she thought about her siblings, her family. She wasn't exactly sad, they were all happy and everything but she could still miss them. She kept a steady pace toward the waterhole, only stopping when she was close enough to spot someone familiar nearby. She stopped, and stared a moment before she kept going. Her heart skipped a beat but it couldn't be Lala. They had other family around here, it was silly to assume the colors had to be her.. but then she got closer and recognized the legs.
"It can't be," she muttered, then picked up the pace. Pipi would find out if Lala had returned or not.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:46 pm
Lala stopped in her tracks, a black, yellow, and orange lioness was running in her direction. That can't be Pipi! That would be too lucky! She thought and started to run toward the lioness.
"Pipi!" She exclaimed her voice filled with happiness as she tried to hold back her laughter, "I don't believe my eyes. Is that really you?"
She hadn't seen her sister in a long time, any of her family, for the last few moons Hewa and Indu were her family, her world. Now she was in the Pride Lands again, home to family again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:53 pm
"Lala!" she cried when she heard her name called out, moving faster now, matching the running pace of her sister. She didn't even mind when they collided, skidding to a stop far too late and striking her sister. She laughed awkwardly, giving Lala a quick nuzzle before backing up a bit to give her some room again.
"S-sorry!" she said, "I've just missed you! You're back!"
Pipi looked Lala up and down, smiling. She looked well. Just about the same as always but bigger, like they all had become. She wanted to scowl at Lala and blame her for their separation, say she was hurt she had gone away but it wasn't worth it. It was barely what she even thought. Everybody moved on, what mattered was Lala had not forgotten her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:19 pm
"Ow!" She hadn't expected that! Lala laughed loudly and felt so giddy for a moment that perhaps she'd roll on the ground in her happiness. Usually Lala was pretty quiet, not silent, but she wasn't loud and rarely called out. This however, was a very special occasion indeed, she was seeing Pipi!
"I've missed you very much, and in fact you're why I am back!" she looked Pipi up and down just as Pipi did to her.
"You're bigger," she chuckled, "I..wanted to see family, especially you..but..don't tell anyone that."
She chuckled again and sat down, close, but not too close to Pipi to invade her space.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:23 pm
Pipi wriggled excitedly but she let Lala determine how much space would be between them and took a seat, calming down enough to sit still. Her tail swayed back and forth excitedly behind her, the only thing she couldn't seem to stop. She was very happy to see Lala again. She probably would have acted this way if anybody had come back to visit her but.. this was Lala!
"I've missed you, too!" she said, "Where have you been? What have you been doing? Are you staying?" Was she speaking too fast? She would certainly find out! When she stopped, she took a moment just to breathe, waiting for her answers. Running, colliding, babbling.. it took a lot of air!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:31 pm
Boy could Pipi talk, and fast too! Lala paused for a moment to try and decide what to say and then spoke.
"I have been in the Jini-msemi lands, they live in the swamps, I met a male who came from there..and he took me back," no need to mention Indu, maybe if she stuck around a little while it would be alright to, but that was something irrelevant, "We're very much in love."
"I wouldn't want to leave Hew-" she stopped, "I mean Gebali'moyo in the swamps all by himself." Lala smiled warmly.
"Oh, and my name has changed..by erm..the rules of this pride my name before coming to them is something like a baby name, but now it is my adult name."
"I am Baridi'ini, it means heart wind...Gebali'moyo gave it to me," she wasn't aware how odd this was all sounding, but at the same time she was pretty sure it was a bit out there on the Pridelander's spectrum of normal.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:39 pm
Pipi's breathing slowly quieted as she caught up and as she ran out of words to say. She listened as Lala explained that she was living in the swamps and that she was very much in love with a lion named Gebali'moyo. She opened her mouth to speak but she stopped when Lala said her name was no longer Lala. She was Baridi'ini. She had changed her name? It was a baby name? That was so strange.
"You- you changed your name?" she asked, tilting her head, "You have a mate, you live in the swamps and you have a different name.." She knew her family had moved on but this was a bit much. Finding a new home, finding love but changing your name? Who was she?
"Are you still- are-" Pipi made a face, trying to process all of this information.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:58 pm
"Still me?" Baridi'ini guessed, "I am still me just a different name..it's one of their customs." The cream colored lioness frowned, she didn't want it to sound so odd, to her it made perfect sense..except well she'd been there and understood their customs a little more than her sister could not seeing the swamps, being near their king.
"I have a mate, and he is very religious, but not in a weird way.and he lives in the swamps, it's just their way." Baridi shrugged a little her brow creased, it sounded a bit odd when she put it that way.
A thought occurred to her, "I think the only way to understand is go there...you could go there?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:06 pm
She nodded silently when Lala-Baridi finished her question, still making a small face and feeling guilty for asking such a silly question. But if Lala-Baridi had taken a new name, joined a new pride, taken a new religion.. what was left that made her the same lioness as before? Maybe it was just the name thing that was getting to her.
"No, I get it," she said, though she didn't sound terribly convincing, "What does it mean, though? Why did you have to change your name?" Why was it a baby name their mother had given her? Did that mean Lala-Baridi thought her name was a baby name too? When you had such specific, unique beliefs.. did they extend to everybody else?
"So, you're not back to stay, then," she asked, realizing that Lala-Baridi's speech and name change meant she hadn't come back, she was visiting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:13 pm
"I don't think I'm explaining this right," Baridi-Lala sighed, "I.it's not really a baby name..it's like..they give their children names that are simple, they send their children out when they hit adolescence to chose their names. They make the choice, they go on this quest to find their true names. They believe, since I joined the pride, that my life before joining them is my quest for my true name."
She shrugged, she believed in what they believed because of Gebali, he knew things from the spirits, although sometimes he would deny it. It was true though, he knew things because the spirits told him..knew things about her, their future.
"So..it's not like a baby name..but kind of.." She sighed again.
"No, I am visiting..but I'll stay for awhile, we can catch up."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:22 pm
"So your true name is heart-wind?" Pipi asked, tilting her head to the other side as she slowly began to understand what Lala-Baridi said, even if she didn't fully understand it. There had to be a reason why their names could not just be given to them by their parents, but she supposed there was some sense in letting a lion name themselves. Who knew more about you than you?
"Visiting," she repeated, finally cheering up a bit once again, "So, why didn't you bring your mate to meet us then?" If Lala-Baridi was just here to visit, she would enjoy it while she could. And she did wonder why this mate of hers, Gebali, did not come along. Surely he wasn't afraid to meet her family.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:29 pm
Lala felt indignant, Gebali had given her that name and she liked it! "Well, he knows me..knows what I'm like and thought it was a fitting name...I like it." Why was this feeling so hard? Lala flicked dirt from her back paws by using her front.
"He stayed behind, he just returned home after a very long time, I didn't think it was right to ask him to leave home so soon. He saw me to the edge of the lands I promised I'd return," she spoke. Lala-Baridi din't want to ask Hewa to leave, and with all of the bad things happening, people's mates missing, she felt it would be a good thing if he stayed as another set of eyes. He felt the same.
"You ask a lot of question sister. What've you been up to?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:43 pm
Pipi glared at Lala playfully when she got upset at the way her name was questioned. It was a sign she really had accepted it, her name, her new pride, her new home. It was happy, but part of Pipi felt a little left out. She was still just here, doing the same things she always did and that was.. just about nothing very exciting.
"How long have you been there, then? You left so soon?" she asked, ignoring the indignation, "Nothing exciting has been happening to me, you're the one who left, I should be asking a lot more questions. Things are pretty much the same around here." She shrugged.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
