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 Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:52 pm
 Well, he could just go jump into a pile of elephant dung for all she cared! Stupid, stupid male! Her tail lashing the air fiercely behind her, Mbinti strode forward across the savanna, the half-moon paving her a path through the short grasses. A scowl marred her face typically delicate face, and rather unladylike words were tracing their way past her lips into the otherwise quiet night air.
"Aaaggggh," the growl came as she paused to glare upwards towards the moon, using its location in the sky to discern just how long she had been out on the savanna. Too long, it seemed. The scowl softened into worry, and, turning around, she walked back towards where she had come from for a few paces before pausing again. No, she should give him more time. They both needed the coolness of the night to calm their anger before they saw each other again.
It seemed stupid, really, that she and Bahati would get mad at each other over this. For seasons upon seasons, it seemed, they had been trying to make a family, and what sort of parents would they be if they brought cubs into a world of conflict? They should be nothing but supportive of each other, but after so long without even a hint of movement within Mbinti's womb sometimes it was difficult to not place the blame on the other. They both wanted the same thing so strongly, and they both felt the weight of disappointment, and the stress was beginning to take its toll. How long would it take before the situation went beyond heated arguments about whether or not she had been cursed by a god? Maybe they should just stop tryi-
No. The rebellious thought caused another stirring of anger within Mbinti. They would have their family, they just had to give it time. She loved Bahati, and Bahati loved her, and through the strength of their love they would eventually succeed. They had to.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:10 pm
"Really, I don't think it was that amusing," Kinagiri was muttering to .. what looked like the grass as she walked along at a steady but fairly slow pace. She had to, her legs were long and along side her in the grass was actually a bright green snake whose legs.. were not long at all. Besides that, he seemed intent on going slow and despite being the larger of the two, he was more in charge than she was.
"I don't even think we're going in the right direction," she said, a little louder than she intended. Kinagiri had some control over her visions but she still, on occasion, had visions that she did not summon up herself. Often, Jino found those the most interesting ones to pursue. He had been successful in learning and teaching control but there were some things that slipped by. He was snickering at the latest dream she had had, a green lioness and a yellow lion.. having a very interesting (and unusual) argument.
Of course, he had insisted they go looking for them.
"I think you're wrong," he shot back thoughtfully, using his own powers to help guide them along the way. He was positive they were on the right track. So he slithered ahead, moving faster. Kina rolled her eyes and followed after him, shaking her head. Now that they were tracking the lions she had seen, she couldn't see where they would meet up.. or even if they would.
"OK."
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:27 pm
The night's powers were finding it to be difficult to work their way through Mbinti's bones. She paced restlessly under the clear, moonlit sky, neither coming nor going anywhere, mentally debating between finding Bahati and apologizing or finding him and yelling at him again. How dare he accuse her of such a thing? If anyone was the cursed one, it was him! She'd heard tales of unfortunate lions cursed by gods to be forever cubless, but who would have thought she would fall in love and become mated to one? He had probably bickered the god to desperation.
Oh, who was she kidding? Bahati was a kind, gentle soul, and she knew he was probably somewhere off in the distance doing the same, guilt stricken pacing she was. The thought did more to calm her nerves than the night could ever hope. She and Bahati loved each other too much to stay cross for too long. Yes, she should find him now. They would apologize to each other and spend a lovely evening toget-
A rustling in the nearby grass broke her thoughts. Peering through the darkness, she crouched slightly amongst the grass, trying to catch the source of the noise. "Bahati? Is that you?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:47 pm
Kina slowed down when she spotted the lioness in the distance and knew they had found the right lioness when Jino moved over and she lifted up a leg to help him climb up to hang by her neck. He didn't often hide his presence. She started walking again, but not too quickly- and soon they were found out. She paused, put on a smile and walked closer so that she (and Jino) could be seen in the dim moonlight.
"I'm afraid not," she called out, trying to place the name Bahati without showing it. Luckily, the darkness helped to hide what she could not. Bahati was .. not the lion she had seen arguing with this one but his role seemed evident from what she had taken from what she had seen.
"You must be Mbinti," she added.
The closer they got, the more certain Jino was and he decided to move to perch by Kina's neck. It wasn't uncommon a place for him to rest and she readily let him up. From there, he stayed silent as he waited for the meeting to begin. He was already smiling deviously when they appeared in the moonlight, holding back a chuckle. He had nothing to add yet so he stayed quiet.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:08 pm
Mbinti remained crouched as the lioness revealed herself, her muscles tense in preparation for either fight or flight. You never could be too careful when it came to the weird rouge types, even if she herself was a bit of one. And it never boded well when someone was randomly cruising the savanna at night all sneaky like; nevermind that she was doing the exact same thing. That was different.
At the mention of her name, however, Mbinti sprung fully to her paws and glared at the stranger hardly through the moonlight, temporarily ignoring the giant freaking snake curled around her neck. "How do you know my name? Did Bahati send you? Is something wrong," she asked quickly. What if something had happened to her beloved and he had called upon a passing stranger to find her?
If that were the case, though, the strange lioness was not acting very urgent. No, Mbinti suspected that this one (and her snake) had something else on her agenda. It was then that she focused on the snake letting her eyes study him momentarily before they traveled back to the lioness's face. This was weird.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:45 pm
"No, no," Kinagiri responded reassuringly, walking a couple steps closer and stopping a few feet away. Close enough to converse but far enough away that they should not be too imposing or threatening, "My name is Kinagiri, I'm- ah- a fortune teller, of sorts. I can usually bring up visions of the past and future but sometimes they come to me themselves. That is why I've come to find you."
She offered a more genuine smile, taking a seat and waiting for it to sink in. She had no idea how the meeting would go, unable to see anything that involved her own experiences, but she trusted Jino to intervene when necessary.
Jino's eyes stayed on Mbinti as she looked him over, a smirk creeping over his face. He didn't need to be a seer to know what she was thinking, he was used to having others be suspicious of him. It came with being a snake and a seer. His tail flicked back and forth against one of Kina's legs but he still remained silent.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:07 pm
Oh, now Mbinti understood! This lioness was one of those weirdos who thought she could see the future and do other magical things that everyone knew only gods could do. While odd, such folks were relatively harmless. She visibly relaxed, and even a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. Hahaha, what to do? Humor the poor dear and go along with the act, or call her out on it? She seemed so serious, it would be a shame to ruin the fun for her. Barely suppressing a snort of laughter, Mbinti took a seat herself and nodded her head towards the other lioness.
"You've seen me in one of your, ah, visions, have you? Well, go on then, tell me what you saw. Is an inevitable doom headin' my way? Perhaps news of my true love? Whatever it is, I'm dying to hear it."
She did little to hide her obvious amusement at Kinagiri's pronunciation that she was a fortune teller. Hey, she needed a little laughter after that argument with Bahati. Maybe after the lioness gave her her fortune she could take it back to Bahati and they could laugh together. He'd like that.
But still, the snake and its smirk were making her uneasy. It had yet to say anything and she didn't like how it was being so...snakey. Her eyes flickered once to it before returning to Kinagiri, awaiting her fortune. It had better be good.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:20 pm
It wasn't uncommon to get such a reception, and Kina threw Jino a slight glance before looking back to Mbinti and letting her finish. She didn't move and her expression remained the same as the lioness openly doubted them. There was little she could do but give her a taste of the insight she could offer in hopes of getting something in exchange. They did not provide their services for free, usually, and such mocking skeptics were not the ones they were kindest to.
"That would be unfair to the other paying customers, and to ourselves, to offer you such a gift for free," Kina said, watching as Mbinti glanced back and forth between her and Jino, "I can only offer so much without some promise of reward, to prove our abilities."
Jino swayed rhythmically as Mbinti looked between them, catching glimpses of the things that had happened earlier in the night to help their cause as he stared at the green lioness.
"Bahati, he'sss your mate," he said, "You fought tonight."
"About cubs," Kina added, not needing to use any extra effort to add that into the freebie. She had seen some of what lie ahead for the lioness, she knew it would have been about cubs. She was also well aware of their own role in shaping the future, which helped convince her it was the right leap to make.
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 4:13 pm
As the lioness in front of her mentioned "paying customers," Mbinti finally let the the laughter erupt from her mouth. Hahaha, she was being serious! And that meant that some poor fools had actually paid her for her so-called services. If it had worked before, then she was certain that it would work again on Mbinti. Well, this ruse had certainly gone on long enough.
Just as she was about to tell the lioness and her snake to bugger off, however, the snake spoke for the first time. Mbinti's eyes widened at its words, and she looked at it once again, a smirk now on her own face. "Lucky gues-," she began to snap to the serpent, but not before Kina could add in her bit about the cubs.
At Kina's words, Mbinti sprung to her feet and backed away slowly from the duo, her eyes hardening and the smirk being replaced by a snarl. "Were you eavesdropping on us? Have you been following me this entire time?" That was the only answer, it had to be. There was no other way a lioness and a stupid snake would know about the argument.
But still, it was odd even if they had been following her. She had been walking for quite awhile, surely she would have noticed them if they had been? They were in the middle of the savanna, it's not like they had anywhere to hide. Mbinti couldn't believe it, but she was actually beginning to wonder if Kinagiri was telling the truth. And if she was telling the truth, think of all the things Mbinti could learn! About her and Bahati's future, a future with a family...
"Tell me something that proves you are not eavesdroppers and stalkers, and then we can talk about payment."
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:03 pm
Kina was fairly good-natured about the laughter, shaking her head at the reaction and waiting as Mbinti began to accuse them of stalking. It was another common reaction when they started to add more recent bits of information. She didn't even flinch, if she had a reason to worry, she was relying on Jino to let her know it was time to go.
"You're not that interesssting," Jino cut in before Kinagiri could say anything, flicking his forked tongue and looking over Mbinti as he considered the effort required to come up with something telling while giving his partner time to come up with something herself.
'Yet,' he thought to himself, curling around himself a bit and repositioning himself.
"You and Bahati met in the Jungle," Kina said suddenly, starting with a bit of information that would mean if they were stalkers, they had been at it for quite some time, "It's where you grew up. You were the only cub in your litter, it's why you're so sure you want a big family. You know what it's like being the only cub, especially without a pride."
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Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 3:20 pm
Mbinti stared slack-jawed at the two before her. They were good, really good. Either the green lioness and her reptilian partner had the best luck in the entire world, or they were actual seers. Considering how awful luck had treated her lately, Mbinti was forced to assume that Kina did have magical powers and was using it to spy on Mbinti's past.
"Okay, okay, I believe you," Mbinti said, still looking rather stumped and as if she wasn't quite capable of fully processing what had just happened. Meeting your mate in the jungle and being an only cub wasn't so uncommon, but it was still too much for her to deny. "I'd like to talk to you more," she said, smiling at Kina and Jino in an almost apologetic way. She couldn't risk not talking to them! What if they had the key to her and Bahati's fertility problems? If not that, then they could surely at least tell her how it would all turn out in the end.
"Payment, payment. Hm." Honestly, she did not have anything of value. Her and Bahati were simple lions, and when it was just you and your mate surviving without a pride, a life of extravagance was next to impossible. "I don't have any trinkets, no family heirlooms, nothing tangible to offer. What I do have are my hunting skills, and I'll gladly take down five zebras, eight gazelles, fifty warthogs, whatever you want!" Mbinti had a feeling this offer would not work, but the only thing she could do was try. Her paws scratched nervously at the dirt beneath them. Perhaps Lady Luck was finally shining down on her once more?
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Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 3:55 pm
Beaming, Kina was very clearly pleased with herself as Mbinti said she believed them and that she wanted to talk to them. It was almost sad knowing what would happen to her, she was just trying to find a way to get her and her mate a family but.. that wasn't going to work out for her. Not the way she wished for it.
She tilted her head thoughtfully at the offer to hunt, it was a common form of payment but more typically after someone already had something caught and ready to be eaten. So the lioness glanced to her partner, smiling.
"I don't know, do we have the time for that, you think?"
Jino looked Mbinti up and down, sizing her up as a huntress and making no effort to conceal it. She did look like she was able to hunt well enough- she was a rogue and while she wasn't as well fed looking as some pride lions, she wasn't starved. He knew five zebras, eight gazelles and fifty warthogs were an exaggeration but she seemed quite sincere. He looked back to Kina thoughtfully.
"Not long enough for fifty warthogs, definitely," he said slowly, pondering. This was more about entertainment for him than actual payment.. this time. Perhaps they could work something out.
Kina looked back to Mbinti thoughtfully. She already had met Makini, the other side of the upcoming unfortunate mess. He'd know when he saw her that this was his chance.. or he'd think it. When Mbinti saw him, she'd recognize her chance with or without their help. They didn't have to say or do anything, really.
"Well," she said after a pause, "Maybe we can be, ah, generous this once. We can sympathize, can't we, Jino?"
"I suppossse," he hissed, smiling. He twisted himself around a bit, lifting up his head higher so he was more eye-level with the lioness. He would lead into their advice and Kina could take over where she likes.
"It's not you," he started simply with a smirk, "To deal with the most relevant question first."
"No, it's not," Kina agreed with a shake of her head, offering some small smile- it was always nice to know it wasn't your fault. You felt less guilt, which was always a bonus. At least in her opinion.
"You can get what you want, but you have to be flexible," she said, "Your chance is coming, you just have to have to nerve to take it."
"The specifics aren't important," Jino cut in, his tail tapping against Kina's shoulder lightly. That was all the information she would get out of them.. but it was all she needed to know.
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Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:19 pm
It's not you. As cryptic as those words were, Mbinti knew what they meant instantly. Though it was a bad bit of misfortune for her mate (and her, technically), it made her inside flutter to know such a thing. Her womb wasn't cursed, unlike what Bahati had accused, ha! The revelation opened whole new possibilities to her future, and if Mbinti had been a more open sort she might have attempted to embrace Kina. She could still have cubs!
But the truth of the situation wasn't far behind. She could certainly have cubs, but not Bahati's cubs. The understanding of this dulled Mbinti's joy. What was she supposed to do? She loved her mate. She wasn't going to leave Bahati just because he couldn't reproduce, but at the same time her want for cubs outweighed almost all of her other wants. Oh, this was awful!
The two seers said she could get what she wanted, but what she wanted was cubs with Bahati. How could she achieve something that was impossible? The lioness was about to question more before the snake cut off any further comments. Now she was more confused than she had ever been before.
"Thank you," Mbinti whispered, nodding appreciation to both Kina and her snake companion. She couldn't decide if their information had helped or not, but she would have to make due. "I better return to my mate then," she said, knowing that their meeting was over. She moved to the side, padding slowly toward the tall grass.
Just before she entered it, however, she peered backwards at Kina and Jino once more. "I will have the nerve to take that chance," she said, before turning around and slipping into the grass, leaving the seer pair behind.
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Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:28 pm
Kina smiled at Mbinti, feeling more genuine hope for the poor lioness' future. She watched as she turned to go, pausing for a second before calling out to her, "Good luck, Mbinti!"
.. and then she was gone. She turned to look at Jino, wondering if he was satisfied with their encounter. They met the poor soul that would humor Makini to get what she wanted. Rather than warning her, they encouraged her.
"So?"
"Very interesting," he said, "We don't get to meet creatures with such interesting problems or futures." And that was all he really had to say about that. He continued to tap at Kina's shoulder from his perch absently.
"Let's go back now."
Fin.
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