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 Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:46 pm
It was a bright, sunny day in the Pridelands and there was not a whole lot on Wahabu's mind. Enzi had appeared and dragged Shani away for a little while and while he looked somewhat distressed, Habu was confident they could handle it.. and that he would find out soon enough what was going on. In the meantime, he had himself a wonderful distraction in the form of his smallest great-granddaughter, Hamamu. Had he not already had a bunch of great-grandcubs, he might have felt old.. but he wouldn't let this make him feel even a little bit old. If anything, having cubs around made him feel young.. and Hamamu was a very interesting little cub.
"OK, OK," he said, looking down at the small gray fuzzball that was Hamamu, "I've already told you the story about your mommy catching Barafu cheating, twice- there's not enough of us to play hide and seek and you're getting too good at tag for your old great-grandpa to play along, what are we going to do?"
"We could go get Aunt Biski and Mkate!" she said brightly, hopping to a stop by Habu's front feet, stepping on his gigantic golden toes with her tiny silver ones, "Oooor you can tell me the story again! Or you can tell me another story!" Great-grandpa was so biiiiig and ooold, he had to know lots of stories.
"P-p-pleeeeease?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:13 pm
It hadn't been too hard to hunt down her father. It seemed that she only had to ask two lions if they knew where he was. Maybe the Pridelands wasn't as big as she had heard? How could she have found someone so easily? Well, it didn't matter, really. As she slowly near-stumbled around a rock, she realized with a sudden start that she could've seen that lion anywhere and known who he was. Wahabu was the same yellow as she was. The same yellow as her grandmother was. It stopped Jini in her tracks. Her eyes widened. For a moment, she thought she wouldn't be able to muster up a sound.
That's when she saw the grey fluffball. Those colors she wasn't so familiar with. Had her father had more children? Was this one of his? She took one weak step forward, then one more stronger one. "He - hello." She couldn't help from beaming at him and the little unknown cub.
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Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:30 pm
"Don't you p-p-please me, Mamu, I've dealt with too many cubs to fall for that," he said, grinning down at her- unable to help but soften at the stare she gave him, "Now I don't know that they were all as cute as you, of course." He lifted up the paw she was resting her toes on and gave her a little push.
"I don't know about telling the same story all over again, though, Mamu," he said with a sigh, "Are you sure that's what you really want to do?"
Distracted by the immense effort it took to decide what to do between games with Hamamu, he didn't even realize Jini'dosari was around until she had walked out and said hello. He turned his head immediately, still smiling from trying to convince Hamamu it was not a good time for another story-- and as soon as he saw her, his expression became more puzzled. Immediately he recognized the circlet and the necklace she wore, his mother had worn those when he was young and it had only been up to just before her disappearance that she had changed them. If Jini was not built so differently and hadn't had his red eyes, he might have thought it was Mtima. But if it wasn't Mtima, there was only one other lioness it could be. Shemshi had finally found her way here.
"Shemshi," he said, a smile returning to his face.
Hamamu stared up at Habu with wide, green eyes, hoping to sway him in her favor. She giggled manically when he gave her a little push, very nearly toppling over. Once he gave in, however, she was ready to settle in to listen and she darted behind his lifted paw to get comfortable right in beside him- no matter how hard it was to keep her head point waaaay up to see him and how hard it was for him to point his head waaaay down to look at her.
And then someone interrupted them. Already having had one interruption when uncle Enzi came along and asked great-grandma to go somewhere with him.. well, Hamamu wasn't feeling any more patient. But once she realized it was a stranger, she was glad she was hiding in by great-grandpa's feet. It was very quickly very obvious that she was a family member Hamamu had never met before, she matched great-grandpa and aunt Tamu. And great-grandpa knew her name. Still, she was happy to quietly stay where she was.
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Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:12 am
At hearing her name, Jini's smile became more full, larger even. She took several more steps forward, one of which was a happy little skip. "Dad." She tested the word out, having spent a little of her time away wondering if it might feel weird to call somebody that. After all, she'd never really called anyone that her entire life. She was delighted to find it didn't feel weird at all. It was more like a wave of relief! "I'm sorry I - I took so long." She traced a circle with a claw, but never broke eye contact with her father. She wasn't ashamed of what she'd done for the past while, but she was a little sorry to keep this meeting waiting.
Oh but, there was that fluffball hiding from her. Jini didn't consider herself to be particularly scary. "Who is this little one?" She looked down at the cub and back to her father, still wondering if this was some half-sibling of hers. She hadn't had a whole lot of experience with cubs as of late, since she'd been gypsying around the rogue lands, but she had enough instinct to try not to scare the little one further. She dipped her head and crouched her body slightly, trying to seem less big and dangerous. "Hello there, baby spirit." She cocked her head, trying to peer around her father's paw.
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Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:55 pm
"You had us all worried about you," he said honestly, "Though maybe something had happened, we've been waiting a long time." Despite this, he smiled at her. It had been hard not to worry but it had been equally difficult to actually do anything about it. There just wasn't anything you could do when you didn't know for sure what she looked like or where she had gone, his mother had said she would find her and he was sure she did.. except he hadn't seen her again after that.
He looked down when Jini put her attention on Hamamu, and he lifted up his leg so that the little on had nothing to hide behind.
"This is Hamamu," he said, still looking at the little gray cub, "Hamamu, this is your grandpa's sister, your great-aunt." Half-sister, half-great-aunt.. it was complicated enough this many generations down without worrying about those clarifications.
Hamamu listened with interest but squeaked defiantly when the leg that was hiding her was suddenly removed. She glared up at her great-grandpa, but looked back down to Jini curiously- though not daring to move out just yet. She had familiar eyes and familiar colors-- and she had some very shiny things around her neck and on her head. Hesitantly, Hamamu inched away from Wahabu, intent on investigating.. however cautiously.
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Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 4:08 pm
Jini nodded her understanding. Of course they had worried. She had gone on her pilgrimage to find her name so long ago, planning to meet up with her siblings here at their father's home. She suddenly got a wave of home sickness, and a touch of worry for the other five. Were they all alright? Had they come here and gone back to their boggy home? Were they all worried about her, as well? "Have you seen the others? My grandmother... She's the only one I've seen in so long." Her voice was quiet as she felt the weight of her jewelry. They had been a comfort to her during her time alone.
She smiled sweetly at the cub. So this was her... brother's child's child? Pepo? But that seemed nearly impossible, didn't it? How could Pepo's child have already had a child? She had been gone much too long. She peered at the little one, trying to place markings or colors. She looked back to her father curiously. "My brother's granddaughter? Pepo?" Suddenly it clicked that if his granddaughter was here, well then he must be here, too! "Is Pepo here?" There was obvious hope in her voice. She hadn't seen any family in so long. It'd been forever since meeting Mtima.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:43 am
Habu only nodded in response to her first question at first, smiling at the idea of her mention of Mtima- dying to ask when that encounter had happened, still worrying about where his mother had gone to and why she would not come when he called. His eyes glanced up absently, to where his feathers had once been. He was startled out of his thinking when she jumped immediately to Pepo, shaking his head.
"No, Pepo isn't here. He lives in a pride some ways south-east of here, he had some cubs and decided to stick with them in a pride in the jungle rather than return home to the swamps," he explained, "Hamamu's grandfather is your half-brother, Manuku. You have a lot of family here. Manuku has seven full siblings, and there are four other half-siblings here for you, too."
Ah, his family was a complicated one and it was awkward every time he had to explain but Jini needed to know these things, she would be meeting everybody if she was brave enough to stick around that long.
"Your sisters have come and gone as well," he said, "Kichea, now Kinyamkela, lives in the roguelands between this and another pride with her mate and their family. The others went back to the swamp, and last I heard of Noki and Moyo, now Kimya and Ahli, was that they had some cubs of their own as well." He could go on, Pepo, Kimya, Kichea and Ahli weren't the only ones with family now but those would be the only ones she knew.
While great-grandpa distracted this new great aunt of hers, Hamamu daringly moved close and closer- until she was close enough that if she stretched just a liiiiittle bit more.. she could almost.. reach.. the heart on the end of the necklace..
Sniffing curiously first, the pulled her head back a bit and smiled at the necklace, and then up at Jini. It was a very pretty necklace.
"Where did you find this?" she asked, not really caring that she interrupted the conversation they were having.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:39 pm
Jini listened to her father's sibling monologue with the wide eyes a young cub gets when hearing an exciting adventure story. All her life, she'd known she had a big family - six cubs, after all, was a full troupe. She hadn't guessed that she had more half siblings than she could count, as it sounded. She mulled over all this new information. "Wow." Her family wasn't big. It was enormous. No wonder other lions knew who Habu was. He had a whole slew of children. To herself, she wondered the circumstances of all of these siblings' births. Her own mother... well, Jini really didn't want to dwell on things long passed. Besides, this was a happy meeting. Not something to bog down with such large complications. Maybe some day she'd find the time to ask.
And besides, Habu had information on the siblings she knew and loved. Not that she didn't think she could learn about and love her other siblings, of course. But her own littermates - that was a special bond. It was good to hear that they were alright. And that a few have them had gone home, and she would see them again soon. Although, honestly, it made her feel a little better to know that some of them had dispersed. It took away a little guilt for having been gone so long herself.
She hadn't even noticed little Hamamu inching closer to her. She looked down and raised her eyebrows. Oh yes, her necklace. She was suddenly very aware of the comforting weight it held around her neck, and the gentle push of the circlet against her fur. "It was a gift to me." She smiled, remembering the joyful meeting. "My grandma - your great great grandma - she gave these to me when I met her." She looked up at her father. "She also gave me my name - I'm Jini'dosari now." She liked how it felt to introduce herself by the new name. She had used it anytime she met someone in her time as a rogue, but it hadn't had as much feeling as it did with someone who knew it had been given to her.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:49 pm
Habu looked down when Hamamu suddenly asked about the jewelery that Jini was wearing, knowing exactly where it had come but still wanting to hear about it. He didn't want to ruin any happy moments with unhappy worries but it was relevant information, too.
"When did you see her?" he asked, knowing well enough Jini may have been the last mortal family member to see her.. but it could have been more recent, she could have just found out where to go to find them here, but it seemed doubtful.
Hamamu stared up with great interest as Jini explained where she had gotten her pretty necklace, and her nose wrinkled when she said it was from her great great grandma. She was used to family with great big long titles connecting them but that didn't make her any quicker at figuring it out. If Jini was her great aunt, that meant she was grandpa's sister but great-grandpa was .. something or other, she couldn't figure it out.
"She named you?" she asked, tilting her head.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:36 pm
Jini was a little surprised at Habu's question. Then again, maybe he was only curious. "Oh, I don't know. A while back. It was shortly after I had left my siblings." She sighed lightly. Maybe she should explain what had taken her so long? Perhaps that was why he had asked when she had seen Mtima. "I was searching for my new name. It's kind of daunting, looking for something that's supposed to already be a part of you like that. And then I ran into her. She named me, gave me her necklace, " she smiled, "and then I wandered. For a long time. I guess I was trying my hand at being a rogue." She laughed a little. Looking back, it all seemed like such a silly idea. Jini was a pride lioness, born and raised, through and through. Though she didn't regret her time spent experimenting with the other lifestyle, she was happy to be moving on - and back - to her life.
"Yes, baby spirit. Where I come from, our birth name is not the one we keep. We go on a long journey to find what our real names are. Mine is Jini'dosari. In my pride, it's an important part of growing up." She smiled warmly at Hamamu. In her time as a rogue, she had quickly come to learn that not everybody goes on a naming pilgrimage. "That's why I'm here, actually. I left my home a while ago to find my name. And my family." On that note, she looked back up to her father. It had been worth it.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:46 pm
Habu smiled as Jini explained the naming to Hamamu, knowing she hadn't yet really had any contact with her aunts from the swamps, she didn't know as much about the whole naming thing as she would learn once Kinyamkela came to visit once again. If they were lucky, perhaps Kinya would show up while Jini was here.
"How did you find life as a rogue?" he asked, changing the subject back and determinedly avoiding focusing on how long ago it had been that Jini had seen Mtima, "You still call the swamps home, you must be heading back that way, are you?"
"Oh," Hamamu squeaked, but she didn't sound very convinced. It was far beyond her at that moment, imagining growing up and having to do some unusual rite of passage. But she thought it was neat that Jini was Jini'dosari now but apparently used to be named Shemshi, since that was what great-grandpa had called her.
Finished being curious, she turned around and hopped back over to sit as close to Habu as she could get, snuggling against his leg and looking up at Jini as she and Habu continued to talk.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:09 pm
Jini was very amused with little Hamamu, and honestly smitten. She hadn't gotten to be around a cub since she herself was just a little thing. She hoped she'd see plenty of the youngster during her stay with her father. She wasn't really sure what the family situation was here, but apparently it was good enough for Habu to take his great granddaughter on random walks. She hoped one day she may have a family so close.
"I found it... lonesome. Towards the end, at least. I enjoyed it while I was in the thick and middle of it." She cocked her head to the side, thinking about her time spent out there. "There's a lot of opportunity to see many different things, to meet many different creatures. But you're almost always alone. I was happy to do it, though." Jini wasn't the type to regret anything, after all. "I'm sorry to have kept this waiting so long, of course. And I do want to head home at some point soon. I miss it." She got a wistful, faraway look in her eyes as she imagined the landscape, the mud and the family.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:52 pm
"Ah yes, it's not a life for just anybody," he agreed thoughtfully as she described her time as a rogue, "I don't expect I could do it. Kinya is a rogue now, technically, but she and her mate alternate between his pride and this one here and mainly stay somewhere in the middle. It's nice quite the same as a true rogue."
He wasn't very upset she had taken so long and it showed, he wasn't going to fault her for enjoying life while she was young and free of responsibility. He supposed that was part of the whole idea of the pilgrimage. To learn about the world and yourself, which would help you find a name.
"I'm sure your sisters will be very excited to see you again, on Kimya's last visit I think she was hoping you might be here since you had not turned up at home yet," he said, smiling.
Hamamu sat silently, feeling too shy to say anything else now that she had her answers about the sparklies that her aunt was wearing. If she was more daring, she might have felt bored and tried to get back to playing a game but for now she let them talk uninterrupted.
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:00 pm
"I met plenty who greatly enjoyed the lifestyle. It has it's positives." She remembered back to the free time she had had. It was truly a fun time, exploring wherever she wanted. She felt, however, that she had always known deep down it wouldn't stick. Despite the fun she had, it was never permanent. The fun was fleeting. She was glad for the memories, sure, but that was what it boiled down to. Just a lot of memories. She wanted something more real now. She wanted family, friends, a pride. She wanted a mate, though she wasn't at all sure where that would fit into her plan and honestly wasn't thinking to hard on it. She wanted cubs, something she thought of a little more than a mate. Hamamu had resparked that desire.
Jini had never considered alternating prides. "I wonder if I'll see her while I'm here or if I'll run into her on my way home." She quietly wondered how she'd ever find her way home, since it'd been so long. She wasn't at all sure she could remember how to get there. Perhaps Habu had some knowledge of the general direction? She'd save that question for later. "I'm excited to see them. I've missed them very much since I've gone. Tell me about my sisters here, though. And my brothers! I'd love to know something of them. If you don't mind."
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Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:21 pm
"It shouldn't be hard to find Kinya, I can take you out to the area they live in after Lisi comes back for Hamamu if you like," he suggested, smiling at her. He knew how to find Kinya if he needed her, he probably knew her best of the six he had with Amadet, though only because she had chosen to live so close to him and they visited most of any of them because of it.
"Oh, this will take a while then," he said when asked to tell her about the siblings she had here, "You might want to take a seat. The oldest of your half siblings would be Hamamu's grandpa, Manuku. What do you think she should know about him?"
He looked down to Hamamu, deciding to include her in the conversation.
Hamamu started when suddenly great-grandpa was looking at her and asked her what her aunt Jini should know about her grandpa. She looked stunned at first, but looked over to Jini with a long, thoughtful (and rather loud) pause.
"Uhhhhhhhhh," she hummed, "He's brown! And he has blue, on his mane and his toes and his shoulder and stuff. And he's funny." She giggled. She had no idea the reason she found him so funny was that he was so awkward in trying to deal with the fact two of his girls, just barely able to have babies.. had babies. And that Hamamu was one of them.
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