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 Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:00 pm
 It was so absolutely beautiful to be back home. The return of the atmosphere alone was enough. All the warmth the pride members showed each other. Finally, she was home.
After the warm welcomes the entire group had been getting, Irja was perfectly happy to just wander around the lands; learning things she'd started to forget, seeing faces that she remembered, and meeting faces that were entirely new to her. It was starting to become information overload, but Irja couldn't find a way to care. She couldn't get enough of all of this. Of all the joy she felt. It had been so long.
She stopped at the edge of a drinking hole, laying down to rest her body. Now that she'd made it, she felt so weary. But she'd only allow herself a moments rest. There was so much to do.
There were still things to learn.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:24 pm
When he finally found her, he was hesitant to just run up and say hello.. but between being responsible for a whole pride and then being expected to do whatever you were asked, he knew how to push aside his hesitations.
"Afternoon," he said, walking up past her and stopping at the water's edge.. it was a little less awkward than walking right up to her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:36 am
Now that she was able to lie down and think beyond the cloud of joy, Irja was noticing some strange things. She vaguely remembered the lioness who greeted them, but couldn't recall her rank. Many lions had joined since, and sometimes the higher class ranks would shift a little, so maybe there was just a small shift that Irja was unaware of. It would explain the lioness who greeted them, and some of the new faces she saw sitting as royalty. The changes still unnerved her a little, now that she was able to see them, though. The most concerning was that, as of yet, she had not seen Unyezi.
That was, until he walked right past her to the watering hole. She dipped her head respectfully, hiding her sudden shock. "Good afternoon, King Unyezi. It's a great pleasure to see you." He seemed different, from what she'd glimpsed before hiding her face. She couldn't put a paw on it, though.
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:46 am
Unyezi was slightly startled when he was addressed by his former rank, though he quickly recovered when he reminded himself that Irja was dealing with a lot right now and she probably hadn't quite absorbed everything that was happening in all the excitement.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Irja, I'm very glad you all made it back home," he said, smiling, "It's a shame what happened to Nkosazana and Uchanjaa's mother, and Kibetinyota's parents, just shy of finally making it home." He shook his head, frowning a little bit. He remembered all of them, the lions who had been lost on the journey and this slave before him were the ones he remembered best.
"And, ah, a lot has changed since we've arrived here," he added, smiling again, "I'm not the king anymore, I'm not even in the high class. I'm married to Nerit, I'm a slave now."
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:07 am
She smiled and nodded politely as he spoke of their return, but looked a tad regretful at the loss of her companions. "I did my best to raise Nkosazana and Uchanjaa the way she would have liked. They are good lions." Good souls, her mind repeated. She remembered the day she'd taken them. It was rash and completely unlike her, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. She did love her adoptive babies, though sometimes she didn't show it. She hoped they didn't think she saw it as more of a duty than an act of love.
She was stopped dead in her thoughts. Nerit. Nerit, Nerit, Nerit. The name did not ring a particularly strong bell, but the term Slave did. "Surely you're joking, sir?" But it explained everything. The lioness who greeted them, the lack of Unyezi until now, the confusion she had when trying to memorize the new rankings of members in the pride. Unyezi was a slave...
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Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:57 pm
Unyezi could see Irja's mind working when he finished, and when he thought about he it realized she might not remember Nerit clearly. The war would have interfered with her official introduction to her class, she was around the same age as him, a bit younger. But everybody knew who he was because he had been a prince, the heir and then, of course, he had become king.
"I'm quite serious," he said, "I imagine you were greeted by a black lioness with markings in a blue rather like my own? She is my daughter, and Aureole's. When she was old enough, I stepped down and made her queen. Then I was free to marry Nerit. We caused quite the fuss."
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