Alais...was not fond of mud or squishy ground. But her visions had led her to this place. She was sure this place was it. It just...felt right. Felt of the spirits. She smiled and took a deep breath, then continued forward. A lady did everything with grace. She would take her new home-to-be with that grace, and she would do what was needed to stay with grace.
But first...she needed to find someone who could take her where she needed to go. And tell her more about this place.
The water had always drawn the white lion, even the mud around it. As a cub, he'd once tried to make himself brown, to stand out less, by using the mud, but now he did what he could to keep it mostly clean. One didn't create the illusion of spirits in the swamps by being dirty, after all.
Now, Mle'tonoka slipped through the trees, simply on a walk. He wasn't the largest lion, not by a long shot. The white lion was actually very... Tiny... Which was ironic, since his brother-by-adoption was very large. He stopped, letting out a light sigh, missing seeing the red hulking cat. He shook his head, then looked around, spotting somebody... New... Who was this...? Creeping through the trees, he kept his ears trained forward, orange eyes dancing with delight. A new lion!
Alais stopped and shook herself a bit. She blended in quite well the all the murky colors around her...save her eyes. Ice colored and looking around, seeking a sign of life. Well...since she saw no one, she'd just need to call and see if someone was hiding, hm?
"Excuse me." She was firm, but not rude or loud. Easy to hear, but not loud. "I'm wondering if I could talk with an inhabitant of this place. And I'd much rather not intrude too far, lest I anger someone."
He didn't spook her at all with his ghostly appearance? Mle stood up from his prior stalking position, blinking. "Oh... Well..." He blinked just a little, then stepped out of the bushes towards her. "I live here, if that's a start. With the pride." He motioned with a paw towards the center of the lands. "Everybody's that way. Or most everybody. All the cubs are, anyway." He looked at her, smiling a bit. "You're new around here... What's your name?"
Ah! So...what she'd thought had been a spirit was a lion! Well now...what an interesting turn. She bowed her head. "I am new. My name is Alais Kibou. The spirits lead me to this place through my dreams, and I wish to know what sort of lions live here. And...what one might do to join them." She knew she could have stayed with her mother...
But Alais wanted a place to belong. Some place that would not see her as weird or odd or out-of-place for her visions and connection to the spirits...
The smile on his face grew larger, as the lion turned and started walking. "You just need to meet the pride! If you're a good lion, we're a welcoming lot!" The queen had welcomed him, after all, and she had been as white as he was. Well, not quite AS white, but she was still a very white color, and to have so many lions in the pride that looked as ghostly as he did... It made him feel safe. That and there was plenty of water. "I'm Mle'tonoka! Or I am now... I haven't always been. I used to be Zimwi... That's what the lions of the pride my family lived near called me, but here I'm Mle'tonoka!" He'd never been this exuberant as a cub... He was relaxed enough to finally act like he had been afraid to before.
Alais blinked and held back a giggle. But her smile did grow. "Ah...that is wonderful!" She followed him, glad her mother had insisted she and her sibs learn to swim. It was obvious there was a great deal of water in this place. And...it would make getting the mud from her fur easier. "So you found a new name? Is that common?" She knew next to nothing about this group...but she had a feeling that would change soon enough. Soon, the spirits would deem her worthy of seeing their chosen pride. If she did well, that is. She would not take the spirits for granted. She had to earn every trust they gave her.
As he slipped into the water to swim to an island, the white lion looked back at the other. "Oh, yes, it's a pride custom. Everybody gets a new name. New members, born members... Our old names are seen as our cub names." He paddled around a bit, hair and fur billowing under the water. "When a cub reaches adolescence, it's sent out into the world beyond the borders to find their new name. When a new member joins, as an adolescent or adult, they're treated as if they have already been on their Name Quest, so we get new names when we fully join. I was a coward until I came here, so now I've regained my strength - Thus I'm Mle'tonoka now!"
Alais nodded, following. "That...that is a wonderful idea." She would loose her mother's Family name. But that was fine. She would begin her own. One passed down only once her own little ones were old enough. Little ones she would have one day...she'd seen flashes of eyes like hers in small bodies, and voices calling to her as 'Mother'. "I wonder what sort of name I might gain..." She giggled. "I shall find out when the time comes. After all, not everything is meant to be Known before it happens."
Swimming to the island, Mle looked at the lioness, blinking curiously. "You're a seer?" He smiled. "Queen Asali was a seer..." Was... That would always be the term he used for her now. Her son was already a very skilled king, though, and Mle admired the lion for it. "Only the spirits truly know what kind of name you'll get. They work mysteriously like that around here."
Alais nodded. "I've been told that's what my visions mean. I've had them since I was barely out of the womb. Some good, some bad...some of the past, and some of the future." She looked at Mle curiously. "Was? Did she leave? Or...?" 'Die' was the unspoken word. "Either way...it sounds like she was close to you." She'd not yet had someone close to her disappear from her life. Even once her mother passed...Alais was certain it would not be so bad, because she would have the past to See.
"Not really close... I just admire any leader who takes in a lion with a tainted white coat, as if they were just like any other lion." He paused, climbing out onto a log. "See... My family was never part of a pride... We lived NEAR a pride, but we could never JOIN it... They were all shades of brown, and deeply religious... White was seen as taint from the spirits. I grew up wanting to be brown, like most other lions I'd seen... Or gold... Or any other color but white..." He looked up at the sky, the smiled. "Then I came here, and I saw that a white lion led the pride... White was everywhere, and they were no different. It made me smile, it still makes me smile... Because I know I can be safe, because there's no prejudice here about my pelt."
The brown and blue lioness smiled at that story. "I am sorry it took you so long to find acceptance. but I am glad you found it." She was glad she didn't really take after her father, unlike Glaise. "Mother wanted my sibs and I to be safe. And we will be, just not in the way she thought. The spirits led me here, but took my brothers to other places." She rested on the log beside him. "And for what it is worth, I think your coat is pretty. Spirits and ashes...a fine foundation for a new beginning."
He smiled, settling down on the log. "It was a journey worth making, I think." Letting out a sigh, the white lion looked out over the water, through the trees, past the islands in the swamp water... "I hope this place stays like this forever..." A smile graced his maw again, as he stretched out. After a moment, he slipped over the log's side, slipping int othe water and paddling for the next island. "We should get you to the pride!"
Alais nodded. "It...I like this place. It is peaceful. And feels like home." Home. Finally, at last....home. She followed Mle, content smile on her muzzle. She finally belonged. "I look forward to meeting them!"
